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Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies that have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Mehmet Aksoy (1985-2017) - Documentary Filmmaker. He died covering the battle to retake Raqqa from Isis on September 26. (BBC) Xavier Atencio (1919-2017) - Animator, Imagineer. As a Disney animator, he worked on Fantasia and Pinocchio, sequences in Babes in Toyland and Mary Poppins and the titles for The Shaggy Dog and The Parent Trap. As one of the creators of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, he also wrote the lyrics to "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)." He...

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Francis Xavier “X” Atencio, a longtime Disney animator and Imagineer, died Sunday, Disney confirmed. He was 98.

Atencio helped bring to life such attractions as the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion to the Disney Parks and early in his career worked on the 1940 animated classics Fantasia and Pinocchio.

He also did animation for Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953), the Oscar-nominated films Noah's Ark (1959), A Symposium on Popular Songs (1962) and Jack and Old Mac (1956) and provided the stop-motion sequences for The Parent Trap (1961), Babes in Toyland (1961) and Mary Poppins (1964).

Walt Disney asked...

The weirdest thing happened to me this week. My life and plans were entirely thrown off when I discovered I had an identical twin in... no, no. That's what's happened to Hayley Mills. I have no such excuse other than that life has proven very complicated lately. I will. will. will. return to former blogging glory soon. Until then... please enjoy these fine articles on my favorite movie when I was a wee thing, Disney's The Parent Trap (1961)

The Entertainment Junkie

Jason Henson writes...

Running parallel to the twins' attempts to mend their broken family is an examination of why it fell apart in the first place. It's here that, for a family film, The Parent Trap entertains some complex ideas about marriage...

Film Actually

Shane Slater chose the same scene and writes...

Maureen O'Hara's Maggie is indeed the most fascinating character in "The Parent Trap"

and how's this for crazy.

On this day in history as it relates to showbiz!

1907 Composer Miklós Rózsa born in Budapest. He becomes an Academy favorite in the early 40s and is nominated 17 times for his music with 3 Oscar wins (Spellbound, A Double Life, Ben-Hur)

1922 Emmy winner Barbara Hale (Perry Mason) born in Illinois

⇱ 1946 Hayley Mills born in London. She becomes the very last winner of the special "juvenile Oscar winner" for Pollyanna (1960) and chases it with the classic twin comedy The Parent Trap (1961). Did you know she was Tfe's favorite classic child star? Now you do.

1947 James Woods born in Vernal, Utah

1953 Rick Moranis born in Toronto. Today's movie fans probably don't know this but in '89 he starred in 3 consecutive $100 million grossers in one single summer (Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Parenthood) and it was a very big deal because back then the same people weren't in every movie. Tfe's theory...

Sal Mineo & Natalie Wood at the Oscars for Rebel Without A Cause (1955) one of only two years wherein two minors were nominated. The other is 1973As Sunny Pawar (Lion) can attest this Oscar season, being a cute kid with a preternatural gift in front of the cameras can only get you so far. A little further if you're a girl but still, the point is: it's not easy to be Oscar nominated when you're a minor. Think of the famous or iconic minor performances that Didn't snag nominations: Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street, Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, Evan Rachel Wood in thirteen, Jacob Tremblay in Room and so on. 

On this 18th day before the Oscars let's quickly survey all the actors who managed a nomination before their 18th birthday!

There are 21 of them...

From the AP:

Maureen O’Hara, the flame-haired Irish movie star who appeared in classics ranging from the grim “How Green Was My Valley” to the uplifting “Miracle on 34th Street” and bantered unforgettably with John Wayne in several films. She was 95.

O’Hara died in her sleep at her home in Boise, Idaho, said Johnny Nicoletti, her longtime manager.

O’Hara received an Honorary Award at the 2014 Governors Awards.

“She passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family as they celebrated her life listening to music from her favorite movie, ‘The Quiet Man,'” said a statement from her family.

“As an actress, Maureen O’Hara brought unyielding strength and sudden sensitivity to every role she played. Her characters were feisty and fearless, just as she was in real life. She was also proudly Irish and spent her entire lifetime sharing her heritage and the wonderful culture of the Emerald Isle with the world,...

