Getting Harrison Ford out of bed to do a movie isn’t an easy task. You either have to be George Lucas/Steven Spielberg or he must owe you a favor. So when rumors were out that he was doing a cowboy movie, the industry was fairly intrigued in what he was signing up for. There was a large number of things that made Cowboys & Aliens look like a promising project: news released that he would costar with Daniel Craig, and Iron Man director Jon Favreau would be helming the project, and source material from a beloved graphic novel.
Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the middle of a desert with a wound on his side, mysterious piece of swag attached to his arm, and an inability to recollect anything that happened to him. When he finally makes his way back into town, he finds out that he’s a wanted criminal and is prepared to be shipped off to jail by the bad-ass Indian fighter warhero, Woodrow Dolarhyde. All of a sudden the town they’re in is attacked my mysterious flying spaceships that abduct some of the townsfolk. After all the rubble settles, the remaining settlers, including a mysteriously beautiful Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde), accompany the two of them on a journey to recover their townsfolk as they travel the dangerous west where they encounter bandits, Indians, and more aliens.
Cracked is unbelievable when it comes to debunking hidden messages and finding inconsistencies in movies. This time, they’ve found 6 instances when the movie’s main villains technically saved the day. The list is rather amusing so I highly recommend you test it out.
The people’s choice awards were a couple of weeks ago, and naturally there were a couple of amusing clips inbetween the award show. One of the best includes this cute video about the cast of Parks and Recreation where each cast member goes over their hidden talents. Definitely worth a watch.
The idea of a period drama about a repressed ethnic group is usually the first sign of Oscar bait. I find that most period dramas distinguish themselves with others through the strength of the cast. Mainly because with period dramas, one can usually determine the outcome of the stories with relative ease and there’s only so many ways a director can make a period drama stylish. There are only so many endings to stories about an African American woman in the 1950s. The same can be said about most period dramas, given because they’re based on historical fact. In The Help, the incredibly strong cast and a touching script drove it home and may be one of the more emotional movies I’ve seen this year.
Aibileene Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) are one of the dozens of African American maids working in Jackson, Alabama for white families in 1950s America during the peak of the Civil Rights movement. Being in the south, new ideas and racial equality haven’t necessarily reached them, so much to the point ‘The Help’ are even punished if they use the same toilets as their employers. When Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), an ambitious young journalist, wants to write their story, Aibileene and Minny are reluctant at first, but the increasing tensions of the Civil Rights movements slowly change their minds.
IFC has given us a list of 10 comedies that were initially shunned but now have gained a cult following. I personally haven’t seen all of these movies, but from the ones I have [The Ten, Burn After Reading, Hot Rod], I wouldn’t mind taking another look at the other entries in this list.
I was just goofing around on Youtube the other day [who doesn’t do such things], and I found this rather hilarious audition tape of Steve Carell auditioning for the role of Brick in Anchorman, who he later immortalized. Watch the clip and as one Youtuber said in the comment section, “this is better than the actual part in the movie.”
The newest show I’ve recently picked up on is ABC’s Happy Endings. I’ve been able to catch up since Season 1 and am now currently following it’s season two continuation that started two weeks ago. And I admit that I’ve loved every moment of it. The show and its characters are well developed, the writing is fairly solid, and it’s legitimately funny without becoming too cheesy. And out of the other romantic sitcoms that have tried to find a place in America’s heart [see examples like Perfect Couples], this one seems to be the one standing after all the rubble has settled. And while the shows is clever and its characters are growing to become more and more likable with each episode, it had a rough start and can even be slapped on the hand for treading far too close to the relationship sitcom champion that coincidentally is about 6 very different ‘Friends’. Read below about how I’ve reacted to Happy Endings at first and how I’ve seen in grow.
One of my favorite websites, Warming Glow, has compiled 10 of the funniest episodes from the 2011. It’s no surprise that a good amount comes from NBC Thursday Comedy, but when you check out the list yourself, you might find it surprising what hits the top 3. And not a single Modern Family/Big Band Theory/Two and a Half Men mention in sight >:D.
