Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...My recent post on THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell, has been adapted and cross-posted at the Movies Unlimited MovieFanFare site. I appreciate MovieFanFare sharing my post with their readers!

...The New York Times recently interviewed Robert Osborne.

...Jonas Nordin guest posts at Out of the Past, writing on the background of the new Warner Archive release WHY BE GOOD? (1929) starring Colleen Moore.

...Here are postcards of movie star homes from the site The Passion of Former Days.

...Glenn Erickson reviews the new TCM Vault releases of ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939) and REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940) at DVD Savant. I haven't seen the new releases, but the movies are excellent; I wrote about them here and here.

...Today's mail brought a new Criterion edition of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934), purchased in the Barnes & Noble half-price sale. It's also been reviewed by Glenn Erickson.

...Over at Another Old Movie Blog, Jacqueline has a very interesting post on Ann Blyth and Robert Mitchum in ONE MINUTE TO ZERO (1952) including background on the film's difficult production history. I especially enjoyed reading Ann's enthusiastic comments on working with Mitchum. I reviewed the film last year.

...Season 5 of DOWNTON ABBEY comes to U.S. television on January 4, 2015.

...Earlier this month Elisabeth wrote about Deanna Durbin's film FIRST LOVE (1939) at The Second Sentence. This modern fairy tale was one of the movies which led me to love Deanna Durbin and her films.

...Growing up some of my favorite books were written by Anne Emery, especially SENIOR YEAR. They're the kind of "retro" reads many classic film fans would also enjoy. Many of Emery's books are now available for the Kindle.

...Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife Charlene are expecting twins around Christmas. The babies will be the grandchildren of the late Grace Kelly, also known as Princess Grace of Monaco.

...The first trailer for the new STAR WARS film, THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015), will play in select theaters this weekend, November 28th-30th.

...And here is a trailer for next year's PEANUTS (2015) film. As a Charlie Brown fan, I'm hoping the movie will turn out well.

...This week's YouTube find: BORN TO THE WEST (1937), starring John Wayne, Marsha Hunt, and Johnny Mack Brown.

...When I went to see BIG HERO 6 (2014) I saw a trailer for SPARE PARTS (2015), an inspirational film about a robotics competition due in theaters in January. The movie stars George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Marisa Tomei. I have the opportunity to preview this movie and should be posting a review here in mid-January. A second trailer is here.

...Here is an account of last weekend's centennial tribute to Norman Lloyd at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.

...Notable Passing: Director Mike Nichols has passed away at the age of 83. He was the winner of an Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy. I especially liked his film HEARTBURN (1986) with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, which Amazon Prime members can stream at no additional charge. For a movie on a sad topic, divorce, it's quite engrossing and even funny at times. Nichols is survived by his wife, Diane Sawyer, and three children from earlier marriages.

...Another Notable Passing: Longtime Los Angeles Times film critic Charles Champlin has died at 88. I grew up reading his reviews and columns with my breakfast each day, as well as watching him with Art Seidenbaum on the public TV program CITYWATCHERS. A number of years ago Champlin wrote a moving column on coping with macular degeneration. I appreciate all his work added to my life over the years.

Have a great week!