When I saw this news/photo over on Daily Intel this morning, I had a momentary panic. Surely the producers would never think of doing anything as crazy as replace Blake Lively! Okay, Leighton Meester is probably the best actor on the show, and sure, Chuck and Blair are a far more interesting couple to watch than any plus one Serena's been saddled with, but, two seasons later, "where has she been?" is still the show's driving force. Not to worry: With Serena off at Brown, Chuck and Blair are surely auditioning placeholders until Serena realizes her mistake/comes home for Thanksgiving. After all, Serena is the glue, the hub. She's the only one capable of maintaing friendships with all the characters, and I'm sure Chuck and Blair are just reacting to the gapping hole in their lives. After all, who else would think to eschew the motarboard and braid the graduation tassle directly into her hair?

There's something amazing that goes on when they make movie lists over at Foreign Policy. See, right there, the needle came off the record because what in the world does Foreign Policy have to do with cinema, and who in the world is reading Foreign Policy for their cinema advice? They actually got into a little scuffle with sister publication Slate some weeks back over international relations movies, I kid you not. Now they're at it again over The Top 10 Iranian Movies to Netflix This Weekend. I realize that they're being facetious on some level ("It was sarcasm, you guys. Geez!" "Ohhh."), but who is the audience for this list? Who is like, "I would like to better understand Iran, and I have absolutely no plans for this weekend, so I'll add a bunch of movies to my Netflix queue. Two years from now,* when they arrive, I'll be thrilled to learn more." Especially since the list already explains to you what you are supposed to get out of the movies. I hate to sound old fashioned and against my own section, but isn't there a book you could read?

*This is predicated on the idea of an obscenely long queue, much as my own Zip list. It makes whatever movies arrive a constant surprise, which is always fun. If you start out depressed, everything's sort of a pleasant surprise. 

Hollywood Reporter reported (heh) this morning that Taylor Kitsch has been cast as the lead in John Carter of Mars, an adaptation Edgar Rice Burroughs book series, which Disney hopes has franchise potential. I'm all about a) Taylor Kitsch and b) fame coming his way (and not just because he's in my fantasy studio), but do me a favour and click on the HR link. Because what is that? Is that a bad photo of Taylor Kitsch? I did not know such a thing was possible! He looks a bit like Hugh Jackman (never good), and I don't know, exactly. Tired and a little ruddy. I didn't know there was a lighting/clothing/make up situation in which he could look like anything less than an Adonis, so I'm a little confused by the very existence of the image.

I was reading Wired's "Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument," and I was shocked (shocked) to discover that I might not be as big a geek as I suspected. Sure, there were some on there that made me roll my eyes, but nothing worth fighting about. After all, I'm not that big on Tolkien (I hate singing in books; it's a personal problem). Then we got to number 2 on the Top 10 countdown: "Joss Whedon is a hack!" Now that one got my blood boiling. Geek reputation? Safe.

Just when you thought Putin couldn't get any more ridicuawesome, he does it again. He's added magazine columnist to his résumé. His first piece? "Why is it hard to fire a person?" Is dioxin is on his list of suggestions? Sometimes I get the impression that Putin's got this George Plimpton-style joie de vivre that makes a person need to try everything he or she possibly could. Any day now we'll hear an announcement about Vladimir Putin: Master Chef or Vladimir Putin:  Skateboard Enthusiast or Vladimir Putin: X-Ray Vision. Anything's possible with him. 

 

If there's a recurring feature from any other mag that I love, it's the A.V. Club's New Cult Canon. I've linked to it many times in the past, and I'm sure I will again in the future. Naturally, when I see a movie that I love and champion make the cut, it's makes the read a little more gratifying that usual.*So you can imagine how exciting it was to read last week's entry on Brick, which is probably among my top movies. 

 Since we're here, let's watch the trailer:

 [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cVzHeJ0Z3I 425x344]