Smash Recap: Something Pitchy This Way Comes

The title of this weeks episode pretty much sums it up: The Movie Star. Yes, its all about guest star Uma Thurman as diva Rebecca Duvall, taking over Smash, and the fictitious musical Bombshell. The question is, will she be the shows savior or its downfall?

For now, I decide its going to be an OK night when chorus boy Sam questions songwriter Tom about whether Rebecca is too old to play Marilyn Monroe. Normally I wouldnt harp on an actresss age, but Thurman is almost six years older than the Hollywood icon, who died at 36. So I give the show props for addressing one of my concerns with casting Thurman. Now, if only theyd point out how angular, lanky and un-Marilyn looking she is, too. But all thats beside the point. Theres a more pressing issue here: Girl cant sing!

After sauntering into rehearsal and refusing to warm up, Rebecca takes her first stab at belting out Let Me Be Your Star. Everyones jaws drop and not for good reasons. Shes comically breathy and terribly pitchy, as American Idols Randy Jackson would point out. Yeah, dawg.

After enduring a few bars, bad boy-turned-softie director Derek cuts her off as the execs give each other pop-eyed looks of disbelief. They immediately convene in producer Eileens office to decide what to do. While Eileen is looking for constructive solutions, Derek suggests they rehire his friend with benefits Ivy Lynn, as understudy Karen Cartwright is still too green to take on the role of Marilyn if necessary. Were back to this storyline?

Meanwhile, back in rehearsal, Karen is too shy to introduce herself to Rebecca. While trying to work up the courage, shes taken aback by Ivy walking into the studio. But the peanut gallery (a.k.a. the ensemble) takes her return in stride . . . considering who shes sleeping with.

When Ivy sidles up to Karen to talk trash about Rebeccas singing skills or lack thereof it feels less gossipy and more like Ivys looking for an ally to take down a common enemy. Its certainly her M.O.

Derek then calls Karen over to say hell be focusing all his energy on getting Rebecca ready for her Broadway debut. As hes talking, though, he envisions Karen as the perfect Marilyn, leaving him slack-jawed, speechless and gooey-eyed. Snap out of it, man!

Later, songwriter Julia gets estranged husband Frank to meet her at a restaurant to talk about their son, whos suddenly flunking classes. Not a minute goes by before hes giving her serious attitude, even as she takes full responsibility for ruining their marriage. When they go to the sons school, Frank wants to keep their marital problems under wraps, but Julia spews all the dirty details to the stunned guidance counselor. TMI, for sure.

Meanwhile, in a sign of things to come, Rebecca pulls Derek aside after rehearsal to give her two cents about the show. She wants deeper story lines and less singing and dancing. Uh, she does know its a musical, right?

As if Rebecca didnt already have enough strikes, her drunk, rocker boyfriend bursts into the studio and aggressively demands her attention. When an argument breaks out, Derek holds back the distraught man while Eileen threatens to spray him with mace. Wonder Twin powers activate!

After rehearsal, Karen calls her boyfriend, Dev, who quickly hangs up when she asks whether he got the press secretary job hes been gunning for. When she decides to drop in on him at work, shes surprised hes lost his fancy-shmancy office and now sits in a cubicle. But shes even more floored to find him flirting with cute journalist R.J. When she questions him, he finally admits he didnt get the job and blames her busy schedule for the fact he never told her. Typical.

After Julia rewrites a scene Rebecca complained about, the movie star pushes for even more changes. But just when you think shes going to lock horns with the execs, she backs down and defers to them. Conflict resolution in under an hour? Must be too good to be true.

At the same time, Karen gets stood up by Dev and winds up at a bar with frenemy Ivy, who warns shell steamroll right over Karen if the part of Marilyn becomes available again. While this doesnt seem to ruffle Karens feathers, Ivys off-handed comment about Dev being with another woman does, and Karen storms off. Truth is, shes right. Devs out having drinks with R.J. Smell that? Its trouble in paradise.

