1.31.2007

crap i liked: robin hood: prince of thieves

This is what happens when your parents drop you off at the movie theater one summer with your friend without thinking. Don't let bad movies happen to your kids!

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves spawned all kinds of crap. First, it was Kevin Costner with an accent he couldn't figure out how to get right. Second, the theme song for the movie, although Bryan Adams did predict my current position. Everything I do with this blog, people, I do it for you. Or something.

The only redeeming thing about this movie was Alan Rickman and it pains me to say this, but even that doesn't totally fix this movie. I think I need to go see him play Snape in a Harry Potter movie just to help me cleanse the badness of Robin Hood from my brain.

And what's up with all the medieval crap I watched in the '90s? I swear I've only gone to two Renaissance fairs in the past 15 years.

crap i liked: vanilla ice

Seriously, what was up with those outfit, dude? Did you mom make that?

I remember the night before my first day in seventh grade, the local radio station played The Song of the Summer over and over and over again on a loop as a way to send us stupid kids back to school. I think the DJs used it as an excuse to get high in the booth or something. Anyway, that song was Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby. I loved that song back then.

About eight years later, I had a friend admit to me that part of his hazing to get in to a frat on campus included having to memorize that song. Sounds about right.

Yo DJ! Let's kick it!

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

By the way, this was back in the day where you were walking a fine line between getting sued and not getting sued. Totally different than today when Diddy just rips off another song by The Police for his latest crapfest. Anyway, Ice contended that he put an extra "dun" in his bassline so he wouldn't have to pay David Bowie and Queen any royalties. Judge for yourself.

David Bowie & Queen - Under Pressure

crap i liked: roar

Ok, so today I'm posting crap -- all kinds of it -- because I frankly need to fess up to some of the stupid stuff I've gotten into in the past.

For example, Roar. This show was like an Irish version of Xena. Despite the fact that it was crap and therefore cancelled after eight episodes, I held on to a tape I had of those episodes for all least two years before finally tossing it. Why wait that long? Five words: Heath Ledger in leather pants. I think that was 99% the only reason. I mean, he was so hot in leather pants I totally ignored the fact that the show was absolute garbage.

In search of pictures today to illustrate this post, I found one of this crazy banshee chick or something that was part of some story line. Anyway, Banshee Chick looks familiar to me and holy crap! It's Vaughn's crazy evil wife from Alias!

So yeah, Banshee Chick got to make out with Vaughn and Heath Ledger moved in to my neighborhood in Brooklyn right when I left. Go figure.

1.30.2007

burn in hell, fox news

Ok, so everyone knows that Fox News shames anyone in the journalism field. It's like a plague or something.

But this time, Fox News went too far! As TMZ.com reported, Fox News took out a two-page ad in Television Week calling Anderson Cooper the "Paris Hilton of television news." Ok yeah, Anderson is dreamy, but what makes him even better is that he's a smart reporter and is great at his job. So why all the animosity? From TMZ:

"The spat erupted last week when Cooper took a shot at FOX News for hyping Insight magazine's incorrect story that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had attended a radical Islamic school as a child in Indonesia. 'Others are reporting the heat. We are sticking to the facts,' Cooper said at the time."

There you go, kids. Anderson Cooper calling it like it is. Regardless of your opinion of CNN or Anderson, you have to admit the guy has a point.

And don't even get me started on how Fox is trying to hurt Obama more than a year before the election by acting like it's a big deal that he went to a Muslim school when he was a kid in Indonesia. Um...Fox News? It would take you five seconds to look at Wikipedia and find out the country is 86% Muslim so yeah, not really weird that he went to an Islamic school.

1.29.2007

federline fries

So I have to give a shout out to Pop Sugar for posting Kevin Federline's Super Bowl ad on YouTube. Yes, it's as bad as you think it is but at least it will amuse you. Nationwide was very smart to pay him to do this, although I don't know if I want Nationwide on my side if they have K-Fed working for them.

actors awarding actors

Yeah, it's definitely one of those "scratch my back and I'll give you a SAG" kind of thing, but the Screen Actors Guild had their own awards show last night with a few surprises. First among them was the fact that Little Miss Sunshine won for best movie ensemble, beating out casts from The Departed and Dreamgirls among others. If you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine, you need to. That being said, I still don't think it has a chance at the Oscar this year, but that's just me.

