An ode to the world's best teen drama

The day after Christmas I took my brother to Best Buy and came home with the complete series of "My So-Called Life," which was re-released on DVD in October for a more affordable price than the first run ($54.99) and includes all 19 episodes (some with commentary) on five DVDs, and a bonus DVD of special features. Instead of rushing to the special features that I really wanted to see, I decided to first watch the series from beginning to end, and re-watch the episodes with commentary. I completely immersed myself in the world of Angela Chase & co. and finished it all in four days.

MSCL ran for barely a season but it was long enough to give viewers a detailed peek into 15-year-old Angela Chase's life (Angela played by a 13- and 14-year-old Claire Danes). Trying to explain what the show is about can't do it justice, but basically it's based around Angela and her new best friends (the loopy and rebellious Rayanne Graff and Rickie Vasquez, who is gay and abused by his family); her obsession with dreamy Jordan Catalano, (Jaret Leto when he was young, gorgeous and not in a shitty band); her changing relationship with childhood best friend Sharon Chersky; her awkward, semi-nerdy and stalkerish (but adorable) neighbor Brian Krakow who's in love with her; her relationship with her family; and that doesn't even say anything.

Watching the series from beginning to end was exciting and depressing: exciting because there were episodes I hadn't seen before, and because I picked up new things from the ones I had seen, and depressing because there was nothing else after the last episode and I didn't want it to be over.

I remember seeing MSCL on TV when it was on MTV the late '90s, except that I was too young to remember anything about the show (it was first aired even before that, in 1994-95), so I really started watching it when it was shown on the N in 2004. It's incredible that even almost 15 years after it was filmed, the plots and characters in MSCL are still completely believable (minus some of the outrageous clothing).

All of the characters are so well-developed and realistic that it's impossible to not care about them. The stories in MSCL are powerful (I sobbed during the Christmas episode) because average people can relate to them, compared to today's teen dramas about snotty rich people who represent only a tiny part of the population. MSCL's characters and plots are edgy without being fake or exaggerated, the dialogue is clever, and the show's content really pushed the envelope when it was on air. I could go on and on and analyze every episode and rave about how amazing each one is, but it'd probably be more valuable to just watch it yourself.

When I finally got to the special effects (last night) they weren't as awesome as I hoped they would be, but I'm glad I watched the whole show before seeing them or I wouldn't have remembered a lot of the stuff mentioned on the bonus disc.

I really love the relationship between Angela and Brian — he's smart, a little dorky, very innocent, and is always around. He's completely in love with her (though she doesn't really know it, at least not to what extent, until the last episode), and she guiltily uses him for little things (like his bike) because she knows he'll do whatever she asks him — except here (hahaha):

Brian : You're in some kind of dream world, or something that revolves around you. You have like, no concept of anybody else's life —
Angela : I know.
Brian : You couldn't even begin to imagine the pressure I'm under. You think you're under pressure? You? That is so like, laughable.
Angela : Brian, you are completely right, OK, but could you just please explain geometry to me anyway?
Brian : Are you completely insane ?
Angela : Yes, I probably am.
Brian : You think I care? You could not possibly conceive of how much studying I have to do tonight! Have you ever even heard of calculus? Geometry is a paid vacation compared to calculus. Okay? I mean, do you, do you have any idea what it's like to be an accelerated? I mean, do you like realize the pressure on a person when it's like assumed that they will always get As? 'Hey, Brian, pull another A?' 'That Brian, he always gets an A.' You have the option of insanity. I do not. And that … makes me crazy!

And a lovely scene between Angela and Brian, talking about Angela's guy problems (if you're reading this as a Facebook note, click on "view original post" to see the YouTube video):

"Juno" was amazing, honest to blog

I'm not a big film person so usually I'll only go to a movie in a theater if it's something I really, really want to see, such was the case with "Juno." Amazing cast, hilarious script, and good soundtrack. It's true that the movie does try to be super indie (hence the good soundtrack), but there are only a couple of times I felt that it got a little annoying in that aspect.

Overall the story and characters seemed pretty realistic, except for a few lines ("That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet"), and the fact that Juno (Ellen Page) could spit out one-liners like it was nobody's business. One thing I didn't like was that Juno and Bleeker (Michael Cera) hardly talked while Juno was pregnant, even though they were "best friends." Clearly being best friends, having sex, and getting pregnant would make things awkward, but they pretty much went a whole season without talking. And it also was quite unrealistic that Bleeker's parents never found out. Believable or not though, Michael Cera was adorably awkward, and Ellen Page was incredible; reminded me of a mini Janeane Garafalo and someone else who I can't figure out yet.

