Actor Jason George was a few years into his career when he secured his first starring role in a movie. It was the early 2000s, and he’d been cast as a co-lead in a mountain climbing flick called The Climb. He was excited for the prospect of a break until he walked into a trailer one day and saw a white man “wearing my wardrobe, my helmet, my climbing harness, and they’re putting makeup on him to make him look like me.”
George, who is Black, was stunned.
George, who is Black, was stunned.
- 7/28/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Actor John Wayne starred in over 165 movies over the course of his successful career. He starred in several legendary Western films, including Stagecoach and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but there was one that he turned down. As a result, he lost the “top Western star of the year” award, which sent him into a frustrated spiral.
John Wayne had personal drama with Columbia studio head John Wayne | Archive Photos/Getty Images
Filmmaker Raoul Walsh gave Wayne his first opportunity to star in a leading role in 1930’s The Big Trail, which ultimately bombed at the box office. The actor moved to low-budget Western flicks, which offered him consistent work, but they didn’t give him the chance to grow in the way he wanted.
Wayne almost lost it all when he had a contract with Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. The actor acted politely toward a female actor on the studio lot,...
John Wayne had personal drama with Columbia studio head John Wayne | Archive Photos/Getty Images
Filmmaker Raoul Walsh gave Wayne his first opportunity to star in a leading role in 1930’s The Big Trail, which ultimately bombed at the box office. The actor moved to low-budget Western flicks, which offered him consistent work, but they didn’t give him the chance to grow in the way he wanted.
Wayne almost lost it all when he had a contract with Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. The actor acted politely toward a female actor on the studio lot,...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The most striking aspect of the commemorative events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June 2019 was the testimony of the veterans who participated in the conflict and who spoke eloquently and movingly about the events of 6 June 1944.
These interviews should be compulsory viewing so people understand the courage and sacrifice of a generation of men and women who displayed the “unconquerable resolve” the Queen spoke about during her speech in Portsmouth.
The film world has, of course, brought us many depictions of the Normandy landings and the subsequent battles. You will find a number of those titles in this list of the 20 greatest Second World War films.
These 20 movies only scratch the surface of the countless number made about the momentous event, but remind us of the horrors and sacrifices made during the devastating global conflict.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the 20 greatest war films:...
These interviews should be compulsory viewing so people understand the courage and sacrifice of a generation of men and women who displayed the “unconquerable resolve” the Queen spoke about during her speech in Portsmouth.
The film world has, of course, brought us many depictions of the Normandy landings and the subsequent battles. You will find a number of those titles in this list of the 20 greatest Second World War films.
These 20 movies only scratch the surface of the countless number made about the momentous event, but remind us of the horrors and sacrifices made during the devastating global conflict.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the 20 greatest war films:...
- 1/29/2023
- by Graeme Ross
- The Independent - Film
A new episode of our The Black Sheep video series was just released through the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel, and with this one we’re looking back at director John Carpenter’s 1998 film Vampires (watch it Here). A movie that has its share of fans, but still doesn’t get as much respect as some of Carpenter’s earlier films. To hear why we think Vampires deserves more love, check out the video embedded above.
Scripted by Don Jakoby and inspired by the novel Vampire by John Steakley, Vampires has the following synopsis:
Ever since his parents were murdered by vampires, Jack Crow has had one purpose in life: putting stakes through bloodsuckers’ hearts. With his battle-hardened crew of vampire killers and the assistance of the Catholic Church, Crow roams the New Mexico desert looking for undead lairs to annihilate. But he meets his match when, at a roadside motel,...
Scripted by Don Jakoby and inspired by the novel Vampire by John Steakley, Vampires has the following synopsis:
Ever since his parents were murdered by vampires, Jack Crow has had one purpose in life: putting stakes through bloodsuckers’ hearts. With his battle-hardened crew of vampire killers and the assistance of the Catholic Church, Crow roams the New Mexico desert looking for undead lairs to annihilate. But he meets his match when, at a roadside motel,...
- 11/24/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
With the new Predator movie Prey being released through the Hulu streaming service earlier this month, a lot of people have been talking about the Predator franchise and revisiting the early movies. In the new episode of The Arrow in the Head Show, hosts John “The Arrow” Fallon and Lance Vlcek are getting in on the Predator action as well, looking back at the 1990 film Predator 2 (watch it Here). To find out what they had to say about Predator 2, check out the video embedded above!
