Wait, some of you might be thinking. Who is Robin Tunney?

Robin Tunney; image courtesy of tvdramas.about.com

I think Tunney was slated to be a star when she started cropping up in movies in the 1990s. While stardom didn’t happen for her, she’s had steady work, currently starring on The Mentalist, a CBS procedural. She was supposed to co-write a book on feminism with her friend Liz Phair, with whom she worked on the movie Cherish. I’m still waiting for that last one.

For many in my age group, we know her from back-to-back appearances in Empire Records and The Craft. As both movies were slumber party staples in my friend group, featured teen girl characters, and were accompanied by popular soundtracks, I knew I’d need to revisit them.

Empire Records came out in 1995 and developed a bit of a cult following, despite poor reviews and a dismal box office performance. It also instilled a personal desire to work at a record store, particularly an indie fighting to stay that way. At 13, it looked so cool and fun to “work” all day at such a place with hip teens and twentysomethings.

Well, maybe not them specifically, as the characters in Empire Records aren’t believeable as people so much as underwritten Generation X versions of cool kids dreamt up by a team of movie executives: there’s Joe, the anti-establishment boomer-era owner (Anthony LaPaglia); Lucas, the Zen-like hipster (Rory Cochrane); A.J., the sensitive artist in love with the unattainable Corey (Johnny Whitworth); Corey, the wholesome speed freak perfectionist (Liv Tyler); Gina, Corey’s slutty best friend who wants to be in a band (Renée Zellweger); Mark, the stoner (Ethan Embry); Berko, the rocker who clocks in between gigs (Coyote Shivers, who was married to Tyler’s legendary mother Bebe Buell at the time); and Debra, the rebel girl accountant who shaves her head after attempting suicide (Tunney).

Oh, they are so selling out; image courtesy of chartrigger.blogspot.com

The writing is the movie’s biggest problem, though I’ll never understand why casting directors thought someone as boring as Tyler would ever be a huge star (I’d ask this question again later in the decade when Katie Holmes started landing movie roles). The motivations of the characters, though meant to be read as young and madcap, are childish and inconsistent. The boys pine after girls, eat pizza, get high, and glue quarters to the floor. The girls pine after has-been teen idols doing in-stores, alternate between loving and hating each other, and get together with the boys who pine after them. Both sexes deliver such profound lines like “If I can love her in that skirt, than this must really be it” and “I went to rock and roll heaven, and I wasn’t on the guest list.”

That second line is the answer given to a question about bandaged wrists. It’s delivered to withering effect by Debra, potentially the movie’s most interesting character. She’s not glamourous like her female co-workers or sophomoric like her male colleagues. She also seems to have gone through real pain, deeper than the surface angst used to promote OK Soda and perhaps closer to the actual pain brought on by parental neglect and low self-esteem. In the early 1990s, these and other issues were particularly relevant to young girls, some of whom would form or discover riot grrl and queercore and develop their own queer and/or feminist identities. We only get a sense of Debra’s absent mother, resistent intellect, boredom with men, feelings of inadequacy, and the hope for something better.

Note: I’d recommend watching director Allan Moyle’s far-superior Times Square. Rest assured that the tale of two girl runaways falling in love amidst downtown New York’s early-80s squalor will get its due on this blog.   

It’s weird that slashed wrists bridge Tunney’s two major performances to date. Clearly suicide, perhaps most unfortunately personified by Kurt Cobain, was on young people’s minds at the time. I’d hedge that this has more to do with class frustration, racial injustice, conflicted feelings about sexual orientation, coming out to unsupportive families and communities, dysfunctional home lives, and a lack of any real support system. I’d also add that it’s an on-going problem.

Absent mothers also connect Debra and Sarah, the latter of whom lost her mother during childbirth. As The Craft was originally pitched as “Carrie meets Clueless,” it seems necessary to point out that these movies feature girls with compromised mother-daughter relationships. Carrie’s mother is a crazed witch. Cher Horowitz, like so many other fairytale heroines before her, lost her mother at an early age and has only an idealized memory of her. Sarah has similar baggage, along with the additional burden of being responsible for her mother’s death. Oh, and carrying on the ability to perform witchcraft. That’s a hell of a lot for any teenage girl to shoulder, especially when she’s moving to Los Angeles with her family.     

A heartening aspect of The Craft , no doubt motivated by how successful Clueless was, is the presence of girlfriends. Sarah meets shy Bonnie (played by Neve Campbell) and becomes friends with a trio of Goth girls. Two other movies came out in 1996 that focused on girl gangs – Girls Town and Foxfire. For a more nuanced analysis of these two movies and their depictions of homosociality and developing feminist politics, I highly recommend checking out my friend Kristen’s thesis Revenge, Girl Style. 

The Craft entertains the progressive potential of girl friendship, particularly for outcasts. There are also hints at the queer possibilities of homosocial bonding and witchcraft. It even contains racially charged moments, particularly when Rochelle (played by Rachel True), the coven’s lone African American member, casts a spell on Laura Lizzie (Christine Taylor), a popular blonde who is on the swim team with her. After enduring Lizzie’s racist comments about her hair, Rochelle turns her bald, thus rebelling against normative, white-centric notions of feminine beauty. 

But these suggestions are sidelined. Because what the movie is really about is the battle between Tunney’s kind-hearted Sarah and Fairuza Balk’s destructive ringleader Nancy, who is jealous of her frenemy’s natural aptitude for witchcraft. It should also be noted that Nancy is working-class and coded as queer. The movie makes a considerable effort to undo her queerness, putting men in between her and Sarah, whether they be ex-boyfriends or Manon, the supernatural male figure that the girls worship. The movie ends with Nancy trying to kill Sarah, resulting in a showdown that tears the group apart, causes Sarah to move, and leads to Nancy being institutionalized. The final shot is of Nancy in a straight-jacket trying to fly out of a padded cell. The movie’s message: we are the weirdos, mister. Just don’t expect us to stay friends or keep a hold of our sanity. So much for sisterhood.

