On The 45 Greatest Teen Titles You Have Never Heard of From the Era When They All Mentioned "I," "Me," "You" or Some Other Key Person That Are Not 'Are You There God? It's Me Margaret'
"Anything For A Friend" is the one that immediately springs to mind, as you don't come across many heroes in YA lit named Wallis.
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On The 45 Greatest Teen Titles You Have Never Heard of From the Era When They All Mentioned "I," "Me," "You" or Some Other Key Person That Are Not 'Are You There God? It's Me Margaret'
Nightmares forever with that one. Forever.
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On Tom Cruise Movies In Ascending Order of Tom Cruise's Hotness
The hair really is crucial. And clearly the man can wear a uniform.
I will always have a soft spot for "quintessential 80s soundtrack" Tom Cruise, as well. My brain is now trying to sing "Danger Zone" and "Kokomo" at the same time as a result of this list, and I'm not mad about it.
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On In Praise of 'Batman Forever'
People tend to forget how campy the Burton films actually are, though I think you are correct in that the full-on 60s kitsch factor doesn't really kick in until Batman & Robin.
I also think, in some ways, that Batman Forever might have been somewhat influenced by Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, which came out 5 years earlier. Same embrace of the camp factor of its villains, same emphasis on bright colors, though Tracy was shot through bright reds and blues, as opposed to neon green. And Sondheim/Madonna on the soundtrack as opposed to u2, but a similar attempt to package the soundtrack and film as a pop culture experience of sorts. (And the posters were great, too!)
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On Sleigh Bells, "Treats"
Yes. Definite shades of Miki/Emma in that one.
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On American Idol: The Fascism of Tweens and the Case for Monarchy
But isn't there some sort of family compliance in that, in terms of who is paying for those texts? Maybe the tweens are just the technological reps for the entire family's candidate (being that AI is still a "family-friendly" show), like the whole family watches together, picks a team, and the tween gets to text 85 times because Mom & Dad say it's okay (and they can't be bothered with all that stuff). Someone like Archuleta, for example, would probably be a kid-tested, Mom & Dad approved text-a-thon candidate in terms of being a contestant that fits the teen idol/good clean fun conservative household model, no?
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On American Idol: The Fascism of Tweens and the Case for Monarchy
Ah yes, but then, of course, they will turn on the very winner they selected, and claim the runner-up (or 4th runner-up) as their true favorite, the one who was "robbed," and they will rally and rebel against the winner, as the winner represents something average and universal and, worst of all, ordinary, in terms of being something everyone likes.
So, like most tweens do, they will seek out/support the "alternative," which is the "misunderstood" or "underrated" runner-up (Team Jacob syndrome, I guess?), and he/she shall be their true hero in the end, or at least until they forget all about all of these people when the new crop of maybe-stars comes along.
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On The Oscar Announcements: It Is Here! With SHOCKERS
Sam Rockwell was so, so good. It was actually my favorite movie of last year.
I think he's destined to be one of those dudes who turns in Oscar-worthy performances for 25 years before anyone notices, though.
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On What Is The Deal With: Ke$ha?
I think she's a bit closer to early Pink than to Britney or Christina, though, in that both Britney and Christina were all about the "Lolita/I just want to be your girlfriend" biz and Pink, who was about Ke$ha's age when she broke through, had the "fuck you, I'll do what I want" dance songs presented under a slightly punked out but still fairly glossy pop exterior.
Also, I think Pink used to go by P!nk, so they have that in common, too, I guess.
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On The 13 Most Awkwardly Altered Lyrics On "Kidz Bop 18"
#9 is totally dirtier in the revised version. Like a dropped verse from Next's boner-on-the-dance-floor opus, "Too Close," or some such.