What's lurking around the movie trailer park for Halloween?

I know it's a tad early to be talking about upcoming Halloween movies but since those big bags of trick or treat candy and the latest trendy costumes are already on display at a retailer near you,no time like the present,as they say.

Not to mention that the likes of Jennifer's Body(which is getting a shiny set of mixed reviews for it's debut weekend) and Sorority Row are rolling out the body bags at the multiplex these days. The pickings do seem pretty slim this season,but we might as well sort thru them and see if there's any meat on this pile of bones worth chewing over.



The big magilla on the block is Saw VI,another chapter chronicling the gory legacy of Jigsaw even with him being dead for the last couple of flicks there. I gave up on this series awhile ago,due to it's main premise getting more convoluted than an apology from Kayne West.

It's a shame,since the earlier films had some real dark imagination and nihilistic vitality going for them. Nowadays,it seems that more of the artistic creativity is being put into the posters for the movies rather than the films themselves. No doubt that this will do well at the box office but Saw VI tastes more like a recycled trick than a cinematic treat to me:





Another Hollywood horror awaits unsuspecting moviegoers as the remake of the cult B movie The Stepfather is intended to be out and about this October. While casting Dylan Walsh(best known as the somewhat good half of McNamara/Troy on Nip/Tuck)as the villain was a good choice,the glossy take on the serial stepdaddy plot line and the gender switching of the teen lead who suspects something is up is surely a recipe for mediocrity.

The only good thing to come of this remake is that the original film will at last get a DVD release in mid October. Granted,the source material is not exactly Hitchcock but at least it doesn't look like a CW series:





The only breath of fresh air,so to speak,is coming from Zombieland,a rip roaring tale of our world under a full fledged attack of the undead with Woody Harrelson as the one of the survivors who clearly enjoys his new line of work as a zombie slayer.

The zombie genre has been done to death,even with humorous approaches to it,but when handled with some tender loving care,brain eating can still be a fun scary ride to climb aboard again. Zombieland may appear to be the bastard son of Sam Raimi and George Romero but the gory giggles that it inspires are legitimate indeed:





Your best bets for a horrific Halloween will probably be on the small screen. AMC will no doubt have their Fear Fest marathon of current scare films while TCM will be showcasing some fine old school terrors including a documentary on Val Lewton,the producer of such classic chillers as Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie.

Movies such as Lewton's may make you think that they're too tame for modern audiences but trust me on this one,folks;a little bit of subtlety and shadows go a very long way towards giving your spine a true cinematic chill. Sample some of the weirder wares of yesteryear and you may be unpleasantly surprised:

Top Chef's cowboy cuisine,True Blood closes up shop for Season Two and the winner of Design Star is...

For the Quickfire Challenge on Top Chef this week,a rather odd main ingredient was chosen by viewer text messaging(too bad there wasn't an online vote as well;perhaps I missed it) and it was cactus. Mike Isabella won for his tuna ceviche and got a high stakes prize of $15,000 but alas,no immunity.



The Elimination challenge had the chefs going out to a ranch run by guest judge Tim Love(who was recently on TC Masters)and making a high end meal for him and the ranch hands. Everyone had to camp out overnight in tents and cook over fire pits the next day. Not too many people were thrilled with the accommodations,but,hey,you gotta roll with the punches on a show like this.



Laurine did very well this week-she not only made the Top Three in the QF,her sauteed arctic char with grilled potato was good enough to land her in the winner's circle. The potato was a really smart choice,given that she at least knew the venue where she'd be cooking at(the fire pits and other rustic prep areas were a surprise).



Ashley also did a great job with her halibut and avocado mousse with bacon and braised romaine,which Judge Gail declared the best food offering that Ashley's done so far in this competition. Ashley's flavor profile here was to suggest a fancy club sandwich and the ranch hands picked up on that right off the bat.



Score another win for the Brothers Voltaggio;Bryan beat out Michael this round with his pork loin on corn polenta with glazed rutabaga. Those fellas are really cleaning up the floor with their competitors at the moment but I wouldn't count out folks like Jennifer C and Kevin just yet.



Stinking up the Bottom Three was Robin,whose grilled salad with chicken sausage and "drunken" prawns made the judges literally gag. The prawns must've gone bad before service since their taste was compared to chlorine-yick! The greens were soggy as well but at least Robin realized that she screwed up and wasn't shocked at being on the chopping block here.



