I happened to catch Lady GaGa’s new video Bad Romance
or shall I say Nemiroff’s Vodka new video?

I had to both laugh and cringe at the story behind her video and the rampant amount of product placement.

By the looks of this video, it seems like Nemiroff Vodka (which you can see about seven times in the video) is the winner of the “most shoved in your face award” hands down.

The video not not only shows the Lex Nemiroff bottles repeatedly, they show people drinking glasses of clear liquid which is supposed to insinuate drinking the vodka. They also show someone pouring it into a glass, and also forcing a glass of clear liquid down GaGa’s throat. 

Nemiroff Vodka is not only being shoved down GaGa’s throat in the video, but GaGa chose to shove it down her fan’s throats.

Then there is the story behind the video, that can be very questionable to certain audiences. Doesn’t GaGa have an awful lot of young fans? Was booze, kidnapping and sex slaves the right direction to go with this video? We will get to that in a bit.

The product placement is EVERYWHERE in this video.

In the beginning of the video, once you get past the first picture of the Nemiroff Vodka bottle, there is a group shot of the “cast” in the video and right up front on either side of GaGa is a Parrot by Starck pair of black funnel tower speakers with an iPod or iPhone perched on top on the left speaker.

Then you can see GaGa’s mesh covered finger push the button on a Parrot by Starck iPod speaker. Parrot by Starck was designed by French product designer Philippe Starck (although the real product name is “Zimku”). It is a $1,600 sound system for an iPhone or iPod.

We then move on to GaGa wearing a pair of her very own silver Lady Gaga Heartbeats head phones in the bath tub scene. These will set you back $100.00 and of course, they’re available on her website.

Then THREE times you see GaGa wearing a pair of white “Safari” sunglasses by Carrera.

And last but not least, there is the HP Envy Beats Limited Edition laptop and headphones by Monster. There is a whole row of these laptops to show the “sex slave bidding” results in the video’s story. The laptop logo was very prevalent. A real bargain at $2,500. 

Also making an appearance, was a Wii controller a couple of times which was used to bid on GaGa the sex slave by the bidding Russian mafia men. Wonder how Wii weighs in on what their controller was used for?

Now there are a few smaller product placements in the video, but they are not as visible. There are gold aluminum cans in the beginning of the video on the floor and some of the “actors” are holding them. Maybe someone knows what they are? 

There are also plastic bottles of a red “drink” on the tables which are seen several times. It also shows one the “actors” drinking one of these bottles. Looks like Vitamin Water (acai blueberry) to me, but the name is not visible. I guess they didn’t pay enough moolah for their name to be visible in the video. Funny they showed people pouring vodka, made it look like people were drinking vodka, but put no emphasis on the Vitamin Water.

They showed SO much vodka in this video, I was kind of shocked. Even though you don’t actually see the word vodka on the bottle, I still think it was a big mistake. Gaga has a lot of young fans, what kind of message does this send? In one of her earlier videos,LoveGame, it shows people drinking Campari on the subway. Again, more booze placement.

I know many other artists do this too. Rappers show a lot of crap they shouldn’t be showing when it comes to excessive behavior and demeaning women, but this video wins the award for booze placement.

This new video is definitely Lady GaGa’s style in all her wackiness and her “edgy” shenanigans. One of the things I did like about this video, was the scene with the floating crystals around her, I thought that was pretty darn cool.

Now the premise behind the video according to Wikipedia:

“Gaga is kidnapped by a group of supermodels who drug her and then sell her off to the Russian mafia for sex slavery.”

The Russian mafia? OH! That’s where the Nemirfoff Vodka ties in — their bottles state it’s a product of the Ukraine.

Lovely story for young fans, isn’t it? Hello sexual degradation…your table it waiting!

Lady GaGa believes that the opening scene with her wearing a pair of razor blade glasses “portrays a tough female spirit.”  I didn’t really pick that up from that scene.

I guess the “tough female spirit” is then squashed with the rest of the video’s story:

“Two women pull her out of a bathtub, rip her clothes off and force her to drink a glass of vodka. As the second verse begins, Gaga seductively dances for a group of men bidding on her. She straddles one of the men and performs somewhat of a lap dance on him.

Afterwards, he raises his bid and becomes the highest bidder for Gaga. When the chorus is played for the third time, Gaga is shown wearing a jacket made of a polar bear hide. She walks toward the man, who is sitting on a bed, unbuttoning his shirt. Gaga has a look of indifference on her face and removes her jacket and sunglasses.

Suddenly, the bed spontaneously combusted with the man still sitting on it. The video ends with Gaga laying beside a smoldering skeleton on top of the destroyed bed with ashes everywhere. She smokes a cigarette, while her pyrotechnic bra goes off”

The Russian Mafia Bidding Scene

Ok, I am not a fan of censorship, but again, she has MANY young fans. Between all the vodka drinking and sex-slave bidding…is this the message GaGa wanted to send? FYI.. Her website sells Lady GaGa back to school supplies.

There was a comment left on her website by a women who said her daughter loved the video so much that she watched it 100 times. Now I know it is up to the parent to police their kids, and I don’t know how old this girl was, but it’s close to impossible to watch your kids 24/7.

But wait, there’s more…

Looks like Tawny Kitaen just can’t stay out of trouble.

Tawny aka Julie “Tawny” Kitaen starred in Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks back in 1984. She was also in a movie that she is probably not too proud of called The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak  aka Gwendoline in 1985 and then a horror flick, Witchboard in 1986.
Gwendoline was about:

” a 1985 erotic adventure based on a French comic strip. Stowing away on a China-bound freighter to search for her long-lost father, virginal Gwendoline (Kitaen) ends up in the clutches of randy sailors — till a daring adventurer (Brent Huff) saves her. Heading upriver to find Gwen’s dad, they soon crosses paths with the female warriors of the Yik Yak tribe.”

Wow! How she was able to get any work after that movie is pretty amazing. 

Tawny is most famous for her romp atop the hood of a jag in a video for Whitesnake. For all you youngins’ out there… Whitesnake was a big hair rock band back in the 1980’s.

