Saturday Hot Links
Time again for another installment of Saturday Hot Links!
Today: The Independence Day Weekend Declare Your Independents edition!
The Way, Way Back: Opens this weekend.
Let’s start off with some links provided by Shaula Evans.
Cool comparison of U.S. summer movie posters and their European counterparts.
Cutlery can influence food taste.
A look at Nevada movie tax incentives and who really benefits.
How self-editing became the first commandment of literature.
Laurie Penny: I was a manic pixie dream girl.
Watch a 55-minute documentary on the great Billy Wilder [video].
Graphs visualizing the Bechdel Test.
Spend 90-minutes with William Goldman [video].
Thanks, Shaula!
Fruitvale Station: Opens July 12.
How Legendary is trying to turn around troubling tracking for Pacific Rim.
11 obscure regional phrases that describe excessive heat.
Sophia Loren ends big screen hiatus.
The problem with standardized tests in education.
50 greatest movie origin stories.
A brief history of the hot dog.
Ricky Gervais: Is there a difference between British and American humor?
A brief history of the Guy Fawkes mask.
10 great 2013 movies you can watch at home right now.
10 best works of fiction so far in 2013.
What’s behind stupid skirmish between Warner Bros. and Weinsteins over The Butler.
Tom Bergin’s famed Irish saloon on Fairfax is closing.
8 tell-tale signs a movie could be a flop.
Barbie recreated to reflect an average American.
50 best Pixar Easter eggs.
He took a Polaroid every day until the day he died.
Back to the Future co-writer explains how Marty and Doc Brown became friends.
Exercise reorganizes the brain to be more resilient to stress.
6 TED Talks ponder: What if superpowers were real.
This has been the wildest decade of weather ever recorded on Earth.
The Spectacular Now: Opens August 2nd.
11 TV theme songs that secretly have lyrics.
5 depressing facts about your favorite childhood games.
6 giant versions of classic board games.
Melissa McCarthy: The next Will Ferrell or the next Jack Black.
Jack Black returns to Comic-Con with a new web series.
The Heat and 9 other movies that pioneered genres for women.
Every threat Melissa McCarthy makes in The Heat.
11 famous works of art that were never actually completed.
A comparison of 2013 to 2012 summer box office. Hint: It’s up this year.
Creativity Post: The many faces of a creative performer.
The top 100 Canadian films.
How to find your passion in life.
Steve Martin loses his wallet… and a stranger returns it.
How olive oil might save our oldest buildings.
Hollywood’s glass ceiling: Why doesn’t the film industry trust women.
‘Balloon Boy,’ now 10, launches heavy metal music career.
Kristen Wiig: Turning down Bridesmaids sequel “wasn’t a hard decision.”
I Give It a Year: Opens August 9th.
How all 50 states go their names.
20 ways White House Down was not Die Hard.
How would Rupert Murdoch’s Global Soccer League play.
Orlando Bloom gives farewell as Legolas from the set of The Hobbit [video].
6 common résumé flaws — and how to fix them
Shane Black gives an update on Doc Savage.
10 magical facts about unicorns.
Worst to best: Movie product placements.
Voyager 1 discovers baffling region at the edge of the solar system.
The do’s and don’ts of improv comedy from some actors who know what they’re talking about [video].
20 things you might not know about your favorite liquors.
TotalFilm: The 100 greatest female characters.
Why should children study the arts.
Why Hollywood is setting movie release dates 5 years in advance.
If films were reviewed like video games.
Short Term 12: Opens August 23rd.
Support independent cinema! Create more diversity and choices at the box office… and feel good doing it!
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the Week: For those of you interested in writing for television, Tom Benedek teaches a number of classes including one that starts on July 15 called TV: Pilot Creation Workshop. Tom’s comments:
An original half-hour or one-hour pilot script (or a half-hour script) can be a great calling card for a screenwriter to open many doors in TV and in features. Those 30 or 60 pages have to be potentially great television — a well-structured script with strong characters and a compelling story that could unfold over many episodes.
For more information, go here.