This is why I love Judge Judy....

Yesterday, Southern California was rocked by an earthquake, which registered as a 5.4 on the Richter Scale. Most of Los Angeles came out unscathed, but since this was the first substantial quake in awhile, experts are predicted a big one could be not far behind.

Yesterday, filming of the Judge Judy program, which happens to be one of my favorite shows on television, was in process when the Honorable Judge found herself running for cover during the shaking. The Judge, in the midst of hearing about a disagreement felt the shakes and ran for cover in mere seconds. Video, courtesy of CNN below.


Even Judge Judy knows you got to care about yourself first in cases of emergency. I can not wait until new episodes come back in the fall. My summer has been saddened by the lack of squabbling trash that usually rounds up the litigants on Judge Judy.

Monday Movie Box Office Recap - The Dark Knight keeps the top spot!

So the caped crusader has won another battle at the box office this past weekend. The Dark Knight pulled in an additional $78 million this weekend, edging out all of the competition once again. The grim action movie based on the super hero and his battles between good and evil is set to continue to break box office records, and with $315 million gross only in ten days, its not a far fetched idea. If the box office tallies remain this strong throughout summer, there is a possibility this film will come close or beat that of Titanic, which pulled in an all time record high of $600 million more than ten years ago. That movie remained in theaters for six to seven months, so who knows if Dark Knight can retain that kind of interest, but I am sure all of Hollywood and American viewers are surely interested in the Batman.

Step Brothers drew in $30 million giving it a respectable opening weekend showing and making it the number two movie in the country. There was no expectation that this flick, with the power of The Dark Knight could come in first place. What counts for the film is where it ends up next week, with the poor reviews continuously coming in and fresher comedies coming out each week. Surprisingly, at least to me, is that Mamma Mia! remained in the top three this week, pulling in around $18 million. The mother and daughter musical which surrounds a wedding and many many ABBA songs, is proving strong with the female demographics who want to celebrate with a ladies night. Personally, I would rather watch Muriel's Wedding ten times in a row, but that's just me.

Here is the rest of the Box Office Top ten, courtesy of Box Office Mojo.
1. The Dark Knight - $76 million
2. Step Brothers - $30 million
3. Mamma Mia! - $18 million
4. The X-Files: I Want to Believe - $10.2 million
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth - $9.4 million
6. Hancock - $6.3 million
7. Wall-E - $7.4 million
8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army/span> - $5 million
9. Space Chimps - $4.4 million
10. Wanted - $2.7 million

Will Step Brothers bring down The Dark Knight?

This weekend starts the true warming trend of the summer - blockbuster comedies. This summer they seem to be everywhere, but Step Brothers, the new comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly seems to stand out from all the others because it is aimed at adults and the only action going on is these two hysterical bone heads boxing in a garage. While the movie is getting luke warm reviews all around, there is no way a comedy starring these two funny guys, directed by the ace in a hole Adam McKay and produced by my favorite Judd Apatow can not be funny or really well. But the real question is will it take down the reigning champ from last weekend. You know the one that set all those records, what was it called again, or right The Dark Knight! Step Brothers begins the transition from action to funny, but with the remainder of expected comedy hits this summer, like "Pineapple Express" and "Tropic Thunder", comedic flicks laced with action, is Step Brothers the only one with enough balls to rely on the funny? Check out the trailer below and we shall see on Monday!

What the passing of Estelle Getty has reminded me of......

Ok, so we all know people die. Its an unfortunate, yet very true part of life. The recent passing of Estelle Getty made me think about a few things, but mainly how much things have truly changed for me since The Golden Girls was an important part of my life. By this I mean how important all those quality sitcoms in the 80's were to me. Seriously, what would I do without the adorable randiness between Cliff and Claire Huxtable while making sure their kids were well educated and well rounded? Or the ability to make ends meet even under the worst set of circumstances, like Dan and Roseanne Conner? Or the fun that four women can find with each other after their husbands and loved ones have passed away and they are constantly being told they are "over the hill" like the broads on "The Golden Girls"? I am not sure when it was universally decided by Hollywood executives that people just weren't into life-like stories anymore, but I demand a recount on those votes!!!!

In the past ten years, the face of television has changed and while I deeply love "The Office", "Project Runway" and "Weeds", that doesn't mean there isn't any space for intelligently written stories surrounding a loving family, best friends or just "regular people" on the seven thousand channels my local cable provider delivers to my TV every night. Where did the heart warming, shit hits the fan but we can still make it through television go? I want to see families be families again and don't try and peddle any of that ABC Family hip crap on me. I want ladies in mumus in Miami. I want successful doctors and lawyers raising children in Park Slope. Hell I will settle for Family Matters pre-Urkel morphing into a "stud years". Reality TV did not and SHOULD NOT take the place of quality sitcoms. So please, get a bunch of people in a room and don't come out until you have penned many scripts in a similar style to The Golden Girls. And I will not take Golden Palace 2.0 !!!!

Thank you ladies for all the family vacations you made bearable, the bellyache filled school days, raining summer nights and allowed me to understand what a "loose woman" meant before I got to junior high. The acidic fueled tongue Sophia Petrillo was as close as I will get to an Italian grandmother and I want to thank Estelle for the many many laughs I have had because of her character. This one is for you.



This is the beginning of my series of looking back at quality sitcoms and great moments! They really should be celebrated with more than just some award show on TVLand.

Project Runway Recap - How Green is your second episode? SPOILER ALERT!

