Patti LaBelle's Hairdresser & Bodyguard Charged with Assault
The incident took place on March 11 at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Surveillance video shows two members of Patti LaBelle's entourage (63-year-old hairdresser, Norma Harris, and bodyguard, Efrem Holmes) mixing it up with West Point cadet Richard King. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTMxFdbbysU The …
Free Outdoor Screening of Megamind Saturday Night
Tomorrow night, the CommCinema traveling picture show stops at the Tierrasanta Community Park for Time Warner Cable's "Moonlite Movies" free outdoor screening of Megamind. I'll be projecting the show, and while it's doubtful that I'll make it all the way …
Nancy Kwan in Person & Hopefully Hou in 35mm at Asian Film Festival
Even though October is still a few months off, it's never too early to tout news of the San Diego Asian Film Festival's upcoming lineup. This year SDAFF will honor Nancy Kwan, the renowned Eurasian actress who helped to shatter …
Stop the Presses! Robert Pattinson Gets a Haircut!
This is not the news I wanted to end my week. First Justin Bieber tampers with his trademark sugar-bowl locks and now Twilight's Robert Pattinson gets his ears lowered! Pattinson is in Toronto hard at work on a film that …
Latino Film Festival Announces August's Cinema en tu Idioma Lineup
The name of the series was originally Cine Mexicano, but after a few years, San Diego Latino Film Festival Ethan Van Thillo changed it to Cinema en tu Idioma ("Film in your Language"), a riff on Landmark's old "The Language …
Dig Three Holes: Anna Massey, Elaine Stewart, and Edith Fellows
This year's 4th of July festivities didn't take a vacation from the old celebrity "death comes in threes" precept. The trio of supporting players taken during the holiday weekend includes Anna Massey, the award-winning British actress victimized in films by …
The Great 4th of July Bronco Billy Wild West & Indoor Fireworks Show!
It was a Saturday matinee at the second-run Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois. Some of you may recognize the name from its vast marquee used as the backdrop for the title sequence of Siskel and Ebert’s At the Movies. …
Unlimited Theater Movies for $50 a Month? Nope.
We are all guilty of theater-hopping on at least one, two, or, if hard-pressed, maybe even a couple hundred occasions. Once upon a time, movie theaters stationed stub-checking ushers at the front of each auditorium between shows. Today, most theater …
For Scorsese, Life Is No Longer a "Cabret"
First it was titled The Invention of Hugo Cabret, then Hugo Cabret. Now word has it that Martin Scorsese's 3-D adaptation of mega-selling author Brian Selznick's novel is simply, Hugo. Personally, I call it the Best Picture of 2011...I hope. …
Local Filmmaker Asks for Community Support
Paul Espinosa Paul Espinosa needs our help. The documentary filmmaker (The Lemon Grove Incident, The New Tijuana, In the Shadow of the Law), professor, activist and founding member of the Board for the San Diego Latino Film Festival, is holding …
What's the Matter(horn) with Disney's lack of Originality?
When it comes to being green, no studio recycles their own garbage with more aplomb than the Walt Disney Company. Spielberg and Lucas were the first to turn movie theatres into children's thrill rides, but leave it to the house …
To Zoom Or Not to Zoom?
The zoom lens is the most useless gadget in a lazy cinematographer's toolbox. Why hand crank a lens when you can move a camera? So what it you have to hire grips, lay and level track, rehearse the movement, use …
Sunday Dinner And a Movie From Big!Lots
On alternate Sunday evenings for the past 10-years, it’s been my pleasure to dine with friends, both of whom I consider to be highly cineliterate. These outings have become bi-monthly vacations from cinema, with the added benefit of exceptional conversation …
10 Ways for Michele Bachmann to Tell the Difference Between John Wayne and John Wayne Gacy
While out stumping in Waterloo, Iowa, Republican presidential wannabe Michele Bachmann compared her character to that of legendary right-wing movie star John Wayne. She told a reporter for Fox News, "John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa," and "that's the kind …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: James Whale's Frankenstein
Long before I knew the difference between Will Hays and Gabby Hayes, there were certain moments where the heavy hand of a censor at work could clearly be felt. Such was the case of numerous childhood viewings of A Corny …
Toy-Pitchman Michael Bay Writes Letter to Theatre Projectionists
Following hot on the heels of The Tree of Life director Terrence Malick’s letter to projectionists, popcorn salesman/babysitter Michael Bay has put crayon to paper concerning his thoughts on the 3-D presentation of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The following …
Jerry Lewis Rushed to Hospital Moments Before Australian Concert
Funnyman Jerry Lewis had to be rushed to a hospital on Friday just moments before he was scheduled to perform his nightclub act at Sydney’s Rooty Hill Returned Servicemen's League club. Lewis is on an eight-city concert tour to benefit …
Dig A Hole: Peter Falk
Just last night I thought of Peter Falk. A stop at Big!Lots was in order following the re-opening night gala of Coronado’s beautifully-renovated Village Theatre. Among the hundreds of reasonably-priced, factory-sealed DVDs lurked a copy of The Strange One, Ben …
The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Ways Not to Behave in a Movie Theatre
1.) DON’T BE LATE. It takes years to get a film from script to screen; the least you can do is show up on time. In fact, better one hour early than one minute late. Once upon a time you …
Free Outdoor Movies All Summer at Liberty Station
Let me begin on a note of disclosure and shameless self-promotion. The following Summer Movie Mania screenings at Liberty Station are being presented by CommCinema.com, an outdoor movie company I work for. While the latter number sure would be nice, …