Axl Rose Does Jimmy Kimmel

Axl sat down and spoke with Jimmy Kimmel last night for about 12 minutes. Here's the video in case you missed it:

Part One

Bret Easton Ellis: Famed Novelist, Screenwriter, And Nasty Tweeter

Ever since I heard The Canyons was going to be made, I have been out of my skin excited. The idea is pure Bret Easton Ellis, the casting is both genius and ironic, and now it seems the filmmakers are creating a meta-awareness of making a movie about Hollywood. Originally billed to be a dark drama, this current trailer goes the way of a pulp story.

I first read American Psycho in 1998 when I was still in college, and it blew my mind. I was a women's studies major, so I was conflicted with my obsession over this novel. One of the most violent, misogynist, graphic novels ever suddenly made me fall in love with literature. The author, Bret Easton Ellis, became a literary sensation at age twenty-one with the nihilist, depressing Less Than Zero, which established him as the author with the monopoly on writing about the empty, self-loathing of the incredibly wealthy and good-looking. I quickly devoured his four other novels, chastising myself that it took so long for me to discover my literary god.

However, after his 1998 novel Glamorama, there was a stretch of seven years before his next novel, Lunar Park, was published. The late nineties was still at the beginning of the internet, so not much was known about Ellis, and I always wondered how such a person could have such a sick, twisted, but brilliant mind. I mean, if you couldn't find anyone on the internet, they may as well been a recluse.

Fast forward fifteen years and the rise of Twitter, which Ellis seemed to latch onto and has never looked back. His tweets are equal parts bitchy, honest, controversial, intellectual, and sardonic. For a while, he was incessantly tweeting about his desire to adapt the most famous mommy-porn book in the world, Fifty Shades Of Grey, and shared his stream of consciousness and most recently, expressed his annoyance at the selection of writer Kelly Marcel to adapt the screenplay:

Culture Consumption: Leogun, Chaos Chaos, James Bond, And Eytan & The Embassy

Hello and welcome to Culture Consumption, my weekly look at the best of pop culture!

Song Of The Moment

Leogun, "Let's Be Friends"
I still love this song so much.

Albums Of The Week

Chaos Chaos, S
Rising from the ashes of Smoosh, sisters Asy and Chloe have left their childhood behind and created Chaos Chaos, a more mature-sounding version of their former band. This is a spacey, dancey, insanely catchy, indie-pop album that will leave you marveling at the fact that the sisters are only eighteen and twenty because this is music beyond their years. S is only five tracks, but it gives you a sense of the greatness that will come from Chaos Chaos.
Consume Now: All five tracks, but listen to the incredible "Antibiotics" first.

Various Artists, Best Of Bond... James Bond
James Bond films have always been a hit-or-miss affair for me: some have really blown me away, but some have downright sucked. The same can't be said for the music. Most of the official themes from the movies have been downright awesome, with only a clunker or two along the way (Madonna's "Die Another Day"). Last week, Capitol/EMI released this double album which collects fifty Bond songs: all twenty-two official themes (except for Adele), Louis Armstrong's excellent "We Have All The Time In The World," and twenty-seven instrumental tracks. Truthfully, except for a few, I became a little bored with the instrumentals after repeated listens, but the first disc is top-notch and full of all the songs you love by some of the biggest names in the history of music: Shirley Bassey (who actually did two Bond themes), Nancy Sinatra, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, a-Ha, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Garbage, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, Alicia Keys, and Jack White.
Consume Now: Opt for the single-disc version (and skip over the Madonna track).

Eytan And The Embassy, Everything Changes
We've reviewed an Eytan And The Embassy live show and spent Seven Questions In Heaven with Eytan, so you know we're obviously fans. So what do I think of Everything Changes? Simply put, it's one of the five best albums of 2012. The songs are happy and peppy, an indie-soul-pop hybrid, and sound at times like Crowded House mixed with Elvis Costello mixed with the Beatles and backed by some Motown horns. It's a damn amazing album from start to finish.
Consume Now: The entire album. And get a copy for your best friend while you're at it.

Next Caller: The Dane Cook Sitcom You'll Never Get To Watch

Did you know that NBC had started filming a sitcom vehicle for Dane Cook called Next Caller? Cook plays a misogynist "shock jock" who suddenly gets a new feminist co-host. Uh-oh! Hijinks and hilarity to ensue! Well, don't worry about it, because it's already been canceled before it even aired. This here clip just about tells us everything we need to know about it anyway:



Based on this clip alone, I can predict how the whole series would have gone down anyway:

• At some point, Dane Cook tells her to "shave your legs and calm down."
• Dane Cook will say disgusting things about women, and his co-host will flip out and give him lessons on being politically correct.
• Dane Cook will suddenly spout feminist rhetoric, and his "bro" fans will have to stage an intervention.
• Feminist co-host will be dumped by a guy, and Dane Cook will tell her to "buck up and act like a guy," leading to a montage of them binge drinking and going to strip clubs together. They will inevitably spend a night together, and there is a "he said, she said" rendition of the story told to everyone.
• Dane Cook will attempt to seduce an attractive female, but feminist co-host will intervene and convince said woman that Dane Cook is just a womanizer, and Dane Cook will be angry that she cock-blocked him.
• The phrase "on the rag" will be used.
• The Indigo Girls will be mentioned, and not in a positive way.

