Imagine the band Haim meeting the late Ofra Haza, with some EDM thrown in for good measure. That’s the wave the fast-rising Israeli sister act A-WA — Tair, Liron and Tagel Haim — rides. (Yes, their last name is Haim, too.) They pull inspiration from their Yemeni Jewish roots, as well as exploring commonalities with their Arab neighbors, including language; the band usually sings in Yemeni Arabic.

Produced by Tomer Yosef, whose band Balkan Beat Box you definitely know (even if you don’t realize it), A-WA pairs old and new both sonically and visually, as you’ll see in the video for their song “Habib Galbi” (Love of My Heart), filmed near their home village in the barren desert of Israel’s far south. Check out the tasselled snapbacks on their track-suited dancing friends — caps that manage to reference both hip-hop and traditional tarboosh hats, a.k.a. fezzes.

Here’s another musical pairing that bridges cultures farther afield from each other: a song from Pierre Kwenders (the stage name of José Louis Modabi) called “Mardi Gras.” Born and initially raised in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, this singer and DJ moved to Canada as a teenager and is now based in Montreal. This is an electronic track redolent not just of Congolese dance music, but also of distinctly Acadian flavors, between some suave fiddling and a rap from Jacobus, aka Jacques Alphonse Doucet of the band Radio Radio.

A huge hit on the European charts right now is a song by the German rapper Sido, featuring German-Egyptian singer Andreas Bourani. “Astronaut” is kind of an “It’s The End of the World As We Know It” for 2015, auf Deutsch; here’s a translation of the lyrics. It’s been at the top of the German songs chart for two weeks and counting.

Let’s turn to the ethereal sounds of Estonian fiddler and singer Maarja Nuut, who’s now touring the U.S. She reaches back into her country’s folk heritage, ushering it into the 21st century through looping and spaciousness that echo the work of another artist — composer Arvo Pärt — who also hails from Rakvere, Nuut’s small hometown in the north of Estonia. Nuut’s music is mesmerizing and deeply soulful.

And we’re sending special (though belated) holiday greetings to Latitudes’ Jewish and Muslim friends: Shanah Tovah and Eid Mubarak. It’s not quite traditional, but I can’t help sharing this from Boston-born punk band The Kominas.

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The Important News

Franchise Fever: Ernie Hudson is making a cameo in the Ghostbusters reboot. Sigourney Weaver is also making a cameo in the Ghostbusters reboot. Prometheus 2 is titled Alien: Paradise Lost and there will be a few more linking to Alien.

More Sequel Stuff: A sequel to Sicario focused on Benicio Del Toro’s character is in development. Wesley Snipes has had talks about doing more Blade sequels. The WNUF Halloween Special is getting a follow-up. Furious 8 is having trouble finding a director. John Wick 2 starts shooting this fall with only one of the original directors. Men In Black is getting three more sequels.

Casting Net: Tracey Morgan will star in Fist Fight. Chris Evans and Jared Leto joined The Girl on the Train. Liam Neeson will star in The Commuter. Hugh Jackman says to cast Tom Hardy as the new Wolverine.

First Looks: Daniel Radcliffe in Imperium. Woody Harrelson in LBJ.

Star Wars Updates: The original theatrical cuts of the first Star Wars trilogy may finally return to home video.

Box Office: Johnny Depp scored a hit with Black Mass, even if it was in second place.

Format Focus: Netflix can be watched in virtual reality.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie Trailers: The Walk, Heist, Burnt, The Big Short, Angry Birds, Meadowland and Truth.

TV Spots: Creed.

Clips: The Walk.

Watch: A Sicario featurette about drug cartels.

Check Out: Rare shots of models used in the original Star Wars trilogy. And a virtual tour the crashed ship from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Hear: The new James Bond song for SPECTRE.

Watch: A homemade Deadpool trailer.

See: What you look like as a Peanuts character.

Check Out: The crazy gift Peruvian villagers gave the production designer of The Green Inferno.

See: Mel Gibson in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Watch: Seth Meyers and Anne Hathaway spoof rom-com endings.

