Quick Hits – December 2016

This month’s entertainment blog is a little earlier than normal.  Because of this, it also features half the number of reviews.  I wanted to reserve the next two weeks for other year-end blogs, so I decided to do this one early.  I completed one review for each of the categories.  As you will quickly learn below, my main focus this month was on the Gilmore Girls revival.  I was a fan of the original series, and I was excited about the new season.  As such, I had a lot of expectations going into it and a lot of thoughts coming out of it.

Warning:  Although I tried not to delve into plots too deeply (ok, I intentionally revealed lots about the Gilmore Girls), there are potential spoilers in the reviews below.  Read at your own risk.

TV Series:  Gilmore Girls:  A Year in the Life (2016)

First, I want to start with a little clarification of my background with the Gilmore Girls show.  I was a fan of the original series.  I own all of the DVDs.  I have watched every episode, most of them more than once.  However, I am not an obsessive fan.  I do not remember every last detail about the show and the characters.  I have not seen any episodes in several years, but I still chose not to watch any as prep for the new release.  As such, I am relying on memory and impressions that I made a long time ago, to help me connect the new series to the original.  If I make any errors in the below, forgive me.

Warning:  There are most definitely spoilers below.  Please do not read if you are invested in seeing this show with virgin eyes.

Gilmore Girls:  A Year in the Life begins almost a decade after the original series ended.  The new run consists of four 90-minute episodes, one for each season of the year.  The show again focuses on Lorelai and Rory, which is obvious since they are the Gilmore Girls.  Most of the other major cast members make an appearance, although some of them are much more prominent to the new storyline than others.  There also is a very good turnout of beloved bit characters sprinkled throughout the series.  If you want to indulge in the nostalgia factor for the old show, I do not think you will be disappointed.  The show progresses with a mix of catching the audience up on what has happened in the past nine years, and advancing the storyline for what they are all doing now.  I thought there were some very odd choices for characters and events to include in the current show, and I do wonder if availability of certain actors is the reason for some of the decisions made.  There are some things I like and some things I do not like.  Overall though, I do have to confess myself a little disappointed.  I found it rather hard to attach myself to the characters again.  I did not find the show particularly engaging especially the first episode.  It did become more interesting as it went, but I am not sure this makes up for the rather bland beginning.  This show has such a following, because it was so good the first time around.  I honestly just think they could have done better.

Three Things I Liked:

- Emily & Richard – Hands down, this is the best storyline in this whole season.  They had to deal with the fact that actor Edward Herrmann died between when the original series ended and this revival.  They did this by having the character pass away shortly before the start of the current timeline.  Emily is a grieving widow that is fundamentally questioning her very existence in the world without Richard.  Emily shows amazing growth from the beginning of the new show to the end without losing the essence of who she is.  I loved her every scene.

- Lorelai & Luke Together – I approve of the fact that Lorelai & Luke are together again from way before the beginning of the new season.  I always hated that they split them up towards the end of the original series given how hard they worked on pulling them together in the first place.  There was a teaser at the end of the first run that indicates the couple may make it after all.  I am glad that this happened in the in-between period, and they did not force us to go through another Lorelai/Luke courting as part of the new season.

- Rory’s Three Men – All three of Rory’s major former beaus make an appearance in this season.  I actually like the way they portrayed all three of them.

  1. Dean only has a short pop-up at the very end of the series where you find out he is living in Pennsylvania, married, and has kids.  Although the cameo is a bit forced, I think it appropriate to give him such a small appearance.  Dean was no longer relevant to Rory’s life at the end of the original show, and it would be ridiculous to introduce him with a major role again.

  2. Jess has only a small role in the new show as well.  I do wish that he had a bigger role, because I was always a Jess fan.  However, I do like the way they treated him with what time he was given.  Although Jess was a bit of a dick for his major stint in the series, he had shown growth in his later guest appearances.  In the new series, you get the impression that he has continued to mature as he ages and that he is a good person who is doing the best he can.  I also love that they leave it open for him to come back into the story if they ever make more episodes.

  3. Logan is the major boyfriend in the revival.  Rory is having an affair with him throughout the entire series until she breaks it off in the final episode.  I have heard some complaints about his prominence in the new series and how much everyone dislikes him, but honestly I have always liked his character.  He is a spoiled rich kid as always, but his character feels authentic with the old show and the new series.  I also have always thought Logan’s character pushed Rory out of her comfort zone in a way that was good for her.  Plus, Rory is the reason these two did not end up together at the end of the original series, and I think she is still the reason they are not really together now despite his supposed fiancé.  I think Logan cares for Rory deeply and wants her to be happy, but recognizes that he is not what she wants or needs.

