"Dorky Cute" the new "Hot"; I know I'm not Alone!

Alright, so I was always a big fan of Brad Pitt in his hay-day, (I guess the man is still hot, so perhaps I mean the dawn of his hay-day, pre-Angelina Jolie?), and when I was 14 naturally I adorned my bedroom walls with posters of “NSYNC” members and Jonathon Jackson (Young and the Restless anyone?). But even then, I secretly coveted Joey Fatone more than Justin Timberlake, and I always thought Joshua Jackson’s post Mighty Ducks baby fat was still cute as can be.
Oftentimes I found myself drooling silently over the underdog, the dorky best friend, the Paul Finch over the Stifler (also known as “Shit-break” of the American Pie franchise). And I eventually learned that I was simply a fan of the “dorky cute” over the conventional “hot”.
Although, network television is still trying to groom us to swoon over the glossy perfection and symmetrical pretty-boy faces of those such as Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl fame, or the stereo-typical PC of the new Bravo reality series NYC Prep, oh and of course, the lovely locks of McDreamy in Grey’s Anatomy, but the film world has taken a slight departure from the convention, and the leading man has evolved into a more well-rounded (sometimes, literally round) character, with more depth and imperfect bone structure.
This summer has already seen the likes of the ever-action-ready Christian Bale in Terminator: Salvation”, but in the highly anticipated sequel to last summer’s blockbuster Transformers, a young man known as Shia Labeouf steals the screen as the unlikely action hero. With his comic timing, and boyish features one would not equate his stature with past action-film standards, but Labeouf definitely holds his own, and looks pretty darn adorable doing it.
However, there will always be more “dorky cutes” in the comedic arena. It’s almost like the laws of physics or something; one guy’s “funny” is almost directly proportionate to your typical action hero’s “hot”. But funny is hot! And romantic comedies are just the platform for dorky-cute to become the new hot.
Last year we watched the lovable Ben Stone (played by Seth Rogen) woo the hot-blonde girl he knocked up in the aptly titled Knocked Up. And then we watched two befuddled teenagers fight for their rights to get their love interests liquored-up during the end of the year party in Super Bad, and gosh darn’t if some of us couldn’t help falling in love with the desperate McLovin. And it’s hard not to want to see two friends make a porno when it’s played by the lovably goofy Seth Rogen (as you can see Rogen gets two votes with me).
From Michael Cera to Jason Segel, Forty Year Old Virgin to Pineapple Express, the real boy-next-door has taken center-stage, and I’d like to personally thank Judd Apatow for contributing as a harbinger of the “dorky cute” revolution.

True Blood, Season 2; Bloodier and Badder than before?

HBO’s smash hit success, ‘True Blood” is back! And for those wondering what twists creator Alan Ball and his team of writers were going to cook up for us this season, after having wrapped out the clencher last season [spoiler alert for last season] and snuffing out fang-banger-hater Rene Lenier, the opener seems promising in the blood department so far.

This season’s premiere on June 14^th definitely opened up with a blood bath, as they unveiled the corpse in the bloody garbage bag conveniently wedged into the back seat of Detective Bellefleur’s car, and [oh my, another spoiler alert] showed us a less sparkly side of Lafayette, the likes of which we haven’t seen before; a beaten, bruised and imprisoned Lafayette.

Most amusingly though, I must say is the sight of Bill Compton, vampire and 1/3 of the Sookie Stackhouse love triangle, as a (he, he) father? Having witnessed the dehumanizing (quite literally) act of turning a teenage girl into a vampire last season, an act that Bill was forced to commit as a punishment for having killed a fellow vampire to save the life of Sookie, we knew that it was something Bill would probably want to keep secret from his mortal girlfriend. But when the ever-infantile vampire, Jessica, is left on his doorstep, a vampire-daddy is born and Bill must reveal the dark truth of what atrocity he had to commit for his crimes.

However, with that great admission, comes fighting, mistrust and makeup sex? Oh yes, and quite the makeup sex it was. Bighting, banging, and boobies (he, he). As for Anna Paquin, the New Zealand born actress that plays Sookie Stackhouse, not a bad pair, if I do say so myself. Not that this show hasn’t already a proven to us that HBO is “not just television” with it’s no-holds barred fang banging sex tapes, and of course Jason’s wily ways. We’ve been quite privy to Jason Stackhouse, played by Ryan Kwanten of Sydney Austalia (I know, I thought the accent was real too!), and his sex-capades with the women of Bon Temps, but who would have thought that Bill and Sookie would be “getting” more than Jason and Lafayette.

Whereas Lafayette is being held in detention, Jason has been detained by what seems like some sort of body snatcher, at least that’s the conclusion that us viewers would be left to assume as we watch him get sucked into the sinister darkness of the vamp-hating cult, I mean church, known as the “Fellowship of the Sun”. But will Jason be pledging his full-time servitude to the church this season? Jason the, um, minister? I don’t think so. In a recent interview with Ryan on fancast.com, [spoiler alert, and this is the last one I promise] we get the impression that Mr. Stackhouse will see the light, so to speak, and realize that the fellowship is blinding its followers to the more sinister intentions of the cult. According to Kwanten “As more and more information unfolds, even someone as simple as Jason sees the cracks in the foundation.”

