East of Eden News

To get in character as tormented Cal Trask , possessor of the mightiest daddy issues this side of Genesis, the movie's young star would bait the older actor playing his father, Raymond Massey , so mercilessly between takes that his dad's on-camera loathing was only too real.

It's a mixed blessing to be "the next James Dean." On the one hand, the name suggests intensity, panty-dropping charisma, a certain way with Camel Unfiltereds.

In this reimagining of a hit 1980s miniseries, life on Earth undergoes a seismic kick in the pants when a bunch of charismatic extraterrestrials led by the beautiful Anna captivates most of the population, but FBI counterterrorism agent Erica Evans quickly comes to suspect the aliens have a far more sinister agenda.

Film history still thinks of Elia Kazan mostly as an actor's director. Not without good reason, of course, since the Greek-American director's movies gave us so many iconic performances, including Marlon Brando 's legendary turns in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront , as well as James Dean 's starring debut in East of Eden .

An esteemed, highly-charged and highly-talented player of stage, TV and film, Lois Smith has not always been regular in the visual media, but she has made the chances count.

John Steinbeck's 1952 novel, "East of Eden," is a tale of two families and one city - Salinas, Calif.

STEPHEN COLE Published on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Oct.

Last week, "Dance Brooklyn" reflected on Brooklyn-based choreographer Miguel Gutierrez's new work, "Last Meadow," presented at Dance Theater Workshop in mid-September. Based on impressions of James Dean, the work was compelling even as it irritated, and it left a viewer puzzled.

It's hard to fathom why some movie stars become better known after they reach that big sound stage in the sky.

October 14, 2009 by Carrie Stern , published online 10-14-2009 Brooklyn-based choreographer Miguel Gutierrez's puzzling, charming new work, "Last Meadow," appeared at Dance Theater Workshop in September.

How would the late actor's career have developed after The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus? Wednesday, 14 October 2009 Heath Ledger, in his final role as the mysterious outsider Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, will probably be kept from strict considerations of acting genius by the traditional frolic and froth of a Terry Gilliam ...

The man who brought the Method to Hollywood , Elia Kazan gave James Dean his first role and got career performances from Marlon Brando , Carroll Baker , Andy Griffith , Lee Remick , and Natalie Wood , as well as Robert De Niro 's most nuanced turn in a movie directed by anyone other than Martin Scorsese .

BOOTLEG FILES 304: 'Hill Number One' . LAST SEEN: Online at Archive.org. AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: From plenty of public domain labels.

Fifty-four years to the day since his death, and I still can't get his face out of my head.

BRITTO IN SINGAPORE View more than 60 works by Brazilian Neo-pop artist Romero Britto, including specially commissioned paintings of five F1 drivers and five monumental sculptures installed outside Ion Orchard.

On Sept. 30, 1955, the rising film star James Dean set off in his customized Porsche 550 Spyder for a car race in Salinas, Calif.

Ever since he was a teenager, second year graduate student Jason Douglass had dreams to visit one very special town in Indiana: Fairmount, the hometown of actor James Dean.

Quietly, Kathleen George has become one of the more accomplished mystery writers from Western Pennsylvania.

In my lifelong quest to become America's Most Reviled Columnist, I have taken up smoking, again.

Includes rarely seen footage of his on-air debut at just 19 years old, a 1950 commercial for Pepsi, as well as his final work, ironically a 1955 highway safety PSA filmed just 13 days before he died behind the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spyder.