Archive: August 2009 (141-150 of 386)

Aug 19 2009 03:45 PM ET

It's Must List time, guys! Our pick: 'Mad Men' (natch)

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Filed under: Mad Men and tagged: ,

Unless you live in a bunker somewhere, a CB radio your only link to the modern world, you were no doubt bombarded with Mad Men advertisements of every shape and size -- posters! pop-ups! sky-writing! -- in the weeks leading up to Sunday's season three premiere. Like the show's male characters, its marketing campaign was totally excessive. But the thing is -- and we so rarely get to say it these days -- ...wasn't it totally justified? MAD MEN IS BACK!

Your turn, sport. Put down that mid-morning scotch for a second and type up those Must List suggestions — anything from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online — garnished with a Draper-caliber pitch. (Make us need that Kodak carousel.) Your pick/name could wind up in the magazine! Deadline is Thursday, Aug. 20 at noon ET.

Aug 19 2009 03:30 PM ET

'Big Brother': So this is where the ideas come from!

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I will never get tired of KCS Cougar‘s reality show cartoons. The Real Housewives one was a treat, and the NYC Prep one was spot-on, which means it’s time to give Big Brother its turn in the spotlight. Behold! (Contains some foul language)

I really do like the idea of a “Simon Baker’s twinkling charming eyes” contest, though.

Aug 19 2009 02:30 PM ET

'Mad Men': Would you peek?

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Filed under: Mad Men, Television, To Care or Not to Care and tagged: , , ,

peggy_popartAccording to the New York Times, iTunes subscribers who had season passes to Mad Men automatically received the third episode of season 3 (“My Old Kentucky Home”) just before midnight on Tuesday. A coworker just sent me the story, and before I knew it, I’d accidentally read a small spoiler about Peggy — a line of dialogue which, although it excites me greatly (read it after the jump), is something I’d prefer not to know ahead of time. Oh well; I’ll probably live. But I’m curious: Would you watch episode 3 before episode 2 if you had the chance? (And did any of you have the chance? I can’t say for certain that I wouldn’t at least peek at, like, only the Joan scenes or something.)

READ FULL STORY »

Aug 19 2009 02:18 PM ET

EW Picks: Today's best in pop culture

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Movies DVD: Surveillance
Jennifer Lynch follows in her dad David’s freaky footsteps with this gruesome thriller, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond. Read our review

TV Top Chef season premiere (Bravo, 9 p.m. EDT)
New season! New city: Las Vegas! New guest judges: Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Tyler Florence, Penn & Teller, and Nigella Lawson! But, thankfully, still the same ol’ Padma and Tom. ‘Top Chef’: Where are they now?

Music Keep On Lovin’ You, Reba McEntire
Fresh off last year’s successful tour with Kelly Clarkson, country’s queen has finally finished recording her first album since 2003. We asked Reba some Stupid Questions when her last album came out

Books This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper
Think your family is dysfunctional? Pick up this funny novel from Tropper, about an eccentric clan who sits shiva following the death of their patriarch, and you might decide the grass is greener on your side. Read our review

Tech Game: Shorts
Do they even make kids’ movies that don’t have videogame tie-ins anymore? We doubt it. Fire up your Nintendo DS and go to town on this title based on the Robert Rodriguez movie that comes out this weekend. Read more about the movie

Click here for more of this week’s picks, or check out an overview of more TV, movies, music and more debuting this week.

Aug 19 2009 02:00 PM ET

Who has killer looks and the chops to play John Wilkes Booth?

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: ,

James-McAvoy_lAnyone who’s read James Swanson’s thrilling Manhunt or Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals has envisioned who might play Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth in a movie adaptation and been tantalized by simmering in-development projects involving Steven Spielberg and Liam Neeson or Harrison Ford.

But perhaps news of Robert Redford’s Lincoln-assassination film, The Conspirator, will finally resurrect such colorful historical characters for the screen. Though the film is primarily about Mary Surratt, who was hanged for her participation in the assassination, Booth is undeniably the killer role. Remember, Booth was a famous actor in his own time who single-handedly impacted history. We’re talking about a murderer who delayed his escape from Ford Theatre so he could deliver one final theatrical line of dialogue: “Sic semper tyrannis.” It’s too surreal to completely fathom a contemporary comparison. READ FULL STORY »

Aug 19 2009 02:00 PM ET

'Hip Hop All Star' for the iPhone: An EW exclusive

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Filed under: Videogames and tagged:

HipHopAllStar_TurntableDJ Hero doesn’t come out until October, but it’s not the only turntable game in town: Hip Hop All Star, for ye olde iPhone or iPod touch, scratches (get it?!) more or less the same itch. Play as one of four DJs — including actual person DJ Green Lantern — and, as in other games in the genre, tap when the spirit says tap. Er, when the buttons line up.

