Kill List advance screening

To win free passes from the L Magazine to an advance screening of Kill List on Monday 1.30, fill out the form or e-mail your name and zip code to kill-list@thelmagazine.com. Good luck!

Fangirl Friday: Friends with Kids, Parks & Rec Hidden Talents

Finally, a trailer for Friends with Kids:

[via Jezebel]

I was almost too distracted focusing on how great the cast is to comprehend what is probably a very uncomplicated plot.

And lookit!

[via Jezebel]

Although I have to say, I think the only part I laughed out loud at was Andy and April, because how unexpected is even mild gore on Parks & Rec, let alone the People's Choice Awards? That's what this is from, right? Is that even a thing anymore?

Foul screening and cheap tacos

1) Go bro out with $1 tacos every Wednesday 4p-2a at Wharf Bar & Grill (587 Third Avenue) [via NYC Daily Deals].

2) Littlefield (622 Degraw Street, Brooklyn) will be hosting a free screening of the short film Foul on Saturday 1.14 at 3p.

Foul is about Angie and David, a couple whose relationship comes under attack when a disgusting odor invades their apartment. An unpleasant problem at first, the awful smell soon becomes unbearable. They realize they can’t simply ignore it. As they search to find the source of the stench, they are forced confront aspects of themselves and their life together they would prefer to leave alone.

[via Living Free NYC]

Full Hunger Games Trailer

Finally:

I know a lot of people are complaining about the white-washing Katniss (and Gale), but right now my biggest issue is how clean and pretty Jennifer Lawrence looks while still in District 12. I know it's hard to hide how f-ing gorgeous Lawrence is, but she's already hairless, etc. in the forest and Reaping shots that I fear her transformation in the Capital is going to be less impressive (even though it is mostly about the outfits). Well, I'm excited nonetheless--I had goosebumps from the moment Prim's name is called. Also, I'm hoping for music as haunting and inseparable from the movie as the Harry Potter theme, and the whistle at the end bodes well.

[via io9]

Better Know a District

I'm torn between excitement for the films and mourning for the visuals I imagined while reading, which get harder to hold on to every time I see something like this:

More character posters after the jump.

Mad Tea Party

Great footage from the creation of Disney's Alice in Wonderland. I knew they used human models often for the animation, but the audio for this scene is done by acting out the parts in full costume.

[via Drawn]

Free beer from The Onion and another free movie screening

The Onion is hosting a free happy "hour" from 7-9p tomorrow (10.5). Unclear what kind, but there will be a lot of free beer. Floyd, NY (131 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn). RSVP to onewyork@theonion.com [via My Free Concert]


Also, The Print Up has details on a free advance screening of Immortals on Thursday 10.6 at 6p. It's at the AMC Empire 25 (234 W. 42nd St.), but you have to RSVP. Check it out for details.

Free Korean Movie

The Korean Culture Society is hosting a free screening of the thriller Moss in celebration of Halloween. Presumably there will be subtitles. 10.31, 6:30p, at Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street). First come, first served. Sounds like a good option for celebrating Halloween the day of, while still having to acknowledge that it's on a Monday night this year.

"Kang Woo-Suk has made more blockbusters than any other Korean director (PUBLIC ENEMY, SILMIDO, HANBANDO) and this movie, stuffed with stars, was yet another massive critical and commercial hit for him. A disgraced cop travels to the remote village where his estranged father has just died of “natural causes” and rapidly uncovers a conspiracy that reaches back decades and encompasses hundreds of people. An epic thriller, this unrelenting flick grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go."


It has a 70% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but no reviews, so.

[via Living Free NYC]

Hey girl, I've got some free movies for you.

1) At the Village Voice you can enter to win tickets to an advance screening of The Ides of March on 10.6 at 7p. Enter here.

[via Living Free NYC]

2) Fangoria is screening The Dead for free on 10.16 at 10p (Cinema Village 22 E. 12th St.). RSVP to fangoriascreening@gmail.com, and put 'THE DEAD' as the subject.

[via Living Free NYC]

The Creators Project 2011

The New York Creators Project is officially happening 10.15-10.16 in DUMBO. My Free Concert has really been hyping it up, and while I didn't attend last year, it sounds epic.

A bunch of art installations and films are on the bill, along with a lot of live music (e.g., Florence + the Machine, Atlas Sound, Four Tet, etc.). There may be free food and booze. This also includes Karen O.'s theatre/music project at St. Ann's Warehouse (a great space that may not be around next season). Except for that one, all the events are free. YOU MUST RSVP. Do it now. Keep in mind, you can only RSVP for one of the two days, but it looks like most of the music will be happening on the 15th. 

