Emmy 2010: And my lack of TV watching

Every year the Emmy’s roll around, and every year they remind me of how much TV I DON’T watch. It seems like that’s all I do and yet, I have so much to catch up on! It’s like a vicious circle of never ending must see’s that are going to kill me before I actually make a dent. –sighs But I digress. Let’s talk about the actual awards, shall we?

This year the award show was hosted by Mister Jimmy Fallon. Now, I’m not going to pretend like I love Jimmy. Cause I’m not a huge fan. He seems like a nice guy, who I’d love to hang out with. But his awkwardness isn’t endearing to me. And I usually find awkward endearing. It’s hard for me to watch his talk show, and the only time I liked him on SNL was when he did the weekend updates. But I have to eat my words now, because Jimmy Fallon was thoroughly entertaining. The opening was cute. Loved Tina Fey. There friendship is adorable. And then, through out the show, I found myself giggling at his jokes. And he did one of the best things in the entire show. He gave Tom Selleck a giant hug. Sellecks reaction alone was worth watching the entire 2 and a half hours before it. So, Jimmy Fallon: I apologize for doubting you. Now, if you could just practice your interview skills maybe I’ll watch your show more. On to the lists

Things I liked:
1.Jimmy Fallon’s opening sketch with Tina Fey and the glee kids. PLUS, Joel McHale dancing? Ummm, yes please. And that whole Kate Gossling thing was pretty hilarious as well.
2.“I’d like to thank the academy for allowing a gay man to host the Emmy’s two years in a row. Congratulations Jimmy, you’re doing a great job.” Neil, you are so yummy…oh and you were funny as well.
3.The Modern Family sketch with Clooney. Enough said.
4.Clooney’s acceptance speech for humanitarian award. He got a standing O! And he was all cute and embarrassed. What a sweetie.
5.Yes, I think steward deserved to win for best comedy writing in a variety show. He had a fantastic year! Conan shouldn’t get it just cause of all the controversy. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some CoCo. I’m just saying…Stewart’s Glenn Beck alone!!! See the below video. I would have also been happy if Colbert won. The man shaved his hair off. CoCo wouldn’t shave those luscious locks.



6.Fallon’s singing a medley for the TV shows that we’d “lost” this season. His impressions were great.
7.Jewel’s song was pretty! I sniffled. Don’t judge me.
8.Temple Grandin. Loved her.
9.Ricky Gervais! As always. “"Mel Gibson...no I’m not gonna have a go at him. He's had a rough time....not as rough as the Jews"
10.And last, but not lease cause I feel like I forgot something, Jane Lynch. She deserved it. No doubt in my mind. ALSO Jim Parsons. I haven’t seen that much of the show, but I’ve seen him and I think he’s so unknowingly funny. I just love it when the talent doesn’t comprehend how much talent they have. Keep on being funny, Jim!

And, honestly, the things I didn’t like are the normal complaints for award shows. Too long. Too many commercials. Same old, same old right? Oh and of course, Neil Patrick Harris not winning for HIMYM. You think giving him an Emmy for his Glee appearance makes up for that? …alright it sort of does. But still, what does the man have to do to get that statue! He MADE last season. So there you go. The more I think about it the more I really enjoyed the show. I’m proud of Jimmy Fallon. And I’m proud of the academy for having two good shows in a row. Let’s aim for three!

Blogs help you discover how boring your life is...

Mine, for example, is almost as boring as my 9am Algerbra class. If you've ever had algebra...or a morning class in general, you'd know how boring that truely is. But the good news is that this blog has also inspired me to go out and do things. My motives, at first, are probably mostly so that I'll have something to write about. But I'm hoping that, in time, that motivation will turn from wanting to write about it, to just wanting to have new experiences. That's the goal folks.

Now, I'm pretty sure that more than half of the entries in this blog are entries saying that "I'm back" or apologizing for being gone for so long. Hopefully that won't happen anymore either. I'm not gonna make empy promises, cause that sets me up for possible failure. I can promise to try. We'll just have to see what happends. Wish me luck, and I hope to see you back here in a few days. :]

March Madness

It seems as if I'm just gonna write one blog a month. Laziness, thy name is Kayla! My neglect has no real excuse. Except that my birthday was last month. And I went out of town. And I had school work. And actual work. And...well look at that, it does have excuses.

I don't expect you to take any of these excuses to heart, but they are the truth. Life got in the way. Thankfully it only got in the way of blogging. Not movie watching. Since my last post, I've watched four movies: Rebel Without a Cause, Whip It!, The Hurt Locker, and Crazy Heart. There really wasn't any rhyme or reason to this list of movies, they were just movies that I had wanted to see.



