Buddy B at the 88th Annual Academy Awards

Chris Rock rocked the Oscars as host tonight. Firstly, there were so many beautifully tasteful and classy frocks on the red carpet.

The presenters this year represented diversity, an apology to its lack of black nominees, obviously. Rock had a lot to say on the subject, keeping it comic. "Welcome to the White People's Choice Award!"

I wasn't thrilled by The Revenant's Best Actor win, though DiCaprio did get an opportunity to criticize climate deniers, much to the obvious pleasure of presenter Joe Biden.Biden was an eloquent presenter, announcing Lady Gaga's Award nomination for her hard-hitting song about rape, "Till It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground. I was disappointed it didn't win.

Mad Max: Fury Road swept the technical awards and picked up six Oscars.

I was hoping that Cate would win the Best Actress nom; instead, it went to Brie Larson for Room which was, indeed, another fine performance. Spotlight, a very worthwhile film, won for Best Picture.

All in all, a very satisfying Oscar night. Even with no Meryl Streep in sight!

Buddy Beaverhausen's Random Thoughts: Buddy B Gets His Head Examined, part 2

Once more into the breach!

I had another wicked fall and bloodied my head once more. I had my last public physical collapse, from vertigo, in 2013.

This time, I was taking out the recyclables on Wednesday night when I slipped on the rain-slicked pavement and a landed on the back of my head. A neighbor saw this, strolled into the deli and said, "Charlie's lying on the sidewalk and his head's bleeding. I think he's gonna die." What a concerned reaction! And what a putz!

My friends in the deli, Sam and Shaq, immediately took action. They phoned 911 and even helped get me on the stretcher. And off I went to NYU Lutheran Hospital.

The staff there is very attentive and professional. Many young NYU med graduates. Top-notch nurses. Very clean, sanitary environment, as opposed to, say, the old St. Vincent's in Manhattan.

There was testing galore. CAT-scans, x-rays and even more.  Had so many blood draws and injections, they were running out of available veins. I even had my cerebral arteries checked.

I wasn't discharged until Saturday at around 4pm. I have to visit Monday to talk with a social worker and have my sutures removed.

A car service was called for me.  NYU Lutheran's in Sunset Park, just a 10-minute car ride to Bay Ridge. So now I'm home and life is back to normal it appears. SNAFU!

Special thanks to Shaq [pictured at right] and Sam, my heroes!

Beaverhausen Book Nook: Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train

A three-day hospital stay is a great time for a good book. Luckily, a close friend lent me Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train to read.

Strangers was a hit 1951 Hitchcock film, mostly faithful to the novel, and not missing out on the gay subtext of the relationship between Guy (the gorgeous Farley Granger) and Bruno (Robert Walker). Raymond Chandler co-wrote the screenplay.

The author, from Fort Worth, Texas, was alcoholic, unpleasant to most people due to her misanthropic attitude, a lesbian and an existentialist. This didn't exactly endear her to the  entertainment industries at the time though she was a very talented writer and recognized as such later in life.

Highsmith also wrote The Talented Mr Ripley and The Price of Salt, the latter being the basis for the Oscar-nominated film Carol.

As for Strangers on a Train, there's a distinct brilliance to the plotting which can best be enjoyed, perhaps, on the printed page. The plot involves two young and handsome men who meet on a train and eventually plan a mutual murder scheme. Of course, drama and complications ensue.

I think, based on reading the novel, that Walker was not the best choice to play Bruno, though he was a wonderful actor. He just doesn't resemble the character described in the book.

Cine Beaverhausen: Dario Argento and the Modern Horror Film

Italy! Home of fashion, architecture and design... and the giallo films that are the inception of the modern horror film.

Giallo translates as yellow or, possibly, jaundiced in English. These films incorporate all of the categories of Italian fashion with blood, violence, and sometimes a little bit of sex.

