News

Anthony Mann came to prominence in the 1940s as a maker of some of the bleakest, most socially acidic noirs from the genre’s heyday. In films like Raw Deal and T-Men, he forged a style that balanced ornate compositions with docudrama immediacy, making his work feel at once raw and epic. But the filmmaker would go on surpass himself when he began to make westerns. Fortuitously paired with James Stewart, who was entering into middle age and willing to push beyond his squeaky-clean image, Mann opened a new chapter of his career with Winchester ’73, the first of a number of golden-age westerns that presented a vision of frontier morality so caustic that only a handful of the so-called revisionist westerns to emerge in the ’60s and beyond could match their frank social critique.

As the opening text explains, the film’s title is a dedication to the Winchester Model...

In Cult Of Criterion, The A.V. Club highlights a new release from The Criterion Collection each month, examining the films entering an increasingly accessible film canon.

Winchester '73, the 1950 Western that helped hone Jimmy Stewart’s post-war edge, can be summed up by a quote from its female lead, Shelley Winters.

For some of us, there are few things in this world more comforting than classic television. Back before "prestige TV" was really a thing and getting people to tune in was sometimes just a matter of hiring the biggest guest stars possible, things were a little different. There's just something about turning on the TV and settling in for a an episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" or "Columbo" and knowing that matters will be resolved by the end of the show's runtime and that Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) always get the bad guy. Both are also pretty progressive; Columbo (an idealized lawman) routinely takes down the rich and powerful of Los Angeles, while "Star Trek" has always been socially conscious, aiming for a utopian society.

Columbo ran for a long time and then extended its life through a series of TV movies, meaning it filmed throughout the 1970s,...

Though the title of the awards has changed over the decades, the two guest star in a drama series Emmys are among the most competitive handed out during the Creative Arts ceremony. Cicely Tyson earned the most nomination in this category with nine. Michael J. Fox received seven nominations earning the award in 2009 for FX’s “Rescue Me.” And who have won the most in the past five decades? Patricia Clarkson, Charles S. Dutton, Cherry Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, John Lithgow, Shirley Knight, Margo Martindale, Patrick McGoohan, Amanda Plummer and Alfre Woodward have each won twice.

This year five drama nominees appeared in FX’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith“- Michaela Cole, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey and John Turturro. Rounding out the nominees for Best Drama Guest Actress are Claire Foy for “The Crown,” Marcia Gay Harden for “The Morning Show” while Nestor Carbonell for “Shogun,” Tracy Letts...

The 1970s marked the end of traditional westerns and the rise of the anti-western, questioning the genre's whitewashing of U.S. history. Movies like The Cowboys, Jeremiah Johnson, and High Plains Drifter paved the way for revisionist westerns in the '70s. Films like El Topo, The Shootist, and Blazing Saddles brought fresh, innovative perspectives to the western genre in the 1970s.

With delightfully dark classics like El Topo and McCabe & Mrs. Miller, the 1970s marked the end of the western genres heyday and the dawn of the anti-western. The western genre has been a staple of American cinema since the invention of filmmaking. One of the first narrative films ever made Edwin S. Porters 1903 silent movie The Great Train Robbery was a western. Seminal masterpieces like Stagecoach and Destry Rides Again established the cinematic language of the western genre in the 1930s, and westerns remained popular and prevalent throughout the 40s,...

Tom Bower, the busy character actor who portrayed Dr. Curtis Willard on The Waltons and the janitor, Marvin, who helps John McClane foil the terrorists at the airport in Die Hard 2, has died. He was 86.

Bower died last week of an unknown cause at his home in Los Angeles, his brother, Robert Bower, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bower worked on John Cassavetes’ directorial debut, Shadows (1957), and played one of the translators that make a mess of things in the acclaimed Western The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982), starring Edward James Olmos.

He portrayed the father of the 37th U.S. president in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995), starring Anthony Hopkins, and the father of Nicolas Cage’s Terence McDonagh in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009).

And, he appeared for director Scott Cooper in Crazy Heart (2009) — as the agent of Jeff Bridges’ Bad Blake — and Out of the Furnace...

Following his 2015 Emmy win for the final season of “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm took a large step back from TV stardom in order to beef up his film resume with titles such as “Baby Driver,” “Richard Jewell,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Now that he has made a splashy return to the small screen by playing new roles on “Fargo” and “The Morning Show” and reprising one on “Good Omens,” his Emmy nominations total could instantly rise from 16 to 19. If all of his possible 2024 bids come to fruition, he will be only the fourth person and second man to ever compete for three acting Emmys at once.

