Don Draper, the man America fell in love with, turned out to be a far different person than previously believed on this season of AMC’s critically acclaimed series
Mad Men. Though the excessive consumption of cigarettes and
alcohol has remained a constant on the show, advertising exec Don reached a new low last week. With his underdog spinoff agency nearly in ruins, the dramatic PR stunt Don pulled last week (saying his company will no longer rep tobacco) could have been a final blow—or a saving grace. Though we hope this week’s finale wraps up that and the fourth season’s other mysteries nicely (Did Joan have an abortion? Will Don go monogamous for Dr. Faye?), we don’t have high hopes that all questions be answered. Still, with a season that brought us an increasingly empowered Peggy and a notorious alley romp, the finale is likely to drop jaws.
Mad Men’s desperate times will lead to some desperate measures, which will hopefully conclude with Sally burning down the house.
The fourth season finale of
Mad Men airs on Sunday, October 17 at 10 p.m. on AMC.
Andy Warhol may be one of the most talked about artists of the 20th century, but the spurt of productivity that marked his
career late in life is often overlooked. During the last 10 years of his life, Warhol generated more works than at any other point, and for the first time this prolific period is being examined in U.S. museums with
Andy Warhol: The Last Decade, opening at the Baltimore Museum of Art this week. The show features more than 50 large-scale works from the final years of Warhol’s career, including his famous “Shadows” series as well as his variations on Da Vinci’s
The Last Supper. Many of the works point to the inspiration Warhol drew from peers like Keith Haring, and the entire collection is evidence not of an artist winding down a successful career, but one still in his creative prime.
Andy Warhol: The Last Decade opens at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Sunday, October 17.
For its annual event honoring those select ladies who have “had a profound impact on the industry,” Elle magazine has gathered an impressive crop of names, which includes Gwyneth Paltrow,
Hilary Swank, Diane Keaton, Jodie Foster, Kate Hudson, Diane Kruger, and Sofia Coppola—and excludes the Snookis and Heidi Montags of the entertainment world. These high-profile women are expected to gather at a veritable power dinner this week at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, celebrating the magazine’s annual “
Women in Hollywood” issue, which hits newsstands Sunday. In this special November edition, featuring three covers of Hudson, Swank, and Paltrow, the women discuss the struggles of finding female roles, balancing work and motherhood, and how they hope to make a difference. “When women root for each other, we get so much further. And it’s funny, because you don’t see a lot of that. There’s still a real imbalance of male and female positions in the industry,” Hudson said of the constant Hollywood dilemma.
The Elle Magazine Women in Hollywood Event will be held on Monday, October 18.
Usually the phrase “Take Home a Nude” would have connotations that were more
Showgirls than Sotheby’s, but for one night a year the renowned auction house bends the rules a little bit. In collaboration with the New York Academy of Art, “Take Home a Nude” is one of the art world’s most anticipated parties of the year, and sees the auctioning off of—you guessed it—a variety of nude paintings as well as some in which the subjects are actually clothed. Now in its 19th year, the event is as much as ever a night not to miss, and this year’s ceremonies honoring artist Eric Fischl promise to more than live up to their reputation.
Take Home a Nude takes places on Monday, October 18.
After a whirlwind year of weirdness that included stints on
30 Rock and
General Hospital, a gallery show of his own conceptual art, and enrollment in four separate graduate programs
at the same time, it hardly seems odd at all that
James Franco, formerly known for his teen heartthrob status, is publishing a collection of his own short stories this week. Currently starring in
Howl as the seminal beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Franco has chosen to write what he knows for
Palo Alto: Stories, focusing on the California suburbs of his childhood. Though Franco’s turn as an author has been met with more than a few raised eyebrows, he may just have earned himself some real literary cred, too:
Super Sad True Love Story author Gary Shteyngart
raved, “This is a book to be inhaled more than once, with delight and admiration, with unease and pure enjoyment. As a writer, he's here to stay.”
Palo Alto: Stories hits shelves on Tuesday, October 19.
