I WONDER WHETHER DANCE FEVER HAD MORE THAN ONE DISCO CHOREOGRAPHER: If a roundtable didn't make sense when there were three of us proposing songs for the AI finalists to sing, it makes even less sense now that there are only two of us offering up our thoughts on the final ten dancers on SYTYCD. So maybe a roundtable isn't the right way to think about this. Instead, envision Isaac and me leaping and vaulting over a long, rectangular table with a briefcase sitting in the middle. Hot tamale express, indeed.
Here are your girls.
Randi What Randi’s got going for her is that she’s shown more personality than any of the other girls to date. Kayla is kind of an empty vessel with cutie pie grandparents, Melissa’s “naughty ballerina” bit is just an empty name, Janette comes across as kinda weird except for when she’s dancing, and Jeanine could be Randi’s competition in the cute personality category but for a lack of comparable airtime thus far. But the married dumpling bit is maybe starting to wear a little thin -- it’s time to accept the fact that a lot of dancing is actual kinda (eeeeek) sexual and that playing a vamp when you’re dancing is just fine and dandy. She’s not the biggest talent out there, but the fans of this show like and are willing to vote hard for cute. What they don’t vote for is discomfort, so get over it. -- Kim
I have never gotten over the unitards. Really, they looked more like wrestling singlets. Who in her right mind thinks that the best way to present herself in any situation whatsoever is a unitard? And really, Randi seems like a unitard kind of woman. Behind the dimples and the gold-medal makeover lies an old-fashioned freckled tomboy who wants to play dress-up in Grandpa's 1909 bathing suit. Or maybe she's just fixing to box John L. Sullivan. Incidentally, she's not as strong and powerful as she looks, and she dances without the gravity-defying conviction for which one hopes. Maybe it's just that she's afraid Evan's going to drop her. Incidentally, in my note on Evan, I forgot to mention how thoroughly dispirited I am by the certainty that his mugging, schticky older brother is going to be on next season. Ugh. -- Isaac
Janette Can’t someone grab her backstage and let the stylists fix her hair for real, not just when she’s dancing? There’s such a wild disconnect between the leggy graceful creature who does all this dancing and the goofball Latina Dorothy Hamill who we see the rest of the time. It’s disconcerting. This girl has had a whole lot of ballroom so far – she needs to show what she can do with something more emotional and raw to prove that she’s really in this thing to win it. (And don’t think, Janette, that just because you gave us a respite from the goofy faces last week that we’ve forgotten about that little tendency of yours. We’ll be watching you.) -- Kim
Ballroom dancers on a pan-stylistic show are a little like ice dancers. Having seen enough figure skating to know that the best thing about it is that moment in the jump where you know the next sound out of the crowd is either going to be "YESSSS" or "ooooohhh," it's hard to watch a sport defined entirely by the absence of that moment. The thing I care about the least on this show, aside from how manly Nigel finds dancing, is footwork. With Janette, I say yes to soccer-ball-head and the spin-split where she Ash Wednesdays her partner with her heel, but no to the hip-swivel and the jake leg. -- Isaac
Kayla This seems like such a small thing, but I think I agree with Nigel that Kayla’s hair is getting in the way. So much of what she does is so frenzied with the hair whipping around (especially during her solos, when she’s whipping the hair and the legs and the arms) – it’s just too much. Let us focus on the gorgeousness of what her body is doing – that’s what she can control. The hair is just a prop. I just went back and rewatched her samba, her Brian Friedman “pop-jazz” (the princess losing the throne), and her Sonya contemporary, all with an eye toward ignoring the hair, and I still don’t totally get her. So my only real advice for Kayla this week is this: connect with me. -- Kim
I still think that she consistently provides the most amazing moments of all the women, but I get the problem now. Sabra aside, this show loves its flirty just-one-of-the-guys girls. Lacey, Kherington, Courtney (who outlasted the judges' predictions by a mile), even Randi. Kayla seems a bit more aloof, more serious (or humorless, as I think a commenter said). Addiction dance is right up her alley, but she's not going to be able to sell a pillow fight while dancing on a couch. Still, she unfolds all kinds of crazy beautiful shapes and even after rewinding I still can't figure out how. She's my favorite woman, and it's not close.-- Isaac
