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Shia LaBeouf

Celebrity

Seriously, What the Hell Is Going on With Shia LaBeouf?

By Jason Bailey on

The facts, as we know them, are these: Shia LaBeouf, of the Transformers movies and Indiana Jones and Wall Street sequels that most of us can agree were just terrible, was slated to make his Broadway debut in a revival of Lyle Kessler’s Orphans, opposite Alec Baldwin. Yesterday, just over a week into rehearsals, the producers announced that LaBeouf was leaving the production. The official reason is that old standby, “creative differences,” but as the shit-storm around his exit has increased in intensity, and as we consider some of his other recent choices, it’s become clear that Mr. LaBeouf is either a) at least a little bit out of his mind or b) carefully cultivating the image of someone who is at least a little bit out of his mind. … Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: ‘The Company You Keep,’ ‘The To-Do List,’ and More!

By Jason Bailey on

Every Friday here at Flavorwire, we like to gather up the week’s new movie trailers, give them a look-see, and rank them from worst to best — while taking a guess or two about what they might tell us (or hide from us) about the movies they’re promoting. We’ve got six new trailers for you this week, featuring Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Shannon, Anna Kendrick, Sarah Polley, Ray Liotta, Aubrey Plaza, Winona Ryder, James Franco, and Chris Evans; check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More

Film

Video Essay: “The 75 Coolest Looking Prohibition-Era Movie Characters”

By Jason Bailey on

There are all sorts of reasons to enjoy the deep South bootlegging action drama Lawless, out today: the sturdy direction by John Hillcoat (The Proposition), the witty script by Nick Cave, an archetypal fancy-pants villain turn by Guy Pearce, yet another astonishingly chameleonic performance by Tom Hardy. But let’s pause for a moment of appreciation on a very basic, aesthetic level: as it takes place in the Prohibition era (1920-1933, if you were sick that day in school), once young hotshot Shia LaBeouf starts making a little green running moonshine, he starts throwing it around on pinstripe suits and awesome hats. Say what you will about the era, pro or con, but they knew how to dress back then — and there’s always a part of us that’s suspected the primary reason for making movies set in the Prohibition era is to give actors an excuse to play dress-up, since it’s next to impossible to not look cool in ’20s and early-’30s garb. Don’t believe us? After the jump, take a look at our latest video essay, a supercut of everyone from Faye Dunaway to Gene Wilder in their Prohibition-era movies, and try to tell us we’re wrong. … Read More

Music

Watch a Very Strange New Sigur Rós Video, Starring Shia LaBeouf [NSFW]

By Emily Temple on

This morning, Sigur Rós released the video for ”Fjögur Píanó,” from their new album Valtari, and for eight minutes of sleepy chord progressions, there’s certainly a lot going on: high-concept bondage, friends eating psychedelic lollipops in an underwater car, dead butterflies, lace blindfolds, violent sex and, oh yes, all of it starring a naked Shia LaBeouf crying and smiling at the same time. The video, written and directed by Alma Har’el, was created as part of the band’s “Valtari Mystery Film Experiment,” wherein the band asks filmmakers “to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the band’s new album Valtari. The idea is to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom.” All we can say is, add this to the time he directed Marilyn Manson’s “Un Chien Andalou macabre Macbeth” video for “Born Villain” and boy, Shia LaBeouf has sure come a long way from his Even Stevens days. No matter how naked you get, or how grimy your hair becomes, we still remember. … Read More

Film

10 Cannes Films We Can’t Wait to See

By Jason Bailey on

Your Flavorwire has done its level best to hit the film festivals of note this year, but we’re afraid our travel budget was running a little too dry after Sundance and SXSW for us to make our way over to Cannes. (We’re even more disappointed than you are.) But we’ve been keeping a close eye on the reviews coming from the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, and have found plenty to get excited about in those dispatches. After the jump, we’ve assembled ten of the Cannes films we’re most looking forward to, with words of encouragement from some of the folks who were lucky enough to get a glimpse. (h/t to IndieWire, for their invaluable CriticWire directory of Cannes reviews.) … Read More

Film

The Most Ingenious Re-Casting Decisions in Movie History

By Jason Bailey on

Men in Black III will roll into your local cineplex tomorrow (or tonight, probably), and while it is a film with some problems, there’s one element of it we can wholeheartedly endorse: Josh Brolin’s performance as young “Agent K,” the character played by Tommy Lee Jones in the first two MIB pictures (and part of this one). Brolin, who co-starred with Jones in No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah (though they shared no scenes), not only has the older actor’s vocal inflections down cold — he also nails TLJ’s no-nonsense attitude and dry comic timing. But even more impressively, it’s not just a great impersonation; he transcends the limitations of mere impression and creates a wonderful performance, making room within the established character for his own touches. That’s a tough job to do, and not one that has been done successfully all that often. After the jump, we’ll take a look at a few other actors that pulled it off. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we congratulated our Social Media Manager Sophie Weiner for her inclusion in Time Out’s list of activists. We wondered if airlines should offer children-only seating areas and flights. We found out what cities are setting music trends. We got excited about MAD’s upcoming VHS… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Apparently Tupac’s hologram might be headed out on tour. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a close source to Dr. Dre says that he and Snoop Dogg are seriously considering it: “One option would be a tour in stadiums, involving other hip-hop stars, including Eminem, 50 Cent, and Wiz Khalifa. Alternately,… Read More

Celebrity

Celebrity Fight Club: 10 of Hollywood’s Bad Boy Elite

By Alison Nastasi on

Jeremy Renner — who appeared in the recently released installment of long-running Tom Cruise action vehicle, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol — was at a pub in Phuket, Thailand last night when a huge brawl broke out. Rumors circulated that the Hurt Locker actor might have been injured, but later reports confirmed that Renner left the bar unharmed as soon as the frenzy broke out. The star’s reps advised J.R. was “not involved” in the attack, but it made us wonder if his bad boy screen persona had any real-life influence when it came to the verbal assault that apparently started the whole thing. Renner’s not the only Hollywood actor who appears to be a little too comfortable in the part of troublemaker. Past the break, we list several other stars working today that probably belong to the celebrity fight club we’re not allowed to talk about (them’s the rules). Who’d you add? … Read More

Music

Watch Shia LaBeouf’s NSFW Marilyn Manson Music Video

By Judy Berman on

We were surprised to hear, earlier this summer, that Shia LaBeouf is making a documentary about Marilyn Manson. But, two months later, it seems the Transformers star has gone native — LaBeouf has directed a “short film” set to “Born Villain,” a track from Manson’s as yet unnamed eighth studio album. To our eyes, it’s a pretty standard Marilyn Manson music video: a cast of freaks, dark lighting, naked breasts, blood, a heap of casual misogyny. There’s a vague child molestation/revenge subplot, as well as some shots that have Manson and others listlessly reciting the most over-quoted passages of Macbeth. The song, meanwhile, is basically the same post-industrial rehash schlock we’ve come to expect from the 21st-century Manson. If you can stomach a scene where an eyeball is sewn into a woman’s vagina, then we invite you to watch the clip after the jump. … Read More