Hulu: Bad Name, Great Concept

The creative kids over at Avenue A | Razorfish recently came out with the beta version of their brand new and randomly named video site, Hulu (doesn't exactly roll off the tongue now, does it?). The project is funded by NBC Universal and News Corp. and they've partnered with other major networks in order to bring views a wide variety of our favorite programs from places like Bravo, E!, FX, USA and more.

Their mission is to "provide you with the web's most comprehensive selection of premium programming across all genres and formats – television shows, feature films, clips, and more." What's sweet about this concept is that they are going to bring together all the shows we love to watch on one site. What's also impressive is that they've taken the YouTube concept to the next level -- meaning, they have great video without the messy lawsuits! This may be an attempt by the television networks and movie studios to control the output of their content. It's free for us, but not for advertisers -- it's smart.

The video content on this site is all legal -- and what's even cooler is that they are giving permission to embed them in your blogs, in emails -- you name it. Also, not only are they offering programs that we see today (such as The Office, Prison Break and House) but they are also streaming classic shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (amazing!) and Miami Vice. Arrested Development, another great show that no one watched will be available. I am crossing fingers that My So-Called Life makes it on there as well. A day without Jordan Catalano is, well, a day wasted.

It's also important to note that you can customize your experience to fit your viewing preferences - watch videos in full screen, or pop out the video player and place it anywhere on your computer screen and re-size it if you're multi-tasking. Great for work.

I like where this site is going -- I signed up to view the Beta version and I'm interested to see how many networks sign on and what the movie library will eventually be like. Also curious to know if the writers are getting royalties for this stuff? I mean, if I were the guy coming up with Don Jonson's sweet lines on the Vice and wasn't getting a dollar each time it was viewed, I'd be pissed.

There's No Way This Wouldn't Get Posted

“I'm looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love.” - C. Bradshaw

I'm a girl and I'm going to link to this video and be totally proud of it -- because you know what? It's BIG news. (Heh, heh.)

It's a well-known fact that Sex and the City, quite possibly one of the best HBO series of all time (all you posers who say you love The Wire more just started watching it this season, so quiet down) is coming out with a big-screen version of the much loved show. There have been numerous trailers, rumors and plot leaks -- but this video seems to say it all. I'm also going to be woman enough to say that I am so excited I can hardly breathe -- my heart may have even beat a little faster after watching that trailer.

This show ended only the best way a show can end -- everyone was happy. Carrie ends up with Big - the man who tormented her for years (classic!), Miranda and Steve move to Brooklyn and get married, Samantha overcomes cancer and continues to have great sex with her much younger boyfriend and Charlotte and Harry adopt a Chinese baby. PERFECT.

I was afraid that this new movie would destroy the happy ending that women around the glob have sobbed to time and time again -- but I have to say, I don't care anymore. I want to my old friends again. I can't wait for the outfits, I can't wait to see the "5th lady" portrayed in all her glory and what I really can't wait for are those quotes! Who comes up with those great lines?!! "Don't you want to stand still with me?" I mean JEEZE -- how many times have you wanted to say that and then have Chris Noth (or appropriate stand-in man) swoop you up into his arms and say "YES!"

So many times.

You're Not That Important

@Everyone: Nope, sorry. I really don't care what you ate for lunch.

So I know I'm late to the game, but I signed up for Twitter today and I'm trying to figure out why. Do you really want to know what I'm doing all the time? Do I really want to know what you're doing all the time? Do I really care what your response is to another Twitter member that I don't know?

I wrote one post and immediately felt self-conscious. Does anyone care that I "don't understand Twitter?" Turns out, I'm not that important. Or at least I'm not living such a crazy life that I can imagine someone wanting to follow a constantly updated newsfeed of my every move. Twitter is a diluted blog and profile product. There's just not enough flavor for me to latch on. I read a few posts of others and actually looked around. "Who else is reading this and why?" I said out loud. I actually thought for a while I was missing the point of the site. That I didn't have a full membership and wasn't being exposed to the real messages I should be reading. But no -- this really is a site of people writing about nothing... about themselves. Vanity at its finest!

I know some people use Twitter for work purposes. They are writing small tidbits about their job -- maybe even updates for their boss about their travel plans or how a business trip is going. I have no real argument as to why this is "bad" per say, but I think it's useless and unnecessary. If you have something to say about your industry -- blog. Write more than 140 characters about it because otherwise, I have no idea what you're trying to say. If you want to tell your boss how a meeting went, email him from your Blackberry, because let's get real -- if you do any kind of travel for work and need to report immediately to The Man, you have one of those suckers. Do you really need to expose the rest of your feeders to these status updates?

I think that if I could follow anyone's Twitter it would probably be Britney Spears. It would read something like this:

Brit is getting high on meth.
Brit is neglecting her kids.
Brit somehow spent $60 million of her estimated $100 million fortune
Brit is self-destructing.

How can you compete with that? I sure as hell beats the Average Joe writing:

JoeShmo is psyched to watch a movie later tonight.

Awesome.

I love the web, love new sites and new toys to play with. But this one makes me scratch my head. I'm all about being public and putting my stuff out there - I'm on Facebook, LinkedIn, and I blog, so keeping private has never been a concern of mine. But in the end, I'd rather be public with substance -- I think it keeps things a little bit more interesting.

