Janet Jackson, whose biggest feat in recent years was a dance single with the lyric, “I’m heavy like a first-day period,” just upped the ante: She landed a deal with Lionsgate to develop and produce a film : Exciting! Especially since Ms. Jackson’s music video oeuvre has enough cinematic flair to inspire her film if need be. Let’s look back at Janet’s music videos and pick the five that deserve silver screen adaptations. Don your golden nosechain and come along!
Did you hear the one about the filmmaker who ruined the SXSW screening of the SXF antastic entry The FP by loudly heckling their own film late Monday night, pissing off the army of movie bloggers in attendance? Meet Sarah Trost: film disrupter, costume designer, sister to writer-directors Brandon and Jason Trost, and former contestant on season 8 of Project Runway .
On Monday it was announced David Lynch will direct Duran Duran’s live-streaming concert on March 23, which led to a collective, “Wait, what?” across the Internet. Lynch — known for cerebral movies like Blue Velvet and this-makes-no-sense-to-any-rational-human-being movies like Mulholland Drive — may not seem like the go-to point man for an ’80s new wave pop group like Duran Duran. Then again, you may have forgotten just how well orchestrated and bizarre some of Duran Duran’s videos actually are. (Remember, this is a band that got their name from the Jane Fonda movie, Barbarella .) In preparation for whatever Lynch’s version of a Duran Duran concert is going to look like (here’s hoping that it takes a series of 10 clues to interpret), let’s take a refresher course on five Duran Duran videos that already look like they were directed by David Lynch.
Matt Damon is back in theaters this weekend as a rising political star who accidentally discovers the secrets of the way the world works in the latest Philip K. Dick adaptation, The Adjustment Bureau . But how did Damon get to the point of go-to action star/comedy television star after an early career of sensitive dramatic roles?
A teen-idol vehicle with the ultimate aim of leaving the young misses combusting in the aisles, Beastly takes little care with its task, dumping gasoline and gun powder where it might rig a modest array of fireworks. A twist on the Beauty and the Beast story that turns a cyborg-handsome high schooler’s pernicious vanity into a teachable moment, Beastly manages to show you all the ways it might have worked by missing every available mark, sometimes by the gaping expanse between Alex Pettyfer’s ears, sometimes only by the feline curl of Vanessa Hudgens’ smile.
When the first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger debuted during the Super Bowl last month, Movieline HQ was buzzing with the blink-and-you-missed-him glimpse at Hugo Weaving-as-Red Skull . That skull! It was so… red . Now, courtesy of EW , comes the first official look at the villainous Nazi supersoldier — no screencapping necessary! So, how does he look?
There’s nothing weirder than someone else’s nostalgia. Case in point: The animated series ReBoot (the first two seasons of which Shout! Factory is releasing on DVD this week), hailed as the first completely computer-animated half-hour TV series. If you were young enough to be watching Saturday morning cartoons in 1994, when the series debuted, you may be excited about revisiting Guardian Bob and his adventures in protecting the Mainframe from Megabyte. Those of us without fond memories are more likely to look at this rudimentary animation and cringe a bit at how far the medium has come in a relatively short time.
An Oscar is a funny thing. Winning one means you’re a respected thespian, but as 1966’s Best Supporting Actress Sandy Dennis once noted, it also means you can’t be new again. Some Oscar-winners find themselves taking less-than-stellar roles after their big night at the Kodak, and we’re commemorating eight whose next trip to the silver screen was a marked downgrade.
Hollywood week wrapped up last night, but most of the auditioners left the Kodak without fielding a word of terrible scrutiny. Let’s fix that! I’m going to be ruthless. When you destroy the classics of Ray Charles and, uh, Bobby Brown with your snarly showboating, I nominate myself to hurt your feelings. Onward.
