This is Edith Head


Her 34 Oscar nominations and 8 awards make her both the most honored costume designer (with over 450 screen credits from screwball comedies to westerns) and woman in Academy Award history to date.

This is Edna Mode


The character "Edna Mode" in Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles (04) was modeled on her.

The Best of Head:

Wings (27, uncredited)
Beau Geste (39)
Road to Singapore (40)
The Great McGinty (40)
The Lady Eve (41) and my personal favorite of hers
Road to Zanzibar (41)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (41)
Ball of Fire (41)
Sullivan's Travels (41)
This Gun for Hire (42)
Road to Morocco (42)
Five Graves to Cairo (43)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (44)
Going My Way (44)
Double Indemnity (44)
The Lost Weekend (45)
The Bells of St. Mary's (45)
Road to Utopia (46)
Notorious (46, Miss Ingrid Bergman's gowns)
Sorry, Wrong Number (48)
The Heiress (49)
Sunset Blvd. (50)
All About Eve (50, Bette Davis's costumes)
A Place in the Sun (51)
The Greatest Show on Earth (52)
Carrie (52)
Come Back, Little Sheba (52)
Shane (53)
Roman Holiday (53)
Rear Window (54)
White Christmas (54)
The Country Girl (54)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (55)
To Catch a Thief (55)
The Trouble with Harry (55)
The Desperate Hours (55)
The Rose Tattoo (55)
The Court Jester (56)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)
The Ten Commandments (56)
The Rainmaker (56)
Funny Face (57)
Fear Strikes Out (57)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (57)
The Tin Star (57)
Witness for the Prosecution (57, Miss Dietrich's costumes)
Teacher's Pet (58)
King Creole (58)
Houseboat (58)
Separate Tables (58, Miss Hayworth's gowns)
A Hole in the Head (59)
Last Train from Gun Hill (59)
Blue Hawaii (61)
Pocketful of Miracles (61)
The Counterfeit Traitor (62)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (62)
Hatari! (62)
The Birds (63, Miss Hedren's costumes)
I Could Go on Singing (63)
Hud (63)
The Nutty Professor (63)
Donovan's Reef (63)
Love with the Proper Stranger (63)
Marnie (64)
The Sons of Katie Elder (65)
The Slender Thread (65)
Inside Daisy Clover (65)
Torn Curtain (66)
This Property Is Condemned (66)
El Dorado (66)
Barefoot in the Park (67)
Sweet Charity (69)
Winning (69)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (69)
Topaz (69)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (69)
Airport (70)
Myra Breckinridge (70, Miss Mae West's costumes)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (72)
The Sting (73)
The Great Waldo Pepper (75)
Rooster Cogburn (75)
The Man Who Would Be King (75)
Family Plot (76)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (82, her final film which is also dedicated to her)

"I have yet to see one competely unspoiled star, except for Lassie."
- Edith Head
October 28, 1897 - October 24, 1981

"Supermodels. Hah! Nothing "super" about them - spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves. Feh! I used to design for GODS!"
- Edna 'E' Mode

here come the mavericks to DVD

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV, 1958-1961) starring: Steve McQueen as Josh Randall is finally coming to DVD (region 1) from New Line June 7, 2005 in a four-disc set that includes all 36 episodes from the first season. The extra material will include a six-part documentary about Steve McQueen (titled Life in the Fast Lane), three colorized episodes, featurettes about the series, photo galleries, biographies, filmographies and more. In the Rutger Hauer film, Wanted: Dead or Alive (87), Hauer plays "Nick Randall" - a character who is supposed to be the descendant of the character played by Steve McQueen in the television series of the same name. This show kicked ass, and McQueen's weapon of choice, a hog leg (sawed off rifle as a holstered weapon) has never been matched on mainstream American TV. Josh Randall was the first ever anti-hero in a horse opera, and the show introduced a bright young star to the world.

and


Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee (65) starring: Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens, Brock Peters, Michael Anderson Jr., Mario Adorf and Senta Berger. This will be the new 136 minute extended cut from Columbia Tristar (thank you, God). It arrives May 31, 2005. Although not as perfect as Peckinpah's masterpiece of violence, The Wild Bunch (69), Major Dundee has nevertheless earned it's place amongst Peckinpah devotees as one of the master film-maker's greatest accomplishments. Almost a pure action film, there is enough drama to satisfy even the most discriminating western film critic. It is that rare thing: a period film that actually earns the right to be called "historical drama". Peckinpah just got everything right about this one, and it may even be James Coburn's greatest screen appearance (although my favorite is still The President's Analyst, 67).

now if only they'd release these other Peckinpah gems:

Ride the High Country (62)

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (70)

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (73)


I could retire from collecting DVD's for good...yeah, right!


