Tag: Hollywood Monday

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9/29/14 O&A Hollywood Monday: Cabaret

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Hollywood Mondays

large_oE89VVdKLVuy8KyRUP9zoYgGUOCabaret is a 1972 musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey.  The film is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, under the ominous presence of the growing Nazi Party. Cabaret holds the record for most Academy Award wins in a single year without winning the highest honor, Best Picture, with eight awards. The film won the Academy Award for Best Director for Bob Fosse, Best Actress for Liza Minnelli, Best Supporting Actor for Joel Grey, and five more technical awards. It lost the Best Picture award to The Godfather, which won three awards.

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9/22/14 O&A Hollywood Monday: Our Gang /The Little Rascals- Mush n Milk

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Hollywood Mondays

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Our Gang (also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach’s Rascals) began in 1922 as a series of silent short subjects produced by the Roach studio.  The series is about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way, as Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. Continue reading

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9/8/14 O&A Hollywood Monday: On The Town

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Hollywood Mondays

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On The Town, the 1949 MGM musical film is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944. Both the theatre and film productions are based on the Jerome Robbins ballet entitled Fancy Free, which was also produced in 1944. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. 

With an all-star song and dance cast including Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Vera Ellen the film was an instant success. On The Town won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography (Color). Screenwriters Comden and Green won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical. Continue reading

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9/25/14- O&A Hollywood Monday: Miss Sophia – The Color Purple

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Hollywood Mondays
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Oprah Winfrey portrayed Sofia in the 1985 movie version of Alice Walkers novel The Color Purple. The role was Winfrey’s first venture into film and for many remains her most recognizable role. Winfrey was the high-spirited and independent Sophia who marries Albert’s (Danny Glovers) son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie (Whoopie Goldberg), she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, as a rude remark to the town mayor’s wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed. Continue reading

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Hollywood Monday: Aaliyah- Queen Of The Damned

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Hollywood Mondays

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Queen of the Damned is a 2002 vampire horror film and a loose adaptation of the third novel of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series, The Queen of the Damned, although the film contains many plot elements from the latter novel’s predecessor, The Vampire Lestat. It stars Aaliyah as the vampire queen Akasha, and Stuart Townsend as the vampire Lestat. Queen of the Damned was released six months after Aaliyah’s death and is dedicated to her memory. In addition to the film clip Out and About NYC Magazine presents a behind the scene video and a deleted scene.  Continue reading

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Shall We Dance Friday: Katherine Dunham and her Dance Company in Casbah

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In 1948, Dunham and her company appeared in the Hollywood movie Casbah, with Tony Martin, Yvonne de Carlo, and Peter Lorre. The film was the cinematic debut of Eartha Kitt.  Continue reading

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Hollywood Monday: Vin Diesel – Multi-Facial (1995)

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Hollywood Mondays Multi-Facial_DVD_coverMulti-Facial is the movie that launched Vin Diesel’s career. The 1995 short film was directed, written, produced, scored by and starring Vin Diesel.  It had a budget of $3,000, which he paid for himself.

The story depicts the professional and emotional issues faced by Mike (Diesel), a multiracial (Italian and African American) actor. The film was noticed at the Cannes Film Festival by director Steven Spielberg, who remembered Diesel’s performance and cast him in the 1998 Oscar winning film Saving Private Ryan.

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Hollywood Monday: Chicago- Cell Block Tango and When You’re Good To Mama

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Hollywood Mondays

Chicago

Chicago (2002) is an American musical comedy-drama film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name. Both the movie and the stage play explore themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz Age Chicago. The film stars Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones and also features Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Mya Harrison and Desmond Richardson.  Continue reading

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O&A Hollywood Monday: The Rocky Horror Picture Show- Sweet Transvestite

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By Walter Rutledge

Hollywood Mondays

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 musical comedy horror film directed by Jim Sharman. The production is a humorous tribute to the science fiction and Horror B movies of the late 1930s through early 1970s. It stars Tim Curry, Susan Saradon, and Barry Bostwick along with cast members from the original Royal Court Theatre, Roxy Theatre and Belasco Theatre productions. Continue reading

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Hollywood Monday: Lady Sings The Blues (Big Ben) Plus Encore performance

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Hollywood Mondays

Lady Sings the Blues is the story of jazz singer Billie Holiday and is loosely based on her 1956 autobiography. Holiday took its title from one of her most popular songs. Continue reading