I was thinking yesterday about suspending my blogging to deal with the mortgage meltdown, but instead I'll just continue making snarky observations about pop culture while the very soul of capitalism spontaneously combusts or whatever. Like this: I've been wondering for a couple weeks now how all the insanity on Wall Street will affect Money Never Sleeps,that misbegotten Wall Street sequel that was supposedly in the works last year. And guess what? Some actual "journalists" have gone ahead and given us all a sneak peak of how Money might play, by cornering Michael Douglas and requesting some sort of in-character comment as Gordon Gekko about the financial crisis. Yes, not one but several professional reporters seem to have followed Douglas to a U.N. event where he was speaking about nuclear test bans, all so they could ask him insightful questions like: "Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?" Hoo boy. Who cares about limiting nukes when that kind of Pulitzer-worthy scoop is within reach?
Douglas, to his credit, refused to take that reporter's bait, adding, "My name is not Gordon. He's a character I played 20 years ago." You can watch the whole sorry spectacle below. And I'm heartened to hear Douglas' reply. Does this mean maybe he's no longer on board to play Gekko in that sequel, as was reported last year? More importantly, now that the clever little Woodwards at that press conference have gotten this out of the way, can we please agree as a nation to stop trying to get Michael Douglas to say sentences that include the words "greed" and "good" from now on? This meme must die! Or, hey, maybe Douglas should give up and agree to take John McCain's place at the debate tonight. What do you say?
Happy post-Labor Day, everyone. Along with "Everyone Pissed To Be Back At Work, School" and "Michael Phelps Returns To His Tank At Sea World," John Mayer and the blonde waitress are the hottest news on the planet today. Now go spill something thick and colorful on your horrifyingly all-white outfit, and you can headline the Internet, too!
What could possibly be better than stalking George Clooney's dinner party? How about getting in a fender bender with the dreamy actor that culminates in him buying you a brand new set of wheels? It's not just my restless Friday fantasy. Recently while in Italy, the Oceans star rear-ended a woman's car, but instead of calling Geico, Clooney shelled out $28,000 to buy her a brand new one! I was pretty jealous until I actually saw a Lancia Ypsilon. I think a few fleeting moments exchanging insurance information and accepting his tender, heartfelt, near-tears apologies, would be worth more to me than this tin can on wheels.
(BTW, am I the only one who's a little worried about Clooney's aptitude behind the wheel? It was less than a year ago that he and then-girlfriend Sarah Larson were involved in a gnarly motorcycle accident. If you need some driving lessons, George, you know who to call. Wink. Wink.)
Bravo has kept us in a state of painful suspense regarding the Season 5 roster for Project Runway, much like Mom and Dad hiding presents until Christmas afternoon. The show has been under a good deal of scrutiny of late, with all of its diehard fans wondering what will happen when the show moves to the not-as-fab Lifetime network for the next season. And why, we ask, the lack of promotion? I didn't even know Season 5's start date until last month. Come on, people, we had viewing parties to set up, and contestants to scour the blogosphere for -- let's get the party started already!
Whatever the reason for keeping the show under a (fabulous fur) wrap, Season 5 kicks off tonight, so after the jump, let's pick apart the hot trannie messes from the ferocia couturas, shall we, PopWatchers?
After an injury, So You Think You Can Dance finalist Jessica King leaves and Comfort Fedoke, eliminated last Thursday, takes Jessica's place in the Top 10.
After watching Jessica plié for her life these past few weeks on So You Think You Can Dance, one thing became apparent: No matter how much technique, soul, or heartfelt contemporary routines this girl put out there, the judges were going to bash her on something. All their critiques centered around the idea that she was dead weight in her partnership with their beloved Debbie Allen protégé Will Wingfield. Last week Nigel went so far as to say the judges wished they could have sent home two girls to save one of the bottom three boys.
Touted as the best female hip hopper, Comfort Fedoke is getting a second chance, and can be seen performing with the Top 10 dancers this Wednesday night. In a statement released by Fox, top judge and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said, "I would like to say how sorry I am that Jessica cannot continue dancing in the competition at the advice of her doctor. Her full recovery is paramount and will only come with rest. We are fortunate that Comfort has agreed to rejoin the competition and know that under the circumstances she has Jessica's full support." No mention was made about the specifics surrounding Jessica's injury.
