Bridesmaids [Movie]

I tend to normally shy away from female driven casts although once in a while I will agree see one and surprisingly like it. For all you faithful Mormons, sorry it's R rated (plenty of penis, beaver and boob humor). Despite the bad breathed loud laughing woman sitting next to me, I found myself laughing every other scene. A small testament as to how much the movie with slight lesbian undertones kept me entertain.
Bridesmaids Trailer by teasertrailer

Lady GaGa Sings "Born This Way" with a Mariachi Band [Best Things Ever]

For reasons I cannot explain, I felt compelled to search for mariachi videos on youtube tonight, and boy did I strike gold. I found a video of a mariachi band covering Born This Way and I was thoroughly enjoying it. Then Lady GaGa herself took the stage and I nearly had a seizure. This is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. Oh my goodness... deep breaths...

New Harry Potter Trailer [Best Things Ever]

OMG. I just wet myself in excitement.

Songs I Love By Artists I Hate [Terrible/Good Things]

As one who is prone to judge and review pop culture, I tend to hate a lot of things. Often I have good reasons for disliking someone or something, and sometimes - like my hatred of Jennifer Aniston - I have no good reason to hate, but feel quite passionate about it.

As strongly as I hate some artists, even I have to admit when they make a decent song. It pains me to say it, but three artists I have hated for a very long time have each recently released songs that I can't get out of my head. Here we go:

Rihanna - S&M

I used to really like Rihanna back in her "Breaking Dishes" days, but something about the majority of her songs literally makes me car-sick, even when I'm sitting still. This song though returns to what made Rihanna good. She doesn't sound quite so whiny and the song is just plain fun. Well played, Rihanna. Please try to keep this up.

Ke$ha - Blow

There are few people I hate more than Ke$ha and it took me a very, very long time to admit that I like this song. I also hate to admit that I really quite like the music video. Damn you, unicorns and James Van Der Beek!!! You've made me like a Ke$ha video and now I hate you for it.

Katy Perry - Firework

This song for me will never get old, no matter how many times I hear it. I hate Katy Perry for making a song I love so much because I absolutely can't stand her. I hate the vapid look of her dead eyes, I hate her pillowy breasts, and I hate how edgy she thinks she is. I love this song though, I just wish someone more talented were singing it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower [Books]

I almost stopped reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower after the first few pages simply because of the format. The book is written in a series of 1st person anonymous letters to someone the protagonist has never met before. It all seemed so cheesy and Go Ask Alice-y. This book however is not gimmicky in the least, and though it is very weird that Charlie, our protagonist, has never met the recipient of his very personal letters, it quickly becomes apparent that such a thing is normal for Charlie.

He is socially inept, he cries almost daily, and he has a crush he is obsessed with and can't get over. Despite all his faults, you can't help but love Charlie and feel immensely invested in all of his pains and struggles.

This book is a powerful account of the high school struggle to make friends and participate in the world rather than simply observing. Though Charlie hopefully has a lot more problems than most of us have to experience, we can all find a part of us in him to relate to.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a hauntingly brilliant book that will leave you feeling different. It is a book you can get lost in and almost experience firsthand, and you will not regret the experience.

[Editor's note: I just noticed that this will be turned into a movie to be released in 2012 directed by the author and starring Emma Watson as Charlie's crush. Needless to say, I just peed myself with excitement.]

The Fascinating Evolution of the Modern-Day Superhero [Literature]

There are many intelligent things I could say about Hero by Perry Moore, but all that comes to mind is: Damn this book is good.

Hero blends the genres of superhero fiction with gay and lesbian fiction, and in the process improves on both genres. The story focuses on Thom Creed, a high school basketball player, who happens to be coming to terms with his sexuality and also happens to be developing super powers. His father, a non-superpowered ex-superhero, blames all the evils in the world on two things: gays and superpowers. The story follows Thom's battle to keep up a good relationship with his father while trying to figure out who he is.

Thom receives an invitation to join The League - the same organization his father used to belong to - and learns to control his new powers, gains allies, and uncovers evils within the League.

Hero deals with Thom's orientation very well too. The book brilliantly doesn't focus too much on Thom being gay, instead letting that be just another characteristic of who he is. The issues and concerns every gay youth goes through are perfectly illustrated in the book, but Moore doesn't drown the narrative with it, instead letting Thom's orientation be just another aspect of a very well-crafted novel.

This book is a must-read for anyone who even mildly enjoys superheroes, and even for people who don't. Hero is a coming-of-age novel with so many fascinating spins. I literally could not put it down. I carried it with me everywhere I went since purchasing it, and now that I've finished I'm still holding onto it longingly wishing there were more.

Be Afraid of What Rebecca Black Hath Unleashed [Terrible Things]

Here at The Gilded Beaver, we strive to showcase the very best of music, television, movies, literature, art, fashion, and culture. However, sometimes it is in our readers best interests if we present what could be deemed the very worst of those categories. It is for this reason I present to you, Friday by Rebecca Black.



Where to begin? Should I start by making fun of her mouth, not only the horrible sounds coming out of it, but also the painful squinchedness of it, as though she were trying to hold several sweet tarts in her cheeks for the duration of the video? No, I think I'll start with the obvious 1st problem: the lyrics.

Could lyrics like "kickin' in the front seat, sittin' in the back seat, gotta make my mind up, which seat can I take?" really sound good if sung by someone with talent? If her Holiness, Our Lady of Gaga were singing this song, I think even I would be forced to say she'd bombed.

Then of course, there is the sickening monotone auto-tunedness. A lot can be said for and against auto-tuning. Auto-tuning covereth a multitude of sins, but there's not much it can do for Rebecca Black.

I wish there were more I could say about this, but I keep watching the video and the awful way she lets her eyes go dead when she sings "Friday, Friday, gettin' down on Friday" just renders me speechless. What has been seen cannot be unseen, and unfortunately for us, what has been heard cannot be unheard.