Jeanine The more I think about Jeanine, the more I think that she could go really far on this show. Setting aside that absurd baby fat belly button outfit from last week’s solo, which really has to go into the annals of all-time-really-bad-costuming-choices, Jeanine has been pretty darned compelling nearly every time we’ve seen her. And that’s despite being shackled to Philip for five weeks. Jeanine needs a really good partner this week and pretty much any genre except hip hop so that she can show off her considerable skills alongside someone equally trained. -- Kim
She was really hampered by the Phillip pairing, getting blah choreography and never really synching with him. I wonder if the latter is because he doesn't count like a dancer. Like Randi, she benefits immensely from professional wardrobe people who make her, if not exactly beautiful, at least context-specific beautiful in a Jersey mobster girlfriend way. But I don't know how far she's going to go, because I think she's stronger than she is flexible. When Kayla or Melissa or Caitlin bends a leg backward to her head, you think she might keep it there long enough to french-braid her hair. Jeanine just thows it back there and yanks it back. I've liked her, but I think her ceiling is lower than Kayla's or Melissa's.-- Isaac
Melissa Oh, Melissa. Somehow she’s become the frontrunner despite the fact that she bores me. I get that ballet is hard, yo, and that most of these other people couldn’t strap on a pair of pointe shoes and do what she does. But for all the grace and the perfectly placed limbs, there’s just something about Melissa that leaves me cold. Here’s a theory – and I’m not committed to it: I don’t know whether it’s the ballet training or whether it’s just Melissa herself, but there’s a certain composure to everything she does. I like to see dancers on this show let loose every once in a while and blow us away with the emotion of their dancing. I’m not looking for a quickstep that makes me sob, but Melissa is almost too precise and perfect. Give her some Shane Sparks, or heck, let the girl crump. Ditch the pointed toes and just dance for us. -- Kim
Yeah, she's boring, and she's like 100 years old. She's six years older than Lauren Conrad, AND LC HAS CELLULITE. Melissa had to be a ballerina, because when she started dancing, they hadn't invented jazz yet. Look, I like her dancing more than I think I like her, and as long as she doesn't have to pair with Evan she's going to be fine. I really want her to have to do a harder-edged hip hop routine, like maybe a Li'l C crunk or something, and then have them intercut it with those early scenes from Save The Last Dance. -- Isaac
And here are your guys.
Evan Evan is a clear-cut case of why early-round pimping matters. But for the extensive coverage of the sweet Gene Kelly leprechaun and his whoopee-making tappity-tapping brother, I suspect we would have lost Evan long ago. He's had a couple of memorable dances, but nothing that would make him one of the sole dancers to avoid the bottom three so far. To distinguish himself, Evan needs to find those opportunities to soar -- both metaphorically and literally -- he had some jaw-dropping leaps during his audition and in Vegas that haven't yet shown up in the SYTYCD studio. -- Kim
I liked his pairing with Randi at first, but let's face it, Evan is John Stevens from Idol. What he does is hopelessly old-fashioned, and he is no good at anything else. Everything he does is soft, from his feet to his lifts. He's had at least a couple of dances where his entire job was to focus everybody's attention on Randi, and I got the feeling that that was more because of his limitations than her assets (look, Nigel, I can play too!). -- Isaac
Ade The fact that I had no idea how good Ade really was until he exploded out of the bottom three for the first time last week tells me something. All of a sudden I think of him as the male frontrunner after paying no attention to him for the prior four weeks. To avoid settling back into no man’s land, he has to bring that explosiveness into an actual partnered routine. If ever a dancer were yearning for a big, raw Mia Michaels routine, Ade is that dancer. -- Kim
