(Clockwise from top left:) How To Train Your Dragon (Universal Entertainment), The Handmaiden (Magnolia), The Big Sick (Nicole Rivelli), The Silence Of The Lambs (Amazon Prime Video screenshot), Licorice Pizza (MGM)Graphic: The A.V. Club
Amazon Prime Video has a wide selection of terrific films, from classic dramas and comedies...
Amazon Prime Video has a wide selection of terrific films, from classic dramas and comedies...
- 3/23/2024
- by The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
Clockwise from left: Damsel (Netflix), Shirley (Netflix), Spaceman (Netflix)Image: The A.V. Club
A trio of Netflix originals highlight the streamer’s March film offerings. Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown plays a princess trapped in the cave of a fearsome dragon in the dark fantasy Damsel. In the biographical drama Shirley,...
A trio of Netflix originals highlight the streamer’s March film offerings. Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown plays a princess trapped in the cave of a fearsome dragon in the dark fantasy Damsel. In the biographical drama Shirley,...
- 2/27/2024
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
Clockwise from top left: The Wolf Of Wall Street (Paramount), Spy Kids: Armageddon (Netflix), 8 Mile (Universal), Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Universal)Graphic: The A.V. Club
It’s the last month of summer as well as back-to-school time, so Netflix is here to help make the transition easier. While...
It’s the last month of summer as well as back-to-school time, so Netflix is here to help make the transition easier. While...
- 8/30/2023
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
[Editor’s note: Spoilers ahead for “A Good Person.”]
When Zach Braff’s “Garden State” debuted in 2004, it did two things almost instantly: It established the first-time filmmaker (then best known to most audiences as the star of the sitcom “Scrubs”) as an indie creator to watch; and, to even greater effect, kickstarted a debate about the kinds of female characters who populate such stories. They’re cute! They’re quirky! They exist almost entirely to help a man work through his problems! It’s the manic pixie dream girl!
Film critic and then-A.V. Club staffer Nathan Rabin gave that trope its name a year after the release of “Garden State” with the release of another film, Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown.” But as Rabin noted in his essay, Braff’s “Garden State” beat Crowe to the punch in creating a character who “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to...
When Zach Braff’s “Garden State” debuted in 2004, it did two things almost instantly: It established the first-time filmmaker (then best known to most audiences as the star of the sitcom “Scrubs”) as an indie creator to watch; and, to even greater effect, kickstarted a debate about the kinds of female characters who populate such stories. They’re cute! They’re quirky! They exist almost entirely to help a man work through his problems! It’s the manic pixie dream girl!
Film critic and then-A.V. Club staffer Nathan Rabin gave that trope its name a year after the release of “Garden State” with the release of another film, Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown.” But as Rabin noted in his essay, Braff’s “Garden State” beat Crowe to the punch in creating a character who “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to...
- 3/25/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Zach Braff's 2004 coming-of-quarter-age film "Garden State" was met with warm acceptance upon its release. The general critical consensus seemed to be that Braff took a lot of the insecurities and anxieties of being in your mid-20s, and spun it into a moody, soulful rendition for a new generation.
Shortly after its release, however, "Garden State" was held up as an ur example of an unfortunate emerging character type: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The actual phrase was coined by critic Nathan Rabin in his description of Cameron Crowe's 2005 film "Elizabethtown," reviewed in his book "My Year of Flops." The Mpdg character was a seemingly perfect, often impish and energetic female, usually written specifically to drag a mopey male character out of the doldrums of their own personal drama. They were a therapist, a love object, and a prize all at once, and the character type was appearing with increasing ubiquity.
Shortly after its release, however, "Garden State" was held up as an ur example of an unfortunate emerging character type: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The actual phrase was coined by critic Nathan Rabin in his description of Cameron Crowe's 2005 film "Elizabethtown," reviewed in his book "My Year of Flops." The Mpdg character was a seemingly perfect, often impish and energetic female, usually written specifically to drag a mopey male character out of the doldrums of their own personal drama. They were a therapist, a love object, and a prize all at once, and the character type was appearing with increasing ubiquity.