Indeed, it can be argued that Alfred Hitchcock was the daddy of modern horror films when he made Psycho and The Birds back in the '60s, inspiring imitations and even remakes. But it was Dario Argento who pushed the envelope while acknowledging his debt to Hitch.

Born in Rome, Argento started as a film critic there, then started work with Sergio Leone before directing his own terror tales. My three favorites: Suspiria (1977), Phenomena ('85) and Opera ('87).

My lover at the time, Marty, and I saw Suspiria at the movies on its initial release. Marty pointed out how classic film star Joan Bennett looked drunk throughout -- and only knew when to stop when bumping into the fashionable furniture. Alida Valli's also in this film about a coven of witches running a ballet school. Jessica Harper headlines as our damsel in distress.

Phenomena stars a very young Jennifer Connelly who attends a creepy Swiss boarding school. Her psychic ability to communicate with insects comes in handy. Donald Pleasance co-stars. Very frightening climax.

And Opera is chilling but recommended for strong-at-heart horror fans.

All three are available now on dvd with plenty of extras. Warning: These films may give you nightmares.

Video Beaverhausen: Love Has Many Faces with Lana Turner

This film should have been titled Lana Has Many Costume Changes.  At this point, Lana Turner had become more of a fashion plate than an actress. Watch her vogue and give good face -- maybe many of them!

You may be surprised at how daring Love Has Many Faces was for its time (1965). And, interestingly enough, this sleaze with ease, trash with flash was written by a woman, Margaurite Roberts.

Lana is a rich bitch married to aging ex-gigolo Cliff Robertson. Hugh O'Brien looks quite hot in this, especially when shirtless. (Oh, Maverick!) Stefanie Powers is aboard as are Ruth Roman and Virginia Grey. And it all takes place in glamorous Acapulco. The color cinematography is sumptuous.

Beach boys galore provide plenty of eye candy. But nothing can compare to Lana's fabulous frocks! The story is some trifle about a murder, so there's a bit of a mystery here though, really, who cares!

By the way, I've heard some people refer to this film as Love Has Many Facelifts.

Available on dvd from Columbia Pictures.

Video Beaverhausen: Joan Crawford, I Saw What You Did!

Crawford again co-stars with John Ireland in William Castle's I Saw What You Did (and I Know Who You Are). He also played her lover in Queen Bee. Whenever these two get it on, things don't end up so well for them in the end.

The plot involves two teenage girls who phone random people for kicks with crank calls. Thank Gd for caller i.d., huh? But they didn't have that in 1965, which is when this flick was made. So dial away for shits and giggles!

Leif Erickson, who co-starred with Joan in Castle's Strait-jacket, is also in this.

The film is indeed suspenseful and the acting is strong and convincing. This was Ms Crawford's last film for Castle before working with Herman Cohen in Berserk and -- gulp! -- Trog.

It's silly, its as campy as anything you'll ever see, but you'll certainly get a few scares as well.

Available on dvd from Universal Studio's Vault Series. I originally saw this, age 13, at the Clifton Theater on Main Ave., Clifton NJ.

Cine Beaverhausen: Love the Coopers with an All-star Cast

Love the Coopers? Heck, I didn't even like the Coopers!

This holiday-timed 2015 release is what we now call a "dramedy." And maybe it wasn't intended that I like this dysfunctional family. By film's end, they do, redeemingly,however,  re-discover the importance of family ties and of the holiday spirit.

The film boasts an all-star cast, and Diane Keaton and John Goodman shine as a married couple here.

Alan Arkin is in this as are Marisa Tomei, Amanda Seyfried and many others. Steve Martin occasionally narrates as the voice of the family dog.

Leo Tolstoy wrote "Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" and you might find that applies here. Or you may identify with it dearly.

Worth watching, though -- warning -- it's not to everyone's taste.

Exclusive Q&A with MargOH Channing!

