Hair-raising

Sept. 29, 2006

Fifty-plus years ago, Yul Brynner shaved his head to draw attention to his Broadway performance in ""The King and I,'' but America wanted celebs with full heads of hair. Now actors think it's cool to be baldy. John Hall, who spent his summers at Brant Beach, is the latest bald guy in movies; he has a small role playing himself _ a Coast Guard rescue swimmer instructor _ in ""The Guardian.'' Why is hairless considered so macho?

Remake Hell

Sept. 21, 2006

It's deja vu all over again: These days, Hollywood is all about remakes, reissues and recyclings of the good, the bad and the medicore on a regular basis. This week, it's ""All the King's Men,'' trounced by some critics (the Associated Press said it's pretentious). From ""Mission Impossible III'' to ""Scream 4,'' well, you could just scream. About the only revisit that can hold its head high this year is ""Lassie.'' What's this say about the state of American filmmaking?

Fatal

Sept. 14, 2006

Even if you're not a George Bush supporter _ and polls show upwards of 60 percent of Americans don't approve of his presidency _ you must draw the line at the upcoming release from Newmarket Films, ""Death of a President.'' The documentary-like film is purported to show Bush being assassinated _ it hasn't been screened in the United States for critics yet, so this is strictly from news outlets such as Reuters. ""I don't think anyone would get the idea of assassinating Bush from this film,'' the AP quotes its maker, Gabriel Range. But do we really need even the suggestion on film of still another political leader's murder? What do you think? Would you pay to see this movie? Why?