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March 2nd, 2008

“Ugly Betty” Update

vwslater.jpg After watching 16 episodes of Season 1, I’ve decided to call it quits on Ugly Betty. The show started out in a very promising way, and I thought much of it was genuinely funny. But then things kind of dovetailed towards the middle part of the season. It was a struggle for me to sit through entire episodes, and the storylines were just too boring to hold my attention.

By the time I got to episode 1×16, the only bright spots for me were America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams. Both were brilliant in their roles. Ferrera is so earnest and down to earth in the title role that she made it easy to root for Betty to succeed.

Williams is awesome as the scheming Wilhelmina Slater, and I have to say that I’m happy that the actress has received so much attention in her new role. She’s come quite a long way from pitching acne treatment in infomercials, hasn’t she?

Well, I’m kind of disappointed about not being able to get into Ugly Betty. This makes the second popular television show (along with The Office) that I just can’t watch!

March 2nd, 2008

Top Movies for 3/2/08

semipro1.jpg Will Ferrel fans showed that they’re not yet tired of the same formula that the veteran funnyman has used in his last three films. Ferrel, playing an overweight, out-of-shape lug who somehow manages to be good at a sport is once again box office champ, this time with the basketball comedy Semi-Pro. The comedy debuted with a disappointing $15.3 million, but that was enough to outpace last week’s top film, Vantage Point, which earned $13 million.

Other newcomers in the Top 10 included the period piece The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, and the modern fairy tale Penelope, with Christina Ricc, James McAvoy, and Reese Witherspoon. The Other Boleyn Girl took in $8.3 million, good enough for fourth place, while Penelope scored $4 million to debut in eighth place.

Also noteworthy was the reappearance of No Country for Old Men. Fueled by renewed interest from its Oscar win as Best Picture of the year, this Coen brothers effort earned $4 milliion after not being in the Top 10 last week.

Here’s the complete Top 10 for the weekend:

  1. Semi-Pro, $15.3 million
  2. Vantage Point, $13 million
  3. The Spiderwick Chronicles, $8.75 million
  4. The Other Boleyn Girl, $8.3 million
  5. Jumper, $7.6 million
  6. Step Up 2 the Streets, $5.71 million
  7. Fool’s Gold, $4.69 million
  8. Penelope, $4.01 million
  9. No Country for Old Men, $4 million
  10. Juno, $3.35 million
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