The Week: Most Recent Entertainment Posts

Hollywood blockbusters should kill off some of their main characters

The Week — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:33:00 -0400

(Beware: Spoilers lie ahead for several recent blockbusters, including Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness.)

1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ends — like last week's frustrating quasi-remake, Star Trek Into Darkness — with a death. In 1982, Spock saved the Enterprise at the cost of his own life. "The needs of the many outweigh…" wheezed Spock. "The needs of the few," finished Kirk as he watched his friend die.

That's a lesson that the rebooted Star Trek franchise's Captain Kirk, played by Chris Pine, has not had to learn. And based on the first two films in the franchise...

The daily gossip: Paris Hilton is releasing another album, and more

The Week — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:44:00 -0400

1. Paris Hilton is releasing another album
Our long national nightmare is over: After seven long years, socialite Paris Hilton is finally ready to release a follow-up to her 2006 self-titled debut album Paris. "This is a lot different than my first album," says Hilton in an interview quoted at Digital Spy. "It's really going to be house music." The report adds that Hilton plans to play "a number of shows" in Ibiza this summer, but just to be safe, you should probably avoid the Mediterranean altogether.

2. Justin Bieber makes his friends sign a $5 million nondisclosure agreement
According to TMZ...

The 7 best TV graduations

The Week — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 -0400

1. Beverly Hills, 90210
If ever there was an epic graduation arc, it was this one. It all started when Donna (Tori Spelling) couldn't hold her liquor, and was caught drunk and puking at the prom. Fast forward: She's two seconds away from being expelled by the school board when Brandon, Brenda, and the gang show up outside with hundreds of other students and start chanting, "Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!" Of course, a bunch of teenagers ditching their finals to scream at the board totally worked, and Donna was able to don her cap and gown and graduate with the rest of the crew....

WATCH: The Friends cast reunites for an Ellen promo

The Week — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:45:00 -0400

To promote her upcoming guest-hosting appearance on daytime TV staple Ellen, Jennifer Aniston is seeking a little help from her friends — well, two of them, anyway. And Matthew Perry seems less than interested in being there for her.

When Aniston shows up unannounced at Perry's door to seek wisdom from the former Ellen guest host, he doesn't mince words: "Some advice, well… Maybe you shouldn't show up at somebody's house at eight o'clock in the morning, and you should call first." As Aniston ineptly continues to plug Perry for advice — including a pointed reference to his canceled...

WATCH: Zod attacks Earth in the final Man of Steel trailer

The Week — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:47:00 -0400

The trailer: The final trailer for next month's upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel has arrived, and in it, Superman takes a backseat to the film's big, bad villain. "My name is General Zod. I have journeyed across an ocean of stars to reach you," says the superpowered Zod, played by Michael Shannon. "Your world has sheltered one of my citizens. He will look like you, but he is not one of you. For those of you who know his location, the fate of your planet rests in your hands." This trailer offers our closest look yet at Man of Steel's villains as they weak havoc across the Earth in their search...

Howard Stern is the best celebrity interviewer

Marc Ambinder — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:01:00 -0400

Howard Stern has hosted a TV show or two, and I'm sure that several major networks have pitched him other ideas. Here's a pitch that won't require much money to execute and would produce incredibly compelling television. Acquire the rights to the interviews that Stern conducts on his SiriusXM radio show, find a cable network, and re-run them. No sketches, bits, or anything silly. Just the interviews. Whatever else Howard Stern is good at, and as a long-time fan, I think he's a maestro of many things, he is sublime as an interviewer of celebrities.

The reason why he's so good is because he is insanely...

The daily gossip: Seth MacFarlane definitely won't be hosting the Oscars next year, and more

The Week — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:55:00 -0400

1. Seth MacFarlane definitely won't be hosting the Oscars next year
Because no one believed him the first eight times he said it, Seth MacFarlane wants you to know that he's really, really serious: He will not be hosting the Oscars next year. "Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep," tweeted MacFarlane on Monday, disappointing anyone who was looking forward to finding out what other celebrities' boobs he saw in 2012. "My suggestion for host is Joaquin Phoenix," added MacFarlane, offering a brief glimpse of the dated, reference...

LISTEN: Beyonce's leaked new song 'Grown Woman'

The Week — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:57:00 -0400

The song: After months of teasers and snippets, Beyonce fans can finally hear the first full song from Beyonce's upcoming, currently untitled fifth studio album — and the song finds Queen B back in fine form. "I'm a grown woman, I can do whatever I want," sings Beyonce. Titled "Grown Woman," the Timbaland-produced track — which is widely speculated to be a leak — debuted, in part, in a Pepsi ad earlier this year. But this is the first chance fans have had to listen to Beyonce's latest in full. Does it live up to the sky-high expectations?

