Here’s some people and things that are cool: Steve McQueen, John Fogerty’s new CD, John Goodman, Russell Crowe, Holly Hunter, Nora Roberts, Mr. Rogers, and John Cassavetes (as an actor). Here’s who’s not cool: George Clooney (in Michael Clayton), Bruce Springsteen’s new CD, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Michael Crichton, Kevin Bacon, American Idol, and John Cassavetes (as a director). Don’t take my word for it: this list was compiled by no less an authority than Stephen King, in his latest column for EW. (BTW, Stephen King is also cool, according to Stephen King.)
Now, the last time King issued such an authoritative list, you all had plenty to say about it, pro and con. That’s fine, that’s what makes ballgames. So please weigh in on King’s list of cool. Let us know what you think of his choices. Let us know, also, about the many artists (and shows and movies) who didn’t register on King’s thermometer. (Is Stephen Colbert cool? Lily Allen? Reaper? American Gangster?) Coolest responses may be frozen cryogenically for posterity on this website.
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I know you put entries like this on the blog to get losts of posts, but to have a man in his sixties? write a list of who’s cool is nuts. Even the coolest sixty year old man. Was Regis not available?
Thanks for warning me about this column so I can skip it when I get this week’s copy of EW. I get so tired of being preached to by Mr. “anything that’s not totally lowbrow is boring, and if you disagree with me it’s because you’re a snob, and by the way buy my books” King. If his column were written by an unknown, it would be dimissed for the waste of paper it is.
First off, this blog post completely misleads the reader. Steven King wrote a clever and funny article on “what cool is”. It’s not a list, because lists are not cool.
Steven is right though, he is cool. THose of you who don’t get it, well, you never will, because you are lame.
Bruce Springsteen’s CD and George Clooney aren’t cool? That’s just silly!
I’m with fe
So according to Stephen King, whom I never thought was cool, I’m not cool. Hmmm. Well, good thing I don’t care what he says.
And for the record, Tom Wilkinson IS cool.
I was wondering if you were back on the blow and sauce, I guess the inflated ego and superior attitude answers that question. P.S. I sold my collection of your books on craigslist and am now glad I did. That’s Cool!
Comments are not cool…..Uncle Stevie is cool…..Mr. King is allowed to give his opinion, just like all of us leaving comments. He is just smart enough to get paid the big bucks for it.
I think King meant George Clooney’s character wasn’t cool and not that George Clooney the actual person is not. Now, “Danny Ocean,” was a very cool character played by the very cool George Clooney (and Frank Sinatra).
Interesting post, but I have to disagree vehemently that “Lost” is cool. Adding questions onto questions instead of answering anything is not cool; it’s the last two seasons of “The X-Files.”
If you want a genre show that /is/ cool, I suggest “Supernatural”, which is gaining every week in the worst possible time slot on network television (opposite “Gray’s Anatomy,” “CSI” and “The Office”). Now THAT’S cool.
I love Stephen King but about his list…. you know what they say about opinions….they are a lot like a-holes- everyone has them…..
He forgot Justin Timberlake!!!!!! He’s pretty cool, if you ask me (not to mention hot)!!!!!!
Any article about cool that does not include Samuel L. Jackson is not an article about cool worth reading.
I’m too cool to leave a comment.
I’m totally with you GingerCat. I’ll go a little farther. Stephen King is a pretentious hack. His column is the worst thing to happen to EW ever. Similar to the way I don’t care what actors think about politics, I don’t care what Stephen King thinks… about anything! Let alone the best movie quotes of all time, or his favorite songs of the last year, or whatever garbage he prints because he gets paid by the word.
Please read Mr. King’s article before you write anything here…this blog post misrepresents the article (thus, this PopWatch post–NOT cool). Now for my opinion of some “cool” stuff: “Ace in the Hole” Criterion Edition (out now), Ray Wise as the Devil in “Reaper”, Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible” (a little old, but still from 2007), “World War Z” by Maxx Brooks, Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (so cool he’s emotionally dead), the trailer for “There Will be Blood”, and of course “The Soup” on E! (though E! is totally NOT cool).
