What I'm watching

True Blood, Season 2- so far, so good. Same great characters, sexy and fun. And more Eric! I loved it when he turned all vampire and ripped some poor guy limb to limb, then turns and asks Lafayette, "Do I have blood in my hair?" Lol. I'm still not tired of Sookie and Bill either. I think they are cute together :) But I'm sure I'll be ready to watch them be ripped apart when the time comes.

Skins- yay for British tv! Another well written, well cast and well acted British teen drama. Well bad! Nothing terribly new or original but pretty high quality.

Dog Whisperer- fascinating show. I can never get tired of Cesar Milan magically knowing how to calm all dogs and solve the people problem. Plus, puppies!

Orange is the New Black

Just started reading Piper Kerman's Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. It sounds remarkably like college! She describes how you had to carry all your shower articles in a bag or caddy and then wait in line to use the good showers since half of them didn't have great pressure or hot water. Hello old Parrish hall! I had no idea that prison was so similar to dorm life. I guess in movies they always portray prisons as maximum security. In minimum, as Kerman describes, there are no bars on the individual cells- there are no cells, just a barracks like dorm system. Prison is a scary, almost mythical concept. It is enlightening to hear a middle class hippie describe her journey down the rabbit hole.

It's an interesting read- really brings out the gender and race issues in representations of prison. Jail stories are almost always about men and violence. So far in the book, what Kerman has noticed about prison is the racial divisions and the army like structure. I was turned on to it when Kerman's fiancé had a NYT Modern Love article describing visiting her every week in prison and the bond he developed with the other prison men. He writes really eloquently about what it is like to be one half of a couple in prison.

Who I saw last night!

J-Lo at the Apollo! She is amazingly beautiful in person, and that golden dress was radiant. :) She hid in the VIP section the whole night but I did get a brief glance when we crossed paths en route to the bathroom. Not the most glamorous way to see such a celeb, but I will take what I can get! 

And Aretha was there too! Also dressed in gold. Nice night!

What I'm watching

Season 1 of True Blood in preparation for Season 2 being released on Netflix this week. I've read most of the books so it is quite pleasurable to watch the show and enjoy this fluff in another medium. True Blood is popcorn and enjoyment, pure escapism

I struggled to make it through the first few episodes of The Bachelorette. I just couldn't do it. The heroine of this season, Ali, is so disgustingly all American. She quit her job to be on the show and when asked what she wants out of life responded that all she wanted was a family and love to fill the holes in her life. Ack! I cannot watch her search so obviously for a "husband" to complete her, to give her life meaning.

Rewatched Kill Bill again and found it much more fun the second time round when you know what to expect. Then you can just relax and enjoy Tarantino's masterful touches and awesome female characters.

Still watching Party Down, and the characters just keep growing on me. Witty writing and excellent acting make this Starz comedy a critic's darling. With the stars being stolen away for other projects, who knows if it will last.

and Big Brother is coming in July! talk about summer flings :)

at the ballet!

tutus! en pointe! prima donnas! Last night I made my way to the Met to watch the American Ballet perform Don Quixote. Sometimes when you live in New York, you forget there are amazing opportunities right around every corner. $20 for nosebleed tickets to watch some of the most bendy dancers (splits in mid air, wowza) cavort around on stage in shiny tights. It was great :)

Prince of Persia, or the movie that had entirely too much shirt

So do you buy Jake Gyllenhaal as the nest Johnny Depp? Disney is certainly trying its best to groom Jakey into a money making action machine still imbued with some artistic integrity. And although they might want Jake to be their new Captain Jack Sparrow, complete with hotness, camp and appeal to all ages, this movie turns out more like The Mummy than Pirates. 

Which is not necessarily bad- both The Mummy and Prince are great summer action films. They rely on well known cliches that comfort and amuse, have eye candy for all genders, don't take plot or character development too seriously, and deliver 2 hours of solid fun. Prince even had great video game moments where the characters leap and fight in such unbelievably awesome ways. Although, as noted in the title, Jake had his shirt on for way too much of the movie. What a tease!

But does Jake really work as an action hero? After Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain? The answer is maybe sometime in the future, but not yet. Prince of Persia was rich in good looking people, comic relief and quick action. It just lacked that special spark that makes a movie irresistible. Jake is not yet Johhny. Maybe one day...