Movies News

Today in Movie Culture: ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ Akira Kurosawa, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Coming this March, Lego’s Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier play set, which comes with mini-figs for Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Nick Fury and Maria Hill (via Live for Film):

Learn about the geometry involved in the films of Akira Kurosawa via the underrated The Bad Sleep Well and a brief video essay by Tony Zhou (via Devour):

Learn why the Lord of the Rings trilogy is so much more satisfying than the Hobbit trilogy, via this video essay by Sean Hickey (via Filmmaker IQ):

Now we just need some little purple costumes to put on the birds who frequent this The Grand Budapest Hotel birdhouse. See more photos at Clinic 212.

A bunch of friends cleverly parodied (and animated) classic movie posters to represent their New Year’s resolutions (via Reddit):

“Sometimes the scariest things come from within.” Behold Tyler Stout’s Mondo poster for Alien (via Slashfilm):

Here is a handy explanation of how the Oscars work as we round the end of the awards season (via Slashfilm):

Korean actor Cho Woong has quite the Star Wars collection. See more photos like these at Geek Tyrant.

Watch a short documentary about how tough New York City was in 1981, produced as a tie-in for A Most Violent Year (via The Playlist):

Thirty years ago on the Internet: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Casablanca topped the results of a movie newsgroup poll of the one film users would want if stranded on a desert island. Here are the full results:

75        2001: a space odyssey(12)
72        casablanca(11)
57        graduate(7)
49        star wars(9)
36        raiders of the lost ark(7)
30        star trek II: The Wrath of Khan(5)
29        empire strikes back(6)
27        annie hall(3)
25        love and death(3)
25        ordinary people(3)
24        its a wonderful life(3)
24        silent running(3)
23        clockwork orange(3)
20        animal house(3)(
20        harold and maude(4)
18        african queen(2)
16        on golden pond(3)
15        arthur(3)
15        butch cassidy & the sundance kid(3)
15        little big man(2)
15        midnight cowboy(2)
15        stunt man(2)
14        gone with the wind(2)
14        johnathon livingston seagull(2)
14        road warrior(2)
14        tall blond man with one black shoe(2)
14        wizard of oz(2)
13        blade runner(2)
13        close encounters of the third kind(2)
13        singing in the rain(2)
12        airplane(2)
12        fantasia(2)
12        monty python and the holy grail(2)
12        return of the jedi(4)
12        sound of music(2)
10        caddyshack
10        citizen Kane
10        godfather
10        solaris
10        sting(2)
10        to kill a mockingbird
9        apocalypse now
9        blood wedding
9        dr zhivago
9        duck soup
9        fast times at ridgemont high
9        fiddler on the roof
9        galipoli
9        gandhi
9        godfather II
9        man for all seasons
9        night at the opera
9        paper chase(2)
9        phantom of the paradise
9        shadow of a doubt
9        the big chill
8        american graffiti(2)
8        beckett
8        celine and julie go boating
8        dr strangelove
8        gods must be crazy
8        i remember mama
8        king of hearts
8        knightriders
8        la strada
8        monty python – meaning of life
8        one flew over the cuckoos nest
8        play it again sam
8        producers
7        friendly persuasion
7        gaslight
7        lion in winter
7        mad max(2)
7        mash
7        pink pnather
7        purple rain
7        three musketeers
7        where the buffalo roam
6        deer hunter
6        educating rita
6        forbidden planet
6        four musketeers
6        la cage aux folles
6        my favorite year
6        philadelphia story
6        reefer madness
6        return of the tall blond mand with one black shoe
6        this is spinal tap
6        vertigo
5        arsenic and old lace
5        as you like it
5        camelot
5        city lights
5        enter the dragon
5        importance of being earnest
5        manhattan
5        music man
5        never cry wolf
5        reuben, reuben
5        starman
5        tree of the wooden clogs
4        auntie mame
4        betrayal
4        boy and his dog
4        catch 22(2)
4        for your eyes only
4        ghostbusters
4        hair
4        it happened one night
4        jeremiah johnson
4        jungle book
4        la nuit de varennes
4        magic flute
4        oh god
4        planet of the apes
4        rear window
4        star trek
4        star trek III: In Search of Spock(2)
4        uptown saturday night
3        bambi
3        being there
3        bridge too far
3        day at the races
3        greystoke
3        jaws
3        poltergeist
3        richard III
3        sleeper
3        star is born (garland)
3        ten comandments
3        wizards
2        chariots of fire
2        city of women
2        e.t. the extraterresterial
2        easy money
2        excalibur
2        fail safe
2        fatal glass of beer
2        gregory’s girl
2        in the heat of the night
2        lawrence of arabia
2        meet me in st lous
2        midsummers night sex comedy
2        passage to india
2        superman
2        time machine
2        weavers– wasn’t that a time
2        young frankenstein
1        barry lyndon
1        competition
1        dark crystal
1        deep throat
1        elephant man
1        funny thing happened on the way to the forum
1        hard days night
1        insatiable
1        on her majesty’s secret service
1        patton
1        phantom of the opera [1943]
1        theater of blood
1        tinker tailor soldier spy
1        victor victoria
1        west side story
1        yojimbo