"This is what I think about nowadays. I could totally strangle you with this."
We've finally got a release date for the debut album from The Pretty Reckless, the amazing new band fronted by actress Taylor Momsen. Mark your calendars: June 22!
It's official! ABC just picked up Castle for a 22-episode third season!
For those of you who don’t remember or are unfamiliar with Phil Leeds’ charming character from the David E. Kelley series, Judge Happy Boyle used to size up the lawyers, defendants, plaintiffs, and witnesses who traipsed through his courtroom by making one simple demand: “Show me your teeth.”
Because I hate long winters, I would like someone to make a video that would reassure Punxsutawney Phil that the spooky shape before him is nothing to fear. As the song says, “It’s only your shadow/Nobody else.”
Previously on…Point Dume is a new web series that combines elements of the supernatural with the wonderful cheesiness of soap operas. Each episode is actually a recap of what would have been the last episode—if a real full-length episode even existed! Do you follow? The entire web series is based on hilariously cut recaps that summarize events for us without ever having to watch anything longer than a few minutes! Gimmicky, yes. Insanely clever, you betcha! I became interested in Previously on…Point Dume because of Enver Gjokaj, who was last seen playing Victor on Fox’s Dollhouse. In addition to being one of the series collaborators, Enver stars as “Lothario landscapist” Ron and Ron’s evil doppelganger. When the first episode was posted last week, I about fainted from laughing so hard. Enver and all of his costars are absolutely amazing. The facial expressions, oh, the facial expressions! Because of Enver’s involvement, the web series has been getting lots and lots of publicity (he was the Dollhouse breakout star two season in a row, after all). He’s been describing the web series as “Twin Peaks meets Clue,” and told io9, “…to our insane anger... nobody knows either of those things. If you don't know either of those, maybe [Point Dume is] just not for you. You're missing out anyway. You've got bigger problems.” While this is an entirely accurate description of the series, you definitely don’t need to have seen either Twin Peaks or Clue (the film) to enjoy Previously on…Point Dume! The first webisode is now available. Head over to the official Point Dume website to watch the first episode and sign up to be notified via email when new episodes are available.
DC Comics is making all of my dreams come true (exaggeration, but roll with me)! Beginning in June, the Batman-post-Bruce-Wayne story starring Terry McGinnis that set the foundation for the cartoon series Batman Beyond will be getting a six-issue miniseries run. This is bizarre world for Batman—going from a cartoon to a comic rather than the other way around? I really want to say schawing here, but I will let the urge subside before I continue… Anyway, I was entirely obsessed with Batman Beyond during its run on The WB from 1999-2001. Choosing between Batman and Superman is a rite of passage in America. I chose Batman early on and decided I’d have to live up to the phrase “huge fan” at all costs—not get the bat signal tattooed on my chest huge, but I had a necklace or five. But Batman had been around for decades before I was even old enough to say the words “bat” and “man” together. Terry McGinnis, however, was not. Terry McGinnis was the Batman of the future, something I could feel ownership over. Plus, the beauty of Batman is that he isn’t really a superhero—he is actually just a hero, a man who wears a cape and cowl and protects the city of Gotham. Bruce Wayne is not immortal, but who wants to sit around and ponder the death of Batman? No one! So, what better way to avoid having to kill off a beloved comic book hero than to set up a successor? It made a beautiful sort of sense. And now they’re bringing the Batman Beyond stories back! In comic book form no less! What more could a girl ask for? The answer is for Christian Bale to agree to play Batman long enough for Christopher Nolan to set up some Batman Beyond franchise in the very distant future (two or three more Bale Batman movies, please).
Last night, the cast and crew of the brilliant, groundbreaking Fox series 24 got the official word that the show has been canceled. The currently airing eighth season will be the show's last.
Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays the lovable and quirky Chloe O'Brian, was the first to break the news to the public via the above tweet.
The latest countdown on Christina Aguilera's website just ended, and, in addition to the other half of her face, we now have an official release date for the agonizingly anticipated release of her fourth studio album:
As I previously mentioned in my Court Yard Hounds post earlier this week, She & Him released their sophomore album on Tuesday. The aptly titled Volume Two (which succeeds their debut album, Volume One) is an amazing, infectious collection of songs that stay true to the She & Him we know and love.
One of the things I love most about She & Him's music is the fact that they abide by one of the most cherished principles of writing I have ever been taught: If you've said all you have to say, then you're done. There are only two songs on this album that reach the four-minute mark. Volume Two steps and you quickly fall into stride with its consistent and snappy pace, even during the slower numbers like "Me and You" and "Brand New Shoes."
