Aerial photographer Robert B. Haas
encountered a magical moment in
Yucatan, Mexico when he looked down
from his plane and realized that a
bunch of flamingos were hanging out
in the shape of a giant flamingo. Source
The trailer for The Land suggests more of an atmospheric coming-of-age story than a routine crime drama, despite a premise involving a few teens finding a bag of drugs and launching a fledgling criminal enterprise. According to the synopsis: “Buddies Cisco, Boobie, Junior, and Patty Cake skateboard the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, dreaming of getting discovered by a sponsor and skating their way out of poverty.” That is, until they start selling drugs that aren’t theirs to sell and piss off local kingpin “Momma” (no, not that one).
But rather than showcasing scenes of escalating danger and violence, the trailer refreshingly leans on milieu, imaging the back alleys and abandoned buildings of Cleveland as one giant skate park. Too bad the preview also boasts one of those worrisome “featuring music by” title cards and some overly earnest dialogue like, “I wanna go somewhere with no rules and shred all ...
At a certain point, a movie could be about literally anything and still sound interesting if its cast is good enough. For example, indie director Seth Henrikson is making a dramatic comedy starring Ron Perlman, Ian McShane, Judy Greer, Thomas Lennon, Christina Hendricks, and Michael Shannon. Considering how great all of those people are, the movie could be about fast-food mascots fighting in World War II for some reason and it would still be cool, right? Luckily, the movie isn’t about that, it’s actually about Bigfoot—or, more accurately, someone pretending to be Bigfoot.
This comes from Deadline, which says the film is titled Pottersville and that it stars Shannon as “a beloved local businessman” who gets mistaken for Bigfoot when he puts on a gorilla costume and goes on a drunken rampage through town. This inspires a wave of Bigfoot-related tourism, boosting the town’s economy, and ...
In many ways, there was nothing new about Girl Talk. Back in 2006, though, there was something bizarre and exciting in hearing the work of Greg Gillis, the Pittsburgh native behind the project. His breakthrough Night Ripper is, somehow, turning 10 years old today, and a decade removed it lives on as a definitive document … More »
Movies about demons, possessions, and exorcisms have always been very common. That’s because they’re such terrifying, malleable ideas with huge implications. A new show with those themes, Outcast, is coming in June—and the latest trailer will freak you out.
by Carli Velocci on Gizmodo, shared by Andrew Liptak to io9
Okay, a lot of people hate the word “moist.” It just sounds gross, but why does it repulse us? A new study published in the journal PLOS One may have some insight into why certain words make us cringe.
Last night’s Game of Thrones was a gamechanger for everyone involved, but it also gave fans a delightfully teasing glimpse at an infamous unseen location in Westeros: the Tower of Joy, the setting of one of the series’ most popular theories. Here’s a new video looking at how the show plans to use the Tower going forward.
For anyone who has ever loved the music videos that The Lonely Island rap trio (Andy Samberg, Akiva Shaffer and Jorma Taccone) put together for Saturday Night Live, this summer’s music industry mockumentary Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppingwill be quite the treat. Not only can I tell you that the movie a non-stop laugh riot, but it also features an incredible array of new songs from The Lonely Island, and two of them have just been released as singles for you to listen to immediately.
There’s the catchy “I’m So Humble” featuring Adam Levine accompanying Andy Samberg as rapper Connor4Real, and it’s all about just how modest the chart-topping, influential rapper is. And there’s also “Mona Lisa” which boldly declares the classic painting by Leonardo Da Vinci as an “overrated piece of shit.”
Listen to the new Lonely Island Popstar songs after the jump.
“I’m So Humble” is one of my favorite songs from the soundtrack, if only because it’s so catchy and well-produced. The music sound like something you would easily hear on the radio today, for better or worse, and that’s what helps make the comedy so genuine. How can you go wrong with a line like, “The thing about me that’s so impressive is how infrequently I mention all of my successes.”
If you don’t want to keep listening to these songs on YouTube, you can check them out on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon and Google Play. And there’s plenty more where these came from, because Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping has a whole soundtrack of songs written by The Lonely Island, and these two are probably the more tame of the bunch.
The full soundtrack will be released once the movie gets closer, and there will be songs on it that aren’t even in the movie, though there’s no release date just yet. At a livestreamed Q&A from an advanced screening at Alamo Drafthouse locations, the trio revealed there’s plenty of songs that got cut, including another track with Akon after The Lonely Island previously collaborated with the rapper for “I Just Had Sex.” The soundtrack will also get a vinyl release sometime down the road.
Watch the red band trailer for Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppingright here.
Universal Pictures’ Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is headlined by musical digital-shorts superstars Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, collectively known as The Lonely Island. The comedy goes behind the scenes as singer/rapper Conner4Real (Samberg) faces a crisis of popularity after his sophomore album flops, leaving his fans, sycophants and rivals all wondering what to do when he’s no longer the dopest star of all.
