The Week: Most Recent Arts+Life Posts

The Bourne Legacy trailer: Can Jeremy Renner make people forget Matt Damon?

The Week — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:15:00 -0600

"There was never just one," teases the newly released trailer for The Bourne Legacy, the latest installment in the blockbuster film franchise. (Watch the clip below.) In this fourth Bourne film (hitting theaters August 3), Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) plays Aaron Cross, a new agent giving himself over to a super-secret spy program. Renner, Hollywood's latest go-to action star, is stepping in for Matt Damon, who, as titular character Jason Bourne, helped the franchise's first three films rake in more than $1 billion worldwide. Will Renner be able to...

Should Plan B pills be available in vending machines?

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:24:00 -0600

Vending machines already dispense everything from iPods to live crabs. Now, a new dispenser at Shippenburg University's health center in Pennsylvania is selling morning after pills to students for $25 a pop. The private clinic is only accessible to registered Shippenberg students who are required to check-in at a front desk, thus deterring those under the legal age of 16 from using it. The idea is to expedite the process by giving young women already seeking the pill an alternative to going off campus. But are college health officials crossing a line by making the drug so readily available? ...

Is America right to still hate Michael Vick?

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:22:00 -0600

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is the country's most loathed sports star, at least according to Forbes' annual list of America's most disliked athletes. (Sixty percent of those surveyed dislike Vick.) Also on this year's list are Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, former Mr. Kardashian Kris Humphries, Detroit Lions lineman Ndamukong Suh, and NASCAR's temperamental racer Kurt Busch. The electrifying Vick has already served time in federal prison over his role in an illegal underground dogfighting ring, and after returning to the NFL in 2010, Vick was honored as the...

The JFK sex-scandal memoir: 4 explosive takeaways

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:59:00 -0600

A 69-year-old grandmother and retired church administrator has come forward with explicit details of an 18-month affair she claims to have carried on with President John F. Kennedy — when she was a 19-year-old intern at the White House. Mimi Alford recounts the salacious details in her "explosive" tell-all memoir Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath. In the book, which was released Wednesday, Alford says that she always called Kennedy "Mr. President," and that they never kissed on the lips. "The fact that I was being desired by the most famous and...

Petty controversy: The Oscars diss singing Muppets

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:44:00 -0600

The story: It's an odd year for the Oscars' Best Original Song category. Thanks to the Academy's ever-changing and increasingly labyrinthine rules, only two songs earned nominations. At first, critics weren't too troubled by the abbreviated list, since it included the comically existential Muppets ballad "Man or Muppet" (watch a clip below), written by Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie and performed by Jason Segel and Walter the Muppet. (Sergio Mendes' "Real in Rio" from Rio is the rival nominee.) But alas, Deadline reports, producers are planning to scrap the Best Original Song performances...

The Amazing Spider-Man's new trailer: 4 talking points

The Week — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:11:00 -0600

A buzzy new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has hit the internet, featuring British star Andrew Garfield taking up the mantle of teen Peter Parker and his wall-crawling alter ego Spider-Man. (Watch the clip below.) The film, set to be released July 3, reboots the origin tale of the nerd-cum-superhero, but this time with a darker, angrier web-slinger than Tobey Maguire's character in Sam Raimi's trilogy. How does this new teaser stack up? Here, four talking points:

1. Garfield's Spider-Man is darker and meaner than Maguire's
The Social Network star "shines" as a sarcastic, angsty teenager...

Are French moms better than Americans?

The Week — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:21:00 -0600

American parents can't seem to catch a break. A year ago, we were told that Chinese "tiger" moms raise more-successful children than coddling Western parents. And now writer Pamela Druckerman has published a book, Bringing up Bebe, arguing that French parents are superior to their American counterparts, too. Drucker, an American who moved to Paris with her British husband 10 years ago, says French parents teach their kids how to "delay instant gratification" by refusing to cater to their every whim, and as a result, they bring up kids who don't gorge on snacks, don't interrupt, and don't throw...

Is The River 'the scariest TV show ever'?

The Week — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:28:00 -0600

ABC's new series The River boasts quite the horror genre pedigree. The show, which premieres Tuesday night, is created by Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli and executive produced by Steven Spielberg — so perhaps it's no surprise that it's being touted as the "scariest TV show ever." Using the same shaky-camera, found-footage format that buoyed Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project to screaming success, The River follows a search party trekking through the Amazon in an attempt to locate a nature TV host named Emmet Cole who suddenly went missing six months earlier. Along the...

Eli Manning: A better QB than big brother Peyton?

