Gilmore Girls Revival Town Meeting: I Smell Snow

Posted in Entertainment by Cookies + Sangria

Well folks, we made it. Here we are, nine years after the series finale and over the weekend we were blessed with four new mini-movies that brought us back to the little corner of the world that is Stars Hollow. We went on a self-imposed social media hiatus to avoid spoilers over the weekend, so all this week, we’ll be recapping each season with our own thoughts, since we didn’t tweet as it was happening. And let’s be real, 140 wasn’t enough. We’re going in chronological (GG) order, starting with Winter. Here we go!

T: For the record, I pressed play at 12:01AM and couldn’t get myself to watch it until 12:19AM. I spent my last few minutes on social media (since I stayed off of it completely to avoid spoilers), went to the bathroom multiple times because I made coffee, and to psych myself up, I even said to myself, “IT’S JUST A TV SHOW” then later, “IT’S TOO STRESSFUL.” I eventually pressed play, only to pause it again when Amy’s name came up in the font. I’m a wreck.

M: Winter opens with some of the “greatest hits” lines from Gilmore Girls, in case we weren’t already high-level emotional. On rewatch I realize these lines also serve as a “previously on Gilmore Girls” in that we establish Emily and Lorelai’s relationship, the Luke/Lorelai thing, and also “oy with the poodles already.”

T: Netflix (per usual) has been great with PR and marketing for AYITL, and a day or so before the revival premiered, they released this video that made me legitimately tear up. Unbeknownst to everyone who watched that, it was the very first thing we heard from the 2016 iteration of Gilmore Girls and I teared up all over again. It was a perfect way to jump back into the show.

T: I HAD TO PAUSE IT AGAIN BC I STARTED CRYING AT THE LALAS AND THE FIRST SHOT OF THE SNOW-COVERED STARS HOLLOW SIGN.

i believe the phrase “ALL THE FEELS” was created for this moment

M: Rory just got off a plane and looks great; Lorelai theorizes that she’s “been Gooped,” the 2016 pop culture references are here. Rory rarely gets back to town because she’s living an itinerant journalist’s life; Lorelai sings Cats In The Cradle to make fun of the town/Emily’s reaction to Rory’s infrequent visits. We’re back.

T: Lorelai: “I’ve missed ya kid. It feels like years.” SAME, LOR. SAME. Aside: when writing down notes in my phone about this, I used this emoji 😭 to signify when I either tear up or cry. So if you see that, just know I’m emotional. Similarly, I used this 😂 when I lit’rally laughed out loud.

M: After the first time we watched this (yes, this is the second) we and our friend Tori spent a while puzzling about whether the theme song played. It’s like we were so dazed and stunned that we couldn’t even register the first five minutes. (It didn’t play, by the way.)

T: Rory, while running around the town square trying to get reception: “You coming?” Lorelai: “No, I just hit my steps.” As two people who are insane about their Fitbits, THIS RESONATES DEEP.

M: Kirk wants to start a ride service called Ooober. This is the moment that one of my Gilmore Girls fears was laid to rest. After Fuller House (which I liked!) I was disappointed that the tone of the show changed. It was all winks to the former series and modern references posed as punchlines unto themselves. Yes, Uber didn’t exist in 2007 and this certainly places us in a new Stars Hollow, but it wasn’t a modern reference for its own sake – this is still a very Kirk thing. This is when I realized A Year In The Life was going to stay true to the mixture of pop culture and more obscure cultural references that it always had.

T: Exactly. I also liked Fuller House, but I cringed so hard when they all broke the fourth wall and looked into the camera to basically call out the MK+A for not coming back for the new show. ASP + Dan Palladino’s storytelling style and clear idea for this Gilmore world is like it’s set in amber – these characters will always be as quirky as they have been, but they’re aware of trends and pop culture hashtags that make them relevant and up to do, but not change the core being of who they are.

M: Kirk is still so KIRK, always with a weird business venture that he is bad at: he drills holes in his car’s floor (two people passed out, but “they were old, so it could have been old people passing out” or carbon monoxide), then the car breaks down and he starts using a small cart.

M: First time I really started crying: when Lorelai smelled snow and the town troubadour started singing.

T: Yeah, the smelling of the snow, Grant Lee Phillips, and the Gilmore home all dressed in Christmas lights all got to me too. We were back and I was overwhelmed.

Dreaming of Stars Hollow. pic.twitter.com/B0TIpjUUrc

— Gilmore Girls (@GilmoreGirls) November 28, 2016

M: When we go to Lorelai’s house it truly does feel like going home again – like when I’d come home to visit and it was equally surprising that so much was the same and that little things were different.

T: Remember how awkward Luke and Rory’s hugs always were? Or maybe Rory is just a bad hugger. But when she comes home and he hugs her, it was much improved and seemed like a much more paternal welcome than ever before.

M: We get a satisfying answer – for me, anyway – as to who Rory is with: Paul, an eminently forgettable but nice guy. There’s a running gag throughout Winter that nobody remembers anything he says (like when he told Luke he’d bring him an antique crescent wrench), or where he is (when Lorelai and Rory forget he’s coming to Luke’s, and then that he’s there when they leave). The takeaway: we won’t miss this guy when he goes, and he WILL go.

T: One of my early predictions was that Rory was going to be with someone when the revival starts, but he’s insignificant. And even though IRL I’d be so annoyed with Rory for forgetting who her BF is after TWO YEARS of dating, I found it so amusing that NO ONE remembered who he was.

Luke re: Pete/Billy/Jeffrey/Paul: I just forgot the entire conversation we just had.

T: Fourteen minutes in and I already have 10 gif sets I need to find on Tumblr.

M: Lorelai’s new thing is those TV movie thriller/ horror things that air on Lifetime.

T: I mean, I knew that Luke + Lorelai were together (MY ULTIMATE OTP SO THIS IS MAJ), and I guess I figured they’d be living in her house, but it wasn’t real until he was working the DVR in their bedroom (which LOL at Luke with any sort of technology). Of course Lor only has Lifetime movies recorded, but I found it meta that they were poking fun of them when Scott Patterson was the star of one of them not too long ago (See: my recap of Kidnapped: Hannah Anderson here). Anyways, their domesticated life in this scene is literally the fanfic of my dreams.

M: Lorelai comes downstairs to Rory “stress-tap dancing” in the middle of the night. Lorelai has been worried about her mortality after Richard died, which I knew was happening but STILL. This is the moment I also realize that Lorelai and Rory are written as very anxious people, a trait that somehow never registered with me before. Michel agrees: “xanax was invented for you.” The fast talking, the coffee, the ruminating – and I’d say Rory’s even more like her mother now that she’s roughly the same age as early seasons’ Lorelai.

Rory: “You think I don’t know you? I have your eyes.”

M: Which brings us to: we’ve discussed this, and even though we’re just about the same age as Rory, now we relate most to Lorelai in the original series. For every moment when she seemed like an imperfect parent (dating Rory’s teacher, freaking out when she finds Rory with Dean), now I see somehow who has successfully raised a wonderful teenager by the time she’s my age, all while building a life and a career without any support. I just love Lorelai so much.

T: Same. I’ve always related to Lor a little bit more than Rory in general, but the revival has only reinforced that even more. Especially later on in this ep.

T: The running joke of Luke having WiFi but not giving out the correct password is SO Luke. The man has had a No Cell Phones sign for years, so what makes people think he’s gonna let them use WiFi for free? Also, he puts Rory’s New Yorker piece on the back of the new menu.

M: Love how proud he is of her. “There’s my piece (creaky voice:) wrapped in plastic.”

T: 😂 Lorelai throwing bagels at Kirk’s head is comedy gold. “Luke, you need to control your woman!” *gets hit with a lump of bread even harder*

T: Michel casually says Frederic wants kids, and I had to rewind to make sure he said “Frederic” and not “Frederique” and used “he” and not “she.” GOD BLESS. FINALLY. Also, Yanic fell right back into character and comes right out of the gate with classic Michel rants.

T: Melissa McCarthy’s absence is explained by her going on a sabbatical to work with Dan Barber at Blue Hill Farms (he basically made the whole farm-to-table trend a thing), and it totally makes sense. I think I like the pop up restaurant idea, but the fact that it really is famed LA chef Roy Choi in the scene is kinda taking me out – but not enough that I hate it?

T: Um. Guys. Emily’s new maid Berta is Gypsy (Rose Abdoo) in a wig. CANNOT UNSEE. (UPDATE: It’s definitely her. And Lauren gave insight!)

T: 😂 Emily doing housekeeper charades with the handyman is perfectly bossy Emily Gilmore.

M: Emily has a portrait of Richard that takes up the whole wall. Lorelai posits that she “Spinal Tapped the painting.” This leads into the story of Richard’s funeral, which was my cue to press pause and get some Kleenex.

