Quote of the Week: I see vultures circling ahead, and if this catapult not together Mr. Boston better step up because the first thing they gonna be doing is picking his eyes out. (Chance - I Love Money)
Big New of the Week: It’s the End of the World as We Know It: And surprisingly I feel fine about it. Although when writing this I realized that the end of the world probably deserves it own post. So check back tomorrow for that and hopefully the world doesn’t actually end before the.
Coalition Links of the Week: From Silvio Horta's mouth to her ear, Buzz got some insight into Ugly Betty's third season. (BuzzSugar)
Marcia listed her television blind spots, those TV shows she simply can't be bothered to watch. (Pop Vultures)
Vance wants Theo Tams to win Canadian Idol. (Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace recovered from Comic-Con fatigue and reviewed BBC America's latest British television series offering, Primeval, about a group of scientists exploring time-based anomalies and strange creatures. (Televisionary)
Dan will devour any tasty morsel of new programming you give him, so he was delighted to see the preview for the next season of Dexter! (TiFaux)
The TV Addict covered Comic Con so you didn't have to. (The TV Addict)
Raoul talked to David (but sadly not Elvis) from America's Greatest Dog. (TV Filter)
I Love Money: When you let Megan Hauserman be your brains of the operation, that should be sign number one that you are doomed. And when will people learn you never, under any circumstance tank challenges. If you want to get someone out, wait to you lose. I don’t remember when tanking ever worked except for maybe the NBA. Unfortunately Mr. Boston was the victim of Megan and her retarded dog’s Machiavellian plan, or as Machiavellian as someone on I Love Money can get. But that led to one of the funniest fights ever on television between Mr. Boston and Brandi C at elimination. But just when I though I have seen that last of Mr. Boston ever (or at least until the reunion show), a video of him popped up on the intertubes (one that I would never post here) that is part 3rd Base’s The Cactus, part lame teen sex comedy plotline, part profound advise that managed to be the funniest and most disturbing thing ever at the same time. You can download episodes of I Love Money on iTunes.
My Boys: So if Bobby’s dad is my older brother Shooter McGavin, does that make me his uncle? But anyways. While watching this episode I kept on trying to call my stockbroker to see if I could buy massive amount of stock of “Kenny and Stephanie hooking up” but unfortunately I was unable to get through before it was actually revealed on screen. That had to be the most predictable thing on television. The second: Mimi Rogers being Bobby’s mom. It is like the My Boys writer gave up with coming up with any interesting ideas and just started reading from the cliché handbook. Catch up on recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download My Boys on iTunes.
It is month until the debut of TNT’s newest show Raising the Bar (and considering the show is about lawyers, this could be the lamest title ever) and I have to say there is something striking about the promo pictures that were released lately. Can anyone name the one degree of separation of two of the characters seen below (click to enlarge)? The first person to correctly guess what that is will win the great prize of a hearty congratulation.
Free Download of the Week: Death Will Never Conquer - Coldplay (Coldplay.com): First Coldplay let you download their debut single from their album and now another freebie an outtake from the Viva la Vida session which is actually sung by the drummer doing his best Chris Martin impression.
Promo of the Week: Chuck could be the most uneven show ever. Sure Casey ranks in the top five characters currently on television and boast the hottest Token Hot Chick. But the title character doesn’t even rank in the top five most entertaining character on his own show and Morgan needs to die a horrible dance soon than later. But this promo for season two shown at Comic Con is getting me excited.
Pick for Next Week: Summer Olympics, starting Friday at 8:00 on NBC: If there starts to be a lack of posts starting next Friday is because I will be watch 3600 hours of the Olympics (I may do some live blogging to keep the 9th Green active) that will be spread out on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Universal HD, Oxygen (huh?), Telemundo, NBC Olympics Basketball Channel, NBC Olympics Soccer Cannel and NBCOlympics.com. So head over to the website to see when Handball, Sailing, and Trampoline (no, seriously) to see when your favorite are airing.
