Sunday 29 September 2013

New Girl Recap: Season 3, Episode 2
















Hello again and welcome back! I know I do this a lot, but hold up, I'm making 'Teenage Fanatic' history. As of this post, I have released, not one, not two, but three blog posts today!












I know! I didn't think I could do it either. Anyway, as you've probably guessed from the title, today I will be blogging about the most recent 'New Girl' episode. I know, I know, it came out on Wednesday, and today is Sunday. But don't kill me, I was out of the city, and was only able to get enough internet to watch it, not to blog about it. But I'm back now, and ready to re-cap the hell out of this episode. Let's get into it . . .

The episode began with Schmidt talking to Cece in the loft, before inviting her to a party that his office was hosting. I know what you're thinking, does this mean he has finally come to the decision between Elizabeth and Cece that was left hanging at the end of last episode? No, no it doesn't. During the conversation, Schmidt gets an incoming call from Elizabeth, casually passing it off as a call from 'Doctor Whilan Cover', who's supposedly an oncologist. Of course, there are several holes in this theory, for instance, why would Schmidt be speaking to an oncologist in the first place? But Cece seems to buy it, or is at least distracted when Winston comes in and asks for advice about taking care of Daisy (his possible girlfriend)'s cat. It all leaves Schmidt pretty unscathed.

We then see Nick and Jess in the bathroom doing some more couply things, before Jess asks Nick for some advice about her new job. Apparently, she's been finding it really difficult to fit in and make friends, because there is an exclusive clique of teachers who refuse to acknowledge her existence. Being the 'popular' guy that he is, Nick offers his assistance and says that he'll 'fix it', and that's that. Winston once again barges in to the bathroom and asks for some advice about cats, to which he receives unhelpful responses once again (cue the opening theme).













Nick and Schmidt are now seen in the elevator making small talk, before Schmidt seeks some advice regarding his Cece/Elizabeth problem (making it the second time that day Nick has been asked for advice, uh oh). Nick says that he should just let Elizabeth go, and that's final, before immediately changing the subject. Winston then barges into the lift (as it seems neither Schmidt or Nick remembered to press any buttons upon entering the elevator), and confides in them that he is going to ask Daisy (Brenda Song) to be his girlfriend at the same time he goes over to take care of her cat. Receiving support from the guys, he sets out to do just that.

Meanwhile, Jess is seen in the staff room at her new school, listening to an address by the principal to all of the staff. What started out as a conversation about the change in finances, turned into a talk about the principal's new jacuzzi (a weird segue, but whatever). After the staff meeting, Jess once again attempts to befriend the 'elite' group of teachers, but inevitably stuffs it up in her adorkable fashion. However, have no fear, because Nick swoops in and saves the day with his offer of free school supplies and free drinks at the bar, winning them over instantly (because what teachers can resist free alcohol?).

Back at Schmidt's work, he is showing Elizabeth (recent Emmy winner Merritt Wever) his brand new office (an exact two third replica of John Draper's from 'Mad Men') he recently acquired from his promotion. They're interrupted when Schmidt's rival, Beth, loudly enquires if Elizabeth will be attending the office party the next night. Of course, she knows nothing about it (Schmidt having invited Cece earlier), but he manages to cover it up, stating that he was just about to before they were interrupted. Elizabeth goes, leaving Schmidt with another problem to face.












We then see Winston, awkwardly trying to ask Daisy (or London Tipton, whichever you prefer) to officially be his girlfriend. He is dubious when he notices the shower is running, which she passes of by stating that she was about to have a shower herself. When he finally gets it out, she says yes. Everything seems to be fine, until he finds a man's shoes lying around her apartment. However, she still tries to cover it up by claiming that they're hers, before trying to push Winston out of the apartment with her cat in hand. He almost makes it out, until he hears the shower stop running, and finally asks if somebody's in there. She says no rather bluntly, before finally pushing him out and closing the door before he can ask anymore questions.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Nick is looking on as Jess tries to win over the gang of teachers rather unsuccessfully. However, she seems to be oblivious to this, as when she walks over to Nick and asks for more drinks, she says that it's all going really well. He has no hesitation in telling her the truth, stating that if this were high school, they'd be the cool kids and she'd be the nerd. Then, we are treated to one of the famous 'New Girl' flashbacks, where we see Jess singing as a part of a weird, medieval style quartet in her high school's 'Spring Sing' annual talent show. Not long after, we see high school Nick being cheered on by a crowd as he manoeuvres his hacky sack, in what was revealed to be called the 'Miller Sack Pack'. Establishing his 'coolness', Nick tells Jess to just 'roll with the punches and go with the flow' and not to follow her instincts (and obviously, that apparently means drinking, a lot). The last thing we see is Jess standing on a table being cheered on by the crowd at the bar as she spurts out random facts about life, such as 'sometimes fireman are women'.