This Week's Ad List

I love Michael Bay for taking part in this commercial.

Bay is featured in a new advertising campaign for Verizon FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services. The new campaign created for Verizon by McCann Erickson, features Bay spoofing his own "explosive" Hollywood persona as he blows up things throughout a home -- because everything in his life should be "awesome" -- just like his internet and cable service.

Who would've guessed that a Verizon commercial could be amusing, but Bay steals this 30 second spot with his dead-pan acting. It's funny, smart and caught my eye. Thus, worthy of the ad of the week.

Nudie Pics: Reviving a Woman's Career?

I've looked at them twice, and I have to say, I could look at them again.

It's not that the photographs taken of Lindsay Lohan, recreating Marilyn Monroe in "The Last Sitting" (a series of photos taken by Bert Stern in 1962 six weeks before Monroe died of an overdose) are so beautiful -- but they are captivating. Lohan's body is captured in a way we haven't seen her before -- she's back to her semi-voluptuous body, she appears vulnerable and yes, she's completely naked. Although these photos do not hold a candle to the originals that Bert Stern masterfully produced, the press surrounding them has been massive. In fact, the traffic to New York Magazines website has been extraordinary. On Monday, their site crashed due to overwhelming amounts of visitors, including 20 million unique page views to Lindsay's slide show. The rest of the site only received about 2-3 million impressions.

But who would expect anything else? Take a troubled pop-star, often in the tabloids for sex and drug exploits, take off all her clothes and snap a few photos. Perfect recipe for web traffic. How much you want to bet other webzines start following in NY Mag's footsteps? Find troubled actress, strip her of clothes (and dignity) and toss her online so we can all dissect her breasts. First left, then right. I'll admit, I think I held a solid 5 minute conversation with a friend on whether those puppies were real. 5 whole minutes of my life I'll never get back.

I laughed out loud, reading the blog lines on this photo shoot. One news outlet called Lohan's decision to bare all a "revival of her career" and compared it to other actresses who posed nude or stripped down in movies -- moves which catapulted their lives in a new direction (see also Drew Barrymore.)

So, I'm wondering -- in order for a woman to take back her life and career, does she need to take back her sexuality first? Or should I say, expose it? I don't believe I've ever seen a washed-up actor pose naked on the cover of GQ in an attempt to obtain roles. It is possible that women in Hollywood consider sexuality as a talent -- if they can make it naked on the cover of a magazine, they can consider that a success! But seriously, why? What do nipples say about a woman's talent? What does it say about her life, her morals and her values? Seeing Lindsay naked didn't change my opinion that she's a mediocre actress who had a messed up childhood and definitely hasn't stayed sober since she left rehab. Who knows - maybe our society is starting to believe that if one bares all, they are baring their soul too. Are they saying -- "Look at me, I have nothing to hide from you anymore. Take me back into your homes and love me again?"

Am I intrigued by these images of Lindsay? Yes. Do I think she's a better actress for it? No. Lindsay could've chosen any outlet to recreate herself -- but instead she chooses a movie star, famous for her untimely drug-induced death. A self-destructive woman -- Lindsay didn't stray too far from her own reality. This role was too well-rehearsed.

Because, why not entertain yourself for a few minutes?

Seriously, do you? Simple question.

Yes We Can

I love presidential elections. There is nothing more exciting (and scary) than being part of the determination of the next leader of the free world. What's amazing about the current presidential campaign is how the internet has played such an integral part in shaping the vote and our opinions of the candidates. It started off this summer with Hillary Clinton's spoof of the series finale of the Sopranos. This video went viral on YouTube and people started to think that maybe this man-eating feminist actually had a heart -- or a least a sense of humor. The video above may not go viral, but man, is it cool. I think it's amazing that people can create inspiring and creative video content for the web and it has the potential to motivate one or more people to get involved in the voting process.

Will.i.am took a speech by Barack Obama and turned it into a super-inspiring musical tribute to the vote and to Obama titled, "Yes We Can." There's a slew of movie, music and television stars singing along, including Scarlett Johanson, Kate Walsh, John Legend -- even the guy from October Road breaks out his guitar. The song speaks for itself, not to mention its a pretty sweet melody.

I Hate Jimmy Kimmel

I hate Jimmy Kimmel. There's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. I don't find him particularly funny and it bothers me that he has his own platform in a late night program to tell mediocre jokes and be a lame TV host. This past year I was able to solidify my dislike for him after watching his attack on Emily Gould on live television. I vowed to never watch his show again.

Gould, a former Gawker.com editor, appeared on a 2007 Larry King Live episode for which Kimmel was filling in as a host. Kimmel embarrassed her on the air, which I found pointless and hypocritical (particularly because I like Gould, her writing and at the time, Gawker). From that moment on I was sure: I hate Jimmy Kimmel.

That being said, I was hesitant to showcase the video below, because I'd rather not discuss Jimmy Kimmel or direct any more eyeballs his way -- but this clip was worth mentioning his name on my blog. Sarah Silverman, Kimmel's long time (and talented) girlfriend made him a music video as a tribute to the fact that Kimmel's late night show has been on the air for 5 years (?!)

She's funny, and the cameo appearance by Matt Damon is classic. Enjoy.