New moon, same emotion.

Have you seen the movie trailer for “New Moon?” I’m probably the last one not to have seen it yet. But, in my opinion, I didn’t really miss anything. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s acting are just the same, lifeless and unfeeling. For a story that’s supposedly filled with emotions, (imagine a vampire falling in love with a human, just how many conflicting feelings could he be going through, right?), both actors miserably fail to deliver. It’s so darn disappointing!

The Twilight Saga is such an amazing story. But it doesn’t get through due to the inability of the actors. I mean, Robert Pattinson shows heartbreak by merely wrinkling his brow?! What was his motivation for that, a stomach ache? Good thing for him he got to show off his abs, probably his only saving grace. And then there’s Kristen who says “I love you” to the boy she’s crazy about like she’s reciting off a menu. For the love of all that’s holy! Jeez! My exclamation points probably show more emotion than they do. But I do think that Taylor Lautner’s acting as Jacob is better than the others. Although I still don’t think Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt should be alarmed yet at being unseated as the best vampires in the movies.

But what’s annoying is that despite my utter dislike for the depressing acting prowess of its stars, I would still go watch the New Moon movie. Argh! Here, watch me wrinkle my brow to show the conflicting emotions I feel inside.

If you’ve been hibernating inside a cave for I-don’t-know-how-long like me, you probably haven’t seen the movie trailer yet. Let me do you a favor. Enjoy this, if you can.

 

Humiliated, swiftly

Last night at the Jay Leno Show, Kanye West almost tearfully (take note: no actual tears were shed) apologized to Taylor Swift for his stupendous brief breakout at the 2009 MTV Award. At the time I was watching him, I believed that his was a sincere apology. But I’ve just seen the much-talked about stint and I’ve come to realize that he’s brute act was intentional.

If you’ve seen the video, you’d know that Kanye’s sudden appearance at Taylor’s side while she was accepting her first ever VMA award was not accidental. Neither could he say that he was moved by his love or admiration for Beyonce’s video. To grab a mic from the actual winner and state, for the whole world to see, that “I’m happy for you Taylor but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time” shows his utter lack of good moral character. To paraphrase U.S. Pres. Obama, “What a jackass!”

The people are not holding back their opinion. In one comment to the video posted in youtube, it was written “He’s a dick — and not a big one.” And then there’s “Why don’t you try to stick your maze shaved head up in your  and see if it fit.” I think the writer intentionally left out where Kanye should stick his head but it doesn’t require much imagination to know where that place is.

If you haven’t seen the video (you must have been hiding under a rock for the past week?), here’s the clip courtesy of Guitarmann75.

Kanye, just because you’re good at rap music doesn’t mean you’re good at everything. Nobody died and made you god.

 

Lame Night with Jay Leno

Last night, I eagerly (well, sort of) awaited the much talked about return of Jay Leno with his new show. I suppose I expected it to have the same big bang effect as when Conan O’brien moved to his new timeslot. Since it was supposed to be a new show, complete with a new title, you would, of course, expect a new format and new materials. But I suppose that was too much to expect.

Except for the new stage set up, the new title  and Jay Leno’ s hairdo, nothing much has changed. In fact, NBC might have saved more money if they’ve just announced that the Late Night with Jay Leno show was moving to an earlier timeslot. The show had the same lame jokes, salvaged only by the applause sign, and the same lifeless banter between Jay and Kevin Eubanks. There’s also the same segment “Headlines” although they’ve also changed the name. I expect, by next week, they’ll have “Jay Walking” and at the end of the month, “Battle of the Jay Walking All Stars.”

But then again, I’ve never been much of a Jay Leno fan. To tell the truth, I think he’s only slightly funny. David Letterman does a better job at cracking me up. And Jay can’t even compare to Conan’s sense of humor…or even his show. But I suppose choosing hosts for a fun late night show is hit and miss most of the time. I mean, look at the guy who picked Conan O’brien to host the Late Night Show (his name escapes me, darn it!). He’s the same person who chose Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan. They couldn’t be as opposite as night and day. For one thing, Conan’s funny. Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, I love his performance at SNL and his movies. But he just doesn’t quite cut it at the Late Night Show. But I’ve already digressed.

I don’t have anything against Jay Leno. But he just not funny enough to keep the viewers and the ratings hooked. And that’s the bottomline.

