· Roger Ebert's relaunch of At the Movies premieres one week from today, but the noted film critic was nice enough to post the opening credits to his blog in advance of the inaugural airing. Thumbs up! (Apologies, I am the biggest hack ever.) Click ahead to watch, then stick around for more Buzz Break, including a chance to read the script for The Social Network.
Unlike most of the Internet, Movieline HQ was a tad underwhelmed with the first trailer for Terrence Malick's long-awaited Tree of Life, if only because it didn't really show much beyond the beautiful visuals. Though to hear cinematographer Emanuel "Chivo" Lubezki tell the LA Times, that might be by design. "So the actors are performing the dialogue, but Terry isn't interested in dialogue," said Lubezki. "So they're talking, and we're shooting a reflection or we're shooting the wind or we're shooting the frame of the window, and then we finally pan to them when they finish the dialogue." And how did the actors react to this? "I think they thought we were insane. Sean [Penn] is a director, and I'm sure he wondered 'Is this method something I want to learn or is it something I never want to repeat?' For Brad [Pitt] I think it took him a couple of days or a week to get into the spirit." Get into the spirit, folks! [LAT/24 Frames]
Let's get this out of the way upfront: The rivalry between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots will never be a pimple on the fanny of the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. That said, any competition that features two arrogant personalities like Pats coach Bill Belichick and Jets coach Rex Ryan is one that should be taken very seriously. Or turned into an excuse for the New York Post to commission a Star Wars parody. Obviously. Ahead, take a look at the marvelously absurd cover for the Jets/Pats pullout section from Friday's Post. May the force be with you.
The Friday fun rolls on! Here's Movieline hero-cum-pop superstar David Lynch discussing what musical performers he really admires: "My son played me Pink Floyd performing 'Comfortably Numb' at some giant arena with a light show and I don't think it gets much better than that. There's this girl Lissie, she does a cover of Gaga's 'Bad Romance.' Gaga is amazing too but this is stripped down man, it's raw -- Lady Gaga is much more about production but still cool." Just throwing this out to the universe: Can David Lynch direct Gaga's next music video? [ShortList]
Also in this massive Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Steve Carell is leaving The Office sooner than you think... Adam Sander and Andy Samberg to play father and son... the worst video of a 5-year-old getting their eyebrows waxed that you'll ever watch... and more ahead. Friday!
Happy Friday! And you thought it would never come. But BAM, just like that, we are back in business at the movies -- well, sort of, if only because we've got two wide releases for the first time in three weeks, and odds are you'll want to see at least one of them. Rejoice! And when your done with that, get to forecasting the weekend's box-office champ.
It looks like Chris Evans is going to be doing some pretty heavy contemplating in this fully-costumed Entertainment Weekly still from Captain America: The First Avenger. Maybe he's wondering if his muscles look more intimidating without the superhero getup. In any case, between this photo and the angsty brooding of Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man, it's shaping up to be a very thoughtful, nuanced year. First film to release a photo of a superhero actually doing something wins.
· Former TLC journeywoman Sarah Palin might be a dubious speaker and intellectual, but she's an unparalleled breather! In a new video, Palin's inhalations are clipped together in a bracing sequence. It's tenser than mumblecore -- it's breathcore. [YouTube]
Back in 2007 fan fave Edgar Wright curated his first film series at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, spawning a popular screening series of classic films and cult favorites hand selected by guest programmers ranging from Eli Roth to Peter Bogdanovich. This weekend the busy Wright returns to host The Wright Stuff II, a two-week bonanza that will bring some of his favorite films to the big screen.
In The Dilemma, Vince Vaughn plays a man who witnesses his best friend's wife cheating with another man. Ron Howard's latest film is a departure of sorts for Vaughn compared to other films if only because the overall tone cannot be described as a "laugh riot." Still, how did Vaughn become one of the most bankable comedy stars in Hollywood after beginning his career in drama? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of important roles to illustrate what led to an actor's current success, and with Vaughn, that line was definitely on a downward slant until Todd Phillips came along and cast him in Old School. Let's look at eight performances -- including one of his earliest -- that trace the evolution of one Vincent Anthony Vaughn.
The first still of Andrew Garfield in his slick Spider-Man suit is an intense and/or melancholic one; so far he's staying just on this side of Spider-Man 3-level sads. What's he thinking about? His 28-inch waist? How annoying it is to fit a ragamuffin haircut through the neck hole? At any rate, the suit fits. I'm on board. Click ahead for the full image.
Attention Mel Gibson fan: You'll want to book tickets to Austin immediately. The SXSW film festival just announced that the world premiere of The Beaver will occur as part of the fest on March 16. Also having their world premieres: The Conan O'Brien "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop and Ti West's The Innkeepers; Greg Mottola's comedy road trip Paul will have its North American premiere at the festival, too. The four films join Duncan Jones' Source Code on the SXSW schedule.
Holding court for an assembly of journalists yesterday in Los Angeles, Sir Anthony Hopkins gamely talked up his upcoming thriller The Rite, in which he plays a seasoned Jesuit exorcist mentoring a skeptical seminary student (newcomer Colin O'Donoghue) in Rome. Sitting across from the Oscar-winning actor, one thing was clear: At 73, Sir Anthony has, to borrow from Plato, achieved a great sense of calm and freedom. Like, the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants, whether it's starring last year in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, getting hairy in the uber flop The Wolfman, making a special appearance in low-budget B-movies about female cage fighters, or playing a Norse god in this summer's big-budget Marvel adaptation Thor.
· I have literally never heard of Gucci Mane -- this is Movieline, not Du Jour-Rapper-line -- but upon being released from a mental health facility he got a tattoo of an ice cream cone on his face. Cured! Anyway, this needed to be passed along, so here you go. Click ahead to see Gucci's three new scoops and stick around for more Buzz Break.
Over at Vulture, fifty top film critics -- including Movieline's own Stephanie Zacharek and Michelle Orange -- have voted on the worst movies of the year. The winner? Sex and the City 2, of course! Wrote Stephanie: "Positing itself as a fun girls' night out, an escapist fashion fantasy, this Manolo-hoofed monstrosity gave us only crass consumerism of the lowest order, a parade of brand names masquerading as style and failing miserably." Other films on the list: Furry Vengeance, Grown Ups, The Last Airbender and, shockingly, Black Swan. It wouldn't be a critics' list without some controversy! [Vulture]
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