Find Out: Why you should respect Michael Bay.

Watch: The new Jungle Book trailer with footage from the old Jungle Book.

See: Black Mass as a silent horror film.

Watch: A parody of Goodfellas set in the fast food industry.

Find Out: Why Ant-Man would have destroyed the world wtih his powers.

Watch: A supercut of movies where kids have special best friends.

See: This week’s best new movie posters. And Mondo’s new posters for Mulholland Drive.

Our Features

Film Festival Reports: Our most anticipated movies of Fantastic Fest. The movie audiences loved most at the Toronto Film Festival. How the Golden Door International Film Festival is spreading autism awareness.

Birthday Celebration: Stephen King’s greatest movie moments.

Geek Movie Guide: 10 geeky movies to see this fall.

Sci-Fi Movie Guide: 6 Fantastic Fest sci-fi movies to watch right now.

Indie Western Movie Guide: The Keeping Room and the indie Western resurgence.

Home Viewing: Here’s our guide to everything hitting VOD this week. And here’s our guide to everything hitting DVD this week. And here’s our guide to all the new indies and international films to see this month.

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MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

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Fantastic Fest, that annual celebration of genre cinema from all over the world, is upon us once again (check out a list of our most anticipated movies here). This Austin, Texas-based film festival is nirvana for movie fans and a Mecca for horror, action, and science fiction buffs. It’s something else. It’s the most fun week of the year, even for those of us who go there to work.

And next week, we will bring you a report about the latest and greatest science fiction films to play the fest. We won’t leave you hanging, though. Because we want you to experience a little bit of Fantastic Fest this week, here are some of the best and most interesting science fiction movies that have played there in recent years.

More importantly, each of these is available to stream online. Enjoy!

Automata

Antonio Banderas plays an insurance agent. In the future. Who works for a robot company. And investigates rogue robots who are going beyond their programming and altering themselves. Naturally, his investigation takes him to some pretty dark places. Although his film features shades of Blade Runner and I, Robot (the book and the movie), director Gabe Ibáñez’s vision of the future is uniquely bleak. This isn’t just a stylish action movie about a robot uprising — it’s a stylish action movie about a robot uprising that takes place in the kind of future world that couldn’t look less appealing. We mean that in a good way. Why romanticize the post-apocalypse?

Currently streaming on Netflix.

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Coherence

The less you know about Coherence going in, the better. Trust us when we say that this is a movie that defies categorization. We’ll just say that it’s about a dinner party that just so happens to coincide with a… uh, cosmic event. Things don’t go well.

Although he’s working on a shoestring budget, writer/director James Ward Byrkit never reaches beyond his means, instead crafting a whip-smart science fiction tale jammed full of huge ideas that maintain their power even when they’re shot on the cheap. The resulting film doesn’t just feel like an episode of The Twilight Zone — it feels like one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. And that’s high praise.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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The Congress

This is a film bursting at the seams with big ideas, some of which fall completely flat. But who cares? For every concept that goes nowhere, The Congress has three that tickle and torture the imagination. Ari Folman’s messy but brilliant film casts Robin Wright as herself in the near future. With her career at a dead end, she sells out in the craziest way possible — she lets herself be “scanned,” selling the rights to her onscreen image to a movie studio so she can be recreated and reused in movies forever.

This wild idea opens the door to more wild ideas, and soon the movie jumps forward into a dystopian future, where drugs allow people to live in an animated world. It’s in this second, gorgeously animated half that The Congress evolves from an interesting movie into an astonishing one.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Escape From Tomorrow

Everyone knows that Escape From Tomorrow is the movie that was shot guerilla-style at Walt Disney World and Disneyland and it’s fascinating for that aspect alone. Watching entire dramatic (and frequently pitch-dark) scenes take place at the “Happiest Place On Earth” is incredible.

