Monthly Archives: October 2013

Covering Coven Episode 4: Analysis of American Horror Story’s ‘Fearful Pranks Ensue’

american_horror_story_3_20130918_1364143967The Covering Coven gang is back for another look at American Horror Story: Coven and this time they’re tackling episode four (which aired last night), “Fearful Pranks Ensue.”

In last night’s installment, Fiona’s choices rattle a decades long truce between the Salem witches and Marie Laveau. The Council of Witchcraft pays a surprise visit to the Academy with disturbing allegations.

Leading the conversation is Shock contributor Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) and she’s joined by Sasha Capelli (@ActuallySasha) of 92.3 out of New York, Alexis Saarela (@AlexisSaarela), Allison Ullrich (@allisonannetx) and Megg Hochbaum (@djshesay).  Needless to say, this is a spoiler-filled discussion, so you have been warned!

Click here to watch episode four of Covering Coven.

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Talking To The Cast Of Last Vegas At The NYC Premiere

Last_Vegas_KidsWhat’s more thrilling than a trip to Las Vegas with a group of friends when you’re in your 20s? A trip to Vegas in your 60s with lifelong friends, of course. Then again, it could also be a trip to Vegas in your teens while working on a movie.

In CBS Films’ Last Vegas, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline lead as Billy, Paddy, Sam and Archie, respectively. After years of indulging in the single life, Billy finally pops the question and insists that Paddy, Sam and Archie join him in Vegas for the ultimate bachelor party.

Click here to read more and watch the interviews.

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The Most Overused Movie-Based Costumes Ever (and the Ones We’d Like to See More Of)

Costume_MainHalloween comes with the opportunity to ditch your typical attire and get creative. Why blow it? Here, 10 overused looks to avoid and 10 getups we want to see you in this year.

Ghostface

Even as someone who’s proud to dub Scream a favorite film of all-time, the Ghostface costumes just have to stop. The getup was an eerie, novel new look when the film first hit, but now it doesn’t matter if you go for the classic Scream model, the silly Scary Movie edition, or even the one showered in blood. It’s all been done before. Many, many times before.

Michael Myers

Michael Myers has been around since John Carpenter’s Halloween arrived back in 1978, so the costume craze was and is inevitable, but the bigger problem with this look is that it’s become so commercial. A hulking, unkempt, and deftly defined Michael in the film is horrifying, but slap on a bright blue jumpsuit and a pristine white mask and you’ll look more like a cartoon character than a ruthless killer.

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YA Movie Countdown: Meet the Kids Chosen to Save the World in ‘Ender’s Game’

Enders_GameIf the Formics attack and it’s up to a group of kids to save the world, you better know who’s fighting for mankind’s survival.

In the November 1 release Ender’s Game, Asa Butterfield stars as Ender, a young boy who’s plucked from his family on Earth and shipped off to Battle School in space to train to join the International Fleet (IF) and defeat the Formics. Ender may get more attention than most, but Battle School is loaded with combat prodigies, some of which he’ll need if he expects to pass his final exam.

While on the film’s NASA Michoud Assembly Facility set in New Orleans, Movies.com had the opportunity to talk to producer Linda McDonough, director Gavin Hood, Butterfield and his costars Hailee Steinfeld (Petra), Moises Arias (Bonzo), Aramis Knight (Bean), Conor Carroll (Bernard), Suraj Partha (Alai) and Khylin Rhambo (Dink) about bringing the team of young heroes to life.

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Your Guide to the “Enderverse”

Enders_GameIf you haven’t read Ender’s Game, the futuristic scenario about a boy whisked off to train to battle aliens can be a lot to digest. Here are the basics of Ender’s Game so you can kick off your studies at Battle School at the top of your class.

THE FORMICS

Years prior to Ender’s story, humans come face to face with an alien race called the Formics. An insect-like species, the Formic social structure consists of a hive queen and workers. The Formics invade Earth intending to colonize it but a human general, Mazer Rackham, defeats them. Assuming the Formics could be regrouping for another attack, the International Fleet (IF) is on the hunt for military prodigies to ship off to Battle School and train to become humanity’s last line of defense.

BATTLE SCHOOL

Kids are plucked from their families all across the globe and shipped off to this military school far off in space to cultivate tactical skills and build an army to fend off the Formics. The curriculum consists of standard classroom courses, free play time and a familiar boarding school-like camaraderie, but above all else is the unprecedented competition that takes place in the rotating room at the facility’s core called the Battle Room.

