The Reality: He's Just Not That Into You

Very rarely do I watch a movie before reading the book. To most, that's the criminal, as the movie's usually fall incredibly short of the book's impact,or so far off base it's merely an echo of the novel. Of course, I gotta be different. Personally, I think I'm a bigger fan of Twilight because I read the books first. Otherwise, the movie would have come off as mere teen angst. Instead, it was a shining reflection of something much deeper that lay 'twixt the pages of Stephenie's work of genius. But I digress....

....For the first time in a long time I watched a movie before I read the book. Yes, I know, I am a perfect candidate to read He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Shockingly, no I haven't read it. I will tell you though,
I started the movie with so much head nodding I had to pop some Aleve when it was over. I love fiction as much as the next, but who doesn't love that feeling of attachment you have the the protagonist? That "Everyman" (or woman) vibe...It's you, it's your sister, it's your friend, it's your coworker. Refreshing. And so true. I'm a big fan of realism in my romantic-comedies. I know, that's not what they're made for, but it's unexpected. They should do it more often. I totally felt promise,

We are all programmed to believe that if a guy acts like a total jerk that means he likes you.

This came at the beginning of the movie, with the little girl being told by the boy she likes (circa age 5) that she smells like dog poo. (Who HASN'T been there right? Well, Ok no one ever told me I smelled like dog poo, but I remember in 3rd grade being asked by a boy why I killed my hair. Mom thought it was a good idea to get a perm (it wasn't) and when I went home and cried, my mom's response was the same as Gigi's: he's mean to you...because he likes you. Yes! We are programmed at a very young age to allow this abuse!!! This is followed by a montage of girlfriends rapping over guys, girl A filling the others in with some sad excuse the guy gives her, while girl (s) B-Z come up with ever excuse under the sun for his excuse, insisting to friend A that said guy will call. We globe trot a bit in this scene, from here to Asia to Africa:

I'm sure he just forgot your hut number! Or was eaten by a lion!

From this point on, the grown up girl narrator Gigi (dog poo girl) begins to create a nervous friction in me. Biting my nails and Ramblings in my head: Is she really thinking of showing up there just because he said he hangs out there? Nothing like looking desperate. No, don't call him AGAIN. Oh, oh no, reading waaaay to far into that. Oh, no, he invited you to the party, not to get married! However, it was real. I've seen girls act like that. Reality. Love it. Of course, I've never acted like that or anything. Of course. ahem.

And then, after throwing herself at the guy who'd taught her everything she knew about being "just not that into" her, she says it....

I may dissect each little thing and put myself out there so much but at least that means that I still care. Oh! You've think you won because women are expendable to you. You may not get hurt or make an ass of yourself that way but you don't fall in love that way either. You have not won. You're alone. I may do a lot of stupid shit but I'm still a lot closer to love than you are

And that's when it all came back to that warm fuzzy you-know-this-is turning around. Which, I can't lie, maybe I'm too much LIKE Alex, I hate. I was really hoping for more of a "realistic" ending. Nope. Of course her little "speech" worked, made him realize that he's really THAT into her, and starts to take on her obsessive behavior trying to win her back. And he does. Of course.

Ah, but not to be entirely disappointed (I am such a cynic, I know) Janine and Ben don't have the happy ending. And, Ben doesn't get to have his cake and eat it to, as Anna leaves him. He didn't want to be married, but wasn't man enough to tell her when she gave him the ultimatum (Yeah, who really wants to get married that way anyway??) that he wasn't ready, so enter Anna, the hot chick at the grocery store that has that "this is what I'm missing out on" allure. So the affair begins, and ends after he blurts it out to Janine in the middle of Home Depot that he slept with someone else. Instead of leaving him, she tried to "surprise" him at the office with a little afternoon delight. Little does she know Anna's shoved in the closet and gets to listen to her boyfriend screw his wife. That Jerk! So, she leaves him. For good. Wifey sticks around till she has that "snap" moment finding a pack of cigarettes (She KNEW he was smoking. Because that was the worst thing he was doing...right) And that was the straw that broke the camel(and the mirror's) back. Never missing an OCD beat, she neatly folds every towel, washcloth and sock, matches every shoe with it's mate, and lines it all up for him with a carton of smokes on top with a simple note "I WANT A DIVORCE" Now THAT was reality. The movie was had come full circle and I was in full head-nodding agreement once more as Gigi narrated more truth:

Girls are taught a lot of stuff growing up. If a guy punches you he likes you. Never try to trim your own bangs and someday you will meet a wonderful guy and get your very own happy ending. Every movie we see, Every story we're told implores us to wait for it, the third act twist, the unexpected declaration of love, the exception to the rule. But sometimes we're so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs. How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't, the ones who will stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe... it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is... just... moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all the unreturned phone calls, broken-hearts, through the blunders and misread signals, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope.

