http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 14 May 2004 13:59:14 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/14/135914.php Media WhoreEver since she released "Dreams" I have been in love with Gabrielle. She's the perfect blend of pop and soul, which America just doesn't seem to get. Her worldwide hits "Rise" and "Out of Touch" never did anything on the US charts which is a shame. She's back with her first album in three years (only her fourth album in 11 years), Play To Win.While the CD doesn't break a whole lot of ground in terms of musical growth, her songwriting has improved immensely. My favorite tracks on the CD "Picking Up the Pieces" (classic Gabrielle), "Tumbling Down," "Fallen Angel" (very much like "Out of Touch"), "Ten Years Time" (this is a classic pop song), and "Latchkey Kid" (a touching little song).Lead single "Stay the Same" will not unfortunately win over any new fans. While it's a fine song, there isn't quite the hook that is needed for another Gabrielle smash. She also does an interesting stab at country music with "You Used To Love Me." The problem is that it's just plain boring.Overall, the album is a pleasure to listen to, and I'm happy the girl is back. Look for her to still remain a one-hit-wonder in the United States. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Music15677@blogcritics.org Fri, 14 May 2004 13:59:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/07/132944.php Media WhoreFor being such a great show, despite the whole Oliver storyline, the season finale was a disappointment. While the idea of the show coming full circle to the pilot episode was a great idea in theory, the execution was terrible.I'll deal with the positive's first. The relationship between Sandy and Ryan has been handled wonderfully, the goodbye scene between the two of them was excellent. Seth's fascination with the word pudding - those instances are what makes his character so endearing. Kelly Rowan, Kirsten, was giving some great scenes to show off her acting chops. A supportive Summer makes for a lovable Summer. Seth dissing Marissa - something we've all been wanting someone to do. Seth's realization of how isolated he felt before Ryan arrived, and how he will feel lost again without his presence was very touching too.And now for the negative. - The use of Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah." This is one of my favorite songs, and it's use put the final moments way over the top. - Ryan going back to Chino with Theresa. He doesn't even know if it's his baby or not! The only outcomes to this situation will be that it's Eddie's baby after all, or it will be Ryan's and Theresa will lose the baby. The show is called The OC and not Chino. - The buildup to Julie and Caleb's wedding, and NOTHING happens. At least Caitlyn is let out of the dungeon so she can attend the ceremony. I have a feeling Caitlyn will either disappear completely next season (like the daughter on Life With - Bonnie), or she'll age a few years, so they can give her a storyline. Seth sailing off to Tahiti on his little boat. Nice idea, but that boats not going to get him to Tahiti. - Marissa turning to the bottle. How cliche. Not it would have been a finale if she had downed the bottle, and jumped off the balcony of the new mega-mansion.We do have a few plot points that were revealed. The Newport Group is in major financial trouble. Kirsten had an abortion that Sandy didn't know about (seems like Jimmy may have knocked her up). I say Ryan will be in Chino for maybe one episode or so, and then high tale it back to the OC. I still love my OC, but I was expecting a little bit more. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video15472@blogcritics.org Fri, 7 May 2004 13:29:44 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/26/102259.php Media WhorePatience is only George Michael's fifth studio album. His first since Songs From the Last Century (does anyone actually remember that CD) released in 1999, and his first album of new material in eight years. That amazes me. It was worth the wait, Patience is quite good.Despite the inclusion of "Freeek!" and "Shoot the Dog," previously released sub par singles, it's the typical mix of ballads and danceable tracks. His cover of The Ones' "Flawless," was included especially for his gay fans will be a surefire club hit. The strongest songs are "Cars and Trains" (celebrating being sexually naughty), "My Mother Had a Brother" (a tribute to his late gay uncle), "Precious Box" (infectious and a great showcase for his voice), and John & Elvis are Dead (despite the Jesus Christ line).The other songs aren't chopped liver. "Amazing" is a complete throw back to the 1980's when George was at the peak of his popularity. The song keeps growing on me after each listen. "American Angel" which seems to be a tribute to his lover, is quite pretty. The CD is probably his most personal, and kudos to George for not caring if we have to like what he's saying or not. It's a really a catchy, moving, beautiful album. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Music15098@blogcritics.org Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:22:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/19/105700.php Media WhoreI have to say that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a great film. Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, and the supporting bunch gave great performances. It's another brilliant screenplay from Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), and an amazing directorial effort by Michel Gondry. Lastly, the cinematography by Ellen Kuras is just phenomenal; it helps create the whole blurred schizophrenic mood for the film.The film can be a little confusing at times, but if you try not to concentrate on where in the time line things are happening, things just tend to fall into place.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about a couple Joel (Carrey) and Clementine (Winslet), who having an amazing connection despite the fact that they are polar opposites. The basic gist of the film, is that the relationship ends and then they have the relationship erased from their memories. Despite the loss of memories there will always be a certain emotional attachment to the people in your past.During the process with Joel, things go somewhat awry. The films centers on what is going on inside Joel's head, and how he can't seem to let go of Clementine. One of the major themes which are dealt with in the film is how memory really affects and constitutes what happens in our lives. The film is full of laughter, but can be extremely heartbreaking at certain times. The great vulnerable performances by the entire cast are, just another reason why this film will stand up as one of the best of the year.Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video14883@blogcritics.org Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:57:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/20/195706.php Media WhoreWonderfalls is like a hipper Joan of Arcadia (I’ve never seen Joan of Arcadia – so I’m guessing). Our heroine, Jaye Tyler played effectively by Carolne Dhavernas, is an unmotivated college graduate who works as a cashier in a Niagra Falls gift shop. Instead of being talked to by God, Jaye is spoken to by objects such as a wax lion. These objects give her hints to do things that in turn end up helping other people (which tend to have a comical subtext to them). She is obviously bothered by the fact that she’s hearing inanimate objects speak to her. It will be interesting to see how this aspect is handled throughout the unfolding of the episodes. There will have to be some acceptance of this phenomenon; otherwise she may end up just accepting the fact that she’s possibly crazy.The supporting characters in this show are great. Diana Scarwid is hilarious as the uptight and wired mother. The actor who plays the EPS Delivery man, (I haven’t been able to find out who plays him) is perfect in his role as the slightly over-sensitive, kind of clueless, everyday All-American Man. He finds out in the debut episode that his wife left him for another woman. His scene after the pen-induced tracheotomy was hilarious. Jaye’s sister, played by Katie Finneran , is played effectively as a wound up and sexually frustrated lesbian (we find this out in the first episode also – with no judging by our title character – just acceptance of the fact that she’s a lesbian). Her father and brother are only in one short scene, albeit a hilarious one (her father asks her if she’s had an orgasm lately). There’s the obligatory best friend, aka token non-white character, as well as the love interest that was hinted at in this debut episode. Tyron Leitso who plays the potential new boyfriend is like every other boyfriend on FOX – slightly scruffy & burned by a previous relationship. He reminds me of David Conrad, who plays Michael on Miss Match (when is that coming back). FOX has been promoting the show pretty extensively, but it’s in a time of death time slot: 7 p.m. Friday nights. FOX has never had a hit in this time slot. Once again, despite great critical reviews, the show received meager ratings (just like FOX’s own Arrested Development). I can never understand how crap like Hope & Faith can get buffo ratings and the good stuff flounders.view clip Video13927@blogcritics.org Sat, 20 Mar 2004 19:57:06 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/17/203240.php Media WhoreThe women are the stars of American Idol this season. We've got a couple strong voices in the group. It was also kind of nice (I can't believe I'm saying this) to see the extended bios. It just gave me more of a sense on who these kids were. I also don't remember there ever being so many of the contestants still being in high school.LaToya London - She sang a great polished version of "Ain't Nobody", and was looking sexy to boot. LaTonya seemed very comfortable on stage.Amy Adams - Poor girl. She had to follow LaToya's wonderful performance. It was pretty lackluster version of "You Make Me Feel Brand New." The song was way out of a range that she's comfortable with. Matt Rogers - The poor big guy. He doesn't take criticism real well. He was passable.Camile Velasco - Please get rid of the rainbow wristband. Is it bothering anyone else? Once again it looked as if she was in pain singing "Son of a Preacher Man." She needs to let go, and relax way more on stage.Jon Peter Lewis - The dancing must stop. It was cute with the Elvis song, but it's beginning to lose it's charm. He loses himself when he starts dancing. Fantasia Barrino - Does the world need a sober Macy Gray? She is a fantastic performer, and can belt it out, but I'm thinking the nasally voice could hurt her in the long run (I am well aware that oddsmakers a listing her as the favorite).George