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watch this

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and the oscar hosts are...

two potential nominees! the academy tapped anne hathaway and james franco to host the 83rd annual academy awards in february. this is quite the change from, well, every year prior. the usual go-tos for hosts are comedians (see: billy crystal, steve martin, ellen degeneres), or the occasional song-and-dance man (i.e. hugh jackman), but to have two oscar-caliber actors host? it's a nice twist. according to deadline, the reasoning behind the pick was the fact that franco and hathaway have both hosted some of the best saturday night live episodes of recent years, which i'll agree with. i just want to know how they'll handle the hosting duties along with being nominees, with franco getting a lot of buzz for his role in 127 hours, and anne for her take in love and other drugs. this is the second year in a row that the academy tapped dual hosts for the job, which helps break up the drudgery of 3 hour long shows, and gives more opportunity for anne and james to play off one another. it will be interesting to see how the duo plays off one another, though, since i don't think they've worked together before (though there was talk of the duo taking on the lead roles in an alien prequel earlier this year). while i can say that i was pulling for someone like chelsea handler or neil patrick harris to take on the job this year, this surprising announcement is just as satisfying. be on the lookout for anne and james on february 27, when the show airs on abc.

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lil kim is mad

and is expressing her anger - at nicki minaj - through song. check out "black friday," an obvious nod to nicki's album title pink friday above.

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love and other drugs and two hours of entertainment

i had high expectations for love and other drugs. and they were met. and then they were exceeded. the anne hathaway/jake gyllenhaal romantic dramedy barely passed my watch test - i looked at the time more than once throughout the screening - but it did hold my attention. the film follows jamie and maggie, two twenty-somethings who are more interested in the no-strings attached lifestyle, than one with strings. but, it's for very different reasons. jamie (gyllenhaal) is the bachelor every guy wants to be - good looking and gets with every girl he wants. maggie (hathaway) is the free-spirited artist every girl wishes she could be, but with a twist - she has early on-set parkinson's. shocker, right? love and other drugs revolves around the romance that comes when you try to make sex work without love. the parkinson's situation is on the table from jamie and maggie's first meeting, so don't think it's a big plot twist. the biggest surprise was the amount of nudity in love and other drugs. hathaway's hathaways are on display at least three times, and gyllenhaal's backside makes just as many appearances. the supporting cast - notably josh gad as gyllenhaal's web-savvy millionaire younger brother, oliver platt as his co-drug rep and hank azaria as a doctor who can't enough of the little blue pill - help balance out the movie, and add to the potential oscar pull this flick might have. if you liked up in the air, then definitely check love and other drugs out. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wince in pain (if you're a guy) and, most of all, you'll have a good time. love and other drugs is just the kind of movie you'll want to watch this holiday season.

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sorry?

i got nothing.

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gobble, gobble

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i got...

nothin. sorry?

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tina fey is rolling in her grave...

and she's still alive! the trailer for mean girls 2 hit the internet yesterday and it's, well, the ugliest fucking skirt i've ever seen. imitation is the best form of flattery, and that's where they should have left this. the sure to be abcfamily movie special should have been just that - a made-for-tv knock off of the original, without any reference to the original. saying this is mean girls 2 implies we're going to get the same fast-paced, pop-culture referencing writing fey delivered in the beginning. what we're really getting is the stars of the disney channel (at least 4 of the main characters have appeared on one show or movie on the mouse-net) attempting to recreate the sarcastic wit of the original, which they are far from. i can't wait to hear what tina has to say about this the next time she's interviewed, especially since her friend, and mean girls star, tim meadows agreed to be in this cast, too. check out the cringe-worthy trailer above. the movie is shot with what looks like an hd handicam and features a lot more sight-gags than a movie should - and it's just the trailer!

