Skins: Season Finale Thoughts...

This is just a quick post to say that the ending of Skins on E4 surpassed anything I expected of the series. It was a charming and well written series, often well-acted particularly in the case of the actors playing Sid, Cassie, Michelle and Chris and laughed at teenagers and their parents.

The last five minutes of the final episode of this first series was unexpected and blindingly fantastic. It could have all gone wrong, it could have been overly ambitious, but it was played superbly. You could finally see the parallels with Shameless, in that even the most frustratingly annoying characters had their charms (i.e Tony). Also I must note that Sid and Cassie are my new favourite 'will they, won't they' TV couple... they have made me almost cry on a few occasions now. I know, I'm a wuss...

If you missed it, try and catch the repeats on E4 and no doubt it will be all over Channel 4 sometime soon. The second season is confirmed... I look forward to seeing where it all goes.

RIP The O.C

It's finally ended, after a last season which lost the plot in a far better way than any part of season three (bar Marissa dying). Season Four gave us dream episodes, lots of Taylor Townsend, spirit animals, French husbands, Ryan's sense of humour, Hercules, Chris Pratt naked and a heck of a lot of comedy and knowing in-jokes. Airing in the US recently and soon to be shown in the UK the final episode of The O.C was jam-packed.

********SPOILERS BELOW:*********

The final episode was no different. From Rachel Bilson's Summer expressing upset that two actors from her favourite tv show The Valley had split up in real life (much like Bilson herself and castmate Adam Brody) to the enabling gay couple living in Kirsten and Sandy's old Providence house who just happened to be a much-needed midwife and a wedding planner, the final episode provided equal laughs and tears. Much rushed, as the season had to be when it was cancelled, summing up four seasons in one episode was obviously a challenge for the writers and, although not one of the best episodes in my opinion, The O.C went out on a suitably satisfactory note.

Here's the final montage, set to Patrick Park's Life Is A Song, revealing what happens to all the characters... it's happy endings all round with weddings, pregnancies, 'Team Julie' T-shirts (get me one now), Uni lecturing and sisters doin' it for themselves! Ahhh..



*wipes away the tears*

So sad. Anyway, one of my favourite things about the show was the fantastic music; I was introduced to various bands and artists (Death Cab For Cutie, Joseph Arthur, The Faint, The Killers and The Shins to name a few) through the show. Silly Pipe Dreams has put together his top 10 music moments on the show, complete with YouTube clips to get those memories flowing, including the beautiful 'Hallelujah' by Jeff Buckley. CLICK HERE TO VIEW. Agh, it's all too much... too soon! I'll watch them all again once I am a little more emotionally sound over this televisual loss...

Here's a fun clip from the most recent season to show how much fun they were having with it... signing off!


"Ryan Likes Journey..."

Sidekicks RULE!

The Onion's A.V Club has posted a fun article about sidekicks that are cooler than the heroes of TV and film; a couple I completely agree with are Willow from Buffy and Arthur from fantastic shortlived superhero TV series The Tick.

Lets face it, most sidekicks are infinitely more relatable than the heroes and they're our hook into the world of the show or film. Those heroes ain't nothing without their sidekicks!

Read the rest of the article here and see if you agree!

Quick Oscars Roundup

So, yes. They happened. Some people won, however, a small child and an old man did not. This is sad. Here are some more of my thoughts...

• Ellen DeGeneres presented (a great choice if you ask me, asking Steven Spielberg to take a photo of her and Clint Eastwood for her MySpace was v funny...)
• There were no big surprises in the 4 main acting winners, although I am still surprised that Helen Mirren has a tattoo on her hand.
• Reese Witherspoon looked far too gorgeous.
• Jake Gyllenhaal had a good time at the aftershow... well, last year. But any excuse for pics of Jake... (credit JustJared.com)
  
• Martin Scorsese finally got his dues with the Best Director award and Best Picture for The Departed. About time too, etc, etc...
• Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly performed a number about how comedians never win at the Oscars, which lots of internet people did not find funny. I did, partly because of Ferrell's fab hair, and partly because I love anything with singing and dancing. ANYTHING. *Except Chicago.
• I WON the house Oscar Sweepstakes for the SECOND year running. I got about 12 winners right... I have so much knowledge of the Academy that is had to happen. It was certainly not just random luck. At all. Ahem. Check out Plattenspieler to laugh at the losers and for my celebratory thumbs-up photo.
• Ellen cried on her talkshow the other day after watching some footage of herself preparing for the ceremony, it was rather touching.
• Did I mention I WON???!

So that's it for another year... I'm sure there is more to take note of than this, but it has all been covered in more depth and with more serious thought on other blogs and sites....