Last night’s Hell’s Kitchen was a full meal if I ever saw one. Let’s indulge:
Appetizer #1: An uncharacteristically affectionate Gordon Ramsay. Right after choosing to dismiss Tek instead of Amanda, Sir Gordon consoled a teary-eyed Amanda, telling her, “I’m counting on you, and I am concerned. Bounce back quickly, please. Good luck.” And it felt genuine! As I mentioned last week, I’m itching for an episode where Ramsay “plays nice” the entire time. It’d be an interesting psychological study to see how the chefs would react to Ramsay’s opposite twin, whom we shall name Chef Yasmar.
Appetizer #2: Men can’t count calories. Ramsay asked each team to craft a three-dish meal that would total less than 700 calories. Robert, bless his heart (figuratively, and as we learn later on, literally), laughed at the challenge and exclaimed, “I take 700-calorie bites!” The women easily won, thanks to the leadership of Sabrina, who works in a health club & spa and was therefore quite comfortable with the challenge. The red team’s prize was a Venice Beach volleyball lesson from Olympian Annett Davis. When the gals returned home, they discovered they’d each received a complimentary Vita-Mix blender. Couldn’t be product placement, could it? Take it away, Sabrina: “They’re the crème de la crème of blenders!” As for the blue team’s punishment… READ FULL STORY »
Was it a little awkward when David Letterman pitched to Britney Spears for the Top Ten List last night to see a pre-taped remote shot of the singer perched on a generic desk in a skimpy bikini? Yes. Yes, it was. Especially when the camera held on her a beat too long after the intro, presumably hoping for a lascivious “Wooo!” from an audience that seemed more puzzled than titilated. Spears was a good sport though, switching “from hip to hip while we do this,” per Dave’s joke, and hitting the right notes with a deadpan delivery of the Top Ten Ways the Country Would be Different if Britney Spears Were President, which was basically a series of “dumb blonde” jokes (“We would only invade fun places like Cabo”). Tan, svelte, funny, half-naked (the woman had TWO babies, people), full head of hair, clear eyes, crotch fairly well covered up…all in all a good showing for Le Brit. The comeback continues.
More Britney from EW:
Britney Spears vs. Pussycat Dolls in EW’s Guilty Musical Pleasures Tournament
With Inglourious Basterds hitting theaters Friday, Josh Wolk and I got to thinking: What’s the best Quentin Tarantino movie ever? Reservoir Dogs? Pulp Fiction? Kill Bill? Well, the answer one of us came up with might surprise you. And when I say “one of us” I’m referring to the smart one. The brave one. The one whose name does not rhyme with Posh Folk. Watch the latest Must List Live! video below to see if you agree with my pick for the ultimate in QT quality time, or if you feel the shameful need to hide your predictability and incorrectness behind a beard like my man Wolk. And then let us know your choice for the ultimate Quentin Tarantino film. Warning: This debate may get a little bloody. And when you’re done with that, see how well you do on our Quentin Tarantino quiz.
Earlier today at the GamesCom show in Germany, Sony Computer Entertainment finally announced it was dropping the price of its PS3 console. Effective immediately, a PS3 can be yours for $299, $100 less than it was a day ago. You probably want to wait until next month before racing out to get one, though: On September 1, a lighter, thinner PS3 with a larger hard drive goes on sale for the same price.
Is the new PS3 better-equipped to compete in the videogame console wars? At $299, it’s still more expensive than the cheapest Xbox 360 ($199) and Nintendo Wii ($250), and it has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to gain market share. The good news for Sony is most, if not all, of its lackluster performance so far can be blamed on it exorbitantly high price tag. There are top-notch games available for it right now — LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4 – that you can’t play on any other system, and its future release schedule — Uncharted 2, God of War III — looks just as bright.
So what do you think, PopWatchers? Does the PS3 now stand a chance in the next-gen console battle? Are you dealing yourself in on a PS3 now that it makes less of dent in your wallet?
