Free Coldplay Song, Limited Time Only

If you're a fan of coldplay, or simply a curious fan of all kinds of music, head on over to Coldplay's website before next Tuesday to get a free download of their new single, "Violet Hill." The song is from the group's new album, "Viva la Vida," and will not be released to online music retailers until next week.

I hope more bands decide to try out this free pre-release idea.

Hat tip to HuffPost for the scoop.

Great Graduation Flicks

In honor of my impending college graduation, I decided to put together a list of my favorite graduation movies. Whether they depict high school or college, movies can always reap great drama from starting with the characters in cap and gown (or finishing, as in Last Picture Show).

Reality Bites: I could watch this movie over and over. It is the sort of post-graduation dream that I have and don’t really want to come true. Winona Ryder made losing her crappy job, living in a crappy apartment, dating a personality-lacking Ben Stiller, and pining for her emotionally unavailable best friend seem like the most romantic, ideal way to spend your life, post-diploma.

The Last Picture Show: This one is devastating, a rumination on small-town life and the loss of innocence. Sonny Crawford must part with every aspect of his youth by the end of the film, left to carry on without his childhood friends and pastimes. Even though it’s kind of a bummer, the movie is still a really beautiful depiction of the crossroads people sometimes face in life.

The Graduate (duh): Inappropriate sex and the desire to “find yourself.” Enough said.


Say Anything: The ultimate post-high school fantasy. Lloyd Dobler, average everyman, gets his shot with the beautiful valedictorian he’s had his eye on, and it’s true love. Stalker-ish behavior and a boom box never seemed so romantic.

Can’t Hardly Wait: Another one about the last-chance opportunities you have after you graduate high school. This time it’s about a lot of different people, but with the same Lloyd Dobbler-type fantasy at its center. Highlights include hilarious turns by Seth Green and Charlie Korsmo. Plus, dozens of pre-fame stars pop up, including Donald Faison, Jaime Pressly, Jason Segel (blink and you miss him), and Selma Blair.

American Idol Judges Replaced by Deaf Robots

Not really. Obviously. But, anyone seriously keeping up with the show lately has to be wondering what's up with our strange trio of judges on AI. I have ears, and a brain, and therefore feel confident laying the following criticism on Randy, Paula, and Simon, who dish out plenty of criticism themselves:

Stop acting like little David Archuleta can do no wrong: Seriously! The first week or two of the top twelve I was ok with David. The kid has a nice set of pipes, and he's light and fluffy, completely non-threatening. But now, the gloves are coming off! This kid has flubbed lyrics on more than one of his big numbers; he cannot deliver on lower, quieter notes; he consistently chooses the most BORING song possible; and he acts like he's 12, not 17. Oh, and Randy, your standard comment, "a good singer can sing anything, period," is not suitable to drag out every week in lieu of proper commentary, even when you preface it with "I'll say it again."

I'm afraid we may be stuck with lil' Archie until the final two, all because of the stampeding tweens who love him and the judges ugh-inspiring love fests. Worst of all? With all of this season's potential to have a cooler, hipper winner, David A. may put the show back at square one. Think about it...would you actually spend your money on a David A. album before shelling out $$ for the first disc from Carly, Jason, or David Cook?

That's Entertainment?

Saturday night, after an exhausting day, I enjoyed some televisual fun on E! The Soup was good, as always, and they even played one of the best episodes of SNL of the past several years, when Justin Timberlake took hosting duties.

My laughs were interrupted when I caught a promo for the upcoming E! special on the 15 most shocking violent crimes.

Ummm, what? I've heard the old newspaper adage, "If it bleeds, it leads," but should an entertainment network focused mostly on celebrities and reality shows starring pseudo-celebrities really devote time to something so depressing? And should depressing events really be quantified in countdown form?

Shame on E! for trying to capitalize on violence. Shame.

One More Reason to Love Ron Weasley

Even though he is just 19 years-old, Rupert Grint (a.k.a. Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films) is one smart cookie. His recent comments on Lindsay Lohan and why he does not want to move to L.A. were enough to make me temporarily break my own no-celebrity-gossip rule.

From Showbiz Spy:

The 19-year-old actor, who plays Ron Weasley in the wizard movies, said: “I met Lindsay last summer and she talked about herself a lot.

“She said she was going to win an Oscar before she turns 25. I just kept thinking, ‘But you can’t act’.”

Grint also mentioned that he does not want to meet Paris Hilton, and that she and LiLo are "the type of girls you need to stay away from."

I already loved Grint from watching him grow up in the Potter movies (and seeing his great non-Potter flick Driving Lessons), and his willingness to bluntly say what we know everyone else is thinking about Lindsay Lohan is fantastic. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he gets some more screen time in the next couple of films and keeps speaking his mind.

New Trailers: Which Creeps You Out the Most?

Over at Pop Watch yesterday, Mandi Bierly posted the trailer for The Strangers, and asked everyone to share their own takes on the scariest film trailers they've ever seen. I saw the trailer for The Strangers this weekend, as well as Quarantine, and I think it's time to compare the two. Which is scarier? Watch for yourself, then see my comments after the second video.

