It's time for the straight jacket!

"The Hills"
Tuesdays at 10 pm
MTV

Who loves a good train wreck? I do! I do! Thank goodness or I wouldn’t be able to sit through the final season of “The Hills.” Can you believe it? They are closing it out after only five seasons. I guess all good things must come to an end. Oh how they are ending though. As time has passed in “The Hills” we have seen friendships made and ripped apart in a matter of episodes, passing from one relationship to the next, pointless bickering, and the creation of (cue scary music: Dun dun duh) Speidi. That is possibly the single most irritating creation that will eventually bring down civilization as we know it.

So as this final season starts we are brought right back into it with the snarky bickering we love so much. It seems though that all of the usual pointless banter and silent prolonged gazes are a little less poignant this season. I feel that everything that will happen this season is going to be overshadowed by the horrible crushing transformations of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (Speidi). Before the season started it was revealed that Heidi had undergone 10 elective plastic surgeries at once. When all was said and done she came out looking like a different person. Only a trace of the original Heidi is left in her cold blank eyes. But I’ll get more into that later. Spencer also goes through; I guess you can only call it, a spiritual transformation. Or, as spiritual as Spencer will ever get.

I hope you all don’t mind that I’m not really going to address all of the rumors about Kristin’s supposed drug use and Stephanie and Lo being behind it. I won’t even get into the ridiculous relationship that is Audrina and Ryan Cabrera (P.S. sweetie, Ryan, what have you done to yourself? You use to be attractive). The biggest thing of all, and it can no longer be disregarded as them playing to the media for attention, is the soul crushing relationship between Heidi and Spencer. While it’s no secret that Spencer is controlling and wants to have Heidi all to himself, he seems to now be to trying to seclude the both of them from family and friends. He is so stuck in his own little world and he doesn’t care who he hurts along the way.

Spencer, this season, has morphed into a “spiritual,” crystal loving, guru shaman sort of guy. His oddly bushy flesh toned beard is no longer the creepiest thing about him. He constantly walks around with either hippie inspired shirts or grandpa-esque cardigans and covered practically from head to toe in different crystals. He claimed that he is “vibrationally tuned in” now because of them. I think the only things they are tuning him into are the permanent crazy eyes he’s been sporting and the unnecessary, hurtful flip outs. While if you have ever seen even just one episode of “The Hills” you can guess that Spencer doesn’t care for his sister Stephanie and doesn’t like Heidi’s whole family. Probably because they don’t like him and at any turn have tried to get Heidi away from him. Spencer use to be able to be in the same room with these people before. True, he would probably start a fight or storm off in a huff, but one thing was always certain. He would stick around long enough to give that smug little smirk of his and say something completely ridiculous that would make everyone groan. He has now evolved into some super monster that doesn’t have a soul or a heart or any other human feelings or emotions. The season is only two episodes in and Spencer has already reduced Stephanie to tears in a matter of seconds. And if the previews for the rest of this season are spot on, then it seems like everyone is going to be genuinely frightened by him.

When it comes to Heidi, I can’t help but feel bad for her now. It’s so obvious that this girl is suffering from such self-esteem issues that she thinks she has to change her entire appearance so she can look like Barbie. Yes that is who she wants to look like. That was confirmed in the first episode when she goes home to Colorado to show her family her new face. The show made a huge deal about the big reveal of her changed appearance. MTV created this aura of mystery around it even though it was unnecessary since we all have seen her new self on the cover of People magazine about a month ago. The whole part of the first episode where Heidi is home and having to deal with her family’s feelings about her change is heart breaking. It was really tough watching her mother come down on her for having become a whole new person that she doesn’t even recognize anymore. Her mother called her out on her changed outlook on life since moving to Los Angeles and ventured to wonder what Heidi would have been like if she hadn’t moved. While I don’t necessarily agree with how harsh her mother was, she made sense. Heidi, you are a completely different person than you were in the first season. That girl wouldn’t have cared and would have walked around the world with her same old face that God gave her. Somewhere down the road in these past almost 5 years she has gone off the deep end herself. She has lost control in her marriage to Spencer and has a huge disconnect with her family because of it. It makes sense that she would turn to something that she can control. Some girls will go to anorexia or bulimia or even cutting, to have something to control in their lives. Heidi took her minor dislikes for things about her body, that all of us have, and tried to fix them with plastic surgery. Unfortunately for Heidi, she doesn’t know that doing things to supplement the pain is only exacerbating the problem. The fixes and changes and a new “3.0” (as she put it) self will never make her feel 100% better. It will just move her on to the next thing she feels she can’t control and send her spiraling into another black hole.

