Reel Review : Fast Five

PLOT: After the events of the last film; Dominic (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) are now fugitives, and hiding out in Rio De Janeiro. After a heist goes wrong, they find themselves marked for death by a drug lord, with their only hope of escaping Brazil being to take down the kingpin before he gets to them. Meanwhile, they're also in the cross-hairs of a special FBI task-force headed by the relentless Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).

Parks and Recreation Season 3 Ep 11 : Jerry's Painting

An okay episode but still a lot of laughs. Leslie's lift in spirits from the painting of her as a goddess was great. I was starting to dislike April and Andy which really,really worried me until the moment at the checkout where Andy decided to buy what was on Ben's list. April not wanting to be adults and Andy saying they'd still do childlike fun stuff brought back the sweetness I love about them. 

Community Season 2 Ep 22: Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts

This episode was so sweet. Chang talking Shirley through her labor was such a nice way to redeem his craziness. And Britta sticking her head under Shirley's skirt....OMG that was a fantastic scene and SO hilarious. I also laughed when she scolded Shirley for drinking the Pepto Bismol and then gave her natural alternatives. Gillian Jacobs is an amazing comedic actress, and I'm really glad they've showcased that side of her, instead of the hot blonde chick character they were desperate to shoehorn her into during S1. 


I always feel like Shirley is delegated to the background, so I'm glad she got her starring episode. And I'm really glad Andre is the father and not Chang. (Secretly though, I was kind of rooting for Chang. I think this show could have made a Shirley/Chang pairing work).

The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Ep 20 : The Last Day

Wow what an insane turn of events.  I did not see the Jenna turn at all. Wow.

Poor Jenna. First she's kept in the dark about vampires, told, and then a day later is turned. 

Damon, Damon, Damon. Sigh. What shall we do with you?

I'm so glad Tyler is back. Loved the scene between him and Caroline in the tomb. The chemistry between them is awesome. 

Loved the Damon/Maddox/Matt encounter in the woods. It amused me when Damon said Matt was lucky he'd screwed up earlier because that was exactly what I was thinking at the time. Still I was glad to see Matt questioning his deception of Caroline and hinting that the Sheriff was doing the same (she's still in denial though). Looking forward to the disclosure scene next week now that Caroline knows her compulsion didn't work.

Oh my god, ELENA! That speech she gave to Stefan...maybe I cried. This is the girl I love, who's brave and loves fully, but isn't afraid to confront her very human weaknesses. She has a crazy life and she wants to be a regular girl. It was probably the one thing anchoring in the insanity that is her life and now she's lost it. Elena has definitely contemplating turning, but always because she would choose to do it. Yet, now that the choice has been taken away, she's still strong and brave and loyal and loving. I really like this girl and I'm glad to have her back.

I'm pulling for Team Katherine-Damon to save the day...now that Damon thinks he is dead man walking anyway, maybe he'll attempt some sort of suicide mission.

Glee Season 2 Ep 18 : Born This Way

Finn’s “I Gotta Be Me”… Oh Willard!!

Thanks for ruining an awesome song Warblers. For the most part, you’ve done songs that I’ve never given a shit about, but “Somewhere Only We Know”...that was personal. That genuinely got me pist.

A little confused. This is Glee… why did they just pan to an empty hallway after Kurt’s song? There should’ve been someone lurking and plotting. Because that, you know, adds plot. (Unless I missed something.)

So Quinn Cabosey was cubby-wubby tween? Not too surprising. It would have been cooler if Lauren found out that Lucy Cabosey was the JonBenet babies she competed against at Toddlers and Tiara’s, but whatever. I wish she got made fun of more before she became “an inspiration.”

Once again… some of the best acting in the episode was the work of Jamya Mayas. She really is wonderful and adds a lovely emotional depth to the show. I always thought she did, but now that we are exploring her OCD more, we’re really seeing what she is capable of as an actress. Oh, side note, why did I recognize the actress who played the therapist?