Maybe the most important audience for Ade's solo was the people in the VIP bleachers -- the choreographers. Everything in the solo looked like it went together (I remember, for example, at least one Danny dance that seemed more like a stunt checkdown), but Ade was also able to convey the importance of giving him difficult, hard stuff to do. In a way, his partnership with Melissa may have been holding him back, since choreographers have been drawn to her grace and lines and have used Ade mostly to pick her up or swing her around. After his solo, though, everybody in the studio seemed to go "um, wow," so maybe the choreographers will ride that to a strong finish. Also, Ade has an easy smile and a calm manner that I think is a key part of getting votes. Even his solo was relatable -- understandable as a great solo in a way that I usually haven't gotten others' solos. He's definitely the top guy for me. A request for the jidges, though: no more puns, thanks (as if).-- Isaac
Brandon Brandon has hung in there week in and week out, but I’m not getting any star quality vibe from him. I guess that’s not a prerequisite to winning this show – both Sabra and Joshua were relatively quiet personalities compared to others their seasons – but I just feel like that eager puppy thing is going to get old at some point. Brandon needs to get a little serious at some point, and show that he can be a real presence regardless of who he’s partnered with. Basically, Brandon needs to suit up. -- Kim
Unlike Ade, Brandon seems a little antic, too eager to please. He has been solid every week, and his choreographed hip hop has been the best this season (much better than Phillip's). He's small, but he's strong. Like Henry Pym, Ant Man. Actually, I think Brandon has two problems that are not entirely his fault. The first is that he suffers in comparison to Ade's long lines, and the second is Mia Michaels's early tirade against him, which seems to have stuck. On dancing, he's been right there with Ade and I'd put him at a not-too-distant second among the men. -- Isaac
Jason Jason’s got a whole lotta rows to hoe if he’s going to make it past this week. There is no shortage of contemporary guys left in this competition, and Jason is currently bringing up the rear. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were a real dancer underneath the husk from which Caitlin sucked out the lifeblood over the last month. There was something critical missing from that partnership, and Jason’s hopes rest on being partnered with someone this week with whom he has some genuine rapport. He’s got a potential “cute guy” edge – and we all know how that can matter on a show where text voting is a big deal – but really needs some serious oomph to stay afloat. -- Kim
Manorexic Tracy Morgan is better than Evan, but I've never really cottoned to him. When I think of contestants' signature moves, all that comes up for me with Jason is the yell-and-flex he did during the gladiator paso doble, plus his Tracy Morgan grin peeking out from between Caitlin's dancing feet during Bollywood. -- Isaac
Kupono Kupono’s advantage among the remaining guys is that he’s different. None of the others (with maybe a half-exception for Evan) have shown any real ability to portray a character, but the addiction dance and the crash test dummies showed us that Kupono has some real talent in that area. Which is good, because he doesn’t have all that much drama in his actual dancing. I think he and Jason will be fighting it out to stick around for another week, but Kupono could have an edge if he gets the right routine. -- Kim
He looks tall (even if he's not), so that's good for making pretty geometries. He seems strong enough, so that's good for the liability insurance. He's a decent enough actor, so that's good for the entertainment. Kim compared him unfavorably to Mark from S4, though, and that's about right. Floppy, spinny Hawaiians who like to throw themselves on the floor like they're mad at it. Do they teach that at the Waikiki Danceteria? -- Isaac
NOT KNOWING WHAT THEY'D DONE, THEY PAINTED IN THE SUN: So if artists like to complain about the commodification of art, and if they bemoan how collectors are overly committed to decorative consistency instead of the basic point of the pieces they see, and if we know from Whistler v. Ruskin that what's valuable about art is not the time it takes to make it, then why do the prices of paintings by the same artist generally correspond to the size of the pieces? posted by Isaac Spaceman at 7:35 PM //
//
The Dodgers' Jason Schmidt is still #44. Heh. posted by Adam at 6:24 PM //
//
