I need you all to agree that Greek is really good so I won’t feel stupid

Forget everything I said about stupidly becoming obsessed with The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Greek is officially my favorite show on ABC Family. Just like last time though, I am catching up with the series just in time for the new season to begin on Monday. Since I fell for Secret Life, which is as stupid but much funnier than 7th Heaven, I also started watching Make It or Break It and 10 Things I Hate About You online (all of ABC Family’s stuff is on Hulu). I finally broke down and decided to give Greek a chance.

I used to see commercials for the show, which centers around a brother and sister (literally related to each other) and their frat and sorority, respectively, and think it looked really awful. The logo has the ubiquitous red solo cup behind it. I mean, come on! Here is a weird promo photo of them in said cup:

I was surprised to find out that the show is like an adorable cross between Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared. Some of the dialogue reminds me of another non-guilty favorite, Gilmore Girls, though less obnoxious. The actors are all roughly my age, and I have the suspicion that at least some of the writers are only slightly older than me. Here are some references/things I appreciated from the past couple episodes:

- Cameron from Ferris Bueller is the dean, and there have been two references to it, including him driving a red convertible with a woman named Sloan. Secret Life has not taken advantage of Molly Ringwald’s John Hughes past.

- An engineer character was also really into the movie Weird Science

- During a protest, someone chants, “Donna Martin graduates!” which is from (the original) 90210. Several episodes later, the actress who was Mrs. Walsh was on it. I confirmed that one of the directors worked on 90210, and assuming maybe some writers, too.

- A ditzy girl, after seeing 9 ½ Weeks, described Kim Basinger as “the mom from 8 Mile”

- A member of a secret society group made a comment about Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker without actually mentioning The Skulls

- The main boy said someone reminded him of Ralph Wiggum, and the girl he liked said, “Me fail English? That’s unpossible!”

- Ken Marino had a cameo as a camp counselor and Janeane Garofalo played a women’s studies professor

- The gay frat guy described hearing about his frat brothers’ sexual exploits as being like “an episode of Entourage, but watchable”

- Someone said Jesse McCartney’s character dresses like a pop star, which I suppose you could describe him as in real life

- They played one of my favorite songs, “Bridge and Tunnel” by The Honorary Title, which came out like three years ago or more

*EDIT – I forgot to mention the Glengarry Glen Ross nods (ABC, “Beer is for closers,” etc.)

It was bugging me for a while that the main girl looked like someone but I couldn’t place her. SHE’S FRASIER’S DAUGHTER:

Even in the episode where she’s watching TV and says, “Ooh! Frasier’s on!” I didn’t figure it out. She looks just like her father. It’s really weird, because she’s really pretty. But looks like Frasier.

Anyway, Greek rules. I will not be ashamed.

About a blog

I had a very nice weekend. A pretty good consecutive few days. Decent recent times. My problem, though, is blogging.

I feel compelled to type it all out, but how interested are you really in a concert like most concerts I go to, movies like most movies I usually see…am I in a rut?  A fun rut?

Another thing – I have been feeling somewhat inspired to write more essay-ish type things, but I’m not sure this is my outlet. I take issue with that amount of transparency on the internet. I imagine that these are the types of people reading this right now:

- People who know me already: Chances are, you’re my friend. You already know I’m neurotic.

- People who do not know me: You found this blog because you Googled a show on ABC Family or another equally random thing.

- People who know who I am but do not know me personally: I am most afraid of you. I’m not sure this is how I want you to get to know me.

For instance, last night, I saw 500 Days of Summer with the most perfectly (im)perfect companion. I thought two things:

1. I would never do this to you, Joseph Gordon Levitt.

2. I am tempted to write about love or lack thereof. I am troubled by my lack of anonymity because maybe:

- I dated you, in which case I am no longer speaking to you or you are only reading this because I bookmarked it on your toolbar.

- You think I kind of tried to date you.  But hey, I said I’m over it, okay?

- You like me and I don’t know it. Oh, who am I kidding.

- You are a stranger. Why should you know this about me?

Am I just being dumb? Am I contributing too much garbage to the internet?  Internet, help me!

District 9 – Highly recommended

I saw the trailer for this a while ago and was slightly intrigued, but wasn’t exactly counting down the days to its release. I happened upon some passes for the free screening, and heard it was good, if not great, so a group of us set out to see it.

I don’t want to say much about it. I think you’re actually better off if you don’t really know what you’re getting into. An alien ship has been hovering over South Africa for 20 years, and the alien inhabitants have been living in a shanty town, separated from humans. The occasion for the film is that the aliens are being moved to a camp, replacing District 9.

I will warn you that it is at times difficult to watch – extremely stressful, kind of gross, and painful. One of my friends wanted to walk out at one point but was glad she persevered.

The protagonist has drawn apt comparisons to a Michael Scott-like character, in combination with the documentary style narration. There is also something I want to compare him to, and has been given away in almost all reviews of the film. Select this text if you don’t care to spoil just a little bit for yourself: Gregor Samsa.

