Travelling...

We're travelling right now, so we don't have time for much blogging or even comment answering. We love them though. This is coming to you from a hotel room where they actually give free internet service (a courtesy that's getting rarer and rarer these days). We actually liked Glee last night, even though Alex and Unique are still annoying. Leeard cried a little too. Ern cried, but for different reasons: Because of what the show chose to do with "Pinball Wizard". The Who is Ern's favorite band. Why would you give that song to ALEX? Why would you cover that song at all? Other than it's AWESOME.

And now, we mourn our fallen shows

Leeard is really bummed about GCB, especially because the series finale was unsatisfying and left loose ends. Also, we didn’t expect that to get axed so soon. Ern maintains that Kristen Chenoweth is a showkiller, even though we love her and her voice. Leeard is also bummed about Are You There, Chelsea? Shut up. Leeard is a little bummed about Pan Am, Terra Nova, Breaking In, and The Finder, but Ern thinks all those shows had their chance and didn’t take them. Christian Slater is a showkiller, too.

You know what shows didn’t get a chance at all? Bent and Best Friends Forever. Those comedies were cute, enjoyable, and pretty consistently funny. They weren’t loud, sitcom-y, or attention grabbing though. In fact, they were too conventional to stand out. Still, they were good and deserved more than, like, six episodes to grab an audience, and NBC didn’t advertise them much at all. They should have had better.

As for Awake, we are both a little sad, but Ern kind of thinks that deserved to be canceled. It looked so good, but then it turned out to just be a straight procedural rather than a mythology-ridden, character-driven serial of sci-fi awesomeness. This is the same problem Alcatraz had. Don’t advertise a straight cop show to nerds! We want a LOST replacement, obviously. Jason Isaacs needs another show though, because he was great, and at least one of us would totally bang him.

We both miss Prime Suspect, but we agree that the network gave it a shot. It played repeats whenever it could, advertised well, hired a star, and really tried to make the show work. People just weren’t buying, even though it was pretty good, especially after the lackluster pilot. That’s what killed it. That and the fedora. Leeard watched the Desperate Housewives finale, to which Ern asks, “Why?” Leeard hasn’t watched that show in three years and was content to jump in to see how it all ended. We expected The River to be cancelled, but we mildly enjoyed it, so it’s a shame.

The show we are both devastated about is Secret Circle. What the hell? We guess people just don’t like TV witches. It’s all about rich kids and vampirrrrs these days. If only stupid Twilight had a witch, maybe the kids would be into this fast-paced, well-written, entertaining, fun guilty pleasure of a show. It had cute guys too! What’s the matter with you, world? The season ended pretty satisfactorily, but there were a few unanswered questions. We are wondering if the books are any good and if we should fill the void with those…You know how we love our young adult fiction, but we didn’t dig The Vampire Diaries book versions.

We don’t give a flying flock about I Hate My Teenage Daughter (which Leeard watched), House, Missing, Harry’s Law, Ringer, One Tree Hill, Rob, or Unforgettable getting axed. Leeard is happy that Hart of Dixie was renewed, which just drives Ern up the wall. If Leeard is watching THAT piece of treacle, she has time to watch Breaking Bad, dammit. Leeard's note: those are not at all the same thing. Hart of Dixie has way fewer episodes. At least we have all summer to catch up on everything we’ve always wanted to watch. We are graduate school graduates now, and we have a little more time for TV.

The Avengers

We went to see this with the biggest comic book nerd we know. At the end credits, she was explaining who the new bad guy is going to be, how he actually does court death, and then she said something technical about this power he harnesses or something. She really shot her nerd wad. However, we recommend going to this movie with a nerd so that they can explain all the subtle references and jokes (like The Hulk trying to pick up Thor’s hammer). Also, this nerd friend brought Framboise and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout to the movie theater for us. She kept it cold with ice packs in her backpack. Best movie buddy ever, and that drink mix is great. Another good one is a Black Velvet with one-half Strongbow and one-half Guinness. Drinkers: At least drink good stuff. Toss out that Bud Light!

