Squee-Worthy Things I Saw Today: Lando, R2-D2, "The Heat" and more

The "Star Wars" sequel trilogy treatment very well may feature Lando Calrissian. If it does, that would be totally and amazingly awesome, because Lando is an utter badass. Also, I am sure Billy Dee Williams would be on board, because he is also an utter badass, and he always does voices for Robot Chicken when they do their "Star Wars" specials. Speaking of which ... did anyone else think "MORE ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS SPECIALS!" when you heard about the new "Star Wars" movies? Just me? Hmmm. (via Moviehole)

Speaking of "Star Wars," I am tempted to get divorced just so that my husband and I can get re-engaged with an R2-D2 engagement ring. Perhaps it could just be an anniversary present? Seems easier. (Via The Mary Sue)

Want to feel old? Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the airing of the Seinfeld episode "The Contest" - notable because it dealt, indirectly, with masturbation. Also, because it is hella-funny. Nowadays it would be no big deal (have you watched "2 Broke Girls" or "2 1/2 Men" lately? I'm no prude but those shows are FILTHY), but in 1992 it was a big deal. (Via Romenesko)

Have you seen the trailer for "The Heat" yet? It is a buddy-cop action movie starring two of my favorite comedic actresses of all time, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. It's directed by Paul Feig, who directed "Bridesmaids," and written by Katie Dippold, who has written on "Parks & Recreation." Watch the trailer!

And finally, I don't care who you are ... if you don't love this photo of President Obama and Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney doing the "not impressed" face together, you have no heart. You can see it here (via Twitter).

Pop Tarts Book Club: "Just Like Heaven" by Julia Quinn

For our book club selection this ... month? quarter? whatever ... we chose "Just Like Heaven" by Julia Quinn. Warning ... there are spoilers ahead.

Synopsis: Just like heaven follows Honoria Smythe-Smith, a member of the famed Smythe-Smith family - famed for holding an incredibly terrible musicale each year. The unmarried women who are old enough perform for the musicale must perform, and Honoria is one of them.

As "Just Like Heaven" opens, Honoria Smythe-Smith meets up with Marcus Holroyd, her brother Daniel's best friend from school, a man who she has known for years. Marcus, the Earl of Chatteris, is a very lonely man who spent a lot of time during his formative years with the Smythe-Smith family. However, Honoria and Marcus haven't seen each other in many years, because Daniel left England in disgrace.

Honoria and her friends plan a party and invite many eligible bachelors, including Marcus - although Honoria advises him to not to come since he hates parties. She lays a trap for another man she is chasing - a fake mole hole for her to get her foot stuck in - but, unfortunately for him, Marcus chooses that time to come find Honoria, and he sprains his ankle. By the time he gets home, one of his servants must cut his boot off and cuts him. His cut gets infected and he gets very sick.

Marcus' housekeeper lets Honoria know, and she and her mother travel to his house to care for him. He nearly dies, but when he gets better, they have a minor conflict when Honoria finds out that Daniel had Marcus watch over her when he had to leave the country. However, by then Marcus has realized that he loves Honoria, and of course Honoria loves him.

They perform the musicale, they have sex, Daniel comes back, Marcus defends Honoria's honor,  they get married. Tra la la, all is well!

Jen's Thoughts: "Just Like Heaven" is a frothy, fun little romance novel. There's not a lot of real conflict, and it's not terribly consequential. However, it's nice that neither Marcus nor Honoria have real problems that cause strife in their relationship. They come together naturally, and it's sweet. They probably should communicate more (like all romance-novel characters), but it makes sense that they don't because Marcus is shy and Honoria is embarrassed about falling in love with her brother's friend, who has known her since she was a rather obnoxious child. Honoria and Marcus are also super fun and very, very likable, which is a great after reading "Love Only Once" where I didn't really like the main characters very well. Overall, "Just Like Heaven" was a perfect light read when you're looking for something that's high on fun and humor and low on drama.

