Archive for October, 2007
It’s been a while since I’ve been gushing over a show dangerously close to cancellation. (Yes, I loved Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and terribly sad to see them go, but both were weakened in their final seasons.) But catching up with Damages this weekend on FX, it reminded me just how good television can be.
For those who have sadly missed out on one of the best shows on television, Damages revolves around two main stories – one of murder, the other of the pursuit of the head of a company in the aftermath of an Enron-type scandle.
Glenn Close stars as Patty Hewes, a ruthless corporate-malfeasance litigator out to destroy Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), who sold his company out from under his employees. Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), fresh out of law school, comes to work on the case against Frobisher, yet we only find that out after she’s been taken into custody for the murder of her fiancé. The entire show is told simultaneously in flashbacks and real time, using a colour wash to keep the audience from confusion. (There’s a fantastic moment in the penultimate episode where there colour wash transitions to normal color, signaling the moment where we have finally caught up, that we know as much of the secrets in the past that we possibly can, and we’re all on the same page now.)
The acting is top-notch, and Damages is one of the best-plotted shows that I’ve seen in a long time. Plus, it treats the viewers as intelligent, which is a rarity these days. For fans of the aforementioned Veronica Mars, it brings back the thrill of unraveling the first season. Each revelation makes you think, makes you wonder and even when the show turns a lot of your assumptions on their ear, you never feel cheated.
I was a fan of The Closer from the very first episode and I fully admit to having a “but I loved it before you!” attitude towards latecomers. But I’m willing to put that on the backburner because the Jenny-come-latelys have come in such numbers that I will have The Closer on my television for seasons to come. I want more of Damages. I desperately want more of Damages. Patty and Ellen are such compelling confidants and adversaries that it’s hard to imagine not having them around longer. So please, don’t be too late for this brilliant show. Tonight may be the finale, but I beckon all you latecomers to Damages, and promise it will be just as good as I’ve gushed.
Damages airs Tuesdays at 10pm on FX.
Making a Plea for Damages [LA Times]
Popularity: 19% [?]
October 23rd, 2007
If I never hear the word “heteronormative” again, it’ll still be too soon.
You know, I totally understand why there’s so much outcry about J.K. Rowling not outing Dumbledore in her books despite it being completely irrelevant to the plot. I mean, geez, I don’t even know how I managed to grow up remotely queer without any literary role models. I’m so jellus that kids today even have the OPTION for Dumbledore to gay them up.
As such, here are some other classic children’s and YA book authors who obviously failed the gay community by not outing their characters in the text…
Frances Hodgson Burnett for The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. Bitch please, the kid’s name was DICKON and he liked weak, sissy boy Colin flowers and plants. And did you really think Sara Crewe was the “little princess” in question? Clearly Burnett meant the Indian Gentleman who was such a “close friend” of Sara’s father. Plus, Sara and Becky…? Totally gay.
Shame on you, Frances. SHAME.
Then we have Madeleine L’Engle, who clearly should have outed Charles Wallace Murray. The closest we got was him fondling that unicorn, Gaudior (a BOY unicorn, I might add) in A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Like we all didn’t know what was actually “tilting.” Wink, wink. And, of course, savvy slashers have already caught on to the fact that Joshua Archer in The Arm of the Starfish was totally Adam’s big, gay boyfriend. It’s too bad she didn’t put in a five page gay sex scene in between all that talk of limb regeneration. ‘Cause you know *something* was regenerating. Nudge, nudge.
Bonnie in Joan Aiken’s The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Total dyke now that I’ve read it as an adult. She knows how to shoot, she wears boys’ clothes, and enjoys her short hair cut. Why couldn’t Aiken have revealed her true love for her sweet cousin Sylvia? I mean, geez, then she would have had the double pay-off of it being gay AND incest-y!
Everybody in Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game. Who wasn’t gay in that book, right? Judge Ford, the Power Dyke; Turtle the Baby Dyke; Angela the Lipstick Lesbian…Doug Hoo and Theo Theodorakis totally the OTP! If only Raskin had them all mention their sexuality on those slips they filled out during the meetings for the game… the book would have been perfect!
