Still in Love with Downton Abbey

True confession time; I'm still in love with Downton Abbey.  It's not for everyone; Period British dramas are admittedly a bit of a niche.  And there are those out there who have stopped watching, who have given up on the show.

But I'm not one of them. And last night's episode cinched for me.  Oh sure, there have been moments this season that have been eye-rolling in their over-the-top melodrama... usually involving Matthew or Mary; or some combination of the two.  And others where I have wanted to tell Daisy to grow a backbone; which she finally has now.  Or tell Thomas to be a little nicer.  But I've stuck with it.

I've stuck with it mostly because of the characters.  I'm in love with Lady Violet's (Maggie Smith) gloriously inappropriate one-liners.  This week it was to Sir Richard as he left the season he tells her she might not see her again; she responds: "do you promise?"  It's as if she speaks for the viewer sometimes.

Series 2 told the story of  how the family and servants dealt with World War I. It really made the social classes even; Matthew had William as a fellow soldier, Sybill fell for Branson the chauffeur, and Anna seemed more a part of the family than the servants' world.  Mary was ready to wed Sir Richard, a newspaper magnate from what could be called "new money."  At the start of season 2 there were two separate worlds one above stairs, and one below.  When season 2 ends; it's as if they're one.

The season finale was the Downton Abbey Christmas special.  The family gathers at the house for the holidays.  Anna's husband Jon Bates stands accused of the premeditated murder of his ex-wife and is about to go trial.  Sir Richard is determined to set a date for his wedding to Mary, but ends up as the Earl says "putting her teeth on edge."  


 The episode's ending was worth waiting two seasons for.  The final scene was between Matthew and Mary out in the courtyard at Downton.  They start talk about the scandal that left Mary "damaged goods;" and Mary's plans to go to America.  And it ends up with Matthew making a proposal of marriage.  The scene is the perfect way to end the Christmas special; the snow is falling on New Year's Eve, it's dark and there's nobody around- just the right amount of romance made it the perfect way to end the season.  It made me realize why I am still in love with Downton Abbey.

How Is that Okay Grammys?

I don't think I can sum up my reaction to Chris Brown better than Gossip Columnist Lainey Liu did in a recent blog post.  She wants people to be angry with the academy, and I am.   How could they legitimize a guy who would beat a woman like that? Ask him to perform, and give him an award for his music too.

I get wanting to give someone a second chance. and in most cases I agree, just not this one.  Because what Brown did was unforgivable; he beat a woman.  That should be career suicide, it should mean he's a social pariah.  I remember Jay-Z saying at the time he would make life difficult for Brown; he would ruin his career.  What happened to that? And now he comes back to win a Grammy three years later? What's wrong with this picture?

How is that okay Grammy Academy?  Essentially that's what you're saying by giving him an award.  At one point he may have been a talented musician, maybe.  But his actions have spoken louder than words here; he is a violent, angry man and I just can't get past that- any normal human being shouldn't get past that.

You're setting a horrible for young women. How many women in similar situations to Brown's and Rhianna's won't speak up now, because virtually nothing has happened to him? You had a chance to make him pay a price here by refusing to let him perform, and refusing to give him any awards, and you didn't.  How is that okay Grammy Academy?

There's an old cliche that people often buy awards.  This proves it.  As Lainey says in her column; Be angry with the academy.  And I am.  So are others.  To share your anger sign this petition... because the Grammy academy awarding Chris Brown, is not okay.

Capsule Review: Smash

I had three good reasons to watch Smash Monday night: Angelica Huston, Debra Messing, and Jack Davenport.  I only caught parts of it as I flipped between that and another show, but what I did catch was brilliant.

The premise is about the struggle to bring a musical based on Marylin Monroe to Broadway.  Messing plays the writer, Angelica Houston plays the producer, and Davenport plays the director.  They're joined by Megan Hilty, and Katharine McPhee (yes, that Katharine McPhee from Idol) as actresses competing to play the lead role. 

