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Archive: January 2011 (311-320 of 414)

Jan 10 2011 02:27 PM ET

'Total Recall' remake: Colin Farrell is in...but Mars is out?

Categories: Camp Classics, Gritty Reboots, This Could Be Interesting...

Image Credit: Everett Collection; Landmark/PR PhotosTotal Recall features a three-breasted mutant prostitute, the nightmarish vision of Arnold Schwarzenegger digging a tracking device out of his skull through his right nostril, and the questionable scientific assertion that Martian radiation can turn an average human into a bug-eyed space monster. It is a weird, funny, totally unique movie. So give the creators of the upcoming Total Recall remake credit: They aren’t even trying to do the same thing. Collider just posted an interview with the remake’s producer, Neal Moritz (I Am Legend, Battle: Los Angeles, the Fast and the Furious quintet), who confirmed months of internet chatter: “We’re doing the movie with Colin Farrell.”

Since Farrell currently weighs approximately half of what Schwarzenegger weighed on the day he was born, one can assume that the new remake — let’s call it Total Re-Recall — will not be going the mega-gory action route. Moritz is stingy with particular plot details, but he does relinquish one bombshell: “The big difference is we don’t go to space.” So there you go: no “Get your ass to Mars,” no evil space-radiation, and presumably no Kuato. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 10 2011 12:30 PM ET

'Hannah Montana Forever': Promo for final episode has best freeze frame ever

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Miley Cyrus, Television, Waiting

Hannah Montana concludes its four-season run on the Disney Channel this Sunday, and the promo for the series finale shows Miley (Miley Cyrus) having to make THE BIGGEST DECISION EVER — doing a movie or going to college. I really have no idea which way she’s gonna go. When she flops herself on the couch and says, “I want this part more than anything else in the world,” I’m thinking movie. But then we see what appears to be young co-eds in pajamas at a dorm and I’m thinking college. But then she’s at an airport — movie? Then she looks at a framed graduation photo sitting in a set that looks like it’s been borrowed from a soap opera — movie, but she quits, and then college? What’s your guess? Watch the promo below. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 10 2011 12:00 PM ET

'Bob's Burgers' season premiere: Is Fox's new animated show perfectly cooked or underdone?

by Keith Staskiewicz

Categories: Animation

Image Credit: FOXFox is the last bastion of animation on network television, so it’s been a little sad to see it reduced to the Seth MacFarlane Comedy Hour-and-a-Half featuring Season 271 of The Simpsons. Maybe that’s why I was so happy to see the premiere of Bob’s Burgers, a dialogue-based, decidedly unzany addition to the line-up.

I’m a little biased, since I’m a huge fan of creator Loren Bouchard (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and Home Movies), but the show seems designed to fit directly into the King of the Hill-shaped hole in my schedule and heart. Bouchard makes a few concessions for network TV: the first episode of Bob’s Burgers, about a run-in with a spiteful health inspector who accuses the greasy spoon of using meat from the most dangerous game instead of beef, is definitely far more plot-driven than either of those earlier shows.

But overall, I’m actually impressed by how much Bob’s Burgers retains Bouchard’s personal style. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 10 2011 10:29 AM ET

No Pants Subway Ride 2011: Did you show some leg?

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: Bits and Bobs, Nudity

If you noticed a slight uptick in nudity on public transit yesterday, thank Improv Everywhere and their annual No Pants Subway Ride, now in its 10th hit year! Who hasn’t wanted to press his or her bare flesh against a pole or seat on the subway?

This year, participants in more than 50 cities in 24 countries dared to bare their lower halves, and while the sight of people’s winterlegs doesn’t bug me at all, the idea that some woman in Australia touched her bare feet to the floor of a bus seriously gives me the willies. Enjoy your bird-flu-AIDS-cancer-of-the-foot, ma’am. (Unless buses in Australia are way, way cleaner than buses in the U.S.? Still. Shudder.)

