genius

The actor and musician Jason Schwartzman pulled a cassette tape from his pocket on stage at the L.A. Phil’s tribute to Wes Anderson. Schwartzman was just a teenager when he was cast as the obliviously ambitious Max Fischer in Anderson’s 1998 film “Rushmore,” and on Friday, he recalled the night Anderson played him the film’s entire soundtrack in his car.

“He said, ‘This is the soundtrack to the movie, this is the order it’s going to be in, and he walked me through the entire film narrating it,” Schwartzman said, still agog at the completeness of Anderson’s vision before a frame was shot.

More recently, Schwartzman said, “I was at my mom’s house tying my shoe, and I see a cassette tape on the ground titled ‘Rushmore songs’.” He then chucked the tape into the audience, a piece of film history that hopefully someone caught unscathed.

Anderson’s use of far-flung needle drops and lovely original score work is, like everything in his film universe, planned down to exacting detail. But this opener of a three-night stand — sporting an all-star roster of guest vocalists, an exceptional backing band, and a light touch from the Phil — was more in the spirit of how fans revisit Anderson’s films. As old friends that pop back into your life, affection only deepened with time, right when you need them.

Guided by the genial riffing of the night’s MC, Bill Murray (an Anderson regular from “Rushmore” onwards), the program made its case that Anderson’s savvy with soundtrack curation and delicate, evocative scores are the heart of his films, right along with his meticulous visual style and arch, melancholy tone.

The director, recently freed from a malfunctioning elevator in a pithily Andersonian incident, made a brief appearance onstage with Murray in his regal white suit. But the focus was the music itself on Friday, and the ragtag roster of artists that fully conjured it.

To start, huge credit due to the show’s musical director Justin Meldal-Johnsen and the session-killer band of Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Jason Falkner, Joey Waronker and Gus Seyffert. The sheer amount of music to arrange and assemble for this was vast and demanding, and they got to all of it from 1996’s “Bottle Rocket” to the present.

The Phil took a more modest role, performing poignant, rigorous slivers of scores from Anderson’s go-to composers Alexandre Desplat (“Canto at Gabelmeister’s Peak” from ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Mr. Fox in The Fields,” from “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”) or his frequent collaborator, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh (the propulsive “Ping Island” from “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”)

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet took a lively solo crack at “Moses Rosenthaler” off “The French Dispatch;” Rajib Karmakar and Aakash Pujara played aching sitar and flute drones from “The Darjeeling Limited,” and taiko drummer Kaoru Watanabe nearly blew out the Bowl’s speakers on “Shinto Shrine” from “Isle of Dogs.”

The surprises came from the rock acts brought in to re-imagine the most evocative needle drops from Anderson’s ouvre.

Jackson Browne, in an unbelievable career first, finally got around to performing “Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” tracks he wrote as a teenager eventually covered by German art-rock chanteuse Nico, mournfully used on “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

Beck took a pass at the late Elliott Smith’s ghostly “Needle in The Hay,” used to harrowing effect in the same film, and later Love’s “Alone Again, Or”. Karen Elson beautifully covered Françoise Hardy’s “Les Temps De L’amour” from “Moonrise Kingdom” while the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O simmered through the Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire” off “Darjeeling.”

Yet the delighted gang’s-all-here element that ties Anderson’s regular cast together was embodied by an endearingly shaggy run through “Zorro Is Back” with Jenny Lewis and Rogê. Towards the end of the night, just before a closer with the Faces’ “Ooh La La,” Murray brought out a one-of-a-kind instrument for a big flourish. A nine-dollar desk bell, seemingly purchased at Staples hours before showtime, requested specifically by Anderson.

“Front of house, make sure Bill’s bell is ripping,” Beck implored the sound techs at the Bowl. Indeed, as the band, including Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Lewis and Schwartzman, performed the Bobby Fuller Four’s single “Let Her Dance,” Murray indeed whacked the hell out of that thing.

Fans can’t get enough of the series even after watching multiple times

Fans claim that the prequel series is even better than the movie it is based on.

An ‘absolutely genius’ show that has just been added to Netflix has been labelled as the ‘funniest show ever’. Containing eight episodes in total viewers should be able to binge watch the title in record time.

The first season of Ted is now available on the platform as of today (July 1). It serves as a prequel for the film of the same name written and directed by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane.

McFarlane returns to voice the titular character Ted as well as serving as one of the show’s writers. He also directs every episode of the show.

According to its synopsis, the comedic prequel event series to the films begins in 1993. Ted the bear’s moment of fame has passed.

He’s now living back home in Framingham, Massachusetts with his best friend, 16-year-old John Bennett, along with John’s parents, Matty and Susan and cousin Blaire. Ted may be a lousy influence on John, but at the end of the day, he’s a loyal pal who’s always willing to go out on a limb for friendship.

MaxBurkholder takes over the role of John, which was previously played by Mark Wahlberg in the films. Meanwhile, Euphoria’s Alanna Ubach plays John’s mother and The Punisher’s Giorgia Whigham plays his cousin.

Scott Grimes, who has appeared in multiple MacFarlane projects including American Dad, The Orville plays John’s dad.

