Any filmmaker worth their salt will acknowledge that the path to greatness comes from seeking inspiration from any source big or small, that could have a deep influence in their process of creating art. Australian director George Miller who has inspired many people through his iconic Mad Max franchise, has also found magic in various places.
Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (image credit: Warner Brothers)
Miller expertly rebooted his famous action series in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron that went on to become a blockbuster. While talking about different aspects of the film, the director revealed a 40s classic film with a controversial history that served as inspiration for one of his characters.
An Old Hollywood Film Made George Miller Christen This Mad Max Character
George Miller created the dystopian action series Mad Max back in 1979 with Mel Gibson, which was followed...
Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (image credit: Warner Brothers)
Miller expertly rebooted his famous action series in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron that went on to become a blockbuster. While talking about different aspects of the film, the director revealed a 40s classic film with a controversial history that served as inspiration for one of his characters.
An Old Hollywood Film Made George Miller Christen This Mad Max Character
George Miller created the dystopian action series Mad Max back in 1979 with Mel Gibson, which was followed...
- 6/6/2024
- by Sharanya Sankar
- FandomWire
Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) award-winning podcast The Plot Thickens will premiere season five, Decoding John Ford, on June 6, co-produced by Novel. Host Ben Mankiewicz strips back the mythology to reveal Ford's brilliance – alongside the often ugly, uncomfortable truths about his life and movies, asking whether we can ever truly separate art from the artist. This season features scores of never-before-heard archival interviews, including John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Woody Strode, and John Ford himself.
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” said TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz. “This is a man defined by contradictions: he revered the military and envied those who served yet bristled at authority; Ford became known as one of Hollywood’s leading conservatives, yet one of his finest films is 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath, one of the most progressive films of classic...
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” said TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz. “This is a man defined by contradictions: he revered the military and envied those who served yet bristled at authority; Ford became known as one of Hollywood’s leading conservatives, yet one of his finest films is 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath, one of the most progressive films of classic...
- 6/5/2024
- Podnews.net
For the latest season of TCM and Novel’s “The Plot Thickens” podcast, host Ben Mankiewicz became a treasure hunter. Maybe part of him always was, as the job of a film historian is often to find and showcase work that’s been lost. Taking it a step further, introducing others to any new film for the first time can make one feel like Indiana Jones discovering the Ark of the Covenant and Mankiewicz emulates that experience with “The Plot Thickens.” In Season 5, Mankiewicz examines the life and works of filmmaker John Ford, using audio conversations with Katherine Hepburn, Woody Strode, John Wayne, and others to illuminate our understanding of the masterful, yet mercurial director. But there’s an added adventure within Mankiewicz’ journey towards understanding Ford that sees the critic and personality cross oceans, brave harsh weather, and come face-to-face with the horrors of the past.
One of the...
One of the...
- 6/4/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
In the heart of Western Europe, above the gorge of the Alzette river, sits Luxembourg City, a trash-free Eurotopia where the trams are free and the streets are ranked amongst the safest in the world. It’s a long way away from the frontier justice of The Dead Don’t Hurt, a revisionist Western about love in a lawless place written and directed by, and also starring Viggo Mortensen, who––never one to slouch––also composed the film’s score. “I did the score for my first movie as well,” the endearingly polite and casually plaid-shirted polymath explained to me on a recent morning at the Lux Film Fest, “that one took a long time to get financed, longer than this one, and while I was waiting, I was trying to think, ‘What can I do?’ I’ve got the script where I want it, I have the main actor, Lance Henriksen,...
- 6/3/2024
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
With Warner Media merging with Discovery back in 2022 and consolidation within the entertainment industry on the rise ever since, many fans of TCM — which is owned by Warner — fear their favorite home for cinema history might fall victim to these drastic cuts. Thankfully the channel continues to sparkle and shine like the Hollywood of old with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson jumping on board to help curate and boost recognition of the channel. With their help, other directors have also come aboard — Guillermo del Toro, Wes Anderson, and Jason Reitman to name a few — offering their picks each month in the hopes of bringing in more viewers and keeping the love for classic cinema alive. This month’s curator is multi-hyphenate Viggo Mortensen, whose second directorial effort, “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” was released today.
In reflecting on his cinematic influences, Mortensen reached back to one of the heydays of Hollywood,...
In reflecting on his cinematic influences, Mortensen reached back to one of the heydays of Hollywood,...
- 5/31/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Plot: In the Old West, a Danish carpenter (Viggo Mortensen) falls in love with a French Canadian flower seller (Vicky Krieps). They resettle in a Nevada town, but when he goes off to fight in the Civil War, she must find a way to exist in their corrupt and violent environment, with the town lorded over by a land baron (Garret Dillahunt), his psychotic son (Solly McLeod) and a weasely mayor (Danny Huston).
Review: Just when you thought you’d seen every variation on the Western comes Viggo Mortensen‘s The Dead Don’t Hurt, which marks his second film as a director following the Sundance hit Falling. Mortensen, who also produced, wrote, and composed the music, co-stars with Vicky Krieps in what could best be called a deconstructed western. The premise is pretty old school in that Mortensen is a sheriff seeking to avenge the brutal rape of his lover...
Review: Just when you thought you’d seen every variation on the Western comes Viggo Mortensen‘s The Dead Don’t Hurt, which marks his second film as a director following the Sundance hit Falling. Mortensen, who also produced, wrote, and composed the music, co-stars with Vicky Krieps in what could best be called a deconstructed western. The premise is pretty old school in that Mortensen is a sheriff seeking to avenge the brutal rape of his lover...
- 5/30/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
When Bernard Hill died recently, I wrote about the unique feeling accompanying the real-life death of an actor when that actor has been especially associated with a dramatic death scene onscreen. That feeling is only magnified when it’s been a very long time since the actor performed the demise in question. Juanita Moore, with her character’s funeral in 1959’s “Imitation of Life” being the grandest of any in the movies, only dying in real life in 2013 is an example.
One of the most extreme of these has just occurred, a death that also represents the severing of another critical link to Old Hollywood. Darryl Hickman died this past Wednesday, May 22, at the age of 92. He was a child actor in “The Prisoner of Zenda” and John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” who, upon exiting his teenage years, decided he wanted to become a monk. He entered a...
One of the most extreme of these has just occurred, a death that also represents the severing of another critical link to Old Hollywood. Darryl Hickman died this past Wednesday, May 22, at the age of 92. He was a child actor in “The Prisoner of Zenda” and John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” who, upon exiting his teenage years, decided he wanted to become a monk. He entered a...
- 5/27/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Who is the greatest anime director of all time? One name that cinephiles won't let be forgotten (nor should they) is Satoshi Kon. A surrealist who always tied his imagination to a strong character or theme, only Kon could make the movies he chose to in the way he made them.
His "hyper-real" style of animation is the core of his filmmaking philosophy; animation can tell the same stories that live-action movies can, but shouldn't try to emulate how those movies tell them. He also understood how the greatest advantage animation has is editing; since the images are drawn, not blocked and framed, it's all the easier for scene after expressive scene to flow into one another.