The Creator's Project website has more information; they'll be updating with schedules soon (and might be giving away Stop the Virgens tickets).

The Clock

This is exciting news: MoMA has announced that it is buying "The Clock," Christian Marclay's 24-hour film using hundreds of shots and scenes from different movies to count down every minute of the day. I had never had to wait on line to get into an art gallery before, but when "The Clock" was on view at Paula Cooper Gallery this past winter, I waited for at least 45 minutes. Totally worth it. I was there from the 2:30-4:30p block, so I got to see a bunch of "getting out of school scenes." It's really a marvel of visual and sound editing, and spans so many different kinds of movies (I recognized about 1/3 of the ones I saw). I hope MoMA keeps the museum open to run 24-hour screenings every once in a while.

Hunger Games teaser

A teaser for The Hunger Games has surfaced! Almost wish there was no voiceover, but at least we get to see Katniss shoot an arrow . I picked up a free promo poster at the movies recently, and it's good and simple--just the Mockingjay in flames on a pitch black background with, "May the odds be ever in your favor." Gives me chills.

Speaking of Parks and Recreation...

Oh, who am I kidding? I need no excuse to fangirl about Adam Scott, Paul Rudd, or anything tangentially Party Down-related.  Favorite actors/comedies are pretty circular in that a) I like things they're in because of them and I like them because of the things they're in and 2) most of them can be connected and re-connected in an infinite loop of one or two degrees of separation.

That being said, I have been anxiously awaiting the promised Party Down reunion episode on Children's Hospital, and thanks to friend and TV-nerd Merigan, I now know it's coming up, really soon. Like, at midnight EST soon, on Cartoon Network.

Rudd and Scott have an interview in BlackBook magazine (the people who hosted that Grey Goose party we weren't invited to?), promoting the upcoming Our Idiot Brother. I mean, look at this photo, people:

BFFAEAE

And because these two movies are connected by Elizabeth Banks, I'm gonna mention it: I watched Zach and Miri Make a Porno recently, and it was surprisingly good. That is, surprising for how poorly it did at the box office. I'm not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not (i.e., I'm too lazy to look up the Rotten Tomatoes score), but I'm just putting it out there.


Get thee to a television!


UPDATE: Here it is, the Party Down reunion, in all of its 30 second glory

It made my brain hurt a little, but I'm actually glad they didn't try to reconcile Megan Mullally and Ken Marino regularly playing different characters on Children's Hospital. And that Lizzy Caplan played Mullally's daughter once. Mostly I'm just glad to see those costumes again. And so many Jew jokes (Merigan pointed out that the unusual color of the bow ties may be Bar Mitzvah-themed).

it's time to light the lights

Splitsider has a new post in their "Checking In..." series, this time, with the Muppet Show Muppeteers. Between this and seeing the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria a couple weeks ago, my love for the Show, the Street, and the Rock has been fully refueled. For those in NY, the exhibit runs through January 2012, and there are related screenings (free w/ admission). CHEAP TIP: The Museum is free from 4-8p on Fridays, and has a regular discounted rate for students. If you go, you can get the delicious (and huge) St. Petersburg Fish for dinner at Greek restaurant Elia's Corner.

Highlights from the Splitsider piece include which characters were played by the same person (e.g., Beaker, Sweetums, and Janice, oddly enough), along with more photos.

And this excerpt, originally from the "Jewish Journal", about Muppeteer/director Frank Oz, because it's amazing:

"[Oz’s] Jewish father furtively dug a hole in Nazi-occupied Antwerp to bury a marionette he'd secretly carved of Adolf Hitler. The puppet-caricature, which had a funny mustache and a uniform sewed by Oz's lapsed-Catholic mother, Frances, was too dangerous to carry on the road. So, his father, Isidore, carefully covered it with spadefuls of earth before he and his wife (who was sometimes disguised as a boy) fled south to catch a boat to England…After the war, Oznowicz returned to Antwerp to dig up his puppet, which later occupied a place of honor in Oz's childhood home in Oakland, CA."

While we're talking Muppets, watch this doc on the making of Labyrinth. Seriously, do it. Every David Bowie talking head is fantastic. Also the part where you see the guy standing behind him trying the manipulate the crystal balls blindly. 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

For those of you in a rush, here's the crystal ball part:

Lastly, this video of Big Bird singing "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" at Henson's funeral will make you cry.