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The Best – and Worst – Movie Trailers of the Week

HoursPersonally, Anchorman was an acquired taste. The film wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny the first time around, but during repeat viewings, I’m watching the whole thing through with a silly grin on my face. Hopefully that’ll be the case with Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues because, at the moment, the jokes featured in the new trailer aren’t all that funny. However, Brick’s green-screen mishap at the end certainly is and that gag was instrumental in keeping the sequel’s new promo well out of the bottom three this week.

The Best Stuff

1. Hours

The Hurricane Katrina opening functions as a highly effective attention grabber, but from there, the new trailer for Hours has absolutely no trouble pushing that familiar context into the background and letting the core narrative take over. This is an expertly edited piece that clearly presents the stakes, but rarely the answers, leaving you desperate to know how Paul Walker solves the problem.

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Interview: Bad Grandpa’s Johnny Knoxville & Jackson Nicoll

Bad-GrandpaWhen you pose the challenge of poking yourself in the eye without tearing up to the star of a new Jackass movie, he’s bound to take you up on it.  Bad Grandpa features Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll as Irving and Billy. When Billy’s mother is hit with some serious jail time, it’s up to Irving to drive cross-country so he can dump the kid with his father and not get stuck with him himself. Even though Irving is disappointed that his newfound single status is tarnished by this little “cock block,” he soon comes to realize that they make quite the destructive, insulting, outrageous and lovable pair.

When Nicoll and I weren’t busy jabbing our fingers in our eyes during our interview at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nicoll and Knoxville enlightened Collider on the risk involved in staging stunts, behind-the-scenes pranks that couldn’t make the final cut, Nicoll’s passion for fishing, speedos and sandwiches, and more.

Click here to watch the interview.

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Review: Bad Grandpa

Bad_Grandpa_PosterBad Grandpa is everything you’d want from a Jackass movie and more. Not only is it brimming with outrageous stunts, but it also boasts two crass, disgusting, insensitive and lovable lead characters that bring a new dimension of hilarity to the material.  Hit the jump for my review.

Johnny Knoxville is Irving Zisman, an older man with a young heart, juvenile sense of humor and insatiable sex drive. When his wife passes away, Irving is eager to put his new single status to use, but his grand plan to hunt down prime poontang hits a snag when he’s put in charge of his grandson, Billy (Jackson Nicoll). Billy’s mother is off to prison and now it’s up to Irving to road trip it across the country and deliver Billy to his father.

But what does any of that matter? You’re not heading off to see Bad Grandpa to indulge in some cutesy grandfather, grandson bonding time; you want shocking Jackass-style stunts, and in that respect, Bad Grandpa delivers.

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Covering Coven Episode 3: Analysis of American Horror Story’s ‘The Replacements’

american_horror_story_1_20130918_1198415536The Covering Coven gang is back for another look at American Horror Story: Coven and this time they’re tackling episode three (which aired last night), “The Replacements.”

In last night’s installment, Fiona took on an unlikely protégé. A guilt-ridden Zoe tried to give Kyle his old life back. Madison had a fiery exchange with Joan Ramsey, a new neighbor.

Leading the conversation is Shock contributor Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) and she’s joined by Sasha Capelli (@ActuallySasha) of 92.3 out of New York, Alexis Saarela (@AlexisSaarela), Allison Ullrich (@allisonannetx) and Megg Hochbaum (@djshesay).  Needless to say, this is a spoiler-filled discussion, so you have been warned!

Click here to watch episode three of Covering Coven.

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‘Divergent’ Set Visit, Part 1: Who’s Who and What’s What

Divergent_TrainIn the future, Chicago residents are divided into five factions based on their core values: “Abnegation” (values selflessness), “Dauntless” (courage), “Amity” (peacefulness), “Candor” (honesty) and “Erudite” (intelligence). Together, they keep society afloat in a crumbling, dystopian version of the familiar city.

The world of Divergent may boil down to the five factions, but the narrative is loaded with striking story and location details that are vital to the experience, and if the team of filmmakers behind the production were going to bring this world to life at all, they were going to do it right. On our visit to the film’s Chicago-based sets last May, we learned more about the elements that are bound to make Divergent, coming out next March, stand out.

Welcome to the new dystopia: Production designer Andy Nicholson said, “We wanted to do something different that wasn’t dystopian dystopia,” explaining, “mainly it’s a lot of use of color.” Director Neil Burger added, “I wanted to do it very real, not raw in a gritty way, but raw in an immediate and intimate way.”

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