[VIDEO] Sesame Street: Lucky Elmo Gets His Little Mind Blown with Christina Hendricks
Posted: May 19, 2015 Filed under: Education, Entertainment | Tags: Christina Hendricks, Mad Men, Sesame Street, video 1 CommentTechnology is a tool that makes something easier for you to do. Christina Hendricks loves technology. She uses a laptop computer to read up on bugs; she uses her cell phone to video chat with her Nanna and Pop-pop, and she takes pictures of flowers with her camera. What is your favorite piece of technology?
‘Mad Men’ Sets Finale Night Q&As and ‘Live Read’ Event
Posted: May 7, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Betty Draper, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, John Slattery, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, Vincent Kartheiser 1 Comment
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 26: Jon Hamm and Matthew Weiner attend the Film Independent at LACMA presents A Tribute To Mad Men: Part One at Bing Theatre At LACMA on March 26, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Araya Diaz/WireImage)
“Mad Men” is going out with a bang, setting a series of events for the evening of the show’s May 17 finale, including Television Academy panel sessions moderated by Variety‘s Debra Birnbaum.
“The Television Academy Presents a Farewell to Mad Men” at the Montalban Theater in Hollywood will feature Birnbaum moderating a Q&A with creator Matthew Weiner and star Jon Hamm. That conversation will be followed by a panel with cast members January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery, Kiernan Shipka and Jessica Pare, as well as key production staffers including costume designer Janie Bryant and production designer Dan Bishop and d.p. Christopher Manley.
The 5 p.m. PT event will stream live at TelevisionAcademy.com…(read more)
‘Mad Men’ Q & A with ‘Lost Horizon‘ Episode Cinematographer Phil Abraham
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: AMC (TV channel), Betty Draper, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, Elisabeth Moss, Joan Holloway, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, PEGGY OLSON, Semi Chellas, Vincent Kartheiser Leave a commentCynthia Littleton writes: Next to Matt Weiner, nobody knows the look and feel of “Mad Men” better than Phil Abraham. He was the cinematographer on the pilot, and he made an auspicious debut as a director for the series with 2007’s “The Hobo Code.” Abraham took a break from helming an episode of AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire” in Atlanta on Monday evening to talk about directing his final “Mad Men” episode, the May 3 installment “Lost Horizon,” from a razor-sharp script by Semi Chellas and Weiner.
This episode had so many pause-worthy moments for Joan, Don, Peggy and Roger. Did you know that going in or did it evolve as you were shooting?
“Mad Men” is different than any other show because the objective is to create those moments on camera and define them in a precise way. They are so special and so carefully crafted by the writers. As a director you’ve got to make sure they play visually and performance-wise and that everyone who is watching is aware of them….That’s what makes “Mad Men” such a different show than any other I’ve worked on. There is a precision to everything.
Does that precision make it harder or easier for you as the director?
The rigor with which these episodes are crafted is something special. The only way you can have moments like the one where Don is sitting in the conference room hearing the research thrown out and seeing the disembodied hands open up their portfolios and all take their pens out at the same time — that’s all scripted. But it has to be visualized to resonate. When you have Jon Hamm it’s not hard to make those things resonate. … It’s this amazing dance of performance and staging and everything that makes “Mad Men” the unique series that it is.
[Read the full interview here at Variety]
Christina Hendricks steals the episode with Joan’s showdown with McCann’s Jim Hobart.
She’s so strong-willed and I thought such a worthy adversary to (Hobart). I remember going through those scenes with her. Those are long scenes, there’s a lot of words. We talked about the emotion and the lack of emotion she would need to go toe to toe with the big boss. It was great. (Actor H. Richard Greene) was fantastic as well. The two of them played off each other so well. That scene stole the show for me. The dance they dance. It’s been a year since we shot it so it was great to watch it.
Roger and Peggy had a long and entertaining ‘moment’ together. How is Elisabeth Moss’ roller skating?
Peggy says to Roger ‘I don’t think you’ve ever paid this much attention to me.’ I don’t think they’ve ever had such a big scene. Read the rest of this entry »
Speakeasy: ‘Mad Men’ Season Premiere, ‘Severance’: A Conversation
Posted: April 5, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: AMC, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, Elisabeth Moss, Joan Harris, John Slattery, Mad Men, Roger Sterling, Speakeasy Leave a commentRead it here, at Speakeasy –WSJ
Review of ‘Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men’ at the Museum of the Moving Image
Posted: April 2, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, History | Tags: AMC (TV channel), Betty Draper, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, Emmy Award, Helen Gurley Brown, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, National Museum of American History, Sex and the Single Girl, Television program 1 CommentMarc Myers writes: When “Mad Men” returns to AMC on Sunday with the first of its final seven episodes, viewers will be wondering how ad-agency executive Don Draper ends the series—emotionally awakened or drifting down from his office window, as hinted by a falling silhouette in the show’s opening credits. For fans of the series’ 1960s wardrobe and sets, the more pressing question is how the show’s fashion and furnishings will evolve as its timeline inches past the moon landing and enters the shaggy, burnt-orange decay of 1970.