- 3/23/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
"Superman: The Animated Series" occupies a curious middle ground in the DC Animated Universe, the continuity built by artists including Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. It never earned the rapturous critical reception of "Batman: The Animated Series," which to this day generates oral histories extolling its greatness. It also lacked the epic scope of "Justice League," which told multi-part stories featuring a huge cast of characters across time and space. But "Superman" should not be underestimated. At its best, the show's staff reinvented and condensed comics canon as elegantly as "Batman" did. Crossover episodes united Superman with Batman, Lobo and even Green Lantern, paving the way for the widescreen action of "Justice League." Best of all, "Superman: The Animated Series" introduced characters from Jack Kirby's Fourth World, including the nefarious Darkseid.
The DC Animated Universe ended in the early 2000s, but continues to influence contemporary animated series based on the characters to this day.
The DC Animated Universe ended in the early 2000s, but continues to influence contemporary animated series based on the characters to this day.
- 1/14/2023
- by Adam Wescott
- Slash Film
Don't call Zooey Deschanel a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" anymore. The New Girl alum explained how she feels about being associated with the pop culture term, first coined in 2007 by Av Club writer Nathan Rabin, which typically describes a quirky, somewhat nerdy and attractive female character who gives a male protagonist a deeper meaning to his life. "I don't feel it's accurate," Deschanel told the Guardian in an interview published July 21. "I'm not a girl. I'm a woman. It doesn't hurt my feelings, but it's a way of making a woman one-dimensional and I'm not one-dimensional." When asked if she is getting fewer...
- 7/28/2022
- E! Online
Never mind the fact that Netflix original films traffic quite heavily in well-worn tropes — the streaming service has launched the first trailer for a new comedy special called “Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” that finds celebrities discussing, dissecting, and having fun with familiar plot beats in your favorite movies. Hosted by Rob Lowe, the one-off special features a wide range of celebrities weighing in on everything from the Meet-Cute to the Ticking Time Bomb to the Jump Scare, using iconic films like “Forrest Gump” and “Out of the Past” as examples.
“Stock characters, familiar story beats, and convenient plot devices have crept in over time,” Lowe says in the trailer. “Tonight, we celebrate the clichés that have made cinema what it is today,” Lowe adds, as Netflix is pegging the special as something between a comedy special and a celebration of cinema history. It’s not quite the full-on roasting...
“Stock characters, familiar story beats, and convenient plot devices have crept in over time,” Lowe says in the trailer. “Tonight, we celebrate the clichés that have made cinema what it is today,” Lowe adds, as Netflix is pegging the special as something between a comedy special and a celebration of cinema history. It’s not quite the full-on roasting...
- 9/24/2021
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
When the news of Tawny Kitaen’s death hit over the weekend, various images from her career flooded into the heads of fans. People who came of age in the Eighties remembered her appearance on the cover of the 1984 Ratt album Out of the Cellar and her role as Tom Hanks’ fiancée that same year in Bachelor Party. People a bit younger remembered her as Jerry’s girlfriend in the 1991 Seinfeld episode “The Nose Job,” or her tumultuous real-life marriage to Major League Baseball pitcher Chuck Finley. In recent years,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
As we get ready to bid farewell to the month of April, we have one last slate of home media releases this week to look forward to, and there are some really fun titles headed home that genre fans do not want to miss out on. Arrow is showing Donnie Darko some love this Tuesday in 4K with their 2-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set, and they’ve also put together a Steelbook edition for Elvira: Mistress of the Dark as well.
Severin Films is also keeping busy with their release of Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Rush Week and Last Gasp in HD as well. Other releases for April 27th include Werewolves on Wheels, Murder Bury Win, The Time Travelers, Beware the Children, Berserkers, Bad Witch and Pipeline.
