As of January 30th, here are a few of my favorite things:
1) Big Love. The best drama on television is back. When I first started watching this show, I only made it through two episodes before the whole thing made me so uncomfortable I had to turn it off. After the first season came out on DVD, I tried it again, and I got hooked. The amazing thing about the show is the way it has its characters deal with the situation they're in. One of the nice things about telling a story using television is that you should be able to really progress your characters in a natural and interesting way (cough cough--Grey's Anatomy--cough cough) and that's what this show does. To be honest, I still don't like Bill Paxton, but he's almost beside the point. This show belongs to the women. Jeanne Tripplehorn's scenes with her mother last year were so amazing, the fact that the Emmy voters didn't recognize it is a crime. Chloe Sevigny is really coming into her own this season, as her character realizes that maybe there is more to life than living the principle. She had a standout scene in the premiere, and this week, her scene in the fertility clinic was spot-on. Ginnifer Goodwin is still, pretty much, Ginnifer Goodwin, but I like how they're incorporating her into the casino subplot. Then there are the supporting players--terrific Veronica Mars alum Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie as the fierce Mama Henrickson, and my personal favorite, Mary Kay Place as Nickie's mother. What I love about the show is the question it poses, one that initially I didn't think could apply to me, and now clearly does--Does anyone have the right to say what constitutes being a family?
If you're not watching this show yet, get on it.
2) Don't Stop Believin' by Brian Raftery. A book about karaoke? How could I not love it? It's one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a long time. It's rare when a book actually makes me laugh out loud, and I love love love that in the back of the book there are appendixes that list the author's favorite karaoke songs. Bobby Brown's "On My Own?" Who knew?
3) Frost/Nixon. It's become the darkhouse of the Oscar season, when it should really be the front-runner. Of all the nominees, it's the one that's hitting hardest considering national events. I remember when I saw it on Broadway and there were forty-year-olds all around me crying their eyes out when the play reached its climax. At first, I couldn't figure out why, and then I realized that they were crying at the moment when Nixon acknowledges that what he did affected the way people think of politics, and that it might have stopped future leaders from stepping up and getting involved. They were crying because they were getting an apology from a President they felt had done them wrong. Hmm, wonder when we're all going to get our interview...
4) Sigourney Weaver in Prayers for Bobby. I hate to be the Debbie Downer, but let's all just admit it. At best, it was very good...for a Lifetime movie. Still, kudos to all the gays who gave up clubbing for the night to watch Ms. Weaver turn in a hell of a performance that in the hands of one of Lifetime's regulars (sorry, Gail O'Grady) could have been downright awful. I was only sort of half-feeling it until the last half hour, at which point I was carving an Emmy out of wood in case an injustice is done come June.
5) Channing Gray vs. Bill Rodriguez. Has anyone else noticed that these two not only seem to be disagreeing about shows lately, but they seem to be taking indirect potshots at each other? After Channing praised Awake and Sing! at GAMM, Bill Rodriguez said that it was dated and that the characters were stereotypes (he was wrong, by the way). Then, Channing dismissed The Front Page at 2nd Story in what I have to say was, even for him, one of the worst reviews I've ever read. I'm not saying the review itself was bad, obviously it was, what else is new? I'm saying it was more a commentary than a review. He was mad they didn't do Death of a Salesman, and that seemed to permeate the entire review. Bill Rodriguez then reviewed the show and called it a lot of fun, and the perfect show for 2nd Story (he was right). So why are these two on my favorite things list? Because it's nice to see there's finally more than one opinion on theater in Rhode Island, although my lucky number happens to be three.
That's all,
Kevin
1) Big Love. The best drama on television is back. When I first started watching this show, I only made it through two episodes before the whole thing made me so uncomfortable I had to turn it off. After the first season came out on DVD, I tried it again, and I got hooked. The amazing thing about the show is the way it has its characters deal with the situation they're in. One of the nice things about telling a story using television is that you should be able to really progress your characters in a natural and interesting way (cough cough--Grey's Anatomy--cough cough) and that's what this show does. To be honest, I still don't like Bill Paxton, but he's almost beside the point. This show belongs to the women. Jeanne Tripplehorn's scenes with her mother last year were so amazing, the fact that the Emmy voters didn't recognize it is a crime. Chloe Sevigny is really coming into her own this season, as her character realizes that maybe there is more to life than living the principle. She had a standout scene in the premiere, and this week, her scene in the fertility clinic was spot-on. Ginnifer Goodwin is still, pretty much, Ginnifer Goodwin, but I like how they're incorporating her into the casino subplot. Then there are the supporting players--terrific Veronica Mars alum Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie as the fierce Mama Henrickson, and my personal favorite, Mary Kay Place as Nickie's mother. What I love about the show is the question it poses, one that initially I didn't think could apply to me, and now clearly does--Does anyone have the right to say what constitutes being a family?
If you're not watching this show yet, get on it.
2) Don't Stop Believin' by Brian Raftery. A book about karaoke? How could I not love it? It's one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a long time. It's rare when a book actually makes me laugh out loud, and I love love love that in the back of the book there are appendixes that list the author's favorite karaoke songs. Bobby Brown's "On My Own?" Who knew?
3) Frost/Nixon. It's become the darkhouse of the Oscar season, when it should really be the front-runner. Of all the nominees, it's the one that's hitting hardest considering national events. I remember when I saw it on Broadway and there were forty-year-olds all around me crying their eyes out when the play reached its climax. At first, I couldn't figure out why, and then I realized that they were crying at the moment when Nixon acknowledges that what he did affected the way people think of politics, and that it might have stopped future leaders from stepping up and getting involved. They were crying because they were getting an apology from a President they felt had done them wrong. Hmm, wonder when we're all going to get our interview...
4) Sigourney Weaver in Prayers for Bobby. I hate to be the Debbie Downer, but let's all just admit it. At best, it was very good...for a Lifetime movie. Still, kudos to all the gays who gave up clubbing for the night to watch Ms. Weaver turn in a hell of a performance that in the hands of one of Lifetime's regulars (sorry, Gail O'Grady) could have been downright awful. I was only sort of half-feeling it until the last half hour, at which point I was carving an Emmy out of wood in case an injustice is done come June.
5) Channing Gray vs. Bill Rodriguez. Has anyone else noticed that these two not only seem to be disagreeing about shows lately, but they seem to be taking indirect potshots at each other? After Channing praised Awake and Sing! at GAMM, Bill Rodriguez said that it was dated and that the characters were stereotypes (he was wrong, by the way). Then, Channing dismissed The Front Page at 2nd Story in what I have to say was, even for him, one of the worst reviews I've ever read. I'm not saying the review itself was bad, obviously it was, what else is new? I'm saying it was more a commentary than a review. He was mad they didn't do Death of a Salesman, and that seemed to permeate the entire review. Bill Rodriguez then reviewed the show and called it a lot of fun, and the perfect show for 2nd Story (he was right). So why are these two on my favorite things list? Because it's nice to see there's finally more than one opinion on theater in Rhode Island, although my lucky number happens to be three.
That's all,
Kevin
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