…but if you try sometimes, you just might find – you get the new “V”…

Actually, I don’t know much about the new version of “V”, and I want to commit teenage suicide (meaning I’d have to find a way to go back 9 years) after hearing they’re pitching a “Heathers” t.v. adaptation (but if they do, I’m Red).  But there are a few gems I’m excited about seeing on the fall schedule (”Community”), some I want to have faith in (”Glee”), and one new guilty pleasure that I’m ashamed to admit here (not listing this one on your life).  Plus there was the challenge to review “Fringe” (which I still haven’t seen even though I’ve wanted to give it a chance for awhile though, and I even tried to watch on Fox.com, but apparently my computer has The Herpes right now), and I so wanted to do that in time for the new season… (I have 2 weeks, though – I wonder if its at my local video store?).

I’m just excited in general, in a kind of “the future’s so bright, I gotta wear 3-D glasses” about what’s coming up.  This isn’t the best year/season of television or movies or books ever made, but it’s nice to have some returning favorites (”House”) and some new prospects (”Modern Family”).  I’ve been living on “Robot Chicken” reruns and episodes of the Telenovela “Valeria” for long enough.  I say this to the networks – I’m glad as hell and I’m not gonna mock it anymore!*

*Except you know I will… regularly.

Thanks for reading,

Winnie

Garbage Day, Version 10.0:  Some Kind of Wonderful Writer/Director/Producer

I missed touching on Michael, Farrah, Ed McMahon, and so many others we’ve lost recently  and it’s not that their deaths are any less important or noteworthy, but (just as with the first three I mentioned and many others), John Hughes has touched my life for years to come, in his case with his entertaining movies, notable characters, and well, showcasing the gingers…

Having not personally known the man, I still feel the same sadness that comes about whenever the world loses someone amazing, be it an Entertainer, Politician, “Average Joe”, “Average Jane”, or “Average Jamiroquai”.

Every person might not like each and every John Hughes movie, but I figure at least one of them has made you laugh, lovingly or jokingly reminded you of an experience in your life, or been the source of a quote (butchered or “right on the money) you still use to this day.  Anyone… anyone… Bueller…?  We’re talking about gems like “The Breakfast Club”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, Chevy Chase-Filled “National Lampoon’s … Vacation” movies, “Weird Science”, “Curly Sue”, “Uncle Buck”, “Home Alone”, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” and many more (my favorite of which I didn’t even mention)…

To make a long story short, which the people who read this know is hard for me, he wrote/directed/produced some films that influenced who I am today – not as much as my parents, but in a different way.  The best way to sum how I feel about John Hughes’ contribution to Cinema was in a conversation I had with STC’s own Carlisle, while 4 of us were on our way to my brother’s wedding.  In the midst of mocking Voletta Wallace for choosing Angela Bassett to play her in “Notorious”, we started playing this silly game of “who would we choose to play us/family/friends in a movie about ourselves”, and it spiraled into many other questions.  When “who would you choose to direct the movie about your life” came up, surprisingly it wasn’t me, but Carlisle who knew:

Me: Okay, now, who would you choose to direct a movie about yourself?

Passenger 1: Malcolm D. Lee

Passenger 57: Tim Burton

Me: Um… I don’t know, someone creepy like Hitchcock, or maybe I’ll choose John Woo so I can have some white doves during my Mother-In-Law fight scene!

