TV review: Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Now I've finally had the chance to watch third episode of Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I think I might be ready to talk about it. I've never been a big fan of the Terminator movies. As a matter of fact, I only classify the movies by their bad guys: "Arnold is the bad guy," "That shape-shifting one" and "The chick is the baddie." Beyond that, I don't know a lot about them. Keeping that in mind, I have found the television series to be pretty interesting. I'm not worried about continuity. I just want a show with some kickass chicks beating bad guys up. That's not too much to ask for, right? Well, I can say that it definitely delivers for me. Summer Glau makes an absolutely awesome protector-Terminator. (Protectinator?) And thanks to the Firefly franchise, we all know that she can definitely kick some ass when she needs to. I'm not too thrilled with Lena Headey as Sarah though. She seems a lot more fragile than Linda Hamilton was in the movies. (Yes, I will let them play with the timeline of the movies but c'mon, these are supposed to be the same people!) The writers also seem to be playing up the maternal role and making her less willing to do whatever she needs to do to protect John.

Ah, John. Thomas Dekker isn't terrible in the role. Though I think I'd like to see John be a little less emo. Yes, his life sucks but, at some point, you just have to suck it up and accept it. I hope that he'll get to that point in the series.

So, overall, it's not completely terrible. I suppose it might upset you if you are a big fan of the movies but the writers did try to explain their way out of a few things. We're just going to have to wait to see where it goes from here.

America's Most Smartest Model - Episode 10

Angela. VJ. Andre. The final three. At the start of tonight's episode, they pack up for an overnight trip to Palm Springs. The three are treated to an evening with Mary Alice. It basically devolved into a night of "My life is so much worse than yours!" Though I'm not sure that Andre participated in that. He seemed to be pretty quiet through most of the dinner while Angela and VJ compared stories of why their daddies left them. For once, I think Andre had the right idea in keeping his mouth shut. After dinner, Mary Alice revealed the first challenge. The finalists would be doing a photoshoot bright and early the next morning. A group of models were brought in to meet the contestants, who had to choose which of the new models would be in their shoot. The group got to know each other and the contestants were ready to pick their models. The next morning, Mary Alice brings in a troupe of stylists and a world-class photographer and just a ton of people, which wakes up Andre and VJ.

Once again, VJ is sleazy and I think Mary Alice shows her favoritism. Individually, she asks each of the models which of the new models they are picking for their photoshoot. VJ, who had originally picked one of the female models, overhears Andre telling Mary Alice that he's going to use the other two women. (I forget the names of the new models. I think VJ's was Heather and Andre had Jane and Lisa but I'm not sure about that.) Angela went with the two male models. When it came down to the official picking, VJ decides to take two female models, basically stealing one of Andre's. I'm not sure why Mary Alice let this happen since she knew beforehand who Andre had picked. Andre went with the flow and headed off to his shoot.

Andre, as always, did amazing in his shoot. He has a very intense look so he can pull off these crazy intense pictures. VJ tried to copy his poses but came off totally wrong. Mary Alice told him that his pictures weren't coming out and to try to be more natural. So VJ hops in the pool with the girls and gets some OK shots but nothing spectacular. Angela's shots all look the same. Same poses, same look on her face, same everything.

At the end, Andre wins the challenge and Angela gets booted from the show. Mary Alice did make a comment about how some of VJ's shots look almost exactly like Andre's. This, of course, makes Andre chuckle. Since Angela was singing through the entire music-themed photoshoot, Mary Alice told her that she would probably make a better singer and that she is not really cut out for photoshoots. She might make a good runway model but not much else. After hugging everyone, Angela leaves saying that she wanted this more than anyone. I'm sorry but just wanting something isn't enough. You have to work really hard and I don't think Angela did.

So now we're down to VJ and Andre. For their final challenge, they each have to make a media-based presentation on why they should be America's Most Smartest Model. Since Andre won the Edge Challenge, he is given a cell phone with picture and web browsing capabilities. Each of the boys get a PowerPoint expert to help them. We get a few inklings of what is to come but then.....To Be Continued. I hate those words!

I'm really hoping Andre wins this. Granted, I actually wanted Australian!Rachel to win but she fell short. I will be ecstatic if VJ loses to Andre. I can't wait for the finale!

