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Archive: June 2009 (71-80 of 438)

Jun 25 2009 03:22 PM ET

'I'm a Celebrity...': The real winners were Spencer and Heidi

Categories: I Saw It, So You Don't Have To!, Television, The 'Eh' List, Things That Make Me Die Inside

Last night, Lou Diamond Phillips won the inaugural season of NBC's trashtacular I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here (nearly as annoying to type as it was to watch). In lieu of a treasure chest of wampum or a bug spray sponsorship, the La Bamba star arranged for a donation to be made to his charity of choice: the Art Has Heart Foundation, which helps low-income high school students. Awww. Good (aka Phillips) finally triumphed over Evil (aka Speidi, Janice Dickinson). And thousands (or dozens, or however many people were still watching) cheered.

But let's get real. The actual winner of this show was never going to be the person who "won." That's like saying bikini mud wrestling is really about pinning the opponent, or pretending the MTV Movie Awards are about celebrating the actor's craft. The series was all about exposure, about how far a gaggle of half-forgotten celebs would be willing to go for a moment of last-gasp fame. And by those rules, the clear winner was Team Speidi. From their first-episode meltdowns to their post-show publicity tour, Spencer and Heidi made sure all eyes were on them. And it worked. They used the show to get a 30-second extension on their 15 minutes and walked away from it with the victory, if not the actual prize.

What do you think, PopWatchers? Were Spencer and Heidi the real champs of the show, or does LDP deserve more respect for being a diamond in the rough? If they do this show again next summer, are you watching?

More on I'm a Celebrity…
'I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!': Josh Wolk's Pop Culture Club
'I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!': How long will YOU be there?
'I'm A Celebrity…': The cast kinda blows on purpose. I think.
'I'm a Celebrity…' loses a million viewers from premiere …

Jun 25 2009 03:15 PM ET

'Ugly Truth' red band trailer: Funny or flat? (NSFW)

by Adam Markovitz

Categories: Movie Trailers, PopWatch Previewer

The inevitable red band trailer (NSFW!) for Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler's upcoming battle-of-the-sexes rom-com, The Ugly Truth (July 24), hit the Web today. And while it's got plenty of sex-ed vocab, it doesn't actually make the movie seem all that raunchy…or funny. In the clip, Butler's character — a misogynistic TV host — gives dating advice to Heigl's uptight TV producer, using a few anatomical terms and a lot of macho attitude. She rolls her eyes; he grins like a lech at a strip club. And…scene. Is that really the best they've got?

Of course, a clip doesn't always tell the whole story. So okay, PopWatchers — check out the trailer and tell us: Are you gonna see this movie?

Jun 25 2009 10:27 AM ET

'America's Got Talent' recap: One (hour) is always better than two

by Henning Fog

Categories: About Last Night, America's Got Talent

Last night’s episode of America’s Simon Cowell-less version of Britain’s Got Talent was immediately more satisfying than Tuesday’s premiere for a few reasons.

#1 – Length: You could cram a two-hour talent show (like Tuesday’s premiere) full of the most objectively talented people in the world (not Tuesday’s premiere) and it would still be a two-hour talent show. This isn’t Transformers 2, guys. Brevity is the soul of OMG DID YOU SEE THAT CRAZY JUMPING DOG!?!
#2 – Kids: Better and more professional than their debut-episode counterparts, last night’s kids showed the nation that rhythm is king. Did you see Eric and Rickie? Dancing 8-year-olds whose polished choreography and will-they-won’t-they hand-holding made for a legitimately captivating performance (and an easy “yes” from the three judges). And no back stories! No cutting to parents offstage! My money so far is on these two to win the $1 million, or the Sea-Doo family pack, or whatever the grand prize is. Billy Elliot fan Arcadian Broad was also pretty dynamite and offered the night’s most heartfelt talking head (he just wants to “show everyone I do have something great inside of me to give out”). Niagara Falls.
#3 – Nick Cannon went an entire hour without mentioning his wife or the things he’d like to do to her: Self-explanatory.
#4 – The emergence of fun audition-round drinking games: Here’s an easy one: Drink every time a contestant introduction is flipped completely on its head, like when a stay-at-home mom is revealed to be a yodeling dominatrix or a young lady with the “most unique talent she knows” turns out to be carting her twin around in a suitcase. Or take a shot for every “thank you very much” uttered by the judges as they try not to hurt the feelings of a recently XXX-ed contestant.

