"Have you ever watched a dog vomit and then immediately lap it up?" That was one of the only notes I made after a demo of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," leaked last November. I can't be 100% certain where I was going with that indelible image, but it seems instructive, perfectly encapsulating the essence of Madonna's music career as she approaches the end of her third decade as a pop star. Indeed, the very title of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" tells you all you need to know about Madge's primary purpose for continuing to make music today. That might sound cynical, but for the last few years, the Queen of Pop has been peddling a brand, not necessarily art, regurgitating the same themes and images and asking us to continue to consume them, no questions asked. After all, what were songs like "4 Minutes" and "Celebration" if not commercials for Madonna Inc.? Continue Reading »
10. Jimmy Boyd, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." This Saks Fifth Avenue potboiler from 1952 about a child catching his mother being sexually assaulted by an elderly home invader only becomes even creepier when you realize the kid's mom isn't cheating on his dad, but that Mommy and Daddy have a Santa fetish. Also, what 13-year-old still believes in St. Nick anyway?
By now you've seen the video and heard the outrage: A group of student demonstrators at the University of California Davis supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement and protesting violent police action against University of Berkeley protesters two weeks earlier were pepper-sprayed by UC Davis police. If the incident doesn't become an iconic, defining moment of the Occupy movement a la images of black Americans being hosed down by police during the civil rights movement, it has at least galvanized the cause and ignited a long-overdue debate about police aggression circa 2011.
While the UC Davis police were acting on orders by the university's chancellor, Linda Katehi, it's unlikely she instructed Lt. John Pike to nonchalantly stroll up and down and shower the students with military-grade pepper spray at point-blank range like he was killing cockroaches in his kitchen. No reasonable civilian would begrudge police officers their right to protect themselves while in the line of duty, but despite UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza's statement that the pepper spray was used because students were preventing the officers from leaving, video and photographs of the incident contradict her account. Even Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly—who likened pepper spray to a nice, peppery vinaigrette on The O'Reilly Factor last night—thinks Spicuzza's claim is bogus. Continue Reading »
Get your first look at the new Catwoman (essentially Anne Hathaway on a motorcycle wearing what looks like wrap-around sunglasses and a nice black top for all occasions).
New Jersey's governor, Republican Chris Christie, lashes out at the "crazies" in his party:
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Last night ABC News aired an investigation confirming that Michele Bachmann's husband tries to convert fellow homosexuals into heterosexuals.
Speaking of which, a sudden, inexplicable urge to play ping pong is clearly how the gay starts:
Links for the Day: A collection of links to items that we hope will spark discussion. We encourage our readers to submit candidates for consideration to ed@slantmagazine.com and to converse in the comments section.
There wasn't a whole lot of buzz preceding the premiere of Lady Gaga's new video, "The Edge of Glory." And following the overwrought and shoddily edited "Judas," I expected it to be the first Gaga video since "Bad Romance" not to receive its very own write-up here on The House. Even after the first viewing of "The Edge of Glory," there didn't seem like much to write about. The video is unexpectedly simple, surprisingly low-concept. Gaga looks good and it's shot beautifully, but what else was there to say?
But then I watched it again. And again. In fact, I found myself coming back to it again and again last night, its references—or maybe just my projections, but no matter—slowly starting to reveal themselves. The intentionally barren, old-Hollywood backlot sets recall Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" and Janet's "When I Think of You." There are even shades of Singin' in the Rain. The bombastic "Edge of Glory" may have begged for an equally grandiose visual treatment, but the pretense on display here perfectly complements the track's garishly '80s sonic milieu. Continue Reading »
Lady Gaga previewed "Marry the Night," the first of three more songs from her upcoming album on FarmVille today, but not before revealing her messy "Hair" yesterday:
Links for the Day: A collection of links to items that we hope will spark discussion. We encourage our readers to submit candidates for consideration to ed@slantmagazine.com and to converse in the comments section.
Links for the Day: A collection of links to items that we hope will spark discussion. We encourage our readers to submit candidates for consideration to ed@slantmagazine.com and to converse in the comments section.
Unable to resist the temptation to release a new album every two years like clockwork, Tori Amos has announced a new quasi-classical song cycle to be released on Deutsche Grammophon.
Links for the Day: A collection of links to items that we hope will spark discussion. We encourage our readers to submit candidates for consideration to ed@slantmagazine.com and to converse in the comments section.
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