I know, I know, I’m talking about this too much and nitpicking way too much fan stuff.  This one will be different.

First, I think the show has started to hit its stride with this episode.  WOOT!  Unfortunately, only three episodes are up on the website so I’m going to have to find them some other way to catch up so I can start watching the show on its regularly scheduled night.

Second, I read a post by a fan who said the show “completely ruined” the books.  I think that’s taking it a little far.  I always expect a bunch of changes with a book-to-screen adaptation, and the question you have to ask (before running off with a “ZOMG, CHANGES=BAD!!“) is whether they make the changes work or not.  For example, Howl’s Moving Castle — the anime movie and original book were very different but both were of equal quality.  The only film adaptation that I really thought slaughtered the original book (as opposed to a more limited “Why did they insert 10 minutes of a random dragon chase?”) was Ella Enchanted.  I still haven’t forgiven Disney for turning that beloved book into a cheesy stupid kid flick.

Third, in all my crazed fanrants, I bemoaned the lack of the character Meredith.  And I just found out she WILL be in the series!!!  :D  She’s the calm, witty, rational one, though I’m expecting them to make her some sort of hot vampire hunter.  Which, whatever, at least they’ll have her.  Squee!

I loved the first movie, it got me into the books, and then I loved the books.

The major drawback of this sequel is simply that the main love interest of the books and first movie is no longer around.  He’s been written off, probably because they couldn’t get that actor back or maybe because they just didn’t see how they could explain the complexity of Michael and Mia’s relationship in only two hours.  Plus, they left it pretty set-in-stone in the last movie that they were a couple and couples with issues don’t really make Disney sequels (well, okay, Mulan, but that was special).

I found a way to enjoy it, though: pretend it’s not a sequel.

That’s it.  Just pretend it’s a random princess movie using actors you’ve seen elsewhere.  Pretend it has no affiliation to The Princess Diaries and I promise that makes it perfectly enjoyable.

If you can ignore the really bad special effects and the scenes that are supposed to be serious but actually made me laugh, the pilot is a lot better than I thought it would be.  The previews made me nervous, to be honest — somebody up at the CW was like “Let’s showcase the episode’s worst parts.  That sounds like a great idea!”

I’m expecting a few of the actors to grow into their parts — or at least the writers to get used to their actors’ strengths and weaknesses — but a few have already blown me away.

(more…)

I like Disney TV shows.

This last week, I’ve hunted down and lapped up episodes of Sonny With A Chance like a crack addict.  I first got exposed to it at my mom’s house last month, because she has Disney and I don’t (so I gorged).  I then took advantage of the episodes on disney.com and (this is where the crack addict comparison comes in) trolled the internet looking for more until I found the whole first season on YouTube and watched it in a single day.

I like SWAC better than Suite Life, Wizards of Waverly Place (although Selena Gomez = cutest girl ever), and even Hannah Montana for one simple reason — it has a better romance.

SWAC’s premise is of “girl joins cast of comedy sketch show” and requires plenty of slapstick and wacky things going wrong for the main character, but I don’t think it’s over-the-top except where it means to be.   A lot of shows like this don’t know how to tone it down when it’s time to play it straight, but I think Sonny does a great job, particularly during the awkward “I like you but I’m not going to admit it” scenes.

Some might consider SWAC a bit immature, but you have to remember the target audience.  (Tweens!)  I loved All That when I was younger, as well as I Love Lucy, and it’s the same kind of humor: straight comedy when they’re working and complicated plans that go awry when they’re not.

I also think the girl who plays Sonny has a freshness she brings to the role that another actress might have made cloying and annoying.  You just can’t help but like her, even if all her teeth are a bit alarming when you first see them.

I may be exposing myself to ridicule with these admissions, but acting your age is overrated.  And, if you think about it, I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I wasn’t passionate about entertainment for this age group.  ^-^

First is Castle, starred by Mal from Firefly (which was somehow better than Buffy and Angel, though canceled early on by an incompetent network).

Castle is funny and awesome and even made me cry.  The starring actor is just as good here as he was in Firefly (though the shows themselves don’t compare well).  It’s not really a cop show, it’s more like a mystery show.  And aside from the main character being funny, he has an adorable teenage daughter.  :)  They have the best father-daughter chemistry I’ve seen on TV in a long time.  So cute.

The sad part is that there are only 10 episodes so far.  (Cry!  Sob!  Whine!)  But you can catch up on the first season with free episodes on ABC’s website.

The other thing I’m happy but sad about is Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer.  It was supposed to be Twilight from Edward’s point of view, but a “trusted individual” leaked the unfinished draft and it spread like wildfire.  Meyer doesn’t have the heart to continue the project and posted her draft officially on her website so fans can read it without feeling guilty.

If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn’t dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.

Indefinitely means forever.  Which is a waste of a good book, if you ask me, and it makes me grumpy at Ms or Mr Leaker.

Meyer knows who did it, and (if I read between the lines correctly) she seems to think they didn’t intend this sort of leakage, and I think she’s a nicer person than most if she doesn’t sue.  For a lot.  Because that’s how much money she’s losing out on, as a bestselling author with a companion to a bestselling book that a friend of mine says is actually better than Twilight even in its rough draft stage.  She’s losing a lot of money.

Perhaps one day she’ll take it back up at the urging of fans (and let me add my voice to the chorus that we’ll still buy it if she does), but I perfectly understand her current depression and hope she can find comfort in her other projects.