PopSmart

Well, sort of. We culled through our dusty promo closet and dug up some leftover, shrink-wrapped copies of American Pie Presents Beta House DVD released last December. And in an effort to continue our spring-cleaning around here, we’d like to share the last three copies with you, our pervy readers!

Suffice to say that no one on staff reviewed this (final) installment of the American Pie franchise. Critics were less than kind to this one, with one accusing it of being “completely and utterly devoid of anything even resembling competence,” although one kind soul wrote, “In the great tradition of college booze, carefree sex, and gross behavior, Beta House pushes right up against the limits of the genre.” (And yes, this is the “unrated” version. Do with that what you will.)

To win your copy, we offer this challenge: Read Curt Holman’s review of 2003’s American Wedding and name at least TWO actors who did not return from the original cast, and we’ll give a free DVD to the first three people who answer. We’ll even throw in a free copy of Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love … in 200 Cartoons. (Email me at “davidlee.simmons@creativeloafing.com” with your answer.)

We plan to offer up more fun free stuff this summer for our readers, including next week’s 2008 Summer Guide, which among other things will offer tickets to cool events this summer. Stay tuned.

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It’s obviously the best way to get readers attention, and this time we here at PopSmart would like to walk the walk, so to speak, and offer free sex — or, more accurately, the new cartoon anthology Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love … in 200 Cartoons (Twelve) (released April 2). Email us at davidlee.simmons@cln.com, and I’ll be happy to provide free copies of the coffee-table book to the first 10 who contact me.

The collection, edited by frequent New Yorker contributing cartoonist Liza Donnelly, is a far-ranging offering of female artists’ takes on women and sex in the New Millennium. Often insightful, usually funny and sometimes downright strange, Sex and Sensibility proves that when it comes to sex, the fairer sex gets the last laugh more often than we think. It’s a breezy slice of feminist empowerment.

The phenomenon of female cartoonists is a relatively new one, Donnelly writes in her introduction: “While women can — and have for generations — painted and sculpted in the privacy of their studios, women cartoonists have had a tough road. The cartoonist has to be aware of what others find funny, and work with that while staying true to the cartoonist’s voice. And, to be published, the cartoonist has to be aware of the editor’s sense of humor. Historically, magazine editors have been men, who upheld tradition in most cases.”

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