Monthly Archives: November 2011
Is It Just Me, Or Was ‘Glee’ Not Terrible This Week?
Having missed this week’s Glee when it originally aired, I was wondering if it was even worth watching it on the DVR, and I’m surprised to say that I’m glad I did. Now, I’ve been let down by this show too many times to believe that this might mean it’s getting back to season one caliber, but could it be a sign that Glee might be slowly finding its way back to the show we fell in love with? Here are some of things about “I Kissed a Girl” that reminded me of Glee‘s glory days in season one…
- Voice-overs – I didn’t realize how much the characters’ voice-over moments added to the show until they were so notably absent. I actually miss listening to Rachel blab on and on about becoming a star, Finn’s clueless inner dialogue about the woes of having a fetus face, and Puck’s shameless self-admiration. Last night’s episode featured voice-over snippets from a variety of characters, and I think it really added a lot. I especially loved hearing some of their thought processes as they cast their votes for student council president, like Quinn’s comment that her father always votes for the candidate who’s the least ethnic.
- Sue’s Journal – Remember when Sue used to write down her innermost thoughts, consisting mostly of creative insults for Mr. Schue’s hair? I know seasons 2 and 3 have been heavy on Sue’s Corner, but it’s just not the same. Here’s a bit of Sue’s journal entry from this week’s episode: “Why would someone assume I’m a friend of Ellen just because I’m mannish and highly aggressive and have short hair and I only wear track suits and I coach a girls’ sport and I married myself? It just doesn’t make sense.” More, please!
- A Strong Emotional Center – Back in season 1, most of the characters were pretty sympathetic, or if they were unsympathetic, they were at least consistently unsympathetic. Season 2 was just a mess of inconsistent character development, and that’s what really turned Glee into a trainwreck. I feel like it lacked an emotional center, like a gravitational pull of warm-and-fuzziness (or even sad-and-mopeyness…I’m not picky! But something other than pettiness and anger would be nice). This week’s episode centered around Santana’s struggle with embracing her sexuality, which provided, a) a relatable and humanizing storyline for Santana, and b) a cause that brought the group together. I also appreciated the moment between Puck and Quinn where he told her that she’s kind of crazy, but at least someone finally noticed that Quinn is really having a difficult time. I’d love for her not to be nuts sometime soon.
- Self-aware Tongue-in-Cheek Humor – This is a musical TV show about a high school glee club. It’s important not to forget that. To quote Rachel in the pilot episode, “There’s nothing ironic about show choir!” What happened to that satirical humor? This week’s episode gave us a glimpse of it when Rachel, at a loss as to how to help Kurt win the student election, made a comment to Finn about how she wished they could just do an impromptu musical number in the cafeteria and win over the hearts of the voters. I think even Rachel realized the slight ridiculousness of her idea, and it’s great to see the show wink at itself once in a while.
- Finn’s Voice – His voice isn’t the best, or the showiest, but I used to really enjoy Finn’s singing back when he was the de facto male lead. Of course, that was before they started auto-tuning every song to the point that you can barely tell who’s singing anyway. I’ve been complaining about the lack of screen time and musical parts for Finn since the beginning of this season, so I was ecstatic to hear Finn sing last night…twice! I’ve been so starved for some Finn action that I even liked his weird, slow version of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
Other highlights were Coach Beiste (as always) and her rendition of “Jolene,” Principal Figgins’ explanation of the school board’s view on weaponized slushies, and Puck taking on Melissa Etheridge. So am I the only one who wasn’t disappointed by “I Kissed a Girl”? To the other twelve people who are still watching, what did you think? Could this possibly be the upturn in Glee‘s quality? Is it all thanks to former Buffy scribe Marti Noxon? Leave your thoughts in the comments, or tweet us @PopCultureNexus!
-Louise
TV Twitter Reactions: Ringer 1×09 “That’s What You Get for Trying to Kill Me”
Photo by Art Streiber 2011 cwtv.com
Ringer Tweets from Tuesday’s mid-season finale.
- @duhbunnywabbits
#Ringer is the best guilty pleasure TV show out here.. - @MegMasters You were so good tonight,
#Ringer. - @serrggiioo
#RINGER#SMG OMFG EPIC! - @camiyak Omg I’m peeing that scene was so horribly done.
#ringer#MIRRORTOTHEFACE - @SwewRat Wow!!! So freakin good!!!! #ringer
- @theonetruebix Did she just hit herself on the right to produce a bruise on the left? Or did I blink?
