Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week: Disgruntled Stormtrooper

We've all been there ... the evil intergalactic corporation you work for goes belly up thanks to a pesky do-gooder rebellion, and you find yourself without a job. It's enough to make anybody a little cranky; just take a look at our pal, the Disgruntled Stormtrooper.

Since the fall of the Empire, ol' Stormie here has tried his hand at various odd jobs (Burger King, used car salesman, Hooters) and even landed the odd movie role or two (Saturday Night Trooper, Troopsie, Brokeback Trooper). His ever-continuing quest for a steady paycheck has gained him his own little niche of celebrity, however, allowing him to collaborate with such musical superstars as Aerosmith, Elton John and Dolly Parton. Stormie even has met a few of his personal heroes, including David Hasselhoff, Don Johnson and Mr. Steven Seagal.

Alas, with all that fame and no fortune to show for it, he still lives up to his name. But cheer up, Disgruntled Stormtrooper! You are this week's Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week!

And while you're over at Stormie's space, stop by The Official Movie Dearest MySpace Page to check out the latest Weekly Recap, including MySpace exclusive picture for all of last week's big stories!

Film Art: Orange Rain

Some more Crazy 4 Cult art, fresh from the Gallery1988: Charles Cochran's Warholian mash-up of A Clockwork Orange and Singin' in the Rain. "Oh, what a glorious feeling" ... except when you're getting kicked in the gut by a droog.

Monthly Wallpaper - September 2008: High School Movies

It's back to school time at Movie Dearest, and what better way to show your school spirit then by downloading this month's calendar wallpaper dedicated to High School Movies!

With this all-star class of cinematic students, all through the month of September you can ponder such burning questions as: who would win the student council election, Tracy Flick or Pedro? Who's a better dancer, Danny Zuko or Tracy Turnblad? Who has a better prom dress, Carrie White or Gabriella Montez? Which is the cattiest clique, the Heathers or the Plastics? Who's better at channeling school spirit, Torrance Shipman or Riff Randell? Will you get extra credit if you join the Breakfast Club? And, most important of all, who will be the class valedictorian, Jeff Spicoli or Cher Horowitz?

Just click on the picture above to enlarge it to its 1024 x 768 size, then right click your mouse and select "Set as Background", and you're all set. If you want, you can also save it to your computer and set it up from there, or modify the size in your own photo-editing program if needed.

Poster Post: Passion in the Outback

As you can tell, we're a little excited about Australia, Baz Luhrmann's epic romantic adventure starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. And now it seems that we are going to have to wait just a little bit longer for it, as the release date has been pushed back, from November 14 to the 26 (damn you, Harry Potter!). Although I suppose it will be nice to have a visit with Hugh and Nicole for Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, you can check out the film's official website, including an array of stunning photos and a host of behind-the-scenes podcasts.

Summer Under the Stars: Spencer Tracy

Movie Dearest concludes our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Spencer Tracy - Stardates: Born April 5, 1900, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; died 1967. Star Sign: Aries. Star Qualities: Rugged attractiveness, mastery of craft, naturalness, total empathy with camera. Star Definition: "Spence is the best we have, because you don't see the mechanism at work." -- Humphrey Bogart. Galaxy of Characters: Manuel Fidello in Captains Courageous, Father Flanagan in Boys Town, Adam Bonner in Adam's Rib, Macreedy in Bad Day at Black Rock.

TCM's 2008 edition of their "Summer Under the Stars" comes to a close tomorrow with one of my personal favorite actors, Spencer Tracy. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, he won two of them (in consecutive years), for Captains Courageous and Boys Town (also airing tomorrow).

In the former (based on the classic Rudyard Kipling novel), he plays Manuel Fidello, a brave Portuguese fisherman who teaches some important life lessons to spoiled rich kid Freddie Bartholomew. Tracy was not too keen on the role at first, mostly because he had to curl his hair (Joan Crawford told him he looked like Harpo Marx). He even said that his performance was one of his worst; Oscar begged to differ.

Captains Courageous airs tomorrow on TCM at 8:00 PM EST as part of their Essentials, Jr. series.

Legends of the FAIL, Take 3

As this video clip shows, I guess she wasn't such a good witch after all ...

Out in Film: T.R. Knight

Idol worship: T.R. Knight, actor.

- As Dr. George O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy, he has received nominations for Emmy and Satellite Awards and won a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble of the popular medical drama. The series returns for its fifth season September 25.

- He made his film debut in the indie drama Garmento and also starred in the comedy The Last Request.

- His first television role was on the short-lived Nathan Lane sitcom Charlie Lawrence. Other TV appearances include guest spots on Frasier, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

- On stage, he has starred in the Tony Award nominated Noises Off and Tartuffe on Broadway, and received a Drama Desk Award nomination for the Off-Broadway production of Scattergood.

- He very publicly came out two years ago following reports of an on-set altercation between two of his Grey's co-stars; perhaps you heard about it.

Best of the Fests: Telluride Goes Global

With a dearth of homegrown product, the Telluride Film Festival has gone for an international flavor this year. Only two American films -- Paul Schrader's Holocaust survivor drama Adam Resurrected (starring Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe and Derek Jacobi) and Tim Disney's racial conflict drama American Violet (starring Alfre Woodard, Michael O'Keefe and Tim Blake Nelson) -- are on the schedule for the 35th annual fest, which starts today and runs through Monday.

Other notable features set to appear include Kim Ji-Woon's "Asian spaghetti western" The Good, the Bad and the Weird, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, Steve McQueen's Cannes winner Hunger, Philippe Claudel's I've Loved You So Long (starring a French speaking Kristin Scott Thomas) and Ari Folman's animated documentary Waltz with Bashir.

Also screening this weekend is David Fincher's director's cut of Zodiac; the director will also receive a Silver Medallion award from the fest, along with actress Jean Simmons (Spartacus, Guys and Dolls), Scandinavian filmmaker Jan Troell (The Emigrants) and film critic Richard Schickel, who will screen his documentary You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story. For more information, see Variety's preview of the festival.

In related news, Turner Classic Movies will air a 24-hour marathon of films honored by the Telluride Film Festival on Monday, beginning at 8:00 PM EST. Scheduled movies include Steamboat Bill, Jr.; Sophie's Choice; Sunrise; Au Revoir, Les Enfants, Touch of Evil and the original 3:10 to Yuma.

UPDATE: Cinematical's Kim Voynar has a great wrap up of this year's Telluride fest, including buzz on the transgender-themed documentary Prodigal Sons, the well received, unscheduled screening of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, and Jeff Goldblum's Oscar chances for Adam Resurrected.

Summer Under the Stars: Katharine Hepburn

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Katharine Hepburn - Stardates: Born May 12, 1907, Hartford, Connecticut; died 2003. Star Sign: Taurus. Star Qualities: Ravishing bone structure, distinctive speech patterns, independent spirit, glowing presence. Star Definition: "She has tremendous integrity, a superb sense of humor, self-discipline, courage, generosity. And above all she is a great professional." -- Director Anthony Harvey. Galaxy of Characters: Susan Vance in Bringing Up Baby, Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, Patricia Pemberton in Pat and Mike, Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond.

In the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, Hepburn plays Susan Vance, a flighty heiress whose eccentricities include keeping a leopard (the "Baby" of the title) as a pet. She crosses paths with Cary Grant's uptight paleontologist Dr. David Huxley, who finds himself in this scene trapped in Susan's house with nothing but a frilly woman's robe to wear. Desperately searching for a pair of trousers, he is interrupted by a knock on the door, where a stuffy dowager (May Robson) says he looks ridiculous and asks him why he's wearing such an unlikely outfit. Completely flustered by this point, David blurts, "Because I just went gay all of a sudden!"

Arguably the first time the word "gay" was used on screen to mean "homosexual", it is certainly the most famous early example. Speculation has it that the slang term, which had just came into use during the late 1930's, wasn't familiar to the censors at the time. Otherwise, it most likely would have been cut. Legend also has it that it was Grant who came up with the line as an ad-lib, which only adds to the long-persistent rumors that he himself "went both ways".

Bringing Up Baby airs tomorrow on TCM at 2:30 PM EST.

MD Poll: The Boys of Summer 2008

Now that the summer of 2008 is almost past, it is time to reflect on the movies we have seen, the important themes they expressed, the fine acting on display, the quality of their production and, most importantly, which one had the best man candy.

That's right, the latest MD Poll asks the burning question, "Who is the Hottest Summer Movie Hunk of 2008?" Reflect on the choices wisely, for this may be the most important vote you place all year. Once you make your informed and balanced opinion, place your vote in the sidebar to your right, and check back in two weeks for the final results.

UPDATE: This poll is now closed. Click here to see the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

MD Poll: The Way We Are Feeling

It was a close race for the battle of the fake movie musical sequels in the last MD Poll, and in the end, only one vote separated second best from the ultimate victor: Grease 3: High School Reunion. Perhaps the news that Paramount is indeed developing a direct-to-video Grease 3 helped it to edge past the faux follow-up to this year's hit Mamma Mia!, the Big Edie inspired Grandma Mia!, which was in the lead for most of the poll's running time. (See the full stats for the poll in the comments section below.)

In honor of the Grease upset, here are two out-of-the-ordinary video tributes to two of the original movie's most memorable songs, "Summer Nights" and "You're the One That I Want".

And as an extra bonus, here are some more movie musical sequel ideas to ponder (they either didn't make the original cut, were suggested by readers or I thought of them too late):

• Annie Get Your Other Gun
• Beauty and the Beast II: Saved by the Belle
• Hit the Deck 2: Back from the Bayou
• Little Evita: The Prequel
• Little Shop of Horrors II: The Revenge of Audrey II
• Love Me Tomorrow Night
• Meet Me in St. Olaf (starring Betty White)
• More Singin' in the Rain
• My Fair Wife
• The New Gay Divorcee (set in modern day California)
• Newsies: Boys 2 Men
• On a Cloudy Night You Can't See Anything
• Rent: Overdue
• The Sound of Music, Part II: The Von Trapps in Vermont
• Seven Babies for Seven Brides
• Son of a Beach Blanket Bingo
• Sweeney Todd: The Lost Years
• Thoroughly Retro Ruthie
• Twice (think about it)
• Yentl 2: Only in America

UPDATE: Mamma Mia! hottie Dominic Cooper talks the possibilities of a sequel.

Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

The Latest in Theaters: Summer's Last Gasp

It's Labor Day weekend, a.k.a. Hollywood's dumping ground, a.k.a. just go see The Dark Knight again. For better or worse, here are this week's new releases:

• Babylon A.D.: Vin Diesel stars in this low-rent Children of Men sci-fi thriller that has its own director (Mathieu Kassovitz) calling it "pure violence and stupidity". Michelle Yeoh, Gérard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling also star.
• Disaster Movie: The only thing funny about this latest crappy spoof from the Meet the Spartans guys is this: our pals at The Gays on Film sit down for a dishy interview with the movie's stars Carmen Electra and Kim Kardashian.
• College: A university-set would-be comedy that sounds as generic as its title and looks as tasteless as its poster.
• Traitor: An international political thriller starring Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Jeff Daniels based on a story by ... Steve Martin?
• Ballet Shoes: Emma Watson's first non-Harry Potter movie is actually a 2007 made-for-BBC period film about a trio of orphans whose dreams come true. Aww.
• Sukiyaki Western Django: Quentin Tarantino is a gun-wielding stranger in this hyper-stylized Spaghetti Western parody.
• And finally: one worthwhile alternative to these choices (or if you are experiencing Batman burn out) is the Sing-Along Mamma Mia! These special screenings come complete with onscreen lyrics; you'll have to bring your own silver platform shoes though.