On a side note, I still have four open spots in my fantasy football league, Dillon Panthers Football, so if you would like to play shoot me an e-mail and I will pass along the sign up information. Our draft will be on Tuesday August 26 at 9:00 EST. All skill levels are welcome and may perfer novices after my pityful 9th place finish last year.
Anyone under twenty-five may not know this, and those older may have forgotten, but Chevy Chase was once the funniest man on the planet. Look at his lineup of films from 1985: National Lampoon's European Vacation, Spies Like Us, and this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, Fletch. That is a murder’s row of comedy if there ever was one.
The best of the three was Fletch where Chevy played Irwin M. Fletcher, a newspaper reporter who is either the dumbest smart guy ever or the smartest dumb guy ever. And it is Chase’s brilliance that he was able to walk that line like no one else could (and I am specifically talking to you Zach Braff and Joshua Jackson). While working undercover on a story about drugs being sold on the beach, which included one Norm Peterson, gets propositioned by Tim Matheson (Animal House), who is dieing of cancer, to kill him.
Naturally there is more to the story that includes some corrupt cops which includes one Uncle Phil. Also along for the ride is Geena Davis as Chevy’s buddy at the paper and the token hot chick just happen to play the mother to another token hot chick in her own right, one Miss Tyra Collette.
The legacy of the film is the absurdity of the dialogue as Fletch didn’t meet a wisecrack or horrible alias that he didn’t like. And whenever he got caught in a lie he would keep digging and digging until the other person would just give up trying to catch him in that lie.
This one is for the ladies. Dudes you may want to scroll down to the previous post unless you want to read about the next artist that your girlfriend/wife will torture you with when even she gets tired playing her Celine Dion records.
The name Delta Goodrem may not currently be on the tongues of Americans, but in her native Australia all three of her albums went to number one with eight of her singles topping the charts Down Under too. Her third album, last year’s Delta, is the first to be released stateside.
There is no good American counterpoint to compare to Goodrem who plays danceable piano pop music. Some might compare her to countryman Kylie Minogue and Natasha Bedingfield, but Goodrem has a much better voice than either. Plus she actually plays her own piano. The closest maybe would be the previously mentioned Dion as some of the songs head into the overdramatic slouck, like Woman and Brave Face, which peppers Dion’s catalogue. Of course if that is your kind of music, Delta would be a great addition to your collection. (Fun Fact: Goodrem actually wrote a song for the most recent Dion album.)
Like Dion, there are plenty of listenable songs on the album, not that most dudes would admit that in public. Believe Again is a slow building, uplifting, dance track that should flood the radio in the near future. First single In This Life could have been the same, but pulls the number one diva cliché of adding five too many syllables to the word “life” which takes you out an otherwise catchy song. Then there is One Day which by far has the best beat on the album.
But dudes still reading this, you have been warned.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
You think making promos and trailers would be easy, yet nintie percent of the time they actually make me want to see the things they are trying to promote less. The trailer for Pineapple Express would be in the ten percent. The movie on paper doesn’t look like something I’d watch yet thank mostly in part to the M.I.A. soundtrack to the clip, I may end up checking it out (the cheesy white dude saying, “Thug Life” doesn’t hurt things either). The song has the best use of a shotgun sample since Thug Luv.
Easily my least favorite song on the latest album from Alicia Keys. Really, most of the singles from As I Am have been suspect. Why the two best songs, The Thing about Love and Sure looks Good to Me, haven’t been released is beyond me. In fact had the former been released earlier this spring it would have easily been the Prom song of the year. Of course this is one of the many reason why the music industry will be extinct in the next decade or so.
For those always on the look out for the next big thing, here is my suggestion: Amy MacDonald. Another songstress from the British Isles but more KT Tunstall than all the retro singers that have come overseas in the past two years. Her album This Is the Life has been out for more than a year pretty much everywhere else racking up number ones in four countries. The first single here is Mr. Rock and Roll, but for my money, the best song on the album is the title track. You can expect the album to drop stateside August 19 as well as a review the same day on the 9th Green.
