“It was all me, James. It’s always been me,” the villain played by Christoph Waltz reveals to super spy James Bond. “The author of all your pain.”
The name of that author? Ernst Stavro Blofeld. When Waltz revealed himself as Blofeld in 2015’s Spectre, he reversed a problem that had plagued the Bond franchise for decades: the long absence of 007’s greatest recurring arch-enemy and the huge stakes that came along with his every appearance.
How could the man who escaped every death trap and seduced every woman lose his man? How did the notoriously controlling Eon Productions, which owns the rights to Ian Fleming’s novels, let one of its most important characters slip through its hands?
Turns out, the true author of Bond’s pain is the copyright office and the he said/she said litigation that slows down big budget productions.
The Birth of Blofeld
Ernst...
The name of that author? Ernst Stavro Blofeld. When Waltz revealed himself as Blofeld in 2015’s Spectre, he reversed a problem that had plagued the Bond franchise for decades: the long absence of 007’s greatest recurring arch-enemy and the huge stakes that came along with his every appearance.
How could the man who escaped every death trap and seduced every woman lose his man? How did the notoriously controlling Eon Productions, which owns the rights to Ian Fleming’s novels, let one of its most important characters slip through its hands?
Turns out, the true author of Bond’s pain is the copyright office and the he said/she said litigation that slows down big budget productions.
The Birth of Blofeld
Ernst...
- 4/1/2024
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
We have seen multiple adaptations of Superman in various media franchises, from live-action to video games. However, not a lot of them have received as much acclaim as Superman: The Animated Series did.
Lex Luthor | Source: Superman: The Animated Series
A lot of talented actors and designers were also associated with the project back in the 90s. However, when it came to creating a character design for the iconic villain of Lex Luthor, instead of trying to design the character like the comics, the designers tried to copy the badass look of this iconic James Bond villain from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
The design of Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series was based on Telly Savalas
Superman is arguably one of the most popular superheroes of all time. The Kryptonian resident is one of those characters that fit the perfect definition of a Superhero and is one...
Lex Luthor | Source: Superman: The Animated Series
A lot of talented actors and designers were also associated with the project back in the 90s. However, when it came to creating a character design for the iconic villain of Lex Luthor, instead of trying to design the character like the comics, the designers tried to copy the badass look of this iconic James Bond villain from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
The design of Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series was based on Telly Savalas
Superman is arguably one of the most popular superheroes of all time. The Kryptonian resident is one of those characters that fit the perfect definition of a Superhero and is one...
- 3/24/2024
- by Shikhar Tiwari
- FandomWire
As far as conspiracy theories go, very few have had as much of a life as the notion that NASA faked the Apollo moon landing. In some ways, one can understand why people felt this way, as it was one of the most critical events in human history, and the only witness was a TV camera. Back then, people distrusted anything they couldn’t see with their own eyes. In the seventies, conspiracy theories started to get famous, especially as far as the government went, with this the era of Watergate. People no longer trusted authority, and into this fraught environment came Capricorn One, a sci-fi-tinged conspiracy thriller that was one of the most popular films of 1977 but has since been largely forgotten – save for a small cult of devoted fans.
The film is directed by Best Movie You Never Saw favorite Peter Hyams, who also made Outland, 2010, Running Scared,...
The film is directed by Best Movie You Never Saw favorite Peter Hyams, who also made Outland, 2010, Running Scared,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Robert Aldrich's "The Dirty Dozen" is the daddiest of dad movies. A box office smash upon its theatrical release in 1967, it was the proto-"men-on-a-mission" movie. Lee Marvin stars as a World War II U.S. Army major ordered to lead a pack of disposable military prisoners on a suicide mission to slaughter numerous high-ranking Nazi officers. The film brought together some of the most macho men on the planet to play the (not entirely) doomed soldiers: Charles Bronson, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas, and, of course, recently retired Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown. It was a testosterone-fueled must-see that inspired three made-for-tv sequels and a load of imitators (including Enzo G. Castellari's "The Inglorious Bastards" and Quentin Tarantino's endearingly misspelled "Inglourious Basterds").
It's been homaged and ripped off so many times over the last 57 years that a straight-up remake would hardly be sacrilege. In fact, given...
It's been homaged and ripped off so many times over the last 57 years that a straight-up remake would hardly be sacrilege. In fact, given...
- 1/10/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
James Bond is currently in limbo. Following the end of the Daniel Craig era, no one is quite sure what long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have in store for the next 007 installment, and it might be some time before we find out.
In the meantime, several actors have been touted as frontrunners to don the tux. But what about the villain? Bond antagonists are almost as important as the man himself, and there's no shortage of actors who'd be willing to play one. Brian Cox, for example, mistakenly thought he was about to be the next Bond villain when he got the call for "007: Road to a Million." Speaking to Jimmy Fallon (via The Hollywood Reporter), Cox said, "For years I thought, 'Yeah, I'd love to be a James Bond villain. It'd be really interesting.' And I thought, 'This is my moment.' But it wasn't.
In the meantime, several actors have been touted as frontrunners to don the tux. But what about the villain? Bond antagonists are almost as important as the man himself, and there's no shortage of actors who'd be willing to play one. Brian Cox, for example, mistakenly thought he was about to be the next Bond villain when he got the call for "007: Road to a Million." Speaking to Jimmy Fallon (via The Hollywood Reporter), Cox said, "For years I thought, 'Yeah, I'd love to be a James Bond villain. It'd be really interesting.' And I thought, 'This is my moment.' But it wasn't.
- 12/27/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Andre Braugher, who starred in the laugh-out-loud television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Homicide: Life on the Street, passed away on Monday. He was 61.
Braugher’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, confirmed the news of his passing to Variety.
Andre Braugher shined as Captain Raymond Holt on the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. By far, my favorite character in the series, Braugher’s performance as the stoic and sinisterly sassy Captain Holt is the stuff of legend. Alongside his co-stars, Braugher helped lead the series from 2013 until 2021. Not typically known for his comedic chops before landing the role of Captain Holt, Braugher left his comfort zone in the rearview to surprise everyone with an unforgettable and consistently hilarious performance.
A Chicago native, Braugher excelled at playing cops with integrity on television. He began his career playing a detective opposite Telly Savalas in a string of Kojak telefilms. Before long, he landed a pivotal role in Glory,...
Braugher’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, confirmed the news of his passing to Variety.
