 "Photo: Photo courtesy of MTV")
Stop the press
"The Paper" is a new reality show on MTV more in the mold of "Made" than faux-reality TV like "The Hills." I was intrigued to see what the show was all about, since I work at the school paper. Little did I know that the show would be a bunch of high schoolers bitching and moaning, but isn't that what high schoolers do best? The students that run the Cypress Bay Circuit make their monthly publication seem like it's a truly intense affair with plenty of screaming, running and skullduggery. The premiere episode featured more backstabbing than an episode of "Gossip Girl," with almost everyone at the paper plotting against would-be editor-in-chief candidate Amanda Lorber. When Amanda gets strep throat, one guy says she finally caught something from "kissing so much ass," only to bring her soup later (Who visits someone with strep? I think that seems like you're asking to get sick, as well). The kids plot that they will disobey all of Amanda's orders if she gets the position, which the episode makes pretty obvious that she does since it's told from her fabulously bitchy perspective. By the end, I both disliked and felt sorry for Amanda. Here's a girl that wants this position so much that she insists on staying home to work on her resume, alienating herself from the rest of the paper crew, who are all at someone's house indulging in underage drinking and heavy petting. Once she gets the position, it's clear that everyone is less than happy about it and they make sure to let Amanda know, almost to a cruel extent. My weekly fix of teen drama isn't satiated with "Degrassi," which is why I'll be tuning into "The Paper" on Monday nights at 9:30 p.m.
Wilder days
Gene Wilder has always been a part of my life. I grew up watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles." I caught "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" on UPN one Saturday afternoon and saw "The Producers" before it turned into a Broadway smash hit. I even made sure to watch "Murder in a Small Town" when it premiered on TNT back in 1999. I love his work and that's what made the Turner Classic Movies documentary "Role Models: Gene Wilder" such a treasure to watch. He hasn't made a film in almost 10 years, so it was refreshing to see him well and still very full of life. He talked about his film roles, life and love with Alec Baldwin, who conducted the interview with the 75-year-old actor. When Wilder recalls that his breakdown scenes as Dr. Frankenstein utilized a lot of anger he had pent up toward his first wife, Baldwin seizes on the chance to make a joke about Kim Basinger. While things got uncomfortable whenever Baldwin broke into Basinger bashing, the documentary (directed by Robert Trachtenberg) was a candid and exciting look at where one of cinema's greats has ended up.
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