Sam Peckinpah
February 21, 1925 - December 28, 1984

Ride the High Country (62) *****
Major Dundee (65) **** 1/2
The Wild Bunch (69) *****
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (70) Peckinpah's personal favorite *****
Straw Dogs (71) **** 1/2
Junior Bonner (72) with McQueen ****
The Getaway (72) with McQueen ****
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (73) **** 1/2
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (74) **** 1/2
The Killer Elite (75) ***
Cross of Iron (77) **** 1/2
Convoy (78) ***
The Osterman Weekend (83) ***

"I want to be able to make Westerns like Kurosawa makes Westerns." - Sam Peckinpah

also new to DVD this week from MGM:


Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (74) starring: Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber and Gig Young. Arguably, Peckinpah's last great film. Essential viewing...

What are your 5 current DVD's in rotation this week?

1. The Boys from Brazil (78) Franklin J. Schaffner

2. The Band Wagon (53) Vincente Minnelli

3. The Incredibles (04) Brad Bird

4. Which Way Is Up? (77) Michael Schultz

5. Bustin' Loose (81) Oz Scott and Michael Schultz (uncredited)


Honorable Mention:

Car Wash (76) Michael Schultz

Alot of things come to mind when you think of Car Wash: ensemble comedy, fast & loose narrative, funky soundtrack, cultural document of the seventies...but nothing can appropriately describe it's impact on mainstream American film. It's true, there is alot to criticize in this film (it's episodic nature and lack of any real and concise character development) but who cares? It is pure entertainment, and a lost treasure from a time when life just seemed a little better. Let's start with the references to other films, like MASH (70) and American Graffiti (73), and how it pre-dates other mainstream films like The Blues Brothers (80) and directly influenced Barbershop (02) and it's sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (04) as well as the animated Shark Tale (04). There are alot of cultural stereotypes on display in this film - but it was never about any of that. It was simply about the men who wash the cars at the Deee Luxe Car Wash in downtown Los Angeles. If the film had probed any deeper into the lives of it's characters than what is directly on the surface, it would have probably gone on to greater distinction. But as it stands, it is simply a hell of a good way to spend a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon - which is exactly what it's done for me today. In alot of ways, that's of a far greater importance in the long run. Car Wash is a true comedy classic, and a one-of-a-kind rarity. Bill Duke's stand-off with Richard Pryor (Daddy Rich) and The Pointer Sisters is just one of the highlights of this forgotten masterpiece, and if Franklyn Ajaye's afro got any larger, he would have probably floated into space.

The script was written by Joel Schumacher, who also wrote the screenplay for The Wiz (78, also with Pryor) and went on to write and direct the similar (but slightly less classic) D.C. Cab (83). The director was Michael Schultz, who directed these other gems of the era: Cooley High (75), Which Way Is Up? (77), Greased Lightning (77), Bustin' Loose (81, uncredited; all three with Pryor) before turning almost exclusively to television and most recently helming Woman Thou Art Loosed (04). We spend alot of time concentrating on "differences" in this country. Class, Sex, Race...but it seems we have forgotten how to celebrate these differences, together. There are alot of simple truths in this films, that have an almost profound resonance: how the owner's (white) son only wants to work with "the men" (mostly African-American) and doesn't want to sit behind a desk all day. When he first suits up to join them on the line, he quickly learns that he must first pay his dues, and he ends up the butt of more than a few practical jokes. This does not happen because he is rich, or because he is "white" - but simply because he's the new kid. If that's not a message we should all stop and remember, than frankly - I don't know what is. Whether it's the hair-styles, clothes, disco/soul soundtrack or just the plain good nature of the film that you remember most, Car Wash is a genuine feel-good movie, and one worth watching from time to time. Can ya dig it?

Duane (Bill Duke): "Will you please get out of my face you sorry looking faggot."
Lindy (Antonio Fargas): "Who you calling sorry looking?"