Kel's Thoughts: I really really enjoyed "Just Like Heaven". I read a lot of romance novels and most are fun and amusing, but rarely do they make me laugh out laugh. Julia Quinn makes me laugh. What I enjoyed most about "Just Like Heaven" was the relationship all the way through between Marcus and Honoria. Honoria was the youngest of her family by a lot. Her next closest sibling was Daniel, who was four or so years older than her. As adults, that isn't a big deal, but when Honoria is six and Daniel is ten, it is a stretch. Marcus is incredibly shy, but ends up hanging out with Daniel who is anything but, which means that Marcus hangs out with Honoria from the time he is ten. I liked that the love between Honoria and Marcus as adults was based on friendship instead of insta-love. It takes them both a while to figure out that what they are feeling is love and even longer to admit it to one another, but I really didn't have a problem with their lack of communication.

As Jen pointed out, most romance novel problems can be solved with the characters talking to one another honestly and usually it annoys the hell out of me when they don't. However, with Marcus especially I felt like he really would not have talked to Honoria about why he was always scowling at her when they were out with the ton. Nor would he have told her about his deal with Daniel to make sure she didn't marry anyone unacceptable. Marcus is shy and really doesn't like being the center of attention so he isn't going to call attention to himself, even with Honoria.

Another thing I really enjoyed about Marcus and Honoria is their panic. Constant panic. When Marcus is sick with a fever, Honoria has no idea what to do about it. Usually romance novel heroines magically know how to nurse a guy back to health. Honoria just sort of freaks out about not knowing what to do. And then after Marcus eventually wakes up from his fever, he kisses Honoria and they both panic. And then don't really discuss it for a while. Panic and denial! And lastly, the best thing about Honoria and Marcus is their shared love of sweets. All their fun stories about sneaking treats as kids are adorable and show that their relationship really has solid ground. And right at the beginning when Marcus saves Honoria from the rain, he has chocolate cake and the descriptions of them eating was amazing. Marcus eats his cake in two bites while Honoria savors hers, which makes Marcus eye her cake. So great.

Overall

We loved "Just Like Heaven" so much more than "Love Only Once". The characters were super likable and though it was fairly low on drama (especially since you know Marcus isn't going to die when he has a fever for half the book), it is a sweet, fun story. It also segues really nicely into the sequel "A Night Like This" which starts at the musicale that ends "Just Like Heaven". And you get to see the aftermath of Daniel and Marcus's fight from Daniel's point of view. And really, if you thought Marcus and Honoria were likable, you will also love Daniel (Kel already read "A Night Like This").

Next Time, on Pop Tarts Book Club ...

We will be reading "When Beauty Tamed the Beast" by Eloisa James. Read it, and we shall be talking about it soon!

Squee-Worthy Stuff I Saw Today: "Doctor Who," "The Walking Dead" and more

So, we haven't been blogging much, so I'm going to try a new tactic ... a daily link roundup of cool crap I've seen on the internet, with short commentary. Let's see how this works out!

The BBC and Children in Need have released a minisode prequel to the "Doctor Who" Christmas Special, and it's introduced by Matt Smith and new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman:

And, holy shit, there's also a trailer:

And BBC America has a gallery of images, which you can see here. Is it Christmas yet, and is it bad that I'm looking forward to the Christmas Special more than, say, Christmas presents?

"Last Resort" and "666 Park Avenue" may have been canceled (no big surprise there), but one of my favorite shows, "The Big Bang Theory" had all-time high ratings Thursday night, with 17.4 million viewers tuning in! I was one of them - even though my DVR situation is getting desperate, BBT always gets watched immediately. I did love last night's episode - I was touched by Leonard & Penny's exchange at the end, and I cracked up at Sheldon messing with Howard and Raj - but I was sad that Amy Farrah-Fowler was nowhere to be seen, because she cracks me up.

And finally ... Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl MFin' Dixon on "The Walking Dead," has a bitchin' "Walking Dead" Hello Kitty iPhone case. My favorite thing is the zombie ear necklace. OK, so it's a bit old (the link is from March), but I just saw it today and it made me giggle wildly. (To tell the truth, Daryl makes me giggle wildly almost every week. Love. Him.)