Irish-American actress Maureen O'Hara has died. She was 95. The Parent Trap star's family confirmed to The Irish Times that she passed away in her sleep on Saturday. The Fitzsimons family issued a statement, saying, "Maureen was our loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family as they celebrated her life listening to music from her favorite movie, The Quiet Man." Per the Irish Times, the family praised O'Hara for having brought "unyielding strength and sudden sensitivity to every role she played." Story developing…...

There's straight-to-video shame, then there's straight to TV shame. The following small screen follow-ups, then, are the most shameful of the lot.

Please note, however: all of the following first aired on the small screen. They may have ended up on DVD later, but they're telly specials through and through...

1. Home Alone 5: The Holiday Heist (2012)

Original film: Home Alone (1990)

Returning cast members: None

Stars: Christian Martyn, Jodelle Ferland, Malcolm McDowell

You'll remember the first two, and might have a dim recollection of the third - new kid, new goons - and the fourth will, hopefully, mean nothing to you (old kid, new actor playing kid, old goons, new actors playing goons, shot in South Africa).

The fifth, however, is the biggest stinker of the lot, a schmaltzy Christmas edition with a new kid, new family and new goons. Also, Malcolm McDowell - of Clockwork Orange fame - is in it,...

When Netflix adds, it must also delete.

While Netflix is adding a ton of movies and TV shows to its streaming library in January 2015, periodically, the streaming service has to do a little housecleaning. A number of titles are due to expire at the end of the year, which means the its the end for some '80s and '90s favorites ("Batman," Beverly Hills Cop," "Happy Gilmore," "Spaceballs"), a handful of Oscar winners ("Gladiator," "Braveheart," "Kramer vs. Kramer"), and a few modern classics ("The Usual Suspects," "Love Actually," "The Breakfast Club").

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Watch 'em while you can!

Netflix Titles Expiring on January 1, 2015

"12 Angry Men" (1957)

"A Mighty Heart" (2007)

"A River Runs Through It" (1992)

"Backdraft" (1991)

"Bad Boys" (1995)

"Batman" (1989)

"Beethoven" (1992)

"Beethoven's 2nd" (1993)

"Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)

"Big Trouble in Little China" (1986)

"Boyz n the Hood" (1991)

"Braveheart" (1995)

"Can't Buy Me Love" (1987)

"Carrie" (1976)

"D3: The Mighty Ducks...

Welcome to "The Honoraries". From now until November 8th when the Governor's Awards are held, we'll be celebrating the careers of the three Honorary Oscar recipients of 2014 (Maureen O'Hara, Hayao Miyazaki, Claude Carriere) and the Jean Hersholt winner (Harry Belafonte). Here's Abstew...

Maureen O'Hara's impressive body of work includes a Best Picture winner (1941's How Green Was My Valley), a perennial Holiday favorite (1947's Miracle on 34th Street), even an early film with Hitchcock (1939's Jamacia Inn). No offense to those classics but the greatest film the star ever appeared in has to be that Disney masterpiece about a pair of long-lost twins trying to reunite their parents in The Parent Trap.

It was my first encounter with The Queen of Technicolor and although the appeal of twice the juvenile star wattage of teenage Brit Hayley Mills was the main selling point as a child, there was always something...

On Monday, September 1, Lifetime ushered in a new generation of unauthorized biopics with its behind the scenes look at what really happened on the 1990s hit Saved by the Bell. The cast has largely disavowed themselves from the project and/or Dustin Diamond’s scandalous memoir Behind the Bell, and considering that the movie is based on that biography, it’s safe to say most of the things that happened in this movie didn’t really happen that way at all.

But still, we watch. We learn. We cringe. We tweet.

Here are 100 things that Apparently happened, if we’re...

Spirited Away director Hayao Miyazaki and Irish-born actress Maureen O'Hara (Jamaica Inn, The Parent Trap), are to be honoured with lifetime Oscars.

French screenwriter and actor Jean-Claude Carriere – whose films include The Artist And The Model and The Unbearable Lightness Of Being will also collect a lifetime award, while Us actor and singer Harry Belafonte will be honoured by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for his humanitarian work.

