The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
October 3, 2012
There Is Already Video of New American Idol Judge Nicki Minaj Threatening to Kill Mariah Carey
Well, that didn’t take long. Wasting no time acting out what is basically our best-case scenario for the new American Idol judging panel minus the delicious turkey sandwich, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey have moved swiftly into the “screaming expletive-filled death threats” phase of their professional relationship, as shown in the above video, obtained by […]
Read moreThe Lone Ranger Trailer: Hey, This Movie Actually Exists!
A Lone Ranger Hollywood adaptation has been kicking around for so long that its Wikipedia entry actually contains the phrase “The tone was to be similar to The Mask of Zorro.” Even its current iteration, with Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as Tonto, almost died a bunch of times, its own […]
Read moreWatch Rapper Machine Gun Kelly Destroy a Microsoft Store, As He Should (UPDATED)
Watch this video, and then let me explain to you who is really at fault: The protagonist in this short film is Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly. Obviously hyping himself up for future BET Awards scuffles (this happened last Friday), he got a little emotional at his in-house performance at the Microsoft Store at Lenox […]
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Hollywood Prospectus Podcast: The Secret History of Marvel Comics
Sean Howe’s brilliant and comprehensive Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (HarperCollins) tells the secret origin story of the comics giant, from the creative chaos of a bunch of ’60s dreamers to the globe-conquering house of ideas it is today. I’ve known Sean since this book plan was just a tiny (Omega the) unknown in the […]
Read moreDeck the Halls With Grease Reunions. Or Maybe You’d Like Sufjan Stevens?
With Halloween just over four weeks away, our attention naturally turns to Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time, two months before the most wonderful time of the year, and how better to get into the Christmas spirit than with some Christmas music? Or should we say “Christmas spirit,” with extra emphasis on the […]
Read moreMumford & Sons Sold a Bunch of Copies of Their New Album, Which Might Bum Out Grizzly Bear
So, first things first: Mumford & Sons’ new album Babel sold 600,000 copies in its first week, making it the biggest debut in the U.S. this year. That significantly quashes the closest competition: Justin Bieber’s Believe, which managed 374,000, Madonna’s MDNA, which copped 359,000, and P!nk’s The Truth About Love, now knocked off the medal […]
Read moreOctober 2, 2012
October Book Recommendations: The Middlesteins, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, and The Dream of Doctor Bantam
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg After 30 years of marriage, Richard Middlestein leaves his wife Edie, a lawyer whose lifelong love of food has slowly but surely pushed her weight above 350 pounds. This is the setup for The Middlesteins, an honest, hilarious portrait of a fractured Jewish family in the Midwest. Throughout September, I’d […]
Read moreHollywood Prospectus Podcast: Looper and Homeland’s Season Premiere
On today’s Hollywood Prospectus Podcast, Andy and I are united in the studio but divided on the subject of Rian Johnson’s new sci-fi mind-bender, Looper (2:15). It’s not like oceans of time separate us, but let’s put it this way: The order of people who love this movie definitely goes like this: (1) China, (2) […]
Read moreEvery Drink From Mad Men in Under Five Minutes, Which in Theory Doesn’t Seem Like Enough Time to Show Them All, But Here We Are
TV-inspired drinking games seem popular on the internet, so here’s one: Take a healthy sip* each time someone imbibes in this supercut of every on-screen drink from Mad Men. You will be dead in less than five minutes. Enjoy. [*For legal reasons, we don’t actually suggest you play this game and die of alcohol poisoning.] […]
Read moreSeth MacFarlane Oscar Hosting Reaction: MacFarlane Ecstatic, Jack Black Somewhat Less So
One day into Seth MacFarlane Oscar Hostpocalypse and tensions are — well, tensions are existent, if not necessarily high. Surely, more shrieking criticism will come as more info is announced, but after the shock of yesterday’s announcement, there hasn’t been much more to get riled up about. MacFarlane did make his first comments since officially […]
Read moreHBO Renews Boardwalk Empire; Sesame Street Greenlights Birdwalk Empire
Today HBO announced that it has renewed Boardwalk Empire, its period Prohibition drama, for a fourth season of bloody, occasionally boring bootlegging. This is good news for the show’s fans (HBO reports that up to 7.2 million flappers and nogoodniks watched the third season premiere in one time-shifted form or another), not to mention New […]
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Revolution Episode 103, ‘No Quarter’: The One-Image Recap
For a show premised on the total devolution of society after the mysterious disappearance of all electricity from the world, there sure is A LOT of electricity on this show. Magical electricity. That will temporarily resurrect your Discman* — remember, the power went out in 2012, so why wouldn’t someone have a Discman laying around […]
Read moreFreak Show & Tell: Dirty Men and Gnarly Boards
Every week, television documentaries present us with so many unusual people, with so many strange and/or disturbing problems, you might find it hard to keep up with all of them. That’s where I come in! Here’s an unflinching look back at TV’s Week in Freak Shows. Hoarders (A&E) Who Is This Now? Charles. Why Are […]
Read moreJunot Diaz Is a Genius, Says the MacArthur Foundation
Early this morning, at exactly 12:01 a.m., the MacArthur Foundation officially announced its 2012 Fellows — 23 men and women who’ve just been handed what pretty much everyone refers to as “genius grants.” There’s no way to apply for a MacArthur, and you’re not informed that you’re in contention for the prize; instead, you just […]
Read moreThe Top 10 Songs in … SOUTH AFRICA!
1. Lianie May & Jay, “Bonnie & Clyde” The couple compare themselves to Bonnie and Clyde, Romeo and Juliet, and Jekyll and Hyde. The last one I find especially troubling for its implication that the couple is a split personality (with one evil personality), despite the fact that the first two couples weren’t exactly very […]
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