F

Flavorwire

Kate Winslet

Celebrity

10 Celebrities Who Might Be Real-Life Superheroes

By Jennifer Lewis on

Forget teacup poodles and ripped denim vests — there’s a new fad in Hollywood, and it’s much more exciting than any old-fashioned accessory. These days, it seems like everyone wants a piece of the superhero pie. Although, after all this Avengers hoopla, can you really blame them? Upon hearing that Jennifer Lawrence has been dubbed a “hero” after helping an unconscious stranger, we were inspired to round up some more celebrities who just might be superheroes. Check ‘em out after the jump, and feel free to suggest some appropriate superhero alter egos in the comments — because, well, we can’t kick the idea that Ryan Gosling’s superhero persona should resemble an actual gosling, or perhaps our favorite Gosselin, and neither of those things are very intimidating. … Read More

Film

The Actors With the Worst On-Screen Love Lives

By Jason Bailey on

One of our favorite movies of the year, Sarah Polley’s heartbreaking Take This Waltz, hits theaters this Friday (but, heads up, you can watch it on demand right effing now, and should). In it, Michelle Williams plays a writer who jeopardizes her seemingly happy marriage when she falls for the handsome fellow down the street. Thinking back on the movie, we couldn’t help but muse that Williams seems an actress particularly unlucky in love on screen; in fact, she’s one of many actors who seem to have made a specialty of playing characters who are perpetually getting screwed, romantically speaking. After the jump, we take a look at the unlucky cinematic love lives of Williams and nine of her contemporaries (to keep it simple, we stuck with modern actors). Some spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk, etc.; agree, disagree, and add your own nominees in the comments. … Read More

Film

The Most Insufferable Holiday Movies of All Time

By Jason Bailey on

Everybody loves a good holiday movie. When we wrote last week about the beginning of the season, and our favorite annual Christmas movies (Die Hard and It’s A Wonderful Life), our readers threw in their favorites: A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Bad Santa, Muppets Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, etc. But, lest we forget, every film of the season ain’t White Christmas; there are plenty of rotten holiday movies. (And, in fact, one of them is coming out tomorrow: steer clear of New Year’s Eve as though your life depends on it.) As many great Christmas movies as there are, it’s also a very tricky style to get right, requiring the proper mix of holiday cheer, sentiment, laughs, and warmth. It is pretty easy to screw that elixir up, and end up with something sickly sweet and utterly unwatchable. After the jump, we’ll gather up a few lumps of coal from our previous Christmas stockings. … Read More

Film

Female Performances Dominate This Year’s New York Film Festival

By Jason Bailey on

The 49th annual New York Film Festival drew to a close last night with screenings of The Descendants, the new (and rather wonderful) comedy/drama from director Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election, About Schmidt). Its centerpiece performance is a magnificent, nuanced turn by George Clooney, but there’s another one well worth mentioning: that of Shailene Woodley, the heretofore-unknown-to-your-author actor (she apparently co-stars on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, whatever the hell that is) who plays his 17-year-old daughter Alexandra. Woodley appears in nearly as much of the picture as Clooney, in a role just a complicated and difficult as his, and in scene after scene, she just nails it. Woodley’s complex (and relatively unsung, thus far anyway) performance puts a final spotlight on perhaps the most encouraging trend at this year’s NYFF: a rich assortment of extraordinary female performances. … Read More

Film

Trailer Park: Ghost Riders, Silent Movies, and Quiet Beatles

By Jason Bailey on

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 an even dozen trailers for you, and most are for the kind of prestige pictures that the end of the summer movie season usually has us salivating for. Not to worry, though, fans of things that are awful: there’s also a new Ghost Rider. Check ‘em all out after the jump. … Read More

Film

Big-Screen Romances That Will Rip Your Heart Out

By Judy Berman on

We were warned about Miranda July’s The Future – that it’s darker than her debut feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know, and that we’d leave the theater questioning our own life and choices. All this is true, but it didn’t prepare us for just how devastated we would be by the film’s central couple, Sophie and Jason. We don’t want to spoil the ending for you, so we’ll only say that what becomes of the relationship isn’t simple but absolutely destroyed us. Ten more on-screen romances that left us shaken (and sometimes teary-eyed) are after the jump. … Read More

Web

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

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we put ourselves in the shoes of the trapped Chilean miners thanks to this clever infographic. We decided that we can’t wait to see HBO’s remake of Mildred Pierce — Kate Winlset and Evan Rachel Wood are both fantastic in the trailer. We paired up celebrities from the… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The 22 pieces of custom-made furniture Michael Jackson commissioned for his planned home in London during the This Is It tour (including a leopard-print chair trimmed with ostrich feathers) are going on the auction block. [via

[/kml_flashembed]

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Thanks to a push from Kiefer Sutherland, FOX’s film and TV studios have finally agreed on a big-screen adaption of 24 which will take Jack Bauer to Europe. [via Variety]
2. Tonight will be the final installment of The Jay Leno Show with guests Ashton Kutcher and Gabourey Sidibe; Leno will return… Read More

Film

5 Period Pieces That Float Our Boat and 5 That Missed It All Together

By Lauren Hubbard on

After attending a screening of the pleasant, but unremarkable, Cheri(which stars Michelle Pfeiffer and opens in theaters Friday), we got to thinking about why period pieces have a bad rap. Is it the language? The unfamiliar customs and landscapes? It’s definitely not the lack of nudity. (We’re looking at you, Jonathan Rhys Meyers.) So we decided to put together our own list of the best and worst period films — based on box office success and our personal preferences — to see if we can find a common thread. Join us, will… Read More