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Joe Don Baker, the broad-shouldered Texas tough guy who portrayed characters on both sides of the law, most notably Sheriff Buford Pusser in the unexpected box-office hit Walking Tall, died May 7, his family announced. He was 89.

Baker first attracted mainstream attention in 1972 when he starred as the younger, business-minded brother of an aging Arizona rodeo rider (Steve McQueen) in Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner (1972), then portrayed a sadistic mob hitman named Molly in Don Siegel’s Charley Varrick (1973), starring Walter Matthau.

In James Bond films, the 6-foot-3 Baker played a villain, the megalomaniacal arms dealer Brad Whitaker, in The Living Daylights (1987), starring Timothy Dalton as 007, then returned as a good guy, CIA agent Jack Wade, opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1995 and ’97 movies GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, respectively.

As former professional wrestler Pusser — based on a real-life sheriff who cleaned up crime in his Tennessee town — Baker survives a series...

A state of the industry keynote is supposed to give a holistic view: Where do things stand across multiple fronts? By design, they can come across as glorified lists in speech form, comprised of scattershot bullet points, with the ultimate takeaway meant to be the sum of all the parts previously discussed.

“Number One on the Call Sheet,” the two-part documentary event on Apple TV+ devoted to assessing the opportunities and challenges for Black actors in Hollywood past and present, is a state of the industry keynote in cinematic form. Not exemplary for anything about its form or innovation, it succeeds like any good keynote: through sheer addition. This is as impressive a rundown of talent in a non-fiction project as you’re likely to see this year, even if they’re all just presented as talking heads.

But what talking heads. In the first half, directed by Reginald Hudlin...

Anna Wintour announced today that the fourth annual Vogue World will take place in Hollywood on October 26 at the Paramount Pictures Studio Lot. Celebrating the “conversation between film and fashion,” 100% of the ticket proceeds will go to the Entertainment Community fund, with a focus on supporting costuming professionals impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.

“Vogue World: Hollywood will be a one-night-only show with a huge cast of models and actors, dancers, musicians and surprises, and it will set great film costumes next to brilliant fashion collections,” said Wintour. “By mixing fashion with the arts and culture in the center of a city, and by raising funds for a cause, Vogue World has become a runway show-as-rallying cry, a way to fix the attention of a huge global audience, to bring awareness, and sound an unmistakable note of positivity, creativity, and hope.”

This year’s event will feature contributions from costume...

The 1970s is arguably the greatest decade in cinema history, at least in terms of American cinema. Aside from the New Hollywood movement giving rise to many of the most legendary filmmakers audiences know today, there was also an abundance of great movies coming out in various genres. In most cases, there are up-and-coming actors and directors working together to make a great film. Sometimes, Classical Hollywood era directors would make a film here and there that audiences really enjoy but then go on to forget. It's not as though these films aren't great; it's just that there were so many iconic films coming out during the decade, that a few gems would get left behind in peoples' memories. More often than not, these films would team up a rising star with a respected director and the result would be pure gold. However, because the big new names weren't attached,...

The trailer for Formula 1: Drive to Survive season seven is finally here!

Netflix unveiled the full trailer for the upcoming new season, which chronicles the on and off track antics of the 2024 F1 season.

This season of the behind-the-scenes TV series will see “familiar faces make a comeback, team stalwarts defect to arch rivals, and new champions emerge in one of Formula One’s most tumultuous seasons yet.”

Keep reading to find out more…

Here’s a full synopsis: Offering unprecedented access, this new season will once again take fans behind the scenes, to witness first-hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2024 Fia Formula 1 World Championship. The series will offer never-before-seen footage as we follow new team lineups, management takedowns, fierce friendships and bitter rivalries of another high-octane season on the Formula 1 circuit.

Formula 1: Drive to Survive will debut all 10 episodes Next Friday,...

Film enthusiasts have much to anticipate in May with a captivating lineup of releases that span various genres and eras for the estimable Criterion Collection.

