Our Very Own Joolie Meets Rancid!
And even better than meeting Tim and Lars, she got engaged between songs on stage!
Check out this photograph of Joolie bugging out with Lars laughing in the background. Priceless.
photo by Khaki Bedford
Mixed Bag
Anyone else hooked on
Intervention on A&E? Is that wrong to use the word hooked to describe my feelings for this show that deals with addition? The format of this show is simple, find an addict, follow him/her around as they use and then turn the tables on them with a family intervention. I find it fascinating that this show gets such access to the life of an addict. And the usual ending shows the power of rehab, most profiled addicts turn themselves around giving you a happy ending.
Decades Live on VH1 Classics featured Elvis Costello being joined by Billie Joe Armstrong, Fiona Apple and Death Cab for Cutie live in Atlantic City performing his interpretations of their songs and vice versa. Fiona does a very creepy version of I Want You that I thought was amazing. And Elvis really tears up I Will Follow You Into the Dark with Ben Gibbard.
Happy Birthday to MTV! Tomorrow the channel turns 25 years old. Jeez, I'm old. I vividly recall the launch of the music video age in 1981 when I was 9 years old, but it wasn't until 1986 when 120 Minutes was launched did I truly appreciate how MTV brought music to the kids. So much of my record collection would not be there if I didn't see it on 120 Minutes, They Might Be Giants, The Replacements, REM, The Cure, XTC and The Smiths would be insignificant band names to me instead of being artist I respect and admire.
New Feature: Song of the Week
Now Playing: Ben Kweller - Penny On A Train Track
Big Brother Steamroller
BB6 wins HOH again. Unreal. Janelle bested her BFF in the house Marcellas to win her second stint as Head of Household this season and secures the safety of Kaysar, Howie and James for another week minimum. As these BB Sixer's eliminate opponents each week, it's more and more likely they will continue to rule the roost and call the shots.
This past week had a tiny bit of excitement when Chicken George came back from the dead and vetoed himself off the block Tuesday. The oldest, and probably worst player, was being used as a pawn by James to make other floaters take sides and George stepped up by taking out Jase, Kaysar, Will, Boogie and James in the veto competition. George shaved his head and agreed to eat slop for the remainder of the game in order to win and effectively seal Jase's fate this week. Jase was punished for playing sides and got himself into a situation where BB6, the power team, couldn't trust him any longer and the entire house voted him out this week despite Dr. Will's pleas to be evicted.
At the end of tonight's show, Dr. Will begged to be not only put up for nomination again, but to be sent home. The rumor is that Dr. Will and several other cast mates want to avoid being sequestered for several weeks outside the house should they make the jury, so they are asking to be ousted now that they see it's a BB6 runaway. They win every thing and will have the most votes on the jury should one make the final two and the other 3 make the jury. Should be interesting...
Rock Star Supernova
Gilby Clarke is homosexual. I don't say this with any sort of judgement, I'm merely pointing out a fact. Berating a female singer for grinding on him is perhaps that most pathetic situation that has appeared on this montrosity. The poor gal, Jill, was nearly in tears after watching back the footage from last night on tonight's kick off show. Was she crying because she regretted the choice to grinding a gay guy or was she just sad she was called out for using her sexuality instead of actually singing?
Sidenote: I'm writing this while the poor foreign chick, the one with with questionable wardrobe selections who I think is Cuban, is butchering K's Choice and I'm stunned that someone who cannot sing in English is a finalist for this sham band.
So Patrice was first up in the bottom three this week. And I think she got a bum deal considering her song selection was Black Crowe's Remedy. That song sucks so bad I can't imagine anyone on the show being able to breathe life into it. Thankfully she chose a pretty heavy Radiohead track, My Iron Lung, so she regained some credibility and showed some balls tonight.
Next up was our
little friend, who as mentioned warbled incoherently through I'm Not An Addict tonight, and if she doesn't go this week I may consider tuning out for good. She's annoying, not attractive and can't speak English. On second thought maybe she is the juice that Supernova needs to broaden their market internationally?
