good evening! is everyone enjoying their friday night? i'm having myself a glass of red wine and listening to yelle - way enjoyable french pop that i discovered by way of the hills (which always seems to feature decent music) anyways madonna is certainly a very busy lady these days (as per usual) this coming tuesday she releases hard candy (which you can listen to on her myspace right now) plus she screened the documentary (which she produced) entitled i am because we are - last night at the tribeca film festival over in NYC - a five-minute video preview is posted below - the subject matter concerns the dire situation over in poverty & AIDS stricken malawi (where she adopted her son david) it looks quite powerful and it's great to see madonna bringing much needed attention to the many unresolved issues over there - it's overwhelming but i plan on taking myself to see the film (there doesn't seem to be a release date yet - keep checking the website which is chock full of information) she looked spectacular last night - i still can't believe she's turning 50 (that fact makes me feel old at 32) whatever she's doing to look fierce is obviously working - go madonna! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo
is nothing sacred anymore in hollywood? (duh - of course not!) are original ideas running out? (it certainly sounds like it) just last week i was reading about an upcoming remake of the 80's teen flick the breakfast club which irked me but whatever (it doesn't even sound close to the original plot) but tonight i heard via shock 'til you drop that there could be a remade version of my all-time favorite horror flick rosemary's baby (which i've posted about before here on popbytes) there's simply no way they'll be able to top the 1968 masterpiece directed by roman polanski and starred mia farrow rocking her infamous blonde pixie cut as the young lady who discovers she's given birth to satan's child...however i'd love to see katie holmes star along w/ hubby tom cruise which would for sure increase the creepy factor - but there's no chance in hell we'll see tomkat starring in this one...it hits way too close to home! (not to imply that suri cruise is devil spawn but you get what i mean) the horror films from that period of time tended to be more on the creepy & chilling side without a schlocky gore splatter fest - of course if the film does get a modern day update - the gore will be heaped on and won't work with blood & guts galore (they'd have to alter the original story to accommodate more gore) i seriously hope some executive has the decency to leave well enough alone! (author ira levin totally rolled over in his grave today) i've already resigned myself to the fact there's a remake in the works of a nightmare on elm street - a completely unnecessary venture - blasphemy is alive & well in hollywood today! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
PS thank heavens someone nixed the idea of another adventures in babysitting - you simply cannot fuck with the babysitter!
hey hey! today i actually made it to the movies (a perfect idea since it was so damn cloudy out today) i took my dear mom (who also lovingly checks for any mistakes here on popbytes) to see the other boleyn girl over at arclight cinemas (the best local movie theater around) although i already knew the basic story of king henry viii and the twisted sister drama that went down between mary & anne boleyn which made a few heads roll and produced a future queen of england named elizabeth! the film is based on the best-selling novel by philippa gregory (which i didn't get to read - i need to make book time since i haven't read a novel in a longtime...shame on me!) although my eyelids grew a little heavy in the beginning of the film - i managed to perk up once the real drama started to kick in - i thought both scarlett johansson and natalie portman did an excellent job of playing the boleyn girls (it would be hilariously bad if say the simpson sisters starred in it) plus i adore the guy who played their brother cutie pie jim sturgess (he also starred in across the universe) and there's also hottie eric bana - another nice dose of eye candy! overall i enjoyed the film - plus it totally got me pumped for the second season of the tudors starring jonathan rhys-meyers as the beheading happy king which premieres on showtime on sunday march 30th! a throwback to old time historical scandal and drama is quite refreshing from today's usual drama inducing suspects! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
hey hey! here's a perfect post for oscar weekend - two academy award nominated actors are reuniting in a new film - kate winslet & leonardo dicaprio who starred in 1997's best picture winner titanic (which was up for 14 awards - tying with all about eve (one of my personal faves) for the most nominations ever) are both starring in the upcoming flick revolutionary road (directed by ms. winslet's husband oscar winner sam mendes) based upon the 1961 novel by richard yates (listed as one of time magazine's top 100 novels of all-time!) set in 1955 it tells the tale of a young couple 'frank & april wheeler' who are 'trying to find fulfillment in an age of conformity' unfortunately we'll have to wait until december 19th to see them back up on the silver screen together - maybe next year we'll see mr. dicaprio & ms. winslet up for oscars again! (quick sidenote: if you haven't seen the life of david gale which stars kate winslet, kevin spacey, and laura linney (up for best actress tomorrow) you must!) popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
PS oh my gosh - yes i'm a total video game geek - i beat devil may cry 4 this afternoon - overall it was one of the most satisfying games i've ever played - highly recommended - it's available on both xbox & ps3!
UPDATE! i'm back home - and sadly i was quite disappointed in cloverfield - after all the online hype that has been making the rounds for quite a long time - i was expecting something way better! it wasn't the worst movie ever - but i found myself hoping it would be over - thankfully it wasn't very long although it seemed that way when i was watching it - plus all that shaky camera nonsense got tired oh so quickly - i really can't recommend the film! did anybody else feel the same way?!? popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
hey hey! i'm so thrilled to have a mini night out plus it's friday! first up is dinner at bella right here on hollywood blvd with my good pal joey and then we're off to see cloverfield at grauman's chinese theatre! i've been so good about not hearing or reading too much about the movie as i didn't want it spoiled plus whenever i over hype myself for something i usually end up disappointed - so i've kept my excitement for the film at bay! i'll update this post when i get back home - and no worries - i won't reveal any 'spoilers'! rock & blog on - popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
QUICK UPDATE! as expected eddie izzard was great - he's so damn clever & witty - the show was completely sold out - unfortunately the seats were really uncomfortable (it was at the coronet theatre near the beverly center) so i found myself being a bit shifty but i'm so glad i decided to go - i'll write more about his 'work in progress' showcase in a few days!
