Film News

Does Anyone Want "A Quiet Place 2" in the Middle of the Pandemic?

Post-apocalyptic movies should wait until we get through this actual apocalypse.

A Quiet Place 2

Paramount

Can you imagine a world in which normal human activity has halted?

Stores stand empty and abandoned. If you have to go outside for a supply run, you do so with caution and preparation, ever aware that one false move could expose you to the deadly, mysterious entity that is constantly stalking humanity?

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Orphan

Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers - YouTube.com

Normally, we think of horror movies as based on true events, not the other way around.

But on a number of occasions, horror movies have actually inspired or predicted real-life occurrences.

While the vast majority of violent events occur without the influence of movies, and while most people who watch scary movies do not become violent afterwards, every once in awhile, life really does imitate art. Here are eight terrifying and gory examples of times that scary movies crept their way into reality.

1. The Orphan

Kendall Rae - YouTube.com

Natalia Grace

The tale of Natalia Grace, the girl with dwarfism abandoned by her adoptive parents, has been all over the news lately. According to Natalia's parents, the 9-year-old they believed they adopted was actually a 22-year-old, sociopathic adult woman. Doctors have apparently been unable to determine her actual age.

If this story sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the 2009 film Orphan, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. In that film, a 9-year-old adopted child named Esther is revealed to be...a wicked, sociopathic 33-year-old woman with dwarfism.

TV

John Krasinski Launches "Some Good News" with the Help of Steve Carell and Twitter

The star of The Office and Jack Ryan has a new, homemade show that is guaranteed to lift your spirits

Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 1

On Sunday night, John Krasinski launched a new media empire designed with one goal in mind: To make us all feel a little bit better about the world.

While Krasinski says he's been thinking about something like this for years, the project really got going last Wednesday when he reached out to his followers on Twitter, asking them to share uplifting stories with the hashtag #SomeGoodNews. By the weekend he had enough positive content to surprise us all with his new news network—also known as a YouTube channel—"Some Good News." Sitting in front of a colorful logo that his daughters painted by hand, Krasinski describes SGN as "a news show dedicated entirely to good news."

Some Good News with John Krasinskiwww.youtube.com

By that measure, the first installment certainly delivers, featuring 15 minutes of heartwarming, tear-jerking content from around the world, with an emphasis on celebrating the healthcare workers who are putting their lives on the line to keep us all safe during the current crisis. Krasinski, looking dapper in a suit coat, tie, and pajama pants, shared footage from Spain, England, and the US, where communities were erupting in cheers, applause, and flashing lights to show appreciation for the difficult and vital work that hospital staff are putting in to save lives and make sure we get through this as quickly and safely as possible.

Krasinski also had some help spreading cheer, with two guests joining him via video call. The first, who should be familiar to longtime fans of Krasinski's, was his Office co-star Steve Carell, AKA Michael Scott. Their hit sitcom, which has only grown in popularity as a new generation has discovered it through Netflix, aired its first episode in late March of 2005. In honor of the 15th anniversary, the two shared a number of their favorite moments from the series, reminiscing about the talented team of actors they worked with and speaking hopefully about the possibility of some sort of reunion in the future. Whether that happens or not, the genuine friendship and warmth between the two was clear, with Krasinski expressing how much he has missed Carell, and Carell lighting up as he said, "Just to see your face is so great!"

Finally, Krasinski interviewed 15-year-old Coco Johnson, who came home from her final chemo treatment last Tuesday to find friends, family, and neighbors lining her block to cheer and welcome her home from a safe distance. Her mother had shared the footage of Coco's delight and surprise with Krasinski using his hashtag, and that cheerful, positive attitude continued throughout their interview. She was, in Krasinski's words, "the mic drop of all good news."

After expressing how much it had meant to have her community come out to show their love and support, Coco took the opportunity to thank everyone watching—on behalf of all immunocompromised people—for participating in social distancing. Finally, she thanked the medical teams at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and at City of Hope for helping her throughout her treatment and for continuing their good work in these trying times. Krasinski then closed his video saying, "If that girl isn't the epitome of goodness, I don't know what is."