Phil Ritchie opted on a song that no one knows tonight, a Failure tune and needed badly to erase the memory of his One Headlight Wallflowers cover from last night. Phil is another victim of song choice in my book. One Headlight? How is doing that song grooming him for Supernova exactly?
Speaking of Supernova, did you hear their new single played for the contestants in the mansion last night? Tragic. So much for "a totally new sound" Gilby. The buzz on the net is that the contestants were underwhelmed by the tune. Last week's castoff Jenny is running her mouth everywhere about how terrible the song sounded, the lack of enthusiasm inside the mansion and the rumor that everyone on the show thinks the band is a total sham and won't even play more than once as a unit after the big New Year's Eve gig in Vegas. Pop Will Eat Itself!
Line of the week was uttered by Dave Navarro: "The difference is that I have a job and you are auditioning for one!" Dave must be bitter over Carmen leaving him. He can't be seriously referring to the new band he is in, can he? I think he's referring to this
hostingduties on this crap fest. And that's just sad.
This just in: The Cuban Crackhead survives! I'm officially besides myself. WTF? The band questioned Phil's committment? Did I hear that right? You are a fake band!!! Tune in next week to see if I can bring myself to watch this shit again.
Lance Bass
Lance Bass came out of the closet. He's gay. Is this even newsworthy? I think I know a couple other dudes in N'Sync that could follow suit...yeah JC I'm talking to you and Fitzy.
Adventures in Babysitting
Why on earth would any studio feel compelled to remake this classic 80's teen comedy? Elisabeth Shue is irreplacable, and I'm certainly not looking to see Raven Symone from the Cosby Show try her luck at the role. Yep, it's going to be ethnically reversed for the remake, which sounds like a great idea. I'm besides myself that this is even being considered.
You, Me and Dupree
Dear Owen Wilson,
My favorite film of all time happens to be Bottle Rocket, made when you were an unknown with your brothers and a good friend named Wes. No one could have been happier when you started to achieve success in the film world, although your resume doesn't quite support the true weight of your talents. Wedding Crashers was delightful, and a total surprise last summer...thanks in great part to your pairing with Vince Vaughn. But we need to discuss a very important financial matter, one that I hope will easily get cleared up and repair our relationship.
Simply put, you owe me $11. Please take note that I did think about just going after the cost of the ticket price on your latest film You, Me and Dupree, but the ending line "hit it Paco" forced me into wanting to recoup my Coca Cola slushy's costs as well. I'm embarrassed for you as an actor, and as a film goer I'm embarrassed for myself. What if people saw me coming out of the theater when it was over? Did you ever think about that Owen?
I can only hope that three things will happen as a result of this letter.
1. I get my money back.
2. You realize the importance of a script when making another film.
3. Matt Dillon recognizes that his talents are better served in dramas, no matter how small the role or the paycheck.
Please respond to this request as quickly as you can. I'm afraid that with more time to reflect on this situation, I may have to rethink my decision to name you my favorite Wilson brother.
Sincerely,
Scooter
Lady in the Water
Never have a seen such horrible reviews for a movie by what I would consider a real talent of a filmmaker. After viewing Lady in the Water myself, I can only really suspect that critics are pissed off by two things. One, there is a pivotal film critic character played by Bob Balaban who embodies the worst qualities critics tend to have and he gets a severe come uppance after being revealed for a knowitall who doesn't know it all. This probably hit home for a lot of the reviewers and seeped somewhat into their impressions of the film. The second thing that most likely bothered the press was M. Night's abandonment of his trademark "twist" ending for a more standard, albeit fantastical conclusion. But I don't get it. Okay, so he stabs film critics a little. Big deal. And jeez, can't the guy do something else besides the suprise ending without being stamped a failure?
