Just how does one get on a postage stamp? And more importantly, why has Vincent Price never been honored with one? The answer to the first question is that you apparently have to petition the White House. There’s no good answer to the second question but fortunately, some Vincent Price fan out there has chosen to initiate this with the required petition. It’s a worthy cause and 100,000 signatures (or the on-line equivalent of a signature) are needed. So go to the site HERE, sign the petition, and let them know you want to see St. Louis hometown hero Vincent Price on the corner of some of those future bills that you mail.
After all, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and both Lon Chaneys have been honored. Remember these stamps from 1997?:
Believe it or not, the U.S. Postal Service has been issuing commemorative stamps since 1893. (The first series celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to the New World!) But the real reasons the USPS issues these stamps isn’t so much to celebrate patriotism; it’s to make money. When people collect stamps instead of using them for postage, the federal government turns a healthy profit. In 2006, the USPS estimated that 120 million Elvis stamps were never mailed, delivering more than $30 million to the Postal System’s coffers.
The Postal Service has a rule that people can’t be honored in stamp form until five years after their death. But they do make an exception for recently deceased U.S. presidents. The USPS is willing to honor a former commander-in-chief on the first anniversary of the birthday following his death. Vincent Price died in 1993, so he’s meets that criteria. Even after you’ve been dead and buried for five years, the USPS will only issue stamps on significant anniversaries. For most personalities, that means waiting until what would have been their 100th birthday before landing the honor. We should have tackled this right after Vincentennial , the Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration, an event I was director of in May of 2011 (read all about the eventHEREhttps://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2012/02/vincentennial-nominated-for-a-rondo-award-for-best-fan-event/). I actually thought of spearheading it at that time, but once the event ended, I moved on to other projects. Of course, what constitutes a “significant” anniversary is up for grabs. In 1993, the USPS issued an Elvis Presley stamp on what would have been the King’s 58th birthday. No one complained; more than 500 million Elvis Presley stamps were sold.
So go the site and sign the petition (HERE it is again) – Spread the word! Tell your friends! If this anyone worthy of being on a postage stamp, it’s Vincent Price!
This Tuesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy will present the World Premiere of the trailer for the highly anticipated upcoming Marvel film GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, with help from the movie’s star Chris Pratt. This will be the first time Marvel fans will have a chance to see the official trailer for the film, which releases on August 1st.
After Jimmy Kimmel Live airs, the trailer will be posted for 24 hours exclusively on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s YouTube channel.
Alongside Pratt, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY boasts a star studded cast, including Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Benicio Del Toro.
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy.
An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.
To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which first appeared in comic books in Marvel Super-Heroes, Issue #18 (Jan. 1969), stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista,featuring Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, with John C. Reilly, Glenn Close as Nova Prime Rael and Benicio del Toro as The Collector.
James Gunn is the director of the film with Kevin Feige producing, and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Alan Fine and Stan Lee serve as executive producers.
The story is by Nicole Perlman and James Gunn, with screenplay by James Gunn.
Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY releases in U.S. theaters on August 1, 2014.
Composer Steven Price has received his first Best Original Film Music accolade from the EE British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) for his work on director Alfonso Cuarón’s GRAVITY.
In accepting the honor Sunday night, Price said, “Thank you so much BAFTA. I share this with Alfonso. You inspired every second of this and it has been a huge honor to tell this story with you. I want to thank all the musicians who played on this score and gave the music its heartbeat, as well as everyone at Warner Bros., The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency and all the people on this film who have been so supportive. Thank you to my mom and dad for having such a great record collection and starting this whole thing off. But most of all, thank you Gemma, my wife.”
In addition to BAFTA, Price’s music for Gravity has also been recognized with best score wins from the Broadcast Film Critics Association in addition to several best score nominations including the Oscar and the Golden Globe.
Read my interviews with the composer on THE WORLD’S END – HERE and GRAVITY – HERE.
Soon after receiving his BAFTA win yesterday, director Edgar Wright tweeted that Price will be composing the score to the upcoming feature adaptation of the Marvel comic book ANT-MAN starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas.
