Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.
National Velvet (1944) was Taylor's first success, and she starred in Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 (1960), played the title role in Cleopatra (1963), and married her co-star Richard Burton. They appeared together in 11 films, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which Taylor won a second Academy Award. From the mid-1970s, she appeared less frequently in film, and made occasional appearances in television and theatre.
Her much publicized personal life included eight marriages and several life-threatening illnesses. From the mid-1980s, Taylor championed HIV and AIDS programs; she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1993. She received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Legion of Honour, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, who named her seventh on their list of the "Greatest American Screen Legends". Taylor died of congestive heart failure in March 2011 at the age of 79, having suffered many years of ill health.
Take the Inevitable Journey
Plot
Film star Elizabeth Taylor invites her ex-husband - twice over - Richard Burton to her fiftieth birthday party where, as a recovering alcoholic, he refuses to get drunk with her. He does however consider her suggestion that they star in a stage revival of the play 'Private Lives'. As they announce the project the press speculate on a romantic reconciliation. With a new girlfriend and the prospect of playing king Lear Burton is not happy with the project, especially with Taylor's pill-popping and her lack of stage experience, which causes problems at rehearsal. The play opens to a critical trashing but is popular with audiences, chiefly, again to Burton's chagrin, because they want to see Taylor and, when she is ill, numbers dwindle and the show is put on hold. After a two month run , with a projected tour, the curtain comes down and Taylor tells Burton she has always loved him and still does. A year later however his old life-style catches up with him and he is dead.
Keywords: alcoholic, alcoholic-drink, character-name-in-title, cigarette-smoking, ex-husband-ex-wife-relationship, fight, love, love-hate-relationship, marriage, party
Plot
Resemblance to Chuck Norris changed the life of Jacek Pieniazek. Ordinary worker has become a local celebrity and an icon of good humor. As an impresario he employs in his agency other look-alikes such as Jerzy Maksymiuk, Lech Walesa, and Elvis Presley. The charms of living the double life of well-known persons is their daily bread. In 2012, Jacek finally meets the real Chuck Norris, whom he doubles in the bank commercial. For 20 years he is living "In the shadow of Chuck Norris."
Keywords: doppelganger, look-alike
Plot
On the set of Cleopatra, Hollywood's most beautiful star, Elizabeth Taylor, fell into the arms of one of the world's greatest actors, Richard Burton - and she didn't leave. Their subsequent white-hot, scandalous love affair gave rise to the paparazzi and they became the most hunted and photographed couple on earth. Their rocky, passionate, relationship, born in front of the cameras, was subsequently captured in a series of films, including The V.I.P.s and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The last of the great, extravagant stars, flaunting diamonds, yachts and private planes, they continually seized the headlines. They even divorced and married again - only to divorce again - but remain in each other's hearts. This Elizabeth Taylor - Richard Burton story is a no-holds barred account of their undying, but impossible love.
Keywords: 1960s, 1970s, academy-award, academy-awards-ceremony, actor, actress, adultery, affair, alcohol, alcohol-abuse
Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor.
Italian Doctor: I don't want to say it's colon cancer, but...
Sara Taylor: Not that I'm counting, but if I'm not mistaken you just ended what, your fourth marriage?::Elizabeth Taylor: Oh, who's counting?
Elizabeth Taylor: I'm bored. I'm so bored!
Elizabeth Taylor: Feel my pudgy hands now!
Plot
Queer Duck: The Movie is the relentlessly funny, feature-length extension of the animated series Queer Duck, created by frequent The Simpsons scripter Mike Reiss. Sexually scandalous yet sweet, the movie is a cascade of pop-culture stereotypes of gays in America, punctuated by rapid-fire references (as with The Simpsons) to, well, just about everything: classic movies, game shows, Gilbert and Sullivan, Paul Lynde. Hey, there's even a storyline: Queer Duck (voiced by Jim J. Bullock) and his partner of 18 months ("That's a lifetime in gay years"), Harvey Fierstein sound-alike Stephen Arlo "Openly" Gator (Kevin Michael Richardson), hit a relationship crisis when the fey fowl is wooed by a brassy Broadway broad. Queer Duck wonders if he'd be happier being straight. While Gator the waiter spills his problems to a compassionate Conan O'Brien (thanks for the cameo), Queer Duck goes on a personal odyssey that ultimately leads to a showdown with a television evangelist at a theme park re-christened Fairyland. One has to see it to believe it. --Tom Keogh
Keywords: amusement-park, awards-show, bar-mitzvah, blimp, boyfriend, broadway-manhattan-new-york-city, butler, campy, celebrity, character-name-in-title
He can't even fly straight!
Queer Duck: Well, if you're mixing drinks, I'd like a slow comfortable screw up against the wall of a bus station in Passaic, New Jersey.::Queer Duck: It's just rum.