Some may have taken offense to Night's decision to cast himself in a role as a visionary author who will in the future inspire people to bring great change to the world. Is this egomanical on his part? Maybe. Does it bother me? No. I was able to look past the M. Night bullshit surrounding this film, the break up with Disney, the book coming out that details the process of making this film and reveals Night's anger towards his critics. I decided to take the film at face value, treating it like I would the Lord of the Rings or Narnia. It's a modern day fable, a children's tale about sea nymphs, werewolves and giant eagles. And with the exception of some questionable choices within the movie, I tended to like it more than I hated it.
Paul Giamatti is a very capable actor, and most likely brought more to this role than was on the page. As a tortured widower with a stutter, Giamatti embodies the prototypical M. Night "hero" that has appeared throughout his films. And Giamatti is the back bone of the film as the discoverer of the Lady living in the pool and assists her in saving the world without once questioning the why behind it all. Perhaps this is truly what I loved about the film, the reckless abandon in which the story tackles such a fantasy laden script.
I found the story to be very hopeful, especially while the world toils in such despair with war breaking out everywhere there is sand. Night managed to give us a true fairy tale with some ties to reality, but doesn't let his story ever stray into reality long enough for anyone involved to question what is going on. The way I described it to a friend today was that Night created an apartment complex full of people who so desperately want something unbelievable to be real that they never object to the preposterous nature of what is unfolding before them. And that is precisely why I let myself be drawn into this world and overlooked the pressures on the filmmaker and the reviews trashing it. I wanted to forget about things happening in the world for 2 hours and be taken somewhere else, and on that level Lady in the Water worked just fine.
Is it a great movie? Not by a long shot. But it isn't terrible, and I'm convinced that M. Night Shamaylan will still become that rare filmmaker who puts his heart into what he does and always draws me to the theater no matter what he is doing.
Clerks 2
As an impressionable college kid some 12 years ago, my passion for film was taken to a whole new level by a vanguard group of young indie filmmakers who burst on the scene in almost rapid fire succession. Richard Linklater provoked me to think with Slacker, Quentin Tarantino made me appreciate violence as art, Spike Lee brought African American issues to my white world and Kevin Smith made me piss my pants laughing at the raunchiest humor I'd ever seen in a movie.
Clerks was released in 1994, and it completely worked for me on every single level. I loved the soundtrack, the sex talk, the interplay between Tons of Fun Silent Bob and weed smoking/dealing, trenchcoat wearing Jay. But the real joy for me was the relationship between Dante and Randel, two early twenties lazy bums who were shown as witty, thoughtful malcontents dead set on arguing about every nuance of pop culture or sex. The script by Kevin Smith was the real hero in this low budget, amateur acted, black and white movie that could. Smith had an incredible way of giving his characters a mouthful of words that rolled off the tongue like bullets from a machine gun, but never letting you the viewing lose interest before the big zing.
Seeing that Clerks 2 was made finally was a bittersweet revelation to me. On the one hand I've been very invested in Kevin Smith's body of work and wanted another chance to revisit with my old friends from the Quik Stop. On the other hand, my fear of how badly Mr. Smith would fuck it all up scared me to death. After the spectacle that was Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which I think is a very funny movie, I was concerned that Smith had lost touch with the heart of his original film and was merely good at writing filthy one liners that poked holes at everything and anything in the entertainment world. Boy am I glad that this new Clerks plays out like the original but in color and with a more familiar looking cast.
The Dante and Randel we remember are exactly the same, Randel is gross and hateful, Dante expressive and confused about matters of the heart. The only difference is that they are puffy, have hair issues and now work at a fast food joint instead of the Quik Stop thanks to a tragic accident put in motion during the brilliantly constructed opening scene. I felt very nostalgic watching these two verbal swordsmiths dust off their abilities and go to town, knowing that both actors never really amounted to much outside of this world and that this was no doubt going to end the journey for them. But I also felt old. Seeing Dante want to marry a chick for the sake of marrying her and Randel not want to conform to an adult lifestyle made me realize that not only have these two not done much growing in 12 years, neither have I.
