Song of the Week

Gravity - Sara Bareilles
My original Song of the Week choice got bumped for this song. On Sunday I went to the Now and Zen concert in Golden Gate Park with my daughter. This was a fantastic free concert sponsored by our favorite radio station in these parts, ALICE 97.3 FM. We saw The Plain White T’s and Sara Bareilles. She gave such a wonderful performance I became a big fan. She sang this song live and I was blown away. Then my daughter informed me this song was not off her new album, but from her first one, Little Voice. I immediately responded, “Well, I think this is Song of the Week!” See how I’m always thinking of you guys!

Sara Bareilles - Gravity (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Sarah berelis, Sara Bareilles

Elmo Wants Another Playdate With Katy Perry

I guess Ms. Perry is pretty boobilcious in this clip, but I don't think it was intentional. I'm glad Elmo wants to schedule another playdate. The best quote from all of this is from Perry's main squeeze, Russell Brand. He tweeted, "I guess today will not be brought to you by the number 34 and the letter D." Classic!

Song of the Week

You Don't Own Me - Lesley Gore

Let’s have a little girl power this week! I have always loved this song, even though it’s before my time. I’ve always been drawn to how empowered she was in the early 60’s. You are probably more familiar with her huge hit “It’s My Party.” For me though this is the Gore song I’m always going to spin. She may have a bouffant, but don’t mess with her!

Easy A

EASY A: Movie Trailer - For more amazing video clips, click here

Homage to Hughes

To continue with my Saturday double-feature romp, I saw Easy A, the new teen comedy starring Emma Stone. I wanted to wait until I got the opinions of my 17 year old daughter before writing this up. I saw this movie in the afternoon and she went later that night with a group of friends. As soon as the film ended for me, I texted her (how teen of me!) and told her that she’d totally love it. I hit the nail on the head. It’s basically my fault that I raised her to expect a little more from her movies, even the teen sex comedy ones. Her friends constantly drag her to horrible movies like 17 Again, and she knows they’re bad going in.

Easy A, however, is a gem completely raised to new heights by the winsome Emma Stone. My daughter and I have loved her since Superbad. I hope this is a break out role for her like Juno was for Ellen Page. She’s witty and sassy and the camera loves those gorgeous doe-eyes!

I’m going out on a limb and saying that if John Hughes made a movie today it would be Easy A. Now before you jump down my throat, think about it. The characters are so loveable you want to spend time with them. A couple of years from now, you’ll pass this on TBS on a Sunday afternoon and you will sit and watch the whole thing again. This is a typical John Hughes film: overly witty banter, over-blown situations and misplaced musical numbers. It’s never a secret that this film is a love letter to Hughes: Stone sings in the shower like Ferris Bueller, gives a “geek” her underwear like in Sixteen Candles and has the hunkiest guy in school suddenly into her. Everything sexual is simply implied, but everything on-screen is quite chaste.

The adult roles are where this film departs from Hughes and into its own territory. Hughes uses adults as the idiots, props and enemies, whereas director Will Gluck shows us fully developed adult characters. Not all of the adults are likeable, but it’s refreshing to see Stone’s character actually getting along with her parents and the mutual respect and trust they show each other. She actually has adults she can confide in when all the teens have turned their backs on her, and it’s nice to see them looking out for her.

Penn Badgley as our “perfect hunk” brings the typical balance of teen hotness with a strong dose of sweet relatable guy. As usual, most seventeen year old guys are not this hot, but that follows a long line of teen comedies too, so it still works.

Overall, you may think I’m giving this movie too much credit, but you have to remember how important teen movies are to you when you are in your teens. My daughter immediately came home and asked if we could get Easy A when it comes out on DVD. Sure, I shared some of the best all-time teen flicks with her, but shouldn’t she be allowed to have some of her own?

By the way, I read The Scarlet Letter in High school, so I have all the territory covered when viewing this flick!

Catfish

Catfish

Well, I basically had a perfect Saturday. A great Saturday is when I see a movie; a perfect one is when I see two!

I went to San Francisco to see Catfish, which is only in limited release. Like everyone, I was intrigued with the trailer and was dying to see what was going on.

For starters, I’m not going to give away any plot points but just my opinions of this film may make you feel like I’m saying too much. If you truly want to experience this yourself, stop here. If you really want someone to tell you if this is worth your time or not, read on.

This is supposedly a documentary about a guy who builds a relationship with an entire family via Facebook. His brother and friend are both filmmakers and decide to chronicle his experience.

I wondered if I was going to feel this movie was fake and to that, I have to say no. I feel this was all real. What I didn’t expect was to be the victim of poor marketing.

