The Queen of Daytime Television is dethroning herself. On September 9, 2011, Oprah Winfrey will take her last bow as the host of the Oprah Winfrey Show, almost 25 years to the day since the program initially launched.
But Oprah's televised days are far from over, as the media mogul plans on launching the Oprah Winfrey Network — appropriately abbreviated as OWN — in early 2011. Once her show ends, she'll focus much of her energy on the brand new network.
Honestly, it's a pretty brilliant career move. In fact, it's one that several television franchises could probably follow with great success — or, at least, hilarious results. Following Oprah's move from television host to network overlord, I think these five franchises could take a similar leap from series to channel. Read more...
I've got good news and bad news, video game fans. The good news is that a "Space Invader" film is on the way. The bad news is that it has no connection whatsoever to the classic arcade game.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Iron Man 2" screenwriter Justin Theroux is set to pen "Space Invader," Fox's astronaut romantic comedy that has nothing to do with shooting down wave after wave of aggressive alien aircrafts via joystick and button mashing. Instead, "Space Invader" focuses on a man who goes to space after suspecting that his astronaut girlfriend is cheating on him with a fellow astronaut.
Don't get me wrong, this "Space Invader" premise is pretty funny, and Will Arnett's attachment to the lead role makes it even funnier. Still, why throw away the "Space Invaders" name on a romantic comedy, rather than reserving it for a future video game adaptation? That's almost as bad as if the following five video games had their titles used for entirely different premises... Read more...
Everybody makes mistakes, even a three-time Super Bowl winning football coach like Bill Belichick. If a man like Belichick can cause a series of fatal game-changing events due to one bad coaching call — as he did during the fourth quarter of last night's game pitting his New England Patriots against the Indianapolis Colts — then you shouldn't feel too bad about breaking your mother's favorite vase or skipping out on "Drag Me To Hell" while it was in theaters. Alright, maybe you should feel bad about that last one.
But the Patriots head coach isn't alone in his ability to turn a single blunder into a catastrophic calamity — it's a storm that comes into port quite often in the hills of Hollywood. In fact, the following five film franchises have all seen similar collapses due to a fourth quarter fumble. Read more...
Stephen Colbert is an artful comedian and satirist, but his skills as a barber and his taste in hairstyles are questionable at best, recently evidenced in his decision to shave himself entirely bald. Of course, one of "The Colbert Report" host's many fine qualities is his unparalleled sense of patriotism, which was at the root of his radical haircut in a decision made to support American troops fighting overseas.
Apparently, Colbert's sense of nationalism is contagious. On his show last evening, Colbert managed to convince actor Woody Harrelson — currently promoting "The Messenger," which focuses on an army officer that delivers death notices to soldiers' families — to let him shave his head.
That's right: Stephen Colbert shaving Woody Harrelson's head in a mutual show of solidarity for soldiers fighting abroad. The video evidence is after the jump. Read more...
The Verizon Droid is not the droid you're looking for. Sure, it's probably a very cool phone — the folks at Wired are talking about how it legitimately gives the iPhone a run for its money, despite a handful of minor grievances — but I must insist that you hold out for other droids.
I know what you're asking — "What droids are we looking for, Wigler?" — and the answer, of course, takes us back a long time ago to a galaxy far, far away. Why settle for a simple handheld device when you can wait it out just a little bit longer for some bona fide "Star Wars" era technology?
I firmly believe* that we're not far off from making official contact with the folks on Coruscant and Alderaan — okay, maybe not Alderaan — which will thereby give us access to the droids we're looking for. If you're not as patient as I am, then let me stack the Verizon Droid against some of the "Star Wars" droids to illustrate why you should hold out a few more years. Read more...
Have you been to JimCarrey.com? It's seriously weird. A Flash-powered gallery of insights into the mind of a man who once bent over and used his rear end as a second mouth (true story; see "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"). The home page alone is filled with imagery that will surely seep its way into my nightmares over the coming weeks.
