I made it to the Division St. Fest in Wicker Park this weekend. Dark Meat, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Viva Voce, Handsome Furs and the DJ duo Flosstradamus performed in front of an energetic crowd that filled the streets. The people there, many of them sporting mustaches and tight black pants, made me think of an old joke:
Q: How many hipsters does it take to screw in a light bulb? (answer after the jump). Read more…
In a shocker of a finale last night, Susan Boyle, the irrepressible YouTube sensation heard round the world, came in second place on Britain’s Got Talent. And to make matters worse she lost to a dance troupe named Diversity, which sounds like the name of a motivational group that makes the rounds at Read more…
It has been a very stressful year for Jay Leno. His contract negotiations were harder to follow than an episode of Lost. NBC jerked around the Collision Course star so many times I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still suffering from whiplash. First there was news that he was staying. Then stories surfaced that he was fired and possibly changing networks. Read more…
Its Friday! Which means it’s time once again for the weekly round-up of my favorite pop culture atrocities, misfires and entertaining train wrecks. This week’s theme: Madonna.
The reigning pop diva, who is careening recklessly past the age of 50 while still singing about her “candy shop” may seem like too easy of a target, but…oh, what the hell. Here goes. Read more…
Steven Soderbergh‘s The Girlfriend Experience comes off the heels of his grand two-part opus Che, which was released on video on demand and in theaters simultaneously last January. Soderbergh is using the same distribution method for Girlfriend and, at this point in his career, he seems to have carved out a winning formula for Read more…
After an overloaded slate of Memorial Day blockbusters, this weekend is shaping up to be a little more relaxed. There are only two major releases: Pixar’s latest 3-D animated comedy Up and Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead throwback, Drag Me To Hell. Talk about counter-programming! It’s family-friendly fun vs. a campy, blood-soaked Read more…
2009 really seems like the year the 3-D movie crept up and bit us in the ass, metaphorically speaking. Like it or not, the 3-D movie mania is probably going to be sticking around for awhile. So far this year we’ve seen the good (My Bloody Valentine, Coraline, Up) the bad (Monsters vs. Aliens) and the ugly (Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience). Read more…
Among the important news events of the day was President Obama‘s selection of Hispanic judge Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court nominee. And yet, what story had almost all of the national media outlets foaming at the mouth? The latest American Idol scandal, that’s what. Reports are saying that while AT&T was throwing a company-sponsored party for Kris Allen in his home state of Arkansas, employees were Read more…
It looks as if Danny Boyle pulled a “Scrooge” recently, going from sour Hollywood player (according to Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor) to generous philanthropist. The acclaimed director set up a makeshift news conference in Mumbai today in response to the outrage caused by the release of photographs showing two of the stars of his film Slumdog Millionaire standing amidst the ruins of their shanty homes. Read more…