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the Christmas Special of "Doctor Who?" Is "Big Bang Theory" on your must-watch list? And how much do you love Daryl?

Pop Tarts Book Club: "Love Only Once" Chapter 32 to End

Reminder: This is a book club, so there will be spoilers!

Synopsis of Chapter 32 to the end

So Nicholas is woken up because Thomas is hungry and he doesn't want to wake up Regina to feed him. He takes the baby and feeds him without waking Reggie up. Unfortunately, though, Reggie believes that her passionate sex with Nicholas was a dream of some kind and doesn't believe that he actually loves her.

They get to Silverley, and Miriam tells Nicholas that she's planning a party. And what a party it is ... she invites all of Nicholas' ex-lovers! Reggie is (understandably) jealous and Reggie and Nicholas snipe at each other and just generally don't get along. At one point, Reggie catches Nicholas with Selena (from the beginning of the book) together ... Nicholas was ambushed and has no interest in anyone but Reggie, but Reggie doesn't believe that.

Then, Reggie's friend George Fowler comes to visit, and it's Nicholas' turn to get jealous. Reggie tells Nicholas she's going to leave, but as they argue, Nicholas throws Reggie on the bed and she realizes that she really wants him (remember, consent is important, kids!). They have passionate sex again, but the next morning Reggie is back to being jealous when she goes downstairs to get breakfast and sees Nicholas talking to Selena.

Reggie and Nicholas talk, and Reggie finally discovers what Nicholas' big hangup is ... that he's a bastard. Reggie is like, "Whatevs." And, as an extra special bonus, Nicholas gets to discover who his biological mother is ... his favorite aunt, Eleanor (who is going to go get married). Nicholas thanks Miriam for helping him rekindle his love with his wife and then kicks her out of Silverley. Then the Malory boys come to visit, and everybody lives happily ever after. THE END.

Jen's Thoughts:

FINALLY! That's the big thing I got out of this. Reggie and Nicholas FINALLY talked and they FINALLY worked out their issues. It was waaaaay past time. I was so frustrated when Reggie got mad at Nicholas yet again over stuff, and when Nicholas wouldn't just tell Reggie that he was worried about his parentage. I mean, seriously.

I did love the party with all of Nicholas' ex-lovers. That was extremely diabolical on Miriam's part, and I loved it. It was a good way for them to rekindle their romance, too ... the jealousy was finally enough to drive them both crazy. However, it was just overall a little annoying how long it took them to figure this all out.

And then their coming-together again was a little sketchy. I was glad that Reggie suddenly realized that she really wanted Nicholas, but if she hadn't, I would be worried that Nicholas would have barreled on ahead anyway, and that's not cool.

And then the end was just so ... neat and tidy. I liked that everybody lived happily ever after, and Miriam got her comeuppance for being a bitch, and Eleanor finally got to tell Nicholas she was his mother, but it was a little abrupt and a little too good to be true. I did, however, like the Malory brothers coming to visit and annoying Nicholas. I will probably read more Malory books, and I look forward to meeting those guys again.

Jen's Overall Opinion: While I had high hopes for Reggie as a female character and really enjoyed the Malory brothers, "Love Only Once" was just OK.

Kel's Thoughts:

The end finally got a little bit good. But I will go chronologically. Nicholas feeding Thomas without Reggie waking up...kind of weird. Reggie thinking the sexytimes with Nicholas was just a dream...frustrating. Miriam's party...very entertaining concept. Nicholas and Reggie yelling at each other...way overdue. Nicholas chasing Reggie around her bedroom...could have gone badly. Reggie's reaction to Nicholas when he tells her he's a bastard...my favorite thing ever. The ending...happily ever after.

