Wishing a Très Dope Birthday to:

Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg (1957)

Michael Vartan (1968)

Bruce Lee (1940)

Jimi Hendrix (1942)

Robin Givens (1964)

Jaleel White (1976)

I spent 14 hours on HawthoRNe one day in May 2009.

Jada Pinkett Smith (Will’s wife) executive-produces and stars in HawthoRNe, a character-driven drama series about a nurse who is a true everyday hero. She plays Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong Chief Nursing Officer heading up a group of dedicated nurses at Richmond Trinity Hospital who spend long days and nights on the hospital’s front lines.

Yes, I ended up working 9:30am to 11:12pm on the “Trust Me” episode of HawthoRNe but there were several reasons it was a really productive and enjoyable shoot. The background actors holding tent was large and comfortable with folding chairs at long banquet tables and craft services less than five feet away. The extras tent was only a few hundred yards from the sets which were inside a closed hospital which had been transformed into the fictional one in Richmond, Virginia. The craft services and catering were extraordinary.

There were 65 background actors working the shoot that day and we certainly covered the waterfront in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. There was a marvelous black man with a virtual forest of white-gray dreadlocks, a skinny young man who’s been studying tap for two years, several attractive women with serious looks on their faces, a half-dozen people sitting silently by themselves and one guy sound asleep in a folding chair he’d brought along.

However, there are two more unique reasons it was a terrific shoot.

As I exited my car in the extras parking lot, I encountered a very handsome, fit gentleman with well-tended white hair, who looked to be about my age. We followed the well-distributed directional signs to “base camp” and, at the tent, we sat opposite one another at the first table and started talking. Tom Lavine has done a lot of TV background actor work after spending many years as a global business problem-solver.
Moments later, we were joined by a delightful English fellow named Bernard (say it correctly: BERNard) Skibben, retired from running his own construction company after the loss of his wonderful wife of many decades and just beginning to get into extra work. He later mentioned being considerably older than either Tom or me, giving us both new hope for the future. Tom, Bernard and I spent hours talking about everything from 40s movies to romances lost and recalled and the conversation was a wonderful release from the relative boredom of waiting. (Incredibly, November 8, 2009, I ran into Bernard again at the registration for Virgo Talent. He was as chipper and marvelous as always.)

We worked about five times during the 14-hour day, as irritable ER patients waiting to be seen by an overtaxed staff, standing in a hallway, sitting on a gurney, standing in a different hallway and such.

My moment of fame came when they were shooting a silent insert shot of a blood pressure monitor and could find no one with high blood pressure. I volunteered. I was BP cuffed by the hopelessly skinny cast member Christina Moore as the crew stood and watched, applauding when my reading hit 192 over 85.

 

While it was a long, difficult shoot with more waiting than working, the check that arrived the next week made up for it. That and my two buddies.

2001. I had no idea who Michael Vartan, Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper were. I had no idea the terrific actor that is Victor Garber existed and that Ron Rifkin made such a great villain. It was 2001. So before Lost, there was Alias. The connection? The creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams. The two shows could not have been more different. Yes, there is mystery, some unexplained supernatural possibilities and lots of action. But for me, Lost is a little more than eye candy whereas Alias will remain as my fav. TV show. Here’s the plot:

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow

Victor Garber as Jack Bristow

Merrin Dungey as Francie

How is she supposed to lead a double agent life and keep on with the normal facede with friends?

Sydney getting her assignment

A regular day for Syd with Vaughn

    

Vaughn and Sydney

  These two have great online chemistry and share great emotional and romantic moments.

Syd and Vaughn, at last!

 I am not even gonna say how many episodes/seasons we’ve had to wait for this!

Season 1

There were two beautiful comments in authentic French in the growing romance on Hawthorne. The handsome doctor is actually played by big French box-office actor, Michael Vartan.

