Archive: July 2009 (181-190 of 444)

Jul 21 2009 08:00 PM ET

Guest Editor Olivia Munn: The first 10 songs that shuffle up on my iPod and what they mean

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Alan-Thicke-Jay-z-Munn_l 1. “Growing Pains theme song,” Alan Thicke. Because I made out with him. Yes, the dad — not the super-sexy hip-hop star son.

2. “I Poke Her Face,” Kid Cudi/Kanye/Common/Lady Gaga. Because I know every lyric.

3. “Trouble,” by Ray LaMontagne. This is my theme song. “Worry been doggin’ my soul since the day I was born.” I just knew they’d cancel BSG, and I still can’t get over it.

4. “You Can Run,” Bryan Greenberg/Kid Cudi. The live version. It’s a song about the people who didn’t believe in you, and then you get successful and they can’t escape your good fortune. There’s an awesome, laid-back version of it on YouTube. It’s a must listen.

5. “Death to Auto Tune,” Jay-Z. Finally someone puts an end to the agony of Auto Tune!

6. “On My Way,” Ben Kweller. I found this song at a karaoke bar in Japan and fell in love with it. Note to self: Never sing in public. Ever. Again.

7. “I Don’t Think I’m Ever Gonna Figure It Out,” Elliott Smith. It’s a rare song from one of his demos and it’s amazing. Sometimes all you need is one guitar and a mic and a sick songwriter.

8. “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” Cage the Elephant. This is my other theme song.

9. “Auditorium,” Mos Def/Slick Rick. Great beat, plus Slick Rick is back with a vengeance on this track.

10. “Take a Minute,” K’nnan. Not many good positive hip-hop cats artists out there who have a message to their music. If Bob Marley could rap he would be K’nnan.

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Jul 21 2009 07:37 PM ET

'Prince of Persia' tagline needs rewriting! Help!

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Filed under: Movies, Videogames and tagged: , , , ,

Prince-Persia-poster_lThe just-released poster for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time looks much like the video game on which the movie is based. We're not very happy with the film's "Defy the Future" tagline, though, and, in honor of all of Jake Gyllenhaal's extraneous shackles and armbands, would like to suggest "He's Got Hardware" instead. Your suggestions?

By the bye, if you're not into gaming, Gyllenhaal, or movies, but wouldn't mind a dreamscape-y tune with a thematic tie to the project, check out "Sands of Time" by Cut Copy.

Jul 21 2009 06:32 PM ET

David Hasselhoff on 'The View': America's Got...no idea what you're talking about

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The Hoff's bleary-eyed appearance on The View this morning was so awkward it was a little mind-blowing. Below, a smattering of the cringe-iest moments. "Entertainment brings the world together. You know?"

Which part made you most uncomfortable?

a) His verbal assault of The View's hosts and visual assault of the audience (necklace!)
b) Women in burkas are not threatening once you realize they have Prada purses
c) People under burkas are also not scary because they have blonde hair and wear JEANS!
d) The blonde girls "singing" at the end are his 17- and 19-year-old daughters. "Bitchin."

Jul 21 2009 06:22 PM ET

Michael Jackson: Why the weirdness WAS the greatness

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Michael-Jackson-Thriller_l For decades, there have been two Michael Jacksons: the whirling-dervish pop genius and the mysterious, childlike, obsessive, tormented, at times freakish private soul. In the weeks since he died, both dimensions of Michael — the artist and the man — have been paraded and discussed to an exhaustive degree. You could argue that each side has been raised to the level of mythology. Yet what isn't so often talked about is the inseverable connection between the two. From the outset of Michael Jackson's career, his extreme and heightened distance from the "normal" world has been one of the cornerstones of his art. Below are some of the ways that Michael’s "weirdness" was, in fact, always right at the soul of his musical and cultural power.

The Young Michael’s Vocal Phrasings. At the memorial service last Tuesday, Smokey Robinson, recalling his reaction to the first time he heard the 10-year-old Michael sing a version of "Who's Lovin' You" that outdid Smokey’s, acknowledged the dizzyingly precocious, almost nature-defying quality of Michael's ability to sing lyrics rooted in the experience of adulthood and to interpret those lyrics exactly as an adult would sing them. For me, the line that has always made the prepubescent Michael sound most bizarrely mature comes in "I Want You Back," when he sings: "Oh, darlin’, I was blind to let you go!" He delivers those last four words like a wise old soul-sister diva tempering her ardor with worldly grace. The question Smokey Robinson raised, and didn’t quite answer, is: How did the young Michael do it? Did he feel those feelings? I would say that he did and he didn’t — that what his boy-virtuoso vocal-emotional mimicry expressed was a personality so empathic that it was as if he could consume, through art, other people’s experiences, and therefore felt no need to live those experiences himself. In that sense, Jackson’s "childlike" nature emerged out of the paradox that he didn't have to grow up because he was always, in his imagination, a super-adult.

