TCM: Turner Classic Mishpocha
Feb
19
2024
At the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel a cocktail reception celebrating 30 years of Turner Classic Movies: TCM. A classy affair with a real family feeling. Mishpocha, in Yiddish, means “family.” One was struck, in attending Turner Classic Movies‘ 30th anniversary gathering, January 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel, that, beyond the ...
A sensory feast as ‘Queen’ 1981 rock concert gets IMAX revisit
A fleeting window into rock’s pantheon opens from January 18th to 21st, as IMAX presents Queen Rock Montreal, a visceral document of the band’s incandescent live energy and artistry. Queen’s deep respect and unwavering generosity toward their audience shines through every frame and every note of this documentary film that captures two nights of performances ...
‘Perfect Days’: Wenders’ cinematic diary of dappled light & shadow
Soon after the pandemic, acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders was invited to witness Tokyo’s award-winning urban renewal project, The Tokyo Toilet, in which renowned designers reimagined the typical urban public restroom. Wenders, who is also a celebrated documentarian (Buena Vista Social Club, Pina, and the new Anselm), was expected to craft short films about each ...
Mad for Mads in Denmark’s ‘The Promised Land’
Jan
7
2024
On the face of it, perhaps a not-very-scintillating tale. A bunch of guys fighting over a piece of land.Mads Mikkelsen plays Ludvig Kahlen — a real historic figure — a beat-up, 18th century army captain who seeks to fulfill the King’s hoped-for habitation of an inclement swathe of dreary Danish terrain. With the love of ...
John Waters, son of P.T. Barnum
He was irrepressible. In 1959, filmmaker John Waters posted announcements on telephone poles of his Baltimore neighborhood. From the start, he was both a creator and a P.T. Barnum impresario. Culled from the costumes, props, handwritten scripts, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, film clips, and more, included in “John Waters, Pope of Trash,” the major exhibition dedicated ...
Mini-movie review: Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’
If all you want for Christmas is excellent acting and heart-pounding race-car chases in a complex drama-filled love triangle, then master action movie-maker Michael Mann’s Ferrari (presented by NEON) is waiting in a cinema near you. The excellent Adam Driver heads the cast, channeling Enzo Ferrari’s smoldering intensity while working overtime to master the proper ...
Enjoying life at 98: Dick Van Dyke
Dec
19
2023
I cannot say more, or in a truer fashion, about the jaunty 98-year-old than did the man who took these photos of Dick Van Dyke, and then wrote about him in Los Angeles Magazine. Chris Nichols, a friend of artsmeme (F.O.A.M.) took these candid shots in conjunction with Moments in Time, an exhibit photographic portraiture ...
‘Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad’ with Barrie Chase in person 1
Dec
18
2023
It’s a macabre but nonetheless resolute fact — and it came directly, unprompted, from Chase, a friend of artsmeme (F.O.A.M.). (She is also one of artsmeme’s favorite subjects.) Barrie Chase, one of Hollywood’s most precious jewels as a dancer, now 90 and fit as a fiddle, admitted it herself. Speaking of It’s a Mad, Mad, ...
Splendid early film choreography by Jack Cole for ‘Kismet’ (MGM, 1944) 2
This YouTube bundling of two lengthy harem numbers choreographed by Jack Cole for KISMET (MGM, 1944) displays the young choreographer’s mature grasp of his craft in staging, and in creating beautifull and unusual framing of dance for the eye of the camera. The first sequence has rare footage of The Kraft Sisters, in particular Beatrice ...
Glitches and snafus: arts-writing errata that drives us crazy
As the Internet has expanded opportunities for all kinds of people to be published (including riff-raff like artsmeme!) with bylines, so too has spread misinformation, glitches, and snafus, the kinds of mistakes that an editor used to safeguard from readers. I myself am in this situation; I self-publish without editorial oversight. I am always grateful ...