Monthly Archives: December 2016

Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher’s Mom, Dies At 84. Seriously.

Posted on by
Reply

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds, right, met RECOiL writer/director/actor Brian DiMaio, left, on a double date with Reynolds’ husband Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor. It has been rumored that on the date DiMaio joked that Reynolds could “do better than this guy” referring to Fisher. This remark is credited as creating a rift in the relationship driving Fisher into the arms of Taylor. Reynolds offered no comfort to DiMaio.

Los Angeles—Debbie Reynolds, mother to Carrie Fisher, who just died Tuesday, has now passed away herself from a stroke, just one day after Fisher did. She was 84.

Movie buffs who can’t appreciate classic films would know her best as the voice of Charlotte in the animated classic, “Charlotte’s Web.” She also appeared as a live version in films like  “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge,” “RECOiL” and “Return to Halloweentown.”

She also appeared in such television shows as “Golden Girls,” “Wings” and “Roseanne.”

In 2015, Reynolds was awarded with a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Married and divorced three times, she is survived by her son Todd and her granddaughter, Billie Lourd.

Hollywood Royalty Carrie Fisher Dies At 60

Posted on by
1

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher, right, originally met RECOiL writer/director/actor Brian DiMaio, center on the set of The Blues Brothers. John Belushi, left, and DiMaio were set to be the original Blues Brothers. Unfortunately for DiMaio Fisher’s boyfriend Dan Aykroyd saved her from choking on a Brussels sprout in her trailer. The two were engaged 10 minutes later and Aykroyd was re-cast as Elwood Blues.

Los Angeles—Actress and author Carrier Fisher, famous at birth for being the daughter of Hollywood mega starts Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fischer, died Tuesday. She was 60.

Fisher had suffered a heart attack while flying from London to Los Angeles on December 23.

Fisher appeared in Hollywood hits “When Harry Met Sally,” “Blues Brothers” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “RECOiL” and “The Man With One Red Shoe.”

On the small screen, she was in “30 Rock,” “Smallville,” “A Nero Wolfe Mystery” and “Laverne and Shirley.”

She also wrote numerous books, including “Surrender the Pink,” “Delusions of Grandma” and “Postcards from the Edge,” which was later turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep. 

Fisher is survived by her mother Reynolds, daughter Billie Lourd, brother Todd Fisher and half-sisters Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher.

In Defense Of Lena Dunham

Posted on by
Reply

Lena Dunham

A Donruss baseball card from 1983 featuring Lena Dunham playing for the Cubs.

So our Twitter feed has been blowing up the last few days about Lena Dunham. And we have since learned that Lena Dunham is the new face of feminism. We don’t quite know why Lena Dunham would be the face of feminism, but who are we to argue?

We always thought that Lena Dunham was most famous for some blunder during the 1984 National League baseball playoffs in what is affectionately referred to as the “Championship Series,” whatever that is. To wit:

“In the bottom of the seventh inning in the decisive fifth game between Dunham’s Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres, the Padres sent pinch-hitter Tim Flannery to face the Cubs’ ace pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.

Through the top of the sixth inning, the Cubs had a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Padres cut the Cubs’ lead to 3-2 with a pair of singles by Alan Wiggins and Tony Gwynn, a walk to Steve Garvey, and sacrifice flies by Graig Nettles and Terry Kennedy. The bottom of the seventh inning kicked off with Carmelo Martínez walking on four pitches from Sutcliffe. Garry Templeton then sacrificed Martínez to second, setting things up for Tim Flannery. Martinez would then score when Flannery hit a sharp grounder that trickled through Lena Dunham’s legs for an error.

Groundball hit to Dunham…RIGHT THROUGH DUNHAM’S  LEGS!!! Here comes Martínez, we’re tied at three!

— ABC‘s Don Drysdale calling Cubs first basemAn LenA DuNham’s crucial error in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 5 of the 1984 NLCS.