Ron's coconut lime tuna ceviche was actually pretty good but the drink he made along side it was bad enough to get him in the loser's ring. I'm worried about Ron,he seems like a nice guy but his cooking hasn't made much of an impression so far(not a good one,anyway). He did admit that the mojito was just a way for him to not waste the extra coconut milk,which I think helped his cause out.




That left Mattin,whose fish for his three way ceviche was so raw that Judge Tom had to get up from the table and spit it out-not of the good there,folks! I don't know why so many of the chefs chose fish plates in the first place. Dry heat doesn't appear to be a location where fish would be tempting to the palate,in my opinion.

Mattin didn't seem to pick up on his error until it was too late,so he went off to pack his knives. Next week,Penn and Teller show up and it looks like some fancy food technology is going to be the headliner for this round. We shall see and savor.



True Blood's second season finale was quite the wild ride. Kudos to the show for going right for the Maryann showdown and what a showdown it was!

Sookie got to use some of her extra special abilities(which freaked her out in a significant way) and while I had a strong feeling that Sam would be the one to take her down in a Chronicles of Narnia fashion(think Aslan and the White Witch towards the end of the Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe),what happened was way more gruesomer than I expected:





Even with Maryann gone for good,the mess left behind her still needs to be cleaned up around Bon Temps. While I do think that Hoyt leaving his mother's house is long overdue and a positive move(for negative reasons),his relationship with Jessica may be heading for more than emotional damage with her new found taste for slaughtering truckers on the sly.



What happened to Eggs was sad and his unfortunate death/cover-up will definitely have major repercussions next season for Jason and Tara. Hopefully,Tara will be able to get over it without opening herself up to more devious manipulators looking for fresh prey,supernatural or otherwise. Andy's going to have a few issues with this,too but something tells me that he'll bounce back just fine.



The major cliffhanger,of course,is what happened to Bill after Sookie went into the ladies' room to consider his proposal of marriage. Some might take Eric's visit to the Queen as a big fat hint about Bill's kidnapping but just keep in mind that the writers are allowed to go off on different paths than the ones the books have laid out.

Normally I ignore any of the actor's behind the scenes details,but it is hard to overlook the fact that Paquin and Moyer are a real life romantic couple with these scenes and no doubt that I'm not the only one there who's keeping her fingers crossed for their future together to work out well. See you two lovebirds next year!:





Congratulations to Antonio,for being the winner of HGTV's latest season of Design Star. His down to earth approach and instinctual choices in design selection will be a real breath of fresh air for the network.

Dan was a nice guy,but way too bland for my taste(plus,his major mistake in that backyard challenge never sat well with me).

The finale challenge was for each of them to design an entire house and while they both did a good job,Antonio's work was better. Dan had a lot of mirrors all over the place,while some of the things that Antonio did will actually add to the value of the house for years to come. A great ending to another good season:



RANDOM NOTES

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:Season Five premieres tonight and the growing popularity of this insane in the membrane series has lead to a tour of their demented musical,The Nightman Cometh,hitting the small theater circuit. Now,that's a show I'd like to see them pull off on Broadway:

On The Shelf with Jason Rekulak

One of the biggest success stories in recent publishing history is the creation of Quirk Classics,which debuted it's offbeat approach to literary classics with the release of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last spring.

P&P&Z,which combined the original words of Jane Austen with the reimagined story line provided by Seth Grahame-Smith,may have seemed to be another jokey title in someone's catalog but the joke is on those who assumed so. It became a best seller all around the country and the world,with eager fans(hopefully live ones not in need of actual brain food) clamoring for more.

The newest Quirk Classic release,Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters which is co-authored by Ben Winters,looks to follow in the same gory footsteps and make a few new splashes of it's own.

For these amusing retold tales,we must thank Jason Rekulak who is an associate publisher and creative director at Quirk Books. The Quirk Classics line is his Frankenstein creation come to life which, oddly enough, has not been run out of town by angry mobs bearing pitchforks. His publishing resume includes time spent at St. Martin's Press and the Quality Paperback Book Club,along with a number of other well received titles for Quirk. We are most fortunate to have him spare a few moments from his literary mash-up lab to answer a few questions regarding the current state of Quirk Classics and possibly get a few glimpses into it's future:



1) Quirk Books is best known for their catalog of offbeat reference books-what made you decide to start up a line of fiction titles?