Deep Blood
In a career that forever raised the bar for everything from hookers, cannibals and necrophiles to Ator,...
Severin Films is also keeping busy with their release of Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Rush Week and Last Gasp in HD as well. Other releases for April 27th include Werewolves on Wheels, Murder Bury Win, The Time Travelers, Beware the Children, Berserkers, Bad Witch and Pipeline.
Deep Blood
In a career that forever raised the bar for everything from hookers, cannibals and necrophiles to Ator,...
- 4/26/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The Donnie Darko 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 2-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set will be available April 27th from Arrow Video
I Want You To Watch The Movie Screen. There S Something I Want To Show You.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 06 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favorite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen,...
I Want You To Watch The Movie Screen. There S Something I Want To Show You.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 06 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favorite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen,...
- 3/30/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
As the embodiment of kindness, generosity, and Yuletide beneficence, Santa Claus presents some mighty big black boots, much less a red suit, for any actor to fill. But jolly old Saint Nicholas has appeared in the movies for as long as the movies have existed, and here are some of our favorite actors who’ve steered the sleigh (not counting Billy Bob Thornton and anyone else who has played a guy who is pretending to be Santa):
Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” (2020): There’s more than a little bit of Russell’s trucker character from “Big Trouble in Little China” in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, “a Santa who f–ks.”
Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011): In this delightful animated adventure from Aardman, Broadbent plays...
Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” (2020): There’s more than a little bit of Russell’s trucker character from “Big Trouble in Little China” in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, “a Santa who f–ks.”
Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011): In this delightful animated adventure from Aardman, Broadbent plays...
- 12/23/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
So, How Was Your 2020 is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
“Weird Al” Yankovic was always planning on spending much of 2020 at home after touring all over America during the past two years, but he didn’t count on a pandemic that would make any sort of travel nearly impossible. It was an opportunity to check out three new books about himself, catch up on TV,...
“Weird Al” Yankovic was always planning on spending much of 2020 at home after touring all over America during the past two years, but he didn’t count on a pandemic that would make any sort of travel nearly impossible. It was an opportunity to check out three new books about himself, catch up on TV,...
- 11/30/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Former Av Club head writer Nathan Rabin released his new book The Weird Accordion to Al a few weeks back. It’s a monumental work that breaks down every single song Yankovic has released across his 40-year career, encompassing everything from big hits like “Eat It” and “Smells Like Nirvana” down to rarities like the “extra gory version” of “The Night Santa Went Crazy” and spoof songs he made for TV shows like “Homer and Marge” and “30 Rock Theme Parody.”
Rabin previously teamed up with Yankovic in 2012 when he penned...
Rabin previously teamed up with Yankovic in 2012 when he penned...
- 2/18/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Tyler Perry loves to torture rich characters and female characters who put career over love and family, so just one look at the New York apartment of rising ad exec Danica in “Nobody’s Fool” makes it apparent that the writer-director has put two targets on her back.
Her high-rise two-bedroom has the kind of Manhattan square footage usually reserved exclusively for oil sheiks and media heiresses, and it’s furnished with the soullessness of a Wayfair.com commercial. It also boasts the phoniest skyscraper views this side of “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” although the latter film made them obviously fake on purpose.
I mention the apartment because it makes no sense, which makes it the perfect avatar for “Nobody’s Fool,” a comedy that, even by Tyler Perry’s notoriously lax standards, has very little internal logic or narrative drive. The movie is ostensibly the...
Her high-rise two-bedroom has the kind of Manhattan square footage usually reserved exclusively for oil sheiks and media heiresses, and it’s furnished with the soullessness of a Wayfair.com commercial. It also boasts the phoniest skyscraper views this side of “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” although the latter film made them obviously fake on purpose.
I mention the apartment because it makes no sense, which makes it the perfect avatar for “Nobody’s Fool,” a comedy that, even by Tyler Perry’s notoriously lax standards, has very little internal logic or narrative drive. The movie is ostensibly the...
