Top Eleven Part Deux: This Is Gonna Be REALLY Difficult

No pictures this week - computer's being cray cray. But here's my recap anyway!

I love the footage from last week. I love Casey. Last week's results episode ruled. Casey almost died. American Idol, I'm loving you right now. Please don't change that tonight. ROCK IT, CASEY AND PAUL! DOOOOO ITTTT!

Heather Morris is in the audience! Man, I wish I were on a Fox show so I could go be in the audience and make Paul date me.

I really wish tonight wasn't Elton John night. Lame.

Dominic Monaghan IS young Elton John.

Idol finally has a segment with EW and it's the year Dalton Ross takes over? Michael Slezak FTW!!

I'm ready for songs now.

Scotty McCreery - Country Comfort
He has a natural elegance. Okay. Sure. We'll go with that. The words "One Trick Pony" are used. I agree. WOAH. Scottie plays guitar. Clever girl. Good choice, country boy. Can't be a real country guy if you can't play guitar. Playing the grandma card, are we? As much as Scotty doesn't do it for me, he's hands down the best Country contestant since Carrie Underwood. Great job. Especially with that last note. He knows what the audience wants.
Steven - Something about boots and grandmas. Did it again.
J-Lo - He has amazing instincts about performing and what's right for him. Encourages him to keep grounded and stay right there. Never doubt himself.
Randy - Thought he was at his concert like he was already there, so comfortable, so in the zone. That song could be on his record. Very nicely done.

Does Scotty have a crush on Scar-Jo? Never gonna happen, kid.


Naima - I'm Still Standing
Reggae spin! Okay, I could be into this. Naimia seems to be one of the only ones coming up with her own arrangements. Which I definitely commend her for. Oh she is MADE for this genre. This sounds like it's always been reggae. Pretty badass if I do say so myself. Sounds better and gets more interesting every week. Kind of into it. I'm allowing people in the room to vote for her tonight.
J-Lo - Loves her and her reggae swag. Wasn't sure the song was suited to it, but loved the way she performed. Respects that she took it where she wanted to take it.
Randy - Came off kind of corny, and she isn't corny, she's cool. Didn't quite work for him.
Steven - Boomshakalaka, good for her for picking a song that fits her.

We TOTALLY disagree with the judges. Thought she nailed it. Whatevs. Having never heard the original, I thought that was right on.

My brother just told me Haley and Casey are dating!!! First time in Idol history, right? EPIC! Love it.


Paul - Rocket Man
PAUL! He's so sexy. His band covered this song years ago. DO I HAVE THE SAME SHIRT PAUL IS WEARING IN THE VIDEO? Loving this. Love love love. Best he has sounded yet. SO adorbz. I love him. No back up vocals. YAY!
Randy - Couple pitchy moments. (DISAGREE!) He's here, he's got this, go further, they believe.
Steven - Loves his voice. Always does a little something. When he starts hitting every note, he won't like him anymore, loves his character.
J-Lo - More to his voice that he knows, he just has to go there. Wants him to push push push, especially in the upper register.

DON'T SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT MY PAUL. I thought that was great. He makes me giggly and happy.

More after the jump



Pia - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Another ballad! Who woulda thunk. Fergie meets Axel Rose? Okay, let's see where this goes. I do look forward to Pia when she isn't singing a shitty song. This should be good. And yes, it is. Except whose son? This song is really inappropriate. I can't stop laughing.
Steven - Did it again. That's what she is, she nailed it. Made him cry inside (which is a good thing).
J-Lo - The notes take us to an other worldly place. Felt her more than she has before, feel her trying to break the barrier. She's on the right track. Goosebumps.
Randy - She's sung a ballad every time and she slays it every time. Just wants her to switch up gears a little bit. Everyone knows she can sing and she was great once again.

Stefano - Tiny Dancer
Oh, he looks goooood. Cutie. Great choice. Great song. If he fucks it up, he's going home. If he nails it...oh man, could it be good. Here we go! Questionable...Who was in charge of his hair during the performance though? Bad choice. The song is bigger than him. Doesn't really suit his voice even though he is singing it well. The whole thing is kind of awkward. As much as I like him and as great as his voice is. J-Lo IS a tiny (ish) dancer, haha, nice one, Stefano.
J-Lo - She could really feel him taking their notes and trying to connect with the audience. Felt like he moved the crowd. Started off eh, but then he got back to Stefano they know and love. Really good.
Randy - Loved that he started connecting with the audience. Could tell it's unusual for him. Liked that he was moving around the stage. When he hit the high, money notes, he was right on.
Steven - Real sweet, crazy thing to his voice. Connected with the audience, nailed it, was really good.

Me and the judges are NOT agreeing tonight, it seems.


Lauren - Candle In The Wind
So adorbz. Good choice. FINALLY a ballad from Lauren. I hope it just stays her and the piano. Oh. There is the rest of the backing music and vocals. Damnit. Would have been so much better just her and the piano. Arrrrgh. Suddenly her gorgeous voice is drowned out yet again. But it's so pretty when we can hear it. Good job, Lauren.
Randy - One of the greatest Lauren Alaina songs on that stage. Nice, sensitive, very pro. Can do anything, just believe, very hot.
Steven - Loved her from the first moment she laid eyes on him. Perfect, beautiful, right song. Keep singing like that and she'll be able to afford the rest of that dress.
J-Lo - Amazing, she was gorgeous, sounded gorgeous, first time everyone in America got to hear what they heard when they first saw her. That was it. Beautiful.


James - Saturday Night's All Right
Good song choice. James can have all the backing vocals and music he wants, I don't care. He doesn't do it for me. Great job, I just don't really care.
Steven - Great rock voice. Beautiful.
J-Lo - She forgets it's a competition when he is up there. Really full performance.
Randy - Loves that he enjoys himself. Great performance.

Thia - Daniel
I don't want Thia to do a good job because then I don't know who is going to home, AUGH. Unfortunately, she sounds kind of awesome. I still think she is one of the weakest of the group overall. Let's just send her over to the Disney channel already. Damn. Really solid.
J-Lo - Really beautiful. Internalized the song, very well suited for her voice. Beautiful moment for her.
Randy - Liked that it was a relaxed side of her so people could hear her beautiful voice. Couple pitch issues. Didn't like that it was so safe. Interesting.
Steven - When you find the right song, the voice appears. Sang a great Elton John song well.

Wait, her brother is named Quia? Quia and Thia Megia?! Update: Ah hah! Kuya is Filipino for older brother. I'm an idiot.


Casey - Your Song
OH GOD DONT FUCK IT UP AHHHHHHH. One of my all time favorite songs. Oh god oh god. We wonder if this means Haley is singing Bennie and the Jets and giggle. USE AN INSTRUMENT, CASEY. Casey is hilarious, I love him. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT I LOVED IT IT WAS AMAZING I AM OBSESSED WITH THAT. CASEY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! IF THE JUDGES DON'T LIKE IT I AM GONNA BEAT THEM UP WITH MY MIND!
Randy - Saving him was one of the greatest saves ever. That performance was absolutely brilliant. So nice, so tender, nice choice, well done, heard his voice but it was still Casey. Impressed with the major second of the last note.
Steven - One of the finest moments on the show was putting him throw. Beautiful notes, especially the last two. Sings different every time, love that about it, shows a true artist.
J-Lo - One decision she didn't lose one ounce of sleep over was saving him. And he proved them right tonight with the character in his voice and his choices with the song. Very Casey.

I'M DOWNLOADING IT.


Jacob - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Mary J and Jacob meet! Looools. Boy can sing. That's for damn sure. That last note was killer and he connected to it like crazy. One of those contestants that is great, simply not my personal favorite.
Steven - Loved the whole thing.
J-Lo - Shout out to Tricky Stewart for the arrangement. Beautiful. Made it his own. Don't see that last note every day.
Randy - First half was brilliant. Wants one spot where he goes all the way up in every song. Where he goes "yo, this is my Jacob spot."

Haley - Bennie and the Jets
YES! BENNIE! Called it. I hope she and Casey are really dating. Seemed obvious she had a crush on him. Haley just said "hard core bangage." Lols. Ohmygod LOVES IT. Her voice is crazy pants. Ohmygod, Haley rules. I want her and Casey to do a duet. I bet they do duets together while they are daaaaating. HER VOICE RULES. Hands down her best performance.
J-Lo - That was it! That's what they were talking about. It all came together. Amazing.
Randy - Amazing song and for him, best performance of the night! Gave it up, deserves it.
Steven - She sings sexy.

Top Three: Haley, Casey, Pia (I guess. Re: Pia. Muh.)
Bottom Three: Stefano, Thia, Jacob?
Going Home: Thia, Naima. Maybe Stefano. BETTER NOT BE PAUL. Possibly Jacob.
My questionable order:
Casey
Haley
Paul
Naima 
Pia
Lauren
Scotty
James
Stefano
Jacob
Thia

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Book Review: Whedonistas! A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them

To be truly considered a formidable geek, one has to have experienced a mind altering, bridging on unhealthy, obsessive love for at least one movie and/or television show before reaching an age where one is cognisant enough to understand that it may not be "cool". Something that cemented in one's psyche the idea that loving a piece of fiction is not only valid, but something to be celebrated, something that isn't full of shame, but pride. And fandom doesn't ever come down to one artist or one universe. Fans of all ilks bond because of a mutual understand that loving a property - any property - enough to be compelled to dress up as characters, write fan fiction, own way too many collectibles, watch every episode multiple times, so on and so forth, is totally, 100% acceptable and awesome. It's why I've always loved conventions so much. We're all there because of how much we love a genre property, and whatever that property is, we support each other, sans judgement. If your specific corner of fandom overlaps with someone else's, than hey, even better.

