1. If you blinked during last night’s Super Bowl half-time show, then you might have missed MIA flipping off the crowd while performing “Gimme All Your Luvin” with Madonna and Nicki Minaj, but now it’s all that anyone is talking about. The official apology from NBC: “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.” [via THR]
2. Chronicle, Fox’s low-budget new movie about a group of teen boys with superpowers, topped the Super Bowl weekend box office (which is usually a total wasteland), taking in an estimated $22 million. Daniel Radcliffe’s thriller Woman in Black surprised everyone by coming in second place with $21 million, followed by The Grey, which made about $9.5 million. Not so lucky? That Drew Barrymore saves the whales movie. [via ArtsBeat]
3. The @CormacCMcCarthy Twitter account, which counts Margaret Atwood and Jack Dorsey among its followers, has been exposed as a hoax — news that isn’t entirely surprising given the famed novelist’s belief that “anything that doesn’t take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing.” [via Guardian]
4. Harrison Ford is in talks to resurrect his Rick Deckard character in Ridley Scott‘s new Blade Runner film. Does this mean that it’s going to be a sequel as opposed to a reboot? [via Vulture]
5. Here is that slightly-extended version of The Avengers trailer that debuted last night. There’s not a lot of new footage, but you do get a better look at Mark Ruffalo’s take on the Hulk and the army that Loki has amassed.
Bonus Buzz: The Single Most Awkward Photo Of Madonna During Her Halftime Show
Last night, Daniel Radcliffe hosted a mixed-bag episode of Saturday Night Live with musical guest Lana Del Rey in her late night television debut. Del Rey’s performance was rather lackluster — both of her songs were performed standing in one place, in the same dress (a lack of costume change is very unusual for SNL musical guests), in the same tone of voice. Radcliffe, on the other hand, was relatively great: he did seem nervous and stumbly half the time, but he more than made up for it by being energetic and clearly game for anything. Click through to watch clips of the best and worst sketches of the night, and let us know if we left off your favorite in the comments.
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Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment of the venerable action franchise, is in theaters now (well, sort of; they did this tiered release where it went to IMAX screens last Friday, but everywhere else on Wednesday, so if you’ve got an IMAX screen in your city, you can go see it there, but if not, later, and… yeah). When it was in pre-production last year, much ink was spilled over the casting of Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner in one of the supporting roles, with speculation running rampant that the young actor was being groomed to take over the series’ leading role from producer/star Tom Cruise, who is, at 49, perhaps getting a touch long-in-the-tooth for all this running/fighting/climbing 100+ story building nonsense.
There does seem to be something of a dearth of young actors equipped to take over the action-hero mantle from folks like Cruise, Will Smith (43), Jackie Chan (57), and the stars of The Expendables. So we got to thinking about some of the twentysomething actors who we’d like to see take a shot at action stardom. Check out our picks after the jump, and add your own in the comments. Read More »
While we realize that some of you might be Harry Potter-ed out these days, we’re going to ahead and assume that there are just as many of you (if not more) who will be thrilled by this first glimpse at “Growing Up With Harry Potter,” a feature that will be included with the Ultimate Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. As baby-faced versions of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson navigate the murky waters of their first real press conference back in 2000, they’re a bundle of nerves — with the possible exception of Rupert, who at this point, seems to have been the ham of the newly-introduced group. It’s hard to match these adorable, shy kids up with the poised adults they are today, don’t you think?
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This week, we saw the trailer for The Woman in Black, the project that is to be Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Potter film. Though we have faith in Radcliffe as an actor, we’re not sure that this film will be the one that launches him into dramatic films, per se — maybe it’s just us, but all we can see in this video is Harry Potter dressed up as a lawyer running from Voldemort — but you never know. Either way, the trailer got us thinking about films that have launched the dramatic careers of actors who previously primarily starred in family or kids’ films. This kind of list relies on largely subjective data, and therefore is definitely an arguable one, so let us know what you think of our picks in the comments.
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Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve got a surplus of thrillers, plus a legal drama and vibrator comedy. So, variety, eh? Check ‘em all out after the jump.
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1. The sale of Borders was officially approved yesterday, and as Gizmodo says, reading the 40-year-old book retailer’s goodbye email “is like watching Old Yeller in slow motion.”
2. Some exciting news for music lovers who hate to travel: YouTube announced today that it’s planning to live stream both Lollapalooza (August 5-7) and Austin City Limits (September 16-18). [via Billboard]
3. Should we take it as a bad sign that Warner Bros. has moved the release date of Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot — which stars Henry Cavill as the famed superhero and Amy Adams as Lois Lane — from December 2012 to June 2013? [via LAT]
4. Glee star Darren Criss is in talks to replace Daniel Radcliffe as the lead in Broadway’s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying beginning in January. Considering how well Criss spoofed Harry in A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, this sounds like a smart casting decision to us. [via Deadline]
5. Today is Bon Iver Day! — at least if you live in Milwaukee. Celebrate accordingly. [via Vulture]
Bonus link: Starbucks Rejection Cup
1. The first photos of Brad Pitt on the set of the Marc Forster-directed film adaptation of the zombie thriller World War Z have surfaced. What do you think?
2. The Beastie Boys have reteamed with director Spike Jonze for the music video for “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,” their recent collaboration with Santigold. “It is an explicit action adventure spectacular,” they explain on their website. “It features action figures of us and yes, they are ACTION figures, NOT dolls!” Unfortunately, there’s no release date yet. [via NME]
3. “I became reliant on [alcohol] to enjoy stuff … There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person’s lifestyle that really isn’t suited to me.” – Apparently Daniel Radcliffe used to have a problem with whiskey
4. Jay-Z and Kanye West may not have released Watch the Throne over the weekend (as had previously been rumored), but they did reveal official album art from designer Riccardo Tisci. [via Vulture]
5. Competitive eating renegade Takeru Kobayashi (who refuses to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating), set a world record yesterday by consuming 69 hot dogs in ten minutes at an unsanctioned event on a Manhattan rooftop. His arch nemesis Joey “Jaws” Chestnut — the winner of the Nathan’s Famous official contest — only managed to wolf down 62 dogs. [via NYDN]
Bonus link: Watch the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Grand Finale
But it’s not what you think. Cooper has been cast as the narrator in the upcoming revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (which stars Daniel Radcliffe and begins previews on February 26 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre), a role that was previously filled by Walter Cronkite in 1995 for the Matthew Broderick version. Before you get too excited at the prospect of seeing the Silver Fox take the stage alongside Harry Potter, be warned: it’s a pre-recorded voice-over part, so you won’t be seeing those national treasure peepers in person. [via EW]
Today at Flavorpill, we wanted a pair of DeLorean-inspired kicks. We loved The New Yorker’s slideshow of airport security cartoons from 1938-2009. We discovered that “Ronald Reagan” is one of Sarah Palin’s favorite people to namecheck — right after God. We dreamed of a world where Cookie Monster would be able to host Saturday Night Live — just look at his audition tape. We were kind of embarrassed by how many of the 35 worst straight-to-DVD sequels of the 2000s we’ve already seen. We watched the Exorcist girl whip her hair back and forth. We discovered how funny Daniel Radcliffe is. We put our support behind Toy Story 3 for a Best Picture nomination. We wanted to live in a cabin in a loft. We shared a Thanksgiving moment with Paula Deen. And finally, we were sad to hear that Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah Baumbach are getting divorced after five years of marriage. Is it weird that this news makes us want to rewatch The Squid and the Whale?