The movie is perhaps going to mislead folks with it's trailer, it's written, directed and edited by Kevin Smith and has a lot of the same production issues as the original. Odd blocking, poor hair and makeup and the same Jay and Bob laugh out loud diversions all which work to give this movie an air of respectability in my book. The ending is perhaps a little to sugary sweet for me (shades of Jersey Girl Smith), but in the end I realized that I laughed a lot, I got to check in on some old friends and I didn't come out of the theater cursing Smith for ruining the strength of his classic original.
Big Brother Six Forever!!
Is this All Star verison going to be a complete domination by BB6? I sure hope so. God I hate some of the idiots on this show. Why is Chicken George on this show? That old loser was dressed in a costume made of tin foil for tonight's vote off episode. And everyone else just seems to feel sorry for him. My man James from BB6 took the HOH in a nail biter and secured the safety for another week of his old castmates one would assume. Janelle, Kasyar and now James. That's pretty much domination.
Now don't get me wrong, I think it would be incredible television if James decided to turn on his old friends, but it's highly unlikely considering just how much the rest of the house is after them. Nakomis got the boot tonight, which leaves a lot of very crafty players like Will and Boogie still around. However, it's just not enough if they can't win any competitions. If James has a brain in his head he goes right after Chilltown and gets both those clowns on the block.
Is BB All Stars winning me over? I'll say. Especially since the rest of this summer's reality tv selection appears to be 100% inedible ot my pallate.
StupidNova Recap
Okay, it's time to get into more meat on this tiny, almost meatless bone. Finally, the contestants are beginning to turn on the weak and call out what I have been ranting about for the last couple weeks. What are some of these chicks doing on this show? Namely, my fellow Augustan sweetheart Dana who looks like a cast off from Nashville Star. Dilana, the favorite in my humble opinion, stepped up to give her some "guidance" telling her to get more dirty. Now Dilana was praised for helping along a fellow competitor and when speaking about it tonight on the vote off show came off like she's just a nuturter and that's her way. But I would argue that this very advice will send this cowpoke further down the spiral. Dana is just not cut out for this show and turning it up a notch in the dirty department will make her look even more ill equipped to succeed in becoming a
Rock Star.
Dana's corny Bon Jovi cover put her firmly in the running to be voted off. And for her "save me" song she does a Sass Jordan cover. Who? The girl can sing, that's clear. But come on, how far removed is she from Tommy Lee and his band of tards? I would be willing to bet she has no clue who Motley Crue or Metallica are. It's like she got caught up in the "it's a singing show, just like American Idol" and managed to get pushed along in the process for looking so sweet and innocent and having a killer set of pipes. How the hell did she survive?
Jenny, another girl just not cut out for this, thankfully was sent to the bottom three this week and in the process essentially saved Dana from execution. I would point out that she is kind of hot, but is hot enough to win a singing contest? No. Watching her sing Stone Temple Pilots tonight was just painful. The performance seemed to be a mimic of Dilana or Storm and not at all believable. And so she moves on with her life, most likely signing Jewel covers at county fairs. (Sidenote: my ongoing favorite moment each week is when Tommy Lee says "there are no losers here" and I immediatey scream at the TV "look to your right Tommy!! It's Gilby Clarke and Dave Navarro!!")
Josh, the Jason Mraz wannabe, rounded out the bottom this week and followed up ruining one Nirvana song with choosing to sing another one. Lucky for him he sang Heart Shaped Box very straight forwardly and managed to impress the judges and save himself for another week.
Where this show differs for me from last year is that all I can focus on is who is the saddest of the bunch each week. And I'm honestly having a tough time sorting out from like 8 terrible performances who are the worst 3. Last year I was so torn with who was the stongest among 3 or 4 powerful performances each week that I never even cared who was voted into the bottom three unless I disagreed with the call. Maybe, just maybe, once they thin the herd and get rid of the excess waste this show will get interesting. Tonight was a step in that direction...