Santana’s speech to Karofsky about being a Late Gay (or whatever she called it): awesome. Santana and Karovsky’s beretes: awesome. Everything else about that story: unnecessary.

The mash-up of “Unpretty” and “Oh So Pretty” was surprisingly good. Never really cared for either songs before, but together they were pretty good. And Dianna and Lea’s voices blended together beautifully.

Finally, the song the episode was named after kinda sucked. Was it supposed to?

Gossip Girl Season 4 Ep 19 : Petty In Pink

I dont know about yall but I saw foreshadowing ALLL over this episode, I mean the teasing, picking out ties, holding hands, "dont get handsy" lol, finishing each others sentences, Dan looking positvely charmed every time Blair insulted him. Man oh man, we are building up to something, no doubt in my mind. Dan was AWESOME in this ep, and I dont care at all how mean he was to Vanessa.

As for Serena and Blair, ugh, Serena was being OTT ugly about everything, they were so sincere in telling her the truth and apologizing. I thought Blair came off great in that fight, even when she turned cocky on Serena it still was layered with insecurity and vulnerablity, like she didnt believe it but she would make it true.

Louis was adorable, he will do just fine till we get Dair. :P

I like Charlie more than Serena at this point.

Little to no Chuck, SCORE!

Dont care about Raina and her mommy issues, but I do enjoy the little bit of Nate we get, seriously give him a storyline.

90210 Season 3 Ep 19: Nerdy Little Secrets

I liked the Naomi storyline. It's very silly, but she sells it. In less capable hands, I'd be annoyed beyond belief at the shallow over-the-top jealousy issues Naomi was sporting but dammit if she just wasn't so entertaining. And I totally thought she'd be right on that last question, so good on the writers for actually surprising me.


I'm not even sure what to make of Annie. It's like Sunset Boulevard-lite, and I can only hope it ends with her floating in a pool after poor Sally Kellerman (who is seriously slumming it) reveals herself to be the mother of the guy Annie killed out for revenge.

The Silver storyline is also stupid. I realize Adrianna hates Silver, but this is too much, and I don't see how she could stay in the group after this. I know, I know, Annie kills someone and no one cares, but you could argue it didn't really affect any of them, while Adrianna is doing something that could hurt everyone.


There's a dark cloud looming over Ivy, I can see it already. She's got a cute hot boyfriend, she's conquered her fear of water, she's got a corporate sponsor knocking on her door to sponsor a surfing career... she's happy. It's all going to go to shit, isn't it? 

Desperate Housewives Season 7 Ep 19 : The Lies Ill-Concealed

I know I should've been floored at the revelation that McCluskey helped Felicia escape, but I couldn't muster up any feeling one way or the other.

As usual, Susan has chemistry with every man but Mike, and Teri does better work opposite real actors.

I wish I could be as opressed as Lynette. Comparing a lanyard to a burka was waaaaay over the line, and stealing another woman's identity was nothing short of pathetic. Doesn't she have her own business with Renee?

I bet Marcia/Eva had a blast with their scenes, and the cake scene made me LOL. 

Parks and Recreation Season 3 Ep 10 : Soulmates

LOL forever at Kyle being Jerry's Jerry.

Leslie pulling the fire alarm, Tom cataloging his ridiculous slang (what was his word for cars -- that one finally broke me), Andy being amazed at the wonder of peaches while April was drawn to two stuffed crows, and them still being perfect for each other, Tom putting the moves on Leslie to give her hell, and cow always beating turkey made this episode awesomesauce.

But what made me happiest was Leslie's taking the initiative and asking Ben to dinner, and then going about her business once he turned her down. Similar to the way they handled Andy and April's wedding. I don't know if I'm getting the point out, but I appreciated that the situation was very straightforward, and real, and ended up as the springboard for a bunch of great stuff -- her talk with Ann, the dating profile, the "date" with Tom -- instead of them trying to wring something more trite/sitcommy out of Ben's turning her down, like having Leslie wig out and be awkward around him, or something. I don't know. I just think this show does relationships really well, is what I'm saying. 