For me growing up, my first loves were the original Star Wars trilogy (a tale of profound obsession that I will save for another time) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy aired during the exact years I was in middle school and high school and while I took fandom vacations into other things like Xena, The Matrix, Scream and Spiderman, Buffy was my constant. At age 12 I had a life goal to own every piece of Buffy merchandise every created, and between seasons 1 and 2, I think I actually did accomplish that, for a few months at least. Between seasons 2 and 3, I met the whole cast at Comic-Con and wrote a poem about it. I loved Xander, Oz and Spike. I wrote fanfiction. I listened to "Once More With Feeling" until I knew every word to every song. Buffy was always there for me, no matter what I was going through and I'm still grateful to Joss Whedon for giving me characters to look up to, a group of friends who would die for each other (and have) to remind me that just because I didn't have it yet didn't mean I never would, and love stories of all shapes and sizes, all meaningful, whether born out of friendship, initial attraction, hate, respect, common interests or zero common interests, I learned from each one. I wanted to be successful to get the chance to one day be a part of something like Buffy. It was the impetus for so much in my life - *all* positive.

But I don't think about this often. In fact, I hadn't thought hard about Buffy in a while, not since rewatching the first two seasons with my roommates at the time 4 years ago. But last week I got my hands on a copy of a new book, Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them and it awakened something in me. Here is a book filled with essays, an "eclectic and exciting collection of essays that touch on nearly all aspects of the shows, the fandoms and the people to whom they made a difference", written by writers, artists, and fans alike, that flooded me with memory and emotion of my time watching Buffy. And while the pieces on Buffy connected with me the most on the surface, every essay, no matter the subject, felt familiar, like a part of my brain being explained and explored. I haven't even seen all of Firefly, yet I found myself tearing up during Dae S. Low's "The Browncoat Connection", in which Low details finally finding a group of people to connect with in her fellow Portlandian Browncoats.

More after the jump



This is a recurring theme in Whedonistas - finding connections through Whedon fandom. In one of my favorite selections, "A Couch Potato's Guide To Demon Slaying: Turning Strangers Into Family, Buffy Style",  Heather Shaw details the comings and goings of roommates and how the roommate dynamic seemed to always parallel the ever changing family dynamic on Buffy, and how this eventually led to Heather meeting her husband. In "My European Vacation, A Love Letter/Confession", Kelly Hale writes how fellow Buffy fans were the only ones there for her when her life fell apart and gave her the strength to get back up on her feet.

While many of the writers are women who have careers as authors and credit Buffy and their own Buffy fanfic as a gateway drug (seriously, it's fascinating how so many of these women, myself included, note that Buffy was the last genre work that provided them with an overwhelming sense of needing to write fanfic, to get into the characters heads, to play with the already established themes and dynamics), there is also the librarian who suddenly found her job something to be proud of, the ordained minister who made me rethink the snap judgements I have often held for those who work in religion and the aerospace engineer who sees such great inspiration in Firefly's Kaylee that it made me appreciate Mal's "mei-mei" even more than I thought possible.

Aside from the personal stories, including one that brought me to tears as the author details how "The Body" almost single handedly got her through the day her brother-in-law committed suicide and how relating to Buffy's depression in "Once More With Feeling" was what began to pull her back into normalcy, there is plenty of theory, including analysis of how Mal Reynolds fits into the myth of the old west, a feminist defense of what happens to Penny in the third act of Dr. Horrible, how Buffy is best to watch during a time of education, of growth and constant changing, and Angel is best to watch during those aimless years, post college, how Buffy altered the landscape of romance fiction, why monsters go good and why good guys go dark, how Angel plays with the notions of masculinity. how the varied characters of Dollhouse represent the many stages found in adolescence through adulthood and so on. There is even insight into what it was like to be a fan of Buffy and Angel, living in the UK, where the episodes weren't readily accessible, a tracing of Dr. Horrible fandom, from the beginning of the writer's strike to the release of the DVD and a detailed account of what it was like to work on the first Watcher's Guide, the author receiving more or less unlimited access to the Buffy set, cast and crew, before things like publicists and success got in the way. Not satisfied? There are interviews with Jane Espenson and Juliet Landau as well.

It was a thrill to read each and every one of these essays. I especially loved seeing which themes/moments got the most mention (found family, real world femininity, Buffy's table-turning opening scene, The Shanshu Prophecy from Angel, Kaylee's shindig dress, Dark Willow flaying Warren) as well as which episodes were most frequently referenced (Buffy's "The Body" and "Earshot", Angel's "Not Fade Away" and "A Hole in The World", Firefly's "Out Of Gas" and "Objects in Space"), and which characters were most often mentioned as favorites (Wesley?!). One of my favorite themes was that of the "non-believer" discovering the Whedonverse. Early-dismissal-turned-devouring-of-seven-seasons-in-two-weeks-straight is the technical term for this, I believe. Despite having been a Buffy fan from the beginning, I still very much relate to this, as my best friend mercilessly made fun of me throughout all of middle and high school for watching Buffy, but is now one of the biggest Joss Whedon fans I know and can't believe herself that there was a time she doubted.

With a book like this, a collection of essays, you could easily pick and choose which ones to read. You could go straight to the ode to Oz ("We're Here to Save You") or directly to the bit about Illyria giving Wesley closure before his death, ("The Kindness of Monsters") although careful, you may cry and/or gasp with reminder of that episode's brilliance, but I recommended reading each one in order. Much like a successful mix CD, there is a flow that feels specific and cohesive. And even if you were only a huge fan for one of Joss' creations, I guarantee that won't stop you from enjoying the essays about his other work. Sure didn't stop me from loving every minute I was reading this collection and getting to know the women behind it.

These women are younger, older, gay, straight, professional writers, amateur writers, from all over the country and a few from across the pond too, but they all have one very big thing in common - Joss Whedon has affected their lives with his creations. Whether emotionally or practically, he made a difference. No one who contributed to this book of essays would be the same without Whedon and neither would I.

If you feel like re-falling in love with the Whedonverse, if you're still in love with it and miss it, if you want to get jazzed up for the Avengers, if you want to get a fellow a fan a gift they will eat up, I cannot recommend this book enough.

Whedonistas! A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them
Edited by Lynne M Thomas and Deborah Stanish
Mad Norwegian Press
Released March 15, 2011
Buy a copy here

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The Hunger Games and Jennifer Lawrence: Is This Going To Work?

Commissioned by and crossposted on Film.com



On the heels of the announcement that Jennifer Lawrence won the role of Katniss in The Hunger Games has come a lot of discussion as to whether or not the naturally blond, 20 year old actress is right for the role of the 16 year old, olive skinned brunette. Many fans (mostly purists, natch) are complaining that Lawrence is poor casting for these reasons. But how much does it matter that Lawrence is four years older and has the wrong complexion? Is it really warranting all this uproar?

I too was bothered when I first heard the announcement, but not because of Lawrence's hair or hue of skin, the cosmetic aspects aren't a huge deal as far as I'm concerned, they can be altered easily. What did made me uncomfortable was her age. Part of what made The Hunger Games so harrowing for me to read was imagining a 16 year old - a Nicola Peltz, a Hailee Steinfeld, someone who is young enough to still *look* like an actual teen - forced into Katniss' situation. Part of the reason the upcoming Hanna is so effective is because the teen assassin is played by a 16 year old. It's difficult, yet thrilling to watch. Imagining the images coming alive as I read, I feared for Katniss, was amazed with Katniss, wanted to protect Katniss. Casting a 20 year old, even a 20 year old who just played a 17 year old, as Lawrence did in Winter's Bone, immediately does away with all of that. When I imagine Jennifer Lawrence in the part, I am suddenly not concerned for Katniss' safety, I'm not questioning her ability or moved by the fact that someone so young only knows how to do what she can do because of the poverty she was raised in that forced her to grow up so quickly. Instead, I see a woman. A young looking woman, sure, but a woman nonetheless.


However, these were the thoughts I had when I had only read two thirds of The Hunger Games.

A few days after the announcement that Lawrence got the part, I sat down to finish The Hunger Games with only part three of the first book, entitled "The Victor," to go. And boy did that change things. Imagining Lawrence and rumored contender, Hunter Parrish, in the roles of Katniss and Peeta during the last third of the book just about sealed the deal for me that when it comes to casting, The Hunger Games may not in fact be an epic fail. The Jennifer Lawrence and Hunter Parrish in my mind have *amazing* chemistry, you guys. And it made me think of something no dissenters seem to be discussing.

While casting actual teenagers would certainly provide an audience with that unique, frightening feeling of seeing children, more or less, forced into an awful situation like the hunger games, something important would be lost: the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. The sexuality. The romance. The chemistry. The maturity. It's the reason all "teen" shows are cast with twenty somethings. No one wants to watch an actual fifteen year old make out with another fifteen year old. That's when something that should be exciting to see come to fruition becomes sweet at best, child porn at worst. Do you really think there would be however-many-thousand videos dedicated to the kisses of Chuck and Blair if the roles were played by high school juniors? Are you telling me you don't feel even a little dirty watching the younger characters on Skins? How many people are going to watch 90210 if the "hot new sophomore" who sleeps with someone's thirty year old sister is an actual sophomore? Have you seen an actual high school sophomore lately? If sexuality is important for the characters to posses, the casting will skew slightly older, plain and simple.

I didn't realize how important chemistry would be until finishing the first book, but now I can't imagine having anyone younger than eighteen in the role, and even most eighteen year olds look too young for me to want to watch them have chemistry with anyone. Even Logan Lerman, who I think is adorbz town central, has too much of a baby face for me to want to see him in any sort of sexual situation. In a few years, sure, but not right now. And I can safely say I do *not* want The Hunger Games film to shy away from the violence or the romance.

Which brings me to Katniss' counterpart. Obviously if our leading lady is to be played by an actress slightly older than teenage years with a maturity way beyond teenage years, the actor playing Peeta must have a similar sensibility. Lawrence's casting immediately rules out actors too much younger than she is. Aside from Hunter Parrish, Alex Pettyfer is apparently under consideration. But let's nip that in the bud before producers put an offer out, shall we? While Jennifer Lawrence is blond and no longer a teenager, everything else about her is Katniss. We know she can be tough, we know she can be vulnerable, we know she can look like dreck, we know she can look drop dead gorgeous, we know she can skin an animal and we know she can cry. And to hear the way director Gary Ross talks about her audition, you know Lawrence will bring it and subsequently kill it. Still not convinced? Here's an except from author Suzanne Collins' letter on the casting, published in EW (If you've read the first book, read the rest of the spoiler-tastic letter here),

“Jennifer’s just an incredible actress. So powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave. I never thought we’d find somebody this amazing for the role. And I can’t wait for everyone to see her play it.”