The trailer for this film leads the audience to believe it’s some type of shocker, which it is not. I heard a group of 20-somethings grumble on the escalator ride down after the film so I asked them, “Were you guys pissed?” They answered in unison, “YEAH!”

Here’s the thing: this is a captivating documentary and as psychological portrait, it totally works. The problem is it probably would’ve been on HBO or maybe IFC, not a theatrical release. Some marketing genius (?) decided to put this out in a different way, a là Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. The trailer sets this up to be a huge shocker, even going as far as to say the last 40 minutes will “take me on an emotional roller coaster ride I won’t be able to shake for day.” Really?

It would appear that the filmmakers are hoping to profit by the curiosity effect and once that ticket is paid and the butt is in the chair, the profit is made. I’m interested to see if there’s going to be some serious backlash of viewers feeling they were misled. I would also advise against the idea of opening this to a limited release because I’m here to tell you to save your dough and rent it on DVD, which is the better forum this film to begin with. It seems to be fashionable these days to seek any kind of attention getting spotlight, even if it’s negative. If that’s the goal, mission accomplished because I have a feeling you’re going to have a lot of pissed off people.

I wondered if I’m too jaded. Would other people be blown away by the revelations in this film? Maybe, but I think younger people and people familiar with Facebook are the demographic and I heard no gasps or whispers from them in the auditorium. Tread lightly boys…your Facebook pages may have some pretty nasty comments in a few weeks!

Molly Ringwald & the Forgotten Birthday

This is TV gold baby! I laughed my butt off! Great slip-in for Secret Life of the American Teenager.

To Sir With Love - Lulu

I just finished re-watching the Glee finale. I can't wait for the premiere next week. The song choices in the finale are exceptional. Although the Glee kids always do a phenomenal job, I can't help but pine for original To Sir With Love from the classic Sidney Poitier film of the same name. If you are young and never heard of this movie, I recommend taking a peak. Also, take a listen to the Lulu's lush vocals.

Lulu • To Sir With Love
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Song of the Week - The Love Parade

The Love Parade - The Dream Academy
Ahhh, dreamy new wave goodness. I’m currently reading Rob Sheffield’s book of essays entitled Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. This is not one of the songs he mentions, but all his 80’s love took me on my own personal musical journey. Ode to paisley!

Fall TV Preview

Well the Fall TV Season is right around the corner. Every year I say I will not add new shows to my already full plate. I should know better by now! Here's 5 I can't wait to check out:

I have to see this. The 1920's and Buscemi? Only problem is, I don't have HBO. I hope to get my premium cable back soon. If I do, I'll have some serious catching up. If you watch this, drop me line and tell me what you think!

This should be great, but will it suffer the same fate as Arrested Development?

Are you kidding me? A zombie TV show? I'm so in!

Hmm, this one could go either way. I love David Cross, but it may be to painful to watch. We'll see!
What shows are on your Must Check Out list?

Overload Alert!

I know I haven't posted in a few days. I sort of needed a soul reset. Don't worry though, I've been spending the week reading, watching and listening to new things to share with all of you. I'm planning to come back stronger than ever! I decided not to post a video this week, but maybe you can tell me some things you'd like me to talk about. After all, I'm here to guide you to the good stuff, right? Tell me what you're thinking about!

Song of the Week - There's Nothing Better Than Love

There’s Nothing Better Than Love – Luther Vandross and Gregory Hines
It warmed my heart to find this video. I’ve ALWAYS loved Luther, but Gregory Hines…something you must know about Colleenie, she loves her tap. Gregory was a triple threat, one of the all time greatest hoofers, a fine actor and a velvety, rich singing voice. The proof is in this video. Okay, Luther Vandross is your buddy, but that doesn’t mean you voluntarily sing a duet with him! Also, dude duets are tricky. This 1986 track, however, is a homerun. Both their voices blend nicely and I have to say my favorite parts of the song belong to Hines. I know it’s bittersweet to watch them; they left us way too soon, but be glad they shared their wonderful talents with us. Their work we have forever.

Going The Distance

Going the Distance - Movie Review
So I gave up on movies for the summer. It appears that quite a few interesting flicks will be hitting the screen soon, so I thought I’d just sit tight. Anyway, here’s how my day unfolded…

Hubby wanted to go to work on a Saturday. Yuck! Since his office is in San Francisco though, I thought it might be a great opportunity to meet up with some friends. One friend was in from out of town and another is perpetually busy like me. Well, things didn’t work out, and I now found myself in the city with many hours to kill. Of course I’m going to go to the movies!

The buzz on Going the Distance, the new romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, is good. My local radio station and Mick LaSalle of The Chronicle both gave it a good review. I’ll add to it that this was a satisfying trip to the movies. No, it’s not making my list of all-time great romantic comedies, but I would watch this from time to time in the future.