Aw. Maybe I hadn't given Gigi enough credit. Maybe I was seeing too much of myself in her, and when she got the happy ending felt cheated, because, thus far that hasn't been my truth. Mine's not quite Janine's either, but it's my own. And I agree with Gigi completely that the happy ending doesn't always include a guy....I was thrilled that a movie could end with a positive spin on that thought for once. Closing in on 30 in a few short years, and turning into Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses, it's very refreshing for a character like Janine and even Anna to come out headstrong and on top, while Ben doesn't get either and merely looks like a slimeball in the end. Sorry Ben, they just weren't that into you.

Top 5 Reasons Sookie's Cooler than Bella

Ok....So I got to thinking, that's not entirely fair. Without further adieu, here's Sookie's moment
***Warning: If you only watch True Blood and haven't read all the books, this may be considered a spoiler. However, with the creative liberty the writers of the show take, I could be way off =) ***



True Blood and True Blood Pictures

1.)She's got a tan...And she works for it!



True Blood and True Blood Pictures

2.) Part Fairy

3.) Her vamps are men, not teenagers.



True Blood news and True Blood Pictures

4.)She doesn't have to hide her man's a vamp.


True Blood

5.)She went to bed with a real TIGER.

Top 5 Reasons Bella's Cooler Than Sookie

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

1.) She actually turns into a vampire (Sookie's fate -TBD)




2.) She COULD date a human, and not have to listen to his thoughts since she's not telepathic (but who'd wanna do that anyway, right?)


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3.) No messy fang marks to hide.



4.) She can hang with Edward during the day and he doesn't start to fry (Poor Bill!)




Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

5.) Her man GLITTERS.


Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics









Twilight Movies Fan Site - TwilightMovies.org is your ultimate resource for information about Twilight the Movie and the actors. We are a great resource for Twilight memorabilia and information.

Will There Be Anyone Left in LOST?

This week's Entertainment Weekly reports that Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus) predicts that LOST the future of the show in this statement to EW "I don't think LOST will have a happy ending. I think we are going to start seeing more casualties. I would put money on major characters being killed. I believe it will be a sad ending to the show-or at least bittersweet. I think it will definitely be a season finale for grown-ups," I personally never expected LOST to have a touchy-feel good ending. However, I didn't expect to see major characters go down the way Emerson is predicting. I do feel that they can't end the show the way Jack's character and crew are pushing for: Blowing up the island w/ the hydrogen bomb so that they never crash the plane. C'mon, if it ends that way, the last scene being flash back to 2004 with everyone on Flight 815 landing safely in LA after successfully blowing up the island in 1977 (ish?) there will be backlash from the fans. And the writers know that so I really don't think it's going to have that happy ending. No more than I think it's going to end with it all being Hurley's psychotic play in his head. But rather than major loss in characters, I expected the players to come full circle in their individual quests for redemption. While most of the characters that have found theirs have died, it seemed that with Kate and Jack, Sawyer and Juliet, Jin and Sun there may be something found in the pairing that would keep them from biting the bullet. The season finale mixed with rumors of Elizabeth Mitchell starring in her own show fuels speculation that Juliet will be the "major character" to die, but with a show like Lost, we are always left guessing if they who die really die. Or those who rise from the dead, as in Locke's case, really live? Locke, as we are to believe, has been reincarnated to convince Ben to kill Jacob. There was another major character (albeit a "silent unseen" character until his debut and death) that met the end.

So who is going to be left standing in Lost, if Emerson's predictions are correct? I can't see EVERYONE kicking the bucket just as I can't see EVERYONE landing in LA on that big ole' jet airliner Flight 815. So let's assume Juliet is dead and Jacob is dead. My prediction for next to go would be Sayid, as he seems to be kinda nuts now since working for Ben, being betrayed by Ben, jumping back in time and trying to kill young Ben and failing, he seems to have nothing left to live for. Then again, if Juliet is really dead, where does that leave (gulp) Sawyer? I really hate to bring him into this, as most of you know, I'm a Skater. (Sawyer and Kate as apposed to a Jater, Jack and Kate fan) And I am a huge fan of Sawyer and how far he's come in this show. However, I think he's gotten a little too soft for me this last season, so if Juliet did die, either the softie in him will win and he will become just plain pathetic and possibly meet his demise in a state of weakness, OR he will go the exact opposite, go back to the old Sawyer, and get real vengeful on everyone's @** till he does something stupid and rash and gets offed. My vote is to see him in the Season Finale with some beautiful chick from the Midwest that writes blogs about....I digress.
Moving along. Jack- Well, I know he is the leader, the "Shepard" but I'm really indifferent. I don't know what it is about Jack but he's annoys me. I think it's because I feel like if Charlie from Party of Five grew up to be a Dr. and his parent's hadn't have died and he didn't have all those brothers and sisters and his name was Jack instead...Yeah...It's like the situations are different but the characters are too similar for me to really dig Jack. Christian, however, I can't wait to see how that is summed up.

