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Media
May 20, 2006
'Worst Piece of Star-Vehicle Crap of 2006'
In this week's edition of Blurb Racket—the Gelf feature in which we take a close look at those critic blurbs that are a fixture of ads for movies—see breakdowns of blurbs for The Da Vinci Code, Just My Luck, Poseidon, and more. This week's Bogus Blurb of the Week comes in an ad for Russian Dolls:
Sports
May 19, 2006
Bonds and Firm Stool
The way things are going for Barry Bonds this season, even the things said about him that sound nice are, in fact, insults. Take this quote from an unnamed American League general manager, said to Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci about the gastrointestinal effects of seeing Bonds in the opposing batter's box:
Media
May 19, 2006
Keeping Up With the Jacobs
Every year, the Social Security Administration releases a list of the most-popular baby names from the previous year and the press treats the information like it's breaking news. "When kids born in 2005 head to kindergarten in a few years, a lot of them will be raising their hands when the teacher calls out 'Emily' or 'Jacob'," begins the Associated Press article about how—you guessed it—the names "Emily" and "Jacob" are America's most popular names for their respective genders. But what most media reports fail to tell you is how big those kindergarten classrooms would have to be—these names aren't really popular at all.
Sports
May 17, 2006
ESPN enters the 1990s
A few days ago, Gelf poked fun at ESPN's plan to feature home-video clips on SportsCenter. What sort of videos would they receive, we wondered, if they only allowed old-school VHS tapes to be submitted? (Deadspin also got in on the fun with a post featuring a Bob Saget stamp.) Now, the folks over at ESPN seem to have realized their mistake.
Internet
May 17, 2006
The Gamine Audrey Tautou
Movie critic A.O. Scott staggered through a screening of The Da Vinci Code, and walked away unimpressed. While his review only mentions in passing the Hanks Mullet, Scott laments the underutilization of the film's other star, Audrey Tautou. "Ms. Tautou, determined to ensure that her name will never again come up in an Internet search for the word 'gamine,' affects a look of worried fatigue," he writes.
Sports
May 17, 2006
Pujols Worship, From Afar
Gelflog noted last week that sportswriters were penning worshipful columns about St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols (19 homers and counting) without bothering to learn anything new about him. USA Today columnist Jon Saraceno wrote, "He cares less about personal accolades and individual statistics than he does the bottom line for playing the game: winning. … He has talent. A work ethic. And the humility not to get caught up in what other players do, particularly if it is against the law or unwritten rules of sportsmanship."
Media
May 10, 2006
Sports Luddites
Note to ESPN: Stuart Scott can do as many Def Poetry Jams as he wants, but SportsCenter just ain't hip. Sure, it's cool you want your viewers to participate in the show by sending in their best sports home videos, but in limiting submissions to VHS tapes, you're effectively keeping out everyone except your grandpa demographic. (And for some reason, I'm not sure I'd want to watch their athletic highlights.)
Media
May 10, 2006
Who Cares If Colbert Spoke Truth to Power?
Somewhere along the way, the Great Debate over Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (Google Video) has morphed into an argument about a vague cliché. No longer is it a question of whether Colbert's mockery of the president was funny or lame, cowardly or brave, wrong or right, but rather whether the man "spoke truth to power."
Media
May 9, 2006
Coming Soon to a Newspaper Near You
Headlines packed with jokes and clichés can be fun and interesting, but they can also diminish the impact of the stories they top. Recently, the San Antonio Express-News decided to ban puns from its headlines altogether after editors found that they had used nine different ones in one day. And as Gelf previously noted, the Times is also attempting to excise clichés from its pages. While the papers are in cutting mode, they might also take on this one: "Coming soon to an X near you", a tired pun on movie trailers.
Sports
May 9, 2006
Who Is Albert Pujols?
Now that Barry Bonds is one homerun from tying Babe Ruth on the career homeruns list, a legion of Bonds-hating press turns affectionately to Albert Pujols. The 26-year-old Cardinals first baseman is on pace to hit about 80 homers, hasn't had a sub-40-HR season in his career, and hasn't been implicated in any steroid use. Yet for all the Pujols-loving we read (and I've written some of it), most is quite superficial. Consider Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Ted Miller's take today:
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