The video she starred in was for their song “Here I Go Again” sung by her ex HUSBAND, lead singer. David Coverdale. (ick… sorry, he always grossed me out)
For a blast from the past, click here to watch a fuzzy version of her friskyvideo that guys are stil talking about today.

Her marriage to Coverdale only lasted a few years. And six years later in 1997, she married St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, Chuck Finley. They had two children Wynter and Raine.

Earlier Picture Of Much Happier Times

But trouble came knocking again when Tawny was arrested for beating Finely with one of her stiletto heels while he was driving and she was on the passenger seat.  MEOW!
Yeah, I know all the guys out there are probably thinking that sounds crazy sexy and hot. But sorry guys, it’s just crazy. And that little tiff could have killed the both of them.

Needless to say, three days later and not surprisingly, Finely filed for a divorce, which ended their five year marriage. And it’s also when the custody battle started for their kids.

Tawny continued her spiral down with continuing her addiction to drugs and alcohol. She starred in the sixth edition of Surreal Life and I remember watching that show. She really came off as quite the whack job. It was evident that she was high as a kite on that show. (well to me anyways)

She continued her reality show career on a stint with Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. I also watched this show.

Tawny with Dr. Drew

She was totally different on this show compared to her behavior on the Surreal Life. I thought she was doing pretty good, by the end of the show and she also “graduated”. (of course we all know to take these shows with a grain of salt and that the reality part of these shows is pretty slim)

On VH1’s Celebrity Rehab website , it read:

 Tawny thanked fellow rehabbers for giving her hope, and friendship, something she really hasn’t had in the past.

I wonder what ex husband Finely thought about that statement?

Tawny then went on to an outpatient program in Newport Beach, so that she can be close to her family. Sure glad that she didn’t pick to go Scientology’s phony Narconon program and I hope she never does. Why am I mentioning Scientology? Because Scientology pounced on another rehabber from the show, Jeff Conoway when he left the show early.

Thanks to fellow Grease star, John Travolta. Travolta gave Conoway a whole library of Scientology books and the service of a Scientology ”auditor” who visited Conoway almost every day. Out of the pan and into the fire I say. Shame on Travolta for getting Conoway mixed up in the cult. Just utterly sickening.

Even though Conoway may have been tricked into thinking that Scientology actually helped him kick his addiction, their success rate for helping drug addiction through their Purification Rundown is actually like 6%. Not the trumped up numbers they lie about.

I haven’t heard anything further on Conoway and Scientology. I hope he dumped them like a lead balloon and finds some REAL help and without the cameras rolling this time.

Let’s hope the Scientology vultures keep their mitts off Tawny, as she would be the perfect candidate with her rocky past, her fragile state of mind and her addictions. Which to Scientology…Tawny would be “fresh meat” and prime for the picking.

So what is going on with Tawny now?
Well that brings us up to her latest escapade of getting pulled over for alleged  *snicker* DUI.

Eonline wrote:

Better get Dr. Drew on the phone.

Celebrity Rehab alum Tawny Kitaen was taken into custody Saturday afternoon near John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The 48-year-old former actress/reality star allegedly “made contact with officers after operating a vehicle while under the influence,” according to Sgt. Shontel Sherwood of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Kitaen, who has also appeared on VH1’s The Surreal Life, was busted in 2006 on drug possession charges, after police found 15 grams of cocaine in her San Juan Capistrano apartment.

The Whitesnake music video babe struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which they agreed to drop the felony drug charges after she completed a drug treatment program.

Geez Tawny!
Two failed marriages, drug addiction, alcohol problems, busted for felony drug possession and two rehab failures. Yikes! Aren’t you done yet?

So I wasn’t too surprised when I saw that the LA Times reported this past March that she put up her house up for sale in Newport Beach with an asking price is $3.45 million. *shakes head*

Egad Tawny!
Get your sh*t together! You have two kids!
You have obviously ignored several GIANT wake up calls.
Save what’s left of your life and got off that roller coaster before you become a statistic.

If not for you, then do it for your two kids who deserve to have their Mom be there for them.

Well, well looks like Bobby Brown has packed on the pounds. Bobby
and his double chin will be sweating it out on “Celebrity Fit Club” scheduled to air in 2010.

According to TMZ, he will be joined by cast members from “High School Musical”, “Baywatch” and “The Practice,” which will include Shar Jackson, Nicole Eggert, Tanisha Thomas, Casey Stroh, and Michael Badalucco. Is this the best Celebrity Fit Club can come up with?

I wonder if Bobby, who has always been tough to handle (to say the least) will succumb to the grueling boot camp and all the rules of “Celebrity Fit Club.” Many “stars” *cough* before him, like for instance Dustin (a-hole) Diamond aka “Screech” of “Saved By The Bell” fame, did not fair too well and had too much of an attitude to be on the show and ended up leaving.

Bobby’s track record of being an abusive crack smoking husband 
married to Whitney Houston (although she is not innocent by any means) certainly has crushed his popularity over the years.

Bobby better decide if he still wants to use his “My Prerogative” attitude or man up and stay on the show.

I happen to catch Bobby on D.L. Hughley’s show one night, and he sang My Prerogative, (it WAS a kick ass dance song) or I should say, he attempted to sing it. It was SO bad, it was painful to hear. His years of drug abuse, alcoholism and cigarettes really reeked havoc on his voice. It was totally shot. Don’t get me wrong, I do not have one smidgen of sympathy for this man.

His years or partying, abuse and just being an all around IDIOT have really caught up to him.

A Young Bobby Brown Back In  The Day

It's anyone's bet whether or not Brown will show up on "Celebrity Fit Club." The man can not seem to stay out of trouble. After all... he has been juggling living at two different homes over the years. *snicker*

But then again, ”reality” tv shows have to film their shows way in advance, so maybe this show has already wrapped?  Who knows. I just may have to tune into Celebrity Fit Club this time around, just to see Bobby sweating his butt off and being told what to do.

Will Whitney be at home watching with a big tub of popcorn? I only hope she will be tickled silly over getting to see a little pay back 
served up to Brown, rather than her cheering him on, because I never want to see Whitney, or anyone for that matter, looking like this again.

Crack is Definitely Whack!

