In a world where everything from tires to mad cows can turn fiercely homicidal in the blink of an eye, it was always kind of comforting to think that raccoons always stopped just short of murder -- that the worst we could expect from them was a nocturnal trashivore binge or some medium-grade campsite ravaging. Damn you, Krackoon, for snuffing out that comfort with your nightmare visions of crack-addled, gut-munching critters terrorizing the Bronx. Like we didn't have enough problems with steroidal bedbugs.
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Film editor Sally Menke's untimely death Monday at age 56 is all the more tragic for ending one of the longest, most inspired and fruitful creative collaborations in Hollywood. Over seven films and nearly 19 years working with Quentin Tarantino, Menke has refined the director's chatty, kinetic, violent and gleefully derivative impulses into visionary cinema, from the first garrulous scene of Reservoir Dogs to the last visceral shots of Inglourious Basterds. Movieline parsed their work together for a few milestones, of which were many; read on for the NSFW high points.
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Things appear to have calmed down over on Sesame Street this week. Gone are the Kewpie doll eyes and heaving breasts of Katy Perry, replaced instead with the neurotic hand gestures and brilliant comic timing of Jason Bateman. And you know what? That's not necessarily a bad thing. (If nothing else, Bateman certainly appears less desperate.) Click ahead to watch the former Arrested Development star teach Elmo the ABCs, all while keeping his clothes on.
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Call me naive, but when I first heard that Conan O'Brien would be answering questions on his Facebook page, I really did assume that he would be doing a marathon live chat type session. Not quite. Two weeks later, after thousands of questions submitted, Conan has now answered question number two.
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Ever since Cloverfield turned out not to be about a fictional soft drink called "Slusho" that turns people into giant monsters, I've had a hard time getting into this whole "viral marketing" thing. But at least the delivery of these new Paranormal Activity 2 promo clips was inventive: Several journalists at Fantastic Fest found mysterious thumb drives containing creepy promo videos for the film on their doorstep, in their mailbox, and even in their pocket. Now that we've got all six together, it's time to make long-shot predictions about the movie based solely on each clip. Join me in analyzing blurry security camera footage and demon hijinks after the jump. Contributions welcome as always!
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Upon returning to work Monday morning, I typically find the Movieline mailbag bulging with goodies and not-so-goodies that have accrued over the weekend. And then there are curios like... this, a preview of the next Clone Wars episode that features a character loosely based on George Lucas blowing the hell out of a bar where his kidnapped family appears.
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It was the Blurb Heard 'Round the World -- or at least Seen 'Round the World, if you've been paying attention at all to the marketing campaign for The Social Network: "It's the movie of the year that also brilliantly defines the decade," said Rolling Stone's Peter Travers, known for years as one of Hollywood's most reliably fulsome dispensers of poster-ready praise. Whether or not you agree with him (Movieline's review is forthcoming later today), you can't really help but be amused by fellow critic David Edelstein's reaction -- on national television, no less.
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Sometime in between promoting Scott Pilgrim, premiering the second season of Bored to Death (stay tuned for Movieline's recap) and getting his wife pregnant, Jason Schwartzman found the time to film a quick instructional for The New Yorker's iPad app. Directed by Schwartzman's cousin Roman Coppola, the video features a little something for everyone. That means piano serenades, denim jackets and and the Rushmore actor's semi-nude body -- not necessarily in that order.
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Of all the songs I could pick to hear RZA and Elijah Wood sing at karaoke, The Black Eyed Peas' entire discography would be pretty low on the list. That said, this video still rules. and apparently blame (or credit) for the song selection goes to Timecrimes director Nacho Vigalondo. Anyway, as a counter-point to all the stuffy red carpet coverage of Toronto and Venice, I give you the karaoke party for Austin's genre-centric Fantastic Fest featuring Wood, RZA, Vigalondo and others. Just watch the mayhem and try not to get pumped for the week. Happy Monday!
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Fresh from the Fantastic Fest down in Austin comes this tantalizing little nugget of terror from the upcoming Paranormal Activity 2. All that we know so far is that the spooky-ass hauntings appear to be directed at a young family rather than a couple. Take a look at this itsy-bitsy little clip and see how scared you get.
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Katy Perry's décolletage has been in the news more than usual this week, though that's to be expected considering she dressed like the lead in a Zalman King movie during her banished-to-YouTube Sesame Street appearance. For her part, Perry hasn't shown any hard feelings (no that wasn't some sexual reference), but what of her duet partner, the always-up-for-a-good-time Elmo?
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For weeks, the anticipation has been quite high for Justin Bieber's primetime network acting debut on CSI. And I'm sure every parent was absolutely thrilled to let their ten-year-old daughter stay up late to watch a graphic crime drama featuring digitally enhanced guided camera tours of rotting corpses ("no, Sally, that will never be you. I promise"). Well, parents -- and the otherwise strangely curious (like me) -- are in luck. TV Squad condensed the entire episode into two, Bieberific minutes. What did we learn about Bieber's acting skills? Not a whole lot since the other actors on-screen did most of the talking, but this George Eads fellow is terrific!
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I already like the movie better. In this past summer's pretty disappointing Iron Man 2, the movie opens with Iron Man calmly walking out onto the platform of an open plane cargo door. Them without comment, he jumps out and pretty routinely flies down to the applause of adoring fans -- followed by two hours of explosions.
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Tonight, the Big Bang Theory nerds premiere their fourth season in a new time slot (well, they already conquered it last week in re-runs), and on the morning of this time change, Movieline has uncovered Craig Ferguson's lost audition for the CBS sitcom. (And yes, seeing the middle-aged Scotsman in a tight t-shirt, acting like a socially impaired genius is just as disturbing as you would think.)
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ET ran a behind the scenes segment for Scream 4 which intercuts cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette gushing about the experience (Really?) and behind-the-scenes footage that offers a first look at the new installment. Get ready for a clever, meta-homage to classic fourth horror sequels like...hm. I guess we'll see. From the footage here, it looks like Ghostface is still stalking girls in suburban houses and falling down stairs, though he also makes it to a barn this time around. Check it out after the jump.
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