The Voice Review: Season Finale

It’s been a ridiculously short time since The Voice premiered on NBC, and now here we are just nine weeks later and we’re finding out who will be crowned the new champion. Hi there Voice readers and viewers, I’m Keshaunta and I will be taking over for Tanya in recapping this week’s episodes of The Voice.

As you no doubt know, The Voice is constantly being compared to another show who I won’t bother to name because you’ve already answered that for yourself in your head by now. And in those comparisons I am happy to say Voice has held its own from the crippled, stagnant train wreck that has become American Idol (oops, I mentioned it). So when I learned that this week’s season finale would be a whopping two hours long, imagine my disgust, as memories of the graveyard of Idol snore-fest season finales in the past came to mind. Why in the world do they need two hours for four people to sing? What can they possibly do to fill this bloated and absurd time frame without wasting my time and causing me to curse them every second in my head? Looking back, I have only this to say: Oh ye of little faith. Every moment of this week’s episode of The Voice did honor to this series because of its freshness and authenticity.

We start off this week with judges Blake Shelton, Adam Levin, Cee Lo Greene, and Christina Aguilera singing a tribute in honor of their protégés. The song choice: the apt “Under Pressure,” by Queen and David Bowie. The judges all sound great, which is expected since they’re all seasoned performers. It’s a nice gesture and this dedication is one of the reasons why I absolutely love this show. Next, host Carson Daly talks to the contestants who all say that they genuinely enjoy each other and wish the best for each other no matter who wins. Then the judges talk about how much this journey has meant to them watching their artists grow and develop over the past weeks. Carson teases and says that Blake will probably be crying soon watching his artist Dia sing her last song on stage, it’s been said over and over again this season that being a judge has brought out Blake’s “papa-bear” in regards to his contestants Dia and formerly Xenia. Overall the judges are the relationships that I admire the most, this is due partially because I’ve been a fan of Blake Shelton for almost half my life so I’m now living vicariously through these girls who can now call him friend, but also partially because it’s so great to see these former struggling artists now get musical superstars taking a personal interest in their lives. I don’t know if they’ll remain close after the series, but it’s hard to imagine that they won’t.

The format of the last show is this: the four contestants will be performing two numbers, one song with their judge and mentor and then an “original” number. I say “original” because, maybe I’m wrong, but I thought by original they meant that the contestants wrote it, fully or in part. No, here it just means that it was written with the contestants in mind. You’re going to have to take that by faith that these are not just unheard songs that they pulled out of their closet and tweaked for the contestants. In theory, the song with the judge is not supposed to count, but honestly if you put it up there it’s going to have some weight. Did I not vote for Javier because as much as I LOVED his original song I wasn’t into his Michael Jackson cover? Maybe. But considering the fact that I didn’t vote for anyone else means I also didn’t vote against him, and that means something to me.

Javier Colon, Team Adam
Javier’s original song is “Stitch by Stitch,” and in the recording session Javier tends to over sing it a little leading his coach Adam and producer Rodney Jerkins to tell him to simplify it. Javier’s got an amazing voice either way, but as we’ve seen before sometimes the real beauty’s in the restraint. Javier dedicates this song to his wife and family who have been there for him all along the way. Javier’s song is so beautiful, and if I wasn’t half in love with him and his music already, this would do it for me. It’s emotive and so incredible I have to listen to it again and again. Blake says that he’s got a lot of respect for Javier because along with being an amazing singer, he’s a good guy. Cee-Lo admires Javier because of his ability to embody the song, “that’s your song.” In the duet performance Javier and Adam sing Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” Javier worries because he believes that you can’t sing that song better than Michael did. Adam tells him that they’re not going to try to outdo Michael, just put their own style to it. After seeing the performance I tend to agree with Javier, the two did a good enough job but it is pale in comparison to Michael’s version. I can’t help but thinking that it sounds like this is for some charity benefit or a Michael Jackson tribute instead.

Dia Frampton, Team Blake
When choosing her duet performance with Blake, Dia says that “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty shows exactly what she wants the audience to see. That she’s in this for the win. Dia and Blake do a sort of Blues Brothers or Pulp Fiction thing with their wardrobe. It’s a great performance and these two have fun with it. Dia’s original song is “Chasing Shadows” and Blake says that his only job is to “give Dia the space that she needs to be Dia.” Might be a good strategy. Too bad that during Dia’s performance Blake had dancers vogue-ing in shadow boxes, providing an unnecessary distraction. And all of the judges pick up on this. When Christina asks why he would have that unnecessary distraction, Blake says that he could do it because Dia is such an awesome singer. Hope the voters agree. I’m not really a fan of Dia’s style of singing and the boxes didn’t really bother me much, since I was only half paying attention anyway. Blake predicts that Dia will crush all her competitors on iTunes, but will she win?

Vicki Martinez, Team Cee Lo
During the recording session Vicki speaks of how months ago she was struggling to find producers, but now she is working with the best in the business, her coach Cee Lo as well as producer Butch Walker. Vicki talks about how emotional her song is and they focus on getting that emotion out of her. Vicki’s song is “Afraid to Sleep” and it’s sort of a soft rock melody. It’s quite nice, but I’m not really feeling it. I’m not sure that Vicki’s distinctive voice was the right fit for it. Frankly, I’ve seen better from her. Adam tells Vicki that he bought every second of her performance and the two joke about a pair of pants that he bought her. Blake tells Vicki that the fact that she “insists on being a big deal” is inspiring. For the duet with Vicki, Cee Lo chooses “Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar and Cee Lo prompts it by saying it is “explosive” getting the two of them together onstage. And of course he’s right; their performance is by far the most theatrical with a sort of post-apocalyptic battle feel to it. The two are well matched on the stage and it’s awesome.

