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Michael Cera

Comedy

What We Learned About ‘Arrested Development,’ ‘Mr. Show,’ and “Alternative Comedy” From David Cross’ Conversation With Michael Cera

By Jason Bailey on

“Do you guys feel like you’re learning things tonight?” asked David Cross, about two-thirds of the way through “A Conversation with David Cross,” a sold-out event at New York’s 92nd Street Y Wednesday night — and though he asked it in jest, there actually were lessons to be extrapolated from his informal 95-minute chat with Arrested Development co-star Michael Cera. Here’s some of what we learned. … Read More

Film

The Best and Worst of Sundance 2013

By Jason Bailey on

This time last year, the out-of-nowhere indie Beasts of the Southern Wild emerged at the Sundance Film Festival, knocked out everyone who saw it, and embarked on a thrilling year-long ride to become a critical fave, indie smash, and multiple Oscar nominee. Of course, when you have a big hit, everyone’s looking for a sequel — and most of the press out of Park City has been eager to buzzkill, assuring us that no, there’s not another Beasts in this year’s bunch. But that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an incredible… Read More

Film

Sundance 2013: Welcome to Michael Cera’s Second Act

By Jason Bailey on

PARK CITY, UT: When the Michael Cera vehicle Youth in Revolt was released in January of 2009, its commercial failure had observers sniffing a backlash to the likable young actor, who’d presumably built up an audience via his work in the hits Superbad and Juno, and on the cult fave Arrested Development. But when the much-loved, much-hyped Scott Pilgrim vs. the World met with similarly underwhelming box office the following year, the verdict was in: it was looking less and less likely the Cera was going to be carrying films the way his Superbad co-star Jonah Hill was. So he did the only sensible thing: he went off to Chile and made a movie about a mescaline trip. Wait, what? … Read More

Books

10 YA Novel to Film Adaptations That Kept Their Edge

By Molly Horan on

The Perks of Being A Wallflower, the film adaptation of the ’90s cult young adult novel by Stephen Chbosky, is out in wide release today, and we couldn’t be more excited. While some of its critics are saying the film packs in more issues then the entire canon of after school specials, no one is accusing it of shying away from the dicier topics that made the novel so relatable to its teenage readers. This, unfortunately, is not always the case for adaptations of classic YA books — The Princess Diaries, for example, was totally Disney-fied, much to our chagrin. To inform your viewing, here are some other movies based on YA books that managed to keep their edge. … Read More

Film

10 of Film’s Greatest Sex Comedies

By Jason Bailey on

We’ve been excited about For A Good Time, Call… since its Sundance premiere, and not just because it (like fellow Sundance film Bachelorette, on demand now and in theaters next month) indicates that the post-Bridesmaids female-heavy R-rated comedy surge is actually going to happen. More than that, For A Good Time is, quite simply, a very funny and exquisitely likable sex comedy, and there’s a shortage of those any way you slice it. There’s no shortage of sex comedies, of course — since the early ‘80s heyday of Porky’s and Hardbodies and their ilk, they’ve been all but ubiquitous. But have you ever tried going back and watching those iconic titles? Good heavens. They do not hold up well.

But a select few do. After the jump, we’ve assembled ten of our all-time favorite sex comedies (which we’re defining as movies where sex is the primary preoccupation/subject matter); add your own in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 Great Off-Kilter Love Stories in Literature

By Emily Temple on

If you’re anything like us, you like a little quirk with your romance. Or, um, make that a lot of quirk. This week saw the release of Joe Meno’s newest novel, Office Girl, an off-kilter love story between two meandering artist-types trying to make it in Chicago on little more than fumes, awkward sex, and half-baked schemes — until they find each other, of course. After reading the short novel, we had a hankering for some more weird tales of love, so we put together this list of some of our favorite off-kilter romances in literature, from the dark and strange to the relentlessly whimsical. Click through to check out our picks, and as always, be sure to let us know your own favorite book in this vein in the comments. … Read More

Television

Watch Michael Cera and Reggie Watts Sing About Pie

By Caroline Stanley on

Whether or not Scott Aukerman’s new talk/sketch show Comedy Bang Bang is a runaway success when it premieres on June 8th, we think that IFC should keep doing these “Reggie Makes Music” webisodes forever. They’re just so much random fun! In this latest installment, Watts is hanging out with Taran Killam Michael Cera, and the two of them improvise a little ditty about friendship and — what else — pie. How could the results not be adorable? Speaking of people who we find adorable, you can already preview a full episode of the show that features Ms. Amy Poehler right here. … Read More

Television

TV’s Most Notoriously Short-Lived Shows

By Jason Bailey on

While perusing today’s new DVD releases, your film editor was nearly prompted to a coffee spit take by one particular title: Warner Archive’s release of, and I quote, “Emily’s Reasons Why Not: The Complete Series.” You see, I remember Emily’s, ABC’s well-publicized 2006 Heather Graham sitcom that aired exactly one time before being unceremoniously yanked from the air. “Ha ha,” I thought to myself. “31 bucks is a lot of money to ask for a thirty-minute disc,” and I laughed and laughed. That’s not the whole story, of course; there are actually seven episodes of “the complete series” (though that’s still a pretty hefty price tag); six more where already in the bank when ABC pulled the show due to poor reviews and low ratings. (Funny thing: its 6.2 million viewers would be a pretty comfortable debut in today’s slipping TV environment.) But it was far from the first show to get tossed in the dumpster before it could find an audience. After the jump, we’ve compiled just a few TV series that were put out to pasture notoriously early in their runs. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Romeo and Juliet

By Emily Temple on

If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: in honor of Valentine’s Day, Shakespeare’s most famous star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. … 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 were a little freaked over these photos of a fictional drug addict for the Israel Anti-Drug Authority ad campaign. We were relieved that Jay-Z and Beyonce didn’t actually pay $1 million for a private hospital floor. We tried to imagine a time when states like Texas … Read More