The State of Scary TV

‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.

June 4, 2014

Lightning Round: The ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Cast, Revealed!

Earlier today, a very important development rocked the Grantland office to its core: the announcement of the Bachelor in Paradise cast. The names: AshLee Frazier, Sarah Herron, Danielle McBride, Clare Crawley, Lacy Faddoul, Elise Mosca, Michelle Kujawa, Ben Scott, Robert Graham, Graham Bunn, and Three Dudes Currently Chasing Andi To Be Named Later. An email chain was started. We […]

Read more

Got Rich, Still Died: The Curious, Ongoing Exile of 50 Cent

50 Cent, who helped write a book on the laws of power, is having none of it. This week, he releases his fifth record, ‘Animal Ambition,’ on his own imprint, G-Unit Records. The last time he released an album, 2009’s ‘Before I Self Destruct,’ he sold fewer than 200,000 records in one week, humiliatingly close to his then-rival and favorite target, Rick Ross. The numbers matter badly for 50 Cent; numbers define his career, mark the contours of his achievements.

Read more

‘Chronicle’ Director Josh Trank Just Won Himself a ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Trank, who’s currently helming the new ‘Fantastic Four,’ is just 29 years old. He immediately became a sought-after director when 2012’s ‘Chronicle’ made $126.6 million on a $12 million budget.

Read more

True or False: Parsing Fact From Fiction in Jenny Slate’s Abortion Comedy ‘Obvious Child’

Obvious Child isn’t based on the life of actor Jenny Slate, but “Donna” — a comedian who finds herself pregnant after an idyll one-night-stand — fits her like Brooklyn couture. After a brief run on Saturday Night Live was cut short in 2010, Slate found opportunities on Bored to Death and Parks and Recreation to […]

Read more

Attempted Murder and Memes: The Slender Man Hoax Turns Horribly Real

Folklore passed down by word of mouth invokes skepticism, but a legend that gathers steam by word of web is more convincing. Sarcasm is mistaken for sincerity, and art for evidence. That’s how two preteen girls from a Milkwaukee suburb became convinced of the existence of the Slender Man. It’s also the prologue to the story of how they attempted murder in the name of a meme.

Read more

The Top 10 Classic Rock Artists Who Would’ve Had Horrible Twitter Feeds

What if Twitter wasn’t a relatively new phenomenon, but as old as the media itself? Which artists and bands historically would’ve been the most “ruined” by having access to a Twitter feed? I’ve been thinking about this for several weeks now and I’ve come up with a personal top 10 list. These are the artists I would’ve been most excited to follow but would be forced to unfollow because I suspect their feeds would be unbearable.

Read more

Alexander Shulgin (1925-2014): Godfather of Psychedelics and Ecstacist

Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin, the chemist known as the “godfather of psychedelics,” died June 2 at the age of 88.

Read more

The Wachowskis’ ‘Jupiter Ascending’ Just Got Bumped to Next Year

“Insiders say the $150 million movie needed more special effects work.”

Read more

June 3, 2014

The New ‘Hercules’ Trailer: Oh Hey, Here Comes the Unkillable Army From Hell

Also in the Afternoon Links: Brad Pitt has words for his red carpet attacker, Jack White’s ‘Lazaretto’ is streaming, and there’s probably a gas leak outside Don Draper’s office.

Read more

Hollywood Prospectus Podcast: Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen

The Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser sits down with Chris Ryan to talk about his debut solo album, ‘Black Hours,’ as well as fantasy basketball and much more.

Read more

Words Are Wind: George R.R. Martin Might Stretch the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Series to Eight (!) Books

In a piece of shocking news, George R.R. Martin, author of the ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ series, apparently has an editor. Martin’s editor, Anne Groell, now thinks the book series, which was originally pitched to her as a trilogy before hitting every cardinal number of potential books on the way to seven, will now, maybe, stretch to eight.

Read more

Watch Will Arnett As an Alcoholic Cartoon Horse for Netflix

“I weigh 1,200 pounds. It takes a lot to get me drunk.”

Read more

Infotainment: The Dwindling Value of 50 Cent

50 isn’t cool anymore. He’s rich. But he’s not cool. He has muscles. But he’s not cool. He still owns a bulletproof vest. But he’s not cool. And that’s very sad to me.

Read more

The Moment Podcast: Brian Koppelman and Allan Havey

Allan Havey, who plays the hated Lou Avery on ‘Mad Men,’ on why he loves playing him, what being the hottest stand-up in NYC in the ’80s felt like, and true joy.

Read more

Freak Show & Tell: Tori Chops Dean

Plus: ‘Catfish,’ a ‘Hoarders’ check-in, and ‘Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.’

Read more

Marvel Grits Teeth, Rolls Forward With Ant-Man Movie Literally Nobody Wants

If the box-office headline after ‘Ant-Man’ opens is anything but ANT-MAN SQUASHES COMPETITION, it’ll call the viability of the whole Movieverse into question.

Read more
Courtney Robertson

Summer Reality TV Hell: ‘I Slept With a Celebrity,’ Courtney Robertson’s Tell-All, ‘Ladies of London’

Worried there won’t be enough trashy TV this summer to keep you indoors, safe from barbecues and lived human experience? Already sad about the eventual end of ‘I Wanna Marry “Harry”’? Worry no more!

Read more

At Long Last, Detroit Gets Its RoboCop Statue

There’ll be a dedication this morning, and a first pitch from RoboCop at tonight’s Tigers/Blue Jays game.

Read more

Load More Stories