Girl, Interrupted: The Life and Death of Brittany Murphy "Part of the shock surrounding Murphy's death is clearly related to her age, though it may also be attributed to the fact that Murphy has been in the public eye for over 15 years, starting out in Hollywood when she was 14... It's something we've watched progress this entire decade: young women who are held up as the next big thing (Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears) and then brushed aside or openly mocked after they no longer fit an expected mold. It is both a story of self-destruction and mass-destruction, the business of creating and destroying a star; sometimes it's caused by internal forces, and sometimes it's fed by the rest of the world."
posted by ocherdraco on Dec 20, 2009 - 139 comments

The People Who Ruined The Decade [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Dec 14, 2009 - 148 comments

The Sickest Buddhist - Arj Barker from The Flight of the Conchords does a rap skewering of materialism in Western Buddhism. (via) Brad Warner offers a more serious critique of "satori porn" (sfw) Beliefnet talks about the branding of Buddhism, where it's used to market everything from mp3 players to perfume to bars to ... toilet paper holders?
posted by desjardins on Dec 11, 2009 - 61 comments

"YOU CAN HAVE THE FURRY ONE, I WANT THE ONE THAT SPARKLES." Fan posters at the Twilight: New Moon premiere.
posted by ocherdraco on Nov 18, 2009 - 179 comments

There was a typewriter repairman in North Hollywood, California. He couldn’t believe it when all of a sudden someone deposited 24 vintage typewriters on his doorstep and said, “Make them look new.” He probably hadn’t had that much work in the last 25 years. He was probably just about ready to hang up the “Going out of business” sign and cursing the arrival of the laptop computer when all of a sudden here I come with 24 typewriters. The Collectors Weekly interviews Scott Buckwald, propmaster for Mad Men.
posted by dersins on Oct 18, 2009 - 44 comments

Vulgar Army: Octoprop to Octopop is "an informal study into the representation of the Octopus in propaganda and political cartoons, and influence on, or co-option of, popular culture." [more inside]
posted by ollyollyoxenfree on Oct 10, 2009 - 10 comments

CUBEDUDES ...dig into Pixar Animator Angus Maclane's Lego figurine photostream.
posted by bonobothegreat on Sep 22, 2009 - 16 comments

The Footnotes of Mad Men explores and discusses the historic events, themes, and cultural mores of the show.
posted by mattdidthat on Sep 15, 2009 - 33 comments

The Seven Deadly Sins by Dan Lydersen (on sale here [scroll down] with details and IDs of all references) is a modern homage to this work by Bosch. Bonus points if you identify the source of this post's title.
posted by yiftach on Aug 21, 2009 - 15 comments

Lost At E Minor is an online publication of inspiring art, illustration, photography, music, fashion, film — basically contemporary pop culture.
posted by netbros on May 20, 2009 - 23 comments

Get your Daily Dose of '80s kitsch.
posted by idiopath on Apr 12, 2009 - 19 comments

Gallery 1988 (previously on MetaFilter) presents Television reconsidered, deconstructed, reconstructed, reimagined and just had too much fun with, the usual subjects and a few surprises and much much more (after a word from our sponsor) in "Idiot Box". (Everything with titles & credits at that last link) (via)
posted by wendell on Apr 11, 2009 - 4 comments

From cops vs. hoods and other toughies to mad science and dramatic ledges and bridgewalkers, a vast and entertaining collection of vintage pulp art categorized into themes.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 26, 2009 - 17 comments

How Science Fiction Found Religion
posted by shoesfullofdust on Mar 13, 2009 - 72 comments

The Science Of Back to The Future [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Feb 27, 2009 - 35 comments

Nardwuar the Human Serviette is an interesting, abrasive and knowledgeable music journalist. Many of his interviews are on film and posted to youtube. Previously on metafilter. Warning: single link to a youtube user. [more inside]
posted by christhelongtimelurker on Feb 18, 2009 - 20 comments

The 40 Greatest Lost Icons In Pop Culture History
posted by telstar on Dec 7, 2008 - 56 comments