The One
Okay, so I found a way to enjoy Rock Star Supernova. Just watch this horrendous piece of crap, The One on ABC, which featured performances by probably the 10 worst singers I have ever heard. At one point I thought the show was a joke, a mock American Idol/Real World hybrid because the performances were so off key and stiff by performer after performer. And yet the "judges" kept right on giving some inflated support driving me to say aloud at one point, "is this really happening?"
A recent post on here predicted that Rock Star wouldn't actually finish out the season on the air, and I know that is just a wish and not a reality, but my God this show might actually suffer the fate of getting the axe before it concludes. I cannot imagine anyone viewing what I saw and deciding to tune in a second time. And I'm pissed that I had to make choices in TV Land last night and opted to TIVO this hunk of junk over Last Comic Standing.
I'm going to give my spin on Rock Star after tonight's vote off show, but let me try to sum up how unenthused I am at that program. I've gone on record saying that Galena would win the slot in Tommy Lee's new band and only discovered last night that the chick I'm referring to is actually named Dilana. I can't even remember the performers names this year. Shameful.
Planet Hollywood - WTF?
Sometimes I come across news items that just make me scratch my head. None more so then when dealing with the entertainment world. And so while flipping through the pages of Entertainment Weekly today I came across some items that I just couldn't believe. In fact, one of these items actually made me close the magazine and search the cover for some hint that this issue was filled with bogus stuff just as a prank. Sadly, no such luck.
Mo'Nique's Big Girl pageant is on TV as we speak. I can't imagine many people are watching this, and I can't recall but I'll take a guess it's airing on the WE network or something equally as useless, but maybe a few lay abouts will give this a shot.. The sad reality of life in America is that no one finds fat girls attractive. Not even fat girls do. I'm all about giving some women a self esteem push, but having the annoying Mo'Nique parade these women around under the guise of a beauty contest just seems cruel to me.
Speaking of cruel, Road House 2 is going direct to DVD this week. Huh? Did I read this right? Road House 2? Johnathon Schaech, hot on the heels from his divorce from Christina Applegate, not only preposterously stars as Patrick Swayze's son but co-wrote the script. Pepper in Crazy Jack Busey as the foil and this has the makings of a classic. Classic piece of shit that is. Schaech should have his Hollywood license revoked at this point. In going over his resume his two greatest accomplishments seem to be starring in the very endearing That Thing You Do! 10 years ago and marrying Christina Applegate. Don't believe me? Check out his
resume on IMDB. 8MM 2 was actually made by a studio? I'm in shock.
And finally today, Parker Posey has made another movie to further tarnish her indie movie queen status from yesteryear.
The Oh in Ohio is apparently centered around a woman who discovers that a vibrator gives you an orgasm if used properly. I love Parker Posey, but how low has she fallen? And if the vibrator aspect of this movie doesn't make you want to vomit, this will. Parker's love interest is Danny Devito in this. All together now....EWWWWWWWWW.
Summer of Duds?
As a life long movie buff, I have looked forward to two very important times of the year for film for the majority of my life. The rush to get films out to make the Oscar eligibility deadline coincides with the end of the calendar year, so you get to see the best of the best from Halloween on. The other time of the year that I normally look forward to is Summer Blockbuster Season.
During Summer Blockbuster Season's of the past I've been anxious every couple of weeks from Memorial Day through Labor Day to hit the theater, sometimes to see 2 opening movies in the same weeekend. I can recall seeing Terminator 2 twice in the same weekend I was that stoked. And what's ailing me right now is that this summer was full of anticipation for me. Superman, Pirates of the Caribean 2, X Men 3, Mission Impossible 3, Nacho Libre and The Davinci Code were all movies that I was juiced to see before summer even began. So what happened? Why is it mid-July and I can't even bring myself to see some of the very movies I was hyped for?
