The Amazing Race - Roots Of All Evil

Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something! - Ep. 1208
I Just Hope He Doesn't Croak On Us - Ep. 1209

You know, we all complained in previous years when networks throw in weeks of repeats as we wait for new episodes, but they finally seemed to have listened but have they forgotten that we are usually pretty busy during the holidays? And for a year when they have little inventory left because of the writers strike, why are networks airing new episodes during the week many people are still on break or on holiday mode (and thus too busy for TV)?

Sheesh...can't they ask me when I busy before playing a new episode? (The networks can never win can they? Even with Tivo/PVR/DVR's/Recordable DVD's etc. (which incidentally, now counts to Neilsen ratings but not the important numbers for advertisers so still really don't count) and being able to watch a show any your own schedule, it's just not the same sometimes, especially for something like TAR).

So there were new episodes of The Amazing Race and just as 2007 ended, so did the chances for our favorite pink goths, Kynt and Vyxsin, after they made the HUGE mistake of being too nice, especially on a leg where they had an extra Speed Bump for coming in last on the previous non-elimination leg.

A Speed Bump challenge of doing yoga in Mumbai India that would have been highly entertaining to see if everyone had to do it. Could you see Nathan and Jen try to calm themselves down for that? That would have been hilarious.

So when Kynt and Vyxsin had the chance to U-Turn the Aryan yuppies, Kynt was too nice and decided to stab Nicolas and Donald instead, a team that was already ahead of them. Oops. So much for the "dark" goths being mean. That'll show karma.

This week, the remaining four teams race for the final 3 positions as they fly off to Osaka Japan.

At this point, I'm not sure who to root for now that Kynt and Vyxsin are gone. Obviously, the "perfect couple" Nathan and Jen are the obvious villains (though is it me or does she scream at him more than he does anything? I kinda feel sorry for the guy), but I still haven't forgotten Donald's early annoying/rude ways but that's been overshadowed by Ronald's constant berating and harsh comments to his own daughter Christina. On the other hand, I like Christina, possibly because essentially she represents every North American born Chinese under a hard-to-please know-it-all Chinese father and so I connect with her.

Then there's TK and Rachel, who in their flight plan from Mumbai to Osaka, ends up falling WAY behind the rest of the pack that I almost forgot they were still on the show. You know it's a bad/sad sign when they have to replay all their challenges after everyone else checks in to Phil. Luckily it's the other non-elimination round and they are safe.

Meanwhile, while Nicolas and Christina were off racing around Osaka delivering passengers in a taxi as the driver (with rules disallowing local guided help, finally! A rule to prevent that!), did it seem that those two should partner up and leave the two old guys as their own team? It's not like they weren't getting along, after Ronald shared snacks with Donald. Or was it the other way around? Even the names would rhyme!

Meanwhile, Jen and Nathan were doing really well, even stopping to smell the flowers (in the detour challenge to find the one real flower amongst fakes) and up against Ronald and Christina but alas, after looking like they might finally come in first place, they get beat out by the father daughter team yet again and land in second place.

Nicolas and Donald go play with robots to end in third.

Does TK and Rachel even have a chance of catching up? I don't dislike them. I don't mind them, yet I don't really care to root for them either. So that leaves it down between Nicolas and his annoying grandfather or Christina and her even more annoying father. Or Nate and Jen... hahahaha...

Okay, no, for real... who? Which is the lesser of evils?

Ron & Christina - 1st Place
Nathan & Jennifer - 2nd Place
Nicolas & Donald - 3rd Place
TK & Rachel - 4th Place
Kynt & Vyxsin - eliminated

More After the Jump...

Desperate Housewives - Aftermath and Gay Math

Welcome to Kanagawa - Ep. 410

What a sad episode. No, not about finding out that Ida died while trying to save Lynette's family from the tornado, and not that Gaby has been cut out of any of Victor's money now that the father from Providence figure out that she had been having an affair with Carlos, no, it was sad because just as Desperate Housewives has finally gotten back on track this season (as Liz put it, did somebody kidnap the writers after season 1 and only release them for season 4?) and is funnier than ever, due the writers strike, that's the end of new episodes of the revitalized Housewives. Kind of a weird setback just as the new year started (who scheduled it like this?)

