Archive: September 2009 (331-340 of 437)

Sep 8 2009 12:57 PM ET

Nathan Fillion, Feel free to stop by!

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Categories: Castle, I'm Just a Geek, Ninjas, Sci-Fi, Television

castle-book_lI have written about Nathan Fillion quite a bit. Some might say too much. My wife, for one, who is neither a Browncoat (though I’m working on that; a Labor Day Firefly marathon was received rather well) nor a Castle watcher, would agree. If I had a therapist, I’m sure my man-crush obsession would find its way onto the to-do-on-the-couch list. I can usually keep said man-crush controlled…until I hear news like “Nathan Fillion will be at the NYC Apple Store in Soho on 9/18.” Then, the gears start turning, and I start wondering aloud, to coworkers, on Twitter, “How can I get Nathan Fillion to come to the Entertainment Weekly offices?” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 8 2009 12:29 PM ET

'Monopoly: City Streets' meets Google Maps: Anyone excited for this?

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Categories: Games, Tech, Videogames

monopoly-city_lMonopoly meets Google Maps starting tomorrow with the launch of Monopoly: City Streets, a MMO game that claims to unleash “a world of property empire[-] building on an unimaginable scale.” I’m pretty sure there’s already a “world of property empire-building” and it’s called “the world,” but okay, I’ll bite.

According to the Daily Mail, players each get $3 million to buy up the variously priced streets of his or her choosing, all of which gets displayed on the collaborative Google Map. Then, step three: profit! Unlike the boardgame version, rent just rolls in based on what you build on your property, so you don’t have to worry about no one landing on your hotel empire. (Or someone accidentally — accidentally! — jostling the table, thus disrupting where the house and hotels had been built, and everyone having to be on “the honor system” [worst system ever] to put them back where they were. Ugh.) To keep things interesting — or as interesting as Monopoly can be, because honestly, everyone knows it puts the bored in boardgames (zing) — players get chance cards, which are more like Eff You cards that allow them to demolish or degrade rival players’ properties.

I guess this could be cool and fun for a while, if you like tycoon-style games, but…it just doesn’t sound like Monopoly to me. The best part of traditional Monopoly is that everyone plays by different rules: the free parking jackpot, getting a bonus when you land on the property you own, having to pay extra if you roll a double, etc. I’m always interested in the surprising ways people use the Google Maps API, but I just can’t get excited for this.

Are you passing go and collecting $200, PopWatchers? Will Monopoly: City Streets have you nurturing your inner Trump?

Sep 8 2009 12:01 PM ET

Can Steven Soderbergh make fighter Gina Carano the next great female action star?

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Categories: Movies

Steven Soderbergh has tapped Gina Carano, the mixed martial arts fighter known to some as Crush on NBC’s 2008 reboot of American Gladiators, as the lead in his next film, the spy thriller Knockout. According to Variety, Soderbergh envisions it as a Bond-like action movie in which Carano will star as a woman from the “wrong side of the tracks” who gets a second chance to use her ass-kicking skills for good. The trade says the director discovered her on the fight circuit, but we suspect he also saw the video below of her and fellow Gladiator Wolf taking on Annie Barrett (a.k.a Fuel) and Michael Slezak (a.k.a. Cupcake) in our three-part Office Gladiators challenge. Perhaps he even made her reenact the “Catching Candy” event as her audition?

I think we're due for another female action hero. Do you think Carano's the one?

Sep 8 2009 11:35 AM ET

Movie remakes: Are they really so bad?

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Categories: Movies, Star Trek

trek-footloose_lIt feels like we’re always complaining about how many remakes (and reimaginings, and reduxes, and sequels, and franchises, and whatever other fancy word you can dream up for non-original ideas) are coming out of Hollywood. But now there really, really, truly seems to be more than ever before coming down the line: After this summer of Star Trek and Terminator and Land of the Lost, we still have Footloose, Harvey, The Yellow Submarine, Karate Kid, Fame, The A-Team, Predator, Children of the Corn, and, well, a heck of a lot of others to look forward to. But is this an unequivocally bad and/or stupid move on the entertainment industry’s part? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 8 2009 10:26 AM ET

'90210' exclusive: Check out the new opening credits!

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Categories: 90210, Television

Rebecca Sinclair, executive producer of 90210, wasn’t kidding when she recently told me I’d notice major changes right from the opening seconds of tonight’s season-two premiere. Clearly, she was talking about the show’s new opening credits, which we’re streaming exclusively below. Granted, there will never be a 90210 title sequence as wonderful cheesy as when Dylan McKay raised his eyebrow or Brandon pumped his fist, but the new images and themesong, recorded by indie Los Angeles musicians, are definitely an improvement over last season’s. Plus, they lead into tonight’s awesome episode (be sure to read my A- review).What do you think of the new credits? And are you excited for the return of 90210?

