The A.V. Club - Daily

TV: Newswire:Funeral Friday

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:58:00 -0600

Congratulations on making it to the end of another week! Unfortunately, these people didn’t. Light a candle for Funeral Friday. It’s no Branson or anything, but the sleepy little burg of New York City certainly doesn’t lack for legendary venues. And even by those heightened standards, few can compete with The Village Gate in terms of cultural impact. Flashy nightclub impresario Art D’Lugoff transformed an erstwhile flophouse for transients stinking up the crossroads of Bleecker and Thompson Sts. into a veritable nexus of popular culture, hosting an incredible—and incredibly diverse—array of talents that came ...

Best Of The Decade: Newswire:The A.V. Club’s Best Of The Decade features start next week

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:17:00 -0600

Jeez, is it really the end of the ‘00s already? Why, it seems like just yesterday we were wondering whether or not Freddie Prinze Jr. and Claire Forlani would make a love connection in Boys And Girls while rocking out to “Meet Virginia.” And look at us now: All grown up and getting reflective. But before we disappear into misty-eyed nostalgia, let’s collectively take a cold, hard look at the decade that was by assessing the best of everything pop culture, one element at a time. November (and the early part of December) is the perfect time for looking ...

TV: Hater:Obama to blame for Lopez Tonight!

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:35:00 -0600

Thus far, President Obama has been blamed for a lot of terrible pop-cultural things, from hipster pot bellies, to a possible Independence Day sequel, to some VH1 show about responsible fathering, to pretty much every exhalation by Wil.i.am. And now Obama is being set up as the fall guy for George Lopez's new late-night talk show, Lopez Tonight. From People: People: Why do a talk show? George Lopez: I was inspired by campaigning with Barack Obama and that message of inclusiveness and diversity. It's time for that change to come to TV. Yep. When America chose ...

Books: Comics Panel:November 6, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:35:00 -0600

In 1975, cartoonist and children’s book illustrator Stuart Hample had the bright idea to take the luckless, lovelorn, philosophical persona of Woody Allen—then famous for what the aliens in Allen’s Stardust Memories would later call his “early, funny films”—and turn it into a daily newspaper strip. Amazingly, Allen agreed, and even offered to provide Hample with a thick stack of pages compiled from his old notebooks, full of jokes and fragments of ideas. In 1976, Inside Woody Allen debuted from King Features, and it ran until 1984, by which time Allen’s stature in popular culture ...

Film: A.V. Talk:A Christmas Carol / The Box

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:31:00 -0600

Keith Phipps, Scott Tobias, and Tasha Robinson talk about two very different movies featuring men and money: Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol and Richard Kelly's The Box. Subscribe to A.V. Talk iTunes http://feeds.theonion.com/avtalk

Music: Newswire:DOOM and Madlib working on follow-up to Madvillainy: check out new music from Madvillain

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:04:00 -0600

According to the good folks over at Stones Throw, one of the niftiest independent labels around, DOOM and Madlib are reportedly in Los Angeles working on a follow-up to their 2004 cult classic Madvillainy. Details are scarce but Stones Throw artist J.Rocc previewed some new Madvillain during a recent appearance on Eastvillageradio.com's "Fat Beats Live". Check out snippets of new Madvillain goodness below. As big DOOM and Madlib fans, we are wildly optimistic about this fortuitous development.

Music: Newswire:DMX backs out of upcoming boxing match

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:43:00 -0600

Allhiphop.com is reporting that, in a rare burst of sanity, rapper/neophyte pugilist Earl "DMX" Simmons has backed out of an upcoming boxing match with actor Eric Martinez. According to the article, DMX opted out of exchanging fisticuffs with the moonlighting actor either out of safety concerns or because the promoters wouldn't throw the fight in his favors. Promoters are reportedly looking for another rapper to take DMX's place for the December 12th bout in Alabama. Might we suggest MC Paul Barman? He has a mean left hook and fights dirty.

Film: Review:The Box

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:19:00 -0600

The dilemma is simple: A couple has 24 hours to choose whether to press a button and consequently kill someone they do not know in exchange for $1 million. The movie, however, is anything but simple. The opening stretch of Richard Kelly’s third feature (after Donnie Darko and Southland Tales) faithfully keeps the beats of Richard Matheson’s story “Button, Button” by way of its previous adaptation for the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, which gave Matheson’s tale a different final twist. The film keeps going long after exhausting the logic of the original tale, almost as ...

TV: Interview:Wanda Sykes

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:32:00 -0600

Wanda Sykes got a relatively late start in show business, beginning her stand-up career in earnest when she was nearly 30 years old. But it didn’t take her long to become a familiar face (and voice) in comedy. From starting as a writer and performer on The Chris Rock Show, Sykes has gone to become a reliable supporting player in sitcoms like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The New Adventures Of Old Christine, as well as a go-to voice actress in animated features like Over The Hedge and Barnyard. Lately, Sykes has become more involved in political causes, coming out ...