I've heard it explained as "Glee" for grownups.  I rarely watch a full episode of Glee, but I'd say Smash is better.  It has more of a story to it, where Glee's stories are often kept to only one episode. Not to mention Smash I think has a few original songs in it, where I think Glee for the most part has none.  I think Glee has gotten too campy, and the story has been lost in favour of how many guest stars they can pack into a given season.

 I watched just enough to whet my appetite, and will probably end up streaming the first episode online and watching the rest of the season on television.

Disappointed by Ricky Gervais

I started watching the Globes Pre-show on E.  I found it really superficial, and focused too much on the gowns, and celebrity.  One anchor commented on the fact Brad Pitt opened the car door for Angelina; I just rolled my eyes and said: "Well what do you expect? They are practically husband and wife" .   And honestly it made me long for E-Talk's live coverage and Ben Mulroney.  When Mulroney interviews someone- he manages to do both successfully.  At times Ryan Seacrest was by the celebrity glitz and glamour of it.


One thing that stood out for me about last night's Golden Globes: Ricky Gervais.  He was funny; I found myself  laughing out loud at his jokes.  But he wasn't as funny as he was last year.  Yes, I get that maybe he went a little too far at times, but he seemed pretty much muzzled this year.   The unpredictability of his jokes was gone. 

It was disappointing- I don't know exactly why. It may have had something to do with the fact we'd seen it before the previous year, or this constant fear of offending someone with what could be considered in some circles as the truth.  And that's what Gervais was good at; blunt jokes that after you finished laughing had some tiny kernel of truth in them.  That's what I missed in his performance last night.  And there didn't seem to be enough of him- of course I did turn it away to watch Downton Abbey for an hour at 9.

As for the awards themselves; It was nice to see Christopher Plummer win Best supporting Actor for Beginners.  I thought it was a little unfair of Meryl Streep won for the Iron Lady; a movie  that has only just been released, and has generated more than a little controversy over whether it should've been made in the first place.  I've never heard of the show Kelsey Grammer won for, and am not  really a fan.  The movie "The Artist" won, and that was a bit of fresh air; as always it was nice to see the underdog win.
Elton John did look pissed.  I would be too if I lost to Madonna- W.E. wasn't in wide release, and from what I  hear of it; it was a pretty bad  movie.  

As far as awards shows go; it was okay.  It had its surprises; its moments; it actually ended early which I'm sure a lot of people appreciated.  I'm sure the Oscars will improve on it.

The Twesume... really??

When I was in journalism school my instructors suggested that we be a bit more careful about what we put up on social networking sites because our future employers would likely find it.  Just as social networking sites such as LinkedIn, facebook and even twitter are used to check out future employees,  they are being increasingly used by job searchers.

Enter the Twesume; that's right you can now tweet your resume.  Mashable.com has a detailed article  on it.  Basically get a twitter account, and tweet your professional achievements, and what your career goal is; it can even include whether or not you want to relocate.  According to the article, it's recruiting using social networking or social recruiting is considered the next trend in job searching in 2012.

Now, I'm a fairly active user of social networking sites- I use mainly facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn.  But I think this is going a little too far.  Tweeting a resume?? Granted it does force job searchers to focus in a little more on their field, say directly what they want without wasting any words.  But how do you sum yourself up in 140 characters?  I don't think it's possible.

Take me for example; I mainly tweet about politics- but I have other interests, and I don't like being so serious all the time.  I tend to be a little less guarded on Facebook, using it mostly for socializing.  On LinkedIn, I'm professional focusing in on my career related experience in Journalism.  And again I feel I've done enough that I can't exactly sum up those experiences in merely 140 characters.

What is facebook but a snapshot in time? What is Twitter but a lingering thought to be shared with the world? People are more  than facebook, more than twitter.  Arguably you can present yourself any way you want to online, and you can never get the full picture of someone.

Don't get me wrong, technology, and social networking are both great.  Just keep in mind job searchers are more than their online profiles, and definitely more than 140 characters.