I really did enjoy when Reggie and Nicholas kept yelling at each other. It seemed very therapeutic and long overdue. Nicholas obviously had a bad childhood and therefore doesn't handle his emotions very well. And Reggie grew up with the Malory uncles so she is no stranger to fighting. They seem like a couple whose passions run high and yelling is a good way to deal with problems. I was highly amused when Reggie told Nicholas he was being a bastard and he got overly upset about it. He says something to the effect of "See, I knew my birth would come up in all of this" and she responds along the lines of "I am calling you a bastard as in you are being an ass. Your birth has nothing to do with it". She also had the reaction that I knew she would have with finding out he was a bastard...not an issue at all, since as she pointed out to Nicholas, the Malory family already has bastards in it.

I liked the Malory's coming to visit at the end, especially when Tony and James started to gang up on Nicholas. They will continue to do so throughout the series until they meet the Andersons...who they hate more than Nicholas (something to look forward to in future books). But my favorite thing was that James and Tony never got around to really giving Nicholas a hard time because they got distracted by fighting with each other. And as a special teaser...in future books they comment upon the fact that Reggie really takes her uncles and her husband fighting. If she catches the uncles bating Nicholas, she yells at them. If Nicholas fights with the uncles, she makes him sleep on the couch. Excellent.

Kel's Overall Opinion:

I think that you can definitely tell that this was Johanna Lindsey's first book. It is a bit inconsistent and the sex scenes tend toward being a bit too forceful for my likes. I really do like Reggie, but I almost wish she was slightly older and more mature. Though then I suppose that a lot of the problems would have been solved way easier, making it a short and boring book. I think what Love Only Once did was really set up the Malory family well which does make me want to read more of the books (I've read Gentle Rogue, book 3 and No Choice But Seducation, book 9). Not my favorite novel, but definitely not the worst I've read.





Don't forget! The next Pop Tarts Book Club selection will be "Just Like Heaven" by Julia Quinn. We are both already reading it, so we will be reviewing it soon! We will be reading the entire thing at one time and writing just one recap of it, unlike what we did with "Love Only Once." We hope you join us!

"RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars" - Half-Baked? You bet.

As our three or so faithful blog readers know, I've been recapping "Dancing With the Stars: All Stars" for several weeks now. But I must confess, I am epically bored with that shit. The dancers are too good this season, and without Kel to tell me how the dances are actually supposed to go, I am lost.

But there's another all-stars show that is running on Monday nights, starting this week, that does feature something I know a little more about ... drag queens! That's right, bitches ... it's time for "RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars," and I'm going to recap it! You don't have to worry about me dropping out halfway through the season, because RPDR is the most perfect reality competition in the history of the world, and I obsessively watch it. So let's start the show!

(OK, the show was several days ago. I know this. I wrote notes on Monday night. And then, BOOM, it was Thursday night and I still hadn't blogged it. Shame.)

After each queen came astruttin' into the room, RuPaul gave us the BIG TWIST. In addition to Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent, the girls also have to have Synergy ... because they have partners! AND, when they sashay away, BOTH people have to sashay away.

I like the partner aspect, because there are many chances for great drama there. But I don't like them both sashaying away, because that means this is going to be a hella-short season of "Drag Race." WTF, Ru? I want drag queen realness for more than a month!

The partners were:

Raven & Jujubee
Chad Michaels & Shannel
Tammie Brown & Nina Flowers
Manila Luzon & Latrice Royale
Yara Sofia & Alexis Mateo
Pandora Boxx & Mimi Imfurst

Immediately, I felt bad for Pandora Boxx. She's one of my favorite queens (even though I want Latrice Mutherfuckin' Royale to win, because she's LATRICE. MUTHERFUCKIN'. ROYALE.) Mimi Imfurst, meanwhile, is totally cannon fodder, and is there simply to cause controversy. She was the one who picked up another queen during a Lip Sync For Your Life. Why, oh why, did she have to get paired with sweet Pandora Boxx? I immediately felt some dread.

Anyway, they had to produce a high-fashion photo spread with two photos - one where they were partly put together with no wigs, then a wet & wild photo that shows how the pairs are dynamically different. Also, they had to do each other's makeup.

