News

Due to the normalization of stuff like 4Dx theatres and whatnot, every movie that’s shown on those screens is labeled “gimmicky,” thereby robbing the term of its ability to attract audiences. Back in the day, gimmicks weren’t that common (or cheap), and maybe that’s why filmmakers used to put more effort into it so that their stunt would enter the history books. For example, House on Haunted Hill had theaters bring out an actual flying skeleton when a flying skeleton showed up on the screen. Clue’s ending varied from screen to screen. Tron was one of the first films to use extensive CGI. Lost in London was live streamed to selected theaters. Hardcore Henry unfolded completely from a first-person Pov. Unfriended was probably the first film to take place on the screen of a laptop. Boyhood was filmed over the course of 12 years. Now, joining this eclectic list is Mesopotamia,...

After sharpening his satirical wit on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart’s Lead Muslim Correspondent Aasif Mandvi is bringing the Internet a new kind of spoof, the likes of which we’ve never seen, courtesy of Funny Or Die. Starring Mandvi as a Bill Cosby-esque patriarch, Sakina Jaffrey (“House of Cards”) as his sitcom-exasperated wife (“Oh, Aasif!” is exclaimed derisively in each episode), Nicky Maindiratta, and Shoba Narayanan, “Halal in the Family,” follows an all-American Muslim family. Using the guise of humor, the series tackles issues many Muslim-Americans face. Just to give you an idea, the credits feature Jaffrey hanging up a bathing suit with the American flag, and neighbors picket and protest when they think the family’s house is mosque. “Using some of that humor and the tropes of an all-American sitcom, we wanted to address these issues that American Muslims deal with on a regular basis,...