good evening everybody! oh i'm dying to go see cloverfield which just opened in theaters yesterday - from the reviews and word of mouth - i think it's going to be a smash hit - it looks awesome & really scary! i'm trying not to read too much about it until i see it - probably next weekend - over at the grauman's chinese theatre here in hollywood (where the sound system kicks ass) they've had a statue of liberty with her head blown off set up in front of the place for a few days now - there's a few pictures below which i snapped!
tonight i'm super excited to go see comedian/actor eddie izzard working on his one-man show - it's kinda like a workshop - and he's only doing it a few times - it should be a great show! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo! (when i get home i'll update this post with a few thoughts on mr. izzard's show)
good evening! how is everybody doing? well i was supposed to go down to the san diego zoo but someone (the backseat driver shall remain nameless) wasn't very thrilled with my driving (which was totally fine btw - i pride myself on being an excellent driver) so i decided to turn the car and head home! seriously - who needs headaches & complaints when you're trying to do something nice? i'm so over being nice (my mom will agree with me...) anyways i was able to sleep a little more when i got home - plus i saved some money & time - zoo schmoo!
moving on from dumb ass annoyances - i wanted to mention a little bit about hairspray which hands down was my favorite movie i saw all year (i willingly admit that i didn't see a lot of flicks this year (hence the reason i'm not doing a top ten list) but that is all about to change in 2008 with my new year's resolution to see more movies!) when i first saw hairspray in the theaters i was instantly a huge fan but when the movie came out on DVD recently - that's when i went nuts over it - i must have watched it over twenty times now - it's that much fun! of course i also adore the original 1988 flick directed by john waters but they really are quite different from each other - it's hard to compare them to each other!
i must also mention the amazing cast including newcomer nikki blonsky and hottie zac efron (who i still have a major crush on - which started the day i saw him play 'link larkin') all the supporting cast is excellent too - i'm not a huge fan of john travolta but he really did an outstanding job - by the time it's finished you completely forget that 'edna turnblatt' is actually mr. travolta in drag! then you've got the always awesome michelle pfeiffer, christopher walken, and queen latifah! it's such a feel good movie and lately i've been blue over a lot of things but once i put on hairspray - you for sure can't stop the beat! for those of you who haven't seen it yet - you must - and for those of you who have - i know you'll totally agree with me that hairspray rules! now the movie has secured the third spot in my top movies of all-time - only annie hall & pee-wee's big adventure are ahead! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo! (hopefully tomorrow will be a better day - i need to start worrying about myself - rather than trying to please everyone else!)
UPDATE! i have three words for you - helena bonham carter! she was the best - i LOVED the movie - johnny depp was great too - oh my gosh - i simply can't say enough about sweeney todd! i can't even think of one thing that was off - everyone was perfect! kudos to director tim burton who managed to handle stephen sondheim's music & lyrics with great care & style - you must go see this movie! i'm done for tonight and tomorrow i'm heading down to the zoo in san diego - which hopefully will be fun and there won't be much traffic getting there and back! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
good evening! i'm so happy the weekend is here - and tonight i'm getting out of the house and heading over to the arclight cinemas to see sweeney todd which i've been wanting to see for months - plus i've heard some great things about it already - i have a feeling i will love it (but i don't want to jinx it either...) before i head out i dug up this video of the always fabulous angela lansbury in the broadway production of the show in the late '70s singing the worst pies in london (introduced by the late great jerry orbach) in the film version helena bonham carter tackles the role of 'mrs. lovett'! when i get home later i'll do a quick update to this post - rock on - popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
hey hey! oh my word - i'm super sick of seeing this poster for fred claus (which opens tomorrow) splashed all over town (there's a huge one near the warner bros. studios on olive over in burbank) what annoys me the most is how overly photoshopped vince vaughn looks - he doesn't look like that at all! (does anyone else agree with me? it almost looks like he's wearing makeup - it's just plain odd) i'm all for touching up pictures but this is way too much plus the look on his face is so overly smug - is this a movie you really want to take your kids to? i don't want to go all 'bah humbug' right now since we are heading into the holiday season but this movie looks totally awful - and then coupled with the horrible poster - there's simply no way you could ever get me to see this movie! phew - i'm glad i finally got that off my chest - photoshop vince has been bugging me for some time now! (i'll sleep better tonight!) popbytes over & out for tonight - xxoo!
hey hey! oh my word - i so enjoy getting a mysterious package in the mail (as long as it's not ticking) the other day i received a small discreet box that contained a plastic container filled with actual shredded money - a master lock w/ two keys was laying in the pile of shred...attached was a small tag with the words will they get away with it? on one side - the other side was printed with the date 1.18.08! (there are pictures posted below)
at first i was semi-confused about what it all meant but then i quickly remembered the premiere of katie holmes' new flick mad money was indeed january 18th (two days after my 32nd birthday!) how funny that for ms. holmes' first movie since going under the spell of tom cruise would be promoted by sending out a lock & key - ha!
i actually would like to see the movie (the trailer is also posted below) which also stars queen latifah & diane keaton (who starred in my favorite movie of all-time hands down - annie hall - for me there's no better movie) who doesn't love a hopefully half-way decent heist film & unique little marketing scheme - and what did it cost them? a bunch of locks, shredded money, and postage - and look at what happened - i posted on it! i swear the amount of email pitches i get are insane but i'm so overly picky but this totally demanded a post! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
PS i am now officially a guitar hero junkie - i can't help myself - it's beyond fun - i'm going to play right now...