T: Through the tears of the funeral flashback, there were moments of both levity and heartache, including the moment Jason ‘Digger’ Stiles reappears after attending his former business partner Richard’s funeral. I thought his brief yet touching scene with Lorelai was sweet and the perfect sendoff. Especially because she called him Digger again and he called her Umlaut.

T: Let me start off by saying LAUREN GRAHAM HAS NEVER WON AN EMMY. For Your Consideration: This drunk scene starting with her telling Richard and Emily’s friends about her “favorite memories” of her father. Lauren played completely wasted so well, without it being over the top or unbelievable. AND THEN, the showdown with her in Emily in the kitchen – it was like watching Michael Jordan and Larry Bird on the court (Sportsball ref?). They both had valid points, and as much as I love Lor, I love even more that Emily called her out on being selfish – because who else is going to be real with her like that and make as much an impact? It ends by Lorelai reaching for the door handle and saying, “Full. Freaking. Circle.” three words that gave me goosebumps. This now ranks as one of my favorite scenes of the entire series to date, and maybe a little too resonant in my ongoing identification as Lorelai IRL.

M: Signs Emily is changed: she’s had the same housekeeper for long enough to know who she is, lets a large extended family run about her house, wears jeans.

M: Brilliant cut to Kirk next to Lorelai at Emily’s table (his Ooober broke down) that makes you feel for a second like the whole thing is a dream sequence.

T: Luke comes to the rescue to pick Lor and Kirk up – but why isn’t he at Friday Night Dinner in the first place?

M: Lorelai and Luke have been together a long time: when they discuss whether they want a “fresh kid,” Luke explains that 5-6 years ago, he saw a kid at a Little League game and said “that’s the kid” (which is supposed to be his indication that he wanted a kid, because Luke). Luke and Lorelai discuss having a child, which I love as a viewer but sounds EXHAUSTING as someone who realizes that Lorelai is the mother of a THIRTY TWO YEAR OLD ADULT.

T: This conversation is also a part of the fanfic of my dreams, and also touches back on a conversation that they had in the season 6 premiere right after she proposed to him (“Kids would be great”). Lor actually mentions the aforementioned “Twickham house” scene, and yet again, a great way ASP acknowledged L+L canon without being annoying about it.

M: Anyway, Paris is the surrogacy specialist they meet with. This seems like a weird way to get Paris into the picture at first, and not really what I pictured Paris doing at all. Except – now that I’m a 30 year old with a few degrees, it actually seems super realistic that a smart, top-of-her-class person like Paris won’t necessarily be running the world. We graduated into the recession and it’s not necessarily reasonable that every person is going to be a UN representative. (I’m not saying being at the top of a huge surrogacy organization and being seemingly very wealthy is bad at all — but I mean the way the thing you end up doing isn’t what you would have guessed when you were 18.)

T: I am obsessed with the reveal of Paris, in that we only hear her yelling at first then have her enter the frame – because Paris Geller is a YELLER, and I love that it doesn’t matter what her occupation is, she’s still brilliantly shrill as ever.

M: The running gag that Luke isn’t sure whether he’s supposed to have sex with the surrogate is great.

T: Is it weird Paris’ Dynasty Makers reminds me of Orphan Black’s BrightBorn Technologies?

Paris keeps referring to Lor as a second mother, to which Luke asks: “How much time did you spend with this girl?”

M: Rory is in London discussing a ghostwriting/cowriting job with Naomi, AKA the always-delightful Alex Kingston (red flag: Rory asks if the lawyers will take care of payment and Naomi says it will be 50/50 – but girl, you better get that in writing). Rory is staying with her … friend. Her friend LOGAN with whom she has a “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” relationship. Read: they hook up whenever she’s in London. Oh, Rory. Rory, Rory, Rory. Anyway, he’s still cute with a nice apartment and we’re meant to like him more than Forgettable Paul. I will say that out of Rory’s former love interests, Logan felt like the most likely to cross paths with her in later life. Of course we all know who we’ll be seeing later on in A Year In The Life, so we’ll see.

T: Agreed. Rory and Logan always seemed like a better romantic match (Jess turned out to be a confidant type/the type that I would want to date me not Rory). But listen, why is Rory still stringing along Paul??? The joke was funny at first, but now that we find out she’s been casually sleeping with Logan, she’s technically cheating on Paul. Did she learn nothing from the Dean situation???

me at rory rn

T: Doyle is a screenwriter now and has become all Hollywood. THANK YOU ASP.

M: Meanwhile, Lane has exactly the garage band-y home you’d imagine she would, with band practice in the living room and lots of bright mismatched colors and adorable sons who she lets have fun. I mentioned before that I was really Team Lane and Team Paris, in that I figured that 10 years in the future, those are the people Rory will still be in touch with. Glad I was right on those counts!

T: #TeamParis shirt for me, please. Also, Lane and Zach moved into Sookie and Jackson’s, house right? Am I going crazy? Did they even explain why? Where is Jackson?

M: Amy Sherman Palladino made a blink and you’ll miss it Marie Kondo reference at the Gilmore Girls reunion panel, and it is so fun to see Emily trying to hold all her objects to see what “sparks joy.” (I did it. It sounds wacky but my house looks great and is always neat.) But just a moment for Kelly Bishop in jeans and a t-shirt? She looks SO GOOD.

http://gilmoresdaily.tumblr.com/post/153843227514

M: Lorelai observes that “nothing is going to bring you joy right now” which is pretty true, though. Also it’s going to be tricky when Emily realizes she doesn’t have chairs anymore. Anyway, Lorelai convinces Emily to go to counseling – “really Woody Allen the hell out of it” – and also makes Emily realize that she’s wearing jeans, which – good as she looks – is a tip-off that things aren’t going great with her.

Lorelai: “I did something right!” Luke: “Law of averages”

Stray Observations

Miss Patty’s dance studio, still with wide open barn doors in wintertime
I love that it’s this unspoken thing that Lorelai favors vintage/retro decor: her stove and fridge and chrome kitchen table now, the jukebox in the Firefly back in the day.
“I have many irons in the fire” “I heard, you should become a blacksmith.” Our girls are back.
I LOVE GYPSY.
The town got Kirk a pig because they heard him and Lulu talking about having kids and it worried them.
Lorelai: “People are dumb” – the truest sentence she’s ever said.
The Shonen Knife version of Top Of The World plays when Lorelai’s on the way to Emily’s, and my first thought is that this was SUCH an Amy Sherman Palladino soundtrack pick.
#LukeDanesDreamMan fixing the vent in the Gilmore house during the funeral
Kirk, the man who asked Luke to catch him if he had night terrors at the Dragonfly, who fell asleep in Luke’s dad’s boat in Lorelai’s garage, who was saved by Luke after not making a map for the Easter Egg hunt, continues to be the adult child to Luke and Lorelai in the revival.
Lorelai automatically filling the saltshakers at the diner and Rory going behind the counter to get coffee without Luke yelling at her – small signs that the Gilmore Girls have made the diner their home even more so in the past nine years ❤
Paris’ high-profile client is Neil Patrick Harris. Neil Patrick Harris. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS!@
The woman who asks for the WiFi password at Luke’s is Mara Casey, one of the OG casting directors for the show!

Taylor knows enough about YouTube stars that he name drops Zoella
Brian uses the spare room in Zach and Lane’s house? What is he doing with his life?
I want a video of Paris listening to Hep Alien practice on loop

Because 2016 was the year of feminism (until it wasn’t anymore), there’s a female town troubadour. And she is…. Louise Goffin! AKA Carole King’s daughter. Who calls herself the other troubadour’s sister. PLOT TWIST!!
Ending with Dolly Parton’s Here You Come Again also feels like a very Amy Sherman-Palladino music pick
In Memory of Edward Hermann. Aw.
Despite the fact I kept stopping and starting Winter, I felt like I could’ve watched a solid 30-45 minutes more of Winter. That’s probably excessive, but whatever.

22Nov2016

Countdown to ThanksGilmore: Nick Offerman Deserves a Spin-Off

Posted in Entertainment by Traci

All actors have to start somewhere when they want to break into the industry, and that means getting cast in smaller roles to build up to their big break. And because Gilmore Girls started in 2000, it means there are a countless amount of struggling actors that had the possibility of being on a WB-turned CW show, only to become familiar faces 16 years later. Click on the link below to refresh your brains on the many unexpected guest stars that came in and out of the Gilmore world.

Whatareyoudoinghere: Unexpected Guest Stars of Gilmore Girls

Nick Offerman (Season 4, Episode 7 and Season 6, Episode 4)

Although Offerman is capable of playing more than just shades of Ron Swanson, how perfect is it that his Gilmore role was Beau Belleville, big brother to resident farmer Jackson?

Max Greenfield (Season 4, Episode 4)

Pre-Schmidt, this New Girl star was filling up the Douchebag Jar as Lucas, a drunk friend at Dean’s bachelor party.