When he surprised Christina, played by Jada Pinkett Smith, with his French inner thoughts, I went into my vigilant mode of trying to detect a non-French accent in a supposed French character. No way. This guy’s accent was legit. And when I checked the show’s credits, I saw the actor’s name and recognized it from French TV. (He also starred in Alias and other American shows since he’s bilingual and multi-national.)

In any case, Christina was also impressed by his French and ended her meeting with him by purring a seductive: “All that French? Yeah, you need to do more of that around here!”

I agree, imagine there will be more, and recommend you watch it to hear more delicious French.

I’d say just about every girl has one. Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise pre-scientology… Mine is Michael Vartan!

Best known for his roles in Alias with Jennifer Garner and Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore, Michael Vartan is a dreamboat even at 40 years old.

So who is your old man crush?!

I was watching a movie Saturday night that I hadn’t seen in a long time (even though I own it)…and at the end I thought, “That is one of my favorite movie moments!”

So I thought I’d share it with you

Never Been Kissed (1999)

1. Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing
2. James Bond in Casino Royale (Daniel Craig)
3. Vaughn in Alias 
4. Chandler Bing in Friends (only when he was thin AND with Monica)
5. Don Draper in Mad Men
6. Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights
7. Riggins in Friday Night Lights
8. Edward Cullen in the Twilight Books (but not Robert Pattinson)

Tonight at 8 pm, ABC Family debuts its version of the classic high school movie 10 Things I Hate About You. This, to most girls I know, is a tragedy. Yet it’s not the first classic 90s movie to be turned into a TV series. Clueless lived on UPN for three seasons from 1996-1999. While Alicia Silverstone was not part of the show most of the supporting cast were, including Donald Faison, Stacey Dash, and Wallace Shawn. Let’s just say that when I was in fourth and fifth grade, this show was top-notch. The TV-version of 10 Things I Hate About You will not feature any of its stars (it, of course, was the movie that made Heath Ledger famous) except for Larry Miller who will again play the overprotective dad. In honor of my late-elementary school tastes I’ve put together a list of my three favorite 90s (okay, one is from 2000) high school movies that I would love to see on television, after the jump.

3. She’s All That (1999)

This take on Pygmalion starred Freddie Prinze Jr. as the popular jock  and Rachel Leigh Cook as the ugly loser who he transforms into prom queen. The TV version would also star Prinze Jr. because seriously, what else has that guy been doing? The show, however, would evolve to focus solely around the character mysteriously named “Campus DJ,” unforgettably played by Usher. How did he get his job as the resident radio DJ? Was he really dating Lil Kim’s character? More importantly, how did he teach a class of roughly 500 to do a perfectly choreographed dance routine? That’s a show I would watch.

2. Never Been Kissed (1999)

The movie version featured Drew Barrymore as journalist who enrolls in her high school to do for a story and falls in love with her hot English teacher, played by Michael Vartan. The TV update would feature the newest reporter at the local paper (played by Maggie Grace, why not) doing an update on her story and the class of 2013. Instead of writing stories, she blogs and Twitters about her school because the local paper actually folded years ago. It’s also full of flashbacks to her high school in the grungy early 90s, where Maggie Grace was the loner obsessed with Kurt Cobain. The hot teacher would still be played by Michael Vartan, but for a twist, instead of English he would teach French. … What? Is there anyone who wouldn’t want to hear Michael Vartan reading French poetry? That’s right. I thought so.

3. Center Stage (2000)

This is the big one. My absolute favorite movie from this time. A group of 12 aspiring dancers enroll at the American Ballet Academy and figure out dance, life, and each other. Nice, right? I told you I love this movie. Basically, it’s the all-ballet version of Fame (also a movie turned into a TV show). The cast, just like in the movie, would be filled with actual dancers who can’t act. Can you picture the gloriousness? Backstabbing dancers, ridiculous “edgy” choreography, awkward dialogue, Important Issues about underage drinking and eating disorders– it has it all. To be true to its roots, the TV series would of course be filled with HILARIOUS dance montages complete with impossible full costume and set changes midway through.

