Whether you think Vampire Weekend's new, star-studded music video for "Giving Up the Gun" is a work of delightful whimsy or the indie rock equivalent of a Blink-182 video, it's hard to deny that it's helped resurrect a trend that was in danger of dying: the art of stuffing celebrities into a music video. The Vampire Weekend clip can boast Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas, and the RZA among others, but can it hold a candle to these ten notable music videos that are best remembered for their star power? (Sorry, Martini Ranch. You almost made the list.)
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The world woke up to a devastating blow this morning with news that fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London apartment at age 40, from what police are saying was a suicide. The son of a cab driver, McQueen got his start on Saville Row, where it became quickly obvious he wasn't going to fit in. (One legend has him sewing an obscenity into the lining of a coat he was tailoring for Prince Charles.) He then began to forge his own path, flipping a finger to notions of good taste while injecting the international fashion scene with a potent dose of his signature style, consisting of equal parts whimsy, danger and flare. His fashion shows were legendary for their incorporation of technology, theatrics and controversy -- he once sent a double amputee down the runway in a pair of hand-carved legs and boots -- and before long his designs were popping up on the backs of Hollywood's more adventuresome leading ladies. What follows are some of those looks -- some triumphs, some legendary misses, but almost always something worth talking about.
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The Jay Leno Show may have slipped off the air last night without an official farewell from its host or NBC, but it won't be buried without a few words by Movieline. After all, we've watched this $375 million disaster from the moment that Jay Leno pulled his orange Prius into the 10 PM time slot as he deflated his ratings, totaled his network's name and then jumped from the burning wreckage, saving himself, but not his trustworthy passenger, Coco. Sometimes brave decision makers end up looking dumb, and that is certainly the case for Jeff Zucker and associates. But let's focus on the positive with these nine moments that will forever live on in our memories, even after The Jay Leno Show has been disassembled and sold for parts.
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Lindsay Lohan's shocking admission that she counts herself among the ranks of the unwashed hoarding underclass -- those crap-amassing social lepers trotted out weekly for our rubbernecking enjoyment on a certain popular basic cable series -- was nothing short of earth-shattering. What forgotten-pet pancakes and dismissed-intern skeletons might be interred in the overstuffed closets of America's favorite shock-starlet, after a decade swerving in and out of the freebie-friendly Hollywood fast lane? It just so happens your friends at Movieline have a man on the inside of the City of Los Angeles Department of Sanitation, who slipped us this very partial inventory of items recovered in the ongoing, court-ordered cleanup of the premises.
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Until today, I'd somehow and quite miraculously managed to avoid any direct contact with the solipsistic bore that is Jason Reitman, confident in the knowledge that he was already well taken care of by the cadre of sycophantic film bloggers curled obediently at his feet, content to snatch up whatever pie-chart crumbs or slivers of contemplative self-regard should happen to tumble from his constantly moving lips. Well, that was nice while it lasted. Roger Ebert has just posted a series of short video conversations with Reitman -- in Chicago for his aggressively tweeted audience with Queen Oprah -- and while the legendary film critic assessed the Up in the Air director as "forthright and thoughtful," I probably would have gone with very different adjectives. Here then, in no particular order beyond that of awfullest to awfullest, are Reitman's ten most monstrous quotes.
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Last Friday, after a disastrous press and industry screening, Joel Schumacher's Chace Crawford drama Twelve finally had its public premiere as the closing film of the Sundance Film Festival. If things went any better, it's only because they couldn't have gotten much worse.
To pay tribute to this head-scratching Sundance selection, Movieline's assembled a list of items that the film's titular number might be referring to. Sure, Twelve is supposed to be the name of a new designer drug all the characters are talking about, but we like our explanations better:
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Buried, the Sundance breakout starring Ryan Reynolds and snapped up by Lionsgate for somewhere in the $3-$4 million range, has been quite the Sundance conversation piece. I haven't seen it, but here's what a friend texted me after his screening: "Holy f**k. Most disturbing film I have EVER seen. I am sick to my stomach. I am in shock that I reacted so strongly to a film. My heart was literally pounding and I could barely breath during some scenes." But did he like it? "Loved it." OK then! In honor of this claustrophobe's worst nightmare, Movieline would now like to revisit eight other great "buried alive" moments from the catacombs of pop culture history. WARNING: Graphic violence and some spoilers follow.
