I’ve always wondered why there weren’t more modern film versions of Macbeth. Hamlet’s been made three times in the past 15 years. What’s wrong, Kenneth Branagh, afraid of a little Scottish play? The last Macbeth on screen was the 1971 version directed by Roman Polanski and
Not long ago, a 79-year-old British widower calling himself “geriatric1927” began vlogging on YouTube. Since then, he has made national news, become one of the most watched personalities on YouTube, and prompted thousands of teens to weepily call their grandpappy. By now, geriatric1927 has made over a dozen
There is a stock sound effect that originated in the ’50s, known as the “Wilhelm scream.” Championed by Star Wars sound engineer Ben Burtt, the cry—perhaps best transcribed as “aaaeehhh”—made its way into several of Burtt’s projects, including the Star Wars trilogy, Raiders of the Lost Ark,
This week I went through the five stages of Mel Gibson: fascination, followed by disgust, horror, pity, and, at some point I suppose, hunger. By Tuesday, I was already sick of all the noise: Who really cares? And who ordered all this delivery sushi? But I did appreciate this Daily
As a college student, I was prone to storing empty beer cans wherever they landed and passing out while eating frozen corny dogs. I consider myself a reformed slob now—I make my bed every morning, and I haven’t fallen asleep with a frozen corny dog in weeks. But
Two decades before Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest had the biggest opening weekend in history, Johnny Depp was just another rock-star wannabe roped into a shitty FOX contract. Back in those days, Depp complained an awful lot about playing Tom Hanson, the dreamy undercover cop on
When Strangers With Candy premiered on Comedy Central, I felt like it was an inside joke I didn’t completely understand. And apparently, that’s true. As FourFour: The Revenge explains this week, Amy Sedaris’s character Jerri Blank is based on eccentric motivational speaker Florrie Fisher, reformed hooker and
I have a few minor phobias: I dislike flying; I get queasy on rollercoasters; I try to avoid possums, especially the ones who will lure me on an airplane or a ride at Six Flags. But apparently some people have crippling phobias, and obviously, there’s only one way to
The most soul-crushing E! True Hollywood Story I ever saw was about the actor Hervé Villechaize. This was dark stuff even by tabloid standards: drinking turpentine, stabbing his own self-portrait, smashing guns into his assistant’s face. As a child, I adored Fantasy Island, but by the time
Before I started assembling these video digests, I had no idea how many pets could talk, chug Fanta from a bottle, or pledge their love to Montel Williams. My own cat, who has mastered little more than shedding, seems like such a dilettante in comparison. * * * One talent the cat does
