Large Association of Movie Blogs

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) -- an American caricaturist

Al Hirschfeld Foundation Collection, © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Friday, May 20, 2011

Acting Out – The Mel Gibson Story

Say or think what you will about Mel Gibson, he has achieved much as an A+ star.  He rose to the top in Hollywood because of his looks, personality, intelligence, and brilliant acting.  According to loyal friend Jody Foster who starred with him in the movie Maverick, he can be very witty and light-hearted but he also, obviously, has a dark side to him.


His fairly recent antics (if you can call domestic violence an antic) and remarks influenced by alcoholism were disappointing and even horrifying to his fans and have colored his career and image more toward an overall negative, negative to the point where he was not welcome even as a cameo in the film "The Hangover." 


Exploring the complexities of someone so successful yet disturbed as Mel Gibson seems worthy of a documentary special, and that is what will be presented by CNN this Sunday, May 22.  Brooke Anderson interviews people who know Gibson as we try to understand the man with the great talent and his dramatic fall from grace.  There is promise of "unique insights and images from Gibson's humble beginnings in New York, to his teenage years in Australia."


CNN Presents: Acting Out – The Mel Gibson Story airs on CNN on Sunday, May 22 at 8:00pm, 11:00pm, and 2:00am.  All Times Eastern.


http://article.wn.com/view/2011/05/20/Acting_Out_Euro_The_Mel_Gibson_Story/

http://tm.mk/rss/en/news/Acting+Out+%E2%80%93+The+Mel+Gibson+Story

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Film Noir: So Evil My Love starring Ray Milland and Ann Todd

So Evil My Love: Tale of deception, obsession, betrayal, and revenge

"...twisted blackmail plots, a murder committed by one person and successfully blamed on another, and love very extraordinary between Olivia and Mark.  As the two lovers plan to leave the city together, Mark Bellis becomes a horrified victim of his own con and pays a great price for his sorry past."  Read more here.




So Evil My Love
July 22, 1948, Movie Review
So Evil My Love
Noir of the Week

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Steven Spielberg planning a movie about the Bee Gees

Source   Source   Bee Gees/Facebook

The Bee Gees are one of the top five most commercially successful of all groups to come out of the British invasion rock era of the '60's.  Unlike most of the groups of that time, the Bee Gees broke wildly ahead in the '70's and have proved to be adaptable, uniquely and supremely talented, and enduring. 


In 1997, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a citation that says, "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees."  In a word, they are "awesome."


Early Career
The group's first hit was in Australia with "Spicks and Specks," featuring the vocal talent of Barry.  Since then, most of their songs in the 1960's and a little beyond then had a soft, sad feel to them, hits like "New York Mining Disaster," "To Love Somebody," "Holiday," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," (1971) "I Started a Joke," "I Gotta Get a Message to You," "Run to Me," (1972) and "Words."  Much of that sadness came through in Robin's clear vibrato, especially when he served as lead singer.


At first they were thought of as the poor man's Beatles; but as time has shown, the Beatles were great in sales yet their talent was not as deep and far-reaching as the Gibbs.  The Beatle songs do not often compare in tantalizing words or interesting melody complication nor could the Beatles sing with the harmony and beauty of the Bee Gees.


Disco era
In 1970, the Bee Gees had their first hit in "Lonely Days" to make it within the Top Five in the U.S., revealing later that they wrote it the same night that they wrote "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," which made it to No. 1 in the U.S.


What happened in the mid-70's was totally too remarkable.  The "tired," "in a rut" sad-songed Bee Gees suddenly zoomed with rhythmic songs that were mostly energetic and happy, songs such as "Jive Talkin," (U.S. No. 1)  along with "Nights on Broadway." (U.S. No. 7) with Barry starting his controlled falsetto pitch and even Robin was singing some passages in falsetto in "You Should Be Dancing," and the immortal "Stayin' Alive," which prolonged the disco era.


During an eight-month period beginning toward the end of 1977, the Gibbs dominated the charts with six songs that were No. 1 in the U.S. for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks—three under their own name, two for their brother Andy, and one for Yvonne Elliman ("If I Can't Have You.").  Barry also wrote "Grease" for Frankie Valli, and it went to No. 1. 


The Gibbs are the only songwriters to have four consecutive number one hits in the U.S. with "Stayin' Alive," "Love Is Thicker Than Water," "Night Fever," and "If I Can't Have You."


The 1980's brought them much success in their writing for other artists as shown with Dionne Warwick's "Heartbreaker,"  Rogers/Parton's "Islands in the Stream," Diana Ross's "Chain Reaction," and Streisand's "Woman in Love."  The Bee Gees themselves came out on tours in singing new songs, some of their best in "You Win Again," "One,"and "Sacred Trust."  
The 1990's saw Celine Dion singing their "Immortality," adding her to the list of at least 2,500 artists that have recorded their songs.


In a 2010 interview Robin Gibb confirmed that the story of the Bee Gees would be made into a Hollywood movie by Steven Spielberg, saying "The movie is going to be done by some very important people. It will be our life story. Barry and I will be involved in the technical side".


Robin hopes that original recordings by the Bee Gees will be used when replicating harmonies in the movie "because it’s very hard to emulate them."


See: Awesome Bee Gees
















http://faceshuk.jewpi.com/members/JewPI/activity/575034/
http://faceshuk.jewpi.com/groups/examiner/
http://features.rr.com/article/08b3gJV0Sle0r
http://1click.indiatimes.com/article/08b3gJV0Sle0r?q=Philippines
http://nba.msg.com/article/08b3gJV0Sle0r?q=The+Beatles
http://rockhall.msg.com/article/08b3gJV0Sle0r?q=Paul+McCartney
http://www.daylife.com/quote/08r22MTg317U3?__site=daylife&q=Michael+Jackson
World News
Silo Breaker
USA Today

Monday, April 4, 2011

Meet Keven Keller, the first openly gay character of Archie Comics

Evidently Kevin Keller has already connected with the comic book's fans because a four-issue series will be coming out in June.

He is a friend to Archie, Veronica, and the rest of the crowd at Riverdale High.  Having a gay character helps keep good ol' Archie from being perceived as square in today's modern, hip, tolerant society.  Archie Comics simply must make its comic world match everything in the real world to keep his characters relevant.  According to Dan Parent,


“The world of Riverdale has to reflect contemporary culture and to show it is an accepting, diverse place, and that’s why Kevin is important, to show that everybody is welcome in this all-American town we’ve embraced for over 70 years.”

“We’ll see Kevin getting involved at Riverdale High, his ongoing friendship with Veronica and the rest of the gang, and more background on who Kevin is and how he came to be,” Parent told the AP.
Kevin sounds lovely but do we care to know if and all about his being gay?  Throw tolerance for deviancy out the window, give me the old time comics, and set my remote control on the 1950s-60s re-run station.

Click here for image of Kevin.

Superman renounces his U.S. citizenship.