tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53240512011-12-11T03:41:09.221-08:00Couch Potato ChipsI'm a writer in Sydney working on a humorous non-fiction book about fame, films and popular culture. These are some of my research notes for it.Mattnoreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1100313281543160242004-11-12T18:14:00.000-08:002004-11-12T18:34:41.543-08:00I find serial killer films fascinating, because they have such strict conventions. For instance the cop on the case is often a chick, who ends up either falling for the killer, or empathising with him somehow. There's usually a scene where he says something like, "Admit it. You are just like me!" while our feisty heroine trembles on the other side of the cell bars. Silence of the Lambs has a Mattnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1098098234933705132004-10-18T03:55:00.000-07:002004-10-18T04:21:56.993-07:00Why is it that the heros in American courtroom thrillers all have to be smug liberals? Take for instance Runaway Jury.
It's a very slick (but implausible) tale of good versus evil. The good guys are a legal team of smug liberals trying to nail the gun industry (I'll call it "Big Ammo") and make it pay for the death of some poor share trader who got his head blown off by some disgruntled Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1092566065031403312004-08-15T03:22:00.000-07:002004-08-15T03:34:25.033-07:00Watched Sexy Beast last night. It's quite amazing. Ben Kingsley plays the main role of this utter arsehole sent to convince a loveable lummox of an ex-con to "do another job". He's just about the nastiest piece of work in all of movies.
I think Kingsley modelled himself on that archetypal image of the devil. Look at the poster, you'll see what I mean. He's a dead ringer for Lucifer, Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1092147732432114542004-08-10T06:48:00.000-07:002004-08-10T20:25:29.793-07:00Watched a doco on the life of Robert Evans called The Kid Stays in the Picture. It was entertaining, no doubt about it. Also very slick.
It wasn't your usual doco, because it was based on Evans' book, and narrated by him. How solipsistic is that? So, it obviously wasn't going to be objective. But then, objectivity isn't exactly a requirement for the genre these days is it?
Although it's no Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1089514765443813182004-07-10T19:50:00.000-07:002004-07-10T19:59:25.443-07:00I always find it fascinating that famous people get romantically involved with each other.
Do these relationships start as career moves? Or do they work because celebs have so much in common, and can offer mutual support in surviving such a crazy life?
Beats me.
Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1081294848308706482004-04-06T16:40:00.000-07:002004-04-06T16:44:28.356-07:00Old rockers never die, they just keep, er, reinventing themselves.Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1066523092859040962003-10-18T17:24:00.000-07:002003-10-18T17:24:52.800-07:00Yet another example of the enduring power of fame, and its ability to keep generating revenue. Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1066223595439233212003-10-15T06:11:00.000-07:002003-10-15T06:14:52.596-07:00Just noticed that on the related Google search bar above, there was one called "celebrity fakes". That's weird. I thought all celebrities were fakes. Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1064276124954650402003-09-22T17:12:00.000-07:002003-09-22T17:18:03.336-07:00I always thought it was only American showbiz families who were hopelessly dysfunctional. Now the French are in on the act. Will lefties blame America for this, and describe it as yet more cultural imperialism? Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1062249654806899022003-08-30T06:20:00.000-07:002003-08-30T06:26:38.470-07:00Stella McCartney is getting married.
If not for her old man's huge success, she probably wouldn't even have a gig as a designer. Nor would any of the mega-celeb guests listed in the story have anything to do with her - let alone show up for the ceremony. Nor would her marriage be reported anywhere reported in the world's media (or even derided in this blog, for that matter!).
Jeez, this Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1060913211669396202003-08-14T19:06:00.000-07:002003-08-16T03:21:32.976-07:00As you can see I haven't posted here for a while. I scrolled down to see if there were any dead links. I noticed that the post from June 20 about the depressing profusion of blockbusters linked to the general Yahoo trailers page (not a date-specific one), and so would change vastly over time.
Worried that the post was now irrelevant, I clicked on the link. I quickly learned that even though Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1060911889061567112003-08-14T18:44:00.000-07:002003-08-16T03:28:41.943-07:00Here's another example of the downside of fame: Apparently some psycho-nutbar posted a profile of a Star Trek star on an internet dating site, with a profile guaranteed to attract hordes of salivating freaks.
The poor woman had her life turned upside down. To add insult to injury she lost the ensuing court case.
