American Cinemateque is hosting a slew of Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner double feature screenings starting Thur through next week. Mel & Carl will be attendance this weekend for several of them. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town but hopefully YOU can make it.

American Cinemateque Website/Tickets

Thr July 22nd: Screening of My Favorite Year & History of the World Part 1.

Fri July 23rd: Mel & Carl will be in person to host a discussion following a screening of skits from Your Show of Shows this  at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA. The discussion is followed by a screening of Carl Reiner’s film “Enter Laughing”. There is also a screening of History of the World Part 1 on Thursday night.

Sat July 24th: The Jerk & Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.

Sun July 25th: Mel will be in person to host a discussion between screenings of Blazing Saddles & Silent Movie.

Wed July 28th: Young Frankenstein & The Man with Two Brains.

I received an interesting e-mail last week from a very considerate lady named Sally who is trying to identify a set of records her late husband had left behind. The records are dated from 1967 and labeled West, Weir & Bartel, INC. Two of the records are in the original sleeves and don’t appear to have ever been played. One of them has hand written in pencil  “Circus Nuts / Mel Brooks Spots.” I’m trying to see if I can get these records sent over from NY and converted to digital format to share with everyone. Stay tuned!

Thanks to fan Alan N. for sending the following link which contains a gross amount of pictures, exactly 144 when I checked, from the Mel Brooks Hollywood Walk of Fame Star unveiling which took place last month. A quick glance confirms Carl Reiner, Max Brooks and Philip Seymour Hoffman(?) in attendance. Mel’s Star is located in front of the Egyptian Theatre which has hosted several Mel Brooks film screenings in the past. Follow the link below for the photos…

http://www.corbisimages.com/Search/SearchResults.aspx?q=mel+brooks+walk+of+fame

Did you hear Mel got a star? Congrats Mel! Too bad I missed the event, something that’s becoming oh too frequent but is understandable with all my varying interests. Here’s how I found out about it:

Mark: How was the unveiling of the star?

Felix: What star?

Mark: Oh, I assumed you were at Mel Brook’s star unveiling in Hollywood since you didn’t answer your phone.

Felix: What? Are you kidding me? I missed that? Wait… Mel didn’t have a star yet?

And so it goes, I’ve been in that area a zillion times and even participated in a scavenger hunt that required locating the addresses of various “stars” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not once did I think to look for Mel’s star. The next time I’m at the Egyptian I’ll be sure to snap a pic. My friend said that I also missed a screening and Q&A with Mel. It looks like Carl Reiner, Max & his son were in attendance for the unveiling, very nice.

On a side note, Max is going to pen a story arc/series in IDW Publishings GI Joe comic book, melding two interests of mine, 80s cartoons/toys and comic books. He’ll probably make a GREAT appearance at comic-con this year but unfortunately I won’t be attending.

Mel Brooks fan N. Wolf sent this tip to a Playbill article in which Mel discusses the current status of the Blazing Saddles musical. It’s ALIVE!!!! Oh wait, that’s the wrong movie. Okay, anybody got a shit load of dimes? About 1,000 for a ticket? There should be a discount for those paying in dimes!

I recent site visitor brought the following Film Society of Lincoln Center Anne Bancroft Film Festival to my attention.  It’s taking place in NY from March 8-11th with a notable appearances by Patty Duke, Mike Nichols, Neil Simon, and Marsha Norman. I’m not as familiar with Marsha Norman’s work, but Neil Simon, Patty Duke (’cause we’re cousins! identical cousins!) and Mike Nichols (bird cage) would be great to meet in person. All the movies being screened are really great, but I particularly like 84 Charing Cross Road with Anthony Hopkins (Anne would have been great in Shadowlands!). Does anyone know if Mel plans to attend any of the screenings? Maybe one of the Brooksfilms productions?

If you any info about Mel’s attendance… or Anthony Hopkins, please send me an email and I’ll post it here. More info on the film festival can be found at the following website: Film Society of Lincoln Center Films of Anne Bancroft.

Mel, along with Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Grace Bumbry and David Brubreck were recipients of The 2009 Kennedy Center Honors presented on Dec 6th. The Honors represent those that have made life time contributions to the American culture. The event will be broadcast December 29th (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, with Caroline Kennedy as host for the seventh consecutive year. Roger Bart, Gary Beach and Matthew Broderick were but a few of the stars in attendance. Mel was honored by long time friend Carl Reiner, acting alum Frank Langella and director Susan Stroman. I’m not sure why Nathan Lane was unable to attend but I’m sure he would have been there if he could have been. Below is an excerpt from the official press release:

Multiple Emmy Award-winning actor Carl Reiner paid tribute to multiple Academy Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Tony Award-winning writer, composer, actor, director and producer Mel Brooks, speaking of how he had known Brooks for more than 60 years, having most famously collaborated with him on the 1975 television show, “The 2000 Year Old Man.”

Multiple Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the sensational, record-breaking Broadway musical The Producers for Mel Brooks, choreographed and co-produced the entire Mel Brooks tribute performance.

Steve Heisler interviews Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner prior to the release of the new 2000 Year Old Man CD/DVD set. Check it out at AV Club.

For all the fans asking about the Rhino CD set/records your day has finally come! I was browsing a Sports Illustrated at my dentist’s when I saw an interview and ad for The 2000 Year Old Man : The Complete History Box Set!!! This is a 3-CD, 1-DVD and booklet set. The CDs include REMASTERED versions of all the original Rhino records/CDs + The 2000 Year Old Man In The Year 2000, but on 3 discs instead of 5. The DVD includes the ANIMATED TV SPECIAL!!!!!! along with appearances on Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen shows from 1961. There is also a new listing titled “Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks discuss the 2000 year old man (August 5, 2009).” The book is listed at 32 pages, so it probably contains a bit more than the book in the Rhino set. It’s available for pre-order with price guarantee at Amazon.com for only $42 shipped. Awesome sounding set. I’ll report back once I get my copy.

Just a quick note. The front page of the New York Times website has an article up today about the return of the 2000 Year Old Man comedy routine. I had heard little murmurs about this, but I’m really glad that Mel and Carl are healthy and still interested in entertaining the world. Here is a small excerpt of the article updating us on Mel’s latest endeavors:

Mr. Brooks produces and voices a character on “Spaceballs,” an animated series based on his 1987 movie, and next month, when Fox releases nine of his movies in a BluRay collection, he will receive the Kennedy Center Honors; Mr. Reiner put out two books this year, “Just Desserts: A Novellelah” and a children’s book, “Tell Me a Scary Story… But Not Too Scary!”

Click HERE to check out the full article by journalist Ari Karpel. Apparently,a version of this article will appear in print on November 15, 2009, on page AR19 of the New York edition.