The A.V. Club - Newswire

Books: Newswire:Inventory on sale for less than $7 over at Amazon

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:47:00 -0600

Amazon currently has our new(ish) book Inventory available for $6.83. We're not sure why, honestly, but we're just letting you know in case you want to buy it on the cheap. Or several copies for Christmas. Or Hannukah. Or just because you love somebody. Here's the link.

TV: Newswire:Funeral Friday

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:46:00 -0600

Congratulations on making it to the end of another week! Unfortunately, these people didn't. Light a candle for Funeral Friday. Nothing against Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek—it's just that their demographics skewed decidedly older—but to children of the ’80s, there were really only two game show hosts that really mattered: Marc Summers of Double Dare and Ken Ober of Remote Control. The latter was a special kind of game show host we’d rarely seen before—flippant, sarcastic bordering on surly, and unafraid to mock everything from the deliberately pointless questions he was asking, to the ...

Film: Newswire:Will Ferrell, Ewan McGregor top Most Overpaid Stars list

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:08:00 -0600

Forbes Magazine just came out with its annual list of the most overpaid stars in Hollywood, which it generates via a somewhat complicated metric that looks at their last three films and compares their paychecks, the films' budgets, and the money those films brought in via theatrical, TV, and DVD release. The list isn't a snotty, opinion-laden "Why does Keanu Reeves still get paid to make movies?" dig at actors who stink up the screen; it's a cold-blooded return-on-investment comparison that calculates which stars are least profitable to the studios. Naturally, big stars getting massive paychecks for recent ...

Books: Newswire:King, Spielberg team up to adapt Under The Dome

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:23:00 -0600

Stephen King's massive new novel Under The Dome is set to become a TV miniseries developed by Steven Spielberg, Variety is reporting. Beyond that, there's not a lot of news. But now's a good a time as any to ponder why these two haven't teamed up before. These are two of the premier storytellers of our time, after all. Is it because King has, of late, resisted directors intent on putting their own stamp on his work? This is, after all, the guy who hated Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, and Spielberg is something of a ...

TV: Newswire:Oprah to end her show

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:42:00 -0600

According to CNN.com, Oprah Winfrey will end her insanely popular talk show in 2011. But where will the nation's ladies go for weird diet advice and softball interviews with celebrities and free cars and shit? Well, speculation has Oprah simply moving her show--or some version of it--over to the network that she's starting, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. Seems logical. In a related story, I watched five minutes of Oprah a few days ago, for the first time in 10 years? No, since Cormac McCarthy was on. Anyway, the guest was Jenna Jameson, and her face looks ...

TV: Newswire:Lost moves to Tuesdays for final season, starting Feb. 2

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:36:00 -0600

Well, here's a Groundhog Day we wouldn't mind re-living over and over. ABC has announced that the final season of their cult hit Lost will premiere on February 2nd (beginning that night with a clip show, followed by the two-hour opener "LAX"), and that the show will air each week on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. eastern. This is good news for one Lost fan located in central Arkansas, who routinely had his Wednesday airings of Lost preempted by SEC basketball. As for the rest of you, we hope the new time works for y'all.

Film: Newswire:Here's your shortlist for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:00:00 -0600

Today the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the 15 movies that made the shortlist for this year's Best Documentary Feature award. And they are... (drumroll)... The Beaches Of Agnes, Agnès Varda Burma VJ, Anders Østergaard The Cove, Louie Psihoyos Every Little Step, James D. Stern & Adam Del Deo Facing Ali, Pete McCormack Food, Inc., Robert Kenner Garbage Dreams, Mai Iskander Living in Emergency: Stories Of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith Mugabe And The White African, Andrew Thompson & Lucy Bailey ...

Film: Newswire:Check out the new Nine trailer

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:25:00 -0600

As we approach the finish line for 2009, there's not a whole lot left on the ol' pop culture checklist. Still, there are a few juicy pieces of Oscar bait remaining, including Nine, the musical version of Fellini's 8½. With Chicago director Rob Marshall at the helm and a cast that includes heavy-hitters Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren, Nine has been at the top of most Oscar Prognosticators' lists almost since it was announced, though it didn't start screening until this past weekend (in heavily embargoed previews). So ...

DVD: Newswire:Warner Bros. will upgrade your DVDs to Blu-ray (for a fee)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:40:00 -0600

Been coveting that Blu-ray edition of A Clockwork Orange or The Dirty Dozen, but don't know what to do with the perfectly fine DVD version you've already got sitting on your shelf? Warner Brothers has set up a website called DVD2Blu, through which owners of selected WB DVDs can receive an authorization to mail in the old discs for the fancy new ones. The cost? A minimum of eight bucks per title, plus shipping. So, not a bargain, exactly. But if you've got a mania for order and can't stand duplication, this could be just the ...

Features: Newswire:A&E's newest TV concept: Bob Saget wants to get all up in your business

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:15:00 -0600

In the latest "let's put a wacky person in a crazy scenario and bask in the hilarity" news, A&E announced today via press release that Full House pushover/The Aristocrats filth-mouth Bob Saget will be returning to TV next year on Bob Saget's Strange Days (working title). It's a documentary series that plops Saget down in what the press release "fascinating worlds around the country"—like a Harley Davidson gang, a fraternity, and a group of Amish people—and… well, we'll have to see. It's like 30 Days minus the manual labor, and plus ...