Huge congrats to @SteveBPrice for his Bafta Award for the ‘Gravity’ score. I guess I should drop the news that he is scoring ‘Ant-Man’.
The film marks Price’s third collaboration with Wright after working with the filmmaker on THE WORLD’S END and ATTACK THE BLOCK (the latter which Wright executive produced).
Price is presently composing the score for FURY and also wrote music for Cuarón’s new NBC series Believe which premieres on March 10 and stars Kyle MacLachlan and Delroy Lindo. Believe tells the story of a gifted young girl and a man sprung from prison, who has been tasked with protecting her from evil.
Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence will return to present at this year’s Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced.
Winning for the title role in last year’s LINCOLN, Day-Lewis has also been nominated for five Oscars in the lead actor category.
His previous wins were for the 2007 film “There Will Be Blood” and 1989’s “My Left Foot.” He also received nominations for his starring roles in “Gangs of New York” (2002) and “In the Name of the Father” (1993).
Lawrence took home the BAFTA Sunday night for her supporting performance in AMERICAN HUSTLE and the Oscar last year for her lead performance in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.
She is nominated this year for her supporting role in AMERICAN HUSTLE. Previously Lawrence was nominated for her leading role in WINTER’S BONE. Her other credits include X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and THE HUNGER GAMES series.
“Good Morning America” anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer, and Jess Cagle, editor of People and editorial director of Entertainment Weekly, return to host the Oscars “Red Carpet Live” show, along with television host Tyson Beckford. The Oscars “Red Carpet Live,” will air on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will air immediately following “Red Carpet Live.”
“Rebel scum, “”the Galactic Empire,” and “stormtroopers.” It’s all part of the highly anticipated animated series Star Wars Rebels –taking place between Star Wars: Episode III and IV as the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy and a rebellion begins to form.
I’m a huge fan of TV’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, especially the first 3 seasons, that took place between the Ep. 2 and Ep. 3 trilogies, and Star Wars Rebels looks equally exciting.
This first teaser, “Ignite,” features exciting glimpses of new characters, locales, and surprises.
Prepare for geeky goosebumps!
Opening with the classic “Imperial March” EMPIRE theme from the original Star Wars trilogy, the teaser shows the golden plains of Lothal, TIE fighters dogfighting with the Ghost starship, as well as the grumpy droid, Chopper. Ezra, one of the main heroes of Star Wars Rebels, is seen leaping from a downed ship as the narrator exclaims, “This fall, discover your destiny.”
In this second teaser, “Spark,” more exciting imagery from the upcoming animated series is revealed.
“To ignite a rebellion, all it takes is a single spark.” Those fateful words open this early look at Star Wars Rebels, in which new character Ezra is shown walking the plains of Lothal and launching a projectile at the pilot of a downed fighter. Also seen is a striking, orange, familiar-looking insignia…
The series, executive produced by Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman, is scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel and will be followed by a series on Disney XD.
From February 16-19, LEGO Systems is unveiling 246 new products at the American International Toy Fair. This year’s lineup sets includes LEGO Star Wars sets based on the new Rebels television series and new Microfighters, offering scaled down icons such as the Millennium Falcon and X Wing Fighter ($9.99 each). Favorites like AT-AP ($59.99) and Droid Gunship ($49.99) are available in March, while Mos Eisley Cantina ($69.99) and Imperial Star Destroyer ($119.99) launch in August.
As previously announced Disney and Lucasfilm are in development on all-new Star Wars films. J.J. Abrams (SUPER 8, STAR TREK) will direct STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, set for a December 18, 2015 bow, the first of three films continuing the Star Wars saga. These will alternate with standalone movies tied to key Star Wars characters. Shooting is scheduled to begin spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios.
The SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Continues Thursday Night with THE DEFIANT ONESand A PATCH OF BLUE
February is Black History Month, and to help celebrate, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting a Tribute to the 86-year old Sidney Poitier at their Classic Black Film Festival. Lucky St. Louis movie buffs will have the opportunity to view eight vintage Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Every Thursday in February, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting two Poitier films at St Louis Cinemas Galleria (630 St Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, MO 63117).
The SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Film Festival continues this Thursday night (February 20th) with two Poitier classics; THE DEFIANT ONESand A PATCH OF BLUE
Sidney Poitier continued to break race barriers with the formula jail-break drama THE DEFIANT ONES in 1958. Tony Curtis and Poitier play white and black inmates who, while chained together at the wrist, escape their captors when their prison truck hits the ditch. Curtis is forced to put aside his prejudice and work with his new partner in getting the cuffs off and ensuring their newfound freedom lasts. As its reputation suggests, THE DEFIANT ONES is first and foremost a study of racism. It has a deliberate unpleasantness about it as it brings to life the unsavory attitudes of the past. A young boy who stumbles across the convicts races to the arms of Curtis for fear Poitier will hurt him. A lonely farm wife who takes the men in has to be told that yes, Poitier deserves a meal, too. And as the men face hanging at the hands of some rednecks (including Lon Chaney), Curtis appeals to them on the grounds a white man can’t be lynched. Yet the film carries no tired, moralistic messages, instead allowing the racism on display to speak for itself. A powerful film.
THE DEFIANT ONESscreens at 6pm
A PATCH OF BLUE is a wonderful 1965 film dealing with racism, blindness and a memorable spirit. Elizabeth Hartman, whose tragic suicide 22 years later deprived us of an outstanding talent, gave a strong performance as Selina, a young girl blinded by her racist mother Rose-Ann (St. Louisan Shelley Winters in her second Oscar-winning role) who, in a fit of rage, through something at a man that missed him but hit the daughter. Rose-Ann is the embodiment of bigotry; screaming, filthy, and a racist all the way, she is one mean bitch. In a chance meeting, Selina meets Gordon (Sidney Poitier) a kind black man who befriends her. Shocked that Selina is uneducated, he begins meeting her in the park to teach her and an innocent relationship develops. Selina does not know that Gordon is black, but when Rose-Ann finds out what is going on, all hell breaks loose. Because of the subject matter, A PATCH OF BLUE could have been histrionic and sappy, but the film is done with so much class, features such great actors and had such a great story that it’s one of the most beloved dramas of the 1960’s.
A PATCH OF BLUEscreens at 8pm
And on February 27th: A PIECE OF THE ACTION – 6pm
LET’S DO IT AGAIN – 8pm
Admission is free with AARP membership card, otherwise $10 for each movie.
There will also be a “Social Happy Hour” from 4-6 before each movie.
As you’ve been watching the 2014 Winter Olympics this weekend, you may have caught this preview for Universal Pictures’ UNBROKEN.
Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces the epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII – only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s (“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”) enormously popular book, UNBROKEN brings to the big screen Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.
Starring alongside O’Connell are Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as Phil and Mac—the airmen with whom Zamperini endured perilous weeks adrift in the open Pacific—Garrett Hedlund and John Magaro as fellow POWs who find an unexpected camaraderie during their internment, Alex Russell as Zamperini’s brother, Pete, and in his English-language feature debut, Japanese actor Miyavi as the brutal camp guard known only to the men as “The Bird.”
The film is produced by Jolie, as well as Matthew Baer (City by the Sea), Erwin Stoff (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and Clayton Townsend (This Is 40). Leading the accomplished behind-the-scenes crew is 10-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall).
Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William Nicholson (Les Misérables) and Richard LaGravenese (HBO’s Behind the Candelabra).
UNBROKEN arrives in theaters on Christmas Day, 2014.
With two weeks to go until the 86th Academy Awards are handed out in Hollywood, all eyes were on London as the EE British Academy Film Awards were announced Sunday evening from the Royal Opera House.
12 YEARS A SLAVE was named Best Film with Chiwetel Ejiofor winning leading actor. GRAVITY won six awards including British Film, Director, Original Music, Cinematography, Sound and Special Visual Effects, while AMERICAN HUSTLE won three BAFTAs for Original Screenplay, Make Up & Hair, and Supporting Actress for Jennifer Lawrence.
Leading Actress was presented to Cate Blanchett for playing the title role in BLUE JASMINE– her third BAFTA win – and in his feature film debut Barkhad Abdi won Supporting Actor for CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.
