08/28/12

A Hurricane of Inspiration

Down in the Gulf Coast, all eyes are on Hurricane Isaac, rolling in seven years after Hurricane Katrina and a year after we had to deal with Hurriane Irene—memories of that cleanup effort are still fresh. We're crossing fingers, knocking wood, and hoping that Isaac leaves with minimal damage.

Once it does, though, it just might provide some inspiration. Even though it's been years, artists are still processing what happened in New Orleans with Katrina through their movies, music, books, and TV shows—and awards-worthy ones, too.  Some examples:

Beasts of the Southern...

08/22/12

Robot & Frank: A Futuristic Vision of Cold Spring

Photo by Magnolia

Like Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Future, pop-culture junkies fear the last two weeks in August most of all. Summer television series are wrapping up, and there are a couple of fallow weeks before the new fall seasons debut. Those looking to seek refuge in the multiplexes are greeted with junk in the vein of The Expendables 2 (though junk certainly has its bullet-ridden charms). The summer beach reads are...

Posted at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

08/14/12

Hollywood Notices Sleepy Hollow

Maybe they should start calling it Hollowood.

As we've all noticed countless times before, fairy tales and spooky stories are on the rise in movies and television—and they often come in pairs. There were two Snow White-related movies this year, for example, and two TV shows about characters from Grimm's stories living in the real, modern-day world. And, now, there may be two versions of Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow headed to the small screen.

The first, which has received "put-pilot commitment" from Fox (meaning...

Posted at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

08/07/12

Four Ways to Enjoy the Mars Rover Curiosity

This weekend, while Colin Farrell was busy driving hover cars, dodging futuristic killers, and not going to Mars like his predecessor did Total Recall, something from this Earth did make the 154 million mile trip and land safely on the planet's surface. NASA's Curiosity rover successful touched down on Mars—hooray! While we don't know how this will affect pop culture in years to come—will we have to change the way we portray the Red Planet? Any John Carters up there?—there are ways to enjoy the Curiosity's journey right now.

Posted at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

08/01/12

You Hate NBC's Olympic Coverage—and NBC Doesn't Care

How interested are you in the Olympics? If you're like most red-blooded, sports-loving Americans, the answer is very much. Now, how satisfied are you with NBC's coverage of the 2012 games in London? Chances are, not so much.

Anecdotally, I've heard nothing but complaints. Not covering the good stuff, lame interviews, tape delays—everyone's got some sort of bone to pick with NBC. It started off the bat, when the network decided to cut away from the Danny Boyle-produced opening ceremonies during a moving tribute to the victims of the 2005 terror attack in London. NBC, in their infinite classiness, aired an interview between Michael Phelps and Ryan Seacrest instead. (You can watch what you missed over at

Posted at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0