"Precious," A Film Almost Too Real To Appreciate

This is going to be sticky, so please, bear with me.  I'm writing this just after seeing the film "Precious" and I can barely breathe.

The only way I'm going to be able to write about this movie is in two parts: my hopefully professional and objective review of the movie, and then my gut level, emotional reaction to the movie.  So as I said, please bear with me.

"Precious" is based on the book, "Push" by Sapphire and was directed by Lee Daniels, who was a producer on the Oscar winning film, "Monster's Ball." Set in Harlem in the late 80's, the film tells the story of sixteen-year-old Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe), who's pregnant with her second child by her mother's boyfriend, her own father.

Precious is painfully obese, functionally illiterate and at the mercy of her horrific mother, Mary (Mo'Nique).  Mary is a lump that vegetates in front of the television and only lives to play the numbers, work the welfare system, and abuse Precious in every possible way.

When her father repeatedly rapes her, Precious escapes to a rich fantasy life where she's literally a star, flashbulbs popping, adoring crowds cheering, and everyone loves her.

After being kicked out of school, Precious ends up in an alternative school classroom run by Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), a teacher who gives Precious the benefit of her patience and compassion. 

The movie unfolds almost like a documentary with Precious intermittently narrating her thoughts and feelings.  The fitful pacing keeps the audience on edge as much as Mary's dangerous mood swings keep Precious on edge. 

The "Dollhouse" Has Been Demolished

Well fellow Joss Whedon fans, "Dollhouse" is done.  It's been cancelled and will burn off its total 13 episodes by the beginning of January.

Joss Whedon had this to say on the blog Whedoneque:

I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.

I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.

I've written about my problems with "Dollhouse" before and unfortunately Eliza Dushku, as much as I love her, can't carry a show like this.  The concept itself was interesting, but ultimately just didn't go very far.

Still love Joss though and can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

And don't forget, you can still win a copy of the first season DVD of "Dollhouse" by going to my review blog, Meg's Rad Reviews.

Veteran's Day 2009

As you go about your day today, spare a moment to remember the military families whose sons and daughters are risking their lives hear and overseas to protect Americans everywhere.

Also spare a moment to think of the injured and fallen in Fort Hood, Texas.

God bless America.

Twelve Things I Loved About The "Mad Men" Finale

Last night's "Mad Men" season finale was very good. So good that I came up with twelve reasons why I loved it:

1. Don Draper, Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling and Lane Pryce going rogue when they find out Sterling Cooper is about to be sold...again.
2. Don, Bert, Roger, Lane and select Sterling Cooper employees, pulling an "Ocean's Eleven" type operation to pilfer clients and client files before they go off to start their own firm.
3. Lane Pryce showing off his sneaky side by coming up with the whole, "telex London after the close of business on Friday" strategy.
4. Joan Holloway riding in on her white xerox machine to save the day for the rogues.
5. Everyone saying when they hear that the company's for sale, "Again!?" 
6. Peggy putting Don in his place when he just assumes she'll go with him to the new company.
7. Betty Draper telling Don she wants a divorce and then actually going to a divorce lawyer.  Now, if only she doesn't take Henry's advice and takes a settlement from Don.
8. The look on Don's face when Roger tells him about Henry Francis and Betty.
9. Betty actually following through with the divorce by hopping on a plane to Reno.
10. Peggy Olson telling Roger Sterling, "No" when he ordered her to go get him coffee.
11. Pete Campbell looking so much like Connor, Angel's son, when he mussed up his hair to pretend he was sick.
12. Sally Draper telling it like it is, when Don and Betty tell the kids they wouldn't be living together anymore.

You go, Sally.  Great season, great show.

"Dollhouse" Blu-ray DVD Giveaway

Over at Meg's Rad Reviews I've got a giveaway of the first season of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," starring Eliza Dushku.  Click over to the post for all the details on how to enter.

"Flash Forward" Jumps Into Gear with "The Gift" (Spoilers)

Okay, "Flash Forward" grabbed me tonight more than it has since the pilot.  Before, the most macabre moment was the grainy surveillance video of the lone moving figure in the stadium.  You know, the only person still awake during the worldwide human black out that sets everything in motion.

Tonight's episode, "The Gift" wasn't macabre, but it it certainly knocked the wind out of me. 

It was all about the uncertainty of the flashes forward.  Are they or are they not inevitable?

