THE TEN BEST THINGS I SAW (or heard) FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2011

 Amber Tamblyn, Brittany Robertson, Ellen Fox, film, House, Music, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Swans Crossing, Xena, Zoey Deutch  No Responses »
Dec 222011
 

#10 – ZOEY DEUTCH

Zoey Deutch in a scene from RINGER. Deutch is the daughter of Lea Thompson.

Playing the step-daughter of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ioan Gruffudd in the CW’s RINGER, Zoey Deutch is the biggest scene-stealer since Renee O’Connor as Gabrielle in Xena:Warrior Princess. Deutch also made her film debut this year in MAYOR CUPCAKE, a film which also starred her mother Lea Thompson, and her sister Madelyn.

#9 – FAUX BABY

Title card for Faux Baby

Well it’s older than a year, but I found it in 2011. FAUX BABY is a 6-episode 2008 webseries with Missy Yager (of MAD MEN) as a potential mom who is given a robot baby to raise as a test. It’s great speculative fiction, and has a great cast including Lucas Bryant and Laura Salvato. I ran across this researching SWANS CROSSING, in which Salvato appeared briefly in 1992.

#8 – THE SMOKE FAIRIES

Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies - The Smoke Fairies

Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies are The Smoke Fairies, a British duo that do a bluesy Celtic folk that has flashes of brilliance. They had two separate US tours this year, and did a great video for their song HOTEL ROOM.

#7 – MACHINE GIRL

Machine Girl - Japanese bionic woman

This is also from 2008, and I stumbled across this movie recently on Netflix. MACHINE GIRL is a very strange and surprisingly entertaining tale of revenge. Lots of blood and gore, but the effects are so implausible that it’s funny. If you’ve ever asked the question: What if the BIONIC WOMAN had been Japanese?, this might be the answer.

#6 – EYE OPENER TV

Ellen Fox on the set of Eye Opener TV

Where Ellen Fox (formerly of Rotten Tomatoes) works now. This is a great morning show (at least what I have been able to see of it. It is on CW stations in only a few cities (Dallas is one of them) right now, but clips are available online.

#5 – ECO-RICO

The opening scene of Eco-Rico with Giselle Achecar

An energetic and entertaining eco-friendly cooking and lifestyle web program hosted by Giselle Achecar. Achecar used to be Giselle Loren, who was the voice of animated Buffy. Eco-Rico can be viewed on You-Tube and on the Huffington Post.

#4 – LAURENA SEGURA

The cover of Permafrost, Segura's digital single on iTunes

The Montreal singer-songwriter has released her first EP, PERMAFROST (available on iTunes), and it contains three great songs, Permafrost, Un autre comme moi, and Fireflies of Montreal. Looking forward to more. Her YouTube Channel, lullation, has many excellent videos.

#3 – JAN HELLRIEGEL

Jan Hellriegel

I came across Jan Hellriegel in the cast of two Xena episodes, and found that she had recorded three albums. IT’S MY SIN (1992) TREMBLE (1995), and ALL GROWN UP (2009). All are worth purchsing. She was originally part of the band Cassandra’s Ears (with Flick Rhind, Zan Wright, Venessa Anich and Leanne Ibell. That group released two albums: PRIVATE WASTELAND (1988), and YOUR ESTIMATION (1990). Hellriegel lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

#2 – AMBER TAMBLYN

Amber Tamblyn as Martha M. Masters

As Martha M. Masters in HOUSE, M.D., Amber Tamblyn created one of the most memorable TV characters ever. Also, her book of poems, BANG, DITTO, is well worth reading. Now I need to go watch THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, and JOAN OF ARCADIA, which I have managed to ignore till now.

#1 – OBSCURUS LUPA

Obscurus Lupa

It was her review of ALIEN APOCALYPSE that got me hooked. Obscurus Lupa reviews the best of the bad films. She’s a bit like MST3K, but her subject matter is more varied and her commentary more intelligent. I now know who Cynthia Rothrock is, and, thanks to Lupa, I didn’t have to sit through any of her films to get that information.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Brittany Robertson of THE SECRET CIRCLE.
God-des and She.
Lesbian Cops (webseries).

BRITTANY ROBERTSON IS THE MAIN REASON TO WATCH ‘THE SECRET CIRCLE’

 Brittany Robertson  No Responses »
Sep 162011
 

Brittany Robertson as Cassie in THE SECRET CIRCLE

So because of RINGER, I have decided to watch the other new stuff on the CW. Last night was THE SECRET CIRCLE, which stars, among others, Thomas Dekker (who was John Connor in THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES). It’s a small town with a tragic supernatural history, and that makes it much like the show that precedes in on the CW schedule, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. But while Vampire Diaries is full of hot (undead) guys, Secret Circle (why is it that these show titles begin with definite articles? it is not necessary at all.) is full of hot young women, and figures to be a lot less bloody.

There have been ony a few witch based TV shows, all of them pretty good. CHARMED and the short-lived EASTWICK, SABRINA:THE TEENAGE WITCH, and BEWITCHED spring to mind. This thing is sort of a teenaged Charmed.

Brittany Robertson introducing Caitlin Custer's character in SWINGTOWN

The main character is Cassie
(Brittany Robertson). She was Samantha Saxton in SWINGTOWN (2008) and more recently was Marnie Cooper in the film SCREAM 4. She reminds me a bit of Mae Whitman for some reason. Her performance is certainly the best in the show. She is quite convincing as a reluctant witch still somewhat bewildered by recent events in her life. As for the rest of the cast, well, they may improve later.

The witches can do the usual stuff. Make things float, set stuff on fire, make it rain. Let’s hope they make this show about things larger than small town rivalries.