CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009 will hit New York City from October 20-24 and for five days and nights, over 1,200 artists and 120,000 fans will take over more than 75 of the city’s greatest nightclubs and theaters. Don’t miss your chance to participate in New York City’s largest music festival; we’re giving away a pair of CMJ badges to three lucky *Flavorpill NYC readers. Read More »

There’s barely a nip in the air some mornings, but usually that’s the only excuse we need for breaking out one of Threadless’ awesome hoodies. Top independent artists are always submitting cool new designs for the site’s graphic tees and hoodies — and thanks to the current sale, Threadless is making it even easier for us to stock up for fall.

We’ll do you one better. Tell us your favorite excuse for wearing a hoodie; the best/funniest/most creative reply wins a gift card for $250 bucks to spend on anything (and everything) Threadless. Ten runners-up each win $25 gift cards.

SUBMIT HERE>>

The sixth annual Decibel Festival takes over Seattle next weekend, with more than 100 artists playing 14 venues over four days. Though it’ll be hard to top last year’s fifth anniversary event, the nonprofit music and art festival has done it with this year’s lineup, which represents the best in new techno, house and dub.

In celebration of the Decibel Festival, we’re holding a contest to win two Club Passes (worth $75 each), which will get you into the weekend’s evening dance venue events and the dB conference. Find out how to win after the jump. Read More »

Attention Elvis impersonators, reckless gamblers, and Katy Perry fans: Our friends at Virgin America and Le Tourment Vert absinthe are offering Flavorpill readers the chance to win a weekend at a Palms Fantasy Suite in Las Vegas. Entering is easy; just click here and tell us your Vegas fantasy. The contest closes on September 30th, and we’ll announce a winner on October 1st. Hope you get lucky!

While we’ve never really had a problem with the way they sounded, it’s hard not to be excited by The The Beatles’ remastered return — particularly the limited-edition Mono Box Set. You don’t need to be an audiophile to understand what all the excitement is about: a team at Abbey Road Studios has gone back, cleaning up and remastering the band’s original recordings, making the Fab Four’s entire catalog available in box sets of both the familiar stereo and harder-to-come-by mono recordings. (Until now, the only album versions available outside of the original releases were the 1987 CD versions.) Read More »

Our friends at the Museum of the Moving Image are giving Flavorpill New York readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to an exclusive screening of director Jane Campion’s latest film, Bright Star, Monday night at the Directors Guild Theater. The period romance — a return to the kind of material that made Campion a ’90s arthouse darling — tells the tragic, true life story of John Keats’ final years (ie., his late twenties), and his doomed romance with the girl next door, Fanny Brawne. Read More »

Our friends over at Cornerstone are offering one Flavorpill reader in L.A. (tonight),  Chicago (9/14), and New York (9/16) a pair of passes to an exclusive preview of HBO’s new noirotic comedy, Bored To Death. The show, which is executive produced and written by Jonathan Ames, follows an alcoholic Brooklyn writer named Jonathan Ames who becomes a private detective in the wake of a painful break-up. Jason Schwartzman plays Ames; Zach Galifianakis is his sidekick, a comic book illustrator named Ray; and Ted Danson is George, Ames’ high society magazine editor boss.

The show’s theme song (which you can stream here) was written by Schwartzman and Ames, and is performed by Coconut Records.

Watch the teaser trailer after the jump and leave us a comment with your city and personal vice for a chance to get on the guest list. Note: We’ll be live tweeting the premiere on September 20 at 9:30 p.m. and offering you the chance to win prizes for your own P.I. skills. Read More »

We’ve got two tickets to a private screening of Liam Neeson‘s new thriller, Five Minutes of Heaven, tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Tribeca Grand. The film follows two men from the same town and opposite sides of the political divide in Ireland trying to reconcile over a death. Neeson and the director Oliver Hirschbiegel (who took home the World Cinema Directing Award for his work this year at Sundance) will both be in attendance.

For your chance to win, send a tweet to @flavorpill_ny with the name of your favorite Neeson flick. Check out the trailer for the film after the jump. Read More »

Earlier this month we held a hiddent talent contest inspired by HBO’s popular new series Hung. The idea behind the show — which was created by Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches), is executive produced by Alexander Payne (Sideways), and stars Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, and Anne Heche — is rather unique. Ray Drecker, a former high-school sports legend, is now a middle-aged high-school basketball coach. He’s divorced, struggling to support his kids, and virtually homeless after his house catches fire. That’s when he decides to take on a second job — as a gigolo.

But enough foreplay. We’ve gone through all of your entries and finally chosen our winners. For the record, you guys are a lot stranger (and more talented!) than we ever would have guessed. Read More »

Tomorrow night the Museum of Sex hosts Summer Sex & Spirits, Planned Parenthood NYC’s annual benefit, and we’re offering one lucky Flavorpill reader a pair of tickets to the event. The museum’s current exhibitions will be open to guests, and if The Sex Lives of Robots doesn’t float your boat, perhaps one of the 15,000 sex artifacts in the permanent collection will. There will be an open bar from 8 to 11 p.m. — sure to up the ante on the evening’s already titillating theme — as well as access to a pretty swank silent auction.

To put your name in the running, correctly answer the following question in the comments below: From 1930 to 1965, which country produced more “Stag Films” (early hardcore pornographic films) than any other?

Good luck!