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Gailard Sartain, the very funny character actor who spent some 20 years on Hee Haw, appeared in three Ernest films with Jim Varney and displayed a flair for the dramatic in The Buddy Holly Story and Mississippi Burning, has died. He was 81.

Sartain died Thursday of natural causes at his home in his native Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife of 36 years, Mary Jo Sartain, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Actually, he died of silliness,” she said.

Sartain showed up in nine features directed by Alan Rudolph: Roadie (1980), Endangered Species (1982), Choose Me (1984), Songwriter (1984), Trouble in Mind (1985), Made in Heaven (1987), The Moderns (1988), Love at Large (1990) and Equinox (1992).

He appeared for Carl Reiner in The Jerk (1979) and All of Me (1984), for Francis Ford Coppola in The Outsiders (1983), for Stephen Frears in The Grifters (1990), for Jon Avnet in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and for Michael Mann in Ali (2001).

In 1972, Sartain joined the cast of the syndicated country variety show Hee Haw,...

Chicago – “Breakfast of Champions” was a film that was critically reviled when it was released, and became one of those box office “mega bombs.” But the adapter/director of the film, Alan Rudolph, is getting the last laugh. “Breakfast of Champions” is being re-examined in a new 4K Uhd restoration through Shout! Studios and Films We Like as a film decidedly ahead of its time.

Breakfast of Champions

Photo credit: Films We Like/Shout! Studios

Rating: 5.0/5.0

“Breakfast of Champions’ (1999) tells the story of car dealership titan Dwayne Hoover (Bruce Willis), the most respected man in Midland City. His smiling face appears on every local channel and billboard , as a shining symbol of the American Dream. But Dwayne Hoover is not smiling inside. Nor can he be trusted. Dwayne’s shady prosperity, picture-frame family, and small mind are cracking.

His television commercial-addicted wife (Barbara Hershey) may or may not be physically...

Chicago – Alan Rudolph is a filmmaker icon from the last twenty years of the 20th Century and beyond. He had an unprecedented string of critical darlings from the 1970s through the ‘90s, a run that is acknowledged in the Criterion Channel’s June 2025 Spotlight Alan Rudolph’s Dramas of Desire.

The Criterion Channel description for Alan Rudolph’S Dramas Of Desires: “Alan Rudolph’s cinema is a constellation of dreamers, drifters, and disenchanted romantics. A protégé of Robert Altman and a singular voice in independent film, Rudolph has long been a maverick, eschewing convention in favor of elliptical storytelling, painterly compositions, and jazz-inflected rhythms. His films – including the tour-de-force Geraldine Chaplin thriller “Remember My Name” and the surreally stylish neo-noir “Trouble In Mind” – that invites us into richly textured worlds where emotional logic supersedes plot, and the ephemeral becomes eternal.”

Alan Rudolph’s Dramas of Desire

Photo credit: CriterionChannel.com...

Quick LinksSeason 2 Offered One of the Best Love Triangles on TVIzzie and Denny’s Bond Offered a Different Kind of ScandalGrey’s Anatomy Struggles to Match Up to Its Earlier Seasons

On the surface, Grey's Anatomy seems like a conventional medical drama. But, avid fans will know that with its toxic pairings, scandals, and breakups, this show is more like a soap opera than a niche TV drama. Over the past 20 years, the show has introduced a range of jaw-dropping relationships, most of which end up in tears.

However, Season 2 did something really unique with this trope, and a lot of fans tend to overlook it. While this season offers a plethora of seedy love triangles and off-beat relationships, it presented them in a way that had never been shown on primetime TV. So, even as Grey's Anatomy continues to garner a ton of success, it may never live up...

It’s a good time to be an Alan Rudolph fan. Last fall, Shout! Studios released a gorgeous restoration of Rudolph’s unjustly maligned satire “Breakfast of Champions,” and this month Rudolph enters the Criterion Collection with a new 4K Uhd edition of his deliriously romantic and unclassifiable “Choose Me.”

A hypnotic noir-inflected fever dream following the intersecting love stories of a group of strangers who frequent the same smoky bar, “Choose Me” is vintage Rudolph: hyper-stylized, hilarious, and concerned with universal ideas expressed in the most idiosyncratic possible manner.

