Hello, Wavebabies!

Must-Have Summer Downloads:

'Crazy' - Gnarls Barkley
'Is It Any Wonder?' - Keane
'Edge of the Ocean' - Ivy
'Spooky' - Imogen Heap
'Flawed Design' - Stabilo
'Feel Good Inc.' - Gorillaz
'Sad Eyes' - Josh Rouse
'Beep' - Pussycat Dolls f. Will.i.am
'Crazy' - Alanis Morissette
'Son's Gonna Rise' - Citizen Cope

Quotes of the Week (on marriage):

"My mom's always asking me, 'When will you finally get married?' And I always say, 'When I find a man who has more balls than me.'"
- Salma Hayek

"I've been married five times and people think that's some bizarre thing, and yet I've got buddies who refuse to get married and [have sex with] 15 people a week. I'm like: which is better? At least I'm trying."
- Billy Bob Thornton

Summer TV Obsession: 'Rockstar: Supernova' (Tues/Wed night on CBS) - Slash is going to be a guest-judge. 'Nuff said.

Random Quote #1:

"If you didn't have adult-onset diabetes, I wouldn't mind giving you a little sugar."
- Gob flirting with the elderly on Arrested Development

Best Song Title: 'Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth' (by The Dandy Warhols)

Embarrassing Song I Love: 'What's Left of Me' - Nick Lachey

Random Quote #2:

"'Straight Up', and I would sing it right to Paula Abdul."
- Kathy Griffin, when asked what her American Idol audition song would be

'Celebrities' Who Gross Me Out: Uncle Kracker, the creepy female comm. officer on Battlestar Galactica and the Cryptkeeper

What the he--..?
(letters submitted to TV Guide in answer to what readers' favourite car from a TV series would be)

"One hundred percent, without a doubt, I would much rather drive Knight Rider's KITT car than the General Lee. KITT was Michael's best friend. The car took care of Michael and cared what happened to him. And it was always there for Michael. If I could drive KITT, I just know the car would be there for me too! General Lee is just an orange car, and one that you can't even open the doors!"
- Angela C. Wong, Nanaimo, BC

"I am 26 years old now, but when I was four I had a General Lee pedal car with sound effects. I used to drive it up and down the sidewalk from morning til bedtime. I would honk my "Dixie" horn, and the neighbours would come out and put cookies in my trunk. Thanks for the memories, TV Guide."
- Jeff Murray, St. Catharines, ON

Summer Movie Reviews:

Mission: Impossible 3 - I tend to follow directors as often as I do actors, so I was willing to follow the man who brought me Felicity and Alias because he hasn't disappointed me yet. The action scenes were great, especially the airborne windmill scene, and Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys-Myers are lovely eye-candy. And is Mr. Cruise a nutbar in real life? Most probably, but I still enjoy watching him on screen. His forearms get **** and the movie gets ***.

Stick It - From the director of Bring It On, which exceeded my low expectations unbelievably, comes this equally fun and silly feel-good pile of fluffy gymnastic goodness. Jeff Bridges plays the coach and I for one have missed him. I laughed out loud, I grooved in my seat and I cheered - and that my friends, is what summer is all about. ***1/2

The Da Vinci Code - For starters, I didn't read the book. And I could care less. The film was a bit confusing and convoluted at first, but I caught on. The main draw for me was Paul Bettany, whom I would watch in just about anything, as the albino monk, Silas. Prior to seeing the film, I dreamt I was hanging out with the cast and Bettany's real-life wife, Jennifer Connelly. They were both very gracious and warm, while Tom Hanks was quite aloof and unimpressive. Perhaps this influenced my decision, as I found myself not-as-impressed-as-usual with the usually constant Mr. Hanks. Though in all fairness, his hair wasn't that bad. I didn't find it offensive or controversial at all, merely interesting. In spite of a religious upbringing (or perhaps because of it), I always find myself fascinated by the theological beliefs and theories of others and this brought up some spiritual food for thought. The Catholic-baiters get **1/2

X-Men: The Last Stand - As a comic geek, I was really looking forward to this one - the previous films were exceptional, but they were also helmed by Bryan Singer (whose Superman Returns is getting great buzz) and I should've known that a director whose resume includes the Rush Hour films would probably have his head pretty far up his a--. There were some cool special effects, yes. Kelsey Grammer as Beast was fun to watch, yes. And I enjoyed the always-surprising Ben Foster as Angel, though he was barely in it. And no Gambit - what the ----?? Now, I could sit here here and regale you with all of the bits of X-Men lore that Brett Ratner totally ignored or screwed up, or I could just let a fellow geek speak for me: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23420
Ratner's pile of steaming super-poo gets **

Nacho Libre - There were funny parts and silly parts and a definite Napoleon-vibe (love the 70s sweater-shirts!), but overall, it felt like Jack Black was holding back and not being, well, Jack Black. And when you're that endearingly zany and maniacal, it's a crying shame. **1/2

That's all for now. Eat all your watermelon, kids!