A blurred image of a Wake in Fright poster in an early shot in Birdeater cuts right to the heart of directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir’s feature debut, a hat tip to the style and tone of madness ahead. Like Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 classic thriller, Birdeater utilizes horror and thriller mechanics and tropes to deconstruct Australia’s masculine identity, one at odds with today’s sociopolitical landscape, through a contemporary lens. While it doesn’t push the genre elements far enough, its heady themes, sustained dread, and distinct visual language culminate in a tense psychodrama that poses compelling questions.
The signs that something’s deeply amiss in the relationship between engaged couple Irene (Shabana Azeez) and Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley) come fast and furious from the outset. Codependency issues and controlling behavior bubble just beneath the surface of their seemingly idyllic romance. Before filmmakers Clark, who wrote the script,...
The signs that something’s deeply amiss in the relationship between engaged couple Irene (Shabana Azeez) and Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley) come fast and furious from the outset. Codependency issues and controlling behavior bubble just beneath the surface of their seemingly idyllic romance. Before filmmakers Clark, who wrote the script,...
- 3/10/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Oscar-nominated film director and producer Norman Jewison, who steered the 1967 racial drama “In the Heat of the Night” to a best picture Oscar and also helmed such popular films as “Moonstruck,” “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” and “The Thomas Crown Affair,” as well as film musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” died Saturday at his Los Angeles residence. He was 97.
His film career began with fluffy Doris Day comedies like “The Thrill of It All.” But Jewison’s social conscience began to surface with “In the Heat of the Night” and, later, the labor union drama “F.I.S.T.” and other films focusing on racial tensions such as “A Soldier’s Story” and “The Landlord” (the latter of which he only produced), though he never abandoned comedies and romances.
Jewison had his share of box office hits and was usually attuned to the audience pulse, but did...
His film career began with fluffy Doris Day comedies like “The Thrill of It All.” But Jewison’s social conscience began to surface with “In the Heat of the Night” and, later, the labor union drama “F.I.S.T.” and other films focusing on racial tensions such as “A Soldier’s Story” and “The Landlord” (the latter of which he only produced), though he never abandoned comedies and romances.
Jewison had his share of box office hits and was usually attuned to the audience pulse, but did...
- 1/22/2024
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Jewison, who directed Best Picture Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night and nominees Fiddler on the Roof, A Soldier’s Story, Moonstruck and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, also producing the latter four, died peacefully Saturday, January 20. He was 97.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
- 1/22/2024
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
In the 1990 "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Hunted," the U.S.S. Enterprise has arrived at a world called Angosia III to give the planet a final once-over before they are accepted into the Federation. Everything seems pleasant and copacetic, and the planet's Prime Minister Nayrok (James Cromwell) seems enlightened. As one might predict, something afoul is afoot. Nayrok tells Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that a dangerous criminal has escaped from an Angosian prison on one of their moons. The Enterprise spends a long while tracking this wily prisoner who seems incredibly adept at avoiding detection. Eventually, they do apprehend him and put him in the Enterprise's brig.
This is Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy), and he did indeed escape from prison, and admits that he is perfectly willing to commit acts of violence to protect himself. The crew of the Enterprise begins looking into the past and character of this mysterious Danar,...
This is Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy), and he did indeed escape from prison, and admits that he is perfectly willing to commit acts of violence to protect himself. The crew of the Enterprise begins looking into the past and character of this mysterious Danar,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
If you want to enjoy some often very good and often very bad action movies, the "Rambo" franchise is for you. And if you want to watch the strange and often disturbing trajectory of America's political core over nearly 40 years of cinema, the "Rambo" franchise is also for you. By accident or design, Sylvester Stallone's famed action series contains multitudes. They're macho, violent, ridiculous one-man-army movies. They're also propaganda, apologies for propaganda, and then propaganda again. They demand popcorn, and a crowd ready to hoot and holler. But also analysis.
But few film franchises outside of "Fast and Furious" have titles as confusing as the "Rambo" movies, which defy common logic and may have you, the John Rambo newbie, wondering if there's a trick to watching these things. Honestly, the key is to watch them in order of production. It's the only way to appreciate the series' loose continuity and,...
But few film franchises outside of "Fast and Furious" have titles as confusing as the "Rambo" movies, which defy common logic and may have you, the John Rambo newbie, wondering if there's a trick to watching these things. Honestly, the key is to watch them in order of production. It's the only way to appreciate the series' loose continuity and,...
- 10/14/2023
- by Jacob Hall
- Slash Film
As the Hollywood strikes stretched to Week 23, optimism is high that a deal between signatories and SAG-AFTRA is close and the town can go back to work. That enthusiasm could be felt with all the deal stories that Deadline broke this week, a clear signal of hope.
Not so fast, says Deadline Strike Talk host Billy Ray. Citing examples that range from director Ted Kotcheff changing the death of John Rambo in First Blood to Jackie Robinson retiring rather than the lifelong Dodger accepting a deal to play for the Giants and all that Jimmy Carter accomplished post-White House, Ray implores SAG-AFTRA to remember it isn’t who drew first blood but who sticks the landing. And for actors, that means safeguards against AI.
Joining him as guests this week are Rumman Chowdhury, an expert in AI and machine learning with fellowships and research positions at Harvard, Cambridge and NYU,...
Not so fast, says Deadline Strike Talk host Billy Ray. Citing examples that range from director Ted Kotcheff changing the death of John Rambo in First Blood to Jackie Robinson retiring rather than the lifelong Dodger accepting a deal to play for the Giants and all that Jimmy Carter accomplished post-White House, Ray implores SAG-AFTRA to remember it isn’t who drew first blood but who sticks the landing. And for actors, that means safeguards against AI.
Joining him as guests this week are Rumman Chowdhury, an expert in AI and machine learning with fellowships and research positions at Harvard, Cambridge and NYU,...
- 10/6/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Critics have hailed Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' as an "even deeper" and "pulpier and more explosive" look at toxic masculinity than her 2019 #MeToo thriller 'The Assistant', with many drawing comparisons between the film and Ted Kotcheff's 1971 classic 'Wake in Fright'.
The post ‘A master of the microaggression’: Kitty Green’s ‘The Royal Hotel’ impresses at Telluride and TIFF appeared first on If Magazine.
The post ‘A master of the microaggression’: Kitty Green’s ‘The Royal Hotel’ impresses at Telluride and TIFF appeared first on If Magazine.
- 9/13/2023
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Robert Klane, who wrote the screenplays for the irreverent comedy classics Weekend at Bernie’s and Where’s Poppa? and directed the disco-era favorite Thank God It’s Friday, has died. He was 81.
Klane died Tuesday in his Woodland Hills home of kidney failure after a long illness, his son Jon Klane announced.
He wrote for the films Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972), Fire Sale (1977), The Man With One Red Shoe (1985), National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), Walk Like a Man (1987) and Folks! (1992).
