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24 Aug 2009 20:41

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Culture: Does “Inglourious Basterds” play too fast and loose with WWII?

  • The great, sick joke of the film’s grindhouse logic is that even though what it shows us didn’t happen, in a larger, almost abstract sense it did happen. (I mean, it’s not as if the Nazi high command, in the end, wasn’t destroyed.)
  • Entertainment Weekly film reviewer Owen Gleiberman • Discussing the possibility that Quentin Tarantino’s latest film might be the birth of a backlash. He notes that one of his reviewer friends found the end of the movie to be extremely offensive. Glieberman’s unnamed friend “thought Tarantino had stepped over a line of historical veracity, and that audiences, especially younger ones, might be led by Inglourious Basterds to embrace the idea that World War II was just another meaningless pulp fantasy.” Our thought? Tarantino’s only doing what his inspirations did – play fast and loose with history for entertainment’s sake. • source

24 Aug 2009 20:31

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Culture: Michael Jackson’s death a homicide: The news cycle explodes again.

  • The L.A. Coroner’s office says Michael Jackson (who still hasn’t been buried yet) was given a lethal dose of propofol, which he was taking to help him sleep. source
  • Considering that his daughter, Paris, didn’t inject her dad with a huge dose of a powerful sedative, Dr. Conrad Murray is probably the main suspect. source

23 Aug 2009 21:58

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Culture: How did a dude like Ryan Jenkins get on reality TV, anyway?

  • Part of the problem is there’s such a huge machine needing people to go on TV. . . . But the problem is: If you need so many contestants, you’re probably not going to do the best job of screening them.
  • University of Southern California communication professor Jon Taplin • Discussing the nature of the Ryan Jenkins case. In Jenkins’ situation, VH1’s production company, 51 Minds blamed “an error by a Canadian court clerk” for allowing Jenkins’ criminal past to slip through the cracks. Whatever the case may be, it’s clearly not a common situation, but it is a climate made worse by the needs of reality television. • source

23 Aug 2009 21:48

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23 Aug 2009 21:42

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Culture: Wanted VH1 reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins found dead

  • He was found in Canada. The weirdest, creepiest story of the week, the apparent murder of model Jasmine Fiore by a VH1 reality show contestant, ended with yet another dark turn, as Ryan Jenkins was found dead in an apparent suicide. He was found dead in a motel in Hope, British Columbia, Canada. According to RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound, “The hotel staff had gone in to check on him… it would be speculation to say how long he had been in there.” So there you go. Sick story comes to a sick end. source

23 Aug 2009 21:14

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Culture: “Inglourious Basterds” easily Tarantino’s biggest opening ever

  • $37.6 million the box-office tally “Inglourious Basterds” drew this weekend source

23 Aug 2009 12:13

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Culture: Awesome: Snoop Dogg goes on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

  • Fo shizzle, ma nizzle, he’s playing for charity. Here’s Snoop Dogg with Regis Philbin doing his “Millionaire” thing last week. Because he’s awesome.source
 

23 Aug 2009 11:32

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Culture: Here’s an image of the Stephen Colbert namesake space treadmill

COLBERT, the treadmill
  • They’re sure running with this joke. (Sorry.) As you might remember, a few months back, Stephen Colbert attempted to win a contest to get a part of the International Space Station named after him. He won, but NASA chose to name this treadmill after him instead. Which, is still incredibly awesome. Admit it.source

22 Aug 2009 18:17

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Culture: That VH1/Ryan Jenkins mess sounds messier by the day

  • Detectives were unable to use dental records or fingerprints, as her teeth and fingers had been removed. But they tracked the number of her implants.
  • A description from a BBC article • On the death of model Jasmine Fiore, who VH1 reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins is accused of murdering. They had to figure out her identity based on her breast implants! Yuck! The nature of this murder sounds brutal and awful in just about every way. • source

22 Aug 2009 10:51

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Culture: This Ryan Jenkins case is looking like a real mess for VH1

  • Previous charges Despite the fact that the network’s production company for reality shows supposedly performs background checks on its contestants, they didn’t pull up a conviction for assault which led to probation. He got arrested in April, too. And he went to counseling for sex addiction. Not the kinda guy you want on a VH1 show. source
  • Previous charges Despite the fact that the network’s production company for reality shows supposedly performs background checks on its contestants, they didn’t pull up a conviction for assault which led to probation. He got arrested in April, too. And he went to counseling for sex addiction. Not the kinda guy you want on a VH1 show.
  • Another show Even worse for the network, Jenkins had recently shot a second still-unaired show called “I Love Money 3,” which features reality contestants from other VH1 shows. It may never see the light of day. Now isn’t looking like a bad time for the network to return to 60-hour Behind the Music marathons. source