Thursday, August 31, 2006

Lucero - Rebels Rogues and Sworn Brothers


The new Lucero album was born out of blood, sweat, tears and a hell of a lot of whiskey. Jack Daniels is quite the collaborator, so it seems. Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers, set to be released on September 26th, invokes the spirits of Springsteen and Mellencamp while staying true to the Lucero sound. Opening with "What Else Would You Have Me Be" Ben Nichols sings a tale of love gone wrong in the heartsick, raspy way that Lucero fans have come to love, pleading "I gave you everything I stole / and you stole your heart away from me".

Nichols once teased that he has penned "60 songs about girls and 2 about my grandfather," and he does not stray far from this lyrically in Sworn Brothers. What separates this album from the rest of their catalog is the introduction of piano throughout. Simple, sparse moments of beautiful piano melodies are peppered here and there, and create quite a consistent theme to the whole album. Again, the album takes you back to the Americana tone of Little Pink Houses or Born in the USA, as corny as it may sound. This album is completely lactose intolerant--no cheese here. Lucero has made it work, and work well.

Other standouts (and it's hard to pick a standout because the whole album kicks ass) are: "1979"; "San Francisco"; "I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight"; and sure to be a new live show favorite "She's Just That Kind of Girl".

You can preorder the album through Lucero's Website or wait until it is released later this month.

Big Brother Frustration

Just when the houseguests have an opportunity to shake up things, they go the pathetic route and now we have a couple of couples duking it out in the final four. This week's Fast Forward episode featured two evictions, an HOH and a Power of Veto and could have been a thrill a minute with double crosses galore but instead played out sadly as Danielle, a really strong player and George, the sleeper, both were sent packing by the new, improved Chill Town.

Will and Boogie have played the whole house for fools, easily tricking everyone into doing their dirty work. Now that they each scored a girlfriend (or showmance if you will), Janelle is with Will and Erika with Boogie, they were unstoppable this whole week as they coaxed Erika into sending home her best friend Danielle. Based on her actions tonight, basically not breaking up Boogie and Will as she has stated over and over again, Janelle has shown that she is just another dummy falling under the Dr. Will spell. Why put up Chicken George when you could easily have gotten rid of one of the bros? So annoying.

At this point I have no choice but to hope that Will becomes the only player to win the game twice. Repeat! Repeat! The man is pure evil and manipulates everyone while laughing his ass off the entire time behind their backs. I am getting serious deja vu watching this show now.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Invincible


Invincible is the story of Vince Papale, a South Philly native who beat the odds and became a Philadelphia Eagle in 1974 after he attended open tryouts for the team. Philadelphians had fallen out of love with the Eagles when Dick Vermeil signed on as the new coach for the team. To win the hearts of the city and spark interest in the team, Vermeil decided to "open the floodgates" and let anyone who was interested try out for the team. Papale, a part time bartender and substitute teacher, was the sole survivor of the group that responded to Vermeil's plea. He instantly became a hero to the city's blue collar workers and the savior of team that had lost its soul.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Papale, leading a cast of dirty, distraught brothers--lifelong friends from South Philly. Several scenes show Papale in pick-up football games, stealing the thunder and leaving everyone in his dust. His friends all think he is a shoe-in when the open tryouts announcement is made, and he keeps his acceptance to the team a secret until it is broadcast on the evening news while everyone is at the bar.

The football scenes are hard hitting and far from Hollywood fluff. The players are not nice to Papale at Training Camp, and he must earn his spot on the team by proving himself to his peers. Through some amazing plays, he eventually wins the respect of his teammates.

Since I'm a girl, I focused a major part of my attention on Papale's love interest. Janet, a co-worker at Maxie's Bar, is introduced to him at one of the lowest points of his life. Their love story comes at a time when both had given up on it, which makes it all the more special. After losing his substitute teaching job, Papale's wife leaves him. He has no money and must obtain his rent payment from his Union worker father who is about to go on strike. Before Janet arrives at the bar, Max warns everyone that she is a New York Giants fan, causing an upset among the regulars. She ends up being smoking hot, and the Giants "problem" becomes a running joke instead of an issue. The attraction between our protagonist and the newbie is immediate, and their love develops throughout the movie.

This movie is for all ages. Children will aspire, and adults will be inspired. And girls, Mark Wahlberg will make you perspire. DAMN. Go Eagles!

The Office

Well it took a couple years, but it's official the American version of the best sitcom ever doesn't suck. The Office won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series this past weekend, and deservedly so I might add. As a huge fan of the Ricky Gervais version of the show, I was very worried when this show launched here in the States. At the time I only really knew Steve Carrell from his Daily Show reports, and although I thought he was funny, I didn't think he would make a good, inept boss. And Rainn Wilson (Dwight) was kind of creepy on Six Feet Under, but not as ugly as his British counterpart Gareth Keenan played by Mackenzie Crook and I thought that was going to be a mistake as well. How wrong was I? Steve is like the new Jim Carrey thanks to the success of his film career and Rainn Wilson makes up for what he lacks in the ugly area by taking the odd factor through the roof!

I'm thrilled that the show has come into it's own, and very juiced to see how the whole Jim and Pam situation works out now that they smooched. Remember when sitcoms used to always have cliff hanger finales? They bug you at first, then you get real excited a couple weeks before the new season starts. I love it. And on September 21st, we will get some answers (hopefully) and some laughs (naturally). If you can't wait that long, check out the webisodes up on The Office website that feature Oscar, Keith and Angela trying to find some stolen money from the Dunder Miflin books.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Celebrities Sing (Badly)

Whoa. Please tell me you are watching this hot mess Celebrity Duets. First of all the claim was that we would see celebrities sing, but why didn't they play up the fact that these C-listers can barely sing? And what about the panel of creepiness who gets to pretend to like the performances; Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster? Little Richard looks like a bug eyed, wig wearing lunatic one step away from death. Marie Osmond is trying her hardest to be Paula Abdul going on and on about pitch like this show matters, and by the way isn't she like a manic depressive nut job these days? And David Foster, well he's just a jack ass who loves himself.

Wayne Brady is the master of ceremonies and probably sings better than all of the talent assembled on this show. I love Wayne trying to be positive and congratulatory after Carly Patterson and Lea Thompson warble in hi-pitch squeaks for 2 painful minutes. Wayne, can't you hear what I hear? At least Ryan Seacrest is honest when someone sucks. And why didn't Wayne get to open the show with a flashy song and dance number like Billy Crystal at the Oscars? Bummer.

But the best part of this has to be the odd pairings for the duets. Randy Travis and Lea Thompson? Cheech Marin and Peter Frampton? How bad do you feel for these actual singers getting roped into sharing the stage with these basic throwaway celebs?

