Who2 Editorial Blog

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

2009-11-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Sir Ben Kingsley.

Tim Burton at the MOMA

2009-11-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Filmmaker Tim Burton will be the subject of a five-week exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art, beginning November 22nd.

Burton got into the movie business in the early 1980s as an animator for Walt Disney, doing drawings that never made it into The Black Cauldron. The MOMA show will highlight his drawings and paintings -- all in a style that moviegoers will recognize.

The link to MOMA is here. An Indiewire story with more details about the show is here.

Happy 404th Fail Day, Guy Fawkes!

2009-11-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

You should have tried to look less guilty.

Sesame Street Opens, Then and Now

2009-11-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

As Google notes today, the 40th anniversary season of Seasame Street is coming right up. The first show airs on November 10th.

Herewith, the colorful hi-tech show opener for season 40, followed by the decidedly low-tech opener for season 1 in 1969 -- where "special effects" means camera zooms at 0:19 and 0:42.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to Host the Oscars

2009-11-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Martin: "I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin."

More from the LA Times and the Academy.

The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Creative Director

2009-11-03T05:56:00.001-08:00

If you've ever wondered what the minds behind Hello Kitty might look like, this is your lucky day.

Meet creative director Yuko Yamaguchi, shown at a book signing for 'Hello Kitty: Guide to Life' in London last week. Artistic copper-dyed hair? Check. Adult pigtails? Check. Knee-high Doc Martens? Check. If it doesn't work out in the toy world, she can always add a pair of crazy eyeglasses and build skyscrapers.

But not to descend into snark. It's Hello Kitty's 35th anniversary, which is the point of the hoopla, and I do admire the Sanrio Corporation's ability to keep HK kitschy, lovable and hip all at the same time, for decades at a time. It's quite a balancing act. Congratulations to Ms. Yamaguchi, however she needs to style herself to get the job done.

Not everyone is sending anniversary bouquets, of course. One anti-fan is actually giving away this amazing toaster.

(Image of Yuko Yamaguchi supplied by WENN. And! See still more photos of Hello Kitty fashion and such.)

Halloween With the Stars

2009-11-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

Three costumes from Halloween 2009...

Heidi Klum as a raven...

Pop singer Debbie Gibson as a devil...

LaToya Jackson as...???

(All photos supplied by WENN.)

Heath Ledger, Video Director

2009-10-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

From rapper N'fa (a.k.a. No Fixed Abode), comes a music video for his song "Cause An Effect," directed by the late Heath Ledger, the actor who made 2008's The Dark Knight worth watching (parts of).

Cause An Effect (remastered) - Directed by Heath Ledger

No Fixed Abode | MySpace Video

A link to N'fa's MySpace page is here. The Ledger-directed video is up front.

Also interesting is a short piece with N'fa talking about the making of the video.

'Colonel Sanders' Invades United Nations Building

2009-10-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

The tricky devil.

"The Loin In Winter"

2009-10-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Headline of the day, from a NY Times article on the aging Hugh Hefner.

Comes with a slide show with shots of a young, intense-looking Hef.

Whitney's Cotton Gin

2009-10-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today's document from the National Archives is the patent application for Eli Whitney's cotton gin.

Whitney applied for a patent on October 28, 1793 and on March 14th of the following year was granted a U.S. patent for his machine, which removed seeds from the cotton fiber.

There's a reason American schools stress the importance of Whitney's invention, and you can learn more about it here in this teaching plan.

Whitney got the patent and the credit, but he didn't get rich off the invention that altered the American economy. Some people say he didn't even invent the thing -- that he was merely a hired hand who built it under the direction of the widow he worked for, Catherine Greene. Women in those days were not allowed to apply for patents, so there's no documentation to back up the claim that Greene invented it (another version has it that Whitney came up with the idea, but that Greene added a crucial element that made it work).

It's clear that Whitney worked for Greene, and that Greene, a plantation owner, knew more about the problems in harvesting cotton. It's also clear that Whitney was a mechanical whiz kid.

In any case, the device worked so well it was copied by others in a hurry, which led to a prolonged legal battle that eventually forced Greene to sell her plantation and Whitney to move on to other things.

What's the Correct Way to Wish Happy Birthday to a Dead Person?

2009-10-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

On this day in 1872 Emily Post was born. Post set etiquette standards for Americans for most of the 20th century by adapting high society rules of behavior for a wider class of people -- but class was still the operative word. Women were "ladies" and men were "gentlemen," and her books on etiquette still presumed a level of education and sophistication associated with higher incomes and bigger cities.

The book that made her famous, 1922's Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, can be found in its entirety here, and includes some crackerjack advice, especially if you're living in a manor with servants and go to the opera for entertainment.

