Showbiz: Norma's Win, Gwyneth's Breakthrough, and Sam Rockwell's 50th

10 random things that happened on this day (Nov 5th) in showbiz history...

1930 The 3rd annual Academy Awards are held for films released between August 1, 1929, and July 31, 1930... they hadn't yet settled on the easier full calender year system. The anti-war masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front took Best Picture and Norma Shearer, the First Lady of MGM, won Best Actress for scandalous pre-code classic The Divorcée (which you really should see).

1935 Parker Brothers launches board game classic "Monopoly". Remember when Ridley Scott was going to do a movie version? That was so weird...

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Showbiz History: Actress Stamps, Beyoncé's Debut, and Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

10 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history

1775 The US Postal System is created. Are there any great movies about mailmen? I'm drawing a blank. Do not say The Postman.

The first movie actress to get a postage stamp would be Ethel Barrymore but she had to share it with her brothers Lionel and John! Grace Kelly was (I believe) the first movie star to get a solo postage stamp. Since that time (in 1993) we've had: Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Zasu Pitts, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Hattie McDaniel, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, and Shirley Temple. Who is next? Any guesses?

More after the jump including Mr Julie Andrews, Pee Wee Herman, and Cate Blanchett...

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Showbiz History: Dutch Men, Dark Knights, and Queen Bitches

We need escapism now more than ever so on this July 18th let's looks back into history for easier things to think about then the here and now.

Verhoeven on the set of "Showgirls"

10 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history...

1938 Infamous Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) born on this day. Elle, his most recent feature, might be hard to top as late career provocations go but the 80 year-old master will certainly try with his next, Benedetta, a 17th century lesbian nuns drama starring Charlotte Rampling. The film is due in 2019.

1967 Mark Vincent Sinclair born in New York City. He later becomes Vin Diesel... 

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1994 Revisits: "True Lies"

by Ben Miller

Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been much of an actor.  Instead he's a presence, an ideal; square-jawed, charismatic, with muscles on top of muscles.  But, his biggest advantage is how aware he is of his own ridiculousness. His job is to do competent action and spout a cheesy one-liner with the bravado necessary to sell it.  His greatest critical successes have leaned into these innate strengths. When paired with a good director and solid co-stars, his films work.

Everything came together with True Lies in 1994.  Director James Cameron was riding high after T2: Judgment Day made all the money a movie could make in 1991.  He originally entertained the idea of a Spider-Man movie starring Michael Biehn, but couldn’t make it work with 1994 technology.  Instead, he went with True Lies...

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Four Better Ways to Spend Avatar's Billion Dollar Budget

By Ilich Mejia

Avatar 2 just began production after it was announced that the saga's four upcoming sequels (filming back-to-back) will have an alleged combined budget of $1 billion. For those of you too pretty to be bothered by mental math, that's an estimated $250 million per sequel. Very good news for the realtor finalizing the purchase of Sigourney Weaver's next vacation home; less good for our over-stuffed "sequels no one needs" file.

To be fair, $250 million doesn't come close to matching the fourth installment no one wanted of the Pirates of the Caribbean series' ($370 million budget), but it is still two handfuls of zeroes (if—for whatever reason—you are missing a pinky) for movies that will come out in the next eight years. 

In an effort that could willingly be misinterpreted as a cry against the threat of capitalism, we have come up with four more pressing ways to spend someone else's money. Come disagree!

01. $250 MILLION for the Crazy Rich Asians press tour + sequels

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