Month: November 2011

This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (Nov. 12, 2011)

Maybe this week you were distracted with an overload of stories about Herman Cain’s sexual harassment accusers, concerns about whether Justin Bieber is going to be a father, or the firing of Penn State Coach Joe Paterno. If you fall behind on the latest news you risk embarrassing yourself like Ashton Kutcher did. So check out these links to some of the stories you might have missed.

Music

Rapper Heavy D passed away. RIP.

rem part lies

NPR will let you listen to REM’s new 2-CD set, “Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage.”

Taylor Swift won Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.

Lady Gaga won four awards at last Sunday’s MTV European Music Awards show. And was that streaker a planned part of show?

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and his sister Maile Meloy each have released new young-adult novels.

Singer Andy Williams revealed he has bladder cancer.

Wednesday night, Bruce Springsteen performed at the 5th Annual Stand Up for Heroes show. Watch videos of his performance on Blogness.

A Cheap Trick museum wants you to want it.

This “Desert Island Disc” discussion reminded us of Willie Nelson’s overlooked concept album Yesterday’s Wine. (via @grayflannelsuit)

Whatever gets the tooth fairy though the night: John Lennon’s tooth sold for more than $31,000.

New remasters from Pink Floyd were released and include alternate version of “Wish You Were Here.”

Movies

snow white
The new live-action Snow White will have 8 dwarves and many changes.

Snow White and the Huntsman will be released on June 1, 2012, but watch the trailer now. This ain’t your Disney version of Snow White.

Director Werner Herzog discussed his new film, Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life.

Seven years after the release of the excellent film Sideways director Alexander Payne released his follow-up film, The Descendants. I hear Oscar buzzing. . . .

Slate reconsidered Blue Velvet 25 years after the film’s release.

For Veterans Day, the Los Angeles Times chose the best war films from American cinema for each war.

The “Atlas Shrugged, Part 1″ producer is planning Part 2 despite the poor box office for the first movie.

Television
Piers Morgan quit “America’s Got Talent” to focus on another talent show: the 2012 presidential election. In related news, Howard Stern might join “America’s Got Talent.”

The producer of next year’s Oscar telecast, Brett Ratner, stepped down after making a stupid gay slur. After Ratner’s announcement, the Oscar host, Eddie Murphy, announced he would no longer host the show, apparently because he had only agreed to do the show because he had worked with Ratner on Tower Heist. Vegas just announced that the payout on bets for “Eddie Murphy wins an Oscar in the next decade” went up 1000%.

Regis Philbin’s last week on Live! with Regis and Kelly will include guests Kathie Lee Gifford, David Letterman and Tony Bennett.

13-year-old “X Factor” singer Rachel Crow started out life in a crack house before she was adopted. Although I had been favoring Josh Krajcik to win, Crow’s performance this week was probably the best of the group.

Other News
‘Family Circus’ creator Bil Keane died at age 89.

Slate had an interesting discussion of “The New Classics,” enduring books, films, ideas, etc. since 2000.

“This is Nixon unplugged“is how Historian Stanley Kutler described new recordings of the former president available online for the first time, including Nixon’s grand jury testimony.

In honor of Joe Frazier, who passed away, Life magazine presented a slideshow of never-seen photos from “The Fight of the Century” of Ali vs. Frazier in 1971

Two new biographies about Charles Dickens are out. In related news, I have had a two-volume Dickens biography on my shelf for more than a decade that I have yet to read. Now, I do not know where to start. Maybe I will watch a movie. . .

What was your favorite pop culture story this week? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Happy Nigel Tufnel Day!

    spinal tap break like the wind

    Happy Nigel Tufnel Day! Why is it Nigel Tufnel Day? If you look at today’s date, you will see that, as Mr. Tufnel famously stated in This is Spinal Tap, “The numbers all go to eleven.” In other words, today is 11/11/11.

    The famous exchange occurs between Nigel Tufnell, played by Christopher Guest, and filmmaker character Marty DiBergi, played by the movie’s director Rob Reiner.

    You may read more about attempts to make today Nigel Tufnel Day on the the Nigel Tufnel Day Appreciation Society etc. website, on LA Weekly, and on Facebook. And for our U.S. readers, we wish you a good Veterans Day too.

    What did you do to celebrate Nigel Tufnel Day? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    World’s Greatest Dad (Missed Movies)

    world's greatest dad

    When my local Blockbuster was going out of business and selling off its stock of DVD’s, on various visits I watched the stock dwindle except for the stack of copies of World’s Greatest Dad (2009). I did not return to the store on the last day it was open, but I suspect that every movie may have been sold expect for the copies of this movie.

