Even in this age of instant YouTube gratification, movie trailers are a big deal. They get us hyped for an upcoming project by making promises that the eventual film will (hopefully) pay off. The best sizzle reels are even able to do this by giving a taste of things to come without ruining any surprises or plot twists. Think about the teaser for Alien with its cracking egg and unnerving siren sound, or the deft use of a choral version of Radiohead’s “Creep” in the classic promo for The Social Network. Both of those examples speak to the haunting nature of their movies while allowing space for the film to stand on its own down the road.
But some trailers do their job too well. Some trailers outdo the movies they advertise, sometimes because the film has a concept too shallow to sustain more than three minutes, and sometimes...
But some trailers do their job too well. Some trailers outdo the movies they advertise, sometimes because the film has a concept too shallow to sustain more than three minutes, and sometimes...
- 4/27/2024
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
Frank Darabont's 1999 Oscar darling "The Green Mile," based on an inexplicably serialized novel by Stephen King, is set in 1935 Louisiana in the fictional Cold Mountain Penitentiary, specifically the prison's death row. The correctional officers are overseen by Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) who struggles to retain his soul working such a dire job. The floor that leads to the prison's electric chair is painted green, earning it the titular nickname. Paul attempts to wrangle his officers' cruelty and retain what little hope he can, even after witnessing the state execute prisoner after prisoner. To make matters worse, he's suffering from a bladder infection.
The wildest prisoner on death row is William "Wild Bill" Wharton, played by the always amazing Sam Rockwell. Wharton was clearly mentally ill, and would frequently assault the officers, forcing him into a padded cell. He spat insults and racial epithets, flashing his yellowed teeth and horribly casual hate.
The wildest prisoner on death row is William "Wild Bill" Wharton, played by the always amazing Sam Rockwell. Wharton was clearly mentally ill, and would frequently assault the officers, forcing him into a padded cell. He spat insults and racial epithets, flashing his yellowed teeth and horribly casual hate.
- 4/22/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
What’s next for director Zack Snyder after his upcoming “Rebel Moon” part two sci-fi sequel? While the genre filmmaker has teased a possible third installment in the series, Snyder still has various projects in the oven and is still mulling over what gets made from that pack of contenders, including a sequel to his “Army Of The Dead” zombie movie. During a recent chat with Games Radar to promote the second half of “Rebel Moon,” Snyder was asked about some of the previous projects he had in development, such as a film inspired by the King Arthur mythology (Snyder is a big fan of John Boorman’s R-rated “Excalibur”), Horse Latitudes (a long-gestating Afghan War pic formerly known as “The Last Photograph”), and his sexualized take on Alexander The Great in “Blood & Ashes” too (Snyder once mused about making a George Washington action film).
Continue reading Zack Snyder Teases...
Continue reading Zack Snyder Teases...
- 4/17/2024
- by Christopher Marc
- The Playlist
If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Image: Clockwise from top: The Crying Game by Palace Pictures, The Banshees of Inisherin by Searchlight Pictures, The Secret of Kells by New Video
When you think about Ireland, the first thing that comes to mind may not be the country’s robust film industry. But the fact is that...
When you think about Ireland, the first thing that comes to mind may not be the country’s robust film industry. But the fact is that...
- 3/17/2024
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: You Can’t Expect the Irish to Get Lucky Every Time
One of the biggest tragedies of modern cinema is the unavoidable fact that most movies make you wait at least ten minutes to hear a floating head loudly proclaim, “The penis is evil!” But 1974 was a different time and “Zardoz” is a different kind of movie, so it delivers that exact line before the five-minute mark even arrives. Believe it or not, that’s not even the first Wtf moment in this genitalia-obsessed fantasy epic.
While I haven’t...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: You Can’t Expect the Irish to Get Lucky Every Time
One of the biggest tragedies of modern cinema is the unavoidable fact that most movies make you wait at least ten minutes to hear a floating head loudly proclaim, “The penis is evil!” But 1974 was a different time and “Zardoz” is a different kind of movie, so it delivers that exact line before the five-minute mark even arrives. Believe it or not, that’s not even the first Wtf moment in this genitalia-obsessed fantasy epic.
While I haven’t...
- 3/16/2024
- by Christian Zilko and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Oscar-nominated Irish actor Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, Michael Collins, Greta) will be honored with the Irish Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his “outstanding contribution to the Irish and international screen industry,” the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) unveiled on Wednesday.
Rea will be presented with the honor in the presence of family, friends and industry colleagues at the 21st IFTA Awards ceremony, taking place on Saturday, April 20 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. The evening will be hosted by Baz Ashmawy, one of Ireland’s most popular TV personalities.
“So much of Irish culture has been recovered and reimagined: music, language, literature, theater,” Rea said. “And cinema can be added to that list because of the special energy of John Boorman who produced Neil Jordan’s first film Angel. And to my astonishment, my first film too. Neil thrust the script and a saxophone into my hands,...
Rea will be presented with the honor in the presence of family, friends and industry colleagues at the 21st IFTA Awards ceremony, taking place on Saturday, April 20 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. The evening will be hosted by Baz Ashmawy, one of Ireland’s most popular TV personalities.
“So much of Irish culture has been recovered and reimagined: music, language, literature, theater,” Rea said. “And cinema can be added to that list because of the special energy of John Boorman who produced Neil Jordan’s first film Angel. And to my astonishment, my first film too. Neil thrust the script and a saxophone into my hands,...
- 3/6/2024
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tom Priestley, the British film editor whose work assembling the dueling-banjos sequence and hellish “squeal like a pig” attack in John Boorman’s Deliverance landed him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 91.
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
- 2/19/2024
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Helen Mirren ripped AI to shreds while being honored Thursday night at the American Cinematheque Awards.
After being presented with the lifetime achievement award by her “Mosquito Coast” and “1923” co-star Harrison Ford at the Beverly Hilton gala, Mirren began to read her acceptance speech from a piece of a paper.
“Ladies and gentlemen and esteemed guests and dear friends, I am deeply humbled, profoundly honored to stand before you today accepting this extraordinary award. To be recognized for a lifetime devoted to the craft of acting is a privilege beyond words,” she said dramatically. “First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the industry and the individuals who have supported me throughout this incredible journey. It is has been a life filled with passion, challenges and above all, an unyielding love for the art of storytelling.”
Then she added, “And that was written by AI,” before...
After being presented with the lifetime achievement award by her “Mosquito Coast” and “1923” co-star Harrison Ford at the Beverly Hilton gala, Mirren began to read her acceptance speech from a piece of a paper.
“Ladies and gentlemen and esteemed guests and dear friends, I am deeply humbled, profoundly honored to stand before you today accepting this extraordinary award. To be recognized for a lifetime devoted to the craft of acting is a privilege beyond words,” she said dramatically. “First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the industry and the individuals who have supported me throughout this incredible journey. It is has been a life filled with passion, challenges and above all, an unyielding love for the art of storytelling.”
