Archive: December 2009 (301-310 of 461)

Dec 9 2009 04:04 PM ET

Ricky Gervais promises a loose, dance-free Golden Globes

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Categories: Golden Globe Awards, Things That Are Awesome!, This Could Be Interesting...

When Ricky Gervais steps onto the stage Jan. 17 at the Golden Globes, the British TV and movie star’s hosting style may seem a bit more improvised than that of hosts before him. Drawing inspiration from Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack era, Gervais says apart from some minor scripting, there won’t be any prepared sketches or dance numbers.

Can I get an Amen? Minus Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris, most hosts totally ruin award shows with their song-and-dance shtick. And as we’ve seen from Gervais’ previous turns on stage, he’s more than capable of riffing on the spot.

Although I’ve got to say, if there’s anyone who I’d like to see cut a rug as an awards show host, it’s Gervais, if only to see him try to top that classic number from the U.K. version of The Office. (“I sort of fused Flashdance with M.C. Hammer s—.”) Considering how boozy this awards show gets, his jig seems all the more fitting.

Are you guys excited about Gervais as Globes host? Will you miss the somewhat obligatory dance routines of the past?

Photo: Albert L. Ortega/PR Photos

Dec 9 2009 02:56 PM ET

Site of the day: Create your own holiday sweater

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Categories: Happy Holidays, Site of the Day

Bad holiday sweaters are a meme unto themselves, so this cute design-your-own Web version from the Kansas City Art Institute is weirdly absorbing. [Warning: The site plays a song. Grrrr.]

I’ve made and ditched a truly shameful number of embroidered creations, from my attempt at a 30 Rock tribute sweater (bad) to a coffee-and-beer tessellation (real bad). I can’t even take credit for this genius work above — that’s all Jef Castro, one of our illustrious photo dudes.

PopWatchers, get crafty. What’s on your sweater abomination?

Dec 9 2009 02:00 PM ET

Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown: 'Real World/Road Rules' vs. 'Wipeout'

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Categories: Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown, Reality TV, Television

PopWatch is on a quest to determine the Greatest Guilty Pleasure Reality TV Show of All Time. We have 32 seeded contestants in four categories (see full bracket here), and we’re in the quarterfinals in the Competition category. After you vote, please leave comments about why you love the show you chose.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge Wipeout

Quarterfinals, Competition: Real World/Road Rules Challenge vs. Wipeout

Real World/Road Rules Challenge
For people who drink constantly, the contestants on these shows are in frighteningly good shape. Perhaps it’s their bizarre enthusiasm for arbitrary physical exertion, their willingness to eat anything, or their total lack of fear when it comes to jumping off things. If it weren’t for all the fighting, bravado, ridiculous overestimation of how significant some things are, and the incessant use of the term “step up,” this could almost be a sport. Actually… – Margaret Lyons

Wipeout
Wipeout glorifies in everything obscene about reality TV. People run through elaborately geometric obstacle courses, trying and failing to jump across a path of bouncy balls. From offscreen, someone is firing rubber balls at them. Balls, balls, balls everywhere! Meanwhile, announcer John Anderson pretends this is all a real sport, while announcer Jon Henson gives the idiotic contestants nicknames based on some random character trait: “Deputy Hot Stuff” (she’s a cop!), “Hip-hopping headband” (He’s wearing a headband!), “Irish Lad” (He’s Irish!) Sure, it’s dumb. But with Jerry Lewis devoted to charity and Jim Carrey trapped in a serious-actor funk, Wipeout is also practically the last pop cultural refuge for shameless slapstick humor. Just call it Pratfall: The Series! (Or perhaps Ow! My Balls!) — Darren Franich

Photo Credit: RR/RW: MTV; Wipeout: Adam Larkey/ABC

Dec 9 2009 01:00 PM ET

Michael Cera wants to tickle your belly button from the inside

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Categories: Arrested Development, Movie Trailers, Movies, Sexytimes

There’s a new red band trailer for Michael Cera’s Youth in Revolt up on College Humor. You can watch it if you’re in a safe place that promotes sex and filth (like the EW office), but if you’re not, I’ve taken the liberty of inserting inside-jokey terms from Arrested Development in place of the “naughty” bits of some of the dialogue, below. Watch your mouth, George Michael Bluth!

“I’m gonna help you stick your filthy [banana stand] in this tomato.”
“I’m gonna [the bleeped-out s--- that G.O.B. says while threatening the Bluth Company staff during "Afternoon Delight"] and wear you like the crown that you are.”
“Hey, does that movie come with [hop-ons] for your [Volvo]?”
“For all the world knows my [candy beans] could be [covered in blue paint] as we speak.”

Dec 9 2009 12:45 PM ET

'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' believes in magic

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Categories: Movie Trailers

You can keep yer brooms and buckets and Mickey Mouse. There’s a new Sorcerer’s Apprentice in town! And it has assplosions and Nicolas Cage and the unfortunate use of “source” and “sorcerer” in the same awkward sentence! And cars flipping over!  Do it to it, y’all:

Cheesiness aside, these effects look amazing, and as far as big-budget blow-’em-’ups go, I don’t see any reason this couldn’t be a gigantic hit. Well, other than that unfortunate hat….

Is this casting a spell on you, PopWatchers?

Dec 9 2009 12:30 PM ET

Taylor Lautner's 'SNL' promos: Ideas for sketches?

