1. Beyoncé threw on a form-fitting red dress and made her first post-pregnancy public appearance last night at Carnegie Hall, where Jay-Z was performing for the first time. [via Daily News]
2. Alcon Entertainment’s Andrew Kosove is “adamantly denying” rumors that Harrison Ford is in talks to join the cast of the Blade Runner sequel. “To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley [Scott] now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it,” he says. “The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment.” [via Slashfilm]
3. “I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about, just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK.” — Clint Eastwoodresponds to the controversy surrounding his Super Bowl ad.
4. Due to time constraints, it sounds like neither one of the two nominees in the Best Original Song category will be performed at this year’s Oscars. We’re curious: What does the Academy have against a domesticated macaw and the Muppets? [via Deadline]
5. Theater columnist Michael Riedel was OK with being referred to as “a Napoleonic little Nazi who writes for the Post” in last night’s premiere episode of Smash. “Well, of course I was flattered to be mentioned,” he tells Vulture. “But to be perfectly arrogant about it, I don’t think you can do a TV show about the Broadway world without including a powerful and notorious Broadway gossip columnist. And who better to play that role than moi?”
Chris Marker’s haunting, fractured memory tale La Jetée is getting a Criterion Blu-ray release tomorrow (along with experimental essay Sans Soleil). Dubbed “one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made … ” Marker’s 1962 black and white film is composed almost entirely of still photographs, using voice-over narration to tell the 28 minute-long tale about a man held prisoner after World War III who traverses time, sees the future, and uncovers the secrets of his past.
The film’s themes are palpable in modern science fiction, where the exploration of time travel as an agent of self-discovery, use of looped narrative and multiperiod storytelling, experimental filmmaking, dystopian themes, and more have been carried into the present. Just look at Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, which is directly inspired by Marker’s film.
With that in mind, we wanted to celebrate a few other influential sci-fi movies that have made their mark on filmmakers and cinemagoers throughout history. Check out our picks below, and share yours in the comments section.
[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we'll spend the next two weekends revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published July 20, 2011.] Tiny bathrooms, creepy Craigslist roommates, mice-infestations — typical apartment living is nothing like the movies. Our fifth-story walk-up is a far cry from the spaces we dreamed of when still living with Mom and Dad; there isn’t even one spiral staircase or floor-to-ceiling window. Looking back, we realized that many of our dream apartments were inspired by our favorite films. As a follow up to our list of the best movie bedrooms, we’ve rounded up 15 big-screen flats that are simply too good to be real, from Auntie Mame’s city splendor to Patrick Bateman’s minimalist bachelor pad. Add your suggestions in the comments.
Polaroids have been immortalizing actors on the sets of their latest project for decades now. The retro form of photography is generally utilized for makeup or continuity purposes, and on occasion, serves as a catalogue for on-set shenanigans. Actors such as Johnny Depp, Audrey Hepburn, and Jason Schwartzman have all mugged for (or in some cases, ignored) the camera in between takes, blurring the line between their fictional characters and reality. We’ve unearthed photographs from a few cinematic gems, both old and new, that provide an intimate glimpse at life on set of projects like Taxi Driver, The Office, and more. Venture behind-the-scenes with a collection of our favorite shots after the jump. Read More »
We hope that you love this time-lapse video of Tokyo set to the Blade Runner soundtrack as much as we do; the French filmmaker behind the project, Samuel Cockedey, shot the footage over the course of a year, mainly in the Shinjuku area, in tribute to two men who have influenced his own work — Ridley Scott and Vangelis.
“One great thing about shooting time lapses is that it forces you to slow down and do something you normally don’t: stop, watch and enjoy,” he recently explained in an interview. “It’s a time for contemplation. Most people have a quick look at a view and then move on to something else. But when you shoot a place for several hours, you can really let the view sink in, get a real sense of the surroundings, the noises, the smells, the small details. I guess you could call that a form of slow tourism.” Such a lovely way of describing it, right?
With a few rare exceptions, most people tend to agree that the book version of a story is always better than the movie. But what about the cases when those two works are so different that they’re practically impossible to compare? We don’t mean stories where things have been tweaked a bit for the film adaptation, but rather movies that feature totally different endings, story lines, and main characters than the original book. Here are a few of our favorite examples. Be warned, spoilers ahead!
As you may have already heard, today the first Thursday in October, and is thus National Poetry Day. In celebration of this beloved writerly holiday, those of us over here in the film corner of your Flavorwire decided to post some of our favorite poems about our favorite subject: the movies. Join us after the jump for a few of our favorite cinematic poems, as suggested by the indispensible volume Lights, Camera, Poetry!(edited by Jason Shinder); feel free to add your own (or what the hell, make one up) after the jump.
Occasionally, something amazing surfaces on the internet, and this week, it’s a short film about the production design on Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner. The video was apparently made for distribution at fantasy and sci-fi conventions, and it’s been unearthed by sci-fi film blog Future Noir, and it makes for truly interesting viewing — the film features interview with designer Syd Mead and visual effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull, along with shots of concept art, models, and a serious discussion about a futuristic parking meter. You get fascinating insights into the techniques used to create the film’s inimitable atmosphere — and it’s also kind of poignant to see a young, pre-Russell Crowe, Scott talking excitedly about his new feature, especially since he’s now talking ominously about returning to the world of Blade Runner. Where did it all go wrong?
As Flavorwire’s own Jason Bailey noted in a recent post on The Smurfs, the economy, and nostalgia, there’s no shortage of sequels, remakes, and re-boots of ’80s movies at the box office this summer. So it’s hardly surprising that, after months of rumors, there’s a new Blade Runner film in the works. What raises our eyebrows is the news, via Deadline, that Ridley Scott has committed to directing and producing a new installment (either a prequel or sequel) of his biggest cult classic for Alcon Entertainment. Before you get too excited, know that the project still has a long way to go before it’ll be showing at a theater near you — the script isn’t even written yet, and it’s still unclear whether it will even make sense for Harrison Ford to reprise his starring role.
Ah, the 1980s. They’ve got a pretty rotten musical reputation, and as far as film music goes, at least, it’s largely well deserved. This was the decade that soundtrack albums became big business – the decade when ultra-commercial songs from the likes of Footloose, St Elmo’s Fire, Top Gun, and Dirty Dancing were a constant fixture on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40, and Kenny Loggins made a tidy living. But still, there was room for some genuinely innovative and interesting scores and soundtracks to be made – as we discover in the latest installment of Flavorpill’s soundtrack series.
