Results tagged “guilty pleasures” from Overlooked

No David Blaine, no.
(NSFW, like everything else today)

You know how sometimes you're enamored of a particular celebrity not because you are a genuine fan, but because you like something that he or she did, or you admire his or her attitude/personal style? I suppose that these feelings would best be expressed in the words of the infamous Hansel, played by Owen Wilson (by the way, what the heck is this item of Owen Wilson paraphernalia???) in Zoolander:

Perfectly reasonable. I mean, I don't especially like Gwen Stefani (don't get me started on her reticence to be labeled as a feminist (because no one will ever define it for her!) or her poor pronunciation of "Harajuku"--from someone who is, by her own admission no less, apparently obsessed with the street culture), but I admire her bold red lipstick choices.

However, there is an even more extreme subset of celebrities whom I do not like at all, but with whom I do feel some sort of kinship specifically because of how they are portrayed in pop culture parodies. For example, like 66% of polled Americans, I am no Dubya fan. Yet because of the 2001 Trey Parker and Matt Stone TV series called That's My Bush (search unintentionally NSFW until the fix I just made goes through, sorry!), there is a part of me that imagines that crap like this is actually what goes on in the White House, and this makes the current administration the teeniest, tiniest (etc.) bit more bearable.

Such is the case for today's hunk choice. I find David Blaine tedious and ridiculous, a poor man's version of Arrested Development's G.O.B. Bluth. This Dive of Death business? I just got word from Cathy, one of our writers (keep an eye out for her!) that throughout the entire stunt, he took breaks every hour to walk upright and use the bathroom. Lame, lame, lame. I live in New York and I don't know even one person who walked by to see: this is the height of our derision.

Oh, and also?

Ew, David Blaine, ew.

However. However. Have you ever seen the sheer brilliance that is David Blaine Street Magic: The YouTube Edition (NSFW unless you have headphones)? Just as I imagine George Bush to behave as he does on That's My Bush, I long to live in a world where David Blaine accosts private citizens on the street, torments them into whiny submission, and MAKES THIS FACIAL EXPRESSION OVER AND OVER.

So if you're reading this, David Blaine, take a memo. This is what your public craves, not some stupid death-defying (??) stunt. This. Make the face and make people whine. Then maybe you can be a true Hunk Friday. Think it over.

"Olivia, just sing the damn song and be done with it."

Some might say that reviewing the movie Xanadu is desperately passé and hardly topical. After all, the Broadway version has been out for nearly a year, and the pun "Xana-don't!" has been used approximately 785,176 times in the Western hemisphere alone. However, I just saw it for the first time last night, and what is news to me is unfortunately news to all of you.

Clearly, I did not grow up watching Xanadu; in fact, I was barely familiar with it until this winter, when my brother made a spur of the moment purchase of an Olivia Newton-John CD (it being an "oh-my-God-it's-so-bad-it's-AMAZING" kind of good). The movie's title track was an immediate standout as a must-add to my ever-growing karaoke repetoire. My brother, with visions of free drinks at karaoke bars, trophies, and Rhino Records compilation albums dancing in his head, quickly set about stage parenting: ensuring I learned the lyrics and making stylistic choices.

Since then, I have been waiting eagerly to see the movie, and finally, last night was the night. And, well...let's just say that 2 hours passed. Oh, and there was a CARTOON INTERLUDE. I've never smoked crack, but I like to imagine that this is how Whitney Houston feels on a daily basis.

The best way to express my reactions is to share the drinking game I made up (but please beware that this game is absolutely sure to land someone in the hospital and we accept absolutely no responsibility for your stupidity).

Players should take a drink each time:

• A light effect is used
• Michael Beck looks inappropriately confused
• You wonder why they couldn't have gotten Andy Gibb instead of Michael Beck
• You wonder why Gene Kelly chose to be in this film

As a final word, I have prepared a pop quiz. Complete the sentence:

This movie did for roller skates ...

a) what Battleship Potemkin did for montage.
b) what The Graduate did for the anti-hero.
c) what The Deer Hunter did for the Vietnam war.
d) what Nell did for linguists.
e) All of the above.

Sometimes at work when I need a distraction, I enter one of my "go-to" searches into the Shopwiki engine and laugh at the results. The first search is usually for "fake food". For reasons unbeknownst to me (but which inevitably speak volumes about my character, however), I have a strange fascination for replica food which will most likely require a pilgrimage to Japan at some point.

My second favorite search is "yawning" - primarily to see which stock photos of yawning animals come up. I have long been a fan of the Gaping Maws web site, and the Shopwiki search does in a pinch. I would like to offer a small sampling of my favorites, in hopes that they will brighten your day like they brighten mine (and feel free to add your own in the comments!).

If only this clip only lasted longer than 14 seconds! Few remember that David Faustino (aka D L'il) had a failed rap career in the early 90's, but "Married... with Children" helped highlight this with their spoof of Grandmaster B. Never forget again!

Such as I was, I have declared myself.

I have a confession to make.

At age 18, my friend Courtney and I started renting Olsen twins movies. And maybe we watched them several times, but I'm not saying anything. Because, you know, I must have blacked out from all the underage drinking that was going on and I just can't remember. Because that's what kids my age did, right? RIGHT??

Ok so that last part was a lie. The truth is, someone slipped me a roofie and when I came to, I was forced to watch those movies against my will and I swear I said no!

Dammit, I said I had a confession, and a confession is what I will make. I can always play the hipster card and say that watching these movies was done with ironic intentions but the fact is, they were enjoyed. See, despite my years and better sense, I am really a tween at heart.

The best of both worlds!

Now, I don't shop at Limited Too or anything (if only because they don't make my size!! No really, I'm kidding), but many an evening at home is spent watching "That's So Raven" or "The Princess Diaries". I have been contemplating the purchase of a Wii for the sole purpose of helping Hannah Montana win her greatest musical challenge yet on her Spotlight World Tour.

Though it may seem like I'm just a complete freak, I know a large number of people who will drop everything to watch a "Degrassi" marathon on The N. I think part of the answer here is that at the time when we're going through our own adolescence, we're think we're too cool for it. What self-respecting tween wants to align himself or herself with the very things things that identify him or her as a part of that demographic? At an age where we're at the height of our awkward stage, we long to be older, more graceful, more perfectly-complected. We rush to grow up, and when we do, we find that youth really is wasted on the young. It's a good thing our nostalgia is marketable.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a world tour to perform.