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As she accepted the Democratic nomination Thursday night, Kamala Harris played up her attorney-general past. “As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim, but in the name of the people,” she told the United Center crowd.

This follows a strategy she has pursued since ramping up her campaign. As a Law & Order-themed ad that aired Monday had it: “We need a president who has spent her life prosecuting perpetrators like Donald Trump.”

On one hand, such a tack relies on simple logic. Harris ascended politics on the ladder of her prosecutor reputation. With her opponent convicted of a felony — and him staking his candidacy on the Democrats’ alleged softness on crime — “successful career prosecutor” makes for a stellar defense.

But while perhaps a sound political strategy, Harris’ embrace of her previous job runs her into an unexpected roadblock: Hollywood has...

Josh Kramer, who worked as a film producer and financier and Amazon executive, died Nov. 27 in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 67.

Kramer started his career in entertainment in foreign sales for the Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. By pre-selling foreign movie rights, he became an integral member of the company, financing films such as “Manhunter” and “Blue Velvet.” He led the acquisition of the film rights for Madonna’s first concert film “Madonna: Truth or Dare” and later sold the film overseas.

Rachael Horovitz, who worked with him at De Laurentiis, remembered Kramer on his memorial site. “A concert pianist who helped right the Beastie Boys tourbus one night in Paris when rabid fans were tipping it over; a patient negotiator who cried reading J.D. Salinger. His contradictions made him.”

He joined forces with Thom Mount to form the Mount/Kramer Company in the early ’90s, producing Roman Polanski’s...

Josh Kramer, a veteran Hollywood executive who produced such films as Roman Polanski’s Death and the Maiden and Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan, has died following a stroke. He was 67.

Kramer died Nov. 27 surrounded by family and friends in Santa Monica, according to a representative. The producer, who was a graduate of the American School in London, earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where he is said to have made a mark creating conceptual art pieces. He then went on to earn his Mba from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

He began his entertainment industry career by working in foreign sales for legendary Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis, specializing in international presales of films by such directors as Sam Raimi, Michael Cimino, Bruce Beresford and David Cronenberg. One such title he shepherded was the iconic documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare.

Kramer went on...

Josh Kramer, who produced Roman Polanski’s Death and the Maiden and Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan and later led sales for Capitol Films before becoming Head of Motion Picture Business Operations at Amazon Studios, has died. He was 67.

Kramer died November 27 in Santa Monica.

Born on May 17, 1956, he began his showbiz career working for the Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, pre-selling foreign movie rights that would help finance films including Manhunter, Blue Velvet and others. Kramer was instrumental in the success of the 1991 concert pic Madonna: Truth or Dare, leading the acquisition of the film rights and then selling the film overseas.

In the early 1990s, he teamed with Thom Mount to form the Mount/Kramer Company, which produced Death and the Maiden (1994) and Night Falls on Manhattan (1996).

He went on to become the head of sales for Capitol Films, later joining international acquisitions at MGM. In...

Andy Garcia is a highly acclaimed and versatile Cuban-American actor, director, and musician. Born as Andrés Arturo García Menéndez on April 12, 1956, in Havana, Cuba, he has made a significant impact in the film industry with his iconic characters and dedication to his craft. Despite his success, Garcia remains a private and guarded individual, focusing on his acting roots and personal projects. Let’s take a closer look at his journey, from his early life to his rise to stardom and his notable contributions to the world of cinema.

Andy Garcia. Depositphotos

Andy Garcia’s parents, Amelie Menéndez and René García Núñez, were both Cuban natives. His mother was an English teacher, while his father worked as an attorney and avocado farmer. Garcia’s family was relatively affluent until Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba. In 1961, when Garcia was just two years old, his family fled to Miami Beach, seeking refuge from the political turmoil.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

And today we talk to the legend Richard Dreyfuss, currently starring in the film Sweetwater, in theaters now. Written and directed by Martin Guigui, the film tells the true story of basketball icon Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the first African-American player to sign an NBA contract. Dreyfuss plays league president Maurice Podoloff, stuck between a desire to integrate the sport and a perceived need to keep the more racist team owners happy.

