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Archive: April 2011 (21-30 of 473)

Apr 29 2011 12:19 PM ET

On the scene at Time To Play's toy fair: 'Cars 2,' 'Green Lantern,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' and more!

Categories: Comic Books, Games, Geekery, Kids' Corner, Merchandising, Movies, Nostalgia, On the Scene, Pirates of the Caribbean, Things That Are Awesome!, Those Crazy Kids!, Toys, Transformers

When I was assigned to cover yesterday’s Time To Play’s Spring Toy Showcase in New York, my brain immediately changed the lyrics to Lady Gaga’s “Boys Boys Boys.” As I walked from display to display, I couldn’t help but think, “Toys, toys, toys, we like toys from Cars.” One, because I was a little proud of my version, even if it lacked much creativity; and two, because the toys from Cars 2 were actually really awesome! I even got to take home a few things for myself. (Try not to be too jealous.) Here’s an on-the-scene look at the new toys coming to a playroom near you:

CARS 2 (June 24) The Cars franchise has continued to grow since Lightning McQueen won his first Piston Cup in 2006′s smash hit. Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TimeToPlayMag.com, told reporters that he expects the Cars franchise to surpass the Toy Story franchise in terms of toys sold. (There’s irony at its finest.) One new character caught my eye — British master spy Finn McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine). I wasn’t completely impressed until I saw the Zero-Gravity McMissile in action. The car can drive on a flat surface, and then transition up a wall! (See below.) Color me impressed, along with everyone else who flocked to see the demonstration. The other new character on display was Francesco Bernoulli, the Italian race car voiced by John Turturro. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 12:13 PM ET

'The Voice': 10 Ways NBC can keep it a hit

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Music, Reality TV, Television, The Voice

Image Credit: NBC

NBC’s new American Idol rival The Voice debuted with nearly 12 million viewers, making it the highest-rated premiere of the season. Another six million viewers tuned in for an encore of the two-hour premiere. How can NBC keep the show from becoming a future punch line on 30 Rock ? Here are 10 ways:

1. Keep the talent level high. We have one more week of blind auditions. We don’t want to see anyone come before (or behind) the coaches that producers don’t honestly believe has a chance of being picked for a team. We see the phrase “colorful array of talented vocalists” in an episode description, and we get nervous. Respect the coaches, respect the viewers. Javier Colon’s show-stopping stripped down take on Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” has broken into the Top 20 on iTunes. He had two solo albums on Capitol before parting ways with the label and switching his sound. There are three other songs from contestants in the Top 200 today. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 09:17 AM ET

Kate Middleton's dress: Most perfect wedding gown ever?

by Meeta Agrawal

Categories: Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion, The Royal Wedding

Image Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The countdown to the dress of the century has been relentless — which designer will Kate Middleton pick for her wedding day, what will it look like, will it bring about world peace? And when Kate, or HRH Duchess of Cambridge as she will now be known, stepped out of the car and into Westminster Abbey, she did not disappoint. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 08:30 AM ET

'American Idol' on the scene for Top 6 results show: Casey delivers a speech, while Scotty and James hand out hugs and teddy bears

by John Young

Categories: American Idol, On the Scene, Reality TV, Television

Image Credit: Michael Becker/Fox/PictureGroup

While I was leaving the Idoldome last night, I noticed a trash can. They say you can reconstruct the events of someone’s life by sifting through that person’s garbage, and that definitely holds true for the Idoldome. Inside this particular trash can was a simple homemade poster. Just a few minutes ago, some excited audience member was waving around this sign. But now it sat there in the bin, like a neglected IKEA lamp, no longer serving a purpose. It read: “Casey = 2011 American Idol.”

Last night was the end of the road for the 20-year-old bassist/singer, who had memorably been saved by the judges five weeks ago. Casey Abrams was a firecracker — a musician first and foremost whose inclination toward jazz and blues made him an odd duck for the Idol competition. Having talked with him backstage, though, I can attest that Casey is as affable a guy as one could ever hope to meet. And although we’ll miss his snarling idiosyncrasies, the former film-camp counselor is going to be just fine. Here were the highlights from inside the Idoldome: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 01:38 AM ET

'30 Rock': Lizbeanism philosophy meets mortality

by Breia Brissey

Categories: 100% Pure Cheese, 30 Rock, About Last Night, Alec Baldwin, Not Jon Hamm, Ridiculata, Shenanigans!, Television, Things That Are Awesome!, Tina Fey, TV Recap

