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The ditzy blonde was a comedy archetype long before Teri Garr came along. Comedians from Johnny Carson to Monty Python to the ribald gang on Three’s Company played the stereotype for cheap laughs, somehow equating blonde hair and big boobs with a comic lack of intelligence. But Garr, who passed away Tuesday in Los Angeles at the age of 79, turned the archetype on its ear, playing characters that might be described as flighty or eccentric while secretly being the smartest person in the room.

Take her Oscar-nominated turn in Tootsie as Sandy, Michael Dorsey’s eternally flustered best friend who deserved way better than she got. Like Dorsey, Dustin Hoffman was a notoriously difficult scene partner, but Garr gave as good as she got, improvising and arguing with the actor about the best ways to insult Dorothy, his female alter ego. “We have the same comic rhythm,” Hoffman says in Making Tootsie.

George Romero's 1968 film "Night of the Living Dead" has become a cornerstone of horror movie history, but once upon a time it was just a little independent movie from a relatively untested director. While later Romero movies would have been able to draw crowds of fans clamoring to get a peek at the director or some of the stars he worked with, things were a little different when filming "Night of the Living Dead." The movie was shot in rural Pennsylvania, which meant there weren't many opportunities for crowds, but one sequence drew the locals out to take a peek. While filming a sequence in Evans City, Pennsylvania, which involved some of the film's undead "ghouls," local residents turned up in droves to catch a glimpse of one particular ghoul, and it had nothing to do with wanting to see the special effects makeup making her look undead.

In...

The words offbeat, personal and edgy used to be a draw for movie fare — we’d check out a new relationship picture based only on an actor or two that we liked. Bobby Roth’s semi-autobiographical buddy story has a good stab at the early ’80s art + singles scene in Los Angeles, with a dash of macho clichés — pals Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso fight in public and somehow suffer while bedding fantastic women. But the overall vibe is one of honest sensitivity, aided by fine performances from Carole Laure, Kathryn Harrold and Carol Wayne. Plus music by Tangerine Dream.

Heartbreakers

Blu-ray

Fun City Editions

1984 / Color / 1:85 / 99 min. / Street Date August 30, 2022 / Available from Amazon, Available from Vinegar Syndrome

Starring: Peter Coyote, Nick Mancuso, Carole Laure, Max Gail, James Laurenson, Carol Wayne, Jamie Rose, Kathryn Harrold, George Morfogen, Jerry Hardin, Henry Sanders, Walter Olkewicz.

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus

Production Designer: David Nichols...

Drew Barrymore half-sister Jessica Barrymore found dead near San Diego (photo: Jessica Barrymore) Drew Barrymore’s half-sister Jessica Barrymore was found dead in her car early Tuesday, July 29, 2014, in National City, located between San Diego and Chula Vista in Southern California. Jessica Barrymore (née Brahma [Jessica] Blyth Barrymore) would have turned 48 on Thursday, July 31. According to a witness, Jessica Barrymore, who worked at a Petco store, was found reclined in the driver’s seat, with a drink between her legs. White pills were seen scattered on the passenger seat. Despite online rags reporting either that Drew Barrymore’s half-sister committed suicide or died from a drug overdose, the official cause of death hasn’t been announced. As per the Los Angeles Times, an autopsy will be performed in the next few days. In a statement published in the gossip magazine People, Drew Barrymore, 39, said she had "only met her [sister Jessica] briefly." Their father was John Drew Barrymore,...

Photographer behind striking album covers for Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Janis Joplin

The American photographer Barry Feinstein, who has died aged 80, made his most famous series of images when he accompanied Bob Dylan and the Band on their controversial tour of Britain in 1966. On stage, Dylan was aloof to the point of imperious, a dandy in shades and a sharp suit, willing his new electric music on disgruntled audiences who wanted the familiar folk singer they knew and revered.

When Feinstein's fly-on-the-wall photographs of the tour finally appeared in his book Real Moments, published in 2008, Dylan emerged as an even more complex figure. Often he looks gaunt and fragile, his eyes hidden behind ever-present shades, his body hunched against the cold British winds and the imploring eyes of his faithful. One such image of Dylan waiting for the Aust ferry to take him across the Severn was used as...