i cannot get enough of nicki minaj's "super bass." no, really- i even learned the first verse. i'm going to call it the song of the summer, because i'll be listening to it all summer long
the show
saturday night live returned last night with a mothers day-themed episode hosted by (second time) mommy-to-be tina fey. fey brought the funny (though not all the skits were great). above is my favorite of the night, a parody of bravo's latest docuseries, pregnant in heels. check out the rest of last night's clips here.
the movie
this movie hasn't even come out yet, but i cannot wait to see it. midnight screening, here i come- i hope bridesmaids lives up to the trailer's hype.
well, she lived up to her promise. after releasing "born this way," lady gaga said the rest of the album (also titled born this way) would have a very different sound. cue "judas." gaga's second single off her second album is a lot more like what i was expecting (and what seems like a lot of people were expecting) from the momma monster. while "born this way" was a nice throwback surprise, "judas" gels more with the sound gaga created over the past year or two. it's very electro. very catchy. and very hard to understand. i couldn't tell you any of the lyrics on first listen. hopefully born this way (the album) is a mix of the sounds of "judas" and "born this way" (the song) - i don't know if i could handle a whole album that sounds like either of those two. but we'll have to wait until the end of next month to find out. in the meantime, check out "judas" above - i'm sure you'll be hearing it non-stop for the next month.
time for an eargasm: gwyneth does adele
adele's finally made her way onto glee. in next week's return episode, returning guest star gwyneth paltrow takes on "turning tables," and i can't get enough.
my favorite song. one of my (new) favorite people. i wouldn't complain if gwyneth came on glee full time. the oscar winning multi-talent is reportedly this close to signing a record deal with atlantic. that's another thing i wouldn't complain about.
last week on glee, rachel berry made reference to the group's need to write original songs. well it looks like they're actually going to write those songs. check out the two original songs - fast-paced "loser like me" and the ballad "get it right" - above. the songs will debut with the group at regionals near the end of the season. next up on glee? the return of gwyneth paltrow! paltrow returns as substitute teacher holly holiday and, natch, she gets to sing again. below is one of the tunes she'll be belting out (and a personal fave), "landslide." glee returns in two weeks, after american idol gets down to the top 12.
it wasn't the best episode, but it also wasn't the worst. check out some highlights from gwyneth's guest gig below. unfortunately, the highlight of the show - a bar mitzvah sketch - isn't posted online.
and don't forget to check out the golden globes tonight on nbc. i will be live tweeting @bricesander, with a full recap here tomorrow.
the latest music video from t. swift has hit the interwebs. "back to december," the second single off swift's latest speak now, is slowly creeping its way up the charts. "december" is reportedly about swift's short-lived romance with twilight star taylor lautner. if you look at the album booklet, swift puts secret messages in her lyrics by capitalizing certain letters; the secret message for "back to december" reads "tay." the video is basically angst ridden with more angst, as swift mopes, pants-less, around her apartment while her love interest wanders the snowy streets. oh, it also snows inside taylor's apartment while she sits naked in a bathtub. normal. hopefully they release a faster song (like "better than revenge" or "the story of us") so that taylor can actually do something in the next video.
andrew garfield is spiderman
sony released the first official picture of the social network's andrew garfield as spiderman. it doesn't look like he'll disappoint.
also, i can't wait for this.
it better not disappoint. even though it probably will...
it's a little bit walk the line. it's a little bit lindsay lohan. it's a lot a bit country strong. gwyneth paltrow's big return to the big screen isn't disappointing, just surprising. paltrow plays kelly canter, a not-quite-rehabed alcoholic country star on her comeback tour. the movie is less about kelly, though, and more about the, er, support (?) system around her. country strong is strongest when the whole ensemble is given the chance to shine through the sometimes over-thought plot. garrett hedlund and leighton meester give movie star-making performances, while tim mcgraw has definitely found his groove as the sometimes controlling, always supportive husband; mcgraw's hairpiece even gives a great performance - surprisingly, the hollywood foreign press completely snubbed the cast for any noms. writer/director shana feste is still finding her footing, so there are some slow parts, and some unnecessary scenes; but, the movie is full of heart and has enough great moments to make you leave wanting more. but don't think you're seeing a feel-good flick; you'll definitely come close to shedding a tear or two if you can hold them back. while the plot is nothing new, the music and performances are, and they're enough to make me say country strong is definitely one to put on your "need-to-see" list.
the queen of goopmakes 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.
do you ever think to yourself, "what the hell happened to kirsten dunst?" the '90s teen comedy staple has worked on few projects since spiderman 3 in 2007. there was that stint in rehab and all, but in-demand actresses don't stop working. well miss torrence shipman is back in a movie that's getting some serious oscar buzz. all good things stars dunst as the wife and possible murder victim of a real estate-tycoon heir, played by ryan gossling. it's based on the life of robert durst, a real life heir to the durst real estate fortune. durst's wife, kathleen, disappeared in the early 1980s, and she hasn't been heard of or found since. rumors have long followed durst that he in fact murdered his wife, and suspicion grew stronger when durst's long time friend was found murdered in 2000. check out the trailer above. it looks like it's going to be a serious psychological thriller and will probably make everyone question if they really know who their significant other is...kirsten dunst has three more projects in the works now, including the highly anticipated adaptation of jack keouac's on the road, with kristen stewart. it seems like dunst is taking on much more dramatic roles, which hopefully will pay off for the star.
want to hear some new music?
a lot of musical acts released new singles this week. here's a look at some of the ones that caught my eye.
everyone's favorite dirty party girl is releasing a companion album to animal, called cannibal. "we r who we r" is the lead single off the disc, and from the sound of it, cannibal will be more of the same. auto-tuned sings-speak all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. i mean, is anyone really complaining? we all need some guilty pleasure music in our life.
speaking of guilty pleasures, it looks like pussycat dolls lead single nicole scherzinger is giving a solo career another go. the singer's earlier attempts, "baby love" and "whatever you like," failed to take off and a 2007 album called her name is nicole never made it to stores. "poison" is very club, very dance. it reminds me a lot of where kelly rowland has gone with her career (see: "commander"). hopefully nicole's dancing with the stars win and possible spot on the x factor's judging panel will help "poison" take off.
leighton meester's solo music career seems to have been put on the back burner, but her film career is taking off. the gossip girl star already filmed the roommate and monte carlo, both due out next year, and is part of the ensemble cast of country strong. leighton plays a new country teen queen and a snippet of a song from the movie, "words i couldn't say" hit the internet today. check out the short clip above. if leighton's pop/dance-inspired music career doesn't take off, she might want to consider the country route. she definitely has the voice for it.
and, speaking of country strong, the music video for the title single was released today. in the flick, gwyneth paltrow plays a recovering alcoholic country music superstar trying to get her career back on track. paltrow sings all of her own songs and, wouldn't you know, she's actually pretty good. good enough to land a guest gig on glee. check out the video above - the movie hits theaters december 22.
this isn't so much of a story, but a blurb/tweet-worthy - i still thought it was pertinent to your understanding of the world. okay, not really. i just really live lindsay lohan and her mess of a life, which includes her mother. lindsay's mother, donata aka dina, always says she doesn't want to be famous, yet will take any moment she can to get some press. hypocritical much? aside from her self-promotion on her e! tv program, living lohan (which is supposed to return sometime this year), dina has taken to talking about lindsay's "projects" like her life depended on it. we all know about lindsay's funnyordie eharmony skit, and dina would like you to know it was her idea. dina told entertainment tonight that she approached lindsay about doing funnyordie because she thought it would be a great, funny way to tackle the rumors. really? did dina sell the rights to lindsay's story to us weekly, too? the two "outlets" seem pretty contradictory - are you making fun of your life or taking it too seriously. make up your minds lohans :). oh and lindsay's extended fam is apparently taking measures to send the starlet back to rehab. obvi dina is not involved, as she recently dropped lindsay off at a club (see vid above).
gwyneth paltrow has frenemies?
after a recent post on her living site/newsleter goop.com, people are starting to speculate as to who gwyneth is meaning by the "person [who] really did what they could to hurt me." here's the letter as it appeared on the site:
all fingers are pointing to gwyneth's former gal-pal winona rider. the duo were inseparable throughout the 90s until gwyn won the role of viola in the 1998 oscar winner shakespeare in love. tensions grew especially when gwyn took home the little gold man for her role, too. and could the "something unfortunate" be winona's legal troubles after her five-finger discount? hmm...i'll let you decide for yourself.
everybody cut footloose!
what was once a vehicle for musical megastar zac efron - who takes his first step as a non-disney leading man in tomorrow's 17 again (this movie could make or break his career) - kenny ortega's musical remake of kevin bacon 80's classic footloose is shaping up to be a chance to launch two new movie careers. gossip girl star chace crawford is said to be this close to signing on to the project and filling zac's (probably tiny) shoes. this would be chace's first big screen outing as a leading man, other than 2008's little seen horror flick the haunting of molly hartley. can chace even sing? let's hope so - footloose's soundtrack is set to be a big hit if the movie does make it past pre-production. another surprise casting news? dancing with the stars' and rising country star julianne hough has reportedly auditioned and is being strongly considered for the leading lady role in the flick. julianne has said that the next natch (that's natural for my non-abreve inclined friends) step in career evolution would be acting. plus, a musical would make complete sense with her singing career and all. let's just hope chace doesn't back out - julianne's bro derek hough is said to be the crew's second choice (technically third after zac) and i don't know about you but i don't need to see any incest on the big screen.
Posts
