Archive: April 2009 (21-30 of 498)

Apr 29 2009 07:30 PM ET

Does Keith Olbermann seriously want to waterboard Sean Hannity?

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Categories: Celebrity Feuds, Politics as Entertainment

Keith Olbermann wants to torture Sean Hannity. Or is it enhanced-interrogate him?

Last week, Charles Grodin was on Hannity, and the conversation turned, as so many do, to simulated drowning. Grodin says waterboarding is torture; Hannity says it’s not, and then Grodin asked, "We can waterboard you?" Hannity replied, "Sure…I’ll do it for charity. I’ll let you do it." And then Keith Olbermann became obsessed with the statement, offering to give $1,000 to military families for every second of waterboarding Hannity could withstand. "And I’ll double it, when you admit you feared for your life," he said on the air.

I’d like to think that Olbermann doesn’t actually want Hannity to go through with this — especially given that Olbermann devoted an entire segment to the legal definitions of torture, and said "the only thing in question is how human are those who condone it?" So, you know, too harsh to inflict on the enemies of our country, probs too harsh to inflict on Sean Hannity.

My guess is that Hannity won’t ever acknowledge Olbermann, and the MSNBC anchor will have to just drop it — and that’s the best-case scenario. Otherwise, if Hannity (insanely) agrees to be waterboarded, there are two other possibilities: He says it’s horrible, in which case we have tortured someone just to settle a TV wiener-wagging contest, or he says it’s no big deal, which isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about anything ("See, I knew it: Not torture!" or "We can’t recreate potentially-torturous conditions with a consenting participant who doesn’t actually fear for his safety, so of course it didn’t feel like torture to him."). Oh, and we’ll have turned waterboarding into a sideshow. Another proud day!

Anyone actually think Hannity will respond to Olbermann’s challenge? If he consented to be waterboarded on-air, would you watch?

Apr 29 2009 07:18 PM ET

Twitter quitter? So is everyone else.

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Categories: Tech

Twitter_logo_lIf Twitter is good enough for Oprah and Shaq, why isn’t it good enough for you, Twitter quitters? According to Nielsen, "Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent. For most of the past 12 months, pre-Oprah, Twitter has languished below 30 percent retention." Apparently, that’s very low.

Hmmm. I guess that sounds about right. I’m monkeynuts for every possible Next Big Thing of The Internet, and even I took a little while to warm up to Twitter: I signed up and played around for a few weeks and then put it in the "meh" column, right next to Vox and LinkedIn. But the up-to-the-minuteness and playful sense of connection sucked me back in,  and now I find myself not only tweeting for PopWatch all day (you’re following us, right?) but tweeting for my own personal enjoyment at night.

What about you, @PWers? Have you stuck with Twitter, or did you try it and decide it wasn’t for you? What would have made you stay, or what made you go?

Apr 29 2009 07:16 PM ET

We're hungry for your Must List picks!

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Categories: Food and Drink, Movie Trailers, Must List

Juliaandjulia_lMaybe it’s because it’s nearing lunchtime as I write this, but the just-released trailer for August’s Julie & Julia made me feel like trekking to Whole Foods, restocking my pantry, and preparing a multi-course meal for eight — or maybe just upgrading my usual lunch of grilled cheese. It’s the first glimpse at Nora Ephron’s latest rom-com, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as the office drone blogger inspired by the famous chef’s body of recipes, and it’s the frosting on my Must List cake this week. Streep’s energetic portrayal of Child comes off as comical but not a complete caricature (at least in the trailer), and Amy Adams has the ”relatable everywoman” schtick down pat (though I’m definitely not feeling the dowdy haircut).

Are you a fan of the trailer, or is something else whetting your Must List appetite this week? Share your picks with us: list up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. Don’t forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, April 30, at 12 p.m. ET.

