Volume 1, Issue 7 November 2026 Filmphernalia Your New Entertainment Bud From the Editor’s Desk Lines Immortal "Well, nobody's perfect!" Some Like It Hot (1959) Happy Halloween peeps! And welcome to 7th issue of the newsletter. It started as the September issue and had to be the November issue. But we sure can’t miss Halloween no matter what so here we are right on October 31. Summer is past its peak now and that’s a relief for me and the animals I know. September in its entirety plus the first two weeks of October together were backbreaking and brain-racking. Getting some regular work again—now as a book reviewer—brought some stability. But ate lots of my time. Inside this issue: Screenopticals: Playing Roles against One’s Real-Life Sexuality FilmBuzz — Usual, Unusual, and Unheard Scripter’s Haven — Minds in Frame Script Competition Remembering Captain Picard 2 2 2 The Fabulous 3 Retro Fandom — All The Rivers Run 3 Film Quiz 3 Books of Ernest Is Up! 4 What’s great about this set of gems is that each one is worth watching more than once and there is no comparison. Note that these movies are listed and NOT ranked by numbers. But you sure can rank them, if you choose. :) 1. Bad Company (1972) 2. Treasures of the Snow (1980) 3. Sabotage (1996) 4. Fatal Judgment (1988) 5. 7 Women (1966) Western Faith/Spiritual Action True Crime Drama While I watched far fewer films and posted one screenoptical during all this time, I managed to keep the sites alive and even wrote a couple new short film scripts. Wish me luck with their production. In this issue I pay my humble tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart who passed away on October 28. He was and forever will be my Star Trek Captain. How many of you grew up with TNG? And I’m not trying to out your age, trust me! Aside from posting reviews on Filmospheric, I also recently posted a review of the 1993 TV movie Men Don’t Tell on my site ernestdempsey.com. It’s a true story and touches on a very important issue. So check it out if you get a moment. The quiz in this issue is kinda easy specially for psychological thriller fans. But I really didn’t know until recently, so…. Before leaving, I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving! Thank you for your time and feel free to reach out via email at editor@ernestdempsey.com. Ernest Dempsey October 31, 2026
Page 2 Filmphernalia Screenopticals: Playing Roles against One’s Real-Life Sexuality Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia (1993) is a landmark movie featuring a homosexual man fighting discrimination. But a decade prior, the lesser-known movie had explored the issue of same-sex relationships, and in some ways did it better than Philadelphia. The movie is titled Making Love (1982) directed by Arthur Hiller, and had Michael Ontkean, Harry Hamlin, and Kate Jackson in lead roles. Before working in this movie, Ontkean faced the question that later became an issue in media after Philadelphia hit the theatres: should straight actors play gay characters? “Playing Roles against One’s Real-Life Sexuality” answers it. While not purporting to take credit away from Hanks for his Philadelphia performance, I give more credit to Ontkean for going where few, if any, had gone before him in mainstream cinema. Also the reason cited in media for opposing actors taking roles against their real-life sexuality is answered in the screenoptical. Whether it’s convincing or not, you decide. Read the screenoptical online at Filmospheric.com (carousel). FilmBuzz — Usual, Unusual, and Unheard The iconic sciencefiction community has lost another legend...the great Sir Patrick Stewart has died at age 86. ‘The Five Heartbeats’ Star Michael Wright dead at 70. (TMZ, August 22) Dolly Parton dies at 80. (ScreenRant, August 25) Bruce Campbell has 5 years to live after incurable cancer diagnosis. (Variety, September 5) Kyle MacLachlan analyzes his ‘Fictional Selves’ in new memoir. (The Seattle Times, September 24) Paramount completes $111bn WBD merger. (Screen Daily, October 6) Keanu Reeves to star in Netflix action movie ‘Maelstrom’ after Alan Ritchson drops out. (Variety, October 26) Sir Patrick Stewart, ‘Star Trek’ and Marvel legend, has died at 86. (Cinemablend, October 30) Scripter’s Haven — Minds in Frame Script Competition Deadline: January08, 2027 Young writers of ages 14–24 have the opportunity to elevate their voices through storytelling that addresses real mental health challenges via the Minds in Frame Script Competition. Submissions need to include: The story begins here and now... A character breakdown A synopsis Script of up to 10 pages . There is no submission fee. The winner will get an allinclusive trip to Los Angeles to join the Glowmedia team during the filming of the selected script. To enter, visit the link https://filmfreeway.com/MindsI nFrameScriptCompetition.
