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Art

Surreal, Sculptural Movie Couple Collages

By Alison Nastasi on

Idaho-based artist Eli Craven was paging through a photo book about iconic movie couples. “As I looked through them, I really wanted to see them come together, touch lips, make love, whatever comes next, so I started folding them into one another,” he told iGNANT. His sculptural collage series Screen Lovers was born. Cineastes will recognize fragments of famous film stars, like Rita Hayworth. Craven’s manipulation of the publicity stills unites the cinematic pairings in surreal and subtly humorous ways. See more of Craven’s work in our gallery, and feel free to nerd out in the comments by naming the couples you recognize. … Read More

Film

10 Films to Watch While You Wait for Wes Anderson’s ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’

By Alison Nastasi on

Further details about Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel emerged this week, and we couldn’t be more excited. The plot summary promises a film about “a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.” The movie won’t hit theaters till 2014; to tide you over until then, we’ve compiled a selection of films Anderson has named as inspirations, along with a few related picks of our… Read More

Pop Culture

Funny, Glamorous Face Swaps of Old Hollywood Movie Stars

By Alison Nastasi on

Even though the new year just kicked off, we’re ready to count Tumblr Old Hollywood Face Swap as one of our favorites of 2013. The website is basically what it sounds like: hilarious, nicely executed face swaps featuring the finest from Hollywood’s Golden Age in vintage, black-and-white loveliness. Once the initial laughter passes, the photos become an interesting lens to view the gender roles of the era. “I try to go for iconic pairings whether real-life, filmic, or in some cases both (Bogie/Bacall, Lucy/Desi, Powell/Loy), but I’m also interested in exploring the less expected. I think the biggest surprise was Rock Hudson and Doris Day. There are obviously many layers to that one in the first place, but I wasn’t prepared for how striking Doris Day’s face would look on his body,” the creator of OHFS tells us. We’d like to add that Marlene Dietrich makes a fabulous drag queen (duh), and Laurence Olivier looks surprisingly comfortable as a woman in his photo. See what we mean in our gallery, and visit Old Hollywood Face Swap for daily amusement. … Read More

Film

An A-Z Guide to Film’s Greatest Faces

By Alison Nastasi on

The brilliant Buster Keaton is the subject of a 15-disc Blu-ray box set released by Kino Lorber today. The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection includes an exclusive release of the 1927 film College, along with a 1966 industrial short that was Keaton’s final filmed performance. The iconic movie star’s deadpan delivery earned him the nickname, the “Great Stone Face,” which was an especially amusing contrast during the actor-director’s many stunts and unique brand of physical comedy. Keaton inspired us to explore other great faces in cinema, and we’ve catalogued them in a handy A to Z guide. (We wish the alphabet had more letters.) These thespians aren’t necessarily the most classically or popularly attractive movie stars, but their eccentric and expressive faces are a gateway to a deeply emotional and thrilling experience. It’s our most human connection to the celluloid. Who gives great face? Click through to see a few of our favorites, and tell us yours. … Read More

Celebrity

Old Hollywood’s Most Tragic Screen Sirens

By Stephanie Nolasco on

She may have been a punchline to some and sex personified to others, but the life of blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe has become the ultimate tale of tragedy since her premature death at age 36 in 1962. Before she became a titillating screen goddess, Norma Jeane spent her childhood in foster homes, but fame didn’t give her the life she truly desired. Emotional insecurity, failed marriages, and drug dependency are just a few of the many things that took over the fragile woman’s life before her early demise. This week, audiences will get a chance to get a glimpse of Monroe’s inner struggles in the film, My Week with Marilyn. However, there have been many other screen queens before Monroe who suffered similar fates. Click through for a look at some of Hollywood’s fallen film goddesses. … Read More

Photography

Photo Gallery: Rare Glimpses of Old Hollywood

By Alison Nastasi on

Cinephiles will certainly appreciate this gallery of old Hollywood publicity shots, rare photographs, and production stills from the dreamy Old Hollywood Tumblr. It’s a lovely curated collection of soundtrack clips, glamorous images, and interview snippets from Tinseltown’s Golden Age through 1975. Catch a glimpse of how Stanley Kubrick approached the shooting of his 1962 classic, Lolita, and see what a 1929 publicity still looked like (and how much more amazing it was than anything Hollywood churns out today) after the jump. Let us know which images wooed you most. … Read More