Then she added, “And that was written by AI,” before...
- 2/16/2024
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Film editor who was nominated for an Oscar for Deliverance and sought to promote his father Jb Priestley’s writing
Tom Priestley, who has died aged 91, knew early on that he wanted a career in the arts. “But my father had covered so much territory, there wasn’t much left,” he said. He was the sixth child and only son of the playwright and novelist Jb Priestley.
The discipline he eventually chose, and excelled at, was film editing. He won a Bafta for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), Karel Reisz’s dark comedy about conformity and rebellion, starring David Warner and Vanessa Redgrave. He was also nominated for an Oscar for John Boorman’s thriller Deliverance (1972), with Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. It was adapted by James Dickey from his own novel about four friends who are terrorised by Appalachian locals while on a canoeing trip.
Tom Priestley, who has died aged 91, knew early on that he wanted a career in the arts. “But my father had covered so much territory, there wasn’t much left,” he said. He was the sixth child and only son of the playwright and novelist Jb Priestley.
The discipline he eventually chose, and excelled at, was film editing. He won a Bafta for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), Karel Reisz’s dark comedy about conformity and rebellion, starring David Warner and Vanessa Redgrave. He was also nominated for an Oscar for John Boorman’s thriller Deliverance (1972), with Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. It was adapted by James Dickey from his own novel about four friends who are terrorised by Appalachian locals while on a canoeing trip.
- 1/25/2024
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, the sometime actor and pal of Burt Reynolds who played one of the scary, sadistic mountain men in John Boorman’s Deliverance, died Wednesday in a car crash in North Carolina. He was 85.
His death, along with that of his girlfriend Bertha Brooks, 78, and their pet Chihuahua and squirrel, was announced by North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials.
The crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. Et Wednesday on a U.S. Route 19/23 in Haywood County. According to patrol officials, Coward’s vehicle was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. No charges have been filed.
North Carolina troopers told Asheville TV station Wlos that Coward had just left a doctor’s office when his car was struck by the teen driver, who was not speeding. Neither Coward nor Brooks was wearing a seat belt.
Coward had come...
His death, along with that of his girlfriend Bertha Brooks, 78, and their pet Chihuahua and squirrel, was announced by North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials.
The crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. Et Wednesday on a U.S. Route 19/23 in Haywood County. According to patrol officials, Coward’s vehicle was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. No charges have been filed.
North Carolina troopers told Asheville TV station Wlos that Coward had just left a doctor’s office when his car was struck by the teen driver, who was not speeding. Neither Coward nor Brooks was wearing a seat belt.
Coward had come...
- 1/25/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, who as the sadistic toothless man in John Boorman’s Deliverance terrorized canoeists and audiences alike with the chilling line, “He got a real pretty mouth, ain’t he?,” has been killed in a car accident. He was 85.
Coward died Wednesday when the Nissan he was driving was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old in Haywood County, North Carolina, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials told Wlos-tv.
Coward; his girlfriend, Bertha Brooks; and two pets, a chihuahua and a squirrel, died at the scene, they said. The other driver was taken to a hospital. No charges have been filed.
In the early 1960s, Burt Reynolds was making $100 a week falling off rooftops as a stuntman at the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, when he first met Coward, who was there playing an outlaw character named Pa Clanton.
Coward died Wednesday when the Nissan he was driving was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old in Haywood County, North Carolina, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials told Wlos-tv.
Coward; his girlfriend, Bertha Brooks; and two pets, a chihuahua and a squirrel, died at the scene, they said. The other driver was taken to a hospital. No charges have been filed.
In the early 1960s, Burt Reynolds was making $100 a week falling off rooftops as a stuntman at the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, when he first met Coward, who was there playing an outlaw character named Pa Clanton.
- 1/25/2024
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Alita: Battle Angel star Rosa Salazar has joined the cast of Shane Black’s next film, Play Dirty. She’ll appear alongside Mark Wahlberg and Lakeith Stansfield.
After years in development, Shane Black’s thriller Play Dirty appears to be gathering pace. It was only the other day that Lakeith Stansfield was announced as a co-star alongside Mark Wahlberg; it’s now reported that he’ll be joined by Rosa Salazar, whose previous roles include the zesty anime adaptation, Alita: Battle Angel.
Deadline, the outlet that broke the story, doesn’t disclose what role Salazar will be playing in Black’s thriller, which is based on the long-running – and influential – series of novels written by Donald E Westlake.
It’s previously been reported that Play Dirty will draw on several of those novels rather than one in particular, though judging by Deadline’s synopsis, it’ll take at least a...
After years in development, Shane Black’s thriller Play Dirty appears to be gathering pace. It was only the other day that Lakeith Stansfield was announced as a co-star alongside Mark Wahlberg; it’s now reported that he’ll be joined by Rosa Salazar, whose previous roles include the zesty anime adaptation, Alita: Battle Angel.
Deadline, the outlet that broke the story, doesn’t disclose what role Salazar will be playing in Black’s thriller, which is based on the long-running – and influential – series of novels written by Donald E Westlake.
It’s previously been reported that Play Dirty will draw on several of those novels rather than one in particular, though judging by Deadline’s synopsis, it’ll take at least a...
- 1/18/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Warning: this post will contain spoilers for "The Exorcist: Believer."
As of this writing, actress Linda Blair has appeared as Regan MacNeil in three of the six extant "Exorcist" feature films. She was only about 13 when she appeared in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" in 1973, and returned in 1977 to reprise her role in John Boorman's truly terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic." Blair then sat out the three following sequels and prequels, returning in 2023 for a cameo in David Gordon Green's "The Exorcist: Believer." In that film, Regan only appeared at the very end of the film to comfort her elderly mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) who has been blinded by a demon earlier in the picture. One might also want to count Blair's excellent comedic performance in the 1990 farce "Repossessed" as an official "Exorcist" appearance. Her character was named Nancy Aglet, but everything else in that film synchs up with Friedkin's original film.
As of this writing, actress Linda Blair has appeared as Regan MacNeil in three of the six extant "Exorcist" feature films. She was only about 13 when she appeared in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" in 1973, and returned in 1977 to reprise her role in John Boorman's truly terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic." Blair then sat out the three following sequels and prequels, returning in 2023 for a cameo in David Gordon Green's "The Exorcist: Believer." In that film, Regan only appeared at the very end of the film to comfort her elderly mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) who has been blinded by a demon earlier in the picture. One might also want to count Blair's excellent comedic performance in the 1990 farce "Repossessed" as an official "Exorcist" appearance. Her character was named Nancy Aglet, but everything else in that film synchs up with Friedkin's original film.
