Archive: April 2009 (241-250 of 498)

Apr 16 2009 02:43 AM ET

'American Idol': How'd tonight's results show grab ya?

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First things first: Wouldn’t it have been nice if Idol‘s producers had let Jennifer Hudson have a second number to showcase those powerhouse pipes? I mean, ear-monitor issues and all, the woman 1-900-Sang-What-She-Brang*. Secondly, about tonight’s bottom three: Pretty predictable, no? [West coasters beware...SPOILERS ahead!] Poor Anoop may have hit all the notes on "(Eveything I Do) I Do It for You," but I think he realized tonight he’s playing for fifth-place, maybe fourth if he’s lucky. And Lil, well, she was lucky that a certain blue-eyed soulster received fewer votes than her, seeing how her extended sass-back session last night was probably a "canceled" stamp across her "Judges’ Save" ticket. And speaking of the elusive Simon & Co. veto, was anyone else surprised they choose to use it? I wasn’t particularly, though what did shock me was the little tear that appeared in the corner of my eye after Simon delivered his reprieve? Am I just a big softie at heart, or has this emotionally chilly season left my tear ducts vulnerable to even the slightest stimulation? Share you thoughts in the comments section below, and if you’d like to be an Idolatry call-in guest this week, shoot me an email (and let me know what you’d like to talk about) at idolatry@ew.com. Holla! Hey-ey!

* J.Hud’s performance will cost you two hearty snaps for the first 60 seconds, and one snap apiece for each additional minute. Respeck.

More on ‘American Idol’
‘American Idol’ recap: Pulp affliction
Jason Castro signed to Atlantic: Hallelujah!
‘American Idol’: On the scene at the Top 7 performance show
American Idol’s Adam Lambert and Antony Hegarty: Musical Kin?
‘American Idol’ Power List: Who’s your favorite with six weeks remaining?
‘American Idol’ recap: Simon’s Spontaneous ‘O’!
Music Mix: Should American Idol let the over-30s in?
PopWatch: What’s your favorite Adam Lambert YouTube clip?
‘American Idol’ Style: All-time Best and Worst
 EW’s ‘Idol’ Headquarters
Predict who goes home on ‘Idol’ next week!

Apr 16 2009 12:59 AM ET

'American Idol': Chat live about Top 7 results night!

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A poem about tonight’s American Idol results show:

Lil or Matt?
Matt or Lil?
One’s a bit dour
The other slightly shrill
Of course, then again
It could be Desai
He’s always on pitch,
Seems like a nice guy
But the last two weeks
He’s been in the bottom two
With that in mind
Is it time for someone new?
DialIdol says Kris
Could be in a pickle
I loved him last night
But the public is fickle
At least he didn’t pick
A song that’s super hokey
My pal Kristen’s shouting:
"Put the ‘GO!’ in Gokey!"

Who do you think is going home tonight? Chat about it live in the comments section below. I’ll be back at 10 p.m.(ish) with my first impressions, and then return in the early a.m. with my full TV Watch recap. Until then, distract yourself with some Idolatry…embedded below for your pleasure!

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Apr 16 2009 12:51 AM ET

Adam Sandler is Hollywood's most valuable comedian? That's funny

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Adam Sandler is Hollywood’s "most valuable comedian," according to a new list by Forbes. The list is derived from the results of a fall 2008 survey in which Forbes asked hundreds of entertainment professionals to rate the "financial metrics" of major actors and actresses. And it contains mostly every funny guy you’d expect:

1. Adam Sandler
2. Will Ferrell
3. Ben Stiller
4. Jim Carrey
5. Vince Vaughn
6. Steve Carell
7. Eddie Murphy
8. Sacha Baron Cohen
9. Jack Black
10. Robin Williams

But the list does offer a few oddities, too. First, where are all the women comedians? It’s not that they don’t exist — just last week, EW shined a spotlight on the 25 funniest actresses. I’m especially partial to Jane Lynch, whose supporting roles — in, for example, The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Best in Show — manage to stay in your memory long after you’ve forgotten about her bigger costars.

Second, what in the world are Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams doing here? True, they”ll probably always be liked by the general public — at least in a nostalgic manner — no matter how many debacles they appear in. But Murphy’s last movie, Meet Dave, earned a mere $12 million, while Williams’ last two flicks (August Rush and License to Wed) halted at $32 million and $44 million, respectively. I mean, Seth Rogen, who turned 27 on Wednesday, is much more deserving of a spot on Forbes‘ list: During the past four years, he has starred in seven movies that have cracked $100 million. And his Hollywood future looks just as bright: He’s costarring with No. 1 comedy dude Sandler in Judd Apatow’s Funny People (the trailer’s embedded below), and Rogen will be donning a mask for Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet.

