Rolling Stone

In the new issue of Rolling Stone—the one that features Sean Wilentz's "How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party" on its cover—Andy Greene writes about the enduring appeal of the Coen Brothers' 1998 film, The Big Lebowski.

That the movie was a flop and yet has grown into an enormously successful cult phenomenon, including its own circuit of Trekkie-like conventions has been well-documented. In March, Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis offered a personal take on the movie and its afterlife called "The Dude & I":

I don't think I had ever tasted a White Russian prior to attending my first Lebowski Fest in 2003, but since then I've consumed far more than anyone with high cholesterol should.  read more »

On Octobser 17th Rolling Stone will be 8-by-11 inches instead of 10-by-11 3/4 inches, The Times' Richard Pérez-Peña reports today.

Last month, when we reported that the magazine was considering a redesign, we asked a few people on the street what they thought. "I’d feel less cool reading the new one," said one young guy on his uptown ride on the 4 train. "It just seems like it would be a Fortune or a Newsweek."

What does Jann Wenner have to say about that to The Times? "All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia," he said.

You hear that, subway guy? Jann Wenner says you're living in the past.

Yesterday, we told you that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner was considering a major redesign of his magazine. He sent out a test copy to subscribers and asked them to participate in a survey to tell him what they thought.

Media Mob hit the streets of Manhattan to do a survey of its own. Judging by the responses of eight people, Mr. Wenner’s proposed change might be akin to passing a kidney stone in the minds of Rolling Stone's old-school fan base.

"You cannot go—you can’t—you cannot move away from this format," said David Peebler, a 46-year-old options strategist and trader at Park Ave and 22nd Street.  read more »

"We are considering a major change in the format of Rolling Stone from its current look to one more like the enclosed test issue," wrote Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone in a note to select subscribers.

Enclosed in a manila envelope from Rolling Stone, which Media Mob has acquired, is Mr. Wenner's letter with a tighter, smaller, glossier version of the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring Barack Obama on the cover. (A larger version is currently on newsstands). The test issue is the same size as your Vanity Fair, your Gourmet, your Lucky. It's glossy and perfect-bound (goodbye, staples!), and the spine has all sorts of type on it making it perfect for your bookshelf: the dates, the issue number (RS 1056/1057), and a peek of what's inside: BARACK OBAMA/BONNAROO/ AMY WINEHOUSE / RUSH / GREENLAND.  read more »

Mere words cannot express the awesomeness that is Barack Obama. At least that's what the new cover of Rolling Stone tells—or doesn't tell—us. The cover of the magazine's new issue features only a photograph of a smiling Senator Obama (with prominent flag pin!) and no text whatsoever. In keeping with the photo theme, Rolling Stone's Web site features a photo gallery called Barack Obama, a History in Pictures, with a whopping 98 (!) images of the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.

The wordless cover is not Rolling Stone's first. The motif has also been used by the magazine for other important, "words are not enough" stories like the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison.

It was also used to great effect on February 1995 for a cover story about Demi Moore.

Today on the Huffington Post, Ben Cohen interviews National Magazine Award-winning Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi.

Back in April, Mr. Taibbi got into a spat with another HuffPo writer, novelist Erica Jong, that hinged mostly on his description of Hillary Clinton's "flabby arms." In the interview with Mr. Cohen, Mr. Taibbi explains why he chooses to write about his subjects' physical flaws:

Um ... it's funny? (Laughs) That's one thing. ... You know, I make these caricatures of people, and a lot of it sure is gratuitous, and on some level I am trying to be funny, but I'm also trying to make it an easier read for some of the people who maybe aren't so interested in politics.  read more »

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A long letter written by Michael Moore to friends and supporters has been posted on the Drudge Report (and now on Gawker, whose link will likely last longer). Mr. Moore writes that he's not endorsing any of the Democratic candidates for president "at this point." But the most interesting tidbit comes a bit further down.

Mr. Moore reveals that he was asked by Rolling Stone to do a cover story in the form of separate Q&As with the three top Democrats, under the understanding that if any of the candidates didn't participate, the story wouldn't run.

He writes: "Obama and Edwards agreed. Mrs. Clinton said no, and the cover story was thus killed."

Of course, this isn't the first time during this campaign that the Hillary camp has successfully nixed a major magazine story about her.

We all know how powerful China is becoming, but powerful enough to deflate the ego of one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men? This morning brought the news that China has yet to green-light Will Smith’s latest blockbusting effort, I Am Legend, which opens here on December 14. The apparent snub comes loosely attached to a report that the nation of 1,321,851,888 citizens plans to block all American movies, hoping to boost its own budding film industry. (Let’s also not forget that I Am Legend basically equates populous areas with violence and death; the only haven of solace is found in pastoral Vermont.) “We struggled very, very hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of foreign films that are allowed in,” Mr. Smith told reporters in Hong Kong today.

Poor guy can’t get a break. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Mr. Smith, 39, admits to being insecure. When he was 15, his first girlfriend broke his heart. “[I]t destroyed my concept of myself,” he told the Wenner music book, adding: “I [thought I] wasn’t good enough.” He then recalls a certain look his grandmother once gave him, the look of someone who’s proud. It affected him to such a degree that he now needs to find it in the faces of all the women in his life—namely, in that of his lovely wife, Jada Pinkett. “Every singe day Jada must have the look. I can’t function if she doesn’t have that look in her eyes.” Ms. Pinkett’s proud-look is probably awesome, but we’d most like to see the look on his first girlfriend’s face when she saw The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for the first time.  read more »