What with the complete turnaround in attitudes towards onscreen stereotypes by cultural critics (from disdain to embrace), it's totally worth your while to check out The Killing of Sister George, Robert Aldrich's '68 oddity about a struggling, aging actress and her buckling relationship.

Beryl Reid plays George, a woman who portrays a lovable character on a popular British soap. Susannah York is her child-like femme live-in lover. The film, directed by campmeister Robert Aldrich (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?), emphasizes every negative image one could imagine, including the rather horrific power games the two play out. At one point, an angry Reid forces York to eat her cigar, piece by piece. The scene becomes all the more twisted when York smiles while chewing, pretending to actually enjoy the act, thwarting Reid's sadistic pleasure.

Amid the tragic elements--which further the all-queers-end-up-alone-and-miserable theme--there are hilarious interludes, including a drunken Reid goosing two nuns in a cab. But the heart of the film remains terrifically dark, with Reid losing her gig as the beloved George when TV ratings plummet. It's a nasty end in an unmissable time capsule of a film.

For my money, Bryan Singer's The X-Men, is one of the better comic-book-to-the-big-screen adaptations. It's now out on video.

--Matthew Hays