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Jul 21 2009 06:00 PM ET

Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Adele set for 'VH1 Divas' 2009: Who do YOU want to see?

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VH1 fiiiiinally decided to heed our call and revive its Divas franchise. And today, they announced some of the divas that will be in the September show: Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and Miley Cyrus. I hope they do a tribute performance like this:

Okay, I'm torn. On the one hand, I enthusiastically enjoy half this line up. On the other…are these artists really Diva level? Like, Whitney, Mariah, Celine, Gloria, Aretha, Patti–caliber Diva? Hmm. That said, the Divas concerts have always included a combo of icons and current stars — musically speaking, Patti LaBelle is in a different category than Jessica Simpson or Ashanti, but they've all performed under the Diva banner.

And now, a few people on our wish list for the rest of the line up, and this is just spitballing without any attachment to logistics or reasoning, diva style: Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Allison Krauss. And I would also like return performances from Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, and Mariah Carey.

Okay, PopWatchers, something tells me you're going to have some good suggestions on this. Who do you want to see on the 2009 Divas stage?

Jul 21 2009 06:00 PM ET

Chris Brown's apology: Do you buy it?

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Chris Brown has issued a public video apology for assaulting then-girlfriend Rhianna back in February, saying he wasn't "going to sit here and make excuses….What I did was inexcusable." His statements are garnering heated mixed reactions, from the "too little, too late" variety to the "everyone's human" take. Watch and then take our poll below.

Jul 21 2009 05:15 PM ET

Macworld 1999: Hello, 'Halo'

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Filed under: Videogames and tagged:

Happy sort-of birthday, Halo! Ten years ago today, the first Halo trailer made its debut at, uh, MacWorld.

And that's how Apple became a major player in desktop gaming. Jk, jk, Halo went on to be Xbox's super-hit title, and Apple has largely dropped out of the gaming marketplace. But man, that trailer still gets me.

Did you love Halo once upon a time, PopWatchers? And what tech announcements from this year will be met with similar nostalgia down the road?

Jul 21 2009 05:00 PM ET

Blake Lewis' new single embraces sadness with a bumpin' beat

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Filed under: American Idol and tagged: , ,

Slezak is currently super-busy sweet-talking season 7 Idol Brooke White into performing liiiiiiiiiive! in front of our mailboxes. (Seriously, that is happening right now.) So it's up to me to announce that Blake Lewis' lead single from the superbly titled Heartbreak on Vinyl, "Sad Song," is available on iTunes. You can preview it below. In the spirit of Slezak, "Ch-ch-check it out! Ponies!" Or something.

Pretty good. I generally dig anything with a dance beat that makes me feel like I'm bopping through space at a downward slope of about 185 degrees. Nothing drastic, just a slight tilt. I'm in no hurry to touch down. Your trajectory may vary.

What's with Blake's invasion of the season 6 "battlefield" territory? Jordin Sparks might have to unleash her smoke machine on him. Better go get your armor, sir!

Jul 21 2009 04:30 PM ET

'Alice in Wonderland' falls through the Facebook rabbit hole

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Alice-in-Wonderland_l Those freaky-deaky Alice in Wonderland photos started ye olde buzz factory for Tim Burton's upcoming film, and now a combo Comic-Con/Facebook follow-up is set to keep the antici…pation building.The trailer for the film will make its trippy and stylized debut at Comic-Con this week, but it'll also drop online for some Facebook members.

Users can become fans of the Red Queen, the White Queen (dibs on that for my Halloween costume, methinks), or the Mad Hatter, who's already waaaay out ahead. Whichever fan group is the biggest gets to see the trailer first. Wheee!We're only starting to scratch the surface of Facebook-oriented advertising and marketing. My profile page still serves trashy promos for bikini waxes and those ubiquitous, putrid "be a cartoon" ads, so something that actually uses a Facebook functionality — fan pages! — seems like a good idea.

But maybe I'm just pounding potion for Alice. Are you with me, PopWatchers? Does this promo seem like a good way to get fans excited for Alice in Wonderland, or do you like to keep your Facebooking and film-going separate?

Jul 21 2009 04:30 PM ET

Guest Editor Olivia Munn: How to hit on a pretty girl at Comic-Con

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Olivia_munn_leia_l There will be a lot of them roaming around, both on the convention floor and in the local bars. Time to man up, kid, and set your phasers on amour.

    1. Offer her your extra convention pass.
    2. Say you have an “in” to an exclusive Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
    3. Ask her if she likes Marvel or DC.
    4. Show her a big armload of indie comics.
    5. “You are one of the few people here who can pull off that Black Cat costume.”
    6. Mistake her for someone in Iron Man 2.
    7. Identify which Battlestar Galactica tribe she’s from based solely on her accent
    8. “Remember the Next Generation episode with Mark Twain? Oh man, was that crazy or what?”

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