Okay, I'm being a little harsh. Jai Rodriguez, Lucy Lawless and maybe even Alfonso Ribero can actually sing a little. I'd suggest that especially in Jai's case, singing along side Gladys Knight has to help your confidence. But, I thought these pairings were going to blow me away...and instead they just made me laugh a lot. It was like watching bad karoake. Except for Hal Sparks. Yep, Hal Sparks...the former Talk Soup host and the cut-up in all those I Love decade shows on VH1. Hal got to do Tracks of My Tears with Smokey Robinson and was by God, dare I say, really good. Naturally the panel dissed him because they are idiots. So I guess I'm gonna watch this pile of crap just to see how far Hal goes in this...

Monday, August 28, 2006

Survivor Race War

Wow. I can't believe how much press the new Survivor season is getting. On second thought, with our pathetic media in this country I absolutely can believe it. No one is ever satisfied. Let me state up front that I could care less about how Mark Burnett and CBS chose to cast the show this time around, I'd watch the show regardless since I'm a huge fan of the reality game show. I've often thought to myself "how can this show ever get passe and boring?" since it's concept is perfect. Strand people on a deserted island, make them mentally and physically battle each other for 40 days and give the winner a cool million bucks. But apparently even a slight dip in ratings will force even the best show to come up with a new angle. Hence all the hub bub.

This year the show is going to divide up 20 people into tribes by race. African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans and I guess just plain old Americans, or white folks if you prefer. When I first heard about this, I was shocked that a television show on prime time TV was actually going to feature 15 minorities, or 17 if you count women, out of a cast of only 20. That's 75% plus minorities! Outside of sitcoms on the network formerly know as UPN, where have you seen a show of any kind featuring this many minorities? It never occurred to me that people would be offended by the decision.

As a fan of reality TV, my personal knock against the genre has always been that they usually take the token approach, throwing in one person of color just to get some brownie points with the PC crowd. Real World does it religiously, often putting 1 person of color and 1 homosexual into mix, and usually the hope is that this will create drama when the house of whites can't handle the proximity to someone "different" than themselves. Most of the reality game shows do a similar thing, take Big Brother where Marcellas and Danielle are the only contestants out of 6 seasons worthy of All Star status; or don't even bother, like Rock Star this year. Okay, maybe someone from Iceland is a minority.

My point is that you can't win no matter what you do. You put a whole bunch of people in a position to have a 1 in 20 chance of winning a million dollars and perhaps do wonders to show that, despite what the media tells us about race relations, we can all get along and you come off like a racist. Embarrassing. How much you want to bet that this whole issue becomes a non-factor? If you watch the show Survivor, you know that you are in it by yourself. Sure you can form alliances, but ultimately you must double cross everyone to win. So I'm not sure that having tribes aligned by race will do anything to alter the way the game is played, making it a non-issue. I guess the only good news to come of this is that people are talking about the show again, and therefore people will watch. Perhaps this will ensure that I get another 10 years of Survivor on the air making me the ultimate winner.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

The Fest V is coming!!



Forget the damn Warped Tour, The Fest V is the bizz. In October the real punk rock community gathers in Gainesville, Florida in a series of six bars to hammer Pabst, Sparks and cheap whiskey and memorialize the assembly of underground music’s finest. I attended my first last year and barely made it home alive . A couple of the Dillinger Four boys, who will be triumphantly returning as this years headliners, stayed in my room which was littered with cans of High-Life and cocaine residue after the three night party. I have every intention of stepping up for a repeat this year. The band listing for the most incredible annual punk rock festival was released this week with some fuck-your-ass awesome bands on the bill. The aforementioned Dillinger Four is accompanied this year by The Lawrence Arms who’s album Oh Calcutta is my pick for album of the year (followed very closely by Denton TX‘s own Riverboat Gamblers). Indie legends Minus the Bear and Florida hero’s Radon have also found there way on to the bill again. Add Lifetime, Toys That Kill , Tiltwheel, The Loved Ones, and The Ergs and you’ve got a hell of a bill. That’s less than ten of the over 160 bands that are scheduled for this year. Holy Shit!!! My heads spinning. The weekend pass is like $50 so your not getting raped or anything. So if your game, clear your schedules October 27,28, and 29 and meet me in Gainesville for a recockulously good time.

Trailer Park - Comedy Edition

The Pick of Destiny, featuring the Kyle Gass and Jack Black band Tenacious D, is a movie that I was very eager to get a glimpse of. Now that I've seen the trailer, I'm sort of bummed out because to me it looks really, really bad. Tenacious D rock hard, a known truth. Jack Black is a comic genius, another known truth. But this movie just looks like an in joke that only Kyle and Jack are in on.

Thankfully, Borat looks like it's going to be a pisser. This is another movie I worried about, translating a guy who does 5 minutes on D Ali G show into a feature movie spells disaster (see EVERY Saturday Night Live movie ever made), but the trailer has me really juiced.

I'm a sucker for the Jackass crew, and the trailer for Number 2 shows that these boys haven't changed a bit in a five years. Except for Don Vito who allegedly touches little girls at skate parks now.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

Well it took all summer, but finally a great movie found it's way to the dirty, dirty hot ass South. The critics darling and Sundance favorite opened today here in Georgia and based on buzz I had to make certain I saw it tonight. Since this is the South, I can't be sure that even with decent grosses nationwide that Little Miss Sunshine will play here very long. And boy, am I happy that I got a chance to see this one on the big screen.

The basic plot of this movie is simple enough. A little girl named Olive, who is pudgy and awkward, managed to get herself into a beauty pageant in California and as a result her extended family loads up the yellow VW bus and drives from New Mexico to the big show. The quintessential road movie ensues, complete with wacky happenings along the way, from car troubles to traffic stops by the cops.

However, the magic of the movie for me is in the performances, especially that of Alan Arkin as the cantankerous grandfather who has a potty mouth and a penchant for snorting heroin. I love, love, love to see actors strut their stuff in low budget indie fare because when it's not about the money the characters come to life so effortlessly for the actors. Greg Kinnear is better than he has been in a long while as a failed motivational speaker and Steve Carell shows that he is capable of more than just laughs, channeling some of that Robin Williams cross over ability, by playing way against type as a suicidal, gay Proust devotee/professor. Yep, you read that right.

The laughs are balanced quite well with some heavy stuff for the majority of the film, but the magnificent finale possesses enough laughs to call this movie a comedy. And the soundtrack, comprised of Sufjan Stevens, Rick James and DeVotchKa instrumentals, adds another layer of quirkiness to the whole experience. This film was a thoroughly enjoyable affair and I recommend you go see it immediately! Believe the hype!!!

Beyon-Say What?


