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The Night Lady Gaga Blew Up the Internet with 'Telephone' 2010-03-12
Natasha: Can I ask you something?
Choire: Yes!
Natasha: Do you 'get it'?
Natasha: Like Gaga overall.
Choire: I *largely* get it. I mean, obviously I groove on the, I guess, excitement level? And I don't despise the music, although it's remarkably unremarkable. But I get it! (READ MORE) 121
Flicked Off, with Kia Matthews and Natasha Vargas-Cooper: 'Precious,' or, Can a Movie be a Social Act? 2009-12-11
'Precious' has been in theaters for a week now, but since it's Mo'Nique's birthday today, we feel it is now time to finally get to it!
Natasha: Girl, how did you feel about going into this movie?
Kia: Well. I didn't even want to see it. The trailer made me cry, so, I wasn't really looking forward to a full length version of that. It looked like that emotional porn? You know, downtrodden person going through trails, tribulations, strife, set to uplifting music and/or a gospel song, etc.
Natasha: I wanted to see it for two reasons 1. Oscars, natch. 2. I wanted to dislike it. BUT GURL I LOVED IT. (READ MORE) 44
Flicked Off: Alex Pareene and Natasha Vargas-Cooper on 'The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans' 2009-11-24
Natasha: Pareene!
Alex: Natasha!
Natasha: Can we talk about the motherf'ing Bad Lieutenant??
Alex: Yes. Yes we can.
Natasha: Pareene, tell me why this is a great movie.
Alex: Well. I think, first of all, that it is indeed about a Bad Lieutenant. I think that while Abel Ferrara's original movie was about a bad person who happens to be a Lieutenant, Nic Cage, in this film, was just not ever very good at being a Lieutenant. And I admired that, making a police procedural where none of the policing is ever very competent. (READ MORE) 23
Footnotes of Mad Men: Goodbye, All Our Pretty Horses 2009-11-09
Of all the metaphors this season, the strongest seemed to be the horse. That could seem old, pony-furred hat if we were not in the strong hands of the Mad Men writers room. The partner of the wayward man making his claim on the land; the embodiment of stubborn independence; since cigarette ads immemorial, a symbol of virile Americanism. Of course horses are also chattel, and we Americans will gladly take our spirit animals, chop them up and serve 'em to our pups if there is good business to be had, even if we have to lie about it. Also, horses can kill you! (RIP, Papa Whitman.) (READ MORE) 109
Footnotes of Mad Men: How You Get Your News 2009-11-02
Not to be contrary for the sake of it—because what can you say about November 22, 1963 that hasn't already been borrowed three times over?—but the Kennedy family has only limited emotional resonance for those of us born to the baby boomers. This is particularly true for those of us who grew up in the West, far beyond the sway of East coast political dynasties. Sure, we can identify the Kennedys as a cultural shift, as style icons, as political talking points. We can also relate to the transformational power of their tragedies—hypnotic television coverage, live carnage, and, last night, an unmoored Betty Draper unable to make sense out of any of it. But for us now, that afternoon Dallas is more illustrative of something else: the swift and unscrupulous pace of history. Particularly, recent American history and how it is so phenomenally compressed. In just one generation, the psychic trauma of RFK and JFK has been largely erased. So maybe Don Draper's aloof attitude is enlightened rather than repressive: "Everything's going to be OK. We'll have a new president. And everyone is going to be sad for a little bit." (READ MORE) 63
Footnotes of Mad Men: Misfits, Horse Meat and Clark Gable 2009-10-27
In Edward Albee's 1962 play,Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George, after having served as a punching bag all night for Martha's verbal roundhouses, decides to have out with it. He and his wife had put on a pretty good act for a their guests, the young and obnoxiously naïve Nick and Honey. Right before George divulges his wife's big secret-it is of Dick Whitman proportions-he starts to peel the label off his liquor bottle. He turns to a confused Honey and explains, "We all peel labels, sweetie; and when you get through the skin, all three layers, through the muscle, slosh aside the organs, them which is still sloshable-and get down to bone… you know what you do then?" Yes: go for the marrow! Nice, horsey marrow. (READ MORE) 62
