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Everyone thinks they know 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' the classic, urbane romantic comedy released 50 years ago today, on October 5, 1961. The film that cemented Audrey Hepburn's reputation as an all-time fashion icon, set the bar for every New York fantasy/romantic comedy from 'Barefoot in the Park' to 'Sex and the City,' and gave birth to a thousand Manic Pixie Dream Girls (or at least 25 others). Yet there's a lot you may not know about the movie -- who the real-life Holly Golightly was, how radically different the film might have been if 'Breakfast' author Truman Capote had gotten his way, why the Oscar-winning song 'Moon River' almost got cut from the film, which classic outfits Hepburn herself came up with, how many cartons of cigarettes the tobacco-loving characters smoked on-screen, and what Mickey Rooney has to say about his still-controversial performance.

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' - Trailer

1. Who was the real-life Holly Golightly? So many women have been named as possible inspirations to Truman Capote -- including Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona Chaplin, writer/actress Carol Grace (who became Walter Matthau's wife), writer Maeve Brennan and model Suzy Parker -- that Capote called the whole speculation "the Holly Golightly sweepstakes." He claimed there was a real Holly, a woman who lived downstairs from him when he was a writer who'd just moved to New York in the early 1940s (like the autobiographical narrator of Capote's tale), though he never identified her by name. A New Yorker named Bonnie Golightly filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Capote claiming he'd based the character on her.

2. As George Costanza learned during a memorable 'Seinfeld' episode where he watched the film instead of reading the book for his book club, there are a lot of major differences between Capote's 1958 novella and George Axelrod's screenplay to the 1961 movie. There's the setting (the 1940s, not the contemporary 1960s), the nameless narrator (called Paul in the film), Holly's age (she's still in her late teens in the story but played by 31-year-old Hepburn on-screen), Holly's fondness for marijuana (gone in the film). Holly's bisexuality (ditto), and the wistful, ambiguous ending (replaced in the film by a conventional romantic happy ending). Most of all, there's the sense many readers get that Holly is a professional escort, for taking money from wealthy men whom she sometimes sleeps with. In interviews, Capote described Holly not as a prostitute or golddigger but called her an American geisha girl. The film downplayed any suggestion of prostitution, with Paramount publicists issuing statements like, "The star is Audrey Hepburn, not Tawdry Hepburn."

3. Capote envisioned his friend Marilyn Monroe in the part, but her acting coach, Paula Strasberg, talked her out of it, saying the role's call-girl-like nature was bad for her image. Others supposedly in line for the role included Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine and Kim Novak. Capote was a friend of Hepburn's but thought she was miscast. So did Hepburn herself, until director Blake Edwards persuaded her she could do it.

4. Blake Edwards pleaded on his knees with the producers not to hire George Peppard as the male lead. (Steve McQueen was considered but was unavailable.) Indeed, Peppard tried to play the role as a traditional matinee idol, not a vulnerable, flawed, naive young man. So said co-star Patricia Neal, who played Paul's sugar mama (known in the film as "2-E"). She and Peppard had been friends before the filming, but she wrote in her memoir that she was put off by his apparent desire "to be an old-time movie hunk." (Later, of course, Peppard would age into that more standard, macho kind of leading man, most memorably as the leader of TV's 'The A-Team.')

5. How did Edwards manage to shoot the memorable opening scene, in which a taxi rolls down an empty 5th Avenue at dawn, Holly gets out in front of Tiffany's and she nibbles on a Danish while gazing longingly through the jeweler's window? There are two conflicting accounts. One said the scene was hampered by challenges -- a gaggle of gawkers longing for a glimpse of Hepburn, the star's dislike of Danishes, and an accident that nearly electrocuted a crew member. Yet Edwards said the shot was relatively easy, with the busy thoroughfare suddenly clearing up as if by divine intervention. "It was as if God said, ''I'm going to give you a break now, but for the rest of your career you're going to have to live off this one,'" he recalled. At a recent screening of the movie, Edwards' widow, Julie Andrews, said the director (whom she would marry nearly a decade after 'Breakfast') claimed he got the shot in one take.

6. For a movie so associated with Manhattan, very little of it was shot there. There were only about 8 days of location shooting, including inside Tiffany's, which opened on a Sunday for the first time in decades to allow filming, though 40 armed guards and several Tiffany's sales clerks were on hand to prevent pilferage.

7. The party at Holly's apartment, like much of the film, was shot on a Paramount soundstage. A signature Edwards sequence -- he would go on to shoot memorable parties in the 'Pink Panther' movies, '10,' 'Victor/Victoria,' and of course, 'The Party' -- it took six days to film. The extras playing the guests were all friends and relations of the director, Andrews has said. According to studio notes, the revelers consumed plenty of real champagne, as well as 120 gallons of soft drinks, lots of party food (hot dogs, cold cuts, chips, dips, and sandwiches), and 60 cartons of cigarettes. Even that didn't generate enough smoke, so Edwards brought onto the set a smoker of the sort beekeepers use.

8. It's never explained why, at the party, Hepburn is wearing a gown made from a towel. A scene that was cut from the final release has her taking a bath when the party breaks out, and she's forced to improvise a gown.

9. What's the movie's connection to 'The Flintstones'? It's Alan Reed, who played gangster Sally Tomato. He was also the voice of Fred Flintstone.

10. Buddy Ebsen had all but retired when he was persuaded to play Doc Golightly, Holly's estranged husband from down South. His brief performance is said to have landed him the role of Jed Clampett on 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' which made him more famous than ever and extended his career by decades.

11. Hepburn's husband, actor Mel Ferrer, seemed to exercise a near-Svengali-like control over his wife during the production. Neal recalled dining with the couple at their home, an evening that included a very light meal and ended practically before sunset; she remarked that now she knew how Hepburn stayed so thin. Ferrer also tried to influence his wife's performance, until Edwards took her aside and insisted that she treat him as the film's sole director. After that, Ferrer behaved like wet blanket; upon seeing the finished film, his only compliment to his wife was, "I liked your hat."

12. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer composed 'Moon River' with Hepburn's limited vocal range in mind, having heard her sing in 'Funny Face.' There was talk of having Marni Nixon dub her vocals (as she would do a couple years later in 'My Fair Lady'), but Edwards decided that Hepburn's own plain, unvarnished rendition of the song fit the character better.

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' - 'Moon River'

13. "Over my dead body!" That was the response to a Paramount executive who wanted to cut the song from the film. It's not clear who said it, however. One account says it was Hepburn, another says it was the producers.

14. Hepburn worked with designer Hubert de Givenchy to craft her costumes for the film. One result: Holly's iconic little black dress, one of the most influential fashion choices in cinema history and a must for nearly every woman's wardrobe ever since. (Yes, it was Coco Chanel, not Givenchy, who invented the little black dress, but it was the version Hepburn wore that made the garment a fashion staple.) Christie's auctioned the original dress in 2006 and sold it for $923,000 (one of the highest prices ever paid for a piece of movie memorabilia), with the money going to support the construction of a school for the poor in Calcutta.

15. Despite her reputation for elegance, Hepburn enjoyed relaxing in a turtleneck and jeans. Which is what Holly wears while lounging on the fire escape and singing 'Moon River.'

16. You'd never know from Holly's willowy figure that Hepburn had given birth to son Sean just three months before shooting. As a hobby, the new mom took up knitting.

17. Hepburn caught a cold after spending four days in studio-made rain shooting the final sequence.

Mickey Rooney in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

Mickey Rooney in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

18. The one part of the film that makes audiences cringe today is Mickey Rooney's performance as Holly's neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. Aside from the insult of having a non-Asian performer play a Japanese man by wearing yellowface makeup, Coke-bottle glasses, and buck teeth, there's also the performance's consistent sense of caricature and stereotype. In a 2008 interview, Rooney said Edwards hired him as a veteran comic actor and directed him to play the character broadly, and that if anyone had taken offense at his portrayal -- like the Asian-American activists who got a free public screening of 'Breakfast' in Sacramento yanked in favor of the more anodyne 'Ratatouille' -- it was news to him. "Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it -- not one complaint," Rooney said. "Every place I've gone in the world people say, 'God, you were so funny.' Asians and Chinese come up to me and say, 'Mickey you were out of this world.'" He added that if he'd known the performance would offend people, "I wouldn't have done it."

19. The film reportedly cost $2.5 million to make. (Some $750,000 of that reportedly went to Hepburn, making her one of the highest-paid actresses of the era.) It earned $4 million in the U.S. upon its initial release and $14 million over its lifetime.

20. Consumers responded almost immediately to the film. Besides the black cocktail dress, Holly's coat and purse became widely copied. Animal shelters reported a rise in demand for ginger tomcats like Holly's cat (whose name, of course, was "Cat"). The soundtrack album went to No. 1 and stayed on the Billboard chart for two years.

21. 'Breakfast' earned Oscar nominations for Hepburn's performance, Axelrod's adapted screenplay, and for art direction. It won two prizes, for Mancini's original score and for Original Song ('Moon River'). They were the first two Oscars of Mancini's career; he'd ultimately win four times out of 18 nominations, and he would compose music for Edwards on many more movies, notably, the 'Pink Panther' films and 'Victor/Victoria.'

22. In 1966, there was a Broadway musical version, starring Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain. It closed after just four performances, becoming one of those legendary flops that -- if as many people who claimed to have seen it actually did -- wouldn't have been a flop at all.

23. In 1969, ABC commissioned a pilot for a TV series, a sitcom called 'Holly Golightly' that starred Stephanie Powers and Jack Kruschen (as Joe the bartender, a character from Capote's novella that didn't make it into the movie). The network ultimately declined to pick up the pilot and make it into a series.

24. The property made it to the stage once more as a straight play in 2009, on London's West End. Anna Friel (the cult TV series 'Pushing Daises') played Holly.

25. In 1995, the band Deep Blue Something had a hit with a Hepburn-inspired song called 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' The lyrics actually had more references to 'Roman Holiday,' but songwriter Todd Pipes thought the reference to the more iconic tale of Holly Golightly would make a better song title.

[Photo: Everett Collection]

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RELATED: An Evolution of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Every horror fan and gorehound worth his or her weight in red-tinted corn syrup has seen 'The Evil Dead,' the landmark low-budget horror classic that debuted 30 years ago this week (on October 15, 1981) and launched the careers of director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell. But even fans of the 'Spider-Man' director, the 'Burn Notice' star, or the demonic-possession tale that gave them their start when they were still college students three decades ago may not know all the gory details behind the making of the movie -- the real-life ghost story behind the abandoned cabin where it was filmed, the horrors endured by the cast during the lengthy shoot, the high-profile fans who gave the movie a boost, and the ever-ongoing list of sequels and spinoffs (including a stage musical) that 'Evil Dead' continues to generate. Here are 25 things you may not have known about the zombie franchise that refuses to stay dead.

1. 'Evil Dead' marked the beginning of a long collaboration between Raimi and several friends and relatives that he'd work with again and again for the rest of his career. Raimi and Campbell go back 35 years to their high school days in the suburbs of Detroit when they started making Super 8 movies together. Raimi's longtime producer Rob Tapert joined the gang in college. Sam's brothers Ted and Ivan Raimi also began their filmmaking careers on 'Evil Dead' as stand-ins.

2. The genesis of 'Evil Dead' was a 30-minute Super 8 film called 'Within the Woods.' It was essentially a short version of the movie the filmmakers wanted to shoot, designed as a calling card to attract investors and persuade them that these 20-year-olds could make a professional-looking film.

3. 'Evil Dead' famously takes place at an abandoned cabin in the woods (it's there that five vacationing college students are trapped when they discover a book and a tape recording that contain incantations that summon demons, who possess the kids one by one and can be stopped only by dismemberment). It was shot at an actual abandoned cabin near Morristown, Tennessee. In an interview made at the time of the film's release, Raimi claimed that the cabin was actually haunted, that it was the subject of a ghost story told by locals. According to the story, the girl who was supposedly the lone survivor of the ordeal that claimed her family there during a thunderstorm nearly a century ago had been traumatized out of her mind. As an old woman, she had supposedly gone missing just before the shoot and was said to be wandering the woods where the filming took place.

4. Even if it wasn't haunted, the cabin was plenty horrifying. Cows had roamed free inside it and left behind a layer of manure that was four to six inches thick. There was no plumbing and no heat. The filmmakers had to clean it out, knock down some walls, and build some additions to transform the shack into a suitable film set.

5. Besides Campbell, the principal cast members were Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, and Richard DeManincor. The last two were Screen Actors Guild members, so to participate in the non-union shoot, they used fake names. Tilly was billed as Sarah York, while DeManincor rearranged his name a bit to become Hal Delrich.

'The Evil Dead' - Trailer

6. The movie's chief innovation was the rushing, low-to-the-ground tracking shot that represented to point of view of the attacking demonic forces. To create the effect, Raimi mounted a camera on a two-by-four and had it held aloft by people at each end (often, Raimi and Campbell), who would then run through the forest.

7. Another novelty: having a character get raped by possessed trees. It's one of the scariest scenes in the film, but it's also been criticized as misogynistic. Raimi has said in recent years that he regrets including the scene and chalks it up to youthful bad judgment. Sandweiss has joked that shooting the scene left her infected with a mild case of Dutch elm disease.

8. Every cast member was injured in some way during the shoot. Most dramatically, Baker had her eyelashes ripped out when the plaster mold for the latex mask (of her demon-possessed incarnation) was torn from her face.

9. The production used creamed corn (dyed green) for spilled zombie guts and 2 percent milk for the fluid the possessed kids often spewed. And for blood, they used a combination of corn syrup, red food coloring, and coffee creamer. Tapert estimated that the filmmakers used between 200 and 300 gallons of fake blood, having bought every bottle of Karo syrup in Morristown. During a special-effects scene gone awry, about 75 gallons of the sticky blood spilled onto a rented camera and ruined it.

10. Principal photography took 12 long weeks. "This was a nightmare shoot for everybody. It took about three months for people to start talking to each other again after the initial shoot," Campbell recalled, years later. Still, he added, "We were all there happily, willingly. None of us had any idea what we were getting into. By putting in that torment for 12 weeks, it reflects on the movie. The movie has a sort of docu-horror quality to it that you can smell oozing from the pores of the movie."

11. Post-production, however, took a year and a half. By then, most of the original cast members were unavailable for reshoots and had to be replaced by stand-ins. Three Stooges fan Raimi referred to those as "Fake Shemps," after the often-obvious stunt doubles used by Shemp Howard in the old Stooges shorts.

12. The voice of the professor heard on the tape recording is that of Turner Classic Movies host Bob Dorian.

13. Joel Coen got his first big break an assistant editor on the film. He and brother Ethan were inspired by Raimi's example to hit up family and friends for the money to make their first film, 1984's 'Blood Simple.' Like Raimi, they made a calling-card short to show to potential investors, with Campbell in the role that would go to Dan Hedaya in the real film. The 'Evil Dead'-style demon-cam tracking shot also became a staple in early Coen Brothers movies.

14. Shortly after filming was completed, the cabin burned to the ground. Raimi initially claimed it had been struck by lightning, a fitting coda to the old ghost story about the thunder-traumatized girl. Later, Raimi claimed he'd burned it down himself. The crew buried a time capsule at the site, and though fans of the movie have picked the site clean over the years (Campbell says fans have brought him bricks from the fireplace to autograph), no one has yet unearthed the capsule.

15. The movie was to be called 'Book of the Dead,' until veteran producer and distribution expert Irvin Shapiro persuaded Raimi that the title might by too literary for the drive-in crowd the filmmakers hoped to attract. Shapiro himself came up with the 'Evil Dead' title.

16. The filmmakers had a hard time getting U.S. distributors interested in the movie. But they managed to get it screened at the Cannes Film Festival and released in Europe, where it became a minor hit in several countries and was banned in several others. In England, where it went straight to video, it became the focus of a landmark censorship trial (at which Raimi testified) that led to stricter policing of home video content. Now, U.S companies were interested. Independent distributor New Line Cinema picked it up.

17. Shortly before New Line gave the film a nationwide release in 1983, it got an endorsement from Stephen King. The horror guru's blurb called it "the most ferociously original horror movie of the year."

18. Raimi had shot the film for just $350,000. In domestic release, it earned $2.4 million. On home video, it became even bigger.

19. The modest success of 'Evil Dead' led to Raimi's second film, the 1985 film noir spoof 'Crimewave' (scripted by Raimi and the Coens), which flopped. Still, Raimi had enough cachet to make 1987's 'Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn,' which was essentially a remake of the first film (again, with Campbell starring as zombie-fighter Ash), but with more over-the-top gore, more tongue-in-cheek laughs, and more money to spend (about 10 times the budget of 'Evil Dead').

20. 'Evil Dead 2' did well enough to inspire a third film, 1992's 'Army of Darkness,' which saw Ash fighting "deadites" in Middle-Ages Europe. (It was going to be called 'The Medieval Dead,' but again, Shapiro prevailed.) The movie didn't earn the same level of critical praise or cult adoration as the first two, but it was still a decent-sized hit.

21. With the blessings of Raimi and Campbell, a team of Canadian wags mounted 'Evil Dead: The Musical' at the 2004 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. Since then, the play has been mounted in cities all over the world (including a four-month Off-Broadway stint in New York). For all the singing and dancing, it's just as gory as the movie; ticketbuyers in the first three rows (a.k.a. "the splatter zone") are advised to dress casually.

22. After the franchise-crossover movie 'Freddy vs. Jason' (pitting 'Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger against 'Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees) came out in 2003, there was talk of a sequel, 'Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash,' that would pit Campbell's chainsaw-wielding demon fighter against the two seemingly unkillable slasher movie villains. That movie never came to fruition, but there were two limited-series comic books based on the 'Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash' idea.

23. In 2009, after the massive success of Rami's 'Spider-Man' trilogy and his return to horror with 'Drag Me to Hell,' Raimi said he and his brother Ivan were working on a screenplay for 'Evil Dead IV,' which would pick up where 'Army of Darkness' left off. So far, nothing has come of that project.

Ellen Sandweiss, 'The Evil Dead'

24. The movie remains a staple attraction at a never-ending series of horror conventions. The movie's three actresses, who've all apparently become soccer moms, have a second life on weekends jetting to conventions and signing autographs. (A highlight of the convention circuit for them: meeting 'Evil Dead' fan Alice Cooper.) The actresses say they remain touched by the 'Evil Dead' fans' undying devotion. "My [demon-possessed] face is tattooed on about six different people's arms," marvels Sandweiss.

25. This summer, it was announced that an 'Evil Dead' remake is in the works. The reboot will be produced by Raimi, Campbell and Tapert, but the script (written by director Fede Alvarez and polished by Diablo Cody) reportedly departs from the original in significant ways. For one thing, says Campbell, there's no Ash. "All best are off & all love the new approach," Campbell Tweeted. How can that possibly work? Guess we'll find out in 2013, when the undead franchise returns from the grave yet again.