PopWatchers, what do you think? Why are female comedians always overlooked? Any other omissions surprise you? And does Ben Stiller deserve that No. 3 slot behind Sandler and Will Ferrell? My editor argues that he should be higher, but I’m still suffering from nightmares induced by The Heartbreak Kid.

Apr 16 2009 12:45 AM ET

'Fast & Furious': Should a fifth spin with Vin & Co. take the off ramp?

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Fastandfuriouscast_lI can’t tell you how long I waited for a true sequel to The Fast and the Furious, something better than those feeble attempts at continuing the story with only a few various members of the original cast. And while the return of the whole crew in Fast & Furious met my every expectation, I’ve gotta say I am not so thrilled by the news that they’re probably coming back for a fifth spin around the track.

For one thing, F&F has now fulfilled fans’ wishes to see an original-cast reunion; the novelty of the idea is gone. For another: Too much of a good thing is always a risk, as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, among others, have shown (I still refuse to recognize the fourth Indy movie). Then I wonder how they’d ever pull off bringing back the original cast yet again, considering that…well, I don’t want to spoil the current movie for those who haven’t seen it. Oh, and haven’t they run out of titles, too? What would they even call a fifth film? Much More Faster and Extremely Furious? What do you think?

Apr 15 2009 11:20 PM ET

Will Ferrell goes 'Wild' with Bear Grylls: What other movie stars should moonlight on Discovery Channel?

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

Landofthelostwild_lThe news today that Land of the Lost star Will Ferrell (pictured, left) would be promoting his June 5 comedy by drinking his own urine (among other survival-y activities) with Bear Grylls (pictured, right) on a June episode of Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild got me thinking, PopWatchers. Well, first, I wondered why Ferrell — a man who’s spent his career turning his own body into a temple of self-deprecating comedy — took so long to ingest his own bodily fluids for a laugh. Then, after that thought had me slipping into a state of total catatonia that I gather lasted a good half-hour, I moved on to wondering what other A-list movie stars would do well to shill for their summer flick with a stint on a Discovery Channel shindig.

Maybe Angels & Demons star Tom Hanks should take a trip over to MythBusters to controversially (and scientifically) explode some age-old fables, like whether, say, a human being could have actually walked on water. Or Eddie Murphy could plug Imagine That by having One Way Out "escapologist" Jonathan Goodwin show him how to break free of his kiddie movie straitjacket. Or Terminator Salvation‘s Christian Bale could ride shotgun with Dirty Jobs‘ Mike Rowe to learn what workplace stress is like when you don’t have to worry about nosy cinematographers adjusting the lights while you’re, say, rendering animal fat.

This is fun! What other suggestions do you have, P-Dubs? You don’t have to limit yourself to Discovery, either — any pay cable infotainment show will do!

More ‘Man vs. Wild’:
Bear Grylls: I’d rather be eating maggots

Apr 15 2009 10:06 PM ET

'American Idol': Disco Night is up next. Yay or nay?

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Paulaabdul_lI love the night life. I’ve got to boogie. And therefore, unlike folks who think that "disco" is a dirty word, I actually have plenty of thumpin’ ’70s beats on my iPod. (I don’t need no cure…I don’t need no cure.) That said, I’m a lil (Rounds) mortified to hear that next week’s American Idol performance show will focus entirely on disco music. (Yep, for the second week running, Paula Abdul leaked the news on John Jay and Rich’s morning radio show; thanks to mjsbigblog for the heads up!)

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for uptempo numbers on Idol — especially considering 6 out of 7 songs this week were ballads. But why limit the singers to the dance classics of the ’70s? Especially when they’ve been done to death on the Idol stage? Why not a more general "Dance Music " theme, where we could hear numbers like CeCe Penniston’s "Finally" and Roisin Murphy’s "You Know Me Better" and Mika’s "Love Today" and Madonna’s "Ray of Light." Oh heck, my brain is getting away from me brainstorming all the possibilities: Shirley Bassey’s "History Repeating," Stereo MCs’ "Connected," Kristine W’s "One More Try," Information Society’s "What’s On Your Mind," Clivilles and Cole’s legendary "A Deeper Love," even Ms. Abdul’s own classic "Straight Up"! (Whew!)

