Dolls are usually for children, but not in the case of iconic horror characters. Chucky Dolls are definitely not for the kids! Fans of the horror movies, adore these dolls and action figures. There are some serious collectors who avidly add to their collection as each item of memorabilia comes on to the market, following the latest movie release.

The films are not for the faint hearted and the character is no lovable rogue. The Chucky Dolls are a good reminder of how cinema audiences jumped out of their seats. The story starts with a serial killer called Charles Lee Ray, who is fatally shot by a police officer. Before he dies, he manages to use voodoo and transfers his evil soul into a doll in a toy store. The legend of Chucky is born as the transfer is successful and the doll carries on the killer’s wicked deeds.

Figures from the movies are widely available and range from static dolls to figures with moving parts. Chucky’s face is often covered in stitches and scars and he often brandishes an axe or a knife. His traditional costume is striped jumper and bib trousers. The scariest versions are the ones where Chucky suddenly turns his head around. Some Chucky Dolls also serve a practical purpose, as in the example of a coin bank. Chucky likes to talk too, the most popular phrase being “I’m Chucky. Want to Play”?

Just because you’re a relentless murderer, doesn’t mean that you can’t have a loving family. Chucky has Tiffany by his side, introduced as his true love in the movie, “Bride of Chucky”. She is usually dressed in a becoming white wedding gown and biker jacket, topped off with a splendid tattoo. Following “Seed of Chucky”, in which Chucky and Tiffany’s union was blessed with a son, the Glen Doll has made an appearance and completes the family.

Since the first film featuring Chucky, “Child’s Play” in 1988, the killer has had a cult following, on a par with Freddy Kruger or Jason. The fact that he is a doll just makes him even more sinister. There is a current surge of interest in horror movies and Chucky is to appear shortly in a new series of comic books. Chucky just will not die and the Chucky Dolls are here to stay. As the story unfolds, perhaps Glen will grow up and produce another generation?

This planet is swarming with movie fans. I don’t care where you live or where you visit, you’re bound to find tons of people who love cinema. It’s become intrinsic for the most part. Now in this realm of cinematic features, there’s only one that stirs more attention and receives more dedication than anything I’ve ever laid eyes upon. It’s the one and only George Lucas classic known as “Star Wars.” Even all it’s sequels have been smash hits. How else can you explain the deluge of storm troopers each Halloween? This passion for a Sci-Fi film is kind of ridiculous, but amusing at the same time. Last October 31st, I spotted a Darth Maul costume while trudging around the neighborhood with my daughter. How many “Star Wars” costumes did you encounter on last Halloween?

The tradition is like no other. We all get excited when fall hits and the cool air moves in to clean out the funk left over from summer. In no time it’s Halloween and we’re picking out that werewolf, vampire, princess or Darth Maul costume. This is quite the process I might add. Just choosing any old get up will never do. It’s imperative to select a costume that suits our current personality and taste. Maybe for you that’s a Darth Maul costume and maybe it’s a Freddy Kruger get up. It really doesn’t matter as long as you get to make the choice on your own. I learned this from my kids. There is no way I can ever pick out a Halloween costume for them. It’s far too personal. This is why I give them the price cut off and let them choose on their own. They never cease to surprise me.

Can you hear the theme song playing? I know I can. That “Star Wars” epidemic was sure a powerful mark in cinema. I doubt that it will ever fade into the past. There will always be a new generation of “Star Wars” fanatics to carry on the legacy. You’ll spot them on Halloween night. Look for the child with the Princess Leia or Darth Maul costume. It’s that simple. Personally I’m going to have to go with the Michael Myers legacy. It’s much scarier if you ask me.

I sat alone that year in the theatre, watching the much touted chick flick, Thelma and Louise.  So when he appeared on screen in the hotel room scene, sans shirt, the golden boy beauty, no one heard me comment that he would be our next star.  No one was there to witness my brilliant foresight that Brad Pitt was going to ascend the Hollywood ladder of box office superiority.  No one else, either, it seemed, was as audibly expressive, as viscerally changed by the likes of a demi-god named Brad Pitt.