A collection of weird and whimsical pop culture t-shirt designs.
posted by desjardins on Dec 7, 2008 - 32 comments

A Nice Idea Every Day [more inside]
posted by puckish on Dec 3, 2008 - 2 comments

The Archive of American Television "produces extensive video oral history interviews with television legends of all professions and makes them available online. To date, the Archive has completed over 2000 hours of videotaped conversations with over 570 Actors, Producers, Writers, Newscasters, Executives, Directors, Craftspersons, and more. ... The interviews are conducted by reviewing the subject's life and career chronologically. They discuss their childhood, early influences, how their career began, and thoroughly cover their television careers, ending with their thoughts on the industry and legacy."*
posted by not_on_display on Nov 11, 2008 - 9 comments

Quantum of culture. Terminology from quantum theory shows up frequently in art, films, poetry and sculpture. Robert P. Crease gauges the impact of quantum mechanics on popular culture. [Via]
posted by homunculus on Oct 27, 2008 - 20 comments

80's sillibiz, parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Garbage Pail Kids cards.The checklist. A few of the Garbage Pail Kids' artists: Luiz Diaz l John Pound l Tom Bunk. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Sep 28, 2008 - 37 comments

Alison Bechdel, creator of the very long-running "Dykes to Watch Out For" as well as the autobiographical graphic novel "Fun Home", may end up best known for her creation/popularization of "The Bechdel Test" (also mentioned on wikipedia). [more inside]
posted by rmd1023 on Sep 3, 2008 - 257 comments

Puzzled by sugary J-Pop bands and their eccentric (and failed) TV shows? Frustrated and confused by the complexity of Japanese and want to see what your inchoate blustering looks like from the other side? Then join "perennially unpopular" gaijin celebrity Thane Camus (grand-nephew of Albert Camus), as he walks a class of fellow pop star clichés through an endearingly awkward English conversation class.
posted by Rhaomi on Aug 21, 2008 - 22 comments

Vaughn Toulouse was not born Toulouse. He was born Vaughn Cotillard on the island of Jersey on this day in 1959. In the summer of ’78, he left home to tag along on tour with the Clash, which he chronicled in an early issue of The Face. Thus inspired, Toulouse formed a series of bands of his own including Guns For Hire and Department S, which scored a big hit with Is Vic There? (TOTP, Cheggers) and a lesser one with I Want. [more inside]
posted by grounded on Jul 30, 2008 - 5 comments

In a time before the Prius, the custom conversion van ruled the roadways. Pushing the boundaries of the airbrush form, testing the limits of mobile interior design, featuring the latest in automatic pink leather bed, compact toaster, 8-track, and love machine technology, the 70s van was celebrated in song and cinema. You started with a factory model, new or used, and ended at a place limited onlyby your creativity, your budget, and your old lady's patience (NSFW). Ford could make you a man.If push came to shove, you could even live in your van. It was fantasy on wheels: van-tastic, man. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Jul 18, 2008 - 43 comments

Branded in the 80's: Peel Here From the obvious to the obscure to the downright frightening, Peel Here documents the collectible stickers of the 80's and related ephemera.
posted by 1f2frfbf on Jun 26, 2008 - 42 comments

Stephen King has described The Dark Tower as his "Jupiter." The epic series, inspired in part by Robert Browning's poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", has spanned 22 years, 7 books and nearly 4000 pages. The first book in the series, The Gunslinger, begins with a simple, memorable declaration, "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Apr 18, 2008 - 160 comments

Riffing on the 1970s as the "Me Generation," Esquire Magazine once referred to the 1980s as the "Re Generation," making the case that all of our popular music, fashion, etc was being recycled from previous decades. They had no idea. Since then, the flood of entertainment has deposited many more sedimentary layers of pop culture. Today, musicians and music videos mine these condensed strata of modern media as raw materials, producing works of hyper-compressed cultural references. Case in point: The Scissor Sisters' "Comfortably Numb", Justice's "DVNO", and The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." [more inside]
posted by adamrice on Apr 15, 2008 - 99 comments

