Thought the box office matchup to watch this holiday season was between Will Smith and Jim Carrey? Psh! Try again, friends. As proven by Sunday's box office numbers, Seven Pounds and Yes Man, respectively, were DOA — and while I have no proof, I can assure you that's exactly what we here at PopDarts predicted, thank you.
But who needs proof, anyway? Especially when we're about to bear witness to the type of marquee box office collision that 1) proves God reads Us magazine, and 2) could ultimately result in a significant (and much needed) reallocation of journalistic goodwill to America's Best Friend. Yes, my dearies, tomorrow marks the day that Jennifer Aniston goes toe-to-toe at your local AMC with ex-husband — and fertility demigod — Brad Pit.
Though their two films have been tracking pretty evenly for the past two weeks, Marley and Me appears to be surging late, which could mean bad news for The Curious Case of What's-his-Name when box office tallies are released Friday morning. (Note: Reviews, however, are tipping decidedly in Pitt's favor.)
But who do you think will win the truly epic battle over the hearts and minds of female moviegoers this holiday weekend? Does it even matter? (i.e. for the career of either actor; not in, like, life or something. God!)
Personally, I'll be rooting for the underdog, if ya feel me.
XO,
Blitz
Summer Heights High is hands-down the most hysterical-yet-equally-offensive show you aren’t watching.
The Australian import (now airing on HBO) is shot in a mockumentary style (like The Office), that takes place at a high school. Mastermind Chris Lilley plays all three lead characters, which are pee-in-your-pants kind of funny:
Ja’mie King: If her pretentious, piece-of-shadoobie of a name didn’t tip you off, this stunning gift from God comes from a private school as some sort of a transfer student and has to endure the hells of public school.
Mr. G: Think Clay Aiken if he were plotting the overthrow your high school drama department. He treats the school like an insensitive playhouse and makes an upbeat school musical about a teen student’s overdose -- and somehow it turns out to be outrageously funny.
Jonah Takalua: Hands down my personal favorite comedic character Since Michael Scott. Remember the kid in high school who never wanted to learn, cursed at the teacher and swore he said “puck you,” but was also the class clown? If he were Polonesian and a breakdancer, he’d be Jonah.
Don't believe me? Watch the scintillating wisdom from the characters themselves below. Enjoy.
-- Ace edit.
And just for you, ma petite... something new to feast on. New scenes from Season 2 of Damages... (apologies for the ad at the beginning)
 Just in time for the holidays FX unwrapped a great present for me -- a new poster for Season 2 of Damages.
I’ll be frank and admit I wasn’t originally a Damages believer. I never really wanted to watch the show.
Glenn Close creeps me out.
And I figured if Ted Danson were a star of the show, we were in for “Becker: Part Deux.” But, boy was I wrong.
Well, only half-wrong. Glenn Close still creeps me out. But her amazing use of that creepiness makes her character, Patty Hewes, one of the best on TV.
While it received much acclaim from critics, the show never really garnered the following it merits.
The show won two Emmys (Close for best actress in a drama and Zeljko Ivanek for best supporting actor) and got a nod for Best Drama.
But I’d argue the show’s biggest success is the way it has redefined the realm of legal dramas/thrillers one mind-blowing scene at a time.
It’s hard to describe this show in any other way. Mostly because it has so many outrageous plot twists that you can barely wrap your head around. And that’s what makes it so engaging.
Hewes portrays one of the best lawyers in New York, the ranking partner at a high-profile firm that specializes in class-action lawsuits.
I won’t give away the plot, because half the fun of the show is letting it unfold before you.
But lets just say Hewes will use any form of intimidation or visceral actions to get what she wants. To say she likes to manipulate situations would be a gross understatement.
The premise behind the first season involves Hewes' entanglement with Arthur Frobisher (Danson) a businessman being sued after dumping stock and screwing over his employees. An unbelievably convincing Zeljko Ivanek plays Frobisher’s lawyer, Ray Fisk, and his performance alone is reason enough to tune in every week.
Close's greatest moments, however, arise out of Patty's relationship with Ellen (Rose Byrne), a fresh-out-of-law-school associate who may or may not have been hired on more than her resume.
