La Tour de la Terreur

Recently, both the high tech E-ticket The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the new Stitch Live! show opened at the Walt Disney Studios Paris in the Disneyland Resort Paris, and LaughingPlace.com was there for their grand openings. Be sure to watch the video of the "unwrapping" of the newest Hollywood Tower Hotel.

The Wild One Just for You

"What're you rebelling against, Johnny?"

Another Hot Toys "Movie Icon" figure: Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler in The Wild One. The fully articulated 12-inch figure comes with leather-like jacket, boots and denim jeans with rolled up cuffs, for that full rebel effect.

Click on the link above to pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles.

Images Festival 08 Day 7 - Wednesday April 9/08

Hail the New Puritan
Charles Atlas
1985-6, USA/UK, 85 minutes
Choreographer: Michael Clark
Performers: Michael Clark, Gaby Agis, Leslie Bryant, Matthew Hawkins, Julie Hood, Ellen van Schuylenburch

Impressions: The audience was very lively at this screening and it was clear from the curators of the program Ben Portis (from Pleasuredome) and Kathleen Smith that they were very excited to present this film, especially considering that the filmmaker Charles Atlas was in attendance. Seeing Hail the New Puritans in this atmosphere was quite the delight. I am always up for seeing a dance themed film, and this one takes place in the 80's London punk scene and portrays a (fictional) day-in-the-life of dancers, primarily Michael Clark. From posed performances, video shoots to nightclub scenes and rehearsal conditions we travel with these heightened versions of the dancers persona's from the accessible to the surreal. Fantastic.

Want to see more from Charles Atlas? Check out Live Images V - Charles Atlas and Alan Licht on Friday April 11, 9:30 pm at the Workman Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


(Kathleen Smith - curator, Charles Atlas - Hail the New Puritans)

The Images Festival runs from April 3-13/08 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Curiouser and Curiouser ...

Broadway Bares, the racy evening of burlesque featuring the best bods on Broadway, goes "through the looking glass" and "down the rabbit hole" this year with Wonderland.

The annual charity event, which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, is the brainchild of Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell (La Cage aux Folles, Legally Blonde). To date, Broadway Bares has raised nearly $5 million for BC/EFA.

This year's production, inspired by the fantasy worlds of Lewis Carroll, will be held June 22, for two performances only, at the famed Roseland Ballroom. Click here for a sexy video preview.

Women We Love: Agnes Moorehead

Movie Dearest continues a month long look at our favorite classic character actresses.

Object of our affection: Agnes Moorehead, actress.

- Another character actress we can't get enough of, she was nominated four times for the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress: The Magnificent Ambersons, Johnny Belinda, Mrs. Parkington, and Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. She never won the Oscar, but she did win the Golden Globe for the latter two films.

- Despite all her film work, she is best remembered as the ultimate mother-in-law, Endora, on the beloved sitcom Bewitched; of her seven Emmy nominations, six were for Bewitched, but she actually won for a guest spot on The Wild Wild West.

- She started in radio, eventually joining Orson Welles' fabled Mercury Theatre Group, wherein she participated in the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast of Halloween 1938; when Welles went west to make movies, she followed, making her screen debut in none other then Citizen Kane, as the mother of the title character. Later, she found her greatest success on the airwaves in the dramatic thriller Sorry, Wrong Number, which was eventually filmed ... starring Barbara Stanwyck.

- Other film classics she appeared in include The Big Street, Journey Into Fear, Jane Eyre, Since You Went Away, Dark Passage, The Stratton Story, Caged, Show Boat, Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, The Opposite Sex, Raintree County, Pollyanna, How the West Was Won, The Singing Nun and What's the Matter with Helen?

- She made several appearances on popular anthology series during television's early years, including a memorable turn on The Twilight Zone; in the episode, titled "The Invaders", she didn't speak a word, ironic considering her early work in radio. On the other hand, her final film performance was her voice only (as a goose, no less) in the animated musical Charlotte's Web.

Bubble Wrapped

A Jake Gyllenhaal movie has been turned into a stage musical, and it's not the one we've heard so many rumors about.

Bubble Boy, based on the 2001 film comedy that has reportedly become a cult hit (anyone?), will be presented as part of the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop this week. Wicked music man Stephen Schwartz helms the workshop.

In related news, Schwartz, who won Oscars for his work on Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt and most recently scored three nominations for Enchanted, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday.

You May Now ...

Kiss the Bride ... finally: last summer's film fest fave (think My Best Friend's Wedding ... with a gay twist) opens April 18.

Starring Tori Spelling, James O'Shea and Phillip Karner, this romantic comedy (watch the trailer here) comes from Latter Days director C. Jay Cox.