Sex on Prom Night

My fave show ended its second season last night with the 2-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale. After a strong run of fantastic episodes the show breaks for the summer on a decidedly weak note. A cliffhanger of "Who will Meredith choose" is just stupid at this point in the show. We all know she can't leave with Derek - his wife is waiting for him at the moment. And she hasn't been with Finn nearly long enough for us to root for him - especially when we know he's gonna get hurt eventually. So why set it up this way.

The final shot of Sunday's lead-up episode would have been an incredible ending. Burke bleeding in the parking lot. Izzie cutting Denny's IVAD cord. Meredith and Derek left gazing at each other in an elevator with no resolution in sight. THAT is a season ender!!!! And one that would have ignited a fan frenzy that might have ensured that "Grey's Anatomy" will be able to survive its new Thursday night challenge against "CSI". Yep, the nut cases at ABC have decided to move my beloved show to the most competitive night in TV and position it opposite the MOST-watched show on the air! WTF?! But I digress.

In truth I am disappointed with the finale. It was limp and long-winded and lacked much of the POP! (pun intended) that makes Greys SO good. As well, I have never been a fan of the Izzie/Dennie storyline and found her whole descent into "lovesick"ness to be a train wreck beyond belief. And then I had to suffer through a prom - ok, I get the highschool overtones of the show - but a prom in a hospital? Not so cool.

Good points?
Cristina - who made me SO angry with her fear and made me cry with her eventual support. Sandra Oh rocks this character.

Alex lifting Izzie out of Dennie's bed and offering her the words she needed.

The death of Doc (the dog). I've always found the dog to be the metaphor for Derek & Meredith's love especially in the last episodes. Thus, the act of "putting it down" really worked for me.

And the sex. Yes, I am one of the few watchers that found the sex hot and good. Yes, it was irresponsible and kinda dirty - but it was SO needed in the story of these two characters. People keep wanting them to be good - but the're just so messed up. What else would you expect from a women with guy issues and a man with trust issues. I think the writers were very honest in having them hook up - that heat-of-the-moment stuff happens when emotions are f**ked up. The challenge will be what happens next.

Ah yes, next ... gotta wait till next fall.

Poseidon - movie review

I will admit to being a fan of the summer blockbuster. I will admit to being a fan of Hollywood spectacles. I will admit to being a sucker for Josh Lucas' smile.For all of these reasons I went to see Poseidon.

Now, I have never seen the original but I was hoping that this re-make of a 1970s disaster film would follow The Thomas Crowne Affair example of actually being better than the first one. Aferall, director Wolfgang Peterson brought us The Perfect Storm - so he knows water action; Troy - so he understands big budget eye-candy; Air Force One - so he gets American heroism; and In The Line of Fire - so he grasps dramatic pacing. He's also the guy that made the famous Das Boot - so I figured I was well within my rights to have high expectations for Poseidon. Ahhhhh ... if only they had been achieved.

The film takes all of the requisite elements of the genre and does them ... poorly. OK - so it's hard to be a sinking-ship film in the wake of Titanic but that shouldn't be an excuse to slack off. Although the set pieces are reasonably elaborate there never seems to be any urgency to the action. The sense of danger feels lukewarm and no genuine terror is ever supplied. Even a scene of intense claustrophic possibility is weakened by its early placement in the film as you know noone is going to die there. The film is full of underwater sequences that are likewise ruined by poor acting. Keep your mouths shut actors! You are trying to hold your breath in a freezing flood of water! OK - there is one moment where Kurt Russell does an impeccable job, but since his storyline is a direct rip-off from Armageddon it still feels like a cheat.

