AI in SA

Oh my GOD! American Idol keeps getting ridiculous. I don't see how these people get so pissed off because they're not picked. Don't they realize they're not too good?
But man oh man, yesterday's show in San Antonio was the best! I TiVo'd it and Paul and I watched it today. We paused and rewound that sucker so much!

First of all, Jasmine (the shy one) was hilarious. Those pants! Oh and how cruel was it for the camera guy to shoot her stomach and camel toe? hahaha. I kept pausing it because the tight red pants looked like burnt skin. Okay and then she walks in and is super shy...What's up with that? And surprise, surprise, she couldn't sing! But the best part of the entire segment, was her family! Oh my gosh...The sign was the best! "Jasmine's are next American Idol". hahaha. "Are" instead of "Our"! And then the gramma's (or whatever she was) comments:
The Gramma: "Simon needs to go back to..where's he from, French? Simon needs to go back to French.
Ryan S. He's British.
The Gramma: Simon needs to go back to British.

I peed! It was so hilarious. And Jasmine was really pissed off. She didn't seem shy anymore!

Then there was William Green singing "Amazing Grace". He knew damn well he couldn't sing. That was so that he could be with the cousin. But it was hilarious how he "acted" pissed off. hahaha.

And it kept getting better with Sandie Chavez, the music teacher! If she hadn't said she was singing "Black Velvet" I would've never known that's what that song was! I loved how she held her finger to her ear, as if she were wearing one of those earplug feedback thingy. Oh my gosh. I had to keep rewinding. She sounded like Fat Albert about to vomit. I laughed so hard. And then they say she's a music teacher. At least she wasn't a voice coach :)

Finally we had Jake "The Snake" Tutor. I don't know what to say about him. The moves. The singing. Hilarious.

This show is so bad you can't look away. People feel sorry for these "singers", but I don't! They have to know they can't sing. They have to!

I'm just happy they're there to entertain me.

Thanks AI. Thanks SA.

I give this episode 4 Alamos, because it was so hilarious!

American Idol and Paula video.

Okay so the big question is, was this episode of Idol, a true portrayal of the people who live in Seattle? The answer: Yes and no. You have to admit it makes for good TV to show the funky looking people who can't sing, as opposed to those who look like and sound like, previous idolites, such as Katherine McPhearwhatever her name is or Chris (yummy) Daughtry. But the funny thing is, that in some parts of Seattle (especially at my church) there really are the funny little special eds like the ones on American Idol. And although you don't want to poke fun, you have to laugh. Cuz it's funny! Plus, the people that go on Idol know they're going to be on TV, and they must have some inkling that they can't sing, so what do you expect? But I do wish they would've shown some of the contestants who weren't as funny looking and could sing and did a good job. I'm sure they didn't make for good TV though. But not all the funny looking and sounding contestants were from Seattle, they only traveled to Seattle to be on the show, so I don't think it was fair to say that Seattle had the worst singers.
I was sort of disappointed though, because it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. Some of the other places, such as Minneapolis, were a little more hilarious. With the Seattle Idol, what we got was bizarre. Not hilarious, but bizarre. And I just felt sorry for these people. That chick, with her mother (who weren't from Seattle!), was a bit strange. She really thought she was sexy singing "Dont Cha"! "The Hotness" made me die of laughter. I love how people call themselves words like "hotness" and "sexy" but haven't a clue! That software engineer guy was a bit weird. (I'm sure he was from Seattle..haha) and then we have the infamous Jonathan and Kenneth. I swear I've seen them at my church! I felt bad for Jonathan...he was funny cute. As for Kenneth.. seriously, he really did look like a lemur. It made me laugh. I'm sorry, but it did! Plus his 'tude was ridiculous.
I'm just disappointed that they didn't give the contestants who actually made it any air time. (Except for the two siblings and that be-bop guy). How am I supposed to know who to vote for if they make it to the top 12? That's what's wrong with Idol today. You get more of the funny train wrecks than the true talent. But I guess that's why I watch it! Because when it used to be just the "singing" part, I hardly gave it a chance. Bad me.
Anyway, so this Idol was painful to watch. It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. Yeah, basically some of the contestants shown truly represent Seattle, but I guess that's why I love it here so much, the diversity of the people! It's great. I'm just hoping that people watching the show realize that the "funny" horrible singers are pretty much planted to make the viewer laugh. When Idol was here, they were in Seattle for about a week and a half. Most of those days were weeding out the "bad" and looking for the talent, but of course they let the funnies go through to sing for the judges, because it makes for good TV.

