Jon Chattman's thecheappop.com

The rich get richer, and when they get poorer…well, they get bailed out. That’s how it seems lately. As Congress prepares to spend a trillion bucks (in addition to the $700 billion bailout from last fall), it makes one wonder when the working middle class will get some love. The pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1) will no doubt help our economy in some form, but it’s not nearly enough and it’s not aimed at all demographics. If we can save the suits, why can’t we save the common man, right?
To read my full story on The Huffington Post, click here.

Photo/Will Ferrell

This photo is only up because Will Ferrell took it. When asked to take a photo with the comedy legend (yeah, I’ll toss that title out) outside the Cort Theatre on Superbowl Sunday, he took my camera, and snapped a pic of me instead.  “I think you’re going to be very pleased with how it came out,” he said before walking away. The picture below is the pic with the man himself (he later obliged). I first met Ferrell back at “The Wedding Singer” premiere back in 1998 when I was interning for New Line Cinema. Will had been a relative unknown to anyone Read more…

The Long and Winding Rhodes: Fashion, Staying Power, and Mulletspeak
By Jon Chattman

JUNE 2008— In the 1980s, Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes was to feathered mullets, headbands, and make-up what George Michael was to ass-hugging jeans and John Oates was to mustaches and wife-beaters. To put it simply, those specific styles defined a decade and always looked hip– well in that particular moment of time anyway.

As a band, Duran Duran, too, defined the decade churning out more hits than Edy’s ice cream does flavors from “Rio” to “Hungry Like the Wolf” to “The Reflex.” There was arguably no bigger band in that decade than Duran Duran. They were on everything from MTV to t-shirts-to teen magazines. Everywhere you looked, there was Simon, Nick, Roger, John and/or Andy. Unlike most 1980s performers, however, when the 1980s passed, the group didn’t go the way of the Kajagoogoo. As a matter of fact, the band, which constantly has transformed itself (band members leave, come back…new ones arrive, leave…old ones come back, leave…rinse, repeat) over the years, remains relevant and cool today. Case in point: their recent release “Red Carpet Massacre” was an electropop frenzy produced by Timbaland and featuring guest vocals by one Justin Timberlake.

To cut to the chase, Duran Duran are like the super hot models the members have dated: they have had a good pair of legs. Can’t get enough of shitty metaphors? Here’s one more: The band are like mustaches – every time you think they’re gone, they come back seemly out of nowhere to become bigger than ever. I had the good fortune to speak with Rhodes earlier this month before a tour date in Cali (The Red Carpet Massacre tour kicked off in Seattle on April 30 – the band plays New York later this month), and asked him about the band’s staying power, their current tour, and what the future might bring. Read more…

JUNE 2008—-
Who has the best mustache ever?
“You’re asking the lesbian? Rollie Fingers. It made such an impression on me in the ’70’s. He wore it. He was one of the greatest, and it just really stuck in my mind.”

I figured you’d say David Crosby…
[Laughs] No, no. that’s funny. When I think of David I don’t see his mustache. It’s part of his face. It’s like blended in.
Get The Book of ‘Bert’

ANT colony runs wild on thecheappop
By Jon Chattman

MARCH 2008 — It’d be easy to label comedian ANT as a “gay comedian” simply because he’s openly gay, but he can’t be pigeon holed into that category. Similarly, it’d be easy to assume he’s a liberal because he’s gay, but that’s not exactly true either. Lastly, one might assume that because he’s a Scientologist, he’s waiting for some UFO to save him or he’s an avid collector of all things Battlefield Earth. Wrong again.

One thing that is true, however, about ANT is that he’s quick-witted and extremely (and effortlessly) funny. He’s also versatile. Earlier this month, he returned for his sixth season as host of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. Aside from that series, he’s appeared regularly on Last Comic Standing, he’s a frequent guest on a variety of shows from The Tonight Show to Best Week Ever, and runs his own highly successful blog The ANT Colony on NBC.com. Come April, he’ll also be a contestant on Celebricadabra, a VH1 reality magic series that has nothing to do with Siegfried or Roy.

Thecheappop.com recently spoke with ANT about everything from Greek and Jewish guilt to Gary Busey’s brain functioning to Tom Cruise jumping on a couch. Oh, and obviously, what we can expect from Fit Club season six. The series’ sixth season kicked off on March 13 with a new format – pitting returning players Willie Aames, Tina Yothers, Toccara Jones and Saved By the Bell baddie Dustin Diamond against “newbies” Sommore, Happy Days’ Erin Moran, AJ Benza, and American Idol season one co-host Brian Dunkleman.

Judges Dr. Ian Smith, trainer Harvey Walden IV, and Psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser all return, and ANT says to expect the unexpected this season. Read more…

Ben, the two of us need look no more
By Jon Chattman
MAY 2008— I’m not exactly checking fan sites, rewinding and fast forwarding old episodes, and examining theories on the web every waking second, but I love Lost. I’d argue that this current season of the series is the best since year one. At the forefront of that logic, aside from the superb acting and brilliant storytelling, is one Michael Emerson, who brilliantly plays “Other” leader and self-professed good guy Benjamin Linus. Never has a character had such an impact on a show in my book: Manipulative. Brilliant. Fearless. Those are just some words you could throw around at the character, but I’ll add one more: scary.