I am quite disappointed in Christina Aguilera this week, I don’t know if she was just having an off day or maybe she was trying to send subliminal messages but every time she talked about other competitors it was with a distinct lack of excitement. All of the other judges praised all the competitors and seemed genuinely happy about their performance and journey on The Voice. Christina showed absolutely zero joy for any of the other competitors, sure she said the right things but with all the enthusiasm of someone swigging on cough syrup. I don’t know if it’s some Jedi-mind trick or something but I thought it wasn’t well done of her. And unfortunately as awesome as Bev is I’m going to have to root for Team Christina to not win this. Sorry, Bev.

Beverly McClellan, Team Christina
I’m going to hold my tongue when I tell you that for the duet song Christina chose a song of her own, “Beautiful,” to sing with Beverly. I’m going to hold my tongue and not say anything because I think it’s an arrogant move to try to steal some of the limelight from your own teammate. Sure, Bev was down with the song choice, and it’s a great show of female solidarity, but is this actually the song that’s going to showcase Bev’s voice in which she is directly competing with the person who sang the song originally? I don’t think so. And now that I’ve held my tongue I’ll tell you that the two did an adequate job covering the song. I think that the idea of Beverly (tattooed, bald female) singing this song was more powerful than the performance. Bev’s original song is “Love Sick.” Christina tells Bev that she needs to put some soul in it and add her own personal flair. During the performance Bev is in full out rocker mode and that works for her, obviously, but I don’t think it was one of the most outstanding performances. Cee Lo tells Bev that he is a fan of all things talented and original and that he’s a favorite of hers and Adam agrees telling her that she transcends all teams and they all are rooting for her. But it’s Blake that wins the quote of the night telling Bev, “If music was crack, you would have a serious problem.”

Final Results
For the final night, the contestants once again take the stage but this time with some musical legends. Javier sings “Landslide” with Stevie Nicks, Dia takes on “The House that Built Me” with the reason I stopped calling myself Miranda Lambert; Vicci and Pat Monahan of Train sing “Drops of Jupiter” and Bev takes the stage with Ryan Tedder of One Republic to sing “Good Life.” All the performances were good but I really enjoyed Vicci and Monahan’s “Drops of Jupiter” pairing and Bev/Tedder seemed like they were having so much fun on stage that I wanted to join them. Maybe next time, eh? But now it’s time to choose the winner. I’ve been struggling back and forth between Team Adam and Team Blake for weeks; yes, Adam’s uber-cool and Javier’s amazing but I cannot drop Team Blake.  Can’t do it. Now I know how Bella Swan feels trapped in choosing between Edward and Jake; hold on wait, pause… no I don’t, but I sure wish that I did. It seems America was having the same trouble as me as Carson reveals that Dia and Javier are the top two contestants and the winner won by the slim margin of 2% of votes. Carson also tells us that Javier had the #2 download on iTunes, but that’s only because Dia was #1. But those results have nothing to do with what’s going on now, just some interesting information.

And the winner is… JAVIER (!!!) Winning $100,000 and a recording contract. Congratulations! And that’s the end of an awesome first season of The Voice – lifts imaginary glass – here’s to round two…

Season 1, Episodes 11 and 12: “The Finals” and “Finals: Results” (original airdate June 28-29, 2011.)

Photos by Lewis Jacob/NBC.

Transformers Dark of the Moon Review: Here We Go Again

Let me preface this all by saying I was not a Transformers fan as a child. I actually don’t even remember ever seeing it, yet still somehow being aware of its presence. I was clearly preoccupied with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Everything I know about the franchise, save a little research, comes from the film universe. I have no inherent nostalgia for this property. So it was with caution in 2007 that I approached Michael Bay’s first movie, and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. After a not-so-great sequel like Revenge of the Fallen, I’d love to tell you the third installment, Dark of the Moon, is a worthy successor, but…I just can’t.

This threequel picks up with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) three months out of college, living in Washington, DC with new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Sam’s facing the great millennial crisis—why can’t I get a job that makes me feel special? Understandable feelings after saving the world twice and receiving a medal from President Obama. A discovery at NEST, the base operations for the U.S./Autobots task force unravels a mystery about the end of the robot civil war and how exactly it ties into the space race of the 1960s. Along the way, franchise familiar faces Lennox (Josh Duhamel), Epps (Tyrese Gibson) and Simmons (John Turtorro) pop up, joined by a new supporting cast of humans and robots alike.

As a movie goer, I believe in being open minded about the experience. You can’t be mad about the gore in a slasher movie, you can’t be upset with the cheese in a romantic comedy, and you can’t be shocked when a Michael Bay movie is littered with more explosions than character development. Let’s face it, Transformers: Dark of the Moon isn’t vying for any major storytelling awards, as its cast repeatedly has reminded people on the press circuit. But, there was a sense of wonder in that first movie that hasn’t really ever translated into the follow-ups. Maybe it’s because we’re in a post-Super 8 summer movie world, but I need a little more than I was given here.

Let’s start with the characters, of which there’s only really one—LaBeouf’s Sam. He’s a charming guy you want to succeed, and LaBeouf’s cadence and comedic timing are probably the best part of this franchise, but I feel worn out following his journey this third time. Never did I think I’d say this, but I missed Megan Fox terribly in this installment.