The next morning, Jess wakes up incredibly hung over as Nick reminds her of some of her escapades from the night before, including dancing in a toilet bowl. However, she isn't conscious for long, forcing Nick, Winston and Schmidt to wake her up again by loudly singing their own acapella rendition of 'I Believe I Can Fly', complete with clapping. Once again, she is awake, and finally gets out of bed to get ready for work. As she does this, Schmidt lectures Nick about taking care of Jess, and says that now they're dating, he needs to step up and stop her from making stupid decisions rather than encouraging her. He doesn't get far in the conversation however, as Winston interrupts him and finally voices his fear that he thinks Daisy is cheating on him.

Later on, we see Schmidt walking in to Cece's modelling shoot, and inform her that she is no longer allowed to attend the office party, formulating the excuse that it has now been made an 'employees only' gathering. She seems to buy this, and says that her shoot would probably run late anyway.

Meanwhile, Winston and Nick are still in the loft and discussing the 'Daisy' issue. Nick thinks its obvious that she has been cheating on him, and finds it stupid that after finding out that there is a man in her shower, Winston agreed to look after her cat anyway. Therefore, he suggests that Winston should break up with Daisy. However, Winston has other ideas, the main one being that he'll murder her cat.

We then see Jess walk in to the staffroom, still incredibly hungover (rocking a pyjama top and dark sunglasses), met with cheers from the gang of teachers as they recall her antics the night before. She is now officially 'in' with the group, so much so that they bought her a gift. Now, instead of drinking out of paper cups, Jess has her very own coffee mug. To top it off, it is adorned with a moustache (which seems to entertain both her and the others very much).












We are now back in the apartment with Winston, as he tries out several different methods for murdering Daisy's cat. As he's attempting to put a noose around the cat's neck, Nick walks in and tries to turn him off the idea. However, it seems that Winston is resolved in his ambition to kill the cat. Jess then walks in and informs Nick of the plan that she has formulated with her new posse, which is to break in to the school principal's backyard and use his jacuzzi. Finally stepping into action and taking Schmidt's advice, Nick warns her that it is not only a bad idea, but also a felony. Yet, even after that, she is still determined to shake her 'nerd' image and live a little, stating that in high school, Nick wouldn't have ever noticed her. He's quick to say that that's only because he never went to class, but she doesn't settle for that. Now, Nick is caught between stopping Winston from murdering the cat with a hammer, and stopping Jess from potentially getting arrested. The age old choice: the best friend or the girlfriend.

Back at Schmidt's workplace, it is finally time for the office party. As Schmidt is busy talking to Elizabeth, he spots Cece enter (despite him uninviting her hours earlier) and search for him in the crowd. When Elizabeth asks him what's wrong, he slowly guides her towards the stairwell and attempts to distract her by talking about how this is what inspired the idea for the escalator (whatever that means). Leaving her in there, he then goes out and greets Cece, who reveals that she needed to quit the shoot and came to see him. Schmidt then leaves Cece in his office, and runs into Beth, his rival, on the way to finding Elizabeth. Hell bent on destroying him, she states that the gas has been spilled and all that she needs to do is light a match. Tossing aside her comments, Schmidt runs off in search of Elizabeth.

In the loft, Winston has finally cornered the cat once more, and is preparing to smother it with a blanket. As he is about to do so, he suddenly stops, and realises that he is acting a bit insanely (as if we didn't already know that). He decides to cool off and finally stop terrorising the cat.












Back at the office, Schmidt has found Elizabeth and is proposing to her a role-play idea. He says that they can act as strangers, and she is the first person to leave the party due to her being the 'early to bed type', while he follows soon after. Of course, he is just using this as an elaborate scheme to distract her from Cece's presence. It almost works, until Elizabeth spots her in the distance behind Schmidt talking to Beth. He is quick to cover it up, using the excuse that 'between modelling jobs she does catering', which she seems to buy. Schmidt then requests to talk to Cece for a few moments, as it's 'only right', to which Elizabeth reluctantly agrees. Once over there, he hands Cece an apron and requests that she put it on, using the excuse that his boss was asking about her presence, and he said that she was a caterer. Going along with it, Cece thinks that this is Schmidt's way of telling her that he really wants her to be there.

Meanwhile, Jess is trying to break in to the principal's backyard with the help of her new clique. Determined to prove herself, she asks for a boost over the fence and lands not-so-gracefully in the bushes.

We then flash back once again to Schmidt and Cece, as he tells her that he needs to leave, and do a loop of the party to avoid suspicion. As he's walking away from her, he runs into Elizabeth again who greets him by name, before responding with 'Oh, do I know you?' to enforce their little role-play (once again, to avoid an awkward run in with his two girlfriends). She then says that she has to 'leave' because she has a conference call early in the morning, and Schmidt says he's going to stick around and have another beer. As Elizabeth makes her way to the door, she is stopped by Beth, who insists she stay. Once Schmidt makes his way to Cece, they round the corner, and run straight into Elizabeth. It almost seems as if Schmidt is going to tell the truth to Cece, until she interrupts him, and questions if Elizabeth works there now. He goes along with it (of course), and just watches as the two girls have an awkward conversation. In character, Elizabeth completely ignored Schmidt and headed out, causing Cece to comment on how cold she acted towards him, and blamed it on their break up. Surprisingly, after everything, Schmidt is still standing strong, and neither girl has any clue what's actually going on.












