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Entertainment December 5, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: The Best Tommy Wiseau Cosplay, Imagining Samuel L. Jackson in 'Star Trek' and More

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

Cosplay of the Day:

See a bunch of Tommy Wiseau fans cosplaying as the infamous filmmaker for a contest promotion tied to The Disaster Room:

Very proud to announce the runners up and grand prize winner of The Tommy®, the 1st and only award for uninhibited creative expression inspired by Tommy Wiseau. #ImADisasterArtistpic.twitter.com/GHyTPLoxN5

— A24 (@A24) December 1, 2017

Dream Casting of the Day:

With Quentin Tarantino working on a Star Trek movie, BossLogic jokingly shows us what it could look like with the obligatory Samuel L. Jackson role:

Next @StarTrek is going to be lit @SamuelLJacksonpic.twitter.com/sQfcY1puXD

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) December 5, 2017

End of Year Countdown of the Day:

Here’s a video list by Leigh Singer counting down Sight & Sound’s poll results for the best movies of 2017:

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Fan Theory of the Day:

Just in time for this week’s new Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom trailer, here’s MatPat with a theory that the premise of Jurassic World was an inside job:

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Mashup of the Day:

We’ve seen fan art of Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy as Mary Poppins, but now he’s been inserted into the eponymous classic Disney movie:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Fritz Lang, who was born on this day in 1890, directs a big scene for the 1927 sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis:

Actor in the Spotlight:

Learn all about Armie Hammer, who is garnering Oscar buzz for his performance in Call Me By Your Name in this video by Jacob T. Swinney for Fandor:

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Remixed Movie of the Day:

Eclectic Method turned Die Hard into a Christmas dance mix using sounds from the holiday-set action movie:

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Movie Homages of the Day:

Jarvis City compiled all the movie and TV shows paying tribute to The Shining in this supercut:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 75th anniversary of the release of the original Cat People. Watch the re-release trailer for the horror classic below.

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Entertainment December 4, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Best of 2017 Countdown, a Recap of the Year in Movies Overall and More

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

End of Year Countdown of the Day:

It’s the time for best-of-the-year countdowns, including this annual treat from IndieWire critic David Ehrlich:

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End of Year Supercut of the Day:

There’s no ranking in this video, but Sleepy Skunk’s annual movie trailer mashup is a terrific overview of 2017 in film:

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Trailer Remake of the Day:

The trailer for Avengers: Infinity War has been redone with cartoon footage again, this time by Smart Aleck Comedy:

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Documentary Parody of the Day:

Nerdist sends up the great new documentary Jim & Andy and reimagines it being about Jim Carrey’s performance in How the Grinch Stole Christmas instead of Man on the Moon:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Jeff Bridges, who turns 68 today, with co-star Karen Allen and director John Carpenter on the set of Starman in 1984:

Actor in the Spotlight:

The latest installment of No Small Parts looks at the career of character actor Keith David:

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Movie Comparison of the Day:

Spider-Man: Homecoming isn’t just the best Spider-Man movie in years, but it’s also an improvement on the very similar Steel according to Couch Tomato:

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Cosplay of the Day:

Here’s some more perfect Wonder Woman cosplay inspired by this year’s enormously successful movie:

Look at this amazing Wonder Woman cosplay. It looks like she just straight up borrowed the costume from the movie set, it’s PERFECT. pic.twitter.com/uHUfnUAk8C

— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) December 3, 2017

DIY Custom Build of the Day:

If you want to cosplay as a TIE Fighter pilot on Star Wars: The Last Jedi opening day next week, here’s a cheap and easy way to make a helmet:

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Classic Movie Clip of the Day:

This week is the 20th anniversary of the release of Good Will Hunting. Watch a classic scene from the Oscar-winning movie below.