Perhaps the greatest flaw in the ship is the characters. Too little time is spent establishing them as anything other than archetypes so that when the action begins it is hard to care about their challenges. If less time had been spent filming Fergie's singing in the opening scenes then maybe some connections could have been made. But alas, the audience is left with nothing but a handful of charater clichés that race the rising tide with too many hysterics and not enough smarts. The women are bland, silly, and incapable. The minorities are doomed. The men are brave in that crazy way that only works in films. In the end, the survivors defy the odds (as well as some thermo-biology, physics, and literary basics) to reach safety. And then, unceremoniously, unemotionally, unsatisfactorally, the film ends. All I can say is it's a good thing I saw it on IMAX - cause that Josh Lucas is a beautiful thing.

Celling Out

I got my first cell phone today. I am officially mobile. It was a scary decision. I'm not good with contracts - especially those that involve technology that I don't fully understand. You would think that a talk-a-lot like me would be all over a cell phone but I have been resisting. But then Cathy got a new one so I was going to adopt her old one. Well, it was revealed while we were shopping for a usage plan for my adopted phone that I could get a new one for free with the same service. So, that's what I did. Now, if I can only figure out how to answer it!

Bio-Blog #9 ... Nicole

I have known Nic for 16 years now - can you believe that. I love the fact that at 30 I have friends that I have known for half my life and they are still around and as amazing as ever! The thing about Nicole is that I don't get to see her very often because whe lives out west. In fact, we recently just got back in touch after two or so years of being in communicato. The best part is that it was like we had never missed a beat. We have lived lives that are opposite in about every conceivable way but she is always there for me with the best and most undertanding wisdom. I love her to pieces.

I am ... happy,a mom, thankful for my blessings
I can ... multitask at a superheros intensity
I love ... the mountains
I will ... retire in the mountains

What is your sign? Leo
Where were you born? Lethbridge, Alberta
Where do you live now? Grande Prairie, Alberta

What has been the best place you've visited in between and why?
Our Holiday to the West Coast. When we went to the Ocean and just watched the tide come in. There is nothing like visiting the Ocean and realizing how insignificant you are in the vastness. And then looking at your children and realizing in the next moment how important you are in the vastness.

What is your favourite:
Movie: Meet Joe Black ( I know, Iknow) or The Sacketts or Spaceballs . Sorry I couldn't decide.
Book: Eragon - Right now. It changes so often . But the one I come back to the most has to be Jane Erye.
TV Show: Rick Mercer report
Drink: Ceaser

Who is your celebrity hottie of choice? Thomas Jane

If you could have lunch with anyone in the world ... who would it be and why?
Gary Larson. From The far side. I want to know if he is crazy or a genius.

How do you know Raye?
Raye moved next door to me in Grade 9. And we have been friends since.

What 3 words would you use to describe Raye?
Strong, impassioned, free-spirit

Do you have your own website? Nope.

Rocking My FanGirl

OK ... can't contain it any longer. I saw INXS in concert tonight. I want to scream - ok did that. I want to dance - ok did that. I want to jump up and down like a crazy fangirl on speed - ok did that as well. I cannot explain the joy of seeing this band in concert. They have been a FAVE band for years and my dream of seeing them perform has been in my mind since 1989. The last time INXS did a big tour it was the fall of 1997 and I missed it. And then, sadly, Hutchence was dead 3 weeks later and INXS was no more. But in the summer of 2005 we got "Rockstar:INXS" on TV and a guilty pleasure became the star-making machine for JD Fortune (a maritime boy no less) and INXS was back.

So tonight there was me and 5 galpals in the nosebleed section of the Metro Centre stands to take in the show. Really, my behaviour was completely front row fan. I almost thought I was going to fall over on the row in front of me. SOOOOOO good. The older songs played much better as they have the history behind them. And although I was never JD's biggest fan on the show - he sells it on stage. The man is in love with being a rockstar. He has gotten to the point where his confidence has become seductive and he works it. He gets almost vulgar (I think his mic stand was adequately molested during the show) and it becomes intoxicating. He is a genuine frontman and although he will never be able to sing "Never Tear Us Apart" like Hutchence, he does the upbeat tracks really well. All told, I couldn't have asked for more. Oh well, maybe they could have sung "Elegantly Wasted" ... but you can't have everything.