Some of it is comically outdated, of course. For example:

"A gentleman on the street never shakes hands with a lady without first removing his right glove."

"Fat women should never wear elaborate clothes or clothes of light colors or heavily feathered hats."

Some of the advice still applies. Or rather, it should apply:

"No child will ever accept a maxim that is preached but not followed by the preacher. It is a waste of breath for the father to order his sons to keep their temper, to behave like gentlemen, or to be good sportsmen, if he does or is himself none of these things."

Another tip about being a good sportsman that would be good to remember for World Series fans:

"To be a good sportsman, one must be a stoic and never show rancor in defeat, or triumph in victory, or irritation, no matter what annoyance is encountered."

Happy birthday, Mrs. Post, and good luck, sports fans.

United Employee Flies Pan Am First Class In His Garage

2009-10-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

Anthony Toth has built a replica of a Pan Am 747 first-class cabin in his garage, complete with original seats, swizzle sticks, and spiral staircase.

Mr. Toth's obsession with Pan Am began in the 1970s when he was growing up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, about 45 minutes from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

For his 10th birthday, Mr. Toth says he persuaded his parents to sign him up for an annual subscription to the Official Airline Guide, which lists flight timetables and is typically used by travel agents. When he was 12, he created a 20-foot mock-up of the interior of a Pan Am first-class cabin in his family's basement, making seats out of wood.

Nutty or not, it's pretty darned cool.

(Photo: Brian L. Frank for the Wall Street Journal.)

Henry V at Agincourt

2009-10-26T10:40:00.001-07:00

For the anniversary of Henry V's victory over the French at Agincourt in 1415, a news release from historians at the University of Southampton has challenged the notion that the English were vastly outnumbered by the French.

According to this report from the Daily Mail, the familiar story that Henry's 6,000 men faced 30,000 French soldiers and whupped them anyhow was a product of English propaganda. Blame William Shakespeare.

It wasn't so unbalanced, historians say. Research has instead shown that the two sides were more evenly matched -- there were perhaps 9,000 English up against maybe 12,000 French.

Just last year historians were claiming that "despite recent claims to the contrary, it seems the English were horribly outnumbered." They were sticking to the story that the French had five times as many men as the English. They did, however, challenge the long held belief that it was English archers who made the difference. It was instead brutal hand-to-hand combat that carried the day for Henry's men.

Anglophiles shouldn't be disappointed, however. The victory was still a big win for Henry V, regardless of the details. And it made for a great stage play.

Rare Video of Anne Frank

2009-10-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam has posted this footage to its YouTube Channel.

July 22 1941. The girl next door is getting married. Anne Frank is leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. It is the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film.

More here.

Where's Buzz? At the Beverly Hilton!

2009-10-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

Buzz Aldrin is a stud. Dude landed on the moon. Whatever he and Neil Armstrong want to do with their time is OK by us. They could start robbing banks together and we wouldn't say a word.

That said, we have noted with a smile how often Mr. Aldrin shows up in the daily celebrity photo feed from our friends at WENN. If he's not arriving at Spago or the Beverly Hilton, he's posing with Tim Allen or Tippi Hedren of The Birds fame.

He's like the anti-Armstrong. He loves the camera!

Hence our new occasional photo series: Where's Buzz? When we see him hanging with celebs, we'll bring you the photos.

That's him yesterday with model Amber Valleta at a charity lunch for the Friendly House. (At the Beverly Hilton!) Rock on, Buzz!

Book Review: "The Silent Spirit"

2009-10-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

"She's a master."
-Tony Hillerman

Anyone writing in the Native American mystery genre has to wrassle with the 500-pound gorilla in the room: the late Tony Hillerman. Margaret Coel dispatches the issue with a Hillerman blurb right on the front cover of her new novel, The Silent Spirit. (Could that be Hillerman's Last Blurb? He died last October.)

This is the 14th novel in Coel's Wind River mystery series, so called because the stories are set on the Arapahoe Wind River Reservation; the first book was The Eagle Catcher in 1995. Coel's series stars a recovering alcoholic priest, Father John O'Malley, and his partner in crime-solving, Arapahoe attorney Vicky Holden.

Coel is regarded as an expert on Arapahoes, and her previous books have explored that culture in detail as O'Malley and Holden wandered among snow-frozen bodies, murdered priests, and the (maybe) grave of Sacagawea.

The Silent Spirit continues that trend with a twist: a flashback to 1923, when Arapahoes from the reservation were recruited to appear as extras in the silent film The Covered Wagon. (Yup, it was an actual film. Tim McCoy, a key character in the book, is described on the IMDB page as "liason: Indians.")

The story is split between old and new times as Holden and Father John try to figure out who killed Kirk Wallowingbull, whose great-grandfather was one of those Hollywood extras.