It's not yet clear how often Krasinski is planning to release episodes of SGN, but it's a welcome ray of sunshine in what could otherwise be a dreary time—so hopefully we won't have to wait long. Anyone with a lead on some nice, happy, uplifting news is welcome to contribute by tweeting about it with the hashtag #SomeGoodNews.

© NBC Universal, Inc.

Pretty much everyone who has Netflix watches The Office.

The US version of The Office is known for its savage moments, from paper salesman/romantic lead Jim Halpert's (John Krasinski) constant pranks on beet farmer/bear expert/"assistant to the regional manager" Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) to temp-turned-CEO Ryan Howard's (B.J. Novak) biting one-liners. But while plenty of the characters have their share of savage moments, it's always the quiet, reserved ones that surprise us the most.

Enter Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith, originally a casting director for the show), the sweet Mother Goose-esque saleswoman who also happens to be The Office's ultimate savage.

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Film Features

All the Plot Holes We Want Fixed in "A Quiet Place Part II"

The original A Quiet Place had a lot of plot holes.

Paramount Pictures

A Quiet Place Part II, the sequel to John Krasinki's 2017 hit horror/thriller A Quiet Place, is coming out later this month.

But while the original put audiences on edge with its pervasive use of silence, the movie ultimately fell victim to a number of plot holes that made it hard to stay fully immersed. Since the concept of A Quiet Place (monsters that hunt through sound, resulting in the protagonists' need to stay quiet at all times) has so much potential, here are the biggest issues we hope get fixed in the sequel.

The Monsters' Sense of Hearing

One of the biggest plot holes in the film revolves around the strength of the monsters' hearing. We catch a glimpse of a newspaper clipping explaining that the monsters' blindness enhances their super-hearing, but how powerful is their hearing, really? If the monsters are able to hear a branch being broken from miles away, shouldn't they also be able to hear the heartbeats of all of the human characters? Wouldn't it be especially hard for them not to hear the heartbeat of the mother, Evelyn, as she literally gives birth? Maybe they're able to selectively control their hearing. That would be interesting to explore in A Quiet Place Part II.

The Baby

Speaking of the newborn, the extreme irresponsibility of having a child in the middle of an apocalyptic event almost goes beyond any notion of sense. Sure, it's reasonable to want to relieve some stress during a time of crisis, but they had to know that there might be consequences. Also, there's no way the baby would survive until the sequel, considering how much they cry. Crying is a baby's defense mechanism, so babies are basically natural prey for sound-hunting monsters. Including the baby might be a nice way to amp up the emotional weight of the film, but it weighs the family down beyond any point of realism.

Beating the Beast

In the climax of the film, Emily uses her deaf daughter, Regan's cochlear implant to stun the monster, giving her the opportunity to kill it. But if disarming the monster is as simple as making high-frequency noises, this begs the question: Why was no one able to figure out that loud noises harmed the monsters before? Shouldn't this be common knowledge? It's safe to assume that there were scientists in their world at one point, so were they all just killed before they could come to the correct conclusion? Hopefully in the sequel, they'll have perfected the use of high frequency weapons in creative capacities.

The Waterfall

If the family knew the location of a waterfall that drowned out sound so well that it made human screams inaudible, why didn't they just live near it in the first place? Even if the monsters used it as their watering hole, which we have no reason to believe they did, the humans could still just stay out of their way or maybe even sneak up and kill them if given the chance. That makes a lot more practical sense than living in an open field where any sound would almost definitely echo. No reason was ever given as to why that area might be uninhabitable, so it's insane to think that they could've been totally safe and hydrated but for some reason decided against it.

A Quiet Place became a success due to its ability to build suspense based on the silence, but hopefully the sequel can include what worked in the original while ironing out some of the more glaring issues..

A Quiet Place Part II will be released March 20, 2020.
TV

Top 8 Celebrity Lip Sync Battles, Ever

Anne Hathaway really did that.

Twitter Queen Chrissy Teigen

Photo by Kristin Callahan-Shutterstock

If you haven't seen clips of Lip Sync Battle, then you probably haven't been down a YouTube rabbit hole at 3 AM while elbow-deep in a family-sized bag of Cheese Nipz.

If that's the case, good for you, you functional member of society. Now follow me to Wonderland, motherf*cker.

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