TV: The Prisoner:"Fall Out"

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0600

"It means what it is." -Number 6 Next year is Lost's finale season. I have high hopes; for all its ups and downs, the show has never completely lost me, and given what happened at the end of last season, I'm really looking forward to how it all plays out in the end. I want answers, I want resolution, I want a satisfying emotional and intellectual experience that will resonate with the series' most effective episodes and prop up the weak spots. But no matter how good it is, that last episode is never going to quite hit ...

TV: Hatecast:Men text like this, but metrosexuals text like xxx

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

It's Entomology Appreciation week on the Hater podcast, which means that Amelie Gillette and Dan Mirk, Senior Staff Writer for The Onion News Network, recorded the podcast in a room that also contained a Musca domestica. It was thrilling. You can almost hear the housefly-related excitement in Dan and Amelie's voices as they discuss the horrors of "metrotextuality;" ABC's plan to create YouTube videos of celebrities dancing popular dances; and Wal-Mart caskets. Subscribe to The Hatecast iTunes feeds.theonion.com/hatecast

TV: AVQ&A:Drop-everything movies

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. What’s your “drop everything” movie? You know the moment; you’re flipping through your channel guide, not looking for anything in particular, and you run across that film: It ...

TV: FlashForward:"The Gift"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:12:00 -0600

“The Gift” is the first FlashForward since the pilot where the stuff that makes me nod my head in appreciation outweighs the stuff that makes me want to throw things at the TV. There’s still enough clumsy stuff in it to make me unable to give anything higher than a B to it, but the things that work, particularly a surprisingly ballsy mirror image pair of endings, put me in mind of the show I hoped would exist after the pilot, rather than the one that fumbled along on the way to this episode. Had this episode been the ...

TV: Project Runway:"The Art Of Fashion"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:10:00 -0600

Well, surprisingly, in the second-to-last episode this season has sort of rallied. It's been revived slightly. Don't get me wrong, this season is still dead. But tonight, the corpse of Project Runway suddenly sat up straight in its coffin for one final scare. There were several points in this episode that felt like the good ole Project Runways of yore: The inspiration-in-a-museum challenge; Tim's wise, dead-on critiques (He seemed the peppiest he's been all season, right? Must be because he's happy to leave LA.); Nina Garcia's sharp eye (she is always, always able to ...

TV: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia:"Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:00 -0600

Season 5 of Sunny has been one of the best years the show’s had in terms of consistency, but this week’s episode had something I think a lot of the s5 episodes have been lacking: a well-thought out plot. Rather than breaking up the gang into two or three different stories that are only vaguely related, everyone was in the same orbit this week, which meant lots of group scenes where nonsense phrases are shouted over each other and disturbing, violent threats are casually made. Classic Sunny. It all revolved around merchandising, with a wonderful cold open showing ...

TV: 30 Rock:"Audition Day"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:21:00 -0600

One of the nice things about having written for the A.V Club for almost thirteen years is that I have the luxury of only writing about television shows I love (The Office, 30 Rock, Eastbound & Down) or am perversely fascinating by (the deathless warhorse that is Saturday Night Live). So it brings me absolutely no joy to report that the show’s fourth season malaise continues with its fitfully amusing fourth episode. I’d almost rather not write about 30 Rock than write negative reviews. 30 Rock was once a show about a Saturday Night Live-like sketch comedy ...

TV: Supernatural:"Changing Channels"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:20:00 -0600

Before we get into anything here, I just have to say, this one had me at "Supernatural is filmed before a live studio audience." The show owned my ass from that point on. If it had been just a bunch of white noise and shrieking for the reminder of the hour, I still would've given it a B-. Maybe even a B. Thankfully, such was not the case, but... Damn, that was sweet. I may be wrong, but I'd guess that Pleasantville (a movie that seemed huge when it first came out, but which nobody really mentions anymore ...

TV: Fringe:“Earthling”

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:55:00 -0600

Thanks to the Yankees (yeah, I know, I know), we got an unexpected visit from Fringe tonight… a visit as unexpected as Randy’s foiled anniversary surprise for his wife Natalie. And how about that anniversary surprise, huh? Dude tells his wife he’s heading out of town on business and is going to miss their big day, when he’s actually sitting at home arranging flowers for her. And then, damndest thing, he gets attacked by a Shadow Man and gets turned into a heap of ash in human form. (Just like their wedding night, am I right? Boom ...

TV: The Office:"Double Date"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:39:00 -0600

First up, embarrassing confession time. I was once dumped on my birthday. Well, it wasn’t exactly on my birthday; it was about ten minutes before my twenty-first birthday. I could see it coming; it really wasn’t a matter of whether the end was coming but rather when. And she decided to blurt, “I, uh, I mean, uh, I think we should probably see other people.” just before the halcyon moment before I reached the legal drinking age. I didn’t particularly mind being dumped (though heaven knows that’s not much fun) but I really wished she’d ...

TV: Community:"Home Economics"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:37:00 -0600

First of all, my apologies if I get any of the below wrong. I rely heavily on a DVR while writing these things, but this week, I’m hanging out in my hometown where my parents’ DVR only records one show at a time (it really IS the sticks!), and that record slot is for FlashForward. So if I got any of the quotes or anything like that wrong, you can blame the unsophisticated nature of these backwoods-y yokels who will surely teach me about how my life in the city has sapped me of the ability to love and ...