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Through the late 2000s and the early 2010s, author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book series was a force to be reckoned with. Told from the perspective of middle-schooler Greg Heffley, readers would peruse Greg's illustrated journal entries documenting his misadventures with his family, his best friend Rowley Jefferson, and his eccentric classmates. Greg is many young readers' first unreliable protagonist. Although Kinney does not believe Greg is a sociopath, the character exhibits a surprising amount of narcissism for a teenager, often taking advantage of his family and friends if it serves his interests in becoming rich and famous -- even if his schemes usually blow up in his face to comical effect.

Jeff Kinney's knack for writing and illustrating humorous yet relatable middle school experiences has hooked readers and viewers alike. With 19 books published and over 290 million copies sold, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid...

Some sitcom actors only ever get one really great role, but Jim Backus had several. The actor, who played wealthy Wall Street regular Thurston Howell III on the popular castaway series "Gilligan's Island," had already made a name for himself by the show's premiere in 1964. He'd appeared regularly on the radio before TV was the dominant media of the time, and voiced the nearly blind cartoon character Mr. Magoo beginning in 1949. Backus also played a key role in Nicholas Ray's 1955 teen movie "Rebel Without A Cause," portraying the father who falls short when James Dean's angsty antihero Jim Stark needs him.

A few years before "Gilligan's Island," Backus even got his own show, aptly named "The Jim Backus Show" in the style of the time. In the Backus-led series, which was also called "Hot Off the Wire," the actor played a man named Mike O'Toole, who was attempting...

It all started with Exposed. I’m not sure what brought this 1971 Swedish sexploitation film to the suggestion portion of my Netflix account (presumably the roster of Jess Franco films recently added), but after reading the description, I figured it was worth a shot: “A pretty young teen finds her innocence lost when an unguarded night of revelry yields shameful secrets, and a stack of nude pictures that could ruin her life. But to get her hands on the negatives, she’ll have to expose herself even further.” That is indeed the basic plot of the film, which plays out exactly as one would expect for such fare. But what was unexpected while watching Exposed (also known as the much less enticing Diary of a Rape), was the 21-year-old star of the film. Her name is Christina Lindberg.

Exposed, for lack of a better phrase, is what it is. It...