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Film

Ryan Gosling ‘Drive’ Spin-Off in the Works?

By Alison Nastasi on

If you have a scorpion jacket hiding in your closet, or you just really loved Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, then we have some good and bad news. The director recently told The Evening Standard (via Slash Film) that while he doesn’t envision a sequel to the neo-noir film starring a dreamy —… Read More

Film

The Best Opening Lines in Cinema

By Alison Nastasi on

Whether you’re reading a book or watching a film, audiences and bookworms want to be pulled into the story’s world, immersed in the life of its characters, and get a keen sense of the setting where the action is taking place. Skilled writers can ignite that connection almost instantly, and as the Guardian shared over the weekend, the literary world is full of fine examples where the first lines in fiction have been enrapturing readers for decades. Cinema is no different, and we wanted to search for the most unforgettable movie openers. These oft-quotable opening lines have acted as a foreshadowing device, added instant drama, and allowed us to understand the inner workings of different characters’ minds. We could have spent all day reciting first lines from our favorite films, but we narrowed our picks down and left you the opportunity to share your own past the break. … Read More

Photography

Classic Movie Scenes Recreated Around the World

By Emily Temple on

We’re officially obsessed with ”movie mimicking,” an ongoing project by world traveler and film fanatic Allen Fuqua, which we first spotted over at My Modern Met. In the photo series, Fuqua goes to far-off countries and takes pictures of himself and his friends standing in for the actors in his favorite films, the shots recreated almost perfectly. The results are amazing — there’s something wonderful about realizing that some of the places inexorably connected to our favorite movies actually exist, and the juxtapositions tap into our subconscious memories in an incredibly satisfying way. Click through to see some of our favorites from Fuqua’s series, and then be sure to check out his website for even more from the project. … Read More

Pop Culture

Mike Mitchell’s Funny, Twee Caricatures of Pop-Culture Icons

By Judy Berman on

Mike Mitchell paints familiar characters as you’ve never seen them before: There’s Homer Simpson blissfully jumping rope, April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sucking on a Big Gulp, and A.C. Slater from Saved by the Bell sitting backwards, in his usual fashion, on a toilet. Visually, these witty caricatures straddle the line between adorable and creepy; each portrait has the big, watery eyes of a cartoon and the chubby, flushed cheeks of a child. We’ve collected some of our favorite work by Mitchell, who we discovered via The Mary Sue, after the jump. Readers in the Los Angeles area can see these pieces in person through April 28th at Gallery 1988 Melrose, where you can also buy originals and affordable prints. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Kevin Bacon, Chris Colfer, and John C. Reilly have joined a stacked cast that already includes George Clooney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, and Martin Sheen in a Rob Reiner-directed performance of Dustin Lance Black’s play 8 on March 3rd in LA. Funds raised by the one-night only show will go to support marriage… 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 met the unluckiest person ever. We took a look at presidents and their cars. We watched the highest shallow dive. We saw the world through the eyes of a hula hoop. We learned how scientists reconstruct speech from brain activity. We… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The New Yorker’s Ben Greenman has come up with a list of a day’s worth of facts to get you through Wikipedia’s 24-hour blackout. [via McSweeney's]

2. In a move that rivals that woman who was upset that Drive wasn’t enough like a Fast and the Furious movie, some cinemagoers in the… Read More

Film

Well, Here’s Quentin Tarantino’s Trollish “Best of 2011″ List

By Jason Bailey on

Quentin Tarantino may be a genius, but the dude’s got weird taste; witness, for example, his video list of the best films of the 1990s, which included the Woody Allen/Jason Biggs movie Anything Else (a flick that even Woody’s fans didn’t like, and we’re a tolerant bunch). And who knows, maybe his oddball sense of what’s good and what’s bad has led to his distinctive voice and style as a filmmaker; soaking up all those bad kung-fu movies and grindhouse epics was, no doubt, part of why he is this director he is. So, y’know, we’ve cut the guy some slack over the years for his weirdo advocacy.

You’ve got to draw a line somewhere, though. And we’re drawing it at his “Best of 2011″ list. … Read More

Design

Gallery: Movies from an Alternate Universe

By Caroline Stanley on

Imagine what Drive would have looked like if it had been shot back in the ’50s, with a young James Dean replacing Ryan Gosling. How about a black and white version of The Hangover, recast with members of the Rat Pack? Or Trainspotting as a new wave masterpiece by Jean-Luc Godard? No, we’re not describing the results of a movie geek party game; we’re giving you the gist of an ongoing series by illustrator Peter Stults, which we just spotted over on The Daily What. Some of the resulting posters are more successfully executed than others, but they’re all pretty entertaining. Click through for a slideshow of our favorites from the series. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Remember that really bizarre Steve Jobs action figure? Well, in the wake of “immense pressure” from Apple’s lawyers and the Jobs family, Chinese manufacturers have decided not to sell the lifelike figurine. The company, which had planned to start shipping the dolls in February, has promised to fully refund all pre-orders. [LAT]… Read More