Five Song Friday

It's simple. Every Friday, I pick five songs that I've been loving for the past week. They don't have to be new songs or even singles from the album...the only requirement is that they're amazing.

Amy Winehouse "Love is a Losing Game"
I was going to include her last week after her big Grammy wins (5 in total, including 3 of the 4 big ones!) but I simply forgot. The reason I chose "Love is a Losing Game" is because, frankly, I'm sick of pimping out "Rehab" to get you to listen to her and this probably the next best song on her CD. It's so touching and earnest that you can't help but to feel for her.




Sheila Broflovski and the Parents of South Park "Blame Canada"
I just did an oral presentation in my Literature and Culture class about how this song related to American culture, so I've naturally been listening to it like mad to get everything I can out of it. Best lyric: "Don't blame me/For my son Stan/He saw the darn cartoon/And now he's off to join the Klan!"




Janet Jackson "The Pleasure Principle"
I hadn't heard this song in awhile when it came up on shuffle on my iTunes, and after listening to it I quickly remembered why this is my favorite Janet Jackson song.




Celine Dion "Alone"
Did anyone else see Celine's fabulous TV special last week? I was with a friend who's also a fan of the French-Canadian diva when we stumbled across it channel surfing. The special was great and Celine, as always, was flawless, singing songs from her latest CD Taking Chances. The best song from there is this cover of the 80's classic "Alone" by Heart, which Celine transforms into an even bigger melodramatic opera of a song on par with "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".




ABBA "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)"
Just because I love ABBA and this song was stuck in my head all day yesterday.

American Idol Recap: Top 24

(Sorry this is a little late, but this diva was caught up in a bunch of drama this week and missed half of the first episode- thank God for YouTube- so I had to play catch up. I hope you enjoy this week and hopefully next week will be better)

The auditions are finally over on American Idol and this week the real competition began. The results for both the guys and girls were decidedly mixed, but there were a couple of standouts.

The Boys
1. David Hernandez "The Midnight Hour"
I originally wrote down "no personality" and it's probably no coincidence that I can't even recall what he looks like two days later.

2. Chikezie "I'll Be Loving You More Today Than Yesterday"
He looks like a pimp with that ridiculous orange suit. His performance was rather blah and super corny. I completely agree with everything Simon said.

3. David Cook "Happy Together"
David made this song very modern sounding and he has a great voice. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the way he picked up the microphone stand and used it as a pugil stick which was a tad over the top.

4. Jason Yeager "Moon River"
Supremely corny and probably the worst song choice for his voice (his voice is fine but entirely too vanilla to carry the simple melody of "Moon River" and make it interesting).

5. Robbie Carrico "One is the Loneliest Number"
This former boy band member claims he's a rocker now, but this song was really a pop version of what rock is- it's like Britney doing the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" without the camp.



6. David Archuleta "Shop Around"
I love this kid! He's so dorkalicious he makes Seth Cohen look cool. I love his reaction to finding out about making the Top 24 ("What a feeling!") in the above video and, to top it all off, he's actually quite a fine singer. Sure, he's a little nervous and hesitant at parts of the song but once he gets over that, he'll be fantastic. Without a doubt, he's my favorite of the three little homosexuals this year (Colton and Danny being the others).

7. Danny Noriega "Jailhouse Rock"
He's Quirky and he wants you to know that. Danny reminds me of my arch-nemesis Christian on Project Runway, but he comes off as less annoying so far. We'll see what happens in the next weeks. Anyways, he's halfway decent and, listening to him speak, you do not expect that voice to come out of him.

8. Luke Menard "Everybody's Talking"
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

9. Colton Berry "Suspicious Minds"
He's lively, energetic and a nice singer, but you can obviously tell he has a background in theater (not that that's a bad thing).

10. Garrett Haley "Breaking Up is Hard to Do"
Garrett's voice is annoying as hell and does he honestly believe that teased out 80's hair gives him personality? Because it doesn't.

11. Jason Castro "What a Day For a Daydream"
I can't even concentrate on Jason's singing, because I everytime I see him all I notice are his dreadlocks. I can't stand dreadlocks because they're fucking dirty and disgusting.

12. Michael Johns "Light My Fire"
This was the perfect song choice for him and, as if that accent wasn't helping him enough, he'll be sure to go far.

