Hey . . . I Work in Advertising . . . Kinda . . .

“Ladies, you no longer need to worry that the cute guy at the bar works in advertising.”

Funniest thing I read today. Yeah, it was a slow day.

Pandemic Comes to 90210

skillz
Y’all can’t touch my photoshop skillz.

A few months ago as season 5 of The Wire came to an end, my friend Keith and I agreed that The Wire gang would be the next Apaptow crew - the hope being that we would see a ton of the amazing actors on this show move on the other, maybe more visible projects. In the last couple of months I’ve seen Mayoral Candidate Tony Gray and The Greek in Michael Clayton, Officer Beadie on The Office and State Senator Clay Davis in Enchanted (I watched it on the plane, and it was awesome).

NYMAG’s Vulture Blog posted an entry yesterday summarizing the upcoming appearances of Wire alumni and the most awesome bit is that Tristan Wilds, who plays Michael Lee, will be part of the next gen 90210.

Tristan will be playing Dixon Mills, a foster care kid who is adopted by Harry Mills, the new principal of West Beverly High. Yeah, and he’s got a hott sister who will play Brenda to his Brandon Walsh. A pretty believable story when you think of TV show cliches.

Now, at first I was not a big fan of the Michael character and thought that Tristan Wilds was pretty flat as an actor. Over time and as his character developed he became my favorite character on the show and his true acting chops came out in season 5. One wishes that an entire episode be dedicated to his small family outing to Six Flags. (sigh)

Here’s the trailer, this looks hella fun:

I’m hoping this becomes the Gossip Girl of the West. Check out those clothes! Tristan looks pretty pimp and I love how the trailer deliberately rips of the photographic stylings of Merlin Bronques/The Cobrasnake/N.E.R.D’s Lapdance video. I’ll be setting the company’s DVR to record this one. I also love how he’s taking photographs (kinda like Merlin Broques) and there’s a clear shot on him when the VO announces that “Every character has a secret.” oooooooh.

But seriously let’s place our bets now if Dixon Mills:

-Beds a white girl (in the first episode nonetheless to show everybody that the show is in fact “provocative”)

-Gets falsely accused of rape

-Is wrongly expelled (aggravated assault, though he was only defending himself)

-Has a run-in with his former foster care brothers (duh, this happens in any adopted-kid storyline, ref: The OC)

-Faces an existential/self-defining crisis when he decides to run for Class president (bonus points for an Obama-like catchphrase)

-Gets a slap on the wrist for wrecking the family Benz (he was only being a designated driver and the drunk white girl riding shotgun got all cute about wanting to drive)

-A former Wire alumni makes an appearance (Nay, Dukie, Randy Wagstaff - give those kids jobs, man.)

Science Will Prove That I CAN Stay Mad At You Forever

What a great title for a post, huh?

Now here’s the underwhelming content:

JCVD doing an impression of Dolph Lundgren.

Who Killed It Last Night?

lykkedelmar

Yeah! Special thanks to Mike and Traci for the invite and the full court press that got me out of the office. I wasn’t so excited having already seen El Perro Del Mar, but Lykke Li surprised me. I’m a fan. She moved and looked like a succubus. A flawless set.

Her album doesn’t drop till June 3, but I already made a promise to myself this summer that if the music doesn’t move me, I’m turning the station.

Re: El Perro Del Mar - she played God Knows. That’s all that matters there.

Choices Choices Choices

Standing at the crossroads is never easy and with temperatures rising, my mind is completely pre-occupied with annointing my Summer Jam of 2008.

Love in the Club by Usher or Everybody Nose by N.E.R.D.?

Whatever happened to having a clear favorite - Beyonce’s unstoppable Crazy in Love or the summer fun-loving Ignition (the remix) by R. Kelly.

In a fair world I would have chosen Hot Chip’s Ready for the Floor, but I feel like I’d get smacked for calling it a “jam.”

lamest.post.ever.

Hammer Pants

I had way too much white wine these last few days. Speaking of white people, here’s another clip from Martin featuring Bob from marketing. Oh and the clip also features KEITH FREAKIN’ SWEAT.

LINK IN CASE EMBED DOESN’T WORK

Maybe some of you were too young to remember Keith Sweat.

Up The Yangtze

My friend Yung Chang is in town doing some Q & A’s for his documentary Up The Yangtze, which I saw at Sundance. I will most likely be at one of the screenings.

Here’s the trailer -

Press and info on where it’s playing:

LA TIMES REVIEW

If you’re into Podcasts and stuff like that, he was recently on Fair Game (NPR), tho Faith Salie drops some spoilers. (C’mon girl, you should know better). It’s worth a listen, if only for Yung’s very enchanting voice.

UP THE YANGTZE
STARTS MAY 16 AT:

Los Angeles
Laemmle’s Royal*
11523 Santa Monica Blvd.
310-477-5581
www.laemmle.com

12:40pm 3:00pm 5:20pm 7:40pm 10:00pm

* Q&A WITH FILMMAKER ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
After the 7 pm Show

Pasadena
Laemmle’s Playhouse 7*
673 East Colorado Blvd.
626-844-6500
www.laemmle.com

12:00pm 2:20pm 4:50pm 7:20pm 9:55pm

* Q&A WITH FILMMAKER ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
After the 5pm Show

Encino
Laemmle Town Center 5
17200 Ventura Blvd.
818-981-9811
www.laemmle.com

1:00pm 3:20pm 5:40pm 8:00pm 10:15pm

Santa Ana
Regency South Coast Village
1561 W Sunflower Avenue
Sunflower & South Coast Plaza
714-557-5701
www.regencymovies.com

as a bonus, here’s some recent pics of us channelling our inner Tommy Wiseau’s.

Yung Wisseau
Terry Wisseau

fun fact: we both saw this movie together a few years ago and afterwards went to an Echo Park speak easy. Good times.

A Birthday Wish Granted!

I’ve been waiting forever to find a clip of this Debbie Downer skit. If I’m correct, this is her first appearance and there was a disclaimer before the bit where they disclose the fact that they’re airing the dress rehearsal because it was that great.

Robert Downey Jr’s Offscreen Brilliance.

I’ve always been a fan of Robert Downey Jr. and even went so far as to watch a few episodes of Ally McBeal back in the day (say what you will, but that was some fantastic television).

From NYMAG, here’s his speech from last night’s TIME 100 Gala in which he honors his father.

p.s. IRON MAN RULEZ.

Man at Work

verk