To be fair, Bobby wasn’t all to blame for their insane relationship. It takes two to tango don’t forget. (geez! I sound like my Dad)
They were total partners in crime. And she should have left long ago. And of course Brown has always said that he never did cocaine before Whitney came along. HIS WORDS. Yeah ok.

I just know that I saw Whitney go from a vibrant and beautiful singer to an abused and skinny drug abuser after the two of them hooked up.

Their reality show they did together, “Being Bobby Brown” was short lived and a disaster, and Whitney ended up paying a huge price for standing by her man.

Now I was never a Whitney Houston fan, “I Will Always Love You,” has always pierced my brain, but she does have a beautiful voice. Even though her music is not my style, I do hope her recovery continues and that “The Voice” is able to get more of it back.

Her recent appearance singing on “Good Morning America” in Central Park and her talk with Oprah had her fans out in droves. Houston’s interview with Oprah was a far cry from her raspy voiced  interview with Diane Sawyer on Prime Time  (part 1) back in 2002, which is where her infamous “crack Is whack” quote came from. It was beyond obvious that she was in much denial, and very defensive. And Here is Part 2 of the interview, where she talks about her past missed appearances, drugs and actual footage of their marriage to Brown along with their 800 guests in her $40,000 wedding gown. 

In that interview, Whitney and Bobby were already married for 10 years and at that time she said she didn’t want to let go of Brown. I am just glad, as well as her fans, she finally did let go of him.
Bobby ends up joining the interview later on and denied he ever hit her and he said he was diagnosed as being bi-polar and denied all other drug use except smoking pot. *snicker* (Here are parts 3, 4, and 5 of that  2002 interview  if you are interested.)

Whitney’s recent interview with Oprah was like night and day in comparison to the interview with Diane Sawyer back in 2002. She looked like Whitney again. Finally Whitney came clean about the drug abuse, Bobby’s physical abuse and his infidelity and how her mother saved her life with an intervention and valiantly had Whitney removed from her house and forced her into rehab. Thank you Mom!

Her recent performance on GMA in Central Park definitely showed how much her voice has suffered from years of ”partying” and it was quite obvious that she wasn’t able to sing all the parts of the song and she seemed quite winded.

Rumors have it that ABC “digitally sweetened” her songs as reported by Gawker. But  it didn’t matter to her fans one iota, who seemed very elated to see her and were there to support her. Whitney is very fortunate that so many of her fans have never left her side.

Now back to Bobby…

Bobby’s fans? He has never had anywhere near as many as Whitney to begin with, and the ones he had, I think have totally given up on him for the most part. Partly because he has dropped out of the music scene long ago and because people blamed Bobby for ruining Whitney’s life. 

The man has always been his own demise. So your guess is as good as mine as to what the future will hold for him. My gut feeling is that he isn’t done abusing himself or others and he may stay clean for a while, but I don’t know how long that will last.

He is destined for a meeting with karma somewhere down the line, and he’s the only one who can change that.

Rumors have been circulating lately about the gender or shall I say the genders of Lady GaGa. Many people thought that The Princess of Pop (yeessh) is a hermaphrodite. For those of you who do not know what a hermaphrodite is, it is a person born with both male and female genitalia.

The picture that had everyone a-buzz, is the one below. It clearly shows a “bulge” of some sort in the crotch region.

People were wondering, if this was carefully placed “package” for shock value for her career? Or a photo-shopped picture? Or is Lady (I use the term lightly) more than just a lady?

Well Lady finally came forward and put an end to the rumors and said that “she was not offended, but her beautiful vagina was very offended”.  Thank God that is cleared up, I will no longer have sleepless nights. *snicker*

Wait….what did she say? Her beautiful vagina? Who the hell talks publicly (or at all for that matter) about having a beautiful vagina? (with the exception of the Vagina Monologues)
Wow!  Talk about being totally full of themselves.

The Examiner.com reported:

Since the hermaphrodite rumors started circling around Lady Gaga back in August, the singer has kept quiet about whether or not she has both parts.

Lady Gaga reportedly told an Australian radio station, “My beautiful vagina is very offended. I’m not offended; my vagina is offended. I’m not embarrassed. I sold four million records in six months; I’m not embarrassed about anything. I think this is society’s reaction to a strong woman.”

“The idea that we equate strength with men and a penis is a symbol of male strength, you know, it is what it is. But like I said,” the dance-pop diva reiterated, “I am not offended at all, but my vagina might be a little bit upset,” she added.

The singer has been flaunting her naked body in various magazines since the rumors began, hoping to disprove that she may have both man and lady parts, but we all know what a little Photoshop can do.

What do you think? Is Lady Gaga telling the truth or just deny, deny, denying?

My reply? Who gives a damn? Sorry, I could care less what she’s packing, and besides, what’s the difference? Are people saying if GaGa was a hermaphrodite that they wouldn’t be fans any more? Why, can’t a hermaphrodite be a diva too?

This story oddly peaked my interest and I decided to look more into GaGa’s music, since I wasn’t too familiar with it, and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. What I discovered wasn’t much. I found an ok looking gal who loves to dress in kooky outfits and writes some really lousy songs.

GaGa is going the ol’ shock diva route because she basically needs those costumes and stage performances to hide her lack of talent. Her audience needs a lot of distractions. And now that she has a following, he crappy songs wont’ matter as much.
 
Her voice and song style comes pretty close to Madonnas, although Madonna’s songs were better written. Now I am not a fan of Madonna’s either, but nobody can deny that when Madonna blew up big in the 80’s that she was at least original and her songs were much better than GaGa’s. 

I have to say, that some of GaGa’s outfits are very cool, I will at least give her that. I love the way she sometimes meshes a vintage look with wackiness and forms some pretty outrageous get-ups. BUT…is that it? Yes, that’s it.

Let’s not forget this has been done a hundred times over in the music biz, and way before she strapped on that bubble suit for the cover of Rolling Stone.

Performers have been making names for themselves via shock for years. Way back when, Liberace was one of the first shockers and was the king of outlandish outfits. He was one of the first pioneers of  “putting on the dog“.