I'll just go ahead and spoil it right now - the partially put together photos were pretty much all stunning and cool, and the wet & wild was a hot mess. The concepts were vague and kind of dumb (naughty & nice, trashy & classy) ... although I really, really, REALLY admired Jujubee & Raven for their dressed & undressed shoot, where Raven posed naked. That takes some, well, balls.

I was kind of underwhelmed by the photo shoot challenge, overall, because it's not really the super fun challenges I've come to expect from RuPaul's Drag Race. I like the campy, funny stuff like the Snatch Game. It seemed a bit serious, especially for the first episode.

Then it was runway time, with judges Michelle Visage, Santino Rice, Ross Mathews and special guest judge Rachel Hunter, a supermodel.


The runway is always fun, because I LOVE the outfits.

First was Yara & Alexis, who wore their faces on their chests. Feh. I don't like them very well so whatever.

Latrice & Manila were Teletubbies, which was hilarious and fun. They were put together well and pretty, but they were totally fun and campy too. That's what I love!

Mimi & Pandora wore neon & fur, which was a little amateur but fun, since they're campy queens.

Raven & Jujubee wore Chicago-esque burlesque outfits, which showed off the fact that they're body queens.

Tammie Brown and Nina Flowers wore basic black, but they looked fierce. (Also, side note, I missed season 1 of RPDR because I didn't know it existed, and I am VERY sad because Tammie Brown is cray-cray to the max and I LOVES IT.)

Shannel & Chad Michaels wore crazy outfits with big headdresses. LOVE. IT. Shannel called it "Birds of a feather flock together meets Dungeons & Dragons."

Rujubee & Latrila were the best of the week, and Latrice & Manila won. (They got gowns as a prize.)


In the bottom were Mandora - they loved the half-baked photo, but not the other one, and they didn't love the lime-green fur, especially since Mimi wore some around her waist in a weird, unflattering way - and Shad (WHAT!?) because they overthought their photos even though their runway presentation was FAB-U-LOUS. (WHAT!?)

One queen from each team had to lipsync, so they made it Mimi vs. Chad. Ru explained the Shemergency button, where they can tag out during the first minute of the lipsync. It can only be used once in the competition.

Well, if you've been every paying attention to this show, you know who won. Mimi reeked of desperation, Pandora didn't press the Shemergency button, and Miss Chad Michaels kicked ass in her own fabulous way because she is a classy professional, and so Mimi & poor, sweet Pandora sashayed away.

Poo. This episode was a bit of a let down. Let's make it better next week, shall we?

Pop Tarts Book Club: "Love Only Once" Chapters 23-31

Reminder: This is a book club, so there will be spoilers!

Synopsis of Chapters 23-31

A pregnant Reggie is living at Silverley, Nicholas' estate, with Nicholas' stepmother, Miriam. She's a little bored, but she also loves the solitude and general tranquility. She goes down to the lake to sketch, but decides it's too cold, but before she can get back to the house, she gets kidnapped and taken to the port city of Southampton. The kidnappers talk of using her to "catch a bigger fish." It turns out, she's been kidnapped on the orders of a captain, but she doesn't allow her captors to see her worry. Eventually, the captain walks in ... and it's her Uncle James! He has kidnapped Reggie before to take her for a little pirate adventure (much to the dismay of her other uncles), but this time he has kidnapped her for a much darker reason. He didn't realize that Reggie has married Nicholas, who is James' old nemesis. Turns out, James "thrashed" Nicholas for insults, ended up in jail and was nearly hanged for being a pirate. James escaped and arranged his death, and now he wants revenge on Nicholas and thought he'd lure Nicholas out by kidnapping his wife. Reggie also finds out that she has a cousin, Jeremy - James' son. Tony and Jason find them, and they all sort of reunite over Reggie and her plight and their mutual dislike of her husband.

Meanwhile, Nicholas is on his plantation in the West Indies. He is getting ready to go back home and try to smooth things over with Reggie, but before he can, James and his first mate, Connie, find him and take him back to England to see Reggie. They tell Nicholas who James really is (he's been going under the pseudonym Captain Hawke), but don't tell him about Reggie's pregnancy.