On the other hand, a few shoe-ins were shoe-ins again last night. Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson won for their work in Dreamgirls and Helen Mirren won for The Queen. All deserved. And dare I say it, but Helen Mirren is pretty awesome.

On the TV side, well, all you have to know is The Office won for best comedy ensemble. That really is all that matters. If you're not watching The Office, something is seriously wrong with you. Watch it now if only because John Krasinski looks hot in a tux.

Little known fact: those SAG statues are 12 pounds. That's alot of pounds.

1.26.2007

when you wish upon a "star"

So USA Today ran an article about Disney's new ad campaign for its Year of a Million Dreams. The photos were taken by Annie Lebovitz and include such notable celebrities as Scarlett Johannsen dressed as Cinderella and Beyonce as Alice in Wonderland.
But for my money, the best picture is this one of David Beckham as Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty. [click photo for larger image] Yes, Becks is a little too flashy for my tastes and yes, I'm going to get sick of hearing about him over and over when I'm living in L.A., home of his new team the Los Angeles Galaxy. That being said, if I was in a magic-induced coma, I would want to have someone as handsome as David Beckham save me. Plus, Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie of all time so I'm partial.

wikit: say anything

My friend Kropp made a reference the other day in a comment about the John Cusack movie High Fidelity. Great movie, but it reminded me of the best Cusack film of all time: Say Anything.

Oh, Say Anything. Many of us would have been much better off not seeing that movie. Instead, we all fell in love with Lloyd Dobler and wished we would be able to find a guy like that to marry. Unfortunately, Lloyd is not real. In fact, he's very unreal. This love for Lloyd is so crazy that Chuck Klosterman once lamented in his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs that no woman will ever be satisfied because of their Lloyd Dobler compex.

But really, how could you NOT love Lloyd Dobler? Yeah, he had no direction in life and yeah, it took him forever to finally ask out the girl of his dreams, but who wouldn't feel sorry for a guy so completely heartbroken when he gets dumped? Who doesn't want a guy wooing them with a boombox under her window? Because unless the guy is a creepy stalker, every girl wouldn't mind something like that and rarely, if ever, does it happen in real life.

Plus, I think this movie is quoted almost as much as Caddyshack. "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." Or "If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like Gas 'n Sip on a Saturday night, completely alone, drinking beers, no women anywhere?" Or what about Lloyd trying to explain to Diane's dad that he doesn't want to buy, sell, or repair anything for a living?

Little known fact: The band The Smithereens wrote a song called "A Girl Like You" for the movie. The movie's producers rejected it, saying the lyrics gave away too much of the plot. The band released it anyway on their own album and it was their first Top 40 hit. Here are the lyrics -- decide for yourself.

And of course, what would any Say Anything post be without this Peter Gabriel gem?

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes

1.25.2007

all hail the queen

In my bid to see as many Best Picture Oscar nominees as possible, I went and saw "The Queen" last night, which was actually pretty good. The story revolves around the death of Princess Diana and the way the monarchy reacted to it. That being said, I was quite surprised to realized that by the end, they had never used an actress for Diana, just news footage.

As for Helen Mirren, who plays the queen, her nomination for Best Actress is well deserved and I'm calling it now -- she's going to win it. So suck on that, Dame Judi Densh!

The rest of the cast was pretty good as well. They didn't look exactly like their real-life counterparts, but close enough. And as for Will and Harry, I think I maybe saw those two actors in a scene here or there. It was much more about the queen, which I thought was pretty cool.

So yeah, go see it before they take it out of the movie theaters again. And yeah! The Departed is back in Bloomington! I so need to see that movie.

1.24.2007

wikit: morrissey

So I've been listening to Morrissey lately and thought I should post a little about him so you can all enjoy my wonderful taste in music.

