E's List: The Mean Girls (TV) Edition.

When it comes to mean girls/bad girls on TV, we have plenty to choices. I'll be listing below my personal favorites because I like nothing more than a bad girl well played. Stay tuned for part 2; The Mean Girls of Movies. 

#5: Edie Britt, Desperate Housewives.

Portrayed by: Nicollette Sheridan.
In Wistery Lane, Edie Britt was the evil woman that lived down the street. Strong-headed, self-employed and all around bitch, Edie would taunt the women of Wisteria Lane restlessly while also wishing to be accepted in Susan, Bree, Gaby and Lynette's circle. During her time on Desperate Housewives, Edie's victim was, most of the time, Susan. From fighting for Mike's attention to manipulating the same Mike into a relationship with her, Edie makes sure she gets what she wants. She might have not tagged "Whore" on Susan's garage, but she certainly thought about it.

What I Like About This Bad Girl: Edie's straight to the point, she does not play around and she goes after what she wants. She had a genuine friendship with Martha Huber and suffered from her lost. She also wanted, almost desperately, to be friends with the other housewives.

#4: Brenda Walsh, Beverly Hills 90210.

Portrayed by: Shannen Doherty. 

Some could argue that the twin of Brendon Walsh is not really a mean girl, but I think otherwise. Cindy and Jim's daughter has always been much of a troublemaker. From slapping straight-A student Andrea to running to Mexico with Dylan without her parents' permission, Brenda wasn't exactly an angel throughout the popular series. She might have not bullied, but she certainly was a bitch. She fought with friends and family restlessly. She cheated on her boyfriend, she lied to another boy. She ran away from home, drop-out of college after a week and wind up in jail. Add that to none-stop whining and bickering, and you have a proper mean/bad girl.

 

Why I Like This Bad Girl: Brenda was a bitch, but she was a nice enough bitch. She might have put herself first a lot during the series, but I do remember her being there for her friends when they really needed her. Also, she had an awesome relationship with her twin, Brandon. 

#3: Kim Kelly, Geeks and Freaks.

Portrayed by: Busy Phillips.

Kim Kelly is a straight up bully. She is unapologetic and doesn't care about what people think of her. If she thinks something, she'll say it. Usually, it's nice-girl Lindsay Weir who's the victim of her mood swings and restless picking. She'll not only attack you with her words, but she'll physically fight you. She won't care whether or not you are a boy or a girl, if she thinks you did her wrong, Kim Kelly will go after you. Her longtime boyfriend Daniel better beware, Kim Kelly isn't letting anybody walk over her.

Why I Like This Bad Girl: For a few episodes, Kim Kelly is view only as an ugly bully who hangs out with a bunch of misfits. However, after watching the episode where you meet her family (particularly her mother), you get to see another side of this bad girl. You get to see under the mask, her sensitive side. And, eventually, she makes nice with Lindsay and becomes friends with her.

#2: Abby Morgan, Dawson's Creek. 

Portrayed by: Monica Keena.

Abby Morgan's time on Dawson's Creek might have been short, but it was quite memorable. Seems like the word mean was crafted after her. She ruled the school with sharp and witty insults directed towards Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen. At Capeside High, everyone was walking on eggshells around Abby, fearing they could be her next victim. She befriended Jen, encouraged her to drink, pressured her to steal and betrayed her in the end. She exposed good-girl-Andie's painful family secrets to the entire school. Abby was pretty much responsible for every nasty rumors that rocked the school.

Why I Like This Bad Girl: She was nasty and didn't mind going dirty. However, Abby was a good comical relief in the sometimes too serious Dawson's Creek. She had some sass. Not to forget how she made everyone loosen up in the episode "Detention" with a game of Truth or Dare. In the end, Abby took a plunge into the water and never came back up.

