I’ve seen a lot about Hamilton, the hit Broadway musical, on the Internet. As more and more people I trust fell under its sway, I side-eyed their good taste. Before I listened to it, my reservations were mostly: how can a musical about a founding father possibly be interesting? So I watched the video below, and the idea that hip hop is the language of a revolution intrigued me enough to give it a go.
Within the first 30 seconds of the first song, I thought, “Oh no. This is the beginning of an obsession.” Within the first few songs, I raced home because I knew I wanted to document my reactions (which were mostly dancing in my driver’s seat and then screaming “AHHH!!!” at the end of the song because I had so many unnameable emotions).
I’m throwing my opinion in with the rest and highly recommending Hamilton. Buy it on iTunes, Amazon, or listen for free on Spotify, just LISTEN TO IT oh my gosh. And if you need further convincing, here is me fangirling over every single song and displaying some of the incredible lyrics (songs I especially liked are bolded). Continue reading →
New this fall, I have already watched the first two episodes of Best Time Ever twice over. I figured that this talk show/game show/variety show would be good, because NPH has a golden touch of awesome. I was so right! While most shows put forth some mildly interesting things before building to a climax, I get the sense that while planning each show segment, NPH and staff decided to make each event THE BEST EVER. Their commitment to over-the-top pranks, stunts, music, and showmanship makes every second really enjoyable. I started watching Best Time Ever like I do most shows – while getting ready in the morning. I couldn’t do it! I kept drifting to my computer screen, forgetting about the straightener in my hand.
There are around ten celebrity guest stars in every episode, and it’s so fun to see them doing something outside of their norm (like Reese Witherspoon trash talking NPH before ziplining down 15 stories). The show opens with a ridiculously pre-planned and elaborate surprise for an audience member. The first had my jaw dropping, and the second made me cry. Who knows what extreme emotion tonight’s episode will cause! The End of the Show Show is truly spectacular. You just get the sense that everyone participating is having such a good time, which, in turn, makes it fun to watch. I’m hooked.
Watch it now on Hulu (or your preferred TV viewing platform)! I think the ratings are already awesome, but let’s make them phenomenal, so that we’ll definitely get a renewal after the planned eight episodes.
It’s impossible for me to talk about this movie without comparing it to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is unfortunate, because Hector loses every time. Although it’s a perfectly fine movie about a man locked into his normal life finding broader purpose and encouragement through travel so that the can return home more appreciative of what he has, it’s….just not great. Partly I was annoyed because one of the very first things Hector does on his search for international happiness is sleep with a woman other than his girlfriend. I wanted to throw myself around, moaning, “UGH men, is this SERIOUSLY their first impulse?” But primarily, it just felt like it was missing the gentle magic of Walter Mitty (although I REALLY liked the scene when he’s first flying away from home bedecked in every article of travel clothing imaginable).
Welcome to Me
I adore Kristen Wiig in dramatic comedies, and Welcome to Me continues her pattern of slipping into complex roles of mentally disabled women who feel both fascinatingly strange and oddly normal. Alice Klieg has borderline personality disorder, one of the more difficult disorders to describe and understand (at least for me in my Abnormal Psychology class). The movie should be shown to all budding psychologists and counselors; Wiig portrays the emotional manipulation, narcissism, and mood swings with subtlety but honestly. Not to say this is a made-for-school movie. I LOVED it, and I loved that Alice’s disorder is clearly shown as something that needs medication and counseling to manage, but without ever devaluing Alice herself as a person with desires, relationships, and fears. I loved it. Continue reading →
Rainy Thursdays has been doing a Disney Challenge, so I thought I would give it a go! All at once though, because why not?
Your Favorite Character
This is impossible to answer with just one person, but I’ll say Tom Sawyer in Tom and Huck, as played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas at the height of my love for him. He’s a troublemaker with a heart of gold, which….has always been my weakness.
Your Favorite Princess
Belle! It was so cool for child-Tricia to see a brunette girl who loved to read saving the day, turning down handsome jerks and learning to love the unlovable. I saw the best version of myself in her.
Your Favorite Heroine
I really liked Rapunzel for her naivete and optimism. She has had a literally sheltered life, but she uses her pain to create art and dream of a better future. And I adore the scene when she first leaves the tower, alternating between ecstasy and fear. Very accurate, very funny.
Your Favorite Prince
Probably Aladdin. He’s a smart-aleck, street-wise sweetheart. He takes care of his friends, has a pet monkey, and takes Jasmine on a carpet ride through the clouds. All the things I look for in a man.
Your Favorite Hero
I’ll go with a literal (Greek) hero: Hercules! Really I just want to include this movie in the list, because it’s so much fun, from the singing Muses to sassy Megara to sassier Hades. Continue reading →
This is the time of year that I panic, unready to dive back into ongoing TV shows when there is still so much on Netflix I need to watch (I only just discovered Scandal!). However, with the help of Entertainment Weekly‘s fall TV guide, I’ve put together my must-watch list for the new season. Apparently I’m very committed to my bite-sized half-hour comedies, and I’m only willing to consider committing to some hour-long dramas.
Returning Favs
The Mindy Project (September 15)
I think The Mindy Project has been getting better and better with each season, so I was super bummed when it was cancelled. Thank goodness for Hulu’s saving grace! More Mindy (Kaling AND Lahiri) please!
Doctor Who (September 19)
Even though recent seasons have not elicited the emotional ferocity I felt for seasons 1-4 of New Who, Doctor Who is a forever favorite. It is, after all, a show about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism (check out Craig Ferguson’s awesomely weird tribute to the show if you didn’t catch that quote).