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the american music awards

or should i call is the justin bieber awards? the american music awards aired live on abc last night and the fan-voted prizes went to...well, the fan favorites. the big winner of the night was justin bieber, who took home 4 trophies. here's a look at the full list of winners, and some of the performance highlights.

artist of the year

• justin bieber

pop/rock

• male artist: justin bieber
• female artist: lady gaga
• band, duo or group: black eyed peas
• album: justin bieber, my world 2.0

soul/r&b

• male artist: usher
• female artist: rihanna
• album: usher, raymond v. raymond

rap/hip-hop

• male artist: eminem
• album: eminem, recovery

country

• male artist: brad paisley
• female arist: taylor swift
• band, duo or group: lady antebellum
• album: carrie underwood, play on

adult contemporary

• artist: michael buble

alternative rock

• artist: muse

latin

• artist: shakira

t-mobile breakthrough artist

• justin bieber

if i had it my way, fan-voted award shows wouldn't be voted on until the night of the show. every nominee would be required to perform, and the viewers would vote on that performance. until then...

after thanking michael jackson awkwardly for one of his awards, justin took the stage to sing "pray." as one of the people i follow on twitter said, every elementary school choir across the country will be adding this song to their holiday pageant.

speaking of children's choirs, katy perry was backed by one of the creepiest ones during her rendition of "firework." too bad they couldn't make fireworks shoot out of her chest like in the music video

christina aguilera continues to promote her movie debut, burlesque, with on-air performances. her latest album didn't get this kind of publicity.

ke$ha was, surprisingly, one of the highlights of the night. except for the bizarre guitar crashing moment at the end of the performance.

enrique iglesias continued his comeback effort with this performance, featuring pitbull. at least he sang live?

rihanna opened the show this year, singing a medley from her latest album, loud. like other nominees (ahem, taylor swift), live performance is not riri's strong suit.

and speaking of taylor, she performed the "taylor lautner song," also known as "back to december." her new look - straight hair and bangs - plus a sample of one republic's "apologize" proved that taylor may finally be moving on from tweenage dreams of lollipop kingdoms and fairytale romances.

the backstreet boys and new kids on the block closed the show with a mash-up of their greatest hits. it was definitely what everyone '90s kid has been waiting for...or been trying to avoid.

and my favorite performance of the night came from a pregnant p!nk. p!nk is one of the few performers who consistently looks like she's having a good time on stage.

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the ama's are on!

i'll be live-tweeting the american music awards over at twitter.com/bricesander. check back here tomorrow for a full recap!

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listen to the latest episode of glee...

before you even watch it. here are 4 full-length previews of songs from tuesday's new episode, "furt." the episode is wedding-themed, and features the cast singing two bruno mars songs. sounds like it won't disappoint. actually, when has glee ever really disappointed? one song ("ohio") even features the vocal stylings of guest star carol burnett, as sue sylvester's nazi-hunting madre.

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day of travel...

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back manana.

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dear gwyneth paltrow,

i'm slightly obsessed.

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movie trailer mania

here's a look at the movies you'll be seeing over the next couple of months.

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slightly obsessed

tomorrow night's episode of glee is looking better everyday. in addition to kicking off gwyneth paltrow's guest stint, "the substitute" also features mini versions of every new directions member. check out a behind-the-scenes clip featuring the cast and their mini-mes.

also

i wish this were real.

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scarjo on snl

saturday night live is really getting back into the groove this season. and returning hosts only make it better. scarlett johansson made her 3rd appearance last night on the sketch show, and brought some of the funniest skits to the air. check out my faves below.

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what's the story, morning glory?

rachel mcadams is back! it seems like the woman who brought us regina george has been absent for a while now, but i'm glad she's back. especially in morning glory. the movie follows becky (mcadams), a down-on-her-luck tv producer who gets the chance to bring a struggling morning show back to life. the movie has a very similar spirit to the devil wear prada, which shouldn't be much of a surprise because the same person wrote both movies. it's very witty, very sarcastic and very relatable, especially for anyone in or about to be in the tv biz. while it's a little predictable, there are still some twists that make it worth watching. the supporting cast - namely diane keaton and harrison ford - help bring the whole flick together. morning glory passed my watch test (i think i only looked at the time once or twice) and made me laugh harder than i have in a long time. definitely check it out.

life as we know it as i saw it

this movie's been out for a while, but i thought i'd still but my two cents in. especially because i was pleasantly surprised. i was half-expecting to be entertained, half-expecting to be out of my mind like i seem to be in every other katherine heigl movie. but life as we know it was 100% entertaining. when complete opposites holly (heigl) and messer (josh duhamel) are forced to co-parent their god-child, sophie, after the death of her parents, everything and anything seems to go wrong, as you'd expect. but through laughter, sex and wine they're able to make it all work. life as we know it is one of the most predictable movies i've probably ever seen, as i think you'd expect, but, like morning glory, there are a couple of plot twist that kept me interested and involved. life as we know it strikes the perfect balance between out-right comedy and drama, giving everyone something to relate to. i don't know how much longer it will stick around in theaters, but definitely catch it before it wanders off into the waiting-to-be-on-dvd abyss.

