Veronica Mars (Logan v. Duncan)

September 1, 2008 at 9:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

I’ve decided to make this blog a little more casual. Commentary rather than formal reviews, I guess, would be a good way to put it. So, here’s the first bit of commentary, on Veronica Mars. There may be spoilers.

I discovered how great this show was in the middle of last week, and since then I’ve watched the entire first season and the first 4 1/2 episodes of the second. It’s great. Smart writing, great characters, just a fantastic show.

At this point in the series, Veronica has two real potential love interests. Her boyfriend, Duncan, and Logan, who she was with for a little while but no longer. Duncan’s a good guy. Logan can be kind of an asshole. Not that he doesn’t have his reasons, but, well, that’s how he is.

I am 110% rooting for Logan. I mean, Duncan’s nice and all but he’s just so BORING, and there’s absolutely zero chemistry there and I just wish he’d go away. Whereas Logan is exciting and interesting and actually has a personality and there’s great chemistry between the actors, and I hope that somebody realizes this and gets rid of Duncan before too long because he has no personality and no brain and I just want him to go away.

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Review: From Justin To Kelly

August 18, 2008 at 1:51 am · Filed under movie review

Plot: From Justin To Kelly is a movie made to exploit the popularity of American Idol. Stars Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson meet at the beach, while they’re both on spring break in Miami, and have an instant connection. Kelly’s scheming friend gives Justin her own phone number rather than Kelly’s and pretends to be Kelly,  which results in various predictable mixups. Each of the main characters has two annoying friends. It is far from an original plot.

My verdict: Oh my god. I was not aware that a movie could be this terrible. It’s not even bad in a funny way like Mamma Mia. From Justin To Kelly has absolutely no redeeming qualities. The plot is dull and predictable. The writing is cringe-worthy, and the acting even more so. No one in this movie can act. The choreography is terrible. The songs are certainly not good, and have no logical place in the “plot”. Actually there is very little logical progression at all, it just breaks down completely when they break out into song. The characters have no chemistry. Their clothes are generally hideous (at one point Kelly is wearing some weird island-y halter top and a skirt made of ties). The cinematography was unremarkable (the best that can be said of any aspect of this movie). This movie is so terrible that it’s not even fun to make fun of. It’s just…garbage. There is absolutely no reason on earth that I can think of to watch this movie. It is a musical that makes High School Musical 2 look like a real work of art. And that one, at least, was bad in a way that could be unintentionally entertaining. From Justin To Kelly is just painful, not even a type of bad you can laugh at. Just the kind that could make you want to kill yourself. This is #26 on IMDB’s worst movie list. I am finding it hard to believe that there could be twenty-five movies worse than this one. Or even one or two movies worse than this one.

Off-topic: Also according to a commercial during the movie, you can now buy a paternity test in the drug store. So why didn’t the characters in Mamma Mia go that route?

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Review: Mamma Mia!

August 16, 2008 at 11:23 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Plot: Mamma Mia! is a musical based on the songs of Abba. This should give you some idea of the insanity that it involves. Basically, it’s a story about a girl,  Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who is looking for her father to give her away at her wedding. She’s found her mother’s diary, and apparently her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep) slept with three different men around the same time. Any one of them could be her father. Other major characters include Donna’s two best friends, Sophie’s fiance, and Sophie’s two best friends. Hijinks ensue as Donna freaks out and her friends go crazy, Sophie wonders who her father is, the possible fathers have questions of their own, and everyone is conflicted about the upcoming wedding.

My verdict: This movie is a train wreck. A very shiny train wreck. It’s so terrible, but I just could not look away. There were parts of it that the elderly wishing to return to their youth would be fond of (as was reflected in the majority of the audience in the theater). There were parts of it that were crazy and drug-trippy (in other words, very much in the spirit of the band that inspired it all). But mostly it was just…awful. The friend I was with just kept saying “Oh my god. This is so disturbing. This is creepy. This is the creepiest movie I’ve ever seen,” and I can’t say I disagreed. Another friend said he was embarrassed for the people who actually had to be in this movie. I agree there, too. Certainly, I laughed hysterically throughout the movie–it was just so bad, I couldn’t help it. So if you’re in the mood for a hilariously terrible movie, go! It’s probably better if you have a friend to make fun of it all with. Just don’t expect anything good. I seriously think this may be the worst movie I’ve ever seen. But, boy, was it ever hilarious in all its terrible, shiny insanity.

