I may not be sold on Trinity Taylor just yet, but she made the brilliant decision to take advantage of her plastic surgery and picked Amanda Lepore, while Cynthia Lee Fontaine picked Sofia Vergara aka Cynthia Lee Fontaine with a longer wig. Nina Bo’Nina Brown’s choice of Season 7’s Jasmine Masters was interesting considering she is one of the only other queens with a more over-it demeanor.

        Alexis Michelle is slowly getting better and earned her spot as winner of this week for the spot-on impersonation of Liza Minnelli and her especially gorgeous runway look. (Although I do feel we must mention the consistently amazing performances and looks from Sasha Velour. Ross Matthews said it right: “She’s got me.” Keep it up, Sasha.)

        The runway challenge this week was Night of 1000 Madonnas: Part II. To those who didn’t watch Season 8 of Drag Race, the girls were given the chance to pick their favorite Madonna look from the COUNTLESS YEARS SHE’S BEEN PERFORMING, yet four of them decided to wear kimonos. You would think this year would be better. Instead, we were faced with two repeats: Shea Couleé and Peppermint as Material Girl Madonna and Nina Bo’Nina Brown and Trinity Taylor as 2014 Met Gala Madonna. As for who wore them better, I would side with Trinity and Peppermint, merely for the sake of accuracy.

        In other news: Shout-out to VH-1 for airing a commercial about Trans support directly after Peppermint opened herself up to the rest of the girls and came out as a trans woman.

Drama Level

Almost non-existent. Welcome to Ru Paul’s Best Friend Race!

Ru Paul’s Look of the Week

She has proven that rose gold hair is definitely not out of style, at least when it’s on her fabulous head. I should also mention that it took me until the second time around to notice her hair color because I was so distracted by her hips. Hide your couch cushions, folks. No padding is safe when Ru Paul is around.

Favorite Look of the Challenge 

Trinity Taylor’s Amanda Lepore was not only spot on, but objectively gorgeous. She highlighted her own traits and somehow accentuated them more than they already are. I mean just look at those lips. (Once you’re done ogling her silicon valley, if you get what I mean.)

(I’m talking about her boobs.)

Favorite Look on the Runway 

Valentina knocked my socks and all of her clothes off by recreating Madonna’s Sex Book look. Head to toe she was flawless and outrageously tan. She always looks amazing, but this week I am proud to feature her as my favorite.

Queen of the Week

Peppermint, because of her bravery. Drag Race has an interesting past with the trans community, so to come out on such a public platform with such a mixed history, I’m just so proud. When it came time for her to lip sync for her life, it was apparent that her life really did depend on this opportunity. She fought tooth and nail, blowing the competition out of the water and Cynthia out of the competition. And I mean, come on, just look at that FACE.

Runner up goes to Shea Couleé for her lecture/threat to kick Nina Bo’Nina’s big padded booty if she ever doubted herself again. Shea never fails to give me more reasons to adore her. I guess being flawless comes with the territory of living in Chicago.

Lip Sync

There wasn’t much to say this week for the lip sync, because it wasn’t much of a battle. Peppermint fought to the bitter end while Cynthia, on the other hand, seemed to understand she was going home no matter what and was just up there to have a good time.

3.5 out of 5 Farrah frowns (or more accurately, Farrah side-stares)

The post RuPaul’s Drag Race Episode in Ruview: SNATCH GAME! (Episode 6) appeared first on SCAD Radio.

As Mike’s storyline rapidly hurls towards the high-stakes crime of Breaking Bad, Jimmy’s story has suddenly become a full-blown law procedural. Both are effectively told and wonderfully written, but I felt the direction was a little off this week. Without Vince Gilligan’s steady hand and visual composition, we were treated to some very Breaking Bad-esque sped-up sequences and over-saturated highways. Better Call Saul has done this before, but it’s been a long time. It just feels like a big change from last week, which is a problem given that this episode starts moments after the previous one.

