September 2007 Archives

OMG! So many premieres, so little time. "The Office," "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" went head-to-head in an all-out battle of the primetime heavyweights Thursday night. "Grey's" came out swinging in the 18 to 49 demographic. "The Office" got in a couple of good jabs and debuted to its largest audience ever. But "CSI" went in for the kill and knocked out the competition by grabbing nearly 25 million viewers. Well played CBS. Better luck next week ABC and NBC.

Paramount and DreamWorks are planning to release "Transformers 2," in June 2009. "Tansformers" raked in almost $700 million this summer and made Shia LaBeouf (aka the annoying younger brother from "Even Stevens") a hot commodity in Hollywood. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the beginning of yet another trilogy.

Thanks to my continuing free trial of HBO, I took in a marathon of the comedy "Flight of the Conchords" Friday night.

The show follows low-key New Zealand-natives Jemaine and Bret in New York City as they pursue a record deal for their two-man acoustic duo, Flight of the Conchords.

The humor reminds me a lot of "30 Rock" or "The Office" - it can be very subtle at times, but there are usually a handful of moments each episode that leave you roaring.

It turns out, Jemaine and Bret aren't purely fictional characters: unlike their HBO counterparts, they actually have quite a following as a musical comedy act. This footage of one of their concerts last year features my very favorite of their songs: "Business Time."

So I finally saw "Superbad" this weekend. It was fantastic. Better than fantastic. It was so awesome that I couldn't leave the theater for a much needed bathroom break for fear that I would miss something funny and/or wildly inappropriate.

And I really had to go, because a medium soda at the movie theater needs to be carried with a backhoe. My bladder was not happy.

But I digress, Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up") proved, again, that you can be as raunchy as you want to be in a movie, and still create lovable characters.

So I know I’m a little late to the party, but I just finished a marathon session of the “Heroes — Season One” DVD. And it was awesome.

I didn’t get to watch the show last season, so I decided to pick up the DVDs from Blockbuster and finish all 23 episodes by tonight’s premiere. It took several days, but I’m finally done.

Tattoos for your toilet. How can that sentence not catch your attention?

These appliques are touted as removable and reusable, perfect pictures for the porcelyn pot.

In addition to the different themes -- classic, wallpaper, holiday, seasonal -- you can even take a quiz on the Web site, www.toilet-tattoos.com.

The price is affordable at $9.95 and can be ordered online or by calling 330-468-3226. From leopard print to Santa Claus, potty breaks will never be the same.

Fans of “Halo” and “Halo 2” can meet the video game’s main character, Master Chief, at a “Halo 3” release party from noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday at Laserdome, 2050 Auction Road in Manheim, Lancaster County. Laserdome will offer “Halo 3” in the Virtual Arena, where 14 people can play the game at one time. The game, which is released for Xbox 360 on Tuesday, is the final chapter in the “Halo” series and brings an end to the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the human race. For details, visit www.laserdome.com or www.halo3.com.

York rockers Paddywak are featured on mtv2ontherise.com. This site lets you check out up-and-coming artists all over the country. You can focus on local bands by entering your ZIP code. A list of bands in a 60-mile area will pop up and you can vote for your favorite. Paddywak is representing the York area with more than 1,100 votes so far.

It's all over...finally. The results are in: Kanye West won the war of the album releases last week. His album "Graduation" outsold 50 Cent's "Curtis" 957,000 units to 691,000 units. The over-hyped feud between the two rappers was seriously starting to make my skin crawl. It's a shame that artists have to go to such extremes just to sell records these days.

The fall TV season kicks off this week. The CW series "Gossip Girls," which has been buzzed about for weeks, premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday. The show seems to be a cross between "The O.C.," "Mean Girls" and "Cruel Intentions." It's no secret that this primetime soap could be the next big thing. Juicy!

If the Emmy's actual end at the scheduled three-hour mark, we're about half-way through. And I gotta say, things need to pick up if I'm going to stay awake for another hour and a half.

Terry O'Quinn just won a supporting actor award for his role in "Lost."

