I totally paused!

I’m not sure if it was a legit comment or not, but someone asked if I intended to post about Michael Jackson dying.  Truthfully, it had not even occurred to me until it was suggested.  And the reason it didn’t occur to me is because his death really doesn’t affect me.

I will admit that I like some of the stuff from The Jackson Five.  I’m a sucker for some good motown.  But while everyone else was loving Thriller, Black & White, Billie Jean, etc. I was wondering why.  Part of me was wondering if he’s just so weird that I didn’t like his music because of him, but then I think about someone like Marilyn Manson, who is also kinda weird, and I like his stuff fine.

So I am left without any real idea of why I didn’t care for the music of Michael Jackson, and why his death has no meaning for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish death on people or anything like that, but I think the only thing of his I really liked was Ebony & Ivory, which wasn’t really him since it was half Paul McCartney.

I am sorry for all those people out there who are saddened by this death, and feel it is a loss to the music world.  Undoubtedly I listen to artists who are influenced by his music, so I am sorry for them as well.  But for me, he will always just be some cute little kid from the motown scene.

Starring Christian Bale & Heath Ledger

I was gonna list all the people starring in this movie, then I remembered there are a ton of them so I decided against it.

As you can possibly see, I haven’t actually restored all the content here yet.  I debated about not posting anything new until that’s done, but I’m slower than I had anticipated, so I decided to post new stuff.  Although I will freely admit I do not have any “new” content right now, in the sense that I’m in the middle of two books and haven’t watched any new TV lately.  In fact, my TV is currently inaccessible, so I can’t watch anything anyway.  So instead, I remembered that I never gave a full review to The Dark Knight due to the timing when I saw it, so I bring you my review now.

I loved this movie, and still do, otherwise why would I have seen it a couple dozen times this month as it’s been on HBO.  I’m a huge fan of Batman in general, he’s my favorite super hero (the Slayer aside, of course),  so I am naturally prone to watching and liking movies about him.  And Christian Bale is super hot, so that doesn’t hurt either.

The first thing that struck me about this movie is that I so wish they had cast Maggie Gyllenhaal from the start.  I think she did a much better job as Rachel, and I think Maggie is more versatile than Katie Holmes.  I just found her more charming, more likeable, and that made it a lot harder to watch her die.

Speaking of her death, I knew it was going to happen as soon as they said only one of either her or Harvey would live.  This is because, as a Batman fan, I watched all the other Batman movies…you know, the ones that got progressively worse as time went on.  So I knew that Harvey Dent went on to be Two Face, and that if someone was going to die it wouldn’t be him.

I kind of like that Christopher Nolan is making decisions based on the assumption that people don’t know anything about Batman in general.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made a scenario where you might think Harvey Dent would die, and I like that.  I also really loved the makeup job on Two Face, much scarier than the Tommy Lee Jones version in the other franchise.

I know there are a lot of people loyal to the Jack Nicholsen Joker, and while he did a fine job, I think there is absolutely no comparison to the Heath Ledger version.  I truly felt that Heath was unrecognizable, and genuinely had a fantastic performance.  And since I’ve never been super into him, I feel like I say that without any bias from his death.

As is the case with Batman Begins, I love the dark, honest portrayal of Gotham and Batman in general.  It’s a scary, dangerous place, and is presented as such in these movies.  I can’t wait to see what they do with any subsequent movies they make!

My Rating: 4.5/5

See this movie if: You like Batman, comic books, or action movies.  Although it’s a little long, it’s worth it.

Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Morgan Freeman was in Million Dollar Baby with Hillary Swank
Hillary Swank was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon created the TV show after the movie

I did a really stupid thing recently, and I unintentionally deleted ALL the content here.  Which I feel so dumb about.  Let this be a lesson, internets, do not update your website while tired!

I’m in the process of restoring everything, but it will be several days at least before things are back to normal.  So don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned you, I was just a little dumb.

I think possibly my favorite thing about this show, aside from Nathan Fillion, is that it’s a simple, every episode kind of ends on its own thing.  I don’t have to think about it, I can just enjoy the whole thing and not think too much or wonder a bunch of things.  Not that I mind that, I love it in Dexter and Dollhouse, but it’s nice to have not thinking stuff sometimes.

I’m happy to learn that this show was renewed for a second season, and a full season this time.  I really like the character of Alexis and I’m looking forward to her growth, and hopefully she’ll become more involved in the show.  I want to see the relationship between Beckett and Castle grow, especially since she said she couldn’t have solved the last case without him.