Michael Bay is hilariously known as the Director Who Would Rather Use Explosions than a Story. His movies are notoriously loud, horribly acted, and chock full of explosions. What’s even more hilarious is that someone from Frankenspace.com made this awesome infographic that pretty much sums up everything awesome/horrible about Michael Bay. Enjoy the rest below.
The people at Uproxx [some of my favorite people] have compiled some of the best pop culture GIFS of the year. Above is just one of the best. There’s at least 20 more at the link. Be sure to hit it and view it for your own pleasure.
Darren Aronofsky, most known for things like Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream, is known for his trance inducing, colorful and visual filmography. So if he makes projects as large as Requiem for a Dream to be that memorable, can you imagine if he made a real drug commercial? Well he did just that. I’ve compiled some of Aronofsky’s drug commercials that are about as scarring as that one Jennifer Connelly scene in Requiem for a Dream. Be prepared if you view them below.
Television is returning after a long holiday hiatus. And it’s time to get a plethora of new shows as well as the return of some beloved ones. And just like the Fall Check Up and Preview I did last fall, I’m here to share with you guys what I’ll be tuning into this season. Personally, it feels as though Fall TV is better than Mid-season. With greats like Dexter, It’s Always Sunny, and a couple of others having only a 12 episode run, I’ve always wondered what filled those time slots in the Spring. After doing a little research, I’ve seen that there are gems that I haven’t quite uncovered yet such as: Justified, Shameless, and 30 Rock. So I’m going to be dedicating my time now to play catch up. And that’s not even counting all the new series coming out. As usual, it’s a gamble to try to get into new shows, mainly because you don’t know if it will be a waste of time or not, but I’ve got some faith in some in the appeal of some of these new shows. I’ll update you later in the season to tell you how it’s going.
Some movies are just so bad, that they’re just not worth watching. There are literally dozens of these films released every year. Collider has taken the effort to compile and rationalize what their opinion was the worst 5 movies of 2011.
It’s not a surprise to anyone that Disney Princesses are the pinnacle of perfection in terms of looks. But at the same time, they’re cartoons. So an artist decided to render them in real life using models that closely resembled their backgrounds. Thanks to Yahoo! for showing this. Credit to http://jirkavinse.wordpress.com/ for creating them.
Todd Phillips follows up his 100 million dollar R-rated comedy hit in 2009 with a sequel set in Bangkok. As with most sequels, there lies the difficulty in making it bigger, badder, and better than the first one and simultaneously maintaining a sense or originality. Here in the Hangover Part 2, it doesn’t even look like Todd Phillips tried to make this second movie more original, as it’s a copy and cut paste from scene to scene. And while the funny Alan jokes are still there and the slapstick is a bit more disgusting than the first one, the movie loses the general shock and awe that made us fall in love with the wolf pack in the first place in favor of shedding light on the dangers of Bangkok. And with no change or twist to distinguish itself from the first one, it’s difficult to call Hangover Part 2 nothing more than a good reason to send these guys to a tropical paradise for a couple of weeks to reshoot a movie they already did.
When Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married [again], he sends himself and the wolfpack [Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper] to Thailand for the ceremony and to meet his fiancé’s family. The trio have one beer next to a calm bonfire on the beach with their fiancé’s brother and next thing they know they wake up in a motel somewhere in the middle of Bangkok, with new slew of slapstick shticks: a tattooed face, a shaved head, and a highly trained monkey. They find out that Stu’s fiancé’s brother is missing and set out onto Thailand in an attempt to regain their memory and find him
With a relatively low box office and despite heavy advertising, it would be unknown if the sequels to the Dragon Tattoo series would be worth making. Stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara had already signed up to do the full trilogy, and David Fincher is unknown if he would return. But in recent news, we’ve found out that the series will be moving forward with or without Fincher. Read the full scoop at Screen Rant below.
To my many new followers, the weekend comics are when I compound 24 hilarious images I’ve found on the internet. These are not movie/tv related, but knowing a little bit of pop culture won’t hurt you. As I’ve experienced before, not all humor appeals to all human beings, so please be prepared for racial, gender, and inappropriate jokes. Otherwise, loosen up and put a smile on.
Banana Scoop 