Why do we care?

Because Terry O'Quinn (aka John Locke) stopped by Granfalloons in York in May 2006 to visit a friend, John Tracey, who was a co-owner of the restaurant at the time.

So the next time you're at Granfalloons, 41 E. Princess St., you can say you walked in the footsteps of an Emmy winner. And that's kinda cool.

This is Becki Newton arriving at Shrine Auditorium for the Emmy's Sunday night.

She's in the show "Ugly Betty," which, if you didn't know is about a misfit in the world of a high-fashion magazine.

Although her dress might speak otherwise, Newton isn't the title character:

Kanye West is mad...again. He vowed to boycott MTV after being snubbed at the Video Music Awards. The rapper was nominated for five trophies and walked away empty-handed. West has been known to be a sore loser before. He walked out of the American Music Awards after losing in 2004. I kind of feel his pain though. His "Stronger" video is way better than Rihanna's "Umbrella," which won Video of the Year. West is really talented, he just needs to remember to stay classy. Check out his new album "Graduation," which hits stores today.

The MTV Video Music Awards didn't disappoint this year. It was tricked out and included a ton of musical performances. I could have done without all the flashing lights and Britney's train wreck. Suprisingly, MTV isn't rerunning the show, so here's a recap of the top five moments:
1. Chris Brown killed it. Even Justin Timberlake gave him props for his sick dance moves.
2. Dr. Dre made an appearance to announce Video of the Year, which went to Rihanna.
3. Timberlake, Timbaland and Nelly Furtado took the stage together. Enough said.
4. Fall Out Boy trashed a fancy hotel suite in true rock 'n' roll fashion.
5. Celeb fights: Kid Rock versus Tommy Lee and Kanye West versus 50-cent. One was real, and one was a "marketing scheme."
You can watch the VMAs online at www.mtv.com.

Movies don't usually make me cry. I'm sensitive, but my brain makes the connection that the characters are just actors.

But, last night when I watched "House of Sand and Fog" from 2003, I cried like a hysterical accident victim.

The story follows Kathy (played by Jennifer Connelly) who loses the house her father left her. The house is bought by an ex-Iranian colonel (Ben Kingsley), who sees the house as the American dream for his family.

From the very beginning everything about the story is unfair, but it speaks to so many issues that were just too deep not to cry.

I am curious about other movies that makes people cry. I think I'd like to stay away from them.

Everyone is talking about Britney Spears’ much anticipated performance Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards. But was it really a comeback?
The entertainer opened the MTV Video Music Awards with her new single “Gimme More.”
But so far, the reviews have been bad. She barely lip-synced and made little effort in her dance routine, which seemed unable to dazzle the star-studded audience.
So was this really a comeback?

Carrie Underwood packed the York Fair Grandstand last night. Young and old fans gathered to hear the "American Idol" winner sing. Underwood is nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. You can vote for Carrie at www.mtv.com and watch the awards show 9 p.m. Sunday on MTV.

Ray Price, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson brought country back to York on Friday night. Overall, I thought the concert was pretty chill. The true-blue fans really got into the show, which was cool to see considering some of them were old enough to be my grandmother. I am not a country fan, but I even ended up downloading some of Price's songs when I got home. The man is 81 years old and still brings it. Take that Rolling Stones!

Style and sound will collide in Friday's "Fashion Rocks" concert, which airs at 9 p.m. on CBS. The show is broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where fall fashion week is in full swing. "Entourage" icon Jeremy Piven will host the star-studded event and Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Aerosmith and others will make the stage sizzle. Don't miss one New York minute of haute couture and pop hits.

Alright, I have a confession to make to the world. I love Justin Timberlake's music. It's fun. It's catchy. It makes me sing along at the top of my lungs and dance in the driver's seat of my car, and I don't care who knows it.

Last night, I conveniently had nothing better to do than to watch his Future Sex/LoveShow on HBO, and let's just say it held my attention for a full 2 hours and 15 minutes.

If you missed it, no worries: HBO is airing it again at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. For details, click here.