MetaFilter posts tagged with hollywood

Avatar is actually pretty good

philip-random — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:51:58 -0800

The most expensive movie ever made, is getting its first reviews ... and so far the thumbs are mostly up. Roger Ebert: "There is still at least one man in Hollywood who knows how to spend $250 million, or was it $300 million, wisely.". Previously.

FADE IN: INT. THE BLUE -- DAY

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:16:03 -0800

PDF screenplays of most of the scripts that will probably pick up Oscar nods this year. And the Public Enemies and Funny People scripts, too.

"Just stick this in your crazy hole and we'll unlock the sanity!"

ShawnStruck — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:04:41 -0800

6 Mental Illness Myths Hollywood Wants You to Believe . A smart, funny take on some of the most common Hollywood movie tropes about mental illness.

The Big Apple

flatluigi — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:11:39 -0800

Hollywood vs New York

Telling lies about Poliwood

philip-random — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:34:58 -0800

As I write this, I realize I am about to do something that, for the most part, is never done. I am going to criticize a critic. Filmmakers are never supposed to respond to a critic about their work. It's an unspoken rule of engagement. But in this case, I feel compelled. Barry Levinson (film maker) versus Alessandra Stanley (TV critic for the New York Times) on the topic of her getting her facts WRONG about his latest film Poliwood an "essay" which looks at celebrity involvement in the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Apparently, this is not the first time Ms. Stanley has got it wrong, wrong, wrong.

Angelyne: as essential a part of the Hollywood landscape as the garish minimall

filthy light thief — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:10:52 -0800

She's a public mystery, craving attention but shying away from private interviews. She is a human being Andy Warhol would have created, a painter (of) herself. She ran for Hollywood City Council in 2002, joined the much-parodied 2003 California gubernatorial recall election (previously), and most recently tried to become Mayor of Hollywood (archive of her Mayoral site). She is still loved by snark-mongers. She is Angelyne. She is ... A local Hollywood celebrity for her presence on billboards, the "wicked Eve in Hollywood's media-made Garden of Eden," she is can be found in her bright pink Corvette (Hidden Los Angeles previously, Vector Portraits previously). She has been the topic of local articles for a while, the subject of local and foreign TV interest. She's had bit-parts in a few movies and drove Moby around Hollywood. She's inspired song-writers (sample) and mix-tapers. Angelyne once said "I'm the quintessential billboard queen that's supposed to happen. That's why it's so readily and easily accepted. I feel like I've been embedded in the cement of Hollywood for 3,000 years." But where did she come from? Neither her official website nor MySpace page provide much personal information beyond her likes and dislikes (the latter lists her age as 29). An old webzine has an article on her (circa 1998), noting that she came from Idaho, and moved to Los Angeles for fame and fortune, singing with a group that was first know as Black and Blue, then Baby Blue, and a few weeks it was Angelyne. She released four albums (including Driven to Fantasy), and made a music video for the song "I Always Keep A List of All the Guys I Kiss". But none of those endeavors panned out. Her foray into billboards wouldn't have lasted, either, had it not been for the entrepreneurship of Hugo Maisnik. Maisnik, the president of the outdoor advertisement company who Angelyne contacted, signed with her to support her advertising (and her lease of the iconic 'Vette) for a cut of her profits from her fame. According to a 1987 People Magazine article (which listed her age as 28), Maisnik was her manager at the time. (An article later that year listed her age as 29.) Now you can consider yourself armed for The Angelyne Quiz: How Well Do You Know Her?

