Posts tagged Hollywood

Elizabeth Taylor - Child Actress to Film Queen - NYTimes.com

Q: What makes this obituary so distinctive?

In a world of flickering images, Elizabeth Taylor was a constant star. First appearing on screen at age 10, she grew up there, never passing through an awkward age. It was one quick leap from “National Velvet” to “A Place in the Sun” and from there to “Cleopatra,” as she was indelibly transformed from a vulnerable child actress into a voluptuous film queen.

A: The guy who wrote it died before his subject…

Mel Gussow, the principal writer of this article, died in 2005. William McDonald, William Grimes and Daniel E. Slotnik contributed updated reporting.

Apparently, the only other Hollywood legend to share this achievement is Bob Hope, who died in 2003. His obituary writer died in 2000.

oldhollywood: Michael Caine in Get Carter (1971, dir. Mike Hodges) “I was in a club somewhere in the West End just after Get Carter was released and the gangster I’d based Jack Carter on - not that he ever knew it - came up to me and said, “I saw that Get Carter, Michael.” Uh-oh, I thought, but I kept a dead straight face and I said, “Did you?” and he went on, “Biggest load of crap I’ve ever seen.” “Really?” I said, looking for the exit. “What makes you think that?” And he said, “Michael, you weren’t married, you didn’t have any kids and you had no responsibilities. You don’t understand why we do things. Me, with no special skills, I had to hold on to a wife and kids.” And I thought - no special skills? He’d only killed about five people - not that he’d ever been charged with anything, but everyone knew…and I said, “Oh blimey, you’re right. That was a terrible mistake.” I completely agreed with everything he said. You don’t want to argue with someone like that.  Violence has consequences and you don’t often see that in movies. It’s a sort of pornography: people are struck time and time again and the next time they appear they just sport a small Band-aid, not even a black eye or missing teeth. If you were a real victim of the violence you see in films, you would be in hospital or dead. In Get Carter you see the effect of one whack, although we never cut to the gore.” -Michael Caine, The Elephant to Hollywood

oldhollywood:

Michael Caine in Get Carter (1971, dir. Mike Hodges)

“I was in a club somewhere in the West End just after Get Carter was released and the gangster I’d based Jack Carter on - not that he ever knew it - came up to me and said, “I saw that Get Carter, Michael.” Uh-oh, I thought, but I kept a dead straight face and I said, “Did you?” and he went on, “Biggest load of crap I’ve ever seen.” “Really?” I said, looking for the exit. “What makes you think that?” And he said, “Michael, you weren’t married, you didn’t have any kids and you had no responsibilities. You don’t understand why we do things. Me, with no special skills, I had to hold on to a wife and kids.”

And I thought - no special skills? He’d only killed about five people - not that he’d ever been charged with anything, but everyone knew…and I said, “Oh blimey, you’re right. That was a terrible mistake.” I completely agreed with everything he said. You don’t want to argue with someone like that. 

Violence has consequences and you don’t often see that in movies. It’s a sort of pornography: people are struck time and time again and the next time they appear they just sport a small Band-aid, not even a black eye or missing teeth. If you were a real victim of the violence you see in films, you would be in hospital or dead. In Get Carter you see the effect of one whack, although we never cut to the gore.”

-Michael Caine, The Elephant to Hollywood

oldhollywood

True Grit (2010)

  • Rooster Cogburn: The jakes is occupied.
  • Mattie Ross: I know it is occupied Mr. Cogburn. As I said, I have business with you.
  • Rooster Cogburn: I have prior business.
  • Mattie Ross: You have been at it for quite some time, Mr. Cogburn.
  • Rooster Cogburn: There is no clock on my business! To hell with you! To hell with you! How did you stalk me here?
  • Mattie Ross: The sheriff told me to look in the saloon. In the saloon they referred me here. We must talk.
  • Rooster Cogburn: Women ain't allowed in the saloon!
  • Mattie Ross: I was not there as a customer. I am fourteen years old.
  • Rooster Cogburn: The jakes is occupied. And will be for some time.

The Day the Movies Died: Movies + TV: GQ

Judging by this article, 2011 is not going to be a vintage year for cinema:

For the studios, a good new idea has become just too scary a road to travel. Inception, they will tell you, is an exceptional movie. And movies that need to be exceptional to succeed are bad business. “The scab you’re picking at is called execution,” says legendary producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network, True Grit). “Studios are hardwired not to bet on execution, and the terrible thing is, they’re right. Because in terms of execution, most movies disappoint.”

With that in mind, let’s look ahead to what’s on the menu for this year: four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children’s book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title. One sequel that, if it were inclined to use numbers, would have to have a 7 1/2 in the title.

My theory is that it’s all about balance - the paucity of imagination in the Summer season is swiftly countered by the sheer quality of films released in Autumn, Winter, Spring. In the past twelve months we’ve been spoiled for choice - The Social Network, The Kids Are Alright, Inception, Winter’s Bone, Catfish, Enter the Void, Toy Story 3, The King’s Speech, The Fighter, True Grit, Animal Kingdom - excellent films, one and all.

Duck Soup (1933)

  • Rufus T. Firefly: Not that I care, but where is your husband?
  • Mrs. Teasdale: Why, he's dead.
  • Rufus T. Firefly: I bet he's just using that as an excuse.
  • Mrs. Teasdale: I was with him to the very end.
  • Rufus T. Firefly: No wonder he passed away.
  • Mrs. Teasdale: I held him in my arms and kissed him.
  • Rufus T. Firefly: Oh, I see, then it was murder. Will you marry me? Did he leave you any money? Answer the second question first.

The Quaid Conspiracy | Vanity Fair

Oscar-nominated actor Randy Quaid and his wife are on the run. From their friends, their family and the law. Vanity Fair tracks them down:

Evi Quaid called from a pay phone in Vancouver to say that she and her husband, Randy, the actor, had tried to drive to Siberia, but they “couldn’t figure out how to get there.” She said, “We’re running for our lives.” She wanted me to meet them the next day in Vancouver’s Chinatown—which couldn’t be arranged any other way, as the Quaids don’t use cell phones anymore, because, Evi said, “they’re tracking us.”

“They” were “the Hollywood Star Whackers” the couple had been talking about in television interviews ever since they arrived in Canada in October, seeking asylum. The “Whackers,” they said, were the same people who may have “killed” David Carradine and Heath Ledger, possibly set up Robert Blake, and could now be targeting Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. “Are either of you mentally unstable, schizophrenic, or on drugs?,” Andrea Canning asked on Good Morning America. “Do you think we are?” demanded Evi. “No!” said Randy.

The most spectacular public meltdown of 2010? Most probably.

Walt Disney Internet Artefacts

Two bits of paraphernalia relating to the House of the Mouse:

I feel smarter already, don’t you?

Woody Allen speaks to camera as Alvie Singer in Annie Hall (1977)

Woody Allen speaks to camera as Alvie Singer in Annie Hall (1977)

Citizen Kane (1941)

  • Charles Foster Kane: You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
  • Thatcher: Don't you think you are?
  • Charles Foster Kane: I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
  • Thatcher: What would you like to have been?
  • Charles Foster Kane: Everything you hate.

Rear Window (1954)

  • Lisa: What's he doing? Cleaning house?
  • Jeff: He's washing and scrubbing down the bathroom walls.
  • Stella: Must've splattered a lot.
  • [both Jeff and Lisa look at Stella with disgust]
  • Stella: Come on, that's what were all thinkin'. He killed her in there, now he has to clean up those stains before he leaves.
  • Lisa: Stella... your choice of words!
  • Stella: Nobody ever invented a polite word for a killin' yet.