2Nov2016

Countdown to ThanksGilmore: A Last-Minute Binge Watch Guide

Posted in Entertainment by Traci

Well folks, it’s November which means we’re officially less than a month away from the arrival of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (22 days to be exact thanks to this countdown I made). In celebration of the event a lot of us have been waiting for for nearly a decade, we’re bringing back some of our favorite GG-related posts we’ve written up in the past.

Today we’re bringing back a guide for newcomers who want to sneak in a quick binge-watch before November 25th. And if you finish the entire series before Black Friday I will be super impressed (and jealous of your free time).

You’ve Been Gilmored: Tips for Binge-Watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix

Some quick tips:

Have all the snacks
Don’t eat all the snacks
Keep an eye out for guest stars (Ron Swanson, anyone?)
The fast talking doesn’t slow down

8Jul2016

Questions, Comments, Concerns: Christian Mingle – The Movie

Posted in Miscellany by Molly

There’s a Christian Mingle movie, and it’s on Netflix. It stars Lacey Chabert (Claudia Salinger, Gretchen Weiners) as Gwyneth, a vaguely (but not seriously) Christian lady who joins Christian Mingle. That’s all you need to know. I watched it so you don’t have to, and here are my questions, comments and concerns:

Comment: I have nothing against Christians. Or Mingling.

Where “mingling” = online dating, if it appeals to you. Mingling in the sense of making small talk at networking events? Now that I have some problems with.

Concern: But as a movie?

Comment: Lacey Chabert used to have a bible next to her bed.

Which is to say: I have a weird memory of an article or blurb about Lacey Chabert in a Christian teen magazine in the late 90s/ early 2000s. She has a bible next to her bed. Or did as a teen. According to this magazine my friend had.

Now, Lacey Chabert is one of my favorite Frequent Hallmark Actresses. I’m afraid you’re going to read that as sarcasm; it isn’t.

Question: Is this a fictional movie that the characters are watching in Saved?

Because that’s how I’m approaching it.

Comment: Voiceover: “I found him. With a capitol H.”

Question: Is this an AU fic about a 30-year-old Gretchen Weiners?

Because that’s also how I’m approaching it.

Comment: When Europeans talk about American teeth, they’re talking about Lacey Chabert’s teeth.

That’s not shade. Her teeth are pretty.

Comment: Gwyneth’s friend group = (L-R) a girl from a Disney Channel Original Movie who wants to do modern dance but her mom won’t let her, a blonde woman who was friends with Mindy on .5 seasons of The Mindy Project, Gretchen, and an indie singer from the early 2010s.

I mean, based on wardrobe and styling choices.

Concern: The general portrayal of single women is NOOOOOOO.

It’s fine to want a relationship, but this whole competing with female friends to get engaged first / seeming like a sad sack because you’re – gasp! – 30 years old and single (even though you have a nice apartment, some kind of job where your office is shabby chic, and a nice friend group) / judging your still-single friends thing feels like if a 60-year-old Christian man were trying to write my life and got it all wrong. Which – by the way – is exactly what this is.

It’s like a movie through the lens of how your aunts probably see you.

Concern: The Sassy Black Secretary is WHYYYYYYY.

Not the actress – she’s good- but the trope.

Comment: Oh hey, Sandy Ryerson from Glee. Fancy seeing you here.

Comment: Voiceover: “At this point, I’m like God, this is Gwyneth Payton calling, and if you are out there, um, help?!”

Comment: Gretchen Gwyneth is stalked by Christian Mingle commercials.

(Non-shady moment: I know of at least 3 couples who met on a Catholic dating site, so if it’s your thing go for it.)

Comment: In her CM profile, Gretchen inputs her church’s name as “God’s House.”

… Which, if it’s a joke about someone who doesn’t go to church making up the name of something that sounds churchy, is funny.

Good work, Christian Mingle: The Movie. Made me chuckle.

Question: If Gretchen isn’t into church/Jesus/etc, why doesn’t she just join literally any other dating site?

Question: Why are people so concerned about nicknames for two-syllable names?

The Christian Mingler asks Gwyneth what people call her. I flashed back to every time one of my siblings or cousins or friends has a baby and some uncle type always asks what you’ll call them. For a two-syllable name. Which takes like a second to say.

Comment: The Christian Mingler is written to be a Jake Lacy type.

Question: Is Jake Lacy a type yet?

Comment: Gretchen is wearing crucifix earrings to her Christian Mingle date.

HAHAHAHA. Got me again, Christian Mingle: The Movie.

Question: Is the set design of the Bible Study friend’s house a joke?

It’s full of framed inspirational posters with waterfalls and Bible quotes and a throw pillow that definitely says Jesus on it. Really feeling the Saved vibes here.

Questions: Do Christians love skinny scarves and coffee?

Or just in this movie?

Comment: This church is all wrong.

Not theologically or whatever! In terms of design.

Safe to guess that these people aren’t Catholic. The decor of the Church says, if not Catholic, at least mainline protestant – Anglican or Lutheran, probs, based on the Jesus on the crucifix (vs a bare cross). Maybe Methodist or Presbyterian. But the overall rhetoric the church people use says nondenominational evangelical.

I guess I’m saying I was surprised to see Gretchen walk into an Episcopal-looking church and not a megachurch with lyrics on screens and a worship band and a smoothie bar.

Comment: All these people are awful.

Gretchen, faking a dating profile? Awful. The Christian Mingler’s skeptical WASP mom? Awful. The people Gretchen works with except for the Sassy Secretary? Awful. Gretchen’s friends who scoff at her outfits AND at Meryl Streep? Awful. Only the Christian Mingler himself is okay.

Comment: Everyone at this rancho is dressed like they’re at one of those camps where they send Christian youths to get them back on the straight and narrow or whatever.

Question: Why does Mexico need mission trips?

It’s like 95% Christian. Unless they don’t mean evangelizing. But what else is Gretchen fit to do?

I’m almost positive they explained this while I wasn’t paying attention. It’s my fault, not the movie.

(Ed. note: there was a hurricane.)

Comment: They’re painting a church. Sister Act did it better.

That’s not really a fair comparison. The only movie as good as Sister Act is Sister Act II: Back In The Habit.

Question: What is having this white lady read from a bible, then having a Mexican lady translate, accomplishing that having a Mexican lady read the bible wouldn’t?

Is it because she’s glowing with the white lady love of Christ?

Concern: The white lady’s “good” Spanish almost makes me want to lose all Christian charity.

Comment: Voice over: “they know, I know they know, they know I know they know,” paraphrased, but way less funny than it was on Friends.

Comment: The Christian Mingler hands Gretchen her copy of Christianity for Dummies that was found under her bed. He presents it like a mom who just found a bong in her teen’s room.

Question: Isn’t Christianity for Dummies already a thing? Isn’t that just the Bible?

Not calling anyone who reads it DUMB I just mean all the stuff is in there.

Besides, what’s so bad about Christianity for Dummies? Gretchen says she was baptized and grew up with church and now she’s trying to learn more about it – see “all these people are awful,” above.

Question: Also does anyone read For Dummies books anymore?

The whole internet is a for dummies guide already, for free.

Comment: Count the broken commandments in this movie.

I’ll start: bearing false witness against thy neighbor.

Comment: Don’t worry, the secretary goes to a storefront church with good music.

Concern: Gretchen has a creepy haunted doll baby in her apartment. And a murky gray painting of disembodied hands.

Is this what they think interior design of the unchurched looks like?

Question: HOW IS GRETCHEN USEFUL IN MEXICO. HOW.

A little boy tells Gretchen to go to the church – a Spanish 101 query, if that – and she needs him to repeat it slowly in English. #UglyAmerican

1Jul2016

Hey World, You’ve Been Gilmored: Tips for Binge-Watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix

Posted in Entertainment by Traci

*Starting today, July 1st, the rest of the world will be able to experience what us Americans have been able to enjoy for the past two years – the entirety of Gilmore Girls on Netflix Instant.

Obviously this is a smart move for Netflix ahead of Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life premiering later this year, but now I feel like the show’s going to have an even larger global fan base than ever before. So if you happen to be watching the show for the first time this weekend, international readers, here’s a handy guide to making it through the entire series. I made this in 2014 when GG first hit Netflix in America, so I’ve made a few updates throughout. Copperboom!*

It’s happening you guys. IT’S ALL HAPPENING. Sorry I yelled at you. Let’s make up. I’m just super excited for the recent news coming out of Netflix HQ: All seven seasons of Gilmore Girls are coming to Netflix Instant. That’s right – 153 episodes, about 6,732 minutes, and an unlimited number of pop culture references that will be available at your beck and call any time of day!

For Gilmore Girls fanatics like me, this doesn’t *seem* like it should be as important as it is. Like, I have all seven seasons on DVD and watch repeats of them on ABC Family everyday before I go to work, but still, Netflix Instant is next level. This means it’s possible to watch Dean build a car for Rory, watch Luke and Lorelai’s first kiss, and skip all the April episodes all in one fell swoop!