At the principal's house, Jess is still trapped in the backyard alone, when Nick (having followed her) comes to her rescue. Also landing in an ungraceful fashion, Nick apologises for getting involved in her business in the first place, and says that if she's going to do something stupid, he's going to do it with her. It's all lovey dovey, until the principal finally cops on to the fact that there are people in his backyard. Nick pushes Jess into the bushes and takes the blame, coming up with the excuse that he used to live in the house and was just having a visit, before pointing out his old room. Unfortunately for him, he pointed to the bathroom, and before he could make a bigger full of himself, Jess popped out from the bushes and apologised for trespassing on his property. He didn't seem to mind very much, as he assumed that she was lured by his meeting the other day about his jacuzzi. No really left with any other alternative, Nick and Jess took the yolo approach and agreed to use the hot tub with him.

Back at the loft, Winston is seen answering the door to Daisy, who has arrived to collect her cat. He has finally built up the courage to confront her, and asks if there was a man in her shower the other day. Finally telling the truth, she says that there was, but that it was before they officially became a couple. However, when he asked if she had seen anyone else since then, she also said yes. Finally standing up for himself, Winston said that they were officially breaking up because he deserved better. And apparently, so does Ferguson the cat. With one final goodbye, he takes the cat back and slams the door.












The office party is just about over, and Beth comes over and congratulates Schmidt with a 'you win'. Yet, it is now that his guilt decides to seep in (took him long enough).

At school the next day, Jess is met with cheers all round from her new group of friends, as she tells them all about having to endure the jacuzzi. When she is invited to grade papers with them while taking a new form of liquid ecstasy (keep that in mind fellow students when you receive your next grade), Jess politely declines, and opts for staying in with Nick instead. With a 'that's weird', it seems as if her new friends are willing to accept her slight insanity (for the mean time anyway). Looking out the window, she sees Nick leaning against his car with his old hacky sack (although he seems to have become far less skilled at actually manoeuvring it). She's goes out to meet him, and he says 'I would've noticed you', in reference to their previous conversation. It's all couply and whatnot, and quite romantic for the little comedy it is.

Then, as usual, the episode ends with a small, funny skit type thing. We see Schmidt being licked intimately by Ferguson the cat, as everyone in the loft grossly watches. And bam, that's it for this week.












Overall, I think it was a really awesome episode. A hundred times better than the season premiere last week. I can't wait till next week's episode, although unfortunately, I'm gonna have to. But it's okay, us fans can just watch the promo over and over again until Wednesday (which isn't that far away thanks to my super delayed recap). Hope you enjoyed it! Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx

Strangest Celebrity Quotes











Welcome back blog enthusiasts! As you can probably guess, today I'm going to be rating some of the weirdest (and possibly most awesome) celebrity quotes of all time. And yes, you are correct, this is my 2nd post of the day.












Short introduction out of the way, let's get going . . .

If I don't have anything to do all day- I might not even put pants on
This is actually one of my favourites, because it's so true. Renowned funny girl Jennifer Lawrence (who I will always remember for tripping up the stairs at the Oscars-and 'The Hunger Games' of course') let this one slip in an interview for Glamour magazine when asked what she does in her free time. What I found funniest about this is that it was for Glamour magazine. Clue's in the title that they generally talk about the glitz factor in the lives of celebrities. She didn't seem to care however, which I think is pretty cool. And let's face it, who can be bothered to ever put on pants at home, celebrities included?












Wal-mart… do they like make walls stuff?













I just had to start this one with a gif. Yes, what you just read is correct. Someone actually said that. Not so surprisingly, it came from the mouth of notorious dim socialite Paris Hilton. But seriously! I am from Australia (meaning that there are no Walmart stores here), and I still know that they do not sell wall stuff! What would 'wall stuff' even mean? This makes me severely fear for the human race. I think Dorothy sums this one up quite nicely.











You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow
What does this mean? I have absolutely no idea. To find out, you'll have to ask actor Jack Black, and maybe he can help you out. Whenever I see his name, I always think of 'School of Rock', but not eyebrows. In fact, I never look at anyone and think, 'wow, you have powerful eyebrows!'. Ever. Perhaps it's a metaphor, but probably not. Or maybe, it's on a purely literal level, and the meaning you can convey through the eyebrow just seems to blow Black's mind. Who really knows? Maybe he just shouldn't speak at all.











