If love movies, TV, baking, cooking, and adorable web content, it would totally behoove you to watch this video. If you don’t like those things, I’m sorta wondering how you ended up here. You might be happier on ESPN.com or something.
–Whitney
Web Bytes: Emma Approved
You may remember us freaking out over a certain climatic moment on a certain web series called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Well, the team behind that series is back with Emma Approved, a modern re-telling of Emma (that isn’t Clueless). While Emma has never been my favorite Austen work, anything Austen is still going to be my favorite. Check out the first episode and see if this new series is going to measure up.
–Ellen
Anglophiles Anonymous: Luther
Luther returns to BBC America tonight and this anglophile is ecstatic. Also, terrified. If you have seen the show, you will understand. It’s a scary show sometimes.
I’m excited for the following reasons:
1) More of this show will always be a good thing because it is amazing. The psychological crime drama follows London Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) through some truly nail-biting cases, some lasting only an episode, some spanning multiple episodes. Think of it as a darker Sherlock.
2) Alice is back! Fellow fans of the show realize the significance of the creepy, cool Alice (Ruth Wilson) returning. She is obsessed with Luther and is sometimes his greatest ally and at other times, makes his life a living hell. It makes for some dang good television.
3) Idris Elba? Yes, please. (Loving the rumors that he will be the next Bond. If you watch the show, you will, too. )
4) There hasn’t been much on TV to get me excited lately, so I’m especially excited for the return of some good TV. It’s about time, right?
The first two seasons are available on Netflix Instant so go check it out and get the wits scared out of you!
–Ellen
Run-On Sentence Review: The World’s End
I will forever love anything involving Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and/or Nick Frost because I love Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz THAT much so it is hard for me to be impartial in this review so I just won’t be impartial and say that I loved this movie and it may not have the perfection of Shaun of the Dead but it was still awesome and hilarious and I loved seeing Pegg and Frost play such different roles from their others in the Cornetto trilogy and Martin Freeman will always be a welcome addition to anything for me.
Verdict: If you haven’t seen Shaun or Hot Fuzz, see those, then go see this movie!
Summer 2013 AKA The Worst Summer Blockbusters… Ever?
It has always been my philosophy that summers at the movie theaters are the best summers. It’s a big dark, air conditioned room that smells of popcorn and shows the biggest movies of the year. What’s not to like?
Most summers, I am prepared with my list of must-see-opening-weekend movies followed by the movies for which I can bear to wait a week. However, as I reflect back on the past few months, I find their offerings to be lacking. We didn’t have that movie that everyone seemed to be talking about, at least not in a good way. The movie that you ran out and told all of your friends to see.
This could be a result of Hollywood’s determination to remake and sequelize anything and everything (Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, Star Trek 2, Man of Steel, Monsters University, Fast & Furious 6, etc.). That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy some, if not all, of these movies, but let’s spice it up a little, people!
Am I being too cynical about this summer’s fare? Am I am alone in feeling disappointed?
–Ellen
Run-On Sentence Reviews: Austenland
It is no secret that I am a Janeite, Austenphile, or whatever you want to call it (proof of which can be found here, here, here, here, and here) so of course this movie was made for the likes of me because it is about a girl who just can’t seem to separate fiction from reality and wishes that modern day romance was a little more like it is in an Austen novel and I know that any of my friends reading this are rolling their eyes because this could be my bio pic but I would like to point out that I am not nearly as pathetic as the heroine played here by Keri Russell but I would also spend way too much money to go to Austenland where one lives like an Austen heroine especially if said Austenland has JJ Feild as Mr. Henry Nobley (worth the price of admission) who makes a bad first impression on Jane (sound familiar?) and Bret McKenzie as Martin the stable boy.
Verdict: While this movie can be a bit too silly and a little over the top, I know that any fan of Austen is going to have a jolly good time watching it, even when it hits a little too close to home.
–Ellen
Fangirly Exposed: Big Brother
If it feels like this blog has been out of commission for most of the summer, it is because it has been. Your suspicions are well-founded. I would love to say it is because I was away working for Greenpeace or some other such worthy cause that will better the world for posterity, but really it is because I have been reading trashy romance novels and falling into the deep, dark hole in the ground that is Big Brother.
I realize that this the show’s 15th (!) season and that this is not in any way a hip or cool new obsession. Hip and cool do not equal any show on CBS, let’s be honest. But seriously, have you watched this show?! It is addicitive! And once you get sucked in, it is like a full time job because it’s on 3 nights a week!
