Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures…

Seems I had a lot of them this week, which is no different than any other week really. The difference is this week I’m brave enough to write them down.

1. The American Idol Finale

I love David Cook. He is incredibly talented and can sing a song like no one else can. I’m admittedly NOT the reality show type. I end up tuning in every week from curiosity or because of the show’s clever use of the music superstar mentors they have every week to “coach” the contestants.
I found David Cook by accident. After watching Dolly Parton on the show and after hearing his rearranged version of Lionel Richie’s Hello, I was a goner. You could say he had me at hello. [Yes, incredible bad pun intended] I heard that there were over 97 million votes, 20 of which were mine. Me…who never vote and never really cared, voted 20 times. I hope they helped make a difference.
Good luck to him. I wish him well. I think he can be one of the few idols winners to go on to have big success like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson.

2. Dancing With The Stars

Damn you Cameron Matheson! I watched reluctantly every week in support of my favorite show “All My Children”. I had hoped that his appearance would give the soap some great promotion and much needed ratings boost after a disastrous tumble creatively after a shift in head writers. Boy was I wrong on both accounts. The soap seemed to only get worse and lost viewers who were tired of watching only one depressing story. And perhaps worst of all, Cameron couldn’t dance. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t vote for him. Lucky for me, the show will be improving now that they’re getting a new writing team late summer and Cameron hung up his dancing shoes for good. I didn’t stop watching the show because of the dancers. I loved Max, Edyta, Tony, Cheryl, Kym…they all kept me watching. So now, I continue to watch, even when I don’t want to. It’s all Cam’s fault.

3. Entertainment Weekly Magazine

I skim through the pages every week looking for the latest news on music, television and film. It’s not quite Premiere or Biography Magazines, which I loved and missed so dearly, but is, does quietly nicely on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

4. Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210

SOAPnet has been showing reruns of both shows on their channel. These shows were staples for me on Mondays and Wednesdays. I always look on Saturday mornings and wonder why women would put up with Michael’s BS or why to see which misunderstood bad girl Dylan would be with the episode, Brenda, Valerie or Gina on 90210.

5. Romance Novels

I haven’t read these regularly since high school. What? With the recent writer’s strike, I took them up again. Some of the recent best authors are Shannon Hollis, Cherry Adair and Linda Howard. Check these talented ladies out.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/linda-howard/

http://www.shannonhollis.com/

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/cherry-adair/

6. Nightline

The writer’s strike proved critical again to watch I watched. Not into watching reruns of the tonight show, I started watching again. From the election coverage to their recent “list” series where artists such as Pras and Wyclef discuss their favorite music, this show is finding it’s own again since losing Ted Koppel.

7. I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Sex And The City, Fraiser

I don ‘t know why I feel guilty when watching Lucy sometimes. Surely everyone has seen and can probably quote every line from the “Vitamita Vegamine” episode, me included. The guilt comes from flipping through channels wishing Lucy were on. Television is so not what it used to be for me. I’d gladly sit through a mediocre sitcom if that meant that I could watch a fantastic one in syndication later. Finding the “I Love Lucy’s , “The Honeymooners”, “The Sex And The City” and the “Frasiers” is getting harder and harder when they are lost in between the reality shows and entertainment news programs. But they’re out there. If you’ve never seen any of the sitcoms mentioned, you don’t know what you are missing. Look for them and watch. You’ll be glad you did.

What’s In Your Movie Rental Queue?

What’s in your movie rental queue?

It seems that you can visit any website without an ad for Netflix popping up. They are very clever in their strategy, showing pictures of some movie classics including Casablanca and Gone With The Wind.

Blockbuster seems to corner in market on junk mail and print advertising with their “try us again” postcards and ad flyers popping up in mail boxes and with the coupons in the Sunday newspapers.

Seeing these recently made me think of what was in my own personal queue for rental. You’d be surprised at what you had put there but sort of forgot about.

1. ONCE (2007)

A love story about two musicians who record together and end up falling in love along the way. The story is breathtaking and a refreshing take on the boy meets girl story. The songs are powerful as these two musicians turned actors composed and song their own Oscar winning material. It’s a movie that I can watch over and over again. So much so that I keep it in my queue.

2. ENCHANTED (2007)

The live action version of this movie was hilarious. I didn’t think Disney could pull this one off. Nothing can top Beauty and The Beast for me. Surely there would be no way to live up to modernize the story in New York of all places and keep it charming. I’m happy to say that I was wrong. It’s funny, sweet, with great musical numbers in Central Park. There’s even a poisoned apple martini and an evil queen. Amy Adams is a delight.

3. ALIAS

Before Jack Bauer, there was Sydney Bristow for me. I was a devoted Alias fan throughout the shows entire run. I was sad when Jennifer Garner made her first movie because I knew Holloywood would be calling sooner or later and I would loose Sydney. Instead of waiting for butchered in editing syndication runs of the show, I put the entire series in my queue. Old episodes of this show has kept me going during many a lazy weekend afternoons when nothing was one but golf and reality shows.

4. NOW VOYAGER

Let’s face it. I love Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, and Drew Barrymore as much as anyone, but no one holds a candle[or a cigarette] to Bette Davis in that movie.

5. The MATRIX Series

I loved the first two movies. The second one was some of the best action and special effects that I’ve ever seen. But I’ll admit it, by the end of the third one, I was like, huh? I didn’t get it so I’m trying again in the privacy of my living room, without the popcorn and circumstance to get the meaning of it all. Where’s that Oracle Lady or The Key Master when you need them.

6. BEE MOVIE (2007)

It has its moments. The funniest ever is Chris Rock. Just the thought of him animated as a frustrated mosquito in the city desperately trying to get out, makes it worth a Top 7 slot in the queue.

7. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)

The Oscar winner for Best Picture deserves another look. While I’m not a fan out the violence, The Cohen Brothers do some of their best work since FARGO. I even forgive them for making Javier Bardem as unattractive as possible. His performance will go down in movie cinema history as one of the greatest movie villains.

What’s in your rental queue?