Whiteley’s Carly, who I’m aware is based on a character from the 80′s cartoon, is a poor substitute and seems forced to carry out abandoned Mikaela plotlines leftover from an early draft of the script. She’s got a thing for cars, a better job than her Ivy-league educated boyfriend, etc. Some characters, like Sam’s endearingly awkward parents, are delivered in just-enough small doses, while others, like Sam’s pet autobots and former Agent Simmons, I could’ve done with less, or even none of.

Duhamel isn’t given as much to do this outing as the first two, and Gibson’s role is reduced to a glorified cameo. I don’t mind Frances McDormand’s addition and am quite amused with John Malkovich’s presence as Sam’s new boss. Patrick Dempsey, trying his best to play out of type, shows up early as Carly’s overly attentive boss and creates a good bit of tension before a late second act twist.

Even some of the robots are dealt a raw deal. Optimus Prime literally hangs out for most of the third act until showing up to help settle things. Megatron, a villain who’s never really been given his due in this series, sits around and waits for his plan to unfold with Starscream. It’s quite possible nameless new Decepticons receive more screen time than any of our returning heroes or villains. By the way, just where did all of these new baddies come from? Were they out there just waiting as part of some plan or what?

From the first minutes, I was waiting for the inevitable robot battle to start. None of the characters seem as eager as I was though. The NEST coalition is content to work on human problems while waiting for potential Decepticon attacks. In a world where we can stalk a celebrity’s every move and see street-view satellite pictures, we can’t use some tech to find giant robots hiding in Africa? More so, never at any point in the story did I feel the humans/Autobots stood a chance of losing. While the plot is tighter than it’s predecessor, screenwriter Ehren Kruger could’ve  raised the stakes by sacrificing a few name characters rather than faceless troops introduced late in the third act.

This is a movie about a big robot civil war, you can be sure lives are going to be lost just as much as stuff is going to blow up. I did enjoy Kruger’s alternate history take and the way it weaved throughout the film. Still, it at times felt far too long yet has probably the most abrupt ending in recent history. It’s almost like the creative team decided well, it’s over, so just cut now.

One real highlight is the visual f/x on this movie are absolutely perfect. The slow motion sequences where you can scan quickly all the detail of a robots face are remarkably impressive, dare I even say jaw-dropping, particularly when they share the screen with one or more of the human actors. It also features the best 3D work this side of Avatar. I’m on the fence with the format, feeling it serves well when done right, but I’ve yet to be impressed with another 3D movie this year.

A good sequel should feel like getting back together with a group of old friends and being able to pick up right where you left off. Dark of the Moon feels like an awkward run in at the bar with that high school friend you haven’t wanted to see for the past ten years; there’s a sense of obligation to see it through, but you’d rather just avoid it.

Despite Bay’s stunning visuals and penchant for dramatic shots, it’s not enough to cover the absent depth this time around. I’m sure there will be viewers predestined to love this movie, I’m just not one of them. Dark of the Moon lacks the relationships, tension and even some of the fun of the first two installments and fails to tread any new ground for the future of this franchise. With Bay and LaBeouf both announcing their departure from the property, maybe this really will be the last one.

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Royal Pains Giveaway: Win Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Plus More!

This Royal Pains summer prize pack from our friends at USA network is just what the good Doctor [Hank] ordered!

Included in this pack is your summer survival kit:

• A Custom Nylon Bag
• Season 1 & 2 DVDs
• Royal Pains Book
• Hamptons Sun Protection (or equivalent)
• USA Summer T-Shirt
• USA 10-City Summer Guide

Here’s How to Win (No Purchase Necessary)

1. Post your comments to at least one (1) of our front page articles.

2. Email your name, email address and the name of the post you commented on to contests@poptimal.com. Put “Royal Pains Summer Contest ” in the subject line.

3. Wait. The winner* will be notified after July 13th.

*Contest open to residents of the U.S. Prize pack valued at $145.

Catch all new episodes of Royal Pains this summer on USA, Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. EST!

White Collar Review: Mozzie Versus the Mob

“Character defines personality. And in that department, your cup runneth over.”

Mozzie certainly has plenty of character, and it shines during his flashback episode. It is, without a doubt, my favorite episode of the third season so far.

Let’s start at the beginning. Since Mozzie (Willie Garson) and Neal (Matt Bomer) cannot sell any of the Nazi treasure, Mozzie holds a yard sale of his prized possessions, i.e. a banana knife, to help support his former orphanage and the man, Isaac Jeffries, who found him as an infant. June (Diahann Carroll) even shows up to buy some of Mozzie’s wacky treasures. Welcome back June!

It looks like it’s going to be a quiet day at the FBI until Peter (Tim DeKay) mentions Detriot mobster Frank DeLuca Jr. is in town looking for someone. This leads Neal to return to question Mozzie about his Detriot connections, but they’re interrupted when Frank DeLuca Jr. bursts in. Mozzie hides while Deluca announces that he’s looking for the dentist of Detriot and if he doesn’t meet with him, he can say goodbye to his friend, Isaac Jeffries. After DeLuca leaves, Mozzie confesses “I’m the dentist of Detriot” to a very shocked Neal. Mozzie is determined to save Jeffries and meet with DeLuca, but Neal tries to convince him it’s too dangerous to go to the meeting.

Peter, who knows DeLuca has been there, shows up and asks, “you in danger Mozzie?”

In a perfectly Mozzie answer, he quips, “I live in danger, Suit.”

Neal throws Moz under the bus by telling Peter “DeLuca is forcing a meet with Moz using an old friend as leverage.”

