#❪ david levinson . ⟩ * vanity . ❫

[msclaritea]

"Movie lovers were supposed to breathe a sigh of relief last week when Warner Bros. Discovery announced the un-firing of Turner Classic Movies head programmer, Charles Tabesh. This move was in response to a deafening howl of outrage from a passionate community that, increasingly devoid of quality options at the multiplexes, cherishes the long-running cable channel as a vital outlet for intelligent, well-crafted adult fare from a time when cinema ruled the entertainment roost. It kinda did the trick. Knowing Tabesh, one of the most respected film programmers in the world, would still be around to complement beloved classics with the deepest of cinema cuts meant TCM wouldn't become the "Casablanca"-every-other-day channel.

WB Discovery also continued to hype the programming/curation input of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson — which is a terrific PR win for embattled CEO David Zaslav but does little to move the needle outside of the industry. It's actually more heartening to know that creative oversight of TCM has shifted from Discovery veteran Kathleen Finch to Warner Bros. Pictures honchos Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. You'd much rather have the genuine film buff who greenlit "Seven," "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" co-leading TCM than a reality-show-driven exec who lists "90 Day Fiancé" as one of her proudest artistic achievements.

But De Luca and Abdy are movie people tasked with restoring Warner Bros. Pictures to its former glory by making movies. They don't have time to manage TCM, nor does the Spielberg/Scorsese/PTA triumvirate. So if this group is genuinely committed to the survival of the cable network, and venerating the studio's vast, varied library, they've got one screamingly obvious option that'll allow cinephiles the world over to exhale.

A wolf in a movie buff's clothing

Warner Bros

If Zaslav is the classic film fan he repeatedly claims to be, he should be familiar with the observation, "It's no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want to do is make a lot of money." This saying applies to saving money as well.

Zaslav, who inherited a debt-ridden WarnerMedia when the company merged with his thriving Discovery, is currently in slash-and-burn mode to please shareholders and, perhaps, make the studio flippable somewhere in the near-ish future. Per his company's own PR, he's personally due nine-figure compensation if he more than doubles the company's stock price. So he's doing the easy part first: firing as many people as possible, and selling off assets (like half of its music, film and television catalogue).

It's filthy business, but Zaslav has his Hamptons reputation to worry about. Still, as ruthless as he promised to be when he seized control of WarnerMedia, he assured movie lovers that he was one of us. He valued WB's history. He fell in love with movies as a regular, middle-class kid growing up in Brooklyn, and dreamed of running a studio. He works from Jack Warner's desk in his office, where TCM is always playing in the background. He spoke at last April's TCM Classic Film Festival (alongside Spielberg and PTA), and assured the audience the channel's future was secure.

Prioritizing vanity projects

Warner Bros.

His first greenlight after the merger was to blow the dust off of Hamptons lunch-buddy Nicholas Pileggi's "Wise Guys," a gangster project that had been kicking around the studios since the early 1970s; attaching Barry Levinson as director (who hasn't made a commercially successful film since 1997's "Wag the Dog") puzzled several industry insiders with whom I've spoken. It was old Hollywood chumminess that reeked of rich white-guy back-slapping, and this was before Zaslav erased Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's already finished "Batgirl" movie. Shot on an apparent $50 million budget, the film is in post-production, and has a slated release date of February 2, 2024, although that could always change.

So when Zaslav cleaned house in June by firing five of TCM's top execs, while slashing the staff from somewhere around 90 to around 20, cinephiles were furious. You don't need an MBA to know that a personnel cut that deep is meant to hobble, not sustain. Zaslav didn't care; however, his Hamptons buddy, Steven Spielberg, didn't appreciate being used as a rubber stamp at the TCM Fest. A Zoom call was arranged, which resulted in an empty press release assuring viewers that the three aforementioned filmmakers would mind the short-staffed store. When absolutely no one bought this, Tabesh was reinstalled as head programmer.

Zaslav must make TCM whole again

Warner Bros

Though I'm amused that Zaslav has turned Tabesh into a rock star amongst movie lovers, he is but one man. Tabesh can't do what he's done so brilliantly alone. He needs a team steeped in every facet of film history to help him track down and license those obscure titles that nourish our desire for, ironically, discovery. Basically, he needs everyone Finch and Zaslav axed.

On a practical, strictly corporate level, this should not happen. TCM is currently only available on cable (streaming-wise, no one associated with the channel has anything to do with that embarrassingly shallow hub on Max), and cable is speeding toward total obsolescence. Its 70% profit margin is evidently meaningless to Warner Bros Discovery. If Zaslav hadn't so shamelessly dampened Spielberg's backside over the years, TCM could've easily been shuttered last year.