Nancy's farewell; image courtesy of channel4.com

Sisterhood is often lacking in movies, but is emphasized to market teen movies, if only to tap in to the girl market. But much of this was eclipsed in story development to make way for more lucrative prospects, none more pronounced at the time than the soundtrack. A considerable number of American teen movies in the 1990s featured a soundtrack, many boasting songs by alternative rock artists. Unlike The Craft and Empire Records, and more in line with All Over Me, Girls Town and Foxfire paid particular attention toward showcasing female artists, particularly those closely associated with hip hop and the then-waning riot grrrl movement. Scholars like Jeff Smith and Mary Celeste Kearney have addressed this in their work, theorizing that the soundtrack served as a way to cultivate potential audience markets and a source of textual identification for fans.

While female artists are present on the soundtracks to Empire Records and The Craft, they’re not the focus, perhaps out of fear of alienating a broader audience. This might further explain why The Craft soundtrack features covers of popular songs from lesser-known acts. Our Lady Peace contributes a version of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Heather Nova covers Peter Gabriel’s “I Have the Touch,” and Letters To Cleo take on The Cars’ “Dangerous Type,” a tactic they’d repeat when covering Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” for 10 Things I Hate About You at the end of the decade. And let’s not forget the double-nostalgia of former Psychelic Furs’ front man Richard Butler covering The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now” with his post-Furs project Love Spit Love. 

Cover to "The Craft" soundtrack (Sony, 1996); image courtesy of thesoundtracktoyourlife.co.uk

A major problem both of these movies share, and is evident in other titles of this period and in the Brat Pack movies of the 1980s, is the need to broadly define its characters as members of a generation, rather than as complex young people with particular problems oftentimes informed by their identities. And while ennui and an ironic fluency in popular culture were markers for Gen X, these young adults were more than just sneering (white) kids in flannel, combat boots, and barettes. At least off-camera.

Oftentimes, they were frustrated by how little high school and a liberal arts education could get them in a job market, particularly during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the economy had yet to recover from the 1987 market crash. They were annoyed at the shrine their parents built to the 1960s, as it was clear just how empty and hollow their promises of revolution were. In some ways, they were no different than people my age or boomer hipster Paul Kinsey on Mad Men, turning to interesting records, movies, books, and TV shows, but knowing they wouldn’t make them any happier, politically mobile, or economically viable.

Michael Gladis as Paul Kinsey, proving the every generation has its hipster; image courtesy of readingunderthecovers.blogspot.com

Some of these people formed bands, often annointed with glossy but unremarkable one-word monikers: Sponge, Drill, Lustre, Cracker, Elastica, Spacehog, Dig, Hole, Belly, Hum, Bush, Toadies, Oasis . . . In a particularly cruel example of market imperative, many of these bands broke up or were without major label record deals by the end of the decade.

I still have Elastica's debut album!; image courtesy of forgottenfavorite.com

But it’s hard to convey all of this in a 90-minute movie, especially one that hopes to cash in on the wages of the very demographic these popcorn flicks were hoping to represent. Some did a decent job of conveying this generation’s ambivalence, particularly indies like Kicking and Screaming. I’d also add that Reality Bites highlights these problems, even pointing out the crass ways in which corporate America capitalizes on the very market its created. While I wish Winona Ryder’s filmmaker character Lalaina didn’t end up with Ethan Hawke’s slacker Troy, I understand why she can’t be with Michael (played by director Ben Stiller), who works for an MTV-type network that makes worm’s meat out of her documentary about her friends. 

Richard Linklater’s second feature, Dazed and Confused, did a considerable job at suggesting that Generation X inherited their sense of slacker frustration (and detached nostalgia for Schoolhouse Rock and The Brady Bunch) from their parents. That Linklater cast a bunch of twentysomething unknowns like Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, and Marisa Ribisi to essentially play the teenagers and young adults who would become their parents may strengthen Robin Wood’s argument that Dazed is a horror film. 

Some television shows also did a good job articulating the nuances of the slacker era. I’d offer up British programs like Spaced, along with MTV’s Daria and ABC’s My So-Called Life. The latter featured an angsty girl protagonist, complex teenage characters, depicted boomer parents being just as clueless and angsty as their brood, and created an immortal stoner heartthrob named Jordan Catalano (played by Jared Leto), whose band Frozen Embryos changed their name at the end of the series to perhaps the most perfect of Gen X band names: Residue.

Angela Chase (Claire Danes) with the object of her affection; image courtesy of thefbomb.org

But it’s always different for girls, and unfortunate that Tunney and many of the actresses of her generation were not given the consideration they deserved (though I love that Austin Chronicle writer Margaret Moser fancies herself as being like Balk’s character in Almost Famous). Some may attribute this to their flat delivery or lack of believability, but I’d wager that this has more to do with poor character development on the part of screenwriters and the industrial emphasis on youth than it does on the actresses. At 19, Kristen Stewart is playing the slouched-shoulder ingenue of a multi-million-dollar film franchise, its latest installment complete with a soundtrack featuring of-the-moment, indie and indie-friendly artists like Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Lykke Li, Grizzly Bear, and Thom Yorke. I only hope she has that sort of star power at 25.

Kristen Stewart at the "New Moon" premiere in Los Angeles; image courtesy of justjared.buzznet.com

Now, let me just say off the bat that I do not believe these are the 50 best shows of this decade (although some certainly are). These are just the 50 television shows that brought me the most entertainment, the ones that I am most fond of when I think back on the decade. I contemplated doing this in order of love/respect but then this post would never get done so I’ll do a Top 10.

I decided to leave off The Simpsons and South Park because they’ve been on for so long (and I needed any excuse to make room for other shows) but they both had great episodes in the 00’s and if I didn’t need the room, they’d make the cut.

I tried to stick with shows that had at least two full seasons under its belt unless the show had been canceled like Freaks and Geeks.

And, no, I’ve never watched The West Wing or ER and that’s why they aren’t on the list.

My Favorite 10 Shows of the 00’s:

10. Six Feet Under: I remember watching the series premiere with Kristy and Fatima and all of us not being that impressed. I remember also watching the closing montage in the series finale and man tears streaming down my cheek

9. Spaced: I don’t remember when I discovered Spaced. I think I saw Shaun of the Dead first and then downloaded both seasons and then sat my brother in front of the computer and made him watch them all.