Apr 29 2009 05:39 PM ET

Carrie Ann Inaba blogs 'DWTS,' week 8

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Categories: Dancing With the Stars

Dancingjudgescarrie_lWeek 8 has come to a close on Dancing With the Stars and Chuck and Julianne have gone home. I think from here on out it is going to be very difficult to watch people leave, because this season has had a very special feeling to it. I’ve never seen the competition so close before and because of that competitiveness, we are watching these celebrities who aren’t professional dancers come out and do things that are amazing. There are breakthroughs and breakdowns. We are seeing more injuries this season than ever in the past and I do think it is because it is so competitive out there. It’s an exciting season on so many levels and I can’t wait for next week when they start doing two dances on their own.

I wanted to comment on Chuck and Julianne….I  found their journey to be particularly interesting because they were and still are a real-life couple. Their training video packages always had a different feeling to them and sometimes were uncomfortable to watch because unlike with the other pairs, it was their personal life that we were watching. When they argued or when Julianne was tough on Chuck, you couldn’t help but wonder what their real relationship was. And I think that made it difficult to watch. Of course, as judges, we only judge what we see on the dance floor — but the audience votes on what ever they want. I don’t think they (Chuck and Julianne) realized how much of a toll this show would take on their real-life romance. I was happy to hear that they are still together — but Chuck didn’t thank Julianne tonight, which I found a bit strange. I am sure he meant to — and in that last minute I’m sure they have so many things to say, so much to express. But he didn’t thank her for her love and her support. Most partners always express their affection for their partners.

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Apr 29 2009 04:51 PM ET

'Real Housewives of NYC': Philippe, Where Have You Been All My Life?

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Categories: About Last Night, Real Housewives, Television

So much to discuss! Finally, we got ourselves a killer episode. (Thanks GE Monogram appliances! Now get your logo off my stinking show.) Let’s dispense with the dispensable first: Ramona has sweaty arm pits. Done and done.

Okay, now onto the good stuff. First of all, I love Francky. I want Bethenny to have Francky’s child. Bethenny said her elegant hair stylist was the perfect guy. "He’s quiet, he’s cute, and he has a nice ass." Would that all men were like this. Francky may be gay, but he has a straight best friend. Score! Bethenny went over to Jill’s house to report that she had a date with a model/photography studio owner. As Bethenny fretted on the sofa about her life choices, Jill stopped to interrupt her: "You know, your boobs look small today." Oh, how I love these two together. I don’t see many recognizable female friendships on TV and there’s something so relaxed and intimate and refreshing going on between Bethenny and Jill. Jill is like her perfect big sister/mother/overbearing best friend. One of my other favorite moments of this season was just watching them loll on Jill’s bed in the Hamptons together. I think they need to have a talk radio call-in show, where they dispense bon mots on relationships/parenting/sex/careers.

So Bethenny, despite her protestations that she doesn’t like or trust models, hoisted up her gay-friendly boobies and met Philippe for a round of Skinny Girl margaritas. Now I’m with Bethenny. Theoretically, I don’t like male models. Theoretically, I think they’re shallow and dull and too shiny. But then there was Philippe, with his pretty mouth and his perfect hair and his gentle accent and his soft humor. Wait a second. I love models! So does Bethenny. That might have been the cutest date ever. She was clearly nervous, unable to stop blabbing about finding an Asian restaurant named after her date and translating the term ball buster. But it was so charming to see her flushed and flirty and clearly turned on. And he was such a dream, so uncreepy and then he asked her to cook for him. Oh for the love of Bravo producers: Make these two fall in love and make out and make skinny girl babies. You can have it all, Bethenny! This is TV–fantasies can come true.

The less sisterly Kelly spent much of the episode trying to repair her reputation. She went to girls’ night with LuAnn, who kept making unfortunate comments about wanting to live vicariously through her single friends. (Season 3, Episode 1: LuAnn finally goes dutch.) Kelly insisted on wearing a very odd, sausage-link sleeved white fur coat, and flopping her hair around like a bad Breck model and acting annoying and unnecessarily coy when LuAnn asked reasonable questions like "How many dates have you been on with Max?" In Brooklyn, far, far from the magical land Kelly calls New York, where Alex gets her hair volumized now before any shooting day, Kelly even showed up early to the renovation reveal. Silex’s apartment has been turned into a brothel, with chandeliers and gothic window treatments courtesy of Zarin fabrics on which les petit oeufs shall swing. But Kelly played nice nice and apologized to Jill for showing up so late to her Halloween party. Of course because Kelly lacks the listening and empathy genes, her apology sounded like she was trying to soothe a stubborn child. "I’m so sorry you were upset," she said, talking over Jill, "I knowwwwwww."

