Lopez Blogs

"We all need a little Christmas" warbled Angela Lansbury in Mame. And for me that sort of describes my year round attitude to pop/feelgood movies/musicals etc. It's all about the feel good factor. I'm unconcerned primarily with what other people think of things - if it gives me a great big happy, then I'm all aboard. Entertainment Weekly put this theory in a more modern context with their review of Spectacular the other week:

"But honestly, has there ever been a better moment for cheery kids put on a show Spectacular? The economy is in the crapper. We're fighting two wars. Even our gold plated Olympic hero gets busted for allegedly doing bong hits. We could use a little shiny-happy optimism!"

And Spectacular was full of the happy. Sure it didn't reach the conclusion you expected it to, but people did the right thing! They followed their path in life! They sang and danced til their little feet could dance no more! Really, if life was more like Spectacular the world would be a more cheerful place. And I would be driving a beemer with the license plate SHW BOY. Magnif. So in honour of Spectacular being released on DVD, here are the first ten things that sprang into my mind that give me that ridiculous giddy to my tummy feeling each time i see or hear them :)

1. When Simon Curtis (above at the Nick Kids Choice Awards - love how braces and shoes match. Like a metro collar and cuffs :P) sings 'as a kid I got a lot of shit for/liking my music "but what is it for?/You should listen to this because it gives more"/Yeah but it sounds lousy on the dancefloor' in the epic xenomaniac Put Your Makeup On, it instantly validates generations of pop lovers gone by and those to come. HAPPY!
2. The little boy running through the airport to tell some ten year old hussy he loves her/Colin Firth tracking down Aurelia in a little French village in "Love, Actually (see here for brilliant Love, Actually joke). Amazing manipulative uplifting music powers the scenes along to their ridiculously sweet and romantic conclusions. HAPPY!
3. Johnny comes in, does the corny but brilliant "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" line, and then Baby/Francis does the jump-lift in Dirty Dancing. Meanwhile old Daily Mail reading dowagers shrug off their fur stoles and shimmy on the dancefloor. HAPPY!
4. The key change in Taylor Swift's Love Story when she sings "marry me juliet you never have to be alone...". It's romantic bliss. And well done key changes always lead to a - HAPPY!
5. Graduation/Proms - England doesn't really do Proms. But when Buffy gets that crappy umbrella in "The Prom" and Veronica Mars gets a loud cheer from her classmates when she graduates, it's all rather lovely and emotional. HAPPY!
6. You need to grab onto the happy moments in Harry Potter, otherwise you will never be able to produce a Patronus worth your while. So when Hermione smacks Draco in the face in the Prisoner of Azkaban, although i don't condone violence, it's marvy pants and groovy because you sense it's the moment that coppertop Ron Weasley fell irrevocably in love with her. HAPPY!
7. During the final two choruses of "Human Again" in Beauty and The Beast - there is something rather exhilarating about the hope and redemption of the animated inanimate objects in this definitely not throwaway cartoon ditty. The visuals are just the icing on the cake. HAPPY!
8. When Lois proposes to Clark in "Ultrawoman" (season 3 ep of Lois & Clark), well sure it's goopy as unwhipped candy floss, but it's payoff to weeks of will-they-won't-they, and despite the shows flaws, two things were certain - Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain had great chemistry, and Lois and Clark were destined to be together. HAPPY!
9. The fact that Pushing Daisies existed at all - even if only for 22 episodes. Ditto Same Difference. One full season and one album of sugar coated delirium is better than nothing. HAPPY!
10. "and nobody in all of oz/no wizard that there is or was/is ever going to bring me down" - Elphaba gets her groove on, flies and closes the first half of Wicked with a little ditty so inspiring, so just-stand-up-for-what's-right that you can't help but cheer your little vocal chords raw. H-A-P-P-Y!

This post is dedicated to AA, SS and all those who deserve to be happy :)

What makes you happy?!