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Last Night on Late Night: Will Smith Definitely Caught the Kanye West Rap \"Bug\"
2 hours ago
Last night on the Late Show, Will Smith displayed a major symptom of the rap "bug" he'd apparently caught from Kanye West. The band played Smith's own "Summertime" as his walk-out song, but instead of leaving it at that, he rapped along, unmiked at first until he grabbed the microphone for a full-on ode to summer time. Plus: Mary Lynn Rajskub denied any intel on her casting in the new 24 miniseries, but she disclosed what she'd really been typing the whole time Chloe looked so diligently ambidextrous at her computer. I was "typing affirmations to myself," she told Conan. Things like, "Don't take Kiefer's intensity so personally. He's just acting" or "You look really pretty today, Mary Lynn." If only we could see her faking it once again. Also, in a nod to the rest of last night's awesome musical performances, Jaden Smith rapped "The Coolest," but the cutest »
- Caroline Shin
Beyoncé's 'Grown Woman' Leaked
3 hours ago
"Grown Woman" has been floating around since Beyoncé's Pepsi ad launched, and it's become a staple of her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. Now there's an alleged leak of the actual song, and listening to it is a lot more fun than watching shaky concert videos or soda commercials. Produced by Timbaland and co-written by The-Dream, "Grown Woman" is probably the lead single of Beyoncé's still-untitled, release date-less fifth album. Lyrically it's a less grandiose continuation of "Run the World (Girls)" — it's also impossible to hear "bitches, I run this" without thinking of non-single "Bow Down" — but the beat certainly feels like new territory for Bey. While listening on repeat, feel free to imagine Beyoncé clicking "upload" right as she closes out of a pregnancy rumor post, looking over at Jay-z and slyly quoting Don Draper/Peggy Olson: "If you don't like what they're saying, change the conversation. »
- Zach Dionne
Kanye West Might Get Will Smith to Rap Again
4 hours ago
Will Smith, who spent some time with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in Brazil earlier this year, says Kanye has been "pushing" him a little during some recent studio hangouts. "I might get the bug," Smith tells a reporter at an After Earth junket, seeming not exactly psyched to be talking about anything other than his film career. "I'm not gonna do it unless I'm truly inspired." What's more inspiring than the rapper who put out Willennium and Born to Reign trying to compete in a world where there's a rapper releasing an album called Yeezus? »
- Zach Dionne
Kelly Rowland Joins The X Factor, Simon Is the Only Male Judge Now
6 hours ago
The X Factor is replacing Britney Spears and L.A. Reid with Kelly Rowland and Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio, Fox announced on Monday. "It’s taken more than a decade, but I’m delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!)," Simon Cowell said in a statement. "Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and together with Demi [Lovato], this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different." For those scratching their heads about Rubio: she's sold more than 20 million records worldwide and put out ten studio albums. She is a known quantity. »
- Zach Dionne
Doors Keyboardist Ray Manzarek Dies of Cancer
7 hours ago
The Doors keyboardist and co-founder Ray Manzarek died Monday in Germany after a long fight with bile duct cancer. He was 74. Manzarek and Doors guitarist Robby Krieger began touring together again in 2002. "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today," Krieger wrote in a statement. "I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life, and I will always miss him." »
- Zach Dionne
Theater Review: The Master Builder, on Very Shaky New Pilings
7 hours ago
