Posted on September 28, 2013 at 8:00 am
Many thanks to my friend Brandon Fibbs for sharing these magnificent movie treasure maps by illustrator Andrew DeGraff. See how many you can identify.
Posted on August 21, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Would you like to see where classic movie scenes happened? You couldn’t ask for a better guide than the folks at Turner Classic Movies, who now offer a new tour of New York City.
Hop on tour with Turner Classic Movies and On Location Tours for this one-of-a-kind sightseeing tour of the Big Apple and explore the most filmed city in the world!
We’ve selected the best movie sites around Manhattan to share with you in person and in movie clips. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at some of your favorite classic films set in New York City, as your guide entertains, informs and quizzes you with trivia questions while showcasing over 60 filming locations!
Not only will you get a taste of New York film history, you’ll receive a great sightseeing tour of Manhattan. By bus, we’ll take you to neighborhoods rich with history, where some of the most iconic films of all time were made.
See Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center and the Upper West Side, hop off at Zabar’s, the well-known market place, featured in You’ve Got Mail and the famous Dakota Building, home to Yoko Ono that can be seen in films like, Hannah and Her Sisters and Rosemary’s Baby. As you make your way to the Upper East Side, you’ll cross through Central Park, learning about dozens of films set here, including the very first motion picture made in New York City.
The sights don’t end there, the tour continues down the east side of Manhattan where you’ll stop for a photo-op in front of Holly Golighty’s apartment fromBreakfast at Tiffany’s before you discover hidden neighborhoods, like Sutton Place to experience a fantastic view of the Queensboro Bridge you’ll recognized from Woody Allen’sManhattan.
As you head downtown, you’ll pass locations that have set the scene for countless films, like the Plaza Hotel, FAO Shwarz, Tiffany’s, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building and much more before ending your journey at the famous Grand Central Terminal.
TCM Classic Film Tour is the perfect escape for movie fans, but also a great way to see how much, and how little, Manhattan has changed.
Posted on August 13, 2013 at 7:00 am
If you like “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and the Buddies movies, you will enjoy this story of a lonely dog looking for a family. One problem — she’s a ghost.
The Fastener family inherits a vacation home. Only their golden retriever Homer can see Sophie, the ghost of the dog who belonged to their famous ancestor, a movie star. Homer befriends Sophie and soon he and the Fastener children are working together to persuade their parents that Sophie is real and that they cannot sell the house and abandon her.
I have a copy to give away! Send me an email with “Sophie” in the subject line and tell me what you want to make sure to get done before the end of the summer. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.) I’ll pick a winner at random on August 20. Good luck!
Posted on July 23, 2013 at 6:02 pm
No question. There were hundreds of dazzling displays at Comic-Con. You could have your picture taken with “Walking Dead” zombies or frozen Han Solo or Lego Superman. But Predator, as he so often does, dominated. 
There was a limited edition Blu-Ray edition of “Predator” that came in a very cool Predator head. But the really cool part was this: the first 500 purchases included an action figure of Predator holding a severed head — personalized for the purchaser via a 3D printer. That severed head would have each individual purchaser’s face and hair. The blood dripping from it appeared generic, thankfully.
Posted on July 15, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Are you a “Damages” fan? Fancy yourself one of Cruella DeVille’s furry fashions? Glenn Close is auctioning off the clothes she wore as Patty Hughes and many other characters to raise money for her charity combating the stigma of mental illness.
It’s a first for me. But I took this step as a means to fight for awareness of something from which millions suffer — the toxic stigma and discrimination around mental illness. It’s a story I know well because its pain has touched lives very close to me.
Over the past 30 years, I have built up a significant costume collection — from Jenny’s Field’s handmade nurses uniform from “The World According to Garp” (my first film) to the evening gown covered with 10 pounds of beads in which I swept down Norma Desmond’s staircase in “Sunset Boulevard;” from Alex Forrest’s black leather coat to Cruella DeVil’s astounding frivolities; from Albert Nobbs’s bowler hat to Patty Hewes’s brilliant reinvention of the power suit.
Bidding goes through July 19.