There! Now you didn't even need to watch this series. I hope that Collette Wolfe gets another break, because she is adorable and funny (and was a scene stealer in Hot Tub Time Machine and Observe & Report, among others). NBC, I can't believe you would air this on the same channel as Parks & Recreation. Imagine what Leslie Knope would think!

First Look: Mockingbird Lane

Way back in 2010 we told you that NBC was working with Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) to reboot the old TV classic The Munsters. And after eons of development, they're ready to air the one-hour pilot on October 26th to see if this show has any legs. They've released the first look at the show so here we go:



The cast is filled with people that I love: Eddie Izzard, Portia de Rossi, and Cheyenne Jackson! Jerry O'Connell, yeah he's ok. Butch Patrick, the original Eddie Munster, is listed on IMDB as having a credit so that's kind of fun. The kid playing little Eddie looks like a little Eddie Munster so that's cool.

Here's my problem with what I know of this reboot right now: it's kind of being billed as a dramedy. The whole point of the original was that it was silly because the Munsters thought THEY were normal, and the "normal" people in the world were weird. It was light-hearted and sweet and it was about a kind, loving family who were treated poorly because they were different. And this preview looked... I dunno, like Eddie Izzard's gonna eat the neighbors or something. And his makeup is terrible. And did Grandpa Sam make Herman Munster for his daughter Lily? That's the spin on the reboot and that doesn't sound right.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this? Will you check out Mockingbird Lane?

Real-Life Simpsons

If you're a fan of The Simpsons, watch this!

When Your Grandpa Gets On Board, It's Time To Kill A Meme

Speechless.

Happy Birthday, Cartoon Network

Yesterday, Cartoon Network celebrated their 20th birthday. To help mark the occasion, they put together this little video showcasing many of their characters. How many can you name?



And to celebrate further, here's a photo of Ted Turner launching the channel twenty years ago with the help of Fred and Yogi as an apathetic Droopy looks on.

Culture Consumption: Wendy James, Brooklyn Brothers, The Office, Kate Upton, And Unicorn Porn

Hello and welcome to Culture Consumption, my weekly look at the best of pop culture!

Song Of The Week

Wendy James, "You're So Great"

Album Of The Week

Brooklyn Brothers, The Album
The Brooklyn Brothers are actors Ryan O'Nan and Michael Weston. But don't let the actor tags scare you off. Here's another thing that sets them apart from lots of other bands: some of their instruments are toys. The end result is a funny, folky, indie rock album with sounds that you might hear coming out of your kids' playroom.
Consume Now: "Come On Girl," "278 (Airport)," and "Faster Than Aeroplanes"

Television Show Of The Week

Culture Consumption: D A W N S, Frank + Derol, Nightmare River Band, Jaws, The New Normal, And Big Brother

Hello and welcome to Culture Consumption, our weekly look at some of the best music, movies, television, books, and pop culture!

Song Of The Week

D A W N S, "So Help Me God"

Albums Of The Week

Frank + Derol, Frank + Derol (EP)
Codi Caraco and Brandi Cyrus make up Frank + Derol, a talented duo who released their 4-song debut EP earlier this month. The songs range from pure addictive pop ("Let It Go") to haunting but no less addictive lo-fi ("Barely Love You Too"). This EP serves as a welcome introduction to the band and and makes me long for a full-length debut.
Consume Now: "Let It Go" and "Barely Love You Too"
Nightmare River Band, Last Goodbye
I don't know how you would classify this band -- country? folk? one of these with an alt- modifier? -- but I really don't care. I was a big fan of their 2009 debut, Call The Cops!, and I'm an even bigger fan of Last Goodbye, which takes everything great about the debut and adds a certain maturity to their sound. And nowhere is this more evident than in the anthem "Last Goodbye," a five-minute sing-along about heartbreak.
Consume Now: "Last Goodbye," "Walk On," "Goodbye To Your Friends, "Why Don't You Love Me?"

Book Of The Week

Jaws: Memories From Martha's Vineyard
Jaws was my Star Wars. I loved everything about this movie. If it's on TV (even heavily edited) when I'm flipping channels, I'll leave it on until the end. And if you're like me and Jaws is your religion when it comes to movies, then Jaws: Memories From Martha's Vineyard will be your Bible. It's 312 pages of images, newspaper clippings, pieces of the script, set designs, and first-person accounts from those involved with the filming. It's an astoundingly massive, in-depth look at one of the greatest movies of all time and by the time you're through devouring it, you might actually believe you were on set during the filming. Plus, since it weighs approximately twenty-five pounds, you can also use it to bludgeon your attacker if you ever find yourself face-to-face with a great white. Bonus!

Television Shows Of The Week

Big Brother
I don't watch Big Brother. Seriously, I don't. But if I did (once again, I don't), I would have to say that Dan is one of the wiliest and most clever reality show contestants I have ever seen (But once again, I don't watch Big Brother. I don't even know who this Dan person is.).
The New Normal
The New Normal is the funniest new show I've seen this season. The little girl, the gay couple, the pregnant mom -- I love them all. But by far the funniest character, and one of the funniest characters on a network sitcom in years, is Ellen Barkin's Nana. She's unapologetically un-PC and every word out of her mouth will simultaneously make you cringe and laugh.