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Manhattan is starting to look a whole lot like Westeros these days. Sure, they’re in different timeslots, on different channels, and completely different genres, but Mad Men and Game of Thrones have more in common than you might think. Their plots are expansive, but carefully measured, featuring scads and scads of characters that can sometimes seem indistinguishable under all the suits -armored or Armani. The production design is as big a draw to the show as anything else, which helps the undercurrents of death, and the terror mortality, go down easier. And there’s always plenty of backstabbing, betrayal, lust, and greed, but this week in particular, Game of Thrones and Mad Men both came down to the red stuff. For the former, that was blood; for the latter, it was ketchup.

After all, was that epic staredown between Don’s skunkworks crew working the Heinz pitch, and Peggy’s team from Cgc,...

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Sundance has wrapped up and the awards have all been handed out. Among the big winners is Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale (pictured above). By the way, check out Michael Nordine's festival report for Cinema Scope. Berlin has finally unveiled their jury, which in addition to Wong Kar-wai, the previously announced president, will include: Susanne Bier, Andreas Dresen, Ellen Kuras, Shirin Neshat, Tim Robbins and Athina Rachel Tsangari. It sounds like it won't be a long wait to see Paul Thomas Anderson re-team with Joaquin Phoenix; the actor will be taking the lead role for Anderson's next film, an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, which Robert Downey Jr. was originally thought to be attached to.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum was interviewed by Brazilian newspaper Estado de Minas last summer about Charlie Chaplin and film criticism, and is now sharing the transcript on his blog.

Above: the trailer for Matt...

They've conquered Broadway, talk radio, the U.S. Senate-and they may win the White House. Walter Kirn on why Mitt Romney and 6 million Mormons have the secret to success, in this week's Newsweek.

Say what you will about him, but Mitt Romney doesn't do, or not do, anything by accident. Take June 2, when the former Massachusetts governor traveled to a quaint farm in Stratham, N.H., to "announce" his foregone conclusion of a 2012 presidential campaign. Romney has to overcome several mountainous challenges before capturing the Republican nomination, and so he spent most of the day trying to reduce them to molehills. To thaw his icy persona, Romney passed out his "famous" family chili and surrounded himself with bales of hay. To account for his moderate governing record, he reminded listeners that the Bay State legislature was "over 85 percent Democrat." And to soften concerns about "Romneycare," he admitted it was "not perfect,...

What candidates' wives want. What we demand of them. In this week's Newsweek, Michelle Cottle on the state of the political spouse. Plus, Cindy McCain says "spouses get a bad rap."

On May 12, some 1,000 Republicans and a truckload of local and national journalists descended on the Jw Marriott in downtown Indianapolis for the state Gop spring dinner. The draw? Keynote speaker Cheri Daniels, wife of governor-and possible presidential candidate-Mitch Daniels.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Does Pawlenty Have a Prayer?

It didn't matter what Cheri had to say so much as that she had agreed to speak at all. Up to now, Indiana's first lady has declined to take part in her husband's political quest. In fact, the final hurdle to Mitch's joining the White House race is said to be Cheri's anxiety about their personal life getting shredded like a chunk of ripe Parmesan.

It is not an unreasonable fear.