Community Season 2 Ep 21 : Paradigms of Human Memory

This was my kind of episode. Funny, quick, random, loads of extra details and continuity nods. I can't count all the times I laughed and chuckled, but I'd have to say Jeff's montage of "taking-it-home" speeches are amazing.

Do I really mind that there was very little plot progression this episode? Not at all, because I learned so much more from the many bits and pieces that I saw this episode. Jeff's insecurity (Troy: "Ooh, does this hard-boiled egg make me look fat?" Jeff: "I only asked because it was a very small egg!"), Britta's selfish compassion ("Humanity is premiering!"), and Abed's Cape adventures... all those are little things I could have seen happening before on this show, but they have been nicely compartmentalized into bite-sized portions for this episode.

The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Ep 19 : Klaus

Thank God they finally told Jenna. Good lord. That alone makes this a worthwhile episode for me. 


Elijah was the best part about this episode. Such a wonderfully detached and melancholy performance, I loved every second of it. Also, damn, so the famous triangle reaches THAT far back? Interesting. And I feel ashamed in admitting that I saw sparks flitting between him and Elena. What can I say? This cast meshes so well together.


Elijah and Klaus as brothers and Klaus as a werewolf were unexpected twists.


I also liked the scene with Klaus-Alaric in the kitchen with Jenna and Stefan. Sara Canning did a great job with that, I thought. 


I liked when I heard the sun and moon curse was fake, if it was fixing a writer screw-up it was a good job. It makes perfect sense. I didn't even miss Caroline until I saw the previews. One of my favorites.

Modern Family Season 2 Ep 20: Someone To Watch Over Lily

"Dad's secretary once gave me a Woody.....she remembered he was my favorite Toy Story Character." Priceless.
As was Claire's reaction, I think she was about to say "Sweet Jesus."

I liked this episode. Lots of good moments - the deft switching of knife block with fruit bowl, Cam and Manny both using the word 'daunting' and of course Carmen Miranda.

Also, did Phil yell out "Son of Jor-El!" when the pan was on fire?

Glee Season 2 Ep 17 : A Night Of Neglect

I liked Brittany knowing all there is to know about cat diseases, Santana sticking up for Kurt and Blaine and verbally taking Karofsky down (at least for now), Mike's dance, and Mercedes' performance. Gwyneth's performance was decent, too. The rest of the episode was boring, disjointed filler.

I have the same complaints about this ep that I had about much of season one -- people acted out of character because the writers needed them to to advance the plot (Will and Holly are suddenly both jealous enough to endanger their relationship, despite neither being the jealous type?), events occurred just because the writers needed them to, not for any legitimate reason (the club needed to be poor again? Of course Sue hid the Cheerios money in offshore accounts. Will needed to be free to get back together with Emma? Of course Holly conveniently got offered a four-month job), and the songs seemed to be chosen for no real reason other than the producers liked them (how many of those actually fit the night of neglect theme?).

Also, while I liked that both Mercedes and Mike got a few lines about being ignored and unappreciated, I was annoyed that Tina got crapped on. Again. We barely got to hear any of her song.

Gossip Girl Season 4 Ep 18: The Kids Stay In The Picture

Ugh, why does nothing about the Chuck/Blair arc make sense? When did Blair see that Chuck had matured? When she overheard Raina dumping him for selling out Lily, similar to how he sold her out nearly a season ago? And it was really unsatisfying to see Blair kick Chuck to the curb in a way that doesn't really address the problems with how he's treated her. I think I should give up on ever seeing that moment though, sigh.

Blair and Dan continue to be totally adorable! I was hoping for more ambiguity about her feelings. It's definitely suspicious that she walked away "stunned" and then spent the week in bed, refusing to see Chuck, refusing to take Dan's call, but Leighton played it close to her chest. I can't tell, but it will be interesting to hear the interpretations both ways.