This bespoke DVD/Blu-Ray label’s eclectic selection for May includes three new films never part of the collection before Charles Burnett’s classic black-slice-of-life street poetry film, “Killer of Sheep,”—often described as very Terry Malick in tone— Abbas Kiarostami’s “The Wind Will Carry Us,” and Richard Lester’s “The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers.”

Read More: Criterion’s April Releases Include ‘Anora,’ ‘Chungking Express,’ ‘Some Like It Hot’ & More

Previously released titles either long out of print or upgraded into new editions include Bruce Robinson’s “Withnail and I” and “How to Get Ahead in Advertising,” Jacques Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” and Norman Jewison’s “In the Heat of the Night.” These films offer a unique glimpse into the artistry...

Marking one of their biggest upgrade months yet, the Criterion Collection is consecrating May 2025 with new 4K editions for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, In the Heat of the Night, and (reaching well back into the library) Withnail and I, running a gamut from opulent, fantastical color to solid 60s-studio sheen to the outright gnarly.

Meanwhile, Charles Burnett‘s legendary Killer of Sheep is given a major upgrade as Richard Lester’s Three Musketeers / Four Musketeers duet also earns full honors. Which should not distract from Abbas Kiarostami’s epochal The Wind Will Carry Us coming to Blu-ray, nor the same for another Bruce Robinson-Richard E. Grant collaboration, How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

See artwork below and more at Criterion:

The post The Criterion Collection’s May Lineup Features The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on 4K, The Wind Will Carry Us & More first appeared on The Film Stage.

After the Egot died at age 91 earlier this month, Quincy Jones‘ cause of death has been determined.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health revealed in Jones’ death certificate that he died of pancreatic cancer, with no other contributing factors, according to TMZ.

Jones’ publicist Arnold Robinson previously announced that he died on Sunday, Nov. 3 at his Bel-Air home.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” said Jones’ family in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

The musician, composer, producer and songwriter was behind such Michael Jackson albums as Thriller, Off the Wall (1980), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987), as well as decades of work with Frank Sinatra, conducting his and Count Basie’s It Might as...

By the time the curtain rang down on CBS’ “The Judy Garland Show” on March 29, 1964, the musical variety show had, in just one season, three producers and three different formats. Despite good reviews from critics and Judy Garland’s devoted fan base, the series wasn’t felled by the mercurial Garland being difficult but by the Cartwrights — Ben, Little Joe, Adam, and Hoss — of NBC’s ratings powerhouse “Bonanza.”

Though “The Judy Garland Show” was cancelled after one season, it certainly has lived on over the past six decades. The show was included in TV Guide’s 2013 list of 60 series that were “Cancelled Too Soon.” It certainly was the series that got away. Not only was the mercurial Garland in top (and emotional) voice, but the show also featured a powerhouse of guest stars from her frequent leading man Mickey Rooney, Ray Bolger from “The Wizard of Oz” and newcomers such as Barbra Streisand.

True Detective shows hints of greatness but ultimately borrows heavily from better films, books, and thinkers. Rust Cohle, the standout character, was the first embodiment of the series' tendency to steal its greatest moments. Each season of True Detective draws inspiration from different genres and sources, often resulting in a watered-down imitation. Especially season four.

Pretty much every artist steals. Culture is an ongoing communication between people across centuries and countries; it's a dialogue between artists of the past and present. It's a dialectical process in which things are imitated, mixed with different copies, and eventually become something different. But there's a line between simply being unoriginal (most art is to varying degrees) and being egregiously parasitic, taking far more than it gives and without any credit. It's the difference between a paraphrase and copying a quotation without citation. That's the line True Detective walks.

For many of us, True Detective...

Since the beginning of the Academy Awards in the late 1920s, Hollywood filmmakers have been making socially conscious films. Many of the best of those have scored the film town’s top honor — Oscar best picture.

This year, that winner could be “Oppenheimer,” a film that boldly and starkly dramatizes the creation of man’s most dangerous invention: atomic weapons.

It could be “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a film that brought a lost and dreadful piece of American history into the sunlight of the Cannes Film Festival and ultimately the spotlights of awards season.