I’m not very interested in reality TV. I have gotten intensely involved in So You Think You Can Dance, and one summer I cared deeply about who would win The Bachelorette. But most of the time, I find reality TV repetitive and needlessly dramatic. Plus, I’ve never found anything that can live up to The Mole.
The Mole was, on the surface, a typical mission-based travel game show. Contestants had to perform challenges to add money to a group pot, and the winner of the show would take it all home. Part of the fun of the show came from the varied nature of the challenges, which included bull fights, laser tag, art shows, and jewelry appraisal. What elevated The Mole above similar shows, however, was the twist its name implies. Amongst the 10 contestants was one mole–a man or woman whose purpose was to sabotage the games and keep the winnings as low as possible. At the end of each episode, everyone took a quiz to identify the mole (which often included absurdly detailed questions like “At the start of the “Crusoe” mission, was the Mole wearing a hat?” The person who scored the lowest was eliminated, and the show went on. Continue reading →
I love obsessively. Once I decide that a thing or a person is MY thing or person, that’s it. I will love them until I die. Sometimes I feel alone in this passionate fury of single-minded adoration, but then there is the Final Fantasy 7 fandom.
I was nine years old when my brother Roy brought home Final Fantasy 7 for our desktop computer. We had already established a precedent of playing the King’s Quest games together, so when he said I could watch him play, I pulled up chair to the big wooden desk and felt my jaw drop as the chunky, geometrical Cloud leaped off a train in Midgar. By today’s standards, the graphics are laughably horrendous, but in 1997, our tiny pre-pubescent brains were blown away by the realism. Continue reading →
Although he has been a Youtube superstar for years, I only discovered Shane Dawson’s vlogs a couple months ago. That led to his podcasts, and now, to his book. At first, I loved him because he was awful–he said the most outrageous things, and I delighted in someone’s complete disregard of societal politeness. But the further I fell into the Shane Dawson world, the more I realized he’s a genuinely good guy whose ability to be brash is layered on top of a lot of pain and compassion. He’s a total sweetheart, and this makes me love him even more than when I thought he was a jerk.
I Hate Myselfie gives readers a peek into Shane’s past, a fuller reveal of topics he’s hinted at in vlogs. His abusive father, being a child of divorce, enduring harrassment for his teenage obesity, becoming an internet phenomenon–his essays cover some seriously dark topics while managing to make me choke with laughter (like his mental breakdown resulting from a Splenda addiction). His honesty about his neuroses and self-doubt feels like an invitation to admit and accept our own embarrassing secrets, and maybe, just maybe, even to laugh about them. I could choose literally any paragraph to demonstrate his wry sense of humor, so here’s one at random:
When I was seven my first job was getting the newspaper every morning from the front porch and taking it upstairs to my grandma. I know it sounds simple, but I was obese and my front porch had like six steps, so it was a daily struggle. Also the fact that I had to walk up another thirty steps to get to my grandma’s bedroom made it damn near impossible. I saw a commercial for one of those electronic “stair chairs” for handicapped people that literally lifts you from the first floor all the way up to the second story of the house. It was on my wish list to Santa every year. I never got it. But I did get a Princess Diana Beanie Baby in a glass box, so all is forgiven.
I hope I Hate Myselfie is the first of many books Shane writes. He’s a creative powerhouse, and whatever he does will be brilliant, I’m sure. Below is an introduction to Shane’s life in all its irreverent and heartfelt glory.
Book Jacket
From his first vlog back in 2008, to his full-length film directorial debut, Not Cool, Shane Dawson has been an open book when it comes to documenting his life. But behind the music video spoofs, TMI love-life details, and outrageous commentary on everything the celebrity and internet world has the nerve to dish out is a guy who grew up in a financially challenged but loving home in Long Beach, California, and who suffered all the teasing and social limitations that arise when you’re a morbidly obese kid with a pretty face, your mom is your best friend, and you can’t get a date to save your life. In I Hate Myselfie, Shane steps away from his larger-than-life internet persona and takes us deep into the experiences of an eccentric and introverted kid, who, by observing the strange world around him, developed a talent that would inspire millions of fans. Intelligent, hilarious, heartbreaking, and raw, I Hate Myselfie is a collection of eighteen personal essays about how messy life can get when you’re growing up and how rewarding it can feel when the cleanup is (pretty much) done.
I’d heard about this weird movie that starred a lot of current comedian gods and goddesses, but never really had the motivation to watch it. When I heard about Netflix’s sequel (prequel), I figured I’d give it a shot. You should too! Wet Hot American Summer is absurd humor at its finest. And it is so enjoyable to see Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper and many more familiar faces having the time of their lives.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
This 8-episode “prequel” is even weirder than the movie that inspired it! I adored every single self-aware reference to the fact that men and women in their 40s were playing teenagers. The jokes get stretched further, the characters are more hilarious than ever, and the famous faces grow in number. I’m guessing a lot of actors were fans of the movie and begged to be in the show; especially noteworthy are Chris Pine, Jon Hamm, and Kristen Wiig. I’m not in the cult deep enough to know if this is a popular opinion or not, but I think I liked First Day of Camp even better than Wet Hot American Summer. Continue reading →
Day 26: If you could be able to work one spell without a wand what would it be?
(image referencing A Very Potter Musical by pettyartist)
Accio everything! Listen, I’m a lazy person, and I cannot think of anything better than crawling into bed, realizing my book is still on the desk, and whispering, “Accio Harry Potter” in order to avoid getting up again. And if the real Harry Potter happened to zoom into my room, well. All the better.
It Is Trish 