F

Flavorwire

Marlene Dietrich

Film

10 of the Most Romantic Movies You Haven’t Seen

By Alison Nastasi on

The world is getting another adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel whether it wants it or not. Safe Haven, starring Julianne Hough as a mysterious woman with a dark secret who falls for a widower (Josh Duhamel), hits theaters on Valentine’s Day. The film joins paranormal teen tale Beautiful Creatures as one of several other romantic films celebrating the Hallmark holiday. Feeling like the occasion was a bit too obvious for our liking, we ventured off the beaten path to collect ten of our favorite romantic movies that don’t involve a sinking ocean liner, Meg Ryan, teen vamps, or the other usual saccharine suspects. See what strikes your fancy on our list, and feel free to leave us a love note about your favorite films. … Read More

Film

25 Famous Actors Ridiculing Their Profession

By Jason Bailey on

If you needed one more reason to love Jennifer Lawrence (and frankly, between her candid interviews and terrific performances in Winter’s Bone, The Hunger Games, and Silver Linings Playbook, we’ve been sold for a while), get a load of this quote from her new Vanity Fair interview: “Not to sound rude, but [acting] is stupid… Everybody’s like, ‘How can you remain with a level head?’ And I’m like, ‘Why would I ever get cocky? I’m not saving anybody’s life. There are doctors who save lives and firemen who run into burning buildings. I’m making movies. It’s stupid.’” That’s the kind of sound byte that helps cultivate the always sensible “down to earth” image, but there’s more to it than that; Lawrence’s comments fall within the grand tradition of no-nonsense actors not only refusing to romanticize what they do, but often coming right out and disparaging it. After the jump, we’ve assembled quotes from 25 of our favorite actors who, like Lawrence, refused to buy into their own hype. … Read More

Film

Our Favorite Poems About Movies

By Jason Bailey on

As you may have already heard, today the first Thursday in October, and is thus National Poetry Day. In celebration of this beloved writerly holiday, those of us over here in the film corner of your Flavorwire decided to post some of our favorite poems about our favorite subject: the movies. Join us after the jump for a few of our favorite cinematic poems, as suggested by the indispensible volume Lights, Camera, Poetry! (edited by Jason Shinder); feel free to add your own (or what the hell, make one up) after the jump. … Read More

Fashion

Lady Gaga, Fred Astaire, LL Kool J Honored for Wearing Hats

By Emily Temple on

We first became aware of The Headwear Association earlier this year when they named Johnny Depp ‘Hat Person of the Year.’ No argument there, we suppose, but we were not aware that in addition to naming a Hat Person for each year, the organization also annually inducts “stylish individuals renowned for wearing hats” into its Headwear Hall of Fame. The conditions, however, are stringent. Nominees are chosen for their “positive impact on the evolution and popularity of headwear fashions.” They must also “wear hats in their personal lives and not only while portraying a character on the stage or screen.” It um, also kind of seems like they pick people who they think look good in hats. This year’s honors go to Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham, LL Cool J and Kid Rock, with Marlene Dietrich and Fred Astaire being inducted posthumously. Click through to see some of our favorite hats from this year’s inductees, see why they were chosen, and let us know how utterly ridiculous (or not, we suppose) you find this whole thing in the comments. … Read More

Photography

Irving Penn’s Fantastic Corner Portraits of Cultural Icons

By Caroline Stanley on

One of the most prolific photographers working in the 20th century (and certainly one of the most famous fashion magazine photographers of his era), Irving Penn shot a series of minimalist studio portraits back in the 1940s and ’50s that were celebrated for capturing the personality behind the celebrity. “Sometime in 1948 I began photographing portraits in a small corner space made of two studio flats pushed together, the floor covered with a piece of old carpeting… this confinement, surprisingly seemed to comfort people, soothing them,” he once explained. “The walls were a surface to lean on or push against. For me the picture possibilities were interesting; limiting the subjects movements seemed to relieve me of part of the problem of holding onto them.” Click through to see how everyone from Salvador Dali to Gypsy Rose Lee reacted to being photographed in a corner. … Read More

Film

10 Classic Hollywood Screen Tests

By Emily Temple on

Sometimes, in this age of gratuitously 3D movies, third-time-around remakes, and Saw IV, we look back with longing at the Golden Age of Hollywood, when the stars were glamorous, talented and tiger blood-free and studios were willing to take a chance on films that were more art than blockbuster. As far as we’re concerned, nothing’s better than a peek behind the scenes at an industry and time period we love, so we’ve been thrilled to see a lot of classic Hollywood screen tests pop up recently (especially over at Open Culture). In the interest of amateur film study and thinking about the good old days, we thought we’d compile a few of the best here for your old Hollywood dreaming and black and white swooning. So without any further ado, we present ten classic Hollywood screen tests, from Brando to Hepburn to Garland. … Read More

Film

Hitchcock’s 10 Most Desirable Leading Ladies

By Jason Bailey on

Last weekend marked the 112th birthday of the great Alfred Hitchcock — as if you had to be told, what with all those birthday parties across the nation. To mark the occasion, we considered profiling several elements of the Hitchcock filmography: his technique, his influence, his cameos. But we ultimately settled, as we so often do, on sex.

Over the course of his 60-some feature films, Hitchcock worked with a dazzling array of beautiful women, most of them fitting what became the archetypal image of the “Hitchcock blonde” — smart, sexy, and sophisticated, yet icy and cool. Theories abound as to how and why this specific type of woman was so often his cinematic object of desire (Donald Spoto’s The Dark Side of Genius offers some of the more intriguing ones), but the man knew what he liked. After the jump, we’ll run down his ten most alluring muses. … Read More

Photography

Glamour of the Gods: Classic Hollywood Portraits

By Marina Galperina on

In the days before the paparazzi was hunting down the famous with telephoto lenses and celebrity blogging empires were built upon up-shots of pantyless Britney Spears, a special breed of photographers thrived. Hollywood’s greatest actors were expertly lit with a sensuous haze and encouraged in their most stunning pose. Then, tens of thousands of prints were sent of to fans and media outlets. That’s how a mass of these vintage movie star portraits ended up in the hands of the collector John Kobal. Now through October 23rd, 70 classics from the 1920s through the 1960s are on view at the London’s National Portrait Gallery exhibit Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits. See Marlin Brando’s brooding mid a seductive slump, Elizabeth Taylor looking smokin’ on the beach, and Jean Harlow’s radiating extreme looks in our gallery. … Read More

Art

Strange and Wonderful Celebrity Portraits by Alexey Kurbatov

By Emily Temple on

If you’re an artist, you often want to pay tribute to the people and places that have influenced your life, and if you’re a good artist, well, other people might enjoy it too. Alexey Kurbatov is a Russian photographer and illustrator who creates, among other things, lush angular portraits of his favorite celebrities, experimenting with layering techniques in different kinds of media. Since we love art about artists, and since we also love great illustration in general, we obviously think he’s pretty much the bee’s knees. Click through to see some of our favorite portraits, and visit Kurbatov’s website for more. … Read More

Art

Image Gallery: Irving Penn’s Sterling Photographs

By Kelsey Keith on

Irving Penn was one of the most prolific photographers working in the 20th century (and into the 21st, before his death at age 92 in 2009): his simple portraits of famous figures were spare but playful, capturing the personality behind the celebrity. His signature look was a studio shot rendered in monochrome, against an austere backdrop with subtle lighting and a “choreography of pose and gesture that hints at the interior life of the subject.” Following an edited series displayed at the Getty Museum in LA, Penn gets the full retrospective treatment with a solo exhibition of portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Image gallery and recap after the… Read More