If you didn’t get any of those references, then you probably need to binge watch GG the moment it becomes available on October 1st. Why? Well let me tell you the brief history I have with this show. I was a late bloomer to GG, catching the repeats the first year they went on syndication right after season 5 aired in the summer of 2005. I remember becoming obsessed and even taped (yes, with VHS tapes) every single episode from TV. I eventually bought the DVDs and watched every episode multiple times, memorized lines, daydreamed about being BFF with Lorelai, or just daydreamed about being Lorelai. It was a show I watched with my group of friends that I studied abroad with, illegally streaming eps that aired in the U.S. so we could be caught up with the current season. It’s a show that I related to, where I could see myself in Lorelai, in Rory, in Lane, where sarcasm and witty quips were a fluent language and coffee is the drink of choice. It’s a show that romanticizes small town America, but still deals with realistic problems (for the most part). It’s a show that’s not just for teen girls like most assume, but for both adult women AND men. It’s a show, that at its heart, is about family, friendship and community. Most importantly, it’s a show you should be watching in its entirety come October 1st.

For the new citizens of Stars Hollow, or those who haven’t seen the show in a while and are in the mood for a good ol’ binge watch, here are some helpful tips (in no particular order) to get you through seven full seasons of one of the greatest TV shows of all time*.

*Number 43, according to Entertainment Weekly

Tip #1: Have snacks

The gals’ relationship to food is probably the longest relationship both Lorelai and Rory have ever had. They take it seriously. During Rory’s first night at college, Lorelai even organized a taste test for all the fast food places in the area so they could rate them. Also, one of the cardinal rules of the Gilmore girls is that if they’re sitting down to watch a movie or TV show, they have to have snacks. And not just one kind of snack. Like you can’t just have popcorn. You also have to have candy and pizza and Chinese take out from Al’s Pancake World. Make sure you have all your bases covered when binge watching.

Tip #2: Don’t eat all the snacks

Don’t let these adorable Gilmore Girls fool you, they’ve trained years to eat as much as they do and still wear a size 2. That and the fact that they’re actors and probably have spit buckets at the ready. There have actually been in-depth studies on how Lor and Rory manage to eat all the crap they eat and still look thin. One person at The Huffington Post even calculated how many calories they intake in a day. It’s not pretty. So as much as you want to eat like a champion, leave it to the ~~professionals~~ actors.

Tip #3 Brew up some coffee coffee coffee

In addition to all the food consumption, these gals drink coffee like they breathe in air. It’s their oxygen. It’s lit’rally one of the first things Lorelai says/begs for in the pilot. Points if you get Luke’s coffee with a touch of nutmeg.

Tip #4: Be ready to pick a favorite boyfriend of Rory’s

For those who have never seen GG: yes, that’s the brother from Supernatural. Yes, that’s the dude from Heroes. Yes, that’s the lawyer from The Good Wife. Now that that’s over, Rory’s love life goes through three main boyfriends from her time in high school to the end of college. Dean (Jared Padalecki) was the first love, Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) was the bad boy boyfriend, and Logan (Matt Czuchry) was the one she didn’t see coming. All three have their own pros and cons, but for me, the one who always wins out in the end is Jess. Not just because he and Alexis Bledel dated IRL, either. Because they were *meant 2 be*. And once you’re done with the series, read this super hilarious – and accurate – roundtable discussion of Rory’s BFs.

Tip #5: Same goes for Lorelai

Listen, you’ll see throughout the course of the show that Lor has more boyfriends than local diner owner Luke and baby daddy Christopher. If you’ve watched it and for some reason pick neither (or even worse pick Jason) as your fave, your points are invalid. For Lorelai, she was always torn between who she should be with and who she wanted to be with, and really, there’s no wrong answer here. Except there is a wrong answer. Read on…

Tip #6: Pick a ship and sail with it

Sam and Diane. Rachel and Ross. Jim and Pam. Luke and Lorelai. As far as TV couples go, Luke and Lorelai are probably my favorite of all time. They’re one of the most epic ‘will they or won’t they’ couples in TV history and *spoiler alert* waiting nearly five seasons for them to get together is totally worth it. From the beginning, you could tell the man who provided the crazed woman with a constant coffee IV drip had been pining for her, and she loved him without even knowing it. Their subtle glances to each other, their inability to admit jealousy of significant others, the way they cared for each other as if they had been in a relationship all along – is what makes them the ultimate ship of all ships on this show.

Tip #7: Keep an eye out for guest stars

If you can believe it, Gilmore Girls started in the year 2000. That’s 14 years ago. Approximately the age of a current high school freshman. That means that during the show’s seven season run, a lot of actors who had cameo roles have since become much bigger stars. Take for example, the man above. You may recognize his mustache as seen on Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation, but on GG, he plays Beau Belville, a creepy relative of Jackson. Everyone from Jon Hamm to Seth MacFarlane to the guy who played Duncan Kane on Veronica Mars all show up to Stars Hollow at some point.

Tip #8: Paris Geller takes some getting used to

In the beginning, Rory’s classmate is a snobby, malicious, Heather-type bitch. It’s easy to hate on her. But trust, she will become one of your favorite characters on the show as the series goes on.

Tip #9: Soak in the magic that is Melissa McCarthy

Long before Melissa McCarthy was “Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Melissa McCarthy”, she was the lovable, bumbling Sookie St. James, BFOTB (Best Friend of the Bride). Any GG fan can tell you that Melissa was a standout on the show. Her comedic skills were beyond and I’m so happy that she finally gets to showcase it in all its glory.

Tip #10: You can visit Stars Hollow

Yes, that’s right folks. You can actually visit the fictional town that is Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Well, okay, kind of. Two options: 1 go on a Warner Brothers tour in sunny Burbank, California, just minutes from my humble abode (Come over after, I’ll provide coffee). It depends on whether the area is being used for filming or not, but you’ll get to see the town square on said tour! Since it’s been seven years since the show ended, WB has gotten rid of the Luke’s and Doose’s signs, but the facades still stand (and are used for shows like Pretty Little Liars and Hart of Dixie). You’ll be able to see Miss Patty’s, Stars Hollow High, the church with the bells, and maybe even the gazebo! I will say that I’ve been on the WB tour THRICE and it wasn’t until the final time that I got to see the town square. Probs because I begged our tour guide and we were essentially the only ~~Americans~~ people paying attention.

*** Earlier this year, just before GG went into production for A Year in the Life, I took the WB tour again and managed to see Stars Hollow coming to life! Check out pix of Luke’s, the Gilmore house and Doose’s here!!!***

If you want a tour of the real Stars Hollow, the closest you can get is Washington Depot, Connecticut, where GG creator Amy Sherman-Palladino stayed and was inspired to write the show. A complete guide can be find here, and also gives details on surrounding towns that have that SH feel.

Tip #11: Question Michel’s sexuality

He’s the unfriendly concierge for the Independence Inn/Dragonfly and he never uses pronouns when it comes to significant others. He is always dressed impeccably, watches his weight to a fault, and loves Destiny’s Child and Celine Dion. You decide.

Tip #12: The fast-talking doesn’t slow down

There’s nothing wrong with your TV, those girls talk fast. Most hour-long ‘dramas’ have scripts that, on average, are 40 to 50 pages long, but the fast-paced dialogue that GG is known for would spawn across 75 to 80 pages!

Tip #13: Celebrate June 3rd

**If you haven’t seen the show and don’t want to be spoiled, don’t watch that video! But I’m about to talk about some stuff that happens, so skip ahead if you don’t want to know!

June 3rd was supposed to be the date of Luke and Lorelai’s wedding until April and subsequently Lorelai herself screwed it all up. June 3rd is also the date Rory had a date in court, and my friends and I have unofficially deemed June 3rd Gilmore Girls day. It usually includes good food, coffee coffee coffee and maybe an episode or two. Luckily, you have plenty of time to watch the entire series (a few times, probs) before the next GG holiday.

***Celebrate June 3rd next year and every year!***

Tip #14: Don’t worry if you don’t get all the pop culture references

The witty banter and references made in the show are sometimes thrown in there that you miss most of them. I love that I can watch the show to this day and still find a ref I missed before. In the DVDs (IDK if they still do this now), each box set used to come with a lexicon guide to help you understand what the characters were talking about. Even the cast admitted they didn’t get all of the references – apparently Alexis had to ask Lauren who The Waltons were at some point…

Tip #15: The finale wasn’t a real finale

When you reach the very last episode of the series, you’ll be left with a feeling of unfinished business. Like it was fine, but you also want more. This is mainly because the finale wasn’t actually meant to be a series finale. When the WB turned into the CW during the show’s last season, a lot of things got fucked up, including the fact that Amy Sherman-Palladino left at the end of season 6, which is also the reason why season 7 was kind of weird in general. Anyways, when they shot the season 7 finale, they weren’t sure if they were going to get picked up or not, so they wrote the season finale as if it could be a series finale, but also left room for the possibility of going somewhere in season 8. Because of this, fans have been clamoring for more, which is why you hear about those movie rumors from time to time. BTW, those are rumors, nothing’s happening with that. However, AS-P has said in the past that she had planned the final line of the entire series since the beginning, but because she left, we never got to find out what that was. So here’s hoping she’ll maybe spill the beans or there will be a random 2 hour TV movie that will satisfied GG fans around the world.

