Lupe Velez, The Mexican Spitfire.

The lives of Hollywood stars are frequently tragic and messy tales of absent fathers, cruelly ambitious mothers, and madly dysfunctional families.

Mexican-American actress, Lupe Velez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944) “The Mexican Spitfire” was a beautiful, passionate, emotionally unstable woman best known for a series of 1930’s B movies in which she plays a delightfully scatter-brained character who speaks broken English mixed with streams of rapid fire Spanish.

Her first feature-length film was in the Douglas Fairbanks blockbuster, The Gaucho (1927), where she plays a high spirited Spanish dancing girl. Velez performed in a further eighteen films before settling into comedy—she had a Carol Lombard vibe, a  flair for screwball situations, but her accent limited her appeal—most notably in the seven “Mexican Spitfire” series of films (1939-1943). (more…)

Don’t let the unwatchable sequels diminish how imaginative and heartfelt the original was. And though I’m not a big fan of Tim Allen’s film choices of late, in the right role like this (and Galaxy Quest), he’s very good. Also going for The Santa Clause is a perfectly cast Judge Reinhold, the hottest of all hot moms, Wendy Crewson, some terrific special effects, a warm Christmas spirit and, uhm, well, Wendy Crewson.

Most of the credit, however, belongs to the screenwriters who seized upon the beloved and well known story of Santa Claus and turned it into an original story that still very much respects what came before. The Santa Clause doesn’t rewrite or deconstruct, it builds upon the legend basing itself on all those lingering unanswered questions, such as: How does Santa fit down the chimney? How does Santa visit every home in one night?  It’s a genius premise and don’t forget that the divorced-dad-who-learns-how-to-be-a-better-father comedy wasn’t as tired and played out in 1994 as it is today. (more…)

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of many famous things, ranging from the mind-bendingly fatuous (John and Yoko’s bed in) to the truly historic (the moon landings) to the not as good as they used to be (Sesame Street), to the never any good in the first place (Woodstock). But in addition to all of the above, 2009 is also the 40th anniversary of something much less celebrated: a very strange record that only gets stranger with the passing of time, King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King.  

Consisting of four skilled musicians plus one lyricist from England’s West Country (among them the now legendary guitarist Robert Fripp) King Crimson enjoyed a rapid ascent to fame and success. The band formed on January 13th 1969; were declared the ‘best band in the world’ by Jimi Hendrix in April; played with the Stones at Hyde Park in July; recorded their first album In the Court of the Crimson King in July and August; released it to great acclaim in October; then played their last gig together on December 14th in San Francisco, having imploded while on tour. (more…)

Since I’ve known my lovely wife this romantic comedy set on Christmas Eve and starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds has been her favorite among what she calls “her cute little movies.” Shot in that beautiful Technicolor process among crisp colorful sets (Powell’s apartment gets my vote for Most Fifties Ever!) that give off a nice holiday feel, it tells the completely contrived tale of a thirty-five year-old Oscar-winning screenwriter (Powell, who was actually 50) forced to deal with a seventeen year-old delinquent (Reynolds) over Christmas Eve. He desperately needs a muse and she’s looking for a daddy of the sugar variety and … well, you can see where this is going.

Sounds awful, don’t it? That’s what I thought and refused to pay it much attention for years. But the lead performances, supporting cast and dynamite dialogue are all superb, and it really is a cute little movie with some crisp cynical shots taken at Hollywood to boot — most of them courtesy of Alvy Moore who most of you will recognize from “Green Acres.” (more…)

That’s right, a 1979 television movie starring The Fonz as Ebenezer Scrooge is ranked ahead of White Christmas. (Or, if you’re younger than a hundred, the Coach in “The Waterboy.”)

I have nothing to say in my defense and await your wrath.

Well, I do have one thing to say: Henry Winkler is a marvelously talented and underrated actor, and any opportunity to boost his Winkler-ness I’m taking. See also: Night Shift (1982) and an under-appreciated masterpiece called The One And Only (1978).  

Besides, Adam Sandler loves the guy. You want to argue with that?

