The B Film: Hollywoods Other Half Brian Taves Beyond the industrial structures and the typical glossy Hollywood cinema described elsewhere in this volume, there is another entire category of American fictional feature films created and shown under...

A "B" movie, according to industry lore, is a movie in which the sets shake when an actor slams the door. Although it has come to mean any low-budget feature that appeals to the broadest possible audience, the term "B"...

Jeanne Carmen, a 1950s pinup girl, B-movie actress and trick-shot golfer who hobnobbed with Frank Sinatra and other stars, has died. She was 77.Carmen died of lymphoma on Thursday at her Orange County home, said her son, Brandon James.Born on Aug. 4, 1930, in Paragould,...

YOU KILL ME Running time 92 minutes Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Directed by John DahlStarring Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson John Dahl’s You Kill Me, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, reaffirms Mr. Dahl’s distinctive role as the...

Maila Nurmi, whose "Vampira" TV persona pioneered the spooky-yet-sexy Goth aesthetic, has died, coroner's officials said. She was 85.Nurmi died Thursday afternoon at her Hollywood home, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said. The cause of death has not been determined, Corral said.Nurmi created...

Blaxploitation flicks, badly dubbed kung fu movies and spaghetti Westerns. Cheesy effects, corny dialogue and lousy technical quality. Sex, violence and gleefully over-the-top gore.All of this and so much more _ or less, depending on your perspective _ inspired "Grindhouse," which longtime friends Robert Rodriguez...