Tag: HeadScratcher (91-100 of 506)

May 21 2012 11:42 AM ET

'Saturday Night Live' poll: Who will be the next Kristen Wiig?

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When Amy Poehler left SNL in December of ’08, Kristen Wiig suddenly became the show’s only full-fledged female cast member. And even after Abby Elliott was officially promoted to repertory player in 2010, Wiig still stood out as one of the series’ most visible performers — and its most visible female player by far. With a dynamo like Wiig dominating the stage and taking nearly every female speaking role, it was nigh on impossible for any other woman to make an impression.

Now, though, Wiig is freeing up her Saturday nights — and the sketch show’s four remaining ladies (Elliott, Vanessa Bayer, Nasim Pedrad, and newcomer Kate McKinnon) may finally have a chance to shine. But which one of these funny girls has what it takes to fill Wiig’s formidable heels? Let’s consider them one by one:

READ FULL STORY »

May 16 2012 05:10 PM ET

Aaron Sorkin hates the Internet. Why does he keep writing about tech geniuses?

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Image Credit: John Russo

Aaron Sorkin needs to clear a space on his cluttered mantle. The king of the walk-and-talk recently signed on to adapt Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography — and considering how many awards The Social Network won, it’s safe to guess that Sorkin’s next peek behind the computer screen will be similarly celebrated.

But even though Sorkin snagged an Oscar for writing about the technorati, it’s still deeply weird that he somehow became Hollywood’s go-to tech biopic scribe. Sorkin has long had a love-hate relationship with computers — accent on the hate.

After getting into a string of online arguments with Television Without Pity posters in the early ’00s, Sorkin wrote an episode of The West Wing that featured a subplot about how horrible Internet users are. (Josh to C.J., on a certain site: “It’s a crazy place. It’s got this dictatorial leader who I’m sure wears a muumuu and chain smokes Parliaments.” C.J. to Josh: “The people on these sites, they’re the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest!”) An episode of Studio 60 also revolved partially around the characters’ reactions to a critical blogger; as one opined, “It’s like we’ve all spent the last five years living in a Roger Corman film called Revenge of the Hack.” Another dismissed the blogger as someone with “a freezer full of Jenny Craig” who sits “surrounded by her five cats.” Even the new trailer for Sorkin’s upcoming HBO drama, The Newsroom, includes a moment in which Jeff Daniels’ character reacts with disdain when Dev Patel’s character mentions his blog.

And then there are the various Internet bashing comments Sorkin himself has made over the years. Here’s a sampling of his greatest hits:

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May 14 2012 01:28 PM ET

'Smash': Are you hate-watching it? Or do you still have hope for an improved Season 2?

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If there’s one thing critics enjoy more than rhapsodizing about something they love, it’s gleefully picking apart something they despise. And this season, the hottest punching bag on TV is Smash — a backstage drama that went from NBC’s Great White Hope to a total mess in about four episodes flat.

The same writers who once praised Smash‘s pilot are still watching the show — but instead of extolling its virtues, they’re writing with relish about how fascinatingly awful it’s become. And even though I haven’t been as hard on the series as some of my ink-soaked colleagues, my weekly Smash recaps include their share of snarky, frustrated jabs. The clunky dialogue, the nonsensical plot twists, the infuriating romantic entanglements, the slow but steady deification of Karen “Iowa” Cartwright — all of it combined makes the devoted Smash viewer feel like an Ivy-style masochist.

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May 11 2012 12:54 PM ET

'Time' magazine's new cover is the breast ever -- UPDATE

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[Update: We spoke with Time science editor Jeffrey Kluger about the cover -- check below for his comments.]

Time magazine — which, like EW, is published by Time Inc. — is making waves with its latest issue, which features a photo of Jamie Lynne Grumet breast-feeding her 3-year-old son. Grumet practices “attachment parenting,” a growing movement that advocates extended breast-feeding, co-sleeping (that’s sharing a bed), and physically carrying one’s children via sling whenever possible.

Twitter users and bloggers have been hotly debating the cover since it debuted yesterday, arguing over whether it’s admirably bold or inappropriate.

Time managing editor Rick Stengel has stood by his magazine’s photo: “I think it’s provocative,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this week. “I think it’s a little whimsical. I think she represents an outlier of women who are breastfeeding beyond one year. The cover is meant to get your attention. It gets your attention. I think this is a legitimate debate.”

Science editor Jeffrey Kluger is also defending the cover. “There’s been considerable heat from a lot of people,” he told EW this afternoon. “Well, Time’s been taking heat since 1923. We’re kind of used to it.”

READ FULL STORY »

May 8 2012 08:57 PM ET

'Star Wars 1313' URL buy-up spurs hopes about Boba Fett movie, but Lucasfilm won't say 'at this time.' What could it be?

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Image Credit: Lucasfilm

Star Wars fans have been abuzz this week about a potentially big new mystery project in the works dealing with that galaxy far, far away.

It all started when tech site Fusible reported that Lucasfilm had registered Internet domains based on permutations of “Star Wars 1313.”  That may not seem revealing in and of itself, but fans first got whiff of a traveling museum exhibit called Star Wars: Identities when Lucasfilm registered that particular domain. Then on May 1, Lucasfilm filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Star Wars 1313″ and declared that it would relate to everything from “online social networking services” to “toy action figures” to “compact discs and DVDs featuring games, films, animation, music, computer game software, and video game software.”

