Film News

The Iron Claw is Already the Hottest Movie of the Year

A24’s Iron Claw cast is stacked with Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, and Jeremy Allen White

The Iron Claw Cast

via A24

The SAG strike has been a long and difficult road for us all: the actors who are striking, the stubborn execs who just need to give in and make a deal already, and us, the lovers of cinema, who have had to endure so much. Movie after movie has been pushed to 2024, from Dune: Part 2 to Challengers, depriving us of not one… but two, Zendaya press tours.

Keep ReadingShow less
Film News

Leave Zac Efron Alone!

Season 2 of Zac Efron’s Down to Earth is here — but the body shamers better not be back

Zac Efron at the Los Angeles premiere of "We Are Your Friends" held at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, USA on August 20, 2015.

Image by Tinseltown via Shutterstock

Zac Efron, I believe, is one of the only true heartthrobs of our time. I’ll die on this hill.

Who else do we have? Austin Butler in Elvis? Keep him. Jacob Elordi in Euphoria? He may be super tall, but don’t insult me. Timothee Chalamet? Okay, I’m listening.

Keep ReadingShow less
CULTURE

Chris R from Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" Is Running for Congress

Chris R may have lost to Johnny and Mark in The Room, but he can still win big in Texas.

The Room

While Tommy Wiseau's The Room, often considered the best bad movie of all time, might be technically terrible in almost every aspect, one actor's performance stood out from the rest as...almost maybe good?

In a scene so random that it feels baffling even within an already baffling movie, actor Dan Janjigian plays a drug dealer named Chris R who tries to shake down another bit character named Denny (or Danny?) for owed money. Chris R is only in that single scene, and Danny's drug addiction is never brought up again, but that doesn't stop Janjigian from making a meal out of his role. Janjigian's crazed intensity and the seriousness with which he seemed to approach a nothing role in a no-name movie was compelling enough that Zac Efron portrayed him in The Disaster Artist.

WORST acting ever [MUST WATCH!] The Roomwww.youtube.com

Now, over 15 years after The Room, Dan Janjigian has taken on a new role, perhaps his biggest one yet: running for Congress. As it turns out, Janjigian is a man of many talents. On top of his iconic role as Chris R, Janjigian was also a Microsoft employee and an Olympic bobsledder. More recently, however, Janjigian has spent over a decade working in healthcare and raising a family in Texas.

Danjan congresshttps://www.danjanforcongress.com/

According to Janjigian's official campaign website, his experience as a healthcare professional and his family's history escaping the Armenian Genocide solidified his political beliefs. Currently running as a Democrat to represent Texas's 31st congressional district against Republican incumbent John Carter, Janjigian's platform revolves around enacting public healthcare (while allowing private options for those who choose it), streamlining legal immigration, and promoting clean energy solutions to battle climate change.

Best of all, Janjigian is running a grassroots campaign "PAID FOR BY A WHOLE LOT OF TEXANS SUPPORTING DANJAN," meaning that he's not beholden to big money or corporate interests, and possibly even that Danny finally paid him back.

TV

Shaggy's Voice Sounds Wrong in the New "Scoob" Trailer

Not involving Matthew Lillard was a mistake.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Having grown up on Cartoon Network Scooby-Doo reruns, I have some pretty strong opinions about the classic Hanna-Barbera franchise–mainly in regards to Shaggy's voice.

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is one of the most influential characters in all of Western animation. Why? Not only is Shaggy all-powerful, he's also perpetually high. This goes to show children that not every great mystery solver needs to be an ascot-wearing jock like Fred. You can also aim to be a scruffy dude who gorges on sandwiches and thinks he can talk to dogs, and that's cool, too.

ShaggyWarner Bros.

But in order to properly convey the chillness of Shaggy, an actor needs to perfect the fluctuation between slacker drawl and voice-cracking falsetto. There's a distinct art form to a perfect "Like, SCOOB!" and as far as I'm concerned, only two people have been up to the task: Casey Kasem and Matthew Lillard.

Kasem originated the character, voicing Shaggy from 1969 to 1997 and again from 2002 until his retirement in 2009. But while Kasem may have created the voice, Lillard took the character to the next level, fully embodying Shaggy's very essence in the first two live action Scooby-Doo movies. Lillard was so great in the role that he moved onto voicing Shaggy in the majority of subsequent Scooby-Doo spin-offs.

Watch this clip and try to tell me that Matthew Lillard isn't actually Shaggy. Go ahead. I'll wait.

So when the new animated Scoob movie was announced back in the 2014 in an attempt to reboot the franchise for the big screen, everyone naturally assumed that Lillard would continue as the quintessential voice of Shaggy. But then this happened:

In what appears to be an effort to only cast big name stars, the role of Shaggy went to SNL alum Will Forte. And while Forte seems like a perfectly nice guy, the fact that Lillard wasn't even asked to audition for the role is an outright travesty. There's no way that Forte could possibly step into Lillard's sandwich-stained shoes...right?

Well, the first Scoob official trailer just dropped and...yeah, we were right to be upset. Forte's clearly doing his best here, but he sound like a Shaggy impersonator. He's missing the true Shaggy essence that Lillard was born with.

SCOOB! - Official Teaser Trailerwww.youtube.com

The story looks cute, and as a Scooby-Doo fan I might catch it when it's streaming. But no Matthew Lillard means I, for one, will not be buying a ticket.

Theater

Felix Mooneeram, Unsplash

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

This weekend we have an UglyDoll musical for some ungodly reason and spinning umbrella blades.

WIDE RELEASE:

Long Shot

Long Shot (2019 Movie) Official Trailer – Seth Rogen, Charlize Theronwww.youtube.com

Charlize Theron is the US Secretary of State in the midst of a presidential campaign. Seth Rogan is a schlubby, unemployed journalist who she babysat when they were kids. A chance encounter leads to her impulsively hiring him as a speechwriter, kicking off a totally improbable romance amplified by the globetrotting lifestyle of her career. This is the first major rom-com to hit theaters in a long time. With a major emphasis on comedy and two solid lead actors, Long Shot seems like an especially fun watch, especially if you miss the era where every weekend brought a new rom-com to the big screen.

The Intruder

THE INTRUDER - Official Trailer (HD)www.youtube.com

In this weekend's dose of obligatory horror, a young couple moves into their dream home out in the country, only to discover that the previous owner (Dennis Quaid) keeps coming back. The premise is actually pretty scary, considering that this is a real thing that happens. When I was a kid, the last guy who owned our house just showed up in the backyard one day to look at the flowers outside. He looked a lot frailer than Dennis Quaid, but it was still creepy.

UglyDolls

UglyDolls Trailer #2 (2019) | Movieclips Trailerswww.youtube.com

Remember those UglyDoll plushies from the 2000s? Well, they have their own movie now, and for some absolutely bonkers reason, it's a musical. Now you can watch Blake Shelton sing about body acceptance through the guise of a one-eyed green blob monster. Gabriel Iglesias is also billed, so you know the comedy is going to be terrible. I'm unreasonably confident that this movie is going to be an absolute dumpster fire. Just kidding. It's totally reasonable. Pitbull voices one of them too and he's never been attached to anything positive in his entire life.

LIMITED RELEASE:

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflixwww.youtube.com

From the same director behind Netflix's Ted Bundy Tapes, this portrayal stars Zac Efron as the prolific serial killer. Told from the perspective of his long-term girlfriend, Liz Kendall (Lily Collins), Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile focuses more on Bundy's psychology and strategies of manipulation than his actual murders. There's always a glut of content out there for true crime enthusiasts, but it's not every day you see Zac Efron involved.

Shadow

Shadow Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Indiewww.youtube.com

Yimou Zhang ( House of Flying Daggers) is one of the best martial arts film directors in history. His movies combine incredible action with stunning cinematography, resulting in pure visual spectacles. This time, he's employed spinning blade umbrellas––a whole platoon of them. I'm not one to judge people based on their opinions, but if that doesn't excite you then you're wrong and I don't like you on a personal level.


Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com


POP⚡DUST | Read More...

What Ever Happened to Sam Hyde?

The New John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Trailer is Literally the Second Coming

Fetishizing Autism: Representation in Hollywood

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

This week we have more live-action Disney and also Matthew McConaughey's bare ass.

WIDE RELEASE:

Dumbo

Tim Burton's take on Disney's 1941 animated classic, Dumbo, looks...fine. Tim Burton's visual flair is certainly apparent, but that hasn't been enough to make his last few movies particularly interesting. There's some serious talent in the cast (Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito), but it's worrying that the trailer focuses on two generic, wide-eyed youths spewing schlock lines like, "You can do it, Dumbo!" I'm sure it's fine. Everything is fine. The world isn't on fire. Enjoy your live-action Disney reboot.

LIMITED RELEASE:

The Beach Bum

THE BEACH BUM Trailer # 2 (NEW 2018) Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey Movie HDwww.youtube.com

Matthew McConaughey plays Moondog, a prolific weed-smoker and sometimes poet who spends his days having sex and doing drugs in Florida. It's written and directed by Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers), so whether or not you enjoy The Beach Bum will probably come down to a few different factors. First, do you like Korine's distinct, hyper-colorful aesthetics and meandering plot lines usually full of unlikeable characters? Second, do you like Matthew McConaughey going all-out and showing his butt? And most importantly, are you very high?

A Vigilante

A VIGILANTE Official Trailer (2019) Olivia Wilde, Thriller Movie HDwww.youtube.com

A Vigilante follows Olivia Wilde in the role of a former domestic abuse victim-turned-vigilante who kills domestic abusers. But rather than dwelling on the violence, like most similarly conceived movies do, A Vigilante seems to focus more on the pain and darkness of Olivia Wilde's character. Wilde's performance is supposedly a real standout here, so if you're looking for a gritty, potentially upsetting denouncement of abusers this weekend, check this one out.

Screwball

Screwball - Official Trailerwww.youtube.com

Screwball is a documentary about baseball. If you think that sounds boring, I did too until I watched the trailer. Damn, that's an entertaining trailer. Director Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys) recounts Major League Baseball's most notorious doping scandal in 2013, wrapping in star players like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. Many of the illegal activities seem to be rehashed by child actors dressed as adults, which sounds incredibly stupid but looks funny. If you have even a modicum of interest in sports or true crime, be sure to put this on your list.

Diane

Diane - Official Trailer I HD I IFC Filmswww.youtube.com

Diane is an aging boomer who dedicates her time to helping others, thinking about her friends and trying to bond with her drug-addicted son (yes, that's Pete from The Office). But she's got some personal demons of her own to confront too, and she's not getting any younger. It's hard to tell exactly what the movie is about from the trailer, but it currently boasts a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so if you're looking for a serious drama this weekend, keep it in mind.


Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com


POP⚡DUST | Read More...

Cboyardee: The Man Who Shaped 4chan

The New John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Trailer is Literally the Second Coming

Fetishizing Autism: Representation in Hollywood