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Gift Guide: The Best Gifts for Movie Geeks

By Jason Bailey on

Happy Black Friday! Yes, yes, we know, we’re just encouraging that capitalist pigs and so on by participating, etc., but still — might as well get started on your Christmas shopping, right? And we’re here to help, particularly if you’ve got a movie geek to buy for (and we know how hard we can be to buy for). Thus, we’ve plucked out the ten gifts (with links!) most likely to please the film fan on your list, which they’ll drool thankfully over before making up an excuse to duck out of the holiday festivities and catch the first showing of Django Unchained. Check them out after the jump, and add your own gift ideas in the comments. … 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 read a 1967 Playboy interview with Orson Welles about his experiences as a  fortune-teller. We discovered 100 things to do when you’re stuck inside. We previewed Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal written by the late puppeteer’s daughter, Lisa. We saw the world’s largest coven of… Read More

Film

How the Disney Deal Could Save ‘Star Wars’

By Jason Bailey on

It would’ve taken a seismic shock to get Twitter and the blogosphere to stop chattering about Frankenmummystorm Sandy yesterday afternoon — and that’s exactly what happened (okay, maybe just metaphorically). Late in the day, Disney announced that they’d closed a $4.05 billion deal to purchase George Lucas’ LucasFilm production company; the same announcement also included news that a new Star Wars feature film will be released in 2015, an Episode VII that will mark the beginning of a new trilogy. Movie geeks across the Internet went, shall we say, ape-shit. And so did we, initially — how on earth can anyone in their right mind expect anything but the worst from another Star Wars trilogy? Didn’t the last one sully our beloved childhood memories enough? But the more we’ve thought about it, the more we’ve come to the conclusion that this whole Disney/LucasFilm business could, ultimately, be a very good thing. … Read More

Film

The Flavorpill Guide to DIY Pop Culture Halloween Costumes: Film

By Alison Nastasi on

Halloween: it’s always more complicated than you want it to be. Even if you’ve got your plans set, it’s a struggle to find the perfect costume — without resorting to the same crappy, overpriced, pre-packaged getups everyone else will be wearing. Thankfully, just as we have done for the past two Octobers, Flavorpill is helping you out with a series of easy DIY costume guides tackling various pop-culture realms. Don’t worry — there’s no sewing involved.

Last week, we inspired lit fiends by channeling the authors and characters populating this year’s best book titles. We couldn’t forget about the film geeks out there, and have scoured the movie universe to come up with some original costumes that will make all the uninspired cat girls, black widows, and batmen jealous. There’s something for everyone — including couples and pets — in our DIY guide. Get shopping past the break, where we ventured to a Moonrise Kingdom, space, and beyond to help make your Halloween amazing. … 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 reimagined classic album covers with Furbys. We read 30 of the most evil lines from books. We remembered why we love Kyle MacLachlan so much and then arranged a date for this Twin Peaks party. We watched a video from an… Read More

Film

10 Cult Filmmakers Who Went Mainstream

By Jason Bailey on

The Avengers hits DVD and Blu-ray today, fresh from a theatrical run that placed it in the top three highest-grossing films of all time. Not too shabby for a second-time director. Yes, there are many reasons to be cheered by the success of The Avengers: it’s a big, loud summer blockbuster with a brain and a heart; it serves as a triple-exception to our resistance to a) sequels, b) superhero movies, and c) 3D; and most importantly, it has given cult phenom Joss Whedon the kind of crossover success most filmmakers can only dream of. After the jump, a look at how the Browncoats’ fave became Tinseltown’s, and nine other tales of cult filmmakers and the plays they made for mainstream success. … Read More

News

Joss Whedon Talks Game Plan for ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘Avengers’ Sequel

By Alison Nastasi on

This week brought us an exciting array of Joss Whedon news and goodies — amongst them a deleted alternate opening to the popular movie and a deleted scene featuring Captain America. We also got confirmation that Joss Whedon will be developing the live-action TV series S.H.I.E.L.D. for ABC, and we’re happy to see The Avengers returning to theaters for Labor Day weekend. Whedon recently spoke to Vulture about all things superheroes, reiterating his excitement about his television comeback.

“The important thing to me is that we know what the show is. We love what it is. It came together very organically, so when we went in to pitch [to Marvel], it wasn’t like, We’re trying to find this because you want a TV show, it was, Check this out. And that’s a good way to walk in a room,” he told them. EW reminds us that “Whedon has confirmed he’s on board to at least consult on [S.H.I.E.L.D.], though he won’t be the showrunner.” It makes sense since he’s dedicating a good portion of his time to working on the Avengers sequel, which he says he’s “pretty on fire with.” He told Vulture: … Read More

Film

Watch an Alternate Opening to ‘The Avengers’

By Caroline Stanley on

It turns out that Joss Whedon’s original opening for The Avengers was a lot darker than what audiences ended up seeing in theaters. In the flash-forward scene — which we spotted thanks to io9 — the epic “Tesseract event” that serves as the film’s finale has already wreaked havoc on the streets of Manhattan, and Agent Maria Hill is in the middle of a debriefing, airing her grievances against S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. Click through to watch the clip now, and let us know in the comments if you prefer the drastic shift in tone, or if you think that Whedon made the right choice for the film by going with a lighter open. … Read More

Film

‘The Avengers’ Gag Reel is Actually Super Hilarious

By Emily Temple on

Everyone loves a good gag reel — not only for the physical comedy, but for the stunning revelations about otherwise pristine film characters. Right? In this charming selection of bloopers from the soon-to-be-released Avengers DVD, you’ll see the truth: Captain America is an adorably clumsy dork, Loki likes to play with voices, and that Thor, well, he’s just kind of a butterfingers. Not to mention that the reel only reaffirms our undying love for Joss Whedon — of course he just wants everyone to get along. Watch the video after the jump, and enjoy the warm fuzzy feelings (and lingering giggles) you’ll have for the rest of the day. … Read More

Film

Joss Whedon Calls for ‘Sleepwalk With Me’ Boycott

By Caroline Stanley on

Flavorwire film editor Jason Bailey loved Sleepwalk With Me so much that even though he’d already seen it at Sundance, he screened the comedy again a few months later at the SXSW Film Festival, where he also had the chance to interview its co-writer, director, and star, Mike Birbiglia. It is, by all accounts (and a current 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), an excellent movie. So good in fact, that Joss Whedon, worried about how the success of this little indie might impact the number of screens around the country still showing his summer blockbuster, The Avengers, is calling for a preemptive boycott of the film. We’ll let him explain the whole crazy scheme to you in the hilarious video after the jump. … Read More