Saturday, May 7, 2011

Crushable

Crushable


Gallery: The 15 Coolest Geeky Plush Toys Ever

Posted: 07 May 2011 10:20 AM PDT

You’re never too old for a nice cuddle with a friendly plush; all the better if that plush is themed after your favorite nerdy obsession. Looking for a good cuddle buddy? Look no further! Check out our 15 favorite geeky plushes:

  • Angry Birds Plush
  • Bob-Omb Crochet Plush
  • Talking Portal Turret
  • Li'l Cuddle Cthulhu
  • Plush 20-Sided Die
  • Monty Python Killer Rabbit Slippers
  • Labyrinth Worm Plush
  • Marvin the Paranoid Android
  • Doctor Who Adipose Plush
  • Little Big Planet Sackperson
  • Star Trek Tribble
  • Plants vs. Zombies Peashooter
  • Wampa Plush
  • Bespectacled Domo
  • Wolverine Softie

Post from: Crushable

Gallery: The 15 Coolest Geeky Plush Toys Ever

Happy 30th Anniversary, 'Mommie Dearest'! 5 Things You Didn't Know About This Cult Film

Posted: 07 May 2011 09:05 AM PDT

Just in time for Mother’s Day weekend, Mommie Dearest celebrates its 30th anniversary. Based on Christina Crawford’s memoir about growing up with Crazy Joan Crawford as her mom, the 1981 film has become a cult classic, complete with midnight showings a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In honor of this historic event, here’s five things you probably didn’t know about Mommie Dearest:

1) It was a commercial success, but a critical failure.
Roger Ebert opened his review with the straight-to-the-point sentiment, “I can’t imagine who would want to subject themselves to this movie.” Variety went on to say, “Dunaway does not chew scenery. Dunaway starts neatly at each corner of the set in every scene and swallows it whole, costars and all.” However, with an initial budget of $5 million, Mommie Dearest pulled in $19 million in cinemas. $8.6 million in video rentals, $6 million in international profits, and roughly $5 million in DVD sales boost total revenue up to $39 million. Not too shabby!

2) Faye Dunaway wasn’ the first choice to play Joan Crawford.
Anne Bancroft was originally attached, but she left the project once the script was completed. Crawford herself, however, reportedly said in a interview that of the current crop of young actresses, Dunaway was the only one who had what it took to be a star, so maybe it was all for the best. Because you don’t want to make Joan Crawford angry. You wouldn’t like Joan Crawford when she’s angry.

3) “NO WIRE HANGERS, EVER!”
This classic line was voted #72 in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 best movie lines. Even camp can yield some gold.

4) Barbara Streisand got to hang out on set.
In a deleted sequence from the film, young Christina runs away from home and Joan goes out looking for her in her car. The vintage cars were such a draw that they stopped traffic in the neighborhood in which the sequence was shot. One of the people stuck in traffic? Barbara Streisand, who used to hang out with Faye Dunaway between takes.

5) It’s getting re-released!
That’s right! Tonight, for one night only, Mommie Dearest will be screened at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theater. Presented by drag queen extraordinary Peaches Christ, the evening will kick off with an over-the-top performance of Peaches’ Trannie Dearest. There will also be a Dearest Mommie Parade (whatever that is). Doors at 7pm, festivities at 8pm, so head on over to Peaches’ website and book your tickets. Happy Mother’s Day!

Post from: Crushable

Happy 30th Anniversary, 'Mommie Dearest'! 5 Things You Didn't Know About This Cult Film

Snap This: Darth Vader Is Alive and Well and Living in Georgia

Posted: 07 May 2011 08:50 AM PDT

Georgia-based Crushable readers: Anyone seen a distinctive figure in black roaming around your neighborhood? Because apparently you could be living next door to a Sith lord. I’d watch my step if I were you.

[Via The Daily What Geek]

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Snap This: Darth Vader Is Alive and Well and Living in Georgia

What Is Jessica Alba Thinking During The 'An Invisible Sign' Trailer?

