Archive: December 2010 (181-190 of 304)

Dec 10 2010 01:57 PM ET

NBC developing 1960s Playboy bunny drama. Is this the next 'Mad Men'?

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

NBC is putting together a period drama set in the 1960s at a Playboy club, according to Variety. Playboy (catchy name!) “would center on a group of women working as Playboy bunnies in the New York Club,” which would serve as a lens for the “changing mores” of the time. Chad Hodge (Runaway, Tru Calling) is the executive producer.

Iiiiiinteresting. Network television doesn’t have a great track record for period pieces in the last several years — CBS’s Swingtown met a premature demise, Life on Mars never took off — but of course, Mad Men is the gold standard now. Could Playboy be more in that vein? We’ve seen a little bit about the Playboy clubs this past season (oh, Lane), and it’s such an identifiable brand and concept I guess I’m not too surprised to see a show set there. I just really, really hope the show digs deeper into the sexual politics of the time, and doesn’t just glamorize and romanticize women wearing skimpy outfits and catering to men.

This isn’t the only ’60s-set drama in the works. Starz recently picked up Magic City, a Miami-set swinging ’60s show, too.

Would you watch a show set in a Playboy club, PopWatchers? Or does your interest in the ’60s only extend as far as Don Draper’s gaze?

Dec 10 2010 01:03 PM ET

Can 'The Fighter' beat communism? PopWatch Rewind looks back at 'Rocky IV'

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ROCKY-IVToday, The Fighter joins the hallowed company of Oscar-baiting bruisefests like Raging Bull, Somebody Up There Likes Me, and Million Dollar Baby. Reviews are glowing — check out Owen Gleiberman’s here. But even though we’re sure The Fighter is good, we’re equally sure it won’t be able to save America from the world’s greatest villains: Russians who look like Scandinavians. No, only one movie was brave enough to single-handedly defeat the Soviet Union in the ring: Rocky IV, the craziest entry in Sylvester Stallone’s boxing franchise. How did a series about a lovable everyman boxer turn into a treatise on global politics? Read on, comrade!

Darren Franich: Before this week, I had never actually seen a Rocky movie. I know, I know. But thanks to cultural osmosis, I know a lot about the franchise. I know Rocky II is basically a happy-ending remake of Rocky I. I know Rocky III invented Mr. T, and Rocky IV ended the Cold War. But since this is the first Rocky I’ve actually seen, I have to ask a clarification question: Did the franchise always feature sentient robots?

Keith Staskiewicz: I don’t even remember it always featuring sentient humans. I like the fact that this entry, after replaying the man-love-filled sparring scene between Apollo and Rocky at the end of Rocky III, immediately lets us know that we’re a long, long way from the Philadelphia Museum of Art by introducing a robot as a major secondary character. They buy him (it?) as a birthday gift for Paulie, who is somehow disappointed that instead of a car he got the most advanced artificial intelligence yet created. And instead of using it to save people in disaster zones or handle dangerous nuclear materials, they just have it bake cakes and serve as Paulie’s pleasure-bot. Then, in a strangely un-remarked upon turn of events, both Rocky and Adrian go to Russia and leave their young son alone in its care. Again, they leave their child in the care of a robot. I don’t think there are enough question marks in the world for my “What?????” READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 09:13 AM ET

Barbara Walters' most fascinating person is... wait, what?

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Filed under: About Last Night, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,

barbara-walters-betty-whiteImage Credit: Donna Svennevik/ABCBarbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People special aired last night, and 2010′s MFP was actually surprising. Gaga? Obama? Nicki Minaj? Jon Stewart? Nope on all counts. Babs’ pick: General David Petraeus. Really!

We knew eight of the other people on the list as of last week, and the other big reveal last night was Mark Zuckerberg, which is a solid choice, and I’m not just saying that because I guessed he’d be on the list. (But I did. So, you guys owe me a Coke.) The full list:

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 05:42 AM ET

'Community' stop-motion Christmas episode: 10 Reasons to Love 'Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas'

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Filed under: Community, Television and tagged: , , ,

Community-ChristmasImage Credit: NBCFor a show that usually leaves me laughing out loud, Community‘s stop-motion Christmas episode kind of broke my heart last night — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

We were let in on the truth about the gang’s sudden animation early on in the episode. Abed was imagining everyone in stop-motion, and no one else saw the world as he did (nothing particularly new there, but this time it was literal). So the group called in John Oliver’s Professor Duncan to help crack Abed’s psyche and figure out what had caused him to fall into the delusion.

