Film
Star Wars Fan Turns Roomba Into Working R2-D2 and Reveals His Jedi Secrets: Watch
Move aside DJ Roomba, there’s a new housekeeper in town. A total Jedi Knight of a Star Wars fan has reworked Roomba technology to build himself his own R2-D2 machine (which he’s calling R9-D9) — and, yes, it’s the droid we’re looking for. It sweeps. It mops. It even talks. What’s more, it can be yours. The man in question — filmmaker Matthew Scott Hunter — created a complete video breakdown on how he designed the thing using household items and materials. Editors’ Picks Essentially, he took his R2-D2 garbage can, inserted a fan motor for head movements, and added a Bluetooth speaker so it could talk. He even designed the thing to be remotely controlled, which should come in handy when it gets pesky as droids do. Okay, so it’s not exactly a Lego set, and may prove rather difficult for...
Scoob! Is The Avengers of Hanna-Barbera Movies: Review
A New Mystery: Following a prologue that shows how Shaggy (Will Forte), Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried), Fred (Zac Efron), and Velma (Gina Rodriguez) met and formed Mystery Incorporated, the film flashes forward 10 years as the gang is trying to find funding for their new base of operations. They are approached by potential investor Simon Cowell (yes, really), who refuses to fund the group after declaring Shaggy and Scooby inessential to the team. Soon after, the teenage hippie and his dog are attacked by a squadron of chainsaw-wielding robots before they are saved by the Falcon Fury and its inhabitants: Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), Dee Dee Sykes (Kiersey Clemmons) and Dynomutt (Ken Jeong). Together, they are trying to find the three skulls of Cerberus (yes, that Cerber...
George Miller Announces Mad Max: Fury Road Prequel with Young Furiosa
In a recent interview with the New York Times, apocalypse auteur George Miller officially announced his next Mad Max movie. But while it will tell the story of Furiosa from 2015’s Fury Road, it will not star Charlize Theron. That’s in part because, as Theron herself hinted at way back in 2017, the expected sequel is actually a prequel. Miller and his co-writer Nick Lathouris wrote a draft of the prequel even before Fury Road had started filming, along with extensive backstories for every character from the villainous Immortan Joe to Doof Warrior with his flamethrower guitar. But even then, Furiosa had captured Miller’s imagination, although at the time he saw the prequel script as an actor’s aid. “It was purely a way of helping Charlize and explaining it to ou...
Tom Hardy’s Best 10 Movie Performances
Tom Hardy is one of Hollywood’s last old-fashioned movie stars — a big, magnetic leading man of the school of Marlon Brando and Orson Welles. He’s a performer of incredible subtlety and teeth-gnashing intensity in the same breath, drawing pools of weary wisdom from his big, soulful eyes one minute before screaming in a goofy accent in the next. Hardy has the capacity to be both menacing and sweet, pained and predatory; despite the go-for-broke marquee madness that usually follows him, one often misses that Hardy’s bluster goes hand in hand with a wounded vulnerability. Of course, like Nicolas Cage before him, Hardy (at least in his perception to the general public) is more meme than man, the finely-tuned layers of his performances hidden behind layers of prosthetics or that ever-present ma...
Luca Guadagnino Says Hello to Universal’s Scarface Remake
Luca Guadagnino will soon prove the world is his. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Call Me By Your Name filmmaker has signed on to direct Universal’s long-gestating remake of Scarface. It gets better: Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the latest draft of the screenplay, topping a laundry list of contributors that includes Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Balla), Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton), and Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show), among others. The story will reportedly be set in Los Angeles. Guadagnino is no stranger to the remake game, having helmed the rather superb reimagining of Dario Argento’s Suspiria back in 2018. Editors’ Picks This marks the third take on Scarface, following Howard Hawks’ Chicago-set original in 1932 and Brian De Palma’s Miami-set remake in 1983 starring Al ...
Tom Hardy’s Capone Is an Absolute Horror Show of Decaying Tropes and Hungry Ghosts: Review
The Pitch: Alfonse Capone (Tom Hardy) was once the scourge of the FBI and law enforcement across the nation. He was Public Enemy Number One, the king of Chicago’s underground, the scourge of FBI agent Elliot Ness, who lived high on the hog and killed people with a gold plated Tommy Gunn. Now? It’s the mid-40s and untreated syphilis has caught up with the aging Capone, decrepit before his time and the FBI is getting sick of surveying him at his home on Palm Island, Florida. Supervising Agent Crawford (Jack Lowden) thinks there’s something Capone still knows, that he’s still hiding. Capone, now going by Fonzo to keep his profile low — even as he lives on a sprawling estate with his wife (Linda Cardellini), full battery of protection, and serving and gardening staff — starts to imagine he can...