Posted: 07 May 2011 07:20 AM PDT

Yesterday, An Invisible Number was released, in which Jessica Alba plays an out-of-touch mathematician. Based on the trailer, it looks something like A Beautiful Mind, only with less bad crazy and more cute, quirky crazy. But exactly is Crazy Jessica Alba thinking in An Invisible Number? With the aid of the patented Crushable Thinking Helmet, we were able to get an inside peek at Crazy Jessica Alba’s head. Here’s what we found:

  • Knock, Knock
  • You're Kicking Me Out?
  • Hey, Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone
  • After School
  • A Face Only a Mother Could Love
  • Head In The Sand
  • First Contact
  • Date Night
  • Sexy Time
  • Pigtails Of Death
  • The Numbers! They Talk!
  • Sleepover
  • That's Me!

Post from: Crushable

What Is Jessica Alba Thinking During The 'An Invisible Sign' Trailer?

Parting Tweet: Thinking About Heath Ledger Is a Problem

Posted: 06 May 2011 03:35 PM PDT

Is everyone following White Girl Problems? It’s one of our favorite single-serving Twitter accounts. The best part is that the account is following one person and it’s Amanda Bynes.

Post from: Crushable

Parting Tweet: Thinking About Heath Ledger Is a Problem

Crushable Mother's Day: First Ladies

Posted: 06 May 2011 02:19 PM PDT

For Mother's Day, we asked our moms to tell their favorite stories of celebrity encounters. My mom, Carol Tanzman, was a theater director in New York City in the 80s and 90s, where she had many a celeb sighting. Here’s her coolest one:

I went to see an off-off Broadway play being performed in a tiny theatre in Manhattan. There was a slight stir just before the lights went down. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis slipped into the empty seat in front of me. She flung her coat over the back of her seat and it landed half in my lap.

During intermission, I made my way to the sole women’s bathroom, which was in use. I waited and then the door opened. Jackie and I came face to face––which means I had the dubious honor of peeing in the same bathroom as a former President's wife.

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Crushable Mother's Day: First Ladies

The Top Baby Names for 2010 Contain A Whole Lot of Pop Culture References

Posted: 06 May 2011 02:11 PM PDT

Pop culture has always been a popular source for baby names – Bella remains consistently popular because of Twilight, and Brandon had a big bump during the original 90210. 2010′s most popular baby names have just been released, and quite a few of them – especially on the girls’ side – owe a clear debt to TV and movies.

#1 – Isabella

You can thank Bella Swan for this one. (Standalone Bella also appears at #48.)

#11 – Addison

This one started working its way up the list after Kate Walsh‘s character was introduced on Grey’s Anatomy.

#19 – Hailey

It’s Eminem‘s daughter’s name.

#20 – Alyssa

Must be because Alyssa Milano is pregnant right now. Yep.

# 23 – Avery

If a girl named Avery can finally win Jack Donaghy’s heart on 30 Rock, we can see why people would want their daughters to aspire to that.

#26 – Sofia

Callie just chose this name for her newborn daughter on Grey’s Anatomy. I’m sure that Modern Family‘s Sofia Vergara also had something to do with this one.

#42 – Khloe

Well, at least there’s one Kardashian you can keep up with.

#44 – Aubrey

I refuse to accept that Chelsea Houska might have had something to do with this. REFUSE.

#50 – Alexa

British It girl and former MTV host Alexa Chung is probably the reason this name is popular again.

Although they’re not on the top 50 list yet, the two fastest growing names this year were Maci and Bentley – as in, the Teen Mom cast member and her kid. (You might not recognize the spelling, but it’s pronounced “Byintleee.”) I guess Maci is a slightly less terrible name than Kail, but why anyone would want to name their baby after a reality TV personality is beyond me. I mean, unless you wanted to name your kid JWoww. That is a great name.

