The Talented Mr. Benson
Jace Lacob on the true identity of eager-to-please ad man Bob Benson (James Wolk) on “Mad Men.”
In ‘Inside Out,’ the HBO documentary airing Monday night, the French street artist JR dispatches mobile photo booths to cities and towns and asks users to paste up the poster-size results. Jessica Dawson on the result.
The Parisian street artist JR posts stuff constantly, but not on Facebook or Twitter. Like a Gallic Banksy, he’s made a career of gluing propaganda-size posters, most of them portraits, onto empty plots of urban landscape. In the mid-2000s, the 30-year-old provocateur secured his reputation by fly-posting photographs of immigrant rioters on the walls of Paris’s bougiest neighborhoods.
Haiti, 2012. (JR/HBO)
Take that, baguette eaters!
Mel Brooks’s favorite movie scenes, including from “The Hangover,” “Swing Time,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “Psycho.” (Michael Grecco/PBS (center))
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise airs on PBS tonight. In advance of the American Masters episode, The Daily Beast asked Brooks to give us his favorite movie scenes of all time.
Swing Time: Fred Astaire’s Big Dance Scene
Let’s start with one of my favorite movies. That’s from 1936, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The scene that I really love has Eric Blore as a character running a dance studio, and he employs Rogers to teach people how to dance. Astaire gets mixed up with her and falls madly in love. We know it’s Fred Astaire, the greatest dancer who ever lived. In order to stick with her, he acts helpless. He keeps flipping so he can hold her. Finally, she says, “Save your money, you’ll never learn how to dance,” which is pretty funny. And Blore overhears her and fires her. Astaire begs him to reconsider—he says, I’ve learned a lot from her. He amazes Blore and the audience with this incredible dancing that saves her job. It’s absolutely one of the most thrilling scenes in the movie. So I recommend everybody in the world who has never seen Swing Time to get it somehow.
Taylor Swift charmed. Prince wowed. More than a dozen artists performed—and a few awards were handed out—at this year’s Billboard Music Awards in Vegas. WATCH VIDEO of the best moments.
The Band Perry Hits the Drumline
The Band Perry hit it big with the stirring ballad “If I Die Young” but proved Sunday night they could do more than just stand on stage and sing prettily. For the country group’s performance of “Better Dig Two,” siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil traded in banjos for drumsticks for a surprisingly lively marching band–infused performance. The Perry clan is doing just fine in Nashville, but if things ever go south they definitely have a future marching at the Rose Bowl. Or as “before” hair models in flat-iron commercials. Look at those manes.
Kendrick Lamar gets baptized with booze. Shia LaBeouf directs a dark video. WATCH VIDEO of the most entertaining, breathtaking, and bizarre music videos released this week.
In this week’s top music-video picks, we take a journey through old Hollywood, romance novels, and some ghastly murders. From hip-hop to electronic and indie rock, and featuring artists like Dizzee Rascal and Keys N Krates, see which music videos are becoming viral this week.
Keys N Krates: “Treat Me Right”
Can’t watch just one? The program’s showrunners reflect on how plots are getting more complex—and why viewers won’t turn off the tube.
Game of Thrones, now in the midst of its third swashbuckling season on HBO, is a master class in TV storytelling—a sprawling, suspenseful fantasy epic for the small screen. It's also one of the most addictive shows on television. Earlier this month, showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff talked to The Daily Beast about binge watching, the future of TV, and how they transformed the original George R.R. Martin novels from “crack on paper” to crack on premium cable. Excerpts:
Rose Leslie playing Ygritte and Kit Harington playing Jon Snow in Episode 1 of Season 3 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” (Helen Sloan/HBO)
The idea that people will be able to rewatch each episode, or binge watch them all at once, or pause and rewind—does that in any way factor into the process of putting the show together?
Three of the sketch comedy’s biggest stars might soon be departing. See clips of their best moments and debate the future of the show without them.
Saturday Night Live has long been an incubator for future superstar performers: they develop their talents, grow their name recognition, and eventually move on. But this year it looks like we might be losing three big names all at once, and it's just so hard to say goodbye. Watch our tribute to SNL's (allegedly) departing cast members.
New York's Hottest Club Is Wahhhhh
The man behind the new ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ movies is mixing genres, botching continuity, and ignoring solid science. Sujay Kumar on the most divisive director in the galaxy.
Star Trek is not Star Wars. Star Trek is an intellectual exploration of humanity. Star Wars slaps spaceships and toys on pulp stories with themes of good versus evil and destiny. Star Trek and Star Wars are science fiction, granted. Both titles contain the word “star.”
J.J. Abrams on the set of “Star Trek Into Darkness.” (Zade Rosenthal/Paramount)
The man at the helm of the Star Trek reboot is making the seventh installment of Star Wars. The same guy controls over four decades' worth of intergalactic pop culture. The Greek chorus of geeks, ignored by Hollywood for seven years between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Trek, should be mad as hell. J.J. Abrams is genre bogarting.
From Chris Hadfield’s International Space Station finale a la David Bowie to Daft Punk’s big tease, WATCH our countdown of this week’s best and buzziest.
‘Leia and Chewie Need to Do It’
Apparently fans want Star Wars to become more sexually deviant. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, director J.J. Abrams took plot suggestions from the audience (including William Shatner in disguise), and a romance between Princess Leia and the Wookiee Chewbacca now seems likely.
Allegedly hit a paparazzo with his FerrariMore
While filming new music video.More
At lobby of Atlantic City hotel and casino.More
But Miss Utah steals the show.More
Allegedly smashing car windows in L.A.More
Jimmy Kimmel Live aired a hilarious music video starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Kimmel, and more.
Jace Lacob on the true identity of eager-to-please ad man Bob Benson (James Wolk) on “Mad Men.”
Following the shocking pics showing art multimillionaire Charles Saatchi apparently choking his celebrity-chef wife, the gallerist now claims it was just a ‘playful tiff.’ Tom Sykes on the rumors that Saatchi has finally flipped.
Get your mind out of the gutter! In an undeniably brilliant (and controversial) way to boost name recognition of their brand, the protein drink company 'For Goodness Shakes' has just released this awkwardly prurient ad. Decide for yourself if it goes too far.
The fashion mogul tells the New York Post that the reality kinda-star torpedoed his... More
and Irina Shayk is reportedly ready to battle her stalker. More
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Queen arrived for the first day of Royal Ascot races More
Palace reportedly asked Pippa not to participate in match More
Britons expected to splash out on food and drink for street parties More