Link-Off

Leave a comment Posted on March 23, 2013March 22, 2013 by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Watch This!

Jackie’s busy this weekend and I’m in to cover the entertainment beat. The good news is that this weekend is a good one to catch a new release in the theatres unless you actually check out reviews. There appears to be something for everyone except those with good taste, it seems.

Dreamworks Animation’s The Croods seems to be the best reviewed movie of the weekend but don’t confuse it for a Pixar classic… Or Ice Age, even. If you’re looking for a live action comedy, Admission stars Tina Fey and Paul Rudd which sounds great on paper but doesn’t work in practice. If mindless action is your thing, Olympus Has Fallen is right up your alley.

So rather than try to wedge someone from one of these movies, here’s Alison Brie because you really should be watching Community on NBC.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 20, 2013March 19, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Out of the News

Well, I haven’t heard many good things about yesterday’s gaming column about how gamers rights are virtually non-existent. I’ve heard that I’m a bit of a whiner for thinking that gamers deserve to be treated like everyone else and trying to keep people from being hosed by terrible games. Like I said yesterday, that’s the sort of in-fighting that will hurt us all in the long-run.

Anyway, one thing I won’t get complaints about is featuring Kim Cloutier.

The legendary free weekly newspaper The Boston Phoenix is closing its doors. File this one under why we can’t have nice things. (Gawker)

It’s not just small local papers that might be on the way out. It seems as though local TV newscasts could soon follow in their print brethren’s footsteps. (New York Times)

The two Steubenville football players charged with rape were convicted. While most people weren’t exactly sympathetic to those guys, CNN treated them like victims. (BuzzFeed)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 17, 2013March 16, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Playing Favourites

It’s the end of a long week of writing. From Monday to Friday, we posted over 9,000 words. Doing a thorough week of blogging is a bit tiring so I’ll apologize in advance if next week is a bit quieter. However, we have the F1 race recap (assuming that it didn’t get rained out overnight while I was asleep) and a new gaming column coming up this week. I’m hoping to get a review for The Showdown Effect done this week too.

Right, you’re not here to hear me ramble on about blog stuff. Since Jackie didn’t feature her yesterday, here’s Olivia Wilde.

What is the Republicans’ game with the sequester? They’re actually looking to cut any specific thing. They just want cuts, wherever they may come from. (Think Progress)

Watch out, celebrity tweeters. The Federal Trade Commission is thinking about cracking down on paid ads that you post on Twitter. (Wall Street Journal)

Cardinal Bergoglio came from absolutely nowhere to become Pope Francis. After Cardinal Ratzinger won the Papacy as the favourite the last time out, you’d be forgiven if you thought that the favourite winning was the norm. However, it’s really the exception and long shots winning are the norm. (FiveThirtyEight)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 16, 2013March 16, 2013 by J Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Abracatastic!

Sorry about the delay on last week’s Entertainment Link-Off. Somehow pressing the ‘publish’ button doesn’t necessarily translate to actually publishing the post onto The Lowdown page. Technology is rather puzzling sometimes. Anyway, it’s Saturday, so it’s time for the ELO again. Let’s start this all off with Gillian Jacobs. You can catch her in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone this weekend, but to get your weekly fix, just watch Community on NBC every Friday. Word has it, the latest episode saw quite a dip in the ratings.

After the jump, Veronica Mars is back, other shows are looking to return via viewer funding, new look at Kick Ass 2 and Dora the Explorer live action joke trailer is actually turning into a real online miniseries. Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 13, 2013March 12, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Hoaxed

It’s time to take a break from F1 preview week to take a look at everything else that’s been happening in the world so far this week with our set of Wednesday links. Let’s start this off with Topanga- I mean, Danielle Fishel.