Andre Braugher shined as Captain Raymond Holt on the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. By far, my favorite character in the series, Braugher’s performance as the stoic and sinisterly sassy Captain Holt is the stuff of legend. Alongside his co-stars, Braugher helped lead the series from 2013 until 2021. Not typically known for his comedic chops before landing the role of Captain Holt, Braugher left his comfort zone in the rearview to surprise everyone with an unforgettable and consistently hilarious performance.
A Chicago native, Braugher excelled at playing cops with integrity on television. He began his career playing a detective opposite Telly Savalas in a string of Kojak telefilms. Before long, he landed a pivotal role in Glory,...
- 12/13/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Refresh for latest… André Braugher was an actor’s actor — one who absorbed a character and, like a superstar athlete, made the cast around him better.
As the showbiz community digests the terrible news of his death today at 61, reactions from friends, former castmates and others are hitting social media. Read a sampling of them below.
The versatile Braugher was a two-time Emmy winner and 11-time nominee who amassed more than 100 TV and film credits over a 35-year screen career. He started out playing a detective opposite Telly Savalas in a string of Kojak telefilms, and during that era Braugher hit the big screen with a key role in Glory, Edward Zwick’s 1989 Civil War-set film starring Matthew Broderick that would land Denzel Washington his first Oscar.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
That would lead to his signature role in the criminally underwatched 1990s NBC...
As the showbiz community digests the terrible news of his death today at 61, reactions from friends, former castmates and others are hitting social media. Read a sampling of them below.
The versatile Braugher was a two-time Emmy winner and 11-time nominee who amassed more than 100 TV and film credits over a 35-year screen career. He started out playing a detective opposite Telly Savalas in a string of Kojak telefilms, and during that era Braugher hit the big screen with a key role in Glory, Edward Zwick’s 1989 Civil War-set film starring Matthew Broderick that would land Denzel Washington his first Oscar.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
That would lead to his signature role in the criminally underwatched 1990s NBC...
- 12/13/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Development continues on a feature film adaptation of the CBS cop TV series "Kojak" starring actor Vin Diesel, who produces with Samantha Vincent for One Race Films:
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 11/22/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
A TV series based on Universal’s “Cape Fear” is in the works with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Nick Antosca.
The show, which is in development from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Amblin, would mark Scorsese and Spielberg’s first ever TV project together. They executive produce with Antosca, who is also the showrunner and created true crime and horror dramas like “Channel Zero,” “The Act” and “Brand New Cherry Flavor.” Other executive producers include Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Amblin Television and Alex Hedlund from Eat the Cat.
Here’s the logline for the “Cape Fear” re-imagining: “A storm is coming for a pair of married attorneys when an infamous killer from their past gets released after years in prison. A tense, contemporary thriller that examines America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century.”
The original “Cape Fear” was released in 1962, was...
The show, which is in development from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Amblin, would mark Scorsese and Spielberg’s first ever TV project together. They executive produce with Antosca, who is also the showrunner and created true crime and horror dramas like “Channel Zero,” “The Act” and “Brand New Cherry Flavor.” Other executive producers include Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Amblin Television and Alex Hedlund from Eat the Cat.
Here’s the logline for the “Cape Fear” re-imagining: “A storm is coming for a pair of married attorneys when an infamous killer from their past gets released after years in prison. A tense, contemporary thriller that examines America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century.”
The original “Cape Fear” was released in 1962, was...
- 11/21/2023
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
Janet Landgard, who starred in 1968’s “The Swimmer” alongside Burt Lancaster and played Paul Petersen’s love interest for three seasons on “The Donna Reed Show,” has died. She was 75.
Petersen shared the news of co-star Landgard’s death on Facebook, noting that cancer “took her life earlier this week.” He added that Landgard was “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had on the last three years of ‘The Donna Reed Show.’ Janet was gorgeous, inside and out… We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
Landgard was born on Dec. 2, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on “The Donna Reed Show,” playing a girl named Sabrina in one episode of the sitcom’s fifth season. She also guested on ABC’s “My Three Sons” that year.
Landgard returned to portray Jeff’s (Petersen) girlfriend Karen on 11 episodes of “The Donna Reed Show...
Petersen shared the news of co-star Landgard’s death on Facebook, noting that cancer “took her life earlier this week.” He added that Landgard was “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had on the last three years of ‘The Donna Reed Show.’ Janet was gorgeous, inside and out… We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
Landgard was born on Dec. 2, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on “The Donna Reed Show,” playing a girl named Sabrina in one episode of the sitcom’s fifth season. She also guested on ABC’s “My Three Sons” that year.
Landgard returned to portray Jeff’s (Petersen) girlfriend Karen on 11 episodes of “The Donna Reed Show...
- 11/11/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Janet Landgard, who played Paul Petersen’s love interest for three seasons on The Donna Reed Show and later costarred with Burt Lancaster in film drama The Swimmer, died Nov. 6 at age 75 of brain cancer, according to several friends on social media.
On Facebook, actor Petersen called her “The best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
Born on Dec. 2, 1947, Landgard was raised in Pasadena and worked for the William Adrian Modeling Agency. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on The Donna Reed Show while still in high school, playing a girl named Sabrina on a fifth-season episode. She also appeared on ABC’s My Three Sons that year.
That led to a recurring role as Petersen’s girlfriend, Karen,...
On Facebook, actor Petersen called her “The best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
Born on Dec. 2, 1947, Landgard was raised in Pasadena and worked for the William Adrian Modeling Agency. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on The Donna Reed Show while still in high school, playing a girl named Sabrina on a fifth-season episode. She also appeared on ABC’s My Three Sons that year.
That led to a recurring role as Petersen’s girlfriend, Karen,...
- 11/11/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Janet Landgard, who accompanied Burt Lancaster on a portion of his bizarre tour of backyard swimming pools in the acclaimed 1968 drama The Swimmer, has died. She was 75.
Landgard died this week after a very brief bout with brain cancer, actor Paul Petersen told The Hollywood Reporter. She recurred as his love interest on the final three seasons of the ABC family comedy The Donna Reed Show.
On Facebook, Petersen called her “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
In Columbia Pictures’ The Swimmer — directed by Frank Perry and adapted by his then-wife, Eleanor Perry, from a John Cheever short story in The New Yorker — Landgard was memorable as Julie Ann Hooper, who used to babysit Ned Merrill’s...
Landgard died this week after a very brief bout with brain cancer, actor Paul Petersen told The Hollywood Reporter. She recurred as his love interest on the final three seasons of the ABC family comedy The Donna Reed Show.
