F

Flavorwire

Tyler Perry

Film

The Most Batshit Insane Twist Endings in Movie History

By Jason Bailey on

This week marks the DVD and Blu-ray debut of Safe Haven, the critically drubbed Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring that girl from Dancing With the Stars and that dude from the Transformers movies. Normally, this would not be worth noting! But there’s something else that’s special about Safe Haven: it’s got one of the most utterly bananas crazy “twist” endings you’ve ever seen. Ever since The Usual Suspects blew everyone’s mind in ’95, and The Sixth Sense followed suit four years later, moviemakers have been trying their damnedest to create shocking third-act reveals that change everything we’ve seen before, and send us out of the theater reeling. Instead, most of them are befuddling, laughable, or just plain stupid. Here are a few examples (with a rather obvious spoiler alert). … Read More

Film

The Least Convincing Action Heroes in Movie History

By Jason Bailey on

We don’t know about you, but the first time we laid our eyes on Tyler Perry, decked out in his full Madea drag, our first thought was Yeah, ha ha, fine, but why isn’t that guy in a cop movie? Well, at last, our moment has arrived; today, theaters nationwide will welcome Alex Cross, a reboot of the James Patterson adaptations, with Mr. Perry taking over for Morgan Freeman. The idea of that actor match-up is sketchy enough, but with director Rob Cohen (the esteemed filmmaker behind xXx, Stealth, and the original Fast and the Furious) at the helm, Patterson’s brainy sleuth has been reimagined as a shotgun-wielding badass. Well, sorry, but we’re not buying it. Let’s take a closer look at Mr. Perry and a few other folks who we don’t quite buy as action… Read More

Film

10 Great Performances in Truly Terrible Movies

By Jason Bailey on

There was little reason to expect that a jukebox musical filled with so-bad-they’re-good ‘80s pop songs was going to be any good whatsoever, and true to prediction, Rock of Ages was one of the summer’s biggest dogs. It’s out tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray, though, which exponentially increases the chances that one of your friends (the one who’s always wanting to go karaoke-ing, probably) is going to buy it and insist on having it on at some point in your friendship. Fear not: though Rock of Ages is an execrable film, it has (contrary to any and all expectations) a genuinely enjoyable and unexpectedly witty Tom Cruise performance buried underneath all the hairspray and Journey covers. Playing Stacee Jaxx, a rock star long removed from anything resembling reality, Cruise is totally credible and genuinely funny; there’s a good 20-minute stretch in the middle where they just turn the movie over to him, and it’s the only point in the entire running time where Rock of Ages actually works. As a thank-you to Mr. Cruise and all of those who make the unbearable ever-so-briefly watchable, we put together a list of a few of our favorite great performances in terrible movies; see if you agree with our picks after the jump. … Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: ‘Anna Karenina,’ ‘Alex Cross,’ and a Slew of Sundance Films

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. This week, we’ve got eleven new trailers, featuring Keira Knightley, Russell Crowe, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin James, Tyler Perry, Frank Langella, and John Hawkes — plus the directorial debut of Wu-Tang’s RZA and a new Spike Lee joint. Check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: Meryl, Medea, "Mansome" 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 seven new ones for you this week — including a couple of titles from that festival, plus new stuff from Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Robert Pattinson, and Tyler Perry. Check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More

Film

The 30 Harshest Filmmaker-on-Filmmaker Insults in History

By Jason Bailey on

[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we're revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published August 10, 2011.] Earlier this summer, a shocking number of our readers flocked to read (and amend) our list of the harshest author-on-author insults in history. But you know who is even more childish, trifling, vindictive, and nasty than your favorite scribes? Your favorite filmmakers. These directors may not have quite the same precision with the written word as those rancorous authors, but when it comes to pettiness, they can’t be beat. After the jump, we’ll run down 30 of our favorite slights, slanders, and cheap shots from filmmakers both classic and contemporary; we’d love to hear yours in the comments. … Read More

Film

Trailer Park: Coming Soon — Next Summer’s Blockbusters!

By Jason Bailey on

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’s eleven trailers include several peeks at next summer’s blockbusters, which are presumably rolling out in front of the big holiday releases. But there are some smaller (and stranger) titles hiding in there as well; check ‘em all out after the jump. … Read More

Film

10 Cross-Dressing Characters on Film

By Alison Nastasi on

The Sherlock Holmes sequel is headed to theaters tomorrow, giving the great detective and his sidekick Dr. Watson another opportunity to outsmart their nefarious adversary, Professor Moriarty. One scene finds the titular character disguised as a woman — a look that RDJ describes as a cross between “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dwarf brother” and “Robert Smith from The Cure.” Hot? Hollywood’s been dressing in drag since the dawn of cinema. Although movies like Adam Sandler’s latest disaster Jack and Jill try to use cross-dressing for comedic effect, they often fail miserably. The top five grossing films that explore gender bending (superficially anyway) are all comedies, but some films take cross-dressing more seriously and use it as a dramatic way to examine fluidity in gender and identity. We’ve spotlighted 10 films that find characters cross-dressing for their parts. There are plenty to mention, so leave us your picks below after you check out our list past the break. … Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Nas is working on an autobiography called It Ain’t Hard to Tell that is scheduled to come out next fall. Says music journalist Touré, who is collaborating with him on the project: “I’ve been talking to Nas about writing his autobiography for 15 years. This is hip hop history. We’ll tell his life &… Read More

Film

Rate-a-Trailer: Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls

By Caroline Stanley on

Will Tyler Perry’s film adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s award-winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf earn him his first Oscar nod? Given the rich source material, a cast that includes Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Phylicia Rashad, and Loretta Devine, and the fact that Lionsgate has pushed back the release date from January to November (aka Oscar season), we think there’s a good chance of it. Watch the trailer after the jump and see if you agree. … Read More