The acting and special effects are top notch. These are the best aliens I have seen…since maybe Alien. Taking place in Johannesburg, there are obvious parallels to apartheid. Part of what made it so difficult to watch is that you could believe that this would happen, and has happened, to some extent.

Anyway, see it. It is the best movie (not just sci-fi movie) that I have seen in a very long time – a combination of me just seeing bad movies on purpose and Hollywood producing middle-of-the-road films. I will gladly talk to anyone about it once you’ve seen it.

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra – Not Half Bad

But also, I guess, half bad. I liked it.

I think Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen destroyed any bit of faith I had in recent action movies. My friend asked me what I think Transformers did wrong, and the answer was simply everything.

I went into G.I. Joe expecting the worst. Even a 10-year-old boy leaned over to his friend before the lights went down saying, “I have a bad feeling about this…” in an ominous tone. I mean, look at the cast. Sienna Miller? Obviously dislike her – not only for being a jerk about Pittsburgh but also for being part of Alfie. Channing Tatum? Could he step up to the enemy? Marlon Wayons? I don’t think I have to explain my worry over this guy.

I hate a lot of things. I think Pete was actually alarmed that I liked it. Here is where I think it succeeded where movies like Transformers failed (the comparison is particularly apt because they’re both based on Hasbro toys):

Female characters: When Sienna Miller first appears on screen, she walks out of a helicopter in a sexy black outfit behind some heavily armored soldiers. I thought, oh great, all of the chicks are going to have their hair down, walking around in stilettos and having people fight over them. She’s actually given a lot of power, even though she has some damsel in distress moments. Scarlet, the lady Joe, is intelligent and gorgeous, and not only gets in on the action but is an important part of the team. She was awesome. While there are romances for each girl, they aren’t just the hot girlfriends, a la Meghan Fox.

“Complex” characters: At first I was annoyed by the flashbacks, but I like that they attempted to give the major characters a backstory. Snake Eyes, who doesn’t even talk, was probably the most interesting. The stories were all really obvious though, but enjoyable, for the most part. And Stormshadow is kind of hot.  At least their backstories weren’t like, “I’m afraid you’re not going to like me because my dad is in jail.” Who cares!

Comic relief: Marlon Wayans was the obvious jokester sidekick, but like Scarlet, was also integral to the Joes’ success. Ripcord flirts with Scarlet unsuccessfully, he’s clumsy (but also a perfect shot!) and cracks wise when he shouldn’t. Yeah, he’s dumb, but not nearly as bad as other characters of his kind. Also, other supporting characters (worth noting that two of them were from LOST) had an opportunity to be funny, and they didn’t have to be offensive or juvenile, like in Transformers, relying heavily on sexist, racist, xenophobic and generally stupid themes. The Joes behaved like how you think action-figure people ought to. Like…it was effectively corny.

Action scenes: The car chase scene that is in the trailer played out better than I expected. The special effects at times looked totally nuts, but I totally didn’t care, which is rare. When the nanomite warheads are destroying metal, it looks super cartoony. The underwater action scenes started boring me a bit. Still, infinitely better than Transformers. The CGI robot-on-robot scenes were completely boring and too close-up.

What was the half bad part? Well, there are almost no surprises. The script is not as well written, as say, Iron Man. I was surprised by the brutality of the violence – since I was able to forgive the cartoony-ness, it was startling to see people get stabbed in the head and through their eye sockets in contrast. People really got sliced up in this movie, good and bad. Pete took issue with the motivation of the bad guys. I didn’t really. I don’t think anyone has to explain mad scientists anymore or people driven by an insane thirst for power. Also, the president was white in this, which angered a few loud moviegoers.

Worst part: Not enough Joseph Gordon Levitt. Or at least, not enough of JGL looking cute. I really wanted to make a “G.I. Joseph Gordon Levitt” pun.

I never watched G.I. Joe, so I don’t know if there was anything that would ruin someone’s childhood memories. Pete said he thought Snake Eyes was too updated but pretty good, and that their snowsuits were “legit.” I read that some people are mad that they’re an international team now. And I think I would have liked to see the Joes in army clothes instead of the crazy black suits, at least for part of it.

Overall, this is not the best movie ever. It is light summer fare that did not make my head hurt with unhappiness and anger. I give it my usual halfhearted recommendation of “catch a matinee.” I would not have regretted paying very little to see this.

This is barely a spoiler, but this is just something funny we overheard at the end of the movie. Highlight the text below to read it, if you so desire:

At the end, it is left open for a sequel because the president has been replaced with an evil imposter! One of the kids in front of us whispered loudly to his friend, “That’s not the real president!” and the other answered, earnestly, “It’s Barack Obama.” He was not joking at all. Pete and I laughed and laughed. Then the credits started rolling, playing a Black Eyed Peas song, and we were no longer as happy.

Mind Not Blown: Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age Round Robin performance @ Mr. Smalls

The show was like this: Every act was on the stage at once, performing together for an intro before alternating a few songs a piece, coming back together at the end. I have had a mild interest in Deerhunter for a few years and knew nothing of the other performers, but I was really intrigued by the idea and all of the positive hype the tour is getting.

