improbable fiction

Just a little note: I might mention a few “spoilers” about Grey’s Anatomy in this post, but honestly, if you haven’t been watching it for the past five years and managed to hear NOTHING about it, I don’t think you are really going to care. But consider yourself warned anyway.

I used to consider myself a Grey’s Anatomy super-fan. I watched from the first ever episode. I watched it while out of town, on a television that was only half working (I could hear the voices but see nothing). I talked plot ideas with friends at school and had theories and all of that silly stuff. I was the BIGGEST Meredith/Derek fan out there. And then, one not so sunny day at Seattle Grace, a little character named Addison Montgomery Shepherd walked into our lives and it was never the same.

Okay, if you know nothing about the show then that probably didn’t make much sense. The show takes place in Seattle at a hospital called Seattle Grace (clever, no?). Meredith and Derek are this shows version of Ross and Rachel, except they tend to stay together more than R&R ever did. Somewhere during the first season Derek’s WIFE shows up (cue Addison) and things get out of hand. Now what this means to a MerDer shipper is that Addison is the DEVIL. She moves to Seattle, gets a job at the hospital (she is great friends with the Chief and just so happens to be the best neo-natal surgeon on the West coast, HOW CONVENIENT) and takes Derek back. Turns out she cheated on him with his best friend, causing him to move across the country and find himself a gal. Things like this continue on for a good two and a half seasons.

But something happened over those two and a half seasons. The writers got CRAZY and Addison became my favorite cast member. And when I say the writers got crazy, I don’t mean they did things that I didn’t like so I am calling them crazy as some sort of insult. I mean, THEY GOT CRAZY. Doctors dating terminally ill patients, doctors cutting LVADs so that terminaly ill patient can either get a new heart or DIE, terminally ill patient dying even though he got a new heart, doctors becoming psychotic, doctors sleeping with other doctors who are sleeping with other doctors, doctors sleeping with doctors who are MARRIED to other doctors, patients with BOMBS inside their stomachs causing a part of the hospital to blow up, and so on. After the third season I had to quit watching. Things got too insane too fast and it really lacked the charm from the first season.

Now, sometimes in the television world writers creat spin-offs. Sometimes they work, (all those CSI’s and Law & Order’s) and sometimes they don’t (did anyone even watch Joey?). Luckily Shonda Rhimes took a chance, made a spin-off, worked her magic and made it work. Not only did I stop watching Grey’s because it got too insane, but also because Addison was leaving. I did not want this to happen, as I previously said Addison became my favorite character. Her leaving made me very sad. But wait! All hope was not lost! For Addison was leaving Seattle Grace to go work in LA at Ocean Side Wellness Center, resulting in the amazing spin-off Private Practice.

The major difference between the two shows is that Grey’s takes place in a hospital, while PP is exactly what the name implies- a private practice. The practice consists of Dr. Naomi Bennett (played by Audra McDonald) who is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist. Basically she helps couples who are having trouble getting pregnant. Then there is Dr. Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs) who is a normal doctor (no specific field of study). He is also Naomi’s ex-husband and together they created the practice. Then there is Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman) the psychologist, Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein) pediatrician, Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly) who deals with holistic healing, Dell Parker (Chris Lowell) who serves as the receptionist but is also a male nurse training to get his “midwifery” degree, and of course Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh). Lastly there is Dr. Charlotte King (KaDee Strickland) who is actually not part of the practice. She is the Cheif of Staff at St. Ambrose Hospital which is where the practice goes if they need to do surgeries and stuff.

While similar to Grey’s in the fact that they deal with strange medical cases, Private Practice is a much calmer show. Shonda contines to write for both Grey’s and PP and while that might make you think they are very similar shows, I am here to tell you they are not. The first season of PP is only nine episodes long (one shorter than the first season of Grey’s) and they use every minute to draw you in and set up the characters. While it is an hour long show (or rather 41 minutes of actual dialogue) nine episodes is a very short amount of time to set up characters that you like and create enough interesting and relevent material to draw you back in for another season. Somehow it all worked out. The first season finale was dramatic enough, but it didn’t have the pull that made you sit back in your chair and say “what the heck just happened.” The second season was a full season (22 episdoes) and really invested time in the characters resulting in situations from the Shonda I knew before. Here and there I thought “this is something that would totally happen on Grey’s” which didn’t really bother me because it wasn’t enough to make me feel as though I was watching Grey’s on a weekly basis. However the second season finale had me screaming at the TV, crying, and thinking “Shonda has done it again.”