***Fast forward to two years later aND OH MY GOD I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE GETTING MORE EPISODES. FIVE NEW HOURS OF LORELAI AND RORY AND I DON’T THINK MY BODY IS OR WILL EVER BE READY. What are our thoughts on the Netflix revival?? Here’s how we felt back in October, 2015 when the news broke and changed our lives forever.***

Alright kids, I think that’s enough to get you ready to binge watch one of the best shows ever. Hopefully it will live up to all the hype. And now that Dawson’s Creek is off Instant (RIP), this should probably be your go to show moving forward.

24Feb2016

It’s 2016: Let’s All (Re)Decorate For Fuller House!

Before Joey more upstairs, he lived in the basement, a fully carpeted and furnished living area that was all his. Again, Charlie Chaplin continues to be an inspiration for Joe, and his lounge furniture a) has a random white design on it and b) easily looks like it could be patio furniture.

NOW:

My best guess is this room is now Stephanie’s living quarters. We still don’t know what she’s been up to all these years, but if this is her room, I’m theorizing she’s a world traveler who teaches yoga, based on the couch threads, possible sombrero on the staircase and Indian-style pillow with an elephant on it. Or she could be like, a 4th grade teacher who’s really into global studies.

18Jan2016

Scary Things About Making A Murderer Other Than The Murder

Posted in Entertainment by Cookies + Sangria

If you have a Netflix account and a social media presence, chances are you’ve watched Making A Murderer, you’ve discussed Making A Murderer … and you’ve been terrified by Making A Murderer. Obviously the scariest thing in the series (and also one of the least-discussed, somehow) is THE ACTUAL, TERRIBLE MURDER OF 25-YEAR OLD TERESA HALBACH. Caps lock totally necessary because it was awful. But the horror doesn’t end there – we were duly frightened by the following:

Winter in Wisconsin

I live in one of the snowiest cities in America (100 inches/average). We get 12 inches of lake effect snow and school isn’t even cancelled the next day. The average high temperature last February was 12 degrees Fahrenheit. And I am a total wimp compared to the hardy Wisconsinites in this series. Didn’t it feel like every exterior shot, no matter what time it took place, was crammed with piles of snow everywhere? But nobody complained or even looked cold? Manitowoc County is like the North Pole except that it’s a workshop for unspeakable violence and judicial corruption instead of toys.

Scare Scale: A White-Knuckle Drive On An Icy Expressway – 2/10

The Land That Time Forgot

Based on the hair and wardrobe of the various townspeople, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Making A Murderer was filmed in 1986 or 1998, but it was actually well into the 2000s. I know plenty of small-town residents, rural folks, and Midwesterners who look completely normal, so the frozen-in-time aesthetic really added to the feeling that there was something just off about every single one of these people.

Scare Scale: The moment when Rip Van Winkle awakes – 3/10

The Straight-From-Deliverance Interior Design

Even if I didn’t know that a person may have been raped and murdered in Steven Avery’s home, I’d consider it a house of horrors. The whole Avery slum is like a reverse Kennedy compound (only similarity: some possible murder cover-ups). I grew up in an inner city neighborhood and I can safely say that a WHOLE lot of poor people manage not to decorate like the subjects of Making A Murderer.

Scare Scale: Walking Into Your Home Post-Trading Spaces c. 2003 And Finding That One Of The BAD Designers Did It- 4/10

Two Nice Lesbians In Possible Peril

The filmmakers behind Making A Murderer, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, were a very young, chill lesbian couple from Columbia University when this project began. Although there are tons of intelligent, free-thinking people in the rural northern Midwest, the particular crowd that was featured in this documentary seemed… um… not that way. Not to mention, Ricciardi and Demos probably didn’t exactly blend into the Land That Time Forgot. They never mentioned being made to feel at all uncomfortable, but I still found myself wanting to call in a welfare check when I realized they were alone with some of those people (ahem… Steven’s terrifying mother).

Scare Scale: That Time When TLC Showed Michelle Duggar’s Lesbian Sister & I Imagined The First Time She Met Jim-Bob – 5/10

Unappealing Day-Drinking

In one of the early episodes, townspeople were interviewed at a local bar. It looked like everyone in the county was there downing domestic draft beer and shooting pool – and then we realized it was the middle of the afternoon. Maybe there was a game on or something? There’s nothing exactly WRONG with going to the bar in the daytime, but it looked distinctly like that’s what some people were doing all day, every day.

Scare Scale: Realizing That You Get Hungover After Two Drinks Now That You’re Old – 3/10

Small rural towns in general

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a suburb of the third most populated city in New York, or have an attraction to big cities (typing this to you from LA), but areas with nothing around except 200 people who know your shit scares me. Unless it’s Stars Hollow. But IRL, I couldn’t handle it. I’ve taken a cross country road trip which included driving through pretty much all of Texas and Oklahoma, and it was those states that I feared the most (for other reasons too we can get into later). It’s just all land, nothing around. What if you need medical attention ASAP? Where’s the nearest hospital? Is it even a good one (DR. DEREK SHEPARD)?? If someone kills you, will anyone be able to hear your screams? If you sleep with the local diner owner who’s been pining for you for years and you accidentally go down to the open diner sans pants and clearly sexed from the night before, will the gossip ever stop about your relationship? Nope. Not for me.

Scare Scale: Getting Hit By A Deer On The Way To An Exam At Chilton – 7/10

Going commando

In the 1985 rape case, Penny Beernsten said her assailant was wearing white underwear during the attack. However, Steven Avery’s post-conviction lawyer argued that Steven doesn’t own any underwear – white or otherwise. So like, never? It’s so cold in Wisconsin! Although he spends most of his time indoors, I’m assuming.

Scare Scale: Realizing that your underwear lines were visible all day – 6/10

Casual front yard fire pits

even the dog thinks this is ridiculous

Listen, I love a good bonfire but I don’t call my friends over to casually burn an old cabinet and a van seat in the afternoon. I especially didn’t do that when I was 16. I mean, how even are you supposed to make s’mores? But on the real, if you had a neighbor that was burning furniture in his front yard in the middle of the day, you’d think something was up right? I guess this wouldn’t be weird in rural Wisconsin, so ok, maybe if you’re in a populated suburb or a big city – THIS WOULD BE SCARY.

Scare Scale: A Manitowoc-Sized Hole In The Ozone Layer – 6/10

The fact this rap exists

“Kid’s just innocent / was only 16, tryna set him free / He’s not guilty, there’s no way in hell / Corruption made him fall, lose it all .”

Naturally, Brendan’s half-brother made a rap about his innocence.

Scare Scale: White Rappers – 7/10

Literally framed

Chief Deputy Kusche is an artistic genius @MakingAMurderer #MakingAMurderer pic.twitter.com/W1MPKp1ndb

— ali mac (@alimac326) December 27, 2015

Police sketch artist/Chief Deputy Sheriff Gene Kusche walked into quite a first day on the job when he took on the case in 1985. He was basically (allegedly) told to draw a sketch of Steven Avery based on a mug shot they had of him from the time he did the thing to the cat. Kusche denied he was told what to draw, despite DNA proving Steven didn’t do it. Anyways, he framed the sketch and hung it up alongside Steve’s actual mug shot. In his words, “I’m just… the pencil. I’m just the pencil.”

Scare Scale: When You’re Walking Past A Mirror And You Don’t Recognize Yourself At First – 8/10

The “International Recording Artist” wasn’t that at all

Not only was he not international, he was also not recording or an artist- he’s a small town guitarist that one time played a NASCAR event and opened for a few country acts – they’ve never played outside the U.S., per TMZ.

Scare Scale: Those Creepy Children Who Performed At The Trump Rally – 6/10

Ken Kratz revealed

The man had both a drug AND sex addiction and has only been sober for five years. Meaning he had this problem during the Avery case??

Scare Scale: When You Get Home And A Door Is Open That Shouldn’t Be And You Don’t Know Whether It’s Better If It Was A Burglar Or A Ghost: 8/10

Everyone’s A Lawyer

I don’t consider myself a legal expert, and I graduated magna cum laude from law school, passed the bar on the first try, and have been working in the legal profession for 4 years. But you know who DO consider themselves legal experts? A whole bunch of people who watched this show and armchair-lawyered it on the internet. I want people to take interest in the justice system, ask questions, and form opinions, but a binge watch isn’t a doctoral degree. If it was I’d be a certified meth-chemist by now.

