Archive for August, 2009

Mad Men Season 3 Premiere…

August 17, 2009 · Filed under Television · Tagged

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Recap and thoughts for Episode 1, Season 3: “Out of Town”******SPOILER ALERT********so for the love of Don Draper please skip this post if you don’t want to know what happened in last night’s episode********************

You can lead a horse to water…despite Betty being very pregnant, Don Draper is still up to his philandering ways. This episode involved a perky flight attendant.  Don, accompanied by Salvatore, made a trip to Baltimore to visit one of their clients, London Fog, and due to a late-night fire alarm and frantic climb down the fire escape, Don caught a glimpse of Sal’s room, where he and the hunky bell boy were scrambling for their clothes. Oops, busted! Poor Sal, he was thisclose to getting some action. I really wasn’t sure which way it was going to go with Don now knowing Sal’s secret. Don basically told Sal to be discreet through a little chat on the flight home about a new slogan idea he came up with for London Fog’s raincoats: “Limit your exposure” he proposed to Sal. And Sal’s response? “That’s it.”

That Matthew Weiner is clever!

He was also clever with that opening sequence…Don’s in the kitchen, heating up some milk, and in his foggy sleepy state, imagines his own birth, right there in the Draper kitchen. We learn how he got his name, apparently, the Dick part isn’t short for Richard, but instead due to a threat that his prostitute-mom-that-died-during-childbirth made to his dad. Think Lorena Bobbitt.  Obviously, Don is a little squeamish about pregnancies and babies being born and what not.

Divide and conquer…a big twist last night was the announcement that both Ken and Pete would be head of accounts. Ken in his usual happy-go-lucky state was thrilled, nothing was going to wipe the smile off his face, even Pete’s sour attitude.  Is it just me, or is Pete already being a bigger baby than last season? He and annoying Trudy are still together, so I got that one wrong. But back to the competitive/accounts story line, I can’t decide what’s going to happen with that 1) will Ken win out and drive Pete to a rival agency? or 2) will Pete win out and send Ken packing to L.A., based on my previous prediction? Or, as usual, am I so completely wrong and the entire season will have them duking it out?

Miscellaneous highlights…Peggy is a workaholic and doesn’t really like her secretary…Don is not the President (damn, wrong again!), instead it’s one of the chaps from PPL, the company that merged with them, and he has a male assistant, who is pretentious and looks a lot like Pete Campbell (Peggy calls him Moneypenny! I love that Peggy has become a cynical smart-ass!)…Joan went through with the marriage, and said she couldn’t wait to get out of Sterling Cooper/PPL, and my heart dropped.  Joanie, please don’t go!

Final thoughts…this season appears to promise more of the same, but a few deeper layers in to the psyche-madness of the Mad Men kids.  Things are unsettled at Sterling Cooper with the Brits in tow, but its good to see things have been shaken up, other than just the usual afternoon cocktail(s).

Next week’s episode, “Love Among the Ruins”…which promises more Betty, Peggy and Roger. Oh, goody!

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Sunday Night ‘Mad’ness Returns

August 14, 2009 · Filed under Television · Tagged ,

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Quote from last episode of last season of Mad Men (“Meditations in an Emergency”):

Don Draper: I know you want everything the minute you want it–sometimes it’s better to wait until you are ready.

Pete Campbell: So, you think I’m ready?

OH YOU BET I’M READY!! I’ve been ready for the new season since last season! The award-winning, critically-acclaimed, down-right-sexy Mad Men returns this Sunday @ 10 PM on AMC, with Season 3, and just where did the kids leave us last fall?

********************SPOILER ALERT/please do not read past this point if you don’t want to know what happened in Season 2*********************

  • Betty Draper found out she’s pregnant
  • Pete Campbell confessed his love to Peggy Olson
  • Peggy confessed to Pete that she had given birth to his baby, and then gave it away
  • Sterling Cooper merged with the British based firm Putnam, Powell and Lowe
  • Don Draper returned from his trip to California/his three-week hiatus from life
  • Don’s future with Sterling Cooper/Putnam, Powell and Lowe is uncertain
  • The world’s fate hung in the balance in what would later be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis

****************************************************************

Well, we all know what happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis…but as far as the Mad Men world, here are my thoughts/predictions on what’s to come:

Despite Betty expressing her concerns with having a baby, she’s told Don and now they are committed. They go through with the pregnancy and since this show is often about distancing, I imagine this baby will drive a wedge between Don and Betty rather than make them closer. That said, we did see some genuine efforts in Betty’s mothering at the end of last season (she bought Sally the riding gear, insinuating that she’s ready to put her fullest attention to her children and not spend all her time pining over her often absent husband), so I think we may see her take more pride in her children,  not just her role as a corporate wife.

Finally, Peggy has the upper hand in her relationship with Pete. I think he and Trudy will divorce and he’ll spend some time enjoying his bachelorhood again, but all the while hoping Peggy will come back to him.  Peggy will find love with someone other than Pete, and we’ll see her juggle  a relationship with her career aspirations.

Due to the merge, there will be “redundancies” as switchboard operator Lois informed us last season. Who will be let go? Well, Duck Phillips is an easy one, he had that alcohol-fueled outburst in the conference room. I think it’s a good guess that Paul Kinsey will move on, maybe his trip to Mississippi jolted a calling in civil justice, or maybe journalism, since he is definitely a writer at heart.

I also wonder if Ken mentioning last season that he would like to go to California, so he can buy a convertible, was foreshadowing…I could see one of his short stories getting sold to a movie studio/or he has a screenplay in his back pocket, and he heads to L.A. to work in the movies.

