Entertainment

Entertainment October 10, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Trailer Easter Eggs, the Hidden Character in the Poster and More

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

Movie Trailer Easter Eggs of the Day:

You’ve seen the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer a hundred times, but now you need Mr. Sunday Movies to point out all its Easter eggs and other things you missed:

[embedded content]

Movie Poster Easter Egg of the Day:

Many fans are making fun of this reveal, but it really does look like there’s supposed to be an upside down Darth Vader hidden in the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi poster:

#Starwars pic.twitter.com/bwOBFI44tt

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) October 10, 2017

Fan Theory of the Day:

For those of you who did see Blade Runner 2049, here’s Mr. Sunday Movies again with all the movie’s Easter eggs and a discussion of whether Deckard is really a replicant:

[embedded content]

Movie Analysis of the Day:

ScreenCrush goes deep on the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs and reveals how it holds the secret meaning of the whole movie:

[embedded content]

Vintage Image of the Day:

Speaking of Reservoir Dogs, here’s a publicity still of Chris Penn, who was born on this day in 1965, as Nice Guy Eddie:

Filmmaker in Focus:

This video essay from Titouan Ropert highlights all the art that inspired shots in Lars von Trier movies with side by side comparison:

[embedded content]

Movie Trivia of the Day:

Cracked shares the story of how an iconic scene from Midnight Cowboy was made up on the spot in this trivial film history lesson:

[embedded content]

Cosplay of the Day:

With Cult of Chucky now available in stores, here’s a woman doing some gender-swapped Child’s Play cosplay:

Chucky #cosplay done by @Darshelle_pic.twitter.com/TKrKKQJHwS

— Cosplay Girls (@CosplayGirIs) October 10, 2017

Alternate Poster of the Day:

Speaking of Child’s Play, here’s one of the 31 amazing horror movie posters Matt Talbot is drawing up for the month of Halloween:

Today’s #31DaysOfHorror is for Child’s Play! The flick that kicked off the franchise is still a really fun watch. #31daysofhalloween pic.twitter.com/NF3MmEW3c5

— Matt Talbot (@mattrobot) October 7, 2017

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. Watch the original trailer for the classic movie below.

[embedded content]

and

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Entertainment October 9, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Gal Gadot Spoofs 'Wonder Woman,' 'Justice League' Stars Swap Roles and More

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

Movie Parody of the Day:

Saturday Night Live and host Gal Gadot spoofed Wonder Woman with a sketch about how weird it is that Themyscira isn’t an island of lesbians:

[embedded content]

Role Swaps of the Day:

Speaking of DC movies, the stars of Justice League used a new Facebook filter themed to the movie in order to swap their roles. Gal Gadot as Aquaman is the best (via Heroic Hollywood):

Easter Eggs of the Day:

Speaking of Justice League, here’s Mr. Sunday Movies with the Easter eggs and other things you may have missed in the new trailer:

[embedded content]

Dream Casting of the Day:

Scott Eastwood wants to be the next Wolverine in the X-Men movies, so BossLogic shows us what that could look like:

Some weekend fun @ScottEastwood #wolverine, probably will refine more later on (there was articles about him expressing interest) pic.twitter.com/Jh5Tphed92

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) October 7, 2017

Vintage Image of the Day:

Guillermo del Toro, who turns 53 today, directs Doug Jones on the set of Pan’s Labyrinth in 2005:

Cosplay of the Day:

Also in honor of del Toro’s birthday, here’s some great Hellboy cosplay from New York Comic Con over the weekend;

Hella cool Comic Con cosplay! #Hellboy #NYCC pic.twitter.com/k02I8Bpnv7

— Marshall Julius (@MarshallJulius) October 8, 2017

Filmmaker in Focus:

Edgar Wright is the latest director to be showcased in Joshua Maddock’s The Filmmakers video series:

[embedded content]

Remixed Movie of the Day:

Speaking of Wright, Eclectic Method took the sound effects, music and dialogue from Baby Driver and made a sweet dance mix:

[embedded content]

Supercut of the Day:

Dance some more with this Calvin Harris-soundtracked supercut of ’80s movies compiled by Peter Schneider:

[embedded content]

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 25th anniversary of Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It. Watch the original trailer for the classic drama below.

[embedded content]

and

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Entertainment October 9, 2017

First Listen: Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition, 'Agrima'

Enlarge this image

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition’s Agrima comes out Oct. 17.

Ethan Levitas/Courtesy of the artist

hide caption

toggle caption

Ethan Levitas/Courtesy of the artist

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Agrima

Courtesy of the artist

hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of the artist

Indo-Pak Coalition, an improvising trio led by the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, finds its purpose in myriad forms of convergence. A decade ago the group released its auspicious debut album, Apti, announcing an inspired accord between Mahanthappa, a second-generation Indian-American; guitarist Rez Abbasi, who was born in Pakistan but raised in Los Angeles; and Dan Weiss, an Anglo-American drummer with a deep interest in Indian percussion.

The name of the trio was an inside joke — a nod to immigrant-owned family businesses with names like Indo-Pak Movers and Indo-Pak Super Market — but it carried a genuine note of solidarity. Britain’s Partition of the Indian subcontinent took place 70 years ago this summer, and along with creating two sovereign nations, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, the event left bitter legacies of displacement and bloodshed. That history isn’t the point of the Indo-Pak Coalition, but it can’t help but hover somewhere in the background.

Agrima is the trio’s second album, a step forward in every respect. The clearest update is a broadening of timbre. Where Apti featured a fixed range of instrumental sounds — alto saxophone, tablas, cleanly processed electric guitar — this album gives each musician more of an open canvas. Mahanthappa, whose sound on alto can be mournful or biting, delves into electronics with an expressive subtlety. (Hear what he does on the title track.) Abbasi employs distortion, back-masking and other effects, unfurling his jazz-rock freak flag.

And Weiss can be heard not only on tablas but also behind his drum kit, in a synthesis that few other musicians could credibly manage. He plays an enveloping tabla solo toward the end of “Revati,” and then applies a similar discipline to the rat-a-tat of his snare drum on “Can-Did.” Weiss was born and raised in New Jersey but has apprenticed for years with a percussive guru, Pandit Samir Chatterjee. His adaptive process as a musician isn’t all that different from that of his band mates, who access the music of their heritage by way of a dynamic continuum.

There are echoes of folk wisdom in some of Mahanthappa’s compositions on Agrima: certainly “Showcase,” with its ambulatory cadence, and “Rasikapriya,” with its fluttery melodic incantation. And there is individual virtuosity, at almost every turn. But the larger point of this album is the transformation of materials in a process of real-time exchange — a meeting of minds and methods that takes no possibilities for granted.

Agrima is available digitally for pre-order on Oct. 17, as a $2.50 download, and as a limited-edition double LP at rudreshm.com.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Agrima

Courtesy of the artist

hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of the artist