This just in from Arts Beat: AMC has renewed the next season of Mad Men! This might seem about as surprising as ABC renewing Grey’s Anatomy for another season, but despite the show’s critical darling status, it’s not exactly a ratings powerhouse, and we wouldn’t have called season four a sure thing by any means. (Let us not forget the drama that surrounded renewing season three.)
With amazing buzz so far this season, we hope this vote of confidence from AMC will push show creator Matthew Weiner to ever more obsessive levels of genius. Witness, for instance, Sunday night’s boogie session between Pete and his wife Trudy. Is it fair to say the two jitterbugged their way into the hearts of network executives? We think so. Or maybe it was the Charleston? Truth be told, we spent about 15 minutes Sunday night trying to figure out the name of that old-fashioned vaudeville knee-switching optical illusion dance, to no avail. Check it out in all its gloriousness after the jump. Read More »
Fans of director Woody Allen (especially, we find, those who think Annie Hall is too mainstream) absolutely die for Manhattan, the 1979 romantic comedy wherein Allen’s character romances a 17-year-old. Today we came across an update of Allen’s film, bearing the all-too-appropriate-for-2009 new name, Brooklyn. The trailer absolutely nails the opening montage with classical accompaniment. A very cool idea, we must concede, but how does it stack up to another offshoot of Manhattan we found a few months ago? That one starred Muppets. Check out both videos after the jump, and voice your opinion in the comments. Read More »
We can’t wait to see The September Issue, R. J. Cutler’s documentary treatment of queen bee fashion magazine Vogue. Aside from Anna Wintour, one of the film’s stars is Grace Coddington, the magazine’s longtime creative director. (To wit, Gawker says that Grace — the unlikely victor in this glossy cage match — steals the show.) Where Wintour is known for her signature bob and sunglasses, Coddington’s trademarks are her red hair and barely-there eyebrows. We hesitate to say this because we’re not implying that anyone is a witch, but: Coddington, a former model, really, really reminds us of Bette Midler’s character in Hocus Pocus, the 1993 Disney Halloween comedy. It’s uncanny, right? Check out Coddington in action, after the jump. Read More »
When Senator Ted Kennedy died Tuesday night, some say Camelot went with him. The moniker for King Arthur and the knights of the round table was originally applied to the Kennedy family by Jackie Kennedy herself soon after JFK’s death. While we can’t say whether Camelot will live on, we can address these events the only way we know how: by typing “Camelot” into Flickr and seeing what turns up. Join us for a special Found Photo Friday in memorium of Ted Kennedy. Read More »
Reading Rainbow, the book-centric PBS children’s series, has reached the end of its 26-year run, NPR reports. We remember it best as the show various babysitters parked us in front of during our formative years, but we do love to read, so maybe its message sank in. We weep for host LeVar Burton and his legion of fans, even though we have to admit that we didn’t know the show was still on the air. Blame it on the recession…oh yeah, and George W. Bush’s education policy. Because the show stresses why kids should love reading rather than how to read, it’s not in line with the Bush administration’s focus on phonics and spelling. So basically, George W. Bush killed Reading Rainbow. After the jump, a guided tour through some timeless Reading Rainbow clips. Read More »
Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians and Flavorpill interview subject of yester-week, reveals his territorial fued with rival author Jonathan Safran Foer to the New Yorker‘s Book Bench. We wonder what extra ingredient that coffee shop adds to their brew, because Grossman and Foer are sure a lot more successful than the sweatpants-clad denizens of our local haunt. Team Grossman, head over to Penguin’s From the Publisher’s Office for more about The Magicians.
The trailer for George Clooney and Ewan McGregor’s inscrutably-named November dark comedy is now live. The movie — which is based on a 2004 non-fiction book by Jon Ronson — follows reporter McGregor as he investigates a story on a top-secret experimental U.S. military unit that Clooney’s character was once a part of. They use psychic powers in their missions to do things like walk through walls and kill goats. Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges also star, rounding a cast that gives this movie more star power than previous films set in Iraq, which might help it out at the box office. Check out the trailer after the jump and let us know: Will this movie mark the return of the madcap Clooney of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we crossed “photoshoot starring Diane von Furstenberg and Big Bird” off our list of things we never thought we’d see. We worked out with Marky Mark. We protected our personal space with a device that is both stylish and functional. We were alarmed when we couldn’t find Waldo. We met a 26-year-old who will ascend to the position of managing editor at The New Yorker. We said, “you go, Jeremy Piven!” We wondered who Pete is (was?). We squeed over animals’ OMG files. And finally, we hated ourselves for liking this video of Taylor Swift and rapper T-Pain. A month later.
Bye Bye Birdie, the terminally-square musical of the ’60s, is having something of a moment here in 2009. This week, Mad Men repurposed Ann-Margret’s shrill opening sequence from the film version. That comes on the heels of Gina Gershon singling out a scene in the upcoming Broadway revival, in which she will star along with John Stamos, as “too gang-rape-y” yesterday. Wow, a Mad Men-approved, gang-rape-y good time! Sounds good, right? Well, don’t get too excited, because Bye Bye Birdie is actually one of the corniest musicals of all time. We have this on good authority, having acted in it in 9th grade (we played Reporter #1). Read More »
