Clone Wars Tomorrow Begins, It Does

Well, if this summer's movie didn't turn you off the "galaxy far, far away", then perhaps you'll be interested in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, premiering on Cartoon Network tomorrow night. No word if the Capote-esque Ziro the Hutt will be making a return appearance.

Terror, Aisle 13

The That's Entertainment! of horror movies, Terror in the Aisles was a 1984 clip job that collected the best of the genre into one gory, scary fright fest. Hosted by Halloween icon Donald Pleasence and Dressed to Kill scream queen Nancy Allen, the documentary included scenes from such classics as Bride of Frankenstein, Psycho, Rosemary's Baby, Night of the Living Dead, The Exorcist, Jaws, Carrie, Alien, The Shining, Poltergeist and many, many more. (The film's absence from DVD is likely due to the rights for all those clips.)

And although my selective memory had chose to forget it until Kindertrauma reminded me, it also included this wacky "only in the 80's" musical montage set to the tune of the original song "They're Not Very Nice" (the Oscars missed a winner when they passed this one by).

Unlike that song, my most vivid memory of Terror in the Aisles occurred after seeing it in the theater (I was 16 at the time). The friend I had seen it with and I were walking home after the evening screening, and our route took us over a bridge that spanned a local park. About halfway across, we glanced back and saw a man following us. Paying no mind to him, we continued on, only to look back a minute or so later ... and the man was gone. If he had turned around to walk back the other way, we still would have seen him, and he couldn't have jumped off the bridge without being severely injured at that height, let alone without a sound. He had completely disappeared! Needless to say, Donald Pleasence's repeated mantra from the film -- "It's only a movie" -- did us no favors in this particular situation. We made it home in no time.

Women We Love: Carole Lombard

Object of our affection: Carole Lombard, actress.

- One of the Queens of the Golden Age of Hollywood, she ironically made her film debut as a tomboy in the 1921 silent A Perfect Crime. She also had an uncredited bit role in the original Ben-Hur.

- With High Voltage, she made a smooth transition into talkies and became a popular star in her on right. Her big break came when Howard Hawks (her second cousin) cast her opposite John Barrymore in Twentieth Century, proving she could act with the best of them.

- She received her one and only Academy Award nomination for the classic screwball comedy My Man Godfrey, opposite her then ex-husband William Powell. Another beloved romantic comedy, Nothing Sacred, followed. It was her only film made in Technicolor.

- After unsuccessfully campaigning for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (which starred her new husband, Clark Gable; the two had met while filming No Man of Her Own), she starred in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Alfred Hitchcock's one foray into outright comedy) and, in what would tragically be her last film, Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be. While returning to California following a war bond rally in 1942, the plane she and her mother were traveling in crashed outside of Las Vegas; there were no survivors.

- In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her 23rd on their list of the 25 greatest American female screen legends. To this day, she continues to dazzle movie fans of all ages, and she will be honored as this month's "Star of the Month" on Turner Classic Movies. Eighteen of her movies will be screened every Monday in October, including the titles in bold above.

Shrek in Trouble, Billy on Broadway & Simba in Vegas

It seems that all is not rosy in Far, Far Away. Following its Seattle run and prior to its Broadway bow November 8, Shrek the Musical will undergo some casting changes. As Donkey, Chester Gregory is out, replaced by recent Tony Award nominee Daniel Breaker (Passing Strange), while the Dragon has been "reconceived" as a chorus role. As a result, Kecia Lewis-Evans has left the production. Furthermore, rumor has it that a "show doctor" is in the house, not always a good sign for a show this big. The official opening date, December 14, will reportedly not be effected by these changes.

In other From Screen to Stage news of the day, Billy Elliot lands on Broadway tonight as it begins previews in preparation for its November 13 opening. As he did with the classic movie, Stephen Daldry directs, with music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. Playbill.com has an extensive article on the making of the musical.

And The Lion King will go where no other Disney show has gone before: Las Vegas. The Tony Award winning toon tuner, which will not be trimmed down like most Broadway transplants to Sin City, will begin April 20 (followed by a May 2 opening) at the Mandalay Bay, current home of Mamma Mia! The ABBA musical wraps up its six year run January 4.