The "SCENE" by Seymore Flix

Film .... Movie - Is There a Difference?

To me the words, Film and Movie, are interchangeable, but I could be wrong (this once).  I think a 'film'  describes the art form. You never hear the term, "movie school' or 'movie festival'  or "movie studies'.  It's all about 'film school' and ''film studies. 'Film critics' not 'movie critics'.

The term 'movie' is more commercial. Referring to moving pictures. Studios make movies, directors make films.  The term  'movies' can refer to the media or a venue - "We're going to the movies".  You're never, "going to the films".

Film, refers to the medium, the art form. Like painting, photography, or glassblowing.  Film elevates the sense of what making movies is all about.  Critics could only be taken seriously as 'film critics', this title gives them juice and import. Yet, aren't the terms synonymous?  Great films are embedded in movies, it's that simple.  The term 'film', in the digital age, is a throw-back. When was the last time you bought a roll of film?  Even in movie production, film is used, but less and less. Very few cinemas have film projectors, and those that are remaining will soon be relics of  technology - as they should be.

'Film' vs. 'Movie' who cares. Just serve up some good ones.

Nipp-In-The-Bud

Kate Moss, 40 - no cosmetic work - it's in the genes

Unfortunately, Joan Rivers decided to have one too many cosmetic procedures.  And as we all know, even the simplest of surgeries comes with a fair amount of risk.  Thus today's discussion: breasts, particularly celeb breasts. Viral on the web, last week, were the photos of famous women's breasts, as hackers had infiltrated their cell phones and posted their 'nipple selfies' online.  Why celebs feel the need to take selfies of their breasts begs a larger phychological question, we are only interested in the news of nipples.

For example, the actor Michelle Rodrequez, has championed a "free the nipple" cause. To the point where she has designed a T-shirt boasting boobs censored with duct tape over the nipples. Keira Knightly, who posed topless for 'Interview' magazine, says there is nothing wrong with female nudity.

Well, maybe not female, but in Japan it seems that the male breast is controversial. The Huntington Post Japan reported that over 84% of Japanese women think it unacceptable for men's nipples to be visible under their shirts.  Luckily, Japanese men have an option - 'the male nipple shield'. No joke, these high-tech pasties sell well and provide Japanese men the assurance of a smooth and uncluttered chest look.

And finally, as I depart this subject, thank God, and go full-circle to the Joan Rivers episode, it appears that some women are having a surgical procedure whereby they are having their nipples reshaped and tattooed to look like various objects: hearts, stars, seashells. Known as 'tittooing' the procedure runs about $2500 and was originally conceived to reconstruct breasts after cancer surgery, it is now becoming a fad to reshape nipples for fun and even more selfies.  Go figure.

Comic-to-Animated Superhero in San Fransokyo

Disney owns Pixar, Marvel Comics, and Lucas Films, in addition to Disney Animation studios, so you would think that animated superhero productions would be a mainstay.  Not so, but with the upcoming release of  'Big Hero 6'  the ice is now broken.  'Big Hero 6' will be Disney's first venture into the world of comic-based superhero animation and it may just prove that live-action movies with real actors and oodles of CGI may have to step aside.

'Big Hero 6', culled from a Marvel comic, is about a Japanese team of superheros and centers around the relationship between a schoolboy inventor, Hiro, and his machine pal, Baymax and is set in the make-believe city of San Fransokyo.

Why this merging of Disney animation and Marvel Comics hasn't already happened is any one's guess. It may be just due to Disney's internally absorbing and assimilation of its acquisitions - Pixar, Marvel, Lucas - each with a different corporate culture.   The huge box office grosses for Pixar's films suggest audiences aren't turned off by the absence of real actors on screen - in fact, one could argue that several, if not many, live active features might have been better and generated larger grosses had they been in animated form.

Comic book animated superhero movies, I believe, will be coming out on a regular basis from Disney in the future - and they will be great entertainment having wide audience appeal.

Where Are They Now?

Connery - Then/Now

We have all wondered where past big-screen actors are now. That wonderment is even more curious when thinking about past Oscar winners.  Here are 10 of them:

- Joe Pesci - Best Supporting Actor, 'Goodfellas'
- Adrien Brody - Best Actor, 'The Pianist'. Can be seen on TV mini-series 'Houdini'
- Cuba Gooding - Best Supportig Actor, 'Jerry Maquire'
- Geena Davis - Best Supporting Actor, 'The Accidental Tourist'
- Jennifer Connelly - Best Supporting Actor, 'A Beautiful Mind'
- Brenda Fricker - Best Supporting Actor, 'My Left Foot'
- Marlee Matlin - Best Actor, 'Children of a Lesser God'
- Joel Grey - Best Supporting Actor, 'Cabaret'
- Linda Hunt - Best Supporting Actor, 'The Year of Living Dangerously'
- Sean Connery - Best Supporting Actor, 'The Untouchables' 

Best
Seymore Flix