Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge

If you haven't been watching it (because you inexplicably don't watch SyFy all day long), you should definitely check out Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. It's Project Runway for no-longer-legally-allowed-to-be-called Muppets. Brian Henson judges. Animatronics and puppets come to life before your eyes. It's a delight. Give it a watch!

[/Film]

Companion Short to 'Grand Budapest Hotel'

I was a little late to seeing Grand Budapest Hotel, so it's not surprising that I'm a little late to catch the companion short. Check it out below:



Dessert and Wes Anderson? Deliciously sweet.

[via /Film]

'Years of Living Dangerously' Full Premiere Episode Online!

File this under things I should be watching but haven't because I don't have Showtime: the groundbreaking climate change series on Showtime called Years of Living Dangerously.

But now I can! Because the first episode of Years of Living Dangerously is online right now and we can all watch it - access to Showtime or no. We should probably all watch this as soon as possible - who knows, it may be the next Inconvenient Truth (before the actual next Inconvenient Truth).



[via ThinkProgress]

Animated George Saunders

The people at Above Average have animated George Saunders' now famous commencement speech (and book!) Some Thoughts on Kindness.



Beautiful and moving (images and words).

Saunders was also recently on The Colbert Report:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

[via The Hairpin]

If Wes Anderson Directed Forest Gump

What if Wes Anderson directed Forrest Gump? The opening credits might look like this:

From filmmaker Louis Paquet. I don't know about you, but I'd watch it. 

[via /Film]

Read 'Light is Like Water" a Short by the Late Gabriel García Márquez

Anyone who's taken Latin America literature (or hopefully just literature at all) has read some of Gabriel García Márquez's work. 100 Years of Solitude is still one of my favorite books. But if you aren't familiar or want to read something short to remind yourself of what a great author he was, you can read his short story, "Light is Like Water" here. You can also read some thoughts on his passing here and a proper obituary here.

ICYMI: Maya Rudolph's Comedy/Variety Show Premieres May 19th

Starting as a one-off special, Maya Rudolph's variety show on May 19th at 10pm will serve as a pilot that (we hope!) NBC will pick-up to series. Therefore, we should all watch it! Especially Neilsen homes, if those still exist. More info at EW. Looking forward to it!

Funny Dove Beauty Parody

Dove has gotten some flack for its #truebeauty campaign, which essentially talks down to women in order to make them feel better about themselves (?). Comedy channel Above Average has a response:



Wait, I'm NOT a man (or woman!) in a gorilla costume? Incredible.

Also, if you haven't seen Livia Scott's sketch Winifred Butts, The Woman Who Hates Everything, you must watch it.

[via Jezebel]

Mitch Hurwitz Developing New Shows for Netflix!

Although not everyone was super impressed with the content of Netflix's Arrested Development bonus season, I think we were all impressed that it got made at all. Now it's good to know that Netflix trusts Mitch Hurwitz to develop new, original ideas for the subscription service. He seems to be taking a godfather-esque role for Netflix's comedies, acting as a "non-writing exec producer" for other new comedies they hope to develop in addition to the ones he'll create. It's a smart move for Netflix, taking a trusted comedy leader and allowing him to guide them, instead of just assuming they know what's funny. I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

Last Week Tonight, Tonight!

Who's excited for the premiere of John Oliver's new show, Last Week Tonight tonight? I know I am!

11pm on HBO or your parents' HBO GO account!

Nail Art: Anniversary Nails!

I had a million ideas for this: dancing poodles, elaborate cake, other wedding'y things, but in the end I decided on simplicity.

Our wedding colors were green and pink

The other hand read, "6 years" since we got married on our 5th dating anniversary!

Nail Art: Birthday Nails!

Balloons and a colorful cake with a candle!

Nail Art: Easter Nails!

Below is my attempt to recreate some lovely Easter egg nails, completely with Easter chick:

They were actually really fun to do, even if I ended up barely leaving any room for the little chick. Plus, we can always say my shaky lines are trying to mimic how a child would paint eggs. Right?

Hear "The Rains of Castamere" Performed by Sigur Ros

I know we're all hoping that tomorrow's episode of Game of Thrones helps us get over last week's episode. To ease the transition, here's Sigur Ros' rendition of "The Rains of Castamere" as performed in the end credits/a bit at the Purple Wedding.