The only annoying things, actually, were people not understanding that some of the procedural stuff was totally normal and not a big deal, and believing that all necessary information was presented in this series.

Scare Scale: The morning before Day 2 of the New York bar exam, 4/10

Everyone’s Also A Predator?

Okay, not everyone, but way more people than I’m comfortable with (for the record, my comfort level would be 0. Zero people). First there’s Gregory Allen, the person who actually raped Penny Beernsten. Then there’s the person or people who killed Teresa Halbach, whoever that may be. Sit tight, there’s more. Charles Avery, Steven’s brother: charged with sexual assault; domestic violence. Earl Avery, Steven’s other brother: also charged with sexual assault (of his daughters). Scott Tadych, boyfriend of Barb Janda (Steven’s sister/ Brendan’s mom): stalking, domestic violence. Steven Avery: domestic violence. We’re all very fired up about problems in the criminal justice system now, as well we should be, but why isn’t this causing more outrage too?

Scare Scale: A Holiday Weekend-Long Law And Order: SVU Marathon, 9/10

Uncertainty in the justice system

I think most viewers can agree that the outrage of the show lies within the fact there just wasn’t enough evidence to prove neither Brendan or Steven Avery guilty. We are promised fair trials in cases like these, but something just wan’t right with this one. Too many sketchy bits add up to one questionable justice system in Wisconsin. That being said, what’s perhaps the scariest of all is that anyone could arrested (no matter the location), and despite all signs pointing to your innocence, end up behind bars for the rest of your life.

Scare Scale: I just found a dead body in my attic 10/10

12Nov2015

Show You Should Be Watching If You Aren’t Already: Master of None

Posted in Entertainment by Traci

I’ve said it before on this blog, but I’ll say it again. I watch a lot of television. Like, I have an app on my phone to help me remember when everything is on so I don’t miss anything type of obsession. That being said, I’ve seen a lot of programs in my day, but nothing has quite affected me like Master of None.

Basic Plot

Loosely based on Aziz Ansari’s life, he plays Dev, a 30-something actor in New York City, navigating between his professional and personal life, romance, and identity.

To be honest, after first watching the trailer, I was just expecting another comedy from Aziz Ansari. I knew he was re-teaming with Parks and Rec alums – creator Mike Schur, writers Alan Yang and the late Harris Wittels – to produce it, so I knew if anything, the writing was going to be fantastic. I didn’t think twice about the actors and subject matter he chose to feature. I knew I was going to watch it no matter what, but I was pleasantly surprised by the content matter and show as a whole after watching the pilot.

Like the trailer above, the first scene of the series features Aziz and former SNL featured player Noel Wells mid-coitus. The setup feels akin to a Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow joint (no pun intended), but as you watch the rest of the episode unfold, you realize it’s much more than that.

Dev, a single guy, goes to his friends’ kid’s birthday party in the same ep, and a show you initially thought was going to be a crude look at relationships, turns into a deeper look into friendships with friends who have children, friendships with friends who have no children, the inner debate of whether you should or are even mentally able to have children, and so on and so forth.

In fact, the evolution of the series itself was somewhat similar, in that when Aziz and Alan originally conceived the show, they focused more on dating as a 20-30 something (Modern Romance, anyone?), but then both of them realized they could speak volumes if they just wrote about their own experiences, personal journeys and backgrounds.

“Neither of us are older white guys. We’re younger minorities, and that does inform our world views in some ways. Not everything is viewed through that prism, but it does affect how we move through society, so we want to be honest about that and put that in the show.” – Alan Yang {x}

And honestly, the way Alan described how he and Aziz viewed Master of None is exactly what I, as an Asian-American millennial, want to see represented in the media. Yes, minorities’ culture should be accurately depicted onscreen, but does that mean I want to see a person of color going on a long, laborious, slightly embarrassing rant about how the white man is trying to take us down? No. But does it mean I would like to see a person of color awkwardly walk into a room of all unexpectedly white people in a professional setting? Yes.

A while ago, I wrote about Fresh of the Boat, and how that show needs to stay on the air for the sole purpose of representation. And luckily it has. FOTB is a comedic take on a Chinese family with immigrant parents in the 90s, and everyone can relate to their dynamics no matter their background. However, it is a sitcom in the truest form, in that it doesn’t necessarily feature the more serious issues that minorities in America deal with daily. Shows like FOTB are like a gateway drug into another culture, letting viewers in middle America slowly get a peek into a different world they might not be familiar with, one joke at a time.

But then there’s something like Master of None, which portrays a culture in a serious light (even though it’s a comedy), in a way that is real and moving, and has a cast that rivals even Shondaland. As previously mentioned, Aziz plays Dev, an Indian-American, and he has a Chinese-American best friend, Brian, played by Kelvin Yu. Their friend circle includes a black lesbian, Denise (Lena Waithe) and Arnold (Eric Wareheim), lit’rally the “token white friend”. Just the mere fact that a TV show has more minorities in the lead roles than white people is already lightyears ahead of most of the programs already on TV. And because it’s created by Aziz and Alan (and probably a lot to do with the fact they’re on Netflix and not a network), they’re not afraid to talk about the lack of POC in media, either.

Again, this speaks to the fact that personal identity isn’t how we view ourselves all the time, it’s just one thing about us that makes us see the world in a different view than others. But it also touches upon the state of media today, and, full circle, what Viola Davis said during her Emmy Award speech in September.

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”

People like Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling and Aziz Ansari are creating the roles for POC to break through those barriers, because no one else was creating the content that provided the platform for people like them to shine. No one was developing a show that was featured the life of children of immigrants in an honest fashion, so Aziz and Alan did so (PS: if you haven’t read Aziz’s article in the NY Times about this, do it now! Or I mean, after you finish reading my post. Come on.)

Which leads me to the second episode of Master of None titled Parents, and perhaps the single most important episode of TV I’ve seen in my life. I don’t want to give too much away, but it basically deals with Dev and Brian airing out their grievances about their parents’ requests (‘Fix this thing on my iPhone’, ‘Pick up rice on your way home’), and it’s juxtaposed with their parents’ lives in their native countries prior to immigrating to America. Dev and Brian realize they don’t really know about much about their parents, and spend the second half of the ep learning more about them.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I started crying within the first five minutes of this episode. It hit so close to home, in a way that I’ve never felt about a piece of media before in my life. I’ve obviously related to TV characters such as Lane on Gilmore Girls, but that was because I felt like my parents were the most like the immigrant, super religious, strict Mrs. Kim, not because I was an Asian girl with glasses. In this Parents episode, I saw myself in Dev & Brian’s position, wanting to shrug off my immigrant parents’ simple requests, and often forgetting just how much they gave up to give me a better life. I don’t want to turn this blog into a therapy session, but the episode brought up issues I had already felt lingering before, so to see it manifested in front of me on screen felt like a punch in the gut. A good one, of course.

After watching the episode, I went on Twitter (as one does) to just let the Interwebz know how great and life-changing the show is, even if I was only on the second episode. Lo and behold, look who responded to me:

Yeah, it’s cool that people are liking his show, but I imagine it’s got to have an even bigger impact on a show creator when viewers are truly connecting with the art they’ve created. To know that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life must be a rewarding experience.

And for Aziz, it seems to be. Yesterday, he posted this sweet post on Tumblr about his dad, who was happy to use almost all of his vacation time to shoot the show. They appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, and Aziz’s dad told him, “This is all fun and I liked acting in the show, but I really just did it so I could spend more time with you.” Aziz wrote, “I almost instantly collapsed into tears at the thought of how much this person cares about me and took care of me and gave me everything to give me the amazing life I have. I felt like a total piece of garbage for all the times I haven’t visited my parents and told them I wanted to stay in New York cause I’d get bored in SC. I’m an incredibly lucky person and many of you are as well.”

He went on to say how he is “overwhelmed” by the response to the Parents ep, and how writing the ep and filming it with his real parents (who play Dev’s parents) ironically made his relationship better with his parents IRL. If that doesn’t tell you just how powerful the storytelling is in this series, I don’t know what will. I hope this show will be able to reach people like me, who can strongly relate to Dev and Brian, but also, and maybe even more importantly, reach the people who don’t have a similar background. With everything that’s going on in this country on college campuses and in the streets, I think it’s more important than ever to get a sense of what people are going through from “the other side”. Empathy is the catalyst for change and acceptance, and if something like this show can do it for people, then I’d say Aziz certainly is the Master of One.

The entire 10-episode season of Master of None is now streaming on Netflix

26Oct2015

Gilmore Girls Revival Town Meeting

Posted in Entertainment by Cookies + Sangria

Exactly one week ago, the world received news that a long-awaited Gilmore Girls revival was finally in the works.

We’ve since had one week to digest this information, and while we still have a bit of Michael Scott freakout in us, we’ve managed to calm down enough to share our feelings on the revival with y’all.

