Frank Calvillo Archives -

COUTURE MOVIE REVIEW Maria Callas once said “Paris dictates fashion to the whole world” while Sonia Rykiel once mused “You can create fashion anywhere in the world, but the place where you are crowned is Paris”. In case you haven’t guessed, this film is about fashion in the city of lights during the biggest fashion […]

THE GET OUT MOVIE REVIEW The Get Out stars Russell Crowe as Marco Kapak, a heavy set, viagra popping, hard partying Albanian who runs a popular nightclub in Los Angeles. In the course of a few days, Marco suffers a heart attack and is robbed at gunpoint. This run of bad luck convinces him that […]

HACKS SEASON 5 REVIEW Maya Angelou once said “Your legacy is every life you touch”. A famous journalist/second wave feminist named Gloria Steinem once said “There were never that many women stand up comics in the past because the power to make people laugh is also a power that makes people upset.” In 2021 the […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: EP. 13 – WRAP-UP/MID-00S TO PRESENT DAY We’ve reached the end of our exploration into Faye and her career post-Mommie Dearest, from the early 80s to the early 00s. For this final episode, we’ll be wrapping things up with a look at a small handful of the titles I didn’t get to cover […]

FINNEGAN’S FOURSOME MOVIE REVIEW From multi-hyphenate filmmaker Edward Burns comes Finnegan’s Foursome, a dramedy about a golf loving clan of Irish-Americans. Brothers Teddy (Brian d’Arcy James) and Freddy (Burns) and their respective grown children, Marie (Erica Hernández) and Frankie (Brian Muller) have traveled to the ancestral home of their recently deceased patriarch, James...

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE 12 – THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) We wrap up this series of minisodes spotlighting classic 60s/70s Faye with the movie that further solidified her status as a movie star in the late 60s, 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair. The stylish romantic caper sees Faye play an insurance investigator who sets her […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: EP.12 – THE HANDMAID’S TALE/THE TEMP/RUNNING MATES This week on Hollywood Royalty, it’s time for our penultimate episode featuring the Faye you love to hate with three films that show the actress’ knack for exploring characters that, while not outright villains, defy conventional likability. First up, we look at Faye’s chilly take on […]

NECROMANCER EP 141 – GHOULFRIEND EXPERIENCE WITH FRANK CALVILLO: HUSH…HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE The necromancers are joined by Frank Calvillo of Whatever Happened to Bette and Joan to share a common joy: resurrecting dead Hollywood stars. On the slab is who else but Bette Davis in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). Listen to our trio of […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE #11 – LITTLE BIG MAN Next up on classic 60s/70s Faye, we venture back even further than last time to the 19th century for 1970’s Little Big Man, the sprawling tale of a 121-year-old man named Jack Crabtree (Dustin Hoffman) who is recalling his life as an adopted member of the Cheyenne […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: EP.11 – IT HAD TO BE YOU/ALIAS/MISC. GUEST APPEARANCES This week on Hollywood Royalty, we tune in to prime time Faye and her two prominent stints on series television in the 90s and 00s. First up, host of Heart/Felt, and co-host of Trash in the Can, Eric Samaniego, and I explore Faye’s short-lived […]

MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES SERIES REVIEW From prolific showrunner David E. Kelly comes a new Apple TV series Margo’s Got Money Troubles based on the novel of the same name by Rufi Thorpe. Margo (Elle Fanning) is an aspiring writer and college student who becomes pregnant after a brief affair with her married literature professor, […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE 10- OKLAHOMA CRUDE Next up on classic 60s/70s Faye, we go way back to turn of the century Oklahoma for Stanley Kramer’s 1973 oil-themed dramedy Oklahoma Crude. In the film, Faye plays the shotgun-bearing Lena, a woman sitting on an oil rig trying to fight off the ruthless oil companies (headed by […]

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES MOVIE REVIEW Frank, Neil, and T.C. swim to the shallow end of the One Of Us wading pool to discuss a sad woman who works at a facility with an intensely intelligent and sensitive sea creature who wants to escape into the world. The two form an intense bond. Is it… love? […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY EP.10 – SILHOUETTE/ARIZONA DREAM/DUNSTON CHECKS IN This week on Hollywood Royalty, it’s Faye as you’ve never seen her before, starring in a trio of titles that proved uncharted territory for the actress. Up first, we see Faye take on both Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly’s roles in the 1990 Hitchcock-influenced Silhouette, a reworking […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY MINISODE 9 – PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD Next up on the classic 60s/70s Faye front, 1970s Puzzle of a Downfall Child, the stirring directorial debut from photographer turned writer/director Jerry Schatzberg. Faye stars as Lou Andreas Sand, a once sought-after model whose complicated past and sudden rise to success has resulted in […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MOTHER FAYE – BURNING SECRET/THE TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS/THE YARDS This week on Hollywood Royalty, Faye is mother. Literally. In this episode, we look at three notable times the actress took on mother/matriarchal roles in the years since Mommie Dearest‘s release. First up is the 1988 arthouse film Burning Secret, where Faye plays […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE 8 – CHINATOWN Our next stop through 60s/70s Faye sees us taking a visit to Chinatown, the 1974 Oscar-winning movie that recreates 1937’s Los Angeles for a tale of murder and corruption. An Oscar-nominated Faye enjoys one of the best roles of the decade as a femme fatale harboring dark secrets, which local […]

THE MADISON SERIES REVIEW John Steinbeck once said “I’m in love with Montana. For other states, I have admiration, respect, recognight, even some affection. But with Montana, it is love.”  Paramount Plus presents  the new show by Taylor Sheridan; a story of a man who had two great loves in his life: his wife, and […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: EP.8 – ON A MOONLIT NIGHT/GIA/THE RULES OF ATTRACTION On this episode of Hollywood Royalty we look at Faye as the quintessential director’s actress; the kind of screen performer whose choices and collaborations tended to challenge traditional movie conventions. We begin with 1989’s On a Moonlit Night, where Faye plays an executive blackmailed by […]

LORNE MOVIE REVIEW There has been no shortage of media analysis of the unexpected phenomenon that is Saturday Night Live. More books and documentaries about aspects of it from all different viewpoints have been released than would be practical to print here. But not much in specific is said about the man himself: the guy […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE EP 7: THE ARRANGEMENT For our next venture into 60s/70s Faye, we look at the reunion between the actress and her early mentor, writer/director Elia Kazan with 1969’s The Arrangement, adapted from his own novel. The film tells the story of a top advertising executive named Eddie (Kirk Douglas), who experiences a […]

BAIT SERIES REVIEW Tomorrow Never Dies at the James Bond Rumour mill and with Amazon pulling the strings, The World is Not Enough. It’ll take a real GoldenEye casting director to pick the next actor to be On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Comment sections are being real Dr. No about all suggestions stepping away from […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: EP 7: ELLIS ISLAND/CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS On this special episode of Hollywood Royalty, we break from the show’s traditional three-title format of TV movie/arthouse film/mainstream title to look at Faye: The Miniseries and the two plum roles the actress found herself taking on in a pair of lavish, large-scale productions made for the small […]

HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: MINISODE 6 – THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR On this round of 60s/70s Faye, we look over our shoulder to make sure no one is watching before we revisit the actress in paranoia mode with 1975’s Three Days of the Condor. Sydney Pollack directs this tale of a CIA researcher named Turner (Robert […]

LOVE STORY MOVIE REVIEW Love is a many splendored thing, and back in the 90’s two lovers, named John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, kissed and the world stood still. The two would be lifted up by love where they belonged but alas not every love is like like in the storybooks. While all […]