Hamm’s string of recent TV acting gigs began last July when he returned for season two Prime Video’s “Good Omens” as supporting character Gabriel – a humanoid version of the biblical archangel. He then fulfilled the new role of ambitious tech billionaire Paul Marks...

With the 96th Academy Awards in the history books, it’s time to become obsessed over the 77th Tony Awards. Nominations are April 30th with the awards set to air on CBS on June 16 from Lincoln Center. Among the contenders for Tony nominations are many musicals based on movies including “Back to the Future,’ “The Notebook,” “Water for Elephants” and “The Outsiders”: high profile revivals such as Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” with Jeremy Strong; “Cabaret” with Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne and the Who’s “Tommy”; imports from London and transfers from off-Broadway.

Do you remember the Tony landscape 50 years ago? The 28th annual honors took place April 21, 1974, at the Shubert Theater and aired on ABC. And to say it was a star-studded affair is something of an understatement. Robert Preston, Peter Falk, Cicely Tyson, Florence Henderson hosted; presenters included Al Pacino –-let’s hope he had better...

When the 2023 Emmy nominations were announced, Pedro Pascal made history as the first person to instantaneously go from having zero to three TV academy acting notices. His recognized body of work as a star of “The Last of Us,” narrator of “Patagonia” and guest host of “Saturday Night Live” serves as a full display of his talent, with his performance on the NBC sketch series being the strongest showcase of his versatility. If voters feel compelled to honor him somewhere, the choice to support his Best Comedy Guest Actor campaign may be rather simple.

Pascal made his “SNL” hosting debut on February 4, 2023, three weeks after “The Last of Us” first premiered on HBO. The actor kicks off the episode – which features music from Coldplay and a cameo from his friend and colleague, Sarah Paulson – with a monologue focused on his thriving career and then embodies a wide array of characters...

"Good night, John-Boy. Good night, Elizabeth. And good night, daddy. Good night, son. And good night, mama. Good night, Mary Ellen. Good night, Jim Bob." Even if you've never watched a single moment of the classic TV show "The Waltons," the impact the series has had on television continues on even to this day. With the series' roots stemming back all the way to one of the most hated episodes of "The Twilight Zone" in history, references to "The Waltons" have extended all the way to films like 2016's "The Nice Guys," where Matt Bomber's villainous Dr. Malek is given the code name "John Boy" as he shares a similar facial birthmark to John-Boy actor Richard Thomas.

Created by Earl Hamner Jr., "The Waltons" centered on the titular family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II, based on Hamner Jr.'s book "Spencer's Mountain." With a...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on Ian Simmons Vodcast, Kicking The Seat, talking the 1973 first JFK conspiracy film “Executive Action” … it’s 50th Anniversary. Why was this particular anniversary film chosen? Because today … November 22nd, 2023, is the 60th Anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

At a gathering in June 1963, shadowy industrial, political and U.S. intelligence figures discuss their growing dissatisfaction with the Kennedy administration. The most powerful, a geopolitical oil mogul, is Ferguson (Will Geer). The rest of these figureheads include Foster (Robert Ryan) and Farrington (Burt Lancaster), a black ops expert. When the green light is lit on the operation, Farrington recruits a team of shooters and a fall guy named Lee Harvey Oswald. Their destination? Dallas, Texas, on November 22nd, 1963, and the presidential motorcade of destiny.

‘Executive Action’ on Kicking the Seat, Hosted by Ian Simmons

Photo credit: Patrick McDonald

Kicking The Seat is...

Who wouldn’t want to spend the holidays with some of their favorite TV characters? MeTV is making it easy this year with its “A Very Merry MeTV” programming lineup, which includes a selection of very special Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed episodes of classic shows such as The Waltons, The Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, and more.

The celebration begins on Sunday, Nov. 19 and runs through Dec. 25. Check out some of the highlights below, as well as the full schedule.

‘The Waltons’ Thanksgiving episode airs Nov. 22 and 23 A Verry Merry MeTV | MeTV

Celebrate Thanksgiving with one of TV’s most famous fictional families. In 1973, The Waltons aired its only Thanksgiving special, a two-part episode titled “The Thanksgiving Story.” The season 2 episode focuses on John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas), who suffers a life-threatening head injury that puts his plans for college at risk. Meanwhile, his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) auditions for the Thanksgiving play,...

Mary Beth McDonough charmed TV audiences as Erin Walton on CBS’s hit series The Waltons. She played the character on all nine seasons of the family-friendly drama, as well as in several made-for-tv movies. But there may have been an element of chance in her getting cast in the role of a lifetime.

