The Dan Gibson Pop Culture Minute (Volume II)

You're probably thinking the same thing my wife said to me this morning: "It's been a week since the last one of those?" It's true, it's Thursday, and since I'm looking for any opportunity to avoid doing homework, it's time for another installment of the Dan Gibson Pop Culture Minute. Like last week, reading this whole thing will probably take quite a bit more than a minute, but I'm really just hoping to parlay my fame here into a syndicated radio segment once society (finally) tires of Perez Hilton, and the title really lends itself to that sort of thing. I find it helps to set my goals impossibly high, then the inevitable disappointment is only mildly crushing.

Hands down the biggest entertainment event this weekend is the annual San Diego Comic-Con, an event that began thirty nine years ago as a sedate gathering for those interested in superheroes and science fiction, but has in recent years become a necessary stop on any vaguely related film's promotional tour. When the most successful films of our era are based on comic books, the market is bound to shift that direction and the sold out Comic Con is perhaps the best evidence of that turn (perhaps best put by this week's Variety headline "H'w'd woos nerd herd at Comic-Con"). Films like the rebooted Star Trek, remakes or re-imaginings of Land of the Lost, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Race, and Race to Witch Mountain are obvious highlights, but just like last year's Comic-Con was all about Iron Man, this year it's all about Watchmen.



If you feel a little confused by the end of that trailer, get used to it. Watchmen is probably the pinnacle of the comic book form, but it takes five or six reads of the twelve books (collected together in one graphic novel these days) before the reader has much of an idea of what's going on, and even then the entire thing is up for quite a bit of discussion. Still, the comic books were listed among Time magazine's 2005 list of the best English language books since 1923, and for good reason. Watchmen shows superheroes with deep psychological issues and failures and largely without actual superpowers in an alternate version of the 1980's with America heading towards a nuclear war. A standard chronology or narrative fly out the window from the first few pages, which would seem to be a challenge for any filmmaker, especially for someone like Zach Snyder, whose most prominent credit thus far is the visually stunning, but somewhat overhyped 300. Unless Snyder pulls off a miracle, the comic book fanboys will be readying their torches to storm his home in the Hollywood Hills, so consider picking up the collected Watchmen to join the backlash early on, while it's still cool.

I found myself unexpectedly sad about the end of the Ebert & Roeper era of TV's "At The Movies" this week, as both of the title stars announced they would end their relationship with the program. I've barely caught the show since Ebert fell ill -- Roeper was never a particular favorite, and the show never seems to be on when the cable schedule seems to think it will be -- but when I was a young movie nerd/snob, Robert Ebert and his former partner, the late Gene Siskel, were an entry way into a world where movies mattered and there was a distinct difference between the good movies and the bad. Now, with the endless glut of information available via the internet (I won't even think about seeing a movie without first consulting Rotten Tomatoes, for example), there's an endless stream of opinions available of varying levels of worth, from blogs to the high profile newspaper critics with their printed work available online. Back in 1992, however, I heard about films like Reservoir Dogs and El Mariachi from Siskel and Ebert as they bickered over the relative merits of the week's films. Having experts on television these days seems to be a bit passe, and the direction Disney went with "At The Movies" reflects that state of affairs, with a program rumored to go in a more "Access Hollywood" direction featuring a critic from E! (whose bio mentions the Hollywood hot spots he dj's at on the weekends) and a guy who hosts Turner Classic Movies on occasion. Clearly the credibility that came with Ebert's Pulitzer Prize and Siskel's years of toiling at the Chicago Tribute have little value in our media culture these days, as evidenced by the fact that new host Ben Lyons seems to enjoy proximity to film stars more important than critical integrity. I should probably just be thankful I don't have to worry about missing the show any longer, but I'll still miss the glory days of the nerd and the fat guy arguing with each other.

[caution: these guys use some salty language in these outtakes]





In this week's Jonas Brothers update, the countdown to their new album continues, with a quick break two days ago for the new Miley Cyrus disc, but full Jonas media saturation seems to be approaching quickly, with nearly 2,500 mentions of the band picked up by Google in the last twenty four hours. The band performs on today's Oprah (check local listings) in an apparent doubleheader with an exclusive interview with some midgets. I couldn't exactly follow what was going on, since the television was muted, but somehow, I think the "Bonus Jonas", adorable little Frankie, is involved somehow. The always prestigious Oprah appearance is in addition to the cover of the forthcoming issue of Rolling Stone, hitting stands just in time for the album's release.

It's a bit of a cliche to say that Rolling Stone isn't about rock music, or music in general, anymore, and like the equally threadbare "MTV doesn't show videos" remark, the reason people keep saying it is because it's true. Then again, there have been a number of magazines with extensive music coverage that have gone under in the last few years, so maybe putting the girls from that terrible Hills program on the cover is a savvy move for Rolling Stone. I think it's been established that people are more interested in what's going on with Heidi and Spencer than whether the new Hold Steady disc is any good (it is, but only if you liked them before). Indie rock guys with nasty beards just can't compete with non-stop "baby bump" coverage, after all.

Following that lead, next week look for the latest news on celebrity babies, John Mayer's dating life, and the latest reality show developments, right here on the Dan Gibson Pop Culture Minute.