Leslie Zemeckis's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"
Grandes Horizontales
Finally, a well-researched in depth look at these women that shaped much of fashion in their day. They had extraordinary independence that the married women did not
Going Clear
Fascinating. I resisted reading this for awhile - I studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, and Milton Katselas was a mentor. This book was hard to put down. Very well researched.
the apt burly built
these last two roles, she sheds the evocative stage moniker for her real name: Leslie Zemeckis—actress, writer, and wife of Robert Zemeckis, the Chicago-born, Oscar-winning director of blockbusters including Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, and the Back to the Future films.
And most recently, she’s also a filmmaker in her own right, completing her first documentary on the burlesque industry, Behind The Burly Q. It has played to rave reviews on Showtime and at independent cinemas, and will be shown at the Chicago History Museum on February 12, followed by a Q & A with Zemeckis.
Behind The Burly Q was a journey for Zemeckis, who met the ageing burlesque performers when she started to do research for her cabaret act around 2000. “They’re an important part of our nation’s entertainment industry and have compelling stories to tell,” she says. “But they’re literally a dying resource. Someone needed to [document] them.” By 2006, she was doing just that.
Beyond serving as the inspiration for her documentary, the performers Zemeckis interviewed also informed the décor of the Gold Coast co-op she and her husband bought in 2007, since Bob, who grew up in Roseland on the city’s South Side, still has family here. “We wanted our children to know our relatives and have an urban experience,” says Zemeckis.
It also turns out that Bob, like most kids from the city’s far-flung workingclass neighborhoods, spent his boyhood hankering for a house with a grand lake view. The urge was so powerful that “we knew this was the one the minute we walked in,” says Zemeckis of their co-op. “None of the other [apartments] we saw had views like this.”
Next
Slideshow_std_v_house2
Zemeckis has her prized burlesque artifacts on display in the guest bedroom, including a trunk owned by Gypsy Rose Lee
Slideshow_std_v_house3
Playful color gives the period pieces in the foyer, such as a hooded chair covered in bottle green and ornately carved console table, a witty and lively update
Slideshow_std_v_house4
Designer Jessica Lagrange paired the couple’s prized dining pieces with contemporary updates of Louis XVI chairs
Slideshow_std_v_house5
The library was developed around green lacquer walls and handsome Deco club chairs from Italy, refurbished with sumptuous loden mohair
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Zemeckis knew exactly what she wanted décor-wise, too, and pegged Chicago interior designer Jessica Lagrange for the job after seeing a magazine spread of an Art Deco-inspired, black and white master bathroom she’d decorated. “We have a very sleek, modern house in California, and I wanted this place to be over-the-top glamorous, like a little jewel box,” says Zemeckis, who already had a significant stash of furnishings and accessories to use in the co-op thanks to her growing fascination with burlesque. Her documentary subjects had given her things they’d worn or used as props in their acts, and her husband surprised her with burlesque-inspired artifacts like Gypsy Rose Lee’s trunk.
But once the couple bought the co-op, Zemeckis started collecting period treasures in earnest. During a stay in Tuscany, she uncovered a stash of Art Deco chandeliers, a few pairs of sleek club chairs, and a monumental dining room table and buffet, both mirrored and embellished with bronze and rose gold, and trimmed with copper leaf.
Floors of the co-op were covered with exquisite rugs: an Art Deco Chinese number in the dining room and ones with kicky graphic patterns in the bedrooms; walls were sheathed in elegant finishes (Venetian plaster with a lavender tint in the foyer and shimmering silver leaf in the dining room); and upholstered pieces were lavished in plush silk, velvets, and brocades.
Lagrange came full circle with the project in the master bathroom, which looks very similar to the black and white beauty that caught Zemeckis’s eye in the first place.
“She got that bathroom after all,” says Lagrange.
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And most recently, she’s also a filmmaker in her own right, completing her first documentary on the burlesque industry, Behind The Burly Q. It has played to rave reviews on Showtime and at independent cinemas, and will be shown at the Chicago History Museum on February 12, followed by a Q & A with Zemeckis.
Behind The Burly Q was a journey for Zemeckis, who met the ageing burlesque performers when she started to do research for her cabaret act around 2000. “They’re an important part of our nation’s entertainment industry and have compelling stories to tell,” she says. “But they’re literally a dying resource. Someone needed to [document] them.” By 2006, she was doing just that.
