Americans tend to think of the US as the center of the global entertainment industry. And for the most part, they’re absolutely right. It’s not really a secret that Hollywood and New York pretty much make the television and film industry go, but what people probably don’t realize is that, despite American shows inspiring foreign…
Author: Jeff Kelly
When it comes to the world of sports, everyone is looking to gain a competitive advantage. Usually, it’s just a little thing here and there, like when Jason Kidd “accidentally” spilled water on the basketball court because he didn’t have any timeouts left, or a pitcher putting a little pine tar on the ball to…
It’s not exactly news that video game movies almost never work. Movies like Need for Speed, Tomb Raider, and Silent Hill just don’t seem to work when brought from the console to the silver screen, for whatever reason (Tomb Raider only made money because of Angelina Jolie’s chest, and we all know it.) One of…
These days not a lot of people really remember the name Hedy Lamarr, other than as the punchline of a running gag in the classic film Blazing Saddles. Lamarr was a gorgeous Hollywood starlet working mostly in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and while she gained fame and fortune for her work on the silver screen,…
Television has an incredible impact on pretty much everything in your daily life. It can influence what you buy, what you wear, the way you talk, and even who you choose to be friends with. For example, if someone says they watch Dance Moms, you can safely assume that’s someone you’ll never invite over for…
Awards are often pretty arbitrary and meaningless, when you get right down to it. Of course people love winning them, but in so many cases they become popularity contests, or a case where people get swept up and all vote for something they later realize wasn’t all that good when you have time to reflect.…
One of the most prized properties stuck in development limbo over the years has been Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower. The seven book series began when King was still a college kid, only to be completed in 2004. However, there have been some promising steps over the past couple of years, primarily with…
Two of the most famous and popular shoe brands in the world are Adidas and Puma. You may know that Adidas is named for Adolf Dassler, and you also may have heard that his brother Rudolph founded Puma. But what I’m guessing you probably didn’t know is that they founded those companies as part of…
It seems like these days, Sherlock Holmes has absolutely never been more popular. Not only have there been to high profile films starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the titular detective, but there’s also hit the hit show Elementary on CBS, and most notably, the exceptional and massively popular Sherlock on BBC (and PBS in the…
If you’re a fan of the Coen brothers, and I mean a real fanboy of Joel and Ethan, then you may be familiar with the name Roderick Jaynes. After all, he’s the Academy Award nominated editor who worked on both Fargo and No Country for Old Men. The spectacularly talented Jaynes received nominations for both…
The geek relationship with George Lucas has had a lot of peaks and valleys over the years, with nerd-rage reaching a point in recent years following the Star Wars prequels that you almost have to feel a little badly for Lucas. After all, this was a guy who created the greatest science fiction trilogy in…
One of the most famous series of graphic novels in recent years has been Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Most people probably only recall the, well, horrific movie version of the story starring Sean Connery and a whole lot of terrible CGI, along with an absurd car chase through Venice. Think about that for…
With the Super Bowl only a couple of weeks away, a lot of people will be focusing on the commercials as much as the actual football being played. After all, a large chunk of the people who watch the games care more about the new, hopefully fun and inventive ads than the action on the…
Cigarettes are unhealthy, and really don’t offer any sort of benefit. That is of course except for the fact that one particular brand ties together pretty much every single television show you’ve grown to love over the years. The brand is Morley, and yes, it’s very much a fictional brand that you’re not going to…
Did you ever wonder what was so fascinating about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, that would make it worthy of a documentary? Of course you did, even if you never watched the US version of The Office. As it turns out, according to the writers, the reason is at least partly a whole lot…
The Wire is arguably the greatest television show of all-time. And by argue I mean if you argue it’s not, I’ll probably never speak to you again. It’s frequently been referred to as a television novel in the mold of a story by Dickens more than just a regular TV show, and part of that…
After years of gestation, scripts being worked on, scrapped, and worked on again, there appears to finally be some movement on a Jurassic Park IV, titled Jurassic World. It’s set to be released in 2015, and so far Bryce Dallas Howard is heading up the cast, with Chris Pratt rumored to join her as the…
The movie Blade Runner has, over time, become one of the most enduring and iconic science fiction films ever made. Starring Harrison Ford, it’s based on a Philip K. Dick novel about a bounty hunter tracking down a bunch of androids. Of course while that obviously makes for a pretty badass movie, and was no…
Sometimes, whoever’s in charge of our day-to-day lives runs out of ideas. It’s understandable; dry spells happens to the best of us. Luckily, there are plenty of cool ideas dreamed up by musicians, writers, and actors for real life to steal from, which it does on a very regular basis, as it turns out.
There’s not much doubt that Michael J. Fox is one of the most beloved entertainers of the past half century. He was Marty McFly and Alex P. Keaton, for God’s sake! But have you ever wondered exactly what that “J” stands for? If you have, well, you might be a little confused to learn it…
Veritably. Yes, that’s right, Mr. Clean, everyone’s favorite bald-headed purveyor of household cleaning products was given a first name in 1962. This came about at the end of a promotion called, well, “Give Mr. Clean a First Name.” What can I say, the Don Draper types weren’t as clever as television wants us to believe.…
Censorship is one of those things we always tend to scoff at, wondering how some television shows can get away with certain things while others can’t. The very nature of what is and isn’t allowed on television has led to attacks from some shows themselves, such as South Park and Family Guy, two shows frequently…
Bill Murray is awesome on many levels. He’s absolutely hilarious, obviously, and over the years he’s proven himself to be more than just a comedian, he’s a genuinely good actor. So it seems like it would be almost unfair if he somehow came up with a way to make himself even more amazing, right? Because…
Dolly Parton is kind of easy to pick out of a crowd, for a variety of reasons. First, she’s absurdly famous. Second, she’s got a lot of unique features, like the big hair, the beauty mark, and well, her own private mountain range on her chest. So you would think that she would have no…