Other than The Disco Ghost of Christmas Past, shifting the Dickens’ classic from Victorian England to Depression-era New England was an inspired idea that adds a nice spin to the story’s familiar template. Though the characters are given Americanized names (Scrooge becomes Slade), they’re all there including a very effective Tiny Tim. Another terrific spin is making the child Scrooge/Slade an orphan after the death of his parents. This added subplot not only helps to explain why Slade whould grow into a lonely old miser but adds something different and effective to his Christmas day reformation. (more…)

Stop the servers!  Jackson Williams at the Huffington Post has a newsflash:  Actor Matthew Marsden Hides His Right-Wing Political Views.

This raises a couple of questions.  The first is, “Who is Mathew Marsden?”  Well, he was an up-and-coming young English singer and actor with athletic roles in Rambo and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.  Which leads to the second question – why would writer Jackson Williams be so giddy about the revelation that Marsden apparently does not hew obediently to the Hollywood left’s party line?

Well, it sure isn’t because he’s interested in giving Marsden’s career a boost.  Like the grinning little snot in every elementary school class who gets off on the high of narc-ing out the other kids to the schoolmarm, Jackson’s purpose was to tattle to every producer, agent, actor and other Hollywoodoid that Marsden had been a bad, bad boy.  He exercised his right to think for himself. Maybe Jackson should wear a sash:  “Political Hall Monitor.”  But it’s clear that his article is simply a nomination of Marsden for a spot on the New Hollywood Blacklist. (more…)

Try to get your mind around this: In Joy Behar’s partisan-crazed world, hypocrisy is a sin worse than serial adultery. 

In other words, had Tiger Woods lectured schoolchildren on the importance of preserving the institution of marriage, marital fidelity and not being promiscuous — you know, the kind of healthy behavior that’s key to a happy life — she’d be giving him all kinds of hell right now. But, since he only cheated on his wife…

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Does that kind of thinking make any sense to you?

It does if you see the design behind it. The left wants to shut the right up, especially those trying to uphold traditional moral standards. And in order to silence those who would stand up for such things, with the help of popular culture and the media, they’ve managed to turn the world upside down into a place where you’re better off not trying to do good than risking the stigma of hypocrisy. (more…)

This big-budget musical is yet another not terribly great movie that makes the list for two reasons. The first is a personal memory.

A hundred years ago, the day before Christmas break began, an English teacher pulled my entire freshman class out of school and bussed the lot of us down to the local 79-cent theater for a screening of Scrooge.  Besides everyone getting excited over seeing Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness plays Marley), what I remember most about the movie is that after it was over, as we exited the theatre, the whole class burst out singing and dancing the film’s infectious “Thank You Very Much,” as we filed onto the bus … and we kept singing the whole way back to school. 

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I can still smell wet rubber boots, feel the cold green vinyl seat beneath me, and sense that ball of Christmas excitement in my stomach — you know, the one that gets smaller as you get older… 

My second soft spot for Scrooge is due to how effectively it portrays Ebenezer’s regret and heartbreak over losing the love of his life to his own ambition. That’s always been my favorite part of the timeless Dickens’ classic, and it gets me every time in all the screen realizations, but especially this one. You really feel for the old guy here, and as opposed to presenting this loss as just another episode in a wasted life, you get the sense of the permanent impact this mistake had — how it was Scrooge’s emotional point of no return. (more…)

For a couple decades now too many members of the American celebrity and sports class have made millions The Madonna Way: pimping their deviant behavior into fame and fortune — shoving their thug lives, drug lives, and sex lives down our throats and, unforgivably, the throats of our children.  With only “at least I’m not a hypocrite” as an excuse, these irredeemables have waged a war to destroy morality, and heaven help those who complain or demand restraint, for we will mercilessly be ridiculed and demeaned as suburban hypocrites, Puritans and worse.

With that other-world talent of his, Tiger Woods could’ve decided on that route — could’ve gotten as rich as he wanted as the Dennis Rodman of golf. Instead Woods chose a quiet dignity and discipline. I’ve never watched a round of golf in my life, but that’s a quality of his I’ve always admired.