It’s almost too perfect to be true, isn’t it? Ben Silverman, you’re looking for some new programming, aren’t you? Call me.

Just watched the series premiere of Hawthorne, the new TNT show. However, this one doesn’t measure up, not considering TNT has two other shows with commanding women, Saving Grace with Holly Hunter and The Closer with Kyra Sedgwick, both far superior than this one.

Jada Pinkett Smith plays the titular character, Christina Hawthorne, and while she acts with tons of energy, her character is one I genuinely dislike. And that’s because she’s genuinely good and too perfect. The main characters on both Saving Grace and The Closer have their flaws, but that’s what makes them difficult, interesting to watch. The fact that Christina is so good puts me off.

Not to mention Showtime just released Nurse Jackie a week ago, that show has a main character as flawed and interesting as you can get and, as the title says, it’s about a nurse, and so is this one. So yeah, Hawthorne is, so far, being crushed by its most direct competition.

So yes, Ms. Smith, famously married to the amazing Will Smith, is actually quite cool, I’ve always liked her, but, again, she plays a good woman, a good role model. And that’s not interesting, that’s easy to write, easy to forget, and, let’s face it, not that easy to relate to. We all relate much better to the flawed individuals. By making her likeable, the writers have made her impossible to like.

But then again there are some positive factors in the show, however it sucks that most of them come in when the main character is not on-screen, I think I’ll especially like the storylines about two of the other nurses: Christina Moore (who rocks) who plays nurse Candy and David Julian Hirsh’s male nurse Ray. Oh and Michael Vartan also stars as a doctor, not a great role, but I quite like that guy.

Though predictable and completely dull, the show isn’t unbearable. Yet.

Grade: C-

Un film avec un gros crocodile qui bouffe des touristes, ça fait bien longtemps que je n’en avais pas regardé. Bon, c’est vrai que Sci-Fi Channel est plus branché serpent géant dernièrement. Bon, je déconne un peu, car ici on n’a pas le droit à un Anaconda version Croco, mais à un film qui est un tant soit peu réaliste. La bestiole est grosse et à l’appétit féroce, mais ça reste crédible.

À part ça, je l’ai dans mon “stock” depuis un bout de temps et j’ai trouvé que ce soir, un peu fatigué, je pourrais bien le regarder.

L’histoire prend place en Australie et nous met donc en route pour une boucherie improvisée avec un groupe de touristes au menu. Au casting, Radha Mitchell, donc forcément, vous savez pourquoi je l’avais conservé jusqu’ici. J’avoue que ce n’était pas pour Michael Vartan qui, pour une fois, n’est pas mal du tout. Oui, je peux avoir l’air surpris, car il n’est pas l’acteur du siècle et de loin. Donc, Radha ressort son accent, le vrai, celui de chez elle et je crois que c’est la première fois que je l’entends (me souviens plus dans Pitch Black, je vérifierais bientôt à l’occasion d’une rétrospective Riddick cet été)… Mais elle n’est pas la seule les filles, car Sam Worthington est de la partie. Je dis “les filles”, car depuis Terminator, l’acteur semble avoir pas mal tapé dans l’œil de la gent féminine. Par contre, à moins d’être fan, je ne pense pas que ce soit la peine de vous jeter sur le film pour lui, car, comment dire, il a beau être en tête d’affiche, il ne va pas passer plus de vingt minutes à l’écran. Et pour clôturer la partie cast, nous avons une autre actrice que j’aime beaucoup et qui fera une grosse carrière, je vous le garantis, Mia Wasikowska.

Mais à part ça, ça vaut quoi ? C’est pas trop mal. J’avoue que les critiques négatives m’avaient un peu refroidi, mais au final, le divertissement est correct. Pas transcendant, mais correcte. L’histoire démarre calmement, ça tire un peu en longueur quand on s’approche de l’arrivée inévitable du croco, mais après ça, les morts arrivent de manière régulière, il y a quelques suspens un peu trop téléphonés, mais quelques disparitions rapides surprennent.

