Recent Stories with tag the awl

We're only one episode into Season 4 of Mad Men, and already I can't wait to see where things are headed. Like, how will the Surgeon General's 1964 report on the dangers of smoking (and the subsequent required warning on cigarette packs) affect the fledgling ad firm's biggest client, Lucky Strikes? Will we ever see our old pals Kinsey and Cosgrove again? And wherefore art thou, Joan's terrible husband and Roger's terrible wife?

And what better way to kick off the new season than with Natasha Vargas-Cooper's new book?  Born of her recurring series on The Awl, Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America is a look at the show via mini-essays that make pointed, witty observations on the cultural context of the early '60s. So you can quickly read all about what Betty's suburban decor says about her and her family, how the writers of the time--John Cheever, Helen Gurley Brown, Mary McCarthy, Frank O'Hara--inform the series, and why the character of Don Draper is the careful combination of traits found in Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, and John Wayne.  That's a near-deadly admixture of sex appeal.

To celebrate the return of Mad Men, The SunBreak has three copies of Mad Men Unbuttoned to give away. Enter below for your chance to win a copy. We'll be drawing three winners' names Friday at noon....

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There was a great sigh of relief Sunday night all across the land to accompany the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men. It was so good to see all our old friends again, especially how they've all changed in the past year of television time: Peggy grew out her bangs! Don likes it rough! Betty's unhappily married! JFK is still dead.

And what better way to kick off the new season than with Natasha Vargas-Cooper's new book?  Born of her recurring series on The Awl, Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America is a look at the show via mini-essays that make pointed, witty observations on the cultural context of the early '60s. So you can quickly read all about the great real-life ad men of the time, the Rothko painting in Bert Cooper's office, what Peggy likely did and didn't learn in secretary school, and just how easy it was to procure an illegal abortion. Fun facts for the whole family!

To celebrate the return of Mad Men, The SunBreak has three copies of Mad Men Unbuttoned to give away. Enter below for your chance to win a copy. We'll be drawing three winners' names Friday at noon....

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On this, the deadest workweek of the year, you owe it to yourself to check out one of the best things about 2009, The Awl, for their collective, still-ongoing take on the decade that was with The End of the 00s series.  Seriously, just use the tag to read every single piece, which run the gamut from the painfully personal (the decade as told through alcohol/drug-related blackouts, lost jobs, and/or Netflix) to the overarching themes (the rise of reality tv, the fall of the US economy, the mainstream media's unyielding march to increasing suckitude) to those single defining moments of the decade (9/11, natch, but also the infamous Britney-and-Justin dance-off).  So take the afternoon to read 'em all, because what the hell else are you doing in the office today?...

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Oh, Avatar.  Ever since news of James Cameron's decades-in-the-making, technology-expanding, this-is-the-future-of-cinema-revolutionizing, nearly-three-hour epic sci-fi extravaganza was announced, I have wanted it to fail.  When the underwhelming first images and trailers came out, it looked to be as bad as my greatest expectations, and I was rubbing my hands together in glee. I was fully prepared to see it (because I HAVE to see it) and hate it.  But then something happened. 

The reviews started to trickle out...and they were good.  Better than good, in fact, like, borderline rapturous.  The write-up that really gave me pause was Choire Sicha's non-review over at The Awl, where he discusses how he wasn't expecting much out of the movie, only to have it end up as his top film pick of the year.  And he's a cranky fag.  So, ummmm, what if I like this movie after all?  UH OH.  Be prepared for a paradigm shift.  Like all the other nerds, I'll be seeing it tonight, and I'll have a review up here tomorrow.  Bring it on, Cameron!