Hosted by Stephen Fry, the ceremony featured a live performance from multi-platinum-selling artist Tinie Tempah and Mercury Prize nominee Laura Mvula.
Dame Helen Mirren was the recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema went to Peter Greenaway (THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER), while the EE Rising Star Winner (voted for by the public) was Will Poulter.
A gripping mix of friendship, violence and redemption erupts in the contemporary South in this adaptation of Larry Brown’s novel, celebrated at once for its grit and its deeply moving core.
Directed by David Gordon Green (PRINCE AVALANCHE, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, UNDERTOW, ALL THE REAL GIRLS), the film brings Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage back to his indie roots in the title role as the hard-living, hot-tempered, ex-con Joe Ransom, who is just trying to dodge his instincts for trouble – until he meets a hard-luck kid played by Tye Sheridan (MUD, TREE OF LIFE) who awakens in him a fierce and tender-hearted protector.
The story begins as Joe hires teenaged Gary Jones and his destitute father onto his “treepoisoning” crew for a lumber company. Joe might be notoriously reckless with his pick-up, his dog and especially with women, but he sees something in Gary that gets to him: a determination, a raw decency and a sense of resilience he can barely believe in anymore. Gary has truly had nothing in life – he’s never spent a day at school – yet something drives him to take care of his family, to keep his sister safe when his father turns monstrous, to hang onto hope of a better future. Joe and Gary forge an unlikely bond. When Gary finds himself facing a threat greater than he knows how to handle, he turns to Joe – and sets off a chain of events that play out with the brutal inevitability of tragedy and the beauty of a last stab at salvation.
From a screenplay by Gary Hawkins (THE ROUGH SOUTH OF LARRY BROWN), JOE is based on the novel by the late Larry Brown (Big Bad Love, Facing the Moon), the former Mississippi firefighter renowned for his powerful, gothic storytelling and universal themes of honor, desperation and moral rectitude. Shot on location in Texas, the film features Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter and Ronnie Gene Blevins leading a cast made up of a mix of indie actors and non-actors cast off the streets of Austin, Texas.
Look for the film in theaters and On Demand April 11th.
“Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you’re part of a team”
Kids and adults alike went to see THE LEGO MOVIE this past weekend to the tune of $69 million in ticket sales. The film that everyone loves is set for another awesome weekend at the box office.
Visually, it is a photo-real, non-traditional computer animation style resembling stop-motion, which gives the characters and settings the endearing homemade aesthetic that defines LEGO construction. THE LEGO MOVIE contains 3,863,484 unique LEGO bricks. Some are reused and reconfigured in multiple scenes, making up sets, characters and props, for a total of 15,080,330 bricks—the number that a person would need if he or she wanted to recreate the entire film by hand.
As much as the visuals and storyline were important to this animated film, much of the credit to the overall success of this delightful movie has to go to the irresistible and exciting music.
I recently spoke with film composer Mark Mothersbaugh – also a movie geek (a claim he makes himself). He produced the soundtrack to the film, including the single “Everything Is AWESOME!!!” featuring pop culture mainstays Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island.
Depending on your generation, some of you may know his name from TV’s ‘The Rugrats’ and ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse’ and from the big screen with CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and 21 JUMP STREET.
Many of us 80’s music fans remember Mothersbaugh and his iconic red energy dome hat and yellow haz-mat suit on stage, singing “Whip It” and “Working in the Coal Mine” as a founding member of DEVO.
After THE LEGO MOVIE he also has several different projects in the works; there’s the prep for a long developed touring show at a half a dozen major museums across the country showcasing his art works, as well as the score for 22 JUMP STREET to be released in June.
After seeing THE LEGO MOVIE, the big thing the majority of viewers notice is the ingenuity of the music. In our conversation, Mothersbaugh and I talked about the enormous work that went into creating the sounds of the Lego world, his DEVO days and how a movie with Batman wouldn’t be complete without a “Batman Song.”
WAMG: Your score is so important to this kind of film right down to the “clicks” of Legos bricks. From the film’s beginning, ‘Emmet’s Morning’ sounds like bricks building with synthesized sounds of the city of Bricksburg waking up.