I give this episode 2 sets of earplugs.



What made for great TV was watching Paula Abdul high as a kite on the local Fox station here, while they were interviewing her. It was hilarious! The woman has gone nuts and is on some sort of drug. I think that's why I'm watching this season more also, to see what the nutcase will do! Gotta love it.

Here's a hilarious video clip of Paula high on who knows what. I especially love the part after they ask her "How do you think Idol changed the world of Pop Music?"...she's actually asleep! Then she goes on to answer and slurs half the answer. It's really funny. Enjoy

Bend It Like Beckham

Okay so I have to admit, I haven't seen this movie in a few months. But since today is David Beckham day (see Blog This bloglog) I had to review this flick.

When I first heard of "Bend it like Beckham" I really wasn't sure if I wanted to see it or not (back in 2003), but after reading all the reviews, I HAD to watch it. Plus, I really dig all those Bollywood films, so I figured I'd really enjoy this flick. I was right!

What's not to love about this flick? First of all it has Jonathan Rhys Meyers in it and who doesn't love Jonathan Rhys Meyers? I mean I put up with Match Point just to watch the man! He's yummy (note to self: add him "Cute boy du jour" day). Secondly, you get to see Keira Knightley before she was on Pirates of the Caribbean and Parmindar Nargra before E.R. Quite honestly it turned out to be one of my favorite flicks!

Parminder Nagra stars as Jesminder "Jess", who lives in London and is the daughter of middle-class Indian immigrants. She, along with her family, live in the London suburb of Hounslow under the approach to Heathrow, where her Dad works. Jess lives and breathes soccer (football). She loves it so much, that every night she tells all her hopes and dreams to a giant poster of David Beckham (that yummy British soccer phenom!) that hangs above her bed. Her parents, are less than approving. Jess's mom wants her to learn how to cook an Indian dinner (meat and veg), marry a nice boy, like her sister soon will do and go to University. She just can't imagine Jess, "running around half naked in front of men". We later find out the reason her father is so against her playing soccer, is that he still remembers when he arrived in England and was not allowed to play cricket because of his race. The conflict over career paths escalates when Jess is spotted by Jules (Knightley) who invites her to join the Hounslow Harriers, a girls' football (soccer) club.

Jules introduces Jess to her Harrier coach Joe, (the yummy JRM), a young Irishman who's dreams of becoming a pro soccer player were crushed because of a leg injury. He quickly learns that Jess is positively "brilliant", and perhaps what American talent scouts are looking for. Jess must soon decide whether or not she wants to part of an all female soccer team that is willing to let her play in "real matches" which will probably tear her family apart.

The script is more deeply layered than you might expect, especially the interaction between Jess and her mother, as she tries to escape the clutches of her family. She's also conflicted in the fact that she has no faith in her soccer abilities and believes she won't ever be able to play professionally. Things get even more complicated when Jess starts to fall for Joe, which Jules is extremely upset about, since she too has feelings for Joe. This film basically chronicles the rollercoaster ride that Jess must embark on, of course leading to a happy ending for everyone.

Parminder Nagra is terrific as Jess. She amazingly portrays the wide range of emotions that her character faces throughout the film. She has this innocent look to her and a single facial expression on her face says a lot. Although there were times when Jules was NOT my favorite character, Keira Knightly really does a great job at playing her. Of course I only have wonderful things to say about Jonathan Rhys Meyers, but I may be a bit biased. One of my favorite characters, is Jules's mom, played by Juliet Stevenson . She has a lot of vivacity and plays the totally clueless mom to a tee. Jules's mom believes she's a lesbian and comes up with crazy lines like "There is a reason Sporty Spice is the only one without a boyfriend!" and "Get your lesbian feet out of my shoes". She finally decides to embrace her daughter's "lifestyle" and accept the fact that Jules may be a lesbian (even though she's not!) Good stuff, I say!

This flick's plot reminds me of a combination of several flicks. One that particularily comes to mind is indie film Double Happiness, it has that same theme of choosing whether to make your family happy or doing what makes you happy. Everyone seems to be finding themselves and accepting who they are as people. Jess's mom has to let her traditions go, while her dad realizes that just because he was snubbed does not mean Jess will be. Joe has to face the fact that he makes a great women's football coach and it doesn't make him less of a man by not coaching a male's football team. Jules' mom has to accept her daughter's lifestyle and even Jess's best friend Tony, has a secret that he's hiding from his mother, which he'll eventually have to confront.

