Film Fatale

From Gawker, a chance to pay tribute to former MPAA chief Jack Valenti in a way that he would have appreciated.

The Gawker Weekend Ratings Board (an anonymous group of Americans) has determined which tributes are suitable for which audiences.

http://gawker.com/news/de-facto-censorship/rating-the-jack-valenti-obits-256278.php

Keep your young ones away from the NC-17 rated Washington Post obit. ("For sustained anti-social content, often involving bondage and/or sadomasochism, including one scene of head-kissing and one scene of the human body used as an ottoman."

Posted by Justine_FilmFatale at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The world will keep turning on its axis, but it'll jiggle just a little less with the loss of TV sports and B movie director Andy Sidaris (SAVAGE BEACH, PICASSO TRIGGER), who departed this earth last week at the age of 76.

While working as a sports director for ABC's "Wide World of Sports," Sidaris pioneered what came to be known as the "honey shot" -- a shot of a pretty young woman in the crowd, or a cheerleader waving her pom-poms on the sidelines. (Let me tell you, for girls watching TV sports in the early 70s, just how depressing and annoying these gratuitous shots were -- especially because ABC rarely covered women's sports.)

Yet Sidaris turned out to be as a dramatic TV and film director, one of the more lighter touches in episodic TV, helming episodes of the "Hardy Boy/Nancy Drew" mysteries that were kid friendly but just this side of camp. With his Arlene as his production partner, he made a dozen hilarious action movies starring some guy from "General Hospital" and gun-wielding glamour models with plot-explaining titles: FIT TO KILL and BULLETS, BOMBS AND BABES.

Posted by Justine_FilmFatale at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cartoon king Joseph Barbera, one half of the animation team Hanna-Barbera, died Monday of natural causes at home in Los Angeles at the age of 95. His longtime collaborator William Hanna died in 2001. The Washington Post/AP obit lists their many credits: children, filling movie and TV screens with animated series such as TOM & JERRY, THE FLINTSTONES, TOP CAT, SCOOBY-DOO, JOHNNY QUEST, THE JETSONS (which ran for only one season-who knew?), and ANIMAL FOLLIES.

Hanna & Barbera were nominated for two animated short subject Academy Awards (for "One Droopy Knight" and "Good Will To Men." (1956) You can see dozens of classic Tom and Jerry 'toons on YouTube..."Invisible Mouse" is after the jump. I'm still looking for "Good Will To Men," which I've only read about -- those who've seen this Cold War era anti-war animated film say it leaves a leaves a powerful impression.

Continue reading "Joseph Barbera, Animator of Tom & Jerry, Scooby, Flintstones, Dies at 95" »

Posted by Justine_FilmFatale at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a to-do list from the Observer that'll have cine-cultists clamoring for revival screenings and overdue DVD rentals: fifty overlooked English-language movies thought ought to be more widely available.

I just saw ACE IN THE HOLE (1951, Dir. Billy Wilder for the first time on the big screen -- and the same day as Kirk Douglas' 90th birthday -- and I'd love to see the Observer's top two picks, SALT OF THE EARTH (1953, Dir. Herbert Biberman), PETULIA (1968, Dir. Richard Lester), the same way. Turner Classic Movies is all right, but nothing beats Kirk Douglas, bigger than life, sneering over the line to to New York.

Lucky New York: Film Forum will play Ace In the Hole Jan. 12-18.

Posted by Justine_FilmFatale at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adriennne Shelly, the indpendent film actress, director and writer best known for her leading roles in the Hal Hartley films TRUST and the THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, was found dead in her New York City office on Wednesday evening, her agent said. She was forty years old. Shelly is survived by her husband, Andy Ostroy and their three year old daughter Sophie.

Anthony Kaufman of Indiewire, who'd interviewed Shelly at several festivals, has a tribute to her on his blog. Several people have posted their remembrances of working with her--reading that, you get a sense of how well loved she was in the New York indie film scene

According to the New York Post, Shelly had recently learned that her feature film WAITRESS, which she'd written and directed, had been accepted by Sundance Film Festival. Earlier this year, she'd acted in FACTOTUM, directed by Matt Dillon.

She wrote, directed and starred in the movie SUDDEN MANHATTAN (1997). Her second feature film, I'LL TAKE YOU THERE, won her best director award at the 2000 U.S. Comedy Festival.

Continue reading "Remembering Adrienne Shelly" »

Posted by Justine_FilmFatale at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)