PopSugar

House Rundown, "Ignorance is Bliss"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:30:45 -0800

With Cameron gone, the new (old) team is still working out the kinks in this week's House - and it feels like the writers aren't sure where the show's going either. The episode tackles a genius patient with what appears to be TTP, Thanksgiving, and House and Cuddy all in one swoop. And while the doc is back to acting like a selfish jerk following his recent good behavior, I didn't even find his quips that amusing. If anything, the episode felt like a downer!

Okay, so I know these are harsh words, so perhaps I'm not giving this week a fair trial. Let's go over the highlights, and tell me what you think when you read more.

The team gathers around the table to start hypothesizing, but to me it feels off without Cameron there. I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt since it's the first week with the updated crew, but don't you agree?
We get it Chase - you're upset. He huffs and puffs and refuses invitations from Taub, Foreman, and Thirteen for friendly help. Then House refers to Cameron as Chase's "ex-smarter half" and gets punched. I want to be sympathetic to Chase because of his split from Cameron, but with that attitude? Forget it.
House needs to get Cuddy off the brain stat. He announces to Wilson that he's going to break up her relationship with Lucas, and then starts plotting ways to get invited to Thanksgiving dinner to see his plan through. Cuddy gives him the address where the meal is taking place, but (surprise!) the house is empty. I was shocked that she gave him faux info! Do you think it's too mean, or does he deserve it?
After being rejected, House gets drunk and breaks into Lucas's place to confess his love for Cuddy. Seriously. (He says to Lucas, "I'm pathetic," and I couldn't agree more.) The next day, Cuddy tells House that Lucas broke up with her over the incident - until we later find out that she's lying to get him to lay off. It seems like House might leave her alone by the end of the episode. Do you think he's finally giving up? And do you think his intoxicated act was real or fake? He tries to make it sound planned, but I'm not 100 percent sure.
While House and Cuddy were weighing down the show with sadder stuff, Taub and his wife brought a bit of comic relief. She's stopped sleeping with him, because she thinks he's a wuss for going back to House. But once Taub passes off a photo of House's black eye as his own handiwork – instead of Chase's - she basically jumps him!
The medical mystery involving a former genius who dumbs himself down, so he can love his "happy and dumb" wife (his words, not mine) is relatively interesting - even though I snarled at his comments about her stupidity. First they think he has TTP, but the problem is actually an old injury where he broke three ribs causing his spleen to split. Come on, 16 spleens?! I know I'm a dork, but that's pretty cool. Next time writers, less Cuddy skirt-chasing, more stuff like this.

Okay, so time for your assessment - what did you think of the episode? Isn't the House and Cuddy storyline starting to wear thin? (Even I'm over it, and I was rooting for them before!) And how do you like the team now that Cameron's dunzo?

If you're a fan of the show, check out the House! group in community!

Photos courtesy of Fox

Glee-ful Highlights and Video From Episode "Ballad"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:45:00 -0800

Maybe it's because Glee set the bar so high last week, or maybe it's the lack of Sue, but this week's episode just didn't do it for me. There are plenty of catchy tunes, but Rachel's all-of-a-sudden crush on Mr. Schue seems a bit forced, and it seems ridiculous that Will and Emma are best buddies again with no mention of their dramatic encounters from a few weeks ago.

It does have some touching moments (along with some sad ones) for Finn and Quinn, so to get into it just read more.

Mr Schue has the glee kids draw names out of a hat and assigns each pair a ballad to help them profess their feelings. He shoots himself in the foot when he throws his own name into the ring and Rachel draws it. One spot-on duet of "Endless Love" later, Rachel's found herself a brand new crush to distract her from her feelings for Finn. I liked this plot line, but something about it felt a bit too forced, like the writers just squeezed it in to have Mr. Schue sing his mash-up. I did kind of love when Terri has Rachel clean the bathroom, though, and when Emma and Rachel are equally goo-goo eyed over Mr. Schue's mini-performance. Speaking of Emma, aren't she and Will supposed to be trying to stay away from each other?

