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That Movie EXISTS?! 'Leprechaun: In the Hood' - The 'Citizen Kane' of Leprechaun Hip-Hop Films

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Mar 17th 2011 1:30PM
Filed under: Features, Columns


That Movie Exists?! is a monthly series on movies that sound too incredible to be real -- but much to our delight, they are. This month: the hip-hop horror comedy 'Leprechaun: In the Hood.'

"Death to he who sets a leprechaun free
Steal his gold, it will corrupt your soul, y'see"

'Tis the opening line of 'Leprechaun: In the Hood'
The fifth installment of a franchise not good.
A simple tale about money and greed
Best enjoyed when consumed with a large bag of weed.

See how easy it is to write in couplet form? In a movie that somehow manages to set the Irish, little people and rappers all back decades, 'Leprechaun: In The Hood,' the fourth sequel in the sorta-popular 'Leprechaun' franchise, throws out any semblance of horror intended by the original films and leaves us with this: Warwick Davis, complete with Irish brogue and corny-dad couplets, dropped off in the titular hood of Compton, Calif., to duel with Ice-T, summon zombie flygirls (more on that later) and, yes, rap himself (much more on that later.)
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The 2011 Oscar Nominees Before They Were Stars (VIDEO)

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Feb 23rd 2011 10:30AM
Filed under: Features, Video, Oscar News, Awards

Looking back on an actor's early roles is either a harbinger of genius or fodder for embarrassment. For every Colin Firth in 'Another Country,' there's Jeremy Renner in 'National Lampoon's Senior Trip.' But we all gotta start somewhere, right?

For the 20 actors up for awards at this year's Academy Awards, the Internet has been the gift and the curse, able to preserve both the stellar performances and the inauspicious starts. Thankfully, we dig both. Rufulicious indeed, Mr. Franco. Rufulicious, indeed.
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If You Liked 'Inception,' You Might Like ... 'Pink Floyd The Wall'

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Feb 16th 2011 11:00AM
Filed under: Features

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi crime thriller/best use of a spinning top film 'Inception' won't win the most Oscars in a few weeks, but stands as 2010's most commercially succesful hallucinogenic head trip. The film, revolving around a group of thieves able to enter the dreams of others to steal their ideas, tapped into the country's collective (sub)consciousness and accomplished a rare feat for a blockbuster: making people think.

If you liked 'Inception,' you might like 'Pink Floyd The Wall,' the 1982 film that remains one of the decade's trippiest mindscrews.
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Worst Movie Roommates: 10 Characters We'd Never Want to Live With

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Feb 1st 2011 2:00PM
Filed under: Features, Video, Best and Worst


When Leighton Meester meets her new college roommate Minka Kelly in the upcoming horror film 'The Roommate,' she'll unwittingly join an illustrious list of obnoxious, irritating, malicious, deceiving, dysfunctional, psychotic and murderous roommates throughout cinematic history.

We all have our share of stories involving an iffy roommate. (For instance, I once lived with a woman who moved my things around daily and cleaned the apartment, windows closed, with heavy-duty ammonia.) Yet we hope, for your sake, none have been as bad as our list of the worst roommates in movies -- especially number one.
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I Was an Extra in 'Death Race 2': A Tale of Prisons, Near-Death Experiences and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Jan 18th 2011 7:00PM
Filed under: Features, Behind the Scenes


"Do you want to be in an Aryan gang?"

It's not a question I'm often asked. It's around 6PM in Phillipi, a large township 20 minutes east of Cape Town, South Africa. For the past few days, I've been assigned to hang around the set of 'Death Race 2,' the sequel to the 2008 Jason Statham film about prison officials who control overpopulation by staging lethal races between the prisoners.

On the last day of our trip, one of the film's producers asks if we want to be extras in a prison fight between Zander (Henie Bosman), leader of the aforementioned gang The Brotherhood, and 14K (Robin Shou), the head of the prison's Asian Triad gang. The jaded, mature critic in me briefly scoffs at the dangling carrot before being overtaken by the allure of fleeting screen time. There's an old cliché that all music journalists are failed musicians. While there's no exact parallel with film critics -– substitute directing for acting, I suppose -– I can see the same giddy, mischievous look in the eye of two of my peers on the trip. Where's wardrobe?

The rundown, industrial setting lends itself perfectly to the film's milieu, as the filmmakers can simply build the sets on top of the existing, decrepit backdrops. I'm told this was an abandoned cement factory built in 1930 that has been deteriorating since the company left in the 1960s. I believe it. Chips from crumbling buildings fall by your feet; countless pieces of exposed wrought iron grow like kudzu along the antiquated edifices; and debris, broken glass and empty beer bottles from long-forgotten brands litter the area. In other words: It's the ideal setting for a post-apocalyptic prison movie.
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Jeff Bridges: His 10 Best Roles, from President to Alien

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Dec 17th 2010 3:00PM
Filed under: Features


If anyone was due for an Academy Award for Best Actor last year, it was the perpetually underrated Jeff Bridges, an actor who has spent 40 years playing everyone from presidents to bums with an intensity that is rarely flashy but always memorable.

The son of famed actor Lloyd Bridges, the actor got his first credit as an infant in 1950's 'The Company She Keeps,' and since the early 1970s has displayed an unparalleled versatility. Bridges is one of Hollywood's few A-list actors to successfully divorce the terms "actor" and "celebrity," which may explain why his immense body of work has flown so under the radar for so long (it took him nearly 60 films to win that Oscar, for 2009's 'Crazy Heart'). Yet you can always count on Bridges to deliver noteworthy performances, even in mediocre movies ('Against All Odds,' 'Tideland,' 'Stay Hungry.')

This month sees Bridges star in two of the year's most anticipated films: 'TRON: Legacy,' in which Bridges reprises his role from the original 1982 film, and 'True Grit,' the Coen Brothers' remake of Henry Hathaway's classic 1969 western of the same name. To honor Hollywood's most underrated actor, we've put together a list of Bridges' ten best roles -- but, yeah, well, you know, it's just, like, our opinion, man.

[Please note: Some of these clips are NSFW.]
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'The Room' Viewing Guide for Newbies: How to Watch the Worst Movie Ever Made

By Jason Newman (Subscribe to Jason Newman's posts), Posted Dec 9th 2010 10:00AM
Filed under: Features, Best and Worst

What does it take to be called the "Citizen Kane of bad movies"?

A few weeks back, after years of procrastination, I finally saw Tommy Wiseau's now-classic midnight movie 'The Room.' At this point, you have either never heard of it or have seen the film more than 20 times. To bring those in the former category up to speed, in 2002, Wiseau was an aspiring filmmaker whose bank account far exceeded his filmmaking ability. But he was persistent: writing, directing, producing and starring in his debut feature 'The Room.'

Ostensibly a love triangle drama between Johnny (Wiseau), his girlfriend Lisa (Juliette Danielle) and his best friend Mark (Greg Sestero), 'The Room' is a film school study in how not to make a movie. Subplots are brought up and never referred to again. Seemingly important characters are either never introduced or disappear with no explanation. A green screen is used for rooftop shots instead of an actual roof (was it that hard to find a roof?). Shots go in and out of focus haphazardly. The dialogue is hackneyed and oftentimes unintelligible. And the acting? Well ... God bless YouTube.
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