Archive: July 2010 (111-120 of 583)

Jul 26 2010 06:26 PM ET

Comic-Con: Calling all bitter non-attendees. Which panel would you have LOVED to see?

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged: , , ,

supernaturalImage Credit: Chelsea Lauren/WireImage.comI didn’t go to Comic-Con this year. It’s an unfunny story, actually: Shortly after buying my Comic-Con ticket, I moved to New York. After realizing it wouldn’t be a smart move to make an expensive commitment right after moving, I got a refund for my ticket. It was one of those decisions that makes you realize you’re turning into an adult — and it really sucks. “But,” I told myself, “there will be other years.”

Well, I don’t have to tell you that this wasn’t just any year, PopWatchers.

No, this year, Joss Whedon was there talking about his next big project, The Avengers. He took the stage with J.J. Abrams. The cast of True Blood attended, as did the gangs from The Big Bang Theory, Glee, and Community. Ryan Reynolds and Wentworth Miller, two long-time members of my list of lust, were there as well. Cue my jealous twitching.

As fun as it was to follow the coverage of it all, I was still pretty devastated watching it unravel this weekend. READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 05:45 PM ET

'Hansel and Gretel in 3D': Beyond product placement

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , ,

hansel-and-gretel-in-3dLast week, it was announced that The Institute — a media company founded by Michael Bay and Scott Gardenhour that has been using its motto, “Where Brand Science Meets Great Storytelling,” in commercials until now — was set to produce its first feature film, the live-action Hansel and Gretel in 3D.

What exactly does that mean, and how is it different from product placement? “One of things that we say a lot of times here is, ‘You’ve almost got to be a marketer as well as a filmmaker these days,” Gardenhour tells EW. “A lot of times, brands will come to the table with hard dollars to help with the negative cost. But what’s almost become more valuable is brands being able to extend an entertainment project beyond the project itself, the extension that they provide through the promotion that they may develop specifically for a movie or TV show brings a tremendous amount of awareness to what we’re doing…. How we think about it is an extension of the content, as opposed to something that’s product placement. Granted, there may be things that will encompass that, but for the most part, what we really look to do is make them seamless so that part of the story could actually be worked in, say, a brand campaign that helps to create awareness for story elements and for social media games. It’s creating something that has a revenue stream like a FarmVille, where brands could participate in that game, which also helps to promote what the content’s going to be, which is obviously the most important for us — the more eyeballs the better.” READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 05:20 PM ET

'Megamind' trailer: Ferrell, Fey, and Pitt go animated

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I’m a sucker for blockbuster movies geared toward little kids. A few weeks ago I saw Despicable Me, and I giggled as much as the 7-year-old next to me during the trailer for Megamind. (Yeah. It happened.) And the worst part? After Yahoo! movies released this extended trailer — as seen by Comic-Con audiences — I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to wait until November to see this movie. And here’s why: READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 04:34 PM ET

'Toy Story 3: Inception': Watch this dream of a fake trailer

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , , ,

ken-leonardoImage Credit: Disney/Pixar; Melissa MoseleyWill we ever tire of movie mash-ups? Not when they’re as imaginative as this few-weeks-old faux trailer for Toy Story 3: Inception, a clip that — depending on your point of view — imbues the Pixar blockbuster with a sense of brooding menace, or gifts Christopher Nolan’s brain-acher with yet another layer of phantasmagoric weirdness.

Either way, the result does make you wonder, A) if these two films are really as different as one might have previously imagined, and B) whether there’s any movie that can’t be improved by the presence of a jovial toy octopus.

Check out the trailer after the jump and give us your thoughts.

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 04:06 PM ET

Hey, 'Mad Men' fans, can we borrow a few bucks?

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Filed under: Mad Men, Television, TV and tagged: , ,

mad-menImage Credit: AMCTurns out Mad Men has the wealthiest fans in all of cable TV land, according to The Hollywood Reporter: Nearly half of its viewers make a household income of more than $100,000 a year. Though other cable hits garner much higher ratings, none come even close to the acclaimed AMC drama in terms of what portion of their fan base is loaded. For instance, USA’s Royal Pains averages 6.9 million viewers each week, but only 29 percent of them make more than $100,000 annually; TNT’s The Closer garners 5.1 million viewers a week, with only 27 percent passing the $100,000 mark.

It comes as no surprise, really, that Mad Men would blow everyone else out of the water when it comes to its viewers’ bank accounts: It is the TV-taste status symbol of the moment. READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 03:30 PM ET

Sneak peek of '80s pop icon catfight!: See Tiffany and Debbie Gibson duke it out in 'Mega Python vs. Gatoroid'

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Filed under: Movies, News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Syfy channel brought one of my dreams to life today, when they debuted footage from the upcoming Mega Python vs. Gatoroid which finds Tiffany and Debbie Gibson covering each other with cream in the course of a catfight.

