Topics of interest about entertainment
John explains the concept of stunt casting in television–to boost ratings for a show–and asks Hollywood Historian, Manny Pacheco, if Feature Film history has anything comparable. It spurs an interesting conversation about uncredited cameos as well as gratuitous music scenes and even the treatment of minorities in films of the first half of 20th century. … Read more
Filmmaker Tom Duncan describes the multi-layered appeal of his new feature-length documentary, “Sound Of The Surf” to not only the over-50 crowd who lived the music, but to an international audience of younger viewers who love guitar, surfing and dancing. Also discussed is the difficulty of making such a film and the fundraising efforts to … Read more
Art and John interview Author Burt Kearns about the very entertaining and unique book he wrote with his friend Jeff Abraham. In it they tell the story of performers who have actually died during their act…whether on stage, in front of the camera or radio mic or other. Burt explains the premise of the book … Read more
Who doesn’t love space movies? The genre is as old as Cinema itself. They can be part adventure, sci-fi, monster, heroic saga, and more! In this discussion, Manny Pacheco explores today’s special effects technology and compares it to some of the classic space film..harkening all the way back to early film by Geo. Melies. The … Read more
Hollywood Historian, Manny Pacheco delves into the difference in actresses and women’s roles before and after the “Hayes Code” of the 1930’s. Think of Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Grata Garbo and others who before censorship could be bawdy, overtly sexual and influential – not only on screen but in the halls of power in the … Read more
We all love the ‘Screwball Comedies’ of the 30’s and Hollywood Historian, Manny Pacheco, Celebrating Act 2™’s regular contributor for entertainment, goes into the difference between that genre and a later, related brand of Hollywood comedy better known as ‘Sophisticated’ Comedies. You’ll recognize all the films and the stars of these popular classic films and … Read more
As the co-founders of Celebrating Act 2™, John and Art get together with Hollywood Historian Manny Pacheco, the question arises about the first ever comedy TEAM. Most of the early film comedians were single performers like Chaplin, Ben Turpin, Fatty Arbuckle and others. So was the Marx Bros the first team of comedy performers? Or … Read more
Manny Pacheco, Hollywood Historian, and regular contributor to Celebrating Act 2™ reporting on the world of movies and entertainment, shares the differences between two of John’s favorite cinema “Tough Guys” — pointing out what makes them so different! Who are your favorite ‘tough guys’? Let us know and join the discussion!
Manny joins Art and John for an enthusiastic overview of this year’s “Summer Under The Stars” — the annual August film festival from TCM which features movies of the most notable (and some not so notable) actors in their vast library. The boys talk about the wide variety of names and eras featured in the … Read more
If you’re enjoying the Act 2 of you life, chances are you will remember all the fun beach movies of the 1960s! They were all fluff and we didn’t care. The genre spanned from innocents Annette Funicello (she always wore a one-piece!) to what at the time was a little risque as in ” How … Read more