Archive for the 'Pedro' Category
June 24th, 2009, 10:03 am by Pedro
 Expanding the nominees for Best Picture to 10 films will:
A) Open the field to more deserving films, including comedies, animation and documentaries.
B) ) Make the Oscar telecast even longer than it already is.
C) Make it harder for you to win your office’s Oscar pool.
D) All of the above.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that it’s going back to its roots and expanding the field from five Best Picture nominees to 10. (And we’re willing to bet that most of you did not know that Oscar in the old days for a time had 10 and even 12 Best Pic noms.)
The change takes place for the ceremony to be held next March, meaning that 10 movies released in 2009 will be the first expanded group up for the prestigious prize.
Could it mean “Up,” the new Pixar pic, gets a nod? Certainly in the past, there were vigorous debates over whether other animated Pixar movies (”Wall-E,” “Ratatouille”) should have been nominated.
Could it mean “Drag Me To Hell” and “The Hangover” get nods? Um, no, we don’t think so, though it should make it easier for the classiest comedies and scary movies to get nominated, not to mention action flicks like “The Dark Knight,” which many felt should have been nominated this past year.
Tell us what you think in the comments: Is this a good idea? Which of your favorite movies in the past should have made but got squeezed out by the field of five? Which movies this year are you hoping will make it into the Best Picture field now?
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • best picture • Oscars | 7 Comments »
June 8th, 2009, 11:09 am by Pedro
 The sudden death of actor David Carradine last week is creating ripples including the delay of a movie that was set to shoot in Laguna Beach in July, its producers say.
For the indie film “Portland,” writer-director Matthew Mishory had cast Carradine in a substantial role, playing a priest. The cast also includes Erin Daniels of “The L Word” and Renee Victor of “Weeds.”
In addition to Laguna Beach, the movie was set for shooting in Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, British Columbia, according to Canadian newspaper articles. Now filming will be delayed until a replacement for Carradine can be cast.
“Every filmmaker aspires to work with an iconic actor like David Carradine,” Mishory said in a statement. “He was one of a kind.”
More from Pedro and the Watcher’s TV and pop culture blog:
The Watcher’s new TV show report card.
‘American Idol’ auditions just around the corner.
OCHSA dancer wows judges on ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • david carradine | 3 Comments »
June 1st, 2009, 3:51 pm by Pedro
“The Marriage Ref,” a new reality series with comedian Jerry Seinfeld as executive producer, will hold a casting call in Irvine on Thursday, looking for O.C. couples willing to air their dirty laundry in front of a national TV audience.
Actually, if you fight with your partner about doing the laundry, that might be even better.
“The Marriage Ref,” which will air on NBC at some future date, is looking for “outgoing and opinionated couples in long-term relationships” who will go on TV to “have a long-standing argument or issue that must be resolved.”
In case you’re wondering whether you qualify, examples given include: fighting over an object, person or habit “that is a third wheel in the relationship,” your partner’s “annoying, obnoxious habit,” or your partner doing things “like withold(ing) sex after a fight?”
The marriage refs on the show — celebrities, athletes and comedians — will issue rulings and try to resolve the disputes.
For full details on how to try out for the show, carry on with this article….
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • TV: Reality shows • Television • Add new tag • jerry seinfeld • nbc | 10 Comments »
June 1st, 2009, 2:59 pm by Pedro
 Of course, sometimes when you wow the judges, it’s not immediately great news.
Nathan Trasoras, a senior in the commercial dance conservatory at the Orange County High School for the Arts, auditioned in Los Angeles earlier this year for “So You Think You Dance,” and flat out dazzled the judges.
“You’re a brilliant dancer,” said judge Nigel Lythgoe, before acknowledging for the audience what he already must have known: That at 17, Trasoras was not yet old enough for the show.
“If you do not come back, I will search you out and drag you here,” Lythgoe told Trasoras, who will be 18 when the show returns this fall.
“We really, really want to see you here,” Lythgoe said. ” And I tell you what I’ll do . I’ll give you a ticket here that says, ‘Season six, this fall, to Vegas.’”
Awesome!” Trasoras replied to the news that he gets to skip the auditions and head directly to the Vegas round.
“Maybe I’ll be top 20, season six,” he said as he left the audition with his ticket in hand. “Who knows?”
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • TV: Reality shows • orange county high school for the arts • so you think you can dance | Post a Comment »
May 28th, 2009, 3:08 pm by Pedro
Natalie Reid came as close as you can get to making the Top 20 on “So You Think You Can Dance” a year ago. When the judges picked the last of 10 women to make that round, they were torn between Reid and Katee Shean, her roommate at Chapman University.
They picked Shean, who ended up finishing third in the competition, while Reid got sent home.
When the fifth season of “SYTCD” premiered last week, though, here came Reid onto the stage at the Denver auditions, dazzling the judges with her artistry and earning an immediate pass to the Las Vegas round from which this season’s Top 20 will be pulled.
“Last year, I think it motivated me so much,” Reid told the judges after they unanimously praised her audition. “To work and push myself to the limits of everything.”
At the end of her audition, she called Shean from the theater and the two friends shared a happy moment, both of them certainly hoping that next week when the Las Vegas round is shown, Reid gets her own shot at the Top 20.
Posted in: Pedro • TV: Reality shows • Television • fox • katee shean • natalie reid • so you think you can dance | 1 Comment »
May 26th, 2009, 9:46 am by Pedro
 Suffering withdrawal symptoms after the season finale of “Lost“? We can help: Jorge Garcia, the O.C. kid who grew up to play Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, has a blog on which he shares a little of this, a little of that about his personal life.
