Archive: September 2009 (311-320 of 437)

Sep 9 2009 12:30 PM ET

'SYTYCD': tWitch's 15 favorite performances

Twitch-Think-Dance_175

To mark tonight’s season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance, we asked season 4 fan favorite Stephen “tWitch” Boss — he and partner Katee Shean performed Mia Michaels’ Emmy-nominated routine to “Mercy” (a.k.a. “The Door Dance”) — to pick his favorite SYTYCD performances of all time. His list, “in no particular order,” follows.

15. Ade and Melissa, “This Woman’s Work” (season 5)
Choreographed by Tyce Diorio

“I’m definitely in tears writing about this one. There was power, trust, hope, understanding, compassion, sincerity, anger, fear, and all of the other underlying things that come along when you or someone you know goes through this experience [battling cancer]. Everyone who felt the power of this piece was connected on what the meaning of unconditional love really is and should be. Through it all, love stands, and no matter what, no matter how messed-up or not to our liking the situation may be, we have to strive for love to remain. Even if it is the road less traveled, it’s definitely worth the mileage.”

14. Melody and Ashle, “Message in a Bottle” (season 1)
Choreographed by Mia Michaels

“This piece is a true testament that dancers are artists as well as athletes, no matter what their gender. I know men in their prime that couldn’t handle the cardio work in that piece!” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 9 2009 12:23 PM ET

Questions for 'True Blood"s Pam, Kristin Bauer?

true-blood-kristin-bauer-2_lYes, we’ve shown Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) a lot of love as of late. But we know that behind every good — or bad — man, is a great woman. And on True Blood, it’s Pam, Eric’s loyal business partner, henchman and hair stylist, played by scene-stealer Kristin Bauer. We’re chatting with her Thursday, so if you’ve got questions about Pam’s killer attitude, style, or relationship with her maker, post them before noon ET tomorrow. Look for the interview Friday.

Photo Credit: Jaimie Trueblood/HBO

Sep 9 2009 12:20 PM ET

Must List: We like these Beatle fellows. What about you?

Categories: Music, Must List, The Beatles

The day has arrived, Beatlemaniacs! Forty-five years after sending teenage girls into hysterical fits on The Ed Sullivan Show, the boys from Liverpool have adopted (with a little help from their friends at Apple and Harmonix) their timeless tunes for a new generation: Today sees the release of the videogame The Beatles: Rock Band and remasters of all their studio albums, which EW critics Jeff Jensen and Simon Vozick-Levinson call “irresistible” and “revelatory,” respectively. Double fab! Forget Woodstock nostalgia — if you choose one Baby Boomer watershed to reconnect with this year, make it the Beatles.

Your own excitement for this revolutionary 09/09/09 celebration is a given (right?), so we ask now:  What ELSE is 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. 10 at noon ET.

Sep 9 2009 12:02 PM ET

'White Collar': My favorite new cast

Categories: Casting

natalie-morales_lWhite Collar made my day today by announcing that Natalie Morales — one of our lovely geek hotties — has been bumped up to full-fledged cast member. Holla! I was nuts about Morales on the little seen but wildly excellent The Middleman, so I’m glad that she’ll be back in action, especially because, drumroll: White Collar has my new favorite cast.

Exhibit A: Tim DeKay Is there nothing I don’t love about Tim DeKay? (Maybe Tell Me You Love Me…. but even that he was good in, it was just a weird show.) I loved him on Everwood. I super loved him on Carnivale, which again, kind of a weird show, but he was so convincingly old-timey and gruff. The New Adventures of Old Christine, The 4400, Scrubs — stop stalking me, Tim DeKay! Just kidding, please stalk me.

Exhibit B: Matthew Bomer, aka Bryce from Chuck. My, my. Sure, Traveler was just okay, but Chuck-associated bonus points will push anyone into the win column.

The plot for White Collar isn’t quite as exciting as the cast: Bromer plays a con artist who helps FBI agents Morales (rookie) and DeKay (veteran) bust, yes, white-collar criminals. And yet I am all over this like a hobo on a ham sandwich.

PopWatchers, is White Collar‘s cast enough to get you to tune in?

Photo credit: ABC

Sep 9 2009 11:32 AM ET

'Judge Dredd' redux: It might actually be good

judge-dredd-stallone_lWe Americans have had a sad history with Judge Dredd. The hardcore lawman, first published in Britain’s sci-fi anthology comic 2000 AD in 1977, is probably the most popular U.K. comic book character ever. He’s been written by luminaries like Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, and Mark Millar. He is to British pop culture what Dirty Harry is to America’s: an uncompromising view of justice in a world that’s lost its way. And, most notoriously, Judge Dredd was adapted into the godawful 1995 Sylvester Stallone disaster, which marked the beginning of the end of Sly’s residence on Hollywood’s A-list.

The good news for lovers of Dredd, and dystopian sci-fi ass-kickery in general, is that Danny Boyle’s production company, DNA, is shepherding a new version of Dredd to the big screen, and they’ve engaged Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) to write the script. And the cherry on top of this particular sundae is that British comics artist Jock (The Losers) is doing production designs, as he indicated in his Twitter feed.

