Sophia Grace & Rosie at the Grammy Museum

Sophia Grace and Rosie, everyones favorite energetic children from Essex, England are back! For those who have been living under a rock, they are the latest and youngest members of the British Invasion, following in the footsteps of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Spice Girls and David Beckham. They performed a spot-on version of "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj on YouTube, and quickly caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres. Well, Sophia Grace performed it, with Rosie acting as her "hype girl." They appeared on the Ellen Show and since then, captured the attention of people all over. Here's the first Ellen Show appearance and when they met Nicki Minaj: 

Now they have their own YouTube channel and recently visited the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles for their "Sophia Grace and Rosie Show." Admit it, you want to see them running around the Grammy Museum. Sophia Grace makes her own rap song, and does a great job, as well as spontaneously bursting out into performances of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "All My Loving" by The Beatles and "Firework" by Katy Perry. Oh, and she tells Slash to eat his heart out! Dear Ellen, please bring them back on your show in 2012!

Watch The Dark Knight Rises Trailer!

The official trailer for The Dark Knight Rises starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Juno Temple (great cast!) has been released online. So watch Batman, Bane and Catwoman here in glorious HD!

I posted a preview before it hit theaters here, but now with the HD version it is even better. Notice the pearls Catwoman/Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) is wearing in the mirror. They look like the exact same ones Bruce's mom was wearing in Batman Begins. Did she steal them from Wayne Manor? Did Bruce give them to her symbolically? Or just a coincidence and the costume department didn't notice? Guess we'll find out on July 20, 2012.

I'm most looking forward to finding out more about Catwoman/Selina Kyle. She seems to be the most complex and well written character of the film. And with such a rich comic history, plus Christopher Nolan's great job adapting these legendary characters, I'm sure we will all be pleased with the end result. Anne Hathaway nails it in this epic trailer.

Preview of The Dark Knight Rises Trailer!

It's almost here! The first full trailer for The Dark Knight Rises will be released before Sherlock Holmes on Friday December 16th. It probably won't be officially released online until Monday the 19th, but will most certainly pop up around the internet. Don't read if you want to wait until Friday to watch it.

Well, I caught some of the trailer early...and it's epic! They manage to not give away any major plot points and show tons of action. There is one scene that takes place in a packed football stadium, during a football game...let's just say you've never seen anything like it before. (Okay, explosions trigger off and the field collapses behind into the ground as a player is running with the ball.) Bane (Tom Hardy) is the culprit of course.

We get a scene at what looks like some ball/party/masquerade with Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). She tells him: "you think this will last? There is a storm coming, Mr Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches." She then whispers in his ear, "cause when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." So it seems as if Catwoman/Selina isn't too fond of Bruce in the beginning. I think she ends up helping him though. But it also makes it sound like Catwoman will in fact start out as a thief, or cat burglar. And maybe she will even agree with Bane until she sees how insane he is, thus joining Batman. Her line also makes it seem like a little "Occupy Wall Street" vibe in the story. (As well as Bane getting the criminals and poor of Gotham to rise against the rich.) This script was written years ago though, but still manages to be very timely. Christopher Nolan must see the future!

I also felt this scene of Selina and Bruce dancing at a masquerade/ball with some tension seems similar to the masquerade scene with the two in 1992's Batman Returns. Maybe they did that as a little callback to that great film.

One final thing, we get a brief glimpse of Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake. I really believe they will actually be playing two League of Shadows members. Marion as Talia al Ghul and Joseph maybe as Black Mask? I can't see those two great actors just playing random Gotham people. I have a feeling Catwoman will take one of these two out while Batman battles with Bane for an epic finale. Just some speculation!

This movie is going to be one of the best of 2012 already.

HBO: Please Renew Enlightened

Enlightened, the HBO dramedy Starring Laura Dern, Luke Wilson, Diane Ladd and Mike White, just had it's first season finale. And it's one of the best shows you're probably not watching. Dern (Jurassic Park, Little Fockers, Recount)  plays Amy Jellicoe, who has a complete and crazy breakdown at her office. She had an affair with her former boss Damon (Charles Esten) which crashes and leads to the meltdown. Amy is then sent on a spiritual retreat and comes back with a new outlook on life...though not everyone can accept it. Old habits die hard. Dern does a fantastic job in the role and makes it all believable, and you really want to pull for Amy, who has been beaten down and doesn't seem to have anything go right for her in the beginning.

