Thoughts on the 2nd Night of the DNC

The second night of the Democratic National Convention, much different from the first, moved from being a night of nervousness for those who proudly stand left of that center to one of celebration.  With the votes being cast for Hillary Clinton, officially making she and Tim Kaine the nominees of the party, the Bernie Sanders supporters that had been causing a raucous display during the speeches of the likes of Reps. Elijah Cummings and Linda Sanchez decided to stage a protest.  It appears to have worked in terms of optics for the vast majority of people waiting at home.  It's hard to imagine whether or not a lot of truly Bernie or Bust supporters tuned in to hate-watch a convention where he proudly stood up and proclaimed his former Senate colleague the Democratic nominee, making sure that she would have a place in history and hopefully the Oval Office, but if they did they saw a party that was particularly happy to be there, and once again dominated with issues.

One of my favorite things about these conventions is the Roll Call vote, where states find truly random facts to brag about themselves, crowing about food and landmarks and sports teams all the while casting completely pre-ordained ballots for candidates who already know the result of the election.  It was deeply moving watching Sen. Bernie Sanders' brother, though, speak about Sanders' parents who both died before he was 21 and how deeply proud they would have been of their son.  It would have taken a heart of stone not to be swept away in that moment, watching the child of Polish immigrants realize a moment he had been working for his entire life, and I had quite a few tears rolling down my cheek as did the junior senator from Vermont.  It was a crowning moment, and many Bernie Sanders campaign surrogates and supporters took the final chapter of his campaign as a chance to talk about the political revolution that he had started, but once Sanders officially declared Hillary Clinton the victor (similar to a move she made eight years ago, and the antithesis of what Sen. Ted Cruz did last week at the RNC), it was clear who the woman of the hour was.

The speeches that followed, unlike Monday night, contained little reference toward Sen. Sanders and his campaign, and instead were decidedly about Hillary Clinton.  Clinton's image was everywhere, a counter to the first night that I hadn't realized until I noticed the increase in her face and name all over the convention hall, and a number of issues that are deeply personal to Clinton started to pop up.  It says something about the personality of Democrats vs. Republicans that the speeches that come out are so different, particularly those earlier in the evenings (when it comes to the main attraction-headliners, they are usually striving for the same goal, rather than pulling out a specific issue).  My experiences with the RNC, both in 2012 and 2016, is that the speeches are about unifying through "we're all the same" whereas the DNC has always tackled that from a different angle, trying to point out individualism, and why that makes the party such a wonderful tapestry.  It worked for me, as speakers ranging from a 9/11 survivor to the Mothers of the Movement (a powerful nod to the Black Lives Matter movement that would have been unthinkable in Cleveland), brought together a strong portrait of the issues that clearly matter personally to Hillary Clinton.  Even celebrities talked about pet causes of Hillary Clinton's, particularly America Ferrera who talked about receiving subsidies for her school lunches growing up and Lena Dunham being a survivor of sexual assault.  With the exception of her husband, the night was largely missing in terms of major political players-we saw the likes of Chuck Schumer, Terry McAuliffe (who should truly never be a Clinton surrogate considering his comments outside the arena about TPP-their loyalty to this man has always been eye-raising and this is Exhibit A in why I pray he won't end up running for an open Virginia Senate seat should Tim Kaine win), and Nancy Pelosi all came on the stage, but none of them are what you'd consider great speakers, and all of them are more creatures of the political process than honed-and-trained political speakers.  Only former President Jimmy Carter stood out in particular, and mostly out of nostalgia; despite being relatively unpopular during his tenure in office, he's redeemed himself greatly in the public eye, and the Democrats always receive their former president with warmth.

President Bill Clinton, was, of course, the highlight of the evening and was perhaps the most fascinating speaker of the bunch primarily because he was giving the "spouse's speech" but also because he is hardly anyone's idea of an average political spouse (not many political spouses would have been asked to speak regardless).  Clinton's speech was, as always, longer than the average viewer at home would hope to experience (my mom texted during his speech that she "needed to go to bed" after he hit the thirty-minute mark), but it got its point across as it went onward.  I know Bill's speeches are occasionally divisive, but his goal was to show a human side of Hillary that few people in the public sphere get to see, and is considered one of her weak points (the average voter doesn't find her relatable) and talking about her demeanor, one of a caring but driven workaholic, may not convince anyone on the Right but it plays into why people should trust her to get things done in Washington, a message I expect to greatly be rehashed throughout the fall.  I was a fan, and loved the little Clintonesque touches he uses so brilliantly (no one drops a name with better skill than Bill Clinton).  All of this culminated in a great appearance that bordered into an Academy Awards ceremony (seriously-Elizabeth Banks serving as host and Meryl Streep coming in for a pivotal presentation-it felt like Best Animated Short was going to be handed out by Cameron Diaz at any moment), and an appearance from Clinton herself which thrilled even if its execution wasn't perfect (you can't feed off the audience's reaction from a video tape).  A strong night for the DNC, even if I'm still in awe of Michelle Obama's speech from Monday.