Footnotes of Mad Men: The Liberation of Betty Draper–Or Not 2009-10-19
At the end of season two, Betty became convinced that Don was cheating on her. (Crazy, right?) She spent much of a day tearing apart the house, looking for clues of infidelity. Shoving her hands inside pants pockets (smoking), pulling out desk drawers (drinking), reading every scrap of paper in the house (sweating), Betty, in a deflated and droopy party dress, found nothing. Generally, TV shows will afford one scene to this sort of lipstick-on-the-collar scenario, but instead we were drawn into the hunt over the course of the entire episode. (READ MORE) 17
Two Weeks Out: Dress Up and Stay Home 2009-10-19
It's so difficult to create an American movie hero for mass consumption! The marvelous Pauline Kael, generally a sturdy populist when it came to American movies, wrote in 1964: "we don't want to see the image of ourselves in those cheats and cuckolds and cowards. We want heroes, and Hollywood produces them by simple fiat… A drama about a man's defeat would seem somehow antisocial, unamerican, 'arty,' and even decadent." But, surely, our tastes have evolved since? But then, maybe Kael's assessment still holds true. Even if men like Clooney and Pitt are allowed to flirt with darkness, ultimately, the hero must be a force for good and it helps when he is Will Smith. Okay, so here are great things that are happening that don't involve Will Smith. (READ MORE) 16
"Smut, Please"! The Fabulous Online Universe of 'Twilight' Fan Fiction, in Which Edward and Bella Get It On and On and On 2009-10-16
The exhibition hall in downtown San Diego was divided by sex. By dawn on the second day of Comic Con—this was back in late July—the men figured out they were beat. Hundreds of young girls had spent the night camped out on the sidewalk and so they packed the first 50 rows of the 6000-seat convention room. The unmoving estrogen division—girls in plastic fangs, clingy tops and body glitter—sat patiently through the morning's promotional panels for disaster movies and action hero sagas. But the girls began to screech and jostle as their obsession approached: Twilight.
When the star of the young adult Twilight movie franchise, Robert Pattinson, finally took the stage, he was greeted by a swell of withering sighs.
When that panel's frenzy eventually climaxed and petered out, a smaller squadron of females emerged from the bubbling mass. Together, they rode the escalator to the second floor so that they could have their own conversation about the Twilight world's attendant online fan fiction. I went up the escalator expecting to sit in another room filled with gasping girlies. I was completely wrong. (READ MORE) 44
Footnotes of Mad Men: A Rage For Order, or, The Problematic Episode 2009-10-14
In the intentionally dull world of academic writing, the descriptive word of choice for a thorny issue about race or sexuality is 'problematic.' As in: "Sal only serving as a gay prop this season is problematic." And it was, though not for any kind of politically correct reasons—how eye-rollingly boring would that critique be—but because it makes for crappy drama. Sal's tragic situation and Carla's steely silence during the Birmingham news report was a clumsy plot gimmick. It felt as though the writers were grabbing hold of us by the shirt collars and screaming, "CAN'T YOU SEE? THESE PEOPLE ARE OPPRESSED?!" Well, perhaps we needed reminding. But in this instance, the writers of Mad Men sacrificed their usual elegant nuance for some ham-fisted 'social message.' Fortunately, though some elegance was found in other places—like Disneyland! Yay. (READ MORE) 42
Footnotes of Mad Men: "They See In Her Disaster" or, Love Amongst the Cheaters 2009-10-06
Monogamy can be such a grind, right? Cheating is tough too, though. There's that terrifying halo of guilt that radiates around you after the act. It serves as both repellent and aphrodisiac, causing one's partner to inch ever-closer to you after a tryst. Then there's a particular upswing from the adrenaline. What a fool you were to put such a thing at risk! After all that comes the slow-boiling and consuming resentment towards your partner, the one who has robbed you of spontaneity and anonymity. You know what helps? A sudden trip and/or a new hairdo. (READ MORE) 61
Two Weeks Out: Steal Penelope Cruz's Glow in Person, Your Last Trip Outdoors, Russian Photography, and One Really Big Diamond 2009-10-05
