05.29.12 |
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Thorough and excellent analysis of this week’s Mad Men by Salon writer Nelle Engoron (spoilers ahead):
But it’s Joan’s story that sadly underlines the circumscribed state of women, circa 1966. Having kept the firm running smoothly for 13 years, she deserves to be made a junior partner on those merits. But instead she must sleep her way into the position, and not even with a powerful man she desires like Roger (who seems never to have considered rewarding her in that fashion) but with a repulsive man who sees her as a pair of breasts between which he symbolically hangs a tiny jeweled chain.
It was an extremely sad, almost tragic episode that, as Engoron focuses on throughout her piece, centered almost entirely on feminism and women in the 1960s. Christina Hendricks deserves major praise for her acting this week; I suspect when we look back at Mad Men series highlights her work in “The Other Woman” will stand out.
05.18.12 |
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Slick buying guide from The Verge. Especially nice work on the info graphics measuring set top box versatility.
04.30.12 |
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Really interesting analysis and breakdown by the opinionated Tom and Lorenzo couple of Mad Men’s fashion. It’s deeper than just what’s trendy in the late 60s; by reading their episode recaps (with plenty of helpful screen grabs) you learn a lot about costume design and how subtle choices can help characterization on film and TV.
04.25.12 |
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This week’s Mad Men episode was probably my favorite of the year, and I couldn’t at first put a finger on why. Then I read this excellent point by Slate critic John Swansburg:
One of the pleasures of Mad Men has always been its unpredictability—it’s a fool’s errand trying to guess how the plot will twist—but that unpredictability has reached new heights this season. It’s no longer merely a question of story—now it’s a question of form, too. “Mystery Date” incorporated elements of horror, “Signal 30” culminated in a hilarious comic set-piece, and, as you guys have noted, last night’s episode dabbled in noir and the psychedelic while also experimenting with chronology. When I tune in on Sunday, I’m not just wondering what’s going to happen, I’m wondering how’s it going to happen—what mode will the series operate in tonight?
I love noir works like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential, along with fragmented chronologies like Pulp Fiction and Memento. Seeing how Mad Men borrowed from both the noir and fragmented timeline genre, it makes a lot more sense why it clicked so well for me.
04.11.12 |
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Looking through this list late one night over the weekend, I’m first struck by both the number of repeat directors, and how some of the most repeated and talented in the bunch end up directing both some of the best and worst episodes of the series. Exhibit A: Jennifer Getzinger. She’s directed what I felt was a crazy weak episode, “My Old Kentucky Home” from Season 3. Yet she also directed Season 3 highlight “The Gypsy and the Hobo” and Season 4’s “The Suitcase”, the latter of which has one of my favorite scenes in TV history.
04.06.12 |
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Slate writer Patrick Radden Keefe:
Betty, the writers tend to deny us those redeeming, sympathetic moments. As an artistic matter, this may be unassailable; in real life, some adults really are vapid children with few redeeming qualities. But on a show where each character possesses a distinctive ratio of vinegar to sugar, Betty feels out of proportion to me. She’s almost all vinegar, and that strikes me as cruel.
It’s late in the week for Mad Men commentary on Sunday’s episode, yet Patrick nails it. Something about episode 503 felt very off – I think Betty’s storyline had a lot to do with that.
04.05.12 |
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When you see a free, 50 minute set of Vimeo essays on The Wire popup online, it’s pretty much a no brainer.