Here are the shows that I will 100% definitely watch if they are picked up:
Finally, here are some shows that sound pretty good on paper and I might entertain the idea of watching them in the event that I have gaping holes in my schedule (which is, to be real, entirely unrealistic):
I just went over to Amazon's MP3 store to purchase Volume Two, the brand new album from She & Him (which is currently on sale for $4.99, by the way!) and right there smack on the front page was something absolutely wonderful: a music video from Court Yard Hounds.
I am in love with "It Didn't Make a Sound," and I can totally see where EW's Music Mix got their Sheryl Crow Globe Sessions comparison from. That is my FAVORITE Sheryl Crow album of all time, by the way, so that comparison plus this raucous yet smooth song about heartbreak has me completely sold on Court Yard Hounds. Not that I could have ever even entertained the idea of doubting these amazingly talented ladies anyway.
The countdown on Christina Aguilera's website continues. It appears we have a little under 3 and a half hours left before her big news is revealed.
So, it appears that the big news was just announcing the name of the first single. It is called "Not Myself Tonight." I assume the image on the website (featured above) is the single cover. There is now another countdown for more big news that will be announced in about two days. I am disappointed that there wasn't more (a snippet perhaps?!), but I am excited that the ball is finally rolling on promoting Bionic.
So, I did something amazing. I bought (read: told electronics consumer expert Pedro I wanted one and then asked him to research and buy one for me) a portable hard drive. I then loaded my entire music collection—the one I spent about a month transferring to digital format last summer—onto this portable hard drive. Now, when I sit in my fluorescent-lit cubicle at work, I can just plug in this magnificent piece of machinery and with the click of a mouse [insert mouse-click sound effect here] appease my ears with whatever tunes my heart desires.
Christina Aguilera's website has just launched a new front page that includes the above widgety countdown thingiemajig proclaiming big news will be announced in 3 days time. I hope it has something to do with her first single or at least an official announcement about her album release. But I'll take anything at this point. I'm just so relieved things are happening, especially after voicing all of my fears and anxieties in today's WTF column. The fact that there is new promotional artwork alone makes me feel better. That might be sad or endearing, I can't quite tell at this hour. I've reached a point where I'm singing Britney Spears' "Chaotic" (remember?! the theme song for Britney & Kevin: Chaotic!) but changing every instance of the word "chaotic" to "bionic."
Bedtime.
Suffering a severe internal conflict of the worst kind, Ryan Adams took to his Facebook wall Tuesday to post his feelings and confusion regarding those feelings about the new Creed album (see above). Apparently, Ryan is a fan, evidenced by his exclamation, "I LOVE this[!]" Some fans have already called their love and allegiance to Ryan into question, while others are entering music stores in disguise and creating fake iTunes accounts so song clip sampling can't be traced back to them. All I can say is at least he knows something is wrong.
Christina Aguilera's HIGHLY anticipated fourth studio album, Bionic, has been pushed back again. And almost no one would know about it without some serious sleuthing and the blogosphere catching the news and spreading it like wildfire. Rolling Stone posted a music preview for the spring season and discreetly moved Bionic out of the April section, which is when the album was last scheduled for release, and into the section marked "July and Beyond." In the little blurb about Bionic, there is no mention made of the release being delayed. Everyone is simply pretending like they never promised us an April release. I knew something was up because we're more than halfway through March already and no press, no news about the first single, nothing. I am distraught because I thought things were on track (Alan Cumming said they finished shooting Burlesque already!) and I really, REALLY want to hear her new stuff! We're only at two delays right now. Christina and her people, PLEASE, if you are reading this, don't pull a Courtney Love and delay this release more times than [insert name of troubled celebrity] has been in rehab!
And by "butcher," I mean editing the HELL out of the lyrics (click here to listen to the original):
My argument is not about the integrity of songs and how radio-friendly editing/censorship is degrading to the art of making music. My bone to pick here is about the fact that 
Congratulations on successfully meeting your glorious reading goal, Lindsay! SWTS is proud of you and would like to extend a warm welcome to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the figurative world, not the fancy schmancy amusement park they are building). With regard to the Harry Potter film series, I suggest spacing them out and letting them sink in. This is a serious departure from my normal tendency to lean toward marathons (I LOVE MARATHONS!), and the only reason I say you should space them out is because there are now six of them. And since most of them run over two hours long, that would be one HELL of a marathon. I think the best idea might be to compromise and do a few mini marathons, maybe two or three marathons depending on your schedule. My recommendation for two marathons is to group the first four movies together and the most recent two movies together (movies 1-4 and 5-6, respectively). For three marathons, group the movies in twos. The actors and the tone of the films really darken as the franchise gets deeper into the series, which is why I suggest grouping them this way. The lighthearted, fun earlier films that are very much geared toward children should be viewed together and the more mature, artful films viewed at a later juncture.