Fall TV season is right! around! the corner!, which means the campaigns for new shows are getting into gear, and as usual, network marketing big cheeses are coming up with unusual ways to promote their series. Exhibit A: The campaign for the Courteney Cox-led Cougar Town is including faux ads for Cox’s character’s real estate agency. (Similar signs are a plot point in the pilot episode, too. Synergy, you guys!) The ads will run on benches and bus stops like ordinary real estate spots, which is a cute idea, I guess, except I only ever notice those signs when the agent’s photo makes me chuckle. Why would you pick the photo where you have serial killer face?! etc. READ FULL STORY »
Movies DVD: Julia
Tilda Swinton gives a riveting performance as an alcoholic who kidnaps a child for ransom. “Just try to take your eyes off her,” says EW’s Owen Gleiberman. Read our review
TV Flipping Out season premiere (Bravo, 10 p.m. EDT)
Season 3 of the hit series begins on Bravo. The network claims that, because of the economic downturn, obsessive-compulsive star Jeff Lewis actually has to be nice to people. What? He’ll also be helping his beloved housekeeper Zoila date and “empower his assistant Jenni” (that’s rather cryptic, yes?). Read EW’s review of Sean Paul’s last album
Books The White Queen, Philippa Gregory
Lose yourself in Gregory’s famed historical royal fiction with her latest novel, about a queen whose two sons mysteriously disappear. It’s fit for, well, a queen. Read EW’s review of Gregory’s 2006 book, The Boleyn Inheritance
Tech Game: Wolfenstein
A lot of us grew up on the Nazi-battling classic that basically defined the FPS genre, so it’s something of a homecoming to be B.J. Blazkowicz once more in this thoroughly modern update. Check out the official site
Click here for more of this week’s picks, or check out an overview of more TV, movies, music and more debuting this week.
Take your seats, class: Senior writer Chris Nashawaty is kicking off his in-depth weeklong tutorial on all things Quentin Tarantino for the latest installment of EW University. Check out our gallery of 20 Tarantino movie and movie poster faves and our Quentin Tarantino trivia quiz.
The Original Bastards: ‘Guys on a mission’ Italian-style
If you’re reading this, then you’re probably already hip to the fact that Quentin Tarantino has a new (and badly spelled) new film coming out on August 21 called Inglourious Basterds. And depending on your level of interest in the Pulp Fiction auteur and his well-chronicled movie-geek obsessions, you may also already know that the Brad Pitt WWII epic is loosely based on a fairly obscure (and better spelled) Italian-produced action flick from 1978 called Inglorious Bastards.
I’ve seen Tarantino’s Basterds already and I think it’s absolutely fantastic — the best thing he’s done since John Travolta did the Twist with Uma Thurman. Better than his interminably talky Death Proof. Better than Kill Bill (both parts). And better than Jackie Brown. I’ve also seen Enzo G. Castellari’s original Bastards (you can read EWs review of the 2008 three-disc DVD edition) and I can honestly say that not only is Tarantino’s film a gajillion times better, it also has virtually nothing to do with Castellari’s B-movie beyond the title and the whole guys-on-a-mission-during-WWII thing.
But hey, that shouldn’t stop us from dipping our cinematic piggy toe into the original Bastards in anticipation of Tarantino’s homage. READ FULL STORY »
Big Brother fans who are hungry for additional details on Chima Simone’s surprise departure on Aug. 15 will finally get their wishes granted in tonight’s heavily touted episode. Indeed, CBS has been making hay out of her much talked-about ouster by continually promoting the episode, first during the PGA Championship on Sunday and then throughout its Monday comedy lineup (sample spot: “Chima unraveled…and was expelled from the Big Brother house! See what happened on a can’t miss episode!”) Fans technically don’t have to wait until tonight’s episode to get the story behind her eviction; multiple fansites that subscribe to the 24/7 feed have documented Chima’s final acts of defiance, including her throwing a mic in the pool. But even with that real-time info, house followers will want to see how the network depicts her final hours in the house tonight.