America's Most Smartest Model - Episode 9

The more I watch this show, the more I realize that it's not about being a SMART model. It's about being a sneaky, manipulative model. It annoys me. I liked the show better when it stuck to its premise. Last week we saw Pickle getting the big heave-ho. This put the model headcount at 5. For the Edge Challenge, the models are once again asked to break into pairs. But wait, it's an uneven number! So one model has to volunteer to get screwed and be alone. Brett steps up to that challenge. Rachel pairs off with Andre and VJ goes with Angela. Then it is revealed that the teams will need to build a go-kart. But wait, not all of the teams get to participate! Only the two fastest go-kart building teams, with correctly built karts, get to race. Angela, who claims to have spent her childhood fixing cars with her dad, and VJ finish their kart first. After having to make a few adjustments, Rachel and Andre finish second. Poor screwed over Brett gets nothing.

To win the Edge Challenge, the two racing teams must compete. Angela and VJ get the pole position since they won the first half of the challenge. But can they beat Rachel and Andre in racing? While Angela claims that she can build a car, she knows nothing about driving one. She takes the corners wide leaving the perfect opportunity for Rachel to grab the lead. As Angela tries to catch up to Rachel, she spins out. Of course, this annoys VJ. Then the boys jump into the karts for their laps. Andre sweeps the floor with VJ. The victory and the Edge goes to Rachel and Andre.

When the models get back to the house, they find a note for them. They are to decide who they think should be eliminated. If the person they pick does not win the Callback Challenge, they are automatically eliminated. Since the Alliance is still in place, VJ's name goes into the envelope.

The Callback Challenge this week is to be a spokesperson for a Jaguar. Rachel and Andre get the specs on the car so they'll know what they are talking about. Sneaky, manipulative VJ calls his friend to gather all the info he can on the car. Despite being filmed doing this, there is nothing from the producers or judges about this. I guess the "edge" is only an edge as long as your competitors decide to play by the rules of the game. Cheating is A-OK here! It's even encouraged!

Arriving at the Jaguar headquarters, the models are given some basic information on the car they will be talking about. Then the models are sent out one by one to give a presentation with what they have learned. However, most of the models have a problem with the rotating stage. VJ, in a surprisingly non-cheating move, simply steps off the rotating part. Angela moves so that she is always at the front of the stage. Rachel, Brett and Andre all blew their speeches. Brett actually dropped the f-bomb in front of the audience. When it came down to announcing the winner, Mary Alice declares that it's a tie and BOTH VJ and Angela win the Callback Challenge.

Wait, what? Let me say this again: BOTH VJ and Angela WON the Callback Challenge. We're down to the last five models on the show and they are going to take two of the models out of the elimination? That's a little ridiculous. On top of that, Mary Alice sends a bottle of champagne to VJ and Angela. No, that's not showing favor there at all. At this point, I would really like Mary Alice to be thrown off the show.

At the elimination, Andre, Rachel and Brett are on the line. Mary Alice was SURPRISED that VJ's name was in the envelope but since he can't be eliminated, that doesn't really matter. I'm not really sure why she was surprised. I'm thinking that she's not really paying any attention to the actual competition. She's just picking who she happens to like the best. In the end, Rachel is the first one thrown out. Yes, I said FIRST one thrown out. In a somewhat surprising move, Mary Alice tosses Brett out too. The only reason it's not completely surprising is because I now hate Mary Alice and think that she taught VJ how to be a sneaky bastard.

Next week is the finale episode. We're left with Andre, VJ and Angela. I have this sickening feeling that VJ will win. I would like Andre to win just because VJ is a slimeball and Angela is annoying. However, I don't think Mary Alice will let that happen. She might let Angela win but I think it'll be her personal favorite, VJ, that will take the crown. It's too bad he's such a douche.

Jdorama review: Maison Ikkoku

Title: Maison Ikkoku Broadcast date: 5/12/07 Genre: Romance Cast: Itoh Misaki, Nakabayashi Taiki, Kishimoto Kayoko, Kishibe Ittoku, Takahashi Yumiko Plot: Godai (Nakabayashi Taiki) is a rounin, a student who has failed his college entrance exams, with obnoxious neighbors distracting him from studying. When Otonashi Kyoko (Itoh Misaki) becomes the new apartment building manager and moves in, Godai falls in love with her at first sight. He hopes to pass his college entrance exam so he can win her heart. What is good: It stays true to the anime. What is bad: It is boring. Letter rating: D Overall: I did not like the Maison Ikkoku anime. While I generally like romance stories, this seemed to be about people who were either complete losers or completely oblivious to the world around them. This drama sticks close to that synopsis. Very little got accomplished in this two hour drama. We were introduced to some characters and one plotline was completed. Everything else is left hanging. It felt like this was a prologue to a new series or possibly the beginning of a series of specials.

