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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Film

Reader’s Choice: 10 More Definitive Cinematic Music Cues

By Jason Bailey on

Any time you have the gumption to pose a list of the ten definitive anything, you’re going to get some pushback. But because Flavorwire has the greatest readers in the world (/blatant sucking up), our post last week of The Most Definitive Music Cues in Film History prompted very little venom, and several excellent additions (including a few that had been on our first, wildly overambitious draft). The concept, once again, is that certain films use pop music cues so well that the movie and the song get inextricably bound together in your head; when you think of the movie, you hear the song, and when you hear the song, your see the film in your mind’s eye. We’ve picked our ten faves from the addendums offered by you, the reader, after the jump; feel free to add more of your favorites in the comments. … Read More

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Celebrity

15 Hilarious Celebrity Audition Tapes

By Jennifer Lewis on

Quick, think of your favorite character from film or TV. Got it? Now imagine someone else wearing that character’s clothes and saying that character’s words. Unless you’re thinking of James Bond, Doctor Who, or another notoriously replaceable face, it’s probably hard to picture a different actor playing the part. Alas, before there were “lights, camera, action” on all our favorite productions, there were auditions, and that role was up for grabs. Check out some silly successful, failed, and even fake audition tapes, featuring some very familiar faces, after the jump. … Read More

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Music

Battle of the Bands: Fictional Musicians vs. Their Real-Life Counterparts

By Emily Temple on

We’ve been hearing a lot of buzz recently about Jesse Plemons (ahem, Landry Clarke from Friday Night Lights) and his real-life band, Cowboy and Indian. Some of our favorite Landry scenes in FNL were related to his Christian speed-metal band Crucifictorious, but Cowboy and Indian may be, if anything, its polar opposite. Watching Landry croon bluegrass melodies on guitar and sip whiskey under a warm light in his recently released vido got us thinking about all the characters with bands who actually have bands in real life — and which ones are better. Click through for our roundup of bands from TV and film whose members are — for better or worse — actually musicians, and tell us if you agree with our verdicts in the comments! … Read More

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