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And just like that… it’s August again — the last gasp of vacations, the first days of school, the long, treacherous hiatuses of our favorite talk shows, and a Turner Classic Movies tradition like no other. Starting August 1, TCM — which was recently seemingly saved by WB head David Zaslav — will once again highlight 31 stars across 31 days for Summer Under the Stars. The event has recurred annually since 2003, and this year, blended into usual mix of starry icons of legends past, are names like Mexican-American actor Pedro Armendáriz, iconic character journeyman James Gleason, and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida.

Perhaps the real coup this year, however, are weekly appearances of “And Just Like That…” star Mario Cantone, who will join for not one… not two… but four nights of programming — once weekly — for four of his absolute favorites. Cantone has become a reliable presence at TCM, headlining the October series Creepy...

For the first time since they introduced the In Memoriam segment, the Academy Awards is giving us a reason to tune in: the 2025 Oscars host is Conan O’Brien.

Yes, we have high hopes for the former late-night comedian who brings at least a small chance of talking about butthole gerbils before an audience of self-congratulating millionaires. Certainly, O’Brien doesn’t need our advice for mastering his first-ever time hosting the Academy Awards, but if he did want to take inspiration from anyone, he should look to the King of Late Night himself: Johnny Carson.

Carson hosted the Academy Awards five times — and nearly back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back — in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Many of his jokes have remained fairly relevant, too. Exhibit A: When he greeted his celebrity audience in 1979 with, “I see a lot of new faces — especially on the old faces.”

However, given the standard topicality of the Academy Awards,...

Netflix's documentary Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley has allowed audiences a glimpse into the life of one of pop culture's most famous figures, and the iconic singer has numerous films to check out next. Aside from being one of the defining musical artists of the 20th century, Elvis Presley's acting career saw him star in 31 films, primarily including musicals that showcased his singing talent and charisma.

Throughout the 1950s, Elvis was a fairly consistent box-office success, with his controversial manager, Colonel Tom Parker, dictating many of his acting choices. Presley wanted to partake in more serious roles, but those films, like Flaming Star, earned less at the box office. Movies like Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas were some of the highest-grossing films of their respective years, proving a desire for his musical movies with accompanied soundtrack albums.

Wild in the Country...

While some character arcs in the Gilmore Girls revival took viewers by surprise, many A Year in the Life storylines were either foreshadowed or directly set up in the original series. Though the CW drama ended 17 years ago, Gilmore Girls has remained one of the most beloved TV shows of the early 2000s. Nine years after the series finale, Netflix released a limited series that follows the main characters lives over a one-year period.

Despite being produced by the creator, Amy Sherman Paladino, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life failed to meet expectations and resulted in many divisive storylines that fans still hate years later. Some character arcs, like Paris and Doyles divorce, are downright shocking based on Gilmore Girls' ending. However, other stories from the revival were actually set up in the original show, making them logical upon later reflection.

Rory Writing A Memoir About Her Life With...

It's always interesting to see actors playing other actors, but this type of movie gets a whole other layer depending on the aspect that the story chooses to focus on. In 1981, Faye Dunaway accepted the challenge of playing a screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Joan Crawford. However, Mommie Dearest is pretty far from your typical biopic, as it depicts the highly toxic relationship between the actor and her daughter Christina Crawford.

Connecting an actor’s onscreen personality with his or her offscreen reality tends to be a dicey proposition. But in “Faye,” an addictive and essential portrait of Faye Dunaway, it turns out to be the right thing to do. Dunaway, now in her early 80s, is interviewed throughout this HBO documentary, and there’s a knowing snap to her self-reflections that grabs you. Seated on a couch in her New York apartment, she starts off by chastising someone for bringing her water in a bottle instead of a glass — a sign that the movie is going to have fun with what a diva she is. As “Faye” presents it, Dunaway was too volcanic and troubled a personality not to pour herself into her roles. That’s part of what made her great. Yet the film also wants to cue us to the gossipy and reductive way that this kind of...

Chicago – “With Love, Mommie Dearest” is a new book by A. Ashley Hoff, chronicling the making of the camp classic. Chicago’s Music Box Theatre will screen “Mommie Dearest” and Hoff will sign his new book on June 4, 2024. Click Crawford for tickets/details.