A second season released earlier this year but the future of the show is up in the air. McFarlane has said there aren’t any plans for a third season saying its production costs might be too high, although he’s also hinted there could be a film in the future with the series cast.

For now Netflix users can enjoy all episodes of the first season. The second is currently only available via Sky or NOW streaming platform.

Fans are full of praise for the series that boasts a rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than the original film. One person labelled it a “hilarious masterpiece.”

They added: “The CGI for the bear is insanely good, you almost forget he isn’t real. Seth MacFarlane does an incredible job bringing Ted to life, and the chemistry between the entire cast makes the show feel effortless. The cast bounce off the absurdity perfectly, and the dialogue never stops being funny. It’s one of those comedies that’s just pure fun to watch from start to finish.”

Someone else claimed they still love it just as much after multiple watches. They said: “I’ve watched Ted at least 10 times, and it still makes me laugh every single time. The jokes are sharp, the timing is perfect, and the cast is just amazing. it’s absurd, honest, and perfectly delivered. Shows like this don’t come around often, and it’s my ultimate rewatchable series.”

While one person posted: “It’s absurd, a little bit chaotic, and somehow still incredibly charming, much like the bear himself. The show cleverly balances raunchy humour with an oddly heartfelt coming-of-age story, proving that even a foul-mouthed, beer-loving teddy bear can provide surprisingly good life advice—albeit sandwiched between jokes that would make your grandmother faint.”

The go on to say: “Seth MacFarlane’s voice work is as sharp as ever, delivering laugh-out-loud moments with the kind of deadpan brilliance usually reserved for grumpy old men at the pub. In the end, Ted Season 1 is exactly what you’d expect: hilarious, ridiculous, and strangely heartwarming.”

Others warned that as soon as you watch one episode, you will quickly find yourself breezing through the whole series. They said: “Seth is a comedy genius and this project is no different after putting it on with the intention of watching one at 12.30am at night I binge watched it and was left wanting more.”

Ted is streaming on Netflix and NOW

Mel Brooks turned 100 on Sunday. To the 2000 Year Old Man, that probably wouldn’t seem like a big deal. For the rest of us, it was.

Few filmmakers in Hollywood history have remained this funny — or this relevant — for this long. Brooks’ improbable career, chronicled last year in a two-part HBO documentary, took him from defusing land mines during World War II to writing for Sid Caesar and reinventing movie comedy with hits like “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Spaceballs.” Along the way, he conquered Broadway and became one of the few entertainers to win an EGOT — an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

Even at the century mark, Brooks doesn’t seem especially interested in slowing down. A “Spaceballs” sequel is set for release next year. Asked by The Times in 2016, when he was 90, whether retirement held any appeal, Brooks joked, “Well, first of all, I don’t know how to play golf. I could play tennis if it was triples — not doubles. But if there were three on each side, I could cover my spot.”

Every Brooks fan has a favorite scene, and there’s a good chance yours isn’t on this list. That’s OK. We weren’t trying to settle the argument. These aren’t necessarily Brooks’ funniest scenes or his most famous — he didn’t even direct them all. Instead, we’ve highlighted eight moments that show his different sides, whether it’s his fearlessness, his showmanship or the warmth that so often ran beneath the anarchy. No handful of moments could tell the whole story. But these are a good place to start.

Travel expert said he has been doing this for ‘literally years’

A travel expert has revealed a “genius” hack that holidaymakers can use to dodge paying for seats on Ryanair and other airlines.

Rob Adcock regularly posts travel videos to his 141,000 Instagram followers, and in a recent clip he shared a tip he has been using for “literally years” to cut costs when flying. In the video, Rob asked: “Does everyone do this Ryanair seat hack or am I an actual genius? [Get] a better seat and it will not cost you a single penny.”

Rob recommends checking in “as normal” and selecting the free, randomly-allocated seat option, rather than forking out to choose where you sit. He continued: “Check-in closes online two hours before the flight departs so just before that go back into the app, click manage booking, then go to add or change seats. Then it’s going to show you a map of all the empty seats that are on the flight. Remember those seats.”

You should then close the app without paying for anything extra or changing your seat. Rob added: “Then when you get on the plane go and find those seats that you saw that were empty – ideally a full row or extra leg room – and just brazenly sit in it, safe in the knowledge that that seat is empty.”

Rob revealed he has been pulling off this trick for “literally years”, adding: “The flight attendant has never once asked me for my seat number. Just be careful of the front five or back five rows on the plane. Sometimes they check people for weight distribution so stay away from those.”

Although the video focused on Ryanair, he noted in the post’s caption that the trick can be applied to other airlines too, writing: “Best case? Extra leg room. Empty row. Window seat. No stranger falling asleep on your shoulder.

“Worst case? You go back to your original seat and carry on with your life. This obviously won’t magically create business class on a full flight… but for budget airlines like Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizz Air, it’s honestly elite behaviour.”

Both Ryanair and Wizz Air were contacted for a response but had yet to reply at the time of publication. An easyJet spokesperson, however, commented: “We allocate seats for free and also provide the customers with the option to choose a specific seat when booking for a small fee.

“While we require customers to sit in their allocated seats for safety reasons, should customers like to move after take-off, our crew will be happy to help.”