May 31, 2017 by heather7180

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – American Gods Edition

Thanks to some downtime on planes and a three-day weekend, I’m pretty close to caught up on all of my shows. Of course, it helps that most shows are wrapping up their seasons and a lot of summer shows haven’t started yet, so there aren’t new things piling up on my DVR (though I haven’t started the new season of House of Cards yet, which is driving me crazy). The last few days I have been binging Starz’s adaptation of American Gods, which I have to say that I am really enjoying. I hadn’t read Neil Gaiman’s book and honestly wasn’t sure what sure what to expect from the series, but so far it’s really pulled me in. On paper I’m not sure that this is a show that would appeal to me, but I’m glad that I took a flyer on it. The pilot episode is definitely a little bonkers and four episodes in I can’t swear that I truly understand everything that is happening, but I like the ride that they are taking me on especially since I have no idea where its going. Good stuff.

Also good – this week’s pop culture roundup. The holiday weekend put a slight damper on the quantity of pop culture news, but certainly not the quality. So get yourself caught up on everything that you may have missed with the new edition of the week in pop.

Television

It’s official – the final season of Game of Thrones will only be six episodes. We only have 13 total episodes left.
This is a bummer – WGN has cancelled Underground after two seasons. I hope it finds a new home.
More sad news – T.J. Miller is leaving Silicon Valley.
HBO has renewed both Silicon Valley and Veep.
Lauren Graham shares some info on her guest appearance in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Rosario Dawson can’t get enough of Marvel and may join X-Men: New Mutants as another character.
Netflix has cancelled The Get Down after one season.
NBC has reshuffled their fall schedule.
RuPaul will guest star on Broad City.
Steven Spielberg is bringing back Animaniacs.
Dev’s buff cousin in this season of Master of None is actually Aziz Ansari’s real-life cousin Harris, who is famous from Ansari’s stand-up.
NBC is pushing Bye Bye Birdie Live to 2018.
Juno Temple and Janelle Monae will star in an episode of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams anthology series.
Ed Helms will star in a Comedy Central special, The Fake News with Ted Nelms.
Price is Right’s longtime Plinko record finally fell.
Alex Rodriguez is reportedly joining ABC News as a contributor.
Carpool Karaoke: The Series will debut August 8^th.
History has picked up the Robert Zemeckis-produced UFO drama Blue Book.
Vanessa Hudgens will be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance.
The Chris Gethard Show debuts on truTV August 3^rd.
Adam Pally is developing a comedy for Hulu based on the Twitter account @LosFelizeDaycare.
The Queen is reportedly a fan of Netflix’s The Crown.
Homer Simpson has officially entered the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Here’s what coming and going on HBO Now in June. And Amazon Prime.

Movies

A Jetsons movie is being developed by one of the directors of Sausage Party.
Jack Kesy will plan a villain in Deadpool 2.
In case you missed it, Love Actually 2 for Red Nose Day:

A Madea Halloween is getting a sequel.
Gina Prince-Bythewood is in talks to direct Marvel’s Silver & Black
The Boss Baby 2 will arrive in 2021.

Trailers

Game of Thrones, season 7

Logan Lucky:

Wonder:

Ozark:

The Hitman’s Bodyguard:

Paddington 2:

Pennywise: The Story of IT Campaign:

Shimmer Lake:

The final season of The Strain:

Victoria and Abdul:

Castlevania:

Get Shorty:

The Little Hours:

Music

Ariana Grande is returning to Manchester for a benefit concert – and bringing a bunch of friends.
Lana Del Rey’s new album now won’t be out until July.
Lauryn Hill and Nas are going out on tour together.
Noel Gallagher will release his third solo album in November.
Carly Rae Jepsen has a new song.
Hear a new song from Bleachers.
Prepare to feel old: Hanson released a new song and the music video features their kids.
Eddie Vedder and Guns N’ Roses paid tribute to Chris Cornell during their respective concerts.

Stand-up

Ellen DeGeneres is returning to her roots with a stand-up special for Netflix.