Buddy Beaverhausen:: It was such s great pleasure to finally see your show. At Pangea, your guest star was Broadway's Nellie McKay. Your first show there  had Randy Jones of the original Village People with you. How do you manage to attract such wonderful artists to share your stage?
MargOH Channing: Well, I happen to know both of them from years ago. Nellie was a guest on the Manhattan cable tv show I had, and that's how we met.

BB: What, and who, inspires your material?
MC: I was a big fan of exploitation films, especially Russ Meyers. So I got the idea of doing MargOH from those films. Also, my own mother, who's a lot of fun and has always been a big jokester.

BB: How did you hook up with your co-star Man-ee Champagne? You make a great team.
MC: I've known Manny for over 20 years. It's an old love affair story; we met at a bar. It was in Providence, Rhode Island but we moved together to New York.

BB: Any plans to return to Pangea?
MC: Yes, I expect to be back there on May 19th
BB:Yay! Just after my birthday!
MC: Show's called "Hello, It's Me, Margoh!" We're lining up guests and, of course, Manee will be with me.

BB: What are your favorite movies of all-time?
MC: So many! My number one is Moonstruck with Cher. And anything with Judy Garland.

BB: It was so great seeing your mom with you at the show. She obviously supports what you do.
MC: She's a big supporter. And it was great for me to see her here in Manhattan, at Pangea, supporting me. All my family supports me.

BB: How do you play drunk so well?
MC: I had some practice. [laughs]. But it's acting. Part of my character. I watched Totie Fields, Foster Brooks. But you really can't drink and go on-stage. I learned that early on.

BB: Who are your favorite divas nowadays? And who are your most despised?
MC: That's a tough one. I love Adele. So talented and seems so down-to-Earth. Love Madonna; saw the Rebel Heart concert twice.  I don't really care for Iggy Azealia. Just kind of annoying. Not a big fan of Rihanna, either. A little too over the top for me.

BB: It was my friend, Nick Lion, who introduced me to your show. How do you know Nick?
MC: He's been such a big supporter for me and I love him. But we only hooked up on-line.

BB: Any last shout-outs to our readers?
MC: Thanks for your support. Lots of love. And come see my show in May!

BB: Thank you so much MargOH!
MC: Thank you, Buddy Beaverhausen!

Video Beaverhausen: Carmen Miranda ~ Bananas Is My Business

I first saw Bananas Is My Business at the Film Forum in Manhattan during its 1995 release. It's a spectacular documentary about our girl in the tutti frutti hat.

Carmen was the original bananarama, and here she is shown in all her divine, campy glory. You could make banana splits from some of her headdresses!

The film won awards at the Brazil and Havana film festivals. It is a pastiche of archival footage, some of it quite rare, and a few enacted recreations.

Like many great female stars of the silver screen, like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, she was ultimately forced to become an on-screen caricature of herself.

The documentary is full of many interesting and little known facts about Ms Miranda and her achievements. She's the first South American to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for instance.

Brava Carmen and bravo Bananas Is My Business!

On the Town with Buddy Beaverhausen: Jimmie Bush at NYC's Metropolitan Room

I did a Q&A with Jimmie a while ago but, unfortunately, had a serious accident the morning before the show. So, it was so good to finally attend his latest appearance at the Metropolitan Room!

Strongly built to match his strong voice at 6'7" with a 15 shoe size.

He well covered many a Motown number along with standards by the likes of Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdink and didn't once disappoint.

The Metropolitan Room's Bernie and JoAnne Furshpan were there and we got to share some hugs and kisses before the show.

Jimmie was  dressed formally though I noticed audience members undressing him with their eyes.

Don't miss Jimmie the next time he's in town!

Buddy Beaverhausen's Random Thoughts: Saint Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day! The day we celebrate romantic and courtly love. I hope you all have a good one!

It is a liturgical celebration of Saint Valentine, actually, that has been commercialized to boost store sales after the Christmas holiday, particularly regarding cards and pastries.

It's pleasant and harmless enough, though it does put pressure on single people to find a mate, leading some to get desperate. Expect the bars to be packed tonight.