Which is why I worry about all this Pettyfer talk. The ALREADY notorious jerkface (trying to keep my language clean here), after only TWO studio films, could not be more wrong for the role of Peeta. Pettyfer reads as mean as he is rumored to be, as well as cold, stiff and humorless, the opposite of everything Peeta is supposed to embody. And despite being three years younger than competition Hunter Parrish, he looks about five years older. Let me tell you, the Jennifer Lawrence and Alex Pettyfer in my head have zero chemistry. Zip. And if we're going the route of casting slightly older so the audience is invested in the romance, whether or not this film will work now relies entirely on who gets cast as Peeta.

I like the idea of Parrish so much because of his natural warmth and sweet sexuality. He isn't classically handsome, he's unique, bridging on goofy, but tall, built and good-natured, exuding sort of a "you simultaneously want to make out with me and cuddle me" sort of vibe. I can buy the necessary vulnerability and I can buy the necessary snark. Blandy McDoucherson Alex Pettyfer? Not so much.

With a movie like say, Let the Right One In and its American take, Let Me In, casting actual 12-14 year olds was essential because the film hinged on the vampire trope of an older soul stuck in a pre-adolescent body. At the start of Marvel's Runaways, most of the characters are 15 and while there is a kiss between two of them at one point, sure, the important relationships don't happen until a bit later, so there is some freedom to actually go the young route, to see what it looks like when real teens are fighting super villains and let them grow into young adults with feelings and sexuality and romance over the course of the films a la Harry Potter. But because so much of the first Hunger Games book really does focus on the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, I ultimately am in support of this casting and recommend re-reading the book with them in mind. You may be surprised with how naturally you can imagine them in the roles.

So to answer the question if this going to work, I say if it doesn't, Jennifer Lawrence won't be the reason. Her casting is actually a great sign that despite the fact that The Hunger Games is technically a Young Adult novel, this movie will be leaning more on the side of an adult sensibility than that of kids or tweens. Now we just have to cross our fingers and hope the rest of the casting falls into place. And you know, the script and direction and production design and special effects....But I'm optimistic for now.

What do you think of Jennifer Lawrence at Katniss? Who would be your preference for Peeta? Looking forward to your thoughts, readers.

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In Defense of Sucker Punch

Let’s be clear that this article is not about whether or not Sucker Punch was good. Good and bad are subjective values and -- except for something egregious like The Last Airbender, which failed at filmmaking -- there is no right or wrong answer when people’s opinions come into play.

However, there are more or less right answers when it comes to whether or not something has meaning, which is what this article will argue. And even something that has intended meaning can still fail to convey it to every member of the audience. But just because you glean no meaning from a piece of art doesn’t mean that there isn’t a message being conveyed and that other people aren’t appreciating it.

My problem with the less-than-loving reception of Sucker Punch is not that people don’t like it -- there are plenty of films, books, and pieces of art that I love and others hate that I don’t argue about -- but that the people who hate Sucker Punch are overwhelmingly dismissing other people’s readings and enjoyment of Sucker Punch and ripping the film’s message apart in three unforgivable ways, 1. they are making up info/depictions not in the film, 2. they are picking and choosing the evidence they want and ignoring the presence of contrary evidence, and 3. they are bringing their own expectations into why the film failed, e.g they think that a message can only be expressed in one certain way and so they ignore any other method or mode.

All right, you’ve read this far and I have to go make breafast, so let’s skip to the meat of the manner: the question of feminism in Sucker Punch.

Female Escapism vs. Male Fantasy, or, How I Learned to Fight the Patriarchy While Looking Good

Many arguments about Sucker Punch involve the statement that Sucker Punch and its two dream levels (the brothel to be known as Lvl 2 and the action sequences Lvl 3, henceforth) are the pure embodiment of male fantasy (e.g. hot girls being sex objects in Lvl 2 and hot girls fighting samurai in Lvl 3) and thus cannot be representations of female empowerment.

Let’s get one thing straight, if there is anything explicitly conveyed in Sucker Punch (and boy there is a lot, which rankles my movie-watching nerves at times) it’s that Lvl 2 and Lvl 3 are versions of Babydoll’s mental escape for her more-or-less reality on Lvl 1. (I say “more-or-less” because even Lvl 1 is framed by a curtain rising on the theater, suggesting it too is a metaphor.) So let’s all agree that Lvl 2 and 3 are in Babydoll’s mind as many reviewers have done so and the film even includes the narrator telling us that sometimes we need to retreat to our inner-selves/worlds to triumph. Now the argument brought up by many at this point, is that Babydoll’s fantasy worlds would never be a real girl’s fantasy worlds and that they are instead Zack Snyder’s (and most men’s) own masturbation fantasies come to life, thus invalidating any claims Sucker Punch might make to feminism.

The first problem: Babydoll’s fantasies have been and could be the fantasies of many women, especially given that Lvl 2 and Lvl 3 are fantasies doubling as coping mechanisms for the harsh realities of Lvl 1 that render Babydoll and her friends powerless. Babydoll doesn’t dream of a brothel in Lvl 2 because all girls want to be sexed up or fucked for money, but because it is a more manageable parallel for what is happening in Lvl 1. The girls are clearly being abused and taken advantage of in Lvl 1 (though nothing explicit happens on screen) and so Lvl 2 is the metaphorical level where we recognize that yes, these girls are being used for sex by the chief orderly Blue and many others with a key difference: the girls have more power on Lvl 2. They can walk around, be considered sane, and use their sexuality -- the only value given to them by the patriarchal confines of Lvl 1 and 2 -- to their advantage. In Lvl 1, they can’t even do that as their sexuality is completely out of their hands. But more on that in the next section. For now let’s skip to Lvl 3.

Lvl 3, with its genre mash-ups and hot girls in hot outfits killing things, uh, hotly, is also criticized as being a male fantasy. Well, I hate to shatter your visions of femininity but many women, even as girls, have daydreamed about kicking ass and taking names, and many as they got older have added looking attractive to the mix -- this last bit is arguably a reaction to the pressures of societal norms of attractiveness that girls are subjected to growing up, but let’s be honest that even men have daydreams in which they are irresistible morsels of sexual delight. The point is that Lvl 3 could very well be the daydreams of a girl in a terrible situation. It’s an even more fantastical form of mental escapism where actual power, in the form of weapons and warfare, stand in place of the sexual power given to girls on Lvl 2. In Lvl 3, Babydoll and her crew are equals to any man, taking on faceless hordes and never having to flash so much as a little leg to catch the enemy off guard. Female sexuality is beside the point in Lvl 3.

If the girls look hot in Lvl 3 -- debatable really considering how much more clothed they are there than in Lvl 2 and even when compared to many other action films in which women have but an inch of clothing hiding their frame -- it can be argued that this is for one of two reasons: 1. that the girls in Lvl 3 are as sexual and attractive as they want to be but they control it and it’s only a side factor in their real fantasy of defeating the patriarchy, and/or 2. the sexual nature of their costumes is supposed to subverted by their actions portraying them as real action heroes not to be underestimated by the sexual fetishes (e.g. school girl, hot nurse, fantasy chick, etc.) that are placed upon them by the male gaze. In the case of item one, the explanation is in direct play with the plot and characterizations of the girls, while in item two this is a meta-commentary aimed at undermining expectations in the audience. (Again, I’d like to submit that Lvl 3’s costumes, especially compared to other films like Sucker Punch, are not as sexualized or hot as people are making them out to be.)

At any rate, this brings us to the second section that looks a little bit more at Lvl 2. A place, I admit, whose dialogue and acting pains me but whose importance I won’t dismiss.

Ownership of Sexuality vs. Objectification Thereof, or, Why Being Hot Isn’t a Crime But Being Raped Is

When last I mentioned Lvl 2, it was in setting it up as female escapism informed by the tethers of the male patriarchy found in Lvl 1 and that Lvl 3 is an “even more fantastical form of mental escapism where actual power, in the form of weapons and warfare, stand in place of the sexual power given to girls on Lvl 2.”

This is possibly the most important evidence in arguing that Lvl 2 is escapism from a terrible world, and neither male fantasy nor anti-feminist. Consider, for a moment, the fact that we are never shown the most titillating aspects of female sexuality in Lvl 2. Not only do we never see Babydoll’s purportedly sexually over-the-top dancing, but we never see any of the girls being used for sex, or being raped. Instead, any time Babydoll begins her dance, the movie jumps with Babydoll to Lvl 3, a place where the girls don’t have to use sexuality but instead can use real strength to overcome their enemies. Lvl 3 is not only a coping mechanism for the sexuality Babydoll and the girls have to use in Lvl 2, but it’s also a coping mechanism for the fact that in Lvl 1 it’s likely that the girls are mutely being raped with no way to fight back other than to bide their time while planning their escape and stealing the items they need while their rapists and abusers are occupied.

The latter statement, of course, is an informed opinion based on the metaphorical parallels established in the rulebook of the film, as we never explicitly see rape or abuse in Lvl 1. The point in outlining these differences is to establish that yes, Zack Snyder has created a world in which women are being victimized in Lvl 1 and 2 but that 1. they are being shown fighting back without losing their spirit and hope and 2. the absence of their sexuality being shown on the screen means that their victimization is not there to arouse the viewer but to serve as a narrative point.

The message of the film is not, then, to watch the sexual victimization of women and like it (goodness knows that plenty of other movies and TV shows do that) but to convey that even in a time in which a victim feels they have no agency, they can still overcome their abusers by retreating into the world of how things should be and gaining strength and action from there.

Sucker Punch is clearly a movie following the internal machinations of abused women who feel they have no agency. And contrary to what some say, Babydoll is not ultimately powerless in this equation. Her dreamworld is a metaphor for what Lvl 1 Babydoll is setting out to achieve but in a more candy-coated and manageable way. In Lvl 3, Babydoll learns what she needs to escape Lvl 1. In Lvl 2, Babydoll takes her sexuality away from her oppressors and uses it to ensnare them instead – a classic case of subverting the patriarchy and using the only tool you have left to your advantage. In Lvl 2, after all, none of the women are seen as people but as sex objects. And so Babydoll, the unobtainable sex object as she is being saved for the High Roller, can use the thing they can’t take from her to her advantage.