8. 24: You win, Erwin.  Erwin begged me to watch 24 and I didn’t because I was watching something else that came on at the same time (pre-DVR) but I decided to watch starting season two and was instantly hooked.  Fun fact: Jack Bauer has killed 227 people in seven season (which equals seven days) SO FAR

7. Battlestar Galatica: I watched the first half of the TV movie that set up the series and I wasn’t that impressed. I think I didn’t like the CGI of the Cylons.  But halfway through season one, I started reading all these awesome reviews so I went back and caught (luckily the Sci-Fi had no other original programming so it was easy to catch a marathon).  I wasn’t in love with how the show ended but it was still an awesome ride.

6. Mad Men: I am a sucker for period pieces and I was hooked from episode one.  All three seasons have been stellar and I really hope it doesn’t tail off and go to shit.

5. The Sopranos: What else can be said about the most discussed television show on the 00’s? I think Tony (spoiler alert) lived in the end because given the vantage point, Anthony or Meadow would have seen any approaching hit and the last thing Tony would have heard was their screams.

4. Arrested Development: The fact that this show couldn’t get viewers and According to Jim lasted eight(!) seasons is why I have no faith in the U.S. viewing public. This show will always have a special place in  my heart if only for it spawning the “There’s Gotta Be a Better Way to Say That” (or “TGB”) game my friends and I play.

3. Freaks and Geeks: There’s a part of me that’s glad it only lasted one season.  They had one PERFECT season and if it had kept going, who knows if they would have been able to keep up such a high standard.

2. Lost: Surprised it’s not number one? I don’t know what I can say now that I haven’t written on this blog a hundred times. This is the only show in my lifetime that I have ever been obsessed with.  Sure, I love all these shows but it clear I am obsessed with Lost.  I don’t watch episodes with people anymore because a) I don’t want to be distracted by questions and b) I write notes during the episode to help with my blog which I’m pretty embarrassed about.

1. The Wire: Confession time. I didn’t start watching The Wire until season three because that’s when I finally had a DVR and could record it while watching other shows.  But the second season three ended, I went on a 48 hour bender watching every episode of seasons one and two. I love The Wire so much that just talking about it makes me want to start over and watch all five seasons over again. If you haven’t seen this show, it’s a crime. Screw the 00s, The Wire is one of the greatest shows EVER and I will argue that point with anyone who wants to lose.

Full list (in alphabetical order):

1. 24
2. 30 Rock
3. Angel*
4. Arrested Development
5. Battlestar Galatica (2004)
6. The Big Bang Theory
7. Big Love
8. Bones
9. Breaking Bad
10. Burn Notice
11. Californication
12. Chappelle’s Show
13. Chuck
14. Curb Your Enthusiasm
15. Damages
16. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart**
17. Deadwood
18. Dexter
19. Extras
20. Firefly
21. Flight of the Conchords
22. Freaks & Geeks*
23. Friday Night Lights
24. Futurama
25. Gossip Girl
26. Grey’s Anatomy
27. How I Met Your Mother
28. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
29. Jackass
30. Justice League Unlimited
31. The L Word
32. Lost
33. Mad Men
34. Malcolm in the Middle
35. Nip/Tuck
36. The Office (BBC)
37. The Office (NBC)
38. Psych
39. Pushing Daisies
40. Rome
41. Scrubs
42. The Shield
43. Six Feet Under
44. Skins
45. The Sopranos*
46. Spaced*
47. The Venture Bros.
48. Veronica Mars
49. Weeds
50. The Wire

* Started in 1999 but ran through the 2000s
** The Daily Show started in 1996 but Jon Stewart didn’t become host until 1999 and that changed the entire complexity of the show.

Hot Fuzz

Director: Edgar Wright

  Release Date: February 2007

 Cast: Simon Pegg – Sergeant Nicholas Angel, Nick Frost – PC Danny Butterman, Jim Broadbent – Inspector Frank Butterman, Bill Nighy – Metropolitan Chief Inspector Kenneth, Timothy Dalton – Simon Skinner

Intro: Recently voted as UK movie fans favourite comedy film of all time (Odeon poll 2009) I thought I’d revisit this movie myself and put up a quick review! I’ve always preferred this one to Shaun, but I did see Hot Fuzz first. Strangely, a lot of people I asked about both of these films tend to prefer whichever of the two they saw first. Anyway, enough rambling from me on with the review!

Plot: Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest police officer London has to offer, with an arrest record higher than any other on the force. However, his superiors have decided that he is making them look bad and so they send him to the seemingly sleepy town of Sandford miles out in the country. It would seem that Sandford is not only winner of ‘village of the year’ several years in a row but also crime free. Once there, Angel is partnered with overeager PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) whose police training consists of watching too many cop movies and going to the pub. PC Danny Butterman is also the son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent).  Angel’s new assignment sees him growing more and more frustrated and is made even worse when, after a series of grisly ‘accidents’, the villagers and the police seemingly turn a blind eye to the possibility of foul play. Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and is convinced there is more sinister and darker going on.

Review: Through a montage of chase scenes and action set pieces in London we are introduced to PC Nicholas Angel, presented as one of the greatest officers the Metropolitan police have ever had. However, fearful of Angel upstaging every other policeman in London he is packed off to the sleepy village of Sandford, and he is none to happy about the new assignment.

From the word go the film is packed full of references and draws on this source material brilliantly throughout. It is presented from a very British perspective, in a village where everybody knows each other, but also combines story elements from films such Bad Boys II and Point Break, and puts this kind of explosive Hollywood action into the quaint ‘local’ village of Sandford. This works surprisingly well, and includes some excellent action set pieces with gunfights at the local Somerfield and local pub. The second half is the more action packed of the movie, with car chases through country lanes, a swan chase… and even an action packed fight scene in the towns own model village. This all produces (with a tongue in cheek feel) some funny scenes and great stunt work, including the odd one liner thrown in for good measure.

There are some inventively gory scenes, making this not the usual light hearted British comedy most are used to (as well as making everyone a bit more careful around churches and model villages). There are some great performances from everyone in the cast. Pegg and Frost make an awesome comedy duo. As well as the ‘moustache twiddling’ Simon Skinner played by Timothy Dalton and the supposedly kindly old amiable Chief Inspector Frank Butterman, played by Jim Broadbent.