Although Liberace’s voice was far from good, he did play a mean piano. And look at Elton John, who started out as sort of a meek country bumpkin and ended up going all Liberace on everyone, once fame came knocking on his door.

Elton was not only an elaborate dresser, but he had quite the collection of outrageous glasses, which became a signature for him. So was Elton copying Liberace? It really didn’t matter, because he can sing and play piano to boot.

There was David Bowie who dressed up as Zigggy Stardust, and Cyndi Lauper who started an entire fashion craze with her gobs of costume jewelry, and her poofy crinoline slips.

But again like Elton, this girl can sing.

Take the band Kiss for instance, who was popular in the 1970’s. They rose up in the ranks due to their alter ego wild costumes, pyrotechnics on stage and Gene Simmons spewing blood and wiggling that long snake of a tongue. It was freaky to see a band dressed like that with full face paint back  in the 1970’s, and it was very innovative. (I was never a Kiss fan though, I think their movie ruined it for me *snicker*) But they did have some talent to back up their look.

Alice Copper, another unusual performer, used to hang himself on stage complete with an entire gallows set up on stage. He also would whip bloody plastic baby dolls on stage during his Dead Babies song… but again…Cooper had the talent to rock the house.

Let’s not forget Dee Snyder in Twisted Sister, ok… never mind, we can forget that one.

(Just have to mention, and way off topic, but I think Christina Aguilera definitely stole Dee’s look when she did the video for Moulin Rouge).

And what about Boy George? He started out rather tame with Culture Club (well sort of) and then showed up in an airport one day dressed like a Geisha girl, and got more outrageous from there. But nobody can deny that the man possessed decent set of pipes on him. We won’t get into where he is today.

Back to Madonna…
But wait, there’s more…

Here we go again.
It has been announced that the remake of the Beatles classic Yellow Submarine is in the works.Why or why do they insist on taking classics and and trashing them? Didn’t they learn their lesson with Willy Wonka, The Whiz, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Charlotte’s Web? (just to name a few classics).

Yellow Submarine was magic on the screen back in 1968. Imagine how it looked to a generation that was used to seeing black and white television and experiencing the whole “make love not war” movement. It was also the year that Martin Luther King was assassinated. The movie came out at a time of great civil unrest, and it was a hit I mean a ray of yellow sunshine. *snicker*

In the movie, the playful rhymes of  the charachter Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD. (he was my favorite) pretty much summed up the premise behind Yellow Submarine, “Peace! Peace! Supplant the doom and the gloom! Turn off what is sour! Turn into a flower and BLOOM! BLOOM! BLOOM”

To me, Yellow Submarine was more than just a trippy animated flick. It was part of an entire movement of peace and love. Beatles classic songs like Nowhere Man and All You Need Is Love melded together with trippy animation into a sensory overload of psychedelic yumminess which was loved by many young and old.

But Yellow Submarine was not loved by all and many considered it just a drugged out cartoon. Take for instance this scathing review  (<<<click on the link) of  Yellow Submarine when it was re-released in 1999. The review was entitled “ Take a psychedelic journey to Nowhere land with the Beatles & the Nowhere Man where you’ll find nothing too pleasing without the help from your friends.” Needless to say of course I disagreed with that interview.

The original Yellow Submarine took two years to make, by 40 animators and 140 technical artists and had 14 different scripts. Now I know by today’s standards, those methods are now obsolete, and technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but I am not too privy of someone taking this classic and making it into a modern day mess either.

Sadly, Disney is doing the remake. Now don’t even get me started on Disney, with it’s mass marketing of clothing and toys made in their GLOBAL sweat shops, and other things I don’t care to get into. I just ask you to please do your homework before you support them!
Disney is also pairing up with Rob Zemeckis for this remake.

Now granted Zemeckis has some big  and successful films under his belt, he also did two movies that I just totally despise which were Forest Gump and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Two of the most annoying movies I ever had the displeasure of watching. Save me all the Forest Gump love  fest comments which I am sure I will get. I HATED the movie with a passion and had trouble getting through the whole thing and almost walked out. And if I hear “life is just like a box of chocolates” in that HORRIBLE fake accent that Hanks did one more time, I swear I am going to get the screaming Blue Meanies out.

In Yellow Submarine, the Captain of the Blue Meanies says to ”glove”, “A thing of beauty; destroy it forever!”

Is Disney going to be Yellow Submarine’s ”glove”?

Of course I know the original can never be destroyed. But sometimes another thing occurs when movies are remade. The younger audience thinks that the remake is the first one that was ever made and tend to think the real original is crap. This also happens with music today and it drives me totally NUTS! Grrrrrr! And no, Limp Bizkit was not the originator of the song ”Behind Blue Eyes“. Geez!

A lot of younger people also think if the movie is not in their face with special effects, then it just plain stinks. Perhaps that’s why Disney is going with 3-D animation to inhance it a much as posisble.

But…Disney has yet to acquire the rights to the Beatles songs thus far and one has to wonder if Michael Jackson’s recent death has anything to do with acquiring these songs.Why? Jackson’s estate happens to include the 4,000 song catalogue of  Beatle’s music which he purchased for 47.5 million back in 1985. But keep in mind, he owns the publishing rights for the songs. There is a difference in owning the publsihing rights and the performance rights. For a full explanation go here.  

A bit of history with Jackson and Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. Jackson worked with McCartney on the song  Say Say Say and they did a video together for the song in 1984. Jackson also did The Girl Is Mine with McCartney in 1982. ( I won’t comment on the title or lyrics of that song, it’s just too easy).

Jackson was ironically advised by Paul McCartney. Sir Paul told Jackson more or less that buying music was a sound and lucrative investment. This advice was prior to the 1985 auction of the Beatles catalogue of songs. Jackson took Sir Paul’s advice and outbid both Paul McCartney AND John Lennon’s widow,Yoko Ono! 
Hey all you Jackson fans out there, how can you justify this dastardly move by Jackson? Huh?