You can’t go wrong with one half of seminal rap group The Pharcyde, but why relegate one of the most eccentric rappers in Fat Lip to just singing the hook. Even without him spitting anything himself, Tre Hardson, whom you may know better as Slimkid3 makes up with his verses.
The years are littered with actors who have tried to sing from Joey Lawrence to Jennifer Love Hewitt (is it too early to say Scarlett Johansson singing career is a failure). The few with even a little success were smart enough to team up with actual musician like Eddie Murphy with Rick James or Jennifer Lopez getting whatever rapper of the month to spit a few bars in her songs and remixes.
This is why Emily Deschanel (Scooter's Note: yeah I totally ment Zooey here, check comments for explaination) could have some staying power teaming up with indie guitarist M Ward and keeping her name off the marquee going with the band name She & Him. It doesn’t hurt the general public will probably mix her up with her sister Emily or even name one of her movies off the top of their head (she was Dorothy in the Sci-Fi Channel’s Tin Man).
The result of the two coming together is the equally descriptive album title, Volume One. The album turns out to be the best early seventies singer-songwriter album that was never actually released. Deschanal typically sings her song, most of which she wrote, over mostly sparse music with the occasional song that is reminiscent of the girl groups like I Was Made for You.
Of the old songs she gives a stab at, there is the super slow version of Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got a Hold on Me which is just an occasional strumming of the acoustic guitar and some harmonizing with Ward. The duo then turns The Beatles I Should Have Known Better into a Hawaiian luau and actually sounds better than it looks on paper. Yeah, the starlet can’t quite pull off Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, but that is the rare misstep on an otherwise decent debut.
Wynona Ryder teaming up with the writer who did Heathers is a cool proposition. Well if it were 1992. But re-teaming two decades after introducing the concept of a dark comedy upon teenagers doesn’t have the same cachet had it not taken so long. The result of the eighteen year wait is Sex and Death 101, which, despite the title, is a much lighter affair than their first outing as it focuses much more on the former.
The sex part of the equation comes courtesy of Simon Baker (Red Planet) who receives a list of everyone he has had slept with a week before his wedding. The problem is that his fiancée, Carol Vessey (Happy Gilmore), is only number twenty-nine of one hundred and one starting off a debate of destiny and free will and who knowing the names of every girl you going to sleep with, even if it is a lot, a good thing or bad thing. And then there is the flip side knowing when you don’t have a chance.
Some hilarity ensues as Barker transverses his new found list which has him running into some girls on and off his list including a centerfold (Sophie Monk, Date Movie), a doctor (Leslie Bibb, Popular), someone who provides the Death part of the title (Wynona Ryder, Heathers), lesbians, and though not Pat’s on the list, there is a Terry. Where the hilarity really excels is when Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens) hits the screen, though telling you his role is a little spoilerish.
Though being spoilerish with this film is hard because it is easy to tell the ending within the first five minutes of the film and nothing happens between then and the end (a too long two hours) that even gets you off the scent of how the story ends up. Luckily the journey there was half way decent if not in part to some of Oswalt’s suggestions on getting around the list. Oh and did I mention Mindy Cohn, yes that Mindy Cohn, makes an appearance?
Quote of the Week: See, nobody understood where my brother was coming from when he said I’m not kissing Mr. Boston. I mean (expletive deleted) dude, they got strippers and pornstars on their team. They used to kissing on men, woman, and having orgies, and threesomes, and ménage a trios, the whole (expletive deleted) nine, having sex with goats. You know what I mean, man? They’re immoral. (Real, I Love Money)
Big New of the Week: Comic-Con: All the nerd have descended on San Diego this weekend and unfortunately I couldn’t get my Storm Trooper suit in time to go. Well that and I am what the US government likes to classify as poor. But for those like me that did not have the money to make the pilgrimage or are just scared of Trekkies, NBC.com is sharing all video footage (panels, interviews, reveals, etc) from Comic-Con on their website so head over there to check up on Chuck, Heroes, new show Kings, and, um, The Office? So head over there as they are updating all weekend.