It’s called Dispatches From The Island. On it, Garcia writes about everything from bogus news reports about him (apparently he did NOT get a plus-size toilet seat cushion with his name on it for his birthday), his puzzlement at what you do with a breadfruit, and the best part about flying first class.
Garcia grew up in San Juan Capistrano and graduated from San Clemente High School. After finishing his degree at UCLA, he worked as a standup comedian before making it on “Lost,” and that training no doubt adds to the light, funny touch many of his blog posts offer.
More posts you might enjoy…
The Watcher’s take on the “Lost” season finale.
ABC’s fall schedule while you’re waiting for “Lost” to return in 2010.
UCI prof Amy Bauer’s scholarly journal on “Lost.”
Posted in: Lost • Pedro • Pop Culture • Television • abc • hurley • jorge garcia • Lost | 2 Comments »
May 22nd, 2009, 2:00 pm by Pedro
 “Science of the Movies’ is the kind of show movie-loving nerds are going to love. But don’t let the title of this new Science Channel show scare you off — no slide rules required! – because it really looks like a great show for anyone who’s ever watched a movie and wondered, ‘How’d they do that?!?’
In the episode that premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday, host Nar Williams (that’s him at the left) takes viewers behind the screen to explore how a variety of special effects are created.
He drops in on John Dykstra, the special effects whiz who won two Oscars for his ground-breaking work on “Star Wars,” and a third for “Spider-Man 2,” to learn how “motion control” techniques were developed, and later tries out a 1,200-pound computer-controlled robot camera named Milo.
Williams later stops by Hydraulx Visual Effects to learn how computer-generated effects are created, his enthusiasm bubbling over at times as he tries out different tricks. “I got to ride an elephant,” he gushes about the computer-generated scene in which he’d just appeared. “And that was like, ‘Nerd-vana!”
The last stop is Doggicam Systems, makers of all kinds of camera rigs used to film in difficult settings, where Wiliams gets the skinny on how directors get those tough shots — from speeding motorcycles, say — and again geeks out over all the cool technology.
Shows continue every Tuesday at 9 p.m. on the Science Channel, the brainy, yet still fun child of the Discovery Channel family.
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • Television • movies • science channel • star wars | Post a Comment »
May 21st, 2009, 12:00 pm by Pedro
 Cold War Kids, the Fullerton-born indie rock darlings, have a fun new toy for you: an interactive music video where you get to more or less produce the session.
Hosted at this spot on MTVMusic.com, the band plays “I’ve Seen Enough” on screen.
Instead of just a music video, though, the you get four different color-coded soundtracks for each of the four Cold War Kids.
Ssay you want drummer Matt Aveiro to get up from behind his kit and only play the tamborine — click the blue bars above his head and that’s exactly what happens.
Give it a whirl and find your favorite CWK sound.
Or play the Pedro mix: guitarist Jonnie Russell on the blue track for the vibes; singer Nathan Willett on blue for the acoustic guitar; drummer Matt Aveiro on green for the drum machine; and bassist Matt Maust on red for the electic bass.
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture: Fun • Pop Culture: Video • Add new tag • cold war kids • interactive • mtv • video | Post a Comment »
May 18th, 2009, 4:35 pm by Pedro
Bruno Serato, owner of the Anaheim White House, will host an “American Idol” finale party at the restaurant on Wednesday complete with menu items inspired by ‘Idol’ stars and an appearance by the only Orange County singer ever to make the Top 10 on the show.
Serato, the ebullient chef known for fanciful food creations, is throwing the party as a fundraiser for Caterina’s Club,l the non-profit charity he launched in honor of his mother that provides hundreds of hot meals each day to disadvantaged “motel kids” in the Anaheim area.
Singer Lisa Tucker, seen with Serato in the restaurant in this photograph, will attend the event. Tucker, who grew up in Anaheim and was a senior at Kennedy High School when she appeared on the show, finished 10th during the 2006 season.
Serato’s whipped up two special menus for the night, a different one for both finalists, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, both priced at $35 per person – the meals, not the singers.
So, if you’re ordering off the Adam Lambert menu, you might start with the Lisa Tucker Greens, enjoy the Ruben Studdard Ravioli Procini and finish off the meal with the Paula Abdul Profiteroles — puff pastry globes filled with creme Anglaise, topped with chocolate ganache and sprinkled with powered sugar.
Wait, or maybe that’s how Paula’s dressing for the finale….
For reservations, call 714-772-1381. To find out which Idol champion had a whitefish dish named in his honor and which judge comes served in a rosemary glace, continue with this article….
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: American Idol • Pedro • Pop Culture • TV: Reality shows • American Idol • Anaheim White House • Bruno Serato • Lisa Tucker | 7 Comments »
May 18th, 2009, 12:48 pm by Pedro
Why, yes! Yes, it is!
First, you do too know what Auto-Tune is: The pitch-correcting/pitch-altering software is that sound Cher employed on “Believe” a few years back and which T-Pain brought back in a big way over the past year.
And we’ll assume that you know what the TV news is. Please, Lord, let them still know the news!
‘Auto-Tune the News’ just puts it all together. The Gregory Brothers – musical comedians? comic musicians? — running the talking heads, pundits and pols on TV news shows through Aut0-Tune, cutting themselves into the clips as needed to add lyrics, music and all manner of wonderful stuff.
The results in the first installment was solid, the second even better. The third one, just out, is even better perhaps:
Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture: Fun • Pop Culture: Video • auto-tune • comedy • internet | Post a Comment »
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