To forbid a stubborn Mozzie from attending the meeting, Peter takes Mozzie into protective custody for his own good.

Back at the FBI, Peter reveals that Detriot police could not find Mr. Jeffries and that the dentist of Detriot has a very long rap sheet while Mozzie freaks out in the interview room. Peter is willing to listen to Mozzie’s story. And Mozzie’s flashback begins…

It was 1969 Detriot when baby Mozzie, adorable with glasses and a teddy bear named Mozart, was orphaned. Isaac Jeffries found him and took him in at the orphanage. He encouraged Mozzie to read, started his obsession with quotes, and showed him how to outsmart the other kids who bullied him. We then see the outsmarting take place as Mozzie cons the bullies at the orphanage.

Back in the present, Mozzie asks Peter about Mr. Jeffries again and if he left any stuffed animals in his house. A somewhat strange question, but Mozzie believes Jeffries is sending him a message through a stuffed animal—he is heading to NYC to warn him about DeLuca.

Neal decides he’ll be the one to go to meeting with DeLuca instead of Mozzie, as “the dentist’s lip man.” This pisses DeLuca off and he almost leaves until Neal calls Mozzie, a.k.a. The Dentist. Through Neal, DeLuca confirms it’s the dentist by asking about his favorite ice cream flavor (bubblegum). DeLuca acknowledges that years ago The Dentist pulled a con on his father for $500,000. He demands Mozzie pull the same con on Irish mobster Patrick O’Leary, who he believes killed his father. Peter and Neal plan to go through with the con, because once they put the money in DeLuca’s hands they can arrest him on extortion and Mozzie and Mr. Jeffries will be safe.

To pull off this “wire con,” they must get Mozzie to reveal how he pulled it off the first time. It turns out at age 12, Mozzie stole $500,000 from the Detriot mobster Frank DeLuca Senior. He describes himself as a “gifted child.” Mozzie reveals he was eventually placed with a family but ran away after their son blamed him for stealing a family heirloom.

Poor Moz, I totally would have adopted him—little Mozzie was adorable!

Mozzie continues his story, saying he first got a job with a numbers guy and then worked with a “patsy” named Bruno. With Bruno, he ran the biggest street lottery in town until DeLuca Sr. started to lose profits and threatened to shut down The Dentist. This is when Mozzie ran the wire con and stole the $500,000 from DeLuca Sr. But Bruno sold him out and Mozzie ran away to NYC to start fresh. Afterwards, “The Dentist” became a cover for other criminals so no one knew DeLuca was taken by a 12 year old. Peter responds that Mozzie is a “living conspiracy theory.” When Moz finishes his story, he is taken to a safe house.

At the hotel, Mozzie drives Jones crazy, but also believes Mr. Jeffries has sent another clue by running a tollbooth and will go to the Statue of Liberty when he gets to NYC.

Meanwhile, the FBI are preparing for the con by shutting down O’Leary’s betting establishment. Neal, who is pretending to work for the dentist, persuades O’Leary to help him take down his boss at his betting site.

At the Burke’s house, Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) finishes baking muffins for Mozzie as Neal shows up so he and Peter, both wearing tuxes, can go to the con. El makes them pose in their tuxes for a “prom picture.” So cute! I want a copy of that picture!

Elizabeth visits with Mozzie, a bit concerned about Peter’s safety and wondering why Mozzie never confronted DeLuca. Mozzie tries to reassure El as she is leaving that Peter will be fine. Then Mozzie, as Diana later puts it, pulls a Ferris Bueller. He is clearly one step ahead of his protective detail as he pretends to nap but really sets up a pillow version of himself in the bed and escapes by unscrewing the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

Mozzie has gone rogue as Neal and Peter attempt to pull of the wire con on both O’Leary and one of DeLuca’s thugs, who is present. O’Leary is buying Neal’s inside info but is only betting the minimum, which is a problem. There is now only one race left and they must do something or the con will fall apart—so Peter and Neal start screaming at each other and then Peter publically fires Neal. During the fight, I couldn’t help but cringe and wonder if some of the insults were somewhat truthful. But the fight works and persuades O’Leary to bet the rest of his money on the final race, which he loses.

Diana calls to let Neal know Mozzie escaped to go meet with DeLuca. Jones, Peter, and Neal, all looking dashing in their tuxes, rush to the meeting place. Mozzie, in an awful red tracksuit and carrying a briefcase of money, talks with DeLuca—he explains he is the real Dentist of Detriot and tells DeLuca they should go their own separate ways.

Peter, Neal, and Jones wait anxiously because they can’t arrest DeLuca for extortion until he touches the briefcase. Mozzie puts the briefcase down and begins to walk away. DeLuca picks up the briefcase and pulls his gun to shoot Mozzie but luckily Peter and Jones are a quicker draw and arrest DeLuca for extortion and attempted murder. Mozzie genuinely thanks Peter for saving his life by calling him Peter and not Suit.

Back at Neal’s apartment, Mozzie warns Neal to enjoy his relationship with Peter while it lasts before they take off with their treasure. Peter shows up to reunite Mozzie with his beloved Mr. Jeffries, who finally made it to NYC. Much to Peter and Neal’s amusement, Jeffries and Moz begin having a “quote off.” Jeffries also reveals where the name Mozzie came from—as a child Mozzie couldn’t pronounce the name of his bear (Mozart), so he called him Mozzie. Moz obviously took the name when he came to NYC. Peter is surprised that Mozzie was sentimental about the bear’s name but Neal understands and says, “sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye.”