It could be either “Barbie” or “Poor Things,” two of the wildest, most colorful and inventive investigations of feminist and/or post-feminist womanhood to ever hit the big screen.

It could be “American Fiction,” a wry and witty look at Black American middle-class identity and family relations under preposterous, dispiriting cultural pressures.

But will the...

Carl Weathers, the actor who starred as boxer Apollo Creed in the Rocky series in addition to memorable roles in Predator, Happy Gilmore, and The Mandalorian, died at the age of 76.

Weathers’ family confirmed the actor’s death in a statement to Deadline, noting he died “peacefully in his sleep” Thursday.

“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said in a statement. “Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he...

Carl Weathers, the former NFL player who made his mark in Hollywood as the boxer Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films and with appearances in such other projects as Predator, Happy Gilmore and The Mandalorian, has died. He was 76.

Weathers died Thursday in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, his manager, Matt Luber, announced in a statement.

“Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life,” he said. “Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner and friend.”

The charismatic Weathers portrayed Detective Beaudreaux on the 1991-93 syndicated cop show Street Justice; the chief of police Hampton Forbes on the final two seasons of CBS’ In the Heat of the Night in 1992-94; a caricature of himself on episodes of Fox...

Actor Carl Weathers, who had popular roles in the Rocky, Predator, and Star Wars franchises, has died.

Per Deadline, it's been reported that Carl Weathers has passed away. His passing was confirmed by his family with a statement, and although a specific cause of death was not divulged, it's noted that the actor died in his sleep. Weathers was 76 years old.

“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” the statement reads. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”

Carl Weathers was born on Jan. 14, 1948. After attending college at San Diego State University, Weathers would try his hand at football...

Carl Weathers, best known for playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky films, among countless other projects, died Thursday, according to a statement from his family. He was 76 years old.

The statement, obtained by our sister site Deadline, reads: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers. He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather,...

Get ready to watch more Freevee this February! Most of the free streamer's new additions will come all at once on the first of the month, including the three-time Oscar nominee "A Soldier’s Story" directed by the recently departed Norman Jewison, the franchise-launching "How to Train Your Dragon," and more classics of the past four decades.

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for Freevee’s February additions, and continue below to see the full list!

Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Freevee in February 2024? “A Soldier’s Story” | Thursday, Feb. 1

Early-career Denzel Washington appears in a supporting role in this Oscar-nominated adaptation of Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play.” But it’s Howard E. Rollings Jr. who leads the cast here as Captain Richard Davenport, a Black Army investigator who travels to a remote military base to look into...

One of the silver screen's most celebrated stars, Sidney Poitier was able to imbue each one of his characters with a righteous blend of sensitivity and quiet strength. Perhaps most famous for his memorable portrayal of Sgt Virgil Tibbs alongside Rod Steiger (who won an Oscar) in the late Norman Jewison's groundbreaking In the Heat of the Night, Poitier was able to captivate audiences time and time again with his easy charisma, layered performance style, and measured speech. In 1988, after over a decade on the sidelines, Poitier donned the badge again and partnered up with Tom Berenger,who was nominated for an Oscar in Platoon, to play FBI Agent Warren Stantin in one of the truly great action thrillers of the late 80s.

Norman Jewison made movies that mattered.

“Timing is everything,” the director told me the one time we met. I’d been enlisted to host a long Q&a with Jewison at the American Cinematheque — and I was more than a little intimidated.

From “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” in 1966 to “Other People’s Money” in 1991, Jewison had an astonishing quarter-century run behind the camera, directing movies that impacted the culture when they came out (none more than “In the Heat of the Night”), a great many of which are still watched today. Turns out, this legendary talent couldn’t have been sweeter.

Jewison liked to tell the story of how he met Bobby Kennedy before making the landmark Sidney Poitier picture. He and Kennedy crossed paths while on vacation skiing, where both of their kids wound up in the hospital.

Still developing “In the Heat of the Night” at the time,...

Norman Jewison, the Canadian multiple Oscar nominee and director of such classics as In The Heat Of The Night and Moonstruck, has died. He was 97.

