Category: General

Who’s the Hot Guy in Martin Scorsese’s Chanel Ad?

Martin Scorsese shot an ad for Chanel’s new fragrance, Bleu de Chanel, and I could not help but notice the beautiful man in the commercial.  So who is he?  His name is Gaspard Ulliel, and he’s a french film actor.  His most notable role is A Very Long Engagement, for which he received a Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor.   The commercial is predictably fantastic, given that it’s directed by Scorsese.  I have to give Chanel credit for choosing Scorsese though.  Almost every commercial they’ve released has been brilliantly put together, which leads me to believe they have very talented creative people calling the shots.  To show you what I mean, I’ve attached some of my favorite Chanel commercials below.  Enjoy!


Starring Nicole Kidman and Rodrigo Santuro and directed by Moulin Rouge’s Baz Luhrmann


Directed by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tatau


Starring Estella Warren


Starring Marilyn Monroe and Carole Bouquet


Starring Carole Bouquet

The Secret Behind Glee’s Success

There is a very specific reason that Glee is successful. The show made its stars, and not the other way around. Confused? Here’s my theory in a nutshell: Glee creator Ryan Murphy, cast a group of unknown talents.  He did his homework, instead of lazily casting famous actors to avoid risk.  Almost every hit show in television history started with unknown actors.  For example, did you ever hear of Jerry Seinfeld prior to Seinfeld? What about Ray Romano before Everybody Loves Ramond? Or Ted Danson before Cheers? How about Jennifer Aniston before Friends? Certainly there are some clear exceptions to my general rule.   The two main exceptions are Kelsey Grammer’s move from Cheers to Frasier, and Mary Tyler Moore’s move from Dick Van Dyke to Mary Tyler Moore.  But overall, recycling stars doesn’t work, and it’s unfortunately prevalent in today’s television world, which is flooded with creatively devoid executives that can’t be bothered to search for unknown talent.  I won’t mention the very famous stars on the recent, failed television shows.  Why?  Because I hope to one day get invited to celebrity shin-digs, and I can’t very well accomplish that if I bash A-listers.

Howard Stern Sticks-It to Sirius With Lots of August Vacations

Howard Stern is currently on a third week of vacation in the last month, and I smell a rat.  Either the man accrued a ton of vacation days just in time for his contract renegotiation, or he is making a ridiculous attempt to show Sirius his worth.  If Stern saw this post, I know he would call bull-shit, and probably tell me that Sirius is well-aware of his worth. I’d respond by telling him he’s an egomaniac, and not even $500 million dollars would quench is ego-stroking thirst.  So what’s the hold-up on his contract? If you listen to his radio show, you would hear him say that “no negotiation is taking place” at the moment.  Translation?  “I told Sirius my terms, and they have to meet them — I’m not negotiating.”  Though I’m unaware of his terms, I imagine he wants the following: more vacation time than he has now; the same or more money; and permission to start the show an hour later (7 am).  I’m also almost positive that he doesn’t want to get tied down to a multi-year contract again, and only wants to re-sign for one year, which is something I’m sure Sirius would reject.  Does this mean we will lose Stern forever?  No-fucking-way.  The man loves the sound of his own voice way too much for that.  Plus, I’m not sure what I would do without my daily Howard Stern radio show.  He cannot abandon his listeners, and I’m confident he won’t.

Modern Family Promises Big, Gay, Wet Kiss — Is Ryan Murphy Happy?

Glee creator Ryan Murphy, recently complained that the gay characters on Modern Family don’t kiss on the show, calling it “archaic and and outdated.”  So what happened?  You guessed it — they are going to kiss.  Though Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan insists that the kiss has nothing to do with Murphy’s comments, I’m absolutely positive it is the exclusive reason for the choice.  I’m guessing that because Eric Stonestreet is straight in real life, he probably doesn’t feel comfortable consistently kissing his co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson.  As a result, the writers have yet to work it in to the script.  The problem with executing the gay kiss now, is that it becomes a “stunt,” which is exactly what Ryan Murphy said is ridiculous.  According to Murphy, it should be organically worked in to the scene.  Otherwise, it hearkens back to Melrose Place — remember Doug Savant’s highly promoted “first-gay-kiss on television?”  You would think times have changed — but apparently not.

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino Will Make $5 Million — He’s Worth Every Penny

If anyone should be making oodles of money off of reality stardom, it’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, of Jersey Shore. Almost every other reality star on television cannot even put two sentences together. Contrary to Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, The Housewives of Anywhere, and every cast member of The Real World’s last ten seasons, Mike Sorrentino actually has a personality, and he isn’t evil. Yes, the Jersey Shore folks drink lots of liquor and occasionally get it on with “grenades.”  But alcoholism and sexual promiscuity is far more respectable then ripping out hair extensions and rubbing someone’s toothbrush against a shit-filled toilet bowl. So congratulations to The Situation on his five million dollars, and please be sure not to squander your money on excessive GTL.

Mad Men Smoking Ban? — Isn’t This the 1960’s?