But I found, within weeks of the screening of the trail blazing 1991 film that was one for the women, with Susan Sarandon and Gena Davis, that I was wrong.  People had indeed caught on to the young Brad Pitt’s beauty, and if they wore buttons with cutouts of the nasty little vagrant J.D. or waved banners with his likeness they would not have been more vociferous about his sex appeal.  And producers and directors, too, long before I did, knew they had a marketable star.

Okay, so Brad Pitt had actually appeared in eleven films previous to the now cult classic Thelma and Louise.  He had been a waiter, a party-goer, and a marginal character named Chris in No Man’s Land, Brett Easton Ellis’s Less Than Zero, and on “Another World”.  He had done TV gigs as Theodore “Teddy” Johnson in “A Stoning in Fulham County”, as Billy Canton in “Too Young to Die?”, as Steve Black in “Glory Days” and as bad boy Billy in the segment of the Two-fisted Tales anthology titled “King of the Road”.  And he played characters in Happy Together, Cutting Class, and the now re-run on TV movie, Across the Tracks, where we get to see a lot of body of the track runner who is a role model for his younger brother, played by Ricky Schroeder.

How I missed him in those works, most of which I had seen, is less important than how Brad took off after his performance in Thelma and Louise.  Maybe it was timing or maybe he had just paid his dues with the lower budget films.  Whatever it was, the college drop out who hightailed it to Hollywood was launched into mainstream films or just odd, quirky works such as Johnny Suede, unconventional animated films, and thereby making it to co-star billing and finally top billing giving us a good, convincing cry in MacLean’s “A River Runs Through It”.  Griping our guts with a slimy thug boy in “Kalifornia”.  Making us swoon in the dark and dusty homo-erotica of “Interview with the Vampire”.  And kicking our adrenalin levels into overdrive with “Fight Club”.

I don’t need to continue the list from here, though I risk omission of your favorite Brad Pitt films and do by no means intend to slight, for instance, his stellar looney bin appearance in “12 Monkeys”, his remarkable realism in “Seven”, his understated stoicism in “Meet Joe Black”, or his heart breaking broken boy grown up into broken man performance in “Sleepers”.  I don’t need to remind you of the cover stories of which he has been in — Rolling Stone, People and Vanity Fair.

And I don’t need to be the one who decided Brad Pitt to Gwynth Paltrow would be our next Robert Redford to Barbara Streisand or Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie would be our next Paul Newman to Joanne Woodward.  In terms of acting, of course.  All I can do is remind you of that first breaking scene when, in true player fashion, J.D., played by Brad Pitt, utters, “I may be an outlaw, darlin’, but you’re the one stealing my heart.”  No, Brad.  You are the one stealing ours, among other things.

People looking for the video or DVD “A Foreign Affair” once got one search result.  However, those looking for the title, “A Foreign Affair” now will find two results.  Two very, very different ones.

We are typically accustomed to remakes of great films, both versions having Academy Award redeeming qualities, or each version being touted as the better or the more popular one.  Think about, for example, the film “The Postman Always Rings Twice”.  In the first 1946 version, based on James M. Cain’s novel and the screenplay by Harry Ruskin, Lana Turner’s Cora Smith is sexy, spoiled, bratty, but undoubtedly appealing because of her attitude.  John Garfield’s Frank Chambers is wily, thuggish and even suggests a low class background, but yet is endearing in his submission to the allure of Cora. Cecil Kellaway’s Nick Smith is indulgent and devoted, in an ignorant way.  The sets are realistic, the black and white neither contributing to nor taking from the riveting and twisting plot.

In the 1981 version of Postman, Cora and husband are now Cora and Nick Papadakis, possibly pointing to ethnicity as important.  They are portrayed by Jessica Lange with her more subtle, sultry, smoldering sensuality usually eclipsed only by her industriousness running of the roadside restaurant and John Colicos, who stays close to Kellaway’s rendition, but he is a tad flashier and more demonstrative.  And Frank Chambers is Jack Nicholson, whose animalistic charm elevates Chambers to a more autonomous lover to Cora, leveling the playing field between them without weakening the inextricable attachment he feels.  The sets in the later version are similarly convincing and the plot as it is played out is equally compelling.