Collars, until next week, I’m going to go eat some bubblegum ice cream in honor of the Dentist of Detroit aka Mozzie…

Season 3, Episode 4 “Dentist of Detroit” (original airdate June 28, 2011)

White Collar airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on the USA Network.

Images courtesy of Will Hart and USA Network.

Cars 2 Review: Stuck in Neutral

I’ll come out and say it; I was not a fan of the original Cars. I saw the appeal and why people liked it, but I thought it was one of the weakest entries in Pixar’s library. I was originally sketchy when Pixar announced they would be creating Cars 2, but after last year’s successful Toy Story 3, I figured the animated studio knew what they were doing. Sadly I was wrong; Cars 2 is a mess.

Pixar is not afraid to preach a message within their movies, as we have seen with human overconsumption in 2008’s Wall-E, but what worked in the past does not seem to be the case in this automotive sequel.

Coming off his victories on the road, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) returns to Radiator Springs for some rest and relaxation and no one is more excited than his best pal Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), a rusty old tow truck with a few loose screws. McQueen soon finds himself headed to Tokyo for the World Grand Prix, hosted by Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard), after Mater calls into a talk show to defend McQueen’s honor against Formula-1 race-car, Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro), for not entering the contest in the first place.

I was excited to see what track courses Pixar would dish out for the World Grand Prix since they marketed the races in the trailers, but my hopes were crushed with what turned out to be a poor imitation James Bond spy comedy.

Mater finds himself mistaken as the American spy in Tokyo by British Intelligence agents Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer). The three try to uncover the evil scheme of Professor Z (Thomas Kretschmann), which consists of a conspiracy that could change the world’s view on gasoline versus alternative fuel by sabotaging the racers using eco-friendly gas in the Grand Prix.

The movie takes a giant misstep by concentrating on Mater for 85% of the movie when the trailers and commercials highlight McQueen just as much as counterpart. The lack of McQueen is letdown and the children’s voices rang out with their disappointment at the end of the movie.

McQueen is the selling point of the Cars franchise, while Mater is the hillbilly comic relief. People want to see the hero, not the sidekick. Pixar took the different approach this time around preaching that it is okay to be who you are regardless of what anyone thinks, but the studio seems a bit hypocritical as they spent majority of the film using Mater’s lack of intelligence as comic relief.

There is one good thing I can say about this movie. The animation and visuals are outstanding as the animators bring the Japanese cities, Paris, and London to life. Disney’s 3D adds nothing to this movie and only darkens the bright world of Cars. If you do find yourself headed to the theater to watch the movie, do yourself a favor and ditch the 3D.

Overall I really can’t recommend Cars 2 to many people at all. Children may love it, but the story might be too complicated and boring especially with a 113 minute run time. Parents will likely be looking at their watches hoping for the movie to come to an end. Cars 2 is a below average at best and feels like a quick cash in by Disney. I’m sorry to say it Pixar, but this year the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature will likely end up with Dreamworks or Studio Ghibli.

Grade: C-

Photos courtesy Disney/Pixar

Suits Q&A: Gina Torres is the Woman Beside The Men

Gina Torres is famously known for her Sci-Fi and fantasy roles over the years. Have you ever seen The Matrix trilogy or Firefly? Then you know Gina. You might also recognize her honey-dipped voice in animated TV shows and video games. Gina now holds court at a law office, starring as Jessica Pearson on USA Network’s new original series Suits. She might have a history of playing strong female leads, but she revealed during a Q&A that she and “Jessica” aren’t always bulletproof.

What exactly is your relationship with Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht)?

Oh God. Harvey, you know, it’s complicated – as the movie says. You know, I think there is, like all great relationships, and I’m hoping that we have the time to prove that this is one of those great relationships that we can, you know, in later years turn to and go, “Oh God, that’s like – that so Jessica and Harvey.” I’m, you know – I’m his mother, I’m his sister, I’m his priest, I’m his confidante. I’m all of those things as he is for me.

You have a history of playing assertive, confident characters. Is it typecasting or something you are drawn to?

I believe my initial reaction was, “oh, another strong female character.”  It is something that follows me. I’m so happy that it does, I have to say. You know, they are great fun to depict. And it’s also great fun to find the chink in the armor. And as much as I am enjoying playing Jessica and in all of her unapologetic feminine fabulous authority, it’s just as much fun to unearth and find those things that make her vulnerable – that make her human – and I think ultimately make her more interesting.

Why do you think it is important to have a strong woman character on the show that mainly focuses on the two male characters?

I think, and I believe, as has been my experience in life in general is that a strong man doesn’t get very far without a strong woman beside him – and not behind him, beside him… And Jessica is certainly a fantastic example of that, as we establish very early on that Harvey would not have the career that he has now if Jessica didn’t believe in him.

Watch Suits Thursdays 10/9c on USA

Images courtesy of Frank Ockenfels and USA Network.

Pretty Little Liars Review: Spencer Gets Suspicious…Again

Last week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars was very much a setup episode for future events so imagine my pleasure this week when things actually started happening! And no time is wasted as the episode beings with our girls chatting it up during a movie only to find the mysterious hoody figure in there with them. He/she attacks and it appears our girls are officially in trouble but just in the nick of time, Spencer wakes up from this nightmare. Phew.

