Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson were newcomers to Saturday Night Live. Their comedy potential was just rising as they were axed from the show by creator Lorne Michaels yesterday. Watkins will be remembered for her “bitch, pleeeeze” character, Kathy Lee’s counterpart Hoda Kotb, and her spot on portrayal of Barbara Walters. Wilson’s Cougar Den sketches and celebrity impressions will also missed from the show.
In related news, Abbey Elliot will remain on the show, and two new cast members have been added to arsenal: Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad (see below).
Click here to read EW’s exclusive interview with Watkins to learn more about her firing. Peek after the break for some favorite Watkins/Wilson moments.
There has been a lot of news lately about 3D technology. You may surprised to hear that all the news does not just surround the movie industry. 3D is coming to a TV near you, and the expected date for this technological evolution is 2010 (that’s next year!). TV manufacturers such as Toshiba and Sony plan on embedding 3D tech inside their TVs that will allow broadcasts, DVDs and Blu Rays, and video games to display in glorious three dimensions, making for a more immersive experience in entertainment. The latest news comes from Sony; a representative told Engadget that a future software update for the Playstation 3 will allow “all” existing games to display in 3D. Today, though, Sony has stepped back and told Joystiq that they are “conducting a technological investigation” into the matter and that “there is no plan for the market launch of this at this time.” So, although 3D TV tech is coming soon, a reality with 3D video games may be a bit farther in the future. At least we know they are “investigating” its potential. I’ll just wait over here with my 3D glasses until it all comes true.
Kid Cudi plans on celebrating the release of his first and highly anticipated album by releasing a limited edition Kid Cudi x Milo BAPE tee. On September 10 from 6PM-9PM, the shirt will be sold at the Bape store in NYC with Man on the Moon: End of Day playing in the background. This will be a first listen for fans who are awaiting the album’s September 15 release. The shirt will be available only in black, sizes small to XX-large, and will likely cost $80. See an image of the tee in the gallery below. (It is quite different from the potential design leak reported last week.) Let the line formation begin.
This special event is one among many happening on Sepempter 10 in NYC and around the world. Fashion’s Night Out is a “global celebration of fashion.” Many clothing designers and retailers will stay open late until at least 11PM hosting special events for shoppers. The festivities are open to everyone. Check out the official website for more information.
The long hoped for feature for the iPhone finally gets a date of arrival: the Multimedia Messaging Service feature will be enabled on all iPhone 3G and 3GS devices (sorry, original iPhone users) on September 15. For those of you not in the know, MMS is the feature that allows you to send and receive picture/video messages to other cell phone users. Up until now, iPhone users have been stuck in the dark ages, only able to send and receive texts (and more recently audio and contact files). MSS will be enabled through a required software update via iTunes.
What took so long, you ask? Put simply, AT&T’s service is sucky and they believed that their cell tower structure was not ready to handle the heavy traffic of iPhone users sending pictures to each other. After having plently of time to fix and upgrade things (and breaking a promise of a Summer MMS release), AT&T is confident in saying:
“We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end. … We want you to know that we’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.”
Note that there was no new information divulged about tethering. It was only mentioned that it will be supported “in the future.”
Yesterday the Apple Store in Marlton, NJ was robbed by five well-organized theives. They stole 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod touches (or is it iPods touch?). They bashed through the glass doors and stole all of the merchandise in 31 seconds! Fastest burglars I have ever seen. Check out the security cam that captured it all in the news report above.
The nail has not yet sealed the coffin for fans of the Terminator: TSCC series. Star Thomas Dekker (who played John Connor) revealed that the show’s producers have been discussing a TV movie that will bring some closure for those who were SO dissapointed by the cancellation of the promising-turned-brilliant series. Dekker: “They’ve spoken about doing a TV movie. Well, not a TV movie, but kind of like a direct-to-DVD movie. Obviously it’s difficult because the show is based on a movie and they just had one come out, so it’s kind of hard to make a movie with our show because everyone has kind of forgotten about us. They’re hoping, at least when I spoke to (producer) James Middleton that’s where they are with it.”
Dekker is very mistaken to believe that fans of TSCC have “forgotten” about the show. IGN puts it so appropriately: “the wounds are still fresh in the fanboy world.” A TV (or direct-to-DVD) movie or any type of additional footage would be a dream come true for fans and I look forward to hearing more about this in the near future.
Take-Two Interactive’s Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the release of the next true Grand Theft Auto sequel, GTA V:
“We’re not going to announce it. We’re not going to announce when we’re going to announce it. And we’re not going to announce a strategy about announcing it or about when we’re going to announce it either, or about the announcement strategy surrounding the announcement of the strategy.”
Nobody is squeezing any information about a new GTA game from this guy, huh?
This holiday season Nintendo will ship black versions of the Wiimote, WiiMotionPlus, and nunchuck. The Wiimote and the MotionPlus accessory will ship together as a bundle, and the nunchuck will be sold separately. Still, though, there is no word on the coveted jet black Wii console shipping in North America. In related news, the DSi is widening its color palette with two new flavors: pink and white. They will be made available on September 15. In less related news, the next iteration of Wii Fit dubbed Wii Fit Plus ships October 4. You can get the Wii Fit Plus bundle that includes the original Wii Fit, the new Wii Fit Plus, and the balance board for $99.99 or you can opt to simply get the new software for a mere $19.99. Plus features 15 brand new mini-games that promise to be more Americanized for our Western-bent methods of exercising. See the gallery below for images of the new hardware.