On Facebook, Petersen called her “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”
In Columbia Pictures’ The Swimmer — directed by Frank Perry and adapted by his then-wife, Eleanor Perry, from a John Cheever short story in The New Yorker — Landgard was memorable as Julie Ann Hooper, who used to babysit Ned Merrill’s...
- 11/11/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Who loves ya, baby? A half century ago now — on October 24, 1973 — Kojak debuted on CBS, with the late Telly Savalas playing the tough-guy NYPD detective TV Guide Magazine once named the 18th greatest television character in the history of the medium. To celebrate Kojak’s 50th anniversary, here are 10 fascinating facts about the cop drama. 1. It started with a TV movie based on real-life murders. TV writer Abby Mann introduced Savalas’ Kojak — spelled “Kojack” at the time — in the 1973 CBS movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders. That movie was inspired by Justice in the Back Room, Sewyn Raab’s book about the Wylie-Hoffert murders. In both the real-life case and the TV movie, a Black teen was falsely accused of the murder of two white women. The real case — in which George Whitmore Jr. was convicted for killings he didn’t commit — ended up a factor in the Supreme Court ruling that...
- 10/24/2023
- TV Insider
What’s the first thing you think of when you picture Patrick Stewart? You can say Poop from The Emoji Movie all you want but we all know you immediately saw his bald head. Like Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas and Bruce Willis, the cueball look is one of Patrick Stewart’s trademarks. As it turns out, the 83-year-old actor has been perfecting it since he was a teenager.
Patrick Stewart opened up about his premature baldness in his new book, “Making It So: A Memoir”, available from Simon & Schuster. “By the age of nineteen, I was as bald on top as I am now.” But Stewart remained hopeful – at least where his career was concerned. “What I cared about, though, was dating. Attractive young women, I assumed, were not going to want to go out with a young bald guy–not like what’s become socially acceptable, even desirable,...
Patrick Stewart opened up about his premature baldness in his new book, “Making It So: A Memoir”, available from Simon & Schuster. “By the age of nineteen, I was as bald on top as I am now.” But Stewart remained hopeful – at least where his career was concerned. “What I cared about, though, was dating. Attractive young women, I assumed, were not going to want to go out with a young bald guy–not like what’s become socially acceptable, even desirable,...
- 10/5/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of imagination but of cinematic imperfections. It is the middle ground between reality and illusion, between what is intended and what is captured on film. This is the dimension of mistakes and oversights. It is an area which we call "The Production Zone." In it, mirrors reflect mistakes, film equipment appears at the periphery of vision, continuity wavers, editing stumbles, and stock footage mismatches.
As you journey through this realm, you'll uncover imperfections often overlooked in the iconic series "The Twilight Zone." Known for thought-provoking tales, the series wasn't immune to production hiccups, gaffes, and glitches.
Question the facade of the extraordinary as we explore elusive mistakes -- 14 in total -- across beloved episodes in this "land of shadow and substance." Will you emerge unscathed from this journey into cinematic blunders? Or, like its characters, be forever changed by what you see?...
As you journey through this realm, you'll uncover imperfections often overlooked in the iconic series "The Twilight Zone." Known for thought-provoking tales, the series wasn't immune to production hiccups, gaffes, and glitches.
Question the facade of the extraordinary as we explore elusive mistakes -- 14 in total -- across beloved episodes in this "land of shadow and substance." Will you emerge unscathed from this journey into cinematic blunders? Or, like its characters, be forever changed by what you see?...
- 9/17/2023
- by Maurice Molyneaux
- Slash Film
This article contains spoilers
Superman is on the lookout for Lex Luthor. Even though the criminal mastermind only appears in public under one of his many wigs, Superman knows that Lex Luthor is bald. So when he sees a hairless man on the street, Superman accosts the pedestrian only to see not Gene Hackman’s menacing smile, but detective/lollipop enthusiast Theo Kojak, played by Telly Savalas. Superman pauses for a moment for the audience to roar in laughter when they recognize the popular television character, who pulls out his sucker to utter his famed catchphrase, “Who loves ya, baby!”
Granted, this scene did not make the final version of 1978’s Superman, the start of the first wave of superhero movies, but it was in one of the movie’s later drafts, and while Donner was able to limit the cameos in his movie to low-key appearances by Kirk Alyn...
Superman is on the lookout for Lex Luthor. Even though the criminal mastermind only appears in public under one of his many wigs, Superman knows that Lex Luthor is bald. So when he sees a hairless man on the street, Superman accosts the pedestrian only to see not Gene Hackman’s menacing smile, but detective/lollipop enthusiast Theo Kojak, played by Telly Savalas. Superman pauses for a moment for the audience to roar in laughter when they recognize the popular television character, who pulls out his sucker to utter his famed catchphrase, “Who loves ya, baby!”
Granted, this scene did not make the final version of 1978’s Superman, the start of the first wave of superhero movies, but it was in one of the movie’s later drafts, and while Donner was able to limit the cameos in his movie to low-key appearances by Kirk Alyn...
- 6/12/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Jim Brown, the NFL Hall of Famer and Civil Rights activist who turned to acting and appeared in films and TV shows ranging from The Dirty Dozen and I Spy to Draft Day, Mars Attacks! and The A-Team, died Thursday night in Los Angeles. His wife, Monique Brown, said in an Instagram post that he died peacefully, but she did not provide a cause.
Brown is considered among the greatest football players of all time. Drafted sixth overall in 1957 by the Cleveland Browns out of Syracuse University, his bruising running style redefined the running back position. As a rookie, he ran for 237 yards in a game against the Los Angeles Rams — a record that would stand until the 1970s.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
Among his myriad NFL records and milestones, he was the first to top 100 career rushing touchdowns and set single-season and career rushing...
Brown is considered among the greatest football players of all time. Drafted sixth overall in 1957 by the Cleveland Browns out of Syracuse University, his bruising running style redefined the running back position. As a rookie, he ran for 237 yards in a game against the Los Angeles Rams — a record that would stand until the 1970s.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
Among his myriad NFL records and milestones, he was the first to top 100 career rushing touchdowns and set single-season and career rushing...
- 5/19/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Gordon Lightfoot wasn’t necessarily one of the biggest names in folk music and classic rock history. Still, the Canadian singer-songwriter left behind a significant legacy and a huge net worth when he died on May 1, 2023.
