Friday, April 10, 2015

DIG HIS CHAINS: Flavorwire uses the Rock's turn in the latest Fast and Furious entry to look at 10 Memorable WWE Wrestlers' Movie Roles, rightfully putting Andre the Giant's Fezzik in the top spot, but somehow overlooking the Macho Man's performance as Bone Saw McGraw in the first Spider-Man film and several fine performances by the former governor of Minnesota. Any others they missed?

Thursday, April 9, 2015

THE LEGO MOVIE GETS SNUBBED AGAIN: With the 2010s amazingly more than half-over, the AV Club is looking back on The Best 100 Films of the Decade (so far) and scattered among your those films that have been sitting on your Netflix queue since the Chilean miners were trapped (hard to dive into No. 1, The Master, when you can rewatch the Kimmy Schmidt), you'll also find some multiplex friendly flicks like The Avengers, Toy Story 3, and Inception.
IT'S NO "GHOST MOM!"  The Dissolve spoils in a brief and handy manner this week's Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Longest Ride, which (mild spoiler) turns on a will provision that I'm not quite sure would pass legal muster.
WHERE A KID CAN BE A KID:  Chuck E. Cheese's is going upscale.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

IN WHICH KENDRICK LAMAR ASSISTS A SPELLING BEE ENTRANT:  Your word is 'negus'.

[Shonda, 5/31/07: "I dig the look on Andrew Lay’s face after, to his amazement, he correctly spelled 'negus'. He fully expected to hear the ding and when he didn’t, he almost leapt out of his tiny skin. I like him."]
READY! FOR! ACTION! This summer, in prime time, on ABC, it's the return of Celebrity Family Feud.  Sadly, unlike prior show v. show matchups, it'll be celebrities and their actual families, so we'll be denied the cast of Scandal playing the Feud, which, based on their tweets, could be utterly delightful.
DAMN. SHIT. THAT IS WACK:  They may be remaking She's All That.
THE PEOPLE'S ELBOW CAN DO ANYTHING: Vox checks with doctors and real experts to determine whether the big "hell yes!" moment in the climax of Furious Seven is realistic.
DESTINY CALLING!  WHO IS IT DEAR?  IT'S DESTINY:  Comedy genius and ad man great Stan Freberg has died at the age of 88.  Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America was in heavy rotation in my house as a kid and is up there with 1776 for the two things that made me think of US history from the earliest age, no matter how distorted that view might be.

One of my favorites: Everybody Wants to be an Art Director.

Here's a lovely tribute.

(Note: More than a little premorse here -- no idea he was still among us)


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

THE CHASE CONTINUES IN THE AFTERLIFE:  James Best, know best (and probably solely) as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane, has died at the age of 88.

Monday, April 6, 2015

THE LAST OF DON: With Mad Men starting it's final run of episodes last night, Decider.com has a rundown of Pop Culture's Top 10 Ad Men--from Bewitched's Darrin Stephens to Melrose Place's Amanda Woodward--ranked in order of just how Draperesque they are. It's truly an excellent list and I should know since I wrote it. It was actually a lot of fun to put together, even if I did have to re-watch What Women Want.
CALL ME THE HAND THAT FEEDS:  Following the classic "Call Me A Hole" mashup, we now have "I Really Like a Hole."  Also, underappreciated--the Wes Anderson-y (bright popping colors!  typewriters!  storyboards! notebooks! old timey cameras!  dioramas!) lyric video for "I Really Like You."