- 11/2/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995) starring Bruce Willis and Brad Piit will be available on Blu-ray October 30th From Arrow Video
The Future Is History
Following the commercial and critical success of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam next feature would turn to science fiction and a screenplay by Janet and David Peoples inspired by Chris Marker’s classic short film La Jetée.
In 1996, a deadly virus is unleashed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, destroying much of the world’s population and forcing survivors underground. In 2035, prisoner James Cole is chosen to go back in time and help scientists in their search for a cure.
Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Brad Pitt (Fight Club) as mental patient Jeffrey Goines, Twelve Monkeys would become Gilliam’s most successful film and is now widely regarded as a sci-fi classic. Arrow Films are proud to present the film in a stunning new restoration.
The Future Is History
Following the commercial and critical success of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam next feature would turn to science fiction and a screenplay by Janet and David Peoples inspired by Chris Marker’s classic short film La Jetée.
In 1996, a deadly virus is unleashed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, destroying much of the world’s population and forcing survivors underground. In 2035, prisoner James Cole is chosen to go back in time and help scientists in their search for a cure.
Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Brad Pitt (Fight Club) as mental patient Jeffrey Goines, Twelve Monkeys would become Gilliam’s most successful film and is now widely regarded as a sci-fi classic. Arrow Films are proud to present the film in a stunning new restoration.
- 10/2/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Since “Lisa Gets The Blues” reaches back to a classic episode for what emotional resonance it’s got, allow me to reach back to Nathan Rabin’s Simpsons (Classic) review of “Moaning Lisa” to similarly prop up my review of an episode that didn’t inspire much in the way of its own poetry. In discussing Lisa Simpson’s role…
Read more...
Read more...
- 4/23/2018
- by Dennis Perkins on TV Club, shared by Dennis Perkins to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
My World Of Flops is Nathan Rabin’s survey of books, television shows, musical releases, or other forms of entertainment that were financial flops, critical failures, or lack a substantial cult following.
With his pioneering work on Da Ali G Show and Borat!, Sacha Baron Cohen set the bar prohibitively high for himself by making comedies where he risked serious physical injury for the sake of laughter. In his HBO series and star-making cinematic vehicle, Cohen wasn’t just an unusually funny and fearless comic performer. He was also a daredevil, a performance artist, and the closest thing to Andy Kaufman since the man himself.
Cohen seems to be operating on a different, infinitely more challenging and tricky comic frequency than anyone else. He is a true comic original, but he’s also a victim of his success and ubiquity. Cohen’s specialty involved playing fictional characters like Bruno, Ali...
With his pioneering work on Da Ali G Show and Borat!, Sacha Baron Cohen set the bar prohibitively high for himself by making comedies where he risked serious physical injury for the sake of laughter. In his HBO series and star-making cinematic vehicle, Cohen wasn’t just an unusually funny and fearless comic performer. He was also a daredevil, a performance artist, and the closest thing to Andy Kaufman since the man himself.
Cohen seems to be operating on a different, infinitely more challenging and tricky comic frequency than anyone else. He is a true comic original, but he’s also a victim of his success and ubiquity. Cohen’s specialty involved playing fictional characters like Bruno, Ali...
- 5/11/2017
- by Nathan Rabin
- avclub.com
My World Of Flops is Nathan Rabin’s survey of books, television shows, musical releases, or other forms of entertainment that were financial flops, critical failures, or lack a substantial cult following.
The runaway success of Napoleon Dynamite gave a lot of small-time filmmakers false hope. Jared Hess’ surprise hit convinced aspiring creative types that with the right combination of elements, a low-budget comedy with an unlikable protagonist, costumes that look like they were procured from a Sears catalog in 1986, and production design heavy in wood paneling could break their films out of the indie film/arthouse ghetto and become a hit.