Huff - He did Otis Redding proud. Out of the male vocalists, he's got the strongest voice.Jennifer Hudson - Props for our Chicago girl! Tastefully dressed tonight, she beautifully sang a controlled version of "Baby I Love You."John Stevens - John's got no soul. The 16 year-old Rat Packer could barely hit one right note throughout probably one of the most tedious versions of "Lately" I've ever heard.Leah LaBelle - She couldn't keep us hanging on with her off version of "You Keep Me Hanging On." Although, she didn't cry when Simon told her she should pack her bags.Jasmine Trias - She had a shaky start to "Inseparable," but plowed through and then got tons of praise by all three judges.Diana DeGarmo - The bubbly teenager sang a rousing version of "Think" that assured her a spot on next weeks show.So who will be in the bottom three? Leah, Matt, and John. With Leah saying bye bye. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video13837@blogcritics.org Wed, 17 Mar 2004 20:32:40 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/09/221623.php Media WhoreWestlife star Bryan McFadden has confirmed he is leaving the band to spend more time with his family.The 24-year-old singer told a packed press conference in Dublin that the other members of the band were his four best friends and his departure was nothing to do with them. "I just feel it's the right time to concentrate on my family and being at home as much as I can," he added.Although the band said they were "devastated" by the news of Bryan's departure, they called it an amicable split and urged fans to support them now more than ever. Bryan's wife Kerry McFadden and bandmate Nicky Byrne's wife Georgina, Irish premier Bertie Ahern's daughter, stood together as Bryan announced his departure.Since emerging into the pop world five years ago, the band have had a record-breaking 12 number one singles and sold 30 million records. [Ananova] If your British, Irish, or into British pop music this will mean something to you. Otherwise, It's the equivalent of say Nick Carter quitting the Backstreet Boys.In other words - totally replaceable. Currently playing in iTunes: The Space Between from the album When it falls by Zero 7 Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Music13561@blogcritics.org Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:16:23 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/02/174549.php Media WhoreThis looks like it will be the last of the Average Joe shows, because the girl has picked the hot guy and not the average joe both times now. On both series, the hot guy is pretty, but oh so so so bland. Gil had no personality whatsoever, he barely talked, and when he did, it wasn't ever anything of substance.I would have thought that when he answered her question of "what do you expect to happen from all of this," he answered that he wants to be an actor. Red flag. It should have been over right then and there. On both shows, the beautiful woman talks about the connection that she has with the hot guy. The connection is that they are both hot.Brian had it all. He was open and honest with his feelings, he showed Larissa things that he really cared about (Fenway Park). Did you notice that on both shows, the average joe is the only one to introduce the girl to his friends?What was up with the ending of the show? The big secret was that Larissa dated Fabio. Okay yes, it does go to show why she picked Gil over Brian, looks over substance, but I have no idea of why Gil was so upset over this. They showed him leaving his winning three-day vacation with Larissa, and her in tears. Then, this morning on the Today show, we find out that Gil and Larissa are still together. One last thing. They should have filmed the last elimination ceremony differently. Why show who wins first, and let us all feel crappy for Brian the last 15 minutes of the show. Why not intersperse, the two together, where she's going back and forth between the two, so we don't know until the very end who she picks.It just made for a bad, bad finale. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video13337@blogcritics.org Tue, 2 Mar 2004 17:45:49 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/23/205825.php Media WhoreThe pre-show was actually very well done. I thought that the women, as well as the major supporting players, except for Stanford, were represented quite well. It was fun seeing the memorable moments and highlights from the first six seasons. I have to say that I shed more tears during that than I did during the finale. That said on to Part Deux. Overall the episode was actually quite mediocre, and quite a heavy episode at that, sans the great ending. We all knew from what had transpired in Part Une, that Carrie was not going to end up with the Russian. That point was cemented during Carrie's dinner with the Russian's ex-wife. He will never be what Carrie wants him to be. Career for him is first, and love is comes in second. In the scene that Carrie comments on how fantastic the restaurant was, the Russian's ex-wife commenting that it used to be. This was meant to show how out of place Carrie was in Paris. If Carrie had been in New York City, she would have known the current "status" of the restaurant. Then there were the three unnecessary things that happened to Carrie in this episode - her stepping in shit, the French girl hitting her on the head, and the Russian accidentally