Modern Valentine's Day is linked to ancient Roman and Greek fertility rites that occurred around this same time.

Recently, Valentine's Day has been extended to be a day of Platonic love with family and friends. More card and cake sales!

Unfortunately, it is not an official holiday at workplaces, so nobody gets the day off.

Nonetheless, Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Video Beaverhausen: Lana Turner Trips Out on LSD in The Big Cube!

Lana Turner was far from her glory days when she made 1969's The Big Cube. Lana on acid but it's a bad trip, I warn you!

It's a campy psychedelic throwback with Ms Turner tripping on LSD that are put into her sugar cubes for tea. Unintentional hilarious at moments, though not enough of them to make this interesting.

Ms Turner was far from her glamor days here, though she works her frocks quite well. This is no The Postman Rings Twice or Imitation of Life. Hell, it's not even Love Has Many Faces!

Lana, in tis, is a rich widow with greedy kids spiking her tea with LSD to be able to get to her money by declaring her insane. The whole premise is, frankly, completely ridiculous!

Richard Egan and George Chakiris are in this, too. Hope all had a happy payday for their efforts.

Big Cube becomes a big bore. Not recommended by me except to the most devout camp devotees.

Cine Beaverhausen: The Boy

The horror thriller The Boy is still holding in there at local cinemas. It's about an American nanny in England, hired by a British couple to tend to their son Brahms -- who happens to be a doll. They leave her alone to care for him with a list of instructions she is told she must follow.

Creepy premise and several scares along the way for horror-film mavens. Lots of Gothic atmosphere.

The Boy is memorable, refreshingly original and very entertaining right to the bitter end.

Sturdy direction by William Brent Bell, original script by Stacey Menear, starring Lauren Cohan and Rupert Evans. The entire cast shines in this eerie film that does not rely on sadistic gore effects for its scares. It was released January 22 by STX Entertainment and shot in British Columbia, Canada, actually.

Just about 90-minutes long, this is a trim and tidy sort of thriller with a surprise ending. Recommended very highly to fans of this sort of spooky kind of thing.

Video Beaverhausen: Carmen Miranda Is Copacetic at the Copacabana with Groucho

Crazy fun when Carmen Miranda meets Groucho Marx at the Copacabana!

The pair had real comic chemistry in this film that is incredibly silly fun. It's directed with a sturdy hand by Alfred E. Green. And the eternally handsome Steve Cochran co-stars.

Complications ensue when agent Groucho books Carmen as two different acts at the Copa: as Carmen and French chanteuse Fifi.

Groucho gets in some great one-liners and works those eyebrows better than Joan Crawford. Miranda is also quite funny, displaying her comic talent.

It's all sit-comish but it's a lark. Recommended if you're looking just a little fun from the golden days of Hollywood. And a Tico Tico to you all!

Cine Beaverhausen: Catching Up with the Oscars and Room

Room is nominated for Best Film, Actress, Director and Screenplay. I recommend this beautifully made film.

The boy in this, Jacob Tremblay, deserves an Oscar himself. Actress Brie Lyon already won a Golden Globe. This promises to be a very interesting year of the Academy Awards.

Room is absolutely heart wrenching.  A mother, held captive with her son, escapes but has to face the scary, real world with him.

This is a story about hope and devotion. A bit of a love story, a bit of a thriller, it will stick in your memory. Based on a novel by Emma Donoghue.

I can't recommend this film highly enough. Run to see it at theaters now. Brilliant and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

Cine Beaverhausen Catches Up with the Oscar Nominees: Trumbo

Bryan Cranston is a Best Actor Oscar nominee for his performance in the biopic, Trumbo. The movie details how top-tier 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo became blacklisted in the early 1950s during the McCarthy hearings.

The film sports a grand cast. Diane Lane plays Dalton's wife in a poignantly understated acting job. Helen Mirren, who's in practically everything it seems, is right-wing Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper; a serious role that, nonetheless, has a camp edge to it.

