Young Composer Expo, Kirk Douglas Denounces Gibson
Burbank, California—Turner Classic Movies welcomed young composers to Hollywood in style last week, hosting a one-day exposition for musicians and composers with panels and lectures on scoring movies, games and television.
Covering everything from creative issues to royalties and sequencing software, TCM offered a full schedule during the first time event, which was held at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Speakers included composers Mark Isham, John Frizzell and David Newman. The symposium, called the Composer Expo, was capped with an awards dinner for young composers.
Batman Begins composer Hans Zimmer, taking a break from work on the next Pirates of the Carribean score, encouraged the wide-eyed artists to keep making music. By the time Entertainment Tonight's movie critic and historian Leonard Maltin, attending with his lovely wife, Alice, stepped up to provide the keynote speech, the audience was primed for Maltin's trademark reverence for classic Hollywood.
Maltin delivered, making the most of the competition's assignment to score a clip from the era of silent motion pictures, which he promptly promoted as an art form. He pointed out that the ceremony was being held in the same room which was the site of the first Academy Awards on May 16, 1929 (where the World War 1 drama Wings (1927), starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen as fighter pilots and Clara Bow as a Red Cross volunteer, was awarded Best Picture for 1927/1928).
News Notes
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, 89, has countered recent celebrity equivocations about Mel Gibson's anti-Jewish comments. Mr. Douglas penned a column for the trade publication Variety that put the matter in perspective: "Within the deep recesses of his mind, there apparently lies a cancerous sore of hatred for the Jews…Mel's first apology was too contrite and seemingly not remorseful. His second was an afterthought—oh yes, about those Jews."
The outspoken Mr. Douglas, who had granted Gibson the benefit of the doubt following accusations of bigotry after the release of The Passion of the Christ, deserves credit for practically standing alone among movie stars in denouncing Gibson's irrational statements. Good on him.
Mike Douglas (no relation to Kirk), who was Prince Charming's singing voice ("So This is Love") in Walt Disney's animated classic Cinderella (1950), died today in Florida on his birthday (he was reportedly 81).
With a sunny 90-minute song, dance and talk format—complete with a Seventies flower logo—Mike Douglas was well known for hosting a breezy yet topical variety show. His congenial manner was a welcome contrast to turbulent times.
"He was a kind and gentle man," talk show host Rosie O'Donnell told E! Online. "I have fond memories of watching him when I was a little girl." She is not alone. Whether interviewing hippies and terrorists or movie stars—it was the Seventies—Mike Douglas possessed something we could all use right now: grace under pressure.
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• John Williams on CD
• Hollywood Boulevard Rebounds
• Turner Classic Movies' Leading Ladies
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• Interview: Composer Rachel Portman
• Kenny Loggins Cuts Loose
• Interview: TCM's Robert Osborne
RELATED LINK
• TCM Composer Expo Official Web Site
Covering everything from creative issues to royalties and sequencing software, TCM offered a full schedule during the first time event, which was held at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Speakers included composers Mark Isham, John Frizzell and David Newman. The symposium, called the Composer Expo, was capped with an awards dinner for young composers.
Batman Begins composer Hans Zimmer, taking a break from work on the next Pirates of the Carribean score, encouraged the wide-eyed artists to keep making music. By the time Entertainment Tonight's movie critic and historian Leonard Maltin, attending with his lovely wife, Alice, stepped up to provide the keynote speech, the audience was primed for Maltin's trademark reverence for classic Hollywood.
Maltin delivered, making the most of the competition's assignment to score a clip from the era of silent motion pictures, which he promptly promoted as an art form. He pointed out that the ceremony was being held in the same room which was the site of the first Academy Awards on May 16, 1929 (where the World War 1 drama Wings (1927), starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen as fighter pilots and Clara Bow as a Red Cross volunteer, was awarded Best Picture for 1927/1928).
News Notes
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, 89, has countered recent celebrity equivocations about Mel Gibson's anti-Jewish comments. Mr. Douglas penned a column for the trade publication Variety that put the matter in perspective: "Within the deep recesses of his mind, there apparently lies a cancerous sore of hatred for the Jews…Mel's first apology was too contrite and seemingly not remorseful. His second was an afterthought—oh yes, about those Jews."
The outspoken Mr. Douglas, who had granted Gibson the benefit of the doubt following accusations of bigotry after the release of The Passion of the Christ, deserves credit for practically standing alone among movie stars in denouncing Gibson's irrational statements. Good on him.
Mike Douglas (no relation to Kirk), who was Prince Charming's singing voice ("So This is Love") in Walt Disney's animated classic Cinderella (1950), died today in Florida on his birthday (he was reportedly 81).
With a sunny 90-minute song, dance and talk format—complete with a Seventies flower logo—Mike Douglas was well known for hosting a breezy yet topical variety show. His congenial manner was a welcome contrast to turbulent times.
"He was a kind and gentle man," talk show host Rosie O'Donnell told E! Online. "I have fond memories of watching him when I was a little girl." She is not alone. Whether interviewing hippies and terrorists or movie stars—it was the Seventies—Mike Douglas possessed something we could all use right now: grace under pressure.
$
RELATED COLUMNS by Scott Holleran
• John Williams on CD
• Hollywood Boulevard Rebounds
• Turner Classic Movies' Leading Ladies
RELATED ARTICLES
• Interview: Composer Rachel Portman
• Kenny Loggins Cuts Loose
• Interview: TCM's Robert Osborne
RELATED LINK
• TCM Composer Expo Official Web Site