Beyond serving as the inspiration for her documentary, the performers Zemeckis interviewed also informed the décor of the Gold Coast co-op she and her husband bought in 2007, since Bob, who grew up in Roseland on the city’s South Side, still has family here. “We wanted our children to know our relatives and have an urban experience,” says Zemeckis.
It also turns out that Bob, like most kids from the city’s far-flung workingclass neighborhoods, spent his boyhood hankering for a house with a grand lake view. The urge was so powerful that “we knew this was the one the minute we walked in,” says Zemeckis of their co-op. “None of the other [apartments] we saw had views like this.”
Next
Slideshow_std_v_house2
Zemeckis has her prized burlesque artifacts on display in the guest bedroom, including a trunk owned by Gypsy Rose Lee
Slideshow_std_v_house3
Playful color gives the period pieces in the foyer, such as a hooded chair covered in bottle green and ornately carved console table, a witty and lively update
Slideshow_std_v_house4
Designer Jessica Lagrange paired the couple’s prized dining pieces with contemporary updates of Louis XVI chairs
Slideshow_std_v_house5
The library was developed around green lacquer walls and handsome Deco club chairs from Italy, refurbished with sumptuous loden mohair
previous
Preview_slider_thumb_house2
Preview_slider_thumb_house3
Preview_slider_thumb_house4
Preview_slider_thumb_house5
next
Zemeckis knew exactly what she wanted décor-wise, too, and pegged Chicago interior designer Jessica Lagrange for the job after seeing a magazine spread of an Art Deco-inspired, black and white master bathroom she’d decorated. “We have a very sleek, modern house in California, and I wanted this place to be over-the-top glamorous, like a little jewel box,” says Zemeckis, who already had a significant stash of furnishings and accessories to use in the co-op thanks to her growing fascination with burlesque. Her documentary subjects had given her things they’d worn or used as props in their acts, and her husband surprised her with burlesque-inspired artifacts like Gypsy Rose Lee’s trunk.
But once the couple bought the co-op, Zemeckis started collecting period treasures in earnest. During a stay in Tuscany, she uncovered a stash of Art Deco chandeliers, a few pairs of sleek club chairs, and a monumental dining room table and buffet, both mirrored and embellished with bronze and rose gold, and trimmed with copper leaf.
Floors of the co-op were covered with exquisite rugs: an Art Deco Chinese number in the dining room and ones with kicky graphic patterns in the bedrooms; walls were sheathed in elegant finishes (Venetian plaster with a lavender tint in the foyer and shimmering silver leaf in the dining room); and upholstered pieces were lavished in plush silk, velvets, and brocades.
Lagrange came full circle with the project in the master bathroom, which looks very similar to the black and white beauty that caught Zemeckis’s eye in the first place.
“She got that bathroom after all,” says Lagrange.
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FEATURED VIDEO
VIDEO Harrison Ford Cover Party
Michigan Avenue celebrates with cover star Harrison Ford at Chicago Cut Steakhouse.
http://michiganavemag.com/living/arti...
The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton
The sidecar:
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 oz triple sec orange liqueur
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist for garnish
Rim a chilled cocktail glass with sugar.
Shake ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
Strain, pour and garnish with twist.
Sit back and read Dean Jensen's loving bio.
Another fascinating glimpse into a bygone era of American entertainment. Incredibly written and researched. I love Dean's voice.I was haunted by this work. I had never heard of Daisy and Violet Hilton. Boy do I know about them now (I would devote a couple years to making a documentary on them and interviewing Mr. Jensen who has an incredible brain for dates and names). From their beginnings in 1901 in Brighton, England through their deaths in 1969 Jensen is enthralling in this biography.
Like the author himself the book is articulate, funny, sad, non-judgmental. Jensen recreates the world of carnivals and vaudeville. The twins lives themselves is ultimately sad, but their spirit and those around them – for better or worse shines through.
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 oz triple sec orange liqueur
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist for garnish
Rim a chilled cocktail glass with sugar.
Shake ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
Strain, pour and garnish with twist.
Sit back and read Dean Jensen's loving bio.
Another fascinating glimpse into a bygone era of American entertainment. Incredibly written and researched. I love Dean's voice.I was haunted by this work. I had never heard of Daisy and Violet Hilton. Boy do I know about them now (I would devote a couple years to making a documentary on them and interviewing Mr. Jensen who has an incredible brain for dates and names). From their beginnings in 1901 in Brighton, England through their deaths in 1969 Jensen is enthralling in this biography.
Like the author himself the book is articulate, funny, sad, non-judgmental. Jensen recreates the world of carnivals and vaudeville. The twins lives themselves is ultimately sad, but their spirit and those around them – for better or worse shines through.
