News

Dick Contino, a hip-swiveling accordionist who was a regular on The Ed Sullivan Show and starred in the 1958 rock 'n' roll film Daddy-o, has died. He was 87.

Contino died Wednesday in his hometown of Fresno, Calif., the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

Popular with the kids back in the day, Contino lost a drag race to Sandra Giles and portrayed a singer and truck driver in Daddy-o — which was scored by John Williams in his feature debut — and then appeared in The Beat Generation (1959), Girls Town (1959) and The Big Night (1960).

By some...

Sandra Giles, an actress and Hollywood pinup queen who appeared in such films as Daddy-o and Elvis Presley's It Happened at the World's Fair, has died. She was 84.

Giles died in Los Angeles on Christmas Day after a battle with bullous pemphigoid, an autoimmune skin disease, her daughter, singer Sandra Piller, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In her big-screen debut, Giles bested singer-accordionist Dick Contino in a drag race and danced to some rock 'n' roll in Daddy-o (1958), which was scored by John Williams in his feature debut. The starlet also appeared in The Matchmaker, A Lust to Kill and...

I interviewed James Ellroy, the great American noir novelist, at La's venerable Pacific Dining Car in April 2001. We were there to discuss his latest book, The Cold Six Thousand, but wound up tackling a myriad of subjects over our three hour lunch. Ellroy sported a snappy fedora that I said would have looked great on Meyer Lansky. He barked a laugh and removed it, displaying his bald pate. When he looked at my full head of 33 year-old hair, his eyes narrowed: "That thing on your head real or a rug?" "Real," I replied. Ellroy exhaled for what seemed like a full minute, then murmured: "Cocksucker." We were off and running.

James Ellroy: Bark At The Moon

The "Demon Dog of American Fiction" sinks his teeth into Rfk, Mlk and Vietnam with The Cold Six Thousand

If there were any justice in this world, and in the world of James Ellroy that's debatable,...

Reactions from the talent behind films eviscerated on MST3k have varied (it could be a joke, but the crew claims Joe Don Baker of Mitchell fame wants to take a swing at them), though not as much as fans of the films proper. A famous, though unverified, story has Dennis Miller flying the cast to a filming of his HBO show only to scream at them for having their way with Marooned! In light of the recent announcement that creator Joel Hodgson wants to reboot the cult favourite, here’s a look at a few episodes that may not have been playing fair.

5. Revenge of The Creature (Season 8, Episode 1)

There is a delicate chemistry to enjoying trash on its own merit. Too bad or too good, it can easily throw things off-balance into the oblivion of the unwatchable. Creature upped the stakes of the classic original by bringing it to local beaches and,...