Film / TV / Video
83 posts found
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Schindler's Impact (The 10th Anniversary of "Schindler's List")
In May 1995, I found myself in Lviv, Ukraine. My father died two years before, and I was there on a roots trip. I wanted to see the city where he grew up and perhaps unearth some of the information that he could never bring himself to share, such as the names and birthdates of his brothers and sisters, all murdered. I discovered his own real birthday to be a completely different day, month and year than we had always… -
When Television Challenged America (Rod Serling)
Around this time of year, I’m often prone to recall Rod Serling, who was born on Christmas Day. I’m helped along by the fact that PBS ran their "American Masters" portrait of Serling over the New Year’s weekend even as the Sci Fi Channel ran a "Twilight Zone" marathon. It makes me wonder: Where is Serling — or today’s Serling — when you really need him? My interest in Serling is professional as well as personal: For the last several… -
Dreaming of a Blue and White Christmas (Christmas Movies from Michael Curtiz to Jon Favreau)
Christmas came early this year — Nov. 7, when New Line Cinema released “Elf,†the family-friendly comedy that, as of this writing, has earned more than $156 million (see story, p. 19). Another surprise is the success of the far-more-cynical adult offering “Bad Santa,†which had a production cost of $18 million and, since its Nov. 26 release, has earned more than $43 million. These are Christmas films that, you could say, are good for the Jews. Both are written… -
'Fabulous Invalid' (Ruth Seymour's Chanukah Program on KCRW)
I used to have this Thanksgiving Day ritual in New York: no matter what I was doing, or where I was going, I would find a way to be near a radio around 11:30 a.m., to tune in to WNEW-FM 102.7’s broadcast of Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant,†in its entirety, in all its musical and comedic glory. Over the last few years in Los Angeles, I’ve acquired a similar accidentally/on purpose habit: every year around this time, I manage to… -
Reality of Their Own (Reality TV Producers)
Reality TV is nothing new. Since the dawn of television, there have always been unscripted formats and game shows of one kind or another. However, the current incarnation of reality programming — shows such as "Survivor," "The Bachelor," and "Fear Factor" — may be the most durable and successful shows in the history of reality programming. What’s more, reality TV is the most innovative area of current programming, far more creative than sitcoms, hour-long dramas, sports, news or movies and… -
Delightful Offensiveness Key to 'Producers' Genius
src="http://www.s121907096.onlinehome.us/tommywood/articleImages/producers.06.06.03.jpg" width="200" height="222" align="right" vspace="5" hspace="10"/>To understand something of the success of "The Producers," it helps to understand something of its history. There is probably no person on the planet who doesn’t know the story of how this sensation of a musical came to pass, but let me quickly recap: In the early ’60s, Mel Brooks writes the book for the Charles Strouse-Lee Adams musical "All American." Their last musical "Bye Bye Birdie" was a hit. "All American" was not.… -
Dylan Is the Key to 'Masked' L.A.
"Masked and Anonymous" is a new movie starring Bob Dylan that premiered at Sundance. Director Larry Charles has described his film as an "apocalyptic spaghetti noir western." No surprise: The reviews were not kind. Nonetheless, "Masked and Anonymous" is a great title. It seems the perfect phrase to describe Dylan, even as a metaphor for his many personas over the years. At the same time, it is also a great metaphor for the city of Los Angeles and the lives… -
Trafficking in People (Gary Mann and The Traffic School of America)
Road rules provide captive audience. It’s 7:45 a.m. on a Friday morning, and the Koo Koo Roo on South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills is almost full. I am here for traffic school. I ran a red light at the intersection of Robertson and Beverly boulevards, and the city of Beverly Hills has the photo to prove it. Our instructor, Gary Mann, is a handsome, trim gentleman in his early 60s, who looks 10 years younger. It seems too early,… -
Hungarians in Hollywood
On the distaff side, need we say more than Zsa Zsa? When my friend Lawrence Karman, cameraman par excellence, invited me a few weeks ago to a screening of "Bánk Bán," the filmed version of the classic Hungarian nationalist opera, I accepted enthusiastically. Not because I’m a big fan of opera in general or Hungarian operas in particular, but rather because it would give Larry and I an opportunity to wax nostalgic about our favorite subject: Hungarians in Hollywood. There… -
Polanski Hits a Sour Note in 'Pianist'
Truth to tell, I didn’t start to despise “The Pianist†— Roman’s Polanski’s Oscar-nominated film of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman’s memoirs of Warsaw during World War II — until the very end of the film: The war has ended and a friend has taken Szpilman to a farm in the Polish countryside. There used to be a Soviet POW camp there, where the Nazi officer who spared Szpilman was asking for him. Now there is no trace of that internment… -
Is Hollywood Against the War?
Across the country, Americans are wondering, “Why is Hollywood against the war?†On TV programs and TV and radio talk shows, in magazines and newspapers, they see actors and actresses opining, talking the talk and walking the anti-war walk. This has led to a separate thread of programs and opinion pieces about whether Hollywood stars should even be called upon to discuss national issues. Around and around it goes. I can’t speak for Hollywood. But from where I sit, here…