Among his TV writing credits were six episodes of M*A*S*H* and The Odd Couple: Together Again, a 1973 reunion telefilm starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall that he also directed. He also wrote and produced Tracey Takes On…, winning an Emmy for his work in 1997.
“Bob had a brilliant comedy mind that went deeper and deeper to get to the truth,” Rob Reiner, an actor in Where’s Poppa? (1970), said in a statement.
Klane died Tuesday in his Woodland Hills home of kidney failure after a long illness, his son Jon Klane announced.
He wrote for the films Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972), Fire Sale (1977), The Man With One Red Shoe (1985), National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), Walk Like a Man (1987) and Folks! (1992).
Among his TV writing credits were six episodes of M*A*S*H* and The Odd Couple: Together Again, a 1973 reunion telefilm starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall that he also directed. He also wrote and produced Tracey Takes On…, winning an Emmy for his work in 1997.
“Bob had a brilliant comedy mind that went deeper and deeper to get to the truth,” Rob Reiner, an actor in Where’s Poppa? (1970), said in a statement.
- 9/4/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Four years after director Kitty Green and actor Julia Garner channeled whispers and silence into the stuff of workplace horror in The Assistant, they reunite for a movie that turns up the volume and ratchets up the fear and loathing. Way up.
Instead of the careerist corridors of Manhattan, the setting is a mining town in Australia — specifically, a hotel bar frequented by hard-drinking men. Garner, again, is extraordinary, and the chemistry between her and an equally superb Jessica Henwick, as best friends whose backpacking adventure takes a detour into a kind of hell, doesn’t hit a false note. Yet despite the flawless performances and outstanding craftsmanship, The Royal Hotel is a pummeling experience rather than a revelatory one.
For her second narrative feature, and her first film set and filmed in her native Australia, Green was inspired by the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie, in which Pete Gleeson chronicles the...
Instead of the careerist corridors of Manhattan, the setting is a mining town in Australia — specifically, a hotel bar frequented by hard-drinking men. Garner, again, is extraordinary, and the chemistry between her and an equally superb Jessica Henwick, as best friends whose backpacking adventure takes a detour into a kind of hell, doesn’t hit a false note. Yet despite the flawless performances and outstanding craftsmanship, The Royal Hotel is a pummeling experience rather than a revelatory one.
For her second narrative feature, and her first film set and filmed in her native Australia, Green was inspired by the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie, in which Pete Gleeson chronicles the...
- 9/3/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sylvester Stallone created a franchise that spawned from Rambo: First Blood. But he soon felt the iconic action hero was coming close to his end.
When Sylvester Stallone was going to kill off John Rambo Sylvester Stallone | Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Rambo: First Blood wasn’t supposed to be the beginning of a film series. The movie’s mercenary John Rambo was initially slated to die in the first movie, which would’ve been more in line with the source material. The film’s director, Ted Kotcheff, initially had no plans to tinker with Rambo’s natural conclusion.
“I conceived of First Blood as Rambo’s suicide mission,” Kotcheff said according to Yahoo. “The film was basically conceived as Rambo’s tragedy, that mirrored the tragedy of so many of the veterans that I talked to. I met guys that actually later on killed themselves. His tragedy mirrored their tragedy,...
When Sylvester Stallone was going to kill off John Rambo Sylvester Stallone | Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Rambo: First Blood wasn’t supposed to be the beginning of a film series. The movie’s mercenary John Rambo was initially slated to die in the first movie, which would’ve been more in line with the source material. The film’s director, Ted Kotcheff, initially had no plans to tinker with Rambo’s natural conclusion.
“I conceived of First Blood as Rambo’s suicide mission,” Kotcheff said according to Yahoo. “The film was basically conceived as Rambo’s tragedy, that mirrored the tragedy of so many of the veterans that I talked to. I met guys that actually later on killed themselves. His tragedy mirrored their tragedy,...
- 8/13/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The reaction was always the same. During my high school days, I must have seen “Wait Until Dark” five times during its theatrical release. Audrey Hepburn was appealing, of course, but the main attraction for me was Alan Arkin’s chilling portrayal of a psycho sadist who, in the course of reclaiming a misdirected heroin shipment, terrorizes a blind woman in her apartment. Late in the 1967 thriller, the distressed damsel temporarily gets the upper hand by stabbing her tormentor. But as she walks away, the psycho leaps back into her kitchen and grabs her ankle.
And every time he did this, every time I saw “Wait Until Dark,” people in the audience screamed. Really, really loudly. Like, louder than the folks around me in a theater seven years later during the first jump-scare in “Jaws.”
While reading the online obituaries and social media tributes as the sad news of Arkin’s death spread,...
And every time he did this, every time I saw “Wait Until Dark,” people in the audience screamed. Really, really loudly. Like, louder than the folks around me in a theater seven years later during the first jump-scare in “Jaws.”
While reading the online obituaries and social media tributes as the sad news of Arkin’s death spread,...
- 7/1/2023
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Rob Young, a Canadian sound mixer whose 40-year career in the industry included an Oscar nomination for his work on the Clint Eastwood best picture winner Unforgiven, has died. He was 76.
Young died June 11 in Albi, France, of complications from a fall in Morocco while on a food tour, his wife, Yvonne Young, announced.
Young also was nominated for BAFTA awards for Unforgiven (1992) and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), for a Cinema Audio Society prize for Joe Johnston’s Jumanji (1995), for a Genie Award for Phillip Borsos’ The Grey Fox (1983) and for a Golden Reel Award for Bryan Singer’s X2 (2003).
The New Brunswick native mixed Roxanne (1987) and The Russia House (1990) for director Fred Schepisi, the first two First Blood films in 1982 and ’85 for Ted Kotcheff and George P. Cosmatos, respectively, and the first two Night at the Museum movies for Shawn Levy in 2006 and ’09 (not to mention The Pink Panther...
Young died June 11 in Albi, France, of complications from a fall in Morocco while on a food tour, his wife, Yvonne Young, announced.
Young also was nominated for BAFTA awards for Unforgiven (1992) and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), for a Cinema Audio Society prize for Joe Johnston’s Jumanji (1995), for a Genie Award for Phillip Borsos’ The Grey Fox (1983) and for a Golden Reel Award for Bryan Singer’s X2 (2003).
The New Brunswick native mixed Roxanne (1987) and The Russia House (1990) for director Fred Schepisi, the first two First Blood films in 1982 and ’85 for Ted Kotcheff and George P. Cosmatos, respectively, and the first two Night at the Museum movies for Shawn Levy in 2006 and ’09 (not to mention The Pink Panther...
- 6/29/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nothing can look pretty gorgeous in widescreen, and there was quite a lot of it in the Australian New Wave of the '70s. The daunting expanse of the Outback provided the canvas for several classic films of the period, such as two masterpieces that were roughly analogous to the folk horror genre emerging in Britain around the same time: Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout" and Ted Kotcheff's controversial "Wake in Fright." In these movies, the stark setting created a dislocating sense that white settlers don't belong in such a harsh and humbling environment, adding to their aura of unease.