Did you strip down this weekend, PopWatchers? And, just because, here’s the YTMND for Heed! Pants! Now! from So I Married an Axe Murderer. [makes noise, duh]

Image: Katie Sokoler

Jan 10 2011 09:44 AM ET

Gadget envy: DIY custom in-ear headphones

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: CES, Tech

There were lots of terrific gadgets teased at CES this year — cameras! fancy car dashboards! — but the one that most caught my attention: DIY custom headphones. Oh hell yes.

A decent pair of headphones will dramatically increase not just the quality of the sound you’re pumping into your brain but truly your general day-to-day itself. Typically, custom in-ear phones cost a pretty penny and often take a while to produce. No more, apparently. The upcoming Sonomax Eers comes with a one-time-use silicone injection system that creates your unique-to-you phones in four minutes, and it’ll cost $199.

I’ll cop to being a headphone junkie, which might be why I’m so intrigued. Yes, $200 is still a lot of dough to drop on headphones, but for ones that fit perfectly? Compared to a custom-made anything else, that seems pretty reasonable.

Would you buy custom phones, PopWatchers? Or is there another gadget you’d rather go bespoke with?

Jan 10 2011 09:40 AM ET

Could Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong be Broadway's next big star?

by Thom Geier

Categories: Music, Stage/Theater, This Week on Stage

Image Credit: Paul KolnikFrom the moment he steps on the stage of Broadway’s St. James Theater (or, actually, appears on a balcony high, high above the stage), Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong proves very much at home. Yes, it seems that punk and Broadway are compatible — at least they are in the rock opera American Idiot, which is getting a jolt of extra adrenaline and rock-star charisma with Armstrong playing 50 performances of the stage show, on select dates through Feb. 27. (You can check out my full review here.)

I’ve been a fan of American Idiot since it premiered last spring, but it has struggled a bit at the box office. Armstrong’s limited run as the drug dealer St. Jimmy is likely to boost ticket sales, of course, but the show is worth seeing on its own terms. Certainly, fans expecting a faux Green Day concert are likely to be disappointed. (St. Jimmy has only a handful of numbers.)

The surprise for me is how seamlessly Armstrong blends into the youthful ensemble on stage — and how readily he commits to the part. He hits his marks, waves his hands as Steven Hoggett’s choreography demands, and enthusiastically acts out the role of an outré big-city drug dealer seducing and corrupting a suburban innocent (played by Spring Awakening vet John Gallagher Jr., whose own singing clearly reflects Armstrong’s influence). It is, in short, a real performance.

So, PopWatchers, who else is eager to see Billie Joe on stage in American Idiot? And who else thinks that he and his bandmates should consider writing an original stage musical of their own?

More Stage coverage on EW.com:
‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ exclusive: Producer says injured actor can rejoin the show ‘whenever he wants’
Review: Adam Bock’s taut one-act Off Broadway drama ‘A Small Fire’
‘Spider-Man’ stuntman set to be released from rehab center
‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ exclusive: Bono and The Edge will be in NYC next week to attend all preview performances
Records fall (and theaters go dark) as Broadway rings in the new year

Jan 10 2011 07:00 AM ET

Count Chocula, Mr. Peanut, the Snapple Lady, and Miss Cleo: Day 6 of the Big Shill bracket game

by Adam B. Vary

Categories: Advertising, Big Shill Bracket Game, Television

Sugary cereal or crispy pickles? Giggling dough or posh peanuts? Our second week (and sixth day) of EW’s Big Shill bracket game pits some seriously disparate ad mascots against each other — at least, in the Creature Division. About the only thing the pointy-eared Count Chocula has in common with the pointy-beaked Vlasic Pickles Stork is they both have a pointed resemblance to other beloved pop-culture characters (more on that below). Then we’ve got the Pillsbury Dough Boy vs. Planters Peanuts’ Mr. Peanut — they walk, they (sometimes) talk, and they have a distinctive fashion sense all their own. In the Human Division, two adorable babies — one peddling for online financial services company E*TRADE, the other hawking for baby food giant Gerber — battle it out, and it ain’t gonna be pretty. And finally, in what may be one of our hardest-to-call contests yet, the letter-fielding Snapple Lady faces off against the Tarot-card-reading Miss Cleo. Check out the entire Big Shill bracket here, and then get to voting!

