When I started writing the weekly film score review, one of the things I wanted to do was shine a light on some of my favorite scores from the past. Now that I have just passed my one-year anniversary on The Flickcast I feel now is a great time to go retro and talk about one of my favorite scores of all time, The Fifth Element.

The film is one of my five favorite of all time, and it is one of those pesky films that I can’t watch more than five minutes of it without needing to stay put and finish the rest. A huge part of that attraction comes from the score. Eric Serra crafted a unique, original and forward thinking score that lays beautifully over the top of Luc Besson’s imaginative world.

Eric Serra is a french composer who often works with Luc Besson, crafting modern and non-traditional scores that can be very polarizing. The most famous example of this was his highest profile job in America scoring the excellent Goldeneye. The film was all about making Bond relevant to a 90s audience, and for the score, that meant getting a guy who would break away from the John Barry mold. This caused quite the stir among Bond fans, and ultimately lead to an innovative score that probably just didn’t work for the movie it was made for.

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It is the job of a trailer to sell you on a movie. Based on that most simple of definitions the first trailer for Simon Pegg’s next film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything, might be the greatest trailer of all time. This is a project that few of you would have heard about, but now many of you will be eager to see.

For those of you unfamiliar with this film (AKA almost all of you) here is the synopsis to set the table for you:

Jack is a children’s author turned crime novelist whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by the irrational fear of being murdered. When Jack is thrown a life-line by his long-suffering agent and a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in his script, what should be his big break rapidly turns into his big breakdown, as Jack is forced to confront his worst demons; among them his love life, his laundry and the origin of all fear.

Those words don’t do the trailer much justice. The film seems to strike an amazing tone, somewhere between whimsy and fear lies this potential gem.

Check out the full trailer after the jump.

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It looks like Funny or Die’s viral hit Drunk History may soon be a full fledged TV series. Comedy Central has request a pilot presentation of a Drunk History Across America. 

The pilot is set to be produced by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy’s Gary Sanchez Prods. The trio will executive produce with Derek Waters, creator of the Drunk History series of shorts, Jeremy Konner, who directed them, and Owen Burke. Konner will also direct the pilot presentation.

Just like the web series, Drunk History Across America will feature historical reenactments that are based on the way the historical events are described by drunk narrators. The television show will expand on this idea by include some travel elements and interviews with city locals, who will drunkenly narrate local and personal history which. As with the current shorts, all the re-enactments will all be acted out by guest actors.

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It’s been no secret for quite some time now how much of a thorn veteran comedian Chevy Chase has been in the side of just about everyone working on NBC’s Community. From rumors of a drunken Chase showing up late to shoots, to his overall difficulty to work with from the rest of the cast, there seems to have been tension for quite some time.

Now, it looks like things have escalated even further as creator Dan Harmon and Chevy had it out at the season wrap party last weekend, which resulted in an angry (and relatively inebriated) message left on Harmon’s voicemail. Here’s a bit of backstory from Deadline.

The chronology of the events, corroborated to me by multiple sources, involves Chase walking off the set of the show on the last day of shooting last month without filming one of his scenes, which reportedly was to close out the season finale.

Then at the wrap party, Harmon got up and gave a “Fuck you, Chevy” speech in front of Chase and his wife and daughter, and encouraged the crew to join him in saying “fuck you” to the actor. Chase left immediately and later left Harmon a profane-laden voice message, a portion of which found its way to the Web after Harmon played it in front of other people.

We’ve got the audio below which you can check out. Who’s to blame for all of this? Nobody can really tell, but we certainly know that it’s going to effect next season on Community as to whether or not we’ll even see the return of Chevy’s Pierce Hawthorne.

Our bet? Bill Murray steps in to replace him and nobody mentions the incident again.

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In an unbelievable feat of suck, Adam Sandler has swept the annual Razzies awards, which showcase the worst films of the previous year.  Sandler’s Jack and Jill has accomplished something no film was able to in the Razzies 32 year history, winning all 10 categories. That includes both a worst actor and actress for win for the titular characters played by Sandler, which is also a Razzie first as it is not often those two categories would overlap.

Sandler wasn’t “honored” alone, as many of his supporting cast in the film went on to win as well. David Spade, Katie Holmes, and Al Pacino all received awards for the part they played in the travesty that is known as Jack and Jill.

The creative team behind the film weren’t free of the crap storm either, with director Dennis Dugan and the screenwriters all taking home awards in their respective categories.

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A while back, it was reported that Family Guy and American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane is one of the highest paid writers in Hollywood. With two massive franchises under his belt, what’s the man going to do next, you may ask? How about a raunchy comedy about a grown man and his talking teddy bear who smokes pot, swears and lightning, and objectifies white trash ladies.

It’s called Ted, and that’s exactly what you’re going to get with the very first red band trailer that hit today. In typical Family Guy fashion, you can expect to see MacFarlane (who also voices Ted in a Peter Griffin manor) push the envelope to what’s allowed in an R-rated comedy with his writing and directorial debut. Here’s the synopsis, as if you needed one.

