Archive: June 2009 (341-350 of 438)

Jun 5 2009 10:36 PM ET

Enter the Fray: 'New Moon,' Eminem-Bruno, and the end of 'Idolatry'

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Filed under: American Idol and tagged: ,

Eminem-bruno-lautner-twilight_l This week in a nutshell: Sacha Baron Cohen shoved his (new) moon in Eminem's face, and the fallout kept people talking all week. When you think about it, that statement really does look like it belongs in The Onion. But this is the pop-culture world we live in. And it's awesome. Elsewhere, the trailer for The Twilight Saga: New Moon dropped, and legions of you were quite vocal in ranking your favorite Pixar movies. Here's the Top 10 most-commented-on items from this week in PopWatch:

10. Every time Sacha Baron Cohen does something — anything, really — we really do have to stop and ask: Has he gone too far? When it involves injuries at a bingo tournament, maybe so.

9. The devastating cliffhanger at the end of Medium's season finale on NBC had Michael Slezak cheering CBS for wisely picking up the underrated show.

8. Josh Wolk's Pop Culture Club is as big a success for PopWatch as Pam, Oscar and Toby's Finer Things Club was on The Office. This week he goes back in time to examine the original Land of the Lost.

7. Marc Bernardin argued semantics over Buffy the Vampire Slayer being placed at No. 2 on the list of 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi. Vampires are fantasy, he says. Point taken. But there's no arguing with No. 1: Sigourney Weaver's iconic badass, Ripley, in the Alien franchise.

6. With TV season over, Whitney Pastorek is looking forward to catching up on her reading list this summer.

5. Mandi Bierly saw the trailer for New Moon, and got all hot and bothered by a certain Wolf Pack member's ab-a-liciousness. So much so that she wrote about it twice.

4. Up is out in theaters and it's pretty darn great. Go seeit already! Then you can join your fellow PopWatchers and share your thoughts on where it ranks on the list of best Pixar flicksof all-time. The general consensus so far: Pretty high.

3. Sacha Baron Cohen punk'd Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards. Perhaps youheard about it. The was-he-in-on-it-or-not fallout captivated justabout everyone. Especially our live-bloggers.

2. Jillian may or may not be attracted to jerks, but The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison assures us she is a great judge of character. If you say so, sir!

1. The final two American Idol finalists to visit Idolatry – third-place finisher Danny Gokey and champ Kris Allen — droppedby and chatted up Michael Slezak. Now, let the slow clap begin for Slezak, executive producer Jason Averett and the rest of the Idolatry crew for a fine, fine season in AI commentary.

Jun 5 2009 10:01 PM ET

Jenna Fischer has a double date with the Obamas...'sort of'

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In a world aTwitter, it's nice to be reminded that occasionally, celebs can hold our attention for longer than a second. Exhibit A: Jenna Fischer's latest MySpace blog about her summer in New York City. She's here filming an indie movie — not that we needed the word "indie" spelled out for us when she describes her character as "a train-wreck of a mother who drinks and smokes and flirts with her brother-in-law." Anyway, she took time out to go see the August Wilson play Joe Turner's Come and Gone — on the same night as the President and First Lady. Reading her enthusiasm about the tight security — "There was even a canine unit!" — I realized that I've been in New York too long. Bomb-sniffing dogs no longer fill me with exclamation points. (Those are reserved for the rare but memorable occasions when I see armed soldiers or helmeted SWAT officers in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. If I ever get used to that, I'm leaving the city!) My favorite part of Fischer's post, aside from her visual aids showing the views that she and her boyfriend had of the Obamas from their crappy seats: "The President and First Lady went to their seats just before thecurtain went up. Everyone in the theater stood and applauded." That's a Manhattan moment worth documenting in more than 140 characters.

Jun 5 2009 09:45 PM ET

'One Eyed Monster': The year's trashiest trailer. Officially.

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: , ,

The 10th annual Golden Trailer Awards were presented last night, and while Star Trek took top honors as Best in Show, One Eyed Monster was recognized in the coveted Trashiest Trailer category. I'd tell you what the film is about but (a) you can probably guess knowing it features Ron Jeremy and (b) for the most authentic viewing experience, one should not be spoiled. At all. Watch the NSFW coming attraction below.

Among the other winners:
Best Action: Fast and Furious
Best Animation/Family: WALL-E
Best Comedy: Bruno
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Drama: Frost/Nixon
Best Horror: The Unborn
Best Independent Trailer: The Wrestler
Best Music: Where the Wild Things Are
Best Romance: 500 Days of Summer
Best Thriller: Angels & Demons
Best Video Game Trailer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Don La Fontaine Award for Best Voice Over: Tropic Thunder "Hollywood Legend"
Golden Fleece (best trailer for a bad movie): The Spirit
Most Original: My WinnipegSummer
2009 Blockbuster: Star Trek

Jun 5 2009 08:50 PM ET

Fox's 'I Married a Stranger': How DARE you not find love!