In a 1964 interview, Playboy asked Vladimir Nabokov about American sexual mores. Nabokov dismissed the question and said: "Sex as an institution, sex as a general notion, sex as a problem, sex as a platitude—all this is something I find too tedious for words. Let us skip sex." Couldn't the same be said about rock 'n' roll? Writing about music often feels akin to saying something interesting about sex; it's all so rooted in one's own neuroses that the subject is usually maddening to write and banal to read. Yet when Chuck Klosterman wrote that the Bob Dylan/Kiss collaboration meant that "rock 'n' roll reached its logical conclusion" it felt like a true statement (Klosterman argued that the genre's most genuine individual joining up with the most contrived meant that rock 'n' roll had been solved, and was now done). So while I don't exactly understand why the forthcoming Bob Dylan album of Christmas standards makes me sad, I can tell you about other things to listen to, see and do that don't make one all conflicted and weird and downtrodden in the heart. Well, sometimes. (READ MORE) 13
The Footnotes of Mad Men: Suburban Rococo 2009-09-28
Oh, no! The world is tugging away at Don Draper's individuality one thread at a time! First it started with the sexy maypole teacher pointing out that Don's nihilistic quest for self-indulgence is no different from all the other 'bored' Ossissingite daddies—he's even donning the same shirt as them! Then Roger characterizes Don's personal brand as someone else's (The Ogs). Some barbituated crazed kids think of him as just another spook (the nerve of those wayward hippies!). And Don's own hearth, the place where he puts up his feet and thinks about the majestic Mohawk nation, has been invaded by a home designer who undoubtedly has put the same 'modern Chinoiserie' design into the homes of hundreds of other stylish couples. I guess none of us can be too different, huh? We're all muscle and blood after all. (READ MORE) 52
Footnotes of Mad Men: American Grit 2009-09-21
"Japan" is the explanation that Bert Cooper offers his British bosses for why they're standing in their socks inside his office. Japan and our role in WWII can also be offered as the explanation for what cinched America's role as the then-new empire. It must be a bit awkward for citizens of the waning imperial power that was England to strip down to their socks together. (Did you notice the armor lurking in the corner of Bert's office? And the buffed knight's suit standing guard in Lane's? Empire-building does come with some marvelous accessories.) (READ MORE) 21
Two Weeks Out: Diablo, David Byrne, and The Brave Keep Undefiled Wisdom of Their Own. 2009-09-18
The problem with books that get adapted into movies, is that, well, if you've taken the time to read the novel then you've created an entire ecosystem of scenery, face and motivations in your head. It's a completely unique world that's precious and belongs only to you. But when an auteur armed with a budget and his own ecosystem comes along, all those images are forcibly replaced. It's like a referendum on your imagination. It's not even a matter of not seeing the movie; advertising and promotion are unavoidable. So while there is some thrill in watching fuzzy-wuzzy creatures come to life or some Victorian suitor resurrected, it most often feels like a transgression, like something is being taken, not given. And that's why I won't be seeing "The Informant," which is based on the Kurt Eichenwald book. (Ha, got ya.) But here's some stuff that you should see and do. (READ MORE) 17
Footnotes of Mad Men: Your Prison, Your School, Your Hospital 2009-09-15
The Foucauldian adage goes something like: prisons, hospitals, and schools have the same architecture because they are all centers of confinement. (But is there anything more confining than the suburban nuclear family? Not according to John Cheever or Matthew Weiner!) In Mad Men episode 305, "The Fog," we got a field trip to all three institutions! A sexy school teacher, a surly prison guard and a McMurphy-hating maternity nurse all served as uniformed ambassadors. So how much has changed and how much has stayed the same inside these linoleum-plastered hallways? (READ MORE) 25
Footnotes of Mad Men: The Fathers of Madison Avenue 2009-09-08
Mad Men episode 304, "The Arrangements": It was all about daddies this week. Dads fighting for the glory of empire in Prussia or Korea, wearing the hats of dead men, clinging to their tattered copies of Roman history while they sleep. Betty's dad, the millionaire named Ho-Ho's dad, and, most importantly, Sally Draper's daddy. Let's curl up together in our tutus, cease our sobbing, crack open our 1962 copy of Time magazine, and figure out exactly who each daddy is. (READ MORE) 19