When Rudolph came to write and direct “Choose Me” in 1984, he was at a crossroads in his career, having made two excellent but unpopular movies (“Welcome to L.A.” and “Remember My Name”) outside the system and two studio pictures (“Roadie” and “Endangered Species”) on which Rudolph felt suffocated after his liberating apprenticeship as an assistant director under Robert Altman on “The Long Goodbye” and “Nashville.

This week consecrates a major turn in the 50-year career of Alan Rudolph, which began as an assistant to and screenwriter for Robert Altman before transitioning into decades writing and directing original, romantic, occasionally unnerving American cinema at a time parallel to (if never quite reaching the fame or acclaim of) Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, Terrence Malick, and David Lynch. The turn is not a new film, but Criterion anointing 1984’s Choose Me, perhaps the best entry point into his corpus, with a 4K release that marks an astonishing restoration of both the film itself and its long-neglected reputation.

For this release I had the fortune of speaking with Rudolph in an hour-long conversation that detailed Choose Me‘s creation, how his films both before and after are now defined by it, and honest perspectives on a career just slightly outside the celebrity-auteur spotlight.

On Wednesday March 5 2025, ABC broadcasts Tamron Hall!

I Choose Me Season 6 Episode 111 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Tamron Hall,” titled “I Choose Me,” promises to be an inspiring and uplifting experience. Airing on ABC, this episode features actress Jennie Garth, known for her roles in popular television shows. Garth will share her insights on finding fulfillment in life and the journey that led her to create the I Choose Me Movement. Her story is likely to resonate with many, as she discusses the importance of self-care and prioritizing personal happiness.

In addition to Garth’s segment, the episode will introduce Matt Price, who is affectionately known as “Mister Make It Happen.” Price has made a significant career change, moving from the finance world to pursue his true passion for food. His journey is sure to inspire those who dream of following their own passions, showing that it is possible...

Fifty years after winning his Academy Award for Robert Altman's masterpieceNashville, Keith Carradine is still very much in the acting game. His new star-studded crime thriller, Laws of Man, is now available on digital and demand, while his earlier work is still being spotlighted to this day. Exhibit A is Choose Me (1984), which is soon entering the Criterion Collection. MovieWeb recently caught up with Carradine following the release of Laws of Man, where he also weighed in on the continued impact of Choose Me from writer-director Alan Rudolph.

"We were delighted to hear that, and Alan and I both went in and spoke on camera, you know, for the extras and stuff. That was really fun. And I'm happy to to know that Criterion has adopted us and people will have another chance to revisit that," Carradine told us.

The longtime performer also revealed more about the history of...

One of our favorite times of the month is when the Criterion Collection drops their releases for the months ahead and the batch its announced for March certainly doesn’t disappoint. Ranging from dark rom-coms to monster movies, Criterion is adding some proper deep cuts, as well as 4K restorations of two films that are already part of the collection.

The first film given the Criterion treatment is Alan Rudolph’s “Choose Me,” starring Keith Carradine and Lesley Ann Warren. Set in Los Angeles during the 1980s, the film follows a number of lovers violently weaving in and out of each other’s live, mostly crossing paths at a dive bar. A protégé of Robert Altman, Rudolph’s films, such as “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” and “Breakfast of Champions,” often carry a balance of absurdity and bite. Next up is the 1989 addition to the Godzilla cannon, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” from Kazuki Omori.

What’s on the new release slate over at the Criterion Collection for March 2025? The boutique home video label announced its titles for that month today, and new spines include one of the best 1970s neo-noirs, a Godzilla classic, an Alan Randolph triumph, and a silent film masterpiece. Also, two new re-issues: Michael Mann‘s “Thief” and Henri-George Clouzot‘s “The Wages Of Fear.”

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

But let’s check out the spec on the new titles first.

Continue reading Criterion’s March 2025 Releases Include Arthur Penn’s ‘Night Moves,’ ‘Godzilla Vs. Biollante,’ Alan Randolph’s ‘Choose Me’ & An Early Charlie Chaplin Masterwork at The Playlist.

It may have taken a half-century and well after he made films with any consistency, but Alan Rudolph is at last experiencing a verdant season. Just months since a remaster and rerelease of his 1999 Breakfast of Champions, he’s been inaugurated into the Criterion Collection with one of his very greatest films, Choose Me, which arrives on 4K this March.

