We Continue to Wait for the Story that Explains Nikki Finke
At least we've got a new Nikki Finke picture to look at. We were sick of that black-and-white portrait—the only photo of the Hollywood gossip available online—so we're glad the New Yorker added an illustration to the mix. But other than that, Tad Friend's long-awaited profile of Nikki Finke, the proprietress of Deadline Hollywood, sadly missed the mark. We feel bad for Friend, because after having endured the exhausting emotional odyssey that is writing about Nikki Finke, whose limitless capacity for outrage and rhetorical combat are well-known to anyone who's been saddled with the task of profiling her (as are her perverse charm and cultivated vulnerability), he came up with what Finke accurately described as a "clip-job." After all the endless conversations and quarrelsome e-mails—some cc'd to attorneys—from Finke to Friend and his boss, New Yorker editor David Remnick, we'd hoped Friend would have come up with something meatier. The story of Nikki Finke, it seems to us, is summed up in this paragraph from Friend's profile: She has noticed a recent reduction in mendacity, perhaps because of her zero-tolerance policy: "I tell them, 'If you care so little about what my site has to say, then you won't care what I have to say about this.' You call it bullying, I call it promising." Seeking coöperation, Finke has called potential sources "morons," banged the phone down, or e-mailed them to say, "I'll have to publicly humiliate you" or "WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS STUFF? Who's in charge? Because I'm about to explode." Asked about the name-calling, Finke says, "And how do you know they weren't acting like morons?" When I mentioned a few other examples, Finke responded, "Oh, boohoo! They're calling that bullying? What, it's a playground, where I'm taking away their milk and cookies?" Well, what about those other examples, then? What, precisely, does Finke mean when she threatens to "say something" about "this"? The reason Sweet Smell of Success was a good movie was that there were knives, and people got stabbed with them. There's much wringing of hands about Finke's tactics in Friend's tale, but he doesn't really get the goods on the actual tactics themselves. Lets hear about those "promises." Let's hear about what stories Finke has gotten by threatening to "publicly humiliate" sources that refused to cooperate (or "coöperate," in the New Yorker's paleo-Germanic rendering of the English language.) If Nikki Finke is running around Hollywood blackmailing people for information, then let's have it. The anecdotes that Friend brings to the table about how Finke got certain stories are interesting, but say more about Finke's usefulness to the moguls who are capable of positioning her "eight to twelve per cent above the facts, a little window dressing of protection, of delay, of shading, or of burying something" than her own little tricks for convincing people to say what she would like them to say. We don't know for sure what... MORE >>
Mad Men: The Night of a Million Kisses
Our favorite retro drama may not have made it to the Summer of Love yet, but it's preparing with the Summer of First Base in this veritable snogapalooza. Pucker up, because August has everyone randy in 1963. It's a little cruel to be showing episodes about the dead heat of summer just as the weather has turned as cold as Betty Draper dealing with one of her children, but she and everyone else was melting in the sweltering heat. Of course the kisses were less than innocent and gave us a peek into the characters' lusty minds. Betty and Henry: As soon as Henry strutted into the Ossining City Council chambers last night, we knew that Betty's sexual reckoning was upon us. The pervy belly-rubber showed up to lend his pull at the governor's office to Betty and her junior league mavens so that they could derail some massive water tank being built near their reservoir. He actually didn't stop the development, but proposed that a study of the existing reservoir be done to push the project back and hopefully kill it. "When you don't have any power, you have to delay," he tells Betty. Betty once again hides behind her upright facade and bids Henry adieu in the parking lot, as much as she'd like to have him throw her down on her fainting couch and making chilly, barely moving love to her. He leans into her car window and asks if he had anything to do with her happiness—letting her know both that he wants to please her and slyly that her pleasure doesn't come for free. She lets him have a deep kiss, but is quickly on her way. Is she delaying so that she can have more power over the situation, or has she paid her debt and had her fill of flirting with a real, heart-felt affair? Later, we find out that the devious plot— his play to keep the water tank from being built has failed too—behind his devious plot to bed Betty has failed as well. Either his power and his promises are empty, or he pulled the governor's support when she wasn't willing to pull down her panties. Either way, it doesn't seem likely that Betty will be back with him soon. Betty and Don: While Betty's interior motivations were in question the entire hour, there was just as much attention paid to her shellacked exterior of beautiful perfection. We see her putting on lipstick in the mirror, getting her hair done in a magnificent bouffant, and fixing her beautiful flowing geometrical color print dress. Oh, and don't forget the return of her beautiful Suburban Splendor Barbie white sunglasses. If she can't single-handedly bring them back into style, then there is no justice in the world. And nowhere did she look more splendid than her night out in Rome with Don, where she worked that ornate hair structure, gorgeous gown, a those dangling orbs earrings that must contain the brilliance of the sun. Their scene on the palazo was the oddest and the most rewarding of the night. Once Betty starting speaking perfect Italian, it makes total sense that she would have studied the language at... MORE >>