YOU CAN SOMETIMES DEPEND ON THE KINDNESS OF ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED STRANGERS: I have to say that if this story is true (and I have no reason to doubt that it is) the cast of the current Central Park Twelfth Night are just a bunch of awesome people. posted by Matt at 11:20 AM //
//
Related -- Dear National Association of Realtors, please stop subtly insisting in your commercials that I pronounce your occupation as "REE-uhl-tores". Isn't "REEL-tuhrz" sufficient? Do you have to grab for that third syllable? posted by Adam at 8:12 AM //
//
A LIST HEARD IN D.C., SAN ANTONE AND THE LIBERTY TOWN, BOSTON AND BATON ROUGE: In honor of Casey Kasem's retirement and/or Alex's birthday today, the NYT surveys the top ten songs from 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 years ago this week. Anyone not favoring the 1984 list needs to explain him- or herself -- does busting not make you feel good? posted by Adam at 7:10 AM //
//
Sunday, July 12, 2009
THIS LIST MUST CHANGE OR LISTS MUST BURN: Via our Down Under reader slowlylu, the listeners of Australia's "Triple J" modern rock radio have voted to create a list of the top 100 songs of all time. It is, as others have noticed, a remarkably male list. [Also, Hunters & Collectors but no Hoodoo Gurus?] posted by Adam at 10:48 PM //
//
THE SOUND OF RERUN EATING POPCORN: Remember when Adam posted a link to Ben Gibbard doing Thriller? In hunting it down for my iPod, I ran across the Internet Live Music Archive, a free collection of concert recordings ranging from low to damn high quality. Best of all, every entry on it quotes the copyright holder's approval for inclusion in the archive, so it's all legal. Gibbard's "Thriller," along with nice acoustic versions of, among other things, "Title and Registration," "Such Great Heights," and "All Apologies?" Here. A gorgeous Decemberists cover of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, or the same band goofing on Don't Stop Believin', Jesse's Girl, and I Don't Want to Lose Your Love Tonight? There and there (though in .flac format, so you'll have to exercise some industry). There are hundreds of artists in the archive, not all of whom I recognize, but all of whom are letting people make this available for free, which is the right price for me.
And if I'm the last person in the world to know this exists, sorry. posted by Isaac Spaceman at 1:31 AM //
//
IN WHICH THE SHAMING FUNCTION IS DEPLOYED BY NIGEL LYTHGOE ON NATIONAL TELEVISION: And so we've got ourselves a top ten! (Not that it matters, given that the top ten has functionally become a top twelve.) One big surprise in the bottom three couples, obviously, although those two should be glad it happened, because that solo showed us just how much of a frontrunner one of the guys might be.
As we were told repeatedly last night, the power now shifts to the people. A lot will depend on how the random new pairings go -- as we saw last year with Twitch and Kherington, leaving that comfort zone behind can be hazardous to one's health. Here are my suggestions for how the Sorting Hat should proceed.
Melissa and Kupono: Kupono has a litheness that hasn't been played to full advantage terribly often. Melissa's long lines could elicit something special from him, and Kupono's quirkiness may marry well with Melissa's grace.
Kayla and Ade: I am sold on Ade's greatness, which I never was when he was partnered with Melissa. And I am only somewhat sold on Kayla's, although I remain awed by her work in the addiction routine. So go forth together and bring us some greatness.
Janette and Jason: She's been on a tear lately, but tends toward the cartoonish. He's talented, but could use some more emotion. Maybe together they can form one appropriately demeanored couple.
Jeanine and Evan: I don't know how tall Jeanine is vis-à-vis Evan, but she presents somewhat small, which may make Evan's graduation from Randi somewhat less traumatic. And they each have an actorly dramatic side, which could make for a strong coupling. Regardless of who Evan gets this week, he's got to find a deeper emotional base.
Philip and Caitlin: Opposites attract, right? She's petite and graceful while he's hangdog and dorky, but they're each rubbery in their own way and might bring out something special in each other.
Randi and Brandon: This one is a little bit of a "who's left?" rather than an affirmative inspiration. I worry a bit that putting two chirpy people together might be too noisy. But Randi is the opposite of Janette's high dramatic style, and might give Brandon a chance to take the lead and shine a bit. And Brandon could give Randi a bit of inspirational heft.