Wisteria Lane is devastated from the tornado (though with no loss to that fugly gay metal fountain of Bob and Lee's) and yes, they didn't kill off Lynette's little buggers, nor Tom (thank god) and only tertiary character Ida dies leaving Mrs. McCluskey devastated. Ida's uncaring relatives come for her ashes, or at least her pearls, so Lynette does the old vacuum cleaner switcheroo, giving the relatives an urn of dust while Ida's ashes are kept safely in a ziplock bag. I bet Glad never imagined the ziplock would be used for carrying the dead.

Gaby breaks the bad news to Carlos about the ONLY PAPERS TO HIS SECRET ACCOUNTS were blown away by the tornado wind and Gaby tries to track down Al the accountant at his own funeral and hunts for the papers only to be found and fake cries sadness! Oh Gaby, work that acting magic! Alas, the papers were shreded by the widowed wife to protect her husband of any link to off-shore accounts but Gaby reassures Carlos that they are okay. Only, he hasn't yet told her that he's now blind. Which matters to beautiful Gaby. Who's going to stare longingly at her beauty? And Carlos knows this.

Meanwhile, in the most convoluted manufactured story, a story I'm kinda glad they made up out of the blue because it was so hilarious despite being completely out of place, Bree moves into Susan's house since the Hodges house needs a new roof. The gay contractor the Gays hooked Bree up with (he can build it AND decorate it!) is all distraught from his recent breakup and won't work on Bree's house. So Bree has a plan.

Bree, who has been completely Breeifying Susan's home, much to Susan and Andrea's surprise delight, invites Walter the contractor over and helps grease the spoon by pimping out Andrew who realises midway through the dinner of his mother's plans to use his young gay hottie body (a 9 let's say in gay math) to entice the elder gay contractor (a 3 according to Bob and Lee, who doesn't fit into 9 according to gay math) to reconstruct a new roof (and windows!), and old Andrew peeks through by demanding a 60" flatscreen. Nice. Bree and Orson hilariously promote Andrew's gay ass until Susan hears of the plot that would remove her new caretaker/cook/maid/decorator and comes in to stop the hustling. Apparently Susan continue her reign on gay subtraction, deflating the gay love in any room.

Yes, apparently this is network primetime. And it was hysterical with some gaspworthy moments and even though I never bought that Bree would have been so rude to have demanded Walter's services back when he first broke down, I'm glad they went with the gay hustling plotline. I feel I should hand Bree some big gold chains and a big hat, she was that good. Plus, finally Susan isn't irritating and is funny. That's how good this season is getting again! Just as it's about to abruptly end.

We also discover that Mrs. McCluskey already has two strikes against her, when her and Lynette almost get arrested when they break into the baseball field to spread Ida's ashes along the diamond. I love these little details!

Meanwhile, Katherine orders Adam out but while Adam is packing, he finds the note that grandma had left that had fallen under the bed. We have no idea what it says but obviously he has the upper hand, and leaves Katherine with his new discovery. She goes and burns it but Dylan pieces it together from the ashes finding out something she wished she never would...

and...

the writer's strike...

there's got to be some irony in there, as minor as it may be.

What's worse is we don't know how long we're going to have to wait before we find out what was written on that note, so help support the writer's in the WGA strike and help this end soon!

More After the Jump...

TV Blog Coalition - A New Year Of Linkage!

Welcome to a new year of TV Linkage! I'm sort of away again (I'll be able to recap Sunday nights TV but that's about it) so check out my fellow TV bloggers for what else has been happening in the TV world (while ignoring all the reality replacement TV the networks think they can pawn on us while the WGA strike continues).

BuzzSugar: This week, we were disappointed by Cashmere Mafia, challenged you to recast The Nanny, and wondered which late-night host grew the best strike beard.