DVD: Newswire:New Fight Club Blu-Rays not actually defective

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:18:00 -0600

We were delighted, then baffled, then again delighted when the new Blu-Ray version of Fight Club arrived in the mail the other day. Popping it into the A.V. Club Blu-Ray player we watched in dismay as the menu screen appeared, and with it images and music from 1999 Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed. As much as we adore that movie—with its documentary-like depiction of the Chicago journalism scene—it was Fight Club we wanted to watch. Then the image gave way to Fight Club’s familiar living IKEA catalog and we realized we’d been duped. So ...

TV: Newswire:Edward Woodward RIP

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:08:00 -0600

Edward Woodward, the respected British character actor famous for his portrayal of a geriatric crime-fighter in the hit eighties show The Equalizer passed away yesterday at the age of 79. A respected theater actor, Woodward made an assured transition to television and film by playing the title character in the well-liked spy show Callan, which ran from 1967 to 1974. Filmwise, Woodward is probably best known for his roles in 1973's The Wicker Man and 1980's Breaker Morant, where he played the title role, though I'm guessing a lot of AV Club readers might know him best ...

Music: Newswire:50 Cent to make more terrible movies

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:19:00 -0600

You've got to hand it to 50 Cent: he hasn't let his complete lack of success in acting, writing or directing dim his enthusiasm for making movies. Terrible, terrible movies. Unwatchable movies. Movies that make you wonder what kind of a benevolent God would allow 50 to continue to make movies. According to SOHH.com, 50 Cent intends to ramp up his production of terrible, terrible movies by financing a slate of films through his Cheetah Vision production company. Would a company named Cheetah Vision waste its time with anything other than great art? The production company's ...

Film: Newswire:Today in annoying buzzword-themed film news: Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris to star in TMI

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:02:00 -0600

TMI (or Too Much Information). Yesterday it was merely the kind of annoying buzzword the young people of today use with the baggy pants and the Twittering and the Twilight grunge dancing and sexting and whatever it is youth-Americans enjoy (as a ninety-seven year old in spirit I haven't followed youth culture since Hoover was in office and Jitterbugging was all the rage). Today, however it is the title of a forthcoming romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, who began his career as the personification of smug doucheitude but has been gradually winning critics and audiences over with sharp supporting ...

DVD: Newswire:DVD Release List – 11/17/09

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0600

It’d be a lot easier to tell you what’s not worth checking out this week than it is to point you to the gems. Among other things, this week sees the release of three of 2009’s best films: the sharp indie comedy Humpday, the moody Korean vampire romance Thirst, and the rousing summer blockbuster Star Trek. Television aficionados are well-served this week too, beginning with the DVD premiere of the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Christmas special, and continuing with complete series sets of Rome, The Sopranos and the short-lived Andy Barker, P.I.. Devotees of ...

Film: Newswire:Weekend Box Office: My Oh Mayan

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:12:00 -0600

Just as the Mayans predicted, 2012 caused mass devastation at the box office to the tune of $65 million, overcoming mostly disparaging reviews in addition to good taste and common decency. Roland Emmerich’s attempt to make the disaster movie to end all disaster movies—and pretty please on that front—doubled down on all the monument-destroying power of past hits like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, and brought his digital people kill count well over the 10 billion mark. (Take that, McDonald’s!) A Christmas Carol slipped into second place at $22 million, which sounds worse than ...

TV: Newswire:Funeral Friday

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:58:00 -0600

Congratulations on making it to the end of another week! Unfortunately, these people didn’t. Light a candle for Funeral Friday. There’s been a lot of unnecessary talk about “legitimizing” comics in the past 20 to 30 years, which happened as soon as The Man realized many comics fans were, in fact, old enough to have income that didn’t come from their mothers’ purses, and would gladly spend that money over and over again on anything tangentially related to their obsessions. A lot of that “legitimizing” was done through Comic-Con, a once-humble gathering dedicated to honoring veteran inkers ...

Books: Newswire:Okay New York: You wanted The A.V. Club, you got The A.V. Club

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:15:00 -0600

When we announced Inventory reading dates around the Midwest, you big-city East Coast types shook your fists at us and said, "But we're the cultural capital of the world! Come see us!" (To be fair, people in Ann Arbor said the same thing.) Well, your half-hearted hopes and Internet pleas have been answered, people. We're coming to Union Hall in Brooklyn on December 7 to knock the socks off your asses with a presentation/reading/hang session--and to angrily insist that you purchase multiple copies of Inventory, a.k.a. the best Christmas present ever. It's looking ...

TV: Newswire:Today in depressing remake news: Charlie's Angels to return to TV

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:20:00 -0600

The Newswire has been suspiciously devoid on depressing remake news as of late. Is it because Hollywood has decided to shun derivative, mercenary remakes and "reimaginings" in favor of embracing originality, creativity and startlingly new, innovative scripts? Fuck no, as evidenced by the recent news that ABC has just ordered a pilot for a newfangled version of Charlie's Angels, the "classic" jigglesploitation adventure series that made Farrah Fawcett a star and helped ease millions of teenaged boys through the pain of adolescence. Josh Friedman, who recently adapted The Terminator for the small screen, will write and Executive Produce the ...

Film: Newswire:Here are your Best Animated Feature Oscar nominee nominees

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:19:00 -0600

Not only will there be ten Best Picture nominees this year, but for the second time in the history of the award, there will be five Best Animated Feature nominees as well. The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences sets the number of nominees based on the number of submissions, and earlier this week the Academy received a list of 20 names, which is enough to expand the category. The 20 names vying to be nominees are: Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Astro Boy Battle For Terra Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs Coraline Disney’s A Christmas ...