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A great movie catchphrase doesn't have to come from some summer blockbuster -- in fact, it can spring from the most unlikeliest of sources, the awards season contender. Whether it's a line that sticks thanks to sheer audacity (like the campy, terrifying "I drink your milkshake!" from There Will Be Blood) or simply through its constant repetition in trailers and Oscar ads (such as "I wish I knew how to quit you!" from Brokeback Mountain), the run-up to the Academy Awards often produces some of cinema's most lasting quotes. How does this year's crop of contenders fare on that front? Let's see!
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All right everyone, it looks like Ghostbusters 3 is actually a go: a script's been written, the returning cast is tentatively confirmed, Ivan Reitman will be directing, and Sigourney Weaver is ready to spill secrets. Enjoy this honeymoon period while it lasts, because Ghostbusters 3 is a project full of potential peril. Here are ten bits of advice that the filmmakers ought to take if they want to avoid a final product that crashes under the weight of its own rebooted nostalgia:
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Jesus wept softly and pitchily today when He learned that Simon Cowell would walk away from the Fox singing competition that made him staggeringly rich and famous, to pursue his lifelong dream of overseeing another Fox singing competition that will continue to make him staggeringly rich and famous. And what will we miss most of all? Why, his cruelty, of course! Like the Savior's message, it too comes from a place that is honest and pure. Come now as we remember five of Cowell's most stinging critiques. And remember -- it hurts him way more than it hurts the young lady he just compared to a talentless hippopotamus on national television.
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Some of my favorite stories of the year have already been covered in our other year-end wrapups, whether they be lists, videos, or interviews (and truth be told, I've had such a pleasure doing interviews for Movieline that I could easily make post after post about the ones I liked best). At this point, then, when picking out my 6 favorite stories, I'm selecting a random sampling of standouts that hopefully gives a bigger picture of just how eclectic -- and continually rewarding -- Movieline's output can be.
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When television historians reflect on this decade, they will certainly not skirt around the fact that 2009 was one of the most disappointing years in the history of the medium. Broadcast networks spent thousands of hours pumping hot air into the controversies surrounding the Gosselins, David Letterman and Tiger Woods, but when you look back on the groundbreaking programming produced, you're left with little more than Snooki and an empty balloon in a cornfield. So follow along as I lead you through my favorite (and the most uplifting) of this year's small-screen developments.
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While 2009 was by no means an especially slow cultural news year (Michael Jackson and John Hughes died, and Tiger Woods may as well have), the amount of stories that really intrigued me was at an unusual minimum. That could just as easily say something about me as it does about the year past, but for now, it's best to accentuate the positive. Hence my favorite stories of '09 -- the curious, the crazy, the thought-provoking and the altogether memorable.
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Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze closed out the last decade (and the millennium) with two of that decade's best films; since 1999, the boom in independent filmmaking that fostered their breakthroughs has either flamed out or blown open the doors, depending on how you look at it. That they both made big budget studio adaptations of children's classics this year can also be seen two ways, but what seems clear is that spirit of regression has provided a sort of temporary refuge, a regrouping point for two of America's best and most innovative storytellers.
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Is it 2010 yet? No? Then I guess it's time for another Fave Five! This one comes from Thomas Lennon, whom you might recognize as being the alter ego of Lt. Jim Dangle -- the baddest hoochie-short-rocking officer on the Reno force, from the tragically canceled Reno 911!. (Phooey, Comedy Central. Phooey on you.) Now, here they are, without comment: Thomas Lennon's Fave Five of 2009. Enjoy.
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