The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
February 21, 2012
The Hollywood Prospectus Podcast: The Simpsons, Friday Night Lights, Oscars, and More
The Hollywood Prospectus podcast is now weekly and free to cover any topics in the pop culture universe. To celebrate, Chris Ryan and I talked … mostly about TV! Our conversation ranged from The Simpsons’ 500th episode to whether a Friday Night Lights movie is a good idea (we even supplied some better ones; you’re […]
Read moreHip-Hop Bar Mitzvah: Jewish Rappers Talk Coming of Age
“The bar mitzvah is the turning point where your family starts getting you drunk.”
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This Week’s Top Ten Billboard Charts … IN GERMANY!
1. Michel Teló, “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” Global hit from Brazilian vocalist Michel Teló (formerly of Grupo Tradição) that sounds like any singer-songwriter stuff you might hear drifting beerily through windows on the college quad, but with way more accordion as befits sertanejo universitário. The title translates from Portuguese to “Oh If I Catch […]
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Oscarmetrics: Predicting the Visual Categories
The Oscars, as I hope we’ve established by now, are not simply a beauty contest. But when it comes to the half-dozen categories that reward visuals, that can be hard to remember. Here’s this year’s rundown: Best Art Direction Nominees: The Artist Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Hugo Midnight in Paris War […]
Read moreFebruary 20, 2012
Every Face Punch in Roadhouse
We can think of no better way — and believe us, we’ve spent a good chunk of the afternoon thinking about this — to celebrate Presidents Day than with a supercut showcasing every punch in Roadhouse. There’s even [SPOILER ALERT! NAH, JUST PLAYIN’, YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING!] a climactic throat rip thrown in for […]
Read moreThe British 1 Percent: Downton Abbey Season 2, Episode 7 — Christmas Miracles
There were various moments last night when Sir Richard Carlisle went out of his way to cluck disapprovingly about Crawley family traditions. Everything from allowing the maids and footmen to enjoy their own Christmas lunch to the annual Servant’s Ball, where the downstairs crew is invited to drink the upstairs liquor and dance above their […]
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Ranking the Likelihood That a Celebrity Voice-over Actor Actually Uses the Endorsed Product
Some stars are happy to show their faces in commercials, lending their celebrity to endorse the products they truly believe in, as Tina Fey is doing with that Garnier Nutrisse hair dye, or Matthew Broderick did with his Super Bowl riff on Ferris Bueller for Honda. Others try to keep a lid on their shilling […]
Read moreThe Walking Dead Recap: An Itchy ‘Triggerfinger’
Much of the conversation about The Walking Dead has focused on the problems at the top, and rightly so: The transition from Frank Darabont to Glen Mazzara was shrouded in secrecy and network spin. But perhaps we were looking on the wrong side of the camera. Mazzara, newly installed as showrunner, deserves a modicum of […]
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Oscarmetrics: Predicting the Sound and Music Categories
It’s been almost six months since I wrote my first column on the 2012 Oscar race, and we’re finally at predictions week. The ballots are in (or will be by tomorrow); the votes are soon to be tabulated; the hopes and dreams of 80 percent of the nominees are currently being ground into a fine […]
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