After rising to fame as the King of Calypso, Belafonte has spent much of his life campaigning for causes including civil rights, famine relief and Aids awareness. He was also named a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador in 1987.

The honorary award is for "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy”.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is given “to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts.

Actress Maureen O'Hara will be receiving an Honorary this year along with the great actor/singer/activist Harry Belafonte. Neither were ever nominated for competitive Oscars despite rich and enduring showbiz careers and, you know, that's exactly the type of performer that Honorarys should go to. Joining them are two previous Oscar winners because the Academy loves to double up for some reason. Still it's hard to complain about honors for animation genius Hayao Miyazaki and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere. Jean-Claude, who is most famous for his work with Luis Buñuel has worked in multiple countries and for a very long time and semi-recently he co-wrote the super-brilliant movie Birth (2004) that we like to obsess on here. All four are amazing talents so congratulations to them!

But mostly I couldn't be filled with more joy about O'Hara.  We've been pushing for an Honorary as long as The Film Experience has been around.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced recipients of the 2014 Honorary Oscars, to be presented at the annual Governors Awards ceremony in November. Writer and actor Jean-Claude Carrière ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie," "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"), Japanese animation titan Hayao Miyazaki ("My Neighbor Totoro," "Spirited Away") and actress Maureen O'Hara ("The Parent Trap," "The Quiet Man") will receive Honorary Awards, while, singer/songwriter, actor and social activist Harry Belafonte will receive the organization's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Carrière, a frequent collaborator with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, has been nominated by the Academy as a screenwriter on three occasions. He won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short alongside comedian Pierre Étaix for 1963's "Happy Anniversary." He has also collaborated with filmmakers such as Andrzej Wajda ("Danton"), Jean-Luc Godard ("Every Man for Himself") and one of this year's Telluride tributees, Volker Schlöndorff ("The Tin Drum"). Miyazaki,...

Rose McGowan is through with acting. Vulture caught up with the Scream and Grindhouse star last week at Rooftop Films, where she was screening her directorial debut film, Dawn, a wistful, 17-minute almost-thriller that premiered at Sundance. "[Getting selected for Sundance] as a director was huge, honestly,” she told us. “I almost sank to my knees — and in fact, I think I might have — when I got the word that I got in."The film looks like The Parent Trap (the 1961 version starring Hayley Mills, not the more recent on with LiLo), but it feels like the 1955 Charles Laughton–directed thriller The Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum, both of which McGowan says inspired her short film. ("And Flannery O’Connor’s writing," she added.) While many first-time directors grow nauseous themselves leading up to their debut’s premiere, McGowan is leaving queasiness to other people — including her audience. "A lady told me...

The ancient ads of times past, the physical, getting-fuzzier evidence of films watched over and over, the simplicity my Dad can comprehend: we haven't mourned the VHS enough

As gazillions of video recordings reach the end of their useful life, it occurred to me that unlike the LP, and Polaroids, the demise of the big, bulky VHS tape hasn't been mourned half so much as it deserves. According to the Washington Post, in 2005 94.7m American households still owned VCRs. I doubt it would be quarter of that now. I can count the people I know under 60 with video players on my two index fingers.

Before home-recorded videos decline entirely from functional to shabby retro-decoration, I'm going to press pause and give them their clunky due. Here's why I love watching films on video.

They wear their loving proudly

Like teddy bears and your comfiest pair of jeans, you can tell...

People are always complaining about how much Americans suck at doing accents, whether it's Kevin Costner as "Robin Hood" or Keanu Reeves seemingly coming off a heroin addiction in "Bram Stoker's Dracula." And we do suck sometimes, yes.

However, we want to at least even the playing field a little by pointing out some bafflingly bad American accents perpetrated by thesps from overseas. Europe and Australia may have the best acting academies and such, but not every graduate is as versatile as they should be, starting with a certain Gerard Butler from this past weekend's "Olympus Has Fallen."