Beyonce's new album is titled, "B'Day". Which to me sounds like bidet. And straight from dictionary.com: "A bidet is a low-mounted plumbing fixture or type of sink intended for washing the external genitalia and the anus." That's right. It's a butt faucet for cleaning out your poop. Genius idea for an album title.

What is she doing? Why does her new video, "Ring the Alarm" freak me the fuck out? Maybe because one of the shots is eerily similar to the "crotch" scene in Basic Instinct? She screams like a crazy person throughout the whole video. The lyrics focus on a woman done wrong by her man. And apparantly she's about to kill him.

Finally, what's with the cover. You're a pretty lady and in that picture you look like a department store mannequin. There's gotta be a better picture than that. I hope the powers that be change that shit before it hits stores, because that blank stare ain't gonna move any units.

Big Brother Rollercoaster

Well, a lot has happened in the last 3 episodes of Big Brother All Stars that can be diluted into one synopisizing statement. The Big Brother 6 Alliance is dunzo. Janelle is holding on as the last remaining member of the strongest alliance losing both James and Howie in the last week. Big Brother is jacking things up by having double eliminations and on the spot nominations, in fact the teaser from last night's show indicated that next Thursday will have not 1, but 2 eliminations.

I was bummed when Howie got ousted, mainly because he provides comic relief for me being such an ox. But I was more thrilled to see Chicken George, a man with no alliance, be put in the driver's seat to remove someone from the game. As per usual, Chill Town is sliding by under the radar and dominating the game behind the scenes. Boogie practically threatened George into putting Howie up and turning his Jedi Master into an expendable player.

Last night I was very sad to see James go, as I appreciate his game play, but again Will and Boogie are together and with no one else but give the impression that they are with everyone. The approach of Will is amazing, the guy just lies and lies and never wins anything and continually pulls the strings of all the other players. This is why he won the game several years ago. Having James out of the way isolated both Janelle and Danielle, who don't like each other, since they both thought they were with James. The only upside of this eviction was that both Janie and Dani are focused on breaking up Boogie and Will...too bad Erika (Boogie's ally) won the coveted HOH and now needs to name some nominees. I'm certain Janelle will go up on the block, but the second nominee will be difficult. Erika has a relationship with George, Danielle, Boogie and Will...so she will have to shake up one of her allegiances with this nomination.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Rock Star - Farewell Patrice

I wonder sometimes if my recaps are as boring as the actual shows, but here I go again. This week I'm keeping this brief since the week was very predictable, Patrice has been hitting the bottom for quite a while now.

Thank goodness the clips of Dilana being a bitch didn't happen last night, otherwise she might have been put into the bottom. No one likes a cocky favorite, especially on a reality show where the viewers vote for a winner. Basically Dilana trashed a bunch of the other contestants (all male mind you) perhaps because she truly is insecure.

Anyway, Toby got to front the band this week as they revealed yet another terrible song, something about cliches which I found ironic. That didn't save him from the final three this week. Thankfully his version of Plush saved him. Magni did a piss poor version of Smells Like Teen Spirit which probably put him in the bottom, and honestly his Jimi Hendrix cover was awful. Lucky for him, Patrice is just not a good fit for the boys and she couldn't save herself any longer even though she got to do an original song this week. (A real snoozer by the way...)

God Save the Queen


The highly anticipated film "Marie Antoinette" will be in theaters October 20th, and is the third movie for director Sofia Coppola. Kirsten Dunst stars as the nefarious Queen of France who was beheaded by French Revolutionaries in the late 18th century. Antoinette's story is fascinating and Coppola should do wonders with it based on how well she portrayed the characters in Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides. The Queen's life is nothing short of crazy: married at 15, various lovers and affairs throughout, a life of excess and elegance, ending in a horrible death.

The colors of this movie are crisp and desaturated. Dunst is almost translucent; her costumes incredible. Vogue has featured the actress on the cover of their September issue, dressed in a gown from the film. Coppola has branded the movie with her rock n' roll edge, scoring the movie with Gang of Four, Aphex Twin, Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant, The Strokes and other artists that you would not expect for a period piece.

She had $40 million dollars to make this flick. Let's hope Coppolla has spent it well, and reaps the benefits.

Or it's off with her head.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Silversun Pickups




















This band is so rad. I can't stop listening to their album so I decided to write a review before Pitchfork posted some crap:

Silversun Pickups
Carnavas

Rocks like:
Smashing Pumpkins
My Bloody Valentine
Sonic Youth

The second track from Silversun Pickups' debut full-length album is named Well Thought Out Twinkles, which about paraphrases their sound: well-constructed, shimmering, haunting, and bittersweet. The L.A. quartet achieve this by interweaving guitar and keyboard atmospherics over rolling bass grooves. The vocals are layered as well: bassist Nikki Monninger counterpoints frontman Brian Aubert in several harmonies. While some hype up the interplay between male and female singers, I feel that Aubert's voice is rather androgynous. The textured effect achieved by the duo is interesting nonetheless.

Carnavas is an intelligently arranged album. Just when the music seems to drone or to cede to a wave of distorted guitar, there is a well-placed solo, a throaty scream, or an outburst of keyboard. There happen to be some breaths of air amid all the intensity. Rusted Wheel is a hypnotic, slower-paced song following the sprawling, impassioned Lazy Eye. Future Foe Scenarios is a strong track with its catchy, yelled chorus, "This revolution baby, proves who you work for lately/who do you work for baby, and does it work for you lately?" The other gems on this album are Dream Tempo 119 and the end track Common Reactor.

Overall, Carnavas is a dense and mesmerizing album that ranges from racous to trippy. And it's one of those albums that gets better each time you listen to it.

Sample Tracks
03/16/06 KEXP Live In-Studio Performance
09/26/05 KEXP Live In-Studio Performance

Snake Bit

Apparently the endless promotion of Snakes on a Plane didn't mean jack shit when it came to getting people in the theater. 15 million was all it could muster this past opening weekend. And this despite reviews from critics practically pleading with people to see just how entertainly awful this movie is. Tragic.

However, I wish I would have went to see SNOAP since I instead spent good money on Accepted which offered me nothing that I hadn't seen in Caddyshack, Revenge of the Nerds, PCU or Animal House. This had all the makings of a good movie, preposterous plot, funny secondary characters but lacked a true leading man and quite frankly an R rating. Justin Long...I love you in those Mac commercials, but John Cusack you ain't. I will say that "ask me about my weiner" is my new summer catch phrase. "I tired of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane," just isn't my style.