Kon's influence on international filmmakers (particularly "Perfect Blue" obsessive Darren Aronofsky) is undeniable. Tragically, Kon died in 2010 at the age of 46, cutting that influence (and his in-development projects like "The Dream Machine") short.
His "hyper-real" style of animation is the core of his filmmaking philosophy; animation can tell the same stories that live-action movies can, but shouldn't try to emulate how those movies tell them. He also understood how the greatest advantage animation has is editing; since the images are drawn, not blocked and framed, it's all the easier for scene after expressive scene to flow into one another.
Kon's influence on international filmmakers (particularly "Perfect Blue" obsessive Darren Aronofsky) is undeniable. Tragically, Kon died in 2010 at the age of 46, cutting that influence (and his in-development projects like "The Dream Machine") short.
- 5/27/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Darryl Hickman, a child actor in Leave Her to Heaven and The Grapes of Wrath, died at 92 on Wednesday, May 22, his family said. No cause was given.
Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.
He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.
In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...
Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.
He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.
In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Darryl Hickman, who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and Leave Her to Heaven as a youngster before becoming a CBS executive in charge of daytime drama and an actor once more, has died. He was 92.
Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.
He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.
In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.
Hickman had made his first...
Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.
He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.
In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.
Hickman had made his first...
- 5/24/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As expansive and iconic as its title suggests, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West certainly seemed to be written in John Ford’s blood, from the vast wide-angle visions of Monument Valley that Leone and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli luxuriated in, to the railroad-based, future-of-America economic landscape that serves as a backdrop to a number of bandit-versus-bandit power plays. Henry Fonda, with that methodical, stately stroll of his and those killer blue eyes barely visible from under the rim of his hat, can be seen and heard throughout, sending a shiver of great nostalgia up one’s spine. Ripened and tanned by years of desert sunlight, Ford’s Wyatt Earp is back in the saddle again.
But that particular pace and posture that Fonda had become known for in such films as My Darling Clementine, matched with the devious glint in those baby blues, now took...
But that particular pace and posture that Fonda had become known for in such films as My Darling Clementine, matched with the devious glint in those baby blues, now took...
- 5/21/2024
- by Chris Cabin
- Slant Magazine
You know that feeling of watching someone ice skate for the first time? Or when a little kid finally tries riding their bicycle without training wheels? That's sort of the feeling I get watching Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of "The Color Purple."
Make no mistake: Spielberg's 1985 film version of Alice Walker's 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which he directed from a script by his eventual "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" co-writer Menno Meyjes, is quite lovely to look at; it's a Spielberg picture so that much goes without saying. Whoopi Goldberg is similarly splendid as the grown-up Celie Harris-Johnson, a queer Black woman living in early 20th-century Georgia who endures horrific abuse at the hands of the men in her life yet finds kindness, support, and love from the Black women around her.
It's not that Spielberg had never tackled a "serious" adult movie before that,...
Make no mistake: Spielberg's 1985 film version of Alice Walker's 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which he directed from a script by his eventual "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" co-writer Menno Meyjes, is quite lovely to look at; it's a Spielberg picture so that much goes without saying. Whoopi Goldberg is similarly splendid as the grown-up Celie Harris-Johnson, a queer Black woman living in early 20th-century Georgia who endures horrific abuse at the hands of the men in her life yet finds kindness, support, and love from the Black women around her.
It's not that Spielberg had never tackled a "serious" adult movie before that,...
- 5/20/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
For the last two years in a row, one of the major premieres at the Cannes Film Festival has been a mainstream film that works with the trappings and tropes of the Western genre. But there’s not much connection between Martin Scorsese’s Oklahoma-set 1920s period piece “Killers of the Flower Moon,” one of the hits of last year’s festival, and Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga,” which had its premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere on Sunday evening.
For Scorsese, approaching that location and time period meant thinking hard about what he could bring to a genre that he felt had peaked with directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks in the 1940s and ’50s, and essentially been ended by Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist Western “The Wild Bunch” in the late 1968s.
Costner, though, has little interest in revisionist thinking about the genre; “Horizon” is proudly,...
For Scorsese, approaching that location and time period meant thinking hard about what he could bring to a genre that he felt had peaked with directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks in the 1940s and ’50s, and essentially been ended by Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist Western “The Wild Bunch” in the late 1968s.
Costner, though, has little interest in revisionist thinking about the genre; “Horizon” is proudly,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
There can be no doubt if there is one person bound and determined to keep Hollywood’s long history of Westerns alive it has been Kevin Costner. Okay, well Clint Eastwood too. And that has been true right from the beginning of his career when he played the freewheeling scene stealer Jake in Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado in 1985, and he also made an impression as title star of 1994’s Wyatt Earp. But his real mark on the genre has been not just as an actor but also as director and producer behind the scenes, first with his Oscar-winning 1990 Best Picture Dances With Wolves and 2003’s terrific Open Range with co-star Robert Duvall. For the past few seasons he has prominently been involved in a more contemporary take in his hit TV series, Yellowstone. But without question his most ambitious and sprawling swing yet, Horizon: An American Saga, which kicked off...
- 5/19/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar winner John Wayne, better known as “The Duke” to his fans, starred in over 165 movies throughout his career, oftentimes playing the swaggering, macho hero of westerns and war epics. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1907 as Marion Robert Morrison, Wayne worked his way up from bit player to leading man, appearing in a number of poverty row, Z-grade westerns throughout the 1930s. He shot to stardom with his role in John Ford‘s “Stagecoach” (1939), which brought new shades of nuance and artistry to the Cowboys and Indians genre. It also kicked off a lucrative, decades-long partnership between the director and star, who would make over two dozen films together, including “The Quiet Man” (1952), “The Searchers” (1956) and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).
Despite being one of the top box office...
Born in 1907 as Marion Robert Morrison, Wayne worked his way up from bit player to leading man, appearing in a number of poverty row, Z-grade westerns throughout the 1930s. He shot to stardom with his role in John Ford‘s “Stagecoach” (1939), which brought new shades of nuance and artistry to the Cowboys and Indians genre. It also kicked off a lucrative, decades-long partnership between the director and star, who would make over two dozen films together, including “The Quiet Man” (1952), “The Searchers” (1956) and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).
Despite being one of the top box office...
- 5/18/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Steven Spielberg used a filming technique he hadn’t applied since E.T. to shoot the classic film Saving Private Ryan. But he didn’t expect the demoralizing effect that would have on the film.
The special film technique Steven Spielberg used for ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Tom Hanks | CBS/ Getty Images
Spielberg already knew he was going to direct a world war two movie before he did Saving Private Ryan. He just didn’t know what movie that was gonna be before the Tom Hanks war film. He was soon sent the film’s script by a screenwriter, and found the war movie he wanted to do.
“As a matter of fact, it was the only time in my several decades of having an agent that they actually gave me a screenplay that I wound up directing,” he once told the DGA.
