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Monday, July 14, 2025
Comics Review: "ARCHIE MEETS JAY & SILENT BOB" is More Charming Than Raunchy
Monday, July 7, 2025
Comic Books, Magazines and Books Shipping for July 9, 2025
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Saturday, May 31, 2025
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 25th to 31st, 2025 - UPDATE #15
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).
TREATS: From AnotherCookie?: There is a new online cookie retailer, "AnotherCookie?" The cookies are delicious.
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NEWS:
NETFLIX - From Variety: Netflix sets November 26, 2025 for the arrival of "Stranger Things" Season 5.
MUSIC - From APNews: Grammy-winning recording artist, Taylor Swift, has bought back the rights to and control of her first six studio albums from the private equity firm, "Shamrock Capital," which has purchased them from their original record label, "Big Machine Records."
MOVIES - From Deadline: Director Colin Trevorrow ("Jurassic World") and producer Ryan Reynolds team up with Paramount Pictures for a conspiracy about "Area 51," the infamous and highly-classified United States Air Force facility that has become part of UFO folklore.
BROADWAY - From Deadline: According to the "Broadway League," tickets sales for the 2024-25 season set an all-times record of 1.89 billion dollars, surpassing 2018-19's 1.82 billion dollars.
HARRY POTTER - From THR: HBO’s "Harry Potter" television series has found its Harry, Ron and Hermione. The trio of Hogwarts freshmen are newcomers to Hollywood. Dominic McLaughlin will play "Harry Potter." Arabella Stanton is "Hermione Granger." Alastair Stout is "Ron Weasley."
COMICS - From BleedingCool: Marvel and DC Comics will each publish a one-shot comic book featuring a crossover between "Deadpool" and "Batman." Marvel's one shot, "Deadpool/Batman," which will arrive Sept 17th, 2025, will including contributions from a number of star comic book creators, including sometimes comics creator, film director Kevin Smith. DC Comics' "Batman/Deadpool," which is due next year, will be produced by writer Grant Morrison and artist Dan Mora.
From ComicsBulletin: Writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita, Jr. created the comic book, "Kick-Ass," which became a movie franchise and spawned merchandising. Their latest comic book project is "Psychic Sam," which just launched on "Kickstarter."
BOX OFFICE - From THR: The winner of the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend (5/23 to 5/26/2025) is Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" with an estimated take of 183 million dollars, a new record. The previous record holder was "Tom Gun: Maverick" at 160 million dollars.
From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the three-day (5/23 to 5/25/2025) Memorial Day weekend is Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" with an estimated take of 145.5 million dollars.
MOVIES - From Variety: Michael Douglas will be celebrated with a lifetime achievement award by Italy’s "Taormina Film Festival." On June 10th, the festival is also going to screen a restored copy of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the film for which Douglas shared a "Best Picture" Oscar win with producer Saul Zaentz.
MOVIES - From Variety: Zachary Levi discusses the next steps in his acting career, which includes raising capital to build a 100-million dollar movie studio in Austin, Texas.
OBITS:
From Deadline: American stage and television actress, Loretta Swit, has died at the age of 87, Friday, May 30, 2025. Swit is best known for the roll of "Major Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan" on the former CBS sitcom, "M*A*S*H" (1972-83). Swit and fellow cast member, Alan Alda ("Benjamin 'Hawkeye' Pierce") were the only cast members to appear in the pilot episode of the series and the series finale. Swit appeared in almost all of the series' episodes. For playing "Hot Lips," Swit was nominated for 10 Primetime Emmy Awards, and won "Outstand Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series" twice. From 1973 to 1979, Swit appeared in multiple episodes as a panelist on the game shows, "Pyramid" (CBS) and "Match Game" (NBC).
From Deadline: American actor and stunt performer, Ed Gale, has died at the age of 61, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Born with "dwarfism," Gale is best known for playing the physical role of the killer doll, "Chucky," in the film's "Child's Play" (1988), "Child's Play 2" (1990), and "Bride of Chucky" (1998). Actor Brad Dourif provided Chucky's speaking voice.