Wait, it gets worse! I also subscribed to the Big Brother Live Feeds where I can watch the house guests laze about and back stab 24/7. It’s not healthy.
Even longtime fans of the show will be disappointed in me because this generally considered the worst sesason ever, rife with showmances, racism, and truly despicable players, but it is train wreck from which I cannot look away.
If you also watch the show, make me feel better by commenting to let me know that I am not alone and we can talk game. Just know that I respect Amanda’s game (shocking!) and will be sad to see Aaryn go (unheard of!).
–Ellen
Web Bytes: Divergent Trailer
If you haven’t read the books, this trailer may do very little to get you excited. If, however, you have read the book, I have a sneaky suspicion that you get as stoked as I did. This looks very promising and Theo James as Four is really working for me.
– Ellen
Ellen’s (Late) Birthday Ballad
Yes, this is coming a few days late, but hopefully you won’t hold that against me Ellen, because I’m pretty sure that this is the Sistine Chapel of birthday poems. Now, keep in mind that this one works best if you picture it being sung by Sam Elliott on the open plains, strumming a guitar and eating beans out of a can. Happy Birthday, nerd.
There once was a girl with Game to spare,
A bespectacled lass with long brown hair,
Who often went by the name of Ellen,
In LA, where she was Dwellin’.
She had a cuz who loved her dearly,
Though they only hung out but once, yearly.
To butts, she had a sore addition,
And a proclivity for Jane Austen Fan Fiction.
Her Oscar predictions were never wrong,
And her sass rivaled that of River Song.
It’s rumored that Jake Johnson wanted her body,
And her fashion sense was never thought gaudy
I’ve heard she ganked many a ghost in her time,
And boffed Dean Winchester in his prime.
Penny Hearts thought she was A-mah-zing,
Wayne Campbell thought her a mighty “SCHAAAAWING!”
This chick, so full of vigor and vim,
Could jam a uke like Tiny Tim.
For these reasons, and many more,
On her Birthday we party like it’s 1994.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this birthday toast,
From that cousin, who loves you the most.
Ellen and the Incredible, Exhausting, So Good, Very Rad Day(s) at Comic Con
Well, I did it. I survived yet another year at Comic Con, and while I have not been this tired in quite a while, every lost hour of sleep, every sore butt from sitting in the same chair for hours, every hour spent squished in line with a bunch of fellow nerds was worth because this was an EPIC year! I feel like I say this about every year at Comic Con, but I am super serious, you guys. If you don’t believe me check out the slideshow below or my thoughts on the panels that we attended. Skip around to the stuff you like, read it all (if you have no life), I don’t care.
Wednesday:
Psych the Musical Midnight Screening: After dealing with heinous Comic Con traffic from LA to San Diego and checking into our hotel, my mom and I headed downtown (yeah, I go to Comic Con with my mom. What’cha gonna do about it?!). Continue reading
Fangirly Crush of the Week: Aaron Turner of So You Think You Can Dance!
Just when I think the Fangirly Babe-Pool is running dry, I get slammed with a shiny new quasi-celebrity crush. I say ‘quasi-celebrity’ because Aaron Turner, SYTYCD‘s new tall and tasty tapper, isn’t exactly a household name. Yet. In my unprofessional opinion it’s only a matter of time before Aaron goes from smokin’ hot dance show contestant to America’s Broadway hunk de jure (think Cheyenne Jackson, only straight. Probably). Let me show you what I’m talking about.
That guy should goes sleeveless. All the time.
-Whitney
Fangirly Exposed: I Am a Binge-Watching Harlot and Addict
On the 5th of July, I found myself faced with an entire day devoid of work, errands, and pressing social engagements. Sure, my apartment could have used a good cleaning and a stop by the gym was in order, but I instead chose (wisely, in my opinion) to stay in my pajamas and marathon a TV show. Seeing as how I am a glutton for not having a life, I chose a show that has long been recommended to me during the course of its run. What followed was 8 days of watching 8 seasons of How I Met Your Mother, which after doing the math comes to 67 1/2 hours of television. However, it is not nearly three complete days of watching TV that is shameful. No, the shame comes from the fact that I don’t regret it at all.
