The Love-Hate Relationship with the Holiday Season

Oh, how I love the episodes before the holiday break. Every series has something exciting to offer, leaves you wondering what will happen next...
And then, THE WAIT. It will be a month and a half before we see new episodes and we're already itching to know and see how the plots will develop.
Happy Holidays to All!

Jenna Elfman : the New, Fresher, and Much Sexier Meg Ryan

OK, so I am not a M.R. fan, so shoot me. I mean, maybe it was the Ephron films, maybe it was just her. Or maybe it's just we do not need proof that ugly is the new sexy every other day.
Enter Jenna: that is how this haircut is supposed to do sexy; that is what we were expecting all along. So thanks Heavens, everything is back to normal now. And finally, at that.
Accidentally on Purpose is the fresh new comedy airing Mondays on CBS.

True Blood: The Best in the Genre, Yet

As an avid follower of the vampire genre, I am always keen to try new vampire fiction or films. Before the vampire explosion of recent years, I have often been disappointed, especially by vampire films. There was rarely a vampire film worth seeing. I still remember the cult classic The Lost Boys and even saw it again recently.
At first, when I read that True Blood will be made into a series by Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet under, I was a bit worried because Six Feet Under just doesn’t do it for me. However, this time around, Alan Ball has done superbly well. Of course, credit must first and foremost go to series author Charlene Harris. Mrs. Harris has created a fascinating world where magical creatures exist among us and some of them are known to the public. And it was about time someone gave vampires a sexuality.
True Blood is the best in the vampire genre, yet. I can’t wait for book 10 of the series to be written and published. And I can’t wait for season 3 of True Blood to start airing.
The story is so fascinating and the setting in the deep American south fits perfectly. The casting crew has done an amazing job, too.
Eric: the image of hotness.

Planet 51: the Better Wall-e and the Dog with the Alien Head

Planet 51 is about little green aliens living peacefully on a planet much like Earth and much like humans thinking they are the only intelligent life in the universe. It comes from the makers of Shrek. I guess they had lots of green leftovers from Shrek and had to do something with them.
A central character is a small white robot looking very much like Wall-e. Only it is better and much cuter. See below. Wall-e is like the ugly cousin of the planet 51 robot. See for yourself:




And there's also the cutest alien dog with a head that looks like the head of the Alien.





Planet 51 is sharp, witty, freshly funny, and very much worth seeing.

Julie&Julia

Recently I saw Julie&Julia - a film targeted to women where a bored young woman with a dead-end job decides to follow a recipe book for a year. Nora Ephron. Say. No. More. Kill. Me. Now.
Maybe the film has more appeal for the American public, Julia being a household name there and all. It's just that the story was dull and there's a certain melancholic feeling that creeps through Ephron's films and it is choking. Honestly.
It is very strange that a woman would portray women in such a downgrading way. Women in Ephron’s films are insecure introverted underachievers who somehow always lack the ability to communicate in person. For example, Sleepless in Seattle: calling in on radio show. You’ve Got Mail: letters. Julie&Julia: blogging.
I expect the next Ephron film will feature a not-so-pretty young woman finding the love of her life on Twitter.

Modern Screen Writing: Sitcoms

So how do you write a sitcom screen play? Easy. Have all the clichés thrown in, just to be on the safe side. Universal appeal. The new sitcom Modern Family is just that.
I imagine the screen writers sitting in a big room discussing what to do. So one says, let’s have a gay couple. Right on. Then another, let’s have a much older man married to a younger beautiful woman he would never have scored if he wasn’t rich. And, to charm the Hispanic community, lets make her Hispanic. But nothing too political, like Cuban or Venezuelan. So she’s Colombian. And then, let’s throw in the “normal” family, 3 kids, clueless parents. And there you have it. All the components for a sitcom.
However, although it is so clichéd in every way, somehow, bizarrely this works for them. It is fresh, new, and funny. Modern Family airs Wednesdays on ABC.
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