Entertainment News
Entries from February 2008
In a Los Angeles Times article, writer Dan Neil takes pity on Steve McQueen, who would have been 78 years old this year, saying he's been resurrected for so many product endorsements that he's now the hardest working man in show business. Neil also examines the qualities of specific McQueen films, correctly citing the fact that Le Mans was a bizarre enterprise created primarily so McQueen could be paid to race around in the cars he loved. Strangely, Neil is immune to the charms of the film McQueen is most closely associated with, the 1968 smash hit Bullitt. He gives it a mediocre assessment and strangely says the film is boring in the scenes without McQueen - despite the fact that those sequences featured terrific performances from actors like Robert Vaughn, Simon Oakland, Don Gordon and Norman Fell. Neil has far more enthusiasm for the new Bullitt Mustang, a commemorative editon of the legendary car McQueen drove in the film. He reviews the vehicle's peformance and emerges as a fan - of the car, at least. For the article click here
On Monday night's Letterman show, Will Ferrell concluded his promo appearance for Semi-Pro by re-enacting a famous scene from The Sound of Music. To view, click here
One of the most underrated films of the 1970s was director Martin Ritt's production of The Molly Maguires which told of the hard scrapple life of Irish coal miners in Pennsylvania in the year 1876. The film traced the subversive tactics employed by The Molly Maguires, an anonymous band of rebels who used violent tactics to fight against greedy mine owners. The big budget film starred Richard Harris and Sean Connery but was a notorious box-office bomb despite the fact it made for riveting drama. Click here to read an article on the resurgence of interest in the film- especially among residents of the areas the movie was shot in.
For those of us baby boomers and beyond who lived through the year 1968, its worth taking note of what occurred in society 40 years ago. Writer Richard Nilsen of the Arizona Republic points out that younger people tend to view this period of time as a wonderous period when everything was defined by the momentous events in pop culture. Indeed the late Sixties were heady times for every aspect of the arts. The Beatles had recently released Sgt. Pepper (and redefined themselves and the music industry in the process), new sexual freedoms were sweeping the screen through films like Blow-Up and Darling, and on stage nudity was all the rage with Hair. Nilsen points out, however, that this was also a traumatic era with earth-shaking consequences that went far beyond its pop culture implications - and it all came to a head in 1968. In one year alone, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, the Vietnam War reached its peak, there were the infamous riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago following LBJ's shocking decision not to seek re-election, Mao continued to murder millions of his own people during his horrendous "Cultural Revolution", Richard Nixon came back from political exile to improbably win not only the GOP nomination but also the presidency, race riots tore the fabric of America and the Soviets crushed the burdgeoning democracy in Czechoslovakia through a brutal military invasion. Nilsen points out that many seem to remember the greatest trauma being the cancellation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. It's worth reading through this fascinating article to remind us that the times we live in today are nowhere near as traumatic as they were 40 years ago.- Lee Pfeiffer To the read the article, click here
The advent of home video has been a nightmare for movie directors and continuity people as fans can now pause and study any frame of any film, looking for bloopers. In the past, some of these apparent mistakes were actually known by the filmmakers but were allowed to remain in the film because on the big screen, few would ever notice them. For example, the late director and editor Peter Hunt once told me that when he was editing the first James Bond film, Dr. No in England, he realized that the scene in which James Bond and his chauffeur were being pursued by another car, needed more suspense. He decided he needed a closeup or two of a speedometer to indicate how fast Bond's car was going. The only problem: the car in the scene was back in Jamaica. Hunt simply shot the speedometer of his own car, even though it bore no resemblance to the dashboard seen in the film. Hunt explained that prior to home video, many bloopers were intentional and were inserted because few audience members would be able to perceive them fleetingly on the big screen. More recently, however, blooper-spotting has become a growth industry as thousands of movie fans world wide post mistakes on web sites. WCBS News has an amusing slide show focusing on bloopers in 90 films that have won or been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Most are of relatively recent vintage, but there are few golden oldies tossed in. - Lee Pfeiffer To read click here
Yesterday, we posted a link to New York Magazine's exclusive photo shoot by photographer Bert Stern of Lindsay Lohan recreating the provocative poses from the last photo session Stern did with Marilyn Monroe, six weeks before her death in 1962. We certainly saw our web traffic jump to a record high -shockingly surpassing the hits we got for our Santa Claus Conquers the Martians article last Christmas! However, New York magazine's site actually crashed because of the overwhelming volume of traffic. The site has now added some new out-take photos from the session, one of which is illustrated above. For the new photos, you have to click through the previously posted ones at the New York website. Click here to access, but be warned: due to heavy traffic, it might take a while to page through the slides. Looks like Lohan, who hasn't had a paid audience of any merit since the release of Herbie: Fully Loaded has finally found what qualities to display to entice her fans.