Personally this relationship is kind of scary. I don’t know where this whole thing is going with Spencer. We are led to believe that everyone else on the show is frightened by his actions and are concerned for themselves and Heidi. The show makes it seem like the two may get a divorce. This doesn’t seem likely since they are currently still together. I think this may be the smartest thing Heidi could do and it may help her get back part of herself. Unfortunately for her, she can’t go back and reverse what she has had done to her body. But she can go and learn to be more comfortable in the skin she now has and become a better person.

I'm giving the first two episodes of the final season 3 1/2 frames. It hasn't reached it's crazy potential just quite yet.


Check out the extended trailer for the final season


So head on over the forum and discuss the beauty that is "The Hills." Do you hate it? Do you love it? Do you loathe that you love it? Tell me all about it.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)



Rated: PG
Directors: Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Running Time: 98 minutes

Hiccup, born into a family, or rather a community, of Vikings, is the oddball. He desires to join in the mayhem of the continuous collective battle against the island's predators, Dragons, yet he doesn't quite fit the bill. Lanky and clumsy yet stubborn as the life he was born into, he uses what he has to impress his family and capture a dragon, his brain. He invents and builds contraptions in hopes of increasing the likelihood of catching one to prove himself. To everyone. He succeeds, yet not according to plan, as all that he imagined shatters upon his first encounter. Simply named Toothless, this feared and renowned Dragon teaches him about a world he thought he knew.

The usual lessons learned are there: going against the grain to do what's right, bumping heads with family yet discovering what truly matters, finding friends by breaking through presumptions etc.. They are expected and are truly good lessons to exhibit - not new but appreciated. In addition, the film is not as goofy as many Dreamworks productions before it, (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar), with an amusing but somewhat sedate air to enough of the film. Hiccup's awkwardness with, well everything, is endearing.

Visually, it's quite a viewing pleasure. Please, please see in 3D!! Simply admiring the texture in each Viking's leather vest or even furry beard; clear and real enough to flashback to the feeling of your fathers scratchy beard as he hugged you good night as a child. Amazing.

Loved the ending as it was not the picture perfect conclusion that is so commonplace with movies. Hiccup & Toothless' friendship is so much so codependent that it provides a true definition of what it means to rely on a friend.

I give this a four out of five frames!



Cue the trailer:



Danae signing off!

"Parenthood"
Tuesdays, 10pm (check local listings)
NBC

Have you ever had a fight with your brother or sister? Or how about your parents? Or your children? If you haven’t that means that you have no family at all in any capacity and you are a recluse that never has any actual human interaction. That’s okay. I don’t judge. But if you do have any kind of family, and that includes your close friends that you call family, then you can relate to the new NBC show “Parenthood.” It takes you into the lives of the Braverman family. The character single mom Sarah moves with her two children back to live with her parents when she falls on hard times. Upon moving home she is thrust back into the lives of her siblings and their families.

In this family you have father and mother, Zeek & Camille respectively, who are dealing with private issues that they are keeping from the kids. There is Sarah’s sister, Julia, who seemingly has it all together with her career as a lawyer and her stay at home husband, Joel, and their young daughter. Next you have younger brother Crosby who learns from a past girlfriend that they have a five year old son she never told him about. He now has to deal with being a father. Last you have the oldest child Adam. Adam has his wife, Kristina, teenage daughter, Haddie, and young son, Max, who they just learned has Asperger’s syndrome.

