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The 'Hangover' Cool Kids Just Killed Mel Gibson's Career -- Again

October, 22, 2010 6:57 pm | On #bradley cooper, Ed Helms, jeff robinov, Mel Gibson, Movies, news, The Hangover, The Hangover 2, Todd Philips, Warner Brothers, Zach Galifiniakis

Mel Gibson always was Hollywood’s most talented death-gasper, what with the rolling eyes and the melodramatic shuddering and, in one famous case, a final cry of “Freedom!”

Gibson reprised that scene in spectacular fashion Thursday, when his peers dragged his battered, barely-breathing career into the square, gutted it and fed it to the vultures.

We’ve seen enough Hollywood comeback stories – Tom Cruise, Robert...

Analysis: 'Idol' Botches Its Announcement, But Gets the Judges Right

September, 22, 2010 12:26 pm | On #American Idol, Fox, Fremantle, Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler, Television

Oh, stop acting like you’re not going to tune in and see how this goes.

Because let’s face it – you will, along with roughly 2,999,999 fellow rubberneckers.

And if Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson can gin up some chemistry on this season’s “American Idol” – which I’m predicting they will – then Fox’s golden goose can gracefully proceed with its gradual decline. (Photo of the new judges from Movieline.)

After last season, the bar is low. Ellen DeGeneres couldn’t hack being honest; Kara DioGuardi couldn’t hack being non-irritating; and Simon Cowell, suffering from a terrible case of short-timer...

Comic-Con: Get a Clue! TV Is the New Movies

July, 23, 2010 4:26 pm | On #ccsd, Comic-Con, Movies, news, San Diego

Time for the Comic-Con organizers to wake up to the fact that, for fans of genre, TV is just as important as film. More so, in so many cases.

Hall H, the San Diego Convention Center's cavernous main room, was maxed out all day Thursday, with blockbusters like "Tron," "The Expendables" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" in the house.

But on Wednesday, with somewhat lighter fare downstairs, Hall H was half empty half the day. Meanwhile, upstairs in the ballrooms, lines were stacking up through the hallways, into other hallways, and outside onto the patios.

This, for AMC's "The Walking Dead," the Cartoon Network's full presentation, and sundry other TV-based panels that thousands of fans didn't get to see.

Nowadays, with shows like "Big Bang Theory" and "True Blood" firmly...

'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' Is Deeply Rad

July, 22, 2010 11:43 pm | On #Comic-Con, Edgar Wright, michael cera, Movies, Reivews, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" will easily sneak off as the buzziest thing at Comic-Con, if it didn't already start out that way.

It's actually that good.

For the uninitiated at the world premiere on Thursday night at the historic Balboa Theatre -- me and many others, I'm sure -- it takes a solid 30 minutes to reconcile that nothing is going to be explained for you in this movie. Some of these kids have mystic battle powers, others don't, and that's that.

(For a look at the initiated, see: "Pilgrim" Fans Dressed for World Premiere Success -- Slideshow)

...

Starting a Celeb Site? Get Your Own F$#(%!=g Mel Gibson Racist Rant

July, 13, 2010 11:53 pm | On #American Media Inc., AOL, celebrity, Harvey Levin, Media, Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, racist, RadarOnline, rant, tmz, website

Want to make millions online? Get your hands on a celebrity's racist rant and start a website. Doesn't have to be in that order.

Bonus points if it's Mel Gibson.

It's hard to believe that less than five years have passed since Harvey Levin gave his gift of TMZ to Hollywood, a venture he founded in partnership with AOL that, at its launch, was more than a little hard to stomach. Eight months later, Gibson made it impossible to avoid.

Mel's original drunken, anti-semitic...

TRON Disc Battle (Fan Video)

July, 05, 2010 7:09 pm | On #Disney, Jeff Bridges, Movies, trailer, Tron, Tron Legacy, video

Not too many amateur homage videos can approximate the look and feel of the real thing; they introduce cool concepts or twists, but the effects are ... amateur.

Matt Goldberg at Collider brings to our attention this little gem of an exception, which clocks in at all of 46 seconds -- including extensive credits -- but looks pretty cool all the same.

And to think, the creators haven't even seen the movie yet; they've only got the trailers to go on.

The real thing, Disney's "TRON: Legacy," opens Dec. 17.

Watch the Video

'The Green Hornet' Trailer is A-O-Kato

June, 21, 2010 11:27 pm | On #Movies, project, Seth Rogen, SONY, The Green Hornet, trailer

"The Green Hornet" trailer is here, and here's a surprise: It's not terrible.

There's been a certain air of bad luck, skepticism and schadenfreude around the Sony superhero film that's not really about a superhero.

That is to say, the Green Hornet always seemed like a genre bridge too far. The Hornet himself isn't even from a comic book -- he's the product of an old-time radio program, like his great-uncle, the Lone Ranger (true). And he has no superpowers to speak of.

And though this vigilante might be from the 1930s, his story sounds familiar: Rich playboy, throwing his life and talents away -- until a catastrophic event forces him to rethink his path ...

Got it yet?

In lieu of supernatural ability, uses technology development and guile to best the bad guys ... ?

Let's just...

Watch the Video

Snark Attack: Twitter's First 'Promoted' Tweet Is 'Toy Story 3'

June, 17, 2010 4:58 pm | On #Disney, Toy Story 3, twitter

Do you think Disney and Twitter knew what they were getting into here?

"Promoted tweets" began for reals Thursday on Twitter's trending-topics bar -- and it appears the first one is a promotion for "Toy Story 3."

After that, it didn't take long for the snark attack:

The top line is the "promoted" tweet -- it shows up first when you click the link. Right below it is the most popular not-promoted tweet on the topic.

Twitter, after all, is the natural habitat of the well-wired Super Smart-Alec, much meaner and less merciful than its more popular and ever-earnest cousin, Facebook (where Disney also launched its "tickets together" promotion)....

Lee DeWyze and More White Guys; This … Is 'American Idol'

May, 27, 2010 12:01 am | On #American Idol, Television

David Cook. Kris Allen. Le DeWyze.

These are your past three “Idol” winners, America.

All demure, lilywhite males, certified safe for cougar- and tween-crush voting blocks.

Get used to it. The recent past is also the foreseeable future for a tiring franchise with an aging audience.

Milquetoast white guys? Yep. This … is “American Idol.”

Where flawed singers, whose flawed voices and flawed looks have been keeping hope alive among our garden-variety dreamers and the delusional for a decade.

Where passable guitar self-accompaniment sounds almost as good as it does at Starbucks.

Where mediocrity still gets bathed in heavenly light and hyperbolic praise.

(Carrie Underwood, a bona fide country crossover...

I Finally Tried 'Lost.' It Was OK

May, 23, 2010 5:45 pm | On #finale, Lost, Television

I remember catching the "Lost" pilot when it first aired in the early aughts -- my, how time flies! -- and that I changed the channel about 5 minutes in.

Being a sensitive television viewer, I just wasn't up for a harrowing doomed-airliner experience that didn't involve Leslie Nielsen. (I probably flipped to a rerun of "Felicity" -- can you believe they would just cut short a J.J. Abrams show like that? And with so much unresolved! But I digress.)

Years went by, and I never again occasioned upon the "Lost" television program. (Not for lack of trying. The first time I landed on "Lost" and started really getting into it, it turned out to be "Gilligan's Island." Another time...