Thursday, December 28, 2006

Nice!

Hee!

Tonight mAc & I went to see Dreamgirls which was totally fantastic and everything I hoped it would be. Yeah, uneven & all the other things critics have said but whatever. The songs were great, the cast was great, the costumes were sensational, the choreography was outstanding and that Jennifer Hudson totally blew me away. Good on ya, girl!

What made me giggle, however, was when they panned past a building as though it was the outside of a recording studio, and I realized--hey! That's my office building! Look, there's my office! Eddie Murphy's singing like Marvin Gaye in it! Nice!

Sidenote: every time we go to the Arclight to watch movies (the only good place to watch movies in LA, with nary a screaming kid or ringing cell phone to be heard, and a pretty good restaurant & bar to boot) we see a celebrity. Usually a "Hey, it's that guy" type person, although once it was Tom Hanks. Tonight? Dita von Teese, looking fabulous in those ubiquitous, red-soled Louboutin pumps.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

side-holding, couch-shaking, milk-snarfing, tear-inducing

If you haven't figured this out yet then I'm just going to tell you: This year's Thursday night lineup of sitcoms on NBC really is Must See TV. Scrubs is a mean-yet-heartwarming, random and hilarious gem. My Name is Earl actually left me cold in it's first couple episodes, and now I love it so much I can't wait to go back to Season 1 and get caught up on everything. The Office is a shameless addiction--the second it's in TiVO I have to watch it. And 30 Rock is straight up brilliant.

There are a million things I love about these shows, but one is that they all feature some of the funniest women on TV, EVER. It's a bold statement but I'm sticking with it. Sarah Chalke, Jaime Pressley, Tina Fey, Jenna Fischer--LOVE THEM.

But also, besides being funny on their shows, they're also completely charming off camera. Check out this TV guide interview with Jenna and Tina. Absolutely DARLING. I don't want to go all stalker-y, but seriously it's stuff like this that makes me want to be all BFF with these women.

In the meantime, I'll settle for side-holding, couch-shaking, milk-snarfing, tear-inducing peals of laughter every Thursday night. You rock, ladies.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

all carried away

Golden Globe nominations are out! And while I certainly fall into that group of entertainment consumers who think a Golden Globe isn't as good a TV award as an Emmy, or nearly as good a movie award as an Oscar, it's still exciting. It's nice to see what new TV shows are getting recognition in their first season (Heroes!). Plus the movie nominations often provide clues for what we might see come Oscar time, and I put money on those nominations.

The one I'm most excited about, however, is Ben Affleck's nomination for Best Supporting Actor. SO WELL DESERVED. I'm so freaking happy for him. Like, an unreasonable amount, considering it's not like I know him personally or anything.

It's just, look. I like Ben Affleck. I would consider myself a Ben Affleck Fan. I think he's dreamy, for starters, all tall & swaggering and cute smile, plus the sharp sense of humor and rich vocabulary (yes, a good vocab is a turn on. The rest of you young lads need to read more books). I've seen him do a couple special feature things with Kevin Smith as well as a couple interviews, and he's always intelligent and self-deprecating and funny and charming. And that's just why I like him as a person.

As an actor, I find him wholly engaging. I'm not even going to point to Chasing Amy, though I could, because it's not even my favorite. I really loved his supporting role in Good Will Hunting, actually--mostly understated, but the bit about the sandwich on layaway kills me every time (and I watch that movie a lot). I thought he was the perfect hero in Armageddon, which I've also watched a lot. What? It's entertaining, and that's what movies are FOR. I thought he was viscous and funny in Dogma, I thought he was sympathetic and sweet in Jersey Girl, and I thought he was a perfect Matt Murdock in a somewhat imperfect Daredevil. His entrance in Shakespeare in Love is one of the best, ever.

But y'all, he was AWESOME in Hollywoodland. Really, really good. He delivered a multi-layered performance that was fascinating and heartbreaking. Of course it was absolutely perfect casting, but he really owned that role. I was so impressed, and have been rooting for him to get awards ever since I saw the movie.

I didn't expect to get all carried away with the Affleck love here, but whatever. I'm happy for him. He's got really tough competition in his category ( Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls, Brad Pitt for Babel, and Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg for The Departed) so I guess we'll just see how the Hollywood Foreign Press votes. (If I had to pick someone else in this category, I'm going with Wahlberg for what was, in my opinion, his Best Role Ever.)

In conclusion: Yay!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

*SLAP*

Someone recently sent me a celebrity survey asking, "Who would you want to be best friends with" (John Waters), "Who would you want to call for advice" (Amy Sedaris), and, my personal favorite,

"Who do you want to slap some sense into?"

Oh, dear. Where to even BEGIN?

Here's the thing: I am TIRED of all these young celebrity shenanigans, okay? It just WEARS ME OUT.

There is no good reason to be ridiculously malnutritioned and anorexic when you can afford a team of people to help you look thin and healthy. (This includes psychological help.)

There is absolutely no good reason to have your poorly-written, misspelled blackberry musings pasted all over the internets when you have a personal assistant handy to at least proofread some of that shit for you.

There is no good reason to be flashing your lady bits all over whatever when you can have a La Perla thong stashed in every possible purse, pocket and limo seat cushion imaginable. (And seriously, girls: WHY ARE WE NOT WEARING UNDERWEAR WITH OUR MINISKIRTS IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHEN DID THE VA-JAY BECOME THE SEASON'S MUST-FLASH ACCESSORY?)

Speaking of this horrific new "vadge as accessory" trend, there is absolutely no good reason to be whipping off your pants in public when you just get too hot while partying in Vegas, when you can send any one of your minions to Versace to pick up something more comfortable for dancing. People who are not famous don't take their pants off, for fear of becoming the latest YouTube joke, so what has to happen in a famous person's head to tell her that taking her pants off in a crowded club, with photographers, is an alright idea?

There is seriously, absolutely no good reason to get busted high or drunk on whatever driving your car the wrong way down the 134 at 4 in the morning, when even the average non-millionaire shmoe knows how to call a cab when she gets wasted. And YOU, my dear, can call town cars and limos & shit. Or, again, your assistant.

What the hell is going on? I'd accuse these morons of eating brain tumors for breakfast, Heathers-style, if I thought they ever even ate breakfast.

One theory: none of these chicks have positive female role models in their lives, clearly. They have Paris effing Hilton, which is 6 different kinds of SAD right there.

What they need, is one big sister each. At least one person in their lives to say the things every girl needs to hear from time to time. Like, "Don't call that guy." Or, "Ignore that bitch, she sucks and only wants to make you look bad so she looks better." Or, "Let's eat something delicious and not worry about our asses." Or, "Let's get blow-outs before hitting the premier so our hair doesn't look all stringy." Or, "Give me that blackberry." Or, apparently, "Ooh, honey, put your drawers back on before getting out of the limo in front of photographers, m'kay?"

I know, it's old news. Even the comedians won't touch it because it's all just old, sad news. It's just, you know. Just when you thought the wave of shenanigans was over? It begins anew. Some of these girls are actually talented, too. They have people pulling for them. Rooting for them. And they're just crapping all over whatever good will they receive.

I'm over it, girls. *SLAP* Snap out of it!