Ah, happier times (?).

[via HuffPo]

Watch Five Minutes of "How to Train Your Dragon 2"

I know I should be really cool and ignore Dreamworks' new sequel to How to Train Your Dragon (which doesn't even have a clever title), but it actually looks super good, which kind of makes sense since the original was surprisingly super good, too. And now we can watch the first five minutes here and now!



Right? I think it's going to be really fun. Let's all go see it on June 13th and pretend the one who accidentally snorts their coke from laughing too much is the little kid next to us.

[via /Film]

Mindy Lahiri: Post-Cool Girl

The Mindy Project has gotten infinitely better this season. The cast has gelled (the addition of ex-Happy Endings'er Adam Pally certainly didn't hurt!), the stories have made more sense, and Mindy and Danny's romance has built and burnt nicely.

Obligatory Kiss gif

Of course, the jokes have always been the highlight of Mindy, and they've been as strong as ever. Recently, ThinkProgress wrote up exactly why Mindy is such a delightful character: she is not a Cool Girl as defined by Gillian Flynn in Gone Girl. Instead, she is a real girl (not a Lars and Real Girl real girl, but you know what I mean). Give it a read!

Comedies in Space!

A couple of new comedies are boldly going where no sitcom has gone before. HBO and NBC each have space-themed comedies in development. HBO's is Women in Space (very direct title) about women who are sent off on a mission to colonize another planet. NBC's is Mission Control about a woman working at NASA during the space race in the '60s. Interesting that neither are set at NASA (or a private space company like Space X) right now. Or maybe there's one on the way to solidify the trend!

OMG, Parks and Rec! The Best!

Have you all seen the Parks and Recreation season finale? If not, go watch it and then come back and read this!

If so, wasn't it a delight? All the cool kids are talking about how great it was - at Vulture, WaPo, IGN, TIME, probably more! I've never really cared about cameos, but the million and twelve in this episode were all handled with as many jokes as possible, therefore making them all worthwhile. Obviously, Michelle Obama's was stellar - mostly in Leslie's amazing reaction to meeting one of her idols - and how similar it was to meeting her other idols at her national parks department lunch.

The last three minutes were insane. I literally had no idea what was going on, and I definitely need to watch it a few more to make sure I get all the jokes - I was blindsided by the bangs! - but what a great move! We get to see Leslie on top of her game, being amazing, with her adorable triplets, without having to waste time with a whole pregnancy/babies plotline. How great is that? Of course, one day she will have to move out of Pawnee, but, similar to her Councilwoman story, the move to the third floor allows her to stay in Pawnee for now while making a major advancement in her career and establishing her family. Who knows what Ben is doing ("Cones of Dunshire" movie adaptation premiere?!), but I'm totally onboard. 

We all want the best for Leslie and the Parks and Rec crew, and I feel like they've done a great job recognizing that they needed to start showing us what that future would look like before we have to say goodbye to Pawnee for good. 

Interactive Game of Thrones Map!

Still upset about the latest episode of Game of Thrones? Need a distraction without leaving the GoT universe? Check out this incredible, interactive, Google-ified, detailed map of Westeros and Essos. It's amazing!

[via Neatorama]

Pixar Times: The Pixar Perspective (or Lack Thereof) on Race

The Pixar Times has a great article about Pixar's treatment of race. The Pixar Times is clearly a big fan of Pixar (duh), so it's nice to see them acknowledge that there is a problem, that Dreamworks is leading the way in bucking the trend, and exploring the reasons behind the (most likely accidental) whitewashing of the Pixar-verse. They also point out that small improvements are being made (i.e. Mindy Kaling in Inside Out and Pete Doctor's upcoming Day of the Dead movie) without taking them off the hook for ignoring diversity in their previous films. It's a great read. Highly recommend!