(And, for those of you not into the scary stuff, check out the trailer for The House Bunny instead, a new comedy starring Anna Ferris.)

First up, Quarantine...



And now, The Strangers...



Of the two, I think The Strangers definitely gets my award for being the freakiest. First, there's the whole "Based on true events" issue. No one wants to remember that (even though extremely rare) things like this do happen. Another thing that makes The Strangers seem truly terrifying is the casting. Liv Tyler is such a sweet, soft-spoken actress that it's really awful to watch her crawling on the floor, desperate to escape. Whoever chose her was purely genius.

Quarantine is creepy in its own right, but the implausibility factor allows you to keep a safe distance from the horror experienced by the characters. This one, though it's unclear what exactly is going on, lacks the immediacy of The Strangers.

I know I am oddly focusing on horror this week (likely since I saw a horror movie on Sunday for the first time in probably a year and a half), but I promise a return to regularly scheduled fun soon.

What happened to your career, Jonathan Schaech?

This weekend, I had the esteemed pleasure of seeing Prom Night, the weekend’s top grossing film. I don’t typically see scary movies, since I’m a giant scaredy cat. No worries with this film, it was pretty predictable and not very scary. What saved it, and made it a tolerably decent flick? Jonathan Schaech, turning in a stellar performance as the teacher-turned-sociopathic-killer Richard Fenton. Schaech made a completely nutso character kind of sympathetic, and just oozed intensity and magnetism.

So, as I left the theater, I wondered why Schaech has been nearly invisible for the past decade. Some of you may remember Schaech as Jimmy, the lead singer of the Wonders in That Thing You Do! Or, perhaps, you remember him as the former husband of Christina Applegate.

Schaech has all the qualities of a high-powered actor. He’s gorgeous, chooses a variety of gigs, and is even actually talented. So, why isn’t he more famous? I’d say, the variety of gigs Schaech has chosen have not mixed in enough high-profile movies to boost his audience.

I’m hoping that Prom Night’s decent numbers, along with the upcoming Quarantine and The Poker Club, will get Schaech’s mug out there among the people again. I want to see more from this steadily working actor than Road House 2.

Flick Please, Without the Chick

I thought about writing on this a couple of weeks ago and got sidetracked. The New York Times (via HuffPost) touched on the Chick Flick phenomenon yesterday and gave me a reason to write.

I view the Chick Flick with equal parts dread and curiosity. I enjoy everything from action films to dramas (my only real film aversion being Horror), and from time to time, a "chick movie" will come out that I actually want to see. Whether it be the cast, the plot, or whatever else, something draws me to the film. Lately, it seems my more common reaction to a chick flick trailer is nausea. Every new movie that is made clearly to appeal to the widest possible female audience by feeding us the same drivel as usual (finding the perfect man in really cute shoes and in the same way as at least twenty years of female film characters) just does not hold my attention like it once did--when I was thirteen.

According to the article, studios are starting to sense this fatigue, especially among my demographic (twentysomething women). We are shelling out money for these rote comedies less and less frequently. What gives?

Honestly, it just seems the genre has been done to death. Though NYTimes claims that Knocked Up "probably does not" make the chick flick cut, I disagree and think that opinion only points out what's wrong with the idea of the chick flick in the first place. I love comedies, including the kind of bawdy humor, typically considered "for-the-boys," that Knocked Up made use of. I know a lot of women who loved the film. It blended the romantic story with a hilarious premise and some seriously funny bits, making it a film for everyone. Wedding Crashers created a similar balancing act in 2006 and scored some major box office moolah as a reward.

The time has come to cut the crap and stop expecting traditional chick flicks to really sell. If I see one more melodramatic Nicholas Sparks adaptation I might vomit. Trying to market these films undermines the multiplicity of female personalities and tastes, and also makes men feel embarrassed for enjoying a good romantic storyline. Men and women generally all want to laugh and fall in love, so why the need for films that only cash in on one want or the other? Let's get some more great films out there that appeal to everyone.

NBC Books a Seat on the Bad Idea Train (Choo Choo!)

Despite the fact that spin-offs rarely work (Frasier being about the only exception I can currently think of), NBC announced this week that there is a (kind of, sort of) spin-off of The Office in the works for next year. The show will premiere directly after the super bowl next year, a coveted spot indeed.

The post-super bowl slot is a big burden to put on the shoulders of a show that doesn't have a single episode under its belt. The past few big post-super bowl shows (Grey's Anatomy, Alias, House, The Simpsons) all had at least a steady audience and a healthy dose of love from critics before taking on one of the biggest time slots of the year. I'm not sure that a pilot--even one by the genius writing staff of The Office--will hold the attention of the drunk and tired masses.

The fact that there is currently no title, no cast, and no concept is also a little frightening, even though the entire creative team of The Office will be working on it. The Office is possibly my favorite show on television right now, but let's not forget that these writers (as fabulous as they are) were not starting from scratch with this show. The concept was pre-packaged and they adapted it for a U.S. audience.

With any luck the show will be fantastic and all the worrying will be in vain. In the meantime, my ear will be to the ground for any new title, cast, or concept information. Stay tuned!

Thanks to the always-wonderful Office Tally for doing so much digging to find links from every source possible.