And lastly, combining two of our recent obsessions, here's Wade Robson's 2003 tribute to his boyhood friend Michael Jackson. (Wade's only 25, with a not-exactly-mainstream childhood . . . I wonder if he's got potential to develop into Jacko-level oddity.) posted by Kim Cosmopolitan at 11:20 AM //
//
I'M JUST A GIRL, STANDING NEXT TO A GUY, HOPING HE WON'T FART: Can we hit 100 #1stdraftmovielines by noon? Then again, hope is a bad thing, maybe the worst of things, and many such things fall short ... posted by Adam at 7:00 AM //
//
Thursday, July 09, 2009
SO YOU'RE PRETTY STRONG WITH BASEBALL? You'd think we were done with the trials and tribulations of Moneyball, but it seems we are not. Sony's bringing in yet another scribe to rework the screenplay. This one has a little bit of experience of writing about sports--in fact, 44 episodes worth of a little show called Sports Night--apparently with an eye toward credits like "Screen Story/Adaptation by Steven Zaillian, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin." This could get very interesting. posted by Matt at 7:02 PM //
//
THIS IS HOW OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS WILL GET THEIR COLLECTIVE FOOT IN THE DOOR: Over the last few years, there has been a quantum leap forward in baseball knowledge as a result of PitchFX, a system installed now in every major league park that tracks every pitch with incredible accuracy. By measuring and plotting location at every point between release and the plate (or contact), PitchFX shows how much a pitch breaks (both vertically and laterally), when it breaks, and how much a pitcher's fastball "hides" his breaking ball (i.e., what is the difference between the arc of different pitches, and when can a batter start to distinguish those arcs?). PitchFX's algorithm will even tell you, based on trajectory and speed, what kind of pitch it is, and will associate every pitch with a result, letting you aggregate data in an infinite number of ways. Because the Internet is awesome, you can even go over to Brooks Baseball and play with the tool yourself. (Coming soon, as I may already have mentioned: HitFX, which will track the speed, location, and trajectory of batted balls.)
Modern technology is now much more accurate than Questec, the old new technology that baseball used (or maybe uses?) to evaluate its umpires. It is capable of giving us accurate, instantaneous information about whether a pitch is a ball or strike. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs and Jeff Sullivan at Lookout Landing, among probably millions of others, are now asking: why do we still have umpires calling balls and strikes? Inconsistency among umpires, unnecessary error rates, players and managers getting thrown out for arguing, and different strike zones depending upon the prior success of the guy on the mound -- what about that is worth defending? Or, as Sullivan quotes Tom Tango as asking, if baseball started with a system that provided 100% accuracy on balls and strikes, would we now advocate junking it in favor of the present system? posted by Isaac Spaceman at 6:56 PM //
//
Although I am saddened and a bit embarrassed that I had no choice but to resort to this action, at least I am in good company. . . .
Two of our greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson (filed several times) and Abraham Lincoln, were able to restructure their lives through bankruptcy and went on to do great things such as helping to establish the University of Virginia and abolishing slavery.
Ulysses S. Grant went bankrupt after leaving office when a partner in an investment-banking venture swindled him. (I can certainly identify with this one.)
William McKinley filed for protection while serving as Ohio's governor in 1893 ...
I'LL FOLLOW HIM AROUND THE HORN, AND AROUND THE NORWAY MAELSTROM, AND AROUND PERDITION'S FLAMES BEFORE I GIVE HIM UP: From the first chapter of the upcoming Finding Calvin and Hobbes, it is unclear whether the author succeeded in securing an interview with the most important and talented literary recluse of the 20th century. But the introduction to this sort-of biography of Bill Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes - which you can get free from the author (ping him at lookingforcalvinandhobbes@gmail.com) - sure makes me hope he succeeded. posted by The Pathetic Earthling at 2:25 PM //
//
THE CANADIANS--THEY WALK AMONG US:Tim Horton's is invading Manhattan, taking over some Dunkin' Donuts franchise locations in the city after Dunkin' terminated the franchise agreement. posted by Matt at 11:09 AM //
//
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PIPE DOWN, ENGLISH MUFFIN: So yeah, there was a whole lot of dancing on SYTYCD tonight. I know this isn't the first time that the week of 12 has been a twofer week, but I can't help wondering whether Nigel Lythgoe watched the my-show-runneth-over shenanigans on American Idol this season and thought to himself oh yeah? well maybe i'll just squeeze 12 dances plus two sets of clip sequences per dance into two hours without breaking a sweat, just to show that i can. And then you factor in Cat's mention of Studio 57 54 not once but twice, and things start to look like a beat-up-on-AI session.