From Variety: American martial artists and film and television actor, Peter Kwong, has died at the age of 73, May 27, 2025. Kwong was best known for the role of the elemental master, "Rain," one of the "Three Storms" in John Carpenter's 1986 action-fantasy film, "Big Trouble in Little China." He also had roles in such films as "The Golden Child" (1986), and "The Presidio" (1988). This TV roles included appearances in "JAG," "My Wife and Kids," and "The Wayans Bros." Kwong was also active in film industry politics and in actor's union activism, including being a member of the SAG National Board of Directors for a decade.
From Deadline: South African actor, Presley Chweneyagae, has died at the age of 40, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Presley was best known for playing the lead role of "David" in director Gavin Hood's 2005 film, Tsotsi, which was the "Best Foreign Language Film" Oscar at the 78th Academy Awards (2006).
From Deadline: Algerian film director and screenwriter, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, has died at the age of 91, Friday, May 23, 2025. Lakhdar-Hamina for his film, "Chronicles of the Years of Fire," which won the "Palme d'Or" at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first Arab and African film to win the honor, and it remains the only film from the African continent to win the "Palme d'Or."
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Monday, January 23, 2023
Comic Books, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for January 25, 2023
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Thursday, December 15, 2022
Review: For "CLERKS III," It's Closing Time
Monday, September 13, 2021
Comic Books, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for September 15, 2021
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Saturday, July 31, 2021
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 25th to 31st, 2021 - Update #22
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: Disney's "Jungle Cruise" looking to lead the weekend box office with an estimated 30+ million dollars grossed in its debut weekend.
DISNEY - From Deadline: Bryan Lourd, Scarlett Johansson's agent, harshly responds to The Walt Disney Company's response to Scarlett Johansson's breach of contract lawsuit against Disney over her compensation for "Black Widow."
From Deadline: Women in Film, ReFrame and Time’s Up have weighed in, call out Disney for its response to Scarlett Johansson and her "Black Widow" lawsuit.
MOVIES - From Gizmodo: The acclaimed science fiction novel, "Parable of the Sower," by the late Octavia Butler will be a film. A24 has won the film rights.
DISNEY - From Deadline: The Walt Disney Co. has fired back at Scarlett Johansson over her "Black Widow" lawsuit, which concerns her compensation and the streaming of "Black Widow" on Disney+. Disney says that Johansson has already made 20 million dollars off the film...
TELEVISION - From Variety: After 25 seasons, PBS is cancelling "Arthur." It is the longest-running children's animated series in the history of American television. The show will wrap up its last season in Winter 2022.
MOVIES - From THR: The site has an extensive interview with screenwriter, David S. Goyer ("Blade" and "Batman" films).
JAN. 6 RIOT - From YahooEntertainment: This voice mail message left on the phone of a Washington D.C. police officer who testified yesterday (July 27th) at the House committee hearings investigating the Jan. 6th insurrection epitomizes much of "Trump base."
TELEVISION - From Variety: With ratings for the 2021 Olympics on the decline, NBCUniversal and its advertisers are feeling anxious about "make goods" and other forms of reimbursement.
MOVIES - From Variety: Universal is spending 400 million dollars on a new trilogy of films based on the legendary horror film, "The Exorcist." Oscar-winning actress, Ellen Burstyn, will reprise her role as "Chris MacNeil" from the 1973 original film. The first film in the trilogy will arrive in theaters in 2023, while the second and third films likely will debut on Universal's "Peacock" streaming platform.
TELEVISION - From Variety: Actor Bob Odenkirk has been hospitalized after collapsing on the set of the AMC series, "Better Call Saul," which is currently filming its sixth and final season.
From YahooEntertainment: Former "Batwoman" actress, Ruby Rose, had to return to the hospital recently due to surgical complications ... but she had trouble finding an ER that would take her.
CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment: Actress Lucy Liu talks about her infamous clash with actor Bill Murray on the set of "Charlie's Angels" (2000).
STAR TREK - From Space: The first official trailer for the much-anticipated Nickelodeon and Paramount+ animated series, "Star Trek: Prodigy," arrives. We hear Capt. Janeway's voice and get a release date, Fall 2021.