[Top photo: Everett Collection // Other photos: Anchor Bay]

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The film version of 'West Side Story' seems like it has always been part of our collective memories. The sounds and images from the street-gang update of 'Romeo and Juliet' have resonated with us down through the years, as refracted in other movies (like Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Outsiders'), music videos (Michael Jackson's 'Beat It'), Bruce Springsteen lyrics ("There's a ballet being fought out in the alley") and even television shows (this season of 'Glee') so that -- even if you've never seen 'West Side Story' -- you feel you know it. Still, there's a lot about the classic movie musical, released 50 years ago today (on Oct. 18, 1961) that you may not know. Read on to learn about the real-life gangbangers hired for the film, how star Natalie Wood almost got male lead Richard Beymer and herself fired from the film, and how the co-director who was fired in mid-shoot ended up winning an Oscar.

1. Despite the movie's New York street feel, most of it was shot on a soundstage in Hollywood. The famous prologue, however, was shot on the gritty Manhattan streets, in the West 60s (amid tenements about to be torn down to make way for Lincoln Center) and in Spanish Harlem (around East 110th Street). Dancers sustained some injuries from leaping about on the hard pavement, but those weren't the only injuries they risked. Locals harassed the performers by throwing rocks and dropping objects off roofs until the filmmakers hired an actual street gang to protect them.

'West Side Story' - Prologue

2. Some viewers who'd loved the 1957 Broadway musical were miffed that Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence weren't even considered to reprise the roles of Tony and Maria in the movie. But the producers wanted a cast that looked young enough to be teenagers, and the Broadway leads were both about 30. Nonetheless, while they ended up casting two 23-year-olds in the leads, most of the gangbangers and gals they hired were indeed close to 30.

3. Elvis Presley was approached to play Tony, but Col. Tom Parker turned the studio down, favoring the anodyne musicals his client was already making over one that would have had him wielding a switchblade. (Though he'd already played a street kid driven to violence in such movies as 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'King Creole.') If Elvis had done the movie, he'd have ended up playing opposite real-life ex-girlfriend Wood.

4. Others who almost played Tony: Marlon Brando, Tab Hunter, Anthony Perkins, Russ Tamblyn, Burt Reynolds, Troy Donahue, Bobby Darin, Richard Chamberlain, Dennis Hopper, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. Hunter (age 30), Reynolds (26) and Chamberlain (26) were all considered too old. The versatile Darin was too busy. Brando wanted to do it but figured that, at 34, he was way too old. Tamblyn ended up with the role of Jets leader Riff. Beatty was co-director Robert Wise's first choice, and he even tested with then lover/'Splendor in the Grass' co-star Wood. Ultimately, the filmmakers went with the little-known Beymer.

5. Actresses considered for Maria included Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Luna, Jill St. John, Diane Baker, Valery Harper, Elizabeth Ashley, and Suzanne Pleshette. Hepburn dropped out when she became pregnant.

6. Wood really wanted to do 'West Side Story,' but she knew if she turned down Warner Bros. forthcoming melodrama 'Parrish,' studio chief Jack Warner would never loan her to the rival United Artists. So she faked a bout of tonisillitis. That trick got her out of 'Parrish,' but it backfired when she contracted a serious case of pneumonia and almost had to drop out of 'West Side Story' as well. Fortunately, she recovered in time. (Pneumonia also struck cast member Eliot Feld, who played Baby John, during the New York shoot.)

7. Feld was one of several veterans of the Broadway production who landed roles in the film. Others included Tony Mordente (Action), Tucker Smith (Ice), and Jay Norman (Pepe). George Chakiris, who played Sharks leader Bernardo, had played Riff on the London stage.

8. A few members of the Broadway cast did get to reprise their roles in the movie: Carole D'Andrea (Velma), Tommy Abbott (Gee-Tar) and William Bramley (Officer Krupke).

9. David Winters played Baby John on stage and A-rab in the movie. On stage, it's A-rab whose beating by the Sharks sparks a rumble, while in the movie, it's Baby John. Had Winters' roles been reversed, he'd have been beaten up both times.

10. Stefanie Powers, then going by the stage name Taffy Paul, was hired as a chorus dancer but had to drop out because she was underage and would have required an on-set tutor and a shorter work schedule. Years later, of course, she would co-star with Wood's husband, Robert Wagner, on TV's 'Hart to Hart.'

11. The scope of the project was so large that the studio decided to split the workload between two directors. Jerome Robbins, who directed and choreographed the Broadway show was hired despite never having directed a film before. Veteran movie director Robert Wise was hired despite never having made a musical. It was decided that Wise would handle the drama scenes and Robbins the musical numbers. But Robbins' perfectionism began to drag the movie down. His exacting demands and endless rehearsals took a toll on the dancers. ("They didn't dance out of joy, they danced out of fear," said music supervisor Saul Chaplin.") Soon the movie was behind schedule and $300,000 over budget. Wise defended Robbins, but he was soon asked to finish the movie by himself. Robbins' choreography remained, but the only completed numbers he shot that remain in the film were the prologue, 'America,' 'Cool,' and 'Something's Coming.'

'West Side Story'

12. Robbins worked Wood 16 hours a day, until she begged to be fired from the film. She also wanted Beymer fired, complaining about his lack of singing and dancing chops (even though her song-and-dance skills were just as limited). Eventually, she figured out how to get along with both Robbins and Beymer, while the directors figured out how to shoot around her dance limitations.

13. As for the stars' vocal limitations, most fans know that Wood's singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon (who would do the same for Audrey Hepburn three years later in 'My Fair Lady'). Wood herself didn't know, however. She had assumed her own singing voice would be used, at least for the lower-register parts, and didn't learn she'd be dubbed until the shoot was over. Beymer was dubbed by Jimmy Bryant.

14. There was other vocal doubling going on as well. Tucker Smith (Ice) also sang Tamblyn's part in 'The Jet Song,' though Tamblyn's own voice is heard during 'Gee, Officer Krupke' and 'Quintet.'

15. As Anita (Bernardo's sister and Maria's confidante), Rita Moreno sang on 'America,' but Betty Ward was hired to dub her lower notes on 'A Boy Like That.' On the day the vocals for 'Quintet' were recorded, however, both Moreno and Ward were sick, so Nixon stepped in, singing for both Anita and Maria. So on film, the song was really a quartet.

16. 'West Side Story' was the No. 2 box office hit of 1961, behind only Disney's '101 Dalmatians.' The film, which cost $6 million to make, has earned back $43 million at the box office over the course of multiple releases through the years.

17. The film was popular overseas, too. It played for four years straight at Paris's George V Theater, setting a record.

18. In 1962, the film won 10 Oscars, a record for a musical that stands to this day. Among the honors: Best Picture (a prize that went to Wise, as a producer), Best Director (shared by Robbins and Wise, who insisted that his fired collaborator remain credited as co-director), Best Supporting Actor (Chakiris) and Best Supporting Actress (Moreno). The only Oscar it was nominated for that it didn't win was Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Lehman). Wise and Robbins were the first pair ever to share a directing award (and the last, until Joel and Ethan Coen won for 2007's 'No Country for Old Men.') Robbins is the only director ever to win an Oscar for his sole feature directing credit; he never directed another film. Wise, however, went on to repeat his feat four years later, winning Best Picture and Best Director for 'The Sound of Music.'

19. Rita Moreno, the only actual Puerto Rican among the principal cast, became only the second Hispanic performer (after fellow Puerto Rican José Ferrer a decade earlier) to win an Oscar. But it didn't help her career the way she expected. "Ha, ha. I showed them. I didn't make another movie for seven years after winning the Oscar," she recalled in a 2008 interview. "Before 'West Side Story,' I was always offered the stereotypical Latina roles. The Conchitas and Lolitas in westerns. I was always barefoot. It was humiliating, embarrassing stuff. But I did it because there was nothing else. After 'West Side Story,' it was pretty much the same thing. A lot of gang stories." Today, Moreno is one of only 10 stars who've won the EGOT grand slam of competitive entertainment awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and is the one who did it in the shortest span of time (14 years).

20. Leonard Bernstein, who composed the songs, complained that the movie was over-orchestrated. The film used some 90 musicians, about three times as many as the Broadway production.

21. The soundtrack album was very popular and won a Grammy for Best Soundtrack. Other near-simultaneous instrumental versions of the score, by lounge pianists Ferrante & Teicher and by jazz bandleader Stan Kenton, were big sellers as well.

22. For her work dubbing Moreno's vocals, Ward went uncredited on the album. She sued the film's producers and the CBS record label for $60,000 in damages. The suit was settled out of court.

23. Nixon was denied royalties as well. She finally got some when Bernstein agreed to give her a portion of his percentage.

24. These days, Russ Tamblyn is better known as the father of Amber Tamblyn, of the 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' movies and TV's 'Joan of Arcadia' and 'House.'

25. Of the 'West Side Story' cast alumni, Wood had the most celebrated career, as a leading lady in such films as 'Love With the Proper Stranger,' 'Inside Daisy CLover,' 'This Property Is Condemned,' and 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.' Moreno has shown her versatility in a variety of media; today, the former 'Electric Company' star is playing Fran Drescher's mother on TV's 'Happily Divorced.' Chakiris starred in such movies as 'Diamond Head,' 'Is Paris Burning?' and 'The Young Girls of Rochefort" before turning to TV in the 1970s and '80s, retiring from acting and taking up jewelry design. Nearly 30 years after 'West Side Story's release, Richard Beymer and Tamblyn were reunited as members of the ensemble cast of David Lynch's 1990 TV drama series 'Twin Peaks.' Beymer played the sinister hotal magnate Ben Horne, while Tamblyn was the mysterious psychiatrist Lawrence Jacoby. Both still retained flashes of the old mystique and menace. 'Cause when you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way.

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This Week in 1971: 'Bananas' Slips Into Theaters
These days, it's a surprise and a relief when Woody Allen turns out a gem of a picture (like 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' or 'Match Point') that's as full of raw, messy life as the movies he made at the dawn of his career. Back then, moviegoers took comic grab-bags like 'Bananas' for granted, as he managed to crank them out regularly, one per year. Today, 40 years after its release (on April 28, 1971), he's still cranking out a film a year, but Allen fans would be thrilled if he made another movie with half of 'Bananas' appeal.

'Bananas' was a supremely silly, slapdash film that, by all rights, shouldn't have worked. It barely had a script and was largely improvised. Allen's leading lady was the woman he'd divorced a year earlier. While filming in remote Central American locations, key props failed to materialize. A throwaway joke earned the film a "Condemned" rating from the Catholic Church. Allen's original ending was to be a cringeworthy scene involving a blackface gag. Yet somehow, all the pieces came together to create a comedy now regarded as a classic.

The plot - in which a New York schlub (Allen) who's trying to impress a cute activist (Louise Lasser, who had become Allen's ex-wife in 1969) goes to a Latin American country, falls in with a group of leftist guerillas and winds up becoming president - was loosely inspired by Richard Powell's comic novel 'Don Quixote U.S.A.' Allen wrote the screenplay with Mickey Rose, but the scenes were largely improvised, including the famous opening, in which a political assassination gets the live play-by-play treatment from legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell.

The improvising continued during the Latin American part of the shoot, which took place in Lima, Peru and various locations in Puerto Rico. When musical instruments failed to arrive for a scene at a banquet, Allen had the musicians mime their performance, which turned out to fit well with the movie's surreal tone. Other happy accidents: the casting of future stars, including Lasser (soon to star on TV's 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'), Sylvester Stallone (as a thug who menaces Allen on the subway) and eventual 'Diff'rent Strokes' actors Conrad Bain, Charlotte Rae and Mary Jo Catlett.

The ending was supposed to be a riot scene in which a soot-faced Allen is mistaken by black-power revolutionaries as one of their own. Fortunately, editor Ralph Rosenblum talked Allen into a less offensive ending that fit the story better: Allen and Lasser's characters consummate their wedding, again with play-by-play from Cosell. That didn't stop the film from causing offense, however; a joke involving an ad for New Testament cigarettes earned 'Bananas' a condemnation from the Catholic Church.

For all its violence, 'Bananas' showed no blood; Allen was insistent upon keeping a light comic tone. Which, aside from his occasional forays into drama, has been his M.O. for the past 40 years. That's expected to continue with 'Midnight in Paris,' Allen's upcoming romantic comedy, due next month. Let's see if he can still summon the old serendipity.

Check out the video version of This Week in Movies!

This Week in Movie History

1982 (April 24): Jane Fonda releases her first workout video (the aptly titled 'Workout'), which turns out to be the beginning of her journey from Oscar-winning actress to aerobics queen.
1986 (April 26): Arnold Schwarzenegger weds Maria Shriver. Marrying into the Kennedy family turns out to be the beginning of his journey from Terminator to Governator.
1993 (April 27): A North Carolina district attorney rules that the recent death of Brandon Lee on the set of 'The Crow' was due to negligence, not foul play. After the actor's death from a bullet tip lodged in a gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks, the film is finished with another actor (with Lee's face digitally superimposed) and goes on to earn $50 million at the box office.
1995 (April 25): Ginger Rogers dies at 83. Though best known for the 10 films she made with Fred Astaire in the 1930s and '40s, she continued to act in movies and Broadway musicals through the 1960s.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

April 25 is a birthday for both Al Pacino (71) and his 'Godfather' sister, Talia Shire (65). It's also the birthday of Renee Zellweger (42), Jason Lee (41), Hank Azaria (47), and director Paul Mazursky (81).

Shirley MacLaine is 77 (in this lifetime, that is) as of April 24, a birthday shared by Barbra Streisand (69) and Cedric the Entertainer (47). Jet Li turned 48 on April 26, a birthday he has all to himself.

April 28 marks a milestone for both Jessica Alba (30) and Ann-Margret (70), as well as the 37th for Penelope Cruz. On the 29th, Daniel Day-Lewis turns 54, while his 'Age of Innocence' co-star Michelle Pfeiffer turns 53. (It's also Uma Thurman's 41st birthday.) On the 30th, Kirsten Dunst turns 29, and Cloris Leachman turns 85.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Fast Five' - Trailer No. 2

'Fast Five' (PG-13)

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Joaquim de Almeida, Dwayne Johnson
Directed By: Justin Lin
What's It About? Underground street racers Diesel and Walker are in Rio de Janeiro this time, trying to pull of that One Last Job. The Rock is a Fed on their trail.
Why Should You See It? Most of the major characters from the four previous installments are back, though the addition of Johnson should juice things up a bit. For speedy thrills in exotic locations, this franchise tends to deliver.
You Might Like It If You Like: The first four 'Fast and Furious' films, 'The Rundown'

Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews
Video Interviews: Dwayne Johnson | Jordana Brewster | Director Justin Lin
Mr. Moviefone's Six-Second Review
Video: On the Scene at the 'Fast Five' Premiere
'Prom' (PG)

Starring: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Danielle Campbell, De'Vaughn Nixon, Nicholas Braun
Directed By: Joe Nussbaum
What's It About? All the anxieties surrounding the big high school ritual are milked for laughs (and some poignant drama) as several students try (a little too hard) to make the night perfect.
Why Should You See It? If you're a senior now having anxieties about the big dance, watching this (with your date) could defuse the tension.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'She's All That,' 'High School Musical 3: Senior Year,' 'Pretty in Pink'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews
Cast Interviews
'Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil' (PG)

Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Glenn Close, Joan Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler
Directed By: Mike Disa
What's It About? Red Riding Hood (Panettiere), now part of a Buffy-like group of warriors, is called upon to solve the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel (Hader and Poehler).
Why Should You See It? The team behind the 2005 installment is back, and a top-notch voice cast should help ensure that this sequel is a similarly irreverent and breezy take on classic fairy tales.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Hoodwinked,' 'Shrek,' 'Happily N'Ever After'

Showtimes & Tickets: 3D | 2D | Trailers & Clips | Reviews
Mr. Moviefone's Six-Second Review
'Dylan Dog: Dead of Night' (PG-13)

Starring: Brandon Routh, Anita Briem, Sam Huntington, Taye Diggs, Peter Stormare
Directed By: Kevin Munroe
What's It About? In this horror/comedy adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi's comic books, detective Dylan Dog (Routh) prowls the Louisiana bayous, protecting humanity from such undead menaces as zombies, vampires and werewolves. Huntington (who played Jimmy Olsen to Routh's Clark Kent in 'Superman Returns') is along for the ride as Dylan's sidekick.
Why Should You See It? Fans of the Italian comic are grousing over the film's changes from the books (notably, moving the setting from London to New Orleans), but for American audiences new to the character, comic-book-movie mainstay Routh should fit the bill.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Cemetery Man,' 'Van Helsing,' 'Zombieland'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release

'Sympathy for Delicious' is a fable that marks the directing debut of Mark Ruffalo. It's about a DJ (Christopher Thornton) paralyzed in an accident who discovers he has the power to heal others by touch, and who must decide whether to use that power selflessly or to become famous.
Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews

'Exporting Raymond' is a documentary by Phil Rosenthal, creator of sitcom smash 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' chronicling his humorous misadventures as he attempts to create a version of the show that will play for viewers in Russia.
Showtimes & Tickets | Moviefone's Review | Trailers & Clips

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

o.'Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family' - Sure, Perry's drag grandma is still pretty funny, but it's pot-smoking Aunt Bam who steals the movie. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

o.'Water for Elephants' - If you're craving a slightly more mature romance than those of 'Prom,' then it's time to run away and join this circus. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

o.'African Cats' - With Mother's Day coming up, it would be hard to find better maternal role models than this movie's lion, cheetah and leopard. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: Biggest new release of the week is '3 Idiots,' a Bolllywood film that's little known on these shores but is the top-grossing comedy in India's history. Indian superstar Aamir Khan plays the lead, a former college rebel, now gone missing a decade after graduation, whose two college pals go looking for him. Think 'Old School' meets 'Dead Poets Society,' flavored with a bit of 'Slumdog Millionaire.' Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Is Friday's royal wedding on TV way too early for you? Forget to set your DVR? Instead, you could watch 'Royal Wedding' (1951), the delightful Fred Astaire musical set in London during the nuptials of Prince William's grandma, back when she was still Princess Elizabeth. Fred and his sister (Jane Powell) are American hoofers in town for the occasion, and both fall for Brits. Worth watching just for the still astonishing, 'Inception'-like number that has Astaire dancing on the walls and the ceiling. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Swan, schman. A lot of people think Annette Bening was robbed at the Oscars (yet again) when she didn't win Best Actress for last year's dramedy 'The Kids Are All Right.' Bening and Julianne Moore both sparkled as a lesbian couple whose lives are thrown into turmoil when their teenage kids find their sperm-donor dad (Mark Ruffalo) and integrate him into the family. But Bening, as the more brittle and brainy of the two moms, had the trickier part and navigated it with her usual assurance. Ruffalo, as the reckless, far-too-casual interloper, earned an Oscar nod as well, so check him out here if you can't find a theater near you that's showing his new 'Sympathy for Delicious.' 'Kids' makes its premium cable debut on Cinemax on Saturday at 10PM. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1941: 'Citizen Kane' Sleds Into History
'Citizen Kane' may or may not be the greatest movie ever made, but it's almost surely the greatest cautionary tale ever to come out of Hollywood. Released 70 years ago this week (on May 1, 1941), 'Kane' was the story, as one character notes, of a man who had everything and then lost it, but it was also made by a director who was given everything and then lost it.