What separated Saving Private Ryan from most of...
The special film technique Steven Spielberg used for ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Tom Hanks | CBS/ Getty Images
Spielberg already knew he was going to direct a world war two movie before he did Saving Private Ryan. He just didn’t know what movie that was gonna be before the Tom Hanks war film. He was soon sent the film’s script by a screenwriter, and found the war movie he wanted to do.
“As a matter of fact, it was the only time in my several decades of having an agent that they actually gave me a screenplay that I wound up directing,” he once told the DGA.
What separated Saving Private Ryan from most of...
- 5/17/2024
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Near the end of The Big Cigar, a six-episode limited series from Jim Hecht, Huey P. Newton sits down at a typewriter, musing over how to tell a story and how each one has multiple storytellers and thus different versions. He then references (via typically clunky voiceover narration) a classic moment from the John Ford Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in which one character says “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”...
- 5/17/2024
- by Josh Spiegel
- Primetimer
“Half the time I was directing, I also had a glove on my hand,” says filmmaker Carson Lund of making his feature directorial debut with the Cannes title Eephus.
The film, which is premiering in Directors’ Fortnight and is being sold worldwide by Film Constellation, follows a men’s New England recreational baseball team as they play their final game on their longtime field before its planned demolition.
From Pride of the Yankees to Bull Durham to Moneyball, baseball has a long and varied onscreen tradition. For his part, Lund wanted to take a different approach. “No baseball film, I feel, has ever really captured the rhythms of the game and what it feels like to actually play it,” says the director. “A lot of these films are ultimately about single characters, protagonists who are undergoing some sort of transformation and self-enlightenment over the course of a narrative. It’s...
The film, which is premiering in Directors’ Fortnight and is being sold worldwide by Film Constellation, follows a men’s New England recreational baseball team as they play their final game on their longtime field before its planned demolition.
From Pride of the Yankees to Bull Durham to Moneyball, baseball has a long and varied onscreen tradition. For his part, Lund wanted to take a different approach. “No baseball film, I feel, has ever really captured the rhythms of the game and what it feels like to actually play it,” says the director. “A lot of these films are ultimately about single characters, protagonists who are undergoing some sort of transformation and self-enlightenment over the course of a narrative. It’s...
- 5/16/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ah, the Wild, Wild West. Nothing smells of freedom and gunpowder like the American frontier. The vast prairies, devoted camaraderies and treacherous betrayals, honest cowboys, greedy gold prospectors, filthy outlaws, and rugged bounty hunters — this is the Western, a genre we all honor and love. So put on your hats and spurs, stock up on powder, and get ready for some epic showdowns, partners, because today we present ten great Western movies and shows that are available on Netflix this May.
10. News of the World
9. The Harder They Fall
8. The Power of the Dog
7. The Hateful Eight
6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
5. 3:10 to Yuma
4. High Plains Drifter
3. Unforgiven
2. Old Henry
1. Godless
Netflix is a veritable treasure trove of great movies and shows. So it comes as no surprise that the streaming service is no less committed to the Western genre, regularly filling its library with projects old and new.
10. News of the World
9. The Harder They Fall
8. The Power of the Dog
7. The Hateful Eight
6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
5. 3:10 to Yuma
4. High Plains Drifter
3. Unforgiven
2. Old Henry
1. Godless
Netflix is a veritable treasure trove of great movies and shows. So it comes as no surprise that the streaming service is no less committed to the Western genre, regularly filling its library with projects old and new.
- 5/14/2024
- by louise.everitt@startefacts.com (Louise Everitt)
- STartefacts.com
Henry Fonda earned his first Oscar nomination for his indelible turn as Tom Joad who becomes head of his family of Oklahoma tenant farmers in John Ford’s 1940 masterpiece “The Grapes of Wrath’ based on John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. And 44 years later, his two-time Oscar-winning daughter Jane Fonda had her “Grapes of Wrath” moment in the ABC Mother’s Day movie, “The Dollmaker.”
Based on Harriette Arnow’s 1954 novel of the same name, the three-hour drama set in the final two years of World War II, finds Fonda playing the indomitable Gertie Nevels, a caring, loving and uneducated mother of five. A sharecropper in Kentucky, Gertie dreams of owning her own farm and has saved enough money to buy one. Her husband (Levon Holm) isn’t much of a farmer but is good at fixing machines. When he gets a job as a mechanic at a factory in Detroit,...
Based on Harriette Arnow’s 1954 novel of the same name, the three-hour drama set in the final two years of World War II, finds Fonda playing the indomitable Gertie Nevels, a caring, loving and uneducated mother of five. A sharecropper in Kentucky, Gertie dreams of owning her own farm and has saved enough money to buy one. Her husband (Levon Holm) isn’t much of a farmer but is good at fixing machines. When he gets a job as a mechanic at a factory in Detroit,...
- 5/13/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Frank Capra was a three-time Oscar winner who dominated the box office throughout the 1930s with his populist fables, nicknamed “Capra-corn.” Yet how many of these titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 12 of Capra’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1897 in Siciliy, Italy, Capra came to the United States with his family in 1903. His work often reflected an idealized vision of the American dream, perhaps spurned by his own experiences as an immigrant. Depression-era audiences lapped up his sweetly sentimental screwball comedies, which often centered on the plight of the common man.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing “Lady for a Day” (1933), and his loss was infamously embarrassing: when presented Will Rogers opened the envelope, he said, “Come up and get it, Frank!” Capra bounded to the stage, only to learned that Frank Lloyd (“Cavalcade”) has won instead.
No matter, because...
Born in 1897 in Siciliy, Italy, Capra came to the United States with his family in 1903. His work often reflected an idealized vision of the American dream, perhaps spurned by his own experiences as an immigrant. Depression-era audiences lapped up his sweetly sentimental screwball comedies, which often centered on the plight of the common man.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing “Lady for a Day” (1933), and his loss was infamously embarrassing: when presented Will Rogers opened the envelope, he said, “Come up and get it, Frank!” Capra bounded to the stage, only to learned that Frank Lloyd (“Cavalcade”) has won instead.
No matter, because...
- 5/10/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The studio once known as 20th Century Fox is a younger entity than the other major Hollywood Studios. It was founded in 1935 out of the ashes of Fox Film, compared to Warner Bros (1923), Universal Pictures (1912), Paramount Pictures (1912), Columbia Pictures (1923), and Disney (1923) — the latter being the new parent company of 20th Century Studios.
Still, Fox waited only seven years to take home the top prize at the Oscars. At the 14th Academy Awards, held in 1942, Fox's film "How Green Was My Valley" won Best Picture, presented to Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck. That wasn't the only prize "Valley" won that night: it also got Best Director (John Ford), Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Arthur Miller), and finally Best Art Direction -- Interior Decoration, Black-and-White.
One of the films that "Valley" beat that night was "Citizen Kane" (which got only Best Original Screenplay for director Orson Welles and his co-writer Herman J.