The Women
1. Kristy Lee Cook "Rescue Me"
Stereotypical skinny white blonde girl with a so-so voice and a boring and repetitive performance.

2. Joanne Borgella "I Say a Little Prayer"
Although it could have stood some improvement, I didn't think it was as bad as what the judges (mostly Simon) were saying.

3. Alaina Whitaker "I Love You More Today"
This girl is so adorable (her interview before her performance was fun) and, as if that wasn't enough, she can also sing. I loved her slow build to the chorus and she held my interest the whole time.

4. Amanda Overmyer "Baby, Please Don't Go"
I like Amanda and this performance, but I just can't see 12 year old girls voting for her into the finale. She won't appeal to the young crowd, who'll just be confused because the closest they get to rock is Avril Lavigne.

5. Amy Davis "Where the Boys Are"
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

6. Brooke White "Happy Together"
I really like Brooke and think she has a really great voice, but her song was not right for her at all. Sure, she's a very happy person, but her voice is so husky and dark that it didn't fit with the light poppiness of "Happy Together." It was still a good performance, though.

7. Alexandrea Lushington "Spinning Wheel"
I loved her attitude towards Ryan, her great sense of fashion (sans suspenders) and, most of all, her extremely one-of-a-kind take on this song.

8. Kady Malloy "A Groovy Kind of Love"
She has great potential if she would just let herself go.

9. Asia'h Epperson "Piece of My Heart"
I really dislike Asia'h, not because of her voice (which is fine and dandy), but because of the story about her father dying before her audition that she pimps out on every show. It's so shameless that, for me, it overshadows her talent.

10. Ramiele Malubay "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"
I completely disagree with the judges on this one. Ramiele sang this like English was her second language and it was kind of boring in the beginning. I don't understand where all the praise came from.

11. Syesha Mercado "Tobacco Road"
YES! PRAISE GOD, SOMEONE BROUGHT A VOICE!

12. Carly Smithson "Shadow of Your Smile"
Although Randy was a little overexaggerative (The best of the Top 24? Really?), I did think it was a fine performance. I thought it was a little forced, but once I found out she had bronchitis, I quickly understood and forgave her.

The Best: David A., Michael, Syesha, Alaina

Who's Going Home: Jason Y., Luke, Joanne (it pains me to say it, but few can survive the harsh criticism she got last night), Amy

Who Went Home: Garrett, Colton, Amy, Joanne (2/4, not bad)

Thoughts: I agree completely with Garrett and Amy because they were plain awful, but I think Joanne deserved a second chance and there were at least two other guys who were worse than Colton.

A Quick Note About the New Banner

As you are all aware, February is National Black History Month, so I thought I'd do my part and honor some strong black women with a new banner. These four women have fought adversity, racism and the critics to pave the way for other strong black women. The beautiful women, starting from the left, are:

• Oprah: Everyone on the planet knows her (and they'd better love her!). Her career started with a bang after a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Color Purple in 1985, which led to her talk show going into syndication in 1986 and quickly becoming the number-one rated talk show in America. The rest is history.
• Hattie McDaniel: The ever-dependable character actress became the first African-American to win an Oscar (for her spectacular performance as Mammy in Gone With the Wind) and was a hero to many young black women. Her win paved the way for many actresses in the decades to come, including the infamous Halle Berry win and that amazing acceptance speech.
• Aretha Franklin: She's the Queen of Soul, bitch, as Beyonce just found out.
• Whoopi Goldberg: Sure, Whoopi's made some questionable choices with her acting work, but you can't deny the talent she has. I loved her quickly canceled sitcom Whoopi from a couple of years ago and her performance in The Color Purple was one for the ages (and should have earned her that Oscar). What I will love her best for, though, is her Oda Mae Brown in Ghost- only her hilarious performance as a crackpot psychic would make me want to sit through that pile of crap again.
  