Captain Kirk Gets Roasted

William Shatner was never an icon I appreciated growing up. I'm more of a Star Wars guy than a Star Trek geek and T.J. Hooker was just too unwatchable for me to get invested. However, how to you get through life not knowing who Shatner is? Naturally I am aware of the man and what a pompous ass he allegedly is. Over the last few years I've actually grown to love him on Boston Legal and I appreciate in a strange way his musical creations with Ben Folds, so I was somewhat curious to see how a Roast would go for him. A guy who is most famous for playing a space captain and butchering classic hippy songs like Mr. Tambourine Man is rife with built in material. Plus I saw on the commercial that both Artie Lange and George "Mr. Sulu" Takei were going to be roasters and as a Howard Stern fan I was more than curious.

Comedy Central has really done a good job of reinvigorating the roast concept bringing forth relative unknown comics outside of the comedy world and getting iconic personalities to subject themselves to ridicule (Pam Anderson, Hugh Hefner). The roasts are typically filthy and loaded with drunk shenanigans on the dais, in fact this time around Andy Dick embodied Courtney Love, as Patton Oswalt pointed out, with his face licking antics and Artie Lange appeared to be slugging back Jack Daniels like it was water. This is my kind of fun.

Not all the jokes were funny, but for the majority of the evening I was chuckling enough to suggest you give this a look. Greg Giraldo and Jeff Ross are two comics that just go for the jugular of not only for the guest of honor but anyone who dares to show up to the roast; watch out Carrie Fisher and Adrian Zmed. Patton Oswalt had what I considered the line of the night pulling out a small paper bag and asking Shatner to settle a bet he has with a friend by "acting his way out of it." Artie Lange commented this morning that his best joke was cut from the show, something about Lee Majors (Farrah Fawcett's ex-husband) wouldn't fuck her for 6 Million Dollars now, but still had some good jokes get on the air. With all the talented comedians assembled and ready to take aim at Shatner, imagine my surprise when I laughed the hardest at Betty White's set and the old footage of Shatner "singing" Rocket Man in the 70's. Anyway, I think you should give this a viewing as I'm sure Comedy Central will be playing the shit out of it for a couple weeks.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Fall Reality TV Preview

Although typical TV formatting has gone wonky the last 10 years or so, the fall is the official beginning of the new season for most network television shows. Most of the majors, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc., in the past have carted out their junk reality programs (see Rock Star, America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing) in the summer to keep viewers occupied rather than play re-runs of comedies and dramas. I guess you should cite the rise in reality show interest by viewers with establishing the summer as it's own TV season these days. Re-runs of a reality show are worthless, so why not just bring forth a new reality show instead for the viewing public? Reality TV is cheap (to make)and interesting (to some), so why the hell not? Anyway...

Here's a peak at what's on tap for this fall in the world of Reality TV with witty commentary by yours truly.

Dancing with the Stars (ABC) - 9/12
Some of the celebrities this time around include Tucker Carlson (MSNBC douche), Willa Ford (the blonde bombshell role ala Stacy Keibler), Vivica A. Fox, Harry Hamlin (husband to new co-host and recent competitor Lisa Rinna), Joey Lawrence (Whoa!), Mario Lopez (AC Slater), Emmitt Smith (Dallas Cowboys RB) and filling the George Hamilton/John Hurley role is Jerry Springer.

I've only casually watched this program, since I'm not fascinated much by ballroom dancing, but I can admit that I get a nice chuckle seeing some of these celebrities shaking their groove thing from time to time. And who doesn't want to see a smackdown between Joey Lawrence and Mario Lopez?

America's Top Model (CW) - 9/20
Tyra is back with Twiggy and the gang to evaluate some ham and eggers who want to be models despite the fact that all the news is that the writing staff of the show has been on strike for the better part of three weeks. Writing staff? I'm confused. Rather than try to understand what that means, I will focus on something completely different. How can this show be in it's 7th cycle? From what I recall, basically the first winner has become a reality TV whore going so far as to marry Peter Brady for attention, the chicks since then have gone on to what exactly? Have any of the prior 6 winners actually become our Top Model? I think I saw Yoanna hosting Dress for Less on Style Network. Case closed.

Biggest Loser (NBC) - 9/20
Boosting 50 contestants this season in it's emotionally driven promos, the reality is that very quickly the show will scale down to 14 contestants going for the money on the show with the other 36 competing from home. There is a new female trainer this year, ball buster Jillian has moved on, but the annoying (and might I add chunky) Caroline Rea is back as host. This show is completely engrossing to me not only as a husky fellow, but as a fan of reality TV that isn't just an excuse to have strangers bang each other while drunk. Seeing people change their lives and shrink over the course of mere months is gripping television, and with the added drama this year of having people try to drop the pounds from home, I am sold.

Survivor Cook Islands (CBS) - 9/14
The Jeff Probst hosted most watched reality game show is back for it's 13th season and will once again feature the Exile Island concept first launched last Spring. If you don't watch Survivor, then I can't help you. It's possibly the most engrossing reality show I've ever laid eyes on, with the Amazing Race coming in a close second place for me. People starve themselves, compete in intense physical challenges, mentally mess with each other on a deserted island to try and win a million bucks. How will we ever lose interest in this show?

Amazing Race (CBS) - 9/17
Coming off the best season ever, with the most genuine and fun to watch winning team ever in the Hippies, the Amazing Race will continue to draw tons of viewers all who will then talk about how cool it would be to do the race. Some will even go so far as to consider possible teammates from among the important people in their lives. Now that's a show that gets people amped! CBS has two slam dunks in the reality world with Amazing Race and Survivor, helping it keep it's strangle hold on the other networks as the most viewed channel out there.

Nanny 911 & Trading Spouses - (FOX)
I guess the good news is that FOX is bringing back this crap instead of launching new debauchery this year. From the network that spawned the most reliable reality show in history, COPS, we have had The Swan, Joe Millionaire, My Big Fat Annoying Fiance, and on and on. Nanny 911 and Trading Spouses are no better or worse than what FOX has forced me to watch, so when there is nothing else on...maybe, maybe I'll tune in.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

My New Favorite Album


Why oh why do I feel like I'm on a spaceship catapaulting through the cosmos when I hear the latest Muse album, Black Holes and Revelations? This epic rock album is big, bold, and bottomless. My two favorite tracks so far are "Supermassive Blackhole" and "Invincible". It has been four years since their last album, "Absolution" came out, but America was really only introduced to the band a year or so ago.

Matt Bellamy, the lead vocalist, has been compared to Thom Yorke countless times--but don't let that scare you away. Muse should be given a chance and not just filed away as a "band that sounds a bit like Radiohead".

Now if only I can catch them live; they were given the Brit Award in 2005 for Best Live Act.