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Entertainment December 1, 2017

The Week in Movie News: 'Avengers: Infinity War' Trailer, Disney Finds 'Mulan' Remake Star and More

Need a quick recap on the past week in movie news? Here are the highlights:

BIG NEWS

Marvel has 20 more movies already planned: Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige revealed this week that in addition to the currently known 22 titles, there are 20 more installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in various planning stages. Read more here and see the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War below.

GREAT NEWS

Disney’s Mulan finds its star: Chinese actress Liu Yifei (aka Christal Liu), best known in America for The Forbidden Kingdom, has been cast in the lead title role in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan. Read more here.

AWARDS BUZZ

The Post and Get Out are already big winners: Awards season is in full force now, with Gotham Awards naming Get Out and Call Me By Your Name in major categories and the National Board of Review picking The Post as best movie of the year. Meanwhile, Girls Trip is also on the map thanks to Tiffany Haddish. Read more here and here and here.

FESTIVAL BUZZ

Sundance Film Festival announces 2018 slate: While this year’s movies are immersed in awards fever, many of next year’s best movies are likely among the titles announced this week as part of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival program. Read more here.

Avengers: Infinity War Easter eggs: Following the release of the Avengers: Infinity War trailer (see below), fans have been poring through the footage and highlighting Easter eggs and other clues about the movie. Watch one of them below and see another here.

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MUST-WATCH TRAILERS

Avengers: Infinity War looks absolutely epic: The highly anticipated first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War finally dropped, and it’s just as amazing as we hoped. Watch it below and see our picks for the best moments here.

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Thoroughbreds showcases two rising stars: The first trailer for the Sundance hit thriller Thoroughbreds starring rising stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke. Check it out below:

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Mary Magdalene previews a Biblical drama: The first trailer for the Biblical drama Mary Magdalene features Rooney Mara as the title character and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus. Watch it here:

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Entertainment November 30, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Justice League Vs. X-Men, 'Star Wars' Saga Recap and More

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

Mashup of the Day:

See Wolverine go up against Wonder Woman and The Flash racing Quicksilver in the Stryder HD’s fan-made trailer for Justice League vs. X-Men:

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Trailer Reaction of the Day:

Speaking of Justice League, watch DC’s superheroes concernedly watch the Avengers: Infinity War trailer:

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Cosplay of the Day:

Speaking of Infinity War, here’s a woman cosplayer as Star-Lord who is excited about the new trailer:

Star-Lord…waiting to be in the #AvengersInfinityWar film… #Cosplay (Photography by HubsterPhotography) pic.twitter.com/71i2yuU2Uz

— Dee Ellie (@DeeGuardia) November 29, 2017

Easter Eggs of the Day:

We shared one Easter egg showcase for the Avengers: Infinity War trailer yesterday, but here’s another from ScreenCrush:

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Actor in the Spotlight:

We shared a supercut of Tom Hanks screaming yesterday, and here’s a counterpart of him laughing in his movies:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Ridley Scott, who turns 80 today, with actress Sigourney Weaver on the set of Alien in 1978:

Franchise Recap of the Day:

With a few weeks left ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, here’s a recap of the Saga so far (via /Film):

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Trailer Parody of the Day:

Speaking of Star Wars, ArtSpear Entertainment sends up The Last Jedi in this animated spoof of its trailer:

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Fan Build of the Day:

Also speaking of Star Wars, the guy who built an AT-AT in his yard has now build a life-size replica of Kyle Ren’s TIE Fighter (via Geekologie):

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Classic Movie Clip of the Day:

Today is the 35th anniversary of the premiere of Gandhi, which was held in New Delhi, India. Watch a scene from the classic biopic starring Ben Kingsley below.

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Entertainment November 30, 2017

Hermeto Pascoal's Music Reaches Far Into The Stratosphere

No Mundo Dos Sons, the latest album from Hermeto Pascoal and his group, is available now.

Gabriel Quintão/Courtesy of the artist

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Gabriel Quintão/Courtesy of the artist

Brazil’s Hermeto Pascoal is a legend among musicians and fans for his ability to conjure beautiful sounds out of just about anything — from tea kettles to PVC pipes to traditional woodwinds.

