1. Remember that really bizarre Steve Jobs action figure? Well, in the wake of “immense pressure” from Apple’s lawyers and the Jobs family, Chinese manufacturers have decided not to sell the lifelike figurine. The company, which had planned to start shipping the dolls in February, has promised to fully refund all pre-orders. [LAT]

2. Despite a lack of scathing material from Ricky Gervais, the ratings for this year’s Golden Globes are almost as good as they were last year, and easily beat the numbers for both the American Music Awards and the Emmys. Does this mean we’re going to be seeing him host for a fourth time? [via MTV News]

3. You’ve already seen the underwhelming trailer for Lilyhammer, Netflix’s first foray into original programming; today brings us the trailer for Battleground, Hulu’s new mockumentary about a group of campaign workers in Wisconsin. [via Slashfilm]

4. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the official nominees for this year’s BAFTA Awards, aka the UK’s version of the Oscars; are you as pleasantly surprised as we are to see that Drive is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress? [via Vulture]

5. Bay Area punk label Lookout! Records — which has been home to bands like Green Day, Operation Ivy, and Rancid — has officially shut down following years of financial troubles. [via Rolling Stone]

Bonus Buzz: 25 Reasons Why We’re Not Surprised Paula Deen Has Diabetes

1. Billie Joe Armstrong would like for “that kid in Twilight,” aka Robert Pattinson, to star in the upcoming film adaptation of Green Day’s Broadway musical, American Idiot. “He’s a good actor,” he told Perez Hilton. “There’s still more to come with that kid.” Right. We’re sure that his rabid teenage girl fan-base has nothing to do with it. [via NME]

2. The producers of My So-Called Life have sold a new hour-long drama to Fox that’s called Confessions of a Contractor and is described as “an alternative soap that focuses on what happens when you mix desire, jealousy, and home renovation.” Yuck. [via THR]

3. Perhaps hoping to compete with NBC’s upcoming show with Snoop Dogg, CBS has signed a deal with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst to star in a new sitcom. The show, which Durst also plans to produce, “centers around a rock legend looking for balance between his high profile lifestyle and trying to raise a family.” Double yuck. [via Deadline]

4. Lady Gaga has won a lawsuit against animated singer Lady Goo Goo, a character from the kid’s game Moshi Monsters known for posting parody performances of Gaga’s songs, such as “Peppy-razzi,” on YouTube. [via Guardian]

5. Hulu is no longer for sale. The reason? As Vulture explains, potential buyers like Yahoo, Google, and Apple were understandably uncomfortable with shelling out $1 billion when the site couldn’t guarantee long-term rights to its current lineup of TV shows.

Bonus Buzz: Russell Simmons Offers To Pay For Zuccotti Park Clean Up

Everyone has a favorite song. You know, the one that has never left the “Recently Played” section of your iTunes, or your internal playlist for that matter. Have you ever wished that you could just paste its lyrics up on your wall in some lovely typography? Do you happen to be a fan of famed musical acts like New Order, Morrissey, and Radiohead? Then we’ve got some exciting news for you! To celebrate its 200th anniversary, Warner/Chappell Music (a division of the Warner Music Group) asked 10 well-known graphic designers to transform iconic lyrics from its catalogue into new works of art. Now, these pieces are being sold as limited-edition posters, with 100 percent of the profits going to Save the Children. Click through to browse the impressive collection, which will be on display at London’s StolenSpace gallery through October 10.

Read More »

Pop punk is right up there with crunkcore and saccharine R&B as far as much-maligned genres go — and if you’ve ever had to endure Alien Ant Farm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal” or grew up cringing as Blink-182 made a lucrative career out of wiener jokes, you’ll understand why. Still, after a fallow period in the late 2000s, the genre seems to be rearing its head again — Blink-182 are reuniting, and New Found Glory just announced a tour with the defiant title “Pop Punk’s Not Dead.” At Flavorpill, we’re always up for a challenge, so we thought we’d take on the musical equivalent of taking the negative in a high school debate about climate change, or war crimes, or something — we’ve trawled the history of the genre for ten albums that actually aren’t that bad. A pop-punk list that doesn’t feature Blink-182, Sum 41, or any other band with a number in its name? The results are after the jump.

