Showing posts with label WHAT’S READIN’?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WHAT’S READIN’?. Show all posts

Sunday, June 29, 2008

JUNE READS

Some of the more interesting reads I've stumbled across this last month, that have helped me not finish the books I've been trying to read... 
Being published in installments at Movie City News are pieces of screenwriter Larry Gross’s diary from the set of the 48 Hours. Good behind the scenes stories of director Walter Hill and stars Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, etc. A great read.

Part One: Before The Movie Shoots

Part Two: The First 120 Hrs. Of Production

Part Three: Philosophical In San Francisco

Part Four: Subway Shooting


At Film In Focus

Director Alexander Mackendrick on his brilliant Sweet Smell of Success


Two of the most unusually sexy actresses ever...

At Bright Lights Film Journal, the great and dare I say, underrated Noir star, is profiled by Dan Callahan, Fatal Instincts: The Dangerous Pout of Gloria Grahame (pictured)

And at DVD Times I came across an Interesting old interview with the star of Thriller: A Cruel Picture, Looking for Mushrooms with Christina Lindberg


Green Briar Picture Shows is loaded with epic insightful articles about old Hollywood

Check out this one, George Stevens Fights The Power

John Mcelwee writes about the directors’ fight over how his A Place In the Sun should and shouldn’t be presented on television


Liz Jones of the UK’s Daily Mail reveals... Models on the make, seedy millionaires and porn between the premieres

Cannes of worms: The ugly truth about the world's most famous film festival


Chris Evans In The Independent tells the fascinating story of...

How Sir David Lean had an epic falling out with Steven Spielberg over the filming of a Conrad novel

While Geoffrey Macnab wonders How David Lean's sex life shaped his films


In Variety  Steve Chagollan claims Warren Beatty perfected art of evasion: The maverick filmmaker worked at his own pace 


Reacting to Entertainment Weekly’s dopey cover story, on his Scanner Blog Jim Emerson asks What makes a movie a "classic"?


In Other movie list news...

The Onion’s AV Club continues to put together fun ones, I got a kick out of their

"I might have a whole new life, next time you see me": 25 worthwhile documentaries about ambitious outsiders

It’s got the usual suspects like Crumb and The Cruise, and it might be a little musician heavy. But I’m always happy to read about two my all time favs American Movie and The King Of Kong.

And I was glad the included the underrated  How To Draw A Bunny about the late pop artist (and fellow Cass Tech grad) Ray Johnson.


And finally, here’s a brilliantly written theater review at Backstage.


- sweeneyrules

Saturday, April 26, 2008

STUFF: SEXY FILM GEEKS, 1968, LAZY ACTORS, BLAH BLAH BLAH

HOLLYWOOD- Sitting here on Saturday Night, drinking a beer, watching The Shootist, when I should be out trying to bang chicks, I recalled back to a couple weeks ago when I was at The Egyptian Theater checking out a James Mason double feature
I spotted the fantastic writer Kim Morgan whose website Sunset Gun is one of my favs for interesting articles.

Dorkaly, I said hello to her, said I dug her site and I made googly eyes at her. 

The dudes she was hanging with, shuffled her away from me.

Oh did I mention she’s like, good looking. And she knows a lot about movies!

Oh baby, what coulda been.

So defeated, I went to my seat and watched Joe inhale a box of milkduds.

(Maybe I should have done the Chachi “wa wa wa” to her).


Any-whooo...

Recently she posted a fun piece on her Favorite Car Movies (Two Lane Blacktop, etc. Glad to see Mad Max included)

Personally I hate cars (grew up in Detroit). Maybe I’ll make a list of my favorite bicycle movies...

Let’s see, off the top o’ my head... The Bicycle Thief, Breaking Away, The Muppet Movie, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Wizard of Oz, Condorman, etc. 

(Wow, these lists just roll out of me like magic or a gift (and sometimes a curse) from.... God!”).

Also I should point out a few weeks ago Mrs Masters posted a great piece celebrating what woulda been Bette Davis’ one-hundredth birthday. Give those reads.


