Attention Academy Voters

This trailer for "The Wolf of Wall Street", the new Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio movie, has got us all excited. The humour, the dancing, the Kanye track... we can practically taste the Oscar nomination:

Bonus points to you if you can spot Shane from the Walking Dead (R.I.P.), looking like some sort of weird gay beefcake model in the background of a couple shots...

Good luck to you, Leo, in this year's Oscar race. We raise a glass to you!

Joss Whedon's Magical Comedy Tour

Just like the weather here in E-town, summer movie season is heating up. Cannes is almost underway; Iron Man 3 and The Great Gatsby have both been released; and STID will soon be unleashed upon the world (Star Trek Into Darkness, not a venereal disease).

But while we love summer's big tent-pole movies, we here at Half and Half are really excited for the opening of Joss Whedon's labor of love, "Much Ado About Nothing". The movie was filmed at Joss Whedon's house over 11 days with a close-knit cast including Whedon favorites Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof (WESLEY WYNDHAM-PRYCE, thank you very much) and Amy Acker.

This talented cast also features some huge comedic chops in the form of Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, the man-boy geniuses behind Youtube comedy sensation, BriTANick.

While they may be best known for their video "Academy Award Winning Trailer",  our favorite is  "The Dinner Party", which best showcases their characteristic mix of profanity, absurdity, and profundity. Check out ALL their videos if you have a chance--it's well worth your time (if for the Whedon and Fillion cameos alone). These two are making it big and we can't wait to see what they do next.

Back to MAAN (sounds like some historical Middle Eastern epic, no?): while it may not have the media campaign dollars of Gatsby or Iron Man, the cast has been having a blast over the few months with stops at various comic and movie conventions, including a Shakespearean road trip to the SXSW festival. What we wouldn't do to be on that bus!

Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

 

A Brief History of the Flapper

Are you sick of The Great Gatsby stuff yet?

Are you sure?

If you're not, we've got a hell of a resource for you when it comes to all those Roaring Twenties parties everyone will be throwing in a few months.

Get a head start on all your friends and wow them with your knowledge of the history of flappers, courtesy of Threaded, the Smithsonian museum fashion blog.

It's a four-part, fashion-minded series that covers a ton of information about the era- personal and sartorial freedom; the importance of makeup; that classic silhouette; and, of course, the bob.

Now go! Learn! Daisy Buchanan Carey Mulligan compels you!

Oh man!

Ack, you guys. We're so sorry we've been kind of absent as of late. Isn't it one of those unwritten rules that real life shouldn't interfere with the internet? 

There's just been so much going on! Try to forgive us though. For tomorrow we are going to drop a post on you with the fury of a thousand suns, because the new Daft Punk single will be officially released. (Mocha has a theory that the internet might actually explode as fans everywhere rush to hear/download/buy/discuss a high quality version of "Get Funky". We shall see.)

Accept our apologies in the form of many new movie trailers. Surely you'll find something here to get you all excited about the summer:

Listen to Benedict Cumberbatch practice his evil monologues (with bonus lens flare) for "Star Trek: Into Darkness"!

Ponder the weird casting choices of "Man of Steel" as you simultaneously cry at the sight of Henry Cavil without his shirt on!

Listen to Beyonce butcher an Amy Winehouse classic while Leo wears a pink linen suit in "The Great Gatsby"!

Or maybe you can find something here to get you excited for the fall! Like perhaps even the month of November. The 22nd, maybe, but it's not like we're getting all specific here for any particular reason...

The Great Hypesby

God, aren't we just so clever with that title? 

Anyways, here at the offices (read: parent's basements) of Half and Half, we aren't exactly sure what to make of the forthcoming Baz Luhrmann version of "The Great Gatsby". There's so much going on, it's kind of overwhelming.

Yes, Prada is associated with some of the film's costuming, but not hardly has much as media would like you to believe. (Here is a great article by Clothes on Film on "Gatsby" and the difference between clothing and costume design.) The Prada designs are mostly for background extras-- there's only one specially-designed piece for Carey Mulligan-- and a lot of them are simply slightly modified runway pieces from seasons past. Plus, can't we get a little love for the men's tailoring? (Brooks Brothers, people!) There's a lot of love for a well-cut suit around these parts.

The official soundtrack information has been also been released, and it's kind of a crazy mishmash of artists: Beyonce, Jay-Z, Florence and the Machine, Jack White, Lana Del Rey, Gotye, and . . . will.i.am? ... Actually? The whole anachronistic soundtrack-thing did work amazingly well in "Moulin Rouge!", but we're not sure if it will translate here. This time around, it's not so much of a bohemian fever dream as it is a tale of decadence and excess, but some of these tracks may get the mood across (especially with some of those crazy party scenes.)

New character posters are showing up too, and dear God, they are Photoshopped to hell and back. (Or you know, maybe not. Back in the 1920's if you were young, rich, and fabulous, maybe there was also a way to get rid of every pore on your face?)

So yes, we're definitely flip-flopping on this one. May 10 will either herald the arrival of a hot mess, or a haute one.

Let's Show A Little Love for Title Sequences

Will Perkins over at Yahoo's Widescreen blog asks "Where is the Oscar for Best Title Sequence?" 

The short answer: The Academy rejected that category in 1999. But that doesn't mean we can't take a few minutes to appreciate some of the best title sequences ever. 

IFC has a list of 50 that you can view here, and Art of the Title is an entire website devoted to the best of the best.

We've got a few that spring to mind as well.

