RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES

Entertainment Weekly has a slide show of ten hot actors/actresses from caveman movies. Some are appropriate, but others are pretty lame: anyone who can get turned on by images of Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble has a problem, even if it involves them in a sapphic situation! There's also John Lone in Iceman and his makeup gives him all the sex appeal of Magilla the Gorilla. Saving graces are Barbara Bach in Caveman, Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C and Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes even though they admit they had to cheat to include him on the basis that the film pertained to the prehistoric ape era! To view click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

The good news is that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has shown good taste in deciding to grant honorary Oscars to Lauren Bacall, cinematographer Gordon Willis, studio executive John Calley and legendary B movie producer Roger Corman. However, AMPAS has decided not to show these awards as part of the annual Oscar telecast. Instead, the awards will be granted at a banquet in November. (No word on whether the recipients will have to pay for their own meals). This is the latest outrage in "updating" Oscar in order to attract a younger audience. After all, who wants to see someone like Lauren Bacall on stage when it might cut into the time allocated to a true industry giant like Vin Diesel? For critic Laurie Broeder's view click here

The terrific, little-seen 1979 thriller The Hard Way has been released on DVD in the UK. The film pits Patrick McGoohan and Lee Van Cleef as hit men playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The movie represents a rare pairing of two of the great leading men of the era. For writer Mike Malloy's review click here

To order from Amazon UK click here