All of which leads me to be hopeful for a new Judge Dredd movie — though I’d be more hopeful if Boyle signs on to direct. Where do you fall: eager, fearful, or don’t really care?

Photo Credit: Stallone: Everett Collection

Sep 9 2009 10:55 AM ET

Journalism 101: Keep clothes on

Categories: Movies, Nudity, Ooops!

As a journalist, I have a personal checklist of professional etiquette when interviewing a subject. However, after watching George Clooney’s press conference for The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Venice Film Festival yesterday, I realized my guidelines were incomplete. I’d never thought to include, “Keep clothes on.”

Clooney behaved as if this type of behavior was not altogether foreign to him. Hey, he’s George Clooney! But I was more amused by the response in the room. A man strips himself naked in public, and the authorities respond by…taking away his microphone. Next question? You, sir, in the back.

The room behaved as calmly as if the man’s cell phone had merely rung at an inopportune time. Can you imagine if this press conference had taken place in America? Would the naked man have been Tasered and escorted from the building by his short-hairs? Or would Clooney’s David Niven-esque unflappability diffuse any awkward situation?

Sep 9 2009 09:15 AM ET

Robert Pattinson is bothered again... about Snickers ads

Categories: Late Night, Twilight, Whining

Hating on the Snickers ad campaign — though totally warranted — is a little old. Still, Jimmy Fallon’s latest installment of “Robert is Bothered” kills.

“Don’t look at me, I’m bothered.” Sexy pout. “I said don’t!” Breathless snarl.

Sep 9 2009 07:26 AM ET

'Hell's Kitchen' recap: Beating the crepe out of each other

Image (1) hellskitchen_l1.jpg for post 1499A number of you PopWatchers noticed a shot of Tek during last week’s Hell’s Kitchen episode. What keen eyes you have! I completely missed the editing gaffe (I was most likely looking down at my notepad, scribbling the solution to our nation’s health-care crisis), but I re-watched the episode, and you guys were correct. Here’s the explanation a Fox rep sent me: “In reality television, editors must go through hundreds of hours of footage to cut a show. This episode featured a scene that was the result of an unfortunate editing oversight.” Was it merely an honest goof? Who knows? The mistake did, however, allow the show to squeeze in one of Ramsay’s better lines: “They serve fish more cooked than that in a sushi bar!”

On to last night’s episode, which, for the most part, confirmed what we already knew about the contestants. Kevin and Ariel continued to excel in the kitchen without making a fuss. Dave ran around like a culinary Usain Bolt, putting more energy into his cooking than anyone else. And Tennille managed to stay on her upward trajectory. As for Sabrina, Andy, and Suzanne, well, we’ll get to them in a bit… READ FULL STORY »

Sep 9 2009 07:00 AM ET

What's the most fashionably influential movie of all time?

clueless_dlTurner Classic Movies is honoring New York’s Fashion Week with a list of the films it has deemed the most sartorially influential of all time. First, a look at their Top 15 (in chronological order):

Pandora’s Box (1929)
Letty Lynton (1932)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Pat and Mike (1952)
Rear Window (1954)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
And God Created Woman (1956)
Auntie Mame (1958)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Shaft (1971)
Annie Hall (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Flashdance (1983)

Most notable is the ’50s- and ’60s-heavy lineup — which perhaps makes some sense, as films were likely the dominant way style was passed from Hollywood to the masses (as opposed to the TV, Us Weekly and internet of today). And there’s no arguing with the likes of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (which I would deem the most fashionable movie of all time), Bonnie and Clyde, Shaft, Annie Hall, Saturday Night Fever, and Flashdance. But, really, nothing after 1983 at all? Surely arguments could be made for Clueless, Moulin Rouge, Almost Famous, Swingers, Legally Blonde, or Ocean’s Eleven. Maybe Grease, which revived ’50s looks in the ’70s? Or Reality Bites, which still somehow makes me want to have short Winona Ryder hair and wear flowy ’90s dresses while falling in love with unambitious, unshowered grunge musicians.

What do you think, PopWatchers? Which fashionable films did TCM miss? What would you name the most influential fashion movie of all time?

Photo Credit: Elliot Marks

Sep 9 2009 07:00 AM ET

'Mad Men' in 60 seconds. Plus: What's with all the nicknames?

Mad Men in 60 seconds is almost too on-the-nose:

Of course, this got me thinking about Sunday night’s episode, which didn’t hit quite the same jaw-dropping levels as last week. Still, “The Arrangements” did bring one element of the show into stark relief for me: all the nicknames. Other than SportsCenter, I can’t think of a single more nickname-happy series ever.

There’s the whole “e” family of nicknames:
Betty, Bobbie, Bobby, Freddy, Harry, Hildy, Jimmy, Kitty, Peggy, Smitty, plus Trudy and Sally, which sound like nicknames but aren’t

The weird ones:
Crab Colson, Hoho Cook, Duck Phillips

The short ones:
Don, Ken, Pete, Burt, Midge, Greg, Sal

Which just leaves Paul, Joan, Gill, Rachel, Roger, Francine, Helen, Jane, and Glen in the not-nicknamed category.

Who’d I leave off, PopWatchers? And can you think of reasons why the show is so nickname-intensive?

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