Now, that soccer is the most talked about sport in America, at least since the Beckhams has arrived, it’s easier for me to write about it. A couple of weeks back, I wrote a short post about the Copa America, the American soccer tournament, equivalent in a way to the UEFA EURO, the national team championship. The final of the Copa brought us a rivalry game. Argentina Vs. Brazil. Argentina played an amazing game all along the tournament and were definitely the best team around. The Brazilians on the other hand, played a sad version of the game. But they knew when to show up. It all changes for the Brazilian team, when they see the white and light blue Argentinian shirt in front of them, and yesterday’s final was no different. At the end after a very convincing game Brazil won the game 3-0. All that’s left for us the Argentina fans, is to congratulate Brazil, and wait for the next time. And regarding the sad game, well, I guess it’s OK, I mean, the San Antonio Spurs won a few NBA titles with a sad and boring game…
In the last few weeks, it was very easy to tell which movie is going to be in No.1 If it was Even Almighty last week, or Fantastic Four, Ocean’s 13 or Shrek the Third in previous weeks. This week I’m not sure, Die hard is definitely the favorite horse to Win, but not the only one. I wouldn’t count Ratatouille out of the race.
So here are this weekend’s new movies:
Ratatouille:Remy the rat, wants to become a chef, and finds himself under a French restaurant, where he can watch his hero, the famous chef Auguste Gusteau. Animationmovie, by Pixar.
Live Free or Die Hard: He’s back, almost 20 years after the first Die Heard movie came out, John McClane is back. I don’t think there is a reason to write what this movie is about, if you have seen any Die Hard movie before you know what it’s about, and if you haven’t, I’m sure one of them is playing on one of the movie channels on your TV right now. Let’s just say that Bruce Willis stars, and we can also see Justin Long, who is known to most as Hi, I’m a Mac…
Sicko: John McClane is not alone, Michael Moore is also back, this time he goes against the American health-care system. Don’t worry, as always he is loud, vulgar and in your face.
Hey, don’t forget to watch Ilana Donna’s Mighty Heart review on Amaldo.com.
We’re very excited to have our very own “princess from the slums of Queens” on board, NYC-based Associated Press online video guru extraordinaire Ilana Donna doing some vlogging for our mother site, Amaldo.com.
Ilana’s refreshing down-to-earth style and SJPisms on NYC life are well-appreciated and add just the right element to her first installment for our site, aptly titled “New Yorkers Take On A Mighty Heart.”
Sarah Silverman grilled Paris Hilton on MTV Movie awards. I’ve expressed my thoughts more then once about Silverman’s sense of humor, however this time I want to offer her a quote as a piece of advice: “Be nice to people on your way up, because you meet them on your way down.” Jimmy Durante (Quotation Page)
Amaldo.Com is very excited to announce our partnership with Reg’s Coffeehouse. For those of you who haven’t heard of Scott Register, he’s that little DJ in Alabama who discovered the likes of Dido and John Mayer (you might have heard of them) and Reg’s Coffeehouse is his site.
Anyways, every week I eagerly (like a giddy school girl, “eager”) head over to Reg’s Coffehouse.com to hear his weekly show which he broadcasts every Sunday and uploads every Wednesday. He also posts a playlist for this show in case you don’t have time to actually listen but still want to see what’s hip in the way of indie, alt-folk acoustic music out there.
So how does this translate to Amaldo.Com? Well, weekly I’ll be posting Reg’s playlists (on the blog and on our homepage) and his blog content on this site and from what I can see, you can’t access that content on his site anymore. So if you want to know what Reg is thinking in the way of his current music picks and crushes (musically speaking of course) then you’ll have to come here.
Did I mention we’re so totally musically geeked out to have Reg on board? Even if his logo does remind us a bit of the Starbucks logo… Be sure to keep checking back here throughout the day to see this week’s playlist. We promise it’s that good.
Two days ago I posted a piece responding to The New York Times commentary on insecure, self-doubting women as depicted on television. I alluded to the show “Ugly Betty” and its status as the critics’ darling.
As much as I can appreciate what “Ugly Betty” executive producer Salma Hayek is trying to convey with the “dowdy is beautiful” message, it just feels so shallow and contrived. Not to mention borrowed material. But what gets me is the attempt to glam up Betty’s appeal (as evidenced by ”Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera on the cover of W Magazine striking a seductive pose with the words Hot Betty) both onscreen and off.
It’s no longer acceptable for her to be walking around with unstyled hair and a Guadalajara poncho because now that viewers “like” her and can see her “instrinsic” beauty (not to mention her love life kicking into high gear), Ugly Betty doesn’t have to be so frumpy anymore.
In fact, it’s not a “beauty in the eye of the beholder” tranformation that’s taking place but a deliberate glamming up of the character. And doesn’t this go against the very intent that’s being incited in the first place? If Hayek’s message was to get America to stop looking and assessing people skin-deep, then why bother with the Betty’s wardrobe/make-up change? Is this a trend? Is the fate of the loveable, better than average-looking, smart, likeable protagonist/heroine on successful shows to have to pretty herself up? Tiny Fey’s character on “30 Rock” has fallen victim to a similar phenomena. Each week, her hair is a little bigger, her cleavage a little more exposed.