slapping her. The shit scene was just plain low. Being hit on the head by the little girl was more unneeded imagery (not even a knock on the head can "knock" some sense into Carrie). Showing Carrie get slapped, even if accidental, was just wrong. The connotations of a slap, accidental or not, are just so negative that it ruined the scene. We knew how Carrie felt because of how she expressed her feelings to the Russian; we didn't need a slap to seal the deal. Even if the slap was an excuse for the necklace, that she got from the Russian, to break (i.e. Paris is over), it was not needed. Then there were the obvious moments that turned out almost too corny. Carrie finding her "Carrie" necklace (i.e. New York City is where she belongs). Also, the scene in which big is sitting in his limo, and Carrie is facing the other way trying to hail a cab - please. It was enough that he walked into the hotel, when she was trying to switch rooms or check out (I was a little confused). Moving onto the other characters.Charlotte We knew that Charlotte would somehow end up with a baby. I predicted wrongly that she would become pregnant. It was nice to see her husband worried about it more that Charlotte for a change. Major detriment to the storyline was the couple whom they were trying to get a baby from. Why make them be backwoods Southerners? It could have been anyone who backed out of deciding not wanting to give up their baby, why make the couple cartoon characters?Miranda Over the last few episodes we've seen Miranda soften somewhat. We know that she really does love Steve and the baby. The abundance of Anne Meara in Miranda's scenes was a bit jarring. The fact that she told Steve that his mother could live with them was huge enough - showing her capacity to love and be caring - that we didn't need the rest of the Anne Meara storyline. I was happy to see Magda in the picture though - she was a great-underused asset to the show. I really wish they had shown more of Miranda and Steve.Samantha I predicted a wrong storyline ending here also; I thought there would be an engagement. The relationship between Samantha and Smith, has given the show some of its most romantic gestures (Smith shaving his head with Samantha). We knew that Samantha couldn't be a slut forever, and her transformation has been probably the best written of the storylines this season. Samantha's all ready to let Smith go on location, and have as much sex as he wants, because Samantha has no sex drive do to the chemo. Smith is devoted to Samantha - he sees her potential for loving more than she does. The scene in which she receives the flowers from Smith was extremely touching (I'm welling up as I'm typing this). Samantha ending up in love, and the writer's ability to make it not seem contrived, was a perfect ending.The ending. The last couple of scenes were my favorite part of the episode. Carrie writing on her computer, her surprising the girls at the restaurant, the women walking down the street, finding out that Big's name was John, and Carrie walking away down the streets of New York City was perfect. Carrie's fitting last words were: "Well, that's just fabulous."One quick comment in regards to finding out Big's name being John. I've spoken to quite a few people about that moment - and everyone had the same reaction. For two seconds you're wondering if Carrie has a new man, but then you realize it's Big. Genius. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video13076@blogcritics.org Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:58:25 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/23/202846.php Media WhoreThis awards show is actually one of my favorites. For the sole reason being, that the actors are recognized by other actors. As well as the fact that the actors who win really do appreciate it, and are touched by the win. Overall, I agreed with most of the winners. On the film side: Charlize won for Monster. Lord of the Rings Won for Best Cast. Tim Robbins won Supporting for Mystic River. On the TV Side: Megan Mullally won for Will & Grace, Tony Shalub won for Monk, Frances Conroy won for Six Feet Under. Kiefer Sutherland won for 24. Six Feet Under won best Drama. Sex and the City won Best Comedy. The biggest surprise of the night was Johnny Depp winning best actor for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He wasn't there, so we didn't get a speech and so no one really had time to react to the shocking win. I wasn't thrilled that Renee Zellweger won. I'm getting tired of her same breathless speeches. I wish Mary Louise Parker and Jeffrey Wright had won over Meryl Streep and Al Pacino for Angels in America. Two big questions about the award show. Why do they have supporting actor categories for film, but not for television? Did they miss and award, because they awarded actor and actress for miniseries or TV film, but there was not cast award?The oddest speech of the night, was Sean Astin's rambling about the people in the room and certain people making more than others, and who the hell knows? The most touching speech was Charlize Theron's acceptance speech for Monster. After her happy speech at The Golden Globes, you could tell by her tearful speech for winning the Actress Award that it really meant something to her. Visit Pop Culture Junkies for the Entertainment Headlines! Video13075@blogcritics.org Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:28:46 EST