I have started a new blog-zine, Steinblóm. Check us out!

Yeah, any excuse to put a Benny Hill story in my blog. Too bad the Royal Mail are sticks in the mud. Benny was fun to watch, was thoroughly politically incorrect, and served as a symbol of a long-gone era, for better or for worse.

It boggles the mind that otherwise decent people would support an artist like Roman Polański in his perversion and crime, despite the fact that he admitted to it, and then fled his punishment.  Jonah Goldberg and Brent Bozell note the hypocrisy in Hollywood in each of their respective columns regarding the fallen director.

Why, WHY would you apologize for a rapist, dear friends in the film community?  Seriously, one could make a good argument for Roman Polanski’s greatness as a director (and I count myself a fan of a good deal of his work), but as a human, he’s still a rapist, no matter how you cut it.  That’s how the man should be measured.

Bill Bennett comments further on Polanski’s arrest and Hollywood’s reaction here.

Shah Rukh Khan is a giant in the Bollywood movie industry.  Unfortunately, he bears the same name as some cretin on a terrorist watchlist.  Unlike some people who would have cried racism, Khan showed class and took the situation in stride.  He showed himself to be a man about his circumstance.

Admit it, you loved his films. The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Home Alone and others left an indelible mark on people who grew up in the 1980s. John Hughes died today from a heart attack.  He was 59.

One of the greatest trashy flicks ever done, “Night of the Bloody Apes,” is uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Karl Malden, the legendary actor best known for his work in A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, and whom I got to know from the TV series The Streets of San Francisco, died today at the age of 97.

Rare is the movie that can hold my attention these days, especially the new ones. Tonight, I found such a movie. Defiance stars the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, as well as a stunning performance by Liev Schreiber.

The plot is based on a true story of Jewish brothers from Belorussia (today’s Belarus and Poland, as the borders have shifted considerably since WWII) who, after witnessing their family get massacred, run to a forest and plot revenge against the countrymen who sold them out. The brothers eventually come across fellow Jews from various cities where liquidation has taken place, and they band together, learning how to fight, and working with Russian soldiers who prove to be as cruel as the Nazis and their fellow countrymen sellouts.

IMDB has a decent synopsis, but I’d highly recommend watching the film, not only for its emotionally charged story, but for the stunning cinematography of the forest region Eastern Europe is noted for. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some of those forests, and as beautiful as they are, it is mind-numbing to think that peasants, “intellectual” sorts and others managed to hide out from one of history’s most efficient killing machines.

Actor Jeff Goldblum fell to his death today in New Zealand. More to come, surely.

UPDATE: False alarm. I fell for a hoax. My apologies.