According to a recent Hollywood Reporter article by Kim Masters, Zaslav underestimated the widespread industry love for TCM (even Ryan Reynolds leaped into the fray). But what jumped out to me in that piece is that he was most miffed that outsiders "were telling him how to run his business," which is not the sentiment of a chastened man. Indeed, that he's still holding firm on the decimation of TCM's staff — which, to give you a sense of the petty scope of this brouhaha, was hastened by a $3 million cut in the channel's budget — suggests that he's still determined to win this battle. And if that's all he wants, TCM is living on borrowed time.

You bought it, you honor it

Warner Bros

What's his endgame? My most charitable read is that he'd like to have a boutique outlet that flaunts his prestigious industry connections, e.g. Scorsese presents "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." This is where the directors he supposedly worships need, as gently as possible, to remind him that in acquiring WB, he became a steward of Hollywood history. Name-dropping a handful of black-and-white movies as evidence of his love for classic cinema won't get it done. Sitting at Jack Warner's desk is the emptiest of gestures if you're disinterested in sharing his studio's output with the public.

TCM is small potatoes financially, but, as a reflection of the company's dedication to the art that made it what it is today, it's invaluable. You re-staff, eat that $3 million, and declare the channel off-limits. You run it at a (presumably minuscule) loss if need be. If Zaslav does this one, culturally good thing, and once he pays his writers what they're worth, his legacy might not be a disaster in the long term (though I know the short term is where his CEO ilk lives). He also might actually earn the love he seeks from the directors he purports to adore (which will make it so much easier for De Luca and Abdy to lure Christopher Nolan back into the fold, not to mention build out the studio's stable of top-tier filmmakers).

This isn't easy in our fiercely risk-averse age. Because while it's no trick to make a lot of money, it takes vision and fearlessness to make a lot of good movies. It is, however, financially feasible to show a lot of great movies 24/7 on TCM. 

Probably costs less than a summer of fine dining in the Hamptons — and, uh, which card are we using out there, David? Because that's an easy snip..."

Zaslav & Crew are deliberately killing 1000s of Hollywood jobs to hurt the economy and Zaslav gets rewarded with an Academy of Motion Pictures membership.

Academy officers[69]

President – Janet Yang

Vice president – Teri E. Dorman

Vice president / Secretary – Donna Gigliotti

Vice president – Lynette Howell Taylor

Vice president – Larry Karaszewski

Vice president / Treasurer – David Linde

Vice president – Isis Mussenden

Vice president – Kim Taylor-Coleman

Vice president – Wynn P. Thomas

Chief executive officer – Bill Kramer

Governors[69]

Actors Branch – Whoopi Goldberg, Marlee Matlin, Rita Wilson

Casting Directors Branch – Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Coleman, Debra Zane

Cinematographers Branch – Dion Beebe, Paul Cameron, Mandy Walker

Costume Designers Branch – Ruth E. Carter, Eduardo Castro, Isis Mussenden

Directors Branch – Susanne Bier, Ava DuVernay, Jason Reitman

Documentary Branch – Kate Amend, Chris Hegedus, Jean Tsien

Executives Branch – Pam Abdy, Donna Gigliotti, David Linde

Film Editors Branch – Nancy Richardson, Stephen E. Rivkin, Terilyn A. Shropshire

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch – Howard Berger, Bill Corso, Linda Flowers

Marketing and Public Relations Branch – Megan Colligan, Laura Kim, Christina Kounelias

Music Branch – Lesley Barber, Charles Bernstein, Charles Fox

Producers Branch – Jason Blum, Lynette Howell Taylor, Jennifer Todd

Production Design Branch – Tom Duffield, Missy Parker, Wynn P. Thomas

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch – Bonnie Arnold, Jon Bloom, Marlon West

Sound Branch – Gary C. Bourgeois, Peter J. Devlin, Teri E. Dorman

Visual Effects Branch – Rob Bredow, Brooke Breton, Paul Debevec

Writers Branch – Larry Karaszewski, Howard A. Rodman, Eric Roth

Governors-at-large[29] (nominated by the President and elected by the board) – DeVon Franklin, Rodrigo García, Janet Yang

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DAVID LEVINSON VANITY ( 001 )

[therearemonsterseugene]

My Year In Movies

This isn’t the way I wanted to do this, but a baby has taken over the office and I don’t have much time to sit at my computer, so here’s my list of movies I watched last year. Bold indicates a strong recommendation.

