Surviving...

Being sick is definitely a blessing and a curse! On one hand I can actually catch up on all the new TV series I’m either behind or completely missed out on which is great and quite relaxing at times. But on the other hand its horrible because I’m starting to miss class and fall a tad bit behind on my work. This time of year is the beginning of the depression for Ithaca College students, its the time when we all become homesick, the skies are constantly  grey and the temperatures begin to drop. Being homesick and being physically sick is just never a great combination. However, I have great friends that keep me moving along and have really been taking care of me! 

Series I caught up on:

Gotham 

I was a little nervous about the second season of Gotham but they definitely returned better than ever, every episode is completely intriguing and the endings always manage to piss me off (in a good way!) The art design and production design in the show is still phenomenal and the character development is very much appreciated. I would even go as far as to say that it is visually appealing. 

Scream Queens

In the beginning I was nervous about watching this show, I’m not into horror and I don’t find the Scary Movies humorous, so when i read reviews stating how this series was along those lines I was for lack of better words, hesitant. I’m pleased to say I’m actually loving this show I find it to be a television adaption of the game whodunit, where theres a massive amount of murders surrounding one household, but the serial killer can’t be picked because everyone has motive to kill. The show does a great job at capturing and keeping your attention, you remained invested in not all but most characters, and most of all you always come back because you want to know, who did it! I also appreciate that the script for Scream Queens tackles conversational topics in a comical way, that way the audience understands how outrageous this topics are but are not offended or overwhelmed by the material. It’s a smart move. 

Films I’ve Watched: 

 I was in a romantic comedy type mood this weekend and decided why not watch films are completely predictable. 

Love & Other Drugs

Staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, this is definitely not Princess Diaries, there is a lot of sex. But the storyline is quite interesting, a free-spirited young woman meets her match in a pharmaceutical salesman, and the couple soon discover that the chemistry between them is stronger than any other drug. My thoughts: She is 26 with Parkinson's Disease and he sales pharmaceuticals, whats the worst that can happen?

Something Borrowed 

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, and Colin Egglesfield, this film is you classic romantic comedy involving a love triangle, or possibly a rectangle turned octagon— i don’t know but there is a lot of people in love with other people who don’t love them back because there too business trying to get another person to love them. In short it’s conducing but the film does a better job at describing it than i am. In short: Some friendships are tested and secrets come to surface when Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin)falls in love with Dex (Collin Egglesfield), her best friend Darcy’s (Kate Hudson) fiance.

Outside of catching up on new television series and watching pretty cheesy films while drinking tons of water and Gatorade and eating nothing but soups while blowing my nose in millions of tissues…. and eating halls like gummy bears..

 I did have the chance to relax a bit and start sketching, and that has been the biggest achievement of all :) 

Stay healthy everyone, 

Krystal

Comic-Can't

               This week I am at the New York City comic-Con and there is one thing that seems to have changed over the years. When these types of events first started it was just a bunch of comic book nerds getting together to trade and buy comics. Oh boy how times have changed, it seems as if nerd is the new jock. Everywhere you turn you’ll see a booth about the new “hot” TV show or movie. The mainstream pop culture has absorbed into the nerd realm. Today you’ll see football stars standing next to writers for Marvel and DC and it looks a little weird.

            Call me old fashion but there seems to be something missing at comic cons now. Yes everywhere you turn there is someone cosplaying as Deadpool or Batman but it’s almost like we sold out. I use “we” here as in us nerds and geeks. Before Chris Nolan made Batman cool there was no pressure in being a nerd, now that everyone and there mother is one I feel a little slighted. 

PS: This is me interviewing the creators of the Venture Brothers, a greaaaaat cartoon show on Adult swim. 

Community's Halloween Episodes and Parodies

To many people Community is a television series about a group of students at a community college but it is so much more than that. The series heavily uses pop culture references and meta-humor often parodying film and television clichés. These episodes include a holiday stop-motion episode, a clip show of memories that never happened, a parody of westerns, and even a recent episode that had seven alternate timelines. Every single of one these are worthy of an entire blog post but today in the spirit of Halloween I am focusing on their annual Halloween episodes.

In the first season their Halloween episode was called “Introduction to Statistics” and dealt with Jeff and his decision to blow off his study group’s Halloween party in order to score with the young Statistics professor. However the b-plot of the episode is a great parody of superhero films and Batman. Abed is a student that is obsessed with pop culture and entertainment, much like the show’s creator Dan Harmon and the writers. At Halloween he dresses up as Batman and more specifically as the Christian Bale reboot version. At the end of the episode he saves the day as a chair and desk fort begins to collapse on Jeff who is trying to comfort Pierce about realizing he is old and “un-hip.” Jeff is usually the first to complain about the absurd behavior of Abed but at the end of the episode after he made his decision to choose the study group over the teacher he accepts Abed, his behavior, and his new batch of friends. The ending moment is then a straight parody of the heroic music and narration Batman will often do which was just recently seen in the movie The Dark Knight.

Last season the Halloween episode was called “Epidemiology” but most fans know it has the zombie episode. In this episode the study group is left to fend for themselves when their classmates become “zombies” due to tainted food the Dean cheaply bought. While it was actually an outbreak of rabies instead of them actually being zombies, the episode features numerous horror movie clichés the would be seen in a zombie or horror movie. First was a cat rustling in an abandoned area. Many times in movies characters are often spooked by some animal like a cat flying past them when they are trying to hide and escape the real evil outside. Community parodied this by having the cat constantly keep reappearing and showing it unconvincingly flying across the screen. Another funny comment on horror movies the show made was on music. Usually horror movies have scary, dark, and very intense music but on Community the music was the greatest hits of ABBA mixed in with the Dean’s voice memos. Unable to leave that section of school to change the playlist, upbeat songs like “Dancing Queen” played as the zombies attacked and bit the study group. Finally another comment on horror movies (or any movie in general) came when Troy tries to run through crowd to save the day and turn down the thermostat (which is believe to slow down the symptoms of the zombies before they suffer brain damage). While normally the action hero will burst through the group and destroy all the bad guys in his path, Troy is immediately attacked and stopped. He ends up reaching the goal but after he was bit himself.

I love Community and their themed episodes like their past two Halloween episodes. Tomorrow night at 8 pm on NBC their third episode airs called “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” and I am sure based on the title and the prior history of the show that it will continue to make fun of and comment on horror movies, pop culture, and entertainment in general. I for one can’t wait for the hilarity and references to ensue.