World's worst tattoo? World's worst tattoo.
posted by jonson on Apr 8, 2008 - 120 comments

Y'all think whatever you want about Michael Jackson now, knaamean? But on this day back in 1983, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was being taped before a live audience. Since he was no longer contractually tied to Motown, MJ planned to attend but not perform at the function; he was finally able to negotiate a solo spot singing a non-Motown song. Thriller had been released more than a year prior; Billie Jean had been the Number One single on Billboard's Top 100 for two weeks. It was time for a Pop Culture "Do you remember where you were when...?" moment. And then came the moonwalk.
posted by t2urner on Mar 25, 2008 - 82 comments

Marvel vs. the BMI (one-link, but fun.)
posted by Navelgazer on Mar 4, 2008 - 69 comments

Bill Bixby haiku from 1994. [via]
posted by GrammarMoses on Dec 30, 2007 - 15 comments

The Katzenjammer Kids* are 110 years old this month, the world's longest running comic. Watch 1918's Policy & Pie (pt. 2), rare animation by creator Rudolph Dirks who lost the strip to William Randolph Hearst in a court case. The strip was taken over by Harold H. Knerr, but Dirks retained rights to the characters and produced a rival cartoon under The Captain & the Kids for Pulitzer papers for several decades. Five artists followed Dirks and Knerr creating the strip for Hearst.
posted by madamjujujive on Dec 27, 2007 - 14 comments

From about 1875 to the 1940s, cigarette cards spurred tobacco sales. Sets offer a glimpse into the popculture of the times, spanning newsmakers, cinema celebrities, and sports stars; cute illustrated subjects, like "frisky" and children with rosy cheeks; handy info like air raid precautions, first aid, and amusing tricks; and neat stuff like famous escapes, exotic races, and figures of speech. Browse more fun sets of vintage images.
posted by madamjujujive on Dec 11, 2007 - 21 comments

Child-bearing machines, net café refugees and bottom-biting bugs: Top 60 Japanese buzzwords of 2007.
posted by mediareport on Nov 19, 2007 - 16 comments

Pop Life Art and its associated blog focus on celebrity art, heavy on the rock stars. One of my happy discoveries is Martin Mull's collection of collages, but I bemoan the lack of any wildlife art from Radar O'Reilly. If you're a pop culture junkie, here's a little advice on celebrity art collecting from an expert.
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 19, 2007 - 3 comments

Before there were videogames, growing up in England in the late 1960s though the 70's we had Action Transfers. The Letraset company branched off its division of hand set rub-on transfer fonts into full blown action scenes, with Cowboys & Indians, famous historical battles, Vikings, natural disasters & more. This collector has dozens of sets, scanned in high resolution & never used.
posted by jonson on Sep 30, 2007 - 50 comments

For many kids, the space age made its TV debut years before Sputnik with 1950's TV space serials.
1950 - Space Patrol - The Hidden Treasure of Mars. (Part two)
1954 - Rocky Jones' Space, Space Ranger - Rocky's Odyssey. (Chapters two, three)
1954 - Flash Gordon - Deadline at Noon and Akim the Terrible. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 24, 2007 - 5 comments

From hair styles and hotpants to bellbottoms and boots, this site has amassed a massive fashion photo collection of groovy celebrities and swingin' stars from the '60s and '70s.
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 9, 2007 - 26 comments

We're drowning in quirk. It is the ruling sensibility of today’s Gen-X indie culture, defined territorially by the gentle ministrations of public radio’s This American Life; the strenuously odd (and now canceled) TV sitcom Arrested Development; the movies of Wes Anderson; Dave Eggers’s McSweeney’s Web site; the performance art, music, and writing of Miranda July; and the just-too-wacky-to-be-fully-believable memoirs of Augusten Burroughs. It’s been 20 years of beneficent, wide-eyed gazing upon the oddities of our fellow man. David Byrne probably birthed contemporary quirk around 1985— halfway between his “Psycho Killer” beginnings with the Talking Heads and his move to global pop—when he sang the song “Stay Up Late”: “Cute, cute, little baby / Little pee-pee, little toes.” (As it happens, Byrne appeared on July’s recent book tour.) Jon Cryer’s “Duckie” Dale in Pretty in Pink came a year later, and quirk was on its way.
posted by psmealey on Sep 5, 2007 - 176 comments