I won't be happy til' I'm as famous as God
Umm, I have no idea how to feel about this. These words came from none other than Madonna herself. No, not the mother of Jesus, the pop singer. I don't know whether I should laugh and make fun of her, or buy a bible and start saying the Our Father. I think I'll go with the first option. For someone who names themselves after Mary, she sure does have some audacity wanting to be 'as famous as God'. Plus, the major rumours that Madonna is apparently a diva on tour sure won't die down now. Anyway, if it makes her feel better, I'm pretty sure she's reached her goal (face palm for society).











Why did I wake up in a garbage can?
Well, as you might be able to guess, this was said by the infamous Snooki. Apparently, she was talking about the hardships of partying (poor her). As a celebrity (if you can even consider her to be one), why would you say that? I'm pretty sure that people are supposed to act as role models. Whatever, it's not like I really care. And I can't exactly say it's unexpected, considering she's on Jersey Shore (not that I've ever seen the show- thank God). I think she should just quit while she's ahead.










So, that's about it for this post. It was really short and random, but I just felt that I should make up for my days and days of not posting. Plus, I really wanted to cram some more blogs in before the end of September. At least I haven't taken up too much of your time with this one. Hope you found it somewhat entertaining. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx









Saturday 28 September 2013

Glee-cap: Season 5 Premiere



Hello again readers! Just letting you know that no, I am not dead, just on holidays. Sorry for my absence over the past couple of days, but I hope my (excessive) weekend posting will make up for it. And don't worry, even while away at my holiday destination, I was still able to watch 'Glee'. Turns out, the rest of Australia did too (fast-tracking is the bomb). There's no doubt that you heard about the massive shocker at the end of the episode, but before we get to that, here's my opinionated recap of what happened last night . . .












As promised, the Season 5 premiere was the beginning of the 2 part 'Beatles' tribute special, which had supposedly been in planning for 4 years (despite the fact that the plot line of the episode was based around characters and events that hadn't been created back then, but whatever). The episode began with Rachel outside the Broadway theatre where she may or may not get to play her dream part of Fanny Brice in the revival of 'Funny Girl'. We are then taken inside, where she's reading lines in what looks to be a callback for the part, as Rachel puts on her best 'New York' accent (Lea Michele's home city woot woot) and channels her inner (or not so inner) Barbra. After awkwardly thanking them (and minimally fangirling over their legendary broadway status), she went to the side of the stage to grab her coat, getting the opportunity to hear what they really thought of her performance. Upon hearing that despite her being 'charming', they're worried she is too young and inexperienced for the part, Rachel is down in the dumps. So, of course, to truly express her melancholia (who picked up on the 'Glee' quote?), she burst into an awesome and heartfelt rendition of 'Yesterday' (that's how it's done Carrie Underwood). As she sang, she reminisced on her old life back at McKinley, and visited all the destinations she went to back when she was only a junior, and competing in the show choir National Championships in 2011. Everything was as it was in the Season 2 finale, even down to the bubbles used as Rachel came up to the Central Park Bow Bridge (though of course, that's really only something I would notice).














Back at WMHS, it seems as if 'Glee' has chosen to ignore actual time, and just continue on with senior year as if nothing has happened. In the choir room, it is officially announced by the good old Schuester that the New Directions will be honouring the Beatles for not one, but two weeks, garnering excitement from (the majority of) the glee club. This brings us to the second musical number of the show, this time featuring Kitty and Artie. Turns out, there's been some underlying chemistry between them (which I must've missed), and the two go on a date with the rest of the glee club (I thought it was weird as well) to a carnival, while singing 'Drive My Car' (even though it had nothing to do with the storyline). While on their super-weird-group-date-at-a-kid's-party-venue, they run into some of Kitty's passive aggressive cheerleader rivals (because carnivals are now the teen hang out of choice), who question her on their relationship status before casually informing them that she took some pictures of the couple and instagrammed them. Not wanting to forfeit her pole position on the McKinley High-erarchy by being seen dating some one lower on the food chain, Kitty says that they have to keep their relationship on the down low (spoiler alert-never works out).












We're now back in NYC, and Rachel and Santana are starting the first shift of their new job working as waitresses at a diner for aspiring Broadway stars called 'Spotlight' (an homage to the non-fictional Ellen's Stardust Diner- which is awesome, by the way).

This didn't last long however, as soon enough, we're back at McKinley, as Kurt (because apparently he's in Lima now) and Blaine are having some kind of picnic in the middle of the school grounds. It seems that they're once more tackling the issue of Blaine's infidelity last season, and he swears he 'thought the relationship was over', otherwise he never would have cheated. This answer seems to satisfy Kurt, and soon enough, they're back together (cue the extreme fangirling from all Klaine shippers).