Queer Duck: [in a dream sequence about when they're old and still together] Openly Gator. Where the hell is my dinner?::Openly Gator: Oh, here!::Queer Duck: [screams when he sees a dead rat on the plate] Why do we keep ordering from that Thai place?
Queer Duck: We have an awful future ahead of us.::Openly Gator: What are you saying? Have you met someone else?::Queer Duck: No! No, no, no, no, no!::Lola Buzzard: [suddenly grabs him and pulls his head to her chest] Darling!::Queer Duck: Well, kind of.
Queer Duck: [tied to a beam] You know, for a heterosexual, you tie really good knots.::Reverend Vandergelding: [flattered] aww, you!
Reverend Vandergelding: [after forcing Queer Duck to drink a potion that will turn him straight] Could it be? What do you think of Cameron Diaz?::Queer Duck: [in a masculine voice] She's hot.::Reverend Vandergelding: Camryn Manheim?::Queer Duck: She's hot.::Reverend Vandergelding: Sister Wendy? [shows a picture of an ugly old nun]::Queer Duck: [scratches his chin] I'd do her.::Reverend Vandergelding: SUCCESS!
Reverend Vandergelding: So, how did you finally tell them you were gay?::Queer Duck: Oh, well, that's an interesting story. It all goes back to those crazy, turbulent, fabulous seventies... [music starts]::Reverend Vandergelding: Wait a minute... [music stops] Is this going to be a musical number? I'm mean, what is it with you people and musical numbers?::Queer Duck: Just sit back and enjoy it!
Lola Buzzard: [after getting a Jellyfish off her] What do you think of my new look?::Queer Duck: You look like The Joker.::Lola Buzzard: I was going for it. Quick, say something to make me frown again.::Queer Duck: Bush is running for a third term.::Lola Buzzard: Christ! The country's ruined.
Openly Gator: We need some sort of superpowers to help save Queer Duck. Do you guys have any?::Rosie O'Donnell: I can honestly say I haven't.::Openly Gator: Me neither.::Bi-Polar Bear: I have one. I can crack a walnut with my butt.::[both Openly Gator and Oscar Wildcat are left speechless, so is Peccary]
Openly Gator: You can't change who you are!::Queer Duck: Well, sometimes I wish I could. Don't you?::Openly Gator: No. I am a gay man, like my father and his father before him. Now get some sleep.
Queer Duck: [while being forced to drink a potion] No, stop! Tastes like Snapple! God, I wish I had my gag reflex back!
Plot
Queer Duck: The Movie is the relentlessly funny, feature-length extension of the animated series Queer Duck, created by frequent The Simpsons scripter Mike Reiss. Sexually scandalous yet sweet, the movie is a cascade of pop-culture stereotypes of gays in America, punctuated by rapid-fire references (as with The Simpsons) to, well, just about everything: classic movies, game shows, Gilbert and Sullivan, Paul Lynde. Hey, there's even a storyline: Queer Duck (voiced by Jim J. Bullock) and his partner of 18 months ("That's a lifetime in gay years"), Harvey Fierstein sound-alike Stephen Arlo "Openly" Gator (Kevin Michael Richardson), hit a relationship crisis when the fey fowl is wooed by a brassy Broadway broad. Queer Duck wonders if he'd be happier being straight. While Gator the waiter spills his problems to a compassionate Conan O'Brien (thanks for the cameo), Queer Duck goes on a personal odyssey that ultimately leads to a showdown with a television evangelist at a theme park re-christened Fairyland. One has to see it to believe it. --Tom Keogh
Keywords: amusement-park, awards-show, bar-mitzvah, blimp, boyfriend, broadway-manhattan-new-york-city, butler, campy, celebrity, character-name-in-title
He can't even fly straight!
Queer Duck: Well, if you're mixing drinks, I'd like a slow comfortable screw up against the wall of a bus station in Passaic, New Jersey.::Queer Duck: It's just rum.
Queer Duck: [in a dream sequence about when they're old and still together] Openly Gator. Where the hell is my dinner?::Openly Gator: Oh, here!::Queer Duck: [screams when he sees a dead rat on the plate] Why do we keep ordering from that Thai place?
Queer Duck: We have an awful future ahead of us.::Openly Gator: What are you saying? Have you met someone else?::Queer Duck: No! No, no, no, no, no!::Lola Buzzard: [suddenly grabs him and pulls his head to her chest] Darling!::Queer Duck: Well, kind of.
Queer Duck: [tied to a beam] You know, for a heterosexual, you tie really good knots.::Reverend Vandergelding: [flattered] aww, you!
Reverend Vandergelding: [after forcing Queer Duck to drink a potion that will turn him straight] Could it be? What do you think of Cameron Diaz?::Queer Duck: [in a masculine voice] She's hot.::Reverend Vandergelding: Camryn Manheim?::Queer Duck: She's hot.::Reverend Vandergelding: Sister Wendy? [shows a picture of an ugly old nun]::Queer Duck: [scratches his chin] I'd do her.::Reverend Vandergelding: SUCCESS!
