"82"

Given the reverence for Hitchcock’s 1958 masterpiece today, people are often surprised to learn that on release, “Vertigo” was a bit of a dud, barely recouping its costs and generating only mixed reviews. This tangled tale of murder and obsession may simply have been too twisted for Eisenhower-era audiences to accept.

Katharine Hepburn, whose birthday falls today, remains the only actor or actress to be awarded four Oscars. Yes, Meryl has long since surpassed her on nominations, but Kate still leads on wins. Few people now realize that by the end of 1938, after just six years in Hollywood, pundits were saying Kate was all washed up. In 1939, the year many point to as Hollywood’s finest, Kate didn’t have a single movie credit.  True, she got her first break early enough, as talking pictures in the early ‘30s were always searching for young, attractive Broadway-bred comers who could actually speak. Kate made an auspicious debut in 1932’s “A Bill Of Divorcement," opposite the aging, alcoholic John Barrymore (who played her father).

With this year’s Oscars just days away, in the media and around the water cooler we engage in the recurring debate about which films deserve to win, and which, in fact, will.

Another strange truth about the movie biz: sometimes, a great idea will take decades to become a feature film. Case in point, Walt Disney’s much beloved “Lady And The Tramp.”

We're sad to report that legendary character actor Bob Hoskins passed away last night at the age of 71. Though he became a household name playing gumshoe Eddie Valiant in the ultimate "Odd Pair" film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", Hoskins's original breakout role was in the tightly wound British Crime thriller, "The Long Good Friday."   "Friday" was a perfect role for the undersized British Bulldog. His delivery on lines like "Shut up, you long streak of paralyzed piss!" in the film's final monologue made that role unforgettable. Ever since, he's been stealing scenes in dozens of movies, turning smaller, flatter roles (often villains) into memorable, well-rounded characters using his trademark growl and receded hairline.  In 1986, he was nominated for an Oscar (winning a BAFTA and Golden Globe) for his role in the noir mystery "Mona Lisa" (which we've belatedly slated for the site!), but it was his gruff-and-tough role in "Roger Rabbit" that launched him into Hollywood's upper-echelon of go-to character actors. Since then, he's appeared in everything from "Mermaids" alongside Cher to the beautifully crafted "Paris, Je T'Aime." 

Ever wonder why so many films are set in New York City? In addition to its size, and reputation for being the cultural and financial center of America (if not the world), there are the not-insignificant tax breaks our local government offers to attract penny-pinching studios, City Hall’s willingness to accommodate film crews (completely shutting down entire neighborhoods for location shoots), and a nice bonus in that 99% of stars and directors have home-away-from-penthouse spreads in the Big Apple. But there’s so much more to New York than the touristy scrum of Times Square, the hip Chelsea scene, the tony Upper East Side, or the high rise canyons of the Financial District. There are five boroughs that make up New York City, after all, and among them, Brooklyn. Part of Brooklyn’s glory is that it stubbornly defies stereotypes. Even with the current crop of twenty-something “trustafarians” overrunning the borough, the place is too big, too old, and too rich in history to erase the centuries of cultural roots hiding in plain sight.