Other than Hedda Gabler and A Doll’s House, Ibsen’s plays are mostly out of fashion these days, especially the folkloric early works featuring trolls and the mystical late works featuring Great Men who, come to think of it, are also trolls. The effectiveness of those in the latter category, including The Master Builder, now being revived at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, depends in part on an assumption of respect for great men in general, so that something dramatic can occur when they are found to be wanting. Our time is not perhaps sufficiently amenable to that assumption. In any case, the revival, directed by Andrei Belgrader and starring John Turturro, makes an excellent case for continued neglect.Turturro plays Halvard Solness, the “master builder” of the title; out of egotism disguised as modesty, he does not call himself an architect. Noted in his youth for his especially high church steeples, »
- Jesse Green
Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner on Sansa’s Wedding Day and Drunk Tyrion
12 hours ago
The chances of Game of Thrones' Sansa Stark getting out of King's Landing may have just disappeared. But if she has to be "wedded and bedded" by someone, better Tyrion than anyone else, especially since he is in no rush to give Tywin more grandkids. Still, Sophie Turner found it "really weird" to even pretend to get married; in real life, Turner is 17, three years older than Sansa. Vulture rung up the actress the morning after her character's long walk down the aisle, and she weighed in on whether Sansa could learn to love Tyrion, Peter Dinklage's amazing affinity for playing drunk, and her rap sessions with King Joffrey. Drunk Tyrion! He's back!Oh my God, it was so funny. We had such a good time with all of it. Peter did something different every time. He's just a hilarious person to work with. It brought back good »
- Denise Martin
NBC Acquires Drama About a Reality Show
12 hours ago
NBC announced today it has acquired another scripted show to add to its summer lineup. The wasteland of summer TV gets a little less waste-y every year! (One hopes.) Siberia is a drama about a (fictional) reality show where contestants are dropped off in an area of Siberia that was hit by a meteorite 100 years ago. Now, things are getting spooky — and not just the reality-show thing. Things from out there. »
- Margaret Lyons
Cannes: Inside Llewyn Davis May Be the Folk O Brother, Where Art Thou?
13 hours ago
While there are still plenty of heavy hitters on the way, the film that’s proved the buzziest of the first few days of the Cannes Film Festival has got to be Inside Llewyn Davis, the music-filled dramedy directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Certainly, the movie has enjoyed a better reception than the one afforded to its title character, Llewyn (Oscar Isaac), a 1961 folk musician who toils in obscurity while his contemporaries — including singers played by Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake — find success more easily. Poor Llewyn has some heart-stopping songs to sing, but he’s destined to live in the shadow of greater artists like Bob Dylan; what does Davis lack that Dylan had going for him? "All sorts of things, starting with luck,” laughed Joel Coen today at a Carlton Hotel reception for the film. “But the one thing he did have, that we wanted to »
- Kyle Buchanan
Kate Hudson Joins the Cast of Zach Braff’s Wish I Were Here
13 hours ago
We already told you that Zach Braff had cast Mandy Patinkin to play his father in his crowd-sourced film Wish I Was Here. Well, over the last week, the cast has filled out a bit. Josh Gad will play Braff’s brother. Anna Kendrick will play a cosplay aficionado whom Gad crushes on. As was alluded to in the pitch video, Jim Parsons and Donald Faison will be in it as well. And today it was announced that Kate Hudson will co-star as the wife of Braff’s character. Congrats, 40,000 backers, you're now famous people's bosses. »
- Jesse David Fox
Watch a Supercut of Every Impression Bill Hader Did on SNL
15 hours ago
As you probably know, Saturday was Bill Hader's final episode as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. Of course, Stefon got the loving farewell he deserved, but we wanted to say good-bye to more of his characters. For his eight seasons, Bill Hader has been one of the show's best and most innovative impressionists, so we decided to celebrate that by looking back at every impression. Over the course of his run, he's impersonated over 80 famous and not-so famous celebrities. Watch our video to remember how he not only upped the ante for oft-imitated famous people (Vincent Price, Al Pacino, Alan Alda, etc.) but also expertly aped those whom few have attempted (Andy Azula, CNN's Jack Cafferty, Dr. Oz, etc.). Just play this before and after every episode next season, and it will be like he never left. »
