Header photo: The idyllic childhood my parents wished I had. 

We'll be back after Easter, but here are a few not-so-movie-related things we're enjoying over break to keep you entertained in the mean time.

We hope everyone has a great holiday!

I get that Aaron Sorkin isn't everyone's cup o' Joe, but I appreciate a well-timed witticism. The Newsroom has all of the hallmarks of Sorkin's writing style -- including the oft mimicked "walk and talk" -- but what I love the most about this show is that it makes me feel hope for America. The opening sequence in particular gets me in all the right feels. Does that mean I'm easily manipulated? Eh. As a Communication major, I love seeing news greats like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite in the opening sequence. Yay, patriotism! 

Also, it inexplicably reminds me of The Buttercream Gang. Homeschooling? Anyone? Just Me? OK, then. 

* Bonus: The voice of Eric Neal in the first episode is provided by Jesse Eisenberg, with whom Sorkin had just finished working on The Social Network. It's an uncredited performance; I only picked it up because I had recently watched Eisenberg in all his Zuckerberg-ness. Here's a great interview with Sorkin about the show (and he confirms that it was indeed Eisenberg).

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Speaking of Heisenberg (ish), crime truly doesn't pay, even for a supervillain with a name like Xavier McAfee. Apparently, good ol' Xavier busted Brian Cranston's car window, stole a bag with a script and some other goodies, and bragged about  it to friends at his local watering hole. For real? It's like his parents wanted him to commit petty crimes against fictional drug lords. All he's missing is the lair and surly lap kitty. Fortunately a do-gooder overheard his story and reported the crime, although the script is still out there.  Just turn away from the spoilers, people. Nothing to see here. 

(via the AV Club)

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You might have heard that JT is breaking ALL TEH RECORDS of late, but just because he's married doesn't mean he can't also break some hearts. Target released a special edition of his album The 20/20 Experience (with 2 additional tracks), and invited superfans to sing the song "Mirrors" for a promotional commercial. They were happy to just get dolled up and sing some songs, but then Timberlake snuck up and surprised them all, to hilarious results. "Don't look at me. Don't you look at me." Thanks, Target!

(You can also see the final version of the commercial here.)

If you follow this blog, chances are you know what "the 4th wall" is and how someone can break it. But for anyone who didn't take Intro to Film in college: originally a device of theater, the 4th wall is an understanding between performers and audiences that the front of a stage or the lens of a camera acts as the wall which closes off a room or other space, thereby enclosing the fictional world in which the story takes place. An actor "breaks the fourth wall" when they acknowledge the audience (or the wall itself) in some way. We call this metafiction -- that is, a story that acknowledges its fictional nature. Sometimes it's just called "meta" (Community, anyone?) 

My most memorable actor-audience moment was probably Kevin McAllister in Home Alone (a somewhat unexplainable omission in the following video); or when Ferris Bueller, including us in his wacky hijinks via camera, detailed the particulars of faking illness. Genius. 

Good posters make you stop walking in the middle of a sidewalk or on your hurried way to the next errand -- they give you a glimpse of a different world and tell a mini-story or connect you to a character. This list is based on the strength of the poster design/artwork itself, not the film it represents. Now that we're about 1/4 of the way through the year, it felt like a good time so examine some movie art that has been put out into the world thus far. 

These were already tough to narrow down. That means come December, the "best of 2013" list is going to be full of excellent, agonized-over one sheets. Take a little break from your Tuesday to enjoy these lesser known gems and all-too-rare creative studio releases (in no particular order)!

No by unknown

Lore by Jeremy Saunders

The Bitter Buddha (version 2) by Derek Gabryszak

Luv (version 2) by Gravillis, Inc. 

Oz: The Great and Powerful by BLT Communications, LLC

Zero Dark Thirty by BLT Communications, LLC

Gangster Squad by unknown

Welcome to Pine Hill by Dan Bina, Katya Mezhibovskaya & Bergamot Clementine

John Dies at the End by Gravillis, Inc. 

The Wolverine by BLT Communications, LLC

What do you think -- did we forget any? Disagree with any of the above? Make your way to the comments!

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES by Derek Cianfrance
Release date: March 29, 2013

I can’t decide whether I love this trailer, or if my interest in it is based more on the strangeness of it all. Ryan Gosling with facial tattoos and bleached hair… Eva Mendes as the tough, protective mother (compared to the last thing I saw her in – a fantastical, seductive vignette from Holy Motors)… Bradley Cooper as a cop in a terrible, terrible windbreaker. The single glimpse of that last one interests me more than the whole of Silver Linings Playbook. The title of the film is the literal English meaning for “Schenectady,” as in Schenectady, NY. As in the town just north of Albany and west of the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border, where nothing much really happens. The official premise is that Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider, wants to be a part of his infant son’s life; in desperation to contribute, he begins robbing banks, which pits him against a rookie cop (Cooper) with lots to prove. I have a feeling that “an exhilarating epic of fathers, sons and consequences” is a more apt description though, getting at both the scale and emotional core briefly displayed here. Derek Cianfrance has reportedly directed one hell of a film, better than Blue Valentine, and one cinephiles will definitely love. Regardless of pedigree, this trailer does it for me. Bring on the face tattoos.

Header photo [COLLIDER]

MOOD INDIGO by Michel Gondry
Release date: April 10, 2013

Just watch. This makes me happy in all possible ways. Also, Omar Sy! 

You don't even need to understand the language to know exactly what is going on. Feel it in your heart. However... for those of you who insist... a rough translation, using my French 102 skills:

0:09 “Thank you”
April 24
0:15 “Hello.” “Hello.”
0:28 I feel like my whole life depends on this moment
0:35 And that was it?
The most poignant
Stories of love
Based on the masterpiece by Boris Vian
Director Michel Gondry
Invites you to live an unforgettable adventure.

42 by Brian Helgeland
Release date: April 12, 2013

Don't judge this trailer based on the inclusion of a song by Jay-Z (he may be everywhere because of Mr. Timberlake right now, but this trailer was cut months ago...). Besides, have you listened to the lyrics? "I father, I Brooklyn Dodger them; I jack, I rob, I sin; Aww man, I'm Jackie Robinson; 'Cept when I run base, I dodge the pen." Actually, go ahead and judge it on the song. You could write a grad school thesis on those lyrics. Harrison Ford, all gruff and dapper (he suited up, 40's style!) came out of "retirement" to play Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, the man who is credited with breaking the so-called color barrier in baseball by signing Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman). And make no mistake -- this is Jackie Robinson's story. I'm curious to see whether the film handles the narrative as an ensemble or a biopic, though, because while it would be easy to tell only Robinson's story, the truth is that it took a small army to put him on that field (and keep him there). I expect Ford's character to steal the spotlight more than once. The trailer seems to uphold Robinson as the "face of change" in '42 baseball --  not just a man playing the game he loved but, as all pioneers do, an ideal who represented genuine cultural progress. This trailer is solid; writer/director Brian Helgeland need only avoid telling too many stories or allowing the film to buckle under the weight of its own (rightfully) important subject matter.