Jon Cryer > Charlie Sheen

Jon Cryer as Duckie in Pretty in Pink.

(Possible) Ear Candy Alert

“I’m too scared. They’ll find me out. It’s like ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ They’ll find out there’s nothing there” said pop/soul icon Sade to the LA Times on the subject of producing collaborations with rappers. She has been approached in the past by a number of famed hip-hop artists, and has openly turned them down. The most publicized of these refusals was to Jay-Z back in October 2010.

Well, even sex symbols are allowed to change their mind every once and a while - Sade has agreed to allow Jay-Z to rap over her song “The Moon and the Sky” from her latest (and platinum-selling) album Soldier of Love. The remixed track will be featured on the upcoming The Ultimate Collection, a two-disc, 28-track greatest hits compilation that will be released on May 3rd.

Many in the music world are calling this an “awkward collaboration,” but I think Sade and Jay-Z have proven themselves capable of achieving musical greatness. Both artists have garnered critical praise and achieved commercial success on their own, so why shouldn’t they give collaboration the ol' college try?

Patience is a Virtue for Fans of "Mad Men"

It has been a little over five months since Season Four of three-time Emmy award-winning series "Mad Men" ended, and fans have been itching for more ever since. Unfortunately it looks like they might be itching for a while - while the show’s previous seasons have aired over the months of summer and early fall, it looks as though season five will not be gracing us until early 2012.



That’s because Season Five has not actually been officially greenlighted yet. Matthew Weiner, creator of the show, Lionsgate, its production studio, and AMC, its cable network, have been plowing through months in renewal deal negotiations. (In other words, the three parties are fighting over who’s paying and who’s pocketing). Though the deal seems to be nearing completion, production cannot begin until everything is official. So, we’re looking at a later air date for this season. Nellie Andreeva at Deadline writes, “Cable networks having the freedom to develop, greenlight and schedule projects on their own schedule is great, but sometimes it might be better to have the pressure of a looming May broadcast upfront presentation to get big deals done.” I think fans agree.

I guess we will just have to wait a bit longer to see if Don will actually marry Megan or what will become of Joan and Roger’s baby. In the meantime, Season Four is available on DVD on March 29th. And, there’s always this:

Adorable.

A friend posted this on my Facebook:



I'm a real sucker for cute baby vids, but this one takes the cake.

Hereafter Pulled from Japanese Theatres

The movie Hereafter has been pulled from Japanese theaters, as an official at Warner Entertainment Japan Inc. deemed it inappropriate. Starring Matt Damon and directed by Clint Eastwood, the film features a tsunami sequence in itsbeginning scenes. The movie is available on DVD in the U.S. as of March 15th, but only began its theatrical run in Japan in February at approximately 200 theatres.

Warner Bros. will also be donating $1 million of Hereafter's home video sales to the Japanese Red Cross Society. While I think this move is in good taste (a donation is a donation, after all), Mike Bracken over at Moviefone's Cinematical disagrees. Read why Warner Bros. decision to donate seems wrong to him here.

Hobglobin and Hitler

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman are in the process of writing a TV show for HBO. The premise? A band of conmen and magicians battling Hitler during WWII. It's tentatively titled "Hobglobin."



Now suspend your disbelief and bear with me, because once you know a little bit about Chabon's work, "Hobglobin" looks like a potential masterpiece.

Chabon wrote The Wonder Boys (published in 1995), which was picked up and adapted as a movie starring Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire in 2000. Next, he won the Pulitzer in 2001 for his heartwarming tale of American life and one of my personal favorites, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. The Yiddish Policemen's Union, another critically-acclaimed novel by Chabon, is currently being adapted for film by the Coen Brothers. So now you know, the man can write.

Thematically, Chabon commonly explores the idiosyncrasies of Jewish culture, the family structure, the American Dream, and the trials of romance to name a few. He also often incorporates comic books, genre entertainment, and the 1940s into his story arcs.

Even with the help of his wife, author and former public defender, and all his talent, Chabon is presented with an immense challenge with "Hobglobin." Though it is in the early stages of development and may not hit production, my hopes are that "Hobglobin" beats the page and changes its name so that this fantastical story as dreamt by a visionary can be told.

Drake's Getting Some Indie Help

For his sophomore album Take Care, rapper Drake will be collaborating with Jamie xx, one-third of British alt/indie group The xx.



When asked about his work for Drake, Jamie said "He's a fan of the xx and my remixes and stuff, and I sent him some beats. We're just going to do some stuff for the next album." Drake, in turn, said, "The praises I'll sing most is definitely The xx and Jamie...Jamie is probably one of the most exciting producers I've ever heard." The future looks bright for the young beatmaker.



While the extent of Jamie xx's work on Drake's project is unknown, Jamie just released a full-length album remix project titled We're New Here for 70's jazz/soul artist Gil Scott-Heron's I'm New Here, which is Scott-Heron's first album to be released in 13 years. Listen to the remix album in its entirety here:

Super 8

Information about the highly anticipated summer blockbuster Super 8 has been mostly speculative - until now. Paramount Pictures released the film's official plot synopsis and (more importantly) the first full-length trailer via Twitter this past week.



The rumors that Super 8 is an homage to Steven Spielberg (co-producer of the project) and his sci-fi flicks from the 70's are proven true with this trailer. The MTV Movies Team breaks the elements down best in their trailer analysis.

Director J.J. Abrams, famous for creating and producing TV shows such as "Alias" and "Lost," first spoke about the movie to the press in early February with LA Times Hero Complex blogger Geoff Boucher and revealed a very interesting fact about Super 8's conception:

"The movie began as two projects that ended up merging due to their individual deficiencies. The first was a non-fantastical tale of youngsters and the way they see the world and each other through the viewfinder of their Super 8 camera. Abrams took the vague notion to Spielberg and they decided to investigate further but a string of meetings with top writers in town ended with a lot of shrugs and consternation. Abrams said 'there was not much there and it was frustrating because it would not go away in my head. … I couldn’t tell you what the story was. I knew characters, I knew situations, I knew there were issues of class and a love story at the core and that it would be a coming-of-age movie. A lot of the writers were lukewarm.'

Paramount, meanwhile, had bought a separate idea by Abrams for a spooky film about the 1970s scrutiny of Area 51 and how anxious government officials decided the best way to protect the classified possessions of the increasingly notorious military base was to ship them off to other sites aboard midnight trains — one of which never reaches its final destination. With this project, Abrams had 'a pretty cool premise but no characters to speak of … so I was in possession of two halves and it occurred to me after six months or so to put them together.'"

Super 8 will open in theaters and IMAX on June 10.

Hulu's Second Annual Best in Show

In the spirit of NCAA March Madness, Hulu has created a bracket system for determining TV's best show. In this five week-long "tournament," TV shows are matched up according to genre and fans vote for their favorites online. The scores are determined 95% by fans' votes and 5% by the votes of TV critic (and HitFix senior editor) Alan Sepinwall, who will also write analyses of tournament results and critical reviews of shows in the running. While last year Lost emerged victorious, there does not seem to be a stand-out show for this year. Start casting your votes here.