Today at Flavorpill, we discovered 16 viral videos from the age before YouTube. We prayed we never sit next to rotten old Johnny Rotten on an airplane. We were thankful that Christopher Nolan finally (at least sort of) explained Inception. We started getting nervous about what kind of crazy stampedes Black Friday will bring this year. We wondered who would wear these Facebook-inspired sneakers. You know, other than Mark Zuckerberg. We were impressed by how many different ways D.H. Lawrence came up with to say “sex.” We felt like this bride from the ’40s who wore a gown made of turkey feathers took her love of the bird a little too far. We loved Doogie Horner’s illustrated chart of late night talk show hosts. We found out why Rupert Murdoch’s iPad newspaper is totally doomed. We came across one good argument against going home for the holidays. And finally, we decided that is has been way too long since we’ve made a hand-drawn turkey. So that’s what we’re off to do. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
Lee Crutchley is the UK-based graphic designer behind Quoteskine, a blog of Moleskine drawings inspired by a head full of quotes and lyrics. “I’m a big fan of taking two separate references and putting them together to make something new,” he explains. Click through to check out five of our favorites from his series of movie mash-up artwork; signed versions will be coming soon to his online store.
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1. Kanye West apologized to Taylor Swift over Twitter yesterday for last year’s VMAs incident, and in the process, compared his life story to the plot of Wicked. Oh, and he also wrote her a very special song. [via BuzzFeed]
2. Other than a few standout films like Toy Story 3 and Inception, it was a pretty crappy summer for movie theater attendance — the lowest since 1997 in fact. [via NYT]
3. Inspired by last night’s episode (so: spoilers ahoy), take a look at the evolution of Mad Men’s Peggy Olson. [via Vulture]
4. Possibly this generation’s Britney vs. Justin moment: Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith had a dance-off at a New York City bowling alley. And yes, cameras captured it for the Bieb’s upcoming documentary. [via TMZ]
5. Yesterday for the first time in 411 years, Shakespeare’s Globe opened its doors to a play by a female writer. Congrats to Nell Leyshon! [via The Independent]
Bonus link: Modern Philosophy via Graphic Design
Today, the latest in our never-ending quest to understand Christopher Nolan’s Inception, courtesy of graphic designer Sean Mort. [via The Daily What]
Today at Flavorpill, we sharked ourselves. We agreed with Lizzie Skurnick that Lisbeth Salander is the perfect foil to Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. We were happy to see that Lady Gaga made Vanity Fair‘s 2010 International Best Dressed List (as did Alec Baldwin!). We ranked the relative credibility of several suspicious celebrity couples. We got a kick out of Jennifer Belle’s viral marketing campaign for her latest book: hire actresses with good laughs to read it in public places! We wished that we’d had an early ’90s bat mitvah for Paul Rudd to DJ at. We downloaded Wale’s latest mixtape. We were kind of freaked out by how much this guy obviously loves Ghostbusters. We watched Joanna Newsom and Fleet Foxes cover Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. And finally, we wondered if Christopher Nolan really did rip off a Scrooge McDuck comic with Inception. (We’re not upset if he did, as long as it helps us figure out the ending.)
Today at Flavorpill, we were charmed by this ’90s commercial featuring Tina Fey in a tapestry vest (but it’s definitely not as awesome as Liz Lemon’s 1-900-OK-FACE ad was). We watched an animation by the artist Isao Hashimoto that depicts every nuclear bomb explosion in history. We discovered that some of the answers to our questions about Inception might be hiding in the wardrobe details — maybe. We met True Blood‘s costume designer, Audrey Fisher, the woman responsible for putting Pam in all of those hot shoes. We were surprised by the rather boring choices on this list of the most-stolen books at McNally Jackson. We decided that this might be one of the best wedding pics of all time. We love Olly Moss’ minimalist film posters for the Alamo Drafthouse’s 2010 Rolling Road Show. And finally, we learned what it’s really like to work in a music store. Loud.
While watching Inception over the weekend, we came up with a theory: for someone with such a sweet face, Leonardo DiCaprio is kind of like the Henry VIII of the film world. Female characters don’t exactly flourish in his movies. Multiple suicides. A murder. A kidnapping. You get the drift. After the jump, we investigate what happened to the women in a few of our favorite Leo films, and attempt to understand: Why does it suck so much to be a lady in a Leonardo DiCaprio movie?
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Today at Flavorpill, we tried to figure out what a Mad Men-style smoking habit would cost you these days. We vowed never to venture into any of the 9 Circles of Mel. We were happy to hear that Dylan McKay and Brandon Walsh are making a movie together, even if it is for the Hallmark Channel. We couldn’t understand the thinking behind the miniature fake food fad that’s currently sweeping Japan. We wondered if there’s any truth behind The Guido Effect, and if so, if it’s too late to invest in some Jersey Shore-friendly stocks. We learned the dark secret that’s hiding in Hans Zimmer’s Inception soundtrack, and some interesting facts about the White House. We counted down some of the best sci-fi and fantasy artwork that has appeared on album covers. And finally, we learned about the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan-related birth of the term “spoiler alert“ — something we’re sure these kids could appreciate.
Today at Flavorpill, we wanted to take a ride in a flying car. We wondered how Robert Pattinson feels about inspiring a line of slim-fitting undies known as the R-Pant. We counted down the most shocking film endings in history. We liked looking at pictures of nerds-in-training at Comic-Con. We finally understood Inception. We reviewed the sartorial choices on last night’s Season 4 premiere of Mad Men. We wished we had binder clips to turn into a pretty ball. We celebrated nature’s ugliest animals. We thought that Ron Livingston made a rather cute Keyboard Cat. We took a virtual tour of Masonic Temples around the world. We wanted to explore the blue hole caverns of the Bahamas. And finally, we saw inside of a baby’s dreams. It’s just as cute as you’d imagine.
With all of the positive critical buzz, we can’t wait for this weekend’s release of Christopher Nolan’s mind-bender Inception, which promises to be a dream-fueled film that blurs all distinctions between reality and what happens inside the mind. Inspired, we’ve decided to explore one of the most interesting cinematic conventions: the dream sequence. Dreams, unrestrained by any visual logic, tend to be where movies are at their most creative, and these classic clips exemplify that point. They range from funny, to cryptic to just plain scary and over the top. Which one’s your favorite?
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