Suddenly, Mad Men is everywhere (and that’s a good thing!)
There’s a fantastic story in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine about AMC’s Mad Men. It’s actually the cover story (you don’t see many cover stories in the NYT Mag about a TV show) and is one of the best articles I’ve read about a TV show in a very long time.
Besides interviewing creator/producer/writer Matthew Weiner at length, writer Alex Witchel also sits in on auditioning sessions and script meetings for the second season, interviews advertising icons (George Lois, Jerry Della Femina, William Bernbach) about the show, and gets choice quotes from cast members such as Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Elisabeth Moss, and January Jones. It’s a beautifully written piece, really getting behind the scenes of the show, and includes this great paragraph to explain the show quite nicely.
Weiner’s achievements with “Mad Men,” which is produced by Lionsgate, are plentiful, starting with the storytelling. Setting it in the early 1960s, on the cusp between the repression and conformity of the cold war and McCarthy-era 1950s and the yet-to-unfold social and cultural upheavals of the 60s, allows Weiner an arc of character growth that is staggering in its possibilities. It also gives him the opportunity to mine the Rat Pack romance of that period, when the wreaths of cigarette smoke, the fog of too many martinis - whether exhilarating or nauseating - and the silhouettes specific to bullet bras only heightened the headiness of the dream that all men might one day become James Bond or, at the very least, key holders to the local Playboy Club.
But the NYT Mag article isn’t the only news about Mad Men recently. Besides the soundtrack coming out tomorrow and the first season DVDs coming out July 1, the show is being included in Emmy talk, recently received a Peabody Award, was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and is currently being honored by Bloomingdale’s with a store window display, which includes Mad Men-ish fashions and TV sets showing scenes from the show.
The second season debuts on July 27. AMC will have a marathon of first season eps on July 20.
Marvel Logo Line-Up: Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, The Avengers
Update: Nikki Finke reports that Marvel has offered Fav a new deal to direct Iron Man 2, with a requisite “insider” telling her, “What, do people think Marvel is stupid?” Well insider, I guess it’s good that Fav didn’t have to utilize Twitter, Plurk and Facebook to get a new deal, if true.
The NY Licensing Show teaser poster for the RoboCop remake received a huge response on Slashfilm, and today brings logos marking Marvel’s ambitious future like geek tarot cards via MTV.
One has to wonder what is running through Jon Favreau’s mind when a logo and bold release date position Iron Man 2 as first in line, while Marvel continues to leave him hanging blankly on MySpace.
As for the other films? While the logo for 2010’s Thor is from the comics, it’s rather cheesy in my opinion, conjuring 1988’s Gor and/or a wrestler who ties vibrant streamers around his arms. A notch below on the meh meter is the logo for The First Avenger: Captain America, which is a mouthful no matter what and is sans patriotic stripes. And then there’s the logo for the studio’s ultra-burrito, The Avengers, which also remains faithful to the comics and my personal fave of the ones here, alongside Iron Man 1 & 2. Unsurprisingly, the company’s Ant-Man and Runaways are absent here, as is Lionsgate’s Punisher: War Zone, which opens this fall and continues to have underdog status on the Nets, and next summer’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine from Fox.
Anyone have a cell phone grab of a DC Comics rep studying this at the expo?
VH1 Searches for the Scariest Scream
Calling all hotties with strong vocal cords.
VH1 has announced plans for a reality competition that will focus on finding a suitable unknown actress for an upcoming role in a new Lionsgate-produced horror flick.
Ideally, Scream Queens is looking for the next Janet Leigh, or at least the next Jamie Lee Curtis, although what it will probably find is someone who just looks really good in a dirty tanktop.
Meanwhile, the studio, which is also responsible for the Saw franchise, is promising a “major” role, not necessarily a “starring” role, for the series winner.
Meaning, whoever comes out on top after eight episodes could end up getting the Paris Hilton-in-House of Wax treatment rather than be the last heroine standing. Or, like Leigh, take part in one of the most memorable murder sequences in movie history.
But you’ve got to start somewhere, right? Scream Queens is slated to premiere this fall.
Teaser Poster for Oliver Stone’s W.
Lionsgate’s Cannes Film Festival Teaser poster for Oliver Stone’s W. gives you a very good idea of what you can expect from the upcoming George W. Bush biopic. This won’t be a dramatic retelling of W’s life! But can Human beings and fish really coexist peacefully?
Official Plot Synopsis: Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director Oliver Stone is bringing the life of our 43rd President to the big screen as only he can. W takes viewers through Bush’s eventful life — his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.
W stars Josh Brolin as George W. Bush, Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, James Cromwell as George Herbert Walker Bush, Academy Award® winner Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld, and Ioan Gruffud as Tony Blair.
source: IOnCinema