Ever since Stanley Tucci earned his Actor’s Equity card in 1982, the man has left his mark on many forms of entertainment, collecting an array of showbiz nominations and trophies along the way. In 1996, he earned his first Emmy nomination for his supporting role on ABC’s “Murder One” as the twisted millionaire businessman Richard Cross who was suspected of murder. He would go on to claim three Emmy Awards: As a lead actor in a miniseries or movie for his 1998 is role as newspaper columnist Walter Winchell in HBO’s “Winchell”; as a comedy guest actor on the USA Network detective series “Monk” in 2006; and as an executive producer of the 2016 short-form variety series “Park Bench With Steve Buscemi.”
He would be part of the SAG film ensemble win for 2015’s “Spotlight” and claimed his lone Oscar nomination for his supporting role as a killer of a young girl...
He would be part of the SAG film ensemble win for 2015’s “Spotlight” and claimed his lone Oscar nomination for his supporting role as a killer of a young girl...
- 11/3/2023
- by Susan Wloszczyna, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Nikki Finke was terrifying.
When the late Hollywood journalist called — the phone was her weapon of choice — the most powerful players in Hollywood shivered. That’s because she could write anything, and there was nobody to call if you didn’t like what she wrote. I learned this the hard way, even though we were friendly over the years: We had lunch at Hugo’s, shared a storage unit, and spent hours together in her West Hollywood apartment as I tried in vain to get her to press “send” on her brilliant CAA chapter for Premiere Magazine, which was scheduled in two subsequent issues but never ran.
Nor did her much-touted book ever get published, as publishers hired co-writers in vain; over the years, Finke’s cogent agency reporting eventually wound up on Deadline. And Finke participated (by phone) in a 2005 meeting with David Poland, Jeffrey Wells, and me about possibly launching a website.
When the late Hollywood journalist called — the phone was her weapon of choice — the most powerful players in Hollywood shivered. That’s because she could write anything, and there was nobody to call if you didn’t like what she wrote. I learned this the hard way, even though we were friendly over the years: We had lunch at Hugo’s, shared a storage unit, and spent hours together in her West Hollywood apartment as I tried in vain to get her to press “send” on her brilliant CAA chapter for Premiere Magazine, which was scheduled in two subsequent issues but never ran.
Nor did her much-touted book ever get published, as publishers hired co-writers in vain; over the years, Finke’s cogent agency reporting eventually wound up on Deadline. And Finke participated (by phone) in a 2005 meeting with David Poland, Jeffrey Wells, and me about possibly launching a website.
- 10/9/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
As Hurricane Ian roared through Florida last week, I was thinking of Nikki Finke, who had moved to the state four years ago but now was living under hospice care in Boca Raton, the result of a long and involved illness that finally took her life in the early hours of Sunday at the age of 68.
Related Story Nikki Finke Dies: Deadline Founder & Longtime Entertainment Journalist Was 68 Related Story Deadline Hires Former Business Insider Journalist Zac Ntim As International Film Reporter Related Story Liz Shackleton Joins Deadline As Contributing Editor, Asia
Finke founded Deadline in 2006 and eventually watched it build powerful, gale-force winds as it took on Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, 100-year-old institutions, and leveled the playing field among the entertainment trades changing forever the way Hollywood would be covered in the new digital age. Yes, Hurricane Nikki did it, forcing Variety and THR online to Deadline turf and...
Related Story Nikki Finke Dies: Deadline Founder & Longtime Entertainment Journalist Was 68 Related Story Deadline Hires Former Business Insider Journalist Zac Ntim As International Film Reporter Related Story Liz Shackleton Joins Deadline As Contributing Editor, Asia
Finke founded Deadline in 2006 and eventually watched it build powerful, gale-force winds as it took on Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, 100-year-old institutions, and leveled the playing field among the entertainment trades changing forever the way Hollywood would be covered in the new digital age. Yes, Hurricane Nikki did it, forcing Variety and THR online to Deadline turf and...
- 10/9/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Everything old is new again, or at least worthy of deeper exploration. Consider two of this year’s biggest awards contenders, one at the Oscars and the other at the Emmys, thanks to a pair of backward-looking examinations of some of pop culture’s biggest modern obsessions: The Beatles and “I Love Lucy.” On the surface, “The Beatles: Get Back,” Peter Jackson’s six-hour saga of bedraggled young Beatles on deadline in 1969, and “Being the Ricardos,” Aaron Sorkin’s take on the comic mastermind Lucille Ball as she works in the mid-1950s alongside her great enabler Desi Arnaz might not sound simpatico, but both offer compelling explorations of creation.
The first is a 2022 documentary Emmy contender, while the second has given three Oscar winners a second shot at a gold statue. Almost as a reward for taking on the role of a wildly gifted comedienne, Nicole Kidman also scored a Golden Globe Drama win,...
The first is a 2022 documentary Emmy contender, while the second has given three Oscar winners a second shot at a gold statue. Almost as a reward for taking on the role of a wildly gifted comedienne, Nicole Kidman also scored a Golden Globe Drama win,...
- 3/9/2022
- by Fred Schruers
- Indiewire
It’s always a kick to encounter a documentary about a subject after you’ve seen the deluxe scripted and acted Hollywood version. “Lucy and Desi,” Amy Poehler’s film about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz — their love, their showbiz partnership, their revolutionary influence on the creative landscape of television, their meshing and clashing spirits — is a nimble and fascinating documentary. But I suspect I’ll be far from alone in experiencing it through the lens of Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos,” especially given the awards heat that was shined on that film this week. “Lucy and Desi” gives you the real story, so it’s only natural that you want to compare notes.
What did “Being the Ricardos” get right and wrong? Given that Sorkin’s film compresses three major story arcs — the public accusation that Lucy was a Communist; the attempt to turn her pregnancy into the...