I've Reached a New Low

As of last night, I have now seen Step Up, the 2006 dance film in which Channing Tatum got his big break, as many times as Citizen Kane, Rear Window and Psycho. I have also seen it more than The Godfather, The Rules of the Game and Breathless. Something is wrong with this. I'll be the first to admit that Step Up is a horrible movie, filled with every wrong-side-of-the-tracks teenage dance movie cliche in the book but, even while I'm groaning at the awful dialogue and hideous "acting", I can't help but to be entertained by the dancing (which, you have to admit, is pretty spectacular) and by Channing Tatum. He's not a great actor in this film (I've realized that his talent grows directly in proportion to the amount of time his shirt his off, which is why he's better in She's the Man and he blows us away in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) but he's on his way and he has that one great line reading: when they break into the school and he's suckered into going, he says "Dayamn" with the funniest inflection. I really wish I could say that I'll never see Step Up again, but all someone needs to say is Channing Tatum and I'm like, "What time?"

Who Me?

Yes, you!

Five Song Friday

It's simple. Every Friday, I pick five songs that I've been loving for the past week. They don't have to be new songs or even singles from the album...the only requirement is that they're amazing.

Ashley Tisdale "He Said She Said"
I have not been able to get this song out of my head all week. La Tisdale's debut album Headstrong is pretty much a disaster from start to finish, but "He Said She Said" almost makes up for it.



Mary J. Blige "I'm Goin' Down"
Beautiful, old standard done MJB style and utterly flawless.



Keyshia Cole featuring P. Diddy "Last Night"
I'm just starting to get into Keyshia Cole and this hit single from a few months back is much better than one would expect.



Taylor Dayne "Love Will Lead You Back"
Beautiful, almost over the top, 80's ballad that I could listen to on repeat for hours. Is it weird that I really want to hear James Marsden do a cover of this someday?



Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Not only is this one of Elton John's finest and most underrated songs, but I love that fact that in this clip he's singing on The Muppet Show!

Rants on I'm Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Before I get into my ranting, let me get something off my chest: I don't understand why Cate Blanchett has legions of fans who proclaim her to be the new Meryl Streep. What am I missing? Maybe I need to see some of her earlier work, because I haven't really been impressed with anything I've ever seen her in. I won't deny that she has talent and that she is ever-watchable, but Meryl Streep? Come on. Let's be a little more realistic. She gave a fine imitation of Katherine Hepburn and nailed the voice in The Aviator, but did all of that really add up to an Oscar-worthy performance? Blanchett had nothing to do in Babel besides lie there and pee her pants, so I can't really discredit her too much, but what was she doing there anyways? I do love her in Notes on a Scandal (especially the "Here I am!" scene), but she's outshone by Dame Judi Dench. She was fine in Elizabeth but, frankly, it didn't stand above any other Queen Elizabeth's I've seen. If you're a Blanchettphile, please tell me in the comments what I need to see of hers to be shown the way of the Blanchett.

I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007): I'm not going to be a pretentious boob and pretend I understood this movie, because I didn't. I must admit that I still love the concept of the six actors portraying different aspects of Bob Dylan, but I don't know if it actually worked. I was bored with Marcus Carl Franklin, didn't understand Ben Whishaw's section and thought Richard Gere didn't fit at all. Christian Bale was kind of interesting during his limited screentime, but had nothing to really work with.

There were two "aspects of Dylan" that took risks and, to varying extents, worked in Haynes' thesis of a film. The first is, of course, Cate Blanchett in the most exhilarating part of Dylan's life. Blanchett is definitely a breath of fresh air to the proceedings, but I don't think they were particularly helpful to the overall film or our perception of the character. For the most part, I thought that somehow Jeff Bridges in full-on Dude mode had been cast as well, for all the annoying "man" and "dude"'s she put on the end of every sentence. It wasn't until that final moment in the limo when Blanchett drops all the pretense and annoying mannerisms that I finally saw her as a part of the story and an actual character. Plus, that enigmatic smile in the final frames was simply beautiful.

