So you might’ve heard of this little film that’s been getting rave reviews and tearing up the specialty market box office. It’s called (500) Days of Summer and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. And whether you loved or hated the movie, you have to admit that Zooey and Joe have an undeniable chemistry and charisma together on screen. Well, they’ve re-teamed with their (500) Days director Marc Webb to produce this music video for She & Him’s (Deschanel’s band, along with musician M. Ward) “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” And damn if it isn’t charming. Check it out below:

There’s an energy about the two actors that just make their antics fun to watch. They’re like a lighthearted, more hipster-y version of Kate & Leo. And on that comparison, check out the USA Today article (where the video premiered exclusively) to read about how both Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt don’t want to make this their last collaboration. Here’s the quote:

“Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt say they hope to team up repeatedly and have aspirations of being a regular screen couple, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m digging the sound of that. What do you guys think, are you down for more Zooey & Joe?

Mean Magazine has launched a series of online shorts called CineMash, in which they collaborate with celebrities to produce their own versions of scenes from famous movies. To kick things off, and also in conjunction with next week’s highly anticipated release of (500) Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have teamed up with their (500) Days director Marc Webb to recreate a scene from Sid and Nancy. For those of you who’ve seen the movie (and also observant trailer watchers), you’ll recognize the tie-in with the trio’s own movie. Check out the video below (courtesy of /film):

JGL is creepily good as Nancy here, and Zooey gives Gary Oldman a run for his money as a very well-accented Sid. There looks to be some fantastic teamings of talent for the upcoming CineMash videos, including Cheech & Chong doing their version of Tron, as well as Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin’) and Common giving us a rendition of Training Day. Check out the full line-up here.

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Empire magazine has created a neat little movie game. Called “The Cryptic Canvas,” there are 50 movie titles from the last 20 years hidden within the image (though by my count, there is one exception). Check out the website and see if you can get ‘em all!

We’ve got the answers posted below (highlight to reveal). Try to get as many as you can on your own first, but check back here if you get stumped. The answers are posted generally from left to right and top to bottom:

Eagle with the letter I: Eagle Eye
Butterfly with the bell: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Man swimming with sharks: Swimming With Sharks
The king fishing: The Fisher King
The poster with the circle and zodiac signs on the water tank: Zodiac
The girl dropping the brick: Brick
The two towers with the man on the rings: The Two Towers
3.14159265358975 on the water tank: Pi
The hook on the water tank: Hook
N columns and M rows chart: The Matrix
The two instruments (lyres): Liar Liar
The van with Frankenstein and Cerberus: Monsters Inc.
The pirates crouched next to the water tanks: Pirates of the Caribbean
The “Dad’s” flags: Flags of Our Fathers
The two guys carrying a man with St. George’s Cross (England’s flag) on the stretcher: The English Patient
The bi-plane with the “Empire” sign: Snakes on a Plane
The big frozen 20 years: Ice Age
The man on the ladder dusting the star in the garage: Stardust
The various signs on the garage: Signs
The two guys carrying Munch’s “Scream” painting: Scream
The Iron chatting with the Anchor: Iron Man
The Anchor chatting with the Iron: Anchorman
The cars lined up on the hill: Traffic
The black knight next to the garage: The Dark Knight
The tiny children: Little Children
The fathers with the kids: Children of Men
The baby with the million dollar price tag: Million Dollar Baby
The lady grinding books: Pulp Fiction
The red windmill: Moulin Rouge
The car driving into the dragon’s mouth: Enter the Dragon
The piano player on the building: The Pianist
The three C’s: 300
The milk carton: Milk
The chocolate stack next to the milk carton: Chocolat
The man walking the tightrope: Walk the Line
The red line next to the tightrope: The Thin Red Line
The person painting spots on the train: Trainspotting
The Roman soldier: Gladiator
The cheerleaders fighting the man on the ground: Attack of the Clones
The feet with smiley faces: Happy Feet
The black crow with the flower in its mouth: The Crow
The Iris flower in the crow’s mouth: Iris
The sign for “no old people”: No Country for Old Men
The green “5280ft” sign: The Green Mile
The crashed plane: Crash
The woman interviewing the vampire: Interview with the Vampire
The grave with the crown, Scottish flag, and “H.R.H. R.I.P.”: The Last King of Scotland
The saw: Saw
The patch of three-leaf clovers: Cloverfield
The bolt: Bolt

Good luck!

This is just cool.

It’s an exhibit Miranda July designed for the Yokohama Triennale 2008. It’s not exactly new, but it just popped up on our radar, and frankly, we enjoy the work of the very talented July. Her 2005 film You and Me and Everyone We Know did quite well on the indie scene (it won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2005, awarded to the best first film from a director), and her short story collection, “No One Belongs Here More Than You,”is enjoyable as well.