- 1/7/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the U.S.S. Enterprise's communications officer on "Star Trek," rarely got episodes of her own. Audiences learned about Uhura through her interactions with the other members of the crew, remaining professional on the bridge, and keeping her personal life personal. It wouldn't be until the "Star Trek: The Animated Series" episode "The Lorelei Signal" that Uhura would take command of the Enterprise and solve the crisis of the week. Uhura remained the communications officer on the Enterprise through the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" in 1991. On "Star Trek: Picard," it was mentioned that Uhura had become the captain of a ship called the U.S.S. Leondegrance and made first contact with hundreds of new species.
Fun trivia: King Leondegrance was Guinivere's father in Arthurian myth. In John Boorman's 1981 Arthurian film "Excalibur," King Leondegrance was played by future "Star Trek" luminary and Picard himself,...
Fun trivia: King Leondegrance was Guinivere's father in Arthurian myth. In John Boorman's 1981 Arthurian film "Excalibur," King Leondegrance was played by future "Star Trek" luminary and Picard himself,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In 1973, producer Irwin Winkler attended the New York Film Festival and decided to check out a new film by a talented young director. Winkler liked what he saw in Martin Scorsese‘s “Mean Streets,” and he was flattered by the fact that Scorsese paid tribute to one of Winkler’s early films by featuring a poster for “Point Blank” at a key moment. “Somebody arranged for Marty and I to have coffee, and we just hit it off,” Winkler told IndieWire. Thus began a producer-director partnership that would yield some of the greatest movies ever made, including “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” and “Silence.”
Winkler would be a legend in the business based on just the movies he made with Scorsese, but they’re the tip of the iceberg. “You look at his credits and it’s astonishing, even if you know him and even if your own films are among them,...
Winkler would be a legend in the business based on just the movies he made with Scorsese, but they’re the tip of the iceberg. “You look at his credits and it’s astonishing, even if you know him and even if your own films are among them,...
- 12/4/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The episode of The Test of Time covering Exorcist II: The Heretic was Written by Andrew Hatfield, Narrated by Niki Minter, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by John Fallon and Tyler Nichols, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Here at Test of Time, the whole idea of the show is to look at a classic, either objectively through critical praise, box office revenue, or even things like reputation or cult classic status. The three of us, writer Andrew, narrator Niki, and editor Mike like to discuss what we think about whatever the movie is and have fun with it. Shouldn’t this be able to work in reverse though? What about a movie that is seen as bad? Shouldn’t it be looked at through a different lens via time and what we know now? Maybe a bad movie stays a bad movie but what if a reappraisal alters the opinion?...
Here at Test of Time, the whole idea of the show is to look at a classic, either objectively through critical praise, box office revenue, or even things like reputation or cult classic status. The three of us, writer Andrew, narrator Niki, and editor Mike like to discuss what we think about whatever the movie is and have fun with it. Shouldn’t this be able to work in reverse though? What about a movie that is seen as bad? Shouldn’t it be looked at through a different lens via time and what we know now? Maybe a bad movie stays a bad movie but what if a reappraisal alters the opinion?...
- 11/28/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Michel Ciment, the esteemed French film critic, historian, author, radio producer and editor of the influential film magazine Positif, has died. He was 85.
His death was reported Monday by the French radio channel France Inter, the home of his culture program Le Masque et la Plume since 1970.
Ciment was “perhaps the freest and most encyclopedic mind that film criticism has ever produced,” Le Masque et la Plume producer Jérome Garcin in a statement. He made what would be his last appearance on the show in September.
The Paris native also produced Projection privée on France Culture radio from 1990-2016. He was “an immense critic and historian who devoted his entire life to passing on, in words and in writing, his erudition and his passion for the seventh art,” a statement from the channel said.
Ciment joined Positif after sending in a story about the Orson Welles film The Trial in 1963 and would become its editor,...
His death was reported Monday by the French radio channel France Inter, the home of his culture program Le Masque et la Plume since 1970.
Ciment was “perhaps the freest and most encyclopedic mind that film criticism has ever produced,” Le Masque et la Plume producer Jérome Garcin in a statement. He made what would be his last appearance on the show in September.
The Paris native also produced Projection privée on France Culture radio from 1990-2016. He was “an immense critic and historian who devoted his entire life to passing on, in words and in writing, his erudition and his passion for the seventh art,” a statement from the channel said.
Ciment joined Positif after sending in a story about the Orson Welles film The Trial in 1963 and would become its editor,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
French critic and editor Michel Ciment has died at the age of 85. His friend, Sir John Boorman, pays tribute.
Sir John Boorman has got in touch with Film Stories with a tribute he’s written for his friend, the critic and Positif magazine editor Michel Ciment, who sadly passed today at the age of 85.
I learned today about the death of my dear friend Michel Ciment.
Michel attended every festival and passionately defended the films he loved and attacked the ones he didn’t. Michel was one of the group that used to gather on a Sunday morning to decide on the content of the film magazine, Positif.
To say that Michel was passionate about the cinema was to do him an injustice. He lived and ate and dreamed cinema. I’m so sorry for his family but also for myself. I loved him and admired him, he was an original,...
Sir John Boorman has got in touch with Film Stories with a tribute he’s written for his friend, the critic and Positif magazine editor Michel Ciment, who sadly passed today at the age of 85.
I learned today about the death of my dear friend Michel Ciment.
Michel attended every festival and passionately defended the films he loved and attacked the ones he didn’t. Michel was one of the group that used to gather on a Sunday morning to decide on the content of the film magazine, Positif.
To say that Michel was passionate about the cinema was to do him an injustice. He lived and ate and dreamed cinema. I’m so sorry for his family but also for myself. I loved him and admired him, he was an original,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Sir John Boorman
- Film Stories
French film critic and historian Michel Ciment, the long-time publishing director of film magazine Positif, has died Monday, French media reported. He was 85.
Ciment first started writing for the Lyon-based magazine in 1963, when he contributed a piece about the cinema of Orson Welles.
The magazine was launched in 1952 shortly after Les Cahiers du Cinéma by Bernard Chardère, who also died this year.
In a talk at Paris’s Forum Des Images in 2022, marking Positif’s 70th anniversary, Ciment recounted how he started reading the magazine in the 1950s as a teenager, while hanging around the Le Minotaure bookshop in the Paris quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Près.
“It was an amazing place where you’d bump into other cinephiles like Jean-Claude Romer, who went on to create [the cinema magazine] Midi Minuit Fantastique,” recounted Ciment.
“There were a lot of people from Les Cahiers and Positif… You couldn’t find the cinema revues in kiosks then.
Ciment first started writing for the Lyon-based magazine in 1963, when he contributed a piece about the cinema of Orson Welles.
The magazine was launched in 1952 shortly after Les Cahiers du Cinéma by Bernard Chardère, who also died this year.
