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The Avatar Debate: It Will Suck

Richard Rushfield · 12/11/09 04:15PM

For 12 years, the world has awaited director James Cameron's follow up to Titanic. Today, the misguided prayers of a zillion fanboys have been answered, and they will be sorry.

A History of the Theater Gimmicks Meant to Save Hollywood

Richard Rushfield · 11/06/09 04:26PM

You may not have known you wanted it, but now you're going to get it. 3D redux is here with its biggest tentpole to date, Disney's $180 million Christmas Carol, followed shortly after by the release of James Cameron's Avatar.

John Hodgman's Broadcast Correspondent's Speech: Obama Is The First Nerd

Foster Kamer · 06/20/09 12:30PM

John Hodgman nailed an utterly hysterical speech to President Obama at the Radio and Television Correspondents dinner yesterday, slagging on media for a while, before hopefully designating Obama as our first nerd president. Obama's Vulcan salute after the jump.

Market Robs Spielberg of His Dream Studio

Owen Thomas · 12/18/08 01:42PM

The spectacle of ordinary people coping with extraordinary forces runs throughout the cinematic work of Steven Spielberg. And now Spielberg himself is dealing with an unexpected crisis: A credit drought that could kill his studio.

Carrie Fisher Comes Full Circle

Seth Abramovitch · 12/10/08 02:33PM

Forgive us. Forgive us Leia, forgive us Jabba, forgive us The Force—but this was the first thing that occurred to us watching Carrie Fisher on the Today Show this morning.

America Is Real Villain In Quantum of Solace

Alex Carnevale · 11/12/08 02:13PM

"The dollar isn't doing so well," says a general who demands to be paid in euros near the end of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The violent follow-up to Casino Royale is the first action film of the recession, and one of the film's shadowy villains is America, whose place in the film is corrupt enabler at best, and malevolent evil at worst. The fast and fabulous Solace has already satisfied audiences overseas, but with its North American premiere this Friday, we're about to find out if audiences here are ready to root against America.In Marc Forster's follow-up to Casino Royale (the new film picks up an hour after the first one ended), death is given no particular extravagance - from when you wake up, wherever you wake up, it's a straight line to the grave, and Bond leaves them where they die in his arms. The muscled bullet of a secret agent tracks the movements of the shadowy Quantum organization, with help and harm from his American friends along the way.

Look, Everyone! It's Video Of Daniel Radcliffe's Naughties!

Seth Abramovitch · 11/10/08 01:02PM

That Daniel Radcliffe has been thrilling horny Potterites on both sides of the Atlantic in a revival of the play Equus featuring full-frontal (and backal) nudity is hardly news. But until now, there have been no satisfying audience photos or video of his Golden Snitch. Perhaps it was some unspoken code of honor between wizard and $130-a-seat theatergoer, as if to say, "We'll pay for the privilege—and it is a privilege, young Harry—but we'll also keep it just between us." Well, the code has been broken, as OMG Blog has obtained video footage recently recorded by a front-row Broadway patron. We pass this along not out of licentiousness, but rather in hopes that it will goose ticket sales for the production, which has seen a 10% drop. See how selfless we are? Now, enough preamble—on with the NSFW show!

Famous Business Lady Likes Magic Salvia Space Travel

Hamilton Nolan · 10/29/08 02:37PM

Do you know who Faith Popcorn is? If not, consider yourself 2.4% wiser. She's a professional "futurist"—essentially, a lady who's learned how to milk money out of corporate CEOs by telling them about "trends" that she's spotted. Like her spiritual cousins, the "brand consultants," she has created an entire bullshit industry out of thin air, and become rich. Cheers to her. So anyhow, wanna know Faith Popcorn's latest important trend? Yea, it's smoking dope and traveling through space on the internet:

'Wall-E' vs. 'The Dark Knight': Who Has a Better Shot at Best Picture?

Kyle Buchanan · 10/28/08 04:28PM

This year's Oscars Best Picture race is still fluid enough to account for the presence of two films that would normally seem like longshots: the Pixar masterpiece Wall-E and the box office blockbuster The Dark Knight. One is the tale of a lonely hero who talks in a funny voice, and the other is Wall-E, but both films have one thing in common: they're huge, mainstream blockbusters, which Oscar voters don't typically reward. However, the New York Times reports that the studio behind each film is readying a big Academy Awards push, and they've got their eyes set on Best Picture. Which has the better shot, and should we expect either film to wrangle a nomination for Oscar's biggest prize?First, let's take Wall-E. The indomitable Pixar robot has collected some of the most glowing reviews of the year and many of those critics then called it the best American film of 2008 — in fact, Wall Street Journal scribe Joe Morgenstern was already talking Wall-E up for Best Picture in July. Still, the film has several things working against it: it opened early enough in the year to have been forgotten, it made a ton of money but not as much as much as, say, Cars (thereby falling into an Oscar trap where the movie is too successful, but not so successful that it can't be ignored), and it's animated. "Younger-skewing" films like Beauty and the Beast and Babe have been nominated before, but almost offhandedly, and not in a while. Then, there's the Bat. The Dark Knight has one big thing going for it: Heath Ledger's performance is a mortal lock for a Supporting Actor slot, which may help grease the wheels for the film to grab a Best Pic nom. Also, its box office total, second only to Oscar favorite Titanic, is so massive that The Dark Knight has remained the biggest story in the industry all year. Yes, it's still just a comic book movie (and one that had a minor Bat-lash), but what isn't in Hollywood these days? Thus, in the race for Best Picture, we're going to give the edge to The Dark Knight. With previous contenders like Frost/Nixon and Changeling losing steam among the chattering class, The Dark Knight's chances are certainly improved, and it has the best precedent: The Fugitive, a well-reviewed action blockbuster that rode a buzzworthy supporting performance to Oscar glory. We're going to hold out hope in our hearts for Wall-E, but we fear it'll take something stronger than a laser blast from EVE to bust this robot out of the Best Animated Film ghetto.

