Tag: Made Us Think (61-70 of 311)

Sep 20 2011 12:52 PM ET

'8': On the scene at the new, star-studded Broadway play by Dustin Lance Black

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Cheyenne-Jackson-Matt-Bomer

Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

For one night only, the stars turned out on Broadway last night to stage a reading of 8, the new dramatization — directed by Joe Mantello and penned by Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk — of Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, the landmark 2010 trial that led the Federal Court to rule Proposition 8 unconstitutional. To say that the night’s cast was star-studded is an understatement; performers included Morgan Freeman, Rob Reiner, John Lithgow, Bradley Whitford, Ellen Barkin, Cheyenne Jackson, Matt Bomer, and Christine Lahti, among many other big names.

A crowd of celebrities, theater lovers, and LGBT rights supporters packed into the small but historic Eugene O’Neill Theater. On the way to find my seat, I spotted Barbara Walters, Jeffrey Toobin, and Fran Drescher, with gay ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson in tow. Amid set pieces for The Book of Mormon, which is currently in engagement at the Eugene O’Neill, the stage was set simply with director’s chairs arranged Inherit the Wind-style to represent a courtroom. The performers walked onstage to thunderous applause READ FULL STORY »

Sep 15 2011 03:30 PM ET

Who was the best Emmys host of all time? Conan? Ellen? Carson? NPH?

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Ellen-Degeneres-swan-Emmys

Image Credit: Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com

While we have all the confidence in the world that Jane Lynch will do a stellar job hosting the Emmys this Sunday, there’s no question that the Glee star has some tough acts to follow. Just last year, Jimmy Fallon knocked it out of the park early with his Springsteen-inspired, cameo-heavy (Jon Hamm! Betty White!… Kate Gosselin?) musical number, while Neil Patrick Harris — who had his own musical number — did what he does best in 2009, emceeing the evening with his usual poise and charm. (Just as he did the Tonys!)

But were they the best hosts ever? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 01:57 PM ET

Why is Hollywood obsessed with remaking Patrick Swayze movies?

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point-break

Image Credit: Everett Collection

When a musician dies, sales of their albums experience an immediate “death bump.” If the bump proves especially lucrative, then the necromancers are called in to coax new music out of the dear departed from beyond the grave. Remix albums, greatest hits collections, basement tapes, random conversations filtered through auto-tune and set to Swedish beats: There are always new ways to make money off dead musicians.

Right now, Patrick Swayze is experiencing something like a “death bump.” Swayze died of pancreatic cancer almost exactly two years ago, but in just the last month, three of his most iconic projects have been rejuvenated. Kenny Ortega has taken the reins of a Dirty Dancing remake; the Ghost musical is coming to Broadway after a successful run in London; and yesterday came the announcement that Alcon Entertainment will craft a remake of Point Break, the film which cemented Swayze’s Blond-Jesus persona for a generation of filmgoers. Throw in the long-delayed Red Dawn remake, which is surely going to be released any year now, and you’ve got a veritable smorgasboard of reheated Swayze-dom coming our way. What gives? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 12 2011 01:40 PM ET

'SpongeBob SquarePants' destroys kids' attention spans, says Science. Maybe it just makes them smarter.

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spongebob-squarepants

Image Credit: Nickelodeon

Breaking news from 1999: Scientists have discovered that SpongeBob SquarePants — a well-dressed undersea schizophrenic who works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab — is bad for your children. So say a group of well-trained researchers at the University of Virginia, who published their findings in the journal Pediatrics. The study measured “executive function” — the ability to stay on one task without being distracted — in preschool-aged children.

The study divided the kids into three groups. One group watched a nine-minute clip of SpongeBob SquarePants; one group watched a nine-minute clip of Caillou, a show that is the polar opposite of SpongeBob in every way (slow-moving, airs on PBS, made in Canada); and one group spent nine minutes drawing pictures. In tests conducted afterwards, the latter two groups had equally fine “executive function.” The SpongeBob group’s performance was notably worse. So now we have scientific proof: Watching PBS is exactly as much fun as not watching television. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2011 04:20 AM ET

'Torchwood' season finale: Blood is thicker than logic, or 'Death Wish V: The Face of Death'

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Torchwood

Image Credit: Starz Original/BBC Worldwide Limited

Based on that globetrotting, apocalypse-flirting season finale of Torchwood, it’s hard to believe that this series began as just a Doctor Who spinoff on BBC Three about a black ops unit fighting aliens in apparently extraterrestrial-packed Cardiff, Wales. No, it still hasn’t come close to fulfilling its original mandate to give a more “adult” spin to the Who formula. Not by a mile. But what Torchwood still lacks in maturity it almost makes up with sheer expansiveness.

Take Series Four, subtitled “Miracle Day,” which wrapped up last night. It was in some respects a season-long deconstruction of most television series’ biggest conceit: that your main characters are never going to die, or at least have a much, much lower mortality rate than the general population. On the titular Miracle Day, not a single human being on the planet died. But then, none died on the day after, or the day after that, and so on, like some cancerous antipode to Children of Men’s sterility epidemic. After that non-Apocalypse Apocalypse, humanity became an immortal race of gods subjected to an increasingly crowded planet—except for those “Category One” individuals who should have died but haven’t and now linger on in some kind of limbo. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 8 2011 05:13 PM ET

Could the REAL Gumby have robbed a 7-Eleven? (POLL)

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Some weirdo in a Gumby costume tried to rob a 7-Eleven in San Diego. What a world, huh? After the jump, you can watch the video of him failing miserably and even donating 27 cents to the scene of this crime against everyone’s childhood after fumbling (presumably for a weapon).