And of course, it’s likely that new characters will be introduced… maybe some people from the London office and/or they will simply bring in new talent.  New love interests for Peggy or Joan? Someone younger and brilliant to keep Draper on his toes?  Will the firm be open to a more diverse staff?

Don becomes president of the newly merged company, and now he has even more responsibility to behave, so to speak. This also jeopardizes his concealed identity as he becomes more vulnerable to discovery or his rivals in the business are compelled to dig up dirt.

Regardless what happens,  I’m sure this season will prove to be as compelling and insightful as the previous seasons. And I’m sure all my predictions will be wiped away with character developments, arcs and twists that I haven’t considered.

One last thing, a major part of the show is it’s historic backdrop, and right now its the swinging 60′s. Last season ended in the fall of 1962, so I imagine we’ll start out the spring of 1963, and here are some events worth noting  from that year that may pop up in the new season (courtesy of wikipedia, in date order by month):

  • The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique kicks off the Women’s Movement in the United States (February)
  • Coca-Cola launches its first diet drink, TaB cola (May)
  • Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premieres in the U.S. (May)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his  I Have A Dream speech (August)
  • John F. Kennedy assassination (November)
  • Vietnam War: New U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson shows  continued support for  South Vietnam (November)

So…is it obvious how much I love this show?  That I’ve been spending the last week watching Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD, over and over again? What can I say, I’m a sucker for great television, and Mad Men is television at its absolute best: smart, emotional, sexy, stylish and always makes the viewer want more.

Here are three entertaining promos for Mad Men/the new season…enjoy, and WATCH ON SUNDAY NIGHT!

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Julie & Julia: lots of lip smacking

August 11, 2009 · Filed under Film · Tagged , , , ,

Fingerlicking New Julie Julia Poster

Yes, there is a lot of mmmmm’s, and closed eyes, faces of ecstasy, finger licking and lip smacking (and not just the eating kind, also lots of kissing)…it is cinematic food porn at it’s finest, with lots of close-up shots of simmering succulent sauces and savory concoctions.  Warning: do not watch this film on an empty stomach!

The press salivated for weeks for Julie & Julia, an entertaining and endearing film about a writer in Queens, Julie Powell, who challenged herself to complete all 524 of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes, in 365 days. And to keep track of her adventures she blogged about it.

524 recipes — often difficult and daunting recipes — in 365 days?!?!  Are you mad, lady?!

Well, that’s what having a stressful and thankless job will do to you (she worked for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation post-9/11, fielding calls from emotionally-charged and highly concerned New Yorkers). However, she had her cooking, dammit, and it was going to save her, and guess what? She did it! And it did save her (hello book deal, and…a movie!). And all the while, stuffing bare-naked poultry, sauteing slippery mushrooms and whipping creams, she says she felt a connection to the legendary Julia Child, which the film conveys was also saved by her passion for food; it’s what drove her to attend  Le Cordon Bleu, and write her first, and enormously successful cookbook, that catapulted the evolution of fine cooking into America’s kitchens. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The film, Nora Ephron’s first real worthwhile effort since Sleepless in Seattle, has a fun and romanticized storybook quality to its weaving in and out of the parallel lives of the two food purveyors, fully contrasting the grandness of Julia’s life as a diplomat’s wife in Paris with Julie’s less than glamorous life in a cluttered walk-up apartment above a pizzeria in Queens.

Meryl Streep is delightful as the boisterous and larger-than-life Julia Child and as usual, Adams, as Julie Powell, is engaging and convincing.

Julie & Julia celebrates living and loving, and indulges the philosophy that good food fixes everything…and for Julie, Julia and other foodies out there that may be true, but the film’s ideology goes deeper than that: that one shouldn’t neglect their passion and what it is that truly brings them happiness. And for that, we could all use more helpings.

Bon appetit!

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John Hughes, 1950-2009

August 7, 2009 · Filed under Film · Tagged , , , , ,

john hughes

John Hughes, writer, director & producer

Swooning over Jake Ryan…spending an entire Saturday in detention with a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal…standing up to the richies at prom…gawking at those diamond earrings that Keith bought with his college money, and cringing when Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari crashed through the garage wall…

I spent most of my childhood/adolescence memorizing, studying, even borderline worshiping these iconic teen/coming of age films, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And although I never did sweep the high school dreamboat off his feet, have a tender moment reuniting with my crush at prom, or bond with anyone in detention, it was the reality of just how painful adolescence could be at times that I related to: the insecurities, the desperate desires, and often feeling despair over the lack of power or control that one had over their life/social environment.

From peer pressure, to gossip and status–writer, director and producer, John Hughes, who wrote all five films listed above, in addition to many others–understood it all, the awkwardness, hilarity and heartbreak of being a teenager, and candidly unraveled the complexities through some of the most unforgettable characters in cinematic history.

With the 1980′s backdrop, these movies also captured and chronicled a beloved decade; its vibrant fashion, various styles of music, and contribution of countless products, slang and iconic personalities to pop culture.

Mr. Hughes passed away yesterday, at age 59, while visiting family in New York. He will be missed, but his voice and impact will live on, because despite the upgrade from Walkmans to Ipods, hanging out at virtual malls versus real malls,  and texting rather than passing paper notes in class, teen angst will always exist and no one told that story better than Mr. Hughes. May he rest in peace.

Below is a clip montage of Pretty in Pink, to OMD’s  “If You Leave.”

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