1. The Man From Nowhere (2010) -- Lee Jewon-beom (S. Korea) 2. Immortals (2011) -- Tarsem Singh (USA) 3. Killer Joe (2011) -- William Friedkin (USA) 4. World's Greatest Dad (2009) -- Bobcat Goldthwait (USA) 5. Fanny Hill (1983) -- Gerry O'Hara (UK) 6. I Vitelloni (1953) -- Frederico Fellini (Italy) 7. Inspector Clouseau (1968) -- Bud Yorkin (USA) 8. Bone Tomahawk (2015) -- S. Craig Zahler (USA) 9. Crank: High Voltage (2009) -- Neveldine and Taylor (USA) 10. Love Exposure (2008) -- Shion Sono (Japan) 11. Topkapi (1964) -- Jules Dassin (USA) 12. La Bete Humaine (1938) -- Jean Renoir (France) 13. Harakiri (1962) -- Masaki Kobayashi (Japan) 14. Stir Crazy (1980) -- Sidney Poitier (USA) 15. Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008) -- Jean-Francois Richet (France) 16. Fright Night (1985) -- Tom Holland (USA) -- 35mm in theater, rewatch 17. The Driver (1978) -- Walter Hill (USA) 18. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) -- George Clooney (USA) 19. 50/50 (2011) -- Jonathan Levine (USA) 20. The Revenant (2015) -- Alejandro G. Inarritu (USA) -- in theater 21. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) -- Hayao Miyazaki (Japan) 22. Broken Arrow (1950) -- Delmer Daves (USA) 23. The Untouchables (1987) -- Brian de Palma (USA) 24. The Key (1983) -- Tinto Brass (Italy) 25. The Big Short (2015) -- Adam McKay (USA) -- in theater 26. The Interview (2014) -- Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (USA) 27. Storytelling (2001) -- Todd Solondz 28. Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) -- Brian de Palma (USA) 29. Black Sea (2014) -- Kevin Macdonald (UK/US) 30. The Witch (2015) -- Robert Eggers (US) -- in theater 31. The Rum Diary (2011) -- Bruce Robinson (USA) 32. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) -- John Badham (USA) 33. The Palm Beach Story (1942) -- Preston Sturges (USA) 34. Shaun the Sheep (2015) -- Mark Burton and Richard Starzak (UK) 35. The Five Obstructions (2003) -- Jorgen Leth and Lars von Trier 36. Quay des Orfevres (1947) -- Henri-Georges Clouzot (France) 37. Hail, Caeser! (2016) -- Coen Bros (US) -- in theater 38. Valley Girl (1983) -- Martha Coolidge (US) 39. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) -- Pedro Almodovar (Spain) 40. Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) -- Michael Showalter (US) -- in theater 41. To Live and Die In L.A. (1985) -- William Friedkin (US) 42. In Cold Blood (1967) -- Richard Brooks (US) 43. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1996) -- Terry Jones (UK) 44. The Deep (1977) -- Peter Yates (US) 45. The Muppet Movie (1979) -- James Frawley (US/UK) -- rewatch 46. Monkey Business (1952) -- Howard Hawks (US) 47. Casablanca (1942) -- Michael Curtiz (US) -- rewatch 48. The Disorderly Orderly (1964) -- Frank Tashlin (US) 49. Destry Rides Again (1939) -- George Marshall (US) 50. Green Fish (1997) -- Lee Chang-dong (S. Korea) 51. Bernie (2011) -- Richard Linklater (US) 52. Easy A (2010) -- Will Gluck (US) 53. The Overnight (2015) -- Patrick Brice (US) 54. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) -- Dan Trachtenberg (US) -- in theater 55. Breaking the Waves (1996) -- Lars von Trier (various) 56. Cheap Thrills (2013) -- E.L. Katz (US) 57. Green Room (2016) -- Jeremy Saulnier (US) -- in theater 58. Indiscreet (1958) -- Stanley Donen (US) 59. Conan the Destroyer (1984) -- Richard Fleischer (US) 60. Faust (1926) -- F.W. Murnau (Ger) 61. Belladonna of Sadness (1973) -- Elichi Yamamoto (Japan) -- in theater 62. The Lobster (2015) -- Yorgos Lanthimos (Various) -- in theater 63. The Willies (1990) -- Brian Peck (US) 64. Sympathy for the Devil (2015) -- Neil Edwards (various) -- in theater 65. The Conjuring 2 (2016) -- James Wan (US) -- in theater 66. The Martian (2015) -- Ridley Scott (US) 67. I Love You, Phillip Morris (2009) -- Glenn Ficarra, John Requa (US) 68. Dancer in the Dark (2000) -- Lars von Trier (various) 69. Tickled (2016) -- David Farrier, Dylan Reeve (NZ) -- in theater 70. Hot Lead & Cold Feet (1978) -- Robert Butler (US) 71. De Palma (2015) -- Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow (US) -- in theater 72. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) -- Frank Oz (US) 73. Drive Angry (2011) -- Patrick Lussier (US) 74. Death Race 2000 (1975) -- Paul Bartel (US) -- 16mm in theater, rewatch 75. The Endless Summer (1966) -- Bruce Brown (US) 76. Barbarella (1968) -- Roger Vadim (Fr/It) 77. Bugsy Malone (1976) -- Alan Parker (UK) 78. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) -- Taika Waititi (NZ) -- in theater 79. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) -- Christopher McQuarrie (US) 80. The Invitation (2015) -- Karyn Kusama (US) 81. The Comedian (1957) -- John Frankenheimer (US) 82. Man Up (2015) -- Ben Palmer (UK) 83. Open Season: Scared Silly (2015) -- David Feiss (US) 84. The Good DInosaur (2015) --  Peter Sohn (US) 85. Burying the Ex (2014) -- Joe Dante (US) 86. Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960) -- Cyril Frankel (UK) 87. These Are the Damned (1962) -- Joseph Losey (UK) 88. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016) -- Werner Herzog (US) -- in theater 89. Mission to Mars (2000) -- Brian de Palma (US) 90. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) -- Travis Knight (US) -- in theater 91. Hell or High Water (2016) -- David Mackenzie (US) -- in theater 92. Russian Ark (2002) -- Alexander Sokurov (RUS) -- didn't finish, too dull 93. Cache (2005) -- Michael Haneke (various) 94. Kull The Conqueror (1997) -- John Nocolella (US) 95. The Witch (2015) -- Robert Eggers (US) -- rewatch 96. River of No Return (1954) -- Otto Preminger (US) 97. Carnal Knowledge (1971) -- Mike Nichols (US) 98. The Final Girls (2015) -- Todd Strauss-Schulson (US) 99. Jamaica Inn (1939) -- Alfred Hitchcock (UK) 100. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) -- Jonathan Levine (US) 101. Creep (2014) -- Patrick Brice (US) 102. Killer Nun (1979) -- Giulio Berruti (It) 103. Alone in the Dark (1982) -- Jack Sholder (US) 104. Two Evil Eyes (1990) -- George Romero, Dario Argento (US, It) 105. Darling (2015) -- Mickey Keating (US) 106. The Bay (2012) -- Barry Levinson (US) 107. Phantasm: Ravager (2016) -- David Hartman (US) -- in theater 108. We Are Still Here (2015) -- Ted Geoghegan (US) 109. Final Girl (2015) -- Tyler Shields (US) 110. The Nude Vampire (1970) -- Jean Rollin (Fr) 111. Shock (1977) -- Mario Bava (It) 112. The Perfect Host (2010) -- Nick Tomnay (US) 113. Diary of a Madman (1963) -- Reginald Le Borg (US) 114. The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) -- Terence Fisher (UK) 115. Zoombies (2016) -- Glenn R. Miller (US) 116. Bedlam (1946) -- Mark Robson (US) 117. Isle of the Dead (1945) -- Mark Robson (US) 118. Brain Damage (1988) -- Frank Henelotter (US) 119. Bound to Vengeance (2015) -- J.M. Craviato (US) 120. Stoker (2013) -- Park Chan-wook (US) 121. Fright Night (2011) -- Craig Gillespie (US) 122. Beneath (2013) -- Larry Fessenden (US) 123. She-Wolf of London (1946) -- Jean Yarbrough (US) 124. Werewolf of London (1935) -- Stuart Walker 125. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) -- Eugene Lourie (US) 126. Shutter Island (2010) -- Martin Scorcese (US) 127. Witchboard (1986) -- Kevin Tenney (US) 128. A Bucket of Blood (1959) -- Roger Corman (US) 129. Cannibal Ferox (1981) -- Umberto Lenzi (It) 130. Bloody Mama (1970) -- Roger Corman (US) 131. Goosebumps (2015) -- Rob Letterman (US) 132. The Killing Car (1993) -- Jean Rollin (Fr) 133. The Handmaiden (2016) -- Park Chan-wook (Kor) -- in theater 134. The Most Dangerous Game (1932) -- Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Shoedsack (US) 135. Night Creatures (1962) -- Peter Graham Scott (UK) 136. Moonlight (2016) -- Barry Jenkins (US) -- in theater 137. The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) -- Freddie Frances (UK) 138. Arrival (2016) -- Denis Villeneuve (US) -- in theater 139. Bride of Re-Animator (1989) -- Brian Yuzna (US) 140. Ghostbusters (2016) -- Paul Feig (US) 141. From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) -- Jeff Burr (US) 142. I, Madman (1989) -- Tibor Takacs (US)

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seth & david tags . 

❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   thread   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   vanity   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   psyche   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   aesthetic   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   meta   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   details   .   ❫ ❪   seth brundle .    ⟩     *   headcanon   .   ❫

❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   thread   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   vanity   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   psyche   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   aesthetic   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   meta   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   details   .   ❫ ❪   david levinson .    ⟩     *   headcanon   .   ❫