Books

Kevin Hart’s book will be released next week.

Theater

Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill will become a musical in 2018.
The great doc King of Kong will be made into a musical.
On Your Feet! will close on Broadway in August.

Odds and Ends

Tiger Woods arrested on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Holiday weekends and vehicles just aren’t a good combo for him.
America’s Got Talent producers are being sued after Tyra Banks accused of verbally abusing a girl.
Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie have moved in together.
Somebody beat Hafthor Bjornsson (aka The Mountain) in The World’s Strongest Man competition.
Emmy Rossum and Sam Esmail were wed over the weekend.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are calling it quits after 17 years of marriage.
Olivia Newton-John postpones her tour after a new breast cancer diagnosis.
Sportswriter Frank Deford has died. He was 78. I always enjoyed him on Real Sports.
Actor Michael Morris has passed away. He was 77.
Author Denis Johnson has died. He was 67.
Musician Gregg Allman passed away. He was 69.

Mashups and Supercuts

A drawing of every major Game of Thrones death (spoilers, obvs):

An 80s remix of “Somebody That I Used To Know”:

A mariachi cover of “Hopelessly Devoted to You”:

Playing Red Hot Chili Peppers – with a red hot chili pepper:

Fall Out Boy meets Britney Spears:

Terminator 2 recreated in GTAV:

Movie countdown:

Alien recut as a comedy:

August 28, 2015 by heather7180

Kevin Hart – Times Union Center (Albany, NY), 8/27/15

Kevin Hart takes the use of cell phone during his show very seriously. Like, really, REALLY seriously. From the moment I set foot in the arena for his show last night, every security guard I passed asked me if I knew about the cell phone policy and the consequences. There were signs all over the arena warning that anyone even seen with a cell phone during the show would be kicked out automatically and would not receive a refund. It was announced repeatedly before the show and the opening acts reiterated it, giving us an updated number of how many people had already been kicked out of our show (16) and how many people they kicked out in Syracuse (150). During the show, security guards continuously walked up and down the aisles, shining flashlights and on high alert for that telltale glow of a cell phone screen. I had no intention of looking at my phone – I am nothing if not a rule follower – but even though I had not thing to worry about these draconian methods were beginning to get me agitated. I would not flourish in an authoritarian regime; the pressure of compliance would give me anxiety.

I totally get where Hart and his team were coming from; I’m sure that there is nothing more frustrating for a comic than to be debuting new material and then have it posted all over the internet the following year. The proliferation of social media has made a comedian’s job a lot harder. Comics could do the same 90 minute set for years because it was new to the audience. Now your material is old after a few nights because people have heard the jokes by watching grainy cell phone footage of a previous show. So I don’t begrudge Hart’s desire to prevent that as much as possible. But it certainly didn’t cultivate the ideal conditions for comedy. You’re not necessarily in the mood to laugh when security guards are circling you like vultures, waiting to swoop in. So it’s a true testament to Kevin Hart that he not only overcame the weirdness but put on one hell of a show. The weirdness may have been of his own making, but he almost made me forget about the Dementor-like guards patrolling the aisles (except for when they blocked my view ever ten minutes as they made another lap of our section).

For all the increased security and concern about recording the show to protect his new material, I found it ironic that Hart actually kicked of the show with material that he already did when he was on Saturday Night Live earlier this year. It was still very funny, but given the constant refrain that he was doing new material for us, I chuckled to myself when he launched into some stories that I has actually already heard. Perhaps that was intentional – it gave security time to get rid of people that might be hell-bent on recording or taking a photo before he got to the actual new stuff. If so, well played Mr. Hart. Well played.