Breakup in Bohemia


The one marriage that I thought would last in Hollywood has apparently dissolved. Black Crowe's frontman Chris Robinson and Kate Hudson are splitting after six years of marriage according to recent reports. Rumors are that this summer has been "rocky" and that they had been planning on separating. Another rumor is also claiming that Owen Wilson may have a lot to do with this impending divorce! The Butterscotch Stallion has been broken by none other than America's Hippie Sweetheart, Kate Hudson.

Just last year, Hudson admitted to a reporter that her and Robinson had agreed to get a divorce if either of them ever committed adultery. She went on to say that she was often tempted to cheat on her husband, but she knew he would leave her if she acted on her temptation. Just a few months ago, she told another reporter that she did not care what Robinson did on the road saying, "I'd rather not ask any questions and just enjoy him." Perhaps this is because she was being naughty herself when he was on the road? Or when she was on set?

Sources say that during the filming of "You, Me and Dupree", Kate and Owen formed a close "platonic" relationship that blossomed into something else after Chris and Kate's break-up. My theory is that Kate fell for Owen, because who the hell wouldn't, and told Chris that she wanted out. Because in Hollywood, marriage means almost nothing. I'm starting to wonder why actors and actresses get married in the first place if they're just eventually going to break up and take each other's money in the end.

People in H-Town jump right back in after separating with their spouses, it seems. Nick Lachey had a new girlfriend in what seemed like a month, which is a millenia in Hollywood compared to the time it took Dave Navarro and Kate Hudson to find new bonk buddies. You have to feel bad for Robinson, though. This is the end for him. I hope the poor dude saved his Black Crowe's royalties and will find a nice stoner wife to live on some deserted island with.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Rock Star Recap

Plundering to new abyssmal depths this week, the genius idea for the contestants to go "unplugged" exposed us the viewing audience just how average the talent pool is on this show. Usually the guys and dolls get to hide behind a thundering house band of talented musicians but this week they were front and center destroying familiar title after familiar title. Storm Large couldn't muster any enthusiasm for I Will Survive, but then again who can since Cake turned that song into an anthem of irony. Both Lukas and Ryan tried to spin something new and it only kind of worked. Lukas tried to make the Spiderman song Hero sound somewhat edgy vs. pop rocky and Ryan made In the Air Tonight seem like a Ryan Adams meets Radiohead interpretation. Both were by far the strongest of the night and that's not saying much.

The Cuban lass I loathe to loathe got to do an original and wisely appealed to the spanish speaking audience by belting out a snoozer in her native tongue. Dilana reversed sex roles for Cat's In The Cradle and it didn't work for me...it's a song sung by a man about men shit. The rest of the crew just flat out blew ass chunks, so I'm going to forego a litany of critiques.

Oh, here's the best part of tonight's kick off show. We got to see Supernova play an original tune with one lucky contestant (Dilana was the selection this week in what will be an ongoing feature on the show). And guess what? Supernova sucks. Yep, as predicted the music these clowns will create will be unlistenable. Although slightly more listenable than hearing the Cuban sing ANYTHING.

Speaking of the Cuban, Zyira? was once again in the bottom three and again sucked it up choosing to perform a song no one knows...wise move honey. Patrice also faced the chopping block for the millionth time and butchered Celebrity Skin by Hole, making me nervous that Ms. Cuba will live to see another week. Patrice doesn't understand how to pick songs that fit her range as a singer and as a result always sounds terrible. And as Joolie pointed out to me this week, she looks 15 years older than she probably is which isn't going to sell records to horny losers....the Supernova target market. Magni rounded out the top three but didn't even seem bothered by the slight knowing full well he wasn't going anywhere this week. His choice to sing Creep a week after Lukas did it was bothersome to me however. And not because it's my signature Karoake song, but because he appeared to be saying to Lukas, "I can do that song better." And the reality was that he was not better than Lukas. So fuck him and his bald Icelandic head.

Thankfully the night ended on a good night and the bane of my existence finally, finally, finally got the boot. Bye you pathetic English mangling retard. Week after week of your lunacy will be missed, but your pathetic performances will not. Z's dead baby.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Netflix This Movie - Brick



Film noir among the high school drug trade. Lukas Haas is a drug lord, the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun is a bad ass, sleuth looking to solve his ex-girlfriend's murder. Ominous mood, involving script and some brutal violence made this movie a very nice surprise. Winner of the Special Jury prize at Sundance in 2005...and just released on DVD last week.

The Lake House

Blech.

Yeah, I went to see this crap at the $2.50 movie house down the road and I can't even blame the old lady for dragging me. It was my idea, and a bad one at that. Speed has always held a special place in my heart, so much so that I adorned my college bedroom with a 10 foot subway size poster of the action classic. Keanu Reeves is loathed by many, but I don't think he's that bad of an actor. And, I've always had a secret crush on Mrs. Jesse James aka Sandra Bullock. But this movie was a preposterous mess.

Fifteen minutes in I was completely lost and riddled with questions. I was very hungry so maybe I was distracted? Whatever the case, I thought the story line was really, really annoying. Some guy and some chick commmunicate to each other via a mailbox at a lake house...and they are two years apart in time!!! The execution of this concept is silly, the couple who exchange letters often carry on voice over conversations that are ridiculous and unrealistic...as if they would write a magic letter asking a quetions, wait for a reply and then write a follow up to the reply in the course of "conversation". If this description is confusing, imagine how I felt watching this horror show.

Even the sentimental love story aspect of this was lost on me. I'm all for a good chick flick where lovers triumph over circumstance, but I wasn't interested in seeing Keanu and Sandra even meet. I was teased into thinking that Keanu was going to perish in a bus accident (inside joke of the filmmaker?) and fully welcomed that spin on this junk. Since I emplore you all to avoid this movie, I'll spoil it. Keanu lives. And he and Sandra eventually get together in the end. Roll credits. Throw up.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Big Brother - Emergency Update

So during the Head of Household contest last night, Howie had trouble with his buzzer during the game and was eliminated. Although he bemoaned the situation audibly on the show, I for one knew he wouldn't actually win the HOH so I never gave it a second thought.

Well, apparently the producers of the show admitted fault in the buzzers and ran a second HOH contest after the show went off the air and according to the buzz on the reality TV web sites, Janelle wound up HOH! I am certain to the horror of the Legion of Doom who gunned for her last week. James needs to keep his feelings about her mighty tight this week, or he might be in trouble. My prediction: Danielle and Erika go up on the block Sunday.

Shuffling The IPod


1)The Shining-Badly Drawn Boy
If you don't like BDB then check this song out and you mosdef will afterwards

2)Great Salt Lake-Band of Horses
Thanks Joolie for the tip, I love these guys.

3)Still Suspicion Holds You Tight-Black RebelMotorcycle Club
The horns are great on this track!