I am still attempting to disassociate myself from all the spoilers and nonsense about the fifth season of Project Runway, but it’s hard. I tuned in for last night’s episode, only knowing that Natalie Portman, adorable actress and green designer, would be the guest judge for the runway show. I thought the idea behind last night’s challenge, using “Green” fabrics for a cocktail dress, was incredibly interesting, but I was really thrown with the models choosing their fabrics. I run a small business aside from writing this lovely blog and my day job, which is an accessories/clothing line with my lovable artist boyfriend, and I am very aware of the importance of fabrics. My first thought once all the models were running around like headless chickens in Mood was – “none of these chicks is going to pick up enough fabric”. While the texture and appearance of the fabric is always important, if you don’t have enough of it, whatever it looks like, to cover a bootie or a coochie, you are going home. As I expected, and most of the designers did as well, the models were not the best at picking out the fabrics, which is why one quarter of them came back with this doodoo brown satin stuff. Yuck! It’s unfortunate that as a designer on this show, you must work with fabrics and other parameters that do not come close to showcasing your talents or design aesthetic. But that’s the point of the show, if you are a great designer, you should be able, quoting Tim Gunn “to make it work!.

Anyways, a lot of designers treaded carefully through this challenge and some blew me away, but I can say those who blew me away were not represented well on the runway. What the judges loved in this challenge was a bit surprising to me and I thought there were two other dresses that should have been in the top three. I also felt that (SPOILER ALERT!) while Wesley’s dress puckered where it shouldn’t, was a terrible length and poor fit on his model, and the mess he made of the fabric only enhanced the muddiness of the color, I am not sure it was the worst of the bunch. Sadly, the preppy designer was auf’d. The winner, for some reason, was Suede’s dress, which the kind folks from MTV said reminded them of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar and I can’t help but agree. My boyfriend felt that it looked like a bunch of bloody bandages and thought I didn’t hate it and sort of liked it, in no way did I think it was worthy of reproduction and to be put up for sale on Bluefly.com. And is incessant need to talk about himself in the third person made me HATE him right away. It’s like watching some raver chat you up in 1995. Do.Not.Want.

Below are my favorites and below that is my bottom three.








Personally, I thought Kenley or Terri or Jennifer should have taken home the top prize. Jennifer’s mixture of grey and orange jersey fabric is such an adorable nod to the “green movement” and Terri’s dress was picture perfect for a hip cocktail party. I loved Kenely’s ivory satin dress and thought it fit her model SO well.









I also though Jerrell’s was horrid and that Emily and Stella (who I happen to LOVE LOVE LOVE) should have been called out for the overt shortness of their dresses! Wesley’s was a good two to three inches longer than Emily’s braided coochie showcase! Also, Korto is beyond lucky her dress was so amazing last week, because the big mess she presented this week was worthy of being Auf’d! And while Wesley was kicked off last night, he did manage to win at love while on PR and People is reporting that he is currently dating fellow cast mate Daniel Feld. So sometimes you can win when you actually lose. What did you all think about the winner? The challenge? Team Ugly Brown Dress?

Sources:
Bravo
Entertainment Weekly
Blogging Project Runway

Picture It: Estelle Getty passes away at age 84 - R.I.P.

Picture it: Some very sad news today folks. Estelle Getty, best known for her role as the adorably sarcastic Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls, has passed away at age 84, just a few days shy of her 85th birthday. The actress had been battling dementia for several years and has remained out of the public eye during her battle. Her son, Carl Gettleman, informed news outlets that his mother passed away at her Hollywood Boulevard home early this morning, surrounded by family and loved ones.

I could literally go on and on forever about how much I LOVE the Golden Girls and what a truly revolutionary program the show was. Getty was the last member of the foursome to be cast and it was her ability to convince those around her that she could play a woman 20 years older then her true age that secured her the part. Let’s just say that if Sophia was cast any differently, who knows what would have been. She was cast among some of the strongest names in television Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan. Getty struggled for years within the Hollywood system to achieve success in smaller roles until she secured the part of the feisty mother to “Old Maid” Dorothy Zbornak. She also starred in Mannequin, Stop or My Mom Will Shoot and Mask. She will be greatly missed by the public and her fellow Golden Girls.

Here is a clip of one of Sophia’s timeless “Picture It” stories…..






Source:
Entertainment Weekly
Associated Press

That chick Julie is truly dazzling!

Not to take words out of Amy Winehouse's mouth, but I say NO NO NO! to this terrible remake trend going on in Hollywood. Specifically all the movies I hold dear and that helped shape me into the dysfunctional human I am today. First they flirted with a remake of Adventures in Babysitting, then came a possible butchering of Teen Witch, but this news is way too much for me to handle.

If you know anything about me, it should be my undying love for the film “Valley Girl”. I have been head over heels for the Romeo and Juliet-esque flick that celebrated mall culture and new wave for as long as I can remember. Deborah Foreman (where the hell is she?) plays the most perfect Valley Girl Julie Richman and her taboo love affair with “punker” Randy, played by the newly named Nicolas Cage, makes an ideal 80’s romantic comedy. The movie that follows Julie and Randy battling their friends who oppose their unconventional love affair has one of the best soundtracks from the 80’s and a very realness to it. The film deals with many teenage issues, such as sex, secret love affairs and acceptance from your peers. So the fact that MGM wants to “revisit” the movie, musical style, bothers me to no end. My fear is that one of the little snatches from poop vehicles like High School Musical will get their mitts on the Julie character and somehow Pete Wentz will score the film and I will have to stand on top of the Empire State Building and jump! Let’s look at the genius that is Valley Girl before Hollywood ruins something else for me!


Movie executives are also threatening to remake the classic Monster Squad. Stop the Madness Hollywood! I am sure as heck there are a few writers still out in Los Angeles not penning sitcoms or webisodes for NBC and would love a crack at writing an ORIGINAL screenplay.