When a trailer starts with attractive white people partying and laughing at danger in war-torn Africa, it's pretty clear that the electric guitar score will fade and things will get serious around the halfway point. And indeed, it's about one minute into the trailer for The Bang Bang Club when the war photographer played by Ryan Phillipe starts to realize that maybe a war zone isn't all fun and games. But the plot seems to take a potentially interesting route from here.
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Well, at least Universal got the message that positioning the heir to the Easter Bunny as a borderline sexual predator was a little creepy. True, Russell Brand's CGI character still poops jelly beans in this new trailer for Hop, but for the most part the marketing team has switched the focus to a far more family-friendly angle: War.
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It started as an innocent drive. It ended as a stream-of-consciousness flow of autobiographical what-nots and Doors covers. And thus began James Franco's latest contribution to new media, an aural odyssey that sounds vaguely like anyone else bored enough to yammer aimlessly to oneself on a trip from Providence to New York. Click ahead for the scintillating, amusing (-ish?) audio.
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When did it become cool for top-flight directors to create commercials? From Martin Scorsese to Robert Rodriguez, some fairly big names are getting comfortable with their inner-Don Drapers. Joe Wright is the latest artiste to produce some pretty piece of marketing, and the Hanna director has apparently decided to emphasize what he's had success emphasizing before: Keira Knightley.
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Fox Searchlight's new trailer for Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is luscious, warm, and emotionally stirring -- kind of like Wang's other opus about familial Chinese legacy, The Joy Luck Club. The new movie reunites him with Ronald Bass, who co-wrote that screenplay and this adaptation of Lisa See's novel. It comes out July 15, but will you be bothered to forsake the summer diet of skanky blockbusters in its honor?
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Given that Disney is already developing two more Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, I'm guessing that Jack Sparrow finds the fountain of youth he's looking for in this film. Then Disney will be free to make sequels for all of eternity! Expect Pirates of the Caribbean: The Quest for the Identity-Changing Stone when it comes time to finally replace Depp. In the meantime, check out the preview for On Stranger Tides, which actually looks like about two and a half movies by itself!
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While it mostly petered out here in the 90s, Comic Relief, a celebrity charity fundraiser, is still going strong in the UK. Loads of musicians, actors and other celebrities all get together to help combat poverty each March, and as in years past, Doctor Who has contributed a quickie episode to help the cause. In this go 'round, the TARDIS materializes inside itself and then...well, it's all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, but the important take-away is that if you've ever wanted to see Karen Gillan's Amy Pond come on to herself, well, here's your moment!
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One of my favorite running jokes in Mystery Science Theater 3000 is when one of the characters would say the name of the crappy movie they're in and the bots would wildly exclaim, "And we've got a title!" Well, some enterprising soul has gone one better and cobbled together 81 movies that say their 81 titles in just two minutes. But color me shocked that the above-mentioned "Forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown." didn't make the cut. C'mon, man! Space Chimps gets the nod but Jake Gittes gets left out in the cold? Are there any of your favorites that didn't make the montage? [HaveYouSeenThis? via Vulture]
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With everything in the world going to pot, sometimes it's hard to remember that documentaries can be fun. Not everything has to be a downer like Restrepo or a outrageous indictment like Inside Job! Banksy knew this all too well, which is part of the reason why Exit Through the Gift Shop was so well-received last year. Morgan Spurlock knows it, too, which is which The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will be so well-received this year.
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If you've been wondering what the people of Russia would think of Everybody Loves Raymond now -- five years after the family sitcom wrapped production -- you're in luck. A new documentary called Exporting Raymond answers just that question as it follows creator Phil Rosenthal to Russia, where he tries to adapt a local version of the series amidst wild dogs, enema balloon musicians and kidnapping threats. Cue: laugh track!
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The chills, thrills and swag-suite hangovers of Sundance 2011 seem so distant, so long ago as we teeter on the brink of spring. But who can forget J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci stopping by the Movieline house on Main Street to discuss their film The Music Never Stopped, which opens today in limited release? Not us! Click through to revisit their summit with Elvis Mitchell.
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Come July 15, you won't have Harry Potter to kick around anymore. At least until the inevitable reboot in ten years. The beginning of the end started last November with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, and now comes your first look at the concluding chapter in the billion dollar franchise. ABC Family debuted a brief behind-the-scenes clip from part two of Deathly Hallows on Thursday night and, well -- it looks awesome! The Battle of Hogwarts! The Room of Requirement! Harry and Voldemort! Mentally prepare to hyperventilate, then watch the clip ahead.
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Like some of the best (and worst) work of David Lynch, I wasn't positive where this promo for the Lynch-directed Duran Duran webcast was going when it started. It looked more like a cheap rip-off that owed more to Lynch's reputation for being "weird" than something actually inspired by his work. At the same time, I was kind of intrigued by the idea of Lynch just screwing around with Final Cut Pro effects instead of showing any concert footage. Ah, and then the reveal: The faux-David Lynch style gets chipped away to reveal Duran Duran! This short spot could have been so much more.
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So as we noted, SXSW goes beyond the basic Audience and Jury prizes and also doles out honors in categories like Poster Design and Title Sequence. At the screening honoring finalists in the latter category, juror Ian Albinson put together this nifty video, A Brief History of Title Design. While it's by no means comprehensive, the montage is breezy and well-edited. Also, it ends with the undisputed champion of all title sequences. That said, I think Jean-Luc Godard's giant, colorful titles should have gotten props here. What else is missing?
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If you want to break up this slow Wednesday by watching a legitimately amusing video, check out the following clip from Friday's edition of Onion News Network featuring Ben Stiller. In the dramatized PSA, the Dodgeball star admits that he is a recovering manchild and a vigilant supporter of Shaken Manchild Syndrome ("the second leading cause of death among adult children after choking on buffalo wings") sufferers, mainly because manchildren are his fan base. Click ahead and you won't be sorry.
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