Archive: July 2009 (151-160 of 444)

Jul 23 2009 01:59 PM ET

'America's Got Talent' recap: These colors don't run

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We’re out of the woods, guys! Five weeks and 10 episodes after America’s Got Talent began, we’ve finally come to the end of the first round of auditions. It’s been a whirlwind tour of the United States and its many…colorful inhabitants, ranging in ages and talent and sanity. Somehow we all live under the same flag!

And never was that flag flown more prominently than during last night’s episode, featuring a red, white, and blue color scheme powerful enough to induce a seizure. Patriotism! A predicted economic upswing! If the judges are to believed, these are both intrinsically linked to the talent of our performers. Did last night’s crop help save our wayward nation?

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Jul 23 2009 12:53 PM ET

ABC launching a college devoted to 'Lost'? Sign us up!

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Lost-Jeremy-Davies_l For those of you currently enrolled in our EW University course on Lost (more essays to come over the next several days) and interested in pursuing graduate studies this fall, you’re in luck: ABC is launching its own “Lost University,” details of which are beginning to trickle out. Check out the very cool web presence at abc.com’s Lost site, filled with course descriptions (“Introductory Physics of Time Travel”), selected reading (“A Treatise of Human Nature” by David Hume), and a faculty directory. Included among the many real-life academics on staff is actor Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday), who proved himself something of a science egghead the last time I interviewed him. 

From the looks of it, “Lost University” is several things at once: pure fun (I love the mascot: a polar bear, of course); elaborate promotion for the Season 5 DVD (in stores later this year); and (possibly) a nifty alternate reality game designed to keep Lost top-of-mind in the months leading up to its sixth and final season. Visitors to Comic-Con this week are already finding clues (including a phone number for a “Professor Nusedorf:” 818-824-6300) suggesting that a major component to “Lost University” begins on September 22, a date of significance in Lost lore. (9/22/04: Oceanic 815 crashed on The Island. But you didn’t need a college course to know that, right?) While I’m down at Comic-Con this weekend, I’ll see if I can dig up any more info. Feel free to follow me on Twitter for updates: @ewdocjensen. Also: keep coming back to PopWatch all weekend long for updates about all of Comic-Con.

Jul 23 2009 11:00 AM ET

'Harry Potter' fanatics: Are we secretly jealous of them?

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Harry-Potter-fans_l When I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening night, I may have chuckled internally at a young man (even more committed than the one pictured) wearing a Gryffindor getup and carrying a wand. I thought I was laughing at him — though I should've known that wasn't like me — until I left the theater, found myself walking solo on an eerily quiet block and got the sudden feeling that maybe I wasn't alone: Death Eaters! When I got home, I read a tweet from Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Andrew), who'd also just seen the film. "Did anyone else think they had magic afterwards?" he asked. "Pretended that my dark, deserted street was a dark, deserted Diagon Alley for a block. That count?," I responded. "I'm convinced I can learn to illuminate dark cavernous rooms…," he wrote back.

I chalked my momentary dementia up to Half-Blood Prince being a great film (and the fact that I'd just watched Order of the Phoenix the night before), but then I read a piece from the Chicago Tribune in which a 21-year-old writer admits she's a little envious of her 12-year-old sister's immersion in the Potterverse. The pre-teen took her wand to the midnight screening they attended. She explained the difference between "Avada Kedavra" spell and the Muggle version of "Abracadabra" on the car ride home. She reads fanfiction and still debates Harry's fate. Maybe a part of me is jealous, too. Maybe deep down I wish I would've been sitting there with a wand, and had lost myself enough in the movie to join in raising it in salute to Dumbledore. (That scene already gave me chills; if I was participating, tears.)

Are you secretly jealous of Harry Potter fanatics? And back to Tom's question: Did anyone else think they had magic afterwards?

More 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince':
'Harry Potter' and the 'Half-Blood Prince' romance debate: A battle of the sexes?
'Harry Potter' geeks: Vent your frustrations about the movie changes here!
Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon hasn't read the 'Harry Potter' books. Discuss.
Dalton Ross and Josh Wolk talk 'Half-Blood Prince' romance on Must List Live!
'Half-Blood Prince': 8 exclusive pics from EW's photo shoot

Jul 22 2009 10:42 PM ET

Would you rather watch regular TV than Obama's speech tonight?

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If so, you’re not alone. A poll conducted by TVGuide.com concluded that 62 percent of Americans would rather watch originally-scheduled programming than President Obama’s speech this evening. (Fox, in a typically Fox move, was just gonna show So You Think You Can Dance anyway.)