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

It's Saturday-huzzah!!!  And with that, we get back into our old "Everybody's Linking for the Weekend" write-ups, where I link to some of the articles and stories that I've been following all week.

On Entertainment...

-Lena Dunham continued to stir up controversy with her article about "Dog or Jewish Boyfriend?" for The New Yorker.  I know that Lena may do things like this on occasion just to see where the uproar flies (I love her, but she occasionally trolls the public a bit), but in this case it was just a cute article playing on the ridiculousness of stereotypes that isn't dissimilar to the humor of Sarah Silverman or Larry David.  Plus, the reaction to it seems wholly predictable and no piece I've read seemed particularly genuine other than knee-jerk.  As a result I'm not going to link to the outrage articles, but occasionally provocative speech is just that and while I get where people are coming from, I don't quite agree with them.

-Tim Brayton over at the Film Experience finished up his fascinating take on the Rise and Fall of Dreamworks animation, whose Home premieres this weekend amidst a tumultuous time for the studio.  Honestly-this is one of the coolest articles I've read in a while with an in-depth look at a Hollywood studio (recalling Entertainment Weekly before the magazine just became a series of photos with pun-inflected captions to them).  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

-Loved this article from Buzzfeed recounting one person's look at the One Direction break-up, and particularly the part about the double standards employed on girls (who are silly for loving a band so much) and boys (who can mourn and weep over LeBron leaving Cleveland without any public mocking).

On Politics...

-The big story out of Washington yesterday had to be the retirement of Harry Reid.  The chips fell quickly and Politico has an account of how Chuck Schumer swiftly assumed the mantle of next Senate leader, while The Hill looks through the contentious Democratic Primary that could emerge with Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto seeming the frontrunner but Rep. Dina Titus and former Secretary of State Ross Miller both also appearing interested.  I'd like to remind both Titus and Miller that the Republicans have an open governor's race in 2018 and Sen. Dean Heller running for reelection, so if we all learn to share we might have a clear primary and everyone gets a prize.  Meanwhile every Republican in the country is salivating over the prospect of Gov. Brian Sandoval taking a shot at the open seat, as seen in the LA Times, but he seems more intent to wait and see if Jeb Bush picks him over Rob Portman for the veep slot.  In a presidential year, a Republican field without Sandoval would probably start as the underdog considering the uptick in Hispanic voters and recent trends in Nevada regarding presidential elections.

-National Journal included an article about potential fractures for the Democrats headed into the 2016 cycle.  Indeed, with Nevada, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania all seemingly poised to have contested (and theoretically bitter) primaries, the weird streak of Democrats clearing the field for their preferred candidate appears to be over.  Speaking of Illinois, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, the preferred candidate by many for that state, appears likely to enter the race against Mark Kirk (see this article from HuffPo for more details).  Between Duckworth (or her congressional colleague Robin Kelly) in Ilinois, Kamala Harris in California, Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, and Donna Edwards in Maryland, a record number of women of color could be entering the Senate in 2017.

-One other story yesterday came out from the EPA.  Bloomberg reports that at least one unidentified chemical was used by most companies while fracking, which comes amidst an all-out war against the practice by environmental groups, including a ban on the practice in New York.  This occurs at a time when we seem to have too much oil in reserves and nowhere to put it.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

Ansel Elgort is the prettiest of all of the pretty people.

My Favorite YouTube Video of the Week:

My beloved Grace Helbig has her own show that premieres next week, and in preparation for that jump to the mainstream, she was on Jimmy Fallon.  Here she is discussing her mom:

Just One More...

