Amanda Mannen

1 week ago | cracked.com | Amanda Mannen

Listen, we know fictional movies aren’t documentaries. Even when they’re based on true stories, we don’t expect meticulous research on every aspect of a story or character’s life. Do we know what kind of socks Alan Turing wore? Maybe someone does. Movie audiences don’t need to. But sometimes, it’s just obvious that filmmakers put zero effort into researching the most basic elements of a key subject to their entire project.

1 week ago | cracked.com | Amanda Mannen

Unless it’s some kind of one-man character study, probably starring Jon Hamm, the setting of a series can be just as important as the primary characters. The people around them give them context, whether they’re less or even more bonkers by comparison, and in the case of home-based TV shows, that’s neighbors. In fact, a well-written TV neighbor can be more compelling than the protagonist.

1 week ago | cracked.com | Amanda Mannen

They may look hot on-screen, but on the set, every sex scene is a technical nightmare of remembering choreography, pretending you don’t smell your co-star’s craft services tuna breath, and 50 bored crew members alternately watching you and scrolling on their phones. That’s under the best possible circumstances, too. When worst comes to worst, it can be awkward, gross or legitimately painful.

2 weeks ago | cracked.com | Amanda Mannen

Acting is a lot more than just reading lines. There’s body language, the inner life of the character, convincingly making out with someone who has a “sexual misconduct allegations” section on their Wikipedia page, etc. But you can’t deny the power of a masterful line reading. Like, can you even imagine Tommy Lee Jones saying, “I don’t care” in any other way? Or Daniel Day-Lewis saying, “I drink your milkshake”? Or Posh Spice saying, “This dress is dry-clean only, Melanie”?

2 weeks ago | cracked.com | Amanda Mannen

Theoretically, a band is more than the sum of its parts, but it’s hard to deny a certain amount of Daisy Jones and the Sixing. It’s hard to imagine Queen without Freddie Mercury, Radiohead without Thom Yorke, the Beatles without, like, any of the Beatles. If any of those people had found more attractive offers, music history could have looked very different. 5 Slash Nearly Joined MegadethYou ever get so high you almost become Megadeth’s new guitarist?