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Film

The Jazz Age on Film

By Alison Nastasi on

You have until May 10 to practice your Charleston. Baz Luhrmann’s raucous adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is bound to be a whirlwind, and volumes have already been written about the highly anticipated soundtrack featuring Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, and more. To prepare for the decadent depiction of lavish parties and millionaire love triangles, we’re going straight to the source. Luhrmann is renowned for adding a contemporary twist to period stories, but the Moulin Rouge director strives for authenticity in his sets, costuming, and other details. That’s why we wanted to take a look at several films that actually premiered during the Jazz Age, to gain an authentic feel for the epoch. Get in the mood for Gatsby by adding these films to your playlist, and see how Hollywood first embodied the carefree spirit of the 1920s. … Read More

Film

Thirteen Terrifying Movies I Saw Before I Was Old Enough And So Am Now Permanently Scarred, by Lemony Snicket

By Emily Temple on

Ready your nightlights — today marks the release of The Dark, a wonderful children’s book written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen. Irreverent and gorgeous, this book might just be a way for your little one (or you) to conquer an elemental fear. To celebrate the book’s release, we asked Lemony Snicket about some of the things that have scared him, and he sent us this list of the movies that terrified him the most — as a little kid and as a larger kid. Check them out after the jump, and let us know what scares you in the comments. … Read More

Film

The Scariest Psycho Biddies in Cinema

By Alison Nastasi on

In 1962, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford — during the twilight of their careers — ushered in a new subgenre in film: psycho biddy cinema. Robert Aldrich’s Academy-Award-winning What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? found the grande dames isolated in a decaying Hollywood mansion, where their minds had deteriorated in kind. The gothic melodrama arrived on Blu-ray today, and we wanted to celebrate the occasion by taking a look back at other over-the-top films that featured unhinged, older women haunted by their past. Since the ‘60s, the subgenre has evolved and inspired some creepy aging idols in horror cinema, too. Since we don’t discriminate when it comes to demented elderly characters, we had to include them as well. See more psychotic, gray-haired grotesquerie 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 about this digital copyright infringement nightmare. We learned why the details of the health care ruling could be lost on the public. We wished Atari a happy 40th. We remembered a few teen movie bedrooms. We watched a supercut of every movie ever screened… Read More

Film

The Most Notorious Co-Star Feuds in Movie History

By Jason Bailey on

Everyone loves celebrity conflict, which is why we’re assuming our post a couple of weeks back on actor/filmmaker feuds generated such a huge response. It’s humanizing to see that cultural icons squabble about the same petty stuff that we do in the workplace. Performers and auteurs aren’t the only source of on-set friction however; the Hollywood history books are filled with cases of co-stars going after each other with everything they’ve got. After the jump, you’ll find a few of the most famed examples. … Read More

Film

10 Terrible Movie Moms and the Rotten Things They Said

By Alison Nastasi on

If movies have taught us anything, it’s that cinema isn’t exempt from bad parenting. Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and there are a few film moms who definitely won’t be getting a card from us this year. Some of these bad mommies have traded their maternal instinct for a killing instinct and others are an absolute Freudian nightmare. Judging by the terrible things these nasty moms have said to their families, everyone on our list below could use a little parenting 101. See what rotten stuff these twisted mamas have been spouting, and leave your favorite quotes in the comments section. … Read More

Film

10 of the Best Worst Movies

By Alison Nastasi on

Plan 9 from Outer Space from cult director Ed Wood hit Blu-ray this week. The film has famously been dubbed the worst movie ever made. We can’t help but admire the low budget filmmaker’s ability to craft an alien invasion — a charming feat considering his lack of resources (cardboard cutouts and model-kits on strings abound), amateur cast, and weirdly intercut footage of Bela Lugosi who posthumously starred in the sci-fi schlockfest. In celebration of all the best, worst movies out there, we wanted to examine a few other favorites. It’s all subjective, but these are a couple of standouts that managed to be entertaining despite the odds. Share your picks below, and let us know if you approve of ours in the comments section. … Read More

Celebrity

10 Actors Who’ve Portrayed Other Famous Actors

By Kirthana Ramisetti on

Michelle Williams is already getting Oscar buzz for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, which opens in theaters this Wednesday. “She channels every facet of the legend’s persona — her seductiveness, her neuroses, her candle-in-the-wind vulnerability and sometimes breathtaking naïveté — while keeping her feet planted firmly on the ground,” writes Rene Rodriguez at the Miami Herald. “Williams makes Monroe simultaneously seem larger than life and heartbreakingly human.” Even critics less impressed with the film as a whole — like Ronnie Scheib at Variety or David Rooney at Hollywood Reporter — seem enamored of her performance.

But Williams is just one of many actors who have portrayed iconic stars — some to universal acclaim, and others to widespread derision. Click through as we examine some of the most noteworthy examples. … Read More

Photography

Glamour of the Gods: Classic Hollywood Portraits

By Marina Galperina on

In the days before the paparazzi was hunting down the famous with telephoto lenses and celebrity blogging empires were built upon up-shots of pantyless Britney Spears, a special breed of photographers thrived. Hollywood’s greatest actors were expertly lit with a sensuous haze and encouraged in their most stunning pose. Then, tens of thousands of prints were sent of to fans and media outlets. That’s how a mass of these vintage movie star portraits ended up in the hands of the collector John Kobal. Now through October 23rd, 70 classics from the 1920s through the 1960s are on view at the London’s National Portrait Gallery exhibit Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits. See Marlin Brando’s brooding mid a seductive slump, Elizabeth Taylor looking smokin’ on the beach, and Jean Harlow’s radiating extreme looks in our gallery. … Read More