Videos
May 8

Brace yourself for hilarious annihilation with the teaser for “The World’s End”

Iron Man 3 recently came out, and it will be followed by many more summer blockbusters — e.g., Star Trek Into Darkness, Pacific Rim, After Earth, Man of Steel — but there’s one film that trumps them all in my book: The World’s End, the final film in Edgar Wright’s “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy (which began with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). Synopsis:

In The World’s End, 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub - The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realise the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

The previous films in the trilogy were loving send-ups of different genres — zombie movies in Shaun of the Dead, buddy cop action movies in Hot Fuzz — and with The World’s End, Wright et al. are clearly looking to both lampoon and lovingly reference alien invasion movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The World’s End comes out August 23 in the States, and stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, and Martin Freeman, to name a few.

Apr 29
Apr 20
Apr 17

I think I finally want to see “Man of Steel”

My interest in this summer’s Superman movie Man of Steel was pretty low, for a couple of reasons. One, I’m more of a Marvel guy. Two, I’m still smarting from Superman Returns. And three, I just don’t care much for Zack Snyder’s work (e.g., Watchmen, 300), which has always struck me as hollow style over substance. To be fair, the early teasers piqued my curiosity, if only because they looked more like Terrence Malick material than something for a comic book movie, but even so, Man of Steel was pretty low on my “to see” list.

And then I watched the recently released third official trailer for the movie, and in the words of Wired, I’m now “cautiously optimistic”. The new trailer has plenty of big, impressive action set-pieces, but the moment that grabbed me — that sold me on the film and left me choked up — was when Jonathan Kent affirmed that Clark was still his son. This being a Snyder film, I’m sure there will be plenty of knock-down, drag-out battles and spectacles, but if the film can also balance those with some quality character moments, as the trailer seems to suggest, then it’ll be a real treat.

Apr 13

Teaser for Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers

This teaser trailer, which recently aired at Coachella 2013, features our favorite robot funk duo grooving along with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers. The duo’s next album, Random Access Memories, will be released on May 21 (though it will have its world debut at a farm show in a tiny Australian town) and features collaborations with Williams, Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder, and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas (to name a few). And if this brief excerpt of “Get Lucky” is any indication, then it’s going to be hot.

Mar 25

Sigur Rós release a dark, heavy video for the dark, heavy “Brennisteinn”

Last year, I wrote that Sigur Rós debuted a new song titled “Brennisteinn” that hinted at some interesting new directions for the band. Now, as we draw closer to the release of the band’s next album, Kveikur, the band has released a video for “Brennisteinn” and it reveals the song to be as dark and skronky, and interesting, as it was back in November. The band’s trademark elements — e.g., Jónsi’s soaring vocals and bowed guitar, orchestral arrangements — are mixed with clattering, off-kilter percussion and ominously crunching electronics. And I still agree with my earlier assessment that this is by far some of the most interesting stuff I’ve heard from the band in years.

Sigur Rós has described as Kveikur as “aggressive” and that’s definitely the vibe I get with “Brennisteinn” (even though it’s filtered through the band’s fey otherworldliness).

On a related note, the band recently performed Kveikur’s title track on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and while not as harsh as “Brennisteinn”, it was still nice and heavy. At least, as far as Sigur Rós songs go.

Kveikur will be released on June 18 by XL Recordings. The band is currently on a world tour through most of 2013.

Mar 21

There’s finally a “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon (sort of)

Update: The video is no longer available.

Created by Ugly Americans animator Adam Brown, who used some of Bill Watterson’s original artwork for his keyframes. The result is something that is quite faithful to the spirit and whimsy of Watterson’s beloved comic.

In the past, Watterson has said that he’s a fan of good animation, but at the same time, he was adamantly opposed to the over-commercialization of his work. Which is to say that this is likely the closest we’ll ever get to a real Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. I’ll take what we can get…

Related: These fan comics that imagine the adventures of Calvin’s daughter and a certain stuffed tiger and this ultra-charming Calvin and Hobbes-themed wedding.

Via Uproxx.

Mar 16