Gerard Butler

This week's "Olympus Has Fallen" is cheesy fun, but Butler's American cadence is just … off. Granted, he's a bit more convincing than his oft-compared Scottish soul mate Sean Connery, but the "300" star has tried his hand at miming our accent in disasters like "The Bounty Hunter" and the recent surfing drama "Chasing Mavericks.

Directed by Crispian Mills, Chris Hopewell

Written by Crispian Mills, based on the story by Bruce Robinson

Featuring Simon Pegg, Amara Karan, Clare Higgins, Paul Freeman

Ever since Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg has become an unlikely, quirky leading man. Sure he has had big roles in films like Star Trek but his lovable loser persona is the one that he is most associated with and that is front and center in his latest film (as both the star and Executive Producer) of A Fantastic Fear of Everything.

Based on the novella Paranoia In The Launderette by Bruce Robinson (writer and director of Withnail and I), film follows a former children’s author named Jack (Simon Pegg) that has recently also become a crime novelist. While researching the lives of Victorian serial killers, he unleashes a wave of paranoid fears that stem from his abandonment as a child. He...

This week on Mousterpiece Cinema, Josh and Gabe head back into the past, all the way to the 1960s to discuss the original long-lost-identical-twin story, The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills And Hayley Mills as twins who discover each other at summer camp and conspire to get their parents back together. There’s plenty to discuss, as Gabe and Josh debate accents, gold-diggers, and try to nail down exactly how great an actress Maureen O’Hara really was. Did the split-screen effect work that well in 1961? Do your hosts put on any English accents? Or are they ready for a podcast-style divorce? Check out this week’s show to find out!

Download the show in a new window

iTunes...

"How did they ever make a movie of 'Lolita'?" asked the poster for Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film adaptation, which premiered 50 years ago this week (on June 12, 1962). Short answer, as many critics noted at the time: They didn't. That is, there was no way, given the Hollywood self-censorship of the era, to capture even a fragment of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel, even with a screenplay by Nabokov himself. In fact, it's remarkable that Kubrick managed to get a studio to let him adapt and distribute any version of the story. Today -- as the ill-fated 1997 "Lolita" movie showed -- no one in Hollywood would even touch the material. So how did Kubrick do it? He chose the right collaborators, starting with Nabokov; he filmed far enough away so that Hollywood couldn't touch him (a pattern he'd maintain for the rest of his career); he carefully politicked among the...

For reasons beyond my control, May was a tremendously difficult month and the least active in The Film Experience's long history of daily postings. But it wasn't without highlights. If you've been drifting away, [cue Keira's chokey Atonement voice] "come back..." because June will be hopping.

Ten Highlights from the Month... 

Cast out your inner monster!

Annette Bening as Myra Langtry Still on the Grift

Tilda, Candied still the most peerlessly iconoclastic actress

Thoughts I Had... while staring at Tom Cruise's W Cover

The Exorcist and Nothingness Beau's fascinating guest post

Maleficent Now with more... Mike Leigh?

Tennis in the Movies - a top ten list 

Raise the Red Lantern - my favorite installment of this month's "Best Shots" 

Smash - that "bombshell" finale 

Most Eyeballs: The Avengers Reviewed.

Most Discussed: "Goodbye Dad." Thanks for all your support out there in the dark. 

Coming In June: Witches of Eastwick week for its 25th anniversary,...

At this Los Angeles film festival, movie buffs wallow unashamedly in nostalgia and the golden era of Hollywood, and get to meet the odd star of the classic films being screened

Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic and the crowds were gathering outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre to spot the stars – Peter O'Toole, Tippi Hedren and Mickey Rooney among them – as they walked the red carpet and filed past hundreds of famous foot and handprints for the premiere of Gene Kelly's 1951 film, An American in Paris. Fans cheer and cameras flash.

At the TCM Classic Film Festival stars from yesteryear rub shoulders with paying guests who made their way past the pair of giant Chinese Ming Heavens dogs guarding the main entrance of the 85-year-old picture palace.

Home to the biggest film premieres in Hollywood since 1927, the theatre interior rises 90 feet to a bronze roof, two coral red columns sitting...

Veteran actress Hayley Mills has spoken out about her secret breast cancer battle, revealing she was so sick of losing her hair during her lowest point, she asked her son to shave her head and took to wearing wigs so she could hide her health crisis from friends.