Conclusion: Hot Fuzz is a homage to all buddy cop action movies in the years gone by. Hot Fuzz, like Shaun of the Dead draws from all the material that makes this kind of movie work. Shaun of the Dead was not only a spoof of all zombie movies, great and small, but it was also a thank you with a ‘tip of the cap’ gesture to all those movies too. Hot Fuzz does the same thing and it does it superbly. Pegg is brilliant as is Frost as his bumbling sidekick Danny Butterman. Overall an enjoyable, action packed comedy. Let’s hope this kind of writing, enthusiasm and feeling of personal input into a film continues. Now, does anyone fancy a cornetto? 

First off, I have to apologise for the lateness of this post. It’s been busy; with all my reading week assignments due in and laptop failures to top it off nicely. I’ve left the “big one” hanging for a week now, completely unintentionally. Hoping not to disappoint, here we go:

Homophonic: one of DCUfm’s newest shows; currently the only show on the station catering for an LGBT audience. This show is James’ brainchild and I’ll be producing it for him for the last few weeks of the semester. Our first show was 9:00 to 10:00 Monday the 16th and we’d like to think it came across well.

The Lineup:

• Introduced the Show with “Spandex Man” by Mr. Scruff (a song used in Spaced)
• Paper Planes by M.I.A
• Gay community news (including celebrity gossip and the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon)
• Groove Is In The Heart by Dee-Lite
• Events, nights out things for the LGBT community to get involved with.
• Take Your Mama by The Scissor Sisters
• Snack review and giveaway: this week’s snack was some ginger root sweets from the Oriental Emporium.
• Praise You by Fatboy Slim
• Interview: James’ interview with MarriagEquality
• Take On Me by Aha

Credit where credit is due: thanks to Diarmuid Hayes for being our first guest co-host.

Not gay (but supportive)

There’s a quite an unexplainable thrill that comes from working a live studio mixing desk, having a sense of control and power over the show (when it goes right). Its similar to my first love of  editing, because while the raw content has to be good, the editing (or the mixing) has to be better. It comes down to the editor(or producer) to take the raw content and mould it into the final product.

Anyway, I got through the hour without any major malfunctions, pulling up and down the levels at the right times, me and James cueing off each other nicely. James was great too, nervous at first but expertly finding his feet as we went along; new territory for both of us and another…

(BLEEP-BLOOP)

…achievement unlocked!

Listen to HOMOPHONIC:  Monday nights 9:00 to 10:00. Also listen any time for quality student radio shows such as FINAL CUT: Wednesdays 8:00 to 9:00.

I hadn’t realized before but hulu does that amazon thing where they suggest other shows you might like based on whatever show you happen to be watching. Same way amazon does with books, although I have to say I often find amazon’s suggestions suspect, at least for my taste. Anyhoo… one of the suggestions associated with Green Wing, a show that I’m still watching obsessively, is Spaced,  a half-hour comedy. (Do the call them sit-coms in England?) And I figured, oy, why not give it a go, then.

[this is where the video of the first episode of Spaced via hulu.com would appear if I could just get it to work - dammit!]

Glad I did.

Spaced is about two twenty-something Londoners. Tim (Simon Pegg aka Shaun from Shaun of the Dead) and Daisy (Jessica Stevenson, who has a bit role in Shaun as Yvonne) who both suddenly find themselves in need of new lodgings and decide to pose a professional couple so that they can rent a nice flat, clearly an allusion to the 70s sit-com Three’s Company.

The show is chock-full of pop culture references, especially TV and movies. And, a la Scrubs, it employs fantasy sequences to great effect (or is it affect?). Also like Scrubs it is a single-camera show, but I don’t know how unique that is to British TV.

Other GenX-ieties  include: Tim is a skateboarding graphic artist who wants to work for a comic book company but is currently working part-time at a comic book shop; while Daisy is a journalist who is on the dole.

Simon Pegg does much of the writing and the director is Edgar Wright, who collaborated with Pegg to make Shaun of the Dead. Also, Nick Frost, who plays Shaun’s best friend Ed in the romantic-comedy-zombie flick plays Tim’s best friend, Mike, who is described as a “weapons expert.” Much of what appears in Shaun of the Dead was first portrayed in Spaced. Some of it practically verbatim.

Another treat for me is that the character of Brian, the quirky, twitchy, semi-reclusive artist who lives upstairs from Tim and Daisy, who is played by Mark Heap, the actor that portrays the wonderfully pompous Dr. Alan Staythem in Green Wing.  Clearly Heap has a talent for infusing his characters with all kind of interesting traits and foibles that make them a little creepy and endearing at the same time, no small accomplishment.

At this point I can’t say which show I like better. It’s difficult to decided. Green Wing has way more swearing and sexual references. But Spaced has loads more pop culture stuff. In the end it hardly matters. What I can say is that I’d like to own both shows on DVD. I think Spaced is available for Region 1 where as Green Wing still is not.

In any case, both shows are more than valid GenX vehicles. Spaced is about younger GenXers, of the kind featured in Douglas Coupland’s novel, Generation X. While Green Wing is about older GenXers who have matriculated into the workforce.

And both shows are funny and sarcastic and surreal and ultimately very touching and human.

So I’m writing a post from work today because I was going to write it yesterday at home but actually did stuff like clean out my fridge and wash towels instead. I had a really good weekend. Anyway – today I’m going to talk movies that have stuck in my head for the past however long, and I’ll start with the more recent that I’ve watched.

So let it begin.

The Saturday just gone my sister and I watched How To Be because we are total dorks and Robert Pattinson fans (I swear it’s the only thing me and the world agree on). As for the movie, I liked it but found it a little bit painful to watch. Not painful as poor acting, I didn’t mind the acting at all. It hit a little close to home and reminded me of a point of life I feel like I’ve only just come out of and don’t particularly want to run back to. My take on the film was that it was about that point in life where you’re really confused and beginning to finally understand what being an adult is.  I remember talking to my Dad with similar questions to Art with his, and hitting similar realisations. It was a bit Seinfeld and a movie about nothing while also being about everything. I loved the lack of high note it ended on. I loved the character Nikki – that guy made me forget that the movie had Robert Pattinson in it and I couldn’t help but think that guy (that stereotype) is always in Irish Pubs in Brisbane. I thought the friends would have made a really good BBC TV show. I understand why it wasn’t pushed in theatres everywhere and why it was hard to categorise. It’s a strange film that leaves you feeling a little strange. It in part reminded me of I Heart Huckabees with those really strange moments the self help writer would appear under a light that turned on. And when dealing with the mother character in the movie it felt a little bit theatre and less film. I think I liked the pub scene the most, especially when the new boyfriend is nice and starts to list off his awesomeness. I thought the movie really understood the ‘loser’ without really putting judgement on it by making a miraculous recovery into coolness – there was no ‘he got a hair cut and wrote a good song and all was right in the world when you become cool’ ending. And that is all I’m going to say.