Not only will Comfort be replacing Jessica in the Top 10, but she'll take the contemporary dancer's place on the So You Think You Can Dance tour that will hit 50 cities across the country this fall. For fans, we knew that Jess's days were numbered, but to think the redhead was going to go out like this? And for many, Comfort's exit last week was not only appropriate but arguably well overdue -- do you think she even has it in her to return to the stage? Or will she just be a placeholder until Thursday night's elimination? And why didn't Nigel and the gang just bring back Thayne and really shake things up? How will Jessica's exit and Comfort's reappearance change things for the other contestants? Tell us what you think!
UPDATE: On the July 16 edition of SYTYCD, after both Jessica and Comfort were noticeably absent from the opening role call, Cat pulled Jessica out on stage to give us the news on her next steps. The dancer said that her doctors discovered the growing pain in her side was actually one fractured and two broken ribs, and that she'd be taking the next four weeks off to rest in order to appear on tour in the fall. Sources involved with the show and tour said that this decision will be conditional on Jessica's health at the time of the tour; they also reported that Comfort will be on the tour acting as an alternate if Jessica is able to perform, but that nothing is confirmed at this time.
Apparently Law & Order: SVU's child pornography and human trafficking plot lines are a-OK for the Peacock Network, but a show about a do-gooder billionaire? Too much! According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has parted ways with Emmy-winning producer Tom Fontana (Homicide: Life on the Street, cast pictured) after deeming his take on the upcoming drama The Philanthropist too grim.
The show focuses on a wealthy renegade who uses his assets to help the less fortunate (do student loans count?) while addressing hot-button issues like immigration, drug addiction, and child soldiers. Fontana and his writing team had submitted several scripts to the network when it became apparent the two sides had very different visions. For its part, NBC was looking for something more "escapist and fantastical" to fit the rest of its schedule, and is now searching for Fontana's replacement. But seriously, NBC, what were you expecting from the guy behind Oz and Homicide? (As an aside, Fontana and Law & Order producer Dick Wolf are actually old friends who often swap cast members -- Christopher Meloni and Dean Winters both appeared on Oz and SVU, while Richard Belzer's character John Munch famously jumped from Homicide to SVU.)
So, with a The Philanthropist redo in the offing, we want to know what shows you've found too grim of late. Did a blood-soaked murder scene make you hide under the couch cushions? Did a stomach-turning operation on your favorite medical drama leave you feeling ill? We want to hear about it!
Buried seven paragraphs into this Wall Street Journal article about 24 is the news that the show's seventh season "could premiere this summer, next fall or as late as January 2009." The delay isn't the fault of the writers' strike so much as it is of the creative crisis the show found itself in after 2007's lackluster season 6. According to the Journal, the show's writers and producers thought viewers had deserted 24 because it was too tied to the unpopular Bush administration, the unpopular war, and unpopular American torture policies, and it took them a long time to figure a way to write around those difficulties.
But the show's problem is simpler (or maybe more complicated) than that. It's not torture viewers grew tired of; it's the stale plotting, bland characters, and muddy family soap-opera dynamics we saw in Day 6. Fixing those problems could be a lot harder than dealing with the show's ambivalent politics, which I don't think really bothered anyone. 24 appeals to liberals and conservatives alike because it offers a wish-fulfillment fantasy: a hero who's always right, and who knows in his gut when torture will yield valuable and truthful information. (Not too likely in the real world, any more than a hero who never needs to eat or pee or sleep, whose cellphone never needs charging, and whose pals at the office can hack into any computer in the world with their PCs.) I don't care whether Jack Bauer supports or opposes the current real White House's policies; I just want to see him out there kicking terrorist butt. Making me and other 24 fans sit through another season of handwringing, bickering, and backstabbing within the Bauer, Palmer, Logan, and Heller families — now, that would be torture.
My friend Mitch is obsessed with Britney Spears -- so much so that during a dinner party at my apartment on Saturday night, he kept hijacking my computer to play her new video for "Piece of Me" and try to convince everyone in attendance that the oft-maligned diva is not only looking "fabu," but is poised for global domination in 2008. What's more, Mitch informed me that if I didn't blog about "Piece of Me" first thing Monday morning, there would be dire consequences…something about me winding up unconscious behind a dumpster. (Thus, I cannot once again choose to write about soft tacos instead of Britney.)