Watch Rachel and Mr. Schue gaze into each other's eyes here:

Quinn and Finn's situation comes to a head this week, and both end up breaking the news to their parents. Well, actually, Finn breaks the news to Quinn's parents via a dinner table performance of Paul Anka's "(You're) Having My Baby." While Quinn's parents are heartbreakingly unsupportive, Finn's mom takes the kids in when Quinn has nowhere else to go. The rest of the gleeks profess their own love for the couple with a rendition of "Lean on Me" which is super cheesy, but necessary after the harsh scene with Quinn's parents.
Puck finally breaks down and admits to Mercedes that he's the father of Quinn's baby. Mercedes doesn't even ask questions - just tells Puck that he's already done enough and to back off. Though Puck is staying away for now, it seems like the cat's out of the bag. Plus, did you catch the smirk he makes at Quinn at the end of the episode?

How'd you feel about this week's episode? Do you like the newfound bond between Finn and Kurt? Is Finn's dedication to a sonogram a little over the top? Sound off in the comments below, or create your own posts, recaps, polls and more in the Glee Club community group!

Photos courtesy of Fox

Geek Tip: Take a Self Portrait With Your iPhone

GeekSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:50:24 -0800

One of my favorite iPhone features is its camera. It's of impressive quality for a cell phone camera, and has gotten successively better with each generation of iPhone released. Add the plethora of accessories meant to enhance the iPhone's camera and applications to enhance your photos, and my iPhone can produce better photos than my camera. But even with all of the additional bells and whistles, there was one thing I thought my iPhone camera couldn't do: take self-portraits. In fact, I thought the only real way to take a self-portrait was with a mirror, with the back of the iPhone in full view.

Sure, we joke about the famous self-portrait photos that show up all too often as Facebook profile pictures, the telltale extended arm in the photo holding the camera above eye level. But taking a self-portrait with an iPhone seemed nearly impossible; holding the phone in one hand, trying to tap the right place on the screen where the camera button is located, nearly dropping the phone on the ground. (Not that I've, um, tried this or anything).

But the iPhone self-portrait is possible! To find out how, read more.

The iPhone camera doesn't take the photo when you press the camera button, it snaps the image when you release it. So, in order to take a self portrait, open the camera function and place your finger on the camera button, but don't release. Then, you can turn the phone around, extend your arm, and take the shot. No more blurry photos or iPhone-in-the-mirror shots. Even more helpful? Make sure your phone is out of silent mode, so you'll hear the "click" of the shutter's release. Smile!

Do you have a helpful iPhone tip you'd love to share? Join our iPhone Tips group where you can share your tip and tell us why you love it so much. And your handy tip or trick could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Talking New Moon With Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:50 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner may be dominating the promotional circuit right now, but they're not the only cast members with something to say about New Moon. I had the opportunity to chat with costars Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, aka Emmett and Alice Cullen, during their recent stopover in SF. They chatted about their characters, the vampire craze, and what it's like to be a "Twilight celebrity." Here are highlights:

On why so many people are crazy for the Twilight Saga:
Ashley: I think this film in particular is highly relatable. There are a lot of situations that people can relate to. The love story - everyone can relate to being in love or being in lust. You add the vampire, and it adds that next level fantasy. Vampires are mysterious and sensual and dangerous and unattainable. And everyone wants what they can't have. I think on another level that this came together at the perfect time. All the elements just fit, the casting was spot on, and we're in a difficult time right now with our economy. That's why you never have a drop in ticket sales because everyone wants an escape, and this movie is very much an escape from reality.
Kellan: It's a good escape but also it deals with so many situations, on so many positive notes. Just looking at it from the vampire coven to the wolf pack. It just deals with everyday issues just on bigger levels, in a way. And you have Bella as the keystone in many situations. You can just all relate from different countries to issues within the United States. It's easily relatable.

To read a lot more about working with three different directors and why they feel so lucky, just read more.

On how their portrayals of the Cullens are similar or different from the books:
Kellan: We got the jobs because we brought something new to it. You can interpret the characters each their own, but I think it's what we did alongside. Just like Kristen said - she's playing Bella but she's putting her Kristen spin on it, just like all of us are. And I think that's what's making it unique. We're still following the cheat sheets that Stephenie created by making the books, and there's Wikipedia. We have a lot of information to go off of. But I hope it's what I did in my audition that set it apart from the other guys trying out.

