Backseat Driver

Will Ferrell, bested by a gay Frenchman, and more media picks

August 1, 2006

MOVIES: Does the world need yet another Will Ferrell movie? In the case of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the answer is yes, thanks above all to Sacha Baron Cohen's uproarious turn as a gay French driver. For a white-knuckle experience that has nothing to do with driving, try The Descent, a low-budget British import about beautiful women trapped in a dark cave with a bunch of flesh eaters. Sounds like a typical night out for some moguls we could mention.

DVD: Keeping up the cave theme, Frontline: The Al Qaeda Files (yes, we were glib enough to make that segue) collects seven episodes devoted to the hunt for Osama bin Laden and company. Also arriving on DVD: The Wachowskis' V for Vendetta and, on a slightly lighter note, a deluxe edition of A Fish Called Wanda. The latter includes "Something Fishy," a great making-of doc with an unfortunate title.

TV: "Something Fishy" was apparently also one of the rejected titles for the Discovery Channel's new special, The Science of Shark Sex, debuting Friday. Too civilized? Check out the return of VH1's The Flavor of Love Saturday night, or Monday's unveiling of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels on A&E. Finally, if you're already growing tired of Entourage—and don't pretend you're not—tune in to Brotherhood, Sunday night on Showtime.

BOOKS: With The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs, Irvine Welsh gives the Edinburgh restaurant scene the Trainspotting treatment (recipes hopefully not included), while Babylon by Bus tracks Red Sox fanatics Ray LeMoine and Jeff Neumann on an alcohol-soaked journey from Boston to wartorn Baghdad. The main difference: People are better dressed in Baghdad.

MUSIC: For their major label debut Teenage Graffiti, Nashville pop-punk trio the Pink Spiders (top right) have teamed with Cars-singer-turned-überproducer Ric Ocasek to create a ridiculously catchy, guitar-driven rock record—so catchy, in fact, you may even forgive them the clothes.

WEB: The hunt for the latest celebrity sex tape just got easier, thanks to Dabble.com, a just-launched clearinghouse for more than 240 Web video sites (including Google Video, YouTube, ClipShack, etc.).