- Jesse David Fox,Sarah Frank,Neha Sharma,Bridget Read
A Tour of Great Arrested Development Etsy Crafts
15 hours ago
No other comedy has generated anywhere near as much ephemera as Arrested Development has. (Part of its cult? Perhaps.) For every minute of show it seems there are eighteen or nineteen tchotchkes and posters and cleverly named Tumblrs. Of course, this enthusiasm for all things banana stand extends to Etsy, where many, many crafters and artists have put their own spin on the Bluth world. Here are some of our favorites — and there are plenty, plenty more where these came from. Never Nudes might always wear cutoffs, but they should also always wear an Nn necklace. These are but one of many Ad pencil sets. Again, plenty of posters out there, but these "I've made a huge mistake" ones are especially cute. Banana scarf! More solid Tobias iconography. This doesn't really look like Gob and Franklin, but it's cute anyway. And finally, for when you tire of your illusions, a »
- Margaret Lyons
Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams
15 hours ago
If you saw Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend and couldn't quite place Peter Weller, the actor playing Starfleet Admiral Marcus, allow us to refresh your memory: Weller starred in two of the biggest cult films of the eighties, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and RoboCop, as well as in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs's The Naked Lunch. He's also had supporting parts on 24, Dexter, Fringe, and House. And if that weren’t enough, the man is currently finishing up a Ph.D. in art history. He talked to us recently about his stint on Star Trek, his diverse career, and his professor's problem with J.J. Abrams.How did you get this part?I had done an episode of Fringe, and I had a meeting at the Bad Robot offices about some directing work. And afterward this young guy follows me into the parking lot and starts talking to me. »
- Bilge Ebiri
Did You Catch Mad Men’s Not-So-Pretentious Muhammad Ali Nod?
15 hours ago
Mad Men is not a particularly religious show. There are markers for religiosity — Sylvia's very prominent cross necklace, Rachel Menken's frequently acknowledged Judaism — but we rarely see the characters attend any form of religious services, for example. There's not a lot of God chitchat, which is why a catechism reference on last night's episode "The Crash" really stood out. With everyone in a ridiculous drugged state, Stan Rizzo pulled down a blindfold and stood against a wall as the other copywriters lined up to throw X-acto knives at him. "He's gonna look like St. Sebastian," said Ed Gifford. (Who we barely know. He's the one with the glasses.) "You're pretentious, you know that?" said his sidekick John. "I like that!"St. Sebastian — martyr and patron saint of archers, athletes, and soldiers — may or may not be a pretentious reference. But in mid–1968, it's a pop-culture reference. Here's the »
- Margaret Lyons
Robin Wright’s Film Takes ‘Craziest Movie at Cannes’ Honors
16 hours ago
Before I continue with this post, take a look at this wackadoodle trailer for Robin Wright's new live action–animated movie The Congress, from Waltz with Bashir director Ari Folman, which debuted at Cannes earlier this week and feels like the most uninhibitedly ambitious film of the festival so far.Okay, now we can talk, because the movie itself is even more out-there than what the trailer would have you believe. Picture a part-live-action, part-animated Yellow Submarine–esque version of Being John Malkovich (but starring Wright), combined with the Hollywood satire of Robert Altman's The Player and a dystopian futurist vision of the celebrity obsession depicted in Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring (which also premiered at Cannes). Based on Stanislaw Lem's 1971 novel The Futurological Congress, it starts out with Robin Wright playing Robin Wright, an actress who starred in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump, and »
- Jada Yuan
What If Spock Were a Stand-up Comedian?