Granted, this is only my third episode watching the series but I’ve already pegged Spencer as the uber paranoid one. Sure, she may well have good reason to be constantly freaked out but it seems like she’s always looking for trouble and shouldn’t be surprised when she gets it. Her list of curious activity in this episode included:

• Being awoken by her sister, Melissa, panicking over her lost wedding ring before rushing away for a mysterious phone call.
• Seeing a mysterious figure in the window of Jason’s house after he claims to be living alone.
• Suspecting Jason of having something to do with Alison’s death after remembering a weird night when Alison had to escape one of his parties.
• Finding her sister’s wedding ring and then promptly hawking it to buy Toby (with a surprisingly great bod) a dumpy old pickup.
• Following her sister as she sneaks out of the house late at night to retrieve a bag of meds from some fellow named Wren (Julian Morris).

So, yeah…she was pretty busy this week. And with all of this stuff going on its hard to imagine her or any of the girls getting fully out of this mess to live normal teenage lives again. But I suppose that’s what makes for addicting television.

On the Hanna front this week, her dad is still hanging around and getting extra chummy again with her mom. Mommy dearest writes it off as two people just becoming friends again after a lot of water has gone under the bridge and by the way Ashley Benson was playing the role I thought Hanna wasn’t happy about it. Imagine my surprise though when she erases a text from her dad’s girlfriend before he can see it. The text appeared to be one professing love (because clearly text messages are the most appropriate venue for that) but I guess dear old dad will have to find out some other way…that is unless he falls back in love with mom first!

Hanna also tries to find a new way to occupy her free time by joining the yearbook club with her friend (and once love interest?) Lucas (Brendan Robinson) who is cute in a dorky kind of way. It would seem that Hanna is trying to make amends with him for something by setting him up with a cute girl in the club. At first he seems resistant but then Hanna says some surprisingly mature things that make him think, “Hmmm maybe I should put an effort into getting laid.” At least that’s what I’m guessing he thought.

Next up is Aria who I’m slowly deciding needs to be slapped. Last week, her inappropriate BF Mr. Fitz peaced out of teaching high school to move onto Hollis University so naturally Aria decides to take an extra course there – pottery no less. All seems fine at first but guess who also happens to be in the class – that creepy blind girl, Jenna (Tammin Sursok)! Aria tries to play it cool by calling herself Anita (worst fake name EVER) and hoping someone without vision will never notice, but of course they end up after class alone together where Jenna starts to get a little emo about her pottery project and then immediately figures out that its Aria when she starts talking. And thus what could have been a recreation of the classic scene from Ghost instead becomes scary when Jenna angrily insists on Aria blowing out the only remaining light in the room. Nothing else really happens, but I like to imagine that things got weird.

And finally we have Emily who didn’t feature too prominently this week but continued her swimming scholarship drama. As we saw last week, she has a shot at a great scholarship but likely won’t be considered if her parents carry through with their move to Texas so Emily plots sending them a doctored letter that promises her the scholarship if she stays put. The girls are split on whether or not she should go through with this plan but ultimately she decides not to after a little heart to heart with her mom. She rips up the fake letter and tosses it in the garbage to be gone forever…or so she thinks. The next day her mom rushes in with the mail and makes her read it. Sure enough, its the fake letter she wrote and the move to Texas is officially cancelled. Upon searching her garbage in a panic Emily finds a note from ‘A’ suggesting that she needs Emily to stay in town to continue the game of cat and mouse. Creepy.

The episode then ends with the mysterious hoody character buying back Melissa’s ring from the pawn shop. I do so love a stalker with means.

See ya next week!

Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 3: “My Name Is Trouble” (originally aired June 28, 2011)

Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC Family.

Images courtesy of Adam Rose and ABC Family.

True Blood Review: New Season, Same Love Triangle

It’s been such a tremendously long wait and I like many fans have been dying to know how much of our beloved Dead To The World would make it over to this new season. Ever since we were teased with pictures and clips of Alexander Skarsgard sans shirt running down the highway, hopes were ignited that we would get our amnesia Eric this season.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry because you’re in for a fantastic treat as True Blood finally returns back to our televisions this week. When we last left the residents on Bon Temps, Tara (Rutina Wesley) chopped off her hair and skipped town while Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) discovers that he’s magical thanks to his new boy toy Jesus. Bill was in a showdown with Queen Sophie-Anne (Evan Rachel Wood) and Sookie (Anna Paquin) had disappeared to fairyland with Claudine.

Inside fairyland all was not what it seemed as Sookie runs into Barry the bellboy and her Grandpa Earl. Grandpa Earl thought he had only been there for a couple of hours when it had actually been twenty years. The fairies also weren’t the nice helpful kind and they actually looked more like trolls or goblins who were harvesting humans. After Bill (Stephen Moyer) had managed to cross over to their dimension from ingesting too much of Sookie’s blood, the fairies became extra paranoid and started kidnapping any human with fairy blood in them, including Sookie and Barry.

Claudine’s brother (who in the books is named Claude) leads Sookie and Grandpa Earl to the portal where Mab is beginning to close it, partially due to their fear of extinction from vampires who once nearly drank them all to death. This part stays true to the books, though Mab is an entirely new character. Sookie and Grandpa Earl jump through but shortly after the elder Stackhouse dies having eaten a light fruit from the other dimension. He gives his granddaughter a watch to give to her brother before passing. Sadly another family member disappears from poor Sookie’s life.

As she returns back into her world, both Bill and Eric wake up sensing her presence. Admittedly I did get giddy at this scene, as she’s had such an impact on these two undead men that they wake even from their day sleep. Once 6pm hits, the two arrive at her doorstep within minutes of each other (we’ll get that that later).

