1. Former Saturday Night Live “presidents” Will Ferrell, Fred Armisen, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Dana Carvey, and Darrell Hammond, have joined forces for a skit encouraging financial regulatory reform. (video) [via HuffPo]
2. Check out this short documentary about Ryan Gosling‘s band, Dead Man’s Bones. [via Pitchfork]
3. Is 8-year-old Brazilian talent show contestant Laura Montana a.k.a. “Baby Gaga” going to be the next Susan Boyle? [via The Awl]
4. Martin Scorsese has announced that he’s working on a documentary about writer/social commentator Fran Lebowitz. [via The Playlist]
5. The American Ballet Theatre has canceled its fall season, citing the need for rehearsal time for a new production of The Nutcracker and lack of funds. [via WSJ]
Coachella giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.
Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Saturday Night Live, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There, and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Topics will be changing throughout the week, so get your search on and keep playing to increase your chances of winning!
1. Don DeLillo talks about his new 117-page novel, Point Omega, which comes out next week. [via WSJ]
2. Zachary Quinto — who played Spock in JJ Abrams‘ Star Trek — will take on the role of George Gershwin in a Steven Spielberg-directed biopic. [via Deadline Hollywood]
3. Parks and Recreation has been renewed. [via Reuters]
4. Now that they’re unemployed, some former staffers at The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien are starting their own web series. [via Pop Candy]
5. Chevy Chase and Bevery D’Angelo are reuniting as the Griswolds! For a Super Bowl ad… [via TV Squad]
After PopWatch tipped us off to the fact that buzzy fall pilot Community is available in full on Facebook, we couldn’t help but take a 24-minute break from blogging to check it out. First, the terms: in order to watch the pilot, you have to become a fan of Community‘s Facebook page. Well played, NBC viral marketing team. Moving on, the show stars Joel McHale, already beloved among fans of E!’s The Soup, and a rag-tag ensemble that includes, rather oddly, Chevy Chase. Read More »
If you’re in New York: Head to Under St. Marks to catch a showing of Under the Rainbow from the Real HBO Summer Film Series tonight at 7 p.m. It’s a great, early ’80s farce starring Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher.
If you’re in Los Angeles: It could be your last chance to hear the blues-infused beauty of Gomez for a while (they have an opening slot on Pearl Jam’s upcoming European tour). Hit The Wiltern tonight at 8 p.m. to soak up all the indie rock you can.
If you’re in San Francisco: How can you not go see Jim Henson’s (alleged) favorite project, The Great Muppet Caper, playing tonight at Red Vic? Muppets+jewel heist+frame job+breaking the fourth wall = unadulterated awesome.
If you’re in Chicago: Listen to some amazing audio documentaries — think This American Life-like radio stories melded with music and found sound as the Third Coast International Audio Festival sets up another edition of Edible Audible Picnic on the Great Lawn of Millenium Park.
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Today Slashfilm pointed us to Marshall Fine’s open letter to Zach Galifianakis imploring him not to pull a Chevy Chase now that he’s finally in a successful movie and the subject of a New York Times Magazine profile (“Now don’t blow it by letting some agent or manager try to turn you into a comedy commodity.”).
While we’re the last people who’d like to see him take on a string of bad projects (Seriously. Flavorpill loves the man.), we’d like to argue that Zach has already been there, done that, survived, and used the experience to generate new material for his act. Because his brand of comedy is founded in oddball self-deprecation, crappy projects don’t taint his career in the same way they would someone like Jack Black. Read More »
Countless films travel through various stages of development during any given year, and out of that lot, only a select few make it to the big screen — and then even fewer are actually worth watching. Sure, we understand why they’d make a BATMAN 3 or some weepy, Oscar-driven drama about transsexuals fighting in World War II, but then there are some films that you read about that just make you go hmmmm…
After the jump, we explore some of the lamest films that might be coming to a theatre near you much sooner than we’d like. Read More »
Books - DEEPA MEHTA will co-write and direct a big screen adaptation of SALMAN RUSHDIE’s famed allegory MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN. [Guardian] Dance/Opera - Are horses behind some of the best dancing on Broadway? [NYT] Design - Explosion-loving JAMES BOND is architecture’s worst enemy. [Archinect] Film - In a seriously meta move, DAVID MURPHY will direct CHEVY CHASE in NOT ANOTHER NOT ANOTHER MOVIE. [Slash Film] Music - Famed indie rock band YO LA TENGO is releasing a new album under a secret identity. Maybe. [Pitchfork] Television - New details about season five of LOST — which returns on Jan. 21, revealed. [THR] Theatre - Unless you’re from Chicago, DAVID CROMER is the most talented director you’ve never heard of. [NYT] Visual Arts - A London street artist is giving away an estimated £1m of his work for free. [Independent] Web - GOOD Magazine’s new blog points us to a homesick robot’s poetic Twitter feed. [Good]