In the same respect, sometimes the versions are dead on replicas, only distinguished by their producers and filmmakers’ dealing with limitations or luxuries of technology.  For example, consider the two versions of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.  The 1956 version’s black and white might make it the more unnerving of the two, with the light and shadows as threatening as the clones poking out of their pods.  Or the 1978 color version might be more frightening, with it’s special effects and close ups conveying such convincing degrees of verisimilitude we do double takes on our fellow audience members, to ensure they, too, are not morphing from person to pod thing.

Now, there’s another film trend that is in order here, the spoofing of an original.  The “original” “A Foreign Affair,” made in 1948, is a romantic comedy.  Billy Wilder directs Marlene Dietrich, former Nazi lounge singer, Jean Arthur, as the “straight-man” serious Congresswoman, and John Lund, American officer falling for the smoky, slinky Dietrich.  The dialogue is rife with sharp, cracking levity, while the emphasis of plot still stays with the affair.

In the latest work by the same title (2002), there are journeys and goals, but there are no heavily romantic overtones.  There is comic wit, but it is within the relationship of not two lovers of the opposite sex in an affair but two brothers in mourning on a destination to replace their recently deceased mother who did the cooking, cleaning and running of the home.  So in the case of “A Foreign Affair” I and II, the critical preferences will be more directed toward the genre, the turning on it’s head of romantic comedies by buddy movies, and the toward the number of laughs responding to two very different forms of comedy.

One of the first things you have to let go of when watching Blade Runner is the temptation to compare the movie with the book, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”? By the number one SF writer of all time, Philip K. Dick.  Yes, the mechanical pets are absent, but a monologue discussing the absence of real animals in the future does appear in the film.  Yes, the ending is different, but the medium of printed word and published work is very different than the film medium, so time lapses, character development, etc., will be necessarily altered in the latter.  But Blade Runner also features some fine casting, decent special effects, and a complex storyline and premise that does justice to Dick’s writing style and genius mind.

The Hollywood shunned Sean Young fits perfectly in her stoic human role as Rachael - hmmm, interesting biblical allusion?.  Harrison Ford is convincing, just smoky voiced enough and of course dynamic enough as the bounty hunter seeking out the hiding replicants.  Daryll Hannah as Pris is quite interesting, as is her makeup and costuming.  A replicant ballerina, now that’s a first.

The sound track is absolutely stunning, utterly scintillating.  Vangelis matches the opening drama by the wailing wet woozy sounds of the sax.  It brings in the drums and consistently expresses in Blues and Jazz ensembles that are romantic and surreal at once the epic, daunting, and depressing bleakness of the reality of the future as Dick has depicted it.  Blade Runner is often categorized in the cyberpunk genre set as it is in 2019 Los Angeles.  Featuring the futuristic cyber-technology of cloning, hyped up surveillance tools and hyper advanced investigative strategies, carried out by the Harrison Ford character, blade Runner Deckard.

The film is visually dark and metaphysically, psychically dreary.   And the premise is true to the novel, with it’s emphasis on the preciousness of human and other life versus the futuristic and technological displacement we face.  While I am reticent about suggesting this, as I typically insist you read the book that precedes the film.  If the comparison thing is going to interfere with your experience of one of the best SF films of all time, don’t read “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”? First.  But DO read it.  You will be amazed, after watching Blade Runner, at the depth of detail of the future mindset, mentality and morality.

If you love movies or modern electronics, you’ve probably set foot in a Best Buy store.  These rewarding superstores, containing everything from plasma televisions to quality refrigerators, are packed with a wide selection.  I recall getting hooked on Best Buy after I purchased my first DVD player.  Suddenly I needed that ideal movie supplier that could offer me a great variety of DVDs.  Well, it didn’t take long to realize that my local Best Buy was the place.

