Happy 4/20 everyone! Regardless of your stance on marijuana, you surely have a favorite stoner film and Movieline wants to hear all about it on this high holiday. So grab whatever substance you enjoy using on 4/20 and join us after the jump at the virtual watercooler.
I know what comes to mind when you hear a title like The Perfect Host: Password's Allen Ludden, of course! So genteel and fun! A rib-tickling emcee with a stinker sense of humor. Just classic. Anyway, stop thinking about him, because David Hyde Pierce is redefining "hosting skills" for the 21st century, and the only password you'll be crying is "uncle." It doesn't get creepier than this.
While his castmates Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo got Oscar nominations for their roles in The Fighter (out this week in a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack from Paramount Home Entertainment) -- with the latter two winning the trophy -- Mark Wahlberg's performance went unheralded. (He did, however, share in the film's Best Picture nod as one of its producers.) But given the larger-than-life quality that Bale and Leo, in particular, brought to their roles, it seemed like an intentional call on the part of Wahlberg and director David O. Russell to let Wahlberg's on-screen personality recede a bit so the spotlight could shine elsewhere. Still, he's just fine in the film, and it inspired me to think of the sublime (and the ridiculous) turns he's had elsewhere -- and no, we're not counting The Marky Mark Workout in either category.
With the immortal words, "TWITTER- PRE PIMPHANDED GWYNETH PALTROW win," Glee's Kevin McHale ascended to the heights of slushie-proof popularity by posing in the hallways of McKinley High, prepared to do violence unto Gwyneth "Forget You" Paltrow as a horrified Heather Morris looked on in shock holding something resembling a fruit cup. Somehow we don't think McHale anticipated the unabashed glee (zing!) the world might get from the idea of slapping Oscar singing sensation Paltrow in the face, and here at Movieline we wouldn't condone violence to anyone, regardless of their relentless warblings on television shows, the CMAs, the Grammys, and the Academy Awards, but there you have it. Caption it after the jump!
If you enter Movieline's Oscar poll and select your choices for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress, you can win a MacBook Air, iPods, or plenty of other prizes. Who knows? Maybe I'll win the damn MacBook Air. I don't see a conflict of interest at all. You can't make me see it either. Join the fun after the jump.
Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can focus on the real cultural event of the year: The Academy Awards! To kick off a very special new series of guest Oscar predictions, Movieline consulted British actor Jamie Bell, the star of this week's The Eagle -- and, at the age of 24, veteran of four Oscar-nominated films -- to see which films he's betting on to take home Oscar gold.
Before you spend the rest of your day processing the Oscar Nominations and ensuing analysis, why not step out of prestige-land and relax for a second with the new trailer for SyFy's Gatoroid vs. Mega Python? As the title promises, it has both a Gatoroid and a Mega-Python; Sometimes they fight each other, and sometimes they split up to eat low-flying blimps. Absent from the title, but still in the film is some sort of cat fight between Deborah Gibson and Tiffany, which is apparently pretty significant if you are familiar with Mega Shark and Mega-Piranha or the old music rivalry between the two. If you're not, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
After a leaked sneak peak at the UK trailer for John Carpenter's The Ward, the entire official trailer has hit. Between this trailer and the one for Sucker Punch, I've already learned an important lesson for 2011: The best place to meet beautiful women is not the park, the mall or a bar, but actually at a mental institution. I had no idea that asylums reserved exclusively for pretty, scantly-clad women existed until now. Thanks Hollywood! This news of course begs the question: Which of these all-female mental institutions is the best?
"I guess I don't do genre very well," trippy filmmaker Darren Aronofsky recently admitted to MTV. Naturally, then, 20th Century Fox wants the filmmaker behind Black Swan and The Fountain to be a director for hire on Wolverine 2. No, really! Aronofsky joins the still in-contention David Slade as a contender for the gig, and it might not be quite as weird a choice as you think -- after all, at one point Aronofsky wanted to direct a Batman film. But no, it's still pretty weird. [Deadline]
Sad news has been circulating today throughout Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, that Ken Ober, host of Remote Control -- the MTV game show that featured a pre-fame Colin Quinn and Adam Sandler -- died suddenly over the weekend. No official statement has come from reps for the comedian and TV writer-producer, who in recent years worked on shows like The New Adventures of Old Christine and Mind of Mencia; further confusing the issue are several online reports saying the reports are false. Sadly, however, everything we're hearing is that Ober did pass away, with reputable colleagues like P.F. Tompkins now confirming the news via Twitter. After the jump, some video from 1989 of Ober holding court over Remote Control at the show's tiled podium. Developing...
They are two of the most anticipated movie soundtracks in some time, and the track listings for both have been revealed today (with much thanks to The Playlist). In one corner, we have Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, available for purchase November 3rd. Not surprisingly, it's a 25-track monster from the master curator of melancholy musical curios and modern pop antiquities.
British thesp first charmed the pants off of America by strolling into A Knight's Tale without wearing any. His role as Geoffrey Chaucer, Heath Ledger's glorified medieval publicist (first spotted dirt poor and sans clothing by Ledger's character), was a rollicking gem to those who caught the modest hit--and a stark contrast to the roles in films like the brutal Gangster No. 1 that had garnered him critical acclaim back home.
British beauty Rosamund Pike slips into honey white sensations for our style spread as smoothly as she bewitches 007 in the James Bond extravaganza, Die Another Day.
Anyone who's seen the documentary Unzipped knows Isaac Mizrahi generously borrowed style ideas from Loretta Young's wardrobe in The Call of the Wild, but he's hardly the only fashion designer to have relied on Hollywood. Here, five other designers reveal which films have influenced their collections of past and present.
You can make a box-office winner out of a video game. For all those who disagree, here's how British director Simon West turned Angelina Jolie into Lara Croft and created the movie Tomb Raider.
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