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Sunday Link-Off: Be Right, Not First

alison-brie-esquire13-03Tomorrow is the start of Canadian Gaming Week on The Lowdown Blog. We’ve got some reviews, columns and other features on Canadian games and the people who make them. I’m hoping that it’ll be a lot of fun and that we can do something like this again.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the end of the week links. For the third straight week, the Sunday links feature a star of Mad Men. This week, it’s Alison Brie.

For people trying to keep up with the news story of the Boston bombing, there was a massive problem. Some media organizations consistently kept screwing up the story by trying to be first rather than trying to be right. CNN might have been the worst. (BuzzFeed)

On the print side, the New York Post was consistently wrong. If there was a fact in this case, the Post got it wrong. (Capital New York)

And then the Post slandered a couple of high-school runners by claiming they were the bombers. Just a bit wrong there. (Gawker)

Continue reading →

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Entertainment Link-Off: Watch This!

alison-brie-wired13-03Jackie’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.

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Entertainment Link-Off: A History…

Welcome, my friends, to the show that never ends. The Entertainment Link-Off rolls on with me in place for Jackie this week. I promise that I’ll keep most of the politics out of it this time. The state of discourse in the US Presidential Election is bad enough that we all need a reprieve from the lies, mud-slinging and general bullshit at some point.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting week in the world of entertainment. Most networks chose to have their premieres this week so that means that primetime TV is only slightly less of a wasteland than it was during the summer. Hollywood is doing a bit better this week. Opening over the weekend are Looper starring JGL and Bruce Willis (yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker), Hotel Transylvania (which thankfully spares us from Adam Sandler in drag), Won’t Back Down and Pitch Perfect which stars blog favourite Anna Kendrick.

After the jump, the history of James Bond movies, the history of Cheers, some news on NBC prime time shows and the worst movie death scene ever. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Taking It To The Track (And Field)

We’ve reached the second Sunday of the Olympics. The track and field events have started at the Olympic Stadium. Therefore, it’s only fitting that we continue our women of the Olympics series with British heptathlete and Olympic women’s heptathlon gold medalist Jessica Ennis.

WADA and the IOC say that Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen isn’t on drugs. After seeing this article of a Chinese athlete training factory, I can kind of see how that might happen. People will object to cheap labour making their $100 designer t-shirts but not this? (The Daily Mail)

Everyone thinks Penn State’s football program was hit with rather harsh, nearly permanently crippling, penalties for the Sandusky scandal but it could have been worse. Penn State had to either accept the sanctions handed down or risk the death penalty. (Outside the Lines)

GQ put together a very well-written feature about the Anders Breivik massacre in Norway. (GQ)

After the jump, Olympic media coverage issues, Mitt Romney’s Twitter nemesis, and a two-minute summary of life in America. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: These Games Are Our Games

Another Wednesday, another set of our favourite links over the last three days. In our continuing series of the women of Olympics, here’s Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice.

There have been two big stories so far in this Olympics. First is Ye Shiwen swimming as fast as Ryan Lochte but passing her drug test. The other is NBC getting Twitter to ban their #1 Olympic coverage critic. (Deadspin)

The thing about Guy Adams’ ban is that Twitter alerted NBC to a possible terms of service violation so NBC could file a complain to get Adams’ account suspended which is especially suspicious considering that NBC is partnering with Twitter for Olympic coverage. (Daily Telegraph)

Adams’ account was reinstated yesterday afternoon after a detailed defence of his position and NBC succumbing to public pressure by withdrawing their complaint. (The Independent)

After the jump, a Canadian perspective on the Olympics, what’s wrong with video game reviews and David Feherty is clinically insane. Continue reading →

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Entertainment Link-Off: E Pluribus Anus

Happy Memorial Day everyone! To celebrate America’s kickoff to the summer, I’m here to cover the entertainment and pop culture beat. What contest in hell did you people win to deserve this? There are alternatives to reading me this weekend. Men In Black III and Chernobyl Diaries are opening this weekend. Actually, you’d be better off locking yourself inside and grabbing MiB1 and Paranormal Activity off Netflix instead. Anyway, let’s start with Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

What happens when a new technology threatens an ancient business model? A massive lawsuit! Fox, NBC and CBS are suing Dish Network over a new feature which eases skipping over ads on DVR. (Time)

After the jump, the death of the screenplay, scads of Community links and even Siri hates Chris Brown. Continue reading →

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Entertainment Link-Off: A Shadowy Future

Nobody panic. Oh, who am I kidding? If I’m covering the entertainment and pop culture beat, then you should probably be a bit concerned. That’s especially true considering the only major wide-release at the theatres this week is Tim Burton’s take on the classic TV series Dark Shadows. But it does have the slightly underrated Eva Green in it. At least Burton did something right.

Let’s kick this post off with some good news. So, GOOD NEWS! Community has been renewed for a fourth season. It’s only for 13 episodes but considering that NBC has ordered a series with Dane Cook and one with Matthew Perry, it’s not like Community could do comparably worse. (Hit Fix)

After the jump, more NBC news, more news about The Avengers, the latest on Prometheus and Nina Dobrev doing yoga. Continue reading →

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The Humanoids: TV’s Bloopers And Practical Jokes

For the first time in what seems like forever (actually, it’s only been four-and-a-half months), I’m back with a fresh edition of The Humanoids column. This week, I take a look at the sad state of TV with a couple of few TV shows I watch regularly in danger of cancellation, I examine the current state of what’s actually put in front of us on TV and who really makes network programming decisions and who influences the scripts that we see on TV every week. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Super Wednesday

It’s the middle of the week which means it’s time for some more links. After yesterday’s Swimsuit Issue post, it’s only appropriate that I lead off with Canadian actress Jessica Pare. I figured I should mix things up.

CNBC sports business reporter was in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl. He also demonstrated his inexplicably large ego and poor judgement when he blasted the Playboy Playmates at Playboy’s party on Twitter. Then everyone fought back. (The Big Lead)

And if you think Rovell is bad at the Playboy Party, you should see him at the dry cleaner. (Food Court Lunch)

Also of note from the Super Bowl is MIA inexplicably flipping off the camera. But just how did the middle finger become such a profane gesture. (BBC)

After the jump, football’s new power couple, Apple’s not-so-private security force and Kimmel’s Super Bowl experiment. Continue reading →

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Entertainment Link-Off: ‘Tis the Season…

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Anyway, Merry Christmas to all the Lowdown readers out there. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, enjoy the holidays! Let’s kick off this edition of the Entertainment Link-Off with Noomi Rapace. She’s having a solid week. Sherlock Holmes sequel is currently in theatres and also the highly anticipated trailer for another one of her upcoming films Prometheus was released this week as well.

After the jump, Oh Christmas Troy, trailers for Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises, John Carter and The Hobbit, buddy song for Optimus Prime and the iPhone4S can be very dangerous. Continue reading →