In a talk at Paris’s Forum Des Images in 2022, marking Positif’s 70th anniversary, Ciment recounted how he started reading the magazine in the 1950s as a teenager, while hanging around the Le Minotaure bookshop in the Paris quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Près.
“It was an amazing place where you’d bump into other cinephiles like Jean-Claude Romer, who went on to create [the cinema magazine] Midi Minuit Fantastique,” recounted Ciment.
“There were a lot of people from Les Cahiers and Positif… You couldn’t find the cinema revues in kiosks then.
- 11/13/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Prior to his job playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," actor Patrick Stewart wasn't terribly well-known in the United States. One might have recognized him for his supporting roles in high-profile genre films like John Boorman's "Excalibur," David Lynch's "Dune," or Tobe Hooper's "Lifeforce," but the vast bulk of his career up to that point was on the British stage, or throughout the vast network of BBC television. Starting in 1966, Stewart began starring in productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing as the Player King in "Hamlet" (opposite David Warner) and as the Dauphin in "Henry V." His status as a go-to player of well-known American fantasy characters wouldn't begin in earnest until 1987.
In his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir," Stewart recalls how the American publicity machine viewed him when he first started working on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He...
In his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir," Stewart recalls how the American publicity machine viewed him when he first started working on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He...
- 11/11/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Now that David Gordon Green has sent another horror franchise to hell with The Exorcist: Believer, the time is right this Halloween for Awfully Good Movies to tackle one of the most awfully good sequels ever made… Exorcist II: The Heretic!
While the late William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty were hellbent against any follow-ups to their seminal horror classic, the suits at Warner Bros. felt otherwise and rolled camera on a follow-up four years later from another prestige filmmaker, John Boorman, despite Boorman passing on the first film and calling it a “repulsive” tale about “child abuse”. So instead, Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil one last time to fight the satanic demon nipping at her heels once more, thanks to a mind synchronization device that is just the tip of this sequel’s deeply insane iceberg.
Whether it’s a visibly drunk Richard Burton as the new priest...
While the late William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty were hellbent against any follow-ups to their seminal horror classic, the suits at Warner Bros. felt otherwise and rolled camera on a follow-up four years later from another prestige filmmaker, John Boorman, despite Boorman passing on the first film and calling it a “repulsive” tale about “child abuse”. So instead, Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil one last time to fight the satanic demon nipping at her heels once more, thanks to a mind synchronization device that is just the tip of this sequel’s deeply insane iceberg.
Whether it’s a visibly drunk Richard Burton as the new priest...
- 10/31/2023
- by Jesse Shade
- JoBlo.com
“The Exorcist” is, rightfully, heralded as one of the greatest, scariest films of all time. And in the 50 years since its 1973 release, filmmakers have tried, repeatedly, to recapture the magic that made the original film so special, to mixed results.
The latest attempt is “The Exorcist: Believer,” from director David Gordon Green, which returns Ellen Burstyn to the franchise for the first time since 1973 and focuses on a new phenomenon – synchronized possession. It’s meant to be the first of a new trilogy of films. And its release (it’ll be on PVOD on October 24) is enough to have us look back at the entire franchise thus far. Which films are scary good and which are ones that you’d rather spider-walk down the stairs to get away from? Read on to find out.
Warner Bros.
7. “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” (2005)
How troubled was the “Exorcist” prequel movie? So troubled...
The latest attempt is “The Exorcist: Believer,” from director David Gordon Green, which returns Ellen Burstyn to the franchise for the first time since 1973 and focuses on a new phenomenon – synchronized possession. It’s meant to be the first of a new trilogy of films. And its release (it’ll be on PVOD on October 24) is enough to have us look back at the entire franchise thus far. Which films are scary good and which are ones that you’d rather spider-walk down the stairs to get away from? Read on to find out.
Warner Bros.
7. “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” (2005)
How troubled was the “Exorcist” prequel movie? So troubled...
- 10/21/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
There's no question that the moviegoing experience has changed since the "The Exorcist" became a landmark cultural event when it was released the day after Christmas in 1973. Anyone that waltzed right in to see "The Exorcist: Believer" in theaters this October would have been shocked by the long lines snaking around the block to see the controversial original when it took the world by storm almost 50 years ago. It's unlikely that any other film will ever match that particular watershed moment in horror ever again.
"The Exorcist" marked the first time a genre film had ever received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Notably, the entire production garnered 10 nominations, winning two for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. In the decades since its release, "The Exorcist" has retained its well-deserved status as one of the scariest movies ever made, having left an indelible mark on generations of unassuming spectators that...
"The Exorcist" marked the first time a genre film had ever received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Notably, the entire production garnered 10 nominations, winning two for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. In the decades since its release, "The Exorcist" has retained its well-deserved status as one of the scariest movies ever made, having left an indelible mark on generations of unassuming spectators that...
- 10/18/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
It's well known that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" didn't have the easiest beginning. Virtually no Trekkies list season 1 as their favorite of "Tng." As season 1 aired in the Fall of 1988, the series hit another speed bump: The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike. Production on new TV seasons had to be put on hold as negotiations broke down and writers took to the picket line for increased residuals and creative rights.
This WGA Strike lasted for 154 days from March 7 to August 7, 1988, and remains the longest in the Guild's history, barely eclipsing the recently concluded strike of 2023. To cross-reference, "Next Generation" season 1 would finish its run that May. Instead of running away with the momentum of that first season, it was left up in the air. Had the strike gone on for longer, the series could've died on the vine. Captain Picard himself, Sir Patrick Stewart, revealed in his new memoir,...
This WGA Strike lasted for 154 days from March 7 to August 7, 1988, and remains the longest in the Guild's history, barely eclipsing the recently concluded strike of 2023. To cross-reference, "Next Generation" season 1 would finish its run that May. Instead of running away with the momentum of that first season, it was left up in the air. Had the strike gone on for longer, the series could've died on the vine. Captain Picard himself, Sir Patrick Stewart, revealed in his new memoir,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
People have come around on "The Exorcist III" in a pretty big way. For a while, it was just the hardest of the hardcore horror nerds stepping up to defend the sequel, much like they did with the wild curveball that was "Halloween 3: Season of the Witch." Both of those movies have been reevaluated and carry substantial fanbases at this point, but it was a long struggle.
"Exorcist III" is a particularly fascinating movie because there were a lot of power struggles during the making of the movie that resulted in different cuts, alternate endings, and a near-takeover by the studio in the wake of lukewarm test screening reviews. This struggle started at the very beginning when the original book's author (and the first film's screenwriter) William Peter Blatty insisted on not only writing, but directing the second sequel.
According to Steve Jaffe, an associate producer on "Exorcist III" and Blatty's former press agent,...
