July, 2012

Last Monday afternoon, I was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum and overheard a pretty funny exchange between two of the docents who'd been assigned to work the " D23 presents Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives " exhibit. Photo by Alice Hill It seems that one of these poor women had spent the bulk of that day working in this exhibit's "Patriotic Legacy" room. Which -- to quote from the map that Ronald Reagan staffers hand off to every person who...

When you go to a theme park, it kind of goes with the territory that the food you're going to encounter over the course of your day is going to be ... meh. Well, that's not really an option at Knott's Berry Farm . After all, this is a theme park that actually grew up and around Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant . So serving quality food to its Guests has always been a top priority for the team at Knott's. Image courtesy of Orange County Historical Society But when Russ Knibbs...

It's been a rotten couple of days, news-wise, hasn't it? The shootings in Colorado. The Penn State Scandal. And now the untimely passing of Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space. So it'd be perfectly understandable if you just wanted to unplug your flat screen and keep it turned to the wall for a while. With the hope that this would then prevent you from hearing any more bad news. But the downside of doing like that is that this is that it would also then prevent you from...

AMC's "The Walking Dead" takes a bite out of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Fans of AMC 's " The Walking Dead " will be running -- not walking -- to Orlando and Hollywood later this year. Especially after they learn that this Emmy Award-winning television series is going to be recreated as an elaborately themed maze for this year's Halloween Horror Nights events at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood . In an interview yesterday, John...

I know, I know. A lot of you have been patiently waiting to hear about who won JHM's most recent trivia contest. And I apologize for the delay. But I have been traveling a lot over the past month or so. And between covering the opening of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, "Brave" 's world premiere in Hollywood, "Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem" at Universal Studios Florida, Disney Consumer Products' Holiday Showcase in New York City and Comic-Con International...

Greetings from the San Diego Convention Center ... Photo by Jim Hill ... where the big news coming out of the 2012 edition of Comic-Con International is how excited this year's attendees seem to be about family-friendly frights.I mean, you should have seen all of the people who were clamoring for tickets to Disney's "Art of Frankenweenie " exhibition ... Photo by Jim Hill ... so that they could then see some of the puppets ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... and sets ... Photo by Noe...

It's one of those Comic-Con clichés that (sadly) turns out to be true. That -- when you cram 135,000 people into the San Diego Convention Center and then make them stand in line for hours (Or -- in the case of those poor people who began camping out alongside of this enormous bayside structure on Monday, just so that they'd then be guaranteed a seat at Thursday's " The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part Two " presentation in Hall H -- days) -- the place can get kind...

Hollywood is mourning the loss today of Ernest Borgnine , that stocky, gap-toothed Academy Award-winner who made us cry with his heartfelt portrayal of a lonely butcher from the Bronx in Paddy Chayefsky's 1955 drama, "Marty." Not to mention making us laugh when he played that lovable rogue Quentin McHale on the popular 1960s sitcom, "McHale's Navy." And while we may have seen the last of this 95 year-old performer (who passed away yesterday at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center...

How's this for a holiday mish-mash: On July 4th, I'm posting a story about how Brad Bird wants movie goers to stop spoiling their Christmas presents by trying to find out where all of the Easter Eggs in new Pixar films are BEFORE they then head out to the theater to see these movies. To explain: Late last month, I was out in Hollywood, covering the world premiere of " Brave ." And as I'm standing at the edge of the press barricade, who comes strolling up the green carpet but...

If you noticed some yellow & silver confetti drifting by yesterday ... Photo by Jim Hill ... Well, there was a good reason for that. " Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem " had its grand opening at Universal Studios Florida yesterday morning. Photo by Jim Hill And the Universal Orlando Resort put on quite a show to celebrate the official debut of its newest 3-D ride. Sending scads of minions strolling down a bright yellow carpet ... Photo by Jim Hill ... not to mention flying in some of the...