Crazy Heart
Oh Jeff Bridges. This is a man who, for a lot of us anyway, will always be associated to The Big Lebowski. How can you not look at him and see the Dude? It's almost impossible. And yet, I never once thought of the Dude when I was watching this movie...well that's not true. He did a gig in a bowling ally, and Bridges in a bowling ally is just too much to work with. Besides that though, Bridges was able to make me forget a role that otherwise consumed his identity to a lot of people. And Maggie FRIGGIN Gyllenhaal. I love her so much! She's just...with the...and her hair is just...GAH! She's so adorable, and likable in basically everything I've seen her in. Charm pours out of her so effortlessly. I'm a tad jealous. Okay, I want to be Maggie Gyllenhaal. Anyway, I think you should go see this flick. It's a bio picture about someone who never existed. That's always interesting right? But, I did say bio picture. There are some things in here that are a tad predictable and that are seen in most bio pics. The acting and music are just so darn good, and the characters are so compelling, that I instantly forgave any predictability. Go check it out, and get back to me.

Rebel Without A Cause
"You're tearing me apart!" James Dean, what a lovely man. This movie is right up my ally. And I think it's what a movie should be. Funny, heartbreaking, romantic, dramatic, touching, charming, cute, uncomfortable, and witty all wrapped up into James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo. It's also sort of ahead of its time. For me anyway. For god sakes, Plato had a HUGE crush on Jim. Did people see that portrayed in movie in 1955? Well, they might not have seen it in this one either. It wasn't exactly stated, just implied and if you're determined enough to be oblivious then that might not have been so obvious. Anyway, back to the movie. After watching this movie, I immediately added Deans two other films to my Netflix que. And his chemistry with Wood is adorable. I'm gushing out girly emotions all over you because of this flick. CLASSIC MOVIE. That's all I'm saying.

Whip It!
Ellen Page as a feisty misfit....she's Juno on skates! And without the belly. In all honesty though, I enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining and fun. Jimmy Fallon was pretty enjoyable(don't give me that look), and Drew Barrymore should have been in it more! It was predictable though. It tried to throw in a little edgy twist, but I saw it coming a MILE away. I wouldn't buy it, but I'm glad I saw it. The movie didn't stand a chance though. I watched it after seeing some top notch films and then I watched Hurt Locker right after. Poor movie. I like Ellen Page though. Hard Candy is still one of the creepiest most disturbing things I've ever seen and she's the reason for that. So if you're having a date night, or a girls night, then I say rent this. Whip It, not Hard Candy. That would be a horrible date movie.

The Hurt Locker
I watched this movie at the urging of...everyone. Against my instincts, cause war movies are not my cup of tea. I watched Saving Private Ryan once and have had no desire to watch it ever again. But this was different then any war movie I'd seen before it. It was more of a character study than anything else, which is a good way to get my attention. I don't know what to say about this movie expect that it was amazing. It kept me invested and edgy the whole time. That job those guys did is one INTENSE job. It might be the worst one ever. I love this movie so much I can't even think of anything cute or witty to say about it! Just watch it. Bask in the beauty. And thank the lord that this beat the crap out of Avatar. THE WORLD HASN'T GONE INSANE!

Okay folks, that's it. I'm spent. Enjoy the movies. Tell me what you thought. Maybe even recommend some. Thanks for reading.

Movie count: 7

February...the best month ever.

I've neglected this blog. I knew I would too. But my life has been so boring!!! It's the first day of February though, so I'll have more to write about. Why? Cause it's my birthday month! So stay tuned for that.

Just a small update:
My Journalism class is going a lot better. My teacher comes to our campus once a week, and that has improved the organization A LOT. I was really sad the first week of class, cause I thought I was gonna hate this class and Journalism is my flippin major! But all is better. :]

Okay shortest blog ever, but I watched The Visitor a few...weeks ago and I really need to "document" it? Idk, but I did a review on the colab youtube channel. The Reeldvdwatchers. Yes, we review movies...cause our taste is better than yours. WHAT?! do something ;]
The Visitor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YjcKTYugk

Okay that's the 3rd new movie this year. haha. 3 movies in a month.
MIND YOU: I watched more than three movies...but I'd seen most of them alread.

Movie count: 3

School, Globes, and Film. OHMY!

This week has been a little crazy for me. With school, work, and public humiliation(I'm not gonna tell you what I'm talking about. Humiliation isn't suppose to be public lol) , I haven't had much time to watch movies. That's right, I set a goal and already I'm behind. MIND YOU: once I get the hang of this whole movie thing I'm gonna plow through it. So, this blog is gonna be in three parts.



PART ONE: School

That's right folks, we're back at school. The holidays are over. No more presents and senseless drinking. Back to books, putting off homework, and sitting through lectures. I'm going part time right now because I can't really afford to go full time, and that means I'm taking three classes.

• My first class is American Literature 1865 to present. I'm pretty excited about this class, and the teacher. Even though he made us all do a lame "get to know each other" exercise, I forgave him the minute he made a Seinfeld reference. His passion for the subject is apparent too. I've only been to his class twice, so I might eat my words later, but for now I like him and the subject.


• My second class is Journalism 2: I'm a journalism major, so I was looking forward to this class. Sadly, I'm not digging it so far. It's not as well structured as the school paper I worked on in California, and we're being taught via web cam. That sounds cool, but it really isn't. I want so badly to like this class, and I hope it gets better. Maybe we just had a bad first week.