Eye of the Audience vs. Aim of the Actor, or, Zack Knew Some (Not You) Might Interpret It This Way

For all those watching Sucker Punch and thinking that it’s anti-feminist because attractive girls are fighting things, I submit to you that your reading is entirely too simplistic based on the above evidence and that you are actually having the reading that Zack Snyder thought you might have as conveyed through none other than Blue.

When we first really see the mental asylum in Lvl 1, our introduction is via “The Theater,” a place where the girls go to act out their victimization and cope with it by letting others know about it and showing their pain. Whether or not this is a valid form of therapy is beside the point, as what’s important is what Blue says to Babydoll’s stepfather. He too doesn’t know whether the therapy works but he thinks it’s something damn fun and salacious to watch, even mocking it. Blue’s perception here doubles as the worst reading of Sucker Punch, e.g. “Hot girls trying to fight being raped? That’s kinda hot. More tits!” And it seems that people dismissing Sucker Punch as meaningless and anti-feminist think that Snyder’s point was to garner a reaction like Blue’s. But having such a statement made by Blue himself within the context of the film shows that Snyder anticipated that a small amount of people would feel that way about the movie, and that, as a result, another segment of the audience might accuse Snyder of intending this reaction from the repugnant first group.

Thus, with Blue’s comment, Snyder seems to say, “If you think this movie is here to turn you on, you’re wrong. It’s here to help out girls in situations like this and give them hope. Maybe it won’t work and maybe some people will just see boobs and bangs and go home to wank, but that doesn’t mean it’s not meant to have more meaning than that. And that for the characters in this film and for some of the audience, it does.”

And that’s all I have to say about Sucker Punch here. If you want to read more of my opinions/defenses, you can head to my twitter at twitter.com/scarletscribe.

Sidenote: Let me reiterate that I don’t think Sucker Punch is a perfect movie. (It has plenty of problems.) I just think that the movie has more meaning than people give it credit for and I am completely enamored of its storytelling technique.

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Brief Sucker Punch Thoughts...

For those of you that are curious, and because I'm one of 12 people who seemed to both not COMPLETELY miss the point AND appreciate the point, here are some of my thoughts that I tweeted last night.

I love the whole idea of her escaping into this fantasy world, where what we see IS what happened in reality, but the way she sees it, the way she is dealing with it. A mental break turning a situation where she is helpless into one where she is ostensibly helpless, but actually in control, makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately, because she wasn't actually in control, she didn't have the men in the palm of her hand, the fantasy could only take her so far before reality set in and she had to face her fate. Eh, works for me!

I find a more cohesive story in it than many are, it seems. Comes down to a connection to it or not perhaps, pure and simple. The movie is for sure not perfect. The most I'm arguing is that it isn't worthless, it connects/makes more sense to some people than others, and it isn't anti-feminist. Oh and it's really fun to watch if you just let yourself, even if that means laughing at the dumb stuff

I'm kind of sick of man after man writing pieces on why Sucker Punch is anti-feminist or fails as a feminist film. Much more interested in a fellow fangirl's perspective, even if she disagrees with me, than reading unconscious male guilt (also kind of the point of Sucker Punch) translated into not appreciating what Snyder set out to do here. I repeat, this movie is NOT perfect, and I am enjoying all the debate, the 140 character quotes of people who hate it are actually pretty hilarious, but I do take issue with the argument that the film is harmful to women in any way. For whatever inexplicable reason, I did connect to Sucker Punch, I understood the multiple layers she used to escape, I understood that while the story was hers, it was also ours, that sometimes you have to do the best with what you're given, even if the only option is help ONE person to make it out alive, help ONE person to escape, help ONE person make something of herself. Especially when that one person was only trapped in the first place out of a desire to protect her younger sister. Sweet Pea didn't belong there and Babydoll got her out and in the end, even though Babydoll lost her mind completely, she took down both her stepfather and Blue in the process, empowered to the very end.

Was it heavy handed? Yes. Was it at times cheesy? Yes. Was it super far from perfect? Of course. But I loved the conceit, the themes, the action, the costumes, the production design, the soundtrack, most of the performances, really everything but the dialogue/aspects of the script structure (could have done without the final voiceover). Perhaps in more capable hands aka a seasoned screenwriter, the screenplay would have been dynamite, in which case I definitely think everyone would be loving this movie.

With Battle LA, the bad screenplay ruined it for me, but many people I talked to (side note....mostly men....) could acknowledge the script sucked, but loved it anyway. For me, that's kind of the situation with Sucker Punch. I can acknowledge it has problems, but it doesn't really matter. It connected to me on a gut level. I get it. And I love that Snyder, even if he failed, failed so boldly and gloriously.

But seriously, throw me some insightful criticism from a fangirl please. I don't want to read any more pieces by men telling me Sucker Punch is bad for me. I will tomahawk you in stilettos and you'll never see it coming.

Update: Upon seeing the movie again, I began wondering if Baby Doll's purpose is to act as an angel, both for other girls put in unfortunate situations, (both at the asylum in the world of the movie and in the audience, for those watching,) and most specifically, Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea should have never been in there in the first place (a second viewing also makes it very clear that the 2nd level is almost exactly mirroring the 1st level if you take away all references to the location/sex. Everything that happened on the 2nd level is Baby Doll's slightly altered projection of reality, which may also explain the specific role each girl plays and why they may not be "fully fleshed out characters". I believe in the 1st level, Sweet Pea still is only in the asylum out of a desire to protect Rocket and doesn't belong there) and while Baby Doll's grip on reality is loosening, she has fight in her, she has the inner strength the other girls don't, and her arriving at the asylum is equivalent to the arrival of an angel on Earth. With her determination (and realization that her own sacrifice is the final necessary item), she brings down the entire establishment and stepfather in the process, and allows the one girl who had a chance the opportunity to experience real life. What made Baby Doll different was her FIGHT. It's why real-Blue was obsessed with her and ultimately lost his mind and fucked up his own evil doings. The message is even when you are in the worst situation, you already have your weapons, all you have to do is fight, it may save you or it may save someone else, but it's better than the alternative of sitting there not trying, already dead.

PS - Please check out this on-the-money review from Devin Faraci
PPS -  If you would like to read a super positive review, head to First Showing
Other reviews to check out: Mr Beaks, Jack Giroux

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Dragon Age 2: The Mass Effectening

AKA Dragon Age 2: The Consolizationing. Or Dragon Age 2: The Not Quite As Engrossing As Dragon Age: Origins And Not Quite As Cinematic As Mass Effect 2 But Still Quite A Fun Gamening. It has, as you can plainly see, many titles. My personal favorite is Dragon Age 2: Templar Boogaloo.


The non-spoilery rundown is as follows: You play Hawke, the young refugee from Lothering, who travels from Ferelden to the Free Marches city of Kirkwall in search of an ancestral home to reclaim. You play through the next decade of Hawke's life as he or she rises from impoverished nothing to become hailed as the Champion of Kirkwall. You make friends, you make enemies, you make money, you make corpses- typical fair for any adventurer, and in the end, you make some very big choices that have huge ramifications on the lives of the people of the Free Marches and, potentially, the world.

The game bears a passing familiarity if the only Bioware title you've played is Dragon Age: Origins. It kind of looks the same, sort of. It's much prettier- the characters are rendered in better detail and are largely more attractive (Highlite the text for a spoiler: Until you see Alistair in one of his cameos and go WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! NOT THE FACE. NOT HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE. The same goes for Zevran. Somehow, the characters from DA:O are not nearly as good looking as they were. It positively boggles the mind.) Their hair sways almost naturally as they talk or fight. It's quite charming. The environments bear a lot of the same structuring as DA:O, but are more lush, are fuller and more detailed, particularly the coasts and mountains. There are far, far fewer locals to visit, however, and this is disappointing. We finally see the world outside Ferelden (not counting the locations visited in the expansions for Origins), and find ourselves contained to one very small part of it. We have only one city to explore, one and sort of a half mountains, and one seaside. When new quests arrive, they only occur in the same recycled hotspots of each map. In terms of scale, DA2 is dwarfed by DA:O.


Despite it's uncanny, permeating and intentional resemblance to Bioware's other franchise, DA2 is similarly anemic in scope when compared to Mass Effect 2, the game on which DA2's conversation and decision-making mechanisms are based. The combat is pulled back enough to allow you to manage your entire group, not as much as in DA:O and is actually much more fun to play on a console than the first installment. In appearance and gameplay, DA2 is a very solid bastardization, taking what ostensibly should have been the best parts of Origins and ME2 and then fundamentally missing the point.

There are many places in which Dragon Age 2 succeeds. The characters are colorful and interesting, the combat is fluid, the decisions are hard, it's just that none of them reach the standard set in the two games that influenced DA2 the most. The character voicing is wonderful: Jo Wyatt moves seamlessly but distinctively through the noble, sarcastic and hard ass options, always managing to sound like the same character despite the extremes in the choices of response. Nicholas Boulton, for all that I'm only four hours into my dude!Hawke playthrough, seems so far similarly adept at managing this balance in the character. He has a nice voice, and unlike ME2, I don't feel obligated to make him a douche bag. Side note: If you haven't played ME2, do so, and play as dude!Shep, and make him as mean as possible, because nothing but hilarity will ensue. Howden, Roth, Emery, Kruger, Newman and Myles all deliver well nuanced performances as your hero's traveling ensemble, and their banter is interesting and human, but the truly stand-out performance of DA2- as Steve Valentine (Alistair) was of DA:O and Michael Beattie (Mordin Solus) was of ME2,  is Brian Bloom as Varric Tethras. Regardless of who you decide to romance in the game, Varric will probably be the one relationship you care about the most. Roguish, charming, mercenary, laconic, sharp- Varric not only has one of the coolest weapons of the game, but is by far the best developed of the companions. He is also your questionably-reliable narrator.


Dragon Age 2 is a story being told. Varric, being interrogated by an operative of the Chantry, is recounting the tale of the Champion's involvement in the plot's main event. This leads to some truly wonderful moments, particularly when Varric lies. It's a device that works tremendously well for the story, and a unique take on linear gameplay, especially when massive time-jumps are involved, that I quite liked and that Bioware really has a knack for (see also: the opening act of ME2).



