Editor’s note: Welcome to Dear Costume Department, a bi-weekly feature brought to you by our fashion-minded friends from Of a Kind, a curated shopping site of limited-edition goods by emerging designers. With each installment, they’ll bring you a head-to-toe look inspired by a buzzed-about pop culture personality — complete with info on where to grab the pieces for your own closet. Enjoy!
It’s hard not to get excited about a new Paul Rudd movie — even when the dude is playing opposite of Jennifer Aniston. In his latest — directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer! Role Models!) and produced by Judd Apatow (every man-child comedy ever!) — Rudd’s character George trades life as a Manhattan power player for some time at a hippy-dippy commune that they thought was a B&B. Fingers crossed, laughs ensue. Here are our suggestions for what he should put on when he opts to wear clothes at all.
Contrary to what some of the more curmudgeonly folks you might be reading have said, 2011 was actually a very good year for film, in which countless filmmakers either ignored the industry’s distrust of originality entirely, or found new and interesting ways to smuggle bits of revelation and surprise even into formulaic franchise pictures. You’ll see a lot of “best of the year” lists floating around that run down many of the same easy picks for the year’s best films, but since each film is an accumulation of small parts — scenes, lines, pauses, etc. — we thought it would be fun to pick out some of the little, specific moments that stayed in our movie-going memories over the course of 2011. Ours are after the jump; we hope to see yours in the comments. Read More »
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 seven new trailers this week, ranging from family-friendly zombies to haunted hotels to psycho teens; check ‘em out after the jump.
Last night the Stella gang (aka David Wain, Michael Showalter, and Michael Ian Black) celebrated the 10 year anniversary of Wet Hot American Summer by hosting an event at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Vulture has a nice recap of the evening’s highlights, which included taped bits by Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, audition footage for Bradley Cooper and Naomi Watts (who was not cast!), and in-person appearances by a few of the cult classic’s most beloved characters, including frumpy Camp Firewood director Beth (Janeane Garofalo), who is currently busy at work on “a line of clothing for the imminent Rapture,” and legendary Catskills comedian Alan Shemper (Showalter), a man who went to camp so long ago that Jesus Christ was his counselor. Click through to watch Shemper’s all-to-brief routine, and if you’re craving for more WHAS action, head over to Entertainment Weekly where Wain, Showalter, and Joe Lo Truglio all reflect back on their experiences making the film a decade later.
Today at Flavorpill, we considered starting a collection of celebrity finger puppets. We wished that we could get our hands on Jane Austen’s unpublished manuscript for a novel called The Watsons that’s going up for auction at Sotheby’s in London tomorrow — but sadly, we don’t have $330,000 to spare. We wondered if Rolling Stone’s “Rock Stars Who Look Like Wizards” will be the silliest Harry Potter-related feature that we’ll see all week. We watched a very young Louis C.K. do stand-up at Caroline’s in the early ’90s. We felt kind of sorry for Tom Green, who has emerged from the depths of obscurity to claim that he invented “planking.” We were kind of excited by the rumor that Kanye West will show a collection at New York Fashion Week in September. We couldn’t help but think that this Ryan McGinley lawsuit was kind of ridiculous. And finally, were thrilled to read that Errol Morris is making a film with Paul Rudd and Ira Glass. Is there any way that it won’t be likable?
1. Norio Ohga, a the former president and chairman of Sony and the man credited with developing the compact disc, has died at the age of 81. [via NME]
2. Take a look at the first new art from Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson in 16 years, a painting that he created for a fundraising project for Parkinson’s research.
3. The new album from Seattle folk rockers Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues, is streaming in full over at NPR. It’s officially due out on May 3.
4. Former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, who was most recently the chief film critic over at Movieline.com, has been terminated following an investigation into his review of Source Code, which appeared to be based upon an early draft of the script rather than the movie itself. [via Deadline]
5. Check out a well-bearded Paul Rudd in the new trailer for My Idiot Brother, a comedy which also stars Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Rashida Jones. [via Perez]
When your band is called the New Pornographers, chances are you’re going to have a pretty good sense of humor. Perhaps that explains the group’s new video for “Moves,” shot in the style of a trailer for a hilariously sensationalized movie about New Pornos main man Carl Newman’s life — and preceded by glimpse at a faux Judd Apatow-meets-Junior-style comedy called Expectant Dads. In addition to that film’s two top-billed stars, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader, the video includes cameos by just about every awesome comedian you can think of, from Daily Show all-stars John Oliver and John Hodgman to Todd Barry and the wonderful Julie Klausner (as fellow fire-haired diva Neko Case, of course). Indie rock fans, be sure to also keep your eyes peeled for Ted Leo (who recently made a similarly comedian-packed video) and Jon Wurster. Do these guys all hang out on a regular basis or something? If so, we’re very jealous.
1. Last night, Kanye tweeted what could be the cover art for Watch The Throne, his joint project with Jay-Z, which is set to drop on January 11th. In the middle are the letters H*A*M. Any ideas what that might mean? [via HitFix]
2. MTV and Foursquare have teamed up to launch a new Jersey Shore-themed badge; in order to score the “GTL” badge, all you have to do is check in to a gym, tanning salon, and laundry mat during a 7-day period. [via Mashable]
3. Lady Gaga has finally unveiled her new line for Polaroid. Among the offerings are a pair of sunglasses that doubles as a camera and displays images on its lenses; a portable, wireless printer; and an updated version of the classic Polaroid instant camera. [via THR]
4. Judd Apatow’s next project will feature Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd reprising their roles from Knocked Up. Hopefully Apatow and Mann’s two daughters — who played the precocious kids in Knocked Up — will be involved, too. [via Variety]
5. Some happy news: Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys has been told he’s cancer-free, 18 months after he was diagnosed with the disease. [via Toronto Sun]
1. A Funny Girl revival is headed to Broadway in Spring 2012! We think that Glee‘s Lea Michele would be perfect for the lead, but director Bartlett Sher says that they’ll likely go with an unknown actress. [via ArtsBeat]
2. What Katy “the pastor’s daughter” Perry thinks of the “Alejandro” video: “Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke.” [via Vulture]
3. We’re sad to hear that Jimmy Fallon‘s late night show’s ratings dropped 20 percent over the last year. May we suggest he get back on that Saved by the Bell reunion, stat? [via NYP]
4. A new Paul Rudd comedy where Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer play his “three ambitious sisters”? We’re sold! [via THR]
5. A bunch of real DJs are angry that The Jersey Shore‘s Pauly D and his spikes made it onto the ballot for the annual America’s Best DJ competition. [via Spinner]