The latest comedy from blockbuster producer Judd Apatow (Trainwreck, Superbad, Knocked Up) co-stars Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows and Maya Rudolph and many of the biggest names in comedy and music in cameo performances. Co-directed by Schaffer and Taccone and written by The Lonely Island trio, Popstar is also produced by Rodney Rothman (producer of Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall; co-writer of 22 Jump Street), as well as Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone.
American Apparel bids farewell from Hoboken {now for rent} The American Apparel retail location at 80 Hudson Street is currently looking for tenants to lease the space. The “Made in the USA” brand has...
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Send your pup out with as many advantages as possible.
Etsy seller Lebovski's Cocker Spaniel is ready for anything. He's wearing a suit of aluminum plate and mail armor. It has a ferocious-looking helmet featuring tusks for close-quarters combat. Now he will rule the dogpark with no rival to challenge him.
The world is only a few months away from the next Olympics, with the 2016 Summer Games set to commence in Rio De Janeiro on August 5. A chosen few will participate. Many more will watch, either in person or on television. And some will giggle as they imagine the leotard-clad gymnasts farting in each other’s faces. Ghost+Cow Films defines itself as “a Brooklyn-based film, music video, and commercial production company,” but that rather bland description makes no mention of the company’s longstanding commitment to flatulence-based comedy. These filmmakers have more than proven themselves as masters of the form with a series of videos in which genuine Olympic events are enhanced with artfully dubbed-in fart sounds. If nothing else, these videos prove that there is no endeavor so noble or admirable that it cannot be reduced to a laughingstock with the addition of some well-timed toots.
If you’ve been following along, you know that an online poll to name a UK polar research ship went viral, with the name Boaty McBoatface receiving by far the largest number of votes. However, the Science Minister declined to actually name the ship Boaty McBoatface. Today it was announced that the ship will be named the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Although not quite as funny, few would argue that the soft-spoken BBC broadcaster who taught us about nature doesn’t deserve the honor.
However, a small exploratory submarine that will be housed aboard the Sir David Attenborough has been named Boaty McBoatface, despite the fact that it is a submarine, and not a boat. Here’s to many years of scientific discoveries and blog posts ahead featuring the names Sir David Attenborough and Boaty McBoatface.
(Image credit: Natural Environment Research Council)
Over the course of a 22-year career, writer-director Kevin Smith has had all sorts of improbable showbiz adventures and worked with a number of A-list stars, including the notoriously difficult Bruce Willis. But there are few chapters in Smith’s life as curious as the one involving reclusive Minnesota funk genius Prince, who hired him to make a still-unreleased documentary back in 2002. Since the musician’s untimely death on April 21, fans have been sharing numerous anecdotes about the man’s eccentric, improbable life. Smith spends half an hour of his live concert film, An Evening With Kevin Smith, talking about his strange experiences with Prince, prompted by a question from an audience member. Smith never intended to make a movie with His Royal Badness. Originally, he just wanted to secure the rights to use “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back ...
He was good in Hail Caeser. Could have done worse.
May the 4th has come and gone, but Phil Lord and Chris Miller have a belated Star Wars Day gift for us. The directors have just cast Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff, due out in 2018. The 26-year-old Ehrenreich broke out in a big way this year with a standout turn in Hail, Caesar!, directed by the Coen brothers.
It’s been a few months since we first heard Ehrenreich was in the mix to play Han Solo, and a few weeks since we heard he’d become the frontrunner. Today, TheWrap reports that Ehrenreich is in the process of closing his deal for the Han Solo spinoff due out May 25, 2018. Lord, Miller, and Lucasfilm cast a very wide net, with literally thousands of actors auditioning for the part. Han Solo is such an iconic character — and one so closely identified with Harrison Ford — that finding the right actor seemed like a tricky proposition. But the naturally charismatic Ehrenreich seems like a great fit.
Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan wrote the script for the Han Solo spinoff. Plot details are (no surprise) being kept under lock and key, but word is the Han Solo spinoff will follow the roguish hero as he links up with the Rebel Alliance. His trusty partner Chewbacca will play a key role, and some have speculated that Han will brush up against notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett. But we might get to see Ehrenreich shoot first before that — rumor has it he’ll debut in this December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Ehrenreich has been kicking around since Steven Spielberg discovered him at a friend’s bat mitzvah in the 2000s. He made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro, and has since popped up in the supernatural YA romance Beautiful Creatures, Chan-wook Park’s Stoker, and Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. But it was his scene-stealing turn in February’s Hail, Caesar! that really made him the white-hot rising star du jour. In an ensemble lousy with A-listers like George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, and Channing Tatum, Ehrenreich emerged as the film’s most pleasant surprise. Check out one of his best scenes from the movie below.
by Shep McAllister on Deals, shared by Shep McAllister to io9
If your movie theater of choice is operated by Regal, this discounted gift card essentially amounts to ten free dollars. That’s like a free large popcorn (hopefully)!