The reaction: "It's likely that Beyonce...

The long, troubled history of Ghostbusters 3: A timeline [Updated]

The Week — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:43:00 -0400

Strap on your Proton Packs, Ghostbusters fans: After years and years of troubled production, Ghostbusters 3 — a sequel that many concluded was deader than the ghosts busted in the first two films — may actually be happening. With a storyline that will allegedly introduce a series of newer, younger ghostbusters, the film will reportedly be directed by original Ghostbusters filmmaker Ivan Reitman — but will not, to the disappointment of many fans, feature franchise star Bill Murray.

Of course, this latest bit of Ghostbusters 3 optimism is hardly the whole story. Over the past two...

The politics behind Kanye West's 'New Slaves'

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:56:00 -0400

Kanye West has never been afraid of politics. This is, after all, the man who said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people," during a live telethon after Hurricane Katrina.

Still, his recent appearance on Saturday Night Live saw him take his political game to the next level. A quick recap: Kanye, framed tightly on a dark stage, performed intense versions of two new songs, "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead," while images of snapping dogs and the Ku Klux Klan flashed behind him (watch the video below, NSFW language).

So what was Kanye West singing about? (Besides, oddly enough, an out-of-nowhere...

WATCH: The wacky new teaser for Anchorman 2

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:05:00 -0400

After nearly a decade, Ron Burgundy and his Channel 4 News Team are finally ready to hit the silver screen for a long-rumored sequel — and the new teaser for Anchorman: The Legend Continues doesn't exactly lower the already sky-high expectations. "Jesus, MacArthur, Jay-Z… The great ones always return," says the monologue that opens the brief teaser. "And when they do, one thing is for sure: Their hair will be perfect."

Though the sequel's overarching storyline is unknown, Anchorman: The Legend Continues reunites the news team from 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. That...

The daily gossip: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have allegedly broken up again, and more

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:37:00 -0400

1. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have allegedly broken up again
Bad news for Twilight fans: Just when it seemed like Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson might actually run sparkling into the sunset together, sources have reported that the troubled couple have broken up once again. People reports that the relationship deteriorated to the point that Pattinson did not attend the 27th birthday Stewart had planned for him, though a source said that "it would not be surprising if the on-and-off-again pair got back together again." Just in case that wasn't clear from the other half-dozen times...

Game of Thrones recap: 'Second Sons'

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:00 -0400

Weddings, by and large, are not happy affairs in Westeros.

When Ned Stark's elder brother died, Ned dutifully stepped in to marry Catelyn, spending a single night with her before riding off to fight in Robert Baratheon's rebellion and returning with a bastard son. Cersei spent her first night as a wedded woman in bed with Robert as he drunkenly called her Lyanna Stark, the woman he really loved. And long before Daenerys and Khal Drogo shared any actual affection for one another, she spent an evening shivering and crying as he stoically had sex with her for the first time. "A Dothraki wedding without...

Mad Men recap: 'The Crash'

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:30:00 -0400

After 73 episodes, Mad Men is still finding new ways to tell a story about a man who can't change.

Sunday's "The Crash" found Don Draper accepting an injected drug cocktail from the mysterious "Dr. Hecht." The drugs leave him unstuck in time, and Don loses most of a weekend in flashbacks to yet another unpleasant incident in his childhood, which feels more and more like a lost Steinbeck novel every week. And recalling a much older literary classic, Don's descent into the Inferno — which earned a none-too-subtle cameo in the season premiere — continued unabated in last night's bleak...

WATCH: Stefon's touching last hurrah on Saturday Night Live

The Week — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:18:00 -0400

This week's Saturday Night Live, with host Ben Affleck and musical guest Kanye West, was the last show for cast members Bill Hader and, reportedly, fellow long-timer Fred Armisen.

SNL has had an up-and-down season — some would say an up-and-down decade, but everyone has their own favorite period in SNL history. But one thing the show "has gotten really good at over the past decade is saying farewell to their own," says Logan Nicklaus at Rolling Stone. Saturday night was no exception.

The farewell sketch for Hader, after eight seasons on Saturday Night Live, featured his beloved New York...

Therese Anne Fowler's 6 favorite books

The Week — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:15:00 -0400

Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (out of print). A modernist, semi-autobiographical novel about a tormented ballet dancer and her tormented artist husband. Published by Scribner's but heavily edited — first by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in order to "control the message" — it has moments of brilliance and begs for further care and development.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (Ballantine, $15). To be a woman of passion and ambition in the early 20th century was to invite scandal, scorn, and personal anguish. Horan's 2007 novel gives us the real characters Martha Borthwick and her lover...