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
In 1999, the majority of the testosterone in the United States congregated in Miami, Florida to film Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday." After a pair of commercial disappointments in "Nixon" and "U-Turn," the two-time Oscar-winning director needed a hit, and John Logan's adrenalized football drama was roided-up with box-office potential. Once Stone landed Al Pacino for the role of the embattled head coach, every actor with an athletic physique wanted in.
Jamie Foxx was one of those guys. The comedic dynamo had established himself as a television star via "In Living Color" and "The Jamie Foxx Show," and co-starred with Tommy Davidson in the uproarious sleeper hit "Booty Call." But he wasn't perceived as a serious actor. If anything, he was on track to join the elite class of Martin Lawrence and Chris Tucker as a comedy superstar. This wasn't poverty. Far from it. Both men were guaranteed bank at the box office,...
Jamie Foxx was one of those guys. The comedic dynamo had established himself as a television star via "In Living Color" and "The Jamie Foxx Show," and co-starred with Tommy Davidson in the uproarious sleeper hit "Booty Call." But he wasn't perceived as a serious actor. If anything, he was on track to join the elite class of Martin Lawrence and Chris Tucker as a comedy superstar. This wasn't poverty. Far from it. Both men were guaranteed bank at the box office,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Ari Aster’s nearly-three hour journey Beau Is Afraid, described by the filmmaker himself as a “Jewish Lord of the Rings,” will arrive a bit earlier than expected. Now set to debut on April 14 in New York and LA before expanding wide the following week, including IMAX screens, we’ve received more context for what to expect thanks to a new series the director curated for Film at Lincoln Center.
Set to run April 14-20 at the NYC venue, selections include works by Alfred Hitchcock, Jiří Menzel, Guy Maddin, Albert Brooks, Nicholas Ray, Powell and Pressburger, Tsai Ming-liang, Jacques Tati, and more. “This eclectic and unexpected collection of masterworks drawn from seven decades of film history across a range of genres and production contexts sheds light on the inspirations and influences behind one of the most compelling directorial voices in Hollywood today,” notes the press release.
Aster also recently let...
Set to run April 14-20 at the NYC venue, selections include works by Alfred Hitchcock, Jiří Menzel, Guy Maddin, Albert Brooks, Nicholas Ray, Powell and Pressburger, Tsai Ming-liang, Jacques Tati, and more. “This eclectic and unexpected collection of masterworks drawn from seven decades of film history across a range of genres and production contexts sheds light on the inspirations and influences behind one of the most compelling directorial voices in Hollywood today,” notes the press release.
Aster also recently let...
- 3/30/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Bringing "First Blood" to the screen was just as grueling an ordeal as the events of the film itself. Now remembered as one of the best action movies of all time, the 1982 film cemented Sylvester Stallone's status as one of, if not the biggest, action star of the '80s. Its guerilla warfare action was buttressed by a script, adapted from David Morrell's 1972 novel which explored the lingering effects of the Vietnam war on Stallone's combat veteran, John Rambo. That socio-political consciousness would fade as a franchise emerged in the wake of "First Blood," but the initial movie remains a singular example of an action film going beyond the standard bombast and spectacle of the genre. It just took some serious effort to bring it to fruition.
The movie sees Rambo take on an entire Sheriff's department, the national guard, and state patrol in the woodland of Washington state.
The movie sees Rambo take on an entire Sheriff's department, the national guard, and state patrol in the woodland of Washington state.
- 2/26/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
One of the most fascinating elements of Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" series is how each movie is a reflection of where the star was at that moment in his career. Over the course of eight films (including the two "Creed" movies in which he appeared), Stallone is critically examining his success, be it skyrocketing to ludicrous extremes (in "Rocky III") or direly on the wane (in "Rocky V"). Though his private life is another, far more complicated matter, it's rare to see a massive celebrity wrestle so honestly with his public persona. He's leveling with us because he knows how much we love The Italian Stallion. You're rooting for both Stallone and Rocky to come out on top every time. Well, almost every time.
This is a lesson Sly learned in the immediate wake of "Rocky." There's no more emphatic validation of one's artistic vision than delivering the year's top-grossing...
This is a lesson Sly learned in the immediate wake of "Rocky." There's no more emphatic validation of one's artistic vision than delivering the year's top-grossing...
- 2/22/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
With Ronald Reagan coasting to a landslide reelection in 1984 via patriotic posturing and Cold War fear-mongering, the time was right for John Milius' "Red Dawn." This expertly crafted martial fantasy about the Soviet Union capitalizing on a global catastrophe to invade a geopolitically isolated United States made a killing at the box office thanks largely to teenagers who believed they could, via ingenuity and love for country, lead a guerilla resistance against the freedom-hating Commie horde.
I fell hard for it as a 10-year-old in 1984, and still love it as a strange, heartfelt relic of post-Vietnam confidence building. Americans were so desperate for a military victory that they puffed their chests out after the successful invasion of Grenada in 1983. Since we all knew that a toe-to-toe slugfest against the Ussr would likely result in nuclear armageddon, we had to get our ass-kicking wishes fulfilled at the multiplex. And so Milius...
I fell hard for it as a 10-year-old in 1984, and still love it as a strange, heartfelt relic of post-Vietnam confidence building. Americans were so desperate for a military victory that they puffed their chests out after the successful invasion of Grenada in 1983. Since we all knew that a toe-to-toe slugfest against the Ussr would likely result in nuclear armageddon, we had to get our ass-kicking wishes fulfilled at the multiplex. And so Milius...
- 1/27/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Whether you are pro-New Year's resolution or would much rather just see where 2023 takes you in the coming months, January will still bring with it a little bit of change. The first month of the year's list of titles set to make a disappearance from Netflix is relatively short this time around. Still, there are some real gems here — albeit some pretty campy ones — that we have to say our goodbyes to. And while we're probably all busy trying to squeeze in as many holiday-centric movies by the year's end (anyone want to talk about "Falling for Christmas"?), you might also want to try and squeeze in a couple of the things on this list in-between viewings of "Home Alone" and "Die Hard." Whether over-the-top action films or catty reality shows are your preferred guilty pleasure, there's something here for everyone to lament as we make our way into another year.
- 12/14/2022
- by Miyako Pleines
- Slash Film
Sylvester Stallone and the general filmgoing public seem to have very different views of John Rambo. Thanks to the bold, ultra-jingoistic attitudes of "Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Rambo III," the title character came to be, throughout the 1980s, a symbol for unstoppable American military might. Rambo was often seen charging shirtless into gunfire-heavy areas, heavy artillery draped around his body, firing bullets into anyone or anything that entered his field of vision.
This ultra-macho, military-forward vision of Rambo stands in direct contrast to Ted Kotcheff's 1982 original "First Blood," co-scripted by Stallone. In that film, Rambo is a depressed veteran, defeated by life and saddened by the deaths of his wartime compatriots. Rambo is then treated so badly by the local cops -- being mistreated is depicted as a symbol for veterans' plight -- that he "snaps" back into military mode, tragically becoming a solider again, kind of against his will.