Mark Mothersbaugh: The goal was when I started seeing test footage, how do you make the sounds that illuminate the Lego world? I had to do a lot of experiments with all different kinds of electronic instruments.
WAMG: What standard instruments did you use and how about the non-traditional?
MM: I had a very wide arsenal for this one. I had a hundred-piece orchestra. I had a 40 voice choir. I also used 35 synthesizers and things that were from modern rave – a lot of circuit bent, crazy things that are often times just one off to get that sound.
It’s kind of like what my little brother, Jim, used to do back in the 70’s before we had a name for it, where they take toys and musical instruments and make them sound better than they really were supposed to sound.
I also used old DEVO sounds, so I could give it an electronic, Morton Subotnick kind of feel.
(L-r) Director CHRISTOPHER MILLER, ELIZABETH BANKS (voice of LEGO® minifigure Wyldstyle) and director PHIL LORD at an ADR session for the 3D computer animated adventure.
WAMG: The film is so great and your score has so much humor in it. When were you brought into the project?
MM: This is the fourth movie I’ve done with these guys (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller), so I knew about it from the beginning.
I was actually hired before them. Five years ago, Dan Lin (one of the producers) called me up and showed me a different idea for the film and asked me to help him put together a reel. I gave him some ideas on what to do, but in the process I had just finished a film with Phil and Chris, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, and I told him to check it out. They’re an excellent writing/directing team.
So I think this movie would never have happened if it wasn’t for me. How’s that? (laughs)
WAMG: How much of the film were you seeing as it was coming together?
MM: I am inspired by the visuals, so I tried to see everything as it was coming together. I was recording the score in Australia and they were editing the film in Los Angeles. It was kind of wild.
To be safe, I double wrote the score so that Lord and Miller would have enough music once they got on the sound stage. I scored a lot more orchestra and electronics than you hear in the movie.
They had the freedom to dial, one way or the other, depending on if they needed more emotion or needed more of a traditional orchestra sound or if they wanted to dial more to the aggressive electronics, they could do that. It was an interesting project from that point of view.
WAMG: The TV spots for the film have every kid singing “Everything is Awesome”. It’s all over the place. It’s an insanely catchy theme song. Was it there from the very beginning?
MM: It was in the script from the very beginning and a very clever idea on their part – to take a song where the lyrics are irritating and the tempo was way-up speed. The whole song was obviously some mantra like Big Brother was using to control everybody in Lego Land and keep them working and keep their noses to the grindstone.
But by the end of the movie, just the story plotline makes the sentiments in the song flip upside down. What was once irritating all of a sudden becomes meaningful, and you realize it’s a song about cooperation and working together through all the problems.
It’s Chris and Phil at their best.
WAMG: What was your collaboration with Canadian singers Tegan and Sara and Lonely Island for the song?
MM: I was producing the songs and playing a lot of the instruments. I recorded it with an orchestra, and other things on top of the songs, so they could have all sorts of ways to ingest it. Tegan and Sara came over to my place and sang on it and I sent all the tracks to Lonely island so they could work on it in New York.
It was the last few weeks on the film, so it was a sprint to the finish line.
WAMG: Tell me about the funny Batman song – “Untitled Self Portrait” – written by you, Will Arnett, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It’s become the big song that moviegoers remember. Everyone thinks it’s hilarious.
MM: After hearing the finished song, I felt like Batman should have his own album.
Who knew he could sing, huh?
WAMG: He and Will Arnett… go figure.
MM: Laughs.
WAMG: Did you ever dream that you’d be doing film and TV work back in your DEVO days?
MM: I probably had mad nightmares that that was going to happen. When we were doing DEVO, (laughs) I didn’t think I was going to be alive this long.
When I was coming off the stage in my 20’s, I thought, I’m not going to be able to do this when I’m 30. (laughs)
I remember sitting around thinking, this is too hard… I can’t do this. Somehow I got a “life” after DEVO.
From WaterTower Music, the THE LEGO MOVIE album is available everywhere:
THE LEGO MOVIE, starring Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie and Charlie Day, with Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman, is in theaters now.