The thing is, I thought there was going to be a twist. Maybe everyone would spend the entire episode thinking Abed was crazy, only to find out in the end the whole thing was Pierce’s pain-killer-induced dream — or something like that. But a twist never came — only the heartbreaking revelation that Abed’s mom had canceled her annual Christmas visit because she “had a new family.” (Award for WORST MOM EVER goes to…) READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 12:02 AM ET

TV Insiders podcast: 'Vampire Diaries' producers break down sexy cliffhanger episode; Plus, our picks to win 'Survivor: Nicaragua'

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Filed under: Reality TV, Television, The Vampire Diaries, TV and tagged: , , , , , , ,

In between Nina Dobrev’s Katherine undressing and being slammed into a wall in a fit of passion, and Michael Trevino’s Tyler going shirtless while chained in a cellar, Thursday’s cliffhanger episode of The Vampire Diaries was hot stuff all around. But which moment was the hottest? On the newest edition of the TV Insiders podcast, Mandi Bierly, Annie Barrett, and I debate that as well as the other big questions surrounding the show. And then we go looking for answers! We called up executive producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec to break down the episode and tell us where it all goes from here: What will happen to Rose now that she’s been bitten by a werewolf? When will we finally see legendary badass Klaus? And what’s up with that new Vampire Diaries companion show they are creating? Listen in as they respond and whet our appetite for the second half of season 2. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 06:15 PM ET

'Limitless': Bradley Cooper's got what you need

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , ,

What if taking one pill once a week would make you rich and powerful? For starters, you wouldn’t have to work or go to school, but rather could sit around drinking wine all day while watching 30 Rock in your Snuggie, because heck, you’re rich and powerful! But we’re not alone in these desires, PopWatchers; underneath those good looks Bradley Cooper is really just like us: sluggish, under-productive, and averse to the bitter cold, and thankfully, his solution comes in pill form. This miracle — and totally fictional — find is at the center of Cooper’s 2011 film Limitless (previously titled The Dark Fields, co-starring Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish), in which an under-achieving loser quickly gets sucked into a more glamorous lifestyle (read: cliff-jumping, maniacal laughter, infinity pools!) thanks to the magic of a clear pill. Check out Cooper’s ad for the drug, and test your own brain power on the accompanying website to see if NZT is right for you. A little paralysis, amnesia, brain damage, and some homicidal blackouts never hurt anyone, right? I mean who doesn’t want to live like Bradley Cooper? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 06:08 PM ET

This Week on Stage: Christina Ricci is eligible for a Tony even though her show isn't

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Filed under: News and tagged: ,

time-stands-stillImage Credit: Joan MarcusIn the latest sign that the Tony Awards don’t always make much sense, the Tony Awards Administration Committee ruled today that Time Stands Still costar Christina Ricci will be eligible for a Tony in Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play this season. But since Donald Margulies’ four-person drama opened last January and had a three-month run at the nonprofit Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, neither the show nor any of Ricci’s costars will be able to compete for Broadway’s biggest prize. (In its original production, the show earned two Tony nominations, including Best Play and Best Actress in a Play for Laura Linney.) Time Stands Still reopened in October at Broadway’s Cort Theatre, with Christina Ricci replacing Alicia Silverstone in the role of Mandy, the much-younger love interest of a New York photo editor played by Eric Bogosian (seen above with Ricci). “The show isn’t eligible if there’s a revival within three years,” explains Tony spokeswoman Shawn Purdy, “but any element within the show that the committee deems new is considered eligible.” (Purdy notes that there was a similar ruling last year for the new leads of the returning holiday musical White Christmas.) The season is still young, so it’s far too soon to say whether Ricci will succeed where Silverstone could not — especially since the play is now slated to close Jan. 30. Perhaps Ricci should consider reprising her role as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family musical a few blocks away.

