Rocket Science is a real Jersey film

To movie fans and New Jersey natives alike, Zach Braff’s Garden State was a mixed bag.  On one hand, it had some solid moments and some wonderful shots of our home state.  On the other, it was a little too heralded by faux-hipsters and it really could have been filmed anywhere in America, outside of a mention of Rutgers and a few town names here and there.

But now, NJ filmgoers have something to be proud of in Rocket Science, the sophomore effort by director Jeffery Blitz (Spellbound). The film tells the story of Hal Hefner, played by Reece Thompson (who believably played a 14 year old in 2007, but whose IMDb page now makes him look like a male model). Hefner is a young high school student in Plainsboro, NJ, who suffers from a severe stutter. He is recruited for the debate team by Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), one of the state’s top student debaters.

The film goes on to be a fascinating exploration into speech disorder, and a study of young teens struggling to comprehend the nature of love and sex. Beyond that, Rocket Science is a wonderful window into New Jersey life that stretches beyond the artifice of Garden State and doesn’t pander to detractors hoping to hear the negative NJ-slams that are all too common today.

Ben Silverman thinks he is God’s gift to cool

Attention, Friday Night Lights fans: the episode you saw last Friday may very well be the series finale.  And Ben Silverman doesn’t seem to care very much.

At a recent launch party for Lipstick Jungle, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment Ben Silverman spoke with Radar about the future of FNL.

Radar: Quick question! A lot of us are happy that you’ve kept Friday Night Lights on the air despite lousy ratings. It’s totally the best show on TV. But is there going to be another season?
Silverman: Do you watch 30 Rock? That’s the best show on TV.

Not regularly. But what about FNL?
Start watching 30 Rock. It’s the best show on TV.

I don’t want to watch 30 Rock. I want to watch FNL. I love it.
I love it. You love it. Unfortunately, no one watches it. That’s the thing with shows. People have to watch them. We’re NBC, we have a reputation to uphold. And, man, with this writers’ strike … well, we’ll see what we can do. But start watching 30 Rock.

First, I’d like to give props to the Radar  writer.  They stuck to their guns in the face of a guy who, by all accounts, is a prick.  I’ll just take a bit of a closer look at these three questions.

Don’t do it, Josh Peck

 

I know what you’re thinking, Josh Peck, half of Nickelodeon duo “Drake & Josh.”  But please, listen to me first, because I care about you, and I don’t want to see it end like this.

I Haven’t Forgotten About You Drake Bell

It wasn’t too long ago that Drake Bell was ruling to teen world but ever since the emergence of High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and the Jonas Brothers it’s like the world has forgotten about Drake.  His hit show on Nickelodeon was big with little kids and he too also was putting out his own music.  He was dating Vanessa Hudgens and she even sent him a naked picture of herself.  Lucky guy.  But we’ve all seen them haven’t we?  Anyway Drake, just wanted to let you know that I still think you’re a pretty cool guy.  I’ve been listening to a couple of your songs a lot lately, they are pretty catchy.  “Makes Me Happy” and “I Found A Way,” both are very enjoyable.  Personally I don’t really care what happened to Josh Peck, but you, I want you to make a comeback.

A Grave Mistake

In every man’s life, he makes a choice that he later comes to regret.  For some, it may be after years of loveless marriage, as he stares forlorn into a photo of the one that got away. For others, it might be while sitting in a cold, sterile office building, dreaming of days once spent as a dancer.

For me, it was when I reached into my pocket and suddenly realized the mistake I’d made a few hours earlier; “I’ll just save this Hershey’s Kiss for later.”

Oh sweet, sweet signing day goodness, arriving once again to make my life complete

from www.worldtek.com

Well, this has been an eventful day. For one, I’ve been walking outside comfortably all day in short sleeves – in February. In New Jersey. (Not really an “event,” but definitely out of the ordinary.) Then, the good folks over at Fire Joe Morgan revealed their identities for all to see. And, to top it all off, today was signing day – the first day high school senior football players can sign official, binding letters of intent to attend the college of their choice.

Fire Joe Morgan bloggers give up their anonymity

from www.dci.org

Tom made a post on this already but I figured I would add my thoughts, which are: I feel kind of weird that this is now in the open. I had no idea who dak and Junior really were, but 1 out of 3 was a lot more knowledge than most people had, and after sitting on that piece of information for a few months, I was surprised to see it come to light, out of nowhere, by the guys themselves.

Black History Month Profiles: Dwight Gooden

via FoxNews.com

The month of February is Black History Month, a time to remember the great African-American heroes of our past.  Those men and women who made a stand for what was right and paved the way for a brighter future.  As a tribute I decided that throughout the month I will be writing pieces on those very individuals, sort of as a thank you for what they’ve done, who better to start off with than legendary ace Dwight Gooden.

I’m on to you, Ken Tremendous

Note from Tom – This is the famous post that many of you have heard about but few have actually seen. This afternoon, the writers over at FireJoeMorgan.com revealed their identities to the world. I decided that it was time to publish this post, so we could all appreciate just how great Glenn’s investigation skills were during this historic period in the blog’s history. Without further ado, the post.

Image from LifeInTheOffice.com

October 29, 2007
By Glenn Davis

We of this blog don’t exactly hide our admiration of the blog Fire Joe Morgan. We’re the same way with NBC’s “The Office.” FJM turns bad sportswriting on its head, being consistently funny in the process. The blog’s contributors all go by pseudonyms; one of the main contributors goes by “Ken Tremendous.” Tremendous is generally the one to make fun of “JoeChats,” chat sessions Joe Morgan participates in with espn.com users where he almost never provides a substantial answer. Invariably, Tremendous’ biting rebuttals to Morgan’s “responses” prove way more entertaining than the chats themselves. Tremendous excels at critiquing bad work by all writers, however, and he is arguably the best contributor FJM has.

Consistent humor is also the calling card of “The Office;” 41miles creator Tom said in another post that there has never been a single unfunny episode. The driving force behind this consistency is excellence in writing. One of the show’s main staff writers is Michael Schur (pictured). He has been with the show since the first season and has written or co-written some of the series’ best episodes. He is also gaining more notoriety for playing salesman Dwight’s socially clueless cousin (and farm co-worker) Mose in a couple episodes. He is proving to be invaluable to the show in more ways than one.

What do these things have to do with one another, you ask? A short time ago, I wouldn’t have thought they were related at all myself. Then, some things that will be explained throughout the duration of this post fell into place. Bit after bit of evidence made the story all the more plausible, and now, armed with some pieced-together factoids, I’m suggesting one thing and one thing only: Michael Schur is Ken Tremendous.

I don’t get this sexual reference

TV Land, as many of you know, shows Three’s Company at 4 a.m. every night.  I’m a huge Three’s Company fan, so naturally I was up watching the show last night.  My favorite character, Mr. Furley, was talking to Terri, the blonde who replaced who replaced Suzanne Somers.  We all know that Jack pretends to be gay to fool his bumbling landlord, right? So fans were treated to this exchange:

Terri: What’s wrong with Jack?

Mr. Furley: I think he’s been baking a little too much banana bread lately.

I figure that this is a strange reference to gay sex.  What I don’t get is exactly what it means.  I mean, obviously, I understand the banana part.  And I guess baking because the inside of his body is so warm?  But I have no idea why it’s bread.  All I know is Joyce DeWitt is a bitch.