We thought it was strange when rumors circulated last year that Lars von Trier and Martin Scorsese were planning to team up for a remake of Taxi Driver. You know what’s even more bizarre? Michel Gondry’s new two-minute version of the movie, which he created for the French premiere of Hugo. As fans of Be Kind Rewind might expect, Gondry’s “sweded” remake is decidedly more arts and crafty than the original; colored pencils stand in for bullets, and when Travis Bickle (who’s played by the French auteur) delivers his famous “You talkin’ to me?” lines, the dramatic scene is suddenly transformed into something that’s wacky and adorable. Click through to check out the charming short now. Read More »
Darren Aronofsky’s unsettling crystal meth PSAs made the rounds earlier this week. The Black Swan director worked with the Meth Project Foundation to trouble us with visions of intense drug addiction, and boy did it work. Aronofsky isn’t the only gifted filmmaker who has dabbled with short-form film and the telly advertising world, however. Many auteur moviemakers found their start on TV, creating some of the most memorable works that have ever been brought to prime time. Others just enjoy creating little bites of film-esque entertainment as a break from the Hollywood machine. Whatever the reasons, the condensed screen time provides a fascinating snapshot of each director’s overall style. Click past the break for a look at ten directors who made creative commercials for the small screen.
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1. All in all, we thought that last night’s MTV Video Music Awards were pretty boring. The one thing that kept us from turning it off was a promised first look at The Hunger Games, and even that turned out to be a totally underwhelming clip of Jennifer Lawrence hopping over a log.
2. Beyoncé was showing off what looked to be a tiny baby bump on the award show’s red carpet, and now her rep has confirmed it: she and Jay-Z are expecting their first child! [via Just Jared]
3. We’ve known for a while that Michel Gondry was planning to make a film with Audrey Tautou, but now we have some additional details; an “offbeat romance,” the project is an adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel L’Écume des Jours, and will co-star French actor Romain Duris. [via Slashfilm]
4. Sofia Coppola and her longtime partner Thomas Mars of Phoenix got married over the weekend at her family’s 19-century mansion in Bernalda, Italy. Among the famous names on the 80-person guest list: George Lucas, Johnny Depp, and Jason Schwartzman. [via LAT]
5. Here is your first look at John Goodman’s upcoming appearance on Community where he’ll be playing the vice dean of Greendale Community College’s air conditioning repair program.
Bonus Buzz: David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” Adapted Into World’s Saddest Children’s Book
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.
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Today at Flavorpill, we adored Michel Gondry’s video for Björk’s “Crystalline.” We agreed that On the Road and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are among the favorite books of the secretly jerky. We were not impressed (or surprised) by the trailer for Russian Dolls, the Brighton Beach-set Russian version of Jersey Shore. We celebrated the birthday of Mick Jagger, Helen Mirren, and Stanley Kubrick. We were as ambivalent about Stereogum’s Stroked cover album, celebrating the tenth anniversary of The Strokes’ Is This It?, as we have always been about the band itself. We watched a comedian behave badly at an Apple store without getting kicked out. Amazing line-up additions drove us to contemplate launching a Kickstarter project to fund our journey to December’s Jeff Mangum-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK. And finally, we read a new short story by Jennifer Egan that has us feeling even more compulsive about list-making than usual.
Before Michel Gondry made perplexing and underwhelming feature films like The Green Hornet and The Science of Sleep, he made perplexing and almost universally amazing music videos. With The Green Hornet coming out on DVD today, we figured it was a good time to remind ourselves of just how brilliant Gondry’s work on the musical side of things was –- and, indeed, continues to be. Watch ten of our favorite Gondry music videos, both well-known masterpieces and overlooked gems, after the jump.
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In its first season, our original music web series The Flavorpill Fix has brought you some of the past year’s best new music, from episodes hosted and curated by Marnie Stern, Titus Andronicus, and Xiu Xiu to an entire show animated by Japanther. If you’ll allow us to pat ourselves on the back about it, we’re pretty freaking proud of ourselves — and especially series director/co-producer/editor Sean Ruch and our host, Flavorpill NY managing editor Leah Taylor.
For our season finale, we’re going out the same way we kicked off, with a compilation of live songs and music videos by acts we love. Check out selections by Braids and Lower Dens from Flavorpill’s own CMJ showcase, as well as videos for Sleigh Bells, Gil Scott-Heron, and Mia Doi Todd (directed by Michel Gondry). Fun fact: The dog in the Sleigh Bells clip belongs to none other than Flavorpill’s own Nate Hageman. As always, New Yorkers can tune in to watch The Flavorpill Fix every Wednesday night at 10:30pm on NYC life, channel 25.
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Michel Gondry is one of our very favorite directors, and he has been slacking in the music video department. Well, apparently he has other things on his plate, but even still, we were super excited to see his name attached to the new music video for indie rock outfit Living Sisters’ “How Are You Doing.” And not to worry, the king of bizarre preciousness still reigns strong as ever over this pretty track. From the ballooning of the pregnant stomach in the first few seconds to the cartoonish Bright Eyes-esque airplane crash to the multiple interweaving panels, Gondry doesn’t disappoint. Do you agree? Watch the video after the jump and let us know in the comments!
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When we first posted about this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, we objected to a couple of exclusions (seriously, you guys, if you haven’t seen Blue Valentine yet, we’re not quite sure how else to sell you on it). But, in general, the ten films nominated this year are all solid choice. And though it’s a change that some have objected to — loudly — we really do like the ballooning of the list from five nominees to ten (and lest we forget, five was only the rule from 1944 on — in the ’30s, they’d nominate up to 12 films for the Best Picture honor). Sure, it makes the list comparatively unwieldy, and adds a few minutes to the awards telecast, which can be a bit of a long haul to begin with. But it allows traditionally snubbed titles — like genre movies, smaller titles, comedies, and animated features — to get a little bit of extra recognition.
Were it not for the ten-nomination rule, we probably wouldn’t have seen Best Picture nominations for Inception, Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, 127 Hours, or The Kids are All Right, and since those are some of our favorite films of the year, we’d have been looking at a far less interesting list. The fact of the matter is, too often there are more than five really great movies in a year — or the Academy simply recognizes the wrong damn movies. If the ten-nominee rule had been in place over the last decade, for example, we might have seen Best Picture nominations for some really great films that got passed over. Take a look at just a few of them after the jump.
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Only a few weeks after our most recent Snowmageddon, another blizzard is brewing for the Northeast. Since that may mean a snow day for many of our readers — and we bet no small number of you got your yearly snow-playing out of the way last month — we’ve devised a way for you to frolic in a winter wonderland without ever leaving the cozy comfort of your couch. The films we’ve rounded up aren’t just set in cold climates; they’re full-on sensory experiences that immerse you in a world of snow and ice.
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