Defiant Sulu Blasts Back at William Shatner's 'Big, Shining, Demanding Ego'

STV · 10/23/08 07:15PM

It was only a matter of time before the alleged psychotic gay bridezilla that is George Takei fired back at his one-time TV captain William Shatner, whose claims that Takei invited every living Star Trek alumnus but him to his wedding met stiff, Suluian resistance in an interview airing this evening on Entertainment Tonight. After the jump, hear all the honors, weddings, funerals and other events Shatner has shined on in apparently forsaking his chums from the Final Frontier. "We keep reaching out and reaching out," Takei says, "but he takes that and twists it and crumples it and turns it into something that's rather... ugly." Damn it, Jim! So can the relationship ever be mended? Yes, nods Takei, laying down terms we hope find the actors setting aside their differences at last — for the gays' sake, if not Shatner's own. (Be warned, their video is set to autoplay. It's psychotic, too!)Click to view

Defamer Presents The 10 Greatest Halloween Specials Of All Time

Seth Abramovitch · 10/17/08 06:45PM

It's just eleven Sarah Palin-glasses-shopping-days 'til Halloween, and in honor of the spookiest night of the year (besides the ones in which Holly Madison attempted to conceive at the *THUNDER CRASH!!!* Playboy mansion), we thought we'd pull together ten of the greatest Halloween-themed TV specials to haunt and delight our distant youths. We think you'll find that all the essentials are there—your Great Pumpkins, your Roseannes, but sifting through the YouTube stacks, we were reminded of some long-forgotten gems:

Leave New York Alone!

Nick Denton · 10/13/08 11:58AM

It is understandable that film makers prefer to set the apocalypse in the only American conurbation that is recognizable—to international cinema-goers at least—as a city. (The original I Am Legend was set in Los Angeles, but the last year's movie was improved with Will Smith, computer-generated imagery and a Manhattan setting.) But New York has been destroyed so often recently that the suspense is draining from these plots. As soon as one sees the familiar profile of the Empire State Building, one knows something bad is going to happen. And one more thing: the city is in a delicate condition right now. We could have done without this trailer for The Day The Earth Stood Still, which shows bad things happening to Central Park, the Giants stadium, St. Patrick's Cathedral—and the city as a whole. More stills after the jump.

Orson Scott Card betrays his geek fans

Owen Thomas · 07/30/08 01:20PM

It's as if Orson Scott Card hasn't gotten the message of his own greatest work, Ender's Game, where the main character learns to tolerate people different from himself. The sci-fi writer's best-known work is widely read in Silicon Valley, a region full of people who pride themselves on their distinct talents and quirks. And for good reason. Ender's Game is a tale of a child, surrounded by bullies on Earth, plucked by a secret selection committee to train in space for interstellar warfare. Can you think of a more perfect metaphor for the entrepreneur who packs his bags for Silicon Valley, raises money for his brilliant idea, and becomes a tech superstar? Silicon Valley's startup scene is Ender's Battle School, with armies of programmers and natural gravity.I have to think Card's work also resonated with another demographic of kids who felt set apart from the crowd: Gay teenagers. Which makes Card's antigay screed, published in the Mormon Times, all the more hurtful. Card, a practicing Mormon, says he's against gay marriage. But he's really against gays, period — and thinks we should overturn the U.S. government to put his views into practice.

Steampunk and sex in postapocalyptic London

Paul Boutin · 07/09/08 02:20PM

Now's a good time to go back and dive into FreakAngels, a free online tale by graphic-novel superstar Warren Ellis, illustrated by relative newcomer Paul Duffield. When we first blogged about it in February, there wasn't much to read. But the story is now up to nearly 120 pages. The science-fiction premise has been explained: Something happened to change the nature of time. The 20th-century theory that time is an artificial construct in our minds no longer holds. There's a 3-minute delay in the fabric of the universe between London and the Suffolk Coast. London is partly underwater. But most important, there's a tribe of 23-year-old hotties with steampunk helicopters and psychic powers. Their romantic and sexual hookups = Random Play + It's Complicated. FreakAngels is guaranteed to hold you over until Melissa's next post.

The Milky Way Lost Half Its Arms

Nick Denton · 06/05/08 09:54AM

The newspapers, full of speculation on the precise timing of Hillary Clinton's exit, missed the big story of the week. Our galaxy-in which the Clintons and all other human beings are such insignificant motes-has a gigantic bar at its center from which the arms spin off like sparks from a Catherine Wheel. And, rather disturbingly, scientists also now suspect that they overcounted the number of spirals in the Milky Way. There are two, rather than four-which puts any argument about delegate counts into perspective. Click the thumb for a new picture of the near universe. Meanwhile, astronomers have discovered the first Earth-sized planet around another star.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is Iron Man

Nicholas Carlson · 05/15/08 03:00PM

Besides creating one of the world's most successful tech companies, Larry Ellison invented the 5 o'clock shadow plus blazer look. He drives an Audi R8 to the gym — the car Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson described as "like smearing honey onto Keira Knightley." Ellison also owns a gigantic high-tech yacht on to which he disappears for months at a time. Face it, people: He is Tony Stark, known as Iron Man in the press. And his employees think so, too. "Having watched the movie at an Oracle employees premiere," one writes, "I can agree and I'm sure so do my fellow Oracle employees." Clips for comparison, below.