And you thought that Manti Te’o was catfished bad. A theoretical particle physicist and UNC professor was duped into believing that he was talking to model Denise Milani. (New York Times)

George W. Bush’s lasting legacy in the GOP might not be the economic crisis but starting the Iraq War which might have directly led to the Republican Party getting annihilated in the 2008 election. (Washington Post)

What happens when BC Premier Christy Clark shows some personality? She gets criticized. Damn uptight media. (Political Points)

Continue reading →

2 Comments Posted on March 10, 2013March 9, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Behind the Scenes

Well, I jinxed us when prepping the intro for this post. Originally, I said we got through the week intact when we almost didn’t. Anyhow, next week is our F1 preview week. We’ll have all the usual features and we’ll even throw in our Mass Effect 3 Citadel review for good measure. But first, we have the Sunday links. Since there’s a new episode of The Walking Dead tonight, here’s Lauren Cohen.

We all know that Disney came from seemingly nowhere to drop $4 billion to buy Lucasfilm and everything Star Wars but do you know how the deal came together? (Businessweek)

Keeping with behind the scenes stories, here’s a look at CERN’s chase to find the Higgs boson. (New York Times)

Sports owners are well-known for crying poor. However, one owner has been proven to be a liar when crying poor. The Carolina Panthers aren’t a hard done by team. They made over $110 million over the last two years. (Deadspin)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 9, 2013March 10, 2013 by J Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Nothing Is What It Seems

In theatres this weekend, Oz: The Great and Powerful is released uncontested so it should easily top the box office weekend. The movie may or may not appeal to you, but the three leading ladies should be enough eye candy to convince you to see it in theatres anyway. Let’s kick off the ELO with Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis!

After the jump, Sam Raimi finally saw the Spider-Man reboot, Sophia Vergara got some chest cannons, a few movie trailers to check out, the cast of Supernatural attempt the Harlem Shake, a possible Pitch Perfect reunion and find out what happens if you let your food go past its expiry date. Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on March 7, 2013March 6, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Thursday Link-Off: Form an Opinion

I did tell you on Sunday that we’d be a day late with this week’s set of mid-week links. I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s history of Mass Effect 3 post. That’s not the end of our Mass Effect coverage because we’ll have a review of the Citadel DLC next week. But for now, here’s Canadian model Anais Pouliot.

Have you ever wondered how you formed an opinion about an article or author? It may have to do with the contents of the comment section. (New York Times)

People think social media is a good proxy for public opinion but a comparison of public opinion and Twitter opinion shows Twitter generally skews more liberal. (Pew Research Centre)

Hugo Chavez died this week. If you want to know more about the former leader of Venezuela and his legacy, the Economist has you covered. (The Economist)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 3, 2013March 2, 2013 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Sequestered

While the US government may have been sequestered (or maybe it’s just the collective sanity of the Congress that’s been sequestered), we’re still in action. Also still in action, Jennifer Love Hewitt. Terrible segue but still a great picture even if she’s looking a little thin/Photoshopped in this one.

The NRA will bully people, especially the news media, if they try to access records of people who are registered gun owners. However, they access that info regularly for fundraising. Hypocrites much? (Gawker)

In the latest case of the US Congress playing chicken with the global economy, the mandatory spending cuts negotiated in 2010 called “the sequester” started this week. So what exactly is it? (Washington Post)

I’ve probably put this post too far up in the post but I found it interesting just the same. Folks are accusing Budweiser of watering down its beer. (The Week)

Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 by J Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum

This wouldn’t be a bad weekend to play catch-up at the theatres or just watch the trailers. This weekend’s wide releases aren’t exactly hits with critics. Just when you were worried that everyone would try to be The Hangover, 21 & Over proves that films now want to be Project X which is great if you run a torrent site. The Last Exorcism Part II is out which begs the question of if anyone can remember The Last Exorcism Part I. Stoker is reasonably well reviewed but I’m not sure it’s actually a wide release.

That leaves Jack and The Giant Slayer, another movie with a “dark” take on a fairy tale. It’s not getting great reviews but it’s being better received than the rest of the wide releases. That’s what happens when you give Obi-Wan Kenobi a lead role. Also in a lead role is relative newcomer Eleanor Tomlinson.

After the jump, the latest on some sci-fi and fantasy sequels, the buzz about the upcoming Superman re-reboot, some Marvel comic book movie news and more. Continue reading →