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Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Book-to-Movie!)

August 10, 2008 at 10:03 pm · Filed under movie review

I enjoyed both the movie and the book by Ann Brashares. They are very different, however, but this is not a review of how the book was interpreted, but instead a review of the movie. The second one’s out now, but I haven’t seen it.

Plot: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants takes place over the course of the summer that is the first time these four best friends have ever been apart in their sixteen years of life. Carmen (America Ferrera), Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Bridget (Blake Lively), and Lena (Alexis Bledel) are four very different characters off to different places and experiences, but a pair of pants that magically fit all four of the girls bind them together for the summer.

My verdict: The movie’s fine, but the book is way better (even though I said I am not comparing them). Anyway, the on-screen version of the story…The movie feels a little crunched at times, trying to fit four complete stories into one movie. The storylines should have been fleshed out more, and the characters explored more, but I guess that’s not really possible with these time constraints. Maybe this just wasn’t a book that should have been a movie. I enjoyed it, though; however, I could never really get behind Alexis Bledel as Lena (and I’ve never really thought she was a very good actress, even though I love Gilmore Girls), but other than that I think the casting was good for this movie, at least with the main characters. It’s a bittersweet story in some ways, but it’s also a fantastic feel-good friendship story. And I always kind of want to strangle Alexis Bledel, but what else is new? If they wanted people to believe Lena was an amazing artist, the drawing in her sketchbook they show should have been better. And I find it kind of weird that Kostas has such a Greek accent if he lived in the US for the first twelve years of his life. Small quibbles, though. Oh! but I really liked the transitions between scenes, between storylines. But it’s still kind of a mediocre movie. Overall, it’s cute, but not particularly memorable.

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Review: The Secret Life of the American Teenager

August 10, 2008 at 1:48 am · Filed under tv show review ·Tagged ,

This review covers episodes 1-6.

Plotline: Fifteen-year-old Amy Jergens, a typical good girl, is less than good one night at band camp. She loses her virginity in a tryst with the drummer, who is something of a playboy. She unsurprisingly does not enjoy the sex and then gets pregnant. Can you tell that this is by the woman who made 7th Heaven? Oh, and they also have family issues when her parents’ marriage is falling apart and Amy’s younger sister tries to distract them by being the “bad” one in the family (though as far as I can tell all she does is expose a bit too much skin). Other major characters include Ricky, the father of the baby who, oh, by the way, was sexually abused as a child and has sex with lots of girls because he is traumatized, Adrienne (actually not sure how you spell that), a girl with a single working mom who is apparently neglected and thus is a slut because she is looking for love in all the wrong places, Grace, the daughter of Amy’s father’s ex-wife, who is ridiculously religious, and Ben, Amy’s new boyfriend. Oh, and Amy and Ben each have two best friends. I forgot their names. Most of them have their own drama, but it all revolves around Amy for the most part.

My verdict: Total guilty pleasure show. It’s hilarious in its stereotypical ridiculousness, with all of the soapy over-the-top drama and lots of rather terrible acting and writing. But I can’t stop watching! Nor can I stop laughing, however. Grace is over-the-top in her religiousness, Adrienne and Ricky over the top in their sluttiness, etc. Everybody’s a stereotype. But I still kinda love Adrienne. Her attitude is pretty awesome. I think the writers were trying to portray her as an unloved slut (welcome to the typical attitudes of our culture–oh, by the way, she’s also the only Latina in this show. Stereotype much?), but I think she kind of rocks. She’s the only one who actually tells it like it is, and one of the few willing to let Amy make her own choices about the pregnancy and support her, even though they’re not exactly close. I just have to laugh at Grace and her naivety. And sometimes hate her. Amy’s friends are way too talkative. I like Ben’s friends, though. We should see more of them. Amy’s sister Ashley is also pretty cool. The guidance counselor is weird. However, Amy, the main character is rather annoying, and I just want to see more of the awesome characters. But this show is still worth watching, if you can laugh at it and not take it too seriously. It’s not good, by any real stretch of the imagination, but it sure is addictive.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is on now, Tuesdays at 8 on ABC Family.

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About This Blog

August 10, 2008 at 1:12 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Teen Television Review is a new idea I had for a blog–a companion to Teen Book Review. I’ll be reviewing television shows (and possibly movies) here. After all, I do love stories in all of their incarnations. I’m not sure how well this will work out. It’s kind of a test run. I’m not really sure how to write television and movie reviews, so be patient! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it.

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