As we come to the close of a worldwide Internet protest against the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy bills, we’ve been thinking about the impact that just 24 hours can make. We’re taking a break from politics and making a detour into the cinematic universe to explore stories that use the fleeting nature of time to their advantage. These ten films that take place in just one night sometimes reveal enormous truths for their characters, while others allow strangers to forge fascinating, memorable relationships. There’s an urgency and immediacy to stories that unfold so quickly. With little time to lose, there’s often clarity of dialogue, action, or emotion that arises during dramatic situations. We’ve explored it all past the break. Tell us who you’d add to the list below.
1. Steven Seagal is being sued by an Arizona man named Jesus Sanchez Llovera after taking part in a raid in which police — who were attempting to bust an alleged cockfighting ring — arrived on the scene in a tank and shot and killed the guy’s puppy. What Llovera wants: $100,000 in damages and a formal written apology from Seagal. [via The Daily Beast]
2. A controversial new kid’s coloring book that graphically depicts the events of 9/11 has already completely sold out in its initial run of 10,000 copies. [via GalleyCat]
3. Did you know that Richard Linklater is planning to direct a movie about Karl Rove back in his early days at the University of Utah? Even curiouser: Paul Dano is set to star in the project. [via BBC]
4. In case you were wondering, this is supposedly the ugliest new building to go up in Great Britain in the past year.
5. The Smashing Pumpkins have launched a record club, and while we’re not sure what it really entails, if you sign up now you get a free download of an early 8-track demo version of “Drown,” with promises of more freebies to come. [via Stereogum]
Trainspotting. Empire Records. Reality Bites. The Crow. Pump Up the Volume. The list of ’90s counterculture movies whose popularity has continued into — or been revived in — the 21st century is a long one, full of beloved films (many of which we celebrate on a regular basis at Flavorwire). But what happens when you need a subversive nostalgia fix and yet another viewing of My Own Private Idaho just isn’t going to cut it? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this list of ten wonderful (or at least entertaining) ’90s counterculture flicks you may have forgotten — or never knew about in the first place. Impress your friends by whipping them out at your next movie night, and add your own picks in the comments.
We love our commenters, who are smart and sweet and supportive, always. (Almost.) So big ups to “Jax” for making this writer’s life a little easier by writing, in response to the inclusion of American Grafitti and Dazed and Confused on our “10 Great Summer Nostalgia” movies list: “Speaking of 24-hour movies, has Flavorwire done post on best 24-hour movies? Or movies set within specific time limits?” We hadn’t, Jax. But we have now.
Come to find out, there’s actually a wealth of really terrific movies set over one long day or one long night (or both). Even when setting some ground rules just for the process of thinning the herd (for example: nothing with flashbacks outside of that time frame — which eliminated Reservoir Dogs, Halloween and 25th Hour, amongst others), we still left out some awfully good stuff: A Single Man, The Breakfast Club, The Paper, Training Day, Adventures in Babysitting (don’t judge), Collateral, Friday, Rope, Duel, the Die Hard movies, etc. We’re not saying these films are necessarily better than those; these are just the ten that struck our fancy today. Check ‘em out after the jump.
Ten prominent directors, from David Lynch to Catherine Breillat, step in front of the camera to talk about the overlap between their films and lives in Angela Ismailos’ penetrating documentary.
This 90-minute gem delves into indie icon John Sayles’ secret life as a Hollywood screenwriter for Jurassic Park and other blockbusters, Bernardo Bertolucci’s unique take on the infamous sex scene in his groundbreaking Last Tango in Paris, and Lynch’s chance encounter with Mel Brooks. These revelations are joined by others from French badass Breillat, Agnes Varda, Richard Linklater, Todd Haynes, Ken Loach, Liliana Cavani, and Stephen Frears.
1. After Katy Perry ripped off their album title, Beach House is threatening to record a song called “I Kissed a Girl.” [via Vulture]
2. Some news that will make our prepubescent male readers happy: Playboy plans to unveil a 3D centerfold in their June issue. [via AP]
3. In the wake of Gang Starr rapper Guru’s death, someone has hacked into his former partner Solar’s email account. What they found suggests that he is just as evil as some people have always suspected. [via Sound of the City]
4. Coming soon to a theater near you, a Beatles zombie movie, Paul Is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion, based on an illustrated novel by Alan Goldsher. We look forward to finding out who gets cast as the band’s arch nemesis — a zombie-killing Mick Jagger. [via Spinner]
5. Chuck Klosterman’s upcoming release isn’t a new book. It’s a set of 50 cards intended to inspire debate and conversation among friends. [via Paste]
The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off yesterday with the premiere of the fourth and supposedly final Shrek movie. But you don’t care about that. You want to hear about the films that you’ll actually want to see. With nearly 200 of them screening, there is a dizzying array of choices sure to send any serious movie buff into an existential panic. It would be impossible to catch everything, but we’ve sussed out the five flicks you definitely don’t want to miss. Check them out and watch accompanying trailers after the jump.
A cat playing the piano is funny, but a sequence of cats playing an atonal composition by Arnold Schoenberg is both brilliant and absurd. One of the latest works from digital artist Cory Arcangel, Drei Klavierstucke, Op.11 is a compilation of fragments from found YouTube videos that captures a variety of cats walking on piano keys, each producing a note. Edited together, they recreate a dynamic piece of modernist music.
To be frank, the trailer for Zac Efron’s next movie, which plops Efron into the theater scene of Depression-era New York,has a lot going against it. One rather unavoidable problem is that it’s a Zac Efron movie. We’re convinced he chooses movies based on whether or not they will require a haircut (period drama=’30s hair=good to go). Another strike against the film is that the female lead is Claire Danes, who, our eternal love for Angela Chase notwithstanding (BTW, My So-Called Life is now on Hulu!), has been in a string of duds lately. Read More »
On Friday night the New Museum and n + 1 bring you The ’90s vs. the ’90s, a panel talk that will include Michael Azerrad, Mark Greif, Emily Gould, A.S. Hamrah, Marisa Meltzer, and Aaron Lake Smith, and will examine the legacy of the decade’s pop culture touchstones — from the “Dirty Boots” video to Kurt Cobain’s suicide note to those Tickle Me Elmo dolls — on who we are today. After the jump we talk to Aaron, whose popular fanzines Big Hands have been called “an ongoing treatise on disappointment,” about the ubiquitous obsession with Generation X, the WTO riots in Seattle, and the blue hair he rocked back in high school. Read More »