The Wrath of McKinsey: Conde Nast To Fold Gourmet, Three Others
The results of the Conde Nast Magazine Death Pool are in, stunningly early: the company announced this morning that it's folding Gourmet, Cookie, and two bridal magazines, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. This, then, is the fallout from McKinsey. The company had floated the idea that its turnaround could be accomplished without any magazines going under (if you're keeping score, Michael Musto's rumor of five mag deaths beat Keith Kelly's rumor of zero), but that was always impractical. Gourmet and Bon Appetit both had horrific recent ad declines; it was logical that one of them would go. Cookie is a bit different—Conde boss Chuck Townsend actually honored the mag for being one of the company's few bright spots last year, ad-wise. But the parenting mag apparently wasn't well-established enough to weather the recession. And the bridal mags—brand extensions always disappear when times get tough. The brides of America will soldier on. Our condolences to the newly jobless. The full internal Conde memo, below. From: "Townsend, Chuck" Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 10:16:52 -0400 To: Conde Nast Publications-All Subject: Announcing Changes within Condé Nast We have now completed an extensive review of our business – an important undertaking given the dramatic changes in the U.S. economy. The review has led us to a number of decisions designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities. Condé Nast's success comes from the ability of our publications to attract readers with a wide range of interests, as well as advertisers who value them. But in this economic climate it is important to narrow our focus to titles with the greatest prospects for long-term growth. As a result of our review, Brides will increase its frequency to monthly to solidify its position as the most important brand in the bridal category, and Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will close. Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, but we will remain committed to the brand, retaining Gourmet's book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com. We will concentrate our publishing activities in the epicurean category on Bon Appétit. Finally, Cookie magazine will be discontinued, and resources that had been dedicated to its publishing will be invested elsewhere. The editorial and business staffs of Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, and Cookie all have earned their magazines large and devoted followings. We have been proud to publish these titles, and we are grateful to the staffs for their hard work and dedication. These changes, combined with cost and workforce reductions now underway throughout the company, will speed the recovery of our current businesses and enable us to pursue new ventures. In the coming weeks, we hope to announce initiatives to develop digital versions of our brands that will make use of new devices and distribution channels. Condé Nast is now in its... MORE >>
Scandalous Evidence Mounts: Letterman Had Human Emotions, Relationships
Will David Letterman ever live down the shame of being the first American to sleep with someone at work? Let's hope not! Sexxxy Letterman revelations this morning: Another fling, pictured! Dave's alleged Halderman hate rage! And, what will happen tonight?!? Dave Went Out With Another Intern, In the 90s, and TMZ Got Pictures Of Her: Yes! In the "early 1990s," Dave had a (sexxxy?) "relationship" with his then-intern, Holly Hester, who seems to have nothing but warm feelings towards him, still. TMZ got these decidedly non-scandalous photos of the female half of this long-ago routine interoffice romance. There she is: Holly Hester. Dave Was the First Man Ever to Dislike His Ex-Girlfriend's New Boyfriend, According to Anonymous Sources: The Post's daily Dave scoop: Some people who probably work in the office say Dave didn't like Joe Halderman, the new boyfriend of Dave's ex, Stephanie Birkitt. By contrast, most men greatly enjoy hanging out with their ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend and building close relationships. Although this guy did try to extort Dave for millions, so maybe there are two sides to the story. The Post sums this all up as "Hate show." It's like "Late Show," but with hate. Tonight's Show May Be Awkward: Last week Dave came out on air with all this scandal stuff. Now it's the week following that. Is there a potential for tonight's show to be kinda awkward? Yes, say the show's staffers. It could very well be awkward. Now you know. Women Are More Mad About This Stuff Than Men, Maybe, Or Not: Some people feel that Dave will have to make a strong effort to win back female fans, because females tend to view his behavior more negatively than men. Some women, though, are not so concerned about it. And some people (us) suspect that the angry women Dave will have to contend with will mostly be Sarah Palin supporters with long memories and a lust for schadenfreude. MORE >>
So-Called Seth Green Rant: Rubbish?
Hmmm. A reader sent in this video of the usually affable Seth Green "freaking out" after getting jumped outside the set of a commercial. We call bullshit for at least two reasons. &feature=player_embedded First, we can't really imagine Green throwing a Christian Bale-sized tantrum. Second, though we love all things Green, he's not the best dramatic actor and, sadly, this comes off as a bad bit. Initially we thought perhaps this was to publicize something, but Green's above that, right? Maybe he's just taking the piss to see what happens. Whatever the reason for this video, it seems phony to us, but why don't you offer your own take. We're easily influenced. MORE >>
Click here to safely unsubscribe now from "Gawker: Top Stories" or change your subscription or subscribe
| Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 |
No comments:
Post a Comment