The month also includes Michael Mann’s Thief, upgrading a Blu-ray from 2014, and early-early Criterion title The Wages of Fear getting a much-overdue make-over. Godzilla vs. Biolante and Night Moves enter the Collection in 4K, while Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris arrives on Blu-ray.

See cover art below and more at Criterion:

The post The Criterion Collection’s March 2025 Lineup Includes Michael Mann, Alan Rudolph, and The Wages of Fear on 4K first appeared on The Film Stage.

From John Hughes teen classics to one-of-a-kind science fiction adventures, the 1980s had something for everyone. The '80s in film might be most notable for the domination of the summer blockbuster, which began in the previous decade with Jaws. Action stars were made from scratch and introduced to audiences all over the world, from Schwarzenegger to Van Damme to Stallone. The John Hughes revolution continued in full force, with The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Sixteen Candles sweeping audiences young and old off their feet. Most importantly, however, independent cinema continued to deliver absolute gems for the truest of movie lovers. While these films might've failed to resonate with audiences, critics, or the box office at the time, they still absolutely deserve their flowers.

If fans search long and hard, unsung movies can be found in every corner of the industry. Independent cinema is a hit parade,...

It’s kind of wild that there has never been an official soundtrack album for Choose Me, Alan Rudolph’s 1984 kooky-but-foxy ensemble rom-com. For starters, the movie was distributed by Island Alive, a joint venture between then-indie company Alive Films and Island Records co-founder Chris Blackwell. Secondly, the songs in...

David Bordwell, the noted film scholar, teacher, author and researcher known for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm of cinema with movie lovers everywhere, has died. He was 76.

Bordwell died Thursday after a long illness, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced. He taught at the school from 1973 until his retirement in 2004 and was its Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the time of his death.

For more than two decades, Bordwell supplied commentaries, visual and written essays and interviews for films in the Criterion Collection and was seen and heard on 50 insightful episodes of Observations on Film Art on the Criterion Channel.

In a statement, Criterion called him “a great, longtime friend and a tireless champion of cinema who spent decades imparting his wisdom and passion onto film lovers around the world.”

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Bordwell wrote his essential textbooks Film Art: An Introduction,...

He simply may have watched more movies than anyone else alive. That’s the kind of legendary detail that followed film scholar David Bordwell, dead at 76 after a long struggle with a degenerative lung disease.

Was that true? Impossible to determine, and Bordwell’s cinephilia was never about bragging or the accumulation of knowledge to score points — but instead, to share with others and enrich our collective understanding of cinema. If you studied film on any level in academia, you almost certainly have heard his name.

For several generations of film students, you read Bordwell’s “Film Art: An Introduction” in your fall freshman Film 101 class. That was me in 2004, and I believe that book was already on its seventh edition by that point — it had first been published in 1979. If you went deeper into your studies, you’d undoubtedly encounter his “Film History” textbook as well. Both of these...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

After 2022 left me feeling a bit out in weeds in regards to film culture, I came into 2023 a pessimist and left with a rejuvenated belief that the movies are, indeed, back. This year was overflowing with riches, to the point where even up until this very moment I’m mentally swapping in and out some titles for the list you’re about to see of my annual favorites.

There’s just too many gems I don’t want to leave behind, and they came in all shapes and sizes. From some of my favorite directors making highly anticipated returns (including one for their final feature) to filmmakers I’ve always been cold on for the first time making something that has nestled its way into my heart...

When Robert Aldrich’s 1968 Hollywood insider yarn, “The Legend of Lylah Clare” screens at the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville, Maine, it will represent much more than a simple revival of a New Hollywood-era roman à clef.

The film’s presentation on July 12 will include a discussion between actor Michael Murphy, who co-stars in the film, and former MGM publicity director Mike Kaplan, who has from the film’s earliest screenings defended both the film’s director, who Kaplan feels was “grossly maligned” by the depiction of him in Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Feud,” and the film, which monumentally tanked both critically and commercially when first released.

Kaplan recalls “I loved the script, and I loved the film. MGM had an unexceptional slate at the time. I was a big fan at the get-go.”

But as MGM’s New York City-based publicity chief, Kaplan watched helplessly as others,...