I wish there would have been a bit more external conflict in the series. As it is, almost all of the conflict in the story takes place within Godai. Even the annoying neighbors don't present any real conflict since Godai just lets them walk all over him. If you are a fan of Maison Ikkoku, you might enjoy this but don't expect to get any resolution out of it.

America's Most Smartest Model - Episode 8

With last week's booting of Daniel, we are now left with Australian!Rachel, Pickle, Brett, Andre, VJ and Angela. This is where the competition should get pretty interesting since these people are all fairly intelligent as well as very pretty. And, well, VJ knows how to cheat a lot, which, according to Mary Alice, isn't cheating but good strategy. Oh, I'll talk about this in a bit. For the Edge Challenge this week, the models are once again put into teams of two. Our Fearsome Foursome Alliance paired up into teams of Pickle/Brett and Andre/Rachel. That left VJ with Angela. One person in the pair would have to answer as many trivia questions correctly in 60 seconds as they possibly can. The results will determine how fast the other person has to run on a treadmill. Pickle completely blanked on so many questions that Brett ended up having to run 9 miles an hour. If you couldn't tell, Brett couldn't take that and dropped out early in the competition. Angela and Rachel tied with 13 correct answers so VJ and Andre started out with 6 miles an hour. The boys stayed neck and neck even when Ben and Mary Alice raised the speed on the treadmills.

This is where VJ's cheating sets in and I have no clue why the judges let him get away with this. While Andre was running like a champ, VJ started holding onto the bars to put most of his weight on his arms. Considering this challenge was about endurance, in my opinion, this was completely and totally cheating. Andre tried to bring this to the attention of the judges but Ben Stein was too busy playing with his cell phone to take any notice. If VJ does win at the end of the series, it will be a direct result of things like this. Of course, it was VJ and Angela that won the Edge Challenge. Andre decided to try to save his strength for the Callback Challenge.

The Callback Challenge was a quick-change runway show. VJ and Angela would get to change in the dressing room closest to the runway and they had to choose one other model to join them. They picked Rachel. The rest of the boys would be farther from the runway so they would have to race back and forth to change into their different outfits. Each team had 15 minutes total with three different outfits. To make it a little more difficult, Andre, Pickle and Brett also had to run through an obstacle course for each change.

I think this is where we got to see Angela and VJ's true natures. They could see that Rachel was having some trouble with some of her outfits - her shoes were too big on the first outfit and her earrings fell out on the last - yet no one bothered to attempt to help her. Both of them were out for themselves and no one else. Meanwhile, Andre, Pickle and Brett decided to make this a team effort to make their runway show the best. They helped each other with difficult parts of their outfits and made sure that everyone made it through the obstacle course. So while Mary Alice didn't like the way these three walked down the runway, I felt that they made the better show since there were no gaps between models. There were gaps between models in the Angela/Rachel/VJ show. I'm really starting to think that Mary Alice isn't as much of an expert on this stuff as she thinks she is. However, after everyone was finished, it was Angela that won the Callback Challenge and I do agree with that result. Angela really did have the best showing of everyone there.

So this takes us to the Elimination. Angela was safe from elimination and Mary Alice decreed that Rachel was not in the bottom three either. The bottom three this week were Andre, Pickle and Brett. At this point, I was completely prepared for Brett to be kicked off. Out of these three, I really felt that he was the weakest model. To my surprise, it was Pickle that got the boot! I was just stunned. Pickle has pretty much been the sweetheart of the show. He's been in the top of almost every competition, he has the looks, he has the smarts and he's a nice guy. I really am sorry to see him go.

Oh, and at the Elimination? Mary Alice and Ben decided to totally throw the models under the bus and told VJ about the alliance between Pickle, Brett, Andre and Rachel. Now, we can see that the alliance failed this week. Why bother to tell VJ about it? There was nothing to accomplish there besides getting the models to argue with each other. I was very disappointed with Mary Alice this week. Maybe she should be thrown off the show. I'm sure that Heidi Klum or Tyra Banks could do a lot better. Hopefully Mary Alice will get her head out of her butt and pay attention to what is going on in front of her.

