Annie Leibovitz didn’t simply recreate scenes from Mad Men for Vanity Fair . . . she put The Drapers in these seemingly perfect, luxurious settings with beautiful clothes, a stunning mansion and a vintage car while creating a sense of emotional distance.

The Color Of Money was my introduction to Tom Cruise, Paul Newman (my Dad’s favorite actor) from the original Hustler movie with Jackie Gleason) . . . and my intro to Pool. My house currently has a Pool Table and Hustler picture up but for sentimental this is my favorite sequel.

I always loved the Scary Movie flicks . . . tbh the jokes either completely strikeout missing or they hit a grand slam (so to speak) there is no in between with this franchise.

Charlie Sheen in the Scary Movie franchise as you may have to sift through a lot of 🤬 in this movie to find a gem of a scene, but when you finally find one it was well worth it in my opinion . . . tangent but I feel the same about most of these SNL skits.

Released in 2003, Scary Movie 3 introduced a new direction for the popular horror-comedy franchise under director David Zucker, the comedic mind behind Airplane! and The Naked Gun. Featuring Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall, and Leslie Nielsen, the film hilariously spoofed blockbuster hits like The Ring, Signs, 8 Mile, and The Matrix. Its comedy relied on ridiculous visual jokes, perfectly timed deadpan reactions, and subtle background details, including the unforgettable gag where a sheriff’s hat keeps growing larger with every camera cut while nobody seems to notice. Unlike the first two films, which embraced the outrageous, raunchy humor of the Wayans brothers, Scary Movie 3 shifted toward Zucker’s signature style of nonstop sight gags and absurd situations. Although critics gave it mixed reviews, audiences embraced the comedy, helping it earn approximately $220 million worldwide on a reported $48 million budget.

There seems to be an overlooked fine line between paying homage to/being inspired by someone else’s work & just straight-up plagiarism . . . as I clearly see this as the latter. At least give the original anime artists some royalties, recognition & credit.

Paul Newman He was definitely a down to earth man’s man and well liked but he also had character which I think was his best quality . . . I love his quotes about being faithfully faithful to his wife, Joanne Woodward. “Why go out for hamburger when I can have steak at home?"

Paul Newman about his wife Joanne Woodward, married for 50 years until his death): “I don’t like to discuss my marriage, but I will tell you something which may sound corny, but which happens to be true. I have steak at home. Why should I go out for hamburger?” And Woodward explained of their long, successful marriage “Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, now that’s a real treat.”

Hollywood treats anime like a lowly idea factory borrowing (aka stealing) scenes frame-x-frame giving little or in most cases absolutely no credit or compensation of any kind . . . Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue vs Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream & Black Swan.

Black Swan (2010) is a haunting psychological thriller about perfectionism and the destructive price of artistic ambition. Inspired by Swan Lake and Dostoevsky’s The Double, it follows a ballerina whose struggle to embody both the White and Black Swan becomes a battle against herself. Natalie Portman trained intensively for over a year, while Mila Kunis underwent months of ballet training despite having little prior experience. Darren Aronofsky used restless, handheld cinematography, drawing on his approach to The Wrestler, to capture the physical exhaustion behind ballet’s apparent beauty. Interestingly, Aronofsky admitted that he tried to create rivalry between Portman and Kunis to mirror their characters, but the actresses remained friends. In a 2025 Vogue reunion, he also revealed that Portman contributed the film’s final line: “I felt it. Perfect. It was perfect.” That line captures the film’s tragic paradox: Nina achieves artistic perfection at the cost of her own well-being. x.com/filmquotesfacts/status…

The Witches of Eastwick with Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer playing witches conjuring up Jack Nicholson, who not only played the girls as well as the Devil himself . . . but also a little bit of tennis. One of the first movies I seen Jack in.

I love Quentin Tarantino movies, dialogue and I love this guy’s whole cinematic universe, but his Paul Dano take was some seriously unnecessary shit . . . criticizing or busting somebody’s balls is fine but at a certain point you’re just being a dick for the sake of being a dick.

Imagine being a 23-year-old actor. You’re hired to play a character named Paul. But then, you’re also told to play his twin brother, Eli, because the original actor just got fired. And you are told this just TWO WEEKS in advance, before shooting begins… Meanwhile your co-star? This guy. Daniel Day-Lewis. One of the most intense actors with some of the craziest and most powerful screen presence ever Any other 23-year-old actor would have gotten completely played off the screen by Day-Lewis. Hell, most would be more than a little intimidated — Joaquin Phoenix, no slouch himself, reportedly had a bit of a breakdown when he was cast in Gladiator because the role was too daunting. And he wasn’t up against anyone of Day-Lewis’ caliber, I must admit, much as I admire Crowe and others. Paul Dano got to work. He memorized the lines of his own character and a second character, in just two weeks time. Then he played his part in an Oscar winning film and more than held his own. And you want to call this guy “the weakest link” in the Screen Actors Guild? Sorry, but Quentin Tarantino is full of shit for this take.

On a Chinatown tangent . . . as a kid, I watched The Two Jakes (the sequel) before I ever saw Chinatown. Wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re someone who likes to get the bad news first but in hindsight, maybe the real mystery (money a$ide) is why they even made the sequel at all

Chinatown (1974) is much more than a brilliant neo-noir detective thriller. Inspired partly by the real water wars surrounding Los Angeles’s expansion, it explores corruption, greed, and the relationship between wealth and power. Robert Towne’s Oscar-winning screenplay originally had a different ending: Evelyn would survive, and her father, Noah Cross, would face justice. Roman Polanski insisted on a bleaker conclusion, arguing that conventional justice would undermine the story. Towne eventually admitted the director was right. Despite their creative clashes and the turbulent production, they created a masterpiece featuring Jack Nicholson’s superb performance, John A. Alonzo’s evocative cinematography, and Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score. Ultimately, Chinatown is about the limits of individual power against entrenched corruption. Jake Gittes uncovers the truth, but he cannot change the outcome. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” Few endings capture the devastating realization that knowing the truth doesn't mean you can defeat those who control the system. x.com/sjmay92/status/1463058…

There’s something truly beautiful about the monologues in Sideways as the writing leaves something very thought provoking long after you revisit it years later . . . like a great wine this film gets more interesting with time when you slow down and take the time to appreciate it.

one second from every episode of mad men