Learn English by dancing...

Take anything you want! I was robbed by two men! Let's go Dutch!

These are phrases that I speak on a daily basis and are essential to the English language. The educational video below teaches Japanese speakers how to say these and other phrases through the power of dance. By muscle memory you will be able to not only recall, but master these English phrases. So the next time someone is robbing a Japanese person on holiday in the US or UK, all they will have to do is a quick 8-count routine to say "Take anything you want!"

"Have a nice holiday!" *I type while doing an 8-count routine...

The Prince of Persia is a white man...

In Hollywood, actors are skin deep. For America being such a diverse country, a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities from all over the world, this is so rarely reflected on film. The latest example of this comes with the Disney feature film, The Prince of Persia starring Jake Gyllenhaal. This casting choice has made several bloggers and viewers angry that they did not cast an actual Persian person. Why?

Should I be upset that Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in this film over a Persian actor? He looks like the video game character and is a good actor. Can you name any Persian actors? Naveen Andrews of LOST comes to mind as someone who has played middle-Eastern, but he is actually English of Indian decent. Why weren't people angry about him playing an Iraqi in LOST? Gyllenhaal is American of Russian-Jewish decent. Should he only play characters of that decent or is he an actor whose job it is to play anyone?

I understand why people are upset though. It seems ridiculous to have a white guy play someone supposed to be middle-Eastern. While there are tons of middle-Eastern actors in the film, the leads seem to be comprised of generally noticeable white actors: Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and Gemma Arterton. Upon closer inspection, one finds that Kingsley is of English and Indian decent, Molina is of English and Spanish decent and Arterton (in Quantum of Solace and Clash of the Titans) is English. Why don't these leads in the film reflect the rest of the cast (which is largely middle-Eastern)? Is it because Americans will only see a film with a white star, or because people only want to see a movie with a recognizable name?

And where do we draw the line? Do gay characters have to be played by gay actors? Singers by singers? Blind people by blind people? In Hollywood, it seems that it's only the color of your skin that matters. In film, any black actor can play a character that is black, regardless of where they are from. Any Hispanic or Latin actor can play any Hispanic or Latin character regardless of whether they are Colombian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc. In a skin-deep industry, the color of skin matters and sometimes talent, but always name brand recognition and not much else.

I don't know if this is bad or good. It gives people a chance to play characters from all over the world of different backgrounds, religions, languages, accents, etc. than themselves. But it also means that actors who are actually from that part of the world, or speak that language, who can sing, or are blind may be passed up for someone with more name recognition (or talent?). Will this make some people angry? Yes. Should it? Yes. Does it bother me? Only sometimes...

Dear God, Liza...

NO Liza with No Taste, no! This is bad. Bad! I actually can't decide which is worse, her version of "Single Ladies" (click HERE to listen to it), the fact that she sings "Single Ladies" in Sex and the City 2, or this outfit. 

I can't.

Sex and the City 2 is going to be terrible...

You know those moments when you see a movie poster for a movie that you really want to love and you think, "Why?" That's exactly what I thought when I saw the poster for the new Sex and the City movie. Why are they in the desert? Why does Carrie have glasses on the end of a stick with the Manhattan skyline in the reflection?! The whole poster looks so polished and NOT New York, which is what made the show so interesting. It featured real women who were glamorous in a real city.

I hate to say it, but I think Sex and the City 2 is going to be terrible. Not that the first movie was amazing, but it was at least enjoyable as a continuation of the story. This new movie's story will feature a side story centered around Carrie's not-so-fabulous-gay friend, Stanford and his wedding to Anthony. Anyone who has ever seen the show knows that these two should not be getting married - they hate each other! Ugh. I can't. I can't!

To make matters worse, they brought Liza Minnelli in to perform at their wedding and instead of giving her a good song to sing, they make her sing a Beyoncé song! AND it's "Single Ladies". So we have the 4 girls in the desert looking ridiculous, Carrie running into Aidan (drama), Stanford marrying Anthony, Samantha wearing the same dress as Miley Cyrus, and Liza with a Z stumbling her way through "Single Ladies". If that's not a recipe for disaster I don't know what is.

And I do mean stumbling. Listen to the song below. It's the best preview of the horror that's to come. And let's be honest, we're all going to be there this weekend to watch it go down hoping I'm wrong, but don't hold your hold breath...

What is the Island? The LOST series finale...

LOST ended last night in an emotionally draining 2 and 1/2 hour episode that still has me scratching my head while drying my tears. What happened? What is the island? Where is Walt?