The 1981 film “Mommie Dearest” has a place in cultural history, and author A. Ashley Hoff decided to do a deep dive into the history of the film in his new book (the subtitle is “The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic”). The story of this only-in-show-business happening starts with its production history, culminating in the film’s release – anticipated with studio backing and awards consideration prestige – only to devolve quickly after early screenings.

‘With Love, Mommie Dearest: The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic’ by A. Ashley Hoff

Photo credit: Chicago Review Press

When Paramount Studios understood that audiences were reacting with laughter to the extreme nature...

Marla Adams, the Emmy-winning soap opera veteran who starred as the scheming Dina Abbott Mergeron during parts of five decades on The Young and the Restless, has died. She was 85.

Adams died Thursday in Los Angeles, Matt Kane, director of media and talent for Y&r, announced.

When she was just starting out, Adams appeared in 1958 alongside Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway in The Visit and portrayed June, the high school best friend of Natalie Wood’s Deanie, in Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961).

Her first prominent role on a daytime drama came on CBS’ The Secret Storm, where she played bad girl Belle Clemens from 1968 until the show’s 1974 demise. “I was the bitch of daytime,” she said in a 2016 interview. “I played a good bitch.”

Adams joined Y&r in 1982 but left when her three-year contract was up. She returned to Genoa City for brief...

Get ready for your next marathon with Max! This February, the streamer is saying goodbye to major award winners, camp classics, and more. Most of the platform’s exits will take place on the final day of the month, including the genre and history-changing “The Exorcist,” the recent Oscar winner “Drive My Car,” and more, but Max will remove several other major TV and film titles throughout the month.

We at The Streamable have assembled our top picks for what’s leaving Max this month— continue below to find your next thing to watch and see the full list below to plan your next movie night before they’re gone!

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Max in February 2024? “Drive My Car” | Thursday, Feb. 29

A recent Oscar winner for Best International Feature Film, the Japanese drama stars Hidetoshi Nishijima as Yūsuke Kafuku,...

“You are a lousy substitute for someone who really cares.”

Landmark’s The Plaza Frontenac Theatre hosts RetroREPLAY Tuesdays. Tickets are only 7 and can be purchased in advance Here. The RetroREPLAY for May 24th is Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest . Showtimes ar 1pm and 7pm

The relationship between Christina Crawford and her adoptive mother Joan Crawford is presented from Christina’s view. Unable to bear children, Joan, in 1940, was denied children through regular adoption agencies due to her twice divorced status and being a single working person. Her lover at the time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lawyer Greg Savitt, was able to go through a brokerage to adopt a baby girl, who would be Christina, the first of Joan’s four adoptive children. Joan believes that her own difficult upbringing has made her a stronger person, and decides that, while providing the comforts that a successful Hollywood actress can afford, she will not...

The endlessly quotable and unforgettable drama Mommie Dearest celebrates its 40th anniversary with a brand-new Blu-ray in the Paramount Presents line, debuting June 1, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment. To celebrate, we've got an exclusive clip from the release which is part of the special features, a new commentary by drag performer Hedda Lettuce. Check out the iconic scene below.

Based on Christina Crawford's controversial best-selling tell-all novel, Mommie Dearest features a powerhouse performance by Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford, struggling for her career while battling the inner demons of her private life. While the public Crawford was a strong-willed, glamorous object of admiration, behind the scenes is a private Crawford-the woman desperate to be a single mother and trying to survive in a devastating industry that swallows careers thoughtlessly.

Newly restored from a 4K film transfer, Mommie Dearest is presented in a limited-edition Blu-ray Disc with collectible packaging featuring a...

Hello everyone! A new month is upon us and we have an eclectic array of films heading to Blu-ray and DVD this week to kick things off. Arrow Video has put together a 4-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set celebrating Bill Rebane called Weird Wisconsin, and Code Red is releasing The Love Butcher on Blu-ray as well. Paramount is showing some love to the cult film Mommie Dearest as well with a brand new Blu in 4K, and we also have a few new indie titles arriving on June 1st—Spare Parts and Sorority House.

