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Keira Knightley

Architecture

The Very Best of Strange Soviet Architecture

By Claire Cottrell on

Inspired by the arrival of Anna Karenina in theaters, we decided to take a look at the strange, experimental architecture that was born out of the collapse of the old Russian… Read More

Film

Flavorwire’s Flick of the Week: ‘Anna Karenina’ Is a High-Spirited, Robust Adaptation

By Jason Bailey on

Joe Wright’s new adaptation of Anna Karenina opens with a wide shot of a stage, the sounds of an orchestra tuning, and a curtain rising. The telling of the story that follows is immersed in artifice, much of it taking place in a fluid theatrical space with lighting and staging effects, and moving flats, backdrops, and scenery. What Wright and his screenwriter Tom Stoppard (who knows a little something about The Theatre) have done is not adapt Tolstoy’s novel so much as they’ve staged it, creating a fluid three-way dialectic between the page, the stage, and the frame. It’s a fresh and ingenious approach, and results in a surprisingly high-spirited picture. … 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

Fashion

The Fug Report: Highs and Lows from the Week in Fashion

By Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan on

Editor’s note: Welcome to The Fug Report! Each week our fashion blogger friends Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the sartorial geniuses behind Go Fug Yourself, will feature some of the most memorable looks of the week in this space. We hope you enjoy it!

This week on Go Fug Yourself, we examined Anne… Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: ‘Anna Karenina,’ ‘Alex Cross,’ and a Slew of Sundance Films

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, we’ve got eleven new trailers, featuring Keira Knightley, Russell Crowe, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin James, Tyler Perry, Frank Langella, and John Hawkes — plus the directorial debut of Wu-Tang’s RZA and a new Spike Lee joint. Check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … 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

10 Utterly Unconvincing Movie Couples

By Jason Bailey on

Our favorite of this week’s new theatrical releases is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Lorene Scafaria’s end-of-the-world comedy that deftly transcends what could have been a one-joke premise, turning instead unexpectedly poignant and moving. The key to that transition is the surprisingly effective romantic subplot between stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley — and yes, we were as skeptical as you when that element of the picture began to reveal itself. But this is one of those cases where seemingly mismatched stars pair up well on-screen. Others haven’t been quite so lucky. After the jump, we remember a few of the cinema’s less believable movie couples. … Read More

Fashion

Dear Costume Department: ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’

By Of a Kind on

Editor’s note: Welcome to the final installment of Dear Costume Department, a bi-weekly feature that our fashion-minded friends from Of a Kind have been bringing to you since last November. Be sure to check out their site to score limited-edition goods by emerging designers, and find an archive of previous installments of the series here.

In Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Keira Knightley does a deep dive into quirky girl-next-door territory, landing (it seems) somewhere right between Natalie Portman in Garden State and Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer. Of course, it’s imperative to have a solid end-of-the-world romance look, and here’s what the British-accented ingénue wears to no doubt help Steve Carrell redeem himself as an asteroid comes careening toward Earth. … Read More

Film

Flavorpill’s Guide to Movies You Need to Stream This Week

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to Flavorpill’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. This week, we’ve got films from Ryan Gosling, Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Mel Brooks, Bill Murray, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Robin Williams, plus new documentaries and an ‘80s classic. Check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

Film

Trailer Park: Of Spies and Spider-Men

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. We’ve got eight new trailers for your Friday viewing enjoyment; check ‘em all out after the jump. … Read More