Archive: September 2009 (291-300 of 437)

Sep 10 2009 01:28 PM ET

'Toy Story 3' goes 007 with Timothy Dalton

Categories: Animation, Casting, Movies

toy-story-3-cast_lThe upcoming Toy Story 3 has had Pixar fans foaming at the mouth for ages and ages, and finally, we’ve got some solid details: The film, which starts with Andy leaving for college and deciding which toys to pack up (“Sunrise, Sunset” is now playing in my head), follows our plaything heroes as they’re “sent to a daycare center, where they are horribly abused by the little kids — and after that it’s time for a break-out attempt to find a safe haven, and hopefully a new owner, in a cruel world,” according to Empire. “It looks every bit as good as its titanic predecessors.”

The other big Toy Story news is that Woody and Buzz are getting yet another new buddy: Mr. Pricklepants, voiced by Timothy Dalton. Mr. Pricklepants — which, best name ever — is “a hedgehog toy with thespian tendencies.” Something tells me this is going to inspire some serious tattoos from the fandom. [Disney did not reply to EW's request for confirmation and additional details.]

PopWatchers, I can’t wait for TS3, so any news sounds like good news to me. Are you prickly about Dalton’s addition, or are you on board?

Photo credit: Toy Story: Pixar/Disney; Dalton: Kiera Fyles/Retna Ltd

Sep 10 2009 12:50 PM ET

Texts From Last Night as a sitcom: OMG LOL?

textsfromlastnight_l

Fox has hired Big Bang Theory writer Steve Holland to turn the awesomely raunchy and baffling site Texts from Last Night [lots of NSFW language] into a half-hour comedy series. According to Variety, “Holland will loosely base the show’s characters and plot on the whole idea of racy — and sometimes embarrassing — communication, particularly among the twentysomething set.”

Most of the TFLN contain foul language, mentions of drugs, alcohol abuse, and (often adventurous) sexual situations, so cable seems like a better fit to me. But there’s no reason a TV show about twetnysomethings who like to drink and exchange body fluids couldn’t be a hit. Who can top such strange lines as “Sex on bubble wrap = best decision ever”? Or He looks like Jesus, if Jesus had let himself go”? I’m still crossing my fingers for a show that turns Overheard in New York (or its brethren) into short animated films, a la Creature Comforts.

PopWatchers, this seems like a loose connection at best to me, which is why I’m vaguely optimistic: I love TFLN, and I like a good old fashion goofy, shenanigan-filled sitcom. Do you share my enthusiasm, or does site-to-show sound like a bad move?

Sep 10 2009 12:15 PM ET

Listen up, you turkeys! A new trailer for blaxploitation spoof 'Black Dynamite' just hit town

Categories: Movies

Who’s the private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Well, as all blaxploitation fans know, that would be Shaft (damn right!), the cool-as-they-come detective Richard Roundtree originally portrayed in the 1971 movie of the same name. But the description pretty much also applies to the titular character in the new blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite, a lady-attracting, drug gang-battling, ex-CIA agent played by, at least according to the trailer below, “all-star running back Ferrante Jones.” In fact, the role of Mr Dynamite is actually essayed by actor and martial arts expert Michael Jai White, and the clip’s Grindhouse-style attention to period detail (it claims that the film is also being presented in something called “cinemaphonic quadrovision”) is just one of its many charms. (Others include an encouraging number of funny lines and the fact that at times it actually looks like a more competently put-together piece of work than many of the action-packed films it seeks to lampoon.)

Check out the trailer and tell us what you think…suckas!

Sep 10 2009 12:06 PM ET

'America's Next Top Model' recap: Shortie got loose!

PopWatchers, it’s a magical, Tyra-filled night, so brace yourselves for made-up words, outrageous self-absorption, baffling contradictions, and whole lotta crazy: That’s right, kids. It’s the season premiere of the new America’s Next Top Model. And despite the claims — the repeated, and repeated claims — that this is a “petite” season, where all the contenders are 5’7 and under, this feels a whole lot like every other season. It’s deja vu all over again, times 14, plus screaming. The next name that I’m going to call is…casting hour. Let’s do this! READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2009 10:30 AM ET

Josh Wolk's Pop Culture Club talks 'Melrose Place': '90s ludicrousness at '00s prices

melrose-place-clubFor this week’s Pop Culture Club assignment, I picked The CW’s update of Melrose Place, but made it clear that I was coming to it without ever having seen more than ten minutes of the original series. This will likely aggravate fans of the original who will wonder what right I have judging Melrose without intimate familiarity with the original show’s lunatic mythology. How dare I saunter in here without knowing who had amnesia, who pulled hair, and who pulled amnesia hair? There is a history here, damn it! While you’re at it, Wolk, why not just start reading the Bible at Numbers?

Well, I thought it would be interesting to have people weighing in on this from all different perspectives: From those who know every Heather Locklear hair toss to those who wouldn’t know a Billy from a Matt. (Those names brought to you by a quick check of IMDB!) The opinions of people like me who came to it fresh are just as valid as MP veterans, as The CW was hoping this show would appeal to new, untried viewers, too. (And considering the premiere only averaged 2.3 million viewers, they’ll take anyone they can get.)

I do wish I were more familiar with The Place, as nobody calls it, for one reason: I’d like to know whether it was equally, more, or less inane than this reboot. Was the acting this bad back in the day? Probably; I have a vague memory from the ’90s of catching glimpses of Andrew Shue as I channel surfed and wondering why Fox was now airing student films. But him aside, was everyone’s dialogue this bad? Here are just some of the clichés I jotted down during the course of the program: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2009 09:00 AM ET

This week's cover: 'Fringe' and the Fall TV Preview!

