This weekend, the third installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise — a supernatural sensation since Oren Peli’s original film debuted in 2009 — rocked the box office, taking in $54 million for its opening weekend. The film also holds rank as the highest grossing movie for any October opening in history. While Paranormal Activity’s victory can be largely attributed to its successful grassroots marketing campaign and Halloween slot (it replaced popular spooky long-runner Saw), it’s still quite the feat for a part three film. Most threequels fizzle out by the third go-round, leaving their characters to dully ride the coattails of previous successes — but clearly that isn’t always the case. And with news about Sherlock Holmes securing a writer for its third installment, perhaps the action-mystery movie can follow suit. After the break, we took a look at several trilogies that buck the trend of bad things coming in threes — some third features even managing to outdo the films that started their respective series.
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We just spotted the work of Massimo Carnevale, an Italian illustrator who creates digital paintings and drawings based on famous movies, over on The Swedish Bed. An artist for DC Comics since 2003, Carnevale has also painted covers for several of the titles in their Vertigo imprint including Y: The Last Man and Northlanders. Click through for his digital takes on a range of our favorite movies, from recent films like True Grit and Black Swan to classics like Psycho and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
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We all know that Kim Jong-Il enjoys looking at things. We just didn’t realize that those things included movies. Recently, a copy of the beloved leader’s book of film criticism, On the Art of Cinema, crossed our desk. It’s a basically unreadable blend of propaganda, theory, and all-caps commandments about the film industry that Kim published in the late 1970s. (One such missive: “COMPOSE THE PLOT CORRECTLY.”) We decided to judge the year’s top-grossing films, as best we can, using the North Korean leader’s formula.
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Today at Flavorpill, we wanted a pair of DeLorean-inspired kicks. We loved The New Yorker’s slideshow of airport security cartoons from 1938-2009. We discovered that “Ronald Reagan” is one of Sarah Palin’s favorite people to namecheck — right after God. We dreamed of a world where Cookie Monster would be able to host Saturday Night Live — just look at his audition tape. We were kind of embarrassed by how many of the 35 worst straight-to-DVD sequels of the 2000s we’ve already seen. We watched the Exorcist girl whip her hair back and forth. We discovered how funny Daniel Radcliffe is. We put our support behind Toy Story 3 for a Best Picture nomination. We wanted to live in a cabin in a loft. We shared a Thanksgiving moment with Paula Deen. And finally, we were sad to hear that Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah Baumbach are getting divorced after five years of marriage. Is it weird that this news makes us want to rewatch The Squid and the Whale?
1. Kanye West apologized to Taylor Swift over Twitter yesterday for last year’s VMAs incident, and in the process, compared his life story to the plot of Wicked. Oh, and he also wrote her a very special song. [via BuzzFeed]
2. Other than a few standout films like Toy Story 3 and Inception, it was a pretty crappy summer for movie theater attendance — the lowest since 1997 in fact. [via NYT]
3. Inspired by last night’s episode (so: spoilers ahoy), take a look at the evolution of Mad Men’s Peggy Olson. [via Vulture]
4. Possibly this generation’s Britney vs. Justin moment: Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith had a dance-off at a New York City bowling alley. And yes, cameras captured it for the Bieb’s upcoming documentary. [via TMZ]
5. Yesterday for the first time in 411 years, Shakespeare’s Globe opened its doors to a play by a female writer. Congrats to Nell Leyshon! [via The Independent]
Bonus link: Modern Philosophy via Graphic Design
At times it seems like sports and the arts are mortal enemies — or, at the very least, two completely different types of culture that rarely interact. When was the last time you saw a sculptor conversing with a linebacker over a pitcher of beer at the local pub? If you think this just isn’t right, the following infographic is for you. It combines artistic merit with cutthroat competition on a March-Madness scale. We’ve created a tournament-style bracket pitting movie franchises against one another to determine which is the best-reviewed series of all time, with somewhat surprising results. Click here to see a larger version.
Designed by Emily Miethner
With the recent release of Toy Story 3, a high school history and film teacher and part-time artist who goes by “Sillof” has created a series of drawings re-imagining Pixar heroes in the Star Wars universe. (He has plans on sculpting all of the work into figurines.) Click through and find out what your childhood would have been like if Woody had been cast instead of Harrison Ford or if Boba Fett was less bounty hunter, more space ranger.
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Today at Flavorpill, we vowed never to eat one of Friendly’s Grilled Cheese BurgerMelts — unless for some reason we’re trying to self-induce a heart attack. We wondered if it’s possible that True Blood has more bad accents than The Wire did. (Also: When and why did Sookie Stackhouse stop reading minds?) We had a healthy appreciation for Nerve’s 10 illustrated stories about first-time sex. We discovered the hidden connection between Toy Story 3 and Lost. We wondered what Anne Frank would have thought about all of the fuss regarding the sex in Annexed, a fictionalized account of her life. We were creeped out by this list of 10 of the world’s most bizarre cults. We lost ourselves in Allen Ginsberg’s Beat family album. And finally, we were treated to one of “the most deliciously humiliating rejections EVER captured on camera,” thanks to the warped minds over at Best Week Ever. Spoiler alert: It involves tundra.
1. Although the New York Post reported that Lady Gaga was banned from Yankees clubhouse Saturday after drunkenly fondling herself in front of players, it turns out she is still welcome. Sort of. [via EW]
2. Toy Story 3 earned the biggest opening day of all time for an animated film. [via LAT]
3. John Lennon‘s handwritten lyrics to “A Day in the Life” have sold for a whopping $1.2 million. Fun fact: The infamous refrain “I love to turn you on” was a late addition. [via NYT]
4. Hustler is filming a 3D porn version of Avatar. [via Digital Spy]
5. Amanda Bynes has retired from acting at the ripe, old age of 24. “I don’t love acting anymore so I’ve stopped doing it,” she told fans on Twitter. [via PopEater]
Bonus link: What do vampires see in Sookie?
Yesterday, Disney sent out a video message from Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich; he explained that the theatrical re-release of the first two films in the series was performing so well that they’d decided to extend the run. He went on to reveal that Flight of the Conchord‘s Kristen Schaal will be joining the franchise as an undisclosed character, and that Blake Clark will fill in as the voice of Slinky Dog for Jim Varney, who died in 2000.
Yahoo! also debuted the theatrical trailer for Toy Story 3 online. In this long-awaited installment, a college-age Andy (Jon Norris) donates his old toys to a daycare full of aggressive toddlers. Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberger), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Rex The Green Dinosaur (Wallace Shawn), and Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (Joan Cusack) aren’t happy about this and decide they need to break out. Check it out after the jump and let us know what you think.
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