-I cannot believe that this is happening, but my beloved Suze Orman Show will be signing off tonight after 14 years on the air.  The Washington Post did a beautiful piece on Suze, her show, and her legacy (the good and the bad), but I will say that the way those teenage girls felt up-top about One Direction, I feel about Suze leaving.  I met her once at a book-signing (she was bound-and-determined to talk with every last person), and she referred to me as adorable when I came up for an autograph.  I told her that her book Young, Fabulous, and Broke had changed my entire perspective on money and had become my "financial bible."  She smiled, said she "loved that" and indicated that The Money Book was "my new financial bible" (which it has become).  I will miss our Saturdays together, and while I always follow her on Twitter and am excited to see where her new talk-style show takes her, I'm going to miss our Saturday nights together.

John's Favorite Shows #15: Girls

Recently, after the excellent season finale of Girls on HBO, I was thinking of where it personally ranked on my favorite television shows of all-time, because I felt that it may have graduated to a fairly high point after three seasons.  I was correct-it landed smack dab at Number 15, with considerable room to grow as it is likely only halfway through its run.

I had been toying around with making April a month of favorites, (I'm aware the last time I did a theme month I landed flat on my face about halfway through, but let's try this again and see if I make it to the finish line).  Therefore, starting today, and through the end of April, we're going to be taking a bit of a peak at my favorite television shows and movies through the years.

I will say at the onset that the word is "favorite" here and not the word "best."  That's because there's a major difference-I can argue for days about the technical merits of a particular film or television program, and yet certain movies because of personal history, the way they speak to you, or simply the joy they provide move up your personal canon.  So I won't say that all of these films/TV shows will necessarily be Sight and Sound worthy, or that they'll all even sweep their respective OVP years, but I will say that I love them all.

For the television shows, so that we're going to end on time, we're going to do a Top 15, and start with the ten best episodes of Girls, with a little bit of a recap for each of them.  This isn't a perfect science (I haven't re-watched every episode to grade them, as then I wouldn't finish this until November), but the comments are there to tell me when I missed an episode or your personal fave.

10. "Boys" (#2.6)

A lot of what made the second season of the show great was the deteriorating relationship between Marnie and Hannah, and no episode quite lent itself to that story in such a subtle way as "Boys."  Girls is almost always at its best with the jaw-drop right before the credits, and I loved the way that both girls, after having truly awful days (Hannah with her eBook, Marnie with her crumbling relationship with Booth), lied to each other on the phone, showing that they no longer felt comfortable sharing the worst of themselves with each other.  Bonus points to the writers for pairing up Adam and Ray in a hilarious trip to Staten Island (hence the title of the episode).

9. "Together" (#2.10)

Girls sure knows how to pull together a finale, and Season 2, which some people called rocky (I didn't agree, though I would say it wasn't as succinct and planned as the first one), still tied up enough loose ends to be complete.  Hannah's breakdown took a further dark turn, but the things to love about this particular episode are all of the little touches that Lena Dunham inserted into the script that ever-so-gently taught us about the characters.  I love the way that Adam, for example, was more than aware of Hannah's OCD or how Hannah had to end her conversation with Jessa (who has gone missing) with an "I love you," since it was both true and habit, even though she probably hated Jessa in that moment.  Throw in Shosh berating Ray for not liking pillows, and you've got a great installment with our four women.

8. "Free Snacks" (#3.6)

One of the weirdest but somehow completely sensical decisions of season three was pairing Ray, the candid and wholly unsuccessful, with Marnie, the show's most self-obsessed and delusional character.  Their conversation about Africa showed both of their limited world views, even though neither really wanted to admit it.  I also loved the way that Hannah would think that a legitimate, excellent job was worth quitting because she's an artist, even though most people would kill for a writing gig at GQ.  Throw in Shosh deciding mid-sex that she wants to dump a guy, and you've got one of the show's funniest episodes.

7. "She Did" (#1.10)

You have to hand it to a show like Girls-just when you feel like the groove is there for the series, they pull all the rugs out from under you.  The relationship between Adam and Hannah, one of the driving forces of the first season?  Gone.  Jessa, our independent woman of the world? Married to Thomas John.  Shosh, our naive and sexually-naive underdog?  Lost her virginity, to Ray of all people.  And Marnie, the world's worst decision-maker?  She sabotages things once again with Charlie, the world's nicest guy, and fools around with Bobby Moynihan.  Lena Dunham defies expectations, and here "She Did" just that.