Next. Something I watched recently and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about was Happy Go Lucky. I didn’t watch it from the beginning and I missed the end because I had to pick up the husband but what I did see of it I LOVED and can’t stop thinking about it. Again it’s one of those strange movies that are about nothing as far as events go, and I’m not even sure of the message of the movie. All I know is that the driving teacher was spot on – although mine was Scottish so on top of being a little angry about things I couldn’t understand a word he said. I loved the lead character and how she did very odd things, like following that homeless guy (this is the last part I really got to see) to see if she could help because sometimes I find myself following someone to see where things lead too. I like how the lead character giggled all the time and watching her relationships with family and friends – it left me feeling happy. Now when I see Sally Hawkins in other films I always think of her as Poppy in Happy Go Lucky. I really want to see it again, all the way through.

Ok. Next. Away We Go is one of the movies I saw at BIFF this year and again with being stuck in my head, every now and then themes from this movie sneak into my head and I can’t stop thinking about it. I have to say that I really loved this film. If there was a type of film that got made over and over it would be like this. I love real space, real emotion conveyed. I like actors/directors that at least try to be authentic with their stories. I’m not saying being entertained is fun, I love to be entertained too. But I think these films are just as important as books. One thing I found with Away We Go is that it parallels a little bit of how I feel in my life since I’ve have CP with the Husband. We moved here to Brisbane a few years ago but without the intention of settling, so what we have is a life that needs to be settled without the means to do so yet – so I liked that they found theirs. Another thing I loved about Away We Go is that it didn’t feel over styled. You didn’t feel like they were selling a doona cover or wall lamp to you through it, and movies often don’t really offer you that anymore. And like with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (the train hi-jack scene with the light through the trees – the beauty of the movie haunts), the images from the film flick in my head – like the end scene where they look outside from the house, it was beautiful. I hope we see more films explore lifestyles that are different.

Action. Star Trek was really fun and it got my entertained double thumbs up fonz style. I have trouble with time travel films because it gets you thinking about alternative realities and what’s improbable, and because lately I’m feeling very answerless I find those kind of questions a little too much (not to mention I don’t have any education/understanding of those concepts). But the action was great, the cross cultural representation was quite pleasant and could they have picked a better person to play Scotty? I love Simon Pegg. Friends came back from London with Spaced, which was funny but then when his movies started to flood us I was lost to Mr Pegg forever. Back to Star Trek, it was great, cheesy and fun, my only complaint was that it was such an introduction to do a series of films. And Bana as a bad guy was hard for me to deal with after seeing a lot of his butt in the Time Travellers Wife.

Which reminds me. A movie I rented a little while ago and fell in love with was Charlie Bartlett (the lead actor also in Star Trek). I loved this movie so much. I mean it had so many things to comment on but I can’t really think of much right now. Mr Jr. as a principal, hello – best looking principal of all time. Would have totally fantasised about my principal if he’d be anything on Mr Jr., but we had a guy named Fuller who we couldn’t help but draw parallels with Skinner (Australians are the reason the Simpsons still exists I swear, it’s like a religion to us – House of the Simpsons where we pray in ‘Doh’s). I thought the honestly the Mr Jr. brought to his characters’ alcoholism is in part why the man can have such a huge “comeback” (because he has skills – honest to god compelling to watch him skills) and I look forward to buying my tickets and renting his films. My favourite scene in the film had to be when Charlie Bartlett freaked out on Ritalin and played piano in his undies. I totally googled that actor after falling in complete love with the character. I loved Kat Dennings in the film, but I think she’s quite a loveable actor for me. I quite like the girl who represents a girl a little different and I think she held up as Mr Jr’s daughter, there was some honesty to a relationship there without an incestuous vibe (incest vibe: see Heroes and the chemistry between cousins Claire and Peter). Charlie’s house was amazing (love a good house in a film) and the old car he was driven around in reminded me of Wes Anderson stuff. I did find myself drawing comparison between Rushmore and Charlie Bartlett, although they are different. Man I loved Rushmore. Jason Schwartzman is sort of my ideal guy, apart from the fact that he would be way too cool for me to ever know, even when he’s not cool. I mean his family is reason enough of being too cool. His sense of humour is dreamy. I could go with being with a guy that was like him, but the real him would make me feel like a rock next to a mountain. I think I friended him on myspace which is weird. I don’t know why I do that. I like to use myspace to bookmark bands I like but I also seem to have added people like Ashton Kuchter etc. as myspace friends.

And now I’m trying to match myself to famous people I’ll never meet but add (on a strange impulse I can’t explain) to my myspace friends although I’m happily married with a young child and if said actors were standing in a line up with my husband I would always pick the husband because even though sometimes he makes me want to smash him in the head, I passionately love the guy.  So because of the change from poor movie review to devotion of love – I’m going to end my blog before it becomes a fan letter to Jason Schwartzman begging him to never change and lobby for Wes Anderson to make Rushmore 2.

Hot Fuzz… Shaun of the Dead… Spaced… Ring a bell? Edgar Wright is one of the best and freshest directors in Hollywood. Hot Fuzz is personally one of my favorite movies. His newest project is promising to top them all.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World stars Michael Cera, is about a boy who falls in love with a girl (he’s never done that before in a movie), and must defeat her seven boyfriends. Including Jason Schwartzman, Kieran Culkin, Brandon Routh, and many other enticing actors, the buzz on this movie could not be better.

PLUS!!!! Edgar Wright is good friends with Jason Reitman (aka: director of Juno). Edgar shared the first 30 minutes of Scott Pilgrim with Jason, and Jason flew through the roof.