Vu le genre du film, il ne fallait pas s’attendre à que ça aille chercher très loin, donc bon, je suis indulgent, surtout à cause du casting (comme toujours )

B-

Hawthorne is a new series that premiered this week on TNT, starring Jada Pinkett Smith (as the title character, Christine Hawthorne) and Michael Vartan (Dr Wakefield).  Welcome back Michael (swoon)!  One of my fave tv actors since his fabulous stint as Vaughn on Alias, I am so happy to see him back on tv.  Hawthorne got really good buzz before it started, and I was quite excited to see the premiere.  I watched it last night (it aired on Tuesday) and it was reallly good!  Vartan’s role wasn’t huge in the premiere but hopefully he will be on more in future episodes.  He still looks yummy and his character is adorable…he even eats lollipops – what else do you need?  Jada’s character is super tough, but she was really good and I look forward to seeing her personality developed more.  Jada is the head nurse at the hospital, and Vartan is the head doctor…perhaps a romance is in their future?  I will have to keep watching to see…

Jada Pinkett Smith and Michael Vartan

Yesterday was the season premiere of Hawthorne at 9 PST on TNT and I thought it was good. I mostly watched it because I saw Michael Vartan is in it and I love love love him, ever since Alias. 

This show is about Christina Hawthorne, Pinkett Smith, who is a passionate headstrong Chief Nursing Officer. She’s a good nurse that stands up for her patients. She’s recently widowed and grieving and rasing a daughter on her own. 

There are many hospital shows out there but only two in the point of view of the nurse, Nurse Jackie  and this show, both of which are good and different from one another. Pinkett in more pure, while Jackie is naughty, she has an affair with a pharmacist so he can give her drugs for her back pain.

This blog topic was brought to you courtesy of Winn.  Winn, who by now is already staring at this post, or at least the left side of it.  Either she’s staring at it dreamily, or with a throat-cutting motion because Michael Vartan has not yet started following her on Twitter.  Probably staring at it dreamily, much in the same way he is staring in the picture here.

I didn’t watch Alias.  Nor have I seen Hawthorne.  I did not see him in Monster-in-Law.  I do, however, remember him as Richard Burke’s son on an episode of Friends.  You know, The One With Chandler in a Box.  The meaning of the box was three fold.

Of course, if I’m going to enjoy looking at Michael Vartan, it’s going to be him as Sam Coulson in Never Been Kissed.  And it isn’t so much watching him as it is thoroughly enjoying that movie.  I can watch that movie over and over again.  I think every girl, and maybe boy, who was ever picked on or considered a geek, dweeb or spazz probably likes or could like that movie. 

I’m thinking it could be safe to say that any girl that felt any kinship with Josie Geller probably dreamed of one day meeting her own Sam Coulson.  I don’t know if the dream included a kiss in the middle of a baseball field with a crowd watching, but hey, whatever floats your boat.  But I know I wanted someone to see past the mess and like the inside of me and think I had potential.

And Josie didn’t find that until she was 25.  I was 26.  My Sam Coulson has blue eyes, too, but his hair doesn’t do that exciting spiky thing and he prefers the clean-shaven look.  But he does see past the mess and he likes the inside of me.  Okay, yeah, he likes the outside too, but one of his most endearing (and at the same time, insanely frustrating) qualities is that he often knows me better than I know myself.

Poor Winn.  All she wanted was a post about Michael Vartan and she ended up getting some mush.  That’s why I posted the picture, though.  I hope that made her happy.

