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Who doesn’t love a good minion? They are fiercely loyal, almost invulnerable, and some even bite through solid steel. So if they chop the head off the odd statue or two… well, that counts toward reasonable wear and tear. With distinctive traits often spelled out in fancy nicknames (like Nick Nack, Tee Hee, May Day, and Xenia Onatopp) they get the best lines and the best deaths… but are they really dead? In “Live and Let Die”, Bond number two (Roger Moore) never does see the end of voodoo priest Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder of 7up commercial fame) — even after slamming him in a coffin filled with poisonous snakes — never got him… never will. There is no doubt that these colorful characters are far more memorable than any of Bond’s do-gooder friends – seriously, does anyone remember the many faces of Felix Leiter?

The attention always goes straight to her violet eyes, and why shouldn’t it? Violet eyes don’t show up every day, and when magnified on screen, they will knock you off your feet. But Elizabeth Taylor was so much more than those mesmerizing irises, and her beauty did not hold her back from delivering passionate, believable performances.

With the 91st Academy Awards upon us, the time feels right to recognize the crucial role that movies have played in our lives, particularly in troubled times.

 Tonight, make it real; watch a doc.  Here’s a bugaboo of mine: while the documentary form offers viewers incredible rewards, it rarely gets the attention it deserves. Theories abound as to why, the most prominent being that people tend to watch movies to be transported, to actually get away from life as it is. Perhaps there’s some truth to that, but to avoid the best of these films is to miss out on something truly special. In examining real life, its myriad characters and society as a whole, docs can be wildly entertaining, yet still deliver a form of insight and impact quite distinct from narrative films.

Over the course of movie history, there have been the great actresses, women who light up the screen with charisma and character, like Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, and Meryl Streep. There have also been women whose special gifts had more to do with the sexual allure they projected. Hey fellas, you must have noticed them, right? Brace yourselves then- here are our picks for the top twenty female cinematic sex symbols of all time. (Drum roll). 

Oscar season is now upon us, as the year’s prize-worthiest fare begins its annual rollout to theaters in time for the holidays, sliding in just under the wire for nomination eligibility.  It is never too soon to start handicapping the contenders in the acting category, so we have compiled a handy reference guide to some of the types of roles that Academy pops for year after year. Once one starts to look for them, it becomes easy to spot future winners. Many of the performances in the upcoming raft of releases will be jaw-dropping.