When has a celebrity’s endorsement of a movie, TV show, album or book convinced you to give it a look or a listen? Here’s why I’m asking: Last weekend, I’m visiting my parents again and I sat down to watch season 1 of Gunsmoke on DVD with my dad. (He’s a big fan; I’ve never seen the show but think I should.) We press play on the first episode and find ourselves staring at John Wayne (below), who tells us — as he did the audience who tuned in to the premiere in 1955 — that he wishes he could be on the new series because it’s "honest," "adult," and "realistic." John Wayne has to be the best endorsement a Western can get, right? Suddenly, I’m interested in Marshal Matt Dillon (and how close he is to Miss Kitty Russell), and I don’t even mind that my father feels the need to point out every time Deputy Chester Goode refers to him as "Mr. Dillon."
Your turn. What endorsements hooked you, for better or worse? Maybe you went to see Hero and Hostel because they were "presented by Quentin Tarantino." Maybe you finally checked out Veronica Mars after Joss Whedon raved about it in EW. Maybe you bought a band’s entire catalog because Daniel Radcliffe (or the teen idol of your choice) said they were brilliant.
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Arsenio Hall really got me deep into the catalog of C&C Music Factory.
I read “The Ruins,” something I never would have even considered, after Stephen King raved about it, and I loved it.
I read “Sarah” and “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things” by JT Leroy because Shirley Manson of Garbage raved about the author and wrote the song “Cherry Lips” based on “him.” Then it turned out the author never existed. I’m never following an endorsement again.
I’m not saying this to suck up, but I rented the DVDs of Veronica Mars and Battlestar Gallactica because of EW’s recommendations (Joss Whedon’s support of Ms. Mars didn’t hurt either). I haven’t got to The Wire yet.
I bought Mandy Moore’s cd “Coverage” based on the recommendation (more like obsession) by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz. I’m not exactly a converted Mandy Moore fan now but there’s about half a dozen good covers on that cd, especially her take on Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow.”
Although I didn’t watch the OC during its peak, Seth Cohen did influence me to check out Death Cab for Cutie.
Ditto on The Ruins, endorsed by Stephen King. I just picked it up at a book sale.
I picked up both the Arcade Fire and TV on the Radio CDs after I found out the Trent Reznor used them as opening music for NIN live shows.
Ok, in college I loved Duncan Sheik and not too long ago I went on his website and he had recommended Elbow’s Leaders of the Free World and it’s a great album. I don’t really listen to DS anymore but Elbow still gets some play in my CD player.
Because I love Slezak and agree with almost everything he says, I decided to give The Comeback a try. Sorry, but it deserved to be cancelled.
I got into the band the Black Lips as a result of Deerhunter lead singer Bradford Cox’s endorsement. Aziz Ansari’s comedy bit about Cold Stone Ice Cream made me check that out.
I put a lot of movies & shows in my Netflix queue based on pop-watchers’ raves. I haven’t been steered wrong yet.
Well, it looks like I’m not the only one who bought The Ruins because Stephen King (and EW’s A grade) told me to and said it was one of the scariest books ever. TOO BAD that the book was terrible. I mean vines aren’t scary shoot. And they are going to make it into a movie? YEAH, a movie that nobody sees.
“Maybe you went to see Hero and Hostel because they were ‘presented by Quentin Tarantino.’”
Guilty! I would’ve seen Hostel 1 & 2 without the QT endorsement. But I did see Hero and The Protector because the case said “Quentin Tarantino Presents”, and I bought Iron Monkey and Switchblade Sisters for the same reason. Thriller: A Cruel Picture didn’t have that label, just a quote from him saying that it was the roughest revenge movie ever made. I think my definition of rough revenge movie differs from his: Thriller is not that rough.
After hearing him rave about Shaun of the Dead and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, I rented them.
I’ve bought movies because he mentioned in an interview (Don’t Go in the House), referenced in one of his movies (Lady Snowblood, Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry), or called one of his favorites (Rio Bravo). The list of movies I want to see because of him is long.
As a fan of QT’s, I’d like to see some of the movies that influenced him.
I missed The Ruins, but I did read The Memory of Running based on Uncle Stevie’s recommendation, and loved it!
Anna took my answer! Because of my undying love of Slezak, I watched the entire season of The Comeback over a weekend. I’d watch anything he endorses!!
Anything that David Byrne recommends on his blog I’m up for. Whether it’s books, art, movies, whatever. That’s where I first heard about The Arcade Fire a few years ago.
Also, I read “The Woman Who Walked Into Doors” by Roddy Doyle after I read in EW J.K. Rowling loved him. The book was so-so.
After reading Uncle Stevie rave about Veronica Mars in his column, we had to check it out..and now its gone and we cry each night…Bad Uncle Stevie, bad!
I started watching “The Office” just this past year because of reading all of the comments on TV Watch. I wanted to see what everyone was laughing about. So, EW and the popwatchers are responsible.
Oh, and I absolutely love the show. Thanks!
John Mayer turned me on to Brett Dennen. I’ve since bought two of Brett’s CDs and seen him in concert.
And considering this is a confessional, I will confess that Jennifer Love Hewitt (the Party of Five years version) definitely convinced me to buy Neutrogena facewash.
I agree with the majority of these posts – I bought “The Ruins” because of EW’s Grade A & it’s inclusion on the “MUST LIST.”
I could start an entire library with the books I bought because they were on “Lost” or because they could contain a clue to the mysteries of “Lost,” or even because their plights or character names slightly resemble those of the characters on “Lost.”
I’ve yet to do it, but watching “Bunny Lake is Missing” has been on my to do list for some time based on the BBC radio commercial for the movie that is on the Zombies CD box set (they’re also in the movie). How could a movie with a jingle that has the catchy chorus of “Come on time!” and the reminder that “Lawrence Olivier is IMMENSE!” be bad?
I’ve kept a list of every book ever mentioned on Gilmore Girls, although I don’t think I’ve read any books specifically for that reason.
Ethan Hawke’s rec of “Anna Karenina” in last week’s EW has me seriously thinking of picking it up.
Pretty much the music that is played on any CSI,especially Miami. I still have Timo Maas’es “Time to Get Down” on my MP3 Player.
The Watchmen – because of Lost, EW, and it felt like something I should read for my cultural literacy!
In high school, I started reading Ayn Rand books because of Rush’s “2112,” sort of a musical version of Rand’s “Anthem.”
A couple years later, I started reading John D. McDonald’s Travis McGee mysteries because of a reference to the books in the Jimmy Buffett song “Incommunicado.”
I checked out TV on the Radio after hearing Trent Reznor rave about them. It was nice to know he confirmed my admiration for Arcade Fire.
Same holds true for Veronica Mars. I loved that show from day 1 so it was nice to see Whedon and King rave about it.
I now think Daniel Radcliffe is cooler because he shares my love of Sigur Ros.
I have downloaded pretty much every song that was played on SYTYCD. I started this trend in the first season when one of the couple’s did a hip hop routine to “Shake” by Pitbull f/Ying Yang Twins. This is still one of my favorite summer songs!
I bought CDs of The Magic Numbers and The Cat Empire because Ringo Starr recommended them on his web site.