When talking about director and screenwriter Billy Wilder, one really only needs to list the titles of his many triumphs in genres as disparate as light comedy and film noir. The Apartment. Double Indemnity. Sunset Boulevard. Some Like It Hot. The Lot Weekend. Sabrina. Stalag 17. The Austrian-American filmmaker was so prolific and so brilliant that even his minor works like Ace in the Hole, a scathing indictment of journalism, are unforgettable. I really can't articulate just how wonderful... READ ON

A lot of readers seemed to enjoy last week's look at the early roles of actors who went on to bigger and better things (and you guys came up with a lot of good ones on your own as well!) Your collective power of recall inspired me to so some further sleuthing through the archives; I hope you enjoy this second installment of big hair and bad fashions! 1. Michelle Pfeiffer After Animal House became a bona fide box office hit, all three TV networks scrambled to get a frat-house sitcom on the air... READ ON

You'd have to be living in the center of a really thick forest not to know by now that the world's forests are disappearing little by little. And while it's true that they still cover about 30 percent of the earth's land area, swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. At the current rate of deforestation, the world's rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years. So that's the future, which looks pretty grim. But what about the past? Here... READ ON

My Dad is something of a star-spotter. He loves to pick out famous actors in bit roles they played early in their careers. Even at age 85, he's got a great memory for faces, but coming up with the name has always been problematic: "That's what's-his-name, you know, that kid"¦.he was on that show, the one with the horse, you know who I mean"¦" For those of you who also frequently recognize young faces in old shows, here's a quick cheat sheet of who to watch... READ ON