To link, perchance to read...
Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at 7:00PM • Defector "The money is in all the wrong places" fascinating piece in response to Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney and her lack of financial security despite being rich
• British GQ The Sandman and the return of the emo leading man
• Variety Keanu Reeves set to star in Devil in the White City (originally a film project for Leonardo DiCaprio) which will now be a Hulu series.
Brad Pitt's "shit list", Pac-Man, the red state/blue state prestige TV divide, Johnny Depp's (French) return and more after the jump...
• Vanity Fair amusing piece on the existence of Brad Pitt's "shit list" -- actors he won't work with
• /Film A live action Pac-Man movie is coming. This is such a heinous idea that we can only hope it goes the way of that Monopoly movie we were supposed to get many years ago
• New York Times On Yellowstone and the cultural divide between what liberals & conservatives watch on television
• Deadline First photo of Johnny Depp as King Louis XV in his first film role in 3 years. It's a French language picture from actress/director Maíwenn
• AV Club "Prey is a big hit for Hulu. "If only there was a way to make money off it."
• Slate with all the chaos at Warner Bros will the LGBTQ shows be the first to get the ax. Fans are worried
• Vox fascinating comparison with the real world versus depictions of abortion (as rare as they are) from Hollywood
• Coming Soon Green Lantern series is still in development at HBOMax. Someday books will surely be written about Warner Bros complete inability to get things right with its DC comic book characters beyond the flagship Batman franchise.
• MNPP Vintage Jonathan Schaech and Gregg Araki. Yum x 2
• /Film Every season of Mad Men ranked "from worst to best". They should have titled this from "least great to greatest" because there is no "worst" with Mad Men. Have been missing that show something fierce of late
Off Screen
• Out legendary fashion designer Issey Miyake has died of cancer at age 84
• New Yorker "contributions from book club members who didn't do the reading"
• Deadline Beyoncé has her first #1 single in 14 years with "Break My Soul"
Brad Pitt, Green Lantern, HBO Max, Keanu Reeves, Mad Men, Pac-Man, Prey, TV, The Sandman, Yellowstone, links, superheroes
Reader Comments (4)
There's a famed pro wrestler/grappler/stuntman/stunt coordinator in Judo Gene Lebell who passed away today at 89. Here is a great story that I still am just laughing my ass off.
He was a stunt coordinator for Out of Justice with Steven Seagal as Seagal was just being his dumbass self thinking his shit doesn't stink and he's just saying that he can't be beaten or choked out. Lebell was like "oh yeah" Lebell puts Seagal in a chokehold and not only does he choke Seagal out but he also made Seagal shit himself while he was being choked out.
As if I didn't have any less respect for Seagal. The fact that an old man choked his ass out and made him shit himself just proves without a doubt that Seagal will always be a tubby little bitch.
Thank you Gene. We will miss you.
There's a famed pro wrestler/grappler/stuntman/stunt coordinator in Judo Gene Lebell who passed away today at 89. Here is a great story that I still am just laughing my ass off.
He was a stunt coordinator for Out of Justice with Steven Seagal as Seagal was just being his dumbass self thinking his shit doesn't stink and he's just saying that he can't be beaten or choked out. Lebell was like "oh yeah" Lebell puts Seagal in a chokehold and not only does he choke Seagal out but he also made Seagal shit himself while he was being choked out.
As if I didn't have any less respect for Seagal. The fact that an old man choked his ass out and made him shit himself just proves without a doubt that Seagal will always be a tubby little bitch.
Thank you Gene. We will miss you.
Yes, Mad Men is always great, and I disagree with this list.
The best season is the 5. It starts with Zou Bisou Bisou, then we have a heartbreaking episode centered in Pete (Signal 30), then a very experimental non-linear extravaganza (with some LSD) in Far Away Places, then we go to the brilliant The Other Woman in which two earth-shattering things happen, Joan becomes a partner and Peggy quits, and finally the whole Lane arc. PERFECTION.
The second best is the last one because it had an extremely difficult task, to finish everything and stick the landing. It starts with the OOOOOOMMMM of the watch in the Fred pitch and it finishes with a Yoga OM. We have between these two OMs Bert and Betty saying goodbye in spectacular fashion, the whole thing about Don escaping, and we have Peggy drinking a Cinzano and skating and the whole Burger Chef plot, from Peggy and Don dancing together to them having dinner with Pete and becoming a family to that AMAZING pitch. It's sublime.
Then season 4 comes with the best episode ever, The Suitcase, and then season 2, introducing our beloved Anna Draper. Then the rest, all of them GREAT.
I'm a big Mad Men fan, so I wasn't surprised to see Season 6 at the bottom. However, seeing season 2 near the bottom was shocking - I think of it as the "year of the women" for the show, and see it as one of its strongest. Each hour is dense and rewatchable, yet the season is rather cohesive. It seems like the author wasn't a big fan of the domestic drama on the series.
I get that season 7 was marketed as parts 1 and 2, but I've always felt that was just marketing/some sort of contract negotiations. I think part 2 is much stronger than part 1.
The red state/blue state prestige TV was a great article.