TODO is one daily thing recommended for you, by us.

Okay, so maybe it's not quite the greatest entertainment product ever created by man. But we saw this Disney Channel movie recently, and we've got to tell you, there's a reason why its soundtrack was the bestselling album of 2006: it's good. Well, okay, not good, but you know what? We wake up really goddamn early (we may have mentioned this?) and if we can stay awake til the end of a movie, we are going to go ahead and certify it genius, and if we can't, well, it must suck (sorry, Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky). Anyway, if you like Bring it On, Clueless, 'Degrassi,' 'Degrassi: The Next Generation', or Stick It, or if you were ever in a high school musical, just trust us on this one. And if none of the above apply, you can move along to the next post right about now.

High School Musical, like most musicals, is about a boy and a girl (Troy and Gabriella) who are destined to be together. They are also destined to be cast as the leads in the high school musical, but first they must surmount some obstacles. These obstacles are named Sharpay and Ryan and they are the best part of the movie. Drama queen and king of East High, respectively, they blow their American-idol-reject competition out of the water at the musical auditions, which are held by a drama teacher who pronounces it "musiCALE" and seems to be channeling Meryl Streep channeling Anna Wintour. Anyway, Sharpay (who is blonde and sparkly and a huge bitchy queen bee a la Paige from Degrassi) and Ryan (who bears an eerie resemblance to Richie Rich and who we only later in the movie find out is Sharpay's brother — ha!!) belt out a song and dance number that brings the house down. Awesome!

Then Troy and Gabriella sing the same song in a soulful and sweet and super boring way. They don't immediately get cast as the leads in the musical, though, because then there would be no movie. Instead we watch as Troy struggles to reconcile his desire to sing show tunes with his role as captain of the basketball team. This is funny in and of itself; it gets funnier when the basketball team does a super homosexual dance number about how Troy needs to "get his head in the game." Another dance number born of Troy's inner turmoil is the awesome 'Stick To The Staus Quo,' in which students in the cafeteria confess to their secret passions (a fat nerd likes hip hop! A stoner plays cello!) The rest of the movie is okay too; we did stay awake for it but we don't remember it super clearly. Lots of romantic duets btwn Troy and Gabriella, we think. Sharpay is awesome. And Ryan wears a different gay hat in every scene he's in. Anyway, don't pretend to be too cool for High School Musical because you are only cheating yourself.