We chat with Dreyfuss about the new film and a select few of his lesser-seen gems. Among them are the Steven Spielberg 1989 romance Always, the gambling comedy Let It Ride, and the Sidney Lumet drama Night Falls on Manhattan.

We marvel at Dreyfuss’ ability to play complex characters,...

Prime Video has no shortage of shows or movies arriving in September. The biggest new show on the block for Amazon Studios is “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” which is a prequel based on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien that’s set thousands of years before the events of “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings.” Several new 2022 films will be available on the streamer as well: including Channing Tatum’s “Dog,” Michael Bay’s “Ambulance,” Zac Efron’s “Firestarter,” Dylan O’Brien’s “The Outfit,” and more.

Noteworthy library titles arriving this month include “Fight Club” (1999), “Legally Blonde” (2001) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991).

Here’s everything new on Amazon Prime Video and Freevee in September.

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With its list of new releases for September 2022, Prime Video is finally unveiling the most anticipated (and expensive) series in the streamer’s history.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will arrive to Prime Video’s servers on Sept. 2, 2022. This Lord of the Rings prequel, set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age, is in many ways the kind of TV property that Prime Video must have always wanted. It’s certainly the TV property most fitting with the company’s largesse and riches. The Rings of Power will cover the creation of the titular rings and many important events from Tolkien’s lore (condensed into a more TV-appropriate timeframe).

Middle-earth is going to be the happening spot on Amazon and the streaming world at large this month, but Prime Video does have a handful of other originals for the fantasy-phobic. Flight/Risk, a documentary about the Boeing 737 Max design disasters,...

“Sopranos” star Joseph Siravo, who played Tony Soprano’s father, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 66.

Siravo’s agent confirmed the actor’s death to Variety, noting that he died on Sunday following a “long, courageous” battle with colon cancer.

Siravo is best known for work in television as well as theater. On HBO’s “Sopranos,” he played Johnny Soprano — featuring prominently in flashback episodes to the 1960s — and later portrayed Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman, in FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

Other recent credits include TV series such as “For Life,” “The Blacklist,” “Made in Jersey,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Law and Order.” In film, he appeared in the Adam Driver-led “The Report” and Meera Menon’s 2016 film “Equity, as well as “Motherless Brooklyn,” “The Wannabe,” “Shark Tale” and “Night Falls on Manhattan.”

Born and raised in Washington D.

Ron Leibman, an Emmy-winning actor who garnered a Tony for his work in Broadway’s “Angels in America” and played the father of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green on “Friends,” died on Friday. He was 82.

Robert Attermann, CEO of Abrams Artists Agency, confirmed the news to Variety. No further details were immediately available.

Leibman, a native of New York, played Dr. Leonard Green on “Friends” as a no-nonsense father who gave grief to David Schwimmer’s Ross, the romantic interest of Aniston’s Rachel. He received an Emmy Award in 1979 for portraying a reformed convict who became a criminal attorney on the CBS series “Kaz.”

Leibman won a Tony Award in 1993 for playing a fictional version of Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.”

Leibman broke into the entertainment business in 1956 on the soap opera “The Edge of Night” and made his movie debut in the 1970 comedy “Where’s Poppa?,...

April 9th will mark the four year anniversary of director Sidney Lumet's passing, at age 86. Lumet was the first director I interviewed whose one-sheet posters hung on my wall as a kid. He was an idol, an icon, and an inspiration. I wasn't yet 30 in April 1997, when I met him at The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills for our interview at the press junket for "Night Falls On Manhattan," one of his solid, authentic urban dramas that blended crime, politics and personal revelations that became his signature.