America's Most Smartest Model - episode 7

Now that we are finally down to the really smart and really pretty models of the bunch, things are starting to get a little more interesting. This week the models were told that they would have a night off to celebrate Daniel's birthday. However, this turns out to the the Edge Challenge. The models needed to network with some important people that Mary Alice put in the club. A majority of the models didn't do so well. In the end, it was VJ that won the hearts of the networking judges. This means that he gets control of the Callback Challenge. Mary Alice tells the models that it's difficult to work with animals and children. So, of course, their Callback Challenge will involve animals. VJ gets to dole out how many minutes each model gets in front of the camera. As the winner, he gets a half hour. He gives Angela 10 minutes, Australian!Rachel 8 minutes, Pickle 6 minutes, Brett 4 minutes, Andre 2 minutes and Daniel one minute. Since Daniel's whining has been getting on everyone's nerves, it is now obvious that they are out to get him sent home.

Next the models get to choose their animals. VJ takes the horse, Angela takes the pygmy goat, Australian!Rachel takes the donkey, Pickle takes the chicken, Brett takes the pig, Andre takes the llama and Daniel is left with the ostrich. From here, things get difficult. The models aren't very good with the animals and the pictures prove it. In my opinion, none of the pictures were particularly good but Mary Alice liked Andre's picture with the llama. He is safe from elimination.

At the elimination that night, the three models called up are Angela, Australian!Rachel and Daniel. Angela is told to stop being a know-it-all and Rachel is told to step it up a bit. Daniel gets the boot. I completely agree with this decision as Daniel has been extremely moody the past few episodes. After the Edge Challenge last night, he was overturning tables and throwing things. It was definitely his time to go.

I'm really excited to see where the next few episodes go. There is now an alliance between Andre, Brett, Pickle and Rachel. Their goal is to get VJ kicked off but VJ seems to be Mary Alice's favorite. Let the drama unfold!

America's Most Smartest Model - episode 5

Now we're starting to get down to the models who are actually pretty intelligent. Those that aren't are standing out like a sore thumb. I really can't wait until all we are left with are the smart models. I'm sure the challenges will get more difficult and I want to see how they measure up. The Edge Challenge this week was dissecting fetal pigs. I know a lot of people did this in high school. (Though I only did frogs, we never did the pigs.) The models were left with one anatomy book to study, which VJ ran off with. Everyone else was left with their encyclopedias and a bit of tutoring from animal-sciences-major Angela. Amazingly, a lot of the models did really well on this. Yes, there was a lot of complaining about having to do it in the first place but once they got working, they were really able to identify most of the organs. I was definitely surprised.

Of course, there had to be some drama about it, right? Both Lisa and the high school teacher, Mr. Morrison, thought that she had a female pig as neither of them could find any testicles. After the challenge was over and Lisa was given an A, Angela decided to take a quick look at the pig to see if it really was female. Well, Angela found testicles and she was quite prepared to leave it at that. Andre, who got a C on his dissection, had a problem with the mistake and called the teacher back in to point out the mistake. Due to the discovery, Lisa's grade was lowered to a C. I'm not really sure why the teacher didn't look for the ovaries to double-check that it was a female pig but since it was his mistake, I don't think her grade should have been lowered.

Next up was a commercial challenge. The models had to pimp a body wash product while taking a very cold shower. Daniel won the Edge Challenge so he got to shower with warm water and he got the script beforehand. Everyone else only had 20 minutes to learn the script before jumping in. Andre took the initiative and practiced talking in a cold shower. It didn't appear that anyone else was trying to make the commercial shoot a little bit easier on themselves.

When the models got to the set, they were told that they had to pick a competitor to choose their best video from the shoot. As everyone was waiting for the shoot to start, Daniel was practicing his lines with Lisa. VJ was standing nearby listening in an attempt to learn the lines before he got the script. Yay! More controversy! All of the models felt that VJ was cheating. When they brought it up to Mary Alice after the shoot, she commended VJ for "paying attention to his surroundings." As such, he won the challenge and the immunity.

Lisa and American!Rachel were up on the block this time around. Lisa flubbed the dissection whereas Rachel completely screwed up her commercial. For the first time ever, the two models were given a "Smart Off," which was basically a pop quiz. Ben asked them some questions and whoever answered the most correctly got to stay. In another surprising twist, it was Rachel that answered the most questions correctly. Maybe she isn't as stupid as she pretends to be. (Though I'm not holding my breath on that one.) Sadly, it was Lisa that had to leave last night. I will miss her.

Next week? Geometry!