Top: No Age/Dan Deacon/Deerhunter. Center (clockwise from top left): DD rainbow strobe light; Interpretive dancing; DD crowd; Deerhunter. Bottom: Crowd forming a tunnel leading outside during DD. Really not a show for the claustrophobic.

Already in a funk and by myself, I really just felt like I was Not There. I attempted to enjoy myself, and I am usually able to derive some amount of happiness from seeing other people enjoy themselves, but my sour mood was not to be overcome. Dan Deacon mentioned not every band gets to experience a sold out Monday night show in Pittsburgh, which I smiled at, just then realizing I really had never seen Smalls like this. I stood close to the stage, but on the outskirts.

A bunch of jerks were smoking cigarettes in the crowd (in a no smoking venue). I was so tempted to dance over to them and smack the cigarettes out of their stupid mouths. Being a sold out show, I was sure there were some people who were not able to make it in who were not assholes.

I participated in a little bit of Dan Deacon’s hippie shit, which was just demystified for me as I realized he does the exact same thing at every show. Here is a description from Spin:

For his part, Deacon guided the crowd toward a disco ball in the center of the room and asked everyone to put their hands on top of the head of the person in front of them and rock back and forth, then slowly lower down to their knees and come back up again. Later, before a particularly loud, energetic, and strobe-lit version of his song “Snookered,” he asked everyone to move toward the walls and let a single, randomly-picked guy in a mustard-colored shirt [in our case, a maroon shirt - B&O] lead them in a slow, bizarre interpretive dance. While none of this is unusual for a Deacon show, this crowd seemed particularly eager to participate, huge, druggy smiles on their faces as they followed his directions without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

Whatever.

It was an experience for sure, but one I wouldn’t have minded not having.

Conflicting feelings about enjoying Girl Talk

I had thoroughly convinced myself that I did not want to go to this show on Friday night at the Amphitheater at Station Square because I wouldn’t be able to deal with all of the kids in shiny clothes, but when a free ticket fell into my hands, I had less of a reason to miss all of these local acts. Being at a concert for 6 hours wasn’t looking so hot either, though missing Centipede Eest made my heart ache a little bit. We got there at the very end of Don Caballero’s set so the first group I saw was Grand Buffet. I had seen Jackson perform solo once a few years ago and thought he was really clever  (he said something about people thinking Pepperidge Farm is fancy but it’s not…this comes across as a lot less funny than it really was). They talked about how they would remove the South Side and replace it with a Quiznos if they were as successful as Girl Talk. They’re really over the top and I laughed a lot more than I expected to. It’s kind of the same feeling I have when I’m made to watch Entourage.

Grand Buffet tugging on a stuffed bulldog that was destroyed by the audience

A surprising amount of people have a bizarre contempt for Donora, though they also have a good local following. I fall in the middle there, somewhere between not exactly liking them but realizing they are good. I refer to them as being “radio friendly,” which is not always terrible.

I saw Modey Lemon several years ago at a free outdoor show. The lighting was really great during their set and they have an awesome stage presence. I really wondered how the Wiz Khalifa fans were absorbing it. It’s really awesome of Gregg Gillis to bring all of these locals together and give them a broader audience. I made an obnoxious comment or two about some of the people in attendance, but when I was an annoying twelve year old, I was not at Modey Lemon concerts. Wiz Khalifa is kind of whatever as far as rap goes. It’s cute that he has Pittsburgh references in his songs, but he’s so generic that I really can’t get into it. I guess that kind of goes for Donora, too.

A sea of white hands making W's for Wiz

I was telling my friend that during Girl Talk “I was in the shit,” which made it sound like I was at war. I was temporarily insane and voluntarily got in the crowd. I really wanted to get my feet smashed up, and they are still not looking pretty. When I saw him at Sasquatch, I was surprised by how much fun I had. Oddly enough, there was another guy in an Always Sunny green guy outfit:

This time, however, I felt like I had already heard these same songs and seen the toilet paper guns and these provocatively dressed kids gyrating on stage…so I was kind of over it.

GIRL TALK GIRL TALK GIRL TALK

For those of you who don’t know who Girl Talk is, he is “not a DJ.” He mashes up dancey songs by taking rap songs that white people know and mixes them with songs that white people like (ex: Lil’ Wayne “A Milli” lyrics over an instrumental of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So”), as I mentioned in my Sasquatch post.  It’s not the most novel idea, but I admire his ability to turn this into a successful career, and it’s the reason he was able to put this show together. I like to see people enjoying themselves, even if I’m not into the same thing, and I think Girl Talk is probably a decent guy. Ultimately though, I think the “anyone can be famous” thing is one of the major causes of what has destroyed Hollywood and music as we know it. Watching Girl Talk and seeing the crowds he pulls just made me see that resistance is futile.

Also, poor Planet Earth:

Girl Talk aftermath