The good news for Mitch (and Britney) is that the "Piece of Me" clip, which premiered on 20/20 (news!) Friday night, is a vast improvement over the lethargic pole dancing of "Gimme More." That said, Britney's latest choreography doesn't involve much more than raising her hands over her head and swaying her hips; Paula Abdul burned more calories during warmup in her heyday. What's more, the video concept -- Britney engages in playful/depressing cat-and-mouse game with the paparazzi -- has been on the menu in newspapers and magazines, on TV, and in the gossip blogs for what seems like an eternity. It's the music-video equivalent of reheating a gigantic Tupperware container of mediocre pasta for breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- every day for a month. After a while, your stomach gurgles with an awesome cry of protest: "Enough!" Also, there's that matter of Britney rhyming the words "scene," "Philippines," and "magazine."
Anyhow, Mitch says my negative response is just a matter of me seeing what I want to see, and ultimately confirming my own negative preconceptions. To which I say, there isn't a video on YouTube that couldn't pass as entertaining after a bottle and a half of sauvignon blanc. Clearly, we're deadlocked. It's up to you to settle our debate about the merits of "Piece of Me" in the comments section below.
Grey's Anatomy's George and Izzie? ''A ratings ploy.'' And Judd Apatow's blockbuster Knocked Up? "A little sexist." Rhetoric from a Katherine Heigl hater? Not so much. More like direct quotes from the star herself. And good for her.
Yeah, I said it.
Maybe the reason Heigl is catching so much flack for making the above comments in a candid interview with Vanity Fair is because the girl speaks the truth. I'm a Grey's follower, but executive producer Shonda Rhimes often favors shock value over continuity and common sense. I know it; even the most diehard Grey's fans know it. So why the big issue with Heigl pointing out the obvious? Say what you want about the girl spewing negativity, but as long as it's honest, I'll encourage her to spew away. It's her unfiltered voice that makes her dynamic and edgy, so what if she occasionally comes off as a raging she-beast? Embrace it! And just because Heigl scored her big-screen breakthrough in Knocked Up doesn't mean she has to worship her character, or agree wholeheartedly with the film's portrayal of women. What's more, who would really want to read an interview where she did?
Of course, I don't always agree with Heigl, and I wouldn't get into a debate with someone who said they found her tiresome. But the bottom line is this: Actors endlessly plugging their movies and shows and product lines are boring. Even if you think Katherine Heigl runs her mouth like an ungrateful brat, she certainly isn't afraid to say what she thinks, and that's infinitely more fun than reciting some publicist-scripted hooey every time she sits down with a reporter.
I feel like I should close this with ''you go girl'' and then run off to high-five someone. What do you think about Heigl's behavior? Commendable or condemnable?
(That said, at the risk of this being used against me in court someday, I have to admit that sometimes…after a long day of work…when all I really want to do is just enjoy my DVR'ed General Hospital, anticipating scenes with Jason (Steve Burton, pictured)…listening to my husband step all over the "dialogue" and make jokes about the characters and story lines…it's not so inconceivable I might snap and go after him with something.)
Um, did I just put that thought into print? Help me out here, PopWatchers. You sometimes fight over the remote, right? Or feel your blood pressure go up when your roommate does the dishes during your favorite show? So let's hear about it: What's the worst case of remote-rage you've ever had (or fantasized about)? Don't be afraid to be honest -- if my hubby can handle it, so can your loved ones!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there's a new High Noon in the offing. In case you don't remember, that's the 1952 oater in which Gary Cooper (pictured) fends off a band of outlaws in real-time. (Like 24, but 50 years ahead of its time — and a whole lot better.)
It's an undeniable classic and should be allowed to rest, unmolested, for all eternity. Especially since we saw what happened the last time it was remade: the 1981 sci-fi pic Outland, one of Sean Connery's few clunkers.
When will Hollywood realize that there's no upside to remaking classic films? It'll never be as good as its progenitor; in fact, it will only suffer the comparison. Gus Van Zant's Psycho proved that.
Find some films with fantastic premises that didn't fully exploit them...or were just plain bad in the process. Not Near Dark, not Escape From New York, and not High Noon.