Very rarely do I scream at the television. If I do, I am either watching a very scary movie (which I try and make it a point never to do) or I am really invested in the show I am watching. I think I yelled something at the characters on probably 18 of the 22 episodes? Something like that. It is really hard NOT to get into this show. The situations seem more real than those on Grey’s resulting in me feeling as though I know these people and am part of thier lives (don’t mock; I have friends who feel this way too). The actors are all amazing, and the chemestry is fantastic. You can really tell that these actors love what they are doing, whereas (to me) all the drama behind the scenes of Grey’s made its way onscreen.

To sum up a long, detalied post (to which if you have made it all the way through I congratulate you) I think your time is better invested in Private Practice. If by some miracle this post has opened your heart to the genius that is Shonda Rhimes, I think you can easily get into PP. You can start the first season without having to have ever watched Grey’s Anatomy (though I do suggest you at least read wiki or something so you can know the whole Addison/Derek thing, which doesn’t play a huge part in the PP storylines but it still important to know). The actors are great, the characters are all likeable in their own way, the story lines are great without getting too insane, and the soundtrack is fantastic. Now hurry and get caught up! The new season starts October 1 at 10pm on ABC.

This is one of my favorite romcoms of all time (definitely in the top ten). First let’s start off with the title. This is the name of a Dean Martin song (which is played throughout the movie) and I love me some Dean Martin. A lot. I used to listen to him on the way to volley ball practice (I know that seems odd but it was at least a 20 minute drive and you could really get a lot of Dean time in there. But that is besides the point.) ANYWAY, I love Dean and love that song, so judging by the title alone, you KNOW it’s going to be an awesome movie. And it so is, well, once you get past the heartbreaking first 20 minutes or so.

Next is the cast. David Duchovny (Bob) and Minnie Driver (Grace) are so cute! Sometimes when actors don’t have any chemistry AT ALL (*cough*TheWeddingDate*cough*) the movie is absolutely dreadful. I think they acted well together and were believable. As far as best friends go, I loved David Alan Grier (Charlie) and Bonnie Hunt (Meagan). Both were great best friends in their own way- Meagan was always there for Grace as a shoulder to cry on and someone to laugh with. Charlie was there to get Bob back into the dating scene. James Belushi (Joe) was perfect in the role of the Meagan’s husband. His character is hilarious and I love every single one of his scenes. And the old men! So cute! So funny! I love Carroll O’Connor (Marty). I used to watch old reruns of All in the Family all the time when I was younger so naturally I was thrilled to see him in this movie. It’s really sad that this was his last, but a good movie to end on I think.

Lastly, the dialogue is really funny. I can’t go through a veiwing of this movie without lauging at least a million times (I’m totally serious. The blind date scene is one of my favorites). The timing is great and the idea of having an Irish-Italian restaraunt is really amusing to me. BASICALLY what I am trying to say is, if you haven’t seen this movie then you should. Take it from this amazingly short review- it is awesome.

Both Cal (that’s bullshish to you) and I love the movies. Sometimes I will recommend a movie to him that he has never seen, and he recommends one to me (that I have never seen, obviously). And then we watch them on our own time and Cal ends up blogging about the movies he has had to watch. And me? I usually tell him over an AIM conversation what I thought about the movie and leave it at that. But all that has changed thanks to this guy, who wanted to know my opinions of the movies I was forced to watch. This is the second post in this “series” but the first on as a part of the Bullshish team. So rather than copy and pasting the first six movie semi-reviews, you can just click this link right HERE.

7. Slumdog Millionaire

Cal had me watch this movie and I had him watch the always amazing Green Street Hooligans. Check out his review here. Now, apparently Cal loves Slumdog a lot. Overall this was a fantastic movie. I had my reservations as first, because I was not rooting for this movie during the Oscars and it won almost EVERY freaking thing. The cast was superb and those little kids are probably the most adorable things I have ever seen. I liked the story lay out (I’m a fan of the flash back)- it was very creative. When I put the DVD in I thought it was going to be kind of boring, but it was very much the opposite. While I didn’t want to watch this at first, I will definitely be watching it again.

Movie considered: A success!

8. Spirited Away

I had Cal watch Waitress and in turn, I watched Spirited Away. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against anime. I think the first thing I did wrong whilst watching this movie was watching the English version. It didn’t even occur to me to watch it in Japanese until over half way through the movie, and I was not about to start it over. For some reason, these things are so much better with subtitles. By the end of the movie I liked it well enough. The story was fun and a little weird and kind of gross at times. I mean, it wasn’t horrible but I don’t see me watching this movie by myself again.

