What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we wondered if pop culture caused Mayan apocalypse panic. We explored a new, possibly habitable planet. We were kind of bummed to find out that the eagle and baby video was a fake. We listened to Polyphonic Spree’s indie Christmas playlist. We talked about this year’s movie mistakes. We loved that the new NASA spacesuit made astronauts look like Buzz Lightyear. … Read More

Beautiful, Miniature Pencil Drawings of Dramatic Movie Moments

Marie Harnett is inspired by dramatic scenes in film and creates delicate drawings capturing the beauty of those moments. The lush pencil works are miniature (many three inches or smaller), which makes Harnett’s incredible detail all the more impressive. We spotted the artist on Faith is Torment, and her black-and-white, small-scale style seems perfectly suited for cinema. Each drawing looks like a grainy film still, even though most of the movies the artist references are contemporary (My Week With Marilyn, Sherlock Holmes, Factory Girl). See more drawings in our gallery. … Read More

The 30 Best Movie Posters of 2012

Before we close another chapter in cinema history, take a look at some of our favorite film posters from 2012. We kept our inner movie critic in check and focused on the retro, minimal, satirical, and striking artwork representing this year’s slate of incredible (and yes, terrible) movies. These designs did what every successful movie poster should: pique our curiosity, grab our attention, invite us to explore the story deeper, and give us great style. Do the best posters of 2012 meet your design-savvy expectations? Check out our selections after the jump. … Read More

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we watched the best music videos of 2012. We made a list of 12 things to do before the world ends. We saw everything wrong with The Avengers in three minutes. We discovered that HBO’s corporate website is in desperate need of a design update. We wanted to buy this nail polish that helps support a sanctuary for bats. We looked back on Christina Aguilera’s biggest fashion fails on The Voice. … Read More

10 Essential Russian Films

A box set containing three early works from Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov arrives on Blu-ray (with two films on DVD) today from Cinema Guild. The masterworks include the poetic Whispering Pages (using Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment as its main inspiration), the aural Stone, and a surreal retelling of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, 1990′s Save and Protect. Sokurov has had a prolific career, admired by everyone from Susan Sontag to Darren Aronofsky. Even Vladimir Putin helped to fund Sokurov’s 2011 Cannes Golden Lion winner, Faust, which was surprising considering the director’s history depicting Russian leaders in a less than flattering light. In celebration of this rare Sokurov release, we wanted to explore other essential Russian films. Here are ten from us. Share what movies you would add to the list, below. … Read More

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we learned a few things we didn’t know about holiday songs. We found out why English writer Alan Moore turned his back on Hollywood. We learned that something beautiful happens when you throw boiling water over a balcony in Russia. We read Popular Mechanics’ 110 predictions for the next 110 years. We watched Big Boi read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. … Read More

Photos of People Watching TV That Could Be Mistaken for a Mass Existential Crisis

Our friends at Lost At E Minor introduced us to the work of French photographer Olivier Culmann. He travels the globe to take photos of people watching TV. We promise the results are more interesting than that sounds. Culmann’s mind-numbing portraits show each person transfixed by the telly, sometimes bearing hilariously dazed expressions. Taken out of context, you would think the images were a detailed study of worldwide ennui and existential angst. Culmann didn’t take snaps of his subjects until he was sure they had forgotten he was there. See more hypnotized TV watchers in our gallery. … Read More

10 Songs That Make You Cry

Most movie audiences will be choosing between two big releases for the upcoming holiday weekend: Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables. If you don’t mind secretly sobbing in a dark theater, and your mom is tagging along (moms really love Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman), you’ll probably find yourself transported to 19th-century France for the adaptation of Victor Hugo’s famous novel. The trailer for Les Mis reveals footage of Anne Hathaway as the ill-fated prostitute Fantine performing a weepy, whispery rendition of the beloved “I Dreamed a Dream.” Whether you appreciate movie musicals or not, the song instantly turns on the waterworks for a lot of people. It’s a heartbreaking lament. This got us thinking about other tunes that call for Kleenex and a shoulder to cry on. For a song to tap into such emotion is an incredibly intimate thing, and not all of the reasons are sad ones. Sometimes the sheer magnificence of a piece of music elicits a few tears. We selected a group of tracks that tend to make people sob. What songs really bring out your cry face? … Read More

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we celebrated Taylor Swift’s twenty-third birthday like it was her fifteenth. We caught up with the history of that rare Metropolis poster that was auctioned off today. We talked about The Office with a real-life Scranton reporter. We found out who the famous artists are whose works will be entering the public domain in 2013. We explored a list of top-selling movies, music, TV, books, and apps on iTunes in 2012. We looked forward to watching Judd Apatow’s 60 Minutes profile this Sunday. … Read More

Unexpected and Hilarious Behind-the-Scenes Horror Film Photos

We’re never ones to turn down the opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes of our favorite films. Sometimes the images mess with your mind, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. When we spotted these awesome stills from various horror films on website theager, we had to share them with you. It even inspired us to go digging for a few of our own picks. Check out some hilarious shots of terrifying movie baddies goofing around and other photos that reveal how directors made the spooky magic happen. Skip past the break for more unexpected moments on horror film sets. … Read More