As for the exhibit, here’s a spare description via her blog: “A 125 foot hallway – English in one direction / Japanese in the other.” Yup, that’s more or less all you need to know. It’s quite an experience, and one that’s probably infinitely more rich in person. Art is always better enjoyed live, but for those of us stateside, a video presentation will have to do.

Justin Timberlake returns to SNL and reteams with his Dick-In-a-Box partner in crime Andy Samberg in a loving tribute to Mothers everywhere. Patricia Clarkson and Susan Sarandon guest star in Motherlover; to say anymore would only diminish the fun, so just check it out:

Happy Mother’s Day!

Everybody watched old Disney movies growing up. Well, I think so at least. I can’t speak for the current generation of kids, but my childhood had me watching the then-current films of the era — Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, etc. — in addition to the classics like Snow White, Robin Hood, and Sleeping Beauty. I never paid too much attention to the intricacies of the animation as a child, but I wonder if I would’ve caught these had I been a more obsessive Disney fan way back when.

A video has surfaced online and been making the rounds over the past couple of weeks of old Disney movies that borrowed from other old Disney movies. And we’re not talking about vaguely similar sequences — these are the EXACT SAME sequences, just with different characters or scenarios substituted in. But I’m not condemning Disney for doing this or anything. After all, the technology used to make their movies back then was time-consuming and tedious. It makes sense to reuse a few old sequences to save some precious time and money. I just think it’s fascinating to have the scenes paired up next to each other to see behind the curtain of that ol’ Disney magic. Check the video out and leave your comments below!

[via BeatCrave]

I can always appreciate celebrities who can make fun of themselves, and Lindsay Lohan’s done just that for the folks over at FunnyOrDie. Is it a little sad? Yeah. But still interesting to see.

I’m not completely up-to-date on all of her tabloid exploits, but I’ve always been a little disappointed that her life took the turns it did. Lohan always piqued my interest because she struck me as someone who is definitely a little crazy, but still somehow aware of the trainwreck she can be (and this video more or less confirms my suspicions). She’d be an interesting brain to pick, that’s for sure. Anyway, give the video a watch. If anything, it’s a bizarrely fascinating exercise in the examination of the metanarrative of an actress’ life.

This video’s been slowly creeping its way around the internet, and we can see why.

Very little explanation is given for what it is, but this first person short film, entitled What’s In The Box?, is all sorts of awesome. Shot in the Netherlands, the version up on YouTube right now is purportedly an early temp version that “will be deleted soon.” It uses music from Lost, “Silent Hill” (the video game, not the film), as well as effects elements from other video games, specifically “Half-Life.” Some of the sound effects don’t appear to be completed yet, and some of the visual effects are probably unfinished as well, but it still plays beautifully.

People are guessing it to be the start of a viral ad campaign, possibly for “Half-Life 3,” but /film (where we picked it up from) is thinking its a special effects demo reel; both possibilities sound viable to me. We’ll try to find out more in the coming days. In the meantime, visit the currently-sparse website (which promises, “Soon the world will find out”) to check for updates, or dig for clues (we didn’t find anything worth reporting).

Who says super-villains are immune to these harsh economic times? Lex Luthor sure isn’t, what with his laundry list of…extra-curricular activities, all involving a man in spandex. And with President Obama and the U.S. government already facing a slew of corporations in need of a bailout, LexCorp might as well get in line, too. A personal message from the CEO certainly can’t hurt Luthor’s chances. Jon Hamm stars in Funny or Die’s Lex Luthor Bailout. Keep your ears piqued for references to the plots of the various Superman movies.

You know, now that I’ve seen it, Hamm wouldn’t make a bad Luthor for the next Superman film…

The Rushmore-inspired video was directed by Jason Hinkle and shot over the course of just one day at Sycamore Elementary School in Kokomo, Indiana. Check it out below:

Wes Anderson would be proud.

Check out the band’s official site here and download “Oscar Wilde” for free here.

Behind the Scenes:

Yankee Gal from Yankee Team on Vimeo.

Gary from Gary on Vimeo.

Now this is something new. It’s not movie related, but the music video for Kanye West’s “Welcome to Heartbreak” (one of my favorite cuts off “808s & Heartbreak”) is pretty damn cool. Don’t freak out and adjust your codecs or blame your internet settings–it’s supposed to look that way. Intentional artifacting as art? Seems like a somewhat outlandish idea, but the folks over at Ghost Town Media have done some intriguing things with that idea as the basis for their design. And talk about being aware of your audience. Tons of kids will be streaming this off YouTube and other places on the internet, so why not screw with their expectations a little?

I like this brand of experimentation. It takes the concept behind movies like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield and turns it on its head. You want grainy video? You got it! But how about we design the image artifacting around elements in the video, like Kanye’s hoodie or his head? Talk about some intense post-production work. Check it out and let us know what you think. Amazing? Or just plain annoying?