Glowy Box: It was a relatively quiet week at Glowy Box (and on TV), but Liz still managed to enjoy this week’s challenge on Project Runway, and be preached to by “Model4Jesus” on Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.

Daemon's TV: Sandie posted the new midseason 2008 premiere TV schedule and interviewed the cast and crew of the new KNIGHT RIDER TV movie. Eric reviewed the first two episodes of the new season of MEDIUM.

Mikey Likes TV: In an attempt to carefully straddle the line between good taste and bad in 2008, Mikey reviewed the season premiere of The Wire and the most recent episode of Gossip Girl this week.

Pop Vultures: We ignored those silly New Year's resolutions in a celebration of television's most vice-ridden characters. We also explained why the television blockbuster is doomed to failure and wondered why Kylie Minogue's face never moved in the Doctor Who Christmas special.

RTVW: Spads wrapped up her three-part series about her time on the Chuck photoshoot. Saying goodbye to 2007, Rae shared her top seven memorable moments of the year and, ringing in the new year, wondered about the 2008 New Year's resolutions of some of her favorite TV characters.

Scooter McGavin's 9th Green: Already nostalgic for 2007? Then go back and look at Scooter’s lists for the Best (and Worst) of the Year including the best television, albums, and 100 best songs of the past twelve months. For those hoping the would combine two of the best channels on TV, The History Channel and The Weather Channel, you really want to check out Scooter’s preview of When Weather Changed History. And for those that like to be told who to vote for, Scooter has endorsed a presidential candidate just as the primary season begins.

Tapeworthy: It's the new year and everybody seems to have a best of list and Vance LIVES to make Best of Lists as if they actually mattered. So here are his picks for the Best Movies, Best Music and Best Television of 2007! Happy New Year!

Televisionary: This week, Jace--ecstatic about Televisionary being named one of ten "Must Click" TV websites by Entertainment Weekly--took a look at the new Doctor Who Christmas Special entitled "Voyage of the Damned," bemoaned the loss of Goth contestants Kynt and Vyxsin on The Amazing Race, and offered his television-themed New Year resolutions.

TiFaux: This week's highlight was our take on the Top Five and Bottom Five TV deaths of 2007. We also did a before and after on Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley and his various incarnations (and his poor hairstyle choices) and pondered the similarities between Dexter and Sweeney Todd.

Tube Talk welcomed back the boys of late night, beards and all, pondered why Rosie O’Donnell was voted the most annoying celebrity of 2007, and shared a first look at the new Knight Rider TV movie and KITT’s voice.

TV Filter: We have some awesome Anthony Bourdain swag to give away - you can still enter. Raoul interviewed the Goths from The Amazing Race and Kate was ecstatic over the return of Gossip Girl.

The TV Addict: Picked his favorite shows of 2007. Made some outlandish predictions for 2008 and started the craze that's sweeping the nation: TV Addicts Anonymous. Only together we can survive the WGA Strike!

More After the Jump...

2008: The Next Generation

Okay, I'm going to be mostly away again for another week for work (after being sick for the past week and barely on the blog) and I don't think I'll have time to post anything about the upcoming 2008 pop culture calendar year but A Blog Next Door did a good job recapping basically exactly every movie I'm excited about that is set to be released in 2008 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here) so go and check it out! TiFaux mourns the deaths of some beloved (and not so beloved) characters on TV in 2007 (seriously, that was it for Sherriff Lamb? Though I did NOT see that for U-Turn! That was shocking!).

And as a little gift while I'm away, I'll post this little tidbit (which I forgot to mention before and have been sitting on for a month and is probably old news already) for the 5 people in Canada and the throngs of teenage girls in the States (and Ducky) who might care that Degrassi: The Next Generation will in fact be back for Season 8. About what, I have no clue, considering all the main people will have all graduated (including Emma which was sort of the focal point of the whole Next Generation show) but alas, the epic that is Degrassi will continue on (and on and on and on).

Meanwhile, Instant Star will not be back for Season 5 but does anybody still ever watch that show?

More After the Jump...