4)Car-Built to Spill
Great drinking song.(slow but gets the buzz done)

5)By Your Side-Coco Rosie
All women should sing (talk) about their men like these lovely ladies (beats are great.

6)Me, My Yoke and I-Damien Rice
Damien drops acoustic and rocks with electric.

7)Junk Bond Trader- Elliot Smith
Sometimes I catch on to genius late and this is a prime example, just listen to this song, amazing.

8)Just a Thought-Gnarls Barkley
This guys voice mixed with these beats recipe for drunk Kevvy on the dance floor.

9)Be My Husband- Jeff Buckley
Amazing cover (Nina Simone) by a under appreciated artist who career was short lived.

10)Belong- Remy Zero
This guy not only dated Alyssa Millano but he also has a great voice. Drum beat is great in this tune.

11)I Needed It Most- My Morning Jacket
Up and coming band, words pretty much out. People compare to Radiohead. I love that their music is simple but very, very addicting. This guy's voice is amazing.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Upcoming CD Releases

Listen up!

Singer Songwriter Ray LaMontagne releases Till the Sun Turns Black his follow up to the amazing Trouble from 2004 on 8/29. Ray's raspy delivery evokes such passion in his tales of lost love and hard times that he was dubbed the "backwoods Van Morrison" by Rolling Stone.

One of my favorite artists Pete Yorn is back with a new record Nightcrawler out 8/29 as well. Pete has been away for a few years hopefully perfecting a solid record that is every bit as good as musicforthemorningafter or Day I Forgot.

And I, for one, am anxious to hear some new Thicke, the funky son of Alan Thicke from Growing Pains. The Evolution of Robin Thicke drops on 9/12 so mark your calendar.

What Up Kaysar?!

What a crazy week in the Big Brother house! First Danielle outlasts Howie in the HOH contest to claim the right to put up the nominees for eviction thus shifting the power over to the Legion of Doom (Dr. Will, Boogie, James and Danielle). Danielle nominates dominating threat Janelle from BB6 and coaxes James to make a risky move and use himself as a pawn to ensure an extra LOD competitor in the Power of Veto competition. James has seen the "pawn" strategy backfire with his own eyes, so to see him allow himself to be used demonstrates how much he is out of the BB6 alliance.

On Tuesday when the Power of Veto game was started things couldn't have looked better for Legion of Doom as both Will and Boogie joined James and Danielle in the contest vs. Janelle and the useless Marcellas. However, the contest proved to be too tempting, with offers of prizes to essentially forefit veto points and the power was won by nominee Janelle who ultimately took herself off the block. This situation caused Danielle to nominate Janelle's ally Kaysar who didn't have a fighting chance of surviving. James during the veto won the power to nullify a vote this week and he snubbed out Janelle's vote to send him home, although he didn't need it since the Legion of Doom remained in tact for now and supported James. Sucks to be Kaysar...it was his birthday and he got to find out after he was out of the house that James was the mastermind that sent him packing.

Just when you thought the week couldn't get any wackier the HOH contest tonight was won by floater Erika who can pretty much decide whether to continue destroying the BB6 alliance or go after Chill Town/Legion of Doom and in the process send the houseguests scrambling...

And oh yeah, the Coup D'etat twist was announced as well tonight. Someone has the opportunity to win the right to veto both nominations on eviction night and announce two new nominees on the spot sometime over the next 3 evictions. How cool would it be to have Janelle win that power and wait to use it when she and Howie are both on the block? Not so fast....BB6 is still here!

Double Elimination Rock Star!

I guess the fellas are getting as restless as the rest of us in watching people who are clearly not a good fit for Supernova perform week after week like lambs to the slaughter. Last night both Jill (the NY Italian fire plug) and Josh (the Jason Mraz meets Jamiroqui dude) got the boot in the ass by Tommy Hawk, the witty name he created for himself after week's of proclaiming himself the "hacket man" when it came time for the elimination.

This week was suprisingly strong as far as performances go. How the Cuban chica managed to avoid the bottom 3 after warbling through All The Young Dudes dressed like an absolute imbecile eludes me. Gold lame jumpsuit, top hat and platform fuck me pumps? I am tempted to think that the viewers have turned on this show since it's utter frivolous garbage and decided to keep her in it as comic relief each week. With the exception of her latest embarassment and Jill's questionable selection of a Tracy Bonham semi-hit from 12 years ago, I kind of liked everyone this week.

The front runners are starting to separate from the group and I think Dilana, Lucas, Magni and Storm are going to make up the final four. That's based on not only performance, but fit within the band. They just look like they would mesh well with the boys in my humble opinion.

Hey, what about Ryan Star's odd performance of Paint It Black? That shit was b-a-n-a-n-a-s. That is the reason I watch this show, the wacky stunts people pull to win favor with the judges. I love to see guy's wear eye makeup and shudder after delivering a heart felt lyric and get handed a mega phone to sing into. It makes the show way more entertaining that way, dontcha think?

Monday, August 07, 2006

"This Isn't Crenshaw!"

You got that right honey. It's the Retarded Bachelor! "Lord, Please Forgive Me for Whooping That Bitch Ass," is a line uttered within 10 minutes of the new season of Flavor of Love. You will never see this kind of stuff on Average Joe or The Bachelor, and that's the tragic beauty of not only Flavor of Love, but the entire lineup on Celebreality the cornerstone of VH1's Sunday night lineup. As much as I refer to Rock Star Supernova as a trainwreck, I may have to come up with another phrase because Flavor of Love is the ultimate trainwreck, for sure.

Flavor's boomeranged himself back into the spectrum of "entertainment" by fully embracing his status as a celebrity reality show staple and running with it. The best part of Flavor is not his penchant for large clocks as neckwear, but his ability to be part of anything no matter how ridiculous the concept. Now I thought his role on Surreal Life was funny like most people, but did he really warrant a show with Bridgette Neilsen exploring their clearly fake romance? Nope. But for some reason, I watched week in week out to see that spectacle with my own eyes. Following his break up with Rocky's ex, Flavor took part in a Bachelor rip-off that became the highest rated show in the history of VH1. So even if he found true love with Hoopz last year...I had a feeling that he would be back in the saddle for another go round with the ladies. The man is a shooting star at 47 and needs to grab on tight and ride that shit to the moon.

My personal favorite part of this year's season opener was not the fight early on that lead to some ghetto fabulous female boxer wannabe getting tossed for assaulting another contestant over bed selection, nor was it the chick taking a dump on the floor which will become fodder for weeks on The Soup and Best Week Ever. Nope, my favorite part is when Flav names the girls and gropes them in the process. Flav's assessment of the girls leads to wildly misspelled and sometimes hilarious names like Choclat, Krazey, Buckwild and Mike Tyson for the poor girl with a lisp.

