Yeti Hideout

Not only was yesterday (February 26) William Frawley's birthday, but it was also the 97th birthday of another favorite curmudgeon - Jackie Gleason! I'll share with you an article I wrote devoted to Jackie from 2010 that originally appeared on my friend Less Lee Moore's terrific website, Popshifter . My Heart Belongs to Jackie

This article on Mixed Blood (1985) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. "...you must always do what your mother tells you, you hear? Always." - Rita (Marília Pêra) to her son, Thiago (Richard Ulacia). Director Paul Morrissey returns to the same territory he chronicled in his earlier films Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970) - the squalid existence of criminals, drug users and various low-lifes living in New York City. Mixed Blood (1985) is a new chapter focusing on the drug dealers and subsequent drug war between two rival gangs in NYC's Alphabet City (the Lower East Side); The "Master Dancers" led by Juan the "Bullet" and the "Maceteros" led by the indomitable and feisty Rita La Punta. The character driven film centers primarily on Rita's "family", one which consists of her beautiful and devoted son, Thiago, and a large group of underage boys that she recruits to do her criminal bidding. She enlist...

This article on Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Between 1968 and 1972 director Paul Morrissey wrote, shot and directed three influential films that were later to become known as the "Flesh" trilogy. The first, Flesh , in 1968 was an early attempt of Morrissey to break away from his previous experimental film work with Andy Warhol during the heyday of the "Factory" years. Though his name is often credited in the titles, such as Andy Warhol's Flesh  or Andy Warhol's Trash , Warhol merely financed the films and had little or no actual creative development with them. Flesh was a film that, compared to the other Warhol films of the time, actually followed some sort of a plot, albeit a very loose one. Prior to the "Flesh" trilogy, the majority of the films being released were experimental, with titles like Sleep (1963) (six hours of footage of a man sleeping) and The Chelse...

This article on The Freakmaker (1974) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Someone (or some-THING!) is kidnapping the young (and incredibly stylish) students from the local university. A few days later, the visiting carnival showcases some "new additions" to their "Freak Show" attraction. What's the connection? This 1970s oddball curiosity stars horror icon Donald Pleasance as the creepy and super-serious Professor Nolter, a teacher who has bizarre theories of combining plant and animal life through mutation and metamorphosis. He's so serious about his teaching that when a snarky student makes some jokes during one of his lectures, he deadpans in his weird accent, "We are interested in cloning...not in clowning." Sheesh. Now enter, Mr. Lynch (played by an unrecognizable Tom Baker, made famous to cult audiences as the most popular incarnation of Dr. Who and, most recently, as the wry narrator...

This article on Private Parts (1972) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Years ago while thumbing through the Leonard Maltin Movie & Video Guide , I came across this review: "If Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls had been co-directed by Alfred Hitchcock and John Waters it would come close to this directorial debut by Bartel."   Whoa. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, "I have GOT to see this movie!" As a connoisseur of cult and trash films, this sounded like a long-lost gem that I needed to find. The name of the film? Paul Bartel's  Private Parts  from 1972. Boy, was I not disappointed! A few words to describe it? Creepy. Kinky. Gross. All of the things I look for in a film! Ann Ruymen (whose other memorable acting credit is the 1973 TV movie,  Go Ask Alice ) plays Cheryl, a young, bored and curious teenager who has run away from home and decides to stay with her mysterious Aunt...

I was going through some old journals/diaries I used to keep in middle school and high school and came across some pretty strange profiles for a few of the teachers I had at the time. I blacked out the names to protect the (not so) innocent. I had no idea I was so judgemental back then. "Air head"? "Clothes clash & wears wig"? I love that I note the "hard tests she gives". I'm a tad upset by my use of language in this set of profiles and the attack on a teacher for apparently acting "like a gay". I was probably just jealous. At least I had one person I liked, my counselor, Mrs. BLANK . Pretty! Kids are so cruel. I do like the Poltergeist II reference in this, though.

From Premiere magazine: A Paul Bartel article AND a Kathy Baker section? There once was a time when I could open any magazine and find photos, articles or news about a wide variety of my favorite celebrities. From the period of 1991 until about 1997, magazines were an absolute treasure trove for someone like me. It seemed that almost every issue I laid my hands on had all sorts of wonderful photographs and stories about so many of the people I adored. Premiere , Entertainment Weekly , Vogue , Vanity Fair , Details , People and even the local newspapers would be chock full of articles about an amazing assortment of personalities that ranged from RuPaul to Roseanne, Divine to Debi Mazar and Cathy Moriarty to Kathy Baker. You could pick up a magazine and see an interview with directors Paul Bartel or John Waters. Or read an interview with Patty Hearst or glance through a Q&A with Mink Stole. I could always rely on the issues from the early days of Premiere magazine, for ...