Archive: May 2011 (351-360 of 457)

May 6 2011 07:38 PM ET

PopWatch Confessional: What's the longest you've binged on a videogame?

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Filed under: Videogames and tagged: , ,

The weekend is approaching, which means my weekly dance with the devil is close at hand. I’m not speaking of anything illicit. I’m speaking of my unhealthy obsession with Sid Meyer’s Civilization V. I’ve been playing this create-your-own-nation-from-the-stone-age-to-modern-day-and-beyond videogame from its very first version when I was a kid — I can still vividly recall the trumpets of victory every time my archer square (a pixelated dude holding a bow) successfully attacked a marauding barbarian red square (a pixelated dude holding a club) like it’s happening right in front of me. The newest version of the game, which has been out since last fall, is several eons more advanced (as the photo above can attest) in the graphics department, but the basic fundamentals of the game are still the same, and still just as wildly, obsessively addictive. I’m not entirely ashamed to admit that once I started playing this game around 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and I didn’t stop until around 4 a.m. Sunday morning. That is 20 hours of non-stop gaming.  READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 06:30 PM ET

Movie Math: How much of 'Thor' is 'Henry V,' and how much is 'He-Man'?

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Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel Studios

Want to create Thor using upper-level mathematics? It’s simple! Just follow this straightforward equation. Remember: There will be a test. But we’re following summer-school rules, so everybody gets an A for showing up!

1. Begin with a hefty dose of Henry V, the 1989 film which kickstarted Thor director Kenneth Branagh’s big-screen career. Like Henry V, Thor is an adapted tale about a dashing young royal who has to prove himself in battle. Like Henry V, Thor features a rousing score by Patrick Doyle. Basically, just replaced “the French” with “Frost Giants,” and the films look shockingly similar. READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 05:40 PM ET

Tony Kushner talks about his latest play, 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'

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Tagged:
Intelligent-Homosexual

Image Credit: Joan Marcus

The newest drama from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) has a doozy of a title — The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. But the 2009 play, which officially opened Off Broadway last night at NYC’s Public Theater, has a simple premise: A father, frightened by old age and the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease, asks his grown children for permission to commit suicide.

In the excerpt below, Gus (Michael Cristofer), a former labor union organizer, attempts to explain his motives to his daughter, Empty (played by Linda Emond, and so called because of the initials of her given name, Maria Teresa), while his sister Clio (Brenda Wehle) and gay son Pill (Stephen Spinella) listen. “Gus has called his children together to talk about his desire to commit suicide, and he’s describing his world as a prison,” says Kushner (whose husband is EW columnist Mark Harris). “Who the jailer is, and who jails whom, becomes one of the things the play struggles with.”

Check out the full excerpt, then read on for Kushner’s analysis of the scene.

READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 05:08 PM ET

The Tony nominees react: How they partied with ribs, Louis CK, and an F-word cake

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Tagged: , ,
Andrew-Rannells

Image Credit: D Dipasupil/Getty Images

How would you celebrate a Tony nomination? Whoopi Goldberg, who’s up for Best Musical as part of the team behind Sister Act, told EW she “worked like a dog and then did Jimmy Kimmel and The Joy Behar Show.” First-time Best Featured Actor in a Musical nominee Rory O’Malley of The Book of Mormon partied in the stairwell with costars and fellow nominees Andrew Rannells (pictured) and Josh Gad, while The Motherf—er with the Hat playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis ate pork and met Darryl Strawberry.

There were lots of stories like these being bandied around on Wednesday at the Tony Awards: Meet the Nominees press reception — along with hugs and congrats and the kind of overall good vibe you might only get from folks who aren’t usually recognized on the street. READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 04:27 PM ET

'Glee' covers Rebecca Black's 'Friday.' Listen to it here... then hate yourself for it.

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

GLEE-216Image Credit: Adam Rose/FoxI knew it. I knew this was going to happen when I clicked “play.”

This just-released Glee cover of Rebecca Black’s “Friday” is now officially stuck in my head, and I haven’t been this unhappy since Mr. Schuester rapped for the first time. This utterly addictive rendition of the worst song I’ve ever heard, predominately featuring two of my fave male Glee vocalists (Sam and Artie), is now going to end up on my iPod, and I hate myself for it.

I had a similar feeling when I heard Glee‘s cover of Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” My foot tapped against its will. I found myself humming it on the way to work. When bored, I’d quietly listen to it just loud enough so those around me couldn’t hear it. And instantly felt like a lesser human being doing all of those. Go ahead. Take a listen after the jump, but consider yourself warned. READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 03:56 PM ET

'Thor,' 'Something Borrowed,' 'Jumping the Broom,' 'The Beaver': What will you see this weekend?