And more than those simple questions, what did I want to see? Did the show need to answer all questions definitively, and if they did, would it still have the same impact? Last night, as I dreamed of LOST, and this morning as I woke up thinking about it, I realized a few things:

1) LOST will be in our collective consciousness for years to come.

2) The creators let the show get too big to control and they had no way to answer everything and make everyone happy, so they chose to not really answer anything (which made a lot of people not happy).

3) The show forced a generation of people too familiar with boring plots and say-nothing movies to think. To explore what an artist is trying to say about life, love, and forgiveness. About fate, destiny, and choice. Forcing people to think, decide, and discuss (aka: argue, scream, and fight) about the show was the greatest thing about it.  

After last night I also realized that:

4) Jimmy Kimmel sucks. Three alternate endings? That wasn't funny.

In the coming days I will continue thinking about the series and the final episode. And I will continue to ask questions:
Was the show all about Jack?
At what point did the Island end up under water?
How long will Michael be forced to roam the Island whispering to people?
If Michael can't be redeemed for killing Libby and Ana Lucia, how come Ben is let off the hook?
Was Walt supposed to be the next Jacob?
How come babies can't be born on the island?
Are Nicky and Paolo also whispering on the island?

And the main question I'll be asking is what is more important? The question or the answer?

WEZ SEZ: LOST is like a work of art. You can love it, or hate it, but you will never understand it fully... only what it means to you.

I always wanted to be a famous dancer...

I know I haven't been updating this as much as I should (try ever), but I saw this video and couldn't resist! It's a trailer for everyone's favorite "Flashdance goes to prison" movie, Jailbird Rock!

"I always wanted to be a famous dancer... dancer... dancer..."

It's the kind of inspired hilarity that only the 80s could produce. Check it out and never stop dancing...


Jailbird Rock TRAILER. from Hadrian Belove on Vimeo.

Frightening commercial FAIL...

The British have gone too far. They must be stopped! "What have they done now?" you ask? They have made a commercial (and product) that would only appeal to clergy members of the Catholic church. An anatomically correct doll that pees on you when you tickle him. I don't know what else to say. You have to see it to believe...

eBay auction of Michael Jackson painting "The Book"...

Starting tonight on internet auction site eBay.com, you will be able to bid on the 40x50 inch Michael Jackson work of art, "The Book".The painting was done by Australian artist Brett-Livingston Strong and is reportedly the only painting for which the troubled pop star ever posed. It shows the King of Pop in a red velvet jacket holding a journal at his famous Neverland Ranch.

The auction will start tonight with a minimum bid of........... $2.75 million dollars. The owner, Marty Abrams, who currently has the painting hanging in his house (why?) is hoping for over 3 million. The bidding will end on April 17th, so get your pocket books ready!

You know where I'll be tonight! Watching all the crazy people on eBay blow through their life savings for a creepy, 80s inspired painting of a dead singer. At least he'll live on forever in this painting which also supposedly features Tinker Bell in the background...

Nicollette Sheirdan slaps Marc Cherry with a lawsuit...

Nicollette Sheridan (46) has slapped the creator and producers of Desperate Housewives with a $20 million dollar lawsuit. Sheridan played Edie Brit on the show for 5 years before being killed off last year. Although it seemed that all had parted ways amicably, she is not going quietly. The suit was filed on Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court and accuses the show's creator, Marc Cherry of assault and battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination. She also named Touchstone Television, ABC Studios, and ABC Entertainment group in the suit. She is requesting a jury trial for the case. Here is more information from radaronline.com:

Sheridan alleges that “on September 24, 2008, during a rehearsal for the show, when Sheridan questioned Cherry about something that was in the script, Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head." The suit says Cherry “created a hostile work environment for the cast, crew and writers who work on the show, and Sheridan in particular.”
Sheridan says Cherry later “begged for forgiveness,” and although she reported the incident to ABC, “Cherry’s abusive and aggressive behavior towards (her) not only persisted, it worsened.”
The suit also contends that when Cherry discovered Desperate Housewives’ co-star Teri Hatcher went over Cherry’s head to speak to ABC executives about him, he said, “I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.”

Sheridan says that in February 2009, she was informed that she was being terminated from the show, and that her character would be killed off. Her suit claims her firing cost her millions of dollars in future earnings.

WEZ SEZ: Nicollette Sheridan - Loved her as Edie Brit and always wondered why they got rid of her. The show just isn't the same without her. Could this be the explanation?

Read the original story at radaronline.com

Two gay fighters, one vogue dancer...

The most amazing fight that film has ever captured was released a few days ago. The video clip shows two (gay?) men fighting in a Chicago area welfare office. The winning queen goes crazy after the fight and throws down the fiercest triple turn, backwards fall combo I've ever seen. Werk it out girl...