What would you like to see remade? Freshened up? Given a new coat of paint? Me, personally: The Hot Rock, the 1972 jewel heist comedy starring Robert Redford and George Segal. Or The Running Man (actually, just go back to Stephen King's novella, which has become prescient over time). Or Star Wars: Episode I. Your turn.
Call me crazy, but the only Chuck Norris endorsement that would matter to me is if he picked a favorite vertebrae to shatter. ("I favor the 7th. Call me a softie, but that one has sentimental value.")
This is all rendered slightly moot by my colleague Joshua Rich, who reminds me that "Chuck Norris doesn't endorse presidential candidates, he anoints them." Let's hope he anoints 'em with the same sure hand he uses to choose kids TV projects.
THE PROBLEM: You really, really, really need publicity for your comeback single. A Hollywood paycheck would also be nice. THE SOLUTION: Put your name in the same sentence as TV's biggest hit, pretend it's "news", and cross your fingers! '80s Pop Star Hopes To Be Fourth Judge On 'American Idol' Friday October 19, 2007
LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Move over Paula Abdul, because another '80s pop princess is vying for a spot on the "American Idol "judges panel. Singer Gioia Bruno -- member of the 1980s pop trio Expose, best known for their hit songs "Seasons Change," and "Point Of No Return" -- is making a musical comeback with her new solo single, "Your Love Is Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)," which she hopes will get her back on the music map and secure her a spot as a new judge on the upcoming season of "American Idol." Says Bruno: "I've always wanted to get involved with "American Idol" and I'd be a great asset to the judges panel. I know the business inside and out, and I'm not afraid to tell aspiring musicians how it is. Plus, I'm hysterical!" Bruno, who suffered a longterm throat injury a few years back and feared she'd never sing again, says her story is a good way for "Idol" wannabes to realize that giving up your music dream is never an option. And while "Idol" refs Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson are the mean, nice, and cool judges, Bruno believes she could bring a new personality trait to the table. She adds, "I'm the gay guy judge! I'm sassy, I tell it like it is, and it comes out all whacked out."
So, what do you think? Click here to hear a snippet of Bruno's comeback single, then weigh in: Should we kick off a campaign for her right here on PopWatch, so that it can indeed "come out all whacked out," or just enjoy our weekend?
With all the Hollywood scandals from last week's "Summer of
Scandal" issue running through my head, I found myself listening to Britney Spears' 2000
song "Lucky" — a pop
ditty about an overworked starlet forced to feign happiness in front of her
many fans. When Britney (pictured) says, "This is a story about a girl named Lucky,"
I heard "This is a story about a girl named Britney." And it is. "Lucky," of
course, was only a prelude to 2004's even sadder "Everytime." If these
aren't cries for help, I don't know what it is.
I got to thinking about other troubled musicians and not-so-subliminal warnings they may have left us. For instance:
Lindsay Lohan:
"Confessions of a
Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)" — LiLo gave the world a front row
seat to her family troubles (through a plate glass window, actually) in the
video for this 2005 ballad.
Amy Winehouse:
"Rehab," et al. — This is an obvious one; Amy's old-fashioned soul allows her
to do melancholy like no one else, so it's not surprising some of her biggest
hits are woeful tales of alcoholism ("Rehab"), love lost ("Back to Black," "These
Tears Dry on Their Own," "Love is a Losing Game") and the basic inability to live
up to standards ("You Know I'm No Good").
Now we want to hear from you, P-Dubs: What did we forget to include? Maybe it's too recent to go down in the annals of "xx"-dom, but seems like Denise Richards' nasty split from Charlie Sheen (who's already on this list, natch) and her subsequent involvement with friend Heather Locklear's ex, Richie Sambora, is tawdry enough to deserve a spot here. What say you?
Happy post-Labor Day, everyone. Along with "Everyone Pissed To Be Back At Work, School" and "
What could possibly be better than 
Apparently Law & Order: SVU's child pornography and human trafficking plot lines are a-OK for the Peacock Network, but a show about a do-gooder billionaire? Too much! According to 
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Grey's Anatomy's George and Izzie? ''A ratings ploy.'' And Judd Apatow's blockbuster Knocked Up? "
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With all the 
If, like me, you are unable to heed the inner voice that begs you not to read the full story, 
