donnie darko-related stories
Posted Jan 14th 2007 11:56AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Late Night, OpEd, Saturday Night Live
(S32E10) Even though I'm no expert on his career, I didn't have many worries about Jake Gyllenhaal's comedy abilities. I remember listening to Gyllenhaal on the
Donnie Darko DVD audio commentary and finding him surprisingly funny. I definitely didn't expect it... After all,
Donnie Darko wasn't a particularly goofy film. Then, I saw
Bubble Boy and, although I wouldn't consider it one of the greater films of our time, I thought Gyllenhaal did a pretty good job (with what he was given).
This episode wasn't spectacular -- in fact, it was pretty unremarkable -- but I enjoyed watching it, simply because of Gyllenhaal's enthusiasm.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Jake Gyllenhaal/The Shins - VIDEOS
Posted Sep 9th 2006 6:10PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming
At 8, CBS has the women's final of the U.S. Open, Maria Sharapova vs. Justine Henin-Hardenne.
- FOX has two new episodes of Cops at 8, then a new episode of America's Most Wanted.
- ABC has college football at 8, Ohio State vs. Texas.
- NBC has two 9/11 specials starting at 8: Tom Brokaw Reports, about the air traffic controllers, and then a special Dateline.
- HGTV has a new reDesign at 8.
- FLIX has Donnie Darko at 8.
- At 9, Lifetime has the new movie The Mermaid Chair, with Kim Basinger.
- At 11, IFC has Ripley's Game, with John Malkovich.
Posted May 12th 2006 4:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Celebrities, MTV
On May 16 at 10:30 MTV will premiere Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up, a quasi-reality series in which Kennedy and his pal Stu Stone (who met when they worked on the animated series Da Mob) try to score a record contract with their quirky rap songs. They've been showing a pretty lengthy trailer for the series on both MTV and MTV2 and you can also watch the first part of the premiere episode over on MTV's site.
The show doesn't seem all that interesting, but it has me intrigued nonetheless. While it is ostensibly about Kennedy wanting to get a record deal, the show actually seems built around the fact that he's not a very good rapper. Stu Stone, whom Kennedy describes as the DJ Jazzy Jeff to his Fresh Prince, knows how to spin, but his rap skills aren't much better than Kennedy's. So, rather than making a "serious" show, they make one about being turned down constantly in their quest to secure a record deal. It's an odd mix of "please take me seriously" and "I'm just having fun with this," and it could be interesting to watch Kennedy try to inhabit the skin of both a "serious" rapper and a self-deprecating comedian. It might not be Breaking Bonaduce, but it could open a tiny window into the inner machinations of Jamie Kennedy's brain, for whatever that's worth.