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• The world has gone insane, people!  This week on Broadway, the ridiculous deathtrap musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark beat Wicked at the box office.  Yeah, the difference was only $58, but still. Theater-goers have turned into a bunch of sickos, buying exorbitantly-priced tickets with the hope that they’ll get to see some stunt go horribly wrong.  Christopher Tierney, the poor stuntman who cracked his head open because of “human error” better be getting some extra money out of this craziness. If you haven’t seen the video, watch it and you’ll see what I mean…that guy fell 30 feet and was in really bad shape for a while.The show itself isn’t even supposed to be that good, but I guess Fear Factor finally met Broadway, and people are going nuts.

• A new video on funnyordie.com is making Gleeks (like me) giggle with excitement.  Not only does it feature Sofia Vergara in a Sue Sylvester-esque tracksuit, but some Glee cast members join in the hilarity too: Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Heather Morris, Harry Shum, and Naya Rivera are all adorably funny.  I’ve probably watched it five times already because it makes me really happy.  What a TV nerd, right?
• I know what this TV nerd will be watching on Sunday: Ricky Gervais is hosting the Golden Globe Awards for the second year in a row, and it’s going to be great. He says that he “wants to do a proper job this time” and that “they will not invite [him] back”.  I just really want Gervais to make fun of everybody he possibly can…it’s time we take the beautiful people down a notch, right?  Also I really like it when British people get mean.  And I’ll probably end up speaking in a British accent all day and make everybody around me think I have some kind of problem.

Image sources: www.screenrant.com, www.perezhilton.com

• Some lady in Italy just couldn’t contain herself when it came to David Beckham.  Apparently, she works for an Italian TV show that plays pranks on people and thought it would be funny to stick her hand down Beckham’s pants and grab his junk.  The soccer star’s bodyguards immediately removed the woman from the area, and she still tried to run after him, yelling about how she wanted to see it!  The footage captured by one of the program’s cameramen still aired, and, lucky for her, charges are not being pressed.  Seriously, contain yourself!  It’s embarrassing for every other woman who has ever had a thought about throwing herself at Beckham (i.e. me).

*drool*

• Michael C. Hall, one of the most talented actors on premium cable, recently made a statement about his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer.  According to interviews, Hall knew people would speculate about his rather sickly appearance at this past Sunday’s Golden Globes, and he figured he’d say something beforehand so it wouldn’t be such a shock.  Despite the recent hardship, Hall came to the Globes beaming, accompanied his wife and co-star Jennifer Carpenter.  He won the award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, which he accepted with a heartfelt and gracious speech.  Bill Paxton, another nominee in the same category, allegedly made a rather inappropriate comment as Hall approached the stage to accept his award.  He supposedly said that Hall “played the cancer card”, which is why he won instead of Paxton.  Needless to say, I really want to wipe that smug smile off Paxton’s face.  But I guess the more mature thing to do in this situation would be to point out that, cancer or not, Hall is still the one with the Globe.  So suck on that!  (Immaturity 1, Allie 0)

One of the most deserving winners of the night.

• Bristol Palin is demanding child support from her baby daddy, Levi Johnston.  Basically, his lawyer says that Levi has offered Bristol financial support plenty of times, but she simply didn’t take it.  Apparently, the money Bristol is asking for is temporary support until legal documents are finalized that would order Levi to pay a set amount of child support each month.  It’s a real hot mess, especially since some helpless  baby is caught between these two simpletons.  If their whole situation isn’t enough to scare teenagers away from having unsafe sex, I don’t know what will.
• It’s official: Conan O’Brien’s last show will air this Friday, January 22.  I am disappointed to say the least.  NBC really screwed everybody this time, and I hope they realize how stupid they are to keep Jay Leno on the air…maybe it’s because morons relate better to other morons?  Anyway, in case you didn’t understand exactly what the whole conflict between Conan and the network, the great Pee-Wee Herman is here to help:

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/pee-wee-explains-012110/1195640/

Image sources: www.marieclaire.co.uk, www.altfg.com

by Alyssa

Apparently January 2009 saw some sort of fascination with WWII and Nazi Germany and quite frankly, so did I!

Good

Opening December 31, 2008 (but that’s close enough to January for us), and starring Viggo Morteson.  “Good” is the story of John Halder, your everyday good guy and literature professor, living in Nazi Germany with a lot of family problems – crazy wife, demanding children and a mother suffering dementia.  Halder investigates compassionate euthanasia considering his own circumstances and writes a book.  It gains national popularity through Nazi propaganda, and it eventually leads to his heightened career and eventual fall.

This should be a side of your typical World War II movies that is rarely seen – the rise of an ordinary man because of Nazi propaganda as opposed to the decline of a man and also the inside workings of the Nazi side.  Also, according to Jeffery Lyons at NBC, this is the best work Morteson has ever done.  Sign me up!

Revolutionary Road

Leo and Kate finally reunite ten years later in what is thought to be just as good as Titanic in Revolutionary Road.  Based on a novel by Richard Yates, this story about your typical suburban family in the mid-1950s shows their hard times and disappointment for settling for mediocrity. After watching some trailers, there are some pretty good parts… including lots of raunch, which makes everything a little more awkward when one realizes Kate Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes, directed the film.  Their dissatisfaction with their life in the ‘burbs spins their relationship into jeopardy with jealousy and constant fighting.

Sounds kind of typical, but it has already been nominated for 4 Golden Globes and… it’s Leo and Kate!  Opens January 15.

The Reader

Apparently Kate Winslet has been pretty busy lately, with two movies coming out within a week of each other. The Reader, opening January 9, is another WWII/early 1950s movie where a young man (Michael) is nursed back to health by Kate the Cougar.  The two form a risqué relationship, ended abruptly by Kate. Eight years later as a law student studying and observing Nazi war crimes, Michael suddenly finds his cougar back in his life… as a defendant in the court room! Dun dun dun….

As a total WWII era junkie with an awkward love of the idea of cougars, you can bet I will be there.

Defiance

To complete our WWII/Nazi Germany theme (completely on accident, I assure you), one more side to it all!  Daniel Craig, Leiv Schreiber and Jamie Bell play three Jewish brothers living in Poland during the war who escape to the Belrussian forests.  Here they join Russian resistance fighters and plan to build a village to protect those like them.

And that’s all I got on this one.  Hopefully there is more of a plot to this when movie time comes, but I feel like it is a pretty typical without being overly depressing Holocaust film.  I guess we will have to wait and find out on January 16.

Image Sources: http://www.librarising.com/astrology/celebs/images2/T-Z/viggomortensen.jpg, http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/53/93453-004-F91DDF75.jpg, http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/06/defiance_poster_shows_daniel_c.php