Page 3 Remembering Captain Picard — RIP Patrick Stewart “To boldly go where no one has gone before!” This line became a weekly spell for the 12-yearold me to sit in awe of the phenomenon called Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Star Trek I grew up with. The charisma of Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard hit my ears first before completely taking over my little school boy self in the seasons aired on Pakistan’s national, and back-then only, TV channel. In Captain Picard’s leadership, I navigated the vastness of the outer space; saw all kinds of mind-blowing creatures and situations, and learnt the value of my species as unique and relatable no matter where it goes. Every ship has a captain. The spaceship of my childhood adventure and curiosity was led by Captain Picard. Captain, as my brothers and I called him, was the man who demonstrated discipline without tyranny and humanity without arrogance. As I think of the show, I can’t be thankful enough to the show’s makers for picking Sir Patrick Stewart to play that role. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone else achieving that level of perfection. Now, my Captain has gone where billions have gone before him and billions will follow. And yet I somehow am sure that Captain will lead by his strong character and his guiding voice there too. Through the archives of the show, it’ll resonate with me and countless other fans of TNG. Retro Fandom — All The Rivers Run September and October each added an article to my Retro Network profile. The first article was about the Australian period drama All the Rivers Run, a miniseries that was part of my childhood. The second was about the Canadian-American sci-fi series War of the Worlds, part of my early teen years. It’s also worthy a mention that I now have a writer’s page on the site and clicking my name there lists all my articles. My profile link is pasted below and you are of course invited to check it out and offer your thoughts if any. Read both articles online at: https://theretronetwork.com/ author/ernestdempsey/. The Australian and Canadian shows made my childhood memorable. Film Quiz — Name the Actor and the Role Question for last the quiz: which John Carpenter movie is related to his two other movies: The Thing (1982) and Prince of Darkness (1987)? Answer: The 1994 movie In the Mouth of Madness in which Sam Neil (the late) played an insurance investigator who looks into the disappearance of a horror novelist. Now for this quiz, can you name the actor in the picture (right) and the role he is playing Hint: Think of Jonathan Demme. Send your answers to: editor@ernestdempsey.com.
The book is here! “Motivated Savages” featured ScreenScope with Ernie in August as the book entered its online bookstore. See the book in their store at the link: https://motivatedsavages.com/books-screenscopewith-ernie/. Thank you! Order at LuLu.com ISBN: 9798896561040 Pages: 216 Paperback Perfect Bound/Black & White/US Trade (6 x 9 in) https://www.filmospheric.com Books of Ernest Is Up! Letting time slip out of hands is our daily reality. The result? Tons of unfinished business. For a writer, this ends up as... well, just more frustration. So it helps to see things get done one at a time, in the order of priorities. And before 2026 could slip away into the past, I finally did what was long due: launch my author website. Yes, it’s done. It’s live and is called “Books of Ernest.” Ideally one goes with one’s name and then dot com for a personal site. I had to go with Books of Ernest dot com (no spaces) because I had turned my ernestdempsey.com site into a blog. For an author site, I could not use the next best choice, which is ernestdempsey dot net, because it’s taken by the TN-based novelist Ernest Dempsey (my pen name is his real name). Now I chose to keep my author site simple and short with just my books, a short author bio page, and a newsletter page since I have plans to start a monthly newsletter (depends on how much time I can make for it, if at all). Aside from listing my books still in print, I also added my out-of-print poetry book “Islands of Illusion.” And more to come. So take a moment to visit http://booksofernest.com and order a book or two. :) Write to Us WRITER EDITOR CRITIC Send us your two cents on cinema/movies/TV and Filmphernalia will publish along with your name and location (city/state/country). Write to: edtor@ernestdempsey.com
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