Dancing is not something that normally makes me cry. Mia's dead father with the flowers didn't do it, Jean Marc Generaux's handicapped daughter didn't do it, all of the various I-love-you-I-can't-breathe-I-love-you-you-make-my-heart-hurt-please-don't-go-to-Iraq routines don't do it. But apparently there's one thing that makes me cry, and that's a nice heartwarming addiction dance. This is only the second Mia Michaels routine of this season, and for those who are new to the show, it's the kind of gut-wrenching emotional firestorm that makes Mia's work some of the most memorable that SYTYCD has to offer. Kayla and Kupono danced it gorgeously, and I was just all kinds of misty.
There were other, less weepy things I really liked. Brandon and Janette certainly picked a good week to have a good week. It's no secret that I think Wade is the rock star of SYTYCD, but the perfection of the dancers' movements on his jewel heist routine was something to behold. When the jidges tell people to "hit it harder," this is what they mean. And then that tango -- I spent the whole time thinking isn't this a lot more complicated than every other tango we've ever seen? The thing where Brandon kind of spun Janette between his legs like she was some sort of knock-your-opponent-into-the-water rotating log was crazy cool, and the tango is one of the only dances where making goofy melodramatic faces is basically required. So, like, yay for them.
Melissa and Ade were pretty much the same as they always are: excellent without knocking my socks off. I did take notice of Ade during the disco routine -- he seemed much more comfortable and in the moment than Melissa did. (Although Melissa did have some rockin' Tarted Up Sandy tell me about it, stud hair during that disco number, no?) Ditto Jeanine during the jive. Philip is way lucky that he got a Tony Meredith jive rather than a Benji Schwimmer swing, because man, could you imagine Philip trying to do one of those slide on the heel of a shoe maneuvers across the stage? But popping Philip into a sailor suit and letting Jeanine shimmy and bump him around worked quite well.
I really enjoyed the latest effort to mortify Evan and Randi, this time through pregnancy. It's not that Randi is the best dancer on the show, but she just exudes happiness when she's on the stage in a really endearing way. Which of course caused problems for them during the samba -- the samba is not a chirpy happy boppy dance, and Randi is clearly just not comfortable with the idea of being a sex object. Oh, and speaking of discomfort, how awkward was that Russian folk thing and the judges' efforts not to offend the entire Russian population by telling them that their national folk dance just isn't cutting it on SYTYCD?
Equally awkward was the criticism of Kayla and Kupono's Broadway routine. I'm not sure that the dancers were ever told all this business about the "hardness" of West Side Story or the need to "take the floor with them." Kayla and Kupono seemed more bemused than anything by the comments, especially given that what we saw of Joey Dowling's coaching was a lot more you're in love! you're in love! than get down and dirty as Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins would have wanted you to. So that was weird for me.
And then there's Caitlin and Jason. They weren't memorable, but they also weren't terrible. The lifts and kicks during the foxtrot were gorgeous, but the actual foxtrotting in between the tricks was kind of leadfooted. And the lyrical jazz routine was enjoyable, but not terribly memorable. But then again, with the exception of the Sabra/Neil office dance from Season 3, I can't think of any really great Mandy Moore routines, so I don't think that pulling Mandy's name did Caitlin and Jason any favors.