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Categories: New Moon, Saturday Night Live, Taylor Lautner Bicep Watch, Twilight

The promos for Taylor Lautner’s Saturday Night Live hosting gig this weekend reference the fact that he plays a werewolf in The Twilight Saga: New Moon and that he’s roughly half the age of much of the cast (he tells Kristen Wiig she reminds him of his mom). I was waiting for a joke about him being clothed for once, but I guess some things are too obvious. Regardless, I’m looking forward to Lautner taking center stage. He’s game (see: his mini-motorcycle race against Jimmy Fallon) and he’s physical (see: the adorable asskicker in 2005). Secretly, I’m hoping Taylor Swift pops up for either a monologue shout-out or some kind of sketch about the two Taylors trying to avoid the paparazzi on their friendly dates. I’m also hoping there’s a sketch about all the crazy projects Lautner and his agents must be getting pitched now. Feel free to use my Gymkata remake idea, folks.

What are your ideas?

Dec 9 2009 12:23 PM ET

Pee-Wee Herman visits Jimmy Kimmel's playhouse

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Categories: Late Night

Jimmy Kimmel welcomed Pee-Wee Herman to his show last night, and I’m still debating whether it was a coup or whether Lorenzo Lamas simply canceled at the last minute. Actor Paul Reubens has resurrected his famous alter ego for a stage show he’s putting on in Los Angeles, and he and his schtick seemed extremely well preserved. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2009 12:03 PM ET

The 'SNL' Gilly Christmas special: How many times can Kristen Wiig say she's sorry?

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Categories: Happy Holidays, Saturday Night Live, Those Crazy Kids!

Kristen Wiig will be hosting SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas in-character as the mischievous schoolgirl who likes to eat her lower lip, NBC announced yesterday. She’ll introduce various holiday-themed sketches from the past 35 years, and Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be on hand to present “NPR’s Delicious Dish and the Schweddy Balls” and “A Holiday Wish,” respectively. I wonder if all the people Gilly will get to torment in between sketches will be other memorable Kristen Wiig characters. Whoa! Actually, that might be hard to pull off, so maybe Kenan Thompson can play those women instead.

Are you surprised that Saturday Night Live is banking on Gilly’s popularity like this? What’s your guess for prospective “Sorry” count, P-Dubs? I’m going with a mere 26, and that’s including foreign languages and English-based variations on a theme. Come on, this will be fun, like participating in the “Guess how many gauze puffs are in the jar” game at the dentist to win a weird-looking doll from K-Mart. Maybe it was just my dentist who did that. Related: I can’t believe there’s not a Gilly doll yet. She could dance!

What holiday-themed SNL skits do you hope they’ll air?

Dec 9 2009 11:09 AM ET

Barbara Walters on Tiger Woods: 'Athletes are athletes, and they're not necessarily role models'

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Categories: David Letterman, Sports, The View

There’s been no shortage of bloviating about the snowballing Tiger Woods scandal, so on last night’s Late Show with David Letterman, I was actually hopeful to hear a discussion between two people who actually know of what they speak. Letterman’s pro-active handling of his office dalliances a couple of months ago looks especially savvy now compared to Woods’ bunker approach, and Walters is a veritable crisis expert based on decades of delicate sofa interviews with the famously disgraced.

Walters believes Woods erred in not admitting his extramarital “transgressions” before the story got away from him, but suggested his best course at the current time might be continued silence. She also thinks athletes aren’t necessarily role models. Not exactly the profound insight I was hoping for, though perhaps the prognosis for Woods’ self-inflicted crisis is as uncomplicated as Walters contends. I’d also hoped that when the conversation turned serious, Letterman might speculate how Tiger must be feeling, based on his own experiences, but the host instead was typically light-hearted and self-deprecating about the whole thing — and much more intrigued by the amount of action available to pro golfers.

Did Dave and Barbara tell you anything you didn’t already know? Whose show will Tiger most likely appear on during his inevitable Mea Culpa Tour 2010?

Dec 9 2009 09:00 AM ET

Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown: 'Celebrity Apprentice' vs. 'Celebrity Mole'

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Categories: Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown, Reality TV, Television, The Celebrity Apprentice

PopWatch is on a quest to determine the Greatest Guilty Pleasure Reality TV Show of All Time. We have 32 seeded contestants in four categories (see full bracket here), and we’re now entering our fourth and final category, Competition shows! After you vote, please leave comments about why you love the show you chose. Come back Friday to see who makes it to the semifinals.

Celebrity Apprentice Celebrity Mole

Quarterfinals, Competition: Celebrity Apprentice vs. Celebrity Mole

Celebrity Apprentice
It’s the only chance we ever get to see Tom Green and Dennis Rodman drinking together, Stephen Baldwin discussing corporate espionage, Piers Morgan calling Lenox Lewis “a pretty boy,” and Clint Black wearing a Bluetooth while talking on a different cellphone. And who could forget Joan and Melissa Rivers and their showdown with poker champ Annie Duke? Even the Donald seems frightened sometimes, but hey it’s all for charity. And trainwreck TV. Coming soon, Sharon Osbourne, Sinbad, and Darryl Strawberry are among a motley group of celebs we’ll soon be seeing skewered in the boardroom. – Wendy Mitchell

Celebrity Mole
D-list celebs playing for cash for themselves not a charity? Guilty! But then, you see, they really want to win, and, in some cases, they delivered the finest performances of their careers (i.e. Stephen Baldwin — him again! — sheep wrangling). The reason the show was a pleasure was two-fold: For starters, the stars actually had to work. While they completed mental and physical challenges to add to the kitty, one among them tried to sabotage the group. They survived elimination by outscoring the others on a weekly quiz, which tested both their powers of observation and theories on the identity of the mole. Paranoia is good TV, especially when it’s coming from Corbin Bernsen. – Mandi Bierly

Photo Credit: Celebrity Apprentice: Ali Goldstein/NBC; Celebrity Mole: Mitchell Haaseth

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