This ultra-macho, military-forward vision of Rambo stands in direct contrast to Ted Kotcheff's 1982 original "First Blood," co-scripted by Stallone. In that film, Rambo is a depressed veteran, defeated by life and saddened by the deaths of his wartime compatriots. Rambo is then treated so badly by the local cops -- being mistreated is depicted as a symbol for veterans' plight -- that he "snaps" back into military mode, tragically becoming a solider again, kind of against his will.
- 11/7/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Ted Kotcheff's 1989 comedy "Weekend at Bernie's" was considered outrageous at the time. Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman play a pair of low-level insurance wonks who, in the course of their daily work, find a mysterious "mistake" on the books. It seems that someone has been committing fraud. When they take it to their boss Bernie (Terry Kiser), he invites them to his beach house as thanks for figuring it out. Bernie is, of course, the perpetrator and intends to murder them. Before he can, however, Bernie is killed by a vengeful mob boss (Bernie was sleeping with the mob boss' sister). When the McCarthy and Silverman characters arrive, they find Bernie dead, surmise that foul play is afoot, and figure they have to protect themselves from any further mob violence ... by pretending Bernie is still alive.
The bulk of the movie involves McCarthy and Silverman hoisting around a dead body,...
The bulk of the movie involves McCarthy and Silverman hoisting around a dead body,...
- 11/5/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Of the five films in the "Rambo" franchise, four of them are exactly what you expect. Sylvester Stallone, muscles glistening, killing bad guy after nameless bad guy in various cool ways. They have a reputation of some of the most definitively '80s action movies, and deservedly so.
The first movie in the franchise, "First Blood," is a very different movie, however. "First Blood'' is a much bleaker, less exciting movie. It's the tale of a veteran who returns home from Vietnam to a country that completely rejects him. Rambo's killing is not a cool skill but a wretched curse. It was meant to be a serious movie about how America treats its veterans as disposable tools, and Stallone actually found the reputation the series got pretty embarrassing.
Stallone co-wrote the film with director Ted Kotcheff, who brought Stallone in very intentionally as his lead. According to an interview with Filmmaker Magazine,...
The first movie in the franchise, "First Blood," is a very different movie, however. "First Blood'' is a much bleaker, less exciting movie. It's the tale of a veteran who returns home from Vietnam to a country that completely rejects him. Rambo's killing is not a cool skill but a wretched curse. It was meant to be a serious movie about how America treats its veterans as disposable tools, and Stallone actually found the reputation the series got pretty embarrassing.
Stallone co-wrote the film with director Ted Kotcheff, who brought Stallone in very intentionally as his lead. According to an interview with Filmmaker Magazine,...
- 10/22/2022
- by Matt Rainis
- Slash Film
The 1982 action thriller saw Sylvester Stallone play a wounded veteran with depth that was later betrayed by a series of xenophobic sequels
The original ending of First Blood had John Rambo, an ex-Special Forces super-soldier in Vietnam, pulling a gun from his mentor’s holster and asking him to pull the trigger: “You trained me. You made me. You kill me.” Finally surrounded after waging war against seemingly every armed man within Cb range in the Pacific north-west – a local police department, inept “weekend warriors” for the national guard, the US army – Rambo wants his Green Beret Geppetto to kill him rather than the strangers that don’t understand him. Moreover, he wants to be released from the pain he carries from a conflict that scarred him physically and mentally overseas and left him despised and unmoored at home. His mentor obliges.
Test audiences hated that ending. As did Kirk Douglas,...
The original ending of First Blood had John Rambo, an ex-Special Forces super-soldier in Vietnam, pulling a gun from his mentor’s holster and asking him to pull the trigger: “You trained me. You made me. You kill me.” Finally surrounded after waging war against seemingly every armed man within Cb range in the Pacific north-west – a local police department, inept “weekend warriors” for the national guard, the US army – Rambo wants his Green Beret Geppetto to kill him rather than the strangers that don’t understand him. Moreover, he wants to be released from the pain he carries from a conflict that scarred him physically and mentally overseas and left him despised and unmoored at home. His mentor obliges.
Test audiences hated that ending. As did Kirk Douglas,...
- 10/22/2022
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
John Rambo is a character who has permeated pop culture in more ways than one. He's become a stand-in for the stereotypical '80s action hero. He's a glistening, muscle-bound killer who will happily take out a village full of unspecific foreign stereotypes with a bazooka. For people who have never seen "First Blood," Rambo is just another stupid action hero.
But "First Blood" just isn't that type of movie. It's a slower, bleaker film, about a Vietnam veteran who returns home to a country that doesn't want him and refuses to help him. It's an anti-war movie beyond all else, and this was very much by design.
Of course, like with everything in Hollywood, success creatively corrupted the franchise. The second movie, "Rambo: First Blood Part II," was a far more action-packed affair, with Rambo going on a mission to save a bunch of POWs in Vietnam. Along the way,...
But "First Blood" just isn't that type of movie. It's a slower, bleaker film, about a Vietnam veteran who returns home to a country that doesn't want him and refuses to help him. It's an anti-war movie beyond all else, and this was very much by design.
Of course, like with everything in Hollywood, success creatively corrupted the franchise. The second movie, "Rambo: First Blood Part II," was a far more action-packed affair, with Rambo going on a mission to save a bunch of POWs in Vietnam. Along the way,...
- 10/18/2022
- by Matt Rainis
- Slash Film
‘The Black Phone’, Netflix’s ‘The Sea Beast’ also in cinemas.
Warner Bros’ Elvis is the headline act in 742 cinemas across the UK and Ireland this weekend – the latest post-pandemic title to break the 700-location barrier.
It usurps Top Gun: Maverick’s 737 screens from May as the fifth-widest opening of all time in the territory. Maverick took a sizeable £11.2m three-day opening, with £15.9m including preview days. It was up to £57.4m as of last weekend – the latest signifier of a successful post-pandemic box office recovery for blockbusters.
Elvis is the eighth post-pandemic title to open in more than 700 cinemas,...
Warner Bros’ Elvis is the headline act in 742 cinemas across the UK and Ireland this weekend – the latest post-pandemic title to break the 700-location barrier.
It usurps Top Gun: Maverick’s 737 screens from May as the fifth-widest opening of all time in the territory. Maverick took a sizeable £11.2m three-day opening, with £15.9m including preview days. It was up to £57.4m as of last weekend – the latest signifier of a successful post-pandemic box office recovery for blockbusters.
Elvis is the eighth post-pandemic title to open in more than 700 cinemas,...
