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