The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
February 5, 2013
The Saddest Thing That Happened on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Last Night: It’s Maloof-a-licious
“I hope Brandi is having fun in Vegas; I have a business to run.” Adrienne Maloof wanders down the drafty, eerily quiet halls of the office building, double-checking her phone to make sure that she has the correct address for the California Accessory Group. This isn’t where they had her go the last time she […]
Read moreHollywood Prospectus Podcast: Beyoncé, My Bloody Valentine, New Girl, and House of Cards
The day after the Super Bowl is usually reserved for hangovers, trips to Disney World, or, if you’re one of the other members of Destiny’s Child, picking up a few extra shifts at Gimbels. (I kid! Luv u, Kelly!) But a case of the Mondays isn’t enough to stop Chris Ryan and me from podcasting. […]
Read moreMaking Our Way Through The ABCs of Death, One Mangled Cat at a Time
One summer when I was a kid, I went swimming in a pond against my family’s protests. I was a tomboy and I didn’t mind skipping along the slippery shore composed almost entirely of goose feculence and dead one-eyed minnows, and pushing stinky algae aside to relax in the wet funk. Halfway through my dip […]
Read moreRachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off Season 2, Episode 5: ‘Lights, Camera, Lunch Trucks’
I’ve not had time to check with the Nielsen people, but I can only imagine that the penultimate episode of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off on Sunday night won its time slot handily, across all demographics. For some reason, and I can’t think of what that reason might be, Food Network moved it to 10 […]
Read moreHBO’s Phil Spector Trailer: Al Pacino’s Wonderful World of Wigs
On a certain level, this whole Al Pacino as Phil Spector thing could have ended with this one indelible, delectable image right here: Helen Mirren, doing her best not to audibly grumble out, “WTF, didn’t I win an Oscar, like, six years ago”; then a couple of blurry, anonymous extras, lucking out into a Facebook-profile-photo-for-life; […]
Read moreFebruary 4, 2013
Afternoon Links: Introducing Your 2013 Puppy Bowl MVP
Congratulations to Marta, the MVP of the Puppy Bowl. Besides bolstering the efforts of animal rescue organizations, the Puppy Bowl serves as an adorable (I hate that word, but let’s call it like it is) example of the trend of celebritizing animals: “A famous animal can become an ambassador for its species, inspiring efforts to […]
Read moreThe Kardashiad, Week 3.5: Korrespondence
No new Kourtney & Kim this week, because of, I don’t know, a football game, I guess? So I’m going to answer every question anybody asked me on Twitter, in the comments sections below last week’s recap, and over Gchat, because all I know how to do is give and give and give. “Parenting-wise, are […]
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DIVAWATCH: A Second Opinion on Beyonce, and Thoughts on the Other Super Bowl Divas
Well, shit. And Holy Camel Toe. There are times when I wish I could walk through a wardrobe and end up in a different Twitterverse, because while I have become the sort of person who has opinions about Mad Men, Girls, Nick Young, and other cultural offal, I can still remember those innocent, halcyon days […]
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Super Bowl XLVII Commercials Hall of Fame: The Good, the Bad, and the Psy Riding a Pistachio With Disturbing Human Legs
Recent reports estimate the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial spot to be upwards of 4 million dollars, to be seen by some 114 million viewers. Here is how some of the world’s biggest companies chose to make the most of that investment.
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Bow Down to the Queen: Notes on Beyoncé’s Halftime Show
It’s possible we’ve been living with amateurism and aspiration for so long that when an artist achieves honest-to-God perfection we catch the Holy Ghost. Beyoncé did that to America last night. She took live spectacle to the highest power, maybe even further given the time we as a nation spend dissecting mediocrity and rubbernecking at […]
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My Bloody Valentine Returns After Two Quiet Decades and Hasn’t Lost a Skull-Exploding Step
There’s maybe one instance out of 10,000 in which Justin Timberlake might learn something about how to be a pop star from a soft-spoken, reclusive Irish indie-rock icon who’s released four full-length albums in 28 years. That one instance occurred Saturday night. By now you’re probably aware that Timberlake is putting out a record called […]
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Girls Maturity Level Threat Watch: Episode 4
Jessa Jessa finally created a problem that she couldn’t blag her way out of with charm and good looks. Her narcissistic posh charm was on trial at dinner with husband Thomas-John’s parents, resulting in a split verdict. While she was able to flirt her way (as always) into Thomas-John’s dad’s good graces, it was at […]
Read moreWarm Bodies, a.k.a. What Tweens Were Doing While You Were Watching the Super Bowl, Won the Box Office
Warm Bodies — a self-described “zom-rom-com” (zombie romantic comedy), a term heretofore, one hopes, forever excised from this earth — took the top spot at this weekend’s box office, with a respectable $20 million. How did a flick starring relatively anonymous British person Nicholas Hoult just pull that off? (Don’t get me wrong — About […]
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