Archive: April 2009 (271-280 of 498)

Apr 15 2009 12:09 AM ET

'How I Met Your Mother': Are you your workplace's Creepy Backrub Guy/Girl?

In last night’s stellar, albeit not quite mind-blowing, episode of How I Met Your Mother, Barney told Marshall he needed to find a niche in their workplace in order to avoid being laid off (see clip below). Among some of the awesome roles their GNB coworkers have assumed to keep afloat? There was Food Guy, YouTube Guy, and even Creepy Backrub Guy! Of course, since I have a hard time separating television from real life, I started to wonder what "Guy/Girl" niche I’ve carved for myself here at EW. Though lately I’ve been helping cure Kara DioGuardi-induced headaches office-wide by playing the role of Advil Girl (thank you, Costco, for that 325-pack!), I would probably most likely classify myself as EWs Do-You-Need-A-Quote-From-Rock-Of-Love-Bus-Cuz-I’ve-Got-All-The-Great-Ones-Memorized Girl. So, clearly, I am vital to this office.

How about you, PopWatchers? What’s your office niche? Did you enjoy last night’s episode? Serious props goes to HIMYM‘s writers, who found a clever way to excuse new mom Alyson Hannigan from the episode without sacrificing storyline. Which brings me to my final question: What is the difference between peanut butter and jam?

Apr 14 2009 11:58 PM ET

'American Idol': Chat live about 'Songs of the Cinema' night!

Filed under: American Idol and tagged:

I don’t know why, but every time I think about Quentin Tarantino guest-mentoring tonight’s episode of American Idol, all I can think about is how Ellen DeGeneres once referred to him as "Quentin Tarantutti." I think it was on an old episode of Ellen. Maybe it was in a standup routine. Not very profound, I know. So I’ll pass the torch to you all to discuss tonight’s episode. I’ll be back at nine(ish) with my first impression, then write until the rooster crows to give you a full TV Watch recap. In the interim, watch yourself some Idolatry. My cohost Kristen "put the ‘Go’ in ‘Gokey’" Baldwin is on fiyah, I tell ya!

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Apr 14 2009 11:33 PM ET

'Britain's Got Talent' breakout Susan Boyle: Why we watch...and weep

Susanboyletalent_lI’m still stuck on Susan Boyle, and still weeping. I suppose that’s so 24 hours ago, and I should be thinking instead about how Mel Gibson’s divorce might affect his box-office cred with conservative Catholics. Instead, I play the YouTube clip over and over of Boyle, the frumpy, middle-aged British lady who marched out on the stage of the national TV show Britain’s Got Talent this past weekend. She bided her time through the judgmental hoots and snickers of the studio audience and judges (headed by international snickerer-in-chief Simon Cowell). She sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. And she brought a worldwide audience to their feet — to her feet — with the grandeur of her voice.

I’ll get back to pondering how Vin Diesel’s future might change with the success of Fast & Furious soon enough, but right now I’m pondering why the experience of watching and listening to Ms. Boyle makes so many viewers cry, me among them. And I think I’ve got a simple answer, at least for me: In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging — the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts — the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms. Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing showstopping ballad, the meaning of human grace. She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective from time to time.

Yep. Simple as that.  That’s why I weep. What’s your excuse?

Apr 14 2009 11:28 PM ET

McG to take on 'Spring Awakening': Um, I dunno about this...

Can Spring Awakening be made into a credible film — and is McG the producer and director to do it? Yeesh. Unless the natural progression is now 1891 controversial German play –> Duncan Sheik-penned rock opera –> Explosions.

Could McG conceivably pull off the emotional stories of teen sexuality and identity, of power struggles, and the search for meaning within conscripted bounds? Sure. I hope he does. But I’ve seen Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, and while I enjoyed both, neither stands out as particularly nuanced or evocative. McG’s body of work* — again, much of which I’ve enjoyed on some level — lives within pretty mainstream constructs of sex and power, and I’m not sure I believe the executive producer of Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious can make a rock anthem about masturbation not seem like a joke. But maybe I’m wrong, and the guy who shouted "Do you want to see Moon’s boobs in the picture?" to a crowd of Terminator fans really does have a rich and compassionate understanding of sexual identity and self-image. Here’s hoping!

Beyond McG, there’s also the question of how translatable the show is, period. I’m nuts about the music parts, but a lot of the rest seems stilted, plus I worry that film isn’t the ideal medium to capture a sense of cultural claustrophobia…that gets expressed through bold musical numbers.