In the live action/CG-animated comedy, MacFarlane tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish… and has refused to leave his side ever since.

For the guys who need more than a laugh, you’ll also get the easy-on-the-eyes Mila Kunis joining alongside Wahlberg. Take a look at the trailer after the jump and catch the film in theaters on July 13th.

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April Fools??? Unfortunately for all you Twins fans, it looks like this is no joke. The sequel to the 1988 comedy film Twins, aptly named Triplets, is set to add a third brother to the mix and it looks like that brother will be played by Eddie Murphy.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito have already attached themselves to the sequel to the original film which featured the duo as “experimentally conceived” twin brothers.

At first, having a black triplet seems completely crazy, but considering that in the original they tried to to have two brother who could not be more different from each other. What could be more different from those two than a black guy?

Eddie Murphy is definitely a safe choice for the role as he is no longer the edgy comedian he once was, but is he still a big enough draw for him to be a value. Let’s be honest he hasn’t had a successful film in years. His last film which is still in theaters, A Thousand Words, is a box office failure.

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Director Lasse Hallstrom (best known for My Life as a Dog and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) is a man unafraid of heartwarming, and his latest, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, is shameless. The big fish tale of a romantic, mystical Yemeni sheikh (the gorgeous and charismatic Egyptian actor Amr Waked, last seen as Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law in the HBO bio-pic) with seemingly limitless riches and a cockamanie vision of building salmon fishing grounds in his native desert, Salmon Fishing neatly wraps together all the makings of an arthouse wet dream: exotic locales (the Yemen of the title and a Scottish estate that makes Balmoral look like a split level), a star-crossed yet inevitable love story between bumbling, uptight scientist, Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor, looking good in tweeds) and crisp, proper career gal Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), plus the necessary danger element in the vague shape of possible Jihadi assassins, or at least jealous locals.

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There are two genres of film that really need to strike a fine balance to work. Everyone and there mother’s want to make films about time travel or films with massive quirks. Both have a tiny window of success that teeters over a huge sinkhole of failure.

The new film Safety Not Guaranteed wants to dabble in both playgrounds, with a quirk filled tale about a crazy man who may or may not be able to travel through time:

When an unusual classified ad inspires three cynical Seattle magazine employees to look for the story behind it, they discover a mysterious eccentric named Kenneth, a likable but paranoid supermarket clerk, who believes hes solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon. Together, they embark on a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly heartfelt journey that reveals how far believing can take you.

The early word from Sundance was very positive, and the trailer does strike a very interesting tone. It will be interesting if the feature can connect with larger audiences, or if this film is destined to be a tiny blip that is fondly remembered by the geek community and no one else.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

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Good news for all you Anchorman fans. Will Ferrell made the official announcement on Conan O’Brien’s TBS talk show last night that there will be an Anchorman 2. Dressed in full Ron Burgundy get up, Ferrell did an in-character flute solo followed by an official announcement for “the Americas” that the film is in production.

Adam McKay has agreed to direct. McKay will also write the script with Ferrell.  Other than Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd are signed on to return as their characters from the 2004 original. No word yet on whether any other characters will be returning from the original film. The film will once again be produced under Judd Apatow’s production company.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy had been a DreamWorks production but Paramount took over the project.

As recently as last month, Will Ferrell had been working on the script for Step Brothers 2, which lead many to believe that Anchorman 2 was dead in the water. The sequel had been on the shelf for a while now due to the studio not being willing to reach an agreement on making the film.

More on the film as it becomes available and see the clip after the jump.

Stay classy, San Diego…

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Repo Man (1984), not to be confused with the movie about two guys who go around repossessing people’s internal organs when they miss a payment, is a Punk Rock classic starring Emilio Estevez as a clean cut kid in the dirty business of repossessing cars in the seedy underworld of Los Angeles.

Otto Maddox (Estevez) has just been fired from his job as a supermarket stock boy due to his lack of respect for authority. Later that night at a Punk Rock house party, he also finds out that his girlfriend Debbie is cheating on him with his best friend Duke. To make matters worse, Otto also finds out that his hippie parents gave away money that was promised to Otto for finishing college to a sleazy televangelist. What’s a broke, depressed punker supposed to do now?

After a long night of drinking and wandering the streets, Otto runs into Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) who pleads with Otto to help get his pregnant wife’s car out of a bad area and deliver it to the hospital where she’s going into labor. Otto initially refuses to take the job for less than $20 and finds out that he has been suckered into stealing a car.

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Last week I made mention that this weekend would be dominated by The Hunger Games. I never like to revel in such an easy victory, but for this week I will grant myself a little pardon.

The weekend was dominated by the new film that captured everyone’s hearts. The Hunger Games brought in a staggering $155 Million at the box office.  In just three days the film has already become the highest grossing film from Lionsgate productions ever.

The monstrous opening number is the third highest all time, coming in third behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 and The Dark Knight. The number was also the highest among all non-sequels and non-franchises of all time.

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