#Ringer - @heroine_tv Ooooh, Siobhan! You *would* do that! This show should be all Siobhan all the time.
#Ringer - @cherilyn603 I can’t wait for
#Ringer to come back in January!! - @craig_mcfarlane Remember when Gemma was dead and Malcolm was in a cage at a strip club? Way better.
#Ringer - @ClanPicciniWA I totally thought I’d not like this show when it first came on… it’s really hooked me! #ringer
- @lilypads Ohh
#Ringer you are so great. - @untitle Watching
#Ringer I love this Show. - @nickjohnson1007 I so wanna know who Bridget punches in the promo for the next episode
#SarahMichelleGellar is doing a brilliant job in#Ringer
- @RogueHunter65 looks like the twists on
#Ringer just got more complicated by the mid season finale O.o well this will be one fun ride when we see the eps
“xine’s movie reviews” discusses The Muppets
Blogger Christine Wright reviews the new film, The Muppets. Read it here.
TV Twitter Reactions: New Girl 1×07 “Bells”
Read what folks are saying about Tuesday’s episode of New Girl.
- @singinchelle I absolutely love
#newgirl - @JMOlitzky According to
#newgirl, playing handbells is a mitzvah. Turns out this is my new favorite show. - @sidecar Okay, so now Jess Day is a music teacher, and that seals the deal that she and I are the same person.
#newgirl#somuchlove - @MatthewSchubert Watching
#newgirl too funny - @jonlatessa Yesss!
#scrummy made it to#newgirl - @StevendosSantos Yuck!
#NewGirl was terrible tonight! - @burbunny Schmidt is quite possibly one of the best characters on television … ever. So many amazing one liners. “It’s scrummie!”
#NewGirl - @jbgirlswagger
#NewGirl is not a funny show, its something you watch when your bored. - @LOU_WEEZEE
#newgirl was so funny tonight - @mattarena88 Oh dear god, Schmidt just said turlet. This show is after my heart
#newgirl - @TwistOfJNH Lmao! I love how they are playing “Eye Of The Tiger”. I never get sick of that song.
#NewGirl - @ha_alroumi schmit and nick fight .. EPIC
#newgirl
TV Twitter Reactions: Raising Hope 2×08 “Bro-gurt”
Reactions from Tuesday’s episode of Raising Hope.
- @Asta77 Hee! Hope is wearing sparkly red Mary Janes! Apparently I know my toddler fashion!
#RaisingHope - @janadoran
#raisinghope is on! Yeah! - @Msmithme
#raisinghope that’s the funniest tv show ever! Lmfao - @aramsey44 “besides hope only likes movies w/ singing and dancing and monkeys in it…” funny that’s my criteria for movie watching, too!
#raisinghope - @warforge2004 I loved every mintue of tonight’s
#RaisingHope but then again I love them all. - @memmerkins Haha
#raisinghope was like wizard of oz… - @ThisJessicaRae
#RaisingHope continues to be pretty genius even when it gets more corny than usual like it did tonight. - @DanaCJones
#raisinghope is hilarious and genius - @calistamercedes oh
#raisinghope, how clever you are with your#WizardofOz references – favourite part, definitely the grandma with the melting ice cream lol - @analiese _ Oh my gosh!
#raisinghope meets wizard of oz. so funny!
Top 5 Tuesday: Dwight Schrute Quotes
The legendary paper salesman, beet farmer, and werewolf hunter Dwight Schrute
Happy Top 5 Tuesday, world! What better way to celebrate the most underrated day of the week than by counting up the top 5 quotes from the one and only Dwight K. Schrute? Here are some of his most memorable ponderances…
1.) “Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.” (Season 3, episode 17, “Business School”)
2.) “I am faster than 80% of all snakes.” (Season 2, episode 12, “The Injury”)
3.) “Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can–and do–cut my own hair. I did, however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.” (Season 2, episode 19, “Michael’s Birthday”)
4.) “I don’t have a lot of experience with vampires, but I have hunted werewolves. I shot one once, but by the time I got to it, it had turned back into my neighbor’s dog.” (Season 3, episode 17, “Business School”)
5.) “So I will need a new number two. My ideal choice? Jack Bauer. But he is unavailable, fictional, and overqualified.” (Season 3, episode 24, “The Job”)
What are your favorite quotes from Dwight Schrute? Leave ‘em in the comments, or tweet us @PopCultureNexus! And remember: Sasquatches are the strongest animal on the planet.
-Louise
Meryl Monday: Meryl wins SAG Award
Meryl Streep come on down! Meryl is completely surprised to win the SAG Award for Best Actress in Doubt and celebrates on her way to the stage. She then gives an amazing speech recognizing females in films.