Coalition Links of the Week: Buzz's adventures at the TCA press tour included interviewing Brian Baumgartner, hanging out on the ER set, getting some scoop on Chuck's second season, and much more! (BuzzSugar)
Plattie celebrated the opening of The X-Files movie with a look back at the pilot that started it all. (Pop Vultures)
Vance thinks So You Think You Can Dance is totally "A"ces! (Tapeworthy)
Following some of Jay Leno's unfortunate antics at a press event, Dan decided to tell a story to illustrate the importance of bowing out with class. (TiFaux)
Raoul tried - and failed - to get into Generation Kill. (TV Filter)
I Love Money: I think I would have had the same reaction as Chance and Real to the thought of kissing Mr. Boston. And it was this episode that I realize that Chance is basically a long lost Chappelle’s Show character. You can download episodes of I Love Money on iTunes.
The Middleman: Wait, Varsity Fanclub is a real boy band? Alrighty. But I have to say there is nothing funnier than a tween with a mouth, literally, like a sailor. You can download episodes of The Middleman on iTunes.
My Boys: Holy Martin Mull sighting! Catch up on recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download My Boys on iTunes.
Free Stuff of the Week: While mentioning how you could download She and Him’s new song for free after showing the video (see I Want My Music Television vol. XXXI), I realized there is a lot of cool free stuff out there if you know where to look. So each week I will be highlighting the best of the free stuff out there. If you find anything cool for free in the future feel free to drop me a line and maybe I will feature it here. Just keep in mind everything I will be featured if legally free, so do not send me torrent links and the like. Also some things I post may be time sensitive so it would be better to get the stuff sooner than later.
With Comic-Con this week it is apropos that the first Free Stuff of the Week is Watchmen Motion Comics: Chapter One on iTunes based on what some consider to be the best graphic novel ever which will also be a motion picture next March.
As a bonus for this first week, you can also download Murder in the City by The Avett Brothers at Amazon MP3. You may remember their song, If it’s the Beaches used on Friday Night Lights when Landry dumped the creepy chick and hooked back up with Tyra.
Promo of the Week: If you have watched any news channels in the last week you have undoubtedly seen famous oil man T Bone Pickens talk about the advantage of wind. If you haven’t made it over to pickensplan.com, here is his complete plan:
Pick for Next Week: Shark Week, July 27-August 2 at 9:00 on Discovery Channel: For information on Shark Week head over to sharkyourself.com.
As Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog taught us last week that if you make a quality project, people on the internet will flock to it. The next to try to harness the power of the intertubes is Rosario Dawson (He Got Game) and the Green Arrow from Smallville in Gemini Division a new online series for NBC.com. My sources describe it as, “Like Lonelygirl15, Gemini Division is a female first-person confessional — in this case, about biotech run wild. Dawson plays Anna Diaz, a New York City detective having a crazy fling with a guy who's tall, blond, and ripped… and a little bit ‘off’.”
A sci-fi version of Lonelygirl15. Um, yeah, alright. And if that description didn’t wet your palette, well, then take a look at the trailer:
Okay, a little more interesting than the description, but still looks to have a production value of a web only video. And sci-fi is all about its look. Should be interesting to she how the show is received (if at all) and Wired.com has a very extensive article on the show with behind the scenes info. Wondering around GeminiDivision.com I did notice the lack of an RSS feed. Hopefully this is because the show doesn’t debut until August 18th because a website without an RSS feed is pretty useless. If you want me to watch something at least let me know when a new episode is up.
NBC is really getting into the online content this summer, aside from Gemini Division, the Heroes Webisodes I highlighted earlier this week (see: Next Time Don't Mess with the Mailman), there is also The Office webisodes, the third of which debuted yesterday. Head over to NBC.com to see Kevin in Exposed Wires.
There has not been a more provocative album title in recent memory than Hip Hop Is Dead. On one hand Nas hit the head on the nail as the ringtone rappers killed off the genre that had been slowly dieing all decade. But on the other hand, that album actually proved otherwise and that hip hop still had a couple more breathes in it.
