Wylie's Entertainment Round Up

Shame on me.
Can't believe I haven't blogged in over a month. Closer to two, actually.
Can I use that old fallback excuse... I was busy? Yeah, aren't we all.

On Writing:
After a fabulous writing-free March Break, I went on an equally fabulous writer's retreat with a few of the Toronto Romance Writer peeps. A blast was had by all. And some writing got done! Yay us.
I managed to finish revising ye old manuscript sometime in April.
What a job that was! Took the book apart like a giant puzzle and had the damnest time putting it together again. *queue violins*
The agent liked. *queue angels*
Game On is currently being shopped in NY. *queue prayer circles*

On Reading:
Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels (thanks for the recommend Kimber Chin!) was awesomeness.
Then tackled Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply - excellent in a creepy sort of way. Outstanding writing, fascinating topic (identity theft), disturbing yet likable characters. Highly recommend.
In the middle of Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw - interesting. I've new respect for that Popeil character I see at 2am slogging his wares.
My fellow TRW author, Juliana Stone's His Darkest Hunger - a panther shifter story, first of a series. Both entertaining and hot :)

On T.V.:
GLEE - SQUEE!!! need I say more?
LOST - Half of me is looking forward to saying goodbye to this colossal mind-f*ck, the other half is having an anxiety attack at the thought of it being over forever.

On Movies (two rentals, two in-theatre):
Up in the Air - a must watch. If only for the incredible acting. It's an actor's movie. And a thinking movie. And a life movie.
Men Who Stare at Goats - interesting. quirky. entertaining. and possibly true? which makes it a wee bit scary.
Clash of the Titans - I was expecting greatness. I found okayness. Goodness, even, but not greatness.
Furry Vengeance - only if you have kids. It's cute. But my forever-crush on George of the Jungle is firmly OVER.

SQUEE for GLEE!!

I'm unashamedly hooked on the television show GLEE.

The cast is brilliant and though I love Lea Michele's character Rachel, Cory Monteith as Fin and the adorable Matthew Morrison as the Glee Club director Will Schuester, it's Jane Lynch's cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester who completely steals the show. And she doesn't even sing!

You might not recognize her name, but her imdb credits are well over 100 long so you'd probably recognize her. For me, it was her role as Paula, the electronics store manager in The 40 Year Old Virgin that made her memorable...

A program like Glee -- about the nerds, losers, misfits who make up the school's show choir -- has to settle onto a wire thin tightrope of balance between drama, humor and song. They do it brilliantly, with just enough campiness to not take itself to seriously. And that's important!

But ignore everything I just said and watch Glee because it will make you feel... Gleeful :)

Wylie's Watching...

I've been sucked pretty hard into television this season. I vowed not to add any shows to the must-watch list, but much like the diet, I succumbed to temptation.
Here's what I'm excited about:

FlashForward - I was hooked as soon as I saw the cast. Joseph Fiennes (that's Ralph's brother - remember him from Shakespeare in Love?), whom i adore even with the phony American accent, a few cast members from LOST, a brief appearance by Alex Kingston (Elizabeth from ER) and other familiar faces...
It's based on a Robert Sawyer book about a strange phenomenon whereby everyone in the world blacks out at exactly same time and foresees a moment in their future.

Glee - I absolutely ADORE it! It makes me feel good!! Song, dance, great cast. It should be called SQUEE!

Those I'm loyal to from years past:
Fringe - fills the void the X-Files left all those years ago.
Bones - especially since I'm now caught up on past seasons so finally feel like I know what's going on...
Castle - Nathan Fillion. That's all I'm sayin'.
House and Lie To Me - because I seem to enjoy totally obnoxious, know-it-all men?? Hmm... both are British actors. As is Joe Fiennes from FlashForward. I'm sensing a trend...

Shows that didn't hook me (after 2 or more episodes):
Vampire Diaries: Too angsty and, does no one in highschool have parents? The dialogue is soap-operaish (and I should know, having had that one line in Y&R all those years ago - *snort*)
Eastwick: meh. But I'll say this: Rebecca Romijn is gorgeous.

And I'm not doing ANY reality shows this year. NONE. This year, I'm going scripted :)

What new shows have your fire burning, kids?
Better yet, what have dumped or refused to watch?
Tell, tell, tell!!!