We think it’s safe to say that it’s been another colorful and crazy year. In the past few weeks we’ve taken a look at all the things we loved most in 2011 — including some of the best movie moments, the year’s greatest book covers, and the most controversial art shows. Every positive has a negative, however, and this year was no different. From directors who can’t seem to keep themselves out of hot water, to celebubimbos that we can do without, and 1% of the population that really pisses us off, we bring you ten of the year’s most controversial cultural icons that made everyone’s naughty list. Leave your picks below. Read More »
So, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced its 2011 Golden Globe nominees. We’re happy to see The Artist, Midnight in Paris, and even American Horror Story getting the love they deserve. But it isn’t all good news. As usual, many of the categories leave something to be desired. And readers? There is a whole lot of New Girl. Follow along as we grouse over the year’s biggest snubs, and add your own gripes in the comments. Read More »
Taking a gander at this week’s new releases, I see that the time has come for Carnage to open — a good thing, because it’s a crisp, disruptive dark comedy of manners with stellar performances from an ace ensemble (Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly), and a bad thing, because it’s directed by Roman Polanksi, so now we’re going to have to talk about Roman Polanski again, which is, well, a dicey proposition. It forces us to ask the question that we had to ask when The Ghost Writer came out, and The Pianist, and Death and the Maiden, and pretty much everything he’s done since he was arrested for (and later pleaded guilty to) unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old back in 1977. It’s the same question we’ve had to ask with every Woody Allen film that’s come out since his affair with companion (and mother to his biological child) Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn — 30 years his junior — was revealed. It’s the same question we had to ask when Melancholia came out earlier this fall, after Lars von Trier’s notorious “OK, I’m a Nazi” press conference at Cannes.
That question: Can you separate the film from the filmmaker? Read More »
Another year, another uninspired list of “fascinating people,” courtesy of Barbara Walters. Babs’ 2011 list seems frightfully behind the times: Aren’t Simon Cowell, Katy Perry, Derek Jeter, and the Kardashians kind of old news? Why interview Donald Trump when you could have picked a real politician who actually plans to run for president in 2012, instead of just teasing about it to hype his past-its-prime reality show? Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family aren’t a bad pick, but do we really need to hear more from tabloid favorites Amanda Knox and Pippa Middleton? Here’s hoping the one name ABC is withholding until Walters’ special airs tomorrow night is more inspiring. Meanwhile, your friends at Flavorpill have our entire list of 2011′s most fascinating people ready right now. Our top 10, and the questions we’d ask them, are after the jump. Read More »
We’ve watched songstress Charlotte Gainsbourg as an unhinged mother in Antichrist and fill with dread at the impending disaster in Melancholia. Now, the singer-actress may be appearing in her third Lars von Trier film, The Nyphomaniac. The movie is being billed as “an explicit exploration of a woman’s erotic life” that will be told in eight chapters, according to Variety.
Audiences would be privy to a softcore and hardcore version of the sexual evolution story that would follow the actress from age 0 to 50. Von Trier expects to show actual penetration, but has discussed the project being less of a porn flick and more of a philosophical construct with a lot of sex.
Keep in mind that Von Trier is no stranger to cinematic sexytime. His company Zentropa has produced several hardcore films geared toward a female audience. It also doesn’t shock us that Gainsbourg would possibly participate in a hardcore movie, given her brave, riveting performances in the Danish filmmaker’s other features. The actress may be reuniting with co-stars Stellan Skarsgård and Willem Dafoe for Nymphomaniac as they’re also in talks to participate. Shooting is expected to begin in summer or fall of 2012.
Surprised at this casting consideration for the risky picture? Or would you have been more shocked if Gainsbourg didn’t appear in the movie given her ongoing collaboration with the director?
We thought French authorities were overreacting a tad when they decided to pursue criminal charges against Lars von Trier, who apparently violated a law that prohibits justifying war crimes when he acknowledged that he identified with Hitler at the Cannes Film Festival back in May. Now, thankfully, those same authorities agree. “In my clear opinion von Trier should not be prosecuted,” Grasse public prosecutor Jean-Michel Cailleau told a Danish paper. The case has reportedly been closed, and the filmmaker is no longer at risk of serving a five-year prison sentence. For Melancholia fans like us, who can’t imagine waiting half a decade for von Trier’s next masterpiece, this is good news indeed. Now, if only we could get him to start giving interviews again. [via TheWrap]
Lars von Trier is a great filmmaker, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy you’d much like to hang out and have a drink with. Aside from all that Nazi stuff, his films tend to traffic in the grimmest possible subject matter: he’s tackled rape, slavery, the death penalty, paralysis, and genital mutilation, so it somehow seems logical that his latest picture, Melancholia (on demand now, in theaters Friday) is about nothing less than the end of the world.
Apocalypses are a popular topic for filmmakers — though most are more interested in the narrative possibilities of the post-apocalyptic world than the event itself. Melancholia distinguishes itself by being something of a pre-apocalyptic picture, delving into the anxiety and fear of those who are awaiting the earth’s possible collision with a foreign object (timely!). After the jump, we’ll take a look back at a few of our favorite cinematic apocalypses. Read More »
Hollywood wouldn’t be the obsessive, all-conquering dream factory that it is if people weren’t fascinated with the on-screen and off-screen antics of their favorite stars. But for many cineastes, the same preoccupation extends to their favorite directors, who occasionally wield unorthodox techniques to craft their cinematic masterpieces. Some of these fascinating filmmakers are merely eccentric, while others seem to be toeing the fine line between genius and insanity. Regardless, the filmic fusion of their quirks, phobias, chutzpah, and bizarre stunts combined have helped to shape some cinema’s most memorable works. Here’s our dossier of famed filmmakers and their weird ways that proves sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Who would you add to the list?
It was over four months ago that incendiary filmmaker Lars von Trier made a few very stupid comments at the Cannes Film Festival about identifying with Hitler. Although he apologized profusely and clarified that what he meant wasn’t nearly as offensive as what he said, we decided it was time to forgive him. But many disagreed. At the time, Cannes banned him from the festival — now, it turns out the scrutiny didn’t end there. The Associated Press reports that von Trier is currently facing charges of justifying war crimes, which is illegal in France — meaning that he could actually serve time for his controversial remarks. The director has said in a statement that Danish police questioned him earlier today in relation to the French case. Von Trier also announced that the fallout from his comments have made him realize that “I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally,” and as of now, he’ll no longer be speaking to the press.
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 seven new chunks of varyingly interesting fall fare; check ‘em all out after the jump.
