No joke: we love minimalist posters. But a minimalist take on Lost, with its six seasons, ridiculous plot twists, and roughly 30 main characters, is no easy feat. However, the cult of Lost breeds superfans, among which Georgia-based artist Gideon Slife is no exception. He decided to create a poster for every, single, episode, starting with the pilot from 2004. The posters feature a muted color palette and a pithy phrase summarizing the installment. So far, Slife is up to his 78th poster (that’s halfway through the fourth season, for the few undevoted Losters out there), and is planning to work his way up to the 121st poster for the series finale on May 23rd. Check our some of our favorite graphic images and see if you can pin each one to its proper season.
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Ridley Scott, the man behind the likes of Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Robin Hood, has officially ventured into new and, er… well-worn territory, with a take on Hasbro’s iconic Monopoly boardgame. Luckily, the mystery protagonist will not need to wear a top hat, mustache or spectacles — it will be a modern day dramedy, after all. Scott has cryptically said the film will focus on the role of greed in society: “The most amusing thing about Monopoly is it can turn your benign aunt or your benign sweet little grandmother into a monster,” Scott told Hasbro. And while we’re not convinced of the “Untitled Monopoly Project’s” merit, check out our casting predictions for the film after the jump. And no matter how ridiculous, feel free to share your own predictions in the comments below.
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South Park is known for pushing the envelope. But for those of you who watched last night’s episode “201″ (a continuation of last week’s “200,” a celebration of the 200th episode), you may have been a bit confused by the bleeps and image blocks surrounding the animated version of the Prophet Muhammad (and in a bear costume, no less). Those censors were the result of threats made last week by the New York-based Islamist group Revolution Muslim. On their website, author Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee wrote that South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker would “probably end up like Theo Van Gogh,” the director who was murdered in 2004 by an extremist over his film Submission. It focused on the treatment of Islamic women.
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Today at Flavorpill, we couldn’t believe that Kal Penn was robbed at gunpoint in Washington DC earlier this morning. We watched as giant Tetris shapes invaded Sydney. We found ourselves craving an ice-cold beer from 7-Eleven of all places. We took a look at Shepard Fairey’s latest mural, which is currently going up on Houston. We were a little freaked out by the contortionist possibilities of the moonwalk in Cirque du Soleil’s new Michael Jackson-themed show. We were excited by HBO’s announcement of an eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and, on a related note, were barely quenched by this tiny drop of True Blood. And lastly, we were a bit freaked to see Adrien Brody playing a psycho stoner… but it is 4/20 after all.
We’re fascinated by Lady Gaga. But despite her numerous collaborations, leotards and intellectual pursuits, she remains a rather divisive celebrity. There are some major Gaga haters out there — including the newest member of the tribe, Grace Jones. (Not that we’re judging Grace; Gaga totally ripped off her shtick.) But there are plenty of other famous people mouthing off about the pop star who we’re surprised even know her name. After the jump, a roundup of our favorite random disses.
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The American Library Association has just released its list of most frequently challenged books of 2009. Lauren Myracle’s ttyl, which is written instant message format, topped the list for its supposed “unsuitability to age group” claim. Suddenly we found ourselves wondering about the books that made the list before emoticons lost their novelty — or even existed, for that matter. Check out a roundup of some of the most surprisingly “controversial” books from the original list, which debuted 20 years ago, after the jump.
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While we won’t be posting any of the photos from Ashley Dupre’s spread in the May issue of Playboy here (spoiler alert: boobs!), in related news, you can now check out a clip from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney‘s upcoming documentary on the rise and fall of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. The untitled film is still in production and will be screened as a work-in-progress at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month. It’s a collaboration with Fortune editor-at-large Peter Elkind, whose book on Spitzer, Rough Justice
, hits shelves today.
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“Hello, my name is Adrian Grenier and I’m a celebrity. Or at least I play one on TV.” These are the opening lines of Teenage Paparazzo, the documentary directed, produced and written by Entourage star Adrian Grenier. Oh yeah, he’s in it, too. And if that isn’t enough to get the attention of every teenage girl, the doc’s other star, 14-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk is a ringer for Justin Bieber. In what ultimately becomes a coming of age story, the documentary chronicles the relationship between Austin and Adrian after a blitzkrieg of camera flashes initiated by the young pap provoke Adrian’s own study into the concept of celebrity.
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Michigan-based artist Eric Daigh‘s incredibly realistic portraits aren’t made using paint, but rather, push pins as his medium. As a result, the color palette isn’t fancy; Daigh takes the basic red, yellow, blue, white, and black pins available at any supply store, and inserts them into his canvas — poster board. Roughly 11,000 pins can be found in each portrait, and he applies each one at a time to create pointillistic artwork that can best be described as Georges Seurat meets Office Depot.
Check out more from Daigh, who currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest push pin mural, after the jump.
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With echoes of the Postal Service, Sufjan Stevens, and Le Loup, Queens-based dream poppers Freelance Whales layer dance beats beneath hazy melodies.
Combining more traditional instruments with harmonium, banjo, and glockenspiel, the quintet’s quirky approach might read like an indie-rock throwback — but its blend of delicacy and sounds bordering on the animal-like keep it current. Following an initial self-release, Freelance Whales’ debut LP, Weathervanes, is out this week on Frenchkiss/Mom + Pop Records.
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