Donna Freitas: July 2007 Archives

I went to see "No Reservations" expecting the cheesy Hollywood romantic comedy promised in all the trailers (I love cheesy Hollywood romantic comedies so this would not have been a bad thing). What I experienced instead was a story that had more to do with grief and the aftermath of great loss than romance.

Yes, with hottie Aaron Eckart and the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones playing the leads, there was certainly romance brewing (I couldn’t resist the pun). But with Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") in the major supporting role (as Zooey, a girl who’s just lost her mother in a tragic car accident and comes to live with her aunt), I cried more tears than felt romantic thrills.

The big screen loves Abigail Breslin’s big, saucer eyes. And, in my mind, the real story in "No Reservations" is little Zooey's.

During the first fifteen minutes of "The Simpsons Movie," not only did I laugh so hard that my stomach was starting to hurt, but I thought to myself gleefully, "Hmmmm, this movie is going to be a religion bloggers dream!”

The story starts off with Marge, Homer and company arriving to church late--to hilarious, standard issue Homer-commentary. And chaos immediately ensues when Gramps has a "religious experience" during the service and starts spouting prophetic statements in between what could only be understood as a spoof on speaking in tongues. As Homer quickly flips through the Bible in search of help, quipping with dismay "What are we gonna do? There aren’t any answers in here!" (he, he), Marge is the only person to take Gramps' rather incomprehensible babbling seriously.

Here is about where the hilarity ends.

Despite the period drama, the history, the great costumes, the intrigue--and yes, of course, all the religion--I can't say that I loved Showtime's first season of "The Tudors," which chronicles the life and times of the infamous English king, Henry VIII, who beheaded his wives and created the Church of England so he could divorce. I think it even ruined my formerly dreamy perception of Jonathan Rhys Meyers--he plays the title role as Henry VIII so well that he's almost dashed all memories of the appealing, hottie soccer coach he was in "Bend It Like Beckham."

But apparently, season two of "The Tudors" promises more than a few papal appearances--played by legendary Peter O'Toole--the New York Times announced today in its article about O'Toole's turn as pope, "Papal Robes, and Deference, Fit O'Toole Snugly."

Last week's "Big Love" episode, "Dating Game," had Bill considering a fourth wife(!). More fascinating than this married man--already with three beautiful wives--courting yet another and seeking out his polygamist friends' support about wining and dining Ana (the potential wife) sans wedding ring--was watching his third wife Marjene's reaction.

Marjene--suspicious of Bill's unexplained disappearances--follows him one evening and guesses his secret. She can't help herself from doing a little sleuthing about Ana afterwards at the diner where she works.

And soon Marjene falls head over heels in love with Ana. Much more so than Bill. And the episode became a showcase for this character.

Or so says Holly Hunter's hard-as-nails character Grace Hanadarko as she basks in the heavenly glow of an angel in the pilot for TNT's newest police-with-a-twist drama "Saving Grace." TNT isn't kidding in its advertisements about how the show is raw and edgy and boundary-pushing. The opening scene involves full-on sex with clever camera angles, a la NYPD Blue. Grace likes to walk around the house naked and flash her old neighbor, to his great delight. Vices abound: the characters swear, smoke, and drink like it's candy. Grace gave up God long ago--she was abused by a Catholic priest in fourth grade and she is angry about God letting her sister die too early. Oh, and Grace is having an affair with her partner--that's who she is having the mindblowing sex with in the first minute of the pilot--and she can't seem to beg off the addiction.

No one's pulling any punches about why Grace needs saving. See all of the above. The reasons are plain as day.

The miracle of the show, however, is that Holly Hunter and castmembers like Laura San Giacomo--especially winning as the police department's criminalist scientist who's also a devout Catholic--somehow manage to pull it off with very little feeling over the top or forced.

Since I gave such glowing reviews to the first few episodes of ABC's new summer series "Traveler"--about the two good-guy Yale graduate students, Jay and Tyler, who are framed by their "friend" Will Traveler for bombing a New York City...

Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick)--with her southern twang, her infamous, sweet-sounding "thank you's," and her hard as nails interrogation tactics--is not only back in full force for season three of "The Closer," but she has taken this series...

Okay, so I finally caught up on Season Two of HBO's "Big Love"--a series that I became addicted to in my efforts to critique the show's treatment of women (whoops)--and this week's episode, "Vision Thing," had an interesting twist. We're...

Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt write chick lit with a twist: all their novels are retellings of Biblical stories. Their first, "Emily Ever After" was the story of Esther, and their second, "Consider Lilly" was the story of Samson...

I've been meaning to blog about the CW's new summer series "Hidden Palms"--which, yes, is totally trashy, almost a cross between "Desperate Housewives" and "One Tree Hill"--but I got addicted to it from the word go. The thing is,...