-
Archives
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
-
Meta
Tag Archives: Jaguar
Mad Men: Commissions and Fees
SONIA BRAND-FISHER: It seems futile, to me, to attempt to eulogize Lane Pryce. For a man so utterly complex and so consistently facing feelings of inadequacy, lack of fulfillment, and conflicting performances of identity, it would not be far fetched to wonder whether he would take his own life. This episode, it can be argued, was incredibly predictable. But that is not a detriment to the episode as a whole, for the acting on the part of Jared Harris, in particular, but also of Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Vincent Kartheiser, and Christina Hendricks stuns the audience into yet another Mad Men-induced trance. Continue reading
Mad Men: The Other Woman
SONIA BRAND-FISHER: When my mother read Gwenyth Swain’s “The Road to Seneca Falls” (a children’s chapter book about the women’s suffrage movement) to me as a little girl, the book began with with a detailed account of the unjust, yet normalized opinions of women and their roles in society. A visceral reaction came from my 7-year-old self in response to the tame description of the marginalization of women. I began to scream and cry, my mind whirled, and my mother put the book on the shelf never to be touched again. A similar reaction came over me when watching this episode of “Mad Men.” Though there was no temper tantrum, and I sat through the entire episode, by the end I was shaking. The structure, the men, the women, the pimps, the whores, the actors, the agencies, and The Other Woman all make up the best hour of television that I have ever seen. Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Culture
Tagged Don Draper, Gevalia, Jaguar, Joan Holloway, Mad Men, Peggy Olson, pimps, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, whores, women's suffrage
86 Comments
Mad Men: Christmas Waltz
SONIA BRAND-FISHER: Like every waltz, like every Joan and Don flirtation, like every brilliant episode of “Mad Men,” everything must eventually come to an end. This is an episode that I wanted to keep going and going until the tension from an anxious, embezzling Lane Pryce, a pissed off Megan, a visually jolting Hare Krishna Paul Kinsey, and a magical date with Joan and Don wrapped itself together and consumed me whole. This episode, “Christmas Waltz,” played with ideas of absurdity and comfort while testing the limits of every character at its forefront.
HOWARD MEGDAL: For all of Roger Sterling’s fantastic lines this season- and there have been what, 900 of them?-nothing will resonate with me this season quite as much as Joan’s perfectly executed “Surprise! There’s an airplane here to see you!” thrown at the receptionist who, let’s face it, was eventually getting something thrown at her by someone. Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Culture
Tagged christmas waltz, Don Draper, Jaguar, Joan Holloway, Mad Men, Star Trek
42 Comments
Mad Men: Signal 30
SONIA BRAND-FISHER: A meditation on marriage, fidelity, and personal loyalties, “Mad Men”’s episode 5 of season 5 stirred our minds with some disturbing dialogue, an office fist fight, and Don Draper in a plaid sport jacket (that he could not have looked more uncomfortable in if he had tried). This week’s episode was full of moments that felt tightened and tense, between the country dinner party with Trudy and Pete’s friction and Lane Pryce’s search for a solid identity being a British immigrant enthralled by Americanism to the degree that he is allowed.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I think this might have been the strongest episode of the season to date. No argument with anything Sonia said, but I’d like to highlight a few other points of note. Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Culture
Tagged America, Don Draper, England, identity, Jaguar, Lane Pryce, loyalty, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Pete Campbell, Roger Steling, Trudy Campbell
43 Comments