I tweeted about this but I am so enraged I can’t just leave it at that. 140 characters isn’t enough. You never shake a baby. You never do anything that would encourage someone else to shake a baby. That is not how you get a kid quiet… unless, of course, you’re an idiot. So please, someone tell me how it is at all entertaining to play a game where the only way to quiet the baby down is to shake it? Seriously, what is wrong with people? [Read more →]
So here’s what’s going on. Last night was Disco Night on American Idol. It was revolting. I don’t want to talk about it at all. I hated everyone’s performance. Kriss was the only person that I didn’t wish cancer upon. So to change it up, I’m going to form a list of quotes and you can take turns guessing who would be more likely to say each one. It’s like a game. Only there’s no winner, no point and no prizes. [Read more →]
Over thirty years have passed since All the President’s Men, and we now have State of Play, a political thriller where a suspicious character is actually using a room in the Watergate. While the state of the political scandal remains as strong as ever, the same cannot be said for our nation’s newspapers. Just as I really began to register the decline of the Philadelphia Inquirer, I received a notice that the newspaper can no longer give discounts to subscribers. While some of the characters in State of Play wonder if anyone still reads the newspaper, in this film the printed word trumps the blog. [Read more →]
In general, don’t child actors end up messed up enough? How on earth do you get over knowing your father tried to sell you? I mean, what would Punky Brewster have done? I am sure she would have had a lot of takers — and her parents would have walked away with way more than $300K. [Read more →]
Last Week’s Roundup
Desperate Housewives, ABC, 9PM — On Sunday, Wisteria Lane lost one of its best neighbors, Edie Britt. After the accident and electrocution, we weren’t sure of her fate, but now we know she’s gone for good. In my eyes, Nicolette Sheridan was the best part of the show (I’ve been a big time fan since her role as Paige on “Knot’s“). She brought entertainment, fun, and flavor to the somewhat monotonous life of suburbia (though, the show has been great this past season). Now who is going to make fun of Susan, come between marriages, or jog practically naked around the neighborhood? Mrs. McCluskey? [Read more →]
If you’ve read my writings about Lost, you probably know that I believe it’s more than just a show: Lost contains hidden messages about how the world really works. That’s right, I sincerely believe that a TV series is giving us clues that can help us understand the mysteries of life. Well, if that were true, shouldn’t Lost include this little tidbit within its own mythology? Shouldn’t it demonstrate how the media can provide answers to our own life challenges so that we’ll know to look there to find them? Yes, I believe it should, and to be honest, I’ve been wondering if it was ever going to do so. In “Some Like It Hoth,” I finally received my answer. [Read more →]
Two reviews of the much-ballyhooed YouTube Orchestra performance at Carnegie Hall last week were an instructive contrast in how symphony orchestra concerts are viewed these days. Washington Post critic Anne Midgette saw the event as a misguided attempt to present classical music in a democratic fashion at the expense of artistic quality. The New York Times‘ Anthony Tommasini caught the real spirit of the event and understood it for what it was, an attempt to bring musicians from all over the world together to make music in the context of a larger community. (Quite rightly, he downplays the underlying public relations motivation of the sponsor.) For him, and for me, it was all about the event, and not about the perfection of performance. [Read more →]
Let me start by saying I am not reviewing artists and albums. I am sharing. This is my music cookie jar, open to the public. Who doesn’t like cookies? I will be very surprised at myself if I ever post anything that I don’t just love. And I will be more surprised if you don’t love what I share. I am, after all, from Peoria, and my people have long been the litmus test for what everybody will enjoy.
So, my first group of artists is a band called Geri X, fronted by a singer-songwriter who is, in fact, named Geri. [Read more →]
I am a little disappointed that the Michael Jackson auction is off. Only a little. But I was really curious how much money it was going to rake in. In this poor economy I wondered if a little sequined glove would command the same amount of money some of us pay for our homes? [Read more →]
USAtoday.com posted a great chart representing the fate of 21 shows (major networks only and yes, they included The CW) for the fall lineup. They are either in danger of being cancelled, renewed (or about to be), or completely dunzo. I think they got it right. Click here to check it out.
a) old
b) portly
c) in need of a new hair style
d) who gives a shit, just get him off the American Idol stage and back behind a camera where he belongs [Read more →]
Do not be fooled by the coming attractions or the television commercials, or by the fact that the writer/director Greg Mottola directed Superbad. I incorrectly assumed that Adventureland belonged in a category with the spate of recent funny, but trivial comedies. While Adventureland has some funny moments, this look at a 1987 college graduate’s summer job at an amusement park is understated and smart. [Read more →]
Lindsay Lohan teamed up with the guys at Funny or Die and made a mock eHarmony profile video. It is too funny to miss. Love her or hate her, this took balls.
Dancing With The Stars is a stupid show. It’s clear that the producers pick one to three contestants each season that are decent dancers, and with training can become relatively good when compared to their professional counterparts. The rest suck. We get it. [Read more →]
Last Week’s Roundup
The Hills (Monday, MTV, 10PM) — “Fun question”… who loathes The Hills? I know we were all on the edge of our seats to watch the Lauren and Heidi reconciliation. Psych. But Brody and Spencer did! I bet Brody really regrets Bromance now. [Read more →]
Perhaps the most ironic theme of “Dead Is Dead” is that it actually seems to imply anything but. The episode is more about the futility of death, rather than its finality, yet, I don’t think this is its ultimate message. The message in its fullest form is that dead is only dead if your services will no longer be needed.
It’s a slow time for movie releases. The top Box Office Hit is Fast and Furious, a sequel to The Fast And The Furious. I guess this movie is just too fast and furious to bother with the word “the.” As well as it’s doing in the theaters, it obviously won’t be too long before they release another sequel, maybe Fasurious? While it disturbs me to see this movie being held in such high esteem across the U.S., it actually provides me with some optimism. People must still have money to burn, and until they cannot afford to pay for Vin Diesel’s acting, I don’t think it’s fair to call what we’re in “a depression.” [Read more →]
I love Chelsea Handler. She’s effin’ hysterical. I haven’t read her books, but I intend to read both, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands, and Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, and I watch her late-night show on E!, not religiously, but when I’m awake. What I do do religiously is download her podcast every single morning on iTunes. The second I arrive to my office, I crack open my coffee (shout out to the coffee cart on Broadway and Houston) and crack up at Chelsea’s 2-minute monologue about something hysterical, usually having to do with reality TV. It really makes my morning.
But good lord, E!. Can you help a sister out? They have really let Chelsea let herself go. [Read more →]
This recent piece by the Philadephia Inquirer’s Peter Dobrin is one of the best things I’ve seen on the state, the woeful state of symphony orchestras in this country. He diagnoses the problems accurately — shrinking endowments and audiences — and suggests it’s time to explore a new business model. That he doesn’t have any recommendations on that score (so to speak) is hardly surprising. No one else seems to have any either. [Read more →]
Well, my friends, I think last night a winner was crowned. No, it wasn’t the season finale, but Adam Lamert’s rendition of “Mad World” was a full-on show stopper. Simon gave the kid a standing ovation and it ended with that. No words were spoken by the judges — none were necessary. [Read more →]
