Pop Culture Buzz

When will these young Hollywood partiers ever realize all they need to do is rent a driver for the night and all of their problems will go away?

Lindsay Lohan just sunk her career for good last night as she was arrested for another DUI and while at the jail, the cops found cocaine on her body.

Why is she is so intent on ruining her career and making herself unemployable? I would say this whole mess is sad, but I don’t really care if she is able to make another movie in Hollywood again. What has she done so far that is so great? I think she is done in Hollywood for good!

So far both singles from Natasha Bedingfield’s newest c.d. haven’t impressed me at all. I am not a huge fan of bloated, corny ballads and this song is pretty slow and boring if you ask me.

I was hoping for another “Unwritten”, “These Words” or “Size Matters” from Natasha, but no such luck so far. Let’s hope Natasha has an upbeat hit up her sleeve in the near future.

I already love the premise and direction of this Disney family movie. Much like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” this film could be huge with its cross over appeal. The creative plot is enough to get me to watch this movie, let’s just hope there is more to this film than just a gimmick.

If Disney avoids the fart jokes this could be a fun ride at the movies this winter for young kids and adults alike. I hope the high concept of animation and live action doesn’t hinder “Enchanted” from being irreverent and cool.

Songs like this could never make it big on the American pop charts. As catchy as it is, this song is just too gay for the radio. But sure enough this song is in the top twenty singles chart over in the U.K. I love the high energy and catchiness of this Sunfreakz song, but I know it’s just glorified junk food for your ears. So enjoy!

*** 1/2 STARS

If you know me well, and if you have read this blog a lot, then you already know that the original “Hairspray” movie by John Waters from 1988 is my ultimate, all time favorite movie EVER. I have seen it more than 200+ times, I know all of the dances and dearly love the early 60’s soundtrack (I even own a rare vinyl copy autographed by John Waters himself).

When I heard that the movie “Hairspray” was being made into a Broadway play, I was excited. When I watched the stage musical in San Fransisco, I liked it and was amused, but I didn’t love it as nearly much as I did the movie. Now that I have seen the ultra fabulous movie adaptation of the stage play, I am excited to say that it is a great companion piece to the much beloved original film.

I was so nervous to see how my favorite characters and plot lines would be treated in this big screen adaptation. To my surprise 2007’s “Hairspray” is the best movie musical to come out in the past 10 years. This is the film that “Dreamgirls” wanted to be. “Hairspray” has so much vibrant energy it can hardly contain itself.

From the fabulous opening credits to the awesome ending musical sequence, “Hairspray” creates a refreshing movie going experience that has been long over due this summer. Without pandering to it’s audience “Hairspray” feels like a silly adventure with creative choreography, vibrant set designs, original yet retro costumes and instantly catchy tunes. You would have to be completely heartless to not get a kick out of the outrageous story and eye popping scenery.

Queen Latifah and Christopher Walken do such a great job with their scenes but it is John Travolta who steals the show. At first the make up and voice work throw you for a loop, you are not sure if you are willing to give into the preposterous set up of Travolta as a suburban 60’s housewife. But Travolta gives a surprisingly entertaining and sweet performance as Mrs. Turnbladt, so much so that you forget about the make up and fat suit instantly and fall in love with Edna. Somehow the spirit and odd charm of the original movie stays in place much in part because of Travolta’s stellar performance. I was also very happy to see Michelle Pffeifer doing such great campy acting and pitch pefect singing as “Velma”.

I cannot express how surprised and pleased I was with “Hairspray”. The choreography, acting and singing all captivated the audience on opening night to a level I was not expecting. People who are sick of all of the hype surrounding sequels this summer will be pleasantly surprised to find out that “Hairspray” is the best summer movie of 2007. “Hairspray” is by far the best musical and family film to come out in many years, I wouldn’t be surprised if it remains on my top ten for 2007 by years end, it is that great!

TOTAL THIS WEEKEND / TOTAL SO FAR

1.) I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry $34,775,000 / $34,775,000

2.) Harry Potter & Order of the Phoenix $32,185,000 / $207,541,000

3.) Hairspray $27,800,000 / $27,800,000

4.) Transformers $20,506,000 / $262,969,000

5.) Ratatouille $11,008,000 / $165,628,000

6.) Live Free or Die Hard $7,300,000 / $116,466,000

7.) License to Wed $3,760,000 / $38,678,000

8.) 1408 $2,600,000 / $67,500,000

9.) Evan Almighty $2,455,000 / $93,469,000

10.) Knocked Up $2,318,000 / $142,724,00

FROM WWW.ROTTENTOMATOES.COM:

Celebrated director Todd Haynes has taken on a rather … experimental project this time around. He’ll have seven different actors playing different “aspects” of songwriter Bob Dylan. And one of those actors is Cate Blanchett.

Click below to enjoy the clip from Haynes’ upcoming I’m Not There, which The Weinsteins aim to release on September 21st. Hard to say what the old-school Dylan fans will have to say about this clip, but I find it tough to knock anything Cate Blanchett does these days.

Haynes is best-known for 2002’s Far From Heaven. Some of the other actors hired to play “aspects” of Dylan in I’m Not There include Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger. And check out David Cross as Allan Ginsberg!