To find out what films are playing in your area, visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!

Poster Post: Not in Kansas

Nicole Kidman returns to Oz -- along with her Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann -- in this fall's Australia.

Summer Under the Stars: Marlon Brando

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Marlon Brando - Stardates: Born April 3, 1924, Omaha, Nebraska; died 2004. Star Sign: Aries. Star Qualities: Animalistic appeal, bigger-than-life persona, revolutionary approach to screen acting. Star Definition: "His performance in On the Waterfront is the best male performance I have ever seen in my life." -- Elia Kazan. Galaxy of Characters: Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Col. Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

Following his On the Waterfront Oscar win in 1954, Brando must have felt he could do anything -- even sing. Alas, that wasn't the case ... at least consistently; his songs for the 1955 film version of the Tony Award winning Broadway hit Guys and Dolls were actually edited together using the usable portions of his recordings. Nevertheless, his version of "Luck Be a Lady" placed at #42 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Songs, not to mention his "I'll Know" has one very famous fan. And if Barbra likes his singing, that's good enough for me.

Additionally, due to Frank Sinatra's recording contract at the time, a complete soundtrack for Guys and Dolls was never officially released. However, a four track LP of Brando and Jean Simmons' songs from the movie (the above two, plus "A Woman in Love" and "If I Were a Bell") was issued. That album can be found as bonus tracks on this CD versionof the original Broadway cast album.

Guys and Dolls airs tomorrow on TCM at 2:30 PM EST.

Intervention: The Musical!

If you ever wanted to hear Kristin Chenoweth, the pint-sized and perky Tony Award winning Wicked witch and Emmy nominated star of Pushing Daisies, sing about crystal meth addiction, oral sex and Craigslist, then here's the video for you. And, believe or not, it's NSFW.

UPDATE: The fabulous Miss Chenoweth chats with The Advocate about Tina, Olive and her upcoming Christmas album.

Thanks to Dean for the heads up.

Toon Talk: Finloose

Disney’s direct-to-video sequels are largely ignored and/or reviled by most hardcore Disney enthusiasts. And while there has been some quality examples (Bambi II, The Lion King 1 ½), the majority have been mediocre at best, completely deserving of their bad reputation at worst. Falling into the latter category is 2000’s The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. With its shoddy animation, contrived storyline and unappealing new characters (there’s a reason why Ariel’s daughter Melody never joined the princess line-up), I would even go so far as to say it is the worst of the worst (yes, even more than The Return of Jafar and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II).

So it is ironic that, as the video sequels are slowly dying down at Disney (while increasing at other studios such as Paramount and Universal), the studio has gone back under the sea to produce a mermaid tale that makes up for the previous blasphemous blunder. That movie is The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning,new to DVD this week. (Click here to watch the trailer.)

Wisely ditching any thoughts of a direct follow-up to Return to the Sea, Ariel’s Beginning returns to the sea anyway … and stays there; save for one brief sequence on the surface, the story mostly takes place in and around the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. Additionally, for the bulk of the action, the clock is turned back to roughly one year before the events of the original Little Mermaid feature. Prior to that, though, a prologue shows us the joyful … and tragic … early days of our favorite mermaid and her family.

A young King Triton (voiced by ace imitator Jim Cummings, stepping in for the absent Kenneth Mars) is seen with his happy brood of adorable toddler daughters and, for the first time, his beautiful queen, Athena (Lorelei Hill Butters). Their blissful lives are filled with love and music, until the fateful day when the queen is taken from them. Overwhelmed with grief, Triton bans all music from the kingdom (shades of, of all things, Footloose), lest it remind him of his lost love.

Cut to ten years later, and the daughters of Triton have grown into dutiful princesses, overseen by their ambitious governess Marina Del Rey (voiced by Sally Field, although the two time Academy Award winner’s name is oddly absent from all promotional materials). Restless under the rule of their strict father and his second-in-command crab Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright), it is the youngest, Ariel (Jodi Benson) who develops a rebellious streak (no big surprise there).

Ariel soon meets her future BFF Flounder (Parker Goris), who unknowingly leads her to the secret, speak easy-type Catfish Club, where music is king … and Sebastian is the master of ceremonies. Exposed to the wonders and magic of song and dance once more, Ariel is reinvigorated, and anxious to share the experience with her sisters.

However, the devious Marina -- who wants Sebastian’s job -- tells all to King Triton, who promptly closes the joint down and imprisons Sebastian, Flounder and their be-boppin’ buddies (in the jail sequence, movie buffs will get a kick out of some unexpected homages to The Shawshank Redemption and Dog Day Afternoon).

Meanwhile, Ariel and her sisters are confined to the castle, but that doesn’t stop our heroine from escaping, her new friends in tow. Sebastian leads them to a secluded spot that may hold the answers to all their problems, but an enraged Marina, along with her vicious pet electric eels, are soon on their tail.

Click here to continue reading my Toon Talk review of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning at LaughingPlace.com.

Best of the Fests: Venice Begins

The 65th Venice Film Festival opens today with the world premiere of the Coen Brothers' quirky crime caper Burn After Reading (starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt). Other notable films screening at the fest -- and building their early Oscar Buzz -- include:

• The Burning Plain: A mother-daughter drama starring, respectively, Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.
• The Hurt Locker: Yet another Iraq war film, this one directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.
• Inju: The Beast in the Shadow (a.k.a. Inju, la bête dans l'ombre): Tokyo set thriller from French director Barbet Schroeder.
• Ponyo on the Cliff: A tale of a boy and a goldfish princess, this is the latest animated fantasy from the master of such things, Hayao Miyazaki.
• Rachel Getting Married: Word has it that Anne Hathaway may finally get noticed by Oscar for this dysfunctional family drama, directed by Jonathan Demme.
• Valentino: The Last Emperor: Documentary look at legendary Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani.
• The Wrestler: The story of a retired professional wrestler named Randy "The Ram" Robinson (and played by ... Mickey Rourke!) at first doesn't sound like much ... except that Darren Aronofsky, of Requiem for a Dream fame, directed it.

The Venice Film Festival continues through September 6. For a quick look at the full line up, visit Screen Daily.

Woman We Love: Judith Light

Object of our affection: Judith Light, actress.

- She first gained fame (and two Daytime Emmy Awards) for playing desperate housewife-turned-prostitute Karen Wolek on the soap opera One Life to Live. While on the show, she met her future husband, Robert Desiderio. More fame came with the long-running sitcom Who's the Boss, in which she played working mom Angela Bower.

- Other TV appearances include memorable guest spots on St. Elsewhere, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Family Guy, plus starring in the short-lived series Phenom and The Stones; she currently co-stars in her Emmy nominated role as rich socialite-turned-ex con Claire Meade on Ugly Betty. She has also starred in several popular made-for-television movies, including The Ryan White Story, wherein she played Ryan's mother, Jeanne White.

- On stage, she has starred in acclaimed productions of Richard III, A Doll's House and Wit.

- In addition to her acting career, she is a longtime advocate for GLBT rights and HIV/AIDS causes. In 1997, she helped her former Who's the Boss son Danny Pintauro come out publicly. The following year, she received the Vision Award from the GLAAD Media Awards.

- Up next for the busy, multi-talented actress: the third season of Ugly Betty (starting September 25) and the gay-themed feature film Save Me (in limited release September 5), which she co-produced and co-stars with Chad Allen and Robert Gant.

Summer Under the Stars: Charlton Heston

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Charlton Heston - Stardates: Born October 4, 1924, Evanston, Illinois; died 2008. Star Sign: Libra. Star Qualities: Imposing physique, commanding voice and chiseled profile, all perfect for epic heroes. Star Definition: "So intelligent, so knowledgeable, so professional, so exciting -- exploring the full content of a scene and context of the intent." -- Janet Leigh. Galaxy of Characters: Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, Major Amos Charles Dundee in Major Dundee, General Charles "Chinese" Gordon in Khartoum, Detective Robert Thorn in Soylent Green.

As recounted by author Gore Vidal in the documentary The Celluloid Closet, director William Wyler brought him on to the production of Ben-Hur to work on the troubled script, specifically the relationship of Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd). To make the animosity between the two characters more believable, Vidal added some homoerotic subtext to their back-story, that when the pair was younger they were lovers, but Ben-Hur ultimately rejected Messala. Wyler okayed the idea and had Vidal discuss it with Boyd, but nothing was said about it to Heston, whom Wyler felt would reject the whole idea. The resulting scenes in the film are heavy with sexual tension, due largely to Boyd's performance.

When this whole story came out years later, Heston himself denied it, even saying that Vidal had very little to do with the script of Ben-Hur ... even though he had wrote in his autobiography that Vidal had authored much of the final shooting script.

Ben-Hur airs tomorrow on TCM at 4:00 PM EST.

First Look: I Love You Phillip Morris

Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey get cozy on the beach in this first look at the upcoming "romantic dark comedy" I Love You Phillip Morris, due in theaters next spring.

Poster Post: Adventure Down Under

Hugh Jackman is featured in the first poster image of Baz Luhrmann's upcoming romantic epic Australia, in theaters November 14.

Summer Under the Stars: Tony Curtis

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Tony Curtis - Stardates: Born June 3, 1925, Bronx, New York. Star Sign: Gemini. Star Qualities: Curly black locks, killer smile, sharp timing. Galaxy of Characters: Tino Orsini in Trapeze, Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success, John "Joker" Jackson in The Defiant Ones, Joe/Josephine/Junior in Some Like It Hot.

As with Sidney Poitier, Jack Lemmon and Kirk Douglas in, respectively, The Defiant Ones, Some Like It Hot and Spartacus, Curtis ends up overshadowed by his co-star in Sweet Smell of Success. Not surprising considering it is Burt Lancaster as the sharp-penned, acid-tongued gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker, arguably the star's greatest screen performance.

Sweet Smell of Success airs tomorrow on TCM at 10:15 PM EST.

The Latest on DVD: What's This?

Christmas ... and Halloween ... are coming a little early this year, at least for fans of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.The stop motion animated classic returns to DVD in a two-disc collector's editiontoday. The set includes brand new bonus features (including a look at Disneyland's "Haunted Mansion Holiday") plus an extra disc featuring a digital copy of the film, so you can watch Jack and Sally on the go.

Nightmare Before Christmas also makes its high-def debut on Blu-Raytoday. Plus, the standard format DVD is also available in an "Ultimate Collector's" deluxe gift setcomplete with a hand-painted bust of Jack Skellington:

With all these ghastly goodies, it will take me a little longer to get my Toon Talk review to you, so in the meantime, you can pay a visit to Dr. Finklestein's lab.

Check out the Latest on DVD widgets located in the sidebar for more of this week's new DVD releases available today from Amazon.com.