Night Circus
1 cup sugar
1 c water
1/4 light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. white vinegar
9 c popped pop corn
tiny white marshmellow pieces
black licorice cut up into pieces
red vines cut into little pices
mix together and sit down and enjoy the most creative, stunningly original voice in fiction in years. A magical circus comes to town and sucks the reader in from the get go. I did not want this book to end and cannot wait for the author's next venture. I don't want to give anything away except to say the characters are heartbreaking, original, sensual - and I love all things circus - even if it only appears at night.
1 c water
1/4 light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. white vinegar
9 c popped pop corn
tiny white marshmellow pieces
black licorice cut up into pieces
red vines cut into little pices
mix together and sit down and enjoy the most creative, stunningly original voice in fiction in years. A magical circus comes to town and sucks the reader in from the get go. I did not want this book to end and cannot wait for the author's next venture. I don't want to give anything away except to say the characters are heartbreaking, original, sensual - and I love all things circus - even if it only appears at night.
Behind Closed Doors
Pour a Cucumber Pimm's Cup
2 c lemondae
1 lrge cucumber sliced
1 c Pimm's No. 1
1 c ginger ale
crushed mint
mix and refrigerate - then settle down to this fascinating story of the last days of the Duchess of Windsor. Whatever you may have thought of her you will feel sorry for how taken advantage she was - kept prisoner - her jewels etc stolen - by her atty and staff. We perhaps will never know everything that went on as she lay in bed shuttered in the house but Vickers does a wonderful job of ferreting out Wallis' sad unhappy and unhealthy ending.
2 c lemondae
1 lrge cucumber sliced
1 c Pimm's No. 1
1 c ginger ale
crushed mint
mix and refrigerate - then settle down to this fascinating story of the last days of the Duchess of Windsor. Whatever you may have thought of her you will feel sorry for how taken advantage she was - kept prisoner - her jewels etc stolen - by her atty and staff. We perhaps will never know everything that went on as she lay in bed shuttered in the house but Vickers does a wonderful job of ferreting out Wallis' sad unhappy and unhealthy ending.
Beautiful Ruins
start with a gin and tonic, add equal part grapefruit juice, dash of bitters (more if you feel as I do about the book) and salt the rim - this drink is appropriate for this bitter ruin of what could have been a much more cohesive book. Well written (grammatically and descriptively)but I didn't know where to focus. Who's story is this? The pregnant - thinking-shes-dying Dee? Or the young hotel owner? Or - flash forward - the disillusioned alcoholic musician? Or worse yet, Claire of the strip-club boyfriend and a job working for an old producer? I would care about the characters in spurts then I was thrust back to 1962 Italy, then forward to Beverly Hills, then to past-current day UK - the book was all over the place for me. But I did enjoy my cocktail!
Queen of the Air
I flipped over this fabulous new biography by my friend Dean Jensen crammed with as much detail and empathy for his lead characters as the Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton (subjects of my documentary Bound by Flesh). I don't want to give anything away about this tale of Lillian Leitzel - aerialist and her husband Alfredo Codona - trapeze flyer except to say with the recent death at Ka this book is timely. Well researched Jensen dives into this circus - and vaudeville - world with such depth I felt I was there. In honor of his riveting characters and narrative I'm pouring a Tumbler: 2 oz chilled vodka, dash of creame, dash of Midori, and a splash of crème de banana. You will know everything about the circus after this compelling beautiful love - and tragic - story under the big top!
Jar City
First make yourself an Icelander Icicle:
1 1/2 oz cold vodka
3/4 oz cream
splash of mint liquor, garnish with mint leaves and pour over ice - then settle in for this light Reykjavic - not quite thriller - but detective novel. I finished it in a couple days. The lead character has his own problems besides a dead old man, his pregnant drug-taking daughter, a 40 year old rape case. I loved the setting (I've been to Iceland) and the genetics element. I would definitely read more from this series. Not a "girl with a dragon tattoo" but different - which we so often need!
1 1/2 oz cold vodka
3/4 oz cream
splash of mint liquor, garnish with mint leaves and pour over ice - then settle in for this light Reykjavic - not quite thriller - but detective novel. I finished it in a couple days. The lead character has his own problems besides a dead old man, his pregnant drug-taking daughter, a 40 year old rape case. I loved the setting (I've been to Iceland) and the genetics element. I would definitely read more from this series. Not a "girl with a dragon tattoo" but different - which we so often need!