Directed by Stephen Hopkins from a screenplay written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas, Predator 2 has the following synopsis:
Los Angeles is enduring a heat wave and a crime wave, so the pressure on police officer Michael Harrigan to solve a strange string of murders is mounting. Harrigan thinks the culprit can be found among the warring gangs and drug cartels, but...
Directed by Stephen Hopkins from a screenplay written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas, Predator 2 has the following synopsis:
Los Angeles is enduring a heat wave and a crime wave, so the pressure on police officer Michael Harrigan to solve a strange string of murders is mounting. Harrigan thinks the culprit can be found among the warring gangs and drug cartels, but...
- 8/24/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Commissions
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
- 7/29/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The film has been restored by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
A restoration of Henry King’s silent film Stella Dallas from 1925 has been announced as the pre-opening film to this year’s Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
This film will play at the Sala Darsena on August 30. It is the first time Venice will screen a film before the festival officially starts.
Stella Dallas has been restored in a 4k digital version by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Film Foundation chaired by Martin Scorsese. The screening will be accompanied by a...
A restoration of Henry King’s silent film Stella Dallas from 1925 has been announced as the pre-opening film to this year’s Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
This film will play at the Sala Darsena on August 30. It is the first time Venice will screen a film before the festival officially starts.
Stella Dallas has been restored in a 4k digital version by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Film Foundation chaired by Martin Scorsese. The screening will be accompanied by a...
- 7/29/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano, Robert Patrick, Kristina Wagner, Julia Nickson, Nils Allen Stewart, Henry Kingi, John Asher, Leon Russom, Al Leong, Michael Berryman, Vanna White, Andy Dick, Deanthony Langston, John T. Grantham, Ed Feldman, Roger Yuan, Ron Yuan | Written by Michael Davis, Peter Gould | Directed by James Yukich
There is a dark place in movie hell reserved for the beast known as the “video game movie”. There have been some that really aren’t that bad, take Doa: Dead or Alive as an example or Silent Hill. They knew how to keep things fun without being too cheesy in the process. But what about Double Dragon, which has just been released, in the Us, on Blu-ray from Mvd as part of their Mvd Rewind collection.
Set in the future (of 2007…) in a post-earthquake California, Jimmy and Billy Lee (Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf) find themselves in possession...
There is a dark place in movie hell reserved for the beast known as the “video game movie”. There have been some that really aren’t that bad, take Doa: Dead or Alive as an example or Silent Hill. They knew how to keep things fun without being too cheesy in the process. But what about Double Dragon, which has just been released, in the Us, on Blu-ray from Mvd as part of their Mvd Rewind collection.
Set in the future (of 2007…) in a post-earthquake California, Jimmy and Billy Lee (Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf) find themselves in possession...
- 2/14/2019
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
The Night I SwamThe Vienna International Film Festival—or the Viennale, for short—has for many years been a kind of respite, perhaps even a bit of a beautiful secret outside of European cinephilia, for those looking to be invigorated by the ever-renewing promise of cinema. First under the direction of Alexander Horwath, who left the festival in 1997 and in 2002 took the lead of the illustrious Austrian Film Museum, and for the last 21 years under the guidance of Hans Hurch, the Viennale has cultivated that rare thing: A cultural institution that has a distinct and idiosyncratic sensibility of taste. It is a yearly event in which you can find the rare gems of the mainstream vividly mixed with expansive retrospectives, the latest films from major auteurs and exciting debutantes alike, with no fear of short or medium length works, a strong love for the avant-garde and an even more fierce...
- 11/8/2017
- MUBI
A great cast swashbuckles its way through Henry King’s piratical spectacular with an assist from Leon Shamroy’s Oscar-winning Technicolor cinematography. Splendid hokum in the overstuffed Darryl Zanuck tradition.
