My newest obsession is Showtime's The Tudors, a drama focusing on the life and loves of Henry VIII. The show is sleekly stylized and richly historical. It's fun to watch the soap opera melodrama, the well groomed bodies (ie all the medieval guys sport razor cut, ruffled, and slightly gelled hair) in glorious costume and surprise, surprise...actual historical depth! The show delights in those little history in-jokes that one would only get if you had some knowledge of the time period. One of the jokes was King Henry telling Thomas More that he wasn't a saint with the "yet" winkingly implied. And of course the show plays upon the history we do know: all about how Henry divorced, annulled and beheaded his wives. So I watch poor Anne Boleyn do her thing all the while knowing she's going to the axe, but also give birth to one of the most famous and influential women in history (who also has her own television series, The Virgin Queen). I like my melodrama with a smart edge, so I'm enjoying the tudors.
PS Also a good show for both genders. Lots of fighting and political stuff (and boobies) for the boys, and emotional drama and setting for the girls (plus JRM's dreamy blues)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Big Love
More boutique HBO! Big Love is a show about Bill Henderson, a business man in Utah with three wives. The strength of the show lies in its negotiation of the main characters' polygamy. Or to be more precise, the reason I watch Big Love is for the compelling female line up. There's Jeanne Tripplehorn (Barb), Chloe Sevigny (Nicki), Ginnifer Goodwin (Margene), Amanda Seyfried (Sarah), Daveigh Chase (Rhonda), and Tina Marjorino (Heather). HBO, and cable in general, seems to be a space where women can have more complex and interesting roles (I'm thinking Sex and the City, The L Word, all for starters). And just more roles in general!
One thing I do that would probably drive the entire production team crazy is I fast forward through all the boring scenes with Bill and Roman, the two male head honchos. Hey, pissing contests are so over and done, trite trite. Big Love is interesting because of the way it treads between vulnerability and danger and focuses this through family relations (aka melodrama, yay!). Rhonda and Alby are perfect examples. These "compound" folks, or conservative Mormons, certainly have a scary tinge of fanaticism and power hunger. But they also come across as questioners, searching for a balance they sense is missing.
Why else would I watch a show where the characters pray and talk about following the faith? It sounds like an immediate turn off. But part of the attraction is hinted at in the title: Love. And its not surprising that the first show is about the sexual relationship between Bill and his wives. When you introduce characters who are flawed, lusty, vulnerable, and insecure- you create real people that are easy to care about. They have everyday problems just like the sitcom couples, except it happens to be tripled. The fact that they have to hide who they are also creates an instant tension that sucked me in. In a way, they appeal to the liberal ideal of "who the hell cares who you go to bed with" be it men, women, both or plural. Of course, the show carefully delineates the "good" polygamists from the "bad" ones- read the crazy, compound dwelling, marriage forcing and child marriage fanatics. But by the end of the first season these lines are already blurring.
One thing I do that would probably drive the entire production team crazy is I fast forward through all the boring scenes with Bill and Roman, the two male head honchos. Hey, pissing contests are so over and done, trite trite. Big Love is interesting because of the way it treads between vulnerability and danger and focuses this through family relations (aka melodrama, yay!). Rhonda and Alby are perfect examples. These "compound" folks, or conservative Mormons, certainly have a scary tinge of fanaticism and power hunger. But they also come across as questioners, searching for a balance they sense is missing.
Why else would I watch a show where the characters pray and talk about following the faith? It sounds like an immediate turn off. But part of the attraction is hinted at in the title: Love. And its not surprising that the first show is about the sexual relationship between Bill and his wives. When you introduce characters who are flawed, lusty, vulnerable, and insecure- you create real people that are easy to care about. They have everyday problems just like the sitcom couples, except it happens to be tripled. The fact that they have to hide who they are also creates an instant tension that sucked me in. In a way, they appeal to the liberal ideal of "who the hell cares who you go to bed with" be it men, women, both or plural. Of course, the show carefully delineates the "good" polygamists from the "bad" ones- read the crazy, compound dwelling, marriage forcing and child marriage fanatics. But by the end of the first season these lines are already blurring.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Stuck in Ft. Lauderdale...