My behavior while binging leaves me cringing (see what I did there?). When I watch a show, I become literally addicted to that show and no, my use of “literally” is not hyperbole. I read about the show online, I watch cast interviews, I shamefully read terrible fanfiction, I laugh at bloopers, I re-watch my favorite episodes, and I sound like a crazy person discussing all of these weird obsessive tendencies in a blog post. Netflix has basically become my dealer, feeding my unhealthy TV watching habits and the new autoplay feature is like having the needle in my arm, constantly feeding me my next fix.
Why can’t I be a normal person and spread this behavior out over an extended period of time? Oh, yeah, because I am kind of a slut. I’ll hop into bed with just about anything. Comedy, drama, sci-fi, paranormal, anything! The networks should just refer to me as the village bicycle, ’cause mama makes the rounds. My passion for a show is fleeting and my binge-watching habits are the equivalent of a one-night stand, because I use ’em and abuse ’em.
Right now, sure, I am pretty obsessed with How I Met Your Mother, but next week I’ll probably be blogging about my intense obsession with something like Pretty Little Liars or Merlin. Stay tuned because it is bound to happen, but you can bet it will be legen-, wait for it, dary!
– Ellen
Top Five Things I Miss About the 2000’s
It’s the year 2013, and you know what that means: the 21st century is officially a teenager! This is pretty fitting because if I had to pick three words to describe my year so far they would probably be awkward, surly, and pubescent. And while the 2010’s have been a thrill, this millennial has been reminiscing about all the things that made the 2000’s so hecka awesome.
5) Myspace- If myspace.com were a person, it would be that super popular but kinda gross guy that you hung out with in high school, who you recently bumped into at your 5 year reunion and, what a surprise, he’s got more ink than a Laserjet printer and he’s still pursuing his rap career in spite of all his trouble with hepatitis. Luckily, you’re with Facebook now, and the two of you are very happy together. 
4) Ugg Boots- This one is on us. I mean, the manufacturer actually named these boots after the noise you make when you see old people making out or when you step in something gross. Or the noise you make when you realize that you spent years of your life wearing glorified Moon Boots. Ugg, indeed.
3) Razor Scooters- guys, I came so close to doing a 180 one time. SO CLOSE.
2) SNL–
1) Ewan McGregor- What do you get when you combine a 12 year old Whitney, printable iron-0ns, and way too much free time? A bunch of pillow cases with this guys face on them. No shame.
-Whitney (Mrs. Ewan McGregor)
Fangirly’s Favorite Things: James Franco’s Movie Reviews
Have you ever read a movie review and thought, “wow, this is just way too coherent and concise?” I know I have. Is it too much to ask that a review be so weird, rambling, and incoherent that you wondered if someone just scanned a page of “Great Expectations” and called it a day? James Franco doesn’t think so. In his series of film reviews for Vice magazine he gives you all the pseudo-intellectual nonsense you could ever hope for. Here’s a particularly stirring excerpt from his recent Great Gatsby review:
“The challenge Baz Luhrmann had in adapting The Great Gatsby to film was similar to what Walter Salles faced with On the Road: how to stay loyal to the era depicted, while still retaining the rawness of the original text. Salles did a great job of capturing the ambiance of 1950s America, but it could be argued that his Dean and Sal didn’t have enough zeal—enough of that desire to live, live, live.”
This critique seems utterly valid to me. I mean, what DOESN’T a guy born in 1978 know about life in 1950’s America? You know, that desire to live, live, live.
His real masterpiece, however, was his latest review of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
“I was also at Leicester Square earlier this year for the premiere of my film Oz, when the red carpet was a yellow brick road, but the night I saw the new Superman, I arrived incognito: 1) because it wasn’t my film, and 2) because I don’t think Henry Cavill would have wanted to see me there.”
Wait… what?
“Not that we’re enemies. Years ago we worked on a film together called Tristan and Isolde. I played Tristan and he played my backstabbing sidekick. My hunch is that he didn’t like me very much. I don’t know this for certain, but I know that I wouldn’t have liked myself back then because I was a difficult young actor who took himself too seriously.”
I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to find some self-awareness among young Hollywood! Please, James Franco, go on.
“What Henry took seriously back then was Superman. He wanted to be Superman more than anything in the world. Personally, I’m not sure why. I missed the whole Superman-film phenomenon. I was more a fan of director Richard Donner’s Goonies and Lethal Weapon. I can understand the appeal the original Superman comics had for the WWII generation and its need for a hero to rid the world of evil, but in my days as a young man, this appeal was long outstripped by the cheesiness of the character’s suit and his douchey invincibility.”