What, no Bill & Ted? NY Magazine's interesting and diverse (or at least conversation-engendering) list of the top 15 pop-culture "duos" of all time. They cleverly narrowed down the list by eliminating non-equals (e.g. Batman & Robin), duos within groups (e.g. Spock & Kirk), & romantic couples (e.g. Mork & Mindy). Fans of classic comedy duos might be disappointed (they're also missing the most dynamic duo in the history of mankind).
posted by ericbop on Aug 14, 2007 - 84 comments

Lindsay Lohan, America's Dream Girl*, has been a potent pop culture event ever since her rise to fame in Disney's 1998 remake of Parent Trap. As the first red haired child ever hired by Ford Modeling Agency at the age of 3, Lohan clearly had her young eye aimed at Hollywood. Her breakout role came with the 2004 release of Mean Girls. Skyrocketed into the public consciousness, Lohan quickly released two pop albums and pumped out classic films such as Herbie: Fully Loaded and Georgia Rule. With Britney Spears's descent into oblivion and Paris Hilton's problems with the law, Lohan appeared ready to supplant Britney as The It Girl. But with her rocky personal life and her love of night clubs, the party scene, strawberry quick, and after problems with her studio, and running low on cash, people wondered, could Lohan turn her life around? Sadly, that appears to be a no. After being charged with a DUI on Thursday for an accident in May, Lohan was charged with another DUI (and cocaine possession) Monday morning after chasing another car. A story is quickly unfolding involving a fired assistant, bad damage control, a bar at a rehab center, prison chic, more bad parenting and a request for privacy / denial of drug possession. Mugshots were also released. Is she the next Pete Doherty?
posted by Stynxno on Jul 25, 2007 - 188 comments

When Fangirls Attack is a compilation of articles and essays about women in comics.
posted by FunkyHelix on Jul 4, 2007 - 69 comments

Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena was born in October, 2006 to help fight the good fight against the overwhelming majority of noise in the media supporting useless alternative medicine systems, psychics preying upon the vulnerable, the erosion of science education in the classroom, xenophobia of advanced energy and food production methods, and generally anything that distracts attention and public funding from scientific advancement. Episodes feature such prominent MeFi discussion material as organic food myths, blood for oil, chiropractics, and SUVs. Links are to podcast transcripts. Full episode guide.
posted by arcticwoman on May 24, 2007 - 38 comments

Mariah Carey album covers in Saudi Arabia. These appear to be genuine, not a hoax (although the album covers on the Megastar website don't appear to have been changed). From the comments on the post: Actually, I think she looks better in the covered up pictures. Via Mini ZuD.
posted by russilwvong on Apr 21, 2007 - 64 comments

You love pop culture trivia quizzes. Am I wrong?
posted by miss lynnster on Apr 3, 2007 - 28 comments

In 1997, a geeky little boy from New Mexico became one of the first major web celebrities when he reached out to meet his future girlfriend. He talks about the impact that this unexpected celebrity had on his life. Apparently, after years of eschewing the web, he's all grown up and he's looking for "bois" on MySpace (sound is NSFW). (via szanalmas, possibly NSFW).
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 12, 2007 - 45 comments

Lobby Card Invasion. A searchable collection of a wide variety of lobby cards for all kinds of interesting films. [via PCL LinkDump]
posted by mediareport on Jan 27, 2007 - 10 comments

12 months of George Petty pinups. And 16 more. Hell, have 5 pages worth. More about the Petty Girl, an advertising and pop culture icon with an often unfinished look who made her first appearance in Esquire in 1933 and whose elegant line quickly became famous. [via Bibi's Box, which has lots more Petty and pinup links] [warning: busty pinup girls]
posted by mediareport on Jan 18, 2007 - 23 comments