athene925

Yes, I know. You find it embarrassing. You find it a stereotype of America - uncouth, loud, weight problems, etc. I know, I get it. We all do.

But know what?

At the end of the day, this family is exactly that - a family. A family that doesn't judge based on appearance, past mistakes (teenage pregnancy, divorce), and a family that will stick together through thick and thin. And although some find it appropriate to ridicule them, I feel like there's quite a bit of misconception surrounding this show.

The show is about a lower class southern family's everyday life. Of all the reality shows, this does seem to be the most honest. We watch the family go on camping trips, "familymoon" (a honeymoon inolving the whole family travelling in an RV), undergo marriage counselling, watch the kids try to explore career options by cooking meals for the family or doing makeovers. What makes these normal situations entertaining to watch is how outspoken and eccentric this family is, turning the mundane into hilarious.

Mama June, the family matriarch finds ways to support her family despite their circumstances. She's far sharper than most people seem to believe. They make do with what they have, and do it well. Something that struck a chord with me is that despite the large paycheck that comes with the show, "Mama" doesn't waste the money away on frivolities, spending unwisely. She's putting the money away for the children in trusts as they continue to live within their means based on their previous salary. How many stars live their lives that wisely?

Alana, the young child known as "Honey Boo Boo", is a little girl who is sweet as sugar that seems to just try to make her family happy. She loves being in the spotlight, and it's her I worry about most - I don't want her to grow up and think her fans are just people here to mock her and her family. The true fans love her adorable spunky personality and how much she loves everything and everyone around her. It's contagious and absolutely adorable.

The rest of the clan are just as unique and hilarious, making a crew that is enjoyable to watch. You feel like you're part of their family as you watch their show. Additionally, despite the redneck stereotype they proudly display at times, they're a far cry from bigoted hillbillies: They happily accept their homosexual Uncle Lee (referred to lovingly as "uncle Poodle") without question. As Alana puts it, "There's nothing wrong with being a little gay!", a lesson we can learn from anybody no matter what their background is.

And this is why I love the show: It's adorable, uplifting, happy, hilarious. If you hate it, try watching it more. It's hard not to fall in love with adorable Alana and her family.

"My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding" has a title that is as garish as the contents of the show itself. A documentary-style television show which is a spin-off from "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding", its UK-based equivalent, it chronicles the celebrations of different traveler groups distributed throughout the Southern United States.

Despite having a wedding theme in the title, the show often includes sub-plots or main plots revolving around other celebrations - a birthday party, Halloween party, Thanksgiving family reunion, etc. Despite not being limited only to weddings, all the celebrations have 3 things in common - over-the-top events, gypsies and their culture.

Through the camera lens we are able to delve deep into the culture of the gypsies. The unbiased narrator offers bits of history, such as origins of some of the different traveler groups. Their lifestyle is explored for much of the episode, describing a life that seems virtually unchanged for hundreds of years - the men work, the women stay at home and take care of the household, women drop out of school at 12 and marry often between 14-16 years of age, no dating allowed. Men often propose to their "girlfriends" the second or third time they meet.

Because gypsies are not allowed to date without supervision, nor talk to gypsies of the opposite sex in a normal environment, parties are the one place where they finally engage in the gypsy social milieu. Consequently each gypsy has more makeup, sparkles, and revealing outfit than the next. Despite the provocative outfits and dancing, it is revealed that this culture has a "look but don't touch" policy, far more conservative than one often originally suspects.

When the gypsies finally get engaged, the celebrations are intense. The weddings are known for being as over-the-top as you can imagine, dresses that cost 50 thousand dollars or so (the dressmaker is interviewed during each episode), with giant celebrations and horse-drawn carriages. After the ceremony the bride and groom live the rest of their days in a small trailer and save up for their own children's weddings.