The greatest teen exploitation flick ever, 30 years later

mediareport — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:26:30 -0800

OVER THE EDGE: An Oral History of the Greatest Teen Rebellion Movie of All Time Vice Magazine gets Matt Dillon (it was his first movie) and a bunch of other cast and crew together for a detailed oral history of Kurt Cobain's favorite flick and "the Apocalypse Now of teen films." Buried by Orion on its original 1979 release, in part because of violence in theaters which had just shown The Warriors, it found a big cult following among kids with HBO in the early 80s. Co-writer Tim Hunter would later go on to direct River's Edge. Part 1 Part 2 etc. More details 1981 Vincent Canby NYT review 2001 Village Voice chat with director Jonathan Kaplan

K-E-Y! Y? Because We Will Bury You

wendell — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:52:43 -0800

Exactly 50 years ago today, Soviet Premier and Cold War Villain Nikita Khrushchev was denied a visit to Disneyland. He was in Southern California as part of a cross-country tour of the U.S.A.* (Can you imagine an enemy of the US doing that today?). The reasons for the denial? Security Logistics and Time Limitations (you have to devote a whole day for The Magic Kingdom). Instead, he visited a sound stage at 20th Century Fox (shooting "Can Can") and a housing development in a San Fernando Valley suburb. The next day, he got a warmer, but semi-stunned, reception in San Luis Obispo, CA. Not the only place that welcomed him. Farmers in Coon Rapids, Iowa were happy to show off American agriculture in an event recently commemorated.
*Look Inside book at Amazon link for more content. Also lots more coverage in the L.A. Times' Nostalgia Blog)

An unfunny thing happened

dances_with_sneetches — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:00:31 -0800

Larry Gelbart, one of the great stage, screen and television writers has died.

Ozmapolitan

crossoverman — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:59:20 -0800

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

The MGM musical version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz turned 70 this week. It wasn't the first time it was a movie, nor the last time it was a movie or a movie musical. You just keep on keepin' on the road that you choose Don't you give up walking cause you gave up shoes Ease on down, Ease on down the road (come on) Many people read politics into the story, some read queer sexualties into it. Adapted as a radio play in 1908, Oz has been sequalised, reinterpreted, reimagined twice as science fiction and Muppet-ised. So if you care to find me Look to the western sky As someone told me lately - Everyone deserves the chance to fly Gregory Maguire's literary reinterpretation is a parallel novel (and the musical a further interpretation on top of that), while Ruth Plumly Thompson followed Baum's 14 Oz books with 19 novels - the bulk of the "Famous Forty" canon novels. Talk of another film. The Wiki of Oz.

ScriptShadow

alby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:06:38 -0800

ScriptShadow reviews the latest screenplays from Hollywood, usually with links to the screenplays themselves.

Bloop Bleep Bloop Bleep Bloop Bleep Bloop wee wee wee wee CRSSHHH!.... ok that's a wrap.

geos — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:36:27 -0800

Asteroids... the movie?

To be or not to... not to... Dammit! LINE!

grumblebee — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:21:08 -0800

Hollywood Bloopers: 1936-1947 A couple of the years won't load for me, but the ones I can watch are fun.

Raspberries!

greekphilosophy — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:46:10 -0800

Love Carol Channing? The Hollywood magazine Daeida has done The Carol Channing Issue - available online.

He wrote a score they couldn't refuse

crossoverman — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:51:46 -0800

One Hundred Years, One Hundred Scores. The Hollywood Reporter and a jury of film music experts select the 100 greatest film scores of all time. One of the jury is Dan Goldwasser, editor of Soundtrack.net, which publishers interviews with composers, reviews of soundtracks and keeps a valuable list of trailer music - for when a new trailer uses old film music and you can't quite remember where it's from. The AFI's equivalent Top 100 scores list from 2005.

Dude, am I really high, or is this actually working?

CunningLinguist — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:52:42 -0800

The universe is unfolding as it should: from White Castle to House to ...the White House. Actor Kal Penn dramatically left his medical show last night (spoilers everywhere) to take a job in the Obama administration. He credits his interest in politics to his grandparents, who marched with Gandhi.

Dynasty

Joe Beese — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:47:44 -0800

Coincidental to the publishing of her memoir, Candy Spelling - the widow of legendary television producer Aaron Spelling - is selling her Beverly Hills mansion for $150 million. (Daughter Tori Spelling is not expected to share in the proceeds.)

Millard Kaufman, RIP

ubiquity — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:43:01 -0800

Newspaperman, war hero, blacklist front, distinguished screenwriter, co-creator of Mr. Magoo, novelist at age 90... Millard Kaufman is dead at 92.