John Landis is preparing to direct a biography of comic book titan William M. Gaines, the man who pioneered the golden age of horror comics with his line of titles for E.C. that included Tales from the Crypt. When politicians sought to grandstand in the 1950s by blaming the influence of comic books as a reason for juvenile delinquency, the E.C. line was forced out of business. However, Gaines got even by venturing into satire with the establishment of Mad magazine which employed many of the artists and writers from the horror line. The rest is history as Mad has become a "must read" for successive generations of young cynics. Gaines was a larger-than-life figure both literally and figuritively and he established bonds with his readers through self-deprecating humor about the staff at Mad, which he routinely called "the usual gang of idiots." Gaines once infamously convinced a naive new employee that the company was run by himself and his brother, who was an exact twin - and had many a laugh the poor man's expense as he tried to fulfill contradictory orders from both brothers. Landis film will be titled, Ghoulishly Yours, William M. Gaines We're already getting on line!
Sideshow Collectibles has been producing high quality, officially licensed sculpted figures of Hollywood icons for years. They recently entered an agreement with Wayne Enterprises to produce a series of commemorative statues based on John Wayne's films. The latest in the line has just been announced: a dramatic deptiction of The Duke in fighter pilot gear from the 1942 film Flying Tigers that told the story of American airmen who volunteered to fight for China against the Japanese in the days prior to the U.S. involvement in WWII. The 20" statue is available for pre-order and sells for $250. For further details click here
Okay, we'll say it up front... our New Year's pledge not to name Lindsay Lohan in our website for the rest of year lasted less than our vow to stay out of Dunkin' Donuts. However, we plead guilty - with an explanation and hope readers will show mercy on us. How in the world could we have known that Lohan would be involved in an erotic photo tribute that actually pertains to a classic movie icon? In 1962, photographer Bert Stern famously photographed Marilyn Monroe for her last publicity session. She committed suicide six weeks later and Stern's stunning photos have become part of pop culture legend. Now, New York magazine has arranged for Stern to recreate the session using Lindsay Lohan as a model - right down to a blonde Marilyn wig. The bizarre but sensual gimmick is bound to sell record numbers of magazines but even better is the news that the photos are posted on the publication's website. Talk about a humanitarian gesture! One of the reasons we vowed not to cover Lohan's outrageous activities (along with her two rivals for Bad Behavior Queen who shall remain unnamed), is that it became obvious that her daily exploits in self-destruction were having real consequences. Lohan, like the other two would-be divas, was spiraling into a state that could have resulted in her death - and there is nothing amusing about that scenario. We don't have a clue as to whether Lohan is still violating her vows to get on the straight-and-narrow, but we can say this: the photographs prove this is not a malnourished, decaying woman. The provocative photos display some eye-popping images and Lohan seems none the worse for the wear. You can judge for yourself by visiting reading the story and viewing the slide show by clicking here.
Some cold water has been thrown on the highly-anticipated teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie that recently debuted in theaters internationally. According to Ain't It Cool News, fans from around the world have been comparing frames from the trailers - and it appears as though the U.S. version has been digitally altered. We said in our review of the trailer that we had concerns that CGI tehcnology may be overused in the film itself, but we never dreamed it would cause a scandal concerning the trailer! If you click on the attached link, it becomes apparent that a scene depicting Harrison Ford and Ray Winstone surrendering to the bad guys has been altered for U.S. audiences by having machine guns digitally removed. Fans have also noted that the U.S. flag has been prominently inserted into the American version while it does not appear in the international versions. The latter can be excused as simply catering to a specific audience, but fans are already in an uproar about being given a sanitized version of the trailer that tones down the implication of violence. For the whole debate visit Ain't It Cool News by clicking here.
Anne Francis, star of the cult TV series Honey West and the classic MGM sci fi film Forbidden Planet, is battling lung cancer. The 77 year-old actress had part of the infected lung removed recently and is now recuperating. Francis says, "I won't know
until the end of May whether my treatment is working. I'm still weak
from the lung surgery and the chemo takes a lot out of you, but I'm
optimistic." Sadly, initial media reports of her dilemma refer to her as a "forgotten actress". As Cinema Retro subscriber Rory Monteith points out, "Forgotten by who???" Ms. Francis has continued to act right up until a couple of years ago and enjoys widespread popularity on the autograph show circuit. To read more (including the offending reference) click here
The Evening Standard is reporting rumors that the famed Carry On franchise of naughty British comedies may be revived with a film titled Carry On Carrying On. The series was all the rage throughout the 1960s when saucy bedroom farces could still raise eyebrows. It remains to be seen whether the producers can capture lightning in a bottle during a time when real life stars engage in behavior that would make even the Carry On girls blush. To read click here. (Thanks to Graham for the tip)
A nude sketch of young Sean Connery will be featured in an art collection of the Ian Fleming family that will be on display in the UK. As a struggling young actor, Connery would pose for art classes. He was a bodybuilder in those days and was the UK contestant in the Mr. Universe contest. Now you know how he got his nickname of "Big Tam". For more on the exhibit click here
Vanity Fair pays tribute to Alfred Hitchcock in it's March Hollywood issue by enlisting top stars to recreate classic moments from The Master's films. Jodie Foster, Javier Bardem, Seth Rogen, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Marie Saint are among the participants recreating moments from Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest and Vertigo.
