As always, my commentary on this week’s groundbreaking episode of Brothers and Sisters:

(excerpted from an email to glittergrigg)

amazing acting so far (7 minutes in) by justin and rebecca. SO GOOD!  they are BRILLIANT actors. they are doing their part so well.  dying.  i love it. justin’s tension, rebecca’s total casualness… ahhhhh

also: sarah is shining. she is such a beautiful actress.

OMG SO INTENSE when nora forces sarah to admit that she doesnt want to tell tommy!!!!!  and nora is like “are you jealous?!?!!?” and sarah is like “he’d never do it, it would be an exercise in humiliation” and i really SEE sarah’s character right there. a PROUD WOMAN. and nora totally knows her daughter and is just like, tough luck, im telling tommy.

wow really intense decision of sarah’s to pretend she was the one who okayed the deal.

the scene where justin tells kevin about liking rebecca is REALLY funny

im SO glad they had saul tell nora right away that he was the one who messed up–not sarah–it would have been so cliche and typical if they had had him continue the lie.  its much better this way.

do you ever feel like there’s a little heat between tommy and… HOLLY!!!! also loved it when holly said “so put it on me”.  she is wonderful.

omg MAJOR CHILLS during the scene at the movie theater, justin’s confession, his acting, the close up of his face, rebecca’s reaction ahhhh

omg omg omg CHILLS AGAIN rebecca/holly fight. SO INTENSE!  THESE WOMEN ARE AMAZING. this show is UNBELIEVABLE.  SUCH STRONG WOMEN!!!!!!!  IM DYING everyone makes SUCH great points.  holly is like fuck you, you cannot compare me to nora.  I SCRAPED THIS LIFE TOGETHER FOR US.  ahhhhhh

omg when i first saw that saul was arrested i was SURE it was going to be for hiring a gay prostitute or something!!!!!!!!
wow but it does have gay results.

i trust sarah in business SO much more than tommy. i would never take tommy’s opinion to heart in any way, and i would trust sarah with my life.

whoa.  whoa. i am actually SHOCKED at justin’s horrible reaction to rebecca. i dont believe his character would react like that.  seriously.  thats the only part of this episode that is troubling me.

okay thats it!

Last night, I went to see the long-awaited Harold and Kumar sequel.  At the end of the first movie (one of my personal favorites) it seems as though the natural sequel would be one in which Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam.  When I heard the title of the sequel–Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay–I was mildly disappointed but understood.  After all, the original H&K was teeming with political commentary and issues of race and stereotype.  I knew the sequel would take the same tone.  But now having seen it, I am a little disappointed.  Now I think the movie really should have been set in Amsterdam, as I originally assumed and desired.  The problem with the sequel, funny as it may be, is that marijuana becomes more of a prop than a vehicle.  In the first movie, the characters are stoned nearly throughout, and the acquisition of weed is a driving force, weed being the cause of many adventures, both in its pursuit and in the consequences of smoking it.  In the sequel, on the other hand, weed is secondary: the cause of their initial problems, sure, but hardly even relevant after that.  Yes, they smoke from time to time, but we get none of the pleasurable stoner jokes of the first movie (leaving something in the apartment and not wanting to walk back down the hallway to get it; freaking out when the tollbooth won’t accept their money; general paranoia and, of course, the munchies).  Pot is incidental in the sequel–a love interest smokes a joint and twists her ankle, allowing Kumar to come to her aid.  This moves the plot along, but wouldn’t we rather see Kumar smoke that joint with her instead?  I would gladly sacrifice plot for a few more scenes of stoners vegging out in front of the TV or in their car.  Finally, when the two men actually do arrive in Amsterdam at the end, I felt teased, remembering my original wish that they would be there all along.

The Real Housewives of NYC Reunion was quite spectacular.  Ramona was clearly lying when asked by a fan’s email whether or not she is on drugs.  Her bug eyes, erratic behavior, and inability to apply even the most elementary logic to her thought processes indicate that she is either a drug-abuser or deeply psychotic.  If I were here, I would rather people thought I was popping pills.  Side-note: Glittergrigg actually MET the Countess last night.  She is by far my favorite character, and I couldn’t help but be jealous that on a Tuesday night that I spent in a fetal position on my bed bemoaning the end of the first season of Real Housewives of NYC, Glittergrigg actually got to EXPERIENCE what it would be like to BE ONE OF THE REAL HOUSEWIVES.  Apparently, Luann isn’t as clean as she appears on TV.  I’ll let you interpret as you will.  Hint: we love her even more for her sins!!

About a week after we saw JABC, Glittergrigg and I were discussing the characters. We couldn’t remember Emily Blunt’s character’s name (hard to believe since now I refer to her several times daily) and finally I said I thought it sounded something like Purdie. Glittergrigg responded extremely enthusiastically (as he is wont to do) and even when I protested, he exclaimed, “I really think it’s Purdie!!!!”. Mere moments later, I remembered her real name–Prudie–but we have referred to her as Purdie ever since. Fun fact: one of the tracks of the JABC musical score is serendipitously mis-titled “Bernadette and Purdie”.