Sunday, February 24, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Jennifer Hudson, the Great and Powerful


Jennifer Hudson is truly a national treasure.  Her voice is brilliant, invoking visceral reactions to those who hear her voice.  She is an Oscar winner and an esteemed performer, beautiful, and being invited anywhere and everywhere to sing.

And yet, she doesn't have a hit song.  What gives?


Whoever her producers and writers are...I think she should dump them.  They aren't doing anything for her. Adelle or whoever writes for Mary J. Blige should write a song for her.  But until one of them (or someone else with superb writing talent) writes something awesome for Ms. Hudson, I think she should just sing covers of Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, since no one else can.

    

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: The Next Bond. James Bond.

So, there's going to be this 50 Years of Bond thing going on The Oscars tomorrow, and there has been talk about who would make a great next Bond once Daniel Craig steps down.  Well, I have some ideas....

Idris Elba


Idris...what can I say about Idris?  He's gorgeous; he's suave.  Idris has that walk.  I think he would make a most brilliant 007.  Sadly, this suggestion will be labeled under "pipe dream."  I don't think they'll go for a black Bond, sadly.


Michael Fassbender


Michael has those...intense stares.  My concern about him is that he's a bit on the short side for a Bond, but I have no doubt that he would do the role justice all the same.  Plus, Money Penny's black now, and Fassy digs the swirl.  I ain't mad about that, nope.


Leonardo DiCaprio


Okay sure, he's American, but if there's any good looking man in real life who gets all the women in a believable manner, it's this dude.  He's tall, good looking, and a great actor.  I think he could fake an accent...


Tom Hiddleston


He's manly, tall, handsome, and looks good in a suit (one of the main requirements for this role).  He also has charm--Bond is (and I'm referencing Connery's Bond directly) had wit coupled with his suave demeanor.  Daniel Craig lacks this, in my opinion.


Additionally, Christoph Waltz must play a villain.  No, it just has to happen.


Honorable Mention: Clive Owens


    

Monday, February 18, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Cult

So, they're finally starting to show commercials for this on the CW.


I actually saw the pilot episode at SDCC 2012, and made an extra effort to do so due to the fact that one of the writer's is a former teacher of mine.

I have to honestly say that I was not disappointed.

"Cult" is...I'd have to say it's like "The Following," but with a supernatural element to it.  Technically, the cult shouldn't exist--it's a television show that is somehow becoming more real by the day.  The pilot definitely got my attention, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.  Here's hoping it doesn't get axed like a lot of other great shows this season.

Additionally, it features Robert Knepper, who does justice to creepy characters!


"Cult" premiers tomorrow night on the CW at 8PM central.

    

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Beautiful Creatures

"What can the audience expect to see?  A great film; a great story."

Jeremy Irons, you tell no lies.

Tonight I saw "Beautiful Creatures."  It was...

Well, it was shockingly good.  I had no desire to see that film, but the song "Seven Devils" in the previews conned me into it.  But it was really well done, and doesn't pander to anyone.  It's a love story in a very gray area.  It's about where fate meets free will, light meets dark, and where love meets lies.


Vague, I know.  But I'm still allowing this particular story to digest.  I think the best way to describe it is the complete and total inverse of "Twilight."

"Beautiful Creatures" is about a fifteen year old girl by the name of Lena who was born a caster (because "witch" is so un-P.C.) who falls in love with a mortal by the name of Ethan (which never leads anywhere good), but is forced away from him first by fate and then by other stuff, because on her sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed for the dark.  Maybe.  Also, the two lead characters love to read.  Books.  I kind of heart them right now.

Anyway, this film has Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis and Emma Thompson.  So much win.

    

Diary of a Fangirl: Meeting Tom Hiddleston

Today's guest post is from Tiffany, who has a YouTube video of her encounter here.

Meeting Tom was really great. 

As you can probably tell from the video, he is super sweet and patient [as were his fans].  We all agreed beforehand that we'd be polite and try not to crowd him.  I wish I could remember everyone's names or kept in contact; they were great. 


The meeting only lasted almost four minutes (which is basically all of the video), and was brief. 