What can I say, the bugged-out character just creeps me out, and last week, when I had the good fortune of interviewing Emerson, an Emmy winner for his guest starring arc on The Practice years back (he played a serial killer- go figure), I had the same feeling. Let’s just say never have the words “Jon Chattman please” freaked me out so much while on the phone. While he’s far removed from the murdering, always-one step ahead character he plays on the series, Emerson sounds the same (hanging each word on every syllable) and seemed intense (not “Ben” intense but intense nonetheless) during the interview.

Rather than hear me speak, I’ll cut to the interview. Want to know what the Orchid is? Want to find out what happens in the season finale Thursday? Want to know if the cast watches the show and stare at each other afterwards with a “WTF” grin? Read on. Places every body: Polar bears stage left. Cue the Michael Giacchino music. Read more…

Delightfully reeking of awkwardness
By Jon Chattman

APRIL 2008 — Whether it’s the appeal of its ultra-eccentric stars or the hilarity of sketches involving such gems as hidden camera prankster Spaghett or father-obsessed singer Pierre , Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! has provided a belly of laughs on the Cartoon Network since it debuted last year. While the show continues to gain momentum, the truth is Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim have been splitting sides for years on the ‘net long before they took to the Adult Swim airwaves.
Read more…

The Movie is Happy-Go-Lucky, the director is not
By Mike Johnson
OCTOBER 2008 —-

We are constantly asking ourselves various versions of the question “what will make me happy?” It seems like everyday on Msn.com there’s a new article titled “10 things to make you happy today,” which always convinces me I should stop what I’m doing to go have sex and eat some avocados. Thanks, Doc! Biologists and psychologists designate hundreds of hours of research on the subject. If you ask me, it’s a bullshit question because it varies not just person to person, but day to day. If my fantasy football team wins I’m happy from at least Monday to Thursday no matter what else happens. I feel happy a high percentage of the time but is that because I’m putting myself in certain situations I know I enjoy and surrounding myself with people I want to spend time with? Does that mean I’m truly happy? The much more important question to ask, the question that writer and director Mike Leigh asks in his new film Happy-Go-Lucky, is “Is happiness a choice?” Can I choose to be happy in the midst of so much crap? Read more…

By Jon Chattman

NOVEMBER 2008 —- “We’re very adaptable,” Joey Burns said of his musically diverse band Calexico. That’s why you’ll often hear the band collaborating with an eclectic mix of musicians from Iron & Wine to Nancy Sinatra. “We love being in the hot seat and a lot of times.” Read more…

From October 2008… a wonderful month indeed.

Constantine Maroulis from “American Idol” fame is rocking Broadway – well off-Broadway anyway – in his new musical “Rock of Ages.” This is from August 2008 – a promo for an interview with the cool dude. Promos never felt so good.

The Man Behind the Dangle
By Jon Chattman

july 2008 — Milk comes with an expiration date. If you drink it after it’s “sell by” date, often times, it leaves you with a funny taste in your mouth. If you drink it long after it’s “sell by” date, chances are it’ll be clumpy and smell a little funny. Thomas Lennon, by comparison, is never clumpy and smells just fine thank you very much. The comedy of this actor/screenwriter, unlike milk or any dairy product for that matter, never seems expires. Best of all, it’s always fresh and it gets better with age. Read more…

SEPTEMBER 2008– My lead-in sucks but I had to be a little quiet when I did it. The interview is among a personal favorite if for no other reason I talked basketball mustaches.

This is my now
By Jon Chattman

MAY 2008—-Now that American Idol has concluded for the year, I’ve had time to reflect on the season, notably the wonderfully inflated Idol Gives Back. After watching it on DVR again recently, it dawned on me that next year’s show needs a format change. Instead of star upon star asking for pledges, and heartfelt and emotional vignettes featuring trips to less fortunate parts of the world, I suggest next year’s Idol Gives Back be focused solely on… wait for it… me. Read more…

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight
Director Goes Inside Squared Circle
By Jon Chattman

It’s quite ironic that The Wrestler, the buzzworthy film with Mickey Rourke playing an aging wrestler trying to make it outside the ring, is the best and easily most honest film about the wrestling industry. It was made by a man who barely watched it.

“A lot of guys my age had sort of an eight-month romance with wrestling when we were kids,” director Darren Aronofsky said at a New York City press day last weekend for his new film The Wrestler. But the love didn’t last long.

“I went to one match at Madison Square Garden and Hulk Hogan was a bad guy. He was wrestling against Tony Atlas, and he was trying to drop [him] on his balls on the top rope and he missed. Then Tony Atlas pulled down Hogan’s pants, picked [him up] and dropped him on his balls. We went crazy, and I lost my voice for three months,” the Brooklyn-native said of his one night of shear wrestling bliss. Read more…