I Don't Wanna Wait...

Today's show is:

Dawson's Creek (1998-2003)

  aka the show that gave us the future Mrs. Tom Cruise. Now keep in mind that this is not one of my favorite shows, but after watching all six seasons, I kept some notes on each one, which I will be sharing with you. While I had seen some episodes when it was still airing I never watched the show on a regular basis because it looked stupid (and it is), but yet, it's so addicting.

And I might add: if you have never seen this show, you are going to have no idea what I'm talking about. But I would recommend reading this even if you have never watched an episode of DC before just so you can understand how eye-roll inducing it can be. However, if you really, really, really want to watch this show, please be aware that I give away who dies, who dates who, who sleeps with who, who's gay, etc.

Season 1:

Let me just ask one question: was 1998 really that long ago, because the first season just seemed so outdated! A few examples:

-Dawson and Pacey worked in a video store. Yep, videos. Not a DVD in sight!
-There was one episode where they had detention and the librarian made them sort out the card catalouge. Do libraries even use those anymore? Everything is now on computer, right?
-In one show, Joey and her sister get their car stranded somewhere, so Joey goes over to Dawson's to call for help because they don't have their own cell phones!

I love how these are 18-20 year olds playing 15 year olds who talk like they're 30.

Heh. In the episode where they all have dentention, Dawson's all like, "This is so Breakfast Club" (and you just KNOW this line was coming up) and Jen says, "What's that?" Gimme a freaking break! Are you telling me sophistacted New Yorker Jen has never heard of The Breakfast Club? She does, however, remember it when Dawson explains to to her, then asks whatever became of the actors, so Dawson explains something about Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall and says the others are in television obscurity, then Pacey says something about Emilio Estevez being in those "Duck" movies and how they're classics. Hahahaha, DC! You did an inside joke. Okay, I admit, I was a little confused for, like two seconds, then of course, I was like, DUH.

Oh, and this show gives me a huge headache with all the stupid love angles. Check this out:
-Joey is in love with Dawson.
-Dawson goes out with Jen, the new girl.
-Dawson and Jen break up and Jen dates football jock.
-Dawson wants Jen back and tries to get back togehter with her.
-Joey is still in love with Dawson.
-Pacey sees Joey naked (accidently) and decides he wants to have a go with her. He asks Dawson for permission to date Joey and Dawson says yes. Then he says no. Then he says yes. Then he says no. It doesn't matter anyway, because Joey doesn't have any feelings for Pacey.
-Dawson sees Joey all dolled up and decides he loves her. (EYE ROLL!!!)
-Jen wants to try things again with Dawson, but he says no.
-Dawson wants to get in a relationship with Joey, but she doesn't think it's right.
-Jen's grandfather dies, so Dawson lets her sleep over to comfort her. They kiss the next morning, the same morning that Joey has decided she is, indeed, still in love with Dawson and has decided at the very moment when Jen and Dawson are kissing to tell him how she feels. She cries and runs away.
-Dawson tries to explain everything and they kiss. (EYE ROLL!!!)

Not to mention that Pacey has an affair with his literature teacher and Dawson's mom cheats on her dad with the anchorman. Good Lord, and that's just the first season, which was just half a season, y'all. This show seriously gives me a headache!

Season 2:

 Here are some of the plot points of the show's sophomore year:

-Dawson and Joey get together, then they breakup, then they get back together, then they breakup in the last episode of the season. They have the most boring relationship ever.

-I was confused by the timeline. The season picks up from where we last left off in season 1, and I was under the impression we were almost into summer towards the end of seasons 1 since Joey kept talking about maybe going to France for the summer. But then when S2 starts up, the kids continue to go to school and they're still sophomores....there was never a summer break. It was weird.

-Pacey gets together with Andie, the new girl in town. Andie is crazy! She sees dead people!

-Andie's brother, Jack, starts to date Joey when she and Dawson have broken up for the first time. It turns out that Jack is gay.

-Jen goes back to her bad girl ways, hanging out with resident Capeside bad girl, Abby Morgan. Abby gets drunk, hits her head, falls into the water and drowns. Good times!  Jen moves out of Gram's house, then moves back in with Jack after his father has decided to take Andie back to Providence to get her help.

-Dawson makes a movie about his life and gets it dissed from his film teacher.

-Mr. and Mrs. Leary seperate! Then reconcile!

Season 3: 

In their third season, Meredith Monroe and Kerr Smith (Andie and Jack) become regular cast memebers and I'll go through each character and what happened to them in this oh-so-pivotal-season. (Yes, that was sarcasm!)

Dawson - When we last left off from Season 2, Joey and Dawson split up with Joey never wanting to speak to Dawson again. Well, they do eventually speak to each other, but they never get back together this season. Dawson meets two girls One is the mysterious Eve who shops at Hos R Us and has taken Abby Morgan's place as Capeside's Resident Bad Girl. (RIP, Abby). Eve just happens to pop up everywhere Dawson is: school, the strip joint, but then he learns that she doesn't really exist. (Well, her name doesn't exist). It turns out she's looking for her real mother who is really Jen's mother. They didn't really do much with that storyline, but it would've been nice to see Jen and Eve interact, although maybe it's a blessing since Eve was really annoying.

He also meets a fellow film geek, the daughter of his principal. I thought a romance might bloom between these two film geeks, but alas, it does not. Dawson does however takes down all his movie posters after having a talk about her about how movies aren't everything and he needs more passion in his life and blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, Dawson's mom starts her own restuarant and gets help from her ex-husband. Gail and Mitch realize they can't live without each other and get re-married. Awww. Oh yeah, Dawson makes a Blair Witch ripoff and it gets laughed at when he shows it for a film festival, haha!

Pacey: After learning that Andie had sex with another crazy like herself, poor Pacey becomes so heartbroken and breaks up with her. Then later on in the year he starts to lust after Joey Potter. Obviously Pacey has never read the unofficial guidebook to dating: you never date your best friend's ex. That's just asking for trouble. Of course, when Dawson finds out he isn't very happy and who can blame him, but really he should know that he's better off without the shrew. Pacey has the worst taste in women because both Andie and Joey annoy the living shit out of me.

Joey: So like I said, Joey and Pacey get together with Joey telling him she "thinks she's in love" with him. Please. The finale has the two of them sailing down to the Florida Keys on the boat Pacey has been working on named True Love. Gag me. Now what I want to know is did Joey tell her sister that she was going to be gone all summer? Alone on a boat with a boy she likes? And they're 16 years old. Like that's realistic. Plus what a shitty and selfish thing for Joey to do to leave her sister taking care of the Bed and Breakfast by herself. (Not that they had many customers, but still....) I'm also trying to understand what the hell is so special about little Joey Potter. I think my Katie Holmes hate is mixing in with my Joey Potter hate. Oh wait, I almost forgot! There's another guy in this season who is also in love with her: AJ, the college guy.

Jen: Thank God Jen wasn't involved in this stupid love triange. (Of course she couldn't be since a triangle only means three people can be involved). She starts dating Henry, the freshman football player who is infauated by her and their realationship is quite sweet. Jen kinda becomes a bitch towards the end of the season when she and Henry get into a couple of fights and I was on Team Henry for both of them. She gets mad at him because he'd rather be making out with her than hearing the details about the love life of her pathetic friends. And really who can blame him? Who gives a shit about the Dawson-Joey-Pacey triangle? I applaud you, Henry!  Then they get into a fight at prom when Henry tells Jen he's going to football camp all summer, and yeah he should have told her another time, but she was way harsh when she said she wished they'd never met and slamming the door in his face. Ouch! Luckily good old Grams comes through when she tells a story of how she never kissed a boy she liked, so the next day she found him and kissed him in front of the entire Navy. This inspires Jen to find Henry on the way to his football camp and apoligizes. So Jen does not get my hate this season.

Andie: Andie and Pacey break up after she has sex with a fellow mental patient and boo-hoo-hoo Andie is so upset when Pacey breaks up with her. Well, what do you expect moron? You CHEATED on him, duh! Speaking of cheating, Andie also gets her grubby little hands on the answer sheet to the PSATs (curtosy of Eve). She does admit to her wrong-doing later on in the season and pretty much only gets a slap on the wrist because she's usually such a good student.

Jack: Jack is still gay. He meets another gay guy who lives in Boston, I think. His name is Ethan. At first they're just friends because Jack wants to take it slow since he's never been in a gay relationship. Ethan doesn't think Jack is ready for a relationship and storms off when Jack won't kiss him! After hearing Gram's story, Jack wants to tell Ethan how he really feels but by the time he arrives in Boston, it's too late. Ethan has already gotten back together with his ex-bf. DUN DUN DUN!

