going the distance

A.V. Club: The Swoon Club

in: viewing room

Here at the Dunce Cap, sharing is highly encouraged. And the A.V. Club is one of the easiest ways to put to use the skills taught in kindergarten. This week, A.V. Club brings two excellent clips that’ll make you wet your pants.

There are a couple videos making rounds across the Interweb today, and these two definitely caught my eye. Yes, singular. One each. These two are among the first class of the Dunce Cap Swoon Club, and I think these videos prove any such title is warranted. Totally.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt feels like a natural woman-un-un

JGL's Gender-bending head-scratching

So, we got to hear Joseph Gordon-Levitt sing in (500) Days of Summer. Remember? Karaoke? Belting “Here Comes Your Man” in bliss and then a much surlier “Train in Vain” in a drunken stupor. And then there was the absolutely adorable “I Don’t Want to Go to the Moon.” And now? He’s working his pipes with a rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “A Natural Woman.”

Gordon-Levitt’s also runs hitRECord.org, an online collaborative production company, and Monday, at the site’s Summer in the City show, the cherub-faced boy from Angels in the Outfield crooned to many bawling girls.

Wait, I got lost. I wasn’t talking about Justin Bieber? No? Oh, right. Weird.

Check out the clip below. This isn’t Gordon-Levitt’s first trek into girl anthem land. He sang Madonna’s “Express Yourself” at a hitRECord.org performance in 2007. Oh, JGL. You’re precious. [The Daily What via The Frisky]

Somehow, Justin Long makes me envious of a 12-year-old girl

“Ok, foin!” I’ve always thought Justin Long was a catch. Hilarious, cheeky, charming, attractive, assuredly friends with John Hodgman. But this video had me rolling on the floor. You know me – I’m a bit of a Medildo journalist-type, incapable of ignoring mistakes in grammar or spelling. And so, this video just slaaaayed me (I’m sorry. I’m still watching Buffy.)

Anyway. Jimmy Kimmel hosted Long this week, and, instead of talking about the sure-to-be-endearingly-lovable Going the Distance, Long introduced us to…well, I don’t think any of us are sure who we were conversing with. A poor (and poorly educated) tween unwittingly texted Long, thinking she was chatting with her friend of Eduardo. Long replied, and a months-long text exchange ensued. As did hilarity!

The interview (with a short clip from the new movie, due out Sept. 3, at the end) is broken down into three parts on Kimmel’s official YouTube. Part 1 is embedded below, with links to parts 2 and 3 following. [BuzzFeed]

And part 2 and part 3.

(editor’s note: How did I not know Justin Long was in Crossroads? I must have missed this the ten thousand times I watched that movie for Anson Mount. What? I’m not embarrassed.)

A.V. Club: Trailer Triumph

in: viewing room

My friend Olivia kept a really cool blog, SprocketShot, about movie trailers, and she inspired me to talk a bit about a few I’m particularly interested in. The movies slated for the coming months are inspiring delighted danceabilly. Movie madness!

I often find myself loving movie trailers more than the features themselves (Charlie St. Cloud comes immediately to mind), but I’m confident these won’t disappoint. Steel yourself for the onslaught of previews, and ready your eyes for something damn near pretty.

Easy A

DK would be infinitely angry at me for even deigning to include this. I think it’s on par with wearing yellow. Anyhow – Will Gluck’s Easy A appeals to me; Gluck co-created the hilarious sitcom The Loop and directed the gross-out com Fired Up!, which clearly didn’t get the attention it deserved – and he produced and wrote for Grosse Pointe, the positively brilliant Darren Star sitcom satire starring a young Kyle Howard. Regardless of that mouthful, Easy A is sure to be farcical fun in the way of the totally underrated Sydney White. Emma Stone is captivating, Penn Badgley is her love interest, the aforementioned Bynes is Queen B and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci play her parents. Oh, and it’s an overt allusion to The Scarlet Letter. I’m sold. (Sept. 17)

Going the Distance

Adorable rom-com powerhouses abound in Nanette Burstein‘s Going the Distance! Long! Barrymore! Applegate! Gaffigan! Sudeikis! And then there’s Charlie! Plus, jokes about dry-humping, a bi-coastal relationship (not too close to home yet – maybe soon), a killer soundtrack and massive relationship awkwardness. Burstein directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and 2008’s dark horse documentary American Teen, so I have high hopes for this one. (Aug. 27)

The Romantics

This one makes me squeamish. Sure, it’s posed as a romantic comedy, and, well, shucks, it’s set at a wedding, and there’s a college reunion of sorts, but, by golly, this one looks as pretty as Evening! Director Galt Niederhoffer adapted her own 2008 novel The Romantics, and the cast list is stellar. This little trailer gem (and, I guess, eventual full length film) features Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, Malin Akerman, Elijah Wood, Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel as college chums (and the last two as the bride and groom). Pretty looking and pre-nostalgia for me! (Sept. 10)

The Social Network

Mind. Effing. Blown. The trailer for (magnificent director and crazy/beautiful mind) David Fincher‘s The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, accomplishes everything a trailer really ought to: It makes me want to fork over the $8.50 to see the film. Soon. Based on the founding of Facebook and featuring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the film will be good. But in case I had any doubts, this trailer solidified my desire to see the film. Jay-zeus. And, the use of the cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” performed by Belgian choir group Scala & Kolacny Brothers? Inspired. Consider my wallet emptied. (Oct. 1)

Somewhere

Alright, here’s the truth: I didn’t like Sofia Coppola‘s Marie Antoinette. I’m sorry. You can kick me out of the club, if you’d like, though I did particularly adore The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation (two cinematically lush films with gorgeous flowing soundtracks). Somewhere, though? I’m going to love Coppola’s Somewhere. Stephen Dorff is a hedonistic (from the looks of it washed-up) actor who is suddenly faced with the appearance of his free-spirited, long-locked 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning. Coppola’s cinematography appears, as usual, shining and plain ol’ pretty, and her boytoy, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, is producing much of the music for the soundtrack (did you know Phoenix is French? Where have I been?). I really hope this one doesn’t let me down. At least it doesn’t star Kirsten Dunst… (Dec. 22)

Your Highness

Still from "Your Highness" (2011)

I’m such a little tease. The official trailer hasn’t been released for David Gordon Green‘s Your Highness yet, but this film is like a cinematic wet dream. Metaphorically. Green made Pineapple Express, and he’s the name behind the still-untitled Colton Harris-Moore biography. Plus, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman and Danny McBride (KFuckingP to you, kids.) and Michael Clarke Duncan as a troll? It’s my fantasy film league, all rolled into a medieval comedy. This thing will be beautiful, no doubt, and hilarious. I think it may even be worth that six month delay, Universal. (April 8, 2011)

And, for good measure, a film in need of no introduction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 (Nov. 19)

Screamy-weemy-weeeeeeemy.