Sookie soon learns that she’s been gone for nearly an entire year in the real world. Her brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is now a real police officer and had sold their grandmother’s house, Andy Bellefleur is the sheriff and addicted to vampire blood, Tara left town (and now moonlights as some kind of underground MMA fighter plus she’s also into the ladies), Lafayette is still with Jesus who keeps trying to convince him to embrace his inner Harry Potter, Arlene’s (Carrie Preston) young son likes to decapitate Barbie dolls, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack) are living together and experiencing the pangs of a human-vampire relationship, Eric and Bill are working on improving vampire image in their own ways and lastly Sam’s (Sam Trammell) joined a shifter’s anger management group.

Let’s get to our anticipated love triangle scene. Bill arrives at Sookie’s first and begins to tell her how much he’s missed her and how he’s felt so empty and dead after not feeling her presence nearly a year. Eric arrives soon after with his two cents, that everyone who claimed to love her gave up and believed she was dead, except him. Interestingly Bill commands Eric to leave and that is our first hint of a change in dynamic in their little vampire world. Sookie is conflicted as she faces Bill since to her, it’s only felt like an hour ago that he had broken her heart into tiny pieces. We’ll get back to our resident telepath in a bit.

The other only living Stackhouse has matured quite a bit in the year that his sister was gone. He’s a respectable police officer who is the one trying to get Andy to stop using V. He provides food for the community out in Hotshot and even calms Andy down when he’s aggressively harassing Lafayette for drugs. Unfortunately for Jason he gets trapped inside an icebox in Hotshot, the motives of which are still unknown.

What we need to watch out for are the witches that will be the main bad guys this season. Fiona Shaw plays Marnie, the head witch and she is supposed to be the “Hallow” character from the books. I won’t spoil what she does but it certainly makes for an interesting storyline. This week we see glimmers of the craziness she can do by getting the other witches to channel their power and bring a dead bird back to life, albeit only for a few seconds. Lafayette appears to be an integral component to this which might explain why Jesus has been so insistent on them becoming like Ron and Harry.

Back at the formerly Stackhouse ancestral home, Sookie is upstairs in her room changing into a slinky nightie when Eric appears behind her. The industrious vampire has secretly purchased her house because he knew that she was still alive. Cue my heart fluttering! But the Viking is not so gentlemanly declaring that since he owns the house, she is his. This of course in vampire terms is not necessarily romantic but possessive in a potentially psychotic kind of way. The fangs come out and Sookie screams.

The most interesting development of the episode though happens at the very end. One of the witches from Marnie’s circle has just walked up to a gate where she says that the king is expecting her. It’s a lavish mansion and I believe was Russell Edgington’s old place. The witch comes into a study room where the king greets her. Who is this new king? Why it’s Bill Compton.

I guess he won that battle to the death against Sophie-Anne after all. This explains his commanding Eric to leave earlier at Sookie’s house. This is a huge departure from the books but one that I am definitely intrigued to follow. This makes a huge difference in the way Bill and Eric have interacted with each other and it’ll be interesting to see if the power has gone to Bill’s head. Is he the king of Louisiana and Mississippi? If so that’s a pretty sizable domain and this vampire has certainly done well for himself.

Things have certainly changed around Bon Temps and this was a good move by Alan Ball and company. Enough time has passed that Sookie now has to deal with a new set of circumstances. Our favorite characters have changed and I’m sure there will be lots of great flashbacks to show us how they got there. Annoyingly Tommy Mickens is still around but maybe he’ll prove to be more than just an annoying thorn on Sam’s side. I’m most interested in Bill and Eric though and I can’t wait to find out what kind of trouble they’ve been brewing.

Waiting definitely sucked.

Season 4 Episode 1 – She’s Not There (Originally Aired June 26,2011)

Pictures Courtesy of HBO

The Real Housewives of New Jersey Review: The Weird Just Keep Getting Weirder

Disappointment reigns supreme this week. I was pumped to sit down in front of my TV on Sunday night and let RHONJ take me to a world filled with name-calling, blaming, shrieking and a possible flying fist or two. Instead I got a mature adult conversation between Teresa Guidice and Melissa Gorga. What the what? How do these two go from blabbering gossipy nonsense about each other ad nauseam to this? I feel jipped – similar to every fourth of July, when I fool myself into thinking the local fireworks show is going to rock my world and then leave feeling like they just set off 50 sparklers simultaneously and called it a “show.” Not ok.

While Teresa and Melissa get big points for discussing petty B.S. during their summit, they lose points for doing it in a mature way. Teresa annunciated all her words and did not raise her voice once. In fact, she just wanted to “move forward” – so much so, she said it at least three times. Melissa seemed a little hesitant to leave the past behind but reluctantly agreed to try. Later, Melissa just can’t help but talk smack about Teresa with one of her wicked sisters. Good moving forward, Melissa.

Next up, Cousin Kathy tosses around the idea of going public with her giant canolis by starting up a dessert/catering business. Then, Rich pressures her into going all in and opening up a full service restaurant. The two go look at spaces (with Cousin Kathy looking particularly dapper in a Charlie Chaplin get-up). It’s go big or go home. Plus, Rich makes it clear he’s only going to invest if she does what he wants. Apparently marriage is a one-way street.

What episode wouldn’t be complete without a Joe Gorga sexual predator moment? He sees Melissa dressed up in a little red number and suddenly needs to be doused with cold water. Then, he tells Melissa he wants to be her “father, husband and her friend.” Wow, that’s inappropriate.

By the way, what’s this ball-room dancing business the Gorgas have their daughter involved in? And where do these people perform? It looks like some type of underground cave filled with tinsel and middle-aged adults who are living out teenage dreams.

