Credit: Michel Linssen/ Redfern Brace yourselves, Peckers: the 90s band, Aqua, are parting ways. The group, whose notable hits include Barbie Girl and Doctor Jones , announced the split on their instagram page. The Danish-Norwegian band has been together for over 30 years. In their post, they thanked their fans for all the support over the years and many comments shared their dismay over the news. Aww. 1997 me would be devastated! Source: Mirror News

No, not TV's "Bewitched," but this truly unnerving little shocker from 1945 in which Phyllis Thaxter plays a heroine who may or may not be a murderous (and very slutty) psychopath. Yikes. Tackling the concept of split-personality decades before the likes of "Psycho," we meet Joan, a sweet young heroine possessed by a dark inner voice named - are you ready for this? - "Karen." Oh here go hell come, as they say, and in this case, hell do.  If you're like me and love the heavy shadowed film-noir look from the 1940s, this movie delivers the goods - and how. Yet it also possesses a haunting, dreamlike quality which makes Joan's mental struggle feel visceral. Directed with smashing visual style by Arch Oboler, who got his start as a playwright and lauded horror radio show producer, "Bewitched" unspools in a swift 70 minutes, and for me, remains an essential hallmark of early film-noir. More than that, it's just plain fun, and though it ...

The Young Hussard (early 20th century) Jean Geoffroy

  Source: Isabella Rossellini on instagram Here are the iconic Isabella Rossellini and the iconic Joan Collins gracing Cannes this week. The two are starring in The Duchess and I,  a British drama directed by Mike Newell that focuses on Wallis Simpson's final years living as a widow and recluse in Paris. Collins plays Simpson, who suffered from many illnesses and became increasingly incapacitated around 1978.  Rossellini plays Suzanna Blum, a French lawyer who assumed control of the Duchess's affairs after the Duke of Windsor's passing in 1972. Blum isolated Simpson from family and friends, dismissed her staff, and sold off valuable heirlooms to personal contacts both before and after Wallis's passing in 1986. Blum maintained that all actions reflected the Duchess's explicit wishes, though she often withheld any documentation of her authority. Here's a photo of the two in full costume:  Credit: Venetia Scott, courtesy of British Vogue Will you be watching The Du...

La Garcome, 1925 Jean-Gabriel Domergue

 

  Credit: Joe Maher/Getty Here are George and Amal Clooney attending the King's Trust 50th Anniversary celebration in London yesterday. George sported a broad smile and Amal sported a 2007 Alexander McQueen dress with matching gold shoes.  Cameron Diaz actually wore this same dress for the Shrek the Third premiere back in 2007. Who wore it best?! Credit: JIL Studio Source: Vogue

DJ Li'l Scratch and I will be back with "Manor Music Monday" after Memorial Day, but in the meantime, I urge you to make time this week for "Blonde Ice," an underrated little film-noir from 1948 in which we're introduced to  Claire Cummings (played to perfection by Leslie Brooks), a high-society columnist with an voracious appetite for money and power and anything else she can get her paws on, like jewels, baby. jewels.  Unlike the typical femme fatale heroine who manipulates men into committing crimes, Claire is fatale in the most literal sense. Why? Because she does all the dirty work herself. A deliriously compelling  pathological predator,  she's surely one of the most ruthless female characters ever put on film. Directed with grimy film-noir assurance by Jack Leonard, it's a small miracle that this joyous, decidedly heartless B-movie programmer even got made. Enjoy! Art Credits: Film Classic Inc./Classic Flix

Should we wake him up or let him sleep in? 

Source: AP Betty Broderick, who was convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of her ex-husband and his new wife in 1989, has passed away of natural causes at the age of 78.  Broderick's case became a national sensation when details of her marriage and messy divorce from her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, came to light. The two were originally married in 1969 and went on to have four children. Betty worked and supported her family while Dan went to medical school and then law school, eventually becoming a successful medical malpractice attorney. In the early 1980s, Dan began an affair with Linda Kolkena, who was his legal assistant. Betty grew suspicious and erratic, with Dan eventually filing for divorce in 1985. Dan and Linda married quickly after the divorce was settled, and Betty moved to a new home with the pair's children.  Betty continued to harass Dan and Linda, breaking into their home and leaving threatening voicemails on their answering machine. Betty was jailed...