What did “Being the Ricardos” get right and wrong? Given that Sorkin’s film compresses three major story arcs — the public accusation that Lucy was a Communist; the attempt to turn her pregnancy into the...
- 1/29/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.
I Love Lucy was just about the most famous show in the history of television, but the dramatic behind-the-scenes story stayed off screen, until now. Amazon Studios’ Being the Ricardos incorporates several of the true stories of Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman), Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) and their staff. Only writer-director Aaron Sorkin sets them all in one week.
In Season 2 of I Love Lucy, Ball gets two pieces of troubling news on a Monday: A magazine reports that Arnaz has been seen around town with another woman, and Walter Winchell discovers that Ball had once applied to be a member of the Communist party, sharing that news with his audience.
Ball and Arnaz show up to work to start the episode; Lucy fans will...
I Love Lucy was just about the most famous show in the history of television, but the dramatic behind-the-scenes story stayed off screen, until now. Amazon Studios’ Being the Ricardos incorporates several of the true stories of Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman), Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) and their staff. Only writer-director Aaron Sorkin sets them all in one week.
In Season 2 of I Love Lucy, Ball gets two pieces of troubling news on a Monday: A magazine reports that Arnaz has been seen around town with another woman, and Walter Winchell discovers that Ball had once applied to be a member of the Communist party, sharing that news with his audience.
Ball and Arnaz show up to work to start the episode; Lucy fans will...
- 1/11/2022
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
Each year, Variety honors individuals who have offered a notable contribution to the film landscape for the year. The 2021 Creative Impact Award honorees have made their mark in awards hopefuls.
Javier Bardem, Creative Impact in Acting Award
Academy Award winner Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) will be feted, celebrating a busy year that includes roles in Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos” and Fernando León de Aronoa’s “The Good Boss,” Spain’s entry for the international film Oscar. “It is a huge honor that I take it with lots of gratitude and humility,” says Bardem.
In “Being the Ricardos,” he portrays real-life Desi Arnaz, alongside Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball. The entire film takes place in one pressure-cooker week during the shooting of their classic CBS sitcom “I Love Lucy,” specifically when gossip columnist Walter Winchell reports that Ball registered as a member of the Communist Party back in the 1930s.
Javier Bardem, Creative Impact in Acting Award
Academy Award winner Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) will be feted, celebrating a busy year that includes roles in Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos” and Fernando León de Aronoa’s “The Good Boss,” Spain’s entry for the international film Oscar. “It is a huge honor that I take it with lots of gratitude and humility,” says Bardem.
In “Being the Ricardos,” he portrays real-life Desi Arnaz, alongside Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball. The entire film takes place in one pressure-cooker week during the shooting of their classic CBS sitcom “I Love Lucy,” specifically when gossip columnist Walter Winchell reports that Ball registered as a member of the Communist Party back in the 1930s.
- 1/9/2022
- by Shalini Dore and Jennifer Yuma
- Variety Film + TV
In 1953, the sitcom I Love Lucy was TV’s No. 1 series, and its two stars were adored by millions. But what if that had been the year the laughter died? With the film Being the Ricardos, Oscar– and Emmy-winning writer-director Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) looks back to a period when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem) could have lost their show and their marriage. “The script is inspired by the truth,” says producer Todd Black, “but boldly imagined.” The showbiz couple thought their biggest challenge was Lucy’s real-life pregnancy. Defying tradition, they insisted that she would be pregnant on the program, a television taboo at the time. But far worse was to come. First, a photo of Arnaz with another woman appeared in a tabloid, then gossip columnist Walter Winchell revealed that Ball gave testimony to an investigator for the anti-Communist ...
- 12/17/2021
- TV Insider
Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, and Nicole Kidman star in Being The Ricardos Photo: Glen Wilson © Amazon Content Services LLC
As awards season is now in full swing, just what subject is the source of the newest work by an Oscar-winning screenwriter and three Oscar-winning directors? An acclaimed literary classic, perhaps? Maybe a pivotal moment in history, eh? No, they’ve decided to shine their talents, and considerable “star power”, on … a TV show. Really? Well, it’s not just any bit of “video escapism”. Oh no, this is a “biggie”, a true icon, one that still influences all matter of media to this day. And it’s still on the air, either being broadcast or streamed or replayed in all recorded formats, from Beta to Bluray. In any list of the “greatest TV shows of all time” it’s placed near the very top. And during its “hay...
As awards season is now in full swing, just what subject is the source of the newest work by an Oscar-winning screenwriter and three Oscar-winning directors? An acclaimed literary classic, perhaps? Maybe a pivotal moment in history, eh? No, they’ve decided to shine their talents, and considerable “star power”, on … a TV show. Really? Well, it’s not just any bit of “video escapism”. Oh no, this is a “biggie”, a true icon, one that still influences all matter of media to this day. And it’s still on the air, either being broadcast or streamed or replayed in all recorded formats, from Beta to Bluray. In any list of the “greatest TV shows of all time” it’s placed near the very top. And during its “hay...
- 12/9/2021
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Javier Bardem couldn’t help but rave about his “Little Mermaid” co-star Halle Bailey at the Los Angeles premiere of his upcoming film, “Being the Ricardos,” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Dec. 6.
“Her voice is out of this world,” the Oscar-winner told Variety. “She was warming up the voice near me and I was like, ‘What was that?’ It would take me a lifetime to be able to [hit] that note. It’s amazing.”
Bailey will star as Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of being a human, while Melissa McCarthy will play her evil aunt Ursula in director Rob Marshall’s live-action adaptation of the animated musical. Bardem is King Triton and Daveed Diggs has been tapped to portray Sebastian.
Although the character of King Triton didn’t sing in the original film, Bardem said Marshall gave him a song — and it was the first time he’s ever sang on camera.
“Her voice is out of this world,” the Oscar-winner told Variety. “She was warming up the voice near me and I was like, ‘What was that?’ It would take me a lifetime to be able to [hit] that note. It’s amazing.”