Our 75th guest! The legendary filmmaker John Sayles joins Josh and Joe to explore some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Ulzana’s Raid (1972)

Django (1966)

The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

City Of Hope (1991)

Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)

The Challenge (1982)

Avalanche (1978)

Eight Men Out (1988)

Piranha (1978)

The Howling (1981)

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

The Killers (1964)

The King And I (1956)

Time Without Pity (1957)

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)

Ben-Hur (1957)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Two Women (1960)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Spartacus (1960)

Fixed Bayonets! (1951)

The Steel Helmet (1951)

Merrill’s Marauders (1962)

Targets (1968)

Touch Of Evil (1958)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Woodstock (1970)

Crime In The Streets (1956)

The Bad Seed (1956)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Fedora (1978)

Dune (1984)

The Cotton Club (1984)

Choose Me (1984)

Raising Arizona (1987)

El Norte (1983)

Yellow Sky (1948)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Irishman (2019)

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)

The Thing (1982)

Chinatown (1974)

Manhattan (1979)

Duck Amuck (1953)

Goodfellas (1990)

Humanoids Of The Deep (1980)

Cockfighter (1974)

Dynamite Women a.k.a. The Great Texas Dynamite Chase...

Choose Me. Courtesy of Everett Collection via the Quad.Alan Rudolph makes a compelling case in defense of sentimentality, in defense of the love-sick and amorous. He believes in the beauty and rejuvenating power of art, and of love. Rarely sanguine or saccharine, but unapologetically emotional, his films understand that love is a painful, often arduous affair, that it is messy and confusing and ultimately ineffable, best captured in glances rather than words. Though there is a certain look, a certain feeling, that defines an Alan Rudolph film, his formal dexterity is varied, his repertoire of visual tricks assured. His swooning camera traces the boundaries of scenes like an outsider gazing longingly in, drifting dreamily, lingering like a voyeur. Choose Me (1984) begins with a voluptuous three-minute long take, starting with a closeup of the luminescent “E” of a neon sign that reads “Eve’s Lounge,” swooping down to show an...

Above: Us one sheet for Trouble in Mind (1985). Art direction by Mike Kaplan, illustration by Ignacio Gomez.Alan Rudolph may not be one of the best known names in American independent film and that is a shame because his 22-feature filmography comprises a unique body of work of literate, off-kilter, romantic, humanistic cinema. New Yorkers have a chance to devour that work over the next few weeks at the Quad Cinema in their essential retrospective, "Alan Rudolph’s Everyday Lovers."Rudolph’s poster-ography is as erratic and full of gems as his filmic career. It starts out with a couple of genre horror films—with gaudy posters to match—before launching into the early masterpieces Welcome to L.A. and Remember My Name, both film which were released by Mike Kaplan’s Lagoon. Kaplan, who had previously worked with Stanley Kubrick, is a keen connoisseur and collector of posters himself,...

Of their three collaborations, the most intriguing Alan Rudolph film to feature Bujold is 1984’s Choose Me, which more or less focuses on two female leads, with usual repertory star Keith Carradine taking the backseat between them.

Continue reading...

In The Overlook, A.V. Club film critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky examines the misfits, underappreciated gems, and underseen classics of film history.

“I’ve been to plenty of cities, and they ain’t nothin’ but trouble.”

—Trouble In Mind

Alan Rudolph’s 1986 film Trouble In Mind is set in a retro-dystopian, new-wave-meets-noir metropolis called Rain City—an alternate-reality Seattle of mist and mystery, intersecting destinies and paramilitary oppression. Like quite a few of its underappreciated director’s best films (Welcome To L.A., Choose Me, The Moderns), it holds to the credo that every city is a dream. It lures its inhabitants and keeps them captive in the promise of a fantasy. And Rain City is the perfect city of loneliness, which can be as much of a romantic fantasy as true love. Its architecture is alienated, half museum of nostalgia, half dark tomorrow land. It is very like a ...

Believe it or not, Grey's Anatomy is heading into its 13th season!

The long running series has gifted us with memorable characters, storylines, and sound bites ("Pick Me. Choose me. Love me.") that have made their way into pop culture history. 

After the events of Grey's Anatomy Season 12 Episode 24, here's what we're hoping to see when the show returns on Thursday, September 22nd at 8/7c.

 

1. For A Boy Not To Come Between Sisters Maggie's reveal that she's been crushing on Nathan should make Meredith pause. Sure she's been hooking up with Nathan while all Maggie's been doing is giving him googly eyes, but Meredith should tell her sister what's been going on before her feelings get crushed. 2. For Jo To Clear The Air With Alex Jo needs to open up to Alex about the husband she's so afraid of. These two love each other, but can they overcome the obstacles...