FBI agents Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), Demetri Noh (John Cho) and Al Gough (Lee Thompson Young, pictured left) investigate the Blue Hand club, a group of people who saw nothing in their flashes forward and have decided to live like it's 1999, meaning anything goes.  Including rounds of Russian roulette with six shooters.

Remember, if you saw nothing in your flash forward, it's probably because in the future, you're dead.  That's something Demetri has been trying to come to grips with while still hiding it from his fiance, Zoey (Gabrielle Union).

The head of one of the Blue Hand groups is a former teacher played by Callum Keith Rennie who played Leoben Conoy (Number Two) in "Battlestar Galactica." 

Loved Leoben!  He was one of my favorite Cylons.

But back to "The Gift," Demetri finally tells his fiance about what he saw, or rather didn't see, and she's like, it hasn't happened, it won't happen.  Benford and Noh however are slowly becoming convinced that everything they saw will happen--no matter how hard they try to prevent it.

"Mad Men's" Betty Draper and the Death of JFK

It took the death of the President of the United States to shake Betty Draper (January Jones) out of her unhappy, little Stepford world and make her shove on the flaps of her hermetically sealed, suburban envelope .  Not that Betty hasn't shown flashes of defiance before.  Like last season when she challenged her husband Don (Jon Hamm) about his chippies on the side and then thought nothing of a public bathroom quickie with a stranger. 

But this was the Big Kahuna.  The, "I don't love you anymore" speech.  Of course she still delivered it in her prim and prissy, Stepford way but even Don had to put down his Lucky Strikes and take notice.   Gone was the tarted up sex kitten of just a few short weeks ago in Rome.

Even the Stepford children, especially creepy little Sally Draper, knew something bad was up between the parental units.

Slip Sliding Away on "The Amazing Race"

It's only fitting that after coming back from a week of travel, my first post should be about a travel TV show, "The Amazing Race."

And though I know I'm a week behind, can we just talk about Mika and Canaan for a minute?  You know, one of those "newly dating" couples the Race is so fond of.

Mika was the 22 year-old from Hazard, Ky, whose fear of water and heights kept her from going down a six story water slide known as the Leap of Faith, in Dubai.  Because Mika couldn't bring herself to close her eyes, think of England, and fling herself down the chute, she and boyfriend Canaan were eliminated.

Problem was, while Mika was flapping her floaties in terror for a good 25 minutes, the Globetrotters had time to catch up.  Once the Globetrotters arrived Mika and Canaan had 2 minutes to take the plunge or else they had to make way for Flight Time and Big Easy.

Taking A Little Break

Just wanted to let you guys know I'm going to be taking a break for about a week, so whatever you do, don't panic.  You can get your Megan's Minute fix by going through some of my archives or by leaving comments telling me how much you miss me and can't live without Megan's Minute in your life.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be posts on "Dollhouse," "Glee," "Grey's Anatomy" and a bunch of other TV shows.  And there'll be a few more giveaways coming up as well.

Have a great week and I'll see y'all soon.

Balloon Boy, Reality TV and Twitter: Seeing Was Believing

Last week's Balloon Boy story had to be seen to be believed.  Literally.   It was a perfect example of the media deciding because there were pictures, there was a story.  Without the live video of the silvery, homemade flying machine gliding across the skies of Colorado would so many people around the world have been so emotionally invested in the fate of 6 year-old Falcon Heene who they thought was inside? 

Picture the whole episode as a radio story.  How would we have felt then?

Before we discuss some of the more serious Balloon Boy issues, check out the "Saturday Night Live" Balloon Boy sketch.

The whole thing fascinates me for a bunch of reasons.  First of all, I didn't hear about Falcon's little aerial road trip until an hour or so into the story when a repairman fixing the thermostat in my office went on and on about it.   I didn't have access to a television so I was kind of puzzled why he was so caught up in it, telling me how he kept thinking about his own 6 year-old daughter and how scared she would be.

A couple of hours later, I finally got to a TV, saw the balloon on the ground and thought, "Oh my, a 6 year-old might have been in that contraption."  No one could find the kid and there were ominous reports that something might have fallen out of the balloon while it was in flight.

Then I heard the Heene family had been on the reality TV show "Wife Swap."  Hmm, I thought, could this all be phony?

We Have A "Bundle of Trouble" Mystery Novel Winner!

I'm happy to announce that we have a winner in my "Bundle Of Trouble" Mystery Novel Giveaway!

DBaker was the winning Megan's Minute reader who answered all the Elizabeth George questions correctly and her autographed copy of "Bundle of Trouble" by Diana Orgain is winging its way to her as I write.