I think Heath Ledger played my favorite aspect of Bob Dylan and I don't believe it's only because of his recent passing; it's genuinely a fine performance. As the actor who played Dylan in a movie biopic ten years previously, Ledger, so I've read, is portraying Dylan's homelife. I don't know if I can really explain precisely why I liked it, I just think the scene at the restaurant and the montage where he buys the motorcycle are so beautifully done that they make the performance. This section is easily my favorite because it also contains my favorite performance in the entire film: Charlotte Gainsbourg as Ledger's ex-wife. It's so subtle next to Blanchett's larger than life, scene-stealing performance that you might not think about it at first, but Gainsbourg is the emotional center of the film, offering the only true "real" person in the entire film. We understand her heartbreak when, at a party, Ledger ignores her and treats her like an unwanted guest or the aforementioned restaurant scene where she battles for her own place in the relationship. It's quite a bewitching performance and one that, given time to simmer, sticks with you in the end.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Shekhar Kapur, 2007): I can't really get excited about Elizabethan films because, to me, they all look the same and offer nothing new besides the beautiful costumes and loud art direction. The original Elizabeth was fine and everything, but nothing to really write home about. The sequel, made nine years later, is a lot more entertaining but not really in a good way. The Golden Age is written much like an average episode Desperate Housewives, with all the snarky side-glances and tossed off bitchy one-liners, and I wouldn't have minded if Kapur had intended for this to be a camp film. Instead, his direction is more aimed at historical drama and the two do not mix at all. And poor Cate Blanchett just can not catch a break in this film. She tries her best to save the sinking disaster, but she's like Velma Kelly and can't do it alone. Blanchett has her moments, but you try spouting off lines like "My bitches wear my collar!" and see how you fair. It's not easy. I'm not going to say that her Oscar nomination is completely undeserved since I liked her better than the obvious number 6 Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, but there are at least five other actresses I can think of who would have been worthier candidates.

My Ratings
I'm Not There *** 1/2
Elizabeth: The Golden Age ** 1/2

Ellen Page, Oscar Winner?

Is an Oscar win for Ellen Page really that out of the question? Sure, it seems rather unlikely with Christie and Cotillard battling it out, but crazier things have happened. The only reason I mention this potential spoiler is because I had another one of my random dreams. I was watching CNN or something the day after the Oscars and they were doing a recap of the show when all of sudden they show Ellen Page on stage giving an acceptance speech. Crazy, I know. If this actually comes true, I will drop out of school and start a psychic hotline, like Miss Cleo.

What ever happened to this woman? I used to LOVE her back in the day.

The Best Thing About 27 Dresses...

...is, of course, James Marsden. The only reason I saw 27 Dresses again last Friday was to look at him for 1 hour and 40 minutes and it was definitely worth it. 27 Dresses is a passable rom-com at best, but everytime Mr. Marsden comes on screen, he practically glows with hilarity and likeability. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but during that final scene when the camera cuts to him while Katherine Heigl was walking down the aisle, I had this big, goofy smile on my face and was practically giggling like a 13 year old girl.

And, for no other reason besides his beauty, he's a couple more pictures of Mr. Marsden.

Celebrity Photography

During the past week, both Vanity Fair and the New York Times unveiled their celebrity portfolios for the Oscar season and, for some reason, they have inspired polar opposite feelings in me. The Vanity Fair portfolio, released first, used the films of Hitchcock as an inspiration and couldn't be more beautiful. The New York Times portfolio, on the other hand, are pretty in an avant garde sort of way, but as celebrity photographs, they are horrible.

This revelation got me thinking about what the difference between "good" and "bad" celebrity photography is. I don't consider myself an expert or anything in the field, but I believe that photographing celebrity, at the very least, involves using everything you can to make the celebrity as good looking possible. The picture should revolve around them and their persona. For example, you wouldn't see Greta Garbo or Bette Davis back in the day fighting with any object or the background to be the focus of the picture; on the contrary, the photographer often concentrated just on close ups of their face or profile.

To show what I mean, here are my thoughts on various pictures from both portfolios.

Beautiful. Yummy. Tantalizing. As soon as I saw both James McAvoy and Emile Hirsch clean shaven and all gussied up in 50's fashion, I totally wished that this remake of Strangers on a Train would actually happen. I also love McAvoy's leer...so sexy.

And this is the epitome of bad celebrity photographing. What the hell was the photographer thinking with this shot. Paul Dano looks like one of those damn aliens from Signs, he is so fucking creepy. I just wish my eyes had never seen this horrific photo and that it can be erased from my mind Eternal Sunshine style.

This photo could have been all sorts of amazing, but instead of highlighting McAvoy's lovely face the bonehead photographer covers it with a shadow.

