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Awards || ||

Amy Nicholson's / Top 10 of 2012 / Written In Haiku

Amy Nicholson's / Top 10 of 2012 / Written In Haiku

2012 was a ho-hum year for "serious" cinema. As proof, the Oscar race has narrowed to films like the chipper Argo and dreary Zero Dark Thirty — a chase so routine that the alternative is a Steven Spielberg period piece as wholesome and agreeable as enriched bread. But it was also a banner year for the films that we'll still want to watch in 2022: Ambitious over-reachers (Cloud Atlas, The Master, Les Miserables), loony passion projects (Killer Joe, Magic Mike, The Paperboy), and perfect popcorn flicks (Step Up 4, The Expendables 2, Premium Rush).

That last category is frequently left off top ten lists, but it deserves our applause. When studios get tired of risking $250 million on a single blockbuster (and audiences get tired of paying $14 just to keep up with water cooler conversation), mid-priced modest hits like Looper will be our collective salvation — and help build the next generation of filmmakers and stars. The films that made my Top Ten did so because they were bold, memorable and flawless (or at least two of the three). But of course, if critics can judge art, we should take our own creative risks. And so I've written my remarks in haiku.
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The Movieline Nine || ||

9 Last Minute 2012 Movie Halloween Costumes For The Procrastinating Cinephile

9 Last Minute 2012 Movie Halloween Costumes For The Procrastinating Cinephile

You're a procrastinator. You waited until the last moment to figure out your Halloween costume, and now you need ideas, fast — preferably ones that will impress your fellow movie nerds. Fear not! Here are 9 easy-ish cinephile-ready costumes inspired by some of this year's most memorable films...

CLOUD ATLAS
What do six interconnected characters in six time periods spanning from the 19th century Pacific to the future where Tom Hanks speaks the true-true have in common, despite wildly divergent costumes and fake noses and whatnot? THAT BIRTHMARK. Draw on your own Cloud Atlas comet mark of the Chosen One anywhere - your shoulder, the back of your head, your left butt cheek — and you're set. The best part: You can literally look like anyone and it still works. Just whatever you do, do not attempt futuristic Asianface.

PITCH PERFECT
Here's a group costume for you and 5-6 of your multi-culti friends: Dress campus casual and walk around in a pack all night singing pop songs a cappella and challenging random strangers to riff-offs while shouting Pitch Perfect-isms like "Aca-awesome!"

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
To channel Colin Farrell or any of his eccentric cast mates in Martin McDonagh's madcap crime comedy, all you really need is one key accessory: A Shih Tzu. Carry the pooch around all night and you're set. Bonus if you do it in a Christopher Walken accent. If you happen to resemble Tom Waits, a white bunny is a lot less costly to procure.

THE MASTER
Joaquin Phoenix's hunched, feral Freddie Quell can be achieved with just the right attire, posture, and off-kilter touch of insanity. Start with a button-down shirt tucked into pants pulled up to an Ed Grimley-level and slouch your shoulders forward. Carry a few makeshift beakers and jars with you and wherever you go, mix a batch of your special potions from assorted household liquids while pacing and licking windows. And voila!

SKYFALL
If you're a dapper dan who happens to have a Tom Ford fitted suit pressed and hanging in the closet, Halloween's a cinch: Dress to the nines, grab a Heineken, and spend the evening fixing your cufflink like a boss.

PROMETHEUS
Don't have a futuristic space suit lying around the house? No worries, ladies. Strip down to a white bandeau bra and panties, spatter yourself with black creature goop and run around screaming as if there's a giant space monster right behind you. Lug around a decapitated mannequin head for extra emphasis. You might be cold, but you'll be the baddest lady in the universe.

MAGIC MIKE
Fellas can get in on the scantily-clad action too, although the women of the world may prefer it if you have Channing Tatum's abs and sense of rhythm. Maybe a speedo-vest-cowboy hat combination, a la Matthew McConaughey? Or a g-string, for those who dare? Bring along a boombox and have Ginuwine's "Pony" queued up. You might even make some cash in the process.

THE COMEDY
Don your trust-fund hipster polo and boat shoes and walk around making a joke of everything a la Tim Heidecker (of Tim and Eric fame) in the new pic The Comedy; singing the infectious mantra "No no tip" will really tie the outfit together, although anyone who hasn't yet seen the movie will just think you're a giant douche.

THE GREY
Fish a dirty long-sleeved thermal out of the laundry, smear a few smudges of fake blood on your face, and tape broken minibar bottles to your fists and you're prepped for action, Liam Neeson-style. Plus: You get to drink the contents of those minibar bottles first, and you'll be ready for any wolves that may cross your path.

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Weekend Receipts || ||

Hotel Transylvania & Looper Lead A Box Office Resurgence

Hotel Transylvania & Looper Lead A Box Office Resurgence

After box office doldrums in late summer and the start of fall, Hollywood finally had a weekend it can celebrate. Hotel Transylvania and Looper debuted to great numbers, helping to end a five week slump. The top ten accounted for just over $104.4 million with the top two titles accounting for $64 million of that total. Another newcomer, Pitch Perfect also opened robustly, ranking sixth in the chart despite being in only 335 theaters. Won't Back Down, however, opened weak, providing a bit of a reality check.
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The Movieline Interview || ||

Skylar Astin On Pitch Perfect And The Enduring Power of Ace Of Base

Skylar Astin On Pitch Perfect And The Enduring Power of Ace Of Base

After humming along with this weekend's a capella comedy Pitch Perfect, you're going to want to know more about Skylar Astin, the 25-year-old Broadway alum who made his film debut in Hamlet 2, appeared in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, and sings his way into Anna Kendrick's heart this weekend as Jesse, Beca's adorably movie-obsessed aca-love interest and member of the Bellas' rival team, The Treble Makers. Movieline put ten questions (more or less) to Astin for a chat about Pitch Perfect, the summer camp vibe on set, his upcoming comedy projects, and — perhaps most importantly — why the '90s Swedish pop outfit Ace of Base deserves props.
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The Movieline Interview || ||

Anna Kendrick On 'Pitch Perfect,' Singing Onscreen, And How Being 'Aggressively Dorky' Paid Off

Anna Kendrick On 'Pitch Perfect,' Singing Onscreen, And How Being 'Aggressively Dorky' Paid Off

Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Twilight, Up in the Air) got her start on Broadway — nabbing a Tony nomination at the age of 12, no less — before making her film debut in 2003's musical Camp. In this week's infectiously fun college-set comedy Pitch Perfect she comes full circle playing Beca, an antisocial college freshman who reluctantly joins a ragtag campus a capella group as they attempt to pop song-warble their way to the top.
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On the Scene || ||

Glee Meets Bring It On In Pitch Perfect: Elizabeth Banks & Co. Preview The Mash-Up Musical

Glee Meets Bring It On In Pitch Perfect: Elizabeth Banks & Co. Preview The Mash-Up Musical

If you can appreciate a musical that unabashedly uses a 1996 Blackstreet jam as a communal rallying cry, then Pitch Perfect will be the most fun you'll have all year. (Also, we can totally be friends.) Producers Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman, joined at an LA screening by cast members Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Anna Camp, and Ester Dean, revealed how they first saw the potential in a nonfiction book about real life college a capella competitions – or, in the parlance of Pitch Perfect: The a-ca-drama.
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