So how do you follow-up a controversial title album? Well name it something that usually reserved for Jesse Jackson spoken on Fox News. But when it looked like the album wouldn’t be getting shelf space almost nowhere, Nas decided to change the album to, well, nothing. Or as Nas says himself in Hero: “Try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce, or Billy Joel they can’t sing what's in their soul! So "Untitled" it is. I never change nothing” This begs the question was naming it months in advance all a publicity stunt to get people talking without hearing a note?
Where Hip Hop Is Dead was a loose concept album on how and why the genre needed a funeral and who killed it, the new album is a loose concept album on race relations. Throughout the album are thoughts about how blacks are perceived in the media (Sly Fox), stereotypes (Fried Chicken), and a half hearted endorsement of Barack Obama (Black President), and even though it is no longer the title, a certain six letter word shows up in two song titled claiming that n*****’s are not black people but the uneducated.
Throughout the album, Nas is on point when not inexplicably name dropping Jessica Simpson or giving props to ringtone rappers he put on blast less than two years ago. The album falls flat thanks mostly to the company he keeps. You have to do a double take at seeing Chris Brown on the guest list and the song is about as juvenile as Brown’s age suggest.
Aside from the Polow da Don produced Hero; the production value is moderate at best. Even Mark Ronson, who had been batting 1.000, had a rare misstep on the snare heavy Fried Chicken that is too downtrodden than his usual upbeat horn infused throwback. Nas recently stated that he wants to drop two albums on the same day. One exclusively produced by D.J. Premiere who he hasn’t work much with since Illmatic, the other by his The Firm associate Dr. Dre. With the mediocre at best beats that pepper this album, that drop date cannot come soon enough.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Well that was disturbing. Granted Zooey (half of She & Him, M Ward being the other half) was always the darker Deschanel sister. Creepy videos aside, at least the song is catchy. And if you like the song, I have been given permission to let you, my loyal readers, download the song for free for a limited time. And by I, I mean Border.com, so head over there for the free mp3.
John Mellencamp made two videos for this song, this being my favorite if only for the replay value and the George Bush cameo. Wait, why is George given the “believe” frame exactly.
So let me get this straight, a bunch of Wisconsin country fans booed Jessica Simpson, born and raised in Texas, for not being country enough. Um, alright. Of course it may have been residual booing from the unwatchable Dukes of Hazard remake (a brunette Daisy Duke is blasphemy). And this song isn’t bad for a country song which, granted, doesn’t mean much.
Hope - Jack Johnson
Like most Jack Johnson videos not involving Ben Stiller, Hope is not that interesting. But it is a great song.
This summer NBC.com is hosting a bunch of webisodes which looks like what Heroes: Origins was supposed to be if it had no budget. The latest episode just hit the intertubes and here are both if you missed the first one.
Well that was about as entertaining as the main show. Maybe even more thanks to the creepy weird moving bald dude. Too bad he won't be showing up in the main show. One person that will be showing up on the main show is Hayden Panettiere. And since I cannot get enough of it, here is Wake Up Call video again.
The Espy's are so foolproof, even when they get athletes to host it still is pretty entertaining. That adage is put to the test this year when they get Justin Timberlake, who bombed when he team hosted with Stifler at the MTV Movie Awards a couple years back. But let us star t off with the pre-show first.
- Holy Chris Connelly sighting!
- Erin Andrews has to be one of the most underrated hot chicks out there today. Any of those lame lists by lame magazines that countdown chick and don’t have her in the top ten just isn’t credible. With that said, someone should tell her that the word “bling” died five years ago.
- The Top 5 Meetings need to make it on YouTube sooner than later.
- How does Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo make the Dynamic Duos list? She is the reason his team lost.
- An Under Armour CEO interview? Seriously?
- Adrian Peterson had his draft position drop just by wearing his hat like Antwain Merriwheather.