Jennifer Jason Leigh looks like such a monster here it's frightening and Keira Knightley is justifiably scared. Great homage to Rebecca.

And this is supposed to be a photograph of whom? You're guess is as good as mine. (Okay, apparently it's Jennifer Jason Leigh but there's no way you can tell through that thicket of woods).

Damn, Marion Cotillard is fine. And she is the perfect Marion Crane in Psycho. That last shot of her dead is absolutely chilling- her eyes are absolutely vacant.

In this one, Marion looks either A) constipated and trying to go or B) like she's just lost her breath from the harsh wind and she has to do an embarrassingly loud gasp to catch her breath.

Who is this distinguished older lady? I would seriously have no idea with all that hair covering her face if they hadn't put a caption underneath reading "Julie Christie."

Oh, excuse me, I didn't realize Seth Rogen had a small role in Rambo.

What a beautiful ensemble photo. Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster are looking good, Tang Wei is to die for and the ever classy Julie Christie and Eva Marie Saint are as glamorous as always.

This is probably the best of the New York Times photos, but that's really not saying much. Look what they have to work with.

Wow, they somehow managed to make the 80-something year old Hal Holbrook look 20 years older with this photograph. How on earth do you do that?

Again, who the fuck is this? (Sienna Miller, apparently, but I probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyways).

Jodie Foster is one classy broad and I love this take on The Birds. Who knew behind that rough exterior she looked so damn hot (even while being terrorized by random birds).

In Defense of Cotillard

Every year at this time, the film bloggers get out their pitchforks and begin to vilify one of the most beloved performances of the year. Last year, they went after my girl J. Hud in Dreamgirls, claiming she couldn't act and claiming all the hoopla was overblown. She got the last laugh by winning the Oscar, but that still didn't stop the nay-sayers. This year, they seem to be gunning after Marion Cotillard's immaculate work in La Vie en Rose, where she IS Edith Piaf.

So what are people saying about Cotillard, you ask? Here are some of the choice words from a few of my "contemporaries" (I use that word loosely because they are generally better than me):

Nathaniel R. at The Film Experience claims that "'Edith Piaf' has no through line, no modulated character development: she's all big moments without connective performance tissue."

Josh R. at Edward Copeland on Film is the harshest of them all, offering many choice barbs: "really more of an extended drag act with subtitles...the voice is pitched somewhere between The Lord of the Rings' Gollum and the cartoon hag in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...Cotillard's approach does not suggest anything even remotely resembling that which might be drawn from the recognizable realm of human behavior."

Glenn at Stale Popcorn claims: "Edith Piaf, as played by Marion Cotillard with an assortment of wigs and Amelie impersonations" and he hopes that "the 'omgsheISedithpiaf' campaign will run off the rails."

DL at The Cellar Door simply states: "I unfortunately can't even say the movie's only watchable for Marion Cotillard, because her irksome, overblown performance is half the reason the movie sucks."

While I respect everyone's opinion, all I really have to say "WTF?" to them. Did we really watch the same performance? I understand that the film itself was pretty much a pile of steaming crap, but Cotillard excelled in ways that the film couldn't. The film cuts across between different time periods so often and so confusingly that I really didn't understand Piaf's timeline any better than before the film. But, with Cotillard, I felt like I understood Piaf the woman. I don't know about anyone else, but I was genuinely moved at certain parts of the film and felt for Cotillard/Piaf extraordinarily. I was angry at her selfish mother in the scene in the bar before she's discovered; I was delighted for Piaf at the New Year's party when she was so excited to be around new friends and the promise of the new year; I was distraught during the scene where she runs maniacally through her house screaming for her lover Marcel; and I was about ready to cry tears of joy when the withered, shadow of her former self Piaf finds her last great hit "Non, je ne regrette rien" and is excited for the chance to perform it for everyone. She literally takes us on a rollercoaster throughout the film (one thing everyone can agree on about this performance is that it's never boring), culminating in that spectacular finale where her performance of "Non, je ne regrette rien" collides with her past, present and future. Her lip syncing is so convincing, so in the moment, that it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that Cotillard isn't actually singing.