Jewison’s publicist confirmed the filmmaker died at his home on Saturday (January 20).

Toronto International Film Festival, which staged a retrospective for Jewison in 2011, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the filmmaker’s impact “on the broader film landscape will endure, inspiring future generations of filmmakers and captivating audiences for years to come”.

Jewison was born in Toronto on July 21 1926 and served in the Canadian Navy. Post-war he attended Toronto’s Victoria College where he...

Norman Jewison, the prolific, award-winning movie director of “Rollerball” and “In The Heat of the Night” has died:

Jewison directed numerous feature films and was Oscar-nominated 3 times as ‘Best Director’, for “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), “Fiddler on the Roof” (1971) and “Moonstruck” (1987).

Other films include “The Cincinnati Kid” (1965), “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” (1966), “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968), “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1973), “Rollerball” (1975)…

… “F.I.S.T.” (1978), “...And Justice for All” (1979), “Best Friends” (1982), “A Soldier's Story” (1984), “Agnes of God” (1985), “Other People's Money” (1991), “Only You” (1994), “The Hurricane” (1999), and “The Statement” (2003.

Click the images to enlarge…...

Norman Jewison, a seven-time Academy Award nominee who directed the 1968 Best Picture Oscar winner “In the Heat of the Night” as well as Oscar winners “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Moonstruck” and numerous other iconic films, is dead. He died peacefully on Saturday at his home.

A filmmaking giant in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Jewison was undeniably one of the most prominent producer-directors never to have won an Oscar – though he was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards in 1999. He was nominated three times for his directing: “In the Heat of the Night” in ’68 (losing to Mike Nichols for “The Graduate”), “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1972 (William Friedkin won for “The French Connection”) and “Moonstruck” in 1988 (won by Bernardo Bertolucci for “The Last Emperor”). He was also nominated for producing a quartet of Best Picture contenders: “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming...

Veteran director Norman Jewison, who was nominated for seven Academy Awards during his illustrious career, has passed away.

Per Variety, Jewison died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. While a specific cause was not provided, the filmmaker is said to have died peacefully in his sleep. He was 97 years old.

Norman Frederick Jewison was born in Toronto on July 21, 1926. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II and graduating from Victoria College in 1949, Jewison began his career in show business. He started with stage work and children's television work in London before relocating back to Toronto to work for CBC Television in the early 1950s. He found his first big break as a filmmaker when he was hired by Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh to direct the 1962 comedy 40 Pounds of Trouble. Jewison followed this up by helming the Doris Day movies The Thrill of it All...

Norman Jewison, the celebrated film director, has died. He was 97. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker passed away at his home on Saturday, January 20, 2024.

Jewison had a long and varied directing and producing career that was peppered with accolades. His films "Moonstruck," "A Soldier's Story," "Fiddler on the Roof," "In the Heat of the Night," and "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1987, 1984, 1971, 1967, and 1966 respectively, with "Heat of the Night" winning. Jewison also helmed dozens of other notable dramas and musicals besides, including "The Thomas Crown Affair", "Gaily, Gaily" (nominated for three Oscars), "Jesus Christ Superstar" (nominated for one Oscar), "...And Justice for All" (two), "Agnes of God" (three), and "The Hurricane" (one). 

All told, Jewison's films were nominated for 41 Oscars, winning 12. He also directed the sci-fi thriller "Rollerball," the comedy "Bogus," the romance "Only You," the Stallone drama "F.I.S.T.,...

Norman Jewison, the versatile, acclaimed filmmaker behind movies like Fiddler on the Roof and In the Heat of the Night, died Saturday at home, his publicist announced Monday. He was 97.

Jewison was a seven-time Oscar nominee and earned the Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1999. He earned both Best Director and Best Picture nods for the 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof and the 1987 rom-com Moonstruck, starring Cher.

He also was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for 1976’s In the Heat of the Night.