Season 4: 
Here's  what happened to the sensational sextuplet in the fourth season aka their senior year. I'll do this alphabetically this time:

Andie - Andie somehow miraculously got accepted to Harvard which baffles me because she cheated on her SATs! Not only that, but for someone who got accepted to Harvard, she sure is stupid. At a party she takes Ecstasy when she's already on Xanax. Well, duh. That sure landed her in the hospital. Idiot. Believe me, I'm far from ivy league material, but damn, even I know that you don't mix street drugs with anti-depressants! I think the only reason she got in was because her family has the money and her dad is a Harvard alum. ;-) Poor Meredith Monroe got the shaft, though. They sent her packing most likely because she was the oldest of the group (she's ten years older than Michelle Williams who's the youngest of the group) and they felt like they didn't need her anymore. So Andie, who had all her requirements fulfilled went to Italy to visit an aunt for the rest of the year. At least they let her come back for graduation. They still had MM's name in the credits even after she left for some reason.

Dawson - Dawson starts a relationship with Pacey's older sister, Gretchen, who he used to have a crush on when he was a kid. Their relationship only lasts that year because they go their separate ways. Dawson has somehow miraculously been accepted to film school at USC. (Or was it UCLA? Oh, hell, I don't know). Have they ever even seen his movies? They all looked like crap to me! Dawson also starts another relationship: with a crusty old misanthropic (hey, it was Dawson's word, not mine!) man named Mr. Brookes. After Dawson and Joey take his boat out to sea to save Pacey and Jen from a storm (which they ripped off from The Perfect Storm, only with a much, much lower budget), Dawson has to repay Mr. Brookes by doing odd jobs around his house. Somehow, even though Mr. Brookes tells him what a crappy job he's doing and points out everything wrong with him, Dawson still wants to be buddies with him. I would've cried and wished a horrible death if somebody acted that way to me (like Mr. Brookes acted towards Dawson, not if somebody wanted to be friends with me). Dawson soon discovers that back in the day Mr. Brookes used to be a film director, so of course we have an instant bond. Mr. Brookes starts a little somethin' somethin' with Grams and when he's on his deathbed (oh, come on, you knew it was going to happen), Andy Griffith comes to see him! Well, he wasn't playing himself, but it was Andy Griffith! And last but not least, Dawson gets a new baby sister named Lillian, who is named after Joey's mother. Which makes me wonder: if Lillian Potter is the name of Joey's mother and the name of Harry's (as in Boy Wizard Harry) mother (I'm guessing that Lily is short for Lillian), then are Joey Potter and Harry Potter long-lost siblings??? Hahaha....that needs to be made into a fanfiction, if it hasn't already.

Jack - Yep, Jack is still gay. He starts his first real relationship with another boy this year. Tobey looks like he could be the love child of Clay Aiken and Anthony Rapp.

Jen - At the beginning of the season, we find out that Henry has broken up with Jen over e-mail. This makes no sense to me because one minute he's fawning over her, and the next he's broken up with her over e-mail. Obviously Michael Pitt had other engagements because we don't even see Henry in any other episodes, so there's no real closure to this relationship. Jen doesn't really have that much to do this season. Her one big storyline was seeing a psychiatrist, and going back to New York to face her father who she hasn't seen in a long time. An old acquaintance of hers, Drue Valentine, is now living in Capeside and he's pretty much taken Abby Morgan's place as being the the town's shit stirrer. Oh, and I can't forget the part where Jen and Jack (the gay one, remember?) almost have sex when they get drunk on a ski trip. Ha!

Joey - Joey and Pacey make sweet, romantic love by firelight in a romantic inn surrounded by snow. :::cue string quartet:::: I almost threw up from the excessive fluffy fluffiness. Of course, by the end of the year they have broken up because Joey has been accepted to Worthington (never heard of it), and Pacey has been accepted...a job on a yacht in the Caribbean. They have a pretty nasty fight during their prom (which was on a yacht and looked pretty cool, if I do say so myself). But of course we know these two kids are meant together and they will get back together. (Hey, I might haven't seen the rest of the series, but I do know they end up together!)

Pacey - Pacey graduates from CHS! Aww, I'm so proud of him. I even got a little tear in my eye when his name was called during the graduation ceremony. Oh, shut up! Pacey and Dawson slowly become friends again this season. He and Joey have the most obnoxious PDA at school. Dude, nobody wants to see you sucking your girlfriend in the middle of the crowded hall! Pacey and Joey somehow miraculously win the school's Cutest Couple, when we ALL know that Jen and Jack are the Cutest Couple. (So what if he's gay? They're still a Cute Couple!) 

Season 5:
In this season, the gang head to Boston to start their new lives as college students (well, except for Pacey). This is a year of change for our beloved Creekers!

Dawson - Dawson probably goes through the most transformation out of all the characters. Here is what happens to him in the course of one year: 1) His dad dies. On the way home from the store, Mitch Leery gets in the car accident. Dawson blames himself because he was home and Mitch had to go to the store because they ran out of the milk. Dawson was supposed to be in L.A., so he thinks that if he wasn't there, the milk wouldn't have ran out, thus Mitch wouldn't need to go to the store. Pacey assures Dawson it isn't his fault, it's the guy who fell asleep at the wheel and ran into Mitch. Yes, technically, that guy was at fault, but maybe if Mitch hadn't dropped his ice cream cone and leaned down to get it while STILL DRIVING, he could have avoided asleep at the wheel guy. Just saying! 2) Dawson quits UCLA. After only a week of attending classes and his first day as an intern for a hot-headed director (he gets fired when he spills coffee), Dawson decides that Cali isn't the place for him and moves back East where he eventually enrolls in a school in Boston that specializes in the arts. 3)Dawson wins a film festival. Unbeknown to Dawson, his dad had entered his film about A.I. Brooke's into a film competition. 4) Dawson becomes a man thanks to Jen, if you know what I mean. 5) Dawson directs a new movie. This creepy and socially inept kid at his new school, Oliver, has written a script and wants Dawson to direct it. They do and show it in Boston and send it out to 60 different directors. Only one replies and wants to meet with them. Oliver screws up the interview, but Dawson manages to convince the director to give him a second chance, so we see him on a plane heading out to L.A. in the season finale...


Jen - Jen and Dawson start to date mid-season, but it doesn't last. They break up. At the beginning of the year, Jen meets a guy played by Chad Michael Murry! who is a suave, charismatic, smooth-talker. (I feel like I need to put an exclamation mark at the end of his name). It turns out that Chad Michael Murry! is two-timing her with another girl. Uh-oh. So Jen and the girl dump his ass. Jen also gets a gig at the radio station where she has her own show talking about relationships.


Joey - Surprisingly, Joey doesn't annoy me as much as she did in the previous seasons. I think it was because of her roommate, Audrey. (More on her later). Though by the end of the series, my Joey hate was slowly starting to creep back! Joey is attending Worthington and has a little fling with her writing professor. Okay, they don't do anything but kiss, but c'mon, that has to be the reason why her lame story titled "The Kiss" got published in the school's literary magazine! Everyone is in love with Joey again, even Chad Michael Murry! who wants Joey to tour with his band after she sang at a karaoke bar. (She sings I Want You To Want Me and sounds horrendous! She has this baby voice when she sings, ugh!) Even the creator/writer/producers love Joey more than any other character. Why? Well, not only did Joey get one show just centered around her (and none of the other young stars were in it), but the episode was where she got mugged and the credits were all serious and ominous, and did Dawson get that kind of respect when his dad died? Nooo! That episode just got the regular credits and theme song. There's still that do they or don't they love each other crap between Dawson and Joey. Do we really care? Yawn. 


Pacey - Pacey gets a job at a restaurant in Boston called Civilization. He starts as a busboy/dishwasher and works his way up to a cook until he's cooking all these elaborate meals for his friends. After the boss leaves, the restaurant is under a new management under a new boss, an older woman who puts the moves on Pacey. Pacey's girlfriend (Audrey, Joey's roommate), sees them together and is pissed at him. After Pacey sabotages a lunch the woman had planned for all these important executives, she drives him home and tries to crash her car since her career is pretty much over. Pacey manages to win Audrey back at the airport when she's flying home to L.A; he gets on the intercom and asks for her forgiveness.

Jack - You guessed it, Jack is still gay. He's invited to join a fraternity. They need him to fill a gay quota. For the first time in his life, Jack is happy that everyone accepts him as who he is. Of course, he turns into a beer-guzzler who's failing all his classes and Jen is mad at him and Toby dumps him. Not only that, but he gets kicked out of the House. Before that, when he moved in, he got his own room, but that was because one of the guys didn't feel comfortable sharing a room with him. I totally called he was gay, and what do you know, I was right! By the end of the series they're friends with the possibility of leading to more.