Kelly let her fuzzy freak flag fly on Bethenny again at Charity Meeting No. 3. Bethenny pulled her into poor Alli’s room to clear the air.

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Apr 29 2009 04:28 PM ET

The Great Sci-Fi Divide: Why don't we want science fiction on TV?

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Categories: Chuck, Fringe, I'm Just a Geek, Movies, Nudity, Sci-Fi, Star Trek, Star Wars, Television

Johnconner_lTwo weeks ago, Fox aired what was probably the final episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a pretty solid sci-fi show which nevertheless suffered from guttery ratings. Two weeks from now, Terminator Salvation will premiere in theaters — where it will likely make somewhere in the vicinity of $90 million in its first weekend, regardless of how "good" it is. Two separate extentions of the same franchise: one will be labeled a failure, the other a ginormous hit. Why?

Why don’t we want science fiction on television anymore?

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Apr 29 2009 04:00 PM ET

CollegeHumor.com points out obvious, kills my Apatow buzz

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Categories: Viral Video!!!

Seth Rogen? Great guy. Would love to hang out with him. Ditto Jason Segel and Jonah Hill. But in the real world, doughy unmotivated guys don’t typically land the leggy supermodel. Thank goodness for the Judd Apatow universe, where human Shreks somehow always end up with the princess. Kudos to CollegeHumor.com for this clever but ultimately reverent spoof: “In an Apatow World.” Of course, Mr. Apatow’s rebuttal could simply be two words: Leslie. Mann. 

Apr 29 2009 02:56 PM ET

Mel Gibson steps out with his girlfriend: Have we forgiven him yet?

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Categories: Career 911, Celebrity Couples, Celebrity Scandals, Movies

Oksanagibson_lSome two weeks after we learned that Mel Gibson’s wife of 29 years, Robyn Moore, was filing for divorce, the former Sexiest Man Alive showed up last night at a special Los Angeles screening of Wolverine with his Russian girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. The couple’s rare public appearance may have come a short time after one of the world’s biggest stars got embroiled in one of the world’s biggest divorces, but as his rep explained to People of the smiley, happy couple, "Mel has been single for almost three years and it’s nice to see him getting out and enjoying himself." Then why am I feeling so catty about it?

Gibson’s dug a pretty deep PR hole for himself, not only by acting like a drunken anti-semite during the (alleged) "sugartits" tirade, but also by jamming his religious values down our throat with a frightening, flesh-slashing fury. I think that’s why I’m feeling unfairly critical of Gibson, 53, for turning to the younger Grigorieva, 39, now that he is engaged in the very un-Catholic act of divorce. Espousing your specific personal beliefs as the only way to save your soul from whatever hell might await the non-believers (he once said even his Episcopalian wife Moore, the mother of his children, would be excluded from salvation) has a way of coming home to roost when you live your life, and all its ups and downs, in public. And yes, I am aware that my response is partly just a shot of schadendfreude now that the rich, beautiful, successful, previously likable actor is being taken down a peg.

But maybe we’ve hit the breaking point and can finally forgive Gibson and grant that he has every right to humbly walk out in public with his girlfriend and be left alone to his private life. While I’m not all that stoked to see him play a cop in the crime thriller Edge of Darkness later this year (his first major acting role since 2002′s Signs), I think I could probably be into it if he signed onto an indie flick where he plays a creepy, middle-aged weirdo and flaunts the fact that he’s no longer the goofy Hollywood star from Lethal Weapon. Sadly, I dunno if his ego, or his church, would ever allow it, but that could be a better route for him moving forward than playing a cop or attempting to pull a Stallone and ressurect the Mad Max franchise.

What do you think PopWatchers? Have we forgiven Gibson for the drunken tirade? Are we privately taking some pleasure in watching him face a bit of judgment himself? What kind of role would make you want to see Gibson on screen?