- 6/24/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Rosie. F******g. Perez. We’ve been on a roll with films overshadowed by controversy lately, especially after witnessing the real-life kangaroo violence in Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright and the injuries sustained by the lead actress in Pascal Laugier’s Incident in a Ghostland (on top of a problematic queer killer). We’re keeping things similar this week as […]
The post Breaking Taboos With Rosie Perez in ‘Perdita Durango’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post Breaking Taboos With Rosie Perez in ‘Perdita Durango’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 6/6/2022
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
"Wake in Fright" is one of the most violent movies I've ever seen. I don't mean in terms of actual violent acts, because there are very few other than its most controversial scene, which we'll come to in a bit. I'm talking more about the tone, an atmosphere of latent aggression that made me want to duck for cover, as if someone was about to burst in at any moment and kick my head in.
The peculiarly unsettling vibe of Ted Kotcheff's blazing outback masterpiece has led many critics to call it a horror, but does it fit that genre? Well, if you think about...
The post The Controversial Australian Horror Movie That Was Almost Lost Forever appeared first on /Film.
The peculiarly unsettling vibe of Ted Kotcheff's blazing outback masterpiece has led many critics to call it a horror, but does it fit that genre? Well, if you think about...
The post The Controversial Australian Horror Movie That Was Almost Lost Forever appeared first on /Film.
- 6/3/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Ted Kotcheff's 1982 film "First Blood" may be noted for how downbeat it is. The lead character, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is a tragic figure, a Vietnam veteran who finds that another one of his friends has died, and, on the way out of town, is accosted by a cruel sheriff (Brian Dennehy) who threatens him with charges of vagrancy. That he is eventually badgered back into trauma-induced "war mode" is presented as a tragedy in "First Blood," and while John Rambo was described as an ultra-efficient killing machine for the government, the audience's ambivalence about the Vietnam War made his soldierly skill seem like a useless...
The post Sylvester Stallone Doesn't Think Audiences Ever Understood Rambo appeared first on /Film.
The post Sylvester Stallone Doesn't Think Audiences Ever Understood Rambo appeared first on /Film.
- 5/26/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Kangaroo Killjoys. After checking out the CreepyPasta-centric film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair a few weeks ago, we went back to Crystal Lake for the third time to check in with meta-Jason in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Now we’re heading Down Under to pick apart Ted Kotcheff‘s famed “lost film” Wake […]
The post On Masculinity and Kangaroo Hunting in the Ozploitation Classic ‘Wake in Fright’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post On Masculinity and Kangaroo Hunting in the Ozploitation Classic ‘Wake in Fright’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 5/23/2022
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
Cinematographer Stephen H. Burum will be honored at EnergaCamerimage with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Set to run in Torun, Poland, on Nov. 12-19, Camerimage, which focuses on films and cinematography, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.
Burum is best known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, which yielded such classics as “The Untouchables” (1987), a tale of the battle between good and evil; Vietnam War drama “Casualties of War” (1989); ”Carlito’s Way” (1993), which portrayed deep social divides; the iconic “Mission: Impossible” (1996); “Snake Eyes (1998); and “Mission to Mars” (2000).
His body of work also includes Joel Schumacher’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), Danny DeVito’s “The War of the Roses (1989), and Ken Kwapis’ and Marisa Silver’s “He Said, She Said” (1991).
Born in rural California in 1939 to a family of that owned and worked on several small newspapers, Burum became interested at an early age in film and shot his...
Set to run in Torun, Poland, on Nov. 12-19, Camerimage, which focuses on films and cinematography, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.
Burum is best known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, which yielded such classics as “The Untouchables” (1987), a tale of the battle between good and evil; Vietnam War drama “Casualties of War” (1989); ”Carlito’s Way” (1993), which portrayed deep social divides; the iconic “Mission: Impossible” (1996); “Snake Eyes (1998); and “Mission to Mars” (2000).
His body of work also includes Joel Schumacher’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), Danny DeVito’s “The War of the Roses (1989), and Ken Kwapis’ and Marisa Silver’s “He Said, She Said” (1991).
Born in rural California in 1939 to a family of that owned and worked on several small newspapers, Burum became interested at an early age in film and shot his...
- 5/5/2022
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Reid Miller (Joe Bell), Jonathan Silverman (Good Girls), Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer) and Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks) have signed on to star in the indie Feeling Randy, marking the solo directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Dean Lent.
The film inspired by Lent’s own youth follows Randy (Miller), who amid family turmoil, heads off with his high school buds on a road trip to uncover their emerging sexuality in 1970s California. Silverman and Moreau will play Randy’s parents, with Mulkey as his understanding teacher. Richard Riehle, Tyler Lawrence Gray, Kerrice Brooks, Shane Almagor, Blaine Kern III and O. Hibbs Wyman will round out the cast.
Lent penned the script, with Salome Breziner on board to produce under her Semblance banner. Production is underway in the Los Angeles area.
Miller is best known for starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s drama Joe Bell for Roadside Attractions.
The film inspired by Lent’s own youth follows Randy (Miller), who amid family turmoil, heads off with his high school buds on a road trip to uncover their emerging sexuality in 1970s California. Silverman and Moreau will play Randy’s parents, with Mulkey as his understanding teacher. Richard Riehle, Tyler Lawrence Gray, Kerrice Brooks, Shane Almagor, Blaine Kern III and O. Hibbs Wyman will round out the cast.
Lent penned the script, with Salome Breziner on board to produce under her Semblance banner. Production is underway in the Los Angeles area.
Miller is best known for starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s drama Joe Bell for Roadside Attractions.
- 3/21/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The character John Rambo has appeared in five Sylvester Stallone films, and during his heyday as an '80s action icon, he even had his own animated series and toy line. However, if "First Blood" director Ted Kotcheff had gone with his original plan, Rambo might have been a one-and-done.
Quentin Tarantino isn't the only filmmaker who's envisioned a Rambo movie that would be closer to David Morrell's novel, "First Blood." In the book and Kotcheff's 1982 film adaptation, Rambo is a troubled Vietnam vet who wanders into a small town and faces persecution from the local sheriff.
As Kotcheff told Entertainment Weekly, "The quintessential American town Rambo finds himself in was emblematic of...
The post The Dark Rambo Alternate Ending You Likely Haven't Seen appeared first on /Film.
Quentin Tarantino isn't the only filmmaker who's envisioned a Rambo movie that would be closer to David Morrell's novel, "First Blood." In the book and Kotcheff's 1982 film adaptation, Rambo is a troubled Vietnam vet who wanders into a small town and faces persecution from the local sheriff.
As Kotcheff told Entertainment Weekly, "The quintessential American town Rambo finds himself in was emblematic of...
The post The Dark Rambo Alternate Ending You Likely Haven't Seen appeared first on /Film.
- 11/4/2021
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
The U.S. lineup at Mubi next month has been unveiled, featuring films by Claude Chabrol, Paulo Rocha, Ulrich Köhler, and more. Notable new releases include Pedro Costa’s striking Locarno winner Vitalina Varela as well as the Julia Fox-led Pvt Chat (check out our extensive interview with director Ben Hozie here.).