The Parent Trap star was diagnosed with breast cancer on her birthday in 2008, and embarked on ravaging chemotherapy sessions, which caused her hair to start falling out, and rather than allow her thinning locks to get her down and reveal she was battling the disease, Mills asked her youngest son Jason Lawson to take clippers to her head.

She tells the new issue of Britain's Good Housekeeping magazine, "I got to the point when I thought, 'To hell with this', so he (my son Jason) shaved my head!

"I had a marvellous wig, which helped, and at night I wore a pink woolly bobble hat because my head got cold."

Mills also admits she refused to burden her friends with her struggle against the deadly disease, preferring to carry on with her life as normal.

She adds, "For me, it helped to keep the news to myself; that's the sort of person I am. I know people who needed to tell all their friends, but, for me, it was a private thing and it helped me to get on with life as normally as possible.

"What I think is vitally important is that when you're given such a devastating prognosis, you feel you can take charge of your life.

"And going through that has made me appreciate everything more - family, grandchildren, the love and opportunities I have. Once cancer happens it changes the way you live for the rest of your life."

But she tells the publication she was devastated when she first learned she had cancer: "It was my birthday when I received the news... I was sitting in the sun by the Hudson River following a routine mammogram when I got the call on my mobile. It was an enormous shock. Suddenly, I looked out at the world as if I'd never seen it before."

But she felt compelled to tackle the disease head on, adding, "Everything felt clearer and sharper. And when you hear that diagnosis, you realise, 'Now I'm going to find out what I'm actually made of'."...

Filed under: Features, Summer Movies, New Releases, This Week in Movies

This Week in 1961: 'The Parent Trap' Ensnares Viewers

Forget 'Meatballs' or 'Wet Hot American Summer.' Everyone's favorite summer camp movie seems to be 'The Parent Trap,' where Hayley Mills goes to camp and instead of finding mosquitoes and poison ivy finds the identical twin sister she never knew she had. Together, they scheme to reunite their divorced parents by switching places after camp.

Released 50 years ago this week (on June 21, 1961), the live-action Disney film has remained a childhood favorite for half a century, and it proved influential in ways probably no one associated with it would have imagined.

Continue Reading...

photo: Mathieu Young TCM (C) Turner Classic Movies. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved

Wamg was in attendance among the many film enthusiasts for the 2nd Annual TCM Classic Film Festival. The multi-faceted Festival, which ran April 28 – May 1, 2011 in Hollywood, was filled with more than 70 screenings, including special introductions, guest appearances, panel discussions and more. The festival opened with the red-carpet gala screening of An American in Paris and TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne served as official host.

The 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival was sold out. The festival had total attendance of 25,000 at more than 70 screenings and events. There were passholders from 49 states and five foreign countries: Italy, Australia, France, Argentina and Canada.

Highlights of the 2011 festival included appearances by Julie Andrews, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas, Angela Lansbury, Hayley Mills, Peter O.Toole, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney and many,...

As the TCM Classic Film Festival goes by in a blur, here are some of the highlights from the third day of festivities, which had festivalgoers scrambling to get into various venues:

* They were packed in like sardines at Peter O'Toole’s early morning hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Onhand with Mr. O’Toole and his family were The Stunt Man co-star Barbara Hershey, actress Anjelica Huston, and TCM stalwarts Robert Osborne and Rose McGowan (who did a high amount of flirting). The Oscar-nominated-but-yet-to-win actor provided the sound bite of perhaps the entire festival by quipping, “It’s been many years since I had an intimate relationship with cement.” You can check out video from the event here.

* Hayley Mills dazzled Leonard Maltin and numerous others with appearances at both Summer Magic and The Parent Trap; at the identical twin comedy, the communal spirit brought out.