Who2 reviewer A.C. Stickley files this report:

"Margaret Coel's a good storyteller. She builds characters throughout this book that I was able to connect with immediately.

What I found most interesting was the use of factual information related to the movie The Covered Wagon throughout the story, like the details about work on a 1920s movie set.

This is my first Coel read, so not knowing the history or depth of characters of Vicky and Father O'Malley, I found their personal challenges and frustrations in this book actually more annoying than supportive of the plot. By the end, they do manage the neat trick of uncovering the circumstances of Kiki's death and of the disappearance of his great-grandfather. But they seemed like vehicles to tell the story and not much more.

The mystery within the mystery, the secondary characters -- the great-grandfather and his Native pals who are on the film with him, and Tim McCoy, the cowboy who 'rounded up' the Indians for the filming -- that's where the real pleasure is for me.

Tony Hillerman's stories are more suspenseful, but Coel does so much better with creating interesting supporting characters. As a first-time reader of the Wind River mysteries, I was pleasantly surprised and I'm tempted to pick up another one of her books."

Billy Dee on Miley Cyrus

2009-10-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, mercy. From the Jimmy Kimmel show:

(Hat tip: Mike Duffy.)

The 'Horsey Incisors' of Hilary Swank

2009-10-23T04:06:00.000-07:00

It's Oscar season and you know what that means: Time to wheel Hilary Swank out for her annual viewing. In 'Amelia,' she plays the legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, and those big, horsey incisors of hers may at last have met their match.

Ty Burr reviews the new movie Amelia.

While We're Talking About It...

2009-10-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's post about Jack Kerouac was a nice prelude to this:

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within.

The link takes you to a trailer for a new documentary about Burroughs, who, like Kerouac, was what we call a Counterculture Heavyweight. In the trailer you can see Burroughs as Young Rebel and as Crazy Old Coot, along with testimonials about his greatness/weirdness from other counterculture icons, including filmmaker John Waters and rocker Iggy Pop.

Naturally, the best parts include his creaky voice -- especially as he walks around the woods with a shotgun, shouting "give me something to shoot!"

Kerouac Videos

2009-10-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death (at the age of 47). For some Kerouac-related media, we recommend this archive called Digital Beats.

The brief video clips include a rambling and bored Kerouac having a halfway conversation with the insufferable host of Firing Line, William F. Buckley, Jr; Allen Ginsberg talking about Kerouac (and staring at his grave marker with Bob Dylan); and CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite announcing Kerouac's untimely death.

Ideas for Oscar Rejuvenation

2009-10-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Defamer has some lively ideas for making the Academy Awards relevant again.

Included are scenarios titled Drink the Golden Globes Under the Table, Post-Modern Oscar, and... Logan's Run:

The tweens have taken over entertainment; how long does Oscar think it can hold out anyway? Show Oscar's commitment to staying relevant by terminating the careers of any actor over 35 on live TV.

Host: Vanessa Hudgins
Producer: The Kardashians
Ideal Best Picture Winner: New Moon
Opening Number: 50's style sockhop dance number as George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and all the old people in the audience are loaded onto the original Sputnik rocket and blasted into outer space.

More here.

Wait! More Mamie Gummer News

2009-10-20T17:47:00.001-07:00

She's engaged.

One Dream Rush

2009-10-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Diversion: Some liquor company somewhere had a contest of sorts called One Dream Rush. Filmmakers had 42 seconds to make a dreamy movie.

The above link goes to the YouTube channel that features some of the short films, including ones by David Lynch and, oddly enough, James Franco.

Speaking of diversions and Franco, if you've never seen his funny shorts on Funny or Die, here's the link to his special channel -- they are a hoot.

Meryl Streep's Kid Mamie

2009-10-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

That's actress Mamie Gummer, the daughter of Meryl Streep and sculptor Donald Gummer, at a Whitney Museum gala last night.

Granted, the flashy dress is what caught my eye, but then I couldn't stop looking at the Streepyness of her face.

Mamie was born in 1983 (her given name is Mary), so she's 26 now. Here's a comparison with her mom, age 32, in the 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman:

Uncanny.

Side note: Gummer made her screen debut as a toddler in the Streep-Nicholson film Heartburn. She was billed (for reasons I can't uncover) as Natalie Stern, and earned this shout-out in the New York Times review: "In particular, Natalie Stern, an inordinately cute baby, is already accomplished enough to steal scenes even from Miss Streep."

The IMDB says Gummer had a small part in Ang Lee's 2009 comedy Taking Woodstock and has four flicks currently filming or in post-production: a drama, a comedy, a horror film and a romance.

(Images supplied by WENN.)