After his pioneering dramatic work in radio and on the New York stage, Orson Welles was wooed by Hollywood. He signed a deal with the RKO studio to direct and act in movies and have final cut, giving him unprecedented creative license for a first-time director. He was 24. Welles declared that a movie studio was "the best toy train a boy ever had," but he quickly ran it off the rails.

The inspiration for Charles Foster Kane was the life story of William Randolph Hearst, then America's most powerful media mogul, but there were other tycoons and tyrants in Kane, including the hot-tempered Welles himself. 'Kane' was a story about how power corrupts idealism, but it was also about how hard it is to ever truly know anyone, even someone famous. Telling the story in flashback, from the points of view of multiple unreliable narrators, was just one of the film's many innovations. So was its deep-focus and low-angle cinematography, its sound mix, even its makeup (it took seven hours to transform Welles into the aged Kane). For those innovations and others, generations of critics and filmmakers have long regarded 'Kane' as the most influential movie ever made.

Unfortunately, Welles had made a terrible enemy out of Hearst, who went to great lengths to suppress the picture before and after its release. He banned mention of it in his newspapers, threatened to sue RKO for libel, strong-armed exhibitors into keeping it out of many theaters, and even pressured other studios to offer to buy the negative from RKO and destroy it. Nonetheless, 'Kane' was a critical and commercial success, but not a big enough hit to recoup its budget. At the 1942 Academy Awards, it was nominated for nine prizes but won only Best Screenplay (the only Oscar Welles would ever receive, shared with screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz), as Hearst had successfully pressured Hollywood's elite into voting against 'Kane' in most categories.

As befits a movie about a sled, it was all downhill from there for Welles. Never again would he enjoy the total creative freedom and elastic budget that he did on his first movie. After running afoul of Hearst and RKO, Welles faced increasing interference from Hollywood studios, which frequently tightened his purse strings and re-edited his movies without his consent. After 1958's 'Touch of Evil,' he never directed another studio movie and spent the last decades of his career taking cheesy acting roles and commercials and scrounging up independent investments to finance his films, shooting intermittently whenever he could cobble together enough money but otherwise leaving projects unfinished. Those later movies were frequently brilliant, but it's worth wondering how much more Welles could have accomplished if he hadn't terrified Hollywood with his genius and orneriness from day one.

Watching 'Kane' today, it's still easy to get caught up in its story and characters, spot the shots and dialogue that other films have swiped from it, and marvel at Welles' audacity, the one thing about him that other directors won't emulate. Who would dare?

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This Week in Movie History

1948 (May 3): The Supreme Court rules in U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures that the major Hollywood studios are guilty of anti-trust violations for controlling the exhibition business by owning most of the theaters. The order to sell off the cinemas essentially ends the studio system that has existed since the dawn of Hollywood, allowing independent producers to flourish and changing the way movies are made and released.
2002 (May 5): 'Spider-Man' becomes the first movie to earn more than $100 million on its opening weekend. The first weekend in May has pretty much belonged to Marvel superheroes ever since. (Just as it will this weekend, with the release of 'Thor.')

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Besides being the anniversary of 'Citizen Kane,' this week also marks what would have been Orson Welles' 96th birthday, as he was born May 6, 1915. Gary Cooper would be 110 (born May 7, 1901), while his 'Love in the Afternoon' co-star Audrey Hepburn would be 82 (born May 4, 1929). Other movie immortals born the first week in May: Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895), Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903), Tyrone Power (May 5, 1913) and Terry Southern, the screenwriter of 'Dr. Strangelove' and 'Easy Rider' (May 1, 1924).

Turning the big 5-0 this week is George Clooney, on May 6. That's also the day 'Precious' star Gabourey Sidibe turns 28. 'Fast Five' star Dwayne Johnson turned 39 on May 2. 1980s starlet Pia Zadora is 55 as of May 4. (She co-starred with Welles, making one of his last screen appearances, in 1982's notoriously awful 'Butterfly.') And on May 1, Ray Parker Jr., who will forever be known for the 'Ghostbusters' theme, turned 57.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Thor' - Trailer No. 3

'Thor' (PG-13)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander, Anthony Hopkins
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
What's It About? The hammer-wielding thunder god (Hemsworth) of Norse mythology and Marvel comics fame is tossed out of Asgard by papa Odin (Hopkins) and forced to learn humility on Earth, where he meets a cute astrophysicist (Portman). But a new menace looms - Thor's trickster brother, Loki (Hiddleston) - threatening our world and calling Thor back to duty.
Why Should You See It? It's this summer's first popcorn mega-spectacle. Early buzz says that Hemsworth's is a star-making performance. It sets up (along with this summer's 'Captain America') Marvel's forthcoming 'Avengers' movies. Oscar-winners Hopkins and Portman and director Branagh should lend this operation some class. And the plot has a Prince Hal aspect that Shakespeare maven Branagh should be able to go to town with.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Iron Man, 'Iron Man 2,' 'Henry V'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX | Reviews
Interview: Tom Hiddleston
The Week in Geek: 'Thor' vs. 'Captain America'
'Thor' Early Buzz: Well, Racists Hate It
'Thor' Set Visit: An Exclusive Sneak Peak

'Something Borrowed' (PG-13)

Starring: Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, John Krasinski, Colin Egglesfield, Steve Howey
Directed By: Luke Greenfield
What's It About? On her 30th birthday, lawyer Rachel (Goodwin) gets drunk and sleeps with the guy she's had a crush on since law school (Egglesfield). Unfortunately, he's engaged to her best friend, Darcy (Hudson). Making it a quadrangle is Ethan (Krasinski), who has dated both Rachel and Darcy.
Why Should You See It? Because you want an alternative to the testosterone-heavy 'Thor'? Because it's the first romantic comedy to come along in a while? Because you like watching pretty people frolic in expensive Hamptons beach houses?
You Might Like It If You Like: 'My Best Friend's Wedding,' 'Dan in Real Life,' 'He's Just Not That Into You'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'Jumping the Broom' (PG-13)

Starring: Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Tasha Smith, Loretta Devine
Directed By: Salim Akil
What's It About? Class warfare breaks out at an African-American wedding when the groom's working-class Brooklyn family travels to the nuptials at the Martha's Vineyard home of the bride's wealthy family. Chief combatants are the two matriarchs (Devine and Bassett).
Why Should You See It? Because you want an alternative to the testosterone-heavy 'Thor'? Because you like watching pretty people frolic in expensive Martha's Vineyard beach houses?
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Best Man,' 'Our Family Wedding,' Tyler Perry movies

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release

'The Beaver' marks Mel Gibson's try at a dramatic comeback, playing a depressed dad who finds it therapeutic to communicate via a bucktoothed-critter hand puppet. Jodie Foster, who plays his beleaguered wife, also directs.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review | Interview: Jodie Foster

'Hobo With a Shotgun,' a tongue-in-cheek exploitation movie that's based (like 'Machete') on a fake trailer from 'Grindhouse,' stars Rutger Hauer as a homeless vigilante blowing away bid guys with his pump-action 20-gauge.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review | Interview with Rutger Hauer and Director Jason Eisener

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

o.'Fast Five' - Can't get in to see Thor wield his hammer? You can still watch Vin Diesel put the hammer down. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

o.'Prom' - If you crave a romantic comedy/drama, but 'Something Borrowed' and 'Jumping the Broom' are too grown up for you, here's your squeaky-clean, Disney-approved alternative. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

o.'Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil' - Do you miss the 'Shrek' films? Maybe this cartoon fairy-tale spoof will fill the bill. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: We'll watch Michel Gondry direct anything (he's earned a lifetime free pass for 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'), even a slapdash, tongue-in-cheek comic-book hero movie like 'The Green Hornet.' Seth Rogen is nobody's idea of a superhero, so it's good, actually, that as a playboy-turned-costumed-crimefighter, he doesn't actually try to pretend he has any superpowers. (Bruce Wayne/Batman at least has acrobatic skills along with money to develop useful crime-fighting gadgets; Rogen's Britt Reid just has the money, the gadgets, and a fanboyish enthusiasm.) He's outclassed by his sidekick, Kato (Jay Chou, who won't make anyone forget Bruce Lee in the original TV series). Gondry did bring the movie his usual cheeky visual inventiveness that worked well on the 3D screen. How that'll play at home is a good question. At any rate, 'Hornet' provides some mild, escapist fun that plays best if you don't have any emotional investment in the old serial character. And who does? Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Still basking in chest-beating patriotic triumphalism over the successful takeout of Osama bin Laden? Then it's time to revisit the puppet commandos of 'Team America: World Police' (2004) and sing another chorus of "America, F**k Yeah." Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: A very different comic-book movie from 'Thor,' 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' is the visually dazzling, pop-culture-steeped, emotionally earnest romantic epic about a regular guy (Michael Cera) who can't win over his rainbow-haired dream girl without taking on and defeating her seven evil exes in video-game-style confrontations. Maybe you were one of the comic-addled fanboys who urged everyone to see this last summer; or maybe you were one of the people who ignored the pleas from your comic-addled friends. Which is why the movie flopped in theaters, but now's your chance to see it on premium HD cable. 'Pilgrim' makes its HBO debut on Saturday at 7PM. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1986: 'Short Circuit' Comes Alive
As movies about adorable robots go, 'Short Circuit' (released 25 years ago this week, on May 9, 1986) wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but it's a fondly remembered film that proved influential in ways its creators probably never imagined.

Originally, director John Badham's film was going to be a relatively serious Cold War techno-parable, along the lines of his 'WarGames,' but it evolved into a kid-friendly comedy about a drone weapon automaton called Number 5 that, when struck by lightning, develops intelligence, a personality and a fondness for pop culture. Comic pro Steve Guttenberg was enlisted as the robot's inventor, and Ally Sheedy (of 'WarGames') played his love interest, an ice cream truck driver who takes in stray animals and assumes that the runaway Number 5 is a stranded alien. (No wonder, since, with his big eyes, flat head, squat body and ability to learn English from a few hours of watching TV, he resembles E.T.)

Also along for comic relief is Fisher Stevens, in what today seems a squirm-inducing brownface performance as an Indian scientist prone to funny malapropisms. (Incredibly, the 1988 sequel 'Short Circuit 2,' centered on Stevens' character, with Guttenberg and Sheedy sitting it out.) Aside from the unseen Hank Azaria voicing Apu on 'The Simpsons,' it's hard to imagine a performer getting away with this today.

Since 'Short Circuit,' we've seen the robot-weapon-develops-a-soul plot several times (most memorably in 1991's 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' and 1999's 'The Iron Giant'). And the design for Number 5, by movie robotics master Syd Mead ('Blade Runner,' 'Tron') has also proved influential; it's hard to imagine Pixar's big-eyed, squat, 'Hello Dolly'-loving droid WALL-E without the precedent of "Johnny" 5.

There's been talk for years about rebooting the franchise. Last we heard (which was a year and a half ago), director Steve Carr ('Paul Blart: Mall Cop') had signed on to direct. Beyond that, however, there's been little indication that a new Number 5 is alive.

Check out the video version of This Week in Movies!

This Week in Movie History

1907 (May 12): Katharine Hepburn is born in Hartford, Connecticut. She will go on to become one of the most celebrated actresses in film history, winning a record four Oscars for her leading roles in a career that lasts more than 60 years.
1963 (May 8): The first James Bond movie, 'Dr. No,' is released in America. It makes Sean Connery a star and becomes the most celebrated action movie series of all time (and, at nearly 50 years and counting, one of the longest-lasting).
1977 (May 10): Joan Crawford dies at 72. The screen icon's legacy was a long list of legendary performances in such melodramas as 'Mildred Pierce' (for which she won an Oscar) - and a lifetime of bitterness in daughter Christina, who alleged that her mother physically and emotionally abused her in 1979's 'Mommie Dearest,' the first major celebrity tell-all memoir.
1998 (May 14): Frank Sinatra dies at 82. Besides being the 20th century's premier pop singer, the leader of the Rat Pack, and the Chairman of the Board, he also acted in more than 50 movies, including 'From Here to Eternity,' which earned him an Oscar.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

It's a good week for birthdays if you're a 'Pulp Fiction' fan. Ving Rhames turns 50 on May 12, while Tim Roth does the same two days later. Harvey Keitel turns 72 on May 13.

Break out the birthday ~~pie~~ cake for Jason Biggs on the 12th, when he turns 33. That's also the birthday of Stephen Baldwin (45) and Emilio Estevez (49). Robert Pattinson, who doesn't look a day over 100, turns 25 on the 13th, which is also the 34th birthday of fellow Brit Samantha Morton. The 14th, which sees Cate Blanchett turn 42, is also the birthday of directors George Lucas (67) and Robert Zemeckis (60).

Earlier this week, the 9th saw five birthdays. Albert Finney and Glenda Jackson both turned 75. Candice Bergen turned 65. Director James L. Brooks turned 71. And Rosario Dawson turned 32. Biggest milestone of the week: Don Rickles' 85th, on May 8.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Bridesmaids' - Trailer No. 2

'Bridesmaids' (R)

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy
Directed By: Paul Feig
What's It About? Wiig plays a woman who agrees, with misgivings, to be maid of honor at the wedding of her best friend (Rudolph). Among Wiig and the other bridesmaids, rivalries ensue, as do gastric disturbances, drunken exploits, and other pre-marital mayhem.
Why Should You See It? At last, a 'Hangover' for the ladies! Actually, between 'SNL' all-stars Wiig (who also co-wrote the movie) and Rudolph and bromance-king Judd Apatow (who produced), the raunchy-but-sweet comedy credentials of this group are pretty impeccable.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Hangover,' 'Sex and the City,' 'Walking and Talking'

Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews
Video Interviews With the Cast and Filmmakers | On the Set
Why the Success or Failure of 'Bridesmaids' Will Set the Tone for Female-Fronted Films
No Men Needed: Great Female Buddy Movies

'Priest' (PG-13)

Starring: Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Stephen Moyer, Maggie Q
Directed By: Scott Stewart
What's It About? It's an adaptation of the Korean comic about a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by wars between humans and vampires. When his niece is kidnapped by bloodsuckers, Bettany's holy man breaks his vows and sets out to rescue the girl with the help of priestess Maggie Q and lawman Gigandet.
Why Should You See It? Bettany has said the filmmakers wanted to make vampires scary again (after the friendly, sexy, moody vampires of 'Twilight' and 'True Blood'). Judging by the footage released so far (the vampires appear more alien than human), mission accomplished. Also, nobody plays badass men-of-the-cloth like 'The Da Vinci Code's' Bettany.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Legion,' 'Daybreakers,' 'Resident Evil'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Trailers | Reviews
Interview: Paul Bettany

In Limited Release

'Everything Must Go,' an adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story, stars Will Ferrell in a straight dramatic role as a salesman who loses his sobriety, his job, and his wife on the same day. All he has left are the possessions she's tossed out on the lawn, turning his life into an impromptu yard sale.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review | Interview: Will Ferrell

'Hesher' stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a tattooed, shirtless, headbanging pyromaniac who becomes the unlikely friend of a bereaved boy who's just lost his mother in a car crash. Natalie Portman co-stars as a geeky supermarket cashier who doesn't realize she looks like Natalie Portman.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

o.'Thor' - If 'Hesher' isn't playing in your area, here's another movie in which Natalie Portman plays a geek who meets a long-haired, muscular, dangerous man of mystery. Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

o.'Jumping the Broom' - It's like a Tyler Perry comedy without Tyler Perry. All the fun of a family squabble, without that really tall guy dressed up as Grandma. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

o.'Something Borrowed' - In case you can't get into any of the other wedding-themed movies playing in theaters, well, this is the one to see. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: How do you like your movie romances, gritty and realistic, or light and frothy? If you prefer the former, there's last winter's drama 'Blue Valentine' (Buy or rent the DVD), starring Ryan Gosling and the Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams as a couple whose relationship is traced from their cute courtship to their bitter split, with blunt sexual and emotional frankness. If that sounds too bleak, there's January's comedy 'No Strings Attached' (Buy or rent the DVD), starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as a pair of busy careerists who try to have a sex-only relationship without falling in love. Either way, it's young, pretty Hollywood actors heating up the screen, though only 'Strings' qualifies as a date movie, while 'Valentine' is more likely to provoke an argument between you and your loved one. More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Ten years ago this week (on May 11, 2001), 'Priest' star Paul Bettany had his breakthrough role in 'A Knight's Tale' as Geoffrey Chaucer, not-yet-famous medieval author, who falls in with a would-be jousting champion (Heath Ledger) and his entourage. At the time, the film was seen as a silly, gimmicky sports comedy, and it was tarnished by its inclusion in the David Manning scandal (Manning was a fake movie critic invented by distributor Sony to provide glowing review quotes on ads for several Sony movies). Still, the movie was underrated, more clever and funny than it had a right to be, with Ledger showing the charisma and leading-man chops that would blossom in his later roles. The cast had so much chemistry that 'Knight's Tale' writer/director Brian Helgeland reunited several of them the next year in occult horror movie 'The Order.' A decade later, Bettany is still playing renegade men of letters, co-star Mark Addy has been promoted from squire to king (on 'Game of Thrones') and Ledger has, like his character in 'A Knight's Tale,' entered the realm of myth and legend. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: You probably saw 'How to Train Your Dragon' last year, since the cartoon proved to be a delight for all ages, rivaled only by 'Despicable Me' and 'Toy Story 3' among last year's top toons. If not, here's your chance to check out this tale of a wimpy Viking lad (Jay Baruchel) who stumbles upon a novel way to deal with his homeland's dragon infestation without resorting to violence. It was released in 3D, but it still looks terrific in 2D. It debuts on premium cable this weekend (HBO, Saturday, 8PM). Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in Movie History

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Fast Five' - Trailer No. 2

'Fast Five' (PG-13)

In Limited Release

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family' - Sure, Perry's drag grandma is still pretty funny, but it's pot-smoking Aunt Bam who steals the movie. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

•'Water for Elephants' - If you're craving a slightly more mature romance than those of 'Prom,' then it's time to run away and join this circus. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

•'African Cats' - With Mother's Day coming up, it would be hard to find better maternal role models than this movie's lion, cheetah and leopard. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

Staying In This Weekend?

This Week in Movie History

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Thor' - Trailer No. 3

In Limited Release

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Fast Five' - Can't get in to see Thor wield his hammer? You can still watch Vin Diesel put the hammer down. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

•'Prom' - If you crave a romantic comedy/drama, but 'Something Borrowed' and 'Jumping the Broom' are too grown up for you, here's your squeaky-clean, Disney-approved alternative. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

•'Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil' - Do you miss the 'Shrek' films? Maybe this cartoon fairy-tale spoof will fill the bill. Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews | Trailers & Clips

Staying In This Weekend?