TELEVISION - From Variety: LeVar Burton begins his stint as a “Jeopardy!” guest host today, Monday, July 26th.
BOX OFFICE - Variety: The winner of the 7/23 to 7/25/2021 weekend box office is "Old" with an estimated gross of 16.5 million dollars.
From Deadline: "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdaine" tops the specialty box office.
MUSIC - From Deadline: The estate of the late singer, Grammy-winner James Brown, has been settled after nearly 15 years of legal battles. The estate had been in dispute since Brown died Christmas Day 2006.
NETFLIX - From Variety: The site has a huge piece on Kevin Smith, the development of Netflix's "Master of the Universe" animated series, and about online fan backlash against the series.
CELEBRITY - From YahooPeople: Judge John Ouderkirk, the judge involved in Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's ongoing custody case, will be disqualified after he was found to have "violated his ethical obligations," according to an opinion submitted by three appellate judges on Friday.
OBITS:
From NPR: Civil rights activist, Robert Parris "Bob" Moses, has died at the age of 86, Sunday, July 25, 2021. Moses was known for his work as a leader of the "Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee" (SNCC) on voter education and registration in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. He was also known for co-founding of the "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party." Moses was shot at and endured beatings and jail while leading Black voter registration drives in the American South during the 1960s. He later helped improve minority education in math.
From Deadline: The actor Mike Mitchell has died at the age of 65, Friday, July 23, 2021. Mitchell was a former "Mr. Universe" and won several "World Fitness Federation World Championships." He appeared in such films as "Braveheart" (1995) and "Gladiator" (2000).
TRAILERS:
From THR: "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" drops a new trailer (July 27th) and has a release date, November 11th, 2021.
Friday, July 23, 2021
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 18th to 24th, 2021 - Update #17
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
TELEVISION - From Deadline: CBS has revealed a first-look teaser trailer for "CSI: Vegas," the sequel to its long-running, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
CULTURE - From Slate: BY Dahlia Lithwick: "We Are All Our Own Militia Now": The new Texas abortion law, paired with rising vigilantism and the ideas that fuel “stand your ground,” points to a frightening future.
MUSIC - From YahooTheRoot: The first Prince album to be released posthumously will be available for streaming beginning July 30th. Prince died in April 2016, and the album, entitled "Welcome 2 America," was apparently recorded 11 years ago.
MOVIES - From RollingStone: A year from now, July 22, 2022, Jordan Peele's next feature film will debut ... says Peele. He releases a teaser poster for the film with a title, and the title is "Nope."
STAR TREK - From WeGotThisCovered: While the streaming series, "Star Trek: Picard," is currently in production of its second season, rumors say that there could be as many as three more seasons.
MOVIES - From Variety: Rob Zombie has provided a first look at the makeup and costume design for his big screen adaptation of "The Munsters."
TELEVISION/OLYMPICS - From Deadline: The site offers the Tokyo Olympics full TV & streaming schedule: how to watch everything from gymnastics to track & field, basketball and soccer on NBC, Peacock and more.
SPORTS - From YahooSports: The Milwaukee Bucks are the 2021 NBA World Champions. They beat the Phoenix Suns 105-98 in Game 6 on Tues. July 20th to win the best-of-seven series, 4 games to 2. Star player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points. This is the Bucks first NBA title since 1971.
CELEBRITY - From APNews: HarperOne will publish Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis' memoir, "Finding Me," April 19, 2022. Davis is currently working on the memoir.
SCANDAL - From ABCNews: This morning (Tues., July 20th), New York State Dept. of Corrections officials handed over convicted rapist, Harvey Weinstein, for extradition to California to face sexual assault charges there.
COVID-19 - From THR: Hollywood’s major studios and guilds have come to a tentative, short-term agreement on new on-set COVID-19 protocols, finally taking vaccines into account.
