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Just a note to those who appreciate classic cinema: The fantastic NOTORIOUS starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman and directed by Hitchcock plays tonight on Turner Classic Movies at 8 p.m. I've seen it a dozen times but never miss an opportunity. The war-time thriller is one of the most stylish films ever shot, it's James Bond before James Bond, with every frame a work of art.

INFAMOUS won't hit bookstores until April 15th but in expectation, here's an overview of George Kelly's life from . Enjoy -- Ace

George "Machine Gun" Kelly is probably considered one of the most famous "gangsters" from the prohibition era. "Machine Gun" was born George Kelly Barnes on July 18, 1895, to a wealthy family living in Memphis, Tennessee. Kelly's early years as a child were essentially uneventful and his family raised him in a traditional household. His first ...

The City of Lost Angels

Another woman slain makes a crime fiction writer conclude: It's a man's world. We just die in it
By Christa Faust

Los Angeles magazine, December 2009

In August a 28-year-old swimsuit model was murdered, her mutilated corpse stuffed into a suitcase and dumped behind an apartment complex in Buena Park. In an attempt to prevent the identification of her remains, her killer had pulled out her teeth and sliced off the tips of her fingers. But his plan was foiled by one of the m...

After electrifying the recording world, television and live audiences of the 1950s with his bump-and-grind brand of rock-and-roll, Elvis Presley made his movie debut in the 20th Century Fox Western Love Me Tender (1956). He seemed at least partly intent upon becoming a serious actor in some of his early roles: a semi-autobiographical part in Paramount's Loving You (1957); an ex-con rocker in MGM's Jailhouse Rock (1957); and, back at Paramount, a young delinquent (a part once mentioned for J...

MGM director W.S. ("Woody") Van Dyke was a big fan of detective novels - he'd even written a few himself. When he learned that the studio had the rights to Dashiell Hammett's novel, The Thin Man, Van Dyke thought the story of private eye Nick Charles and his wife Nora would make a terrific film. The couple is rich, witty, sophisticated, and very much in love. Nick has retired from sleuthing, but is drawn back to solve the disappearance of a former client, the "Thin Man" of the title.

Woody Van...

A buddy of mine recently commented that one of the worst things about Christmas was the crappy music. And while I have to agree after a recent trip to a Memphis shopping mall, I'd like to offer a few alternatives to Celine Dion, Mannheim Steamroller, Michael Buble and various assorted junk.

This is by no means supposed to be a Best of or Top Five list, only a few off-the-cuff recommendations that have been continual favorites in the Atkins' household. Anyone who has more, please add your comme...