One more thing: As I watched the cavalcade of “talent” gracing the AGT stage, I was struck by the catchphrase used by champion of democracyDavid Hasselhoff, whose signature line — “You guys are what this showis all about!” — raises more questions than answers. What IS this showall about, anyway? What is the criterion by which contestants are beingjudged? Is it raw talent? Perseverance? Fun? SO MANY QUESTIONS. America’s Got Talent feels a little directionless in this post-Susan Boyle world, where the rules of realityengagement have changed completely.

Next week we’ll focus more closely on individual performances, but this opening week seemed right for a breezy orientation as we all find our Season 4 footing. With that in mind, one last pro-tip: following along with other fans on Twitter can turn a solitary AGT experience into a uniquely communal one. Who can’t rally behind these?:

We are opinionated, but we are strong. God Bless America! What’d you think of auditions, PopWatchers? Are you surprised that AGT hasn’t changed things up a bit to try and capture some of the mania surrounding its British counterpart? How exactly do you define the “talent” in America’s Got Talent?

Jun 25 2009 10:00 AM ET

Quote of the Day: 'Big Fish' edition

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: PopWatch Quote of the Day

"We were like strangers who knew each other very well." — Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) in Big Fish

Happy National Catfish Day!

Jun 24 2009 10:00 PM ET

Jonas Brothers: Nick Jonas talks Miley, Obama, and his favorite new band

by Tanner Stransky

Categories: Music

The Jonas Brothers are back! They never went away, you say? Fair. But more specifically, they are back on top — of the music sales charts, at least, with their latest release, Lines, Vines, and Trying Times, which hit shelves a week ago. The band also just launched their latest tour last Saturday in Dallas (with a surprise visit from Miley Cyrus, but more on that in a bit).

In between tour dates and promoting their album, I managed to spend a few minutes on the phone with the brains behind the operation, youngest brother Nick Jonas, and here's what he had to say about everything from his favorite song of the summer to his reaction after meeting President Barack Obama.

On having a No. 1 album twice:
"I think to have a No. 1 albumis a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But to have it happen twice is justtruly amazing, and we're so thankful to the people who went out and gotit. The fans make it possible."

On his favorite new band, Honor Society, which is going on tour with the Jonas Brothers this summer:
"The thing that really got me about them is that not only are they a pop-rock band, but they also have some R&B vocal stylings. The lead singer, Mike Bruno, has got some of the same influences as me — Stevie Wonder and Prince. They're trying to infuse those sounds into rock music, as well."

On recently meeting President Barack Obama:
"You know, it was fairly brief. He said hello and thanks for playing for his daughters. I said it was a pleasure to meet him, he said, 'You, too,' and then we took a photo and that was it. But it was really cool to meet him."

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 24 2009 09:33 PM ET

ShePop: 'Target Women' makes the case against 'Charm School' so we don't have to

by Jennifer Armstrong

Categories: ShePop

There's "Television for Women," Television Aimed at Women that I Actually Want to Watch, and Television Against Women. I've complained about the latter — Bad Girls' Club, Charm School, and their ilk — before, but it's a lot funnier when our beloved Sarah Haskins from Current TV's Target Women does it, in this exclusive first look at the segment that will air on infoMania Thursday:

What do you think, PopWatchers? Does Charm School have any redeeming qualities? Do you watch it as a guilty pleasure, or guilt-free? (And P.S.: If you're looking for an antidote to trashy-ladies' TV, check out season 2 of Lisa Kudrow's hilarious online series Web Therapy, which just launched this week!)

Jun 24 2009 09:08 PM ET

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin: Can these crazy kids make it work?

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: Tech, This Could Be Interesting...

David Fincher is in talks to direct Aaron Sorkin's in-the-works movie about Facebook. O…kay?

Look, I want to crap on this as much as anyone — Facebook movie?! Waaaah, only in an unjust universe, etc., etc. — but holy moly, I would freaking love to see these two team up on something. They're both known for being a bit intense, something of perfectionists, and for taking perhaps more time than they were supposed to to complete things. (No judgment!)

