As promised last month, a star-studded table read of the classic coming-of-age high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High unfolded this past week to raise funds for CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), a nonprofit charity co-founded by Sean Penn, one of the film’s co-stars. But the cast of the table read didn’t include any other actors from the original movie.
Instead, the Fast Times and Ridgemont High table read (virtually) starred the likes of Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, Shia LaBeouf, Henry Golding, John Legend, Ray Liotta, Jimmy Kimmel and Morgan Freeman. Now you can watch the entire table read online for your entertainment, and while everyone has been buzzing about Pitt and Aniston reuniting online, it’s Shia LaBeouf who takes a cue from Sean Penn and steals the show as Jeff Spicoli. Watch below! Read More »
In this edition of TV Bits:
- Riverdale season 5 is jumping forward in time.
- Altered Carbon has been canceled.
- Watch a trailer for the return of Supernatural.
- Reno 911 has been renewed by Quibi.
- Primal has also been renewed (and you can watch a teaser).
- Lucifer season 5 is resuming production.
- So is Locke & Key.
- Showtime renews The Chi for season 4.
- Mike Tyson Mysteries has been canceled.
- Watch a trailer for the Showtime documentary series The Comedy Store.
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(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The Series: The Legend of Korra
Where You Can Stream It: Netflix
The Pitch: Roughly 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, hotheaded Southern Water Tribe teenager Korra takes her first steps in her journey as the peacekeeping Avatar. But the world that greets Korra is dramatically different than the one Aang traversed — technological innovations have accelerated and the political landscape had become murkier and more complex. With the world no longer appearing to need the Avatar, where does that leave Korra?
Why It’s Essential Quarantine Viewing: Creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko gave themselves the unenviable task of following up one of the most beloved animated shows of all time. And for that, you kind of have to applaud them. Sure, The Legend of Korra is a mixed bag at best, especially compared to the near-perfection that is Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it tried something new. Gone was the largely rural world of Avatar: The Last Airbender — now we’re in Republic City, baby, a shining steampunk metropolis whose design echoes 1920s America. Gone is our cheery perception of the beloved characters of Avatar, who all apparently turned out to be horrible parents. Gone too is the simple story of good and evil that made Avatar: The Last Airbender such a compelling watch; but in its stead was a dream of tackling other political realities (which arguably was the biggest misstep of Korra). But there’s something bold about taking such big steps to distinguish itself from its beloved predecessor, and while those steps often turned into stumbles, Korra at least did offer something fresh in its cocky, bullish, wonderfully imperfect protagonist. Read More »
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?
This week, we pay a visit to a historic comedy venue, live on the road to try to hit it big, save the world, catch the latest by Oscar-caliber animators, and get ripped.
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This week in “projects that sound like they’ve been put together through a game of Mad Libs,” we’ve got a hip-hop vampire drama that is in the works at HBO. Yes, you read that right. Titled Thirst, the original supernatural drama series comes from Macro Television Studios and former Empire writers Leah Benavides Rodriguez and Carlito Rodriguez, and tells the story of a cocky Atlanta rapper who discovers that hip-hop’s hottest group is actually a secret cabal of vampires.
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Will other Watchmen characters be appearing in the new Rorschach comic series? Did you know Superman & Lois is filming in the same town where Smallville was shot? What’s on Jack Quaid‘s Spotify playlist inspired by his character on The Boys? Want to know more about Kang the Conqueror before he comes to the MCU? Did a new Thor comic take inspiration from Adventures in Babysitting? All that and more in this edition of Superhero Bits. Read More »
Your Name has named a new director to take the helm of Paramount, Bad Robot, and Toho’s live-action remake of the 2016 anime hit. Minari filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung will take over as the Your Name remake director, taking the reigns from Marc Webb, who was originally tapped to direct the film last year. Chung will be rewriting a draft by The Big Sick co-writer Emily V. Gordon, who took over from Oscar-nominated Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer.
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In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
- Star Wars: Squadrons CG short “Hunted” Ushers in New Era of Star Wars Storytelling
- The Star Wars Archives 1977–1983 Gets Re-Release
- Liam Neeson Praises The Phantom Menace
- Babu Frik Is Now a Talking Plush Toy
- Podcast & YouTube Round-Up
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In 1985, near the village of Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex, England, a family of five was brutally murdered at White House Farm. At first, it looked like a murder-suicide situation – but then suspicion turned to another, still-living member of the family. The Murders at White House Farm dramatizes the story, drawing on “extensive research, interviews and published accounts.”
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Cool Posts From Around the Web:
John Boyega has his next project lined-up. He’ll star in The Test for director Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ender’s Game), described as a “contained thriller” about a behavioral psychologist and an immigrant dealing with a terrorist group in an “authoritarian near-future.” It’s an adaptation of the Sylvain Neuvel book of the same name.
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