I sincerely hope that Flavor Flav finds true love this year. And by handpicking the ladies himself I think he has a good shot, and by the looks of it a wide palette of tastes (the only thing missing is an Iraqi girl with a booty) when it comes to the ladies. Even if he doesn't find "the one" he will no doubt bring lunacy to your living room week after week.

The Fall Of The House of BB6?

Janelle is paying for her mistake of not nominating Chill Town (Will and Boogie) last week and has completely aggravated James, from her BB6 dominating alliance, into defecting. However, Janie still has a shot to win the Power of Veto this week to save herself so don't count her out just yet.

Danielle, James secret alliance partner, outlasts Howie and Erika to win the lengthy Head of Household contest this week and as a result went right for Janelle's (and the BB6 alliance's) throat by nominating her for eviction. In a very risky move, Danielle coaxed James into going up for nomination with Janelle to ensure more players in the Veto competition on their side.

In yet another touching Chicken George moment, Marcellas handed over his No Slop for a Week pass to George who is scheduled to eat slop for every meal the length of his stay in the house. George's tears of gratitude were genuine, even if he's just a fat guy who really, really wants pizza.

Although this show can teeter on boring at times, I'm hearing rumors that some big twists are coming and it's overdue, I'm certain that one of the BB6 members going this week will stir up the drama inside the house. If I had my way, I'd love to see James and Will duke it out at the end to see James win. But we have two months left to go and a lot can happen.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Mel the Funky Homosapien


So Mel Gibson got drunk over the weekend in Malibu at some dive bar, was arrested for DUI, and apparently said some anti-Semitic remark while being arrested. Something along the lines of "The Jews are responsible for all wars." The very next day, Mel is in rehab, and people are freaking out all over the nation, with the epicenter of the madness being Hollywood.

Mel Gibson what have you done to Tinsel Town? Today Rob Schneider, Mr. Deuce Bigolow himself, took out a full page ad in Variety which featured a tongue in cheek letter to Mel basically saying that he will never work with Mel Gibson in any sort of cinematic production. Rob is a conniving little minx. Of course he did this as a self promoting publicity stunt. He looks like the good guy; he'll be on every talk show and morning news program showing his greasy little head and explaining why he did it.

This is my question. Have you ever said something completely stupid when you were drunk? Most likely, you have. Unfortunately, celebrities have to be very cautious when they've been drinking, because everything that they say or do will be photographed and videotaped. Mel was wrong for driving drunk, of course, but I really don't think that people should start denouncing him and his career. Barbara Walters stated today on The View that she would never watch another Mel Gibson movie again. I know I can't go six months without watching Braveheart so I'm not jumping on her bandwagon.

A second issue "leaked" today dealing with an interview he did in 1996 for a Spanish newspaper. He spoke with them about his fear of being perceived as a homosexual when he was a teenager because he wanted to be in the Drama Group at school. Suddenly Mel is a homophobic now as well. When you were in High school, what did you immediately think about the guy that was more interested in acting than sports? GAY. Sorry but it's true. High school is cruel, but Hollywood is even more cruel.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Supernova Recap

Okay, so the kick off show tonight proved that the contestants can actually sing. Up until now there have been some questionable folks trudging around the stage but we are getting to the point where when someone hits the bottom 3, they are capable of giving themselves a good shot at saving themselves based on ability. The tradegy in this is that the guys in Supernova don't have a clue what they want in a lead singer. Week after week I see Tommy and his band of idiots haphazardly voting people off who aren't the worst singer on kick off night. How else would you explain that Spanish gal sticking around so long?

Jill ruined Simple Minds forever the other night, but showed her talents amply with a Heart cover tonight proving that she can sing. But is she capable of being in the band Supernova (sidenote: irony is naming your band Super mixed with Spanish for No Go.)? I doubt it heavily. Dana (my southern belle) tried to rock out to The Who the other night, but as usual looked like she was acting instead of emoting a rock ethos. Tonight she took her Treble Clef tattoo out on stage to sing House of the Rising Sun and just looked defeated during the whole song, even though she can easily sing the song capably enough. Patrice got to play with Tommy Lee the week which only served to hurt her in the long run since they appeared to have zero chemistry together. I will give her points for resurrecting a Jeff Buckley tune tonight to save herself, but she didn't do the song any justice. Up until now I didn't mind her performances, especially with the other female talent still standing, but tonight she just came off a bit like she might be a dyke. I mean that not in a derogatory way towards homosexuals, but more in the vein that she doesn't exude any sexual vibes towards her potential employers. And if you have been watching this year, the boys love to ogle the potentials each week leering and making overt comments at their expense. Navarro calls no less than 5 contestants of the female persuasion "baby" every week. So if you have a vagina, use it to win this contest!

Oh, yeah. So Dana the little girl from Augusta, GA got the boot. And rightly so. Too young, too country and too inexperienced.

A few weeks back Jared predicted that this show would get cancelled and be completed on the internet, yet it's still plugging away. I think Jared underestimates just how many people are watching this trainwreck. However, if you were at all paying attention to what other networks are putting out this summer you may have noticed an even worse singing talent contest over on ABC that did suffer the fate that Jared hoped for Supernova. The One got cancelled, and tragically it will not even finish on the internet. If you saw one shred of this mess, you know exactly why it's gone. (Although you probably didn't watch since the ratings were abysmal. I think I heard lowest rated show this summer with 18-34 year olds...their exact target market.) The talent on The One make every contestant on Supernova instantly appear worthy not only of front this sham band but of being instantly granted a 10 record deal.

Double Dose of Damien and Fiona

Fiona Apple/ Damien Rice
Tweeter Center Camden, NJ [7/28/06]
Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ [7/29/06]

This was my first time seeing Fiona Apple live and to be frank, I was not nearly as interested as I was to see Damien. It is no secret that Fiona has had a troubled past as she tells you all about it in her music. Her cult following of mostly women fans look at her as the queen of hurt. During her concerts she will hit herself while she sings it seems to feel the pain that she once felt; experiencing the moments that inspired her to write the very songs that she performs. With a tendancy to scream out loud, away from the microphone things like “shut the fuck up” and “I hate you” she come across as though she is reliving those moments from her past in her music and as a result, some of her real emotions come through to the audience. A real distraction is her freakish, Elaine Bennis kicks (Seinfeld) while dancing that all drunken women participate in apparently.

Anyone who has ever been to a Fiona Apple concert has to be aware of the boring factor. Playing the same songs every night of the tour, I was worried about two nights in a row. The second night could have been a snoozefest, thankfully the Bogata is air conditioned, has stadium seating and my flask of Chivas Regal set me at ease. The Borgata show was the last stop on the tour for Damien, so he surprised Fiona with a duet of the classic Stand By Me by Ben E. King. Damien handles the majority of the tune while Fiona just was in awe of Damien citing she was sad to see him go. Hightlights from the set list (below) were Paper Bag, Get Him Back, Sleep to Dream, Extraordinary Machine and my new personal favorite Limp. Criminal, Fiona's big hit, was shockingly bad and Slow Like Honey was just outright boring.