Okay, so I haven’t actually had that particular dream since 1994. But, hey, it still brightened my Monday. And, if you stick around until the end of the footage — which I’ve embedded after the jump — you will be rewarded, assuming that’s the right word, by an “I Think We’re Alone Now” gag.

Am I alone in being excited about Syfy’s upcoming monster movies, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid and Sharktopus (or, as I like to call them, “The Godfather and Godfather Part II of crap”)? Surely not now!

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 02:45 PM ET

'Family Guy' to further bait Palin by bringing back character with Down syndrome

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Filed under: News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,

family-guy-down-syndromeImage Credit: FoxYou know the best way to get Family Guy to bring back a guest character? Protest vociferously in the media — it helps if you’re a publicity-magnet ex-VP candidate — so as to create a rather grand controversy. Remember that girl Chris went on a date with during a February episode, the one who has Down syndrome and whose mom is the former governor of Alaska? And remember how Sarah Palin, in real life the mother of an infant boy with Down syndrome, fought back with a Facebook post and media appearances, calling the episode a “kick in the gut”? And how her daughter, Bristol, called the Family Guy writers “heartless jerks”?

Well, congratulations, Palins — you’ve earned Ellen, the demanding girl with Down syndrome, a repeat performance on the topical Fox hit. Creator Seth MacFarlane told a Comic-Con audience that she’d be making an encore “at some point … despite all the Palin business.” Oh, that coy MacFarlane, pretending it isn’t precisely because of the Palin business that Ellen’s getting more screen time! READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 02:13 PM ET

Amanda Bynes now 'unretired'

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: ,

amanda-bynesImage Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesA little more than a month after announcing her retirement from acting on Twitter, Amanda Bynes has cryptically announced that she’s “unretired.” No reason for the change of heart was given (EW’s request for comment has not been returned), though she did also tweet the trailer for Easy A, the film she costars in opposite Emma Stone hitting theaters in September. Perhaps someone saw an early screening of that movie and has offered her a role she can’t refuse…

A month wasn’t long enough for us to miss Bynes, but her retirement did serve to bring out some closet What a Girl Wants and She’s the Man fans. And isn’t the world a better place knowing you’re not alone?

Jul 26 2010 01:57 PM ET

'Inception,' 'Salt,' and 'Despicable Me': Do we want these turned into franchises?

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new-Movie-franchisesImage Credit: Universal Pictures; Melissa Moseley; David GiesbrechtThe top three movies at the box office this weekend — Inception, Salt, and Despicable Me — are among this summer’s rare crop of non-sequel hits. Finally! Original content! That we like! But is it just a matter of time before we learn that these films, so refreshing for the lack of numerals and colons in their titles, are turned into the Next Big Franchises? Since Hollywood is built on tentpoles with maximum profit potential, I’m bracing myself for the news that at least one of these box-office successes will be returning in sequel form come summer 2012. (I say “bracing” because other than The Godfather 2, Aliens, The Dark Knight and probably one or two more that I’m forgetting, I am staunchly anti-sequel.) Here’s what the follow-ups might look like. Oh, and…SPOILER ALERT! READ FULL STORY »

Jul 26 2010 01:15 PM ET

'Glee': What's your dream Brittany-Britney episode plot?

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Filed under: Glee, Television, TV and tagged: , , ,

morris-spears2Image Credit: Michael Yarish/Fox; Scott Gries/Getty ImagesSo my colleague John Young scored some serious Glee scoop while attending the show’s panel at Comic-Con yesterday — click here to read the whole kit and kaboodle — but two of the tidbits collided in my brain and exploded into an afternoon daydream that should keep me in good spirits till Alex O’Louglin loses in the first round of EW’s Sexy Beast bracket game mid-Thursday. Executive producer Ryan Murphy told the Comic-Con audience that he plans to “place a greater emphasis on individual characters (such as Brittany) instead of on massive production numbers,” and that a planned Britney Spears-themed episode will be “hallucinogenic.”

Whoa. PopWatchers, just imagine this fall, if your cable company coughed up a pithy synopsis as follows: “After inhaling some glue during art class, Brittany (Heather Morris) engages in a hallucinogenic fantasy in which she becomes pop-star Britney Spears, and her glee-club cohorts become her bitter rivals: Santana as Christina Aguilera, Finn as Justin Timberlake, Puck as Kevin Federline, and Mercedes as Shar Jackson.”

Check out our Comic-Con panel scoop, then write your own two-sentence synopsis of the Britney Spears Glee episode in the comments below!

Also: ‘Glee’ spoilers at Comic-Con

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