Three Things I Did Not Like:

- Rory – Who is this girl in this new series?  Rory was almost always a go-getter in the original series.  She was a good girl, who did what she was supposed to do, so that she could fulfill her lofty dreams.  Toward the end of the original series she went through a phase where she was an utterly deplorable character, dropping out of school, fighting with her mother, and generally making bad decisions.  Every bright character deserves a breakdown, so I can forgive that.  Apparently though, she has spent the past nine years continuing her downward spiral and generally making a mess of her personal and professional life.  She shows no growth from the end of the original series to the beginning of the new one.  She does not show any growth through the four episodes in the new series either.  I do not like her character at all now, and I used to relate to her so well.

- The Pacing – It started out too slowly.  Too much time was spent trying to shoehorn cameo appearances into the plot, and not enough was spent developing an engaging narrative for what is happening in their lives right now.  It finally started to get interesting in episode three, and it did not really shine with the glow of the old show until the final episode.

- The Ending – All I have heard about was how the show was going to end with the final four words that Amy Sherman-Palladino always envisioned.  I groaned out loud when I heard them.  It seemed so cliché and so beneath this show's potential.  For all the references in the show about how life comes full circle, I do not think this is really a circle at all.  Rory is not Lorelai, and this ending is not parallel with Lorelai’s background.  Lorelai became pregnant as a teenager, took some hard knocks in life, pulled herself up by her bootstraps, and made something of herself (even if she had some monetary help from her parents here and there).  Rory is a full grown woman who has done nothing with her life, got pregnant at a completely appropriate age even if her maturity level does not match, and does not currently have the presence of character to make anything of herself with or without a child.  It might have made sense if she had ended the show with it after season 3 or 4.  At this point, it just feels stupid.

Three Things Where I Am Undecided:

- Lorelai – I thought Lorelai was pretty true to the original character.  I thought her storyline showed an appropriate place in life.  I have no complaints, but I also have no excitement.

- Stars Hollow Musical – Was it a good musical?  No.  Did it take up way too much time of the third episode?  Yes.  Was it so completely Stars Hollow and Gilmore Girls?  Yes.

- Kirk – This is another throwback to the original series that feels a little too big for the revival.  He is one of the biggest and most loved bit characters.  He makes several appearances in the revival, displaying his weird Kirk ways.  From a nostalgia and entertainment factor, he is great.  He just seems too big of a presence in the story considering he is just Kirk.

End conclusion:  I am disappointed.  However, I most likely will give this another go in a while, maybe after reviewing some of the original series.  If they make more episodes, I will most likely watch those too.  I just hope they give Rory some direction, because I am not sure I have the patience to watch her flounder much longer.

Movie:  Think Like a Man (2012)

I have a fondness for Kevin Hart, and so things like this movie show up in my suggestions on Netflix.  I was not disappointed.  The plot is loosely based on the relationship book written by Steve Harvey, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.  It tells the tale of four women who try to outsmart their men based on the rules in the book.  The couples are intentionally built around set stereotypes, so that the plots could be based around the rules for dealing with those stereotypes.  This could have felt very cheesy, but it is handled in an easy and outright manner that made it palatable.  Aside from the aforementioned Kevin Hart, the movie includes a great cast of talented actors including Meagan Good, Gabrielle Union, Terrence Jenkins, etc.  The film relies on a mix of subtle relatable relationship humor, interspersed with typical Kevin Hart antics.  It was an all-around enjoyable movie.  I definitely recommend.

Book:  Hyperbole & a Half:  Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh (2013)

This is an incredibly unique book based on a blog of the same name.  Allie Brosh uses cartoon drawings along with narrative to tell stories of her life.  The pictures are a unique mix of well-drawn art and crude representations that portray the completeness or incompleteness of the subject in the artist’s own mind.  The book starts with a story detailing a letter written by 10-year-old Allie to her 25-year-old self.   Adult Allie (actually 27 instead of 25) responds to 10-year-old Allie, and then writes more letters to herself at various other ages as well.  I was laughing so hard, I was crying.  The rest of the book runs a gamut of emotions, ranging from hysterically funny to incredibly sad.  I loved all of them equally.  While the funny ones were obviously entertaining to read, the more realistic and/or sad ones were extremely well-drawn memoirs of the emotional reality of someone struggling with life.  I found her work well written/drawn, relatable, and highly entertaining.  I recommend this to anyone, but especially those feeling like they do not quite gel with the real life around them.

Overflow:

Movie:  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) – Yes

Book:  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000) – Yes

Book:  From Bud to Boss:  Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership by Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris (2011) – Yes.  The leadership seminar that the authors host is also fantastic.

See you next week!