Still, Fox waited only seven years to take home the top prize at the Oscars. At the 14th Academy Awards, held in 1942, Fox's film "How Green Was My Valley" won Best Picture, presented to Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck. That wasn't the only prize "Valley" won that night: it also got Best Director (John Ford), Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Arthur Miller), and finally Best Art Direction -- Interior Decoration, Black-and-White.
One of the films that "Valley" beat that night was "Citizen Kane" (which got only Best Original Screenplay for director Orson Welles and his co-writer Herman J.
- 5/7/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Jeannie Epper, the peerless, fearless stunt performer who doubled for Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman and swung on a vine across a 350-foot gorge and propelled down an epic mudslide as Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, has died. She was 83.
Epper died Sunday night of natural causes at her home in Simi Valley, her family told The Hollywood Reporter.
Just one member of a dynasty of stunt performers that Steven Spielberg dubbed the “Flying Wallendas of Film” — starting with her father, John Epper, there have been four generations of Eppers in show business since the 1930s — she worked on 150-plus films and TV shows during an astounding 70-year career.
In 2007, Epper received the first lifetime achievement honor given to a woman at the World Taurus Awards and ranks among the greatest stuntwomen of all time.
Known for her agility, horse-riding skills and competitiveness, the 5-foot-9 Epper also stepped in...
Epper died Sunday night of natural causes at her home in Simi Valley, her family told The Hollywood Reporter.
Just one member of a dynasty of stunt performers that Steven Spielberg dubbed the “Flying Wallendas of Film” — starting with her father, John Epper, there have been four generations of Eppers in show business since the 1930s — she worked on 150-plus films and TV shows during an astounding 70-year career.
In 2007, Epper received the first lifetime achievement honor given to a woman at the World Taurus Awards and ranks among the greatest stuntwomen of all time.
Known for her agility, horse-riding skills and competitiveness, the 5-foot-9 Epper also stepped in...
- 5/6/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
David Lynch hasn’t taken on a feature film or TV project since releasing his groundbreaking “Twin Peaks: The Return” in 2017, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying. First, it was reported back in April that Netflix rejected his pitch for an animated film called “Snootworld.” And now his longtime producer Sabrina Sutherland has shed some light on “Unrecorded Night,” his planned Netflix series that was scrapped during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Loyal Lynch fans will recall that rumors began to circulate in 2020 that the auteur was planning to direct a new series that was developed under the working titles “Wisteria” and “Unrecorded Night.” Many regular Lynch collaborators, including Kyle MacLachlan and Mark Frost, went on to cryptically post images of wisteria flowers on their social media accounts, fueling speculation that Lynch was getting the band back together. Some even speculated that the show would be a Texas-set series...
Loyal Lynch fans will recall that rumors began to circulate in 2020 that the auteur was planning to direct a new series that was developed under the working titles “Wisteria” and “Unrecorded Night.” Many regular Lynch collaborators, including Kyle MacLachlan and Mark Frost, went on to cryptically post images of wisteria flowers on their social media accounts, fueling speculation that Lynch was getting the band back together. Some even speculated that the show would be a Texas-set series...
- 5/4/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
A highlight of 2024’s TCM Classic Film Festival was the world premiere of a pristine restoration of John Ford‘s “The Searchers,” one of the greatest Westerns ever made and certainly — given its impact on directors like Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Paul Schrader — one of the most influential. “The Searchers” was photographed in VistaVision, arguably the best of the widescreen formats that emerged in the 1950s to combat television’s encroachment on the film business, and to see it projected on the big screen is a transcendent experience — especially if one is lucky enough to view the 70mm print that premiered at TCM’s fest and is currently making its way around the revival circuit (it screens in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque on May 3 and 4).
The 70mm print is the end result of a meticulous restoration project overseen by Warner Brothers Discovery and Scorsese’s Film Foundation,...
The 70mm print is the end result of a meticulous restoration project overseen by Warner Brothers Discovery and Scorsese’s Film Foundation,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
On a streak like few other directors working today, Christian Petzold’s mesmerizing, humorous Rohmer-esque drama Afire was the finest film of last year. The German director is now swiftly beginning his next project, set to kick off production this spring.
Miroirs No. 3 will mark Petzold’s fourth collaboration with Paula Beer following Transit, Undine, and Afire. Beer will play “a young music student who has to restructure her life when her boyfriend dies in a car crash in the countryside,” Screen Daily notes in an update that it’s received funding from Germany’s Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, while also receiving backing from the state ministry for culture and media (Bkm) and script funding from the German Federal Film Board (Ffa).
The feature’s produced by Petzold’s production company Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser. We also dug up an expanded, translated synopsis: “The young piano student Emily from Berlin is...
Miroirs No. 3 will mark Petzold’s fourth collaboration with Paula Beer following Transit, Undine, and Afire. Beer will play “a young music student who has to restructure her life when her boyfriend dies in a car crash in the countryside,” Screen Daily notes in an update that it’s received funding from Germany’s Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, while also receiving backing from the state ministry for culture and media (Bkm) and script funding from the German Federal Film Board (Ffa).
The feature’s produced by Petzold’s production company Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser. We also dug up an expanded, translated synopsis: “The young piano student Emily from Berlin is...
- 4/30/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Taylor Sheridan is undoubtedly one of the most powerful voices in the TV space with his shows being the flagship entries of the Paramount+ network. Yellowstone became a sensation in 2018 and it has spawned several spin-offs including 1883 and 1923. The show is Sheridan’s masterpiece and none of his other shows have ever come close to its impact on audiences.
Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone
However, its inception was a different story altogether. By the 2010s, the Western genre had faded in popularity compared to the 50s-70s era. Yellowstone being in that genre created a lot of difficulty for Sheridan in convincing networks and studios to bankroll the project.
Taylor Sheridan Understood Studios’ Hesitation in Greenlighting Yellowstone
In addition to being a creator, Taylor Sheridan played Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone
Westerns were once the dominant genre in the industry during the 50s and to the late 70s when...
Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone
However, its inception was a different story altogether. By the 2010s, the Western genre had faded in popularity compared to the 50s-70s era. Yellowstone being in that genre created a lot of difficulty for Sheridan in convincing networks and studios to bankroll the project.
Taylor Sheridan Understood Studios’ Hesitation in Greenlighting Yellowstone
In addition to being a creator, Taylor Sheridan played Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone
Westerns were once the dominant genre in the industry during the 50s and to the late 70s when...
- 4/29/2024
- by Rahul Thokchom
- FandomWire
Clint Eastwood was already 30 years old when he landed his breakout role in the CBS Western "Rawhide." The actor had spent much of the 1950s getting by on bit parts in B movies (most notably the Jack Arnold monster duo of "Revenge of the Creature" and "Tarantula"), and guest roles on TV series like "Maverick" and "Death Valley Days," so you'd think he would've been thrilled. But Eastwood was displeased with his character Rowdy Yates, who, early on in the series' run, was a wet-behind-the-ears ramrod. At his age, he was eager to play a grown, capable man with enough years behind him to allow for a bit of mystery.