However, Randy Moore’s genre-bending experiment in surrealism has more going for it than its insane behind-the-scenes story. It also features mad scientists and robots. It also features lurid sex and nightmarish imagery and scenes of such stark, Lynch-ian weirdness that they lodge themselves in your brain and don’t leave. It’s something else and every adventurous movie lover should give it a chance.

Currently streaming on Netflix

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The History of Future Folk

There are very few Fantastic Fest movies that can be described as “sweet” and “lovable” and “appropriate for the entire family,” but The History of Future Folk is all of those things. And it’s wonderful. The supposed origin story of the titular folk music duo (who have been performing in New York City for the past decade), the film tells the tale of an alien who arrives on Earth to kill the entire population to make room for his own people, who are searching for a new home.

Fortunately for us, he hears music for the first time and decides that the human race is worth saving. Naturally, the arrival of an assassin intended to finish the job complicates things, but not too much. This movie is less about world-ending alien antics and more about clever jokes and terrific musical numbers. It is very hard to not like this movie.

Currently streaming on Netflix

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Timecrimes

One of the best movies to ever play Fantastic Fest, Timecrimes is a gloriously weird time travel thriller that manages to feel epic and intimate in equal measure. The feature debut of director Nacho Vigalondo, the film follows one hapless man as he encounters a masked killer, flees into the woods, and literally stumbles into a time machine that sends him back in time one hour. From there, things start to get weird. And it’s funny and scary and totally unique, a mind-bender that plays like a darkly comic companion piece to Primer. You should make this one a priority.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Trailer Remake of the Day:

CineFix has sweded the Deadpool trailer, and thanks to homemade Colossus it might be even funnier this way:

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Fan Art of the Day:

Here’s what artist Mitch O’Connell thinks Donald Trump looks like when you wear those sunglasses from They Live (via Priscilla Page):

Movie Trope of the Day:

This video illustrates how movie kids have the best friends, including aliens, robots, genies and Totoros:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Men working on the model ships for the underrated Pearl Harbor movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, which opened 45 years ago today:

Filmmaker in Focus:

See Martin Scorsese‘s best slow-motion moments in three minutes, as compiled by supercut master Jacob T. Swinney for Press Play:

Video Art of the Day:

See symmetry in motion with the Matrix trilogy put through a mirror effect (via Geek Tyrant):

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Lego Creation of the Day:

This one is far from being an officially available set, but here’s a custom Lego tribute to Pixar‘s early short Tin Toy (via /Film):

Video Essay of the Day:

For Fandor, Kevin B. Lee delivers another great video essay, this one on John Cassavetes and his first feature, Shadows:

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Cosplay of the Day:

There is a dog inside this Toothless costume from How to Train Your Dragon, and you can build your own for your poor pup (via Fashionably Geek):

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 10th anniversary of the initial limited release of David Cronenberg‘s A History of Violence. Watch the original trailer for the movie, which went on to receive two Oscar nominations, below.

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This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Movie Mashup of the Day:

Here’s the obligatory trailer mashup of Disney‘s animated The Jungle Book and their upcoming live-action remake (via Geek Tyrant):

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Movie Takedown of the day:

In anticipation of Pan, Honest Trailers reminds us how un-P.C. Disney’s Peter Pan is:

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Alternate Ending of the Day:

Big Hero 6 could have ended a whole lot sooner, according to the latest video by How It Should Have Ended:

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Movie Studio Parody of the Day:

While we’re on a roll with these Disney animated features, watch a student thesis film that offers a twisted spin on the brand (via io9):

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Vintage Images of the Day:

Anna Karina, from two angles, from 1967’s Anna. Happy 75th birthday to the French cinema icon!