Ashley: I think it's mannerisms too. People do fall in love with this book, but I think part of it is that they always want more. You can't write out every human mannerism. You can imagine it, but seeing the emotion in someone's eyes and seeing them be affected it - it was kind of easy to give something to it, because we were just being people. We kinda just got lucky.
On how much more of the Cullens we can expect in the remaining movies:
Kellan: Realistically, we stick pretty close to the books. Obviously us Cullens would love to be in the books a lot more, which would mean we'd be in the movies a lot more. Talking New Moon, the scenes that the Cullens - except for Ashley, playing Alice who gets to go to Italy and be a main lead in the movie - us Cullens, we have to stick really close to the books, and the scenes that we're in are really crucial to the story, as you know - the birthday scene, the voting scene. I don't know, it was kind of a tease. Chris Weitz is such an amazing director, and for us, for myself - I only worked about a week on that movie. And it didn't even seem like I really got a taste for what it was.

Ashley: In the third film, you'll see a lot more of the Cullens because it's all of us collaborating and then getting ready to fight this war that's coming up. In the second one, my character got a much larger role because Alice is the Cullen, other than Edward, that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning, you see her throw this huge party for Bella, and then Alice is the one who does, in fact, come back for Bella when everyone else decides to skip town. Alice is responsible for dragging Bella over to Italy, and she and I the whole time are fighting to save my brother's life. And then of course we get held up by the Volturi and stuff like that. My character got to grow a lot, which is really cool. You get to actually see the relationship develop between Bella and Alice, where in the first one you didn't. The first one was very much about the romance and showing the audience why these two people are willing to die for each other.
On working with a different director on each film:
Ashley: Each director is going to be very different. They're artists as well, and I don't think any of them are quite the same. The books, when you read them, all have very, very, different tones. So I think it's highly appropriate that we switch directors each go. The first one is very much a romance and is a very scenic, beautiful film. And Catherine's really, really great at capturing that. She's very high energy and works well in chaos and stuff like that. And it was fantastic because we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into, and so it was nice to have her to guide us when we were freaking out a little bit. She was just so high energy, and it was really contagious. We were sad to lose her and move on to the second film, but then we got Chris Weitz and he's the complete opposite! But great as well. He's so giving and caring and collaborative and created this atmosphere that was kind of a safe haven for us. And it was really nice because we didn't know, switching directors, if they were gonna embrace us or if they had a completely different vision than what we created in the first one. It was nice that he was right there on the same page with us. And the second one is a warmer film, even from the color scheme. The first one is very blue tones, and the second one is much richer and warmer and I think he did a great job at capturing that. And we just finished shooting with David Slade, and I think he's highly appropriate as well. He just finished shooting 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, and they're both very dark, edgy films. And Eclipse is very much that. It's all centered around the anticipation and us getting ready to fight this huge war. We just finished filming, we haven't gotten to see much of it, but I think it's gonna be fantastic. He is, technically, the most advanced director. The angles that he shot and how he knows that tweaking something can affect a whole scene and the lenses. He was really nice to work with.
On coping with the fan effect and being a "Twilight celebrity"
Kellan: That's what blows my mind, 'cause I feel like it's really unearned in a way. The fans are making our careers. Without them, we wouldn't be working and doing the saga. There's so many times that trilogy books become a movie and the first one bombs, and then that's it. And you're always hopeful that you get to do them all. Especially since we're all in love with our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death, he's my favorite character I've ever played. It's just so cool to have made it this far, and I think we all hope that we get to finish this series and do Breaking Dawn. This is such a blessing, it's every actor's dream to be part of something like this. It's not terribly hard either. We don't shoot halfway around the world; we don't shoot for a year of our lives. I know a lot of us have homes, we have pets, we have family. And it's really nice to shoot on the West Coast, either Portland or Vancouver, and have the chance to fly down if we need to. But it's definitely amazing to be part of something like this. And I don't think any of us knew how crazy it would be and how exhilarating it would turn out to be. Going to the premiere, really just, wow. I don't even remember it because I was really just starstruck by how many fans and signs and cameras. It felt like I was just walking through a strobe light room. It's amazing.

