Marzipan Bingo
pop culture you can buy

• Home
• About
• contact
• services
• RSS

Copper kettles, woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string...

• Recently Written

  • Vivi Davvero by Giorgia
  • Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters
  • Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
  • Robot Chicken: Star Wars
  • Totally ubiquitous, and totally ignored, movie sounds
  • Buffy cast reunion panel
  • Pop-up books: a superficial, 2D look
  • Buffy sings! Once more, with feeling…
  • The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
  • Pixar’s short films - what everyone really cares about

• Categories

  • Books
  • Games
  • Graphic Novels
  • Misc
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV

• Archives

  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008

Quelqu’un M’a Dit by Carla Bruni

A “charmed life” is a phrase used perhaps too liberally, but in Carla Bruni’s case… not so much. Born an heiress, she became a fashion model in her teens. And of course, not just any couture model, one of the highest paid in the 1990s.

If you’re not groaning yet, just wait. She dated music stars like Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger (but then again, who hasn’t Mick dated? no disrespect intended) during her fashion years. But why stop at rock icons and runway gold? She next left modeling to become a musician. Before you snicker (and who wouldn’t), her 2003 debut album, Quelqu’un M’a Dit, was a chart-topper in France and an international success.

Worse yet, it’s actually good. You heard me.

Read more

Batman: Gotham Knight

As a friend of mine put it, it’s basically The Animatrix of Batman. A collection of six animated stories that tell how the Batman of Batman Begins became (cue weird staticky sound) The Dark Knight.

There’s no denying it - it’s definitely a ploy to suck as much money out of this monster hit as humanly possible (although not as much of a ploy/Oscar hungry grab as the planned re-release of The Dark Knight in January… that said, I’ll of course still go to see it). But that doesn’t mean it automatically has to suck.

Read more

One of the awesomest Hollywood memorabilia auctions EVER

Recession, shmecession: on December 11^th, some of the coolest Hollywood TV and movie items go on sale, and if you can afford it, you may want to seriously think about joining in on the rampant spending.

Indiana Jones’s fedora? Check. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber? Check. Clark Kent suit worn by Christopher Reeve? Check. Magic wand from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Joker card used in The Dark Knight? Check and check. And for the most part, it’s all stuff that was actually worn or used on set.

Even if you can’t buy any of it (sigh, like me), looking through what’s available is just plain fun. The Telegraph has a nice slideshow of a few of the items available, but if you really want to see what’s there, go to the auction’s official site to browse through the 400 or so items up for bidding.

For example, here is some of the stuff not mentioned in the slideshow:

Read more

Twilight - yes, we need another post on it

From the serious overproliferation of news and discussion on this subject, if you’re not already a fan, you’re probably wondering what all that non-stop, “so hyperexcited there’s probably an underlying medical condition” fuss is all about.

Or rather, you’re probably not - it’s just yet another High School Musical-esque tween clinical obsession, right? There’s one of those, like, every four minutes. Who cares? I mean, why is this any different than Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Tamagotchi, Beanie Babies, or other similar, manufactured phenomena?

In a few words, it’s not. But that shouldn’t turn you off to it; yes, I know it’s common to not want to read or engage in something just because it’s everywhere, and everyone’s telling you that you should know about it. Don’t let that stop you. After all, there’s often a reason things are so popular.

Read more

Clue (Premier Collector’s Edition)

Completely unnecessary and, what’s the word these days?, discretionary, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drool over it. Where is Miss Scarlet with the candlestick? In the totally awesome Dining Room, that’s where!

Sigh, but my (really) old Clue set is perfectly fine too, of course. It’s “vintage,” right?

Death on the Nile

I kind of expect macaroni and cheese to make a comeback these days. Especially the nuclear orange Kraft kind (preferably in some sort of old-fashioned shape - maybe those wheels? Do they make that kind anymore?) It’s satisfying, nostalgic, starchy, and lots of other good stuff. And cheap.

I feel the same way about media. Batman, vampire books, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, Sex and the City - it’s all safe, predictable in a good way, nostalgic, largely invulnerable, and, as a result, soothing. And while Breathe is my music comfort food, classic, old-style mysteries take on that task when it comes to books. Yes, people die, and bad things happen to, well, often bad people, but Sherlock Holmes (with the aid of Dr. Watson… and drugs), Hercule Poirot (with the aid of his mustache) and Miss Marple (with the aid of her primness) always get their man. It ends. You know that it will be solved in some very fulfilling way. And, hey, I like that.

My mystery brand of choice? I love Arthur Conan Doyle, but in times like these I usually turn to Agatha Christie.

Read more

Breathe (2 AM)

Ever been really, really into a song? So much so that you don’t tire of it long past when you should? I mean, loooong past when you should? Well, I’m in that phase right now with Breathe by Anna Nalick (click on the image to the left for more info on the song via Amazon.com).

Don’t ask me why… Well, to be honest, I know exactly why. A while back, when I was still in my Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons 1-7 dedicated marathon phase, and was obsessively watching every YouTube video ever made on the show (love the imagined Season Eight opening credits - a season 8 on TV, no relation to the comics), I happened to catch a few minutes of a Buffy compilation set to this Anna Nalick song. I clicked away when I started seeing spoilers, but due to something - perhaps some sort of sneaky subliminal advertising? that would explain a lot - the song has just stuck with me since then.

Read more

• string theories

  What line of work you in, Bob?
  
  - Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
  
  

• featured brown paper packaging

  What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
  
  And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.