We'd always wanted to publish fiction, but we didn't want to release the umpteenth novel about a young woman coming of age in Manhattan while attending cocktail parties and yadda yadda yadda. We wanted to wait for the right book.

2) What lead you to link Sense and Sensibility with sea monsters?

After the success of P&P&Z, everyone was encouraging us to do vampires. From a business standpoint, when you look at the numbers for Twilight, this makes a lot of sense. But from a creative standpoint, the vampire genre just seemed exhausted. We didn't want to publish this year's 1 millionth romance novel about vampires.

We wanted to do something more fun, something more unexpected. Sea Monsters allowed us to draw from a rich diversity of sources -- Jules Verne novels, celtic mythology, "Lost," "Jaws," Spongebob Squarepants -- while preserving the elegant and timeless romance at the heart of Austen's original novel:





3) Were you surprised at the success of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies?

Yes and no. I knew the book had a lot going for it, but that never means anything. Every editor knows the experience of working on a really good book that fails to find an audience. So yes, I knew the book had everything it needed to be successful...but no, I never thought it would be translated into Croatian and twenty other languages!

4) Are there any plans in the works to make more monster mashes from Jane Austen's novels?

Working on these books is sheer pleasure. If people want more, we'll bring
it.



5) Will there be other literary authors getting the Quirk Classics treatment in the future?

I hope so! We should be announcing any plans over the next few weeks.

6) What are some of the difficulties of mixing parody material with classic literature?

The goal is to add a bunch of funny & seemingly incongruous stuff while preserving (and ideally amplifying) the ideas and themes of the original novel. We just received a nice review of S&S&SM from New York Magazine that says the monsters in our story "serve as gargoyles emphasizing the immaculate balance of her original story's structure."

In the original S&S,Colonel Brandon is considered dull and unattractive; in our version, he's the same character, only he's been cursed by a sea witch, so there are slimy tentacles extending from his face. But his dialogue hardly changes at all;he's the same character wearing a funny mask.

7) Is there any chance of a Quirk Classic featuring vampires(not necessarily Jane Austen related) showing up someday?

If we can think of a fresh approach, we'll try it. In the meantime, I believe there are plenty of others publishers who are scrambling to bring Jane Austen vampire books to the marketplace.



Much thanks to Mr. Rekulak for his time and best of luck to Quirk Classics,who I hope will delight us with many more merry monster mashes to come. If you haven't snatched up a copy of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters yet,do so at all costs. It is a worthwhile addition to your private library of entertaining elegance,along with a few helpful hints about fighting off giant fish attacks.

I do truly hope that someday Quirk Classics will venture into vampire lore,since it is ripe for parody(even for those of us who bask in the newest vein of bloodsucking celebrity)and an old school setting would showcase this rather nicely,in my humble opinion:

Curl up with Fat Cat for some fun food for thought

Catherine Locke,aka "Cat",has always been a top student in school,particularly in her AP Science class. However,one of her biggest goals academically is to beat former friend and unofficial rival Matt McKinney in the annual Science Fair.

So,when Mr. Fizer,their science teacher who insists on his students being creative as well as logical,sets out a stack of random photos for the class to choose from as inspiration for their projects,Cat is determined to come up with the most unique challenge of them all.

Based on the picture that she chose,Cat creates a experiment that will force her to change her way of life. She decides to live as a hominid(a cave woman,in other words),which means limited or no use of technology and giving up junk food and make-up. She has to keep her project a secret from most of the world,something that makes the radical alterations in her daily routine hard to explain to others:





Cat gets plenty of support and encouragement from her best friend,Amanda,who has her doubts about the experiment at first but begins to see it as a way for her friend to break out of her protective personal shell. Ever since Cat overheard Matt talking about her after a science fair years ago,she's retreated from many of the things she used to enjoy as well as mingling with other people:





Cat loses a lot of weight from all the extra walking and healthy way of eating that the experiment requires and starts to receive more attention from boys,even Matt.