Charlie can stay, I guess. I'm curious about why she dropped out of college, why Carol was giving her and Dan the eye there at the end.

And Vanessa! They didn't even give her a relatable reason to snitch to Serena about what she overheard. Honestly, they just need to cut her loose at the end of this season, it's pretty clear they don't give a damn about her character anymore. Let Jessica do something else.

I think my favorite moment was Eric mocking Dan (and Dan smiling) that once he would have found Blair getting him included in the photoshoot to make him a more acceptable suitor repellant. But now he just finds it endearing because he liiiiiikes her, and it's too cute.

90210 Season 3 Ep 18: The Enchanted Donkey

Thought it was an ok episode.

Teddy has to be the world's luckiest guy. Everywhere he turns, some guy wants him. Also, I thought we already dealt with Teddy's issues with commitment and relationships when he was with Silver. Didn't really understand the need to bring it up again.

I'm still puzzled as to why Naomi and Max have to keep their relationship a secret. I don't think anybody really associates doing well in school with being a loser.

Ade vs Silver is boring. Ade's character has been ruined. Navid didn't dump you because of Silver; he dumped you because you became a horrible person. Now she's messing with someone's medication?

Desperate Housewives Season 7 Ep 18 : Moment In The Woods

This was a great episode. I especially loved the scene between Felicia and Paul... such powerful acting. I would have loved if they had left it at that, but it wouldn't be Desperate Housewives unless Felicia was planning something, now would it?

I'm very interested to see how this all plays out with Carlos and Bree. Hopefully we still see Andrew in the show as much as we are now. It was also good to see Lee again, for however limited it was.

Lynette almost seems to be getting what she deserves for pushing Tom to have that new job. Even so, I did feel sorry for her as she walked off the plane.

Parks and Recreation Season 3 Ep 9: Fancy Party

This was quite possibly the cutest episode of a sitcom I have ever seen. The only thing that could have made it better would have been Ben and Leslie dancing, though I don't know if that could have topped April dancing with Ron. So glad P&R is around.

Community Season 2 Ep 20 : Competitive Wine Tasting

LOVE Kevin Corrigan. His walking into class and throwing his satchel to the side cracked me up. I also loved the closeup as he talked about them being actors, not writers, as he stared in the distance.

I was surprised and pleased to see Stephen Tobolowsky,

Except for Corrigan, I think my favorite part of the ep was at the beginning as they were all talking about the electives. Love the Dean reminding people about the PA class.

Also enjoyed this line from Jeff: "It’s hard enough to find people you can stand in this life, let only someone who’s willing to stomach your imminent dementia and your present incontinence."

Abed's record scratching ap was good.

But overall, I wasn't bowled over by this ep. However, they always warrant a second viewing.

Reel Review : Scream 4

PLOT: Returning to Woodsboro to launch her new self-help book, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), once again finds herself the target of the Ghostface Killer. With the killer now stalking her niece Jill (Emma Roberts), and her group of friends, including horror fans Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), Robbie (Erik Knudsen), and Charlie (Rory Culkin), Sidney must once again team up with her old cohorts, Dewey (David Arquette), and Gale (Courteney Cox) to discover the identity of this new Ghostface before Jill and all of her friends are killed.

The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Ep 18 : The Last Dance

I was 90% sure they weren't gonna kill her but I will admit I still screamed: "OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED BONNIE! YOU BASTARDS!!"

And promptly felt like a dumbass 3 minutes later.

For me, the best parts of this episode were the Bonnie/Damon scenes and the Bonnie/Elena scenes. I only wish Caroline could have been a part of it. She's one of the powerpuff girls, too!

I really like the fact that they're bringing back the awesome Damon I've been missing for most of this season while still allowing him to evolve. This really came off in the Damon/Bonnie scenes. I think he does care about Bonnie (maybe he's even fond of her), but it's completely true (and in character) that he'd throw her under a school bus if it meant saving Elena. Maybe that will change if they become closer, but thank god they're not going the Spike route with his character. I mean they're not turning him into a care bear with fangs who randomly has some snarky lines just because he's "in love."