Some of Sydey's many disguises in Alias

Before 2001, I had no idea who Michael Vartan, Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper were. I had no idea the terrific actor that is Victor Garber existed and that Ron Rifkin made such a great villain. In 2001 – before Lost- there was Alias. The connection between the two shows? The creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams. The two shows could not have been more different. Yes, both include mystery, some unexplained supernatural possibilities (Alias will remember “Rambaldi”) and lots of action. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Lost became the phenomenon that it still is. Sure it is captivating and all, but Alias had created an addiction in me that Lost didn’t. For those of you who never caught Alias, here’s the plot (although I should mention that the order we are given the story is more complicated & intriguing than my orderly version).

THE BACKGROUND

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow

 

One mission when she's posing as an asylum patient, trying to gain the trust of an inmate

 

 

She is posing as an ecort to a fat,ugly baddie. She is going to make him sorry he ever looked.

 

 

Syd and Vaughn are on a mission together, posing as metal music lovers.

 

Of course as smart, gorgeous and dangerous as she is, Sydney is only human and taking all of the below very badly:

Arvin Sloan played by Ron Rifkin

Victor Garber playing Jack Bristow

Will and Francie played by Bradley Cooper and Merrin Dungey

Daniel Hecht played by Edward Atterton

Quando você se achar um lixo, lembre-se da Drew e repita:

I’M NOT JOSY GROSEY ANYMORE!!!

Sim, porque a gente sente muita Vergonha Alheia sempre que assiste Nunca Fui Beijada e nunca admite (sic) que se identifica com todo o romantismo da Josie,

nem quando a gente vibra com os olhares subversivos do Sam…  

… ou se imagina em um baile tão rufus!  quanto aquele.

PS1: O tema ‘Melhores Casais” não é tudo?

PS2: E a gente A-D-O-R-A a Drew desde que…bom, isso fica para outro post.

PS3: Eu ainda não vi, mas já baixei, Grey Gardens, filme pelo qual ela e a Jessica Lange concorreram (a última ganhou) ao Emmy.

PS4: Os próximos filmes dela são Whip it!, com a Juliette Lewis e Ellen Page, e Everybody’s Fine, com o Robert De Niro.

PS5: E que tal a Jessica Alba de Disco Barbie?

PS4: Quer ver o final? (tum-tum, tum-tum).

El territorio de la bestia (dir: Greg Mclean, 2007)

El pasado año llegó a nuestras pantallas con un par de años de retraso, dicho sea de paso, una película que acaparó la atención de críticos y aficionados, incluido el mismísimo Tarantino, que hasta le reservó un pequeño guiño en su “Death Proof“. Dicha película era “Wolf Creek“, el debut como director del australiano Greg McLean, otra vuelta de tuerca a la manida fórmula de “La matanza de Texas“. McLean no ha tardado en reincidir en el género y nos trae ahora “Rogue” (no confundir con la productora de cine), una monster movie con cocodrilo gigante de por medio.

La Bestia!

El director vuelve a su Australia natal, en donde un reportero, el televisivo Michael Vartan, se une a un grupo de turistas guiado por Radha Mitchell, la mamá de “Silent Hill“, que sufrirá en sus carnes las consecuencias de adentrarse en el territorio de la bestia al que alude el título en castellano. Cintas sobre reptiles asesinos hay muchas. Quizá demasiadas. No deja de ser loable el intento de ésta por rehuir de los tópicos, aunque la sensación de dèjá vu se hace patente desde los primeros minutos hasta casi el final. Es justo entonces cuando el curso de los acontecimientos toma otro rumbo con el fin de ofrecernos la clásica resolución, a través de una perspectiva menos factible, pero mucho más épica y original. Algo así como lo que sucedía en “Wolf Creek”, y es que, McLean repite como un autómata los fallos y virtudes de su ópera prima.

Obviando ya el hándicap que supone lidiar con una propuesta que se remonta a “Tiburón“, hay que reconocer que “El territorio de la bestia” consigue en cierta medida lo que se propone, o sea, entretener. Ya sea por la amena presentación de los personajes o simple curiosidad por saber cuál de ellos será el siguiente en formar parte del menú del simpático animal, la primera hora pasa en un abrir y cerrar de ojos. Buena parte del mérito radica en una envolvente fotografía de estética cercana al documental. Además, Greg McLean sabe dirigir y eso se nota, tanto en el uso del silencio como en el detalle de omitir los ataques y al propio monstruo, reservando su aparición para la confrontación final.

