They Got Me.

As the holiday season prepares to smack us all upside the head with its presence (OK, so some retailers have had decorations up since Halloween, I just refuse to acknowledge them), the entertainment industry is doing anything and everything it can to vie for your attention, not to mention your hard-earned cash.

Don't forget to buy our soundtrack!
Don't forget to watch our show!
Don't forget to pre-order your ticket!
Don't forget to read this book!
Don't forget to check out our new album!

I surrender! I'm going to more movies, watching more TV and buying more stuff off of iTunes and Amazon than ever before -- bad economy be damned!

Here are my thoughts on just a few of the marketing blitzes I fell for:

- Coldplay: Viva La Vida - Prospekt's March edition

First off, I'm sure some people out there are going to rip me apart for not knowing this, but I've searched diligently online and cannot figure out what "Prospekt's March" even means, and it's bugging the bejeezus out of me. Do any of you know?

Regardless, that's the name of Coldplay's album (released today) that is basically just their old album with a few more tracks -- some of which are remixes of existing songs. I hate when bands do stuff like this. It's just like when DVDs come out in ten million different versions -- each with approximately two minutes of new material -- just enough to trick die-hard fans into buying the same movie they already own once more. How many box sets of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Star Wars saga does one really need? The answer: not as many as one wants!


- 24: Redemption

Yeah, I watched this crap last night (stop reading if you have it on Tivo and haven't gotten to it yet - I will be spoiling away...). Ten minutes into it, my husband said, "That's it, I'm done, this sucks," and left the room. But I, ever the Jack Bauer groupie, stuck it out for the entire two hours.

All this "TV movie" was was a blatant attempt by FOX to rake in advertising revenue and ensure that we haven't forgotten about their show that hasn't been on for over a year. Guess what? I would've tuned in for 24 in January regardless; now I'm just bitter about the show for two months before the season even begins. Around the same time my husband threw his hands up in disgust, I had already figured out the entire plot: Jack's going to give himself up to ensure the safety of the African orphans and that's how he'll return to the U.S. to start kicking ass alongside CTU, or whatever the hell it's going to be called, in Season Seven.

I'm going to pretend that I actually didn't see the previews for the new season, however, because I fear that the show has finally jumped the shark and I just can't bear to believe it. When people start coming back to life, that's a bad, bad sign.

- Twilight: The Soundtrack

You can read my write-up on the movie here... the actual film is not what I need to rant about at this point. It's the fact that I was cajoled into buying the entire film soundtrack even though I was only interested in two songs. But it was all or nothing on iTunes. Sneaky.

I gave all of the tracks a chance, and the good news is that I do like a few of the other songs, but the bad news is that I can never fully erase the memory of Perry Farrell's "Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)" from my head. It is awful and he should be ashamed of his transparent attempt to make himself and his music relevant to tweens. I almost passed out when I heard Radiohead's "15 Step" kick in during Twilight's last scene and continue over its end credits -- I'm sure Thom and the boys got paid for that, but at least the song was nowhere to be found on the soundtrack. That would've surely been a sign of the Apocolypse.

I shudder to think what else I'm going to buy, read, listen to or watch between now and January 1 that I'll live to regret...

- e