Like a lot of movies that flourished at Sundance, only to die a painful death outside it, 2015’s The Bronze shares a certain sour, curdled sensibility with Napoleon Dynamite, though The Bronze is the far superior film. The Bronze was picked up for a wide release ...
The runaway success of Napoleon Dynamite gave a lot of small-time filmmakers false hope. Jared Hess’ surprise hit convinced aspiring creative types that with the right combination of elements, a low-budget comedy with an unlikable protagonist, costumes that look like they were procured from a Sears catalog in 1986, and production design heavy in wood paneling could break their films out of the indie film/arthouse ghetto and become a hit.
Like a lot of movies that flourished at Sundance, only to die a painful death outside it, 2015’s The Bronze shares a certain sour, curdled sensibility with Napoleon Dynamite, though The Bronze is the far superior film. The Bronze was picked up for a wide release ...
- 4/27/2017
- by Nathan Rabin
- avclub.com
Many weird-world genre bending millennial epics have already dated badly, but not Richard Kelly’s sci-fi / horror / satirical mind-trip about a guy given a glimpse of time travel in another dimension. The wit hasn’t faded and the menace hasn’t cooled, and the cast seems hipper than ever: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross. Two versions, two formats, no waiting.
Donnie Darko
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113, 133 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / ( 4-Disc Limited Edition) / Available from Arrow Video 49.95
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross.
Cinematography: Steven Poster
Production Design: Alexander Hammond
Film Editors: Sam Bauer, Eric Strand
Original Music: Michael Andrews
Produced by Adam Fields, Nancy Juvonen, Sean McKittrick
Written and Directed by Richard Kelly
When high school kids get into creative writing...
Donnie Darko
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113, 133 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / ( 4-Disc Limited Edition) / Available from Arrow Video 49.95
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross.
Cinematography: Steven Poster
Production Design: Alexander Hammond
Film Editors: Sam Bauer, Eric Strand
Original Music: Michael Andrews
Produced by Adam Fields, Nancy Juvonen, Sean McKittrick
Written and Directed by Richard Kelly
When high school kids get into creative writing...
- 4/25/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The answer to the eternal question: What ever happened to the director of ‘Mystery Men’?
The first thing to notice about Kinka Usher’s Twitter account — which we’ll assume is the real deal, even in the absence of a blue check mark — is its profile description: “I directed the movie that actually made All Star by Smash Mouth popular.” As far as legacies go, we can agree this would be an ignoble one, assuming that’s all there was to it. The description does not clarify the movie in question however.
So then, the second thing to notice, after a bit of scrolling, is the title of said movie: Mystery Men. The film, based on marginal superhero characters from an obscure comic book (where my Flaming Carrot fans at?) and released in 1999, stars Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, and an almost literally unbelievable list of others. Smash Mouth is indeed heard on the soundtrack...
The first thing to notice about Kinka Usher’s Twitter account — which we’ll assume is the real deal, even in the absence of a blue check mark — is its profile description: “I directed the movie that actually made All Star by Smash Mouth popular.” As far as legacies go, we can agree this would be an ignoble one, assuming that’s all there was to it. The description does not clarify the movie in question however.
So then, the second thing to notice, after a bit of scrolling, is the title of said movie: Mystery Men. The film, based on marginal superhero characters from an obscure comic book (where my Flaming Carrot fans at?) and released in 1999, stars Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, and an almost literally unbelievable list of others. Smash Mouth is indeed heard on the soundtrack...
- 4/23/2017
- by Daniel Reynolds
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
April 18th looks to be another fun day of home entertainment releases for genre fans, as we have an excellent variety of films—both old and new—coming home to Blu-ray and DVD. M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Split makes its way to both formats on Tuesday courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Arrow Video is keeping busy with a trio of Blu-rays: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, and their four-disc set celebrating Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko.
Other notable releases for April 18th include Scream Factory’s stellar collector’s edition of Tales From the Hood, Contamination .7, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mephisto Waltz from Kino Lorber.
