Idol Chatter

The New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott counts no fewer than five Holocaust movies coming out this holiday season–speculating that it’s the end of the year Oscar hopefulness that has sparked this spate of films capturing the horrors of the Holocaust. The five include: 1. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (David Thewlis) 2.…

Actors in Goth costume pantomiming stories of cannibalism, rape, empassioned beheadings, wild scenes fueled by throbbing rock… Not another Biblical musical?At Northwestern College, a Christian institution in Orange City, Iowa (and not to be confused with the Chicago-area university), drama students have remounted “Terror Texts,” a musical performance of what Northwestern theater prof Jeff Barker…

After weeks of speculation, the whimsical drama “Pushing Daisies”–along with “Eli Stone” and “Dirty Sexy Money”–was officially cancelled last week. In spite of numerous Emmy nominations and critical praise, the series about a pie maker who can bring people back to life couldn’t survive an unpredictable broadcast schedule and an expensive shooting budget to stay…

Don’t call him the King of Pop anymore, because Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and wants to be called Mikaeel. The 50-year-old pop star took his shahada (oath of faith) in Los Angeles on Friday, as reported by news sites and blogs. Michael, oops, I mean Mikaeel, has gone from the highest of the…

True, vampires are by nature predators. Also true, in Stephenie Meyer’s novel “Twilight,” Edward Cullen, every teen girl’s romantic dreamboy, is heavy on the brooding and, of course, the entire story turns on Bella and Edward as star-crossed lovers. That said, while there is no doubt Robert Pattinson does a good job with the impossible–bringing…

Imagine the expectations when one of the most popular–and one of the most inspiring–television shows returns to the air for the first time in more than a year and a half. I mean, that’s a lot of time for creativity and editing. Expectations were high. Interest peaked. Heck, even Idol Chatter’s Kris Rasmussen returned to…

Here’s another sign that our soon-to-be 44th president is hip (and it’s not just his suave fashion sense): Barack Obama has been reading Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series with his 10-year-old daughter, Malia. While “Twilight” skews toward an older teen and adult audience, it’s refreshing to know that Obama and his daughter enjoy reading together. (They have both finished…

After I heard that Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson named their newborn boy Bronx Mowgli, not only did I get an “icky” feeling, but I got a “that’s a bizarre Rudyard Kipling literary reference” feeling. Then, I realized that the baby’s initials are B.M.W.–is this a luxury baby?–I couldn’t take the craziness of celebrity kids…

We arrived more than an hour early to the midnight kickoff showing of “Twilight” and the theater was already packed. Not with just 12-year-old girls and emo guys, but with Gucci-toting fashionistas and frat boys, two segments of the population I didn’t expect to see. The excitement was palpable and a small frenzy of camera…

University of Maryland researchers have concluded that unhappy people watch more TV than happy people. What do happy people do instead? Visit friends, have (a little bit) more sex–and go to church, of course.

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