Eastwood's restlessness coincided with a shift in filmmakers' approach to the Western genre. Though maestros like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, and Budd Boetticher had allowed for moral ambiguity in their movies, the vast majority of Westerns were white...
Eastwood's restlessness coincided with a shift in filmmakers' approach to the Western genre. Though maestros like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, and Budd Boetticher had allowed for moral ambiguity in their movies, the vast majority of Westerns were white...
- 4/28/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
There wasn't a more capable director of massive, widescreen Westerns working in Hollywood during the 1950s and '60s than John Sturges. Whether classical ("Gunfight at the O.K. Corral") or somewhat unconventional ("Bad Day at Black Rock"), Sturges could frame a mountainous expanse or stage a gunfight with the best of them. He thrived when working with big casts and specialized in discovering stirring nuances in characters that would've been walking cliches in more typical genre flicks.
Sturges was also efficient, which came in handy when managing expensive studio productions populated with big egos. His biggest challenge in this department might've been "The Magnificent Seven," the 1960 remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Seven Samurai." Yul Brynner, then a hugely popular movie star (largely on the strength of his Academy Award-winning performance in "The King and I" and his portrayal of Ramses in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments"), controlled...
Sturges was also efficient, which came in handy when managing expensive studio productions populated with big egos. His biggest challenge in this department might've been "The Magnificent Seven," the 1960 remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Seven Samurai." Yul Brynner, then a hugely popular movie star (largely on the strength of his Academy Award-winning performance in "The King and I" and his portrayal of Ramses in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments"), controlled...
- 4/28/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Famous for his brutal roles in The Quiet Man (1952), Rio Bravo (1959) and True Grit (1969), John Wayne got much recognition as the king of Westerns alongside Clint Eastwood. His movies became not only the best examples of the genre, but also one of the biggest sources of inspiration of the 20th century’s filmmakers.
In particular, Steven Spielberg, the giant of the industry, once confessed he revisits one of Wayne’s movies every time before he makes a new film of his own, as it’s much of a great value for the director. Indeed, the 1956 Western feature is quite unmissable.
The plot of the movie seems typical of the genre - it follows a Civil War veteran looking for his abducted relative. However, it’s not as simple as it may seem, as Ethan Edwards, the main character played by Wayne, has his niece Debbie stolen by the Comanches, whom he can’t bear,...
In particular, Steven Spielberg, the giant of the industry, once confessed he revisits one of Wayne’s movies every time before he makes a new film of his own, as it’s much of a great value for the director. Indeed, the 1956 Western feature is quite unmissable.
The plot of the movie seems typical of the genre - it follows a Civil War veteran looking for his abducted relative. However, it’s not as simple as it may seem, as Ethan Edwards, the main character played by Wayne, has his niece Debbie stolen by the Comanches, whom he can’t bear,...
- 4/27/2024
- by info@startefacts.com (Ava Raxa)
- STartefacts.com
After a year-long delay brought about by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Nicole Kidman is finally set to receive the prestigious AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. The Oscar winner is the 49th overall recipient of this special honor, with the last one being Julie Andrews in 2022. Kidman’s ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in Hollywood, with Meryl Streep tasked to present.
Kidman is a five-time nominee at the Academy Awards, winning for Best Actress in the 2003 film “The Hours.” Her other nominations were for “Moulin Rouge!,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Lion” and “Being the Ricardos.” (She has also two Emmys on her mantel for producing and starring in “Big Little Lies.”) What do You think is her best movie performance of all time? Vote in our poll right here and then defend your choice down in the comments section:
See American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Recipients
Starting in the early 1970s,...
Kidman is a five-time nominee at the Academy Awards, winning for Best Actress in the 2003 film “The Hours.” Her other nominations were for “Moulin Rouge!,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Lion” and “Being the Ricardos.” (She has also two Emmys on her mantel for producing and starring in “Big Little Lies.”) What do You think is her best movie performance of all time? Vote in our poll right here and then defend your choice down in the comments section:
See American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Recipients
Starting in the early 1970s,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Marcus James Dixon and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
From the sweeping vistas of The Searchers to the towering Transformers of Age of Extinction, the mesas and monuments of Utah’s southern half have been a regular presence in film since the earliest days of the medium. In fact, throughout 2024 the “Beehive State” has been celebrating its considerable cinematic heritage with the retrospective exhibition “100 Years of Utah Film and Television” on display now at the Capitol Building in Salt Lake City.
But balancing responsible land use with tourism and commercial exploitation is forever a hot topic in Utah—a regular theme in Western states—and there are few exceptions made for the arts. Which is why collaboration with the steady guiding hand of local film commissions is so critical; someone to steer visiting filmmakers in the correct direction (both legally and creatively) and keep the reciprocal ecosystem of commerce between film crews and local businesses on the good foot.
But balancing responsible land use with tourism and commercial exploitation is forever a hot topic in Utah—a regular theme in Western states—and there are few exceptions made for the arts. Which is why collaboration with the steady guiding hand of local film commissions is so critical; someone to steer visiting filmmakers in the correct direction (both legally and creatively) and keep the reciprocal ecosystem of commerce between film crews and local businesses on the good foot.
- 4/26/2024
- by Matt Warren
- Film Independent News & More
Even among the more underrated Akira Kurosawa films are timeless masterpieces.
If films like “Dersu Uzala” and “The Idiot” and “Kagemusha” aren’t talked about as much, it’s because the best-known Kurosawa titles — “Seven Samurai,” “Rashomon,” “Throne of Blood” — also happen to be among the most influential movies ever made, casting their shadow over the Spaghetti Western genre, “Star Wars,” and so many more.
Just within the past few weeks, a movie loosely based on “Seven Samurai,” Zack Snyder’s misbegotten “Rebel Moon Part 2,” started streaming, Spike Lee confirmed he’ll direct an adaptation of “High and Low,” and, let’s face it, there’d probably be no “Shogun” at all without the Kurosawa-immortalized Japanese samurai culture onscreen. Probably no director other than Fritz Lang and John Ford has influenced as many genres as Kurosawa, who died in 1998.
But instead of focusing so much on his impact, look at the films.
If films like “Dersu Uzala” and “The Idiot” and “Kagemusha” aren’t talked about as much, it’s because the best-known Kurosawa titles — “Seven Samurai,” “Rashomon,” “Throne of Blood” — also happen to be among the most influential movies ever made, casting their shadow over the Spaghetti Western genre, “Star Wars,” and so many more.
Just within the past few weeks, a movie loosely based on “Seven Samurai,” Zack Snyder’s misbegotten “Rebel Moon Part 2,” started streaming, Spike Lee confirmed he’ll direct an adaptation of “High and Low,” and, let’s face it, there’d probably be no “Shogun” at all without the Kurosawa-immortalized Japanese samurai culture onscreen. Probably no director other than Fritz Lang and John Ford has influenced as many genres as Kurosawa, who died in 1998.