I wonder if it makes me a terrible person that the things I’m most disappointed about are the complete absence of a Pokey suit for Gumby’s sidekick and the way Gumby’s costume is just split wide open in the back, hospital gown-style. Get it together, G. Commit to the costume or commit to the crime. Even the real Gumby wouldn’t have half-assed this so badly. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 1 2011 05:45 PM ET

Stop hating George Lucas, and stop loving 'Star Wars' so much: Why it's time to grow up

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George-Lucas

Image Credit: © & TM Lucasfilm, Ltd

When I say that it’s time for us to stop caring so much about Star Wars, I want you to understand: When I was a kid, my obsession with Star Wars was all-encompassing. I had the original trilogy memorized — not just the lines, but the sound effects. I had a massive collection of Star Wars action figures: the Ewok village, the Y-Wing fighters, the Empire Strikes Back-era rendition of Han Solo, when he was wearing that awesome blue jacket. I collected Star Wars comics, Star Wars fan magazines, Star Wars T-shirts. I lost track of how many times I played through Shadows of the Empire on my Nintendo 64. In fifth grade, I had only one real goal in life: To write a series of books for the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The books were going to star Davin Felth, the stormtrooper who says “Look sir, droids!” in the first movie. (I can’t tell you why, exactly, I was so fascinated by such a minor character. Maybe it was his initials.)

What I’m trying to say is that Star Wars simply was my childhood. I didn’t have many friends, and I couldn’t play sports, so my obsession was splashed with a massive dollop of yearning. I wanted so badly to live in the Star Wars universe. Which meant that, for a young me, George Lucas was more than just my idol: He was a walking representation of transcendence.

And, as it happened, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way: READ FULL STORY »

Aug 31 2011 07:25 PM ET

'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' re-edited premiere: Will you watch?

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Beverly-hills

Image Credit: Evans Vestal Ward/Bravo

There were so many reasons I loved the first season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. After sitting through a lackluster follow-up to the first season of Real Housewives of New Jersey and the utterly atrocious Real Housewives of D.C., Beverly Hills offered a cast of entertaining, eccentric, and lovable — or lovable to hate — characters. There was the constantly feuding Richards sisters. The near-divorcée Camille Grammer. The refreshingly normal — but incredibly plastic — Adrienne Maloof-Nassif. And, of course, Jiggy. Adorable, wonderful Jiggy!

Yes, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was the ultimate guilty pleasure. But now, days in front of its Sept. 5 premiere, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll feel even more guilty watching the series. READ FULL STORY »

Aug 22 2011 02:42 PM ET

The Fall of the HP Touchpad: 'The Zune Moment' for tablets

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The HP Touchpad is having a minor zombie renaissance right now. After last week’s announcement that the tablet device was being discontinued as part of HP’s massive dark-night-of-the-soul restructuring, prices for the Touchpad descended into the double-digits over the weekend. According to this breathless Washington Post article, Best Buy wound up selling the discounted devices with a limit of one per customer. And, since the average iPad 2 currently starts retailing at $499, we now have pseudo-scientific proof that Apple’s competitors just need to sell roughly the same device for 80 percent off in order to compete in the tablet market. READ FULL STORY »

Aug 17 2011 07:45 PM ET

What's the dirtiest TV episode you've ever watched with your parents?

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Louie-Come-On-God

Image Credit: FX

Prior to last week, I couldn’t stop talking to my parents about Louie. “Oh, it’s a genius show,” I’d tell my Big Apple-based parents. “Anyone who lives in New York really should watch,” I’d say. “It’s a hilarious, sweet series about a guy and his kids,” I’d respond when they asked about its plot. After months of prodding, they started to get sick and tired of hearing about how brilliant that Fünke Louis C.K. is. So, finally, we decided to sit down as a family last week to watch Louie‘s new episode.

Well, it turned out I chose the episode… poorly. Anyone who saw Thursday’s new show can attest that it was less sweet and more… oh, what’s the word… ah, I got it: All about masturbation. Add to that an elevator scene (pictured) I would describe as bawdy — if bawdy meant “so dirty, it’s basically an Aristocrats joke” — and you have one uncomfortable TV-watching moment with the family. Honestly, I have never seen an episode more deserving of a TV-MA rating.

Now, for the record, the episode was hysterical and, my parents being awesome, they were laughing. But it still didn’t make the episode any less uncomfortable. In fact, I spent so much of the half hour with my head buried beneath a pillow, I’m going to have to re-watch it. It’s the same way I felt after seeing Friends‘ “The One With Phoebe’s Uterus” with my mom many years back. But now it’s time to hand it over to you, PopWatchers: What’s the dirtiest episode you ever watched with your parents? Has Sex and the City with the family ever made you feel uncomfortable? Ally McBeal? True Blood? Nothing quite makes a family dinner complete like mashed potatoes and a head-spinning sex scene!

Follow Kate on Twitter @KateWardEW

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