Audrey - Audrey is the new charater of the show. She pretty much takes Andie's place and is the antithesis of Andie. While Andie was studious and serious and a bit anal, Audrey is more laid-back and care-free and got into Worthington because she's rich. She's Joey's roommate and dates Pacey. (You'd think that be awkward, but Joey is fine with it, in facts, she encourages Pacey to chase her down at the airport).

Season 6: 
So here's what happened to the gang during the final season:

Dawson - In the premiere episode of season 6, Dawson and Joey sleep together and it seriously skeeves me out because their relationship has always reminded me of that of a brother and sister (okay, a brother and sister who seriously like each other, but still, eww!) I had spoiled myself on a lot of things that happened during the series, but I never knew that Dawson and Joey did the deed and I don't know why. I guess they were trying to please Dawson/Joey shippers, but really, are there any D/J shippers out there? Everyone seems to be a P/J shipper. Anyhoo, Dawson and Joey are a couple for like, a day, then Joey learns that he had a girlfriend and broke up with her AFTER he slept with Joey, so that didn't bode too well for them. Dawson gets back together with his girlfriend, who's an actress in some cheesy horror movie that Dawson's the assistant to the director. She's supposed to be some hot, young thing, but really, I thought she was F-U-G-L-Y. Dawson eventually breaks up with her and decides to make his own movie about his life. In the series finale, which takes place five years in the future, we learn that his indie movie has been made into a teen soap on the WB called The Creek. Hang on...if it's five years in the future, that would make it 2008 and the WB doesn't exist anymore!


Joey - Like I already said, Joey and Dawson sleep together, they fight, they break up. Yawn. And Ick. Joey's new boyfriend for the majority of the season is Eddie, played by Oliver Hudson. (He's Kate's older brother). Joey and Eddie meet in a literature class where their teacher likes to torment Joey. Oh! Right after Joey and Dawson had their fight, Joey wrote him an e-mail in the wee hours of the morning and was so tired, she didn't realize she sent a copy to everyone in her school. Oops. Her lit teacher read it aloud to everyone in her class. Ouch. At first, Joey and Eddie hate each other, but of course, like every other guy on the planet, Eddie falls for Joey's alluring charm, beauty, and brains. :::rolls eyes::: In fact, the first time they have sex, Joey misses her very important lit exam. I don't understand: she's been studying at his apartment all night (it was the only quiet place she could find), then he wakes her at six am, and they have sex. Then she goes back to sleep and misses her exam. Dumbass. So there's all this drama with Joey and Eddie, and I could really care less because I already know she's gonna end up with Pacey. (I saw the very last episode when it was aired!) Oh, and Joey finally realizes her dream of going to Paris.

Pacey - Pacey has a goatee through nearly half of the season and at first it's distracting, but it's not actually a bad look for him. It did make him look a lot older, though. So Pacey gets a broker job through Audrey's father and he becomes like Charlie Sheen in Wall Street, kinda swarmy and raking in the dough and buying all these new gadgets. He breaks up with Audrey and he and Joey almost get back together, but then Eddie comes back, so they don't...they just get back together five years later. Of course, we all know that being a chef is Pacey's true calling, so in the series finale, he has his own restaurant in Capeside. 


Jen - There's this poll over at TWoP that always makes me laugh:
Jen died, sure. But who really deserved to buy the farm?
Are you new? Dawson. - 59%
Joey, now and forever. - 13%
Faster, Pacey, die, die! - 5%
They should have put poor Jack out of his misery. - 4%
Actually, Jen totally works for me. - 17%
The "Actually, Jen totally works for me" always get a chuckle out of me. And I love that Dawson pretty much owns this poll. LOL. So here's the thing: Jen likes this guy, CJ, but CJ likes Audrey and doesn't like Jen "like that." So CJ and Audrey sleep together and Jen finds out about this and she gets pissed. But then, I can't remember how, CJ and Jen start to date and become a couple. Jen finds out that her grandmother has cancer, so they decide to move in with her mother in New York, so Grams can have the best health care offered in the country. And yes, Jen does die in the season finale. She has a baby (we don't know the father, God Jen, you are such a slut!) I totally cried when I saw the finale the first time and she was making a video for her baby. Yes, I am a sap. Someone once made a very philosophical observation that the show begins with Jen stepping out of the taxi cab when she first moved to Capeside, then ends with her death. 


Jack - Guess what? Jack is still gay. Can you believe it? He starts dating CJ's friend, whose name I never did catch, but he totally reminded me of a hobbit. You know the look: he was short and funny looking, but in a cute way. But before he starts dating Hobbit-boy, Jack develops a crush on his pop culture teacher. What is it with this show and inappropriate teacher/student relationships? First Pacey has a wild affair with his high school teacher, then Joey makes out with her creative writing college teacher a few times, and now Jack's married professor comes on to him and pretty much tells Jack that he's gay and interested in him. (Except, he doesn't actually say that). Well, the relationship doesn't go anywhere...which is kind of sad because I want some scandal, damn it! In the finale, Jack has ended up with Pacey's older brother, Doug who FINALLY comes out of the closet.


Audrey - The blurb on the Netflix envelope says that Audrey's storyline is that she becomes the lead singer in a band. While this is true, her main storyline is that she becomes a RANGING ALCOHOLIC LUNATIC! Seriously, everyone is invited to Gail's house for Thanksgiving and she gets sloshed and starts saying nasty things about everyone, then drives Pacey's new car through the kitchen in a very Full House moment. She almost over doses, then eventually goes to rehab, and there are tears and hugs galore. As for the singing, she gets invited to join Pacey's and Jack's British roommate's band and she SCREAMS, not sings the words. It's so horrible and yet people seem to like her. I don't get it...oh wait, yes I do. Because she's wearing tight tops, of course. The guys really seem to like her. Poor Audrey wasn't even in the last episode, but Joey mentioned she was on tour with John Mayer? Really? Somehow I can't see that. While I don't like his music, I don't recall hearing any screaming in his songs. Even Andie was in the last episode!

I discuss reality TV:

There's Only One Sydney Bristow

National Television Week continues with another of my favorite shows, the one that made Jennifer Garner a household name:

Alias (2001-2006)

Warning: if you've never seen the show and plan to, don't read this because spoilers abound! 


Ranking the seasons:


Season 1
Season 2
Ask any Alias fanatic which season(s) they think are the best and chances are they'll tell you it's the freshman and sophomore years and I'd have to agree with them. The show was at the top of its game, the most exciting and suspenseful in these two thrilling seasons. The show was like me electronic crack and I couldn't wait for my next dose disc from Netflix. I love these seasons so much that I got S1 for my birthday and S2 for Christmas one year! And one thing the first two seasons had that the others didn't? Will and Francie. Their absence was severly missed in the latter seasons, though it was nice to see Bradley Cooper when he came back to guest star in an episode of S3 and later in one in S5. I loved their involvement in Sydney's life and Will trying to find about about Danny's death in S1 was one of my favorite storylines. Also loved Sydney and her parents in S2. OneBigHappySpyFamily! ....Or not!

Season 3
Though not as good as the first two seasons, S3 does have some good storylines such as where the hell was Sydney for two years and the whole thing with the Covenant and Lauren pulling an Irina Derevko on Vaughn.

Season 5
Unfortunately after S3, the show had just seemed to loose its oomph and it was time to end things. However, there were a few good episodes in this season that reminded me why I fell in love with the show in the first place. I actually need to watch this season again (and I do own it on DVD, but haven't watched it yet) because the whole thing with Vaughn's "death" confused me greatly. Were Sydney and Jack in on it the whole time? Because one minute he's "dead" and the next minute he's hiding out in Siberia or whever the hell it was. Also, did anybody care about the storylines with Rachel and Tom? I know, who? The only new character I found interesting was Renee Rienne (how fun is it to say her name?) and I did love that they brought back Anna Espinosa. And Isabelle was so cute, I'm glad she got to be with her parents, but I'm so sad she's never going to meet her SpyPappy! ::sniff::

Season 4
I blame the suckiness of this season on JJ Abrams. This was the same year that Lost premiered, so I think he spent 90% of his time on his new show while neglecting Alias. I guess all his efforts working on Lost paid off since it did win the Emmy that year. But hey, I'm not complaining. I loved the first season of Lost. I can't say the same thing for S4 of Alias though. All the suspense was gone. It seemed hardly any of the shows ended in cliffhangers, everything was resolved in one show. Yawn, how boring.