The Love Butcher

A string of murders in a posh neighborhood has the police department stumped and the local press is breathing down their necks. Strangely, nobody notices that several victims share the same gardener, a bent, elderly man with a crippled arm named Caleb. Even though all of the murder weapons are lawn care tools,...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

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Latest Addition to the Paramount Presents Line Debuts June 1, 2021 with New Special Features

The endlessly quotable and unforgettable drama Mommie Dearest celebrates its 40th anniversary with a brand-new Blu-ray in the Paramount Presents line, debuting June 1, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Newly restored from a 4K film transfer, Mommie Dearest is presented in a limited-edition Blu-ray Disc™ with collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments. The Blu-ray includes a new Filmmaker Focus with biographer Justin Bozung on the film and its director Frank Perry, a new audio commentary with American drag queen Hedda Lettuce, access to a Digital copy of the film, as well as previously released bonus content. Special features are detailed below:

· Commentary by American drag queen Hedda Lettuce –New!

· Filmmaker...

Joan Crawford would’ve celebrated her 114th birthday on March 23, 2020. Though she’s probably best remembered for the portrayals of her by other actresses, the Oscar-winning performer starred in a number of classics before her death in 1977 at the age of 71. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1906, Crawford made her debut as a body double for Norma Shearer in “Ladies of the Night” (1925). She worked her way up into starring roles in several MGM titles, most notably the ensemble drama “Grand Hotel” (1932). Yet a dip in audience enthusiasm led to her being labeled “box office poison,” which would haunt her for several years.

Crawford moved to Warner Bros. in 1943, and just two years later, she was re-igniting the box office and scooping up a Best Actress Oscar for “Mildred Pierce” (1945). The role of an...

Elvis fans laud this high-end drama, an attempt by the superstar to lock into a mainstream acting career. Presley has fine dramatic support, especially from his three leading ladies, but the requirement that an Elvis movie be all things to all people — especially marketers — really takes its toll. It’s a soap where almost nothing is believable, except to true believers for whom Presley can do no wrong.

Wild in the Country

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1961 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 academy / 114 min. / Street Date August 20, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95

Starring: Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, Rafer Johnson, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood, William Mims, Raymond Greenleaf, Christina Crawford, Pat Buttram, Doreen Lang, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr..

Cinematography: William C. Mellor

Editor : Dorothy Spencer

Original Music: Kenyon Hopkins

Written by Clifford Odets from a novel by J. R. Salamanca

Produced by Jerry Wald

Directed by Philip Dunne...

Joan Crawford would’ve celebrated her 113th birthday on March 23, 2019. Though she’s probably best remembered for the portrayals of her by other actresses, the Oscar-winning performer starred in a number of classics before her death in 1977 at the age of 71. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1906, Crawford made her debut as a body double for Norma Shearer in “Ladies of the Night” (1925). She worked her way up into starring roles in several MGM titles, most notably the ensemble drama “Grand Hotel” (1932). Yet a dip in audience enthusiasm led to her being labeled “box office poison,” which would haunt her for several years.

SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

Crawford moved to Warner Bros. in 1943, and just two years later, she was re-igniting the box office and scooping up a...

1968: Joan Crawford aired for the final time on The Secret Storm.

1980: Edge of Night's Clown Puppet killer was lurking.

1985: Capitol's Leanne collapsed.

1985: Santa Barbara's C.C. remained on life support."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1968: On Dark Shadows, Mrs. Johnson (Clarice Blackburn) walked in while Joe (Joel Crothers) was trying to kill Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) so Joe ran off. Elizabeth (Joan Bennett) and Roger (Louis Edmonds) found Joe in the Collins mausoleum and brought him back to Collinwood where he addmitted that he tried to kill Barnabas, and said he would try again.

1933: The Romance of Helen Trent premiered.

1987: Matthew Ashford debuted as Jack on Days of our Lives.

1985: Guiding Light's Reva almost ran into Josh at Cedars.

2008: All My Children's Reese and Miranda surprised Bianca."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1933: The Romance of Helen Trent debuted over CBS Radio. The show aired 7,222 episodes during its run until June 24, 1960. Created by the husband-and-wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, Helen Trent was conceived as the epitome of virtue in a world where behavior was usually judged in black-and-white terms. Helen Trent never smoked, drank, or...

1968: Oltl's Jim asked Price to assist with Carla's case.

1980: The Edge of Night's Geraldine interrupted Raven's plans.

1985: Days of our Lives' Patch attacked Hope.

2010: General Hospital's Mike appeared for the final time."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1968: Joan Crawford made the second of four appearances on The Secret Storm as Joan Borman Kane, substituting for her sick daughter Christina Crawford.

1968: On One Life to Live, Joe (Lee Patterson) told Anna (Doris Belack) about his feelings for her, which went beyond the boundaries of friendship. Meredith (Trish Van Devere) had left...