Movie considered: A moderate success!

9. American Beauty

I gave Cal an amazing Oscar winner called Chicago, and he had me watch an Oscar winner called American Beauty. Kevin Spacey really stole the show. His character was such a loser until he grew a pair and became awesome. I figured out the ending before it happened so it wasn’t any sort of surprise. I don’t know what else to say for this lame review. I liked this movie well enough, though the chances of me ever watching it again are slim to none.

Movie considered: Not that successful!

So there you go. My quick, not so great reviews of the latest movies of the trade-off.

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Okay, so I totally know this whole bullshish thing is a blog for people who love movies, and don’t get me wrong, I LOVE movies. But seeing as I am sort of the voice of all things entertainment, I can fully say that I enjoy the Tony Awards ten times more than I do the Oscars. (And they are oh-so-slightly better). Here is why:

The Tone

Admit it- the overall tone to the Oscars is SO serious even with funny presenters and witty dialogue. Yes, these are important times for actors and actresses but seriously that show needs to lighten up a little bit! The Tony’s… not so much. The same pressure is on these actors and actresses, but they know how to let loose and have a good time. Never have I heard so much laughter in one awards show than I did last night. Every joke landed, the presenters seemed happy (except for Susan Sarandon. That woman couldn’t smile to save her life!) and everyone had a good time. Overall the Tony’s are just happier and more carefree. Cane you imagine THIS happening with the Oscars during the best song nomination? I don’t think so.

The Presenters/Winners

Lets say this first, this list and post is just according to my tastes. I really hate when these people get all political on me. I don’t care why you hate/love our president, I don’t care what you think about the country or how you would run things differently. This is a time to honor movies and actors and actresses and such, so please leave your opinions at the door. Kthxbai.

It seems to me that the Oscars are more political in the sense that presenters and winners throw things like that in their speeches. The only political mention in the Tony’s (besides NPH’s joke at the beginning) was when Roger Robinson won for best featured actor in the play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. He mentioned Obama, because Obama actually went and saw that play a couple weeks ago. Other than that, it was a political rant free night.

The Sets

Don’t get me wrong, the Oscars are very, very beautiful. But the Tony’s are FUN. They are colorful and always feature huge pictures of the shows nominated. They always do a great job at incorporating the shows into the set designs.

The Host.

This year the Tony’s were hosted by Neil Patrick Harris [insert girlish sigh here]. NPH has actually had a lot to do with Broadway, playing Tobias in Sweeney Todd as well as roles in Proof, Cabaret, Assassins, Evening Primrose, and RENT. The host of the Tony’s doesn’t have a whole lot of stage time, as they tend to let the musicals do the opening numbers.When he was onstage he was so charming and made things light and funny.

Now, don’t even start about the Oscars this year, because they were hosted by the same beautiful man who has hosted the Tony’s three years in a row. So Hugh Jackman doesn’t count. Previous hosts have been very funny but sometimes jokes fall flat, or they go into political rants, and if you know me at all you know I prefer to keep politic bashing out of opening numbers (or the show in general). I believe the only political reference NPH made was when he did a play on words with the Obama’s names and famous shows such as “Obama Mia” (Mamma Mia) “Barack of Ages” (Rock of Ages) and so on. I just like for the host to keep it simple, and serve as a sort of segue-way into the next part of the show. Plus, NPH had a completely FANTASTIC closing number.

So there you go. Just a few reasons why I tend to like the Tony’s better than the Oscars (at least ceremony wise). The Oscars do focus more on fashion which is something I LIVE FOR. All in all I love both shows because they deal with two of my favorite things- movies and Broadway. Don’t you just love awards season?

Seeing as I am taking French classes at school, I like to watch French movies and read French books to try and see how much I understand.While I still need subtitles, I sometimes understand a lot more than I ever expected; in “teacher speak” (something I do a lot) this is the equivalent of a progress report. It is sort of an “l like to see how much I have learned, and how much I need to work on” type thing.

So Cal (Bullshish to you) and I have this movie trade off thing, and I am due to watch Cinderella Man sometime in the very, very near future, I promise. But tonight he convinced me to do a free trial of Netflix (turns out he didn’t have to do much convincing) and they have this instant watch type feature. So I was scrolling through those, and instead of watching my latest movie trade off like a good person, I watched a French chick flick that I have been dying to see for a long time.