Ranking the season finales:
Obviously, a show like Alias is famous for cliff-hangers (like most shows have). Here's how I'd rank them:

Season 2 ending - This ending was so talked about that even I knew what happened and this was before I started watching the show. The ending just isn't Sydney finding out Alison Doren is Francie, oh no, Sydney wakes up in some alleway in Hong Kong and soon discovers it's been two years has passed!

Season 1 ending - Turns out SpyMommy really is alive! And...will Vaughn survive? (Of course he will).

Season 4 ending - While I hate this crap about Vaughn being "Andre Micheau," I do have to admit the car crash totally took me by surprise and made me jump!

Season 3 ending - This one really wasn't a cliffhanger, hence why I have it last. She finds documents that she shouldn't have seen, papers documenting her life. Not the most interesting thing to end a season.


My Ten Favorite Episodes (in chronological order):

1 Truth Be Told (Pilot) - Ah, the two-hour episode that started it all. Sydney learns that she's been working for the enemy she thought she was fighting. Surprise! SD-6 isn't a branch of the CIA, but more of an enemy of the United States. She finds this out from her father after her fiance is killed when she tells him she's a spy. She goes to the CIA and becomes a double agent, along with her father. The story is set: it's time to destroy SD-6.

2. Reckoning, (1.6) - Three main reasons why I love this episode: 1) Charlie sings Have a Little Faith In Me as his debut song at the club he invites Sydney and Francie to. I love that song so much! Of course, that probably wasn't the best song for him to sing...ahem. Oh, poor, poor, Francie. Though Charlie cheating on her was far from the worst thing that happened to her on the show(!!) 2) Love Sydney's and Dixon's mission in the London photo gallery where Dixon poses as a wealthy buyer and Sydney sneaks into the office to retrieve an important device and the camera detects her and one of the gaurds comes back and she has to hide on top of the heating pipe...OUCH! 3)Sydney disguised as a patient in a asylum where she has to escape with John Hannah? (Jonathan from the Mummy movies!) Love it!

3. The Box Parts 1 and 2, (1.12 and 1.13)- This is a two-parter, but I'm counting it as one episode because I can! Quentin Tarantino guest stars as McKenas Cole, a former SD-6 agent who sneaks a pack of intruders into SD-6 and takes everyone hostage while locking the building down. They want the access code to the SD-6 vault. Luckily Sydney and SpyDaddy weren't there at the moment and it's up to them to save the day! (With a little help from Vaughn).

4. The Coup, (1.14) - Sydney and Dixon are sent on a mission to Las Vegas. When Sydney tells Francie and Charlie she has a business meeting in Vegas, they perk up at the idea and think it sounds like fun. And of course, they also choose to come to the same hotel Sydney's doing her spyin' at, so she has to avoid them to maintain her cover. There's one little hitch: before leaving for Vegas, she was approached by a woman who has proof that Charlie's been cheating on Francie with her and when Sydney sees that they are about to get married at a chapel, she has to stop them, so she puts the mission on hold for a few minutes. What can I say, I'm a sucker for close calls.

5. Rendevous (1.21) - This is one of my favorite episodes of Alias ever. First of all, Syd's cabaret singer disguise is one of my favorites - I thought she looked really pretty. Loved the magneta hair! And I love, LOVE,LOVE the scene where she has to rescue Will and the look on his face is so totally priceless when he realizes at that *moment* his good friend Sydney Bristow does NOT work at a bank! LOL! See, I thought the scene inBtVS when Buffy's mom learns her daughter is a vampire slayer was really anti-climatic. It was just like, "Oh, yeah, Mom, by the way, I'm a vampire slayer." And her mom is like, "Well, that's nice." Or whatever. But when Will learns the truth about Sydney being a spy? Awesome, awesome, awesome. Love the looks on Will's face when she's fighting/shooting at the bad guys and trying to save him at the same time. Hehehe! "Who are you people?" and "Seriously?" are two of the best Will Tippin lines. I love Will! The show was just never the same after he left.

6. The Passage Parts 1 and 2 (2.8 and 2.9) - It's a Bristow family vacation in India! "You know some people go minature golfing with their parents. We go to India and look for nukes." The CIA needs Irina's help in this two-parter, so she joins Sydney and Jack on their mission, much to Jack's dismay. And in true Alias fashion they get ambushed, but they manage to defeat the bad guys.

7. Phase One, (2.13) - Lots of good stuff in this episode. Love the whole plane sequence when Sydney has to hang on for dear life after shooting open the hatch. Sure, it was a little unbelieveable (at least in Alias world, but it was a thrilling scene and I was still nervous for her even though I knew she'd make it out okay). This is also the episode where the CIA takes over SD-6, tut the best part was the reveal at the end with Francie who isn't really Francie. Ooh, that was so delicioulsy creepy!

8. The Telling, (2.22) - This episode probably has the greatest female vs. female fight in all of TV history. I enjoyed the brawl between Sydney and Francie!Alison probably more than I should have! It sorta reminded me of the fight between Uma Thurman and Vivica A. Fox in Kill Bill. It gave me a little shiver before Sydney finds out about Francie's true identity and is listening to her phone message from Will when all of a sudden he's cut off. Also loved the scene when SpyMommy falls off the highrise in Mexico City and shoots her gun at the glass windows.

9. Facade, (3.15) - Ricky Gervais does a complete 180 from The Office and guest stars as Daniel Ryan, a freelance bomb maker whose bombs are impossible to defuse. He believes his brother was killed by the Covenant and wants revenge, so he has placed a bomb on a plane that has Sark and Vaughn on board (not to mention many innocent people). It so happens that it was Sydney who killed his brother when she was with the Covenant under the alias Julia Thorn. Pretty powerful episode, probably the most memorable from S3.

10. There Is Only One Sydney Bristow, (5.12) - Will returns! Anna returns! It's like an Alias reunion! Anna has injected a small explosive device into the back of Will's head. SuperSpySyd must save him! Anna offers her a deal: a page from the Rambaldi code for the bomb's deactivation device. Of course, Anna being, well, Anna, doensn't exactly keep her word and when Sydney does hand over the Rambaldi page, Anna sets the timer off. Luckily Sydney manages to save Will at the last second! At the end we learn why Anna has returned: to look exactly like Sydney. So now there are TWO Sydney Bristows!


I talk about one of my current favorite shows:

Slayers > Vampires

I love movies, but I also love TV and therefore I have decided to declare this "National Television Week" and share with you some of my favorite TV shows which I wrote about in my LiveJournal. As an added bonus, I will also post a video clip of me reminiscing about certain TV shows. Yes, Christmas has come early!

Up first?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

It took me seven months to get through what most people got through in seven years: watching all 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I began in mid-December 2004 and finished in July. (Thank you, Netflix, I couldn’t have done it without you!) I absolutely adored the show. I do wish I had watched it when it was airing, but thank goodness for DVDs and Netflix, right? So here is my little tribute to the little show that put the WB (RIP, LOL!) on the map.

By the way, if you've never seen this show, I would advise you not to read this because of a) spoilers and b) you are going to have no idea what I'm talking about! 

Oh, and if you're a Buffy fan and hate Twilight  (like moi) and have six minutes to spare, you will love this.

By the way, I've heard rumors that they're remaking this show. I think it is way too soon to be remaking this show and there's no way in hell I'll be watching it because nothing will ever come close to the original! (Even though the TV show was based off a movie...)

Ranking the Seasons:

Season 2
Season 3
To me these two seasons were the ones when Buffy was at the top of its game. Second and third seasons just simply rocked. Our favorite trio still acts like, a well, trio, Angel, Oz, and Cordelia are still with us, Spike hasn’t gotten all lovesick on us, and librarian!Giles! I did like the show better when they were in high school, although I know they can’t stay there forever. Most of my favorite episodes come from these two seasons, especially the second one. I loved Evil!Angel and his snarky comments and the Mayor from S3 was hilariously awesome. These are the two seasons that made me fall in love with the show.

Season 5
This is definitely the most emotional season of the series and I did find a few episodes difficult to watch (likeThe Body). This season is full of angst and death, and then there’s more angst and more death. But I loved the premise with Dawn being a key sent to Buffy in the form of a sister. I love it! It’s so wacky! At the end of the first episode where we learn Buffy has a sister, I was trying to rack my brain, figuring out when the hell all this came in. Did I miss an episode? Was Dawn her stepsister? Was it just some sister we had never heard of, living with their dad? I was so baffled! And I liked Glory: she freaked me out and made me laugh at the same time.