Earlier this May, the New England Conservatory awarded Pascoal an honorary Doctorate of Music degree and in July, the 81-year-old released No Mundo Dos Sons, the first album from him and his group in 15 years.

Pascoal can come up with a melody at the drop of a hat. He says he’s written 9,000 compositions and most, if not all, were created on the spot.

“It’s because I’m 100 percent intuitive,” he says. “I don’t premeditate anything. I feel it. When something happens, I don’t say, ‘Now I’m going to do that.’ No. If I want to write the music, I start creating. Every piece of my music, even the one I write on a piece of paper, I consider an improvisation.”

Pianist Jovino Santos Neto is a professor of music at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts and agrees with the impromptu nature of Pascoal’s work. Santos Neto was also a member of Pascoal’s band for 15 years and is now the archivist of his work.

“Hermeto is music,” Santos Neto says. “He is the current. He’s like a source or a spring that’s just gushing that water, and that water is music. … There’s a saying, I think it’s a John Cage thing that said, ‘Music is playing all the time. Music continues, we just kind of dip into it once in a while.’ Well, Hermeto is fully immersed in it. So because of that, whenever you are close to him, you just see [that] the music is just coming out.”

Pascoal was born in a small farming town in the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas. He dropped out of school in the fourth grade — there was no such thing as special education back then for a child with the vision problems that come with albinism. His father taught him to play the accordion and in the early 1960s, Pascoal moved to Rio de Janeiro. By then, he’d picked up piano and flute and began recording with some of the new generation of Brazilian musicians, including Quarteto Novo.

Quarteto Novo’s percussionist was Airto Moreira, who went on to play with Chick Corea and Miles Davis. Moreira recommended Pascoal to Davis and together, the trumpeter recorded with the Brazilian on the album Live-Evil.

Santos Neto says one of Pascoal’s compositions for Miles, titled “Little Church,” was inspired by the Brazilian’s childhood memory of hearing his mother and her friends singing novenas to the Virgin Mary.

“[Pascoal] would hear these voices wafting through the walls of the church,” Santos Neto says. “He was scared to go inside, so he’d sit outside and listen as his mother was singing. So he wrote this gorgeous melody.”

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Pascoal recalls an interview Davis gave in which the trumpeter was asked how he’d like to return from the afterlife.

“‘I would like to be a musician like that ‘crazy albino,'” he says, recalling Davis’ response to the question. “[Miles] used to call me ‘crazy Brazilian albino.’ And to make music like that of Hermeto Pascoal, the ‘crazy albino.’ I was very happy when I heard that.”

That’s typical of Pascoal’s personality says Santos Neto. In the more than 40 years Santos Neto has known the older musician, Pascoal has never changed.

“He never aged and he’s at the same time…a very complex personality,” Santos Neto says. “He’s both the wise old man, because of the white hair, but he’s also the prankster, the 16-year-old who’s really crazy to play a prank on somebody and to laugh and to make jokes.”

Pascoal doesn’t make jokes about his honorary Doctor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. He says it’s one of the greatest recognitions of his life. But this acknowledgement reinforces something he’s believed for a long time.

“Hermeto doesn’t make Brazilian music, he makes music in Brazil,” Pascoal says. “Therefore, Hermeto is a Brazilian citizen only on a piece of paper. But in my music, I’m universal.”

And, as the title of his new album says, Pascoal will always be No Mundo Dos Sons — in the world of sounds.

