Gotta love the attention to detail:
Harris is a stickler for this sort of thing. When he restored Hitchcock’s Vertigo, he asked Jaguar to send him a color chip from the 1957 model of one of its cars—the same car that Kim Novak drove in the film—so that he could match the shade of green exactly.
Who else is ready for the new Bond? Mmmmhmmm….
A recent search on IMDb turned up a slightly different, more image-intensive look (click for full version):
Then, randomly enough, it was gone.
So maybe we’ll all be seeing a minor IMDb facelift soon enough, though if so I have one recommendation: make the thumbnails zoom when the pointer hovers over them. In the test I saw, they just seemed too small to distinguish…
You know, there are those who point to Brokeback Mountain losing out for Best Picture as proof of Hollywood’s underlying homophobia. That may be — we’ll never know — but at least Brokeback fared better than the movie I saw last night, Making Love.
That picture, a 1982 release, actually began with a warning:
(These stills are from The Celluloid Closet a documentary in which Making Love screenwriter reveals an incoming studio head at Fox referred to the film as “a goddamned faggot picture.” What was that about “proud to present” and “applaud its courage” again?)
You can’t tell me the fine folks at Loews weren’t having a bit of fun when they created this sign:
Also, funny story: about 30 seconds after I took this picture this afternoon, Dennis Farina walked by. Pretty sure. I didn’t take his snap because a) I’m not all starfucker and b) I’d already put the camera away.
Mostly b).
Let’s play a matching game. Other than the fugly background on the top and the terrible justification on the bottom, how do these two screens differ?
From Junebug, a Sony Pictures Classics release:
From Separate Lies, a Fox Searchlight picture:
Do you see it?
OK, by request (hi Josh!) I have now added my ratings to the full movie list. To this point, the ratings were only shown in the “Recently” sidebar, and once bumped were no longer available.
I didn’t do this originally because I thought having just a handful of movies with ratings would look weird (I’ve seen roughly 50 movies so far in ’06, so not even 3% have ratings) but: oh well. I have a bunch more I will be doing with the movies section, but all in due time…
Just finished watching Corpse Bride, and I have to tell you: when one character (a mean, humorless old man) was forced to grind out a smile…
…it just seemed so familiar somehow:
Several months ago I wrote about what I saw as a trend towards much larger online photos, particularly on entertainment websites. I see more and more examples of this every day (e.g., compare the width of the image on Apple’s new Mac mini page as compared to the tabs bar above it) but yesterday I saw a site that took it to the next level.
For really large pictures — and big video to boot! — check out Fox’s Walk the Line DVD site (note: check your volume first.) Is this the wave of the future for movie sites?
Oh, and though I strongly support larger video, I have to roll my eyes at their use of the heretofore non-existent “HD website” label.
Well, the Oscars were a letdown, I thought.
Bummer.
(By the way, did you see
Anyone who’s ever been to an American movie theater knows the green screen that precedes each preview, famously proclaiming the ad’s suitability for “ALL AUDIENCES” as judged by the motion picture industry’s rating board.
I wonder, though, how many people have seen the much-less-common “restricted” variant, with its arresting background:
I see plenty of movies, but I only remember a few times, mostly in art houses or independent theaters, where I’ve seen restricted trailers (and of course, only before R-rated pictures.) And then, what did that distinctive red* glow signal? In my experience, it basically meant “standby for breasts.” Sure, sometimes a little violence, perhaps some profanity, but mostly you could count on some nakedness.
Or so I thought until I saw the trailer for Temporada de patos (“Duck Season“), soon to be released by Warner Independent in this country. In that case, the trailer was restricted because it showed… um, a quarter-second of a guy (sunk low, showing nothing) in a bathtub? A pellet gun? A flash of a violent video game?
No, I have no idea why this trailer is restricted. I’ve watched it three times, and I’m still at a loss. The film’s in black and white, and the trailer has no spoken dialogue (probably because Warner would just as soon you forget it’s actually in Spanish.) The boys shoot a vase with a pellet gun, but it’s pretty clear it’s not a real gun. There’s a somewhat weird-looking (I had flashes of Austin Powers) pizza delivery guy who has the aforementioned bathtub moment plus another when we see his bare back, so maybe we’re supposed to be worried he’s around these kids, but it doesn’t seem the least bit sexual.
Seriously: what the hell? I don’t know what these people are worried about. But maybe y’all are bigger prudes than I am and you can tell me. Watch the trailer and let me know what you think. (And yes, as far as I’m concerned, it’s totally safe for work. Hell, call your boss over and have him/her join the hunt.)
* “The color is to alert the projectionist against mismatching trailers with the film being shown on the theater screen,” sayeth the MPA. You know, back when they had a projectionist stay in the booth…
…that’s how many of the films listed in 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men I’ve actually seen. But before you decide I’m a poor excuse for both a ‘mo and a movie buff, I’d like to point out that I’ve deliberately avoided some of the author’s choices.
For example, who would have guessed that Jackass: The Movie would have ever appeared in any book with “Must-See” in its name?
Hey there! I’m still alive, just not getting Web access as regularly here as at home.
Anyway, one thing I forgot to mention in the “Unexpected Pleasures” post is a trailer they showed for Apocalypto. I got a good laugh at the latest proof that the post-Passion
Good luck with that, Mel!
Motorola has commissioned an excellent animation to promote their sponsorship of a film festival or some damn thing. The title is “Great Classics”, and it moves sequentially through several decades and numerous classics.
Go watch it, then see how many references you can spot. I thought I saw (in order):
I’m getting the sequence all messed up in the early ones — I’m thinking maybe Frankenstein? Metropolis? And I’m not sure about Fantasia, and there’s some musical right in around there, and the reaching-arms opening title is JUST outside my conscious. But post-Graduate, I think I’m a lock, save for what the whole jumping-from-the-pot-to-the-dinner-table is invoking.
Thoughts? Additions? Corrections?
Update [Sat, 1:30a]: Josh has found an image that supports the Metropolis theory, and my mom says the cooked rabbit is right out of Fatal Attraction. She also thinks the musical is likely An American in Paris or similar.
I rarely read IMDb’s celebrity news, but today a tease on the main page about a Hunter S Thompson documentary drew me in.
I’m glad it did, because further down was one of the most amusing headlines I’ve seen in awhile:
Alba Fears Whore Typecast
Movie beauty Jessica Alba fears she is being typecast, because she only gets offered role [sic] as whores and sexy maids. The Sin City actress is grateful for the opportunities she has been given in Hollywood – but would kill for the parts offered to rival actress Natalie Portman. She tells gossip site PageSix.com, “The scripts I get are always for the whore, or the motorcycle chick in leather, or the horny maid. I get all those screenplays that start, ‘Tawnya is in the shower. The water streams down her naked, perky breasts.’ Somehow, I don’t think this is happening to Natalie Portman.”
I love the succinct way that headline boils it down to four simple yet shocking words. In Alba’s defense, though, I’d like to mention that of the few films I’ve seen with her (one of which was against my will — thanks, United!) I’ve never once thought she was acting as a whore. On the other hand — and here’s what distinguishes Jessica from Natalie Portman — I’ve always thought she was horrible at acting…