This is the best dance track I have heard in a very long time. It is sexy, funny and bad ass! The video is a perfect match to the energy of the song. This song is currently all over the European music charts. Get ready to shake your booty and lose your gay mind when you hear it below:

The preview for The Flaming Lips live concert video below is four and a half minutes of genius. I have been to 4 Flaming Lips shows and each one is a mind blowing experience that has changed my life. I even got the chance to perform in costume with them for their 2007 New Years show in San Francisco. They are, simply put, “the best live band ” EVER! If you don’t believe me, rent or buy this DVD and watch it, I bet you won’t be able to say it isn’t an awesome spectacle of huge proportions.

GRADE: D

I enjoy watching family films a lot. Some of my all time favorites are: “Paulie”, “Babe 2: Pig in the City”, “The Never Ending Story”, “Labyrinth” and “The Dark Crystal”. A lot of critics like this movie and I can why children would enjoy this film. As a child I read “Bridge to Taribithia” in elementary school and fell in love with it. As I watched this big screen adaptation I didn’t feel the same magic that the book creates. End the end the movie bored me and was a big disappointment.

I would blame the acting as one of the major factors to my negative review. A lot of the young actors and actresses in this movie lay it on thick, and I mean thick. The acting is not convincing in the slightest and nothing can be more irritating that over acting tween in a so-so movie. Secondly, I would blame the silly special effects. The fantasy scenes are a bit cartoonish and over simplified, even for the plot.

I can appreciate the value and moral of the story that “Bridge to Terabithia” has at it’s core, but this film just didn’t entertain me. Some kids movies don’t need to dumb down the dialog or add fart jokes to be clever. This movie didn’t have the same heart as the book or the entertainment value I remember. “Bridge to Terabithia” was a let down of huge proportions.

This Frank Oz comedy looks absolutely hilarious. I love that it is a British comedy at that! The premise and clips from this trailer have convinced me that this will be hilarious. This summer has been pretty good for comedies so far. I cannot wait to see this.

GRADE: C-

The only half way decent sequel to the “Silence of the Lambs” franchise was “Red Dragon”. Every other film about the life of Hannibal Lechter, besides the classic “Silence of the Lambs”, is pretty pathetic. “Hannibal Rising” comes close to creating a thrilling story, but I just couldn’t get past some of the silly flashback scenes and over the top acting. For the most part I was entertained by “Hannibal Rising” and would recommend it for cable viewing but that is about it.

“Hannibal Rising” wants to be smart and deep but just comes off as a straight to video prequel. The movie has a good beginning but starts to lose steam as Hannibal becomes a young man. The actor that plays “Hannibal” just doesn’t quite fit the character and he doesn’t even resemble Sir Anthony Hopkins in the slightest. The simplistic explanation of Lechter’s psychotic and horrific tendencies is pretty hokey and not very believable. It would seem that a serial killer would be born with a pre-disposition for eating human flesh and not because he witnesses his little sister eaten by Russians during World War 2.

I give this movie an just an o.k. review for the fact I that I wasn’t bored entirely, end the end I was just not that impressed. I am hoping that this will be the last of the “Silence of the Lambs” films. There was no real reason to continue past the first Oscar winning feature film. When movies like this get made it is hard to believe that anything but greed was behind the idea to put this movie onto the big screen. Luckily the Hannibal Lechter follow up movies will never cheapen the brilliance that “Silence of the Lambs” is.

Sean Penn is not one of our finest movie directors, as an actor I just “like” him. Off camera his political views have made him the butt of Republican and conservative foes. This movie looks a bit over stylized and pretensious for my taste. Check it out for yourself below:

FROM WWW.ROTTENTOMATOES.COM:

For the moment, this story falls under the category of “wild speculation masquerading as rumor,” but we suppose Pixar has earned the privilege of having its every move dissected from past, present, and future. Here’s some dish about what the studio might be planning for, um, 2011.

JV Pixar News reports that “a very reliable anonymous source” is saying “Cars 2″ will be Pixar’s follow-up to “Toy Story 3,” which is currently slotted for a summer 2010 release. As the article points out, one hurdle facing a sequel is the recently-announced retirement of “Cars” star Paul Newman, but if Pixar has a choice between making another bajillion dollars or ending a potential franchise, it’s hard to see them choosing anything but the former.

Again, this isn’t based on much of anything other than a heard-it-from-this-one-guy report, from Al Lutz at Miceage, claiming Newman was heard saying, at the Indy 500, that “Cars 2″ would be coming out; on the other hand, something has to go on Burger King cups four years from now, and those adorable “Cars”-toons are as good as any.

WEEKEND TOTAL / TOTAL SO FAR

1.) Harry Potter 5 $77,410,000 / $140,017,000

2.) Transformers $36,000,000 / $222,990,000

3.) Ratatouille $18,019,000 / $143,004,000

4.) Live Free or Die Hard $10,875,000 / $102,918,000

5.) License to Wed $7,440,000 / $30,508,000

6.) 1408 $5,010,000 / $62,202,000

7.) Evan Almighty $4,972,000 / $87,867,000

8.) Knocked Up $3,653,000 / $138,194,000

9.) Sicko $2,653,000 / $15,879,000

10.) Ocean’s Thirteen $1,910,000 / $112,432,000