DON'T MAKE ME WAKE THIS BABY; SHE DON'T NEED TO SEE WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DO: Eminem and his ex-wife Kim Mathers, have remarried.
Given all that Marshall's been through this past year, I don't quite know what to make of this. He's an exceptionally talented lyricist and emcee, and I hope this is another step in his road to recovery, and not a sign of further problems.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
NEXT UP, GREEN DAY COVERING "CLOSER TO FINE:" Yahoo! Music is home to an interesting experiment, which they're calling "Cover Art," in which various artists do covers--some more unexpected than others. Thus far, the collection includes:
- Natasha Bedingfield (whose "Unwritten" and "These Words" are currently guilty pleasures in heavy rotation) covering Maroon 5's "This Love."
- Ray J covering Coldplay's "Clocks."
- Liz Phair and a guy with an acoustic guitar covering Stevie Wonder's "Saturn."
- Jason Mraz covering The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (bizarrely, as a lilting acoustic ballad).
- Tori Amos covering Jim Croce's "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)."
- Big & Rich covering Madonna's "Like A Virgin."
Worth your investigation.
PUT DOWN THAT PHYLACTERY, WE'RE EPISCOPALIAN: Kim's previously written about The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and I want to add a few notes about the joys and problems of the show. The chief joy is that this is a funny show. A very funny show. In fact, it's the closest I think we'll ever see to a Christopher Guest movie onstage, with large portions clearly improvised. (Tonight's performance featured a lengthy discourse from Sarah Saltzberg 's (f/k/a Wendy Wasserstein's nanny) character about the appropriate celebration of Martin Luther King day, involving a visit to the "MLK white sale at Bed, Bath, & Beyond." Attention to detail is everywhere, with banners hanging in the theatre lobby celebrating Putnam's athletic achievements and announcing club meetings.
The problem is that the show is too damn long. This would be an extraordinarily funny 50-minute half of a pair of one acts. Indeed, it's the opposite of the standard Broadway musical, where you can't wait for the singing and dancing to commence, taking you away from a frequently tired book. Here, you want the singing and dancing to stop so you can get back to the book (which deservedly won a Tony). Indeed, the songs, with a couple of exceptions ("My Magic Foot," "My Unfortunate Erection") are utterly bland and unmemorable. Would that this had been the first half of a night, with the ensemble playing different parts in the second half (say, in a play about elementary school plays), we would have had one of the funniest nights on Broadway in a long, long time. Instead, we get a mere trifle. It's worth seeing, especially for the Bee-obsessed among us, though I woulda been disappointed had I paid full price.
The problem is that the show is too damn long. This would be an extraordinarily funny 50-minute half of a pair of one acts. Indeed, it's the opposite of the standard Broadway musical, where you can't wait for the singing and dancing to commence, taking you away from a frequently tired book. Here, you want the singing and dancing to stop so you can get back to the book (which deservedly won a Tony). Indeed, the songs, with a couple of exceptions ("My Magic Foot," "My Unfortunate Erection") are utterly bland and unmemorable. Would that this had been the first half of a night, with the ensemble playing different parts in the second half (say, in a play about elementary school plays), we would have had one of the funniest nights on Broadway in a long, long time. Instead, we get a mere trifle. It's worth seeing, especially for the Bee-obsessed among us, though I woulda been disappointed had I paid full price.
DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG, LORNE? SNL is taking an oddball route for next week's episode. Rather than asking someone with something to sell to host, like Kate Beckinsale, James Franco, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, or Albert Brooks, indie god Peter Sarsgaard, who has nothing on his plate, will host with musical guests The Strokes. This could either be brilliant or a trainwreck. I'm not sure which it'll be yet.
PSYCHE, SOUTH KOREA SOUNDS EVER SO MUCH NICER: Well, it's official. Everyone at NBC, from Bob Costas to the mailroom guys, will be saying Torino instead of Turin for two weeks in February. Why? "It sounds better on the air."
Had this logic taken hold earlier, we could have had the last same-year summer and winter Olympics in Barthelona and La Ville d'Albert, respectively.
Had this logic taken hold earlier, we could have had the last same-year summer and winter Olympics in Barthelona and La Ville d'Albert, respectively.
HE MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT TO LAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS: Director Robert Altman (7 nominations, 0 wins) will, at last, be receiving an honorary Oscar this year.
Altman's work combines two seemingingly disparate traits -- a deeply naturalistic, unforced shooting style which allowed for overlapping dialogue and action occurring all over the frame, but with exceptional control over the narrative itself, allowing films like Nashville and Short Cuts to have 20+ characters of equal significance, all colliding over each other's lives.
If he had only made those two films, dayenu. But M*A*S*H? The Player? Gosford Park? "Tanner '88"? A worthy honor.
Just as long as they don't harp on Popeye too much.
Altman's work combines two seemingingly disparate traits -- a deeply naturalistic, unforced shooting style which allowed for overlapping dialogue and action occurring all over the frame, but with exceptional control over the narrative itself, allowing films like Nashville and Short Cuts to have 20+ characters of equal significance, all colliding over each other's lives.
If he had only made those two films, dayenu. But M*A*S*H? The Player? Gosford Park? "Tanner '88"? A worthy honor.
Just as long as they don't harp on Popeye too much.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
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