Congratulations DBaker!

We Have A HomeGoods Giveaway Winner!

I'm excited to announce we have a HomeGoods Giveaway winner over at Meg's Rad Reviews!  As you may remember, I used a $500 HomeGoods gift card to redecorate my computer room last month. 

Then anyone who commented on that original post was entered to win a $100 gift card from HomeGoods of their very own.

Well the random drawing was held two days ago and the winner is.......Betty N!

Betty's blog is Grandma's Goodies.

When I let her know she'd won, she wrote:  "Thank you sooooo much!  Homegoods is 1/2 mile from our house and we love that store."

Congratulations to Betty N!

Movie Love In All Its Forms: "Bright Star" and "The Boys Are Back"

Everyone knows that love is a rainbow of many colors.   Parental love, the love of friends, the love of siblings and of course the love of lovers. Two movies out right now, "The Boys Are Back" and "Bright Star" honor love's vibrant hues in very distinct ways.

"Bright Star," directed by Jane Campion and starring Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish, is about the brief, yet passionate love affair between the poet John Keats and his neighbor Fanny Brawne. Keats was talented, yet poverty stricken and though deeply in love with Fanny was unable to marry her. Fanny was a student of fashion, but once enraptured by Keats' allure, became a student of poetry as well.

The movie takes its time and like Keats' writing process, isn't to be rushed.  But be warned, if you like your costume dramas with ripping bodices and rumpled bedclothes, this isn't the movie for you.  This movie plays out like one of Keats' poems:  leisurely, lyrical and exulting in the joy of words.  The lovemaking is verbal, but no less intense.

An "Amazing Race" and An Amazing Lack of Knowledge

Was I the only one during last night's "Amazing Race" who was appalled that most of the contestants didn't know who Jackie Kennedy was?

I mean, really...Jackie Kennedy!?

Is this yet another example of the deterioration of the American public school system?

The teams were in Cambodia when they got a clue with a photo of Jackie Kennedy on a trip she took to Cambodia in 1967.  They had to find the hotel with a room named after her.  Well, team after team looked at the picture and were like, "Huh?  Who's that?"

Thank God for Gary, of father and son team, Gary and Matt, who's older than eighteen and recognized one of the most famous women in history.

In other news, poor Zev and Justin ran a great leg and came in first place only to find that they'd lost Zev's passport.  At first I thought that meant they had to find it by the time the pit stop was over, but no such luck; they had to find it before the leg was over or they were out.

Unfortunately, they were out.  Too bad, because they were a fun team and one of the few I was actually rooting for. 

Anyway, in other, other news, Lance and Keri keep screaming at each other, Team Globetrotters are cute as can be, and I still can't stand the poker players.

Oh and by the way, Zev also knew it was Jackie Kennedy in the picture.  He may be a loser, but at least he's a loser with an education.

Photo copyright CBS

From Kandi Burruss to the Gosselin Saga: Real Tragedy on Reality TV

If you ask me, reality TV has gotten a little too real these days.  First there's the ongoing reality TV "War of the Roses" that is Jon and Kate Gosselin.  Then, over the weekend, Ashley "AJ" Jewell, ex-fiance of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kandi Burruss was killed in a fight outside an Atlanta strip club.

Of course neither one of these events could ever be placed under the category of entertainment and yet they are inexorably attached to our modern day entertainment world.  Am I the only one who finds that disturbing in more ways than one?

Regarding Jewell's death, local news reports had this police statement:  "It appears he was involved in an altercation in the parking lot and he received a severe blow to the head," said Atlanta Police Lt. Keith Meadow.  Fredrick Richardson has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with Jewell's death.

Poor Kandi Burruss (pictured far right).  When she took this "Housewives" gig, she probably thought, I'll do a season, just enough to put a kick in my career and who knows, it might be fun.  Now not only has she lost someone very close to her, but she has to play out that loss in front of reality TV cameras.  Who can help but sympathize?

On the Bravo TV website, a statement about the incident included the following:

All of us at Bravotv.com were deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Ashley "AJ" Jewell, featured on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Kandi is devastated as she is also mourning the death of her uncle, Ralph Leslie, and is attending his funeral today. She has no statement to make at this time and asks for privacy. There are no final details on the death of AJ."

Kandi has also reached out to fans on her Twitter page: "I could never in a million years imagine this happening," she posted. "Please pray for AJ's children. That's who I'm the most concerned for.

Yeah, it's the kids who always get it in the neck, isn't it?