To read the article click here To view a "making of video" click here
Johnny Carson used to have a real crowd pleaser when he simply read verbatim from certain movie descriptions in the TV Guide. If you thought that the idiots who wrote these embarrassing descriptions had long been retired, the bad news is that their kids are carrying on the tradition. Our new feature looks at some of the worst-written capsule movie descriptions offered on cable services. In our case, it's Cablevision, one of the biggest cable TV giants in the USA. Memo to the top brass: you might allocate just a smidgen of the tens of millions in yearly profits to invest in people who are at least partially literate. We premiere the feature with ....drumroll, please!...The description of the 1958 B horror movie, Blood of the Vampire. Here is the write-up you get to induce you to watch the film: "A couple enter the asylum of a mad vampire doctor and his one-eyed assistant with bangs, Carl." 
While we're happy to be notified that this particular vampire doctor is mad, as opposed to serving in a humanitarian capacity, we don't know what is supposed to scare us more about his assistant: 1. that he has one eye 2. he has bangs 3. he is named Carl Presumably, taken individually, each of these characteristics are tolerable - but put them all together and watch out! Coming next: Planet of the Apes!
Veteran Variety columist Army Archerd speaks to Peter Fonda about producer Roger Corman's controversial 1967 film The Trip which was written by aspriing young actor Jack Nicholson. Fonda recalls how nervous studio executives compromised the content of the script and watered down Nicholson's vision. Fonda was so irate it led to his determined effort to make a film in a bold, new way. The result was Easy Rider. To read the interview click here
Director Mark Romanek has quit Universal's planned remake of the Lon Chaney horror classic The Wolf Man. According to the Deadline Hollywood site, Romanek complained that the budget of $85-$100 was simply insufficient for a film in with only one monster. (Unless the script calls for a Love Boat- like, all-star monster cast a la the ill-fated Van Helsing.) If you've never heard of Romanek, you're not alone. Aside from directing one feature film (the 2002 Robin Williams thriller One-Hour Photo), Romanek's resume is as thin as a Hollywood starlet, with primarily music videos to his credit. Nevertheless, in the great traditions of artists since Van Gogh, Romanek isn't about to compromise his reputation by directing a movie with one hirsute, ill-tempered star (not Sean Connery!) on a paltry budget of only $85-$100 million. Here's an idea for Universal: scrap the whole project, which is bound to be laden with awful CGI-effects, and book the original film into theaters nationwide.
Maxim has provided a social service for movie lovers with a hilarious film-clip enhanced article about one of the cinema's oldest cliches- the scene in which a central character screams "NOoooo!" at a climactic point. For some reason Maxim has settled on eleven such scenes, but acknowledges one is included unfairly: Austin Powers, which in itself, was spoofing this time honored Hollywood tradition. Ironically, Dr. No isn't on the list, but if the film were made today, some character would probably call his name as he plunged to his death screaming, "NOoooo!" Check it out by clicking here
The wisdom of the saying "You get what you pay for" is all too apparent with Woolworth's management in the UK. When you hire ill-informed imbeciles to do your marketing, chances are the decision will come to haunt you in some way. Woolworths recently introduced a line of beds for young girls - and the advertising staff decided to give the brand a nice, cozy name: The Lolita Bed. We're not making this up, folks. They actually named a bed for young girls after the titular character of Vladimir Nabokov's notorious 1955 novel about a sexually promiscuous vixen who brings ruin to the middle age man who becomes obsessed with her. Stanley Kubrick adapted the novel for his 1962 film version. After outraged consumers complained, red-faced Woolworths execs pulled the ad campaign and explained "the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either." You would think that after the story was met with international scorn, the top brass would have at least run to Wikipedia for a crash course in what the name Lolita meant to most educated people. Alas, even this obvious method of saving face was too logical for the great brains who run one of Britain's oldest department store chains. It's a sad commentary that an entire staff of business executives are so lacking in culture that the implication of the name didn't even ring a bell to them. We're checking out the rumors that the lunch counter is stacked with Trojan prophalactics because management understood customers enjoyed condiments with their meals. To read more click here
The Onion's A.V Club column provides a great article analyzing why some stars remain the darlings of the industry despite box-office track records that range from spotty to disastrous. Some, like Nicholas Cage and Bruce Willis, are able to come up with hits that are so sizeable that they mask the fact that the vast majority of their films are boxoffice and critical failures. Others like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie continue to reap huge paychecks from studios in the mistaken belief that their presence on the covers of supermarket tabloids will somehow translate into boxoffice gold. Our gripe is: how many talented newcomers will never get their chance to obtain seed money for their films because so much loot is being doled out to actors who have not demonstrated any clout beyond the gossip magazine circuit? For the article click here
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