Fall TV: The CW

I noticed that a lot of the new shows I've been trying out are on The CW, so I thought I'd do a breakdown of some of The CW's fall line-up and review it.

90210



While not completely new, but hardly old news, the latest incarnation of 90210 is still fresh.

Good teen drama is hard to come by lately, and this show doesn't do much to break the mold. Having said that, the plot draws audiences in whether they want to or not. The show has covered a plethora of cliche teen issues, such as teen pregnancy, drug use, back stabbing, boyfriend stealing, and oh yeah...mental illness. There seems to be enough twist to make it watchable (i.e. Lovestruck virgins first paying for his long time crushes rehab then planning on marrying her to help raise a child he didn't birth).

Not to be outdone, the second season seems to just be warming up on all the emo goodness of growing up rich and privileged. Sexting was introduced as this seasons plot device for the yet again downfall of Annie Wilson, as if she needed anymore bad press. But this weeks episode seems to be the hour of the horrible sibling as well. With Naomi's manipulative, self-centered older sister (where to begin? Slept with Naomi's boyfriend Liam to put her in check, she's using the English teacher Mr. Matthews to look like she's not a gold digger to another suitor with money, stole another girls college essay or something like that when she was in high school) and Dixon's lack of support for Annie while she's going through a tough time is enough to make me chuck a shoe at my TV.

Hey, the whole school hates her and she committed a hit and run that killed a man. She isn't perfect but he's still her brother darn it! Finally, only after the sext was sent (anonymously by Naomi; that will teach her for leaving her wrap on the floor so Naomi's sister can frame her for the Liam thing!) does Dixon even show that he cares by punching out the dude who took the picture in the first place. Oh, and Mr. Matthews...I hate your new hairdo.

And don't get me started on my poor Silver. Dumped and ignored by her long time boyfriend (guess who? Yep, the ball of sunshine Dixon) after some douche of a new character told on her about Ethan texting her (and kissing her last season). Dixon is being a total jerk I say! Silver loves him, she chose him, and he goes and dumps her for getting a text? ARGH! BTW, the douche was there when Annie hit the guy (dun dun DUN!)

So as you can see, I'll keep watching ^_^


Melrose Place

I honestly don't know what I'm doing watching this drivel. It has an annoying couple taking the next step by getting engaged, and the neighbor publicity agent who's in love with they guy, some "sweet faced" (gag) new-in-town character, played by Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, who it turns out is a freaking psycho, a med student forced into becoming a call girl to pay her school tuition, an art thief (turns out he lived a tough life in San Bernardino before living with his rich, inattentive father), an ex-alcoholic chef, and the murder of there landlord within the first five minutes of the show.

Needless to say, it's a horrible hot mess of a car wreck.

The Beautiful Life: TBL

Now, I like the actress playing the main character. She's cute, but the leading male on the show really is not. At the most I can say he has a beautiful jaw line. No, I wanted to watch the show for Corbin Blu, who's character fittingly is trying to get a more adult career after being a success as a kid. But the whole story was dry and stale. Cliche, cliche, cliche! It seems like the whole show is a vehicle for Mischa Barton to make her comeback on TV.

Basically, Marissa Cooper is back from the dead as a washed up, model with a baby.

The Vampire Diaries


I didn't want to watch The Vampire Diaries at first. But all the talk and questions of whether I was going to check it out made me cave. Lucky for me, the show is interesting and a little endearing. I might even check out the books.

The whole story follows Elena and this Vampire dude Stefan's Eward-like obsession with getting to know her. But this isn't Twilight, Stefan's brother wants in on the action too. With a vampire-human-vampire love triangle, and Elena's witch/psychic best friend Bonnie, the show is just different enough to work, but similar enough to have a built in audience.


Will we continue this ill-fated CW romance once Grey's Anatomy and Criminal Minds resumes? I guess we'll find out next time. So be sure to tune in suckas :P

Review - Were the World Mine

Last night was the LOGO network premiere of the "queer rock musical" Were the World Mine. The legacy of queer rock musicals is a small, but strong one with the definite highlight of this genre "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

The premise of "Were the World Mine" is something that could have came right out of a YA novel, mixed with an element of Shakespeare. A small-town gay teen, Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is in love with a studdly football player. Sounds like a cliche, but it's a cliche that is true because it happens quite frequently. Falling in love with a football player is an American pasttime, it's a mixture of self-effacement and longing altogether. People can relate, and people gay or straight will relate to "Were the World Mine."

The gist of the movie is if you could make anyone fall in love with you, would you?
Is an interesting question to pose.

Recall Aladdin, when the Genie tells Aladdin his three wishes pro quos. One of them being,"I can't make anyone fall in love with you." In the fantasy world, dealing with love is a very complicated matter.

"Were the World Mine" addresses that, as Timothy uses a love potion to make the football player fall in love with him. As his relationship with the player progresses, the homophobic townspeople are up in arms about the relationship, namely said football player's girlfriend. Even the jocks on the football team are homophobic, usually teasing Timothy as a "fairy."

Well guess what? He turns into a fairy.

What's funny about the townspeople falling in love, is that it happens to everyone. Girls who were shouting out homophobic slurs quickly turn into card-carrying members of the sapphic club.

Without giving away it happens in this film, the movie is shot gorgeously. Lustrous blues, glittering silvers and dark greens make the film look like a slice right out of Fairyland. The film also adapts Shakespeare's "Mid Summer Night's Dream" which appropriates more than just that play's themes.