#1: Cordelia Chase, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Portrayed by: Charisma Carpenter.
Cordelia Chase is the ultimate high school mean girl. She started nasty rumors about Buffy the day after she enrolled into Sunnydale High. She would torment Willow, Xander and Buffy, calling them out for being "losers" and "freaks". She tried to eliminate competition by bullying some of the other candidates when she tried-out for the cheerleading squad.  Eventually, she joined their group in season two. However, that didn't stop her from speaking her mind and being very straight forward. Cordelia stayed truth to herself throughout the series.

Why I Like This Bad Girl: Sassy, sharp and witty, Cordelia has it all. She is well-dressed and ready to impress. She is an extremely strong woman who's also incredibly sensitive. She had a cute little romance with Xander. She owned the fact that she dated a "geek" and didn't what other people thought about it. She was fearless in front of danger and fought tooth and nail against evil.

Book Review: I Swear.

"You see clearly for the first time what made the terrible things so frightening in the first place: You didn't think you'd survive. But you do."

Author: Lane Davis.
Release Date: September 4th, 2012.
Description: 288 pages, Paperback.
Availability: Amazon, $10,36.
Genre: YA, Drama.
Rating: 4 Stars.

Resume: Leslie Gatlin killed herself. Suddenly, her former bullies are in hot water; Leslie's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against them. The ringleader in Leslie's bullying, the cruel Macie Merrick, is gathering her troupes to make sure that she won't be blamed for the girl's death. Now Beth, Jillian and Katherine must decides if they'll go along with Macie's story or expose themselves and reveal the truth about what happened to Leslie. And Jake, Jillian's twin brother, the one who claimed to be in love with Leslie, is he really as innocent as he says he is?

Review: This novel is alternating between the POV's of the four main characters; Beth, Katherine, Jillian and Jake. I thought it was interesting that this book is written from the point-of-view of the bullies instead of the victim. That's something that we don't get a lot from YA novels. The book is divided in short and effective chapters which contain flashbacks of Leslie's bullying before her tragic death. The subject; bullying and suicide, isn't an easy one to tackle and Davis does it pretty well.

The characters are somewhat stereotyped and lack depths. Macie Merrick is a one-dimensional mean girl. We only get to see her hard, cold and shiny armor but not what's inside. She's a mix of Courtney Shayne (From the movie Jawbreaker) and Blair Waldorf (From the series Gossip Girl) She is just as mean and cruel as Shayne and as manipulative and power-driven as Waldorf. We get chapters from all of Leslie's bullies, except Macie, which I thought was a shame because she probably would have been the most interesting and gripping to read. Jillian, the girl who was friends with Leslie once but who turned her back on her, is described has a pushover who's been under Macie's thumb since they were kids. Davis painted her as a shallow person who lacks empathy towards other people. She seemed to care little about Leslie's suicide and more about her well-being. Beth is this fragile and guilt-driven character who has an interesting back story. However, Davis didn't have to make her break down and sob uncontrollably every other pages to make us understand that she felt guilty. Katherine is a strong character and the only one that I could really connect with throughout I Swear. She is a head-strong girl who, willingly entered the bullying circle to benefit her pageant career. Katherine is also the only one who admits that she did something wrong very early on in the novel. And finally, there's Jake. I don't know where to start with Jake. For the most part, I liked him. He is the boy who was in love with Leslie, but he is also the one who knew about the abuse Leslie endured and who didn't do anything to save her from it. Outside of him loving Leslie, Davis doesn't give us much on Jake. The character development is really lacking from this book.

The tone of the book is dark and humorless as it should be. There is a few effective twists in the novel that will keep you interested and on your toes.

I had a problem with the ending which I really didn't like. It was a realistic ending, that's not why I disliked it. It was more because it felt rushed and that it was about everything but Leslie. I, personally, would have liked Jake to close the book instead of Jillian.

Overall, I liked I Swear. That book will help you put the way you threat people in perspective. The bullied to death subject has been explored by other novels and movies before, but I think it's still worth it to read I Swear. It's a book that should be read by teens and their parents to help them understand the consequences of their actions, not only socially but emotionally. Throughout the novel, Davis made me care about Leslie and successfully made the readers feel her pain and despair. I would recommend it without thinking twice.

