“Alive.”

Skip Beat! Chapter 131 is out!  *Crawls out hiding. Whips out chapter. Passes out*  Read it here at One Manga and then stop by Franky-House to say thanks!

Yar, yar, still alive.  Lots to update.  Mostly sick and dying and low on energy/emotion/spirit so I should technically be stuck in bed and writing lots of incoherent thoughts to anyone that’ll listen, but hey.  You gotta do what you gotta do, and take what you can, right?

I have to say, I’ve been really enjoying Skip Beat! lately. ^-^ Really enjoying it.  It’s more than just seeing her progress in acting and enjoying the devious antics of this more “mature,” “elegant,” “snarky” Natsu character, it’s … how I’ve just been basking in how well played this arc is.  I like seeing scenes that I, as a fan, wanted to see, but how I, as the audience, didn’t expect to see it happen the way that it did.  I love how Nakamura can take a character that I loathed from the very beginning (OMG NAKAMURA-SENSEI, PLZPLZPLZ DON’T ADD HER TO THE LOVE ME SECTION) and turned my emotions on my head with a single page.

It’s the stuff of pros.

(It’s watching Meredith Grey’s Anatomy and coming out cheering for Addison’s Private Practice >.> Just thought I’d throw that in there, because: WOW, this season is AMAZING.  Oh, and if I’m going to give out TV shout-outs, HURRAH!  HEROES!  HOW YOU’VE FINALLY RETURNED TO YOUR FORMER GLORY!  ALL HAIL!  HURRAH!!!  But, damn, writing staff has SERIOUSLY got to shape up their dialogue skills still >.< Other than that, HURRAH!)

I don’t know.  Even without Ren immediately in the picture, Nakamura has still managed to capture my heart.  ^-^  And that cheers me on a sick, heavy, cloudy, wet day.  Or night, rather.  I’m suffering from a really strong bout of insomnia.  And for some really inexplicable reason, I… kind of want to go play tennis outside >.>

… yea… >.>

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But, “Did You See The Moonwalking Bear?”

The Mentalist, A Review
Rating: 4.4/5

If you haven’t watched the commercial for the show, good for you!  If you have, please, expunge it from your memory as best as you can.  I mean, honestly people, do you really expect me to be impressed when you tell me that a man is cheating on his wife before you zoom in to see the lipstick mark on his collar, and then claim that you’re a very observant person?  (That was a trick question, friends.)

What I am impressed with, however, is how they’ve managed to take an Internet meme that took me by surprise, and butchered it by simply putting it on TV.  Remember The Moonwalking Bear awareness test? I KNOW.  That was hecka funny, right?–Why they’d change it?  Freaking ***ers. Right.  They changed it a little bit and used it as a promo clip.

Alright, let’s cut to the meat: The Mentalist is an excellent show.  I actually wish that I could give it lower marks, but after watching the (unaired) premiere, I have to admit, this is a really, good show and it deserves to be watched.  (FYI, it got lower marks just because I wanted to give it lower marks.  That’s a valid scoring point, right?)

The Mentalist is essentially a television drama about a former psychic fraud who used his “keen powers of observation” to scam others.  But it’s not all about smoke and mirrors; somewhere along the way, he’s been recruited to use his psychic abilities to solve cases—really, high, profile cases.  The kind of cases that you would dedicate an entire television season to see the end of.  Oh, and the “former” psychic fraud part of the description?  Well, you’ll get to see why.

What’s great about the pilot is that it completely makes up for all of the commercials that have already been shown about the series.  In the first five minutes, you see what you’ve already seen during commercial time—and the rest of the show is pretty much new.  They integrate his past with the present surprisingly well, and you get a sense of the bigger picture within the first quarter of the hour.  It’s not just going to be one of those episodic shows, that’s for sure.

What I can say about The Mentalist, is that fans of The Profiler and The Pretender will feel right at home.  It’s got the creepy factor of The Profiler and the devious charm of The Pretender (with a few, but not all, of his Jared’s skills).  I’ve been waiting for a show as insightful as The Profiler, for a very long time, and I think The Mentalist is the closest that I can compare to it.  This is a genuine show about crime, murder, mystery, intrigue—and then some more.  You’re pretty much staring at the facts left at scene and jumping straight into the mind of a serial murder, not just to solve how and with what they did it, but discover the intricacies of their chemical make-up and to stay one step ahead of their twisted minds.

Now, the downside: The Mentalist is essentially a one-man show.  He’s got an entire team of specialized and highly trained men and women, but he doesn’t really use them the way that they should be used; he doesn’t lead it, but he has it.  They’re mostly only there for humor and to reveal detailed aspects of the case that we lowly humans couldn’t possibly figure out on our own, but I think there’s some great chemistry there and potential for real entertainment.  It’s just a slap in the face to all of the justice department, I think.  “Oh, bring in the fake psychic, we won’t have to do anything,” kind of attitude.

The other thing that irks me is Robin Tunney.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s a pretty good actress.  A little over the top at times, but I think she’s a good fit for the role.  However…

Dear Robin Tunney,

Please, stop rolling your head.  Seriously, whatever it takes—a neck brace, a back brace, someone clamping their hand down your head while you film—just do it!  I’ll be honest, I really don’t mind your performance.  It’s just your head.  If you could just stop circling your chin every time you talk, or bobbling your head whenever you’re trying to make a point, it would be so much easier on the eyes.  They’ll make a bobble-head of you one day, I promise.  TV just isn’t the place for this kind of stuff.

Love,
The Mentalist Fan

The Mentalist (CBS)
Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 23
9pm et/pt

Watch it.

I Don’t Care What You’re Doing!

Stop now, and watch Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Act I!  Support Joss Whedon and Company!  I said, “NOW” people!

I cannot express how excited I am about this release!  Joss Whedon is probably one of my all time favorite television creators.  Buffy?  Need I say more?  Let’s say: Firefly.  Wonderful, dearly beloved, unfortunately short-lived Firefly!  I can’t wait for his show DollHouse next spring.  But for now, this is more than amazing enough =D

If you don’t know what this is, check out this trailer, it will shock and amaze you!  And then go straight to the video!  Support Joss Whedon, and his amazing talented half brother(s?) with their score and composition.  The story is hilarious, and the acting deserves a freaking Emmy.  Do they give Emmys for webby things?  Oh, ok, just give him a Damn Webby Award already.

Oh, wow.  I think I’m fangirl-ing right now.  O.o  Really?  Ok, I’ll write a more coherent piece later, when I done watching this the second time around.  Or more ^-^;  In the meanwhile, you can read this fantastic Exclusive article about Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible” at TV Guide.  Awesome.  I hope they release a CD!

What else can you do?  Well, you can read the awesome comic, presented for free on the DarkHorse Myspace Website.  OR.  You can read ANOTHER awesome article, here, at the LA Times Review.  Ok, I’m going to sleep now.  I totally stopped writing just to watch this.  And then Blog this.  It’s that wondeful!