Cult Art, Movie Style - Take 2

Just over a year ago, I posted about the way cool "Crazy 4 Cult" art showing at Los Angeles' Gallery1988, which inspired (and provided plenty of material for) the Film Art section here at Movie Dearest (of which, ironically, this is the 50th post). Well, they are doing it again this year (now through September 12), and it looks like the art on display is just as provocative and exciting as last year's selections.

An example is the piece excerpted above: a 39 x 12 inch cult film geek's dream line-up by talented San Diego artist Andrew Wilson. You can see the whole thing (and even order prints of it) at the gallery's site or visit this website to use an interactive feature where you can magnify the different characters to see them up close. This will come in handy if you plan to enter the gallery's contest to win a copy of the poster signed by the artist and film director Kevin Smith. All you have to do is correctly identify all 131 characters and the movie they came from ... that's all.

Just for fun, I've started a list of the ones I could figure out in the comments section below (movies only; if you want to enter the contest, you'll have to do a little work on the character names). Feel free to add the ones I missed or correct the ones I got wrong by leaving a comment.

Cinematic Crush: Vin Diesel

Crush object: Vin Diesel, actor.

- The buff, bald actor made quite an impression with his breakthrough role as a doomed GI in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.

- The following year, he provided the voice of the title character in the modern animated classic The Iron Giant.

- Action franchises called with Pitch Black, The Fast and the Furious and xXx, but he only returned for the sequel to the first of these, The Chronicles of Riddick; two more Riddick movies are also planned.

- Other films include Boiler Room, A Man Apart, The Pacifier and Find Me Guilty.

- This week he stars in the sci-fi thriller Babylon A.D. and will next be seen in the fourth Fast and the Furious flick; he will also be directing a "prequel short" to that series and continues to work on his dream project, Hannibal the Conqueror.

UPDATE: "New model, original parts": the trailer for next year's Fast & Furious is now available.

Summer Under the Stars: Janet Leigh

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Janet Leigh - Stardates: Born July 6, 1927, Merced, California; died 2004. Star Sign: Cancer. Star Qualities: Peaches-and-cream face, voluptuous form, sensitive intelligence, adaptability. Star definition: "Small-town girl who got lucky and made good. Worked hard to learn and improve whatever God had given her." -- Herself. Galaxy of Characters: Edith Enley in Act of Violence, Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon in Scaramouche, Susan Vargas in Touch of Evil, Marion Crane in Psycho.

In Orson Welles' stark noir classic Touch of Evil, Leigh plays the new American wife of Charlton Heston's Mexican narcotics agent who have anything but a perfect honeymoon when they become entangled in a seedy case involving crooked cops, car bombs and drug trafficking.

At one point, left alone in a sleazy motel room, Leigh is besieged and drugged by a gang of young hoodlums and is apparently sexually assaulted (off camera) as their butch lesbian leader watches. Making the scene even more unnerving is that not only does the biker chick look just like Mercedes McCambridge ... it is Mercedes McCambridge! The uncredited Oscar winner appears out of nowhere for this one sequence and is then never seen again.

Touch of Evil airs tomorrow on TCM at 8:00 PM EST; also, a two-disc 50th anniversary DVDwill be released October 7.

Dance 10, Plus 3

Thirteen new celebrities will take to the dance floor next month when Dancing With the Stars returns for a seventh season. The line up was officially announced on Good Morning America earlier today, but practically the whole line-up was leaked by gossip sites over the past few days. Among the contestants, notable names include:

• Lance Bass, pop star of N'Sync fame, he is the first openly gay celeb on the American DWTS (and no, he will be paired with a female partner, as it should be).
• Cloris Leachman, the 82-year-old Oscar winning dynamo and John Stamos stalker.
• Susan Lucci, Emmy Award winning queen diva of the soaps.
• Ted McGinley, the frequent sitcom star filling the Steve Guttenberg ubiquitous actor/punchline slot.

Rounding out the cast are Grammy winning chanteuse Toni Braxton, model/TV host Brooke Burke, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito and comedian Jeffrey Ross, plus three athletes ("World's Fastest Man" Maurice Greene, Olympic volleyballer Misty May-Treanor and Superbowl champ Warren Sapp), the show's youngest competitor Cody Linley (another Hannah Montana star) and sextape starlet Kim Kardashian.

The next round of Dancing With the Stars begins its three-night "premiere event" September 22 on ABC.

Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week: Deep Dish

The fellow peering out from over the book cover is Marc Harshbarger (a.k.a. Deep Dish), a talented writer, pop culture raconteur and brand new blogger from Chic-a-go-go, Illinois. And he is also this week's Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week!

From the groovy Starsky & Hutch picture on his profile to the sounds of the Partridge Family's greatest hits on his Playlist, Deep Dish had me at "Add to Friends". The fact that he named one of his cats Mr. Grant only further sealed the deal, not to mention our shared affinity toward the dramatic works of Mr. Gregory Harrison.

In addition to being the critically acclaimed author of the tasty slice of 70's nostalgia Deep Dishand its sequel Deeper Dish, Marc has also recently launched his own blog, also titled Deep Dish. There you will delight in such "groovy thoughts of a gay writer" as the cinematic greatness of Annie Hall to the vice presidential capabilities of Miss Lesley Gore, plus a chance to vote for your favorite bitches and beefcakes.

Aside from all that grooviness, Marc is an all-around swell guy and it is my extreme pleasure to introduce his talents to you!

And while you're over at the Dish's space, stop by The Official Movie Dearest MySpace Page to check out the latest Weekly Recap, including MySpace exclusive picture for all of last week's big stories!

Summer Under the Stars: Ingrid Bergman

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Ingrid Bergman - Stardates: Born August 29, 1915, Stockholm, Sweden; died 1982. Star Sign: Virgo. Star Qualities: Scandinavian radiance, soulful sincerity, shy yet sensual smile. Star definition: "When she walks on screen and says, 'Hello', people ask, 'Who wrote that wonderful line of dialogue?'" -- Leo McCarey. Galaxy of Characters: Ilsa Lund in Casablanca, Dr. Constance Petersen in Spellbound, Sister Mary Benedict in The Bells of St. Mary's, Alicia Huberman in Notorious.

With six quotes (more then any other movie) placing in the American Film Institute's top 100 list, you could say that Casablanca is the most quotable film in history. Or, in the case of Bergman's contribution to that title, the most misquoted.

Placing at number 28 on the AFI countdown (and as seen here), Bergman's Ilsa Lund asks Dooley Wilson's piano player to, "Play it Sam ... play 'As Time Goes By'." Later, Humphrey Bogart's Rick says, "You played it for her, you can play it for me!" In the collective moviegoing conscience of the day (long before television reruns and home video), these two lines morphed in to the common ... but incorrect ... quote "Play it again, Sam".

Casablanca airs tomorrow on TCM at 6:15 PM EST.

Dewd, Where's My Cowboy?

Because there just ain't enough Brokeback Mountain merchandise out there, here's a creative alternative: yup, you too can "Do the Dewd!" with Brokeback Mountain Dew.

The logo is available on T-shirts, hoodies, caps, aprons, mouse pads -- even baby and toddler tees! -- all starting at just $20.00 and available direct at T-ShirtHumor.com.

Reel Thoughts: Hell No

Do they do it on purpose? I mean, how easy are they making my job when they call a grueling, horrible biker road movie Hell Ride? “Yes, it was, but that was just watching it.” There, my review is over.

Not really. If I ended it there, you’d miss hearing about Joey Bishop’s son, Larry Bishop (who also wrote and directed), as Pistolero, a Sonny Bono look-alike who is inexplicably irresistible to the ladies. A word to the wise: don’t eat before seeing Hell Ride, or you’ll probably see your food flying back out of your mouth when you witness the “sexy talk” between Bishop and Leonor Varela, where every lame “fire fighter” variation is batted back and forth between the charisma-free pair. It’s along the lines of bad gay porno — “I wish you’d pull out your fire hose” sort of stuff — that goes on forever.

Much like the film, which is a dull biker take on the hoary old Western tale of one gang avenging the murder of their leader by a rival gang. Quentin Tarantino’s name above the title and the Grindhouse-ian trailer may fool you into thinking that Hell Ride is a campy take-off on classic exploitation movies, chock full of booze, boobs and blood. While it has all three, it’s not so much a parody as it is a really bad example of the genre, one that takes itself way too seriously.

You see, you’re actually supposed to care that on July 4, 1976 -- no symbolism there! -- the nasty Six-Six-Six bikers led by Vinnie Jones (who would have been eleven at the time) threw gasoline on a woman and set her on fire. That her name was Cherokee Kisum (Get it, “Kiss him?”) and that she held the key to a buried treasure that may or may not belong to hunky Eric Balfour is not interesting in the least. Sadly, what could have been a wild updating of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is instead some aging F-List actor’s combination wet dream and poor excuse for a Tarantino film.

Dennis Hopper, the king of easy riders, is reduced to an odd character with little or nothing to do, while Michael Madsen does what he can as The Gent. You have to feel for him -- he wears a frilly tux shirt that must have smelled pretty rank after a while, and has to ride a chopper that looks like a girl’s Huffy bike, minus the handle streamers. Any humor to be found in Hell Ride is purely unintentional, and sure to be stomped out by its sadistic violence and sad male wish fulfillment. At least they have the good sense to show Balfour’s chiseled torso every chance they can. But not even that can entice me to go on that woebegone Hell Ride again.

UPDATE: Hell Ride is now available onfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Tricky Dick Returns

"Excuse me, Mr. President ... do what to your finger?"
In this intriguing first look trailer, Frank Langella eerily channels Richard Nixon in Ron Howard's upcoming film version of Frost/Nixon. Adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) from his Tony Award nominated drama, the film reunites the play's West End and Broadway stars Langella (who won his third Tony for this role) and Michael Sheen. Sheen plays British talk show host David Frost, who landed the interview of the century with the post-Watergate Nixon.

Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt also star, along with Toby Jones (as legendary Hollywood dealmaker Swifty Lazar) and Patty McCormack (yes, The Bad Seed's Rhoda Penmark) as First Lady Pat Nixon. Frost/Nixon opens December 5.

Summer Under the Stars: Henry Fonda

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Henry Fonda - Stardates: Born May 16, 1905, Grand Island, Nebraska; died 1982. Star Sign: Taurus. Star Qualities: Absolute believability; haunting, slightly spooked face; personification of the American common man. Star definition: "He was a good character actor and a good actor in the American tradition of playing variations on oneself." -- Paul Newman. Galaxy of Characters: Prof. Tommy Turner in The Male Animal, Juror No. 8 in 12 Angry Men, William Russell in The Best Man, Frank Beardsley in Yours, Mine and Ours.

In The Best Man, the timely political drama penned by Gore Vidal (based on his Tony Award nominated play of the same name), Fonda stars as principled presidential candidate William Russell (the role that won Melvyn Douglas a Tony) and Cliff Robertson is Joe Cantwell, his opportunistic opponent. The two rivals are vying for the endorsement of ailing former President Art Hockstader (an Academy Award nominated Lee Tracy, recreating his Tony nominated role). Things get ugly when Russell's men dig up an old army buddy of Cantwell's who claims this GI Joe did a little "don't ask, don't tell" while stationed in Alaska during WWII.