Ashley: I still think we can't really wrap our heads around what's going on and what's happening. We're still in the midst of filming and kept very busy from one film until the next. It's only these brief moments where you sit back and are actually able to take a breath where you go "Whoa. Wow. This is crazy." I mean, the amount of tickets they've already sold for New Moon - I'm pretty sure I can't even get a ticket if I tried to see my film in Jacksonville and it's mind boggling. We're just very lucky. I went into this film thinking "Oh my gosh, I got a job" and the it turned into the biggest break of my life. I think we all feel very blessed to be a part of this.
On how it feels to be part of Twilight fan fiction:
Kellan: It's an escape, in a way. We do live in a trivial time period right now. There's so much depression that it's kinda cool to be a part of something where people use it to be an escape. In a way that's kinda what Stephenie did -she had a dream and just elaborated on it. It became a huge success and it's really encouraging that people are doing the same and just making up this journey.

Ashley: That's why people love it so much I think. You can take it and make what you want of it. Before the demographic was teenage girls, but now it's women of every age and guys are starting to get into it, too. It's because there is that element of fantasy. If you're 8 years old you look at it one way; if you're 80 years old you look at it another. I think it's fantastic that we can draw such a huge crowd. The other thing is - it blows my mind but people are making connections over this film and over this book. there are mothers and daughters and grandmas who can all sit and talk about the same story and all fantasize about it and I think that's a really cool thing. I think it's rare.

To see all of our Twilight and New Moon coverage, check out TwilightSugar!

Ronan Keating "Dumbfounded" By Stephen Newspaper Story

PopSugarUK — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:01:50 -0800

Ronan Keating has been focusing on work lately, following his Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately's tragic death. Ronan performed in Australia this weekend, while here in the UK The Observer published an interview with him where he gave some insight into how he's been feeling since Stephen passed, as well as commenting on the Jan Moir scribed newspaper article that caused much controversy. Here are some extracts from his interview:

On his bad days: "Horrible, you can't breathe, you feel like your chest is collapsing, the walls are coming in on top of you. Anxiety I think is what they call it... I haven't been sleeping at all lately. It's been horrible. We've all been feeling the same way since Stephen passed. Mentally I'm absolutely exhausted."
On grief counselling: "I've never before thought about going to get help with counsellors. For the first time ever I think I should. When I lost my mum it was the hardest thing at the time I'd ever known in my life but because she was sick for two years and we were told three months before she died that she had three months [left], subconsciously you build a wall, your defence mechanism goes up and you prepare yourself for that. Whereas with Steo, there was nothing, just this wall of devastation, shock. I don't think it has hit any of us properly. There's times when you feel like you can't breathe, you know, when you're panicking and I'm not like that. I've always been on a level."
On finding out about Stephen's death: "I bawled my eyes out. Screamed down the phone: 'What are you saying?' I couldn't take it in. When the guy on the phone said 'Stephen passed away' I said 'Stephen who?' because I thought he was talking about someone else. I just didn't think it would be Steo. I'll never f*cking forget it. I ran out of the restaurant, my sister ran after me with my coat [saying] 'What's wrong, what's wrong?' I told her. And then I had to call the three guys. Bloody hell, what a call. Horrendous. The most horrendous hour of my life. Horrific."

To read what Ronan had to say about Jan Moir's controversial opinion piece, just read more.

On the Daily Mail newspaper article by Jan Moir: "None of us read the article because we were told 'You wouldn't want to read it' so we purposely didn't, we ignored it. But obviously it was unavoidable to hear what comments were being made, and I think it's disgusting. It was just wrong; one, for her to write it, and two, for the paper to print it. It shouldn't have been allowed. It was wrong. It looked to me like someone trying to make a name for themselves out of a terrible situation, a devastating situation. And what was worse was the apology – the alleged apology, that was written a week later, was her defending herself! It's just disgraceful. Again, for her to do it and for the paper to allow it. I'm dumbfounded. It's bizarre.... But anyway, again, I wouldn't dwell on it. I wouldn't want to give her any publicity for that. He was a human being. A human being with feelings; a husband, a family that have feelings. At what point do people cross that line? Incredible... incredibly insensitive."

