Arts

A Becky’s Been Binge-Watching Special: Rewatching Mad Men Season One

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Mad Men

They all look so young!

 

Mad Men will begin airing its final episodes on April 5th. Both of us Beans have been fans of the series since it premiered way back in 2007, so we’re going to re-watch one season per week before the final season begins. Each of us will put together their own reflection about what makes each season special, and what aspects stick out on the umpteenth viewing.

For Season One, we decided to concentrate on the pilot episode. Becky will dive into how the costumes instantly establish the personalities and aims of the major female characters. Alex will examine how the pilot’s plot sets up the series’ main themes for the long run. [Read more…]

Mr. Rostan at the Movies: The Short Program

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Andrew Rostan was a film student before he realized that making comics was his horrible destiny, but he’s never shaken his love of cinema. Every two weeks, he’ll opine on either current pictures or important movies from the past.

The Outlier of the Oscars

The Short Films are the Academy Awards that too easily get overlooked. Casual moviegoers recognize the candidates in almost every major category and can often pick out most of the Animated Feature, Documentary, and Foreign Language Film nominees, but for the ten minutes the Shorts take over the program, 99% of the time movies people have never heard made my equally anonymous filmmakers receive the honor that has proved elusive to so many titans of history.

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Respecting the Artistry: A Beginner’s Guide to Beck

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beck2If you’re like many people, you watched the Grammy Awards on CBS last Sunday night. If you’re like even more people, you paid attention as the Internets blew up about some media-fueled spontaneous feud that may or may not lead directly to causing World War III.

Long story short: on Sunday, in a huge upset, alternative rock musician Beck’s Morning Phase won the coveted Album of the Year trophy over Beyonce’s self-titled silver lion of death that was widely expected to take home the tiny record player.

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Best and Worst Movies to Watch This Valentines Day

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(image via)

We’ve all made at least one regrettable decision when it comes to picking a date night movie. This post was inspired by the time I watched Blue Valentine with my then-boyfriend — on Valentines Day. There’s nothing like watching the crippling depression of two people who shouldn’t be together trudging on with their lives to make you really feel the love. For those of you looking for actual suggestions, I’ve included a list of legitimate movie recommendations for your Valentines Day weekend — but we all know the bad ones are more fun to think about, right?

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The Grand Budapest Pharrell and Other Matters: The Best and Worst of the Grammys

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This happened.

This happened.

One key idea I’ve always stressed in writing about the Grammys for the Recorder is that the awards themselves are nonsensical. Just go back to my Album of the Year reviews and tell me how to compare Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. It’s impossible. We care about these awards not for what gets given (as in the Oscars) but for the performance factor, the chance to see all the biggest names in music on one stage, seeing who rises to the occasion and who…doesn’t.

With that in mind, here’s our official recap of the best and worst moments of last night’s show. And congratulations to Beck for winning Album of the Year for the difficult, but lovely, Morning Phase! And for getting all Simon and Garfunkel with Chris Martin on a lovely “Heart is a Drum!”

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UnScripted Moments: “A Map of Virtue” at Cor Theatre

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10915274_760339534051650_2069443926837711021_nUnscripted Moments is a continuing Addison Recorder series highlighting Chicago storefront theatre by Leigh Yenrick. Leigh is an actress who has worked in Toledo and the Twin Cities, and who currently resides in Chicago.

For this installment of Unscripted Moments, I sat down with Tosha Fowler, the Artistic Director of Cor Theater. We talked about their current production, A Map of Virtue, for which Fowler is also wearing the hat of director.

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Cage Match: Trespass vs. Gone in Sixty Seconds

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Two of Nicolas Cages roles face off and only one can win

Nicolas Cage. We love him; we hate him; we keep coming back for more. Cage Match is a new monthly column that pits two blindly-picked Nicolas Cage films against each other.

We aren’t here to dissect or review these films in their entirety – only their Cage-acity. Jason and Chris watch two Nic Cage films and are each assigned one to argue that it reigns Cage Supreme. The three categories they assess are: Cage of the Mind, Cage of the Body, and Cage of the Soul.

Two Cages enter; one Cage leaves.

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Mr. Rostan at the Movies: “Red Desert” and the Formation of Self

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Andrew Rostan was a film student before he realized that making comics was his horrible destiny, but he’s never shaken his love of cinema. Every two weeks, he’ll opine on either current pictures or important movies from the past.

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Right now, besides writing about movies for this site, I am working on my first screenplay since moving here from Los Angeles. It’s a script that I am immensely proud of but could never have imagined telling when I first set out on my path as a writer. Why that is, and why I write about the films I do on here, requires a small story.

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Remembering What’s Important in Life: Friends, Waffles, Parks and Recreation

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Parks and Recreation deserves a celebration. This heartfelt comedy about the Pawnee, Indiana, Parks Department delivered 22 minutes of pure joy in every single episode. I fell for Parks and Rec, fittingly enough, while pursuing my Masters degree in Public Affairs. The public service setting and political humor strike exactly my tone, but the genuine feeling of love and appreciation that every character has for one another makes this show universally appealing. This ensemble cast, led by Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, exhibits an on-screen chemistry that we will be lucky to ever see again. The show is not without tension, and it certainly isn’t without flaw, but it is undeniably fun, intelligent, and worth watching from the beginning. In an ideal world, my list would be a 138-page, tabbed binder with specific dates, jokes, and details from every episode. Practically, though, I narrowed down to five brilliant episodes. I don’t mean to argue or exclude with a “top five” list in this case. I mean this as a warm tribute to my all-time favorite show and as a jumping point for you to remember and talk about your favorite characters, moments, or episodes from Pawnee.

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