Saturday Hot Links
Welcome to another installment of Saturday Hot Links, today served with jalapeno jelly!
This week: The Top Car Commercials Of 2011 Edition!
First the Nissan Leaf: Imagine a gas-powered everything:
Remember the documentary I Am from writer-director Tom Shadyac, which I featured here? It’s going to air on the OWN cable network on January 1 including a Shadyac-Oprah Winfrey interview.
For all the recent talk about gender inequality in Hollywood, here is the 2011 Women in Entertainment Power 100.
The year in culture from Vulture. If Vulture says it, I believe it!
Speaking of 2011, here is David Denby’s list [New Yorker] of the best movies of the year.
All hail Pusuke: The world’s oldest dog [26] died this week.
Holy crap! Fincher shot 483 hours of footage for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Now that’s coverage!
In real estate news, here are the week’s biggest Hollywood home deals, highlights include Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Hudson, Robert De Niro.
How much does a house on 10 acres in Beverly Hills cost? Try $55M.
Disney loving couple buys real life Up house.
Re Disney, did you know Toy Story has its own Facebook page? And you can see lots of shots from the new Pixar animated short “Small Fry.”
Speaking of which, Slashfilm with a great Q&A on how Pixar makes short films
The hot new trend in TV development circles is… Westerns?!?!
This just in: A report from Saudi Arabia says women driving leads to them having sex.
Chloë Sevigny lets folks look in her closet… not a euphemism [video].
Okay, I don’t know if this is cool or weird: Famous writers as handcrafted dolls.
Awesome infographic: Steve Jobs Rules the World.
Terry Gilliam opines away about Dark Knight, Tintin and Transformers.
Are you kidding me: “The Wire” Monopoly board?
So evidently the reason Happy Feet 2 is underperforming is because it’s pushing a “liberal agenda”.
This left-wing agenda evidently extends to The Muppets [video].
Indeed here is a list of 11 children’s movies that engage in nefarious political messaging.
Meanwhile back in the real world, Tom Cruise visits the Taj Mahal.
The 10 coolest tattoos on film.
Odd bit of rep news: Former CAA agent Rand Halston now at Paradigm.
TV’s most memorable pets.
Harry Potter coming to Universal Hollywood.
The most surprising Twitter trends in 2011.
Sad news: Roger Ebert’s “At The Movies” going on hiatus.
Hey, all you GITS readers in New Zealand: Is this giant weta insect really that damn big?
Here are 40 inspiring quotes from writers about reading.
In legal news, Angelina Jolie may be busy saving the world, but this guy in Croatia has sued her for allegedly stealing his story idea.
Why Hollywood should fear legal battle over Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.
You knew this would happen: James Cameron sued by a writer who said JC stole the plot of Avatar.
Former manager going to court to take on California’s Talent Agencies Act.
And the kicker: THR with Hollywood’s craziest lawsuits.
Watch screeners. Don’t watch screeners. Make up your mind!!!
Meanwhile online video viewing tops 50% of American population for the first time. To think just a few years ago, hardly anyone in Hollywood thought people would ever watch movies, TV, etc online.
You can read the entire imbroglio between producer Scott Rudin and film critic David Denby [yeah, that was his movie list earlier] over The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo here. Nothing like a Hollywood email catfight!
Chrysler Born of Fire:
In screenwriting news, Universal taps Daniel Casey to write an untitled sci-fi crime thriller project. What’s really cool is Casey is a recent alum of the newly formed Reliance/Imagine Writing Lab. More of this, please, Hollywood!
Matthew Fogel (Big Momma’s: Like Father, Like Son) hired to write Bob the Musical.
Mark Bomback (Wolverine) brought on to bring the movie version of 24 down the stretch drive.
Fred Wolf (Grown Ups) named to write the sequel.
Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) signed to write The Clock Without a Face for Paramount.
Writer-director Soffia Coppola’s next project: The infamous Calabasas bling ring.
California teenager wins national science prize for creating the “Swiss army knife of cancer treatments.”
TNT greenlights medical pilot from David E. Kelly and CNN medical guru Sanjay Gupta.
Contemporary literature’s greatest geeks.
TotalFilm: 50 worst movies of 2011.
Why Twilight is screwing up the next generation.
A 30-yard long collage built inside a dumpster.
How The Way and Margin Call bucked the indie box office blues.
Morgan Freeman teaches you to rhyme… on “The Electric Company” [video].
Richard Brody: 26 best films of 2011.
New Elliott Smith indie documentary in the works.
2011 is a record box office year in Mexico.
Nooooooooooooooo!!!!! Tom Cruise reports they are working on Top Gun 2.
Nooooooooooooooo… again!!!!! Lionsgate announces they are doing a remake of American Psycho.
Auction of “Star Wars” camera fetches a cool $625k.
The movie Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, starring Anthony Hopkins as Hitch and Helen Mirren as his wife, looks to be going forward.
12 things you were not taught in school about creative thinking.
And about that whole school thing: Adult school board member takes standardized 10th grade math test — and bombs.
TotalFilm: How to make a Christmas movie.
Fascinating photos: Gamers vs. their avatars.
I think The Help is going to do well at the Oscars, but THR thinks maybe not.
A miniature version of Manhattan carved entirely out of marble.
2011’s biggest movie controversies.
Would you trust your cable company to provide home security? That’s what Time Warner and Comcast want to do.
And we can all breathe a sigh of relief as it’s confirmed: Michael Bay to direct Transformers 4.
Thinking of yourself as a child can unlock your creative potential.
Finally the absolutely hands-down best car commercial of the year as noted here on GITS:
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Tom and I are busy finalizing our class schedule for the first two quarters of 2012, so look for that soon. There are some exciting new offerings in the works as well as changes to make the SMC experience even better including a new 21-week program that teaches you the essentials of screenwriting theory, then takes you through a workshop experience where by the end of the term, you have a complete draft of a screenplay. Everything built around the principle: “It’s not just writing a screenplay, it’s learning how to think like a screenwriter.”
Comment Archive