6. "All Adventurous Women Do" (#1.3)

The best parts of this episode were certainly Hannah meeting Elijah (I love that Andrews Rannells in what seems like a one-off sort of role, ended up being a series semi-regular), and the back-and-forth between Hannah and her gay former boyfriend, and of course Shosh, the series' Charlotte York (Season 1 Shosh was utter joy every time she opened her mouth), talking swiftly about her favorite game show Baggage.  The end, with Hannah tweeting the ambiguous "All Adventurous Women Do" about her recent HPV diagnosis put a capper on the episode, but also cemented my love for the show.  Three episodes in, it started to find its groove.  And don't we all just want to dance to Robyn?

5. "Bad Friend" (#2.3)

I threw your shit into a bag and threw it down the stairs, I crashed my car into a bridge...I don't care...whatever writer decided that Icona Pop's techno ballad of indifference was a perfect fit for Girls deserves a raise and a gold medal.  The song became instantly associated with the show after a coked-out Hannah and Elijah danced to it in a club, and the lyrics perfectly summed up the quartet's attitude toward life and in a way, each other, during the second season.  Hannah's quest to find cocaine throughout the episode was hilarious, and this is the episode where Marnie gets locked in an art project and then proceeds to have kinky sex with the guy who trapped her.  Poor, terrible Marnie.

4. "Beach House" (#3.7)

Picking a favorite moment in "Beach House" is impossible.  After a season where we hadn't seen the girls all four together, this episode showed that they could be friends (via Instagram).  Hannah's self-involvement hit a fever pitch (how could she think inviting Elijah over to the girls' weekend would be a good idea?), Marnie's Barefoot Contessa-style party reads like something she found on Goop.com and decided that she, too, could be Gwyneth Paltrow, and the fight was just epic (the best line was Jessa trying to defend Shosh by saying she read the newspaper once on her phone).  At the end of the episode, they all sort of forgive each other by doing a silent dance by the ocean, and we're left feeling like this check-in with each other was completely worth the wait.

3. "Two Plane Rides" (#3.12)

Where do we go from here?  In what is probably the halfway point of the series (Lena Dunham has hinted she'd like the show to be six seasons long), we got to see Hannah, after so many missed opportunities, take her career and life into her own hands.  She was accepted to the legendary Iowa Writers Workshop, and thankfully her parents pushed her to actually pursue this opportunity (after screwing up her e-Book and the GQ internship, I was going to break my glass of merlot while I was watching if Hannah threw yet another opportunity out the window).  Of course, this is Girls, so Hannah, in a rare move of naivety that isn't informed by deceit, tries to tell Adam before his Broadway debut, only to have him blow up at her and dump her.  The rest of the episode was brilliantly dark, however: Marnie once again sabotages herself by kissing Desi (her actual chance at some career success gone away with her trademark lack of awareness), Shosh realizes she's not graduating and is rejected by Ray (even after a season where Shosh become extremely unlikable, this was really tough for me to watch), and Jessa finally went too far (helping her boss attempt suicide, with the boss deciding she wants to live after it may be too late).  All-in-all, it's a finale that leaves you wanting more without too much of a cliffhanger.

2. "One Man's Trash" (#2.5)

In the world of Girls, there is no more divisive moment than this random, side dream episode with Hannah having an affair with a man she randomly meets at a coffee shop.  The episode caused some of the most sexist controversy I've ever seen (forget the naked ping pong-we all know the controversy was because the less traditionally-attractive Lena Dunham was the object-of-desire of the conventionally handsome Patrick Wilson).  The episode delves deep into Hannah's psyche, and gives us what is a complete, whole episode of Girls.  We've all had moments like this if we had a complicated enough twenties, and I loved that Dunham's confidence was enough that she could take the series in a complete tangent for one episode.  A home run, in this viewer's opinion.

1. "Welcome to Bushwick, AKA the Crackcident" (#1.7)

During a television series' run, there are episodes that aren't necessarily essential that somehow become iconic.  This episode most certainly was just that.  You have Jessa proving how fabulous she is by dumping her boss, who uncomfortably realizes that his youth is gone and he can no longer be what Jessa is or could be.  You have Marnie having one of several moments to come where she realizes the universe doesn't revolve around her as she deduces that Charlie can function without her.  You have Hannah getting the words every woman/gay guy in their twenties yearns to here from the complicated guy in their life, "do you want me to be your boyfriend?" (the final scene with her suppressing a smile=heaven).  And then you have Shosh, tripping on crack, discussing kick-boxing and offering to massage Ray, proving that Zosia Mamet is the funniest person on television.  All-in-all, a home run of an episode, and my favorite so far.

There you have it-the first in our series of John's favorites.  What about you?  What are your thoughts on Girls?  Do you have a favorite character?  Where would your personal favorite episodes rank?  Share in the comments!