Apr 29 2009 02:26 PM ET

Mr. T called for jury duty: To which star would you entrust your legal fate?

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Categories: News You Can Use

Remember that scene in 12 Angry Men where Henry Fonda sticks the switchblade into the jurors’ table and proclaims, "I pity the fool who rushes to judgment!" No? Didn’t happen? Oh. Maybe I’m commingling memories after reading that 1980s badass, Mr. T, was called for jury duty Monday in Chicago. Ultimately, the judge dismissed him before he could be seated in a jury, but the former B.A. Baracus would’ve made a fine foreman. Even the daughter of the defendant, a woman accused of drug possession, seemed to think so, telling the Chicago Sun-Times, “My mom would have picked him.”

But heaven forbid you ever find yourself in the defendant’s chair of a courtroom. Which celebrity would you most like to have among a jury of your peers? Conversely, which celebrity would most terrify you if they filed in to the jury box?  If my life were on the line, I’d breath a lot easier knowing Jay Leno was on the jury. Jay likes everyone. Simon Cowell, on the other hand, would have me changing my plea before the opening arguments. How about you? Who would you most and least like to be judged by?

Apr 29 2009 02:26 PM ET

'NCIS': Cooler toys at OSP, less chemistry

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Categories: About Last Night, NCIS, Snap Judgment, Television

Ncis_l In our pre-"Legend (Part 1)" episode poll, 70 percent of people said they were hoping CBS greenlights the NCIS spinoff, sight unseen. Eighteen percent said they were fans of NCIS but against the spinoff. (Twelve percent said they don’t watch NCIS and wouldn’t tune in to a sister series.) Will those numbers change now that we’ve met the folks at NCIS Office of Special Projects (OSP)? Vote in the poll after the jump. I’m still a go. Here’s why:

• The spinoff really would be different: Just as NCIS exec producer Shane Brennan promised us, OSP’s L.A. Operations Center is not about forensics, it’s about undercover work and  LL Cool J’s Special Agent Sam Hanna magically tossing the surveillance footage from cameras 3 and 4 from the small screen up to the Big Screen. [Insert a sing-songy Awesome! from me here.] I was pretty much McGeekin’ it any time Hanna touched a screen last night. I could’ve watched him send Abby that email for 20 minutes on loop. (As a child, I once had the option of staying in the hospital overnight or going home. I asked for time to think it over because the hospital room had a push button phone and my house didn’t. I have problems, too, McGee.)

• Special Agent G. Callen is a mystery, and I want to explore. Chris O’Donnell was one of about six actors on NCIS exec producer Shane Brennan’s wish list for Callen. I’ll admit I wasn’t quite feeling him — until the end of the episode, when he was in front of the mirror transforming into arms dealer Liam. It was a combination of the steely look on his face and the voiceover of operational psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) explaining the meaning of "Legend." It’s the backstory that an undercover agent creates in his mind for his role. It runs so deep it includes a fictional family. Callen doesn’t know who his real family is (and as Brennan told us, he doesn’t even know what the ‘G’ stands for in his name). No wonder it’s easy for him to become someone else. He’s like a blank slate, which is sort of how I see O’Donnell, too. Even though I had a huge crush on him after Circle of Friends, I never felt the need to read about him. I have no idea what his personality is like in real life. (And before you say, "Does he have one?" He must.) He’s difficult to read, which will work well for Callen when he’s operational — and when we’re trying to figure out how damaged he is from his past. (I was surprised by how physically affectionate he was with Gibbs, who apparently saved his ass when they worked together in Serbia years ago, and by how he referred to the OSP team as his family. Unexpected for someone who’s a loner by nature, but necessary for any show that’s going to be compared to NCIS.) I’ll continue to warm to O’Donnell if he keeps bringing those intense stares and has chemistry with LL Cool J. Hanna is supposed to be very protective of Callen when they’re in the field. The spinoff’s success — we’ll know May 20 if it’s picked up — will hinge largely on their interaction and making sure that LL isn’t in front of a touch screen all the time.

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