Movie Science of the Day:

The Film Theorists explain why Ant-Man would have actually destroyed the world with his super powers:

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Supercut of the Day:

Yes, another dance scene supercut, but this one includes 100 movies all set to “Uptown Funk” (via Film School Rejects):

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Cosplay of the Day:

There weren’t enough women in Mad Max: Fury Road, so here’s Immortan Joan and War Girl, both photographed at DragonCon (via KamiKame):

Surreal Cartoon of the Day:

Animator Yoann Hervo made this weird tribute to the opening of The Simpsons and I can’t stop watching it:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of David Fincher‘s Se7en. Watch the original trailer for the movie, which stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt:

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Send tips or follow us via Twitter:

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This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Alternate Dimension Movie of the Day:

Here’s what Black Mass might have looked like if it was a silent horror film from the 1920s (via Cinematic Montage Creators):

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Alternate Casting of the Day:

Here’s what Mad Max: Fury Road might have looked like if Mel Gibson retained the title role (via Live for Films):

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Vintage Image of the Day:

It was 30 years ago today that George Clooney made his debut on TV’s The Facts of Life, in one of his first notable regular roles.

Movie Franchise Takedown of the Day:

While we patiently wait for Spectre to arrive, check out Mr. Sunday Movies’ look at the worst James Bond gadgets of all time:

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Toy of the Day:

Here’s another New York Comic-Con exclusive for those of you who really love the movie Mask (via Scott Wampler)

Character Actor of the Day:

The latest episode of No Small Parts puts the spotlight on Darlene Cates, best known as the mother in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?:

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Cosplay of the Day:

Check out the best of this year’s DragonCon, including parts of the annual parade, which is one of my favorite events here in Atlanta:

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Star Wars of the Day:

Artist Nina Levy drew a series featuring Star Wars characters riding dinosaurs on napkins for her kids’ school lunches, and they remind us that Star Wars: The Force Awakens needs to defeat Jurassic World as the biggest movie of the year. See more at Design Taxi.

Fan Poster of the Day:

Spanish artist David G. Fererro has created a bunch of art deco posters for Disney classics. The one for Peter Pan below I found appropriate to share as the negative reviews of Pan are surfacing. See the rest at Fashionably Geek.

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Sidney Lumet‘s Dog Day Afternoon. Watch the original trailer for the movie, which stars Al Pacino, below.

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The Important News

Franchise Fever: Disney is making a Mary Poppins sequel. And they might want Emily Blunt for the lead. Transformers is getting another sequel and an animated spinoff. Victor Salva is making Jeepers Creepers 3. London Has Fallen was pushed back. Guillermo del Toro claims Pacific Rim 2 is delayed but still happening. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are joining the DC Extended Universe.

Casting Net: Rachel McAdams confirmed she’s co-starring in Doctor Strange. Woody Harrelson will play the villain in War of the Planet of the Apes. Jennifer Lawrence might reunite with her Hunger Games director. Michael B. Jordan and Jonah Hill will star in a Dej Jam Records biopic.

Remake Report: Christopher Nolan might remake Akira. The Mist will be a TV series. Taken will be a TV series. Jason Statham’s Layer Cake sequel might be a TV series.

New Directors/New Films: Darren Aronofsky might direct Channing Tatum in an Evel Knievel biopic. Elizabeth Banks will direct a Charlie’s Angels reboot. Bryan Singer will do a new 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie.

Method Madness: Ben Foster took drugs for his role as Lance Armstrong.

Box Office: The Perfect Guy made history last weekend.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie Trailers: The Jungle Book, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Point Break, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Steve Jobs, The Last Witch Hunter, In the Heart of the Sea and Saving Mr. Wu.

TV Spots: The Walk.

Clips: War Pigs.

Watch: A Spectre trailer featuring Idris Elba as James Bond.

See: What Emily Blunt had to say about Captain Marvel casting.

Watch: A video essay on movie sampling.

Find Out: How many people Superman has killed in his movies. And what Max Landis would do with Man of Steel 2.

Watch: Proof that Eric Stoltz still appears in Back to the Future.

See: Jamie Lee Curtis redo her mom’s Psycho shower scene.

Watch: Our favorite dubsmash videos by Evan Rachel Wood.

See: A comparison between Escape From New York and Escape From L.A.

Hear: A fan theory about The Matrix‘s Neo not being The One.

See: Star Wars mashed with Furious 7.

Watch: A video on modern digital explosion effects.

See: This week’s best new movie posters.

