Friday, August 21, 2015

PATTERN REVERSAL:  The traditional pattern for young actress/singers in the late 90s/2000s was to start with an exceedingly packaged album, and then move toward a more "personal" work later (usually that they have a hand in writing and/or producing) that is either "de-glamorized" (e.g., Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Kelly Clarkson) or involves increased sexual/provocative material (e.g., Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera).  I've been fascinated to see a reversal of that pattern of late in two major examples--obviously, the most prominent is Taylor Swift, who went from pretty straight singer-songwriter work to highly glamorized uber-polished pop, but the other prominent example that comes to mind is Hailee Steinfeld, whose breakout was in True Grit, in a completely de-glamorous role, who is now trying to reinvent herself as a glam poptart.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

YOU ARE, ALWAYS, THE MAN:  Chase Utley.  Chase Fucking Utley.  He will be missed.
THAC0 ROLL!  HIT!  The fine folks at GOG have (at long last) secured the rights to the classic "Gold Box" AD&D games set in the Forgotten Realms, which filled far too many hours of my youth.  Yes, the graphics are dated, and they're basically pure hack and slash, but if just for nostalgia's sake, I'll get them.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

SURE TO BE NEARLY AS POPULAR AS NBC'S REALITY HIT, THE LAW FIRM:  The lead character's name is Miranda Coale. She's been hired by “a group of millennials living and lawyering together in a startup law firm.” And the drama is called, guh, Miranda's Rights.

To be followed, I'm sure, by Ja Rule in Shelley's Case.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

JUST THE THOUGHT IS MAKING ME GO COMPLETELY MENTAL:  The Maya Rudolph Variety Show may be back to being a real, regular thing, with Martin Short as co-host.
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK ON THE INTERNET: ScreenCrush gathers the 50 best poster taglines in history, some from memorably good films, and others from memorably bad ones (sadly, slideshow, but worthwhile nonetheless).

Monday, August 17, 2015

ANYTHING BUT EVERCLEAR: The top five selling spirits in Pennsylvania are the small bottle of Jack Daniel's, Fireball cinnamon whiskey, Captain Morgan, the larger bottle of Jack Daniel's, and Grey Goose vodka.
HERE IT IS, YOUR MOMENT OF SLAM:  Jon Stewart will host WWE's  SummerSlam  special on Sunday, which will also feature Arrow star Stephen Amell in a tag team match.
YIPPEE-KAY-YAY, ELEVENTH CIRCUIT:  When a court manages to discuss Die Hard 2 in an opinion (footnote 2), we're on it.  (A quick search suggests that this is the first federal court opinion to cite films from this franchise.)
WAS THAT SQUIRREL AFRAID TO FLY AFTER SEPTEMBER 11?  This October, Miley Cyrus, Amy Schumer (!), and Tracy Morgan (!!!!!!) will be hosting the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live.