After seeing Amelie I fell in love with Audrey Tautou. Then I saw the preivew for this movie, and knew I must see it at once. Hors de prix (or rather Priceless in English) is the story of a poor waitor named Jean, who works at a VERY rich hotel, and a gal named Irène, who mistakes Jean as a wealthy man who will foot the bill for her widly expensive habits because she too is very poor and goes from rich man to rich man who all buy her pretty things that I would KILL for. This film was supposedly adapted from Breakfast at Tiffany’s so if you have seen that movie, you can pretty much compare her to Holly. Only this one is French. And she doesn’t have a cat.

Now, it is a well known fact that I love my share of chick flicks/rom-coms/whatever you want to call them. I have a saying, and that is almost every single chick flick/rom-com/whatever you want to call them can be traced back to the plot of any one Jane Austen novel. They follow specific guidelines. Boy and Girl meet. Boy and Girl casually/secretly/sort-of flirt but are usually (1) to busy loathing each other to figure out it is true love, or (2) seeing someone else and can’t see that it is true love. Boy and Girl find ways of always running into each other. Boy and Girl have epiphanies and realize it IS love, but can’t do anything about it because (1) they are scared the other doesn’t feel the same way, or (2) they are still with that other someone because it is comfortable. Boy or Girl does something in the form of a grand gesture, and in the end Boy and Girl live happily ever after. These guidelines may vary from movie to movie, but they generally tend to stay the same.

So when I started Hors de prix I expected it to go this route. (After all, I didn’t know much about the movie other than the star and that it was French.) The plot line actually caught me off guard a little ways into it, but I liked the change. I mean, yes I figured out how it would end long before it was over, but when you watch as many chick flicks as I do, you tend to have a special gift for this. But the change of pace was quite nice. The cast was great and everyone fit their roles perfectly. Audrey is such a wonderful actress and has the best facial expressions (doesn’t hurt that she is quite beautiful). Gad Elmaleh (Jean) was a perfect fit for his role. He was quirky and shy, and I liked that he wasn’t some major French hottie because that would have totally ruined his role in the movie. Granted, he was cute, but I saw a handful of more gorgeous men on the streets of Paris, JUST SAYING.

Overall I totally recommend this movie to anyone, be it chick flick or not. If you like forigen films do give this one a try. You get funny and sweet and charming- all in one sitting! I promise you will like it, and if you don’t… well then you can just go ahead a put a nice, big check mark next to BE MORE CULTURED.

Oh the Great White Way. How your lights call me, taunt me, with visions of masked men, troubled teens in nineteenth century Germany, eccentric characters residing in Alphabet City, mermaids, witches, lions, and spam. Yes, I did say spam.

Some of you may be scratching your heads, wondering what the “Elle” (ha!ha!ha!) I am talking about. I am, of course, describing the love of my life: Broadway!

Located in NYC, Broadway is actually a street that stretches across the majority of Manhattan’s coast. The most known part is actually located in Times Square, where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue. This section of Broadway is home to many Broadway houses, which “house an ever-changing array of commercial, large- scale plays, particularly musicals. This area of Manhattan is often called the Theater District or the Great White Way, a nickname originating in the headline “Found on the Great White Way” in the February 3, 1920 edition of the New York Evening Telegram. The journalist sobriquet was inspired by the millions of lights on theater marquees and billboard advertisements that illuminate the area” (thank you Wikipedia).

But enough about that. Many years ago, when I was in high school and hating every minute I was with the majority of my classmates, I got the chance to go to NYC. Because I am a sane person, I accepted; after all, my trip was completely paid for. By someone else.

Off we went, and part of the trip was seeing all of these wonderful Broadway musicals. I saw Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, The Producers, and last but not least, my favorite from the whole entire trip: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. During that play I fell in love with a man named Norbert Leo Butz. And yes, that is his real name… anywho, I have been following him (not literally people) ever since then, and I am totally in love with him (literally people).

Well, “one short day” not too long ago, my mother and I took a train ride to the “city of cities” {to borrow some lines from Wicked (which also stars Norbert)} and saw the play Is He Dead? This play, which was recently discovered, was written by Mark Twain. It focuses around a group of people in serious debt to a French man named Andre. They decide to pretend a painter, Jean-François Millet, who happens to be their mentor, is dead. This way, they can raise the price of his paintings and pay off their debts. Norbert, who plays Millet, comes back in the last half of the first act, as well as the majority of the second act as his fake, widowed twin sister.