‘The Waltons’ cast member reminded the show’s creator of his sister [L-r] Mary Beth McDonough (as Erin Walton) and Will Geer (as Zeb Walton) in ‘The Waltons’ | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Earlier in 2023, McDonough appeared on The Ross Owen Show (via YouTube) to chat about her time on The Waltons and how she landed her part on the show.

“I had an agent who never sent me out on any auditions until The Homecoming,” she recalled, speaking of the 1971 TV movie that led to the series. “And the only reason is the hair.”

“They were looking for red-headed kids,...

Months after his life was suddenly cut short, Emmy winner Leslie Jordan has a chance to receive more TV academy love for his final small screen performance as Phil on Fox’s “Call Me Kat.” If he does land in this year’s Best Comedy Supporting Actor lineup, he will join a group of 12 other comedy or drama series regulars who posthumously achieved Emmy recognition. If he scores his second victory, he will make history as the first deceased male actor to win an Emmy for a continuing program.

“Call Me Kat” was the first and only multi-season series on which Jordan played a regular role. In his last few episodes, his character, who worked as the head baker at a Kentucky cat cafe, finally found true love with drag performer Jalen, aka Queen Dicktoria (John Griffin). Following his final appearance, Phil was given a happy ending that involved him...

Nine years after he won his fourth and final acting Emmy for playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston has a solid shot at triumphing in the corresponding Best Drama Guest Actor category for reprising the role on the prequel series “Better Call Saul” on AMC. In fact, he has three chances to win at least his fifth acting Emmy this year since he could also earn notices for Best Movie/Limited Actor for Paramount Plus’ “Jerry and Marge Go Large” and for Best Drama Actor for Showtime’s “Your Honor.” If all three nominations come to fruition, he will be only the fourth person and second man to ever compete for three acting Emmys at once.

Cranston’s highly anticipated “Better Call Saul” appearance consists of several flashback scenes in which he reunites with his “Breaking Bad” cast mates Bob Odenkirk and Aaron Paul. His two episodes aired...

Evan Peters and his “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” dad Richard Jenkins are the odds-on favorites to take home the Emmys for Best Limited Series/TV Movie Actor and Best Limited Series/TV Movie Supporting Actor, respectively. They’re already Emmy winners in the opposite categories, and if they prevail in September, they’ll join a small group of men who’ve won both limited/TV movie acting prizes.

Just six actors have swept both categories, which have undergone various name changes over the years. Laurence Olivier reigns supreme with five trophies total. He has four in lead for “The Moon and Sixpence” (1960), “Long Day’s Journey into Night” (1973), “Love Among the Ruins” (1975) and “King Lear” (1984), and one in supporting for “Brideshead Revisited” (1982).

Michael Moriarty has four, but they come with an asterisk. He owns lead and supporting statuettes for “Holocaust” (1978) and “James Dean” (2002), respectively, and won two Emmys...

Mary McDonough spent her formative years portraying Erin Walton on the popular CBS series The Waltons. After the show ended in 1981, the one-time child actor wanted to transition into more adult roles. But she soon discovered that she wasn’t exactly what casting directors were looking for. In an effort to boost her career, she decided to get breast implants. It was a decision she later came to regret.

Mary McDonough struggled to find work after ‘The Waltons’ was canceled [L-r] Mary McDonough in 1984; McDonough and Will Geer on ‘The Waltons’ | Getty Images; CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

McDonough had spent years as a major character on a popular TV show. But that didn’t count for much when she tried to land new roles after The Waltons ended.

“I was typecast as the ‘all-American girl,’” she recalled in her 2011 memoir Lessons From the Mountain. The actor, who had long struggled with her body image,...

The first season of “Severance,” which originally streamed from February to April on Apple TV+, proved quite popular with Emmy voters this year. The show reaped 14 nominations in the primetime drama categories and blazed a trail as the first Apple program to compete for the top honor of Best Drama Series. Of the three male actors recognized for their work on “Severance,” only former Best Comedy Guest Actor champ John Turturro has won an Emmy before. Four decades into his career, he now holds the distinction of having earned TV academy notices for guest, lead, and supporting performances.

Turturro has submitted the seventh episode of “Severance,” entitled “Defiant Jazz,” for Best Drama Supporting Actor consideration. In the installment, his character, Irving Bailiff, and his Lumon Industries coworkers are met with stricter security measures after they begin learning too many of the nondescript company’s dark secrets. When Irving discovers that...

