Author: The Dishmaster

I’ve often complained that there are no good movies anymore.  The truth is that the good movies are out there, but hard to find.  Why?  They are poorly promoted, and unless someone in the film is dying of cancer, it’s unlikely that a low-budget, artsy movie will garner any critical traction.  For this week’s underrated film, I’ve chosen Extract, starring Jason Bateman and directed by Mike Judge.  Both Bateman and Judge are comedically gifted.  Judge created Beavis and Butt-Head, and wrote and directed Office Space, one of the greatest movie of all-time.  Extract centers around Bateman, who owns a factory that makes extract.  His marriage is sex-less, and he is convinced by hit pot-head friend (Ben Affleck) to hire a male gigolo to seduce his wife, so that he won’t feel guilty about having an affair of his own (with Mila Kunis).  You have to rent it to find out what happens next.

Sofia Coppola revealed in a recent interview that she was in the running to direct Twilight, but the studio ultimately went with Catherine Hardwicke instead.  Though Coppola was kind about how the movie turned out, I won’t be so kind.  Coppola dodged a bullet.  When I think back to my young self, I am certain that my pre-pubescent teen angst would not have been enough for me to enjoy Twilight.  The entire film was sans plot, revolving solely around longing stares between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.  I’m unsure why Coppola was on track to become a big-budget director (remember Marie Antoinette?) after Lost in Translation, considering she has a more artsy palette.  Luckily she’s back to her old ways, and her new film, Somewhere, is looking like a hit.

Jay-Z signed Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s daughter, Willow Smith, to Roc Nation, because she’s an “artist” whose “talent and creativity is infectious.” Here’s my question: are Will and Jada secretly plotting how to take over the world with their offspring? For goodness sakes, Jaden scored a lead film role at the age of 12, and now Willow is a singer?! I don’t know about you, but when I was Willow’s age, I think I still played with barbie dolls. I certainly wasn’t “whipping my hair back and forth.” And if that’s not bad enough, I actually like this kid’s song. I was about to get up and dance to it while writing this post, but then I reminded myself about how pathetic that would be, and I quickly sat back down on the couch. There something a little strange about booty dancing to a ten year old’s music. Listen to her song, Whip My Hair, below.
Willow Smith – Whip My Hair by VandalRadio

Regina King fired off an angry letter to the Huffington Post, with so many complaints in it my head started to hurt halfway through.  Many of them were race related, stemming from an Emmy photo mix-up where Regina King was mistaken for Rutina Wesley, even though they look nothing alike.  At the end of the letter she complained about her friend, Sesame Street actress Alaina Reed, being left out of the tribute, and asked who decides who is and isn’t in the tribute.  Well, Regina, I’ll tell you.  It’s completely discretionary, and it’s often a heartbreaking task for the person that decides.  He gets calls from family members, requesting that someone be featured, and he is also notified via a list from the Academy.  Because not everyone can feasibly be featured, he has to pick and choose as he sees fit, and then notify the family shortly before the telecast.  I know this not only because I know how to use Google, but also because my good friend’s uncle was featured in last years In Memoriam.  Here’s my advice: humor works better than anger.  In fact, Rutina Wesley did a very good job of addressing this on Wendy Williams.  Perhaps you should take note.  Watch below.