Tom's Top 3: January 14, 2025
A Spec of Hope
Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s installment of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays, where I highlight three pieces of content (Podcasts/Shows/Songs/Articles/etc.) that I found interesting or noteworthy from the prior week.
Let’s get into it:
[Podcast] The Ankler Podcast - Tales From the ‘90s: How New Line Dominated the Decade
2025 marks the 30 year anniversary of the David Fincher movie Se7en. I recently plopped myself in a “plush rocker” at AMC to watch the IMAX rerelease of the film, and once I saw the New Line logo sweep across the screen, I knew I was in for a ride.
It was only fitting that The Ankler would drop this episode on New Line a couple of days later. I have enjoyed their “Tales From the ‘90s” series, so I wanted to share my two favorites, starting with this one.
I was a mere toddler in the ‘90s, so I can’t really say I was clued into the tinsel town tales of the decade. But I have definitely seen a whole lot of ‘90s movies, and New Line’s fingerprints are all over.
Richard Rushfield interviews two of those fingers doing the printing, Michael De Luca and Richard Brener, about what made New Line so special.
As a smaller production company, New Line had to be risky and take chances on unproven talent to compete with the larger studios. This ethos was also reflected in the people running the company, as Bob Shaye gave incredible power to young executives to create films that spoke to the tastes of a new generation. Brener himself was just 24 years old when he was put in charge of The Wedding Singer as a junior executive.
Those days may be gone in Hollywood, at least for now. Brener noted that while it may be easier to get seen today, there are not as many opportunities for someone trying to get into the industry.
[Podcast] The Ankler Podcast - Tales From the ‘90s: ‘Last Action Hero’ Screenwriters Tell All
This one was less educational for me, but definitely entertaining. Something about hearing old friends swap stories from their upstart 20’s is energizing. The naiveté and resourcefulness of youth comes through in their now hesitantly-nostalgic voices.
This is a child-pried-from-its-mother-type nightmare, and simultaneously a major Hollywood success story. How could that be?
The epitome of the ‘90s spec script boom, Adam Leff and Zak Penn get their start in their early 20’s by selling their action-satire script to Columbia Pictures. Last Action Hero, starring who else but Arnold Schwarzenegger, went through a number of rewrites to the point where it was barely recognizable by its original creators.
Grubhub and Amazon just announced a partnership, where Prime members can now get all of the benefits of Grubhub+ for no extra charge. Just click the link in the article to activate the offer, and get $0 delivery fees.
This has been particularly helpful for me, because the Amex Gold card has a monthly dining credit that can be used on Grubhub. Previously these $120 in credits were completely useless for me, because they did not justify paying the exorbitant delivery and service fees.
Don’t you love it when you get a good bounce?
That wraps up this edition of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays. If you made it to this point, please drop a 1️⃣, 2️⃣, or 3️⃣ in the comments to let me know what you found most interesting/useful. And as always, please like and consider sharing with a friend who you think would enjoy! I’ll be back next week. ✌️
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