Ernst Lubitsch movies: Subtle, sophisticated ‘Touch’ all but gone from contemporary filmmaking. Ernst Lubitsch movies: The forgotten, passé ‘Touch’ Ernst Lubitsch and William Cameron Menzies were Turner Classic Movies’ “stars” on Jan. 28, ’16. (This is a fully revised and expanded version of a post…
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David Bowie movies: The former Ziggy Stardust in ‘The Hunger.’ David Bowie movies: Iconic singer memorable as fast-aging vampire + Nikola Tesla Singer and sometime actor David Bowie, one of the iconic figures of the English-language music scene of the second half of the 20th…
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Michel Galabru and Louis de Funès in the comedy ‘Le gendarme et les gendarmettes’: No ‘affection’ for his movies. ‘La Cage aux Folles’ actor Michel Galabru dead at 93: Embodiment of ‘traditional family values’ in international box office hit Michel Galabru, best known internationally for…
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Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond: Final Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder collaboration. Publication of Charles Brackett diaries quashes gay rumors and reveals screenwriter-producer’s troubled relationship with his more famous partner, Billy Wilder. The Charles Brackett Diaries: Gay rumors quashed & troubled Billy…
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Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Billy Wilder screenwriting partner (1936–1949), producer (1945–1949) and Hollywood diarist. Q&A with ‘Charles Brackett Diaries’ editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder’s screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics…
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“Eye of the Tiger” band Survivor: Lawsuit against a couple of radical Christians. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ band Survivor sues radical Christian county clerk & far-right U.S. presidential candidate The band Survivor, whose song “Eye of the Tiger” underlined the critical dud (but box office…
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Douglas Fairbanks Jr.: Although never as big a name as his father, Jr. did succeed in attaining Hollywood stardom. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s…
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Joan Crawford. Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her craft, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever…
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Robert Walker: Actor played box-next-door types in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1940s and was at his best as the gay psychopathic murderer in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller Strangers on a Train. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I’ve always…
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Lord Montagu documentary. ‘Lord Montagu’ documentary: Anti-gay witch hunt victim became successful entrepreneur and National Motor Museum founder On first blush, the life of a Lord of the Realm, a Peer to the English monarchy, a child born with an actual silver spoon in his…
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JFK movie with Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison. ‘JFK’ assassination movie: Gripping political drama gives added meaning to ‘Rewriting History’ If it’s an Oliver Stone film, it must be bombastic, sentimental, clunky, and controversial. With the exception of “clunky,” JFK is all of the above.…
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Marc Allégret: André Gide lover, all-around starmaker and the initial driving force behind the film career of Simone Simon. Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (See previous post: “Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.”) Simone Simon became a film…
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Neil Patrick Harris. Neil Patrick Harris to host Oscar 2015 ceremony Stage, film, and television actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the 2015 Oscars, a.k.a. the 87th Academy Awards ceremony, Oscarcast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today, Oct. 15, ’14. This will be…
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Whiplash movie with J.K. Simmons. ‘Whiplash’ movie review: ‘Emotionally explosive film’ Damien Chazelle, writer and director of Whiplash, his 2014 Sundance Film Festival-winning second feature, is himself a musical prodigy of sorts. He attended the sort of prestigious musical conservatory his protagonist – played by…
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The Way He Looks movie: Ghilherme Lobo and Fábio Audi. ‘The Way He Looks’ movie: Gay teen love story is Brazil’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission In mid-September 2014, The Way He Looks / Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho was selected as Brazil’s entry…
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Love Is Strange with John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. ‘Love Is Strange’ movie review: Gay romantic drama ‘beautiful in every way’ Love Is Strange is beautiful in every way that a film can be beautiful, and unabashedly so. Yet, despite its willingness to gild the…