Best of 2007 - The Final Wrap Up

Alright, so here are the 12 Things That Rocked My World in 2007, basically, a compilation of my other Best of Lists (Movies, Television, Music and Stage). It is everything that most clearly defines the things I loved the most from this past year.

Here is the Best of 2007 (In alphabetical order):

* A Starlet is Born
Amy Adams in Enchanted and Ellen Page in Juno - Movies

* Canadian Home Boys
Michael Cera in Superbad and Juno, Seth Rogen in Knocked Up and co-writing Superbad - Movies

* Friday Night Lights
Television

* Funny Women on Thursday Nights
America Ferrera as Ugly Betty along with Becky Newton and Vanessa Williams, Tina Fey as Liz Lemon at 30 Rock, Jenna Fischer as Pam, at The Office, Jaime Pressly as Joy on My Name is Earl and Sandra Oh as Christina on Grey's Anatomy. - Television

* Harry Potter
Final Book and Movie

* Lost Season 3 Finale
Television

* Musicals
from High School Musical 2 on TV to Hairspray, Sweeney Todd and Enchanted (and I haven't even seen Once yet) in Cinemas, and all the musicals I just happened to personally go see this past year on stage (including amazing ones like Company, Spring Awakening , High School Musical Live On Tourand Parade), musicals made a huge impact on me this year. - Television, Movies, Stage

* Pushing Daisies
Television

* Ratatouille
Movie

* So You Think You Can Dance
Television and Live Tour

* Timbaland song "The Way I Are" (featuring Keri Hilson)
Music

* Zac Efron and On - Six Degrees of Double Duties
Zac Efron in High School Musical 2 and Hairspray, James Marsden in Hairspray and Enchanted, Timothy Spall in Enchanted and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Sweeney Todd, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Sweeney Todd, Jayne Wisener in Sweeney Todd and Parade (at the Donmar Warehouse) - Movies and Stage

Honourable Mentions - Paris (Ratatouille, Paris Je T'aime) and Pie (Waitress, Pushing Daisies, Sweeney Todd, Chuck, Gossip Girl)

Best of 2007 Lists:
Best of Music 2007
Best of Television 2007
Best of Movies 2007
Best of Stage 2007
Best of 2007 (The Final Wrap Up)

Previous Best-of Lists:
Best of Music 2006
Best of Television Fall '06 - Winter '07 List
Best of Television 2006
Best of Movies 2006
Best of 2006

Best of Television Fall '05 - Winter '06 List
Best of Television 2005
Best of Movies 2005

More After the Jump...

Gossip Girl - Happy New Leers!

School Lies - Ep. 112

Welcome back boys and girls. V here ushering in the new year with a new episode of the deliciously soapy and glowy Gossip Girl.

There's a pool party and everyone's invited. As long as everyone is young, hot and pretty. So like, you know, you and me. The regs are there, C, B, S and N and the two ethnic mutes are all frolicking and drinking in the pool. Serena invites Dan, who is off helping Vanessa (she's still around? What happened to that resolution?) with her "documentary" and they join the drunken festivities. Alas, Nate and Blair are seen cuddling up all wet and bothered until another guy gets hurt and everyone is caught with their pants down (or so to speak) in the school pool and the new headmistress is out to get whoever broke into the pool. Let the witchhunt begin.

Chuck is with key and boldly flaunting it but Blair quickly takes it away, just as she did herself from Chuck, but Nate gets a peak of the key and chivalrously offers himself up as the scapegoat to the headmistress. Only his lie is caught and he's suspended anyways for lying just before he discovers that the key wasn't Blair's and she was only hiding it on behalf of the real culprit.

Vanessa catches Blair and Chuck in an argument revealing their past and Blair and Chuck both want the tape.

Dan who is caught in the witchhunt doesn't have the money to buy himself out, but Serena naively thinks that doesn't happen anymore. Plus, she did it. She was the one with a key to the pool (from her bad Serena days while dating a senior hot pool boy) and gives herself up to the headmistress just as she's grilling Dan. Luckily, she gets off with community service.