Reverend Vandergelding: So, how did you finally tell them you were gay?::Queer Duck: Oh, well, that's an interesting story. It all goes back to those crazy, turbulent, fabulous seventies... [music starts]::Reverend Vandergelding: Wait a minute... [music stops] Is this going to be a musical number? I'm mean, what is it with you people and musical numbers?::Queer Duck: Just sit back and enjoy it!
Lola Buzzard: [after getting a Jellyfish off her] What do you think of my new look?::Queer Duck: You look like The Joker.::Lola Buzzard: I was going for it. Quick, say something to make me frown again.::Queer Duck: Bush is running for a third term.::Lola Buzzard: Christ! The country's ruined.
Openly Gator: We need some sort of superpowers to help save Queer Duck. Do you guys have any?::Rosie O'Donnell: I can honestly say I haven't.::Openly Gator: Me neither.::Bi-Polar Bear: I have one. I can crack a walnut with my butt.::[both Openly Gator and Oscar Wildcat are left speechless, so is Peccary]
Openly Gator: You can't change who you are!::Queer Duck: Well, sometimes I wish I could. Don't you?::Openly Gator: No. I am a gay man, like my father and his father before him. Now get some sleep.
Queer Duck: [while being forced to drink a potion] No, stop! Tastes like Snapple! God, I wish I had my gag reflex back!
Plot
The story of 'James Whale (I)' (qv), the director of _Frankenstein (1931)_ (qv) and _Bride of Frankenstein (1935)_ (qv), in the time period following the Korean War. Whale is homosexual and develops a friendship with his gardener, an ex-Marine.
Keywords: 1950s, actor, actress, art, bar, bare-breasts, bare-chested-male, bartender, based-on-novel, bathroom
James Whale: Take off your shirt, and I'll tell you all about it.
James Whale: Oh, don't be daft.
James Whale: It is kind of you to indulge your elders in their vices. Just as I indulge the young in theirs.
Clayton Boone: No, I don't have a girlfriend.::James Whale: Why not?::Clayton Boone: You have to kiss some ass to get a piece of it.
James Whale: My life is a game of strip poker. Want to play?
Clayton Boone: You must think the whole world is queer.
[on meeting Princess Margaret]::James Whale: This is my gardener Clayton Boone. He's never met a princess before, only queens.
James Whale: He's never met a princess - only queens.
James Whale: Bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling, for you but not for me. O death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling? Grave, where thy victory?
James Whale: One likes to live simply.
Plot
The story of 'Elizabeth Taylor (I)' (qv)'s rise to stardom, beginning in Los Angeles 1942. Her dominating mother has decided that her daughter must become a star - no matter what others or Elizabeth herself think. Assisted by 'Hedda Hopper' (qv), she gets a part in _Lassie Come Home (1943)_ (qv). She becomes a child star, raised by her studio. Growing up, she has several love-affairs - and several divorces, since her husbands can't accept being married to a Hollywood icon.
Keywords: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, acting, actress, alcoholism, based-on-novel, behind-the-scenes, celebrity, character-name-in-title
She earned two Oscars. She survived eight marriages. She overcame battles with pills, booze and food. And she never left the spotlight.
A beautiful star. A legendary life.
Richard Burton: Miss Taylor, has anyone ever told you, what a very pretty girl you are?
Richard Burton: I taught her about beer, she taught me about Bulgari.
Plot
Set and mainly shot on location in St Kilda of the late 1980s, this is a loving evocation of a time and environment that may have slipped away. Valma, verging on midlife, wants a baby with her partner Joe, who is a gentle, loving and well-meaning wannabe writer, but who has had absolutely no success in achieving self-sustainability, and is far from a good prospect as a reliable father. Even when he tries really hard, he finds himself in the job from hell ('a chicken factory? - is that where they make chickens?'). Alphonse is a 'businessman' who has 'a new business every year'. This year his main income comes from arranging 'marriages of convenience' ("when was marriage ever convenient??" - Alphonse) to help new immigrants fast-track to Australian residency and citizenship. Usually, Alphonse arranges 'marriages' between otherwise unmarriable immigrant women and gay Australian men - the latter because "there is no risk of funny business", and who are paid for their husbandry until the divorce, which is also arranged by Alphonse. However, on this occasion, to help Valma and Joe Alphonse breaks his own rule. He employs the very heterosexual Joe as a bridegroom of convenience. But here's the kicker: Joe's 'bride' turns out to be the young and gorgeous Fadya! To further complicate matters, the authorities decide to take an interest in Alphonse. Three Immigration officers each contribute their own personal version of hell to the Valma-Joe-Fadya triangle. This is a comedy, so of course it all works out in the end. Maybe.