Saturday Hot Links
Time for another week’s worth of Saturday Hot Links!
This week: The Amazing Soccer Goal Edition!
We start with Thierry Henry, Arsenal v Man Utd:
Finally! Mattel to release the Back to the Future Hover Board! Only without the hover!
Just when we were scooping dirt onto the Hollywood movie business grave, check it out: B.O. is up 14.6% this year.
How Dustin Lance Black, Rob Reiner and Bruce Cohen helped defeat Prop 8.
Jodie Foster has sent out DVDs of The Beaver to every member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences… even though it’s not nominated for an Oscar… and on her own dime. That’s how much she wants people to see this movie which she directed and starred in. Great script by Kyle Killen.
Fox names 10 lucky “aspiring scribes” to its newly revamped writers program.
Good, because it’s time to come up with more Bart Simpson chalkboard quotes.
Adapt or die? Can literary adaptations transform an impoverished film industry?
The Alamo Drafthouse keeps expanding, now into San Francisco.
Sony puts “The Boys” project into turnaround.
Hollywood stars and their rare book addiction.
And for those of you with this type of addiction, here are 12 creative business cards.
Who can forget these 9 favorite cinematic amnesiacs? [HT to @DFTVYP for the link]
David Lee Roth explains why Van Halen had the no brown M&M’s rider in their performance contract [video].
Vanity Fair with advice on how to make The Girl Who Played With Fire better than Dragon Tattoo. [Another HT to @DFTVYP for the link]
Chuck Wendig: 25 things you should know about protagonists.
Netflix developing a 2nd original series: “Orange is the New Black from “Weeds” creator Jenji Kohan.
Matt Groening donates $500K to UCLA to endow the Matt Groening Chair in Animation.
TotalFilm: 50 greatest Star Wars scenes.
Is Jeremy Lin Neo from The Matrix?
IndieWire interviews all seven filmmakers nominated for this year’s best documentary Oscar.
Slashfilm with hints about two new Studio Ghibli films.
Watch George R.R. Martin read nursery rhymes [video].
Elizabeth Gabler reups as Prez at Fox 2000.
10 truly bizarre museums around the world.
If you believe these folks, the U.S. is a second-rate telecommunications nation.
Oliver Stone’s filmmaker son Sean went to Iran recently to convert to Islam.
Bridesmaids has brought in a cool $40M in VOD revenues.
How soccer brings Wall Street to a halt.
And speaking of soccer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Ajax against NAC Breda:
Will media be revolutionized by a $12-a-month streaming service for free TV?.
AICN talks to Andrew Stanton about a possible sequel to John Carter.
But then could John Carter fail at the box office? Its tracking numbers don’t look good.
NBC orders 13 episodes of a new series “Hannibal” based on… you got it… Hannibal Lecter.
Alcon acquires Paranormal Activity helmer Oren Peli’s new horror film “Chernobyl Diaries”.
Top 10 wine myths that just won’t die.
DreamWorks Animation gets hungry and goes Chinese.
Sony gets greedy and raises the price on Whitney Houston albums.
Cabin Fever is doing not one, but two prequels.
Want to know what movie has the record for the biggest non-weekend Valentine’s Day B.O. gross in history? It’s The Vow wooing $11.6M!
Gavin Palone: How Pilot Season Ensures That Great Actors Rarely Land the Right Shows.
CAA continues to make a play in India.
An update on the Friday Night Lights movie.
In legal news, Warner Bros. sends a cease-and-desist letter to Charlie Sheen.
More legal: Screenwriter John Logan off the hook in The Last Samurai suit, but not so Zwick & Herskovitz.
Legal et al: Pamela Anderson sued by her former lawyers for non-payment.
How about a parent laying down the law? In this case Cindy Crawford who has put a stop to her 10 year-old daughter’s modeling career.
Here’s five weird tips on where ideas hide and how to find them.
For all you numbers freaks, go here for all sorts of graphs, charts, lists and what-not about Hollywood movies from 1975 to the present.
This is great: Magician Teller responds to a letter from a fan with tips on being a magician.
George Clooney’s advice to Brad Pitt? Try dinner theater [video].
And this shocking news no one could have anticipated: Jeremy Lin is shopping for a book deal.
Finally Zidane Volley vs Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Final:
NOTE: All goals selected by @Nate_Winslow.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Two great opportunities to work Tom Benedek (Cocoon, Free Willy) or myself.
Starting Monday, February 20th, Tom will be teaching a 2-week online screenwriting course Core VI: Scene in which you will learn six key principles to use in writing scenes. You can find out more about that class here.
Starting Monday, February 27th, I will be teaching a 1-week online course called Handling Exposition in which we will explore six techniques you can use to manage one of the most nagging issues writers face: information, data, background and the like. You can learn more about this course here.
If you haven’t taken a Screenwriting Master Class course yet, it’s a great chance to check out how amazing online education is.
Tom and I look forward to working with you!
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