Hurley could be an "easy-off" as I like to term it. It's my blog I'll use my own verbiage. He seems to have disappeared into the background somewhat over teh last season or two, but is still a fan fav (much like Charlie, sniff...sniff...still miss you!) so it would get the sentimental shock value. I don't think Sun and Jin could be (it's Lost, I know, anything is possible) because I think we are working too hard on this story to get them back to the same time and why they are in different time periods anyway? But wouldn't that be a real killer, we wait for them to get in the same time dimension and after all that agonizing over if it's going to happen, one of
'em dies?

Kate, to me, is very up in the air. Her character, as it stands, could go either way, with Jack or with Sawyer, dependent on what really happens to Juliet. With Juliet out of the picture, with the obvious tension between Kate and Sawyer turn to something more? Will get back together with Jack? Or go back to her renegade con girl ways? To me, she has the most "options" of which way her story will go, so she seems the strongest candidate to see the show thru to the finish line. Which means....Nothing because Lost is known for it's curveballs.

Live together die alone, either way there are so many unanswered questions still out there, so many possibilities of the fate of each character, and undoubtedly a thrilling final season to come. Can't wait!!

Angels&Demons&Darwin Oh my!

Angels and Demons or The Darwin Conspiracy

I know there was a ton of media surrounding the release of Angels and Demons. That is usually enought to send me in search of entertainment elsewhere. I did, however, venture to read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown as historical fiction is one of, if not my very favorite genre. It didn't let me down; I felt Langdon's excitement while reading through the archives of the Vatican (hey, I'm a dork, nothing gets me quite as excited as dusty old papers) I was captivated along with Langdon as we were trying to solve the puzzle before the time ran out and....yup Ewan Mcgregor ends up the bad guy. Ok, I haven't SEEN the movie, but something about the previews was enough to give this away to me the whole time I was reading the book. And that's just from reading the book, I can't imagine the disappointment seeing it. Did anyone else, or is this just me, totally get that from the previews? It didn't make the book any less enjoyable, but since the movies undoubtedly always lack some of the magic the book offers, and the previews seemed to give the movie away, what's the point of watching??




After I finished this book I wanted something along those same lines...some history woven in with the fabricated storylines. I was on my way out after a frenzied stop at Barnes and Noble
-side note, by frenized I mean this: Have you ever seen a crowd of women at a shoe sale, or the day after Thanksgiving in line for the must-have-toy-of-the-season, that crazed, possessed look they take on? That's kinda me around books-stores, sales, what have you. If you see me in Barnes and Noble, it's probably safest to stay back 50 feet)
-I digress...On my way out with my two big bags I pass the "last chance" bins I'd missed on my way in. I had intended on a historical fiction, as I stated earlier, but Charlaine Harris' latest book had come out, I found a few other things I'd been meaning to check out, etc. So lying out to the side was this book called The Darwin Consiracy by John Darnton. Something in the wording "based on exhaustive research" piqued my interest. I started immediately. The first few pages, which aways determine to me how long it's going to take to finish a book and how engaged I will be in that process (alas, I have several I have started that I haven't finished, but dear reader, it is my life goal to finish everything I start) The first few pages were rocky, at best. Granted, I had very limited knowledge of Darwin. Ok, by very limited I mean next to nothing. I am not a huge fan of science. However, Angels and Demons had that theme of Religion and Science running over and over, so it had somewhat aroused a bit of interest.

Birds? This guys on this island measuring bird beaks? Really? What did I get here? It was a rough start. I sat the book down for several days. i had all but moved on with my life, ready to conquer the next book, when I had this nagging suspicion I had given up to easy. I went back and forced myself thru the first chapter or so, when I realized that there was a great story blossoming. Jumping between the present historian, the journals of Liza, Darwin's daughter, and Darwin's experience on the Beagle, a historical mystery unfolds. Not since The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova had I been so delighted at the outcome. The story weaves around, back and forth, and comes together at the end leaving the reader, or at least myself, satisfied. It's like a little "thank you" for hanging in on those first few rough pages.

Perhaps it's because of all the HYPE surrounding Angels and Demons, perhaps its that I knew how it was going to end before I started reading it, perhaps it was something in the unknown world of Darwin that got me, but for my money, The Darwin Conspiracy wins hands down.