This show has great entertainment value in not only revealing the fascinating culture of Romani gypsies, but in that it often skirts train wreck territory. The narrator and cameramen do a wonderful job presenting an unbiased portrayal of the culture, although the narrator does slip in some deadpan comedy at times. Overall the series is fun, intriguing, and without doubt ridiculous at times. Enjoy it for the entertainment value and try not to take it too seriously.

"Curse of Monkey Island" is a treasure; in my opinion the series as a whole was the holy grail of adventure gaming, not to mention LucasArts.

But to return to "Curse," whats beautiful about CMI is that its not afraid to be itself. It does deviate from the first two but still remains faithful to the Ron Gilbert productions (if only the same could be said about the 4th installment of the series!). The voice work is impeccable, with Dominic Armato playing our favorite protagonist Guybrush Threepwood. The animation, while quite different than the classic pixelated characters, is done beautifully. It really is just absolutely gorgeous. And the music is fantastic! Its never annoying and you never have the urge to turn it off.

Although I'm not too big a fan of romance, the romantic scenes and themes are not at all overpowering. They also have the rare ability to come off as sweet instead of cheesy. That says a lot from a girl who routinely falls asleep during chick flicks.

Then, of course, is the classic MI element of humor. CMI is quite adept at delivering deadpan lines, altogether absurdist humor, and simply good fun. Gary Coleman makes a cameo as a budding young entrepreneur, and world events are discreetly jabbed at without stepping out of the bounds of the game.

Its not entirely fair to compare CMI to MI and MI2 because it truly is in a realm of its own. Personally I can never find a favorite between the 3 as they all are quite different from each other. However, if you want a swashbuckling good time with the flair of the classic series, I insist you give this game a shot. You will NOT be disappointed.

10/10 stars, hands down.

This show is what gives sitcoms their stigma. It's not funny, not clever...if you beg to disagree, look at the "Memorable Quotes" section of IMDb for this monstrosity. They're not very memorable, but they're somewhat painful.

When this show comes on, I literally wince. A friend of mine loved it, so I've tried watching it a couple times. I didn't laugh, but I did cringe. Jenna Elfman just isn't funny. Her on-screen husband is bland. Jokes fall flat, although the poor writing never gave them any boost off the ground to begin with.

If you spent your childhood eating lead paint chips, this show will crack you up. Otherwise, you'll search for the humor and fail - just as this show has failed to create any sort of unique style or hilarity.

If you want clever and funny, check out Arrested Development. Don't let this train wreck of a show, Dharma and Greg, sit on your screen for more than a minute.

This show is "The Bachelor" pimped out with gold teeth, Fifth Wheel losers, strippers, aspiring actors and internet pornography amateurs. This particular Bachelor is an old, washed up, insane individual who likes fried chicken and inventing words that would make an English professor cringe.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the greatest reality television show ever made.

There have been some discrepancies over how genuine this show is, and my answer to that debate is: who cares!? It's amazing. The cast is (as an understatement) colorful and the protagonist offers commentary that cannot be missed. The show seems more geared to having the women spit profanities (amongst other things) and throw punches than to find Flava Flav a soulmate.

If you're an intellectual accidentally stumbling across VH1 at 10 PM on a Sunday evening, you'll enjoy it for irony's sake. If you're like the rest of us, however, large women defecating on floors or dinners consisting of microwave-nuked still-raw chicken will appeal immensely.

Emily's Rating: 10 out of 10. Flava flav!

Perhaps I am just an inexperienced viewer, being relatively new to the horror movie genre; but in my opinion, "The Hills Have Eyes" was NOT what it had promised to be.

I expect terrible horror movies to be at least humorous, and this obviously did not aim for that result. I'd expect well-made horror movies to be scary, and this was not that either. Instead, we have a massacre-a-minute blood-fest which disgusts, but does not scare. My close friend (whom I watched this with) and I get terrified quite easily, but we were both yawning through this.

If you enjoy gratuitous bloodshed void of an interesting plot, than by all means, watch this movie. If you want a scary movie with a back story to keep you interested....definitely find a different movie.