As part of their series Thrills, Chills, and Exquisite Horrors, the Martin Scorsese favorite Wake in Fright joins Mubi, along with Fabrice Du Welz’s Alleluia, Nicolas Winding Refn’s underseen Fear X, and Ben Wheatley’s trippy A Field in England.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
October 1 | Alléluia | Fabrice Du Welz | Thrills, Chills, and Exquisite Horrors
October 2 | Styx | Wolfgang Fischer
October 3 | The Green Years | Paulo Rocha | Double Bill: Paulo Rocha
October 4 | Change of Life | Paulo Rocha | Double Bill: Paulo Rocha
October 5 | Your Day Is My Night | Lynne Sachs
October 6 | Hey, You!
As part of their series Thrills, Chills, and Exquisite Horrors, the Martin Scorsese favorite Wake in Fright joins Mubi, along with Fabrice Du Welz’s Alleluia, Nicolas Winding Refn’s underseen Fear X, and Ben Wheatley’s trippy A Field in England.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
October 1 | Alléluia | Fabrice Du Welz | Thrills, Chills, and Exquisite Horrors
October 2 | Styx | Wolfgang Fischer
October 3 | The Green Years | Paulo Rocha | Double Bill: Paulo Rocha
October 4 | Change of Life | Paulo Rocha | Double Bill: Paulo Rocha
October 5 | Your Day Is My Night | Lynne Sachs
October 6 | Hey, You!
- 9/21/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Rockaway Film Festival in Queens, N.Y. has announced its 2021 lineup for the Sept. 12-19 edition.
Coinciding with the opening of a new outdoor theater, the first in Rockaway in over 20 years, the festival will play 12 feature films and 38 short films with a focus on highlighting filmmakers from the Rockaway Peninsula and elsewhere in New York City. 2021 Sundance standouts like Jane Schoenbrun’s “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta” and Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” will be featured, as well as a short film from King called “Mulignans.” On top of the newer films presented, the lineup also includes several older films, such as Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film “The Watermelon Woman” and Ted Kotcheff’s 1989 film “Weekend at Bernie’s,” plus the 24-hour loop of the film cut by Jon Dieringer.
The feature lineup is below.
Features
“Sam and Mattie Make a Zombie Movie,...
Coinciding with the opening of a new outdoor theater, the first in Rockaway in over 20 years, the festival will play 12 feature films and 38 short films with a focus on highlighting filmmakers from the Rockaway Peninsula and elsewhere in New York City. 2021 Sundance standouts like Jane Schoenbrun’s “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta” and Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” will be featured, as well as a short film from King called “Mulignans.” On top of the newer films presented, the lineup also includes several older films, such as Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film “The Watermelon Woman” and Ted Kotcheff’s 1989 film “Weekend at Bernie’s,” plus the 24-hour loop of the film cut by Jon Dieringer.
The feature lineup is below.
Features
“Sam and Mattie Make a Zombie Movie,...
- 9/3/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
“What’s the matter with him? He’d rather talk to a woman than drink?”
Golden Anniversaries, which is co-presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) and the St. Louis Public Library, features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This fourth edition of the event will highlight films from 1971
Monday, April 12th at 7:30pm – Wake In Fright. Intro and discussion by Andrew Wyatt, editor of and film critic for Cinema St. Louis’ blog, The Lens.
Find streaming options on JustWatch
Sign up for the discussion on Eventive
Wake In Fright is a terrifying horror film from 1971 starring Donald Pleasance and directed by Ted Kotcheff . Wake In Fright was based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel Wake in Fright. Gary Bond plays a naive young Australian teacher who is tragically unprepared for his new position in the outback. The community he has been sent to is populated almost exclusively by amoral, primitive toughs,...
Golden Anniversaries, which is co-presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) and the St. Louis Public Library, features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This fourth edition of the event will highlight films from 1971
Monday, April 12th at 7:30pm – Wake In Fright. Intro and discussion by Andrew Wyatt, editor of and film critic for Cinema St. Louis’ blog, The Lens.
Find streaming options on JustWatch
Sign up for the discussion on Eventive
Wake In Fright is a terrifying horror film from 1971 starring Donald Pleasance and directed by Ted Kotcheff . Wake In Fright was based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel Wake in Fright. Gary Bond plays a naive young Australian teacher who is tragically unprepared for his new position in the outback. The community he has been sent to is populated almost exclusively by amoral, primitive toughs,...
- 4/9/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Above: US 30" x 40" poster for The Black Bird. Art by Drew Struzan.As you might be able to tell from the name-above-the-title tagline above, George Segal, who died last month at the age of 87, was a big deal in the 1970s. By the ’90s, when I started getting into the films of both Segal and his one-time co-star and fellow traveler Elliott Gould, both of these New York-born Jewish superstars of the ’70s had been reduced to playing sitcom fathers on TV: Gould in Friends and Segal in Just Shoot Me. (And by the 2010s Segal was best known as a sitcom grandfather on The Goldbergs.) But Segal’s films in particular have not survived well in the public memory, perhaps because he devoted his career mostly to comedy and a kind of dark, sophisticated relationship comedy at that. California Split, the film he made with Gould for Robert Altman...
- 4/2/2021
- MUBI
Jane Fonda felt the scene as written would be flat, and the camera was about to roll. “I’m going to play it while peeing on the toilet,” she suddenly told her co-star, George Segal. The surprised Segal paused for a moment, gulped, then promptly re-created his dialogue, embellishing the exchange and the scene moved forward and with greater energy.
The year was 1979, the movie Fun with Dick and Jane, and the studio later tried to kill the scene — until discovering that test audiences applauded it. The moment was classic Fonda but also classic Segal, an actor who, over a long career, always found ways to enhance the performances of his remarkable co-stars, from Barbra Streisand to Elizabeth Taylor, while also helping filmmakers deliver hits.
Segal, who died this week at age 87, was a gracious, thoughtful man, who, while a star for over 60 years, never resorted to bluster or name-dropping.
The year was 1979, the movie Fun with Dick and Jane, and the studio later tried to kill the scene — until discovering that test audiences applauded it. The moment was classic Fonda but also classic Segal, an actor who, over a long career, always found ways to enhance the performances of his remarkable co-stars, from Barbra Streisand to Elizabeth Taylor, while also helping filmmakers deliver hits.
Segal, who died this week at age 87, was a gracious, thoughtful man, who, while a star for over 60 years, never resorted to bluster or name-dropping.
- 3/26/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
It immediately says something about the differences between Jean Cocteau’s brilliant 1928 dramatic monologue The Human Voice — as first put on screen in 1948 by Roberto Rossellini with the immortal Anna Magnani — and Pedro Almodovar’s new version of it starring Tilda Swinton, that the latter features six costume changes within the first six minutes, while the original was content with a single drab bit of wardrobe.
There are few single-character pieces of 20th century theater as mesmerizing and emotionally intricate as Cocteau’s soliloquy in which a woman spends a half-hour on the phone with her lover coping with the devastating news that he’s about to marry someone else. Swinton indisputably belongs in the select group of actresses who could pull this off, but the ever-arresting Spanish director, in his first English-language outing, is preoccupied with other issues as well, notably the notion of the fine, if not (for...