Seeming to have expected that answer, Blaine announces that he has prepared a musical number for him, but Kurt protests, stating that he's not going to sit down and listen anymore, and that he himself has prepared a number. This is when a marching band randomly comes out of nowhere with a bunch of trumpets, and Kurt launches into a rendition of 'Got To Get You Into My Life', before Blaine joins him and makes his solo a duet (as you do). Everyone in the courtyard gets into it (because apparently teenagers know all the lyrics to Beatles songs), and join in the Klaine celebration. The amount of impromptu musical numbers that have been allowed to occur on school grounds is ridiculous, who would've thought that supervising teachers on duty would be that lenient?












Less than a minute later, Sue Sylvester is once again roaming the halls of McKinley High. Turns out, Becky admitted to being the person to shoot the gun earlier in the year, and began her week long suspension, resulting in Sue's reinstatement (making this the second time she has been fired than re-hired). However, she is no longer the cheerleading coach, but the principal of the entire school. What did she have to do to get this highly esteemed position? Nothing legal, I assure you. The former leader of the Cheerios snuck into McKinley and planted incriminating evidence in Figgin's office and called the authorities. Apparently, no one else was available to fill the position, leading to Sue's promotion, and Figgin's major demotion (say hello to the new school janitor).

We are once again bombarded with the new (secret) relationship that is Kartie (or Wildebrams, whatever floats your boat). As they are keeping it on the down low, we are treated to a montage of them sneaking around in hallways and classrooms as they sing 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away'. Everything seems to be going pretty well for them, until the end, when Artie is seen sitting alone in some astronomy room (referred to as 'under the stars').












Everyone then returns to the choir room, just in time for Blaine to barge in with a massive announcement. Turns out that the little marriage story arc from last season wasn't just a one off thing, and Blaine is intending to propose to Kurt, with the help of New Directions. Surprisingly, he doesn't just want one glee club to help him out, oh no, he wants four. Everyone, except wingman Sam (Blam for life), seems a bit dubious at first, especially since the whole Finn and Rachel are-they-or-aren't-they marriage situation in Season 3, but Blaine manages to clear that up as he bursts into 'Help'. Throughout the song, he is not only pleading with the New Directions to help him out, but he makes his way over to Carmel High, Haverbrook School for the Deaf and Dalton Academy to get some recruits. As he visits each school, he gradually starts to build up his list of people willing to participate in this extravagant proposal. By the time he reaches Dalton, he has every member from the other three glee clubs in toe. At first, it seems as if the Warblers we love to hate may turn down Blaine on his offer, however, it is Sebastian surprisingly who encourages the group to go along with it. And just like that, everyone's on board.












Next up, we're back in the halls of McKinley, and Tina is confronting Artie about his current relationship status with Kitty. After he divulges that they're together and are keeping it a secret as to not tarnish her reputation, Tina goes cray and spazzes out, going on about how he has no self respect (despite the fact that she had a fake stutter for four years, just saying). What will an insane diva on over drive do with this information? Time will tell.

Finally back in NYC, Rachel, while working at the diner, spots the two men who were judging her callback, and takes their order, stating that despite the awkwardness of the situation, she can handle herself because she's a 'professional' and 'destined to be a star'. Clearly, they're not buying it, so Rachel takes matters into her own hands and performs an epic rendition of 'Hard Day's Night' with Santana and the rest of the waitstaff. Legit, I would've so given her the part (but apparently I can't make these decisions). We don't get an opportunity however to see their reaction, because soon enough, Rachel is dragging Santana out of the diner to 'deal with something' *cough, marriage proposal, cough* after she receives a text from Blaine.












A bunch of little things happened after that. Sue warns Coach Roz Washington and Mr Schue that they need to win nationals in their respective fields otherwise their jobs (and her own apparently) will be in danger, and Tina (expectedly) outs Artie and Kitty's relationship to New Directions. Kitty admits that its true, and then goes on to say that it was wrong of them to conceal it in the first place. So basically, what I think were Tina's ploys to win Artie back have backfired, and actually made Kartie public (great going).

After that, it turns out that Blaine has finally copped on to the fact (after 23 episodes) that Tina's turned into a phyco-maniac. He gets a handful of the glee guys together, and plans to try and bring back the old Tina and exterminate the new one.

Their planning doesn't last for long, as we are now in the hallway watching Figgins struggle in his new job as the janitor. Sue then leaves her office purely to taunt the ex-principal, who doesn't react kindly, stating that she'll 'never get away with this'. Being the vindictive dictator that she is, Sue then pulls out a tub of rotting slush (which is supposedly meant to be some kind of meat product) that used to be served in the cafeteria, and pours it all over the floor to increase Figgins' workload (and just to be mean). To add salt to the wound, Sue informs him that she will not be re-hiring Donna, his former secretary whom he treasures very much (as seen in the behind the scenes videos on the Season 1 DVD).