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gwyneth comes to glee

the queen of goop makes her glee debut with next week's episode, and here's your first listen. the oscar winner plays a substitute teacher who covers for mr. schu. the kids (with what looks like the exception of rachel) fall for her, and so does mr schu. she sings "forget you," the kid-friendly version of cee-lo's "fuck you," and a mash-up of rihanna's "umbrella" and "singing in the rain" (check them out above). i don't know that i'm sold on gwyneth as a performer - she's a little stiff and awkward - but i don't mind her voice, and i'm pretty excited for her turn on glee. and her upcoming movie country strong, which is getting a lot of oscar buzz. paltrow also performed on the country music awards telecast this week. again, she was stiff and awkward. just wait for miranda lambert's face at the end of the performace...

here are some other performance highlights from the cma's.

when they announced reba was going to perform "one of beyonce's biggest hits," i was half-expecting beyonce to pop out. sadly, she didn't.

taylor swift sang "back to december," aka the taylor lautner song, and, well...we all know taylor's live performance skills aren't at the best. luckily she sang a ballad and not an up-tempo song.

sugarland is probably my favorite country act, but i don't love this performance. cma performers tend to do one of two things - either stand on the stage and sing alone, or have too much going on - and sugarland definitely fell into the latter category. the rest of sugarland's latest, the incredible machine, is better than "stuck like glue," and it would've been nice to hear something new.

kelly clarkson, who seems to think she's a country star some of the time, performed with jason aldean. it was one of the simpler performances of the night, but also one of the better ones. after hearing this, i wouldn't be surprised if kelly decided to put out a country album or two in the future.

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back tomorrow

nothing today :(

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p!nk, p!nk and more p!nk

p!nk's greatest hits compilation drops next week, but a few of the new songs from the album have already leaked. in addition to the previously released "raise your glass" and "fuckin perfect," check out p!nk's "heartbreak down," and "whataya want from me?" which p!nk wrote, but adam lambert released earlier this year.

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conan returns

the red headed funny man made his second return to tv this year last night on tbs. the eponymously named conan ("so i'd be harder to replace," conan joked) brought in over 4 million viewers, but will it stick? naturally, ratings are going to be big the first week or so for conan on tbs. but i don't think a 4 million-person audience, let alone more than 1 million viewers, will stick around. conan was able to beat time-slot competitors jay leno and david letterman, but he also has a 30-minute lead in. it would be interesting to see the ratings for the second half of jay and dave's shows. after interest dies down, expect conan to be on par with where timeslot predecessor george lopez was - hovering around 1 million viewers. critics haven't responded well to conan's new program, expecting him to break free from the traditional late night mold. instead, he delivered a tonight show knock off with a cable edge. chances are tbs will give conan a longer shot than nbc, but i don't know if the net's gamble will pay off. conan couldn't bring in ratings on a major network. why is he expected to bring in even more viewers on a less watched cable channel?

the people have spoken
and they're getting out of control. the nominees for this year's people's choice awards was announced today and...well...it's interesting to say the least. it looks like the awards show has been extended by about 3590238097230932 categories, almost as if there idea was to not leave any possible nominee off the list. there's not just a "favorite movie" category, but favorite action, comedy and family movie categories. and acting awards under each of those categories. the people's choice awards have been headed downhill since the writer's strike in 2008. queen latifah returns (yet again) to host the show, to be broadcast january 5th on cbs. here's an (extensive) list of the nominees below. it looks like it will be a twilight award show, just like every other fan voted award show the past couple of years.

