News

Susan Seidelman's 1985 comedy "Desperately Seeking Susan" is about an unhappy housewife named Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) who notices that two people appear to be communicating through mutually placed personal ads in her local newspaper. The correspondents are "Jim" and "Susan," and Roberta becomes involved in their progressing print-only drama. Audiences also see that Susan (Madonna) is an itinerant drifter who is having an affair with a mobster. She is involved in a crime drama of her own. All the same, Roberta manages to see a meeting between Susan and Jim from afar and then buys some of Susan's clothes after Susan sells them to a thrift store.

Naturally, through some exciting contrivances, Roberta is not only mistaken for Susan, but she hits her head and contracts amnesia, soon believing that she, too, is Susan. It's an exciting, high-concept comedy that introduced Madonna to the world and was inspired by Jacque...

She’s been lambasted as an actor for years – but now a season of the Material Girl’s cinematic work is on in New York. How does it hold up?

As a pop star, Madonna is the undisputed queen. Her recent albums Rebel Heart and Mdna may have sold poorly, but she’s still the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time. As an actor, however, most critics agree that Madonna has got some way to go before she makes it into the royal family. Or even, some would say, the servants’ quarters.

It’s not for want of trying. Back in 1979, four years before the release of her self-titled debut album, Madonna starred in barebones indie drama A Certain Sacrifice. She played a Lower East Side resident living with three “love slaves” (one male, one female, one transgender). Capitalising on her first flush of fame, the film-makers rushed it...

Interesting news from St. Petersburg, Fl: The parents of Martin Burgoyne, an artist and Studio 54 bartender who was best friends with Madonna during her early career, are putting a trove of photos, art, and drawings featuring Lourdes’ mom on the auction block. Burgoyne died of AIDS in 1986 (He partly inspired Madonna’s song “In This Life” from Erotica), but he hung around with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and other legendary figures of the time.

There’s lots of interesting stuff in his collection. “Some are candid Polaroids of her making goofy faces with Burgoyne. Others are black and whites, intended for an album cover, of Madonna looking poised and fragile … and a full-color sketch for her ‘Burning Up’ Ep album cover. The image is totally ‘80s, all bright block colors. Madonna sports short hair and thick eyebrows.”

Let’s open this discussion up. What would you want from an early ’80s Madonna auction?...

Jack Nicholson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Luke and Owen Wilson may be known for their big-time roles, but they couldn't have gotten there without their lesser-known debuts. "Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), "Halloween" (1978), and "Bottle Rocket" (1996), respectively, are the movies where these acting greats first showed their faces on film. Flavorwire catalogued these actors and others in their breakout roles in a video titled "And Introducing … Famous Faces in Their Film Debuts." The three-and-a-half-minute mashup features 36 stars, from Woody Allen ("What's New Pussycat?") to Madonna ("A Certain Sacrifice"), in their first times on the silver screen.

How many of these films have you seen? Let us know in the comments.

Watch:...

From Madonna's 'A Certain Sacrifice' to Taylor Swift's 'Valentine's Day,' pop stars' first forays into acting have been interesting.

By Eric Ditzian

Taylor Swift in "Valentine's Day"

Photo: New Line Cinema

Last February, during a swing through South Korea, Rihanna told MTV Asia that she had dreams of becoming a Hollywood superstar.

"I would love to get into comedic movies," the 22-year-old said. "As well as action. I love action. I would love to play a badass one day."

Well, a badass she very well might be, as she's signed onto "Battleship," a sci-fi action flick based on the classic board game and co-starring Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgård. Of course, this isn't the first time a celebrated singer has ditched the recording studio for the soundstage. As Rihanna boards "Battleship," she joins a long line of artists-turned-actresses. Let's take a look back at the...

From Madonna's 'A Certain Sacrifice' to Taylor Swift's 'Valentine's Day,' pop stars' first forays into acting have been interesting.

By Eric Ditzian

Taylor Swift in "Valentine's Day"

Photo: New Line Cinema

Last February, during a swing through South Korea, Rihanna told MTV Asia that she had dreams of becoming a Hollywood superstar.

"I would love to get into comedic movies," the 22-year-old said. "As well as action. I love action. I would love to play a badass one day."

Well, a badass she very well might be, as she's signed onto "Battleship," a sci-fi action flick based on the classic board game and co-starring Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgård. Of course, this isn't the first time a celebrated singer has ditched the recording studio for the soundstage. As Rihanna boards "Battleship," she joins a long line of artists-turned-actresses. Let's take a look back at the...