The Week — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:25:00 -0600

Has Eli Manning finally proven that he is, as he claimed in the face of much ridicule at the start of the season, one of the NFL's truly elite quarterbacks? After leading the New York Giants to a Super Bowl victory over the indisputably elite Tom Brady and his New England Patriots for the second time since 2008, the consensus answer is resoundingly "yes." But a new question arises: Does winning a second Super Bowl ring make Eli a better quarterback than his older brother Peyton? Despite having a legendary, record-setting career, the Indiana Colts QB — who was forced to sit out this season...

Smash: A 'Glee for grown-ups'?

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:20:00 -0600

Critics are hailing NBC's splashy new musical drama Smash as a "Glee for grown-ups." The relentlessly promoted show, which premieres Monday night, is the brainchild of Steven Spielberg, and offers a West Wing-like, behind-the-scenes look at a fictional Broadway show based on Marilyn Monroe's life. Will and Grace's Debra Messing stars as one of the musical's writers, Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston plays a producer, and Broadway veteran Megan Hilty and American Idol alum Katharine McPhee carry much of the dramatic tension as a seasoned chorus girl and New York newcomer, respectively, competing for...

Gisele's Super Bowl 'rant': Is she a 'sore loser'?

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:54:00 -0600

The video: Quarterback Tom Brady's supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen had some unkind words for her husband's teammates after the New England Patriots' meltdown against the New York Giants in Sunday's Super Bowl. First, an opposing fan heckled the former Victoria's Secret model in the tunnel of Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium, yelling that Giants quarterback Eli Manning "owns your husband!" A clearly annoyed Gisele turned to her entourage and — apparently referring to critical dropped passes by New England's Wes Welker, Deion Branch, and Aaron Hernandez — said, "You have to catch the ball...

The Voice's 'stellar' post-Super-Bowl premiere

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:15:00 -0600

With more than 100 million Americans tuned into the Super Bowl, it's a huge coup for any show to get the cushy post-game time slot. This year, NBC used that slot to launch the second season of reality competition series The Voice. The show puts a spin on the American Idol format by hosting "blind auditions," in which four celebrity judges — Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, and Adam Levine — sit in Star Trek-like thrones with their backs to the auditioning contestant. If they like what they hear, they hit a button and turn around, welcoming the contestant onto their ...

The dramatic rise of STDs among senior citizens

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:41:00 -0600

The good news: Adults between the ages of 50 and 90 are having more sex than ever before, according to a new British study. The bad news? There has been a corresponding rise in HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and other STDs among these older adults. Here's what you should know about the "dramatic" uptick:

How much more sex are older people having?
Adults 50 and older are having more sex than ever before, according to the Student British Medical Journal. In the U.K., a whopping 80 percent of people in this age range report being sexually active.

What changed?
A couple of things. "Drugs that...

Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show: 'Sheer fun'?

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0600

The Super Bowl halftime show is arguably the most discussed 12 minutes in music television, and this year, it's Madonna who's facing the scrutiny. With the Giants and Patriots huddling in their locker rooms, the Queen of Pop presided over a captive audience of more than 100 million viewers, offering up a medley of her greatest hits and her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin." (Watch the video below.) Things kicked off with a Roman-Egyptian-inspired rendition of "Vogue," and segued into a mash-up of her hit "Music," featuring party rockers LMFAO. Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. joined Madge for a Bring...

The 6 best Super Bowl commercials: A video roundup

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:01:00 -0600

At $3.5 million per 30-second pop, Super Bowl ads have to be pretty memorable to make it worth advertisers' while. About half of this year's advertisers decided novelty wasn't as important as early buzz, releasing talked-about spots featuring everyone from Ferris Bueller to Jerry Seinfeld to Darth Vader. But other companies waited until the big game for the "big reveal," to varying degrees of success. Here, six of the commercials that broke through all the dogs, talking babies, and half-naked celebrities to win the hearts, or at least admiration, of critics:

1. Chrysler and Clint Eastwood...

'Rape tag': The 'disgusting' new schoolyard game

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:31:00 -0600

A new game played in at least one Minnesota schoolyard is upsetting parents and teachers with its "disgusting" premise. "Rape tag" is just like freeze tag, with one alarming difference: Participants need to be humped to be unfrozen. Here's what you should know:

Wait, wait. Rape tag?
You read that right. At Washington Elementary School in New Ulm, Minn., kids in at least two fifth-grade classrooms were caught playing the game, says Sylvia Wood at MSNBC. Of course, teachers and recess supervisors were quickly instructed to talk to their students and put a stop to the game. Principal...