While she is still determined not to give Matt the time of day,his enhanced notice of her new social status gives her incentive to start a second,even more secretive experiment to test out her new powers of attraction. As she spreads out her wings and rediscovers some old pastimes abandoned long ago,Cat begins to reevaluate many of her preconceived notions,including her long standing feud with Matt,who may not be the villain of the story after all.



Fat Cat is only the second novel by Robin Brande for young adults but her writing makes it seem like she's been doing this for ages. It's wonderful to see the thoughtful leading ladies that she creates,who are just as interested in science as well as matters of the heart.

Robin also has a great knack for creating realistic and delightful supporting characters such as Amanda,whose enthusiasm and emotional back up for Cat makes you wish that you had a best friend like that in your life,past and present.

Fat Cat does delve into issues regarding food choices but doesn't become a sermon about healthy eating. As in her earlier book,Evolution,Me and Other Freaks of Nature,the reader is allowed and encouraged to think for themselves,along with the characters and should provide a good deal of discussion topics for any reading group in or out of class.

Fat Cat is set to be released on October 13,and I hope that this excellent read gets all of the attention and praise that it truly deserves. At the end of this month,we here at LRG will be holding a giveaway of at least 5 copies of Fat Cat paired with specially created T shirts that tie in an important aspect of the story. Stay tuned for more details yet to come,folks!

In the meantime, mark your calendars and prepare to meet Cat and company,who will brilliantly blind you with their science:

Sail away with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

From the folks who brought you Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,another hybrid of Jane Austen's classic novels of love and society and horror genre menaces is about to hit our literary shores. This time,the target is Sense and Sensibility,with the interesting add-on of Sea Monsters,thanks to "co-author" Ben H. Winters.

The story set-up is familiar;the Dashwood sisters must find a new home after their father meets his untimely end at the gruesome jaws of a shark and all of the family estate by the seaside is inherited by half brother John,who with the help of his cold as a cod wife Fanny,reneges on his promises to assist them(it helps that the plea by the senior Mr. Dashwood was written in sand and washed away by the tides).




The ladies are offered a home on one of the islands owned by Sir John,a somewhat retired adventurer,and there Miss Marianne is courted by two suitors. One she automatically rejects is Colonel Brandon,who has a tentacle ridden face due to a sea witch's curse,and the other, Willoughby, she unreservedly gives her heart to after he rescues her from the clutches of an octopus.

Elinor,on the other hand,slowly realizes that she and Edward Ferrars will more than likely never get a chance to express their love,especially when Lucy Steele lets her in on the secret engagement between her and Edward(ill timely told while rowing a boat just as the Devonshire Fang Beast rises up from the waters to make his presence known).

Many of the perils of this book are physical as well as emotional,due to the ongoing battle between mankind and just about every denizen of the deep that you can imagine:





This background of nautical warfare is due to an event called The Alteration,which has a number of theories about it's origins held by several characters throughout the story,but even that doesn't prevent the Dashwood sisters from experiencing heartbreak or other worries.

Their loads to bear in life are made more exotic by having to flee giant lobster attacks,hold off a band of vicious pirates and fearing for young Margaret's state of mind as she becomes obsessed with some strange goings-on at their new island home.

Those who are ardent admirers of Miss Austen's novels should be able to rest easy;while the outrageous acts of violence committed by sea dwelling creatures of all sorts are merrily splattering the pages,the heart of the tale is still intact. Marianne's legendary misery is complete in all it's glory,only with a maritime setting to enhance it further along:





Ben Winters mixes in plenty of prior literary ocean based references such as Jules Verne,along with some offbeat mystical ones like H.P. Lovecraft with parody laced panache. While sea monsters may not have the instant pop cultural cache of zombies ,this second go-round at Jane Austen has the potential to create a revival.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is an amusing take on the Austen romantic realm that brings much needed laughter to readers to put them at ease as they go forth thru the troubled waters of our times.

Whether you're a land lubber or a salty sea dog,S&S&SM has the right bait and hook to reel you into the wild waves of this Regency romp. The best you can do is hang on tight and enjoy the ride-you might even make a few new friends along the way:

Who would be the ideal American Idol judge?

It's been officially announced that Ellen Degeneres will be taking over Paula Abdul's spot on the next season of American Idol. While that's great for her,I have to join the rest of the skeptics out there in eyebrow raising and say "Huh?"