Previously

Ch. 1 "Pilot"

Ch. 2 "The Other Woman" 

Feud's writing team is nothing if not devoted to playing to a single theme per episode. All but a couple of scenes in chapter 3 of Feud are devoted to the notion of mothering (though Victor Buono's more generous notion of "legacy" might have been a smarter move for retroactive potency). Or at least the show spends this hour playing with our pre-conceptions of the mothering skills of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. That's evident in the way it pulls the episode title from the infamous Christina Crawford memoir that damned Joan forever in the public eye as a psychopath and child abuser. In one of the earliest scenes we even get a potent reminder of this memoir as Joan pretends she's not going to send Christina a card congratulating her on the opening of a play until she reads reviews, but then signs the card "Mommie Dearest,...

She created some of Hollywood's most memorable roles in such revolutionary films as Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown and Network while simultaneously seducing a generation, but Faye Dunaway never thought she was beautiful as a young girl growing up in Bascom, Florida. When she first saw herself in the early dailies of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, she couldn't look at the screen. "Just to see the face, to see that it's too round - but it was more than that," she says. "I didn't think my face was beautiful. I guess I found a lot wrong with it." And what about her remarkable cheekbones?...

She created some of Hollywood's most memorable roles in such revolutionary films as Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown and Network while simultaneously seducing a generation, but Faye Dunaway never thought she was beautiful as a young girl growing up in Bascom, Florida. When she first saw herself in the early dailies of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, she couldn't look at the screen. "Just to see the face, to see that it's too round - but it was more than that," she says. "I didn't think my face was beautiful. I guess I found a lot wrong with it." And what about her remarkable cheekbones?...

Universal Pictures

In rough cut, Jaws The Revenge had one of the funniest endings ever as the Great White attempted to play chicken with Lorraine Gary’s boat, only to end up impaled on the broken prow. Fearing a disaster, the producers cut the scene from the original theatrical version, which seemed to end with the shark exploding for no clear reason.

If they’d left the scene intact, however, they might’ve been able to sell the picture as a good bad movie. Sound unlikely? That’s exactly what happened when Mommie Dearest (1981), an overwrought adaptation of Christina Crawford’s account of growing up as Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter, left audiences rolling in the aisles.

Viewers were amused by Faye Dunaway’s Ott impersonation of the Hollywood legend, particularly in a sequence where she whips her daughter with a coat hanger while uttering the immortal line, “No wire hangers – Ever!

Joan Crawford in 'Mildred Pierce.' 'Mildred Pierce' review: Very entertaining soap opera Time has a way of making some films seem grander than they really are. A good example is Mildred Pierce, the 1945 black-and-white melodrama directed by Casablanca's Michael Curtiz, and that won star Joan Crawford a Best Actress Oscar. Mildred Pierce is in no way, shape, or form great art, even though it's certainly not a bad film. In fact, as a soap opera it's quite entertaining – no, make that very entertaining; and entertainment is a quality that can stand on its own. (The problem in recent decades is that cinema has become nothing but entertainment.) In the case of Mildred Pierce, the entertainment is formulaic and rather predictable – but in an enjoyable, campy sort of way. Unbridled Hollywood melodrama Now, what makes Mildred Pierce a melodrama is something known as the Dumbest Possible Action – Dpa for short.

At the time of its production, Louis Malle’s 1978 title Pretty Baby (the title derived from the Tony Jackson song) was quite the scandal, a period piece frankly depicting child prostitution in turn of the century New Orleans. But like many provocative titles from the period (another being Richard Brooks’ Looking For Mr. Goodbar), decades of suppression has resulted in unavailability and a disappearance from modern cinematic conversations. Recently made available courtesy of the Warner Bros. Archive collection (solely on DVD) this is property begging for a more masterful restoration.

In the Red Lights district of 1917 New Orleans, legal prostitution is on the wane as a surge of conservative, religious rhetoric begins to sweep through the country. Nell (Francis Faye) owns a booming brothel in the famed Storyville district, and one of her most notable employees is Hattie (Susan Sarandon), whose twelve-year-old daughter Violet (Brooke Shields) has grown up within the house.

