CliqueClack

The Voice – And then there were eight

Update: Check out the iTunes chart rankings as of the lose of voting at 12:00p Eastern at the bottom of the post.

I swear, I’m not bitter about the results of last week’s episode. I’m perfectly content with the idea that Kat Perkins found herself in the bottom three and stole the Instant Save that I predicted would rightfully go to Bria Kelly. Nope, not bitter at all.

With Bria and Tess Boyer sent packing, The Voice is down to eight contestants. And while as much as Blake and Carson wanted to make the start of this live show about Adam’s new hair, this is the point in the timeline of any Voice season where the performances are great across the board. Now it’s about the little things that the coaches can help their performers find to improve on. That, and song choice, song choice song choice. This week, three people will be sent home, raising the stakes even higher.

Sisaundra Lewis: “River Deep, Mountain High” (Tina Turner) – Team Blake

Blake brought Season Two contestant Gwen Sebastian in to work with his artists this week, but the real story is that Lewis is covering a Tina Turner song just like I said she should last week (Granted, “River Deep, Mountain High” is a 60’s song instead of the 80’s time period I recommend, but I totally called that, right?). Continue reading 'The Voice – And then there were eight' »

Win passes to see Locke in Baltimore or DC

All passes for this event have been claimed. Stay connected to CliqueClack on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for contest alerts, news and reviews!

CliqueClack has partnered with A24 and IM Global to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new thriller Locke starring Tom Hardy as Ivan Locke, a man who has worked diligently to craft the life he has envisioned, dedicating himself to the job that he loves and the family he adores. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul. All taking place over the course of one absolutely riveting car ride, Locke is an exploration of how one decision can lead to the complete collapse of a life.

Continue reading 'Win passes to see Locke in Baltimore or DC' »

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fails to live up to the promise of the original

Two years ago, Sony Pictures rebooted what had been a massively successful franchise just five years after the last installment. New stars, a new director, new(ish) story, but The Amazing Spider-Man’s $752m worldwide box office gross – while phenomenal – failed to best the first trilogy’s worst performer (Spider-Man 2’s $783) and that’s not factoring in inflation.

While The Amazing Spider-Man might not have lived up to Sam Rami’s success, it still made Sony a metric crap-ton of money, and I’d argue the “parts” of the film were better than anything we saw in the original trilogy. Andrew Garfield’s take on the Webbed Wonder was streets ahead of Toby Maguire. As much as I like Kirsten Dunst, Mary Jane Watson she was not (and inserting Emma Stone into the mix is an instant upgrade). The film had its problems, but it created a world I couldn’t wait to see followed up on.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, opening this week, is the next step in Sony’s grand Spider-Man plan. The sequel greatly expands the universe, adding several new major characters and seeding in several more for future movies. Dane DeHaan joins the cast as Peter Parker’s childhood friend Harry Osborn and Jamie Foxx is Electro (one of the six – or more … who knows – villains introduced). The studio already has a third movie in the works, plus – taking advantage of all of those new villains – both The Sinister Six and Venom are in the pipeline as well. Continue reading 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fails to live up to the promise of the original' »

Win free passes to see Neighbors in Indianapolis

This offer is now closed. Please stay connected with CliqueClack on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for contest alerts, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Universal Pictures to offer readers in the Indianapolis areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new comedy Neighbors starring Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Neighbors tells the story of a young couple suffering from arrested development who are forced to live next to a fraternity house after the birth of their newborn baby.

Continue reading 'Win free passes to see Neighbors in Indianapolis' »

I’ll See You in My Dreams chronicles the ups and downs of lyricist Gus Kahn’s life

I’ve got a question for you. Does the name Gus Kahn mean anything to you at all? Perhaps you’re more familiar with some of these nostalgic song titles from the early 20th century: “It Had to Be You,” “Pretty Baby,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Carolina in the Morning” or “Makin’ Whoopee.” Gus Kahn was the brilliant lyricist behind all of those perennial favorites taken out of the dog-eared pages of the song books of yesteryear.

Released by Warner Bros. in 1951, I’ll See You in My Dreams is a wonderful biopic depicting the many ups and downs in Gus Kahn’s life. Starring Danny Thomas and Doris Day as Grace LeBoy Kahn, the woman who would become his wife and the leading lady in his life, this film was recently released on DVD by the Warner Archive Collection, who graciously provided a copy for my review. I’d seen this movie on AMC as a child, but it had been many years ago. Ever the hopeless romantic, a movie such as this is right up my alley, and perhaps you’ll also enjoy its whimsy.