Kevin Hart has been at this long enough that he knows what he’s doing and his set last night was tight and consistently funny. He’s more of a storyteller than a joke teller, per se, and it’s been interesting to see how his material has changed as he’s become more famous. Now that he’s consistently starring in movies and has made a name for himself in stand up, in addition to just getting older, there has been a tonal shift in what he makes people laugh about. The focus of this tour is on his family; his children and fiancée dominate much of his routine, with some guest appearances from his father and his buddies. Even with this more domesticated focus, he still had the audience in stitches the entire night. I often times find that a little of Hart (no pun intended) goes a long way in movies, but I really enjoy his persona in a stand up setting. His face is so expressive that it helps sell a lot of his jokes; sometimes his reaction is all that is needed to make people laugh. He’s also masterful at working in references to earlier jokes throughout his set. The callbacks don’t feel forced and by the end of the night, the audience was saying some of the lines right along with him. His storytelling was as memorable as it was funny; I was regaling my assistant with some of the bits that I thought were particularly funny and I was surprised just how much of his set that I remembered, almost word for word. I was particularly tickled with his story about what he would do if his fiancée was attacked by a shark (her hypothetical), his “debaucherous” night of playing ping pong with his pals as well his recounting of the time his fiancée put a sex toy in his luggage while he was away on location for a movie. Those were highlights, but the entire evening was a well-constructed night of comedy. I laughed so much that I almost forgot about my stupid sprained ankle, which is saying a lot.

I was less impressed with his openers, a trio of comics referred to as the Plastic Cup Boyz. Joey Wells was the first to perform and also served as something of an emcee and was the strongest of the opening acts. Both Na’im Lynn and Spank Horton made jokes about gay and transgendered people that I didn’t find particularly enlightened or funny, which I could have overlooked if the rest of the material was stronger. I was actually a little worried about the evening after they performed, but Wells returned to the stage to do some additional material about the cell phone policy that helped alleviate my concern.

Kevin Hart is very good at what he does and last night was no exception. He appeals to a lot of different kinds of people, as evidenced by the very diverse crowd that was in attendance. Hart was funny and energetic and certainly gave the sold out crowd more than what they paid for. I’d absolutely go see Kevin Hart perform again – though just to be safe I might leave the cell phone in the car.

Kevin Hart is currently touring the U.S. with the What Now? Tour.

August 21, 2013 by heather7180

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Breaking Bad Edition

I normally have a lot of Breaking Bad info in these pop culture roundups, but with the show recently returning for its final eight episodes ever (SOB!), there was more awesome info than normal this week. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so sprinkled throughout the roundup is an abundance of links related to the show. And for the love of all that is holy, if you aren’t watching this show get to steppin’. You are missing out! So kick back and bring yourself up to speed on all the pop culture that you may have missed over the last two weeks. Let me be your pop culture curator.

The Foo Fighters have a new album coming in 2014 – let there be much rejoicing. I’d better start saving my pennies so I can finally see them live.

N’Sync is rumored to be reuniting at the MTV VMAs on Sunday, which now forces me to watch the VMAs. I’m skeptical as I’m not sure what Timberlake gets out of this. But I do hope it happens.

A bunch of people in Connecticut called 911 when their cable went out Sunday night. I can’t blame them – who wants to miss Breaking Bad?

Jimmy Fallon is doing a Breaking Bad parody. This will be amazing.

If you were worried about the fate of one of the characters in the season finale of True Blood, worry no more (spoilers, obviously)

Kim Kardashian used Instagram to very effectively shame Katie Couric. Well played, Kimmie.

The Huffington Post looks at the average caloric intake on The Gilmore Girls.

This Treme cookbook sounds pretty tasty.

Pro golfer Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky (daughter of NHL legend Wayne) are engaged. Her ring is pretty impressive.

Christina Hendricks wants to appear on Game of Thrones. Someone make this happen!

Kelly Clarkson and a British museum are vying over a Jane Austen ring. I’m sympathetic to the museum, but Clarkson won the ring fair and square.

It’s hard to get excited about football season when you root for the Bills, but I do love when the Manning brothers do commercials:

More on Breaking Bad: 10 ways Walter White is like Scrooge McDuck and a pretty mindblowing theory (spoilers galore)

Kevin Hart has a new animated webseries.

This might necessitate a road trip: Joe Manganiello will star in the Yale Rep production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

One of David Sedaris’ short stories is being adapted for the big screen.

