Valley of the Dolls
Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
The 1967 film Valley of the Dolls, based on the novel of the same name, has been described as ‘an amusingly bad movie.’ Lead actress Barbara Parkins attended a screening on its 30th anniversary and said to the audience, “I know why you like it…because it’s so bad!” All of these facts, along with its cult status, just makes me want to see it more, a feat that I haven’t yet accomplished. (It currently sits in my basement among about 3000 other films, the bulk of which I have yet to see). But I’ve done a little bit better when it comes to meeting the cast… Read the rest of this entry »
As a fan of all things Superman, I was over the moon to hear that Dean Cain would be making his first appearance at an autograph show at the Chiller Theatre event in Parsippany, New Jersey, on April 28, 2012. As far as actors who portrayed Superman, he was the real deal, portraying him for four seasons on the TV show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. To be honest, it was a show I hadn’t gotten thoroughly into at that point, but I had seen my share of episodes. 
Say the following quote to yourself: “You verrry funny, Dr. Jones.” If you are like me, there is only one possible voice that you can use when quoting this line that never actually appeared in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and it belongs to the character of Short Round, played by Ke Huy Quan. Whether you found him hilarious or annoying is a matter of taste, but the film simply wouldn’t have been the same without him. 
As far as TV producers go, they don’t get much more famous and iconic as Garry Marshall. Primarily known for being the series creator of Happy Days, his history in television goes all the way back to such legendary shows as The Tonight Show (with Jack Parr), The Dick Van Dyke Show, Make Room for Daddy, and The Lucy Show. Prior to creating Happy Days (via an episode of Love, American Style), he had also co-created The Odd Couple, and would go on to co-create Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, among other less successful shows. 
I meant no disrespect to actor Vincent Spano, but sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand. He had had a pretty significant roll in the Francis Ford Coppolla directed Rumble Fish, the film that followed the other S.E. Hinton novel-based Coppolla movie The Outsiders. I frankly never liked Rumble Fish anywhere near as much as The Outsiders, but I still thought that Vincent Spano would be a cool encounter to have under my belt when he appeared at the Hollywood Show in Burbank on February 11, 2012. But it wasn’t worth $50 for the autograph/photo op combo. So it’s situations like this that I take my grumbling to the handler and see what can be done.