"Exorcist III" is a particularly fascinating movie because there were a lot of power struggles during the making of the movie that resulted in different cuts, alternate endings, and a near-takeover by the studio in the wake of lukewarm test screening reviews. This struggle started at the very beginning when the original book's author (and the first film's screenwriter) William Peter Blatty insisted on not only writing, but directing the second sequel.
According to Steve Jaffe, an associate producer on "Exorcist III" and Blatty's former press agent,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
The Exorcist is my choice for the best horror movie of all time. Some may say Rosemary’s Baby or The Shining or Night of the Living Dead, but as a good Catholic boy, nothing has ever gotten under my skin the way William Friedkin’s original did. But, with great success comes the desire for Hollywood to make a hit into a franchise, but Friedkin was not a franchise director. He famously turned down French Connection II, but the studio, perhaps noticing how the second French Connection turned out decently, decided to go ahead and turn it into a franchise. Still, the results, with one notable exception were a disaster. So without any further adieu, here’s our list of Exorcist movies ranked – from worst to best.
Exorcist II: The Heretic
So, worst is a degree here rather than a black-and-white fact. All of the Exorcist sequels – with that one...
Exorcist II: The Heretic
So, worst is a degree here rather than a black-and-white fact. All of the Exorcist sequels – with that one...
- 10/8/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Whatever one wants to say about John Boorman’s absolutely maniacal and much-maligned Exorcist II: The Heretic, it certainly isn’t unimaginative. By contrast, David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer very much is. The film, written by Green and Peter Sattler, is a mélange of tired normcore horror tropes indistinguishable from any film in the Conjuring universe. It even fails to address the series’s most basic themes in any truly meaningful way beyond a conviction-less “can’t we all just get along” subtext regarding the divide between America’s secular population and religious conservatives.
The film’s cold open in Haiti hints at a unique, voodoo-tinged—that is, non-Catholic—take on the franchise’s fascination with crisis of faith. But Haiti turns out to just be a random place to witness Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) struggling to make a very difficult choice between saving his injured wife or his unborn daughter,...
The film’s cold open in Haiti hints at a unique, voodoo-tinged—that is, non-Catholic—take on the franchise’s fascination with crisis of faith. But Haiti turns out to just be a random place to witness Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) struggling to make a very difficult choice between saving his injured wife or his unborn daughter,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Justin Clark
- Slant Magazine
You might think it would be difficult, after fifty years, to introduce something new to a motion picture series as long and as storied as “The Exorcist.” Ever since William Friedkin’s trailblazing original horror drama — as frightening as it was insightful about the fragile relevance of religion in an increasingly secular world — filmmakers as varied as John Boorman, William Peter Blatty, Renny Harlin and Paul Schrader have been stretching the concept of demonic possession as far as it they could take it. Their films have been, not always at the same time, fiercely intelligent, deeply strange, hypnotically inept, genuinely terrifying, profoundly embarrassing, and/or uncomfortably insightful.
David Gordon Green’s “The Exorcist: Believer” has now entered the conversation, and to its credit — sort of — it does have one thing we’ve never seen in these movies before: mediocrity, and lots of it. The new film is competently dramatized and occasionally quite startling,...
David Gordon Green’s “The Exorcist: Believer” has now entered the conversation, and to its credit — sort of — it does have one thing we’ve never seen in these movies before: mediocrity, and lots of it. The new film is competently dramatized and occasionally quite startling,...
- 10/4/2023
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
The sequels — or, in two cases, prequels — to “The Exorcist” have all been unqualified turkeys. There is now a movement at hand to declare that John Boorman’s crackpot insect-swarm fantasia “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977) was some sort of misunderstood masterpiece, but that’s an act of revisionism every bit as loony tunes as “Heaven’s Gate” revisionism.
That said, the “Exorcist” genre has never left the culture. It has spawned successful pieces of claptrap, like “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), whose opening-weekend gross of $30 million in the dead zone of early September was more shocking than anything in the film. Fifty years ago, the very essence of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” was its obscenely eruptive, pea-soup-in-the-face, borderline-demonic-child-porn shock value. The film marked nothing less than the birth of extreme culture, and we’ve never looked back. It also influenced the rise of the Evangelical movement, since if Satan was now in our face,...
That said, the “Exorcist” genre has never left the culture. It has spawned successful pieces of claptrap, like “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), whose opening-weekend gross of $30 million in the dead zone of early September was more shocking than anything in the film. Fifty years ago, the very essence of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” was its obscenely eruptive, pea-soup-in-the-face, borderline-demonic-child-porn shock value. The film marked nothing less than the birth of extreme culture, and we’ve never looked back. It also influenced the rise of the Evangelical movement, since if Satan was now in our face,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
There’s been a shocking amount of horror movies released in August and September. Now that it’s October, it’s going to seem far more appropriate, with the month starting off with a doozie. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.
Way back in 1973, William Peter Blatty‘s 1971 novel, “The Exorcist,” was adapted into a movie by the late William Friedkin, becoming a huge theatrical phenomenon that is still thought of as one of the scariest horror movies ever made. It introduced many Americans to the idea of possession and exorcism, making household names of Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn, both who received Oscar nominations. The movie received 10 bids total, winning for Blatty’s screenplay and the sound.
Fifty years later and filmmaker David Gordon Green has followed his mostly successful “Halloween” sequel trilogy with “The Exorcist: Believer,” the first of three movies in the works. The...
Way back in 1973, William Peter Blatty‘s 1971 novel, “The Exorcist,” was adapted into a movie by the late William Friedkin, becoming a huge theatrical phenomenon that is still thought of as one of the scariest horror movies ever made. It introduced many Americans to the idea of possession and exorcism, making household names of Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn, both who received Oscar nominations. The movie received 10 bids total, winning for Blatty’s screenplay and the sound.
Fifty years later and filmmaker David Gordon Green has followed his mostly successful “Halloween” sequel trilogy with “The Exorcist: Believer,” the first of three movies in the works. The...
- 10/4/2023
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
It's clear that writer/director David Gordon Green and his co-screenwriter Peter Sattler had to fight an uphill battle when making a sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 film "The Exorcist" in 2023. Not only did the filmmakers have to remain cognizant of what narrative ground the four or five previous films in the series had already covered (more on that number below), but they had to somehow rise above the thousands of "Exorcist" knockoffs that have arisen in the last 50 years to provide a fresh take on the material. No easy feat, seeing as how the Tubi library, as of this writing, currently has 49 films with "Exorcist" or "Exorcism" in the title. Apart from "Alien" and "Emmanuelle," "The Exorcist" may be one of the most imitated films in cinema history.
To address the "Exorcist" sequels, Green merely employed the same tactic as he did with his "Halloween" movies: ignore them entirely and reboot the story.
To address the "Exorcist" sequels, Green merely employed the same tactic as he did with his "Halloween" movies: ignore them entirely and reboot the story.