After this, Blaine, Sam, Ryder and Jake put their plan into action, and call Tina in (dressed as a 60's teenybopper) to the auditorium. They're all on stage, dressed as the great 'Beatles' themselves, a start to replicate their live performance of 'I Saw Her Standing There', as the rest of the glee girls rush in screaming and mimicking hardcore fans. Artie (for some reason) is filming the performance, and as he does, the screen suddenly becomes black and white as a further homage to the boy band. At the end, Tina has the choice of picking a prom date from Blaine, Sam or Ryder (because apparently that's how you get a girl to become less conceited). She chooses Sam, stating that he's the 'least Asian' of the three, and she's looking to change up her image.












As the episode comes to a close, the long-awaited proposal is about to begin. Burt drives Kurt somewhere off the beaten track, but before he can formulate an excuse as to where they're going, Kurt states that he already knows what's happening (how? we'll never know). They then have one of their famous 'father-son' chats, and Burt tells Kurt that he would give anything to have more years with his late wife (and Kurt's mother), and that the decision is entirely his. Prepped and ready to go, Kurt steps foot inside Dalton Academy as Blaine serenades him with 'All You Need is Love' (with the help of the other glee clubs), as everyone (including Rachel, Santana and Mercedes) greets him warmly and ushers him inside. It's all quite a spectacle, and lasts for a while, until Kurt is led to the bottom of a staircase where Blaine is waiting for him. The speech begins, and Blaine is talking about how this is where they first met (back in Season 2), and how he met him in a past life, and in every life they seem to find their way towards one another (it was a bit 'inception' like, and was kinda confusing, but just go with it). And, as expected, he ended by popping the question, to which Kurt replied (drumroll please)  . . . . yes! And yes, this is the second time on 'Glee' that there has been an engagement between a major couple. Will it stick? We just don't know.












But yay, you finally made it to the end of the glee-cap! Now, hurry up and go watch it, because this episode was absolutely awesome. Next week, we get the second installment of the Beatles tribute, entitled 'Tina in the Sky with Diamonds', probably continuing the Tina rehabilitation story arc from this episode. And, of course, the one and only Demi Lovato will be guest starring as Santana's new love interest, and will be sticking around for the next few episodes. So, you have 3 options- you can watch the promo for next week's episode, intensely search for all of the spoilers you can find, or just wait until it comes out. Til' next time gleeks . . .

Annabel xx

Monday 23 September 2013

2013 Emmys: Opinionated Recap of . . . Everything










Hello again my readers! As the majority of you probably know, the 65th Annual Emmy Awards recently occurred. Ah yes, the Emmys, the biggest annual event in the televisual calendar. I myself always watch it at home on Fox 8 and dress up as if I were actually attending. Sad, I know. Considering this blog often talks about what's happening on television, what better occasion to review and criticise something? Now let's get to the main event . . .

Best and Worst Dressed


I know, this isn't exactly a fashion blog (or have anything to do with fashion whatsoever), but I can still praise and critique, because that's just the kind of judgemental person I am. And let's face it, who doesn't like judging others?

Because I'm feeling super nice today, let's start with some of the people who I thought were best dressed (in no particular order).

Best Dressed

Ariel Winter





















Known for her role as the nerdy Alex on 'Modern Family' (which took home quite a few Emmys at this year's award show), she certainly went in a different direction from her character. I thought that Ariel looked really nice (and I'm totally not just saying that because she's wearing my favourite colour) and completely age appropriate (15 year olds represent). So yeah, I think that justifies my answer.

Zooey Deschanel




















And now, introducing New Girl's very own Jessica Day. Personally, nothing can beat her Emmy dress last year, because I think that was totally awesome. Saying this, I still think that Zooey looked really nice this year, and blue is definitely her colour. Sure, one of the main reasons she is on the best dressed list is because I really like her and I love 'New Girl', but still, don't let that subtract from anything, I genuinely do think she looked nice.

Kaley Cuoco 




















Here we have good old Penny from 'The Big Bang Theory'. Of course, she always looks amazeballs at award shows, but this year, I really liked the red look. She looked really nice, and I like how she always goes with something relatively simple, but awesome. How could you go wrong in Vera Wang? So yeah, definitely a winner in my books.

Kiernan Shipka




















I think that the 13 year old 'Mad Men' actress looked really pretty at the Emmys. With the overload of flowers, some may think that it is kind of sickly sweet, but I thought it was cute. Also, she's thirteen. I'm personally just happy to see 13 year olds dressing like 13 year olds (the same cannot be said for Miley's little sister Noah Cyrus). Overall, a definite favourite. Plus, I have never even seen an episode of 'Mad Men', so you know this one isn't biased!

Allison Williams




















After some googling, I am now aware of who this person actually is. But I have to say, I think the 24 year old 'Girls' actress looked pretty darn good. It was simple and sophisticated, but really young and nice. I am quite a fan of blocks of colour, so this is most certainly a winner. Also, it's Ralph Lauren, so it pretty much sells itself.

And now, on the opposite end of the spectrum . . .