This Week in Movie History

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Bridesmaids' - Trailer No. 2

In Limited Release

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Thor' - If 'Hesher' isn't playing in your area, here's another movie in which Natalie Portman plays a geek who meets a long-haired, muscular, dangerous man of mystery. Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Jumping the Broom' - It's like a Tyler Perry comedy without Tyler Perry. All the fun of a family squabble, without that really tall guy dressed up as Grandma. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Something Borrowed' - In case you can't get into any of the other wedding-themed movies playing in theaters, well, this is the one to see. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Staying In This Weekend?

This Week in 1986: 'Top Gun' Takes Flight
There's a movie where Tom Cruise stars as a cocky guy with specialized skills and a lot of daddy-abandonment issues. He excels at his chosen pursuit until he's sidelined by a crisis of confidence, but after hearing a pep talk, he climbs back in the saddle and wins the day. Okay, that could be just about any Tom Cruise movie, but the one that really set the pattern is 'Top Gun,' released 25 years ago this week, on May 16, 1986. Not only is it the signature movie of Cruise's career, it's pretty much the signature movie of the entire 1980s.

At the height of the Cold War and the gung-ho Reagan era, 'Top Gun' played like a naval recruiting ad crafted by MTV. The macho camaraderie among the Navy pilots-in-training, the awesome (and awesomely expensive) military hardware on display, the flight montages set to carefully chosen rock anthems -- all date the movie, though its impact is felt to this day.

Besides Cruise, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Kelly McGillis, the stars of the movie were the F-14 fighter planes. The filmmakers secured the cooperation of the Navy and the use of its fighter pilots, planes and aircraft carriers in return for ceding script approval (the Navy toned down some plot elements and made McGillis' character a civilian so that Cruise's lieutenant wouldn't violate military policy by romancing someone else who was in the service) and spare-no-expense rental fees. In addition to paying $7,800 per hour for use of the planes outside their scheduled maneuvers, director Tony Scott once whipped out a check for $25,000 to pay an aircraft carrier captain to change course so that he could shoot for five minutes with the sunlight behind the planes taking off and landing on deck.

That's in addition to the planes the production rented to film from the air. One stunt pilot and in-air cameraman, Art Scholl, died in a plane crash during filming; the movie was dedicated to his memory.

While the film's advertising played up the action and the romance between the Cruise and McGillis characters, at its heart, 'Top Gun' was about male bonding. The strongest relationship in the movie is actually the bromance of Maverick (Cruise) and Goose (Edwards); McGillis and Meg Ryan (as Goose's gal, Carole) are almost afterthoughts. Goose's death in a training accident makes Maverick inconsolable with grief, but commander Viper (Tom Skerritt) restores his morale with tales of Maverick's late father's unheralded heroism. Maverick goes on to prove himself in battle and finally makes an admiring friend out of bitter rival Iceman (Kilmer).

The locker-room towel-snapping camaraderie of the pilots is, like most everything else about 'Top Gun,' a little over the top. So much so, in fact, that its easy to snicker about 'Top Gun's' (probably) unintentional homoeroticism. A few years later, the film would get a notorious and hilarious deconstruction of its secret gay subtext in a monologue delivered by Quentin Tarantino in the 1994 movie 'Sleep With Me.'

Quentin Tarantino on 'Top Gun,' from 'Sleep With Me' (Contains NSFW language)

Still, none of this kept the film from being the biggest hit of 1986 or having an enormous impact beyond the movie theater. It was also one of the first blockbusters of the then-new home videocassette market, as it was priced to sell (at $20) instead of to rent. It also boosted Naval recruitment 500 percent and lifted the sales of bomber jackets and Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses. Its soundtrack sold an astonishing 7 million copies and made stars of Berlin, whose ballad "Take My Breath Away" won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Cruise's line, "I feel the need... the need for speed!" became a popular catchphrase.

And of course, it sent into the stratosphere the careers of nearly everyone involved. Besides setting the template for Cruise's success as the world's top leading man for the next 20 years, it also provided career boosts to the rest of the cast, to director Tony Scott ('Top Gun' elevated him to A-list status as an action director) and to its producers, especially Jerry Bruckheimer. The lavish spectacle he bankrolled in 'Top Gun' has been the norm for the rest of his career, particularly the movies he produced for director Michael Bay (whose career is unthinkable without the blueprint of 'Top Gun') and Bruckheimer's last decade or so of Disney action movies, including this week's new 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.'

This Week in Movie History

1929 (May 16): The very first Academy Awards ceremony is held as a banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. The winners having been announced in advance ('Wings' and 'Sunrise' shared Best Picture honors), the actual handing out of prizes takes only about five minutes.
2001 (May 18): 'Shrek' is released, launching a fractured-fairytale franchise that includes four movies (so far) and a Broadway musical. It goes on to win the first-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature and establishes DreamWorks Animation as the first viable rival to Disney in the field of feature-length cartoons.
2008 (May 15): Former "private investigator to the stars" Anthony Pellicano is convicted on 76 or 77 counts of racketeering activities involving illegal wiretaps of celebrities' phones and unauthorized accessing of police files. He had acted as his own attorney during the trial, which also saw four of his associates convicted.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Megan Fox turned 25 on May 16; does that mean she's officially over the hill? '21' star Jim Sturgess turned 30 that same day, which was also the birthday of Debra Winger (56) and Pierce Brosnan (58).

Diva-turned-action star Grace Jones turns 59 on May 19; other action icons with birthdays this week are Chow Yun-Fat (56 on May 18) and Mr. T (59 on May 21). Also celebrating are funny ladies Tina Fey (41 on May 18) and writer/director Nora Ephron (70 on May 19). On May 20, Cher turns 65 (or at least, parts of her do).

Other birthdays this week: On May 17, 'Social Network' Oscar-winning composer Trent Reznor turned 46, while Bill Paxton turned 56. Bronson Pinchot turns 52 on May 20, and Fairuza Balk turns 37 on May 21.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' - Trailer No. 3

'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (PG-13)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally, Geoffrey Rush
Directed By: Rob Marshall
What's It About? Capt. Jack Sparrow is back, on an adventure that takes him in search of the Fountain of Youth. Also aboard are an old flame (Cruz), the legendary pirate Blackbeard (McShane), and Sparrow's old frenemy Barbossa (Rush), now an admiral in the British Navy.
Why Should You See It? The last two 'Pirates' movies, with their confusing mythology, probably didn't leave you wanting more. This one, however, is supposed to be a more streamlined, stand-alone story. Gone is the soggy romantic subplot involving civilians Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley aren't in this movie), and the focus is back where it should be, on Depp's loopy buccaneer.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Digital 3D | IMAX 3D | Reviews
Penélope Cruz's Sexiest Moments
At the Premiere, With Kermit the Frog | On the Set

In Limited Release

'Midnight in Paris,' Woody Allen's latest romantic comedy, stars Owen Wilson as a writer who, with doubts about his talent and his upcoming marriage, finds himself traveling back in time to Jazz Age Paris and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Naturally, the French loved this one when it opened the Cannes Film Festival last week.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Bridesmaids' - The 'Hangover Part II' guys will have their work cut out for them if they want to outfunny this bridal party. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Priest' - If you're going to see just one movie about a vampire-hunting clergyman this year... Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Something Borrowed' - Will Ferrell proves he can do straight drama in this minimalist tale of a drunken salesman whose life is literally reduced to a yard sale. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: It's all about mentors and proteges this week, in professions few of us would dare try. In 'The Mechanic' (Buy or rent the DVD), Jason Statham is an assassin who takes on an apprentice while wreaking mayhem. In 'The Rite' (Buy or rent the DVD), Anthony Hopkins is an exorcist who teaches a young priest how to find and cast out demons. Both make a point of offering genre fans the expected thrills and chills, but the real reason to see these is to catch the elder actors doing what they do best. Statham grimly kicks butt without breaking a sweat or a smile, and Hopkins gleefully chews scenery in ways that only beloved British master thespians can get away with. More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: If Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz display any chemistry in the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' it's because they have a history together, having played a more modern variety of Caribbean pirate. Ten years ago, they co-starred in the little-seen cocaine saga 'Blow.' Depp plays real-life smuggler George Jung, who claimed credit for having opened up the American cocaine market to the Medellín cartel in the 1970s. Cruz plays his upper-crust, Colombian-born wife, Mirtha. The film is a 'Goodfellas'-like tale of a life in the drug-dealing underworld; Ray Liotta even appears as Jung's hard-working, struggling dad. But you know the coke-fueled nightmare that marks Henry Hill's downfall during the last few minutes of 'Goodfellas'? That takes up about half the film here, with George on a long, merciless descent thanks to drugs, betrayals and his passionate, tumultuous, scary relationship with Mirtha. The pretty pair make life at the top of the drug pyrmaid seem both bleak and powerfully seductive. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in the news so much lately that it's easy to forget that, 30 years ago, he wasn't a movie star, a retired politician or a sex scandal pariah, just a bodybuilder with a funny accent and unlikely dreams of stardom. That changed with the one-two punch of 'Conan the Barbarian' (1982) and 'Conan the Destroyer' (1984). Robert E. Howard had created the prehistoric fantasy warrior character decades earlier, but Conan seemed tailor-made for Schwarzenegger's rippling shoulders. (Granted, the films demanded a lot more of him, in emotional range and tongue-twisting archaic dialogue, than he could muster, a problem his stoic, nearly silent Terminator character would eventually remedy.) The two movies, pretty hard to take seriously even then, may appear even sillier now, but there ought to be a good drinking game in watching them, particularly every time Arnold drops a howler like the one about gloating over the lamentations of women. Try it out (and steel yourself for this summer's 'Conan the Barbarian' reboot) with this weekend's double feature. (AMC, Saturday, 5PM and 8PM). Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1991: 'Thelma & Louise' and Madonna Take Charge
Twenty years ago this week (on May 24, 1991) came the wide release of two movies that celebrated strong, assertive women, the likes of which we'd seldom seen on screen before -- or since. The heroines of 'Thelma & Louise' were fictional, while the protagonist of the concert documentary 'Madonna: Truth or Dare' was not, but all three women demonstrated their own ways of standing up against long odds and taking charge in a man's world.

Both movies were epic in scope -- 'Thelma' from the sweeping all-American vistas and mythic sweep of Ridley Scott's direction; 'Truth' from the worldwide footprint of Madonna's 'Blonde Ambition' tour and the extravagant theatricality of her concerts -- yet also strikingly intimate. 'Truth' showed rare glimpses of the private, backstage Madonna as mother hen to her family of dancers, while 'Thelma' presented a portrait of female friendship that has been oft-imitated but never duplicated.

'Thelma' took more than 10 years to make; Scott and screenwriter Callie Khouri spent most of that time considering nearly every A-list actress in Hollywood for one of the two starring roles before casting Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Khouri envisioned the film as a gritty, documentary-style tale that she would direct herself, with Scott producing. Instead, Scott brought his gift for larger-than-life visuals to the director's chair and made it a fable about two everywomen whose weekend fishing trip takes a violent turn and transforms the pals into outlaws hunted by what looks like the entire patriarchy of the United States, with all their hardware.

The movie was controversial at the time -- were Thelma and Louise feminist heroines to be emulated or violent thugs who were just as bad as (or even worse than) the men who'd done them wrong? Was their final act (apparently patterned on the ending of archetypal male buddy flick 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid') a gesture of suicidal nihilism or triumphant escape?

Whatever you thought of its protagonists, the movie was unforgettable. Months later, it earned a screenwriting Oscar for Khouri and Best Actress nominations for both leads. (They lost to another iconic heroine, Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling in 'The Silence of the Lambs.') Hollywood made some other attempts at female buddy/road movies, though none with the chemistry or provocative premise that made 'Thelma' a hit. Ironically, the film's longest-lasting legacy may be its casting of a small, male supporting role, charming but larcenous hitchhiker J.D., a performance that made an instant star out of an unknown hunk named Brad Pitt.

An unknown young man, 26-year old recent Harvard grad Alek Keshishian (whose senior thesis was a stage production of 'Wuthering Heights' scored to Madonna and Kate Bush music), was the credited director of 'Truth or Dare,' but despite the movie's visual flourishes (the backstage sequences were in black-and-white, while the performances were in color), it was clear that the guiding intelligence behind the project was Madonna herself. She's seen throughout taking control, whether it's the look and sound of her stage show or dealing with the myriad logistical problems of a worldwide tour.

Even the supposedly candid behind-the-scenes sequences seemed as carefully choreographed and deliberately provocative as what concertgoers saw on stage. The distinction between what was real and what was crafted for the camera was a borderline Madonna seemed happy to ignore. The key line in the film came from her then-boyfriend, Warren Beatty, who grumbled, "She doesn't want to live off-camera, much less talk... What point is there of existing off-camera?" It's no wonder that an old-school Hollywood star like Beatty, who carefully guarded his privacy, was ultimately incompatible with a contemporary showbiz figure like Madonna, who recognized that her job was to be a star 24/7 and that most of her duties consisted of image control and careful media manipulation. 'Truth or Dare' may have revealed both more and less of the real, private Madonna than anyone expected, but it was absolutely frank about her method.

Like 'Thelma & Louise,' 'Madonna: Truth or Dare' has had few direct imitators, despite a number of backstage concert films that have come out over the last 20 years. Still, it's apparent that at least one star-in-training was watching; indeed, Lady Gaga seems to have taken her entire playbook from 'Truth or Dare.'

This Week in Movie History

1977 (May 25): 'Star Wars' is released. It becomes one of the biggest hit movies ever made, launches a franchise that includes five more live-action movies and countless other spinoffs, changes forever the way Hollywood movies are made and marketed, and leaves a Death Star-sized imprint on all of pop culture.
1989 (May 24): Erotic drama 'sex, lies, and videotape' wins the Palme d'Or, the top prize at Cannes. The film becomes an indie hit that put both writer/director Steven Soderbergh and distributor Miramax on the map.
1998 (May 28): Phil Hartman is shot dead at 49 by his wife, who then turned the gun on herself. The comic actor was best known for his TV work ('Saturday Night Live,' 'The Simpsons'), but he also played deadpan comic roles in numerous movies and was instrumental in the development of Paul Reubens' Pee-wee Herman character, co-starring with Reubens in 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure.'
2004 (May 22): 'Fahrenheit 9/11' wins the Palme d'Or, the first documentary to do so in nearly 50 years. The film, Michael Moore's critique of the Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks and its decision to invade Iraq, would go on to gross $119 million in America, becoming the most successful documentary ever made.
2008 (May 26): Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack dies at 73. His 40-year directing career included such landmarks as 'The Way We Were,' 'Tootsie,' and 'Out of Africa.'

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

It's a good birthday week for witches and wizards. 'Harry Potter' sorceress Helena Bonham Carter turns 45 on May 26, while Ian McKellen was 72 the day before. McKellen's 'Lord of the Rings' foe Christopher Lee turns 89 on May 27. Joseph Fiennes, currently playing Merlin on TV's 'Camelot,' turns 41 the same day.

Stoner comedy icon Tommy Chong lit the candles (we think they were candles) for his 73rd birthday on May 24. Blaxploitation icon Pam Grier celebrates her 62nd on May 26. Iconic drill sergeant/Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr. turns 75 on May 27. Controversial '50s starlet ('Baby Doll')-turned venerable character actress Carroll Baker turns 80 on May 28.

Frank Oz is a comedy director, Muppeteer (he does Miss Piggy and Cookie Monster, among others), and the voice of Yoda; 67 years old he became on May 25. That birthday is shared by Anne Heche (42) and Mike Myers (48).

'Something Borrowed' star Ginnifer Goodwin isn't sharing her 33rd birthday with anyone in Hollywood; she has May 22 all to herself. Sometime movie actor Lenny Kravitz lets cake rule on the 26th, when he turns 47. Child star Jesse Bradford turns 32 on the 28th. John C. Reilly's 46th birthday was May 24.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'The Hangover Part II' - Trailer No. 2

'The Hangover Part II' (R)

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong
Directed By: Todd Phillips
What's It About? In this sequel to the top-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, there's another bachelor party blackout that the Wolf Pack guys try to piece together the next morning. This time, they wake up in Bangkok instead of Vegas, and with a monkey instead of a baby.
Why Should You See It? Uh, because you liked the first one so much that you want to see the same exact gags in the same order, but in a more exotic city? Because you think Zach Galifianakis can do no wrong? Because you thought the first 'Hangover' didn't have enough penises on display?
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Hangover,' 'Bridesmaids,' 'Cedar Rapids'

Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews
Unscripted: Interview with the Cast (Video)
The Tattoo Controversy | The Smoking Monkey Controversy

'Kung Fu Panda 2' (PG)

Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh
Directed By: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
What's It About? Roly-poly Po (Black) and the other animal warriors of the Furious Five face a new enemy, a megalomaniacal peacock (Oldman) bent on panda genocide. Po also seeks the identity of his real father.
Why Should You See It? Like the original, the film is meant to work as both a kung-fu movie primer for kids that's full of life lessons (though this one deals with much scarier issues) and a treat for adult genre fans, who'll appreciate the gorgeous visuals reminiscent of Zhang Yimou's color-drenched martial arts movies.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Kung Fu Panda,' 'House of Flying Daggers,' 'Curse of the Golden Flower'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Trailers & Clips | Reviews
Can 'Kung Fu Panda 2' Get Kids to Eat Tofu?

In Limited Release

'The Tree of Life,' which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this week, stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in a story about the spiritual life of a 1950s family, set against the cosmic backdrop of the history of the universe. It's the most ambitious film yet from visionary director Terence Malick.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Midnight in Paris' - The summer has only just started, but Woody Allen's magical tale of nostalgia and romance in the City of Lights already looks like the indie comedy of the summer. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Bridesmaids' - In case you can't get into 'The Hangover Part II,' or if you want to see a similar story but with fewer male genitalia flopping about. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' seems reworkable in just about any context, whether it's New York street gangs or, in the case of 'Gnomeo & Juliet,' warring clans of lawn ornaments. For the kids, this front-yard romance makes a fine Shakespeare primer; for the grown-ups, there's the in-jokes, the stellar visuals and the soundtrack of familiar Elton John hits. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Just in time for Memorial Day, 'Platoon' (1986) has come out on Blu-Ray. Twenty-five years after its release, it seems like a memento of a much simpler time. Not the late 1960s, when this Vietnam War saga takes place, but rather the late 1980s, when Charlie Sheen could credibly portray a naive young innocent; when castmates Johnny Depp, John C. McGinley, Kevin Dillon and Forest Whitaker were unknowns; and when Oliver Stone wasn't yet a fringe, conspiracy-theory-loving crank but rather a mainstream artist faithfully recalling the war from his own grunt's-eye perspective. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: One of the best documentaries ever made, 'Hoop Dreams' (1994) is nothing less than an epic tale of how we live now. This, even though it's also the intimate story of two Chicago teens, William Gates and Arthur Agee, who see basketball as their ticket out of the inner city. Following both boys and their families over the course of four years, director Steve James tells a compelling story of the American dream, as seen from the perspective of people who face impossibly steep odds against making their dreams come true. It's showing Saturday at 7PM on Current, which has recently been showing a number of the most innovative movies of the last 20 years. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1981: 'Polyester' Wafts Into Theaters
3D may be the gimmick of the moment, but 30 years ago this week (on May 29, 1981), John Waters came up with a different way to extend movies into a new dimension and make them more in-your-face. It was called Odorama, and his test vehicle, a movie you could smell, was 'Polyester.'