Read More »

1. Green Day’s American Idiot musical has been optioned as a film. Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is in talks to write the screenplay, Tom Hanks is one of the producers, and Michael Mayer — who helmed the stage version — has already signed on to direct. [via Digital Spy]

2. $1 million for 30 seconds. That’s what running a commercial during the final week of The Oprah Winfrey Show in May will cost you, which is about $700,000 less than what you’d pay to run a spot during Academy Awards. [via Vulture]

3. Phil Spector’s lawyers have launched a new appeal against his 2009 murder conviction and are requesting a third trial, claiming that his original sentencing was “prejudiced by testimony from five women who claimed to be victims of gun-related incidents with the producer in the past.” He is currently serving out a 19-years-to-life-sentence. [via NME]

4. Interesting news: Joaquin Phoenix may be coming out of “retirement” to nab the role of an alcoholic disciple in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, an untitled religious drama about the founder of a Scientology-like religion (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Jeremy Renner had previously been attached to the part. [via Slashfilm]

5. Yet another track from the Beastie Boys’ long-awaited new album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 has leaked. Listen to “Tadlock’s Glasses” here.

Bonus link: We were nominated for a Webby! Cast your vote for Flavorpill’s Weekly Dose in the Online Film & Video – Variety category.

For the past several years, summer music mega-fest lineups have been cause for concern. Just last year, Lollapalooza headliners included Depeche Mode, Tool, Jane’s Addiction, and Lou Reed. Paul McCartney, Morrissey, The Cure, and My Bloody Valentine were among the bold-face names at the generally forward-thinking Coachella. Meanwhile, at Bonnaroo, things looked even bleaker: Bruce Springsteen, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, and Phish (playing not one but two sets!) took the top spots. What was this, I Love the ’90s (and the ’80s… and the ’70s… and the ’60s)?

Finally, that all seems to be changing. In a little over a week, fans at Coachella will look forward to headlining performances by Jay-Z, Gorillaz, and Muse. With today’s announcement of the Lollapalooza 2010 lineup, it looks like summer music festivals may finally have entered the 21st century.

Read More »

1. The guessing game is finally over and the 2010 Lollapalooza lineup has been announced; Arcade Fire, the Strokes, Lady Gaga, Green Day, Soundgarden, and Phoenix are the headliners. [via P4K]
2. Hasn’t Ri Ri already been through enough? Now she’s embarking on a summer tour with Ke$ha. [via EW]
3. The first reviews for Tina Fey and Steve Carell‘s new comedy Date Night aren’t so hot. We’re not surprised, but kind of disappointed. [via Vulture]
4. The upcoming Mighty Boosh movie will be set in the Arctic and is hopefully the first in a trilogy. [via Chortle]
5. Thanks to a “powerful meditation,” Deepak Chopra is blaming himself for the Baja earthquake. [via AOL News]

Bonus link: People staring at Marina Abramović

At the age of 62, Iggy Pop has reportedly given up stage diving after the crowd at the Tibet House Benefit at Carnegie Hall earlier this month let him fall to the ground: “When I landed it hurt and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive. The audience were just like, ‘What are you doing?’” To help Iggy lick his emotional wounds, we’ve compiled a list of equally damning faceplants by musicians and fans alike. Leave a comment if you know of a stage-dive fail that should have made the cut.

Read More »

HBO’s new show How to Make It in America is billed as the East Coast’s answer to Entourage, but one big difference between the two shows jumps out immediately: their titles. The creators of the new program didn’t choose an innocuous, could-be-about-anything name like its precursor; nor did they go with the relatively straightforward “How to Make It.” Instead, they opted for the grand, sweeping “How to Make It in America.”

It made us think about all of the other works of art that have laid claim to that loaded word over the years. Though musicians (Green Day’s American Idiot), playwrights (Tony Kushner’s Angels in America), authors (Philip Roth’s American Pastoral), and TV shows (American Idol, which, notably, was called “Pop Idol” in England) have all co-opted the word successfully, it’s filmmakers who seem to enjoy naming their creations after this enigmatic nation of ours most of all.

Read More »

There’s a rumor floating around that Lady Gaga, Green Day and a recently-reunited Soundgarden are set to headline Lollapalooza 2010. (Arcade Fire, who headlined back in 2005, are also reportedly in the mix.) The full lineup is not expected to be officially announced until April. Just to recap, here’s what we know about this summer’s festival headliners so far:

Coachella 2010 (April 16 -18) – Jay-Z, Muse, and Gorillaz
Sasquatch 2010 (May 29 – 31) – Pavement
Bonnaroo 2010 (June 10 -13) – Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, and Kings of Leon
Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 (July 16 – 18) – Pavement, Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, and Raekwon
Rock the Bells 2010 – TBD
All Points West Festival 2010 – TBD
ATP New York 2010 (September 3 – 5) – Curated by Jim Jarmusch; Iggy & the Stooges, The Breeders, Sonic Youth, Raekwon

Which of these are you planning to check out?