Soul Pancake

Roach — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:31:24 -0800

Actor Rainn Wilson has launched a community-driven discussion blog focused on life's big questions, such as do we get what we pray for?, why do we spend so much time talking about other people?, and do the imaginations of adults need a serious kick in the balls?

Gore Verbinski... in Hollywood... with Universal.

crossoverman — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:48:52 -0800

Clue : 60 years, the movie, the books, the TV series, the fan site, the musical, the Harry Potter edition, the movie remake.

An Early Hollywood Murder Mystery

amyms — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:58:45 -0800

The bumping off of a famous person is the sort of oyster that any detective delights to open, so you can just bet the family jewels that I was pretty much elated when my Chief, the late Thomas Lee Woolwine, District Attorney of Los Angeles County, called me into his private office on the morning of February 3rd, 1922, and assigned me to represent his office in the investigation of this greatest of all murder mysteries. -- Excerpted from an article archived at Taylorology, a site exploring the life and death of William Desmond Taylor, a silent movie actor and director whose unsolved murder was among the earliest Hollywood true crime scandals. Researcher Bruce Long first published his accumulated information about the case as a small fanzine which evolved into a monthly electronic newsletter and is now a vast archive of articles and interviews, official documents, photos, and more. Although the Taylor case is the main focus, there's also a wealth of supplemental information about the silent film industry and its stars. The Taylorology electronic newsletter is also archived at Silent-Movies.Com

Wishful Blogging

crossoverman — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:44:47 -0800

"The biggest problem with the metal bikini, was that it wasn’t metal. ——Not that metal would’ve been an improvement over what it was actually made of, which was kind of a hard plastic. Whatever it was, it didn’t adhere to one’s skin. MY skin. My young, soon to be popular, unlucky skin. SO, when I was relaxing leisurely against Jabba the Hutt’s gigantic, albiet grotesque stomach, my hard, plastic bikini bottom……….well, it had the tendency to make my now not so private privates quite public. Especially for the actor standing behind Jabba playing Bobba Fett—–I believe his name was Jeremy—–from where Bobba/Jeremy stood, so straight and tall and severe behind his mask——to put it simply and weirdly, Jeremy could see beyond my yawning, plastic bikini bottoms all the way to Florida."

- Carrie Fisher goes from writing the occasional book to daily blogging, from substance abuse to abusing punctuation

I've got to admit it's getting better

peachfuzz — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:58:09 -0800

Brad Pitt is no spring chicken, but it still took some work to put an 85-year-old version of his face on a child's body in his newest movie. The first step: a new markerless, wireless, uncanny-valley-clearing motion capture process, termed "volumetric cinematography" by the effects studio. And that's only the beginning of the magic routine a single movie can go through: a story spaning ninety years might pull out CGI, old-fashioned matte painting, "youthening", and more.

We've Seen This Before

mattbucher — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:40:11 -0800

Just Like The Movies. Michal Kosakowski reconstructs the morning of 9/11/01 completely through clips from Hollywood movies released before 9/11. More of Kosakowski's short films are available here. David Foster Wallace articulates this rather well: "Any really felt sense of a larger world — is televisual. New York's skyline, for instance, is as recognizable here as anyplace else, but what it's recognizable from is TV."

Director Peter Watkins on the Hollywood Monoform

mediareport — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:29:53 -0800

Director Peter Watkins' web site describes the filming, distribution and critical reaction to each of his controversial films, including Punishment Park, the rock star satire Privilege, The War Game, La Commune and more. He also offers a 10-part critique of "the media crisis" that marginalizes non-mainstream ideas via the Hollywood monoform and the Universal Clock, a style he claims structures almost all of the messages delivered to the public, but which sharply limits the range of relationships possible between media producers and audiences. Bright Lights Film Journal on Privilege More on La Commune Watkins discussing the media crisis in a bizarre Stalinist theme park in Lithuania. (The War Game and Punishment Park previously)