Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Tee hee! We're all a-titter over this week's Observer cover, although we can imagine Anna Wintour has an enormous bee buzzing in her bonnet right about now. Oh my! Here is this April's cover of Vogue, featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen. It was shot by Annie Leibovitz: click for what might have been her "inspiration." As you might imagine, its been causing quite the stir!  Weeee! Here's the Observer's silly little spoof, conveniently timed to their magazine-themed issue. Doesn't Si Newhouse look ever so dainty? 
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
 A. Avril Lavigne, our favorite little married pop-punk foul-mouthed songstress, who just scored an exclusive design deal with Kohl's? Will it be Hot Topic meets Chanel? Or will it just be pink and black and Kelly Osbourne?  B. Karl Lagerfeld, who delivered the following zingers (among many more) in a nine-page Q&A cover story for Prestige Hong Kong: 1. "When people talk about the good old days, I say to people, 'It's not the days that are old, it's you that's old.' I hate the good old days. What is important is that today is good." 2. "I’m a very fascist person. If someone tells me something has to be like this, I’m not interested. I could never be an art director selecting other people’s work. I’m only interested in my own work. I’m a very superficial person, but that is good for what I’m doing." 3. "I hate all children." 4. "May I tell you something? I like today better than before. The late ’80s were an awful time. I like today, or maybe I like my life today. I’m much happier today than I was then." (Bonus Points for identifying the most Karl-esque quote -- or, at least, what I think is!)
 C. Christian Siriano, Project Runway's boy-genius, who I predict will win it all tonight (sorry, Jillian, I still heart you!) Keep in mind he told the Washington Post that yes, he really is like that: both on and off camera.
Friday, February 08, 2008
 "So we'll march day and ni-i-ight, by the big cooling tower
They have the [studios], but we have the power [sorta]"In spite of what Michael Eisner says, the WGA strike is not over. This Saturday, WGA leadership will meet with members to discuss the language of a possible deal, then on Sunday, the WGA's board will vote on whether or not to accept it. This all may sound great, particularly to those of us who are really really hoping they find time to finish this season of Lost before, like, August, but Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke (who's really the best source out there for this stuff) cautions against getting too optimistic: I'm told that one of the purposes of Saturday's informational
meetings is for the governing boards to decide whether the membership
will approve the contract or not. This, insiders say, will determine if
the bigwigs call off the strike or not.Once the governing bodies recommend the contract and call off the
strike, then procedures will kick in to send out ballots to the
membership on both coasts to vote on the contract. Of course, some snafus may occur. For instance, I'm told that if no
draft language is ready in time for Saturday, "it's a very different
ballgame".
So it looks like we'll know more after Monday. As we mentioned before, we don't even really miss TV all that much (somewhat to our surprise), we just want Lost. (And The Wire, too, but that's in the can already.)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
I just discovered this handy, helpful chart on the Project Runway
Season 4 wiki page, whilst dreamily envisioning what fashion challenges
our beloved contestents might encounter on tonight's episode. (Who
needs writers when we've still got the two best shows on television,
Proj Run and History Detectives?). [Ed. note - You're a writer.] Oh,
right. Nevermind. I <3 writers. Anyway, here's the chart:  This is the squinty, mini version, of course. For the real thing, look here. So, let's get out our pointers and consult the cold hard facts of the chart, shall we? Judging solely on wins, Christian, Jillian, Rami and Victorya seem to be the top contenders, although Kevin ranked high scores for four out of seven challenges - but now he's out. My money for winner is on Jillian or Christian, even though he's ranked low on two challenges - the judges just don't understand sometimes, ya know? I mean, Nina Garcia never changes her effing hairstyle! Does anyone else notice this? Why is it always down? Never a casual ponytail, or maybe a Chanel scarf. Nope, nothing - totally boring. And Heidi flops between dramatic hairstyles like they're sticks of Juicy Fruit. Nina, it's a show about fashion, live it up a little! How can we trust you in that repetitive, vanilla 'do? I digress, back to investigating the chart. The next one out, according to lowest scores, should be Rami (Rami! He's so complex), Sweet P (but I'd miss her funny commentary!), and Ricky. Ah, Ricky. How has he possibly made it this far? Is he bribing someone at Bravo? Does nobody notice these horrible mesh, male escortish police hats he wears every day? I'll bet you $15 worth of Mode fabrics that he'll be out tonight. I miss Kit already.