A key benefit to Best Buy is the location.  It is not difficult find a Best Buy in your immediate area.  Unless you reside out in the boon-docks, Best Buy is likely just around the corner.  Once you survey their selection of music and home entertainment, you will have a relationship for life.  I always enjoy their plethora of televisions, which offer such amazing quality pictures these days.  It’s fun to stand in front of that spectrum of widescreens and pretend that it will one day grace the wall of your living room.  Wow, that would be every man’s dream come true.  Best Buy offers a price range suitable for most families when it comes to purchasing a new home theater or stereo system.  These are products that really have to be tested and analyzed in person, so that we can be certain of what we’re dropping a chunk of money on.

Best Buy has incomparable prices from what I’ve experienced.  Have you ever spent some time browsing through the music store down at the mall?  A CD runs for 20 bucks these days.  Pop into your local Best Buy and you’re sure to find a better deal.  Why should we spend more than we have to?  DVDs offer the same kind of savings.  You’ll save considerable in comparison to those big movie chains, that typically offer a poor selection.

While Best Buy can provide you with great deals and savings, a prime benefit to their company is the service.  I’ve never entered a Best Buy without being greeted at the door.  In addition, employees always offer their assistance when they spot me browsing for a certain DVD.  This is refreshing in a world that has virtually forgotten about the customer.  No matter what your electronic or entertainment need, Best Buy is a good place to have a look when you consider the savings and numerous possibilities.

Star Wars: Fact of fiction? Your answer depends on your perspective. From a purely logical point of view, Star Wars is totally fictional. It is a futuristic sci-fi excursion into a universe of fantasty and illusion. However, from an emotional and even spiritual viewpoint, Star wars are all too real.  The original 1977 movie introduced us to The Force: “…an energy field that surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together” explains the old Obi Wan Kenobi to the young Luke Sky Walker. George Lucas drew some of his inspiration for The Force and its meaning from the work of Joseph Campbell and his book The Power of Myth.

For both the Eastern sage and the modern metaphysician, The Force is a perfect example of the realness embedded in Star Wars. It is not God, otherwise George Lucas would have used that word. Instead, Lucas chose a more universally accepted phrase, one that could potentially be embraced by all religious followers.  The technology in the Star Wars Universe is superfluous to the power of The Force. Lucas makes this point abundantly clear.  If you strip away the technology, you are left with a story spiritual story. It is a hero’s quest. It is the quest of Annakin Skywalker doing battle with himself. Searching for the light inside the dark.

This is a battle we all go through and so from this perception Star Wars is not to be seen as fiction. Star Wars is about a universal battle in awareness.  To the degree that you are unaware of this battle in yourself, is likely the degree you will see Star Wars as unreal, pure fiction.

Do you believe in The Force? Even if you do not understand it, or call it by another name, is there a part of you that “uses the Force?” If there is not, then you will view all of Star Wars as fiction, the storyline plus the inner lives of the characters.  If you do believe in the Force, even in some mysterious or cosmic way, you will be able to understand it’s truthfulness.  Star Wars is about “us” not “them.” It is about every man woman and child and their destiny to rise up against darkness and find their true nature and understand their relationship to The Force.

So next time you watch a Star Wars movie, forget the Hollywood aspects of it, forget that it is just for fun, and see if you can put your attention on yourself. Be Annakin. Be Luke. Be Yoda. You will be surprised how real these movies become.  I believe it is there realness not their fantasy qualities that made them strike a chord with the world back in 1977. What is your point of view? Star wars: Fact or fiction?

Many actors can proudly wear the brand of stardom.  Fewer can tote the banner of subtle sensuality, commanding grace and seamless work in every single role they play.  Anthony Quinn is one that did all of the above.  He traversed the boundaries of ethnicity, playing various roles wherein the Mexican-Irish star was a Greek, an Italian, a Filipino, a Mexican, a Native American and many other distinctly defined identities.  Never faltering or falling out of character, so convincing was he in each.

If you didn’t know he had died in June of 2001.  Anthony Quinn is at the top of all our lists of sexiest older male actors.  And not just for his undaunted masculinity and sex appeal but Quinn had a versatility, an ability to cross genres without compromise.  A gift for switching roles and registers that inevitably earned him two Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards and numerous accolades.

