Happy Friday! The weekend is here, and thus you now have countless opportunities for entertainment. Take for example, the movies. Essentially, there are five big new movies on the radar this weekend for your viewing pleasure. Here are your options. You can watch George Clooney star in The Men Who Stare at Goats, based on a book about a secret military plan to use paranormal skills to, well, take out barnyard animals with a glance (and presumably a hairy eyeball). Or, perhaps you’ll go see The Box, a suspense thriller about a couple presented with a box, a button, and a few life or death options.Starring Cameron Diaz. You could also catch Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, a harrowing but ultimately uplifting urban drama that’s got real Oscar buzz. Then again maybe you’re intrigued by The Fourth Kind, starring the gorgeous Milla Jovovich (whose appearance in The Fifth Element leads me to wonder if she has a thing for ordinal numbers). This one’s about creepy disappearances in an Alaskan town. Your final movie option? A Christmas Carol, which combines Jim Carrey, that weird motion capture animation, a PG rating, plus an oldie but goodie storyline. Which will probably add up to major box office bucks right on thru the holidays. And this got me thinking: why would a studio release a Christmas movie weeks before even Thanksgiving? And then I remembered: because it’ll make tons of cash. And who better to star in a pre-holiday holiday blockbuster than Jim Carrey? So of course I got to wondering about your favorite Jim Carrey films. Hence today’s poll. Now, I am sticking with JC’s “fun” films and steering clear of Oscar bait like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show.Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know your fave Jim Carrey film.
1) Ace Ventura
2) The Mask
3) Liar, Liar
4) Me, Myself & Irene
10:25 am on November 6, 2009
When it comes to the old do -you-remember-where-you-were-when game, 2009 is definitely a year of amazing milestones in pop culture. As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the movie Pulp Fiction is 15 years old. Now, what do Say Anything, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Heathers, Big, Road House, Batman, & Born on The Fourth of July all have in common? These films were each released exactly 20 years ago. Do you remember seeing them in theaters? Television is also marking some huge milestones. 20 years ago a show called “The Seinfeld Chronicles” hit the little screen. The title would be shortened of course, but you get the point. Plus, another one of TV’s biggest birthdays happens next week, because on November 10th, Sesame Street will celebrate its 40th anniversary.(If you’re wondering, a quick check to anniversary symbols reveals that the 1st anniversary is traditionally celebrated with paper, the 20th is celebrated with china and platinum, and the 40th is known as the “ruby” anniversary).
It’ll be quite a season for Sesame Street, and to honor this groundbreaking and beloved children’s program, even Google is celebrating. They’re incorporating Big Bird into their homepage, so every time people search on November the 10th, they’ll find Big Bird’s orange and pink legs. Happy 40th, Sesame Street! Additionally, the anniversary kickoff show will feature some pretty terrific guest stars, including First Lady Michelle Obama and Cameron Diaz.(The People’s Choice Awards will also be celebrating on November 10th…but more on that later on).
In this era of TV shows that last for less than a season, 40 years is a long time to be on top. And as someone who actually remembers the first year of Sesame Street, I’ve been thinking about the show’s characters I loved and identified with,as well as the ones more popular with kids today. With this in mind, and as we salute Sesame Street on their 40th anniversary, please voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which Sesame Street character(s) is(are) your favorite!
1) Big Bird
2) Elmo
3) Kermit
4) Oscar the Grouch
10:36 am on November 5, 2009
It’s Wednesday. Halfway there. In TV news, you all were right, if how you voted yesterday was any indication of how Dancing With the Stars would turn out after another double elimination round. Appealing as they were, we had to say buh-bye to Michael Irvin and Mark Dacascos. But far more enlightening for many of us was the performance of the Ballas Hough Band, comprised of dancers Mark Ballas and Derek Hough, Did you see it? Should dancers be allowed to sing? This notion of crossovers is of course where we’re headed with today’s poll, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First up, some big award show news — it seems Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have both been tapped to host the Oscars…how do you feel about that? We will of course be asking you more pointed questions about your favorite Oscar hosts in the coming weeks. But for now it’s something to consider, and it’s probably a pairing, regardless of its success in terms of ratings, that will make more than a few of us laugh out loud. A lot. In other TV news, many of you were very, very pleased to learn that TNT has rescued Southland, but how do you feel about NBC’s decision not to keep going with Trauma, another brand new medical show barely on its feet before it got the axe? Now let’s get back to today’s business at hand, which is crossover talent. Because the appearance of the Ballas Hough Band made me wonder where genuine talent ends, and where skill — and vanity – begins. Although to be fair, there are a number of actors who have taken to song when we didn’t know they could, with excellent results. Meryl Streep can absolutely sing. Kevin Kline can entertain us with song and dance. Mandy Moore does everything. Hugh Jackman too. Billy Ray Cyrus had a series, and then some. Christopher Walken can totally dance. Patrick Swayze had real pipes. And so on. So now, while we’re on the subject of crossover talent, let’s go the other way and see which singers you think should act more. Herewith, four singer performers who have appeared in movies and TV. Of them, please voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these singers who decided to act is your fave.