Gordon Lightfoot | Scott Dudelson/Getty Images Gordon Lightfoot’s had a $40 million net worth when he died
A fruitful decades-long career ended when Lightfoot died of natural causes at a Toronto hospital (per his verified Facebook page). He was 84.
Lightfoot found music as his muse in the late 1950s, started his recording career in the 1960s, and achieved his commercial peak in the 1970s. Yet he continued recording albums and playing live into the 2020s. He released the album Solo in 2020 and toured in 2022. However, Lightfoot canceled his 2023 tour.
The years of making and selling records, writing popular and heavily covered songs, and touring behind his music paid off. Lightfoot amassed a $40 million net...
Gordon Lightfoot | Scott Dudelson/Getty Images Gordon Lightfoot’s had a $40 million net worth when he died
A fruitful decades-long career ended when Lightfoot died of natural causes at a Toronto hospital (per his verified Facebook page). He was 84.
Lightfoot found music as his muse in the late 1950s, started his recording career in the 1960s, and achieved his commercial peak in the 1970s. Yet he continued recording albums and playing live into the 2020s. He released the album Solo in 2020 and toured in 2022. However, Lightfoot canceled his 2023 tour.
The years of making and selling records, writing popular and heavily covered songs, and touring behind his music paid off. Lightfoot amassed a $40 million net...
- 5/2/2023
- by Jason Rossi
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Robert Aldrich's great war film "The Dirty Dozen" wasn't the first men-on-a-mission movie, but it is generally held up today at the apotheosis of the form. The tale of the U.S. Army's most vicious convicts getting assigned to a suicide mission deep behind enemy lines during World War II, with the promise of a pardon should they survive, is stocked with the toughest of the tough guys of the late 1960s. Lee Marvin heads up the brass-knuckle ensemble as the no-nonsense Major John Reisman, who's stuck with the unenviable task of shaping up a unit of anti-authoritarian malcontents or straight-up psychopaths. With troublemakers and nose-breakers like Charles Bronson, George Kennedy, Jim Brown, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, and John Cassavetes along for the ride, "The Dirty Dozen" became more than just the perfect "men-on-a-mission" movie: it was the ultimate guy flick.
We call them "Dad Movies" nowadays. They're the...
We call them "Dad Movies" nowadays. They're the...
- 3/19/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Stuart Margolin, the character actor and James Garner buddy best known for portraying the smarmy yet sweet con man Evelyn “Angel” Martin on The Rockford Files, has died. He was 82.
Margolin died Monday, his stepson, actor Max Martini (The Unit), reported on Instagram. Another stepson, director Christopher Martini, told THR that Margolin died of natural causes in Staunton, Virginia.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Max Martini (@maxmartinila)
Margolin also brought his manic, manipulative persona to the Blake Edwards films S.O.B. (1981), as a star’s (Julie Andrews) insidious personal assistant, and A Fine Mess (1986), as a bumbling crook in the filmmaker’s homage to slapstick.
Margolin appeared opposite Charles Bronson in The Stone Killer (1973) and Death Wish (1974) — both directed by Michael Winner — playing a contractor who arranges mob hits in the former and the guy who gives Bronson...
Stuart Margolin, the character actor and James Garner buddy best known for portraying the smarmy yet sweet con man Evelyn “Angel” Martin on The Rockford Files, has died. He was 82.
Margolin died Monday, his stepson, actor Max Martini (The Unit), reported on Instagram. Another stepson, director Christopher Martini, told THR that Margolin died of natural causes in Staunton, Virginia.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Max Martini (@maxmartinila)
Margolin also brought his manic, manipulative persona to the Blake Edwards films S.O.B. (1981), as a star’s (Julie Andrews) insidious personal assistant, and A Fine Mess (1986), as a bumbling crook in the filmmaker’s homage to slapstick.
Margolin appeared opposite Charles Bronson in The Stone Killer (1973) and Death Wish (1974) — both directed by Michael Winner — playing a contractor who arranges mob hits in the former and the guy who gives Bronson...
- 12/13/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There are times when something that’s almost human is more terrifying than an actual monster. After all, uneasiness often stems from things that come eerily close to resembling humanity. Roboticist Masahiro Mori explained why people feel this way with his 1970 essay about the “uncanny valley” effect, and ever since, society has better understood why they feel uncomfortable around things such as lifelike dolls.
The living doll shows up infrequently in the horror genre, but when it does, people take notice. They’re ultimately torn between curiosity and repulsion as these puppets gain sentience and carry out their sinister missions. Chucky and others have all skittered across the big screen, but these stories, from five different anthology series, are a reminder of how toy terror also lives on television.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Living Doll
Even on its last legs, Twilight Zone — by then, the series had already dropped the...
The living doll shows up infrequently in the horror genre, but when it does, people take notice. They’re ultimately torn between curiosity and repulsion as these puppets gain sentience and carry out their sinister missions. Chucky and others have all skittered across the big screen, but these stories, from five different anthology series, are a reminder of how toy terror also lives on television.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Living Doll
Even on its last legs, Twilight Zone — by then, the series had already dropped the...
- 11/30/2022
- by Paul Lê
- bloody-disgusting.com
Jennifer Aniston remembered her father, actor John Aniston, “as one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew,” after he died last week.
The elder Aniston — best known for his decades-long work on the soap opera Days of Our Lives — died last Friday, Nov. 11, at the age of 89. A cause of death wasn’t given.
Jennifer announced her father’s death on Instagram Monday, writing, “You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain.
The elder Aniston — best known for his decades-long work on the soap opera Days of Our Lives — died last Friday, Nov. 11, at the age of 89. A cause of death wasn’t given.
Jennifer announced her father’s death on Instagram Monday, writing, “You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain.
- 11/14/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
John Aniston, the charming Greece-born actor who for more than three decades portrayed the ruthless Victor Kiriakis on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, has died. He was 89.
The father of actress Jennifer Aniston died Friday, his daughter announced.
“Sweet papa … John Anthony Aniston,” the Friends megastar wrote in a tribute post on Instagram Monday, “You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace — and without pain. And on 11/11 no less! You always had perfect timing. That number will forever hold an even greater meaning for me now.”
She ended the post: “I’ll love you till the end of time.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston)
Aniston had played a different character, a doctor, on Days of Our Lives in 1969-70, then worked on two other daytime serials,...
The father of actress Jennifer Aniston died Friday, his daughter announced.