Well, I guess one reason is the disappointment with just how formulaic the movies I have seen this summer have been. Mission Impossible 3 did nothing that 2 and the original didn't do. Same with X Men 3. The Davinci Code just plain bored me when it wasn't confusing the hell out of me. Nacho Libre worked for me, but I will admit didn't live up to the expectation I had for it. (N. Dynamite became part of the culture and Nacho has become drive in movie fare paired with Cars) Once I saw the trailer for Superman was immediately disinterested. Kevin Spacey looks stupid, an unknown as the big guy and an emaciated Kate Bosworth with black hair? No thanks. And now Pirates is hitting the screen to borderline horrible reviews, and although I'm certain it will make some booty, I can't get excited to see a movie hated by many.
My favorite movies of the summer have been movies I had really no real interest in seeing prior to seeing them, The Break Up and The Devil Wears Prada. And right now, there is nothing out that draws my attention. Click? Sandler hasn't shined since the Billy/Happy back to back. Little Man? The Wayans scare me. I guess I need to look down the schedule for the rest of the summer to see if there is any saving me and my summer movie season.
Clerks 2 could prove to be just the funny I'm looking for, or it could be very, very unnecessary. I'm a Kevin Smith fan, so the minute I smell "sell out" on this thing, I'm going be pissed. Little Miss Sunshine, a well received festival circuit comedy with Greg Kinnear and Steve Carell, has hooked me in with a very funny trailer. Lady in the Water by M. Night could be a sleeper hit, afterall the guy did make Sixth Sense and is coming off the bomb The Village.
I wish I could say the next couple weeks hold promise, but the reality is that there is more junk coming out that one could argue is just not necessary. How many animated movies does the world need? Monster House? Uma becomes My Super Ex-Girlfriend, a movie I predict will bomb hard. People don't like female super heros. Miami Vice with Colin Farrell. OMG. What is Michael Mann thinking? I guess it's time to for me to shake off this horrible summer and get pumped for Novemeber/December when the quality comes down the pipeline.
Big Brother All Stars
Oh yeah. The Big Brother 6 crew is back and dominating already in the new Big Brother All Stars filling up your CBS stations 3 days a week for the remainder of the summer. I was a tepid fan of Big Brother when it first launched 7 years ago, but over the last three seasons I've become somewhat of an addict to this
put them in a box and watch them kill each other show. And when season 6 was in full swing, I was so in love with the Kasyer, Howie, James and Janelle faction that I'm stoked to see them return. Seeing them easily come back into a house of so-called All Stars and seemingly take over so easily, I'm even more excited.
Last week I watched the inaugural episode this year and Janelle immediately won a co-Head of Household spot and was already in control. And with Howie, James and Kayser in the house from her season and obviously aligned as a group, I was hooked. Janelle went on to gain the Power of Veto, winning the first two challenges this season and tonight her boy Kasyer took home the HOH for the coming week. Janelle is the most solid female contestant this show has ever had, James is the best liar and manipulator, Kasyer is a chess master and Howie, well Howie is just a loon. I can honestly say that I could care less about any other person on this season, so watching these 4 bowl over the competition and send them all packing will keep me happy all summer long.
However, I've been here before. I thought Kasyer would easily win BB6 and then he got booted early. Upon his notorious
vote someone back in the house America return to the house, he had a chance to redeem his early departure and got duped, pissing me off more than I care to admit. (This is a reality show afterall, and getting so upset at it makes me kind of a loser.) James wiggled his way from a bad situation, getting exposed when it was revealed he was aligned with his girlfriend after he already made enemies, and then holding on by a thread for a couple of weeks was pretty cool as far as the action is concerned on this show. But ultimately he was sent packing earlier than he rightly should have been. Howie rode Janelle's fiercely competitive coat tails which annoyed me some, but he made up for it by acting like a complete nutcase, verbally coming on to every chick in the house and then turning on them when he was up against a wall.