After implementing some changes when it comes to Rebecca like lowering her key and giving her less solos everyone seems happier, though shes still not blowing it out of the water. (Nor does she looks like Marilyn, even when all dolled up, with her pointy face and six-foot frame.) But just when it seems like things are looking up, Rebecca tells Eileen shes got lots more ideas to help mold the musical. Ruh roh.

With only three episodes left in the first season, I expect things will start coming to a head rather quickly. And maybe, hopefully, well finally get the part of Marilyn nailed down once and for all. Please!

Last episode: Meet the New Bombshell

Q&A: Cheech and Chong on Animating Their Stoner Adventures and Predicting Reality Television

Seminal stoners Cheech and Chong are entering the cartoon world for the first time in Cheech and Chongs Animated Movie. To commemorate the occasion, the duo have created a new all-star video for their song Cheech and Chong Anthem (WEed Are the World), featuring the likenesses of Wiz Khalifa, Bill Maher, Willie Nelson, B-Real, Kid Cudi and many more.

The ones that went for it are the brothers, Tommy Chong tells Rolling Stone of the artists that lent their likenesses to the video.

Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin After All These Years

Cheech Marin is now 66 and Chong is 75, butnot much has changed since they appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1978 and became comedy heroes with the surprise success of Up in Smoke. Still fighting for legalization and acting funny as hell while doing so, the duo sat down to talk about what differentiated them from other radical comedians in the Seventies, how they paved the way for reality shows and their friendship with longtime producer Lou Adler, whom they will induct into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles this week.

You guys have still been heavily advocating legalization.
Tommy Chong: Weve got stores already set up to sell drugs; theyre called drug stores. What better place to sell drugs than a drug store? You need a prescription? Theres a pharmacist. I cant think of a better way.

Cheech Marin: And when it gets legal, who wouldnt want to buy a pack of Cheech and Chong 100 Menthol lights?

Tommy, I know youre big into golf now. Will you ever set up the Cheech and Chong charity golf tournament?
Chong: Absolutely. Thinking about a stoner tournament movie that has golf in it with us. I was thinking of us competing against each other in a tournament.

Would you try and get some pro golfers to do cameos in it?
Marin: Yeah, theyll all do it. Theyre all Cheech and Chong stoner guys; they all grew up on Cheech and Chong, especially the young guys now.

Chong: Were like walking drug tests. The other day I was in a restaurant and Blake Griffin spotted me; he was with his entourage and hes like, Hey. A lot of pot in sports historically; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I used to live down the street from each other and he played seven years past his prime thanks to pot. He wasnt into alcohol or any other drugs, but is a pothead. I think when youre a pothead, your body forgets to grow old; your body goes, Oh, this is good for you in many ways.

What prompted the animated movie?
Chong: My sons friends got a little production company and they asked my son, Do you think we can get Cheech and Tommy to okay animating the old records? Then Lou Adler holds the publishing, so they got Lou involved. It started off small; they were doing a couple of bits, then they came to us and asked me what little character [could] glue the animation together, like Ice Age had that little squirrel looking for a place to hide his nuts. We had a character I always loved, Buster the Body Crab. We recorded it in Montreal and we were among all these French guys and we thought, What can we do with that accent? So we used little Les Morpions as the connector and they just put it all together.

It does seem like Cheech and Chong would translate well to animation.
Chong: Weve always been ahead of the curve; weve always been. The reality shows now are using the same technique that we shot our movies with. Cheech has got the ear for mimicry, so he would remember these accents and when we got into the record and especially the movies, we had and still have this mental telepathy thing. Wed sketch out the stuff for the crew so they knew where to go, but we would build the dialogue as we went. So we didnt miss anything; we shot everything and thats what the reality shows do now. They look for shit to upset everybody with, they whisper it into each others ear. Next thing you know, you got conflict and the sicker it is the better it is and that was our motto: How can we make this really sick?

