The Holiday Inn Christmas Tree Dissolve
A shameless plug. Holiday Inn, the delightful Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby musical for all seasons, is one of the films up for discussion in the hotly anticipated December 22 Lickona/Marks Christmas cover story. Needless to say, I revisited the …
Movie Theatres to Encourage Texting?
It looks as though I'm going to have to start packing a ball peen hammer in my movie theatre survival kit. A multiplex in Bellevue (Washington, not the New York mental hospital) is considering encouraging texting during movies. Why not …
A Christmas Opening Night at the Opera House
By the time Amedee J. Van Beuren got around to heading up his own studio, the animated film producer already had 8 years under his belt as Paul Terry's partner on the successful Aesop's Film Fables cartoons. Between 1928 and …
Bud, the Bickle We Knew!
Comedy and Tragedy: The Two Faces of Bud. The generally accepted consensus among Scorsese proselytes cites this sequence, from John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) as Robert DeNiro's prime source of inspiration behind Travis Bickle's legendary mirror scene …
Vote the Citizen Cain/Mindy McCready Ticket!
Sorry for the PhotoShop rush-job, but Herman and Mindy move so fast these days. You get the point.
Oh Le Olady Olady I Oh, It's Hardrock, and Coco, and Joe!
A few months ago, my editor -- the hopelessly misnamed Ernie Grimm -- asked if Mr. Lickona and I would like to do a back-and-forth cover story on Christmas movies. My parents prohibited me from watching Christmas movies as a …
TV or Not TV: Number of Households with Sets Drops
For the first time since the Nielsen Company began compiling data in 1970, the number of American households with television sets will drop between 2011 and 2012. It makes sense to cancel your cable -- most of the derivative crap …
Comedian Jo Koy at Spreckels Theatre for One Night Only
Prior to this interview, I wouldn’t have recognized Jo Koy had I fished him out of a koi pond. A colleague contacted me with word that Jo would be appearing at Spreckels Theatre this Saturday night, and an interview could …
Let the Awards Season Begin!
We're off to a good start! The New York Film Critics Circle must have heard my pleas: they named Albert Brooks their Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Drive. After pushing back their deadline in order to be the …
Review: The Muppets
L to R: Jerry Mahoney, Paul Winchell, and the incomparable Mr. Knucklehead Smiff. DISCLAIMER: This was my first exposure to Muppets. Before coming off like a raging puppetophobe, it’s been my pleasure to engage in many a warm and meaningful …
If You Outlaw Student Filmmaking, Only Outlaw Students Will Make Films!
A group of students making a movie were in for the surprise of their lives when the LAPD mistakenly took their shoot to be a potential shoot-out. The incident took place at a convenience store in West Hollywood where a …
Top Ten "Turkey" Films to Help Combat the Effects of Drowsiness Brought on by the Tryptophan
Before you paws for a nap, try one of these stimulating "turkey" treats! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ36CnCL3OE 10.) Pieces of April / Peter Hedges (2003) Katie Holmes plays a rebellious daughter who throws together a Thanksgiving dinner for her dying mother and the …
Edwards Mira Mesa Finally Gets Wise to Free Refill Scam
pass-whore [pahs hawr, hohr or, often, hoor] noun Social misfit whose only joy in life lies in their ability to continually get his/her paws on complimentary tickets to evening promotional screenings. So here they are: the dog-faced cineplex soldiers, the …
Clint Eastwood Returns to Acting?
Three years ago, Clint Eastwood announced that Gran Torino would be his swan song from acting. You don't listen well, do you, punk, because now comes word that Clint is considering the role of Reese Witherspoon's father in Trouble With …
Now Is the Time for All Good People to Come to the Aid of Their Marty!
No, I haven't seen it, but that's never stopped me from writing a review of a Scorsese benefaction. Ten stars! Best picture of 2011! The finest use of 3D as a narrative tool since Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder! Hugo …
Three Films Selected by UCSD's ArtPower! Screen on PBS Shorts Showcase
Stop the music! KPBS is showing movies?! It can't be. Not the station that "cancelled" the Film Club and was too thrifty to pony up the dough for Ebert's latest incarnation of At the Movies. True to form, the cinephobic …
L.A. Sheriff's Office Reopens Investigation Into Natalie Wood Drowning
Natalie Wood's body was found floating in the Pacific, a mile away from where her yacht was anchored off Santa Catalina Island, on November 29, 1981. The star of such hit films as Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story, …
Watch Mirror, Mirror for Free on The Big Screen!
I don't know why Lickona is going all slug-nutty over Mirror, Mirror. It's nowhere near Marty's pinnacle, and it does have Spielbug's unclean imprimatur, but I guess as far as network TV goes, it's an amazing story. Don't forget to …
Dig A Divot: Munchkin Karl Slover is Really Most Sincerely Dead
As blogger, I must aver, that Karl Slover will no longer stir. And he's not only merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead. Slover, small in stature, big on ears, and one of the last original Munchkins left on the …
Send Your Kids to Media Arts Center's Fall Film Camp
With Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching, here's a chance to ensure your holiday memories are properly preserved. If your kids spend their fall break at the Media Arts Center's Youth and Media Tech Camp, not only will they be exposed …