The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, take a tour of the Dunder-Mifflin set of The Office with cast member Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson. Plus, check out a shot-by-shot scene breakdown from the third season of Cobra Kai with a special guest star joining Ralph Macchio and William Zabka. And finally, Shazam! director David F. Sandberg talks about the challenge of being a Hollywood filmmaker and an introvert. Read More »
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, see how the storyboards for a sequence from Pixar’s latest movie Soul compare to the final cut in the film. Plus, take a look back at the making of the pilot for The Office back in 2004, and let Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear help usher in the New Year with a familiar tune that will have you movin’ right along into 2021.
First up, now that you’ve had a chance to see Pixar’s new movie Soul on Disney+, see how the original storyboards for one of the film’s early sequences compared to the final cut. You’ll see that some of Joe’s features didn’t completely translate from the early storyboards, including the shape of his glasses and what he’s wearing, and the soul version of him isn’t quite as defined either. It’s all part of Pixar’s important development processes that makes them one of the best animation studios around.
Next, now that The Office is available on Peacock, the streaming service has provided some bonus treats for longtime fans. In addition to releasing a never-before-seen cold open over the weekend, they also provided a featurette about the making of the show’s pilot from all the way back in 2004. Enjoy how young everyone looks and how enthusiastic they all are despite having an uncertain future during the time of production.
Finally, Disney offered up a warm welcome into 2021, courtesy of a couple of our favorite Muppets. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear do a virtual rendition of “Movin’ Right Along” from The Muppet Movie to ring in the New Year. Kermit plays the banjo while Fozzie hops in the car to actually move right along. Now if only we could get some of that Muppet magic back on Disney+ in a more satisfying way.
Posted on Saturday, November 14th, 2020 by Ethan Anderton
The first season of the Netflix’s comedy series Space Force starring Steve Carell feels like it premiered years ago, but it only hit the streaming service back at the end of May this year. Netflix doesn’t often take long to renew their hit shows, but in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems like maybe some numbers needed to be crunched to figure out whether the show was worth bringing back for a second season. That’s probably why the series will be moving production to Vancouver instead of Los Angeles now that Netflix has officially ordered Space Force season 2. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2020 by Ethan Anderton
(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 Movie: Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show
Where You Can Stream It: Hulu
The Pitch: Fresh off a successful run on Saturday Night Live, comedian Dana Carvey was hired by ABC to create a new sketch show. Armed with a writers room that included a Murderer’s Row of up-and-coming talent such as Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Robert Smigel, Charlie Kaufman, and more, the show aimed to fly high on primetime. So how did The Dana Carvey Show crash and burn so spectacularly while still launching the careers of some of today’s most respective comedians? The documentary Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show will tell you everything you need to know.
Why It’s Essential Viewing: There are plenty of examples about miraculous showbiz success in Hollywood. But the more interesting stories often come from colossal failures. The Dana Carvey Show is perhaps the best example of falling upwards, and the chronicle of the show’s promising rise and frustrating fall is full of some of the best showbiz anecdotes I’ve ever heard. We’re talking about a show that premiered on ABC by having Dana Carvery as a breast-feeding Bill Clinton, complete with real-working nipples that actually dripped milk. That’s where the show started on a network that had just been purchased by The Walt Disney Company. Read More »
The Morning Show was one of the staple launch shows for the Apple TV+ streaming service, and after earning multiple Emmy nominations earlier this year, the show will be getting back to production to continue shooting its second season later this month. Of course, that’s assuming any complications from the coronavirus pandemic won’t hold them back, so the hopeful start date is subject to change. But the regular cast from the first season, including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, will all be back. Read More »
San Diego Comic-Con is nearly upon us. Well, this year it’s Comic-Con at Home with a bunch of virtual panels instead of the usual massive gathering of nerds and geeks at the San Diego Convention Center, but we’ll try to make the best of it.
Even though there isn’t a show floor to scour for the usual Comic-Con exclusive merchandise, that’s not stopping the arrival of a new wave of 2020 SDCC exclusive Funko POPs. While this year’s selection feels a little lackluster overall, the introduction of one particular new series of Funko POPs kinda makes up for it. We’re talking about a set of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Funko POPs featuring several different versions of the titular San Francisco news man, and some of the Channel 4 news team. Read More »
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, watch bloopers from the first season of Netflix’s comedy series Space Force starring Steve Carell, John Malkovich, and more. Plus, a video essay from Patrick (H) Willems takes a look back at what we might call the Dark Universe of monster movies from the 1990s, like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Wolf with Jack Nicholson. And finally, Patrick Stewart and Henry Cavill interview each other in a new edition of Variety’s Actors on Actors video series. Read More »
Jon Stewart used to be a welcome voice of reason in the world of politics as the host of The Daily Show. After leaving the news satire program on Comedy Central, he’s mostly been laying low, but now he’s back in the political arena again, this time as a writer/director with a new comedy about the convoluted and perplexing election process in the United States.
Irresistible follows Steve Carell, himself a former correspondent of The Daily Show, as Democratic political consultant who tries to turn a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) into a mayoral candidate in a small Wisconsin town. This gets the attention of the national Republican party, and they bring in their own consultant in the form of Carell’s rival, played by Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids). And that’s when the game of politics really heats up in the new Irresistible trailer. Read More »
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, see what it’s like when RoboCop and Terminator go head-to-head as playable characters in Mortal Kombat 11. Plus, watch a featurette with the cast of Space Force talking about the experience of working with Steve Carell in his first TV series since The Office, and listen to Ricky Gervais answer the web’s most searched questions about him. Read More »
Netflix released the entire first season of the new comedy series Space Force this past weekend. The debut didn’t fare too well with critics, landing only a 39% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a disappointed review from yours truly, but the audience score is currently at 76% with over 750 ratings so far. Regardless of the reception, co-creator Greg Daniels is hoping to get a few more seasons to play around with the antics of the newest branch of the military tasked with getting boots on the moon, especially since the first season concludes with a couple big cliffhangers. Read More »
