Walk this way … to “Young Frankenstein”‘s 40th birthday party
Aug
25
2014
As the young Doctor (“Frankensteen“) has now advanced to prime middle age, his story, told with pinpoint historic accuracy in the great Mel Brooks movie spoof, “Young Frankenstein” (1974), will spool at the Academy in celebration of his fortieth birthday this year. Brooks, twice that age, will submit to interview by Leonard Maltin at the ...
Visit Spain, Czech Republic, both on Wilshire Boulevard
Sep
10
2013
Two European films, both from a similar era, will enjoy screenings soon, along the Wilshire corridor: “Goya” at the Goethe Institut and “Closely Watched Trains” at the Academy. Having attained boundless wealth and iconic status as a painter in the court of King Carlos IV, Goya falls head over heels for a beautiful princess while ...
Oscar was a dancer 2
This amusing photo of Oscar-winning dancer George Chakiris (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, “West Side Story,” 1962) and dance critic Debra Levine taken by Dana Ross last Saturday night at “Oscars Outdoors” sparked an email from Hollywood dance expert Larry Billman. Writes Larry, “The “original Oscar” was a dancer named Emilio Ferandez who modeled ...
At “Oscars Outdoors,” gentlemen still prefer blondes 1
It was a super-special 60th anniversary screening, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s “Oscars Outdoors” summer series, of 20th Century-Fox’s comic classic from 1953, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” the movie that blasted off the career of Marilyn Monroe. And the flick’s funnier than ever. Lead actresses Monroe and Jane Russell zing out hilarious ...
George Chakiris to introduce GENTLEMEN at Academy; Debra Levine to discuss Jack Cole
Sixty years after appearing as a chorus dancer behind Marilyn Monroe in “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” George Chakiris will host the Academy’s “Oscars Outdoors” screening of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES Saturday night, August 3, 2013. In the photo at right we see George, a young man with fake grey highlights spraypainted in his hair. ...
That pink dress! Costuming Marilyn Monroe for “Diamonds”
At right, Travilla‘s design for Marilyn’s iconic pink dress in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) whose 60th anniversary we are honoring with a screening at the Academy’s “Oscars Outdoors” series Saturday August 3. The classy pink dress, lined with felt, was a replacement design for an original, much less ...
Kung fu collateral still kicking @ AMPAS
In 2011, producer and screenwriter Stephen Chin donated his collection of more than 800 kung fu film posters and related materials to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. An exhibition featuring selections from Chin’s exceptional poster collection hangs now through in the lobby of the Academy’s Wilshire Boulevard headquarters. If you are cruising ...
Back-up singers to the fore in “Twenty Feet From Stardom” 1
Providing a spectacular opening event of the second season of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s “Oscars Outdoors” series: “Twenty Feet from Stardom.” The badly titled but otherwise smashing new documentary concerns a great subject: the art of the pop music back-up singer. Directed by Morgan Neville, it’s a must-see movie about American ...
Jackie Chan fast, furious, funny at the Academy 1
Jun
4
2013
He kept popping out of his chair; at one point he perched on its arm. His energy was immense and direct. His water glass sat nearby, untouched. He was a Jackie Chan wind-up toy. Clutching a hand-held mike like a stand-up comic, he worked the room—the velvet-red Samuel Goldwyn Theater of the Academy of Motion ...
The new Academy Museum gets a launch party at LACMA
We had a ball cruising the room at the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles. Many film and arts-world leaders and celebs were in attendance. Slideshow here: photos: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S., Richard ...