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PopWireNews, Reviews and Commentary from the World of Popular Culture Friday, July 25 2008 Canadian Music Festival Promises Newcomers and Old StandbysAmericans have long depended on our non-threatening neighbors to the North for the constant importation of all things indie rock (Montreal natives Leonard Cohen and hipster...  Digital films coming to Xbox LiveMicrosoft is co-producing a series of digital short films for distribution over the Xbox Live - another sign that online gaming networks are becoming more like all-in-one... The Movie Masochist: Doing time in PG prisonEveryone knows that Hollywood operates on the principle of safety. Studios and distributors always look for the can't-miss product that will hit the coveted demographic and... Germans enthralled at Obama's Berlin speechBERLIN - In a highly unusual move for an American presidential candidate, Barack Obama staged a foreign policy speech Thursday before a huge overseas audience, calling for...  'Civilization Revolution' works on consoleWorld-building games are nothing if not massive and involved. Even a fast-paced game on a small map in "Civilization IV" can take hours; an epic-length match set in a large...  Starring role on 'Psych' the result of determination from Dule HillPASADENA, Calif. - It was a gift to his grandmother that convinced actor Dule Hill he'd done the right thing when he decided to become an actor. The costar of USA's "Psych,"... Mad about the return of 'Mad Men'BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The set of AMC's terrific retro drama "Mad Men" is, put simply, a trip. There's more than simple attention to detail. There's an affection for all... Thursday, July 24 2008Pop 20: 'Spaced' is 'Friends' for geekdomMaybe it's about four years too late to be bringing this up, but I was really never B.F.F. with the show "Friends." Even before I had ever lived in New York City, I found the sitcom about six fairly successful 20-somethings living in huge Manhattan apartments and spending not-insignificant chunks of the day drinking bowls of cappuccino in a trendy coffee shop just slightly hard to buy. The... Digital technology rescues filmgoers in new 3-D filmTaking a holiday from the 'NetTech firm shines on iPhoneNiche 'vertical sites' refine Web searchingWednesday, July 23 2008'X-Files' stars stay silent on specificsSAN FRANCISCO - The truth may very well be out there. But David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson aren't eager to share it. The stars of the long-running Fox Network series "The X-Files" were special guests at the comic book-pop culture WonderCon 2008 in February. Their mission then was to tease the new "X-Files" movie five months before it was scheduled to open. They wouldn't offer any details... Streets of New Orleans fill with music — and visitors — as city’s recovery continuSay hello to new, returning fall showsCiccone dishes about life with his sister MadonnaRushdie traces the roots of his latest award-winning taleSaudi author scandalizes the Muslim worldiPhone 3G has slew of new applicationsTuesday, July 22 2008Internet musical 'Dr. Horrible' a site-crashing hitHere at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, the assembled media types are supposed to be covering television, which we're dutifully trying to do. But on many of the laptops in the room - and across the land - a revolution has been taking place. While we sat in a stuffy ballroom, Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Firefly") helped reinvent TV for the digital... 'Golden Girls' star Estelle Getty diesVideo gamers grow up, get down to business'Damages' brings back Ted Danson's characterBuffy Sainte-Marie is light-years beyond her days as a protest singerJessica Hynes happy that 'Spaced' DVDs finally arrive in the U.S.No one's a winner in E3's console warsThe Hold Steady enjoy their status as the world's biggest bar bandJukebox musicals 'Jersey Boys' and 'Mamma Mia!' thread a difficult path to successHow far can 'Dark Knight's' box-office numbers go?Monday, July 21 2008It's no mystery that 'The X-Files' is back on the big screenIt's a mystery worthy of Fox Mulder's scrutiny: Why make a theatrical motion picture of that iconic '90s TV series "The X-Files" six years after the last original episode aired? Nobody's doing "Seinfeld: The Movie," "Friends Forever" or "Walker, Texas Ranger, Rides Again." But "The X-Files" is science fiction, and as we know from Trekkies or Trekkers or whatever the FC (fannishly correct) term... Fox News is ready to attack the fall campaignQ&A with dance-music icon Donna Summer'Desperate Housewives' adds a touch of realityThe big winners and losers of the summer movie seasonFive questions for singer-songwriter Amos LeeIt's an