Pop culture headlines (8/13/08)

Hey guys. I recently realized that I haven't posted any actual news items on this blog in a long time (if ever...), so I figured I'd devote today's post to exactly that. So, let's go to the "Matty G's Pop Culture 101" newsroom for the latest headlines:

• Actor Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight from "The Office," has a new film called "The Rocker" coming out in the coming weeks, and he's come up with an interesting way of promoting it: by kidnapping fellow Office co-star Jenna Fischer, aka Pam! According to a message that he has posted on her MySpace page, he has her tied up in the trunk of his Firebird and will, once "The Rocker" has grossed 18.7 million dollars, he will free her and give her a peach smoothie. There's even an official website called "FreeJennaNow.com" that provides up-to-the-minute information on the tense situation as it develops. Somewhere, Mike Myers is kicking himself for not coming up with a similar idea for "The Love Guru."
• You know how there are some movies that most people agree just shouldn't be remade? And you know how there are also always some people do just can't seem to understand this? Yeah, well now there reportedly is a remake of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" currently in the works. Yeah... Now, I am admittedly not one of the biggest fans of the original film, but I can still appreciate that it is pretty much perfect the way it is. It's hipness comes from the fact that it dealt with some pretty taboo subjects back in the day (a gay transsexual alien!??!? Come on!). Nowadays the whole thing is pretty tame by today's standards, so what're they gonna do? It probably won't surprize anyone that MTV is one of the major players behind the remake either.
• Who knew "Breaking Dawn," the last book in the Twilight series, would be so divisive between fans of the series? Indeed, it seems that what started out as simple disagreements between Twilighters on each side is quickly turning into an all-out war. Last Friday the popular fansite Twilight Lexicon was hacked by angry anti-"Breaking Dawn" Twilight fans who essentially wreaked havoc on the site. Part of the anger stemmed from the fact that the site had only been allowing posts from fans who liked the novel, which really urked the people who didn't like it. No word yet on whether the hackers have realized they are freaking out over a silly vampires vs. werewolves book and have attempted to get actual lives...
• King-Geek Joss Whedon has yet again denied rumors that there is going to be a sequel to his "Serenity" film anytime soon. "Serenity" itself was a sequel to the cult science fiction-meets-western television series "Firefly," which was quickly cancelled by FOX but became a major success on DVD. Despite constant vocal wishing from fans, former cast members, and even Whedon himself, he has continually repeated that there are no current plans for another film, seeing as how there are no interested studios and/or people with $50 million who are talking about it. But if the possibility for another film became a reality, Whedon has said that he would "do it in a heartbeat." (quote taken from MTV Movies Blog) Joss, if I had an extra $50 million I would totally hook you up.
• And finally, if you haven't seen the video of James Franco and Mila Kunis acting out a scene from MTV's "The Hills," you definitely should: it is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. Check it out here: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/56c2d6a703

Be thee warned; A Week of Twilight Approaches...

Yeah, I know that headline is really dumb, but so be it. Before I head off for Ludington this weekend I wanted to let everybody know that, in honor of the release of "Breaking Dawn" (the fourth and final novel in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Saga") next Saturday, I will be devoting the week leading up to it to news related to the popular vampire series. Tuesday's CD and DVD releases and Friday's New Movies list will still be posted, but I'll also post an extra Twilight-related article on these days as well. This'll all lead up to Friday when I will post my own personal recaps and reviews of "Twilight," "New Moon" and "Eclipse," the first three books in the series. Enjoy the weekend, and get ready for a very pale week...

-Matty G