Entries
Trick-Or-Treaters pencil out Bob Hope's house
Hey, how 'bout former Lizzy Maguire star Hilary 'Someone Should Knock Her on Her' Duff spreading malicious rumors about Bob 'For Halloween' Hope, huh? Check out a story Cinderella told a TMZ cameraman: http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_vzduy9nl/ Hope had to be pushing 100 …
Assorted film festival news
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/10/54642/ The Oceanside International Film Festival has invited 3 of Mira Costa College's finest to join the official jury. Twin brothers Andrew Reynolds and Brandon Reynolds, both graduates of Vista High, study film at the community college. Stephanie Scurry-Phillips, who …
More intoxicating Kapralik to lap
Miniature movies from the "shadow box" world of studio collagist, Jacques Kapralik
Given my recent two week archeological dig into the sacrosanct work of "shadow box" wizard, Jacques Kapralk, did anyone really think I'd limit the largess to one post? For your delight, I present another handful of movies in miniature form …
2013 San Diego Asian Film Festival here we come!
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/09/54591/ The list of titles on tap for this year's 14th Annual San Diego Film Festival has gone public. Instead of clicking on 140 titles in search of out who directed what, I'll wait until the always eye-catching program brochure …
Review: David Alvarez's 'Building Blocks' commercial
I vote according to camera placement, not campaign promises or party affiliation. Bob Filner's sudden heave-ho didn't leave much time for mayoral hopefuls to stage their palace revolutions. A rush job is one thing, but David Alvarez's crack PR team …
Review: Baggage Claim
Paula Patton is so desperate to find a lover that she hides in a trash can to stalk her potential beau. Patton, not Poundstone. You read right. That's nothing compared to the ultimate sacrifice stewardess Montana Moore (Patton) is about …
Review: Battle of the Year in 3D
There's still a chance to skip it in theatres!
People always ask what television shows I watch after clocking a hard day at the multiplex. Like I don’t get enough visually under-stimulating crap on the big screen, I need to beam more garbage (with a laff-track) into my living …
Barbara Sinatra reveals true identity of Ronan Farrow's father
Former Vegas showgirl and mannequin for the late, great Mr. Blackwell, Barbara Sinatra, has broken her silence concerning the paternity of Ronan Farrow. Those of you keeping score at home remember earlier this week when Mia Farrow let slip that …
New releases opening this week: Gravity, When Comedy Went to School and more
Oh boy, did I like Gravity. I know, I know - so did everybody else. I don't care. I liked it. When I walked out of the theater, they asked for my reaction. I said, "I'm still thinking. Sometimes it's …
Interview with Parkland writer-director Peter Landesman
Matthew Lickona: Tell about how you conceived of the film. Peter Landesman: I didn't want to go down the path that so many people have gone down, the murder mystery and conspiracy nonsense [surrounding the Kennedy assassination]. There's no point. …
Anatomy of an ad campaign: Our Gang comedies, 1922 - 1938
The following is to be played on a loop while reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkM0m-fB2Uw Last week was my mother's Yahrtziet. Twelve years. It's the only day of the year when I find it impossible to focus on a feature. And, oh, how …
The wait is over...
Oh, good grief. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/03/54188/ Because you have been counting the days until you could buy tickets to this sequel. Sometimes I think I could do okay in movie marketing. Then I see something like this and realize I'm just not …
Sinatra, not Woody the biological father of Rosemia's baby?
He has his father's eyes. According to a bombshell interview with Vanity Fair, actress Mia Farrow claims that Frank Sinatra could "possibly" be the father to her biological son with Woody Allen. Were they strangers in the night, or has …
Hitchcock-tober unveils 9 digitally remastered masterworks
Nothing you see in a San Diego movie theatre all year could possibly come close to matching the experience of Hitchcock on the big screen. Away with Blu-ray! For the first time in its history, Reading Cinemas annual Hitchcock-tober celebration …
Origins, Part III: a few final, stray tidbits from James Cameron's Piranha Part 2: The Spawning
Part one is here. Part two is here. First, a final note in support of the notion that Cameron was, um, inspired by Alien when he made Piranha Part 2, so much so that he managed to snag the sequel, …
Dig a hole: A.C. Lyles, the man from Paramount
New Year's Eve, 2001, the first year I ever rang out the old in a warm climate. Who says I'm not connected? While on vacation in Hollywood, a friend of a friend who worked in the Paramount mailroom had arranged …
How the Breaking Bad finale lied to you (and why you were so easily fooled)
Spoiler(s) Alert! Braining Bad and deconstucting the hoax
Okay Breaking Bad fans, I’m going on record with the belief that Walter White froze to death in that car and the rest of the finale was his dying fantasy. My evidence begins with the keys magically falling from the …
Origins, Part II: more from James Cameron's Piranha Part 2: The Spawning
He must have been so tickled to do a remake and call it Aliens.
(Part 1 is here.) You all remember the chestburster from the first Alien movie, right? http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/30/53953/ That nasty little fellow poked his head out in 1979. Two years later, James Cameron gave us this in Piranha Part 2: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/30/53954/ I'm …
Origins: James Cameron's Piranha Part 2: The Spawning
The 1981 sequel was Cameron's first feature-length outing as a director.
Hello, and welcome to Origins, a look back at the early work of noted directors, with a special emphasis on how those early efforts foreshadowed what came later. I can't think of a better first subject for this column than …
Review: I Am Divine: The True Story of the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Pink Flamingos was my Rocky Horror Picture Show. Every weekend for 52 consecutive weeks you’d find me parked 4th row center inside Chicago’s crumbling Devon Theatre for a midnight screening. I dragged every one of my friends to see it …