Do any of you hardcore horror fanatics remember Mirror Mirror from 1990? It had a theatrical release, but garnered much of its popularity on the shelves of Blockbuster Video stores nationwide and became a late-night cable staple for several years throughout the decade. And yes, it should be considered somewhat “popular” since it spawned three sequels. If you haven’t seen the original Mirror Mirror, don’t worry because Dark Force Entertainment, headed by Demon Dave, has released it in 4K Uhd. That means you Og fans of this B-movie classic can relive some sense of nostalgia from that decade, now in 4K clarity.
Let’s dive into the film’s plot. Megan Gordon and her mother Susan move to L.A. and into a new home to begin their equally new lives. The previous residents left behind a lot of their belongings that are being sold by an auctioneer named Emelin.
Let’s dive into the film’s plot. Megan Gordon and her mother Susan move to L.A. and into a new home to begin their equally new lives. The previous residents left behind a lot of their belongings that are being sold by an auctioneer named Emelin.
- 5/30/2024
- by Geof Capodanno
- bloody-disgusting.com
Fred Roos, the Oscar-winning producer of The Godfather Part II and many other notable films, has died. He was 89.
Roos had a long relationship with Francis Ford Coppola, serving as producer or co-producer on many of the director’s best known films, including the second and third Godfather films (the second bringing him his Oscar), The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, One From The Heart and The Cotton Club.
Most recently, Roos served as executive producer of Coppola’s Megalopolis, which premiered this week at the Cannes festival.
Born in Santa Monica, Roos began his film career in the mailroom at talent agency McA.
Roos had a long relationship with Francis Ford Coppola, serving as producer or co-producer on many of the director’s best known films, including the second and third Godfather films (the second bringing him his Oscar), The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, One From The Heart and The Cotton Club.
Most recently, Roos served as executive producer of Coppola’s Megalopolis, which premiered this week at the Cannes festival.
Born in Santa Monica, Roos began his film career in the mailroom at talent agency McA.
- 5/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
Fred Roos, the casting director turned producer who jump-started the career of Jack Nicholson and collaborated often with Francis Ford Coppola, sharing a best picture Oscar with the filmmaker for The Godfather Part II, has died. He was 89.
Roos died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, a publicist announced.
It’s part of Hollywood lore that before Harrison Ford became a famous actor, he was laboring as a carpenter to make ends meet. What some might not know is that it was at Roos’ house where Ford was woodworking when the casting director befriended him, eventually pushing him for roles in George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977) and Coppola’s The Conversation (1974).
And it was Roos who convinced Lucas — who had been leaning toward Amy Irving — that Carrie Fisher should portray Princess Leia in Star Wars. (Roos did not have an official role on that film.)
Roos, however,...
Roos died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, a publicist announced.
It’s part of Hollywood lore that before Harrison Ford became a famous actor, he was laboring as a carpenter to make ends meet. What some might not know is that it was at Roos’ house where Ford was woodworking when the casting director befriended him, eventually pushing him for roles in George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977) and Coppola’s The Conversation (1974).
And it was Roos who convinced Lucas — who had been leaning toward Amy Irving — that Carrie Fisher should portray Princess Leia in Star Wars. (Roos did not have an official role on that film.)
Roos, however,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fred Roos, casting director for landmark films such as “American Graffiti” and who went on to have a close relationship with Francis Ford Coppola, including producing best picture winner “Godfather Part II” and “Apocalypse Now,” died Saturday in Beverly Hills. He was 89.
Roos was both casting director and executive producer on Coppola’s most recent film “Megalopolis” which premiered last week at the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Coppola posted a photo of Roos with Adam Driver on Instagram and thanked him for his work on the long-gestating epic.
Roos was instrumental in helping stars including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss get their early notable roles.
His long collaboration with Coppola as producer or co-producer included “The Conversation,” “One From the Heart,” “The Outsiders,” “Rumble Fish,” “The Cotton Club,” “The Godfather Part III,” “Tetro,” “Youth Without Youth” and “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.”
Roos was not credited,...
Roos was both casting director and executive producer on Coppola’s most recent film “Megalopolis” which premiered last week at the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Coppola posted a photo of Roos with Adam Driver on Instagram and thanked him for his work on the long-gestating epic.
Roos was instrumental in helping stars including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss get their early notable roles.
His long collaboration with Coppola as producer or co-producer included “The Conversation,” “One From the Heart,” “The Outsiders,” “Rumble Fish,” “The Cotton Club,” “The Godfather Part III,” “Tetro,” “Youth Without Youth” and “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.”
Roos was not credited,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Fred Roos, the Oscar-winning The Godfather Part II producer and longtime executive producer for Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola, died Saturday in Beverly Hills at 89, four days shy of his 90th birthday.
The news about Roos, who won his Godfather Part II Oscar and later was nominated for Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, comes as Francis Ford Coppola is here at the Cannes Film Festival, 45 years after winning the Palme d’Or for Apocalypse Now. Coppola is in town with his $120 million passion project Megalopolis, which had its world premiere last week. Roos is billed as producer on Megalopolis.
The news also comes after Coppola’s wife of 61 years, Eleanor, died April 12. Roos was an executive producer on Hearts of Darkness, her famed documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now that won them both an Emmy in 1992.
Roos was Francis Coppola’s co-producer on The Conversation, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now,...
The news about Roos, who won his Godfather Part II Oscar and later was nominated for Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, comes as Francis Ford Coppola is here at the Cannes Film Festival, 45 years after winning the Palme d’Or for Apocalypse Now. Coppola is in town with his $120 million passion project Megalopolis, which had its world premiere last week. Roos is billed as producer on Megalopolis.
The news also comes after Coppola’s wife of 61 years, Eleanor, died April 12. Roos was an executive producer on Hearts of Darkness, her famed documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now that won them both an Emmy in 1992.
Roos was Francis Coppola’s co-producer on The Conversation, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Legendary producer and director Roger Corman, who died recently at age 98, had an immeasurable impact on American cinema as we know it. The number of actors, writers, and directors who learned their craft on a Corman production is staggering, and he was known for giving people chances to prove themselves on the low-budget pictures he either produced or directed himself. Tons of notable names went through the so-called "Corman school," including James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, and Joe Dante, just to name a few.
Three-time Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson is another significant alumnus of the Corman school of filmmaking — in fact, his very first movie, "The Cry Baby Killer," was a Corman production, and it provided Nicholson the first of many starring roles across his incredible career. The film follows a young man who thinks he's committed murder outside of a local hang-out restaurant,...