Bryan Cranston was in his high school chemistry club.

Jeremy Renner: house flipper extraordinaire.

This is an interesting casting rumor (emphasis on rumor) – could Charlie Hunnam play Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey film adaption? By the time this movie comes out, will anyone still care?

Brad Pitt was allegedly deemed “too dumb” to serve on an art museum board.

Comparing the make-up in Back to the Future to what the actors actually look like 30 years later (Thanks to Art for the tip!)

The History Channel is doing a miniseries on Houdini starring Adrien Brody.

CBS is developing a Wizard of Oz medical drama.

Now You See Me is inexplicably getting a sequel.

There is already an animated version of Badger’s epic Star Trek script pitch on Breaking Bad.

Watch a bunch of librarians re-make “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. Librarians are good people.

Kanye allegedly turned down American Idol.

TBS renewed a bunch of shows I don’t watch.

Friday Night Lights, the movie? Make it happen!

I’m all for being creative and finding a song that fits your personality, but this bride walked down the aisle to Buckcherry’s “Crazy Bitch.”

HBO has released a trailer for the new season of Girls:

NBC is clearly in the Jonathan Banks (Mike, Breaking Bad) business. After a guest appearance on Parks and Recreation, the actor will be a regular on Community.

A quick break for the depressing stuff:

Writer Elmore Leonard has passed away after suffering a stroke. I never read any of his books, but I love Justified, which is based on one of his characters. R.I.P.

Lisa Robin Kelly, who played Topher Grace’s older sister Laurie on That 70s Show, died. She was 43.

Oscar nominee Karen Black lost her battle with cancer.

Lee Thompson Young, who appeared on Rizzoli & Isles, was found dead of an apparent suicide.

The stuntman who parachuted into the Olympics as James Bond has also passed away.

OK – back to the more lighthearted links.

Blog fave Dean Winters (Dennis the beeper king on 30 Rock) is headed to the new Andy Samberg comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Oprah gives away cars when she is just a guest on a show. Mental note – get in the audience when Oprah is on a talk show.

Justin Timberlake has released the track list for The 20/20 Experience Part Two.

A trailer for the new season of Homeland:

Lindsay Lohan will appear on Eastbound and Down.

Jay Leno’s last night on The Tonight Show will be February 6^th. Believe it when you see it, Jimmy.

Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper on Mad Men) will star in Lifetime’s Flowers in the Attic movie. Hasn’t that poor girl been through enough?

Mark your calendars: the third installment of Adam Scott’s The Greatest Event in Television History drops on November 7^th. Nothing is confirmed, but speculation is that they are doing the opening credits from Too Close for Comfort.

Ha! Billy Ray Cyrus does look like fat Mac:

photo from Uproxx

Steve Carell will play a murderer in the upcoming Foxcatcher.

Wrap your head around this: Sir Mix-A-Lot is 50.

The collected wisdom of Chris Rock.

If at first you don’t succeed….HBO has ordered a pilot from David Milch.

Prince is now on Twitter, which given his method of spelling seems like a natural fit.

Also now on Twitter is the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. You know I gave him a follow!

This a teen who died of cancer turned down the opportunity to find out the ending of Breaking Bad. The first episode of the final season was dedicated to his memory. I hope they have AMC is heaven.

The creator of Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 is back at ABC with a new show. No hard feelings, I guess.

Tumblrs of the week: Mad Rock (a Mad Men/30 Rock mashup), Hot-Dog Legs and, of course, the robot generated Scenes from The Wire.

Smalls from The Sandlot was arrested for headbutting a cop.

The Red Clay School District broke a Lego Guinness world record. Congrats!

A pilot for a mermaid comedy from a Sex and the City writer has been ordered by (shocker) NBC.

The full cast and plot of The Expendables 3 has been revealed.

Whoa – it’s Walter, Jr. from Breaking Bad:

Photo from Uproxx

KISS bought an arena football team.

A tweet from Sons of Anarchy creator and showrunner Kurt Sutter makes me very nervous.

Illustrations of quotes from Orange is the New Black. Are you watching???