View 5 Photos ›

Lessons From the White House Chef

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:07 -0800

Part of Michelle Obama's master plan to reform eating habits in this country includes the directive of a young chef named Sam Kass. Kass has been the Obamas' personal chef for several years now, and when the Obamas packed up and moved to the White House, he did too.

Kass, 29, plays more than cook at his current post: he is the first White House chef to have an actual desk in the East Wing and works alongside the rest of Ms. Obama's policy team with the title of "food initiative coordinator," meaning he's given the daunting task of getting the entire country to eat better.

To hear how Kass is trying to making the country healthier, read more.

How does one man do that in a country where the golden arches rule? In the latest editions of People and the Chicago Sun Times, Kass shares that moving past the obstacles won't be easy but "it's an unbelievable opportunity" that he couldn't turn his back on. In the last year, the chef has gotten closer to his goal by helping plant a garden on the White House lawn and educating children about the benefits of healthy eating. He's also discussing legislation with the Agriculture Department that would reform school lunch on a national level.

When it comes to feeding the first family, Kass and White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford serve up classic fare like burgers and tacos, but make healthy food swaps and use lean beef and low-sugar ketchup instead. As for dessert, it's a special treat served only on the weekends, and that order comes directly from Michelle herself.

Inspired by the Slow Food movement, Kass looks to the White House garden to inspire his menu, pushing forth the idea of eating local and by season. Right now, he's got his eyes on a bevy of sweet potato dishes and fresh salads, which should come in handy for the Obamas' first state dinner later this month.

Rob, Kristen, and Taylor Are This Week's Entertainment

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:56:22 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner have been posing for photo ops all over town - check out Pop's favorite promo tour moments - and it wouldn't be complete without an interview with Entertainment Weekly. In the cute interview, the costars quip about everything from Rob's attachment to his signature hair to Kristen's confession that she'd like to quit smoking to Taylor's obsession with hitting the gym for New Moon. There're also tidbits about Rob and Kristen's off-screen relationship and how Robert handles fandom. They're clearly a tight-knight trio, so check out the highlights below. If you can't get enough Twilight, keep the convos going in the Twilight Saga community group, and be sure to check back next week for my own interview with Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz!

Robert Pattinson on his hair in Eclipse: I swear to you I’ve never experienced anything like this. It's every single day. In Twilight, they wanted me to have extensions down to my hips.
Kristen Stewart: He's a liar. He doesn't remember. He's remembering how they made him feel, but they were just, like, down to here [pointing to her shoulders].
Pattinson: So I told them, "Look, that's just not going to happen." I said, "It looks like this already – I'll come to set like this." I sound so stupid, but in a lot of ways the hair is 75 percent of my performance, so in the second one I said, "Listen, I need to tone down the hair. Let's make it a little more real, a little bit more . . . Method.” [Laughs] And then in the third one, I'm doing fight scenes and there's a strand going down my forehead and they're like, "We need to do it again because no one will recognize you! No one will know who it is!" I'm like, really, is my face that generic?
Stewart: They want proof that you're doing your own stunts, man!
Pattinson: I have to look like the poster at all times. Just in case they want to use any clip for the trailer. Any clip at all! There were about five people in different departments who, because of my forelock, ended up in tears.

For tons of more quotes, just read more.

