CliqueClack

Get your free passes to Twenty Feet From Stardom in DC

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Ever wonder what the life of a backup singer was like? Do they crave to take center stage, or are they comfortably secure just in the background? CliqueClack, Radius-TWC and Allied Integrated Marketing want to give readers in the DC area a chance to find out. We have a very limited supply of passes to the advance screening of Twenty Feet From Stardom to be held on Monday, June 24, 7:00 PM at Landmark E Street. To receive your Admit Two pass, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. The first 50 comments will win and the offer will end at that point. So don’t wait around while others steal the spotlight. Leave your comment now!

Much Ado About Nothing is a lovely, funny, very Whedonesque Shakespeare movie

We don’t see a lot of Shakespeare these days, except in the derivative storytelling sense, of course. Yes, there was the terrible 2011 movie Anonymous that claimed ol’ Willie didn’t write a bit of it, and the barely seen 2012’s Coriolanus and this year’s Warm Bodies, which was very loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. But every year there’s usually at least one, even if they aren’t widely seen. Impressive stuff for an author that hasn’t written anything new in 400 years. I suppose those themes and characters are still resonating with people even today, despite the language barrier we all faced reading those book in high school. By my troth, there’s an awful lot of antiquated colloquialisms in those plays. But the words are one thing; not everyone can pull off a Shakespearean monologue believably. On the other hand, some people totally can.

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The Bling Ring is fun and entertaining, but pointless and ephemeral

The obsession with celebrity is nothing new, much like most things art likes to talk about. It is quite the same thing for the travails of disaffected youth, although there is a bit more of that in more wealthy countries — it becomes a parallel to the classic hero’s quest, the search for meaning by those that already have everything they need to survive. But one thing that has become particularly prevalent in recent years is the concept of someone “being famous for being famous,” a circular death spiral feeding on itself like the legendary Ouroboros. They become famous by virtue of association with others famous for talent or deed. And yet, media attention on the rich and beautiful has really always been around in one form or another, at least as far back as “media” goes. Think of the scandal sheets of the early 20th century or the gossip mongers of centuries even earlier. Nowadays it’s just easier for more people to be reached and think “you know, that could be me!” After all, they didn’t do anything — they just became famous, which isn’t entirely accurate. It’s a careful model followed by the rich wannabes seeking the spotlight. Is it any wonder that the impressionable youth wants in?

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Monsters University appeals to viewers young and old

Rarely does a prequel work. For every Rise of the Planet of the Apes, there are three or four Phantom Menaces or Dumb and Dumberers. But the idea of taking a couple of beloved characters and exploring how they met is an intriguing one: did they get along at first? Did one steal the other’s girl? So when you can find a way to make the story work, everyone has a good time. And when it is Disney and Pixar behind the flick, you know it’s going to be a success.

Monsters University follows a 10-years-younger Mike Wazowski and Sulley Sullivan as they navigate the waters of the best Scarer-school around. The pair couldn’t be bigger opposites: Sulley is a legacy with the build to match, the latest in a long line of top-notch Scarers. But he’s relied on his scary body and big ROAR to get him this far instead of hitting the books and honing his craft. Mike doesn’t have that luxury; his small frame and less-than-scary look means that he has to study every bit of Scaring Theory. When the boy with the silver spoon in his mouth meets his counterpart with a chip on his … erm … “shoulder,” hijinks ensue.

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World War Z is an intense thrill ride

We’ve seen countless zombie invasion movies by now, and they’ve even invaded TV with AMC’s The Walking Dead. Gone are the days of George A. Romero’s slowly shambling walking corpses. Thanks to Zack Snyder’s remake of the Romero classic Dawn of the Dead, today’s zombies – for the most part – have the ability to move very quickly. The joke used to be if you couldn’t outrun a zombie, you deserved to be eaten.

In World War Z, the planet is being overrun by zombies … or something like zombies. The film opens in Philadelphia where Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family are stuck in a massive traffic jam. After the loss of a rear view mirror and a runaway truck plowing through the traffic, Gerry realizes something is very wrong and gets his family out of the car and on the run, witnessing extremely fast people running and jumping through the streets, attacking anyone who isn’t fast enough to get out of their way. One such victim appears to be killed, but begins convulsing wildly, stands back up and joins the others looking for more victims. Is this mass hysteria or some kind of infection?