The chicken fight from Family Guy was never one of my favorites, but kudos to these two stunt women for the live action re-enactment:

Tina Fey is back with a new comedy.

There is a Freaks and Geeks themed party in Brooklyn this Friday. I wish I could go!

Last night in Boston there was a gourmet pairing of food and Pulp Fiction. I think I need to move to a bigger city.

Timothy Olyphant will guest star on The Mindy Project, which I guess means I have to start watching The Mindy Project.

This new trailer for season 3 of Revenge has piqued my interest:

Marg Helgenberger is returning to CSI.

Alfred Hitchcock would have been 114 last week. Slate created some infographics in honor of the incredible director.

The Real World is heading back to San Francisco. I can’t believe this show is still on.

Yup – this makes TOTAL sense- the director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter may direct a Ben-Hur reboot.

Curious where the coordinates from this week’s Breaking Bad really lead? Here’s the clever answer.

The following sentence is not a Mad Lib creation: Rapper Coolio is auctioning off his royalties to finance his culinary career.

The new channel FXX, which will show new episodes of The League and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, launches September. Use this handy website to find out if FXX is available on your cable system (Phew- it is for me!). The network is off to a promising start with a Parks and Recreation marathon.

This slowed down version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is pretty cool:

John Cena will be absent from the WWE for 4-6 months.

Aaron Paul did a reddit AMA.

Kanye will appear on Kris Jenner’s talk show.

Someone on reddit has applied the rules of Zombieland to The Walking Dead.

The house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is for sale.

Uproxx looks at fan favorite TV characters who started as extras. Gonzo was an extra?

CBS is looking for “a male frat bro to do a keg stand” for their show Reckless. I might know some people.

The great Dick Van Dyke thankfully escaped unscathed when his car burst into flames. That man is a national treasure.

Game of Thrones has re-cast Tommen Baratheon.

This Avril Lavigne music video is a little nuts:

A film about killer squirrels? I am SO IN.

The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro has offered to fully fund Woody Allen’s next film if he’ll make it in his city.

As a big Double Dare fan back in the day, I had to check out this interview with former host Marc Summers.

The White House Twitter account made a Mean Girls reference:

Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty surprised a couple on their wedding day.

My birthday is a month from today and I would sure like it if someone bought me this Breaking Bad Lego set.

A short story by Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy) will soon be published.

The lead singer of The Calling was kidnapped and beaten.

Another pop culture roundup, another American Horror Story: Coven teaser:

Demi Lovato will appear on Glee.

Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad) will appear on HBO’s adaptation of Olive Kitteridge. Let’s hope this goes better than The Corrections.

Seinfeld movie posters.

The cast of Pitch Perfect is making a holiday album.

Lauren Bacall will appear on an episode of Family Guy.

Mark Wahlberg is down to take over Iron Man (hypothetically).

Conan imagines Jack McBrayer as the newest drug kingpin on Breaking Bad.

I’m surprised it took so long; watch a guy crowd surfs in order to “Come on Down” On The Price is Right:

Bradley Cooper may star in a Lance Armstrong movie.

Nick Swisher’s wife Joanna Garcia Swisher (aka the other woman) will appear on Once Upon a Time as The Little Mermaid

Lady Gaga and Perez Hilton are in a Twitter feud.

Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones) adopted her direwolf.

Benedict Cumberbatch had a message for the papzrazzi trying to get spoilers on Sherlock:

Getty Image

Robin Thicke is suing Marvin Gaye’s family over “Blurred Lines.”

The Heart, She Holler, starring Patton Oswalt, will be back for a second season on Adult Swim. It’s a rally weird show, but I kind of dug it.

In this trailer for Fading Gigolo, watch Woody Allen act as a pimp for John Turturro. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

A Ron Burgundy autobiography will hit the shelves in November.

Lifetime has renewed Devious Maids.

I’ve always like Donal Logue, so I’m not surprised he helped a stranger propose. P.S. Terriers is now streaming on Netflix – do yourself a favor and watch this late great series.