- Wow, the Espy’s actully started on time this year.
- I know I say this every year, but no award show’s clip package comes close to the ESPY’s.
- Justin Timberlake may not be able to tell a joke, but the Bill Belichicken was funny.
- As much as I love seeing the Giants beat the Patriots over and over again, but Appalachian State was the true biggest upset. And the won on the opposing team, not a neutral site like the Super Bowl.
- They don’t even show the nominees for Best Record Breaking Performance, just give it to Brett Farve. I guess having Big Head Barry also in the category doesn’t make you want to acknowledge him.
- It is not a good sign when you are out acted by Greg Oden. Can we get him to host next year? And that musical number went way too long.
- Who was the nerd sitting next to Kristen Bell? If they need a nerd next to her, why not ask me?
- Suggesting to dig up Harry Carey: not funny.
- Have I ever told the time I met and annoyed Posh Spice?
- Now for the best part of every ESPY’s the Arthur Ashe Award of Courage. But why is Tom Cruise narrating the story of Tommy Smith John and Carlos. Tom aside, the package had a History Channel feel to it.
- Is it ironic that Jason Taylor saying he was doing something to piss off Bill Parcells the day he got traded?
- Jimmy V Award for Perseverance presented by Robin Roberts, someone who know a little about Perseverance. Be sure to check out Jimmyv.org.
- I have no clue what Adriana Lima was doing at the ESPY's, I am just glad she was.
- On the other end of the spectrum, who invited Fergie?
- In the end the New York football Giant complete their sweep winning Best Sweep, Upset, Play and Team. Wait, what, they actually did not win Best Team? Did not see that one coming. But that going to the Boston Celtics does not help the ESPN criticism that they have a New York/Boston bias.
Recently John Mayer released a live album, Where the Light Is and even if you have Any Given Sunday, the new live album is also worth picking up. It is really three sets in one, an acoustic one, a blues rock set with the John Mayer Trio, and a full band set. The latter features the highlight. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. The version is so epic I had thought the song was going on for ten minutes or so even though it really clocks in at under six. The Where the Light Is version isn’t on YouTube currently (it is at MSN video but it is not embeddable. You think if they make you sit through a commercial the least they could do is let you is embed it. But anyways. Click the link to see that) but below is another live version. But you definitely want to check out the WTLI version because like I said, the solo is just epic, even more so than the one below (but below he does work in some a Tom York song).
Quote of the Week: I’m ironic, not cynical. (Wendy Watson - The Middleman)
Big New of the Week: Emmy Nominations Are Announced: Yawn.
Coalition Links of the Week: With the Emmy nominations out, Buzz (not surprisingly) had a few rants and raves. (BuzzSugar)
GMMR's summer obsession, So You Think You Can Dance, just went from the Top 10 dancers to the Top 8, but not without a little scandal and drama. Listen to what GMMR & Ducky have to say about it in the latest TV Talk Podcast: SYTYCD Edition. (Give Me My Remote)
Marcia celebrated the return of Project Runway with a thorough look at the first episode -- adult diapers, Oompa Loompas and all. (Pop Vultures)
Infatuation is the only word to describe Rae's feelings about Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and is trying to decide whether she likes Act I or II better while eagerly awaiting the third. (RTVW)
With the Emmy nominations finally out, Vance got his butt in gear and put out his Best of TV for the 2007-2008 TV Season. (Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace reviewed the laughably bad BBC drama series Bonekickers, from the typically brilliant creators of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, and was shocked and horrified by just how truly awful it was. (Televisionary)
Watch Design Star? Well, Dan wrote a little letter to his favorite contestant -- the bald, bearded Colorado native Matt Locke. (TiFaux)
It's TCA Madness on theTVaddict.com, featuring interviews with Wentworth Miller, Joss Whedon, Sarah Wayne Callies and more! (The TV Addict)
I Love Money: It has only been two episodes, but this show may go down as the guiltiest guilty pleasure ever. The best part of last week was Pumpkin and Toastee thinking that they had some Machiavellian plot to look the weakest when they were easily the weakest. But it was Mr. Boston who is quickly filling the Midget Mac void with his stupidity. And him beating Nibblz may be the biggest upset in reality competition history. You can download episodes of I Love Money on iTunes.
