Vampire Quiz - 'Whine'stein At It Again - The Red-Carpet Conundrum

Vampire Quiz

Think you know your vampires? Test your vampire knowledge with these questions.

1. In 'Interview With The Vampire', who is the interviewee?
2. Where is 'The Lost Boys' set?
3. Who plays the vampire leader in Near Dark?
4. What is the title of the 1976 Romero film about a teen vampire?
5. 'Let The Right One In' was remade as what film?
6. Which of these is not a film? 'Batman Fights Dracula', 'Dracula's Dog', Dracula and Son', 'Dracula In Space'.
7. Who was the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
8. Who directed Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'?
9. Who does Kristen Stewart play in 'Twilight'
10. In the 1958 film, 'Dracula' who plays Dracula?

Answers will appear in an upcoming CMG post.



Not Again, Harvey
Harvey Weinstein, is whining yet again.  This time, lamenting about the R rating given by the MPAA to the film 'Philomena' (which his company has U.S. distribution rights to).  The R rating was awarded principally due to the overuse of the work 'fuck' throughout.

Now, CMG recently posted about Harvey's incessant whining about one thing or another.  Previously it was the fuss over the use of the title 'The Butler' which the MPAA ruled should not be used by Weinstein as Warner Bros. had title rights, but which Weinstein ignored and used anyway. Before that, it was the whining over the R rating received by the film 'The Bully' - which was later given a PG-13 due to Harvey's ranting and a re-edit but which made no difference at the box office as the film has only grossed $3.9 million to date.

Regarding 'Philomena' - which deals with a woman searching for her son, who was unjustly taken from her 50 years earlier -  a spokesperson for the Weinstein Company was quoted by the Hollywood Reporter as stating, "It doesn't make sense why the film didn't get a PG-13.  It's a wholesome movie that deserves to be seen by everyone. It's not even Judi Dench's character who says the word."  Well, that makes all the difference!

Look, Harvey, stop whining. It's really getting old, tedious, annoying, and garners less and less attention from Hollywood, the press, and, most importantly, the public. I have not seen 'Philomena'  which by all accounts it is a very good adult movie. If a movie wants to be "wholesome" (whatever that means) and receive a PG-13 rating then edit out the hard adult language, nudity, sex, whatever to meet the criteria. 'Philomena' isn't a teen film no matter how much hype. The main cast has an average age of over 50. It has an adult demo, deals with an adult subject, and should carry an R rating. In fact, a PG-13 may be detrimental, as over 17s may think it too un-adult and not dealing with serious subject matter. Harvey, please - stop the whining.

Red-Carpet Conundrum

"The red-carpet is nothing more than the reprisal of beauty pageants by stealth", so says actor and comedian Jennifer Saunders, star of the hit TV show 'Absolutely Fabulous' and movies including Coraline and Shrek 2.  Is she right?  Is the red-carpet simply a worshipper before the alter of social media.  Or is there more to it.  Hmmm, does viewing the line-up on 'the carpet' assess the dress or the woman?

Coco Chanel stated, "If a woman is poorly dressed, you notice the clothes. If she is impeccably dressed, you notice the woman."  She's was right. On the red-carpet, if the dress looks good then the actor looks good and is credited for her beauty, but if the dress is a 'mess' then the dress gets the flack, not the woman.  But is there more to the red-carpet then meets the obvious?  I think so.

The women of Hollywood (and their stylists) know that when they saunter down the 'carpet' they are not just showing off their wares but participating in a game - lets call it wardrobe politics - tinseltown style, and the bigger the event the bigger the stakes.
Who is pitching for a controversial role with a new look or edgy label? Who thinks they will win and wants to look the 'part'?  Who isn't up for an award and will risk going off-pace with the goal of getting more photo attention?  This is how you 'walk' the carpet.

On the carpet, the actors chose which dress they are wearing - Dior, Versace, Wang - hedging their selection bets.  Therefore, we aren't looking at them in their own clothes, we are looking at them in the labels they chose to wear (that) night.

The red-carpet is a game not a pageant. It's about competition, where every detail is meticulously analyzed.  It's about beauty, but beauty comes second to the playing of the game.

Best
Jim Lavorato