Meanwhile, as happy as Dan and Serena may be, Rufus is disappointed after Lily had run off with Bart Bass but as Lily realises the waspy ladies who lunch future that surrounds her, she decides to run back to Rufus. At least until Serena quashes the idea , preferring to be Chuck's step-sister than Dan's. Good point. Ew. (Speaking of ew, in theory, those 70 porn suits should be totally ew and hideous yet somehow it kinda works).

So Lily ditches Rufus AGAIN and decides to marry Bart Bass. I love how it's either or. It's like the old drawing room drama's. Stick a corset on and some older drapes and it could be a Merchant Ivory film.

So Chuck is all greasily giddy about being Serena's step-brother as she learns of Bart's influence on her minimal sentence, thus proving Dan right (isn't he always? Isn't he dreamy?...) about the different rules between those upstairs and those down.

Speaking of which, Vanessa who had taken Chuck's bribe for the tapes, also gives the REAL tapes to Blair, who, hating to be indebted to a poor girl, pays her years rent before returning to Nate, secure in the knowledge that her Chuck secret remains safe. Yah, right.

So welcome to a new year of bitchery, conniving manipulation within the wonderful world of the riches of Manhattan and the elite. Oh, yeah, and Gossip Girl is on too.

More After the Jump...

Best of Movies 2007

My Best of Movies lists are always ongoing and will change and be re-edited over time as I see more and more movies from the year (especially the usual catch up rush before the Oscars), but this year will be even more than ever since I'm WAY behind in my movie going, so bare this in mind.

(*** Currently Updated as of Aug. 26 2012)

Also, many lists and critics lists are putting The Lives of Others in this years lists but I had already put in in my 2006 list. Either way, it's amazing and a must see (and totally deserved to beat out Pan's Labyrinth for Best Foreign Language Film last year).

Also, with a slew of darker more violent films that came out this fall, and I guess it's a personal thing this year, but most of the happier films from the summer landed on my Top 10 list. The SUMMER. That's a rarity. So are happier films. Usually I like those broody artistic films but I just had no interest this year (but also, I think they are getting tired, no offence but I hated The Squid and the Whale in previous years and thought that many "indie" movies are becoming just as formulaic as their counter Hollywood cousins (as in, throw in every possible bad scenario in the book onto a dysfunctional family, let brew... like Before the Devil Knows You're Dead).

Plus, I know I went on a musical theatre binge but I don't think it was just me thinking that it was a good year for musicals, with 3 landing on my list. Are there even three usually that come out in a year? (and to think, I never even had a chance to watch Once yet?) It was a good year for women, from Keri Russell in Waitress to Margot Martindale in Paris Je T'aime. Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up, Amy Adams in Enchanted to Niki Blonsky in Hairspray. Plus, another entry from Paul Greengrass who took the top spot last year.

So here is my (current) Best of Movies of 2007 list:

1. Ratatouille - (A) (My Review) - It'll make you fall in love with Paris all over again. And rats too! What can be more life affirming than seeing a culinary rat make equisite meals that defies a critiques palate in his pursuit to make great culinary art?


2. Juno - (A) (My Review) - A perfect blend of indie smarts and a Hollywood happy ending that may have just leaned over to oversweetly just a smidge but never betrayed each side.


3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - (A-) (My Review) - Perhaps enchanced by my viewing of the stage musical version just 2 months prior but the luscious Sondheim score was thoroughly enhanced by Johnny Depp's dark and brooding Sweeney Todd with a delicious assisting turn by Helena Bonham Carter.

UPDATE: I'm going to squeeze in Atonement (A-) in here at 3.5 though I will rejiggle this list soon.

4. The Bourne Ultimatum - (A-) (My Review) - Another gritty down and dirty fast paced ending to a thrilling action series that felt smart and snappy even whenever I was confused.


5. Hairspray - (A-) (My Review) - Considering I thought the stage musical was only so-so, the movie version of the musical version of the John Waters movie was surprisingly bouncy and tons of fun, without being completely cloying.