The Middleman: Noser by far is my favorite character on the show, but Stump the Band was the dumbest thing ever. And yes I also knew every song that was suggested. You can download episodes of The Middleman on iTunes.
My Boys: PJ totally missed the best reason why bachelor parties are better the bridal showers, we don’t have to buy gift aside a beer, shot, or lapdance. It’s good being a guy. Catch up on recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download My Boys on iTunes.
Promo of the Week: Apparently a new Heroes promo hit the intertubes this week, but that isn’t the video involving the show that is getting all the buzz. Nope, it is the new video from Hayden Panettiere called Wake Up Call (not a Maroon 5 cover) which disturbingly sound like Paris Hilton’s Stars Are Blind with slightly better singing (which doesn’t say much). But at least the video is watchable if not only for the highest of high comedy during Hayden’s dance interlude in the black hoodie.
Wake Up Call - Hayden Panettiere
Pick for Next Week: Mad Men, Sunday (7/27) at 10:00 on AMC: My sources tell me the show is decent but for the life of me I couldn’t find AMC on my television until Breaking Bad premiered (which wasn’t very good). Time Warner (whom I am still having issues with) is offering up the first season On Demand and I may give it a try before the second season premiere. Granted I looked for the In Demand channel yesterday and couldn’t find it.
- Today was the funeral of former White House press secretary Tony Snow who lost his battle with colon cancer this past weekend. This year one out of four deaths in America will be cancer related, earlier this year E Street Band member Danny Federici also lost a battle with melanoma. Bruce Springsteen was released a charity EP featuring live songs from the latest Magic tour. The set features Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine on The Ghost of Tom Joad (a song Rage has covered), Alejandro Escovedo on Always Be a Friend and Danny’s very last concert on 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy). The EP is available on Amazon MP3 (see widget below) and iTunes (see banner to the right) where you can also buy the video for each song. For this EP the artists, songwriters, and music publishers are waiving all of their royalties and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.
- People with HD computer screens rejoice, CBS.com is offering most of their streaming episodes in HD now including The Big Bang Theory, The Late Show with David Letterman, and How I Met Your Mother (one would assume Survivor will be added to this list next fall when its first season ever in HD premieres). New summer shows Swingtown and Flashpoint are also available in the format. Now if only I had a computer that played regular definition shows. But anyways. Interesting choose in promo pictures for The Big Bang Theory (click to enlarge):
- Some news out of FX including the return of show The Shield in its seventh and final season premiering Tuesday September 2nd at 10:00 and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returning for it fourth season Thursday September 18th at 10:00. There is also a new show on the lineup, Sons of Anarchy which is set to premiere Wednesday September 3rd at 10:00. Check out a promo below.
- Earlier this week I implemented a new comment system where the comment form is embedded in the individual post page. This currently part of Blogger in Draft so there may be some kinks to be worked out before it becomes official. The only drawback is that you currently cannot subscribe to individual comment pages like before where it would e-mail you anyone that comments after you. But if you look at the sidebar on the right, you can subscribe to all my comments. Hopefully this new method will encourage some of you to comment more. (hint, hint)
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Consider my mind blown… sort of. New broke a couple weeks ago that Radiohead was filming a new video without any cameras or light, but with lasers and I guess the buildup in my mind hoped for something cleaner. But this is still a contender for best video of the year.
Another visual wonder this time from R.E.M. Not entirely sure what is going on here even after a couple viewing as it seems to be high tech and low tech to cool results.
Is there anyone who isn’t working with Danger Mouse these days? The latest is Beck and the result is his latest album Modern Guilt. Gamma Ray of which sound like an acoustic version of a Gnarls Barkley track that never existed.
Spaz - N.E.R.D.