An ironic bit of trivia for you: future President Ronald Reagan was rejected for a part in this film because of "not having the presidential look". Also, watch for an uncredited cameo by Vidal as a delegate.

The Best Man airs early Monday morning on TCM at 12:00 AM EST.

Grease 3 is the Word(s)

Call it art imitating life, call it an ironic twist of fate, or perhaps it's all just a bizarre coincidence, but as we here at Movie Dearest are in the midst of a poll asking you to vote for the next imaginary movie musical sequel, with one of the cheeky choices being Grease 3: High School Reunion, what does Paramount go and do? They announce plans for a Grease 3.

Seems a third visit to Rydell High is just one of many proposed direct-to-DVD sequels for the studio's "Famous Prods." (their abbreviation, not mine), a branch that will specialize in such, well, "prods." Other titles looking to be sequel-ized include Mean Girls, Road Trip, Bad News Bears and The Naked Gun, the latter two of which have already had plenty of follow-ups. The first title to be released will be Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling. (I'm with you, I had no idea what Without a Paddle was either before I looked it up, let alone why it would deserve a sequel.)

Naturally, if the plot for their Grease 3 is a high school reunion, then I expect full story credit, thank you very much.

UPDATE: Some more information revealed by Paramount Famous' Louis Feola, including possible plots, over at MTV.com.

Reel Thoughts: Barcelona Bound

Despite using the worst title of his career, Woody Allen has created a very smart, sexy comedy in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. He has also single-handedly restored Javier Bardem’s sex appeal after the Coen Brothers obliterated it with his Dorothy Hamill “short n’ sassy” hairdo in No Country For Old Men.

Basically, the film is about Americans Vicky (British Rebecca Hall, daughter of esteemed director Peter Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) who spend the summer in, you guessed it, Barcelona. They stay with expatriates Judy and Mark Nash (the sublime Patricia Clarkson and all-purpose schlub Kevin Dunn), who take them to an art gallery where Cristina falls for tortured artist José Antonio (Bardem). Later, he spies the girls in a restaurant and invites them to fly away with him (and make love with him, he proposes). Vicky is aghast, but Cristina instantly says yes, so off they go to the beautiful town of Oviedo.

Allen does a nice job of setting up our expectations that José Antonio is a pig and that Vicky is a prig, only to knock them down. José Antonio is deeper than he seems, having been deeply wounded, literally and figuratively, by his fiery ex-wife Maria Elena, played by Bardem’s ladylove Penélope Cruz. Of course, she must reappear, and boy, does she! Just as Cristina and José Antonio are setting up house, Maria Elena attempts suicide and must come live with them. Faster than you can say “Summer lovin’, had me a blast,” the three have formed an unconventional relationship that’s very European. Vicky, meanwhile, is struggling with her unresolved feelings for José Antonio, having fallen under his spell herself.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona features an intrusive narrator, who I came to appreciate, giving the film the feeling of a novel come to life. Woody Allen’s comic touch is on full display, even though he’s not, but what’s surprising is how unabashedly sexy the film is. Bardem is an effortlessly smoldering stud, and Cruz again proves that she really can act when not stuck in dreck like Gothika and Vanilla Sky. Johansson and Hall are both beautiful and give witty and rich performances as the two very different tourists, but they serve as the audience’s stand-ins, experiencing the magic of Barcelona as we wish we could. If you’re looking for a more mature date movie, I recommend you meet Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

UPDATE: Vicky Cristina Barcelona is now available on DVD and Blu-rayfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Out in Film: Todd Stephens

Idol worship: Todd Stephens, writer/director/ producer.

- He won an Outfest screenplay award for his first film, Edge of Seventeen (which he wrote and produced), one of the best coming out stories on film, not to mention a totally awesome 80's flashback for gays of a certain age.

- He made his directorial debut with Gypsy 83, about two misfit Stevie Nicks fans on the road to New York and self-discovery.

- Melding the burgeoning queer cinema market with the lowbrow antics of the American Pie movies, his Another Gay Movie was a raunchy, riotous send up of both genres.

- Taking that concept a step further (perhaps a step too far), his Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild invades theaters like a bad case of crabs this weekend. Watch the star-studded trailer here.

- In addition to writing, directing and producing, he also contributed songs to the soundtracks of Gypsy 83 and Another Gay Movie, including the peppy "Another Gay Sunshine Day", sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Summer Under the Stars: Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy - Stardates: Laurel: Born June 16, 1890, Ulverston, Cumbria, England; died 1965. Hardy: Born January 18, 1892, Harlem, Georgia; died 1957. Star Sign: Gemini / Capricorn. Star Qualities: The peerless comic rapport, the blend of visual and character-related comedy, the pure fun of their zany partnership. Star definition: "In 104 films they never ran out of comic ideas, insane invention, charming conceits." -- Garson Kanin. Galaxy of Characters: Stan and Ollie in The Music Box, Sons of the Desert, Way Out West, A Chump at Oxford.

Two men, one piano, one very steep hill: those are the simple ingredients for pure comic genius in The Music Box. At a brisk 29 minutes, the movie not only won the Academy Award (one of the first short subject Oscars, as a matter of fact), it packs in more laughs then most feature film comedies, well, ever since.

The Music Box, along with another Stan and Ollie classic, Sons of the Desert, airs tomorrow on TCM (at 8:00 PM EST) as part of their Essentials, Jr. program.

Reverend’s Reviews: Rock Me, Sexy Jesus!

Last month, I ranted and raved here against Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild, which begins opening across the country this weekend like a tasteless, insidious plague. If you should be powerless to resist the potent LGBT marketing force behind that alleged film and become ill as a result, there is an effective antidote now playing in theaters: Hamlet 2.

This goofy but intelligent, well-acted comedy won the Audience Award for Outstanding US Dramatic Feature at this summer’s Outfest, as well as the Audience Award for Outstanding Soundtrack.As in many of the best films that screened at this year’s festival -- including Newcastle, Ready? OK!, The New Twenty and Tru Loved -- the LGBT characters in Hamlet 2 are more integrated and incidental than front and center.

British comedian Steve Coogan (Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, Night at the Museum) plays Dana Marschz, a high school drama teacher in Tucson, Arizona (although the film was shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico). Unable to achieve success as a professional actor and similarly unable to impregnate his wife (a small part well played by the great Catherine Keener), who subsequently leaves him, Marschz is pushed over the edge when the school board decides to shut down the drama department.


In a desperate, last-ditch effort to save the department and his job, Marschz writes his theatrical magnum opus: Hamlet 2, an off-the-wall sequel to Shakespeare’s classic that adds profanity, psychotherapy and happy endings to the Bard’s tragedies. It also involves a time-traveling Jesus Christ, and features musical accompaniment by the Tucson Gay Men’s Chorus. As if that’s not enough to offend the sanctimonious school board, the students’ parents and a large number of townspeople, the show’s score includes such songs as "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" and "Raped in the Face", and there’s a homosexual kiss. High School Musical this ain’t!

As directed by out filmmaker Andrew Fleming (Threesome, Dick), who co-wrote the script with Pam Brady (South Park), the movie pushes the boundaries of good taste in parts but ultimately inspires. The climactic performance of Hamlet 2 is extremely well staged and unexpectedly moving. Shakespeare, Elisabeth Shue (playing herself) and "Sexy Jesus" provide just the redemptive tonic needed to recover from any unpleasant moviegoing experience.

UPDATE: Hamlet 2 is now available on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

The Latest in Theaters: The Late Summer Rush

What's this? It's the end of August, and we have no less then nine new movies opening this week, plus the return of an old favorite. Granted, most are in limited release, but there is still plenty to go around:

• Death Race: Jason Statham headlines Paul W.S. Anderson's gritty update of the Roger Corman cult classic Death Race 2000 (which was actually directed by Paul Bartel, of all people). Along with Ian McShane and Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen (again, of all people) co-stars as the villainous warden who sets this race in motion.
• The House Bunny: The always delightful Anna Faris stars as Shelley Darlingson, an over-the-hill (at 27) Playboy bunny who is banished from the mansion onto Sorority Row. Expect lots of makeover montages and heavy reminders of Legally Blonde (which was actually penned by the same screenwriters as this one), plus Hef and The Girls Next Door (one of Big Edie's favorite TV shows, by the by) in cameos.
• Hamlet 2: The comedy (directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler and Elisabeth Shue as Elisabeth Shue) we've all been waiting for is finally here; read all about it in Chris' review, to be posted shortly.
• The Rocker: On the other hand, here's the comedy we've all been dreading. Rainn Wilson, who apparently is gunning for the title of "the next Will Ferrell" with all that naked, pasty white guy flesh he's flashing about, stars in what sounds like a weak School of Rock rip-off. Saving grace: Christina Applegate (get well soon!) co-stars.
• The Longshots: Rocker-turned-director Fred Durst (of all people) helms and rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube stars in this inspirational true sports story about the first girl (played by Akkelah and the Bee's KeKe Palmer) to play Pop Warner football.
• I.O.U.S.A.: Wordplay director Patrick Creadon turns his documentary lens on the American national debt, a.k.a. Another Inconvenient Truth.
• I Served the King of England: From the author (Bohumil Hrabal) and director (Jirí Menzel) of the Czechoslovakian classic Closely Watched Trains comes another WWII-set story that is already garnering Oscar buzz for the Foreign Language category.
• Two very different gay-themed films open in limited release this weekend: the raunchy comedy Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild and the spooky thriller Cthulhu. Chris has already weighed in with his opinions on both of these, giving one very high marks, while the other ... not so much.
• And finally: Disney's Academy Award winning animated classic The Little Mermaid is swimming back onto the screen for special "Sing Along" screenings in New York, Chicago and San Francisco (at the landmark Castro Theater, no less). In addition to onscreen lyrics and "Under the Sea" goodie bags, there will be costume contests as well -- so dig out the fins, strap on that pair of seashells and win a prize!

To find out what films are playing in your area, visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!

Summer Under the Stars: Trevor Howard

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Trevor Howard - Stardates: Born September 29, 1913, Cliftonville, Kent, England; died 1998. Star Sign: Libra. Star Qualities: The modest good looks and restrained romanticism of an idealized Englishman; a gift for quiet understatement enlivened by touches of bravado. Star definition: "One of the greatest, and a lovely man with it." -- John Mills. Galaxy of Characters: Lt. David Baynes in I See a Dark Stranger, Major Calloway in The Third Man, Peter Willems in Outcast of the Islands, Captain Thompson in The Cockleshell Heroes.

In the post-war Vienna of Carol Reed's The Third Man, Howard plays Major Calloway, a British soldier with a steely resolve that is currently aimed at Orson Welles' slick racketeer Harry Lime. He knows that Joseph Cotten's otherwise clueless Holly Martins can lead him to his prey, but he is going to have to play him just right to convince Martins to give up his old friend.

So Calloway takes Martins to see Lime's handiwork at the local children's hospital. See, Lime has been diluting penicillin and reselling it, and the unlucky victims who have taken it now reside there. As Martins gazes into a cradle, a world-weary Calloway states, "It had meningitis. They gave it some of Lime's penicillin."