- 10/4/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
There are literally hundreds of films and TV shows about or featuring King Arthur going back well over a century – there are silent films, musicals, animated films, comedies, dramas. You name it, there is a King-Arthur-themed version of it. There are not a small number of “Best of…” lists floating around the internet as well. But how do you know which of the recommendations is really going to scratch your King Arthur-shaped itch?
MGM+’s new series about King Arthur, The Winter King, is a combination of gritty historical fiction and “low” fantasy. It is also fairly grim and violent. But there are lots of different ways to tell a story about King Arthur and his knights, with or without round table, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake and so on. Here, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite films and TV shows about or featuring King Arthur,...
MGM+’s new series about King Arthur, The Winter King, is a combination of gritty historical fiction and “low” fantasy. It is also fairly grim and violent. But there are lots of different ways to tell a story about King Arthur and his knights, with or without round table, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake and so on. Here, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite films and TV shows about or featuring King Arthur,...
- 9/10/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
The bread and butter of film festivals is the unveiling of new movies. And in the case of the major festivals taking place in the late summer and early fall — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — the selections offer a preview of potential Oscar nominees and winners. Remember the eight-minute standing ovation Brendan Fraser received last year at Venice for “The Whale”? It kicked off his comeback and journey to a best Oscar win this year.
And with the 50th annual Telluride Film Festival kicking off August 31 at in the picturesque Colorado mountain burg, let’s take the cinematic time machine back 1993 when the fest was a mere 20 years old. John Boorman of “Deliverance” and “Hope and Glory” fame was the guest director of the festival. Jennifer Jason Leigh, then just 31 and whose latest film was Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” was honored with a tribute as was socialist British director Ken Loach,...
And with the 50th annual Telluride Film Festival kicking off August 31 at in the picturesque Colorado mountain burg, let’s take the cinematic time machine back 1993 when the fest was a mere 20 years old. John Boorman of “Deliverance” and “Hope and Glory” fame was the guest director of the festival. Jennifer Jason Leigh, then just 31 and whose latest film was Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” was honored with a tribute as was socialist British director Ken Loach,...
- 8/31/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Ever since the premiere of "Star Wars" in 1977, movie studios, fans, and filmmakers alike have breathlessly wondered what and when the "next Star Wars" might be. To be sure, there have been many contenders for that title during the last 46 years, with some films that have matched (or surpassed) the financial success of "Star Wars," others that have made a huge impact on pop culture, still others that have spawned long-running franchises, and so on.
One aspect of "Star Wars" that's been particularly hard to replicate, however, is the way it began its own expansive fictional universe that's allowed it to remain popular to this day. While efforts like "The Lord of the Rings" films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have certainly matched this, both of those were explicitly based on pre-existing material. Netflix has even attempted to establish its own original "Star Wars" killer before, at least in blowhard writer Max Landis' mind.
One aspect of "Star Wars" that's been particularly hard to replicate, however, is the way it began its own expansive fictional universe that's allowed it to remain popular to this day. While efforts like "The Lord of the Rings" films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have certainly matched this, both of those were explicitly based on pre-existing material. Netflix has even attempted to establish its own original "Star Wars" killer before, at least in blowhard writer Max Landis' mind.
- 8/22/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Filmmaker and video essayist Patrick H. Willems has some thoughts about Zack Snyder (who will henceforth be known as our "himbo auteur"). He's proposed that the key to understanding the director is his love of John Boorman's 1981 medieval fantasy epic "Excalibur." Snyder has expressed his love of Boorman's film many times over the years, even incorporating it into his version of the Caped Crusader's origin story in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Snyder's ultimate goal as an artist, Willems reasons, is basically making his version of "Excalibur," a film Roger Ebert once described as "a record of the comings and goings of arbitrary, inconsistent, shadowy, figures who are not heroes but simply giants run amok."
The more you think about it, the sounder this argument becomes. It certainly explains Snyder's tendency to craft brutal, bombastic films that prioritize spectacle over coherent storytelling or political messaging. Indeed, given his love of mythic storytelling,...
The more you think about it, the sounder this argument becomes. It certainly explains Snyder's tendency to craft brutal, bombastic films that prioritize spectacle over coherent storytelling or political messaging. Indeed, given his love of mythic storytelling,...
- 8/8/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
William Friedkin was, simply put, a legend.
His technical prowess, mastery of tone and commitment to storytelling were unparalleled. And so was his willingness to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. It wasn’t that he was merely challenging good taste; it was that he wanted to go beyond what had come before. And sometimes that made people very uncomfortable. Friedkin’s career is largely defined by this kind of artful provocation, and it makes his passing — especially in the current age of pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed mass entertainment — all the more devastating. We didn’t just lose one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; we lost an outspoken advocate for the kind of movies they just don’t make anymore.
Thankfully, Friedkin left behind a bounty of modern classics – movies that become richer, more rewarding, and, yes, more provocative, the more times you watch them. Here are seven of his most essential,...
His technical prowess, mastery of tone and commitment to storytelling were unparalleled. And so was his willingness to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. It wasn’t that he was merely challenging good taste; it was that he wanted to go beyond what had come before. And sometimes that made people very uncomfortable. Friedkin’s career is largely defined by this kind of artful provocation, and it makes his passing — especially in the current age of pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed mass entertainment — all the more devastating. We didn’t just lose one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; we lost an outspoken advocate for the kind of movies they just don’t make anymore.
Thankfully, Friedkin left behind a bounty of modern classics – movies that become richer, more rewarding, and, yes, more provocative, the more times you watch them. Here are seven of his most essential,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Whether you saw The Exorcist: Believer trailer over the weekend in the previews before Oppenheimer, or you’re seeing it for the first time today as it’s released online, an impressive amount of callbacks, big and small, to the original 1973 masterpiece is there to greet you like the scarred lettering on Regan MacNeil’s tummy. There’s Ellen Burstyn, of course, finally returning for one of these demonic flicks for the first time in 50 years (and after she passed on John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic). But there’s also the way she’s greeted by one of the demonic girls in the movie, screaming in the exact same cadence as Linda Blair: “Mother, It hurts!” There are also dogs fighting in the sun; preternaturally green eyes peeking through scarred tissue; and more doctors who have absolutely no idea how to treat this type of illness.
Hell,...
Hell,...
- 7/25/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
David Gordon Green's "Halloween" trilogy proved to be one of the wildest swings to emerge from our current era of legacy sequels and revivals, sporting questionable lines of dialogue ("Evil dies tonight!") and a narratively suspect yet fascinating finale. In light of this, it's hard not to be intrigued (if also apprehensive) as to what the filmmaker has cooked up with his latest sequel to a landmark work of horror -- "The Exorcist: Believer."