HHAS comes out Sept. 13, but I got to try it this week, and my real-life DJ skills (do you guys not want to listen to the same Blind Pilot song on repeat, literally for hours? Too bad, that’s what I’m playing!) miraculously did not inhibit my in-game ones. You can’t even believe how badly I want to make a Spinderella reference right now, but it will just make me seem old and out of touch, so instead I’ll just say that pretending to scratch records is totally fun, and making a contest out of it even more so.

The full track list of playable jams on HHAS is after the jump: READ FULL STORY »

Aug 19 2009 01:30 PM ET

Hot people we missed, last call for votes!

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Filed under: Castle, Movies and tagged: , , , ,

Nathan-Fillion_l-2The great Hotties ’09 experiment is nearing its end, and as we prepare to close our myriad of polls on Friday — and declare winners in an “Ultimate Hotties” gallery next week — we acknowledge the 20 picks you say we missed today. You know Marc Bernardin and I campaigned hard for Nathan Fillion to make the cut, but the Castle star just didn’t seem to fit into any of our categories. His character is technically a novelist, not a crime fighter. Though I argued the show wants to be considered a comedy, others still call it a drama. And though Richard Castle is a clever, intelligent man, he’s not defined by his high IQ. You can now, however, right this wrong by voting him our Readers’ Choice Wild Card Hottie.

Here’s a look at where all the polls stand now. Again, they close Friday.

Readers’ Choice Wild Card Hottie (Co-ed): Supernatural‘s Jared Padalecki (your current leader, with 37 percent of the vote)
Mobilize: Fans of Smallville‘s Tom Welling (he’s in second place, with 11 percent) READ FULL STORY »

Aug 19 2009 12:49 PM ET

'Top Chef Las Vegas' premieres tonight: All in?

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Filed under: Food and Drink, Television, Top Chef and tagged: , , , ,

top-chef_lJust wanted to remind you about the ‘Top Chef Las Vegas’ premiere during a random week in August. It’s tonight! Bravo’s casino-themed promo, in which a roulette wheel temporarily obscures Padma’s face instead of knives, just reminded me. “It’s gonna get dicey,” guys. For example: I’m not sure I want to know what suspicious Frenchman Mattin is gonna do with that rabbit.

Zucchini and carrots are nice if you are a rabbit, but come on. Which other foods would you use as poker chips in your dreams? I’ll start.

–Harold’s popcorn-cake garnish (season 1)
–Ilan’s shrimp and chorizo fideo cakes (season 2)
–Casey’s veal medallions (season 3)
–Richard’s banana scallops (season 4)
–Carla’s apple tart coins (season 5)
–Anita Lo’s lobster biscuit sandwiches (Masters), which I would not be betting
–Sunkist Fruit Gems

More ‘Top Chef’: Catch up with Stephanie, Harold, Marcel, Spike, Richard, and Carla at today’s “Where Are They Now?” gallery

Aug 19 2009 12:41 PM ET

'America's Got Talent' recap: 'Hoff the charts!'

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David Hasselhoff is rarely on target with any remarks he makes from the judges’ table (or, well, anywhere), but his proclamation that last night would be “Hoff the charts”…rang surprisingly true! For over two hours we were treated to everything from fire juggling to break-dancing to “Poker Face” remixing, the large majority of it entertaining and, well, vote-worthy. How about it, guys? By my count, we saw at least eight contending acts — a dramatic improvement on the last two weeks’ ho-hum rotation and a guarantee that tonight’s results show will be anything but “duh.” To recap:

READ FULL STORY »

Aug 19 2009 10:44 AM ET

Kim Zolciak's first single: Rest easy, Beyonce!

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Kim-Zolciak_lEver since The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Kim Zolciak bleated the first few aborted notes of her country career last season, I knew America was in for a treat. Now her very first (not at all country) single has dropped, and to my utter shock, it is not technically the worst thing I have ever heard!



It’s…not the best thing I’ve ever heard, but “Tardy for the Party” is more lame than it is unlistenable, unlike the “music” of Heidi Montag, say, or that terrifying, hilarious cover of “Such Great Heights.”

Lyrically, though, I’m puzzled. I think most of us associate the word “tardy” with school and propriety and all, and if you’re keeping track of what time people show up, well, that’s hardly a party attitude. I’m not much of a club person — no, it’s true! — but the line “I’ll be feeling good by nine / after my third glass of wine” sort of threw me: I don’t usually associate dancefloor antics and club-going with wine per se, but if The Real Housewives franchise has taught me anything, it’s that other people don’t always think the way I think, particularly when it comes to wine drinking. (And breast management.)

Are your ears bleeding, PopWatchers? Or is this going to be your end-of-summer jam?

Photo credit: Wilford Harewood/Bravo

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