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“In London, @edgarwright showed me 30min of Scott Pilgrim. While sworn to secrecy (so much, surprised blood wasn’t demanded) I will say this: It is a game changer for Edgar and the genre. It moves the speed of light and carries more unadulterated joy than Ive seen in recent cinema. I’m in awe of the sheer control in the filmmaking. It feels like a “Matrix” for love and how willing we are to fight for it. If I had a movie coming out next year, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it. Hats off my friend. Can’t get it out of my head.

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If Jason Reitman is ecstatic, I am at least excited! So, for my 2010 check list, this film is on the top.

Jason Schwartzman gave an amazing interview about this film with Collider.com

Let this statement absorb into your mildly retarded to intelligent mind(s):  Shaun of the Dead is a perfect movie.  From second zero until end credits, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg created a masterpiece.  Name me a scene in that film that they could have cut out… yup, shut up.

Centering a film around zombies in the last ten years is a simple way to start a movie, which has become the center of much critiquing and BITCHING from fans and fuckers alike.  Yeah, I will admit that screenwriters, producers, and directors need to adjust their attention a little in the genre of horror, but how easy is it to get an idea, name, or message out into the mass populace through the invention of zombies?  Easy as a girl named Breezy (ask me later).

“Rom-zom-com” was a genre coined by Shaun of the Dead.  It’s fucking silly, but I allow it.  A romantic-zombie-comedy is something we all wish we thought of first, but alas, we didn’t.  Closest pick that could be lumped into this genre is Zombie Honeymoon, but that flick is a bummer to say the least (rent it though).

George A. Romero is a man that horror buffs tip their hats to because whether you like it or no, he brought zombie films into the mainstream and did it well.  Some of his films look a little dated – for the obvious reasons – with all the undead cinema flooding the market now, but Shaun of the Dead took the schematic of rotting men and women lumbering about and feeding on human flesh infused humor, heart, and headshots.  In my opinion Romero has been rolling down a slippery slope of guts and flesh since Land of the Dead, but after watching Diary of the Dead I got a feeling the man needs to put the camera down and start penning some screenplays or producing projects that are up his gore soaked alley.  His new picture Survival of the Dead has the potential of bringing him out of this mass grave of shitty zombie movies, which he has directed himself into, but sometimes you just gotta pass the torch and move on.  Let’s get back on topic though, shall we?

Edgar Wright is one of those writers/directors who knows what he loves and it isn’t afraid to create something that is merely an homage to those things with a little something else added to it.  His sitcom Spaced even has a subtitle track on the DVDs entitled “Homage-o-Meter” that simply references anything within the realm of film, music, literature, and a bunch of random shit because that’s what compromises majority of the show.  Genius?  A little less, but leaning more towards prophetic.

The sappy – but good kinda sappy – that is strategically placed amongst the fart jokes and disemboweling in Shaun plucks on the heart strings so well because there usually isn’t a need for it within the genre.  Your typical horror fan that forks out $6.50 for Saw 23 (currently in pre-production) doesn’t need emotional substance within the film as long as the violence grows exponentially with each severed Achilles tendon.  Yet, when Bill Nighy – playing the stepfather – “death bed” confesses how hard it’s been raising Simon Pegg, I know I started welling up the first time I saw it.  And don’t get me started about the Mexican standoff involving Shaun’s mother.  Reservoir Dogs, you have now been trumped.

We’ve all seen plenty of slashers and the such where you can pretty much wave a finger at majority of the players and figure who’ll be letting out a sigh of relief right before the end credits roll and who’ll be dirt-napping ASAP.  Now if you can actually write a decent character then flesh them out as the camera rolls on them – whether they get the axe or not – we’re at least feeling for them as they attempt to survive through three acts.  But if you watch any trailers for movies within the last 10 years, Hollywood loves to show us EVERY FUCKING THING THAT’LL HAPPEN WITHIN 93 MINUTES condensed to a two and a half minute stream of clips, especially every dumb breeder that’s gonna fall on a dick or knife in I Know What You Did Last Summer With Your Dirty Mouf .  I remember watching the Episode I trailer in ninth grade and being so pissed off because it was obvious that Qui-Gon eats it.  Once again, thank you Mr. Lucas for perverting nearly everything that was holy during my childhood.  Sorry… I get kinda angry most of the time when I go off on tangents.

Every character in Shaun fits into at least one stereotype or more, which works as long as you give them a soul.  The token black guy wouldn’t be such a disposable character in cinema, but when does the “black friend in the group” ever get more than five lines that aren’t silly or just jive.  Stereotypes and cliches in movies work – especially in genre films – because it can create a familiarity with the audience that is comforting, but the fun and talent comes when the write and/or director abuses that comfort and throws you into oncoming traffic.  Sometimes you’re taken from your idea of what is safe and sure in your life or simply lead down a path you didn’t see coming.  I wouldn’t say that Shaun is abound with twist, turns, and surprises, but when you take the idea of the “bumbling idiot” (Pegg) and give him a family, friends, wit, and then hordes of zombies to bash his way through, you start to give two shits about him.  Stir in that drama I was talking about from before and what do you get?  A damn fine character.  Now let’s throw a bucket of blood over the whole mess and you we got ourselves a right good film.  Now me personally, I just need a rack of $7.99 failure ribs from Safeway and some Simply Apple Juice, then I’m in fat kid Heaven.  Moving on.

Shaun of the Dead may not be on the highest of cinematic plains, but for a film that panders to gore-hounds, drunks/stoners, those who still think farts are funny (real Americans), and people who hate bad kissers, it’s a work of art.  It’s a movie that reminds me of why I still love all the sentimental bullshit John Hughes put out or why constantly quoting the Cohen Borthers three bowling alley burnouts never gets tired.  It brings me back to why I shielded my  five year-old eyes from Carpenter’s shape-shifting alien in the Arctic or how Landis made someones dead bestfriend the funniest aspect of London.  Simply put, it’s a movie that makes me love movies.

At long last, The Mighty Boosh made headlines in the local paper! Despite the inevitable transformation from a terrific obscure secret to a mainstream hit, I hope this means that the several years of rumors about a Boosh movie will finally materialize within the next year or so.