Each part of the family has its trials and tribulations but the way they come together to help each other is pretty inspiring. What some other shows about a family get wrong is that they either give you too many unbelievable situations or they try too hard to be “real.” “Parenthood” is one of those rare shows that falls in the middle and is actually “real.” I didn’t think I was going to like this show. When watching the previews I thought it was going to be one of those shows that make me want to roll my eyes for an extended period of time and that all of the funny moments they touted were going to be limited to the ones you saw in the commercials.

I was pleasantly surprised when I left it on one night because there was nothing else worth watching and found that it wasn’t completely awful. It was actually pretty good. The actors on the show were perfectly cast. Each one, right down to the young boy who plays Crosby’s five year old son, plays their characters perfectly. While sometimes you may wonder if these things really happen to families and if they do they can’t all happen to siblings around the same time. Well, of course that is the unrealistic point of all television shows. They only have but so much time to sell you on the show and keep you watching so they throw a lot at you at once. I can look past that when the show is well written and superbly acted; which this one is.

I really enjoy watching this family cope with teens having sex, Asperger’s syndrome, single parenthood, cheating spouses, busy lives, faking orgasms, becoming a parent, starting over, and just about anything else you can think of. I would recommend “Parenthood” to just about anybody. I have found that if my mother has approved a show I’m watching, and actually likes it herself, then it must be good for everyone.

I give this show four and a half frames. I'm leaving the half for the potential this show has to grow.


Here is a two minute replay from the most recent episode titled "Rubber Band Ball."


Head over to the forum at www.j1studios.com to discuss how you feel about this show or any other shows that are centered around family dynamics.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.

Tasty Drama

I have now invested approximately 21.5 hours to my dear Dexter. Only two seasons left to catch up on and solidified is my respect for the all that is and behind Dexter!

We are first introduced in season one, to Dexter Morgan, a forensics blood spatter analyst, living his life as a serial killer... A serial killer who kills other serial killers. He lives his life under the facade of normalcy via rules he was taught by his father (e.g., do things to make others believe you are normal and (number one rule), don't get caught). His sister, Deb, has always felt that Dexter was favored by their father, also a cop, as Dexter and him spent so much time together. In fact, the bulk of their father/son time was Dexter being instructed how to control his urges and how to use them for "good". Deb is a new detective hoping for more recognition but hindered by a power hungry Lieutenant Maria LaGuerda who seems to have it out for her. Sergeant James Doakes is the only one suspicious of Dexter - he seems to have a keen eye for those trying to hide something. Detective Angel Batista is a nice guy who appears to have it all yet his personal life is not all that it seems. Dexter's training to make him appear an average human being involves maintaining a relationship with his formerly abused girlfriend Rita. The first season was pregnant with Dexter's philosophy and how he managed to stay undiscovered. You gained respect for his ability and either adored or despised the other players in his world. The recently viewed second season had Dexter questioning all that he lived his life by, and was chalk full of close calls and awkward exchanges. Loved EVERY SECOND!!!

Not needing to summarize all that went on in the first couple seasons (if you haven't seen it - do it), what needs to be known is the great story writing and the depth of each actor's characterization. To elicit all the nuances as each is written is quite a task. It is in season two that you truly get to see into the conflict (yet in also the resolutions) within Dexter. Case in point, there was a scene in which Dexter had to feign a duo of emotions: shock and bitter pain as he had to get a morgue technician away from his deceased biological father so that he could examine the body - truly genius! The look, the response, the body position each having to reflect this emotion, not just that but the idea of the emotion, the struggle - yet all not truly having been experienced by him - ingeniuos!

Here's a preview of what consisted of Season Two:



I give this series, so far, a five out of five frames.



