Lawrence Toppman

Last week's tributes to Paul Newman paid apt homage to his sexiness, the way he matured into a versatile actor, his quiet political activism, his charitable giving, his skill as an auto racer and longevity as a family man.

I've just watched one of the most frightening horror movies I've seen in a long time. The evil in it springs from deer ticks and human ignorance, both of which seemed to be omnipresent.

Children kidnapped or abused. Children orphaned, both in live action and animation. Children neglected and estranged and brainwashed against parents. Children imprisoned in a sauna, a cellar, even a ducal palace.

The attack on America seven Septembers ago inspired countless movies, many of them quick TV knockoffs. Type “September 11, 2001” as the keyword on the Internet Movie Data Base, and more than 150 film or TV titles pop up. (Some are only tangential, though.)

If you're addicted to coffee, you may not have had the pleasure of a chat with Wayne Powers.

I can't let the month end without celebrating the 100th anniversary of animated movies. On Aug. 18, 1908, French animator Émile Cohl released the animated short “Fantasmagorie.”