I read Madame Bovary in its entirety, from beginning to end, in Ft. Lauderdale's airport. That might give you a small sense of how long I waited in limbo hell. It was a real test of my non-existent patience. Here's the schedule:
10:45 am Arrive at Ft. Lauderdale Airport
12:15 Flight to JFK
12:45 Flight delayed
6:05 Next flight
6:22 Flight Delayed
6:30 Board Plane
8:30 Plane goes back to gate
9:30 Plane departs Ft. Lauderdale
11:00 Put in holding pattern over Atlantic City
11:30 Plane lands
1:30 am Roll into bed
So while Flordia was fun, airport hell not so much. I read OK, People, Star, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, and assorted decorating and cooking magazines. I paced in circles. I watched CNN. The only saving grace was when my plane got canceled, (yes out of the blue canceled) Delta gave me a business class seat on the next plane which meant seat 1C, endless coke, a full meal and a brownie!
10:45 am Arrive at Ft. Lauderdale Airport
12:15 Flight to JFK
12:45 Flight delayed
6:05 Next flight
6:22 Flight Delayed
6:30 Board Plane
8:30 Plane goes back to gate
9:30 Plane departs Ft. Lauderdale
11:00 Put in holding pattern over Atlantic City
11:30 Plane lands
1:30 am Roll into bed
So while Flordia was fun, airport hell not so much. I read OK, People, Star, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, and assorted decorating and cooking magazines. I paced in circles. I watched CNN. The only saving grace was when my plane got canceled, (yes out of the blue canceled) Delta gave me a business class seat on the next plane which meant seat 1C, endless coke, a full meal and a brownie!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wow, the Bachelor, wait who?
So tonight I offered coconut shrimp to...a bachelor! well, one of The Bachelors to be exact. This specimen with his shiny white teeth was Andy Baldwin:
who by the way, rejected my coconut shrimp (which was quite tasty). What he did not reject was the phone number of another caterer. yes my friends this bachelor is still a bachelor. reality tv evidently did not succeed in finding him his one true love, so he asked a fellow waiter for her phone number which he received. we shall see what happens. but it made the party fun for me. it was a fun party anyway with a lot of hipsters and hoochies and a great dj. DJ Jazzy Jeff to be exact, who worked the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. It really made serving mini cheeseburgers a lot more fun.
question: does andy belong on my wall? i hesitate to declare him a celeb
who by the way, rejected my coconut shrimp (which was quite tasty). What he did not reject was the phone number of another caterer. yes my friends this bachelor is still a bachelor. reality tv evidently did not succeed in finding him his one true love, so he asked a fellow waiter for her phone number which he received. we shall see what happens. but it made the party fun for me. it was a fun party anyway with a lot of hipsters and hoochies and a great dj. DJ Jazzy Jeff to be exact, who worked the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. It really made serving mini cheeseburgers a lot more fun.
question: does andy belong on my wall? i hesitate to declare him a celeb
Sunday, June 1, 2008
On Glen Close and Big Love
Last week I catered for a big Jazzy event. Right in the middle of our harried sweep when I was carrying two hot plates of food, I ran into Glen Close chatting away in the middle of an aisle. I was stunned for a second and then annoyed. Hello, if you've already made my celeb list I don't need to see you again, especially when I am trying to work!
I'm watching the pilot of Big Love today and I think I have to continue because...they have adopted two of my Veronica Mars favs! Yes, Amanda Seyfried (the lusty, irrepressable Lily) and Tina Majorino (oh Mac, the awesome girl tech geek, and of Napoleon Dynamite and Water World fame) appeared. I enjoy following the careers of these quirky and curvy actresses who always choose interesting roles. I look forward to aging with them and seeing them emerge as powerful actors.
I'm watching the pilot of Big Love today and I think I have to continue because...they have adopted two of my Veronica Mars favs! Yes, Amanda Seyfried (the lusty, irrepressable Lily) and Tina Majorino (oh Mac, the awesome girl tech geek, and of Napoleon Dynamite and Water World fame) appeared. I enjoy following the careers of these quirky and curvy actresses who always choose interesting roles. I look forward to aging with them and seeing them emerge as powerful actors.
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