- 8/30/2017
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Madame HydeThis year at the Locarno Festival I am looking for specific images, moments, techniques, qualities or scenes from films across the 70th edition's selection that grabbed me and have lingered past and beyond the next movie seen, whose characters, story and images have already begun to overwrite those that came just before.***Old man kicks can. Lucky is Harry Dean Stanton, its screenplay of a solitary, elderly man fiddle-fit but increasingly aware of his impending death—and ‘the void,’ as he calls it— is simply a vehicle to get one of the most charismatic and characterful actors front and center before a camera and film him doing all sorts of stuff. John Carroll Lynch's film in the international competition is full of small delights performed by the actor, ranging from kinesthetic morning yoga to a friendship-in-old-age with a local played by David Lynch, a relationship which elaborates on...
- 8/11/2017
- MUBI
Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies' July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles that should be popping up again in the not-too-distant future: A Tale of Two Cities, The Prisoner of Zenda, Kismet, Lucky Partners, and My Life with Caroline. The first two movies are among not only Colman's best, but also among Hollywood's best during its so-called Golden Age. Based on Charles Dickens' classic novel, Jack Conway's Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1936) is a rare Hollywood production indeed: it manages to effectively condense its sprawling source, it boasts first-rate production values, and it features a phenomenal central performance. Ah, it also shows its star without his trademark mustache – about as famous at the time as Clark Gable's. Perhaps...
- 7/21/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSOver the weekend we lost two greats: Filmmaker George A. Romero, best known for inventing the modern version of all things zombie, and actor Martin Landau. Patton Oswalt has pointed out that a 19-year-old Romero worked as a pageboy on North by Northwest, Landau's second movie.The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has again added more names to its membership, and this latest batch includes even more unexpected additions from the world of international art cinema, including directors Pedro Costa, Lav Diaz, Ann Hui, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Kira Muratova, Johnnie To and Athina Rachel Tsangari.Did you see that the lineup of the Locarno Film Festival has been announced? With a huge retrospective devoted to Cat People director Jacques Tourneur and a competition including new films by Wang Bing, F.J. Ossang, Ben Russell,...
- 7/19/2017
- MUBI
(See previous post: “Gay Pride Movie Series Comes to a Close: From Heterosexual Angst to Indonesian Coup.”) Ken Russell's Valentino (1977) is notable for starring ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev as silent era icon Rudolph Valentino, whose sexual orientation, despite countless gay rumors, seems to have been, according to the available evidence, heterosexual. (Valentino's supposed affair with fellow “Latin Lover” Ramon Novarro has no basis in reality.) The female cast is also impressive: Veteran Leslie Caron (Lili, Gigi) as stage and screen star Alla Nazimova, ex-The Mamas & the Papas singer Michelle Phillips as Valentino wife and Nazimova protégée Natacha Rambova, Felicity Kendal as screenwriter/producer June Mathis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), and Carol Kane – lately of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame. Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972) is notable as one of the greatest musicals ever made. As a 1930s Cabaret presenter – and the Spirit of Germany – Joel Grey was the year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner. Liza Minnelli...
- 6/30/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
David and Bathsheba
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 116 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey, Kieron Moore, James Robertson Justice, Jayne Meadows, George Zucco, Francis X. Bushman, Gwen Verdon
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: George Davis, Lyle Wheeler
Film Editor: Barbara McLean
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by: Philip Dunne
Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck
Directed by Henry King
Right in the middle of WW2, 20th Fox struck religious pay dirt with two respectful religion-themed movies, one about a miracle and another about the hard life of a priest. Each created a new Hollywood star. Five years later there began a regular Hollywood Bible War. In 1949 Cecil B. DeMille released his first Biblical epic in Technicolor, Samson and Delilah, throwing violence, sex and hammy acting at the screen in even measure. MGM bounced back with a tremendous production of...
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 116 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey, Kieron Moore, James Robertson Justice, Jayne Meadows, George Zucco, Francis X. Bushman, Gwen Verdon
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: George Davis, Lyle Wheeler
Film Editor: Barbara McLean
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by: Philip Dunne
Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck
Directed by Henry King
Right in the middle of WW2, 20th Fox struck religious pay dirt with two respectful religion-themed movies, one about a miracle and another about the hard life of a priest. Each created a new Hollywood star. Five years later there began a regular Hollywood Bible War. In 1949 Cecil B. DeMille released his first Biblical epic in Technicolor, Samson and Delilah, throwing violence, sex and hammy acting at the screen in even measure. MGM bounced back with a tremendous production of...