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Tagged: ,
THOR-HAMMER

Image Credit: Marvel Studios

You’re feeling antsy today, and you don’t know why. Perhaps you tried to leap over a tall building this morning, or plotted to sabotage your best friend’s wedding, or just walked around all day with an uncontrollable craving for popcorn? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Because when Thor’s hammer hits theaters today, it signals the official start of something we’ve all been waiting a long time for: Summer Movie Season. (Capital letters mandatory, as far as we’re concerned.) Get ready for four months of the big screen’s biggest adventures — the superpowered action movies, the star-packed rom-coms, the comedies that make you wish you didn’t just drink that entire 36 oz. soda. Alongside the god of thunder’s big-screen debut, this weekend’s entries include the Kate Hudson-Ginnifer Goodwin comedy Something Borrowed, the family wedding romp Jumping the Broom, and the controversial Mel Gibson comedy The Beaver, directed by Jodie Foster. So what should you see? Check out our picks, and then vote in the poll below!

READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 03:32 PM ET

Is movie/TV version of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' doomed?

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Filed under: Movies, News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , , , , ,
dark-tower

There was a time when even Stephen King didn’t think he’d finish the tale of Roland the Gunslinger and his quest to reach The Dark Tower. It took the near-death experience of getting hit by an out-of-control driver to finally spur him toward a resolution.

Now come rumblings that an ambitious plan by Ron Howard to make three movies and two TV mini-series out of the six-shooter-and-sorcery books — first suggested in April 2010 — may never even begin, as Universal Pictures, NBC and Howard’s Imagine Entertainment try to come to terms on how much it should cost, who pays for it, and what they’ll likely get in return.

For weeks, I’ve heard from the studio, “We’re still working it out,” but Variety‘s story yesterday took a pessimistic turn: “They may not.” READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 02:55 PM ET

'The Office': Ratings are down by double digits. Are you still watching the show?

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Filed under: About Last Night, Television, TV and tagged: , , , , ,
the-office

Image Credit: Trae Patton/NBC

Uh-oh, Office fans. “The Inner Circle,” last night’s episode — which happened to be the show’s first outing post-Steve Carell — scored ratings that were 17 percent worse than the ratings for the show’s April 28 episode, “Goodbye, Michael.” While it is a little unfair to compare the two episodes (“Goodbye, Michael” was an Event with a capital “E,” likely watched by a lot of people who aren’t regular viewers of The Office), this news still doesn’t seem to bode well… especially when coupled with the knowledge that “The Inner Circle” itself, which abruptly sent guest star Will Ferrell packing, was mediocre at best. (Read my full recap here.)

We all knew that this beloved sitcom was going to change drastically once Michael Scott left Scranton behind. But considering last night’s episode and these ratings, do you think you’ll even stick around to see what happens next? Let us know by voting in the poll below the jump. READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 02:28 PM ET

'Grey's Anatomy': Whose wedding dress was better? (Poll)

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,
Callie-and-Arizona

Image Credit: Richard Cartwright/ABC

Wedding dress madness continues on PopWatch! And while last night’s Grey’s Anatomy wedding was no royal wedding, it was gorgeous. I had only just stopped weeping from Bailey’s speech about God when the Bails (we’re tight that way) stood at the altar and officiated the ceremony between Callie and Arizona, both wearing white bridal gowns by Amsale (ABC confirms) with touches of their personality peppered through the styling. Callie, for example, had a veil custom made for the occasion to look like her mother’s (even though she ended up leaving in a fit before the ceremony… ). Arizona, meanwhile, kept it a little more bohemian with a looped headpiece with flowers on the side and minimalist jewelry. Callie didn’t have jewelry either, but the sleeves on her dress were certainly quite enough.

Speaking of which, unlike the saga we went through to identify Duchess Catherine’s best dress, I think this race has a clear winner. READ FULL STORY »

May 6 2011 01:24 PM ET

Even Amy Poehler and Tina Fey aren't immune to the gross magic of the Jersey Floor

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Filed under: Reality TV, TV and tagged: , , , , , ,

Jersey Shore’s third season finale aired March 24. Does that mean the fist-pumping reality program has been off the cultural radar long enough that jokes about it are funny again? Half an hour ago, my answer would have been “No.” Then I saw the following clip from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, in which the host and a slew of guests — Abby Elliott, Rachel Dratch, and, best of all, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey — are transformed into pitch-perfect parodies of the guidos and guidettes we’ve gotten to know and loate (that’s “love and hate”) over the past year and a half. Watch the 9-minute opus yourself to hear Jimmy’s Pauly D voice and marvel at the best televised use of the Shake Weight since a certain episode of South Park, then node sagely at Questlove’s wise words: “White people are weird.” READ FULL STORY »

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