Saturday Hot Links
Back for another installment of Saturday Hot Links!
Today: The Vintage 1950s TV Commerical Edition!
First up an ad pitching Gillette razor blades:
Here’s a good question: Why do all movie tickets cost the same?
10 modern movies that are better in black-and-white.
Hackers plan spacre satellites to combat censorship.
THR with a TCA report on NBC head honcho Bob Greenblatt.
Minimajor Summit Entertainment considering two different potential buyers.
Seven ways meditation increases creativity.
Ted Hope: The Really Good Things In The Indie Film Biz In 2011.
The 13 worst tech fails of 2011. Of course, Qwikster tops the list.
Remember Heather from The Blair Witch Project? Here’s what the actor who portrayed Heather is doing now.
The Debt voted the most underappreciated movie of 2011.
Richard Alf, one of the co-founders of Comic-Con, has died at the age of 59.
Total Film: 100 Greatest “Simpsons” Movie References.
Grateful Dead fans, put down the bong and rejoice: Looks like a kick-ass documentary is in the works about Jerry Garcia.
Bob Anderson, who helped stage sword fights in movies from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings has died at the age of 89.
In real estate news, the big deals in Hollywoood include Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Kate Middleton, Dennis Quaid, and Terry Semel.
Hollywood’s historic Taft building sold.
Tiger Woods’ ex-wife buys a $12.3M home… then demolishes it.
Goodbye, Versus. Hello, NBC Sports, the new home of Major League Soccer!
Did you know Bret McKenzie (“Flight of the Conchords”) plays an elf in The Hobbit? He talks about his experience here.
I know this is shocking news, but Paramount announces they are doing Paranormal Activity 4. Why? I can think of 202 million reasons.
Another shock: Super Bowl ads are officially sold out.
Hugh Jackman breaking all sorts of records on Broadway [more Jackman news below].
Is Netflix more popular than FX?
Time to move to Denmark! It’s at the top of the list of countries with the best balance of work and leisure. Where is the U.S.? 23rd.
Don Cheadle says he has a studio offer for his “cubist gangster pic” about Miles Davis.
Fan of the comic strip “Peanuts”? Here are 10 characters you’ve probably forgotten.
Remember that actress who sued IMDB for revealing she was over 40? Well, she finally went public with her name.
Next how Brylcreem puts “life, life, life back into your life!”
In screenwriting news, Aaron Sorkin makes his Broadway debut as librettist with the production of “Houdini” to star Hugh Jackman.
GITS friend and hot young screenwriter John Swetnam (Evidence) has some good news: His latest spec to sell Category 6 lands a director.
Screenwriters John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who penned the original Horrible Bosses, have inked a deal to do the sequel.
Paul Haggis to rewrite Umbra for director Martin Campbell.
Screenwriter John August comes up with a really useful Mac app: Bronson Watermarker.
Actress-writer-director Sarah Polley to adapt Margaret Atwood novel “Alias Grace”.
“The Artist,” “Like Crazy,” “Margin Call,” “Shame” and “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”: Those are some of the possible contenders for screenwriting Oscars that are not eligible for the WGA Awards.
Speaking of which, the WGA nominations were announced this week. Some analysis.
More WGA noms: Woody Allen with his 20th nomination.
Steve Zeitchik (LAT) with 7 film stories we never saw coming in 2011. Bridesmaids is one of them.
And Zeitchik again: 2012: From ‘Hobbit’ to ‘Hunger Games,’ seven stories to watch.
The Wrap with 2012’s most anticipated entertainment events.
More 2012: Two B.O. experts predict a slight increase in theatrical revenues this year, mostly driven by higher ticket prices.
This is a surprise: 2012 box office to be dominated by franchises.
Meanwhile some folks are still looking back: The Pajiba staff pulls together their 10 most scathing movie reviews of 2011.
Comics Bulletin with The top ten comic book writers of 2011.
While domestic B.O. lags, yet another country ends up with record revenues: Norway.
Then again Spain and Italy… not so much.
Music was a loser on Wall Street.
NYT with five don’t-miss movies you probably missed.
How are independent bookstores fighting back against Amazon? By becoming publishers.
Archie comics with the series first gay wedding.
Despite so-so numbers, Sony is still planning a sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Do other animals laugh when tickled?
The 25 greatest epigraphs in literature.
All you Tarantino fans, Total Film has put together a comprehensive guide to QT’s next film Django Unchained.
If famous authors had written “Twilight”.
Village Voice cans longtime film critic J. Hoberman. Some comments from Hoberman.
Where did 9 million cable subscribers go?
Maybe they’re headed toward Google which has TV squarely in its crosshairs.
Or maybe Apple will scoop them all up as they are considering bidding for TV broadcast rights in England for the English Premier League.
Warner Bros. out-”oops” Rick Perry: They sent out the wrong draft of J. Edgar script by Dustin Lance Black to Oscar voters.
Total Film: 20 awesome movie insults.
Why the Nobel Prize people snubbed J.R.R. Tolkien in 1961.
Newsweek weighs in with this: 31 ways to get smarter in 2012.
Need a good Joseph Campbell quote? Go here.
And for the finale, it’s Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron!
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Do you have a great story you’re ready to write, but could use the structure of a workshop to help you pound out that first draft? Or do you have a draft of a script you know needs to be rewritten, but you don’t know how to go about doing it? Starting Monday, January 23rd, Tom Benedek and I will be teaching the next sessions of two SMC screenwriting workshops: Pages I: The First Draft and Pages II: Rewriting Your Script. Each is a 10-week workshop structured to help you succeed with weekly due dates, feedback from other writers, guidance from a professional screenwriter, and teleconferences. Hit the links above to learn more. Plus we’ve put both classes on sale to make this type of hands-on workshop experience more available to you. And don’t forget, I’ll be teaching the 1-week online screenwriting class “Craft: Loglines to Beat Sheets” covering six different types of story summaries screenwriters need to know how to craft in today’s development marketplace. Go here for more information on that course which runs from January 16–22, 2012.
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