Archive: September 2009 (101-110 of 437)

Sep 23 2009 12:57 PM ET

On our Must List: Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol.' On yours...?

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We don’t consider ourselves easily swayed by majority opinion here at EW, but when a book sells 2 million copies in its first week of release — as Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol just did — we figure it’s worth seeing what all the fuss is about. Despite a so-so review from our own Thom Geier, the latest Robert Langdon thriller is just as fun and engaging as its predecessor, The Da Vinci Code. No need to be ashamed picking this from the shelf! Plus, no one wants to be left out of the water cooler conversation and code-breaking, right?

What’s on YOUR Must List this week? List up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. And be sure to explain WHY you’ve made your selection, too — we love to hear your thoughts! Don’t forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, Sept. 24 at noon ET.

Sep 23 2009 12:42 PM ET

Megan Fox: Hot or Shot?

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: ,

Megan Fox has a Shakespeare quotation tattooed on her body, so she’s clearly not just another pretty face. I wonder if she was channeling the Bard when she interpreted High School Musicalas “a group of boys who are all being molested by the basketball coach.” (Alas, poor Efron, I knew him well.)

After her first star-vehicle, Jennifer’s Body, underperformed at the box-office last weekend, The Los Angeles Times has dedicated 1,300 words to whether Fox’s outrageous sexuality and shotgun candor will ultimately undermine her career. There already seems to be a backlash developing against her, especially among women, so it will be interesting to see viewer reception this weekend when she hosts the season premiere of Saturday Night Live.

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2009 10:36 AM ET

'NCIS' season 7 premiere: Gibbs is still the man

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , ,

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen last night’s season premiere of NCIS, and you intend to, stop reading now. Do not click through to watch the clip of Gibbs (Mark Harmon) stealing the episode from Tony (Michael Weatherly), who risked his— and McGee’s — life to rescue Ziva (while working in a nice True Liesreference, as naturally Tony would). Do not get excited when Tony tells the bad guy Saleem (Omid Abtahi, who I do not find all that scary since I’ve seen him on episodes of Bones and Ghost Whisperer), “Remember when I told you my boss was a sniper?” (Clearly, Tony was describing the team for the benefit of new viewers, which was a little frustrating for fans, but that ending almostmade up for it.) Do not chuckle inappropriately when you see Gibbs emerge in his desert camouflage like some kind of burlap monster with curlie-q fur to shoot another guy dead and say, “Let’s go home.” Do not join the applause when the team returns to the office. Do not get pumped for next week’s episode, when Ziva (Cote de Pablo) reacts to what Tony was willing to do for her. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2009 10:27 AM ET

What classic movie do you most want to see in 3-D?

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: ,

To 3-D or not to 3-D? That is the question in Hollywood, which will be studying the 3-D conversion of Disney’s Toy Story films, due in theaters Oct. 2. If Woody and Buzz light up the box-office, other studios might be persuaded to resurrect their most popular films with the eye-popping technology. At Comic-Con in July, James Cameron announced that a 3-D version of Titanic was in the works. Now that Lightstorm Entertainment has now suggested to The Hollywood Reporter that a 3-D release date for the Oscar-winning epic is less than a year away, and that 3-D tests have been done on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, I can’t help but hope that some of my all-time favorites will be part of the next wave of 3-D conversion classics. Can you imagine the boulder scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark in 3-D?

How about the bullet-motion scene from The Matrix? Think how much better a light-saber duel would be if it felt like Vader was looming in the ninth row of the theater?

The Hollywood Reporter points out that the most obvious candidates for conversion are animated films, which is fine. But I have a long wish-list of live-action films I’m dying for, beginning with Indiana and Neo. What film would you line up for in 3-D?

Sep 23 2009 09:30 AM ET

'Modern Family': Our first live-tweet!

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You’ve enjoyed our live blogs, but are you ready for EW’s first live-tweet? We’ve invited Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (pictured, left to right), two of the stars of the new comedy Modern Family, to tweet their commentary — right here on EW.com — during the series’ premiere, tonight at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Central) on ABC.

The show, which our own Michael Ausiello called “this fall’s funniest new comedy,” focuses on three dysfunctional families and is shot in a documentary style. Stonestreet and Ferguson play Cameron and Mitchell (respectively), a gay couple that adopts a Vietnamese baby.

Tune in to the show, follow the live commentary (below), then tell us what you thought of the show (and our inaugural live-tweet!) in the Comments section.