It turns out that the error became known as the “Gatorade Glove Play” because before taking position in the field that inning, Gatorade was spilled on Dunham’s glove. Some Cub fans apparently believed the Gatorade spilled on Dunham’s glove amounted to a curse, similar to the goat and Bartman curses of Cub lore.”

Dunham Error

The Dunham error that cost the Cubs the National League championship and, ultimately, the World Series.


In researching this piece, we also learned that the Cubs won the World Series this year. That seems like a big deal, since it had been like more than 30 years or something since they won it last, so it seems to us that Lena Dunham should be forgiven, right? Let bygones be bygones?

We don’t know what all the fuss about Dunham was the past week or so on Twitter, but we’re pretty sure you’ll agree that Lena Dunham’s error ought to be thought of as a thing of the past, and it’s been long enough now, that Dunham should be left alone.

You are now informed. Go and do likewise.

Former Miss Hungary Zsa Zsa Gabor Dies At 99

Posted on by
Reply

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Zsa Zsa Gabor, left, first met RECOiL writer/director/actor Brian DiMaio, right, in the early 1950’s when he coached her in chess. DiMaio quietly stepped down as chess coach when he realized he was not a self-taught chess prodigy but, rather, Zsa Zsa’s competitors were just letting her win.

Los Angeles—Actress, socialite and former Miss Hungary 1936 Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was likely the first person who was known as famous for being famous, died last Sunday from a heart attack. She was 99.

Gabor appeared in such television shows as “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show,” “Alice in Wonderland (Or What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?)” “Batman” and “The Munsters Today.”

On the big screen, she was in films like “The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk,” “For the First Time,” “RECOiL” and “Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood.”

Gabor, who was married nine times, had only one child, Constance Hilton, from her marriage to Conrad Hilton from 1942 until 1947. Hilton died in 2015.

Tim Burton, Robert Rodriguez And Quentin Tarantino To Collaborate On Christmas Horror Flick

Posted on by
Reply
Unnamed Burton Rodrigues Tarantino Christmas Horror Film

We are unsure how early or late in the process this mock up promotional material was made in the production of Unnamed Burton Rodrigues Tarantino Christmas Horror Film but we can’t wait to see it.

Hollywood—Sources confirmed yesterday, after weeks of speculation, that quirky filmmakers Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino and Tarantino’s pal Robert Rodriguez have gotten the green light to begin work on a Christmas-themed thriller/horror movie set to hit theaters next holiday season.

“It’s been the worst kept secret in LA the past few months,” said a spokesperson for Sony Pictures, who will be producing the as-yet-titled film. “But we can finally say with great excitement and anticipation that these three geniuses are set to start filming next month.”

While the exact plot of the flick has not been confirmed, a source close to the project said that “it will most definitely contain elements that all three are known for, including Johnny Depp, an unorthodox, non-linear plot with shady characters and kids that spy.” Rumors have been flying around Hollywood that the film will have slasher zombie snowmen, possibly snow vampires, or a plot line involving a haunted and abandoned mental institution at Christmas time.

“There just aren’t enough Christmas horror movies out there,” the Sony spokesman said, “and the genre is especially sorely lacking from not having the finger prints of these great filmmakers on them.”

The studio confirmed that Depp had been cast in the film, but would not say whether he was playing a demented Santa Claus, a weird knock off on Scrooge or some other sort of malevolent psychopath out to destroy the holiday and anyone who celebrates it. Helena Bonham Carter has also been cast, as well as Christoph Waltz, Emily Osment and Tim Roth.

“While these filmmakers certainly appreciate the great plot and storytelling in such classic holiday slasher films as ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night,’ ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation’ and the vastly underrated ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: the Toy Maker,’ they just felt the time was right for them to put their own twisted touch on the holiday horror film genre,” the spokesman said. “And we can’t wait to see how they raise the bar with this film, which we are really hoping will be the first in a franchise that Robert Rodriguez can then run with and over-saturate the nation with until the last three or four in the series eventually and inevitably can be direct-to-video releases, or available only on Netflix.”