Fox

Ask around online, and you’ll get the general consensus that The Simpsons have not been as-funny or as-entertaining since their 10th season, despite it being on the air for 25 years. Citing an overuse of non-sequitur jokes, plots revolving around Homer’s “newest job,” and storylines driven by the inclusion of a celebrity voice (or more), fans of the show have almost unanimously yearned for the simpler years of monorails, dental plans, and “You ‘Choose Choose Choose Me’.”

While the most-current episodes may not be as great as the golden years of Seasons 3-9, The Simpsons still continues to produce ratings and merchandise revenue for Fox at a respectable rate, and – despite complaints of failing to live up to its own past glories - it still produces laughs. For every dreadful episode in any given season, there is an equally-good one, with the majority of episodes receiving “mixed reviews” from critics: some good,...

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the April 23 episode of Arrow, stop reading now! Seriously. Stop. You’ll regret it. Don’t even glance down a little bit. I mean it.

Wow. Just wow. For some reason, it never occurred to me that Slade would re-enact Ollie’s island choice with Thea and Moira, but it made perfect sense. That being said, his decision to do it with the world’s biggest sword — that appeared as if from nowhere — was interesting, but that doesn’t matter right now. No matter how it happened, Moira is dead, and I’m heartbroken.

Hal Hartley is one of the true originals of modern cinema. A consummate stylist, his work is erudite and eccentric, defiant in its singularity. After making first film The Unbelievable Truth (1989) for just $75,000, Hartley went on to quietly change the face of independent American cinema with his deadpan dialogue, brimming with arch and often philosophical insights on relationships. Over his first few films, Hartley also developed a sophisticated aesthetic to compliment his sharp writing. Over the next few months, Artificial Eye will release The Unbelievable Truth, Simple Men (1992) and Amateur (1994) for the first time on Blu-ray. CineVue's Craig Williams asked Hartley about youth, the Weinsteins and Alan Rudolph.

Craig Williams: What are your feelings about The Unbelievable Truth and Amateur looking back on them now? 

Hal Hartley: Though I'm not terribly aged, I am older and I have been doing this for a long time so when I...

Given the material that formed "Blood and Treasure" I wasn't nearly as moved by it as I would have expected. Even Michael's incredible welling of tears didn't fetch the same from me this week, and I think it was because the writing was all over the map.

Jordan told Kat that her mom gets a look when General Holden's name comes up. Michael's face sure lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw her walking down the stairs and learned she'd be seated at his table at the charity dinner. Did I call it or what?

Just because Michael had strange thoughts about Kat after their evening out and connecting like they did, especially after the dedication of the reflection pool, do not count them out. It's normal for him to pull back. The day was all about Claudia Joy and having feelings about another woman at that time wouldn't be appropriate.

Ross and Rachel. Clair and Cliff. Ricky and Lucy. These are just a few of the iconic pairings competing for the chance to be EW’s “Greatest TV Couple of All Time.” Check out our full bracket here and vote in the polls below to determine who will move on to the next round. Now, the 8 couples who won their first match-ups in our “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me” conference.

Also: EW.com’s Greatest TV Romances package

Damon and Elena, The Vampire Diaries vs. Dr. Ross and Carol, ER

Booth and Bones, Bones vs. Buffy and Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

Ross and Rachel. Carrie and Big. Clair and Cliff. Ricky and Lucy. These are just a few of the iconic pairings competing for the chance to be EW’s “Greatest TV Couple of All Time.” Check out our full bracket here and vote in the polls below to determine who will move on to the next round. Now for the 16 couples in our “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me” conference.

Damon and Elena, The Vampire Diaries vs. Niles and Daphne, Frasier

Dr. Ross and Carol, ER vs. Felicity and Ben, Felicity

Willow and Tara, Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. Booth and Bones,...

Columns Festival Roundup Montreal, Thessalonilki, Turino, Tokyo, Toronto and other fall fetes covered by Noah Cowan, David Tracey, and Peter Broderick Production Update by Mary Glucksman Legal Affairs Robert L. Seigel on verbal agreements and the Boxing Helena case Short Ends Winter 1994 Table Of Contents Features What Me, Theory? Peter Bowen thinks about Scott McGehee’s and David Siegel’s Suture and Francois Girard’s Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould Apocalypse Now Jamie Painter unveils Mike Leigh’s Naked Choose Me A roundtable of international festival programmers Too Far For Comfort Nancy Kricorian fills out Atom Egoyan’s Calender Star Trek Marc …...

