Michael Sarver gets the 'American Idol' ax
3/27/2009"...as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience."
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point.
MOTOWN SMACKDOWN: Michael Sarver was tossed from American Idol Thursday night and then he had to sing after Stevie Wonder. The song: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." That's rough. (RL)
DVD PICK O' THE WEEK: Ron Silver's recent death reminded me of a low-budget horror film he was in written by a good friend of mine, Spliced. Originally titled The Wisher, producer-director Gavin Wilding, our northern neighbor's equivlalent of Roger Corman, opted to change the film's name, though you still hear references to The Wisher in the movie and its trailer. My screenwriter friend would be the first to admit Spliced is by no stretch a great movie, but it doesn't aspire to be. It's good for some scary thrills and worth a rental, if you can find it. Besides Silver, it's also got Drew Lachey, brother o' Nick, and a former Dancing With the Stars winner. (KB)
BASKETBALL JONES: This just in! The NCAA has updated the times for Saturday's games: Missouri vs. Connecticut is at 4:30 p.m. and Villanova against Pittsburgh is at 7 p.m. Both games are on CBS WTOL-TV in Toledo.
NYUCK, NYUCK, NYUCK: No we're not kidding and if you think we are, then noogies for everyone. Sean Penn has signed up to play Larry in the The Three Stooges movie being made by the Farrelly Brothers. We have this to say: Really? Cos it's kind of hard to see how you could ever improve on this. (RL)
'AMERICAN IDOL' UPDATE: So the show went up to Detroit to delve into the Motown sound, ay? Hopefully they spent some money and gave the Motor City's economy a bit of a boost because we're not all that keen on hearing a bunch of amateurs make like Smoky Robinson. (RL)
'MEMOIR' FOR A VAMPIRE: Just days after the Twilight gang was complaining about the paparrazzi -- and trust us, we at Thin Slices get tired of being harassed by those dudes, too -- Robert Pattinson appears on the verge of nailing down another romantic lead part in Memoirs. (RL)
WATCHMEN REDUX: Rochester, Minnesota, has a real-life superhero!!! Why they would need one is beyond us, but some dude named "Geist" is saving the Rochesterians from bad guys. It would be awfully cool if we had one in Toledo, but hopefully we'd name him something better than "Geist." How about Rocketman? Or Swamp Swami? Or maybe the Glass City Something or Other. If you have any suggestions, drop us a line. (RL)
SHE'S A GONER: Denise Richards was kicked off Dancing With the Stars Tuesday night and she didn't seem to care. Neither do we really. (RL)
GAFFES ALL AROUND: Who'd a thunk that Joe the Plumber and President Barack Obama would still be showing up in the same stories? They are, thanks to Obama's strange "punch drunk" moment on 60 MInutes and Joe's (shouldn't we call him "The Ex-Plumber"?) bizzaro "horny" remark before a bunch of conservative media gadflys. Here they are, together again. (RL)
FLYING CLOSE TO THE SUN: Anne Hathaway has signed up to play Judy Garland in both the Broadway and film versions of the star's life story. Be careful with the whole method acting thing, Anne, because we think Judy's life isn't one you want to get to wrapped up in emulating. (RL)
THOSE ROTTEN PAPARAZZI: The stars of the box office smash, teen-vampires-in-love flick Twilightare being hassled by the paparazzi. Goes with the territory kids, so get used to it and don't flip out. (RL)
ICEPACKS AND FOXTROTS: Perhaps Dancing With the Stars ought to have some kind of injured reserve system, given how many of the contestants are dropping with injuries. The weird thing is, they "play hurt." (RL)
YOU GO, BRUCE: Actor Bruce WIllis this weekend married British lingerie model Emma Heming in a ceremony that included his ex-wife, Demi Moore. Willis is 54, making him 24 years older than his new bride. And while we're being old lady-like, isn't there kind of a weird resemblance between Heming and Moore? (RL)
SPEAKING OF... Old actors and their young girlfriends/wives/fiancees, check it out: Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart are apparently engaged to be married. Ford's a spry 66 and she's 44. (RL)
YOU'RE KNACKERED: Someday the Thin Slices crew is going to convince our bosses to send us to the South By Southwest music festival. Why? Because of musicians like Alice Russell and to see lots of other cool new bands. (RL)
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