    Perhaps because movie-goers initially expected a light-hearted mindless Robin Williams movie, the film did poorly at the box office too. It is unfortunate that so few people have seen this movie, although I understand that World’s Greatest Dad is not for everyone. If you are easily offended or only want to see run-of-the mill comedies, skip this movie. But if you enjoy dark comedies and want something different, check it out. The way World’s Greatest Dad divides viewers is shown by the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, which show a 60% rating from audience members but a more respectable critics rating of 88%.

    It is hard to describe the movie without giving too much away, but Williams plays a high school teacher and aspiring writer who is the father of one of the most obnoxious teenagers ever portrayed on film. When a tragic accident occurs and Williams tries to protect the person involved, he sets forth a chain of events that turns his life around. After he finds some success and happiness based on a lie, he begins to question whether he is really happy. Some characters are exposed as insincere, but considering that much of the film is set in a high school, is that a surprise? Ultimately, the movie asks questions about when love and friendship are real and when they are fake. And these serious questions are addressed in a funny, dark way.

    Robin Williams has made some interesting choices as an actor, including exploring a darker side in such movies as Insomnia and One-Hour-Photo. While his character in World’s Greatest Dad is not as sinister as his character in those movies, in some way the movie is more disturbing than those because it mines something deeper and dark in modern American life. The film is not for the whole family and some may find parts offensive. It is rated R due to discussions of sex (and a little Robin Williams nudity), not due to violence.

    There are not many likeable characters in World’s Greatest Dad and there are few, if any, laugh-out-loud moments. But throughout the film, you might notice a chuckle in your throat trying to get out as the film goes from one “I can’t believe they did that” moment to the next. Ultimately, the movie, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, shows it has a lot of heart and it makes you think. But if you prefer something that is unlikely to offend or challenge you, then you should look elsewhere.

    {Missed Movies is our continuing series on good films you might have missed because they did not receive the recognition they deserved when released.}


    Did you love or hate World’s Greatest Dad? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Conrad Murray Convicted of Michael Jackson Homicide

    Michael Jackson Ben

    A jury convicted Dr. Conrad Murray of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, who died on June 25, 2009. The judge will set a sentence that may range from probation to four years in prison.

    As in the case of Elvis Presley’s death, during recent weeks it has seemed that the way Michael Jackson died overshadowed his talent. But of course, Jackson’s own legal troubles and accusations against him had already put a stain on his life and career. Reading about how Jackson regularly took propofol intravenously to put him to sleep, one cannot help thinking about the troubled life starting with his difficult childhood where he was physically and emotionally abused. For today, though, it does not hurt to think about the music and the talent before it was tarnished by the sexual abuse allegations and the way he died.

    “Ben” was the title track on Michael Jackson’s second solo album, released in 1972 while he was still with the Jackson 5. As far as I know, it is the only song from a killer rat movie to be nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award. There will be those who say that Dr. Murray is a killer rat, but it appears more that he was just another piece of an ongoing tragedy.

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    Happy Birthday Joni Mitchell!

    Today is the birthday of Joni Mitchell. To be honest, I do not have a lot of her music on my iPod, but of course I have the outstanding album Blue (1971) and know many of her songs. Mitchell was born in Fort MacLeod, Alberta, Canada in 1943. She had polio as a child, resulting in a hand impairment that led her to experiment with non-traditional guitar tunings. She was later named the greatest female guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
    Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi

    Mitchell’s album Ladies of the Canyon (1970) includes the song “Big Yellow Taxi,” which was a hit in Canada, Australia, and the UK, but was not a hit in the U.S. when originally released. Mitchell released a live version of the song several years later that had more success in the U.S. but the most successful version of the song was a cover by the Counting Crows with Vanessa Carlton released more than three decades after Mitchell’s original.

    The song’s most famous line was inspired by an actual event. Mitchell was visiting Hawaii when she opened the curtains in her hotel room in the morning to see beautiful mountains. She later recalled, “Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart … this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.”

    “Big Yellow Taxi” mirrors the growing concern with the environment during the 1970s. For example, the song refers to the pesticide DDT, which was banned in the U.S. three years after the song was released:

    Hey farmer farmer,
    Put away that DDT now;
    Give me spots on my apples,
    But leave me the birds and the bees.

    The song is brilliant in that it is not just a song about DDT. Mitchell ties together the environmental concerns with a personal story about “a big yellow taxi” that took away her “old man.” Although it is unclear from the song whether she lost her father or a lover, the message is clear. “That you don’t know what you’ve got / Til it’s gone.” The lesson works both for our personal lives and for the world.

    Unfortunately, Joni Mitchell, who suffers from Morgellon’s syndrome, does not record or perform anymore. While many of us might not have known what we had until it was gone, at least we can still watch old performances.

    Above is a live performance of “Big Yellow Taxi,” which Mitchell used to close her set at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

    What is your favorite Joni Mitchell song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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