Reviews

There really aren't words made to describe how strongly adamant I am that this show should be canceled. As if copying "The OC" in a reality form wasn't bad enough, poorly scripted and semi-acted/semi-reality format makes it seem like you're watching a very badly executed B-movie. I am so distraught that this got renewed for a second season because this is one of MTV's lowest of the low. The beach of Laguna is very pretty, but the snooty, self-indulgent, oh-woe-is-me characters have no redeeming qualities and their stories are completely adolescent, juvenile and convoluted by the teen TV drama series mold. Boy falls in and out of love with girl, falls into love with other girls, etc etc blah blah blah. There is nothing about this show that is redeeming. Urge MTV to cancel this crap!

Although reality TV starts to get to me after awhile, BRAVO has done an excellent job with "Project Runway." By cleverly combining creativity with the standard rapid elimination proceedings so familiar to reality TV, a slew of 12 amateur fashion designers compete for their chance to win big with a fashion contract and a place at New York's infamous Olympus Fashion Week. What makes this show so interesting is how creative some of the designers can be and how their personalities are conveyed through their designs. You'll pick a favorite and root for them each week. Although this show has been criticized in the media for being a rip-off of UPN's successful "America's Next Top Model," it combines artistic bravado with competition, as opposed to looks and luck. It's an interesting concept and it works well here. Unfortunately, the future doesn't bode well for "Project Runway." According to several industry publications recounting ratings numbers, the show has been doing very bad in the ratings and there isn't plans for a second season unless things take a turn for the better.

"Date My Mom" is another reality TV dating show spin-off comparable to MTV's other efforts like "Room Raiders". The premise is that guys or girls date the mom and learn about their prospective date through the mother before they are able to actually meet the younger counterpart. Then the mothers that are voted off sashay their daughter or son in front of the one that turned them down. This show is sometimes funny, but all too often, it seems too plastic and scripted. I would like the show to flow with the awkwardness of really meeting a prospective date's mother for the first time. All too often, it seems like the people on the show are reading lines or coming up with quirky one-liners that real people don't think of in spur of the moment situations. But such is the nature of the reality TV beast.

I downright loathed this show. But for some reason, I kept watching it each week. Half the time I couldn't follow all the characters and all the new ones they were introducing. And, for awhile, I felt as though the show would continue into eternity because the idea behind it was just so grueling and continuous...as soon as someone gets kicked off, someone new comes on. I heard they were continuing the show into a second season, but I think they reconsidered because it didn't really do that great in the ratings. Oh well. I don't think anyone is really hardcore missing this show. It was typical FOX fare--Reality TV so bad that it's just so freaking good.

"Drawn Together" is one of the best shows on television! Comedy Central is ingenious for giving airtime to this really excellent show. It's hilarious, cleverly written and you'll find yourself attached to these characters. It's been a ratings hit for Comedy Central and it's been renewed for a second season. I think this is one of the best ideas to parody reality TV but take it over the top and to extremes. Princess Clara and Xandir are my favorites. They're both hilarious. I just hope they keep the same characters for next season. There is going to be a "reunion special" I guess. This show is destined to go down in history with South Park and Beavis and Butt-head as one of the best and most tasteless TV cartoon comedies in history!

As if reality TV hasn't gone far enough already, meet a rich heiress with so much money that she shouldn't have to worry about what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Instead she gets her own TV show where we can watch her bitch, moan, complain and insult others into being her slaves. It's like MTV's "Rich Girls" except with no redeeming personality traits whatsoever. It's hard to relate to a princess that bosses everyone around and says she is going to fire her personal assistant unless he finds someone for her to fall in love with. This is a scripted reality mess. I am hoping and praying for prompt cancellation. The E! Network has failed me with more reality fluff than you can shake a stick at.

This was a great soap opera. Although sometimes the acting left a bit to be desired (and I'll admit that despite being a huge fan), it was one of the most creative and interesting soaps on TV. Many of the stars of this show went on to really bright careers (Eddie Cibrian and Jason Winston George among them), but some have faded into Hollywood nothingness. Sometimes the show was cheesy, but that was what made it so great. It wasn't old and tired like some of the other soaps. It was completely fresh, new, vibrant and colorful. It needs to be put back on the air so other soaps stop rehashing the same ideas. This soap was funny, entertaining and really great. Terror Island was one of the greatest soap angles of all time. Aaron Spelling's finest achievement ever.

