Leonard Maltin

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Clint Eastwood & Co.

By Leonard Maltin
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December 15, 2009 10:21 AM
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So how did I luck into a moment of serendipitous spontaneity with Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman? Allow me to explain. As any media veteran will tell you, participating in movie press junkets...

is not a lot of fun. On the one hand, you get to spend a little time with the world’s most famous movie stars, as well as talented directors and filmmakers. On the other hand, you’re often forcibly reminded that you are merely one tiny cog in a giant machine, as these people are being led through a hundred or more interviews over a two or three-day stretch. Fortunately, Entertainment Tonight has enough clout to arrange for its own room at the junket hotel, so as a reporter you’re not being hustled in and out by someone with a stopwatch. The stars get a break from the confinement of their cocoon and, if you hit it off, they might open up for an extra

By Leonard Maltin
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December 14, 2009 7:05 AM
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George Clooney, most observers agree, is the closest thing we have to an old-fashioned Movie Star. He’s got the looks, the talent, the smarts, and the attitude. At Monday night’s premiere of Up in the Air he forsook waiting photographers and TV crews in Westwood to cross the street and spend time with his fans—a great deal of time. He normally “works” the press line, as well, but he breezed right through on Monday; fortunately he came over to say hello to me and lingered long enough for me to get in some quick questions and answers for Entertainment Tonight. And here are the results: . It was a pleasure to talk to his colleagues and costars, as well, including newcomer Anna Kendrick (who’s also in a little vampire movie right now called New Moon) and the talented Vera Farmiga, whose stock (like Kendrick’s) is surely going to soar because of...

By Leonard Maltin
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December 14, 2009 4:29 AM
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If you’re thinking about gifts for the holidays, I’d like to mention a few presents I’ve bought myself lately. (I’ll be posting my annual movie book roundup within the week.) First, if you haven’t seen the latest confection from animator Nick Park, you owe it to yourself and your family to purchase a DVD of Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death. After twenty years these wry characters have lost none of their appeal, and Park remains a consummate filmmaker as he devises new adventures for the uniquely British duo. Once you’ve enjoyed their latest half-hour film, which originally aired on...

By Leonard Maltin
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December 14, 2009 3:23 AM
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After posting my story (see Big Shoes to Fill - In the Rain) about hosting Robert Downey, Jr.’s hand-and-footprint ceremony I got a nice note from Stacey Behlmer, who (as Stacey Endres, then unmarried) co-wrote the definitive book on the history of the theater, Hollywood at Your Feet. She had a few notes and corrections to pass along: “I can't vouch for the ceremonies that took place after [our book] was published, but it did rain on a couple of the earlier ceremonies: James Mason was one and the Anne Baxter/Gregory Peck dual ceremony was another. Baxter actually drew an umbrella, a heart, and the sun in the cement and inscribed something about DEAR SID RAIN OR SHINE I LOVE YOU.”

By Leonard Maltin
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December 14, 2009 12:24 AM
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Behold the “test slab,” perched on the refreshment counter in the lobby of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The people who supervise this beloved Hollywood ceremony have perfected a formula over many years’ time to create commemorative pieces that will stand up to wear and tear. If you’ve never read Stacey Endres and Robert Cushman’s definitive history of the theater and its world-famous ceremony, Hollywood at Your Feet (Pomegranate Press, 1992) you can readily find used copies online, and I encourage you to do so.

By Leonard Maltin
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December 13, 2009 11:56 AM
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1 Comment

Robert Downey, Jr. put his hand and footprints in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Monday, and I was honored to serve as master of ceremonies for the event. I also got an insider’s view of a ritual the public never sees, when the honoree is given an opportunity to practice writing his name in cement on a “test slab” placed on the refreshment counter inside Grauman’s lobby. Robert quickly realized he had his work cut out for him: it isn’t easy to do!

By Leonard Maltin
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December 12, 2009 4:42 AM
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2 Comments

Incidentally, if the economic downturn hasn’t hit your household, or you’re looking for an investment in the collectibles field and have $1,799.00 to spare, you might consider purchasing a detailed replica of the Nautilus submarine designed by Harper Goff for Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It’s four feet long, and it’s sure to be a conversation-starter...

By Leonard Maltin
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December 11, 2009 4:09 AM
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There is an extended Disney family that includes veteran animators and artists, Imagineers, contemporary filmmakers, fans, and enthusiasts. Many of them were on hand for the gala opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum on September 29, and I snapped as many as I could. (Photography is not allowed inside the Museum galleries.)

By Leonard Maltin
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December 10, 2009 9:54 AM
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A cut-out of Walt Disney and his family on their backyard train greeted guests on opening night.When Walt Disney’s surviving daughter, Diane Disney Miller, set out to create a museum in her father’s honor, no one (including Diane) knew how it should look or what it might include. I sat in on an early meeting with a prospective museum designer, and while I agreed with others who attended that confab that the plans were disappointing, none of us could easily articulate how we would make it work.

By Leonard Maltin
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December 7, 2009 11:42 AM
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For the fifteenth in a series of Hollywood Legend stamps, the U.S. Postal Service chose to honor Gary Cooper, and I was privileged to host the first day of issue ceremony held, appropriately enough, at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. Cooper didn’t just make Westerns, of course, but I reckon if you asked most people to instantly name one Gary Cooper movie the answer you’d get most often would be High Noon. The actor’s charming daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, was the morning’s guest of honor. She has kept her father’s memory alive in many ways; she compiled a lovely picture-and-text book, Gary Cooper Off-Camera: A Daughter Remembers, in 1999, and narrated a warm profile of him that airs periodically on Turner Classic Movies. She is currently working on a feature-length...

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Clint Eastwood & Co.

Out and About with George Clooney

Wallace and Gromit, Jessica Rabbit and other uniquely entertaining gift ideas

Grauman's Chinese Theater update:

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Big Shoes To Fill - In The Rain

Disney’s Nautilus Replicated

Disney Museum Kickoff

Disney Museum In A Word: Dazzling

Stamp of Approval

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