Two Weeks Out: The Haus of Gaga, Genesis P-Orridge, Hamlet, Destroyer 2009-09-08
And now, our irregular but handy guide to happenings in New York, L.A. and the rest of the world! Oh hey, remember when MTV's video music awards had some level of relevance in our lives? No? Wait, what about when Jean-Paul Gaultier designed Madonna's colonial orgy for the VMA's. It was such a delicious confection of fashion, pop, and spectacle; everyone was like "oooh, this is pretty AND IMPORTANT!" Has such a theatrical, crazed moment played out on the VMA stage since? Well no. Even when Kanye or Fall Out Angel Waves or whomever does a ditty for the broadcast, it always feels like some afterthought on a publicity tour. But not Lady Gaga. She's set to take the stage on Sept 13th and in her words "inspire a movement." Oh, the Gags. (READ MORE) 9
Footnotes of Mad Men: The Conquest of Decor 2009-09-01
Too much ink has already been spilled on the arresting design aspects of Mad Men. It's fabulous and meticulous. But Sunday's episode, "My Old Kentucky Home," #303, finally gave a walloping amount of substance to all that style everyone's been going on about. In the mid-seventies, artist Marcel Broodthaers began work on an installation that he called Décor: The Conquest. He placed objects in two separate rooms; each depicted a different century. One room was suggestive of the 19th, all lined with stiff ornate wooden chairs, palm trees, and rusting cannons placed on tidy squares of grass. The other room, outfitted with aqua blue furniture, machine guns and streamlined bookshelves was presumably meant to reflect the tastes of the modern era. Let's go inside two other starkly different interiors: Roger Sterling's country club bash and Joan Holloway's Manhattan digs. (READ MORE) 6
Two Weeks Out: Motorhead, 'Obsessed', TIFF 2009-08-26
It's almost over! This awful summer of death and disaster will soon give way to a glorious season of overall pleasantness: we're of course talking about fall TV programing and prestige movie releases! By the autumnal equinox, our stiff souls will be kindled by the warm glow of really neat stuff on the screen. It's like springtime for the indoor set. So come, little seedlings, let the winds of quality carry us through what's two weeks out. (READ MORE) 12
The Footnotes of 'Mad Men': Episode 302, with Ada Louise Huxtable, Patio Diet Pepsi and Yetta Wallenda 2009-08-24
To think, rough and tough New Yorkers were once scared of a little 'urban renewal project'! Here in California—where, according to Don Draper in last night's episode, "everything is new and the people are filled with hope"—we demolished an entire ravine populated with salt-of-earth immigrants to build our fancy stadium. And our stadium is still in the same place! Anyway. True to form, the show's casual historic references highlighted the episode's (Love Among the Ruins) theme: diminution and renewal. Starting with the destruction of Penn station and ending with—well, no spoilers here!—the episode's references encapsulated a waning generation's anxiety about the future. (READ MORE) 6
At the Forum: the Los Angeles Field Hospital 2009-08-17
The first sound you hear is the high-pitched wheeze of 60 dentists' drills buzzing inside of open mouths. Splayed out on a show floor generally reserved for millionaire athletes and rock bands are: a hundred dental chairs; five RVs filled with X-ray equipment; mammogram machines; a 60-person triage station; rubber gloved paramedics; long picnic tables of surgical equipment; and about 1,000 recipients of free healthcare. Since last Tuesday and until tomorrow, the Forum in Inglewood is the biggest free healthcare clinic in Los Angeles. The bill will be picked up by the Remote Area Medical Expedition, a 1,300-person volunteer effort of medical professionals. RAM got their start treating villagers in the Amazon in 1985. Now they have ventured to the first world—their first time treating patients in Los Angeles. (READ MORE) 20
Jesse James Hollywood On Trial: Part Four 2009-07-16
The trial of Jesse James Hollywood has concluded. Part one of our coverage, regarding the circumstances of the trial, was published here on May 27; part two, describing the witnesses for the prosecution, was published here on June 18. Part three, a look at the defense, was published here on June 24. This is the final installment.