Oh, and my new favorite interaction on the show…

You were *not asking* very loudly.

I know!  I’m like a Jedi like that!

So congrats to the show for getting renewed.  Gives me one more thing to look forward to in the fall!

While I love the subject matter on this show, the speed with which they go through it still makes me sad.  So little time was spent with Anne of Cleves and the downfall of Cromwell that I fear people who don’t know anything of what really happened might be confused.

See, Henry tells Cromwell he is very pleased with him.  Not a lot goes into showing what actually prompted that being a lie.  I disliked that they left out Henry actually making Cromwell a Duke before he was arrested, and what went into the charges against him – why he was called a traitor.

I also didn’t like that the fateful meeting with Anne of Cleves was changed from the actual meeting.  It’s not just that she wasn’t what Henry expected, it’s that she offended him by really showing him he was no longer a beautiful young prince.  This was entirely left out.

Obviously they can’t really show “aging” for Henry or the others, like Charles Brandon, because these actors aren’t getting old at the rapid pace that this show is going at.  It wouldn’t have made sense for Anne to turn away from Henry without knowing who he was, being appalled that an old man was so forward with her.  Still, they could have made their initial meeting look much worse than they did.

As much as I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers, I also wish there was a way to show more of how Henry was really getting quite heavy at this point in his life.  So much is going on during this part of history, it’s difficult to capture really any of it in detail.

I was admittedly less into this season, partially because Jane Seymour hasn’t ever interested me much.  But next season should be more interesting, will the whole season be focused on Katherine Howard?  Most likely it will, ending of course with her tragic demise…or will it finish her story as well as Henry’s?  Will there be any real discussion of her relation to Anne Boleyn – which I would guess casual viewers don’t even realize.

Still, at this point, if they follow the rest of Henry’s story, we’ve got two seasons left of him at most.  Is there a plan to continue on to Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth?  And will there be any mention of Jane Grey?  How much will they go into the Seymour brothers?  All very intriguing, and keeps you watching!

I don’t know why I didn’t start reading Jean Plaidy books much earlier.  I love the tales she weaves, the way she really seems to identify with these historical people.

Going into this book, I didn’t know a whole lot about Katherine Parr, and to an extent, I still feel like I don’t.  I don’t think this is any fault of the author, I really think it’s simply because there isn’t a whole lot of information about Katherine Parr out there.  We know so little about her, other than Henry was planning to rid himself of her but died before he could.

Despite the fact that this story is surrounding court and all that goes along with that, I really felt like there was a lot more to it than that.  The religious turmoil of this time in history is very fascinating, and I really feel like anyone who thinks these books are nothing but court intrigue simply hasn’t invested enough time to learn more about the whole thing.

I think my favorite part was the tale of Anne Askew.  Her story is just so sad and interesting at the same time – the only woman to be tortured in the tower!  It’s really interesting to me that someone like her, who had no training against torture, could still withstand it and not give up any names.  Maybe she didn’t know anyone else to give up, but I think it’s more likely that she simply was that strong and protected everyone else she knew who would be considered guilty of preaching the new learning.

All the stories interweaved was very interesting, it can be easy to forget how…related…everyone was back then.  I mean, the talk of Edward marrying Jane Grey when you know they’re related, it’s just bizarre.  But yet, so interesting that no one thinks twice about it, they embrace it, in fact.  What could be better than someone with two royal blooded parents!

I’ll definitely continue to read Jean Plaidy’s books, and invest more time in the books she has written under other names as well.

Read this book if: You want to know more about Katherine Parr, what life was like for a woman who knew that two of Henry’s wives lost their lives essentially for political reasons.  That she couldn’t say no, yet knew it might mean her death to say yes.  All very interesting stuff.

Holy Lisa’s outfit!  I wasn’t aware that it was possible to put THAT MANY colors all together in one outfit.  Sometimes I forget how long ago these episodes were filmed…and then I look at Slater’s MC Hammer pants and I remember.  It’s funny to realize how much TV budgets have grown – no way would these shabby clothes be on people in shows these days.

And smoking on a show!  Wow, before the days of anti-smoking campaigns!

I have kind of had an obsession with murder mysteries my whole life, and I am now suspecting this episode might be responsible for it.  Does anyone else feel like this damn show is responsible for things in their life?