But instead of focusing so much on his impact, look at the films.
- 4/25/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
“You know you can watch that at home, right?” Such was the advice directed my way by a wisecracking passerby while queued up for a screening at the 2024 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood, California. They were clearly not a festival passholder, but the indifference heard right there on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was another instance of the trampling of history that both the festival and its parent channel aim to counter.
Probably the most even-handed response to that trampling would be a reminder—to flip a well-known phrase—that a home is not a house (not a movie house anyway). The folks who flock to Los Angeles every year from all over the world to attend this festival, probably all subscribers or rabid devotees of the channel that bears its name, cough up a prodigious amount of money to do so. It’s clear that for them,...
Probably the most even-handed response to that trampling would be a reminder—to flip a well-known phrase—that a home is not a house (not a movie house anyway). The folks who flock to Los Angeles every year from all over the world to attend this festival, probably all subscribers or rabid devotees of the channel that bears its name, cough up a prodigious amount of money to do so. It’s clear that for them,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Slant Magazine
John Ford, the iconic director known for such films as Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers and much more, will be the subject of the next edition of the TCM podcast The Plot Thickens, it was announced Wednesday.
“Decoding John Ford,” hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, premieres June 6. The fifth season of the podcast, consisting of seven episodes, will feature never-before-heard archival interviews with the likes of John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Woody Strode and Ford himself.
TCM says Mankiewicz will “strip back the mythology to reveal Ford’s brilliance — alongside the often ugly, uncomfortable truths about his life and movies, asking whether we can ever truly separate art from the artist.”
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” the host said in a statement. “This is a man defined by contradictions: he revered...
“Decoding John Ford,” hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, premieres June 6. The fifth season of the podcast, consisting of seven episodes, will feature never-before-heard archival interviews with the likes of John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Woody Strode and Ford himself.
TCM says Mankiewicz will “strip back the mythology to reveal Ford’s brilliance — alongside the often ugly, uncomfortable truths about his life and movies, asking whether we can ever truly separate art from the artist.”
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” the host said in a statement. “This is a man defined by contradictions: he revered...
- 4/18/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The award-winning Turner Classic Movies podcast “The Plot Thickens” is ready to take on the Manifest Destiny of filmmaker John Ford.
The new fifth season, titled “Decoding John Ford,” centers on the legendary auteur best known for Westerns like “The Searchers.” Host Ben Mankiewicz dives into the mythology behind Ford’s filmography.
The seven-part podcast also examines Ford’s shelved WWII film that was commissioned by the U.S. military in 1944. Host Ben Mankiewicz travels to Europe to trace the mystery of whether the D-Day movie exists. The season debuts on June 6, the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
The season features never-before-heard archival interviews with stars like John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Woody Strode, and director Ford himself.
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz said in a release. “This is a man defined...
The new fifth season, titled “Decoding John Ford,” centers on the legendary auteur best known for Westerns like “The Searchers.” Host Ben Mankiewicz dives into the mythology behind Ford’s filmography.
The seven-part podcast also examines Ford’s shelved WWII film that was commissioned by the U.S. military in 1944. Host Ben Mankiewicz travels to Europe to trace the mystery of whether the D-Day movie exists. The season debuts on June 6, the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
The season features never-before-heard archival interviews with stars like John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Woody Strode, and director Ford himself.
“John Ford is a mercurial figure. Not surprisingly given his stature, the stereotypes about Ford are incomplete,” TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz said in a release. “This is a man defined...
- 4/18/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" season 3, episode 13, "Into the Breach."
From the very beginning, "Star Wars" has been a smorgasbord of film influences and references. George Lucas cited John Ford and Akira Kurosawa films as chief inspirations for "A New Hope." In fact, here at /Film (and StarWars.com before that), I've written hundreds of articles about the cinematic influences behind "Star Wars."
The latest episode of "The Bad Batch" is no exception. As the Bad Batch further pursues a path to the secret Imperial science facility on Mount Tantiss where Omega is being held, they lead a daring mission to an orbital platform at Coruscant to get the coordinates and affect their rescue. Meanwhile, Omega is held inside a child prison with other gifted kids who are being experimented on. Be that as it may, she knows her brothers are coming for her, and...
From the very beginning, "Star Wars" has been a smorgasbord of film influences and references. George Lucas cited John Ford and Akira Kurosawa films as chief inspirations for "A New Hope." In fact, here at /Film (and StarWars.com before that), I've written hundreds of articles about the cinematic influences behind "Star Wars."
The latest episode of "The Bad Batch" is no exception. As the Bad Batch further pursues a path to the secret Imperial science facility on Mount Tantiss where Omega is being held, they lead a daring mission to an orbital platform at Coruscant to get the coordinates and affect their rescue. Meanwhile, Omega is held inside a child prison with other gifted kids who are being experimented on. Be that as it may, she knows her brothers are coming for her, and...
- 4/17/2024
- by Bryan Young
- Slash Film
Floating Weeds Sitting inside his Tokyo home, surrounded by stacks of books and photos of John Ford and Jean-Luc Godard pinned to the wall, the venerated film and literary critic, writer, and scholar Shiguéhiko Hasumi admitted with a wry smile that he was not really in the mood to talk about Ozu. We were gathered for an interview about a new English translation of his book Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, but he had old Hollywood on his mind. As he spoke, he switched between Japanese and French-accented English. “This book was written 40 years ago,” he said. “My last monograph is about John Ford. And this is my latest book. I greatly admire the films of Don Siegel.” He pointed to What is a Shot?. “So, I am so far from Ozu.” Indeed, Hasumi, who turns 88 this month, remains prolific. Spread out on the coffee table in front of him by...
- 4/16/2024
- MUBI
One of Hollywood's most frustrating recent news stories is that Francis Ford Coppola is having trouble finding distribution for his self-funded passion project, "Megalopolis" (via The Hollywood Reporter). In a just world, making "The Godfather" would grant Coppola a lifetime blank check, but that has never been the world we've lived in.
What you may not be aware of is one of Coppola's influences for his magnum opus. Like his friend "Star Wars" director George Lucas, Coppola looked to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. While Lucas took after Kurosawa's Jidaigeki (historical) films, Coppola looked to one of the director's contemporary-set films: "The Bad Sleep Well."
Released in 1960 and starring his go-to leading man Toshiro Mifune, the movie is one of Kurosawa's (comparatively) more obscure ones. It was especially overshadowed by "High and Low," the masterful kidnapping thriller that Kurosawa and Mifune released in 1963. Both movies are set in the world of...
What you may not be aware of is one of Coppola's influences for his magnum opus. Like his friend "Star Wars" director George Lucas, Coppola looked to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. While Lucas took after Kurosawa's Jidaigeki (historical) films, Coppola looked to one of the director's contemporary-set films: "The Bad Sleep Well."
Released in 1960 and starring his go-to leading man Toshiro Mifune, the movie is one of Kurosawa's (comparatively) more obscure ones. It was especially overshadowed by "High and Low," the masterful kidnapping thriller that Kurosawa and Mifune released in 1963. Both movies are set in the world of...
- 4/15/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Less bleak than Anthony Mann’s westerns with James Stewart, including Winchester ’73 and Bend of the River, The Tin Star still wastes little time sketching an unwelcoming vision of the Old West. It begins with bounty hunter Morgan Hickman (Henry Fonda) riding into a small town with his latest deceased prize in tow. The townspeople gather around him in the street like pigeons, though the open hostility and disapproval in their faces undermines the sense that they’re in any way titillated by the sight of a dead body or a grizzled gunslinger. Forced to wait for the paperwork to clear for his payout, Morgan settles in for a few days of frosty reception that the townsfolk extend to any outsider, including those within their community who violate the narrow-minded boundaries of accepted behavior.
Perhaps inevitably, Morgan becomes briefly attached to Nora (Betsy Palmer), a local woman ostracized to...
Perhaps inevitably, Morgan becomes briefly attached to Nora (Betsy Palmer), a local woman ostracized to...
- 4/12/2024
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
Ramsay’s brilliant rendering of a child’s experience during the 1975 Glasgow bin-collectors’ strike, spiked with a horrifying twist of fate, remains masterly
Twenty-five years ago, we saw one of the most impressive debut features in modern British movie history. Ratcatcher, by the 29-year-old Glasgow film-maker Lynne Ramsay, was a visually haunting, passionate piece of work to compare with Terence Davies or Ken Loach and which set a gold standard of artistry for new social realist cinema – or cinema of any sort – in the UK. I remember how blown away I was when I saw it at the Edinburgh film festival, especially by the rippling, sunlit fields at which a troubled child gazes, framed by the doorway of the half-built council house development outside Glasgow. (Only now does it occur to me to wonder if Ramsay was influenced by John Ford.)
The setting is Glasgow during the 13-week bin collectors...
Twenty-five years ago, we saw one of the most impressive debut features in modern British movie history. Ratcatcher, by the 29-year-old Glasgow film-maker Lynne Ramsay, was a visually haunting, passionate piece of work to compare with Terence Davies or Ken Loach and which set a gold standard of artistry for new social realist cinema – or cinema of any sort – in the UK. I remember how blown away I was when I saw it at the Edinburgh film festival, especially by the rippling, sunlit fields at which a troubled child gazes, framed by the doorway of the half-built council house development outside Glasgow. (Only now does it occur to me to wonder if Ramsay was influenced by John Ford.)
The setting is Glasgow during the 13-week bin collectors...
- 4/11/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
While it was fascinating to see the results of the 2022 Sight & Sound poll, we’re just as curious to see what lies outside the established canon. As part of a comprehensive project at the essential resource They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?, Ángel González polled nearly 839 critics on the best films that didn’t receive a single vote on the Sight & Sound poll, which they’ve now compiled into a massive Beyond the Sight & Sound Canon, which initially features 1,030 films but expands to a whopping 14,558 total films.
As a preview, we’ve collected the films that received at least 20 votes in this new poll, which is 263. It’s led by Spike Jonze’s Her, and they’ve also noted the directors that were most represented. Fritz Lang leads the pack with eight films mentioned, while François Truffaut has seven, and Anthony Mann, Clint Eastwood, Eric Rohmer, John Ford, Samuel Fuller,...
As a preview, we’ve collected the films that received at least 20 votes in this new poll, which is 263. It’s led by Spike Jonze’s Her, and they’ve also noted the directors that were most represented. Fritz Lang leads the pack with eight films mentioned, while François Truffaut has seven, and Anthony Mann, Clint Eastwood, Eric Rohmer, John Ford, Samuel Fuller,...
- 4/8/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In the realm of classic Hollywood cinema, few names shine as brightly as that of John Ford. Known for his remarkable storytelling prowess and unparalleled directorial vision, Ford’s impact on the film industry is undeniable. Join us on a journey through the life, works, and enduring legacy of this legendary director as we delve into the cinematic masterpieces that have solidified his place in movie history.
Early Life
John Ford was born John Martin Feeney on February 1, 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was the youngest of 13 children born to Irish immigrants John Augustine Feeney and Barbara Curran. The Feeney family were devout Roman Catholics, and Ford’s childhood was steeped in Irish traditions and values.
At a young age, Ford developed a love of the sea. He worked as a deckhand and boatman during his teen years, gaining experience that would later influence his filmmaking. Though his beginnings were humble,...
Early Life
John Ford was born John Martin Feeney on February 1, 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was the youngest of 13 children born to Irish immigrants John Augustine Feeney and Barbara Curran. The Feeney family were devout Roman Catholics, and Ford’s childhood was steeped in Irish traditions and values.
At a young age, Ford developed a love of the sea. He worked as a deckhand and boatman during his teen years, gaining experience that would later influence his filmmaking. Though his beginnings were humble,...
- 4/6/2024
- by Penelope H. Fritz
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Liam Neeson stars in In the Land of Saints and Sinners, a film directed by Robert Lorenz.
In the golden age of cinema, spanning the 1950s and 60s, a star actor’s presence was so dominant that their character, the one they consistently played, heavily influenced the movie. It used to be a movie tailored for James Stewart or Cary Grant, with minimal variations of their “hero” or “villain” roles.
The same case applies to Liam Neeson, who has embraced this traditional role, heavily influencing nearly every movie he stars in or as we suspect, the films seem to be specifically designed for him. Decades ago, someone decided that this man, Liam Neeson, embodied goodness, whether portraying the character of Oskar Schindler or, in this case, a killer with a heart.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners Plot:
Finbar Murphy is a killer living in an Irish village in...
In the golden age of cinema, spanning the 1950s and 60s, a star actor’s presence was so dominant that their character, the one they consistently played, heavily influenced the movie. It used to be a movie tailored for James Stewart or Cary Grant, with minimal variations of their “hero” or “villain” roles.
The same case applies to Liam Neeson, who has embraced this traditional role, heavily influencing nearly every movie he stars in or as we suspect, the films seem to be specifically designed for him. Decades ago, someone decided that this man, Liam Neeson, embodied goodness, whether portraying the character of Oskar Schindler or, in this case, a killer with a heart.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners Plot:
Finbar Murphy is a killer living in an Irish village in...
- 4/6/2024
- by Molly Se-kyung
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Many people would claim that Frank Darabont has made the best Stephen King adaptations ever put on film, but did you know that over a decade before making The Shawshank Redemption, it would be Stephen King himself who helped Frank Darabont become a filmmaker? Frank would use one of Stephen King’s infamous “Dollar Babies” where King would allow aspiring filmmakers to license one of his short stories for just $1. Darabont would adapt King’s short The Woman in the Room which would be short-listed for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short film in 1983. Despite not getting the nomination, and not even particularly liking the short, King was a fan and for $5,000, granted Darabont the rights to adapt another of his short stories: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
Of course, Darabont wasn’t quite ready to tackle something as massive as that story just yet, so he made...
