This one’s for first generation gamers, for the ones who remember Pong, for those for whom the Atari 2600 opened up a brave new world of pew-pew-pew — we salute you… with this parade of parody Atari video box covers. As spotted by Juxtapoz, these classic covers remixed by Mightygodking offer all the heavily stylized packaging you remember as a kid, with a side of critique. Remember the pathetic attempts at the “obligatory educational game”? Remember how you played the “I’ve Wasted My Life Video Computer System” for too long? Just kidding. Enjoy the nostalgia.
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Now that they’ve gotten their mid-season shows off the ground, it’s pilot-buyin’ time for the major networks. That means that, in the past few weeks, we’ve been deluged with news about shows in development, with headlines featuring such names as Louis C.K., Mindy Kaling, J.J. Abrams, and Roseanne Barr. Thankfully, for those of us who’ve had some trouble keeping up, The Hollywood Reporter was kind enough to post a full list of what we can look forward to from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW in the 2012-13 season. Since that roundup is still pretty daunting, we’ve narrowed the list to the 11 shows we’re most looking forward to; check them out and find out why we can’t to see them after the jump.
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Believe it or not, we are trying our hardest here at Flavorpill HQ to stop feeding the Lana Del Rey fire. But we can’t just ignore this brilliant Suzanne Collins/LDR mash-up from Holly Laurent of Second City. In Lana Del Rey’s “Hunger Games,” Laurent replaces the lovelorn words to “Video Games” with verses on Katniss and company, giving us such brilliant couplets as, “Heard you haven’t finished book three/ Honey, when you do…” The visual element, which replaces Del Rey’s pastiche with overexposed shots of retro-futurist landscapes, stinky fish, and early footage from The Hunger Games movie, is also spot on. We especially like that Laurent’s mini-bouffant reminds us more of Snooki than Lana.
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In a year full of amazing albums — and specifically amazing albums by female artists — we somehow didn’t fully absorb St. Vincent’s inventive, subversive, and beautiful Strange Mercy until recently. It struck us as strange that in this time when practically every day brings another Internet controversy over one female artist or another, the obviously feminist themes of this excellent album have gone unmentioned. Hopefully this video, in which those motifs are on full display (no pun intended), will stir up that discussion. Though it was probably filmed awhile ago, the video’s exploration of how being made the object of constant scrutiny can destroy you feels particularly relevant after weeks of arguing over the minute details of a certain woman’s self-presentation. St. Vincent is an artist who transcends what society thinks of her appearance to constantly challenge their listeners — and we’re hoping she’ll keep up the good work.
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When the first season of FX’s American Horror Story ended in a bloodbath, we wondered what was in store for Season 2. Would the same main characters return as ghosts, primed to haunt a new family? In fact, as creator Ryan Murphy confirmed in a call shortly after the finale, in December, the show will totally reboot this year, with a new set of locations and characters. While we thought he had the right idea, it was difficult to imagine the prospect of American Horror Story without a wonderfully campy Jessica Lange performance. But Murphy also allowed that some actors will return in new roles — and, thankfully, he confirmed to Andy Cohen on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live last night that Lange is slated for a comeback. He didn’t clarify what or how large her role will be, but hey, we’ll take it. [via Vulture]
Folded in among today’s DVD releases, presumably overlooked amid your Twilight sequels and Harold and Kumar 3D yuletides and “Shakespeare didn’t write his plays!” screeds, is one of 2011′s best films: The Sunset Limited, written by Cormac McCarthy, directed by Tommy Lee Jones, starring Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Wait, you might be thinking. (You might be!) What a fine pedigree! What an excellent cast! I would have gone to see that! Did it not play at my local art house or multiplex? No, hypothetical reader, it did not. It was made for HBO, and since Sunset Limited, based on McCarthy’s play, is primarily a two-handed conversation piece about race, class, mortality, and despair, it’s probably not surprising that it found a home on a pay cable network rather than at a Hollywood studio. But this is nothing new; dialogue and intellect-driven efforts like this migrated to television long ago, as studios lost interest in telling small stories.
Since they started airing in the mid-1960s, TV movies have taken risks — either on subject matter or on rising young talent. The results weren’t always commendable; there’s a reason that the phrase “made-for-TV movie” calls up images of Tori Spelling cowering on Lifetime, or broadcast networks airing simultaneous dramatizations of the lurid Amy Fisher story. But between the networks and cable, we’ve seen an assortment of genuinely beguiling television movies; we’ve gathered ten of our favorites after the jump, with plenty of room for yours in the comments. (And, just to keep it simple, we’ve steered clear of miniseries, documentaries, and films like The Believer that were intended for theatrical release but premiered on television instead).
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Flavorpill’s favorite post-hardcore band releases its fifth annual Chinese Zodiac single, Year of the Tiger, today. The 15-minute track is as epic in scale and ferocious in delivery as its animal namesake, with Fucked Up showing absolutely zero signs of creative fatigue after releasing one of the best albums of 2011, David Comes to Life. Of course, Damian Abraham and co. did have some help — none other than Jim Jarmusch makes a guest appearance on the track, along with Austra and Annie-Claude Deschênes of Duchess Says. You can listen to “Year of the Tiger,” along with all four other zodiac songs, after the jump; then, be sure to pick up a copy of the 12” single, a portion of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Tiger Fund.
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Is your relationship comparable to that of Mario and Princess Peach? Richie and Margot Tenenbaum? Ron Swanson and a plate of ribs? If you answered “yes” to any of these unstoppable duos, then this Valentine’s Day gift guide is for you! Sure, candy and flowers are great, but the quirky pop-culture nerd in your life might prefer something a little more fitting to their film and TV tastes. How about a snuggle-worthy pair of Barney Stinson suitjamas? Or a lovey-dovey print of the film you watched on your first date? Check out ten offbeat gift ideas for your sweetheart after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know of the other pop-culture presents you’ve found whilst prepping for good ol’ February 14th.
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Because of our tendency to anthropomorphize dogs and cats, whenever we spot someone’s pet hanging out in a window, we always imagine that it’s anxiously awaiting the return of its owner — you know, as opposed to just chilling out in a comfortable roost. Perhaps that’s why we find the images in Fishbowl, a series by San Diego-based graphic designer and photographer Rachel Bellinsky, so compelling in spite of the relative simplicity of the concept.
“You would not believe how many of these shots I see and miss because I don’t have my camera,” she told Feature Shoot. “The other day I saw a tiny kitten hanging from the curtains as I passed by, and my lack of camera at that moment was criminal. There is an animal in nearly every window of my neighborhood.” Click through for a selection of photos from the series, and visit Bellinsky’s Flickr page to view the entire project.
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Today marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, the greatest novelist of the Victorian era — and possibly some other eras as well. Though Dickens was skilled at creating plot and much loved for his winking sense of humor, perhaps his greatest talent was creating characters, many of whom are still household names a century and a half after their creation. His biographer, John Forster, wrote that Dickens made his “characters real existences, not by describing them but by letting them describe themselves.” Indeed, his characters are extremely rich, and even the most cartoonish of them glow with a certain kind of truth, not to mention some incredible names. To honor Dickens on his 200th birthday, we’ve put together a list of what we consider to be the best of the great author’s many fantastic figures — click through to check out our choices, and do let us know if we’ve missed your favorite (because there are so many other favorites to be had) in the comments!
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