Bailey will star as Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of being a human, while Melissa McCarthy will play her evil aunt Ursula in director Rob Marshall’s live-action adaptation of the animated musical. Bardem is King Triton and Daveed Diggs has been tapped to portray Sebastian.
Although the character of King Triton didn’t sing in the original film, Bardem said Marshall gave him a song — and it was the first time he’s ever sang on camera.
- 12/8/2021
- by Jennifer Yuma and Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Batman was enjoying a renaissance as the 1970s dawned. Freed from its ties to the ABC series, editor Julius Schwartz worked with writers Frank Robins and Denny O’Neil on rejuvenating the Darknight Detective, returning him closer to his pulp-roots.
In short order, O’Neil would rise to become the premier Batman scribe of the era to be followed by a notable stretch as his editor from 1986 through the early 2000s. His impact is immeasurable. On the side, though, he aspired to be a prose writer as well and among his works from that period was a collaboration with cartoonist Jim Berry on the 1974 novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon’s Fists (1974) under the pseudonym “Jim Dennis.”
As the Martial Arts craze was beginning its descent, DC Comics optioned the novel and had O’Neil write and edit the adaptation as Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter. There, he introduced readers to Dragon,...
In short order, O’Neil would rise to become the premier Batman scribe of the era to be followed by a notable stretch as his editor from 1986 through the early 2000s. His impact is immeasurable. On the side, though, he aspired to be a prose writer as well and among his works from that period was a collaboration with cartoonist Jim Berry on the 1974 novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon’s Fists (1974) under the pseudonym “Jim Dennis.”
As the Martial Arts craze was beginning its descent, DC Comics optioned the novel and had O’Neil write and edit the adaptation as Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter. There, he introduced readers to Dragon,...
- 1/25/2021
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Ever since Stanley Tucci earned his Actor’s Equity card in 1982, the 60-year-old has left his mark on many forms of entertainment, collecting an array of showbiz nominations and trophies along the way. In 1996, he earned his first Emmy nomination for his supporting role on ABC’s “Murder One” as the twisted millionaire businessman Richard Cross who was suspected of murder. He would go on to claim three Emmy Awards: As a lead actor in a miniseries or movie for his 1998 is role as newspaper columnist Walter Winchell in HBO’s “Winchell”; as a comedy guest actor on the USA Network detective series “Monk” in 2006; and as an executive producer of the 2016 short-form variety series “Park Bench With Steve Buscemi.”
See‘Supernova’ stars burst forward in Oscar race: Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci picking up steam in our odds
He would be part of the SAG film ensemble win for...
See‘Supernova’ stars burst forward in Oscar race: Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci picking up steam in our odds
He would be part of the SAG film ensemble win for...
- 1/21/2021
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Make way for the parade! Featuring Brian Trenchard-Smith, Eli Roth, Katt Shea, Thomas Jane, our very own Don Barrett and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game Of Death (1975)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
The Rhythm Section (2020)
Atomic Blonde (2017)
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
Extraction (2020)
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
The Mermaid (2016)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Singin’ In The Rain (1953)
Nightcrawler (2014)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
Ghetto Freaks a.k.a. Sign of Aquarius (1970)
Hostel (2005)
Cabin Fever (2002)
Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)
The Movie Orgy (1968)
Gremlins (1984)
The Goonies (1985)
Hell of the Living Dead a.k.a. Night of the Zombies (1980)
Troll 2 (1990)
In The Land Of The Cannibals a.k.a. Land of...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game Of Death (1975)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
The Rhythm Section (2020)
Atomic Blonde (2017)
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
Extraction (2020)
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
The Mermaid (2016)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Singin’ In The Rain (1953)
Nightcrawler (2014)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
Ghetto Freaks a.k.a. Sign of Aquarius (1970)
Hostel (2005)
Cabin Fever (2002)
Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)
The Movie Orgy (1968)
Gremlins (1984)
The Goonies (1985)
Hell of the Living Dead a.k.a. Night of the Zombies (1980)
Troll 2 (1990)
In The Land Of The Cannibals a.k.a. Land of...
- 5/8/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The star-studded biopic Capone is due to be released via digital platforms on May 12th. Tom Hardy plays Al Capone in his later years in the movie and he looks fantastic. Linda Cardellini, Kyle MacLachlan, and Matt Dillon co-star. Al Capone is America’s best-known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city and an interesting variety of Hollywood stars have had the leading role as Al Capone in the many films that have been made that featured him as a character.
The first film about Capone was produced when he was still making headlines. The main character may be named Antonio Camonte, but there’s little doubt as to who producer Howard Hughes had in mind when...
The first film about Capone was produced when he was still making headlines. The main character may be named Antonio Camonte, but there’s little doubt as to who producer Howard Hughes had in mind when...
- 4/29/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Over the course of his television career, David Simon has singlehandedly raised the bar for what to expect from a TV show. His projects, from “The Wire” to “Treme” to “The Deuce,” share a pervasive yet subtle complexity; these are entertaining, character-driven tomes that transform granular research into vivid portraits of myriad systemic injustices. “The Plot Against America,” Simon’s six-episode HBO limited series based on Philip Roth’s eponymous novel, has sadly not reached similar heights.
Working for the first time from fictional source material, “The Plot Against America” has felt curiously devoid of the energetic frisson that marks Simon’s prior work. Roth’s allegorical alternative history has much to say about society, but it is still — thankfully — a work of fiction. Simon began his professional life as a journalist, and his work has always been in conversation with non-fiction. He seemed obsessed with reflecting the real world as genuinely as possible,...
Working for the first time from fictional source material, “The Plot Against America” has felt curiously devoid of the energetic frisson that marks Simon’s prior work. Roth’s allegorical alternative history has much to say about society, but it is still — thankfully — a work of fiction. Simon began his professional life as a journalist, and his work has always been in conversation with non-fiction. He seemed obsessed with reflecting the real world as genuinely as possible,...