Matt Davis finally got to show his talent. He is great as Klaus. I do hope Klaus will leave Alaric's body without killing him. Damon's "we need to kill the REAL Klaus" line made me happy. I don't think he was very much into trying to kill "Klaus" now but would rather have the man show up in person so they can kill him. His plan was meant to save BOTH Alaric and Bonnie tonight and he did outsmart Klaus and seeing him back in form was great. The casting sides for Klaus described him as someone who can "out-Damon Damon", in this round, Damon wins. Klaus getting a bit offended when Damon told Alaric he was not impressed with Klaus so far was priceless. Both Klaus and Damon had some great lines this episode, can't wait for those two meet one another in person

And Bonnie! Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie! My love for this character keeps on growing. Along with Damon, this is the character that's evolved the most this episode. She's still not all Vampires!Yay! but her trust of the Salvatore brothers (especially Damon) was evident and seemed true and not rushed at all. I really hope this means we'll be getting more Damon/Bonnie scenes in the future. Their relationship really fascinates me and I'd love to see it grow. I know Bamon will never happen, but I can see them growing to genuinely respect and care for each other while still doing what is necessary to keep everyone alive.

Modern Family Season 2 Ep 19: The Musical Man

I loved this one. First, awesome move making Haley's SAT scores just average. I was afraid they would go that genius!SAT score, but of course they didn't. And they were so proud of her averageness too!

I'll admit I saw the mess up with the add coming the minute I saw the van, but it still made me laugh hysterically whenever I saw those people honking. And the conversation Phil had with the guy on the phone was amazing "I don't know if the carpet matches the drapes..."

I really enjoyed the Jay/his brother storyline. I have a large family and we're not very lovey/dovey affectionate but I know we all care about each other in a fun, I'm going to be mean to you sort of way. Its the way you can but nobody else can.

Rihanna Featuring Britney Spears S&M Rihmix

Nice little unexpected remix! . Overall, I like this, should be fun to see what response it gets on the radio and itunes.

Reel Review : Hanna

PLOT: Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a sixteen-year-old unlike any other. Raised by her father, a former CIA agent named Erik Heller (Eric Bana), in the wilderness, and trained to be the perfect assassin- Hanna now finds herself alone in the modern world. Meanwhile, she's being hunted by a ruthless CIA bureau chief Marissa Veigler (Cate Blanchett) who's bent on capturing the girl.

The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Ep 17 Know Thy Enemy

Wowsa! Well, I didn't see most of that coming. Yikes!

Some very nice twists from the writers. I don't even know where to start. It was just one betrayal after another. And the body count has already begun.

RIP Isobel the Human Flame. Klaus possessing Alaric. Very interesting. It would certainly seem to put a target on Alaric's back.

Isobel biting John. Katherine drugging Stefan. Matt duping Caroline and being in cahoots with Sheriff Forbes to uncover Caroline. Double Wow to that. How much did Caroline tell Matt? Since it seemed that she told him the truth about Vickie, that would mean Stefan and Damon are exposed.

The bigger questions is did she tell Matt that Stefan and Damon are not the biggest problem she has to worry about? And did she tell Matt about Tyler?

Was anyone else worried that Jeremy was going to die at the site of the witches burning? For a few minutes I thought some angry witch spirits might decide to strike him down since he was from a founding family. Though technically, I don't think the Gilberts wronged any witches.

And Hallelujah! The Salvatore Brothers finally find a human owner for their home to put a stop to the endless stream of unwanted vampire visitors.

Elena and John doing a reconciliation? Where does that leave Aunt Jenna, who went off the reservation early and wasn't heard from again?

And Luka's dead body was still lying there? Awful. I'm glad Damon agreed to bury him. I was also glad to hear that Damon tried to save Emily from the townspeople. I wish Bonnie had at least raised an eyebrow on that. I know it's nothing in the scheme of their relationship, but still.