favorite movie

• alice in wonderland
• inception
• iron man 2
• the twilight saga: eclipse
• toy story 3

favorite movie actor

• johnny depp
• leonardo dicaprio
• robert downey jr.
• robert pattinson
• taylor lautner

favorite movie actress

• angelina jolie
• jennifer aniston
• julia roberts
• katherine heigl
• kristen stewart

favorite action movie

• iron man 2
• kick ass
• price of persia: the sands of time
• robin hood
• salt

favorite action star

• angelina jolie
• bradley cooper
• jackie chan
• jake gyllenhaal
• robert downey jr.

favorite drama movie

• alice in wonderland
• dear john
• inception
• the social network
• the twilight saga: eclipse

favorite family movie

• despicable me
• hot to train your dragon
• shrek forever after
• the karate kid
• toy story 3

favorite comedy movie

• date night
• east a
• grown ups
• sex and the city 2
• valentine's day

favorite comedic star

• adam sandler
• drew barrymore
• steve carell
• tina fey
• will ferrell

favorite on-screen team

• tina fey & steve carell - date night
• leonardo dicaprio, joseph gordon-levitt, ellen page, tom hardy & dileep rao - inception
• robert downey jr. & don cheadle - iron man 2
• jackie chan & jaden smith - the karate kid
• robert pattinson, kristen stewart & taylor lautner - the twilight saga: eclipse

favorite movie star under 25

• emma watson
• kristen stewart
• robert pattinson
• vanessa hudgens
• zac efron

favorite horror movie

• a nightmare on elm streed
• let me in
• resident evil: afterlife
• the crazies
• the last exorcism

favorite tv drama

• gossip girl
• grey's anatomy
• house
• the good wife
• the vampire diaries

favorite tv drama actor

• chace crawford
• hugh laurie
• ian somerhalder
• patrick dempsey
• taye diggs

favorite tv drama actress

• blake lively
• julianna margulies
• kate walsh
• lisa edelstein
• sandra oh

favorite tv comedy

• glee
• how i met your mother
• modern family
• the big bang theory
• two and a half men

favorite tv comedy actor

• alec baldwin
• jim parsons
• matthew morrison
• neil patrick harris
• steve carell

favorite tv comedy actress

• alyson hannigan
• courteney cox
• eva longoria parker
• jane lynch
• tina fey

favorite competition show

• american idol
• america's got talent
• dancing with the stars
• hell's kitchen
• so you think you can dance

favorite tv crime drama

• bones
• criminal minds
• law and order: special victim's unit
• lie to me
• ncis

favorite tv crime fighter

• emily deschanel - bones
• mariska hargitay - law and order: svu
• mark harmon - ncis
• simon baker - the mentalist
• tim roth - lie to me

favorite sci-fi/fantasy show

• fringe
• smallville
• supernatural
• the vampire diaries
• true blood

favorite talk show host

• chelsea handler
• conan o'brien
• ellen degeneres
• george lopez
• oprah winfrey

favorite tv obsession

• burn notice
• dexter
• pretty little liars
• true blood
• white collar

favorite tv guilty pleasure

• jersey shore
• kathy griffin: my life on the d-list
• keeping up with the kardashians
• the real housewives of new jersey
• tosh.o

favorite tv guest star

• betty white, community
• britney spears, glee
• carrie underwood, how i met your mother
• demi lovato, grey's anatomy
• neil patrick harris, glee

favorite tv doctor

• sandra oh - grey's anatomy
• patrick dempsey - grey's anatomy
• hugh laurie - house
• robert sean leonard - house
• ellen pompeo - grey's anatomy

favorite tv family

• the griffins - family guy
• the harpers - two and a half men
• the pritchetts/dunpheys - modern family
• the scavos - desperate housewives
• the simpsons - the simpsons

favorite tv movie

• beauty and the briefcase
• camp rock 2: the final jam
• icarly: ipsycho
• revenge of the bridesmaids
• starstruck

favorite tv chef

• bobby flay
• gordon ramsey
• jamie oliver
• paula deen
• rachael ray

favorite new tv comedy

• $#*! my dad says
• better with you
• mike and molly
• no ordinary family
• outsourced
• raising hope
• running wilde

favorite new tv drama

• blue bloods
• chase
• detroit 1-8-7
• hawaii five-0
• hellcats
• law and order: los angeles
• nikita
• the defenders
• the event

...and those are just the film and tv noms! to see all the other nominees - including the music categories and viral video stars, click here.