The Fuck? Jonah Hill Passes Samuel L. Jackson for Most Swear Words in Film
Jonah Hill (Paramount Pictures) and Samuel L. Jackson (Walt Disney Studios) In some literal “what the fuck?” news, a new report from Buzz Bingo reveals that Jonah Hill has passed Samuel L. Jackson for the most swear words spoken in cinema history. Via The Wrap, Hill has cursed 376 times on film, compared to a mere 301 bad words from the original BAMF. That’s actually only good enough for third place, as Leonardo DiCaprio takes the spot right behind Hill with 361 expletives. According to an analysis of over 3,5000 movie scripts, Jackson lost the invective apex way back in 2013, which is also when The Wolf of Wall Street became the most profane movie of all time. That foulmouthed flick almost singlehandedly pushed Hill into first place and DiCaprio into second. Not coincidentally, ...
The Last Blockbuster in the World Is Persisting Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic
The world’s last Blockbuster store has already survived Netflix and the streaming wars, so what’s the worst pandemic in decades? As Vice reports, the Bend, Oregon franchise is still open even in the time of coronavirus, although it hasn’t been easy. Led by general manager Sandi Harding, the store became the last link in the global video rental chain about two years ago. It’s kept going this long through a mix of nostalgia, novelty, and what seems to be genuinely good leadership — but then, that’s true of many local institutions that have permanently closed during the COVID-19 crisis. The last Blockbuster is holding strong. It isn’t just relying on rentals — the store sells made-in-Oregon merch, such as a bumper sticker that reads “I SURVIVED ALONG WITH THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER”. Hard...
HBO Max Confirms Second Wave of Programming: Adventure Time, Seth Rogen’s American Pickle, Films Galore
Who’s ready for another streaming service? In two weeks’ time, HBO will launch its new premium subscription platform, HBO Max, promising a number of new original titles alongside 10,000 hours of archival content. But there’s plenty more to come beyond its initial slate of programming. The second wave of HBO Max titles will go live beginning Thursday, June 18th, with additional programming added each Thursday thereafter. Among the highlights: a new Adventure Time special called Distant Lands premiering on June 25th; season 2 of Doom Patrol and season 3 of Search Party, both of which are also coming on the 25th; and the new Seth Rogen feature film, American Pickle, which is set to premiere on August 6th. Additionally, at launch HBO Max will be offering every episode of Robot Chicken and...
Almost Famous Cast and Crew Reunite for Origins Podcast
It’s all happening: For its 20th anniversary, the cast and crew of Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous are reuniting for James Andrew Miller’s Origins podcast. Ever the golden god himself, the award-winning author and host got everyone back on the bus. That includes Crowe, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Patrick Fugit, Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon, Peter Frampton, Nancy Wilson, and the list goes on. Below, Miller’s dropped a three-minute trailer chock full of quotes to get you pumped. The show begins soon, so subscribe to the series now and go get some BBQ, man. In the past, Miller’s Origins series has offered oral histories on Curb Your Enthusiasm, ESPN, and Sex & the City. He’s also published definitive tomes on Saturday Night Live and CAA.
Robert Pattinson Is the Best Kind of Crazy, And These Quotes Prove It
Let’s great one thing straight: Robert Pattinson is an incredible actor. After rising to reluctant fame on the shimmering back of the Twilight franchise, he’s challenged himself and audiences alike with roles in films like The Safdie Brothers’ excellent Good Time or Robert Eggers’ brilliant The Lighthouse. Despite his resistance to maintaining his workout regime while The Batman is on hold, all signs point to him making an intriguing Bruce Wayne. We love R. Patz — but the dude is an agent of chaos. Don’t get us wrong, he’s the best kind of crazy, a playful loner who very simply is who he is. He’s a genuine article, unflinching in his own offbeat persona and peculiarities. Few other Hollywood stars can play the big-budget franchise and selective indie film circuits the way Pattins...
Center Stage Gave Us Zoe Saldana, Mandy Moore, and the Dance Film of a Generation
On May 12, 2000 many lives were changed forever. But most of us didn’t know it, because we were too young to get ourselves to a movie theater without a ride from our parents. On May 12, 2000, the motion picture Center Stage came to theaters. The teen movie focuses on Jody Sawyer and her fellow students at the American Ballet Academy (ABA). Only the best of the best get in, and every student is fighting for a spot in the company. Unfortunately Jody has bad feet, but is reluctantly accepted into the school because of her stage presence. Along the way, Jody discovers jazz, and has a romantic relationship with Cooper Nielsen, the male star of the company and teacher. In that a man helps a woman discover jazz, it’s sort of like La La Land, but more deserving of accidentally being announced as t...