Salon’s I Like to Watch columnist Heather Havrilesky explained the appeal of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and, in the process, confirmed our suspicions about the week-long special’s target audience.
Former FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder reunited on the big screen and—we don’t want to say we told you so, but we did—nobody seemed to care. Not enough, anyway. The X-Files: I Want to Believe grossed an underwhelming $4 million, well below the Will Ferrel vehicle Step Brothers and last week’s release Mamma Mia!
While on the subject of the FBI: The organization celebrated its 100th anniversary over the weekend, and NPR ran a fun short piece on Hollywood’s portrayal of the agency over the years.
One of the geniuses behind TV’s Gossip Girl, Stephanie Savage, was profiled by the Los Angeles Times. What did she have to say about some of the surprises we can expect on the upcoming season of the best show ever?: “It’s going to focus on putting people, both friend-wise and romance-wise, with people you wouldn’t necessarily expect.” 34 days, but who’s counting?
Pitchfork’s annual music festival is one of the reasons why we often contemplate a move to Chicago. The roster for this year’s festival included bands like the Hold Steady, Fleet Foxes, Dodos, and Les Savy Fav. Videos of all these performances went up Saturday.
We’ve been geeking about Comic-Con, the annual San Diego convention featuring the latest in comic books, science fiction film an television, non-stop since Wednesday. The convention wrapped up yesterday, but we’ve compiled some of this year’s highlights:
• Eliza Dushku at the Dollhouse panel: “Joss makes me feel smart and sexy. He just fits—like a career brassiere.”
• Plenty of details, including numerous spoilers, were given away at the Heroes panel. Our quibble: Where was Kristen Bell Veronica Mars?! The new season/chapter of the show is titled “The Second Coming” and creator Tim Kring previewed a 44-minute clip for the lucky attendees. Read more at your own risk.
• At the Pineapple Express panel, Seth Rogen talked about James Franco’s kissing skills (hint: he’s good), the Green Hornet film he’ll be starring in, and a potential Rogen-Franco-Jason Segel reunion.
• A spooky-looking Frank Miller sung the praises of The Spirit cast, while Samuel L. Jackson and Jaime King explained their affinity for blue screen acting.
• Rose McGowan talked about some of the intense training she’ll be undergoing to take on the role of Red Sonja, the she-devil with a sword, while Robert Rodriguez—who’ll be producing but not directing the film—hinted at some stylizing in terms of the film’s visual look. Those interested in the fate of the rumored Barbarella remake should also check this video clip out.
• Zack Snyder, Dave Gibbons and the entire cast of Watchmen discussed the film. Snyder promised a three-hour director’s cut of the film on DVD, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Carla Gugino, who play the Comedian and Sally Jupiter, respectively, said the movie does not shy away from the graphic novel’s critical rape scene.
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