Sep 8 2009 10:03 AM ET

Bob Barker + WWE = The Price is RAW

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Categories: About Last Night, Horrifying But Hypnotic, Television

Bob-Barker_lOur obsession with/horror at the guest host gigs on WWE’s Monday Night Raw continued last night as Bob Barker stepped into the arena to serve as emcee in Chicago. If you saw his name trending on Twitter, that’s why. (Breathe! The man is alive and well and looking great.) What does Bob have to plug, you ask? His autobiography Priceless Memories, from which all proceeds go to his DJ&T Foundation. The opening of the show was the most painful. After Barker received a warm response — “I thank you for that wonderful welcome. I wish I had a refrigerator for everyone!” “We are really going to party tonight!” — we were forced to watch him play “The Price is Raw” with a few of the WWE stars bidding on the upcoming Best of Smackdown DVD. Chris Jericho literally got in Bob’s face for referring to him as “Chris” instead of “Mr. Jericho,” and Bob gave it right back to him: “The man talks. He’s actually speaking!” (You go, Bob!) After Barker threatened to take him over his knee, we mercifully moved on to action in the ring. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 8 2009 09:00 AM ET

Is Gerard Butler a lover or a fighter?

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Categories: Movies

Back in 2007, Scottish actor Gerard Butler earned next-big-thing status in Hollywood by playing King Leonidas in the $210 million hit 300. He followed it up by co-starring with Hilary Swank in the tepid rom com P.S. I Love You and Jodie Foster in the tepid kid pic Nim’s Island, before returning to action with Guy Ritchie’s little-seen Rocknrolla (2008). Then came another rom com: The Ugly Truth, opposite Katherine Heigl. The movie has earned $88 million so far, making it Butler’s biggest hit by far since 300.

And now the great Scot is back in a new action pic, Gamer, that barely eked out a fourth-place finish at the box office this weekend (check out the trailer below). It’s enough to make anybody wonder: What do audiences want from this guy?

Personally, I think Butler’s at his best in action roles. Great abs translate to any genre, but for me, his brawny charm gets a little muffled when he’s stuffed into goofy loverboy roles like the ones he played in P.S. I Love You and The Ugly Truth. I’m not saying that Gamer is a step in the right direction, but I’d rather watch Butler break bones than hearts any day.

What do you think, PopWatchers? Should Butler stick to action pics or romantic comedies? Or do you like him in both?

Sep 8 2009 08:00 AM ET

Josh Wolk’s Pop Culture Club reminder: Watch 'Melrose Place'!

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Categories: Josh Wolk's Pop Culture Club, Melrose Place

It’s back to school time, so ’tis the season to remind you about your homework: The Pop Culture Club will meet here at Popwatch on Thursday morning to discuss the updated Melrose Place, which premieres tonight (Tuesday) at 9 p.m. on The CW. For those unfamiliar with the PCC, some background: Every week I assign a TV show, movie, or DVD, and we assemble (or e-ssemble, in internet-ese; I’m clever!) to discuss, praise, or – quite often – mercilessly mock it. (Last week we took in A&E’s chilling Hoarders.)

Come on by: It doesn’t matter whether you were a fan of the original Melrose Place or not. (I wasn’t; I don’t know my Amandas from my Timmys. Was there a Timmy?) We’ll discuss the show from the perspectives of both old fans and newbies. So get out your remote controls, your looseleaf notebook, and a #2 pencil, take notes, and I’ll meet you back here Thursday.

Sep 8 2009 06:00 AM ET

Quote of the Day: Back to School Edition

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Categories: Music, PopWatch Quote of the Day

“I ain’t goin’ to school, it starts too early for me. Well, listen man, I ain’t goin’ to school no more. It starts much, much TOO early for me. I don’t care about readin’, writin’, rithmitic or history.” — The Stray Cats, “Sexy & 17″

Sep 7 2009 05:30 PM ET

Labor Day: What's the best labor scene of all time?

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Categories: Happy Holidays

In honor of this fine three-day weekend, I’d like to share with you all my nominee for the greatest labor scene in all of moviedom: Will Smith delivering the alien baby in Men in Black (check out the clip below at 4:00). Still really gross — and really funny — after all these years.

That’s my hands (and tentacles)-down favorite. What’s yours?

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