Why, yes, Lindsay, yes, I do. A nice segue out of the fantasy world of Harry Potter would be to read Melissa Anelli’s Harry, A History, which chronicles the Harry Potter fandom from start to present day (which was probably late 2007 as the book was published in the fall of 2008). It’s a really good resource for those of us Harry Potter fans who came to the table late and basically missed everything during the real peak of Harry Potter’s popularity. I do have my problems with the book though, but there are some really good tidbits to be gleaned from its pages and the exclusive interviews with author J.K. Rowling are worth it all on their own. If you’re looking to make a clean break from Harry, that opens your door to about a bagillion possibilities. I’m a big fan of Paulo Coelho and highly recommend his novel Veronika Decides to Die (which has recently been adapted to film and will be released on DVD FINALLY in April). For some more good reads, check out the complete list of this year’s National Book Critics Circle Award winners.
Answering this question is going to be the biggest challenge I face this week. I will operate under the assumption that you will be catching up with all of the shows you follow at a later time. That being said, of the spring shows, I suggest sticking with a few of your favorites and not taking on anything new. Of the shows you listed, definitely stick with Law & Order. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (because I do realize I’ve been saying this nonstop since September), Law & Order is on FIYAH right now. This is my favorite cast since the Briscoe-Logan/ McCoy-Kincaid days. Not only is this show (still) amazing, but it offers two special opportunities: adding some variety to your limited TV-viewing schedule AND participating in a part of television history (longest running drama of all time?!?!). A big timesaver would probably be to cut the comedies. I adore Cougar Town with all my heart and soul, but half-hours are a lot easier to catch up with than hour-longs. I also suggest leaving Parenthood for the summer or when you reach a point where you aren’t so strapped for time. I say this for a couple reasons, mostly because there is no point in investing time in a show that you aren’t sure will return in the fall. I’d rather invest the little TV time I have in shows that have staying power and that I’ve been loyally following for a few years at least. (Note: This is in no way a reflection of the quality of the show. Two episodes in and I’m loving it to death.)
Celebrities who tweet can be endearing, entertaining, dangerous or any combination of those things. Some celebrities are straight up boring and only tweet about the exotic foods they eat at 5-star restaurants in Los Angeles and who did their makeup for an event (also in Los Angeles). Some celebrities have a magical ability to embed themselves in your life, creating inside jokes between themselves and their followers. And some give big pay-offs for being a follower like tangible prizes and inside information (ticket pre-sale times, anybody?). But, for real, in general, I think it’s great the way almost every level of the entertainment industry has embraced Twitter. However, someone should’ve given them a crash course in not making asshats out of themselves or spoiling the public before letting them loose online (see Julie Benz and her Dexter season 4 finale debacle and the angered thousands she spoiled). As far as who I follow on the Twitters, I started off following every single person or band or whatever that I love, which ended up creating a lot of work for me with very little pay off. Over time, I realized that just because someone makes great movies or records doesn’t mean I have to follow their tweets. I began unfollowing celebrities and now have a nice core group left that includes Conan O’Brien, who just recently joined Twitter and provides one tweet a day of glorious magical Conanness (example), and Tom Hanks, who recently tweeted a press tour snacks diary in pictures. I try to stick with celebrities who tweet sparingly, but when they do tweet it is actually worth it. My best advice is to give people a chance. If you end up following people who tweet every five seconds about brushing their teeth and getting in the car and going to rehearsal and stopping by Trader Joe’s for peanut butter pretzels snacks and taking their dogs to the groomers, no one will blame you for unfollowing them. No one.
The Halliwell sisters are coming to a comic book store near you!
“I absolutely cannot talk about ‘Sharktopus.’"
ABC has become that girlfriend or boyfriend who is too nice to tell you to your face that it's over, so it just starts leaving super blatant hints that the end is here but never actually picks up the phone to leave a message or send a text to tell you straight up.
I saw this yesterday morning and was hoping that it was a mistake. So, I decided to wait and see if they would correct it after a couple news sites picked up on it, but it's still there. 
