by Jac Kern
11.14.2012
Jac's roundup of pop culture news and Internet findings
At the risk of
inducing widespread PTSD flashbacks, I invite everyone to recall 2011’s
Internet Public Enemy No. 1, Rebecca Black. The teen, who is probably a decent
human undeserving of worldwide hatred, assaulted eardrums on a massive scale
with her music video gone viral, “Friday.” The worst realization to come out of
Friday-gate wasn’t the sorry state of the music industry or even the online bullying Black faced,
but the fact that, apparently, rich people will throw a few thousand dollars at
a greedy producer to create a shitty song and music video for their marginally
talented child.
Record producer
and songwriter Patrice Wilson was one of the driving forces behind “Friday” and
if you wanted to give his work another chance, you’re in luck. He worked with
Nicole Westbrook to record a song not about one day of the week (that’s so 2011),
but one day of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Thanksgiving.
Kraft Mac-n-Cheese – AY! Stove Top stuffing – AY! We
one-percenters should have better food than this.
While we’re on the
topic of social phenomena ripe for mockery, it’s fitting to recognize Food
Network’s Guy Fieri (Real Name: Guy Ferry. Yeah, douchebag status: confirmed)
who recently opened a new restaurant in New York City. It seems most people
either love or hate Guy. He co-owns five California restaurants and hosts the
popular Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,
on which he travels the country highlighting off-the-beaten-path chow-down
spots — so, clearly he’s got some fans out there. Others are a bit turned off
by his labored “Rock-N-Roll” façade, his annoying catchphrases
and his penchant for bowling shirts. I can’t trust a man who purposefully styles
his hair like a goofy visor hat from Cappel’s,
and apparently New York Times’ Pete Wells isn’t a fan either. In his Nov. 13 take-down piece on the new Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square, Wells completely ripped
the joint apart limb from tribal tattooed limb. While any attempt to seriously
review what sounds like a black hole for overweight tourists would probably
prove futile, I feel Wells could have been a bit more creative in his blasting
of Fieri. Guy’s an easy target, so why go with the cliched “Dear Guy,” letter
format, punctuated by a series of overly sarcastic questions? At this point I’m
waiting for a cynical review of Wells’ review (please tweet any findings to
@jackern), but I have to hand it to the reviewer for this service assessment
that made me choke on my morning coffee: “The well-meaning staff seems to realize that this is not a
real restaurant.” Find the full story here.
Fans got a first
look at Brad Pitt zombie action flick World
War Z last week. The film, based on Max Brooks’ 2006 novel of the same
name, may stray farther from the text than fans have hoped, judging by the
trailer.
(Though it’s important to note how
deceiving these first looks can be). The book reflects on a worldwide war on
zombies after the fact, using interviews with survivors to paint the terrifying
picture, whereas the film appears to be a straight-up zombie movie. However it
turns out, zombie purists beware: These may be the quickest and most agile
undead yet.
After
last week’s election, gay marriage is now legal nine states. It’s a great feat
for equality, but we’ve got a long way to go. In fact, gays across America have
given straight, conservative men an ultimatum: Vote to legalize same-sex
marriage, or they will marry the crap out of your girlfriends.
Portlandia, the hilarious sketch comedy
spoofing counter-culture trends, returns to IFC Jan. 4. The show stars SNL’s
Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag guitarist-singer Carrie Brownstein — quite possibly my
favorite non-romantic duo — in a series of timely skits about the hipster sect
of popular culture. All the good little boys and girls of Oregon and beyond can
get an early sampling of the two with the “Winter in Portlandia”
holiday special on Dec. 14. Fans will see Peter and Nance go low-carb to stave
off winter blubber and meet Candace’s son as he swings by Women and Women First
during his holiday visit.
Here’s the first skit from the
upcoming third season:
A look at the 2011 movie slate
0 Comments · Tuesday, January 4, 2011
How about a little forward thinking in 2011? Let’s say goodbye to 2010, at least for a moment (because, like all new year’s resolutions, this one is inevitably doomed to fail) and focus on what is to come, not as the blind wandering around in search of flickering lights in dark art-houses and multiplexes, but with, at the very least, a penlight and an outline of the new horizon.
Tarantino's new film is indulgent and undeniably fascinating
0 Comments · Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Let the record show that Quentin Tarantino did not remake Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 World War II exploitation flick 'Inglorious Bastards.' No, these Basterds, unique for more than the misspelled name, have been kicking around in his noggin for years, occupying a place in film culture akin to any number of conspiracy theories about the government having access to alien technology and Elvis and Tupac sharing a beachfront pad in Jamaica. Grade: B.
Is David Fincher's film a veiled allegory for America under George W. Bush?
0 Comments · Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Benjamin is like an unfunny Seinfeld character: no lessons learned. Or like George W. Bush? I've been wondering if this film can be read as a veiled allegory (or epitaph) for America under the vacuous Bush.