Season 4
There were some great episodes in this one (and also, IMO, the worst of the entire series: Bad Beer), but the overall season felt like a buffer season: between Spike being evil and Spike becoming part of the Scooby gang. It’s like they came up with the idea of the Initiative because they wanted Spike to have a bigger role, so then they came up with the chip in the head idea so he couldn’t hurt anyone (the exception being demons) and therefore hang out with the gang without being a danger. To me this season was all about, how can we make Spike a bigger part of the show?


Season 7
I know S7 gets a lot of flack and even though it’s not as good as the previous ones I’ve mentioned (although I would probably tie it with S4), I did enjoy the final season. I loved that they brought back the high school, though why the hell would you build the school in the same spot over the Hellmouth? Well, I guess they wouldn’t have a show if they didn’t do that! I liked the storyline of the Future Slayers and the First was creepy and I totally hated Caleb. I liked the very last episode, Chosen, but I really thought they should have made it a two hour event. It seemed like a lot of things had to be squeezed in and rushed.

Season 1
The reason I have the first reason ranked so low is that it really didn’t seem to have an ongoing plot (well, except for the Master). All the episodes seemed to have the same formula: something evil comes to town, someone (Giles, Xander, Cordelia, or Willow) gets in trouble and Buffy has to rescue them. Rinse and repeat. I really didn’t get hooked on the series with this season. Like I said, it wasn’t until the next season where I was fully addicted.

Season 6
Okay, S6. Oh, boy. Here are a few reasons why I hate S6: Spuffy, (I’ll get more into that later), hardly no Giles (I remember he was only in about three episodes at the beginning, then at the very end he came back, but his presence was definitely lacking), I really didn’t care about the Xanya ‘ship, the Evil!Willow and her magicrack was a little too much for me. And while the Nerd Trio were funny, I never really understood why Jonathan and Andrew turned evil. Okay, they were never really evil and probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into it, but I really thought at least Jonathan would have better sense than that. Oh, and I absolutely hated that scene from Gone where Buffy turns invisible and has sex with Spike when Xander is in the room. Eww, Buffy. Don’t be so clueless, Xander. I really hated Buffy in this season. Yeah, yeah, I know she just got back from heaven and blah, blah, blah, but she really annoyed me in this season! Just everything about this season makes me shudder. Truly the worst of the whole series. At least they redeemed themselves with the next season a bit.

Ranking the villains from each season:

The Mayor, S3 - The Mayor was hilarious! Best villian ever! I can see why they brought him back in S7 for that one episode where he comes back as the First.

Spike, Drusilla, and Angelus, S2 - I loved the relationship between these three, especially how Spike hated Angelus and Angelus calling Spike “roller boy” and of course weird-ass Drusilla.

Glory, S5 - I know a lot of people don’t like Glory, but like I said before, I thought she was hilarious with her narcissism and all her little minions calling her “Your Glorification” and “Almighty Glory” or whatever it was they called her. The fact that she could trade bodies with that med student creeped me out a little, especially when he didn’t tell them. Um, whose side are you on anyway, Ben?

Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew, S6 - First of all, I guess you could argue who was the real villain of S6: The Nerd Trio or Evil!Willow? Well, I’m counting it as the NT becase E!W was in only three episodes. Even though I do hate S6, I have to admit that the trio were hilarious. I remember they’re discussing villains in ficition work and Voldemort’s name comes up. Hee! But I never thought Jonathan and Andrew were really evil, Warren was really the only bad guy of the trio.

The Master, S1 - Don’t really remember too much about him, but I do remember him making me laugh a few times, so I’ll give him credit here. Plus he was a you know, a vampire, Buffy’s specialty.

Tie between Adam and Caleb, S4 and S7 - Adam bored me to death! He was so dull! Whenever he talked, I was like *yawn*, blah, blah, blah. Caleb, on the other hand, I absolutely despised his misogynist, bang-wearing, southern-drawling ass! Urgh! Hate!

My Ten Favorite Episodes (in chronological order):

1. Halloween, S2 - This is the eppy where the Trio becomes what their Halloween costumes are which they bought from Ethan Rayne’s shop. Willow becomes a ghost, Xander becomes a soldier, and Buffy turns into an 18th century girl and is helpless when they’re attacked by Spike. A very clever episode, I thought!

2. What’s My Line (Parts 1 and 2), S2 - Ah, the episode where Spike sends four assassins to finish off Buffy. The Order of Taraka reminded me of the Deadly Viper Squad, how could you not love it? The one I remember the most is the guy who disguised himself as a salesman and could turn into a million little worms. Eww. We meet Kendra, the girl who became the new slayer when Buffy was “dead” for about a minute in the last episode of the first season.

3. Passion, S2 - The very first episode of Buffy that made me cry. Jenny Calendar finds a spell for getting back Angel’s soul, all she has to do is decipher it into English on her computer disc and she’s ready to roll. Only problem is Angel finds out about this and ends up snapping her neck. A very dark episode, but wonderfully done. I felt so bad for Giles! I liked him and Jenny together.

4. Becoming, (Parts 1 and 2), S2 - Buffy and Willow find the computer disc that contains the key to restoring Angel’s soul and Willow who is been dabbing in a little bit of magic is going to try it. Drusilla murders Kendra! Buffy’s mom finds out her daughter is the vampire slayer! Drusilla turns into Jenny and messes with Giles! Willow gives Angel back his soul! But it’s too late! Buffy kills Angel! Oh, and I have to say that the first part contains the best scene ever in BTVS: Buffy running slow motion around a corner towards the library in her vinyl blue coat. They even had that in the credits, but took it out either during fifth or sixth season. Boo!

5. The Prom, S3 - Okay, I admit the only thing I remember, besides the demon dogs, is Buffy and Angel dancing to The Sunday’s cover of Wild Horses at the prom. I absolutely love that song and I love Buffy/Angel.

6. Graduation Day (Parts 1 and 2), S3 - This is probably my favorite season finale of BTVS. (It’s closely tied with Becoming and The Gift. At graduation day (hey it’s the class of ‘99! I was the class of ‘99! Yay!) the Mayor gives the commencement speech and turns into a giant snake. Luckily Buffy has tipped all the students off so they come all compared. One of my favorite fights from the series. I actually thought of this scene when I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when all the students are fighting the Death Eaters.

7. Hush, S4 - The entire town of Sunnydale goes silent when some of the creepiest demons I have ever seen on the show called The Gentlemen appear and seize everyone's voices. A human scream is the only thing that can kill them before they cut outthe hearts of seven people. Buffy and the Scoobs must come up with a plan to get rid of them without being able to speak. One of the most creative episodes. Ironically this was nominated for an Emmy for best writing. Who knew a show where there’s hardly any dialouge would get nominated for a best writing Emmy?

8. Who Are You?, S4 - A Freaky Friday episode where Buffy turns into Faith and Faith turns into Buffy.

9. The Body, S5 - The episode where Buffy deals with her mother's death. I think this is the first death in the show that isn't caused by anything supernatural; her mother died of a brain aneurysm if I remember correctly. One of the most powerful scenes is when Buffy is telling Dawn the news in Dawn's art class and the camera is outside looking in, so we don't hear them, but we just see Dawn's reaction.

10. The Gift, S5 - This one is a real tearjerker. Buffy saves her sister from the evil clutches of Glory and sacrifices herself to save the world, hence her gift is death. Awww.

Unpopular Buffy Opinions:

- I hate Spuffy. I am a Bangel shipper through and through. Their relationship in S6 just felt icky to me and the idea of Spike falling in love with a Slayer and getting a soul for her? Please. And the idea of Spike making a Buffybot for his uh, pleasure is just the sickest thing ever. Although the Buffybot did make me laugh with her naiveté.

- I like Faith and Cordelia. I don’t know the consensus about these two, but it seems most people don’t like them since Buffy doesn’t like them, but I enjoyed their characters. I liked how Faith was the antithesis of Buffy and how she called her “B” and her “Five by five” and “I got mad skills!” lines. I loved Cordy’s snobbiness and missed her when Anya took her place on the show.

- I don’t like Anya. She annoyed me. A lot. I could only handle her in small doses. Maybe I would have liked Anya better if they hadn’t made Emma Caufield a regular cast member. But her sex jokes and her ditziness got really old after awhile. And I know this is mean, but if anyone from the credits had to be killed off in the very last episode, I’m glad it was her. I didn’t want her to go in such a brutal way though!

- I like Dawn. I’ve seen a lot of Dawn hate, but I liked her. I thought the relationship between her and Buffy was really sweet. And I actually felt worse for her when she found out Joyce had died. That scene where Buffy is telling her the news was the only scene I bawled my eyes out during that eppy. And she was just a key! She’s not even Joyce’s real daughter! I have to admit I cracked up in that eppy where she screams “GET OUT,GET OUT, GET OUT!” at everyone.

