day 4.55

what i love (this week)
...on a monday

the song

love. love. love.

the show

season 2. better than idol.

the movie

now i'm just down to two best picture nominees to see before the big show: hugo and the tree of life.

the look

what else?

day 3.193

what i love (this week)

the song

the show

the movie

the look

day 3.161

christina and cee-lo get "nasty"

who knew? before they were judges on nbc's the voice, christina aguilera and cee-lo teamed up to record "nasty," a track rejected from aguilera's last album and the burlesque soundtrack. turns out it's actually pretty radio friendly. check out "nasty" above. then try to get it out of your head (it might be hard).

day 3.156

what i love (this week)

the song

i cannot tell you why i like this song. i really have no idea why. really.

the show

obsessed. this will be the show that saves nbc. maybe.

the movie

i mean i want to see it again, so you should want to see it for a first time. go. now.

the look

you look like an adult! now start singing like one. please.

day 3.131

the voice: it's coming

check out this 12 minute extended preview for nbc's new singing competition, the voice. judging by this, the voice may be the first show with enough talent, and enough originality (even though it's based on a show from the netherlands), to take on american idol. and kudos (or kadooze) to nbc for getting this thing up and running so fast. in the time its taken for fox's the x factor to find its judges (which is still undecided), the peacock net launched production with four of music's biggest names. the only name the x factor's landed so far is l.a. reid, who's known within the music industry, but is nowhere near a household name. the only thing that worries me about the voice is the concept of sight-unseen. no matter how you cut it, ugly people don't become pop stars. the show premieres tuesday on nbc- hopefully it can help the fourth place network make a comeback. in the meantime, enjoy the group performance featuring all four judges - cee-lo, blake shelton, adam levine and christina aguilera.

day 3.121

what i love (this week)

the song

i think christina aguilera's bionic is one of the most overlooked albums of the last year. maybe it was the lead single? maybe it was the marketing? i don't know why this album tanked, but i really think everyone should give it another listen. "bionic" is one of the most get-stuck-in-your-head worthy songs, well, ever.

the movie

i'm kind of cheating here. technically, this is a miniseries. but it came from netflix, so it counts. right? i read this book (joyce carol oates' blonde) over the summer - all 738 pages (in, like, size 9 font!) - so i was very interested in seeing how someone adapted something so massive and intricate into a movie. fyi, blonde's a fictional take on the rise and fall of marilyn monroe. while it's not perfect, it's keeping me entertained (i still have another disc to watch). a big screen version is being planned for next year, with naomi watts in the role of marilyn. now that should be interesting.

tv show

obsessed.

the look

dying - josh duhamel as justin bieber.

day 3.12

movie review mania: black swan

i'll sum up black swan in three words: bitch is crazy. or, wtf? or center stage meets showgirls meets a mental breakdown on crack. i knew going in to darren aronofsky's follow-up to 2008's the wrestler that it would at least have a hint of crazy, but sh*t went down. the flick follows nina, a determined ballerina who gets the chance of a lifetime when she's offered the role of the swan queen in "swan lake." the role - and the ocd-centered life nina has created - prove to be too much for the ballerina. the film follows the psychological and mental breakdown nina goes through as she attempts to find perfection. all the performances - especially natalie portman as nina, mila kunis' take as nina's biggest competition in the ballet company and barbara hershey as nina's overbearing mother - are spectacular, and aronofsky's vision is obvious (every moment seems completely planned out), but all the bizarre or shocking moments in the film are never explained. to be honest, i don't think i could explain black swan's plot twists to anyone - it's something you have to see for yourself. black swan didn't pass my "watch test" - i had to look a couple times - but it definitely kept me interested, even if i had to look away from the screen a few times.

movie review mania: burlesque

if you're looking for something that requires a little (ok, let's be honest, a lot) less thought, try burlesque. even though the movie has been out for about a month, it's still worth checking out. i can say that i was genuinely surprised at how entertaining it was - i was expecting a lot more camp and to laugh at a lot more moments that weren't intended to be funny. i found out that juno scribe diablo cody wrote the original script for burlesque, which helps explain the disconnect between really well written scenes and some of the film's beyond bad dialogue. it's not christina aguilera who is a bad actress, but bad material that aguilera tried too hard to make good...if that makes any sense. the soundtrack alone will make you leave the theater wanting more. the casting was spot on (though i might have switched kristen bell and julianne hough's roles) and everyone gives solid performances, especially christina aguilera's wig, which deserves a best supporting actress nom for making christina's hair look the best it ever had. like black swan, burlesque has elements of showgirls, but it's funny on purpose and serious when it counts.

day 2.249

christina aguilera acting?

day 2.263

christina aguilera is not herself tonight

she's lady gaga. aguilera's "comeback" video is eerily similar to lady gaga's video for "bad romance." people have even gone as far to compare then shot for shot. check it out for yourself above.

day 2.232

christina aguilera is "not [herself] tonight"

the every changing pop diva has released her latest single, "not myself tonight," and it doesn't disappoint. if you're a christina fan, then you know new music from her means a new genre - she never does the same thing twice. remember the "dirty" years? yeah. well, actually, "not myself tonight" is kind of reminiscent of that time. add in sophistication of x-tina's back to basics album, and you get bionic - due out later this year. it's very much britney-meets-gaga and i can't stop listening.

day 2.127

it's coming.