A romance that reflects our times, this is more than young, hip urbanites trying to choose between love and a career. Remember we are on “lucky to have a job” times, and Barrymore and Long are both in suffering fields: journalism and music. Long’s character clings to a job he hates and Barrymore pounds the pavement trying to find a job, any job, in her field.

Barrymore’s character meets Long’s while she is working an internship in New York. Of course when the short-term clause of their relationship is laid out, (she’s returning home to California in six weeks) we know it will be something more.

The plot is formulaic and well-charted territory in the romantic comedy genre, so the audience is dependant on other factors to set this film apart. I appreciated the tiny differences that were thrown in. I loved the effort to make Ms. Barrymore look like she was not wearing makeup when she goes to breakfast “the morning after” with Long. I love that they have total potty mouths. I love that Long’s roommate can hear EVERYTHING going on in the bedroom from his shared wall bedroom. I also loved that as they try to make their long-distance relationship work, they often can’t afford the airfare.

Our current economy was almost its own character in this film. It played a large role in how their relationship was handled and many of the decisions they made. Although they didn’t get heavy-handed with it, it’s clear that we live in a time when it’s no longer choosing career over a relationship; it’s survival.

Barrymore and Long had a sweet, easy chemistry about them, and Drew Barrymore is just like a little packet of sugar; add her to anything and it’s instantly sweeter. I have to say though, Charlie Day completely made this movie for me. I’ve been a fan of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia since it began several years back on FX. I felt people were looking at me because I laughed extra loud at everything Charlie said. I can’t help it, the guy cracks me up! All in all, a satisfying day at the movies. It also had a pretty good soundtrack too.

So what did I do with the rest of my day? Well I prepared a little photo essay for you. I decided to take my own photo of the movie poster and I stood in line for 30 minutes for a cup o’ joe at Blue Bottle Coffee. Crazy, I know, but the hubby wasn’t ready yet, so what else did I have to do? It was good coffee!


I got a great shot of The Transamerica Pyramid and walked around the Ferry Building. All in all, a pretty good day!

This Bugs Me!

Here's my latest installment.

5 Fall Movies I Want To See and 1 I Don't

Well, I've seen so many crappy movies lately, I think I'm going to sit tight until some of these hit the theaters.

I recently heard about this flick. My interest is piqued! There's a screening in San Francisco Tuesday, but it's sold out. I don't think I could have made it anyway. I think I will have the opportunity to see this before it's wide release. If I can you'll hear it here first on the couch. I won't give anything anyway. Come on, you know me better than that!

This is another movie you want to see just because you have no idea what's going on!

Anne Hathaway & Jake Gyllenhaal? I'm there!

This one has been in the can forever. It looks great to me! We'll see.

Okay, first I was like Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Jack, hmmm, maybe. Oh, James L. Brooks, his flicks are usually pretty good. The icing on the cake...Paul Rudd!
So things are looking up, right? I might end the year with some pretty good film experiences. All hope is not lost.
Wait, I forgot. This one is coming out too.

This looks simply awful. Ridiculous concept and stupid poopie jokes. Babies poop everyday, get over it. I would not see this one for free! Plus, it's one of those annoying trailers that shows you the whole movie anyway!

Fifteen with Ryan Reynolds

This is how these things start. I'm innocently reading an article about best actors under 35 at Anomalous Material and one of the feature actors is Ryan Reynolds. He's hot and I love him, but someone leaves a comment about him being on the 1990's teen show Fifteen. Noooooo! My husband and I tell my daughter about this show all the time. We were a young married couple and we never missed it...because it was so over the top, horribly bad! Talk about melodrama! Plus, the cast actually were really young looking kids not like the mid twenty somethings we see now. So, now I go to YouTube. Found it easily. Check out that Canadian accent! Adorable!

Now, someone posted a comment on YouTube that this show is available on iTunes. Guess what I'm downloading tomorrow? Okay, maybe I could have spent my time on more productive endeavors, but this did make my day!

Conan's New Title

Fortunately for me, I have no disposal income. I would have bet a large wad of dough that Conan O' Brien would win an Emmy last Sunday night. I thought it was a sure thing. C'mon, when the show was winding down that was some of the best Late Night Television ever! I NEVER miss The Daily Show, but I think even Jon Stewart would agree that with Conan and Colbert in the same category, The Daily Show won the "safe" vote. Heck, Colbert shaved his beautiful tresses and went to Iraq! How strange that Stewart and his staff would end up being the least controversial choice!

Anyway, we only have a couple of months until Conan brings his show to TBS. Have you been wondering what the title will be? Ponder no more...