In so far as Romancing goes, your options are automatically doubled as most of your companions swing both ways. Very cool. I found the lack of interaction opportunities a little vexing, though. There was always something both fun and reassuring in the fact that at any point during our travels, my Grey Warden could turn to any companion and have a conversation. In fact, the player feels encouraged to do so throughout the course of Origins, because initiating random conversations, particularly in conjunction with gift giving, frequently led to fantastically written exchanges that you had no prompting at all to experience. It felt very organic, and was extremely cool. Being instructed by the game to talk to your fellows makes it feel like a mission, and this is mostly because one is usually attached to any chat you may have. I also miss being approached out of the blue by a companion with an issue or a question. Sometimes they'll show up at your house to give you a quest- your home and theirs having replaced a 'camp' where everyone congregates- but not often. The crew in ME2 felt more disparate, and each individual crew member was not so predictable or one-note as the DA2 companions are. This is not a comment on the performances, bear in mind, but the way the characters are written. They are cool and they are interesting, but not as cool or interesting as those in ME2. They are idiosyncratic and they are human, but not half so much as the characters in DA:O.  This seems to be the ultimate trend of Dragon Age 2- the whole is not necessarily greater than the sum of its parts, but every component is somehow lacking when held up against its predecessors.



In ME2, I didn't mourn the random conversations that made DA:O so real and so engrossing. The game works seamlessly, and I didn't find any one part lacking, although during a second playthrough the planet probing aspect was tedious; In DA:O, I didn't mind not having a voiced main character, because the dialogue trees were so extensive and the performances by the companions so complete; and in both games, the mission was so grand, the tasks so epic, the world so vast that at times I felt overwhelmed by possibility, but never impatient- except in combat. Difficult fights in DA:O were messy and repetitive, and this has been vastly improved for console users in DA2, though I hear the PC gamers' experience has been less thrilling. As for everything else, DA2 just doesn't quite hit the mark.


Now, it can be argued that DA2 is a much more personal game. You're following one person's rise and possible fall in one city. Much like I think the Iron Man movies showed, a hero's journey can be personal and the stakes don't have to be world endingly high for the story to be grand and feel important. DA2's sort of doesn't, though, and at the end of the game I was left with the feeling that the choices I had made didn't really affect the outcome that much- everything is very binary in DA2. You are for the mages, or you are for the templars, there is no middle ground. At every major plot point, all the little things you thought you were doing, all the times you tried to be fair and balanced, go out the window and you're left with a black or white decision to make. So what's the point of all the little decisions in between? The overall experience just wasn't as fulfilling. This has nothing to do with any attempt on my part to replace human relationships or success in my career with video games. Shut up.

Overall, the game is very pretty and very fun, but fails to surpass what came before.


Now for the spoilertastic fangirly bits. You can stop reading now, I'll just be over here freaking out.

(More after the jump)





The fanservice in act three of this game is absolutely ridiculous. Out of the woodwork comes Leliana, Zevran, and Alistair. Oddly, they are not as attractive as they were in the first game. Alistair looks bland and puffy, and HIS HAIR ISN'T THE SAME WHY. WHY IS THE HAIR NOT EXACTLY THE SAME IT JUST LOOKS DIFFERENT WHY. DO NOT WANT. Zevran's lovely, fine boned features do not mesh well with the new Elf design, which features the nose so Roman it's practically an aqueduct. Leliana looks okay, but her lips aren't as pouty and her eyes aren't as bright. It's just sort of strange. Smaller characters from Origins reappear, also, like Cullen. Last seen being outraged at my Grey Warden's decision to spare the Ferelden Circle of Magi, he is now the right-hand templar of Knight-Commander Meredith, who is an unadulterated bitch. Still, Cullen is sort of a long-suffering puppy, and it was nice to see the ginger bastard again. The characters I missed the most, of course, were Oghren (who would not approve in the slightest of slick surface-dwarf Varric, and also- HOW did Bioware manage to make a game without Steve Blum in it? I'm baffled.), Shale and Sten. Sten, the Qunari with a heart of gold. Or something. Mark Hildreth's performance of Sten was more moving than any of the Qunari voices in DA2, but I think that has more to do with the race's activities and relationship to the Champion. If you ever read this, I love you, Mark, and whatever the whining otaku said, I thought your Heero Yuy was excellent. Man, I'm a dork.



There is some seriously dark stuff in DA2. In Origins, I was not infrequently taken aback by the choices presented me: killing a small child, manipulating my fiance into sleeping with a witch so she would conceive a demon baby, aiding and abetting despots. Whatevs. By far the most unnerving creature in Origins was, of course, the Brood Mother. The Brood Mother is what the darkspawn turn women into. They taint the women with their blood, then force feed her people until she becomes a giant grotesque darkspawn breeding creature. It is Nightmare Fuel of the very Highest Octane. Similarly, the characters have dark pasts that involve serious emotional abuse, physical abuse, enslavement, etcetera, but everything is couched in terms vague enough to be merely unsettling and not necessarily evocative of a visceral response. In DA2, when Anders just comes right on out with the information that templars raping circle mages is not uncommon, or when Fenris talks about his past as a slave and life under the magisters, it's a bit shocking.  There is a lot of very disturbing sexual content that you never see, but is most certainly there. The violence level is extremely high, not just because the blood spatter is as unlikely as ever, but because terrible things are done to people who do not deserve them and cannot defend themselves, and the repercussions are dire. Kirkwall is not a nice place, and the people in it are not, for the most part, lawful good. If they think they are, watch out, because they might be a serial killer.


No, actually.


Let's talk about the Qunari mage. In a truly grotesque moment, the player is shown what the Qunari does to their magi: they bind and shackle them, weld iron masks to their heads, and sew their mouths shut. Magic is chaos and at odds with the Qun. They are leashed like dogs and used like tools, but then, all Qunari at tools of the Qun. They may choose to be, which is obedience to the Qun, or they may choose NOT to be, which means they will be exterminated. After quite the ordeal to get a Qun mage safely out of Kirkwall, he chooses- instead of living a life as an exile of the Qun- to obey the will of the Qun and immolate himself. Not particularly quickly. It is horrific. And amazing.


Talking about horrific and amazing, let's talk about the end of the game. THE VERY END OF THE GAME. THE LAST THING THAT HAPPENS IN IT. PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED IT YET.

So, having quite liked Anders in Awakening and finding his newly tortured and Justified soul (haha) to be rather endearing, my Champion chose Anders to become romantically involved in. We were all kinds of in love, everything was going swell- until he started acting like a sketchy bitch, asking me to distract high ranking members of the church while he went a-skulking about, donning black robes and being suddenly distant and not at all affectionate. What the hell is this?


Oh, it's him bombing a church like a damn terrorist. Fantastic.  The magnitude of what Anders does is huge, and automatically belittles everything that happened in the game before it, because nothing you do can prevent it from happening. Now, this makes sense from the point of view of the narration: these events have already happened, they are simply being told and you are, essentially, acting out the telling. But nothing else you do in the game feels as though it has any real significance in the face of this event. The Arashok must be defeated, the elves are going to get wiped out, your sibling is going to either confiscated by the Chantry or sentenced to death by the Dark Spawn. There's no feeling of possibility spiraling outward from your character like in DA:O and ME2. I just wish the game had felt like more. All this said, I really, really enjoyed my time with it. I got invested and had emotional responses, I admired the turns that companions' stories took and the glimpses of the Chantry and the Qunari we were offered. The overall plot was interesting, but it accelerated too quickly into something so huge at the end, I honestly didn't know what I'd been spending my time doing for the last forty hours.


Will play again, and enjoy again. but definitely not as many times as I did Origins. I desperately hope that the next installment of Dragon Age is followed by a colon and a word instead of a number, and that they apply a lot of the ME2 mechanisms that did work to the scope and character depth of DA:O to put the player back in Ferelden, continuing on their Grey Warden's path (if they're not dead, I mean.). Fingers crossed for a trip to Weisshaupt and a final showdown with one or more witch and her demon spawn. And some freaking Griffins.


Dragon Age: The Griffoning. I'm in.

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Is it just me?

For the past couple of days, I've been trying to write two separate reviews for the new Radiohead and Strokes albums. But it's proving to be insanely difficult. And it's not because I'm too busy or that I don't have the desire to discuss their albums...it's just...it's hard for me to admit this...I can't bring myself to write less than stellar reviews about my two favorite bands.

Ok, so let me make this clear--it's not that I think The King of Limbs and Angles are bad albums; they're both good (btw, I like Radiohead's album better). It's just that I expect more from both bands. I love them both too much to pretend I don't have mixed feelings and that I'm not a bit disappointed by their new work. But I have to question how it's possible for me to have issues with both these albums. These are two very different albums by two very different bands (who rarely even share the same fan base). Virtually everything both bands have previously released I've loved. So I have to ask: is it just me? Is my individual taste in rock music shifting? Am I just always contradictory and awkward?

To those questions I have to answer: absolutely yes. And while I could get into the subjective theories of music and the listener (which I'll always champion), I don't want to bore you with my personal narrative about how I'm going through some transitional phase. And since I still love both bands, as is evident by the fact that I still regularly listen to their previous albums, I have to look for other explanations as to why I'm not crazy in love with these albums.

Basically, the only practical conclusion I can really come to is this: I blame both lead singers' solo projects for affecting the sound of their bands' new albums. Oh yes, I love Thom Yorke's The Eraser and Julian Casablanca's Phrazes for the Young (btw, I like Julian's album better) but they're not even comparable to Radiohead's In Rainbows and The Strokes' First Impressions of Earth. Those albums are incredible and they measure up to (if not surpass) both bands' previous efforts. So I was hoping, especially from Radiohead who managed to put out such an awesome album (In Rainbows) after Thom's solo album, that both bands would just come out with an evolved sound from their last collective efforts. Instead, I got more solo sounds. Here's the separate, brief breakdown:

The King of Limbs is far superior to The Eraser and has moments of pure blissful, beautiful Radiohead gold. "Lotus Flower" and "Codex" are ridiculously wonderful. But overall it's underwhelming and predictable. There were no alarms and no surprises! Still, it's a really good, cohesive album. Like, let's face it, if any other band put out this album they'd be receiving my accolades nonstop.