Desperate Housewives actress, Kathryn Joosten, has called for a smoking warning before the characters of Mad Men light a cigarette. Is this seriously necessary? If you don’t know that smoking is bad for you by now, then you don’t deserve a disclaimer. Have fun lighting up! Furthermore, the actors on the show are smoking herbal cigarettes, which don’t have nicotine or tobacco. John Hamm described them as “terrible,” saying they taste like a “mixture between pot and soap.” If the show is set in the 1960’s, and people smoked heavily in the 1960’s, then the characters are going to smoke. It’s a pretty simple formula.  Altering the show to fit present-day standards is ridiculous.

Keep up With the Kardashians is Fake?! — The Cheap Wine Says Yes

A friend of mine avidly watches Keeping up With the Kardashians, and I regretfully admit I catch it from time to time.  I got an email from her this morning after she engaged in some very serious detective work.  On the last episode of Kourney and Khloe Take Miami, Kim Kardashian came home to discover that Scott drank her “amazing” and “expensive” wine.  Kourtney denied it, but the bottles were later found on the roof (the shot of the bottles revealed the label).  So what was this very expensive wine?  Get ready . . . it’s called Oak Creek Merlot and it’s $3 dollars a bottle at CVS.  No, that is not a typo.  In fact, you can get three bottles for the grand total of $10.  So what does this mean, and is this a smoking gun?  All signs point to yes.  I’m guessing that a producer came up with the idea to have Scott drink Kim’s “very expensive” wine, and then instructed a production assistant to pick up the cheapest wine he could find for the shoot, forgetting not to let the label show on television.  Translation? — it’s a prop.  If you watch the video below, with the idea that the scene was set-up, you might pick up on the bad acting.

Update: To see a screen-shot of the bottle from the show, click here.

‘The Switch’ Bombs — Are High-Concept Movies Doomed at the Box-Office?

Jennifer Aniston’s film, The Switch, tanked at the weekend box-office, and many are citing it has her fall from grace.  Since I loved the film, I’m left scratching my head as to why it failed.  My guess?  High-concept films are doomed from the start.  Though it didn’t bother me that the entire plot was given away in the trailer, I’m guessing it bothered others, who didn’t feel the need to watch the movie, fully knowing how it would play out.  Remember Jennifer Lopez’s recent flop, The Back-Up Plan?  That was another high-concept movie, which also revealed too much in the trailer.  There was a time when movies didn’t need these over-the-top concepts to gain financial success.  When Harry Met Sally, for example, was a little film about platonic friendship, and it’s one of the greatest romantic comedies in history.  It didn’t need a woman who was impregnated with the wrong sperm  — the dialogue and characters were enough.  But without all this useless plot-glitter, films just don’t get made these days.  An action film needs $100 million worth of CGI created explosions, and romantic comedies need sperm issues.  I yearn for the good-old-days of high quality writing, when the most complicated concept was meeting at the empire state building at the same time (if you don’t know what movie that is, you should be ashamed of yourself).

Today’s Question — Is Carson Daly Still Alive?

The very bitchy part of me could not resist that title (I apologize for digressing from my consistent positivity).  The news that Carson Daly’s NBC show got renewed for a 10th season shocked me, primarily because I had no idea he was still on the air.  There’s a very specific reason that Carson Daly annoys me.  He made his mark by hosting MTV’s  Total Request Live, at a time when bubble-gum pop music was exploding.  While many complained that the boy-bands and pop-tarts were destroying music, Carson stood firm, never letting his judgment show.  Then, he got his show on NBC.  He used his show as a platform to promote “real music,’ and constantly bashed the same artists that he used to promote.  Ever wonder why you have never seen Britney Spears perform on his show?  Weren’t they bosom buddies on TRL?  I also once heard him say (during one of his pompous rants) that he felt American Idol was just a “shortcut,” to making it in the industry.  How dare he insult such a monumental show!  As an aside, I’d actually like to extend a special thanks to NBC for renewing Last Call With Carson Daly — you gave me an excuse to explain my Daly-anger.

Movie Review: The Switch

I loved this movie, which surprised me considering the reviews are so terrible. Much of these ridiculous critics call the movie “predictable.” Explain to me how you make an unpredictable romantic comedy. Does someone have to die at the end? Because that’s all I can think of, and in that case it’s more of a Greek tragedy than a romantic comedy. Yes, It’s predictable that they will end up together, and the trailer pretty-much gives the entire movie away. None of this bothers me in the slightest. In fact, if I ever go to a romantic comedy that throws me an uninvited curve-ball, I often find myself so infuriated that I want to kill the writer. Remember that horrific ending to My Best Friend’s Wedding? Or how about The Break-Up? The true star of The Switch is Jason Bateman, and everyone else is merely a catalyst for him to show that he’s finally hit his stride as an actor. Jennifer Aniston, whom I usually love, came across as relatively cold, and I found myself biding my time in all of her scenes, waiting for the return of Bateman and Thomas Robinson, his adorable on-screen son.  Robinson’s insane resemblance to Bateman had me wondering who’s responsible for such a genius casting selection.  We all know the plot, so I won’t bore you with the details.  All I will say is that the movie is worth seeing in the theater.