That’s pretty comprehensive, and, well, pretty vague. One thing is certain, though. Lucasfilm isn’t yet ready to reveal what this project is just yet. When asked for comment, a rep for the company said, “We have no announcements at this time.” That hasn’t stopped fans from wildly speculating about what this means for Star Wars‘ future, particularly as it relates to a certain beloved Mandalorian bounty hunter. We share some of our theories about what it could be after the jump: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 16 2012 06:15 PM ET

Roseanne Barr blogs about Ann Romney, ‘Mommy Wars’

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Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Presidential candidate Roseanne Barr penned a short editorial for The Daily Beast this morning in which the erstwhile sitcom star took issue with pundit Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney having “never worked a day in her life,” though perhaps not the way you thought she might.

Barr disclaimed that she didn’t want to fall into the “working mom versus stay-at-home mom” dialogue, but her disdain for Rosen’s unfortunate words was clear: Barr was less upset about what the statement conveyed about motherhood than she was dismayed that the comments were giving Mitt Romney fodder for winning sympathy among American women. In other words, Rosen’s Romney attack is presumably making Mitt and Ann look much more appealing than Barr believes they should be.

“It’s a shame that Rosen lobbed the Romney campaign a fat political softball they could smack over the gender fence,” wrote Barr. “After the Republicans had alienated at least half the voting public by all but condemning birth control, suddenly Rosen’s remark enabled them to self-righteously assume the role of defenders of American motherhood.” READ FULL STORY »

Apr 11 2012 11:43 AM ET

Homer Simpson is conflicted about Matt Groening's Springfield reveal. How do you feel? -- POLL

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Image Credit: Frank Micelota/Fox

Okay, point of clarification: The Simpsons don’t actually live in the Pacific Northwest. Yesterday, the world learned that Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie’s hometown was named after Springfield, Oregon. But Simpsons creator Matt Groening never claimed that the series really takes place in the Beaver State. As everyone knows, Springfield is located in a state that borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky — that is, one that’s fictional.

But don’t tell that to Homer Simpson. Since Groening’s revelation spread across the internet, the yellow-bellied kwyjibo has been tweeting up a storm about his city’s supposed locale. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 6 2012 03:18 PM ET

Martin Scorsese on one of the worst ideas we've heard all week: a sequel to 'Raging Bull'

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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Yesterday, it was reported that director Martin Guigui had begun casting Raging Bull II. Veteran character actor William Forsythe (Boardwalk Empire) was mentioned as the frontrunner to star in the film. Now, I suppose the first question for any fan of Martin Scorsese’s 1980 biopic about the rise and fall of 1950s boxer Jack LaMotta (played by Robert De Niro) is…why? Following close behind is: Who is Martin Guigui?

Let’s start with the second question. Guigui is the Argentine auteur whose credits include My Ex-Girlfreind’s Wedding Reception and National Lampoon’s Cattle Call, which was most notable for starring onetime Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert and American Pie‘s Thomas Ian Nicholas. Which, of course, makes him the ideal guy to helm a sequel to one of the great films of the 20th century. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 2 2012 06:26 PM ET

Chevy Chase's angry 'Community' rant (and four other vicious voicemails)

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Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

There isn’t a whole lot of that feeling of Community going on right now. In a profanity-laden voicemail, Community star Chevy Chase unleashed on the show’s creator Dan Harmon after the latter publicly reprimanded Chase in front of his family and colleagues during a speech at the NBC comedy’s wrap party.

According to Deadline, Harmon scolded Chase for walking off the set, causing Chase to respond with a scathing phone call blasting Harmon for his behavior at the party, as well as his conduct as producer (Chase allegedly became frustrated with Harmon’s tardiness in delivering scripts and stormed off, which other sources from the show confirmed to Deadline). Listen to the voicemail here.

“You didn’t give us a script to begin with so nobody knew what the f—- was going on,” said Chase in the voicemail before launching into a list of derogatory names that he attributed to Harmon. “I don’t get talked to like that by anybody, certainly not in front of my wife and daughter.”

EW reached out to Sony Television and NBC, but neither the studio nor the network would comment on the situation. A rep for Chase could not be reached.

Whether or not Chase’s angry phone message was justified, it’s well worth its weight in swear words, enough to rank up there with some of the other vicious voicemails that have made the rounds in Hollywood. Here’s a list of just some of show business’s most memorably motormouth memos (and feel free to share your favorite in the comments): READ FULL STORY »

Mar 27 2012 12:27 AM ET

'Castle' react: ...now what?

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Image Credit: Karen Neal/ABC

Forty minutes into this week’s episode of Castle, I was dying. Not literally, of course. But the anticipation was killing me — and not just because this week’s case was a nail-bitter.

You see, at the end of last week’s wildly fun Dancing With the Stars-themed episode, viewers were treated to a teaser for an episode that appeared to finally address the “I love you” Castle (Nathan Fillion) whispered to injured Kate (Stana Katic) at the end of last season. “I was shot in the chest and I remember every second of it,” she told a man during an interrogation as Castle looked on from the other side of the glass, shocked. And hurt.

Finally, I thought! A reward for my dwindling patience was on the way!

Not that I’m against a slow-burn relationship, but we’ve gone almost the entire season without the pair bringing this out into the open. After last season’s amazing finale, I was hoping for them to hit the ground running this year — take Castle and Beckett to places unknown. But instead it’s like they’ve been playing hide-and-go-seek all season. One person steps out, the other hides. The other comes out, the other hides. I’m ready for a step (or ten!) toward a little mutual openness. I really thought this week was going to be it — but that’s not exactly what we got. If anything, tonight’s episode, which found Castle and Beckett investigating a fatal bombing at an Occupy-like protest, was a step back. READ FULL STORY »

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