How Sex Scenes in Film/ TV really Work

Ah, sex scenes. Those precious few minutes of a film (or HBO series) when parents decide to walk into the room. 9½ Weeks (1986), Shame (2012) and let’s not leave out Game of Thrones– some pretty racy and realistic sex scenes have made their way onto our screens over the years and have often prompted the question– are…

The Monstrous Film Set That Jumpstarted Hollywood

If you build it, they will come. And if they don’t, you’re screwed. Such was the case for Mr. D.W. Griffith, the infamous movie mogul behind the best worst movie ever made: the silent epic Intolerance (1916). Griffith became the emperor Los Angeles for the picture, creating a veritable city of 300-ft-tall Judean walls and…

Paid for their Tears: The Peculiar Profession of Professional Mourners

The business of death is one as old as time. Today the market size of global death care services is valued at over $100 billion annually and it’s expected to double in the next decade too (an increase attributed to more demand for lavish funerals). But there’s a lesser-known “service” of the industry which those…

Muse du Jour: What Happened to Shelley Duvall?

She was the woman wrapped in a fairytale. You may know her from classics like The Shining (1980) or Annie Hall (1977) or perhaps you know the sound of her warm voice saying, “Hello, I’m Shelley Duvall…” during the intro of a magical “Faerie Tale Theatre” TV hour she not only created, but hosted and…

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How America Fell for Maude Fealy

Can you blame them? She’s the kind woman whose nearly 100-year-old snapshots still radiate charisma and mystique from one of the most magical eras in film history. She was a Southern Belle of showbiz stock, and she was just as convincing in the role of an 17th century French diva as she was crossdressing in the…

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Before Hedy, There Was Barbara Lamarr

God, we’re a sucker for a woman like Barbara La Marr. She was one of those rare cases in which someone is so utterly charismatic, they can get away with almost anything. Constant embellishing of her life’s story, deliciously reckless behaviour, a tangled string of fiery romances — she ticked every box with flying colours,…

A Brief Compendium of Vintage Hollywood Test Shots

Ah, the pressures of Picture Day. Who can’t relate to the anxiety of getting that perfect shot for a yearbook, driver’s license, or, in this case, beloved Hollywood classic? For actors like Audrey Hepburn and Liz Taylor, sitting for test shots was all in a day’s work. We wish we could travel back in time…

The Real-life Film Actors Who Inspired Iconic Disney Cartoon Characters

It’s hard to imagine our favorite Disney films any other way, but some of the most popular animated characters of our childhoods started out as real as you and I. These rare images of live-action scenes spliced with Disney animations, reveal how the creative studio used real people to reference or even directly trace their…

For Sale: Burt Reynolds’ Rolodex and other Awkward Stuff He’s Selling

So here’s a unique Christmas gift– Burt Reynolds’ Rolodex! You could own BR’s very own “little black book” from his home office, including the (possibly/ very likely out-of-date) contact information for his groovy celebrity friends, restaurants, and business contacts. It’s basically priceless (but last time I checked it has a current bid of $900). Burt Reynolds was…

That time Al Pacino was Arrested on suspicion of Attempted Robbery

On the night of January 7th, 1961, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, a police car pulled over a suspicious vehicle that had been circling the block and passed the officers several times. When they approached the car, they found three males wearing black masks and gloves. In the trunk the officers found a loaded 38 calibre…