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Team up for 'The Nest' Take On 'Star Wars VII"

Not only are powerhouses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler teaming up for Paula Pell-scribed comedy, The Nest, said movie is going to premiere on December 18, 2015. That's right, just in time for Christmas AND the highly-anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII. My first thought was, "Why December instead of May or June?" since it seems like a summer comedy blockbuster ala Bridesmaids or The Heat? But there could be a holiday or seasonal element to the script that we don't know about yet,  and it sure is a sign of confidence that they're willing to throw it up against what's sure to be a blockbuster (at least the first weekend for sure). Whatever the reason, I'm super pumped for a year and eight months from now!

Here's a summary of the flick:
"Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reunite for THE NEST, a new film from Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore about two disconnected sisters summoned home to clean out their childhood bedroom before their parents sell the family house.  Looking to recapture their glory days, they throw one final high-school-style party for their classmates, which turns into the cathartic rager that a bunch of ground-down adults really need.  Fey produces the comedy alongside Jay Roach (Meet the Parents series), and Poehler executive produces from a script by Paula Pell (TV’s Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock)."

[via /Film]

Tiny Felt Easter Diorama

Happy Easter!

I spent Sunday celebrating with friends and bacon-greased chocolate-chip pancakes, but clearly this Deviant Artist was more productive. Check out her miniature Easter diorama, complete with bunny, chick, eggs, and a tiny whisker basket!

Isn't it totes adorbs? So tiny and whimsical.

[via Neatorama]

Brian Williams' 'Gin and Juice'

The Tonight Show strikes again! Here's their latest Brian Williams' mash-up masterpiece:



Yes, this is a one-trick pony, but it's a pony I'll ride anytime they bring it around to the corral.

[via Jezebel]

'Orange is the New Black' Season 2 Trailer!

Who else is super excited about the new season of Orange is the New Black? If you're not pumped yet, check out this trailer:



Say whaaaaaaa? Can't wait for June 6, 2014!

[via HuffPo]

Happy Birthday to Me!

27! Very exciting.

This was a super incredible year - getting married, going on an incredible honeymoon (with real hot lava!), going to the Emmy's, going to St. John's, Maine, Greece, and London! I wrote a pilot, a first draft of a feature, a lot of late night packets, and a ton of sketches, and tried storytelling for the first time - pretty good stuff.

Onward and upward into (my) new year!

Tribeca Film Festival

Anyone want to go with me? Seems like there are a lot of good films this year...

'Fed Up' Trailer

Someone doesn't want a cupcake on their birthday...



Seriously, this could be a great, mind-blowing documentary, or just a re-hash of old, if still absurd, information. Either way, looks interesting!

[via /Film]

The Evolution of Film in 3 Minutes

This is a fun look at how film has changed from the time of its invention to today. Of course, anything that compresses a hundred years of history into three minutes is going to feel cherry-picked and haphazard (i.e. All Chaplin, almost no Keaton? Don't get me wrong, Chaplin's a delight, but Keaton is great, too!), but I still enjoyed it. If nothing else, it's a great way to remind yourself about all the great movies that you haven't seen yet.



[via GITS]

Lego Movie 2 Director Promises More Women in Sequel

I was a big fan of 'The Lego Movie' and I'm glad that the director of the sequel is determined to get more female characters in the sequel!

Director Chris McKay (getting a promotion after working with the delightful Phil Lord and Chris Miller last time) said to the Daily Mail, "I’m not sure our movie passes the Bechdel test entirely and I think that it's important." Believe me, in the super-high-grossing-animated-movie world, that's a BFD.

He went on, 'For us we have a lot of producers that were female who had concerns and we were always constantly saying to ourselves: "Are we just a bunch of white guys sitting here making this movie from our own myopic point of view? We were constantly responding to that question and that helped us make Wyldstyle a better character and Unikitty a more interesting character. I think it's forcing us to look at how we make a sequel and turn that into something that's more powerful and special... Obviously you have to look at the kind of story you’re trying to tell and the theme, but people don't underestimate the value of hard, cool female characters who have their own agency. That’s the thing we’re not doing enough as filmmakers."

Awesome, right? I don't know about you, but I just got a lot more excited about the Lego Movie sequel...

Hated the HIMYM Ending? YouTube's Fixed It

I almost forgot that in the middle of the awful series finale, there was a beautiful finale just waiting to break free. Thankfully, one brave (or at least handy with iMovie) YouTuber did the work for us:



Now this I like.