The A.V. Club - Daily

Film: Newswire: The Logan's Run remake is now being written by BioShock's Ken Levine

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:58:00 -0500

In development since the mid-’90s, and thus well on its way to an age when it must be executed for the good of the population, the remake of Logan’s Run has taken on an urgency mirrored in its blinking Lifeclock. Now, after years of abandoned false starts from the likes of Joel Silver, Bryan Singer, Joseph Kosinski, and most recently Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. has handed it to Ken Levine, writer of the BioShock video game franchise, to see if he can deliver a version they finally feel like making. While ...

TV: Great Job, Internet!: Russell Brand eviscerated the hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:00:00 -0500

After tackling newspaper journalism with a Margaret Thatcher op-ed for The Guardian, Russell Brand has moved on to dominating television journalism as well. A video captures Brand eviscerating the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe for essentially laughing at him to his face during an interview. Co-host Mika Brzezinski and panelists Katty Kay and Brian Shactman appear visibly nervous about interviewing the loquacious British comedian. Brzezinski starts the segment by admitting she's never heard of Brand, because she’s “not very pop-cultured.” The anchors titter about Brand’s outfit, whisper “uh-oh” after he mentions Americans are free to wear ...

Film: Newswire: That Sin City sequel has been pushed back all the way to next year

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:37:00 -0500

Strangely taking its time for a movie whose cast we’re pretty sure is just Skyping on a green screen, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has been pushed back yet again—this time a full year, from its October release date all the way to August 22, 2014. Robert Rodriguez’s second trip through the seedy, monochromatic streets of Frank Miller’s comic has been nominally in the works since the 2005 release of the original, with various production woes delaying it ever since. No official reason was given for this latest date change, so we can only ...

TV: Newswire: Sesame Street to add a Muppet whose parent is in jail

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:00:00 -0500

After introducing an impoverished Muppet in 2011, Sesame Street will continue to help America's preschoolers cope with society's ongoing collapse by introducing Alex, a Muppet whose dad is in jail. For the moment, Alex will not appear on Sesame Street itself, but in an online series called "Little Children, Big Challenges," which began in December with an episode dealing with divorce. The series was introduced as a way to help children cope with difficult situations that weren't deemed appropriate for the broader Sesame Street audience. And as America continues to jail more and more of its citizens ...

Film: Newswire: Science estimates that the damage done by Man Of Steel was worse than 9/11

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:43:00 -0500

While Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel has endured some criticism from the way it deviates from the established Superman character, it’s earned praise for the way it shows Superman absolutely trashing a city with little disregard for the human cost, thus keeping with Superman’s familiar motto, “Truth, Justice, and the Americans who got in the way.” But just how many Americans—and their American buildings and infrastructures—is, as always, a question best left to science to ruin. So that’s exactly what scientist Charles Watson and his hazard-assessment team at Watson Technical Consulting did, at the ...

Film: Great Job, Internet!: Read This: New evidence of Hollywood's pre-WWII dealings with Hitler

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:20:00 -0500

World War II changed production in Hollywood, with the government taking tighter control to ensure a supportive home front and producing pro-Allies propaganda. But until now the narrative has been that Jack Warner and other studio heads opposed the Nazis out of a moral imperative. Ben Urwand, a musician and currently a member of Harvard’s Society Of Fellows, alleges the opposite in his new book The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler. Working from archival documents unearthed in Berlin and Washington, D.C., Urwand’s evidence is stunning, and this profile in Tablet gives a brief glimpse into his ...

TV: The Office (Classic): “Basketball”/“Hot Girl”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:00 -0500

“Basketball” (season one, episode five; originally aired 4/19/2005) In which it’s definitely about whether you win or lose—and how you play the game… It’s telling that none of Michael Scott’s talking heads about basketball mention team play. They mention his being a basketball machine, they mention the way his skills wowed the warehouse guys—but it’s all about Michael in those moments. Michael’s abilities on the court, Michael’s parroted analogy about football being rock ’n’ roll and basketball being jazz; eventually, the boss man is solely responsible for the upstairs staff ...

Film: Newswire: Prometheus 2 has a new, less Damon Lindelof-y writer.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:00 -0500

While Ridley Scott's Alien not-quite-prequel Prometheus was a box office success, many fans walked away disappointed with what they considered to be plot holes and unrealistic elements. Most of the blame was laid at the feet of screenwriter Damon Lindelof, as fans expected him to maintain the high standards of tight plotting and unflinching realism he brought to Cowboys & Aliens. So now Lindelof has taken his ball and gone home, protesting that he's too busy working on the Star Trek franchise and Brad Bird's Tomorrowland—and anyway, it was all Scott's fault. Also, the finale of ...

Comedy: Podcast Episode: Cinefamily XIV

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:00:35 -0500

This mini ep features the opening moments of The Benson Movie Interruption at Cinefamily in Los Angeles with co-interrupters Anthony Jeselnik, Paul F. Tompkins and Zach Galifianakis

Comedy: Podcast Episode: Rachel Feinstein, Dustin Ybarra and Chris Cubas guest

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:50:52 -0500

Live from Hyenas Comedy Club in Dallas, TX, Doug welcomes comedians Rachel Feinstein, Dustin Ybarra and Chris Cubas to the show.

