From the monthly archives:

August 2010

True Blood and Mad Men are the Same Damned Show

by Japhy Grant on August 29, 2010

One is about oversexed vampires, the other — oversexed mid-century office workers. Both are up for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy this weekend. While on the surface the Southern Gothic goofiness of True Blood seems to have nothing in common with the Dostoevskian coolness of Mad Men, look under the hood and they’re the exact same show. Here’s how: [click to continue…]

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TIME Announces New Version Of Magazine Aimed At Adults

Exactly. (From The Onion)

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So, if you haven’t seen this John August approved short video, called “The Pitch”, check it out– it’s hilarious. It’s also wrong-headed. Here’s why I’d jump at the chance to write ‘Slinky: The Movie”. (Hint: It’s not just the money.) [click to continue…]

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Words, Words, Words…And Images, Too

by Japhy Grant on August 19, 2010

I’m in the midst of putting together a collaborative video project for mae, in anticipation of their fall tour, ‘Goodnight, Good Luck.’ It’s been in the works for a while and I’m excited to get it up and running. I’ve also been staring at a lot of videos looking for inspiration (ideas to steal). This short film by Everynone, in collaboration with NPR and WNYC’s Radiolab is not only beautiful to look at, but clever. (via Ian Sheddan)

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America Needs a War on Stupid

August 18, 2010

We’ve become a nation beholden to idiots and it’s about time we do something about it.  America has a long and cherished history of anti-intellectualism.  Sarah Palin’s exhortation to ‘Mama Grizzlies’ is not all that different from Davey Crockett’s folksy speeches made on the floor of Congress when he was a U.S. Representative.  And both [...]

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Kanye West: Genius or Asshole?

August 13, 2010

I unabashedly love Kanye West. Mostly it’s for his brilliant ability to translate the bling-bling ego of urban hip-hop and translating it into a language that suburban middle-class kids can understand. Instead of hoops and glocks, Kanye’s fascinations include, if we are to believe the latest entries on his blog, “Dioni Tabbers by Masyuki Ichinose“, [...]

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Work of Art’s Erik Johnson Claims Miles Mendenhall Faked OCD

August 12, 2010

Miles is a fake and Erik Johnson is not an art pussy.  There’s a winner of the first season of Bravo’s Work of Art: The Search for the Next Great Artist, but it’s not the art world.

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Everything LOST, Now Found (And For Sale)

August 12, 2010

Once upon a time, when a show ended all of its costumes and props would wind up either being tossed or put away into storage, to one day be reused. But that was before Hollywood figured out that all of us would pay big bucks to own a piece of our favorite series.  Nowadays, any [...]

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5 Websites Every TV Writer Needs

August 11, 2010

There are thousands of sites out there that talk about the latest industry buzz. Who’s hiring. Who’s got a deal. Who just walked away from one, but surprisingly, there’s precious few sites out there dedicated to the actual art and craft of telling a story on television. As I’ve been slogging away at writing specs [...]

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New Janelle Monae Video: Better than AK-47′s for Breasts

August 7, 2010

While there’s still certainly a lot to say about Lady Gaga, ever since I picked up Janelle Monae’s intergalactic robot doomed love epic, The ArchAndroid earlier this year, she’s been my go-to girl for smart pop. This new video for “Cold War” seals it. Instead of overloading us with dated Madonna references, Monae gives us [...]

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