John Goodman's excellent herein. Elle Fanning's in this, too. And David James Elliott makes a fine John Wayne. (I just love to look at the guy, frankly. Is that so wrong?)

This film is still politically relevant today, unfortunately, especially in America. "Are you, or have you ever been, a homosexual?" With our current Congress, that doesn't seem so far-fetched.

Script by John McNamara from a book by Bruce Cook, directed by Jay Roach. Not mere agitprop, this is a beautifully made film all around. Impressive score by Theodore Shapiro, vivid cinematography by Jim Denault.

Cranston and Mirren won Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for their work in Trumbo. If Cranston loses to the likes of Matt Damon or Leonardo, I will spit nails. Just warning everyone.












'

Cine Beaverhausen: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

Sisters are doing it it for themselves in the tacky but campy and sometimes scary film version of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

Based on the book by Jane Austen with a grafted-on zombie story line by Seth Grahame Smith. It's meant to be a parody, not to be taken seriously by any means.

I was surprised by the emotionally touching moments. It's just totally fun and buy yourself some popcorn and a soft drink for this.

Sturdy direction with a wonderful -- mostly good-looking cast, many of them newcomers to the silver screen. I went to the local cinema to see this. Lots of fun. I recommend it.

Zombies, before George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, were not cannibalistic. More like undead sleep-walkers. But now flesh-eating zombies are the rage, even on tv. This release definitely exploits the trend.

Austen purists will, of course, hate this.

Charles Dance is in this, lending class. Lily James stars. Not for everyone, but parody and camp and horror mavens should eat this up. Trash with class!

Cine Beaverhausen: Robert De Niro Is Dirty Grandpa

In Dirty Grandpa, Robert De Niro is clearly having fun. It's a rather middling comedy, but the actor gets to show off his comic skills.

While the humor is sophomoric and politically incorrect, I got a few laughs out of this lightweight endeavor.

While hardly a comedy classic, it's certainly entertaining enough if you're in the mood for this sort of thing. Still at theaters, it goes great with popcorn and a Pepsi, and has been well received at the box-office, though critically drubbed.

It's a road movie and Zac Efron co-stars, looking mighty fine and in fine shape as a comic sidekick, too. Eye candy always helps although Efron is not just a pretty boy but a fine actor worthy of his co-star.

Some have said De Niro is slumming it in this, but I think he's showing off his versatility as a mature actor. How many featured roles are there for a man of his age? Definitely geared to a younger generation and to the frat boy crowd, Dirty Grandpa is worth some chuckles and a few snickers as well. You could find a worse way to spend your idle time.

On the Town with Buddy Beaverhausen: MargOh Channing at Pangea

Joined Nick Lion for a night loaded with laughs and great fun all around at Pangea in the East Village.

MargOh Channing was starring and she performed in character, in a slyly sloshy style

What a great room Pangea is, full of kind, prompt service and it's handicap-friendly. It was my friend, Kevin Scott Hall, who, amongst others, convinced the owner, Stephen Shanaghan, to open the dining room as a cabaret. Wonderful idea!

"UnCorked" was the title of MargOh's show and she shared the stage with the sexy Man-ee Champagne on background vocals and, sometimes. as lead or solo  singer. Songs ranged from classics like "I Got You Babe" to "I've Written a Letter to Daddy."

None other than the great Nellie McKay (pronounce Kye, gov'na!} was MargOh's special guest for her final show for now at Pangea, at least for a while. She had a great, satirical political number, "You Govern," and joined MargOh in a duet by singing "Over the Rainbow."

I was the evening's paparazzi. Snap, snap, snap for this ingenious and snappy production at this idyllic, intimate room. Tracy Stark was accompanist, astounding as always on piano and there was a terrific drummer onstage as well.

After the show, after Nick and I had a drink and free shot at the bar, we went home. On the street outside, Nick first ran into Flotilla DeBarge, out of drag, soon to appear at Pangea cabaret in his own show on Valentine's Day night. Expect new Q&As with both MarGoh and Flotilla very soon!