exciting — and also frightening — time to be in network TVRhino readies second half of Replacements overhaulFriday, July 18 2008This summer's Warped Tour isn't a gas for cash-strapped bandsIf the reflective Los Angeles punk band Say Anything had toured in a bus for two months last summer, gas prices would have cost roughly $12,000 to $14,000. This year, as one of the 50 or so acts playing the two-month Warped Tour, Say Anything expects to spend $20,000 to $24,000 on gas. "It's crazy, how much gas has gone up in the past little while," says guitarist Jake Turner, by phone from a... Don't try to send Neil Diamond to Vegas — at 67, he's still packing arenasDVD set shows consistent excellence of 'My So-Called Life'Christian 'Batman' Bale is a serious man for a serious roleCorbin Bernsen is loving every role, as Mom advisedThe box office report'Office' work for Amy Poehler?ABC Sets Fall Premiere Dates'Wall-E,' Pixar's surprisingly political postmodern masterpieceJames Brown auction sales prices lower than expectedThursday, July 17 2008The Emmy nominations mostly got it right, for a changeBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The Emmy Award nominations got so many things right this year, it takes a while to realize what they missed - and what they missed is more a symptom of how wide open the field has become. When you see that AMC's "Mad Men," last year's most-praised series, receives 16 nominations, including best drama, it takes a moment to realize that "The Wire," one of the most-praised... Bonnie Hunt returning to TV with daytime talk show'Dark Knight' role as The Joker may not be a fair legacy for Heath Ledger'Mamma Mia!'s' Amanda Seyfried talks about the price of fameA little bit of Hulk helps reality go downNews and notes from the Television Critics Association summer press tourCreator of 'Lost' finds new mission in 'Fringe'Nike Sportswear presents Boredoms' 88BoaDrum in NYC and LA on 8.8.08Joan Baez to receive 'Spirit of Americana' Free Speech AwardWednesday, July 16 2008Ted Danson's not damaged at allTed Danson: Dead or alive? When we last saw evil businessman Arthur Frobisher in FX's fantastic "Damages," he was lying shot up in some swamp. Costar Glenn Close couldn't get away from fans' questions. "'Is he dead? Was he dead?'" she said people asked her on the street. "I don't know," she would reply. "It's a long shot." Well, apparently the people making "Damages" don't know, either. FX boss... Dennis Lehane, a favorite author with filmmakers, expands his literary horizonJames Roday and Dulé Hill talk about their USA Network series 'Psych''Dirty Harry' left a smudge on film and society tooNew from 'Sunny' creators: 'Boldly,' on a sci-fi themeWith 'The Dark Knight,' superhero movies take a flying leap toward maturityResident evil: Every comic book hero needs a memorable villainTuesday, July 15 2008Spring! It's the new fall for TV seasons, says Fox execBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Spring will be the new fall in this strike-struck year of television, a forecast made clear in Monday morning comments from Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. Acknowledging that because of the writers strike - which started last November and ended in February - Fox will have only two new shows debuting this fall, Reilly said that the network... Apple releases flood of new games for iPhone and iPhone 3GObama campaign accuses New Yorker art as 'tasteless'Billy Joel ready for final concerts at Shea StadiumBlues institution Pinetop Perkins can't stop playingMichael Franti & Spearhead are pointed in a new directionOof! Pow! Splat! Reality TV revels in the Summer of ShoveMTV premieres 'From G's to Gents'Monday, July 14 2008Just like his character, 'Monk' star Tony Shalhoub is a perfectionistBefore he became a working actor Tony Shalhoub was - what else? - a waiter, many times over. "I was always on the verge of being fired because the manager kept saying, 'You have to go faster!' I wanted to make sure everything was right. And you didn't want to throw food at these people. I would say, 'Are the people complaining?' They'd say, 'No, we just see you're not working fast enough.' I... With 'The Dark Knight,' film noir still livesNew York radio show host ventures into TV talk marketFast chat with 'The Wackness' star Josh PeckGreat plotlines and network stumbles draw more viewers to cable TV'The Dark Knight' generates hero-size hypeWhy so serious? 