James Franco seems to understand what no one else in The Business does. The people don’t want to read a two page snoozer about “character development” or “narrative arcs”. We want to read a four page ramble that manages to belittle the star and subject of the movie it’s supposed to be reviewing. So keep them coming, Franco! As long as you keep churning them out, we’ll keep laughing at them.
–Whitney
Run-On Sentence Reviews: Man of Steel
Before proceeding with the review, let’s just get this out of the way, shall we? Holy mother of Zod, Henry Cavill! His body is IN-SANE. SuperABifrajDELICIOUSexpialiHOLYSHIZ.
We will now return you to your regularly scheduled run-on sentence review:
The reviews were not great and it seemed to be quite divisive amongst Superman fans so I went with moderate expectations and they were more or less met because while I thought it was a nice movie to look at (and look at and look at) the story dredged on a little too much and I did not buy Lois and Clark’s relationship at all and not only because Henry Cavill is a god amongst men but because they did absolutely nothing to develop that relationship and I just kept thinking during this move that the DC movies need to take some tips from Marvel and add SOME levity to their movies because, for example, Superman is often criticized for being TOO perfect and TOO impenetrable so think of the fun they could have with that and I know that there is a lot of hullabaloo about the ending and I have my own problems with it but I just have to ask what you expected with Zack Snyder and Chris Nolan at the helm?
Verdict: If you were looking for a cool “big screen” experience, then I say go. Otherwise, a rental will suffice.
– Ellen
Web Bytes: Baby Bachelor
I know that a lot of people have seen this by now, but I would be doing those of you who haven’t seen it a disservice if I didn’t share my latest obsession. I give you Baby Bachelor.
I will die if Wesley doesn’t choose Gabrielle!
Continue on for Part 2, 3, and 4. Continue reading
Run-On Sentence Reviews: This is the End
There is no denying that this movie is ridiculous and at times over the top but I have also not laughed this hard in a while and I think the movie gets away with it because the “characters” are such over the top portrayals of themselves that you can just take everything with a grain of salt so just go in knowing that and I think you will enjoy it as much as I did and I have heard concerns that you may not be familiar with their previous works and get a lot of the jokes but I didn’t find that to be completely necessary and it really just becomes like any other movie about a group of friends that you have no previous history with except that we sort of do because these guys happen to be famous actors and I had also heard that about half the movie was ad-libbed and I thought it showed and really helped the movie feel authentic and like you really were watching Seth Rogen and Co. deal with the apocalypse.
Verdict: IF this is your thing and IF you can handle a LOT of raunchy (but pretty dang funny) humor, then, sure, yeah, go see it.
– Ellen
Fangirly Exposed: Ellen’s Sexual Tension Workout Regime
“I’ve seen actual results with Ellen’s Sexual Tension Workout” – Happy Lady on Bike
I am a glutton for sexual tension. That being said, I have decided to put that deadly sin of mine to good use.
In our family, we do this kind of weird thing, Whitney and I in particular. When there is something good happening, we tense up and rub our hands together in excitement. We have discussed why we do this and can only surmise that it is our way of releasing pent-up energy. Seeing as how the thing that we get most excited about is movies and TV, we do it a LOT when we are watching something. And seeing as we are hard-core shippers, we do it a LOT when there is any modicum of sexual tension on screen.
Fangirly Crush of the Week: Henry Cavill
I respect you all too much to lie: I have not yet seen Man of Steel. But even I can see that, as Lindsay Weir would put it (look it up kids), this guy is an Adonis. Stone. Cold. Creamery. I don’t want to pontificate too much on the relative hunkiness of this British import because I feel like I’ve been doing that a lot lately, so I’ll let my clips do the talking. Suffice it to say, meow. Continue reading
A Birthday Tribute to Whitney
In years past, I have compiled lists of all of my birthday wishes for Whitney on this, the day after her birth (because I am a procrastinator). My wishes started out somewhat realistic, such as Bones and Booth getting it on and having a baby (NAILED IT! (that’s what he said)), but my wishes have become more unrealistic, such as last year’s wish that I would meet an adorable geek at Comic Con who would build a teleportation device that would allow Whitney and I to be able to watch TV together every night. Because that kind of technology should be used for something important.
What is one to do when their highly unrealistic goals are unattained? Wish for something even more ridiculously far-fetched, of course! Putting it out into the ether is all that matters. The more outlandish the wish, the more likely you are to get some semblance of it, right?
With that, I give you, but more importantly, Whitney, my list of wishes for her on her (day after her) birthday:
