Recasting The Romantic Comedy

So this came out recently:

Did I go see it? No, no I did not. For one thing, it looked terrible. Also, Kutcher. Has the world really not gotten tired of seeing him as a leading man? Really?

I did find the casting of Natalie Portman interesting, though. I don't think she's an actress who seems particularly suited to romantic comedies--she never comes across as terribly warm, I find. All the same, I appreciated that someone, somewhere was getting a bit more creative in casting.

And it got me to thinking....

Mean-Spirited With Slightly Sinister Undertones

I spent most of the past weekend in delicious anticipation.  Not for my birthday, which is coming up midweek.  Not for MLK Day (I actually had to work, and let me tell you, it was eerily quiet downtown today. But I digress).  No, I planned my weekend - grocery shopping, laundry, social life - around the Golden Globes.

The Globes have long been my favorite part of awards season for many of the same reasons they are looked down upon: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its inevitably surprising choices for nominees and winners; the hodgepodge of celebrities from television and film; the booze. Oh, the booze.

Of course, I am hardly the first to call attention to the Golden Globes' delightful informality, that schmoozy, gossipy high school reunion feel evoked by being dressed to the nines, seated according to social hierarchy and surrounded by friends, enemies, and alcohol.  This year, the Globes made no attempt to deny the party atmosphere and instead decided to embrace it.  The choice of Ricky Gervais as host, the copious scripted off-color jokes, Matt Damon's roast-style introduction of Robert DeNiro ... everything seemed to shout "see, we get it! We're the "fun" awards show! Don't you love this? Partaaaay!"

And then somehow it seemed to continue "My parents totally won't be home until ten o'clock, so we can get wild and crazy until then! ... Oh, but could you make sure and put a coaster on that table before you set down your beer?"  And just like that the party atmosphere was gone.

Adapt This Book: Dracula

Adaptations are tricky business, particularly when you tackle the classics. There's just no way to meet everyone's expectations. If you adhere too slavishly to the source material, you risk creating something turgid and lifeless; it's impossible to shoehorn in every part of the novel without having things drag on and on and on.

The other extreme, which I personally find far more frustrating, is the case of the writer who seems to have perhaps skimmed the text, then pillaged it for whatever bits and pieces he found most interesting, creating a largely new story and slapping on the old, well-known title.

Why, hello, Dracula.

HSB Recommends: Ghost Adventures

Yes, HSB is back after an unscheduled hiatus in which Robin & I both pulled off long-distance moves. We are now reunited under one roof. The combined power of our snark and pop culture knowledge could probably be harnessed to power small pieces of industrial equipment, but unfortunately my poor grasp of physics makes it difficult to capitalize on that. Instead, we just watch Ghost Adventures. And behind-the-scenes videos of Ghost Adventures online. And read Ghost Adventures fan fiction.

Ahem.

 What is Ghost Adventures, you might ask? Oh, I don't know, only the best show on television.

2010 Emmys: Stream of Consciousness Edition

For the first time in recent memory, M & I were able to watch the Emmys telecast simultaneously -- albeit still in different cities.  After the jump: our take on the show as it happened.

Eric Stonestreet FTW! Hooray!

3 Things 'American Idol' Can Learn From 'So You Think You Can Dance'

So You Think You Can Dance winner Lauren Froderman

This week Lauren Froderman won the 7th season of So You Think You Can Dance, marking the end of a divisive but enormously entertaining season. While the decision to pair new contestants with returning All-Stars left some fans cold (as it eliminated the usual ongoing partnerships, among other reasons) I was excited to see some of my favorite dancers from past seasons get a chance to shine in their specialties. (I mean, who can argue with more Pasha Kovalev? Honestly, people.) While the ratings were lower than desired, the series hit new creative highs.

The Other Other Guys: The Movie I Wanted To See

Tonight I saw The Other Guys, the highly anticipated (well, by me, anyway) summer buddy-cop comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

On paper, it's a great movie.  And the previews do nothing to dispel that idea.  Wahlberg is a perfect short-tempered cop (remember his turn in The Departed?) and Ferrell can play a by-the-book innocent (see Stranger Than Fiction) as a seemingly ideal foil.  The great fun in the previews is our sense of recognition; when the cops encounter an explosion, they're not running away from it, jaws clenched and unflinching. Instead they're thrown back, and they writhe around on the ground complaining about blood blisters and soft tissue damage.  The two hotshot cops in the movie (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), in an insane chase scene, are called to account for incurring $12 million in damages on a misdemeanor arrest.

Given the previews, what I expected was an unconventional buddy comedy stemming from the disparity between action movie cliches and how an action movie would play out in real life, with unmistakably mortal heroes, even schlubs.

That wasn't exactly what I got.