Awkward., Season 2, Episode 10: “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me”

Written by Lauren Iungerich

Directed by Joe Nussbaum

Airs Thursdays at 10:30 Pm on MTV

The explosion in reality television programming in North America over the last decade is something that ostensibly hasn’t gone unnoticed by anyone. There have been numerous theories that have attempted to explain the runaway success that such shows have garnered, the most popular of which seems to be the idea that people enjoy watching others go through the trials and tribulations of life, both as a vicarious form of entertainment, and as a potential learning tool. The adverse effects of opening up one’s life to the public, however, is a subject that is often left unexplored. With Jenna’s unmasking of her blog last week, however, this episode explores the fallout of her decision amongst all affected parties, leading to a strong episode...

When Nikki Deloach told us that "Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me" would be Lacey’s redemption episode, she wasn’t kidding.

The title of the installment, in fact, had very little to do with Jake and Matty, but rather Lacey and Jenna; however, the crafting of the hour threw me for a loop (a good one) because most of our time was spent at the school, witnessing the blowback Jenna received from publicizing her blog.

While Jenna’s blowback was nonexistent, the blowup wasn’t. The entire school rallied around her story. Everyone had his/her opinions. Jenna went from little known to well known, and Tamara and Ming basked in the proxy popularity. All of it, though, was just a ploy to take our focus away from Lacey after we saw some kids giving her grief over writing the letter.

The harassment didn’t stop when Lacey left the parking lot.

With just a few episodes to go on the second season of MTV’s Awkward, star Nikki DeLoach tells us there’s certainly much more to explore in a very short span starting with Thursday’s episode, “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me.” “I just get chills thinking about it. It’s so good. The first time I read...Read more»...

On TV this Thursday: There’ll be no Saving Hope if the hospital succumbs to a deadly outbreak, a Rookie is rather Blue after a harrowing ordeal, Louie’s life may be looking up and The Office offers a Portrait Day reshoot. Here are nine programs to keep on your radar tonight.

8 pm The Office (NBC) | It’s hard to say what’s better in tonight’s Repeat to Revisit aka the Season 8 finale “Free Family Portrait Studio:” Dwight and Angela’s car chase, or their makeout session at the hospital? While you’re mulling that over, reminisce about other...

Soul legend Bettye Lavette got an early start in music. She made her first album at 16, which is why she's already celebrating her 50th anniversary in recording.

And boy is she celebrating. There's a new album on deck, Thankful N' Thoughtful. The disc features Lavette's reinterpretations of hits by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Neil Young, Gnarls Barkley and many more. Early reviews have lauded her bold reworkings of "I'm Not the One" by the Keys and "Crazy" by Barkley.

But the singer isn't content with just another record. She's also releasing her autobiography (written with David Ritz). Lavette has had quite the colorful life, and she spares no detail or hair-raising experience in A Woman Like Me. The music drops Sept. 25 on Anti-Records, with the book following on Sept. 27 (Blue Rider Press/Penguin).

The singer will also tour the country between September and the end of...

There are a few things that I am certain of. One of them is that sitting through that oral board exam has got to be seriously awful. Seriously. The Grey's Anatomy residents faced their proctors for three sessions of the test, all while facing issues of their own. So who passed and who failed?

Time to discuss "Let The Bad Times Roll."

First things first. The boards seem like the least fun part about becoming a doctor. I was nervous watching the residents answer their questions. All five of them were in pretty tough situations. Meredith was sick, Cristina was fighting with her proctor, Alex missed his first session, Jackson could hear his mother next door and April was freaking out.

According to the statistics, one in five fails. So who was the loser? April Kepner.

This doesn’t become as too much of a surprise. In fact, it was...

Fox Tim McGraw with Scotty McCreery (right), winner of ‘American Idol.’

It was an interesting year in TV to say the least. Here’s Speakeasy’s 2011 Rewind, a look back at the highlights and the lowlights on TV this year.

You Didn’t Wanna to Like It, But You Did

Who thought “American Idol” was going to sink when Simon and then Paula Abdul left the show for X-ier pastures? Who, of those naysayers, couldn’t get enough of Rocker Steven Tyler,...

