I’m in the demographic sweet spot where I actually remember the rash of films that hit big screens during the 1970s with the primary intention of scaring the bejeezus out of you, I actually went to the movies to see the first iterations of what would eventually become massive franchises, such as HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY the … Read more
Like so many American Jews, the images that played through my news and social media feeds yesterday were both sobering and disturbing. On the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war–on a Shabbat, on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah–we saw the news of Hamas’ attack on Israel. As of this writing, … Read more
Anyone who could conquer Youngstown was destined to conquer Hollywood and Silicon Valley, right? I first crossed paths with Mark Lieber when he was a young sales executive for a soon-to-be defunct distribution arm of the soon-to-be extinct Metromedia conglomerate. Mark even joined while the fate of the company was in limbo, shortly after it … Read more
For as long as there has been Hollywood, there has been kissing. Per a 2014 NEW YORK TIMES profile on the topic people have been locking lips since the 19th century, As the TIMES described it: The very first moving-picture kiss, in a 25-second short made by Thomas Edison in 1896, shows the problem clearly. The … Read more
In today’s media landscape, true success is rare, and relative to even the recent past the bar for what is considered success has lowered to the level of a champion Limbo player. This was the verbiage of an actual press release from CBS News that came out earlier this week touting the “success” of some … Read more
If you’ve been to Las Vegas, or even a Vegas-themed party, you’ve undoubtedly at some point indulged like a “rar packer”. Even though it’s been more than 15 years since the least well-known of them, Joey Bishop, passed away, The Rat Pack remains one of the most recognizable and relatable references to movie star glam … Read more
One of the nice things about social media is that occasionally some folks that are little more than Facebook friends with really good stories to tell choose to do so in long posts, usually when some seminal event in their lives triggers it. When Betty White passed away a couple of years ago, one such … Read more
Today’s LEBLANGUAGE is devoted to the business prescience of John Landgraf, FX Chairman. A good deal of Landgraf’s executive success has been due to his alliance with Ryan Murphy, who first came to the FX family with the breakthrough drama NIP/TUCK 20 years ago and exploded into a full-fledged reliance on him for content greatness. … Read more
I’m disappointed at times that I haven’t quite been able to communicate exactly how I feel about FX Chairman John Landgraf. On many occasions, I’ve called him out on his seemingly quioxtic obsession with driving home the point that there’s simply too much TV being made, that a bubble bursting was inevitable, and we should … Read more
The next time you choose to eschew alcohol, think of how the namesake of the signature teetotaler drink may have really needed one. Way before Drew Barrymore ever froze at the sight of a snowy television screen, back when her relatives John, Lionel and Ethel commanded Hollywood, Shirley Temple was America’s sweetheart. Per Wikipedia, Shirley … Read more