Here is the song that N.E.R.D. contributed to that, um; actually I can’t remember what they were selling in that commercial actually. Not a very good marketing job there. But anyways. There are not enough cool performance videos these days. Maybe we will start seeing more since the big budget video is basically dead. Bonus: No Lindsay Lohan in this video.
There is a good reason why Life and Death become Love in Freedom in the title of the new John Mellencamp album; mortality and preparing for life when no longer on this Earth is abound on Life, Death, Love and Freedom. In fact, really the only time he goes on for a while on the subject of Love in is the aptly titled My Sweet Love, a rockabilly style romp. Not surprisingly the lone upbeat and romantic song is the album’s next single.
As for the other word in the title, considering the politically charged album, last year’s Freedom’s Road, Freedom this time is not as represented. The lone political statement comes on Jena, a song and video that hit the internet late last year dealing with the Jena 6 controversy. Half a year later you have to wonder the impact of the song now and if it has done any good. And what’s with calling people “with paper bag skin”? I would say that could be offensive to African American except I’m not entirely sure he was refereeing to them. But paper bags are to dark to describe Caucasian unless it is one of the tan-obsessed kinds. So is Mellencamp blaming George Hamilton for hanging the nooses?
But it is life and death that really takes up Mellencamp’s time on the album. And that seems like a conscious effort to saying he wanted to write about the darkness in his life for this album and try writing sad songs. And sad and dark songs are abound especially with titles like When I Die and Don’t Need This Body. Or when he states in a growl for John Cockers, “There must be 10 million people but I ain’t got no friends.”
The real MVP of Life, Death, Love and Freedom is producer T Bone Burnett, the guy behind the O Brother, Where Art You? Soundtrack and the pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. That pairing could have inspired bringing in a female to duet on My Sweet Love, A Ride Back Home and For the Children. But it is Burnett help shaping the music where is presence is really feel taking the folk of the last album and fleshing it out more giving this album more of an Americana feel, making it sound classic and contemporary at the same time. Over time, and the more they gel together, T Bone Burnett could be to John Mellencamp what Rick Rubin was to Johnny Cash.
It should be noted that this album is the first album to be released in the CODE format. Think CODE as to CD what Blu-Ray is to the DVD. You will need a standard DVD player to play the format, but the CODE version comes bundled with the CD version at no extra cost. The CODE disk can be copied into most computer music software and is iPod compatible. Please note that I didn’t listen to the CODE version for this review. It should also be noted that Mellencamp didn’t license any of these songs to be played ad nausea for a truck commercial. Because this is arrrrrrrre country.
, 
, and this month’s induction into the 
, gets propositioned by Tim Matheson (
), who is dieing of cancer, to kill him.
. Also along for the ride is Geena Davis as Chevy’s buddy at the paper and the token hot chick just happen to play the mother to another token hot chick in her own right, one Miss 
.
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is a cool proposition. Well if it were 1992. But re-teaming two decades after introducing the concept of a dark comedy upon teenagers doesn’t have the same cachet had it not taken so long. The result of the eighteen year wait is Sex and Death 101, which, despite the title, is a much lighter affair than their first outing as it focuses much more on the former.
) who receives a list of everyone he has had slept with a week before his wedding. The problem is that his fiancée, Carol Vessey (
), is only number twenty-nine of one hundred and one starting off a debate of destiny and free will and who knowing the names of every girl you going to sleep with, even if it is a lot, a good thing or bad thing. And then there is the flip side knowing when you don’t have a chance.
), a doctor (Leslie Bibb, 
), someone who provides the Death part of the title (Wynona Ryder, Heathers), lesbians, and though not Pat’s on the list, there is a Terry. Where the hilarity really excels is when Patton Oswalt (
) hits the screen, though telling you his role is a little spoilerish.
, makes an appearance?
by The Avett Brothers at Amazon MP3. You may remember their song, If it’s the Beaches used on Friday Night Lights when Landry dumped the creepy chick and hooked back up with Tyra.![[Untitled] - Nas](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519yccU78DL._SS500_.jpg)
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