The same can be said for Angles; if this wasn't a Strokes album, I'd be talking about how sweet it is. But come on! It's The Strokes and they produced an album that sounds like an erratic version of Phrazes for the Young (which was an awesome album). The first two songs, "Machu Picchu" and "Under Cover of Darkness" are amazing but the rest of the album has yet to truly wow me.

I wanted to instantly fall in love with these albums, like I did with In Rainbows and First Impressions of Earth. I wanted to listen to them on repeat for months (again, like I did with their last albums). But I'm just left feeling a bit unfulfilled. I like The King of Limbs and Angles but I find myself already taking them out of my iPod rotation...

What do you guys think? Have either or both of these albums been a little disappointing? I hope it is just me going through a phase. I hope that at a later date I'll come back to both these albums and love them.

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American Idol Top 11 - Okay, Something To Work With! But Stop Overproducing The Songs Please.

It's Motown night! All right, Seacrest, let's do this thing.

What the hell does "Steven Tyler, you're my mom's hall pass" mean? Is that a reference to the film Hall Pass? Was that a Fox film? Does that mean a freebie? Like a sexin freebie? I feel old.

Is this the same Motown clip package they show every year?

If this evening doesn't rule, I'm gonna be pissed. If someone manages to pick a bad song, I will begin to seriously question the functionality of his or her brain space.

NUMBER of hits, Randy. Not "amount." Number.

Casey - Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
Casey, please return to the you of Awesome yore, if it's not too much trouble. Not loving the arrangement,  but am digging his voice, control, energy and little changes to the song.
Steven - Perfect entertainer
J-Lo - So specific in who he is, such an incredible thing, wondering if there is anyone like him out there right now and doesn't think there is
Randy - Definitely a true original. Takes chances, tells everyone who comes up there to just do them, and Casey can only do him and that him is great. Woah there, Randy, now.

Did Ryan just make some kind of secret bigamy joke?

The guitarist of Aerosmith gets a shout out, but the lead singer of Muse didn't. Still not over it.

More after the jump

Thia - Heat Wave by Martha and the Vandellas
Jimmy was shocked that Thia was could sing. Yikes. Backhanded compliment, much? This is actually probably the best she's sounded yet. Plus she looks adorbz. There's still no way she's the American Idol, but this is a huge step up from last week's epic suckage. Was she forgetting her lyrics? Couldn't tell. She's gonna have a great career on the Disney channel.
J-Lo - Scratching the surface a little bit there, great to see her let loose, didn't know she had it in her. Needs her to dig deeper each week.
Randy - This new thing is a good thing. It's about taking chances, she took a chance, she can still dig deeper, but happy to see her move up a notch tonight with something different
Steven - Agrees, loves that she's taken a step out. Great, he's good with it.

Kristen Dunst is an Idol fan! Who knew.

Jacob - You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Turrell
If Jacob doesn't kill it, there's gonna be a problem. Jimmy needs Jacob to try out using control as well. For those wondering, control is the thing Pia and Stefano and to a certain extent Haley have that no one else does. Nice job. This is definitely his genre.  Hands down his best performance since the live shows began. Amazing range, this kid has. Back to the Jacob we know. A little control goes a long way. Steven hug!
Randy - The great Barry Gordy is somewhere "Oh my god". His best performance yet. True professional. Nothing wrong with the performance.
Steven - All over the place before, but with this one he held it back, beautiful
J-Lo - You made us beg for those notes, amazing

Ryan makes a bunch of girls hug Jacob. Oh Ryan.

Lauren - You Keep Me Hanging On by The Supremes
Yes! We can finally hear Lauren's amazing voice. Finally finally. I wish the whole song was like the beginning when we could just hear her voice and had no distractions. The lights and musical arrangement are a little loungey, but she sounds great.
Steven - Ripped that song another beauty mark. Beautiful.
J-Lo - Looks amazing tonight, most beautiful she's seen her. Loved that she threw her neck into it, which the song required, brought it to life, really good job
Randy - She's got her swagger on high, she's ready

She has such a baby face, she will be IDed well past when she's of age. I'd guffaw if that girl tried to order a drink from me. Whereas Thia, even younger than Lauren, for sure looks like she's in her early twenties.

Where's the photo of Stefano, Fox?!

Stefano - Hello by Lionel Ritchie
I loved what David Cook did with this song - Stefano has a lot to live up to. Jimmy tells him to hold it back with the runs and notes that Stefano has chosen a REALLY difficult song. Is this song too high for Stefano? Ooh, maybe not. Need to stop typing now and watch. Mmm, I do love his voice. His control is off the hook. Yup. I just said off the hook. I much prefer David Cook's arrangement, but can't deny Stefano sounded great. Aw. He's so cute. But something was a little forced there. Didn't really buy what he was saying, especially the last " I love you."
J-Lo - He's fine (meaning attractive) and sings great. Needs him to connect more. Doesn't want intensity to come from doing well, wants it to come from his heart breaking. Once he connects like that, he will fly out of this building.
Randy - Only thing he is missing is the connection. Bit off a big chunk today, needed to perfect vocally and emotionally. Sounded beautiful, but there was no real connection. One of the better singers they have there, but no real emotion. Once he feels it from his heart he'll be surprised what happens his phrasing. Look at every lyric, think about who he is singing to, if he doesn't feel anything, throw it away.
Steven - Voice is so beautiful, just pull back a little.

Randy makes a gay joke about Ryan and Stefano and they react pretty adorbzally.

Gordon Ramsey is super mean to Stefano's mom. I guess that's his schtick, but really? Poor form.

Haley - You Really Got A Hold On Me by Smokey Robinson
PLEASE KILL IT, HALEY! I want it to be slowed down and I want to just hear her sing. I don't want any of this fast paced blahhh. She's so sleazy, bwhahaha, why does this happen? But she still sounds amazing, like she does every week, which is why she is still in this competition. Did she mess up the lyrics? That was confusing. She is so hilariously awkward. This song should not have been sped up. Her voice is amazing, AUGH, Haley, PLEASE, do something to back up your amazing vocals one day. Super wish she had just sat on a stool and sang. PLEASE. I'm so confused.
Randy - Started a little bit rough, but by the middle of the song, the Haley they fell in love with, blusey attitude, came roaring back. This is the type of singer they thought she was.
Steven - Feels Randy and feels Haley. Beautiful. Sang her heart out. "Doesn't look a day over fabulous." Loves her Joplin growl.
J-Lo - She has effortless control, can probably do anything with her voice more than anyone else can. May have most soulful voice of all the girls.

Scotty aka Alfred E Neuman - For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder
Scotty is randomly really good at basketball. "The last thing I want to do is come off like a lounge singer." If you don't want to make it loungey, maybe make the arrangement not suck, Jimmy. Scotty's voice cracks me up. He's also kind of taking a risk right now, using his upper register, which it turns out he has! So, woah, okay! Although I don't know what he's doing with his dancing.
Steven - Took a big chance, loved it, really ripped it, when he goes down to those low notes, he tweaks everyone
J-Lo - Great version of the song. Made it his own. Wasn't his strongest vocal performance, but that low note gets her all over again.
Randy - Was smiling the whole time, he took chances, should have gone higher sooner, low note was a young lady killer note

I don't like cocky Scotty, stop telling him he's a ladykiller everyone, please.

Pia - All In Love Is Fair by Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder?! From the 70s?! Not Motown! Fail! Stop having no taste, Pia, auururghh. I say this doesn't count and am upset with her choice, however well she sings it. THIS IS SO NOT MOTOWN. Who allowed this? She has only once sung a decent song and she always dressed like she is 40. Please just sing a good song. Okay but yes she sounded amazing, so, you know, that's great, whatever.
J-Lo - Killed them with one of her killer ballads. Amazing vocals, beauty, feeling, all check, she could have a career like Celine Dion, she has a strong instrument, but Celine walks all over the stage, owns it, needs her to incorporate other dynamic into her performance to take her over the top. (Though the idea of a two hour Pia concert makes some people in the room groan.)
Randy - Hits notes dead on, likes that she incorporated more falsetto. Needs up or mid tempo. Wants her to sing something more uptempo (didn't she last week?)
Steven - Closest star in this American Idol universe. She is all that, will be all that, she's got, if she needs to step out and put on some sneakers and kick some ass, she will. Beautiful.

Ryan shows off Pia's...ass? Seacrest is on fire tonight. Pia needs to sing Bonnie Tyler, Heart, Pat Benatar or hell, even Journey. Or Fleetwood Mac!

Paul - Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
AHHHH PLEASE DONT SCREW IT UP. Adam Lambert sang this and killed it and ahhhh I'm nervous. PLEASE BE AWESOME, MY LOVE. Guitar guitar guitar. Why do they have to have back ground shit, argh, I just want it to be just Paul. I like it when Paul sings with his guitar awwwwww I wanna hug his cute faaaace. He's kind of making up lyrics, but I don't mind he's so cute and I love his voice and we're getting married. Killed it with the last line.
Randy - Liked him not dancing around, liked to see him play guitar, definitely got a distinctive voice, so unique, little worried when it started, but took it took a cool Paul Rod Stewarty sort of place, everyone was jamming, having a good time, notes were there. When he goes tender, like the end, oh my god, dude. So cool.
Steven - Very different, like Dylan, like Willie Nelson, beautiful in that sense, loved what he did
J- Lo - He had a tear in his voice at the end. The most seasoned performer they have, the complete package, just needs a good producer and there we go.

He is so cute, I can't handle it. He's gonna date so many famous peopleees. He's so damn sexy. Ryan points out that Randy hasn't said "pitchy" yet. Guys. Naima is next. So. May have spoken too soon.