'Polyester' was a brave undertaking for Waters, previously known as the outsider auteur whose deliberately outrageous films (most notoriously 'Pink Flamingos') had been relegated to midnight-movie status. For the first time, he was courting the attention of the mainstream. He risked having both cult fans and mainstream critics tell the world that 'Polyester' stunk (often literally). And while none really dared follow his technical innovation, Waters did prove that the mainstream was ready for his idiosyncratic brand of satire -- and that he, in turn, was ready for mass acceptance, a transition he would complete with his next movie, 'Hairspray.'

On the surface, 'Polyester' looked like Waters' previous films. It was a suburban satire, full of taboo-breaking behavior and populated with the oddballs from his regular Dreamland company of actors, including Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and titanic drag queen Divine. But it was also an homage to the classic, florid, women's pictures of the 1950s, particularly those directed by Douglas Sirk. He even cast his first Hollywood star, faded 1950s himbo Tab Hunter, in a lead role as Todd Tomorrow, handsome love interest of Francine Fishpaw, the depressed, put-upon suburban housewife played by Divine.

Even Odorama was, in a way, a throwback to 1950s movies, specifically, the horror films produced by William Castle, known for such in-theater gimmicks as vibrating seats and glow-in-the-dark skeletons suspended over the audience. In 1960, a Castle-esque gimmick called Smell-O-Vision was developed for producer Mike Todd Jr.'s 'Scent of Mystery,' a crime drama (featuring a murder victim played by Todd's stepmom, the uncredited Elizabeth Taylor) in which scented vapors with aromas key to solving the mystery plot were piped into theaters at appropriate moments. Smell-O-Vision turned out to be a laughable failure; the scent machines made a distracting hissing noise, and theater patrons found the smells similarly disorienting and noxious.

Waters' Odorama was a low-tech update, using scratch-and-sniff cards distributed to ticketbuyers. Each card had 10 numbered scents. When a number flashed in the corner of the movie screen, you were supposed to smell the appropriate-numbered scent. Some aromas were pleasant (roses, pizza, new car smell, air freshener), but Waters being Waters, some were cheekily disgusting (gasoline, skunk, ratty sneakers, farts). Having persuaded audiences to watch Divine eat a freshly-laid dog dropping in 'Pink Flamingos,' Waters cackled that he now was getting moviegoers to "pay to smell sh*t."

And yet, Waters had actually toned down much of his usual outrageousness for 'Polyester.' It was the first of his films to be rated R, not X, so it could play in mainstream theaters. It was also his first to be released by a mainstream distributor (New Line). It featured songs by Debbie Harry, who was the queen of rock at the time, as the frontwoman of Blondie. (The movie's theme was sung by Harry and Bill Murray, of all people.) And it was probably the first Waters movie to garner positive reviews from mainstream newspaper critics.

Alas, 'Polyester' did not become the 'Avatar' of Odorama; there was no boomlet of scented movies that followed in its pungent wake. But the film did have an impact. It revived Hunter's career, giving him a second wave of fame as a camp icon. It also brought mainstream recognition to Divine, who played his female role relatively straight in 'Polyester,' leading to another romantic collaboration with Hunter, the Western spoof 'Lust in the Dust.' Most important, 'Polyester' provided the bridge to 'Hairspray' (featuring Harry as the villainess), which was PG-clean but still full of Waters' outsider-satire weirdness. 'Hairspray' became a huge hit (and a massive Broadway musical, which itself became a movie), Waters became enshrined as an elder statesman of trash, and the rest is history. Odorama may have been a footnote in that history, but its scent lingers on.

This Week in Movie History

1989 (June 2): 'Dead Poets Society' is released, proving Robin Williams can play serious roles. The prep school drama becomes a big hit, wins an Oscar for Tom Schulman's original screenplay, and is instrumental in launching the careers of Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, and Josh Charles.
2002 (June 3): Lew Wasserman, the mogul who charted Hollywood's course for the second half of the 20th century, dies at 89. Once Hollywood's top talent agent, Wasserman would alter the industry's balance of power several times, first by getting studios to pay stars a percentage of the gross instead of a salary or flat fee up front, then by monopolizing the TV production business at a time when movie moguls were afraid to get involved with the new technology, and finally, by purchasing Universal Studios and running it for 40 years.
2003 (May 29): Movie comedy titan and tireless USO performer Bob Hope celebrates his 100th birthday. He dies two months later, on July 27.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Go ahead, make my birthday. Clint Eastwood turned 81 on May 31. Frequent Eastwood collaborator Morgan Freeman turned 74 the next day. Angelina Jolie, who starred in Eastwood's 'Changeling,' is 36 on June 4. She shares a birthday with Russell Brand, born on the same day in the same year.

June 2 sees a run on birthday candles. Justin Long turns 33, making him exactly one year younger than Zachary Quinto. Dana Carvey turns 55 (No way? Way!). Composer Marvin Hamlisch is 67, tough guy Stacy Keach is 70, and 'M*A*S*H' and 'Back to School' star Sally Kellerman is 74.

Celebrating on May 29 were Annette Benning (53) and composer Danny Elfman (58). May 31 marked a birthday for Brooke Shields (46) and Chris Elliott (51).

Milestone birthdays this week include '2001: A Space Odyssey' star Keir Dullea (75 on May 30), Colin Farrell (35 on May 31), Lea Thompson (50 on May 31), and Bruce Dern (75 on June 4).

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'X-Men: First Class' Trailer No. 2

'X-Men: First Class' (PG-13)

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence
Directed By: Matthew Vaughn
What's It About? This prequel recounts how mind-reader Professor X (McAvoy) and metal master Magneto (Fassbender), back when they were still friends and hadn't yet aged into Master British Thespians Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, recruited the first mutants who would become the original X-Men. Familiar characters include shape-shifter Mystique (Lawrence), while bad guys include diamond-skinned Emma Frost (Jones) and Nazi war criminal-turned-supervillain Sebastian Shaw (Bacon).
Why Should You See It? Director Vaughn did well with 'Kick-Ass,' so perhaps he can be trusted with a much more beloved superhero franchise. The stars all have solid acting credentials, not just good looks (though Lawrence and Jones are pretty hot, even buried under layers of scaly makeup).
You Might Like It If You Like: 'X-Men,' 'Kick-Ass,' 'Hollow Man' (another movie where Kevin Bacon played a mad-scientist villain named Sebastian)

Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews
Five HUGE Differences Between the Comic Books and 'X-Men: First Class'
Who's Who in the 'X-Men: First Class' Cast
Professor X and Magneto: Their Comic Book History | Best Comic Book Frenemies
Interviews: Kevin Bacon | January Jones | Michael Fassbender

In Limited Release

'Beginners' stars Ewan McGregor as a man who embarks on a new romance (with 'Inglourious Basterds' star Mélanie Laurent) while taking inspiration from the example of his late father (Christopher Plummer), who came out of the closet in his 70s, just before he died. Mike Mills ('Thumbsucker') directed this romance, inspired by the story of his own late father.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Cinematical's Review

'Submarine,' a hit at the Toronto and Sundance film festivals, sees writer/director Richard Ayoade adapte Joe Dunthorne's coming-of-age novel about a Welsh teen trying to lose his virginity and save his parents' crumbling marriage.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Cinematical's Review

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

'The Hangover Part II' - What happened in Vegas happens again in Bangkok. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'Kung Fu Panda 2' - Is it still typecasting if the villain Gary Oldman plays is an animated peacock? Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'The Tree of Life' - Chances to see Terence Malick's visually poetic meditations on the big screen don't come around very often; dude's been known to go 20 years between movies. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: Two of the screen's most intense actors have very different DVDs out this week in which they play heroes who've already been damned but who seek redemption as they try to make a future for their offspring. Nicolas Cage re-enacts the Orpheus myth in 'Drive Angry' (Buy or rent the DVD), as a hot-rodder from hell bent on saving his kidnapped infant granddaughter. Javier Bardem, in an Oscar-nominated performance, stars in 'Biutiful' (Buy or rent the DVD) as a con man trying to give his kids a life while he succumbs to cancer. One of these is tongue-in-cheek escapist exploitation; the other is a searing, emotionally draining drama. We'll let you decide which is which. More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Congratulations, new college grads! What do you do with your lives now? If that question stumps you, you're not alone. Best tonic for you is 1995's 'Kicking and Screaming' (not to be confused with the Will Ferrell soccer movie of the same title), in which several recent grads - facing an unforgiving world that no longer offers easy access to cheap beer, cheap sex and cheap philosophizing - try to forestall their expulsion from the dorm womb for as long as possible before being dragged into the world of adult responsibilities and relationships. The debut feature of Noah Baumbach ('The Squid and the Whale,' 'Greenberg'), 'Kicking' is a chatty but wistful coming-of-age comedy that plays like the missing link between Whit Stillman and Wes Anderson. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Need to bone up on your Marvel mutant history before catching 'X-Men: First Class'? You can catch the entire trilogy in one seven-hour sitting this weekend on FX (Saturday, 7PM to Sunday, 2AM). Watch 'X-Men' (2000), 'X2: X-Men United' (2003) and 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006), and recall a time long ago, back before Hugh Jackman was a star, back before director Bryan Singer went off the reservation with 'Superman Returns,' and back when Singer's first two X-movies were so strong that not even hiring Brett Ratner to direct the third one could wreck the franchise. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Weekend's Other Anniversary:
The Legacy of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'
It's probably no coincidence that 'Super 8,' an homage by J.J. Abrams to the kind of movies Steven Spielberg specialized in 30 years ago, is being released this weekend, which also marks the 30th anniversary of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (released on June 12, 1981). Spielberg is nothing if not conscious of movie history -- especially his own -- and it's clear from recent interviews that the making of 'Raiders' is still fresh in his mind. (Moviefone's 'Super 8' review is here.)

In one sense, 'Raiders' has left an immense legacy, in that it launched a huge franchise on the big and small screens, turned Harrison Ford from a second-lead action-movie stalwart into an all-time movie icon and created the action-movie-as-amusement-park-ride template that many filmmakers (including Spielberg himself) have emulated ever since. In another sense, however, the movie seems an anomaly and a footnote, precisely because duplicating its magic and following its example have proved impossible for almost everyone who has tried (again, including Spielberg himself).

Of course, the movie was born out of a love for movie history shared by its creators, Spielberg and producer George Lucas. Even more than Lucas's swashbuckling Star Wars films, 'Raiders' was a deliberate throwback to the action movie serials of the 1930s and '40s. The key additions they made to the tradition: an improvisational feel and a relentless pace that make the movie play like a comedy as much as an action saga.

Like the resourceful Indy, who famously gets out of scrapes by saying he's making it up as he goes along, so did the filmmakers improvise solutions mid-shoot. Most famously, there's the moment where Indy, rather than duel against the swordsman in the street, simply shoots him -- a brilliant, convention-defying, absurdly practical solution that the filmmakers created on the spot. The moment, complete with Ford's world-weary expression, signaled that Indiana Jones was a new kind of action hero -- one who, despite being steeped in movie tradition, was going to do things his own way.

Even more important was the film's pacing, which never let moviegoers catch their breath for two solid hours. Every time Indy escaped from one threat, he immediately found himself confronting the next one. Even during the quiet, expository moments, like the one where Indy and Marcus are explaining the history of the Ark to the federal agents, the momentum is carried by Ford's boyish enthusiasm over ancient riddles and Indy's own ability to solve them. If nothing else, 'Raiders' is a celebration of the motion in motion pictures, a headlong rush of forward movement that carries the viewer along and creates the movie's carnival-ride-like experience.

The immediate effect of 'Raiders'' huge success was to turn the 38-year-old Ford (who'd spent 15 years in Hollywood supporting himself as a carpenter while landing the occasional supporting role and who had yet to parlay his Star Wars fame into successful leading-man status) into an enormous star who'd become one of Hollywood's biggest box office draws for the next 20 years. The film also boosted the careers of much of the rest of the cast, notably Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies and Alfred Molina. It also made co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan a bankable Hollywood name, who would go on to make hits like 'The Big Chill' and 'The Bodyguard.'

There were several attempts to duplicate the success of 'Raiders,' on both the small screen (anyone remember 'Tales of the Gold Monkey'?) and large (most brazenly, Brendan Fraser's 'Mummy' movies). But not even Spielberg and Lucas could replicate the magic in three sequels and a spin-off TV series ('The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'). As Spielberg buff Tom Shone has noted, it was as if 'Raiders' had stumbled onto the formula for the perfect action movie, yet no one could recreate it in the lab.

Well, almost no one. The most endearing part of the 'Raiders' legacy is the oft-told story of the three preteen fanboys who, in 1982, decided to make a shot-for-shot remake of 'Raiders.' Their labor of love took them seven years, working with a pocket-change budget and homemade props, but they did it. Their adaptation has been screened in public many times over the years, and those who've seen it know that it does recapture the seat-of-the-pants ingenuity of both Indiana Jones and the filmmakers who created him. That childlike wonder, exemplified by kids making a home-movie homage to the big-screen fare that inspired them, is what 'Super 8' is about, and is what Spielberg has spent a lifetime evoking in his storytelling.

Excerpt from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation'

This Week in Movie History

1937 (June 7): Movie icon Jean Harlow, the first of Hollywood's great platinum blonde sex symbols, dies of acute renal failure, after years of frail health. She is only 26 and still at the height of her fame.
1982 (June 11): 'E.T.: The Extraterrestrial' is released, and the tear-jerking story of a stranded alien and the lonely boy he befriends immediately becomes Steven Spielberg's signature film. It also becomes one of the highest-grossing movies of all time and makes a lifelong star out of seven-year-old supporting player Drew Barrymore.
1984 (June 8): 'Ghostbusters' is released, becoming an instant comedy classic and the year's second biggest hit (behind 'Beverly Hills Cop'). It spawns two TV series and one movie sequel, though a third "Ghostbusters' film has been stuck in development for years.
1993 (June 9): Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, 27, is arrested on charges of pandering, pimping, and possession of narcotics. Though the ensuing scandal threatens to embarrass some of the town's most powerful men, the only big-name client whose name is divulged is Charlie Sheen, a revelation that only burnishes his bad-boy reputation.
2004 (June 5): Movie/music power couple Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony tie the knot in a secret, intimate ceremony in the backyard of Lopez's Los Angeles home. The couple's joint projects would include the 2007 film 'El Cantante.'

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Enjoying milestone birthdays this week are Natalie Portman (30 as of June 9), Shia LaBeouf (25 on June 11), Michael J. Fox (50 on June 9), and Mark Wahlberg (who turned 40 on June 5). Celebrating on the same day as Portman and Fox is Johnny Depp, who turns 48.

Lots of three-fer birthdays this week. June 6 is the big day for Sandra Bernhard (56), Harvey Fierstein (59) and Robert Englund (64). Blowing out candles on the 7th were Michael Cera (23), Karl Urban (39) and Liam Neeson (59). Sharing a June 8 birthday are funny folks Keenen Ivory Wayans (53), Joan Rivers (78) and Jerry Stiller (84). The 10th sees celebrations for Leelee Sobieski (29), Shane West (33) and Elizabeth Hurley (46). And on the 11th, LaBeouf's fellow cake-eaters include Hugh Laurie (52), Adrienne Barbeau (66) and Gene Wilder (76).

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Super 8' Trailer No. 2

'Super 8' (PG-13)

Starring: Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Joel Courtney, Ron Eldard
Directed By: J.J. Abrams
What's It About? In 1979, a group of small-town kids shooting a homemade horror movie witnesses a train wreck that lets loose a mysterious menace that threatens the town.
Why Should You See It? The set-up (home movies, mysterious monster) sounds like a kiddie version of Abrams' 'Cloverfield,' but it's also a tribute to a childhood spent watching Steven Spielberg movies and trying to emulate them (both Abrams and Spielberg, who produced this film, got their start as kids shooting with old-school cameras like the Super 8 models used here). So if you, too, have fond memories of those old Spielberg films (with their spunky latchkey kids, puzzled grown-ups, small-town Americana and misunderstood monsters), this movie is as much for you as it is for members of the YouTube generation.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Goonies,' 'E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,' 'Cloverfield'

Showtimes & Tickets: Standard | IMAX | Reviews
Interviews: J.J. Abrams | Kyle Chandler

'Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer' (PG)

Starring: Jordana Beatty, Heather Graham, Parris Mosteller, Preston Bailey, Garrett Ryan
Directed By: John Schultz
What's It About? In this adaptation of Megan McDonald's kiddie-lit favorite, tween Judy (Beatty) is forced to spend the summer with her wacky aunt (Graham) but still finds ways to have goofy misadventures.
Why Should You See It? Because you liked the books, because you're under the age of 10 and because 'Super 8' is probably way too scary for you.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Ramona and Beezus,' 'Harriet the Spy,' 'Nim's Island'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release

'Road to Nowhere' marks a comeback for legendary director Monte Hellman ('Two Lane Blacktop'), whose thriller is about a filmmaker shooting a movie whose unknown lead actress (Shannyn Sossamon) may be the actual femme fatale behind the real-life sex scandal that the screenplay depicts.
Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

'X-Men: First Class': Could this Marvel prequel not only be one of the best recent superhero movies but also the year's best coming-of-age story? Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'Beginners': Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer star in what may be the year's best romance and best father-son tale. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Cinematical's Review

'Submarine': This may be the year's best teen coming-of-age story that doesn't involve mutants. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Cinematical's Review

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: It's hard to add to the kudos already on record for 'True Grit.' After all, it made a huge pile of money, lassoed a slew of Oscar nominations, and made a star out of Hailee Steinfeld. Suffice it to say that, if you don't like Westerns because you think they are obsolete, or if you don't like movies by Joel and Ethan Coen because they're too weird, then this is the movie that could change your mind on both counts. A bonus: Roger Deakins' celebrated camerawork, which looked crisp yet dreamlike on the big screen, looks just as terrific at home. See it now or save it for Father's Day next weekend. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Also newly released is another of last year's most acclaimed dramas, 'Another Year.' The story of a contented, long-married couple and their lonely, third-wheel friend (Lesley Manville), the movie is full of writer/director Mike Leigh's usual kitchen-sink, fly-on-the-wall realism. What makes it a must-see is the towering performance by Manville, whom many critics feel was robbed at Oscar time. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Speaking of classic Westerns, AMC is airing Clint Eastwood's entire Man With No Name trilogy in one sitting on Saturday. 'A Fistful of Dollars' airs at 5:30PM, followed by 'For a Few Dollars More' at 8 and 'The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly' at 11. And in case 10 hours of Eastwood rockin' that poncho and wreaking vengeance isn't enough, the whole trilogy is preceded by his early Western 'Hang 'Em High' at 2:45PM. Make it through that marathon, and you'll squint like Clint. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1981: 'History of the World: Part I' Drops Wisdom
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. (So said one of the Marxes, Groucho or Karl, I forget which.) Mel Brooks took the latter approach and came up with one of his most memorable comedies, 'History of the World: Part I,' released 30 years ago this week (on June 12, 1981).

