Markie Post At The Hallmark Channel Winter Gala 2011

At 60, former NIGHT COURT actress Markie Post well proves that she's still one of the most beautiful older young women in the whole world. Wow, what a major league babe! Good genes might have a lot to do with it. She's the daughter of scientist Richard F. Post. Put her back on TV at primetime and I'll religiously watch. I promise.

Maria Schneider Star Of LAST TANGO IN PARIS Dies

Maria Schneider was just 19 when she starred in the controversial 1972 film LAST TANGO IN PARIS with Marlon Brando. The actress has died at the age of 58 from breast cancer. At the time the film was very controversial and viewed as soft core porn by some, however more serious film critics recognized the quality of this film and actor Marlon Brando was Oscar nominated for best actor that year.

The film involved a sexual relationship with an older man(Marlon Brando's character) as well as full frontal nudity from the teenage actress, and the screenplay involved some elements of sexual violence, which helped to evoke some protests by both feminist as well as censorship groups. At the time the movie was rated X, however the X rating was very controversial in those days when mainstream films branded with the dreaded X rating were often mistaken for pornography, leading the MPAA to enact a new NC17 rating. However, the new NC17 rating often ran into problem with theatres avoiding such such films. An edited R rated version of the film was also produced.

On the small $1.25 million budget the film grossed more than $96 million dollars.

LAST TANGO IN PARIS was one of the only international films that Maria Schneider starred in. But, she was an actress in a long list of films in France. The actress was born in Paris, and a popular actress in her native land, however LAST TANGO IN PARIS failed to translate into much international success for her career. Marlon Brando received most of the fanfare for the film and greatly overshadowed the young actress, where it was only her fifth appearance in film at the time.

The White Stripes Call It Quits

The White Stripes, the legendary alternative music duo featuring the former married couple, Jack and Meg White, have called it quits as an act. The couple actually divorced way back in 2000 just before attaining success, but continued to perform together for professional reasons after the four year marriage dissolved. With six albums and 26 singles behind the act, they attained a huge degree of success for in the world of alternative rock music.

In 2003, the act hit #1 on the album charts with ELEPHANT in the UK and #6 in the U.S., and followed up that success with GET BEHIND ME SATAN(2005) and ICKY THUMP(2007), but seemed to be on an extended hiatus since. However, the news of the professional breakup still had to a disappointment to millions of fans of the act.

Some singles such as "Seven Nation Army" brought the band a huge degree of success and acted as a great promotion for the act.

I think this act had a lot more good music in them. Maybe, as a Jack White solo act more good stuff will still emerge. One can only hope.

Dry Humping With The Stars: Lady Gaga

Some celebs like to get a little frisky in public sometimes and just can't quite wait to make it to the bedroom. And Lady Gaga is sure no exception here. Here's the song queen getting a little head start on some private bedroom fun time with her boyfriend on a public beach in Greece.

Hey, get a room!

January Auto Sales Make Huge Surge

In more good news for the once beleaguered auto market, America's three largest auto makers all reported huge January sales gains. GM sales were up a whopping 36%, while Ford rose 27% and Chrysler rose 23%. Chrysler's sales were buoyed by a giant 47% increase in Jeep sales for January.

Import automakers such as Toyota scored some gains as well, however Kia scored gains in excess of 25% and Hyundai had a 22% increase. Mazda was one of few brands to post lower sales, with a 9% decline.

Overall, January was a great month for auto sales with the average increase of 23%. The sharp untick in auto sales should be a good omen of an improving economy.

Mugshots Of The Stars: Jaime Pressly Formally Charged With DUI

33 year old actress Jaime Pressly has been formally charged in California following a suspected DUI traffic stop that took place on Jan 5. This came only days after she filed for divorce from her husband of only 15 months, Simron Singh.

Pressly has been charged with two misdemeanor charges related to having a blood alcohol content of .20 or higher. At the time of the January traffic stop she was released from jail after posting a $15,000 bond.

The actress was probably best known as Joy Turner on NBC's MY NAME IS EARL which ran for several seasons on the Peacock network.

DVD Review: THE TOWN

Ben Affleck really surprised me what a talented screenplay writer he can be here. THE TOWN is a nearly flawless, nearly excellent movie. It is easily one of the very best movies of 2010. What a great film. One of the best crime story films I've seen in some time. A great screenplay.

Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, there is a neighborhood called Charlestown which is known as the bank robbery capital of the U.S. because of the high preponderance of crime. And a group of Irish American hoodlums engage in a series of violent bank and armored car robberies often dressed as grotesque Catholic nuns. And where these nuns go, trouble certainly follows.

What makes one of their bank robberies so complicated is that Ben Affleck's character who is Doug McRay is involved in the abduction of a bank teller who the robbers forced to open a bank safe, but then McRay later makes contact with the female teller and begins to fall for her. Because she is so traumatized by the robbery, she quits her job at the bank, but then becomes a suspect by the FBI for being involved in an inside crime because her relationship with Doug McRay is being tracked by the FBI agents. This creates a huge problem for both characters and adds unique literary tensions to this story.

Ben Affleck is at his peak as an actor here as well. He's in fine form as are the other actors such as Jeremy Renner who was so good in THE HURT LOCKER. THE TOWN is a highly recommended film for sure. You won't be disappointed with this very fine film. It's so good.

The Bottom Line: One of the very best films of 2010 makes for a great DVD treat. +++ 1/2 (Three and a half stars, or just an eyelash shy of being excellent. Extremely good. I wish every film I had to review was as fine as this one. Enjoy this one!).