Sep 23 2009 09:07 AM ET

'Hell's Kitchen' recap: Exploding fish and other peculiarities

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Filed under: About Last Night, Food and Drink and tagged: , , ,

Howdy, PopWatchers. To compensate for depriving us of Hell’s Kitchen last week, Fox kindly aired two back-to-back episodes last night. However, in all honesty, the episodes were so similar that they have merged to form one massive HK blob in my mind. This isn’t to say that last night didn’t feature a number of developments, including the first instance of Chef Ramsay walking out of the restaurant altogether. Plus, the episodes did have a reoccurring theme: The downfall of Van. We’ll get to Mr. Sweaty Tamale soon, but first things first… READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2009 08:30 AM ET

Chris Sligh disses 'American Idol' alums: I die inside.

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Filed under: American Idol, News, Television, To Care or Not to Care and tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oh, Chris Sligh. I remember when you first graced my TV screen way back in 2007, a breath of fresh air amongst a crop of season six Idol lookers like Haley Scarnato. Oh, how silly you were, bouncing into that Idol audition room in Birmingham like an ever-huggable Teletubby, spouting off funny-isms like, “[I want] to make David Hasselhoff cry.”

But now, Chris Sligh, you’re making me cry. And not in a good way. This past Saturday, you took to your blog to give season 8′s top ten Idols some advice following their final tour date. And though you make some valid points throughout your rant (and yes, I will qualify it as a rant), most of your blog post just reeks of arrogance and negativity. So let’s take a look, and refute — and support when necessary — some of your points, shall we? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2009 08:00 AM ET

'Batman 3' rumor check: Johnny Depp as the Riddler and other grapevine nonsense

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , , ,

Johnny-Depp-Riddler_lLast year, Michael Caine got into a heap of hot water when he merely dared to address rumors that Johnny Depp might play the Riddler in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight sequel. Well, Caine’s no dummy. And when he was recently asked the question again by MTV.com, he definitively stated that Depp would not be playing the Riddler…which, of course, may be news, too.

Back in April, I spoke with Christian Bale over the phone about Public Enemies, and asked him then about the Depp rumors, thinking he might support the idea since he had just worked with Depp. He didn’t take the bait. After I asked the question, he took the phone away from his ear, turned to someone who was in the room with him (I’m guessing a publicist or agent or some other stone-faced gatekeeper) and asked them, “Is there any truth to the fact that Johnny  Depp’s the Riddler?…Say nothing?” Then he got back on the phone with me. “The men in black suits are telling me to say nothing.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2009 08:00 AM ET

What TV shows are you watching in syndication right now?

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Filed under: Television and tagged:

Oh, WE, you picked a bad time to start showing Ghost Whisperer repeats. Having jumped into the series late, I happily set my DVR to record your daily 7 p.m. offerings — especially after I saw that Wentworth Miller played the first spirit Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) ever crossed over. (I love spotting random old guest appearances like that.) But then the fall TV season began, the episodes started piling up in my DVR, and the potential space issue made me so nervous I had to cut the show loose. Going into a new season of television, you REALLY have to want to DVR a show that’s playing in syndication. Are there any you’re taping at the moment? The Office (TBS), anyone? I’m under a self-inflicted ban at the moment, but my recording history does include extensive stretches with Angel (TNT) and NCIS (USA). You?

Sep 23 2009 06:00 AM ET

Jon Hamm and Will Ferrell find the funny in the healthcare debate

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Is it too soon — too soon! — to start satirizing the healthcare debate? The answer is no if you ask the folks at MoveOn and funnyordie.com, who just released what may be the world’s most sarcastic PSA. The two-and-a-half minute video entitled “Protect Insurance Companies PSA” toggles through a series of famous talking heads, including Jon Hamm, Will Ferrell, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, and Masi Oka, who bemoan the plight of poor put-upon insurance companies. “These great businessmen are American heroes….We need to remember who the real victims are: Insurance executives.” It’s a pretty audacious concept, if not always laugh-out-loud funny.

There is no doubt that these stars were sincere in their intentions to draw attention to the need for health care reform. Why else go to the trouble of trying to look hot in front of a camera (we’re talking to you, Jon Hamm!) when they’re not getting paid? But the issues at play in this debate are so tangled up and thorny, it’s sometimes tough for anyone to understand who are the real good guys and bad guys. All this makes me wonder if using sarcasm to win hearts and mind might not backfire and actually reinforce the notion that it’s the government (and wealthy Hollywood actors) people need to watch out for, not the nice man with the comb-over and gabardine suit from Men’s Wearhouse. That said, no one can argue aginst trying to bring some levity to this dead-serious issue looming over the country’s head for the past several months.

All in all pretty funny though, right PopWatchers? And what do you think of sarcasm used to make a political point? Do you like it when Hollywood figures come out in support of political causes?

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