Morrissey used to be in 80's emo band The Smiths back before emo was cool and I know you've all heard their song "How Soon is Now," which is always used in emo-type movies. So be it.

After that, Morrissey struck out on his own and recorded such songs as "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" and "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful." True, but why do you have to keep following me to let me know that?

Little known fact: Morrissey's moodiness has made him enemies with several musicians including Madonna, George Michael, and Robert Smith of The Cure, who once was quoted as saying, "If Morrissey says don't eat meat, then I'll eat meat, because I hate Morrissey." And this is coming from one of the most goth emo singers out there. Go figure.

So here's to moody emo before it was popular. And with that, I give you one of my favorite Morrissey songs.

Morrissey - Everyday is Like Sunday

1.23.2007

because i'm a nerd

I admit, I have geek tendencies. I watch The X-Files -- still -- and I love Star Wars. Oh, and I like to laugh at those stupid anti-drug ads from the 1980's. So I give you this. Only those of you who are also nerds will appreciate it.

grudging approval

Ok, so John Mayer is dating Jessica Simpson, which I can't approve of. I frankly can't approve of anyone dating Jessica Simpson. Even Nick Lachey became cool when he got a divorce from her.

Anyway, as much as that's annoying, the guy has a pretty cool blog. For those of you who are Grey's Anatomy fans, there's been some controversy about Isaiah Washington calling another one a slur on the set. So based on that, John Mayer thinks Isaiah's character needs to come out of the closet and admit that not only is he gay, but he's also a Scissor Sisters fan. John did all of this in script format on his blog for you to read and, well, I grudgingly admit, it's funny.

Also, as most people know, I love the show The Office. In the Christmas episode, boss Michael Scott did a karaoke version of John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland" and rather than getting paid in royalties for the use of the song, John simply asked to be paid with a Dundie. The show gave him the "Tallest Music Dude" award for his efforts.

But Jessica Simpson? Seriously?

oscar the grouch


The Oscar nominations came out today with a few big surprises.

First, "Dreamgirls" was nominated for eight Oscars, making it the highest nominated. That being said, it is NOT up for Best Picture. Yeah, that's right. Best picture is not one of its potential wins. Quite a shocker.

So what happened? The Academy this year decided to nominate a few dark horses. First among them was "Little Miss Sunshine," which I can't say enough good things about. The movie was nominated for best picture as well as supporting nods for Alan Arkin and adorable Abigail Breslin. I'm sure she's not going to win this year -- she's up against Cate Blanchett and shoe-in Jennifer Hudson -- but she's still so good in that movie.

The Best Picture nominees are "The Departed," "Babel," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen." I've only seen one of these so far so I have to get on the train and start checking all of them out, starting with "The Queen" this week. I just hope they bring "The Departed" back and have some of the smaller films make their way to the middle of Indiana. And is anyone else surprised that "Letters From Iwo Jima" was nominated, but not its English companion "Flags of Our Fathers"?

I'm getting all kinds of excited for this year and will be pulling my tiara out for whatever local party I'm going to. YEAH!

Edited to add: Did anyone see the list for Original Song? Prince won the Golden Globe for that and didn't even get nominated for the Oscar. Meanwhile, there are three songs from Dreamgirls nominated, one from Cars, and apparently a song written specifically for Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Really? We'll see how this category shapes up. All five nominated songs are performed at the Oscars [it's the music portion of the movie awards show] so this should be quite interesting. At least there's no 3 6 Mafia this year.

And in the documentary category, Al Gore could win an Oscar and what's better: Being President of the United States or an Oscar winner? That being said, he's up against a movie called "Jesus Camp" so this could be quite the interesting category.

Full list of nominees is here.

1.22.2007

don't be a rock star

Jobs that have a short life span: rock star. According to this Web site, the average age of death for a rock star is almost 37 years for rock stars, but 78 years for us normal people. Seriously. Things to avoid if you are a rock star: heart attacks, drugs, cars, airplanes, your own hand, and unknowns. Surprisingly, there weren't many deaths due to alcohol. Go figure.

Oh, and weird deaths: falling out a window and hit by a train.

dancing with that one guy...