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Entertainment November 29, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: 'Avengers: Infinity War' Easter Eggs, Superman vs. Thanos and More

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

Easter Eggs of the Day:

The first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War arrived today, so Mr. Sunday Movies humorously highlights its Easter eggs and other things you might have missed:

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Franchise Parody of the Day:

That video set up where all the characters are leading up to Avengers: Infinity War, but here’s a great gag teasing a conversation that needs to happen between Iron Man and Captain America:

Classic #TeamCap#InfinfityWarpic.twitter.com/87J2SX3OcU

— Tony A Soon #HVFF (@tarmatys) November 29, 2017

Mashup of the Day:

It’s going to take all of the Marvel superheroes to take on Thanos, but here’s how it’d go if he landed in the wrong cinematic universe:

Oops! #INFINITYWARpic.twitter.com/xeJSfg2war

— ASH (@brown_batman_) November 29, 2017

Cosplay of the Day:

Here are two cosplayers who are very excited about Avengers: Infinity War, especially the scenes with Cap and Bucky:

Jep.
I am ready for #InfinityWar !!!
ALL ABOARD! ???
We need more photos. Goddamn! @TeamCrossbones as James B. Barnes
Me as Steven G. Rogers
?? @yukiharuka89 & https://t.co/dX4Agji2ap (FB) #AvengerInfinityWar#Stucky#CaptainAmerica#BuckyBarnes#Cosplay#MCUpic.twitter.com/sgieDrSKVo

— Tsubasa_Oozora (@Captain_Bootie) November 29, 2017

Cover Song of the Day:

Iron Man and many more movie characters sing “Teenagers” by My Chemical Romance thanks to this montage by The Unusual Suspects:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Joel Coen, who turns 63 today, directs Jeff Bridges on the set of The Big Lebowski in 1997:

Actor in the Spotlight:

Tom Hanks, who is garnering a lot awards buzz for The Post, sure does yell a lot in his movies. Here’s a supercut from Owenergy Studios showing this to be so (via Film SchooL Rejects):

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Fan Theory of the Day:

Is Simba actually the villain in The Lion King? Wisecrack examines this controversial idea involving Disney’s animated classic:

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Movie Trivia of the Day:

Speaking of Disney animated classics, in honor of Aladdin‘s 25th anniversary this month, Nerdist shares a bunch of trivia about the movie:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

This week is the 40th anniversary of the release of The Goodbye Girl. Watch the original trailer for the Oscar-winning rom-com classic below.

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Entertainment November 29, 2017

Trio Da Kali And Kronos Quartet: A Happy Marriage Of Tradition And Rule-Breaking

Trio da Kali and Kronos Quartet’s album, Ladilikan, is available now.

Jay Blakesberg/Courtesy of the artist

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Jay Blakesberg/Courtesy of the artist

You might think traditional West African music and Western classical music would share little common ground. But Ladilikan, the album from Mali’s Trio Da Kali and San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet is a welcome landmark in the history of unlikely musical collaborations.

The two groups together are a voice of an African praise singer harmonized by a string quartet.

Trio Da Kali’s members descend from venerable musical families in Mali. With centuries of history and musicianship at their backs, they represent the chamber music of West Africa. Hawa Diabaté, the group’s vocalist, has been singing for decades, schooled at the foot of her world famous father, Kassé Mady Diabaté. Lassana Diabaté — no direct relation — is a monster balafon player who’s worked with everyone from Taj Mahal to Béla Fleck to the top musicians of Mali. And the young Mamadou Kouyaté — whose dad, Bassekou Kouyaté, was nominated for a Grammy — holds down a solid, swinging bass on the traditional lute, known as a ngoni. Just these three musicians create such a big sound.

Kronos Quartet is known for progressive and daring rule-breaking. Trio Da Kali, by contrast, is made up of staunch defenders of an ancient tradition: jeliya, the art of the griot. “Da Kali” means to keep a pledge, and the group’s mission is to restore and renew their heritage in an era of rampant modernism and Islamic fundamentalism.

Trio Da Kali and Kronos first performed together in a series of concerts some years before this album was recorded. So by the time they met in a Swiss recording studio, they knew exactly what to do. Central to everything is Hawa’s luminous voice.

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So call this a happy marriage of pledge-keepers and rule-breakers. The trio holds fast to tradition, while the quartet soars into realms unknown.

