Film's Most Sinister Villains

Track Flick and making 'fetch' happen, anyone?

(NEWSER) - Hard as it is to believe, John Hughes made his last high school-centric film in 1987. Luckily, the 22 years since haven't lacked for flicks that chronicle some part of those awkward, wonderful 4 years. Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune lists the 10 movies that do it best:

1. Dazed and Confused: Reflects what high school memories essentially are: "plotless, keen distillations of moments and feelings."

Wired declares Klingon the king of sci-fi slang

(NEWSER) - Creators of true geek art follow JRR Tolkien’s example and craft fictional languages to populate their worlds. Wired lists the best examples:

1. Klingon. The Star Trek creation is the king of all sci-fi languages, with fully realized grammar and vocabulary.
2. City Speak. Blade Runner’s vision of earth as a mishmash of Western and Eastern cultures was greatly enriched by this language, described as a “mixture of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you.”

The top ten real hotels featured in Hollywood

(NEWSER) - People usually use movies for escapism, but if you’d like to flip the tables and relive a classic film moment, just check into the hotel where it was shot. The Telegraph runs down some of the most famous, from around the world.

• Beverly Wilshire, Los Angeles: Get a room and put on your favorite spandex mini-dress and boom! You're Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
• Timberline Lodge, Oregon: For a spookier trip, visit this hotel where the exteriors for The Shining were shot. Don't worry: there are amenities year-round.

'Powerless' America wonders if 'good is up to the task'

(NEWSER) - Heroes and villains have clashed in American pop culture since D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915, but today's heroes are oddly at war with another foe—themselves, Jeff Jensen writes in Entertainment Weekly. Like Lost's castaways, modern heroes are "flawed or messed up," reflecting "a culture that feels powerless and pissed." From Iron Man's Tony Stark to the meth-making dad on Breaking Bad, "we can't staunch our doubts that good is up to the task." More»

SF Chronicle serves up its 'Titanic Awards'

(NEWSER) - Oscars go to undeserving flicks so often that the San Francisco Chronicle has a prize for them: the Titanic Award. Pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub targets some of the most egregious offenders:

• Best Picture: Titanic. The award’s namesake, which somehow beat LA Confidential, needs no explanation.
• Best Actor: Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman. "Pacino considered this award an affirmation of his overacting and has played the same character in every movie since."