So, as I gear up for the second season of the show (debuting Jan. 7 on FX), I implore all to give the first season a shot if you never got to tune in.
That poster up there did its job: I'm ramped up to revisit one of my favorite finds of 2008. (Blitz was kind enough to introduce me to the show via DVD one rainy weekend last spring. Thank you, Blitz.) And if that poster is any indication, things are about to get even crazier over at Hewes and Associates. I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
And just for you, BlitzSchitz, below I've embedded the trailer for Season 2 of Damages.
-- Ace
Music Labels are back in the headlines — and not for the obvious reasons. Nope, it's not abysmal CD sales they're ODing over this week (though it should be — by all indications, CD's are lower on consumers' minds than warmed over cow dung this Chrismukah season). It's YouTube, Stupid! Dur!
For three years, YouTube has been collecting rips of A-list music videos and streaming them for free to the entire fraggin' world, which as we in the world of online marketing know, can never ever ever do good things for our brands. I mean — free?!
No, seriously. What's that?
Those Rihanna videos I sneak in between conference calls are without a doubt illegal rips that the major labels don't want me to see, right? I'm sockin' it to the man when I download that Britney leak* every week, right?! And YouTube strives to foster a truly organic Web 2.0 experience, without the tarnish of skeezy corporate business dealings like third-party licensing agreements and partner commission fees...RIGHT?
RIGHT, VIRGINIA??!?!
Since all of these things are positively, unequivocally true, why is the L.A. Times vomiting up lies this morning about how the labels have supposedly been "licensing" all these videos to YouTube all along?! {Read it for yourself at latimes.com.]
To demonstrate exactly how useless YouTube is at furthering important long-term branding initiatives like increasing artist exposure, I've embedded an obscure, low-budget piece-o-shadoobs clip by Beyonce. Before you watch, you should know that you've probably never seen this video, because it never gets played at clubs — especially not the shiteous American Music Awards performance of the song — and hasn't done sheise on the Hot 100 and doesn't daily inspire a closeted teen boy to break out the uni and learn every step of Beyonce's choreography as if he were already standing up on stage with her at the Grammys. This song is nothing. No one's heard of it.
L.A. Times: The removal of Warner Music Group's videos from YouTube over the weekend highlights the growing tension between music labels and websites over what is becoming an important source of revenue for the beleaguered recorded-music industry: advertising and licensing fees from music videos, the foundation that built MTV but which has now largely migrated to the Internet... Read More
There are no words to explain why I must have this scarf. You must see for yourself. Well, maybe there are few words... but they're all in the snazzy l'il video montage you're about to watch below, which you should note (for small talk at Christmas parties) is set to the (again) surging "Womanizer" by Princess Brit Brit:
RATINGS
Scarf: Deserved a bigger role.
"Womanizer": Keep it coming. I don't think I'll ever get enough.
Chuck/Ed: 3 words (kinda): I'm Chuck Bass.
- Blitz
Today, my roommate did something amazing. She found it.
And I will have it.
No matter what I have to do to get it.
Which is why you'll find no link to it anywhere on this site.
RATING
Scarf: The perfect Christmas present for your Gossip Girl-obsessed roommate.
- Blitz
About five months ago (give or take), my female Jewish doppelanger and I decided to create a blog so brilliant it would somehow manage to be about something exactly because it was so effortlessly about nothing. Say what you will about our false claim to the mantle of post-modernism, but we're fairly certain we're already making history with this piece-o-shadoobs blog.
Normally, we'll be examining the trends here. However, tonight — well, who'm I kidding, tonight's no different... We'll spotlight a white hot trend — we just happen to be settin' it, 'yotch.
(Given the breakneck pace at which this fine gem of Judeo-Gentile technoglam fusion is likely to infect the Internets, forgive us please a brief moment of vanity.)
Without further adieu, the inaugural post on PopDarts shall be about...
..the inaugural Live Video Chat Menorah Lighting Ceremony, as performed by Ace and Blitz.
RATING
Live Video Chat Menorah Lighting Ceremony: Genius.
XOXO
- Blitz
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