I think I only saw this episode once before.  I remembered that Lisa was in on the whole plot, but didn’t remember how it all ended.  This was actually one of the better episodes, kind of involved and funny, although a little too much Screech.  One of the ones that I thought should probably have been an hour instead of the usual 30 minutes.

Oh, and Lisa’s second outfit is *almost* as bad as the first one.  Those multi-colored sleeves just killed me, I wish I could find a picture to show y’all because it was priceless!

I kind of feel like the finale snuck up on me.  I don’t know why, it’s not as though I haven’t watched every week and seen people go, but I was still like “whoa, THIS is the finale?!”

I was admittedly pretty sad to see Landon lose that last duel.  It’s tough when it gets down to the end and I like all the guys on the show.  So him losing was really tough to see, because if I had to choose, I’d pick him over Brad based just on performance.  And as much as I like Mark, I kind of feel like he should have gone into that duel, since he hadn’t been in one at all.  The same goes for Rachel.

But speaking of Mark, he seriously made me cry, helping Aneesa to the end like that.  Who knows what he would have done if he’d been closer to getting a better place and therefore better money, but that he stayed with her and helped her get down from the elevator was just the sweetest thing.

I’m also really glad that Rachel beat everyone.  Really, she’s never been one of my favorites, there’s just something about her that bugs me a bit.  But that she beat all the guys too is pretty cool.  Makes me wonder what may have happened if she’d ever been in a finale on Battle of the Sexes.  Remember that first BOTS where she cried cuz Emily was so mean?  Ah, good old Emily, I miss her.

Anyway, I’m sad to see the show end, as I always am, but it’s actually good timing in my rest of my life so that works out.  You know I’ll be eagerly awaiting whatever Challenge they come up with next!  And I’ll be crossing my fingers that it’s not another Island

Starring Katherine Heigl & James Marsden

I know, I know…typical chick flick fare.  And yes, I felt myself a little wrapped up in it.  But don’t get ahead of yourselves, it’s not what you think.

Rather than the whole romance “omg I’m in love” thing getting to me, I found myself really identifying with the overall personality or attitude of Jane.  I know I am that “yes I’ll do anything if it helps you” girl.  So I found myself watching and thinking how crazy Jane was for doing some of the things she did for people, yet knowing I am the same way and probably would have done the same things.

I will admit right now that I absolutely would have gone for James Marsden from the start.  Have I mentioned this before, in talking about X-Men?  I can’t remember, and I’m not going to look it up.  Anyway, I have adored James Marsden since Second Noah.  Yes, y’all, I watched that show.  Aaaaaaaaaand I’m tempted to get it from Netflix, if you were wondering.

So yeah, had I been Jane, I think that if James Marsden walked into my life I’d be all “Ed Burns, huh?”  I’m just saying, Marsden is hawt!

Anyway, aside from my identifying with Jane and interest in James Marsden, the movie was okay.  Nothing surprising, girl gets the guy, betrays someone close to her in the meantime, you know the drill.  But, it was an interesting way to spend a couple of hours and I consider it an alright way to have lazed around.

See this movie if: You like this type of movie…like I said, typical for the genre, but also cute so not a waste of the renting or watching on cable.  It’s showing on HBO this month kids!

My Rating: 3/5

Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Katherine Heigl was in Roswell with Jason Behr
Jason Behr was on BTVS

I have recently made some additions to the Would Marry list:

1. Billy Corgan
2. Danny Elfman
3. Lenny Kravitz
4. Brandon Flowers
5. John Legend
6. Paul Rudd
7. Nathan Fillion
8. Dan Savage
9. Conan O’Brien

For those of you who don’t know, Nathan Fillion was Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly.  Admittedly, the first place I saw him was as Caleb the preacher on season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I sadly did not watch Firefly until it was over, something I still regret.  And I didn’t like Nathan as Caleb, I hated that character.  I don’t think it was even because you were *supposed* to hate him, something about it just really bugged me.

Since watching that season, however, I have seen him in several things and just really like him.  I love him in Waitress and Castle.  His performances on these, and Firefly, got him his spot on the list.

Dan Savage is the absolutely fabulous sex advice columnist found at The Stranger.  Yes, he’s very gay, but that doesn’t mean I can’t add him to my list!  I think nearly anyone who reads his column or listens to his podcast could agree that he is totally adorable and worth adding to their own Would Marry list.

I don’t think Conan needs any explanation…if you want one, google his ass