Much like Green and producer Jason Blum's "Halloween" movies, "Believer" hopes to rejuvenate a flailing horror franchise that has gone in some rather bizarre directions since the '70s classic that started it all. The only difference? This time, Green isn't wiping the slate clean by removing the previous installments from the canon, the sequels and prequel (prequels?) alike. "I like all the 'Exorcist' movies," Green told Total Film in May 2022, adding...
Much like Green and producer Jason Blum's "Halloween" movies, "Believer" hopes to rejuvenate a flailing horror franchise that has gone in some rather bizarre directions since the '70s classic that started it all. The only difference? This time, Green isn't wiping the slate clean by removing the previous installments from the canon, the sequels and prequel (prequels?) alike. "I like all the 'Exorcist' movies," Green told Total Film in May 2022, adding...
- 7/25/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Unsurprisingly, Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer” — a brand new horror chapter in the beloved franchise that hits theaters on Oct. 13, 2023 (you can watch the first trailer above) — started with Max von Sydow.
Co-writer/director David Gordon Green had already started thinking about tackling a new take on “The Exorcist” but after von Sydow, who co-starred in both “The Exorcist” and its deeply insane sequel “The Exorcist II: The Heretic,” died, Green started a deep dive. It wasn’t just his Ingmar Bergman collaboration either but “his spectacular body of work.”
“I wasn’t really thinking about what I’m going to do with this film yet,” Green told TheWrap. “I was just thinking more about the intimidating landscape of being a part of that franchise. I wasn’t settled into a theme. But in watching some of those films, they tap, in a beautiful way, into the infinite spiritual realms,...
Co-writer/director David Gordon Green had already started thinking about tackling a new take on “The Exorcist” but after von Sydow, who co-starred in both “The Exorcist” and its deeply insane sequel “The Exorcist II: The Heretic,” died, Green started a deep dive. It wasn’t just his Ingmar Bergman collaboration either but “his spectacular body of work.”
“I wasn’t really thinking about what I’m going to do with this film yet,” Green told TheWrap. “I was just thinking more about the intimidating landscape of being a part of that franchise. I wasn’t settled into a theme. But in watching some of those films, they tap, in a beautiful way, into the infinite spiritual realms,...
- 7/25/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
A genre that has been around for decades and gets talked about too rarely, sword and sorcery can encompass many films and sub-genres. So, what makes a sword and sorcery film better than the others? What makes it worthy of being the best? For some it will be how closely it follows the genre’s established rules and typical stories. For others, it will be how well-written and directed they are. For us, it’s how enjoyable they are, so, yes, some will deviate a bit from the usual rules of the genre, but all will be fun. So let’s take a look at what we consider the best sword and sorcery movies!
The Green Knight (2021)
A more recent offering in a genre that doesn’t seem to get enough representation lately, The Green Knight is a fantastic adaptation of the writings by The Gawain Poet. The source material...
The Green Knight (2021)
A more recent offering in a genre that doesn’t seem to get enough representation lately, The Green Knight is a fantastic adaptation of the writings by The Gawain Poet. The source material...
- 7/9/2023
- by Emilie Black
- JoBlo.com
In a career that lasted four decades, the great character actor Ned Beatty worked with a number of the greatest film directors in history, starting out with John Boorman and 1972’s “Deliverance,” in which he made his spectacular screen debut. From there, he went on to work with such screen legends as Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, John Huston, Mike Nichols and Spike Lee.
Beatty was nominated for an Academy Award for 1976’s “Network,” directed by Lumet, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for portraying an Irish tenor in 1991’s “Hear My Song.” Beatty did not appear in films until he was 35 years old and was immediately pegged as a character actor, a category in which he flourished. His other film credits include “Nashville,” “Superman,” “Wise Blood” and “Toy Story 3.”
Tour our photo gallery ranking his 12 greatest screen performances from worst to best.
Beatty was nominated for an Academy Award for 1976’s “Network,” directed by Lumet, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for portraying an Irish tenor in 1991’s “Hear My Song.” Beatty did not appear in films until he was 35 years old and was immediately pegged as a character actor, a category in which he flourished. His other film credits include “Nashville,” “Superman,” “Wise Blood” and “Toy Story 3.”
Tour our photo gallery ranking his 12 greatest screen performances from worst to best.
- 7/1/2023
- by Tom O'Brien, Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Ten years to the weekend of the release of “Man of Steel,” and months after even Zack Snyder himself finally bid a fond farewell to the so-called SnyderVerse, Netflix is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at Snyder’s latest fantasy epic. “Rebel Moon,” which will (as of this time) be a two-part film that will be offered in a PG-13 version and an R-rated cut, takes significant inspiration from one of Snyder’s favorite films, “The Seven Samurai.”
The logline reads “In a universe controlled by the corrupt government of the Mother World, the moon of Veldt is threatened by the forces of the Imperium, the army of the Mother World controlled by Regent Balisarius. Kora, a former member of the Imperium who seeks redemption for her past in the leadership of the oppressive government, tasks herself to recruit warriors from across the galaxy to make a stand against the Mother...
The logline reads “In a universe controlled by the corrupt government of the Mother World, the moon of Veldt is threatened by the forces of the Imperium, the army of the Mother World controlled by Regent Balisarius. Kora, a former member of the Imperium who seeks redemption for her past in the leadership of the oppressive government, tasks herself to recruit warriors from across the galaxy to make a stand against the Mother...
- 6/17/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Liam Neeson is an accomplished actor with an impressive record across different genres and industries. Of Irish descent, Neeson began acting in Northern Ireland. He was in his teens when he joined other budding actors in school productions. However, he had other career interests at the time. After trying different jobs — a forklift operator at Guinness and a lorry driver — he decided to focus on acting. Needless to say, the decision turned him into a global star. Neeson made his professional acting debut on stage in 1976, working with different theater companies. That was until filmmaker John Boorman...
- 6/12/2023
- by Banks Onuoha
- TVovermind.com
Paul Geoffrey, who starred as Perceival in the film Excalibur and had many other film and TV credits, died June 3 in Santa Fe, New Mexico from cancer, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican news outlet.
Geoffrey’s film resume was led by Excalibur, a 1981 fantasy film written and directed by John Boorman which retold the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table legend. The film won best artistic contribution at Cannes in 1981 and received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. Excalibur opened at number one in the United States, eventually grossing $34,967,437 on a budget of around US $11 million
His other leading roles included Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights, Poirot, and Inspector Morse, among other filma.
In television, he appeared in “The Jewel in the Crown,” “The Man from Moscow,” “Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story,” “The Manageress,” “Spyship,” “Acapulco H.E.A.T,” “Better Call Saul,...
Geoffrey’s film resume was led by Excalibur, a 1981 fantasy film written and directed by John Boorman which retold the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table legend. The film won best artistic contribution at Cannes in 1981 and received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. Excalibur opened at number one in the United States, eventually grossing $34,967,437 on a budget of around US $11 million
His other leading roles included Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights, Poirot, and Inspector Morse, among other filma.
