Pop Culture Roundup 29

It’s been awhile, we have a lot to catch up on. Coming back with a vengeance, it’s Pop Culture Roundup 29, Party People. Sit back, beat the heat and enjoy the latest in the pop universe.

Batting lead-off it’s Paul Thomas Anderson‘s highly-anticipated, Scientology-inspired film The Master (click for previous teaser and trailer). At the header is an emotional excerpt with the film’s lead, Joaquin Phoenix. I smell some Oscar contenders with this production. Below are some one-sheets from the film. P.T. Anderson is a master of intrigue and tension; we love his stuff.

Some clean promotional posters and banners from Skyfall and a videoblog from London town.

How good has the first half of Breaking Bad been? Or should I say, “bad?” It’s been so very dark and heart-wrenching. That last episode-Landry Clarke WILL NOT STOP KILLING. Talk about full measures. We’re in full Heisenberg-mode now and there’s no turning back.

Wired has a nice piece on the beautiful western-inspired cinematography of the show: Breaking Bad’s Camera Work Perfects the Visual Recipe, Yo. Jim Salant from GQ thinks one of the greatest shows to ever exist is “overrated”: Breaking Bad Is Broken. Feel free to send Jimmy the Troll, a former meth addict, your hate mail.

This edit and montage of the ballad of Jesse Pinkman is superb and will make you misty-eyed. Just ignore the distracting and poorly kerned letters at its end. Aaron Paul, Man, that kid deserves every Emmy he pockets.

Don’t forget to attend the opening of the Breaking GIFs show presented by Gallery 1988 this coming Monday.

Artist Tristan Eaton, who last dropped that radical Breaking Bad-themed watch with Vannen, has collaborated with Pretty in Plastic to bring you this Heisenberg Skull and Crossbones piece. Each piece measures in at 5 inches tall and 6 inches wide, with a limited run of 40 yellow units and 40 black pieces (check out the crystal “Blue Sky” pieces next to the black ones) They are cast in a heavy-duty plastic, manufactured in Los Angeles and will be available Monday, August 20th at the Breaking GIFs art project show at Gallery1988 as mentioned above. Also, 20% of proceeds from the show go to the Alzheimer’s Association. These pieces are said to set you back $100. Kinda steep and out of my price range but it’s a nice art piece which partially goes to a good cause.

I don’t know what the black and yellow methylamine drums are about but they’re wicked-cool looking. Might they be the packaging for the vinyl collectible pieces?

Chola Heisenberg?

Walt and Gus (RIP) by Casey Callender.

I refuse to move beyond Batman and The Dark Knight Rises. This will be the ninth straight PCR where we’ve mentioned TDKR!

Reddit user gonzoblair created this great infographic chronicling 70 years of Batman evolution. Click the link for the HIGH-RES version.

The mashup nobody asked for.

Old school (1989, Danny Elfman) metal.

GQ has a revealing and insightful interview with Academy Award-winning costume designer of the film, Lindy Hemming. Style Reconnaissance: The Dark Knight Rises’s Lindy Hemming on Bane’s Sweet Jackets, Alfred’s Old-Man Armani, and Catwoman’s Mugler Wardrobe is a MUST READ. There is actually a lot revealed about the plot and what could have been.

Check out these hilarious faux Gotham Gazette headlines from Jest. Click thumbnails to enlarge!

All kidding aside, do you think Joel Schumacher looks at the sophistication and innovation of Christopher Nolan‘s trilogy and just shudders? I mean, he’s had a couple of good films under his belt, namely St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys, Flatliners, Falling Down and 8MM but Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were just complete abortions. Abominations on celluloid. Those two ridiculous Batman movies almost killed a billion dollar franchise; they’re worse than the Star Wars prequels. Nipples and the chick from Clueless. C’mon, Dude.

Joe Carnahan was brought in to revive the Daredevil franchise by Fox. But they brought him in way too late in the game and now Carnahan doesn’t think he can produce and direct a successful film in the limited time frame that the studio wants. This poor planning/timing forced the director to back out and now Fox will probably have to relinquish the rights of the cardinal superhero back to Marvel. I’m not a huge Carnahan fan but judging from the sizzle reels that he released as a pitch for the film, it’s a shame he won’t be directing this vehicle. Carnahan envisioned a film with an ultra-dark and gritty tone, something with a Serpico vibe that was set in the 1970s Hell’s Kitchen. This would have been ideal. People say that he could still be attached to a potential Marvel production but I find that unlikely. Marvel is owned by Disney and I doubt they will go with any type of violent, nihilistic and shadowy adaptation as they’re accustom to producing snappy, bubble gum pop comic book vehicles. Watch the two versions of the reels below.

Here’s a nice mashup by one of my favorite comic book artists, Dustin Nguyen, it’s titled Demon Nights.

TRAILER and TEASERS

Looper

Some cool stuff from ParaNorman

via Doobybrain

Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow‘s film about the special ops mission to kill Osama bin Laden. I thought the The Hurt Locker was clumsy, wildly overrated and undeserving of the Oscar for Best Picture. This one has legs and it’s a true story to boot.

Cockneys vs. Zombies Redband Trailer

Seven Psychopaths, written and directed by Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh, the comedy follows a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek.

The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his return to the big screen in Korean director Jee-woon Kim‘s hard-hitting US directorial debut. After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction.

Bullet to the Head, the big screen adaptation of the French graphic novel Bullet to the Head (Du Plomb Dans La Tete), starring Sylvester Stallone. Directed by Southern Comfort director Walter Hill.

Red Dawn (remake), I dunno. SMH? I’ll wait for it on cable.

Robot and Frank promotional ads

The first official image of Daniel Day Lewis as Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln. Spitting image much? Looks like this is perfect casting.