Spanish 3-way? Yeah sure, why not...

I didn't know what to expect going into the Spanish film Mediterranean Food, my 6th movie outing for the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival. I only had the festival guide description to go by; there weren't any reviews to give me a clue, nor was I familar with any of the actors or the director.

All I knew was that it was an "erotic comedy" about a menage a trois that occurs between a female chef and her two lovers. Hey, sounds like a great way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy Sunday.

The three leads, Olivia Molina, Alfonso Bassave, and Paco Leon are very engaging and their love story in the film is surprising believable. Three-ways are difficult to make compelling; in films most end up either coming off as really cheesy or so rooted in fantasy that you can't imagine the scenario happening in real life. Mediterranean Food managed to make the idea of a menage a trois between these characters very natural. And I won't lie, the "realness" of the relationship made it that much sexier. I definitely wouldn't mind being in her position.

I mean what woman (or gay man) wouldn't want the gorgeous green eyed Leon gazing at them tenderly while hot, sex-on-legs Alsonso Bassave kisses your neck (and other areas)?

I would have liked for the story of Molina's character Sofia and her love of food and the progression she takes to becoming a top chef, to have been fleshed out a little more. I wanted the food scenes to be more Like Water For Chocolate and less like some episode of a bad soap opera about a chef. That and the horrible 90s smooth jazz score were the only small complaints I had for an overall really enjoyable film.

But let's get back to the good parts of the movie -

Did I mention that there's full frontal nudity from both Paco Leon and Alfonso Bassave in the movie? Yeah, I know, take a minute to gather yourself.

Linky link - 2010 Summer TV edition

God, I love tv. I know that's probably horrible, and I totally agree that I should spend at least half the time I "waste" watching television on healthier activities like exercising, cleaning, and sleeping. But I don't really care; it's my main vice - judge me all you want.

So once again we're entering the summer months where all of our regular season shows are ending their seasons (or ending altogether - so long 24, Law & Order, and Lost). And now from June through September we get a bunch of new reality and scripted shows to tempt us (me) to stay inside on the couch instead of enjoying the sunshine and good company of friends and family.

To that end I'm linking the excellent lists compiled by the staff of Television Without Pity of the upcoming:
New shows for summer 2010
and
Summer 2010 returning shows

For the returning shows I'm the most excited about Drop Dead Diva, True Blood, So You Think You Can Dance, and Beautiful People and I'll probably devote whole posts just to them in the coming weeks.

The new shows that look intriguing are Hot In Cleveland (even I can't resist the lure of Betty White fever - plus hello, it's got Valerie Bertinelli, I'm there); The Choir (because it's a trifecta of things I love - reality show, British, show choirs); Memphis Beat (my boyfriend Jason Lee! and it's another TNT cop show that I can enjoy watching with my dad when I visit him); and Persons Unknown (a mini-series murder mystery by the dude who won the screenwriting Oscar for The Usual Suspects? Yes please. Plus it's got Jason Wiles who I love). 

I hope my DVRs are ready for the onslaught.

Maybe I'll buy an exercise bike and kill a few birds with one stone. And maybe I should hook it up Ed Begley style to the tv and dvr so that I have to bike in order for the electronics to even work? Anything to fuel my tv addiction!

Whatchu talkin' bout'?

I'm kind of devastated to hear about Gary Coleman dying of a brain hemorrhage this morning. The guy just could NOT. Catch. A break. I hope he and Dana Plato are hanging out in the afterlife shaking their heads in disbelief that Conrad Bain (Mr. Drummond) outlived them both.

And so I ask myself - has Michael Patrick King lost his damn mind?

Probably the greatest movie review ever from The Stranger's Lindy West about the horrid Sex & The City 2 that opens today.

I loved the tv show, and it pains me how crappy the films are. And yet. I find myself drawn to this shite like a moth to a flame. I most likely won't see this sequel in the theater - I was burned with the first movie and this new one is supposed to be 10x worse - but then again, if I'm in the right mood and I've had enough liquor in me, maybe I'll find myself shelling out the 10 bucks to see it.

But only after SIFF ends and all of the quality movies have left the theater.

And only to see Liza!

Confuddled but contented

So, uh, yeah. I'm not going to take up a lot of space pondering and analyzing last night's Lost series finale. There are thousands of people on hundreds of blogs more clever than mine doing that today. I will say that ultimately I was satisfied with the ending.

As some folks know, I was woefully behind on Lost. I have been behind since basically the middle of season 4. Through a couple of those damn interminable recap/explanation/catch-up shows, I was able to clear several season 4 and early season 5 episodes out of my Tivo to clear up space on both the dvr and my life. And beyond that I was watching like one or two episodes a month to gradually bring me current. As the May 23 series end loomed however, I felt a ton of pressure to catch-up for real and actually watch the finale in real time and not dvr time.

So to that end, this past Saturday and Sunday I spent several quality hours watching the last 6 hours of this season 6. I finished the "What They Died For" episode at literally 6:52 PM last night, a mere 8 minutes before the finale extravanganza began in earnest. And I'm really glad I did. Watching the last show in basic real-time, being totally unspoiled was the right choice; the finale was much more powerful and poignant than it would have been otherwise.

How did I feel about the episode itself? Again, I'll leave the lamenting, praising, and hair-pulling to others; in a lot of ways the purgatory/heaven angle was very obvious, which can come off as lazy writing. But I would be lying if I didn't say that seeing everyone end up with their loved one or constant wasn't gratifying; it felt like the best way to end the show. And I was never enough of a Lost fan to get caught up in all of the "but what about ____?" and  "but they didn't answer this!"  nonsense. Ultimately I don't care. It will be nice to have the precious DVR space back and delete the Tivo season pass.

It will be sad to have the gorgeous Matthew Fox and Henry Ian Cusick off my tv screen though. Sigh...Desmond and Jack were made of win.