Norman Jewison, one of Canada’s most acclaimed filmmakers, has died at the age of 97. Throughout his long career, Jewison really did it all, ranging from musicals to dramas to romantic comedies. He’s best known for In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck, Fiddler on the Roof, and more.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Norman Jewison was an assistant director when CBC Television debuted. He went on to write, direct, and produce a variety of programming for the young network over the next seven years before making the move to the U.S. His breakthrough movie was The Cincinnati Kid starring Steve McQueen. He went on to direct The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Thomas Crown Affair, Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rollerball, F.I.S.T., …And Justice for All, Moonstruck, In Country, Other People’s Money, Only You, and The Hurricane.

Related Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net: Jaws,...

The virtuoso Canadian helped craft much of postwar Hollywood cinema, directing Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night, Topol in Fiddler on the Roof and Cher in Moonstruck

For five extraordinary decades, Norman Jewison’s film-making was the beating heart of Hollywood drama: he could do anything and supercharged it with idealism, confidence and style. Jewison has been behind an extraordinary array of classics and hits: for half the time the cinema has been in existence, Norman Jewison was the gold standard of a night at the movies.

The 60s saw his fizzy Doris Day comedies, the sexy Steve McQueen thriller-capers The Cincinnati Kid and The Thomas Crown Affair, the mould-breaking In the Heat of the Night, with Sidney Poitier as the black cop in the US south. Then in the 70s we had his epic Broadway adaptation Fiddler on the Roof with Topol’s iconic performance as...

Canadian-born director of Moonstruck and Fiddler on the Roof was a three-time Oscar nominee

A life in pictures‘A staggering array of work from Hollywood’s master craftsman’

Norman Jewison, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and Moonstruck to social dramas such as the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night, has died at the age of 97.

Jewison, a three-time Oscar nominee who in 1999 received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement, died “peacefully” on Saturday, according to his publicist Jeff Sanderson. Additional details were not immediately available.

Norman Jewison, the director of classics like In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck, and Fiddler on the Roof, has died. Jewison was 97, and died peacefully at home, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Born July 21, 1926, in Toronto, Jewison started out as a director with Canada's national television broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, upon its creation in 1952. Six years later, Jewison was recruited by NBC and relocated to New York City, where he worked on variety shows and specials. A meeting with Tony Curtis led to Jewison directing his first feature, the Curtis/Suzanne Pleshette romantic comedy 40 Pounds of Trouble, in 1962.

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...

Norman Jewison is dead at the age of 97. For over four decades he sustained a career of films that became major box office hits as well as others that presented current social issues in a Hollywood context (with some combining the two). He died peacefully at his home on Saturday January 20.

“In the Heat of the Night,” which beat “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” for the Best Picture Oscar for 1967, is the most obvious example of Jewison’s talent for turning tough subjects into hit movies. It grossed (adjusted to current prices) over $200 million, with it already having become a major success before it won five Oscars. Ironically, the racially-charged story about a Northern Black detective (Sidney Poitier) investigating a murder and confronting a racist Southern police chief wons its Oscars in a ceremony delayed by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Norman Frederick Jewison was born on July 21, 1926 in Toronto,...

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.

Norman Jewison, the multifaceted filmmaker who could direct a racial drama (In the Heat of the Night), stylish thriller (The Thomas Crown Affair), musical (Fiddler on the Roof) or romantic comedy (Moonstruck) with the best of them, has died. He was 97.

Jewison died Saturday at home — his family does not want to specify exactly where — publicist Jeff Sanderson announced.

A seven-time Oscar nominee, Jewison received the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in 1999.

Known for his ability to coax great performances out of his actors — 12 of his players were nominated for Oscars, while five of his features made the cut for best picture — the most distinguished film director in Canadian history often used conventional genre plots to take on social injustice.

Improbably, he got his start directing musical specials on television.

Jewison earned best director and best picture nominations for Fiddler on the Roof...

The Cult Movie Museum is back with an overlooked science fiction gem: 1989’s Robot Jox. Robot Jox was produced decades before the Pacific Rim and Transformers franchises.

In a post nuclear holocaust world war is outlawed. Conflicts between governments are settled by giant fighting robots piloted by heroic Robot Jox.