The one person in modern culture more “complicated” than Avril Lavigne
and Denise Richards is Bill Clinton, as it turns out. Even in the midst of messy midterm election races, the former president has a talent for staying in the public eye, and this week sees the publication of
A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him. Historian Michael Takiff has managed to set himself apart from other Clinton chroniclers here, conducting extensive interviews with 150 figures on both ends of the political spectrum, from Bob Dole to James Carville. The result is much more complete than the average Clinton biography (and there have been many), and welcome insight into the life of one of the most beloved and bemoaned figures of the 20th century.
A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him hits shelves on Tuesday, October 19.
While New York’s Shakespeare in the Park has long lured Manhattanites and tourists alike to Central Park, this past summer’s revival of
The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino was a particularly hot ticket. Now, Tony-winner Daniel Sullivan’s acclaimed rendering of the Shakespearean classic is making its way to the Broadway stage. The Oscar winner will play Shylock—a Jewish moneylender who advances funds to a Christian merchant—for 78 performances, ending on January 9. If you don’t get a chance to catch it, you could always rent the 2004 film version starring Pacino—but seeing the
Scarface star live in this “deeply intelligent” performance, as
The New York Times reviewed, is unmatched.
The Merchant of Venice moves to Broadway on Tuesday, October 19.
Admittedly, tribute bands are by and large a lame form of entertainment. Though we would not suggest you shell out a portion of your paycheck to see just anyone doing their best head-banging Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson moonwalk, the opportunity to see “
The Beatles” live is quite different.
Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles has been traveling across the country and is finally making its way to Broadway this week. Five talented musicians perform 13 of the iconic band's hits live on stage and recreate their looks from the early days on
The Ed Sullivan Show and ending with the final Abbey Road years. When this multimedia show, which also includes historical documentary footage, hit the West Coast last year, the Los Angeles Times said, “
Rain offers an impressive approximation of the group, which easily will captivate casual fans, and is more than respectful and accomplished enough to please, please Beatlemaniacs, too.” Hopefully,
Rain’s 12-week run will meet friendlier faces than the 2005 Broadway show
Lennon.
Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles comes to Broadway on Tuesday, October 19.
Bob Dylan fanatics will have another album to add to the collection this week with the release of
The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9), the latest release of rarities and early performances from the iconic singer/songwriter. The
Witmark collection showcases some of Dylan’s earliest known work, a series of decidedly lo-fi demos for his early music publishers that includes 15 never before released songs. While much of the album is a re-tread of material that’s already been released at least once before, the informal demos allow for a close examination of a young Dylan’s artistic process, and, as The
Guardian puts it, “the sense of intimacy this fosters between the eager young singer and the modern listener might be this collection's greatest appeal.”
The Witmark Demos: 1962 – 1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9) will be released on Tuesday, October 19.
Life in the hedonistic city of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century was a greater gaffe than one would imagine.
Angels in America star Jeffrey Wright leads a cast of 32 actors to depict the Southern town just before the Louisiana Purchase in the Lincoln Center Theater’s fall production of
A Free Man of Color. Amid the massive cast in this John Guare comedy are rising star Paul Dano (of
There Will Be Blood fame) and Wright’s co-star in
Topdog/Underdog Mos Def (who, in an anti-Diddy move, has dropped his surname and goes by “mos”). Wright plays the Don Juan of the show, Jacques Cornet, whose typical day of commanding men and wooing women is disrupted as the map of his boisterous city is about to be redrawn. What will happen as Jacques realizes he’s no longer the center of the universe—and a massive number of actors take the stage? Time will tell when previews begin this week.
A Free Man of Color arrives on Broadway on Thursday, October 21.
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart may have had a rough patch with Rick Sanchez, but the comedic newsman is not too busy to devote an evening to a good cause (which has nothing to do with racism or bullying, interestingly enough). Stewart’s third biennial event
Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education brings together Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Tiny Fey, Sarah Silverman, Joel McHale, Larry David, Rainn Wilson and more hilarious Hollywood personalities to benefit a variety of autism-related programs throughout the country. The event took place October 2 and these exclusive Huffington Post photos reveal Tay Zonday (a.k.a. the “
Chocolate Rain” guy) and Paul Simon were also on hand to perform. Since the events inception in 2005,
Night of Too Many Stars has raised nearly $7 million. Tuning in and laughing for a good cause sounds like an excellent way to spend your Thursday evening.
Night of Too Many Stars Benefit airs on Comedy Central on Thursday, October 21 at 9 p.m.