Naima - Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas
Our first thought is "uh oh", followed by "ample opportunity to be pitchy!" She's adding African dance?! What?! Okay, well keeping it entertaining, that's what I need. Actually, I'm not hating this. She is mostly hitting her notes and sounding not awful. That was kind of awesome.
Steven - E to the Z e tweedalidee. The whole package, right there, ate the stage.
J- Lo - She is an exciting performer, loves watching her, first little goosebumps of the night, good, she's the mover, the shaker, the dancer up there, of which there aren't a lot in the competition
Randy - Been a little rough on her, but finally tonight, all of Naima showed up, the girl that loves the African dance, the reggae girl, the singing was there, the performance was there, arrangement was brilliant for her, very smart

Ryan says James is coming direct from German? Huh? I'm confused. Oh! Durbin. Not German. Like his last name. Durbin. Like Durbin is next. I'm exhausted. Naima might be my favorite backstage person. Well and Paul, cause I love looking at him.

James Durbin - Living For The City by Stevie Wonder
I really don't think Stevie Wonder is considered Motown. Especially this album he and Pia sang from. NOT MOTOWN. Adam Lambert-lite is being Adam Lambert-lite-like. Dancing! Hah, that's kinda cute. But every time he performs, I miss Adam Lambert. Remember when Adam Lambert was always awesome every week? Let's think about Season 8 of American Idol for a moment, shall we? Such a good season. Wait, what's happening? Oh, James is till singing. Sure, fine, he did fine.
J-Lo - (Does a valley girl impression for some reason). Tells him to soak it up. (The crowd loves him. Wtf?) He is serious business up there. Left her speechless.
Randy - Was a little rough at the start. When he hit his pocket and stride, he was unbelievable. Loved the note he ended on.
Steven - Takes a little bit of being crazy to make a difference in the world and that's what he's about. He's great. Voice was incredible. Song was perfect for his voice. Right in his range. Nailed it.

My Top Three: Casey, Jacob, Lauren, Paul, Naima (okay, so 5)
My Bottom Three: Hrm...Thia? Even though I liked her this week. Pia for song choice. Uh oh. This is tough this week. Didn't hate anyone. James cause I'm not a big fan in general?
Going Home: Your guess is as good as mine. Would have been Naima, but she brought it and got me and probably a lot of other people too. My best guess is Thia. Worried it'll be Stefano cause he didn't connect or Haley cause she's crazy. I'm guessing the bottom three will be Thia, Stefano and Haley. I'll be super pissed if anyone but Thia goes home. Uncomfortable that Fox Flash accidentally posted two photos of Naima and none of Stefano. Hope that doesn't mean he's going home. I have a bad feeling about this.

Can I just say, I'm REALLY sick of these overproduced songs. All of the songs I own from past Idol seasons are the ones that were stripped down and didn't sound like shit, and most of the time when the Idols have had "moments" they've been when it was just them and a piano or guitar or a capella or ANYTHING but what's happening right now. Someone please put a stop to this. K thx.

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Celebrity Crush Of The Week

 It's only weird if you let it be weird, okay?

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American Idol Song Suggestions Of The Day

Because why not? Take a listen and try to tell me I'm wrong. JUST TRY.

Paul, with nothing but his guitar, connecting to the audience with his cute face and cute everything and cute siiiigh love heart, singing Faithful, by Eric Anderson. Classic folk. Classic Awesome.

As for Haley, who needs to be more focused on blues and rock, I think Linda Ronstadt's Long Long Time would be PERFECT for Haley's pitch perfect, unique, huge voice.

For Pia, her voice definitely suits large ballads best, but so help me if she sings Celine Dion or Whitney Huston ever again. Maybe she could take on Randy Newman's Feels Like Home, most recently and most famously covered by Chantal Kreviazuk? I also would LOVE to hear her sing I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt

Would love Casey to use the fact that he has a great jazz/soul voice when he uses it correctly and plays five instruments to tackle Amos Lee's Soul Suckers

Agree? Disagree? Think I should stop wasting my time thinking about this? Yeah. I agree. I should.

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Tropes, Transformations and Terror: Where Will Red Riding Hood Fit In Werewolf Movie History?

 Crossposted on and photos provided by Film.com

With Red Riding Hood opening this past weekend, we decided to take a look back at previous werewolf movies in an effort to investigate how Hardwicke's take on the classic tale stacks up against other movies featuring the same monster and if it provides us with anything we haven't seen before. After a week straight of werewolf movie after werewolf movie, I can safely say that pulling one off is no easy feat. Luckily, most of the films I've checked out have been right on the money, but the ones that aren't ... oh boy, the ones that aren't. So which ones should you check out in order to be properly educated pre-Red Riding Hood, and which tropes does the new movie have in common with werewolf movies of yore? Read on to find out.

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The Wolfman (1941)
The one that started it all. Sorry, Werewolf of London, made six years earlier and also worth seeing, but you aren't the film constantly referenced or remade. The sweet, harmless Larry Talbot comes home. Larry Talbot gets turned into a werewolf, which means some days of the month he is no longer sweet and harmless.
Protagonist as werewolf? Yes.
Transformation scene? Yup.
Cognizant as werewolf? No.
Type of werewolf: Mostly man, biped, makeup.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yes. The gypsies know all about them.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Yes. Everyone else thinks of "lyncanthropy" as a psychological disorder.
Sex scene? No, though there is a love story.
Scare level: Has its moments.
Worth seeing? Is that a real question? The Wolfman is the film most often referenced in the werewolf movies that followed and is considered the definitive film of its kind. Lon Chaney was one of a kind and you definitely feel for him and his plight.

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She-Wolf Of London (1946)
When a young woman discovers mud on her shoes after a string of murders begin to take place in the local park, she becomes convinced that the legend of her family's curse is true, and she is a werewolf.
Protagonist as werewolf? Maybe.
Transformation scene? No.
Cognizant as werewolf? As she wakes up every morning not knowing what happened, I'll say no.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yes.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Yes, a "mad-woman."
Sex scene? No, though there is a love story or two.
Scare level: Mostly scary through tension and unease.
Worth seeing? Yes, especially for fans of Hitchcock or noir. This film is essentially noir, if werewolves were a real-life entity to be concerned about. I don't want to give too much away, but the film is extremely suspenseful and mostly a whodunit, filled with a good number of red herrings and misdirections. Plus it's only an hour long!

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An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Two young American guys go to London. One, David, gets turned into a werewolf; the other gets killed. Werewolf cutie David falls in love with a hot nurse, but when he discovers what he has become, realizes he may not have a future with her. Or anyone. Or anything. 'Cause, you know, he's a werewolf.
Werewolf as protagonist? Yup.
Transformation scene? Two of them. And they're the best.
Cognizant as werewolf? Nope.
Type of werewolf:Giant, quadruped, mostly wolf, not cute, makeup/animatronics.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? So much so that David even references The Wolfman as how he knows what the pentagram symbol on the wall of the Slaughtered Lamb means.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Yes.
Sex scene? Yes.
Scare level: Not constant, but there when it matters.
Worth seeing? YESSSSS. This movie is gold. It's equal parts scary, funny, and sexy. Yup. Sexy. I love this movie. Rick Baker got an Oscar for the makeup, natch (in fact this movie is literally why there is an Oscar for makeup), and the first transformation scene is almost painful to watch in terms of accuracy. Or I mean, what I assume is accuracy. Plus it adds a sense of urgency and a real impetus as to why the werewolf can't simply be locked up when it's a full moon. There is a reason the werewolf must die, which I hadn't seen in a werewolf movie before. Oh, and the ending rules. Just see it.

More after the jump!

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The Howling (1981)
A news reporter is sent to a retreat in the woods called The Colony after being traumatized by a serial killer attack and some s*#t goes down. Haven't we learned by now to just never go into the woods unless you want to encounter werewolves?
Werewolf as protagonist? No. But. Well. See it.
Transformation scene? Oh yes. The most disturbing of the bunch.
Cognizant as werewolf? Yes, but because the werewolf takes over the human personality as well, unless you are strong enough to resist. Can transform at will.
Type of werewolf: Biped wolfmen, gross and scary. Makeup, stop-motion animation, puppetry.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? They do. The ones who figure it out spend time in an occult bookstore and watch 1941's The Wolfman.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? In a throwaway line on a background television, lycanthropy is described to outsiders as a "disease of the mind," just like in The Wolfman.
Sex scene: Boy is there.
Scare level: Very high.
Worth seeing? YES. The precursor to Dog Soldiers in terms of real horror through werewolves. Although it was made in the same year as An American Werewolf in London with initial creature effects by the same man (Rick Baker), both have important scenes having to do with pornography, and in both, dreams play a role, the two movies are incredibly different -- but both are equally fantastic. This film starts as more of a psychological thriller before fully delving into horror. The usual tropes are there -- quick healing, getting bit and surviving changes one into a werewolf, silver bullets are the only way to kill them -- but does not follow the full moon part of werewolf lore. What makes The Howling distinct is the way it deals with sexuality, with the nature of the beast. It sits much more in your psychosis as an audience member than other werewolf movies and is the most disturbing because of it. Though a couple years later, a very different genre of werewolf movie came along that dealt with similar, and somehow even creepier themes. Spoiler Alert: It's the next movie I'm going to talk about.

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The Company of Wolves (1984)
A young girl's dreams place her in the role of Red Riding Hood in a nightmarish retelling of the tale, mostly focused on subconscious fears and desires -- men as wolves, wolves as men, and what that means for little girls who stray off the path. Neil Jordan's (The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) second feature film.
Werewolf as protagonist? No. But a The Howling kind of no.
Transformation scene? A couple, playing with the idea that the wolf is inside and the human must shed his skin for the wolf to appear. The first scene in which this idea comes to visual fruition is extremely, disturbingly creepy.
Cognizant as werewolf? It would appear so, with the wolf as a part of the being overall ("hairy on the inside").
Type of werewolf: Actual wolf wolves, although during the transformation, they are briefly skinless human-wolf skeleton hybrids of make-me-cry-ness.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yes, Rosaleen learns all about them from her grandmother. While others call them stories, grandmother calls them fact.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? When the wolf commits a crime, everyone knows it's a wolf. It isn't until Rosaleen's father kills one and sees its paw turn into a hand that the town knows the wolf is a werewolf.
Sex scene? No, but there is an inappropriate kiss.
Scare level? High, but more so in that under your skin I'm gonna be creeped out and bothered for days kind of way.
Worth seeing? Yes, especially if you're particularly into the gothic fairy tale side of werewolf stories. This one posits that the werewolf in the Red Riding Hood story has a sexual connection with the young girl, which adds a whole new level of upsetting to the story as we know it. It's very British, it's quite surreal, it's sexual, and it features a lot of heads getting batted off various bodies. Definitely a precursor to Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood, I'd be surprised if it wasn't listed as an influence in some way.

