Of the many delights of my recent (Fox-underwritten) trip to England for the premiere of Fantastic Mr. Fox, coming into close proximity of comedy demigod Bill Murray -- who voices the character of Badger -- certainly ranked among the greatest. His presence at a roundtable interview was kept something of a will-he-or-won't-he mystery until the very last moment, when, sure enough, there he was. An awed silence swept through the cramped Nags Head Pub, as though we had just glimpsed a unicorn or manticore -- even better, really, since no unicorns or manticores ever starred in Ghostbusters.
more »
Luxo Jr. was the mischievous desklamp star of Pixar's first Oscar-nominated short -- a lively light source who'd later go on to grace their animated logo and become the closest thing they have to a Mickey Mouse. His presence is always a welcome one -- well, to everyone but the Luxo company of Norway, who sued last month for copyright infringement when they learned Disney would be packaging some copies of the Up Blu-ray with a limited edition Luxo Jr. lamp. The complaint also cites a new attraction at Walt Disney World, the LA Times reports, that is "a six-foot animatronic version of the lamp." And yet that would seem to be the least of the beloved mascot's troubles, at least as envisioned by this ingenious short film parody from CollegeHumor.com.
more »
As the saying goes -- you either want a heartwarming story about a boy and the feral pack of genetically mutated, maneating Eeyores living inside him who teach him the true meaning of love, or you don't. As such, Where the Wild Things Are worked for me.
Meanwhile, that's only one of two films to come from director Spike Jonze this week about the furry goblins that lead us to behave in spoiled and irrational manners. The other is his latest music-video collaboration with Kanye West.
more »
Perhaps you're familiar with a nude, full frontal photo of Jamie Foxx that made its way around the internet a while back? In today's Guys with iPhones, Billy-Bush-disappointing culture of licentiousness, an Oscar winner's bare wang captured in a grainy digital picture may not merit a lifted eyebrow, but Foxx's excuse for taking the picture might. He attempted to explain himself last night on The Tonight Show:
more »
Prior to the drug-related death of Adam Goldstein (DJ AM), the world-renowned spinner filmed a reality series designed to help young addicts reform. The trailer for the MTV series Gone Too Far, which will finally premiere Oct. 12, depicts Goldstein as he dispenses tough love to the kids.
more »
The YouTube footage of Seth Green freaking on set security personnel after what he said was a parking lot mugging that circulated early this week was met with a lot of skepticism, mainly because Green is a bit of jokester and self-parodist, and the harsh reality is that we live in a viral-videos-and-prank-shows-who-cried-wolf America, where even 9-1-1 operators have been known to respond to frantic phone calls with, "'Your momma's choking on a chicken leg' my ass -- is this Punk'd? I know this shit is Punk'd. Ashton Kutchner, come on outta from behind that mirror!" But PopEater has posted a new video, revealing -- wouldn't you know it -- Seth Green being mugged in a parking lot. We've stacked both after the jump, so you can experience the entire, unsettling affair. Seriously, 400-lb security guard. Quit moving tables and protect your elfin stars!
more »
It will be a while -- if ever -- before Roman Polanski submits to an interview during his international legal travails. But that can't stop at least one creative soul from dreaming the impossible dream: That Chris Hansen might show up in Zurich in full-on ambush mode for a segment of To Catch a Predator. The results are after the jump.
more »
Edrants.com spliced together all the brand-name references slipped into recent episodes of The Jay Leno Show, Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. This isn't just Jay riding an elevator with a guy in a Snapple costume, but a seemingly endless barrage of paid-for jokes nested within other plugs and run-on "sketches" like a grilling of the Wendy's mascot (The Office's Kate Flannery). In the case of Leno, fine, it's gross but seemingly in line with everything else going on over there -- but when Conan slipped in a seemingly off-the-cuff reference to a Subway sub during a recent interview, we'd suddenly felt violated by a meaty footlong. All three videos are after the jump.
more »
You were wetting yourselves for Desperate Houseplants, and left rolling down the aisles at the antics of 30 Rocks, but Sesame Street has outdone itself with its latest primetime parody, cleverly titled ... uh ... Mad Men. OK, fine, so that's the actual title of its Emmy Award-winning, if Elmo-unfriendly, TV inspiration. But in this universe, Don Draper isn't able to lurk inside a highball glass filled with expensive Scotch, loose stewardesses and chilled detachment.
more »
It's funny, the things you "learn" while writing a post on Matt LeBlanc biting Lisa Kudrow's style. Take this tidbit, gleaned from Kudrow's Wikipedia page: "It is official that Kudrow, and her other 5 cast members from Friends are getting together for a movie due out sometime in 2011." No, it is not official -- in fact, it is utterly unlikely, no matter how many British tabloids regularly generate the rumor. Until that hypothetical day, then, you're just going to have to enjoy video of Kudrow revisiting her Friends ballad "Smelly Cat," which she did last night at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.
more »
Head injuries are no laughing matter, even when the victim themselves joke about their own mishaps -- which was exactly the case with Natasha Richardson before she succumbed to the tragic, fatal fall she suffered on a Quebec ski hill earlier this year. So news that Conan O'Brien took a spill Friday during the taping of a Tonight Show segment that was serious enough to land him in Cedars-Sinai and bring production to a halt sent us into our weekends with a lingering unease. (And sure enough, Jay Leno voiced our darkest fears when he made an insensitive joke about the incident on his show last night, telling Kevin Eubanks how they very nearly earned their own timeslot back.)
Thankfully, the old Conan we know and love returned to his perch last night, perhaps a bit shaken and a shade more pallid than usual, if that's possible, as he described his scary experiences.
more »
As interpretive-dance memorials for fallen movie icons go, you will likely never see a higher-profile piece of work than last night's Patrick Swayze tribute on Dancing with the Stars. And well-intentioned as it was, this morning I can't be sure if that's not a bad thing. Watch (or re-watch, if you dare) and decide for yourself after the jump.
more »
Pop Quiz! In the picture above, Nicolas Cage is costumed as:
a) the Man of Steel in a test shot for Tim Burton's long-aborted Superman Lives
b) Viggo from Ghostbusters II
c) a body-painted Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair
The answer (and the video it came from) is after the jump!
more »
It's been a month since Avatar Day -- a long, hard month where we've had naught to feast on but James Cameron's cerulean table scraps. But wait, what's this? Could it be? Brand-new Avatar footage in a delightfully trippy Japanese TV commercial? Let's take a look.
more »
Taylor Swift appeared on The View today to perform her single "You Belong With Me" and discuss the second-by-second details of Kanye West's ill-timed, pointing-heavy shout-out to Beyonce on Sunday. Apparently, this is what happened: She was giving her VMA acceptance speech and dreaming of a well-deserved post-show Klondike bar, and then Kanye interrupted (first with his cool haircut, then with his words), and suddenly the dream of finishing her oratorio with a shout-out to the fans was deferred. Sure, that's kinda what we could have assumed, but what were we expecting her to say, "And then Kanye committed hari kari just off-camera"? The video, which provoked West to apologize to Swift on the phone, after the jump.
more »