Why do you think the movies hold up so much today?
Chong: What Cheech and Chong movies were was a day in the life of these two wackos and when the movie finished or stopped, its like, Lets see that again. And thats why Up in Smoke is still funny. I saw it recently at the outdoor graveyard, Hollywood Forever, and shit, it was like seeing it for the first time. You have to focus like youre an observer and you have to focus on the whole room. And with Cheech and Chong, we take the viewer along. Hey, come on, were not gonna disappoint you. Its gonna make you laugh, its gonna get scary at times, but for the most part, youre just gonna laugh. Youre high, come on. And youre gonna enjoy this so much that youll want to get high and do it again.

What kind of adventures are you going on in the animated movie?
Chong: Well, actually when we did our recordings, the greatest thing about recording is we could do anything we wanted with the listeners imagination, so I think the weakest part of the animation is that we made it real; now you can visualize it. But if you hear it. . . I think Stevie Wonder gets more out of it than the normal person.

Marin: We were different from all the other comedians of our age that made records in that all the other people Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, [George] Carlin made recordings of their live act and that was the record. We went into the studio and made scenes; there was no audience. We were totally different. And so the advent of the eight-track and the 12-track and the 24-track with all this atmosphere. . . we could put it in and spend all day there. It wasnt expensive, it was just me and Tommy in a little room half the size of this one.

Chong: And we could be anywhere; we could be in the universe. We actually found that producers just got in the way. Excuse me, Lou, you doing anything? Will you get me coffee? Who wants a coffee here? Lou is going out. The way Lou would produce, wed send the tapes that night, then hed listen to them and later on that night or the next morning hed give me a call. Hed say, First of all I love it, funny, great. What do you think of this? Then wed listen to it back sober. I read something back real funny, it said, Write stoned, edit sober. Thats basically what we do: wed do it stoned, then wed listen to it back.

Marin: No, we were always sober when we were recording. Well, maybe you werent. Hed always go out for a minute, then come back: I got an idea. It was interesting to see another generations take on it. It was our kids, and they werent there in the day, how they interpreted it. So in that aspect you wanted to just kind of back off and see what they did.

Itll be interesting then for you guys to see the premiere at the famed Roxy on the 17th and see what people laugh at.
Chong: It depends on what substance they bring before they go see the movie. There are certain movies I go and see them straight just to get an honest take on it cause when youre stoned you can enjoy anything; you can enjoy the worst movie. Boy, did they fuck that up. I want to see that again.

Howd you put together the video?
Marin: We just contacted their parole officers cause they get community service.

Peter Travers: Beware the Scum of March

It was Caesars soothsayer who warned, Beware the scum of March ok, maybe not in those exact words, but centuries later, the Ides isnt half as horrifying as the ten miserable movies Peter Travers tosses into this months scum bucket. And please do Boo along at home, Travers requests. They kind of give me strength.

Check Out Peter Travers Top 10 Movies of 2013

First off is Gods Not Dead, a new Christian indie film about students that buck against their professor whos teaching in his philosophy class that God no longer exists. The whole idea is to critique the American university system, but Travers says its nothing more than horrible, awkward and pointless.

Next is a string of terrible movies with excellent actors: In the unoriginal Better Living Through Chemistry, Sam Rockwell stars as a sad, small-town pharmacist who meets a sexy married woman (Olivia Wilde); they take a bunch of pills and plot to kill her husband. The Face of Love falls at number eight, and it finds Annette Bening as a woman who meets a man (Ed Harris) with the same face as her dead husband. Its a movie Travers can only describe as a horrible Hallmark nightmare. At number seven isCesar Chavez,which doesstar the terrific Michael Pea as the titular activist. The earnest film suffers from biopic disease, putting Chavez on a pedestal instead of painting a believable portrait of the man who unionized farm workers, warts and all.