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Ginger Snaps (2000)
Best use of werewolfism as a metaphor for puberty ever. Two goth sisters have a pact to always stay together. But then one of them gets bitten by a werewolf the same night she gets her period. Chaos ensues. Really awesome Canadian chaos.
Werewolf as protagonist? Not exactly.
Transformation scene? Yes, although many subtle transformations take place in small bits throughout the course of the movie.
Cognizant as werewolf? Yes, but being infected influences the carrier's human behavior as well, so while the wolf is self-aware, it's self-aware as an evil being.
Type of werewolf: Semi-sexy human-wolf hybrid until the official change. Then a super ugly quadruped; makeup, animatronics.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yup.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Nope. The other trope. Large unidentified beast. Eats mostly dogs.
Sex scene: Yes.
Scare level: Not quite as high as some of the others, but it's there. Perhaps is more scary on an intimate level, witnessing something horrific come between sisters who were otherwise so close.
Worth seeing? Yes. This movie uses the werewolf thing as a metaphor for something very real, so at least I, as a former teenage girl, very much connected to it. It's actually very reminiscent of the recent Jennifer's Body, but with sisters instead of best friends and a werewolf infecting one instead of a demon. In fact, I'd have a hard time believing Diablo Cody wouldn't site Ginger Snaps as an influence or movie she loves. Ginger Snaps also changes a lot of the rules -- silver doesn't do anything, the beast doesn't turn back into a human once dead, the transformation occurs slowly over the course of a month, the lycanthropy acts as a virus that can be transmitted like an STD, through blood and sex, and most importantly, because it is a virus, there is a cure. This particular film has a lot in it that other forays into werewolf movies simply don't have, and for that reason alone it's worth checking out.

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Dog Soldiers (2002)
Soldiers head to the woods for an overnight training session. Things go awry. Very awry.
Werewolf as protagonist? Certainly not.
Transformation scene? Maaaybe.
Cognizant as werewolf? Possibly a tiny bit.
Type of werewolf: Giant wolfy bipeds. Makeup, animatronic, digital.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yup. Special Ops is hunting them and everyone else has heard legend and lore.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Yes.
Sex scene? No.
Scare level: Mind boggling.
Worth seeing?: ABSOEFFINGLUTELY. If you want to experience being legitimately terrified by werewolves, see this movie. Neil Marshall's debut film, released in 2001, it's bloody and filled with tension, putting an emphasis on getting teared limb from limb, not only what it looks like, but what it feels like to witness. The premise is creepy, the acting is stellar, the writing is badass (there's one monologue in particular that I'd be dying to see a kid bring into an acting class, just to see what happens), oh -- and it's Britishy British-town. In true werewolf movie fashion, the nonbelievers suspect the culprit is a "lunatic," but other than that, it falls much more into horror movie tropes than werewolf movie ones. It truly puts werewolves in a horror setting, and even though there is plenty of humor, the horror is very, very real. And you know what's kind of fun? Borrowing from Predator (or Wolfen), there are plenty of werewolf POV shots, and like in last year's Call of Duty Black Ops Zombie multiplayer, the characters repeatedly rebuild barriers after the enemies break them when they are holed up. Turn off the lights, turn up the volume, and watch this movie ASAP.

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Cursed (2005)
Two siblings (Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg) are bitten by a werewolf and have to figure out who gave them the curse and how to end it. From Scream masterminds Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven.
Werewolf as protagonist? Yes. And antagonist.
Transformation scene? Yes, CGI transformation.
Cognizant as werewolf? Definitely. Affects human behavior as well, but similarly to The Howling, it can be controlled, the cursed don't *have* to give in to their budding evil side, though they definitely get sexier, more powerful, more confident, and often slightly bitchier in human form, as was also a plot point in Ginger Snaps.
Type of werewolf: Super wolfy bipeds. Makeup, animatronic, digital.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yes, and Jesse Eisenberg's geeky character, whose hair goes from curly to straight after he becomes "cursed," discovered a lot more info through his comic books and Internet research. There is also a gypsy who recognizes the "mark of the beast," aka, you guessed it, a pentagram, which appears on the hand of a werewolf while in human form.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Nope. Wild animal.
Sex scene? No, but there is some zero-chemistry kissing: Christina Ricci and Joshua Jackson.
Scare level: Ehhhh. There may be some scares here or there, but I would call the movie fun over scary. I mean, at one point almost everyone in the film is a werewolf. It's pretty silly.
Worth seeing? Depends. In 2005? No. In 2011? Maybe. Mostly because Jesse Eisenberg plays a geeky werewolf and Milo Ventimiglia plays a jock who picks on him, then tries to make out with him. Yes, you read that correctly. Plus we get a bizarre turn from Portia de Rossi, Joshua Jackson being hot, and Judy Greer having a lot of fun chewing the scenery. Cursed changes some of the rules, which is always interesting to see but sadly, ultimately the movie is just not very good. It follows the structure of a slasher movie and almost every twist is foreseeable from a mile away. But once again, werewolf expert Rick Baker was in charge of the creature before reportedly storming off the set, makeup work later taken over by Greg Nicotero, and the creature does actually look pretty cool. I don't know about scary. But definitely cool. Oh, and the werewolf gives someone the middle finger at some point. So you know, if you are trying to watch a bunch of werewolf movies or see every movie Jesse Eisenberg has ever been in, then you'll have a good time. Otherwise, I'm sure you have better things to watch.

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Blood and Chocolate (2007)
Girl in a werewolf pack falls for a human boy, which complicates the whole she's-supposed-to-mate-with-the-werewolf-leader thing. Werewolf pack no like this.
Werewolf as protagonist? Yes and was one from the start. Antagonists are also werewolves.
Transformation scene? Many transformations, but they aren't the to-do we're used to. The human gets all glowy and light, which obscures some form-shifting, then bam! Human is a wolf.
Cognizant as werewolf? Yes. More like shapeshifters, can change at will, is a part of their entire being/ancestry.
Type of werewolf: Actual wolves. Especially cute ones too.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Yes, the love interest is researching a graphic novel about werewolves and learns about the worshipped tribe living in Romania.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? Nope. They generally only kill when the entire pack meets up in the woods -- they set loose a human that has done wrong and hunt him together, so the town doesn't really spend time discussing them.
Sex scene? No, but definitely kissing.
Scare level: None. I liked some of the action though!
Worth seeing? Ask Rotten Tomatoes. In short, no, unless you are following up your A History Of Jesse Eisenberg with A History Of Hugh Dancy. It was pretty bland and kind of boring, though plus sides include beautiful visuals (mostly due to where it was shot), real wolves (which were pretty cute), and Hugh Dancy (who was even cuter). It does play with some conventions, with the werewolf pack being revered, not hated, the "curse" actually seen as a blessing. If only the love story were actually interesting instead of consisting of nothing more than a meet cute, a chase scene, and a montage featuring the two leads playing in a fountain as all the evidence supporting them falling in love. Sigh. Not all werewolf movies are created equal.

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The Wolfman (2010)
In a remake of the 1941 classic, Lawrence Talbot, a beloved actor in this version, comes back to his hometown upon the death of his brother. He becomes a werewolf and chaos ensues.
Werewolf as protagonist? Yes. Also as antagonist. There's some twisty stuff, I guess.
Transformation scene? Yes. It's pretty cool, but not as gritty and uncomfortable as some of the others, mostly due to the digital effects.
Cognizant as werewolf? Ultimately -- not enough.
Type of werewolf: True to its title, a biped wolf-man, just like in the original. Pretty solid hybrid. Hella makeup. Oscar-winning hella makeup.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? Oh yeah. Legend, lore, everyone is educated.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? And think Talbot *is* a lunatic who thinks he is a werewolf. Classic mistake, old timey folk.
Sex scene? No. I think there is a kiss though.
Scare level: From time to time.
Worth seeing? Probably not. Yes, it's cool to see a take on the original Wolfman makeup, updated for the 21st century, plus the gothic feel to the film is right on, but Benicio Del Toro is SO woefully miscast, he just about ruined everything that could be good about it. He's actually awful. Just straight up, everything he did was painful to watch and I wanted him to leave the screen.

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Red Riding Hood (2011)
A take on the well-known story that plays more like a young adult mystery than anything else. The sister of Valerie, the proper name of our Red Riding Hood, is killed, so an expert in the form of Gary Oldman comes to town to help defeat the monster that murdered her. But who is the monster?! OMG! Valerie is also betrothed to one guy, while in love with another, for reasons I don't quite understand because Max Irons > Shiloh Fernandez.
Werewolf as protagonist? No. Werewolf as "antagonist." It has a connection to our protagonist that prevents it from being an all-out villain.
Transformation scene? No, but someone's eyes do get werewolfy when we discover who the werewolf is -- clearly the person is *about* to turn, but we don't get to see it through.
Cognizant as werewolves? Very. They even talk. Sort of.
Type of werewolf: Megagiant wolf, kinda cute, as opposed to frightening. Digital.
Do the characters know what werewolves are? I don't believe they do until Oldman comes to town.
Do people say the murders are being committed by a lunatic? They think it's a standard wolf until Gary Oldman tells them otherwise.
Sex scene? Almost? A bunch of kissing.
Scare level: Um. None. Although the first scene where the werewolf kills a bunch of townpeople was a pretty solid action scene. There was death!
Worth seeing? I meeeannn. If you're a Twilight-loving tween, sure. It definitely has its moments and *does* actually play with werewolf lore a bit, if that's something you're into. I definitely think The Company Of Wolves provides the most direct influence, as they both stem from "Little Red Riding Hood" and deal specifically with the relationship between girl and wolf, though it has a little bit in common with a few other movies on this list as well, from the glossy romance of Blood and Chocolate to the mystery of She-wolf in London, to a retooling of the rules a la Ginger Snaps. I mindlessly enjoyed it, but as far as werewolf movies go, I'd rank it barely above the completely forgettable Blood and Chocolate and Max Irons/Michael Hogan-less Wolfman remake and leagues below anything else.

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