West Week Ever – 12/13/13

SHIVAKAMINI SOMAKANDARKRAM!

Sorry for that “Shiva Blast”, but I’ve been watching The League on Netflix for that past week. I’ve seen them all before, but it’s such a damn good show. Plus, when you binge-watch it, you realize it’s got the best continuity on television. Seriously, there’s a richer tapestry of timeline and in-jokes than How I Met Your Mother. The funny thing is that I don’t know the first thing about football, so why am I watching a comedy about a fantasy football league? Well, the football is just the thing that gets them all together, but the show’s about so much more. If you haven’t tried it, definitely watch a handful of episodes and you’ll be hooked.

Netflix didn’t really have any new movies that I wanted to watch, so this week I resorted to Redbox. What did I come away with? The To-Do List and The Heat. First up, The To-Do List. Starring Parks & Recreation‘s Aubrey Plaza, it follows a recent high school graduate who doesn’t want to go off to college as a sexually inexperienced virgin. So, with the help of her slutty friends, she creates a sexual to-do list of all the things she wants to try before going off to school. There’s everything from HJs to dry humping to fingerblasting and more. At the end of the day, the moral of the story is that sex doesn’t have to be a big deal unless you make it out to be. When feelings are involved, it can be a special act, but otherwise it’s just some recreational thing that society completely blows out of proportion. If you’re a really progressive parent, and you want to prepare your own daughter before she goes off to college, this would make quite the humorous instructional video. Aubrey has such a one-dimensional deadpan delivery, but it fits here. I was scared she’d bring too much “Daria” to the role, but she’s convincing as the goody two-shoes Brandy Klark. The only annoying thing about the movie is that it’s set in the early 90s, so they constantly drop hamfisted references to remind you of the time period – things like, “Hey, let’s go get some slap bracelets”, etc. Anyway,  no one saw this thing when it was in theaters, but I hope it gets a new lease on life as a DVD/streaming.

Next up was The Heat – the buddy cop movie starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Ya know, I watch Mike & Molly and want to write McCarthy off as overrated. Then, she steals a movie like Bridesmaids, and now The Heat, and I start to think she might be the real deal. Seriously, she is HILARIOUS in this movie, while Bullock successfully plays the role of “slightly off” straight woman. I won’t really get into the convoluted plot, so let’s just say that they team up to take down a drug lord. No, that’s actually pretty much the whole plot of the movie. Sure, there are some speed bumps along the way, and the two have to learn to work together, but that’s the general gist of the movie. Plus, it ends in a way that could totally lead to a sequel, so I really hope to see The Heat 2 in the next few years.

I know I’ve ranted about it before on Twitter, but it bears repeating: I HATE the concept of the “Fall finale” for TV shows. Originally, it was just something that cable networks did when they wanted to split up their seasons. In recent years, however, it has found its way to basic television dramas. Back in “my day”, we were smart enough to know how TV worked: your season started in September, and you had new episodes until November. Then you had reruns until January/February and you had your season finale in May. That was it. Everyone knew the cycle and they were fine with it. Now, this new system changes the way shows are written and filmed. You now HAVE to have some big dramatic cliffhanger in the middle of the season just to lure people back in February. This bothers me because I feel the midseason finales are actually stronger than the season finales nowadays, resulting in an unbalanced season. This also goes to show that the 22-episode season is antiquated, and maybe the fall finale should be the season finale. Just cut shows down to 13 episodes a season for tighter story arcs.

Speaking of shows with limited runs, The Sing-Off is back. As an a cappella alum, I’m contractually obligated to mention that. I, however, haven’t watched since the first season. Here were my thoughts from that round.

Jason Momoa is rumored to be joining the already bloated Man of Steel sequel. I’m actually surprised it has taken this long for him to get a comic movie role. I think he was up for Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, but that ultimately went to Chris Batista. I don’t care how many tough guy roles Momoa gets, he’ll always be Jason from Baywatch to me.

Links I Loved

Over-Analyzing the Festively Rape-y Holiday Classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside” – UnderScoopFire!

Why Do People Love Donald Glover, But Hate Childish Gambino So Much? – UPROXX

Rambo Had a Christmas Episode. It Was Insane. – The Robot’s Pajamas

Inside the Rainbow Gulag: The Technicolor Rise and Fall of Lisa Frank – Jezebel

Top 15 Other DC Characters Jason Momoa Could Play in Man of Steel 2 The Nerds of Color

Two made me laugh out loud, while one just makes me laugh to look at him now. The other is considered a “queen” to some. Only one, however, had the West Week Ever.

I’m not a huge Beyonce fan. I liked a lot of the Destiny’s Child stuff, but I never really followed her on her solo exploits. That said, it’s hard to deny that she’s become quite the juggernaut – both on her own, and through her marriage to Jay-Z. Last night, she flaunted that clout by dropping an entire album of new music, without warning or fanfare. The self-titled affair is comprised of 14 songs and 17 videos, showing that Mrs. Carter has been a busy girl. Still, the noteworthy aspect of the whole thing is how she just nonchalantly released it, sending the internet into chaos. Do you know how many artists release stuff on iTunes to no reception? There are VERY few artists that could get away with what she did, and it’s something of a game changer for the music industry. I can’t attest to the quality of the package, as I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m definitely impressed by the delivery. She hit us when no one was watching and we truly weren’t ready for that jelly. For this reason, Beyonce had the West Week Ever.