Drop Dead Diva: Legally Fabulous

First off, I can't tell you how fabulous Brooke Elliott is, who plays the lead character Jane Bingum on Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva. She's gorgeous, funny, strong, and smart all wrapped up into a character who essentially plays two roles simultaneously. Former actress and model Deb Dobkins died and her soul went into the body of 'plain Jane' lawyer Bingum upon a flatline due to a gunshot wound. Elliott plays Bingum with an intellectual sassyness, courtroom runway walk, and hair flip that creates a charming sensation onscreen. Drop Dead Diva is one of my favorite shows, but with it's timeslot conflicting with True Blood in the past, I often missed episodes and would try to catch up via DVR. However, with the lackluster appeal of True Blood recently, DDD is getting top tier of my viewing choice. 

While I love Elliott and the cases and plots of the show, season four of Drop Dead Diva has been especially frustrating for me solely based on the recurring characters intertwined in plot lines.Ummm, firstly, Kim Kardashian has the acting range of a waffle so her appearance on the show as the love guru named Nikki coaxing Stacey over to the dark side on the allure of cookies, while actually planning on stealing all of her money was difficult and very annoying to watch. While comically alluding to real life aspects of Kardashian's life, I was waiting patiently for Jane to slap the makeup off of Nikki who was clearly her archnemesis. Brandy's character Elisa had a prior relationship with Parker, then seeks his legal assistance eight years later, accepts his offer for a job when she faces legal troubles and, oops, decides not to reveal that they have a son together. However, this season, when their son, Eric, ventures to spend quality time with Parker it isn't too long before Elisa comes to take Eric away to Canada for a new job. She continues to refer to Eric as "her son" and how "they did just fine without him [Parker]" I was quickly tired of Brandy's character for using Parker when it was beneficial for her, but not allowing him to form a real relationship with his son.

Luke. There are a quite a few words that come to mind when I think of Luke but for the purpose of this blog, I'll leave most of them out. Rather than a guardian angel, Luke seems like some type of slickster who doesn't have Jane's best interest at heart, as Fred once did, as much as striving to eliminate Deb's spiritual presence altogether. He has gone out of his way, physically and magically, to keep Jane and Grayson apart, but when it came to keeping Jane from experiencing the heartbreak of Owen leaving her in last Sunday's episode, he was no where in sight. WTH? I'm ready for Fred to come back, or a new guardian angel to be assigned to Jane.

UPDATE: July 15, 2012 Drop Dead Diva A very emotional episode which brought an end to a few storylines. Or are they? Time will tell where the characters go from here. Rosi Golan's "Can't Go Back" playing at the end of the episode put a cap on my tear fest.

Photo courtesy of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1280822/

Quote of the Day (7/15)

"To become reconciled to a friend with whom you have broken, is a form of weakness; and you pay the penalty of it when he takes the first opportunity of doing precisely the very thing which brought about the breach; nay, he does it the more boldly, because he is secretly conscious that you cannot get on without him." ~Schopenhauer

Philosopher Schopenhauer was known for his philosophical clarity and pessimism, but I think this quote is a very interesting perspective on the adage: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me". And this adage typically applies to romantic relationships.

True Blood: "Use It!"

“USE IT!...USE IT!” This is a line from the lackluster final installment of the Blade trilogy, Blade: Trinity. (This was also the first of 3 comic book heroes Ryan Reynolds would play. Sigh.) But I digress. Blade repeats this to Whistler’s daughter when she feels hopeless after losing her friends in battle. This is the line I have been quietly chanting since season 4 as I watch, what I feel are, discombobulated episodes of True Blood. Throughout this blog I’m sure you’ve seen my fanatical love for all things Sookie Stackhouse Novels oriented, including seasons 1-3 of HBO’s hit series based on the novels, True Blood. As I quietly chant, “USE IT!” I am sincerely hoping that Alan Ball and friends can hear my plea for them to stop taking lame creative liberties and use the core plot of the novels for the respective seasons. This includes not diverging into a realm of subplots grasping for life on screen but filled with the stuff of Twinkies, and pushing characters who snap the audience back into attention and truly shine (Pam, Lafayette ) onto the backburner for 15 seconds of screen time. Does every major and minor character need to have an individual plot? No thanks. By the end of the episode, which seems to get shorter and shorter every week, my head is spinning with visions of smokey fire monsters, leather-clad Bill and Eric bopping along, and just all around “bad juju” (as Lafayette would say).

Tara was correct last night when she said that, “the more things change the more they stay the f*ng same!” Because although Tara is now a vampire, she is still angry and bitter with the world and the people in it. Thanks writers. (Insert sarcasm here) Just as I was beginning to like the new season 4 MMA, kick ass Tara , she comes full circle to the Tara who was trying to break away from Bon Temps all along. Plus side? It looks like she can hold her own against a vampire 2 years older than her. And speaking of things staying the same, Jason is still a guilt-ridden sex fiend with a kind heart and good intentions but who is not a werepanther. He spent so much of last season and the beginning of this season chasing after Jessica like a love-struck puppy that I found myself resenting the writers for not using his werepanther storyline from the novel. Honestly at this point in the show, that would probably just be one more supernatural creature added to a roster that is currently bubbling over in the show, but has no where to go. 