Sorkin's distinctive prose style lends itself to ambitious and equally distinctive direction — I can spot a Tommy Schlamme-directed episode a mile a way, for example — and Fincher's best film, Zodiac, is also his most cerebral and wordy. They're an unlikely pair, I guess; Fincher's work, minus Benjamin Button, tends to capture the clash between order and chaos, while Sorkin's work, minus Malice, tends to capture small groups of dedicated people. Maybe it's my post-lunch Diet Coke talking, but I think the pairing could be good for both.

That said…blerg x ∞ on their collaboration being for a movie about Facebook. Maybe down the road they'll reteam for a story about a crumbling dictatorship or something. Ah, a girl can dream.

Thoughts, PopWatchers? Are you updating your status about this?

Jun 24 2009 07:02 PM ET

Burger King's Super Seven Incher ad: Subtlety is dead

by Tanner Stransky

Categories: Advertising, Does Anyone Really Need an Article to Answer This Headline?, Have You Seen This?, Ridiculata, Things That Are Classy

If it hasn't already happened, today can go down in the record books as the day subtlety died. Burger King's latest advertisement — for its, ahem, BK Super Seven Incher — leaves little to imagination or interpretation. As you can see here, the woman in said advertisement is about to go down on said Super Seven Incher with a suggestive tagline that uses the word "blow." Mmhmm, I think it's safe to assume that such humor will only be going over the heads of those younger than, oh, about 13 years old. (Sorry, parents!)

The "copy" at the bottom of the ad — not sure that you can even see it here — takes the whole thing even further: "Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER," it says. "Yearn for more after you taste the mind-blowing burger that comes with a single beef patty, topped with American cheese, crispy onions and the A1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce."

"Something long, juicy"? "Yearn for more"? "Mind-blowing"? I think it's all rather glorious, in an I-love-trash kind of way. Who ever cared about cunning, cleverness, and nuance anyway? Blow your mind (and this Super Seven Incher) instead!

What do you think, PopWatchers? Are you even batting an eye at BK's latest, sexually charged ad campaign?

Jun 24 2009 06:58 PM ET

'Twilight' lip gloss? I'm totally buying it.

by Jean Bentley

Categories: Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion, Have You Seen This?, Horrifying But Hypnotic, New Moon, Twilight

For those Twi-hards with an insatiable appetite for blood for knowing about and owning everything Twilight-related ever, the fine folks at Hollywood Crush have unearthed the latest vampire creation: Lip Venom V, a brand new specially designed Twilight lip stain from New Moon set favorite DuWop.

While I'm not one for buying movie merchandise (aside from the promo can of Booty Sweat that sits on my desk), this is one Twilight-branded product I might probably will buy. And it's not even because I actually use DuWop Lip Venom…it's mostly because it looks cool. Seriously — the venom is mixed with lip stain in a little vial so it looks like blood.

Think of the options: I can wear it around my neck just like Angelina Jolie! Convince my friends that True Blood is real and they can actually get high off of vampire blood (V)! Or I can finally just broadcast the fact that really, inside, I am in fact a gigantic nerd.

My favorite part of this entire thing is how DuWop feels the need to drive the Twilight tie-in point home (''This product should be shaken before use to represent the blending of the human and vampire worlds''), when all they really needed to do was drop the T-word and they'd have more online pre-orders than their computer servers can handle.

Is this the Twilight item that will finally get you to shell out some hard-earned dolla billz? Or could you not care less about those stupid vampires and their stupid lipstick?

Jun 24 2009 06:48 PM ET

Elsewhere on EW.com...

by EW staff

Categories: Things That Are Awesome!

The 2010 Academy Awards will have 10 nominees for best picture. Dave Karger thinks "this could really help the chances of some more commercially popular films."

EW exclusive: David Fincher is in talks to direct the Aaron Sorkin-penned Facebook movie.

It's Transformers day, so: we rate Megan Fox's fashion, and Owen Gleiberman says Revenge of the Fallen is "sort of like the super-size, metal-on-metal version of an old nuclear-mutant monster battle."

We're into the top 50 now: more greatest summer songs for your mixtape-making pleasure.

The kids on NYC Prep have issues. Here are 31 hateful TV and movie kids that make those richyriches just seem delightful.

Mika rocked a small show last night.

TLC denies that Jon Gosselin's apparent girlfriend will be on Jon & Kate Plus Eight. According to the station, "future episodes haven't even been planned."

Friday Night Lights star Adrianne Palicki is heading back to Supernatural.