‘Lost’ In ‘Once Upon A Time’
Left: Henry & Emma on 'Once Upon A Time'; Right: Ben & Hurley share an Apollo bar on 'Lost'
I am really enjoying ABC’s new fairy tale drama Once Upon A Time. One of the things I love most about it is the Lost references. (There were at least six in the pilot, and a handful since then.) Not a surprise, considering the show was created by two former Lost writers. This week’s episode, entitled “That Still Small Voice,” included a nod to Lost that brought back some fond memories. Did you catch it? When Archie the shrink (AKA Jiminy Cricket) was going through Henry’s backpack containing his provisions for his incredibly unsafe mine exploration, he pulled out a chocolate bar, but it wasn’t just any chocolate bar, it was an Apollo bar! These candy bars show up periodically throughout Lost, as seen above in the picture of Hurley sharing an Apollo bar with Ben in season 4. Maybe next week on Once Upon A Time, Snow White will visit Mr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack, or we’ll discover that Cinderella’s favorite band is Drive Shaft. I for one can’t wait to see more winks and nods to my dear departed Lost. To see all the Easter eggs from the pilot episode, check out this website. What other Lost references did you catch in this week’s Once Upon A Time? Did you notice the Mayor from Buffy was in this episode? Are you loving this show as much as I am? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, or tweet us @PopCultureNexus.
-Louise
Film Friday: Elf
Thanksgiving is officially over which means the countdown to Christmas has begun! Pop Culture Nexus wants to help you get in the holiday spirit so every Film Friday will now how a Christmas theme to it.
This week’s Film Friday is Elf. Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a human raised by an elf in the North Pole. When Buddy wants to meet his biological father, he travels to New York and learns that the human world lacks holiday cheer.
Elf is a great family film and a new holiday classic.
Top 5 Tuesday: Movies You Can’t Turn Off
Okay, it’s time to fess up. We all have at least one movie that’s our weak spot, our Achilles’ heel. You know, that one favorite film that, whenever it comes on the television, you become completely powerless and are unable to change the channel (even though you’ve seen it a hundred times, and you own the DVD–probably the collector’s edition). Here are my top 5 movies that I am physically incapable of turning off…
1.) All Harry Potter Movies – Now that the saga has ended on the screen as well as on the page, my love and appreciation for the Harry Potter series is at an all-time high, so even the earlier films (which were of much lesser quality, I think we can all agree) bring on a crippling wave of nostalgia that I can’t fight. This becomes a real problem around the holidays, when ABC Family runs and re-runs them all for days on end. It’s safer for me to just avoid ABC Family altogether during the months between Halloween and Christmas.
2.) The Princess Bride – This is the one movie that I really don’t need to watch, because I can recite almost all of it from memory. Nonetheless, any time I come across it while flipping through channels, I absolutely have to see it through. Even though it would make more sense to just put in the DVD and cue it up to the same point, it’s just not the same as watching it on TV. It’s like hearing your favorite song on the radio–you could just as easily listen to it on your iPod, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
3.) Remember the Titans – There’s something about this movie that just reaches into your soul shakes it up (in a good way…if soul-shaking can be taken as good). Every time I watch it, it’s as exhilarating and gut-wrenching as it was the first time I saw it. Another thing that makes Titans timeless is its spectacular soundtrack. Nothing builds team spirit like a rousing locker room rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” (Watch it here and take note of a baby-faced Ryan Gosling and his awkward dance moves.) Remember The Titans gets my vote for the best football movie of all time.
4.) You’ve Got Mail – Remember the early days of Internet dating? Before eHarmony and Match.com, there was AOL. There’s a certain innocence and sincerity in watching Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks fall in love in this quintessential ’90s rom-com. Tom Hanks’ charm alone is enough to keep me glued to my TV screen, but it’s his and Meg Ryan’s epic chemistry that makes You’ve Got Mail worthy of every single replay of it on the Oxygen channel.
5.) Tommy Boy – I know some people don’t appreciate the less-than-sophisticated humor of Tommy Boy, but I am not one of those people. Whenever I catch it on TV, it reduces me to a fit of giggles in a matter of minutes. I love everything from Chris Farley’s “fat guy in a little coat” dance, to him and David Spade belting it out to the Carpenters’ “Superstar” on their road trip. This movie never gets old.
What about you, pop culture fans? What movie are you unable to look away from? Hit the comments section, or tweet us @PopCultureNexus!
-Louise