EW: How are you all coping with living in a fishbowl?
Pattinson: It really depends on the mood. When I met you last year [before Twilight came out], I was doing interviews very sporadically and I never got recognized. Now it's like anywhere I go there's immediate recognition. So there's more of a responsibility . . .
Stewart: I don't mind working every day. It's just, suddenly, I have this other role. And that's really disappointing. All I'd like to do is go outside with a book and figure out what to do with the day. And if I can't do that, then I'm just going to sit in my hotel room on my balcony and chain smoke. [Pauses] I'm going to stop smoking. I'm not such a good smoker, anyway. It's not in my bones. I'm gonna drop it.
Pattinson: The three of us have been working for two years [straight]. It does feel like your day has a shape just as soon as you wake up. I just forget what it's like when you're free.
EW: Taylor, you're the only one who almost lost a shot at the sequels. Do you have a different relationship with fame because you had to fight for your job?
Lautner: No, I kept my eye on the prize 100 percent of the time. I was motivated. I wasn't even thinking about anything else.
Stewart: Thank God you got the job. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with you if you didn’t. After all those months of working out!
Lautner: I just wanted to focus on what I could control, and I worked really hard.
EW: You mean in the gym? Because I see your abs everywhere these days.
Lautner: Yeah, the gym was a major part, but I really studied the books and the character, too. And it all turned out good.
EW: Kristen, it must be nice to watch the guys' appearances get obsessed over for a change.
Stewart: Seriously, it's a trip to sit back and look at the sexual objectification of these dudes. I've never been asked to do any of this stuff.
EW: You guys are lucky. You clearly all dig each other.
Lautner: The amount of time we have to spend with each other – if I didn't like these two, it would be exhausting.
EW: Rob, you made Remember Me this summer, between sequels. Was that the set in New York, where you were knocked into a cab by hordes of fans?
Pattinson: That was completely made up. I was walking across the street, and there was one cab going about one mile an hour and it nudged my leg. The story ended up being how I got hit by a cab because of a mob of screaming fans, [but] it was 4 o'clock in the morning and there was one person there – a paparazzi. . . . And then there was another time – apparently they said on the news that I had a drug overdose. The security guy saw it on TV, and I wasn't in my room, and he was like, "Uh-oh!" It's just so weird. I wake up and my room is too messy to order room service, and so I end up eating a pack of M&M’s for breakfast – and it takes me about five hours to find it. That's my first five hours of the day. [Laughing] And then you see the news and think, "Who cares if he had a drug overdose? It would probably make him more interesting!"
EW: Kristen and Rob, why do you think people are so obsessed with the state of your off-screen relationship?
Pattinson: Good question. That's a little thing I have to think about every day.
Stewart: Maybe it's just my personality, but I'm never going to answer it. I probably would've answered it if people hadn't made such a big deal about it. But I'm not going to give the fiending an answer. I know that people are really funny about "Well, you chose to be an actor, why don’t you just f---ing give your whole life away? Can I have your firstborn child?"
EW: You don’t think just saying, for example, "Listen, we dated for a few months, it was weird, we're better off as friends" would end the speculation?
Pattinson: No way.
Stewart: People are deeply judgmental and I'm not strong enough. I would love to be like, "I don't care what anybody thinks." But I'm a very private person. And think about every hypothetical answer: "Okay, we are. We aren't. I’m a lesbian." I've thought about this a lot. There's no answer that's not going to tip you one way or the other. I'm just trying to keep something. If people started asking me if I was dating Taylor, I'd be like, "F--- off." I would answer the exact same way."

FabSugar Exclusive: Alexis Bittar Is Gossip Girl's Favorite Accessory Designer

FabSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:22 -0800

We caught up with Alexis Bittar at his Neiman Marcus trunk show recently. He's super dreamy, as you can tell from his photo (center). And so friendly, it was comfortable, like we'd met before. Read what he had to say about his biggest fans - Fab fave Cameron Diaz and the Gossip Girl stylists - as well as how he got his start.

What sparked your interest in jewelry?

I sold antique jewelry on the street [at the 26th Street flea market in Manhattan] for 15 years. I started working with Lucite, I just pounded it, started carving it. I actually don’t know how I put it all together in my brain, but I liked that you could sculpt it. It’s pretty cheap - in the beginning I had no money. It seemed like an experimental medium. And I like working with mediums that aren’t typical. When I first saw it, I loved it and I still love it. Guys like it, too; they’re into the science of it, they’re trying to figure it out. It took a long time - the beginning was a bit difficult, then certain key people used it, and it slowly took off. When the millennium happened there was thing of perceiving everything differently and it became the new.