Preston Fielding in Ellen Emerson White’s The President’s Daughter? GAY. I mean, come on, he’s a fabulous dresser who is not afraid to wear magenta. Total label queen. I can’t believe White didn’t have him become the first gay and out White House press secretary. She’s a terrible role model for not playing into the stereotype of the well-dressed gay man.
The Berenstain Bears. Please, they’re BEARS. Duh.
(Yes, it’s sad when “my side” annoys me more than the ‘phobes.)
-Mala
*Title comes from one of the best bad-bad Dawson’s Creek slash stories, and a personal favorite here at PopGurls. — Amy
Popularity: 17% [?]
October 22nd, 2007
So, it’s official. Despite the best efforts of fans and their hopeful campaign — Jorja Fox is definitely leaving CSI this season.
According to EW.com, Jorja’s reasons for leaving:
“There are all these things I want to do. Some are personal. Some are professional. And I really need to do some of them before I get too old… If I thought the show were on its last legs, I would have tried harder to stay the course. But I feel like its going to be around for a while, so if I don’t want some of those dreams to pass me by. I have to get off the ride for a while.”
I’m certainly disappointed. While I’ve sampled from each of the CSI franchises, it’s the original that has kept me hooked. It’s the main characters and their relationships that grab me more than anything else — from the beginning, I’ve been taken by the fact that they’re all flawed. Flawed in their own ways, which makes them so much more tangible. (I don’t think the Miami and New York spin-offs get that.)
Sara has always been my favorite character and, while I’m not a hardcore ’shipper, I do enjoy the ins and outs, the subtle flirtations of the Sara/Grissom relationship. I can’t say that I’ll give up on the show, and I’ll give it a chance with the new characters, but some of the light will have definitely dimmed once Sara’s gone.
Read our interview with Jorja Fox here
Popularity: 15% [?]
October 18th, 2007
Ed Westwick, it must be said, sounds absolutely nothing like he does on The CW’s Gossip Girl. Which is certainly not a bad thing, but it is a bit disarming once his deep British accent rumbles across the phone line. In fact it’s so disarming that I’ve now decided that it’s a good thing that he plays the role of Chuck Bass with an American accent because, honestly, it would be way too distracting and fans would be even more conflicted in their lust for Chuck — Gossip Girl’s undisputed bad boy.
Ed spoke with PopGurls about why he loves playing Chuck, who he thinks Chuck wants to sleep with and why comparisons with James Spader’s Stef in Pretty in Pink are a little off the mark.
Read our interview with Ed here!
Popularity: 18% [?]
October 17th, 2007
Can I just say that it took me a while to edit our interview with Jessica Conant-Park because there were so many delectable descriptions of food? Each one made me want to leave the computer and pre-heat the oven in preparation of tasty goodness.
Which, I suppose, is to be expected — Jessica and her mother write ChickLit mysteries about Chloe, a “food connoisseur on a quest for the perfect meal and man.” The Gourmet Girl books mix engaging characters, snarky fun and utterly delectable recipes.
A Quickie with Jessica Conant-Park
We’re giving away two copies each of Jessica and Susan Conant’s books, Steamed and Simmer Down. We’ll select four people at random who send an e-mail to freestuff@popgurls.com with the subject line GOURMET GIRL to get a free copy of one of the Gourmet Girl books.
Popularity: 18% [?]
October 3rd, 2007
* While indulging in my newest addiction — Scrabulous on Facebook — this ad popped up in the corner:
My question is — how does one get certified?
Do you think God has a test?
Is it Scantron?
Requiring No. 2 pencils?
And do all Certified Christians look like porn stars? Because, you know, it could be a big selling point.
* Poor Jennie Garth fell on last night’s Dancing With the Stars. I have not been watching, so I only found out by following this link:
http://peoplefalltv.wordpress.com/#post-91
Look at the first part of that URL — peoplefalltv.
Is it either inadvertently brilliant or hurtful when it comes to the article?
Popularity: 14% [?]
October 2nd, 2007
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