A lot of people seem to be convinced that Cotillard overacts in the film (and to some, "overacts" is the understatement of the century). While I do see that she's loud, emotional and messy, I find that it's often for very good reasons. The life of Edith Piaf was not quiet, with just a couple of speed bumps along the way; it was extraordinarily painful with many difficult and awful memories to deal with. This woman is alive and Cotillard is simply reacting to what was happening to Piaf. Her performance is straight out of 1940's Hollywood melodrama and I don't believe it's a stretch to say that Goddesses like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford would have opted to play Piaf like Cotillard.

Let it be heard that I am generally not a huge biopic performance fan. I don't automatically go crazy when some actor or actress de-glams to play a "real" person and proclaim them the Second Coming of Christ for adopting an accent or developing facial tics. Sure, Hoffman in Capote, Witherspoon in Walk the Line and Dame Helen Mirren in The Queen all earned Diva Cup nominations from myself and were generally great performances, but did they deserve to win the Oscar? To quote Whitney Houston, "Hell to tha no!" Even among the nominees, there were generally one or two I liked better. Sonce of the year, you have to realize what a big deal it is when I find a biopic performance that I think should not only win the Oscar, but is also the best performance of the year.

Five Song Friday

It's simple. Every Friday, I pick five songs that I've been loving for the past week. They don't have to be new songs or even singles from the album...the only requirement is that they're amazing.

1. Kylie Minogue "In My Arms"
I got Kylie's latest album X a couple of months ago, but it wasn't until this past week that I really listened to it and fell in love. I don't understand why America's infatuation with Kylie has completely dissipated after "Can't Get You Out of My Head," because she is just as amazing as she was then. "In My Arms" is the best song from X, her catchiest song since the ever-fantastic "Love at First Sight".



2. Britney Spears "Why Should I Be Sad?"
I'm not ready to proclaim "Why Should I Be Sad?" the best song from Blackout, but it's certainly in the Top 3. Britney gets, surprisingly, very personal about her relationship with K. Fed and it's paints a completely different picture than the one given in the press everyday.



3. Lily Allen "Alfie"
Lily Allen is absolutely amazing. Only she could make a song about a brother who spends all day smoking pot and make it as fabulous as she does here.



4. Dschinghis Khan "Mexico"
Everyone's favorite German Disco band and their ode to the land south of the border. I have no idea what they're singing about, but everytime they launch into that stirring "Mexiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiico" chorus I fall in love with the song more and more.



5. Oasis "Wonderwall"
I'm still in my 90's music craze and this song is simply beautiful.

Random Scribblings on High School Musical

I'm not going to say that I love High School Musical, because I don't...they really are piles of crap. But, I'm not going to deny that I spend way too much time thinking about them. For example, look at a couple of hours ago when one of my friends said, "You're crazy!" and I actually thought about the scene in HSM2 where Gabriella and Troy are at the pool and he jumps in, to which she replies, "You're crazy, Wildcat!"

I need help. Britney style.

The only reason I bring this up is because A) I'm super pumped for the upcoming HSM3, which is going to be released in theaters! My friend Jill and I (who also got sucked into the juggernaut) have already made plans to go see it together so we can relish the divaliciousness of La Tisdale's Sharpay, make fun of Vanessa Hudgens and the (most likely) horrible songs and dancing, hope that Ryan comes out of the closet and admire Zac Efron. B) I was looking through my notebook and I found some random notes I took during my initial viewing of the first HSM this summer. Like I said, they're really random and I'm not even sure what some of them are alluding to at certain points, but they're pretty fun and I hope you enjoy:

~Gabriella is a nerd. Troy is a jock. Crystal clear.
~V.A. Hudgens voice is so nasally.



~Now Zac Efron is going to jerk off to her picture on his phone.
~Omg, they go to the same school!
~Why does the black kid have a basketball in class?
~God that teacher [Mrs. Darbus] is a monster bitch.

~Don't want his friends to think he's gay [For trying out for the school musical. Because that's for pussies.]
~I'm guessing Sharpay is East High's Regina George.
~I seriously doubt Zac Efron is in the same league as Shaq.
~Troy: "Sharpay is cute." Black Kid [don't remember his name and not really integral to the plot]: "So is a mountain lion, but you don't pet it."- What?!
~Wow, "Get'cha Head in the Game" is very post-modern. [This was right after my History of Broadway class, so I was still thinking in terms like that. FYI, post-modern refers to musicals that have songs that are directly tied to the plot and are usually centered on characters thoughts. Sondheim is an example.]
~Troy is very confused. You can tell by his subtle look. [sarcasm]
~Troy had basketball practice in the middle of school?

