First, let me preface this review with the admission that I really hated the first Fantastic 4 movie. I thought it was ridiculous, forced, poorly acted, and worst of all boring and pointless. I could care less whether any of the Fantastic 4 characters lived or died, especially the seemingly (I still think this) vapid Jessica Alba character, who by the way didn’t exactly pull my heart strings in the second installment either.

If you’re like what seems like half the world, you watched the last episode of the Sopranos, one of the most beloved cable shows ever on television, end it’s seven season run just a few weekends ago.  What’d you think?  I know that as my boyfriend sat and watched the last nail biting five minute diner scene we kept waiting for the guy in the members only jacket to pop Tony, but I kept thinking to myself that David Chase the creator may not have wanted his main character Tony to be killed onscreen like that, so I did have a feeling that some sort of trick might be played on the viewer where an onscreen offing was not viewable, but I didn’t know that it would just cut to a blank screen.

Initially my boyfriend and I thought, Oh well, Tony made it out ok, the whole point of the scene was to show that it was an ordinary day.  But is that really the case?  Many people started flapping their gums after the infamous scene though, it seemed a couple days after the show, that they were suspicious that the ending meant that Tony actually did get popped, he just went to black because that’s how he told Bobby it would feel. 

I have to hand it to people, they sure do think about stuff, because honestly I hadn’t thought about it that way until I heard the theories coming out that Tony did actually get offed and that was Chases clever way of having the viewer make up their own killing in their mind, but honestly I hadn’t the slightest clue when the scene was actually rolling that this might be the show’s intention. 

I thought “oh well, that’s cool I guess, they left the show open for a movie or even more episodes some day”, but didn’t really think that it meant Tony went to mobster heaven in those last fateful moments.  It has been hinted that this is the intention, although Chase himself remains mum on the subject.  What do you think?  Is Tony Soprano dead or alive?  Does it matter? 

I have grown from the status of hating HGTV and everything it stood for, to loving it within a matter of months - months that it took me to finally purchase my first house that is.  Now you’d think I’m a friggin Martha Stewart wannabe.   Every time I get the chance, when I’m working out in the basement, my channel surfing invariably lands on some new do it yourself or home decorating show, whether it be on the king of home making, HGTV, or one of it’s spin offs like Discovery Home. 

I’ve found myself on the girlie do it yourself show “ToolBelt Diva” where a woman who knows how to do just about anything and everything shows you how to hang chandeliers, do decks, and stairwells, all while still maintaining perfectly manicured hands which I find absolutely amazing.

In all seriousness though, I’ve gotten some great decorating ideas and the confidence to try do it myself projects just from watching these shows that I once thought were a silly waste of time.  There are the flipping shows also which I find interesting, where people go out and buy a fixer upper and turn it into an overnight sale sensation making minor and major cosmetic improvements, then there are gardening shows that show you how to manicure the perfect garden as well as landscaping and outdoor project shows that seem to go over just about everything - sometimes I’m surprised they don’t run out of subject matter!

Anyways, HGTV has really become huge, with their dream home giveaway and I believe also now their own spinoff magazine.  It seems everyone nowadays is very much into fixing up their homes, and doing a lot of it themselves, for as cheap as they can, and watching these shows, while sometimes they are not realistic, can definitely give you some great ideas on decor and how to do it for less than hiring an interior decorator, but all the while coming out with great results.  I love it, I’m addicted.  I never thought I’d say that before the age of fifty, but here I am! 

Grey’s Anatomy, there is no doubt, is more of a “chick” show than a guy’s type of show.  And that’s precisely why I love it so much.  My boyfriend can watch his basketball games while I’m in my tv room, slobbering over my latest infatuation, Dr. McDreamy, played by Patrick Dempsey, and wallowing in the awesomeness of how the quasi-soap opera tends to bring realness to the sometimes unreal situations they tend to find themselves in every day.

Add to that the sexual tension and subplots in the show, and you’ve got bonified woman-candy for a show!  But on a serious note, I do think the show is well crafted, and does have some excellent acting involved as well.  While Ellen Pompeo’s take on her character Meredith Grey is sometimes a little whiny at times and needy, I do like the other characters in the show.  George’s goofy take on his character is a good twist and the fact that he’s obsessed with Meredith is just another juicy - woman friendly twist to the show that makes it a juicy bit for the taking and makes it all that much more of a guilty pleasure. 

The melodramatic aspect of the show is what makes it a guilty pleasure for me.  I usually don’t get into shows where girls are all mopey over a guy, and there’s almost invariably a sappy, emotional ending to each episode, but somehow with Grey’s Anatomy I let it slide, and it just seems to fit the actors and the stories the show’s writers have created for the talented actors. 

Let’s face it, there’s a reason why Grey’s Anatomy is a huge commercial success - because sex sells, and so does melodrama.  And bring on some more!  I’m on the second CD - I got Netflix of my own especially for this show, since my boyfriend tends to gobble up the Netflix movie rentals with his own rentals, and this one if finally something of my own!

We recently pulled out the first season of Twin Peaks, the quirky, murder mystery, sex, intrigue show that ran for two seasons back in 1990 and was the work of mastermind of the weird, David Lynch, who did other crazy, weird movies like Blue Velvet.  I have to say, the show holds up for the most part too.  I remember being in high school when this show was playing, and being frustrated becaues I couldn’t always get the TV on the night it was on, so I kept missing episodes and never did find out who murdered Laura Palmer. 

Another thing I noticed about Twin Peaks is that the ill fated Laura Palmer, played by Sheryl Lee, the actress who played her has never gotten any really good parts after that movie.  Nor have the rest of the cast for that matter!  And although there were admittedly some mediocre actors in Twin Peaks, there were also some very talented actors.  One such talented actor that I’m surprised didn’t get more meaningful work after Twin Peaks was Dana Ashbrook, who played the smartass Bobby Briggs, or Madchen Amik, who played his adulterous girlfriend and wife of psycho Leo.

The biggest talent in this show though, is definitely Kyle McLachlan, who only really popped up here and there since Twin Peaks.  Although he seems only to work with David Lynch, he appeared in Sex and the City as a love interest of one of the girls, and he may have done broadway or something beyond that, but I’m surprised he’s never really shown up in any big roles after Twin Peaks, since he really was a talented guy in that show.  He played Agent Dale Cooper, with his quirky food tastes and zeal for life, along with a type of innocence and integrity that made him a likeable character to a T. 

And then there’s Peggy Lipton, who was in the Mod Squad in her younger years and still looked beautiful twenty some years later in the series.  There is such a huge ensemble cast, and the mysteries are intriguing.  Even after we find out who killed Laura Palmer, it evolves into a more and more interesting plot with supernatural things entering in. 

Some may think it got ridiculous, but really it was just sticking with the quirkiness that the directors are known for and it stuck out for not following convention.  It probably paved the way for later shows such as Picket Fences and X Files actually, so we should be grateful that any network agreed to pick it up, since it opened the doors for such unique and quirky programming.