- 4/21/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
You didn't really expect a clearcut happy ending from David Simon, did you?
The United States appeared to be coming out of the darkness by the end of The Plot Against America Season 1 Episode 6.
Or was it?
By fall of 1942, Lindbergh and the anti-Semites surrounding him had made it acceptable for hate-filled citizens to strike out at the Jews around them.
Simon's cautionary tale effectively makes the point that the more things change, the more they stay the same. All one has to do is to exchange the word "Jews" for "Muslims" or "Latinos" or "LGBTQs," and the above sentence still fits Trump's America.
Herman, who used to be so sure of himself as an American first then a Jew, wasn't so certain any longer, as he listened to radio reports of Walter Winchell getting attacked while campaigning and Jews and their businesses becoming targets, as well.
Herman was a...
The United States appeared to be coming out of the darkness by the end of The Plot Against America Season 1 Episode 6.
Or was it?
By fall of 1942, Lindbergh and the anti-Semites surrounding him had made it acceptable for hate-filled citizens to strike out at the Jews around them.
Simon's cautionary tale effectively makes the point that the more things change, the more they stay the same. All one has to do is to exchange the word "Jews" for "Muslims" or "Latinos" or "LGBTQs," and the above sentence still fits Trump's America.
Herman, who used to be so sure of himself as an American first then a Jew, wasn't so certain any longer, as he listened to radio reports of Walter Winchell getting attacked while campaigning and Jews and their businesses becoming targets, as well.
Herman was a...
- 4/21/2020
- by Dale McGarrigle
- TVfanatic
A xenophobic populist gets elected to the American presidency, inciting fear and upending the political system. Sound familiar?
No, we are not talking about the 2016 election (or 2020, for that matter), but The Plot Against America, HBO’s new limited series based on Philip Roth’s acclaimed novel. The first episode in this six-part drama, which premiered Monday and hails from David Simon (The Wire), introduces us to the Levins, an everyday American family residing in a Jewish neighborhood in Newark, N.J. Read on for a recap of Part 1.
More from TVLineWestworld Season 3 Premiere Recap: Hard RebootJohn Oliver Slams Trump's...
No, we are not talking about the 2016 election (or 2020, for that matter), but The Plot Against America, HBO’s new limited series based on Philip Roth’s acclaimed novel. The first episode in this six-part drama, which premiered Monday and hails from David Simon (The Wire), introduces us to the Levins, an everyday American family residing in a Jewish neighborhood in Newark, N.J. Read on for a recap of Part 1.
More from TVLineWestworld Season 3 Premiere Recap: Hard RebootJohn Oliver Slams Trump's...
- 3/17/2020
- TVLine.com
This The Plot Against America review contains no spoilers.
It’s an old adage that most science fiction is written looking toward the future through the lens of the present. However, as recent period piece television series are proving, that trend seems to be turning backwards as well. Both ongoing and limited series like Chernobyl and The Americans are excavating specific points in our past for the sake of contemporary society.
While Philip Roth published his alternate-history novel The Plot Against America in 2004, the 2020 HBO adaptation helmed by The Wire co-creators David Simon and Ed Burns could not have been written for any time but the present. Told over only six hour-long episodes that span a little over two years (1940-1942), Plot tracks an alternate history in which aviator and national hero Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole) beats Franklin Delano Roosevelt to become president of the United States. Manipulating the country...
It’s an old adage that most science fiction is written looking toward the future through the lens of the present. However, as recent period piece television series are proving, that trend seems to be turning backwards as well. Both ongoing and limited series like Chernobyl and The Americans are excavating specific points in our past for the sake of contemporary society.
While Philip Roth published his alternate-history novel The Plot Against America in 2004, the 2020 HBO adaptation helmed by The Wire co-creators David Simon and Ed Burns could not have been written for any time but the present. Told over only six hour-long episodes that span a little over two years (1940-1942), Plot tracks an alternate history in which aviator and national hero Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole) beats Franklin Delano Roosevelt to become president of the United States. Manipulating the country...
- 3/13/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
On March 16, HBO will roll out The Plot Against America, a limited series based on Philip Roth's counterfactual novel from 2004 about a Nazified America in 1940. Not being among the Elect, I have no advance screeners, but I have read the book and I look forward to the televisual resurrection of two of its quite factual featured players, Charles Lindbergh and Walter Winchell. Both soared over the landscape of their times, though in different vehicles.
A chilling experiment in speculative fiction, The Plot Against America conjures an alternative universe that is just a few frames out of sprocket. In ...
A chilling experiment in speculative fiction, The Plot Against America conjures an alternative universe that is just a few frames out of sprocket. In ...
- 2/25/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On March 16, HBO will roll out The Plot Against America, a limited series based on Philip Roth's counterfactual novel from 2004 about a Nazified America in 1940. Not being among the Elect, I have no advance screeners, but I have read the book and I look forward to the televisual resurrection of two of its quite factual featured players, Charles Lindbergh and Walter Winchell. Both soared over the landscape of their times, though in different vehicles.
A chilling experiment in speculative fiction, The Plot Against America conjures an alternative universe that is just a few frames out of sprocket. In the presidential ...
A chilling experiment in speculative fiction, The Plot Against America conjures an alternative universe that is just a few frames out of sprocket. In the presidential ...
- 2/25/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Broadway veteran Ken Jennings will be portraying legendary newspaper columnist and radio personality Walter Winchell in the upcoming reading of the Broadway bound musicalThe Paparazzi,September 18th 3pm at The Davenport Theatre 354 West 45th Street.
- 8/28/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Al Capone is America’s best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city and an interesting variety of Hollywood stars have had the leading role as Al Capone in the many films that have been made that featured him as a character.
The first film about Capone was produced when he was still making headlines. The main character may be named Antonio Camonte, but there’s little doubt as to who producer Howard Hughes had in mind when he and director Howard Hawks filmed Scarface during the Great Depression. Camonte shares more than the same initials with one Al Capone, who was about to begin his eleven-year sentence for tax evasion when the movie was released...
The first film about Capone was produced when he was still making headlines. The main character may be named Antonio Camonte, but there’s little doubt as to who producer Howard Hughes had in mind when he and director Howard Hawks filmed Scarface during the Great Depression. Camonte shares more than the same initials with one Al Capone, who was about to begin his eleven-year sentence for tax evasion when the movie was released...
- 6/20/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
You Axed for it, as Forry would say: the grade Z horror movie that launched a thousand bad puns is also an unbeatable party favorite. Idiotic island natives clash with condescending Anglo scientists, when a death curse initiates the hell- spawning of a horrifying, vengeance-seeking pagan demon-monster. Sounds great — but what we get is Tabonga, a walking rubber tree stump with knotholes for eyes and a permanent scowl on its teakwood face. The excellent, flawless scan allows us to appreciate the mighty Tabonga for what it is — absurd, lovable, awful.
From Hell it Came
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 71 min. / Street Date April 25, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Tod Andrews, Tina Carver, Linda Watkins, John McNamara, Gregg Palmer, Suzanne Ridgeway.
Cinematography: Brydon Baker
Film Editor: Jack Milner
Original Music: Darrell Calker
Written by Richard Bernstein, Dan Milner
Produced by Jack Milner
Directed by Dan Milner
“You say Tomayto,...
From Hell it Came
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 71 min. / Street Date April 25, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Tod Andrews, Tina Carver, Linda Watkins, John McNamara, Gregg Palmer, Suzanne Ridgeway.
Cinematography: Brydon Baker
Film Editor: Jack Milner
Original Music: Darrell Calker
Written by Richard Bernstein, Dan Milner
Produced by Jack Milner
Directed by Dan Milner
“You say Tomayto,...
- 4/15/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones and Diane Varsi star in American-International's most successful 'youth rebellion' epic -- a political sci-fi satire about a rock star whose opportunistic political movement overthrows the government and puts everyone over 35 into concentration camps... to be force-fed LSD. Wild in the Streets Blu-ray Olive Films 1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date August 16, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones, Diane Varsi, Hal Holbrook, Millie Perkins, Richard Pryor, Bert Freed, Kevin Coughlin, Larry Bishop, Michael Margotta, Ed Begley, May Ishihara. Cinematography Richard Moore Film Editor Fred Feitshans Jr., Eve Newman Original Music Les Baxter Written by Robert Thom from his short story "The Day it All Happened, Baby" Produced by Burt Topper Directed by Barry Shear
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back around 1965 - 1966 we endured this stupid buzzword concept called The Generation Gap, a notion that there was a natural divide between old people and their kids.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back around 1965 - 1966 we endured this stupid buzzword concept called The Generation Gap, a notion that there was a natural divide between old people and their kids.
- 8/22/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Michael Savage, best-selling author and host of the top-rated nationally syndicated "The Savage Nation" radio show, will be inducted into the 'National Radio Hall of Fame', November 17, 2016 in Chicago, as the winner of the 'Spoken Word On-Air Personality' category:
"To me, this is the capstone of my life..." said Savage. "All my writing, all my speaking. This is it."
"When you consider some of the recipients in the golden days of radio, Orson Wells, Walter Winchell and others, I’m in the category of giants..."
Savage promised his listeners he would go to Chicago and "during my five minute speech, I would thank them for responding to my message of borders, language and culture.
"I promised them, that would be said for one reason...because the speech will be put into the annals of radio history. And then in years to come, people will look back and say, ‘Who was this guy,...
"To me, this is the capstone of my life..." said Savage. "All my writing, all my speaking. This is it."
"When you consider some of the recipients in the golden days of radio, Orson Wells, Walter Winchell and others, I’m in the category of giants..."
Savage promised his listeners he would go to Chicago and "during my five minute speech, I would thank them for responding to my message of borders, language and culture.
"I promised them, that would be said for one reason...because the speech will be put into the annals of radio history. And then in years to come, people will look back and say, ‘Who was this guy,...
- 7/18/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
On Nov. 27, 1941, noted Washington Times Herald writer Inga Arvad introduced a 24-year-old John F. Kennedy to readers as "a boy with a future." By the time those words hit the press, the future president and Arvad, a Danish former beauty queen then living apart from her second husband, were locked in a passionate love affair. Their secret romance is detailed in Barbara Leaming's new biography, Kick Kennedy, about Kennedy's sister Kathleen, who died in a plane crash at 28. Arvad, a beauty-queen-and-film-star-turned-journalist, was introduced to Kennedy by Kick, her friend and colleague at the Times Herald. Like many women before and after her,...
- 4/12/2016
- by Tierney McAfee, @tierneymcafee
- PEOPLE.com
On Nov. 27, 1941, noted Washington Times Herald writer Inga Arvad introduced a 24-year-old John F. Kennedy to readers as "a boy with a future." By the time those words hit the press, the future president and Arvad, a Danish former beauty queen then living apart from her second husband, were locked in a passionate love affair. Their secret romance is detailed in Barbara Leaming's new biography, Kick Kennedy, about Kennedy's sister Kathleen, who died in a plane crash at 28. Arvad, a beauty-queen-and-film-star-turned-journalist, was introduced to Kennedy by Kick, her friend and colleague at the Times Herald. Like many women before and after her,...
- 4/12/2016
- by Tierney McAfee, @tierneymcafee
- PEOPLE.com
Today in 2002, Sweet Smell of Success opened at the Martin Beck Theatre now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where it ran for 109 performances. Created by Marvin Hamlisch music, Craig Carnelia lyrics, and John Guare book, the show is based on the 1957 movie of the same name. It tells the story of a powerful newspaper columnist named J. J. Hunsecker based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate. The show starred John Lithgow as J.J. Hunsecker, and Brian d'Arcy James as Sidney Falcone.
- 3/14/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Spoiler Alert: This story contains details of last night's Fargo Season 2 finale and the Season 3 return of the FX series. The Season 2 finale of Fargo last night had a lot of dead bodies, disappointed ambitions and a Walter Winchell shout-out. With multiple Emmy wins in its first season, the widely acclaimed FX show based on the 1996 Oscar-winning film of the same name from Joel and Ethan Coen looks poised to perhaps repeat some awards glory in Season 2. Last week, the…...
- 12/16/2015
- Deadline TV
Patricia Neal ca. 1950. Patricia Neal movies: 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' 'A Face in the Crowd' Back in 1949, few would have predicted that Gary Cooper's leading lady in King Vidor's The Fountainhead would go on to win a Best Actress Academy Award 15 years later. Patricia Neal was one of those performers – e.g., Jean Arthur, Anne Bancroft – whose film career didn't start out all that well, but who, by way of Broadway, managed to both revive and magnify their Hollywood stardom. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” series, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating Sunday, Aug. 16, '15, to Patricia Neal. This evening, TCM is showing three of her best-known films, in addition to one TCM premiere and an unusual latter-day entry. 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' Robert Wise was hardly a genre director. A former editor (Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons...
- 8/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today in 2002, Sweet Smell of Success opened at the Martin Beck Theatre now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where it ran for 109 performances. Created by Marvin Hamlisch music, Craig Carnelia lyrics, and John Guare book, the show is based on the 1957 movie of the same name. It tells the story of a powerful newspaper columnist named J. J. Hunsecker based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate. The show starred John Lithgow as J.J. Hunsecker, and Brian d'Arcy James as Sidney Falcone.
- 3/14/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The movie journalist is always caught up in scandal, gossip and invasions of privacy. Though plenty of movies have been made about authors, poets, and other writers, the physical act of writing and editing rarely makes it into Hollywood journalism. Thankfully, the more sensational aspects of media have made for scathing satire and commentary, loathsome anti-heroes, and pulpy, investigative reporting that the camera loves.
This week’s Nightcrawler features Jake Gyllenhaal as a crime journalist in L.A., but he’s more Travis Bickle than Anderson Cooper. Even other films released this year have fit the template of being more about something else than actually about journalism, from a theater critic in Birdman trying to destroy Riggan Thompson’s career to Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger about how noble voices get squashed.
The best movies about journalism are more than the newsroom politics, so in honor of Nightcrawler’s release,...
This week’s Nightcrawler features Jake Gyllenhaal as a crime journalist in L.A., but he’s more Travis Bickle than Anderson Cooper. Even other films released this year have fit the template of being more about something else than actually about journalism, from a theater critic in Birdman trying to destroy Riggan Thompson’s career to Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger about how noble voices get squashed.
The best movies about journalism are more than the newsroom politics, so in honor of Nightcrawler’s release,...
- 10/30/2014
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Ann Blyth movies: TCM schedule on August 16, 2013 (photo: ‘Our Very Own’ stars Ann Blyth and Farley Granger) See previous post: "Ann Blyth Today: Light Singing and Heavy Drama on TCM." 3:00 Am One Minute To Zero (1952). Director: Tay Garnett. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman. Bw-106 mins. 5:00 Am All The Brothers Were Valiant (1953). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth. C-95 mins. 6:45 Am The King’S Thief (1955). Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven. C-79 mins. Letterbox Format. 8:15 Am Rose Marie (1954). Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas. C-104 mins. Letterbox Format. 10:00 Am The Great Caruso (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, Ludwig Donath, Alan Napier, Pál Jávor, Carl Milletaire, Shepard Menken, Vincent Renno, Nestor Paiva, Peter Price, Mario Siletti, Angela Clarke,...
- 8/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today in 2002, Sweet Smell of Success opened at the Martin Beck Theatre now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where it ran for 109 performances. Created by Marvin Hamlisch music, Craig Carnelia lyrics, and John Guare book, the show is based on the 1957 movie of the same name. It tells the story of a powerful newspaper columnist named J. J. Hunsecker based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate. The show starred John Lithgow as J.J. Hunsecker, and Brian d'Arcy James as Sidney Falcone.
- 3/14/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Cannes film festival kicks off next week, and this shot of Marilyn Monroe will feature on all its official posters. Does it matter that she never went?
She is a perennially fascinating screen actress, the incidental subject of new TV drama Smash – and from next week she will be pouting down at us from every street corner in Cannes, the face of the official film festival poster. The photograph shows the beautiful, beguiling, funny leading lady of such pictures as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot blowing out the candle on her 30th birthday cake, giving a seductive air-kiss to the lens. In a press release, the festival organisers explain: "The poster captures Marilyn by surprise in an intimate moment where myth meets reality – a moving tribute to the anniversary of her passing, which coincides with the festival anniversary [Cannes turns 65 this year] … Their coming together symbolises the ideal of simplicity and elegance.
She is a perennially fascinating screen actress, the incidental subject of new TV drama Smash – and from next week she will be pouting down at us from every street corner in Cannes, the face of the official film festival poster. The photograph shows the beautiful, beguiling, funny leading lady of such pictures as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot blowing out the candle on her 30th birthday cake, giving a seductive air-kiss to the lens. In a press release, the festival organisers explain: "The poster captures Marilyn by surprise in an intimate moment where myth meets reality – a moving tribute to the anniversary of her passing, which coincides with the festival anniversary [Cannes turns 65 this year] … Their coming together symbolises the ideal of simplicity and elegance.
- 5/9/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Production on the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 is slated to begin next week, and so producers are hustling to finalize the feature's lineup. John C. McGinley is the latest name to join the ranks of this ambitious production that will unveil the trials and triumphs of the courageous ballplayer who broke Mlb's color barrier. Variety reports the former Scrubs star has signed on to play Walter "Red" Barber, a radio broadcaster best-known for covering the Brooklyn Dodger's play-by-plays. While on the surface this may seem like a less auspicious role than some of the ballplayer parts, Barber.or The Ol' Redhead as he was sometimes called.was actually a pretty memorable figure in his own right. A kind of Walter Winchell of baseball, Red was known for his uniquely folksy patter and colorful catchphrases, ranging from "can of corn".meaning a fly ball, easy to catch.to "tighter than a new...
- 5/7/2012
- cinemablend.com
One of the pleasures of digging around for movie posters is coming across great designs for films that have otherwise been forgotten, that have not become part of the pantheon—or even any of its foothills—but which nevertheless are fascinating reminders of areas of cinema history that are usually ignored. The other day I posted a lovely Russian poster on Movie Poster of the Day for an adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s White Nights that I wasn’t familiar with but which, I then discovered, was directed by a man described as “the high priest of Stalinist Cinema.” You can read more about that here.
When this terrific poster for Le passe-muraille caught my eye I knew absolutely nothing about the film, and, with the exception of English actress Joan Greenwood (Kind Hearts and Coronets), nearly every name on the poster, from star Bourvil to director Jean Boyer to author Marcel Aymé,...
When this terrific poster for Le passe-muraille caught my eye I knew absolutely nothing about the film, and, with the exception of English actress Joan Greenwood (Kind Hearts and Coronets), nearly every name on the poster, from star Bourvil to director Jean Boyer to author Marcel Aymé,...
- 3/17/2012
- MUBI
Today in 2002, Sweet Smell of Success opened at the Martin Beck Theatre now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where it ran for 109 performances. Created by Marvin Hamlisch music, Craig Carnelia lyrics, and John Guare book, the show is based on the 1957 movie of the same name. It tells the story of a powerful newspaper columnist named J. J. Hunsecker based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate. The show starred John Lithgow as J.J. Hunsecker, and Brian d'Arcy James as Sidney Falcone.
- 3/14/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
A Face In The Crowd Review Pt.1 [Photo: Andy Griffith as Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes.] Rhodes' abrupt fall is based on a New York radio show incident-cum-urban legend from a few years earlier, as a Wor children’s show host named Uncle Don, purportedly believing he was off the air, said: "This is Uncle Don, saying good night. We're off. Good, that will hold the little bastards." The solid Warner Bros. DVD is part of the box set "Controversial Classics." The DVD includes only two extras: the original theatrical trailer and the 30-minute documentary Facing the Past, in which Andy Griffith, Budd Schulberg, Patricia Neal, and several scholars and behind-the-scenes contributors speak of the film, its impact, and director Elia Kazan. An audio commentary would have been most welcome, but Facing the Past is certainly a good documentary, giving the viewer a real sense of what was going on in the minds of the film’s participants. Griffith’s scenery-chewing,...
- 1/25/2012
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it.s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it.s the year that the headline is from. It.s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated last Spring on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe and I.ve been writing a regular monthly movie-related column since. Since there is no on-line version of The Globe, I post all of my articles here at We Are Movie Geeks. This month’s edition of The Globe takes place in 1947. The headline on the cover will scream “Al Capone Dead!” and there will be several articles about the famous gangster.
- 1/10/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
TV comedy writer Jack Elinson, whose career stretched over 50 years, died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica. He was 89. His numerous credits as writer during the 1950s included the series All-Star Revue, The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Duke, The Jimmy Durante Show, Hey, Jeannie!, The Johnny Carson Show, and The Real McCoys. During the 1960s, The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy), The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan’s Heroes, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (producer), Run, Buddy, Run (producer), and That Girl (producer). He wrote and served as producer on many series in the ’70s, such as Good Times (producer), and One Day at Time (executive producer), as well as The Doris Day Show (producer), Arnie and the animated sitcom Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. During the ’80s, his work included The Facts of Life (executive producer) and 227, the Marla Gibbs-starring comedy series which...
- 11/22/2011
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Jack Elinson, a veteran TV comedy writer and producer, died Thursday of natural causes at his Santa Monica home, the Writers Guild of America, West announced Monday. He was 89. Elinson, who cut his teeth writing jokes for Walter Winchell's newspaper column, rose to prominence in the 1950s working on such Golden Age fare as "The Jimmy Durante Show," "The Johnny Carson Show" and "The Colgate Comedy Hour." The following decade saw him writing for series including "The Danny Thomas Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Hogan's Heroes," "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and...
- 11/22/2011
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
Here’s Costa Rican supermodel and reporter (“reporter” in the absolute most professional sense of the word) Viviana Sánchez interviewing soccer player Wilson Munoz after a match and, in a move of hard-hitting journalism reminiscent of the late Walter Winchell, pulling down her pants and asking for him to sign her ass. I’m not sure if the appropriate reference here is something ‘Happy Gilmore signing old lady’s cleavage’ related or the Ace Ventura “Excuse me, I’d like to Ass you a few questions,” so I’ll just lazily mention both. Feel free to combine the references and mail it back in time to make 7th Grade Me as forever joyful as the reporter in this video. The video is after the jump (probably Sfw, especially if you work at one of those weird South American variety shows where girls’ pants keep falling off): Hm. I always...
- 8/25/2011
- by Dan Hopper
- BestWeekEver
Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and re-repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Codeseries, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...
- 8/4/2011
- MUBI
New York -- John Lithgow is coming back to Broadway in a familiar role – a newspaper columnist.
The Tony Award-winning star of the TV show "3rd Rock From the Sun" will star as Joseph Alsop in the Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere of David Auburn's "The Columnist" this spring.
Lithgow, who recently won an Emmy on "Dexter," got a Tony for playing another columnist based on Walter Winchell in the 2002 musical "The Sweet Smell of Success." He also earned a Tony in 1973 for his Broadway debut in "The Changing Room."
"The Columnist" will begin previews April 3 and open April 25 at Mtc's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on 47th Street. It will be directed by Daniel Sullivan, who also helmed Auburn's play "Proof."
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The Tony Award-winning star of the TV show "3rd Rock From the Sun" will star as Joseph Alsop in the Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere of David Auburn's "The Columnist" this spring.
Lithgow, who recently won an Emmy on "Dexter," got a Tony for playing another columnist based on Walter Winchell in the 2002 musical "The Sweet Smell of Success." He also earned a Tony in 1973 for his Broadway debut in "The Changing Room."
"The Columnist" will begin previews April 3 and open April 25 at Mtc's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on 47th Street. It will be directed by Daniel Sullivan, who also helmed Auburn's play "Proof."
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- 7/26/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Last week's Season Premiere of Warehouse 13 brought Aaron Ashmore to the show as artifact agent Steve Jinks, and in this week's episode we learn more about the character, as he teams up with junior agent Claudia.
Meanwhile, headliners Pete and Myka continue their platonic mating dance.
Let's take a pictorial trip through Episode Two!
"I'm so tired of this airline! I want to bang the flight attendants, but they're either grannies or gay dudes. I'm tired of these motherf**ing gays on this motherf**king plane!
"This is the tower. Over. Your mic is on. Over. Are you trying to become a viral video? Over."
"I apologize to whomever I offended."
"Outta my way. I'm gonna grab some beer and Ride The Chute!
"Well, I'm back, and trying to get used to the routine of life in Warehouse 13 again. Which is why I'll be doing voice-overs throughout the...
Meanwhile, headliners Pete and Myka continue their platonic mating dance.
Let's take a pictorial trip through Episode Two!
"I'm so tired of this airline! I want to bang the flight attendants, but they're either grannies or gay dudes. I'm tired of these motherf**ing gays on this motherf**king plane!
"This is the tower. Over. Your mic is on. Over. Are you trying to become a viral video? Over."
"I apologize to whomever I offended."
"Outta my way. I'm gonna grab some beer and Ride The Chute!
"Well, I'm back, and trying to get used to the routine of life in Warehouse 13 again. Which is why I'll be doing voice-overs throughout the...
- 7/19/2011
- by snicks
- The Backlot
This week's news in the arts
What led William Boot, the bumbling hero of Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, to try his luck in print journalism? Was it idealism, the joy of writing – or a fateful trip to an American movie? "He had once seen in Taunton a barely intelligible film about newspaper life in New York," writes Waugh. "Neurotic men in shirt-sleeves and eye-shades had rushed from telephone to tape-machines, insulting and betraying one another in circumstances of unredeemed squalor."
I'm betting the film was The Front Page, the evergreen ur-text for all fictional stabs at the fourth estate. Adapted in 1931 from a Broadway farce by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, this rat-a-tat yarn established the newspaper reporter as a rough-and-ready huckster, cousin to the Chicago bootlegger, always happy to break the rules to get the scoop. And sometimes, inevitably, they go too far. Pete Dexter's Florida-set crime novel...
What led William Boot, the bumbling hero of Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, to try his luck in print journalism? Was it idealism, the joy of writing – or a fateful trip to an American movie? "He had once seen in Taunton a barely intelligible film about newspaper life in New York," writes Waugh. "Neurotic men in shirt-sleeves and eye-shades had rushed from telephone to tape-machines, insulting and betraying one another in circumstances of unredeemed squalor."
I'm betting the film was The Front Page, the evergreen ur-text for all fictional stabs at the fourth estate. Adapted in 1931 from a Broadway farce by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, this rat-a-tat yarn established the newspaper reporter as a rough-and-ready huckster, cousin to the Chicago bootlegger, always happy to break the rules to get the scoop. And sometimes, inevitably, they go too far. Pete Dexter's Florida-set crime novel...
- 7/13/2011
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
I'd seen Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success only once before receiving Criterion's immaculate Blu-ray release of the once ignored now revered late '50s film noir. This is a nasty story of two loathsome characters who deserve everything they get and then some. It's one of those films that makes you feel dirty while watching it as you bask in the deplorable behavior on screen and Criterion has delivered a beautiful achromatic picture for the drama to play out on.
Centering on the powerful New York gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (played like a dictator by Burt Lancaster) and Sidney Falco, a weaselly press agent played by Tony Curtis, Sweet Smell of Success is remembered as much for its content and performances as it is for the fact it didn't earn a single Oscar nomination. This is a film long desired by cinephiles to come to the Criterion...
Centering on the powerful New York gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (played like a dictator by Burt Lancaster) and Sidney Falco, a weaselly press agent played by Tony Curtis, Sweet Smell of Success is remembered as much for its content and performances as it is for the fact it didn't earn a single Oscar nomination. This is a film long desired by cinephiles to come to the Criterion...
- 3/7/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
DVD Playhouse—March 2011
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
- 3/1/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
It’s unusually thrilling whenever a major motion picture takes on a living, influential public figure, the way Citizen Kane did with William Randolph Hearst, The Social Network with Mark Zuckerberg, or Sweet Smell Of Success with Walter Winchell. In the latter, Burt Lancaster—who also co-produced the film with James Hill, Harold Hecht, and co-star Tony Curtis—stars as a Winchell-like columnist who publishes political opinions, gossipy smears, and star-making “items” in The New York Globe under the heading “The Eyes Of Broadway.” The audience feels Lancaster’s presence long before we see him in the movie. We see ...
- 2/23/2011
- avclub.com
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