Chicago – Lesley Ann Warren is familiar to TV viewers for her recurring role on “Desperate Housewives” as Sophie Bremmer and her portrayal of Jinx Shannon on “In Plain Sight.” She also has a rich career spanning five decades, with classic film and television characters along the way.

Born in New York City, Warren studied under Lee Strasberg at the famed Actors Studio, the youngest student to ever be accepted at 17 years of age. A year later she made a huge debut in the television remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” musical. This led to a contract with Walt Disney Studios, in such films as “The Happiest Millionaire” (1967). After leaving Disney, she did one season on the TV show “Mission: Impossible” and several roles in the mini-series era in the 1970s. She was nominated for an Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in “Victor Victoria” (1982) and went on to...

Jennifer Love Hewitt caused quite a stir on Twitter last month when she wrote, "Watching 'The Bachelorette'! I love u Ben!! Take this rose I have for u! Choose me!!!!:)."

However, the former "Ghost Whisperer" star says she didn't mean anything by her enthusiastic Tweet, and that ensuing rumors of a romance with "The Bachelorette" cast-off are just that - rumors.

"I was looking for something pop culture to sort of tweet about -- I'm new to the Twitter situation. I wanted to have fun with the tweeters out there in the world," Jennifer told Ryan Seacrest in ...

Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Montages top ten robots on film (in norwegian but with pics) Roy Batty of Blade Runner is at number one selvfølgelig. Who else, you know?

Hollywood Reporter in case you've been wondering why there's still talk of a Green Lantern sequel (despite the lame box office for the Ryan Reynolds affair), here's why it might happen.

Ultra Culture "better than the last one but still pretty shit" sharp funny review of Transformers Dark of the Moon. Most of the bile is saved for Shia Labeouf but Megan Fox's replacement gets this.

It might be a little premature to judge Megan Fox’s replacement, British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, given how little she has to work with here — Stick Your Bum Out, Look Scared, Pout Your Lips In Such A Way As To Suggest That You Might Be Proficient At Administering A Blowjob — but even with just a handful of lines...

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles is scooping up Peter Morgan's latest script "360" and is fixing to tackle the project. The newly penned script is off of the play "La Ronde" or "Reigen" written by Arthur Schnitzler that focuses on a group of people from different social classes and what happens when they mix it up with their own set of sexual encounters. That sounds like a better plot line than half of the stuff that's out in theaters right now.The play, created in 1900, has since been made into several feature length films including Alan Rudolph's "Choose Me", Dean Howell's "Nine Lives" and Max Ophüls' "La Ronde". Former Universal Pictures chairman David Linde is serving as executive producer with Dor Films producing.Meirelles is currently attached to co-write and direct the biopic "Janis Joplin" for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Peter Morgan's work will be spreading from paper...

Video / Gay man strips for George Clooney / Click here Rock stars are used to have undergarments thrown at them while on stage, but most actors don’t encounter a similar situation while speaking at a professional press conference. Then again, not all actors are as irresistible as George Clooney. Clooney has proved that he’s a red hot sex symbol all over the world, for both women and men. And some of the Irish-American actor’s admirers will go to extremes to show their love for him. Take the gay Italian man who decided to strip off his clothes and offer himself to Clooney in the middle of a press conference at the Venice Film Festival. Clooney is in town to promote his new film, “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” While chatting with the press on Tuesday, one “journalist” in the back of the room stood up to ask a question,...

May Flowers, weeknights @ 11:00

Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder. She's a hopeless... no, a hopeful romantic. What a slam dunk star turn that was. And how galling that Romancing the Stone didn't net her an Oscar nomination. It was deglam and glam in one package. Plus it was super fun and Oscar should remember to have fun more often. Fun movies sometimes have more staying power than dutiful prestige pics. Not all the time but why eliminate them because they aren't serious? Screwball comedies were as far from serious as it gets and Oscar didn't hate those.

The Oscar Nominees that year were four previous winners and one breakthrough performer (Judy Davis)

Judy Davis, A Passage to IndiaSally Field, Places in the Heart (winner)

Jessica Lange, CountryVanessa Redgrave, The Bostonians

Sissy Spacek, The River

If I had been giving out my awards back then, the Best Actress list would not have been 60% farm wives.