Three-time Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson is another significant alumnus of the Corman school of filmmaking — in fact, his very first movie, "The Cry Baby Killer," was a Corman production, and it provided Nicholson the first of many starring roles across his incredible career. The film follows a young man who thinks he's committed murder outside of a local hang-out restaurant,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
The Big Cigar, a new limited series on Apple TV+ that debuts on May 17, dramatizes a wild true story from the New Hollywood period of the 1970s.
Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of The Black Panther Party, had befriended a group of countercultural figures ruling Tinseltown at the time.
Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner were part of the generation that brought the values of the 1960s counterculture to the movie business through films such as Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, as well as the work of The Monkees.
This also entailed bankrolling and supporting left-wing political causes, including the Black Panthers' work.
But that approach had its limits.
The series, which consists of six episodes lasting about 40 minutes each, was produced by Jim Hecht, an executive producer of Winning Time.
Don Cheadle is among the episode directors.
Revolution and cocaine
Early on in the Big Cigar, Schneider exclaims, “I want to finance the revolution!
Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of The Black Panther Party, had befriended a group of countercultural figures ruling Tinseltown at the time.
Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner were part of the generation that brought the values of the 1960s counterculture to the movie business through films such as Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, as well as the work of The Monkees.
This also entailed bankrolling and supporting left-wing political causes, including the Black Panthers' work.
But that approach had its limits.
The series, which consists of six episodes lasting about 40 minutes each, was produced by Jim Hecht, an executive producer of Winning Time.
Don Cheadle is among the episode directors.
Revolution and cocaine
Early on in the Big Cigar, Schneider exclaims, “I want to finance the revolution!
- 5/17/2024
- by Stephen Silver
- TVfanatic
At one point in the new Apple TV+ miniseries The Big Cigar, Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland) attends a party and recalls the time he and film producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola) tried to write a movie about his life, which would have starred comedian Richard Pryor (Inny Clemons). The key, Schneider explains: “If it’s gonna be a biopic, you have to choose a moment in Huey’s life that means something. Don’t just make it womb to tomb.”
Though The Big Cigar features...
Though The Big Cigar features...
- 5/17/2024
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
The original 1964 Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!" was considered a showcase for its star, Carol Channing, and little else. At the time, critics were not entirely kind, saying the show had "unnecessary vulgar and frenzied touches," and that they "wouldn't say that Jerry Herman's score is memorable." Despite the middling reviews, "Hello, Dolly!" won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Leading Actress (for Channing), Best Direction, Best Choreography, and Best Original Score.
The mid-'60s were a weirdly fraught time for major Hollywood musicals, as the genre provided some of the era's biggest hits, but also some of its biggest bombs. In 1964, Disney had a big hit with "Mary Poppins" and Warner Bros. made bank with "My Fair Lady," so musicals were suddenly on the rise. In 1965, Fox released "The Sound of Music," adapted from the stage production by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and it proved to be one of...
The mid-'60s were a weirdly fraught time for major Hollywood musicals, as the genre provided some of the era's biggest hits, but also some of its biggest bombs. In 1964, Disney had a big hit with "Mary Poppins" and Warner Bros. made bank with "My Fair Lady," so musicals were suddenly on the rise. In 1965, Fox released "The Sound of Music," adapted from the stage production by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and it proved to be one of...
- 5/5/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The line between reality and fiction in television hasn't always been obvious to people. Be it "Gilligan's Island" viewers badgering the Coast Guard to rescue the S.S. Minnow's poor shipwrecked crew or grown-up "Sesame Street" fans believing that Sonia Manzano and Emilio Delgado (who played married couple Maria and Luis for four decades) were actually hitched, history is littered with anecdotes of audiences assuming what they're seeing on their TV screen is actually happening. Despite the leaps and gains in the masses' media literacy over time, folks still need help understanding how even docuseries and so-called reality shows can easily manipulate the truth (as creators Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie satirized with "The Curse").
When Sally Struthers was cast as Gloria Stivic (née Bunker) in "All in the Family," she was, for all intents and purposes, a nobody. Save for her stint on "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" the...
When Sally Struthers was cast as Gloria Stivic (née Bunker) in "All in the Family," she was, for all intents and purposes, a nobody. Save for her stint on "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" the...
- 5/5/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Pluto TV, Paramount’s free streaming service, has revealed its April highlights. The Pluto TV April 2024 schedule celebrates the service’s 10th anniversary, highlights star-studded dramas, and marks the halfway point to Halloween with April Ghouls, where you’ll find spooky marathons across its channels.
Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience.
The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with over 400 international media companies. It offers a wide array of genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more.
Pluto TV April 2024 Programming
10th Anniversary
Pluto TV is giving the gift of great TV and movies for its birthday.
April 1 at 8 p.m. Et on Action Drama: 10-Hour Seal Team marathon.
April 1 on Pluto TV Spotlight: 2014 Movie Marathon featuring Big Eyes, Noah,...
Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience.
The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with over 400 international media companies. It offers a wide array of genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more.
Pluto TV April 2024 Programming
10th Anniversary
Pluto TV is giving the gift of great TV and movies for its birthday.
April 1 at 8 p.m. Et on Action Drama: 10-Hour Seal Team marathon.
April 1 on Pluto TV Spotlight: 2014 Movie Marathon featuring Big Eyes, Noah,...
- 4/1/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
On the eve of Shirley MacLaine’s 90th birthday (on April 24), let’s revisit on this 96th Academy Awards day what remains one of the top five Oscar acceptance speeches (in my humble opinion) ever: the night 40 years ago when MacLaine won Best Actress for “Terms of Endearment” over co-star Debra Winger (who played her daughter) and three others. It hearkened back to an era before the orchestra played off the big winners if they dared exceed 90 seconds or so. MacLaine’s speech clocked in at a leisurely 3 minutes, 26 seconds, and not a moment of it seemed unnecessary on that night of April 9, 1984 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It started with, “I’m gonna cry because this show has been as long as my career!” and ended with, “I deserves this. Thank you.” Watch the full presentation and speech above.
It was MacLaine’s sixth nomination and her first and only win.
It was MacLaine’s sixth nomination and her first and only win.