CELEBRITY - From YahooLife: Grammy-winning recording artist, Megan Thee Stallion, is the cover stallion on the 2021 edition of the "Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit" issue.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Lionsgate has acquired worldwide rights to Kevin Smith’s "Clerks III," which is in pre-production in New Jersey and will begin production next month. The film will be a sequel to his 1994 cult hit classic, "Clerks," and to he first sequel, 2006's "Clerks II."
MOVIES - From Collider: Warner Bros. releases a bunch of character posters for its upcoming blockbuster film, "Dune," which is due October 22nd in theaters and on HBO Max.
MOVIES - From Collider: Actor Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise the Clown in "It") is joining "John Wick 4."
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: The winner of the 7/16 to 7/18/21 weekend box office is "Space Jam: A New Legacy" with an estimated take of 31.6 million dollars.
BUSINESS - From Deadline: There are rumors of a Comcast/ViacomCBS merger and NBCUniversal/Lionsgate merger, among others.
ANIMATION - From THR: There will be at least two animated series based on "Game of Thrones." While a single animated project was previously reported to be in development in January, HBO Max is now working on at least two more potential shows.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Review: "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Turns Out to Be Fun
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux
ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY
Starring: (voices) Sean Maher, Kari Wahlgren, Stuart Allan, Taissa Farmiga, Brandon Soo Hoo, Jake T. Austin, Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer, Gregg Henry, Meg Foster, Masasa Moyo, Jason Spisak, Crispin Freeman, and Kevin Smith
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation. The films stars the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans. The film's story is based on “The Judas Contract,” the 1983-84 story arc that was published in The New Teen Titans #39 to #44 and in The New Teen Titans Annual 3, which were created by the writer-artist team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie focuses on the Teen Titans and their battle against an insane cult leader and his conspiracy against them.
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract opens with the original Teen Titans: Robin/Dick Grayson (Sean Maher), Speedy (Crispin Freeman), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo), and Bumblebee (Masasa Moyo). During a mission, the Titans rescue an alien princess, Koriand'r of Tamaran (Kari Wahlgren), also known as “Starfire,” from her captors.
Five years later, Dick Grayson, now known as “Nightwing,” rejoins the Teen Titans, who are led by Starfire. In addition to original member, Beast Boy, the team is now comprised of Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Terra (Christina Ricci), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), and the current Robin, Damien Wayne (Stuart Allan). The Titans have been battling a high-tech terrorist organization called “H.I.V.E.” and are trying to find its leader, “Brother Blood” (Gregg Henry), the head of a terrorist cult.
Brother Blood has grown tired of the Titans interfering in his plans, but he desires to possess their powers. Blood hires the mercenary/assassin, Deathstroke (Miguel Ferrer), to capture the Titans, and to that end, Deathstroke has a spy inside the Titans.
For most of the 1980s, The New Teen Titans was one of DC Comics' most popular comic book titles, and for awhile, it was the publisher's most important and popular title. “The Judas Contract” was The New Teen Titans' signature story line. Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie is true to the spirit of the original story, both in depicting how close a team of disparate individuals can become and in depicting the sting of betrayal committed by one member against the rest of the team.
I really enjoyed this movie, and I am surprised that I liked all the characters and all the voice actors' performances. Christina Ricci does stand out and conveys the pathos and conflict within Terra Markov, while Brandon Soo Hoo gives comedic depth and dramatic weight to Beast Boy. I will note, however, that film director, Kevin Smith, appears as a cartoon version of himself, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract could have done without him.
Fans of the direct-to-video, DC Comics animated films will find that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a high point in this long-running series. Teen Titans fans will also find that, although the film changes the original story quite a bit, this version of The Judas Contract maintains the core of the comic book original, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.
8 of 10
A
Sunday, October 25, 2020
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Saturday, August 24, 2019
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 18th to 24th, 2019 - Update #20
COMICS-ANIMATION - From Deadline: At Disney's D23 Expo, Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment announces a new animated series, "Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends." The series is set to debut in 2021 on Disney Junior.
From THR: Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment's "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" animated series is headed to Disney Channel in 2020. Laurence Fishburne's Cinema Gypsy Productions is partnering with Disney Television Animation and Marvel Animation to produce the new series.