This film made me a fan of Gurinder Chadha, who directed the cool Bollywood film Bride & Prejudice and the hilarious What's Cooking? She wrote and directed the movie which was obviously a labor of love. She does an excellent job of capturing the tension between the generation gap of Indian immigrants and their children who have grown up in England with English customs, but are still pulled toward the customs of their unseen homeland. You could definitely see this in scenes where Jess and her sister had to navigate between the two worlds and cultures.

This is a great flick worth watching over and over and should be part of your DVD collection. It also has an amazing soundtrack as well. (I do love those Bollywood soundtracks!)

I give this flick 5 soccer balls. Well worth the watch.

Rumor Has It...

The fact that Rumor Has It was on cable is probably the reason why I even watched this flick in the first place. See I'm not the biggest Jennifer Aniston fan. Nor do I care for Kevin Costner. But since I do enjoy Mark Ruffalo and the plot of the flick intrigued me, I figured why not give it a chance.

It starts off by telling us that it is "based on a true rumor, sort of". Basically, Jennifer's character, Sarah, is on her way to Pasadena to attend her younger sister's wedding. Sarah is not only bringing her fiancé, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), to meet her family for the first time, she hasn't even told them that they're engaged. I guess she doesn't tell them because she feels she has nothing in common with her family. Anyway, at the rehearsal dinner, her Grandmother (don't call her that!) Katherine (played cleverly by Shirley McLaine) lets it slip that perhaps "The Graduate" was based on her and Sarah's mother's affair with a man right before Sarah's mom was to marry her father. After much digging, Sarah fears that her family really is the inspiration for the book and the film "The Graduate", that perhaps her grandmother may be the real "Mrs. Robinson" and that the man her mother had an affair with may be her biological father. This begins her journey to finding Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), the real Benjamin Braddock of "The Graduate". Through her own crazy agenda, she finds Beau in San Francisco, where he is apparently some mogul of sorts. She confronts him and finds out he's sterile and could no way be her father.

Right around the time Beau entered the picture, wass about the time I started to lose interest. Don't get me wrong, this flick isn't bad, it really does have a clever premise and the cast isn't bad either, but after Sarah realizes that Beau is not her father, we are forced to watch have to sit there and watch an unispiring flick that resembles just about every other romantic comedy out there. The flick basically spews of girlie flick clichés at this point; they get drunk, they have sex, Beau woos Sarah and takes her out to dinner by flying her there in his plane, they attend a dance and she's all dolled up, and of course Jeff catches them and he runs off and she's so distraught over it..blah blah blah. So perhaps this is why I didn't absolutely LOVE this flick, I just enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

The problem with "Rumor Has It" is that it may be too clever for its own good. It's a movie that assumes everyone has watched "The Graduate", read the book, or is from Pasadena to understand all the inside jokes it has to offer. Plus I feel there could be more to Mark Ruffalo's character and perhaps less with Mena Suvari's, who plays Sarah's younger sister, Annie. Yes, we know she differs Sarah, but does her character have to be the Izod-wearing ditzy California blonde cliché? And Jennifer Aniston, well she's the same in EVERY single movie. I don't why people love her so much. And what was the big deal with "Derailed"? She seemed the same to me! Anyway, back to the flick...

So all in all, the flick wasn't so bad. As I said, I liked it way more than I thought I would. But it really wasn't like Rob Reiner's previous flicks such as "A Few Good Men", "Princess Bride" or "American President" and I guess wasn't meant to be. But perhaps I was expecting more, since his latest films such as "Alex & Emma" and the dreaded "The Story of Us" weren't really great at all.

I give this flick... 2 1/2 Martini's (way less than Katherine should've drank!)




images courtesy of Liz Aguirre-Huereque ©2007

The lowdown...

So you're either reading this because you read My Bloglog and linked your way here, or you just stumbled upon this, or worse, no one's even reading this and I'm just typing to myself..whichever the case may be it's my inaugural bloglog flick review.

I'm only reviewing older flicks. Those that are no longer or basically lingering in theaters, in limbo or out on dvd. I'm also using my own rating system. I'm using "stuff" instead of stars, or thumbs or tomatoes! Although they may show up on occasion. Depends on the flick.

Well enjoy the first flick review.

The End.