"Alien"

Once famous, Bob Dylan didn’t wait long to put his poetic, socially rebellious, cage-rattling persona on film. In the words of former girlfriend Joan Baez, he “burst on the scene already a legend” in 1961, and had only been recording for three years when he became the subject of documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s groundbreaking tour diary, “Don’t Look Back” (1965). 

Name almost any type of film and it’s likely Robert Wise made at least one of them.   Whether it's a horror movie, a science-fiction outing, a war picture, an ensemble drama, a suspense film or a musical, Wise handled it, usually in exceptional fashion. (The only area he really didn’t tackle was pure comedy.)   Yet predictably, his versatility didn’t play well with some film commentators of his time who prescribed to the “auteur” theory, which lent more significance to directors who consistently followed a signature style in their work.

The lunacy had to end sometime. We just didn't think it would be this week. Robin Williams is dead at 63.     He was best known for his manic comedy work, the sort that moved critics to describe him as a “comic supernova,” but he proved equally adept at tackling dramatic roles. Already Oscar-nominated three times, he finally won a statuette for his warm, nuanced performance in “Good Will Hunting.” As time went on, he seemed to relish appearing in even darker films, such as “One Hour Photo” and “Insomnia.” Many of us got our first glimpse of him in the 1970s ABC sitcom “Mork and Mindy.” Williams played the lovable alien Mork so well that it took years for him to be taken seriously as an actor. His rise on the big screen began in the late 1980s with films like “Good Morning Vietnam” and “Dead Poets Society.” There was no turning back. He became known for playing funny characters who displayed a sensitive side, but he could still unleash the raw improvisational madness for which he was known, such as when he provided the voice of the genie in “Aladdin” or appeared in drag for “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

Forbidden love, more common in human experience than one might think, is torturous, unusually passionate, and freighted with risk. The heightened drama — or melodrama — it generates makes it a natural and desirable ingredient for film.

ANot too long ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled their company’s exciting plan for delivering affordable stuff to your front door: drones. Flying drones. Yes, it’s true. Amazon recently announced they’ve developed flying drones to get orders to customers in 30 minutes, rather than 2-5 days. It’s the same idea behind the wraiths the Army has spreading freedom in under-developed countries, one missile at a time. Except, instead of “hot death,” Amazon’s fleet of “Octocopters” would deliver the melon-baller you ordered. In all honesty, I’m feeling some trepidation about this. After all, Hollywood has proven it time and again: robots are trouble. They lack empathy. We should all write our congresspeople (speaking of evil robots!) to forestall any potential Amazon-ian “Angry Robot” situation.

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). 

In a welcoming street of a tree-lined neighborhood in a sleepy Connecticut suburb, we’re about to uncover some truly twisted goings-on.  Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” (1997) captures the angst, confusion and frustration lying just beneath the surface in many affluent suburban “paradises.” Set in the awkward transition from the turbulent, idealistic ‘60s to the yuppified, cynical ‘70s, “Storm” follows the intersecting paths of two neighborhood households who have enough barely suppressed issues and grudges to keep a team of shrinks busy until disco becomes cool again.

Intermingling genres can be a risky move — just ask the makers of 1964’s kiddie/sci-fi film “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” which IMDB users voted as one of the worst movies of all time. (I’ve seen it; it makes Ed Wood looks like Stanley Kubrick.)  Sometimes, however, the mixing-and-matching really pays off.  Look no further than the current box office champ, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, a sci-fi comedy that’s received as many solid critical reviews as it has audience raves. With its success, “Guardians” joins a small but noble band of films that deliver all the conventions of a dramatic sci-fi film, while keeping its tongue planted firmly inside its green-skinned alien cheek.