“Sweet papa … John Anthony Aniston,” the Friends megastar wrote in a tribute post on Instagram Monday, “You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace — and without pain. And on 11/11 no less! You always had perfect timing. That number will forever hold an even greater meaning for me now.”
She ended the post: “I’ll love you till the end of time.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston)
Aniston had played a different character, a doctor, on Days of Our Lives in 1969-70, then worked on two other daytime serials,...
- 11/14/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If Hollywood is good at anything it’s seeing what hits big at the box office and then churning out a hundred clones of that product until it gets driven into the ground. We see it all the time. One such incident came around the release of the 1978 film Halloween. Once it began to rack up box office numbers everyone scrambled to put out their own slasher film, preferably built around a holiday. This led to a glut of slasher films, which if you’re a slasher fan like myself was a fantastic time to be alive. Let’s look at the best Halloween rip-offs.
Offerings (1989)
This might be the most egregious rip-off Halloween there could be. A young kid accidentally falls down a well while playing with a group of kids. Some of them scare him as he’s walking along the edge, and he hits his head.
Offerings (1989)
This might be the most egregious rip-off Halloween there could be. A young kid accidentally falls down a well while playing with a group of kids. Some of them scare him as he’s walking along the edge, and he hits his head.
- 10/22/2022
- by Bryan Wolford
- JoBlo.com
Henry Silva, who starred in Johnny Cool, fought Frank Sinatra in The Manchurian Candidate and was one of Sinatra’s fellow thieves in Ocean’s 11, among dozens of screen roles spanning a half-century, died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. He was 95.
An actor whose distinctive face often led to typecasting as the heavy, his 130-plus film and TV credits also include The Bravados, starring Gregory Peck (1958); Cinderfella, with Jerry Lewis (1960); the Rat Pack-led Western Sergeants 3 (1962); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979); Love and Bullets with Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland and Rod Steiger (1979); the Burt Reynolds pics Sharky’s Machine (1981) and Cannonball Run II (1982); Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990); Steven Seagal’s first film Above the Law (1988); and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai with Forest Whitaker (1999).
Along with the title role opposite Elizabeth Montgomery in Johnny Cool...
An actor whose distinctive face often led to typecasting as the heavy, his 130-plus film and TV credits also include The Bravados, starring Gregory Peck (1958); Cinderfella, with Jerry Lewis (1960); the Rat Pack-led Western Sergeants 3 (1962); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979); Love and Bullets with Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland and Rod Steiger (1979); the Burt Reynolds pics Sharky’s Machine (1981) and Cannonball Run II (1982); Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990); Steven Seagal’s first film Above the Law (1988); and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai with Forest Whitaker (1999).
Along with the title role opposite Elizabeth Montgomery in Johnny Cool...
- 9/16/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, everyone! We’re back with the final round of horror and sci-fi home media releases for the month of August, and we’ve got quite a few killer titles headed home today. Scream Factory is giving Paul Schrader’s Cat People remake a 4K overhaul in a brand-new Collector’s Edition release, and Severin Films is keeping busy with several titles today as well, including All About Evil and Fearless, and if you haven’t had a chance to check it out for yourself yet, Jane Schoenbrun’s extremely unsettling We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is headed to Blu-ray this week as well.
Other titles being released on August 30th include Arrow Video’s Giallo Essentials: 3-Disc Limited Edition Collection, Lux Aeterna, Satan’s Children, Jack Be Nimble featuring Alexis Arquette, The Oregonian, Raw Nerve, and Shriek of the Mutilated.
All About Evil: 2-Disc Special Edition
It's...
Other titles being released on August 30th include Arrow Video’s Giallo Essentials: 3-Disc Limited Edition Collection, Lux Aeterna, Satan’s Children, Jack Be Nimble featuring Alexis Arquette, The Oregonian, Raw Nerve, and Shriek of the Mutilated.
All About Evil: 2-Disc Special Edition
It's...
- 8/30/2022
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Director Sergio Sollima sets the template for twenty years of violent action cinema for Rough Tough Charles Bronson. Precise stunt scenes and clever direction are at the service of a script that can’t produce a convincing line of dialogue. It’s a mishmosh of sex, bullets and car chases. Bronson is betrayed by his love for Jill Ireland, and Telly Savalas is shoehorned in as a (surprise!) nasty gangster. Much of it does play like gangbusters — the opening and closing especially — and the dynamic title instrumental is one of maestro Ennio Morricone’s best.
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
- 7/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("Skyfall") continue updating the CBS TV series "Kojak" as a feature film for Universal, starring actor Vin Diesel, who will also co-produce with Samantha Vincent for One Race Films.
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 7/2/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Writer, director David Ayer continues to develop a new take on "The Dirty Dozen", based on the E.M. Nathanson novel, that originally was inspired by death row WW2 Allied soldiers dubbed the 'Filthy Thirteen', assigned and trained as demolition saboteurs to destroy enemy targets behind the lines:
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
- 5/30/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("Skyfall") will update the CBS TV series "Kojak" as a feature film for Universal, starring actor Vin Diesel, who will also co-produce with Samantha Vincent for One Race Films.
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
The original "Kojak" TV series was created by Oscar winner Abby Mann, as a gritty police procedural, focusing on institutionalized prejudice and civil rights of suspects and witnesses, starring actor Telly Savalas ("The Dirty Dozen") as New York City 'Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak'.
The series aired October 24, 1973 to March 18, 1978.
"...'Lieutenant Theodore ('Theo') Kojak (Savalas) is a dapper, New York City policeman, fond of 'Tootsie Roll Pops' and using the catchphrase, 'Who loves ya, baby?'.
"Stubborn and tenacious in his investigation of crimes, he also displays a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules if it brings a criminal to justice..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 4/14/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
As Deadline broke Monday, Beyoncé has now been officially confirmed to sing in one of the slots of Best Original Song contenders on the 94th Oscars on Sunday. As noted in the Deadline article, speculation is her performance of the nominated song (co-written with Dixson) called “Be Alive” from King Richard will take place via satellite from a Compton tennis court. That aspect, however, was not in the Academy’s long-awaited announcement today of plans for the Best Song presentations on the ABC Oscarcast.
As my colleague Mike Fleming noted, the formal announcement would come after voting closed Tuesday, and indeed it did — exactly at 5 p.m. Pt, which is the same moment ballots had to be in to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The campaign is over. All that is left now is the show itself.
The Best Song performance lineup as expected also includes Billie Eilish and Finneas with “No Time To Die,...
As my colleague Mike Fleming noted, the formal announcement would come after voting closed Tuesday, and indeed it did — exactly at 5 p.m. Pt, which is the same moment ballots had to be in to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The campaign is over. All that is left now is the show itself.
The Best Song performance lineup as expected also includes Billie Eilish and Finneas with “No Time To Die,...
- 3/22/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
- 11/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Veteran filmmakers Michael Relph and Basil Dearden try a hip ‘n’ flip costume comedy about an 1899 consortium that’s the equivalent of Murder Inc.: Killings for hire done with veddy proper civility and good taste. The charming Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg lead a notable cast — Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill — through mayhem-filled chases in several European capitals. Tossed off in tongue-in-cheek style, it’s shallow but cute, and if you like the stars it can be a lark. Its saving grace is the spirited Ms. Rigg.
The Assassination Bureau
Region-Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 86
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / The Assassination Bureau Limited / Street Date October 29, 2021 / Available from [Imprint] or Amazon /
Starring: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill, Kenneth Griffith, Vernon Dobtcheff, Annabella Incontrera, Jess Conrad, George Coulouris.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Art Director: Michael Relph
Film...
The Assassination Bureau
Region-Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 86
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / The Assassination Bureau Limited / Street Date October 29, 2021 / Available from [Imprint] or Amazon /
Starring: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill, Kenneth Griffith, Vernon Dobtcheff, Annabella Incontrera, Jess Conrad, George Coulouris.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Art Director: Michael Relph
Film...
- 11/21/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It has been awhile since I’ve written about Italian legend, Mario Bava. I have no idea why, but every so often images from his films dance through my mind and spin off into the ether. That’s the way phantasms work, I suppose. And now I have the troubled, confusing, and intoxicating Lisa and the Devil (1974) to add to my collection of Bava ghostery.
The film opened in Cannes in 1973, then played overseas the following year. Lisa, a languid, lurid, fever dream, was a dud. Producer Alfredo Leone and Bava’s burgeoning filmmaker son Lamberto shot and added exorcism footage of Lisa (all the rage at the time) while removing some of Papa Bava’s original film. Re-released in 1975 as The House of Exorcism, it too was dud. And bad.
Whereas Lisa and the Devil is not bad. In fact, it is quite good, different, and unique; the original...
The film opened in Cannes in 1973, then played overseas the following year. Lisa, a languid, lurid, fever dream, was a dud. Producer Alfredo Leone and Bava’s burgeoning filmmaker son Lamberto shot and added exorcism footage of Lisa (all the rage at the time) while removing some of Papa Bava’s original film. Re-released in 1975 as The House of Exorcism, it too was dud. And bad.
Whereas Lisa and the Devil is not bad. In fact, it is quite good, different, and unique; the original...
- 10/30/2021
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
[Editor’s note: The following post contains extensive spoilers for “No Time to Die.”]
What an exit! Daniel Craig literally went out with a bang as James Bond in “No Time to Die.” And he made us cry as never before. But his shocking death was necessary in completing his character arc and providing closure after all the heartbreak he endured. It was also important for the franchise to have a clean break before introducing the seventh 007.
But Craig’s tortured Bond finally found salvation at the end of his five-film journey. He saved the world from Safin’s (Rami Malek) targeted DNA bio-weapon, especially those closest to him: lover Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and their young daughter, Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet).
Craig’s unique run as Bond has been like watching one continuous movie: the “Casino Royale” origin story established him as a newbie 007, who was extremely rough around the edges; the “Quantum of Solace” sequel tied up the emotional...
What an exit! Daniel Craig literally went out with a bang as James Bond in “No Time to Die.” And he made us cry as never before. But his shocking death was necessary in completing his character arc and providing closure after all the heartbreak he endured. It was also important for the franchise to have a clean break before introducing the seventh 007.
But Craig’s tortured Bond finally found salvation at the end of his five-film journey. He saved the world from Safin’s (Rami Malek) targeted DNA bio-weapon, especially those closest to him: lover Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and their young daughter, Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet).
Craig’s unique run as Bond has been like watching one continuous movie: the “Casino Royale” origin story established him as a newbie 007, who was extremely rough around the edges; the “Quantum of Solace” sequel tied up the emotional...
- 10/11/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
In the lead up to the announcement of this year’s Golden Globe nominations, we at Gold Derby were forecasting that the Hulu series, “Ramy,” would pick up three nominations. We thought creator and star, Ramy Yousef, would be back in the Best TV Comedy Actor category after winning it last year as well as getting nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best TV Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali. In the end, only Yousef scored a nomination (and a corresponding nom at SAG the following day), but he could still end up pulling off a repeat win here for a couple of reasons.
SEEWhen are the Golden Globe Awards? Everything to know about the 2021 Golden Globes
The biggest reason not to count out Yousef is because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves to have repeat winners on the Musical/Comedy side of their television awards. In total, 16 performers have won...
SEEWhen are the Golden Globe Awards? Everything to know about the 2021 Golden Globes
The biggest reason not to count out Yousef is because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves to have repeat winners on the Musical/Comedy side of their television awards. In total, 16 performers have won...
- 2/5/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
At the upcoming Golde Globes, a TV series about a disastrous futuristic space cruise around Jupiter and an inclusive film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 19th-century set “David Copperfield” both hope to compete for comedy trophies. Though they share little in common on the surface, “Avenue 5” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield” both hail from satirical mastermind Armando Iannucci. The Emmy-winning writer and director was behind the films “In The Loop” and “The Death of Stalin” and TV series “The Thick of It” and “Veep,” and his latest works could impressively score both TV and film nominations this year.
Though Iannucci has no Globes to his name, his TV brainchild “Veep” scored seven bids over its seven-season run, including five for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and two for Best Comedy Series. Although his features have had success elsewhere — “In the Loop” scored a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for Iannucci and his co-writers,...
Though Iannucci has no Globes to his name, his TV brainchild “Veep” scored seven bids over its seven-season run, including five for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and two for Best Comedy Series. Although his features have had success elsewhere — “In the Loop” scored a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for Iannucci and his co-writers,...
- 1/29/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Writer, director David Ayer continues to develop a new take on "The Dirty Dozen", based on the E.M. Nathanson novel, that originally was inspired by death row WW2 Allied soldiers dubbed the 'Filthy Thirteen', assigned and trained as demolition saboteurs to destroy enemy targets behind the lines:
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
- 1/11/2021
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we find wine pairings for three films starring the late Robert Shaw. Whether you know him as Henry VIII, Doyle Lonnegan or Quint, he was a special talent and deserves a special toast. After all, he has a pub bearing his name in his home town near Manchester – however it is currently closed during the pandemic.
In 1973’s The Hireling, Robert Shaw plays a chauffeur who flips for the upper-crust woman in the back seat of the Rolls, Sarah Miles. Set in post-wwi England, all the characters seem to be dealing with one post-traumatic depression or another. Shaw does not get the girl – that might have been considered “jumping the shark.” That opportunity comes along in the next movie.
Chauffeurs and wine go together like pub crawls and designated drivers.
In 1973’s The Hireling, Robert Shaw plays a chauffeur who flips for the upper-crust woman in the back seat of the Rolls, Sarah Miles. Set in post-wwi England, all the characters seem to be dealing with one post-traumatic depression or another. Shaw does not get the girl – that might have been considered “jumping the shark.” That opportunity comes along in the next movie.
Chauffeurs and wine go together like pub crawls and designated drivers.
- 12/13/2020
- by Randy Fuller
- Trailers from Hell
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. Crime is a hot topic in the movies, but be careful – you don’t always know who the criminals are.
Clay Pigeon didn’t exactly set 1971 on fire, but if it had it would have been liable for more serious crimes than artistic ones. Plus, in the pairing-wine-with-movies biz, it’s always touch-and-go when dealing with a movie involving substance abuse. The laughs don’t exactly fall out of the balcony.
This movie starred Tom Stern, who also co-directed with Lane Slate. You may know Stern as the one-time husband of Samantha Eggar, or he may be on your radar for being what IMDb calls the “Orson Welles of ‘60s biker movies.” Citizen Knucklehead, anyone?
In Clay Pigeon, he was a Vietnam vet who wanted to kick hard drugs.
Clay Pigeon didn’t exactly set 1971 on fire, but if it had it would have been liable for more serious crimes than artistic ones. Plus, in the pairing-wine-with-movies biz, it’s always touch-and-go when dealing with a movie involving substance abuse. The laughs don’t exactly fall out of the balcony.
This movie starred Tom Stern, who also co-directed with Lane Slate. You may know Stern as the one-time husband of Samantha Eggar, or he may be on your radar for being what IMDb calls the “Orson Welles of ‘60s biker movies.” Citizen Knucklehead, anyone?
In Clay Pigeon, he was a Vietnam vet who wanted to kick hard drugs.
- 10/14/2020
- by Randy Fuller
- Trailers from Hell
It’s not part of our Movies You Never Heard Of series but Tom Stern and Lane Slate’s Clay Pigeon certainly qualifies. This low budget indie about a Vietnam vet-turned undercover informer has more than enough quirky qualities to recommend it. Stern also stars as the shaggy-haired decoy and Telly Savalas is the manipulative agent who masterminds the scheme. A terrific supporting cast seals the deal: Burgess Meredith, Robert Vaughn and Ivan Dixon.
The post Clay Pigeon appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Clay Pigeon appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 10/12/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Kevin Dobson, best known to TV audiences as Mack MacKenzie on the long-running Dallas spinoff Knots Landing, has died at the age of 77.
Dobson’s passing was confirmed by the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, on which he previously served as chairman. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
More from TVLineFrozen's Olaf to Reveal Untold Secrets in Disney+'s Once Upon a SnowmanGrey's Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Shares First Season 17 Photo -- Is It a Spoiler?The Haves and the Have Nots Recap: Dream Lover -- Plus, Goodbye, [Spoiler]
Dobson’s TV career began with episodes of series such as The Doctors,...
Dobson’s passing was confirmed by the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, on which he previously served as chairman. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
More from TVLineFrozen's Olaf to Reveal Untold Secrets in Disney+'s Once Upon a SnowmanGrey's Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Shares First Season 17 Photo -- Is It a Spoiler?The Haves and the Have Nots Recap: Dream Lover -- Plus, Goodbye, [Spoiler]
Dobson’s TV career began with episodes of series such as The Doctors,...
- 9/7/2020
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Kevin Dobson, an actor best known for his starring roles on the CBS shows “Kojak” and “Knots Landing,” died on Sunday. He was 77.
The United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County announced Dobson’s death on Monday afternoon. He served as a former chairman of the organization.
A former Army soldier and Long Island Rail Road conductor, Dobson began his acting career in the late 1960s, first appearing on shows like “One Life to Live,” “The Doctors,” “The Mod Squad,” “Emergency!” and “Cannon.” His first major role came on “Kojak,” where he played detective Bobby Crocker, opposite star Telly Savalas’ lead role as lieutenant Theo Kojak. The show aired for five season on CBS from 1973-1978, and Dobson reunited with the cast for the 1990 TV movie “Kojak: It’s Always Something.”
Dobson joined the cast of the primetime soap opera “Knots Landing” during its fourth season in 1982. He played Marion Patrick “Mack” MacKenzie,...
The United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County announced Dobson’s death on Monday afternoon. He served as a former chairman of the organization.
A former Army soldier and Long Island Rail Road conductor, Dobson began his acting career in the late 1960s, first appearing on shows like “One Life to Live,” “The Doctors,” “The Mod Squad,” “Emergency!” and “Cannon.” His first major role came on “Kojak,” where he played detective Bobby Crocker, opposite star Telly Savalas’ lead role as lieutenant Theo Kojak. The show aired for five season on CBS from 1973-1978, and Dobson reunited with the cast for the 1990 TV movie “Kojak: It’s Always Something.”
Dobson joined the cast of the primetime soap opera “Knots Landing” during its fourth season in 1982. He played Marion Patrick “Mack” MacKenzie,...
- 9/7/2020
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
Actor Kevin Dobson, a star on beloved CBS dramas “Kojak” and “Knots Landing,” died Sunday of a heart attack. He was 77.
Dobson’s death was announced via Facebook by the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, which the actor had previously served as chairman.
He is best known for two long-running roles on primetime TV: first for playing opposite Telly Savalas as Detective Bobby Crocker, Theo Kojak’s younger partner, on “Kojak” from 1973 to 1978, and then as patriarch M. Patrick (“Mack”) McKenzie on the soap “Knots Landing” from 1982 to 1993.
Born on March 18, 1943 in Jackson Heights, New York, Dobson worked as a trainman, brakeman and conductor on the Long Island Railroad in New York followed by a few years as a waiter before he decided to start his acting career.
Dobson’s first acting jobs included a series of uncredited appearances on daytime drama “The Doctors” in 1969 and in the 1971 Jane Fonda film “Klute.
Dobson’s death was announced via Facebook by the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, which the actor had previously served as chairman.
He is best known for two long-running roles on primetime TV: first for playing opposite Telly Savalas as Detective Bobby Crocker, Theo Kojak’s younger partner, on “Kojak” from 1973 to 1978, and then as patriarch M. Patrick (“Mack”) McKenzie on the soap “Knots Landing” from 1982 to 1993.
Born on March 18, 1943 in Jackson Heights, New York, Dobson worked as a trainman, brakeman and conductor on the Long Island Railroad in New York followed by a few years as a waiter before he decided to start his acting career.
Dobson’s first acting jobs included a series of uncredited appearances on daytime drama “The Doctors” in 1969 and in the 1971 Jane Fonda film “Klute.
- 9/7/2020
- by Nate Jackson
- The Wrap
Trini Lopez, the guitarist and singer whose renditions of “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree” climbed the charts in the 1960s and an actor who appeared in films including The Dirty Dozen, has died of complications from Covid-19, the Hollywood Reporter reports. He was 83.
The news was confirmed to THR via Lopez’s songwriting and business partner Joe Chavira. The pair had recently finished a song called “If By Now,” which was intended to benefit food banks during the pandemic. “And here he is dying of something he was trying to fight,...
The news was confirmed to THR via Lopez’s songwriting and business partner Joe Chavira. The pair had recently finished a song called “If By Now,” which was intended to benefit food banks during the pandemic. “And here he is dying of something he was trying to fight,...
- 8/12/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Trini Lopez, an actor and singer-guitarist who co-starred The Dirty Dozen actor and had hits with “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree” — which was referenced in a popular Seinfeld episode — died today in Palm Springs. He was 83. Palm Springs Life magazine reported the news but didn’t give a cause of death. A source tells Deadline it was from Covid-19.
Lopez already was a recording star when he was cast as Pedro Jiminez — aka Number 10 — in The Dirty Dozen, the star-studded 1967 World War II drama directed by Robert Aldrich. It followed the story of a rebellious U.S. Army Major (Lee Marvin) who is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers. Its ensemble cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.
Lopez also appeared in the Frank Sinatra...
Lopez already was a recording star when he was cast as Pedro Jiminez — aka Number 10 — in The Dirty Dozen, the star-studded 1967 World War II drama directed by Robert Aldrich. It followed the story of a rebellious U.S. Army Major (Lee Marvin) who is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers. Its ensemble cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.
Lopez also appeared in the Frank Sinatra...
- 8/11/2020
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***The mid-fifties were, it seems, a time for Georges Simenon adaptations. Of course, Hollywood had to make his glum procedurals a good deal more optimistic: generally, in his policiers, the only thing staving off total tragedy is the "successful" conclusion of the case. He's too concerned with human frailty and too little interested in law and order for this to ever seem triumphal.A Life in the Balance, directed by Harry Horner (Red Planet Mars), transfers the action of Simenon's just-published Sept petites croix dans un carne to Mexico,...
- 8/6/2020
- MUBI
The producer of Narcos takes us on a walk through some of the movies that made him.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Contagion (2011)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Rififi (1955)
Night And The City (1950)
Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Never on Sunday (1960)
The Karate Kid (1984)
The Game (1997)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Great Escape (1963)
Children of Men (2006)
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Godfather (1972)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Animal House (1978)
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Trading Places (1983)
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
The Beastmaster (1982)
Sheena (1984)
High Risk (1981)
Ghostbusters (1984)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Piranha (1978)
Gallipoli (1981)
Witness (1985)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Mad Max (1980)
Max Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)
The Last Wave (1978)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
The Hobbit (1977)
The Return of the King (1980)
Class (1983)
The Great Santini (1979)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Contagion (2011)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Rififi (1955)
Night And The City (1950)
Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Never on Sunday (1960)
The Karate Kid (1984)
The Game (1997)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Great Escape (1963)
Children of Men (2006)
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Godfather (1972)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Animal House (1978)
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Trading Places (1983)
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
The Beastmaster (1982)
Sheena (1984)
High Risk (1981)
Ghostbusters (1984)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Piranha (1978)
Gallipoli (1981)
Witness (1985)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Mad Max (1980)
Max Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)
The Last Wave (1978)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
The Hobbit (1977)
The Return of the King (1980)
Class (1983)
The Great Santini (1979)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High...
- 6/16/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Tim George Jan 17, 2020
Giant lasers, underwater bases, poker games... 007's baddies don't always have the brightest evildoing ideas. Here are some of the silliest!
James Bond returns this year in No Time To Die--the 25th canonical 007 adventure and the fifth and final outing for star Daniel Craig.
This time around, Bond is going up against Rami Malek’s Safin, a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. We don’t yet know what Safin has in store for Craig’s super spy, but producer Barbara Broccoli has described the character as "a nasty piece of work," while Malek has called him "quite unique and very complex."
The real question is: just how over-the-top will Safin’s evil plan turn out to be? As fun-to-watch as the franchise’s many iconic villains are, their 'genius' schemes are often insanely ambitious--and don’t make all that much sense either. So...
Giant lasers, underwater bases, poker games... 007's baddies don't always have the brightest evildoing ideas. Here are some of the silliest!
James Bond returns this year in No Time To Die--the 25th canonical 007 adventure and the fifth and final outing for star Daniel Craig.
This time around, Bond is going up against Rami Malek’s Safin, a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. We don’t yet know what Safin has in store for Craig’s super spy, but producer Barbara Broccoli has described the character as "a nasty piece of work," while Malek has called him "quite unique and very complex."
The real question is: just how over-the-top will Safin’s evil plan turn out to be? As fun-to-watch as the franchise’s many iconic villains are, their 'genius' schemes are often insanely ambitious--and don’t make all that much sense either. So...
- 1/16/2020
- Den of Geek
According to reports, Warner Bros signed David Ayer ("Suicide Squad") to write and direct an updated version of "The Dirty Dozen", based on the E.M. Nathanson novel, that originally was inspired by a real group of death row Allied soldiers dubbed the 'Filthy Thirteen':
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
Director Robert Aldrich's 1967 feature, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López and Donald Sutherland.
Ayer is also noted for the WWII tank movie "Fury".
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Dirty Dozen"...
- 12/16/2019
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
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