E's List: The Heartthrobs Edition.

Crushes. We all get them. The crushes I'm about to talk about here are the ones I got when I was a teenager. The celebrities I hung the posters on my bedroom's walls. The ones I watched on TV over and over again. The ones who's record played restlessly in my CD player. 

#5: Jesse McCartney.

The Jesse McCartney I crushed on was the one from Beautiful Soul and Summerland, the TV show MccCartney's starred in. In the early '00, Jesse broke away from his group, Dream Street, and chose to be a solo artist. After releasing his first album Beautiful Soul in 2004, the blond singer landed a part in the WB's teen drama Summerland as Bradin Westerly. I was an avid Summerland watcher and was upset when the WB cancelled the series after only two seasons. I also had Beautiful Soul and his second album, Right Where You Want Me. I knew every song by heart and I'm not even ashamed that I could still sing a lot of them today. 

#4: Chad Michael Murray.

Before there was One Tree Hill, there was Freaky Friday and Jake. I was twelve when Lindsay Lohan's flick hit the theaters and Chad Michael Murray was relatively unknown. At least, he was to little twelve year old me. I started watching One Tree Hill soon after that and A Cinderella Story was released, you know, swoon. Unfortunately, once season three wrapped up, so was my interest for Chad Michael Murray.

#3: Shane West.

On Sunday mornings, I watched Once and Again reruns when I was eleven or twelve. Shane West was playing the eldest kid of a newly divorced woman. I liked the show mainly because of West, so I eventually gave up on it and stopped watching. West was everywhere in the early '00. There was Whatever It Takes, Get Over It and A Walk To Remember, to name a few. A Walk To Remember was the first DVD that I bought and I remember thinking that it was the best movie ever at the time. You live and you learn. I still love Shane though.

#2: Adrian Grenier.

When I was a kid, my favorite TV show was Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. Drive Me Crazy is a teen movie that I watched probably just because Melissa Joan Hart was starring in it. I don't think that I watched Drive Me Crazy before it was showed on TV. I guess there wasn't a lot of hype around it, but I loved it so much. I had the biggest crush on Adrian Grenier. 

#1: Freddie Prinze Jr.

Freddie Prinze Jr. in She's All That. Freddie Prinze Jr. in Boys And Girls. Freddie Prinze Jr. in Summer Catch. Freddie Prinze Jr. in Down To You. Freddie Prinze Jr. in Head Over Heels. The Freddie years were the best years of teenage movies and swooning for me. I taped all of his movies on VHS because I'm a 90's kid and DVDs didn't exist when I was nine. My favorite one was, of course, She's All That. It was also practical for me that I was also a Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan. 

Book Review: Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles, Book #2)

"In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light."

Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
Release Date: October 12th, 2010.
Description: 528 pages, Paperback.
Availability: Amazon, $9, 89.
Genre: YA, Romance, Fantasy.
Rating: 2.5 Stars.

Resume: Ethan Wates is living in a different Gatlin. A Gatlin where mortals and casters must co-exist, but can't fall in love with each other. After the events of Beautiful Creatures, Lena Duchannes is left broken and confused. As much as Ethan tries to comfort her, Lena keeps pulling away from him. With Ridley's return and the arrival of a new, dangerous and handsome young man in town, Lena and Ethan's relationship will be put to the test like never before.

Review: I really wanted to enjoy Beautiful Darkness, but I couldn't. Unfortunately, the story is dragged over five hundred pages of predictability and redundancy. As the title of this second installment of the series announces it, Beautiful Darkness is dark. The whole tone of the book is set on the desperation of Ethan because he can't connect (physically and emotionally) to his girlfriend, Lena. 