Donnie Darko: 4-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Fifteen years before Stranger Things, Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko.
Other notable releases for April 18th include Scream Factory’s stellar collector’s edition of Tales From the Hood, Contamination .7, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mephisto Waltz from Kino Lorber.
Donnie Darko: 4-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Fifteen years before Stranger Things, Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko.
- 4/18/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
A extensive look at all those movies James Franco directed.
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
- 4/13/2017
- by Andrew Karpan
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Every actor’s got a project or 30 in their past that they’d rather forget, which is what makes Only The Worst, a new column from Vice, so full of potential. For this edition, Justin Caffier talks to Jerry O’Connell of Jerry Maguire, Stand By Me, and Scream 2 fame about the universally despised Kangaroo Jack, a 2003 rapping kangaroo comedy he starred in alongside Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken, and Michael Shannon. Caffier even notes our own Nathan Rabin’s review, which describes it as “some of the longest 90 minutes ever committed to film.”
O’Connell is a gracious interviewee and, having been told by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to “never read reviews on it,” has no idea how it’s perceived publicly. He’s shocked to learn it currently holds an 8 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but less so once he and Caffier begin discussing the ...
O’Connell is a gracious interviewee and, having been told by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to “never read reviews on it,” has no idea how it’s perceived publicly. He’s shocked to learn it currently holds an 8 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but less so once he and Caffier begin discussing the ...
- 4/4/2017
- by Randall Colburn
- avclub.com
Your trusty tour guide through NBC must-see (or mustest-see, anyway) comedy Thursday, Nathan Rabin, couldn’t be with us this evening due to unforeseen circumstances, so you’re stuck with me. Apologies in advance for being a poor substitute for Natey, but I was pretty excited to get assigned the season’s penultimate episode, because I think the post-strike episodes of The Office have been as good as any in the show’s history—dark, funny, and full of surprising, unexpected drama, like Michael’s showdown with Stanley last week or the deliciously excruiciating Edward Albee play that was “Dinner Party.” So it’s with some measure of disappointment that I confess to finding tonight’s episode, “Job Fair,” to be the first disposable since the show’s return. Not to say it wasn’t amusing at times—and subtly purposeful at others—but it felt a bit like a...
- 5/9/2008
- avclub.com
Your trusty tour guide through NBC must-see (or mustest-see, anyway) comedy Thursday, Nathan Rabin, couldn’t be with us this evening due to unforeseen circumstances, so you’re stuck with me. Apologies in advance for being a poor substitute for Natey, but I was pretty excited to get assigned the season’s penultimate episode, because I think the post-strike episodes of The Office have been as good as any in the show’s history—dark, funny, and full of surprising, unexpected drama, like Michael’s showdown with Stanley last week or the deliciously excruiciating Edward Albee play that was “Dinner Party.” So it’s with some measure of disappointment that I confess to finding tonight’s episode, “Job Fair,” to be the first disposable since the show’s return. Not to say it wasn’t amusing at times—and subtly purposeful at others—but it felt a bit like a...
- 5/9/2008
- avclub.com
Let me save you the trouble: “Hey, you’re not Nathan Rabin.” In so many ways you are absolutely correct. Sadly, Nathan can’t be here for the finale this week as he’s attending the funeral of a great uncle. I’m sure he’d be glad to receive your condolences below. In the meantime, I’ll try to match his passion for 30 Rock. That shouldn’t be hard. I love this show with a Rabinesque intensity and my only disappointment this year—apart from a couple of episodes I thought were merely very good rather than mindbendingly excellent–has been with the strike-mandated brevity of the season. Can we be at the end already? Unfortunately, yes. But it’s been fun getting here. Since the return, we’ve seen a lot of everyone, including the too often neglected Pete (even if his most prominent sub-plot—getting his hand...
- 5/9/2008
- avclub.com
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