Posted on April 17, 2015 at 8:36 pm
It was a great honor to be included on today’s panel of movie critics, along with superstars Godfrey Cheshire, Scott Foundas, Matt Zoller Seitz, Rebecca Theodore Vachon, Richard Roeper, Susan Wloszczyna, Michael Phillips, Brian Tallarico, and Sam Fragoso.
Posted on March 27, 2015 at 3:57 pm
Cheers to the understandably anonymous “Miss L,” an actress in Hollywood, for her Tumblr posting real-life casting information that shows how limited and misogynistic Hollywood casting is. Casting Call Woe shows actual casting call notices, most of which require actresses to be hot (no matter what the character). Here’s an example: “We need women comfortable dressing in revealing clothes, for the scenery.” And “She might not be the most beautiful woman in the room, like only a 7 on the typical hotness scale.”
A touch of almost Beckett-ian irony in this one: “Single mom desperate to pay her bills. Salary: no pay.”
And these: “Her scene will include being screamed at by a clown and being gagged briefly.” “Involves some leather clothing to attract YouTube fans.”
Of course it is fair to expect that performers will be attractive. But Miss L is absolutely right to call out these demeaning casting notices and I hope the existence of this Tumblr will mean there will be fewer of them.
Posted on March 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm
I love this exploration of how cinematic storytelling has evolved to reflect the role that technology plays in our lives, especially in the way we absorb and convey information, especially the discussion of the elegant use of text in the “Sherlock” series.
Posted on March 15, 2015 at 3:24 pm
SPOILER ALERT
If you’re watching the new season of “House of Cards,” you may wonder whether the trick now-President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) to create jobs and boost the economy has up his sleeve would be allowed in real-life politics. Business Insider consulted an expert, Harvard Law School professor and Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe. The answer? Well….maybe.
“If the deed is done before the courts can get around to ordering the hypothetical President Underwood to cease and desist and put the money back in the federal piggy bank, then any lawsuit over the matter … would become technically moot,” Tribe says. “In practical political terms, if the President’s violation of the Constitution is sufficiently popular, the prospects of impeachment and conviction are obviously slim to none.”
Posted on March 13, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Joan Graves heads up the MPAA’s ratings board and she is the only member whose name is public. She talked to The Wrap about some intriguing regional difference in views on sex and violence.
“The South is concerned about using the Lord’s name in vain. They’d like to see the improper use of ‘Jesus Christ’ draw an automatic R,” Graves said. “In the Midwest it’s the nudity and sex, and on the coasts there is greater interest in the violence.”
