ljm

If there's one thing Explosions in the Sky evokes, it's all of the emotions. Every last one. Anyone who has watched Friday Night Lights will understand how "Your Hand in Mind" played at dusk over a football field is truly the easiest trigger for tears. And if you've ever gazed wistfully out a bus window in the country while listening to "Who Do You Go Home To," you know the magical power of some stirring instrumental indie rock. And although David Gordon Green latest film, the Sundance hit, Prince Avalanche isn't a philosophical tear jerker, it does possess a strikingly beautiful glowing and burnt natural landscape and some existential dilemmas, which, are always grounds for some EITS. And with composer David Wingo collaborating at the helm for the score, the tone of Prince Avalanche is set by its subtly lovely soundtrack that melds his and EITS' sensibilities. 

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The Hangover Part III

Like most hangovers, the third one is just not quite as fun as the first – and so is the consensus of The Hangover Part III, which opened today. But that doesn't stop critics from making some hilarious one-liners about it, whether they meant to or not. Here's the funniest:

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y

Yes, I believe this is what we call a cinematic jackpot, folks. As two of cinema's most confounding, complex, and psychologically stimulating directors, David Lynch and the late Krzysztof Kieślowski made films which transcended our mere reality, sublimating into the abstract and igniting our senses and emotions in the most fascinating way. And although you wouldn't necessary peg the two together, Cristina Álvarez López has crafted a stunning video essay that weaves Kieślowski's metaphysical meditation on identity and love The Double Life of Veronique with Lynch's haunting and delirious digitally experimental masterpiece Inland Empire.

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dr

I'm not quite sure what world I am living in, but when it comes to Elijah Wood, whenever I hear his name, my mind immediately wanders to Flipper or The Ice Storm or The Faculty, as if the past decade or Lord of the Rings Trilogy never existed. But as we've seen Wood transform from a big-eyed child star to a vaguely creepy, vaguely older looking dude, he has begun to take on darker and more disturbed roles from Wilfred to Sin City. But now, with the remake of Bill Lustig’s 1980 horror thriller, Maniac, Wood is taking his freakish side to a bloodier level.

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Workaholics

Do you watch Workaholics? You should, because its trio of stars, Anders Holm (left), Adam DeVine (center), and Blake Anderson (right), represent the most talented comedic trio since Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow invited Jack Tripper to share an apartment in Three's Company. Working in an ages-old plot context--boyish college dropouts share a house and work in a soul-deadening office--every episode nonetheless feels completely fresh, speaking to our times in a way that recalls the awkward-yet-cathartic truths revealed in movies like Office Space.  Yes, modern life is a drag, but only if you take it seriously.

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dhdhd

If you're still busy bemoaning the fact that you're not at Cannes this week, at least you can find solace in the fact that tomorrow kicks of the beginnings of Memorial Day Weekend. Perhaps the occasion means nothing for you but time to relax, or perhaps it means endless BBQs and first trips of the season to the beach—but regardless of your holiday preferences, what it does mean is a three-day vacation with ample time to head down to the cinema and catch up on some classic you've let slip through the cracks, alongside of the most best films of the year thus far. So if the allure of escaping into The Hangover III or Fast & Furious 6 is not something you're looking to succumb to, this weekend does mark the premiere of Before Midnight—which wouldn't be so important had we all not been waiting nine years for it. But whether you're into catching up on Celine and Jesse's legendary romance, dancing through the pain with Frances Ha, or looking for a little murderous adventure, there's something for everyone this weekend at the movies. Enjoy.

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manofsteel

Superhero movies live and die by their antagonists. The Dark Knight haunted with its amoral, deranged evil in Heath Ledger's Joker. Jack Nicholson's equally creepy but decidedly goofier and more charming Joker enraptured audiences decades before. The Avengers' Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, may be more popular than his brother Thor, and has inspired countless works of fan fiction from his enthusiastic admirers. And now, Michael Shannon, best known for playing dark and intense characters on Boardwalk Empire, in Revolutionary Road and a somewhat terrifying interpretation of the infamous Delta Gamma letter, has a chance to join this pantheon of excellent comic-book-movie rials as General Zod in the upcoming Man of Steel

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grammar

For those unfamiliar with the term, "hashtag rap" refers to a delivery device in rap where the MC, instead of using "like" or "as a" in setting up a simile, just cuts straight to the word for emphasis. It's a common tactic especially in the world of battle rap, where lines like these (usually "I'll put [x] in a box") have become endlessly parodied clichés in and of themselves. In "Semicolon," their latest video for YouTube Comedy Week, the Digital Short veterans of The Lonely Island riff on the concept, with most welcome help from Maya Rudolph and Solange, who makes cheesy lines like "We run the game/Umpire/we chase the night/Young Squire" sound ever so smooth. 

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