SANTA BARBARA—During the cross examination of Jesse James Hollywood, District Attorney Joshua Lynn approached the witness stand with a small, bulging envelope. He plucked a ring from the envelope and asked, "Do you recognize this ring?" (READ MORE) 21
The Hollywood Walk of Fame, During the Michael Jackson Funeral 2009-07-08
It's rare that a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard nourishes your faith in humanity. But yesterday, the Day That Pop Died, was nothing special. I was expecting a cataclysmic scene torn from The Day of the Locust: a mob of ordinary folk, gathered as if at a movie premiere, turning violent, trampling each other just to look at stars. Or, you know, dead stars. Or the idea of stars. Carnage, brought on by boredom and disappointment, and backlit by military-strength spotlights. But it was really just like any other day in Hollywood. (READ MORE) 2
Jesse James Hollywood On Trial, Part Three 2009-06-24
Jesse James Hollywood is on trial in Santa Barbara for the murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. Part one of our coverage, regarding the beginning of the trial, was published here on May 27; part two, describing the witnesses for the prosecution, was published here on June 18.
SANTA BARBARA—Yesterday I arrived at the Santa Barbara courthouse during the trial's lunch break, and so I wandered over to a small café off the main shopping drag. The place was called Judge For Yourself. Jack Hollywood and his family, all blondes with tan skin and bright clothing, sat at a corner table with their diner fare. I approached the counter and kept my gaze locked on the menu. (READ MORE) 15
Jesse James Hollywood On Trial: Part Two 2009-06-18
Jesse James Hollywood is on trial in Santa Barbara for the murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. Part One of our coverage was published here on May 27.
SANTA BARBARA—The last time I saw Nick Markowitz was at a West Hills house party in the summer of 2000. We were both about to be high school juniors. By that time most of us had gained credentials to be granted access to this sort of party—lost our virginities, gained our driver's licenses. The parents of whomever were away, and bongs were dutifully on display to advertise the nature of the get together. In spite of the video games, shitty beer and backwards caps, it all felt very adult. (READ MORE) 11
Jesse James Hollywood On Trial: Part One 2009-05-27
SANTA BARBARA—Trials are terrible things in that they bring people together. This past Friday, in the afternoon, Jack Hollywood, a brawny man in billowy khaki pants and dark sunglasses, stood in the sun at the top of the Santa Barbara courthouse stairs. His son is accused of kidnapping and ordering the murder of the son of Jeff Markowitz-who stood at the foot of the stairs. The two men stood and looked beyond each other for roughly ten minutes. Hollywood smoked and paced. Markowitz stood with his shoulders rolled back and his hands resting in his pockets. (READ MORE) 12
Flicked Off: The Girlfriend Experience 2009-05-13
Pornography star Sasha Grey's appeal to the younger man, and to the lecherous older man, is that she'll remind you of the cold-starin' hipster girls that you see on the street and yet can rarely fondle. And yet, if you're like me and prefer your porn to be of the knee sock variety, then you've most likely seen her money-makin' minge quite frequently. Born in 1988 (I KNOW!), she's the millennial generation's gal in porn-Havana. Whereas your typical adult starlet looks like a cut-rate Tara Reid impersonator, Grey is the scraggly, edgy, angel-headed hipster whose clothes and affection I'd want. Her hipster street cred was gold-plated because she has appeared in photographs, with her nipples blazing—and demurely cupping her teeny pube-garnished kitty-cage. (Lady-hair is the prime hipster aesthetic.) And though she already has 150 titles to her name (including the auspicious "Oral Supremacy" and "Bring'em Young"), still Grey plays the hip chick that just loves to bone—not the sickly blonde who is plowing her way through an insurmountable amount of daddy issues. (READ MORE) 20