See what else we discussed.

90210 vs. Melrose Place: Which Was More Scandalous?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:30:22 -0800

This week's 90210 and Melrose Place combo don't have a ton of shocking moments, but it's obvious both shows are gearing up for major stuff to go down. (Like a drug bust, murder arrest, and Heather Locklear, for instance?!) We do, however, get some nice moments between the characters. Teddy, for one, is acting like an angel - although I can't tell if it's sincere, because I've made it a rule not to trust a guy who ties sweaters over his shoulders. And the gang from Melrose have a nice come-together moment around the pool, which I'd like to see more of.

Not that everything is warm and fuzzy. Hardly. There's still scandal to go around, so ready to decide which gave us more gossip-worthy material? Just read more.

90210 point: Navid discovers Jasper selling Adrianna drugs in her car in the school parking lot. Navid calls Adrianna to confront her, but she of course denies his accusations. Jasper also says the story isn't true and threatens Navid in a "hypothetical" way. Like, "hypothetically if I was a drug dealer, you wouldn't want to mess with me, because I know bad people." Real discreet stuff.
Melrose Place counterpoint: The blood tests from last week's discovery of Sydney's murder weapon come back - and Auggie is the guilty party. Auggie might as well be off the show already, because he is nowhere to be found, supposedly on a trip in Mexico. Ella's relieved, Riley has doubts, and Violet continues to defend him, seeing as how they slept together and she's crazy. When she told Riley that she and Auggie were "intimate" with each other, I nearly ralphed.

90210 point: Debbie is in the doghouse with Dixon. He tries to go comfort Sasha after her "miscarriage," and Debbie admits that Sasha faked the pregnancy - and that she hid the truth. Dixon's unreasonably angry with Debbie, telling her "you're not my real mom anyway." Come on, Dixon. Deb doesn't deserve that.
Melrose Place counterpoint: David sneaks over to Michael's house while he's at work and borrows Noah. He takes his little bro to a fair, but things go amiss when Noah climbs a wall and falls. David rushes him to Lauren at the hospital, and she administers treatment - but not before Michael gets wind of everything. He's understandably furious but later tells David that he's glad he cares about Noah. Could this be the start of an actual relationship between the father and son?!

90210 point: Liam is on the rampage after he tells Mr. Matthews that Jen is psycho and Ryan doesn't believe him. He takes his attitude out on Ivy, Teddy, and an entire group of surfers. Later, Liam explains his behavior, opening up to the guys (and Ivy) about his history with Jen, and the entire thing culminates in a cheesy friend speech to take Jen down, complete with a high-five. [eye roll]
Melrose Place counterpoint: Violet is back to blackmailing Michael. This time, we find out that she's wanted for a court trial for previously resisting arrest. She enlists Michael, suggesting that he find her a lawyer in return for her discretion about their one-night stand. He, in turn, threatens her back, telling her that he can make the sentencing go against her unless she erases the sex video. Which she does . . . or so it seems. I'm still not 100 percent sure that it won't pop up later, but the power play between the two of them was an episode highlight for me.

90210: With Silver's half birthday approaching, her mom decides to make up for years of missed celebrations and throw her multiple parties at once, dressing up their entire house in different themes. The whole thing seemed like a stretch - really, Teddy called his dad's set designer friend to rig up the ambiance? - but it was still nice to see her and her mom get their moment together. Unfortunately, at the end of the episode, Silver goes to wake her mom in the morning and realizes that her mom has passed away.
Melrose Place counterpoint: Whoa, whoa, whoa - Ella makes a move on Jonah that's bold even for her. It all starts when she needs him to pose as a publicist at a lunch with a hot new indie director. The director comes on to Ella, and Jonah swoops in to put off his advances by pretending to be her fiance. They share a steamy kiss to be extra-convincing, and sure enough, once the director is out of sight, Ella suggests that the two of them go to a nearby hotel, so Jonah can see what he's been missing. He angrily tosses Ella's advances by telling her he's in love with Riley. You could tell part of her feels hurt by his words - and that part of him doesn't actually mean them.