Bottom three: Caitlin/Jason, Jeanine/Philip, and . . . I don't know. Probably Kayla and Kupono given their prior track record (much as it pains me, given the addiction dance), but does the chirpy samba bring down Randi and Evan for the first time? For the guys, it shouldn't matter, as I suspect that Philip's number is up, but the jidges have been awfully whiny about Evan lately. As for the girls, I can't see the jidges keeping Caitlin over Jeanine or Kayla, barring another of those manic Kayla solos that the jidges rightly keep criticizing. posted by Kim Cosmopolitan at 11:20 PM //
//
YOUR SPECTACLE FIZZLED: A new quartet of Top Chef Masters, albeit our first without a mega-name chef like Bayliss, Keller or Dufresne in the mix. Still, who needs celebrity chefs when we've got NPH in the house? Well, actually, it would have been nice -- he didn't quite bring the legendary, though he did bring his boyfriend (who, as Dan Fienberg notes, was never identified as such) -- and the cooking was more "gosh, that's kinda neat to look at" than "I really want to eat it and then learn to cook it myself." A surprisingly weak episode, much like a lit coconut shell that never went fully aflame. posted by Adam at 11:03 PM //
//
Movies not yet released getting nominations--Orphan, Bruno, Funny People, The Ugly Truth, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, Aliens In The Attic
Movies and TV decidedly inappropriate for teens getting nominations--Ugly Truth (which is reportedly a very hard R), The Hangover, True Blood
Inexplicable acting/performing nominations--Megan Fox, Ashley Tisdale, Paris Hilton
The category "Choice Celebrity Dancer," featuring Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Selena Gomez, Shawn Johnson, and Lady GaGa.
The category "Choice Twit," which, despite featuring nominee Kim Kardashian, is apparently for "awesomest celebrity to follow on Twitter." Sadly, @feliciaday is not nominated.
CHEFTESTANTS: Competitors and judges for the upcoming Vegas-based season of Top Chef have been announced, including two Philadelphia-based Jennifers who are not my wife whose new book comes out next Tuesday and you have to buy it and also she's going on tour -- Jennifer Zavala of El Camino Real and Jennifer Carroll of Eric Ripert's 10 Arts, which I have to say is not that good. The season debuts August 26. posted by Adam at 6:37 PM //
//
LOOK FOR WILL FORTE TO WIN A SENATE SEAT IN 2022: Following in the tradition of Joliet Jake, Wayne, Pat, Beldar, and, yes, Stuart, MacGruber is headed to the big screen. posted by AlexG at 2:18 PM //
//
AND STARRING COUSIN OLIVER AS BOOGER: With the quite good 10 Things I Hate About You series making its TV debut last night and Parenthood and Eastwick coming this fall, Premium Hollywood has a great list of 15 Movies That Were Almost Turned Into TV Series, ranging from Al Bundy as Popeye Doyle in the French Connection to Harold and Maude's Bud Cort as Norman Bates' roommate in a Psycho-based series. And yes, that's Cousin Oliver playing Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds clip. Considering some of the awful, awful movies turned TV series that did make it to the tube (for every M*A*S*H and FNL there are more Delta Houses and Ferris Buellers) it amazing some of these never saw the light of day, though in the case of the Revenge of the Nerds it's understandable. posted by AlexG at 1:21 PM //
//
FRIEND REQUEST ACCEPTED: There's a pretty comprehensive (and quite favorable) review of Aaron Sorkin's script for The Social Network (aka, "The Movie About Facebook") out on the Internet, along with reports that Michael Cera and Shia LeBoeuf are being courted for the lead role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It's no secret that Sorkin has a group of ensemble players who he likes to work with (Whitford, Malina, Huffman, in particular), but they all skew more than a little old for the parts here, which are heavily 20-somethings. So, what 20-something performers do you want to see grapple with the Sorkinese? My proposal--Elisabeth Moss, who we know from TWW can handle the Sorkinese and has handled the related language of Mametese quite well. posted by Matt at 11:35 AM //
//
DID NO ONE MENTION THE OVERWHELMING BUFFITUDE OF DESMOND RICHARDSON? After some mostly TV-free R&R over the last couple of weeks, I'm back to the (so you think you can) dancing! Going into tonight's top twelve, I find myself oddly ambivalent about most of the dancers. Here's the state of the universe according to me:
Kayla: All hype, no payoff. We had The Leg back in season one -- its name was Melody -- and beyond that I just don't get it.