Think of “Viva Zapata!”, for which Quinn won his first Oscar.  He played the boozing, carousing romantic Eufemio, a foil to Marlon Brando’s Emiliano Zapata.  Consider his starring role as Paul Gauguin in “Lust for Life”, for which he won his second Oscar.  He plays the balance in the dickering, challenging, competitive friendship with fellow artist Kirk Douglas’s Van Gogh.  There was his passionate rendition of Santiago in the TV adaptation of Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea”, a performance many might say deserved more recognition.  And his endearing Nick Acropolis, attempting to court the uninterested Rose Muldoon, played by Maureen O’Hara.

We could revisit each of the over 160 roles the Chihuahua born (1915) Anthony Quinn played in dramas, comedies, westerns, numerous other genre films and TV series and shows.  We could appreciate the many dedicated sites that speak his praises, but better, we could also rent or buy the films and revisit and confirm how we esteemed the stunningly flexible and fine actor in memoriam.

When I was in college, some of my favorite days in school were the ones that included a movie camera. I took a lot of film and video classes, and we had a lot of projects we had to do. I always had fun when we did these projects.  More than once I would give up my weekend of parties and friends in order to get projects done. I found playing around and filming to be more fun and also a better use of my time.

Itchy to film things, you may want to get a movie camera. The great thing is that even though there is the traditional and very expensive type of movie camera that is used in big movie making, you can use just about anything to make videos. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make something just for you. If you want make something to present to others, you may have to spend more money to get a quality item. Look for something professional.

If you just want to make home movies, you may be able to use your digital camera, though it’s not always practical. This can be a movie camera.  You take your clips and upload them to your computer and you can edit them together if you have video editing software.  Then save them on a CD to share with family and friends. If you want something that takes longer clips, you can buy a digital camcorder to use as a home movie camera. These movies can also be uploaded to your computer.

Want something more expensive to make better home movies or presentations, you have to do some research into what movie camera you may want. It will be up to what you want in a movie camera and what you want to do with it. Find out what features you can get, and decide which ones you need and which ones you can live without.  You can find a great prices on eBay, but make sure you are not bidding on an item that does not exist. If the seller won’t accept PayPal or a credit card, and then asks you to wire money to them via Western Union, they are trying to scam you, and you won’t get anything for your money. There are great deals there on real cameras, you just have to take your time and make sure they are the real thing.

Country music is certainly one of the most popular genres there is. Part of the appeal comes from the true to life lyrics that you often hear in a country song. Although the faces of country music have changed over the years, you can still hear the strong influence of some of the music pioneers within the lyrics. One of those who set the standard for what country music should be is Johnny Cash. One just needs to listen to Johnny Cash music to hear what a gifted and influential trailblazer he was.

In recent years the music of this American legend has once again taken certain stage. Although he has left this world, Johnny Cash music is going strong. Some of that can be attributed to an award winning movie which detailed his rise to fame. The movie is filled with Johnny Cash music, albeit sung by Joaquin Phoenix who takes on the daunting role of the man in the black.  The movie itself spurred a whole new generation to listen to and enjoy the music of this master.

Unlike when he first burst onto the scene, music isn’t sold on cassette or vinyl any longer. It’s now the age of the CD and that is even becoming a distant memory in favor of an MP3 player and an Internet connection. Johnny Cash music can be downloaded from many sites and it’s not uncommon to find a Johnny Cash song within the top ten downloads on any given site.  The songs all have a story to them. They touch so many people because they are incredibly genuine and raw. Johnny Cash faced some difficult times in his life and much of that was captured in his music. The songs are timeless and speak to generation after generation.

Of course you can listen to this music in other ways besides downloading it or running out to buy a CD. There are many DVD’s now available that also feature Johnny Cash music. Many of them come complete with footage of Johnny and his wife June Carter Cash performing. For any fan of their music it’s an extra special treat to watch them singing together. They had a rare chemistry that transcended into their music.  Musicians aren’t out of luck either when it comes to the music of Mr. Cash. Many songbooks have sheet music for the songs of Johnny Cash. Being able to play Johnny Cash music is an inspiration to those who hope to one day follow in his footsteps. Although anyone who was lucky enough to see Johnny Cash in person would tell you that he was definitely one of a kind.