The second time I met him was the same except it was just me, my sister and our friend.  It was over 100 degrees outside--not a rain drop in sight.  He was very funny, smiley and down-to-earth.  It was seriously like meeting up with a friend for a few minutes.

Lucky girl!

Want to share your best fangirl/fanboy moment?  Submit to Jillian.Robi@gmail.com today!  
Want to read a great fangirl story?  Check out Fangirl--available on paperback and Kindle!

    

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Warm Bodies

I honestly was not expecting to like this movie.  I thought the concept seemed lame, given the trailers, and that Hollywood was doing this necrophilia push.  But...


I liked it.  I liked it a lot.

It's a new take on a popular genre, while putting a spin on Romeo and Juliet, the technicalities of vampirism, and the metaphor of how society of today are already a bunch of zombies, presumably doomed.

It's that last note that made me like the film so much.


Within the first five minutes, the film exposes its metaphor for the present--R (the lead who can't recall his fist name) wonders what it must have been like before the virus--people making eye contact and talking to each other, as opposed to bumping into one another with no heed of their surroundings as they do now as zombies.  The brief flashback, however, shows us being slaves to blackberry's and cells and iPads, not making eye contact and bumping into each other without knowing what the crap is happening around us.  So I guess, from the start I viewed the story in a different light [than others].

Then there came the correlation to vampires.

With most vampire lore, a demon takes over the body of the human and has his or her memories.  The zombies can hardly recall their past and can't dream, but gets the memories of the person they eat if they eat their brains.  The brains of the guy R eats helps him fall for Julie, though he did notice her before then, so perhaps it was a bit of both.

Anyway.

Eventually, there's a scene with water and daylight, signaling a "rebirth," but it's a pretty easy call to make when one watches.  Or at least it was for me.  I thought it worked quite nicely.  I don't fancy their being a sequel, but it was done quite well.  I rec it.

Note: The lead girl--Julie--kind of resembles a blonde Kristen Stewart.  I see what you did there, casting directors...it wasn't necessary, but I see what you did.

Other Note: So weird seeing the kid from "About A Boy" all grown up.

    

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Do No Harm

I watched the premier of this last week.  I have to say--the trailers didn't grab me, but I decided to give it a shot, given that so many of my new shows got canceled (RIP 666 Park Avenue, Last Resort, and  30 Rock).  

The first third didn't capture my interest, but as the show trailed along...I got really into it.  It might have something to do with being a Buffy/Angel fan--I'm not sure.  But it ended up being kind of like, if Angel were a surgeon and turned into Angelus at 8 every night until 8 in the morning, what would happen?  Or, for you non Whedon fans out there, it's like Jekyll and Hyde, but on a mental level (i.e. multiple personality disorder).


Dr. Jason Cole eventually starts to utilize working with his...alternate, only so that he can destroy him later.  The fact that he's a diabetic is actually used in a nifty way in this regard...but I shan't spoil you.  Anyway, the teasers for future eps show him and his alternate trading videos so that they can talk to each other.  I wonder if they'll give an in depth showing of how his personality disorder came to be.

I haven't watched the second ep yet, but I have already added it to my DVR timers.

So.  What shows are you watching?



    

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Diary of a Fangirl: Half Time Show with Beyonce

I'm not a sports gal, but I did stick tune in to see the Half Time Show with Beyonce and Co.

Note: I'm glad I caught the opening and saw Jennifer Hudson sing.  I will never get sick of her voice.  That being said, how sad it was for Alicia Keys to follow a Jennifer Hudson power house performance.  They should have just had JHud sing both songs...

Beyonce had a lot to prove with this performance, given the fact that she lip synced at the historical second inauguration of our President.  And she did...


She did okay.  Maybe I'm just a tough critic, but I just wasn't wowed by her performance.

Additionally, I thought it was weird that when she brought her two former girl group mates on stage, that they had Michelle in the ugliest version of what should have been a sexy outfit.  She looked dowdy and out of date next to Beyonce and Kelly.  Which is odd, since she is the thinnest of the three.


At any rate, if you missed it, then you either didn't care about the Super Bowl or its Half Time Show, or aren't a Beyonce fan, in which case...you didn't miss much.