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"cheers" to rihanna

it seems like with each day we get closer to the release of rihanna's loud, another single leaks. the latest is called "cheers (drink to that)." the song is my favorite of the tunes we've heard off of loud; it's not a ballad, but it's definitely slower that rihanna's other songs. it also samples avril lavigne's (yes, avril) "i'm with you." check out the song above. chances are it will become soundtrack to your "freakin' weekend." loud hits shelves a week from tomorrow.

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euro-trashed

yesterday, the european music awards were broadcast across the globe. except in the us. but thanks to the magic of youtube (and this blog), you can still see all the show-stopping performances from the foreign vmas. miley cyrus, rihanna and katy perry all brought down the house with their latest singles. check out the performances below. it really makes no sense to me why mtv doesn't broadcast the ema's stateside - they have, like, 4 different mtv networks - but oh well.

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just go with it

jennifer aniston may finally have a hit movie on her hands. the actress formerly known as rachel stars in the romcom just go with it, also starring adam sandler, brooklyn deckler, nicole kidman and...heidi montag. the film follows the exploits of bffs sandler and aniston as they try to convince the object of sandler's affections (brooklyn deckler) that they are getting divorced, even though they've never been married. sound complicated enough for you? check out the trailer above, it might give you a little more insight. the movie looks like it could actually do really well at the box office, filling the same space as sandler's hits like big daddy, 50 first dates and chuck & larry. the film is set to be released in february.

rihanna likes "s&m"

check out one of the recently leaked singles from rihanna's loud, "s&m." if this is any indicator of what the rest of the album will be, i'm definitely looking forward to it.

back tomorrow

i think i saw this movie...

when it was called material girls and starred the duff sisters, haylie and hilary. from prada to nada stars spy kids' alexa vega and former joe jonas fling/subject of taylor swift's song "better than revenge" camilla belle as spoiled beverly hills sisters. when their father dies and leaves them with nothing, the duo are forced to move to east l.a. and try to keep their lives afloat. this is the kind of movie that gets played over and over and over again on tv, so i'm sure i'll catch it eventually.

when white people whip their hair

it's still good! check out this acoustic cover of miss willow smith's "whip my hair" by youtube artist maria zouroudis. i feel like this is what the song might have sounded like had destiny's child or alicia keys done it.

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p!nk can do no wrong

check out these two new songs from her upcoming "greatest hits" collection.

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funny ladies

last night, nbc aired the "women of snl" special. the show highlighted the great skits featuring female players over the show's nearly 40 year history. but it wasn't the retrospective that made the special great, but the 10-minute opening. the women of snl - from cheri o'teri to maya rudolph and kristen wiig - parodied bravo's real housewives franchise reunions, each taking on a different housewife. check out the skit (hosted by real real housewives host andy cohen) above. as far as i can tell, cheri is teresa from new jersey, rachel dratch is caroline, tina fey is kim zolciak from atlanta, ana gasteyer is ramon from new york, molly shannon is bethenny and kristen wiig and maya rudolph share some sort of split role of danielle.

sharpay sneak peak

it's finally here. over the summer, ashley tisdale filmed sharpay's fabulous adventure, a spin-off of the high school musical franchise. check out the video above, which gives you a sneak peak into the movie. it looks like the flick will pick up where hsm3 left off, with sharpay going straight from high school graduation to the great white way. obviously this won't be an oscar winner, but it does look like adventure carries the same spirit of its predecessors. the film should premiere on disney channel sometime early next year, with a dvd release to follow. this may be your last chance to get a new high school musical fix, as it looks like moving forward with the franchise's fourth installment have stalled.

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ricky martin is still making music...

and it's surprisingly good. the king of '90s latin-pop is returning to the spotlight with the new single "the best thing about me is you," featuring joss stone. the song has the same feel as the jason mraz/colbie callait duet "lucky," but a little poppier. check out the song above.