A&E: Fashion at the Met Gala- May 8th

Emma Stone and Lanvin Designer Alber Elbaz at the Met Gala

New York Times writer Cathy Horyn gives us a first person peek at the Met Gala from last night in her article entitled ‘Fashion Forward in Comfort at the Met Gala.’ 

Horyn gives us a look at what the fashion scene was like at the Gala last night. She pours every bit of sarcasm, personality and criticism into her writing about what the atmosphere was like and what all the celebrities were wearing.

Even though it is a personal and opinion based story of what she observed there, Horyn still manages to get in direct quotes from celebrities such as Emma Stone and designers such as Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. The quotes were just brief comments on what Stone was wearing and what it was made from but they still provide credibility no matter how brief.

Horyn continues to describe with great detail the stuffiness of the room and the tightly packed tables and how all the women and their big and lavish dresses were impossible to avoid and how one could spot the athletes in their dark tailored suits. Horyn’s great use of descriptive dialogue easily makes the reader visualize being there and is a great example of SHOWING and not TELLING.

A&E: Irish Songwriter Julie Feeney- April 29th

Julie Feeney The award-winning Irish songwriter and singer on Thursday at the Irish Arts Center.

New York Times writer Jon Pareles, gives us a review of Irish songwriter Julie Feeney in his article entitled “Theatrical on the shell, Intricate at the Core, Julie Feeney at the Irish Arts Center.”

Pareles does an examination of Feeney and her unique style of music. He starts the article out by comparing her appearance to that of eccentric performer’s like Lady Gaga but then diverges by pointing out that her look does not reflect her style.

Pareles goes on to elaborate through praiseful words of how Feeney uses the study of music and sound and psychoanalysis to write and sing music with philosophical meaning.

After attending Feeney’s show, Pareles lets the reader know the kinds of themes and inspirations Feeney uses in her work. He uses descriptiveness to show the readers how mesmerizing Feeney is on stage as well and describes her performance as a ‘blur of chamber concert and theater piece.’

Ultimately though, Pareles makes this article on Feeney news worthy because Feeney is playing a 10-night stand at the Irish Arts Center through May 6th.

A&E: Jimmy Kimmel & the White House Correspondents Dinner April 24th

Jimmy Kimmel talks to the NYTimes about how he feels in regards to hosting this years White House Correspondents Dinner

I love Jimmy Kimmel. He is one of my favorite late night talk show hosts, so I was thrilled to hear that he was going to be the speaker at the White House Correspondents Dinner this year.

In The New York Times article entitled, “No Pressure: Just Make Obama Laugh,” writer Bill Carter talks to Kimmel about the upcoming dinner and how he is handling the pressure.

Carter also makes sure to cite dinners and hosts from the past, such as Seth Meyers and Steven Colbert, to provide a history to the event and to use as example for Kimmel to learn and stem from.

Kimmel talks about the pressure he feels but how he isn’t that nervous. Carter also included quotes from Meyers and Colbert after their respective dinners. Carter focuses on how Colbert had an awkward experience because he spoke during the Bush Administration and after the event many felt that he had been rude and overly critical of the administration. This information guided Kimmel to talk about what he was afraid the dinner would do to him if he slipped up.

Carter goes on to talk about how this dinner could launch Kimmel’s career. He cites Kimmel’s credible resume and explains why he is a perfect candidate for hosting the entertainment at this year’s event.

Overall the article was an interview and a bit of a preview for what is to come and how Kimmel is feeling about the event. As a fan of Kimmel myself, I don’t doubt that it will be entertaining.

A&E: “The Presidents Club” Book Review April 17th

A picture of Eisenhower welcoming Kennedy to the White House was featured with this NYTimes article

New York Times staff writer, Janet Maslin, reviews a book for the NYTIMES section called ‘Books of the Time,” called ‘The Presidents Club.’

The book is writer by Time Magazine editors Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. Maslin opens up the review with an analysis of the phrase, “the presidents club,” with a historical context. She cites jokes made about with the phrase by past presidents such as Hoover and Truman.

Maslin book review cleverly blends together the summary of the book with brief and broad statements of the general idea of the novel. She states that the book is generally an analysis of how the Presidents of this nation have a unique pass-the-baton type of relationship.

Maslin talks about how Gibbs and Duffy do a good job with the various pictures included in the novel and describing the how every president comes into office thinking he’ll do better and make right what was done before him, but in reality things never turn out as planned.

Maslin criticizes the novel though for focusing too much on specific president’s conundrums and being diffuse in general. Maslin criticizes how the subject matter being written about easy get tangled and says that even though the idea for the book is brilliant its delivery was just a tad flat.

