The Friday Hot Sheet

Christ, is it Friday already? When did that happen? Feels like just yesterday I was telling people that Pineapple Express was gonna tank, and LOOK WHO'S CRYING NOW, APATOW?

Of course I also said the Olympics were stupid and that no one would watch or care, which clearly hasn't really been the case at all. Here I thought we'd all be glued to the utter genius that is MTV's new reality hit From G's to Gents -- but no, it's speedo shark week on NBC, and really -- who wouldn't want to see that all day every day in glorious high definition?
So before I go blind -- here's the risers and fallers from this week, and the buzz as it looks from here.
Belly
Lovin'
Remember like 4 weeks back, when you'd kinda lament about your love handles, and all the women in your life would all be like, "Don't worry about it -- Most girls actually prefer a man to have a little belly on him. It's better for cuddling, and to be honest -- skinny guys don't really do that much for us." Remember that? Yeah well here we are two weeks of staring at Michael Phelps' naked abdominals later, and where the hell did all of that go? Right to the bottom of the pool along with the dignity of the Spanish Basketball Team, that's where.
 
Clone
Wars
To say it was a bad movie sorta defeats the point, doesn't it? I mean seriously, was anyone really expecting this to be any good? Still, my son (who is a huge Star Wars fan) was really jazzed to see it, and he'd never been to the usual madness that is a SW premiere, so we bought our tickets and headed out to the midnight show. To be honest, I was expecting it to be a lot worse than it actually was -- but that's not really saying much. I will say this though -- Christopher Lee is clearly the most loyal actor in Hollywood. He really didn't have to lend his voice to this (almost none of the other original actors bothered), but there he was -- slugging through his lines without missing a beat, and kicking ass in every scene.
 
Clone Wars
Nerd
Turnout
By my count, of the approxamately 50 people who showed up for the premier screening, 5 of them bothered to dress up or bring lightsabres. I gotta be honest here, I was really dissapointed in the geek turnout for this thing. I mean, I know everyone already kinda knew the movie was gonna suck -- but there's a full garrison of local dudes in this town who regularly dress up like Stormtroopers and march in parades (and I should know, one of them is my bartender).
 
Jezebel.com  Last week I seriously considered giving this site a brickbat, because despite the fact that I love their approach to article writing and enjoy the discussions that follow -- it was hard to ignore the fact that lately things were starting to get a little ..bitchy. Recent personnel changes in the editing staff and what seemed to be a growing rift between cliques of commenters led to almost every article turning into some kind of flame war, rendering the site less and less entertaining as a whole. But during the last week editors and readers alike seem to have gotten back to the business of having a good time, even when they were locked in firece debate.
 
America FerreraI've never seen a second of Ugly Betty, and it will be a cold day in hell before I even begin to give a crap about The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants -- but if this clip is any indication of what you're really like when the cameras go off (or perhaps better said, when you forget they're still on) -- then you're cool with me.
 
Brett
Farve
Your arm is tired. Your arm is tired? Well gee, I guess it's time to retire then.
 
Rage Against
the Machine
@ the RNC.
Part of me wants to know where the hell were you guys four years ago when we really needed you, but I'd be straight up lying if I didn't say it was good to have you back.

[Listening to:  Nonpoint"Hive" ]

Comments

Satorical said…
That America Ferrera thing was hilarious. I want to clone her and put her into battle against The Powers That Be.
Hex said…
Satorical -- it sorta reminds me of that old "Hollywood Babylon" pic where Sophia Loren is sneaking a pic down Jayne Mansfield's dress with a look that ends up being somewhere between disbelief and annoyance.
Anonymous said…
I can barely handle the media right now (spent 4 days at DefCon... that should have been RaTM's come back gig).

Oh and Clone Wars (the original shorts) by Genndy Tartakovsky, was brilliant. How they didn't retain him for this media event thereby turning it into shitty cash grab is beyond me. Perhaps there is a new word being minted for the situation when you are rabidly successful and then do everything you can to fuck it up. Like the Wachowski brothers are trying to Lucas their career post-Matrix. Or Bush really Lucas'd it all after getting elected. That one doesn't work as well... but you get the drift.

Orson Scott Card really Lucas'd in after Ender's Game.

I dunno. Post any you feel like.
Hex said…
Werdna -- I found myself thinking about the Tartakovsky Clone Wars stuff too, which to me was more exciting than some of the prequels. My only thought is that he correctly spotted the project as an extended toy commercial and distanced himself accordingly.

A few years back they gave Lucas a lifetime acheivement award -- which to me is Hollywood's subtle way of saying "Please stop crapping on your legacy."

Listen, he did not.
if one more person asks me if i have been watching the olympics, we are going to have a problem. im serious. first of all I DONT HAVE CABLE and second I DONT CARE, thanks.

sorry, i had a moment there.
ps- i had to go back and watch that america f clip. fucking priceless. she looked like if she had a gun she would take her out and then continue with the interview lol
Hex said…
Puddin -- I haven't watched a second of it, but being as web-dependent as I am during a given work day, it's been almost impossible to avoid.

Puddin II -- The only thing I wish is that we could see the aftermath once that clip went viral and the other chick realized what happened.
Marin (AntiM) said…
For the record: I like to *look* at Michael Phelps. I'd rather cuddle up with a pudgy guy.