1. For the first time ever, Americans would rather be surfing the web than watching TV in their free time. Is that because they’re watching TV on the Internet? [via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
2. This is strange: Pixar director Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) is in negotiations to direct Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible IV. [via Vulture]
3. What do you think of Twitter‘s forthcoming redesign? Do you want more stats? [via The Awl]
4. Barack and Michelle Obama will make a taped appearance on next week’s Idol Gives Back, a special two-hour charity performance/fundraiser. [via FOX News]
5. Robert Pattinson is in discussions to play Kurt Cobain in David Fincher‘s upcoming biopic. [via PopCrunch]
Bonus link: A narrative mashup of 500 Quentin Tarantino/Coen Brothers scenes
1. MGMT‘s upcoming sophomore release, Congratulations, which isn’t due out until April 13, leaked over the weekend. As a result, the band is now streaming it here. [via Vulture]
2. Rumor is that Parks and Recreation‘s Aziz Ansari is in final talks to host the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. [via EW]
3. When Showtime’s Nurse Jackie returns for a second season this month, Dr. Cooper will be tweeting in character and in real time from @DoctorCoop. [via NYT]
4. A new Joyce Carol Oates short story from the latest issue of the New Yorker is online for your reading pleasure.
5. Did you see Michelle Obama‘s cameo on last night’s episode of The Simpsons? The character was voiced by none other than Angela Bassett. (video) [via HuffPo]
Bonus link: An interview with Jonathan Lethem‘s Second Life avatar
Back in October the White House released a list of 45 artworks on loan to the Obamas from Washington museums. The artists selected vary in age, race, gender and geographical roots, reflecting the administration’s continued celebration of diversity. One particular painting, Watusi (Hard Edge), by African-American woman Alma Thomas (1891-1978) and on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum, caused quite the controversy. The 1963 painting, it turns out, is extremely similar to a 1953 piece entitled L’Escargot by Matisse, a maestro whom Thomas openly proclaimed an inspiration to her evolution as a painter.
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We’re almost done talking about Halloween. We promise. But before we shut up about it until next year, we have a few more things we’d like to show you. Namely, a trio of trick or treaters dressed up as some of our favorite New York museums, a tasty looking meathand, and a timelapse video that will make you feel like you 213 kids drop by your house, even if you’re like us and had zero.
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News traveled down the wire yesterday that the golden First Couple — celebrated for their intelligence, poise, and fashion sense — have at last selected the artwork for the First Abode. Seeing as how they get pick of the litter from Washington museums, and their White House home is enormous, things could get seriously contemporary. Maya Lin installation? Claes Oldenburg Geometric Mouse? Man Ray’s African art photographs? Well, no. Though the Obamas’ picks, culled mostly from the Hirshhorn and the National Gallery of Art, are fairly mainstream, the art collection comprises a greatest hits of modernist works that have what Harry Cooper calls “wall power.” See what they selected after the jump. Read More »
We just stumbled across this year’s Vanity Fair Best-Dressed List thanks to an item in the LA Times about the number of art world personalities who made the cut. And it’s true: Cy Twombly, Bruce Weber, Ike Ude, and Count Manfredi Della Gherardesca are all there, mixed in with Hollywood royalty, New York socialites, political types, and the kind of random fabulous people you usually find on a list like this. Business as usual. And then we spotted the rather surprising user-generated ratings for these bold-faced names. What we discovered about style and popularity, after the jump. Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we were thrilled for Sotomayor and Sookie/Bill. We were glad to hear that Zach Galifianakis is approaching the Hangover 2 with caution. We wondered if the new New York Times resto critic Sam Sifton likes nachos too. We wondered if we’d acutally like Colorado’s new stripper hits radio station. We felt guilty for how much we enjoyed these paparrazi pics of the Obamas. We wanted a subscription to Document Magazine. We lusted over this utopian concrete housing complex designed by Le Corbusier in France. We were happy to hear Flavorpill friend Louis C.K. will be joining Parks and Recreation this fall. And finally, we decided that it sounds like it’s time to plan a roadtrip over to Wesleyan…
We’ve always been big readers here at Flavorpill, but with the eBook craze flying around, we may have neglected our ink-and-paper pals down at the local library as of late. But they’re not about to take that lying down. Library news has been all over the interwebs recently, and as a pledge of our loyalty, we bring you the latest from the world of overdue books. Read More »
1. The Obamas’ New York City date night: Dinner at Blue Hill followed by the new August Wilson show. [via NYP]
2. Up kills at the weekend box office ($68.2m) and Star Trek becomes the first film of 2009 to surpass the $200m mark. [via DHD]
3. Pete Wentz’s bar is in trouble for serving underage drinkers. [via Gawker]
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman, co-artistic director of the LAByrinth Theater Company for more than a decade, is stepping down. [via NYT]
5. This image of Heidi Montag from NBC’s I’m A Celebrity makes you realize that all reality TV show cameras are not created equally. It’s no wonder she and Spencer are threatening to quit. [via Ryan Seacrest]
1. A little more info about that upcoming Radiohead release (no, seriously) [via Guardian]
2. DreamWorks has acquired the life rights to Martin Luther King Jr. and is bringing a Steven Spielberg-produced biopic to the big screen. [via Variety]
3. FOX’s fall lineup puts a lot of eggs in Fringe‘s basket. [via THR]
4. Michelle Obama makes a case for the economic importance of arts and culture during her New York visit. [via HuffPo]
5. The Producers finally opens in Berlin — in a theater where Hitler once sat — to some uncomfortable laughter. [via New York Times]