Speaking of that old biddy (Davis, not Morgan)

This cool site Cine Beats have a excellent examination of the flick The Nanny (1965)

After being so disappointed watching  Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, I tend to blow off all those post  What Ever Happened to Baby Jane thrillers Davis made, but this piece makes me wanna recheck out this Hammer flick (I watched it some years ago, but didn’t give it my full attention, I think I was clipping my toe nails that evening).


Speaking of sexy movie-nerd babes... 

You may of read Manohla Dargisreview of a documentary, I’m completely itching to see, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Good news: it’s been announced that it’ll premiere on HBO this summer, as well as a number of other festival-fav documentaries.

The controversial doc about the shrimpy Polish director of Rosemary’s Baby will premiere on June 9th

Hey, can someone with HBO tape it (or burn it or whatever) for me?

For that matter, did anyone tape that final season of The Wire? Salivating to see that as well.


Speaking of Rosemary’s Baby...

It 'twas 1968, a landmark year for flicks, a watershed moment, the end of an era, the summer of love, blah blah blah....


In his Dread Reckoning column at Pop Matters 

Marco Lanzagorta  calls 1968 ‘A Terrifying Ruby Jubilee

and illustrates “...1968 saw the radicalization of American society, and an accompanying revolution in the realm of horror genre film making".


Anticipating programs at Film Forum and The Lincoln Center in the NY TimesA.O. Scott explains under the title The Spirit of ’68 “Paris in 1968, as turbulent a year cinematically as it was politically


I’m waiting to find a used copy or when it comes out in soft cover, but I’m excited to read Mark Harris’s book Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood

He breaks down who the five flicks nominated for the Best Picture Oscar came to be and what they represented in the film world.

On KCRW’s The TreatmentHarris was interviewed by Elvis Mitchell 


Sarah Kerr at Slat reviews the book.

What Five Academy Award Contenders Can Tell Us About The '60s


There’s an excerpt from the book on Entertainment  Weeklys website 

Inside the Making of 'The Graduate


Sam Kashner had his own The Graduate article in the March issue of Vanity Fair.

Now it’s posted on the ‘net.

Here’s to You, Mr. Nichols: The Making of The Graduate 


Speaking of ‘68... 

Gene Hackman got famous that year with Bonnie And Clyde (the new double disc DVD has some great ‘making of’' shit on it).

Geoffrey MacNab of The Independent reports that Gene Hackman Bows Out (he's retiring from acting)


To bad some of his peers continue to make terrible flicks

On the Rocket Blog I pointed out the limits in the roles Pacino and De Niro do in Cop Or Criminal

And back in January, under the title Coppola Now! in writing about the two method hams I wondered....

“The movies no longer feel like events and De Niro no longer seems to give a shit who he works with. 

Why did he do Hide and Seek? Was he dying to work with the director of Swimfan?”


Stealing my idea, Patrick Goldstein in The LA Times says “The once-great actors are embarrassing

Pacino and De Niro: How the mighty have fallen

(and he doesn’t credit me and his writing doesn’t have my charming drunken grammatical errors. Mister Bigshot, with an editor).


Speaking of fading acting careers (no not my own)...

Michael Cieply at The New Times went all Aint It Cool News, reporting about a sneak preview....

Tom Cruise, in Bit Role, Nips Studio’s Top Gun

They raved about his unbilled role in the latest forthcoming Ben Stiller flick Tropic Thunder

And now with all the disastrous speculation being written about his new flick Valkyrie 

The Times writes another lovey-dovey piece in defense of him.

The Nazi Plot that's haunting Tom Cruise And United Artists

Hmmm. I wonder if the the toothy star has “an in” there. 


Speaking of... nothing

Okay, quickly...


From Twitch

I hope this flick gets released.

Can PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Be Seen?


I kinda liked this low budget flick Mulberry Street (my ‘lil review here)

At The House Next Door there’s a good interview with the Writers/ Director


This is a crazy cool web site.

TOMB IT MAY CONCERN - David Zuzelo Scribbles on Mangled Media! One man's journal through the swamps of mangled media! From Jess Franco to Christina Lindberg to the art of Eurocine. Mangled Media knows no bounds. Nor does it recognize good taste!


"sweeneyrules out"