Lumet immediately put any butterflies I had at ease. Diminutive, but with the infectious energy of a teenager, his was a disarming presence. He paid me a compliment on my sportcoat, saying that I looked a bit like the young Mickey Rourke (which I still don't see, but what the hell), then went on to regale me for an hour with...

Andy Garcia Finds Love At Middleton

By

Alex Simon

Since making a splash as crack shot George Stone in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, Andy Garcia has become one of the cinema’s most prolific and diverse actors. The Cuban-born Garcia boasts over 100 credits on his resume, with roles ranging from actor, director, producer and musical performer. At Middleton, which arrived on DVD and Blu-ray April 1 from Anchor Bay Entertainment, features Garcia as a slightly befuddled doctor who finds an unexpected love connection with another parent (Vera Farmiga) while accompanying their kids on a tour of a tony East Coast college. Andy Garcia spoke with us recently about this and other career highlights. Here’s what transpired:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen you play a guy who’s not cool, so it was a pleasant surprise to see you in At Middleton, which marks a change of pace.

The Sopranos and Man Who Wasn't There star who died in June 2013 remembered at Oscar ceremony

• Xan Brooks liveblogs the ceremony

• Full list of winners as they're announced

The Oscars paid tribute to James Gandolfini, the award-winning actor who died last year – devoting part of its traditional In Memoriam section to the actor best known for the TV show The Sopranos.

Gandolfini began his career as a bit-part film actor, before moving up to bigger roles in the likes of Sidney Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan, which he played corrupt cop Joey Allegretto. But it was on the small screen that Gandolfini really made his mark, as mobster Tony Soprano in David Chase's multi-award-winning HBO show. Gandolfini then went on to secure major roles in films such as The Man Who Wasn't There, for the Coen brothers, In the Loop for Armando Iannucci, and Jake Scott's Welcome to the Rileys.

Us actor best known for his role as the mafia boss Tony Soprano

James Gandolfini, who has died aged 51 of a heart attack, was one of those rare actors who was able to portray a violent, bullying, murderous, vulgar, serial adulterer, while simultaneously eliciting sympathy and understanding from television audiences. In 86 episodes from 1999 to 2007, in HBO's hit series The Sopranos, the balding, beefy, middle-aged Gandolfini, as Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mafia boss, managed to transcend any stereotyping of Italian-Americans (although the charge was still made) by showing the flawed character's vulnerable side.

While Tony Soprano does embody the close-knit Italian-American community, with its codes of masculinity, Gandolfini, who had studied the Sanford Meisner method of acting for two years, lived up to Meisner's exhortation to "find in yourself those human things which are universal". Gandolfini always claimed to be nothing like Tony Soprano: "I'm really basically just like a 260-pound Woody Allen.

James Gandolfini died today; though The Sopranos was his defining part, he had a distinguished career on the big screen. Here we look back at the pick of his roles

Growing up in a devoutly Roman Catholic working class Italian-American family in New Jersey, it would be no surprise that James Gandolfini quickly found film roles as mob enforcers, brutal hit men and other assorted mafiosi when he got interested in acting in the mid-80s. After a string of small roles, Gandolfini made a major impact in True Romance, the Quentin Tarantino-scripted thriller directed by the late Tony Scott.

Gandolfini benefitted from the Tarantino effect again with Get Shorty, the Elmore Leonard adaptation that gained traction after the success of Qt's Pulp Fiction, featuring that film's star John Travolta. Gandolfini again plays a hoodlum, Bear - though one who does a bit of movie stuntwork on the side.

James Gandolfini was best known for his work on the HBO series "The Sopranos," but the New Jersey-born star also enjoyed a fruitful film career.

Gandolfini died on Wednesday in Italy at the age of 51. His death, first reported by Deadline.com, was the result of a fatal heart attack.

Gandolfini's first credited role was as an orderly in the 1987 film "Shock! Shock! Shock!" He received major notices, however, for a small but memorable scene in the 1993 Tony Scott movie "True Romance." (Warning: Link Nsfw.)

Gandolfini reunited with Scott for "Crimson Tide" in 1995; that year also found him starring in "Get Shorty" as Bear, a gruff and physical bodyguard with a heart of gold. Other supporting parts in "A Civil Action," "8Mm," "She's So Lovely," "The Juror" and "Night Falls On Manhattan" soon followed.

After winning the role of Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" in 1999, Gandolfini took a break from films.

James Gandolfini movies James Gandolfini died today of a suspected heart attack while in Rome, Italy. Although the 51-year-old actor’s fame rests on his role as mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit HBO series The Sopranos, which earned him three Emmy Awards, three SAG Awards, and one Golden Globe, Gandolfini was also featured in dozens of big-screen productions. Most notable among James Gandolfini’s movie are the following: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), in which Gandolfini plays Big Dave Brewster, a boisterous department store owner who may be having an affair with Billy Bob Thornton’s wife, Frances McDormand, and who’s being (anonymously) blackmailed by Thornton himself. Steven Zaillian’s remake of All the King’s Men (2006), starring Sean Penn as a populist Southern politician, with Gandolfini as fellow ruthless politician Tiny Duffy, demoted to Lieutenant Governor. Armando Iannucci’s...

Some shocking and heartbreaking news at the end of the day today, as HBO have confirmed that three-time Emmy winner and three-time SAG winner James Gandolfini, best known for playing mobster Tony Soprano in the acclaimed series "The Sopranos," has passed away from a stroke at the age of 51. He's survived by his wife Deborah Lin and a teenage son from a previous marriage. Born in 1961 in Westwood, New Jersey to Italian parents, Gandolfini was a Rutgers grad who worked as a bartender, bouncer, and club manager before coming to acting through his friend Roger Bart. He made his screen debut in 1987's "Shock! Shock! Shock!" before small roles followed in Tony Scott's "The Last Boy Scout," Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us" and most memorably, Scott and Quentin Tarantino's "True Romance." Larger and larger parts followed, usually as tough guys in heavies, in major movies including "Terminal Velocity,...

by Lynn Elber, AP

Los Angeles (AP) - James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" was the brilliant core of one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51.

Gandolfini died while on holiday in Rome, the cable channel and Gandolfini's managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders said in a joint statement. No cause of death was given.

[Related: James Gandolfini Dies of Heart Attack at 51 (Report)]

"He was a genius," said "Sopranos" creator David Chase. "Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes."

Gandolfini, who won three Emmy Awards for his role as Tony Soprano, worked steadily in film and on stage after the series ended. He earned a 2009 Tony Award...

Everett Collection Director Sidney Lumet (center) directing Al Pacino (back right), on set, 1975

Legendary New York film director, Sidney Lumet, who had been nominated for five Academy Awards before winning one for lifetime achievement in 2005, died this past Saturday at the age of 86.

He directed over 50 films and another 200 teleplays during Television’s Golden Age in the 1950s, but for many he will be remembered most for his iconic films about the legal system: “12 Angry Men,” “The Verdict,” “Daniel,” “Find Me Guilty...

One of the true giants passed away this week: filmmaker Sidney Lumet, dead at 86 of lymphoma.

He was one of an incredibly talented class of directors who graduated from the early days of TV; a group which included such august talents as Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967), George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969), John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962), Arthur Hiller (The Hospital, 1971), Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, 1970), Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, 1967), Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962), Martin Ritt (Hud, 1963), and Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, 1969). Only Jewison is left, now, and as each has passed, mainstream American moviemaking has gotten a little louder, a little emptier, and a little dumber.

TV drama in the early days was almost like good theater: it was usually live, smart, provocative, rich with real-world character and sharp dialogue. Very early on, Lumet was considered one of the...

Prolific film director with a reputation for exploring social and moral issues

Sidney Lumet, who has died aged 86, achieved critical and commercial success with his first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), which established his credentials as a liberal director who was sympathetic to actors, loved words and worked quickly. For the bulk of his career, he averaged a film a year, earning four Oscar nominations along the way for best director, for 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982).

It is arguable that, had he not been so prolific, Lumet's critical reputation would have been greater. Certainly, for every worthwhile film there was a dud, and occasionally a disaster, to match it. But Lumet loved to direct and he was greatly esteemed by the many actors – notably Al Pacino and Sean Connery – with whom he established a lasting rapport.

The majority of his films were shot not in Hollywood, but in and around New York.

Sidney Lumet, the award-winning director of such acclaimed films as Network, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and 12 Angry Men, has died. He was 86.

Lumet's death was confirmed Saturday by Marc Kusnetz, who is the husband of Lumet's stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel. He said Lumet died during the night and had suffered from lymphoma.

A Philadelphia native, Lumet moved to New York City as a child, and it became the location of choice for more than 30 of his films. Although he freely admitted to a lifelong love affair with the city, he often showed its grittier side.

Such dramas as Prince of the City, Q&A, Night Falls on Manhattan and Serpico looked at the hard lives and corruptibility of New York police officers. Dog Day Afternoon told the true-life story of two social misfits who set in motion a chain of disastrous events when they tried to rob a New York City...

Filmmaking legend Sidney Lumet has passed away at the age of 86 from lymphoma. With a career spanning over five decades, Lumet has long been held high as one of the great filmmakers of all time by many of the great filmmakers of our time.

Starting out as a director of off-Broadway productions and then a highly respected TV director, he's one of the most prolific directors ever with a knack for not just working well with actors but shooting extremely quickly which allowed for a high turnover of work.

Throughout the 50's he directed hundred of episodes of television series like "Danger" and "You Are There" along with a similar amount of TV play adaptations for anthology series like "Playhouse 90" and "Studio One". Thus by the time of his first feature film, he was already extremely experienced behind the camera.

That first film also became arguably his signature work - "12 Angry Men". The 1957 drama,...

Chicago – The entire film industry mourns the passing of one of its best directors, Sidney Lumet, who has left us at the age of 86. The Oscar-nominated director succumbed to Lymphoma after a career that spanned decades and generations, inspiring countless filmmakers, critics, and movie fans around the world.

Sidney Lumet

To say that the career of Sidney Lumet was impressive would be a massive understatement. Very few filmmakers in history delivered at such a high caliber for so many years. For six decades, Lumet knocked it out of the park again and again. Even his misfires were usually more interesting than other filmmakers.

Lumet was nominated four times for the Oscar for Best Director (“12 Angry Men,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” and “The Verdict”) and once for Best Screenplay (“Prince of the City”) but never took home the prize, winning an honorary statue in 2005.

Born in Philadelphia, Sidney Lumet started as...

NEW YORK -- Mitch Horwits has been hired as president of indie production/financing outfit River Road Entertainment.

Horwits will report to River Road founder and CEO Bill Pohlad, whose company produced Focus Features' top grosser Brokeback Mountain and Picturehouse's A Prairie Home Companion. Working from Los Angeles, the former Spelling Films president will oversee day-to-day management while developing business and partnerships with studios and distributors.

River Road's core execs -- Robin Schorr, Frank Hildebrand and Deborah Zipser -- will now report to Horwits. Pohlad will continue to provide the overall strategic and creative direction for the company.

Horwits began his six-year stint at Spelling in 1993, helping it grow from a sales company handling one film a year to a full-service production and distribution company handling six films a year. Features developed under his tenure include Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects, Frank Oz's In and Out, the Wachowskis' Bound, Sidney Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan, Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands and Robert Altman's Short Cuts.

The exec joined Constantin Film in 2000 as a producer and president supervising all English-language productions, including the Resident Evil franchise.