- 1/13/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
While the film that had the most direct influence on the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII is certainly J.J. Abrams‘ The Force Awakens, director Rian Johnson has shared some key inspiration when it comes to the tone and themes of his upcoming sci-fi sequel. While he previously stated two inspirations for the Star Wars saga’s next installment, that list has expanded, thanks his talk at Star Wars Celebration Europe.
The list includes six titles that Johnson encouraged the story group of Lucasfilm to watch before filming began, a thematic lookbook that features a mixture of beloved classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and lesser-known gems such as 1943’s Sahara. However, Twelve O’Clock High still stands as Johnson’s top pick for most influential. The most recent film on this list is from 1960, suggesting Johnson’s cinematic influences are less peer-based than deeply embedded in a more classical style.
The list includes six titles that Johnson encouraged the story group of Lucasfilm to watch before filming began, a thematic lookbook that features a mixture of beloved classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and lesser-known gems such as 1943’s Sahara. However, Twelve O’Clock High still stands as Johnson’s top pick for most influential. The most recent film on this list is from 1960, suggesting Johnson’s cinematic influences are less peer-based than deeply embedded in a more classical style.
- 7/18/2016
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
Star Wars Celebration 2016: What we learnedStar Wars Celebration 2016: What we learnedJason Gorber7/18/2016 10:45:00 Am
Back when George Lucas announced that he was selling his company to Disney and entrusting his vision to a new generation of filmmakers, the director who I initially championed to have a crack at a Star Wars film was Rian Johnson. His film Looper proves to be a wonderful example of how to balance sophisticated narrative, swashbuckling adventure and wry, sardonic humour all in one gloriously visual package.
Johnson’s previous films like Brick gained him a cult following among enthusiasts, but perhaps his most watched work are the several "Breaking Bad" episodes he directed to great acclaim, including “Fly”, a memorable, Hitchcockian episode where an errant pest disrupts the protagonists as they cook up their illicit goods. John Boyega described the shoot as “Rian doing an indie movie within a franchise”, and...
Back when George Lucas announced that he was selling his company to Disney and entrusting his vision to a new generation of filmmakers, the director who I initially championed to have a crack at a Star Wars film was Rian Johnson. His film Looper proves to be a wonderful example of how to balance sophisticated narrative, swashbuckling adventure and wry, sardonic humour all in one gloriously visual package.
Johnson’s previous films like Brick gained him a cult following among enthusiasts, but perhaps his most watched work are the several "Breaking Bad" episodes he directed to great acclaim, including “Fly”, a memorable, Hitchcockian episode where an errant pest disrupts the protagonists as they cook up their illicit goods. John Boyega described the shoot as “Rian doing an indie movie within a franchise”, and...
- 7/18/2016
- by Jason Gorber
- Cineplex
Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, and Gary Cooper, died in Connecticut on Sept. 7, '15 – five days before his 90th birthday. So far, news reports haven't specified the cause of death. According to a 2013 Boston Phoenix article about Moore's wife, MGM musical star Jane Powell, he had been “suffering from arthritis and bouts of dementia.” Dickie Moore movies At the behest of a persistent family friend, combined with the fact that his father was out of a job, Dickie Moore (born on Sept. 12, 1925, in Los Angeles) made his film debut as an infant in Alan Crosland's 1927 costume drama The Beloved Rogue,...
- 9/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
James WhiteFour films by Truffaut, one each by Kubrick, Kazan, Mackendrick, Donen, Lumet, Aldrich, Spielberg, Henry King, John Huston, Hawks, Hitchcock, Tourneur, William A. Wellman, John Ford, Brooks Mel (two films) and Richard (one), Michael Mann, and two by David Lynch. Classic Arabic movies, Pakistani movies, Romances & Musicals, Indonesian and Vietnamese films, films in Tagalog, Sinhala, Bengali, Mandarin and Cantonese, and six contemplative long take studies ranging in length from ten minutes to an hour. No, this is not the line-up for the Locarno Film Festival; it is but a taste of what was offered on demand on the video screen on my flight from New York to the small Swiss town's nearest large international airport, in Milan. Seeing as I was en route to a festival with several 35mm retrospectives, a competition section of adventurous fare anticipated and unknown, and scads of other program strands I've yet to fully understand,...
- 8/7/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' review: Mostly an enjoyable romp (Oscar Movie Series) Pirate movies were a Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-'20s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-to-late '50s (Moonfleet, The Buccaneer), when the genre, by then mostly relegated to B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the '80s and '90s turned out to be critical and commercial bombs (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn't bode well for the Walt Disney Company's $140 million-budgeted film "adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. But Neptune's mood has apparently improved with the arrival of the new century. He smiled – grinned would be a more appropriate word – on the Gore Verbinski-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,...
- 6/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Stars: Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano, Robert Patrick, Kristina Wagner, Julia Nickson, Nils Allen Stewart, Henry Kingi, John Asher, Leon Russom, Al Leong, Michael Berryman, Vanna White, Andy Dick, Deanthony Langston, John T. Grantham, Ed Feldman, Roger Yuan, Ron Yuan | Written by Michael Davis, Peter Gould | Directed by James Yukich
There is a dark place in movie hell reserved for the beast known as the “video game movie”. There have been some that really aren’t that bad, take Doa: Dead or Alive as an example or Silent Hill. They knew how to keep things fun without being too cheesy in the process. Double Dragon has been released on Blu-ray, and thankfully when it was first released I managed to miss it. Given enough time for nineties cheese to become funny and for bad B-movies to become popular, can it be redeemed as an eccentric cult-hit?
Set in the...
There is a dark place in movie hell reserved for the beast known as the “video game movie”. There have been some that really aren’t that bad, take Doa: Dead or Alive as an example or Silent Hill. They knew how to keep things fun without being too cheesy in the process. Double Dragon has been released on Blu-ray, and thankfully when it was first released I managed to miss it. Given enough time for nineties cheese to become funny and for bad B-movies to become popular, can it be redeemed as an eccentric cult-hit?
Set in the...
- 5/25/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...
- 5/1/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...
- 3/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright-Samuel Goldwyn association comes to a nasty end (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock Heroine in His Favorite Film.") Whether or not because she was aware that Enchantment wasn't going to be the hit she needed – or perhaps some other disagreement with Samuel Goldwyn or personal issue with husband Niven Busch – Teresa Wright, claiming illness, refused to go to New York City to promote the film. (Top image: Teresa Wright in a publicity shot for The Men.) Goldwyn had previously announced that Wright, whose contract still had another four and half years to run, was to star in a film version of J.D. Salinger's 1948 short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut." Instead, he unceremoniously – and quite publicly – fired her.[1] The Goldwyn organization issued a statement, explaining that besides refusing the assignment to travel to New York to help generate pre-opening publicity for Enchantment,...
- 3/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Oscar 2015 winners (photo: Chris Pratt during Oscar 2015 rehearsals) The complete list of Oscar 2015 winners and nominees can be found below. See also: Oscar 2015 presenters and performers. Now, a little Oscar 2015 trivia. If you know a bit about the history of the Academy Awards, you'll have noticed several little curiosities about this year's nominations. For instance, there are quite a few first-time nominees in the acting and directing categories. In fact, nine of the nominated actors and three of the nominated directors are Oscar newcomers. Here's the list in the acting categories: Eddie Redmayne. Michael Keaton. Steve Carell. Benedict Cumberbatch. Felicity Jones. Rosamund Pike. J.K. Simmons. Emma Stone. Patricia Arquette. The three directors are: Morten Tyldum. Richard Linklater. Wes Anderson. Oscar 2015 comebacks Oscar 2015 also marks the Academy Awards' "comeback" of several performers and directors last nominated years ago. Marion Cotillard and Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress Oscars for, respectively, Olivier Dahan...
- 2/22/2015
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Cat People' 1942 actress Simone Simon Remembered: Starred in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic (photo: Simone Simon in 'Cat People') Pert, pouty, pretty Simone Simon is best remembered for her starring roles in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie Cat People (1942) and in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938). Long before Brigitte Bardot, Mamie Van Doren, Ann-Margret, and (for a few years) Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm in a film career that spanned a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both sides of the Atlantic – at times, with fatal results. During that period, Simon was featured in nearly 40 movies in France, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Hollywood. Besides Jean Renoir, in her native country she worked for the likes of Jacqueline Audry...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Gritty Western starring Gregory Peck as a rancher on the hunt for the four vicious outlaws he believes raped and murdered his wife. Henry King was one of Hollywood's top Western directors, and his actors and scriptwriters remain true to his high standards throughout. Stephen Boyd and Lee Van Cleef are on villain duty while Joan Collins is surprisingly convincing as Peck's Latina ex-flame.
- 10/1/2014
- Sky Movies
‘Gone with the Wind’ actress Mary Anderson dead at 96; also featured in Alfred Hitchcock thriller ‘Lifeboat’ Mary Anderson, an actress featured in both Gone with the Wind and Alfred Hitchcock’s adventure thriller Lifeboat, died following a series of small strokes on Sunday, April 6, 2014, while under hospice care in Toluca Lake/Burbank, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Anderson, the widow of multiple Oscar-winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy, had turned 96 on April 3. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1918, Mary Anderson was reportedly discovered by director George Cukor, at the time looking for an actress to play Scarlett O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s film version of Margaret Mitchell’s bestseller Gone with the Wind. Instead of Scarlett, eventually played by Vivien Leigh, Anderson was cast in the small role of Maybelle Merriwether — most of which reportedly ended up on the cutting-room floor. Cukor was later fired from the project; his replacement, Victor Fleming,...
- 4/10/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
What makes films about religion so interesting is the way some manage to tread a line between support and criticism, while some are vehemently anti-religion or pro-religion. When all is said and done, it’s up to the audience to decide whether or not the film (or the faith portrayed) is a respectful or perceptive study on faith and the dogmatic principles that may or may not surround it. Not every religious film is uplifting. In fact, there are plenty of non-religious films that do a better job of building viewers’ faith. But that’s another list for another time.
30. Beyond the Hills (2012)
Directed by Cristian Mingiu
Five years after his punishing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Christian Mingiu delivered an interesting look at a lifelong friendship formed at an orphanage. Beyond the Hills tells the story of two women, based on non-fiction novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran: Alina (Cristina Flutur) has fled to Germany,...
30. Beyond the Hills (2012)
Directed by Cristian Mingiu
Five years after his punishing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Christian Mingiu delivered an interesting look at a lifelong friendship formed at an orphanage. Beyond the Hills tells the story of two women, based on non-fiction novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran: Alina (Cristina Flutur) has fled to Germany,...
- 4/7/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Shirley Jones Movies: Innocent virgins and sex workers galore (photo: Shirley Jones and Burt Lancaster in ‘Elmer Gantry’) (See previous post: “Shirley Jones: From Book to Movies.”) I haven’t watched The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), a comedy Western directed by Gene Kelly, and starring 62-year-old James Stewart as a cowpoke who inherits an establishment that turns out to be a popular house of prostitution. Henry Fonda plays Stewart’s partner. And I’m sure Shirley Jones, as one of the sex workers, looks lovely in the film. Hopefully, director Kelly gave this likable, talented actress the chance to do more than just stand around looking pretty. But then again … For all purposes, The Cheyenne Social Club ended Shirley Jones’ film stardom; that same year she turned to TV and The Partridge Family. Jones would return to films only nine years later, as one of several stars (among them Michael Caine,...
- 8/28/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jeanne Crain: Lighthearted movies vs. real life tragedies (photo: Madeleine Carroll and Jeanne Crain in ‘The Fan’) (See also: "Jeanne Crain: From ‘Pinky’ Inanity to ‘Margie’ Magic.") Unlike her characters in Margie, Home in Indiana, State Fair, Centennial Summer, The Fan, and Cheaper by the Dozen (and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes), or even in the more complex A Letter to Three Wives and People Will Talk, Jeanne Crain didn’t find a romantic Happy Ending in real life. In the mid-’50s, Crain accused her husband, former minor actor Paul Brooks aka Paul Brinkman, of infidelity, of living off her earnings, and of brutally beating her. The couple reportedly were never divorced because of their Catholic faith. (And at least in the ’60s, unlike the humanistic, progressive-thinking Margie, Crain was a “conservative” Republican who supported Richard Nixon.) In the early ’90s, she lost two of her...
- 8/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
All ageing gunslinger Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) wants to do is visit his sweetheart and the son he's never seen. But hotheaded punks anxious to prove they're a faster draw than the notorious Ringo plan things differently. Director Henry King contrives a down and dirty atmosphere and the story is based on that of a survivor of the legendary gungfight at the Ok Corral.
- 7/4/2013
- Sky Movies
One of the Most Amazing Silent Movies (or Movies of Any Era, Period) Ever Made Tops the List of Best of Movies Released in 1921 Rex Ingram’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Metro Pictures' film version of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s epic novel -- from a scenario by the immensely powerful writer-producer June Mathis -- catapulted Mathis’ protégé, the until then little known Rudolph Valentino (photo, left), to worldwide superstardom, as The Four Horsemen became one of the biggest box-office hits of the silent era. Ingram’s wife, the invariably excellent Alice Terry (right, dark-haired in real life; a light-haired in her many movies), played Valentino's love interest. Ninety-two years after its initial launch, the Four Horsemen remains a monumental achievement. Released by MGM, Vincente Minnelli's 1962 remake of this Metro Pictures production featured an all-star cast: Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin (dubbed by Angela Lansbury), Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb,...
- 4/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Golden Globes 2013: Best TV ratings in six years The Golden Globes 2013 telecast, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as smartly and tightly dressed co-hostesses, boasted the Golden Globes ceremony’s best television ratings in six years. That seems to indicate that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were bigger TV attractions than Ricky Gervais. (Photo: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, probably making fun of James Cameron — by way of Kathryn Bigelow — at the Golden Globes 2013 ceremony. © HFPA.) Broadcast last Sunday evening on NBC, the 70th Golden Globes lured an estimated 19.7m viewers in the United States, up 17% from last year. In recent years, Golden Globes 2013 trailed only the 2007 ceremony, which was watched by slightly more than 20m viewers — on a (less audience-friendly) Monday. This year’s Golden Globes were also a relative hit with the 18-49 demographic, up 28% from last year and averaging a 6.4 rating, according to data found at Variety.
- 1/16/2013
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
The Western was a movie staple for decades. It seemed the genre that would never die, feeding the fantasies of one generation after another of young boys who galloped around their backyards, playgrounds, and brick streets on broomsticks, banging away with their Mattel cap pistols. Something about a man on a horse set against the boundless wastes of Monument Valley, the crackle of saddle leather, two men facing off in a dusty street under the noon sun connected with the free spirit in every kid.
The American movie – a celluloid telling that was more than a skit – was born in a Western: Edwin S. Porter’s 11- minute The Great Train Robbery (1903). Thereafter, Westerns grew longer, they grew more complex. The West – hostile, endless, civilization barely maintaining a toehold against the elements, hostile natives, and robber barons – proved an infinitely plastic setting. In a place with no law, and where...
The American movie – a celluloid telling that was more than a skit – was born in a Western: Edwin S. Porter’s 11- minute The Great Train Robbery (1903). Thereafter, Westerns grew longer, they grew more complex. The West – hostile, endless, civilization barely maintaining a toehold against the elements, hostile natives, and robber barons – proved an infinitely plastic setting. In a place with no law, and where...
- 1/3/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Lost Horizon Ronald Colman on TCM: Random Harvest, Kiki, A Tale Of Two Cities Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Lucky Partners (1940) Two strangers who share a sweepstakes ticket take it on the lam. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson. Bw-99 mins. 7:45 Am My Life With Caroline (1941) A man thinks his high-spirited wife is cheating on him. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Ronald Colman, Anna Lee, Charles Winninger. Bw-81 mins. 9:15 Am The White Sister (1923) Thinking her lover was killed in the war, a young woman becomes a nun. Dir: Henry King. Cast: Lillian Gish, Ronald Colman, Gail Kane. Bw-135 mins. 11:30 Am Kiki (1926) A Parisian dancer vies with a glamorous actress for a producer's heart. Dir: Clarence Brown. Cast: Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Gertrude Astor. Bw-97 mins. 1:30 Pm Raffles (1930) A distinguished British gentleman hides his true...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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