This mesmerizing album includes two songs adapted from Mahalia Jackson, who shares with Hawa a robust contralto voice. Think of it: a Muslim African praise singer channeling a late American gospel diva!

On Ladilikan, out now, Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet shatter boundaries of culture, genre, faith and ethnicity — all with an ease that must be heard to be believed.

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Entertainment November 28, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Recapped, the Deaths of the Avengers and More

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

Franchise Recap of the Day:

Get ready for Star Wars: The Last Jedi with this rapped recap of what happened in Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

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Supercut of the Day:

While we wait and wonder which if any Avengers die in Avengers: Infinity War, here’s a supercut of Avengers actors dying (or almost dying) in other movies (via Geek Tyrant):

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Movie Comparison of the Day:

Couch Tomato shows 24 reasons The Lego Batman Movie is basically a rehash of The Dark Knight Rises:

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Movie Trivia of the Day:

Wonder Woman remains the highest-grossing superhero movie of the year, so here’s Leigh Singer with some trivia about it via Fandor:

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Cosplay of the Day:

Speaking of Wonder Woman, here’s a cosplayer with a pretty cool and unique take on the superhero:

I just had to share this ABSOLUTELY AMAZING #WonderWoman#cosplay from Deepica Mutyala. https://t.co/mDTo2A5RG4pic.twitter.com/zrjpwxYXs6

— Ruthanne Reid (@RuthanneReid) November 28, 2017

Fan Theory of the Day:

Cracked looks into the possibility that the plot of The Breakfast Club was all in one character’s imagination:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Gloria Grahame, who was born on this day in 1923, waits off to the side as Fred Zinnemann directs co-stars Eddie Albert and Shirley Jones on the set of Oklahoma! in 1954:

Actor in the Spotlight:

In honor of his breakout apearance in Stranger Things 2, No Small Parts showcases the career of actor Dacre Montgomery:

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Screenwriting Lesson of the Day:

Lessons from the Screenplay looks at the power of subplots with focus on the script for Hidden Figures:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

This week marks the 15th anniversary of Disney’s Treasure Planet. Watch the original trailer for the classic animated feature below.

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Entertainment November 27, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Imagining Jude Law as Mar-Vell, 'Deadpool 2' Teaser Redone in Lego and More

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

Casting Rendering of the Day:

Jude Law has been cast as Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel, so BossLogic shows us what he might look like in the role:

Worked on Mar-vell for some fun today, I heard he was confirmed for @captainmarvel (Jude law will be playing) can’t wait to see him pass the torch over to @brielarsonpic.twitter.com/VCrkxw5s6u

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) November 23, 2017

Trailer Remake of the Day:

Huxley Berg Studios quickly remade the new Deadpool 2 teaster with Lego minifigs and bricks:

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Interview of the Day:

Watch Star Wars star Daisy Ridley assemble a Lego Millennium Falcon while being interviewed by Elle magazine:

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Character Study of the Day:

Speaking of Star Wars, in his latest video essay, Rob Ager analyzes the significance of droids C-3PO and R2-D2 in A New Hope:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Kathryn Bigelow, who turns 66 today, directs Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze on the set of Point Break in 1990:

Movie Science of the Day:

In honor of Justice League being in theaters, Kyle Hill scientifically explains the secret of Wonder Woman’s bullet blocking:

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Fan Theory of the Day:

The latest theory from MatPat and The Film Theorists explains why Frodo couldn’t just fly to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings:

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Cosplay of the Day:

This cosplayer went so far as to put on purple contact lenses for a more authentic Megara from Disney’s Hercules:

Megara from Hercules #cosplay done by https://t.co/iAJdc8xmPhpic.twitter.com/XdYMMo3E8t

— Cosplay Girls (@CosplayGirIs) November 27, 2017

Movie Trivia of the Day:

With Planes, Trains and Automobiles turning 30 this week, CineFix shares a bunch of trivia about the holiday classic:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

This week is the 75th anniversary of the premiere of Casablanca. Watch the original trailer for the classic movie below.