• And my last class is sociology. This class is a once a week class, so I've had it once so far. But the teacher is pretty outspoken and energetic. I can tell this isn't going to be boring, and I'm looking forward to thoughtful and passionate discussions.

PART TWO: Golden Globes
Things I liked:

• Ricky Gervais, you lovely man. You were hilarious, adorable, and entertaining. I have to admit, right before the Golden Globes I was a bit nervous for Ricky. Not because I thought he'd tank, but because I knew he wouldn't hold back. He didn't disappoint. From his hilarious introductions, to his on going self promotion. Pitch perfect. Love that British man. "Let's get on with it, before NBC replaces me with Jay Leno."
• Michael C. Hall's win. Anyone who says the man won because he has cancer needs to either a. not tell me that or b. tell me that and...get out of my life! haha He didn't announce his cancer until very late last week, and I'm pretty sure that the awards had already been decided before he came out with that announcement. He's a lovely man, and a great actor. No, I haven't watched Dexter yet. But SFU was amazing, so I like him. I have no doubt he earned the award he got.
• Meryl Streep's acceptance speech. The lady is classy. That's all I've gotta say.
• Christoph Waltz winning for best supporting actor. He stole every scene he was in, and made a character that was horrible...sort of likable? I guess likable isn't a great word, but I liked him in the movie and I'm glad he won.
• GLEE! 'nough said

Things I didn't like:

• How little we actually saw Ricky Gervais. I'm pretty sure we saw him for all of 20 minutes. MORE RICKY!
• The set up and stage was ridiculous! It made me laugh so much. I think the actors/actress's had to elbow a few people to get to where they needed to be.
• Quentin Tarantino not winning ANYTHING!
• Sandra Bullock?!
• And anything Avatar won. I'm sorry. I didn't see the movie. And I'm not saying it is bad. I'm sure it was entertaining. But...I mean...COME ON! Avatar was better than Hurt Locker, AND Inglorious Basterds. I'm pretty sure that's not true. I miss the days when James Cameron made movies that were meaningful and well crafted. It's like his budget kept growing, so his ambition changed from storytelling to graphics. The movie won because it used technology and computer graphics in a way that hadn't been used before. I'm more of a story person, and I'm pretty sure this story was predictable. End of rant.

PART THREE: The Lovely Bones

Before the globes I went to the movies. I haven't been since I saw Up in the Air, and I was dying to see something. And I chose Lovely Bones. This is a film adaptation of a novel written by Alice Sebold. It's directed by Peter Jackson, and staring Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon. Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon. Rachel Weisz as Abigail Salmon. Susan Sarandon as the grandmother, and Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. It's the story of a girls murder, her attempts at helping her dad catch her murderer from beyond the grave, and her family and friends attempt to move on.

Let me just say right now, Tucci is pretty fantastically creepy. His portrayal as Mr.Harvey was chilling, and great to watch. In my opinion, Tucci and Ronan made this movie. I'd never heard of Saoirse Ronan before, but I'm pretty sure she has a good career in front of her. She was adorable, heartbreaking, sweet, and innocent. The other actors were all good, but faded in the background whenever they were on screen with either of these two. Solid performances, good story telling, and great music. I give this movie a 8/10. Go check it out.

Movies this year: 2 (pathetic.)

Hey, this is my blog right? I'm pretty sure it is. I haven't been here since October, so I was afraid I'd forget it. Oh before I actually forget,
HAPPY 2010!!!!

It's a new year,and with that comes new years resolutions. I have several. Most of them self serving and unrealistic. But the two I'm gonna share with you are the two that affect the...four people that read this blog. AND they sort of go hand in hand. Okay, resolution number one: blog more. I know, I know. That's one of those rediculous resolutions that you are excited about at first, but by January 13th you've sort of given up on. Like...exercizing more or keeping your room clean and organized. But this is gonna happen. Why? Cause of resolution number 2: I'm making this blog into a MOVIE blog and I'm gonna track how many movies I watch in the year 2010. With these resolutions comes rules, and I just so happen to have those handy.

Movie blog rules:
1. The entire blog entry does NOT have to be about a movie, but each
blog entry has to include some sort of review, doesn't matter how long, of a movie I have watched that I hadn't seen before. That means that I probably won't
blog everyday, cause I can't watch a new movie everyday. BUT I do watch movies a lot, so the
blogging will increase because of it.
2. Each blog will have a movie count at the end of it that has the number of movies
I've watched so far.
3. I have to blog at least four times a month. Yes, I set the number a little low.
I didn't want to set myself up to fail. Jeez.

Okay, that's about it. So in keeping with the new years resolution, I watched a movie on Friday the first. That movie was American Graffiti. NO, I had never seen it. YES, I did live in a bubble. But I've emerged a better person, and a bigger fan of Richard Drifus. Although, the man was in Jaws and Close Encounters...so it's not like I'm completely oblivious to his talent. But he was so YOUNG in this movie. So young, so niave, so...horny. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and wonder what the hell happend to George Lucas.

So, until next time..."little kiss on your ear. Goodnight, sweetheart. I'll see you later."

movie count: 1