Who hasn't heard of Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light"? At one time, and still to some extent, his work could be found on everything. Furniture, rugs, throws, coffee mugs, stationary, ballpoint pens, embroidery kits, T-shirts, purses. Pretty much anything that can hold an image. I myself still use a Kinkade Bible cover and my … Continue reading Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Movie
Three Gunmen And A Baby
Who's been to Bodie? We've talked about this infamous ghost town before, and it's only natural that such a picturesque place would be fodder for film crews. The 1929 movie, Hell's Heroes was not only one of the first, but the only known feature film to show Bodie prior to the 1932 fire that left only … Continue reading Three Gunmen And A Baby
I’m Blue, Da Ba Dee Da Ba Dai (Also, Global Warming)
Who knew there was more to the Birdemic saga? Well, not really, but director James Nguyen is sure as Hades going to try, and one of his latest efforts is 2022's Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle. Buckle up, everyone, because this movie is infuriatingly bad and has all the subtlety and finesse of a monster truck rally. The … Continue reading I’m Blue, Da Ba Dee Da Ba Dai (Also, Global Warming)
Hollywood Goes To Ferndale
Say what anyone will about Jim Carrey, in his heyday he made some fine films, and one of my favorites is 2001's The Majestic. It's not just a straight-ahead, old-school feel-good movie, but a lot of it was filmed in Ferndale, California, an absolutely gorgeous town in Humboldt County. The movie opens at a concept meeting, … Continue reading Hollywood Goes To Ferndale
I’ve Never Been To San Bernadino
Eeeep. So-bad-they're-good movies and food seem synonymous, reluctantly so, with food used for various nefarious and unthinkable purposes. For the very first So Bad It's Good Blogathon, if anyone remembers, I reviewed Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, an hilariously terrible cautionary tale that ended on a really weird note. This year we're plunging into the strangely … Continue reading I’ve Never Been To San Bernadino
Under the Golden Arches
Time to clock in... Few parts of modern culture are as ubiquitous as McDonald's. We all know this. No matter where we live, there's a McDonald's somewhere. Love it or hate it, that is pretty remarkable, as is the story behind the founding of McDonald's, which was sorta recounted in the 2016 film, The Founder. … Continue reading Under the Golden Arches
The Time My Dad Ate Chinese Food With Cary Grant
The stereotypes a lot of people have of Californians, even to this day, is that we all live next door to movie stars or that movie stars are everywhere we look, but the reality is that while our odds are definitely better in that regard, it's still a matter of being in the right place … Continue reading The Time My Dad Ate Chinese Food With Cary Grant
We’ve Been Here Before. More Than Once.
It's a busy week on Taking Up Room and off of it, because not only will we have a post almost every day this week, but it's Conference Week at one of the two schools I serve in my job. It happens every November, and things get crazy because the elementary and middle schools get … Continue reading We’ve Been Here Before. More Than Once.
My VR Will Go On
Birdemic is not James Nguyen's first movie. Oh heck, no. Seven years before that classic so-bad-it's-goodness came about, there was Julie and Jack. It's a romance. Yeah, that's it. The movie opens with footage of clouds. Lots of clouds. Two minutes of clouds. And then a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and a guy driving … Continue reading My VR Will Go On
Hollywood Comes To Auburn
Off we go... Placer County is no stranger to the film business. Not to brag, but Hollywood has loved our scenery since the silent era. Charlie Chaplin, of course, filmed The Gold Rush in Truckee. Nike, when much wiser and more daring heads prevailed in the PR department, used Foresthill Bridge for the bungee-jumping scene … Continue reading Hollywood Comes To Auburn
Stage To Screen: Flower Drum Song
When I took a Broadway performance class at Sierra College we were required to audition for the spring musical, which was to be A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum. I had no interest in being in the show whatsoever but I wanted my grade so I signed up. Anyone who has ever … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Flower Drum Song
Shamedown #10: Monster From the Ocean Floor
Happy Halloween! Can't believe we're on our tenth Shamedown of 2022. As always, if anyone is coming in late and wants to know what this Shamedown business is all about, the details can be found here. Onward... Roger Corman has quite the reputation and quite the filmography. The man has been producing since the early … Continue reading Shamedown #10: Monster From the Ocean Floor
Five Reasons To See “Vertigo”
Hello, Miss Kim... Vertigo is, of course, one of Alfred Hitchcock's iconic films. It's got James Stewart. It's got a blonde. Two, actually, because it also features the wonderful Barbara Bel Geddes as the loyal but passed-over Midge. It's got twists. It's got turns. It's got a gorgeous score by Bernard Herrmann. It's based on a … Continue reading Five Reasons To See “Vertigo”
Page To Screen: Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday
Who's been to Cannery Row? For those who haven't, it was a group of fish canneries, flophouses and dive bars on Ocean View Avenue in Monterey, California. It was a tough, wild, colorful place, and its king was marine biologist Ed Ricketts, best friend of John Steinbeck and collector of strange scientific samples. Of course, … Continue reading Page To Screen: Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday
Reading Rarities: A Baggage Car With Lace Curtains
Like local history? I love it. Some years ago I found an intriguing little book at the Rocklin Library: A Baggage Car With Lace Curtains by Kay Fisher, a native of the Sacramento area. Kay's husband, Bill, worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad starting in the nineteen-forties, and their story gives a whole new meaning to … Continue reading Reading Rarities: A Baggage Car With Lace Curtains
Reading Rarities: A Journey Into Steinbeck’s California
As the saying goes, you never really know someone until you climb in his shoes and walk around in them. Lately I've been walking with John Steinbeck, one of my favorite authors (and a fellow Californian), in Susan Shillinglaw's A Journey Into Steinbeck's California. Far from being a simple tour guide of Steinbeck haunts, Journey is a … Continue reading Reading Rarities: A Journey Into Steinbeck’s California
The Tower By the Bay
Are you prepared? The seventies were a weird time in Hollywood. Studios were operating on tighter budgets, so the high output of a couple of decades earlier was unheard of. Instead, studios opted for fewer films with big ensemble casts and higher octane production values, and one of these was 1974's The Towering Inferno. Like … Continue reading The Tower By the Bay
Taking Up Room 