El gore es bastante escaso, no obstante, sus resultones efectos especiales suplen la carencia de más víctimas. Una de cocodrilos, a la que le falta más arrojo y mala leche para poder situarse por encima de la media.

22ª Participación y Última de Manu Riquelme!

Den lilla turistgruppens stilla flodtur i den australiska vildmarken förvandlas till en kamp på liv och död när de attackeras av en aggressiv jättekrokodil som inte vill ha inkräktare på sitt territorium. Interna stridigheter i kombination med att dagsljuset sakta försvinner i horisonten och tidvattnet stiger, gör gruppen till lätta byten för den storkäftade besten som slår till utan förvarning.

Det känns inte helt osannolikt att något liknande skulle kunna ske och även om detta är en film som är gjord för att gå upp direkt på dvd, känns den gedigen och är riktigt spännande. Man har sett åtskilliga usla krokodilreplikas genom tiderna men effekterna här är helt okej och skådespelarna med Michael Vartan och Radha Mitchell (Surrogates) i spetsen utgör en bra ensemble som med tiden blir färre och färre. Vi ser också kommande superstjärnan Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Avatar mfl) i en mindre roll.

Betyg: 3

carissimi lettori, ma soprattutto lettrici…questa notte vorrei parlarvi…..non di coppa del mondo – tema trito e ritrito dopo i 2 mesi di assenza dovuti a motivi di causa maggiore mondiale – ma vorrei parlarvi di una cosa che piace alla fille de poche: il bello senza pretese. alla fille de poche brad pitt non è mai piaciuto, tom cruise neanche….alla fille de poche piace il bello senza pretese…non importa se il bell’omino porta in dotazione un naso enorme, o un po’ di strabismo….non credo alla bellezza, ma al fascino…a quella particolare bellezza espressa da un viso dismesso…di quelli che se li guardi bene…quelli oscurati da altri, abbandonati perché non rispondono a quei canoni…non sono degli adoni, non sono dei george clooney qualsiasi….e poi negli anni ‘80 amavo emilio estevez, john cusack e charlie sheen nooo non mi piaceva in lucas amavo l’omino riccioluto che entra nel cuore di winona ryder ignorando lo sheen di cui sopra – per la cronaca si tratta di corey haim – parlando di george, alla fille de poche piace, ma posso ammettere senza remore che in ER io adoravo john carter, non mi piace ryan atwood preferisco seth perché in sostanza è uno sfigato, in gilmore girls odiavo dean e amavo jess perché silenziosamente entra nel cuore di rory e non prepotentemente, e poi in 70’s show non avevo occhi che per eric, a csi amo il chimico sfigato, per non parlare di mathieu kassovitz o in grey’s anatomy dove ho solo occhi che per o’malley…fra diego luna e gael garcia bernal io preferisco diego sarà la sua aria da furbetto, il baffetto, ma lo adoro….belli senza pretese come alcuni attori splendidi del cinema tedesco, come il divino moritz bleibtreu o barnaby metschurat o come dimenticare daniel brühl…concludendo il tema vi lascio con alcune foto di alcuni belli senza pretesa alcuna…e poi ammettiamolo brad aveva l’acne giovanile!!!

Bello senza pretese #1 - Juan Diego Botto

Bello senza pretese #2 -Michael Vartan

Bello senza pretese #3 - Diego Luna

Bello senza pretese #4 - Milo Ventimiglia

Bisoux,

la fille de poche

(originally posted on: 25/07/06 – modified on: 14/10/09)

Everyone has their older men crush. Here is one of mine, Michael Vartan. I recently watched the movie Never Been Kissed, in which Vartan falls in love with Drew Barrymore as she pretends to be a high school student, and it brought back my ultimate attraction to him. If only there was a Michael Vartan teaching in my school.