That being said, the writing keeps it tied together. The script is courtesy of Gennifer Hutchison (previously a writer on Breaking Bad), and she clearly relishes getting to play around with Gus Fring once again. That scene with Mike on the highway near the beginning of the episode was wonderful. It must have been an intimidating task to write dialogue between two characters who don’t talk that much, but Hutchison rises to the challenge with aplomb. Mike and Gus are two people that we know will be in each other’s lives for a long time, and Hutchison gives their first meeting all the tension and intrigue one might expect. Crucially, they both get something that they need out of the conversation, which foreshadows their working relationship. More with these two, please.

Now let’s talk about the other half of this show. After the whole fiasco last week that went down at Chuck’s house, Jimmy’s in some deep trouble. His back-and-forth battle between Kim with regards to his legal representation was one of the standout moments of this episode, as it provided a terrific showcase for Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk’s chemistry. If anything, this shows that even when the show threatens to come unmoored, it will always be dragged back to earth because of the superlative writing and acting involved.

Other highlights of the episode included: Chuck’s smile turning to quivering fear in the wake of his younger brother turning the tables on him, the sneak flash-forward at the beginning of the episode, as well as the shot of Kim and Jimmy smoking outside their legal practice, silhouetted by the warm light from inside. I also loved the whole sequence of Mike setting up the trap for Hector Salamanca’s associates, from how he bought the drugs to how he brilliantly made them think that hunters were in the area. These scenes of Mike planning and executing a plan continue to be a delight to watch. We’ve been treated to one in each of the first three episodes of the season, and I’m loving every minute of them.
Better Call Saul still remains essential viewing, but some of this direction felt too sharp of a change from last week. We are undoubtedly headed into Breaking Bad territory (and it’s about time), but hopefully they’ll find a better way to smooth out the change over the rest of the season. Despite some of my small issues with this episode, it set up some tantalizing storylines that should be a pleasure to watch play out over the next seven weeks.

4/5 Manila Folders

The post Even a Lesser Better Call Saul is Still Great appeared first on SCAD Radio.

4 Things that Excited Me

1. La La Land, with 14 nominations, equalled the record previously shared by All About Eve and Titanic. It deserves every single one and even though it won’t win all of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if it equals or breaks the record of 11 wins held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Ben Hur and Titanic.

Here’s my review: http://scadradio.org/2016/11/04/la-la-land/

2. Hooray for diversity! While I’m not really a proponent of tokenism (as I feel that it can ultimately hurt the integrity of the very people that seek representation), it’s become incredibly evident over the past few years that the Oscars fail to recognize the diversity of voices and stories that are currently being told. 4 out of the 9 Best Picture nominees either starred or were directed by POC (and in the case of Fences and Moonlight, both), and 7 out of 20 acting nominees were POC. That’s a huge step in the right direction. #OscarsSomewhatDiverse, I guess?

Here’s my review of Moonlight: http://scadradio.org/2017/01/16/moonlight/

3. Although Arrival wasn’t in my top 5 films of the year (it’s hovering somewhere around the #10 spot), it’s wonderful to see an intelligent sci-fi film earn 8 nominations. I’ll touch on this film later when I talk about the snubs, but Denis Villeneuve is one of the most promising up-and-coming directors working today. I also would love to give a somewhat biased shoutout to its screenwriter Eric Heisserer, who I had the immense privilege of interviewing at the Savannah Film Festival.

Here’s my interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvBW0iItlIk

Here’s my review: http://scadradio.org/2016/11/20/arrival/

4. Amazon made history as the first streaming service to have a film nominated for Best Picture with Manchester by the Sea. It’s a great film, equal parts darkly comic, tragic and heartwarming. Amazon also committed to giving the film a sizeable theatrical release (this strategy directly contrasts that of their closest rival, Netflix), and they’ve reaped the benefits as a result. Props to Amazon for identifying a quality piece of non-commercial film and giving it the push it deserves. They took a gamble by marketing the film based on spoiler-free trailers and positive word of mouth. It worked.