The TCM Classic Film Festival is back for its second year, with more than 70 screenings, as well as special introductions, guest appearances, panel discussions and more. The four-day festival kicks off Thursday April 28th and runs through May 1, 2011, in Hollywood. Peter O’Toole, Kirk Douglas, Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, George Chakiris, Roger Corman, Mariel Hemingway, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Mathers, Hayley Mills, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Richard Roundtree, Barbara Rush, Alec Baldwin, Illeana Douglas, Chris Isaak, Rose McGowan, Mary Ann Mobley, Ron Perlman, Nancy & Tina Sinatra and Robert Townsend are just a few of the notables slated to appear. TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne serves as official host of the festival. The official Twitter of the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival: @tcmfilmfest

A central theme in this year’s festival is Music and the Movies, with several screenings and events celebrating composers, great songwriters and the unique role...

Club TCM to Offer Celebrities, Expert Panels, Exhibits, Music and More During 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival Exclusive Gathering Spot for Festival Passholders to Feature Appearances by Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, Marni Nixon, Marge Champion, Debbie Allen, Peter Guber and Brett Ratner

Legendary stars, fascinating presentations, panel discussions, live music and special exhibits are just a few of the exciting experiences on tap for Club TCM, the central gathering spot for the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. Located in the Blossom Room at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the very first Academy Awards® ceremony, Club TCM will be open throughout the festival, giving passholders a place to relax, meet new friends and mingle with special guests. Among those scheduled to appear are Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, Marni Nixon, Marge Champion, Debbie Allen, Peter Guber, Brett Ratner and graphic artist Michael Schwab, as well...

Celebration of Actor.s Life and Career to Include Conversation with Robert Osborne,

Clips from One-Man Show and Special Screening of Spartacus (1960)

Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas will be a special guest at the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. During the festival, which takes place April 28-May 1, the three-time Oscar nominee and honorary Academy Award winner will join TCM host Robert Osborne for an interview on stage, leading into a screening of Stanley Kubrick.s epic film Spartacus (1960), which Douglas also produced. The evening.s festivities will include clips from Douglas. biographical one-man show, Before I Forget (2009).

.Kirk Douglas is an American icon whose performances have struck an indelible chord with moviegoers for more than 60 years,. Osborne said. .At the age of 94, he retains the great vitality and enthusiasm which has always been the Douglas trademark. We couldn.t be more pleased that Spartacus himself will be joining us at...

As part of Reader Appreciation Month, we're featuring mini-interviews with You, The Film Experience crowd. Today, we've got Leehee, originally from Israel -- her name means "she is for me". I love that! I contacted Leehee because she was so happy about that post on The Black Swan (1942).

Nathaniel: Do you remember your first moviegoing experience or obsession?

Leehee: The first movie that I vividly remember seeing on the big screen was "Anne of Green Gables" when I was about 6... But my first obsession was with the first VHS tape I owned The Parent Trap (1961) . My twin sister and I watched it every.single.day for about a year....and it kind of drove our mom crazy! I wanted to be Hayley Mills and have Maureen O'Hara as my mom *so* bad.

You and me both. ♪ ♫ lets get together yeahyeahyeah. The Parent Trap is the best. When did you start reading The Film Experience?...

Veteran animator who contributed to every aspect of Disney's output for 42 years

When the veteran animator Bill Justice, who has died aged 97, applied for a job at the Disney studio in 1937, it was on the basis of a 30-day "try-out"; he remained there for the next 42 years, contributing to every facet of Disney's output, from feature films and short cartoons to TV shows and theme park attractions.

Justice was born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended the John Herron Art Institute (now a school of Indiana University) to study portrait painting. In 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression, he responded to a Disney recruiting advertisement in Esquire magazine and gave up the weekly income of $65 he was then earning in order to work at Hollywood's most famous cartoon studio, for $12 a week. He began as an "in-betweener" on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...

Former child star Hayley Mills was left disappointed after her parents forced her to return a diamond ring sent to her by a devoted fan - because the gift came with a marriage proposal.

The British actress was one of Disney's biggest young stars in the 1960s, winning acclaim for her roles in The Parent Trap and Pollyanna.

Mills was bombarded with fan mail from around the world, including lavish gifts - but one devotee left her parents uncomfortable after asking the teen for her hand in marriage.

She tells Britain's Daily Telegraph, "The only sense I got of my fame was the fan mail. There was a lot, mostly from people my age, and my parents were adamant that I replied to every letter. Often it was just signing a picture, but if I received a particularly nice letter or a present then I had to reply with a letter.