If I praised the characters in the first book, Beautiful Creatures, it all went downhill with Beautiful Darkness. If Ethan is very much present, we only get some glimpses of Lena. The writers make it hard for the readers to connect and to care about Lena's journey. The character grew to be very annoying to me. The authors failed to make me feel empathy for a girl who just suffered a lost which is pretty terrible when a character's storyline revolve around losing a loved one. 

Ethan is dragging his feet throughout the story of Beautiful Darkness. There isn't much of a storyline there. At the beginning of the book, he is working at the library with Marian. His dad is briefly mentioned at the beginning and is completely forgotten about for the rest of the novel, which I thought was a shame. It could have been a interesting to have Ethan and his father trying to repair their relationship beyond the few awkward scenes we got from Garcia and Stohl. For the remaining of the novel, Ethan is desperately seeking Lena. He shows very little empathy towards to lives he might sacrifices to do so.

Liv and John are new characters introduce in this installment. The Liv character works really well and is quite likable. She is a charming girl from England. She is also bright and witty. She is a real breath of fresh air in Gatlin. As for John, the brooding hybrid coming to Gatlin for unknown purposes, he falls flat at being interesting or intriguing. I, personally, couldn't care less about him. The authors tried to form two love triangle; Liv, Ethan and Lena, and, John, Lena and Ethan. They failed with both as they were not credible at all. Link, which is a character that was quite fun in the first book, is just a equally funny in the second. Although, I didn't like how Garcia and Stohl ended his story. I also liked that Hunting and his Incubus pals were more present in that book and that we got to see more of their world.

Overall, there is no real twists that you can't predict twenty pages ahead in this book. By the time Ethan gets to Lena, you don't really care if he finds her or not. The ending doesn't make much sense and Liv was pushed out of the way after she served her purpose in a hurry. The wrapped up of her story was rushed and left me unsatisfied. I thought Beautiful Darkness was a huge step down from Beautiful Creatures.

Be Kind Rewind: Never Been Kissed.

"Excuse me, I have to go die now."

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Leelee Sobieski, David Arquette and Molly Shannon.
Release Date: April 9th, 1999.
Rating on Rotten Tomatoes: 57% rotten rating.
My Rating: 4 stars.

Resume: Never Been Kissed is a romantic comedy about Josie Geller, a copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times. At twenty-five, Josie is longing for a real connection with a man who'll kiss her for the first time. When she is tasked to enroll into a high school for a story, Josie struggles to make friend with the popular kids while falling for her English teacher.

Review: Never Been Kissed is a teen comedy that brings a new perspective about regrets, starting over and letting go of the past. This movie might be a little stereotyped, but it's also all around entertaining and heart-warming.

For me, Josie Geller is extremely relatable. She embodied the awkward, quirky, nerdy girl some of us were in high school. Barrymore is a solid lead as Geller. She is making her a very sensitive and likable character. Also delivering solid performances, Molly Shannon as Anita and David Arquette as Rob Geller. Shannon is very funny and provides plenty of laughs while Arquette impersonates perfectly college drop-out Rob.

With the interesting premise and Barrymore's charisma and charm, the movie is a good watch. The rest of the cast is filled with actoers who deliver good performances. Leelee Sobieski is particularly memorable as Aldys, a high school nerd with a big heart.

Overall, Never Been Kissed provides a good message to teenagers; life's bigger than high school and it won't matter if you were popular or not once you leave school. Josie is dragging us along in her quest to find herself. That movie will make you reflect on your high school years (if you graduated already) and how you were treated or treated people.

I would definitely recommend Never Been Kissed to any romantic comedy lovers and especially fans of Drew Barrymore because she is really shining in this flick.

E's List: The Musical Film Edition.

I'm the kind of person who enjoy a good rhythm when she hears one. Granted, musical films aren't for everybody and I completely understand that. However, if you enjoy those, I'll list some of my favorite ones below. 

#5: The Wizard of Oz, 1939.

Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is a young Kansan girl who lives on a farm with her aunt and uncle. Along with her dog, Toto, she flees the farm to escape from a cruel neighbor. After she decides to return home, believing her aunt to be seriously ill, she is caught in a tornado and lands in Oz, a magical world.There she embarks on a quest to find the wizard of Oz, who'll help her return safely back home. On her journey, she meets wonderful creatures who'll help her find her way to the fame wizard. The Wizard of Oz is a classic and definitely worth watching.

#4: White Christmas, 1954.

White Christmas is a musical Christmas movie. When Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) team up to form a musical act, success arises. Upon meeting the Haynes sister, a struggling musical act, Wallace and Davis decide to go to Vermont with them. There, the Haynes sister are to perform in a failing Vermont Inn. When Wallace and Davis realize that their former commanding general is now owning the Inn, they decide to bring their whole show to attract new customers. Heart-warming and sweet. Enjoyable even if you watch it outside of the holiday season.

#3: Mamma Mia, 2008. 

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is desperate to have her father walk her down the aisle at her wedding, but her mother, Donna, (Meryl Streep) always kept his identity secret. After reading her mother's diary, she invites three men that could be her father to her wedding. Determined to discover the truth, Sophie decides to hide the men from her mother until the big day. However, the men reveal themselves to Donna, resulting in chaos. If you like ABBA's songs, you'll enjoy this movie.

#2: Grease, 1978.

When Danny Zuko meets Sandy Olsson, during the summer of 1958, it's love at first sight. However, Sandy is only there for the summer and is set to return to Australia in September. Eventually, her parents change their minds and Danny and Sandy meet again at school. However, to live up to his bad boy reputation, Danny rejects her in front of his friends.This movie is a classic. This movies is a legend. This movie is everything.

#1: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 1954.

Milly is a hard-working young woman who, spontaneously, decides to marry Adam Pontipee, despite only knowing each other for a few hours. Once they newlyweds reach Adam's house in the mountains, Milly is surprised to see that Adam is living with his six younger brothers; Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank and Gideon. Determined to make her marriage and new family work, Milly decides to teach the boys some good manners in the hope of them getting married. I watched this movie for the first time when I was really young and it was love at first sight. That choice is very sentimental to me because this movie was part of my childhood. However, I highly recommend this one for any musical film lover.

This concludes today's list. I choose to not include any animated movies such as The Beauty and The Beast, simply because I feel I could do a list just for those. Until then, leave me your recommendations in the comments. 

Remote Control: Catfish: The TV Show.

"You're basic."

TV Show: Catfish: The TV Show.

Hosts: Nev Shulman & Max Joseph. 

Genre: Reality. 

Original Channel: MTV. 

Season: 4.

Episode: 1. 

Nev Schulman and Max Joseph are back for a whole new season of Catfish: The TV Show. Except this time, Max handed over his place to Charlamagne, a TV host. While I missed Max, watching Charlamagne was quite entertaining. 

Review: Schulman embarks on a new season with an e-mail from a girl, Miracle, having an internet relationship with a boy, Jiovanni, she met in instagram. The first thirty minutes are redundant. There is nothing new from this season opener that we haven't already seen on Catfish: The TV Show. Google image search, reverse number lookup and a phone call to the catfish to arrange a meeting. 

Schulman is always a really likable and charming host, adding some quality to this episode. Charlamagne was somewhat of an asset as the fresh meat of the week. The concept of different co-hosts replacing Joseph for a few weeks is incredibly interesting. It'll bring different point of views and reactions to the reality show.

The outcome of the episode was intended to surprise the viewers, although I was sort of excepting a big twist because it seemed too easy when they found who was behind the Jiovanni profile so quickly. Therefore, expecting a twist, when it happened, I was not that surprised.

Overall, it was a weak first episode for Catfish: The TV Show. I was entertained at times, but I definitely was expecting more from it. Based on the teaser trailer for the second episode, I have a feeling that next week's episode will be better. I'll be watching for sure!