Sir Paul and Yoko must have been a tad hot under the collar to say the least. If Jackson had any scruples, ESPECIALLY for the fact that he was also in the music industry, he would of let McCartney keep the publishing rights to his own songs that HE wrote with Lennon and not outbid him in the first place. But then again who knows what McCartney would of done with the songs either. Or even Yoko for that  matter. Maybe it was a good thing that Sir Paul didn’t get the songs? Sir Paul’s ex-wife, the money grubbing Heather Mills, never signed a pre-nup and the songs  may have ended up as being partly hers. GASP!
That money grubbing biotch got WAY too much from Sir Paul as far as I am concerned. At least she is out of the picture now. But when will you ever learn Sir Paul?

So what has happened with some of these songs over the years? Let’s jump back to the 1987 Nike commercial using the Beatles Revolution song. Capital Records owed the performance rights and was paid $250,000. Michael Jackson owned the publishing rights, (meaning use of the words and music) and he was paid for use of the song. Which was later followed by others like All You You Need is Love, which was used for a Luv’s Diaper commercial, and a version of the Beatles song Help, which was used in a car commercial in 1985 . Son Julian Lennon, son of John, lent his voice to When I’m 64 for an Allstate commercial and  let’s not forget Target’s use of Hello- Goodbye for their TV commercials. Egad!

The Beatles song collection saga continued on….. and in 1995, Sony paid Jackson 95 million and merged with ATV, to form Sony/ATV Publishing which was a 50/50 joint venture. So it is probably safe to say that Jackson’s estate includes HALF of the publishing rights to the Beatles songs. 

But there may be a silver lining in this dark cloud, well sort of.
Supposedly Jackson left the 4,000 Beatles songs to McCartney in his will. Rumor has it that Jackson felt remorse about his failed relationship with Sir Paul, and thought this was a way to make amends. Too bad Jackson didn’t do this YEARS ago, so he could of actually made amends in person with Sir Paul, rather than from the grave. So Sir Paul may end up with the publsihing rights to half of his own songs in the end. Just plain sad. *shakes head* But I guess it is better than nothing.
Sadly, Sony/ATV doesn’t need permission from surviving Beatles or heirs to license the songs. Damn you Jackson! And Damn you Sony!
So it’s still up in the air as to whether this remake of Yellow Submarine will eventually get the rights to use these songs.

So getting back to this movie remake.
The NY Times called the original a 2-D CARTOON and they also mentioned two of the movies I despise by Zemeckis.
From the NY Times :

More than 40 years after Old Fred fired up the titular vehicle of “Yellow Submarine” and used it to round up four Liverpool lads who would defend Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, Disney is preparing a remake of the Beatles’ 1968 animated movie, Variety reported.

The original film was a traditional (if thoroughly trippy) 2-D cartoon directed by George Dunning and designed by Heinz Edelmann, in which the Beatles appeared only in a live-action segment tacked on at the end. The planned remake, to be directed by Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), will be a 3-D animated feature that would use the performance-capture technology seen in Mr. Zemeckis’s “Beowulf” and his coming remake of “A Christmas Carol.”

The Variety report said that Disney was still seeking to obtain rights to the Beatles songs used in the original “Yellow Submarine” film, including the title song and tracks like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The remake is being planned for a 2012 release.

No casting was announced for the motion-capture remake, though the project does call to mind Paul McCartney’s recent remarks to Daniel Radosh in The New York Times Magazine: “In 10 years’ time you’ll be standing there, and you will be Paul McCartney. You know that, don’t you?”

Fact: Many people didn’t realize that the voices used in the original Yellow Submarine where not those of the actual Beatles. I never knew that myself. The Beatles only appeared at the very end of the movie as themselves.

Yellow Submarine had it’s fair share of merchandising back in the day to say the least, and it continues today. The Beatles had more merchandise than any other band in history. There were Yellow Submarine pop up books, calenders, Blue Meanie Halloween costumes, Goebel figurines and even Huffy Bikes jumped on the YS band wagon in 1968 and came out with a girls YS yellow bicycle complete with movie graphics right on the seat which I found on a Beatles memorabilia website.

Of course all this stuff had a huge resurgence in 1999 when they re-released the movie for the 30thyear Anniversary. Today you can still buy Yellow Submarine merchandise in all shapes and forms from neck ties to purses, to t-shirts to wallies to stick on your walls. They also came out with new YS Beatles figurines in the 90’s and again in 2000. Even the Cirque du Soleil has a show called LOVE dedicated to the music of the Beatles. I am sure Disney will jump on the merchandising band wagon and will have their little workers slaving away making sure that there is enough Yellow Submarine Onesies and Jeremy Hillary Boob lunch boxes. And don’t forget Yellow Submarine Happy Meals complete with plastic figures which will end up in landfills and stay there for all eternity. Oh wait that s right, Disney dumped McDonald’s back in 2006. Maybe Burger King then? *snicker*

OK, I know I am being cynical, and maybe I am too sentimental about movies being remade and the “old days”. So I decided to check myself, and I went through the list of movie remakes on Wikipedia, but I still found myself rooting for the original versions. Even really early movies like Mighty Joe Young which came out in 1949. I still found myself favoring the original over the remake. (ironically Disney did a remake and they also did  an animated version of course, they make me sick).

Films like Little Shop Of Horrors? DEFINITELY the original. Who can deny the greatness of the cameo by a very young and loony Jack Nicholson in the original? You can’t.
Even though some of these original movies were sheer cornball and the filming techniques were primitive, but that was part of what made the originals so great. They had a lot less to work with back then, but yet the movies were still phenomenal.

That is why I wish they would just leave the classics alone. You can’t reproduce living in the era when these original movies came out or the way people felt when they first saw the original Yellow Submarine. Many people may be annoyed by the remaking of Yellow Submarine. And I can’t speak for the hard core Beatles buffs. Maybe some will be unhappy and some will embrace the new movie with the hopes of a whole new generation of yougins’ buying Beatles music once again and helping to continue the Beatles legacy. I myself do not support Disney, so I will not be catching this particular flick.

But at the very least, let’s just hope that this new release does the original Yellow Submarine some justice and more importantly let’s hope it sends the same message as the original.
Which of course was:

Yep! George Michael is at it again! He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and smashed his car.
Little did George know that back in the day when he named his group Wham, that it would come to mean the sound his car makes every time he plows into something. Don’t forget in 2006, he was found slumped over the steering wheel of his car in London. And months prior, he hit three parked cars in a parking lot. George blamed the episode on being a terrible driver. Umkay…. George.
etonline reported:

Music star George Michael was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after being involved in a car crash in England, says the BBC.

