Mel Ferrer with Audrey Hepburn: the couple divorced in 1968

Mel Ferrer, the multi-talented actor, producer and director who was once wed to Audrey Hepburn, has died at age 90. Ferrer directed Hepburn in Green Mansions and produced her 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark for which she received an Oscar nomination. Ferrer also starred in War and Peace, Lili, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, The Longest Day, The Fall of the Roman Empire and the John Wayne thriller Brannigan. Click here for more details.

We recently received a review copy of a new book with a clever title that immediately caught our eye: Now Playing at a Theater Near Me. The book is author Tim McGlynn's debut effort and it's sure to have great appeal to anyone who loves movies of the 1970s. McGlynn has fashioned a fast-moving, witty work of fiction based on his upbringing in small town America and how the movies of this era influenced his life. The plot consists of all fact-based incidents with the names changed to protect the goofy. McGlynn recounts coming-of-age stories all tied in with film-related anecdotes including a real life debacle that occurred in high school when he and his friends attempted to film a tribute to Dog Day Afternoon that ends rather disastrously. Mixed into the yarn are insightful recollections and critiques of films ranging from The Laughing Policeman to The Exorcist. McGlynn also amusingly recalls the frustration of the pre-home video era in which long-suffering fans had to enure the cruel and often ridiculous censoring of their favorite films when they premiered on network TV. (He still carries an understandable grudge about how ABC butchered John Wayne's The Cowboys!). Best of all, however, McGlynn captures the charm of movie-going in a small town environment. Anyone with fond memories of such experiences should read this book. Hopefully, there's a sequel in the works. - Lee Pfeiffer

London's Guardian web site has an interview with Nancy Sinatra in which she discusses Frank Sinatra, meeting Elvis Presley for the first time, riding motorcycles with veterans in the annual pilgrimage to Washington D.C. (and meeting President Bush), as well as her new album. The Guardian describes her as a sex kitten with claws. Who's to argue? To read click here