What, you ask? How about the VW Minibus teetering on the tip of what appears to be a giant stalagmite with an oversized Carrey dancing on its roof while an orange tentacle reaches out from the inside to grab his leg. I can't make this stuff up people. Jim Carrey is an odd individual. The VW is just a starting point too, one of several that leads you to the other deranged areas of the actor's web portal. Read more...
Is it a widely known fact anymore that the evening before Halloween is called Devil's Night? I'm not sure of the history myself, but the term has its origins in 1930s Detroit, if Wikipedia is to be believed (I know, I know-- that's a big "if"). According to tradition, the night would be marked by youthful acts of vandalism and petty crime, though the transgressions increased in severity through the years, with arson unfortunately becoming a common practice through the 1970s and '80s. That all changed in the mid-'90s, when the city organized the volunteer-driven "Angel's Night" and started enforcing age-based curfews. Fans of "The Crow" -- currently in the midst of a week-long retrospective on MTV Splash Page -- are of course familiar with the term, as it factors heavily into that movie.
Grim associations aside, it's a cool name that lends itself well to this particular list feature. Whatever you want to call the ruler of the underworld -- the Devil, Satan, Beelzebub, Malebolgia, Lucifer, Mephistopheles... this list could go on and on -- he's certainly left his mark in the world of film. And since Halloween is mere hours away, I thought it would be a good time to shower some appreciation on my favorite fictional Satans. So throw out some Devil horns, crank up some Slayer and enjoy. Read more...
OH SNAP! Joanna's Ultra Halloween Bloodmoon Vampire Extravaganza Party is tomorrow night and you still haven't gotten your righteous costume together! You decided weeks ago that you were going to be a shining beacon of individualism at the party by dressing up as a non-'Twilight Saga' vampire, but you got so caught up in seasonal activities like apple picking and witch burning that you totally forgot to think of one! Now you're so stressed out about it that the only costumes you can think of are "ghost" and "Patrick Swayze from 'Ghost,'" but one of those is too easy to mess up and you don't own a maroon button down to make the other one work! CURSE YOUR FORGETFULNESS!
It's okay, calm down. Everything's cool. The MTV Movies Blog has got your back. Film history is littered with literal hundreds of bloodsucking, sun-fearing fiends. We're going to help you show your Halloween partying what's up by using our exhaustively nerdy knowledge of cinematic history. Turn that frown upside down yo. Try these five non-'Twilight Saga' vampire costume ideas on for size. Read more...
The New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies aren't exactly the fiercest of rivals, but there is sure to be blood — or maybe just some home runs, botched calls and heated arguments with umpires — when the two baseball teams collide for Game 1 of the World Series this evening (so long as the rain stays away that is!).
As New Yorkers and Philadelphians prepare for battle, we got to wondering about some of the other rivalries already in place between the two cities — in motion picture form, that is. I'm not necessarily talking about fictional competitions between NYC and Philly, so much as stacking movies set in those cities against one another.
Through that framework, you'd be surprised at how many competing movies there are between the Empire and Keystone States — just hit the jump and see the head-to-head match-ups for yourself! Read more...
Rube Goldberg machines are awesome. There's nothing quite like watching an absurd, elaborate series of actions and reactions. It's tricky stuff, making sure disparate mechanical parts that weren't designed specifically to work together operate in concert. Can you imagine what it's like setting up one that could hurt you? Hell, what about one that's intentionally designed to kill somebody, like the ones deranged killer Jigsaw sets up in the "Saw" movies?
Imagine the hours upon hours it takes to set up those elaborate deathtraps. How many tetanus shots he must need after sticking himself with rusty power tools. How many vaccinations he must require from handling all those used syringes. Hell, how many times the poor bastard has stubbed his toe after dropping that damn puppet. He's bound to have set up some traps that plain don't work, schemes that looked great on paper but just didn't prove up to the challenge of potentially killing an FBI agent. So let's take a moment to reflect on what are undoubtedly Jigsaw's greatest failures, those wily death traps that just didn't cut the mustard. Read more...
