This week, I started walking for the first time in 8 weeks without the aid of crutches. It’s been a very exciting development for me, since that means that I’m getting close to being fully recovered and regaining some of the freedom that I’ve had to relinquish since I broke my ankle in September. I’m not completely out of the woods yet – I still have pain in my hamstring and calf that makes walking sporadically painful, but hopefully my continued physical therapy will address those issues. For now, it’s just nice to know that if I want to walk to the kitchen to get a drink of water, it is no longer the big ordeal that it used to be. I’m even optimistic enough to plan a trip to NYC in a few weeks; fingers crossed that isn’t a mistake.
With the holiday last week, it’s been kind of a slow pop culture week. That doesn’t mean, however, that there weren’t nuggets of pop culture goodness to be found; it just means that I had to work a little harder to find them. This week’s roundup is the fruit of my labor. So here’s your chance to see what you might have missed while you were eating leftover turkey or black Friday shopping.
- The writers’ strike saved not one but two Breaking Bad characters from getting killed off in the first season.
- Christopher McQuarrie will be back to write and direct the next Mission: Impossible movie.
- Adam McKay hypothesizes what Anchorman 3 could be about.
- Patton Oswalt has joined the Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival.
- NPR interviews Adele.
- Adele’s hot new bodyguard is getting a lot of attention.
- Jerry Seinfeld is doing a residency at NYC’s Beacon Theater.
- Dave Grohl and Animal had a drum-off:
- Matt Weiner will direct an episode of Orange Is The New Black. Color me intrigued.
- Peter Jackson may be directing an episode of Doctor Who.
- Ryan Gosling is in talks for Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic.
- Lots of people love Love Actually (I ain’t one of them); a deleted plot line from the film has been released.
- The Mountain from Game of Thrones broke another world strength record – the keg toss. We could have used him in the Greek Games in college.
- Is double dipping a chip as bad as Seinfeld made it out to be?
- Jennifer Lawrence called Chris Pratt “cotton candy in human form” which is pretty apropos.
- J Law is slated to make her directorial debut.
- The new Men in Black movie will actually feature a woman in black.
- Just when you thought their feud had died down, Katy Perry uses Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” boyfriend in her new video.
- Superman is kinda, sorta going to appear on Supergirl.
- Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the cantina song for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
- Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand are among the recipients of the Medal of Freedom.
- Vice releases an interview with Eagles of Death Metal.
- There is a reason that Alex Pettyfer wasn’t in Magic Mike XXL.
- The shortlist of potential Oscar documentary nominees has been announced.
- Lori Petty is headed to Gotham.
- The State of the Union has pushed back the Agent Carter season premiere.
- Jared Leto tried to make amends with his neighbors by giving them all pies.
- Cast members of Seinfeld recorded messages for a superfan dying of cancer.
- David Letterman has donated a bunch of memorabilia to Ball State University.
- Reese Witherspoon is developing a movie about the creation of Barbie.
- More reason to love Chris Hemsworth (if you needed it) – he paid off his parents’ debt.
- Somebody actually bought that one of a kind Wu-Tang album.
- Adam Sandler has released an updated version of “The Chanukah Song”:
- Tom Hanks still knows his rap from Dragnet.
- Vulture ranks all the Pixar shorts. I’m particularly fond of #4 because of this guy.
- Patrick Bateman from American Psycho reviews Taylor Swift.
- J.K. Rowling weighs in on the name of Harry Potter’s son.
- Artisanal Star Wars ice cream is a thing.
- Nebraska is getting a Star Wars-themed movie theater. Odd location.
- The Daily Show cancelled an appearance by Chris Brown as a result of staff pressure.
- The National Board of Review names Mad Max: Fury Road the best movie of 2015.
- There is a Rambo TV series in the works.
- Gilmore Girls pop culture references, by the numbers.
- Jack White opens a Third Man Records store in Detroit.
- Neil deGrasse Tyson weighs in on Millennium Falcon vs. Starship Enterprise.
- Yet another foolhardy director will attempt to make the Tupac biopic.
- Tor looks at the ambitions of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- Ron Howard will direct the adaptation of the forthcoming thriller, The Girl Before.
- Hear Beyoncé’s collaboration with Coldplay, “Hymn For The Weekend.”
Time for some trailers….
- Knight of Cups:
- Luther:
- Outlander season 2:
- Grease: Live:
- The Other Side of the Door:
- A Very Murray Christmas:
- Norm of the North:
- I Saw the Light:
- Ride Along 2:
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:
- Marvel’s Agent Carter season 2:
- A sneak peek of Batman v. Superman:
- HBO will debut the new animated comedy Animals on February 5th.
- Drake announced the Toronto Raptors starters during “Drake Night.”
- Uproxx checks in on where the cast of A Christmas Story is now.
- Gotham Award winners were announced.
- A new fan theory hypothesizes that all the Pixar movies take place in the same universe…..as Die Hard.
- Disney Channel renews Girl Meets World.
- Disney XD has renewed Star Wars Rebels.
- The Jimmy Kimmel/Matt Damon feud continues…..
- Stream Fetty Wap’s new EP.
- ABC Family has renewed The Fosters for a fourth season.
- Constantine could return in Legends of Tomorrow.
- Nintendo and Disney XD are partnering for a Mario Kart 8 TV special.
- Hi-C Ecto Cooler is making a comeback.
- Naughty by Nature has a new EP, tour and documentary in the works.
- The Sad Hill Cemetery form The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is being restored.
- David Tennant explains Einstein’s theory of relativity:
- Mark Wahlberg’s sneaker collection is worth over $100,000.
- Psy is back with two new music videos.
- Mary-Kate Olsen married French banker Olivier Sarkozy. None of her non-twin Full House co-stars made the invite list (which, to be fair, was really small).
- Serena Williams paid tribute to her dog who passed away.
- John Stamos gets three years of probation for his DUI.
- Linda Ellerbee is retiring from Nick News.
- Sinead O’Connor is safe after a message was posted on her Facebook page about an overdose.
- Stand-up comic Andy Ritchie has passed away.
- Anne Hathaway and her husband Adam Shulman are expecting their first child.
- Chelsea Peretti and Jordan Peele are engaged. Yay!
- Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan are parents to baby girl Max.
- Sandra Bullock adopted a three year old girl, her second child.
- Ice T and wife Coco welcomed a baby girl:
As always, we end with the supercuts and mashups….
- Batman suits up:
- A tribute to 2015 cinema:
- If Family Guy’s Peter Griffin voiced Chewbacca:
- Dilwale mashed up with Despicable Me 2:
- Even marching bands are covering Adele:
- If you’re a woman in the Star Wars universe and your name ain’t Leia, you didn’t have much to say in the original trilogy:
- Fall Out Boyz II Men:
- The Avengers gets the romantic comedy treatment:
- Kanye meets Queens of the Stone Age:
- And finally, Jimmy Fallon and Rashida Jones do holiday parodies of popular songs:
As Heather's World Turns 