Worst Dressed

Lena Dunham




















Ugh. I can't actually find a word awful enough to describe this dress. I honestly cannot pinpoint what makes it so terrible- whether it's the pattern, the colour, or just the whole package. 27 year old 'Girls' star has really failed massively with this one. The dress isn't flattering, the make-up isn't nice and the hair looks scruffy. Overall, it sucks majorly.

Zosia Mamet




















Yet again, another 'Girls' star who's Emmy outfit has gone drastically wrong. I don't even know what this is to be honest. It's got some kind of weird paint swirl, tie dye effect going on at the bottom, with some weird black mask thing going on at the top. I cannot decipher it at all, and even though there is a whole lot of pink, nothing can salvage this dress. Nothing at all. My advice is that she takes Lena with her to ask co-star Allison for some fashion advice. 

Lily Rabe




















No, just no. The 'American Horror Story' actress looked like a horror story at the Emmys (yes, this is an overused and really lame joke, but it had to be said). It's like some weird cross between a shawl and a gown. Also, what's with the different colours? It basically just looks like a dress that can't make up its mind. 

Amy Poehler


 
















America's funny girl certainly made us laugh, just not in a good way. What kind of dress is this? First off, this style just isn't flattering on anybody, ever. Secondly, why are there embroidered dragons on her hips? I don't understand! This dress is just a big no-no for me. But there is a bright side, just watch 'Parks and Recreation' and remember her as a comedy star, and not a strange dragon enthusiast. 

Julianne Hough





















You know that expression 'you'd look good in a sack of potatoes'? I personally would've opted for that rather than this . . . whatever this is. It's like some weird strapless leotard with a sheer covering. The colour isn't even flattering on her skin tone. It also bulges in weird places to create what looks like layers of flab (which obviously aren't there). And who wants to look fat? My guess is no female ever. This is definitely an epic fail. 

The Actual Award Show

Now that the pleasantries are over and done with, here's what went down during the actual award show. 

The Emmys began with their usual video introduction, where this year's host Neil Patrick Harris (whoo) is in a mock television editing room, having a conversation with various tv characters. I thought it was pretty clever, as they used clips from heaps of popular television shows and spliced them together so they could not only communicate with Neil, but communicate with each other. For instance, you could have Jack Donaghy from '30 Rock' in the middle of a casual conversation with Sheldon Cooper from 'The Big Bang Theory'. 

After the little montage, we were brought to actual Neil Patrick Harris on stage in front of the whole audience. He began normally, introducing the show and kicking the night off with a couple of crowd pleasing yet painfully obvious jokes. However, things really got started when the previous hosts of the Emmys began to fill the stage and give Neil some 'helpful' advice on hosting, before fading into the background as Kevin Spacey did a piece to camera. He stated that he was in the running for hosting the Emmys, and that now with the feud between all the previous hosts, 'everything is going according to plan', doing this as a parody of his character Frank Underwood on the show 'House of Cards'. 























After this short intro, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler yelled from their spot in the second row, for Neil to 'take his pants off and twerk'. It was all really entertaining, and just made everyone love Neil Patrick Harris even more (if that's even possible). 












With the introduction down, it was time for the winners to be announced. Of course, a bunch of stuff happened during this time, and intertwined with other performances and stuff, so from this point on, I'll be going a bit out of order (because no one really wants to read a detailed description of people's acceptance speeches when they can just watch the award show). 

And the winners are . . .


- Drama Series: 'Breaking Bad', AMC
- Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Anna Gunn, 'Breaking Bad', AMC













- Actor, Drama Series: Jeff Daniels, 'The Newsroom', HBO




















- Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Bobby Cannavale, 'Boardwalk Empire', HBO














- Directing, Drama Series: David Fincher, 'House of Cards', Netflix















- Actress, Drama Series: Claire Dances, 'Homeland', Showtime
- Writing, Drama Series: Henry Bromell, 'Homeland', Showtime
















- Comedy Series: 'Modern Family', ABC
- Directing, Comedy Series: Gail Mancuso, 'Modern Family', ABC












- Actor, Comedy Series: Jim Parsons, 'The Big Bang Theory', CBS












- Actress, Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 'Veep', HBO
- Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Tony Hale, 'Veep', HBO











- Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Merritt Wever, 'Nurse Jackie', Showtime











- Writing, Comedy Series: Tina Fey, Tracey Wigfield, '30 Rock', NBC












- Miniseries or Movie: 'Behind the Candelabra', HBO
- Actor, Miniseries or Movie: 'Behind the Candelabra', HBO
- Directing, Miniseries or Movie: Steven Soderbergh, 'Behind the Candelabra', HBO




















- Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, 'The Big C: Hereafter', Showtime




















- Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: James Cromwell, 'American Horror Story: Asylum', FX Networks
















- Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Ellen Burstyn, 'Political Animals', USA
















- Writing, Miniseries or Movie: Abi Morgan, 'The Hour', BBC America
















- Reality-Competition Program: 'The Voice', NBC











- Variety Series: 'The Colbert Report', Comedy Central
- Writing, Variety Series: 'The Colbert Report', Comedy Central













- Directing, Variety Series: Don Roy King, 'Saturday Night Live', NBC












- Choreography: Derek Hough, 'Dancing With the Stars', ABC















Of course, I think that 'Glee' should've won the 3 categories they were nominated for, not to mention countless others that they weren't, but still. Overall, it seemed pretty fair. Anyway, everyone knows that you don't watch these award shows to see who wins, that's just a bonus. So let's keep moving on . . .