Reanimator director Stuart Gordon and producer Charles Band create a fun, believable future society on a lean budget.

If you like pre-cgi practical effects you’re going to love this movie. It’s packed with stop motion, puppetry and large scale miniatures, all shot under the blazing hot desert sun.

Stars Gary Graham of Alien Nation and Anne-marie Johnson of In The Heat Of The Night are terrific, though it’s hard not to be upstaged by giant flame throwing robots!

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The Cult Movie Museum brings you a double feature critique of 1975’s Rollerball and Death Race 2000. Both of...

Fans of classic TV sitcoms, sci-fi, and dramas are about to have even friendlier live TV streaming options as the skinny-bundle streaming service Frndly TV announced on Tuesday that it had entered into an agreement that will bring the Weigel Broadcasting Co.’s MeTV+ network to all of the company’s subscribers next month.

7-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month frndlytv.com

Beginning in October, Frndly will become the first national TV provider to offer this channel, which is currently only available in select local markets. The live streamer already carries the channel’s sibling MeTV network. The spinoff channel will serve as a companion to MeTV, which is one of the country’s most popular networks focusing specifically on classic television from decades gone by. Both the original channel and the new MeTV+ serve as homes for beloved westerns, iconic sitcoms, groundbreaking sci-fi series, and timeless dramas. Every week, MeTV airs...

With its list of new releases for August 2023, Prime Video is relying on a heaping dose of fun library movies.

The first of the month brings a big influx of worthwhile flicks, including Galaxy Quest, Saw, F9: The Fast Saga, and Jurassic Park (the last two via Amazon’s Freevee free streaming option). Then some other recents hits arrive later on like the appropriately titled Cocaine Bear on Aug. 15 and the Chris Pine-starring Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Aug. 25.

August also sees the arrival of a major Amazon Original movie in the form of Red, White & Royal Blue. Based on a New York Times bestselling book, this LGBTQ romance follows a U.S. president’s son and a British prince. Over on the TV side of things, Prime Video subscribers can check out the Sigourney Weaver project The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Aug. 4 and Harlan Coben’s Shelter on Aug.

This month, Freevee is adding more classic titles as well as a new original film. If you love Steven Spielberg, all of the original Jurassic Park films will be available on the streamer this month. However, if you want a more modern adventure, you can’t go wrong with F9 as Dom (Vin Diesel) continues to race and fight for family. It’s not just blockbuster films, though. The Sidney Poitier film, In the Heat of the Night is coming to the platform and the western classic Tombstone. There are plenty of movies for the entire family to enjoy. Check out the complete list of films coming to Freevee this August, including the Freevee Original Puppy Love.

Having already won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in “Elvis,” Austin Butler is on a solid path to triumphing on his first Oscar nomination. His film, which covers the entirety of the titular rock star’s two-decade career, boasts a talented cast that includes past Oscar winner Tom Hanks, who collected back-to-back Best Actor trophies for “Philadelphia” (1994) and “Forrest Gump” (1995). He missed out on a supporting bid for “Elvis,” but if Butler clinches the lead award, Hanks will become the 15th man to have acted in a film that won the same Oscar he previously received.

Hanks has a total of five Best Actor nominations to his name, with the three unsuccessful ones having come for his work in “Big” (1989), “Saving Private Ryan” (1999), and “Cast Away” (2001). Until Butler was recognized for “Elvis,” Hanks had never appeared in a film for which someone...

There's a bitter irony in Carl Weathers' storied acting career. Despite starring in several "Rocky" movies and some memorable 1980s action movies, it was a silly Adam Sandler comedy that did irreparable damage to the actor's body.

For most of his career, Carl Weathers looked like he was cut from stone. He survived two seasons of NCAA football at San Diego State University and had a brief stint with the Oakland Raiders. After his professional football career ended, he took advantage of his degree in theater arts and made the switch to acting.

After a few years of small TV and film roles, the actor landed the role of a lifetime as boxer Apollo Creed opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1976 film "Rocky." After four "Rocky" films, Weathers would star in some high-profile 1980s action films such as "Predator" and "Action Jackson." He would also star as a police detective in...