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Entertainment November 25, 2017

On The Syrian Border, Alternative Arabic Music Brews

Members of the band Hawa Dafi at Why? cafe in Majdal Shams.

Daniel Estrin/NPR

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Daniel Estrin/NPR

Late one Thursday night, the hippest cafe-bar in the village of Majdal Shams pulses with strobe lights. The dance floor is packed. Beloved hometown band Hawa Dafi — Arabic for “warm breeze” — is playing a live concert.

Early the next morning, another soundtrack rocks the village.

“We actually woke up to the sound of bombings and fighting,” says guitarist Busher Abu Saleh. He is groggy, nursing a coffee with some bandmates at the Why? cafe, where they performed the night before. “We were up late last night. They woke us up at six in the morning.”

The cafe-bar is a safe place for a coffee, but just a few minutes’ drive away is the Israeli border fence with Syria. Many in Majdal Shams have relatives who live just beyond the fence in a Syrian regime-controlled village that’s frequently under attack by rebel fighters.

The village of Majdal Shams.

Daniel Estrin/NPR

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Daniel Estrin/NPR

The village’s location on the geopolitical map has always been precarious, even a bit surreal. But it has also created the perfect conditions to incubate an unlikely experimental Arabic music scene. Village musicians— a few professional ensembles and some garage bands — set Arabic lyrics to a variety of styles, from jazz and blues to heavy metal and ska.

For the young generation in Majdal Shams, music has provided an escape from a frustrating set of circumstances — not just the echoes of the Syrian civil war raging next door.

Israel captured Majdal Shams from Syria in 1967. Hugging the slope of a tall mountain, the village is stuck in a corner alongside the borders of both Lebanon and Syria.

Israel is in a state of war with those countries and today, villagers are prohibited from visiting. For years, villagers would gather at what’s known as the Shouting Hill and, with a megaphone, they’d hold conversations with their relatives across the valley in Syria.

The villagers are Arabs, mostly of the Druze religious minority. But many young people there, the musicians included, aren’t really into religion.

On paper, the people of Majdal Shams are not citizens of any country. They consider themselves Syrian, and most have refused Israeli residency papers. Their travel documents lists their nationality as “undefined.”

“This kind of speaks to me,” Abu Saleh says. “I’d rather be a citizen of the world than of imaginary borders.”

That undefined identity has inspired musicians from the village to look beyond their borders, to borrow from different music genres and to blend them into Arabic music that’s, well, hard to define.

TootArd.

Thomas von der Heiden/Courtesy of the artist

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Thomas von der Heiden/Courtesy of the artist

Laissez Passer is the latest album by village band TootArd, Arabic for “strawberry.” The band blends Tuareg music of North Africa with saxophone and oud, a traditional Middle Eastern stringed instrument. The album’s title track opens with a reggae feel and lyrics like, “I do not exist on an ID card.”

Abu Saleh’s band, Hawa Dafi, was formed in 2012, toward the start of the Syrian war. It borrows from gypsy music to riff on same theme — as in the song “Majhool,” Arabic for “undefined,” from its 2015 album Our Story.

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Hawa Dafi also rails against organized religion in its song “Enta Meen,” and sings about the hopefulness of the beginning of the Arab Spring in “Shams Elhoreye,” meaning “the sun of freedom.” Abu Saleh says war doesn’t stop their music.

“My mother is from Lebanon and they had a 15-year-long civil war. And music was made back then, and people were getting married, and falling in love and out of love, and life went on,” Abu Saleh explains. “Eventually it will be over.”

Down the road from where the guitarist sipped his coffee, residents rally and sing next to the border fence, in support of their Syrian families besieged on the other side. On the same street overlooking the border, villagers are celebrating a wedding.

In this village, war is a part of life, and life is a part of war.

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