6. Knocked Up - (A-) (My Review) - At its heart, it's a drama between two unlikely people dealing with their impending pregnancy. The fart jokes and other guy humour is just bonus.


7. No Country For Old Men - (A-) (My Review) - I still don't know why I watched it, as it was probably the most stressful two hours of my life in 2007, but perhaps because of it, and those quiet scenes across the desolate American plains, left those stark images of two men in pursuit of each other ingrained in my mind.


8. Paris Je T'aime- (A-) (My Review) - Not all the short films were as successful as others but the collage of stories in and around Paris showcase humanity of every sort in the most beautiful city in the world.


9. Waitress - (A-) - Maybe it was the images of pie and Nathan Fillion but I couldn't help but love this quirky little dramedy about a pregnant woman looking to get out of her bad marriage.

Update: I'm going to squeeze in Once = A- in 9.5 position.


10. Enchanted - (B+) (My Review) - Yes yes, Amy Adams is totally enchanting and totally makes the movie but don't discount James Marsden in a comedic turn or the new Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz songs that spoof/pay homage to their old Disney songs. An imperfect movie that still deserves to be loved!



Everything else in Alphabetical Order within each grade is listed below:

A Mighty Heart = B+
Away From Her = B+
Love Songs (Les Chansons d'amour) = B+ ***
Breach = B+
Breakfast with Scot = B+
Freedom Writers = B+
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3D Imax = B+ (My Review)
P.S. I Love You = B+
Shoot 'Em Up = B+ (*My Biased Review)
Show Business: The Road to Broadway = B+
Superbad = B +
Transformers = B+

Becoming Jane = B
Charlie Wilson's War = B
The Curiosity of Chance = B (My Review)
Into the Wild = B
The Jane Austen Book Club = B
Offside = B
Starter for 10 = B
Talk To Me = B (My Review)
The Wind That Shakes The Barley = B (My Review)


Before The Devil Knows You're Dead = B- (My Review)
Evan Almighty = B-
I Pronounce You Chuck And Larry = B-
The Kite Runner = B-
Music and Lyrics = B-
Shrek The Third = B-


Eleven Men Out = C+ (My Review)
Evening = C+ (My Review)
Fracture = C+
The Golden Compass = C+
Rocket Science = C+

Blades of Glory = C
Mr. Brooks = C (My Review)


Spider-Man 3 = D+ (My Review)

Best of 2007 Lists:
Best of Music 2007
Best of Television 2007
Best of Movies 2007
Best of Stage 2007
Best of 2007 (The Final Wrap Up)

Previous Best-of Lists:
Best of Music 2006
Best of Television Fall '06 - Winter '07 List
Best of Television 2006
Best of Movies 2006
Best of 2006

Best of Television Fall '05 - Winter '06 List
Best of Television 2005
Best of Movies 2005

More After the Jump...

Best of Stage 2007

(Sorry, I'm a little late with my last few best of lists for 2007 and I know its passé to publish them in 2008 when I should be posting about the new year but I've been a bit sick and busy so just deal with it... aren't I off to a nice start in the new year? (I'm not a good patient))

I went a little theatre crazy in 2007 and saw more shows on stage than I did movies, which usually NEVER happens. So for once, I've actually seen enough stage shows to actually pick out a Best of List! So here's what I thought were the best of stage this year. I have made it a rule though that it's based on everything I've seen this year, including older shows that opened in previous years, but excluding productions that I've already seen in previous years (which would thus exclude my top 3 current shows Spring Awakening, Company and A Chorus Line as well as Wicked). I've also listed all the shows I've seen in 2007 after the jump, from my favorite Spring Awakening, to the so bad it's craptacular We Will Rock You).

So here are my picks for the Best of Stage for 2007:

1. Parade - (Musical) Donmar Warehouse - London (My Review) - By presenting the epic musical on the tiny stage at the Donmar, the terribly personal and tragic tale of Leo Frank is enhanced into mesmerizing and unforgetable proportions with Jason Scott Brown's haunting music playing crystal clear in my memory.