Anyway, as to the actual movie, we were surprised at how much it was a straight action movie, only with a better script than most action movies. It wasn’t like the Chris Nolan Batmas in that there were dark, deep, emotional themes (by the way, Ern teared up after the Batman trailer. It looks so unbelievably awesomesauce!). It wasn’t like Thor or Captain America with themes of patriotism and a love story (even though Hawkeye and Black Widow are totally going somewhere. Weird, because in the comics, she just kind of screwed him over). There really wasn’t much in the way of themes. It was just a really bad ass action movie. The action sequences were among the best we’ve ever seen and the 3-D is actually worth the cost of the glasses and worth wearing them for over two hours.

The cast was perfect. First of all, that movie has so many hot guys. Captain America is a gaywad, but we didn’t mind him here. Robert Downey, Jr. was perfect as usually in that role. But the real triumph was Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. We like neither Ruffalo or The Hulk normally, but Mark was a great Bruce Banner. He really felt like the character and The Hulk kicked major bum and brought some humor. We think the movie might have been a tad too long, but overall, we enjoyed it and were entertained. Having Joss Whedon write and direct was a great idea. This is what happens when you give a smart guy and geek a Blockbuster to make. What happens? You get a crowd pleaser that actually isn’t stupid. We wish there was more to it, emotion and substance-wise, but for what it was (a straight action movie), it brought the house down. Ern doesn’t much care for Marvel (DC all the way), and she liked this movie.

Movie grade: B+

Once Upon a Time season one finale - A Land Without Magic

Spoiler warning. And enjoy our new favorite font, b*tches.

True love is the power that returns all that which is lost. ISN’T THAT JUST FREAKING BEAUTIFUL? No sarcasm. All we wanted from this finale was for Emma to find out and believe the truth. We got that in the first few minutes. Then this show went on to give us everything we ever could have asked for.

Magic is coming back to Storybrooke! Rumpy is finally the main villain! We actually thought Henry might be dead for like half a second! Snow and Charming are back together! A bad ass mom fights a dragon! Everyone remembers who they are! The Mad Hatter releases Belle and turns Gold against Regina! Belle and Rumpy reunite! August turned to wood completely! L Was there anything else the finale could have given us? No. Not really. We are totally and completely satisfied, as well as ready for season two to start.

We loved seeing Maleficent get her due. She got to be the big dragon we remember from Sleeping Beauty. The finale brought back most of the characters we actually like and put them at the forefront. We even got to see Graham again. We felt bad for Regina when she lost Henry like that. August’s fate remains unknown. When the curse was broken by Emma, did his wooden self change back? We will have to wait and see, but we think he did.

This is what we want from season two: MORE Rumpelstiltskin, August, Red Riding Hood, Abigail/Kathryn, Gretel, her dad, Grumpy, Belle, Mad Hatter, Dr. Whale, and Baelfire. LESS Jiminy Cricket, Cinderella, Blue Fairy (we hate her when she’s a nun too), Hansel, Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror (your role on Breaking Bad was way better, Giancarlo), and King George. All of those people can just freaking die for all we care. We’re pretty neutral on Snow and Charming. They serve a purpose. Without them, who would say, “You found me” and “I will find you” ten thousand times? We really wish Charming would stick with the name “David.” Leeard likes Henry; Ern hates him and wishes the show had the balls to kill him. In all fairness, while Leeard would've mourned Henry all summer, she would've respected the balls it would've taken to kill him off.

We still hate that Jennifer Morrison is the lead actress, but even she can’t ruin this fun, family friendly show. It will be something we get our kids into once they are old enough to appreciate it. It’s rare to have something on TV that parents and kids can both enjoy. We liked Emma’s line, “Well, it’s raining like a bitch. Where is it?” We didn’t like when she trusted Rumpelstiltskin with the egg. It’s RUMPELFREAKINGSTILTSKIN. Haven’t you heard the stories, woman? Don’t you have a supposed superpower that tells you when someone is lying/tricking you?

We hope for more Regina too, but we also hope that the show gets her motives clearer and more realistic next time. Her reasons for hating Snow were just lame and irrational. Did any other LOST fans notice that the clock stopped on 8:15? Until fall, then! And remember kids: Kiss your dead people. It’s worth a shot.

Season grade: B+

Finale grade: A