2013 in Review: My New Favorites

Next week I’ll be releasing my favorite films and scenes of the year to finish up our 2014 roundups, but right now, I wanted to continue our 2014 recaps with a little look at some of my new loves in 2014.  This has been a week that had a number of GTKY’s and personal advice columns, so I thought it would be a great capper for the year to investigate a few things that happened in the past year that don’t have to do with my Top Ten Movies of 2013.  Here we go!

Best Film I Saw in 2013 (That Wasn’t Released in 2013)

Every year, in addition to the 50-60 movies I see from the calendar year (I know other critics hit more, but they are paid to watch movies and I am not, so this is it until I become richer), I also see dozens of movies for the first time on Netflix, Turner Classic, and random hangouts with friends.  Though they don’t compete for my own personal honors, I do want to acknowledge a new love, and this year this honor goes to the first two installments of Richard Linklater’s Before series.  We’ll find out next week if the third installment makes my Top 10, but I couldn’t have enjoyed Sunrise and Sunset more if I tried-I genuinely felt giddy after seeing Sunrise, and the unbridled love of youth, and then wept in amazement at the subtle complexities on display in Sunset, a film that hit so close to home I felt like the Adapted Screenplay aspect of it may be because they read my mind.  Both movies are jewels, well worth seeing (in fact, I demand you go see them), and I’m simply stunned that such delicate, complicated character studies exist and aren’t worshiped as deities somewhere.

Best Television Series I Saw in 2013 for the First Time

I don’t try a lot of new television.  Once I get into a series, I generally stick with it to the bitter end (I still watch new episodes of The Simpsons), but I don’t give new series or new-to-me series a try too often.  I can, in fact, think of only four television series I watched for the first time this year: Suits, Graceland, House of Cards, and my personal favorite, Girls.  Lena Dunham (and the show’s second season) have been the target of a lot of hate (most of it sexist, let’s be honest), but what she is is a truly remarkable filmmaker who has dared to make a feminine antihero who doesn’t look like a January Jones or a Jennifer Lawrence.  Along with Zosia Mamet, Alison Williams, Adam Driver, Jemima Kirke, and Alex Karpovsky, she brings a slew of emotions and a lot of unpleasant truths about Generation Y to the screen.

Best Song I Heard for the First Time in 2013 (Not Released in 2013)

The only thing I’d ever known of the Zac Brown Band at the beginning of the year was that they enjoyed their chicken fried and their beer cold (preferably on a Friday night).  So how was I supposed to know that they had a haunting, wrenching country ballad that would have made George Jones weep?  “Colder Weather” sits with you so frequently, with the great harmonic backup singers and the pang at the end of the song that his behavior won’t end.  In a year where almost every man in country music was singing about their truck, it was nice that I got to discover what I love about the genre: the openness and hopefulness that comes with love and life, all in one 4 minute and 33 second package.

Best Entertainment Discovery of the Year

If you’d asked me a year ago what my favorite thing about YouTube is, I would have told you the random Tony opening numbers that occasionally find themselves on the channel.  At the end of the year, though, I know the real thing to love about the site: names like Lisa Schwartz, Shane Dawson, Tyler Oakley, Toby Turner, Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr, Marcus Butler, Jack and Finn Harries, Troye Sivan, Grace Helbig, Joe and Zoe Sugg, and Mamrie Hart.  There is something so oddly appealing about the personal video diaries that they put out daily or weekly, sharing a bit of their lives with a combination of personality, charm, and humor, and I honestly feel like we’re seeing a new, better version of what reality television was supposed to be but then it got destroyed by the Kardashians.

Best Food Discovery of the Year

I lost 38 pounds (and counting) this year in the hopes of…well, you don’t need to know everything about my life.  Suffice it to say, you don’t get that way by eating your favorite Hamburger Helpers every night of the week.  I have become addicted to turkey tacos (SOOO good), but for me it was all about the Greek yogurt with a little bit of granola for crunch.  Mmm-mmm good.

New Celebrity Crush of the Year

Adam Driver is a close runner-up.  Darren Criss is still number one.  Ronan Farrow is about to be in 2014.  But for me, my heart (and loins) belonged to the handsome, sensitive, beautiful Michael B. Jordan, who charmed me off-screen and moved me onscreen in Fruitvale Station.

Those are my random thoughts of the year-what about yours?  What are you hoping to see more of on the blog this year?  Share in the comments!