Pat Saperstein Deputy - celebsbar.com

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor They say L.A. has no history, and yet, thankfully there are still enough vestiges of the Laurel Canyon folk-rock scene of the 1970s to fully stock a throwback series like “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Set among the flowy dresses and shaggy mustaches of the city’s rock ‘n’ roll heyday, the series gives aspiring rockers Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, played by Riley Keough and Sam Claflin, plenty of classic places to hang out, giving the gauzy musical series a grounding in a specific time and place. The show’s production designer, Jessica Kender, explains that in some cases, it was more important to capture the feeling of the era than to use the exact location. A perfect example is the front of the Six’s house in Laurel Canyon, which was designed to evoke the iconic cover of “Crosby, Stills & Nash” with the band sitting on a brown couch in front of a long-ago torn-down house.

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Mexican Chef Enrique Olvera Is Conquering L.A. — Start With Sexy, Hidden Damian Before Atla Opens in Venice

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor With this week’s announcement that distinguished Mexican chef Enrique Olvera would be opening a third restaurant in Los Angeles, it’s clear that the city is embracing the vision of restaurateur seen on “Chef’s Table” in a big way. Later this year, an outpost of his New York restaurant Atla will open on Abbot Kinney in Venice, joining upscale Damian and casual taco spot Ditroit in the arts district of Downtown L.A. While Atla will be in the style of a fonda, or homey neighborhood eatery, Damian is where L.A. diners can find exquisitely-plated, adventurous interpretations of the building blocks of Mexican cuisine. From the impeccably warm service to the creative desserts, Damian is a singular dining experience and a hidden jewel of the buzzy arts district.

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‘Racist Trees’ Documentary: How a Palm Springs Neighborhood Controversy Got the Attention of Tucker Carlson and Sparked a Debate About Race and Real Estate

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor How can trees be racist? That’s the question explored in a new documentary, “Racist Trees,” about a historically Black neighborhood called the Crossley tract in Palm Springs, Calif., whose residents suspected a dense row of tall tamarisk trees might have been planted decades ago to segregate them from the adjacent golf course. While putting a close-up on the residents’ campaign to have the messy, view-blocking trees removed, the film deftly explores wider issues, like the troubled racial history of the idyllic resort town, gentrification and generational wealth – all with a light touch that includes plenty of colorful historic footage of swimming pools and movie stars.

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Richard Anobile, Prolific Author of Film Books and Post-Production Supervisor, Dies at 76

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Richard J. Anobile, a noted author of film books and post production supervisor and producer, died Feb. 10 in Toronto after a brief illness. He was 76. Born in New York, Anobile wrote more than 30 film books. His started out with books about the Marx brothers, including “Why a Duck” in 1971, followed by “The Marx Brothers Scrapbook,” Anobile co-authored the book with Groucho Marx, and it featured interviews with the then-octogenarian and never-before-seen photos and documents. Anobile’s other classic comedy works included books about W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. His books covered every facet of entertainment, from “Mork and Mindy” and James Whale’s “Frankenstein” to “The Maltese Falcon” and “Psycho.”

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Nury Martinez Steps Down as L.A. City Council President After Racist Remarks Surface

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Los Angeles City Council president Nury Martinez resigned her post as president Monday after recordings of her making racist remark at a meeting were revealed on Sunday. However, she did not resign her position on the city council, the L.A. Times reported. On Sunday, the news broke that an October 2021 meeting between Martinez, fellow councilmembers Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera was secretly recorded and posted to Reddit. During the meeting, Martinez could be heard making remarks about city council member Mike Bonin’s young adopted son, who is Black. The group also discussed redistricting of city council districts while disparaging other councilmembers.

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‘Mexican Week’ on ‘Great British Baking Show’ Comes Under Fire for Stereotypes and Pronunciation Disasters

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sombreros, serapes and maracas, horrible pronunciations, jokes about Mexican stand-offs, and really strange-looking tacos — did the “Mexican Week” episode of “The Great British Baking Show” leave any stereotypical stone unturned? After a similar debacle with Season 11’s “Japanese Week,” the internationally beloved competition series — which streams on Netflix in the U.S. — apparently decided not to learn from its mistakes, and dove headlong into Mexican food. And since the competition is largely to determine who can create the best baked goods, many observers wondered, why were they attempting tacos, anyway? Even before the episode dropped on Oct. 7, the promos featuring sombrero-wearing hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas came under fire from social media commenters — largely from the U.S., where finding a good taco is not as difficult as in the U.K. — who were quick to weigh in on the show’s utter failure to try to understand more than the most obvious characteristics of Mexican food and culture. Even the English-language plural of the word cactus eluded one of the contestants — not to mention the woman whose absolutely wretched try at guacamole sounded more like “glakeemolo.”

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SXSW Film & TV Festival Taps Claudette Godfrey as Director After Janet Pierson Steps Aside

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Longtime SXSW Film & TV Festival Director Janet Pierson will transition to be Director Emeritus, the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals announced Wednesday. Her deputy Claudette Godfrey will take over leadership of the festival. Pierson served as head of the film and TV branch of SXSW for 15 years, part of her 45 years in the independent film business as producer’s rep, exhibitor and many other roles. During her time at SXSW, the festival launched a dedicated section for episodic programs, years before other festivals. In her new role, she will serve as a programmer for the next edition of the fest in 2023, where she will be feted for her contributions to SXSW and entertainment.

