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For some Indians, Richard Gere’s awkward embrace with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was not just offensive, it was criminal. NYU professor Tejaswini Ganti says the incident plays into the mixed messages about Indian women perpetuated by Bollywood.
The impact of movie sex and violence on kids may be up for debate, but with smoking, the science is solid. Teens who see a lot of it are more likely to take up the habit than those who don’t. UCSF Dr. Stanton Glantz wants the MPAA to take smoking as seriously as it takes cursing.
42 years ago, Michael Apted began filming a group of seven year-olds plucked from the extremes of the British class system. Since then, he’s followed their lives with a new film every seven years. What began as a one-off BBC program has become one of the most important histories on film, and a prototype for our reality-TV culture. On the occasion of 49Up’s opening this weekend, Apted speaks to Bob about the series.
Want an all-expense-paid two-night stay at a luxury hotel, with free round-trip airfare, spending cash, and a private screening of the latest Hollywood movie? Get invited to a press junket. Last month, freelance film critic Eric Snider did just that for Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center,” and then blogged about it on his website. He talks with Bob about the experience and the fallout.
Almost every Hollywood movie ad includes a few endorsements attributed to one or more film critics – a process often requiring as much imagination, and editing, as the movie itself. A few years back, Bob took a closer look at the phenomenon of movie blurbs, and filed this report.
This summer, Hollywood is offering us close-ups of a variety of American workplaces, ranging from the silly to the sadistic. Tinseltown has always had a weird perspective on real life, which for most of us consists in large part of work life. WNYC’s Sara Fishko reflects on the daily grind as portrayed on the silver screen.
Watching the new DVD release of All the President’s Men recently, Brooke came upon a bombshell, buried in one of the DVD’s commentary tracks. It concerns the unlikely genesis of what has become the prevailing symbol of all that is fine in American journalism.
Say you’re a movie buff, eager to digest the latest Hollywood offering, but find some of the more lurid aspects of today’s films tough to stomach. Until recently, Ray Lines would have been your man – he founded Clean Flicks, a company that re-edits L.A.’s latest, filth-free. The Directors Guild of America, however, disputed the legality of Clean Flicks, and the U.S. District court agreed. Lines discusses the loss with Bob.