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Night_cheese Good news, unmarried women in your late 30s — one of you is about to hit the jackpot! Excuse me, “jackpot.” Fox has picked up the pilot for a reality series called I Married a Stranger, in which “friends” and “families” of a “lonely” lady will eliminate potential suitors for her one by one. What? These people can’t possibly be her real friends or real family. Who says “Uh oh, Jane’s in her late 30s and unmarried – we’d better put her on a terrible reality show! How dare she not find love? How dare she.” God forbid women of a certain age end up in cozy Slankets with some bitchin’ munchies, having a total blast by themselves on their couches. Ugh, the nerve! This calls for a quick poll:

Jun 5 2009 08:29 PM ET

'The Hangover' makes me wonder if I care about kittens more than humans

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , , ,

I loved The Hangover when I saw a screening of the Vegas-centric comedy weeks ago, but some of my co-workers have scoffed at the film's incorporation of borderline child abuse to collect laughs. Of what scenes do these dissenters speak? As seen in the trailer (embedded below), Hangover's sunglasses-clad baby gets hit in the head with a car door and is left alone in the vehicle to field the Vegas heat. Okay, if these scenes were to occur in real life, it would be extremely unfunny. And though it may just be my unabashed love for Zach Galifianakis getting in the way, I do find these scenes pretty darn funny. I mean, it's a movie. It's fiction. This baby is not really being harmed. In fact, he's probably earned a decent chunk of money to add to his college fund. And I sincerely doubt anyone will leave the theater thinking they should emulate this threesome of tequila-soaked losers, so why should we worry about what kind of image they portray?  

That being said, a few days ago, I hopped excitedly to the theater for a showing of Drag Me To Hell, only to walk out slightly amused, but mostly disturbed by one scene in the film. (Let's now pause for your requisite SPOILER ALERT for those of you who haven't seen it). I'm speaking of the scene in which Alison Lohman's character sacrifices a kitten. A poor, defenseless kitten. A tiny kitten that's so cute-as-a-button, when it first appeared on-screen, I thought to myself, If anything happens to that adorable little kitten, I am so out of here. (For the record, I stayed put anyway). So as much as I enjoyed the gross-out antics of the rest of Sam Raimi's latest masterpiece, I couldn't help but feel disgusted and, yes, even angry that the director would choose to include animal abuse in his film.

Of course, this just leaves me confused. Is something wrong with me? Why am I okay with a movie that depicts a baby getting hurt, but kitten abuse leaves me feeling revolted? The fact that one is a comedy and one isn't might be part of the reason, sure, but the fact that I'm not a parent, but a cat owner, might play into it somewhat as well. After all, I laughed watching Brüno's poor baby-handling antics, but was upset when Family Guy chose to kill an animated cat earlier this season. Your thoughts, PopWatchers? Am I flawed emotionally? Do you think The Hangover is taking it too far?

Jun 5 2009 07:36 PM ET

Dad comes home from Iraq on 'Today Show': This WILL make you cry

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We dare you not to cry while watching this San Antonio dad surprise his fourth-grade daughter, who hadn’t seen him in a year, on her second-to-last day of school. You may last for 30 of the 47 seconds. But you won’t make it. There’s just no way. Damn you, instant replay! 

I never thought I’d type these next four words, but: Props to Ann Curry’s bedroom voice, which somehow gets lower/more serene as the subject matter gets sadder. It’s uncanny. “Mmmm,” indeed. Didn’t that feel good?

Jun 5 2009 07:30 PM ET

John Stamos talks 'Bye Bye Birdie,' 'ER' spinoff rumors, and 'Full House: The Movie' (really)

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Filed under: News and tagged: , , ,

John-Stamos_l This weekend, John Stamos heads to New York to present at Sunday's Tony Awards (CBS, 8 p.m.). This fall, he returns to Broadway, starring as Albert Peterson in the long-awaited revival of Bye Bye Birdie opposite Gina Gershon, who takes the role of Albert's secretary, Rose Alvarez. ("It's a sexier way to play Albert and Rosie," Stamos says, "and there's nothing wrong with that." We concur.) Stamos phoned PopWatch to chat about filling Dick Van Dyke's shoes, his upcoming dinner-and-a-show date night (with South Park cocreator Matt Stone), the truth behind that rumored ER spinoff, how exactly he'll make winning a meet-and-greet with him in an online charity auction worth your while, and more…

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let's start with the Tonys. You're presenting two awards — best performance by a featured actor and actress in a musical. Who are you rooting for?