2. Fuerzabruta - (Performance Event) Daryl Roth Theatre, Off-Broadway New York (My Review) - De La Guarda is back with another experience you cannot miss, with bigger toys creating images you won't forget. Just don't forget, you will get wet on this ride!


3. West Side Story Suite & Glass Pieces & In The Night - (Ballet) National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto (My Review) - Apparently, I DO love the ballet. I came for West Side Story but I fell in love with the first act Glass Pieces in a modern ballet set, with dancers set in a random chaotic yet orderly motion in a subway station until there are moments of connections, moments of unity, moments when all human souls act and react the same way. Simplicity at its best! Totally beautiful!


4. Traces - les 7 doights de la main/ the 7 fingers' - (Circus) Panasonic Theatre - Toronto (My Review) - Wow, the 5 young hot circus performers take circus to the streets in this edgier version of the circus.


5. Jersey Boys - (Musical) August Wilson Theater - Broadway, New York (My Review) - I admit defeat. It's actually really good and a lot of fun, jukebox be damnit, and the talented cast made the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons into a surprisingly entertaining and moving evening.


6. August: Osage County - (Play) Imperial Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review) - A happy family this ain't, but a happy viewer you will be, in a surprisingly fast paced evening that slowly grips you into the despair and dysfunctional Weston family of Osage County.


7. High School Musical: On Tour - (Musical) National Tour - The Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto (My Review, Second Review) - Mock me as you may but this was a by-the-books well-put-together-gosh-darnit good and fun musical that had me smiling at every corny pun and humming with every simple tune and I loved every minute of it. Twice!


8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - (Musical) National Tour - The Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto (My Review) - Creepy and haunting as Sondheim intended (and unfortunately if we had a better lead, which apparently came from Broadway a week later to replace the one I saw, it would have ranked higher on the list).


9. White Christmas The Musical - (Musical) Sony Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto (My Review) - I do love Christmas and maybe it was the free gingerbread cookies or the eggnog talking but I enjoyed every white flaky moment of this old fashioned musical.


10. Cirque du Soleil's Koozå (KOOZA) - (Circus) Le Grande Chapiteau at the Port Lands - Toronto (My Review) - Cirque du Soleil brings it back to the circus basics and it may not be as flashy as some of their other shows, it was still just as thrilling and drop-your-mouth stunning.


11. Little Shop of Horrors - (Musical) The Canadian Stage Company - Bluma Appel Theatre - St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto (My Review) - It was a by-the-books (or movie) revival but it made me love this musical again (after a Broadway version that failed to impress) in a light and brainless fun musical way!


12. Xanadu - (Musical) Helen Hayes Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review) - Silly and stupid, campy and cornball, but while Xanadu, a new stage musical based on the horrific movie of the same name isn't perfect, I seem to want to see it again a lot, with amazing performances from almost everyone in the cast on songs that are better than you remember them from the times your mom played them on the LP. Plus free Glo Stix! Cheyenne Jackson in hot pants! Mirrorballs galore! And free Glo Stix!


Here, below, is every show I saw in 2007 in alphabetical order (with my new ratings system based on 5 stars *****):

A Chorus Line - (Musical Revival) Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway, New York (My 3rd Review, My 4th Review *****)

All About My Mother - (Play) The Old Vic - London (My Review ***)

Altar Boyz - (Musical) New World Stages - Off-Broadway, New York (My Review ***1/2)

August: Osage County - (Play) Imperial Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review ****)

The Boy Friend - (Musical Revival) Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London (My Review ***)

Caroline, Or Change - (Musical Revival) National Theatre - London (My Review **)

Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk - (Circus) Madison Square Gardens Wamu Theatre - New York (My Review ***)

Cirque du Soleil's Koozå (KOOZA) - (Circus) Le Grande Chapiteau at the Port Lands - Toronto (My Review ****)

Company - (Musical Review) Barrymore Theatre - Broadway, New York (My 2nd Review, My 3rd Review *****)

Curtains - (Musical) Al Hirschfeld Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review **1/2)

Die Mommie Die - (Play) New World Stages - Off-Broadway New York (My Review **1/2)

Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical - (Musical) St. James Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review *1/2)

Evil Dead: The Musical - (Musical) Diesel Playhouse - Toronto (My Re-Review ***1/2)

Fuerzabruta - (Performance Event) Daryl Roth Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York (My Review ****1/2)

Funny Business The Musical - (Musical) Diesel Playhouse Cabaret - Toronto (My Review **)

Grey Gardens - (Musical) Walter Kerr Theater - Broadway, New York (My Review ***)

Half Life - (Play) Canadian Stage Company - Bluma Appel Theatre - Toronto (**)

High School Musical: On Tour - (Musical) National Tour - The Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto (My Review, Second Review ****)

Is He Dead? - (Play) Lyceum Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review ***)

Jersey Boys - (Musical) August Wilson Theater - Broadway, New York (My Review ****)

Jewtopia - (Play) Diesel Playhouse - Toronto (My Review 1/2*)

Legally Blonde - (Musical) Palace Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review ***)

Little Shop of Horrors - (Musical) The Canadian Stage Company - Bluma Appel Theatre - St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto (My Review ****)

The Merry Widow - (Ballet) The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons For The Performing Arts Centre - Toronto (My Review ****)

Monty Pythons' Spamalot - (Musical) Shubert Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review **)

My One and Only - (Musical Review) Avon Theatre - Stratford Festival - Stratford, ON (My Review **1/2)

Oklahoma! - (Musical Revival) Festival Theatre - Stratford Festival - Stratford, ON (My Review ***)

Parade - (Musical) Donmar Warehouse - London (My Review *****)

Radio City Christmas Spectacular - (Event) Radio City Music Hall - New York (My Review *)

Rent - (Musical) Nederlander Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Re-review ***1/2)

Seussical - (Musical Revival) Lucille Lortel Theater - Off-Broadway, New York (My Review ***1/2)

So You Think You Can Dance 2007 Live Tour - (Dance) Air Canada Centre Theatre - Toronto (My Review ***1/2)

Spring Awakening - (Musical) Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Broadway, New York (My 2nd Review, My 3rd Review, My 4th Review, My 5th Review *****)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - (Musical) National Tour - The Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto (My Review ****)

Take Flight - (Musical) The Menier Chocolate Factory - London (My Review **1/2)

The Threepenny Opera - (Musical) Soulpepper's Young Center For the Performing Arts - Toronto (My Review *1/2)

Traces - les 7 doights de la main/ the 7 fingers' - (Circus) Panasonic Theatre - Toronto (My Review ****1/2)

West Side Story Suite & Glass Pieces & In The Night - (Ballet) National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto (My Review ****1/2)

We Will Rock You - (Musical) Canon Theatre - Toronto (My Review *1/2)

Wicked - (Musical) Gershwin Theatre - Broadway, New York (***1/2)

White Christmas The Musical - (Musical) Sony Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto (My Review ****)

Xanadu - (Musical) Helen Hayes Theatre - Broadway, New York (My Review ****)

Young Frankenstein - (Musical) Hilton Theatre - Broadway, New York (**)

So that's Spring Awakening x 5 in 2007 (haven't written review # 6 yet)
Company x 2
A Chorus Line x 2
High School Musical: On Tour x 2

Musicals x 35 - Individual Musicals x 29
Plays x 6
Circus x 3
Ballet x 2
Fuerzabruta's x 1
So You Think You Can Dance's x 1
Radio City Christmas Spectacular x 1

Well, usually I see a lot of plays but apparently this year it hurt my brain too much, I'll have to add more into 2008.

Best of 2007 Lists:
Best of Music 2007
Best of Television 2007
Best of Movies 2007
Best of Stage 2007
Best of 2007 (The Final Wrap Up)

Previous Best-of Lists:
Best of Music 2006
Best of Television Fall '06 - Winter '07 List
Best of Television 2006
Best of Movies 2006
Best of 2006

Best of Television Fall '05 - Winter '06 List
Best of Television 2005
Best of Movies 2005

More After the Jump...