What about you, PopWatchers? Is McG singing your song of purple summer?

*I’m chalking up most of the empathy on The O.C. and Chuck to Josh Schwartz.

Apr 14 2009 10:21 PM ET

'Castle': Naked Nathan Fillion!

Castlefillion_lLast night on ABC’s Castle, Nathan Fillion’s crime-novelist got naked and had wild "Top 20" sex with his first ex-wife. In next week’s episode, he has a reason to wear a tux. I don’t know whether to applaud the show’s producers for knowing exactly what fans want* and giving it to us, or smack them. It’s almost like we, the women who find Fillion hard to resist, are being preyed upon. First, they reel us in with Castle’s special relationship with his daughter, then they have him talk about having sex in Paris and Kauai (and at Yankee Stadium and the Westminster dog show), then they put him in formal wear. It’s so right, it almost feels manipulative.

We just need the producers to know that we know what they’re up to…and to please step it up. There is no reason that Castle should be getting fewer viewers than its Bob Saget lead-in, Surviving Suburbia.

*Except the photo editor who took this screen grab: "We only see him from the neck up? No booty? Or low slung towel like Grey’s? I’m a mature woman. I need more than some nice broad shoulders and an adorable smile!"

More ‘Castle’:
Nathan Fillion takes the EW Pop Culture Personality Test
‘Castle’: Great, now I’m invested
‘Castle’: Nathan Fillion making your clock tick?
‘Castle’: Snap judgment on Nathan Fillion’s new show

Apr 14 2009 10:01 PM ET

'Deadliest Catch' returns tonight! Yes!

Filed under: Television and tagged: ,

Any time someone tells me that they hate all reality TV I feel sorry for them, because it must mean they’ve never seen Deadliest Catch on Discovery. Season 5 kicks off tonight at 9 p.m. ET, during "Alaska Week," and once again, we’re off into the Bering Sea fishing for crab with Captains Sig Hansen (Northwestern), Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand (Time Bandit), Keith Colburn (Wizard), and Phil Harris (Cornelia Marie). That’s assuming Phil actually takes the wheel — he thinks he’s recovered from last season’s health scare until his doctor phones him during the blessing of the fleet and tells him that if he sails, he’s risking his life (even more than usual). That’s serious stuff. Below, a lighter moment from Sig to wet your appetite. Will you take the bait?

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Apr 14 2009 09:11 PM ET

Bravo's 'Launch My Line': Is it time to call an end to fashion reality shows?

Launchmyline_lBoy, does Bravo seem to be feeling the void left by Project Runway. First there was The Fashion Show. Now there’s Launch My Line. As my colleagues reported earlier today, the network is developing a new competition series, originally called Celebrity Sew-Off, in which bona fide fashion designers team up with "pop culture notables" who dream of, yes, launching their very own line of clothing. So how do we feel about this?

Well, first of all, they were right to change the title. Celebrity Sew-Off sounds like a show about famous people crammed in a sweatshop, competing over who can insert an invisible zipper the fastest. Riveting! And since the aspiring Marc Jacobs in question aren’t likely to be the kind with off-the-charts Q scores — stylists, music producers, and choreographers are among those Bravo has mentioned as possible contenders — it’s probably wise to just drop the whole "celebrity" conceit altogether, mmm-kay?

But anyway…the show. It has potential, I think. As we know, the fashion world is full of outsized, bitchy, backstabbing personalities tailor-made (ugh — no pun intended, honest!) for the tube. And the thought of their egomaniacal head-trips going up against the equally staggering self-importance of celebri — sorry, pop culture notables — makes for some seriously juicy drama. Most celebrities have such an inflated sense of themselves that they think there’s no limit to what they can offer the world. And good loooord do some of them have hideous fashion sense. The workroom showdowns could be epic, I tell you! Picture it: Lisa Rinna, say, screams at Anna Sui, "Bitch, I said I wanted fringe on that acid-wash mini-dress, not sequins!!!" (That’s a pure fantasy, by the way. There’s no reason to believe either of those two women will be on the show…at least not yet!)

Buuuut, it’s for similar reasons that I’m not totally on board with Launch My Line. Do we really need another forum for rich people to feed their already swollen egos? Should we be encouraging their delusions of grandeur? For every true renaissance man or woman (think Justin Timberlake), there’s a J. Lo: someone who tries to conquer the world and ends up verging on obsolete. And between Stylista, Running in Heels, and all those makeover shows out there, aren’t we running dangerously close to beating this whole fashion thing into the ground one too many times?

What do you think?