1) Madonna
2) LL Cool J
3) Bon Jovi
4) Queen Latifah
10:30 am on November 4, 2009
Two words today: David Cook. With the arrival of Carrie Underwood’s CD Play On and yesterday’s poll about former Idols you’re most psyched about, it seems lots of you are overwhelmingly keen on David Cook, who wasn’t one of the four choices. Next time, I promise! Plus we have Hollywood baby news: first, actor Mel Gibson and his current GF Oksana Grigorieva, are the new parents of a daughter named Lucia (and baby makes 8 for papa Mel). Also, actress Mary Stuart Masterson had a baby boy with hub Jeremy Davidson. (If MSM’s name’s not ringing a bell, think Fried Green Tomatoes and one of my personal favorites, Some Kind Of Wonderful). Congratulations. And some REALLY good news for all of you Southland fans — and there are plenty. TNT has rescued the drama which NBC cancelled a few weeks back. So rest assured, Ben McKenzie is still on the beat. Speaking of beats — it’s Tuesday and we know what that means. Time to check in on Dancing With The Stars to see who’s going home tonight in another double elimination round. Who’s left? Why is everyone getting sick? (And who thinks the “stars” should have been designing any of the dancers’ costumes??) So — remaining we have: Donny, Michael Irvin, Mark Dacascos, Mya, Aaron Carter, Kelly Osbourne, and Joanna Krupa. The musical guest tonight will be none other than Rod Stewart. But wait! That’s not all we get, because there will also be a special appearance by the “Ballas Hough Band” (comprised of — you guessed it — Mark Ballas and Derek Hough). They’ll be performing their new single “Move”. We’ll see about that. But now, for today’s featured poll: how about you all voice your choice and let us know which “stars” are not going to make it ’til Wednesday?
1) Michael Irvin
2) Mark Dacascos
3) Kelly Osbourne
4) Aaron Carter
10:25 am on November 3, 2009
Happy Monday! Happy Post-Halloween (and post-trick-or-treating-did-you-stop-the-kids-from-ingesting- every-bit-of-chocolatey-goodness within a ten-mile radius of your home?) Or, did you enjoy the requisite costume party for adults where you spend tons of time wondering if your costume’s innovative and “fun” enough only to realize — a day later – that it really didn’t matter so much because everyone had a great time anyway? Just so long as everyone remembered to set the clocks back. But let’s get to the entertainment stuff. As in, Michael Jackson’s movie This Is It brought in over $101 million dollars worldwide this weekend…that’s quite a showing for the King of Pop…did you catch it? And now begins our cinematic trek towards the holiday blockbusters…your New Moon, Invictus (from Clint Eastwood, starring Morgan Freeman & Matt Damon) Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, 2012 and other films that’ll be probable moneymakers. Speaking of moneymakers, Carrie Underwood’s latest album Play On gets released tomorrow, and there are LOTS of excited fans. This American Idol’s momentum has never really slowed, and Play On’s likely to keep her going for a while. Which got me wondering…and here comes today’s poll…which other former Idols are you most excited about? We’d love you to weigh in specifically on a few past Idol winners (as opposed to some of the insanely popular and wildly successful singers who didn’t win, but whose careers haven’t suffered one bit). As we get ready for Carrie and Play On, I’d like to know which of these former winners you still like best. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which Idol, in your opinion, still has what it takes.
1) Kelly Clarkson
2) Ruben Studdard
3) Fantasia Barrino
4) Taylor Hicks
10:33 am on November 2, 2009
Happy Halloween (tomorrow)! But for our workplace purposes, you get the drift. It’s Friday and the weekend’s here and gee, what’ll you do for fun? Will you trick or treat? Will you see one of the (few) movies opening this weekend? If you’re curious, here’s the deal…not tons of brand new films opening because we’ve still got a few weeks before the big blockbuster holiday stuff that falls in the TCMZ (Thanksgiving/Christmas Movie Zone) …as in New Moon, 2012, A Christmas Carol, Avatar, etc… But for now, your main choices are as follows. There is 1) This Is It, the Michael Jackson documentary. 2) Gentlemen Broncos, the latest from Jared Hess who made Napoleon Dynamite. I saw it and while I realize I am easily 20-30 years older than the target audience, I did find Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) really funny in it. Perhaps you’ll see Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day which is the sequel to the cult hit B.S.(1) — still starring Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus. Then we have another scary movie: House of the Devil which is getting lots of critical acclaim. Or perhaps you’ll just go see Paranormal Activity and continue to make that flick one of the most profitable pictures ever! If you do see something, let us know what you think.
In the meantime, all this TV stuff got me wondering — which naturally, does lead to a poll. Because I was watching a Friends rerun. Still funny. A show I was quite keen on. And I know now that the girls have all done really well of late. 