The film consisted of old-fashioned sketches, vaudevillian riffs on well-known historical periods, but it's so deliberately dated that it still feels fresh today. Its impact continues to this day, echoing through the acting careers it launched, its irreverent approach to history and its catchphrase so, um, catchy, that Brooks has continued to use it in just about everything he's done since.

Brooks wore many hats in the production. He wrote it, directed it, produced it, wrote the songs, and played five parts in it. He also rounded up his usual repertory company (including Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Cloris Leachman) for supporting roles. (Narrating the segments was booming-voiced Orson Welles, by then in the Morgan Freeman stage of his career.)

The Roman sequence, the longest part of the film, gave two actors their film debuts. One was Gregory Hines, as the heroic slave Josephus. The part had been written for Richard Pryor, but after the comedian notoriously set himself on fire in 1980, the role went to Broadway hoofer Hines instead. His low-key comic charm in the role led to another two decades of success in leading roles in movies and TV, until his death in 2003.

The other was Mary-Margaret Humes, a former Miss Florida who's plan to break into show business involved renting a billboard near the 20th Century Fox lot and plastering it with her picture, name, and phone number. The tactic worked; Brooks saw the billboard and cast her as Vestal virgin Miriam. After 'History' opened, she became a busy TV actress, most famously as Dawson's mom throughout the five-year run of 'Dawson's Creek' a decade ago.

'History' was a hit, with its $11 million budget returning $32 million at the box office. Brooks capitalized on its success by exploiting its catchphrase, "It's good to be the king." (The line was spoken several times during the French Revolution segment by Brooks, both in the guise of King Louis XVI and Jacques, the piss-boy who serves as his body double.) After the film's release, Brooks recorded a hip-hop single called 'It's Good to Be the King,' rapping in character and reaching No. 67 on Billboard's Dance Tracks chart. (Could this have been the first rap song celebrating bling?)

Brooks liked the phrase so much, he used it again, with slight variations, in 'Spaceballs,' 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights,' and the Broadway version of 'The Producers.' He also reused the music from 'History's' 'Jews in Space' song in 'Men in Tights.'

Brooks' no-laugh-is-too-cheap approach to history continues to be influential; 2009's 'Year One,' the Jack Black-Michael Cera spoof of the ancient world, clearly owes a huge debt to 'History of the World: Part I.' Even Brooks' title was a joke, an obscure reference to a projected multi-volume ancient history written by Sir Walter Raleigh, who managed to finish only Part I before he was beheaded. Still, the end of the movie featured a mock trailer for a Part II that Brooks never intended to make. Thirty years later, we're still waiting for Brooks to follow through with 'Hitler on Ice' and 'Jews in Space.'

This Week in Movie History

1942 (June 18): Thumb-wielding film critic Roger Ebert is born. Thanks to his TV show with fellow Chicago-based critic Gene Siskel (and later, Richard Roeper), he'll become America's most influential movie reviewer, a position he maintains to this day (despite the loss of his voice) via Twitter.
1943 (June 16): Charlie Chaplin, 54, makes Oona O'Neill, 18, his fourth wife, leading the bride's outraged father, playwright Eugene O'Neill (who was the same age as the groom), to disinherit her. The marriage lasts until the silent actor's death 34 years later and produces eight children, including acclaimed actress Geraldine Chaplin.
1945 (June 15): It's a wedding of MGM musical royalty when 23-year-old Judy Garland marries 42-year-old Vincente Minnelli, who had directed her in 'Meet Me in St. Louis.' Their productions together would inclue 'The Pirate,' 'The Clock' and Liza Minnelli.
2003 (June 12): Movie icon Gregory Peck dies at 87. Besides his Oscar-winning role as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' his five-decade career included such films as 'Gentlemen's Agreement,' 'Roman Holiday,' 'Moby-Dick,' and both versions of 'Cape Fear.'
2008 (June 17): Hollywood dance legend Cyd Charisse dieas at 88. Her classic musicals included 'Singin' in the Rain,' 'The Band Wagon,' 'Brigadoon,' and 'Silk Stockings.'

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Funny folk blowing out the candles this week include D.J. Qualls and Jason Mewes (the former is 33, the latter 37, both as of June 12), Tim Allen (58 on the 13th), Steve-O (37, also on the 13th), 'Juno' scribe Diablo Cody (June 14 was her 33rd birthday), Jim Belushi (57 on the 15th) and 'Airplane' star Julie Hagerty (56, also on the 15th). Neil Patrick Harris was 38 on June 15; his 'Harold and Kumar' co-star John Cho turns 39 the next day. The 17th sees cake served to Will Forte (41) and director Bobby Farrelly (53).

Milestone birthdays this week: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen turned 25 on the 13th, as did Kat Dennings. The same day was also Chris "Capt. America" Evans' 30th and Stellan Skarsgard's 60th. Jake Busey hit 4-0 on the 15th. Lost Boy Jason Patric is 45 on the 16th, and Joe Piscopo is 60 on the 17th.

Isabella Rossellini and Carol Kane were born on exactly the same day; both turn 59 on June 18. Other celebrants this week: 'A.I.' star Frances O'Connor (44 on June 12), Aaron 'Kick-Ass' Johnson (21 on the 13th), Malcolm McDowell (68 on the 13th), Ally Sheedy (49 on the 13th), Spy Kid Daryl Sabara (19 on June 14th), Courteney Cox (47 on the 15th), Helen Hunt (48, the same day), angry-rapper-turned-cuddly-family-movie-comic Ice Cube (42 on June 15), 'Twilight' vampire mom Elisabeth Reaser (38 on the 15th), oft-resurrected mummy Arnold Vosloo (49 on the June 16th), Greg Kinnear (48 on the 16th), and Thomas Haden Church (51, also on the 16th).

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Green Lantern' Trailer No. 2

'Green Lantern' (PG-13)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett
Directed By: Martin Campbell
What's It About? In this adaptation of the venerable DC comic series, test pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds) is recruited to join an interstellar police force and armed with a green power ring that can conjure up any kind of weapon he can think of. Lively is his love interest, and Sarsgaard is a disfigured mad scientist who tries to use the ring's power for evil.
Why Should You See It? Who doesn't love Ryan Reynolds? Plus, Campbell is pretty good at launching/rebooting action franchises (see 'Goldeneye,' 'The Mask of Zorro,' 'Casino Royale').
You Might Like It If You Like: 'X-Men: First Class,' 'Batman Begins,' 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Reviews
Peter Sarsgaard and 10 More Butt-Ugly Comic Book Villains

'Mr. Popper's Penguins' (PG)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury
Directed By: Mark S. Waters
What's It About? This adaptation of Richard and Florence Atwater's kiddie-lit classic stars Carrey as a workaholic, divorced dad whose family and business troubles are compounded when he inherits a brood of flightless birds.
Why Should You See It? You're a little kid, and you've already seen 'Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer.' Also, you know Carrey will tie himself into pretzels trying to entertain you.
You Might Like It If You Like: The 'Ace Ventura' movies, '101 Dalmatians,' 'Happy Feet'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release

'The Art of Getting By' is about a tentative teen romance in Manhattan between a smart slacker (Freddie Highmore) and a cheerful overachiever (Emma Roberts).
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews | Highmore and Roberts: Child Stars Made Good

'Page One,' a recent Sundance favorite, is a documentary about the inner workings of the New York Times, as the paper navigates an uneasy transition into the age of social media and do-it-yourself journalism.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Super 8' - If E.T. and the Cloverfield monster had a baby... that'd be one hideous-looking baby. Showtimes & Tickets: Standard | IMAX | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer' - If Ramona, Harriet the Spy, and Lindsay Lohan's 'Parent Trap' twins had a baby... well, you get the idea. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Road to Nowhere' - This noir marks 'Two Lane Blacktop' director Monte Hellman's first movie in eons, prompting the question: Is he secretly Terrence Malick? Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: 'Battle: Los Angeles' is just as no-nonsense as its title. It's alien invaders vs. Marine grunts on the streets of L.A. Imagine if last fall's similarly low-budget saucers-invade-L.A. saga 'Skyline' had had more of a 'District 9' faux documentary feel. Something to watch with Dad on Father's Day, maybe? Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Actually, most people probably just rent 'Field of Dreams' for Father's Day. But if Dad likes gangster movies, how about 'Road to Perdition'? Tom Hanks and Paul Newman both give majestic performances (and Daniel Craig and Jude Law are good, too) in this artful drama about how fathers and sons struggle not to disappoint each other. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: A year later, some of us are still confused by 'Inception.' Fortunately, it debuts on premium cable this weekend (HBO, Saturday, 8PM), so you can ponder its enigmas once more, this time in HD. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

Forget 'Meatballs' or 'Wet Hot American Summer.' Everyone's favorite summer camp movie seems to be 'The Parent Trap,' where Hayley Mills goes to camp and instead of finding mosquitoes and poison ivy finds the identical twin sister she never knew she had. Together, they scheme to reunite their divorced parents by switching places after camp.

Released 50 years ago this week (on June 21, 1961), the live-action Disney film has remained a childhood favorite for half a century, and it proved influential in ways probably no one associated with it would have imagined.

The film marked the second of six Disney movies for child star Mills, reuniting her with David Swift, who'd directed her in Disney's 'Pollyanna.' The movie rested on Mills' ability to play two very different sisters: prim, Boston-bred Sharon, and outdoorsy California tomboy Susan. Initially, the production brought them together in trick-photography shots only a few times, with a body double handling the rest, but when Walt Disney saw how seamless and effective the gimmick was, he ordered reshoots that involved more scenes of Susan and Sharon sharing a frame. Editor Philip W. Anderson would ultimately earn an Oscar nomination for pulling off this special effect.

The movie's success led to a number of unexpected spinoffs. "Let's Get Together," Hayley Mills' on-screen duet with herself, charted as a single in September 1961, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. That led to Mills recording an album, 'Let's Get Together With Hayley Mills.'

On TV, the movie's premise and editing gimmick became a feature of hit 1963-66 sitcom 'The Patty Duke Show,' in which teen star Duke played "identical cousins" with different personalities. Brian Keith, who played the divorced dad in 'Parent Trap,' soon landed his signature role on the 1966-71 sitcom 'Family Affair,' again playing a wealthy bachelor who suddenly finds himself beset by twin children (and their older sister). In the 1980s, a 40-ish Mills reprised her twin 'Parent Trap' roles in three Disney made-for-TV sequels.

Finally, of course, there was the 1998 big-screen remake, which launched the career of Lindsay Lohan. It's hard to watch that movie now without thinking of all the squandered promise, but at least as an 11-year-old, she was a happy camper.

This Week in Movie History

1905 (June 19): The first nickelodeon opens in Pittsburgh, helping to transform film into a mass medium. For five cents apiece, 96 patrons could attend shows that included both short films and live vaudeville acts.
1975 (June 20): 'Jaws' is released, making an A-list director out of Steven Spielberg, changing summer moviegoing habits forever, and keeping leery swimmers out of the ocean to this day.
1989 (June 23): Tim Burton's 'Batman' is released. Months of careful advance marketing makes the Caped Crusader saga the first summer "event" movie, and its success makes Burton's career and inspires the direction of comic-book films for the next decade.
2005 (June 24): Tom Cruise gives his notorious "Psychiatry is a pseudoscience" interview on 'Today,' defending Scientology's approach to depression while criticizing interviewer Matt Lauer and one-time Cruise pal Brooke Shields. Cruise and Shields ultimately reconcile, but this interview, along with his couch-jumping incident on 'Oprah' (expressing his glee over new love Katie Holmes) marks a public-image meltdown from which the superstar has never recovered.
2008 (June 22): Taboo-breaking comedian George Carlin dies at 71. Though not known for his film work, he played memorable roles in 'Car Wash,' the 'Bill & Ted' movies, and Pixar's 'Cars.'
2009 (June 25): Michael Jackson dies at 50 in Los Angeles amid rehearsals for a series of London concerts expected to mark his farewell to live performance. Rehearsal footage is released later that year as the concert doc 'This Is It,' marking the first smash of the King of Pop's posthumous career.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Nicole Kidman, whose movies include 'Birth' and 'Birthday Girl,' is a birthday girl this week, marking her 44th birthday on June 20. Other Oscar-winners celebrating include Martin Landau (83, also on the 20th), Meryl Streep (62 on June 22) and Frances McDormand (54 on June 23). Oscar-nominated stars with birthdays include Kathleen Turner (57 on June 19), Gena Rowlands (81, also on the 19th), and Kris Kristofferson, who turned 75 on June 22.

Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis and her 'Moonstruck' castmate John Mahoney were both born on June 20; she's 80, he's 71. 'Robocop' stars Peter Weller and Nancy Allen share a June 24 birthday; he turns 64, she turns 61.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse doesn't need that fake "McLovin" I.D. anymore; he turned 22 on June 20. Other comedy stars celebrating include Mary Lynn Rajskub (40 on June 22), Donald Faison (37, also on the 22nd), Mindy Kaling (32 on the 24th) and Ricky Gervais, who hits the big 5-0 on the 25th.

Character actors we love who are celebrating this week: Hugh Dancy (36 on June 19), Paul Dano (27 on the 19th), Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (33 on June 20), John Goodman (59 the same day), Bruce Campbell (53 on June 22), Amy Brenneman (47, also on the 22nd), Joel Edgerton (37 on June 23), Bryan Brown 64, also on the 23rd) and Tommy "Tiny" Lister (53 on June 24).

Perpetual starlets with birthdays this week include Zoe Saldana (33 on June 19), Robin Tunney (39, also on the 19th), Mia Sara (44, the same day), Juliette Lewis (38 on June 21), Selma Blair (39 on June 23), Minka Kelly (31 on June 24), Carla Gallo (36, also on the 24th) and Linda Cardellini (36 the next day). On the other side of the aisle, birthday heartthrobs include Josh Lucas (40 on June 20), Rain (29 on June 25) and Jason Lewis (40, the same day).

Blow out the candles for the behind-the-camera birthdays of a bevy of directors this week: Robert Rodriguez (who turned 49 on June 20), Tony Scott (67 on June 21), Lana (née Larry) Wachowski (46, also on the 21st), Uwe Boll (46 a day later), Joss Whedon (47 on the 23rd) and Timur Bekmambetov (the 'Wanted' man hits 5-0 on June 25).

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Cars 2' - Trailer No. 3

'Cars 2' (G)

Starring: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, John Turturro, Eddie Izzard, Michael Caine
Directed By: Brad Lewis and John Lasseter
What's It About? Race car Lightning (Wilson) and tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) travel overseas for a world championship race, but Mater gets entangled in a web of international espionage.
Why Should You See It? No one in movies has a better track record than Pixar, whose 'Toy Story' trilogy disabused us of the notion that sequels have to suck. Speaking of, there's reportedly a 'Toy Story' short at the beginning of 'Cars 2,' which involves Ken and Barbie's effort to take a Hawaiian cruise, but which features the rest of Andy's toybox gang as well.
You Might Like It If You Like: Pixar movies (and who doesn't?), the first 'Cars,' 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX 3D | Reviews

'Bad Teacher' (R)

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, Phyllis Smith
Directed By: Jake Kasdan
What's It About? Playing the worst possible role model for her junior-high charges, Diaz's foul-mouthed, substance-abusing instructor is just marking time until she can earn enough money to buy breast implants land a rich husband. Nerdy sub Timberlake seems to fit the bill, while shlubby gym teacher Segel pines for her from afar.
Why Should You See It? Diaz is at her best when she's in reckless, knockabout comedy mode, and she hasn't had a part this juicy in ages. The film has an 'Office' pedigree (including writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg and co-star Smith). Now that the success of 'Bridesmaids' has made it permissible for female-driven comedies to be as coarse and vulgar as male-driven ones, your ticket purchase is actually striking a blow for sisterhood.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Bad Santa,' 'The Sweetest Thing,' 'There's Something About Mary'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews
Exclusive Photos from 'Bad Teacher'
Diaz and Timberlake and Other Exes Who've Reunited On-Screen

In Limited Release

'Conan O'Brien Can't Stop' is a backstage/concert documentary about O'Brien's 2010 comedy tour, during which he speaks candidly about his exile from late-night TV and the corrupting power of fame.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Moviefone | Cinematical

'A Better Life' updates the premise of the classic postwar Italian film 'The Bicycle Thief' to present-day Los Angeles, where an illegal-immigrant dad ('Weeds' regular Demián Bichir) tries to build a gardening business as a legacy for his son, only to see his livelihood jeopardized by the theft of his truck.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews | Interview with Director Chris Weitz

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Green Lantern' - DC Comics purists will balk, but if you're looking for mindless, escapist summer superhero fun, Ryan Reynolds is your man. Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Mr. Popper's Penguins' - Fans of the classic children's book will balk, but if you're looking for mindless, escapist, summer animal-movie fun, Jim Carrey is your man. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Page One' - Fans of Rupert Murdoch will balk, but if you're looking for a thought-provoking, behind-the-scenes summer documentary on the dramatic changes underway in the newspaper business, New York Times media columnist David Carr is your man. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: 'The Adjustment Bureau' may not be the best-ever adaptation of one of Philip K. Dick's brain-twisting sci-fi stories (that crown belongs to 'Blade Runner'), but it does have a stylish, 'Inception'-y feel to it, and you can't ask for more reliable leads than Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, as would-be lovers kept apart by shadowy, reality-bending agents. The Blu-ray has a cool interactive map of New York that lets you travel through the agents' portals to see behind-the-scenes video. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Now that summer has officially started, which movie chestnut puts you in a summer frame of mind? 'Endless Summer'? 'A Summer Place'? How about the underrated 1986 comedy 'One Crazy Summer'? John Cusack - who turns 45 (!) next week - is at his most charmingly nerdy as a young man who goes on a Cape Cod vacation with his pals (indispensible '80s goofballs Curtis Armstrong and Bobcat Goldthwait), pines after a dream girl (Demi Moore, still a fresh-faced ingenue and not yet a hardbodied Amazon) and enters a yacht race against the local preppies. All pretty harmless, but director Savage Steve Holland brings a cartoonist's absurdist eye to the proceedings, notably, a priceless sequence spoofing Godzilla movies that involves a fire-breathing Goldthwait stomping around in a lizard suit. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Need to catch up with your Autobot and Decepticon lore before 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' opens next Wednesday? Refresh your knowledge of the mutable robots by watching the first two installments this weekend. The 2007 'Transformers' is on TNT on Friday at 8PM, while 2009's 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' follows on Saturday at 2:45 PM on Cinemax's ActionMax. It's probably your last chance to see Megan Fox rock those Daisy Dukes; alas, we shall not see their like again. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1991: 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' Morphs Into a Hit

Fortunately for us all, James Cameron was wrong.