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Our favorite non-Red Wedding parts of Game of Thrones’ third season

It’s been over a week and a half since the third season finale of Game of Thrones aired, and we would be lying to you if we said we weren’t in a little bit of withdrawal at this point. Sure, we didn’t love the exact note the season ended on, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t love the season.

With the Red Wedding getting all of the hype at this point, it’s hard to remember some of the awesome stuff that came before it. In this week’s Beyond the Wall, we’re going to look back at some of our favorite non-Red Wedding parts of Game of Thrones’ third season.

Before we get to it, the usual spoiler warning. Beyond the Wall is a column intended for those who have already read all of the books in author George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series that the show is based on. So if you don’t know who the Red Viper is — and why we’re so excited for him to show up — then this post probably isn’t for you.

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Venus in Fur whips it good

I studied Venus in Furs back in graduate school and spent hours listening to brilliant psychoanalytic professors breakdown Deleuzian theory for me. Venus is one of those high concept texts, like Beloved, that’s practically unadaptable. So, when David Ives’ contemporary revision hit Off-Broadway in 2010, I greatly considered attending … but didn’t. This is the thing. I lived breathed, read and re-read that novel, Sade, Jelinek, Rochester, and anything even vaguely related to sexual kink. Could a contemporary adaptation even come vaguely close? The original 1870 text penned by Sacher-Masoch surrounds wide-eyed innocent Severin, who begs his idealized lover, Wanda, to either marry or dominate him. Unsurprisingly, she chooses the latter. The novel traverses their increasingly sadomasochistic relationship while it grows amazingly fantasist. Severin dreams of a female polar bear clawing his body. His lover’s Black female servants tie him to a plow and whip him. In the end, Wanda’s lover, The Greek, whips the shit out of him while she watches. Seriously. HOW do you put that on without OFFENDING EVERYBODY? How do you put that on while maintaining the utter AWESOMENESS of the original source material? Luckily, playwright David Ives and The Philadelphia Theatre Company have the answer.

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Jack the Giant Slayer is better than expected

I didn’t get a chance to see Jack the Giant Slayer when it was out in theaters, and after reading a few of the tepid reviews (including our own Jeremy Fogelman‘s) I was glad I didn’t drive the 45-minutes it would have taken me to attend the press screening. But now the film is available on several video formats from Warner Home Video – DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Digital Download – so I decided to give the film a spin on Blu-ray.

If you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, then you already have a very, very basic idea of what the film will be about … but there are major changes to the plot. I remember the original Jack to basically be a thief as he stole a harp and a golden egg laying goose from the giant who lived in the clouds. Then he kills the giant as he climbs down the beanstalk to reclaim his treasure … and they live happily ever after, apparently guilt free.

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Win passes and be the first to see The Heat in Baltimore, DC or Norfolk

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CliqueClack has partnered with 20th Century Fox and Allied Integrated Marketing to give our readers in Baltimore, DC and Norfolk a chance to see Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat before anyone else! The screenings will take place as follows:

• Tuesday, June 25, 7:30 PM, Regal Gallery Place, Washington, DC
• Tuesday, June 25, 7:00 PM, Cinemark Egyptian, Hanover, MD
• Tuesday, June 25, 7:00 PM, AMC Hampton Towne Center, Norfolk, VA

Please read and follow the rules very carefully before entering this contest.

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Win passes to see White House Down in DC, Baltimore and Norfolk

The commenting period for this contest has ended. Winner will be notified by email.

CliqueClack has partnered with Sony Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to give our readers in DC, Baltimore and Norfolk a chance to see Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx in White House Down before anyone else! The screenings will take place as follows

• Tuesday, June 25, 7:00 PM, AMC Mazza Gallerie, Washington, DC
• Tuesday, June 25, 7:00 PM, AMC Loews White Marsh, Baltimore, MD
• Tuesday, June 25, 7:00 PM, AMC Lynnhaven, Norfolk, VA

Please read and follow the rules very carefully before entering this contest.

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