1/23/2008 11:42:00 AM by Caitlin | |
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Just announced Wednesday, Capcom is releasing Street Fighter IV, a continuation of one of the most popular fighting games of all time. We can't rightly call it the fourth installment because of the numerous different variations Capcom has made for each different iteration of the series. It's been ten years since the first proper release of Street Fighter III, but we suspect most gamers only remember the landmark SFII (plus Championship Edition, Championship Edition: Turbo, etc.) And judging from the trailer, Capcom is banking on the nostalgia factor. Nothing wrong with that in this case.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
 The super-awesome Comedian of Comedy Patton Oswalt will be doing Intelligence, a comedy pilot for HBO about counter-intelligence agents posing as disgruntled government employees. The premise sounds good, but it almost doesn't matter - we're just glad to see Patton doing well. It's been a good year for him, between this, Ratatouille, and Werewolves and Lollipops, and he's always seemed like he's a solid dude, so we're inclined to say he deserves it. Here's some Patton standup goodness:
Monday, September 17, 2007
Dragonforce, "Through the Fire and Flames (Guitar Hero 3)"Some site called Megatonik is claiming to have the complete set list from the upcoming Guitar Hero 3. Looks to be in line with everything we've heard about the game so far. That last level looks sick to us: "Number of the Beast," "Raining Blood," "One," and for the finale, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Also exciting: "The Seeker" and "Kool Thing." Less excited about tracks by Disturbed, Slipknot, Muse, Rise Against, Bloc Party, and Social Distortion, but you take the good with the meh. Still won't be as good as Rock Band.
Friday, September 07, 2007
 Oh, come on!In an interview with MTV's Movies Blog, Jason "Michael Bluth" Bateman says people are still talking about the possibility of an Arrested Development movie. Or similar venture: “We would all love to get back together and maybe do something with
the show in the future,” the former (and possibly future) Michael Bluth
said during the interview, revealing that talks are still alive. “But I
don’t know when — or how — that would happen.” “Maybe it could be as a movie or something,” Bateman reasoned,
saying that the emergence of “Superbad” star [Michael] Cera — and improv comedies
in general — have created a more welcoming environment for the
dysfunctional clan. “We’ll see. We’ll let the adults figure it out.”
This is all coming as Juno hits the film-fest circuit. Juno includes a mini-Bluth reunion, as it stars both Bateman and Cera. Let's not get too excited, though, since series creator Mitchell Hurwitz hasn't said anything about it yet. But if Bateman says it's a possibility, then it's the best sign we've had since the show ended that it could become a reality.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
 Photo illustration © Ryan StewartAt first, I was oddly lukewarm on this. Sure, there's the obvious immediate benefits. The Celtics now boast an All-Star caliber trio that could easily run roughshod over the perennially weak Eastern Conference. It's not a stretch to say that the Celtics are now not only a playoff team, but also a contender for the Eastern Conference Finals as long as Pierce, Allen, and Garnett all stay healthy. But at the same time, those three will all be over 30 by season's end. They'll all start showing their age two or three years from now. Will the Celtics just turn into another version of the bloated Knicks at that time with no payroll flexibility to get younger? And what kind of depth does the current team have left? Does it matter that they'll be starting Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins with a bench of basically Tony Allen, Big Baby Davis, and Brian Scalabrine? Will this be what holds them back come next spring? Or will veterans now be rushing to play for this team for less money? And have we forgotten that Doc Rivers is still the coach? Also, it just hurts to give up Al Jefferson. I know there's a tendency to overrate youth and potential, but Jefferson is a future All-Star. But in the time since learning about the deal, I've come to realize a few things. First off, Al Jefferson may be earmarked for future greatness, but Garnett is great now, and at a level Jefferson, great as he might get, would be hard-pressed to match. And also, as Jackie MacMullan points out, the other Eastern contenders haven't done much to improve their rosters. The rest of the Conference is that bad (remember the Finals?), so a three-man team like this one can make it through to the end. Once you're in the finals, who knows what can happen. This was a chance the team needed to take. Maybe there will be problems facing this team a few years down the line, but hopefully by then whoever's running the front office will have a plan for a swifter rebuilding process, one that doesn't involve attempting to cater to an establish franchise player like Pierce. So I guess what I'm saying is that I've come around. Also, check out Bill Simmons's take on this.
Monday, July 30, 2007
It's hard to find good news from Iraq these days, doubly hard if you're looking in The Phoenix. Fox News is relentlessly on the case though, usually with some kind of dissembling drivel. Occaisonally, however, they seize upon a story that warms the cockles of your heart, without trying to monkey with synapses of your brain beforehand.
It turns out that the Iraqi soccer team took first place at the 2007 Asian Cup, defeating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final. While this touched off the predictable fusillade of celebration-via-Kalashnikov, the triumph of the "Lions of the Two Rivers" can hardly fail to move even the most stoic, with its Disney-ready story of adversity and on-field vindication, and the subsequent eruption of glee on the part of the Iraqis. Ready for the tearjerking kicker? The team fields three strikers: One Sunni, one Shi'ite, and one Kurd.