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is “Alias”.  “Alias” was created by J.J. Abrams and it began in 2001 and ran for 5 seasons.  If you like “Lost” and “Fringe”, I think you would appreciate Abrams creative vision in this series.  All five season of “Alias” are on DVD, so if you haven’t watched the show before…definitely check it out.  You’ll totally be hooked!

Even though the show is over, the former cast of “Alias” have certainly flourished in their careers.  Jennifer Garner has a growing film career and she has her own production company.  Michael Vartan is on the TNT show “Hawthorne”.  Greg Grunberg is on NBC’s “Heroes”, and Bradley Cooper is having a breakout year with his recent summer hit “The Hangover” and many upcoming movies on the way.

Thus I created a new category on my blog called the “Alias Alumni Watch” so whenever a former cast member has something  new or noteworthy – you will be able to view all posts with “Alias” references in this new blog category.  Keep and eye out for updates made in the “Alias Alumni Watch” category in order to stay up-to-date with your former “Alias” cast members’ careers!

Rogue is a 2007 little seen movie (at least here on the states) about a giant, pissed the fuck off, crocodile from Australian director Greg McLean of Wolf Creek and the people who has to suffer the vicious, calculated attacks of the man-eating beast.  Now, I don’t usually care about giant crocs movies, after the Lake Placid and Primeval movies, I thought I had enough and didn’t need anymore, but having seen and loved the real horror of the scary Wolf Creek and being a fan of Michael Vartan (Vaughn from Alias) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) I decided to give Rogue a go…..and lo and behold I wasn’t disappointed.

Rogue is a very well done, edge of your seat, horror film, packed with shock and a killer of a confrontation climax worthy of the time of horror movie lovers the world over.  The movie takes is time setting up the characters and getting into its mode before it drops you into the chomping jaws of its main star and proceeds to kill people off.  The special effects are convincing and though the croc is unusually large, it still felt like you could believe it for an hour and half of scare tactics.

Of course, the movie is filled with the usual characters that are the stock and trade of horror films, the reluctant hero, the dumb-asses who’s fear get the most of them and put everyone else’s lives in dangers, there’s at least 5 group arguments and a big decision that’s put to a vote, a love connection between the heroes, etc.  Yet the movie was still all around fun.  If you are in the mood for some good scares, go out and rent it.  Grade: B

Setting:  the computer, where the latest episode of “Men Dolls” is airing

Edward, standing in front of the computer, stares avidly at his favorite show,  Men Dolls. 

Edward thinks it’s a crying shame that TNT hasn’t picked up this show yet.  For now, he will just have to make do with weekly episodes on the innernets.

Edward thinks that Edward Cullen is one handsome doll.  Plautonically. 

Edward reads the dialogue and laughs uproariously.

Edward wonders what will happen on next week’s episode. 

He also thinks that Michael Vartan Doll has a huge forehead.

This show, starring Jada Pinkett Smith had me skeptical from the start. For one thing, WHAT’S WITH THE NURSE SHOWS? I don’t know where this sudden trend came from but enough is enough. I think there will be at least three of them come this fall. There are only so many versions of “our job is hard and we’re undervalued and the doctors ignore us” that we as viewers can take before it gets tired.

That being said, I almost always give new shows a chance (the pilot and maybe another episode if the pilot is lacking but shows promise) as you never know. And while I couldn’t even finish the pilot of Nurse Jackie, I got through my first episode of HawthoRNe. I wasn’t convinced, but I was at least intrigued. (Plus after Stick It, I really enjoy Vanessa Lengies and wanted to see how she would handle this more grown up and serious role.)

Intrigued is certainly not a glowing recommendation, but I’ve continued to watch. Nine episodes in and I’ve come to some conclusions: One- they were a bit overzealous with the cast there are too many characters and not enough time is spent on each. Two- we spend a ton of time on Christina (Jada Pinkett Smith’s character) and learn virtually nothing new about her. Three- the show makes it hard to find must distinction between nurse and doctor beyond who has more authority.