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Douglas Kirkland, Hollywood Photographer, Dies at 88

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Douglas Kirkland, the celebrity photographer known for his photos of Marilyn Monroe and numerous other stars, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88. His 1961 Monroe portraits showed the superstar reclining on a bed surrounded by white satin sheets. In addition to his portraits of Hollywood notables including he was a special photographer for films including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Sound of Music,” “Sophie’s Choice,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Out of Africa,” “Titanic” and “Moulin Rouge!” His photos appeared in hundreds of magazines, and among the celebrities he photographed were Brigitte Bardot, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Ann-Margret, Natalie Wood, Catherine Deneuve, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Charlie Chaplin, Peter O’Toole, Paul Newman, Marcello Mastroianni, Michael Caine, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger, Bjork and Michael Jackson.

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Sacheen Littlefeather, Activist Who Took the Stage to Decline Marlon Brando’s Oscar, Dies at 75

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sacheen Littlefeather, who declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar for “The Godfather” on his behalf at the 1973 Academy Awards, died Sunday, the Academy of Motion Pictures said. more to come…Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.

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Ruben Fleischer Tapped to Direct ‘Now You See Me 3’

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Lionsgate has tapped Ruben Fleischer to direct the third installment of action-heist franchise “Now You See Me.” The “Venom,” “Uncharted” and “Zombieland” director will take the helm of the third installment of the story of the thieving illusionists know as the Four Horsemen, while also featuring a new generation of characters. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane announced the new film, which will get a new draft of the screenplay by “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith. The previous draft was by Eric Warren Singer.

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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Questlove Pay Tribute to Coolio: ‘Peaceful Journey Brother’

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Fellow musicians and other entertainers are paying tribute to rapper Coolio, whose songs “Gangsta’s Paradise” was used in “Dangerous Minds” and “Aw, Here It Goes!” in the opening sequence of Nickelodeon’s “Kenan & Kel,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 59. Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., also had hits with “Fantastic Voyage” and “1,2,3,4 (Sumpin’ New)” and “It’s All the Way Live (Now).” Among those who remembered Coolio on social media were “Weird Al” Yankovic, who was involved in a feud with the rapper when he released the song “Amish Paradise.” They later mended fences. Ice Cube, Questlove, Debbie Harry, Martin Lawrence and M.C. Hammer also paid tribute to the L.A. musician.

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Kitten Natividad, ‘Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens’ Star and Burlesque Legend, Dies at 74

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Francesca “Kitten” Natividad, the go-go dancer who became a cult pop culture figure when she was cast by sexploitation film director Russ Meyer in “Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens,” died Saturday of kidney failure after suffering from cancer at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, according to her friend Siouxzan Perry. She was 74. “She adored her friends, cats, family and fans,” her sister Eva wrote in a statement on Facebook posted by Perry. Born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Natividad moved to Texas as a child, where she became class president of her high school in El Paso. After moving to California, she became a cook and maid for actress Stella Stevens before becoming a go-go dancer and adopting the name “Kitten.” She met “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” director Meyer through a dancer friend, and he hired her to narrate his 1976 sex comedy “Up.” She had already had breast implant surgery in Tijuana when Meyer paid for a second surgery, giving her the outsized proportions that would become her calling card.

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‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Is a Dazzling Tour of Palm Springs’ Greatest Mid-Century Architecture

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Despite its striking architecture, Palm Springs has seldom been captured effectively on film — even the movie “Palm Springs” shot somewhere else. But no longer. The Olivia Wilde-directed dystopian fantasy “Don’t Worry Darling” makes ample use of the California resort town’s well-preserved mid-century buildings to showcase her vision of 1950s suburban bliss covering up something menacing underneath. Endless sunny skies, broad avenues lined with swaying palm trees and turquoise swimming pools are signifiers of an idealized life for the inhabitants of the fictional Victory Project, like the attractive young couple played by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. Production designer Katie Byron, the art and set decoration teams and location manager Chris Baugh pushed hard to be able to shoot in landmark mid-century buildings, and furnished them with period-appropriate items – despite the difficulty of filming in pristine historic locales.

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Jean-Jacques Annaud’s ‘Notre Dame on Fire’ to Open L.A.’s American French Film Festival

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The American French Film Festival, formerly known as COLCOA, will kick off Oct. 10 with the North American premiere of docudrama “Notre-Dame on Fire,” from “Quest for Fire” director Jean-Jacques Annaud. The weeklong festival at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles closes with Dominik Moll’s thriller “The Night of the 12th,” about a cold case where the only certainty is the night it occurred. Moll will also be the focus of the festival’s annual “Focus on a Filmmaker.” “Every year, The American French Film Festival presents the very best of French cinema and television, and this year is no exception. I am personally excited about the opening night selection of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s ‘Notre-Dame on Fire’ as I think it perfectly embodies the Franco-American Cultural Fund’s mission,” said Andrea Berloff, writer and board member of the Franco-American Cultural Fund.

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Alice Diop’s Venice Prize-Winner ‘Saint Omer’ Acquired By Neon’s Boutique Label Super

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Super, the boutique distribution label from Neon, has acquired U.S. rights to Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” after it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize in Venice along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award. “Saint Omer” was recently shortlisted for France’s submission to the Academy Awards and will premiere at the New York Film Festival and play the BFI London Festival. Neon plans a theatrical release. “Saint Omer” is Diop’s debut fiction feature, which she co-wrote with Amrita David and Marie NDiaye, and it stars Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville and Aurélia Petit. Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral of Srab Films produced alongside Arte France Cinéma and Pictanovo Hauts-de-France.