There are few single-character pieces of 20th century theater as mesmerizing and emotionally intricate as Cocteau’s soliloquy in which a woman spends a half-hour on the phone with her lover coping with the devastating news that he’s about to marry someone else. Swinton indisputably belongs in the select group of actresses who could pull this off, but the ever-arresting Spanish director, in his first English-language outing, is preoccupied with other issues as well, notably the notion of the fine, if not (for...
- 1/16/2021
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Golden Anniversaries, which is co-presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) and the St. Louis Public Library, features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This fourth edition of the event will highlight films from 1971.
Because in-person screenings remain problematic during the pandemic, Cinema St. Louis will hold free online conversations on the films, with people watching the films on their own but gathering virtually to discuss them.
Film critics, film academics, and filmmakers will offer introductory remarks and then participate in discussions about the films. In addition to a fine selection of St. Louis critics, Golden Anniversaries will feature several experts from elsewhere.
The conversations will be offered as free livestreams at 7:30 Pm on the second Monday of every month in 2021 except November, when the St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) hopes to feature several in-person Golden Anniversaries selections.
The first four discussions are already scheduled:
Jan. 11: Peter Bogdanovich...
Because in-person screenings remain problematic during the pandemic, Cinema St. Louis will hold free online conversations on the films, with people watching the films on their own but gathering virtually to discuss them.
Film critics, film academics, and filmmakers will offer introductory remarks and then participate in discussions about the films. In addition to a fine selection of St. Louis critics, Golden Anniversaries will feature several experts from elsewhere.
The conversations will be offered as free livestreams at 7:30 Pm on the second Monday of every month in 2021 except November, when the St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) hopes to feature several in-person Golden Anniversaries selections.
The first four discussions are already scheduled:
Jan. 11: Peter Bogdanovich...
- 1/7/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo series is one of the more durable franchises in American cinema, which is somewhat surprising given that it didn’t really find its voice until its fourth installment and began with a film that didn’t lend itself to sequels at all. First Blood, which Ted Kotcheff directed from a script by Stallone, Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim in 1982, is a stand-alone action classic, an elegant and austere survival film in which Vietnam vet John Rambo takes on the town that wronged him without killing a single person. Stallone made up for First Blood’s low body count with […]
The post Rambo: Last Blood and Play Misty for Me: Jim Hemphill's Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Rambo: Last Blood and Play Misty for Me: Jim Hemphill's Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/30/2020
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo series is one of the more durable franchises in American cinema, which is somewhat surprising given that it didn’t really find its voice until its fourth installment and began with a film that didn’t lend itself to sequels at all. First Blood, which Ted Kotcheff directed from a script by Stallone, Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim in 1982, is a stand-alone action classic, an elegant and austere survival film in which Vietnam vet John Rambo takes on the town that wronged him without killing a single person. Stallone made up for First Blood’s low body count with […]
The post Rambo: Last Blood and Play Misty for Me: Jim Hemphill's Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Rambo: Last Blood and Play Misty for Me: Jim Hemphill's Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/30/2020
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Just start shooting.” That was the advice the legendary A.C. Lyles delivered to young filmmakers when they asked him how he managed to produce five films every year. “Don’t waste your time waiting for some nameless executive to give you the green light,” Lyles told them.
His approach was problematic, but in today’s stalled pandemic economy, it makes perverse sense. Two young female filmmakers successfully pursued his tactic this year with festival-winning results that might inspire others to follow suit. So did a distinguished 87-year-old director who has finished shooting his new film built around two veteran stars, ages 82 and 90.
In both cases, the filmmakers knew the odds were stacked against them – too much experience on one side, too little on the other. They thus decided not to wait in vain for a studio green light, instead scratching together their resources until they could finally shout, “Action!”
The films,...
His approach was problematic, but in today’s stalled pandemic economy, it makes perverse sense. Two young female filmmakers successfully pursued his tactic this year with festival-winning results that might inspire others to follow suit. So did a distinguished 87-year-old director who has finished shooting his new film built around two veteran stars, ages 82 and 90.
In both cases, the filmmakers knew the odds were stacked against them – too much experience on one side, too little on the other. They thus decided not to wait in vain for a studio green light, instead scratching together their resources until they could finally shout, “Action!”
The films,...
- 10/29/2020
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Mac Davis, whose music career included recording 20 albums, writing the Elvis Presley hit “In The Ghetto” and starring in films like North Dallas Forty with Nick Nolte and on his own TV show, died Thursday in Nashville. He was 78.
His manager and longtime fried Jim Morey said Davis died after complications from a recent heart surgery.
The Lubbock, Texas-born Davis recorded 20 albums and charted 40 singles and was as prolific a songwriter, with song titles to his credit including “In the Ghetto” and “A Little Less Conversation,” both made famous by Elvis Presley. Other Elvis hits included “Memories” and “Don’t Cry Daddy.” Davis’ songs also included “I Believe in Music,” “Something’s Burning,” “It’s Hard to Be Humble.”
His own singing career took off with another of his own songs, “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” which rose to No. 1 on the pop charts which earned him a...
His manager and longtime fried Jim Morey said Davis died after complications from a recent heart surgery.
The Lubbock, Texas-born Davis recorded 20 albums and charted 40 singles and was as prolific a songwriter, with song titles to his credit including “In the Ghetto” and “A Little Less Conversation,” both made famous by Elvis Presley. Other Elvis hits included “Memories” and “Don’t Cry Daddy.” Davis’ songs also included “I Believe in Music,” “Something’s Burning,” “It’s Hard to Be Humble.”
His own singing career took off with another of his own songs, “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” which rose to No. 1 on the pop charts which earned him a...
- 9/30/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s safe to say that the world is a bit weird right now. Much to some people’s surprise, horror movies can often be a way for fans to make sense of things and confront their fears in a safe space. Streaming service Shudder offers a large array of horror movies, TV shows, and even podcasts covering the full spectrum of the macabre. But how do you know where to start?
We’ve put together a guide to some of the best films the service has to offer. The Shudder catalogue is always growing and changing so we’ll keep this updated – head back for the latest additions and new suggestions.
(All entries are available in both UK and US unless stated otherwise!)
Hammer The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Only Available In The US
After literally decades in which the classic Hammer Films library of horror titles was often difficult to see,...
We’ve put together a guide to some of the best films the service has to offer. The Shudder catalogue is always growing and changing so we’ll keep this updated – head back for the latest additions and new suggestions.
(All entries are available in both UK and US unless stated otherwise!)
Hammer The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Only Available In The US
After literally decades in which the classic Hammer Films library of horror titles was often difficult to see,...
- 9/26/2020
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
“The title of the series refers to statelessness in a more poetic sense,” explains Cate Blanchett, creator of six part Australian drama Stateless, the latest acquisition for Netflix, which originally aired on ABC, Australia’s national broadcaster. It also, of course, refers to some of the inhabitants of the immigrant detainee center at the heart of the show – many of whom are refugees who can’t be returned to country where they held citizenship.