In television, he appeared in “The Jewel in the Crown,” “The Man from Moscow,” “Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story,” “The Manageress,” “Spyship,” “Acapulco H.E.A.T,” “Better Call Saul,...
- 6/10/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Globo Filmes, the powerful film production arm of Brazil’s Globo, Latin America’s largest media company, has unveiled 11 new movie projects which join the biggest production slate of any company in Brazil.
Directors of new titles, all co-productions, range from star auteur Gabriel Mascaró, and celebrated doc director Eryk Rocha to multi-prized actor Dira Paes, who broke out in John Boorman’s “The Emerald Forest.”
Also in the cut is David Schurmann (“Little Secret”), who and Jean-Pierre Dutilleux whose 1976 “Raoni,” scored and was Oscar nomination and was championed by Marlon Brando.
Mascaró will direct “The Other Side of the Sky,” produced by Globo Filmes and Desvía Produções, a fantasy drama set in an alternative reality Brazil where anyone over 80 is confined to a colony, to help Brazil’s economic recovery. Rocha is prepping “Elza,” a doc portrait of legendary singer Elza Soares, Paes has in development her directorial debut,...
Directors of new titles, all co-productions, range from star auteur Gabriel Mascaró, and celebrated doc director Eryk Rocha to multi-prized actor Dira Paes, who broke out in John Boorman’s “The Emerald Forest.”
Also in the cut is David Schurmann (“Little Secret”), who and Jean-Pierre Dutilleux whose 1976 “Raoni,” scored and was Oscar nomination and was championed by Marlon Brando.
Mascaró will direct “The Other Side of the Sky,” produced by Globo Filmes and Desvía Produções, a fantasy drama set in an alternative reality Brazil where anyone over 80 is confined to a colony, to help Brazil’s economic recovery. Rocha is prepping “Elza,” a doc portrait of legendary singer Elza Soares, Paes has in development her directorial debut,...
- 5/18/2023
- by John Hopewell and Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Tom Stoppard and the late Terrence McNally have won the most Tonys for a playwright taking home four each. The 85-year-old Stoppard is a strong contender to pick up his fifth Tony for his latest (and perhaps final) play “Leopoldstadt.” The acclaimed drama revolves around a wealthy Jewish family who had fled the programs in Eastern Europe and settled in Vienna. In an interview, Stoppard noted that the play “took a year to write but the gestation was much longer. Quite a lot of it is personal to me but I made it a Viennese family so that it wouldn’t seem to be about me. “ Stoppard, who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, lost all four of his grandparents in the Holocaust.
“Leopoldstadt” earned six nominations on May 2 including Best Play and best director for Patrick Marber. It will be vying for the top prize against Jordon E. Cooper’s...
“Leopoldstadt” earned six nominations on May 2 including Best Play and best director for Patrick Marber. It will be vying for the top prize against Jordon E. Cooper’s...
- 5/4/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
“Fair to middling” is how Angie Dickinson is feeling this morning as she talks about “Rio Bravo,” the 1959 film that made her a star. “Somebody who says they’re great at 90, you can figure out that they lie a lot.” It’s a line that could have come straight from Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett’s script for the film — and a reminder that Dickinson’s gift for delivery isn’t dependent on working with a brilliant director, though she has many times in her seven-decade career.
Dickinson has more then 350 screen credits — an enormous body of work that includes “Ocean’s Eleven” (the 1960 original), “Point Blank” and “Dressed to Kill.” She’s set to appear April 13 at the TCM Film Festival to introduce a 4K restoration of Howard Hawks’ classic Western, whose boys’ club cast of John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan she breaks up with that same brisk humor.
Dickinson has more then 350 screen credits — an enormous body of work that includes “Ocean’s Eleven” (the 1960 original), “Point Blank” and “Dressed to Kill.” She’s set to appear April 13 at the TCM Film Festival to introduce a 4K restoration of Howard Hawks’ classic Western, whose boys’ club cast of John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan she breaks up with that same brisk humor.
- 4/12/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
We’ve lost another Hollywood legend. The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that cinematographer Bill Butler, best known for his work on the 1975 Steven Spielberg classic Jaws, has passed away at the age of 101. Butler died on Wednesday evening, according to the American Society of Cinematographers. He would have turned 102 on Friday – today.
Born on April 7, 1921 in Cripple Creek, Colorado, Butler earned his first entertainment industry credit by working as a camera operator on the 1959 film 1001 Arabian Nights. His first cinematographer credit came when his friend, director William Friedkin, hired him to shoot the 1962 TV movie The People vs. Paul Crump. He never attended film school, he just taught himself cinematography by watching movies and referring to the ASC manual. That approach definitely worked out for him. Over the next fifty-four years, he served as the cinematographer on eighty-four more projects, including Jack Nicholson’s Drive, He Said; The Bold Men,...
Born on April 7, 1921 in Cripple Creek, Colorado, Butler earned his first entertainment industry credit by working as a camera operator on the 1959 film 1001 Arabian Nights. His first cinematographer credit came when his friend, director William Friedkin, hired him to shoot the 1962 TV movie The People vs. Paul Crump. He never attended film school, he just taught himself cinematography by watching movies and referring to the ASC manual. That approach definitely worked out for him. Over the next fifty-four years, he served as the cinematographer on eighty-four more projects, including Jack Nicholson’s Drive, He Said; The Bold Men,...
- 4/7/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Bill Butler, the self-taught, Oscar-nominated cinematographer whose work on the landmark 1975 horror film Jaws unleashed a wave of anxiety for beachgoers that lasts to this day, has died. He would have turned 102 on Friday.
Butler died Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, according to the American Society of Cinematographers. He is survived by five daughters and his wife, Iris.
During his five-decade career, Butler also shot Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) and The Conversation (1974); Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One (1977); Randal Kleiser’s hit musical Grease (1978); and Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982) and Rocky IV (1985), all written and directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone.
On another noteworthy 1975 release, Butler replaced the fired Haskell Wexler midway through production on Milos Forman‘s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Both shared an Oscar cinematography nomination for their work.
Butler also had replaced Wexler on The Conversation after creative differences forced Wexler off that production early on.
Butler died Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, according to the American Society of Cinematographers. He is survived by five daughters and his wife, Iris.
During his five-decade career, Butler also shot Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) and The Conversation (1974); Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One (1977); Randal Kleiser’s hit musical Grease (1978); and Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982) and Rocky IV (1985), all written and directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone.
On another noteworthy 1975 release, Butler replaced the fired Haskell Wexler midway through production on Milos Forman‘s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Both shared an Oscar cinematography nomination for their work.
Butler also had replaced Wexler on The Conversation after creative differences forced Wexler off that production early on.
- 4/6/2023
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.