~"The list is life": Sharpay and Ryan are way too obsessive about people looking at that damn list.
~Recurring motif: One-ness between two opposite groups (Drama/basketball, Gabriella/Troy) [This is just me being an asshole. Sorry.]
~What high school has an auto shop anymore? This isn't Grease.
~Darbus is harsh? Jesus, she's practically Paula.
~Wow, Sharpay is a scenery shredder [And how]
~Omg, secret love note locker [I really took on the personality of a 13 year old girl here. I've used "Omg" and "Wow" to start off sentences waaaaay too often]
~V.A. Hudgens can not act. At all.
~Who knew one high school musical could open such a shit storm of untapped emotions.
~Omg, secret plan! [There I go again]


~This is a lame secret plan.
~Wait, now it gets better.
~I guess.
~A pep rally with a musical number? That's amazing.
~Oh God, V.A. Hudgens has a solo [Why, God, why?]
~Sure they can sing (sort of) but can Gabriella and Troy act? That's also important in a musical.
~Shapray and Ryan would be much more believable (and less creepy) if they were gay guy/fag hag and not brother and sister.
~Why are Sharpay and Ryan speaking Spanish during "Bop to the Top"? It's not a Spanish song.
~Notice that Sharpay is in the front during the last song ("We're All in This Together") [God I love that woman]

Superbowl Memories (That Don't Actually Involve the Superbowl)

2006: My friends and I are dying to go see Brokeback Mountain and make plans to see it that afternoon. Of course, a mega snowstorm hits and the roads are horrible. We decide to delay it until later in the afternoon and see if it clears up. One of my friends can't make it now because she has to work and she's pissed (we eventually saw it together a few weeks later, so it all turned out well). So, later in the day, my friend Ashley and I decide that it's "safe" to head out (there really was no way I wasn't seeing this movie). We make it there safely and finally see the movie. When the opening credits role and the title appears on the screen, Ashley leans over and, being the asshole she is, whispers, "I think that's supposed to say Bareback." When the movie ends and I'm still trying to process the film, she stands up and says, "Well, that was a little gay."

I also remember I was super pumped for the TCM premiere of Sunrise, which I had been dying to see for years. Don't ask me how I remember that...my memory is a little fucked up.

2007: I actually watched part of the Superbowl with some friends, but I wasn't interested in the game or the commercials. No, instead I was waiting for Fergie's halftime performance. Imagine my surprise when I sit through all that lame ass football and the halftime show (which, with Prince, wasn't too bad) and there was no Fergie. Let me just tell you I was irate. The cherry on top of this crap sundae was the fact that she had performed earlier during the pregame show on VH1 and I had completely missed it. While looking for a clip of her performance, I somehow stumbled upon this clip of two barechested French men singing "A Whole New World" en français.

Later on that night, while flipping through the channels on TV, my friends and I ran across one of the greatest TV specials ever on the Christian channel. The special was about this girl who wanted to become a Christian singer and was on her way to success. Suddenly, she gets sick with this incurable "blood disease" that they refuse to give a name to. She gives up on life (at one point, when her manager asks her how it's going, she replies, "Oh, I'm just sitting here...waiting to die") but, with the help of a young gentleman caller and God, she rediscovers herself and *SPOILER ALERT* beats the incurable "blood disease." *END SPOILER ALERT* The reason this was so funny was because it was the most atrociously acted piece of crap since Gigli and the dialogue was so bad it was amazing (My favorite line: "If they can put a man on the moon, why can't they cure this blood disease?").

In Order to Avoid Any Confusion

I would like to thank this lovely gentleman for his lovely comment yesterday, but I want to clear something up:

This is me

This is Brittany Snow, star of American Dreams, John Tucker Must Die and Hairspray

Sorry if my profile picture caused any confusion. And my sincerest apologies go out to that nice Argentinian who thought he was hitting on a hot chick and ended up hitting on me.