If contempo British sitcom genius like the Boosh, Graham Linehman’s Black Books and The IT Crowd, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg’s Spaced (complete series available on Hulu), and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace gained more recognition in the states, it could probably force a revival for decent program in American television (“decent” only because Americanized adaptations usually water down the best elements in time).

Not savvy to the Boosh? Below is part one of the Killeroo episode from series 1. Check out parts two and three here.

1° Temporada

1×01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0JY4R8LG
1×02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LGWW7BHB
1×03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OGKCGAH6
1×04 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7DD5Q7S4
1×05 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0D3RTOKV
1×06 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BO38W77W
1×07 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H6S4NVL9

2ª Temporada

2×01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D6C3DGE5
2×02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DCPXWHAE
2×03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=B0JUUOEM
2×04 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7C3WD205
2×05 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9MPVPAFL
2×06 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A8MFV2QB
2×07 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=297SKGMP

I am tired after a long day of figuring out (largely by memory, but also largely from Google) how to write a personal statement. From what I gather, it’s like writing a CV, but with more sentences. This occurred today while it rained outside, and I digested the teacher (of the class I volunteer with) thoughts on vegetarianism that he shared with the class today. Essentially, eat all of the beefburgers you can. as that will stop them farting and releasing gases into the O Zone Layer.

I know that is hardly Greenpeace’s (or, indeed, any other environmental charity) view on the matter, but it does make a twisted kind of sense. Or, at least, this is the excuse I will use in future so I can continue to eat the odd steak guilt free. I just don’t want these set upon by PETA or somesuch because they repeat it as fact in five years time.

So, here is a link up of various blogs I have been reading and rather like.

You haven’t read Boing Boing? Shame on you.

Bete de Jour is one of those blog writers who makes me feel pathetic to be anywhere in the vacinity of his writing. Read his latest blog entry on dealing with those crap gambling sites, and you will see what I mean.

My new obsession (after House, Hot Fuzz/Spaced, Doctor Who, U2, Futurama, Black Books, Old Doctor Who, Internet comics and the Cold War) is Steampunk fiction. Tor is not sating my love for everything brass with big dials.

Linking steampunk to my love of bonkers Victorian inventors, this comic on Lovelace and Babbage is also rather ace.

… And it’s Goodnight from me. However, I choose to leave you with the sight of Craig Ferguson (I’ll include the Wiki link for anyone who is British and vaguely knows the name but can’t think why) in a blond wig. Hey, it floats my boat.

PS: To paraphrase Simon Pegg: “I’m not a Nerd, I’m a geek; I have social skills.”

So here we are again – spin off time! Last year we had Vile Niall (RIP – sob) raising hell in scotland, Sarah and Zoe indulging in illicit lez action, Mercy and Mal’s Team HIV wedding and Josh being a bit of a twat. What delights does the Later Hollyverse have to offer us this time?

As ever, there is a quartet of storylines:

serious storyline 1: the impending Lydia-is-a-psycho plot

Yep this one has been a-brewing for a while, with jealous, rodent faced Myra Hindley tribute act Lydia gatecrashing an action holiday starring Sarah, Zoe, Steph, Fernando and Gilly.

Thinks of note:

• Has Steph always been such a rampant homophobe? Bitch
• Gilly. Swoon.
• Staff Kingsley: a less fun rip off of Mike/Spaced
• Loved when Lydia appeared at the camp, bathed in eerie moonlight, just as Gilly was telling a scary story. Unsubtle yet still very apt.

comedy storyline 1: the McQueens go to LDN

Michaela and Theresa head to our fair capital to pursue Theresa’s burgeoning career as a tom/glamour model and to visit Theresa’s scally mum in prison. It was a mixed bag of fortunes – Theresa got a gig with Miss Sixteen magazine but then they also got in a fight with a tramp and ended up spending the night in some no doubt fragrant public lavs. The lord gives and he takes away. Still, Jacqui and Carmel are hot footing it to the rescue. Hurrah!

Things of note:

• Love Jacqui’s prostitute-chic PVC minge-height boots. Amaze
• Quote: “you’ve got a mum in prison and you’re from the north” angry Londoner receptionist lady clocks Theresa’s X-Factor sobstory immediately

serious storyline 2: the Ashworth’s go to a festival and meet some dangerous types in a plot that is not-at-all-like-something-out-of-Skins

Our fave sibling group consisting of an incesticider, annoying indie landfill troll and an anorexic headed to a random brand musical festival by the sea and were promptly targetted by sinister posho cokeheads Jamie and Imogen. Remember kids: drugs ARE BAD mkay?

Things of note:

• We HATE Rhys. It never lessens, only grows

comedy storyline 2: Cindy and Tony’s wedding

After some unexpected declarations of love from poor barreness Jacqui and a spot of comedy violence (see below), Tony and Cindy headed off to a very big house in the country to get hitched, with Holly, Dom, Darren and Cindy’s random chav mate  Savannah.

Things of note:

• Jacqui and Cindy’s girly fight was truly grim – the least erotic girlfight ever caught on film
• Cindy needs to get her roots done, big time
• We learn Savannah once used Holly as a drugs mule. Rather enterprising we say.
• Darren surpassed all previous heights of fashion greatness with a cap-on-sideways, big silver chain and shiny silver tracky top ensemble. Lersh.
• Quote: “Darren: even the name says can of lager” harsh but true comment from Savannah

Later naughtiness

It is a law of the Hollyoaks’ spinoff that characters suddenly start using swearwords and flashing the odd bumcheek or boob. So, as with Hollyoaks Later 2008, here is tonight’s offerings blow by blow, so to speak:

26 mins Jacqui says “bitch”

32 mins Rhys says “arse”

46 mins  Jacqui says “bloody”

Not much swearing and no nudity, violence, sex or rapeage (as yet) but still a decent enough start. Lydia is shaping up to be a good psycho, so roll on episode 2!

"LOOK!! It's AMAZING!!!!!!"

Como eu disse, você não conhece porque é uma série britânica, mas se você achou Shaun of The Dead e Hot Fuzz engraçados, pode esperar para conhecer a série nerd definitiva.