Tyler Perry makes his triumphant return to the scum bucket thanks to his latest effort, Single Moms Club, while the truly bizarre Maladies follows a multimedia artist named Carter (just one name, like Cher) whos made a movie about a disturbed Seventies soap opera star played by James Franco; he lives in a beach house with Catherine Keener, who likes to dress as a man. What? asks an incredulous Travers. Im sorry, maybe as a multimedia experiment, its good. But as a movie, Maladies made me sick.

Eva Green is the only thing remotely real, or redeeming, about the fake digital world of 300: Rise of the Empire, while,Breaking Bads brilliant Aaron Paul makes too many wrong turns in Need for Speed. It made me nostalgic for all the Fast and the Furious movies, and that shouldnt happen to a movie critic, Travers sighs.

The film adaptation of the young adult book Divergent lands at number two, despite its blockbuster status. And while Travers wanted to like the movie, he says its nothing more than a plodding,Hunger Games rip off (though hes holding out hope for the next two films in the series). And, with trumpets blaring, the worst film March had to offer: Sabotage, in which former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ostensibly battles every drug cartel in the world. I dont know whos sabotaging what, I just know that Arnold gets to shoot a lot of people and you sit there watching the movie numbed! Travers says. When I saw it I said to myself, Go back, see your friend the scum bucketand make this number one.

Thats certainly enough scum for one month, but luckily Aprils off to an entertaining start withCaptain America: The Winter Soldierhitting theaters this weekend.

Watch Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson in New Wild Nights With Emily Trailer

Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon looks to rewrite the legacy of Emily Dickinson in the new trailer for the upcoming biopic, Wild Nights With Emily, out April 12th.

Written and directed by Madeleine Olnek, the film seeks to recast Dickinson not as a delicate, virginal recluse, but a lively, clever writer who found love through a life-long relationship with her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson (played by Susan Ziegler). Presented as a comedy of manners, the trailer teases the romance with a mix of passion and humor, like when Emily hands Susan a poem and the latter accidentally reads the recipe on the opposite side.

Along with chronicling Emily and Susans relationship, Wild Nights With Emily also examines the difficulties Dickinson faced as woman writer in the late 19th century. In the trailer, she repeatedly comes up against male gatekeepers who dont understand her genius, though she does eventually encounter a conniving would-be-writer who also happens to be her brothers lover that wants to use Emilys talent to advance her own career.

Wild Nights With Emily also stars Amy Seimetz, Brett Gelman, Kevin Seal and Jackie Monahan.

Along withWild Nights With Emily, Apple is prepping a new comedy series, Dickinson,that will star Hailee Steinfeld in the title role. In 2016, Cynthia Nixon portrayed Dickinson in Terence DaviesA Quiet Passion.

Unearthed Shannon Hoon Music Set to Debut in Blind Melon Doc

October 21, 2010 will mark the 15th anniversary of the passing of Blind Melons Shannon Hoon, and his former bandmates are honoring their original singer with an upcoming documentary later this year. The still-untitled piece is being directed by Colleen Hennessy and developed through Danny Clinchs production company, Three on the Tree. While it will feature footage from several sources, the main focus of the film is the hours of footage Hoon shot himself over the years.

Shannon took this footage for a reason he wanted people to see this footage, the groups guitarist Christopher Thorn tells Rolling Stone. He filmed everything. Some of the most powerful footage is when Shannon sits on the corner of his bed in a hotel room, looks right into the camera, and sings the most beautiful, heart-wrenching song. Some youve heard before, some youve never heard this version before. It might be Mouthful of Cavities or St. Andrews Fall with completely different lyrics, or it could be a song weve never heard before. Its the most intimate, incredible footage as if he knew, Im not going to be around, man, so heres my gift to you when Im gone.