Like remember when the title sequence to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" leaked and the entire internet went crazy? 

Or the first time you saw "Se7en"?

And no matter how you feel about the rest of the movie, we think the opening credits to "Watchmen" are a masterpiece. Watch them here.

'Warm Bodies' Lives Up to Name: Will Warm Your Cold, Dead Heart

We had the chance to check out the rom-com-zom flick "Warm Bodies" a couple of weekends ago. (Also, we bet Edgar Wright would never have imagined "rom-zom-com" as a term to be used on the regular.) As regular readers of this blog may have surmised, we love horror movies, tv, graphic novels, books, etcetera. We particularly love when genres mix together in wonderful, unexpected ways. 

Needless to say, we loved "Warm Bodies". We also discovered a pretty unique Canadian connection to the film. Intrigued? Click the cut to find out more. (Spoilers!)

Secret Oscar picks, anyone?

We know things have been a little quiet around here lately, but we think it has something to do with the calm before the storm that is the Oscars.

To tide us all over until Sunday night, ONTD has a nifty little article up via Entertainment Weekly. The magazine asked five Academy members to anonymously share how they voted. Could this be an indication of how things will go in a few days? 

Click the link to see if your picks made the cut!

The Ultimate Hollywood Guess-Who, Awards Season Style

85 Years of Oscars, 1 Amazing Poster

The amazing artist/illustrator/graphic designer Olly Moss has just designed what might be one of the coolest posters ever.

In honour of 2013 being the 85th anniversary of the Oscars, the Academy asked Moss (who collaborated with Gallery1988) to create a poster featuring 85 different Oscar statuettes, each with a signature twist to represent every Best Picture winner since 1928. And after the ceremony airs on February 23, the 85th slot will be updated!

You can see the full-size poster here, or you can go to the official Oscars site to see each image individually, and test your Best Picture knowledge.

See our faves after the jump!

ETA: Tell us your faves in the comments!

Thy (Cinematic) Summer Shall Not Fade...

In honor of Valentine's Day (a day late, we know), Mocha and Latte have compiled a list of some of our favorite movie scenes and love songs we think have stood the test of time.

Billy Shakespeare would approve.

See the list and videos under the cut!

So No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way?

Do you routinely watch the following video and think "Yes, these lyrics ARE MY LIFE"?

Well, maybe you should think about that a little more before bemoaning the state of your existence--behold three cultural zeitgeists of our era that tell it like it is:

What It's Like To Be A Twentysomething, As Told By “Mean Girls,” “Bridesmaids,” And “Girls”

Don't tell us it doesn't resonate. Because if you think it doesn't, you don't even go here.

'Skyfall' is now out on DVD!

To celebrate the release of the most successful Bond film of all time, here is the long awaited Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies:

We're just excited to get Daniel Craig's fine ass that beautiful cinematography in HD.

The Soundtrack to 'Warm Bodies' Makes Us All Warm and Fuzzy

We just went to see the clever, funny, and incredibly charming 'Warm Bodies' this weekend (review forthcoming), but a post about the soundtrack just couldn't wait. Throughout the film we just kept turning to each other with variations on "this soundtrack is kind of AMAZING."

Even though some of the tracks seem like the contents of any self-respecting (or is that self-disrespecting?) hipster's iPod-- Bon Iver, M83, Feist, The National-- the difference lies in that it all feels amazingly genuine. (And yes, even with the use of Dylan and Springsteen, which is quite the feat.) This isn't as painfully self-aware as the 'Garden State' soundtrack, for example, but seems to have more of a Sofia Coppola kind of thoughtful sincerity to it (Also, sorry. Our biases are showing.)

An official soundtrack for "Warm Bodies" hasn't been released, but The Playlist has helpfully compiled all the songs in one place for your listening pleasure right here. 

Bottom line? The music enhances the film, and the film enhances the music. A pretty great blend, if you ask us.

How is This Even a Question?

We love Celebitchy. It's hard hitting journalism at its best, asking the difficult questions other established news forums shy away from. Ok, just kidding. It's a brilliant celebrity gossip website that's fun to peruse in your downtime.

One of Celebitchy's recent queries involved the "tapability", or "tap quotient", of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who recently starred in 'Mama' and plays the most decidedly messed up Jaime Lannister on HBO's 'Game of Thrones'. He was even Paul Bettany's BFF in 'Wimbledon'-- for realsies.

All we can say to Celebitchy's query is... you're kidding, right? (I mean, a good portion of our own review of 'Mama' was about how hot he is.) The answer is most definitely in the affirmative.

'Mama': A Pretty Good Film, but is it Horror?

We went on opening night to see 'Mama', the latest from Guillermo del Toro (as executive producer). For those that don't know, the film is based on this incredibly creepy short film by Barbara Muschetti (which most decidedly is horror):

The film is kind of like if 'Stepmom' met 'Poltergeist'. And Susan Sarandon's character was suffering from necrotizing fascitis and RAGE. Click the jump for our spoilery thoughts!

'Zero Dark Thirty' is Osama bin Laden's Last Victory Over America

Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone has a very interesting article up on this controversial film. A lot of people are wondering if the film's depiction of torture will hurt its chances come Oscar night; Taibbi just wonders if it's damaged something much more significant.

"The problem had nothing to do with the fact that Bigelow showed torture. It was the way she depicted it – without perspective, and in the context of a pulse-pounding thriller where the audience is clearly supposed to root for the big treasure find."

(For the record: Mocha saw the film and disliked it, and Latte has yet to see it.)

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!