Chuck

For some reason, I just can't get myself into an actual television watching schedule. Instead, I've been watching shows online. Luckily, Chuck is one of the shows that NBC streams on their website. Let's get the general synopsis out of the way: Chuck is a computer geek who works in the Nerd Herd at Buy Mart. (Yes, this is a parody of Best Buy and their Geek Squad. The Nerd Herd even has a company car that looks quite similar to the Geek Squad's cars.) One day Chuck get an email from an old college "friend," Bryce. Bryce, who was responsible for getting Chuck kicked out of college, is a CIA agent and the email contained a database of top secret government information. All of the government's secrets have now been downloaded into Chuck's brain. It is up to CIA agent Sarah Walker and NSA agent John Casey to protect Chuck (or at least his brain) while stopping the bad guys that roll through town.

When I saw the first commercials for the show, I knew it could go either way. It could be awesomely amazing or absolutely terrible. Now that I have sat through three episodes of the series, I am classifying it as "awesomely amazing." The show doesn't take itself too seriously, which is usually the downfall of spy series. Chuck spends his time trying to work his way up the management ladder at Buy Mart while being bounced back and forth between Sarah, who took an undercover job in the weiner hut across the street from Buy Mart, and Casey, who took an undercover job IN the Buy Mart. Poor Chuck doesn't know if he can really trust either of them yet he has to trust both of them to protect him.

I still have quite a few episodes to work through in order to catch up to the latest episode. I really hope that the writers are able to keep the humor in the show and don't turn this into some melodramatic spy series.

America's Most Smartest Model - Episode 4

This was our first episode without Mandy Lynn. Her amazing stupidity has been replaced by the cattiness that is typical of models. Andre seems to have toned himself down this week so overall, this episode wasn't nearly as entertaining as the previous ones. Bill Nye the Science Guy made a guest appearance for the intelligence part of the competition. The models divided up into pairs to make presentations on sciency things. American!Rachel is pretty much the idiot of the bunch now but she doesn't say nearly as many funny things as Mandy Lynn did. The science presentations were a big bust overall.

For the model part, the pairs had to give a pasty white geek a fake tan then take a picture with him/her. This is really where the cattiness came up. VJ was accused of trying to sabotage Jesse by being the focus of the picture. At the judging, Andre stood up for Jesse, which is completely out of character for Andre!

As expected, Jesse got the boot this week. Mary Alice has been harping on him being a fatty since the beginning of the show so it really was just a matter of time for him. I feel bad for him because he's smarter than some of the girls that are still on the show. If Mary Alice was going to harp on his weight the whole time, then he shouldn't have been on the show in the first place. It's physically impossible to "lose 5 pounds" overnight without some sort of surgery or pills.

I was very bored by this episode. I really hope that it gets good again.

Bionic Woman

For the past couple of days, my husband and I have been catching up on the new Bionic Woman episodes on the official website. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it. I actually thought that Katee Sackhoff's character would just be a throw-away for the first episode. On the contrary, her character is rather important. I can't say I was a huge fan of the original series. I caught a few episodes in reruns but it wasn't anything spectacular for me. Maybe it's because the main character was a hot blonde chick which, even as a kid, I knew was unattainable for me. (On the other hand, I totally believed that I could be the beautiful brunette Wonder Woman when I grew up.) So, on a personal level, I feel a bit more in touch with the new Jaime Sommers. She works as a bartender, she's taking care of her little sister, she's smart and beautiful and normal. She could easily be your next door neighbor and you would never know it.

The bionics are a bit more believable too. While in 1976, Jaime got her implants after a sky-diving accident, new~Jaime got her implants after a car accident. Not only are the circumstances based more in reality, the show has also gotten rid of the trademark "Jaime is using her bionics" sound. I did miss that a little at first but after awhile, you realize how ridiculous it would have sounded if they kept the sound effect.

About the storyline. It isn't too horribly bad. I've watched the first three episodes so I'm not terribly far through the series but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. There are some things that I think the organization/Jonas would do differently but it's possible that there are things that will be revealed later on that will explain some of his decisions. I like how they are handling a lot of the female characters. Especially Sarah, Jaime and Becca. I kinda wish they would throw Ruth out a window and forget she ever existed but I suppose she has an overall purpose in the organization.

I really think people wrote this off before ever watching an episode. They figured it would be a terrible remake of a cheesy 70s show. I really hope that the show doesn't prove me wrong by turning awful for the rest of the series.