The film will include footage from Blind Melons tour alongside Neil Young and the Rolling Stones, Thorn giving Hoon an off-the-cuff haircut, and the recording sessions for both Hoon-era Melon albums, 1992s Blind Melon and 1995s Soup. But there is one haunting scene that the group is still debating including. We literally have the beginning of the band to Shannons last words on the phone with Lisa [Hoons girlfriend], Thorn says. Its so sad, because he sounded fine that morning. That was at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning he makes a phone call to Lisa, and theyre talking about Nico [Hoons then-infant daughter], and Shannons talking about, Are you going to get something to eat? Thats the last we heard from him.

The end result promises to be a doc that will double as a video diary of sorts, which Thorn compares to a filmed version of Kurt Cobains Journals. Its one thing to read somebodys writing, but when somebody looks into the camera, and you see the fear, the sadness, or the happiness. I would say its even more intimate. How amazing would it be to have Kurt sitting on the edge of his bed in a hotel room, singing these songs to you? This is like Shannons journal times a thousand. People are going to be absolutely blown away.

In addition to working on the documentary, Blind Melon are still searching for a singer to take over for Shannons replacement, Travis Warren, who lasted for one album, 2008s For My Friends. If we found somebody that made me feel like we could still honor Shannon, still honor the songs, and go out there and make people happy, Id do it in a heartbeat, Thorn says. But those are giant shoes to fill, and you cant even fill them it has to be something different. It also has to be close enough so that it doesnt sound like a different band. Potential singers are asked to submit an MP3 or YouTube link singing a Blind Melon song of your choice to blindmelonsinger@gmail.com.

Morgan Spurlock Film Captures Nerd Nirvana Comic-Con

Thousands of comic aficionados are flooding San Diego today for Comic-Con 2010, and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock is on the scene, capturing it all for his upcoming movie about the event hes dubbed nerd nirvana. You can cut the excitement in San Diego with a light saber! he tells Rolling Stone from the 40th annual convention.

Spurlock says Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fans Hope is the biggest film Ive ever done. And his collaborators are certainly super-hero size: Stan Lee and Joss Whedon. The project was born at last years Comic-Con, Spurlocks first, which he attended to shoot parts of his Emmy-nominated The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special In 3-D! On Ice!. I went up to Stan Lee and I was gushing, Oh my God, Mr. Lee, thank you so much, you dont understand what an impact your work has had on my life, telling how he made it cool to explore that creative side, Spurlock says. He said, Mr. Morgan, you know what we should do is make a documentary.

After a meeting with Joss Whedon who in addition to directing movies and television has written such comic series as Astonishing X-Men, Runaways and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight the wheels were in motion. It was just so amazing. I had never met Stan or Joss before, but there they were, coming aboard as producers, Spurlock says. Everything just fell into place.

The shoots started with nine super fans cast from around the world (including comic book creators, writers, artists, and publishers) who are documenting their journey to the convention, from creating costumes in their home countries to arriving at the airport. When doors open today, Spurlock plans to find more subjects, hoping the cameras and Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fans Hope production laminates will lead more fans to them.

Every fan has a goal, Spurlock says. No matter how life-changing it might be. I cant wait to meet Bruce Campbell. Im going to be camping out because the cast of this movie is going to be there. So were going to find a cross-section, and every day well be on the lookout to talk to them about their Comic-Con stories.

Spurlock also plans to check in with a cross-section of presenters and creators from this years Comic-Con, which will feature The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, as well as Harry Potter, True Blood and V.

You should care about what they care about at Comic-Con, Spurlock says. People come here to see whats new. This is a place that affects everything you see on TV, in movie theaters. This is an industry that dictates what cool is, that is setting the stage for what we consume. This is what drives popular culture today. And the people who support it, they are the most loyal and dedicated fans you can ever have.

Leftover footage might make the DVD or an accompanying coffee-table book thatll be available in time for next years Comic-Con. The film itself will be done by December and out next spring. I just dont know whos going to do the music yet, Spurlock says. John Williams would be perfect who better to score a film about Comic-Con? But he wont return my calls.