Our Features

Film Festival Reviews: Watch our video reviews from the Toronto Film Festival: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Horror Movie Guide: 5 movies that influenced The Hive. And the latest news and clips on future horror movies.

Sci-fi Movie Guide: Here’s our fall sci-fi movie preview.

Comic Book Movie Guide: Why Marvel needs to bring back Red Skull.

Home Viewing: Here’s our guide to everything hitting VOD this week. And here’s our guide to everything hitting DVD this week. And here’s our guide to all the new indies and international films to see this month.

and

MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Dream Project of the Day:

American Ultra writer Max Landis offers his pitch for Man of Steel 2 in this interview with Screen Junkies:

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Fan Art of the Day:

Next time you see a balloon artist, ask if he can do the Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible. Magician Rob Driscoll did this and many more fun movie balloon art creations, which you can see at Mental_Floss.

Movie Takedown of the Day:

Screen Rant counts down the biggest plot holes in the biggest recent movies, including The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Interstellar and more:

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Movie Scene Reenactment of the Day:

Here’s a couple who recreated part of Disney‘s 101 Dalmatians for their engagement photos (via Neatorama):

101 Dalmatians Engagement Photos

Movie Science of the Day:

In the latest episode of Because Science, Kyle Hill tackles the science of The Joker‘s venom, including that which is called Smilex in Tim Burton‘s Batman:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Bryan Singer on the set of The Usual Suspects. He is 28 in that photo. He turns 50 today.

Star Wars Cosplay of the Day:

Here’s an old favorite, Hip Hop Stormtrooper, in a new image from Long Beach Comic Con. I also recently saw him at DragonCon, where’s an essential part of the parade (via KamiKame).

Special Effects History of the Day:

Learn a quick lesson from the University of California on the recent advancement of digital fire and smoke rendering techniques for explosions (via Filmmaker IQ):

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Alternative Poster Art of the Day:

Disney is celebrating the 65th anniversary of Cinderella with this stunning castle poster by JC Richard (via /Film):

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 10th anniversary of the Toronto Film Festival premiere of Eli Roth‘s Hostel, which began a wave of what was then labeled “torture porn.” Watch the original trailer for the influential horror movie below and be reminded that it was presented by Quentin Tarantino.

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This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Movie Remake of the Day:

If you’ve wished there was a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off video game decades ago, this 8-bit redo of the movie will show you what one might have looked like:

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Vintage Image Remake of the Day:

Jamie Lee Curtis redid her mother’s famous shower scene from Psycho for an upcoming episode of the new TV series Scream Queens. She shared a preview (via ComingSoon.net):

Movie Studio Parody of the Day:

Did you know that Pixar has a lab to test the best way to make us cry? It doesn’t really, but here’s a funny sketch pretending it does (via Neatorama):

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Supercut of the Day:

Feel free to pause any moment in this montage of time-pausing sequences in movies, including Big Fish, Click and X-Men: Days of Future Past (via Cinematic Montage Creators):

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Movie Essay of the Day:

Five years after beginning as a series, Kirby Ferguson’s Everything is a Remix is now a single, re-mastered video essay, in part highlighting movie sampling in Star Wars, Kill Bill, The Matrix and more (via /Film):

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Filmmaker in Focus:

Cinemasters spotlights Steve McQueen and his few films, each celebrated as an absolute work of art:

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Movie Scene Remix of the Day:

As if Disney‘s Alice in Wonderland wasn’t surreal enough, here it is remixed with various art works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Munch, Kahlo and more using a Deep Dream type algorithm (via Reddit):

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Movie Mashup of the Day:

If Avengers: Age of Ultron was an episode of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or similar ’90s series (via Geekologie):

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Fan Art of the Day:

Speaking of The Avengers, here’s another mashup, this one imagining the Minions finding a new boss in Loki (via Deviant Art):

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Four Rooms. This was an exciting anthology as it promised the first work of Quentin Tarantino since Pulp Fiction, though the marketing didn’t focus solely on his part. Watch the original trailer below.

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