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Staff Picks: Flavorwire’s Favorite Cultural Things This Week

By Chloe Pantazi on

Need a great book to read, album to listen to, or TV show to get hooked on? The Flavorwire team is here to help: in this weekly feature, our editorial staffers each recommend the cultural object or experience they’ve enjoyed the most in the past seven days. Click through for our picks, and tell us what you’ve been loving in the comments. … Read More

Photography

Old Master-Style Still Lifes of the Ridiculous Food Musicians Request on Tour

By Alison Nastasi on

We’ve looked at the strange and hilarious demands that musicians made in their tour riders before, and artist Henry Hargreaves brought those contractual requests to life in a new photo series. In the style of Old Master paintings, Hargreaves photographed the nibbles pop stars like to stuff their faces with. “I was inspired to create this series after reviewing a few riders from some of the biggest acts in the world, all of which were ridiculous,” the artist wrote for Vice. “What I found most interesting about them is that they offered a glimpse into their larger-than-life personalities.” It’s true. Sinatra lived on booze, New Kids on the Block eat like 12-year-old boys, Axl Rose’s cuisine also makes you want to punch him in the face, and Prince sips tea. Meanwhile, Billy Idol has danced with himself for so long, he’s resorted to chocolate chip cookies and a tub of butter to soothe his weary feet (and soul). Take a closer look in our gallery. … Read More

Celebrity

Celebrities’ Punk Rock Selfies From Last Night’s Met Gala

By Chloe Pantazi on

Selfies aren’t just for the layfolk. Even celebrities take them now and again, and last night’s extravagant, punk-themed Met Gala — corresponding with the museum’s latest Costume Institute exhibit, Punk: Chaos to Couture — was an opportune time for the glitterati to take to social media with pictures of their dresses, hairdos, nails, and other accessories (including friends and other fabulous people). We scoured Instagram and Twitter to bring you the best of last night’s selfies. Take a peek through the images below, including a sufficiently punked-up Madonna sporting tartan and rocking a black bob, a very pink Debbie Harry, Katy Perry’s bling-tastic nails, and Zooey Deschanel’s pretty (if questionably punk) hairdo. Oh and, erm, Alicia Keys in a bathrobe. … Read More

Pop Culture

What’s On at Flavorwire: Links You Should See

By Lillian Ruiz on

The folks at IBM Research got bored with studying atoms, so instead they made stop motion animation with them. Queen Bey cannot be bothered to recognize peasants real-life royals at her concert. Royal or not, when Bey asks you to sing along, you sing along. Speaking of royalty, this roundup of Game… Read More

Music

When Viral Music Ad Campaigns Go Wrong

By Tom Hawking on

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, goes the old Madison Ave truism. But is it actually true? Boards of Canada’s epic album-announcement promotion stunt got them a whole lot of coverage in various publications that don’t normally go in for cerebral electronica, so in that respect it was presumably a success — but let’s be honest, it was also kind of a pain in the ass, especially for fans who’ve been waiting eight years for a new album and don’t appreciate being teased on top of that. Internet marketing is an inexact science, and when artists get it wrong, the results can be at best irritating and at worst counter-productive. Like this lot, for instance.

… Read More

Film

80 Wonderful Michael Caine Quotes for His 80th Birthday

By Jason Bailey and Chloe Pantazi on

Break out the cake, light up the candles, and trot out your best Cockney-accented imitation: the great Michael Caine is 80 years old today. Sir Michael, who first came to international fame clear back in 1966’s Alfie, has always struck us as a particularly down-to-earth chap, blessed with fierce intelligence, a quick wit, and a rather astonishing work ethic — he’s appeared in well over 100 films since his first credited role in 1956’s Hell in Korea, and during his most productive period in the 1980s, he would frequently star in three or four pictures per year. That doesn’t just mean he’s done a lot of movies; it’s means he’s done a lot of interviews. So in celebration of his 80th year on Earth, we rounded up some of our favorite quotes from his many interviews (and from his own writing); enjoy the wit and wisdom of Sir Michael Caine after the jump. … Read More

Media

The Best Cultural Writing You May Have Missed Over the Long Weekend

By Chloe Pantazi on

From suburb-bound hipsters to Beyoncé and Girls, and the aftermath of terrible Valentine’s Days, we rounded up the best of the weekend’s cultural writings. Weigh in on the most talked-about pieces of the past few days and tell us what else you’ve been reading in the comments. … Read More

Film

15 Things We Learned from ‘Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream’

By Alison Nastasi on

Last night, Beyoncé offered more insight into her career and personal life in the “revealing,” self-produced HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream. It was the Stefon of documentaries: there was crying, singing, dancing, and weird Terrence Malick-style shots of trees. Bey opened up about her miscarriage, discussed her intense love and admiration for husband Jay-Z, gave us a peek at daughter Blue Ivy Carter, and talked to her computer while we wondered how she wakes up in the middle of the night with such perfect hair. While the arguments that Life Is But a Dream was a little too polished dart back and forth, we’re sharing 15 things we learned about Bey after the break. Leave us your review of the film in the comments section. … Read More

Web

Adventures in Fandom on New .GIF Search Engine Giphy

By Alison Herman on

The idea behind new search engine Giphy is so brilliantly simple we’re shocked no one’s come up with it before (and the site’s creator’s know it, too; the tagline is “This is Giphy. You’re welcome.”) Instead of forcing Tumblr addicts to keep massive animated .GIF folders of all their favorite reaction shots, Giphy designed a clean, efficient search engine for the Internet’s favorite image format. Even in the age of relatively mainstream blogs like What Should We Call Me, though, a glance at Giphy’s front page reveals that the site caters to the kind of dedicated fandoms that popularized the .GIF in the first place. So, in further service to the cult followings that obsess over Sherlock, Honey Boo Boo, Community, and other online favorites, we’ve compiled the best that Giphy has to offer for fans of the Internet’s most hashtagged topics. … Read More

Pop Culture

Beyoncé’s Most Feminist Moments

By Sophie Weiner on

At least among the people we know (most of whom are admittedly indifferent to football), the halftime show at the Super Bowl generated a whole lot more excitement than the game itself. In the last few years Beyoncé has become an icon of the proportions that few pop stars these days achieve, and in no small part this is due to her willingness to use her gender as a creative tool. The argument over whether Beyoncé is a bona fide feminist or just a pop star cashing in on “girl power” has raged for years, but whatever side of the debate you land on, her message of empowerment, commitment to her craft, and control over her image and performance are impossible to undermine. In celebration of her latest feat — that flawless halftime performance in which she was backed by an all-female band — we’ve rounded up Beyoncé’s most feminist moments to date, and welcome the criticism and discussion that she always seem to elicit. … Read More