Tom Sizemore, the veteran character actor known for nervy and visceral tough-guy roles in films like “Heat” and Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” died Friday, his manager confirmed. He was 61.

Sizemore’s family was advised this week to make a decision regarding “end of life matters” after he suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18.

“It is with great sadness and sorrow I have to announce that actor Thomas Edward Sizemore aged 61 passed away peacefully in his sleep today at St Joseph’s Hospital Burbank,” his manager, Charles Lago, said in a statement. “His Brother Paul and twin boys Jayden and Jagger (17) were at his side.”

Sizemore was found unconscious in his home around 2 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, Lago told TheWrap earlier this week. He was hospitalized and immediately admitted into the intensive care unit.

Also Read:

Walter Mirisch, ‘In the Heat of the Night’ Producer and Former Academy President,...

Ricou Browning, the actor, stuntman and diver whose work in the 1954 sci-fi classic “Creature From the Black Lagoon” launched his career as an expert water-based filmmaker, died less than two weeks after his 93rd birthday, his son Ricou Browning Jr. confirmed to TheWrap on Tuesday.

The diver, who legend has it could hold his breath for up to four minutes at a time, landed the iconic role in 1953 after being asked by a film crew to help scout locations at Wakulla Springs Florida for the Universal monster film. He was already performing underwater newsreels shot at the tourist spot.

“Their cameraman asked if I could swim in front of the cameras so they could get the perspective of the size of a human being against the fish and the grass. So I did,” he told the Hartford Courant in 2016. Ben Chapman portrayed the Creature – also known as Gill Man – on land,...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the 2004 thriller The Keeper, starring Dennis Hopper and Asia Argento. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by Paul Lynch from a screenplay by Gerald Sanford, The Keeper has the following synopsis: When an apparently exemplary cop abducts and secretly imprisons a beautiful dancer, a deadly battle of wills between captor and captive ensues.

Hopper and Argento are joined in the cast by Helen Shaver, Lochlyn Munro, Charles Frederick, Alex Zahara, Alejandro Abellan, Fred Keating, Philip Granger, Joe McCoy, Angela Uyeda, Brad Loree, Robert Saunders, Charlie Gudgeon, Garfield Wilson,...

Sidney Poitier walked among kings and earned Hollywood’s highest honors, but that didn’t stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation from keeping tabs on the actor and philanthropist via informants and surveillance tactics during the civil rights era, according to documents newly obtained by Rolling Stone. Poitier, who passed away at age 94 on January 6, 2022, had a career that lasted 75 years and was surveilled by the agency at the height of his fame.

Poitier’s FBI file – requested via the Freedom of Information Act – is 13 pages long, covering 1959 to 1963, with...

Walter Mirisch is best remembered today as the producer of studio prestige releases like In the Heat of the Night, The Apartment, and the original West Side Story, but before he became one of Hollywood’s most reliable sources of “A” pictures he toiled away in the “B” trenches of Poverty Row company Monogram. He kept the studio in the black with his Bomba the Jungle Boy series, but before establishing that franchise he produced a pair of noir movies based on material by Cornell Woolrich, the suspense writer who would hit paydirt with Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Mirisch’s first solo Monogram […]

The post I Wouldn’t Be In Your Shoes!, The Gift and 1408: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Walter Mirisch is best remembered today as the producer of studio prestige releases like In the Heat of the Night, The Apartment, and the original West Side Story, but before he became one of Hollywood’s most reliable sources of “A” pictures he toiled away in the “B” trenches of Poverty Row company Monogram. He kept the studio in the black with his Bomba the Jungle Boy series, but before establishing that franchise he produced a pair of noir movies based on material by Cornell Woolrich, the suspense writer who would hit paydirt with Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Mirisch’s first solo Monogram […]

The post I Wouldn’t Be In Your Shoes!, The Gift and 1408: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger star in this incendiary drama about a black detective tasked with solving a murder in the still-segregated Mississippi of 1967 – times being what they are, Norman Jewison’s film continues to pack a punch. And speaking of punches, Poitier’s then-shocking retaliation against a supercilious old bigot upended movie theaters both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The post In the Heat of the Night appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

A pained observation: The only intriguing stories on Hollywood this week consisted of obits – all kinds of obits. There were obits reminding us of the remarkable lives of Sidney Poitier, Peter Bogdanovich and Betty White. Also speculative obits about the Golden Globes, sentimental obits about the extinct 20th Century Fox and even speculative obits about MGM and ICM.