If the dire predictions in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (released 20 years ago this week, on July 3, 1991) had come true, we'd all be dead or enslaved by robots by now.

Still, there's no denying Cameron has been a visionary, and he proved it with this sci-fi sequel, which has been one of the most influential movies of the last 20 years. As moviegoers line up this weekend for another movie about a lad who challenges a seemingly invincible, shapeshifting robot, it's worth looking back and appreciating the massive impact of 'T2.'

As with 'Aliens,' Cameron created what many fans thought was a superior sequel to an already classic sci-fi filim (in this case, Cameron's own 1984 'The Terminator') by greatly expanding the mythology and raising the dramatic stakes. The masterstroke was reprogramming Arnold Schwarzenegger's villainous Terminator as a hero while making him obsolete, then pitting him against the more advanced T-1000 (Robert Patrick).

The film's greatest impact was in the realm of visual effects. The T-1000 was the first main character of a film who was largely computer-generated, a three-dimensional simulation of human form and movement born in a PC. The robot's ability to turn into liquid metal and then mimic the form of nearly any object or person it touched was one of the film's greatest attractions as well as an eerily beautiful visual that still looks striking and seamless to this day. "Morphing" an object or person from one form into another via computer-generated imagery didn't start with 'T2' (it was first used three years earlier in the fantasy film 'Willow,' and Cameron himself had done a brief morphing sequence in 1989's 'The Abyss,' whose watery pseudopod seemed a dress rehearsal for the T-1000), but 'T2' showed mastery of the technique that stunned and delighted moviegoers like nothing they'd seen before. For their breakthrough work on 'T2,' Stan Winston and his Industrial Light and Magic team won an Oscar, one of four technical Academy Awards the film would receive.

"Morphing" soon showed up everywhere, first in John Landis' video for Michael Jackson's "Black and White" later in 1991 (at the time, it seemed an unexpected commentary on Jackson's own ever-changing facial features), then in seemingly every sci-fi and action movie. Computer-generated characters mixing with live-action people soon became commonplace.

The movie cost a reported $102 million, making it the most expensive movie ever made up to that time (hardly the last time Cameron would break that record). It opened with $54 million, behind only 1989's 'Batman' ($57 million) for best five-day holiday weekend opening. It became the top-grossing movie of 1991, with $205 million, and made instant stars out of Patrick and Edward Furlong, as the young future savior John Connor. It also made "Hasta la vista, baby," into a national catchphrase. Two big-screen sequels (so far) and a TV series followed.

And of course, it cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger's status as the most popular action star in the universe. He became so popular, in fact, that there was talk he'd go into politics, maybe as a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Around the time of 'T2's release, I got to interview Schwarzenegger, and I asked him if the rumors were true that he planned to run for office. "Oh, I don't even know who I would talk to about doing that," he said disingenuously, perhaps forgetting for a moment that he was married to a Kennedy and was close friends with then-President George H.W. Bush. Still, it took another 12 years, and another 'Terminator' sequel, before Arnold, armed with his robot character's catchphrases, ran for office and became California's Governator. And another eight years before his paternity scandal broke and prompted endless rounds of "Sperminator" jokes. It's hard to remember now that there was a time when he was best known simply for playing a boy's benevolent (robot) foster dad.

This Week in Movie History

1939 (June 27): Filming ends on 'Gone With the Wind' with the shooting of the famous finale, including Clark Gable's immortal line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." After a bitter battle with the censors ends with the approval of that final four-letter word (and a fine of $5,000 to the producers), 'GWTW' goes on to become one of the biggest hit movies of all time.
2003 (June 29): Katharine Hepburn dies at 96. Widely regarded as the greatest actress in film history, her career lasted more than six decades and earned her four acting Oscars (still a record).
1989 (June 30): Spike Lee's landmark drama 'Do the Right Thing' is released, amid fears that its portrayal of racial tensions erupting into violence will spark riots in theaters. Instead, the film puts Lee on the A-list, makes a star of Rosie Perez, and turns Public Enemy's song 'Fight the Power' into a hit.
1984 (July 1): Criticism of the too-violent-for-small-children sequences in Steven Spielberg's 1984 early-summer hits 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' and 'Gremlins' prompt the director's call for a rating between PG and R. The resulting PG-13 rating is announced on July 1 and introduced the following month with the release of 'Red Dawn.' Within 20 years, PG-13 will become not a caution to parents but a marketing tool (suggesting to kids under 17 that the movie pushes the envelope as far as it can without offering content that parents won't let them see) and the most desirable rating in Hollywood.
1971 (July 2): Gordon Parks' detective drama 'Shaft' is released, becoming a big hit, turning Richard Roundtree into a star, spawning three sequels and a TV series, launching the blaxploitation era, and earning and Oscar and a Grammy for Isaac Hayes' percolating theme song..

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

The perpetually boyish Chris O'Donnell turned 41 on June 26, followed by fellow boy-men Tobey Maguire (36 on June 27) and John Cusack (45 on June 28).

Famously quirky folks celebrating this week include Gary Busey (67 on June 29), producer Robert Evans (81, also on the 29th), Dan Aykroyd (59, on July 1) and Karen Black (69, the same day).

Famous beauties with birthdays include Lindsay Lohan (25 on July 2), elf princess Liv Tyler (34 on July 1) and Pamela Anderson (44, the same day). 'High School Musical' teen queen Ashley Tisdale is actually a year older than Lohan, turning 26 on July 2.

Oscar-winner Kathy Bates turned 63 on June 28. 'Ferris Bueller' teen Alan Ruck is 55 (!) as of July 1. Curmudgeon Larry David is 64 on July 2.

Among legends, Mel Brooks turned 85 on June 28. And Olivia de Havilland, the last surviving star of 'Gone With the Wind,' turns 95 on July 1..

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' - Trailer No. 4

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' (PG-13)

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Ken Jeong
Directed By: Michael Bay
What's It About? In this threequel, a coverup stemming from an alien crash on the moon (an alternate history inexplicably endorsed by Buzz Aldrin, playing himself in this movie) unravels decades later, sparking new earth-shattering conflict between Autobots and Decepticons. Once again, it's up to LaBeouf to help the good robots save the world. Malkovich and McDormand come along to lend this enterprise some class; 'Hangover' franchise vet Jeong is here for comic relief.
Why Should You See It? Think of this as Bay's apology for 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,' which even he admits sucked. He promises this one will have a better story and better characterizations, as well as better spectacle. A reluctant convert to 3D, Bay claims this threequel will at least offer state of the art 3D effects. And if that's not enough to draw the fanboy eye, there's a new love interest (hello, Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whitely; adieu, Megan Fox). Also, Bay and LaBeouf both say this is their last go-round, so this installment is probably the end of the franchise as we know it. Reviews so far suggest that the movie is a relentless, over-the-top sensory assault - that is, just what you demand from a Bay movie.
You Might Like It If You Like: The first 'Transformers,' 'Independence Day,' 'Capricorn One'

Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX 3D | Reviews
Shia LaBeouf's Bombshell 'Details' Interview

'Larry Crowne' (PG-13)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson
Directed By: Tom Hanks
What's It About? Having lost his job because of his lack of higher education, middle-aged Larry (Hanks) enrolls in college, where he develops a crush on disillusioned teacher Mercedes (Roberts).
Why Should You See It? It's two Hollywood royals on one screen. It's the first movie Hanks has directed in 15 years (since 'That Thing You Do'). It won't deafen you with any cars or trucks that turn into giant robots; here, there's just a moped.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Charlie Wilson's War' (the last Hanks-Roberts pairing), 'Sleepless in Seattle,' 'Mona Lisa Smile'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews
Their Roles, From Best to Worst: Tom Hanks | Julia Roberts
Interview with Hanks and Roberts (VIDEO)

'Monte Carlo' (PG)

Starring: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Cory Monteith, Andie MacDowell
Directed By: Thomas Bezucha
What's It About? Gomez (accompanied by galpals Meester and Cassidy) visits Paris, where she's mistaken for aristocracy and whisked off to Monaco
Why Should You See It? You want to spend your escapist dollar watching scenes of travel in exotic locales, but not involving special forces units fighting giant robots. You want romance, but not among people old enough to be your parents.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Prince and Me,' 'The Lizzie Maguire Movie,' 'Ramona and Beezus'

Family Film Guide| Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release

'The Perfect Host' is a psychological thriller starring David Hyde Pierce as a man about to throw a dinner party when his home is infiltrated by a fugitive bank robber. (Sounds like a 'Frasier' episode gone horribly wrong.)
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Bad Teacher' - Cameron Diaz's black comedy is one of the few movies in multiplexes that's aimed at grown-ups, especially those with less than fond memories of junior high. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

•'Conan O'Brien Can't Stop' - For those of us who didn't get to see Coco's live tour last summer, this concert chronicle will have to do. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Moviefone | Cinematical

Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD: An Oscar underdog last winter, 'Barney's Version' is a comic tale of a man and his many marriages; the unlikely babe magnet is Paul Giamatti. The story is by comic novelist Mordecai Richler (perhaps channeling a little Philip Roth). Dustin Hoffman is along for the ride as Barney's father and partner in mischief. The movie was nominated for Best Makeup, of all things, for expertly aging Giamatti over four decades. An overlooked gem in theaters, you can catch it now on disc, along with some bonus featurettes and interviews. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Celebrate the Fourth of July with a movie that tells you how the holiday began: the musical '1776.' We're guessing the Founding Fathers didn't sing and dance as they drafted the Declaration of Independence, but watching them warble makes the history lesson a lot more fun. Think of it as a really long episode of 'Schoolhouse Rock.' Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: 'Transformers' isn't the only film this weekend whose plot centers on a nefarious scheme involving the moon. 'Despicable Me' is an animated spoof about a supervillain named Gru (Steve Carell) whose plot to steal the moon runs into complications in the form of three adorable, fatherless little girls. It's fun for all ages; while the wee ones are admiring Gru's horde of minions (who look like Twinkies with eyes), grown-ups can enjoy plenty of jokes aimed squarely over the heads of their children. It debuts on HBO on Saturday at 8PM. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

This Week in 1981: Snake Bites Big Apple in 'Escape From New York'
"I thought you were dead."

That's what people keep telling mercenary Snake Plissken throughout his adventures. It may also be what they said about his creator, B-movie titan John Carpenter, who hasn't released a new movie since 2001. As he reemerges this week with his first film in a decade, 'John Carpenter's The Ward,' it's worth looking back at one of his most famous creations, the one-eyed antihero Kurt Russell played in Carpenter's 'Escape From New York' (released 30 years ago this week, on July 10, 1981), to see how he defied the odds and survived to make a lasting impact on pop culture.

It's easy to forget that 30 years ago, Russell was a 29-year-old alumnus of several live-action Disney comedies. He wasn't someone anyone thought of as a go-to actor for grown-up, dramatic roles, much less hard-boiled action-hero parts. The studio wanted Tommy Lee Jones or Charles Bronson. But Carpenter, having directed Russell's Emmy-nominated starring performance in the TV movie 'Elvis,' pushed for Russell, and after the smash success of Carpenter's 1978 horror classic 'Halloween,' he was pretty much allowed to write his own ticket.

Still, the grand-scale adventure that Carpenter and Nick Castle had written -- in the near future, crime-ridden Manhattan has become a maximum-security federal prison, and when Air Force One crashes there, the reluctant Snake must sneak into the urban hellhole and rescue the president -- had to be filmed on the cheap. To replicate a bombed-out New York, the production filmed in East St. Louis, where urban decay and fires had reduced many blocks to rubble. (Only the opening sequence involving the Statue of Liberty was filmed on location in New York.) To create the sophisticated 3D-wireframe computer-animation simulation of New York seen in the control panel of Plissken's glider (an effect that was then too expensive to create with actual computers), the prop makers built a model of Manhattan, painted the buildings black, covered the edges with reflective tape, and filmed it under black light. To create urban vistas seen during aerial shots, Carpenter commissioned matte paintings from a young special-effects artist named James Cameron.

All told, Carpenter managed to make his futuristic nightmare for just $6 million, but it made back $25 million at the box office in the U.S. and another $25 million overseas. It made Russell an action star (one who would work with Carpenter three more times), gave soul singer Isaac Hayes (who played the chief villain, the Duke of New York) his most memorable acting role (at least until Chef on 'South Park') and gave an early career boost to Cameron.

'Escape' also proved hugely influential on other sci-fi auteurs. Ridley Scott used some of Carpenter's city models for 'Blade Runner.' Cyberpunk trailblazer William Gibson cited the film as an inspiration for his landmark novel 'Neuromancer.' J.J. Abrams said that the image of a downed Statue of Liberty in the film's poster (see right) inspired a similar scene in 'Cloverfield.' And its easy to see Carpenter's vision of guerrilla warfare amid futuristic urban ruins as an influence on Cameron's 'Terminator' saga.

Carpenter and Russell made a sequel, 'Escape From L.A.,' in 1996. Today, there's a remake of 'Escape From New York' in the works, though it seems to have stalled over casting. Jeremy Renner and Josh Brolin are two of the names that have been floated as possible leads. Who knows when the remake will actually get made or who will star in it, but one thing's for certain: You should never assume that Snake Plissken is dead.

This Week in Movie History

1991 (July 5): 'Slacker,' Richard Linklater's kaleidoscopic group portrait of underemployed Austin bohemians, opens in theaters. Made on a five-figure budget, the film launches Linklater's career, kickstarts the Austin filmmaking scene (that would coalesce around Linklater and Robert Rodriguez), inspires countless other microbudget indie auteurs (notably, Rodriguez and Kevin Smith), and is widely seen as a generational statement from what will soon be known as Generation X.
1994 (July 6): 'Forrest Gump' opens, turning Winston Groom's novel about a naif's journey through Baby Boomer history into a smash hit film. It will become widely influential for Robert Zemeckis's technical prowess at blending contemporary performances into historical footage, and it ultimately wins six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Zemeckis) and Best Actor for Tom Hanks, his second in a row after 'Philadelphia.'
1995 (July 10): After his arrest for misdemeanor lewd conduct in a public place with prostitute Divine Brown, Hugh Grant visits 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' and makes a public apology. His appearance helps his movie 'Nine Months' become a big hit, boosts Leno into the ratings stratosphere (beginning his reign the undisputed king of late-night viewing for the next 14 years) and serves as a model of public relations damage control for scandal-plagued celebrities ever after.

This Week in Celebrity Birthdays

Tom Cruise turned 49 on July 3. His 'Top Gun' love interest Kelly McGillis also celebrates this week, turning 54 on July 9. His 'A Few Good Men' co-star Kevin Bacon marks his 53rd on July 8. Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible III' co-star Billy Crudup turns 43 the same day.

Besides Cruise, icons with birthdays include Tom Hanks (55 on July 9) and Sylvester Stallone (65 on July 6).

Musicians-turned-actors who blow out candles this week include Ringo Starr (71 on July 7), RZA (42 on July 5) and 50 Cent (36 on July 6).

Anjelica Huston and Chris Cooper were born one day apart. She turns 60 on July 8, as does he the following day. Geoffrey Rush also hit the big 6-0 this week, on July 6.

Cool character actresses carving up cakes this week include Connie Nielsen (46 on July 3), Eva Green (31 on July 5), Shelley Duvall (62 on July 7), and Kim Darby (64 on the 8th).

Hard to believe, but Lisa Simpson (or at least her voice) is 47, as of July 3, which is Yeardley Smith's birthday. Other stars who straddle TV and movies share her birthday; Olivia Munn turned 31, Thomas Gibson was 49, and Shawnee Smith was 41. Other big/small-screen stars celebrating this week: Kathryn Erbe (46 on July 5), Katherine Helmond (83, also on the 5th), Edie Falco (48, the same day), Billy Campbell (52 on July 7), Alexis Dziena (27 on July 8), Sophia Bush (29, also on the 8th), Fred Savage (35 on July 9) and Jimmy Smits (56, also on the 9th).

Jaden Smith becomes a teenager on July 8. At the other end of the age spectrum, the still-busy Eva Marie Saint turned 87 on July 4. That was also the 84th birthday of screenwriter/playwright Neil Simon. Shirley Knight marked her 75th birthday on the 5th. Ned Beatty was 74 on July 6. Brian Dennehy is 73 as of July 9.

Going Out? New and Noteworthy This Week

'Horrible Bosses' Trailer No. 1:

'Horrible Bosses' (R)

Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Charlie Day, Jamie Foxx
Directed By: Seth Gordon
What's It About? Three henpecked employees (Bateman, Sudeikis and Day) conspire to murder their intolerable employers (Aniston, Spacey and Farrell).
Why Should You See It? This is the summer of the R-rated comedy, so heaven forbid two weeks should go by without a new one. Plus, you get to see Aniston and Farrell playing against type (his combover may be reason enough to see this) and Spacey doing that sneering thing he does so well.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Office Space,' 'Swimming With Sharks,' 'Strangers on a Train'

Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews
Charlie Day Interview

'Zookeeper' (PG)

Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Adam Sandler, Ken Jeong
Directed By: Tom Hanks
What's It About? James is a lovelorn zookeeper who gets romantic advice on how to woo dream gal Dawson from the surprisingly chatty caged critters who are his charges.
Why Should You See It? This comes from the team behind Adam Sandler's comedies, pitched at a slightly lower maturity level than usual. Grown-ups may enjoy guessing which unlikely celebrity voice will come out of a given animal's mouth (voice actors include Sandler, Cher and Sylvester Stallone).
You Might Like It If You Like: Eddie Murphy's 'Dr. Dolittle,' Sandler's 'Bedtime Stories,' 'Mr. Popper's Penguins'

Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

In Limited Release
'John Carpenter's The Ward,' which marks the horror guru's first film in ten years, stars Amber Heard as a young woman who finds herself institutionalized in a hospital whose corridors are stalked by a creepy presence.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Cinematical's Review

'Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest' is a documentary about the history of the legendary hip-hop act, including ATCQ's uneasy 2008 reunion. It marks the directing debut of tough-guy character actor Michael Rapaport.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' - Resistance is futile. Showtimes & Tickets: 2D | 3D | IMAX 3D | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'Larry Crowne' - Really, the only movie for grown-ups in the whole multiplex. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews

'Monte Carlo' - If you're young enough to know (and care) that this movie stars Justin Bieber's girlffriend, then this romantic comedy is for you. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews | Family Film Guide

Staying In This Weekend?
New on DVD: 'Hobo With a Shotgun' was a tongue-in-cheek trailer commissioned for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' 'Grindhouse' before being expanded into a full-fledged feature. The great Rutger Hauer plays the title role, a drifter who becomes a double-barreled vigilante. Fans of over-the-top ultraviolence will want to check out this disc, which comes loaded with tons of behind-the-scenes extras. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

On Our Netflix Queue: Also known for over-the-top ultraviolence, influential director Takashi Miike tones it down for '13 Assassins.' Yes, there's still swordfighting, and heads to roll, but mostly, this is a traditional, well-executed samurai action-drama in the tradition of Akira Kurosawa. The disc, out this week, contains an interview with the director and some deleted scenes. Buy or rent the DVD

On TV: Was 'The Social Network' a generation-defining movie? Not really. The Facebook origin story was simply a very good drama that treated age-old themes of friendship, inspiration, greed and betrayal in an up-to-the-minute context. Still, a lot of fans thought the film got a raw deal at the Oscars this year when the less innovative, more traditional 'The King's Speech' took home Best Picture. Decide for yourself when 'The Social Network' makes its premium cable debut on Starz on Saturday at 9PM. Check your local listings

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

Movie: 'Boyz N the Hood'

Release Date: July 12, 1991

How It Got Made: John Singleton was still an undergrad at the University of Southern California when he persuaded Columbia Pictures to buy his autobiographical script and allow him to direct it. "I told [then–studio chief] Frank Price it wouldn't cost much money," Singleton told Entertainment Weekly. Indeed, the slice of South Central Los Angeles street life cost just $6.5 million, but it became a big hit, an enormously influential movie and a career launcher for some of the most talented African-American stars of the next two decades.