Dec 9 2010 05:50 PM ET

'Brenda Starr' comic strip ending: This is one scoop we don't like

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Filed under: Movies, News, To Care or Not to Care and tagged: , , , ,

Brenda-StarrImage Credit: Everett CollectionThe worst thing to happen to journalists since the recession has officially happened: Ace reporter Brenda Starr — and thus, the Brenda Starr comic strip — is hanging up her hat, not long after two other comic heroines (Annie and Cathy) also retired. The strip, created by Dale Messick, will take its final bow Jan. 2, more than 70 years after it first debuted. And though, admittedly, Brenda Starr was always a comic I grazed past while making my way to One Big Happy or Zits, I’ll still contend that its mere presence will be greatly missed. (And that her strip subliminally convinced me to become a journalist. Her fashion! My sweatpants!) Because, you see, the funnies page is a little like Jenga: Remove one piece, and the whole thing will never look quite the same. Heck, can you imagine how empty you’d feel seeing a newspaper without Doonesbury or Family Circus? (And that’s coming from someone who hates the Bil Keane strip more than Garfield hates Mondays.)

It’s especially sad to see Brenda Starr go, considering how much she’s accomplished in pop culture. Syndicated in over 250 newspapers in the 1950s, Brenda Starr even inspired a late-’80s movie starring Brooke Shields as the fabulous (snaps!) journalist. Sure, the film was no instant-classic — EW’s own Owen Gleiberman gave the film an F, calling it “one of the worst movies ever made” — but being the basis of the worst movie about journalism ever made is a distinction nonetheless, right?

So, let’s salute the fiery legend that is Ms. Starr, even if we spent the majority of our childhoods skipping her in order to get to The Far Side. What’s your favorite Brenda Starr memory, PopWatchers?

Read more:
‘Brenda Starr’ EW review
21 Worst Comic Book Movies
AACK! ‘Cathy’ comic ending this October: Will you miss her?
No more ‘Annie’ comic strip. Punjab, help!

Dec 9 2010 05:28 PM ET

Justin Bieber, Google king: The most searched terms of 2010

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Filed under: Music and tagged: , , , , , , , ,

justin-bieberImage Credit: Pamela LittkeyAs 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to turn to the Google Zeitgeist — because we are what we search, no? In addition to searches about major political events and humanitarian crises, there was, of course, the celebrigoogling. This year’s most searched person in the United States: Justin Bieber. Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Eminem, and Megan Fox rounded out the top 10.

On the film front, Batman and Star Wars were the most searched for movies, which is kind of wild considering neither Batman nor Star Wars movies came out this year. (Of course, we can’t rule out Clone Wars as being responsible for the surge in searches.) Or even last year! But they are pretty awesome. Toy Story 3, Dear John, Tron, Percy Jackson, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Avatar, and Inception were among the most-searched films as well. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 05:09 PM ET

Are movie theaters on the endangered species list?

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: , ,

Glen Wilson; Trinette Reed/Corbis

How much would you pay to see Universal’s upcoming big screen comedy Little Fockers at home, on your own TV screen, the same day it’s released in theaters? Would you pay $20? $50? Try $500. And that’s not counting the additional one-time fee of $20,000 that Prima Cinema, the California-based company that’s just announced this new, obscenely expensive super-premium on-demand home video service, will charge you for the hook-up.

Actually, as crazy as the price tag sounds, Prima Cinema, which has backing from Universal Pictures, as well as Best Buy, is probably the future. For a decade now, Hollywood has been inching closer and closer to simultaneous release of movies in theaters and home video, what’s called day-and-date. Some cable on-demand providers already offer limited day-and-date movies: Time Warner Cable charges about $7 to see indie flicks like I’m Still Here while they’re still playing at your local art house theater. Even for bigger pictures, the window between theatrical release and DVD release has been shrinking, and looks like it’ll be shrinking even more next year, when the major studios will supposedly be unveiling a new VOD window, between theatrical and DVD release, with a premium charge of around $20 to $30.

The Prima Cinema pricing model is obviously nuts — only a handful of households will be able to afford the $20,000 installation service, let alone the $500 per film charge. But remember, once upon a time, fax machines and digital watches cost thousands of dollars; now they practically come as prizes in cereal boxes. READ FULL STORY »

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