I Love the 90's called. They want their dancers back.

Apparently, someone at ABC is starting to leak the names of the dancers on the next installment of Dancing with the Stars. Ok, you can stop laughing at me now for liking the show. Anyway...included on the list are Joey Fatone from 90's band N Sync, Billy Ray Cyrus who sang the 90's hit song Achy Breaky Heart, and Ian Ziering from 90's show 90210. If you don't recognize his picture on the left, you're probably under the age of 18. Just a guess.

So please tell me I'm not going to be the only loser watching this show. I am, right? I do have to admit though that this show is another reminder of why Tivo is so great. Set up the Tivo to record the show, but don't start actually watching the show until at least 15 minutes in. That way you can skip the commercials and the really bad dancers [re: Tucker Carlson and Master P] and yet still find out who gets kicked out LIVE instead of on your Tivo delay.

1.19.2007

beyonce and the supremes

So I headed out to see Dreamgirls earlier this week and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Beyonce can actually act and Jennifer Hudson was perfect for her role. And wow. Did not expect Eddie Murphy to be as good as he was. That was a pleasant surprise.

The movie won three Golden Globes for best drama, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson. I think she probably won her Globe for her rendition of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going". Yeah, the rest of her acting was ok, but if you saw her sing that song in the context of the movie, you would be blown away. Hell, you would be blown away hearing it without seeing the movie first, so I give you an MP3 to bask in the awesomeness of this performance.

Jennifer Hudson - And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going

Also, check out Jennifer Holliday, who originated the role of Effie, perform the song at the Tonys [via YouTube].

1.18.2007

wikit: nkotb

This is the first of what will maybe be a regular feature to make you waste your time at work or at home. So you know how you can end up spending hours of time on Wikipedia? I'm going to help you!

First, I had to highlight an oldie but a dearie. As anyone who knew me when I was 13 can attest, I was in love with the New Kids on the Block. And why? Because I was a teenager with baby-sitting money to spend and they were a band that took my money.

NKOTB, as they were later called, were a successful boy band out of Boston who rocked to fame with such hits as "I'll be Loving You (Forever)" and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" [what the hell was up with all the parenthesis?].

Little known fact: MTV at first didn't play the band's videos because the station thought they were a marketing phenom and not a music one? Now, all they play on MTV are marketing phenoms. Is that ironic or coincidental?

Little known fact: Maurice Starr also founded New Edition, but that's for another wikit.

Little known fact: I still know the full names of every single band member and their birthdays. My favorite was Joe [aka Joseph Mulrey McIntyre, born Dec. 31, 1972, and no I didn't have to look any of that up]. My first concert was the New Kids at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Nov. 17, 1990.

Little known fact: I know way too many little known facts.

So with that, I give you my favorite New Kids on the Block song of all time. I dare you to download it!

NKOTB - Please Don't Go Girl


And I think I had a really big button with this picture on it. Oh, New Kids. You were so dreamy once.

luxury rehab

Ok, if you didn't expect Lindsay Lohan to go into rehab sooner or later, something is wrong with you. So yeah, the starlet headed to the only place for starlets to go -- a fancy schmancy rehab facility for celebrities in California. The best part was the description from Us Weekly of her entourage as it made its way to the facility.

"She arrived at the facility in a blacked out SUV followed by a caravan of two other cars. Looking somber, the actress carried a dark Balenciaga bag and a Jamba Juice, she wore black tights, a green flannel shirt, a leather jacket, and a black baseball cap that said 'Lola.'"

You know you have problems when you show up at rehab with a caravan of three SUVs, your Balenciaga bag, and a hat with your name on it so you can remember who you are.

On that note, I just realized I don't know what other labels to put on this post except "Lindsay Lohan." Should I add music? Movies? What the hell is her talent besides being a celebrity?

1.17.2007

red carpet interviews

I love watching all the pre-show coverage before the Golden Globes or the Oscars to see what people are wearing or hope I catch a glimpse of one of my favorite actors or singers getting interviewed. But as I watched all the entertainment coverage on Monday, I realized that there are certain criteria to get a job being an red carpet interviewer. First, you have to look pretty. Second, you have to dress pretty. Third, you have to be a vapid idiot.