“Through the lens of series creator, producer and writer Matthew Weiner, the adult world of the 1960s is much more jaded and complex than the rosy, adolescent one recalled by many baby boomers who grew up then.”
The runaway popularity of “Mad Men” owes much to its dark story lines of personal demons, office power struggles and noirish character interactions with historical events. But from the start, in 2007, the series’ appeal has also been rooted in its richly detailed look that transports viewers back to an age of sleek office furniture, space-age design, meticulous grooming and colorful clothes. All are represented in “Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men” at the Museum of the Moving Image, an exhibit that celebrates both the show’s vision and visuals.
“The show is not a history lesson or intellectual exploration. It is entertainment based on tension, irony and storytelling that is closely related to today’s life.”
— Matthew Weiner, summarizing the show’s guiding principle
Through the lens of series creator, producer and writer Matthew Weiner, the adult world of the 1960s is much more jaded and complex than the rosy, adolescent one recalled by many baby boomers who grew up then. As the decade unfolds beginning in 1960, the show’s characters find themselves caught in a cultural riptide, with rock, civil rights and feminism changing the balance of power faster than they can adapt. Many turn to alcohol, drugs and serial affairs to ease the stress and hold on to the world they once knew.
Staged in a winding series of rooms, the new exhibit sheds light on how ”Mad Men” was developed by Mr. Weiner and his writers and designers. The exhibit begins with a glass case of books that most influenced Mr. Weiner’s approach, including Helen Gurley Brown’s “Sex and the Single Girl,” the “Journals of John Cheever” and David Ogilvy’s “Ogilvy on Advertising.” The book display is followed by a full-blown re-creation of the room used by the “Mad Men” writing team, complete with their 1960s Danish modern teak conference table, 10 black leather executive chairs, and character-development cards on a wall board. Read the rest of this entry »
[PHOTO] Mad Men: Don & Peggy
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: #MadMen, AMC, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, John Slattery, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Manhattan, Matthew Weiner, Museum of the Moving Image (New York City), Photography Leave a comment“For me, Peggy and Don will always be my favorite relationship on the show. I used to hear for so long, ‘Are they going to get together romantically or is it a father–daughter thing? Is it mentor–protégée? Are they enemies? Are they friends?’ It’s all of those things.”
— Elisabeth Moss
What Mad Men Teaches Us About Money
Posted: May 4, 2014 Filed under: Economics, Entertainment, U.S. News | Tags: Bob Benson, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, James Wolk, Joan Holloway, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Roger Sterling, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce 2 CommentsFor Daily Finance, Annalisa Kraft-Linder writes: Millions of Americans are addicted to “Mad Men,” the AMC drama chronicling the lives of the people at ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Enthralling us over seven seasons are their mostly sordid sex lives, boozy business lunches, snazzy apartments, period clothes and finned Cadillacs.
“They say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell buys everything else.”
— Bob Benson
Although money is rarely addressed, suck-up Bob Benson of season six (James Wolk) sums up their attitudes neatly: “They say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell buys everything else.” Here’s what else you can learn about money from the hit show, which wraps up this year.
‘Happiness Is the … Freedom from Fear’
Agency creative director Don Draper (Jon Hamm) leads a complicated life. He had been on unscheduled leave after a major meltdown in front of the Hershey (HSY) clients. He conspires with his former secretary to keep his family in the dark about his out-of-work status. His relationship with his work and money is so tied in to the ’60s concept of the masculine breadwinner that on the April 27 episode he finally admits his fear to wife, Megan (Jessica Pare),”If you found out what happened, you wouldn’t look at me in the same way.”
“I’m just acknowledging that life, unlike this analysis, will eventually end, and someone else will get the bill.”
— Roger Sterling
Draper could have taken a job at another agency for less money but submits sheepishly to be part of the SCDP fold under humiliating conditions to keep up his lifestyle and win back Megan. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Man World
Posted: April 13, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: AMC, Christina Hendricks, Don Draper, Final Season, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Twitter Leave a commentThe Final Season is about to begin – pour yourself a drink and enjoy! #MadMen pic.twitter.com/Ufk2vc8OyU
— Mad Men (@MadMen_AMC) April 14, 2014
