This was inspired by the Cane thread. I thought some of us might want to learn about shows or movies we’ve just not gotten around to seeing, so that we can decide if we want to give them a shot.
Me, I’m wondering if Gossip Girl is really as good as the bazillion commercials that the WB invested in say it is every Thursday.
You know, it’s really not bad. It’s a soap opera, and as such will sound like crap if I try to describe it, but it’s a fairly good one. The acting is good (mostly), the writing isn’t totally idiotic (the most recent storyline excepted) the characters are mostly three dimensional.
The best part is, you don’t need to have seen any episodes to pick up what is going on, because they tell you everything you need to know before hand.
But a quick breakdown of how it was most of the season. No spoilers.
Dan - middle class new york kid going to school on scholarship at an exclusive prep school. (If you have seen Metropolitan, it’s that kind of school. And if you haven’t, you should. It’s a good flick) Has had a crush on Serina since he first laid eyes on her. Now they are dating.
Jenny - Dan’s younger sister. Goes to the same school and is trying to cross social bounderies by becoming one of the popular girls.
Rufus (I think) - Dan’s Dad. Former rock star, current art dealer. Used to date Serena’s mom.
Serena - Former bad girl who is dating Dan. She has dark secrets in her past.
Serena’s mom - Former bad girl turned yuppie. Marrying Chuck Bass’s Dad.
Serena’s younger brother - recently released from an institution because of seveare depression.
Chuck Bass - Stereotypical sleazeball bad kid with more money than is good for him. Sometimes a villain, sometimes sympathetic.
Blair - Serena’s best friend. Leader of the cool girls. Her dad is gay, her mom is a fashion designer who is boarderline mentally abusive.
Nate - Blair’s ex. Slept with Serena before she reformed. Was best friends with Chuck Bass, but then when he broke it off with Blair she slept with Chuck and they stopped being friends. His dad has a coke problem and is in jail.
Stupid as all hell right? Sure, but if that’s what you are looking for it’s better than One Tree Hill. My taste don’t normally lean toward this sort of thing, but every now and again I will start watching a show like this and get sucked in. This one is so far internally consistant, and nothing has been quite as outlandish as it appears on the surface. Catch some re-runs.
Is Dexter all that good? I need a new show to Netflix. I started watching one a while ago but for some reason got distracted. The whole idea of a serial killer who’s a “good guy” sounds…well, a little cheesey, and honestly, hard to swallow considering all the info I’ve read on serial killers, but people seem to rave about it.
It works mainly because of Michael C. Hall. He plays Dexter with such a straight face that it works. No Mwahaha, no creepiness (well, very little); he really makes Dexter seem like, I dunno, realistic. I actually found myself liking and rooting for him, which upon retrospect is probably not a good thing. One cool thing is that basically it’s Michael playing Dexter the killer playing Dexter the nice guy in the next cubicle. And the supporting cast is fun too. I’d say you can do much worse than to give it a shot.