- I like Riley. Okay, he was Captain America and could be dull sometimes. (He’s from Iowa, what do you expect?) But I really did like the relationship between him and Buffy, yes me, being a Bangel shipper. But if it couldn’t work out with Angel, I’d be happy with Buffy and Riley.

-I didn’t like Once More, With Feeling. Or rather, I just didn’t think it was the Best! Buffy! Episode! Ever! like everyone else seems to think. I liked the song they sang at the end (I think it was called "Through the Fire") and the people dancing around claiming that “they got the mustard out of my shirt” did make me giggle. But some of the songs went on way too long and the dancing went on even longer. I was a little bored. I was grateful that they don’t do all their episodes in musical form!

I'm a big fan of Buffy, but what show is my all-time favorite? Watch the video to find out:

The Beginning of the End

Part 2 of Top Ten Most Memorable Movie Experiences

Please refer to the post before this one to see what I'm talking about!

6.  Titanic  (December 24, 1997) My Girl had remained my favorite movie...up until the day I saw "the biggest movie of all time" with my mom. I know it's the in thing to hate this movie, but I loved it and will always love it, bad dialogue and all. I love the score, the costumes, the special effects, the cinematography, everything!! I was 17 when I saw it, pretty much in the age range that was targeted. I always thought it was cool that I was the same age as Rose and she was a redhead like me! </dork> I cried buckets towards the end...I don't think I had cried so hard during a movie since My Girl! Mom and I loved the movie so much that we saw it again with my dad on January 24th (he wasn't that impressed!), then we saw it on March 24th one final time before it left the theater. The ending is one of my favorite movie endings ever.

7.  South Park (July 9, 1999) - In July '99 I was attending "college camp" at KU and I had made friends with two other girls, Emily and Cybil. Well, some of my fondest memories are from the summer of '99 (heh) and one particular memory is when we went to see the South Park movie one Friday night at nine o'clock. Luckily Emily had a car (named Friday) and we went out to eat at Long John Silver's before seeing the movie, I remember that minor detail! Well, of course, we loved the movie and on the way home we kept quoting the movie and I swear, "Punch and pie!" became our motto for the rest of the month. (And sadly, also, for the rest of my life). You can read my review of the movie here.

8.  The Sixth Sense (March 4, 2000) - Even though this came out in August '99, I didn't see it until next March when it was re-released for the Oscar season. The reason I didn't see it when it first came out is because I hate scary movies. I had seen the trailer and I got shivers down my spine when they showed the scene where Cole and his mother are in the car and he's saying that a lady had just died and his mom says, "Oh my God, you can see her? Where is she?" And he replies, "Standing next to my window." Brrrr! It soon began to grow more and more popular and when it was nominated for six Oscars, I decided to finally go see it and find out what the fuss was all about. My friend Amanda and I went to see it that March evening at 9:20. (She hadn't seen it either). I remember being surprised that the theater was nearly full - I didn't think there would be that many people since it was re-released. You know what's really pathetic? I was scared at the first scene. I thought a dead person was going to jump out at us! I became a little tense when Vincent appeared, but after that, I relaxed and enjoyed the movie. It wasn't until the party scene where I began to feel my heart beating out of my chest for the rest of the movie. From the moment Cole is locked in that closet till the very end, I was clenching my stomach so tight and had my hands ready to reflex quickly to my eyes if I needed to! But I'm proud to say that I never had to leave the theater and I never completely covered my eyes. It turned out that I absolutely fell in love with it and it's since been one of my favorite movies since. I even called my brother the next day to discuss the movie with him. And I remember one time I was on a four hour car ride with my mom and we discussed the movie the entire ride! I even made a website about it. Yeah, I was pretty obsessed with that movie for awhile.

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 25, 2003) - My brother and I had an argument over this movie whether we should get tickets in advance or just get them on Christmas Day at noon when we planned to see it with our parents. Two days before Christmas we were doing last-minute Christmas shopping with Mom and since we were near the theater, I suggested that we get tickets for the movie. Bill scoffed and said "Nobody is going to be at the movies on Christmas!" (Yeah, right!) So we got into this huge squabble and I made a bet with him: if the theater was crowded, he would have to owe me five dollars, and if it wasn’t, then I would pay him. Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who won that bet. Luckily, Mom agreed with me and told us to get the tickets that day. On Christmas, Bill and I left at eleven (Our parents were gonna come later, so we would save seats). A lot of other people had the same idea as me and had bought their tickets in advance. We were lucky to find four seats in a good row and, big surprise, every seat was full.  I remember towards the end of the movie (or what I thought was the end!) I really had to use the facilities, but the movie just kept going! The screen would fade to black, and I'd think, "Oh, thank God," but nope, not over yet! I mean, I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but come on!

10. The Dark Knight (July 20, 2008) - This was one of those big movies I was anticipating and wasn't able to see it until the third day of its release because it was sold out the first two nights. I was spoiled even before entering the lobby of the movie theater when I overheard someone from the group of people who were coming out of the theater from seeing the movie earlier say to their friend that they couldn't believe that they killed off Batman's girlfriend. (Yeah, I know, technically she wasn't his girlfriend). But even that couldn't spoil my excitement of seeing the film, and honestly, I was glad when Rachel was killed off because she was so useless! The theater was packed and I sat next to this girl and her boyfriend, who was REALLY excited for this movie. Before the movie even started, hell, even before the previews started, he started clapping and soon the entire theater was applauding. I've never been to a movie where everyone applauds BEFORE the movie! His girlfriend turned to me and apologized, saying that he was just really excited for the movie, but I didn't mind; I thought it made for a memorable experience! You can read my review here

Top Ten Most Memorable Movie Experiences - Part 1

Sometimes when I see a movie, I can't remember anything about it the following week. That's probably why I've kept a journal with a list of all the movies I've seen in the theater since 1999. The following ten movies are ones that I remember mostly due to the whole experience of going to see them, though I did enjoy most of the actual movies too. 

I had to make this in two parts because it was too long and didn't fit when I tried to post them all together. Blogspot is so annoying sometimes! Sorry for all the extra space at the bottom - I can't seem to delete it. 

In chronological order:

1.  My Girl !!SPOILERS!!  (November 1991) - It was either Thanksgiving or the day after when I saw this with my mom and brother. It instantly became one of my favorite movies (until another tearjerker replaced it six years later). What made watching it memorable was that it was the first movie I remember not just crying during, but actually bawling my eyes out. I don't have the best memory in the world, but I don't remember ever crying during a movie before. And everytime I would wipe my tears away and be able to see the screen again, I'd start crying all over again, like when Vada comes down to Thomas J's funeral and says, "Where are his glasses? Put on his glasses! He can't see without his glasses!" Yeah, that started the waterworks again! Then I'd composed myself again, and the next scene would be Vada telling Thomas J's mother that he would be all right because her mother would take care of him. :::sobs::: I'm sure my eyes were red and puffy when we left the theater! That movie is really, really sad!

2.  Aladdin  (December 1992) - Not my favorite animated Disney movie, but what makes the experience of seeing this one so memorable was that I was going to see A Muppet Christmas Carol with my dad and brother. We had paid for our tickets and were seated with our popcorn, candy, and pop in the nearly crowded theater waiting for the movie to start. Instead, a manager came in and told us that they were having technical difficulties with the film and that everyone could either get their money back or go see another movie that was about to start. Since we were already at the movies (and I'm sure we were there in the first place to get out of our mom's hair), we decided to see another movie and that turned out to be Aladdin. Nothing like that has ever happened to me since. And in case you were wondering, we did see A Muppet Christmas Carol the following week.

3.  Jurassic Park (Summer 1993) - I was wanting to see this when the promos were out and after my brother had seen it with his friends and was telling me how great it was, that only fueled my desire to see it more and my mom took me to see it. Wow, what an experience on the big screen, especially seeing it for the first time. Now that I've seen the movie SO MANY TIMES that while I still love it, I'm not scared anymore because I know when all the scary dinosaurs are going to jump out and attack. (Though I still get nervous when the T-rex attack the kids in the jeep). But the first time you see this movie? Especially when you're a 12 year-old? It is the scariest thing in the world! And not only for me, but my mom too! I think she scared me more than the dinosaurs because she would leap in the air and grab my arm, which startled me a great deal! The scene that freaked me out the most was when "Newman" (heh) gets attacked by that little dinosaur that seemed cute and chirpy at first, then it flares out its clown collar and starts to hiss, and I'm like, "Oh, shit!" That scared the bejesus out of me!