The only thing missing was some Elijah action, and how far off can that be, since as Damon said, "We all got played." Yeah. Might be time to be thinking about reinforcements.

Bonnie is the secret weapon. But killing Klaus will kill her. Hmm. Well, now at least I'll have to update my death scorecard accordingly and recalculate my guesses.

Black Dynamite Comes To Adult Swim

Black Dynamite, the hilarious send up of blackploitation films written and directed by Michael Jai White will be living on in animated form for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The show is set to debut Spring 2012 and will follow Black Dynamite and his lively crew as they rid the world of pimps, drug dealers, and the man.

Carl Jones who co-produced The Boondocks will lend his talents while most of the actors from the film including Tommy Davidson and Kym Whitley will do voice work.

Coming Soon : Will and Jaden Smith To Star In M Night Shyamalan Sci Fi Film

The universe has such a sick sense of humor. Recently I spoke with a friend about how I wanted to see a Sci-Fi film featuring a black cast, and today comes news that Will Smith and his son Jaden would be starring in such a film. This news should make me happy until I saw that M Night Shyamalan wrote and will be directing the film ( insert facepalm) . Mr Shyamalan movies seem to get progressively worse so this news has me less than thrilled.

The film which will be produced by Will Smith's production company Overbrook Films will tell the tale of a boy who has to navigate an abandoned planet on a space ship that has crashed, on the plane with him is his estranged father. The Smiths previous film together was The Pursuit of Happyness in which Will received an Academy Award nomination. 

Performance : Rihanna feat Jennifer Nettles California King Bed

Rihanna took the stage at the Academy Of Country Music Awards tonight in Vegas with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. Rihanna made history being the first black female ever to perform at a country music event, and she and Jennifer sang California King Bed off of Rihanna's multi platinum album Loud beautifully.

Desperate Housewives Season 7 Ep 17: Everything's Different Nothing's Changed

I guess Bree is too busy in her own plot with Andrew to follow through on donating her kidney. I mean, she was all about it last episode. If there were some reason (like her alcoholism) that made her unsuitable, they should have mentioned it, because knowing that she's waiting in the wings kinda takes the urgency out of the whole Beth-is-a-vegetable thing.

I really hated Lynette. Hated her. She's manipulating Tom into doing what she wants. Despicable behavior, but I guess it's par for the course for Lynette. And she made the "I have 5 kids" comment about the bathroom -- no you don't, two of them moved out already.

Bree and Andrew are great together, and this looks like a good story for them if it lasts longer than this episode and doesn't wind up vanishng down the memory hole with Bree's kidney.


Gaby and Renee was pointless filler. This should have been scrapped for more Bree/Andrew.


We all knew Susan would get the kidney, so that all felt kind of pointless too. Although the scene with her and Paul was nice, I guess.

Why are they talking about the season finale already? How many episodes are left? I thought there would be at least four?

This was an ok episode, but I'm still not feeling any of the "end of season momentum" that I've felt in previous seasons. It all just feels like filler.

Reel Review : Insidious

PLOT: When a young couple, Josh (Patrick Wilson), and Renai (Rose Byrne) move their growing family into a new home, they become plagued by a supernatural entity that has designs on their newly comatose son.

Reel Review : Source Code

PLOT: Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), a helicopter pilot serving a tour in Afghanistan, wakes up on board a commuter train in Chicago, with his consciousness somehow transferred to another man’s body. After a few minutes, the train blows up, and he finds himself sitting in a simulation chamber, utterly alone except for an officer (Vera Farmiga) who communicates with him via video screen. He discovers that he’s now embedded in the “Source Code” and that he’s involved in a mission to somehow discover who’s behind the train bombing- with him being forced to repeatedly relieve the same seven minutes prior to the train’s destruction. Along the way, he falls in love with a fellow doomed passenger (Michelle Monaghan).