As you probably know, over the weekend, Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland on a decades old warrant for charges stemming from his 1977 sexual assault case. Did you see that documentary about him last year? It was really intense and confusing. I mean, what isn't confusing is that he gave a 13-year-old drugs and then he sodomized her. Very not confusing, that part. And what's also not confusing is that he spent almost no time in jail, and has continued to have an incredibly successful filmmaking career from Europe, where rich people still have access to mansions and champagne. But there were definitely some pretty weird extenuating circumstances (fame-obsessed mother, fame-obsessed judge) that muddle the issue. And it remains muddled! This morning on The View, Whoopi Goldberg apparently made reference to rape-rape? Like, as in one must qualify between Regular Rape, Classic Rape, and Rape-Rape, or something? Yikes, Whoopi Goldberg.
Anyway, the whole thing is such an extended nightmare that may or may not be on the verge of achieving closure. So, you can use the comments thread on this post to write your thoughts and feelings about a controversial and horrifying reminder of how the world is a confusing and scary and dangerous and mean place. OR, you can use the comments thread on this post to post pictures of cute kittens. The choice, although it may seem obvious, IS YOURS!
The Emmy Awards! Television's biggest night! People dressed in expensive clothes, patting each other on the back for the hard work they do to entertain and/or insult our eyes. Seriously, I know this is television's Golden Age or whatever, we all love 30 Rock and Mad Men and Lost and Friday Night Lights, but television is also very awful! The Emmys should address this somehow. Like, negative awards. Most Despicable Manipulation of Teenagers in Reality TV, for example. Boldest Attempt at Cashing in on Something That Was Popular and Relevant 20 Years Ago. You know, meaningful TV accomplishments. But that won't happen! So, let's talk about what DOES happen. Follow the Videogum Twitter for up-to-the-minute yuck-em-ups about Marg Helgenberger's Lifetime Achievement Award, and join your fellow monsters right here in the comments!
True Blood/Billy Mays Open Thread• So look, my DVR didn't tape True Blood last night for some reason. So I haven't seen it. Was it good? NO SPOILERS! Just kidding. I ain't care. But, so, also, Billy Mays died? And that is just really sad. And I don't really know what else to say about that. Maybe you do. This is a place for all of your True Blood and Billy Mays comments. You be the blog.
Soulja Boy posted a new vlog yesterday to explain why he loves it when people tell him to suck a dick.
Is this true? YouTube announced in April that it had paid out one million dollars to its user partners according to an unpublished sliding scale based on page views, or whatever. So there's probably some truth to it. But 15 cents per comment? No. No way. He also claims that "Crank Dat" is up to 400 million views, which is only off by 372 million. I think it's safe to say that Soulja Boy has made some money from the YouTube partner user program, but not enough to be Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out about.
But more importantly, I believe in free speech. Now, I don't hate Soulja Boy, although I think he lucked out with "Crank Dat," which was DECENT, and every song since then has been MIDDLING to HORRIBLE. (And I've never been a huge fan of artists who have to resample their popular work into their new songs to remind you that they don't suck.) Nevertheless, we all have to take our lumps, and why should Soulja Boy profit from the free exchange of ideas? That is why I would like to open up the comments section of this post to a FREE Soulja Boy discussion. That's right, you will not be charged for your Soulja Boy comment at videogum.com, and he will not earn a cent off of you telling him to suck your dick. Soulja Boy, tell him.
I mentioned earlier this week that it seems like Bruce Banner has developed some real rage issues since I was a kid. He gets so mad about every little thing. Motherfucker can't even ride the subway, which MILLIONS OF PEOPLE DO EVERY DAY WITHOUT MURDERING. Calm down, you stupid jerk. If I was friends with Bruce Banner I would never invite him to any of the many parties people are always inviting me to because I have lots of friends don't worry about it. Bruce Banner would be like "What's happening this weekend?" and I would be like, "I'm probably just going to stay in, I don't feel that well," and he'd be like "I feel like you're ignoring me and don't have enough respect for our friendship NOW I'M A MURDEROUS BEAST RAAARR," and I'd be like, "This is why you are always getting deFriendstered."
But then I realized that maybe it's not him. Maybe it's just the culture at large.
David Spade emerged from his hot tub after a brief but relaxing 9-hour soak. He put on his $10,000 Billy Mays costume, complete with a button-down blue shirt owned by Billy Mays himself, exhumed from his grave, cleaned, pressed, and...
After watching Death Sentence, a terrible movie starring Kevin Bacon as a father in search of vigilante justice directed by Saw's James Wan, Gabe embarked on The Hunt For The Worst Movie of All Time. This is his sad journey.
Do you ever eat foods that you know you don't like, just to remind yourself why you don't like them? I think that's a good thing to do sometimes! The worst case scenario is that you might momentarily have a...
Oh man. Another great week in Videogum Commenter History. Good work, goblins. Starting your own party games? Making lists? Who knew! And then there were the actual comments: TBS Very Funny. So how appropriate that we celebrate everyone's hard work...
Blogging about TV and movies isn't all fun and videogames. Every week, Lindsay or Gabe will be presented with a physical or mental challenge that tests their bravery,patience, and taste.
The Challenge: I had to go on a 3.5 hour bus tour of totally random TV and film locations in New York City. Alone, and wearing a specific ridiculous tshirt. And I had to find someone to take my picture...
I went to see Where the Wild Things Are on Saturday, but it was sold out. Ay-ay-ay. That was a surprise! I mean, anticipation for this movie seemed pretty high, but anticipation for lots of movies seems high, especially when...