90210 point: Annie is falling hard for Jasper. Their back and forth "I love yous" were pretty sickening, and she even gets in a sting at Dixon, defending Jasper and telling Dixon he's a bad judge of character because of Sasha. But the most cringe-worthy part is Annie tells Jasper that she wants him to be her first - and they start tossing on the bed as the episode wraps. Oh, Annie - you're so gonna wish you had given it up to Ethan instead.

Melrose Place counterpoint: You saw it coming: Lauren and David finally kiss! David's actually a standup guy this episode by taking care of Noah, but his speech to Lauren about how he wants her to see the best in him was unexpected - and welcome, in my opinion. Lauren of course is hesitant due to her call girl lifestyle, which David still doesn't know about. I just hope they don't let that hold her back too long, so we can explore these two as a couple.

This is tough one to call, since neither show packed a ton of drama, relatively speaking. I'm going to go with Melrose Place though, since we find Auggie's blood on the murder weapon, Ella propositioning Jonah, and David and Lauren locking lips. But would you argue for 90210 instead? I'll agree that it did include some pretty nasty lines, and obviously Silver's storyline with her mom carries some weight.

Let me know your pick in the comments, then head over to the 90210 Superfans group in the Buzz Community to discuss the show in more detail.

Photos courtesy of The CW

Buzz Interview With the Cast of Precious, Part 3: Gabourey Sidibe

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:00 -0800

Precious begins rolling out in theaters this Friday, and we'll finally see if it lives up to its Oscar hype. One performance that the Academy will definitely be talking about comes from newcomer Gabby Sidibe, who carries the film as the title character.

Playing an abused, pregnant teen is the sort of responsibility and heavy subject matter that could make even pros crack under pressure - so how is she coping with her big screen debut? I've already showed you my interviews with Paula Patton and director Lee Daniels, but for this third installment in my Precious series, check out my chat with the actress who already has Oprah and the rest of Hollywood buzzing.

On landing the role: "When I got hired, I was pretty sure it was just a joke. I wasn't an actress - I was a receptionist before this. I was like, there's no way they're interested in me. Since then, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, but this joke has gone pretty far!"
On how she handled the first-time pressure: "I was sure I would look like a complete novice, like I didn't belong there, or that I didn't fit in, but once I got there and saw all the people involved - grips, electric, camera operators - I thought, okay, there are a lot of people whose paychecks are on my back, so I can't spaz out. So immediately all of my nervousness fell away from me, and I had a job to do."

To hear more from Gabby (including her thoughts on Mariah Carey and the Best Actress gossip), read more.

On the award buzz: "It's weird, because I have no idea what it is to be a part of an Oscar-winning film or any kind of accolade-winning film, because this is my first go-around. So I just take every day as a gift! I'm thankful that anyone sees the film and feels something - and if the awards come, they come, or if they don't, they don't. But what I've done so far, I'm absolutely proud of myself."
On working with Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz: "It was insane. They're all people that I absolutely idolize. The first time Lenny Kravitz came on set, I was standing very, very still, and I knew he was around, and I couldn't wait for him to come upstairs. Then he did, and it was like, well, there is Lenny Kravitz. There was nothing to be scared about, because he was very cool. And Mariah, I met her the night before we started shooting. She was like the last to be hired, so we had done most of the movie. I kind of felt like a veteran - Mariah is stepping on to my turf. [laughs]"

On her next project: "It's a Sundance Lab Film [Yelling to the Sky], and it stars Zoe Kravitz. I play a girl who is really loud and obnoxious, the queen of the school. It's really fun because it's so far from Precious - I like playing the bad girl! And the film has a first-time director, Victoria Mahoney, who's a lady. The DP is a female, the camera operator is female, so it's all females. It's empowering in a weird way. I've never been all super feminist, but it's really cool."
On her new career: "It's so weird to have a 'Hollywood career.' I just want to do things that make me happy. There are so many people that I look up to as far as actresses go, but I just want to go as far as I can."

Love her! I'll be keeping a close eye on Gabby when the film opens, especially once award nominations start flowing in. Will you be checking out Precious?

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate and Source