Earlier in the month, we spotlighted some of our favorite performances of the year, and we’re not quite sure exactly where the line falls between loving a performance and loving a character. But the people (and non-people) on this list were real and memorable not just because the actors involved played them so well (though they did). Here, the combination of masterful acting, great writing, and sensitive direction gave us a sense that these were real people on the screen. What’s more, they were real people whom we wish we knew — even though, by the end of their films, in many ways we did know them. Our favorites are after the jump; add yours in the comments. Read More »
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.
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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. This week, we’ve got eight new ones—everything from cancer comedies to Shakespearean dramas to, God help us, holiday fare. Check ‘em all out after the jump.
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In the first scene of the trailer for 50/50, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is attempting to shave his head, using an electric razor his friend Seth Rogen has probably used on his private parts. It looks like the set-up for a new Judd Apatow knee-slapper, but 50/50 is no Knocked Up. Based on the true story of how screenwriter Will Reiser overcame cancer, the film takes a lighter, humor- and romance-filled look at what life is like when you have a 50 percent chance of dying young. The trailer looks promising, and we’re excited about the cast, which includes Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, and Philip Baker Hall in addition to Gordon-Levitt and Rogen. Let us know whether you plan on seeing 50/50 when it comes out September 30th.
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There’s been a lot of talk about how 2010 has been an awful year for film. In fact earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal, novelist and screenwriter Joe Queenan dubbed it the worst movie year ever. While we don’t necessary agree (just look at The King’s Speech, Toy Story 3, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, and Black Swan), we do know that the upcoming year looks even more promising. After the jump check out ten of the films that already have us excited for 2011, and be sure to add anything that we’ve missed in the comments.
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Earlier this week it was announced that “Fight For Your Right Revisited,” a short film written and directed by Adam Yauch, would premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now, thanks to Stereogum, we’ve got a photo of Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, and Danny McBride, who are presumably playing Mike D, Ad-Rock, and MCA. The cast also includes Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Jack Black, and while we don’t know anything about the plot, we do have this tagline: “After the boys leave the party.” We’re intrigued. Click through if you need to refresh your memory on the original clip.
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Today at Flavorpill, we tried to understand the multiple levels of symbolism at work in Katy Perry’s Simpsons cameo. We looked at famous skylines made out of old computer parts. We wished that TRON: Lebowski was getting a theatrical release. We met the female filmmaker spearheading the “film sleepy” genre, which actually sounds even more boring than mumblecore. We listened to Billy Joel’s entire catalog, all at once. We were intrigued by Adam Yauch’s “Fight for Your Right Revisited,” a short that is playing Sundance and features Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Jack Black in its cast. We clapped our hands in excitement over the latest installment of Edith Zimmerman’s super hilarious Letters to the Editors of Women’s Magazines. We appreciated this comprehensive roundup of all of the Hulks on Twitter. And finally, we were surprised to hear that James Franco has an underwear line. But probably not as surprised as he was.
Forbes has come out with a list of Hollywood’s most overpaid actors for 2010. To do this they looked at the 36 highest-earning actors in the movie business and compared the actor’s pay with what their last three films made earned (with a cutoff date of June 1, 2010). The resulting number comes in the form of amount the studio has made for every dollar they paid the star (for example, for every dollar Will Ferrell was paid, his last three films returned an average $3.35). Click through for the top 10 and our slightly over-the-top analysis.
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Like most of the world, we’ve been closely following Conan for what feels like forever. Now, with the premiere just under two weeks away, they’ve announced who the new show’s first guests will be, namely Seth Rogen, Jack White, and the winner of Conan’s special-guest poll (in all likelihood, Jack Nicholson). Later in the week he’ll be visited by Tom Hanks, Jack McBrayer, Soundgarden, Jon Hamm, Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, and Julie Bowen. Not bad for cable! Considering that when he took over The Tonight Show his first guests were Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam, we see this more diverse lineup of celebrities as a big improvement. That said, we’ve got to question his affinity for ’90s alternative rock. [via Vulture]
Simon Pegg and his frequent co-star Nick Frost team up as both writers and actors in Paul, what looks like a parody of your typical road trip buddy comedy. Naturally the “best buddies,” a pair of comic book geeks traveling near Area 51, encounter a smoking alien (voiced by Seth Rogen), and that’s when the “trip of a lifetime” really begins. Jason Bateman plays a stern-faced, Men in Black-esque government agent, which should be hilarious (director Greg Mottola helmed a few episodes of Arrested Development), and the cast is rounded out by Kristen Wiig and sci-fi staple Sigourney Weaver. Despite an all-star ensemble, the success of this movie will rest heavily on Pegg and Frost. If internet rumors are to be believed, we need to wait for the red band trailer for the majority of the Superbad/Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead-style laughs. Which makes sense. Check out the teaser after the jump and let us know what you think.
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