Post from: Crushable

The Top Baby Names for 2010 Contain A Whole Lot of Pop Culture References

Fan Service: The 'Green Lantern' People Send Out the Coolest Merchandise

Posted: 06 May 2011 01:59 PM PDT

A huge perk of being an entertainment blogger is of course getting to see the movie or TV show in question before anyone else. (I got to go to an advance screening of Watchmen in 2009, and I lorded that over my friends.) But even more special is getting treated like you’re the studio’s number-one fan, with awesome freebies like this box of upcoming Green Lantern merchandise that a ComicsAlliance writer received. Join me in wading through the goodies after the jump.

According to ComicsAlliance, there’s a Lantern-themed Converse shoe, Mattel action figures and playsets, comics, a plush doll made in star Ryan Reynolds‘ likeness, and (most importantly) several variations on the light-up Lantern ring. It may not be a traditional press kit with actor bios and roundtable transcripts, but it certainly had the desired effect of adding to the already heavy buzz surrounding the latest DC character to get a big-screen origin story. Let’s see more movies send out exciting care packages like this one!

Post from: Crushable

Fan Service: The 'Green Lantern' People Send Out the Coolest Merchandise

Nerd News: 'The Dark Tower' Is Looking A Little Darker

Posted: 06 May 2011 01:35 PM PDT

Bad news, Dark Tower fans: That ambitious movie-television show hybrid project directed by Ron Howard and allegedly starring Javier Bardem may not actually be happening after all. Variety reports that budgetary concerns have caused Universal Studios executives to rethink the plan, and that rethinking may involve scrapping the project entirely.

To be honest, though, I’m not really that surprised. Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic Western fantasy epic is, after all, MASSIVE in scope. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, this is what I mean by massive:

When King was 19, he wrote The Gunslinger, the first book in a big grand epic fantasy he planned to pen. It was first published in 1982, and while it’s entertaining enough, it reads like it was written by a 19-year-old. King later revised it and released a new edition in 2003. He proceeded to write and published a new installment every five to six years or so, resulting in the increasingly thick tomes of The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, and Wizard and Glass. But in 1999, King was nearly killed in a hit and run accident, after which he gave up writing. He also said that it was unlikely that he would finish the series, and fans despaired. But! Gradually, he began writing again, and in 2003, he released The Wolves of the Calla, the fifth and biggest book yet. The two concluding novels, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, came out in 2004; in addition, a series of comic books based on the novels has had a long, healthy run and will see the publication of an omnibus edition in the fall of 2011. All in all, the novels total nearly 4,000 pages.

That’s a lot of pages.

So naturally, those of us who have read them were a little skeptical about the idea of The Dark Tower being able to fit comfortably into film form. Then came the idea of having it be a mix of film and television, which, frankly, is just weird-sounding. It looked like it might actually get made, though, as Javier Bardem was ohsoveryclose to signing on to play Roland, the titular Gunslinger of the series.

But now Universal is facing the fact that they’ve got some pretty sever money issues. The Mary Sue points out that recently, Universal has been releasing flop after flop, and it’s true that 2010 and 2011 have been pretty rough years for the company. The unexpected success of Fast Five is apparently helping bring things around, but there are still problems. Universal is already shelving another bid-budget fantasy project, At the Mountains of Madness; and now, the budget cuts required of The Dark Tower might halt production on it entirely.

But you know what? As cool as it would be to see a spectacular screen adaptation of The Dark Tower, maybe this is for the better. There’s no point doing an adaptation this huge if you can’t do it right, and if there isn’t the money to do it, I’d rather it not happen at all than happen in a sad, we-clearly-didn’t-have-enough-money-to-do-this sort of way.

What do you think, Gentle Readers? Good news/bad news?

Post from: Crushable

Nerd News: 'The Dark Tower' Is Looking A Little Darker

Video: I Found the Best 'Telephone' Dance Tribute!

Posted: 06 May 2011 01:12 PM PDT

Stop what you’re doing and watch this video I happened to stumble upon. A Lady Gaga impersonator and her partner in crime, a Beyonce in drag, staged a guerilla dance performance set to Telephone. Guerilla in that they pulled up to a location (outside a school?)l, performed for the people who happened to be there, and then drove off. Come to NYC and do “Judas,” please!

Post from: Crushable

Video: I Found the Best 'Telephone' Dance Tribute!

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