Clueless news team back in Anchorman 2
Bublé and Dion host duelling Christmas specials the same night
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Bob Dylan sang. But these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
MOVIES
Big release: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Wednesday) Big picture: Ron Burgundy has been everywhere recently. Shilling a fake biography, shilling Dodge Durangos, coanchoring a local newscast, calling curling on TSN, hamming it up with QB Peyton Manning on ESPN, endorsing Rob Ford and cozying up to every talk show host with a pulse. Burgundy is so omnipresent, it almost makes you forget he’s just a Will Ferrell character. As for this overexposed sequel, the premise is hard to resist: The clueless, iconic ’70s news team reunites in the 1980s to conquer a new media landscape. Burgundy, Brick (Steve Carrell), Champ (David Koechner) and Brian (Paul Rudd) enter the hard-hitting world of 24-hour cable news. Forecast: Forget the ’80s. We need Burgundy in a 21stcentury newsroom! Maybe he can stop the industry death spiral. At least the dim-witted fictional anchor always shows his true colours. I’m convinced the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge is secretly our own Ron Burgundy, only with more restraint. Next time you watch him anchor The National, try imagining that behind his chronic, impish half-grin lies an inner monologue filled with Burgundyesque expressions like “great Odin’s raven!”
TV
Big Events: A Home for the Holidays With Céline Dion (Wednesday, CBS, 8 p.m.); Michael Bublé’s 3rd Annual Christmas Special (Wednesday, NBC, CTV, 10 p.m.) Big picture: Ah, the joy of Christmas traditions. Christmas trees, stockings, eggnog — and the now annual music special rivalry between two of Canada’s most f amous exports: Céline Dion and Michael Bublé. This is Dion’s 15th annual special! As for the charming crooner Mr. Bublé, what’s not to love? This is his third big holiday special, finding him singing holiday classics — and his own material — alongside special guests such as Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige and Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster. I’m expecting Miley Cyrus to show up in a bikini made of mistletoe — or cookies. Forecast: Céline has done 15 of these bloody things and Michael has knocked out three? Are there no other musicians in the universe? I’ve got some Christmas special concepts for you: Walking in a Winter Wonderland with Keith Richards (the crowning moment would be a duet with Bing Crosby’s hologram — Bing doing Little Drummer Boy, of course, and Keith just mumbling incoherently); or Away in a Manger with Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg. Honourable Mention: 7 Days in Hell (Tuesday, History, 10 p.m.). Finally, a documentary about being a roadie on Justin Bieber’s tour! … In reality, this special finds adventurers Brett Rogers and Cliff Quinn retracing and reliving one of history’s most dangerous journeys. Haven’t we all wondered what it would have been like to be 1885 gold prospectors trapped deep in the Yukon wilderness, losing most of our supplies to a fire, and then trying to make our way back to civilization with limited supplies, no tent and next-to-no food? Fatigue and the falling temperature are only the beginning of this duo’s problems. At least they have their period-authentic beards and bush survival skills. (I think I’ll safely watch this from home while making my own treacherous journeys to the beer fridge.)
MUSIC
Big releases Tuesday: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (soundtrack); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (soundtrack) Big picture: The music industry is officially in hibernation until 2014. ’ Tis the season for the soundtrack! Not sick of Burgundy yet? Listen to him make multiple appearances on his movie soundtrack. Most notably, watch him team up with Robin Thicke for a racy cover of Christopher Cross’s Ride Like the Wind. Classic songs from Neil Diamond and Kenny Loggins offer interlude in between Ferrell’s comedic bits.
Meanwhile, Ben Stiller’s new film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, offers a stellar compilation of indie musicians, dominated by José González and his side project Junip, but including Of Monsters and Men and Toronto’s underrated Bahamas, who team up with the Weather Station for a track called Don’t You Want Me. Yes, yes we do. Forecast: This is Ron Burgundy’s world; we only live in it. But if you want to give the gift of quality music, Walter Mitty may hold the secret.