Insidious II’s Patrick Wilson Discusses NJ

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Patrick Wilson stars in both Insidious films as well as The Conjuring, and I enjoyed his performance in all of them. For some reason feedback on his performances seem to be mixed and I can’t seem to understand why. To me, he comes off as a very regular, likable guy and in terms of horror films that’s necessary in order for the audience to relate to characters. Plus, he lives in New Jersey so don’t knock him!

November 2009’s Garden State Playmate, Chelsea Handler, had Patrick Wilson on the show recently to promote The Conjuring and they had a funny conversation about him taking up residence in New Jersey.

CHELSEA: “I heard that you moved voluntarily to the state of New Jersey…”
PATRICK WILSON: “I did!”
CHELSEA HANDLER: “I’m from New Jersey and people don’t move there, they move out!”

Chelsea asked Wilson why he would you do such a thing and he went on to explain that he basically wanted a backyard. He had a tough time selling his wife on the idea though, since she’s a New Yorker, and she didn’t even want to step foot in Jersey, but eventually, they found a place that they both liked and he really “digs” living here. As if starring in WatchmenThe  Conjuring, AND the Insidious films wasn’t enough, Patrick Wilson’s words about The Garden State boosted his position on the cool list even more.

Laura Prepon is August’s Garden State Playmate!

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“Pardon me, would you have any Grey Prepon?” What are the chances that actress Laura Prepon got that about once a day as a kid living in Watchung, NJ? You might say the chances are extremely low that someone would say something that supremely lame, even a kid. Although, you might think differently when you find out that Watchung is a pretty well-to-do town and it’s very common for inhabitants of those types of places to have an affinity for gourmet mustard puns. Fortunately, it seems that the condiment related harassment that quite possibly ruined her childhood didn’t have any effect on her acting career. Or did it? Prepon is still working so that’s a good sign.

Apparently there’s a small group of Prepon detractors out there who like to make their passionate hatred for the actress abundantly clear. One of those guys is “parlance-263-43691,” who, in an IMDB review, felt strongly enough to rant about her performance in the short lived Chelsea Handler (former Garden State Playmate) inspired show, Are You There, Chelsea?

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She may not be the most versatile actress, but I don’t think she’s as awful at comedy as this guy claims: “Where do I begin? Laura Prepon couldn’t act her way out of a box; the timing and delivery of whatever comedic value there is in the writing is completely lost when it falls limply out of her mouth.”

Even if she was the worst actress of all time, would you ever would go out of your way to write and post a review on how miserable of an actress she is on IMDB? It’s true that actors put themselves out there and become vulnerable to online punishment, but I don’t think Laura Prepon is so bad that she deserves to be ruined on IMDB. That said, people should have a little bit of sympathy for her considering the lifetime of heartache she went through with that damn mustard joke. It drove her straight into Scientology.

At 5’10” she’s a tall drink of water and I wouldn’t recommend messing with her in a woman’s prison, if you’re ever in one with her that is, or if you’re near a TV when she’s on it and in prison. I’ve never seen Orange is the New Black and even though I’ve heard it’s getting good reviews I probably won’t be investing my time in it since my viewing schedule is booked up through my death. In the Netflix original series, Prepon plays Alex Vause, a lesbian and fomer drug dealer. Recent news stories covering her possible departure from the show have caused quite a stir. The rumors range from monetary disputes to the possibility that her character may get killed off and the producers want to keep it under wraps.

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Pictured here in a 3-way kiss as Reanna in the 2002 comedy Slackers. I remember seeing this in the theater and the best parts included Prepon trying to have some “alone time” and of course Jason Schwartzman being highly entertaining as Cool Ethan. 

Prepon also appeared on a few short lived TV shows, one off roles, and also landed a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother. In addition to her on-screen roles, she voiced characters in the animated series American Dad and the video game Halo 2. None of that can come close to the character I first saw her play. She will ALWAYS be Eric’s girlfriend Donna Pinciotti from That ’70s Show. That show was a huge part of my life for its entire run, except for a few episodes toward the end. You may remember her as Hot Donna. How about some pricey mustard to slather on that Hot Donna of yours?

Mary McCormack is May’s Garden State Playmate!

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She may have been one of the reasons why Howard Stern and his first wife were separated. I feel so damn old saying this, but, back in the late ’90s, during the making of Private Parts, Howard constantly proclaimed on his show that if he wasn’t married he would love to be with actress Mary McCormack. He called her his “movie wife,” as she portrayed Alison Stern in the 1997 film based on his best selling book.

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Any guy who has seen Private Parts remembers the screen shot I grabbed on the right

Since starring as Howard’s movie wife, McCormack appeared in a steady stream of films and TV shows. Some of her credits include Deep Impact, the underrated comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (Nuckin’ Futs!)K-Pax…yes K-PAX, and TV shows ER and The West Wing. McCormack also had a main role in 2007’s 1408, a pretty decent little thriller based off a Stephen King story.

Most recently the Plainfield, NJ-born actress starred in USA Network’s In Plain Sight. The series premiere in 2008 grabbed over 5 millions viewers. Despite its initial success, In Plain Sight’s five season run will be coming to an end with tonight’s episode.

IMDB provides some trivia on McCormack: She is friends with fellow New Jerseyan Chelsea Handler, she graduated Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, NJ, and she obviously has milf qualities but settle down dudes…she’s married with children!

Chelsea Handler is November’s Garden State Playmate!

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Seriously, the last time I watched E! network was when Hal Sparks was doing his short stint on Talk Soup. Usually I’m nauseated by the E! channel and all their newfangled shows they throw on the tube to see if they stick. Hey you there…aren’t you that dumbass show that we all know is going to be cancelled after 6 episodes? A swift thumb up the ass of the channel button on my remote will make you disappear real quick. Personally, I’d rather watch Vipers starring Tara Reid, Corbin Bernsen, and a bunch of mutated snakes than anything on E! That’s how I felt until a few months ago when I first caught an episode of Chelsea Lately on E! and it was actually funny.

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When I saw the promos for Chelsea Lately before its premiere a couple of years ago, I just figured Chelsea Handler was another schmucky female TV personality like Meredith Vieira, Dayna Devon, or Mario Lopez. Yeah, you read that right. I’m not going overboard or anything, and I won’t write it in the sky, but I did find Chelsea Handler to be mildly to even moderately entertaining. Now, it’s nothing sexist, so don’t get your panties in a bunch, but statistically speaking, only a select harem of women can make me laugh. Here are a few ladies that I find particularly funny: Kristen Wiig, Ellen Degeneres, Phyllis Diller, Suzy Soro, Abby Elliot, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Anna Lefler, Jane Curtain, Rita Rudner, Michaela Watkins (…bitch please!), Nasim Pedrad, and Rachel Dratch. I’m sure there’s more, but how many of these women can say they have spent time on the NY Times Best Seller list? In March, Handler will release her third book called Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. Damn that’s a killer title.

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To elevate her career that much more, and to make her stock soar with Google Image Search, Handler just recently showed up in Playboy Magazine. As I suspected, she didn’t have the meat curtains to take it all off. Ahh well, all that matters to me is that she’s vocal about hailing from Jersey. Yep, Chelsea Handler’s bio on her official Myspace page confirms that she is the runt of 6 kids and she was “born in Livingston, NJ, to a Jewish father and a Mormon mother.” So a big congrats to Chelsea Handler for attaining the elite distinction of being this month’s Garden State Playmate, it is a title that I don’t throw around nonchalantly. Anyone who can, at the very least, make me smirk, hang out with a mischievous little person (Chuy Bravo), and thwart me from shoving my thumb up the ass of the channel button is tops in my book.