I don’t know, PopWatchers. As much as I’m a politically involved and aware human being — and as much as I like to scoff at anyone who thinks a televised dance competition is more important than, say, national health care — I will admit that there are a LOT of cable news channels that could show the President’s speech while their sister networks continue to dunk fat people in mud, juggle chainsaws, what have you. And it does seem like causing large media corporations to lose millions in ad revenue tonight might fly in the face of Obama’s ongoing attempts to rescue this country from the dire straits of imminent fiscal ruin. But is airing the speech mandatory under the FCC rules that keep the networks on the air for “free”? (I’m legitimately asking; I don’t know.) And are there still people out there without cable or internet who would miss it if it wasn’t broadcast on the networks? Do you know anyone like that? Is it possible these non-cable-having people hang out with the invisible Nielsen families?

What do you think? Is it a matter of national importance to preempt regular programming for the President’s speech tonight? What if they could just preempt specific shows? Which show could you live without for a week? Can someone just start preempting Entourage for fun?

Jul 22 2009 08:30 PM ET

It's time to start thinking about the movie of the decade: Your fave films of the 'aughts'?

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Dark-knight_l You have five more months to think about it, but ESPN's Bill Simmons has already crowned the Movie of the Decade. In a recent podcast with the sports network's Chris Connelly (scroll to 43:42 of the 7/15 episode), the two pop-culture vultures debated the "defining Great movie of the decade," based on Simmons' criteria: (1) Excellence when it came out; (2) Rewatchability; (3) Originality. Connelly proposed the corollary that the "defining" film must be loved, not simply admired. (Goodfellas and The Shawshank Redemption were deemed two exemplary examples from the 1990s).

Connelly chose the Coen's O Brother, Where Art Thou, and Simmons nominated Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous before settling on The Dark Knight. All solid choices. In fact, I have to agree with Simmons about Christopher Nolan's Gotham masterpiece. But I can't stop at just one. Here are my fab-five from the "aughts" that entranced me in the theater, with the classic scene that continues to thrill, tickle or tear me up every time it appears on television.

5. The 40 Year-Old Virgin  – Steve Carell's field-trip to Planned Parenthood.
4. Almost Famous – Any scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman's so-not-cool-he's-cool Lester Bangs
3. Cast Away – Tom Hanks' painful reunion with Helen Hunt.
2. Michael Clayton – The moment you learn why the GPS in George Clooney's car isn't working.
1. The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger's police station interrogation with Gary Oldman and Christian Bale.

Your turn, PopWatchers: What's your film of the decade and what favorite scene will interrupt whatever you're doing and suck you in for the rest of the movie?

Jul 22 2009 07:59 PM ET

'How Hetero' Twitter formula is total B.S.

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Madonna-steak-twitter_l Stockholm Pride 2009 has gifted the Twitter community with a "How Hetero" test so that we can study the effects of heteronormativity — specifically its keywords — on society as a whole. It's fun, but clearly bogus. EWAnnieBarrett is apparently 71 percent hetero (keywords: ass, gay, making love, milk, lash), whereas EWMichaelSlezak (ass, anthem, fishing, Madonna, body) scored a 72. Seriously, the system actually counts those keywords as "gay." The notion that I am gayer than Michael Slezak is nowhere near as ridiculous as the insanity of either of us scoring higher than a 30 in the first place. Also, I refuse to believe I tweeted the term "making love." But I guess I did.

At 66 percent hetero, EWPopWatch is gayer than both of us, thanks to keywords "ellen, madonna, steak, eulogy," and the dreaded "milk." For the record, EWMandiBierly is the straightest of us all, at a whopping 75% hetero. When asked to comment on this "victory," she issued the following statement: "new york, cupcakes, cheeks, fishing, ass."

Okay, what'd you score?

Jul 22 2009 07:30 PM ET

Atlas Shrugged. So do I.

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Atlas-Shrugged-theron_l After decades of false starts and dashed hopes, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged may finally be coming to…(Sigh)…Yeah, I can’t. I can’t do this anymore. Period announcements, like the recent Risky Business Blog post that Charlize Theron is organizing a cable-TV miniseries adaptation, have been teasing me ever since I read Rand’s epic diatribe against intrusive government a decade ago. Theron wants to play railroad industrialist Dagny Taggart? Great. There’s room next to Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts and all the other actors reportedly attached to the film during THE LAST 37 YEARS! Kripes. Theron was negative-3 years old when producer Albert Ruddy’s first attempt fell through. Good luck, Charlize, but until they start shooting film, I’ll assume every piece of Atlas Shrugged gossip was crafted by The Fountainhead‘s duplicitous Ellsworth Toohey.