Yes, "it", not "he" or she" ... chilling.

The Third Man airs tomorrow on TCM at 10:00 PM EST.

Fantastic Four

A quartet of high profile forthcoming fantasy flicks have been making headlines over the past couple of days:

- Will we be able to watch the Watchmen after all? The Warner Bros. superhero epic (directed by 300's Zack Snyder) has found itself in a nasty legal scuffle; seems Twentieth Century Fox is claiming distribution rights to the property. No worries though, for (as Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen puts it), "Fox isn't actually interested in suppressing Snyder’s film — they just want affirmation of ownership and/or restitution, and there are many scenarios by which Fox could get paid, including a cash settlement or distribution rights to the film. Either way, look for Watchmen to be released, as scheduled, on March 6, 2009." Nevertheless, panicked fanboys are outraged over the whole thing, raising a ruckus the likes of which we haven't seen since, well, last week's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince release date fiasco.

- Speaking of which, Cinematical sits down and debunks all the myths/rumors surrounding that unexpected/ unpopular move, while star Daniel Radcliffe reportedly reveals that Broadway's Equus won't be the only time soon he'll be going the "full monty". Could we be seeing a lot more of Harry's, uh, "magic gifts" in the saga's final chapters, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

- Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law -- who all stepped in to complete Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus following the accidental death of Heath Ledger earlier this year -- will donate their salaries for the film to Heath's three-year-old daughter Matilda. Furthermore, despite the movie's newsworthiness and four A-list leading men, it appears that it may have trouble finding a studio to distribute it.

- And finally: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens (the Oscar winning screenwriters of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) will indeed be collaborating with Guillermo del Toro on the upcoming Hobbit prequels.

Reverend's Reviews: Creepshow

The works of the esteemed horror-fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) haven't translated well to film historically. The Dunwich Horror; Die, Monster, Die!; The Curse and Dagon are but a few woeful examples. Lovecraft's more psychological terrors tend to end up dramatically incoherent on the big screen, and his fanciful monsters have appeared immediately, laughably rubbery.

Finally, one Lovecraft-inspired movie has gotten it right. Cthulhu, which Regent Releasing is opening this Friday in LA and across the US throughout the fall, is everything the author's best stories are: creepy, cool and classy. What's more, screenwriter Grant Cogswell and director Daniel Gildark have given their thought-provoking adaptation of what is referred to as Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" a gay twist, which isn't inappropriate given long-standing rumors about Lovecraft's possible homosexuality (for a rather vehement denial of this, check out the H.P. Lovecraft Archive website).

When gay history professor Russ Marsh (a very good, nuanced performance by Jason Cottle) returns after a long absence to his Oregon coast hometown for his mother's funeral, he encounters several unexpected and potentially sinister forces. First is the apocalyptic religious cult led by his father, Reverend Marsh (Dennis Kleinsmith). Next is Russ's former crush and high school-era j.o. buddy Mike (Scott Patrick Green). Last, but not necessarily least, is the seductive Susan and her allegedly physically-disabled husband.

Susan is played by Tori Spelling, the biggest name in the cast. While I thoroughly enjoyed Spelling in the gay comedy Trick, I was skeptical of Cthulhu when I read she was in it. Lo and behold, she is very effective here in her small but significant dramatic role.


The aforementioned "Cthulhu Mythos" of H.P. Lovecraft and several other authors who further developed them generally deal with a number of "Old Ones," supernatural beings who ruled the world before humankind stamped them out. Ever since, they have been plotting their revenge on humanity and waiting for the right time to return.

Cthulhu, the movie, updates Lovecraft in at least two significant ways. Humans are shown unwittingly laying the groundwork for the Old Ones' return through our abuse of the environment. Gildark and Cogswell give their film an eerily prescient doomsday aura, with global temperatures rising dramatically and the oceans receding.

The other significant update is that Russ, the story's protagonist, is unapologetically gay. Long an embarassment to his father and others in the town, no one is more surprised than himself to be anointed the potential savior of the world. However, he could just as well become the Old Ones' pawn in re-establishing their reign. Not too give too much away, but Cthulhu ends on an ambiguous note that will likely disappoint some viewers. (Feel free to weigh in below with your comments.)

I'm very impressed by director Gildark, whose feature debut this is. He wisely suggests the more fantastic aspects of the source material and avoids the explicit representations that have sabotaged other Lovecraft-based movies. His use of limited light, particularly during a subterranean sequence, is masterfully frightening.

I am very choosy when it comes to recommending horror movies, and don't even consider the Saw (aside from the first one) and Hostel "torture porn" series that try to pass themselves off as such today. Cthulhu (watch the trailer here) is that increasingly rare combination of intelligence and technique that reminds audiences of the things we really ought to be afraid of.

UPDATE: Cthulhu is now available on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Women We Love: Margaret Cho

Object of our affection: Margaret Cho, actress/ comedian/writer/producer.

- From stand up stages and sitcoms to concert movies and cameo appearances, she is one seriously funny lady; audiences will get a peek into her "real life" in her faux reality show The Cho Show, premiering on VH1 tomorrow night.

- Early success as a comic (including opening for Jerry Seinfeld and an American Comedy Award) led to her own short-lived comedy series, All American Girl; it was the first US network series to feature an East Asian family. The tumultuous production and ultimate cancellation of that series led to her first one-woman show (and eventual concert feature), I'm the One That I Want.

- Her subsequent comedy tours -- Notorious C.H.O., CHO Revolution, and Margaret Cho: Assassin -- were also filmed and released theatrically. Other film roles include The Doom Generation, It's My Party, Face/Off and Bam Bam and Celeste, which she also wrote and produced.

- In addition to her many TV appearances on comedy specials and various talk shows, she has also appeared in such series as The Golden Palace, Red Shoe Diaries, The Nanny, Sex and the City, Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and Sordid Lives: The Series.

- Aside from her film and television work, she has written two books; starred in her own traveling burlesque variety show, The Sensuous Woman; founded her own clothing line; recorded six comedy albums; and is a tireless and outspoken advocate for GLBT rights, winning several awards her humanitarian efforts from such groups as GLAAD, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Summer Under the Stars: Ava Gardner

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Ava Gardner - Stardates: Born December 24, 1922, Grabtown, NC; died 1990. Star Sign: Capricorn. Star Qualities: Feline beauty, earthiness, suggestion of wildness beneath the glamour. Galaxy of Characters: Jean Ogilvie in The Hucksters, Victoria Jones in Bhowani Junction, Moira Davidson in On the Beach, Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana.

Tennessee Williams went south-of-the-border for his Tony Award nominated play The Night of the Iguana, which was turned into this Academy Award winning film directed by John Huston. Gardner played Maxine Faulk (a role originated on Broadway by Bette Davis), a lusty hotel owner who drops her two hot tamale boy toys when Richard Burton's defrocked Episcopal minister-turned-tour guide comes to Puerto Vallarta, bringing scandal with him.

Seems Burton has caught the eye of a vixenish Lolita (Sue Lyon, who played Kubrick's Lolita), and her jealous, repressed lesbian aunt Judith Fellows (Grayson Hall, in an Oscar nominated performance) is none too happy about it. Throw in Deborah Kerr as a chaste itinerant painter and Cyril Delevanti as her dying poet grandfather, and you have all the makings of a typical Williams melodrama. For proof, just watch the steamy trailer, which must have caused quite a stir back in 1964.

The Night of the Iguana airs early Friday on TCM at 12:30 AM EST.

Toon Talk: Teen Beat

Disney has long been in the business of cultivating young talent. Even in the very beginning, starting with Virginia Davis in the Alice comedies, Walt and company have had an eye for spotting that natural quality that sets apart a true child star from the typical Hollywood lot.

New discoveries, from Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten to Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber to Kevin "Moochie" Corcoran and the one and only Hayley Mills all benefited from their work in Disney films, even earning Oscars for Driscoll and Mills. And let’s not forget a certain two-time Academy Award winner to-be by the name of Jodie Foster.

The real star-making capabilities of the studio truly came into play when Disney entered into the then-new medium of television in the 1950’s. The Mickey Mouse Club alone produced such beloved stars as Tim Considine, Tommy Kirk, Darlene Gillespie and, most famous of all, Annette Funicello. Subsequent Club variations spawned the likes of TV stars Lisa Whelchel and Keri Russell, N’Sync-ers Justin Timberlake and J.C. Chasez, pop superstars Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears and future Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling.

In more recent years, Disney films have been the starting point for the careers of Lindsay Lohan and Anne Hathaway, while the Disney Channel launched such popular starlets as Hilary Duff and Raven-Symoné, not to mention Shia LaBeouf, Zac Efron and the whole High School Musical gang.

Which brings us to the latest teen sensations, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers; she is the star of Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel series about a regular girl who leads a double life as a rock star; the Jonas’ -- Joe, Kevin and Nick -- are a squeaky-clean pop trio who have released albums on the Disney-owned Hollywood Records label. And the four of them couldn’t be any more popular amongst the tween set of today if they tried.

With hit records, sold out concerts and highly-rated television appearances between the two acts, it is no surprise that the patented Disney synergy soon kicked in. Thus, Miley got her own concert movie, the cumbersomely titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,with “special guest stars” the Jonas Brothers. And, not to be outdone by the HSM crew, the Jonas boys got their own Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock.Both movies make their DVD debuts this week with heavily hyped "extended editions", just as their target audiences are heading back to school.

And here’s where I admit that, as a forty-year-old man, I am clearly not the audience for the likes of Miss Cyrus and the Misters Jonas. Before watching these two new DVDs, my exposure to them was limited, and not entirely unintentionally so; however, as a fan of the HSM films, I am not totally averse to the charms of the latest teen phenomenon. Having said that, neither of these projects comes close to the overall appeal of HSM in my eyes; in fact, after watching Miley and the boys, I have to wonder about the tastes, musical and otherwise, of the average tween these days.

Click here to continue reading this Toon Talk review at LaughingPlace.com.

The Latest in Theaters: Let's Get Delirium

As part of their new "Hot Ticket" project, which brings rock concerts, Broadway shows and premiere sporting events to your local movie house, Sony Pictures Releasing will be presenting Cirque du Soleil: Delirium in select theaters tomorrow through Saturday.

For more information, and to see what theaters in your area will be showing this special engagement, visit the "Hot Ticket" website, where you can also watch the Delirium trailer.

In related news, Broadway's Rent will be filmed tomorrow night for the next "Hot Ticket" event, which will also capture the final performance of that long-running musical hit September 7. The resulting film will be screened in theaters September 24 to 28.

Summer Under the Stars: Edward G. Robinson

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Edward G. Robinson - Stardates: Born December 12, 1893, Bucharest, Romania; died 1973. Star Sign: Sagittarius. Star Qualities: "Sour trombone" voice, ability to play ferocious or gentle, formidable talent that transcends physical appearance. Star definition: "Surely his record for versatility, studied characterization -- ranging from the modern colloquial to the classics -- and artistic integrity is unsurpassed." -- Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Galaxy of Characters: Rico in Little Caesar; Dr. Paul Ehrlich in Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, Johnny Rocco in Key Largo, Lancey Howard in The Cincinnati Kid.