Don't get me wrong-Ellen's a sweetheart and very talented(she makes for a better talk show host than a sitcom star,in my opinion)but other than liking to dance in public,what qualifies her to judge a singing competition?

It's like replacing Tim Gunn on Project Runway with Joe Pesci or having Ozzy Osbourne sit in for Tom Coliccho on Top Chef. A level of expertise on a certain subject is the basic requirement for most judges of competition shows,that's all I'm saying.




Even the awful Kara DioGuardi,aka Eve Harrington,does have some cred on the AI panel with her resume of song writing and producing over the past several years. More than likely,the producers chose Ellen for her likability rather than any critical feedback she has to offer the next batch of potential singers.

That's fine,but it does make me wonder who else might have been a more suitable candidate to replace Paula,so without any further ado,here are the official LRG suggestions for the next American Idol Judge:



BELINDA CARLISLE

In selecting the next big thing in pop music,who could be better than a former pop star herself? Belinda Carlisle not only fronted the Go-Gos,she had a decent solo career as well,plus she's already been a judge on MTV's Rock the Cradle and appeared on the likes of Celebrity Duets and even Dancing with the Stars.

Belinda's life experiences in the world of music would make her a great source of sympathy and support for the AI contenders,plus she could relate to such themes as Classic Songs From The 19-whatever or Duets(if they do that again on Idol)far more than anyone else on that panel:





CYNDI LAUPER

Now,if you want to keep the wacky vibe that Paula always brought to the show,but without the risk of possible chemical enhancement being in the mix,Cyndi Lauper is the gal for you,folks. She still has a strong and melodic singing voice and is a fine role model for those who march to the beat of a very different drum.

Also,Cyndi can hold her own on the panel-remember,at one time she used to work with the wild and crazy gang at WWF on a semi regular basis,so Simon and Ryan Seacrest's antics would be a piece of cake. Even Ellen would agree that Cyndi knows her stuff when it comes to music:





WEIRD AL YANKOVIC

If you just want to go for the wacky,Weird Al has pretty much cornered the market there. His musical parodies are considered classics at this point and he's no stranger to TV appearances. He'd definitely be able to put any nervous singer at ease whether during the auditions or on stage with his lovable loser ways:





PHOEBE BUFFAY

Some of you are saying right now,"Uh,Lady T,you know that's a fictional character,right?" and my reply is "Yeah,but so was "Norman Gentle" on last season's Idol and he made it to the Top 36,so there you go." Besides,Lisa Kudrow could certainly use the work.

It would be fun to have Phoebe's perspective on Idol and maybe even a performance or two;I'd rather hear one of her original songs than any of Kara's again:





ANY FORMER AMERICAN IDOL WINNER/RUNNER UP

The best of all possible replacement judges would be someone who's gone thru the process and come out a winner,or almost a winner. There are a good number of the Idol also-rans who could do this along with past champions(Clay Aiken can't be in Spamalot forever,after all) and such a treasure chest of knowledge would be a plum asset to the quality of the show.

It doesn't have to be just one past contender. Setting up a rotation of previous AI folk,according to their schedules,might be a good way to do it,plus keep things fresh. A lot of the fans would really respond favorably to this,especially if there was a promise of replays of great AI moments from the past,like Fantasia's "Summertime":



We'll just have to wait and see how Ellen will do as an American Idol judge. I intend to watch this season and with any luck,some interesting musical rivalry between the two ladies will stir things up and make one of them give one of the best worst numbers ever seen on the Idol stage. I know that sounds mean,but a little friendly competition can add some spice to well worn proceedings or a couple of laughs:

Top Chef's French twist, a second shot of Glee and Design Star's Final Two

The theme for this week's Top Chef was French cuisine. The Quickfire Challenge had the chefs coming up with an impressive dish that had snails as the protein. The high stakes part of the deal was that the loser would be sent home(not as quickly as it seemed.

In the Bottom Three were Ashley,Robin and Jesse,whose "E.L.T."(escargot,mache lettuce and tomato)put a bad taste in the mouths of Judge Tom and guest judge Daniel Boulud. The ladies were granted one last chance with a twenty minute cook-off to make an amuse-bouche that would save them from dismissal.




