Tag Archives: The Onion

May 02 2014
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

The Onion Takes on “Citizen Kane”

The Onion’s relatively new film criticism feature has quickly become one of my very favorite things on the internet. “Head Film Critic Peter K. Rosenthal” is both a hilarious parody of the profession and an increasingly intriguing character in his own right. The reviews always end up being very personal to his on hilarious eccentricities.

Perhaps fittingly, his look back on Citizen Kane takes that idea to the extreme.

Tagged ,
Mar 28 2014
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

GrabBag – “Happy” Covers, and the Onion Takes On Divergent

 

It’s Friday, folks, and you know what that means… GrabBag!!!

  • I know I have a bad habit of posting a lot of “Let It Go” covers here. Well to change things up a bit, here’s a couple versions of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” which very nearly stole the Oscar win out from under the Disney anthem. Up first we have Stewie and other Family Guy characters…
  • And then there’s this absolutely stunning looped-trombone version you just have to hear to believe…
  • On the subject of marketing, ever notice how so many ads for large corporations look just the same? Yeah you’re not the only one.
  • This is cool: a collection of audition clips for some very recognizable actors and roles. (The “before they were famous” part is a bit of a stretch, though. Plenty of these actors were famous before the auditions in this video.)
  • Graph TV lets you chart the ratings (critical, not viewership) of any TV show you want, episode-by-episode. Try it out on your favorite show! It’s fun to see trends throughout a series’ entire run.
  • And finally, the Onion’s ever-poignant (read: hilarious) film reviewer set’s his sights on the new film Divergent.

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, and tune in next Friday for another GrabBag!

 

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 04 2014
1 Comment
Uncategorized

The Oscars, as Interpreted by The Onion

The Onion seems to have no end to their Oscar-related material. Collected here for your enjoyment…

And news in pictures…

Tagged ,
Feb 21 2014
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

GrabBag – Beetlejuice 2, ‘R’ Movies for Kids, and the Problem With ‘Let It Go’

grabbag

It’s Friday! Boy, are you ever ready for this weekend. Starved for non-work-related internet surfing. The only thing you need is a bunch of links to check out. Well bully for you, because today’s GrabBag is a SUPER-SIZED barrel of web content, with 10 different links and videos. Time to pull up a seat, get your finger on that mouse, and GORGE!!!

  • It looks like Tim Burton and Michael Keaton are seriously considering doing Beetlejuice 2.
  • Christina Bianco does impressions of several famous divas singing “Let It Go”. These are hilarious, but she’s pretty terrific herself.
  • Speaking of “Let It Go”, Slate’s Dana Stevens has a problem with a small part of the sequence that she says contradicts Frozen‘s otherwise pro-feminist messages. I totally get her point, but honestly, if that’s your only problem with a movie that’s otherwise so much better an influence for young girls (and boys!) than 99.999% of the rest of pop culture? Let it go, Dana. (heh. heh. heh.)
  • Take a look at Rush‘s CGI effects side-by-side with real footage of Niki Lauda’s crash.
  • Dallas Buyers Club‘s Oscar-nominated (and likely winning) make-up work was all done on a budget of only $250. Wow. Just… wow.
  • Still confused by that “preferential ballot” the Oscars use for their Best Picture category? Still care? (Did you ever?) Here’s another really good explaination, courtesy of The Wrap’s Steve Pond…
  • Has The LEGO Movie (review coming soon) left you wanting more? Here are some great LEGO-ized posters for this year’s Best Picture nominees.
  • The always hilarious Onion reviews the new RoboCop movie…

Okay, okay, OKAY!!! That’s enough surfing for now, big clicker. Breathe. Save some room for next week. There’ll always be more…

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
Feb 14 2014
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

GrabBag: Valentine’s Edition – Princesses and Romantic Video Games

Heart with Question Mark copy

Happy Valentine’s Friday! In lieu of a card or teddy bear, I present you with this GrabBag of screen-related bon-bons…

  • Up first, The Onion’s “Starfix” gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Colin Farrell’s “lack of preparation” for this weekend’s big romantic release, Winter’s Tale…
  • Oscar’s telecast producers urged winners to give speeches “from your heart, not from a list.” I can get behind that. Who cares about a list of agents and producers? The speeches we remember are those that take the opportunity to really say something.
  • Speaking of Disney, the cast of Frozen reunited for a live Cabaret night. I wish we got more than 18 seconds of footage from it.
  • And finally, Hoth should never have been chosen to host the Winter Olympics…

Hoth olympics

(Source: Imgur)

OK that’s enough candy for today. Time to go buy some real sweets, whether you have a sweetie to share them with or get the whole box to yourself!

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Jan 25 2014
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

GrabBag – Star Wars, Shorts, and Preferential Balloting Explained

grabbag

Tonight the DGA awards may finally give us a frontrunner in one of the tightest Oscar races ever. Tomorrow the Grammy Awards will be resoundingly ignored by yours truly. It’s too cold to go outside, so here’s a handful of distractions for your weekend…

  • Apparently the new Star Wars VII will NOT be shot in IMAX. Maybe the use of standard (can we say “old-school” yet?) film will help give it that warm, lived-in, epic feel of the old ones that the prequels so sorely lacked. Either way it’s fun to hear the script is complete.
  • The Oscar for Best Picture and Producer’s Guild Award both use a complicated preferential ballot, or “instant run-off,” to determine their winners. Basically the ballots are organized according to the first place votes, and then the one with the fewest… OK, there’s no way I can explain it, myself. Here, watch this 4-minute video instead. It seems crazy and unbelievably impossible to me that with 10 films and 4,700 votes that system somehow ended up in a tie. 
  • The Onion “reports” that all 10 of this year’s Oscar nominated screenplays were written during the same continuing education screenwriting class. I want to take that class!!!!
  • “Let It Go” from Frozen, sung in 25 different languages, and it’s still gorgeous. 
  • “100 Films / 100 Behind the Scenes Photos” is exactly what it sounds like. Except it’s a 3-part series, so that’s actually 300 photos. Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Ok, that’s all for this week. If you have any suggestions for future editions of GrabBag, please email me or post them in the comments. And once again, here’s my plea for any designer willing to donate their skills to help create an original GrabBag logo. Any takers?

Tagged , , , , , , ,