Gawker
-
the theatre
So, Is Katie Holmes Good In That Play Or Whatever?
The latest Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons opened last night! It stars John Lithgow and Patrick Wilson, who some are saying are quite good, Oscar winner Dianne Wiest, maybe a bit off, and some girl named Katie Holmes. As she's a newcomer to the Broadway scene, and is apparently married to some sort of mega moviestar turned Scientologist crazy named "Tom Cruise," let's take a moment to at look the top critics' takes on this exciting new starlet's big bow. More » -
Media Haunts
Frank Bruni Is Not Scared To Say The Food At Michael's Sucks
The ultimate confluence of a prestige media restaurant reviewer and prestige media restaurant has finally occurred: Frank Bruni has reviewed Michael's for the Times. At this point we should skip all the background, because those who don't appreciate the import of this moment will never be invited to Michael's anyhow. Suffice it to say that the city's most famous critic visited its most famous media power lunch spot, and, in a blinding flash of meta-media honesty, declared that it sucks big time: More » -
media
James Brady Shocked To Find David Carr Was On Drugs
Hawk-faced elderly man James Brady, the name-dropping veteran of 600 media outlets who has now eased into his retirement job as Forbes' "media columnist" (ha), is primarily skilled at being befuddled about the point of things (though he hasn't lost his name-dropping talent). So faced with an early copy of former crackhead-turned Times columnist David Carr's (well-reviewed) new book—which is not, as Brady hoped, a volume of media name-dropping—Brady panics in print like the senile Uncle Junior in The Sopranos: shoot the bad man and run hide in the closet! More » -
books
How Bottled Water Hypnotized Us All
Bottled water is a bit like smoking: deep down, we all knew there was something wrong with it from day one. Environmentalism has been a widespread subject in our public consciousness for more than 30 years now. Did anyone really believe that getting our water out of 16-ounce plastic bottles would be an efficient long-term solution for humanity? Despite that, the bottled water industry has done an admirable job using sly marketing magic to make us all feel like chemical-ridden cheapskates for drinking out of the tap. And a new book called Bottlemania breaks down the corporate spin techniques in a straightforward way that already has me drinking exclusively out of the toilet: More » -
reviews
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight: 'Rave and Rage and Purge Acting'
So finally the next Batman film, The Dark Knight, lurches into theaters this Friday. Anticipation is intense, as Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan's reboot of the franchise, was such a dark success. Of course, though, the real reason to see the film is Heath Ledger as uber villain The Joker. The buddingly talented actor died all too young in a SoHo apartment this past winter, leaving this as his last complete performance. So yeah, that's all we really care about when surveying the early reviews (we already know that Christian Bale will be gruff and brooding, Morgan Freeman sage and weary, Maggie Gyllenhaal unsurprisingly better than Katie Holmes, the film as a whole loud and jangly). So what do the critics say? Mostly, that he's fantastic. The increasingly-irrelevant Peter Travers, of Rolling Stone, calls the performance "mad-crazy-brilliant." The Davids Edelstein and Denby worry that Ledger stepped perhaps too far into the abyss to access the character. Basically, we're excited. Read a digest of the reviews after the jump. More » -
not afraid to be servicey
How Not To Charm A Restaurant Critic
Frank Bruni is pissed! The New York Times' omnipotent restaurant critic (pictured) today reviews a new Tribeca restaurant named Ago, which is owned in part by actor Robert De Niro. And Bruni's experience there is proof for the entire restaurant business that no matter how popular, expensive, or exclusive your place is, it is still quite possible to receive a terrible review if you act like an idiot. Please: Learn some lessons from Ago's fiasco. Here is what not to do when your restaurant is being reviewed: More » -
-
books
College Professors Very Concerned About How Their Students Fuck
"College students today enter a low hook-up culture when they leave the classroom," warns Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield in his WSJ review of the newest overwrought book about college kids fucking. "In case you don't know, a hook-up is a brief sexual encounter between two partners who don't necessarily know each other before and who don't necessarily want to know each other after." Sounds costly. "And it's free." Well, that's a bonus! "The sort of transient sex that once was available to men only for money can now be had, without paying, from college women - as long as the man is a fellow student and minimally artful about his approach." Good lord, is that new? I don't remember that. "If he is thwarted in one overture, he may try another with a reasonable prospect of success." That, sadly, is just the intro paragraph. More » -
bloggers
Magisterial King of All Online Reviewers Reaps $900
Insane creatures of all different backgrounds and creeds have been sucked into the seamy world of online reviewing, but no one has come out quite as shiny as blogger Dave Cassel. Some write online reviews for the love of sharing their views with others, but not Dave. He does it all for the zeroes in his bank account. For 100 days writer marketing website Helium.com offered all users $3 per review to review anything, and Dave went haywire. All told Cassel churned out about 200,000 words over the course of 300 articles, weighing in on everything from Cyndi Lauper's Christmas album to the classic 70s series Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp and Thomas Wolfe's poetry. And the reviews, though often centered on absurd subjects, are far from terrible. Cassel's review of the syndicated Natasha Henstridge comedy She Spies has us wanting to pick up a season set: "It was intentionally unbelievable. But it was also a lot of fun." A fitting epitaph for your accomplishment, you brave bloggeur you. [Destiny-land] -
movies
Respectable Publications: "Zombie Strippers"
First of all, it's just great that the New York Times has a headline today that reads "Zombie Strippers." It has to, cause that's the name of a new movie. But it would be great under any circumstances. The Times' stuffy assessment is that pretty much everyone "can sit this one out." But would they be saying that if they were facing down Zombie Jenna Jameson who was intent on eating their face? These are the questions that "ivory tower" journalists don't like to think about. The trailer for this thrill ride of a lifetime is below—it looks like it could be good! No it doesn't. More » -
science
Do Magic Wake Up Pills Exist?
Don't you wish there was a magic pill you could take when you go to bed that would make you wake up on time, feeling refreshed, without an alarm clock? Well according to medical science, there is no such thing. Sorry. But according to 37 year-old mom of three Cathy Beggan from New Jersey, her special time-release blend of herbs and vitamins can do just that. And a Daily News reporter says they really work, science be damned! More »
reviews
New York, 7:30 PM
Thu Dec 4
44 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@gawker.com
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Managing Editor:
Gabriel Snyder | Email
Day Editor:
Alex Pareene | Email
Night Editor:
Ryan Tate | Email
Writers:
Sheila McClear | Email
Hamilton Nolan | Email
Richard Lawson | Email
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley | Email
- ValleywagPerks
- io9Scifi gift guide
- GawkerViacom
- DefamerPop Culture Doomsday
- JezebelAnna Wintour
- GizmodoBattlemodo
- DeadspinRyan Leaf
- Jalopniknissan nv2500
- LifehackerScreenshot Tour
- KotakuDeath of criticism
- Consumeristrecession watch
