Gossip Girl: Going Bass-Ackwards

Gossip Girl:
"In the Realm of the Basses"

When last we saw our beloved Upper East Siders, Bart was dead, Chuck was spiraling out of control, Blair told Chuck she loved him but could not stop the young Bass from continuing his downward spiral, Serena went to Argentina with greasy Aaron for her mom's benefit (?), Nate was useless, and Rufus and Lily had a love child (to which I said, "phooey on the love child!").

So now we've made it through the holiday season, and Gossip Girl has mercifully returned! Chuck is still a wreck, Serena and Dan are still trying to figure out just what in the heck is wrong with their parents, Blair is still trying (mostly futilely) to get Chuck to rally, Nate disappeared, Vanessa is (thankfully) still with her parents, and Jenny celebrates her return to Constance by waging an immediate battle with the Stairs Girls.

Highlights and thoughts:

• Why is Serena tangoing with that old guy?
• Yes, Jenny, go learn something!
• Where in the world is Chuck Bass? This looks like that really bad episode of Lost with the flashback of Jack in Thailand!
• Nelly Yuki!!!
• Wow, all the popular girls are wearing winter white coats!
• Chuck is not in good shape.
• I kind of wish we'd gotten to see Serena break up with Aaron. We were cheated out of that small satisfaction.
• Ugh, if Serena and Dan are already kissing, I guess it's going to be tough going for Chuck and Blair. Because surely everyone can't be happy all at once.
• Serena: "Did Jack find Chuck?"
  Blair: "Yeah, what's left of him. I'm surprised he made it through customs. His body odor could have given half of Manhattan a contact high."
• Blair: "I'm really happy for you. I'm going to go vomit now."
• Rufus: "Being a father's who I am." Really? Really?! Then why are you such a bad one?
• Nelly Yuki has hit hard times.
• Chuck: "Well, hello to you too, lover."
• Wow, suddenly Rufus is laying down the parental law (telling Dan that he and Serena shouldn't be in the loft unsupervised) and everyone is justifiably stunned!
• Jack: "You don't remember our rickshaw ride...the 15-hour flight?"
  Chuck: "That was you?"
• Ok, I know Chuck's seriously messed up and heading for a lot of trouble, but nevertheless he's totally cracking me up.
• This Desmond Harrington fellow who is playing Jack Bass does bear a certain resemblance to Bart.
• I like Blair's tights.
• Iz: "You're getting into the Colony Club? They never take anyone from high school!"
  Blair: "I know, I was so surprised. No, that's not entirely true."
• Why is Eric letting himself get dragged into the Jenny vs. the Mean Girls war?
• Chuck: "Now is that it, or are you going to tell me you love me again?" Ouch.
• Aww, poor Blair. She's cracking. And now she's fine. Nice recovery. Those Waldorfs sure are resilient.
• He he, Penelope is sleeping with her dad's junior partner.
• Ha! What in the hell is Blair wearing? I mean, it's awesome, but it's hilarious. At least the hat is.
• Wow, Serena, be a little more judgemental, why don't you? Blair has tried very hard to help Chuck; she doesn't really enjoy the guilt trip. Especially since no one else (esp. Lily, Serena, and Eric) seem to be making much of an effort.
  
• Dan: "He was in Boston visiting orphanages."
  Chuck: "How Dickensian."
• Yeah, sharing a sibling is a bit much; Chuck's right.
• Blair: "Public service: I frequently feed the ducks in Central Park."
• LOL about the society ladies saying that Serena dresses like a skank. I'm glad somebody noticed.
• Hazel got drunk and hooked up with her cousin! Twice!
• Uh oh, Ed Westwick finally gets an opportunity to sing!
• Blair: "No! You don't surprise someone standing at the edge of a building!"
• Blair: "So whatever you want to do to yourself, please don't do that to me."
• No, Dan, just tell Serena about the secret kid anyway. Screw what Rufus and Lily want.
• Why doesn't Chuck stay with Blair? She's the only one who can ever succeed at corralling him.
• Blair: "He can't know what happened on New Years." Oh no.