 

Not another American Idol post!?

You got it! It’s another post on American Idol and about who got kicked out. All I can do is apologize now. I’m sorry, I can’t help it.

Anyway…

Since the four judges had agreed last week to save Matt Giraud from elimination (a very generous save, if I may say so), two idol hopefuls had to be booted from the show tonight. Sadly, those two were Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai.

After being hailed as one of the powerful singers in the contest, Lil Rounds still has not gotten around to showing her true personality. That’s a sad thing since it cost her the chance to become the next American Idol. She could have been a force to reckon with. She truly had a great voice. But lacking in creativity, it was no surprise she received the lowest number of votes. In fact, I had been anticipating early on when she would be leaving the show. Having seen the show since Season 3, I think true artistic sense shows very early on. In Lil’s case, her artistry was not enough, unfortunately. I suppose if she had been part of the earlier seasons of American Idol, perhaps season 1 or 2, her performance would have been acceptable. But the thing is, the show has evolved from just altering portions of a song to show some creativity. American Idol has already seen the likes of David Cook who can change an ordinary pop-ish tune to something even spectacular. That’s what Lil had to compete against. And her struggle against it was quite feeble.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t quite agree with the way America treated Anoop Desai. He has truly been performing well these last few weeks. In fact, even better than Matt Giraud had been, in my opinion. To tell the truth, after last night’s performance, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ryan Seacrest announced that tonight was the end of the road for Matt. But, as has been observed in previous seasons, America votes in mysterious ways, or rather, for mysterious reasons. Why Jennifer Hudson or Chris Daughtry never even got far (maybe except for Christ Daughtry, he was on the top 3, after all) in  the show is still mind-boggling. But I suppose, Matt has something going for him, even if it’s just a small thing against Anoop. Matt has a little bit more charisma, I would think, than Anoop. I say “a little bit” because if Matt had more than that, he wouldn’t have kept landing in the bottom three for the past weeks, even if he didn’t really perform up to par. But I hope Anoop gets another chance at his chosen career (at least, chosen for now). I really see some good talent in him.

Meanwhile, I hope Matt realizes just how very lucky he is and start to get his act together before it’s too late and Kris Allen or Adam Lambert has already been declared the new American Idol.

*Photos courtesy of americanidol.com

 

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing…

 

Last night, while having coffee at the best local coffee shop in this sleepy town, I bought a Marie Claire (Philippines) magazine. The first thing I read on the front cover says that MC is saying adieu. Whaat?

 

I mean, surely, it couldn’t be that “MC” is Marie Claire and it is bidding me farewell this early, right? For a while, I thought MC might have been Mariah Carey or some other person I wasn’t acquainted with, whose departure from my life would not be truly missed. But I had a nagging feeling I might be wrong.

So, I eagerly ripped open the plastic and flipped to the editorial. Alas, it is true! Marie Claire (Philippines) is leaving the building. It has kicked the bucket on a summer, no less. It feels somewhat ill-timed. I feel like I’ve just been dumped by a boyfriend who both had good looks and good brains. Why? Did I do something wrong? Can’t we talk about this? I mean, this can’t be the end. I’ve done everything I can! Meanwhile, I plop on the floor, tears running down my cheek, pondering on ways how I could have been a better girlfriend.

 

I first learned of Marie Claire from a friend in my previous workplace around two years ago. I used to buy Cosmopolitan (Philippines). But I had grown tired of its repetetive features: fashion, dating and sex. It seemed to me that people who read that mag were interested only in those things. I was on the road to somewhere else by that time, getting ready to be married and moving on to another place. I was looking for more substantial things, considering that I would no longer fall under the category of dating. Marie Claire has proven to be that magazine I was looking for. Sure it had features on fashion, dating and sex, but there was so much more. It covered every aspect of a woman’s life.

 

Marie Claire has only been in circulation for three years. It appears from the Editor’s Note that the sales of the magazine hasn’t been enough to sustain it through. So now, it doesn’t have any choice but to bid us farewell. I have been a loyal fan, though. So, I can proudly say that my conscience is clear.  Still, I feel like I’ve been abandoned. Where can I turn to now?

 

But say goodbye, I must. Marie Claire, it’s been fun while it lasted. You were the best (well, one of the best) I ever had.