'The Dark Knight' is a darker Batman movie, indeed'Mad Men': low ratings, high profileJapanese-style game shows are trying to win over American audiencesClassic 'Cuckoo's Nest' tops latest Blu-ray releasesFriday, July 11 2008Not just another old softy this time: Enrico Colantoni plays 'Flashpoint's' top copEnrico Colantoni was surprised when he was contacted by the producers of the new CBS summer series "Flashpoint" to play the head of a group of handpicked cops. The group handles everything from hostage situations to defusing bombs. The efforts of the SRU (Special Response Unit) can be seen starting Friday on CBS. It wasn't that Colantoni never had played a cop. For three seasons he was the... Director says 'The Wackness' is more about questions than answersYes, you are seeing things: 3-D movies are back, and better than everThe Ewings have come and gone, but some still can't get enough 'Dallas'Thursday, July 10 2008T-Bone Burnett calls his own shots these days, as artists flock to the Zen master of recordingIf you had to pick a turning point in T-Bone Burnett's remarkable 40-year-career, it was Feb. 27, 2002 - the night the 6-foot-6 producer ambled onstage at the Grammys to accept the trophy for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," which had won for album of the year. Before that night, he was fed up with money-grubbing music executives telling him how to do his job. After "O Brother," he was suddenly... Hollywood returns to the center of the Earth with a new dimensionCable offerings previewed at press tour run the gamutWhat makes the iPhone 3G hot and not so hotOscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney goes 'Gonzo''Hellboy' director Guillermo del Toro credits Mexican heritage for his artistic visionWednesday, July 9 2008Animated metal group Dethklok jumps from the screen to the stageOne way to gauge anything's prominence in pop culture is if there's been a cartoon made about it. That means metal is again part of America's cultural weave, at least for males 18-35, thanks to "Metalocalypse," Adult Swim's series about the dysfunctional and ultraviolent exploits of impossibly popular death-metal band Dethklok. Call it tongue-ripped-away-from-cheek humor, with the series... TV critics meet during tense timesHolly Hunter thrilled to return as boundary-pushing cop in 'Saving Grace'NBC bureau chief Richard Engel has unique perspective on war in IraqTuesday, July 8 2008USA's 'Burn Notice' is back and quirky as everWhen Jeffrey Donovan first auditioned for the role of Michael Westen, a new TV spy, he didn't go for the intense, Kiefer-Sutherland-on-"24" sort of thing. Donovan's take was more laid-back. Sarcastic. Been there, done that. In an instant, "Burn Notice" creator Matt Nix knew he'd found his star. The last thing Nix wanted was for his hero to be, well ... "spy-ish." He envisioned something... A preview of the E3 game conventionCampaign coverage highlights disconnect between media, black communityIs nonprofit newsroom's shaky start an omen?It's a new world — Emmy needs to expand horizonsWorld flavors spice up Julieta Venegas' acoustic CDAlison Moyet had to say Yaz to reunion tourIn new memoir, Broadway composer Charles Strouse looks back on success, failure and tumultBritish TV's 'Robbie Coltrane: Incredible Britain' gets a U.S. release on DVDMonday, July 7 2008MTV Gets PoliticalObama and McCain get their MTV! Since it's conception in 1981, the network has refused political advertising, even turning away Obama's offer for an ad earlier this year during the primaries. MTV has diplomatically encouraged the importance of the young vote up until now through campaigns such as "Choose or Lose" and "Rock the Vote." The "Choose or Lose" campaign was introduced in 1992, the same... Don't break the bank for Bonnaroo: Portland's penny conscious alternativeRon Perlman is proud to hide his face behind the mask of 'Hellboy''Batman Begins' wings its way over to Blu-rayDerek Trucks balances fatherhood, 3 bands and a new home studio for him and his guitar-goddess wifeThis week looks like a strange one in TV landMake-believe is the real thing for 'Journey' star Brendan FraserCoverage of Michelle Obama draws scrutiny of black, white feministsCandidates shape campaign tactics to fit the Internet ageArgentine tango veterans revive glory daysThe Mile High Music festival announces lineupConor Oberst releases first "solo" record since his preteensThursday, July 3 2008Phish bassist Mike Gordon tries new fest for sizeMike Gordon is certainly no stranger to festivals - the former Phish bassist practically pioneered the modern concept with Phish festivals in the '90s - but it's been a while since he's ventured out on his own. Now with "The Green Sparrow," his first solo album in five years, set for an August release, he has a brand new band and a brand new outlook on performing live. "Phish has been broken up... Art-house filmmaker is just a Guy from WinnipegR&B and its offshoots deliver a message that crosses racial boundariesUnheroic superhero appealed to director 'Hancock' director Peter Berg |
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