Seriously, though, why send the Idols down a road that starts and ends in a decade that happened almost 40 years ago? Why not give ‘em a wider range of choices and let their dance flags fly? What say you, PopWatchers? Anyone else want to see Disco Night get upgraded to Dance Music Night? And how come Idol‘s producers are so limited in their choice of themes/lists of cleared songs? Could it be they’re simply too lazy/cheap to spend their time and money clearing new and more exciting songs for the competition? Let’s get your take in the comments section below!

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Apr 15 2009 08:30 PM ET

Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN: Who'll be Twitter's first millionaire?

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Cnnkutcher_lThe race is on: According to CNN, the news network is battling Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears to become the first Twitter account to amass one million followers. At the moment, CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) is in the lead with 940,126, followed by Spears (@britneyspears) with 905,433 and Kutcher (@aplusk) with 896,340. (@EWPopWatch just broke 21K, but my spanking-new account, @davekarger, is running a bit behind…hint, hint.)

At this point, it looks like CNN has this one in the bag, unless Spears or Kutcher are able to make a late surge. But here’s my question: Who else could have rivaled these big three if they had an active Twitter account? Oprah? Rush Limbaugh? (They both seem to have accounts, but haven’t actually tweeted as of yet.) And who do you wish was on Twitter but isn’t? My vote? David Letterman.

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Apr 15 2009 08:00 PM ET

'The Golden Girls' gets remade in Turkey...at last!

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Filed under: Television and tagged: ,

Finally. You guys, finally. Turkey has created its own version of the classic sitcom The Golden Girls! According to Variety, it’s only a 13-part miniseries there, unlike the 180-part megaseries it was here, but still: Some GG is better than no GG. (Also true for Gilmore Girls. Too soon tell if it’s true for Gossip Girl.)

I really, really hope one of the episodes they adapt is "A Little Romance."

I still DVR episodes here and there, and the show’s humor stands up surprisingly well, plus the constant set-up/punchline rhythm is like sitcom comfort food — when it’s good, there’s nothing better; when it’s crappy, it makes you a little nauseous; and you’ll never truly outgrow your taste for it.

In case that didn’t meet your RDAoBA (recommended daily allowance of Bea Arthur, duh): please enjoy Bea-utiful.

Apr 15 2009 07:49 PM ET

Predict who's going home on 'Idol' -- just like Lisa Rinna!

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Idollisarinnadoolittle_lI’ve been obsessed with Lisa Rinna ever since her deliciously campy run on Season 2 of Dancing With the Stars. (Don’t believe me? Check out the gushing letter of farewell I wrote to the Melrose Place actress back on Feb. 21, 2006.) But now, I have a reason to renew my Rinna love: The current Playboy (!) cover subject has agreed to participate in EW.com’s Idol Prediction Challenge! That’s right, folks, if you haven’t signed up for it yet, then it’s time you did; each week, EW.com readers pit themselves against our celebrity players, including Ms. Rinna, The Insider‘s Ross Mathews, America’s Next Top Doll contestant Princess Thursday, and the woman who’d better get invited to perform on a results show ASAP, Melinda Doolittle (pictured, right). Not only that, but you also get to prove you’re a better Idol prognosticator than yours truly, as well as my Idolatry cohosts Kristen Baldwin, Annie Barrett, Missy Schwartz, and Jessica Shaw…and Idolatry producer Jason "Mechagodzilla" Averett. A player named "tsunamiwave7" is currently flying solo atop our overall leaderboard, but we rank the top participants on a week-by-week basis, too, so it’s not too late to get your prediction on! In fact, click here now and place your bet about who’ll get booted tonight. (Rinna is picking Lil Rounds.) Bonus points available for questions including "Will Paula wear a tutu during the results show?" Fun!

addCredit(“Rinna: Dr.Billy Ingram/WireImage.com; Doolittle: Kevin Winter/Getty Images”)

Apr 15 2009 07:14 PM ET

Scarygirl: New web game is not scary, just rad

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Scarygirl02_lAdios, my afternoon productivity. You have been replaced by Scarygirl, a charming and artistic new — free! — web-based game. I am in love.

The dreamy narrative matches perfectly with the stunning animation and style, although I wish the controls were more sensitive and that the movement was a bit faster. The sluggishness of the action is a major letdown, and with duller aesthetics that would  probably be a deal-breaker. But I just can’t stop exploring the whole Scarygirl world: It’s cute but not cloying, whimsical but not needlessly cheerful, and I have a major soft spot for games with female protagonists. Win!

So, PopWatchers, have you tried Scarygirl? Are dazzling visuals enough to keep you interested, or is slowed-down play a total turnoff?

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