Springtime

April Showers bring May Flowers

The darling buds of May are popping all over Halifax. Today was full of warm spring weather and the you could almost see the blossoms exploding and the leaves unfurling. I took a tour downtown and read in the Public Gardens for an hour and I believe the world was definately greener on the walk back! I am a sucker for sprintime flowers because they appear in adundent bouquets on naked tree branches. I am always amazed to see the trees in full-petal before the leaves come in..

But one of the images that will always remind me of HFX springtime is the bright yellow bushes that are EVERYWHERE. They are in yards, on public grounds, in random grassy corners. With no leaves on them they look like living sunshine. So I took the pics above, laying on my back below the boughs of two large bushes in the gardens. The arches of canary blooms make the most wonderful contrast against a cloudless blue sky. That is what spring looks like.

Mission Impossible 3 - movie reivew

MI3 works out about the way I anticipate its box office progressing - a strong start that just falls off from there. After a great opening scene that establishes Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain (yippee!) - the credits explode in good ole M:I style. I actually got excited during the credits because, like a cat chasing a reflection on the wall, I like shiny, flashy things. Unfortunately, MI3 doesn't keep up the game.

What MI3 does excel at is offering a good team of talent. In fact, the movie may be the best summer example of up-and-comers playing against type with savvy. There is the aforementioned Hoffman who is cannily following his Oscar award with a showy bad guy role. There is Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who is moving away from his fey English characters by bulking up as a seriously hot IMF transportation guy. There is Billy Crudup who is actually playing the straight-man in a mainstream flick. There is Keri Russell who is kicking some serious ass and leaves the film WAY too soon! These are all good things. And they balance Tom Cruise nicely without tipping the scales away from the star. I'll admit to actually liking Cruise's Ethan Hunt character so I'm always game for another mission and don't mind that the supporting cast must take a back seat.

This time around Ethan has taken himself out of the field and is enjoying engaged bliss with the completely bland Michele Monaghan. I must state here that I don't think a less-thrilling leading lady could have been found for this film. And the fact that she is so unremarkable makes it that much harder to care about Ethan's drive to save/protect her. Considering the first film offered the French mystique of Emmanuelle Beart and the second provided the sultry teasing of Thandie Newton, I am completely gobsmacked that the lifeless Monaghan was chosen as the love of Ethan's life and the mission motivation. I disliked her so much that at pivotal points in the plot I actually found myself saying "kill her - just kill her" more than once - and it would have been a better film if they had.

But MI3 is not really about the actors - it's about the action. And the action is good. Although JJ Abrams over-uses the shaky-cam, the majority of the excitement is well-presented. A helicopter fight in a windmill farm is beautifully constructed. A missile attack on a bridge flings cars in the air and offers generous explosions. These are things for which you watch MI and it is gratifying when they are done well. However, the action loses steam in the final act that the last stand is such a cliche that it may induce cringing. The dispatching of the villain is also swift and unsatisfying and completely unfair to Hoffman's presence.

Overall, MI3 kicks off the summer season with a bang but it is hardly good enough to be the best blockbuster of the summer. And although all the MI elements are present here they just don't ignite with the same heat as the previous installments.

About Time in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The news came out today that Lucasfilm has finally gotten the message that some of us Star Wars fans actually want the original!! Who would have thought?! So on September 12, the original, unaltered Star Wars trilogy will be released on DVD. Ever since the special editions were released I have been lamenting the useless and distracting "improvements" that Lucas added to the films. I have held off on buying the films on DVD because I have always preferred the theatrical releases. Say goodbye to Greedo shooting first. So long to that useless digital Jabba talking to Han. Saranoya to that inserted Hayden Christensen as the end of Jedi. Hello the REAL Star Wars on DVD. Consider my calendar marked.