Courteney Cox has a hit show, Cougar Town. Jennifer Aniston’s got a slew of movies, she’s one of America’s faves and her lovelife is daily tabloid fodder. Their costar, the lovely Lisa Kudrow is also about to guest star on Cougar Town.
So the Friends gals are really busy these days. Which leads me to wonder…what about the guys? Oh sure, everybody has a few misfires. But my question for you today is which of these guys has the stamina (and the chops) to survive the curse of the hit sitcom?
Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which male Friend has another hit ahead?
1) Matthew Perry
2) Matt LeBlanc
3) David Schwimmer
10:02 am on October 30, 2009
Happy Thursday. Are you putting the final touches on your Halloween getup? Are you bummed because World Series baseball pre-empted Glee (pretty much the most deliciously fun show on television. Ever.) Although tonight Grammy-winning singer/songwriter John Legend will sing at the World Series, which will likely be super cool. The big Movie & Music combo news this week is of course the release of the Michael Jackson film This Is It, whose star-studded premiere included everyone from the Jackson family to J.Lo, Will Smith, Ashley Tisdale, Paula Abdul, Adam Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris and a really, really long list of famous people whom you’d expect at a landmark Hollywood event like this. Elizabeth Taylor (make that Dame Elizabeth Taylor) says This Is It is the single best piece of filmmaking shes ever seen. And maybe she’s not a critic, but I’ll bet she’s probably seen a fair amount of films in her (distinguished, Award-winning) day. Will you check This Is It out? I probably will. I bought and loved Thriller. In the 1980’s I also managed to convince my parents buy me a VHS tape called “The Making of Thriller” because in those pre-Tivo days it was the only way you could watch Michael’s famous moonwalk performance from the Grammy Awards that got everyone sooo excited. It was pretty riveting stuff. But back to the business of This Is It. Which, by the way, made a cool 2 million on its opening night. In fact, having just re-watched that moonwalk video on the internet (because we can, now) I then decided to watch some of the King of Pop’s music videos. The ones that sold zillions of records and made so many of us fans. Which got me wondering — which is typically what leads to a poll — about the best one. So in anticipation of the movie, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which Michael Jackson video is your favorite.
1) Billy Jean (1983)
2) Thriller (1984)
3) Beat It (1983)
4) Man in the Mirror (1988)
9:21 am on October 29, 2009
Halloween is fast approaching and with it ghouls, goblins, vampires, more vampires and maybe even a Lady Gaga or two. And, as millions of people love to do on Halloween weekend (when not eating, partying, or lamenting the poor quality of “treats” these days) many many of us will hit the cineplex. And of course, it used to be that you could take a date and cuddle during a scary movie. This is still true, although nowadays the dates tend to involve older people because some of the flicks are sooo gruesome that the kids aren’t even allowed in. (That said, if I had a nickel for every 11 year old who’s seen the entire Saw canon, I would be far more flush.) So today, I’d like to present you with a few scary movies that may still scare the living daylights out of people — even though they were made a few years back. I took a random sampling of moviegoers here in Los Angeles and then averaged out the movies they suggested to come up with 4 whom I’d like you all to weigh in on. This is by no mean a comprehensive list, and I’m sure I will get a lot of comments about what SHOULD be included. (For example: Paranormal Activity, Rosemary’s Baby, Alien, Alien(s), Jaws, The Thing…) Rest assured, they’ll become a new scary movie poll. But for now, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of these movies, in your opinion, is the scariest movie of all?
1) The Exorcist
2) The Ring
3) The Shining
4) The Blair Witch Project
8:05 am on October 28, 2009
Happy Tuesday. So you all had LOTS to say about movie remakes (we’re going to talk horror remakes later as we get ready for Halloween) plus you had lots to say about comeback actors. Feel the same way about comeback actresses? We’ll see. But in newsy nuptials, Ivanka Trump (spawn of The Donald) wed Jared Kushner, newspaper exec over the weekend in what everyone is calling an extraordinarily lavish ceremony. That’s so odd for the Trumps. Then, Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss tied the knot with SNL star Fred Armisen over the weekend in what everyone is calling an extraordinarily private and low key ceremony. Bravo all around. Ricky Gervais has been tapped to host the Golden Globes, which should make them funnier and possibly drink-ier (if you can believe it). But now let’s talk about what everyone wants to talk about on Tuesdays: Dancing Wih The Stars. And I have two words for you: DOUBLE ELIMINATION. That’s right. There are nine dancers left and TWO of them will go home tonight. just to recap, Mya scored 24 yesterday, Melissa Joan Hart had 20, Mark Decascos and Joanna had 26, Aaron Carter had 25, Michael Irvin and Kelly O each had 20 points, Donny had 24 and Louie Vito had 21. No matter how it all transpires tonite, there will be not one but two limousines ferrying home also-rans who just didn’t have the juice. So who’s going home? I’m listing four here so you have an even greater chance of getting at least one right! Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of these hoofers is going to take a seat next.
Will it be:
1) Michael Irvin
2) Aaron Carter
3) Louie Vito
4) Kelly Osbourne
9:36 am on October 27, 2009