So what are you waiting for?? Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) goes for $29. That’s a steal for an OS upgrade. Dontcha agree, Microsoft?
YouTube user Mr. Hogg created a puppet version of The Wall Journal’s tech anaylist Walt Mossberg. Gizmodo has so appropriately named him ‘Walt Mosspuppet.’ Check out more Mosspuppet videos at his YouTube site.
J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield is a great film that emphasizes shrouded mystery, unique camera work, spectacular special effects, and an intriguing and original story with believable characters. There is no way Abrams and crew (including producer Bryan Burk, director Matt Reeves, and writer Drew Godderd) could leave this franchise to waste after one film; especially that there is so much unused backstory material from all the viral marketing used to hype the movie way back when.
The crew on a potential sequel in the works…
Reeves: “While we were on set making the film we talked about the possibilities and directions of how a sequel can go. The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie! In today’s day and age of people filming their lives on their camera phones and Handycams, uploading it to YouTube… That was kind of exciting thinking about that.”
“There’s a moment on the Brooklyn Bridge, and there was a guy filming something on the side of the bridge, and Hud sees him filming and he turns over and he sees the ship that’s been capsized and sees the headless Statue of Liberty, and then he turns back and this guy’s briefly filming him. In my mind that was two movies intersecting for a brief moment, and I thought there was something interesting in the idea that this incident happened and there are so many different points of view, and there are several different movies at least happening that evening and we just saw one piece of another. That idea sort of tickled me.”
“The idea of doing something so differently is exhilarating. We hope that it created a movie experience that is different. The thing about doing a sequel is that I think we all really feel protective of that experience. The key here will be if we can find something that is compelling enough and that is different enough for us to do, then it will probably be worth doing. Obviously it also depends on how Cloverfield does worldwide and all of those things too, but really, for us creatively, we just want to find something that would be another challenge.”
Burk: “The creative team has fleshed out an entire backstory which, if we’re lucky, we might get to explore in future films.”
Abrams: “It would be a totally different kind of thing but it’s too early to talk about.”
As you can clearly see, there areideas floating around about what a sequel to Cloverfield can entail. Focusing on the backstory of the monster and changing up the style of the way the movie is portrayed to audiences seems to be the two big concepts to take away from the sequel jabber. Also, let me remind you that Cloverfield did leave some questions at the end of the film in two instances. (1) In the final scene of the film (the recording at Coney Island) a quick camera shot reveals a large object falling into the ocean. It has been oft-confirmed that this object was a satellite and that the excavation of said satillite woke up the monster who “[has] been down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years.” [J.J. Abrams] (2) Loyal fans of Abrams and Cloverfield (yeah, that’s me) who waited out the end credits to see if there was a reveal at the very end heardquite the treat. An unknown person whispers softly “It’s still alive.” When played backwards the audio plays “Help us.” {Listen below.} All in all, I would place all bets on a sequel coming to theatres soon. Let the crazy detailed viral marketing and hype begin!
Oh wait…what’s this? It seems as if viral marketing as started for Cloverfield 2. Although it is has not been confirmed as an official video for a sequel, and many speculate it may be fan-created, this video is still quite the treat for the Cloverfield following. Today a video was uploaded to YouTube titled “そこに何ですか？- R U THERE?” by abcharu21. It contains shaky-cam scenes from what appears to be Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, bizarre cuts to a father playing with his Asian baby, a shot of what may be the monster terrorizing civilians, and it ends with a quick shot of a street sign that reads “Cloverfield.” Though it may very well be a user-generated video, it seems too authentic to me. Check it out below and let the hype begin all over again.
Last night in NYC Kid Cudi held a listening party for his upcoming album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. ShowingOut.com was on hand and has composed a detailed preview of the album. Below is an excerpt from it. Click here to read the rest of the article which includes mini-critiques of each track. Overall, they loved it. The album drops on September 15, and the hype is getting louder.
Earlier tonight, journalists and bloggers gathered at Griffin Lounge in New York City’s Meatpacking District to get an advance listen to Kid Cudi’s highly anticipated debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Set to be released on September 15th, the album is a front-to-back listen that takes you on a journey through Cudi’s consciousness, narrated by Common and featuring production from Ratatat, Kanye West, Emile, Plain Pat and even Cudi himself. Call it Cudi’s version of 808’s & Heartbreak, only less sappy and more idealized. This album plays from beginning to end, marked by high points and intended low points (by way of mood, not quality – there’s no compromising on that, considering that every track sounds scrutinized to the very last synth bleat). To put it bluntly, Kanye wishes that he could have made this album, one that sounds genuine without a single forced element.
With an introduction and conclusion by Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone (she called it a “seminal album” that’s “going to change the game”), Showing Out was there to get an advance listen to the debut in its entirety.