Redhawk realized his failing vision caused things to morph, so he started to play with morphing software and thought, “What if I morphed an image onto itself?”
“It’s an artistic expression of the confusion I go through with my vision loss…
Not enough data getting sent to the brain, and it tries to fill in the blanks with false information, so you can’t trust what your eyes or brain are telling you.”
HBO’s new music industry drama Vinyl, from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, has hit up R&B crooner Trey Songz for a cover of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?”, which’ll be featured on Sunday’s episode. Trey was very humbled to be asked. Here’s what he said in an ...
For a never-before-seen look at how an opera singer is able to produce such an amazing sound, German baritone Michael Volle performed Song to the Evening Star from Wagner’s Tannhäuser during an MRI scan. The technique uses magnetic fields and radio waves to see right through the human body, and is able to capture movement resulting in this fascinating, but freaky footage.
In the hours after we learned of Prince's death last week, one video seemed to go more viral than any others: Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Steve Winwood paying tribute to George Harrison at the 2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. During their performance together, Prince ended what was otherwise … More »
2. "A 19-year-old volunteer firefighter is facing 18 arson charges for allegedly starting a whole bunch of a fires in small town Alberta—including one that burned down an old-timey wooden rail bridge on Tuesday."
Fire officials emphasized "support and understanding" for the Schalm family, and said counselling will be available.
This week officially kicks off blockbuster summer with the release of Captain America: Civil War. And the Marvel Studios sequel is just one of a bunch of movies you should be excited to see this season. Later this week we’ll highlight a selection of movies that might be flying under your radar this summer, indie comedies and dramas that may not get the barrage of marketing that studios dish out this season. But this edition of the /Film 2016 Summer Movie Preview will focus on the studio and blockbuster releases you should be excited about.
The movies in the /Film 2016 Summer Movie Preview are in chronological order by release date. So without further adieu, here’s the movies we are excited about and think you should be too.
Captain America: Civil War
Release Date: May 6
It’s the comic book blockbuster to kick off the summer season, so of course it’s going to be on the list. Most of us here at /Film have already seen the Marvel Studios sequel, but I’m personally excited to see it again. Plus, we know tons of you are looking forward to seeing it. There’s probably no need to even remind you that it’s coming out at this point. We just want to make sure you’re ready to start the endless stream of summer movies that begins this weekend. If you want to know how good Captain America: Civil War is, read my full review right here.
Even though a movie based on the Rovio mobile game that feature birds being slingshotted into structures in order to smash the green pigs who stole their eggs doesn’t sound like it has the makings of a decent movie, the trailers have done a decent job of convincing us otherwise. The Angry Birds Movie actually looks like a solid comedy, and it’s hard to go wrong with a voice cast that includes talent like Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Ike Barinholtz, Hannibal Buress and many more.
Comedy sequels are hard to pull off without losing the special something that made the first film worth watching. However, if the trailers for Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are any indicator, we just might have a worthy follow-up in store. Sure, the concept is essentially a rehash of the first movie with a sorority instead of a fraternity, but with Chloe Grace Moretz stretching her comedic chops as an adult actress now, we’re excited to see how she holds her own against the likes of Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron.
If there’s one thing Shane Black knows how to do better than anything else, it’s write dark comedies featuring odd pairs. From Lethal Weapon to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the screenwriter and director has delivered some great duos who get caught up in some seriously dangerous situations. The Nice Guys looks like Black will be back doing what he does best, and the pairing of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling feels surprisingly perfect. Both have impeccable comedic timing, and the ’70s setting only adds to the film’s wild style. This one could be the sleeper hit of the summer.
The X-Men franchise continues on the modified timeline that was altered in X-Men: Days of Future Past. This time we get to meet the younger versions of familiar X-Men like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Nightcrawler while meeting new mutants like Psylocke. But the real draw of this one is seeing the iconic Marvel Comics villain Apocalypse on the big screen for the first time. Even though the early trailers left me concerned about the film’s quality, the most recent trailer seems to be on the right track. It’ll be tough to top just how good Days of Future Past was, but it should be exciting to see how this takes the franchise in a new direction.
In many ways, there was nothing new about Girl Talk. Back in 2006, though, there was something bizarre and exciting in hearing the work of Greg Gillis, the Pittsburgh native behind the project. His breakthrough Night Ripper is, somehow, turning 10 years old today, and a decade removed it lives on as a definitive document … More »
In the hours after we learned of Prince's death last week, one video seemed to go more viral than any others: Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Steve Winwood paying tribute to George Harrison at the 2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. During their performance together, Prince ended what was otherwise … More »