Brandon and Janette: I like their dancing fine, but the faces are killing me -- Janette's when she dances and Brandon's kind of vacant puppy dog smile. (Love me! Choose me!)
Philip: We've had amazing hip hoppy dancers on the show before. This is nothing new. But unlike many of them (Hok and Twitch and some guy named Joshua Allen), Philip hasn't had a single breakout non-hip hop performance in four weeks. Can they give a guy a slot on the tour just to do one cool popping solo?
Jeanine: The potential is there, and she's cute and likeable and all that, but thus far has labored under the shadow of her hoppy poppy partner. I'm keeping my eye on her for when the partners change up.
Caitlin and Jason: I find Caitlin compelling, although I realize I am in a dwindling minority. It might just be that she's cute and I'm a sucker for a front aerial. As for Jason, he's another one I'm hoping will break out once he's got a new partner.
Melissa and Ade: I'm missing something. I'm just missing something. They're great, they're lovely, they're dancing the pants off of most of the other couples, but not once have I felt moved to pick up a telephone on their behalf.
Evan and Randi: I love them. This is the only pair about whom I legitimately care. I think they've gotten really lucky on their genre draws -- the butt, the jive, and the Rich Man's Frug (which I loved, incidentally, regardless of what Nigel said about Evan's wrists) are all the kinds of dances that get people dialing. I do harbor some concern that they may fall flat once they have to pair up with new partners, a concern I don't really have about Ade or Melissa.
Last year, when it came time to pick the touring ten, there were two couples who were head and shoulders above everyone else: (1) Twitch and Kherington and (2) Joshua and Katee. (Note that three of those four ended up being the top three overall.) So I guess we're in the same position now as then -- two couples leading the pack and everyone else scrambling to be noticed. I guess I just prefer Mark and Chelsie and Courtney and Gev to Kupono and Janette and Kayla and Philip.
You can email us at throwingthingsblog (a) hotmail.com
"Contains 'irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links.' " -- Blogger.com
"It's a brilliant, funny blog that discusses everything pop culture. I love it." --Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes
"I'm sorry, I don't get all the Adam worship. To me, his performance was shrieky and self-indulgent." --Fred App
"The very best source for Spelling Bee blogging." -- Dan Steinberg, Washington Post
"The best Spelling Bee coverage ever." -- Ann Althouse
"Surely putting to death ten convicted killers isn't nearly as useful as stopping a single Bonin before he tastes blood." --Judge Alex Kozinski, "Tinkering With Death", The New Yorker, p.53 (2/10/97)
"That's one of the greatest blogs there is. I need to read it more. He's practically the only fellow doing something different in the Blogosphere." --Tim Blair, quoted here
"My favorite blog, but also the leading candidate for the Let's Find Something Wrong with Everything That's Good, Just Because We Can Award." -- L^3
"The ultimate entertainment blog." -- Cosmo Macero, Boston Herald
Disclaimers: Nothing on this weblog has been authorized by or represents the views of our employers. Any effort to impute any views expressed here to them is just plain wrong. Viewer discretion is advised. All prices and specifications subject to change without notice. This website has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your screen.
This website may contain forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements present management's expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding future financial performance, and assumptions or judgments concerning such performance. Any discussions contained in this website, except to the extent that they contain historical facts, are forward-looking and accordingly involve estimates, assumptions, judgments and uncertainties. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those addressed in the forward-looking statements. This website is meant for educational purposes only.
Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. The management has always had the right to edit or delete any comments he sees fit, and will use such right for abusive or irrelevant remarks. If you want free speech, start your own blog; this one's taken. No passes accepted for this engagement. Price does not include taxes, title, destination charges, or dealer prep. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead or otherwise is purely coincidental. Lost ticket pays maximum rate. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. Any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of the pictures and accounts of this website without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is encouraged.
This is only an exhibition; please, for heaven's sake, no wagering.