"I got some remarkable presents. Someone in Africa once sent me a monkey rug, and I was sent a diamond ring, which I was thrilled about, but it came with a proposal for marriage, so I was made to send it back."...

By Terry Keefe

Leslie Iwerks’ grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was the co-creator and designer of Mickey Mouse, as well as the pioneer of numerous special effects processes, and this lineage gave the Santa Monica-based filmmaker a pretty unique perspective on the subjects of her 2008 Emmy-nominated documentary The Pixar Story, as well as those of her just-finished doc, Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible, which premiered on Starz/Encore last month. Ilm and Pixar picked up the FX and animation baton, created in part by Ub Iwerks, and launched it into hyperspace. Between the Ilm and Pixar docs, and her first documentary, focused on the life of her grandfather, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks has authored a significant history of the animation and effects in the American film industry.

(Leslie Iwerks, above.)

Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible recounts the story of the legendary special effects house,...

I don't believe in the term "guilty pleasure." At least, not with regard to movies. Maybe if you were a connoisseur of baby seal steaks or hoodies made from pandas, the attribution would be appropriate, but not when talking about one's taste in films. Take Paul W.S. Anderson's body of work--i'm kind of an easy lay when it comes to his Resident Evil films for reasons both concrete and maddeningly difficult to articulate. They're glossily shot with (at least with Anderson or as with Re: Extinction's Russel Mulchahey behind the camera) and promise at least a few engaging setpieces featuring series lead Milla Jovovich in some kind of improbable action, possibly kicking dogs in the face as her character Alice navigates whatever bizarre and occasionally goofy developments are thrown her way by the increasingly slapdash evil conspiracies at the heart of the series.

I love the series because at its heart,...

Mad Men @ the Movies investigates cinema references... a fancy excuse to talk about tv's best series.

Episode 4.5 "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"

In this episode Scdp attempts to win the Honda campaign but Sterling still hates the Japanese from his WWII days. Meanwhile, it's Draper Vs. Draper again as Don (Jon Hamm) and Betty (January Jones returns.) hurl hate at each other. Tween daughter Sally tries to tune them out by misbehaving i.e. engaging in perfectly normal behavior like masturbating. Uh oh! In one sequence Sally cuts her own hair, sending her babysitter and her father into hysterics.

Don: Why would she do that?

Babysitter: She probably wanted to look older or like Hayley Mills. I don't know."Heaven to hear 60s child star Hayley Mills (a personal fav) referenced on Mad Men. Hayley is best remembered today for the back-to-back family friendly classics Pollyanna (1960) and The Parent Trap...

The worst thing anyone's said to me? 'Your father has died'

Hayley Mills, 63, was born in London, the daughter of the actor John Mills and the writer Mary Hayley Bell. She began her acting career at the age of 12, when she was cast alongside her father in the 1959 movie Tiger Bay, a performance for which she won a Bafta. She later signed to Walt Disney, for whom starred in Pollyanna and The Parent Trap, and her other film credits include Whistle Down The Wind and Sky West And Crooked. Since 2007, she has been appearing in the ITV series Wild At Heart. She has two sons and divides her time between London and New York, where she lives with her partner.

When were you happiest?

Now. This is the best time of my life.

What is your greatest fear?

I have a horror of being in confined spaces. Potholing is my idea of hell.

While you’re already getting your big Academy Awards party ready in time for the telecast on March 7th, we’ve got something for even bigger movie fans to enjoy. Of course, we’re talking about a movie marathon!

All month long, Turner Classic Movies will be running over 360 Academy Award nominated and winning films, back to back, with an interesting twist. In the vain of the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” each film will have a common actor or actress from the previous film.

For example, tomorrow night’s schedule consists of The Graduate with Anne Bancroft and William Daniels, which goes into Reds which stars Daniels and Jack Nicholson, into Chinatown with Nicholson and John Huston. Though we’re already about two weeks into the marathon, there are still plenty of great films to look forward to, including some TCM firsts like Gladiator, Titanic, Alien, and Trading Places.