4.  Independence Day (July 3, 1996) - This was one of the first movies that I saw on opening day. (I've now seen many movies on their opening day, that it isn't even a big deal anymore). ID4 was deemed the biggest movie since, well, I don't know, Star Wars, maybe? It was being promoted everywhere and everyone was going to see it. I mean, who doesn't want to see a movie about aliens taking over the world, especially with the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air starring in it? Well, it turned out that was the week my friend Emily, and her family were visiting  after she had moved out East a few years earlier. So Emily and I called our friend Jill and on the afternoon of July 3, 1996 my mom drove us to West Ridge 8 Theaters. We (okay, I) was so anal about getting good seats (I HATE sitting in the damn front row), so I insisted that we leave one hour early to get good seats. Well, we were the first ones there when my mom dropped us off (I guess it would probably have been more crowded at night), but it was all good because the three of us just sat and chatted and caught up on old times. Good thing we did get there early, because the theater was packed! It made for an awesome viewing experience too; the audience really got into it. Ah, there's nothing like a huge blockbuster on the Fourth of July!

5. The Fifth Element (July 1997) - This is not one of my favorite movies and I've never seen it in its entirety, but seeing it was definitely a memorable experience because I saw it in a small town in France. (I was on a tour of the country with my high school French club). I've lost my journal that I kept while I was on the trip, so I don't remember what part of France this was in, but a group of four or five of us decided it would be fun to see a movie at the cinema while in another country. (Oh, how young and stupid we were...) One of my friends assured us (from one of her friends who had been to France before) that the movie would be dubbed in English, or, at the very least, there would be English subtitles. Wrong! But before the movie started, we bought our tickets and walked into the theater. Now I don't know if this is because we were in a small town, or all theaters in France are like this, but the first thing I noticed was that all of the seats were on level ground, not the slope you see here in the States. It could be that we were just in old theater and they hadn't renovated yet, who knows. We watched the previews - all in French, of course. Most of them were for American movies; I remember one was for Men in Black and it was really weird hearing Will Smith's voice dubbed in French especially since it didn't sound like him at all. Actually it was weird to hear all the English-speaking movie stars dubbed with another voice. After the previews, the lights came on again and an employee came in wearing a box around his neck that held boxes of candies that he was selling - kind of like you see at a baseball game. I wasn't planning on buying any refreshments, so I really hadn't noticed there wasn't a concession stand. Again, I don't know if it's like this in all French/European theaters, or this was just a rare case. So the movie starts and the entire thing is in French and there are no subtitles to be found. Keep in mind we have had only one or two years of French so of course we have no clue what is happening. (And when I did see the movie a couple years later, I still had no idea what was going on!) We were so bored - a couple of my friends ended up falling asleep. Finally, in the middle of the movie, someone suggested we leave, so we did. When we returned to the hotel we were staying at, our French teacher was pissed at us because we came back after the curfew and hadn't told her where we were going. Whoops.

A '90s Classic

Pretty Woman
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Hector Elizondo, Jason Alexander
Released: 3/23/90

Oscar nominations:
Best Actress - Julia Roberts (lost to Kathy Bates for Misery)

Before I begin my review, you have to watch this hilarious YouTube video from Vh1's I Love the '90s (1990 edition) where comedians and d-list stars reminisce about Pretty Woman. It's hilarious. My favorite bit was the one about hookers generally not having as many teeth as Julia Roberts. Also, if you haven't seen the movie, it gives away pretty much the entire movie, but I'm guessing most people have seen it. It's a '90s classic, after all!

The trailer for this movie makes it look like a slapstick comedy. She's a prostitute who doesn't know how to behave in social situations and must learn how to act like a lady! He's the billionaire who can't seem to find love and ends up falling for her! Hijinx ensue!

This film does paint street walkers in a somewhat glamorous light. Now I don't know any prostitutes in real life, but I'm guessing most, if any, don't look like Julia Roberts - because if you looked like Julia Roberts you wouldn't need to be one!

Pretty Woman is not realistic at all. I'm guessing that if a hooker (even if she did look like Julia Roberts) walked into a posh hotel in Beverly Hills like the one in the movie, she would be escorted out in seconds, even if she was with one of their best clients. Also, does the $3000 that Gere offers her to be his "employee" for the week seem a little cheap to anyone else? It doesn't even seem like that much twenty years ago.

I talk about one of the most well-known scenes in the movie:

The Towering Inferno

The Towering Inferno
Director: John Guillermin
Cast: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Jennifer Jones, Fred Astaire
Released: 12/14/74

Oscar nominations:
Best Picture (lost to The Godfather Part II)
Best Cinematography (won)
Best Editing (won)
Best Original Song - "We May Never Love Like This Again" (won)
Best Supporting Actor - Fred Astaire (lost to Robert De Niro for The GodFather Part II)
Best Art Direction (lost to The GodFather II)
Best Sound (lost to Earthquake)
Best Score - John Williams (lost to Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola for The Godfather II)

Watching a movie about hundreds of people being trapped inside the world's tallest building while a fire blazes below them, it's hard not to think of the World Trade Center, especially since the novel it was based on was based on the WTC and what would happen if a fire would ever occur in a building that high. The only differences are that this fictional building is located in San Francisco, is 130-something stories, and didn't collapse. I have to admit: I kept waiting for the building to crumble. There's a bit of a prophetic line in the movie when Steve McQueen's fire marshall told Paul Newman's architect, "We were lucky we only lost 200 people; the next time it could be 10,000." Okay, yeah, maybe not that many people died in the WTC, but still a little eerie considering it was uttered 27 years before 9/11.

The fire is started by faulty wiring which is discovered by none other than a technician played by O.J. Simpson. Hmm, who wants to bet that HE started the fire? Of course the building (which is an office and residential building) has just opened and everyone is attending the grand opening on the top floor. The fire starts on the 80th floor but the owner of the building isn't too concerned with it, thinking it's just a small flame that can be controlled by the fire department and doesn't want to disturb his party.

Being that this film is very reminiscent (aside from a few dashes of Hollywood ridiculousness) of what those people in the WTC went through on September 11, it was a little hard to watch it at times because it seemed too realistic. This wasn't one of those disaster movies like 2012 where everything is so over-the-top, that you can sit back and enjoy the ride and laugh at the absurdity of everything.

I will say that I was caught off guard when one of the characters played by someone in the cast I listed above has a sudden demise. Usually you can tell who's going to live and who's going to die in these types of movies, but this one totally shocked me; I wasn't expecting it at all.

This is what I learned from The Towering Inferno:
-When constructing the tallest building in the world, never be cheap. (The owner wanted to save a few bucks and that's what ultimately caused the fire).
-If you are having an affair with your secretary, both you and your mistress will die a horrible death if there's a fire in your building.
-NEVER get in an elevator when there's a blazing inferno. What the hell were you thinking, Newman?
-Always make sure you have tanks of water on top of your building so you can put out fires. (That may have been a bit of a spoiler).

I really liked Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in this; I might have to check out more of their films.

Sara Likes This

The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
Released 10/1/10
Viewed 10/5/10

Here is an anecdote before I begin my review. Don't worry, it's related to the subject of the movie. About a year ago, my mom was telling my brother and me news about some of our cousins and each time she would tell us about one of them, we would both reply, "We know, we already read about it on Facebook." She would then go on and say, "Oh, well did you know that so-and-so is pregnant/has a new job/fill in the blank here." And again, yes, we had already in fact known this news because we both have Facebook along with our cousins who posted the news. That's one of the benefits (and perhaps also one of the downfalls) of Facebook: news can get around in seconds. Along with Facebook, I also have LiveJournal, Twitter (which I hardly use) and this blog. Who needs the newspaper when you can get the latest news with the click of a mouse?

Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, two of the best working in the business today, The Social Network is a smart and provocative drama about the founding of Facebook and how creator Mark Zuckerberg pissed off a few people who claimed he stole their idea. I don't know much about Zuckerberg except that he's worth billions of dollars and is 26, but he doesn't come off as very likable in the movie. Jesse Eisenberg plays him as someone who is socially inept, not always thinking about what he is saying and hurting people in the process, including his girlfriend and best friend who both part ways with him because he ends up embarrassing or betraying them.

Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, the one-time best friend and partner of Zuckerberg who ends up suing him. You feel bad for the guy because he's given the short end of the stick and is screwed by his friend when Mark wants to take the business in a different direction than Eduardo when he meets Napster creator Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, rounding out the cast), who comes off worse than Zuckerberg because he's bit of a sleaze. Napster was pretty awesome though; I miss getting all those songs for free!

It's difficult to know how accurate this movie is. Zuckerberg says the movie isn't, but Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea, says it is. Go figure.

