The Best of Cloris Leachman (1926-2021)

by Nathaniel R

We've lost one of the true greats. The one and only Cloris Leachman has died at 94 years of age of natural causes. The showbiz bug hit early, as it often does with plays as a teenager and by the time she was 20 in 1946 she was a Miss America contestant. Her career developed slowly as many truly enduring careers do, with numerous small roles in film and television (and some large ones onstage) before the big breakthrough. That breakthrough was a double whammy, as befits hard-working but late-breaking fame. In short succession she made a huge impression as Phyllis the landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970/1971 first season and in October 1971 she was also on the big screen, flexing very different acting chops, in the soon to be Oscar-winning classic, The Last Picture Show (1971).  

Though she is best remembered today for television sitcoms which she did on and off throughout her career, she was an actress of verve and versatility...

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Over & Overs: Young Frankenstein (1974)

by Ginny O'Keefe

When you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to 
Why don’t you go where passion sits
PUTTINNNONDAREEEEEEEEEZ

In these dark times we are living in, it’s good to have a little escapism. Even if it only lasts an hour and forty-six minutes. And nothing puts a larger smile on my face quite like Mel Brooks’ classic horror-parody, Young Frankenstein. I watched this movie with my family on a skit trip when I was eight years old, not knowing what I was getting into...

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RIP Gene Wilder (1933 - 2016)

Comedy legend Gene Wilder has passed away, after complications with Alzheimer's disease. He served as Mel Brooks's leading player, producing such classics as Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein. After those films, he also frequently starred opposite Richard Pryor. But to many he will always be remembered for the hilarious sly cruelty of his Willy Wonka, a performance that seen from a childhood gaze is awe-inspiring and warm only to become more delectably rotten in adulthood.

After the passing of his wife Gilda Radner (Wilder also had his own battle with cancer), he mostly stepped out of the spotlight, leaving those mentioned behemoths to speak for his legacy. For me, his Frederic Frankensteen is the one that sticks - all barking neuroses and feigned composure while lampooning the heightened acting styles of Universal horror classics. The performance is so physical and modulated to extremes that his comedy becomes like a set piece, a spectacle worth coming back to again and again.

What are your favorite Gene Wilder memories?

Curio: Rubber Stamp World

Alexa here with your weekly arts and crafts. I have to admit that I have an oddball addiction to rubber stamps. Not your run-of-the-mill, country-crafty variety, but those of the pop-culture-obsessy variety. I spend a bit too much of my monthly budget on them, stamping gift cards, tags, or any piece of paper that isn't tied down in the house.  Etsy and ebay have enabled this addiction: etsy has some wonderful hand-carved stamps for fans of everything from Sherlock to Star Wars.  And ebay has some great used ones: I recently purchased these What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and All About Eve stamps from the estate of Charles Pierce (who famously dressed as Baby Jane for a series of greeting cards).

Alas, my budget this month can't handle me buying all the ones on my wish list, so I'll share my favorite film fan stamps currently for sale, after the jump...

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Curio: Jason D'Aquino's Matchbook Miniatures

Alexa here with your weekly film craftiness. Jason D'Aquino is an artist with a gothic sensibility who works in miniature.  With the help of magnification goggles and architectural drafting tools, Jason draws pop-culture-inspired pieces on found ephemera, usually no larger than an inch square.

His matchbook series is perfect for this time of year: creepy graphite portraits tucked inside front-strike matchbooks, with many taken from classic horror movies.  (I particularly enjoy his use of vintage bone screw packaging for Frankenstein.) Here is a selection...  

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