Carlisle: I would’ve expected you to pick John Hughes…

Me: Uh, yeah – that’s what I said. *looks around sheepishly*

So when it comes to 28-year old Winnie, John Hughes – you ARE the Director.  May we meet in the Anthony Michael Foyer (the greeting place of pop-culture randomness) when I get done typing this.  I’ll be the one who’s Pretty In Pink holding a box of Sixteen Candles…

Thanks for reading,

Winnie

P.S. – I still love you, Duckie!  I got your mix tape…

Everybody’s got a show these days – The Coreys, T.O., Kathy Griffin, the Octomom, as well as reality t.v. “stars” who are famous for acting like douchebags.  I’m just waiting for a Kardashians spin-off that follows around Bruce Jenner’s face through the years…  But you might be thinking, Winnie – aren’t you simply giving them publicity by talking about them?  The answer to that is a big, resounding “No” – because who cares what I think, really – my blog is what people use to wipe with when their Spencer Pratt quote-of-the-day calendar runs out of A-holeisms.  (Er, but thanks for reading, and ladies – always remember to wipe front to back.)  But hey, I’m bored, and if you’re reading this, chances are, you are to, so I would like to present… ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ang Lee

While some of you have been busy with living life, going out to watch Summer Blockbusters, or attending weddings where someone thinks it’s been okay to still do The Macarena (It. Is. Never. Okay.), I’ve been sitting down and taking advantage (read: sucked in) of some of the new programming for the summer. I can’t say I’m proud of some of the things I watch, or that they are particularly good, but I do love watching things with another adult in order to have someone to discuss it with. Since I don’t have anyone to watch “Twin Peaks” with me (but gladly watched it on my own, though part of the garmonbozia The Man From Another Place had to have been referring to was simply the act of watching some of the episodes in the second half of the second season post-Laura Palmer’s killer reveal), I take what I can get.

…With So Much Drama in the STC, it’s Kinda Hard Bein’ Someone Named Winnie D…

Okay, not really, but when else would I get a chance to use a Snoop quote. But I digress… (when don’t I?) My name is Winnie, and I’m a spoiler whore.

*STC readers speak in unison*

“Hi, Winnie!”

That’s right, I just spent hours (off and on) online looking for spoilers/waiting for updates and uploads about a mystery-based show I’m somewhat invested in – “Harper’s Island”. And eventually I got what I wanted. Why are these episodes/recaps even available? Because it’s yet another CBS show that they aired in Canada days before they air it in the U.S. (if it was Canadian-based, I’d understand/accept/support, but it’s not). To top it off, the ending was predictable, the survivor(s) clichéd, and the producers pretty much lied to anyone who did figure it out early (not simply people shadow stabbing like Cake). I get while working for a show, you have to try to preserve the ending from being spoiled for those who don’t care to find out (not me!), but why not rather throw out a “no comment” or a former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales-style “I do not recall”? Why do you have to say “don’t believe what you’re reading/that’s not true”, “it’s someone you don’t know/expect” or, on the flip side “it’s a main character” when it’s really someone who was just brought on whose role got beefed up just to be “the” killer.

Winnie’s Whining^TM aside, I still love a whodunit, so I’ll be watching on Saturday when it airs here. I know some people don’t care for spoilers (I’m okay with it for most shows, but not interested in leaked movies), but for me, they enhance my viewing – 99% of the time, they make me want to tune in even more to see how it was actually done. At the same time, I really love when they’re not available, because I’m good at figuring out twists myself. nothing about Ang Lee in this…

Ang Lee's Directed: HULK (2003)

Spoiler: Ang Lee=red herring. Oh, and… Lenoil Eihcir!

Thanks for your time,

Winnie

Opinformers: Revenge of the Fangirl

So this past Tuesday night, I decided to go “get my ubernerd on” (unlike Bruno, I have no umlaut, but somehow I’m channeling Megan Fox in her recent Entertainment Weekly interview, where I think she almost overdosed on the injection of large amounts of the word “uber”) and watch “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. It was more like “Transformers: I’ve Fallen Asleep and I Can’t Get Up” (and yes, myself and another person in my party did start dozing off during the 144 minute film – but to be honest, that could be because we’re getting to be a couple of fogeys). While I blame myself for expecting characters to be developed and storylines to get better in a Michael Bay sequel (I love the dude, but damn), I guess I wasn’t expecting to walk out of the theater saying “WTF?!” ↓ Read the rest of this entry…