Did the latest Atlas update get your hopes up, Rand fans? Is a miniseries the ideal format to tell Rand’s story, or would you prefer a feature film? And, if you were gambling, what year would you bet any version of Atlas Shrugged finally arrives? (I’m on the record with 2025).

Jul 22 2009 07:15 PM ET

Johnny Depp: Which film should go into production first?

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Johnny-Depp_lWe won't pretend to know how Johnny Depp's mind works, but we think it's safe to assume that his fans weren't happy when they read that his potential projects are all currently in flux. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's yet to sign on to Enchanted director Kevin Lima's remake of The Incredible Mr. Limpet. (Depp in a Don Knotts role, we could die happy.) Disney has to search for a new helmer for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film since Gore Verbinski bailed (and budget cuts could mean no Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). The Lone Ranger pic, to which Depp is attached to play Tonto, is also in need of a director…and a leading man…either of whom could want rewrites. And Depp's next collaboration with Tim Burton, a big-screen take on TV's spooky Dark Shadows, could be delayed since Burton won't begin prepping until he's done readying their Alice in Wonderland for its March 2010 release.

If you could ask the cinema gods to make one of those projects come together swiftly, which would you choose? From our poll to their ears…

Jul 22 2009 07:00 PM ET

Guest Editor Kevin Smith: The five coolest people I've met at the San Diego Comic-Con (Part 2)

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Kevin-Smith-Leslie-Mann_l Leslie Mann
After the EW panel last year, I was backstage talking to Zack Snyder about an early peep at Watchmen when Leslie Mann (the actress and Judd Apatow’s wife) was passing by, stopped, and said, “Oh my God…you are so funny.” I just about passed out.

Here’s why: I’ve always dug Leslie Mann. I think she’s really funny and insanely credible on film. So there was that. But also? She’s married to Judd — the guy whose movies are like mine, but way more financially successful. That summer, I couldn’t walk a block without someone saying “Did you see Knocked Up?” or weirder, “Did you make Knocked Up?” Judd Worship had begun in earnest, and online, for some, Judd Worship was somehow equated with me being suddenly irrelevant. Because there was a Judd, some were writing, there was no more need for me and my bulls— flicks. One blogger even sited “…Judd’s unprecedented, repeated use of the same actors in his potty-mouthed-yet-heartfelt comedies.” It was like I’d never existed.

So, naturally, when the pretty girl married to the newly crowned King of Comedy took a moment, apropos of nothing, to tell me I was funny…well, the timing couldn’t have been better. This is gonna sound stupid, but that brief exchange was not only one of my top 10 Comic-Con memories, it’s also a top 10 Zack and Miri-related memory, as well.

Moral of the story: a kind word goes further than one can ever realize.

One more, after the jump…

addCredit(“Kevin Smith: Amanda Schwab/Startraksphoto.com; Leslie Mann: Bill Davila/Startraksphoto.com”)

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Jul 22 2009 06:54 PM ET

'Nightmare on Elm Street' remake: A peek at Jackie Earle Haley's Freddy Krueger

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Freddy-kruger_l Once you get past whether we actually NEED a Nightmare on Elm Street remake courtesy of Michael Bay's horror remake factory Platinum Dunes, this first-look at Jackie Earle Haley's Freddy Krueger, posted on MySpace today, is somewhat encouraging — and yes, nightmarish. I can't wait to actually see how they do up Jackie Earle's face, but I'm happy that the sneak peek is shrouded in shadows. Even if it makes for a less-exciting first-look, it's way better if our first glance at his scowling, burnt mug is on the big screen, hopefully after a good half the movie rolls by. Tension is a good thing in horror — as is release. (Still, there's something about those slouched shoulders that kinda puts Jackie Earle's stamp on the character, even from a mere silhouette.)

Of course, Freddy's sweater and hat are the same, and the blades-on-a-chalkboard thing is straight from the original movie as well, which, while scary and ominous, again begs the question, "Do we actually NEED another Nightmare on Elm Street?" Maybe not. But if my worst fear after this first-look is redundancy, it would appear that Michael Bay and Co. could actually be onto something after all.

Whaddya think, PopWatch Nation? This Nightmare reboot shaping up nicely from what you've seen? You psyched or just let down that they're revisiting a 25-year-old horror classic?

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