It’s a weighty but accessible drama that would have felt at home on Channel 4 in the UK – HBO in the States – with a distinct Aussie flavor, elevated by excellent performances from the high quality and high profile cast.
The show focuses on four main characters. Sofie Werner (The Hand Maid’s Tale star Yvonne Strahovski) is an Australian citizen suffering severe mental health issues triggered by trauma experienced while she was part of a cult.
It’s a weighty but accessible drama that would have felt at home on Channel 4 in the UK – HBO in the States – with a distinct Aussie flavor, elevated by excellent performances from the high quality and high profile cast.
The show focuses on four main characters. Sofie Werner (The Hand Maid’s Tale star Yvonne Strahovski) is an Australian citizen suffering severe mental health issues triggered by trauma experienced while she was part of a cult.
- 7/9/2020
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
As much as we adore and revere the theatrical experience, as theater chains prep to reopen amidst a virus that is spreading rapidly in certain areas of the country, one is far better off staying at home and enjoying films from around the world. There’s no better place to do that than The Criterion Channel, and now they’ve unveiled their July lineup.
Coming to the channel next month are retrospectives dedicated to the stellar early films of Atom Egoyan, works by Miranda July, films featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto scores, Olympic films (including their recent release Tokyo Olympiad), plus Kelly Reichardt’s masterful Certain Women, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô (coming soon to disc with Scorsese’s next World Cinema Project release), Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, and much more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
Coming to the channel next month are retrospectives dedicated to the stellar early films of Atom Egoyan, works by Miranda July, films featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto scores, Olympic films (including their recent release Tokyo Olympiad), plus Kelly Reichardt’s masterful Certain Women, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô (coming soon to disc with Scorsese’s next World Cinema Project release), Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, and much more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
- 6/26/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Hilary Heath, the star opposite Vincent Price in a series of American International Pictures horror films, died last week of Covid-19 complications. She was 74 and her death was confirmed by a post from her godson, Alex Williams, on Facebook.
Heath, a British actress, appeared in the films Witchfinder General, The Oblong Box and Cry of the Banshee as a mistress, daughter and wife foil to Price.
More from DeadlineDiane Rodriguez Dies: Actress, Playwright, Director, Producer In La Theater Was 58Nobuhiko Obayashi Dies: Influential Japanese Filmmaker Succumbs To Cancer At Age 82.Charles Gregory Ross Dies Of Covid-19: Ava DuVernay, Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Viola Davis And More Pay Tribute To Legendary Hairstylist
Her resume includes Ted Kotcheff’s Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), and in a 1970 adaptation of Wuthering Heights featuring Timothy Dalton, wherein she portrayed Isabella.
Heath became a producer after retiring from acting, producing Mike Newell’s An Awfully Big Adventure...
Heath, a British actress, appeared in the films Witchfinder General, The Oblong Box and Cry of the Banshee as a mistress, daughter and wife foil to Price.
More from DeadlineDiane Rodriguez Dies: Actress, Playwright, Director, Producer In La Theater Was 58Nobuhiko Obayashi Dies: Influential Japanese Filmmaker Succumbs To Cancer At Age 82.Charles Gregory Ross Dies Of Covid-19: Ava DuVernay, Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Viola Davis And More Pay Tribute To Legendary Hairstylist
Her resume includes Ted Kotcheff’s Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), and in a 1970 adaptation of Wuthering Heights featuring Timothy Dalton, wherein she portrayed Isabella.
Heath became a producer after retiring from acting, producing Mike Newell’s An Awfully Big Adventure...
- 4/11/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Above: French grande for Long Weekend. Artist Léo Kouper.Update: Sadly, because of coronavirus precautions closing down all of Lincoln Center yesterday, this series has been cancelled. It may only ever exist in poster form.One of the most interesting and eclectic New York repertory series in many a moon starts today at Film at Lincoln Center. Titled “Mapping Bacurau,” the series has been handpicked by filmmakers Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles to highlight the varied cinematic influences behind their current arthouse-meets-grindhouse sensation. The result is a baker’s dozen of eccentric horror movies, spaghetti westerns, revenge saga,s and essential texts of the Cinema Novo movement. Having art directed the U.S. poster for Bacurau with illustrator Tony Stella and designer Midnight Marauder, it was fascinating to see how the posters for these films had echoes in our final design, even if only coincidentally. One of which was...
- 3/13/2020
- MUBI
Juliano Dornelles on Michael in Bacurau: “When Udo Kier’s character said to the outsiders about the Brazilian collaborators, ‘They don’t speak Brazilian here.’ Brazilian, it’s not a name.”
In celebration of the theatrical release of Bacurau in New York, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles will present Mapping Bacurau, a program of films that include John Sayles’s Lone Star,; Colin Eggleston’s Long Weekend; Paul Morrissey’s Blood For Dracula; 70mm print of John Carpenter’s Starman; Ted Kotcheff’s Wake In Fright, and a 4K restoration of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man: The Final Cut.
Kleber Mendonça Filho with Juliano Dornelles on Bacurau: “The horses for us is a very interesting marker that this is a Western. They’re beautiful animals, the way they move.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bacurau, shot by Pedro Sotero, edited by Eduardo Serrano, costumes by Rita Azevedo, with a.
In celebration of the theatrical release of Bacurau in New York, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles will present Mapping Bacurau, a program of films that include John Sayles’s Lone Star,; Colin Eggleston’s Long Weekend; Paul Morrissey’s Blood For Dracula; 70mm print of John Carpenter’s Starman; Ted Kotcheff’s Wake In Fright, and a 4K restoration of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man: The Final Cut.
Kleber Mendonça Filho with Juliano Dornelles on Bacurau: “The horses for us is a very interesting marker that this is a Western. They’re beautiful animals, the way they move.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bacurau, shot by Pedro Sotero, edited by Eduardo Serrano, costumes by Rita Azevedo, with a.
- 2/23/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Marrakech Film Festival’s nine-person jury, presided by British actor Tilda Swinton, held a press conference on Saturday morning, in which the jury members talked about their difficult task choosing the best film from the Official Competition of 12 first films and two second films. The Etoile d’Or will be announced during the closing ceremony on Saturday, December 7.
Swinton noted: “Art can never be a competition. This is more like a gathering. We all have the privilege to put on our psychic pajamas and sit together and perhaps find a gem and shed a little light on it. It’s not about saying that one film is better than the others.”
Given the global representativeness of the 14 films, which come from all around the world, the jury emphasized that the festival is about the interlinks between different cultures rather than vaunting an idea of national cinema.
Swinton said: “I am...
Swinton noted: “Art can never be a competition. This is more like a gathering. We all have the privilege to put on our psychic pajamas and sit together and perhaps find a gem and shed a little light on it. It’s not about saying that one film is better than the others.”
Given the global representativeness of the 14 films, which come from all around the world, the jury emphasized that the festival is about the interlinks between different cultures rather than vaunting an idea of national cinema.
Swinton said: “I am...
- 11/30/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
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