T: When we tell our (maybe) kids about the revival, it’ll be akin to older folks telling stories about where they were when JFK was shot or like Ted Mosby telling a horrible story. “Kids, I’m gonna tell you the story of the exact moment I found out a Gilmore Girls revival was happening.”

M: If this revival hadn’t happened, my future children were going to have to to hear a 10-year-long story about how Luke and Lorelai probably didn’t end up together, instead. So really, everyone wins.

T: The day – Monday, October 19th. The time – around 2:30pm. The location – my office. I have to constantly be checking the Internet for entertainment news, and when I was checking my Twitter, I saw a post from Michael Ausiello of TVLine.com pop up that said this:

Scoop: GILMORE GIRLS Limited-Series Revival Set at Netflix — This Is NOT a Drill https://t.co/4234p9Kt1H

— Michael Ausiello (@MichaelAusiello) October 19, 2015

I really wanted to yell WHAT!!?!?!? out loud but there were others in the vicinity who would no doubt question my sanity, so I said it at a very low tone to myself and began digging deeper into the supposed revival.

M: Should I be concerned that it’s only been a week and I have zero recollection of how I found out? Those hypothetical kids are totally going to put me in a home, aren’t they? In any case, I was very pleased but also assumed that it was another one of those articles that comes out every couple months after a cast member appears on a podcast. Ahem.

T: Luke Danes, always be startin shit. Anyways, the story itself, Netflix has a deal with Amy Sherman-Palladino to make four 90-minute “movie-lets” or “super-sized episodes”, seemed feasible. It’s the whole – should I really believe this report that was getting to me. But my Olivia Pope gut knew it was true. This really wasn’t a drill. And it’s all because of Michael Ausiello. I’ve been creepily following him since his days at TV Guide, then Entertainment Weekly, and now Ed in Chief of TV Line. Why? Because I knew he was a hardcore GG fan, like me. In 2005, he had a walk-on role as a Dragonfly Inn guest, exiting a room just as Luke and Lorelai entered it (But I’m a Gilmore!, S5E19).

IMO, he is the go-to and foremost GG expert in the entertainment news world, and not only because he’s been bugging ASP and Lauren (and any GG alum he can talk to) to get them to fish on a possible reunion, and most importantly, what the ASP’s planned “last four words” of the show were going to be. She even mentioned him during the ATX reunion panel, saying Michael would be at her deathbed asking her what the final words are. I’m pretty sure he’s said he’s had at least one lunch with ASP (outside of journalism) before, and Lauren even considers him to be an exclusive GG reporter. Long story long, I would believe Ausiello over any other journalist when it comes to GG, so I knew there had to be truth to it. He later called in to an “Emergency Podcast” of the Gilmore Guys (LOL BECAUSE OF COURSE) and everything he was saying I believed wholeheartedly.

M: Yeah, it wasn’t one of those fake “news” sites that regurgitates rumors for clicks. And honest to goodness, my very first thought was that now we’d find out what those last four words are. If ASP finds some reason to weasel out of it, I swear to God. In my heart of hearts I want to believe that ASP insisted that Ausiello be the one to break the news. I imagine that she had to make sure that he was seated and had a cold compress and hot tea beside him before she said anything.

T: BTW, I legit had multiple contact me to either “congratulate” me or confirm the revival news with me, and I honestly consider this to be one of the greatest achievements of my life.

M: It was big news with everyone I knew who loved the show during its original run. Seriously, there was no reason to even bother to show up to your 2004 shift at Hoyts Cinemas if you hadn’t seen that week’s episode. I knew a lot of people who watched GG back in the day, followed the constant reruns on ABC family, then did a full rewatch when it landed on Netflix this fall. And while I love a lot of shows that I did NOT watch during the first airing, there is a weird feeling that it belongs to the people who loved it all along. Still, you can’t ignore that the show became bigger than it ever was during its run thanks to Netflix. There were kids in the audience at the Gilmore Girls reunion in June who weren’t even born when the pilot aired. I love that.

T: Also, Netflix is the perfect platform for the closure of this show. In fact, I’d say Netflix is a huge factor in this entire deal. Although the show had a fan base long before the entire series was released on Netflix last October, there was a renewed interest and a whole new generation of fans that found the show for the first time. It’s like when I watched Veronica Mars for the first time a few years ago on Instant and became OBSESSED. Flash forward to a Kickstarter and a movie and a book series – it took on a life of its own that really couldn’t have been possible a few years prior.

M: Absolutely. Things have changed, but in the early 2000s there was sort of a stigma around “WB Shows,” in that they were really tied to teeny-bopper culture. ABC Family has some cool factor with PLL and everything, but the syndication there also kept GG in the frothy teen/family fare category. Once the show was on Netflix, it reached an audience that it couldn’t have otherwise.

T: And now all those generations will get to see what happens next. Speaking of which – call me insane or insensitive but I really think the passing of Edward Hermann/Richard Gilmore will bring a lot of interesting drama to the show like we’ve never seen before. In the same vein, fans of Grey’s Anatomy were outraged when Patrick Dempsey/Dr. Derek Shepard died unexpectedly at the end of last season. People vowed to never watch the show again since a major character – the one married to the titular Grey – was killed off. But because I’m a TV nerd, I was looking forward for the next season, to see if and how Meredith would be able to continue just living life without her husband, without her best friend/person who moved to Switzerland, and having to start from the beginning and go blindly into the light. And I must say, the episodes to date have been outstanding, providing storylines that wouldn’t have been possible if Derek never died. So basically what I’m saying is, if these GG Revival Movie-lets include a memorial for Richard Gilmore and how Lorelai has to handle her own grief while handling her mother, I am so incredibly down for it.

M: During the panel, one of the questions was where all of the characters would be now. Since I think of actors and characters as separate entities, I wondered if they’d imagine that Richard was still alive. But there’s no Richard without Edward Hermann, and Kelly Bishop said that Emily would be adjusting to life as a widow. It will add a new dimension to the show, and will probably soften some of Emily’s crustier edges. The first dinner scene without Richard there is going to be a doozy, though.

^TRY TO WATCH THIS AND NOT CRY. BYE.

T: Then there’s the Melissa McCarthy factor – will she be in it? Would it be weird if she didn’t show up for at least one episode, all the while we know she’s off in Budapest shooting another Paul Feig movie?

M: It’s weird, but Melissa McCarthy’s career is so big that even though I love GG, sometimes I almost forget that she was in it. I don’t know if she’d do it, but if not I can imagine scenes with Jackson and Lorelai where they’re always just like “oh, and Sookie is in the kitchen.” She’ll be like the Cathy Santoni or Cousin Tino of the Netflix revival.

T: The other thing is that ASP and her husband Daniel Palladino are at the helm again. This gives me all the faith in the world they will do it right. They’ll treat the Richard story right, the Luke and Lorelai story right, and the final words right.

M: The last four words make me a bit nervous. There’s been so much build up that something that would have been amazing in 2007, like “will you marry me” from Luke to Lorelai or vice-versa, can come across as anti-climactic. But with ASP back in the game I’m not too worried, because whatever she does, she’ll do the right way. It’s not like GG was known for shocking revelations and wacky cliffhangers – it was just a good story, well-told.

T: When Ausiello interviewed ASP in 2009, she basically gave GG fans hope there would be a “real” ending, even though she had no idea when it would be:

“I don’t want to totally say what my ideas were, because if there is a movie in the making, I’m going to be basically delving back into where I left off, and then I’m kind of screwed… Anything can happen. I’m in touch with Lauren and Alexis. If there’s a story to tell, then absolutely I think we’re all going to want to tell it. That’s the bottom line.

“If I thought it was definitely not going to happen, I would say, ‘No, it’s definitely not going to happen.’ I would do that for you, my friend. But I don’t want to say that. Because I think that the beauty of Gilmore, and the beauty of family relationship shows is, you never really run out of story. You’re going to battle your family until you’re all in the ground. Those things never resolve, doesn’t matter how much therapy you get. Ten years later, there’s still going to be material there to mine and to delve into.” {source}

This Netflix series will give the person who created this world a chance to finish her story. Imagine being an author of an incredible piece of work that was beloved by fans and critics alike – but having the final chapter yanked from you and written by someone else. Amy’s finally getting her chance to write her final chapter.

T: PS – don’t call it “Season 8”. They talked about this a bit on the Gilmore Guys Emergency Podcast, and I agree – this next installment of Gilmore Girls isn’t going to be season eight. It’s basically going to be season 7, cut down to a “six-episode season” and the way the show was really supposed to end. It’s not a new, 23 episode season of a fresh new Gilmore Girls. It’s a glimpse of where they are in their lives right now, in this moment, because they’re obviously real.

M: As we said on Twitter, now’s the part where we get to watch ASP dig her way out of Season 7. It’s a bit like when you move into a house. You can’t just come in and plop down your sofa, you have to undo all of the weird choices that the previous owners made. And the S7 show runners are like those previous owners who decided to put shag carpeting in the bathroom and install track lighting in weird places.