Nicholas comes back to his home in London to find that Reggie has redecorated and, oh yeah, had a baby named Thomas. Nicholas doubts the parentage, of course, but is also immediately attracted to Reggie once again. He also discovers that Reggie has been getting along quite well with Eleanor, his aunt, and Eleanor begs Nicholas to try to fix his marriage.

Nicholas sees Reggie and Thomas playing together and voices his suspicions, pissing Reggie off even more. They get bitchy with each other, but early the next morning Thomas is awakened by Thomas' crying and he walks in on Reggie nursing Thomas. He knows that it's his son, but he feels horrible for leaving his pregnant wife.

He decides to pack up Reggie, Thomas and himself and take them all back to Silverley, and Reggie convinces Eleanor to go, too. Nicholas realizes he needs to woo his wife again, but knows that when they get to Silverley they'll be able to sleep in separate beds. So, before they get to Silverley he makes them stop at an inn for a night, forcing Reggie and Nicholas to sleep in the same bed. He climbs into bed naked and pretends to be asleep when he throws his arm and leg over Reggie. Reggie is turned on by the contact, and, even though she thinks he's half-asleep and doesn't realize what he's doing, they have passionate sex, then fall asleep in each other's arms.

Jen's Thoughts

There are some major pluses to these last few chapters, which is nice because this book has been a bit of a slog at times, due to the idiocy of Reggie and Nicholas and their complete and utter inability to tell each other what they're feeling or be nice to each other.

As it was in the last group of chapters, the biggest plus was PIRATES! I loved finally getting to meet James Malory, his first mate and his son. Who doesn't love pirates!? I liked their talk with Reggie, but I really liked James screwing with Nicholas by not telling him about the baby.

I was also genuinely touched by Nicholas & Reggie in the nursery, when Thomas woke Nicholas up. I liked that little bit of family time, and I think it was a real step in the right direction for them. Yeah, Nicholas left his bedroom because he wanted to watch Reggie sleep (kinda creepy, dude), but I was really glad to see that genuine love for Thomas and Reggie, and his dismay at leaving his pregnant wife (even though he didn't know she was pregnant when he left). I thought that was some maturity for Nicholas.

However, Nicholas' maturity was short-lived, because then he uprooted everyone and made them go to Silverley on a whim (mostly because he was whiny about Reggie doing her thang after he LEFT HER ON THEIR WEDDING DAY), and then his trickery in getting them to have sex. I am really divided on this sex scene. On one hand, Reggie thought she was taking initiative while he was half-conscious, which is a little rapey (how often do you have women getting rapey in romance novels?). On the other hand, Nicholas was being awfully manipulative, feeling her up in bed and getting her all hot 'n' bothered. I guess that makes it OK, in a way ... especially since we know they were both secretly jonesing for each other. But still, it wasn't quite the wonderful romantic rejoining that I wanted!

Kel's Thoughts:

First, big reveal that the pirate who beat up Nicholas is James Malory! I already knew that since I read James' book (much better than this one, fyi), but still a fun reveal. Jeremy may be my favorite Malory ever due to his charm and cheek. I also thought reuniting Reggie with her family made everything better. Anytime the Malory men are fighting, I am interested.

 And I agree with Jen that it was super fun that though James went and found Nicholas like his older brother told him, he did not tell him about Reggie giving birth all so he could see Nicholas' face when he found out. Mean, but come on...Nicholas totally deserved that.

I also liked the scene in the nursery though pretty much since the wedding Nicholas has acted like a child. He keeps just doing random things (going to the West Indies, moving the family to Silverly) on a whim and is just generally mopey that things are not falling into his lap.

What I will say about this section of chapters is that Reggie has finally grown on me. I still got annoyed when she once again was playing the "I'm sad because Nicholas didn't want to marry me" since she knew that all along! However, she seems to have decided that Nicholas can be as grumpy as he wants and she is not going to worry about it. I think that speaks to a maturity that we haven't seen from her before.