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DISNEY - From Deadline: Now that Sony Pictures and Disney/Marvel have split up on the "Spider-Man" films, they will fight over director Jon Watts, who has directed the two Marvel Spider-Man films, who is not contracted to do anything right now.
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SPORTS - From ESPN: The inside story behind the funniest baseball card ever made.
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TELEVISION - From TheWrap: Nielsen, the primary TV ratings company since the 1950s, is prepping networks for the significant changes to the way it reports "overnight" ratings.
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CELEBRITY - From TheWrap: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tops "Forbes" Magazine's 2019 highest-paid actor's list.
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MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: For Jay Roach's upcoming film about the Fox News/Roger Ailes controversies, "Bombshell," two actress undergo extreme makeovers. There is Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and then there is Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: Warner Bros. is set to produce a fourth film in "The Matrix" film series. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will return as Neo and Trinity. One of The Matrix's co-creators, Lana Wachowski (formerly Larry Wachowski), will return to direct and co-write the film.
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DISNEY - From Variety: Disney is moving its live-action "Cruella" movie (from the animated classic, "101 Dalmatians") to May 28, 2021 from Dec. 23, 2020. "Woman in the Window," one of the films it inherited from the Fox purchase, is moved to October 4, 2019 from May 15, 2020.
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JAMES BOND - From Variety: Bond25, the twenty-fifth James Bond film, now has an official title, "No Time to Die."
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ANIMATION-STREAMING - From ShadowandAct: Tommy Davison says "The Proud Family," the beloved Disney animated TV series in which he starred, is being revived - likely for one of Disney's streaming services.
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CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson marries Lauren Hashian in Hawaii.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: It seems as if Larry Ellison has been able to make a deal to save his daughter, Megan Ellison's film production/distribution compnay, Annapurna. The company has defaulted on loans totaling as much as $200 million, if not more. Annapurna has produced or co-produced such films as "Zero Dark Thirty," "Her," and "If Beale Street Could Talk."
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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo: The winner of the 8/16 to 8/18/2019 weekend box office is "Good Boys" with an estimated take of 21 million dollars.
From Variety: Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" leads the international box office with an estimate total of 53.7 million dollars in 46 international markets.
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#1619PROJECT - From TMN: "The Morning News" takes a look today's special issue of the New York Times Magazine, "the 1619 Project," which observes the 400th anniversary of American slavery, when the first enslaved Africans arrived at Point Comfort in the British colony of Virginia in August 1619.
From PBS: A PBS interview about the 1619 Project.
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STREAMING - From TheWrap: Kevin Smith said that he will be executive producer and showrunner on a limited “Masters of the Universe” series that Netflix will develop. Entitled, “Masters of the Universe: Revelations,” the series will focus on the unresolved story lines of the original 1982 TV series, picking up many of the characters’ journeys where they left off decades ago.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: Kerry Washington and Sterling K. Brown are set to star in and produce "Shadow Force," a hot property. Bidding for rights have just started on what is described as a fresh take on "Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
OBITS:
From YahooNews: Former governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, has died at the age of 76, Sunday, August 18, 2019. Blanco was elected the 54th Governor of Louisiana in 2003 and held office from 2004 to 2008. Blanco is best known for being Louisiana's first female governor and for having her political career derailed by Hurricane Katrina.
From Deadline: The comedian Kip Addotta died at the age of 75, Tuesday, August 13, 2019. Addotta. He began his career in the early 1970s and by the mid-1970s, he was making appearances on "The Tonight Show" (21) and "The Mike Douglas Show" (14), to name a few. He also made a few film appearances, and in addition to his comedy album releases, he wrote humorous songs.
From Deadline: The screenwriter, Patricia Louisiana Knop, died at the age of 78, Wednesday, August 7, 2019. She was known for her work with her late husband, Zalman King, whose films incorporated sexuality. She co-wrote King's "Wild Orchid" and was a writer on King's Showtime TV series, "Red Shoe Diaries." Knop and King were one of three credited writers on director Adrian Lyne's film, 9 1/2 Weeks (1986). She was also an acclaimed and popular painter and sculptor.