Is what we’re saying through these otherwise “flawed” women is that in today’s society, less than perfect might get you in the door, but less than pretty won’t keep you happy and employed for very long?
Enjoy this week’s Amaldo.Com Cast where I discuss the best DVD rentals for the week ending in 5/06, Borat, Freddie Mercury, Spiderman 3, and why George Clooney could be the best thing for Smashing Pumpkins comeback tour.
Amaldo.Com is looking for talented, creative video bloggers to produce original video for the site. Vloggers should be creative, witty, and reliable. Love of pop culture is a bonus. Also you must have your own DVR and/or digital recording device to record video.
Think you’re up for the task? You’re the next lonelygirl15? (eh, we don’t really want her! Besides, she wasn’t all that original, even if her scriptwriters were.) Then contact us!
Forget Alec Baldwin. That was SO two weeks ago. The celebrity dad that everyone is talking about since yesterday is David Hasselhoff, former “Knight Ridder”/”Baywatch” actor that now serves on the panel of judges for “America’s Got Talent” and spends his time getting sh*tfaced drunk for his teenage daughters.
So what’s the Hollywood gossip circulating about our favorite singer in Germany?
In an effort to “shock” himself into sobriety, Hasselhoff is asking his teenage daughter to tape him drunk so he can later watch these videos when he’s sober. Now one need not imagine the potential emotional ramifcations of Hasselhoff’s actions on his teenage daughter. You can watch the video and see for yourself.
Pretty scary stuff. Oh, and for the record, Baldwin ain’t got nada on Hasselhoff. This set goes to the man in tights. Or swim trunks.
My friends here at Amaldo.com will have to excuse me for not writing about the new Spiderman movie on this post, We already wrote about it in this blog, and on our site. So allow me to introduce to you other movies that will start this weekend in theatres.
Lucky You: Eric Bana stars as a high-stakes card player who sets out to win the World Series of Poker–and the affections of Drew Barrymore. Civic Duty: An accountant obsessed with terrorist plots and cable news gets a jolt when a Muslim graduate student moves in next door.
Waitress: Keri Russell is a small town waitress whose life changes when she discovers she’s pregnant with her immature husband’s baby.
More movies here.
When I heard that Google founders Page and Brin, and CEO Schmidt are making for the third year in a row only one Dollar a year, I thought to myself: “Ariel,” and myself answered: What? (I know it’s an old joke). Then myself said: “There must be something going awfully wrong there. Maybe we should have a Telethon for these poor guys.” So, if you are not the IRS, please donate.
I really wanted to write about movies that opning in wide release this week, but other then maybe Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse, it’s all (and pardon my French) crap.
So, here are some movies that are opening in selected theaters only:
1. Black Book- A German-Jewish girl narrowly survives the war in Holland and shortly after the liberation, seeks revenge for her family’s murders.
2. The Hoax- Richard Gere stars as Clifford Irving, whose “autobiography” of Howard Hughes was one of the greatest media scams in history.
3. The TV Set- A writer sells his TV pilot to a network, and must navigate the hazardous path from script to production to prime time scheduling (See poster at Amaldo.com)
As we are getting closer (some may say not fast enough) to the weekend, here is a list of movies if you decide to do some passive activity, such as going to the cinema. So here are the movies and what Yahoo movies had to say about them.
1. Blades Of Glory- Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star as rival figure skaters, banned and disgraced from the sport, who team together as pairs’ skaters.
2. Peaceful Warrior- A mysterious stranger leads an arrogant, talented college gymnast on a spiritual journey that will change his life forever.
3. Meet The Robinsons- A boy genius creates a machine to recover the lost memory of the past and embarks on an amazing adventure with his future family.
Have I told you how much I loved “Reign Over Me“? Well it came 8th in this weekend’s box office gross, with $8 Million. The 1st. place belongs unsurprisingly to “TMNT” with $25.5 Million, while “300″ is not far behind with $20.5 Million. The new Mark Wahlberg movie, “Shooter” came in 3rd. with gross of 14.5 Million. The complete list is available at Yahoo Movies.
Last night everybody was watching this Dancing with the stars thing. I decided I want to be different. And while everybody else was eager to know weather Heather Mills’s leg will fall or not, I was watching Rules of Engagement. Without going to far, I can definitely say it is one of the worst TV shows ever. Shallow, Dumb, not funny, nothing. Oh and David Spade. Now this is something I just can’t get, how come David Spade is so successful? He is everywhere. I have no complaint to him. he needs to work, so he takes what he gets, but lets face it, he is Not talented. He is a Martin Short wannabe without the acting skills, and still, he works. Well dear Producers with a lot of money to spend, You use this dude, the result is this mockery of a TV show.
Last night I’ve been watching Jay Leno’s monologue on “The tonight show“.It was a good monologue, not great, but good. We will try to bring someof it to Amaldo’s home soon.
One thing that bothers me though, is the constant obsession of Leno and
his writers with the Clintons. I don’t think you will find one show without a
reference to Bill or Hillary or both.
Let them be already Leno. He is no longer the president, She is not the president (Yet?), so give them some space. While I know it’s better then jokes about Paris- Britney- Anna Nicole,