Mad Men, TVs Best Show Hits DVD: This You Do Not Want to Miss

The DVD of the week is definitely Mad Men. I know its a TV show cable TV even but its eons better than any new movie released on DVD for the Fourth of July weekend. That is unless you harbor some perverse affection for Owen Wilson roaringly unfunny Drillbit Taylor, the thrill-free Vantage Point, or misfires from Wong Kar Wai (My Blueberry Nights) and John Cusack (War, Inc.). Your time can be more excitingly spent with the first season of AMCs Mad Men all thirteen episodes collected in a smashing DVD package, the better to capture the look, sound and atmosphere of Manhattans Madison Avenue advertising world, circa 1960, where the show is set. If you havent seen Mad Men yet, get busy. The Emmy nominations, to be announced on July 17th, will surely be heaping praise upon it, to go along with the Peabody award and Golden Globes for Best Drama and star Jon Hamm. The DVD set is your best chance to play catch up. If you have seen Season One, a DVD refresher course will only reinforce the shows quality and whet your appetite for Season Two which starts on July 27th with a stunning new episode that leaps ahead a bit in time. Here are five reasons why I think Mad Men is the best new drama series on television If you disagree, fire at will:

1.The Creator: He would be Matthew Weiner. Hes also the executive producer and head writer. Known for his work as writer and producer of HBOs The Sopranos during its fifth and sixth seasons, Weiner is a creative force in stretching the boundaries of television. He even directed the Mad Men Season One finale, brilliantly. They say Weiner is a perfectionist, that he doesnt always handle people well. With these results, whos complaining?

2.The Theme: Advertising was beginning its takeover of the world in 1960. Last time I looked it was still winning. Weiner invented the Sterling/Cooper Agency to show how WASP predators worked without even trying to hide their racism and sexism. Fueled by nicotine and nonstop martinis, these guys and a few maverick women pull off the trick of selling us things we dont need. Even love. Don Draper, the creative director of the agency, played by Jon Hamm in a star-making performance, laughs at the very notion of love. Thats something I invented to sell nylons, he says. Harsh? Maybe. Weiner himself said of advertising: Its a great way to talk about the image we have of ourselves, versus who we really are.

3.The Plot: The focus is on Don Draper, and his ad-perfect wife (January Jones) and family. Don is hiding something, but so is everyone on the show, including Dons boss Roger Sterling, played with pitch-perfect wit and dry cynicism by John Slattery. Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) is a secretary who dreams of becoming the agencys first female copywriter and who, after a one-night stand with a conniving junior exec (the superb Vincent Kartheiser), keeps denying the bulge in her belly is a pregnancy. OK, it sounds like soap opera, but Weiners writing raises the level at every turn.

4. The Actors: Hamm, Moss and Slattery should be definite Emmy nominees. And dont forget Christina Hendricks as a redheaded secretary with a bullet bra who knows the ropes and invented a few herself. Or Bryan Batt as a closeted art director. Or Rich Sommer as the junior exec with a dramatic character arc between Episodes 12 and 13. Or Robert Morse, of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, as the co-head of the agency with a surprising streak of decency. I could go on. Hamm is magnificent in the scene where Draper demonstrates a slide projector with photos of Drapers own family. The moment cuts so deep it belongs in a time capsule. What you see, week after week on Mad Men, is the best ensemble acting on television.

5. The Style: Its not just in the production design, in the costumes, in the plumes of cigarette smoke. Its the atmosphere that conjures up a time that seems in one moment like something from another planet and in the next second like a snapshot from the office and home next door where repression and rebellion still duke it out. As an experiment, try renting Billy Wilders The Apartment, a penetrating look at the business world that won the Best Picture Oscar in 1960, and compare what Wilder saw in the present to what Weiner sees in hindsight. Then look at the Mad Men episode in which the honchos at Sterling/Cooper discuss of the upcoming presidential race between JFK and Nixon. It will be hard to miss the implications concerning whats ahead for Obama and McCain. In Mad Men, Weiner nails a issue were all still grappling with: the selling of dreams.