Ah, Thanksgiving. A time for gathering with the fam, eating turkey, and violently disagreeing with Aunt Sue about the validity of Justin Bieber's paternity suit and a cornucopia of other assorted pop culture-related topics while passing around the cranberry sauce. We're here to help make sure those awkward lulls in conversation don't devolve into interrogations into your actual personal life with 15 movie-related topics to keep the relatives squawking, bickering, and debating... at least 'til the pumpkin pie.
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There is only one way to spoof Nicolas Winding Refn's crime drama Drive with the help of the Hamburglar -- and web personality/comedian Alex Blagg nailed it in his Funny or Die video Drive-Thru. Ahead, enjoy as Blagg rips off Ryan Gosling's super-serious stunt driver by pulling off elaborate Arby's Roast Beef Classic heists, erotic elevator french fry feedings and Happy Meal toy threats in the only Drive send-up you'll ever need.
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So much went down here at Movieline HQ in the week leading into Halloween 2011, including the revelation that nobody loves Halloween more than Heidi frickin' Klum. And nobody loves arguing over the vocal stylings of patriotic Hollywood starlets more than Movieline readers! (We love you. Don't ever change.) Throw on some blue face paint and fangs and six extra arms and reminisce as we traipse into the Halloween weekend!
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There are mere days left until Halloween, and you're still scrambling for a costume that reflects your savvy Movieline-reading film knowledge? The perfect outfit that screams, "Look at me, I watch more movies than you, plebian sexy fill-in-the-blank!" Movieline's staff have culled a litany of costume ideas for you, inspired by indie art films and big Hollywood hits alike, either from this year at the movies or from the future. Dive in to find the greatest relevant Halloween costume ideas of the year!
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Despite that one disgruntled moviegoer's complaints, there are plenty of diehard members of the cult of Drive, which incidentally has racked up a cool $30 million to date. Not too shabby, Film District. Perhaps it's fitting, then, that Ryan Gosling's Driver character has now been commemorated in the cutest, cuddliest way imaginable: as a crocheted amigurumi doll, complete with his signature toothpick and a yarn hammer. And you thought YOU were obsessed with Drive. Hit the jump for today's Buzz Break...
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With September's box office duelers on their way out, it's time we clear space for two new contenders to duke it out for the moviegoing public's vote. But try as he might, does George Clooney have what it takes to unseat Hugh Jackman's crowd-pleasing sci-fi actioner, the probable weekend victor? He does have Ryan Gosling on his ticket. Not too shabby. Onward, to the polls! It's your Weekend Forecast.
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George Clooney's The Ides of March is an actors' movie, a picture that gives performers some provocative things to do without necessarily providing a great story for them to hang onto. It's also a movie made for grown-ups, and Lord knows there are few enough of those around today. But this story of an idealistic young press secretary who finds his principles eroded at the hands of a corrupt Democratic presidential candidate keeps getting in the way of its own chin-stroking: It's carefully designed to make us think it's making us think, but in the end, what's it really telling us? That politics -- and politicians -- can be dishonest and ugly? Please don't stop the presses for that one.
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It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
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"I love George Clooney's movie, The Ides of March," Harvey Weinstein raved recently when asked for an Academy Award prediction. "I love politics, and this movie is the best political movie -- it's gotta be right up there with the best of the best. Seriously, it is the toughest, most incisive, no-bullshit movie I've seen this year. And [Ryan] Gosling hits it out of the ballpark. And the entire cast is great. Clooney just nailed it. It's an appropriate movie for these times. So Oscar prediction? That that gets nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. And it's not mine." [Vulture]
Electro musician (and Italians Do It Better label owner) Johnny Jewel elaborated on the Drive score he was commissioned to compose by director Nicolas Winding Refn. "Nic flew to Montreal and we rented a movie theater and he and I watched the movie twice in a row, back-to-back. We talked about every single scene and all the music. So then from there, I had a month to finish the score." Although Refn opted to use Cliff Martinez's score for the final film, fans will get another Refn-Jewel collaboration when Jewel scores another upcoming Refn film: Logan's Run.
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Ryan Gosling may be a real street fight-stopping hero in man capris and the vulnerable getaway driver next door in this week's Drive, but a keen-eyed Movieline reader in Toronto sent in evidence of the one thing hotter than the Goss. No, not those Scarlett Johansson pics. Something even sweeter! Feast your eyes upon this discovery and stay for more in today's Buzz Break!
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"I'm embarrassed," explains Ryan Gosling of the infamous street fight he stopped in New York that eventually went viral. "I think that guy really was stealing that other guy's painting, so I should have just kept my nose out of it." The good Samaritan has clearly put a lot of thought into what went down that day when he sprang into action while casually strolling through the street in a striped tank and capris, satchel in hand. Watch Gosling relive that harrowing day on video after the jump.
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Ryan Gosling fans, Nicolas Winding Refn devotees, and soundtrack obsessives, take note: As of today, you can download the '80s/electronica-influenced soundtrack to Drive, the crime-thriller-romance that should be on your must-see list for fall. Available for purchase on Amazon today, the album -- combining original tracks by the likes of Johnny Jewel's Desire and Chromatics with an atmospheric electronic score by Cliff Martinez -- should make the perfect aural accompaniment to your Drive tour of L.A.!
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Few films in recent memory traverse the urban terrain of Los Angeles as memorably as Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, the stylish, sublime (and yes, ultra-violent) September 16 "fairytale" starring Ryan Gosling as a soft-spoken stunt man who gets mixed up with vicious gangsters in the city of angels. Using practical locations from downtown to the Valley, Refn paints a portrait of L.A. seldom seen in even the best L.A. stories -- and with nary a glimpse of glitzy Hollywood in sight. Dive into Movieline's interactive Drive map and explore the landscape of Refn's Los Angeles, in the director's own words.
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The musical partnership between director Nicolas Winding Refn and electronic musician Johnny Jewel dates back to Refn's Bronson, which used a track from Jewel's group Glass Candy to strike its stylized period feel. For Refn's latest film, the L.A.-set crime thriller Drive, he turned once more to Jewel to help create an '80s-tinged pop synth sound -- and the inspiration seemed to go both ways, as evidenced by drawings and a full collection of Drive-inspired tracks created by Jewel and his musical collaborators.
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