Return of the Dead Guy...

Hollywood is filled with stories of death. There is a long-standing history of tragedy on stage and screen. And with it comes ghostly tales from the earliest days to modern times. Yet not every strange story is of the dead and famous. Sometimes it's the celebrities themselves who encounter things that go bump in the night. Even gay ones.

This was certainly true for actor Carrie Fisher, known best as 'Princess Leia' from the original Star Wars Trilogy. A close gay friend, republican operative Robert Gregory Stevens, visited her in February 2005. He enjoyed a good party and was quite fond of recreational drug use, something Fisher had battled in her past. He slept in her bed, allowing his female assistant to have the guest room of Fisher's beautiful old home in Beverly Hills. On the night of February 25, he returned very late and the two fell asleep after midnight. Bruce Cohen arrived early the following day to take Carrie to tango lessons. To her horror, Stevens had passed away in the night. She woke up beside the corpse of her friend.

Being carted away by the coroner was not the final exit of Stevens from Fisher's home. His death sparked a string of strange phenomena in her home leading her to believe his ghost remained behind. There were footsteps and light switches with minds of their own. The activity gave her another breakdown. Drugs seemed to be her only escape. After some time, the paranormal activity ceased, though Fisher can't be sure he has left for good.

Carrie went on Celebrity Ghost Stories during its first season to tell her story. Her experience is followed by a few other noteworthy people: gay cult filmmaker John Waters and Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan. Here's the full episode. Carrie Fisher's story is first. Immediately after it is Waters and his childhood experience.

Where Reality and Cinema Diverge...

Last weekend, I went with some friends to see A Haunting in Connecticut, as part of an outing with Western Reserve Paranormal. Honestly, even after recovering from the shock of the $9.00 ticket, my hopes weren't too high that the film would be stupendous. From my experience, movies "based on real events" often end up being more fiction than non-fiction.

I can't go on endlessly about what a fantastic film it was. In my opinion (and I'm by no means some professional critic, nor anywhere near as bitter as most of those people), it was decent. By that, I mean I didn't walk away overly disappointed. It was better than the trainwreck I expected. It's not worthy of an Oscar, but it wasn't a waste of celluloid. Sure, it was very predictable and contrived in parts. Truth was stretched to incredible bounds to tell an enthusiastic, entertaining story. But that's Hollywood.

I have a difficult time dissing directors, filmmakers, and screenwriters simply because I understand the level of work going into a project. So, I have nothing negative to say about the overall product. They did a fair job on turning a true story into something screen-worthy. It won't be making my Top Ten Film list, but it's not lining my trash bin, either. I'd consider buying the DVD, which says enough that I thought it was crafted well. And I'm a sucker for Special Features that dig into the behind-the-scenes work and true story behind the film. If it has those things, I'll be in line for a copy for sure.

Before you criticize the film's expectable scares and altered reality, realize that to tell a story, even true events must be twisted to follow a plot line. Most movies follow a formula not because writers lack creativity, but because we expect films to be done in a certain manner. Anything else is avant garde. To propel a storyline, characters have to be created, changed, and fiddled with. A beginning and end must be formed, with the climactic scene being the pivot point. It's part of the storytelling process that has existed in human consciousness for thousands of years.

For anyone interested in creepy movies, I say it's worth at least a rental. But if you're a history lover like I am, set aside reality for a few hours and just enjoy the ride.

Feel the Vibrations...

Fresh from her split last month with Rafaello Follieri, actress Anne Hathaway is doing her best to concentrate on her new movie Get Smart and not on the typical Hollywood drama.

Some of that help has come in the form of a "psychic masseuse" whom she visits.

During Oscar time, she was given some sound advice from her psychic adviser: "Love is the only action. Everything else is reaction."

Whatever she's doing, she seems to have escaped the typical whirlwind of tabloid lashings common among celebrities. In fact, she states that she is quite unlike her acting comrades. “The most Hollywood thing about me is that I have a psychic masseuse,” she added.

While Hathaway does admit that seeing any kind of psychic seems to be a common recreation among her colleagues, she seems to be getting good results.

Don't mess with what works...