July 31, 2008
A Monster in Montauk?
On Tuesday, the crack bloggers at Gawker put aside their daily feed of celebrity stalking and media scandal to report on a major breaking story: A "dead monster" had washed up on a beach in the Hamptons.
The creature—a bedraggled, hairless thing that looks part dog, part turtle, part creepy beaked mess—certainly appears fearsome enough to qualify as a monster. Whether it also qualifies as real remains to be seen. Gawker immediately theorized that it must be "viral marketing for something." Nonetheless, the blog's gleeful account of the "Montauk monster" set off a groundswell of searches.
Driven by curiosity seekers as far from New York's shores as California, Florida, and Tennessee, lookups for "montauk monster" surged into our top daily movers. Responding to various theories about what the beast could be, demand rose for "montauk monster shark," "turtle without shell," "sea turtle," and "montauk monster great white." Other speculation about the four-legged fiend posited that it's a PR stunt, a latex hoax, or a diseased dog.
Even if it ends up being entirely made-up, we will always thank the unfortunate creature for inspiring one of our favorite headlines of the year. From New York Magazine came this beauty of a title: "East Hampton Bureaucrats Deny Montauk Monster Is Beast From Hell."
But could it be a beast from Long Island?
Filed under Buzz by Yahoo! Buzz Log
Keira Knightley is getting plenty of props (and buzz) for refusing to be genetically modified on the screen for her upcoming film, "The Duchess." Could she be more open to being transformed from flower girl to upper-class lass for a remake of "My Fair Lady"?
Indeed, Guv'nor! Knightley, who spiked 390% in Search over the last seven days, is in talks for the film's leading role. The story certainly has a history. It's a classic Greek myth "Pygmalion and Galatea," turned George Bernard Shaw play "Pygmalion," turned musical "My Fair Lady," turned movie-musical with Audrey Hepburn, and now it is being updated for the screen again.
Apparently, some plots never get old.
Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, up 3,410%, gives the film serious chops. She has signed on to pen the screenplay (probably with an actual pen, since she reportedly does not use a computer).
The real question then for Knightley fans is, can she sing?
Filed under Buzz by Yahoo! Buzz Log
"Spider-Man 3" wasn't the critical darling its two predecessors were. But it still made a ton of money, and in Hollywood, that's enough to justify a sequel... or, in this case, a spin-off.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sony is considering making a new film that centers around Spider-Man's nemesis, Venom. The mutated villain played a pivotal role in the last movie, and has long been a fan favorite. Searches on the evil creature are still impressive, even years after he last tangled on the big screen.
The Hollywood Reporter goes on to explain that while Topher Grace played the black-suited baddie in Part 3, he may be replaced if the spin-off gets off the ground. Apparently, studio bigwigs don't feel Mr. Grace has the star power to anchor a big-time popcorn flick. Paging Hollywood "it boy" Seth Rogan!
Kidding aside, while superhero flicks will always be big, we have to wonder if a Venom movie without Spider-Man will "work." Want proof? Behold the top 10 "venom" searches from the past week. See how many include ol' Spidey? Perhaps the Web-Head could come back for a cameo...
Filed under Buzz by Yahoo! Buzz Log