Wonderful world of Allee Willis now in fun pop-up book
One of Hollywood’s most legendary homes—where every room bursts with color, music, and an eye-popping collection of American kitsch —is that of the Grammy, Tony, and Emmy-winning Hall of Fame songwriter, the late Allee Willis. The hit songwriter co-wrote Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September“ and “Boogie Wonderland,” as well as, among many many other songs, the theme ...
My TCM Fest: critic’s choices for Friday April 25, 2025 1
Apr
21
2025
Well, it’s that time again. It’s time for cinephiles from across the country to converge on Hollywood Boulevard in the stretch between our three mighty houses of cinema, respectively, the Chinese, the El Capitain, and the Egyptian Theatres, and bask in the rich movie programming offered in TCM Classic Film Festival. The Festival, in its ...
On Hallo•meme, be bewitching, like ‘Gilda’ 6
I was thinking about my costume for this Halloween. Who better to embody than Rita Hayworth in her hallowed role as a film-noir temptress in the movie of the same name, Gilda (1945), from Columbia Pictures?Here she is in her nightclub number in the movie, “Put the Blame on Mame.” Rita was dressed in a ...
Be a Yankee Doodle Dandy with BalletX — and call it ‘Macaroni.’
Two distinct takes on Yankee Doodle’s ‘Macaroni’ We all sang it as kids, didn’t we, and we loved it — the borderline-bombastic patriotic song with oom-pah-pah rhythm and funny lyrics. The alliterative “doodle-dandy” pays no rent in our ears ad infinitum. The opening stanza is custom made for those who don’t question the deep meaning ...
Bernardo forever, aka George Chakiris at 92 1
photo by jittlov I’ve spent a good deal of time watching the multiple Academy Award-winning West Side Story (1961), and have reached certain conclusions — you may have your own. First, if you haven’t seen West Side (as insiders shorten it) on a big screen, you haven’t seen it. This movie-musical is an operatic experience ...
Top this, Hollywood! The making of ‘Top Hat’ (1935) 2
artsmeme is lucky to have good friends who collect fabulous Hollywood dance photos like the one above, given to us by Bison Archive’s Marc Wanamaker. It’s a soundstage shot of the making of the superlative movie-musical from RKO, “Top Hat” (1935). In our photo, director Mark Sandrich, in his own swank chapeau, directs a brief ...
Twin titans of terror to add Festival shivers at Cinecon 60
Aug
8
2024
Labor Day could mean lazing around, eating hot dogs, and reading the funny papers — all pleasures of the working man and woman’s holiday. But for the past sixty years, cinephiles have gathered on this end-of-summer weekend for a five-day “deep dive” — and that means morning-till-night — to imbibe a banquet of rarely seen ...
Dear Academy Museum, please stop trying to divide us
doesn’t get better: cab, fayard, harold Dear Academy Museum, The Nicholas Brothers were great dancers not ‘Black’ dancers For an institution tripping over itself in an effort to evince sensitivity toward every sector, segment, and demographic that ever walked Planet Earth for the past 3,000 years — a real mission impossible, guys — you keep ...
arts•meme glimpses Francis Ford Coppola’s soon-coming ‘Megalopolis’
Apr
30
2024
Our first glimpse, in single photo, above, of Megalopolis, a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined modern America, a soon-coming motion picture directed, written, produced by Francis Ford Coppola. It goes like this, or so it is said to: The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist ...
Melvin Kaminsky lives. [slideshow]
Apr
29
2024
Melvin Kaminsky (born June 28, 1926) aka Mel Brooks was in fine fettle interviewed at age 97 by Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz during the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival in its 15th annual staging in Hollywood, California. He explained to an audience gathered at TCL Chinese Theatre for a screening of “Spaceballs” (1987) ...