Remembering Anne Heche (1969-2022)

by Cláudio Alves

One week ago, on August 5th, Anne Heche crashed her car into a house in Mar Vista, Los Angeles, near her home. The collision was dramatic, causing a fire that took an hour to control, and, though the occupants of the house didn't suffer injuries, Heche was taken to the hospital with severe injuries. At first, it was announced the actress was in critical condition, then a coma, severe brain damage, and today we got the news that Heche is legally dead. She was 53.

This is a horrifying end to what has been a biography marked by polemic and controversy, mental illness, and other difficult situations blown out of their private dimensions into tabloid fodder. Anne Heche had a complicated life - that's undeniable. Yet, to let scandal shine brighter than artistry feels wrong, an ultimate betrayal. In other words, as we mourn this fallen star, let's remember she deserved better than the callousness with which she was often discussed. Beyond personal trials, she was a fascinating screen presence...

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Reason #10,473 to love Jamie Lee Curtis

She went to the premiere of Halloween Kills (2021) dressed as Marion Crane from Psycho (1960)...

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Streaming Roulette, July: No 7 Cherry Lane, Tomorrow War, Summer of Soul

Yes it's time for another round of streaming roulette where we point out a handful or two of titles that are streaming and just for fun, freeze frame them at totally random places in the scroll bar. Whatever comes up we share. Let's start with streaming premieres...

When I looked out into the crowd, I was overtaken with joy. I just saw so many black people. They were rejoicing.

SUMMER OF SOUL (Hulu)
We've already shared two thumbs up reviews: Murtada's from a long time ago at Sundance 2020 before the world stopped for COVID-19 and Glenn's Take when it reappeared this year. The story behind its making seems so incredible. How was all this footage just sitting here all this time and most people not knowing anything about this concert?

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Horror Actressing: Janet Leigh in "Psycho"

by Jason Adams

Sixty years ago today Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho premiered at the DeMille Theater, located at 701 7th Avenue in New York City. That theater, just north of Times Square, no longer exists; funny enough, given the substance they used as a substitute for blood in the film's infamous shower scene, there's a Hershey's Chocolate store located there today. I wonder what they'd think if I went in there and started spraying chocolate syrup all over myself screaming, "Oh god! Mother! Blood! Blood!" I digress. (Do I ever.) Point being it's the right moment to finally devote some "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" to the shower's favorite Scream Queen, Janet Leigh.

But I want to take Marion Crane out of the shower. She deserves it, sixty years on...

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The Linkhouse

• Film Doctor ten notes on the beginning of Psycho (1960)
• The Guardian we love hero Abigail Disney who continues to fight the good fight against the company that makes her one of the 1% - she's now criticizing Disney for laying off workers while protecting executive bonuses of more than 1 billion dollars:

That’d pay for three months’ salary to frontline workers,. And it’s going to people who have already been collecting egregious bonuses for years. Dividends aren’t all bad, given the number of fixed-income folks who rely on them. But still 80% of shares are owned by the wealthiest 10%. Pay the people who make the magic happen with respect and dignity they have more than earned from you. This company must do better.”

"Curated" tv binges, Ghibli backgrounds for your zoom sessions, a sad cut from The Lighthouse, and a new ageist threat for film and tv production after the jump...

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