Archive: January 2009 (201-210 of 354)

Jan 15 2009 07:44 PM ET

The Decemberists offer free MP3 of creepy but catchy 'The Rake's Song'

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Thedecemberists_lUp until this morning, all I knew about the album the Decemberists will release in March is that it’s called The Hazards of Love and it has one convoluted concept. Take it away, press release: "The Hazards Of Love tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake…" I really like the Decemberists in all their willful weirdness, but wha?!

Luckily, that same press release from today also included a heads-up to the free MP3 that the band is giving away on their website. "The Rake’s Song" is packed with creepy, violent storytelling and archaic phrasings. (Wouldn’t really be a Decemberists song without those, would it?) But it also sports a hook catchy enough to convince me that this album could be pretty great. Suddenly, I am feeling much more interested in hearing about these shape-shifting animal/criminals, forest queens, &c! Click over to the band’s site, indie rock fans, then let me know if you agree.

More on the Decemberists and quirky rock:
EW Gallery: The Indie Rock 25
EW chatted with lead Decemberist Colin Meloy in 2007
Whitney Pastorek worked a Coyote Ugly reference into her review of a show the Decemberists played with the L.A. Philharmonic
EW gave the Decemberists’ last album, The Crane Wife, a B+ review

Jan 15 2009 07:00 PM ET

Tim Meadows visits 'The Colbert Report' to hawk inauguration merch: I'm sold!

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Filed under: About Last Night, Television and tagged: , , , ,

Sometimes all it takes is one quick cameo to remind you how much you miss a pop-culture personage. Take Tim Meadows’ in-character appearance on The Colbert Report last night. Just a couple minutes of Meadows sending up those absurd commemorative Obama keepsake/kitchenware ads sent me straight to his IMDB page to scope out what else he’s been working on*. Dude is hilarious! This is a fact that does not get mentioned often enough, in my opinion, and I am now making it my mission to fix this. How could we have taken Meadows for granted all through those 37 seasons of SNL he did? Also, he is a skilled salesman. Watch the clip below and tell me you aren’t a little tempted to call now and buy a few of those souvenirs Meadows and Stephen Colbert are pushing.

(*Sad answer: Supporting roles in something called Breast Picture – yikes — and Ashley Tisdale/Kevin Nealon vehicle They Came From Upstairs. Oh well.)

More on The Colbert Report:
The Report was Ken Tucker’s Best TV Show of 2008
A Colbert Christmas inspired EW’s 25 Classic Holiday TV Episodes
Stephen ranked high on EW’s 25 Funniest People in America
Colbert and Jon Stewart made EW’s cover last fall

Jan 15 2009 06:30 PM ET

Ricardo Montalban will always be Khan to me

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Wrathkhanricardomontalba_lThe late Ricardo Montalban had a titanic career — spanning some 60-odd years — during which the Mexican actor kicked up his heels in MGM musicals and granted wishes on Fantasy Island, set the stage for ape rebellions and tangled with men from U.N.C.L.E, swung with nighttime soap stars and lent his voice to Family Guy. It doesn’t matter than he won an Emmy (for 1978′s How the West Was Won) or was nominated for a Tony (for 1958′s Jamaica)…to me, he will always be Khan.

He will always be Captain Kirk’s finest foe, the would-be conqueror who first tried to steal the Enterprise in the classic Star Trek episode "Space Seed" and then finally robbed Kirk of his best friend in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Montalban’s magnetic, robust presence; that voice that sounded like a ride over rolling hills — he made Khan Noonien Singh the worst kind of despot: the kind you’re pretty sure you’d die for. The product of a Eugenics program that rendered him stronger and smarter than the average bear, Khan was a tragic figure — the man who would not be denied, born into a world that did nothing buy deny him his birthright — and that tragedy is part of what lifts Star Trek II to an almost Shakespearean level.

Some may choose to remember Montalban as the benign Mr. Roarke, with his white suit and diminutive assistant, teaching life lessons on a mystical island resort, or as the suave movie star romancing Shirley Maclaine in Sweet Charity, helping teach her the ways of the world. Me? I will always remember him, teeth gritted, quoting Moby Dick as he hurls one final benediction toward Admiral Kirk: "To the last, I will grapple with thee…from Hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

Not the warmest sentiment, I know, but fitting nevertheless.

Jan 15 2009 04:00 PM ET

Clip du jour: 'Bones' vs. Fox censors

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Filed under: Bones, Television and tagged: , , ,

Who doesn’t love a good standards-and-practices story?* Last spring, during a panel discussion at the Paley Center for Media, Bones exec producer Stephen Nathan and creator Hart Hanson shared a few of the classic battles they’ve waged against Fox’s censors over the years. How many times a season do you think they play the Jack Bauer card?

*Also an excuse for us to remind you that Bones moves to a new timeslot, Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET, on Jan. 22.


More on standards and practices:
Lynette Rice’s candid 2007 roundtable with S&P execs: Part I
Lynette Rice’s candid 2007 roundtable with S&P execs: Part II

Jan 15 2009 03:48 PM ET

'Pineapple Express': The alternate ending?

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Filed under: Food and Drink, Movies and tagged: , , ,

One of the Pineapple Express DVD’s hidden gems is the purported "alternate ending" featured below. It’s amusing, particularly the paranoid bad-guy sightings (maybe they’d just imagined that whole gory blowout scene, too? Gah! I wish) and tender final display of dealer-dealee affection. But anything that would effectively delete the Pulp Fiction-y breakfast scene at the end of the theatrical release deserves no more credit than that. I wanted to liquify the essence of giggly James Franco in that diner scene and pour it all over every waffle in my blazing-hot future. This concludes the graphic portion of this PopWatch entry. Press play below. Thanks to Videogum for the tip.