Two Old Smokers, 1950 Charles Spencelayh

 

Sometimes it feels like things are happening too fast, that the news cycles are accelerating before we can even process what happened in the first place. But you owe it to yourself to take it easy. You deserve it! Look, whether it's 1966 or 2026, lots of stuff's been going on, but we'll weather whatever the world has to throw our way, we always do. And speaking of...in 1966 the Oscars were televised in color for the first time , as well as the first and only color episode of the original Perry Mason series, "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist:"  I've never drag-raced (or raced in drag). I'd much rather take a nice leisurely drive along the shore in this '66 Thunderbird. There's some things you just can't hurry--the Supremes know what I mean: Happy Open Post, darlings! Photo Credit: AK

Credit: A24/EW This August, A24 will be releasing their biopic on Anthony Bourdain. Tony , which is directed by Matt Johnson, and is expected to focus on Bourdain's early culinary experiences in 1976 during his time in Provincetown, Mass.  Dominic Sessa, who rose to fame after his breakout role in The Holdovers,  will play young Bourdain. Other stars on the cast include Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones and Rich Sommer. This kind of biopic seems like something Bourdain would probably not approve of. But you can't tell that to Hollywood! Will you be checking out Tony this summer?  Credit: World of Reel

Greetings music lovers, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, this entry being, I hope, a brassy antidote to the mess that has become The Met Ball, or the East Coast's most famous Jerk Parade, tonight with Extra Jerk and Tupperware Titays (with apologies to dearly departed Tupperware). Can anything work to counter this gory dumpster fire of tacky, mess and blurgh? DJ Li'l Scratch believes so, and tonight at the Manor's exclusive after hours club, "Huh? Wha? I'll Have That With Sloppy Oral," he'll by spinning delicious tunes by a brassy singer you're guaranteed to be delighted by. Yes, it's Miss Toni Fisher, a performer who's giving us serious "growl, snarl, snap" above. Don't mess with Miss Toni amirite? Her time in the spotlight was brief. She was a Hollywood nightclub singer for only five years, recorded just one LP - 1960's "The Big Hurt" - and scored only two Top 40 hits, the first one being ...

If you were tiny in the 1970s, 80s or early 90s, you were likely subjected to "Dynamite," a tacky-ass free magazine distributed to elementary school kids nationwide starting in kindergarten, as well as at children's doctors offices, or really any place with which to reach a pre-teen audience. Why tacky-ass? Because it was essentially a massive nationwide free advertising vehicle, which pushed the likes of "Shields and Yarnell," for example, a sub-par network variety show starring married mime performers. And really, who else would give this forgettable Vegas act a nationwide magazine cover but "Dynamite," much less the here today/gone tomorrow actor who played Juan on "Welcome Back Kotter?" I said what I said.  The magazine also included half-hearted  tricks, games and contests, but the focus was mostly on what was later called "advertorial content." Again, this was distributed in elementary schools. When it wasn't trying to pu...

Credit: ABC7 News Visitors of San Francisco's iconic Pier 39 have been dazzled lately by Chonkers, an estimated 2,000lb sea lion. The pier is a popular destination for sea lions because it is protected from predators and crashing waves while also providing an expansive buffet of fish.  Chonkers is believed to have come from up north off the coast of Oregon or Washington and was first spotted in San Francisco last month. Since his arrival, he has captured the hearts of San Franciscans and visitors alike, who flock to the pier in hopes of catching a glimpse of this mammoth beauty. Chonkers typically enjoys breakfast there but is trickier to pin down later in the day.  Chonkers is certainly hard to miss, as he is quite a bit larger than his sea lion brethren. That just means there's more to love! Credit: AP Photo/Haven Daley Source: AP News

Boy with Guns, 1902 Stanislaw Wyspianski

 

I thought for sure this beaut was a Ford Fairlane, but apparently it's a 1957 Ford Tudor Sedan. But whatever it's called, it's gorgeous! A s always, please note my exceptionally professional job of obscuring the license plate.  In '57 there was a lot of great shows on tv, and some terrific movies too. For my money, "Witness For The Prosecution" is the most fun, suspenseful and ultimately satisfying 116 minutes you could spend in a theater that year (that ENDING!). Also, if your mom was driving you to elementary school or picking you up after, it's very likely you heard this song, and you could also see it on Ed Sullivan that year: So wake up, little Susie (and Sammie), wake up--after all, it's Open Post, darlings! Photo Credits: AK