But then I watched this week and I think the show has finally found it’s footing. This was the first time where I fully paid attention to the show instead of half paying attention while playing on my computer. The episode had Christina fighting against staff cuts while the rest of the nurses dealt with a woman whose mother has a stroke. The problem is that the woman seems to have told the doctor the wrong time for when the stroke occurred, changing what medicine should be given. But when Kelly, the young/new nurse brings it to the doctor’s attention she is ignored, forcing Kelly to go over the doctor’s head. The right medication is given and everything calms down, until the woman realizes that she’s forgotten her baby daughter in the car during the commotion. The car must be 120 degrees by now and the baby’s been in there for hours. The staff struggles to save the baby and fails and they must deal with the consequences of such a devastating loss.

This was the first episode where everything felt real. You could feel the characters’ pain, connect to both patient and nurse. I’m hoping that next week’s episode (and next season as the show has been picked up again) follow in this suit. If it does, the how will definitely remain on my watch list.

        Forget about the societal expectations (such as: keeping promises, marrying into the right class…etc) in period pieces; and the misunderstandings in romantic comedies. It makes much more an exciting watch when the boy and the girl can not be together because both their lives are at stake. It also doesn’t help the fact that the girl’s mother killed the boy’s father. What the hell am I talking about? Sydney and Vaughn. The show’s name is Alias.

Syd has problems. Big ones.

** Sydney is a double agent for the CIA and SD-6. SD-6 has been posing as a secret branch of CIA and unfortunately Sydney Bristow has been fooled for 7 years. SD-6 are the bad guys, her father has been misleading her about his own identity for years and her fiance is dead because of SD-6.

(* : More details on the show is posted on my http://thosetvshows.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/alias/ page. )

•         * So she goes to the real CIA, and joined their quest in bringing SD-6 down. And She starts to have  feelings for her CIA handler: Michael Vaughn. (Michael Vartan)- The feelings are mutual and growing stronger everyday but there is no way Vaughn and Syd can be seen together. If they were, SD-6 will kill them both. Oh and CIA will not be so pleased either…
•         * Oh, and Syd learns that her mother wasn’t a primary school teacher who died in a car-crash as she was led to believe. Her mother-played by Lena Olin- was  KGB. She was sent to USA to seduce and marry a CIA operative. But before they learned teh truth, the evidence kind of pointed towards her dad.

       *Michael has to sit in the office while Sydney risks her life on every mission. He sometimes has to risk his career and/or his life to get her out of trouble. Although she is great at her job, sometimes she has to undergo unauthorized operations to satisfy her own curiousity or save her dad…

*  Michael knows everything about her, yet their conversations usually take place in CIA storage rooms. They can not go out. They do help out each other with risk operations that are dangerous and personal. They have complete faith in each other. But their most romantic lines can only be: “Yeah, I’ll break into the Vatican with you.” They can not go see a movie but they do get to diffuse a bomb together. How romantic and safe.

 *  At the end of season 1, Michael drowns. Or so Syd thinks. She has to go through a painful period-and so do we- when she thinks all is lost, while trying to make CIA thinks there is nothing going on between her and Michael. While they are not acting on their feelings, they both want to be like two normal people, having a chance to date.

* Season 2 finally gives them a chance to get together. For a little while.

Season 2 finale makes Michael think

Sydney is dead.

        * So season 3 puts Sydney through a hard time, trying to deal with the new woman in Mike’s life: His wife.  Of course they are not over each other. And being Alias, the wife will not turn out to be an angel…

So to sum up:

         Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Boy can not date girl on many matters of life and death. Boy gets the girl. Loses the girl. Boy’s new girl turns out to be psycho and tries to kill boy and girl. Boy and girl save each other…And we get two more seasons with other twists. What a story to tell the kids…