All stories about "Movies"

Everyday on Gridskipper we give you a new map. Some are new, some are fetched from our archive, newly updated. Happy Gridskipping. Los Angeles is, of course, the world capital of movies, but we don't always honor them appropriately with the proper screening venues. LA has just as many soulless megaplexes as any other town. However, if you want the full moviegoing experience, some great old theaters are still around, most of them lovingly restored and upgraded for optimum viewing pleasure. Here are some of the best temples of movie love in LA.

Washington has long served as the backdrop for Hollywood blockbusters -- at least 200, according to a tour company website. So, I had a lot of choices while making this list, which was largely inspired by our recent look at "State of Play". My instinct was to put "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" at the top of the list, but here's the rub: it wasn't filmed in DC. Background shots were taken in the city and projected onto a screen in Hollywood. Learn something new everyday, no? Here's a guide to sites used in a few of my favorite Washington-centric films, but please send more via the tipline.

Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen caused a security scare in Kansas by "dancing in the lobby of Wichita Airport" wearing a skimpy flight attendant outfit. The British funnyman was filming scene for his upcoming movie which stars his character Bruno, a flaming Austrian fashionista. In the scene Cohen dances with a well-muscled man in hot pants. The hot gay comedy action that freaked out airport security was caught on camera by a bystander who apparently thought they were seeing a real "filming at airport by German crew." The video is after the jump.

[via]

DC celebrity sightings usually involve James Carville, Mary Matalin, and a plate of pasta at Café Milano. But this month, Washingtonians are getting a treat straight from Hollywood: some misguided director has decided to use our fair city to film State of Play, originally a BBC series. Now everyone has their "I saw Ben Affleck drinking coffee! I drink coffee, too!" story. The movie features the archetypal cast of Washington creatures: the aforementioned Affleck plays a philandering Congressman whose mistress is found dead, Rachel McAdams is the intrepid reporter who writes about the murder, and -- as far as I can tell -- Russell Crowe is a homeless-looking dude who skulks around U Street and Mount Pleasant. Jason Bateman, Robin Wright and Helen Mirren also have roles. Here's your own Hollywood map to the Washington stars.

London is recognized for the expertise of British production crews and its famed studios, such as Ealing and Pinewood, but it's nowhere near as hassle-free to obtain permission to film in the streets of London as it is in, say, New York City. Each of the 33 London boroughs has its own Borough Film Service, and it's through them that permission to film must be obtained in advance. There is also a Metropolitan Police Film Unit to notify, as well as local police. This is especially important if there are going to be fake firearms or uniforms used, or if crimes will be re-created. (This is true even though just holding a camera and/or looking "odd" may enough to get you reported these days.)

Now that the Berlinale is over and its retinue of worn out rockers, leering leading men, silicon starlets, and easily enthused media mavens have moved on to greener pastures, Berlin's filmgoers are once again left to their own devices. But as the success of European film at last month's Oscars indicates, there is no shortage of talent outside of Hollywood's narrow realm, and even as the star machine continues grinding out the usual bland fare, far more interesting work often lies far beyond tinseltown's glare. To celebrate Berlin's return to the cinematic sidelines, local theaters have arranged enough festivals and retrospectives to keep us bleary-eyed types knee-deep in popcorn and gummi bears these chilly March nights. (photo)

The new service OUTALOT is based on maps, and of course that's a particularly fond method of information-filtering for us here at Gridskipper. Only working for New York City right now, OUTALOT focuses on the various places you're likely to be when out (a lot): Food, Bars and Movies. Each section is then divided into categories, such as cuisine or types of bar. The only particularly curious aspect of the site is the serious mobile phone product placement when you click "outalot on your mobile phone." But, all in all, it looks a lot like menupages-meets-yelp. [via]

Just in time to get you into the spirit for St. Patrick's Day, Chicago's Beverly Arts Center is hosting the Ninth Annual Chicago Irish Film Festival this weekend. Starting today, the festival will include screenings of films both past and present, including not-to-be-missed newcomer Garage, and classic, Poitin. [via]

In a true cinematic insult, Conor Bresnan, editor in chief of Box Office Mojo International, has told People that Jessica Simpson's travesty of a film Blonde Ambition "will gross more than No Country For Old Men." But wait, what's Simpson got on Javier Bardem besides her double Ds? Actually, the former Soviet nations. While the long-forgotten film (co-starring Luke Wilson? yikes) only survived an eight-week run in Texas, grossing just $1,771, Ambition just hit number one in the Ukraine. "How to explain the comedy's success abroad? One word: escapism." If only we all could escape this. [via]

The end of the writer's strike means things are getting back to normal for Los Angeles. It's awards season -- the time when the acronym soup of organizations decide to honor the best in the business. Hollywood gets together for a few months of self-congratulation culminating in the Academy Awards. We'll see the Oscars passed around this Sunday, and while the ceremony takes place at the Kodak Theater, there are a lot of other important events and landmarks surrounding the awards. We've augmented some of the work done in last year's post on the subject to bring you the map, but if we missed anything, please let us know in via tips or the comments.

