Thursday, August 20, 2009

Mad Men: Taking Advertising and TV by Storm

Mathew Weiner is the brain and creative force behind AMC's mega hit drama series Mad Men. The writing is fabulous as I have already noted here at different times and the acting follows suit.

If you have one hour to spare a week, make sure to see this. Mad Men just started its third season and the first episode is available in full on the official AMC site. You may view that first episode here. It's aesthetically pleasingly, culturally fascinating, and intellectually stimulating. How often can we say this about TV programming these days?

And Jon Hamm continues to deliver. A true gem of a production.






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Karen O, Spike Jonze, and the Upcoming Feature: "Where the Wild Things Are"


I'm looking forward to Spike Jonze's upcoming Where the Wild Things Are. I'm especially looking forward to Karen O's music which will be featured in it.
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Karen O are such a strong, strong favorite.
If they are playing in your neck of the woods, make sure to go see them. Karen O is spectacular!
Read more here.




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Darwin and Synchronicity


Just recently I was thinking about Darwin and evolution and as I stepped out I saw this. The tattoo made me laugh. Synchronicity, anyone?




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The Smiths, Big Night, Extrinsic Motivation

While conversing with two friends of mine last night, the concept of extrinsic motivation came up. I mentioned it while recounting old college stories and how a dear person during those days used to use that phrase every time he had finals or midterms coming up. Extrinsic motivation is never inconsequential and that is because it, more often than not, leads to valued productivity and tangible results.

It was while writing today (and listening to The Smiths) that for some odd reason my synaptic connections led me to think about this film from 1996 called Big Night

I became familiar with it a couple of years ago thanks to this very talented artist I met the summer of 2004. What I love about artists is the amount of inspiration they give me by virtue of their mere presence. To me they are so beautiful and indispensable to my very own creative process. My liking them is mostly need-generated, you see.

This particular artist had a hard time making a living via the art of choice and the blog-featured film of today, i.e., Big Night, was the cinematic text that was used to make the point that one's love of/for one's art of choice is not to be compromised.

I generally watch films on the big screen to be challenged and [hopefully] educated/informed. But after watching Big Night on our rather minimalistic screen and seeing one of the lead characters, Primo, who sees cooking as a pure form of art and refuses to make 'cheap,' 'mass-produced' dishes for the people in the 'new' world, I felt a good measure of emotion.

Watch it. You will enjoy.









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