While the film is mostly a drama, there were a few funny moments in it. The scene where Eduardo's girlfriend starts freaking out at him because his status says "single" reminded me of Stan and Wendy in the South Park episode about Facebook and the student who came in late to a lecture and didn't realize that Bill Gates had been giving the lecture, though I found that a little far-fetched because these are Harvard students, after all. I mean, aren't Harvard students supposed to be smart?

My first introduction to Faceback was back in 2005 or '06 when a co-worker of mine told me I should get Facebook. When she described it, it sounded a lot like MySpace, which I had at the time (only at the persistence of my younger cousin) and never used. I signed up for Facebook and didn't even use it for about a year. It got really popular in 2007 and I noticed more of my friends, co-workers, high school classmates, and family members were also using it. I'll admit; Facebook can be very addicting. I always have to check it everyday to see if anybody's commented on my status and see what's in my newsfeed. With almost 200 friends (which really isn't that many in Facebook world), it's impossible to keep up with everybody because I'm constantly pushing the refresh button for live feed.

Even if you don't have Facebook or if you're anti-Facebook, I would still recommend the movie to you. It's worth checking out.

Summer Movie Report Card

Now that summer is officially over, here is my report card for the (very few) films I saw in the theater from May-September.

Iron Man 2: C
It had its fun moments and Robert Downey Jr. was as great as Tony Stark, but it's only been four months since I've seen it and I really can't remember much about it. It suffered from sequel suckitude. Loved the first movie, but found this one to be lacking.

Sex and the City 2: C+
It went on waaaayyyy too long and I hated that they spent the entire film in Abu Dhabi and the fashion was fugly, but it did have some hilarious moments. Read my full review here

Toy Story 3: A+
Dude, it's Pixar. When has Pixar ever failed us? Usually by the second or third installment in a movie franchise, the films begin to dip low in quality, but all the Toy Story films have been great across the board. This was also the tearjerker of the summer, no doubt! Read my full review here

Inception: C+
I really, really, really wanted to like this movie because I am a fan of Christopher Nolan, but it just couldn't get into it. It was two and a half hours long (but felt longer!) and I found myself getting bored at quite a few scenes. As far as visual effects go, it gets an A++++++ because those were really cool and they looked realistic (and extra bonus points for not going down the vastly overrated 3-D road), but while it was an interesting concept for a movie, I found my attention wandering.

The Other Guys: B
Solid comedy and Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg played off each other well. The slow motion still shot of them getting drunk at the bar was pretty amazing camera work. The ongoing TLC song jokes also made me laugh because when Michael Keaton mentions something about chasing waterfalls, that was the first thought that popped in my head.

Terror on the airline

United 93
Director: Paul Greengrass
Released 4/28/06

Oscar nominations:
Best Director - Paul Greengrass (lost to Martin Scorsese for The Departed)
Best Editing (lost to The Departed)

"We have to do something; they are not going to land this plane."

United Flight 93 is different from the other three planes that were hijacked nine years ago today for several reasons: it was the only plane not to reach its target. It was the only plane that had four hijackers instead of five. It was the only plane where the terrorists waited about forty minutes before taking it over instead of right after the flight took off like the others. It was the only plane that was delayed on the ground for about forty minutes. It was also the only plane where the passengers decided to attack the terrorists.

Looking back, I wish I had seen this in the theaters, but I didn't know if I would be able to handle seeing such an emotional film. It wasn't that I thought it was "too soon" for a 9/11 movie to be made, (although I was a little surprised that two 9/11 movies (the other being Oliver Stone's World Trade Center), were released five years later), but I just didn't see how someone could make a film about such a tragic and catastrophic event without exploiting it, and, to me, it wouldn't feel right to buy a ticket to see such a movie.

However, after reading rave reviews that stated Greengrass did not exploit the event or made the movie too "Hollywood", I changed my mind. It was also a relief to know that he got permission from the family members of those aboard the plane to make this film (although in a situation like that, you would have to), so I rented the DVD when it was released. I thought it was done well and with respect and was very glad I watched it alone because I was a wreck during the last 15-20 minutes.

It's been four years since I've seen the movie (obviously I re-watched it again to write this review) and nine years since the actual event. Even though I knew the events that transpired that day and even though I had seen the movie before, I watched with anxiety and horror and my heart was pounding. The image of the second plane hitting the tower with the word "LIVE" plastered on the TV still freaks me out. (And I am quite glad I did not see that live on TV, as I was in my American history class - the irony has never been lost on me - when it occurred.)

Unknown actors were cast as the passengers of flight 93. This makes sense because if, say, Matt Damon, had been cast along with other famous faces, it would have been very distracting and would have taken the viewer out of the film. The actors met with the families of those they were portraying (there was a DVD feature dedicated to this and I would advise watching this with Kleenex handy because it is SAD) so they could learn about that person and look at photos. Families also told the filmmakers what their loved ones were wearing that day and what books or magazines they might had been reading or what snacks they might had been eating to make the film as authentic as possible in that regard. The passengers are shown doing mundane things like reading, listening to music, talking to their seatmates and their names are never uttered (except in a couple exceptions).

The movie cuts from the airliner to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) where the Operations Manager is played by the real-life Operations Manager Ben Sliney. Originally he was supposed to have a cameo as an air traffic controller, but Greengrass asked him to play himself. He also used real air traffic controllers, many of them who were there on 9/11 and he cast real pilots and flight attendants, again to give the film that authentic feel.

Now obviously the only people who knows what really happened on United Flight 93 all perished in the crash and Greengrass got all the information he had from phone calls the family members received and the 9/11 commission report and whatever other sources were available to him. We know there was a revolt and that the flight attendants were boiling hot water and finding any objects that could be used as weapons against the hijackers. In the film, it is depicted that the two terrorists who were not in the cockpit are beat to a bloody pulp, and while it would be satisfying if that were true, who knows what really happened. Also, the movie shows several of the passengers ramming the drink cart into the doors of the cockpit and trying to take the controls, but nobody knows for sure if they did reach the cockpit or not.

The movie seems so realistic sometimes (and perhaps that's a stupid thing to say since it was based on an actual event), that I felt like these were the actual people who were on the plane and those were the real terrorists and I had to keep reminding myself I'm just watching actors and while I watched the film in horror, I'm sure it didn't even compare to the horror those poor people felt on the actual United 93 flight.

This Goblet is half-full!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes
Released: 11/18/05
Viewed in theaters: 11/23/05

Oscar nominations:
Best Achievement in Art Direction (lost to Memoirs of a Geisha)

I don't know if by the time the fourth film came out, I just learned to accept the Harry Potter movies (I had plenty to bitch about with the first three!) or if this one was better than the previous three. I think it's a bit of both. Overall, I thought Mike Newell did a great job with Goblet of Fire considering they managed to squeeze a 700+ page book into a two and a half hour movie. Of course, there were some b-plots from the novel written out like the whole SPEW crusade - not that I minded since I can't stand Dobby. I find GoF to be the most movie-friendly of the book. With the three tasks for the Tri-Wizard Tournament involving dragons and mermaids and the Yule Ball, there's plenty of action to translate to the screen.

I was much happier with the characterization of Ron and Hermione this time. No Ron mugging at the camera! No Ron being afraid of EVERYTHING! The only time he whimpers is when Professor Moody, the latest DADA teacher, places that spider on his head, but that's okay, since, you know, he's supposed to be afraid of spiders. I liked that we got to see another side of Ron with his jealousy and anger at Harry and his crush on Fleur was funny, especially when she kissed him on the cheek after asking him if he helped save her sister too, and he said, "Yes, yes, I helped!"

They toned down Hermione from the last movie and this time she wasn't front and center and stealing Harry's spotlight and she was actually shown (gasp!) reading a book.

I saw the movie with my mom when I saw it in the theaters and I had to give her a little review of everything HP since her only experience with the franchise had been seeing the first movie. It was a little sad...she didn't even know who Voldemort was when I mentioned him. After we watched it, she said, "I didn't know it was going to be so scary! That dragon, that snake, those skeletons in the graveyard!" Now, personally, I wasn't scared by the movie, but it definitely takes a darker turn than the previous films. However, there are some funny moments to balance out the darkness, such as any scenes with Fred and George or Ron dancing with Professor McGonagall when she's teaching the students how to dance. I also always crack up when Harry tells Ron, "I don't know what happened last night and I don't know why" even though it's not supposed to be funny, but it made it sound like they had some funny business going on.

And, finally, a  Harry Potter  movie where the ending doesn't want want to make me gag or roll my eyes!

To date, this is my favorite Potter movie of the six that have been released.