History was made when the 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced, as Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”) and Jessica Walter (“Archer”) became the first pair of direct competitors to be recognized posthumously. They are both up for the Best Character Voice-Over Performance prize after having passed away in August 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

Walter is now the only performer to ever receive two post-death Emmy bids, having just contended in the same category last summer. Now including Boseman, the list of departed acting Emmy nominees consists of 26 entrants, four of whom were honored with wins.

The first actor to be nominated for and win an Emmy posthumously was Alice Pearce, who was awarded the Best Comedy Supporting Actress trophy for “Bewitched” two months after her death in 1966. The other three champs, all of whom triumphed for TV movie performances, are supporting players David Burns and Diana Hyland and lead Raul Julia.

Two more...

Author: Competitions

To mark the release of Jeremiah Johnson on 12th June, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Soured by civilization, Jeremiah Johnson sets out in the mid 1800s to be a mountain man, seeking solitude in a wilderness whose purity he never questioned. His first Rocky Mountain winter almost kills him. Starving and nearly frozen, he finds refuge with a wily old trapper (Will Geer) whose survival teaching includes going eyeball to eyeball with a grizzly.

Robert Redford and two time Academy Award winner Sydney Pollack teamed for the second of their six films together on this box-office hit shot entirely in Utah. Jeremiah Johnson “gets back to Nature” in a way no film ever has before or since.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Small Print

Open to UK residents only The competition will close 12th...

Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 50th anniversary screening of Richard Brook’s 1967 film In Cold Blood, based upon the novel of the same name by Truman Capote. The 134-minute film, which stars John Forsythe, Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, will be screened on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

Please Note: At press time, Actor Scott Wilson is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

From the press release:

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

In Cold Blood (1967)

50th Anniversary Screening

Wednesday, March 22, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre

Followed by a Q & A with Actor Scott Wilson

In Cold Blood, the film version of Truman Capote’s immensely popular true crime novel, was nominated for four top Oscars in 1967. Richard Brooks received two nominations, for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay,...

Hollywood, the Dream Factory, is the apt setting for the latest cinematic update on William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Fran Kranz, Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, and Rachael Leigh Cook are among the cast in the new Midsummer adaptation. HitFix has an exclusive early look at the film. The new vision of one of the Bard’s greatest comedies is set in present-day Hollywood, a place where glamorous stars, commanding moguls, starving artists, and vaulting pretenders all vie to get ahead. The Athenians are Hollywood glitterati, the mechanicals (Bottom and his troupe of wannabe actors) are film students, and the fairies of the forest are hippies in Topanga Canyon, nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains just east of Malibu. Staging or filming a Shakespeare project four centuries after the incomparable playwright lived and after countless artists have already mounted productions of his plays poses several challenges. (Yes, really four centuries,...

[caption id="attachment_46200" align="aligncenter" width="590"] via AllAboutTheWaltons.com. From Left: Cliff (Jason), Nancy (Elizabeth), Audrey (Erin) James (Jim Bob), Doris "Mother" Hamner (Olivia), Earl Hamner Jr. (John-Boy), Marian (Mary Ellen), Paul (Ben). Missing: Bill./caption]

Goodnight, John-Boy. Earl Hamner Jr. creator of The Waltons TV series and real-life counterpart to the John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas) character has died at the age of 92. Premiering September 14, 1972, the series ran nine seasons before being cancelled by CBS. The TV series finale episode, "The Revel" aired June 1, 1991. It was followed up by several Waltons TV movies.

The Waltons was based on the Hamners' life in Schuyler, Virginia, and the main characters were inspired by the creator's family members. The cast of The Waltons includes: Thomas, Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, Ellen Corby, Will Geer, Judy Norton, Jon Walmsley, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott, David W. Harper, Kami Cotler, Joe...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2004, they’ve now reached 675 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2015 list, which includes classics such as Douglas Sirk‘s melodrama Imitation of Life, Hal Ashby‘s Being There, and John Frankenheimer‘s Seconds. Perhaps the most popular picks, The Shawshank Redemption, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, and L.A. Confidential were also added. Check out the full list below.

Being There (1979)

Chance, a simple-minded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose only contact with the outside world is through television, becomes the toast of the town following a series of misunderstandings. Forced outside his protected environment by the death of his wealthy boss, Chance subsumes his late employer’s persona,...

More than one feature film looks at the making of this picture, focusing on its author, Truman Capote. Criterion's disc returns the discussion to Richard Brooks, the director that dared adapt an unfilmable novel of lurid, unthinkable crime on the Kansas prairie. It's also a last gasp of artistic B&W cinematography from Hollywood, thanks to the indelible images of Conrad Hall. In Cold Blood Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 781 1967 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 20, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Jeff Corey, John Gallaudet, James Flavin, John Collins, Charles McGraw, Will Geer. Cinematography Conrad L. Hall Production Designer Robert F. Boyle Film Editor Peter Zinner Original Music Quincy Jones Written by Richard Brooks from the novel by Truman Capote Produced and Directed by Richard Brooks

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Some directors just want to work. Others...

Steve McQueen spent most of the 1960s avoiding lightweight movie roles -- only to do well with his winning comedy-drama performance in William Faulkner's most cheerful tale of old Mississippi. Get set for music by John Williams and an exciting climactic horse race. In storytelling terms this show would seem to have given Steven Spielberg a few ideas. The Reivers Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date August 25, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Steve McQueen, Rupert Crosse, Mitch Vogel, Sharon Farrell, Will Geer, Ruth White, Michael Constantine, Clifton James, Juano Hernandez, Lonny Chapman, Diane Ladd, Ellen Geer, Dub Taylor, Allyn Ann McLerie, Charles Tyner, Burgess Meredith. Cinematography Richard Moore Film Editor Thomas Stanford Original Music John Williams Written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. from the book by William Faulkner Produced by Irving Ravetch, Robert Relyea Directed by Mark Rydell

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

What? This...

Robert Redford movies: TCM shows 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,' 'The Sting' They don't make movie stars like they used to, back in the days of Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Harry Cohn. That's what nostalgists have been bitching about for the last four or five decades; never mind the fact that movie stars have remained as big as ever despite the demise of the old studio system and the spectacular rise of television more than sixty years ago. This month of January 2015, Turner Classic Movies will be honoring one such post-studio era superstar: Robert Redford. Beginning this Monday evening, January 6, TCM will be presenting 15 Robert Redford movies. Tonight's entries include Redford's two biggest blockbusters, both directed by George Roy Hill and co-starring Paul Newman: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which turned Redford, already in his early 30s, into a major film star to rival Rudolph Valentino,...

Ralph Waite, who played John Walton Sr. on The Waltons for nine seasons, died Thursday at age 85. While he’s best known for his Emmy-nominated role as the patriarch on the long-running 1970s CBS drama, Waite has had recent recurring roles on NCIS, Bones, and Days of Our Lives.

EW spoke with Waite last year for our annual Reunions Issue, bringing the Walton family back together more than three decades after their show went off the air. “What has moved me the most is the mail I’m still getting,” Waite told EW at the time. “They tell me that I was their surrogate father,...

‘Gilda,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’: 2013 National Film Registry movies (photo: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’) See previous post: “‘Mary Poppins’ in National Film Registry: Good Timing for Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks.’” Billy Woodberry’s UCLA thesis film Bless Their Little Hearts (1984). Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness (1969). The Film Group’s Cicero March (1966), about a Civil Rights march in an all-white Chicago suburb. Norbert A. Myles’ Daughter of Dawn (1920), with Hunting Horse, Oscar Yellow Wolf, Esther Labarre. Bill Morrison’s Decasia (2002), featuring decomposing archival footage. Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (1926), with Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis. Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956), with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Robby the Robot. Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. John and Faith Hubley’s Oscar-winning animated short The Hole (1962). Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Best Actor Oscar winner Maximilian Schell,...

After last night’s Glee, an emotional tribute to Finn Hudson (without revealing his cause of death but rather focusing on his life), we decided to look back at how other television shows have handled a death in the family. The scenario can be traced back to Dan Blocker’s unexpected death before filming began on Bonanza’s final season. As a result, Bonanza was one of the first (if not the first) television show to address an actor’s death, and it did so by killing off Hoss, Blocker’s character. Many shows have followed that same path, while...

Chicago – John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds” with Rock Hudson was considered an unusual choice for The Criterion Collection when it was announced earlier this year. Never before available on Blu-ray and discontinued on DVD, the 4K restoration on this edition is the real draw, especially given that the film’s strength lies in its stunning visual compositions. With its canted angles and fish bowl aesthetic, Frankenheimer enhances what is actually a relatively weak script.

“Seconds” is a film that I want to adore given my love for the filmmaker’s other works (especially “The Manchurian Candidate,” another ode to ’60s paranoia) and how I love well-written “Twilight Zone”-esque tales, but repeat viewing of this release reveals the film to be thematically thinner than it should be. There are some great ideas here about personality, success, and apathy but they’re not explored and the final twist is one that modern...

Selected for the Main Comp at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966, John Frankenheimer’s Seconds is a grim, nightmarish thriller that embodies many distinctive aspects of 1960s American cinema. Largely forgotten – one could argue for good reason – by all but the most devoted Frankenheimer fans, the film combines classic noir stylistics with the era’s emerging tremors of social revolution. Folded into the mix are elements of Sci-Fi and speculative fiction, creating a “what if” story filled with metaphors, meditations and mind-games.

The snappy plot begins with some odd occurrences in the quietly desperate life of Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph), a 50-ish, dry as toast bank manager who commutes into the city every day from his tidy colonial in leafy Scarsdale. Recently, the unnerved Hamilton has been receiving phone calls from an old college buddy long thought to be dead. This voice from the past entices Hamilton with vague promises...

Feature Aliya Whiteley 14 May 2013 - 05:59

A true Hollywood star, Robert Redford is at his best in smaller, more personal films. Aliya picks three great films about alienation...

Robert Redford was the number one box office star of the early 70s, appearing in huge hits such as The Sting, The Way We Were, and Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid. None of those three films show him at his best as an actor, or address the kind of issues he felt passionately about.

His easy camaraderie with Paul Newman and his status as a sex symbol belied the political angle that influenced his decisions in filmmaking and acting. Once he had amassed enough power in Hollywood to call the shots, the roles he took changed; for me, his most interesting performances began once he believed in the message of the film he was making.

He remains a serious and passionate actor,...

Jeremiah Johnson

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Written by Edward Anhalt and John Milius

1972,

The Western, at its creative and commercial peak – the late 1960s-early 1970s – proved itself an astoundingly pliable genre. It could be molded to deal with topical subject matter like racism (Skin Game, 1971), feminism (The Ballad of Josie, 1967), the excesses of capitalism (Oklahoma Crude, 1973). It could be bent into religious allegories (High Plains Drifter, 1973), or an equally allegorical address of the country’s most controversial war (Ulzana’s Raid, 1972). Westerns could be used to deconstruct America’s most self-congratulatory myths (Doc, 1971), and address historical slights and omissions (Little Big Man, 1970). They could provide heady social commentary (Hombre, 1967), or simple adventure and excitement (The Professionals, 1966). They could be funny (The Hallelujah Trail, 1965), unremittingly grim (Hour of the Gun, 1967), surreal (Greaser’s Palace, 1972), even be stretched into the shape of rock musical (Zachariah, 1971) or monster movie (Valley of Gwangi, 1969).

But...

DVD Release Date: Dec. 11, 2013

Price: DVD $24.95

Studio: Vsc

The controversial 1964 racial drama Black Like Me stars the late James Whitmore as a white journalist who darkens his skin and passes for a black man in the deep South, where he encounters a great deal of racism from both white and black people.

Co-written and directed by Carl Lerner, the film is based on the landmark memoir of the same name by John Howard Griffin, who used pigment dyes and sun lamps to blend into “negro” society and gain a true perspective on what it was like to live as a black in the deep Jim Crow south.

Co-starring alongside Whitmore are Roscoe Lee Browne, Clifton James and Will Geer.

Restored from its original negative for this release (it was available previously in an inferior edition but has long been out of print), the DVD of Black Like Me wil include...

Catch up with the last seven days in the world of film

The big story

Pardon the intensely laboured Bond-pun in the headline. The reason: Sky TV is soon to be the only place you'll be able to catch Bond films on television, for the next year at least. BSkyB this week announced plans to launch Sky Movies 007, an entire HD channel dedicated to the Bond canon – having already bought the TV rights to the Bond back catalogue.

Discussing the move, our own Stuart Heritage noted: "If it treats the films anything like it treats Formula One – the world's dullest sport – then the films will be shown ad-free in blazing HD, supported by reverential interviews and featurettes that will only enhance the viewing experience. It'll be the best possible way there is to watch James Bond."

However, opinions among the Guardian's readers have been far from uniformly positive:

So *every...

Will Geers' Theatricum Botanicum, the idyllic setting of the four-day California festival, began life as a refuge for actors who were persecuted in the name of anti-communism

The audience arriving for the opening night of the 8th Topanga film festival at the Theatricum Botanicum are greeted by a veritable wooded wonderland. Think Sundance in the Shire, with drinks in front of the Hamlet Hut, a dusty brook and musicians strumming acoustic guitars under giant oak trees.

A trio of belly dancers perform on the wooden stage of the majestic open-air auditorium before the first night screening of Kyle Ruddick's One Day on Earth, while the half moon throws out a glowing silvery light.

"It's beautiful here, just perfect," says festival director Urs Baur, to a cheering crowd, who in deference to the festival's wolf logo, collectively howl at the moon.

The Theatricum Botanicum, nestled deep in Topanga canyon, which sits east of Malibu,...

Los Angeles theatergoers will have plenty of options this summer, which should buoy actors planning to forgo vacations for stage work. The long list of upcoming productions includes new works debuting in The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival, which is running now through June 24 at the Stella Adler Theatre, and established shows like “The Producers,” being mounted at the Hollywood Bowl in late July. For those preferring gasps of fright to witty repartee, the first stage adaptation of “The Exorcist,” starring Brooke Shields, is premiering at The Geffen Playhouse July 3. And it wouldn’t be summer without a production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which is being staged in leafy Topanga Canyon by The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.Plays that did well in New York are also being welcomed with open arms on the West Coast.International City Theatre (Itc) is mounting the Southern California premiere of "Ghost-Writer,...

Clara Bow, Mantrap What do Andrei Tarkovsky, Edward G. Robinson, Clara Bow, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Audrey Hepburn have in common? Easy. They'll all be featured in some form or other at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, in May. [Packard Campus screening schedule.] Andrei Tarkovsky will be represented by the classic sci-fier Solaris (1971), billed as the Soviet Union's answer to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and by the classic period drama Andrei Rublev (1969), a meditation on art, religion, spirituality, and human brutality and stupidity. A technicality: Solaris will actually be screened on April 27. Edward G. Robinson stars in The Little Giant (1933), a pre-Code crime comedy featuring Mary Astor. The (at the time) energetic Roy Del Ruth (The Maltese Falcon, Taxi!, Employees' Entrance) directed. Clara Bow is the star of Mantrap (1926), a fluffy romantic comedy of interest chiefly because of Bow and because neither of her two leading...

Directed by: Dean Hargrove

Written by: Dean Hargrove, Gabriel Dell

Cast: Gabriel Dell, Will Geer, Anjanette Comer, Joyce Van Patten, Vincent Gardenia, Barbara Harris, Jackie Coogan, Huntz Hill

For movie fans of all genres, Mod (Made on Demand) DVDs are both a blessing and a curse. While it's true DVD-r technology makes it possible for collectors to own a physical copy of movies that wouldn't otherwise warrant a full-scale release, it also allows the studios to sell any film hiding in the corner of a film vault. And that would be fine if it wasn’t for the premium price tag attached to the finished product.

Taking a risk by purchasing an unknown film can be costly, as you might be buying a film better suited for a Walmart dump bin, which is where The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery belongs. Despite the script's best intentions, and a cast filled...

DVD Playhouse—February 2012

By Allen Gardner

To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s landmark novel pits a liberal-minded lawyer (Gregory Peck) against a small Southern town’s racism when defending a black man (Brock Peters) on trumped-up rape charges. One of the 1960s’ first landmark films, a truly stirring human drama that hits all the right notes and isn’t dated a bit. Robert Duvall makes his screen debut (sans dialogue) as the enigmatic Boo Radley. DVD and Blu-ray double edition. Bonuses: Two feature-length documentaries: Fearful Symmetry and A Conversation with Gregory Peck; Featurettes; Excerpts and film clips from Gregory Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award; Commentary by Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 2.0 mono.

Outrage: Way Of The Yakuza (Magnolia) After a brief hiatus from his signature oeuvre of Japanese gangster flicks,...

This week’s DVD and Blu-Ray Releases include a couple of films from the After Dark Horrorfest as well as two of Ron Howard’s earlier films and a Blu-Ray edition of Solaris. Check beyond the break for the full list.

All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here. Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!

Death Hunter: Werewolves vs. Vampires

Format: DVD

———————–

In a forgotten region of the desert, an unspeakable evil exists. By no choice of his own, John Croix...

Durham, N.C. - During lunch a filmmaker tells me that of all the festivals he’s attended with his movies, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is the only one he wants to attend as a spectator. He enjoys how the various screens and activities aren’t spread all over the city. There’s a relaxed atmosphere as the festival-goers aren’t hustling hard to get tickets to sold out screenings. It’s a sweet Southern festival in the middle of Tobacco Road. Even the world’s biggest superstar just hangs out with the festival goers inside of hiding behind a wall of security.

Who is the superstar? Elmo! And we have an exclusive chat with him at the end of this column.

The film selection was once more top notch. An ample number of documentaries received their world debut in Durham. There were a few films that had built a buzz at Sundance,...

Listings compiled by Jessica Gardner and Pete KeeleyDEFINITIONS:Membership: Theater maintains an active company or ensemble of actors and generally casts productions from that pool.Open: Each show is cast on an open basis.Limited: Theater casts on an open policy under limited or special circumstances, usually when a part cannot be cast from existing company members.Key To Symbols & Abbreviations: R: Theater is available for rent. R-va: Rental with variable availability. H&R: Headshots and résumés accepted. M: Accepts manuscripts. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope. W: Workshops or classes offered. D: Charges dues.Note: The following sets of listings comprise theater venues and producing companies; often these are one and the same and are listed as such. Producing companies not exclusively associated with any particular venue are included in the "Independent Theatre Companies" listing on page 18. Affiliated companies are listed in parentheses.More Than 499 Seatsahmanson THEATRE135 N. Grand Ave.Los Angeles,...

CALIFORNIALa Jolla PlayhouseP.O. Box 12039La Jolla, CA 92039(858) 550-1070, fax (858) 550-1075information@ljp.orgwww.lajollaplayhouse.orgChristopher Ashley, artistic directorEquity Lort B contractNon-EquityCasting: Casts productions in-house and through independent casting directors by invitation only. Send pix and resumes to above address, attn: Casting. See website for more information. Internships availableSeason: June - September. Shows: "Surf Report" (June); "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" (September); "Ruined" (November); "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (July); "Notes From the Underground" (September)Marin Shakespeare CompanyP.O. Box 4053San Rafael, CA 94913(415) 499-4485, fax (415) 499-1492management@marinshakespeare.orgwww.marinshakespeare.orgRobert S. Currier, artistic director; Lesley Currier, managing directorEquity Loa referenced to Lort contractNon-EquityCasting: Casts productions in-house. Send pix and resumes to Robert Currier. Please see website for specific audition dates and information.Internships and/or apprenticeships available.Season: July - September. Shows: "Travesties" (July 2-Aug. 15); "The Taming of the Shrew" (July 16-Sep. 26); "Antony and Cleopatra" (Aug. 20-Sep. 25)Pcpa Theaterfest800 S.

The post-Katrina landcape is great for that post-industrial meltdown vibe, but a Levi's ad did it best

When 9/11 happened it took Hollywood a while to give us its response. The atrocity arrived so suddenly that, well, nobody had anything green-lighted and ready to go.

But with the financial collapse of September 07, the warnings were discernible for so long beforehand that there was plenty of material at hand when the stock markets went into tailspin.

And they had the perfect location in post-Katrina New Orleans, which is emerging as some unholy, post-apocalyptic equivalent: a metropolis of misery, malady and municipal malfeasance. For film-makers, it's a handily pre-disastered, ready-made set, impeccably dressed for the post-financial Mad Max era, with its miles of ruined streets, piles of garbage, and a jobless, hope-free, thrice-fooled citizenry (or the remnant thereof). Hell, they even had boats marooned on the freeways.

These last turned up in footage...

With the 2009 Summer Classical Repertory Season at a close, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum broadens its scope to focus on activities such as its year-round educational programs and ongoing development series for playwrights, "Botanicum Seedlings." The program's Fall Playreadings are Laura Shamas' Trapper Joan on Sunday, November 15 and Twigs and Bone by Tiffany Antone on Sunday, November 22. Readings begin at 1 pm, and admission is free.

With the 2009 Summer Classical Repertory Season at a close, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum broadens its scope to focus on activities such as its year-round educational programs and ongoing development series for playwrights, "Botanicum Seedlings." The program's Fall Playreadings are Laura Shamas' Trapper Joan on Sunday, November 15 and Twigs and Bone by Tiffany Antone on Sunday, November 22. Readings begin at 1 pm, and admission is free.

The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum brings back its award-winning, signature production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, an audience favorite set against an enchanted forest backdrop unrivaled by any other theater - because it's the real thing. Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor stage, the most magical setting in Los Angeles, is once again transformed into an enchanted fairy forest July 4 through September 7.

An old Southern family desperately clings to tradition in a newly updated version of The Cherry Orchard. Anton Chekhov's poignant comedy, freely adapted by Heidi Helen Davis and Ellen Geer, opens on June 27 on The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor stage in Topanga. Davis directs, and Geer takes on the role of Lubov Andreyevna Ranevsky - "Lillian Randolph Cunningham" in this adaptation.