- 3/8/2024
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
Eli Roth's 2023 slasher film "Thanksgiving" famously started its life back in 2007 in the form of a fake trailer sandwiched in between Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof," two movies released as a single mega-feature called "Grindhouse." The goal of "Grindhouse" was to recreate the experience of seeing a cheap exploitation double-feature in a run-down New York theater in the early 1980s, complete with film scratches, missing reels, and several previews for upcoming ultra-salacious genre movies. The trailers were all fake at the time, but since 2007, the trailers for "Machete," "Hobo with a Shotgun," and "Thanksgiving" have been made into real movies.
Roth, as the director's fans know, is a voracious cineaste, and has likely spent more time watching movies than most people. He also wears his influences on his sleeve; in the credits for Roth's 2013 cannibal film "The Green Inferno," he includes a list...
Roth, as the director's fans know, is a voracious cineaste, and has likely spent more time watching movies than most people. He also wears his influences on his sleeve; in the credits for Roth's 2013 cannibal film "The Green Inferno," he includes a list...
- 1/28/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles.
According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans.
The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...
According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans.
The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...
- 12/26/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
October is usually thought of as the prime time for horror, but the best horror movie of 2023 — for that matter, the most deliriously entertaining horror movie since Wes Craven‘s original “Scream” — arrives not for Halloween but for Thanksgiving. It’s a movie horror fans have been eagerly anticipating ever since director Eli Roth created a fake “Thanksgiving” trailer for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s “Grindhouse” in 2007, and the feature version that Roth and writer Jeff Rendell have extrapolated from that hilarious and gory short is well worth the wait. Their “Thanksgiving” is an ingeniously structured, elegantly composed thrill machine. It’s also a gleeful assault on good taste; it’s what you get when a 1970s or ’80s Canadian tax shelter thriller like “Prom Night” or “My Bloody Valentine” is directed by a true artist.
“Thanksgiving” riffs on dozens of slasher favorites from “Black Christmas” and John Carpenter...
“Thanksgiving” riffs on dozens of slasher favorites from “Black Christmas” and John Carpenter...
- 11/16/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
In the most shockingly funny moment of Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” Miles Raymond, the desperate English teacher and wine aficionado played by Paul Giamatti, has just learned that his book was turned down by the publisher he had his hopes pinned on. It’s more than a rejection; it’s the death of his dream. Miles is in the middle a chi-chi Napa Valley wine tasting, and suddenly he’s in dire need of a drink. He asks the bartender for a glass of red, but all the man will pour him is a “taste.” Miles offers to pay for a full glass, but no go: That would be breaking the rules. It’s like the side-order-of-toast scene in “Five Easy Pieces,” only what happens here is three times as explosive. Miles grabs the bottle on the bar and pours himself a drink, and he and the bartender wind up wrestling over it.
- 11/12/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
- 10/20/2023
- by Anna Tingley and Rudie Obias
- Variety Film + TV
Mark Goddard, the actor who made a lasting impression on young sci-fi fans as the daring, forever impatient Major Don West on CBS’ 1965-68 series Lost In Space, died of pulmonary fibrosis Tuesday in Hingham, Massachusetts. He was 87.
His death was announced by his wife Evelyn Pezzulich in a Facebook post.
“I’m so sorry to tell you that my wonderful husband passed away on October 10th,” Pezzulich wrote. “Several days after celebrating his 87th birthday, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.”
By the time he was cast in his breakthrough role as the headstrong Major West, Goddard had built a reputation as a rising young actor through supporting appearances in late-’50s fare such as Johnny Ringo and The Rebel.
His death was announced by his wife Evelyn Pezzulich in a Facebook post.
“I’m so sorry to tell you that my wonderful husband passed away on October 10th,” Pezzulich wrote. “Several days after celebrating his 87th birthday, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.”
By the time he was cast in his breakthrough role as the headstrong Major West, Goddard had built a reputation as a rising young actor through supporting appearances in late-’50s fare such as Johnny Ringo and The Rebel.
- 10/13/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
After of two decades of filmmaking, from “Married Life” to “Love Is Strange,” Ira Sachs has made his tenth feature with the alluring “Passages.” The unrestrained, brazenly sexy love triangle starring an all-start cast of Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, and Adèle Exarchopoulos hit big at both Sundance and Berlin.
Last January, Sachs enjoyed holding court at a Sundance steakhouse as distributors made offers. Although the MPA Ratings Board slapped an Nc-17 on “Passages,” winning suitor Mubi will release the French-produced film unrated on August 4 before making Sachs’ film available online to its 12 million subscribers.
The filmmaker Zoomed with me from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Anne Thompson: Twelve million. That’s a significant number!
Ira Sachs: They understand that there’s a large audience who is interested in personal filmmaking that has been neglected by Hollywood. There’s no interest in...
Last January, Sachs enjoyed holding court at a Sundance steakhouse as distributors made offers. Although the MPA Ratings Board slapped an Nc-17 on “Passages,” winning suitor Mubi will release the French-produced film unrated on August 4 before making Sachs’ film available online to its 12 million subscribers.
The filmmaker Zoomed with me from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Anne Thompson: Twelve million. That’s a significant number!
Ira Sachs: They understand that there’s a large audience who is interested in personal filmmaking that has been neglected by Hollywood. There’s no interest in...
- 8/2/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Long ago, the 1950s ended and Disney never really got over it.
With the right kind of eyes, a casual viewer can look at the early days of Walt Disney Studios as their heyday. Walt himself was still alive and using his aggressive business acumen to produce visually innovative and award-winning animated shorts that were helping put the studio on the map. Without the Silly Symphonies, animation would not be the same. Warner Bros. outstripped Disney's fare with their cheekier, funnier shorts in the 1940s and 1950s, but the folks at Warner's Termite Terrace were very open about the fact that Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes were ripping off Disney's Silly Symphonies name. Disney Animation broke onto the scene in 1937 with the release of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," still celebrated as one of the best of all animated films to this day.
The reason early Disney was...
With the right kind of eyes, a casual viewer can look at the early days of Walt Disney Studios as their heyday. Walt himself was still alive and using his aggressive business acumen to produce visually innovative and award-winning animated shorts that were helping put the studio on the map. Without the Silly Symphonies, animation would not be the same. Warner Bros. outstripped Disney's fare with their cheekier, funnier shorts in the 1940s and 1950s, but the folks at Warner's Termite Terrace were very open about the fact that Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes were ripping off Disney's Silly Symphonies name. Disney Animation broke onto the scene in 1937 with the release of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," still celebrated as one of the best of all animated films to this day.
The reason early Disney was...
- 7/24/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The highly anticipated spy thriller “Special Ops: Lioness” arrives on Paramount+ on July 23. The original series from Taylor Sheridan is based on a true story and stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, and Morgan Freeman. De Oliveira plays a CIA undercover operative, a “lioness,” charged with befriending someone close to a high-value enemy target, a key member of a state terrorist organization.
Catch the “Special Ops: Lioness” trailer
Also coming to Paramount+ next month will be a reunion filled with humor and romance. New film “Zoey 102” will premiere on July 28 and reunite many of the cast members from the beloved high-school series “Zoey 101.” The gang is getting back together in Malibu to attend Logan and Quinn’s wedding, but that is not the only romance in the air. Jamie Lynn Spears, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Erin Sanders, and Abby Wilde star in the sequel film.
Watch...
Catch the “Special Ops: Lioness” trailer
Also coming to Paramount+ next month will be a reunion filled with humor and romance. New film “Zoey 102” will premiere on July 28 and reunite many of the cast members from the beloved high-school series “Zoey 101.” The gang is getting back together in Malibu to attend Logan and Quinn’s wedding, but that is not the only romance in the air. Jamie Lynn Spears, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Erin Sanders, and Abby Wilde star in the sequel film.
Watch...
- 6/30/2023
- by Fern Siegel
- The Streamable
Exclusive: Carrie Fisher’s last movie Wonderwell is finally getting released after a “perilous” seven-year journey to screen.
The Star Wars icon, who passed away in late 2016 just six weeks after wrapping on the fantasy movie, leads cast alongside singer and actress Rita Ora (Fifty Shades of Grey), Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Sebastian Croft (Heartstopper) and newcomer Kiera Milward.
Vertical has acquired North America and UK/Ire rights to Vlad Marsavin’s under-the-radar directorial debut and is lining up a limited theatrical run via AMC in the U.S. from June 23, 2023, followed by a digital release.
“The journey we have taken as filmmakers with this movie, has been as perilous as that of the movie itself,” explained director Marsavin about the delayed release. “From filming to screen it has taken us seven years. The visual effects on a movie of this magnitude takes time, but we were challenged with Covid...
The Star Wars icon, who passed away in late 2016 just six weeks after wrapping on the fantasy movie, leads cast alongside singer and actress Rita Ora (Fifty Shades of Grey), Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Sebastian Croft (Heartstopper) and newcomer Kiera Milward.
Vertical has acquired North America and UK/Ire rights to Vlad Marsavin’s under-the-radar directorial debut and is lining up a limited theatrical run via AMC in the U.S. from June 23, 2023, followed by a digital release.
“The journey we have taken as filmmakers with this movie, has been as perilous as that of the movie itself,” explained director Marsavin about the delayed release. “From filming to screen it has taken us seven years. The visual effects on a movie of this magnitude takes time, but we were challenged with Covid...
- 6/14/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...
BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...
- 6/2/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
On April 28, 2023, the sports and entertainment worlds lit up with joy at the sight of Jack Nicholson taking his courtside seat at Crypto.com Arena for the Los Angeles Lakers' semifinals-clinching game against the Memphis Grizzlies. This was the 86-year-old star's first appearance at a game since the home opener of the 2021-22 season, and it dispelled rumors of ill-health that had flitted about due to his absence from the public eye.
Ever since his career took off in the late 1960s, Nicholson exemplified Hollywood stardom. He played the celebrity game with devilish glee, donning his Ray-Ban sunglasses and strutting down red carpets to the delight of shutterbugs and fans. He was a near-constant presence at the Academy Awards, where he typically sat in the front row because, well, he's Jack. And no Lakers home game felt official without him sitting just to the right of the visiting team's bench...
Ever since his career took off in the late 1960s, Nicholson exemplified Hollywood stardom. He played the celebrity game with devilish glee, donning his Ray-Ban sunglasses and strutting down red carpets to the delight of shutterbugs and fans. He was a near-constant presence at the Academy Awards, where he typically sat in the front row because, well, he's Jack. And no Lakers home game felt official without him sitting just to the right of the visiting team's bench...
- 5/26/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Sally Struthers has a screen acting career that goes back more than fifty years, with one of her earliest appearances being in the 1970 Bob Rafelson / Jack Nicholson classic Five Easy Pieces. As the decades have gone by, she has racked up more than seventy more credits, including a memorable role in Gilmore Girls, a role in the 1972 version of The Getaway, and of course the gig she’s best known for, playing Gloria Bunker-Stivic in 184 episodes of the sitcom All in the Family. A character she also played in 5 episodes of the follow-up Archie Bunker’s Place and 22 episodes of her own spin-off, Gloria. But while Struthers has done a lot of work, one genre she never ventured into was horror… Until now. She has worked on a few thrillers, but her first all-out horror movie is called Evil Sublet – and Deadline reports that Lion Heart Distribution has acquired North American rights to the film.
- 5/24/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
- 5/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Kevin Morby hasn’t completely closed the door on This is a Photograph, the introspective seventh studio album he released last year. On it, he walked a thin line between autobiographical and fictional storytelling while exploring the way childhood memories change with age. But even those 12 songs weren’t enough for him to feel at peace with it all, so he’s going back for more on More Photographs (A Continuum), set for release on May 26.
“If This Is a Photograph is a house that you have been living inside of,...
“If This Is a Photograph is a house that you have been living inside of,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
"I don't want you to tell us what you do, I want you to tell us who you are..." The great Jack Nicholson just turned 86 this year. In celebration of most recent birthday, Little White Lies debuted this terrific video retrospective looking back at his illustrious career in cinema. A five-minute-long journey through his many iconic characters. The Transformation of Jack Nicholson is the latest video made by Portuguese editor Luís Azevedo (who we've featured many times before). It contains footage from many of Jack Nicholson's best roles throughout his five decades in movies. In 1970, he starred in Five Easy Pieces in what became his persona-defining role. Aside from The Shining, clips in this are from his best films including The Departed, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, Chinatown, Anger Management, Mars Attacks, The Two Jakes, About Schmidt, Easy Rider, and of course One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As always,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).
You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”
Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”
Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
- 3/3/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Melvil Poupaud with Anne-Katrin Titze on Arnaud Desplechin: “For me he is one of the best metteurs en scène that I’ve worked with because of where he puts the camera, the choice of the lens, everything means something.”
In the second instalment with Melvil Poupaud on Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother And Sister, screenplay with Julie Peyr we discuss inspiration from Forest Whitaker in Clint Eastwood’s Bird and Jack Nicholson In Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces, Grégoire Hetzel’s score, a very particular smile shared by him and Marion Cotillard, a cowboy movie showdown in the supermarket, contradictions, and hungry ghosts.
Melvil Poupaud on Arnaud Desplechin: “He doesn’t want to be realistic or naturalistic. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Magnetic Melvil Poupaud opens on Tuesday, March 7 with a screening of Carine Tardieu’s The Young Lovers (Les Jeunes Amants) at 7:30pm followed by a Q&a with Melvil inside Florence Gould.
In the second instalment with Melvil Poupaud on Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother And Sister, screenplay with Julie Peyr we discuss inspiration from Forest Whitaker in Clint Eastwood’s Bird and Jack Nicholson In Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces, Grégoire Hetzel’s score, a very particular smile shared by him and Marion Cotillard, a cowboy movie showdown in the supermarket, contradictions, and hungry ghosts.
Melvil Poupaud on Arnaud Desplechin: “He doesn’t want to be realistic or naturalistic. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Magnetic Melvil Poupaud opens on Tuesday, March 7 with a screening of Carine Tardieu’s The Young Lovers (Les Jeunes Amants) at 7:30pm followed by a Q&a with Melvil inside Florence Gould.
- 2/27/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Jack Nicholson’s daughter Tessa Gourin is speaking out about her estranged relationship with her famous father.
Since the 28-year-old actress was young, her mother, actress Jennine Gourin, told her “not to tell anyone that I have this famous dad,” Gourin recently told The Daily Beast.
“I knew he was powerful and Daddy Warbucks-level rich, so I kind of equated my life to being like Orphan Annie’s,” she told the publication, referring to the 1932 film “Little Orphan Annie”.
Gourin claimed that, as a child, Nicholson, who has never publicly acknowledged her as his daughter, “wasn’t interested” in having a relationship with her. While she refused to go into detail about her childhood, she did mention that her father, now 85, paid for her early education.
Read More: Pamela Anderson Says She Once Walked In On Jack Nicholson Having A Threesome
“When you’re a child, you don’t have...
Since the 28-year-old actress was young, her mother, actress Jennine Gourin, told her “not to tell anyone that I have this famous dad,” Gourin recently told The Daily Beast.
“I knew he was powerful and Daddy Warbucks-level rich, so I kind of equated my life to being like Orphan Annie’s,” she told the publication, referring to the 1932 film “Little Orphan Annie”.
Gourin claimed that, as a child, Nicholson, who has never publicly acknowledged her as his daughter, “wasn’t interested” in having a relationship with her. While she refused to go into detail about her childhood, she did mention that her father, now 85, paid for her early education.
Read More: Pamela Anderson Says She Once Walked In On Jack Nicholson Having A Threesome
“When you’re a child, you don’t have...
- 2/19/2023
- by Melissa Romualdi
- ET Canada
In the post-New Hollywood era, there are movie stars and there is Warren Beatty. The sturdily built, 6'2" dreamboat could've been a fine football player, but his movie-mad sister, Shirley MacLaine, got him fired up about acting. Beatty studied under Stella Adler, and arrived fully formed as a matinee idol opposite Natalie Wood in Elia Kazan's 1961 hit, "Splendor in the Grass." Beatty took not just to the craft, but the game. He produced and starred in Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde," which, by dint of his star power, drop-kicked studios into an era of blind risk-taking.
But there was nothing blind about investing in Beatty. "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," and even "The French Connection" were long shots. Place Beatty at the top of the marquee, and you had an event. The problem for studios was that Beatty had peculiar appetites. Ideally, you'd plug him into "Love Story" or "The Way We Were.
But there was nothing blind about investing in Beatty. "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," and even "The French Connection" were long shots. Place Beatty at the top of the marquee, and you had an event. The problem for studios was that Beatty had peculiar appetites. Ideally, you'd plug him into "Love Story" or "The Way We Were.
- 2/11/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Writer-director Todd Field’s “TÁR” is a singular film on many levels, even as it pays homage to the morally complex, often open-ended narratives of the 1970s like “Five Easy Pieces,” “The Conversation,” and “The Last Detail.” Field’s character study of a totally original protagonist is both a detailed anthropological study of the international classical music scene and a novelistic epic that avoids preexisting cinematic reference points. But perhaps its most distinctive quality is its richly textured cinematography, for which director of photography Florian Hoffmeister won the top prize at Camerimage and is now nominated for an Academy Award.
Hoffmeister’s imagery is highly expressive, with lighting that subtly delineates the scenes in which renowned conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is performing (whether it be on a stage or at a one-on-one lunch with a colleague) and the moments where she is “authentic,” whatever that may mean in the...
Hoffmeister’s imagery is highly expressive, with lighting that subtly delineates the scenes in which renowned conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is performing (whether it be on a stage or at a one-on-one lunch with a colleague) and the moments where she is “authentic,” whatever that may mean in the...
- 2/8/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Joseph Koo, a leading music composer during Hong Kong cinema’s golden era, has died in Vancouver, Canada. He was 91.
Local media report his death as happening on Tuesday Jan. 3, 2023, but do not state a cause of death.
Born in Guangzhou, China on Feb. 23, 1931, Koo Ka-fai moved with his scholarly and musical family from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1948.
Koo spent much of his career in the Hong Kong film, TV and pop music industries. And, even after he emigrated to Canada in the 1990s, he maintained active links with the Hong Kong industry.
As a youngster, Koo learned the piano and composed songs for his sister Koo Mei, who was a major recording artist in her own right. Later he became a performer and band leader performing at venues including the Luk Kwok Hotel in Hong Kong.
His first composition for a film was “Dream,” a song performed...
Local media report his death as happening on Tuesday Jan. 3, 2023, but do not state a cause of death.
Born in Guangzhou, China on Feb. 23, 1931, Koo Ka-fai moved with his scholarly and musical family from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1948.
Koo spent much of his career in the Hong Kong film, TV and pop music industries. And, even after he emigrated to Canada in the 1990s, he maintained active links with the Hong Kong industry.
As a youngster, Koo learned the piano and composed songs for his sister Koo Mei, who was a major recording artist in her own right. Later he became a performer and band leader performing at venues including the Luk Kwok Hotel in Hong Kong.
His first composition for a film was “Dream,” a song performed...
- 1/4/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Jack Nicholson received the first of his 12 Academy Award nominations for his supporting role in "Easy Rider," a film that tapped into the '60s counterculture to become a watershed for the New Hollywood era. Yet despite its cultural significance and impact on Nicholson's career, "Easy Rider" had a notoriously troubled production, much of which was documented in Peter Biskind's book, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood."
Among other things, "Easy Rider" director and star Dennis Hopper famously pulled a steak knife on actor Rip Torn, who was originally supposed to play lawyer George Hanson, the role that went to Nicholson. Hopper and his costar Peter Fonda also got into a dispute over the film's writing credits, which they shared with Terry Southern. In a 1974 interview with Sight and Sound magazine, Nicholson explained that he only stepped in to act after getting involved...
Among other things, "Easy Rider" director and star Dennis Hopper famously pulled a steak knife on actor Rip Torn, who was originally supposed to play lawyer George Hanson, the role that went to Nicholson. Hopper and his costar Peter Fonda also got into a dispute over the film's writing credits, which they shared with Terry Southern. In a 1974 interview with Sight and Sound magazine, Nicholson explained that he only stepped in to act after getting involved...
- 8/27/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
As Hollywood mourns the death of Bob Rafelson, the director of “Five Easy Pieces” and an essential member of the New Hollywood movement who helped launch the careers of Jack Nicholson and Peter Bogdanovich, one of the world’s greatest filmmakers (and film historians) has paid his respects. In a new statement, Martin Scorsese spoke about the impact that Rafelson had on the world of cinema, both through the art he created and the way he helped usher in a new business model for artistic filmmaking.
“Bob Rafelson was a pivotal figure in the history of cinema, American cinema most of all, and he was a bridge between two eras in Hollywood moviemaking,” Scorsese wrote. “He was literally born into the old Hollywood — his cousin was the great screenwriter Samson Raphaelson, one of Lubitsch’s key collaborators — and he was one of the people who made the New Hollywood possible,...
“Bob Rafelson was a pivotal figure in the history of cinema, American cinema most of all, and he was a bridge between two eras in Hollywood moviemaking,” Scorsese wrote. “He was literally born into the old Hollywood — his cousin was the great screenwriter Samson Raphaelson, one of Lubitsch’s key collaborators — and he was one of the people who made the New Hollywood possible,...
- 7/28/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
No movie better captures the maverick spirit of Bob Rafelson and the impact he had on the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s than “Five Easy Pieces.” The film follows Jack Nicholson’s Bobby Dupea, a former piano prodigy who has turned his back on his privileged lifestyle to embrace the life of a blue collar drifter. Dupea’s rejection of his upbringing struck a cord with the counterculture and turned “Five Easy Pieces” into a critical and commercial sensation, making it a rare film that tapped into and reflected the zeitgeist.
Rafelson, who also directed “The King of Marvin Gardens” and helped create “The Monkees” television series, died on July 23 at the age of 89. Lois Smith, a Tony-winning character actress who would later work with the filmmaker on his 1987 thriller “Black Widow,” played Partita Dupea, the sister of Bobby Dupea, in “Pieces,’ who helps set the plot in motion...
Rafelson, who also directed “The King of Marvin Gardens” and helped create “The Monkees” television series, died on July 23 at the age of 89. Lois Smith, a Tony-winning character actress who would later work with the filmmaker on his 1987 thriller “Black Widow,” played Partita Dupea, the sister of Bobby Dupea, in “Pieces,’ who helps set the plot in motion...
- 7/26/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Though regarded by cinephiles as one of the architects of the “New Hollywood” largely because of moody character studies like 1970’s “Five Easy Pieces,” filmmaker Bob Rafelson — who died Saturday at 89 — will also always be adored for his co-creation and production of the decidedly less moody, madcap television series “The Monkees,” and for further directing that makeshift band in the comically avant-garde 1968 film “Head.”
Rafelson is very fondly remembered by vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz, the final surviving member of the Monkees, who shared his thoughts about Rafelson’s role in the creation and development of the group with Variety.
A wildly silly sitcom about a faux teeny-bop band meant that its producer-showrunners, Rafelson and Bert Schneider (who died in 2011), had to find a willing quartet of actor-musicians. Enter Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith and Dolenz, who became the Monkees, recorded a dozen hits selling over 75 million records worldwide,...
Rafelson is very fondly remembered by vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz, the final surviving member of the Monkees, who shared his thoughts about Rafelson’s role in the creation and development of the group with Variety.
A wildly silly sitcom about a faux teeny-bop band meant that its producer-showrunners, Rafelson and Bert Schneider (who died in 2011), had to find a willing quartet of actor-musicians. Enter Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith and Dolenz, who became the Monkees, recorded a dozen hits selling over 75 million records worldwide,...
- 7/25/2022
- by A.D. Amorosi
- Variety Film + TV
Rafelson was a director who got era-defining performances out of Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens, as well as co-creating the Monkees
Bob Rafelson dies aged 89
Of all the creative energies and commercial synergies that swirled around Hollywood at the end of the 1960s, surely the strangest was the one between the Monkees, actor Jack Nicholson and the producer-director who was to become a presiding genius of the American new wave: Bob Rafelson. Yet if Rafelson had not co-created pop music’s great boyband in his capacity as a TV producer, his company would not have been as madly successful as it was: he would not have been able to produce Dennis Hopper’s countercultural classic Easy Rider in 1969 (co-starring Nicholson) and Peter Bogdanovich’s cinephile gem The Last Picture Show in 1971. And it all allowed Rafelson to become a key director of the time,...
Bob Rafelson dies aged 89
Of all the creative energies and commercial synergies that swirled around Hollywood at the end of the 1960s, surely the strangest was the one between the Monkees, actor Jack Nicholson and the producer-director who was to become a presiding genius of the American new wave: Bob Rafelson. Yet if Rafelson had not co-created pop music’s great boyband in his capacity as a TV producer, his company would not have been as madly successful as it was: he would not have been able to produce Dennis Hopper’s countercultural classic Easy Rider in 1969 (co-starring Nicholson) and Peter Bogdanovich’s cinephile gem The Last Picture Show in 1971. And it all allowed Rafelson to become a key director of the time,...
- 7/25/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Bob Rafelson, the writer, director, and producer who helped launch Jack Nicholson’s career while quietly working on some of the most influential films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, has died at the age of 89, his ex-wife Gabrielle Taurek confirmed.
Rafelson was best known for writing and directing “Five Easy Pieces” in 1970, which earned him critical acclaim and two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. He also produced “Easy Rider” and “The Last Picture Show,” directed the “All Night Long” music video for Lionel Richie, and co-created “The Monkees.”
Born in New York City in 1933, Rafelson studied at Dartmouth College and was later stationed in Japan while serving in the U.S. Army. While there he found work as a translator of Japanese films, a job that led him to fall in love with the works of Yasujiro Ozu.
“I’d have to watch an Ozu movie over and over again — say,...
Rafelson was best known for writing and directing “Five Easy Pieces” in 1970, which earned him critical acclaim and two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. He also produced “Easy Rider” and “The Last Picture Show,” directed the “All Night Long” music video for Lionel Richie, and co-created “The Monkees.”
Born in New York City in 1933, Rafelson studied at Dartmouth College and was later stationed in Japan while serving in the U.S. Army. While there he found work as a translator of Japanese films, a job that led him to fall in love with the works of Yasujiro Ozu.
“I’d have to watch an Ozu movie over and over again — say,...
- 7/24/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
Bob Rafelson, the writer, director, producer and maverick who set the tone for the swinging, psychedelic 1960s with The Monkees, then was a pioneer in one of the most influential eras in the history of independent film, has died. He was 89.
Rafelson, who collaborated with Jack Nicholson on seven features, including the classics Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), died Saturday night of natural causes at his home in Aspen, Colorado, his wife, Gabrielle, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Rafelson earned Oscar nominations for co-writing and producing Five Easy Pieces and then, for an encore, produced Peter Bogdanovich‘s breakthrough hit, The Last Picture Show (1971).
Along with his late partner Bert Schneider, Rafelson created The Monkees, the touchstone NBC show that debuted in 1966. He conceived the idea of a program that mimicked the exuberance of The Beatles, specifically the...
Bob Rafelson, the writer, director, producer and maverick who set the tone for the swinging, psychedelic 1960s with The Monkees, then was a pioneer in one of the most influential eras in the history of independent film, has died. He was 89.
Rafelson, who collaborated with Jack Nicholson on seven features, including the classics Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), died Saturday night of natural causes at his home in Aspen, Colorado, his wife, Gabrielle, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Rafelson earned Oscar nominations for co-writing and producing Five Easy Pieces and then, for an encore, produced Peter Bogdanovich‘s breakthrough hit, The Last Picture Show (1971).
Along with his late partner Bert Schneider, Rafelson created The Monkees, the touchstone NBC show that debuted in 1966. He conceived the idea of a program that mimicked the exuberance of The Beatles, specifically the...
- 7/24/2022
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movies: "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Detail"
Where You Can Stream Them: HBO Max
The Pitch: In "Five Easy Pieces," an oil worker and former pianist, estranged from his present and past, sees them both collide when he goes home to visit his dying father. In "The Last Detail," two Navy shore patrolmen embark on a hedonistic journey while escorting a naïve young sailor to jail—but they're...
The post The Daily Stream: Five Easy Pieces and The Last Detail Are a Seminal Jack Nicholson and New Hollywood Double Feature appeared first on /Film.
The Movies: "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Detail"
Where You Can Stream Them: HBO Max
The Pitch: In "Five Easy Pieces," an oil worker and former pianist, estranged from his present and past, sees them both collide when he goes home to visit his dying father. In "The Last Detail," two Navy shore patrolmen embark on a hedonistic journey while escorting a naïve young sailor to jail—but they're...
The post The Daily Stream: Five Easy Pieces and The Last Detail Are a Seminal Jack Nicholson and New Hollywood Double Feature appeared first on /Film.
- 7/8/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
There’s something strange about Memphis. Nestled along the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, the city lies shrouded in an aura of perpetual gloom, its skyline dominated by a mammoth, metal-clad pyramid filled not with treasures, but a Bass Pro Shop superstore. Unable to escape its murky past — yellow fever, massacres and assassinations, untimely demises — the city remains burdened by the stench of death lingering in the hot, humid air.
It’s not the happiest place on earth, but it does make an ideal locale to ruminate on mortality.
It’s not the happiest place on earth, but it does make an ideal locale to ruminate on mortality.
- 5/16/2022
- by Kat Bouza
- Rollingstone.com
In what can be called movie geek comfort food, Battle: Los Angeles and Krull have become cult favorites over the years. Why? You can watch either movie while doing other things keeping an extra eye on the screen, have devout fans who can recite the dialogue verbatim and will defend both movies to the end. Guilty pleasures, yes, cult status, definitely.
Even HBO Max has it listed as such.
The 2011 sci-fi and 1982 fantasy films have come to HBO Max and are available to stream now.
“Marines don’t quit.”
Battle: Los Angeles, starring Aaron Eckhart, and from director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath Of The Titans), is the exciting story of a squad of U.S. Marines who become the last line of defense against a global invasion. It gets the military right than most war movies. Numerous Marine units assisted in filming and the movie contains some awesome scenes with Black Hawks,...
Even HBO Max has it listed as such.
The 2011 sci-fi and 1982 fantasy films have come to HBO Max and are available to stream now.
“Marines don’t quit.”
Battle: Los Angeles, starring Aaron Eckhart, and from director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath Of The Titans), is the exciting story of a squad of U.S. Marines who become the last line of defense against a global invasion. It gets the military right than most war movies. Numerous Marine units assisted in filming and the movie contains some awesome scenes with Black Hawks,...
- 4/3/2022
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The return of fan-favorite shows, auteurs tackling new original series, new documentaries and more headline what’s new on HBO Max in April 2022.
Top of the list is the HBO Max original series “The Flight Attendant,” which returns for its second season on April 21. Then there’s the long-awaited return of Bill Hader’s “Barry” on April 24 on HBO and HBO Max, as well as Season 3 of “The Black Lady Sketch Show” on April 8.
In terms of new originals, “The Wire” and “The Deuce” creator David Simon is back with the new series “We Own This City” on April 25, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. Michael Mann executive produces and directs the first episode of the neo-noir “Tokyo Vice,” which premieres on April 7. And Ben Foster stars as Holocaust survivor Harry Haft in the HBO Original Film “The Survivor,” which...
Top of the list is the HBO Max original series “The Flight Attendant,” which returns for its second season on April 21. Then there’s the long-awaited return of Bill Hader’s “Barry” on April 24 on HBO and HBO Max, as well as Season 3 of “The Black Lady Sketch Show” on April 8.
In terms of new originals, “The Wire” and “The Deuce” creator David Simon is back with the new series “We Own This City” on April 25, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. Michael Mann executive produces and directs the first episode of the neo-noir “Tokyo Vice,” which premieres on April 7. And Ben Foster stars as Holocaust survivor Harry Haft in the HBO Original Film “The Survivor,” which...
- 4/1/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
April is about to be a good month for returning HBO and HBO Max properties.
HBO Max’s list of releases for April 2022 features three hotly anticipated seasons of television. The Flight Attendant, which helped launch HBO Max as a viable spot for good dramedy in 2020, premieres its second season on April 21. That will be followed by another go-around for the sci-fi comedy Made for Love on April 28. Of course, the big ticket item this month is something that HBO Max inherited from its cable cousin. Barry season 3 will continue the story of hitman-turned-actor Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) on April 24.
The TV offerings run much deeper than just returning shows this month. April 7 sees the arrival of Tokyo Vice, a sprawling crime drama with some episodes directed by Michael Mann. The series stars Ansel Elgort as an American journalist embedding himself in Tokyo’s criminal underground in the late ’90s.
HBO Max’s list of releases for April 2022 features three hotly anticipated seasons of television. The Flight Attendant, which helped launch HBO Max as a viable spot for good dramedy in 2020, premieres its second season on April 21. That will be followed by another go-around for the sci-fi comedy Made for Love on April 28. Of course, the big ticket item this month is something that HBO Max inherited from its cable cousin. Barry season 3 will continue the story of hitman-turned-actor Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) on April 24.
The TV offerings run much deeper than just returning shows this month. April 7 sees the arrival of Tokyo Vice, a sprawling crime drama with some episodes directed by Michael Mann. The series stars Ansel Elgort as an American journalist embedding himself in Tokyo’s criminal underground in the late ’90s.
- 4/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Eran Riklis is developing a new feature that he hopes will strike a chord at this week’s Mia Market in Rome, where the acclaimed Israeli director will be pitching it to potential partners.
“Last Chord in Thessaloniki” follows a family of jazz musicians who are forced to confront their dysfunctions while traveling together to perform in Greece’s second city, where the family’s roots, though buried deep in the past, upend the present and cast a dark shadow over the future. Setting off on a journey from Tel Aviv to Thessaloniki, they are waylaid and sidetracked along the way – offering an opportunity, however, for them to arrive at an unexpected destination.
“Sometimes you have to travel really far in order to rediscover yourself,” Riklis explained. “The distance is possibly quite short. It’s actually traveling somewhere between your mind and your heart. The fact that you’re out...
“Last Chord in Thessaloniki” follows a family of jazz musicians who are forced to confront their dysfunctions while traveling together to perform in Greece’s second city, where the family’s roots, though buried deep in the past, upend the present and cast a dark shadow over the future. Setting off on a journey from Tel Aviv to Thessaloniki, they are waylaid and sidetracked along the way – offering an opportunity, however, for them to arrive at an unexpected destination.
“Sometimes you have to travel really far in order to rediscover yourself,” Riklis explained. “The distance is possibly quite short. It’s actually traveling somewhere between your mind and your heart. The fact that you’re out...
- 10/15/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The first 40 minutes of “Hard Luck Love Song” are so aggressively off-putting, even the unluckiest of audiences may be tempted to to walk out of the theater or turn off the TV. The arrantly contrived last 20 minutes are equally patience-testing — and borderline loony to boot. Everything in between is bearable, if only by comparison, but not particularly worth the bother.
Director Justin Corsbie and co-writer Ugoretz devote an inordinate amount of time to an interminable slog of a set-up, introducing their protagonist, Jesse (Michael Dorman of Apple TV’s “For All Mankind”), as a struggling country music singer-songwriter who, judging from what we hear of his songs, might do well to give up the struggle. When it comes to making money, he’s more successful as a pool hustler. But not always. When we first see him rolling into an unnamed small city in his battered Chevy Nova, he has his hand in a cast.
Director Justin Corsbie and co-writer Ugoretz devote an inordinate amount of time to an interminable slog of a set-up, introducing their protagonist, Jesse (Michael Dorman of Apple TV’s “For All Mankind”), as a struggling country music singer-songwriter who, judging from what we hear of his songs, might do well to give up the struggle. When it comes to making money, he’s more successful as a pool hustler. But not always. When we first see him rolling into an unnamed small city in his battered Chevy Nova, he has his hand in a cast.
- 10/15/2021
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
As predicted, Lois Smith won the Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play for her moving turn in Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance.” Not only is this the veteran actress’ first career Tony win, but Smith has just become the oldest Tony winning actor in history. Talk about a victory being worth the wait!
Lois Smith is 90 years of age, having been born on November 3, 1930. This makes her two years older than the previous record holder for oldest Tony winning performer. That would be Cicely Tyson, who won a Tony for playing Carrie Watts in the 2018 revival of “The Trip To Bountiful” at age 88. That was Tyson’s only Tony nomination and win of her career, despite appearing in nine Broadway plays. Ironically, Smith also portrayed Carrie in a 2005 Off-Broadway revival of “Bountiful.” She won the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for that performance.
Lois Smith is 90 years of age, having been born on November 3, 1930. This makes her two years older than the previous record holder for oldest Tony winning performer. That would be Cicely Tyson, who won a Tony for playing Carrie Watts in the 2018 revival of “The Trip To Bountiful” at age 88. That was Tyson’s only Tony nomination and win of her career, despite appearing in nine Broadway plays. Ironically, Smith also portrayed Carrie in a 2005 Off-Broadway revival of “Bountiful.” She won the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for that performance.
- 9/26/2021
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Michael Douglas has earned his third consecutive Best Comedy Actor Emmy nomination for “The Kominsky Method” and this one feels a bit more meaningful. Season 3 is the show’s last and almost didn’t exist because Netflix originally had a two-year commitment to the show and then Alan Arkin opted not to return should there be a third.
“I had such a good time that I finished the two and I wanted to tie it up, wrap it up with a little bouquet or a ribbon, tie it all together and finish the show up,” Douglas told Gold Derby (watch above). “Alan had different feelings. … I thought we had another [season] in us and just wanted to tie up the stories and talked to Chuck Lorre, who’s the real deal. He’s just one helluva writer and he felt the same way.”
A third and final season renewal from Netflix...
“I had such a good time that I finished the two and I wanted to tie it up, wrap it up with a little bouquet or a ribbon, tie it all together and finish the show up,” Douglas told Gold Derby (watch above). “Alan had different feelings. … I thought we had another [season] in us and just wanted to tie up the stories and talked to Chuck Lorre, who’s the real deal. He’s just one helluva writer and he felt the same way.”
A third and final season renewal from Netflix...
- 8/3/2021
- by Joyce Eng and Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
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