Maslin did appreciate the animated knowledge Gibbs & Duffy displayed in regards to more recent presidents and as stated before Maslin did like the intimate photos shown within the book. But overall Maslin seems to give the book a positive-ish feedback but is critical of its delivery.

A&E: The Hunger Games Success March 25th

Fans wait in line for the midnight screening of The Hunger Games

I have been a fan of the Hunger Games series long before it became a pop culture phenomenon, so I was surprised with the sudden explosion in popularity of the franchise with the release of the film.

According to the New York Times article entitled, “‘Hunger Games’ Tickets Sales Set Record, “writer Brooks Barnes reports on how the Hunger Games hit the box office jack pot its opening weekend.

Barnes doesn’t just discuss the financial box office success of the film, but delves deeper into WHY the film franchise is doing so well and receiving so much positive feedback. Barnes point out that with the end of a classic franchise like Harry Potter, audiences were looking for something new to delve into.

Barnes goes even further into highlighting the smart advertising and marketing tactics of the movie’s distributor, Lionsgate. Barnes clearly did research on people involved with the film Production Company and people on Wall Street who are all tied to why The Hunger Games was such a financial success. Barnes reveals that since the series has such a solid following Wall Street is looking to invest in it to earn back some revenue.

Barnes uses one direct quote within the article by a credible source who is an editor for a movie site, but aside from that she just mentions relevant people with valid information.

Overall, Barnes took a mundane article about the successful ticket sales of The Hunger Games and turned it into a analysis and report on what the future looks like for the franchise on a financial and cultural scale.

A&E: Hollywood’s new found love of Fairy Tales March 21

Image from NYTimes Online of Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer in Hollywood’s latest adaption of Snow White, “Mirror Mirror” 

I absolutely LOVE fairytales. Wether it be a book, a movie or a television show, anything relating to fairytales draws me in. As did todays article in the NYTimes entitled, “The Better to Entertain You With, My Dear” with a subhead reading, “Mirror Mirror’, ‘Grimm’ and Hollywood Love For Fairy Tales.” The article is written by Terrence Rafferty and discusses how there seems to be a influx of fairytale related films and television series that are taking over entertainment. Rafferty highlights a few such as ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and NBC’s “Grimm” and two upcoming movies that have readapted Snow White and another called “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter.” Rafferty does not use any outside sources or quotes from anyone, the article only consists of Rafferty discussing the various subplots, successes and failures of various fairytale related material in entertainment. In the article Rafferty displays some of his own personal feelings when he criticizes how fairytales don’t meant he same thing for todays generation. Because of his personal analysis, this article went from a news worthy piece because of its relevance to the current times and impact in the entertainment industry, to an issue piece. He talks about how technology has altered youth to be skeptical and how fairytales no longer represent life lessons and morals. As a huge fan of fairytales I agree with Rafferty in that fairytales no longer have the same charm and allure as they once did, but I still very much enjoy all these adaptions that bring back my favorite stories

A&E: The return of “Community” March 13

Scene from the NBC comedy, "Community", which was featured in the NYTimes print and online version.

I was excited about reading this A&E piece in the NYTimes when I saw the main art was a scene from the NBC comedy, “Community”. I love the show. It is clever and quirky and all around just hilarious. So Bill Carter’s article, “College’s Winter Break Finally Ends” got me very excited. The article is a news worthy piece because it talks about how NBC had shelved the show for a while in December but it is now officially coming back. Carter talks about the show and its various themes and how it appeals to audiences. Then Carter goes on to discuss how the show was shelved because of ratings and how that has effected the creators and network. He uses valid sources and interviews the shows creator and various members of the cast. He also has indirect quotations from NBC networks executive vice president. Carter takes an unbias angle to this story and is just informing the audience of the reprisal of a fan favorite show. Although the article is essentially news worthy because of its timeliness and impact that it will have on network television, but Carter also turns it into a bit of an issue story by highlighting how fewer people are watching television because they can watch everything online. Carter subtly highlights how this new generation has moved on from television and growing changes in media has made it a lot easier for people to watch things online. This harms the television market because people watch their shows but they don’t get any ratings. Carter also introduces a new solution for this problem. He talks about how the creators of “Community” and NBC have now come into partnership with online sites like HULU plus. Hulu is a popularly used site to watch television shows on, so with this partnership the show will be able to track its ratings. Carter turned his linear story of a shelled show getting a second chance into an issue story of a changing media and how to tackle that issue. My favorite part of the article was the quote by show creator, Dan Harmon, on their most coveted demographic; college students”..These very smart, upwardly mobile, college-age kids just don’t watch TV anymore.”