[Set List]
Got Him Back
To Your Love
Shadowboxer
The Way Things Are
I Know
Sleep to Dream
Limp
Paper Bag
Tymps
Oh Well
On the Bound
Slow Like Honey
Not About Love
Better Version of Me
Get Gone
Fast As You Can

Encore:
Extraordinary Machine
Criminal



Although I had seen Damien Rice once before, I was unsure pf what to expect due to his lack of albums since the gem O was released in 2003. Of course I wanted to hear all the hits from the very hard to compete with O, but I also was anxious to hear some new songs from his highly anticipated sophomore album.

The first night at the Tweeter Center was way more intense and rewarding then the Borgata. Lisa Hannigan was a little under used in my opinion as she has one of the best voices around today. Seeing her sitting on the stage for the better part of the night was crazy. Damien introduced the crowd to some killer new songs such as Rootless Tree (floating around titled Fuck You), Accidental Babies (Lisa Hannigan's best song with Damien to date), Blowers Daughter Part II (nothing like the first but still very good) and the best song of both nights Me, My Yoke and I. On this track Damien drops the acoustic and picks up the electric and rocks out. On top of that anyone who has saw Damien before knows about the two microphone set up, and he utilizes the distorted microphone perfectly on this track.

In Ireland a yoke is more commonly called a penis. The way Damien tells it, one day he figured out what it was really for. But due to the staunchly catholic nature of 1970's Ireland, he felt guilty after each of the (shall we say) "episodes". So he started putting ten pounds (quickly reduced to five pounds) into the church collection plate after each of the aforementioned occurrences, until eventually he had no money left. At which point he "turned to god to ask about his fishing rod". If anyone finds an MP3 floating around of this track, hit me up @ krm2547@yahoo.com.

Damien also introducedd a new solo acoustic song which was incredible (I Only Wanted to be Wanted by You). A lot of people are fed up with the acoustic singer/songwriter due to a major hangover from your high school and college years with Dave Matthew’s Band, but Damien is not following in those footsteps. He is staying true to his roots with his acoustic act but also crossing over and trying new things with the electric guitar and distortion peddles and is succeeding unlike DMB (Busted Stuff). If you are a fan of music and live shows you must see Damien Rice once in your life before you die.

[The Borgata]
Volcano
Me, My Yoke, and I
The Blowers Daughter Part 2
Cold Water
9 Crimes
Eskimo
Cheers Darling
The Blowers Daughter
The Gigolo John Song
Accidental Babies and Stand By Me (w/Fiona)

[Tweeter Center]
Then Go
I Remember
Delicate
I only wanted to be wanted by you
Me, My Yoke and I
Cold Water
Is that all right if I give my God away
Cannonball
Rootless Tree
Blower's Daughter Part II
Blower's Daughter

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Twenty Good Years and 30 Rock



I just saw the preview for this new NBC sitcom and am surprised that I hadn't heard anything about it before, even though the extent of my exposure to new sitcoms is the Entertainment Weekly back issues next to Scooter's toilet. John Lithgow and one of my favorite actors, Jeffery Tambor (George Bluth Sr. of Arrested Development fame) are the headliners of the show. They are both old friends who decide that they need to live every day like their last, because they probably only have about "20 good years" left to live. The trailer for this movie looks hilarious. The one that I saw had the actors commenting on each other and John Lithgow said that "you just laugh when you look at the guy" when describing Jeffery Tambor. He's right, though. Tambor can turn his mouth a centimeter and make you pee yourself. It will be airing on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM and will be followed by another show that I am excited to see, 30 Rock.

Tina Fey created 30 Rock, and sadly left SNL on July 21st to focus on her new project. Alec Baldwin managed to work his way onto the show, and where there's a Baldwin, there's a hit, right? The show takes a look at the behind-the-scenes action of a sketch comedy show. There are a few Chicago Improv actors thrown in the mix and I'm hoping it will be hilarious. Everyone definitely needs a laugh or two on the most horrible day of the week and this hour should help us get over that hump.

Real Superhero Movies...

The new Superman appeals to me the same way a prostate check does. I always thought the story of the man of steel was cheese, he's basically a nerdy space man right? And casting a total unknown to play him, putting Kevin Spacey in a skull cap and making my girl from Blue Crush dye her blonde locks just turned me off even more. Besides, how played out is Superman? We had Lois and Clark, Smallville, the Chris Reeve broken neck drama, it's like Superman never left us and therefore I have no interest in re-visiting his plight. (Which by the way is oh so repetitive....look! Lex is going to destroy humanity! And he's got that green stuff!!!)

With the news I heard today, I can tell you who I am juice about seeing continue his crime fighting ways. Batman. People who know me probably think I'm nuts, since I have stated openly on many occasions that Batman with Micheal Keaton and Jack Nicholson is the only movie I ever fell asleep to in the theater. (The Village doesn't count! I was drunk as hell, so I was passed out which is totally different.) And I don't think I even bothered with the rest of that Batman series because I hate when they switch lead actors in sequels (no offense Val and George) and over the top celebrity villains are distracting to me. Mr. Freeze didn't have an accent according to my memory from childhood. But...

Christopher Nolan made some very solid choices when making Batman Begins. From casting to costumes, the film seemed fresh and really distanced itself from the prior films. Christian Bale was a very unconventional choice for a superhero and brought some real humanity to the role. And now, today I heard that Mr. Bale will be facing off against the Joker in The Dark Knight, a sequel again co-written and directed Nolan. Oooohhhh....and, here's the rub, Heath Ledger is signing on the play the Joker. Whoa. That's what I call thinking outside the box. And I like it.

This model for success has worked well for the Spiderman franchise; Tobey Maguire is your odd leading man choice, villains like Dafoe and Molina, acclaimed director Raimi at the helm. And from the posters I've seen, Raimi is at it again casting goof balls Topher Grace and Thomas Hayden Church as villains in the third installment.

The future looks promising for these two franchises, but as always in the film industry the moguls never when to say when. That Nic Cage as the Ghost Rider thing is beyond words. I'll take Spidey and Batman, you can have the rest.

The Rock and Roll Radio Event of the Year

Meatloaf is coming back with Bat Out Of Hell 3 on Halloween and he was on Stern this week giving listeners a sneak peek at his new tunes. Being the freak that I am happened upon the Meatloaf official website and found this gem.

This plays like a mockumentary to me. What are your thoughts?