In Memoriam . . .

Scattered throughout the show, there were five main eulogies hosted by a variety of people close to the actor or actress who had passed away (the controversy surrounding Cory Monteith's having been covered in one of my previous posts). These five talents were Cory Monteith, James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton, Jonathan Winters and Gary David Goldberg. They were all very emotional (despite my only having heard of 2 out of the 5 being commemorated), and I thought it was a smart move to scatter them rather then have a massive block focussing on kind of a morbid subject. Of course, they had their usual 'in memoriam' slideshow, accompanied by a cellist (because who doesn't love them some classical instruments?), that continued to commemorate the remaining people who had passed away throughout the year. 














Showtime

A bunch of other stuff happened throughout the night, including some really awesome performances. Of course, triple-threat host NPH performed a musical number. It took place in the middle of the show, and was basically about just that- entitled 'The Number in the Middle of the Show'. It included guest appearances from Nathan Fillion and Sarah Silverman, and just made everyone happy (because let's face it, who doesn't secretly love them a good musical theatre number?). 














There was also another musical number performed by Sir Elton John himself, honouring the late Liberace (which kinda seemed like some more shameless promotion for 'Behind the Candelabra', but whatever). He gave a little intro and managed to slip in some jokes about his own fashion sense and his realisation that he was gay later in life, before jumping into a new song he co-wrote with Bernie Taupin called 'Home Again'. To be completely honest, I may or may not have skipped through his song, but I'm sure it was great (if you're into that). 












There was also some kind of special tribute that celebrated the 50th anniversary of television moments in history that made an impact (for instance there was a speech about J.F.K's assassination). But what really caught my attention was the Beatles tribute, recognising when they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show (perhaps a promo for the upcoming 'Glee' episodes?), where Carrie Underwood sung a (flawed) rendition of 'Yesterday'. It kind of sounded like she was screaming for life or something, and it looked as if she was suffering from some painful stomach cramps because she just kept hovering her hand over  her midriff. If you're looking for covers, I'd stick with the 'Glee' version if I were you. 













One of the last performances started off with a video of Neil Patrick Harris visiting the people who were nominated for the outstanding choreography category, and offered them 'reality tv style' a chance to choreograph a massive dance number about television in return for him (for the first time), announcing the choreography award during the actual award show, rather than before hand (on the condition that he was apart of it). And that they did. We were then taken to the actual stage, where NPH began to sing yet another musical number, before disappearing and letting the dancers take over. What happened next was super awesome. There were these various boxes gliding across the stage (with wheels on them of course) with dancers in them representing different television shows. The parodies included 'Mad Men',  'Game of Thrones', 'American Horror Story- Asylum', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Breaking Bad' and 'The Big Bang Theory'. It's one of these things that you just have to watch (because it's really really awesome). 
















My Awards

In the spirit of the Emmys, I felt that it was only fair to hand out my own awards. So without further ado . . .

Best Acceptance Speech: Merritt Wever. 8 words in length, this speech was short, simple, and didn't make us want to throw knives at the television. In fact, it read 'Thank you so much. I gotta go. Bye'. Watch it now.














Best PSA: How I Met Your Mother cross promotion for EHD (excessive hosting disorder). It was super funny, and I'm sure it will bring more viewers for next season. It basically had all of the cast talking about how EHD had affected Neil, and the filming on the show. They also managed to involve the purely HIMYM reference, having an 'intervention' (sign and all). But what really topped it off for me was the fact that you could sign up for the 'Ryan Seacrest Centre for Excessive Hosting in Malibu'.












Best Bromance: Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. I'm not going to give you too many spoiler alerts, but I'm just going to say that Michael Douglas' acceptance speech was legen-wait for it-dary (HIMYM reference). Enough said. Watch it here now
















Best 'in character' Moment: Julia Louis-Dreyfus' acceptance speech. Taking on her role as Vice President in the television show 'Veep', she accepted her award in character, with Tony Hale (who plays her personal aide on the show) by her side, whispering prompts throughout. You can click here to watch it now. 












So there you go. That's my really long, super confusing 2013 Emmys Recap. I think I covered absolutely everything ever. But let's just take a minute to celebrate how much media I've managed to cram into one post. 













Seriously though, I'm pretty sure I broke blogspot. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope I sufficiently entertained and/or informed you about the 2013 Emmy Awards. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx