News about James Ellroy

BRIAN VINER: If I compiled my list again today, I still wouldn't have space for The Italian Job, Forrest Gump, The Great Escape, or Titanic, which all of which encouraged readers to write in. By the way, that doesn't mean I don't like or even love those photos (although not Titanic), which makes me wish the iceberg would strike a bit sooner). Here is a list of the Top 20 movies you should have included in my Top 100 list, as well as your reasons for... The Shawshank Redemption (left), Mary Poppins (right), and Saving Private Ryan (inset).

Patrice Pastor, Monaco's real estate juggernaut, has bought at least 15 iconic properties in Carmel's seaside village, leaving locals 'terrified' that they are giving over our town to one person who is doing what he wants to do.' The La Rambla building's $7.5 million purchase last month is the latest in a string of deals for the 51-year-old since he and his company Esperanza Carmel set their sights on the village ten years ago. A fist-fight erupted in October between a small business owner and a village administrator, after Pastor Anthony who pleaded for permission to overrule planning rules in order to move a historic wall, prompting the caller. Locals are concerned that soaring costs would force them out of a village where the population has already decreased from 3,700 to 3,200 since 2010.

This year's literary quiz is just the challenge you're looking for with seven rounds testing your memoirs, anniversaries, books, and TV series. Good luck!

In a television interview, James Ellroy once said, 'I am obsessed with violence.' I'm obsessed with twisted sexuality.' 'I am obsessed with jealousy, aversion, and overweening aspirations.' These are all great credentials for a crime writer, and Ellroy has been dubbed America's best. In Steven Powell's superb, unflinching biography, the novelist's obsessions have their origins in his childhood and early years.

BRIAN VINER: Christmas films come in a variety of forms. It's A Wonderful Life (C4, Christmas Eve) and White Christmas are two of the cherished classics with a distinct festive theme, as shown below. There are others we associate with the season jolly because they're a yuletide fixture: The Great Escape (C4, Christmas Day) and The Magnificent Seven (BBC2, Boxing Day). But there is another category: top-notch films that are not commonly thought of as holiday fare, but in which Christmas looms large. Here's my Top Ten, with each of them a holiday treat and one way or another, all available to watch over the next few days. Merry Christmas!