Zooey Deschanel

It’s hard to imagine what legendary director Barry Levinson and uber-cool demigod Bill Murray were thinking when they made ‘Rock the Kasbah.’

This week, Variety reported on a study that was released confirming what many already know about the film industry, or at the very least anecdotally: Women are having an increasingly hard time breaking in. The study showed that there’s a large gender gap between independently financed and directed projects by women when compared to projects …

Excavating through the vastness of television history to feature programs from broadcast past that were critically maligned and/or lost on the way to home video.

For a performer whose career was so short-lived, Janis Joplin has been hugely influential and such a largely contentious figure in the world of music. We’ve recently gotten a Jimi Hendrix biopic, along with music stories about everyone from the short lived (Ian Curtis, Jim Morrison, John Lennon) to the long-living legends (Johnny Cash, Ray …

5) Jay Stansfield “Building A Shield” Directed by Jay Stansfield The latest from Jay Stansfield kicks off this week’s 5 Best Music Videos Of The Week. “Building A Shield” is an interestingly shot video that explores the sensitive subject of child neglect. Although the video mostly follows the child (featuring some beautiful shots in the woods), there …

New Girl, Season 2, Episode 23: “Virgins” Written by Elizabeth Meriwether Directed by Alec Berg Airs on Tuesdays at 9pm on FOX The last part of season 2 is very much driven by Nick, focusing on his and Jess’ growing relationship. Considering the build up and progress we have seen in the last few episodes, …

In terms of comedy New Girl delivers a fairly average episode this week but all of the characters get to shine, including Winston and Cece. The episode begins with Nick walking around in a hideous orange tracksuit that belonged to his late dad. His mother has sent it and he refuses to take it off, claiming a “dead dad pass”.

Many New Girl fans have been waiting all season to see Nick and Jess in a real date setting and this week’s episode finally gives us a first taste of that, kind of. Nick’s decision to take Jess out on a date stems from a great scene he shares with Tran, the old Asian man from “Menzies” and Nick’s personal confidant. Nick isn’t good at expressing his emotions but when we see him just talk at this old man it’s great.

New Girl, Season 2, Episode 20: “Chicago” Written by Luvh Rakhe Directed by Jake Kasdan Airs on Tuesdays at 9pm (ET) on FOX In previous episodes, New Girl hasn’t been so good with serious matters, but following “Quick Hardening Caulk”, this week’s episode is a definite game-changer for the show. “Chicago” has a strong opening …

One of the unexpected comedic hits of the Fall 2011 tv session was the Fox sitcom New Girl. Originally advertised as a star vehicle for up-and-coming actress Zooey Deschanel, the show, created by No Strings Attached scribe Elizabeth Meriwether, quickly found a voice as an ensemble comedy, with co-stars Jake M. Johnson, Max Greenfield, and …

New Girl, Season 2, Episode 17: “Parking Spot” Written by Rebecca Addelman Directed by Fred Goss Airs on Tuesdays at 9pm (ET) on FOX Back in January, Zooey Deschanel tweeted a photo of a bunch of cats on a car and in this week’s New Girl we finally get to see the furry stars in …

Our Idiot Brother Written by David Schisgall and Evgenia Peretz Directed by Jesse Peretz USA, 2011 When is an indie not an indie? According to the Independent Spirit Awards, all it takes is a budget that falls short of the $20-million mark to qualify for that status, but while you’re watching something like Our Idiot …

On January 25, 2007, Onion A.V. Club critic Nathan Rabin inadvertently added a phrase to the movie lexicon. One that would eventually get it’s own Wikipedia page and it’s own NPR story. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl. In his review of Elizabethtown, Rabin said the following of Kirstin Dunst’s character: “Dunst embodies a character type I like to call The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (see Natalie Portman in Garden State for another prime example). The Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is an all-or-nothing-proposition. Audiences either want to marry her instantly (despite The Manic Pixie Dream Girl being, you know, a fictional character) or they want to commit grievous bodily harm against them and their immediate family.”

The guys at Scott Productions decided to recut scenes from the great indie rom/com (500) Days of Summer and infuse it with music from Inception trailer to make a totally believable thriller. Zack Hemsey’s ‘Mind Heist,’ from the latest Inception trailer makes this trailer recut into something at the same time brilliant and funny due …

(500) Days of Summer Directed by Marc Webb (500) Days of Summer begs you to love it. Its marketing campaign has been so tirelessly micromanaged, its leads are so adorable, its namechecks of generic pseudo-outré touchstones (Belle and Sebastian, The Smiths, The Seventh Seal, turn-of-the-century architecture) so artfully placed, that its many gimmicks actually wind …