If there are two sports-related things that Americans don't "get," they are a. soccer and b. national pride and unity being bound up in international competition (no one wasted any ammo on the Dream Team, at least to my knowledge). Nevertheless, I hope that this (admittedly Foxified) story of an egalitarian, non-sectarian celebration in Iraq will make you all as happy as it did me.
--Ben Richardson
(Photo via AP)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
 You were expecting maybe Ralph Fiennes?
The rumormongering surrounding director Zach Snyder and writer David Hayter's upcoming adaptation of Watchmen got a little out of hand on these tubes of ours. Hell, we even thought some of it was true. But in the end, the official cast, announced today, is probably about what you'd expect in the real world: solid, but hardly star-studded. Jackie Earle Haley ( Little Children) gets what is more or less the lead role as Rorschach, the uncompromising borderline-sociopathic vigilante. Patrick Wilson (uh, also Little Children) gets the part of Nite Owl, a reluctantly retired hero who's feeling down and out now that he's out of the adventuring game. Billy Crudup ( Almost Famous/Master Card ads) will play the nuclear-modified Dr. Manhattan, the only costumed hero with actual super powers. The little-known Malin Ackerman ( Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) will be Laurie Juspeczyk, a young woman who was pushed into crime fighting by her mother who now feels disillusioned with both that life and her new one living on a military base with Dr. Manhattan. Matthew Goode ( Match Point) is Ozymandias, the rich, powerful, Egypt-obsessed, "smartest man in the world," who now spends his time using his crime-fighting past to further his own agenda by publicly performing feats of strength and the like. And finally, Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be the Comedian, the cynical stongman whose murder serves as the inciting incident of the whole plot. We're satisfied with this cast, but it still seems a little on the young side to us. No matter. It's here now, nothing anyone can do about it. Time to start hoping for the best. FRIDAY UPDATE: Snyder just gave his Comic Con presentation; said little of substance. Dr. Manhattan will be CGI, but that was fairly obvious anyway. Says he has Dave Gibbons's blessing. No word on what Alan Moore thinks about this, but here's a guess: he's going to hate it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
 Why?
Quick and dirty analysis, based on reporting from the scene here, here, and here: Microsoft didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, Sony impressed by actually revealing new info, and Nintendo basically took a huge shit on everyone's head.
Well, maybe the last one isn't entirely accurate. You can argue fairly that Nintendo is in the process of accomplishing their goals with the Wii, namely bringing games to the non-gamer market. The problem is that they seem to be doing this at the expense of the actual gamer market, whether it's someone who plays for three hours a night, or two hours a week. Nintendo did unveil a Wii version of Mario Kart, and gave more details on already-announced titles like Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (no online play, it seem), and Metroid Prime 3. They also revealed a goofy and redundant zapper, and a really cheesy-looking steering wheel.
All that is fine, but what's bugging people is that the "big news" is WiiFit, a "game" that will be played on a Power Pad-like "balance board" and consist of a series of fitness-related mini-games. Nintendo's heart is in the right place, but it seems like the kind of thing that gamers are going to scoff at and non-gamers will simply not give a second thought to. To our eyes, anyway, it certainly looks pretty damn silly. Yet Nintendo devoted a large chunk of their presser to it, and seemed to suggest it would be the kind of thing they'd be doing more of in the future. For those who've gone to great lengths to get this system, it wasn't great news; these people have been forced to suffer through enough mini-game collections as it is. Let's get some content, here, Nintendo. What's going to happen when you run out of crowd-pleasing franchise updates? Do they think "Check Mii Out" will get people excited? At least the DS is getting a pretty sweet Zelda game.
Sony, on the other hand, didn't exactly bring out the big guns, but they did announce some good-looking PSP titles as they try to narrow the gap with the DS in the handheld wars, and they delivered some actual good news for those who shelled out $600+ for a PS3. Unreal Tournament 3 is going to be a PS3 exclusive. And Infamous, from the people who brought you Sly Cooper, will be hitting the machine this year as well. And, of course, in the not-distant future, Metal Gear Solid 4 will come out for the PS3. This will be the last game in the saga, at least as far as creator Hideo Kojima's involvement is concerned. Did somebody say "trailer"?
Meanwhile, Harmonix's Rock Band continued to put the Neversoft-produced Guitar Hero 3 to shame. Rock Band announced that Steven Van Zandt will be heading the game's "music advisory board" (expect some garage.) They also announced that full-album downloadable content will be a part of the game, starting with The Who's Who's Next. And finally, they made a shitload of fanboys happy by announcing that Metallica will be on board with the game. We've been waiting since the first Guitar Hero two years ago for that. Guitar Hero 3's big announcement? Slash will be a boss character. It's cool that he's in the game (and playable, too), but there's something about a boss battle in a Guitar Hero game that just doesn't seem right to us. Combined with the new battle mode, it seems that the concerns about Neversoft's involvement with the game may have been well-founded. Color us guarded, at the very least.
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