In All My Sons, the 1948 film version of Arthur Miller's Tony Award winning play, Robinson plays Joe Keller, a factory owner whose past crimes come back to haunt him. Burt Lancaster co-stars as his son, Chris, who discovers that his father was responsible for the deaths of 21 soldiers during World War II due to the defective airplane parts he supplied to the military. The elder Keller had escaped prosecution by blaming his business partner, but the truth comes to light when Chris returns home intending to marry the daughter of his father's former partner, now imprisoned.

Even with the high profile of its source material and its two legendary leading men, All My Sons is one of those oddly under the radar stage-to-screen adaptations; it isn't even available on DVD. So tomorrow's TCM screening of the film (at 11:45 AM EST) is likely your only chance to see it prior to the play's star-studded return to Broadway next month; the revival reunites Footloose stars John Lithgow and Diane Wiest as man and wife once more. Patrick Wilson and Katie Holmes will also star as the younger couple.

The Latest on DVD: Word Up

Starring Jesse Archer and Charlie David, A Four Letter Wordis director Casper Andreas' latest gay rom com, out on DVD today.

For all about the Four Letter Word, check out Neil Cohen's interview with Andreas, right here at Movie Dearest.

Check out the Latest on DVD widgets located in the sidebar for more of this week's new DVD releases available today from Amazon.com.

Poster Post: Saved!

Save Me, the gay film fest fave about an "ex-gay" ministry starring Chad Allen, Robert Gant and Judith Light, will finally be released September 5.

Watch the trailer here.

Cinematic Crush: Lee Pace

Crush object: Lee Pace, actor.

- His amazing breakthrough performance as Calpernia Addams in the excellent Soldier's Girl earned him Golden Globe, Independent Spirit and Satellite Award nominations, plus a Gotham Award.

- He then co-starred in the cult TV fave Wonderfalls, created by Bryan Fuller.

- His innocent, slightly goofy charms are on ample display as Ned the Pie Man on the delightful, whimsical fantasy series Pushing Daisies(also created by Fuller); you can certainly see why a girl would come back from the dead for him. The role has earned him another Globe nomination, and he is up for an Emmy next month.

- At the movies, he can be seen in The White Countess, Infamous, The Fall, The Good Shepherd and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, available on DVDtomorrow.

- Next up: the long-awaited return of Pushing Daisies on October 1, plus the feature film thriller Possession, due January 9.

Summer Under the Stars: Barbara Stanwyck

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Barbara Stanwyck - Stardates: Born July 16, 1907, Brooklyn, New York; died 1990. Star Sign: Cancer. Star Qualities: "Bruised velvet" voice, Roman nose, impeccable poise contrasted with emotional volatility. Star definition: "I have never worked with an actress who was more cooperative, less temperamental and a better workman, to use my term of highest compliment." -- Cecil B. DeMille. Galaxy of Characters: Lulu Smith in Forbidden, Lily Powers in Baby Face, Thelma Jordan in The File on Thelma Jordan, Mae Doyle in Clash by Night.

Instead of Stanwyck's more familiar work in the screwball and noir genres, TCM is favoring the rare treasures found in her early, "pre-code" period this year. And there is no finer example of that racy, bygone era then Baby Face. In fact, this film was one of the prime reasons the Production Code became so powerful. In it, Stanwyck plays the sultry siren Lily Powers, a dame from the wrong side of the tracks who, quite literally, sleeps her way to the top. Nothing too scandalous about that in this day and age, but remember that this well-crafted melodrama came out in 1933. (Watch the steamy trailer here.)

For more on Baby Face and Stanwyck's other "Pre-Code" films, see this superb overview on the subject at TCM's Movie Morlocks blog.

Baby Face airs tomorrow on TCM at 3:15 PM EST.

Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week: B-Movie Babe

She's creepy, she's kooky, but not at all ooky ... she's the B-Movie Babe, and she's the latest Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week!

With leopard skin wallpaper and awe-inspiring collections of vintage movie posters and trashy trailers, hers is a space you want to hang out at if you too are a lover of the fine art of bad movies (bad movies we love, that is). Naturally, her heroes are John Waters and Russ Meyer, the patron saints of bad taste, and you gotta love a gal who loves Pee-Wee, Eraserhead and Glen ... or Glenda.

From biker flicks to splatter films, from blaxploitation to sexploitation, from "Space beyond space" to Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and beyond, B-Movie Babe celebrates them all. And that is what makes her this week's Movie Dearest MySpace Friend of the Week; as the Freaks would say, "Gooble gobble, gooble gobble ... One of us, one of us ... "

And while you're over at the Babe's space, stop by The Official Movie Dearest MySpace Page to check out the latest Weekly Recap, including MySpace exclusive picture for all of last week's big stories!

Darkness Calls

Three presidential candidates (two white, one black; two men, one woman -- sound familiar?) find themselves trapped in a mysterious room in the Twilight Zone-esque Inside Darkness, a provocative new short film from Mud Puddle Films and director Dominic DeLay, O.P.

For more information on Inside Darkness, visit the film's official website, where you can watch the trailer and purchase the DVD. Also, if you sign up in the members' area, you can view the first nine minutes of the film for free.

Summer Under the Stars: Jack Palance

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Jack Palance - Stardates: Born February 18, 1919, Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania; died 2006. Star Sign: Aquarius. Star Qualities: Hawklike face, intimidating eyes, steely commitment to his characters. Star definition: "He was a gifted man -- not just an actor, he was an artist, he was a poet." -- Singer/songwriter Jack Hannah. Galaxy of Characters: Slade in Man in the Attic, Charles Castle in The Big Knife, Lt. Joe Costa in Attack!, Chet Rollins in Monte Walsh.

In the trailer for Robert Aldrich's World War II epic Attack!, Palance's Lt. Costa is described as "a leader of men whose captain was a coward". Costa angrily confronts that captain (played to the blustery hilt by Eddie Albert) with this ultimatum: "You play the gutless wonder just once more and I lose men because of it, I'll come back and I'll get you Cooney ... I'll shove this grenade down your throat ... and pull the pin."

Lee Marvin also stars as Col. Bartlett, a "brass hat who played war like he played poker: hard and dirty!" The over-the-top titles go on to describe, B-movie style, what is actually a gritty war drama thusly, "This is war -- stripped of everything but TRUTH! The war story so HOT, no one dared film it till now!" Ah, they don't make trailers like they used to ... can you imagine Saving Private Ryan being promoted that way today?

Attack! airs tomorrow on TCM at 11:00 AM EST.

Film Art: One Froggy Evening

Moody concept art for Disney's eagerly awaited return to traditional animation, The Princess and the Frog (in theaters Christmas, 2009).

For more on the making of the film, see animation expert Rhett Wickham's extensive overview of the "dream cast" of animators working on the toon fairy tale in his latest article at LaughingPlace.com.

Summer Under the Stars: Gene Kelly

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Gene Kelly - Stardates: Born August 23, 1912, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; died 1996. Star Sign: Virgo. Star Qualities: Grace and masculinity in equal measures, cocky charm, endless enthusiasm. Star definition: "His career stands as an example for all of us how a performer can produce an unforgettable work of art." -- Mikhail Baryshnikov. Galaxy of Characters: Harry Palmer in For Me and My Gal, Gabey in On the Town, Jerry Mulligan in An American in Paris, Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain.

On the Town was not only Kelly's directorial debut (with co-director Stanley Donen), but it was also the first movie musical ever to be shot on location. And that location was, of course, "New York, New York".

The Big Apple is seen extensively in that opening number (belted out by Kelly and his fellow "sailors on leave", Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin), from the Statue of Liberty to Rockefeller Plaza to the Brooklyn Bridge ... and they see it all in the span of a three-minute song. As they say, "what a wonderful town" ... and a wonderful movie, too.

On the Town airs tomorrow on TCM at 8:00 PM EST as part of their Essentials, Jr. series.

Sonny Day

All kinds of Cheyenne Jackson news today: first up, the Xanadu star has been honored with his very own portrait at famous NYC eatery Tony Di Napoli's. The caricature of Cheyenne, in character as Sonny Malone in the hit musical, was unveiled at a special ceremony earlier this week attended by his Xanadu co-stars, including current muse Whoopi Goldberg. Broadway.com has a full photo gallery of the event.

Also at Broadway.com, Cheyenne is taking your questions for an exclusive online Q&A with his fans. If you have any burning questions for him, be sure to submit them by next Friday; his answers will be posted the following week.

And finally: here's a video clip of Cheyenne singing up a storm with the Sam Cooke classic "A Change is Gonna Come" at a recent benefit.

Out in Film: Andrew Fleming

Idol worship: Andrew Fleming, writer/director.

- This New York University Film School grad has had an eclectic career, switching back and forth between comedies and horror films.

- His film debut, Bad Dreams, was in the latter genre; he found cult success with his next foray into fright, The Craft, followed by the TV movie Paranormal Girl.

- Comedies include the queer-themed Threesome, the political satire Dick and the remake of The In-Laws.

- He also directed the recent Nancy Drew reboot and episodes of the television series Grosse Pointe and Arrested Development.

- His latest, the hotly anticipated Hamlet 2, opens in theaters a week from today.

Harry Potter and the Half-Assed Excuse

Smelling more dollar signs with a summer release, Warner Bros. has surprisingly shifted the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 21 of this year to July 17, 2009. If that date sounds familiar, it was the same one that the studio unleashed a little something called The Dark Knight this year. Surely, Warner doesn't think that the sixth Harry Potter could reach the same heights as the latest Bat-flick, currently on its way to become the second highest grossing film in history? Execs say the film is completed, so fans will now have to wait eight more months to see Half-Blood Prince thanks simply to studio greed. Nice.

Taking advantage of the switch, Disney is moving up their animated comedy, Bolt, from November 26 to November 21. Smart move, as the lack of a Potter-sized competition should help the toon, which is lagging in the buzz department (not surprising considering its lackluster trailer). As it stands now, Bolt will be the only fresh family friendly game in town come Thanksgiving.

On the other side of the situation, expect some shuffling of release dates of would-be blockbusters to get out of the way of the Hogwarts juggernaut, most notably Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost.

UPDATE: And the shuffle begins: Twilight -- a.k.a., "the next Harry Potter" (as its studio keeps trying to convince us) -- has claimed the November 21 spot left in the wake of the wizard's departure.

Summer Under the Stars: Fred Astaire

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Fred Astaire - Stardates: Born May 10, 1899, Omaha, Nebraska; died 1987. Star Sign: Taurus. Star Qualities: The fleetest of feet, lighter-than-air presence, guileless sophistication. Star definition: "The greatest dancer who ever lived -- greater than Nijinsky." -- Noël Coward. Galaxy of Characters: Fred Ayers in Flying Down to Rio, Jerry Travers in Top Hat, "Huck" Haines in Roberta, Don Hewes in Easter Parade.

As if the presence of frequent "sissy" players Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton and Erik Rhodes* all in the same movie wasn't enough to make it a little gay, Top Hat also has this famous scene (seen here in the trailer for The Celluloid Closet at the 1:20 mark) between the latter two. Rhodes (as Alberto Beddini, Ginger Rogers' devoted dressmaker) apologizes to Horton (a constantly befuddled Horace Hardwick) by kissing him on both cheeks, European style. Helen Broderick, as Mrs. Hardwick, looks on and quips, "Go right ahead, boys. Don't mind me."