Hit me up if you've seen this series or have one to recommend.

Danae signing off!

You Are The Biggest Loser, Or Just A Loser

Yeah I’m talking to you Melissa. That’s why you were voted off last night. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m referring to the latest person to be voted off of “The Biggest Loser” on NBC. If you haven’t been watching, Melissa was voted off several weeks ago and won the right to come back to the ranch by losing the most weight while at home. What made this such a tragedy was that NO ONE liked her. The only person who wanted her around was her husband and he eventually got voted off too.

Melissa has been a topic of controversy on this season of “The Biggest Loser.” The two trainers, Bob and Jillian, suspected that she was throwing the weigh-ins for a couple weeks. Her and her husband would win immunity in a challenge so they couldn’t be voted off at the end of the show. So what did she do, she only lost a couple pounds one week and actually GAINED a pound the next week. By doing that she was able to lose a huge number the next week when she didn’t have immunity, thus making it impossible to be voted off. Okay, I know this is a game and in the end the players aren’t only there to lose weight. They are also there to win a lot of money. To ensure that you stay around you have to play the game a little bit. We all get that. But throwing two weigh-ins in a row? That’s just stupid. People will catch on to you. And they did and that’s why the first chance they got the rest of the players voted her behind off.

When she won the chance to come back on the ranch she was a bigger annoyance, and that’s putting it nicely, than the first time around. The beginning of the season she didn’t only play the game to the extreme, she was rude and ignorant to most of the other players there. That didn’t change. She just amped it up a little more. Why someone would do this is beyond me. Isn’t it obvious that these people don’t like you and want you gone? Can’t you see that when given the opportunity they will get rid of you? The rest of the players did everything they could this past episode to make sure she wasn’t staying. The stepped it up and forced her to lose the challenge which gave her a 1 pound disadvantage at the weigh-in. That’s a big deal on this show. So when she didn’t lose enough weight she went to the ultimate extreme to get to stay. Now I ask, what kind of person says that if you keep them they can guarantee to be in the bottom two every week and help everyone else pick people off one by one?

Let’s examine her proposition shall we? What is she really offering here? Is she saying that she will throw the weigh-in every week so that she is in the bottom two which allows everyone else the ability to get rid of the other person? Does she think that she can’t lose enough weight every week to stay above the yellow line and not be up for elimination so she’s giving them an option? Are the rest of the players really supposed to believe that she won’t screw them and lose a ton of weight every week (because she is capable of it) and pick off the rest of them? Does she really think they are that stupid? Well clearly they aren’t since they got rid of her for a second time. Then she had the audacity to admonish them for not realizing what a wonderful opportunity they are throwing away. This woman has balls people.

I will spare you the catty, nay, witty banter that transpired between me and my mother about how they kept mentioning in the update on the voted off player how Melissa and her husband have been working on their marriage and making it better. Now if you have ever watched this show you can kind of guess as to why their marriage may be on the skids. But we’ll leave that up to speculation. There are some really great players left in the game for the big prize. I would be happy with any of them winning. I hope that all of them continue to lose ridiculous amounts of weight and look amazing and feel amazing in the end. The one thing I don’t want to see is Melissa coming back at the finale and winning the smaller monetary prize for losing the most weight at home. I don’t think I have ever disliked a player on this game more than I do her. If I never have to hear her horrible, grating voice or see that dung eating grin again I will be a happier person for it. Don’t seem shocked at my disdain either readers. I prefaced all of my blogs with a warning that I get invested in all that I watch.

For your viewing pleasure, please watch Melissa have her backside handed to her.


I give this episode 5 frames based solely on the fact that Melissa is gone!


Please head on over to the forum to support my loathing for Melissa. Or feel free to tell me why it is unjustified. Just go to the forum and chat it up.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.

In Theaters Now....