And this laudable quality was once the norm in our public figures, not the exception. People have always been people. Celebrities and stars and sports figures have always slept around and drank too much and flirted with scandal. The difference is that once upon a time being famous didn’t require the removal of the shame gene. The legends of old might not have respected themselves but at least they respected their reputations and their public and children enough to keep their personal indiscretions … personal. (more…)

In a recent New York Times column, David Brooks described a 1975 Bruce Springsteen concert as the start of his “other education,” not the intellectual one from schooling but the “emotional education” from the popular culture. 

Brooks is a superstar pundit.  A featured journalist at The Weekly Standard, in 2000 Brooks was author of “Bobos in Paradise,” a smart look at “bourgeois bohemians,” the educated, “counterculture” crowd that had become America’s new blue state power elite.  Brooks went on to occupy the house conservative Op Ed position at the liberal mainstay New York Times and the equivalent chair on PBS NewsHour’s version of crossfire, with ever-apologetic Brooks pitted against the always garrulous lefty Mark Shields.  These two roles established Brooks as the left’s favorite conservative, a position he solidified as one of the Obamacons, prominent conservatives who supported Obama, believing him to be a moderate centrist, or in Brooks’ case, even a closet Burkean conservative. 

Last week Brooks went with his 15-year-old daughter to see a Springsteen concert in Baltimore and witnessed her joyous astonishment.  Her arrival at utter abandon echoed the exhilaration, the emotional learning, Springsteen had long ago imparted to Brooks, the depiction of a world of “teenage couples out on a desperate lark, workers struggling as the mills close down, and drifters on the wrong side of the law,” tales told with a jolt for “10,000 people in a state of utter abandon.”   

Brooks fondly describes the artistry and stories of Springsteen’s universe, “a distinct map of reality” seen on an epic and anthemic scale, in which “losers” always retain dignity and their choices have immense moral consequences, with emotions like stoicism, seen through veils of exaltation and nostalgia.  (more…)

By now I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of other reviews about “The Blind Side,” currently in theaters, including this one by BH’s own Cam Cannon. I hope you can stand to read one more.

I saw “The Blind Side” last Friday evening with my younger daughter. Arriving half an hour before showtime, I was surprised to see that the theater was already about three quarters full and we ended up sitting down near the front, where my daughter usually begs to sit and I reply, “No, let’s sit somewhere near the middle.” Sure it was a long holiday weekend and people were looking for something to do, but as it was the second weekend, I took this as a positive sign. Word of mouth has a way of killing films that deserve to die quickly, especially in the age of Facebook and Twitter.

Not having read the book, I could judge the movie on its own merits. As BH readers already know, “The Blind Side” tells the true story of football phenom Michael Oher, then a fatherless black teen from the projects of Memphis with a crack-addicted mother and who, despite being accepted into a tony Christian school, ends up homeless. He is seen wandering out in the cold by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, a well-to-do couple from the other side of the tracks, who take him in and eventually make him a part of their family. (more…)

Don’t believe for a second that the History Channel — which should now be called The Revisionist History Channel — will be the end of Matt Damon and Howard Zinn’s cinematic ode to trashing America. The obvious next step for the adaptation of Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States,” will be taken up by nitwit, pseudo-intellectual, America-loathing teachers and professors everywhere – many of them paid by the taxpayers of GodDamnAmerica – who are no doubt panting in anticipation for their first chance to screen this toxic mix of guilt and victimization in classrooms everywhere stocked with young, captive, impressionable minds. 

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And the film’s producers are showing academia the way with “The People Speak College Tour,” which launched at Boston University November 4th and ends right here at UCLA this coming Friday.

Turning Zinn’s textbook poison into an even more powerful brew of sound and fury has been a goal of producer Damon’s for going on a decade now. When I first heard that this skewed, leftist dwelling on America’s sins (some real, most imagined, all delivered without historical context) had received the seal of approval from the History Channel it was a shocker – until I remembered the History Channel is owned by NBC – a network now working like a propaganda war machine to boost every leftist cause imaginable. (more…)