The finale changed that. Damon and Amy's former co-workers up top (she now works in the basement of the office) allow her to present some information to them about company practices. They only do it to have a laugh at her expense though, and she hears them making fun of her on her way out. Amy gets the last laugh though when she storms in and reminds Damon she knows all about how they receive kick backs and double dip at the expense of other workers. She then gets back downstairs and manages to get a hacked password from her co-worker Tyler (Mike White), so she can now have all their e-mails. Will Amy take down those at the top and transform their company, Abbadon? That is one of the cliffhangers, along with if her drug addicted ex-husband Levi (Luke Wilson) will get the same help that she did.

Enlightened didn't bring in huge ratings, but there is a chance it will get renewed. Reviews have been solid, HBO seemingly likes the show, and since HBO is premium and not ad-supported, ratings don't matter quite as much (though still important). But please HBO, let this show have more episodes. A great show like this deserves the chance to increase it's audience. It has happened before.

And people, go watch it however you can! When the DVD comes out, On Demand, reruns, however. You won't regret it. Enlightened is one of the most satisfying new shows of the season. And speaking of Laura Dern, I wonder if she will be in Jurassic Park 4?

Universal Orlando closing JAWS; Harry Potter expansion

It was announced that the attraction JAWS, built in 1990 for the opening of Universal Orlando, will be closing January 2, 2012. The ride has had some technical difficulties over the years due to the use of water obviously for the mechanical sharks. With everything being underwater, it takes a lot of work to maintain all the equipment, so cost may be a factor as well. It's probably sad to see an original ride go, however ET is still around and should be for a long time.

The good news is that they may be replacing this with the expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The area has been a huge success, and Universal confirmed the expansion plans. Since it's located in Islands of Adventure and the JAWS spot is in Universal Studios, one rumor is they may connect the two parks with a Hogwarts Express train ride. Obviously this means you might need a ticket for both parks, which may be how you get on the train. Everyone goes to both anyway.

Genius idea in my book. As of now it seems like this new area will be London with King's Cross & Platform 9 3/4 as well as Diagon Alley. Another rumor is that the big new state of the art ride will be an indoor coaster that takes place inside Gringott's bank. In Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 we saw quite the wild ride inside Gringott's...so maybe that is where the inspiration comes from? There may also be yet another ride. We'll have to wait and see.

Barbara Gordon & Dark Knight Rises

Recently a rumor has been going around that Ellen Page is in The Dark Knight Rises and would be playing Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Jim Gordon's (Gary Oldman) daughter, who in the comic books eventually becomes Batgirl. However, this rumor is apparently a fake.

However, the film takes place 8 years after The Dark Knight. We see Barbara Gordon in The Dark Knight at the end with the showdown between Batman, Harvey Dent and Gordon. She looks to be around 10 or 11 years old, so in this film she would probably be around 18/19. So it's somewhat likely she will be in the film and who knows, maybe becomes Batgirl at some point.

It hasn't been confirmed if Barbara Gordon is in the film or not, but Juno Temple is playing a "Street-smart Gotham girl." We don't have a name for her character though...which leads me to believe that she is Barbara Gordon and they are keeping it under wraps, considering the film takes place 8 years after the previous film and she would now be in her late teens. Maybe she has something to do with being trained and taken under the wing by Catwoman while Batman is gone? It's all speculation, but it sure is fun to try and figure out.

Speaking of Catwoman, Anne Hathaway is engaged to Adam Shulman. Congrats! As for Christian Bale, he confirmed that Dark Knight Rises will be the last time he plays Batman.

Survive Black Friday?

Looks like Black Friday got a little heated this year. I blame the admittedly funny "Crazy Target Lady." She is portrayed by the very funny stand up comic Maria Bamford. Maybe they should hire her for Valentine's Day? I look forward to those ads more than I do the actual day, since I would rather sit on my ass and order the deals online. Yes, you can get most of the same deals online and you don't have to worry about being sprayed with pepper spray or being punched in the face! Go figure...

Pepper Spray incidents, a shooting, fights, a drunk guy getting tasered, and a mob over 2 dollar Waffle Irons. Most of these happened at Wal-Mart...does Wal-Mart bring out the crazy in people on an already crazy day?

Well, I hope everyone enjoys their 3 dollar copies of The Dark Knight or the cheap toaster or Taylor Swift CD or whatever it is you got. Happy Holidays!