I wonder if these cracks” have anything to do with the vampire slayer that the less civil vampire, Eric, is looking for... We’ll have to tune in and see.

Twilight's Edward May Be Used to Getting Hit By a Car, But Rob Pattinson Not So Much…

Okay, well he wasn’t so much hit as he was grazed by a taxi cab while fleeing from a horde of crazed fans, but dodging teenage girls through oncoming traffic is still pretty serious insanity. June 18^th on the New York set of his new film, Rob Pattinson was almost hit by said cab, but these days the production crew of the film Remember Me has taken to disguising mentions of the film’s title and to misleading passersby itching for a Pattinson sighting to protect the cast. His days of discretion have been thrown to wayside with the dawn of the Twilight franchise and the surmounting hype surrounding New Moon, but are moms itching to catch a glimpse of the 22 year old as well?

Last week, Orlando Florida native, Debbie Moran made the long trek with her two sisters and two daughters in tow and for a Pattinson sighting on the New York set of the film. The 50 year old woman even commented that “This is even better than seeing Brad Pitt”. Really? Mr.Pattinson, meet Mrs.Robinson.

We all just hope that Pattinson will live to finish the film so he can get back to the filming of the next installment of the series, Eclipse, set to begin production this August. Alright, selfish reasons.

NYC Prepsters unleashed on the "reality" world

With the fictional lives of my favorite deviant juveniles on hold during the bitter stasis of summer hiatus I wait with baded breath for the forthcoming season of Gossip Girl, (a guilty pleasure that I won't even subject my well intentioned boyfriend to, given the fact that I actually want to listen to the program and not his mumblings over how his flat screen is hooked up to his XBox "for a reason" whatever that means).
However, by the divine (well, quite honestly overly-contrived) intervention of the Bravo network's new summer lineup I am introduced to a summer teaser aptly titled NYC Prep. This new reality show brought to us by executive producers Scott A. Stone and Lenid Rolov, seems meant to be a homage but turns out to be a poor man's version of the Gossip Girl coterie, as the true insecurities of adolescence seems all too wearable on the personalities of these Upper West Enders.
The series introduces us to a clique of wealthy caricatures that seem to be carved out of Gossip Girl slabs, only these real-life walking talking models of a one-sided upbringing, seem to be injected with a sense of, well actual young-adult need for approval. Such is the case, when we're introduced to Kelli, a junior, who tries so hard to playoff being repeatedly grounded by her parents saying that when her parents are in the Hamptons she doesn't even care about being grounded anyways, and with an uncomfortable laugh and awkward shrug to her friends, there we see the true "Blair Waldorf" bad-assery in her uncomfortable disposition.
However, in the same scene we see the would-be "Chuck Bass", a senior known as "PC", as he deigns to hang out with said juniors, Kelli and friend Camille. Scoffing at their mentions of even being grounded, at his wise old age of 17, he remarks haughtily in his off-cam interview that "these girls are just little effing young bitches that have no idea what their talking about". Right Lethario, and I'm sure you have a wealth of worldly knowledge to impart on us viewers.
But of course they know a thing about the world! In an interview during the preview special with one of the seemingly more mature characters, Jessie, we are introduced to the world according to the Prep brats as she forcefully comments that "fortunately in NYC, for a lot of kids, we get to lead different lives and we grow up a lot faster". Sure, if by "different" you mean the tired replicas of one another, and by "grow up faster" you mean grow into the over-inflated persona you're trying to embody faster, I'll buy that.
Now one other facet of the Gossip Girl world that we can't overlook is the parental presence. While many young adult programs overlook the fact that the offspring in their show must belong to the loins of someone over the age of 18, Gossip Girl ties the parental units into some strong story-lines that make up some of the more interesting portions, specifically in latter episodes, (forbidden love and illegitimate children anyone?) but the producers of NYC Prep do a fine job of cutting around anyone with wrinkles. For instance, the previously mentioned Kelli, doesn't even live with her parents but rather lives with an 18 year old brother while her parents stay in the Hamptons. Geesh!
While this show may be nearing some outdated faux pas, I mean the far reaching effects of the economy and unfortunate plague of unemployment doesn't make the island of Manhattan impregnable to the consequences pf our real non-fictional recession, but all that pretty B-roll footage and cut-arounds of the "for rent" signs does make up for what we don't really want to see. The truth is, the fictional counterpart of this show, Gossip Girl, is just more titillating and accepted because the little bubble they live in is meant to be just that, an over-inflated bubble, while in the "real world" we just want to pop that bubble and watch these kids tumble out.