Although, many might say that the film is lacking in addressing the real issues of being a gay teen, and that Cohen is too good looking to actually take serious, this is all warranted. Yes, the movie glazes over real incidents of hate crimes, and pacifies the tensions of being gay in high school, but director Tom Gustafson makes the film endearing. Gustafson showers it with love and patience.

And no review of this movie would be complete, without a review of the music. The music isn't necessarily rocking as in 'Hedqig' but it does it's job of being upbeat and beautiful. The cast for the most part does the singing in the movie, and they have decent voices. Cohen's voice is clear and not overtly feminine nor masculine.
Getting the soundtrack would be a wise move. My personal favorite was "He's Gay."

The song sequences in this film are done wonderfully, like mini music videos. One visit to YouTube and you can find the majority of the songs available for listening.

Rating : B

Book Review - Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

I was very lucky to get to snag a free albeit unfinished copy of Geektastic at this years Comic Con and have a short chat with Castellucci (there may be a third installment to Plain Janes? You don't say)... as well as get a very cool personalized autograph for Corinne (it's the only one she did that day so I have to brag at our awesomeness, mine and Corinne's sheer awesomeness!) Anyway....

Geektastic is a collection of short stories put together by Holly Black (Tithe, The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Cecil Castellucci (The Plain Janes, Boy Proof) with contributions from some of the best fiction writers of today. The book offers a variety of tales with insight into the different worlds within the nerdom (Nerd + Kingdom=Miss Clever likes to mix words darn it!). It all started with Black and Castellucci entertaining the thought of a pair of star-crossed lovers containing a Klingon and a Jedi while at the San Diego Comic Con. This became the books first story "Once you're a Jedi, You're a Jedi All the Way."
Knowing that there were not many publishers willing to put out a story about a Jedi and a Klingon falling in love despite their friends not getting along Black suggests an anthology “so that we can have a home for [their] story.”
Thus, Geektastic is born!
From the awkward and alienated (“The Truth About Dino Girl,” “Quiz Bowl Antichrist”) to stories of community within geek culture (“I Never”), and even from the perspective of the high school “in-crowd” as the outsiders looking in (“One of Us”), Geektastic provides a quintessential overview of what it means to let your geek flag fly.
It does not go without saying of course that there are a few duds among the pack. “Secret Identity” is a bizarre story of a young girl who is meeting her beloved online boyfriend who thinks she is her sister at a hotel that is holding a dentist convention as well as a real superhero convention (with sidekick tryouts and all!).

While “Secret Identity” deals with a different reality Scott Westerfeld’s “Definitional Chaos” brings the reality of an online game into the real world. The story is confusing and the characters are unlikable. Maybe Westerfeld’s story makes perfect sense to others out there; it’s just not my cup of tea I suppose.
Saving the best for last is an understatement with Libba Bray’s “It’s Just a Jump to the Left.” The story is one of the best works of fiction I have read in a long time. The story centers on Leta and her best friend Agnes and their obsession with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The theme hit home right away, drawing my memory to a time when my group of friends where just as obsessed. Beyond the simplicity of connecting together in freaky unity with a bunch of weirdoes who like a strange film with no plot whatsoever (no matter what the stories Miss Shel—I mean Amy says), it’s about why the movie and the experience means so much of Leta.

The story progresses into a myriad of different themes. The most prominent dealing with loss of innocence, boys (obviously!), and dealing with a broken home as well as broken hearts. It’s a story of becoming who you will be as well as the struggle to hold on to who you were.
Geektastic, just like geek culture itself, is full of diversity in a single genre with many facets of interest and levels of loyalty to the cause (it’s that important folks); Whether you are a geek, freak, gay lit boy, supportive cheerleader girlfriend, or internet liar, nobody is safe from the title: Geek!
And it’s totally Geektastic!

Single Review - Aubrey O Day "Party All The Time."

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Who would ever want to remake Eddie Murphy's cheeseball classic "Party All The Time"? Aubrey O Day, that's who.

The former Danity Kane singer/actress has teamed up with Snl (D.Woods's cousin) to remake that 80's song. O'Day, who rose to publicity in her turn with P.Diddy's "Making the Band" was fired from the group after many clashes with P.Diddy over her image. She's no stranger to ragmags like UsWeekly and many gossip sites, and she also brews up controversy when on shows like "Wendy Williams," "Chelsea Lately" and "Hannity."

But this is not a review of Ms. O'Day's bisexuality, her political views or anything else, like everything else of "Shennantics" this is about her music.

That being said, this is not a bad single. It's what they call a "club banger" meaning in audio terms, it's thickly produced with synthesizer and early shot outs to the guest appearances. The production here is nothing entirely new, and still has remnants of the original song which makes it clear that it is a remake. Both Snl and O'Day have strong vocals that are not filler vocals, which is a relief.

Also keeping in tact with the original version is the subject matter of the song. Instead of changing the gender pronoun to "My boy wants to party all the time," it still is "My girl wants to party all the time." The song decidedly flirts with lesbian tendencies as O'Day sings "She likes those girls that are like me." O'Day is not a demure type of person, and in the club atmosphere that this song addresses it makes sense. It also helps clear up those pesky grey matters of her sexuality. O'Day can't seperate her personal life from her music.

Whatever her motives, the single is catchy.

If the single can pick up radioplay, it more than likely will be one of those singles that everyone is talking about, for better or for worse.

Rating : B

Listen to it here