When he was 19, Singleton had also worked on the crew of Saturday morning kids' show 'Pee-wee's Playhouse,' where he met Laurence Fishburne, who had a recurring role as Cowboy Curtis. At last week's American Black Film Festival in Miami, Singleton recalled, "I said to Laurence, 'I'm going to write you something so you don't have to wear that Jheri curl wave.'" By the time he was 22, Singleton was ready to make good on his promise.

Singleton told NPR recently that he relied on Fishburne for lessons in directing in the style of Francis Ford Coppola, for whom Fishburne had co-starred in 'Apocalypse Now.' The influence was apparent, in the way Singleton cross-cut among simultaneous action sequences, and in the film's audio mix, featuring the ominous, ever-present sounds of hovering helicopters. (In a clever money-saving move, Singleton didn't show the police choppers but merely suggested their intrusive presence via lighting and sound.)

Boyz 'N the Hood

The result was a movie that didn't look or feel like any previous movie about the streets; rather, it showed what it felt like to live there, with both the joys (backyard barbecues, cruising the main drag) and fears (gangs, drugs, crime, violence, police-state-style law enforcement).

The movie was also unique in that, while all the characters were African-American, it wasn't really about race or racism. Instead, it was about the two problems Singleton saw as the chief threats to young black men: the eye-for-an-eye culture of street violence and the absence of strong fatherly role models. Fishburne's character, full of righteous anger and self-help bromides (he's aptly named Furious Styles), seems to be the only dad in his neighborhood, and as a result, his son Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) seems poised to be the only young man likely to avoid the thug life and escape the streets.

How It Was Received: The film initially appealed to a lot of the same gang types whose behavior it sought to change; unfortunately, many of them missed the point and got into fights at theaters across the country. By the end of the film's opening weekend, there was at least one death and 33 injuries.

Some critics had blamed the film's marketing, including a trailer that focused on the film's splashy gunplay more than its artier aspirations. (But then, if it had been marketed as the high-minded drama that it was, who would have gone to see it?) Singleton insisted that neither the marketing nor the movie were to blame, that the problem was the same social pathologies that the movie criticized. "The cause of all this violence," he told Ebony magazine at the time, "is bad parenting and a society that places more emphasis on black people hating themselves so they can't respect each other."

'Boyz N the Hood' Trailer

For a while, there were fears that theaters would stop showing black-themed films or that studios would stop making them, essentially killing a new wave of filmmaking just as it was being born. (Inspired by Spike Lee, black filmmakers had already made 1991 the year of New Jack Cinema with such street-level thrillers as 'New Jack City' and 'Straight Out of Brooklyn.) But with the success of 'Boyz,' which earned $10 million that first weekend and ultimately earned $58 million in theaters, there was no turning back.

In early 1992, Singleton was nominated for two Oscars, for his screenplay and his direction. At 24, he was the youngest person ever nominated for a Best Director Academy Award -- and the first African-American.

Long-Term Influence: 'Boyz' not only rescued Fishburne from Cowboy Curtis's Jheri curl, it also jump-started the film careers of Angela Bassett and Nia Long, and launched the movie careers of Gooding, Morris Chestnut and Regina King. In the coming years, Fishburne and Bassett would reunite for acclaimed turns as Ike and Tina Turner in 'What's Love Got to Do With It' before going on to other successes, while Gooding and King would reunite in 'Jerry Maguire,' which would win Gooding an Oscar.

Most noteworthy, perhaps, was the acting debut of Ice Cube. Cube, of course, had been a member of N.W.A, the original gangsta-rap act (and had performed on the track that gave the movie its title). His hard-earned knowledge of South Central street life gave his performance as the doomed Doughboy a lived-in authenticity. Along with Ice-T's performance in 'New Jack City,' Cube's impressive turn led to a wave of rappers-turned-actors, with successful film careers for such MCs as Tupac Shakur, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah and, of course, Will Smith. Cube himself had the most unusual screen career, veering from stoner hero (the 'Friday' movies) to scowling action star ('Three Kings,' 'xXx: State of the Union') to cuddly, family-friendly comedian ('Are We There Yet?').

'Boyz N the Hood' inspired a decade's worth of "'hood" films, all of them cautionary tales of ghetto life, many with rappers in their casts, most of them less artful and more exploitative than 'Boyz.' Singleton himself tried to move beyond the genre with more ambitious films about African-American life ('Poetic Justice,' 'Higher Learning,' 'Rosewood,' 'Baby Boy'), but in the last decade, he's been known mostly for action films (the reboot of 'Shaft,' '2 Fast 2 Furious,' 'Four Brothers').

How It Plays Today: Over the last 20 years, crime rates have gone down nationwide and the crack epidemic seems like a distant nightmare, but the issues Singleton raised about the plight of black men continue to resonate. "When we first did the movie 'Boyz N the Hood,' we felt like we was teaching America about a part of itself that they don't see," Cube told MTV in a recent interview. "I think the movie is a definite classic, it definitely holds up, it's definitely as potent today as it was back then. The message is definitely as clear today and needed as it was back then."

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.

Movie: 'Trainspotting'

Release Date: July 19, 1996

How It Got Made: Reading Irvine Welsh's 1993 literary sensation about the highs and lows of a group of Scottish junkies, director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew Macdonald believed they could invent a visual equivalent to the vibrant, urgent, shot-in-the-arm prose of Welsh's debut novel. "This has got to be the most energetic film you've ever seen," Boyle later told Entertainment Weekly, "about something that ultimately ends up in purgatory or worse."

Boyle's team secured the rights by convincing Welsh that they weren't going to try for gritty realism, like most movies about drug addiction; rather, they planned to make a movie as surreal, dreamlike, juiced-up, nightmarish, heartbreaking and funny as the novel. They succeeded, creating a movie generally regarded now as the best Scottish movie ever made, a picture that made stars out of Boyle, Ewan McGregor and the rest of the cast. It proved vastly influential even beyond the walls of the cinema; out on the presidential campaign trail, it reignited debate over whether the portrayal of drug use glamorizes addiction.

Following the success of their debut feature, the creepy crime-thriller 'Shallow Grave,' Boyle, Macdonald and screenwriter John Hodge reteamed with 'Grave' star McGregor, casting him as Mark Renton, the addict who decides to clean up his act and tries to resist letting heroin and his drug pals draw him back into his old life. One of those pals, the foul-tempered Begbie, was played by Robert Carlyle; another, Sean Connery–fan Sick Boy, was 'Hackers' star Jonny Lee Miller. The rest of the cast were relative unknowns, many of them making their film debuts.

'Trainspotting': Baby-on-the-Ceiling Scene

McGregor shaved his head and lost 26 pounds to play the emaciated Renton. He even considered shooting heroin, just for research purposes, before deciding against it. Not that realism and accuracy were important to the film -- two of the film's most celebrated sequences were its most surreal. In one, a detoxing Renton hallucinates seeing a friend's baby (which had died of neglect during its mother's drug stupor) crawling on the ceiling. In another, Renton dives into the murky depths of "the worst toilet in Scotland" to retrieve opium suppositories.

(In fact, the brown fecal muck Boyle had smeared all over the bowl was actually fresh chocolate mousse. Sort of the opposite of what happened during the making of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' where the delicious-looking chocolate river that Augustus Gloop falls into was actually made of rancid melted ice cream.)

'Trainspotting': The-Worst-Toilet-in-Scotland Scene (Contains NSFW Language and Images)

The filmmakers made a virtue of their budget constraints (the film cost just $2.5 million). To maintain the film's manic energy, Boyle shot it in just seven weeks, often using the first take and refusing to shoot a second take as a safe backup. Most scenes were shot in an abandoned Glasgow cigarette factory that the crew turned into a soundstage. Special effects were makeshift, like the trap door used to make Renton sink into the floor when he collapses after an overdose.

For the film's American release, Boyle had the actors redub the first 20 minutes of the movie in less thick brogues. He also trimmed two scenes (one of a needle in an arm, one of a sex scene) to keep the film from being rated NC-17.

How It Was Received: 'Trainspotting' played out of competition at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival but was an audience favorite there. It arrived in the U.S. that July on waves of hype, touted by Miramax as the British 'Pulp Fiction.' (Which was not entirely inaccurate. Both films seemed plugged into direct currents of sex, drugs, rock n' roll, crime, violence and the kinetic joy of rule-breaking filmmaking.) Opening on just eight screens in North America, it earned an impressive $263,000 ($33,000 per screen) its first weekend, toward an eventual total of $16 million domestic and $72 million worldwide. Critics embraced the film on both sides of the Atlantic, and Hodge's screenplay earned him an Oscar nomination.

With its evocative use of both classic alt-rock tracks by the likes of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, and up-to-the-moment techno/rave cuts, 'Trainspotting' spawned two popular soundtrack albums. Iggy Pop enjoyed a brief resurgence, thanks to a new Boyle-directed video for his 1976 song 'Lust for Life,' used so memorably in the film's opening sequence.

'Trainspotting': Opening (Contains NSFW Language)

Long-Term Impact: Boyle and McGregor instantly became hot properties in Hollywood. They reteamed with Macdonald and Hodge again for the lovers-on-the-lam comedy 'A Life Less Ordinary' before McGregor graduated to such blockbusters as the 'Star Wars' prequels. Boyle went on to direct such cult favorites as '28 Days Later' and '127 Hours, as well as worldwide smash 'Slumdog Millionaire,' which won Oscars for Boyle and for Best Picture.

Carlyle jumped from 'Trainspotting' to the biggest role of his career, the lead in 'The Full Monty.' The film also marked the career launch pad for first-time film actors Kevin McKidd (who went on to TV's 'Rome' and 'Grey's Anatomy') and Kelly Macdonald (whose career highlights include 'Gosford Park,' 'No Country for Old Men' and TV's 'Boardwalk Empire').

Other filmmakers took notice. The movie's combination of quick-cut visuals and a pulsing techno/alt-rock soundtrack became the default way to depict the highs and lows of drug use (see 'Requiem for a Dream') or even general antisocial behavior ('Fight Club').

'Trainspotting' Poster

The design and fashion worlds took notice as well. Ad campaigns began to copy the 'Trainspotting' poster's graphics, with its black-and-white photos of aggressive-looking characters and its plain orange-and-white typography. Also, the movie played into what was then called "heroin chic," the trend of using ultra-thin models (like Kate Moss) in seedy locations and with dazed facial expressions in fashion campaigns.

Criticism of this trend went all the way to the White House. On the campaign trail that fall, Republican candidate Bob Dole criticized 'Trainspotting' for showing the "romance of heroin," though his aides admitted he hadn't seen the movie. Dole lost the election, but President Clinton made a similar complaint a few months later, saying, "This is not about art. It's about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society."

It's true that the movie's attitude toward heroine was more complicated than Dole's slogan, "Just Don't Do It." After all, the first third of the movie makes the junkie life look like fun, though the last two thirds show the grim flip side. As producer Macdonald told Entertainment Weekly, "People criticize it because it dares to show the truth: that people take drugs because they are pleasurable. But we also show that if you take too much of them, there's a serious chance that they'll f--- you up."

One unlikely result of the film: Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" suddenly began turning up everywhere - in other movies, even in commercials. As used by Boyle at the beginning of 'Trainspotting,' the song, with its propulsive Motown-style drumbeat and cheerful chorus, became the soundtrack for fun. It showed up as far afield as the kids' movie 'Rugrats Go Wild' and in Carnival cruise line ads; in both places, Pop's risqué lyrics about trying to kick drug addiction were omitted or rewritten.

Danny Boyle

How It Plays Today: Aside from the music that dates it to the mid-'90s, 'Trainspotting' appears as fresh, inventive, and energetic as ever. Renton remains one of the most memorable characters McGregor has ever played; in March, the UK Sun quoted him as saying, "It's still the main thing people ask me about when they come up to me in the street."

McGregor also said he'd be open to doing a sequel, but only if the script improves on 'Porno,' the sequel novel written by Welsh, which takes place a decade after 'Trainspotting.' "I don't like being the guy that's making it not happen, especially when all the other guys want to make it," the Sun quotes McGregor as saying. "But I wouldn't want to do a sequel to 'Trainspotting' if it was just for the sake of it and, if I'm honest about it, I wasn't that blown away by the book."

Talking to Cinematical last December, Boyle said he shared McGregor's apprehensions about 'Porno,' but he seemed confident that the book could be worked into a sequel. "We have been doing some work on it, and it's got potential, yeah, for sure," Boyle said. "And when the moment's right, I think we will approach it."

Recalling the original film, Boyle said of the cast of then-newbies, "They were brilliant, and it's quite rare when you get a cast that's that different. They're so different and yet they kind of jell together like they're all in the same film."

It's the love for those characters and those actors that would make the sequel worthwhile, he suggested. "This is an imaginative thing to look at these guys, who you kind of fell in love with and a whole generation fell in love with in a certain kind of way, and then you see them again and they've aged, just like we all do," Boyle said. "And then it becomes about that, and I think that would be really nice."

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

Movie: 'Blow Out'

Release Date: July 24, 1981

How It Got Made: That 'Blow Out' got made at all was pretty remarkable. Its 1960s and '70s-style political paranoia seemed out of place at the dawn of the Reagan '80s. Its director experienced budget problems, its leading man couldn't sleep, and when two reels were stolen during the editing process, it required expensive reshoots using a different cinematographer.

Still, the result was an unforgettable, despairing thriller, one whose final echoes continue to ring today. It may have marked the finest work in the careers of director Brian De Palma and stars John Travolta and Nancy Allen. And its fans included Quentin Tarantino, who has paid the film homage in several of his own works.

De Palma was coming off a big hit, 'Dressed to Kill,' when he wrote what would be one of his most ambitious films to date. It's the story of a movie sound engineer who happens to be taping ambient sounds at the scene when a car plunges into a lake and kills a political candidate. The sound man, who has saved a woman from the crash, believes his audio recording of the incident has captured evidence of a political assassination, putting his own life and the woman's life in danger. 'Blow Out' tipped its hat to some classic films - notably, Michelangelo Antonioni's similarly titled 'Blow-Up' (1966), in which a fashion photographer believes he's taken pictures of a murder, and Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation' (1974), in which a surveillance expert becomes a target when he makes a potentially incriminating recording - as well as to recent political history: the Zapruder film's accidental capture of the JFK assassination, Ted Kennedy's car accident at Chappaquiddick that killed his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, and the Watergate conspiracy's rash of tapings, buggings, and dirty tricks. The screenplay also explored De Palma's usual preoccupations - voyeurism, guilt, and ineffectual heroes.

De Palma secured an $18 million budget, his biggest since his 1978 special effects thriller 'The Fury.' For his leading man, he cast John Travolta, then at his early career peak after the triple-play of 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'Grease,' and 'Urban Cowboy.' Travolta, whom De Palma had given an early career break in 1976's 'Carrie,' suggested that fellow 'Carrie' actress Nancy Allen play the female lead, the prostitute Travolta rescues from the submerged car. De Palma, who had married Allen in 1979 and cast her in two films since, was reluctant, as he didn't want Hollywood to think his wife only got jobs out of nepotism, but when his backers suggested he cast Travolta's 'Grease' co-star, Olivia Newton-John, De Palma went with Allen instead. Rounding out the cast, as the heavies, were two De Palma regulars who had yet to gain wider fame: Dennis Franz and John Lithgow.

Travolta reportedly suffered from insomnia during the shoot. But that restlessness made his character's desperation and paranoia all the more vivid and realistic.

Filming took place in De Palma's hometown of Philadelphia. The director and his cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, staged the film's climactic sequence against a patriotic parade centered around the Liberty Bell. During post-production, however, two reels shot at the rally went missing, apparent victims of theft. De Palma had to restage and reshoot the parade, at a cost of $750,000. Zsigmond was unavailable to return, and De Palma had to hire cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs instead.

'Blow Out' - Blu-Ray Trailer

How It Was Received: 'Blow Out' received positive reviews from critics, especially Pauline Kael at the New Yorker, always De Palma's biggest champion. But audiences stayed away, and the picture recouped just $8 million of its budget. Maybe the movie wasn't escapist enough for summer audiences, or maybe they weren't used to seeing song-and-dance man Travolta in a thriller context, or maybe word spread about the film's thoroughly bleak (but apt) ending.

Long-Term Impact: 'Blow Out' may have been one of De Palma's most personal movies. Later films, including such hits as 'The Untouchables' and 'Mission: Impossible' (and such flops as 'Bonfire of the Vanities') were usually larger in scale and seemed less idiosyncratically his own.

The film did give boosts to Lithgow (who followed it up with his career-making performances in 'The World According to Garp' and 'Terms of Endearment') and Franz (who went on to become a TV cop-show stalwart on 'Hill Street Blues' and 'NYPD Blue'). Allen, who was divorced from De Palma in 1984, did go on to forge a career on her own, notably, as the female lead in the 'Robocop' trilogy. Many fans, however, believed she never surpassed her work in 'Blow Out,' where she mixed jadedness and innocence, and where her scream proved indelible and indispensable.

Travolta seemed to stumble through the 1980s in a series of ill-fitting roles, but there was one fan who never forgot his nuanced work in 'Blow Out.' That was Quentin Tarantino, who cited 'Blow Out' as one of his three favorite films, and who made a point of casting Travolta in what would be his comeback role in 1994's 'Pulp Fiction.' Tarantino also used part of the 'Blow Out' score in a scene in his 2007 movie 'Death Proof' (his half of 'Grindhouse').

Excerpt from 'Blow Out'

How It Plays Today: The analog technology Travolta's character uses to recreate reality in 'Blow Out' seems antique now, but the film's awareness of how politics can manipulate image and reality without regard to the human consequences seems, in our digital age, to be frighteningly prescient. But De Palma isn't offering some relativist, postmodern shrug, as if to say that, because recorded sounds and images are unreliable, the truth is unknowable and always subject to interpretation. Rather, he's warning that the truth is screaming at us, but we've forgotten how to listen.

Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

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