The obit frame of mind even extended to ticket buyers as a whole. Having anointed such films as West Side Story and The Power of the Dog as automatic award winners, critics wondered why ticket buyers seemed to be boycotting them. Had the movie audience disappeared into streamer heaven?

If the “business” obits were lugubrious, the personal ones often were inspirational. Obits for Poitier, who passed at age 94, documented a rich and fulfilling life – an appropriate reward for risks well taken. He also had strong personal ties with other strong-willed risk-takers, like Harry Belafonte.

Updated with latest: Networks are marshaling to set programming this month in tribute of Sidney Poitier, the groundbreaking and Oscar-winning actor and civil rights activist who died last week at age 94.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will feature special programming this Sunday that includes the iconic actor’s 2000 and 2007 appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and an airing of his 1967 film To Sir, With Love. The network also said that it will air the 2015 special Oprah Winfrey Presents: Legends Who Paved the Way featuring Poitier at a gala honoring “some of the legendary men and extraordinary women of the civil rights movement who made history.”

To Sir, With Love and the Oprah Winfrey Show episodes will be available beginning Sunday on the WatchOWN app, the network said.

TCM said today that it will roll out 12 Poitier movies in a marathon programming block Saturday and Sunday, February 19-20. February 20 will mark what...

Sidney Poitier was an electrifying presence on-screen. In life, he used his charisma and his renown as forces for change.

The actor best known for history-making roles in such films as “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “Lilies of the Field” made immense contributions to the civil rights movement. Dr. Russell Wigginton, president of the Memphis-based National Civil Rights Museum, points to Poitier’s staunch support of Martin Luther King Jr. and the actor’s participation in the 1966 March Against Fear through one of Mississippi’s most deeply segregated regions.

Poitier, who died Jan. 6 at the age of 94, worked his way up an overwhelmingly white industry by playing against type. He famously refused to take on stereotypical roles for a Black male actor. With his talent and his tenacity, Poitier built bridges and opened doors for so many. At the same time, he was dedicated to civil rights.

I grew up idolizing Sidney Poitier.

I was around 9 when he flickered into my world on a television replay of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” I was a latchkey kid in Cleveland, daughter of a white, single mother and a Black father — whose union their parents had frowned upon. In the film, Sidney and his co-star, Katharine Houghton, play an interracial couple whose parents also struggle with their children’s relationship. There I sat in front of my mom’s old console, mesmerized, as I watched my family’s dynamic play out. For the first time in my childhood, I felt seen. Understood. Validated. The world already knew Sidney, who died last week at 94, as a formidable performer. But I first experienced him as a mirror.

I watched that film over and over again, through my middle-school years and beyond. By then, my mother had moved our family from a...

Sidney Poitier’s two most iconic moments as an actor both occur in the 1967 Oscar-winning drama “In the Heat of the Night.” The first is his famous declaration “They call me Mister Tibbs!” The second arrives when his big-city detective is questioning a Mississippi cotton tycoon, who slaps Tibbs for implying that he’s a criminal. Tibbs slaps him back — an act of shocking-at-the-time defiance that Poitier improvised, and one that gave a jolt to film history. It connected, electrifyingly, with the militancy of the late ’60s, and left no doubt that Poitier was a figure of mythological magnitude.

As the first Black movie star, the Jackie Robinson of cinema, the trailblazer who always felt (by his own admission) that it was his obligation to represent, Poitier changed the movies with the very fact of presence. Yet it was the meaning of his presence, the ferocity and containment of it,...