The news agency says the 46-year-old singer’s Land Rover and another vehicle collided, and police say Michael was arrested at the scene of the incident. After being held for five hours and questioned, he was released from police custody without charge.

In 2007, Michael pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs and consequently wasn’t allowed to drive for two years, says the BBC.

He was held for five hours and released without charge? WTF?
Who the hell keeps giving this guy back his car keys? Once again, another case of famous people getting preferential treatment?
YES! When is this going to stop? When he plows into a car full of kids?
I guess the message from his vintage Wham video where he sports a ”Choose Life” shirt kind of contradicts his life style today?
Oh irony! Your table is waiting!

So if the law will not do anything about George’s drunken “car-capades,” then I hold them responsible too.
Hey law officials! 
You are the ones who should let George Choose Life  by taking his car keys away and demand some jail time and rehab. You should wake up before you let George Michael go-go anywhere else before he hurts someone!

I have a serious case of the sads (hattip MK at Dlisted) today upon learning the man who defined my youth on film has gone to the great big movie screen in the sky.

John Hughes, responsible for some of the greatest movies ever made in the 80’s, died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 59. Oddly, we’ve recently embarked on a journey of his films, including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, Breakfast Club, National Lampoon’s Vacation (the whole series), and Home Alone (1 and 2). This list is merely touching the surface of the films Hughes was responsible for either writing, directing or producing.

John Hughes single-handedly made Molly Ringwald a household name, and quite honestly, no other filmmaker has come close to capturing the teen-angst of Generation X better than he did.

John began his career writing for the parody magazine National Lampoon (responsible for the great Animal House — another one of my favorite movies – though Hughes was not involved in that film.) Specifically, I am most fond of Pretty In Pink, which pretty much summed up my one and only major heartbreak in high school (except mine didn’t end happily ever after) and for that, I will forever be in debt to Mr. Hughes.

Here’s more on the legend from the LATimes:

Filmmaker John Hughes burned brightest in the ’80s, when he defined teen angst in terms of the caste system of the suburban high school experience, a thread that others would pick up again and again.

His films were talky, in a good way. Like the kids whose stories he was telling, he let them ramble. Teen self-absorption was treated with reverence, not ridicule. The world might make fun of them, their classmates, their brothers and sisters too, but never John Hughes.

And a generation of kids and future filmmakers like Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow embraced it.

Hughes, who died Thursday at age 59, was fascinated with the human as outsider. Outsiders like “Pretty in Pink’s” Molly Ringwald who just wanted to fit in. And outsiders who couldn’t care less: Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller on his legendary day off, Judd Nelson’s not quite broken Bender in “The Breakfast Club,” Anthony Michael Hall’s martini-mixing geek in “Sixteen Candles,” all members of the players club before they were 17.

But Hughes’ outsiders lived in a different part of town than, say, Francis Ford Coppola’s gritty, wrong side of the tracks “The Outsiders.” Hughes outsiders were white, comfortably middle-class and probably from one of Chicago’s affluent suburbs, where he grew up and returned in the ’90s when he’d had his fill of Hollywood. Things were only slightly sad or bad in his films, there were no serious train wrecks — only feelings got hurt, and the endings were usually happy ones.

He reflected a very specific slice of Americana that like many, I understood. A pop culture filmmaker adored in the heartland, he knew how to hit all the light notes – an easy sentimentality, a measured angst, an outrageous sense of fun. His was a spoon-full-of-sugar kind of filmmaking that was often exactly what I wanted, if not what I needed.

The slights that life hands us was one of his favorite playgrounds. Forgotten birthdays, forgotten kids, forgotten families — “Sixteen Candles,” “Home Alone,” “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” — someone was forever being overlooked.

When you’re Ringwald, and a soft, pouty, still awkward 16, it hurts; when you’re an 8-year-old screaming terror embodied by Macaulay Culkin, it’s the best Christmas gift ever; and when you’re John Candy’s middle-aged lonely traveling salesman in a life where nothing, including the suit, fits, it’s tragic.

For a period of time, Hughes was so dominant — certainly in the U.S. where he always played best — that it’s hard to believe that he only directed eight films. He wrote 30 others — the “Home Alones,” most notably — that were produced, 16 of them in the ’80s, 13 in the ’90s, and contributed characters or ideas to a handful of others.

Of all of his films, there are two that will forever be quintessentially Hughes for me: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” absolutely swimming in attitude, which captured brilliantly and irritatingly the kind of cockiness that you envy as a teen, hate as an adult, recognize no matter what age you are, and “The Breakfast Club,” life deconstructed in high school detention, the archetypes and the anxiety playing out in real time.

By “Curly Sue” in 1991, Hughes had apparently tired of fighting battles with studio executives who second-guessed him.

He left Hollywood behind and headed back to the Chicago area, where he would still dabble in the business from a distance.

But really, Hughes was a creature of the ’80s, and if he hadn’t left Hollywood, it was on its way to leaving him.

Comedy took on more of an edge, went raunchier, darker, meaner than Hughes ever could.

In the end, like so many of the characters he created, Hughes had become a cinematic memory stream of another time when things didn’t seem so bad.

I will light 16 candles and remember.

As will I. Honestly, I don’t think any person before or after, captured a cultural phenomenon like that of the 80’s as well as Hughes did, therein lies his genius. And quite frankly, the movie industry has yet to replace Hughes’ unique insight into the teen psyche, and for that, we are a little less rich as a society.

R.I.P John Hughes, thanks for smoothing the edges of my teen years and making them seem almost normal.

Most people may remember John Stamos as Jesse Katsopolis aka Uncle Jesse in the 80’s/90’s TV sitcom Full House. Even fewer people might remember John’s short two-year stint as Blackie Parrish on the soap opera General Hospital. That two year gig was all it took to get the gals interested in Stamos, and he remains a long time heart throb for many.

