InTouch magazine enables Ben's Xbox gushing

I guess Branjelina was busy so they interviewed Ben Lyons instead. You can read the entire InTouch interview here.

There were only two parts that stood out. First, Ben still cannot shut up about Twilight:

Were there any films that you think totally got overlooked this year?
Ben: Yeah. Let the Right One In is at the top of my list. It's a Swedish film and should be in the foreign film category because it's hands down the best vampire movie of the year. Don't let Robert Pattinson's staring off into space fool you!

But I guess he is atoning for his Twilight gushing last year. A worthy excuse, except that he should have never gotten himself into this mess in the first place.

But speaking of messes he should have never gotten himself into--and digging himself deeper into a hole he should be trying to get out of--we come to the final question of the interview:

And I have to ask, how do you know so much about the movies?
Ben: I've been playing this game for the Xbox 360 called Scene It? Box Office Smash. It's not just for film critics, it's for everyone that loves movies. It really keeps me up to date on my movie trivia, which is great, since I get stopped all the time by people who throw random movie trivia at me!

Who asks Ben Lyons a question like this? Seriously, its more like, "Dude, why don't you know anything about movies?" And he answers "Sorry, but I could only make it to 5 movies out of 10 days of the Sundance Film Festival. I'm just not as well informed as I should be."

This question was obviously just a setup so that Lyons could get in yet another blurb about Scene It?, his corporate sponsor. So shame on you, In Touch magazine or whatever you call it. I used to think that you were a paragon of journalistic standards, but I know better now.

People who get paid to recommend things recommend . . .

Last week I mentioned Bill Gates' megalomaniacal behavior. Today I find through a friendly informer that Ben Lyons continues in his quest to sell his soul to said megalomaniac. The online site The Daily Beast has a feature called "The Buzz Board: Smart People Recommend," which quotes Ben Lyons (and I think the Beast is being a bit creative with the term "smart people."):

I recommend Scene It? Box Office Smash for Xbox. It helps me improve my movie knowledge, and it's a lot of fun to play either alone or with some of the homies when they come over. With Xbox Live it downloads new questions all the time over the Internet, so no matter how many times I play it, it always has new puzzles and questions. The material is sometimes really challenging, even for someone like me who watches about 300 films a year. Even if you're not as big a fan of movies as I am, the anagrams and games within the game are a lot of fun. I challenge anybody who dares to step into The Lyons Den to a game of Scene It? on Xbox... Let's get it on!

This is not the first time Ben has blurbed for Scene It--a few months back he attached his name to a press release for the game.

I keep thinking Ben is going to back off some of his more egregious activities, but his continued breaking of this rule in Roger's Little Rule Book suggests otherwise.

A video game expert as well

This press release was posted by FishbowlLA:

Last night in Hollywood, CA, Ben Lyons, film critic for E! Entertainment and host of At the Movies, hung out with friends and played some of Xbox 360's most anticipated entertainment games for this holiday. He put his movie knowledge to the test playing Scene It? Box Office Smash and showed his friends how to star in their own movie with You're in the Movies on Xbox 360.

Now, who in the world gets a press release sent out about them using a product? Oh, yeah, Ben Lyons . . . I guess Microsoft thought this would be cheaper than paying for a fake blurb.

Of course, playing video games might be difficult when Roger Ebert won't let you use your thumbs.