On top of having a billion great lines that'll surely be quoted during all of 2008, the film was so freaking cute that I didn't know what to do with myself afterward. Seriously, watch this video and tell me you don't wish you could throw your acoustic guitar over your shoulder, bike to your significant other's house and together sing/play the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You":

for one night only: Laura comments on celeb gossip!

Most people who know me know that I hate celebrity gossip. I don't read Perez Hilton or the Superficial, I don't care who got a nose job or who's getting married, and I groan and roll my eyes when I'm at work and hear someone shrieking about the latest scandal. However, I do have entertainment news filtered into my RSS feeds, so I do see a lot of the headlines and occasionally read the actual story to see what's up.

Like most people, I was shocked when I read that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister is pregnant — or should that be "preggers"? "prego"? — but after seeing story after story, my biggest issues have more to do with how the situation was covered than the fact that the "good" Spears daughter who always meets her curfew apparently is "not that innocent."

Every story focused only on Jamie Lynn Spears being 16 and pregnant, whether or not Nickelodeon will still air her TV show, and what other people think about it, with almost no mention of the father. Yes, we know who it is (longtime boyfriend 19-year-old Casey Aldridge), but it wasn't until today — two or three days after the story broke — that anyone cared to run a story about the legalities of the situation, since Jamie Lynn is a minor and the guy is 19.

Today I found this story, which essentially says the Spears family would have to press charges against Aldridge for anything to happen (very unlikely), but the point is that everything only focused on the girl and it makes it sound like it's all her fault. Sure, she's the famous one, but it bothers me that almost every news outlet practically ignored the fact that it takes two people to have a baby, other than mentioning the father-to-be's name.

In addition to that, I think it's sick that the Spears family allegedly sold the story to OK! magazine for $1 million, with a promise to have the baby and give the magazine rights to the exclusive first photos of the baby. Seriously?

I guess I should do a top 5 …

I probably should preface this by saying that there are a ton of albums that I've heard are amazing, but haven't listened to yet … including many that have topped best of lists, like The National's Boxer, for example. None of these should be too surprising, considering they're on most other lists too, but that's OK.

5. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

To be completely honest, I didn't hear this album until less than two weeks ago, when it popped up on a bunch of end-of-year lists and Beirut was featured in the winter issue of Venus, but I've listened to it enough since then that I've become pretty much obsessed with it. Friends had played Beirut for me a couple of times and I didn't totally get into it, but it finally clicked this time.

Favorite songs: "Nantes," "The Flying Club Cup"

4. Feist - The Reminder

I'm really glad I don't watch much TV because if I saw the "1234" ads every four seconds I'm not sure The Reminder would still be on my list … but I loved this album more after seeing Feist live in June.

Favorite songs: "I Feel it All," "Brandy Alexander"

3. Radiohead - In Rainbows

I'm not an obsessive Radiohead fan, and they're definitely a band I sometimes forget I love as much as I do. I was psyched when they announced "hey, new album in 10 days," and I did download it right when I woke up that morning (for free, with a promise to myself that I'll buy it when it's out on CD). I'm not totally sure how I feel about the whole giving the CD away for free thing but regardless, it's been played over and over again in my shitty little MP3 player and I'm not sick of it yet. I like mellowed out Radiohead, but I love the more upbeat stuff the most.

Favorite songs: "15 Step," "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"

2. M.I.A. - Kala

I've gotten much more into dance-y music in the past few months, and all this album does is make me want to dance … and dance … and dance. And after listening to it enough times to decipher a lot of the lyrics, it's pretty amazing. Also, she puts on a great live show, although she was much better at Lollapalooza than when I saw her last month in Detroit (but that has at least a little bit to do with the obnoxious crowd).

Favorite songs: "World Town," "20 Dollar"

1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

I started listening to LCD Soundsystem in the summer after realizing that the song I heard at a party and always got stuck in my head was "Daft Punk is Playing At My House" (from LCD's self-titled album). "North American Scum" became my favorite song to listen to while walking to class, much because I like walking to the beat of whatever I'm listening to and that song is quite a workout. But overall it's an amazing album, and it only helps that James Murphy is awesome.

Favorite songs: "North American Scum," "Us V. Them," "Time To Get Away" (they're all great!!!)

And I think I'll have a real post soon.