Celebrity Chatters

From scoring an entire episode with songs from New York band The Virgins to featuring an a capella version of Fergie’s “Glamorous,” Gossip Girl has certainly done its part to bring good music to television this year. That’s probably not a huge surprise, though: Its music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas, has brought memorable songs to shows like The OC and Grey’s Anatomy as well.

As I was reading a recent interview with Patsavas, I started thinking about what makes a good TV soundtrack. The shows Patsavas has worked on seem to have that secret down when it comes to catchy indie and rock songs — but Cold Case uses music in a completely different way that’s still very cool, and the instrumental songs Explosions in the Sky contribute to the Friday Night Lights soundtrack do a lot to establish that show’s mood.

Which TV shows do you think use music in the best ways? And which shows that haven’t released soundtracks do you wish would?

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Despite the fact that I’ve never owned shoes in the $500+ range and have never been a single and fabulous 30-something (or 40-something) New Yorker, I related to and loved the characters on Sex and the City. Every week I could count on seeing four women who placed a high value on their female friendships rather than tearing each other down (ahem, The Hills), who fought bravely against those who would look down on them for being unmarried, and who talked candidly about not just sex, but everything. Amidst hardship, lapses in judgment, and insecurities, they were smart ladies who had the understanding that life — even for the truly sophisticated — is no fairytale.

Some of these cherished characteristics translated well to the big screen version and I’m so thankful for that. But I’m also a bit mystified by how far it strays at times from the very aspects I loved so much. I wish I could say that it’s a witty and modern take on the meaning of love and friendship for middle-aged women (and women approaching middle-age). Instead, the film is at times a fun fantasy, but it’s not the Sex and the City I remember.

To see what I totally enjoyed about seeing these women back together and what struck a false note,

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Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I’ll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points!

Name the 2005 movie in which a character recites a poem that ends with this line:
“I carry your heart. . . I carry it in my heart.”

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• Fox has Little Black Book
• NBC is new with Dateline and may have MLB baseball coverage in some markets
• CBS has repeats of Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs
• ABC has National Spelling Bee and is new with 20/20
• The CW is new with Friday Night SmackDown
• MTV has a repeat of Shot at Love With Tila Tequila
• VH1 is new with Best Week Ever
• TLC is new with What Not to Wear
• E! is new with The Soup
• Late-night highlights include Al Pacino and David Wright on a repeat of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, Conan O’Brien, Anderson Cooper, and Allison Moorer on a repeat of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, and Christina Ricci and Jason Sudeikis on on a repeat of Late Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC

This Sunday June 1, the MTV Movie Awards will strike again and while they aren’t the most prestigious awards around, they at least get creative with their nomination categories. My favorite: Best Kiss.

Here are the nominees:

• Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, Enchanted
• Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman, Step Up 2 the Streets
• Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer, Disturbia
• Ellen Page and Michael Cera, Juno
• Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I would love it if Ellen Page and Michael Cera won and then reenacted their kiss during the acceptance speech. But I have a feeling The LaBeouf will take that win.

Anyway, is it just me or were there some way better kisses this year than these nominees? There’s a great scene in Waitress where Kerri Russell’s character imagines a gorgeous kiss with her doctor friend (Nathan Fillion, anyone?) for example. Or hello? The library kisses between Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in Atonement!

Do you agree with this list or are there others you would add? What were some of the great on-screen kisses of the year (and by “this year” I guess we’re talking all or most of 2007 since Disturbia came out in April of that year)?

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I’m currently working on my full review of The Strangers, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman but I’ll go ahead and tell you now: it’s so scary! I’m posting the full trailer here today to get you scary movie fans pumped up, and to remind you that there are some cool, smaller movies making their way into theaters nowadays besides the big blockbusters.

But OMG I cannot even watch this trailer! That’s how not recovered I am from the screening. Anyway, after the jump check out the trailer and tell me: does this look terrifying? Or tame?

The movie opens tomorrow, May 30. To see the trailer

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• According to the L.A. Times blog Show Tracker, Lost scripts are littered with f-bombs!
• Speaking of Lost, PopCandy is all about the show today, and has a piece about Hurley’s blog, which is hilarious.
• And because everyone seems to have Lost on the brain right now, go over to TV Squad for a video of all the flash-forwards seen so far on the show — in order. It’s actually really helpful and interesting.
• Cinematical talks about the MoMA’s screenings of the Bourne triology, which will be “accompanied by panel discussions with Bourne Identity director/franchise supervisor Doug Liman and an expert on neuroscience and memory.”
• Stereogum has a premature evaluation of the new Weezer album.
• Popwatch wonders, is Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” this year’s summer song?
• PopSugar wants to know: Are you still as interested in American Idol?
• Huge nerdy entertainment blogger news alert! Michael Ausiello (of Ausiello Scoop) is leaving TV Guide for Entertainment Weekly!

Photo copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

Hooray: The second season of the dark, gripping and insanely clever AMC series Mad Men now has a premiere date of Sunday July 27 at 10:00 p.m. (9:00 Central). And commence countdown. . . now.

I am completely smitten with this show which sheds a bright and unforgiving light on the advertising industry in New York (on Madison Avenue) in the 1960s. It’s often difficult — though mesmerizing — to watch as it never glosses over the fact that while some might call it a “more innocent” time, certain things were seriously messed up back then (rampant and intense racism and sexism in the office, pregnant ladies drinking and smoking constantly, etc.). The people working on this show do a phenomenal job of capturing this bygone era using language, set pieces and especially the fashion of the times.

If you haven’t seen the show and want to catch up before it comes back to TV, the series will be on DVD July 1.

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