My Top 5 Wishes for television in 2012

Everyone is providing their top lists of what they want to see happen in the world of television for 2012.  Here's mine

1. The Death of Reality Television: I just want the concept to die.  I'd argue there's no such thing as true "reality" some of it always ends up on the cutting room floor.   "Dancing With The Stars" it seems reaches increasingly for the dregs of Hollywood food chain the longer it goes on.  American Idol is getting so that I can predict who they'll take based on the stories at the auditions- "the Single Mom" "the sick one," etc.  And there are the serial reality contestants- Clay Aitken won on Idol, and is now on Celebrity Apprentice.  "Boston Rob" has done Survivor at least twice, and the Amazing Race once. He's now is hosting some kind of car-related shows.

2. A Return to Scripted Dramas:  A return to relying on well-crafted scripted dramas.  One of my favourites this season has been Once Upon A Time.  It's like someone took the world of fairytales put it in a blender and turned it on.  The Evil Queen from Snow White, is friends with the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty... who'd have thought?  I've loved the twists and turns of it; those who watched last night's episode know what I'm talking about... see Rumplestiltskin (aka Robert Carlyle).  Pan-Am the show about the airline of the same name should be given another chance; what I saw of that it was smartly written, and stylishly presented.  It's got some of the same names attached to it on the production side as West Wing did and that show was classic.

3. A Torchwood return? I got watching a Space marathon  one day over Christmas where they ran the last two seasons (Children of Earth, and Miracle Day) all day and I longed for that show's return... especially after "Miracle Day"'s ending.  However only if it's more like Children of Earth; Miracle Day's story was good, but didn't have nearly the tension in  the story as Children of Earth did.

4. This one is more of a hope; That CBC keeps the Murdoch Mysteries the same as it is right now.  I've just really started getting into that show watching it on DVD, and the writing has gotten better every season- the dialouge has had more of a crispness to it every season.  And I really like that it keeps me guessing.  I'll be watching it, and have it reasoned out who the murderer is.. then baam there's a twist that completely changes it.

5.  A Return to Soap Operas: I've read elsewhere online that the ratings for ABC's pair of lifestyle shows aren't the greatest.  My wish is that they return to the land of soap operas.  I've watched parts of "the Chew" and found it disjointed.  I hope network executives realize people don't really want to watch that.  If they do, then they'd flip it to the Food Network.  People want that daily dose of escapism that only Soap Operas deliver.  If they do come back, hopefully someone will realize that these are driven by storyline.  Without a decent storyline, everything else falls by the wayside.    

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Review

For me this movie was about expectations.  I went into it expecting a fun adventure-mystery, that's generally what I got.  Robert Downey Jr (Holmes), Jude Law (Watson), and Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) all reprised their roles for this one. Added to the  cast was Noomi Rapace as they mysterious Simza  Heron a fortuneteller, and Stephen Fry (Wyecroft Holmes). 



The story led Sherlock (or Sherly as Wyecroft insisted on calling him), and the gang across Europe in a quest to stop Holmes' archenemy Moriarty (Jared  Harris) from causing a World War.  Along the way Downey Jr. displays his surprisingly good comic timing as the audience is left wondering what crazy disguise Sherlock will think of next; he appears as everything from being dressed as a woman, to an old Chinese man.

There's no shortage of action; the characters are always running, jumping, shooting off  guns, being thrown from trains.  The action is offset with the intense scenes between Holmes and Moriarty, that show there is potentially a good story there; and that it isn't just an action movie.  Even though this is a plus, it's also a negative; those scenes are like gems  within the film itself; brief insights into Holmes, and Moriarty.  You're often left wanting more wondering what makes these characters tick;  what's driving the rivalry between these two men so ideally matched?  Why are they so ruthless in their pursuit of one another?  I guess all of that is fodder for a sequel.

The movie has an open-ending; the audience knows of Holmes' fate, but nothing of Moriarty's. I would have made it more subtle and left Holmes' fate unknown as well, and just left Watson with a mysterious clue.

If you're looking for an escape this  holiday season go see Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows.  On a scale of 1-5 I'd give it a solid 3.5 out of 5.