16 hours ago
This past weekend, Spock was back for more Star Trekking. Once again, when characters attempted to tell jokes or make quips, he was confused by their logic, or, in most cases, lack thereof. However, it's not because Spock doesn't have a sense of humor — Spock's just takes his comedy very seriously. So seriously that between missions, he tries his hand at stand-up comedy. Here is a transcript from a recent performance. Greetings, I am Spock, first commander of the USS Enterprise. Looking at me, I know what you're thinking: When did Sarek from Vulcan and Amanda Grayson from Earth have a baby? Twenty-seven years, two months, seven hours, twelve minutes, and 44 seconds ago. Sorry, 45 seconds. 46 seconds. 47 seconds. I just flew in from Pluto, and boy did it take 36.42 seconds. It was hot today.How hot was it!?So hot that the onboard temperature gauge read 35 degrees Celsius. »
- Jesse David Fox
Justin Davidson on James Levine’s Triumphant Return to Carnegie Hall
17 hours ago
On Sunday afternoon, when James Levine returned to conducting after two years on the disabled list, I stretched out on a bed 150 miles from Carnegie Hall, slipped on a pair of headphones, pointed my iPhone to the Metropolitan Opera website, and took my virtual aisle seat. I couldn’t see Levine steer his motorized chair in front of the Met Orchestra, which he has built and rebuilt over nearly 40 years. I knew he had to be elevated onto the Carnegie podium by a special lift and that, later, he took his bows from a seated position. But without those visual cues, what I heard was a man who remained weightless and agile in music’s malleable atmosphere.Luciano Pavarotti, another musician with mobility issues, often referred to himself as an athlete, because singing is such a profoundly physical act. So is leading an orchestra: Thousands of decisions and desires pass »
- Justin Davidson
Hannah’s E-Book Editor Is Going to Fight Ray on Girls Season Three
17 hours ago
Hannah Horvath's e-book editor is going to fight fellow Girls guy Ray next season, John Cameron Mitchell tells Vulture. "I actually have a fun scene where I beat the shit out of him," he said at the New York premiere of Before Midnight this week. "I have to kick his ass." When we point out that Alex Karpovsky, who plays Ray, has a bit of an advantage in that he's taller, Mitchell reveals another detail: "But he's very drunk and I was much more together." Karpovsky, who was also at the party, said, "It's like the mosquito versus a dinosaur. You ever hear that parable? Well, anyway, he's very quick, and I think quickness wins."As for what brings the characters to blows, Mitchell says, "I change the music on him. He's playing something that my character lived through as an adult, Smashing Pumpkins, and I can't stand it anymore, »
- Jennifer Vineyard
Mad Men Recap: You’re Pretentious, You Know That?
17 hours ago
Like a lot of Mad Men episodes, “The Crash” needs to be seen twice — not to unlock any subtleties of structure or tone, but to get over the idea that it’s really “about” much of anything. I guess you could make the case that it captures that post-mlk-rfk feeling that the entire world was losing its mind, or felt as if it was. Nearly early every moment feels knowingly off-kilter. A couple of the guest characters (the I Ching–obsessed, token-tossing hippie chick who ends up screwing Stan, and the African-American burglar posing as Don Draper’s mammy) feel like nightmare figures: manifestations of a rattled and deeply threatened collective Wasp id. There are moments when the episode threatens to turn into another “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Office,” “Mystery Date,” or “Dark Shadows,” to name three Mad Men in which the terrors of sixties history intruded on the »
- Matt Zoller Seitz
Body Slamming, Booty Popping, and Taylor Swift’s Tongue: This Year’s Billboard Music Awards
17 hours ago
If you missed the three-hour-long televised concert known as the Billboard Music Awards, don't worry. Not only are the awards decided by "the numbers" (meaning: there's really no surprise element!), but they also happen to be the easiest to catch up on, as they are 99 percent performances. (Also some fashion. See all the red carpet highlights here.) Last night's planned show didn't disappoint: Notable acts included Miguel, Kacey Musgraves, Icona Pop, Bruno Mars, and Prince. It also didn't disappoint in the unplanned. Here's how:Mid-"Adorn," Miguel body-slammed some poor girl's face. While attempting to stage dive, he accidentally landed on someone. Her name is Khyati and she's going to be okay. Later on, Nicki Minaj and Lil' Wayne would add fire to their already-curious sexual tension known as the single "High School." During the performance, everyone else in the world got a sample. Aside from someone calling Avril Lavigne "Canada's »
- Lindsey Weber
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