BY KELLY CONABOY |
Kelly's Curated Internet: Jurassic Park's CGI, Kristen Wiig's Directorial Debut & Remembering Rik Mayall
So much has changed since we last talked about the best Internet of the week. Everyone's watching soccer now, for one example -- not sure what that's about. It's June now, for another example. Gosh, you go away for a couple of weeks and suddenly the world is completely different! One thing that hasn't changed, though, is that the Internet still has a lot to offer. This week we'll discuss how Jurassic Park changed everything, what to wear in Game of Thrones' Westeros, Clickhole's "five iconic movie scenes that were actually fake," and a lot more. Let's get to it.
- The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences released a documentary short this week as part of its "Academy Originals" web series about Jurrasic Park's decision to mix digital and animatronic dinosaurs, and how that changed film history.
- "To put a finer point on it, Astro Teller, who oversees Google X, told me: 'We are not a research center. We think of ourselves as a moonshot factory, and the reasons for using that phrase is the word ‘moonshot’ reminds us to be audacious, and the word ‘factory’ reminds us we have to industrialize it in the end.'" Claire Cain Miller for the New York Times on how Silicon Valley tries to remake the idea machine.
- Kristen Wiig's directorial debut is set with a feature she's writing with her Bridesmaids cowriter Annie Mumolo. The film is said to be about "best friends who find themselves in over their heads and out of their depth."
- Did you notice that the House of Cards themed changed between seasons one and two? (I didn't!) Here's House of Cards composer Jeff Beal on the differences.
- "The Trials of Entertainment Weekly: One Magazine's 24 Years of Corporate Torture"
- The Onion launched their Buzzfeed and Upworthy parody site "Clickhole" this week, and it is already perfect. Check out "5 Iconic Movie Scenes That Were Actually Fake" and then click around for a bit -- You Won't Believe How Much Joy This One Weird Site Will Bring.
They said it was imitation, but actually the highest form of flattery these days may be parody http://t.co/uARumvEMDQ
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) June 12, 2014
- "Although The Immigrant and The Grand Budapest Hotel project an Old Country nostalgia that Jews might feel, while acknowledging a sense of transience or displacement that Jews could remember, Jewish subjectivity is displaced." J. Hoberman for Tablet on Jewish-themed movies without Jews.
- "For the half-century that computers have been part of the workplace, companies have bought their own machines for corporate data centers. But that may be about to change." The New York Times' Quentin Hardy on the era of cloud computing.
- Bad news: Neil Patrick Harris is not going to extend his run as the star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch beyond his scheduled departure date of August 17. Good news: Andrew Rannells will be taking his place!
- "What to Wear in Westeros: Dressing and Undressing in the Seven Kingdoms"
- Speaking of Game of Thrones, writer George R. R. Martin spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about his charity campaign and how surprised he was that people would spend $20,000 to be killed off in his book.
- Very sadly, the world lost the incredible and incredibly funny Rik Mayall earlier this week, at age 56. Dennis Perrin wrote about the day he spent with Mayall for Splitsider, Express gathered together a few of his funniest lines, and WalesOnline put together a bunch of great clips to remember him by.
Neil! How does it feel, Neil To make a meal, Neil From totalitarian vegetables! -Rik Mayall
— Theodore Leo (@tedleo) June 9, 2014
- Here is Alex Mayyasi on why it is pointless to argue about movies. (But what are we supposed to argue about, then?) (TV?!)
- Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge tweeted out a link this week to an academic paper called “Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency,” which proves that the, um, problem posed in show's season finale is totally mathematically sound.
- "Do we really need to learn code?"
- Did you watch the first season of Comedy Central's Nathan for You? I hope you did! It was so great! The New York Times Magazine profiled the show's star, Nathan Fielder, ahead of the second season premiere.
- I'll leave you with a very funny Shouts and Murmurs piece from Jesse Eisenberg: "Carmelo Anthony and I Debrief Our Friends After A Pickup Game at the YMCA." See you next week!