Full House ran for EIGHT years, (never liked that theme song) with a myriad of actors. They started out with Joey, Jesse, Danny, DJ, Stephanie, Michelle and Comet the Dog.  Later on, many new cast members joined the crew, including  a wife and kids for Uncle Jesse.

To me, this is where Full House took John Stamos’ hunky bad boy image and turned his character into a boring married family man/Elvis lover with twins boys and a sickeningly sweet wife.

Fortunately for fans of John, who stars on ER now as paramedic turned intern, Tony Gates, has finally gotten his sexy back (after a long hiatus). Mercy! As Uncle Jesse used to say.

Has Stamos Found The Fountain Of Youth?

Of course, in his defense, when John was on Full House, he had very TWO very nerdy side kicks which helped to bring Stamos’ hot bad boy image to a screeching halt. Bob Saget and Dave Coulier, aren’t exactly good wing men for looking cool — no disrespect boys.

So what’s John/Jesse up to now? Trying to bring a Full House movie to the big screen apparently.US Magazine writes:

The Tanner family: coming to a big screen near you? John Stamos who played Uncle Jesse on the show from 1987 to 1995, says he’s “working on a movie idea.” Don’t expect Mary-Kate, Ashley Olsen and the original gang back, though.

“It wouldn’t be us playing us,” Stamos tells New York’s Daily News. “I’m not 100 percent sure, but it would probably take place in the first few years [of the sitcom].”

Stamos, who has since starred on ER, has a few actors in mind to play the lead roles. James Franco would be perfect as Uncle Jesse, he says.

“I see Steve Carell as Danny Tanner (originally played by Bob Saget) and Tracy Morgan as Joey Gladstone (originated by Dave Coulier) because he’s funny,” Stamos continues.

And just because recasting the movie doesn’t mean Stamos (a spokesperson for Project Cuddle, a charity to prevent infants from being abandoned) isn’t tight with his former costars.

“We’re all very close,” he said. “I saw Ashley [Olsen] a couple weeks ago. Bob and Dave, I see a lot.”

Many kudos for John and other stars with their involvement with Project Cuddle. Statistics show that 57 babies are abandoned every day. A noble cause by a noble guy.

Now I dont know if John’s picks are the best choices for this movie. Steve Carrell as Danny Tanner? And Tracy Morgan as Joey? I am sure he was joking? I hope he was joking. Nothing against Carrell and Morgan, but I don’t think they fit the parts very well. Unless of course this is to be a spoof movie remake of Full House, which may be kind of hilarious. John are you listening?

Then again, who could of thought that Mall Cop would have banked what it did? Love Kevin James, but Mall Cop sounded like an epic failure waiting to happen.

So with that in mind, maybe John may be laughing all the way to the bank in the near future. He is slated to be awarded a star on the “Hollywood Walk Of Fame” sometime in 2009. This past March he said he will be cast in the upcoming Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie. I think he will be perfect for the part of Conrad Birdie and do a great job with that part!

Rock On Jesse!

So where is the rest of the Full House cast today?

But wait, there’s more…

And here we go again with the remakes!

It has been decided that they are going ahead and remaking Footloose. Why don’t they just leave these movies alone? Many would consider the original Footloose back in 1984, starring Kevin Bacon, a classic. The popular teen movie also starred a young Sarah Jessica Parker and the great Jon Lithgow.

I never considered Footloose a classic myself, but I do like Kevin Bacon, and I think they should just stop remaking these movies and come up with their own friggin’ ideas.

The original movie’s story was about a city kid who moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned. No, it wasn’t filmed in Amish Country in Pennsylvania.

I would think they might have to update the story line a tad to make it relevant to today’s youth. Maybe this one will be about an urban white boy who wants to rap? Oh wait, Eminem already did that.

Chace Crawford of “Gossip Girl” has been tapped to play the part of Ren McCormack, the part made famous by Bacon. Originally High School Musical and Hairspray star Zac Efron was set to play the part, but dropped out of the project, supposedly because he was done acting in musicals. Hmmm….one man’s cheese is another man’s gold I guess.

A better question is, will Kenny Loggins update the theme song of the same name, or will they remake that as well?

Hollywood — destroying my youth one remake at time.

While Chace is certainly a bit more hunky than Bacon, what with his chiseled jaw and classic good looks, I don’t know if he has the dancing chops to fill the role as Bacon did. Bacon did most of the dancing in the original,although he did have a dance-double for the more difficult parts. Which reminds me, how has Bacon managed to avoid “Dancing With The Stars”?

Kevin Bacon in Origial Footloose 1984

Bacon even does a back flip at the school dance. But perhaps the most famous scene for Bacon is the warehouse dance scene. And if you need a refresher on this movie, like I did. Check out the original Movie Trailer.

Back to the remake….

Us Magazine reported:

It’s official! Chace Crawford will star in the Footloose remake, Paramount Pictures confirms to Usmagazine.com exclusively.

“Chace Crawford will play the lead role of Ren McCormack in the film Footloose,” Paramount told Us Tuesday.

The news is expected to be officially announced to trade publications Wednesday morning.

The actor has been considering the part for some time but had yet to officially sign until this week. He had been in contract negotiations and was struggling to make filming work around his Gossip Girl schedule, which is also due to start shooting its third season, a source told Us.

Crawford was offered the lead role of small town bad boy Ren — portrayed in the 1984 original by Kevin Bacon — after Zac Efron dropped out of the project in March.

The High School Musical star said the film “sort of” wasn’t a good fit.

“I want to grow a bit with the types of movies I want to make,” he said in April. “It was more along the lines that I was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical.”

Footloose will be produced and directed by High School Musical alum Kenny Ortega.

Other stars who have auditioned recently for the movie, which is set to begin shooting in March 2010, include Hayden Panettiere, Amanda Bynes and Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Julianne Hough.

Well I am sure all pubescent gals will be drooling over this movie, just like they did High School Musical.

Wonder what Kevin Bacon will think of the movie remake? Well apparently, not too much.

From TopNews back in March:

Kevin Bacon has told Broadway bosses not to offer him a role in the stage revival of his hit movie musical `Footloose’, as he’’s just “not interested”.

“I”m not interested in doing that. They did one, and that’’s enough for me.”