READ FULL STORY »

Jan 9 2011 03:10 PM ET

'Your OWN Show' premiere: Zach Anner is my early favorite

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: Oprah Winfrey, Reality TV

Image Credit: Adam Larkey/OWNOf all the shows coming up on OWN, the one that screams “become obsessed with me!” is definitely Your OWN Show. The who-wants-to-be-the-next-Oprah series taps into some of the best parts of reality contest shows: The contestants are vivacious and well-matched, and the ability to host a show is one we can all easily judge. Sure, it’s a lot of people kissing Oprah’s butt, and it gets a liiiiitle bit schlocky. But! There’s something so upbeat and loving about everyone trying to be their best selves, etc etc.

My early favorite is definitely Zach Anner. I was completely charmed by his audition videos over the summer (not to mention his social grace handling the subsequent voting controversies), and on Friday night’s premiere, he stood out as the contestant with the best, most telegenic sense of self and sense of humor. Team Zach!

So far, what’s setting Your OWN Show apart from, say, Design Star, or Dream Job, or Next Food Network Star is that everyone already seems very comfortable on camera. The big obstacle in the premiere was coming up with a solid idea, and then executing that with some level of production competency — which is a really different skill set than being ebullient and compelling on screen. It made the episode a little more Apprentice-y than I thought it would be, but I was still really into it.

Am I the only one totally psyched for this show, PopWatchers? Whom are you rooting for?

Jan 9 2011 01:58 PM ET

'Californication,' 'Shameless,' and 'Episodes': Are you excited for men behaving badly?

by Margaret Lyons

Categories: Californication

Image Credit: Jordin Althaus; Colin Hutton; Cliff Lipson/ShowtimeSunday, Suuuuunday, Sunday! Tonight brings us two series premieres and one season premiere of dysfunctional-dude shows on Showtime: Californication returns for its fourth season, and Shameless and Episodes both premiere. It’s really hard being a middle-aged white guy.

The shows, of course, have absolutely nothing in common. Californication is about a mostly washed-up writer, Episodes about a mostly washed-up actor, and Shameless is about a totally washed-out schlub of a dad. Californication and Shameless both feature questionable, rarely sober parenting and highly sexualized young women played by actresses who made names for themselves in more prim roles – Madeline Zima rose to fame on The Nanny; Emmy Rossum in The Phantom of the Opera. And lest we forget, there is of course the disapproving but occasionally enabling couple, like Californication‘s (divorcing) Charlie and Marcy, and Episodes‘ Sean and Beverly.

As much as I’m teasing, I’m actually pretty pumped for tonight: I can’t be the only person who craves non-football programming on Sundays, right? I was obsessed with the British Shameless, so I’m really looking forward to this adaptation, and the previews for Episodes looked really promising. This season of Californication includes Rob Lowe looking pretty gnarly, and that alone is worth tuning in. (Lowe’s not in tonight’s ep. But still!)

Which show are you looking forward to, PopWatchers?

Jan 9 2011 10:00 AM ET

'Change of Plans' starring 'American Idol' alum Brooke White: Squeaky clean TV makes a comeback!

by Tanner Stransky

Categories: 100% Pure Cheese, About Last Night, American Idol, Dude, THAT's Your Plot?, I Saw It, So You Don't Have To!, Television, Things That Make Me Die Inside

Image Credit: FoxThe TV movie Change of Plans, which was presented by Walmart and Procter & Gamble on Fox last night, opened fittingly, when you consider it stars an American Idol alum: The first few moments capture an ebullient Brooke White — playing aspiring musician Sally Danville — on stage, strumming her guitar with a heavy dose of passion and singing at the top of her lungs. And you know what? As saccharine as it was, the song wasn’t half bad. I’d blast it in my car on a nice summer night for a good time. But then again, it’s no secret that White is very talented – at least at singing. READ FULL STORY »