Via Brent McKee's blog I've just learned that controversy has arisen regarding the biography of actor Al Lewis, whose death I reported a few days ago. His son Ted has stated to the media that his father was born in 1923, not 1910, throwing certain elements of his personal history into dispute given that he would have been too young to do certain things when he supposedly did them. Most peculiar if true, as celebs usually shave years off their ages, not add them. There is the occasional execption, such as Traci Lords, who did most of the pron films she appeared in underage with fake IDs.

Appearances can be deceptive. I bought a copy of the Japanese fantasy film Legend of the Eight Samurai on DVD for the dirt cheap price of 88 cents plus tax at Walmart this week. There's a scene where Princess Shizu, played by Hiroko Yakushimaru, and the peasant warrior Junbei, played by Hiroyuki Sanada(seen in The Last Samurai as Ujio) have sex. There's nothing explicit about it, as it shows no real nudity, but it still had me jumping for the computer given that Yakushimaru looks about 12 in most of the film. A quick look at the IMDB shows she was 18 or 19 when the film was made. This may explain why we don't even see a breast shot, since the age of majority in Japan is 20, since we certainly see enough of the naked breasts of the witch Tamazusa, played by Mari Natsuki, in one shot to see her nipples. Then again maybe Yakushimaru or her handlers simply were unwilling to do even a topless shot.