Ok so for the heck of it I counted how many times the word cool is used here, it’s 30. That’s enough to make my head explode particularly because I feel like I’m trapped in the early 90’s. Just thought i’d share. Oh, and Stephen King rocks my world. I’m hoping to start a trend of using other adjetives or phrases to replace the “cool” word.
Will EW please retire this dinosaur? Stephen King hasn’t been cool since Firestarter. Popular? Yes. Cool? No. I don’t even read his back page articles in the bathroom.
If not liking Stephen King’s awful EW columns makes me lame, I’ll happily go get the word “LAME” tattooed on my forehead right after work.
Samuel L. Jackson will ALWAYS be cool, regardless of movie or role. Cool just comes off him like Iceman from X-Men (who, incidentally, is not cool). Tom Cruise in Top Gun is cool. Liking Wes Anderson is cool (watching his movies is not necessary–just say you like him). Jason Bourne is cool. Justin Timberlake is practically the poster boy for cool. Jay-Z is cool. Anyone who can pull of a fedora is cool.
Steven King is cool
Lost (Terry O’Quinn) is cool
The Deer Hunter is cool
Robert DeNiro is cool
Jenna Fisher is totally hot and cool
Tron is cool
Chewbacca is cool
Joy Division is cool
Al Gore is cool
Star Wars is cool
Cabo San Lucas is cool
Defender is cool
Jesus & Mary Chain is cool
Sorry Hanncoll, but LOST is indeed COOL. It’s nothing like the later seasons of X-Files (not that early seasons of X-Files answered many questions either). There have been answers on Lost, it’s just that they usually create more questions. That’s a good thing. The mystery deepens, and it’s all buidling up to a (hopefully) great finish. With a definite end point (48 more episodes) in mind, the powers that be can steer the ship into the dock. If everything gets answered, the show’s over. Duh! Who wants that? Anyhow, if it’s too much to take in go watch Heroes instead. Now that’s a show that’s no longer cool. Actually, I never thought it was!
Great news! No one is forcing you to read his articles.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are cool.
The New England Patriots are not.
The Texas Rangers are cool.
The New York Yankees are not.
The Houston Rockets are cool.
The Dallas Mavericks are not.
Tarantino directed movies are cool.
Clooney directed movies are not.
Captain Kirk is cool.
Captain Picard is not.
Prison Break, Lost, Pushing Daisies, Meerkat Manor, Heroes, My Name is Earl, Torchwood and old reruns of MST3K and Futurama are cool.
VH1 reality shows, Family Guy (after it came back), American Dad, the Simpsons (after season 8), Dancing with the Stars and American Idol are not.
Morrissey
Robert Smith
Stephen King (but some of his films like Sleepwalkers aren’t)
Siouxsie Sioux
Shirley Manson
Chrissy Hynde
Wes Anderson
Kevin Smith
Dennis Miller
Steven Colbert
Trust some chowderhead from New England to be the one who doesn’t like the new Springsteen album or Clooney in Michael Clayton for that matter. You know what else isn’t cool? Every book King wrote in the 90s and 00s.
Ben-
Writing about sports teams on a pop culture blog is not cool.
Omar on The Wire is very cool, ditto Stringer Bell and Marlo. Willie Nelson is beyond cool, and so was Johnny Cash. And to try to get at least a little female representation on the list – Julianne Moore in pretty much anything, but ESPECIALLY as Maude Lebowski in the Big Lebowski, is cool.
who knew Nora Roberts was cool? I have been hiding my love for her books for years! I am now proclaiming it to the world b/c she is cool! Yes!
Nathan:
King is sucking his thumb because The River and Born In the USA were two sensational albums that were written by The Boss.
And to the Steelers fan: you are just saying that because of Troy “The Samoan Headhunter” Polamalu. Without his awesome long raven colored locks, that team is nothing but poisoned poi.