Steven Spielberg just can't win. He had to quit his position as an"artistic consultant" to the Beijing Olympics after being "assailed" by angry activists who are protesting the games because China hasn't done anything to get their friends in the Sudanese government to stop all the killing going on in Darfur. Now, the famed director's persona non grata with the more than one billion citizens of China and he's being made fun of on the internet and in the pages of Chinese newspapers. A recent editorial in the China Youth Daily said the famed director "is completely living in his sci-fi world and cannot distinguish dream from reality" and the Xinhua news agency reports that "thousands of angry Chinese ganged up against him on Internet forums" since he announced his withdrawal from the Olympics last week. [Breitbart]

If you've been reading these Berlin dispatches for any amount of time, you've heard plenty about Berlin's inclination for insurgency: "Berlin and rebellion. The two go together like pork and sauerkraut. The twentieth century here, in particular, is as rich in subversion as Friedrichshain is thick in tongue piercings. Dissent is in Berlin's blood, part of the city's life force."

Love is in the air this week, and with it, the annual conundrum of figuring out how to make V-day extra special. You can try to outdo yourself in the romance department, or you can relax. If you fancy dinner and a movie, why not make it easy on yourself and head for one of these one-stop destinations where you can sneak in a meal before or after the show any night of the year -- from a Notting Hill cinema where you can order drinks and snacks and rent a couch in the back of the theater, to a snazzy London hotel restaurant and screening room with Champagne holders in the seats.

Berlin's garbage men will be hauling off a double load the next two weeks as the flotsam and jetsam of Hollywood float into town, trailing a wake of industry hangers-on, moneymen, and starfuckers attracted to our 58th Annual International Film Festival. This year's Berlinale has already pushed the city's hype machine into overdrive (and caused much uproar in the geriatric wards) with the expected arrival of the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Neil Young evidencing the many films made by or featuring pop personalities. Martin Scorsese, himself a creature from ten million B.C., opens the festival with the premiere of his Stones tribute, filmed at NY's Beacon Theatre, Shine a Light. For the dignity of all concerned, we hope the light shone is a gentle forty watt.

"This movie could fuel the sentiment of Myanmar people to invite American troops to help save them from the junta," says a hopelessly optimistic resident of Yangon. He's referring to Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, which features Stallone splattering the insides of many a junta goon. Myanmar authorities -- usually disinterested in enforcing laws to block the sale of pirated DVDs on the streets of Yangon -- are making an exception for Rambo, since it's a movie about them, specifically, getting killed. [Reuters]

Thanks to the fine folks at Boing Boing TV, now you can take an inside look at Point Break Live! (self-credited as the first-ever "reality-play"). An adaptation of the 1991 film of the same name which starred both Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, the play, like its inspiration, is a hit with stoners and surfers alike. What began during Seattle's Northwest Film Forum has since toured the country and most recently found a home Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm at downtown LA's at Charlie O's Lounge (in the Alexandria Hotel). It's apropos, since scenes from the movie itself were filmed in the same locale. Each performance features a new, unrehearsed actor playing Johnny Utah (Keanu's character), delivering lines with the help of cue cards. Expect cursing and a whole lot of heartbreak. Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn't it?

Artists have been toying with the ideas of pop-up cinemas for awhile now (see NYC's DRV-IN), but now they have finally gone too far. Introducing Amsterdam's Cinema 41, the smallest movie theater in the world with only one seat. Entrance is only €3 and comes with soda and popcorn. The screen is, of course, super teensy. [Cinema 41]

Amusing Rambo vs. Arthur Rimbaud re-appropriation of street art chic, allegedly found somewhere in San Francisco. [Copyranter]

As only the first of many, many awkward and uncomfortable moments to come regarding the untimely death of Heath Ledger and his role in the upcoming Batman summer blockbuster The Dark Knight, here's a contest/community page related to the movie. Click through, and you're asked to submit photos of yourself and friends dolled up as Ledger's Joker, standing in front of buildings or landmarks representative of your city. Lots of pre-death examples already, such as LAX, the Taj Mahal, Rio de Janeiro, Washington DC, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, and the Sydney Opera House. Ripe for both abuse and actual homage work. [via]

Here's a great gallery chock full of pictures from December's Havana Film Festival. There are lots of shots of wonderfully retro Cuban cinemas, including the Karl Marx, a tri-level movie palace that seats 4,800 people. Apparently, one Havana theater features live English dubbing coming from a translator who sits in the back and reaches listeners via earpiece. [Maclean's]

The following post is from our advertiser Focus Features: Escape to Bruges, Belgium. World premiering as the prestigious opening night film at this year's Sundance Film Festival is the new movie from Academy Award Winning Director Martin McDonagh. Never heard of Bruges? Well, it's pronounced "broozh" (rhymes with "rouge"). This fairy-tale Flemish town, with its canals and bridges and old cobbled streets and swans, sets the scene for In Bruges, the irreverent new comedy from Focus Features. The film stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, and is out in select theaters February 8th.

Bruges is the historic capital of the West Flanders region of Belgium, and is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. The next time you are looking to plan an original and peaceful trip to Europe, consider visiting Bruges - just remember to leave your Uzis and Dum-dums at home. Click on each location to learn more about the best spots in the city and to uncover clips from the film!