Booze and the movies go way back. From the self-medicating part-time hooker heroine of 1931′s “Safe in Hell” — a highlight of 2013′s Turner Classic Movies Festival — to the lovable dipsomaniacs of “The Thin Man” and “Harvey” and on into more recent times with such frequently soused superheros as James Bond and Tony Stark, the movies have glamorized alcohol. When the movies wanted to, they could make habitual drunkenness charming, funny, and, of course, sexy.
While the movies once celebrated cigarette smoking as well, modern day Hollywood Boulevard makes it tricky for smokers to indulge in their passion, give or take some hookah bars and a medical marijuana “clinic.” Booze, however can be obtained with great ease. All you need is plenty of ready cash to afford the inflated prices or a clean credit card or two and you can have your fill of cocktails.
And that’s exactly what I did between classic, near classic, and merely really interesting movies the weekend of the 2013 TCM Fest. What follows is a (relatively) brief journal of the drinks I found going up and down the boulevard we call Hollywood the final weekend of April.
Now, I should add that this listing is my no means exhaustive and is, with one exception, limited to cocktails one can purchase on Hollywood Boulevard proper, no side streets allowed. They can all be obtained within a fairly easy walk of Sid Grauman’s old Chinese and Egyptian Theaters and the legendary Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the heart of Hollywood and the home base of the TCM Fest.
And so we begin our journey across the street from the Egyptian at what is still Los Angeles’s most famous bar.
We always loved going to Los Amgeles to shoot Featured Models, as we ran across amazing beauties like Rachel Sterling, who you might recognize from her appearances in films like “Wedding Crashers.”
I was on hand recently on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood for a private screening of the third installment of the “Death Race” franchise, “Death Race 3: Inferno,” hosted by Luke Goss and director Roel Reiné. It was great to see the film after traveling to South Africa for Bullz-Eye.com to cover the filming of the movie last year. After seeing it, I’m convinced it was easily the best yet in the series. With most of the cast returning from “Death Race 2,” including Luke Goss and Tanit Phoenix, Roel Reiné directing and Mike Elliott producing, all of the pieces were in place for a very successful production, and the end-result was excellent. “Death Race 3” is available in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
This latest version, inspired by Roger Corman’s cult classic, “Death Race 2000,” finds the legendary Frankenstein (Luke Goss) in a new competition, a winner take all race in South Africa. Set in an underground convict prison inside an abandoned Cape Town rock quarry, the extreme action soon explodes out in to the Kalahari Desert, with more explosions, car wrecks and wild to the death chases than you can imagine. he director himself even commented on the sheer number of cameras destroyed in the making of this film.
The Death Race, a brutal prison blood sport that bid the opportunity for prisoners to race for their chance to be released from prison, but it is to the death they must go. This race in turn is broadcast worldwide in this future apocalypse for the sadistic joy of a twisted civilization with a desire for blood thirst. There are some interesting twists to the story, however, and you’ll have go along for the ride to find out what happens.
Rounding out the cast is Ving Rhames and the stellar Danny Trejo, whose real life experiences in San Quentin helped bring a hardened authenticity to his portrayal of Goldberg. I had the opportunity to interview them in South Africa as you can see from clicking on their names above, along with lead actor Luke Goss, Robin Shou and Fred Koehler.
“Death Race 3” also brings an ever greater bevy of beauties on board this time, now with female co-pilots (the Nav Girls) next to the drivers and even one “all girl” race team led by Dutch model Michelle Van Schaik in her acting debut. Hot pit crew girls also prep the outlandish desert cars between races. Bullz-Eye was granted exclusive photo sets of the Navigation Girls, the sexy driver team and the female star Tanit Phoenix (“Death Race 2,” “Femme Fatales”). We also interviewed them all as well, so follow the links above to their photo sets and video interviews.
Hollywood is all about the Benjamins (what’s new?) so we shouldn’t be surprised, and the studios are eager to make anything that will highlights CGI effects in order to capitalize on the foreign box office.
Fortunately, “The Amazing Spider-Man” is a worthy reboot of the franchise according to Jason Zingale in his Bullz-Eye.com movie review. The cast is excellent, and we have a clip of the lovely Emma Stone above discussing her role on the red carpet.
Here’s a shocker – Katie Holmes has had enough of crazy man Tom Cruise. Is anyone shocked by this?
Our friends at Ranker have compiled a great collection of Katie photos for your viewing pleasure. She’s always had that look of the ultimate girl next door, but as you can see in the video clip above she still looks great.
We’ve already hit March, but winter is still at full strength in most of the country. With that in mind we’ve put together a slideshow from the Bullz-Eye archives to take you mind off the cold and snow and shift your attention to more pleasant thoughts. Hopefully you have a beach vacation coming soon so you can enjoy the sites of blondes in bikinis in person!
The first photo has the amazing Ali Sonoma in a blue bikini on a terrace overlooking Miami Beach. The former UFC Octagon Girl looks amazing! Next we have Playboy Playmate Kimberly Holland in a sporty yellow and black bikini from her Bullz-Eye photo shoot in Florida in 2006. Then we’re off to Australia for a beautiful photo of Nina in a polka dot bikini on the beaches of Sydney.
The fourth photo has Australian model Sophie Turner in a light blue bikini from her amazing Bullz-Eye shoot from 2008. With the fifth photo we’re off to Hollywood with British beauty Holly Kishere sporting a pink bikini next to the pool in the SoCal sunshine. Holly was once a ring girl for the International Fight League. For #6 we’re staying on the West Coast as the stunning Sammi Maben sports a striped bikini on the roof of a beach house in Santa Monica soaking up the late evening sunset.
Next we’re off to The Bahamas and the lovely Lindsey Eller and a lime green bikini on the sandy beaches near the Wyndham hotel from the Racey Girl finals. We round out the group with Elaine Alden as she sports some sexy shades and a shiny, dark bikini with the late evening sun shining on her.
Enjoy the slideshow, and then book your trip anywhere you can find some sunshine and bikinis!
They’re all beautiful, but which blonde do you like best?
Our readers will remember the beautiful Kaila Yu who we featured in a lingerie shoot in 2008. Kaila is in a band called Nylon Pink with other lovely ladies, and they will be playing at an event on Thursday night in Hollywood, California hosted by RAW:natural born artists.
RAW is “an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art.” As you can see from the photos above, the girls in Nylon Pink love beautiful photography.
The event takes place this Thursday, March 3rd at 7:30PM at the Playhouse on Hollywood Blvd. It’s a 21+ event with cocktail attire and tickets are $10 via presale.