Ok, Big Bang Theory é muito bom. Conseguiram usar todas as peculiaridades possíveis que os nerds tem em contato com o mundo que não seja o deles. Mas sejamos francos, eles exageram muito às vezes. É por isso que existe uma série que sempre vai ser a melhor de todas, justamente por que eles não exageram, são cruelmente realistas. E por causa disso a série é tão absurda e anárquica.

Spaced, surgiu em 1999, quando tudo era novo. Episódio 1, Matrix, (antes de se tornar a coisa absurdamente ridícula com o 2 e 3), tinha acabado de sair, o Playstation e Nintendo 64 eram as coisas mais importantes enquanto a internet ainda era discada e o MIRC o único meio de comunicação. Nessa época mais simples, foi quando Edgar Wright se juntou a Simon Pegg, Nick Frost e Jessica Hynes para fazer um retrato perfeito daquele período do fim dos 90.

A frustração pelo episódio 1, pesadelos com o jogo do Resident Evil 2 e zumbis, citações a Arquivo-X, quadrinhos, tudo está ali intricado na história de um cara que conhece uma garota e para conseguirem um lugar para morar, precisam fingir ser um casal para a dona do loft, Marsha. Onde também mora Brian, o artista.

Tudo poderia ser uma sitcom normal, mas Edgar Wright super inspirado pelo trabalho de câmeras que Sam Raimi usou nos seus primeiros filmes, dá um toque surreal para as histórias que foram todas escritas por Simon e Jessica. Com tiradas geniais como o “Tiroteio Telepático”, citações ao 6° sentido, Star Wars e vídeogames, Spaced até hoje se mantém como uma das séries mais perfeitas no cenário nerd/geek.

Não existe o DVD aqui no Brasil (novidade!), então faça um favor para você mesmo e procure nos torrents da vida. E assim como eu ano passado, vai afirmar: “Eu não sabia o que era engraçado até assistir isso”.

Spaced is 10. Fried gold!

I was first introduced to the comedic geniuses of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright when I watched the hilarious Shaun of the Dead. I had never seen a spoof quite like this, one that doesn’t make it obvious what they are spoofing. Because of this I loved it. Shortly after this I began to hear about a television show the three of them had made in Britain before hitting it big with Shaun of the Dead called Spaced. I never care for it enough to go out and see it, but it stayed on my mind. It was not until this year that I started to watch it when it became available to watch for free on hulu.com, and I’m glad I did.

The whole show is only two seasons long, with each season consisting of 7 episodes. The series is about Tim Bisly (Simon Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Jessica Hynes) and their friends. The first season showed the two of them as two people desperate to find a new place to live after some circustances in their lives left them homeless or nearly homeless. One day they find and add for a place that is affordable but they accept “professional couples only.” So, they pretend to be one to fool Marsha Klein (Julia Deakin), the owner of the house, in order to get the place. Once they do, they meet the other tennant in the house Bryan Topp (Mark Heap), and their adventures with Bryan, Marsha, Mike Watt (Nick Frost) and Twist Morgan (Katy Carmichael) begin.

Every episode, written by Pegg and Hynes, and directed by Edgar Wright, is hilarious. It features great comedic performances from the entire cast and they are smartly written. The show is full of references to other TV shows or movies. Sometimes the references are too obscure, but they are still funny because they work within the context of the film.

Although the show is great throughout, the second season took a tumble. Some of the jokes and the references are not quite up to parr to those of the first season, but the character development increases, which makes up for the lack of clever references. Even then, the show had some extremely clever moments that got out the best of the actors.

Because of the second season, Deakin’s performance as Marsha became one of my favorites of the decade, and it would have made it in my top 25 television performances of the decade list. The others also do superlative jobs, but she just kills me in every scene she’s in.

Spaced is one of the best comedies I’ve ever seen. Constant laughs and clever references from Pegg and Hynes’ scripts, make this show worth watching, even if one is not familiar with the work of the cast and crew. This now joins Arrested Development and 30 Rock one of the comedies pretty much no one watches (30 Rock is still going because of all the praise, but its ratings are quite low). I look forward to watching in many more times in the coming years.

For anyone who loves the tv show “Spaced”, have a quick squizz at the Empire article here. 

10 years on?  Where has the time gone?

Simon Pegg twittered this morning:

“Spaced premiered on Channel 4, 10 years ago this month. Happy Daiz but there will be no more. Time to let it go.”

Not unexpected really (did we honestly think they’d do any more?), but a bit sad nonetheless…

Friday night

Amy & Dan ditched us , so we watched – several episodes of spaced via 40d

Saturday:

A long day shopping followed by drinks with sophie & tim & fran & dave.  We spent a lot of time looking at the Honda US site, choosing bikes to buy when we pass our test. Then, on return from the pub with F & D in tow – we watch at their suggestion some clips of Tim Minchin via Youtube.

Very funny making us think of flight of the conchordes

So we swapped them Eagle vs Shark.

Sunday spent recovering, reading the papers & being outside

So… yeah, started watching some British comedy TV shows this Labor Day weekend… when I should probably be studying… I hate studying… it sucks.

Anyway, so I started watching “Spaced”. It was written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. It aired for two seasons in 1999 before Simon Pegg shot to fame with “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”. So anyway… so “Spaced” is a British sit-com about two roommates, Tim and Daisy, and their friends, who include an avant-garde artist and a ex-Army soldier who attempted to invade Paris in a stolen tank. It’s got a bunch of surrealist humor cutaways and drug-induced storylines. It’s… hilarious. And funny. And I like it. I like to have it playing in the background while I read and take notes for organic chemistry… it makes it barely palatable/bearable.

I also watched the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead” earlier today. It’s probably my favorite zombie movie after “Shaun of the Dead”. I still think the Resident Evil trilogy is more entertaining to watch while drunk (not necessarily high) and with friends, but I think “Dawn of the Dead” is more… I dunno. Something. Whatever.

Ooo… some things I used to like on girls/women that I know longer do: Pig-tails, high heels, boots, Uggs, long hair. I’m not really sure when or why I don’t like them anymore… I just saw them on a girl and I was like, “Yeah… I’m not attracted to you.” Maybe a combination of the two wouldn’t be too bad… and I guess it depends on the girl. Like, long pig-tails wouldn’t be bad on the right girl. You know what? I take it all back. I’m fine with pig-tails and long hair. I still don’t like Uggs though.