542 stories by "Mark Blankenship"
Remember how cool it was when Kanye West featured alt-rock’s Bon Iver on his last album? And remember in the 90s when P.M. Dawn made amazing hip-hop records by referencing everything f…
After two weeks away, I am back from China, and this is the most revolting thing I ate while I was there. Now that I’ve returned to the U.S., jetlag is pretty much dominating my daily …
The playwright makes her Broadway debut with “The Mountaintop” Playwright Katori Hall has the best kind of laugh—a loud explosion that almost forces you to laugh alo…
Hello everyone! I’m going to China for the next two weeks. Wooo! I’ll see you on October 10.
We need to talk about Revenge, the ABC drama that has quickly joined NBC’s Up All Night as my favorite new show of the season. The pilot is delicious: It’s got the soapy intrigue…
Looking for excellent film writing? IÂ recommend Roommate Joe’s and Nick “Pop Songs Tournament” Davis‘ reflections on the movies they’ve seen this year. They…
The title of this post is not a spiritual claim… it’s the name of a 1999 song by The Tamperer featuring Maya (not to be confused with Mya.) However, the song is so awesome that t…
* Overall, I enjoyed the show. I love upset winners, and these awards provided plenty. It was especially great to see Melissa McCarthy step out from the beauty-pageant line of Best Comedy Ac…
Elevator Repair Service gets inventive with Ernest Hemingway Elevator Repair Service’s new show The Select (The Sun Also Rises) is a lot of fun, but in between the stellar perfo…
If you’re wondering why I’ve spent the week vacillating between terror and joy, then I should remind you that the new TV season has begun. Every night brings a new companion to m…
Given all the neck popping and hand flailing and implied snapping, you might think this Tide commercial perpetuates the stereotype of the “sassy black woman.” But think again. It…
Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood. SPOILERS AHEAD —- Oh my God… it’s like this episode …
Our friends at DancePulp have fantastic video series that features the best contemporary dancers and choreographers talking about their careers. From time to time, we’ll be sharing exc…
Ars Nova nurtures ambitious insanity in "The Lapsburgh Layover" To the outside observer, Ars Nova could seem like your basic, respectable Off Broadway theatre: It's got a posh building in He…
On next week’s Billboard Hot 100, the #1 song in America will be Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Thanks to her lovely performance at the VMAs, the song sold 275,000 digit…
How Fiasco Theater created its celebrated Shakespeare production — Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline is more than just bluegrass numbers and clever beheadings. Granted, those to…
Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments in this week’s episode of True Blood. SPOILERS AHEAD — I liked several things about “Soul of Fir…
In last week’s New York Times magazine, Carina Chocano made a convincing argument that tabloid fixtures like Lindsay Lohan are the heroines of a new Gothic literature. Her arguments sp…
Arena Stage revises its own remount of the classic musical — Call it a revised revival. Last year, Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage mounted the classic musical Oklahoma!, and since the p…
When it comes to art and culture, how do we know if we dislike something… or if we simply don’t have the tools to understand it? Case in point: For the last 6 years, a friend of …
How Kyle Barisich mastered 20 roles in the classic Broadway musical Share this with a friend:
Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the most potent moments from this week’s episode of True Blood. SPOILERS AHEAD — People have been losing control of their b…
The summer has blasted us with hits, and if you don’t like “Moves Like Jagger,” then it’s not July’s problem. But for every hot track that has dominated the sea…
The "Follies" star delivers a showstopping performance — Welcome to Building Character, TDF's ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles — Follies proves the pow…
Check out my latest piece for MSNBC.com, which names the 5 most disappointing movies of the summer. (Hint: A film can make a lot of money and still be a disappointment.) I interviewed film c…