Of course, Top Hat is much more then gay subtext; arguably the greatest of the Astaire/Rogers musicals, it features such classic song and dance sequences as "Isn't This a Lovely Day?", "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" and the legendary "Cheek to Cheek". Rogers' elaborate gown in the latter shed so many of its ostrich feathers during filming that Astaire took to calling her "Feathers".

Top Hat airs tomorrow on TCM at 10:00 PM EST.

* Note: Not this Erik Rhodes.

MD Poll: Once More With Feeling

A lot of heads were scratched upon the recent news of a sequel to last year's musical hit Hairspray. Most wondered, "A sequel? To a musical???"

Sure, musical sequels aren't as common as those to sci-fi flicks, fantasy epics and superhero sagas, but they are not totally unheard of, either. As far back as the 1930's, the studios were cranking out their Gold Digger and Broadway Melody series, and even Gentlemen Prefer Blondes begat Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (granted, all of these were sequels in name/theme only). In more recent decades, Funny Girl begat Funny Lady and Grease spawned Grease 2, not to mention the ever-burgeoning High School Musical franchise. And on stage, there has been the likes of Bring Back Birdie, Annie Warbucks, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public and, soon, Phantom: Once Upon Another Time.

So all this sequel talk got me to thinking: what other movie musicals have a "part 2" in them previously untapped? Could Roxie and Velma strut their stuff again for a Chicago 2? Would Babs return one more time for Funny Old Lady? How about a modern take on old classic -- Gold Diggers of 2008, starring Paris, Nicole, Lindsay and Britney? And would anyone want to see Grandma Mia!?

Place your tongue firmly in cheek and place your vote for the proposed movie musical sequel you would like to see in the MD Poll located in the sidebar. To see which II (or III) is tops, tune back here in two weeks.

UPDATE: This poll is now closed; click here for the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

MD Poll: Mame Shall Rise Again

It's official: we all love Lucy regardless, but we all wish that she didn't do Mame. The notorious box office disaster based on the classic Jerry Herman stage musical was voted the movie musical you would most like to see remade in the latest MD Poll. There were rumors of a TV remake -- starring Cher! -- a few years back, as well as a Broadway revival with Christine Baranski, but nothing has come of those plans as of yet.

Placing second in the poll was my proposed "more faithful" adaptation of Cabaret, followed by The Wiz, preferably with a Dorothy that is still in school rather then teaching at one.

See the comments section below for the full rundown, and stay tuned for another musical-themed MD Poll, to be posted shortly.

Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

The Latest in Theaters: Controversy Sells

As summer drags to an end and the fall Oscar bait season looms on the horizon, all of the sudden we have a batch of new releases ripe with controversies of varying degrees:

• Tropic Thunder: Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. star as a bunch of stars starring in a Platoon-like war movie that turns real. Surprisingly, the fact that Downey plays an actor who dyes his skin to play an African American character isn't what's causing all the ruckus.
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Woody Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson, is an American abroad in Spain who gets involved with the sexy Javier Bardem ... and his unstable ex-wife, Penélope Cruz. Steamy scenes include a rumored ménage a trois and a little lip lock for the leading ladies.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: A.k.a., the Star Wars movie nobody cares about; on top of all that disinterest, there is that stereotypical gay villain that we reported on two days ago.
• Mirrors: Remember that scene in Poltergeist where the guy tears his face off? Well, this one looks like the full-length version. Kiefer Sutherland stars in this familiar spookfest that does have a pretty gnarly red band trailer going for it (NSFW).
• A Girl Cut in Two: After that, don't worry about this one; the title is metaphorical ... I think. Claude Chabrol's latest thriller is about a woman torn between two lovers, one of whom is insane. (Watch the trailer here.)
• Henry Poole Is Here: Luke Wilson is the title underdog, seeking redemption when his last days alive are miraculously extended in this schmaltzy dramedy.
• Fly Me to the Moon: A trio of flies hitch a ride on Apollo 11 in this latest animated offering, which bills itself as the first made especially for 3-D. Whatever; it does boast a celeb-filled cast (surprise), including Tim Curry, Kelly Ripa, Nicollette Sheridan and Buzz Aldrin as "himself".
• And finally: Read all about the horror comedy Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (which looks like a worthy follow up in cult circles to Shaun of the Dead) in Chris' recent review.

To find out what films are playing in your area, visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!

Reverend's Reviews: Slay Ride

It is most appropriate that the horror-comedy Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is opening in Los Angeles and other cities a day after media reports that a carcass of the long-elusive Bigfoot has been found. The movie's title hero begins his journey toward a beast-killing vocation after his family members are killed by a Bigfoot-like creature.

While tongue-in-cheek in concept and execution, the film's tone is fairly serious as Jack (a game Trevor Matthews) confronts his childhood demons (which happen to be literal demons) and embraces his destiny. The impetus for his doing so is an evil spirit's possession of a local college professor (played while still human-ish by Robert Englund of "Freddy Krueger" fame). Soon, Jack's friends are becoming monster chow and the entire town is at risk of being devoured unless someone can take down the voracious creature.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (watch the trailer here) boasts some unusually high production values for a low-budget independent feature. The creature effects, music score, photography and art direction are all top-notch. A lot of fan-boy love on the parts of director Jon Knautz and his screenplay co-writer John Ainslie obviously went into the film's creation, and I recommend it to all fans of the monster-on-the-loose genre. Bigfoot and company, beware: there's a new sheriff in town!

UPDATE: Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is now available on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

That's Incredibles!

In news that seems at least three years late, Pixar is teaming up with Boom Studios to adapt their Oscar winning animated hit The Incredibles into a comic book. The series will take place shortly after the movie, and won't preclude any future sequels for the super-family.

In related news, the Disney / Pixar Ultimate Movie Collectionwill be released this Tuesday. All eight Pixar movies released on DVD to date -- Toy Story; A Bug's Life; Toy Story 2; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars and Ratatouille -- will be included.

Poster Post: Totally Bitchin'

Cinematical has a slew of retro cool Bitch Slap character posters up, including ones for "Deputy Fuchs", "Hot Wire and Kinki" and ... a couple of nuns? This movie is looking crazier and crazier ...

Bitch Slap opens January 15.

Summer Under the Stars: Rita Hayworth

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Rita Hayworth - Stardates: Born October 17, 1918, Brooklyn, New York; died 1987. Star Sign: Libra. Star Qualities: Flowing red hair, delicious smile, spectacular dancing skills. Star definition: "Delightful to work with. One of the top feminine stars." -- Fred Astaire. Galaxy of Characters: Sheila Winthrop in You'll Never Get Rich, Gilda Mundson Farrell in Gilda, Terpischore/Kitty Pendleton in Down to Earth, Chris Emery in Affair in Trinidad.

As we have already discussed the "celluloid closet" aspects of the male characters in Gilda, we are going to take a look at the film's leading lady, specifically two defining moments that make Gilda Hayworth's most enduring role.

The first is, appropriately, her first appearance in the movie. She literally pops up from the bottom of the screen, her luxurious mane falling back perfectly in to place, her gorgeous face literally glowing. "Me?" she asks, as if answering everyone's silent query, "Have I just laid eyes on the most beautiful creature in the world?" And how.

Next up is Hayworth's show-stopping performance of "Put the Blame on Mame", quite possibly the sexiest musical number ever committed to film ... even with only the removal of her gloves. Although the image of Gilda slinking through the song is all Hayworth, the vocals were supplied by Anita Ellis, who would go on to similar duties in Hayworth's future films Down to Earth, The Loves of Carmen (both also airing tomorrow) and The Lady from Shanghai.

Gilda airs tomorrow on TCM at 9:45 PM EST.

Maid for Television

I bet you wake up every day of your life and wonder, "Gee, why don't they make a TV show out of that delightful Jennifer Lopez movie Maid in Manhattan?" Well, if that is the case, then your dreams are coming true.

The show, currently in development at ABC, will ditch the romancing the rich guy plot of the film and focus on the main character's work life. Read between the lines a bit and it is easy to see they are going for the whole Ugly Betty/young-Latina-making-her-way-in-the-Big-Apple vibe. Which means, considering the lack of diversity seen on television these days, this could be a good idea after all.

Also of note in the Hollywood Reporter article linked above: ABC is also working on a small screen version of The Witches of Eastwick. Now that sounds interesting ...

Transporter: More Than Meets the Eye

One thing that makes Jason Statham movies in general and the Transporter movies in particular a kick to watch is the ever-more creative ways in which they manage to get their hero's shirt off of him.

Case in point: the new teaser trailer for the upcoming Transporter 3 (in theaters November 26); watch closely and you'll see some random bad guy use what appears to be a pirate sword to relieve the brawny Statham of his constricting upper garment. Well, whatever gets the job done ...

Reverend's Reviews: XXY Marks the Spot

We've all experienced confusion and isolation at times in the process of coming to terms with our queer sexuality. Imagine, though, being born intersex; that is, having both male and female sexual organs. While rare, it can and does happen, and adds the uniquely individual challenge of having to decided whether one's identity is primarily a man, a woman, or something else entirely.

XXY, being released by Film Movement this Friday at the NuArt Theater in Los Angeles and on DVDOctober 14, is one of the first films to address this experience. It is extraordinary, both in its story and in execution. It was Argentina's official entry in the 2008 Academy Awards and has won major awards at numerous film festivals including, most recently, Outfest, where it snagged the Grand Jury award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature. (Watch the NSFW trailer here.)

Based on a short story, Cinismo, by Argentinian writer Sergio Bizzio, XXY explores the experience of Alex (a difficult role well-played by actress Ines Efron). To all appearances an ordinary teenaged girl (while clothed, anyway), Alex and her loving parents live unassumedly in a small fishing village on the Uruguayan coast. Tensions unexpectedly enter the picture when the parents' friends arrive for a visit from Buenos Aires, with their 16-year-old son Alvaro (an impressive performance by Martin Piroyanski) in tow. Alex and Alvaro become attracted to each other and Alex's physiological secret is inadvertently revealed.

How Alvaro, the parents, their fellow villagers and, most importantly, Alex react to this revelation becomes the film's main focus. Screenwriter-director Lucia Puenzo depicts Alex's plight sensitively and without "shock" tactics. Natasha Braier's shadowy cinematography is exceptional, as is the mostly-guitar score by Andres Goldstein and Daniel Tarrab.

Puenzo notes in her director's statement, "I was surprised to see there are almost no stories on this subject, there's a strange cultural silence over it." Thankfully, she and her brave cast have broken that silence. Intersex persons and world cinema can only benefit as a result.

UPDATE: XXY is now avalable on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Women We Love: Shirley Temple

Object of our affection: Shirley Temple, actress/ singer/dancer.

- The curly-topped, pint-sized dynamo was the number one box office star for three years running ... starting at the age of 8. She was honored in 1934 by the Academy Awards for her contributions to film with a miniature Oscar, and has also received lifetime achievement awards from the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild.