EW-cover-1065-1066_lWith a long rerun-and-reality-packed summer behind us, the new TV season is finally here. And as always, Entertainment Weekly’s Fall TV Preview – on stands this week – has all the crucial info you need to navigate your remote control as television roars back. Amongst the early reviews, interviews, insight, and plot hints for shows both new and returning, our double issue takes a deep dive into the gory, witty world of Fox’s Fringe with Jeff “Doc” Jensen.

Last year’s most heavily hyped new drama, Fringe was engineered by creators J.J. Abrams and screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci to be a high-impact hybrid of The X-Files and CSI – a serious yet accessible sci-fi series. Though the highly anticipated thriller started shakily, making geeks wonder if Abrams and his reliably mind-bending production company had finally let them down, Fringe ended its first year with a finale filled with insane, chat-room-exploding twists that won over a skeptical fan base. Now Fringe will try to maintain its momentum in TV’s most competitive time slot, Thursdays at 9, against CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. But if Fringe is to thrive, Abrams’ team will have to apply the lessons learned from its rocky first season. Says Abrams: “It’s going to sound weird, but a show starts talking to you and telling you what it wants to be. It took us a while to hear it.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2009 08:55 AM ET

Ellen DeGeneres as the fourth judge: Is this the end of 'American Idol' as we know it?

ellen-degeneres_lChalk me up as one of those people who greeted the news that Ellen DeGeneres is joining the judging panel for season 9 of American Idol with the sudden urge to drive a fork into my thigh and wake up from a strange and horrible nightmare. (Side note: We all do dream about Idol on a regular basis, right? Right.)

Now don’t get me wrong. I adore Ellen DeGeneres. As a comedian, that is. I’ve seen her live in concert twice. I watched every episode of The Ellen Show (her short-lived 2001 series with Cloris Leachman, not to be confused with the groundbreaking sitcom Ellen, which I also loved). Heck, I’d even tune in to something as hein as the People’s Choice Awards if they brought her in as host. But as a permanent replacement for Paula Abdul as the fourth judge on my very most favorite television show? Can I get a “hell to the no” up in here?

If you caught Ellen sitting in as a guest panelist a couple months ago on So You Think You Can Dance, then you probably understand my dismay. Ellen treated the gig like an extended (and extremely strained) standup routine, essentially making the focus all about herself while failing to provide even an Abdullian level of critical feedback. By ignoring her dismal, one-episode track record as a reality-show judge, Idol‘s producers once again expose three deadly blind spots that continue to put at risk the short- and long-term health of television’s top-rated show. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2009 07:00 AM ET

'America's Got Talent' recap: The 10 finalists are set

Took them long enough! Fully two and a half months after the very first of this season’s Hoffisms and our introduction to a little group called The Voices of Glory, we’ve arrived — FINALLY; MERCIFULLY — at the hallowed finals of this never-ending talent competition. The Top 10 has been named!

Like I suggested in yesterday’s recap, the five chosen to advance from this second crop of semifinalists were a fairly predictable bunch: Hairo Torres, Recycled Percussion, Barbara Padilla, and Lawrence Beamen were a lock from at least the quarterfinals, and proved that America isn’t always making poor decisions. And Drew Stevyns, someone whose Daughtry-style rock I figured couldn’t match up with EriAm‘s age and mass appeal, was a welcome choice to round out the group. Welcome to the finals, guys. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2009 01:00 AM ET

'Glee' recap: Did the club 'Push It' too far?

glee_lIt’s finally here! After months and months of waiting since the pilot preview in May, Glee has finally hit the airwaves officially! It’s like the sun is shining once again.  Although I have to admit that “Don’t Stop Believin’” has been in heavy rotation on my iPod all throughout this summer.

So, the premiere continued the burgeoning attraction between Rachel and Finn, despite the fact that the latter has a girlfriend (and president of the celibacy club), Quinn. First of all, couples whose names rhyme kind of make me wanna barf. Secondly, even though Quinn is supposed to be the villain, I kinda love her. “Now remember: if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry.”

Totally agree with the kids on the fact that disco is not the way to go if you wanna build buzz. But when Will first brought up the idea of doing Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” I got a little nervous. Yet the whole performance was fantastic (and thank you, producers, for making Matthew Morrison take off his jacket, revealing a tight T-shirt). I especially loved Artie wailing on the chorus. Very amusing.

Speaking of Will, I need him to dump Terri. She’s a beast. I do, though, understand the lady’s fondness for a kitchen sun nook; they are lovely. Also, her involvement does allow for scenes of Will in the bathtub, and I can’t complain about that!

But how far is Will gonna have to drop in order to keep the Glee club and Terri running? I mean, now he’s a janitor. Sadness. He and Emma bonding over janitorial duties is sort of genius given her OCD tendencies. I think their moment with the chalk dust was one of the hotter moments we’ve seen on Glee. Is it just me, or does Jayma Mays talk like she’s a wood nymph or something? What is that accent? Oddly, Jessalyn Gilsig has a similar tone in her voice. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 9 2009 09:55 PM ET

'Big Brother 11's' Michele Noonan: awkward, yes. Villainous, no. '

Categories: Big Brother, Reality TV

I think we can all agree that Michele Noonan, the 27-year-old neuroscientist from Pasadena, Calif, got a bum rap during her Big Brother 11 stay when Natalie, in particular, painted her as a backstabbing baddo. But the good doctor is hardly licking her wounds. Here, a chipper Noonan talks about how her Ph.D certainly didn’t ensure a smooth and pain-free stay in the house, and how four weeks of slop can do wonders for a girl’s physique.

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