I was a big fan of "Central Park West" and I was hoping it would go down in infamy with other great 90's shows like 90210 and Melrose Place, but instead it's one of those virtually-forgotten cult favorites like Models, Inc. I loved how this show tried to be so ambitious and over the top, sultry, sexy and bitchy. It was like the producers were trying to revamp "Dallas" for the 90's. Too bad it failed. Not once but twice. Even once it was reintroduced as "CPW" and it failed again. Michael Michele as Nikki Sheridan was my favorite character. At least she went on to star in successful shows like "ER". Even the star power of Mariel Hemingway, Lauren Hutton, and Raquel Welch couldn't revive this show. Too bad. It had so much potential and so many pretty faces.

I loved this show when it was on the air. I was really upset when it was canceled. I don't understand why reality television has replaced good, quality shows like this one. I agree that there should have been more done to promote this...or at least try it out on a different time slot. I have some of the episodes on video still and I thought it was an excellent idea for a TV show. Unfortunately, the more whitebread version "Seventh Heaven" ended up surviving. Oh well. This helped to launch James Marsden's career, that's for sure. There was a little girl in this show from my hometown. This was one of those gems that should have got an audience but never did. Bring it out on DVD. Fat chance. But worth a try.

Okay, maybe I'm too picky but I really wanted this film to show more character development. Maybe it's just the nature of the beast because trying to personify outstanding writers and eccentric personalities like Burroughs and Ginsberg on the screen can be so difficult, but it seemed like this film lacked something. I still enjoyed it. And I enjoyed how the film seemed to focus more on Joan (Courtney Love) and how we were actually made to care and sympathize for her character. Love really is a good actress that isn't given as much credit as she deserves in the media. Kiefer Sutherlands' portrayal of Burroughs as a snakey, dirty old man who cheats on his wife didn't make him have many redeeming factors and for that, I was a bit upset considering Burroughs is one of my absolute favorite writers ever. Ron Livingston's portrayal of Ginsberg didn't seem too true to form based on what I've read about him. But maybe that was what deterred me from really loving this film...because I was too attached to the work of these beat poets prior to viewing it. It's a good film, but if you're a fan of the work of the beat generation--you might be upset that it rewrites your perception of the eccentric personalities of these American literary heroes.

Although I find the bulk of gay movies to border on softcore porn with no plot line or character development, Q. Allen Brocka's "Eating Out" is a rare gem in the world of gay cinema and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD. I caught the film at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and I was really surprised that it wasn't total crap. On the contrary, it was really good. Brocka's quick wit and hilarious screenplay made this film a laugh-out-loud tour de force to be reckoned with. It's almost like a queer "American Pie" (as Brocka described it at the showing) and I think that description fits it well. The cast is convincing, insanely attractive and pretty decent actors--a rarity in gay films. Any gay male audience's mouths will water at the sight of the two leading men--both of which are straight in real life but play very convincing gay or "straight with tendencies" characters in the film. But the shining star of this film was a supporting character--Emily Stiles playing Gwen made the perfect "fag hag best friend" and she helped to generate most of the laughs during the showing. Jim Verraros also proved to be a promising actor in the film as well, proving that his talents stretch beyond the stage of "American Idol." By watching this film, I could tell it was a lot of fun to make and that the cast had really good chemistry. This is a definite must-see for anyone that wants an actually very funny gay film.

I really was disappointed in "Wicker Park." The previews made me think it was some sort of "Swimfan"-esque movie where a girl goes crazy and takes another girl's identity and tries to steal her man. But in actuality, Rose Byrne's character of Alex isn't even introduced until about 45 minutes into the film. And to make matters worse, leading up to it you'll find yourself saying, "I don't follow this at all..." because the filmmakers were obviously going for an avant-garde feel by making the movie a disjointed mess. It's really confusing and although it somewhat comes together at the end, the plot holes are enough to drive a truck through. Matthew Lilliard as Luke and Josh Hartnett's wife in the movie are basically forgotten about at the end and left to be miserable as the audience is supposed to feel happy for the ending...sorry, I didn't feel it at all. The only upside is that Josh Hartnett does a decent job playing the man that everyone wants, yet he still seems tormented over it. Boo hoo. This won't make it on anyone's top 10 list for best films of 2004.