Time is on her side here, though – assuming the same amount of time has elapsed in Stars Hollow, it’s not as though she has to pick up with Rory living in Malibu Barbie’s Pool House. This isn’t a season, per se, but if I do a start-to-finish rewatch, I think this revival is going to entirely replace season 7.

def did not photoshop lg’s face on selena gomez’s body. is this creepyidon’t care

T: All this being said, I’m still cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. All I know is that I want it to be as satisfying as it should be. That the wait was worth it. And I know how much pressure ASP and Daniel must have on them. I am not enviable of them at all. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have an entire fandom on your shoulders. But we also have to remember they can’t please everyone (there are people who liked the HIMYM finale). But I’m hoping, and 90% sure they will.

But most of all, the more this whole revival becomes real, the more it becomes real life. The greatness of Gilmore Girls was that it provided a fantasy other world to escape to. We clung on to the hope that one day ASP would come back to write the final four words. We had something to look forward to for the past eight years. Once this revival is wrapped – that will be the end. I can’t imagine ASP (or the cast for that matter) wanting to continue even after the last last episode.

“That’s part of the wish fulfillment of this show, is ‘What if?’. What if you lived in this town where getting a traffic light was a major event? What if you were late to the town meeting again and everyone was going to know about it, you know, ‘What if?’ There was a real comfort aspect to living in this world that wasn’t gritty reality and that was part of the joy of it. It’s real but it’s also a break from the real world.” – Lauren Graham on the magic of GG (from the ATX reunion)

M: It’s this mix of primarily being really excited that the show will finally get the ending it deserved, and to actually get to see new material with the characters we love … but also being a little blue that once it’s done, it’s really, really DONE. This is all new to an audience that doesn’t usually get nostalgia-based fan service.

T: However like Lorelai on her wedding night, for right now, I’m avoiding that pothole and dealing with it when I have to finally face it.

Look out world.

30Jul2015

Queue Adieu: Titanic

Posted in Entertainment by Molly

I always stock my Netflix queue with the best of intentions, but in real life 90% of my Netflix viewing consists of rewatching shows like Parks and Rec or Friday Night Lights. Another 5% is documentaries that help me fall asleep, like a child’s favorite lullaby if lullabies were about unsolved murders and obesity. I have weird dreams. Then the final 5% is the movies that have sat on my queue for months, only for me to forget about until after they’ve left the site. Well, no more. Every month …. if I remember … I’m going to watch one of the movies that Neflix is about to bump and blog about it. First up: Titanic.

The Movie: Titanic (1997)

Expires On: August 1.

Watch or Rewatch: Rewatch, I have been a human living on earth for the 18 years since Titanic came out. 18? That can’t be right.

Should You Watch It? If you’ve never seen Titanic … YES. I assume even most teenagers who weren’t alive/ were babies then have seen it on TV by now, but maybe not. Also, if you haven’t watched it for years, it’s worth a rewatch to see if you still remember all of the dialog (I do, apparently).

Thoughts During The Movie:

In my childhood I thought the Keldysh scenes were great, but now that I can get my fix of Titanic wreckage footage elsewhere it’s super boring.
Fun fact: I’m fascinated by ship wrecks.
Also everything the Keldysh guys say is so cheesy. I can’t even pick one thing. Every line, and every delivery, is just dripping with schmooze and …. wine coolers? They all seem like guys who would drink wine coolers.
Your face is stupid and you’re stupid.
When Titanic mania was in high gear I thought Kate Winslet was the prettiest person ever. Fine, normal. But not normal is praying – literally praying – that I could have Rose’s hair. Still sounds almost normal? Wrong. Because I have curly red hair. What was I even after? Just leave out more tendrils and get on with your life.
Plus we live in the future and there are tutorials now:

Now that I’m a decade older than Young Rose, it’s actually Old Rose I want to emulate. Not now, but eventually, it would be great to be super old with tunics and beaded earrings and sweet extra-long gray hair. Not sure at what age you’re supposed to get into pottery.
Did anyone ever make up lyrics to the Titanic theme music that plays throughout? You know, the one that’s like ba da BAAAA doddle-oddle-daa-AAA, daa da daaa dum dummm. Like “on this booooat, that you call unsinkable, you’re all gonnnn-a die” or “she’s so riiiich, but he is a poor boy, how will happppp-en next?”
Thing I Never Noticed Before #1: You see them lift Rose and Jack’s sex car onto the ship.
Thing I Never Noticed Before #2: FABRIZIO. I was all about the J.D. before but it’s actually all about Fabrizio. RIP (spoiler?), I’m gonna never forget you.
Third class is more multicultural than an elementary school math textbook word problem.
Thing I Never Noticed Before #3: Actually, also Cal. He’s sort of hot and smarmy and personality-wise, maybe a better match for Rose than Jack was, if he weren’t such a jerk.
During Titanic mania, did anyone else scour passenger lists to see if maybe just maybe you had an ancestor on board?
The GCI people you see on deck when they pan over the ship look like they’re from a CD-ROM game. #TECHNOLOGY
“You’re gonna cut her meat for her too there Cal?” Maybe this is what Molly Brown really sounded like – I assume so since Kathy Bates is a great actress- but I feel like a character from Oklahoma somehow ended up in Downton Abbey.
Thing I Never Noticed Before #4: Tommy Ryan. I had some serious Jack Dawson blinders.
Thing I Never Noticed Before #5: When Rose and Jack plan on going to the pier and riding horses…. ugh. Those couples who have been together less than a day and they’re already planning vacations together.
I cannot be the only one who uses “start from the outside and work your way in” to deal with extensive place settings.
I recently saw a picture of c. 1998 Nick from the Backstreet Boys and thought it was Jack for a second. That hairdo made everyone look the same.
Obviously no Jack Dawson.
You know how period dramas usually look influenced by the time they were made? For instance, all these 2010s movies set in the 1800s, where the women have long, loose curls with layers when their hair definitely would have been worn up if they weren’t hookers. Or the ’70s hair on all of the men in Little House On The Prairie. Well, Titanic did a great job of actually looking like 1912, but I have a sinking feeling that if it were made today, all of the women would have 50% more eyebrow action.
Mary Pickford knew what was up.
Is Rose responsible for how half of all girls born after 1997 have the middle name Rose? Don’t worry, Abigail Rose or Hannah Rose or Madison Rose, it’s a very pretty name, I’m just curious.
And how a quarter of all boys born after 1997 are named Jack (my nephew is one, though he’s technically named after my grandpa instead of Jack Dawson).
If the Titanic sailed in 2015 the portrait scene would be 5 seconds long and consist of Rose taking a nude selfie, which would quickly circulate through the passengers before reaching Cal. #busted
The thing is, I feel like Rose and Jack must have had better options in the cargo hold than the backseat of a car, right? Jeepin’.
Victor Garber works a lot, so it’s super distracting that every time I see him, I think “Mr. Andrews, Mr. Andrews!” in that Dorothy Gale voice Rose uses.
Nobody ever says it, but the Heart Of The Ocean was one tacky-ass Claire’s Boutique-looking necklace.
Surely the Titanic had a more sophisticated security protocol than shackling thiefs to pipes?
Any lawyers here? Then maybe you better remember Lady Duff-Gordon from Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. It’s a nice Cardozo opinion that has become sort of a standard in contracts texts. It’s also an early instance of celebrity clothing endorsements.
$12, what a steal! Or actually I feel like that would have been fairly expensive.
New obsession I just discovered during this rewatch: behind the scenes set photos from Titanic. I mean:
I remember reading that they went back for the Titanic re-release and changed the stars to be more accurate. That’s hardcore, but also makes me wonder if it’s fair to do do-overs. And if so, why didn’t they also replace those 1997 technology people on the ship?
Why did they make Old Rose make that stupid noise when she threw the necklace in the water?
Jack died, and that’s sad, don’t get me wrong, but also would you toss away a multi-million dollar necklace because of some dude that you banged once and were into for three days when you were a teenager? I’m sure Lizzy had some car payments or whatever that that would have really helped with.
Okay, the Celine Dion song is sort of a jarring 90s slow pop jam after watching a movie set in 1912. Also, also. This isn’t related. But when I was walking at lunch last week a guy called to me “Celine Dion, come kiss me!” and usually I forget those kinds of comments as soon as they happen, but I am still puzzling over it. First of all, I don’t look like Celine Dion, but it made me wonder if people can tell that I’m part French Canadian. I always thought of them as a people who don’t look like anything in particular. Also, is Celine Dion even considered attractive? She looks normal, but I’ve never heard anyone be like “you know who I wish I looked more like? Celine Dion.” Eh, maybe it was because I was wearing a backwards tuxedo and the heart of the ocean. Coeur de la mer, I call it
Wait… DO I look like Celine Dion?
She’s dead, right? Guys, she dies, yeah?