The rest of the episode is dedicated to adults frolicking in the Catskills. The party house is filled with stuffed deer, lacquered furniture fresh out of the late eighties, over the top outfits, and enough food (including a roasted pig) to feed an army. Add at least fifteen adults who are ready to get their drink on, provide advanced weaponry and ATVs to each one, and you have the recipe for a perfect weekend getaway.

The great debate of the weekend – who is the better “blower?” Teresa or Jacqueline? Maybe I’m becoming more square with age but “blower?”  I instantly pictured Teresa and Jacqueline trying to blow out 100 candles on a birthday cake. Oh wait, they didn’t mean that kind of blower…it all hit home when Joe called Teresa a “dirty slut.”

The two cringe moments of the week belong to Joe and Teresa Guidice. The first was when Bravo cameras captured them during a “moment,” complete with sex toys that reminded me of ring-pops. The second was Joe doing the splits. No one wants to see that. No one. The runner up cringe moment: Caroline’s tight grey sweatpants that gave her mom-butt and camel toe at the same time.

As the Housewives leave the Catskills to return to the city, they hit up the local watering hole where Teresa and Joe attempt to make a baby on the dance floor and Teresa tries to find the perfect native Catskillian for her friend Delores. No luck on either front.

To close the weekend, the whole clan heads to wash their sins in the chapel located at the end of their driveway. For some reason, Jacqueline and Caroline cannot grasp the seriousness of the Chapel at the end of the driveway. Respect, people.

And that does it for this week. If this episode wasn’t traumatizing enough, then tune in for next week’s holiday show. Until next week, folks!

 

Season 3, Episode 7: Teresa’s Got a Gun (originally aired June 26, 2011)

Images courtesy of Bravo TV.

So You Think You Can Dance Conference Call: The First Eliminated Dancers Speak Out

This week’s conference call with the eliminated dancers felt a little tense, and though they seemed to be keeping their heads up, the three appeared rankled about the way things went down the first two weeks of this season’s show.

The dancers joining the call were Wadi Jones, Nick Young, and Iveta Lukosiute (Missy wasn’t present).

The first topic the contestants spoke on was which dances they found most difficult during their brief stint on the series. For Wadi, the answer seemed easy, and he said the Cha-Cha, with its many rules and strict form, gave him the most trouble. Nick said Bollywood and its intricate hand motions stumped him a bit, along with all the intricate hand motions.

Iveta talked about how honored she felt to work with ballroom choreographer Jason Gilkison, and how impressed she was with all the contestants who took on ballroom dancing (including Wadi’s Cha-Cha).

Nick talked about how it was for him, growing up in his parent’s dance studio and loving both dance and sports. He said he loved every second of it, and being busy and active. He claims to have been judged for being a dancer, regardless, but wouldn’t change a thing.

In answer to the question, ‘were any of you surprised to have been eliminated or were you expecting it’ the conversation started to take a bit of an uncomfortable turn.

Wadi stated he didn’t anticipate anything, because nobody expected what had happened the week before, and nobody expected the bottom three to be who is was either week. He said Ryan and Ricky’s spots in the bottom three shocked everyone.

Iveta chimed in with, “I was surprised because I thought this show was about versatility and showing different genres of dancers of how we were going to pursue our different styles. And I was the only ballroom dancer, Nick was the only tap dancer, and Wadi was the breaker. It was strange to me that on the first elimination they got rid of all of these different styles, so that was a bit surprising to me.”

Nick also voiced disappointment over leaving so soon, thinking he “was going to get a little bit farther than the first week, but maybe there’s a reason that they didn’t cut anyone last week and they cut us this week.”

See what I mean? They definitely feel bitter about the elimination that wasn’t, the one that spared three couples who are all still on the show while these four eliminated dancers go home. Two of them would still be there if the eliminations had proceeded as scheduled.

When asked about that very fact, Nick had this to say. “Unfair might not be the word because they can do whatever they want so unfair or fair, it’s their decision, but definitely a little upset about it now, you know. It makes you think a little bit.”

Wadi chose a zen attitude instead. “Apparently everything happened the way it should have happened and you can’t take any of that back.”

Iveta has better ideas of how the could improve, suggesting “I think if they want it to be fair, I think every couple has to do ballroom and every couple has to do jazz and every couple has to do hip-hop before they eliminated so many people. That’s what I think.”

Iveta also had an interesting answer to the question, ‘do you have to be a contemporary dancer to do well on this show?’ “It’s about your personality; it’s about how you finesse people. I do believe America wants to see different dances and different styles and I don’t think they just want to see contemporary people doing contemporary pieces.”

Totally agree, Iveta. I think you just nailed why you were eliminated, actually.

What do the three of them have planned for the future?

Nick: “I’m not 100% positive what I want to do, but I’m hoping to move out to NYC and kind of start a career for myself out there, but we’ll have to see what happens over the summer.”

Iveta: “I personally am planning to open a studio this year in NYC, a ballroom dancer studio. Actually I have been planning to do that even before I got on the show.”

Wadi: “Me and Tadd and another friend started a company before we actually went on the show and what we do is promote drug and alcohol abstinence for kids and teach them how to handle abuse and how to use dance or art or basically anything they love as an outlet instead of doing drugs.”

Does he have any advice for teenagers who want to start dancing?

“Find what it is you love about it most, and every morning when you wake up just remind yourself of that and remind yourself why you’re doing it. Because it does get hard and it only gets harder and as long as you’re able to find your motivation and push yourself to do what you love that’s really all you need.”

So You Think You Can Dance airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8/7c on Fox.

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