Janelle dominated BB6 and did it while being, well hot. Fighting off the hags of the Nerd Herd as Howie called them was Must See TV for a couple of weeks. In the end, she ran out of allies and beat herself by not winning a challenge when she had to. And I've never been more disappointed in 6 years of watching Big Brother when it happened. I even said to myself that I was done watching the show. No one has won that I liked since Dr. Will, who is way toned down this All Star season, and at what point does that start to weigh on you as a viewer?
Moving forward I'm cautiously optimistic that my crew will stay in control and rule the roost, but the thing about Big Brother is that the power shifts weekly and the good people are always targets. Especially this year when the four BB6 cast mates have the numbers. So for now I'll just sit back and watch the BB6 kids have some fun, and stare at Janelle.
Supernova
I had to add my two cents. I "watched" this while a busily downloaded real music from itunes last night and this thing is a fucking trainwreck. They are all talentless boobs, stars and contestants alike. Navarro makes me more uncomfortable everytime I see him, he is one sceevy SOB. Gilby Clarke (who I will admit did produce one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years "The Bronx") looks like a young Col. Sanders. I thought I had some respect for Jason Newsted jumping ship from the ball-less wonder that Metallica has become but I'm sure that other three are sitting back saying "...and we thought we needed therapy?". Tommy Lee, well what can you expect of the functionally retarded. You go Corky.
Is there any doubt that CBS is saying "what have we done...again"? I'm sure that they are scrambling and this will either finish up on one the CBS/Viacom/Paramount owned cable networks or expect double and triple eliminations in the next few weeks cause ain't nobody gonna let this go for a full run.
Oh and was it too hard for anyone to go on the internet and look up the name Supernova? The SoCal band of the same name (who have been in existance for 10 + years) has just filed suit and they seem to have a strong case. Doesn't hurt that their drummer is a lawyer and apparently had locked up all the appropriate copyright and trademark issues long before this came along.
This thing has the potential to become the stuff of network legend
Rock Star Supernova - Week 2
From bad to worse goes the showcase of potential
rockers looking to grace the stage with Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted and Gilby Clarke for what I'm sure will be a very brief and poorly attended concert tour. Last week's elimination round featured 3 dudes, all of which don't fit the mold that this band of ex-metal dudes is looking for. I knew I was in trouble when the guy I liked of the three was the one who wound up getting the boot.
This week's showcase once again proved that Tommy Lee, et al are dopes. They select a pool of songs for all of the candidates to sing, most of which appear to be comtemporary alternative stuff like The Killers, Coldplay, etc. or classics like Jumpin Jack Flash and Born to be Wild; then they wind up berating the shitty candidates for poor song selection. You clowns picked the songs!!! Why not give these kids a chance to sing some Motley Crue or Guns and Roses or Metalicca? Oh, probably because none of these bozos actually wrote any material when they were in those bands.
My only safe bet is that Galena will go far this year. The strongest female, perhaps strongest contestant, Galena manages to bring originalilty and flair to her songs. This week she changed up the classic Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash and made it sound completely new, something that I'm certain was challenging. I'll continue to watch and see how this unfolds, but I'm not having fun people.
The Devil Wears Prada
This movie came at just the right time. Women and gay men around the world have started to miss Sex and the City like a dope fiend misses his fix. We pine for the couture clothing, the lavish wardrobes and the frenzied antics of a young woman trying to establish herself in the Big City. The Devil Wears Prada doesn't let us down. While there are many similarities to this movie and Sex and the City, there are not too many to bore you or make you feel as if you have seen this movie before by watching the hit HBO series.
Anne Hathaway plays an eager and fresh young journalist named Andy who accepts a job at Runway, the top fashion magazine in the country. While she would rather be documenting political rallies and interviewing revolutionaries, she takes the Runway job in order to establish herself in the world of journalism. She feels that if she can survive Miranda Preistly, the Senior Editor of Runway, for one year, she will be able to secure a position at any magazine she chooses. Called "The Dragon Lady," Priestly is notoriously crude and scathing.