Continue reading 'I’ll See You in My Dreams chronicles the ups and downs of lyricist Gus Kahn’s life' »

Mr. Selfridge, Hill Street Blues, Godzilla and more TV on DVD

Another slow week for new TV shows on DVD with only the latest season of PBS’ Mr. Selfridge the only new series coming to home video. The TV movie Asteroid vs Earth aims for the Sharknado crowd, but classic TV fans can enjoy the complete series collection of Hill Street Blues, and the eighth season of Dynasty, while the fourth and final season of Star Trek Enterprise finally comes to Blu-ray. And just in time for the new Godzilla movie, the “classic” Godzilla cartoon stomps its way to DVD. These titles and more can be found in our handy shopper’s guide after the jump!

Continue reading 'Mr. Selfridge, Hill Street Blues, Godzilla and more TV on DVD' »

Hercules, Labor Day, Devil’s Due and more on home video

Films that didn’t do well at the box office hope to get a second life on home video including the Kellan Lutz starrer The Legend of Hercules, Kate Winslet at Josh Brolin in Labor Day, and the Rosemary’s Baby knock-off, Devil’s Due. One of the more interesting titles this week is the shot-on-the-fly Escape from Tomorrow which envisions Disney World as a land of nightmares. The well-reviewed Gloria and Gimme Shelter look for wider audiences as well. Classics coming to Blu-ray include Space Battleship Yamato, The Wind and the Lion, and a collection of Gamera films (nicely timed with the impending release of the new Godzilla). Musical fans will enjoy the Amazon exclusive Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection. These titles and more are available on home video April 29, and you can check out the week’s highlights in our handy shopper’s guide after the jump.

Continue reading 'Hercules, Labor Day, Devil’s Due and more on home video' »

Beyond the Wall: Have we already seen the series’ endgame?

With the shock of the Purple Wedding and the controversy of the scene in the Great Sept of Baelor (hopefully) in the rear view mirror, this week’s installment of Game of Thrones was groundbreaking in other ways. While still containing some material that was born out of existing books in George R. R. Martin’s novels, “Oathkeeper” easily has the most changed/tweaked/added/completely-bonkers-new material we’ve ever seen in one episode. From Bran and company showing up at Craster’s Keep to the delayed reveal of Jorah’s early betrayal, it’s becoming more clear that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be taking some liberties … and the word “liberties” doesn’t even begin to cover that final sequence.

Before we dive down that particular rabbit hole, first our weekly SPOILER WARNING. Beyond the Wall is a column presented by readers of the novels for readers of the novels. So if you weren’t wondering why Jorah didn’t smell like Mereenese sewage by the end of this episode, this post is not for you. Continue reading 'Beyond the Wall: Have we already seen the series’ endgame?' »

Star Wars: One reason why getting old is cool

If asked right this very moment what’s so great about getting old(er) my answer would be this:

I’ve lived through a lot of the cool stuff. The stuff other people only talk about, stuff they wish they could have been right in the middle of at the time it was happening.

For the purposes of this post, I’m not talking about world shaking stuff. Politics or political figures. Conflicts. Science or social movements. Nothing like that.

I’m going to touch on the important stuff of youth, when I was a kid and a teen back in the 1970s, that far away land of yore synonymous with disco. (Because isn’t that what really comes to mind when you mention the 70s? Disco?)

You know … the really important stuff: Popular Culture.

Like muscle cars. Muscle cars were cool back then. It was their heyday. I still miss (and even dream about) my very first car purchase, a sea green, two-door Mercury Montego with a hemi engine, monster mag wheels and a front hood that went on forever. That car oozed coolness. Best car I’ve even owned.

Pong. Pong was ultra-cool. Primitive by today’s standards, it was one of the first electronic games I remember owning with the ability to be played right in the middle of my living room on our over-sized console television set. Sony Walkmans were a staple of the times, too. And, of course, skateboards. You weren’t anybody in Southern California unless you were out and about on a weekday afternoon after school riding your skateboard. Continue reading 'Star Wars: One reason why getting old is cool' »

The Voice: Anyone want Adam Levine’s cell phone number?

Update: Check the end of this post to see how each artist faired on the iTunes Charts.

Last week, my accuracy of predictions was all over the place. I had no clue that Josh Kaufman would be the runaway favorite, but he was the only contestant to get the iTunes Top Ten Chart multiplier. While the show has brought back the Last Chance performance to incorporate with the Instant Save, I doubt Tess Boyer – who was saved last week as Dani Moz (sad panda) and TJ Watkins went home – will live to see another week.

This week, the coaches have brought in “Titans of the Industry”(™ Carson Daly) to coach up the players. Adam invited Graham Nash, Blake brought in his producer Scott Hendricks, Shakira had busbee work with her team and Team Usher worked with his producer and musical director Natural.

The show opens with a performance by Rixton. I am rarely a fan of performances by other artists – especially on Monday nights. Heck, I’m not even a fan of the team performances on Tuesday nights (one of the reasons I rarely watch the results show). Thankfully they get it out of the way quickly, though I’d have preferred more time to discuss Blake tweeting Adam’s phone number. Continue reading 'The Voice: Anyone want Adam Levine’s cell phone number?' »