Film: Newswire: There can be only one person who is not Ryan Reynolds to star in the Highlander reboot

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:30:00 -0500

Once more totally disregarding the film’s popular tagline, “There can be only one guy who should be played by Ryan Reynolds, given that we are afraid of actual Scottish people,” the Highlander reboot has lost erstwhile star Ryan Reynolds. The Wrap reports that the actor has exited the long-gestating film for unspecified reasons, but which likely have to do with watching the attempts of so many writers and directors wither and perish around him—and all the while Reynolds is bound by destiny to just keep going while listening to whatever the modern equivalent of a sad Queen song ...

Film: Great Job, Internet!: Get Self-Involved, Internet: James Franco seeks $500,000 to fund James Franco films based on James Franco's book

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:00 -0500

As the mayor of Gay Town, James Franco is imbued with a sense of civic duty that demands he reach out to his community, ensuring its every basic human need for James Franco’s art is met. Too often, however, bureaucracy can only leave art’s myriad dildos wrapped in red tape (and not even just for “Red-Tape Dildo No. 2,” debuting at the MoMA later this month). And in these occasionally desperate times, Franco must reasonably petition Gay Town's good citizens for their support, especially seeing as the Red Cross is too busy with hurricanes or whatever. That ...

TV: Six Feet Under: “You Never Know”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:00 -0500

“You Never Know” (season three, episode two; originally aired 3/9/2003) Now that we’re into season three of Six Feet Under, we expect some misdirection in the opening deaths. So when we see a bachelor struggling to light his gas-powered stove at the beginning of “You Never Know,” some viewers are bracing themselves for the kaboom, and veteran viewers are bracing themselves for the thing that’s going to be even worse than the kaboom. But neither camp can be prepared for the 30 seconds of horror that ensue, when a crazed ex-employee rampages through a telemarketing office ...

Music: Hear This: My dad toured with Phil Collins

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0500

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week, with Father’s Day just behind us, we ask, “What song reminds you of your dad?” Most of the songs I associate with my dad are snippets of operas that I don’t know, which is strange considering his life’s work has been jazz education. What’s even stranger is that he once toured as part of The Phil Collins Big Band, which played mostly instrumental versions of ...

Film: Watch This: White Zombie is the granddaddy of all zombie flicks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0500

Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: World War Z inspires five nights of the living dead. White Zombie (1932) It’s never wise to go into business with a zombie master, as Robert Frazer’s amour-struck Haitian plantation owner learns all to well after striking a deal with Béla Lugosi’s local black-magic devil in White Zombie. Based on William Seabrook’s novel, Victor Halperin’s film is the granddaddy of all zombie films, imagining the undead as figurative victims of colonial oppression, with Lugosi’s voodoo ...

Books: Comics Panel: New comics releases include a high-profile Superman title and a musician’s return to comics

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0500

DC is going big for its newest Superman offering, uniting two of their highest-profile creators for a title that emphasizes the sheer force of its iconic hero. Four pages into Superman Unchained #1 (DC), there’s a splash page of Superman flying into a falling satellite that is actually a fold-out poster, a gimmick that lends itself to a striking visual, but doesn’t do much for the reading experience. (Reading the poster is especially uncomfortable if you don’t want to detach it from the comic book.) The logic is understandable considering Jim Lee’s talent for drawing explosions ...

Music: Newswire: What's worse, the title of the new Ministry album or its cover art?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0500

The once-mighty industrial-rock juggernaut Ministry (or at least its sole original member, Al Jourgensen) has been threatening for years to stop making music: In interviews for the last few albums, Jourgensen has sworn each would be the last. And yet he's soldiered on through near-death experiences (massive bleeding ulcers and dysentery!) to continue making music. But From Beer To Eternity, due out September 6, is the last, he again swears. Considering Jourgensen's primary collaborator, Mike Scaccia, died after collapsing on stage late last year, this time might really be it. But on to the important news: The cover ...

TV: Newswire: Dan Harmon is sorry he had such predictably harsh words for Community's fourth season

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:39:00 -0500

Yesterday the question of what Dan Harmon thought of Community’s fourth season was answered in typically unfiltered, impolitic Dan Harmon fashion. No sir, he didn’t like it: He found it to be an “unflattering” impression of his style and supposed quirks. He compared it to “flipping through Instagrams watching your girlfriend just blow everyone” (the faux-grainy Instagram filter only adding to the affectations, we suppose). And in his version of putting a positive spin on things, he said that ultimately it was as relaxing as a day at the beach, one that involved “being held down and watching ...

TV: Great Job, Internet!: Science finally creates Periodic Table Of Muppets

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:25:00 -0500

In what has to be the biggest boon to science since the invention of the gorilla detector, artist Mike Boon has scientifically classified The Muppets. His Periodic Table Of Muppets works simply as pop art, with each character reduced to a basic color scheme, a two-letter abbreviation, and a set of googly eyes. It's a credit to the iconic nature of the characters that most of them are immediately recognizable, and it's a credit to Boon that he went deeper than simply drawing the characters as squares. Each square is organized by the character's first appearance (the ...

Music: Great Job, Internet!: This Kanye West commercial (ahem, short film) spoofs American Psycho

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:10:00 -0500

With the Kanye West machine in overdrive this week—Yeezus officially comes out today, perhaps you've heard—some things were bound to go slightly off the rails. The album is audacious and a little scary, not unlike Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, and its filmic companion, directed by Mary Harron. In some sort of homage to the film's Huey Lewis scene, Kardashian adjuncts Jonathan Cheban and Scott Disick star in this commercial—uh, short film—to promote the record. They are not good actors, and this video doesn't do the album any favors. Couldn't he have ...