Celebs are forever griping unjustifiably about the attention their exposure Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-1057485647330417522003-07-06T03:00:00.000-07:002003-07-06T03:04:30.213-07:00Re the deaths of Gregory Peck, Katherine Hepburn and now Barry White: Ever notice that celebrity snuffings always seem to occur in clusters, kind of like fast food joints? Maybe there's some economic reason for it. Do the agents arrange their clients' carkings (or news of them) for maximum exposure? Who knows. Wouldn't put it past 'em...
It's interesting that when a major showbiz icon Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-958564552003-06-20T01:28:00.000-07:002003-06-20T01:31:53.000-07:00I know that people have always gone to the movies to escape, but I doubt there was ever as much escapism on offer as there is now. It's like we're losing touch with reality in a big way.
If you have a look here you'll see that of the twenty most popular trailers, at least half of them are for special effects-laden epics with supernatural, sci-fi or fantasy themes. Whatever happened to good Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-958543332003-06-19T23:33:00.000-07:002003-06-20T01:29:42.000-07:00The headline reads "Kate Beckinsale Engaged".
Engaged? Nah. She looks pretty vacant to me. Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-957097402003-06-16T01:37:00.000-07:002003-06-16T01:38:44.000-07:00Pete Best, who was the original drummer for the Beatles, now has a coffee table book out about his experiences in the band. It amazes me how long one can ride on the coat-tails of the famous, even retrospectively. This stuff goes back forty years!
Fame is like an ocean. Big fish drift through the deep, munching away on whatever they choose, while minnows keep following them for whatever Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-954519512003-06-08T22:05:00.000-07:002003-06-08T22:05:40.063-07:00Sandra Bullock has a stalker!
Well, she’s definitely A-list now. Acquiring a stalker is one of the major requirements for membership of this elite club. Others include receiving obscenely huge paychecks for work in crappy films; devotion to at least one fashionable liberal cause (although that seems to be waning); and a love affair with another A-lister.Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-952333662003-06-03T05:21:00.000-07:002003-06-03T05:21:23.430-07:00Here's an interesting article about how dysfunction replaced respectability in TV representations of families.Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-952327832003-06-03T04:59:00.000-07:002003-06-03T04:59:01.046-07:00Quotes are always a good, quick way into a subject. Here are some pithy ones relating to fame. Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-952325252003-06-03T04:48:00.000-07:002003-06-03T04:52:22.000-07:00Here's a story on spunky young croonette Jewel's latest image change.
These make-overs seem to be absolutely vital for musos, particularly female ones. It's the quick-changing or the dead-boring in Fameworld.
Still, I can't feel to sorry for her. She's worth millions. And she doesn't sound too bright. I mean, she started off being all soulful and earnest because she was desperate to be Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-949318802003-05-27T01:46:00.000-07:002003-05-27T01:46:07.376-07:00Here's a pretty good example of the down side of fame. Poor Nicole Kidman can't even have a bloody fag when she feels like one!
It's interesting that this high standard of lung-morality isn't applied to other flashbulb addicts. So it shows the different kinds of fame on offer to the chicks. There's this dignified role-model variety at one end; and the grotesque, tragic has-been niche Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-940434672003-05-09T03:06:00.000-07:002003-05-09T03:24:31.000-07:00This is a pretty obvious point to make, but it does seem that part of being famous is being loved, and the other part is being loathed. The being loathed part seems to be growing exponentially.
There's also a morbid fascination with violence and acts of transgression by - or involving - the famous. Have a look at this site. It details various Hollywood scandals and even gives you a map Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-935803272003-04-30T23:11:00.000-07:002003-05-09T03:24:11.000-07:00Re narcissism: Here's another good site. Looks like there's heaps of worthwhile info here.Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-932829182003-04-25T22:50:00.000-07:002003-04-26T21:42:15.000-07:00So, to my first post: Since the desire for fame is clearly related to self-love, I decided to look into that subject. I typed the word "narcissism" into Google, and found this site. It's already confounded my view of the condition, which I thought was a purely cultural phenomenon. But it turns out it's heritable! No wonder movie stars have such hideous, egomaniacal kids!Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5324051.post-932823842003-04-25T22:35:00.000-07:002003-04-30T23:13:38.000-07:00Hello all. I'm a writer and comic in Sydney, Australia. I have several projects on the boil. One of these is a non-fiction book on the history and meaning of fame in our increasingly media-mad world.
Instead of just typing research notes onto my hard drive, I thought it might be fun to start a blog for it. Then I can share the process with many others as I slowly develop my book submission.Mattnoreply@blogger.com0