Jesse lost again and had to pack her knives. The tuna tartare with gooseberries and quail egg she whipped up flopped flavor wise. I think this was a good call;poor Jesse has had problems since Day One of this season and it was best to put her out of her misery.



Kevin won the Quickfire,thanks to his escargot fricassee with candied bacon and mushrooms,and not only received immunity but was given a real food lover's treat. He didn't have to compete in the Elimination Challenge-instead,he took a seat at the dinner table with some of the greatest French chefs of our time to judge everyone else's food instead. Talk about having your cake and eating it too,folks!




The remaining chefs had two knife pulls-one that gave half of them a French sauce,the other a French protein. The sauce makers had to team up with the protein preparers for a six course meal to be served to the likes of Hubert Keller,Jean Joho and Joel Robuchon,who was declared "chef of the century" in France. Quite of like a struggling rock band having to give a private performance for Mick Jagger,Steven Tyler and any of the surviving Beatles.



Once again,the brothers Voltaggio dominated the playing field. Michael made a lapin chasseur(rabbit) that went well with Jennifer's sauce and mustard noodles.

The judges adored it and Jennifer expressed how helpful Michael was in getting the rabbit bones to her so quickly for boiling into her sauce. A nice bit of teamwork there.



But it was Bryan who won,with a warm cured trout that complimented Mikey I's deconstructed Bearnaise sauce brilliantly. Bryan and Mikey collaborated on the sauce,which knocked the socks off of the French masters of cuisine. Bryan was granted an extra special honor for this win,getting to work with Joel Robuchon for a week at one of his restaurants.



On the chopping block,Ashley and Mattin had trouble explaining why there was asparagus served with their seared poussin and ravioli(Ashley insisted on it,Mattin objected)and what happened with the veloute sauce. Judge Gail said it tasted like "bacon cream sauce",which is not as good as it may sound to some.



If there's one thing the chefs will learn from this Elimination round,it's not to mess with Judge Gail's portions. Her plate of steak from Ash and Hector was an end piece of meat that was badly sliced;she claimed that it seemed to have been "cut with an ax"-not of the good,people. Also,Ash's sauce was particularly nonexistent due to the last minute prep of the meat which sucked up all of it before the plates were served.

Hector was sent home as well-too bad,buddy. I'm not sure what's on the menu for next week but clearly the expectations on the chefs in season six is higher than it's ever been before.



The second episode of Glee aired last night,and I have to say that the show stands up pretty good so far. Plenty of advance hype has been heaped onto this series and while it does come across as a bit cartoony at times,Glee has great potential to become a real snarky heartwarmer.

The musical numbers are the show's strong point but hopefully the plot lines will be getting just as strong in order to round out the entire concept fully. This talented cast certainly deserves it:





The next to last challenge on Design Star was to make over a room for a celebrity client;Antonio wound up with Kathy Griffin,who wanted an office space created in her home for her "Team Griffin" staff. Despite her cracks about getting a straight designer,she did like the final results.

The room was tricky to work with,being rather narrow,but Antonio managed to make it stylish and efficient. The best touch,in my opinion,was the large map of America erase board he had custom made for the room which was practical and a nice display piece for that section of the wall.



Dan did a baby room for Jason Priestly and his wife who are expecting a second child. Since they knew it was going to be a boy,Dan went with a Cape Cod nautical look that didn't go overboard. He even did a lovely painting that was cleverly hung up with rope and whipped up a abstract boat mobile for the ceiling that won him quite a bit of praise from all corners.



Lonni had a guest room to redo for Tiffany Thiessen and was told to make it eco-friendly. She delivered on that,but the result was a tad bland. Also,Lonni went all Repeat-O Girl with her big focal wall design trick and the headboard she bought couldn't be installed on time.

So Lonni went home and now it's down to Antonio and Dan for the Big Two showdown this Sunday. This time,it's the judges who will be choosing the winner so it's really anyone's game at this point. May the best man win!:



RANDOM NOTES

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:Yes,folks,I'm going to give this Dawson's Creek After Dark series a small bite tonight. True Blood is almost over,after all,and my vampire cravings need something to sharpen their fangs on until next season. Who knows,maybe this bloodsucking teen soap opera might become the Dark Shadows of the new millennium:



Speaking of True Blood,the season two finale is the ultimate in must-see TV. Get ready for the crazy,friends and fiends: