Letter from Uvalde

Film · Ideas & Opinion
matthew mcconaughey “The true call to action now is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves: ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state and ...

Jack Cole ‘discovered’ Steve Reeves

Film · Theater
As you see from the above “information sheet” for “Theatre World” magazine, Steve Reeves, the astonishingly buff muscle guy in his first creative foray worked for the choreographer Jack Cole in Kismet on Broadway. Reeves played the “Wazir” [chief of police]’s guard. Reeves (not to be confused with George Reeves, television’s “Superman”) was big on ...

‘Comb-out’ cat fight in MGM hair salon

Fashion · Film
Memories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio’s early-morning hair-and-makeup ritual as described by one of the era’s leading girls-with-curls, Leslie Caron.EXCERPTED FROM: Donald Knox, “The Magic Factory: How MGM Made An American in Paris” (New York: Praeger Publishers) 1973 One of the biggest fights between the ladies was in hairdressing. Sydney Guilaroff was the king of that ...

Writer revered! Leonard Maltin at roundtable prior to Robert Osborne Award

Film · Ideas & Opinion
It was a special occasion, April 23, 2022, and an honor, to be among the writers, all drawn to TCM Classic Film Festival 2022 by a shared interest in Hollywood history, and all in admiration of the modest gentleman at the end of a long table — he who wrote the film bible, Leonard Maltin’s ...

Cementing mitts and memories: Lily Tomlin honored at TCM Fest 2022

Film
The range is surprising once you see it in print. It spans from television to film to theater to streaming content to a much acclaimed one-woman show. Noted TCM primetime anchor and official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, Ben Mankiewicz, of the woman this year’s festival honored with the Grauman’s footprint ceremony (she ...

TCM Classic Film Festival brings subterfuge feminism to 2022 Fest

Film
by 
pam grier, coffy (1973), in-person at tcm fest ed. note: artsmeme is pleased to have steve farber back to its team coverage of tcm fest. steve offers some of his picks for the 2022 festival. After a full three years away, I look forward to returning to this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival . The ...

‘Honey, I’m home!’: the movie mating-game of Nicole Kidman

Film
Seriously. What’s a woman to do? She tried hard, so very hard. She tried for her kids and she tried for herself — because she loved the guy. But Ricky Ricardo’s serial womanizing accrued to such a degree that it caused a rupture in Lucy & Desi’s fine romance. This story is told in a ...

Being alive, with Special Oscar honoree Liv Ullmann

Film
She speaks hesitantly; listening, you wonder if there is a problem, perhaps a cognitive disorder. She meanders, and seems vague and scattered. But if you take the time, just eight minutes, to experience this beautiful set of remarks delivered by actress Liv Ullmann, on the weekend she is receiving a Special Oscar at the Awards ...

Waaaah Ricky, our movie’s terrible! 1

Film
Lucille Ball, held hostage in Aaron Sorkin’s brain in ‘Being The Ricardos’ (2021) So, count them, there are two movies now available, and curiously, both are streaming on Prime video. The first to be released was the biopic written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Being The Ricardos. My notes written shortly after viewing here: Well, ...

George Chakiris: Riff before Bernardo

Dance · Film · Theater
George Chakiris as Riff in West Side Story, in 1959 It’s one of those fascinating show-biz factoids. For fourteen months, circa 1959, George Chakiris, a good friend of artsmeme, performed in the London company of West Side Story, at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End theater district. What is little known is that the ...