Well, I for one don't even want to know what happened between Blair and Uncle Jack at New Years. In the immortal words of Summer Roberts: eew, eew, eew! And I don't want Chuck to ever find out either, although based on next week's promo it looks like he's going to find out imminently. Nooooo.

Headband Monday was reinstated in honor of the new episode of GG. I wore my black one.

(photos: cwtv.com)
Speaking of the photos, when did Chuck talk to Dan and Serena at the party (as pictured in the top photo)? That totally didn't happen, did it?

My Take on Twilight's Casting

I know that everyone and their little sister have already weighed in on the Twilight movie adaptation's casting decisions, but I can't help but throw in my two cents as well.

Of anyone in the whole world, I think the person who best embodies the vampire's combination of excessive beauty and inherent scariness is Jonathan Rhys Myers. There's certainly something other-worldly about him. Unfortunately, Twilight couldn't really capitalize on Jonathan's clear vamp-ish qualities, because he doesn't really fit any of the book's characters. Perhaps one of the other myriad of vampire related films and shows will be able to take advantage of them at some point.

I'm not sure entirely which Twilight role they should have given him, but I'm convinced that Ed Westwick should have been in the movie. These photos prove that he's got the pale, beautiful, and brooding thing down. Masterfully.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the casting of Twilight's leads. Kristen Stewart is okay by me, and I think she fits Bella pretty well. And Robert Pattinson has certainly turned out to be quite the find. What confuses me is the supporting cast. And namely that several members of the supporting cast were featured in the sub-par season three of The O.C. I don't think Josh Schwartz even liked that season, so why would anyone look there for casting inspiration? And if you had to scavenge amongst The O.C. season three actors, why wouldn't you pick Willa Holland or Johnny Lewis or Eric Mabius, who were definitely the bright spots among the new cast members that year? Why would you pick Volchok and Sadie and Caitlin's boarding school boyfriend? The choices just seem bizarre to me.

Frankly, I imagine I'll always hold some sort of grunge against Cam Gigandet for playing the guy who killed Marissa Cooper and Nikki Reed for her stint as whiny Johnny's annoying jewelry-making cousin. Ick. It's been years, and I still don't even like to think about that whole debacle. What's especially weird about Nikki's casting is that she's playing Rosalie who is supposed to be tall and blond and Nikki is neither of those things. And it's not like tall blondes are rarities in Hollywood, right? I would think you could walk down the sidewalk and swing your arms around and hit 20 or 30 of them.

But this necessary hair dying thing seems to be a trend with the Twilight casting selections. The blond kid from 90210 (Kellan Lutz) had to dye his hair brown. Peter Facinelli had to dye his hair blond. It seems like they were trying to force certain people into certain roles whether they really fit or not.

Peter Facinelli, for instance. I like Peter; I thought he was great in Damages. But I don't think I'd necessarily classify him as "more handsome than any movie star," which is what Dr. Cullen is supposed to be. (And especially not when he's got this freaky blond hair and white makeup.) My suggestion for Dr. Cullen, and I'm pretty confident about this one, would be Ryan McPartlin a.k.a. Chuck's Captain Awesome! I cite his appearance in Mad Men as proof of his handsomeness. I mean, Betty Draper wouldn't put down her gimlet and have a tryst in the back room of a bar with just any guy, right?

Oh, and I've also been pretty turned off to Elizabeth Reaser in general by her messing with poor Alex on Grey's Anatomy and her love of combining Ugg boots and shorts in The Ex List.

I am kind of excited that Rachelle Lefevre landed a role in the film. She keeps popping up in various television shows I watch, and I always wonder what else I've seen her in before I remember that it was Big Wolf on Campus. Yes, I'm admitting that I used to watch Big Wolf on Campus.

So, anyway, my copious television watching has certainly colored my opinions about the Twilight cast. Will any of this stop me from going to see the movie at my earliest convenience? No, it absolutely will not.

(photo: Twilight Official Movie Site)