I agree with Jen that the great "romantic rejoining" was not romantic at all. I'm not sure it was really rapey since Nicholas planned the whole thing...even though Reggie didn't know that. If I'm remembering correctly (from this morning when I read it...apparently I didn't pay too close attention), Nicholas was obviously awake before anything really happened. And even as inappropriate as it was, it really made me laugh when Reggie thought how she wished she were the guy so she could just straddle Nicholas and relieve her tension. She has been hanging out with the Malory men too much!

Note on book club: 

We are going to be doing the next book club differently since this hasn't really worked out as planned. We haven't been reading very fast and there isn't enough in each book to really break it down this much, so for our next book we are going to read it all and then do one book club post. Our next book is Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. We encourage you to grab a copy and read it so you can add to our discussion which will be happening within the next few weeks. You don't want to miss it! (Again, Kel has a slight advantage because she has read the sequel...why does she read series out of order? No one is sure...including her.)

New Series Review: Arrow, Vegas, The Last Resort

I promise I have not been slacking off on blogging...I have been slacking off on watching tv! Seriously, I got two weeks behind on my DVR due to being busy and then reading instead of watching tv when I had spare time (what a librarian nerd, I know!). However, I am finally starting to catch up on the new premieres, mostly hour long dramas. My only problem is that I forgot to record one show (Beauty and the Beast), so I will have to try to find it online. But that is beside the point. Onward with today's reviews!

Arrow

Arrow is a super hero show based on the Green Arrow by DC comics. I know absolutely nothing about the Green Arrow, so it is all new to me and so far in the show nothing much has been revealed about why or how Oliver Queen is a super hero. I think he has super hero powers (like...not being able to be killed by bullets? Ninja like fighting skills? Excellent Aim?), but is also just generally bad ass. He was shipwrecked on an island for 5 years, right before which his father told him a dark secret that now motivates him to clean up the scum of the city.

I liked it. A lot. Apparently (according to my brother-in-law) the dialog is bad, but I've been watching CW shows since they were the WB so I think I am immune to it. The fighting was excellent and the show was exciting. I want to know more. I want to find out what Oliver knows and how the island made him so bad ass. I want to know if his best friend (who's name I don't remember at all) is good or bad. This is going on series record for me. It probably should for you, too. Also...John Barrowman is going to be on it at some point for some number of episodes. That makes it all worth it.

The Last Resort

This is going to sound slightly strange, but though I really liked The Last Resort, I'm definitely not going to watch it again. It was a really good show. It was exciting and has intrigue. There seems like there is a lot going on and will be exciting throughout the season. However, military and political intrigue are just so not my thing. It also is a show that if you miss an episode, you are totally going to be lost forever. I just can't handle that kind of pressure. But seriously, it was a great pilot. If it were a movie, I would really enjoy it. I want to know why the American's fired on their own ship and made it seem like it was Pakistan who shot at them. I want to know what the other branch of the military who the sub picked up know and did. I want to find out what the government is trying to convince Scott Speedman's wife that he did wrong. However, I don't care enough to watch the show again. But if military/political dramas are your thing, you should totally watch.

Vegas

I'm torn. I really liked Vegas. It is a western, set in the 1960s. It has violence and drama and fighting and awesome people. It seems like it is going to be a crime of the week show, but also have a good over arching storyline. It has all sorts of elements that I like in a show. But I have already missed the second episode and I'm not sure that I liked it enough to search it down online. With the little time I dedicate to tv viewing, I'm not sure Vegas is going to make the cut. However, you should watch it. Michael Chiklis plays the best mob-style villain ever. He so looks the part it is ridiculous. And Dennis Quaid was made to play the role of an ex-military, now rancher, now sheriff. He was so wonder and I want to see more. And Jason O'Mara is in it. And I love him so much. Again, if this were a movie, I'd buy it on DVD, but it is a tv show that will take some dedication and I'm just not sure I have the time to give. But I do feel like this is a show that deserves to stay on. I may watch it just for that reason. It is good enough that it deserves to have a chance of survival.