Andy is faced with a decision. She must choose her job or her friends and family. In order to retain her position at Runway, she must be on-call at all hours, ready to jump to the assistance of her boss. Obviously, this causes strain in all of her personal relationships. The biggest rift lies between her and her boyfriend Nate, played by Entourage's Adrian Grenier. Simon Baker plays Christian Thompson, a writer who attempts to steal Andy away from normalcy and her previous life. The new life being proposed to her seems glamorous and what every little girl dreams of, but at the core lies a cold, vicious demon that goes by the name of Jealousy.
Our carnal fashion obsessions are purged for 109 minutes as Andy is dressed in the designers that most women cannot afford. Not being able to afford these luxuries herself, Andy becomes somewhat of an addict, drowning in samples and freebies. Again, the similarities between Sex and the City and the Devil Wears Prada abound in the costumes, the main reason being that Patricia Field was the lead designer for both. Her fashion sense and quirky style have become a remarkable signature. Everything that Field touches turns to gold. Or maybe gold lamé.
The Devil Wears Prada will do well because every woman who has ever bought a fashion magazine will want to see it. And every man who dates a woman who buys fashion magazines will be forced to see it (and secretly like it).
World Series of Pop Culture
One episode into this new game show on VH1 and I'm completely upset that I didn't get off my ass and go try out to be on this thing. I'm not trying to be cocky, but I pretty much knew every single answer to the questions feature on the show. I'm serious. Every single answer. I think the only drawback would have been that you have to be part of a 3 person team and each team member has to answer questions. I know some people who know this or that, but I never met anyone who knows as much as I know. My talents were probably better served on the IFC game show from last year where movie nuts strutted their stuff individually, although the prizes on that thing were incredibly lame. VH1 is putting up 250K for the winning team for the World Series, a sum that should have motivated me to track down some like minded individuals to dominate. Instead I will sit and watch this contest unfold and hate myself more and more for having zero motivation and a boat load of useless knowledge floating around my head.
Some may have taken offense to Night's decision to cast himself in a role as a visionary author who will in the future inspire people to bring great change to the world. Is this egomanical on his part? Maybe. Does it bother me? No. I was able to look past the M. Night bullshit surrounding this film, the break up with Disney, the book coming out that details the process of making this film and reveals Night's anger towards his critics. I decided to take the film at face value, treating it like I would the Lord of the Rings or Narnia. It's a modern day fable, a children's tale about sea nymphs, werewolves and giant eagles. And with the exception of some questionable choices within the movie, I tended to like it more than I hated it. 
The Dante and Randel we remember are exactly the same, Randel is gross and hateful, Dante expressive and confused about matters of the heart. The only difference is that they are puffy, have hair issues and now work at a fast food joint instead of the Quik Stop thanks to a tragic accident put in motion during the brilliantly constructed opening scene. I felt very nostalgic watching these two verbal swordsmiths dust off their abilities and go to town, knowing that both actors never really amounted to much outside of this world and that this was no doubt going to end the journey for them. But I also felt old. Seeing Dante want to marry a chick for the sake of marrying her and Randel not want to conform to an adult lifestyle made me realize that not only have these two not done much growing in 12 years, neither have I. 
Oh yeah. The Big Brother 6 crew is back and dominating already in the new Big Brother All Stars filling up your CBS stations 3 days a week for the remainder of the summer. I was a tepid fan of Big Brother when it first launched 7 years ago, but over the last three seasons I've become somewhat of an addict to this put them in a box and watch them kill each other show. And when season 6 was in full swing, I was so in love with the Kasyer, Howie, James and Janelle faction that I'm stoked to see them return. Seeing them easily come back into a house of so-called All Stars and seemingly take over so easily, I'm even more excited. 