I grudgingly admit that it has been quite some time since I've entered a real life, popcorn smelling, ludicrously priced movie theater. I've pushed my brain to its limits attempting to recall the last time I entered a cinema house. I believe it was to see The Princess and the Frog? (November of 2009!)

The first step to recovery is admission. Step two is to find out what is out there to determine if at this point, recovery is possible. The impossible is if all choices available = crap. This non-commercial watching gal then had to conduct a search of that which is currently in theaters and has come up with, although only a few, selections. The viewing experiences to come are the next steps to becoming a true POW powerhouse ;). The road consists of a continuous stream of entertainment to filter out that which is brainless, hopeless and a waste of time.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Rated: PG; Running Time: 98 minutes; Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family

Fun filled story about a young Viking who dares to go against the norm and befriends a dragon. I truly look forward to seeing this and having lots of laughs. Those who brush off these types of films as childish are not only being close-minded but are beyond a doubt, missing out! Also available in 3D.



Shutter Island (2010)
Rated: R; Running Time: 138 minutes; Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime

Yes, yes, this has been out for quite some time yet we all know that my LIFE is late so don't be surprised that I am only mentioning this now. Mixed reviews have been heard but no doubt this is interesting and I am intrigued; I would also love some opinions from those who have seen this as to if they have or have not enjoyed this movie. This has to currently be my top pick for what I want to see.




Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Rated: PG; Running Time: 109 minutes; Genre: Adventure, Fantasy

LeVonn78 will be surprised to hear this as I've refused to accompany him due to my childhood discomfort of anything associated with this story. Yet after his and quite a few (respectable) opinions, I am giving in and would like to see if instead of wanting to dash out of my seat, I will take pleasure in this viewing experience. The book always creeped me out and I saw nothing amusing, nor even fun about the story. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's mutual love for all things odd has appealed to me before; I'm now willing to give it a shot.



I slightly aspire to see Youth in Revolt (Netflix!) - any opinions?

Note to the readers: for my protection and all those curious, if you've seen ANY of above films, post your opinion on the forum - let's discuss!!

Danae signing off!

Psychology of Television

It is safe to say that I watch a lot of television. I think I watch television as a way to not just entertain myself but as a way to escape from reality. When I'm watching TV I tend to push aside my paperwork and procrastinate on working out. Or I just use it as a way to get away from my family so I don't have to deal with that. Television is a very powerful thing. Network executives know that. They know that most likely other people are using television for the same things. So they make appealing, sensationalized television for us to lose ourselves in.

Ah, the psychological power of television. Just look at the shows I watch on a regular basis. Take "Gossip Girl" for example. Are we really supposed to believe that it's perfectly okay to just run around and have sex with whoever, manipulate all situations, never go to class, spend tons of money, and have no general concern for the world? I don't think so. But this show shows us the extreme of one way of living. How many people take this show and try to live their lives like it, even if just in small ways?

Don't get me started on these reality shows that every network imaginable has. All of these "real" people put in these "real" situations so they can win ridiculous amounts of money and faux fame. Is this really what people aspire to anymore? We think that our break through to fame is through stupid "love" reality shows or doing ridiculous stunts? Are kids even getting the right message anymore?

Now don't me wrong, I watch these shows. And I find these shows entertaining because they are an escape from my life. Which I'm sure is why most other people watch these shows as well. But I find myself more and more thinking, "Why the hell are these people doing all of this?" Who really thinks that they are going to find legitimate love on "The Bachelor?" Who really thinks that they are going to have as big a career as Tyra Banks from winning "America's Next Top Model?" These things won't really happen. And if they do, it's few and far between.

Please don't think that this whole diatribe is the end of me reviewing television or that I have lost my passion for it. That is far from reality. It just seems as I am watching this television I get more and more disgusted and the state of some of it. Bring back scripted shows that don't feel like they are being pushed to the most sensational point to beat the others. Well, next update I will have more reviews on more television that I am obsessed with. So head on over to the forum and discuss what you think about the psychology of television.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.