Friday, March 26 2010
Richard Pryor’s Designated Writer: An Interview With Paul Mooney
In a new memoir, veteran stand-up comic Paul Mooney reflects on his life and work with the legendary comedian Richard Pryor and their struggle against racism in Hollywood.
Friday, March 5 2010
Autopsy TV
Autopsy entertainment makes painfully clear that no amount of Twitter and Prozac, Friending and Unfriending, Outplacement and Outsourcing, Bail Outs and Stimulus, Surges and Drones, Mii and Wii, Nunchuck and Netois can save us.
Tuesday, March 2 2010
Five Great TV Series to Discover on DVD
One of the greatest benefits that DVDs have bestowed is the ability to discover great TV series that we missed the first time around. Here are five great shows that anyone who loves quality TV should see if they haven't already.
Tuesday, February 23 2010
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
Conspiracy Theory presents a world divided into elites and Joe Sixpacks, where the hidden masters of the universe plot against you and me.
Monday, February 22 2010
20 Questions: Superjail!: Christy Karacas and Steve Warbrick
Superjail! creators Christy Karacas (Cartoon Sushi), and Stephen Warbrick (Beavis and Butthead, Celebrity Deathmatch) were turned loose, briefly, to answer our 20 Questions.
Friday, February 19 2010
‘Chuck’ Versus ‘Gossip Girl’
Gossip Girl and Chuck, both created in the wake of the demise of The O.C., bear a sharp resemblance to The O.C., despite paradoxically bearing little resemblance to one another. Chuck embodies the geekier parts of The O.C, while Gossip Girl evokes its internecine social battles.
Thursday, February 18 2010
ESPN: Changing the Way Americans Think About Sports
ESPN changed the course of American sports culture by providing access to national and international events 24 hours per day and cultivating the entertainment potential of sporting events and personalities.
Tuesday, February 9 2010
Must See TV No More?
“You’ve created a fetish around watching the commercials, and not going to the kitchen or the bathroom during the commercials. That’s a pretty amazing thing to have done,” says Turow. But is the phenomenon sustainable?
Tuesday, February 2 2010
Stop Me If You Think That You’ve Seen This Grammys Before
The Grammys seem like a festering boomer leftover, far removed from the present where major labels live in post-apocalyptic decline.
Monday, February 1 2010
When Over-the-Top Hits the Spot: 2010 Grammy Awards
Overblown set pieces, fiery performances, and category wins that no one saw coming -- yes, this year, the Grammy Awards decided to be interesting.
Wednesday, January 20 2010
Fast Train to Nowhere: Watching ‘The Wire’ Aesthetically
Every scene, no matter how seemingly throwaway, no matter how seemingly unimportant, contributes to a larger vision, a complex set of patterns and narratives. Which is why The Wire is both totally fascinating and utterly unrealistic.
Tuesday, January 19 2010
The Film Noir Roots of Cowboy Bebop
The animated series Cowboy Bebop is a blend of classic film noir motifs mixed into a futuristic setting that reverses the roles of gender and character.
Wednesday, January 13 2010
TV’s Ten Greatest Cyborgs
The Cyborg has become one of the most persistent and fruitful character types on television, expressing society's concerns over the fate of the individual in a highly deterministic world.
Marcia Gay Harden on Dreams, Nightmares, and Why There’s No One at the Movies
Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden talks about being a godmother for a cruise ship, the supposed decline of movie theater attendance, and what it's like to work with "sexy" Clint Eastwood.
Friday, January 8 2010
The Best TV of 2009
Aside from one or two new shows, this look at the Best of TV 2009 seems awfully familiar. A look at early '60s admen? A practically incomprehensible drama about an island of airplane crash castaways? The Americanization of a UK workplace comedy? That definitely rings a bell.
The Best DVDs of 2009
Let's face it, when the content inside is less than meaningful, how better to market your particular movie than with plenty of digital packaging bells and whistles. Many of our 2009 choices reflect this strategy. Others are great all by themselves.
Wednesday, January 6 2010
The Best TV Performances of 2009
It would have been easy to miss most of this year's best, with all the distractions -- Rihanna and Chris, Taylor and Kanye, Adam and his same-sex drummer, Tiger and, well, who knows, and, ugh, Jon and Kate.
Monday, January 4 2010
The Guilty Pleasure TV of 2009
It's here where you will find those unmentionable entertainments that keep us suckling at the glass teat for much longer than we need to. It’s not for mental nourishment or relaxation. It’s like an addiction, and going cold crappy TV turkey is just not an option.
Tuesday, December 8 2009
Paranormal Passions: An Interview with the Ghost Hunters
The Ghost Hunters Academy investigators talk about the amount of misinformation there is about paranormal investigation and what an awesome season finale would look like.
Thursday, December 3 2009
20 Questions: Bruce Greenwood
The prolific actor Bruce Greenwood shows up as yet another character for 20 Questions -- this time as a rather erudite cake designer with a mean edge on a ’53 Telecaster.
