love at dim sight!

Interesting episode of Survivor. Thought at first that Aitu were making a huge mistake by throwing the challenge so early in the game (actually, never a good idea at any time in the game!). But then Billy opened his mouth and went on about his love, Candace, and how she was motivating him to continue playing. And I thought his biggest problem was his laziness! He's delusional, too. He didn't get that when Candace said, "we love you" she meant it in a kind way, to encourage him. He didn't hear the word we, or understand what she meant. So add dumb to that list of problems. Though Ozzy annoys me, he's a better player than Billy. At least he's rational (immature and headstrong, certainly, but not delusional). I smirked when I saw that both women changed their votes to boot Billy. They realized how necessary it was to jettison the crazy heavy-metal musician. Alas, the downside to this is that I'll never get to see what would have happened when Billy met Sekou (another crazy musician). And Yul rocks! The clues to the idol were pretty simple, but considering how dim some of the other players are, Yul was the one who had the best chance of finding the idol. Let's just hope that he doesn't decide to reveal his possession of the idol, and turn other players against him. I think he's smart enough to know when the right moment to use the idol will be. I love how Survivor has turned Exile Island around, and given the losing team the choice. Quite delightful to see the reactions of the winners, when Jeff told them how it was going to work.

Survivor

I shall endeavor to update this blog with comments on my favourite show, Survivor. I have been asked by several people what I think of the racial tribes this season. What do I think? I think Mark Burnett is a brilliant spin doctor and marketing genius. In one swoop, he has managed to answer all previous criticisms about race on Survivor, and create a ratings buzz that rivals Richard Hatch winning the first season! What he has done is say to the critics, "the people will prove whether Survivor is racist," and compelled many people to tune in, just to see how this plays out. I agree with some reviewers, who've said that, in the end, Survivor is all about singular greed. Starting off with racial tribes does nothing but guarantee interesting water-cooler chat. The participants may start off thinking about representing, but will have to emerge as individual combatants, to gain Ultimate Survivor status. I find it more interesting that the tribes seem to be dividing more along gender lines, even with the awareness that they are "representing." Despite the common race, the tribes are splitting along the familiar men/women dynamic that Survivor has seen many times before. I do find it annoying that critics seem more upset by racial division than gender division. There's no real difference - both segregate a portion of society and consider them less. And so far, my favourites are women (as it usually is when I watch Survivor, with the exception of Tom from Season 5); Stephanie, the two Latino women (can't remember their names!), and one man, Yul. The person I find most interesting to watch, yet I wouldn't want him to win, is Cao Boi. I doubt he'll even get to the final four, but he is fascinating to watch. The only skill, though, that he really has is his survival through Vietnam. But I don't really think he can stand up to Sundra or Stephanie or Yul, when it comes to strategy (or people skills!).

X-men: the Last Stand; good or bad?

Saw the new X-Men movie last night. I was excited and disappointed. I expected more, but I also knew that it is, after all, a summer movie blockbuster that has no pretensions to change your thinking or worldview. If you watch the movie with that realization, it is a fun, action-packed piece that lives up to the name "blockbuster". It is purely enjoyable, despite the few plot and character glitches. Those don't detract too much from the fun of the movie, and as always, Hugh Jackman carries the movie with style and charisma. I was bothered by a few problems (spoiler alert!) with plot and character lines that seemed to drop off into nowhere. Other plot problems that plagued me were the lack of backstory for Juggernaut, Mystique's reasons for saving Magneto, then turning on him (I understood why, as a comics fan, but it was left vague in the movie), and the Phoenix storyline that was not given its full potential. I was left pondering a few questions that I'm sure others might consider, too. Such as Why didn't anyone think of using Rogue against Leech? And if their powers would have cancelled each other out, why wasn't that explained? Because if I thought of it, someone else probably has, too. Why was Kitty Pryde, a child, the only one who was smart enough to figure out how to use Leech's power effectively? Isn't Charles the genious? He didn't think of any of that. Probably because he was having too many issues with costume malfunctions. The biggest problem for me (I can overlook plot issues in a fun movie like this, if Im being entertained) were the awful production values and multiple costume/makeup issues. Xavier's pants riding up so high it looked like he was wearing a diaper, a horrible hair dye job on Phoenix, Juggernaut's poorly fitted appliances and strange body hair, Beast's ridiculous blue fur, and Halle Berry's visible lines on her costume as she levitates were all very distracting. They spent 210 million bucks on this movie, and couldn't hire a good colourist for Famke Janssen? And why Halle ever won an Oscar, I'll never know. She is dreadful. There are painful moments (such as the scene where Wolverine and Storm discover what's happened to Charles) where you can see her obviously watching the other actor and waiting for her cue to emote. Ugh.Perhaps they should develop the Xavier School for Ungifted Mutant Actors. Then Rogue and Storm could take lessons, and become more than throwaway female characters who do little else other than bounce energetically and whine about ignorant men.

the brangelina baby