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This First Glimpse at Brad Pitt in ‘World War Z’ Looks Awful

By Emily Temple on

We’re big fans of Max Brooks’s oral history-style zombie apocalypse novel World War Z, so we’ve been waiting for the upcoming film adaptation for a while now. This morning, we got a first look at the trailer, which will air in its entirety on Thursday, and well, it looks sort of terrible. We’re crossing our fingers that they just picked the worst footage to air in this little teaser, or that the choppy presentation is clouding our view, but from what we can tell, the film looks overblown and stylistically boring, already a complete cliché (unlike the book, we should point out). Heck, even the woman doing the voice-over sounds like she’s barely restraining herself from making fun of it. Never a good sign. Click through to watch the, ahem, trailer for the trailer, and let us know your first impressions in the comments. … Read More

Film

The Greatest Movie Speeches

By Alison Nastasi on

Filmic moments of strength, weakness, and wisdom have inspired some of the most powerful speeches in cinema. With the arrival of Patton on Blu-ray tomorrow, we felt compelled to revisit a few memorable speeches in film history. George C. Scott starred in Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1970 war drama as General George S. Patton, and we first meet the actor during a stern opening address to the troops of the US 3rd Army, framed by a massive American flag. It’s a spare, bold moment that sets the tone for the film and introduces Patton as an uncompromising military leader ready to fight. It’s also a reminder that impressive, intense dialogue can outshine even the greatest of special effects. Click through for a look back at some quotable, emotional, and uplifting speeches that have graced the big screen. We’ve left plenty of room so you can share your favorites in the comments, below. … Read More

Film

Exclusive Supercut: Big Hollywood Stars in Their Early Horror Roles

By Jason Bailey on

Many a young actor has come to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune, only to discover that the road to success is a long and difficult one, with plenty of detours and diversions along the way. And many have found that, in their early, hungry days of trying to make it as a working actor, the horror genre always has a (meager, but cashable) paycheck for a rising young talent with stars in their eyes. And as a salute to those young, starving artists, we give you this week’s special, Halloween-tinged supercut, in which we’ve tracked down and collected some of the more entertaining and surprising of those early roles. Check it out after the jump. … Read More

Web

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

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we read up on Stevie Nicks’ beef with Nicki Minaj. We explored the Northeast’s most haunted hotels. We chatted about our favorite photographers-turned-directors. We bragged a little bit on TechCrunch. We watched Brad Pitt play hard to get for Chanel. We streamed Ben… Read More

Film

10 Great Actors Who Did Trashy Well

By Jason Bailey on

Tomorrow, Lee Daniels’ Precious follow-up The Paperboy hits theaters; it’s a film that’s received a lot of attention since its Cannes premiere last May, not all of it positive. And make no mistake, the movie is a mess, but Kidman goes all out in her portrayal of a bleach-blonde sexpot who gets hot and bothered for dangerous men. In honor of Kidman’s risky performance, we took a look back at some of our favorite instances of terrific actors indulging their trashy side on film. Our top ten are after the jump. … Read More

Film

10 Awesome Meta-Movies That Will Melt Your Mind

By Jason Bailey on

The Cabin in the Woods, the wickedly funny and winkingly knowing horror/comedy from director Drew Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon, hits DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, after a long-delayed theatrical run last spring that sent cinephiles spinning with pleasure. You see, Cabin is the latest example of our old friend the “meta-movie,” the films in which the act of moviemaking (and movie-watching) is part of the experience, and part of the narrative. After the jump, some thoughts on Cabin and nine more of our favorite self-aware motion pictures. … Read More

Film

Flavorpill’s 10 Most Anticipated Fall Movies

By Jason Bailey on

As we close in on Labor Day — you can do it, c’mon, four short days, and you know you can get away with sneaking out early on Friday — the summer movie season is winding down, so you know what that means: the fall movie season is winding up! (Can’t not be in a movie season, ya know.) It’s something of a changing of the guard at the multiplexes; the superheroes, action heroes, and animated animals march off, replaced by (mostly) serious actors and prestige projects. It’s that special time of year when Hollywood pretends like they make intelligent, grown-up movies all the time, so let’s play along! Our ten most anticipated fall flick are collected here, organized by release date; agree, disagree, and add your own in the… Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: From Bond and Brad to Who-Cares Horror

By Jason Bailey on

Every Friday here at Flavorwire, we like to gather up the week’s new movie trailers, give them a look-see, and rank them from worst to best — while taking a guess or two about what they might tell us (or hide from us) about the movies they’re promoting. This week’s six new trailers include new films with Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Diane Keaton, Matthew McConaughey, Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, John Cusack, and Zac Efron. Check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More

Film

The Quirkiest Film Titles in Cinema

By Alison Nastasi on

Moonrise Kingdom director Wes Anderson is a master at creating quirky, endearing, and gorgeously detailed films, and his latest project with a recently cast Johnny Depp — which we reported this morning — is proving to be no different. So far, we know the upcoming film — likely to also star Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Jude Law, and Angela Lansbury — will be set in Europe and that the director is calling it The Grand Budapest Hotel. It’s another whimsical title in a long list of delightfully zany film names like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, or… well, take your pick. Anderson is hardly alone when it comes to choosing eccentric titles, and we’ve compiled a list of cinema’s quirkiest movie monikers after the jump. Leave us a note with your favorites below. … Read More

Film

10 Great Supporting Performances by Actors Who Usually Lead

By Jason Bailey on

Out on DVD today is one of our favorite rom-coms in many a moon, Jennifer Westfeldt’s Friends with Kids, which stars the writer/director and… Adam Scott, which seems sort of strange considering that Ms. Wesfeldt’s S.O. for the past decade and a half has been Mr. Jon Hamm, who would seem an obvious choice for the film’s leading role. Instead, as in Bridesmaids, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and The Town (and in sharp contrast to his television work), Hamm plays a secondary supporting role in the picture — and continues to carve out a niche for himself as a leading man who chooses to be a second banana. After the jump, we’ve got ten more name actors who decided to step back and play supporting roles, to great effect. … Read More