Of course, Darabont wasn’t quite ready to tackle something as massive as that story just yet, so he made...
- 3/29/2024
- by Brad Hamerly
- JoBlo.com
From his crowd-pleasing blockbusters like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones to critically acclaimed projects like Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg has delivered a few of the most popular movies of all time. Turning into a beloved American filmmaker, with three Oscars to his name, Spielberg listed his endless source of inspiration.
Steven Spielberg in an interview with BBC
Speaking with different outlets, Steven Spielberg has noted being influenced by other people’s work and deriving his inspiration from them. Handing down a properly skimmed list of his favorite movies, Spielberg claimed that his filmography is a treasure trove of tributes to those great directors of the past and their works.
1. Dune: Part Two
Among several cult classic movies that influenced Steven Spielberg over the years, the director found his recent favorite in Denis Villeneuve’s magnum opus Dune: Part Two. During an episode of the DGA’s Director’s Cut podcast via Variety,...
Steven Spielberg in an interview with BBC
Speaking with different outlets, Steven Spielberg has noted being influenced by other people’s work and deriving his inspiration from them. Handing down a properly skimmed list of his favorite movies, Spielberg claimed that his filmography is a treasure trove of tributes to those great directors of the past and their works.
1. Dune: Part Two
Among several cult classic movies that influenced Steven Spielberg over the years, the director found his recent favorite in Denis Villeneuve’s magnum opus Dune: Part Two. During an episode of the DGA’s Director’s Cut podcast via Variety,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Krittika Mukherjee
- FandomWire
Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will celebrate the centennial of Columbia Pictures with an expansive retrospective titled The Lady with the Torch, mounted in collaboration with the studio’s parent company, Sony.
Organized in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse, The Lady with the Torch will be curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato, an annual festival in Bologna dedicated to film history and film restoration. The official unveiling will take place at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Locarno has said the retrospective will present the studio in “all its glory,” shining a light on lesser-known genre filmmakers like Max Nosseck, Seymour Friedman, and William A. Seiter, as well as celebrating auteurs like Howard Hawks, Frank Borzage, Fritz Lang, Frank Capra, George Stevens, and John Ford. After launching at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, running August 7-17, the retrospective will tour the world. The Retrospective will...
Organized in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse, The Lady with the Torch will be curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato, an annual festival in Bologna dedicated to film history and film restoration. The official unveiling will take place at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Locarno has said the retrospective will present the studio in “all its glory,” shining a light on lesser-known genre filmmakers like Max Nosseck, Seymour Friedman, and William A. Seiter, as well as celebrating auteurs like Howard Hawks, Frank Borzage, Fritz Lang, Frank Capra, George Stevens, and John Ford. After launching at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, running August 7-17, the retrospective will tour the world. The Retrospective will...
- 3/28/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Ron Harper, who starred in iconic science-fiction series like Planet of the Apes and Land of the Lost, has died at 91. His daughter, Nicole Longeuay, says her father died of natural causes at his home in West Hills on Thursday.
Ron Harper, with his golden hair, piercing eyes, and suave demeanor, was an understudy for Paul Newman on Broadway before playing notable roles like Alan Virdon in the Planet of the Apes series, Uncle Jack in Land of the Lost, and Peter Whitmore in the TV series Generations. Before striking it rich with roles that would increase his star power, Harper appeared in four series that never got a second season, including 87th Precinct, Wendy and Me, The Jean Arthur Show, and Garrison’s Gorillas.
Thankfully, Planet of the Apes helped put Harper on executive’s watch lists. While Planet of the Apes didn’t last long on the air, Harper...
Ron Harper, with his golden hair, piercing eyes, and suave demeanor, was an understudy for Paul Newman on Broadway before playing notable roles like Alan Virdon in the Planet of the Apes series, Uncle Jack in Land of the Lost, and Peter Whitmore in the TV series Generations. Before striking it rich with roles that would increase his star power, Harper appeared in four series that never got a second season, including 87th Precinct, Wendy and Me, The Jean Arthur Show, and Garrison’s Gorillas.
Thankfully, Planet of the Apes helped put Harper on executive’s watch lists. While Planet of the Apes didn’t last long on the air, Harper...
- 3/25/2024
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Ron Harper, who starred on Planet of the Apes and four other short-lived primetime series and on the final season of the beloved kids TV show Land of the Lost during a very busy 15 years on television, has died. He was 91.
Harper died Thursday of natural causes at his home in West Hills, his daughter, Nicole Longeuay, told The Hollywood Reporter.
After understudying for Paul Newman on Broadway, Harper portrayed Det. Bert Kling alongside Norman Fell, Robert Lansing, Gregory Walcott and Gena Rowlands on the 1961-62 NBC cop show 87th Precinct, based on the novels of Ed McBain.
He played Jeff Conway, the husband of Connie Stevens’ character, on the 1964-65 ABC sitcom Wendy and Me, also starring George Burns, who produced the show and appeared as the owner of the apartment building in which the young couple lives.
Next up for Harper were turns as the son of Jean Arthur...
Harper died Thursday of natural causes at his home in West Hills, his daughter, Nicole Longeuay, told The Hollywood Reporter.
After understudying for Paul Newman on Broadway, Harper portrayed Det. Bert Kling alongside Norman Fell, Robert Lansing, Gregory Walcott and Gena Rowlands on the 1961-62 NBC cop show 87th Precinct, based on the novels of Ed McBain.
He played Jeff Conway, the husband of Connie Stevens’ character, on the 1964-65 ABC sitcom Wendy and Me, also starring George Burns, who produced the show and appeared as the owner of the apartment building in which the young couple lives.
Next up for Harper were turns as the son of Jean Arthur...
- 3/25/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A beguiling “neo-fairy tale” that effectively splits the difference between the high fantasy of “Legend” and the lo-fi drift of “L for Leisure,” Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire” tries to capture the magic inherent to even modern childhood by stretching a simple fetch quest into an epic adventure. Perhaps a little too epic, it turns out.
Despite kicking off with a heist sequence that crystallizes the miscreant fun of a late summer afternoon and tees up a Tolkien-worthy plot in the clearest possible terms, Razooli’s increasingly languorous debut soon proves to be easier to appreciate than it is to enjoy. It’s a light and singular concoction of sick-ass vibes in dire need of something — anything — to weigh them down. I couldn’t wait for it to end, but that’s partially because I’m already so impatient to see what Razooli does next.
Set in rural Wyoming...
Despite kicking off with a heist sequence that crystallizes the miscreant fun of a late summer afternoon and tees up a Tolkien-worthy plot in the clearest possible terms, Razooli’s increasingly languorous debut soon proves to be easier to appreciate than it is to enjoy. It’s a light and singular concoction of sick-ass vibes in dire need of something — anything — to weigh them down. I couldn’t wait for it to end, but that’s partially because I’m already so impatient to see what Razooli does next.
Set in rural Wyoming...
- 3/21/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
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