JOHN STAMOS: Well…I don't know. That'd be bad for me to say, wouldn't it? Hair, so far, is one of my favorite shows on Broadway this season. I will say that. I'm going again on Tuesday. I have date night with my friend Matt Stone. [Laughs] We're going to dinner and the theater, just the two of us. He emailed me the other day. I said, "I can't wait for our date!" His wife is staying at home. I'm not bringing a girl. So we have date night Tuesday, and we're gonna go see naked people. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

Through Matt's eyes. That'll be great.

Yeah, right? As you can see from [South Park], both Matt and Trey, especially Trey, love musical theater.

They're actually working on a show, right?

Yeah. They'll have to tell you. They are working on something.

Moving on to your show: What was your reaction when you were offered Albert in Bye Bye Birdie?

I think it's an interesting casting idea to put me in the role. I used to get asked to play Conrad when I was younger. It's exciting. The show has never been revived — '61 was the last time it was done with Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera on Broadway. [The producers] were like, "Hey, you want to do this?" I'm like, "Let me see." "They're like, 'It's Bye Bye Birdie! You can't say no!'" I wanted to read it and play around with it. And then I started realizing how important this show is to so many people. It's one of the most licensed plays in schools and community theaters.

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 5 2009 06:56 PM ET

Kirstie Alley's Twitter stream is blowing my mind

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Filed under: To Care or Not to Care and tagged: , , , , , ,

Kirstie-Alley-Tweet_lIt really is. And I don't just mean because she's sent out 68 tweets in the last four hours, although she has. There was the Great Root Beer Float Tweet of Oh Nine that made the rounds, but people paid surprisingly little attention to the fact that the former Cheers star has four baby lemurs. Is she joking? I have no idea!

Today, after some people criticized her abundant use of caps lock, she fired back with the pictured tweet, though her version is un-bleeped (this is a family blog). She followed up with "LET'S GET A FUN ONE UP FAST..I BROKE MY GOLDEN RULE..DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH BUTT BABIES…LOL," which, again, mind-blowing. I'm pretty sure the Golden Rule refers specifically to the "do unto others" idea, but kudos on coining the term "butt baby," I guess?

I also learned that Kirstie is a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance, because she connects to the contestants: "I feel their pain and beauty..wish I had been a dancer..i am in my dreams…". Although this season is tougher on them: "It's weird..people are lucky in the first seasons..by this season the dancers have to be Bruschnekov.(good try at spelling) lol." Oh, LOL indeed.

Jun 5 2009 06:09 PM ET

Dave Matthews Band makes its morning show debut on 'The Today Show'

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It takes a special kind of rabid fan devotion to stand out in the cold, steady rain (in June, no less) in the wee hours of the morning just to hear a few tunes and hope to catch a glimpse of your musical idols. Granted, lining up outside of The Today Show boasting signs about where you reside, waving wildly and being oddly starstruck by Al Roker is nothing new. But it becomes slightly fresh when you have a band who has never been part of that scene. Dave Matthews Band, who have been out pimping their new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King nonstop (check out Dave's funny and self-deprecating skit during Wednesday's visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), made their first-ever appearance on The Today Show this morning, which just so happened to mark their first-ever appearance on any morning show.

So did water-logged fans get what they were waiting for? The band, looking rather spiffy for the occasion (Dave in a suit jacket!), played a six-song set in roughly an hour or so, which included old favorites like "So Much To Say" (see clip below), "Crash Into Me", and "Ants Marching," as well as songs off the new album, including "Funny The Way It Is", "Why I Am," and "Alligator Pie." Blame it on the rain (or maybe those very early morning hours), but it took Dave a bit to get into his groove. Though once he did, Rockefeller Center suddenly felt like a jamming amphitheater. Drummer Carter Beauford interacted most with fans and handed out drumsticks between songs, while Dave jokingly ordered a ham and cheese sandwich through the window of the adjoining Dean & Deluca. So, even for fans without a primo spot, the band's music and carefree interactions with the crowd during commercial breaks made it well worth the wait and the weather.

What about you, PopWatchers? Is there a band you would go see in any kind of weather? Which band/musician have you endured crummy conditions for? Or is your fandom weather permittant?

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Jun 5 2009 06:04 PM ET

Clip du jour: Magnetic Fields' 'All My Little Words,' Game Boy-style

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This whole week has been full of chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter videos — Han Solo, the Muppets, ye gods. But here is yet another "two of my favorite things, together at last" video: A Magnetic Fields song being played on a Game Boy.

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