To sum it up, this play was AMAZING. Norbert was BRILLIANT and so funny! But they didn’t run air conditioning, because New York has actual seasons (unlike Florida) and it was still cold outside up there. So the actors were all burning up, and Norbert got so hot from all of the running around and dancing, that he almost passed out on stage! After the play we went to the stage door to wait for Norbert. Sadly, we found out Norbert was not going to be coming out because he was really sick from the performance so he was going to rest in his dressing room until the next show. But I was not going to leave NYC without a picture and autograph from him. My mother and I started talking to this one lady about Broadway, and before we knew it we were the only three outside of the stage door. We were there for an HOUR (you do what you have to do) when Norbert comes out to go get something to eat. OH GOD OF LOVE!!! So he was really nice and we talked for a few minutes and he signed my playbill and took a picture with me!!!!

Look at how adorable we are. Too bad he is married to the sweetest/most beautiful woman [with the most beautiful voice] ever. Usually he is really upbeat and so funny, but as you can tell, or maybe not, he was really sick. But he was so nice and took time to talk to us! All in all, that was the most AMAZING day of my life, and I can not wait to meet him again! That is, if he ever comes back to Broadway. For those of you who do not follow Broadway as obsessively as me, he was also in the film Dan In Real Life (he played one of Dan’s brothers). But I think it is time for him to come back and seduce me with his voice all over again. I guess I will just keep his CDs on repeat until then.

When I traveled to London for the semester I also saw my fair share of plays. The first or second night there a huge group of us went to see Wicked and we had some of the best seats in the house. Then we saw Hairspray and Spamalot and The Sound of Music and Rain Man and it seems like there was one more, but I suppose if I can’t remember it, it wasn’t that good. Then we saw RSC’s (that is the Royal Shakespeare Company to you non-theater folk) rendition of Hamlet (my favorite Billy Shakes play) as well as two other plays in the Globe theater. I will probably give a short post about some of these plays in the future rather than make this one longer than it already is.

Since I haven’t seen a play on stage since… last November… it is high time I get back to a theater. Sure I could put in classics like Calamity Jane or State Fair or Meet Me in St. Louis. I could also watch Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Newsies, etc. But there is nothing like getting all dressed up, and going to the theater (the real theater, not the cinema, of course). Once upon a time I went to see The Lion King (wonderful) with my high school class (mentioned above) and some of the people wore… jeans!! *gasp* to the theater!! *double gasp* Once you pick yourself up off the floor, you will be happy to know I wore a very nice outfit, keeping with the tradition that one should take time in their appearance when going to the theater.

Once upon a time in an essay I wrote:

Seeing a Broadway play or musical is something I have enjoyed since I was a child. As the theater dims, the crow grows silent, the orchestra begins to play and the curtain rises, I find myself retreating back and the inner child in me coming forth. As the actors portray the beauty of a story in song and dance I feel as though I am being taken along for the ride, and I absolutely love every minute of it.

As I re-read that paragraph I realize how true it still is. I seriously get as giddy as a 13 year old girl watching Zac Efron play basketball shirtless when I purchase tickets to a play/musical. So now I am making a list of all the plays I want to see. I am not including the plays I have seen on Broadway already, even if I want to see them again. I am also not including the shows I have seen during touring season.

New(er) Shows:

The Little Mermaid: I have listened to the music over and over and over and I want to see this show soo badly. The only problem? It’s been pretty much sold out since it’s first performance. It stars my favorite Broadway actress (Sherie Renne Scott… who not only shares my middle name, but stared with Norbert in THREE different b’way shows) as Ursula. The songs are clever… only one gets on my nerves. But I never liked that Scuttle character.

Long Running Shows:

Mamma Mia!: I am almost certain this works better on a stage than as a movie… though having the same director, who knows. I think the movie would have been ten million times better if Adam Shankman (director of Hairspray) directed. And if Pierce Brosnan wasn’t in it, but that just goes without saying.

Jersey Boys: I just love Franki Valli & The Four Seasons. I would go to this musical in a heartbeat. It seems so fun and I would defiantly have a hard time not just wanting to get up and dance. I asked my father for tickets to this show for my birthday, so fingers crossed!!

Mary Poppins: Having seen Beauty and the Beast, as well as The Lion King, I am sure this Disney play does not disappoint. The other two were amazing, so I have only high hopes for the magical nanny.

So there you go. My (condensed) list! If you are still reading this ridiculously long post I congratulate you. Now go reward yourself by seeing a play. Just, PLEASE!!! DO. NOT. WEAR. JEANS.

The theater community thanks you.