What do you think?

 

An Open Letter to Idris Elba

Dear Mr. (Sexy) Elba,

I have been a true fan of yours since 2004 when I first got into watching The Wire on BET late night. I caught onto the story and characters pretty quickly, but it was you who stood out to me. Standing tall like a Nubian statue carved out of marble, you possess poise, charm, and a strut that would make male runway fashion models jealous. Right then began my mission to keep up with your work on screen. And the rewards have been plentiful as you are becoming a mega movie and television star! However, I have also noticed a bit of a trend in your filmography that is not sitting well with me. Your characters often come to tragic endings.

I didn't talk to anyone for a good two hours after I saw you die in The Reaping and though I was giving your characters in 28 Weeks Later and American Gangster the extreme side eye, I didn't want to see them die. It was a breath of fresh air to see you taking charge as the sexy, protective detective in Prom Night, but you again met your demise in The Losers and in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (which although I know you went out like a hero, I refused to finish, by the way, after I inquired whether you survived). While these character deaths don't take away from your amazing acting and shine on the screen, I do hope that I see you riding off into the figurative sunset at the end of the upcoming Prometheus and Pacific Rim films. And then maybe, one day, we can ride off into the sunset...together.

Your biggest (and not in the least bit awkward) fan,

Kimster

Photo courtesy of http://madamenoire.com/115009/idris-elba-to-play-nelson-mandela-in-biopic/

True Blood Season 5

**Possible Spoilers if you haven't yet seen Season 4 of True Blood...

Excuse the big Target sticker. I love to save. :)

Last year I wrote on the pros and cons of the season 4 premiere of True Blood. While I ended up enjoying the season simply because the amazing acting coupled with magic and the supernatural creates an awesome 50 minutes per week, with the premiere of season 5 tonight (based on Dead As A Doornail), I am both excited and a little wary because of the creative liberties Alan Ball and his team have taken with the show. The Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Novels, which the series is loosely based on, is a fantastic literary series; each season of the show follows a book in sequence. It's so fantastic, that while I realize a 12 episode season can't contain everything a 300+ page novel can, I have had my share of disappointments of veered plot lines and some missing characters.

For instance, Claudine was drained and killed by an amnesiac Eric in season 4 when she's supposed to be around to protect Sookie for about 5 more books/seasons; Jason never turned into a werepanther; Bill is king and a bit of a d-bag; Russell Edgington is still the big bad. Many of my pros have centered on the additions of some characters who add to the dynamic and some plot twists I didn't see coming. So let's see what this season has in store for us! But I tell you, if Quinn (the sexy, tall, bald, purple-eyed, strong, weretiger who also happens to be my book-boyfriend;) doesn't show up towards the end of this season, I might have to write an angry-toned letter. But also, the dynamic of Quinn also hinges upon who is chosen to play him. I always find it interesting that True Blood is filmed each year and the vampires are supposed to maintain this timeless, un-aging look. If the show follows the 13 novel timeline, 8 years from now, Bill and Eric may be looking a bit rough. Haha.

Brian McKnight's "Dirty" Music

I have always been a huge Brian Mcknight fan. I remember the days when I used to plug headphones into the computer and jam out to his self-titled album on Windows Media Player. His voice was unique and soulful and the lyrics to his songs were always deep and conveyed a depth of love that was seriously lacking in many other song lyrics. A fact that I was not aware of was that Mcknight has had 16 Grammy award nominations over the20+ year span of his musical career, but has never won. I'm baffled by this fact. He has won one Soul Train Award and one Image Award.

However, most recently McKnight's music has taken a very "awkward" turn as he has started singing songs with sexual slang words describing female anatomy, and has set his sights on making an adult mix-tape. Many loyal fans have been seriously taken aback by this change in McKnight's music and lyrics which are definitely on the raunchy side. With lyrics like, "show you how your p**** works" I'm pretty taken aback myself. I can't help but think that Ashton Kutcher is going to pop up on a track at any second and reveal to us how it is all one big joke and we will all give a unison sigh that McKnight has not in fact flown over the cuckoo's nest. I do believe that McKnight is attempting to garner some attention because as he was receiving negative backlash from fans for the songs, he also simultaneously started lashing out on his Twitter pages about other male musicians who are famous for their tainted personal lives and for singing about sex and women in almost every lyric.

This attention seeking attempt by McKnight reminds me of Joaquin Phoenix's eventually revealed "mockumentary" entitled I'm Still Here. Phoenix had announced his intention to retire from acting in late 2008 in order to pursue a hip-hop career allegedly managed by P. Diddy. Joaquin's appearance took on a drastic change and he kept up the character in public and on interview shows like Late Show With David Letterman. He reiterated that his career transition was no joke. Director Casey Affleck revealed that the film was a hoax in fall 2010 and a clean shaven Phoenix once again appeared on the shows also revealing the truth. I sincerely hope Mcknight's musical change is just a joke, but unfortunately for an artist to never have received a Grammy for his awesome musical accolades, I can't see this attempt bringing him much but negative backlash and loss of fans.