Special thanks to Nick's better half for driving me home to Bay Ridge!

Our sexy waiter, Venny!

The sexy manager, Stephen Shanaghan

Tracy Stark, Nick Lion, Margoh

Flotilla & Nick

Rubbing Elbows. Brushes with Celebrities and How I Became Buddy Beaverhausen, Celebrity Blogger: a Memoir (chapter 1 preview)

It was the summer of 1975 and I was three years out of University of Colorado. I moved from my mom's house in our hometown of Paterson, NJ, just 20 miles from New York City, where I intended to live. All these years later, I live here still.

I got myself a fleabag room in a West Village hotel that, nowadays, is quite elegant. I applied for a job as a host at The Bottom Line, and I got it. I escorted people to their seats for the shows.

It was just a little more than minimum wage but I had a fun crew to work with and a great group to hang out with afterwords, mostly for drinks from our tip money, at the nearby Phoebe's, itself a legend that is still around on The Bowery.

Free kitchen food at The Bottom Line was a perk! Great burgers & fries, chef salad -- were my favorites. I never left hungry.

My first show at The Bottom Line featured Bruce Springsteen as their star. It was that week, in June, that Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. The house was packed to the rafters for that five-night engagement.

The now-classic Thunder Road album was about to be released, and he and the original E-Street Band opened with "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." Chills ran up and down my spine. A star was born!

But, before he even took to the stage, I saw Bruce shirtless in his dressing room, and my heart skipped a beat! What a lithe, muscular body!

My bosses, Alan Pepper and the late Stanley Snadowsky, asked me to go backstage and get some chairs back for the patrons. It was a daunting task but I thought they were testing my mettle.

So, backstage I went, where Bruce was having his torso powder-puffed by a female assistant. He gave me a big grin and I practically melted. I passed on the request and he was totally agreable. His entourage carried seats back out to the audience.

And thus began my brushes with celebrities. Eventually, I got a promotion to Bottom Line's box-office, where I often dealt with celebs -- like Bette Midler and Lou Reed -- face-to-face. But those are stories to be told later in this book.

Buddy Beaverhausen's Random Thoughts: Groundhog Day 2016

Today is Groundhog Day. It's an American ritual dating back to the 19th century.

A top-hat wearing "Inner Circle" announce Punxsutawney Phil's prediction at sunrise.

And ~ hoorah! ~ Phil, the groundhog, didn't see his shadow, predicting an early Spring. I think he might be right!

We had a blizzard here in NYC but it's basically been a mild winter with temperatures back on the rise in February.

Bill Murray had a very successful film comedy about Groundhog Day, entitled just that. Recommended viewing for the day. And, no, everyone, work places do not give workers a day off today in the United States.

ps: This is only the 18th time in history Phil has predicted an early spring. Love you, Punxy!

Cine Beaverhausen: Bloody Hell, Macbeth Is Back!

William Shakespeare's MacBeth still fascinates audiences until this day. It's blend of top-tier drama and the action sequences makes it a favorite today for stage revivals and motion pictures alike.

I've been around long enough to see all screen adaptions, from Orson Wells' 1948 version with thick Scottish brogues that sound like they came from an old Campbell's Soup commercial on tv.

In the wake of wife Sharon Tate's brutal slaying, Roman Polanski made a brilliant but bloody MacBeth.

Ralph Fiennes was a wonderful MacBeth on Broadway. Kenneth Branagh is preparing his version of for film I hear. MacBeth is virtually indestructible.

I just watched the latest film version with Michael Fassbender in the title role, and the wonderful Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

I was thrilled by this recent production, but be prepared. As directed by Australia's Justin Kurzel, it's bloody hell, starting with the three witches' opening scenes.

Fassbender and Cotillard are nothing short of brilliant, and have great chemistry together. The film was barely released during the 2015 holiday season here, though was successful abroad. Highly recommended viewing according to Buddy B!