Animated women of film-animation world step out — in gallery show
“Ladies of Animation,” a gallery exhibit featuring personal works by female artists from major film studios including Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks opened a few days ago at GRspace. Artists Victoria Ying, Sho Murase, Helen Chen, Nicole Mitchell, Clio Chiang, Griselda Sastrawinata, Anna Chambers, Lorelay Bove, Claire Keane, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Brittney Lee, Kendelle Hoyer and Lissa ...
British diva, Dame Shirley Bassey, to appear on Oscars 2
We learned from arts·meme‘s friends at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences that Dame Shirley Bassey will make a special appearance on the Oscars® show broadcast on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center. The sublime chanteuse, a prima diva, Bassey is best known for recording the ...
John Cusack, ballet fan 1
It was not possible to miss actor John Cusack hanging out in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion lobby during intermission at the Joffrey Ballet last night. He’s quite tall, his broad face is totally open and familiar, and his coloring is vivid: jet black hair against pale white skin. He’s striking and artistic looking. I chatted ...
Exceptional French film to spool at Laemmle Theatres 1
Jan
24
2013
Laemmle Theatres and Rialto Pictures present Marcel Carné’s Port of Shadows (1938) in a new DCP restoration featuring an all-new translation and subtitles by Lenny Borger. When Jean (Jean Gabin), a deserter from the Colonial Army, arrives in Le Havre searching for a place to lie low, he doesn’t expect to wind up in the ...
Jerome Robbins hits the bull’s-eye
As this Saturday afternoon draws to a gloomy conclusion, it seems like a perfect time to fire up the “Prologue” from WEST SIDE STORY (1961). But when is not a great time to watch this? Jerome Robbins’s brilliant storytelling through dance … Leonard Bernstein’s tremendous original score — the anthem of an urban jungle. A ...
Django’s jangling cinematic reflections
Jan
16
2013
We massively enjoyed Quentin Tarantino’s frontal attack on a hateful chapter of American history, “Django Unchained,” an ambitious and hilarious cinematic tour de force. The strength of the film is its use of the director’s best gift — his deep knowledge of his own metier — in a conversation not just with history, but with ...
Mary Blair, the woman artist who inspired Disney’s “Nine Old Men” 1
At last night’s panel discussion of Walt Disney’s animated classic, “Peter Pan” (1953) (the new blu-ray version is now playing at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre), we learned about the film’s core group of animators. Walt Disney jokingly referred to this crew not as “Pan-imators,” but rather as his “Nine Old Men.” The expression puns on ...
“I’m flying!” Pundits to prattle on Peter Pan panel
Jan
10
2013
“I taught you to fight and to fly. What more could there be?” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan and Wendy A special celebration takes place Friday night at the marvelous El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It’s a “Peter Pan” panel discussion, moderated by Leonard Maltin, at 7pm, with Walt Disney’s animated classic from 1953, “Peter ...
Hello Harlow! 2
Jan
2
2013
In a nice movie-starrish start to the new year, we’re attending the opening of an exhibition dedicated to actress Loretta Young at the Hollywood Museum on Highland Avenue on January 8. Then the next night, we’re looking forward to attending a super fun “Evening at the Barn” presentation by the Hollywood Heritage group — a ...
Happy New Year 2013 from arts·meme! 1
[click directly on photos for detail] Incandescent dance photography from a Hollywood film. Why are we not surprised that Jack Cole stands behind it? The Harlequinade costumes are a dead giveaway; one of the enduring interests of this choreographer (he died in 1974 in Los Angeles) was commedia dell’arte. High-voltage performance (Gower Champion laudable in ...