The poster for Voyage of the Damned makes a bold claim, and maybe those who saw Stuart Rosenberg’s star-studded blockbuster in 1976 have remembered it ever since. Until a couple of weeks ago, however, when I saw it in a list of past Oscar nominees, I had never heard of it, and I don’t think it would be unfair to say that it is a film that has not stood the test of time.

Voyage of the Damned, which chronicles the tragic failed escape of 937 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, was nominated for three Oscars (for Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and for Lee Grant for Best Supporting Actress, the lone acting nominee among a boatload of international heavyweights).

Oscar nominations, especially for acting, tend to confer a certain amount of immortality on their recipients (you are forever “Academy Award nominee Lee Grant”) and there are many films and...

This news is tearing me apart! Apparently James Franco is set to produce a movie based on Greg Sestero‘s book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room, a memoir about Sestero’s acting gig in the 2003 cult classic — and touted “worst movie of all time” — The Room. Franco will star in the project too, presumably as The Room‘s director and star Tommy Wiseau, and he’ll be camping it up alongside Seth Rogen and his brother Dave Franco, who will probably play Sestero. Sigh, Dave Franco. Nudity is always a good option for him!

For the hell of it, let’s recast other notoriously bad movies for potential biopics.

Mommie Dearest

Julianne Moore as Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford

Chloe Grace Moretz as Diana Scarwid as Christina Crawford

Now this! This is the remake that Julianne Moore and Chloe Grace Moretz were made for. While the...

"Joan Crawford Week!" concludes at Trailers from Hell with producer-director Dan Ireland's introduction to Frank Perry's Razzie winner "Mommie Dearest," starring Faye Dunaway as ferocious momma Crawford. "No wire hangers, ever!" Joan Crawford once noted in an early 70s interview that among current actresses only Faye Dunaway had "what it takes" to become a true star. Faye repaid the compliment by portraying Joan in this movie based on daughter Christina Crawford's tell-all book about the dysfunctional household she grew up in with her mercurial movie star mom. Despite its numerous "Razzie" awards for Worst Picture it's developed a rabid fan following over the years.

Joan Crawford, Cliff Robertson, Autumn Leaves Betty Barker (photo), Joan Crawford's longtime personal assistant, died last January 27 in Los Angeles. Barker was 95 years old. According to a paid obituary published in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles-born (Sept. 30, 1916) Barker grew up in the L.A. suburb of Alhambra. Following a stint in Washington, D.C., in 1944 Barker returned to Los Angeles, where she began her secretarial career at Rko. Later, she was to become a personal secretary to Howard Hughes, who gained control of the studio in 1948. When Rko officially moved to Las Vegas in 1955, Barker opted to remain in Los Angeles. That's when she began her professional association with Joan Crawford, whom, as per the Times obit, she had known since the early 1930s. By then a Hollywood star for nearly three decades, Crawford was still busy, appearing in movies such as Ranald MacDougall's Queen Bee,...

5 Movie Psychos Worthier of a TV Series Than Hannibal Lecter

Watch out, Clarice: The Silence of the Lambs’s unforgettable cannibal Hannibal Lecter is coming to NBC in his own series for at least 13 episodes. Anthony Hopkins’ classic role is both an obvious choice for serialization and a seemingly uninspired one: We’ve already seen two theatrical updates of Hannibal’s tale, and neither did much to buttress his legacy. Here, I name five freaks worthier of a full-season pickup.

Mommie Dearest’s Joan Crawford

I don’t have to tell anyone here that Mommie Dearest is an unforgettable feast of shrieks, delirium, and Joan Crawford’s Egyptian death mask of a face. Though the movie is remembered as a cult classic, an episodic chronicle of Christina Crawford’s unfortunate, hanger-throttled childhood could make for an enthralling CW series.

Potential Episode: Christina accidentally brings up Bette Davis’s name at...

Parent's anniversary is filmed by their son, Cody (Colin Ford) and his mother, Laura ( Fay Masterson) is angry at children breaking the lamp again. She takes the video camera to film them and is beaten and left to die. Horatio (David Caruso) posits it's safe to say it was "overkill." Me Tom (Christian Clemenson) concludes that every blow was fatal and she was swung at from all angles, demonstrating rage from the killer. Jesse (Eddie Cibrian) thinks she could have interrupted an intruder and Natalia (Eva La Rue) believes he could have killed her. Isn't that what Jesse just said. Jesse notices a void on the ground, so something was there to stop the blood spatter. Jesse notices Cody is sad, as sits drawing pictures. (Which was the clue.) He controls whatever he draws in his pictures. Horatio tells him he's a good record for catching the bad guy and...