For example, let's say I'm given the chance to do a red carpet interview with Leonardo DiCaprio at the Golden Globes. Here are some things I would ask:

-- The Departed is your third movie with Martin Scorcese. Why do you like working with him so much?
-- How did you learn the accent you used in "Blood Diamond" and how long did it take you to get it right?

You know, things like that. Instead, these were the questions that Leo was asked.

-- Who are you wearing?
-- How long did it take you to get ready today?
-- Who is your date?

Really? That's all you can come up with? It gets worse when the different outfits make celebrities look stupid with hokey pokey garbage. These things would include:

-- The rotating platform that Entertainment Tonight made people stand on while being interviewed by Mary Hart.
-- The Glam Cam on E!. Make sure to stand still while we take a full body shot of your outfit as we zoom up your legs to your crotch, your cleavage, and finally, your face as an afterthought.
-- The Insider Confessional Cam! Confess your darkest secrets, Sheryl Crow, or you won't get free Moet champagne.
-- The Insider Two-Way Mirror. Because wouldn't it be embarassing if a celeb's dress was accidentally tucked into her underwear before she went it?
-- The E! Post-Show Interview Lounge with an open bar! It started lame and then the chick from E! put Helen Mirren's Golden Globes on some stupid stand that rotates around and accidentally dropped one. Yes, she dropped Helen Mirren's Golden Globe. Awkward.

So yeah, it's times like these when I'm glad I have a Tivo and a mute button. I will admit, I Tivoed all the shows mentioned above, but I was also admit that it only took me 20 minutes to get through three hours of that crap before deleting it forever.

minnesota idol

So American Idol started up again last night and luckily for me, I Tivoed. Why luckily? I never realized how crappy these two-hour audition shows are until I was able to fast forward through them. Here's the formula: bad singer comes in and thinks they are good, they're always there because they want to be the next American Idol, they sing horribly, they want a second change, they beg to go to Hollywood, and they always make sure to mention in the post-audition interview that the judges don't know what they're talking about. Believe me, they do. You sucked. Also, it's pretty much a given that if you dress up like Apollo Creed or sing like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz that you're going to get cut.

Last night, there was also the added bonus that tryouts were in Minnesota. For the most part, no biggie except for the first girl they had on the show who went into a detailed description of her job at Glamor Shots in one of the best Minnesotan accents I ever heard. It even topped my friend Stacy's accent when she would come back to New York after being home for a week and start dropping long O's everywhere.

So yeah, this will remain a Tivo staple for now, but from now on, I'm going to watch it after it airs so it only takes me 45 minutes to watch a two-hour show.

1.16.2007

let me entertain you

I figured this would be a good start for my MP3 posts for all of you given the title.

If you haven't heard of Robbie Williams, no one would blame you. The guy is huge in Europe -- HUGE! -- but never feels the need to tour the U.S. so he never gets news coverage here. Despite all that, he lives in Los Angeles. Maybe it's because no one knows him here.

Anyway, for a guy that started out in the British version of the New Kids on the Block [Take That for those interested], the guy has gone a long way. Oh, and according to Wiki, he likes to look himself up on the Internet so if he ever makes it here, well, then there will be two of us reading this blog.

Below is a SendSpace link to his song "Let Me Entertain You" from the 1999 album The Ego Has Landed. If you haven't used SendSpace before, it's easy. Click the link below, which will take you to a page to download the song. Click the link there and viola! Robbie Williams on your computer!

Robbie Williams - Let Me Entertain You

it's here

So finally after much talk and hype, I'm getting this thing going. I figure everyone on the Internet wants to know my opinion so why not give it to them? This crazy thing will cover all the crap in pop culture out there today from the good to the bad to the Ugly Betty, which won the Best Comedy Golden Globe last night much to my chagrin. And yes, there will be a CCP logo. I'm just not feeling it today.

So have fun coming by over and over. I'll be trying to do a few posts a day so there will always be something! And if you have ideas, the email address is on the right so send them along.