Image Credit: Ali Goldstein/NBC

The new, post-100th episode of 30 Rock was all about taking charge of your own life. What’s the best way to do this? Rhymes, songs, quotes, and haikus, of course! All of those work until mortality sets in, and then you realize you have no control whatsoever. No human is truly the master of his or her fate. But more on that later. First, we’ll start out with a lovely little lullaby to ease you into the recap: Hush island baby/tomorrow you shuck the cane/your little fingers bloody/prepare to be whipped. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 01:32 AM ET

'Parks and Recreation': Sing, muse, of government goddess Leslie Knope

by Hillary Busis

Categories: About Last Night, Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation, Television

Image Credit: Ron Tom/NBC

I’ve got to start this post by thanking Steve Carell — not only for being amazing on seven seasons of The Office, but also for inadvertently helping to get us an extra eight minutes of Parks and Recreation tonight. A super-sized episode of The Office led to a super-sized episode of Parks and Rec, one that may just have been the season’s best — and that’s saying something when a show is as consistent as this one.

The number one reason “Jerry’s Painting” was such a success? Its brilliant plot. Leslie is off her game at the top of the episode. Though she and Ben like each other, they can’t act on their feelings because of Chris’s rule forbidding office romances. As Leslie tells Ann, she’s feeling like the old lightbulb in the corner of her ceiling — “Weak, flickering, barely giving off any light. Unable to make out with the lightbulb I want to make out with.” But Leslie gets an unexpected surge of confidence from the unlikeliest of places: a piece of artwork that pictures her as the powerful, topless, fictional (as far as I can tell) Greek centaur goddess Diaphena. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2011 12:32 AM ET

The Royal Wedding: We're live-blogging it!

by Chad Schlegel

Categories: Live Blog, The Royal Wedding

Set your alarm clocks, PopWatchers! EW is live-blogging the wedding of Wills and Kate, starting at the not-so-jolly-old hour of 5:15 a.m. ET Friday. In addition to the colorful commentary you’ve come to expect from our live blogs, we’ll be featuring a live video feed direct from Westminster Abbey. Huzzah!

Our own Hillary Busis and Christian Blauvelt will be your hosts for the joyous occasion, along with some friends from our sister publication, InStyle. Put the kettle on and join us, won’t you? The live blog is after the jump! READ FULL STORY »

Apr 28 2011 10:28 PM ET

Steve Carell reflects on leaving 'The Office': 'I've made an enormous mistake' -- VIDEO

by Dan Snierson

Categories: Steve Carell, Television, The Office, Things That Are Classy, Things That Are Sad

Michael Scott makes his grand exit tonight on The Office, and Steve Carell is finally talking about it — with (now former) co-star Angela Kinsey! In a five-minute video released today by NBC and shot by Kinsey (who plays accountant Angela), she interviews Carell in his trailer on the Office set, and he reminisces about “Diversity Day,” the “three-headed monster” that is Angela, Oscar, and Kevin, his favorite musical moments, and more. Carell is more earnest than silly when answering Kinsey’s questions, though he does quip about his departure: “I’ve made an enormous mistake and I think that I probably shouldn’t be going…” Don’t tease, Steve. Check it out below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 28 2011 08:00 PM ET

'American Idol': Top 6's eliminated singer is....

by Annie Barrett

Categories: American Idol, Reality TV

Update: Annie’s recap is live. Wednesday night’s Carole King performance show brought higher times for Lauren, a softer, poppier side of Scotty, another mass-market stage for J. Lo’s legs, and a probably not too rare God sighting for Steven Tyler. Earlier today, your votes overwhelmingly suggested it would be Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams, and Haley Reinhart heading to the stools of doom tonight, with Jacob ultimately going home. Chat about the results show, and I’ll update this post when we know who’s been eliminated. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 28 2011 06:25 PM ET

'Jem' is back, will be outrageous on The Hub

by Kate Ward

Categories: 100% Pure Cheese, Nostalgia, Television, Things That Are Awesome!, Those Crazy Kids!

Perhaps it was the insanely enthusiastic ’80s font, or my desire to transform from a five-year-old into a fabulous rock star who sings horrible music, but as a child, there was nothing better than Jem and the Holograms. The 1980s cartoon — revolving around a woman named Jerrica who was a businesswoman by day and a rock goddess named Jem by night, thanks to a pair of high-tech earrings (she went to Jared!) — was Hannah Montana for the children of the ’80s, except with terrible hair and without the tween-driven mega-exposure that led to monstrosities like “Party in the U.S.A.” Instead, Jem led to monstrosities like “Come On In,” “Love Is Here,” and “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” (The Misfits, the Holograms’ rival band, had you beat, Britney!) — all of which I had on a cassette tape that I still own. To me, Jem had everything: Holograms (the root of why I love CNN), an overpowering pink hue, and a marketable premise that produced a line of dolls, many of which could be easily confused with a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. (Exhibit A: This was the one I owned.)