Jan 15 2009 03:24 PM ET

Want to see Amy Poehler work for the parks department in Indiana?

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Filed under: Television and tagged: ,

Amypoehler_l_2According to Zap2It, Archie Arnett’s mama’s upcoming NBC sitcom will follow The Office‘s general documentary style and revolve around a similarly clueless boss: "Set in the parks & recreation department of a local city governmentin some podunk town, Poehler will play a delusional employee, totallyunaware that she doesn’t work in high ranking politics." To me, this screams less "Michael Scott" than "Lieutenant Jim Dangle" (Thomas Lennon’s character on Reno 911, pictured), so I can only hope that Poehler’s character will conduct meetings in the slightly NSFW style of the Reno Sheriff’s Department.

THR.com reports today that Upright Citizens Brigade player Aubrey Plaza will costar as an intern to Poehler’s deputy chairman in Pawnee, Indiana. I’m already loving the improv potential of this show, not to mention we already know Amy Poehler looks cute in earth tones due to her stint as G.O.B.’s army wife on Arrested Development. So there’s a plus. WOW, that’s a stretch. What about you — do you like the parks department concept?

Read more:
‘SNL’: Amy Poehler’s farewell
How will ‘SNL’ fare without Amy Poehler?

addCredit(“Poehler: Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC; Lennon: Ian White/Comedy Central”)

Jan 15 2009 02:00 PM ET

Site of the Day: Vote for GAC's Top 20 Love Songs

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The cable channel GAC, Great American Country, will count down its 20 Top Love Songs on Feb. 11 in a special hosted by PopWatch fave Blake Shelton. You can vote for your 10 favorites on gactv.com through Feb. 1. Your initial response when browsing the list of 150-plus options might be, What the —? The selections (or, rather, obvious omissions) are puzzling. But that’s what makes it interesting in the end. It’s an actual competition. My list:

1. Alison Krauss & Union Station’s "When You Say Nothing At All"
2. Randy Travis’ "Forever And Ever, Amen"
3. Garth Brooks’ "To Make You Feel My Love"
4. Keith Urban’s "Raining on Sunday"
5. George Strait’s "Carrying Your Love With Me"
6. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s "It’s Your Love"
7. Shania Twain’s "From This Moment On" (but only if we’re talking about the version featuring Bryan White)
8. Josh Turner’s "Your Man" 
9. Jason Michael Carroll’s "Livin’ Our Love Song"
10. Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black’s "When I Said I Do," below (picked over Reba McEntire and Vince Gill’s "The Heart Won’t Lie," even though that video is genius)

Jan 15 2009 12:30 PM ET

The Grammys are selling -- are you buying?

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , , , ,

Once upon a time, if you built it — and handed out lots of heavy, shiny, engraved statuettes on the dais when you got there — viewers would come. These days, however, traditional awards shows like the Grammys and the Oscars face both a numbing glut of competitors (next up, Gaffers’ Choice!) and the increasingly indifferent response of audiences. That’s why the former have taken it upon themselves to sign up the likes of Rihanna, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Lenny Kravitz, and Lil Wayne for a major Recording Academy campaign via TV, print, radio, and the Internet. Billboard talked to the Academy’s chief marketing officer, who said the campaign cost "in the mutli-millions" and is the most the organization has spent on an ad campaign in its history.

How does it work? According to a Grammy spokeswoman, each featured artist was asked to provide 10-20 songs that influenced them; the subsequent lyrics and song titles are then used in the print andtelevision ads. For Wayne, that means showcasing rappers like Jay-Z and Young Buck; for Yorke, it’s more esoteric choices like cultishly adored singer-songwriter Scott Walker, or chaotic post-punk outfit the Liars. You can check out Stevie Wonder’s ad embedded below; does it make you want to tune in? Or would it take a personal invite and a pan of brownies baked by Rihanna herself to to get you there? What else could the Grammys do to get you to watch?

Jan 15 2009 12:00 PM ET

'Friday Night Lights' star Connie Britton to field your questions!

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , ,

91043__connie_lDalton Ross will be chatting with Friday Night Lights‘ Connie Britton Friday morning, and he’s agreed to pass her a few questions from you, loyal P-Dubs. You’ll be able to check out the video interview on EW.com Friday afternoon, before the drama returns to NBC that night (Jan. 16, 9 p.m. ET). Ask any and all questions you have about the upcoming third season — but to those who’ve already watched it on DirecTV, please keep it spoiler-free.

More Friday Night Lights:
SPOILER ALERT: Ken Tucker recaps the Season 3 premiere on DirecTV
CATCH UP NOW: Ken Tucker recaps the Season 2 finale
Friday Night Lights ranks No. 71 on EW’s list of 100 New TV Classics
Friday Night Lights: How it began
Ausiello’s Friday Night Lights scoops

Jan 15 2009 11:00 AM ET

Quote of the Day: John Wesley Harding edition

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"I’m wrong about everything/ I think that I can sing/ And when you hear the song you’ll wannna sing along/ I’m wrong about everything/ Think I know what’s happening/ I think you’ll like our song but I’m wrong" — John Wesley Harding’s "I’m Wrong About Everything"

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