4 Things that Bummed Me Out

1. As far as I’m concerned, the biggest snub of the night was the Academy’s decision to not nominate Amy Adams for her stellar work in Arrival. Yes, the Best Actress field was stacked this year, but aside from Emma Stone, Adams was arguably the favorite to win. She gave one of the best performances of her career in Arrival, and has still somehow never won an Oscar, despite being nominated five times.

2. Another notable snub was Joel Edgerton for Loving, despite being up against far less stiff competition than Amy Adams. The film works because of Ruth Negga and Edgerton’s quiet, understated chemistry, and Edgerton expertly portrays a man trying to stay strong for his family in the face of unconscionable prejudice and hatred. He also sounds and looks completely unrecognizable.

Here’s our review of Loving: https://scadradio.org/2017/01/16/loving/

The post My Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Now that I have got that off my chest, I can actually continue writing this. Back in 2013 when the show first premiered, this writer, like many, expected a sort of revival of the original show that we grew up on more than a decade ago. Instead, Cartoon Network was offered a lowbrow show that used subpar satire to entertain an audience.

Now, I’m aware that this show is for kids nowadays who never knew about the original series, but the problem still lies that ‘Teen Titans Go’ cannot match up to the level of storytelling that the original ‘Teen Titans’ was able to accomplish.

The original Teen Titans of first premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003 and lasted five seasons and a film before ending on September 15, 2006. In this time the show was able to give heartfelt stories that really touched an audience by exploring serious themes of friendship, loss, growing up, and just overall teamwork through the lives of these teenage superheroes. Moreover, the characters themselves go through so much development that its makes sense that by the end of the series you can call them superheroes; a perfect example of this is Raven.

In the series’ beginning, the magic filled goth demon comes off as cynical and hard to get along with or understand. She is the type of character that keeps to herself and doesn’t let anyone into her shell; especially Beast Boy. As the series story progresses, the audience learns more about her background and why she is the way she is. We get to see her open up more to her teammates and show genuine emotion from her that we don’t really see in a serious way from the ‘Teen Titans Go’ variation. It would be recommending to watch the episodes listed below in order to understand the examples I mentioned:

* Season 1, Episode 6, “Nevermore”
* Season 4, Episode 3, “Birthmark”
* Season 4, Episode 7, “The Prophecy”
* Season 4, Episodes 11, 12, 13, “The End”

These episodes I think touch on the serious tones and character development that is lacking from the 2013 incarnation.

Now, like I said before, I understand that Cartoon Network is trying tointroduce classic shows to a newer generation, but much like how they handled the new Powerpuff Girls reboot (talk about that in a later article), they are using relevant but idiotic comedy that does not fit into the Teen Titans mythos; such as memes and new dancing sensations (curse you Twerking). Moreover, what disturbs me the most is how the show has the audacity to make reference to the old Teen Titans series in some way or another like children would know exactly what is being stated. If you’re are going to make reference to an original series, then what stops you as a company from just bringing it back in some shape or form and make it watchable? N-O-T-H-I-N-G. It does not have to be a new series per say but a TV movie would be nice, much like how Warner Bros. made ‘Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo’ to serve as the series finale. I mean, VIACOM and specifically Nickelodeon are doing the smart thing and bringing back ‘Hey Arnold!’ but as a TV Movie (talk about that also in a later article). Granted it serves as finale to everything ‘Hey Arnold’, but it already sounds better than anything that ‘Teen Titans Go’ writing staff is cooking up.

In the end though, “Teen Titans Go” will most likely end up staying on the air because children eat this crap up. We’ve reached a generation where low-brow humor somehow comes out on top and sensible and timed humor no longer exist. As a writer, I’m not trying to be cynical about all this; I just wish that there was more shows with deeper meaning to it than just fart jokes. Those were the ‘Good Ole Days’.

I’m going to give Teen Titans Go 1 Titan Tower out of 5.

The post Remember the ‘Good Ole Days’?: Teen Titans Vs Teen Titans Go appeared first on SCAD Radio.