The Hand (Original Release Date: 24 April 1981)

The Hand is the answer to the question "What else did that kid who played Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest do?"  That's the kind of movie The Hand is: one you're liable to know about because of its relationship to another movie, director, or star, and not one you're liable to have seen.  (Another answer to this question, it turns out, is The Happening, where she plays "Woman with Hands Over Ears."  I consider this neither a step up nor down, and, without bothering to look at the three decades' worth of [likely] bit parts in between, declare her career to be remarkably consistent.)

I consider myself reasonably familiar with the careers of Michael Caine and Oliver Stone, and feel I should have at least known The Hand existed.  I didn't.  It also never would have occurred to me to pair Caine and Stone, but...

We start the Top 7. You finish the Top 10.

Everyone, including yours truly, is uber-excited about the long overdue sequel to Tron, Tron: Legacy. When Bayer requested that I do a Top 7 Movies That Need Sequels, I was intrigued and excited. When Bayer also gave Calhoun that same assignment I was somewhat less intrigued and excited; and when Calhoun hogged up all the movies I was going to pick and ran off giggling, the romance was over.

Kersten’s Top 7 Movies (20 yrs+) That Deserve Sequels

In desperately searching for movies that should have a sequel that aren’t on Calhoun’s list, I’ve amassed a list of sequel abominations, sequels that would mean a desecration of the art of film and make us all feel like dirty wh*res. These are the sequels that would improve upon celluloid the way the Visigoths tidied up Rome.

Yes, folks. It’s the...

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (right) in Baby Jane

How's this for a provocative take on Joan Crawford? Although she is one of the most-written-about women of the 20th century (and the subject of the most famous celebrity tell-all of all time, Mommie Dearest, written by her daughter Christina), much of what was written about her was ... an outright lie, or at least partially wrong.

That's the very interesting perspective behind Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford by Donald Spoto (William Morrow, $25.99).

Spoto is a long-time biography veteran with dozens of other titles to his name (about Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and many others). But he seems to have a particular affinity for Joan, and even opens the book with her very kind and detailed response to a fan letter he wrote to her when he was eleven years old.

What's been written about Joan that isn't true?...

Fans of Jim Grimsley's 1995 gay coming-of-age novel Dream Boy may very well enjoy the 2008 movie version, which is finally out on DVD. After all, this is an amazingly faithful adaptation of the book.

I don't think too many others will find much here to appreciate.

The movie begins with a surprising lack of drama. In the 1970s, two boys in the rural south meet and fall in love: a shy, bookish type and his more outgoing "farmboy" neighbor. The pace is slow, but there are some nice moments (often taken directly from the book), as when the two boys' eyes meet in the mirror of the school bus. It's all very earnest, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but is a little jarring after the irony-infused 00s.

When the conflict finally kicks in about halfway through, there's certainly a lot of it: the boys are threatened by both...

It used to be that a celebrity would prove that he/she has a sense of humor about his/herself by doing a cameo in a tepid sketch on Saturday Night Live. (See: Drew Barrymore, any presidential candidate, etc.) But it appears that Martha Stewart has found a far more comprehensive and possibly a far funnier way to make fun of herself: Orchestrating her own Mystery Science Theater 3000-esque takedown of her old, exhaustingly detailed domestic how-to guide for the thoroughly bored/insane, Martha Stewart Living. The show is called Whatever, Martha, and it co-stars Martha's daughter, Alexis, and Alexis's deadpan, cutting comments about her mom. Lest you think Alexis Stewart is channeling Christina Crawford at the end of Mommie Dearest here and using her...

In 1978 Christina Crawford shocked the world with the first tell-all celebrity memoir, in which she exposed her Hollywood filmstar mother Joan as a cruel, abusive alcoholic. Thirty years on, and about to reissue her explosive book with new material, she gives her first interview in a decade. But why this compulsion to return to her painful past - especially when so many people don’t believe her?

Christina Crawford was 13 when she stopped believing her mother loved her. It was a young age at which to come to such a startling conclusion, to have one’s belief in the benignity of the world so profoundly altered. But it was at this age that she remembers her mother grabbed her by the throat, punched her in the face and slammed her head against the floor.

‘You never forget that,’ Christina says now, 55 years later. ‘It was up close and personal. She...