Apr 14 2009 08:50 PM ET

'Ugly Betty' guest Adele: At whose wedding will she perform?

Adele_lHere’s a little Ugly Betty news that’s delightful: British pop diva Adele, who recently won two Grammys (one of which was for Best New Artist) will guest-star and perform on the nighttime soap when it comes back in May. I couldn’t be more excited! She’s the exact type of star who needs to mingle with the likes of America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams and Eric Mabius. I say that, of course, with a disgusted look back toward other, less appealing guest stars. (Ahem, Lindsay Lohan, ahem.)

The press release from ABC dropped a few other delicious details! It said that Adele will perform at a photo shoot "that culminates into a surprise wedding." The first question is: What’ll she perform?!? I was thinking that, of course, her people — or ABC brass — would to throw the singer’s mega-hit "Chasing Pavements" at us again. Don’t get me wrong, I love that song — but maybe she could sing one of her other love ballads, like the delicious "Make You Feel My Love," perhaps? The problem is that both "Pavements" and "Feel My Love" (two of her biggest) aren’t necessarily happy love songs. If Adele is indeed performing at the impromptu wedding — as opposed to the preceding photo shoot — shouldn’t she be singing something positive about love? Maybe she’ll do "First Love" or "Daydreamer." We can hope.

The other big question, of course: Who’s getting married?!? If I had to make a guess, I’d put my money on Daniel (Mabius) and Molly (Sarah Lafleur), the show’s couple that seems the most poised for a shotgun ceremony, seeing as how Molly is supposedly terminally ill.

But what do you think, PopWatchers? Who’s getting married on Ugly Betty? And what should Adele sing, should she be the musical guest for the nuptials?

Apr 14 2009 06:41 PM ET

What should the Idols sing for 'Songs of the Cinema' night?

Filed under: American Idol and tagged:

Idoltop7_lQuentin Tarantino is mentoring American Idol‘s Top 7 contestants tonight for a "Songs of the Cinema"-themed episode. Not sure how wide the show’s producers will cast the net, but let’s hope we don’t get yet another rendition of "I Have Nothing" foisted on us. After hearing it covered by Katharine McPhee, Jennifer Hudson, Trenyce, Leah LaBelle, Vonzell Solomon, and LaKisha Jones, I think it’s time that old chestnut got retired from the Idol stage. Ditto for "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" — which has been done to death by Corey Clark, George Huff, Jessica Sierra, Scott Savol, Katharine McPhee, and Ramiele Malubay. (Uff da!) Anyhow, here are my picks for tonight’s show…check ‘em out, then make your own request-list in the comments section below!

Adam Lambert: Bette Midler’s "Whose Side Are You On?" [from The Rose]
Allison Iraheta: Prince’s "Purple Rain" [from Purple Rain]
Anoop Desai: Aimee Mann’s "Save Me" [from Magnolia]
Kris Allen: The Hollies’ "Air That I Breathe" [from The Virgin Suicides]
Lil Rounds: The Psychedelic Furs "Love My Way" [from Valley Girl]
Matt Giraud: The Soggy Bottom Boys’ "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" [from O Brother, Where Art Thou?]
Danny Gokey: Madonna’s "This Used to Be My Playground" [from A League of Their Own]

addCredit(“Michael Becker/Fox”)

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Apr 14 2009 06:15 PM ET

'Dancing With the Stars': Mark Ballas now officially my favorite pro

Markballas_lI really should know better than to text EW’s Dancing With the Stars expert Annie Barrett when I’m under the influence of NyQuil. She totally outed me as a major Mark Ballas fan in her recap of last night’s show: "This gushing text message just in from EW.com’s Mandi Bierly: ”I love,love, love the way Mark kept putting his face right into Shawn’s. Sucha good way to keep the connection. It’s the cold meds. I’m way tooobsessed.” Now BUI (blogging under the influence…of DayQuil), I will admit that I rewound Mark and Shawn Johnson’s rumba three times. This is especially noteworthy because I tend to hate the rumbas on DWTS: If not performed well, it’s the world’s most boring dance, am I right? But Mark struck the perfect balance of naughty and nice with 17-year-old Shawn, and the way he kept touching his face to hers — so, so sweet. Maybe it’s just the facial hair and the lack of guppy faces he’s not making this season, but he’s now my favorite DWTS pro. (Just pretend that Lindy Hop never happened. I do.) Who’s with me?

More Dancing With the Stars:
Annie Barrett recaps last night’s episode
Gallery: Annie Barrett’s Crazy Costume Watch

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