- America's sweetheart won over Depression era audiences with her irristable charms, spunky characters and show-stopping dancing in Little Miss Marker, Baby Take a Bow, Bright Eyes, The Little Colonel, Curly Top, The Littlest Rebel, Captain January, Poor Little Rich Girl, Heidi, Little Miss Broadway, The Little Princess and The Blue Bird.

- Her golden touch extended to music as well, turning such tunes as "On the Good Ship Lollipop", "Animal Crackers in My Soup" and "At the Codfish Ball" into eternal childhood standards.

- As she grew from perky moppet into a confident teen, she continued to appear in such movies as Since You Went Away, I'll Be Seeing You, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, That Hagen Girl, Fort Apache, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College and The Story of Seabiscuit.

- Adulthood came and she put Hollywood behind her, becoming Shirley Temple Black, United States Ambassador and United Nations delegate. But Hollywood -- and the world -- has never forgotten her; next week, the Academy will celebrate her 80th birthday year with premiere screenings of new restorations of two of her biggest hits, Wee Willie Winkie and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

First Look: Shrek Lives

Brian d'Arcy James gets all ogred up as the star of Shrek the Musical, making its world premiere in Seattle tomorrow night in preparation for its Broadway debut in November.

Son of a Beach

The summer's almost over and we haven't yet gone to the beach ... Beach Blanket Bingo, that is. Oh wait, make that Beach Blanket ... Ebola???

Summer Under the Stars: Greer Garson

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Greer Garson - Stardates: Born September 29, 1904, London, England; died 1996. Star Sign: Libra. Star Qualities: Glorious red hair, starchy "perfect lady" image with reserves of humor and passion. Star definition: "There are actors who work in movies. And then there are movie stars. She was a movie star." -- Teresa Wright. Galaxy of Characters: Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, Edna Kahly Gladney in Blossoms in the Dust, Mrs. Miniver in Mrs. Miniver, Paula in Random Harvest.

If you are into swooningly romantic, old fashioned, tear-jerking melodramas (and, really, who isn't?) then you would be hard pressed to find one more satisfying then Random Harvest. Ronald Colman stars as a shell-shocked soldier suffering from amnesia who meets Garson's kind-hearted music hall singer. Naturally, he falls in love with her (who wouldn't), they marry and have a child. Their blissful happiness is jeopardized though when, while away on business, he regains all his memory -- all, that is, except for the time he knew her.

Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Colman, Garson was not nominated ... but won anyway for her other film that year, BP champ Mrs. Miniver (also airing tomorrow).

Random Harvest airs tomorrow on TCM at 10:00 PM EST.

Come On, Get Happy

You gotta love a movie whose main character is named "Poppy". Happy-Go-Lucky is that movie, and it just may be this year's indie darling when it comes to Academy Awards time.

Unlike its predecessors Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, however, this comedy-drama (watch the trailer here) has a little bit more going for it, namely the five previous Oscar nominations of its writer/director, Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake). If anything, Poppy herself -- Sally Hawkins -- looks poised for a possible Best Actress nod; she already won the Silver Bear at the last Berlin International Film Festival.

Happy-Go-Lucky opens stateside October 10.

Poster Post: Stud Trek

Here are the second set of new Star Trek posters (which were handed out at the big VegasCon this past weekend) showing off the rest of the guys from the Starship Enterprise. Like the first batch, these four line up with each other to create the familiar Federation emblem, which means you can mix and match all eight of them if you so desire.

The images are also now available for download on the official Trek website.

Clone Wars' Ziro Appeal

As if there wasn't enough to turn you off about this Friday's Star Wars: The Clone Wars, now MTV.com is reporting that the computer animated feature introduces a lavender-hued, cross-dressing alien slug that talks like Truman Capote.

Ziro the Hutt, uncle of Jabba the Hutt, is "a new character introduced specifically for the upcoming (Cartoon Network) animated series ... a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison." Furthermore, it was all George Lucas' idea.

Lucas lackey/Clone Wars director Dave Filoni then goes on to insist that Ziro is not gay, but "biologically asexual". Oh sure, I can just hear all the kids who see this flamboyant character say, "he's so biologically asexual".

Note: MTV.com spells the character's name "Zero the Hutt", but it is listed as "Ziro the Hutt" on both Imdb.com and Wookieepedia.

Summer Under the Stars: Peter Lorre

Movie Dearest continues our daily previews of Turner Classic Movies' month long "Summer Under the Stars" celebration:

Now Playing Star Profile for Peter Lorre - Stardates: Born June 26, 1904, Rózsahegy, Hungary; died 1964. Star Sign: Cancer. Star Qualities: Huge, expressive eyes; silken voice; equal panache in projecting humor or menace. Star definition: "One of the finest and most subtle actors I ever worked with." -- John Huston. Galaxy of Characters: Doctor Gogol in Mad Love, Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon, Dr. Herman Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace, Cornelius Leyden in The Mask of Dimitrios.

Maltese Falcon author Dashiell Hammett didn't mince words when it came to describing the character of Joel Cairo: "This guy's queer". Of course, the classic film version, starring Lorre as Cairo, could not be so blatant in the Code restricted Hollywood of 1941. Instead, some subtle devices were used to get the idea across to savvy audiences of the day, such as Cairo's gardenia-scented calling cards and handkerchiefs. He also becomes hysterical when blood gets on his shirt and even makes "fellating gestures" with his cane. Okay, that last one isn't quite so subtle, at least nowadays.

The Maltese Falcon, which was John Huston's first film as a director and also stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and the Oscar nominated Sydney Greenstreet as the "Fat Man", airs tomorrow on TCM at 10:30 PM EST.

Conversation Starter

Hoping to strike period gold once more, AMC is looking to adapt Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation into a television series.

Like their current critical darling and Emmy magnate Mad Men, the AMC series would be set in the not-too-distant past, in this case, the 1970's. The original Academy Award nominated classic of paranoia and wire-tapping starred Gene Hackman as electronic surveillance expert Harry Caul, whose job gets him tangled up in moral quandaries and murder plots.

Oscar winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspect) will be working on the script; no schedule or casting has been announced at this time.

Hackford Goes to Tenn

Perhaps I spoke to soon; the recent announcement that Taylor Hackford will helm a film about the life of legendary playwright Tennessee Williams officially confirms that gay biopics are indeed all the rage.

Hackford (who received an Academy Award nomination for directing the Ray Charles bio Ray) will direct Tenn, a look at the "formative years of playwright Tennessee Williams, whose dysfunctional family life fueled some of his most acclaimed stage works". Williams' legacy includes such stage and screen classics as A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly Last Summer, all of which use gay subject matter to fan the flames of their scandalous plots.

Producer Michael Ohoven likens the script to his other gay biopic, Capote. Like that Truman Capote bio, Tenn will rely heavily on whoever is cast in the leading role. Actors should be falling over themselves to get a crack at the complex and fascinating Williams, even more so considering the track record of Tenn's makers -- both Jamie Foxx and Philip Seymour Hoffman won Oscars for their respective films. All I have to say is, "Peter Sarsgaard, get your agent on the line now".

The Latest on DVD: Mulan Ruse

What with all the nonsensical hoopla over Southern Baptist boycotts and so-called "subliminal imagery" in their cartoon empire, it is compelling to note that Disney's most subversive animated feature, Mulan, slipped past with nary a scandal.

Set in ancient China, Mulan is a tomboy who doesn't go for all that girly stuff she is supposed to, like marriage (at one point she even claims, "I never want to see a naked man again"). The first chance she gets, she chops off her hair, dresses up like a man and joins the Imperial Army (don't ask, don't tell); or, as her dragon sidekick Mushu puts it, "Miss Man decides to take her little drag show on the road".

While training how to "be a man", Mulan struggles to hide her femininity while in her male disguise, "Ping", but the stern and studly -- and frequently shirtless -- Captain Shang (voiced by B.D. Wong) always has his eye on "him". Watch closely, and you'll clearly see that Shang starts falling for Mulan when she is "Ping"; how very Victor/Victoria.

And that's not even mentioning the film's other cross-dressing moment, when Mulan's army buddies don geisha gear for the final battle; one is even voiced by Harvey Fierstein (who, as we all know, knows his drag). Plus, George Takei chimes in as well. With a cast like that and its frequent blurring of gender lines, Mulan is clearly Disney's queerest toon yet.

For more on Mulan, read my Toon Talk reviews of the Mulan: Special Edition DVD and its direct-to-video sequel Mulan II at LaughingPlace.com. Both films are available today as a DVD box set.

Check out the Latest on DVD widgets located in the sidebar for more of this week's new DVD releases available today from Amazon.com.

Cinematic Crush: Dennis Quaid

Crush object: Dennis Quaid, actor.

- Following his break out in Breaking Away, he has continued to bring his easy-going charm and chiseled good looks to the silver screen, most recently in Smart People,available on DVD tomorrow.

- He has played a surprising number of real people on the screen, including Ed Miller in The Long Riders, Gordon Cooper in The Right Stuff, Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire!, Doc Holiday in Wyatt Earp, Jimmy Morris in The Rookie and Sam Houston in The Alamo.

- In addition to biopics, his films include everything from science fiction (Enemy Mine, Innerspace) to pseudo-noir (The Big Easy, D.O.A.) to mysteries (Suspect, Flesh and Bone) to football sagas (Everybody's All-American, Any Given Sunday) to chick flicks (Postcards from the Edge, Something to Talk About) to fantasies (Dragonheart, Frequency) to family friendly fare (The Parent Trap; Yours, Mine and Ours) to ensemble dramas (Traffic, Vantage Point) to disaster epics (The Day After Tomorrow, Flight of the Phoenix) to at least one 3-D sequel about a man-eating shark (Jaws 3-D).

- Arguably his greatest performance was as Frank Whitaker, the closeted husband at the center of all the drama in Todd Haynes' Sirkian tour de force Far from Heaven. He won four critics' awards and a Golden Globe nomination, but, in a gross oversight, no Oscar nod.

- Next up in his busy schedule: another sports bio (The Express), mystery thriller (The Horsemen), disaster movie (Legion), sci-fi adventure (Pandorum) and his first real foray into a franchise films, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.

Lost Psycho Footage Found

Firstly, this isn't a joke like last time.

Seems some rare extended footage of Alfred Hitchcock's landmark Psycho has surfaced on German television, of all places. Apparently, they have been airing the "pre-censored" cut of the classic, with more skin and blood deemed too scandalous for audiences at the time of the film's original release in 1960.

It is unknown at this time if Universal will be able to include this newly rediscovered footage for their upcoming Psycho Special Edition DVD,due October 7.

Dead Men Do Wear Plaid

The silver screen will soon be a little plaid: Forever Plaid, the worldwide hit musical review that first found life Off-Broadway in 1990, is now a movie. A live performance of the nostalgic tuner (about a clean cut 50's boy band who, following a tragic tour bus accident, are given one more chance to perform on Earth) was recently filmed by its creator, Stuart Ross, in preparation for a future theatrical release. David Hyde Pierce co-stars as the "celestial emcee".

Personifying the close-harmony sounds of such groups as The Four Aces, The Plaids (Sparky, Jinx, Smudge and Frankie) croon such standards as "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Heart and Soul", "Chain Gang" and "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing". Several Forever Plaid cast albumsare available, including the Christmas-themed sequel, Holiday in Plaid.