I hear Bacon is a nice guy, plus, he gets major props for keeping his Hollywood marriage to actress Kyra Sedgwick going for the last 21 years — a lifetime in Hollywood years. While Kevin may not be interested in doing any more Footloose interpretations, perhaps he will be curious enough to give this movie the ol’ once over to see if Chace did his part any justice.

Of course, Kevin’s got plenty of his plate to keep him busy, like his rock band, the Bacon Brothers Band and the charity he started called Six Degrees.

The charity is set up so you can basically support your favorite charities by donating or creating fund-raising badges — as well as check out the favorite causes of other people, including celebrities online. 

A little help from Wiki to understand the premise behind the trivia game SixDegrees and the charity:

The charity was named six degrees after the trivia game based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and rests on the assumption that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps.

The game requires a group of players to try to connect any film actor in history to Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible. In 2007, Bacon started a charity named SixDegrees.org. The fantasy author-editor Richard Gilliam devised his Movie Links online game in 1990, and it was played extensively on Genie four years before the quite similar Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game was promoted in 1994. Gilliam’s game was much more difficult in that a player was required to find the shortest number of movies linking actors as diverse as, say, Gloria Swanson and Chris Farley, rather than continual links to the same specific actor.

Pretty darn cool huh? Beat that Chace! For us in the “mature audience” we’ll take the original Footloose any day. No offense Chace!

The lovely Farrah Fawcett, who was voted “Best Looking” in her high school class, had no idea back then, that she would be later posing for the most popular pin up gal poster in history.

Fawcett was a huge sensation in the early 70’s with her golden tresses and pearly whites and wholesome girl-next-door beauty, and before her acting career took off, she made a name for herself starring in TV commercials. Like the sexy one of her and Joe Namath for Noxema cream and also her famous Ulta Brite TV commercials, just to name a very few. 
Faberge, even came out with Farrah Fawcett Shampoo commercial. This commercial featured her HUGE hair, which became all the rage in the 1970’s and was simply known as “The Farrah”.

It wasn’t long until Farrah’s iconic beauty launched her into major stardom with a very sexy, but tastefully done poster of her in a bathing suit with a Indian blanket backdrop. This poster hung on many teen boys’ and college dorm walls world wide and still remains as the most remembered photo of Farrah today and also the top selling “pin up” poster of all time, beating out Betty Grable and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. 

Charlie's Angels Then

Still Gorgeous Years Later

Farrah’s next big shot of stardom, was in 1976, when she landed a part in Aaron Spellings “Charlie’s Angels” as Jill Munroe along with Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson.  Charlie’s Angels action figures were also made and were on every little girl’s Christmas list.

Farrah only shot one season with the Angels (she was unhappy with her $10,000 per episode) and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd. But within that short time, Farrah already had oodles of fans. The show had quite an impact its popularity continues today spawning the lucrative remake of a Charlie’s Angels big screen action flick starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lui and Cameron Diaz.

Today, there are many websites dedicated to the Angels from Charlies Angels Forever to Jack Condon’s website who is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the biggest Charlie’s Angel memorabilia collection world wide.

Farrah also graced the cover of Playboy back in 1978, with wearing nothing more, than a white buttoned down shirt. Throughout her acting career, Fawcett won three Emmys and one was for her outstanding break out performance in “The Burning Bed,” the first movie to ever feature a live 800 hot line for abused women.

Her first marriage was to fellow 70’s star, Lee Majors who played the Six Million Dollar man, and that union lasted from 1973 to 1982. Farrah then went on to a VERY rocky 27 year on again/off again relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal that ended in 1997, only to be revisited later. O’Neal is best remembered for his Academy-nominated performance in the heart-wrenching film, “Love Story” and for playing opposite his young daughter Tatum, who won a Best Supporting Oscar in the film.

Though Farrah and O’Neal never married, they did have one child together, son Redmond. Unfortunately, both O’Neal and Fawcett have made tabloid news in the last few years because of Redmond repeated legal troubles stemming from a serious drug addiction, something which seems to have plagued virtually ALL of O’neal’s kids.

For the sake of Farrah, I won’t get into the abusive escapades of O’Neal’s temper, and his other two children, actress Tatum O’Neal and brother Griffith, from his former wife. That’s a whole other tawdry and sordid tale.

Despite a hiatus in their relationship, Farrah rushed to O’Neal’s side when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001 and nursed her old flame back to health. The two rekindled at that point, and as the story goes, Farrah simply showed up on his doorstep and wanted to lend support and a helping hand. I think that in itself, showed the class this women has.

Farrah went on to do “Chasing Farrah” a TV Land reality show that aired in March 2005. It followed Farrah in her every day life. The show was only 7 episodes long. During this time it was rumored that O’Neal and Farrah married on one of the episodes, this however was a RUMOR.

In 2006, to the delight of many fans, Farrah was reunited with her Charlie’s Angels co-stars for the Prime Time Emmy Awards, where they paid tribute to the late series creator, Aaron Spelling. Fans of the show were delighted to see the three reunited once again.

Son Redmond, Dad O'Neal and Mom Farrah 2003

Sadly, not all of Farrah’s life has been charmed, besides dealing with her sister’s death from lung cancer in 2001, O’Neal’s cancer and her son’s drug addiction, the blonde beauty also lost her agent and her Mom in 2005. Then the final blow came in 2006 when Fawcett was diagnosed with intestinal cancer.
 
Farrah heroically battled the disease emerging elated and hopeful, on her 60th birthday when she was told that she was cancer free and in total remission. The respite from tragedy was brief because three months later her health took a turn for the worse.

In 2007, it was reported Farrah was seeking holistic treatments for the disease in Germany, as the cancer had returned with a vengeance as rectal cancer. She had her journey filmed and chronicled, as she wanted the world to see her struggle in her terms, and her way, which will air in a two-hour NBC TV special.

News in the past month has stated her cancer has now metastasized into her liver. Family members have stated the star is battling for her life and down to a mere 86 pounds. And those famous locks she’s so well known for? Gone.

Her family is now gathering around her to try and comfort Farrah the best they can including her 91-year old father flew in from her home state of Texas to be by his daughter’s side. 

But wait, there’s more…