Walt at Random (Free subscription) | 09/30/2008
Sometimes I think that the best learning sneaks up on you, particularly when you’re a few decades removed from college. Here’s the scenario: After I completed the 50-Movie Westerns pack and watched the movies on Disc 10 of the Hollywood Legends set, since I like alternating discs between two sets, I chose the Comedy Classics set to [...]
The Rap Sheet (Free subscription) | 09/13/2008
Ever since I learned years ago that then Pinkerton detective Dashiell Hammett had played a part in investigating the infamous 1921 Fatty Arbuckle murder scandal, centered around the death of a wannabe-actress named Virginia Rappe in San Francisco, I’ve wondered how long it would take for some bright crime novelist to see in that historical pairing the ingredients for great fiction. Well, leafing
Pajiba (Free subscription) | 09/11/2008
100 Books in One Year. #2: The Chris Farley Show by Tom Farley, Jr. and Tanner Colby Cannonball Read / Brian Prisco...
RealChoice (Free subscription) | 09/09/2008
In 1921, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was one of the highest paid men in Hollywood. But on September 5 of that year, Arbuckle's life took a horrible turn nobody could have predicted. An aspiring actress, 25-year-old Virginia Rappe (pronounced ra-pay), took ill under strange circumstances at a weekend party Arbuckle was holding at a San Francisco hotel. Four days later, she was dead. Arbuckle stood trial...
DVD Times (Free subscription) | 09/03/2008
News: Fox Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Alice Faye Collection Volume 2 on 7th October 2008. From vaudeville chorus girl to Hollywood singing legend, Alice Faye took Tinseltown by storm and captivated audiences with her d...
Kitsch'n'Zinc (Free subscription) | 08/26/2008
Jeez just when you think you're doing the right thing along comes a bloody expert to tell you you've got it all wrong ! I listened to everyone harping on about polyunsaturated fats, monosaturated fats, animal fats, trans fats and even Fatty Arbuckle before being coerced into the daily use of expensive, up market, virgin olive oil - what a mistake that's turned out to be. Parts of Italy, Greece, Spain...
Comedy Central Insider (Free subscription) | 08/05/2008
I stumbled across this interesting article from Reuters. Breaking news, Jack Black is "rotund!" I'm glad someone is covering this. I always thought he was merely big-boned: Hollywood has throughout its history had a rotund star ruling the comedy roost....
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 06/20/2008
Film News: Tinseltown has long history with national pastime -- Hollywood loved baseball in Los Angeles long before the Dodgers came to town in 1958. From silent-film star Fatty Arbuckle's connection with a minor-league team to a local star inspiring the name of one of television's most famous characters, baseball in L.A. was no "minor" matter to the local entertainment industry.
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/05/2008
Moonshine now available. And In Stores (distributed by Koch) Greenleafmusic.com has released eight sets of music from Dave Douglas and Keystone recorded live at The Jazz Standard, April 10-13, available for download purchase now Greenleaf Music to Release New Recordings This Year from New Greenleaf Artists, Donny McCaslin and Michael Bates...
Defamer (Free subscription) | 05/30/2008
A little-known Hollywood antitrust ruling from the early 1900s—passed to prevent Fatty Arbuckle from an abuse of monopoly power—proclaims that every 15 months, a Next Big Funny Thing must...
UFOMystic (Free subscription) | 05/09/2008
To prove we're not the same person...
Smuggled Sounds (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Two-time Grammy-nominated trumpeter Dave Douglas is arguably the most original trumpeter/composer of his generation. From his New York base, where he has lived since the mid 1980s, he has earned lavish national and international critical acclaim, including trumpeter, composer, and jazz "Artist of the Year" by such organizations as the New York Jazz Awards, Down Beat, Jazz Times, Jazziz, and the Italian...
Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog) (Free subscription) | 05/03/2008
A few evenings ago, the wife and I were watching a short silent comedy, The Pest (1922), starring Stan Laurel year’s before he joined Oliver Hardy. It's standard fare: an mean-spirited landlord salivates over the opportunity of evicting a young lady from her home. Stan Laurel plays an itinerant encyclopedia salesman who vows [...]
KINETIC CARNIVAL (Free subscription) | 04/30/2008
The Voyages Extraordinaire website brings us the "Fatty" Arbuckle comedy short "Coney Island" (1917). If you haven't seen this one before, there are a few shots of Luna Park. You can see all three parts. Voyages Extraordinaire writes: After our look at the historical Coney Island amusement park, a turn-of-the-century icon of American entertainment, it is only fitting to present the 1917 comedy short...
Film School Rejects (Free subscription) | 04/24/2008
In what could be the biggest scandal to hit Hollywood since the Fatty Arbuckle debacle of 1921, Universal is suing Lionsgate for character theft, defamation, irreconcilable differences, and poor comedic sensibilities.
