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Stars: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olsen, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Ramon Bieri, Kermit Murdock, Richard O’Brien, Peter Hobbs, Eric Christmas, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Carl Reindel, Ken Swofford, Frances Reid, Richard Bull | Written by Nelson Gidding | Directed by Robert Wise

Michael Crichton was a prolific writer. His stories were thrilling, exciting pieces of literature. No wonder many were adapted into feature films. Most notably Jurassic Park, Westworld and The Andromeda Strain.

Six years ago, Arrow Video gave The Andromeda Strain a deluxe Blu-ray release. But as with all things, there are upgrades, and people are upgrading their favourite movies to Ultra HD; and so now comes the upgrade to the 70’s Sci-Fi cult classic The Andromeda Strain. Let’s take a look at this new 4K release from Arrow Video.

A government satellite crashes outside a small town in New Mexico – and within minutes,...

“Soylent Green” is a 1973 movie from the director Richard Fleischer starring big names like Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, and more. “Soylent Green” is set in a bleak and troubling future. While it may not be a full-fledged dystopia, it certainly borders on one. Due to overexploitation, global warming, and unchecked human greed, Earth’s natural food resources have been severely depleted. Power is scarce, clean water is rare, and the comforts and luxuries people once took for granted are now relics of the past.

The story takes place in New York City, which astonishingly holds a population of 40 million. With such overwhelming numbers, society is divided into two starkly contrasting classes: the wealthy elite and the struggling poor. The rich live in a heavily guarded, walled-off enclave, protected by high fences and armed guards authorized to shoot trespassers. Inside this privileged society,...

Before he created Westworld and Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton first blurred the line between science fiction and science fact with his 1969 breakout success, The Andromeda Strain.

The 1971 film adaptation of the novel will infect 4K Ultra HD on May 15 from Arrow Video.

Robert Wise directs the sci-fi thriller from a script by Nelson Gidding (The Haunting).

Arrow previously restored the film in 4K from the original camera negative with original uncompressed mono audio. It’s presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible).

Special Features:

Audio commentary by critic Bryan Reesman A New Strain of Science Fiction – Video appreciation by critic Kim Newman The Andromeda Strain: Making the Film – 2001 featurette featuring interviews with director Robert Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding A Portrait of Michael Crichton – 2001 interview with author Michael Crichton Cinescript Gallery – Highlights from the annotated and illustrated shooting script by Nelson Gidding Theatrical trailer TV spots Radio spots Image gallery Booklet...

After decades of producing dramas like the Oscar-nominated Precious, The Butler, The Paperboy and The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Lee Daniels is trying his hand at horror.

The Deliverance draws inspiration from the true-life story of Latoya Ammons, a Gary, Indiana, mother who, in 2011, claimed her children had become possessed by a demonic spirit. The film — which was released in select theaters Aug. 16 and will stream on Netflix on Aug. 30 — sees the producer and director reuniting with Andra Day (who won a Golden Globe for best actress and received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the titular character in Billie Holiday) in the lead role of Ebony, a neglectful, alcoholic mother struggling with her own abandonment issues. Daniels also works with Mo’Nique for the first time since their public falling out over financial expectations around promoting Precious, the 2009 film for which Mo’Nique won the supporting actress Oscar.

Night Court has already lost multiple main cast members after only two seasons, which mirrors the original Night Court's rotating cast. In the early days of Night Court, it was common for at least one series regular to leave after just one season. The original Night Court's nine-season run suggests the reboot can survive despite continuous character departures.

By losing another main cast member ahead of season 3, Night Court is repeating a trend from the original NBC sitcom of the same name. Created by Reinhold Weege, Night Court originally aired from 1984-1992 and followed Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) and the rest of the night shift crew at Manhattan Criminal Court. In 2023, a revival was developed by Dan Rubin and Melissa Rauch about Harry Stone's daughter, Abby (Rauch), following in her late father's footsteps. John Larroquette, who played Ada Dan Fielding in the original series, returned as a public defender at Abby's court.

Chita Rivera, the beloved Broadway star of West Side Story, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman, died today in New York following a brief illness. She was 91.

Her death was announced by her daughter, Lisa Mordente, who said that Rivera died peacefully.

One of America’s foremost Latina artists, Rivera was a groundbreaker, riveting critics and audiences alike with seminal performances of such soon-to-be Broadway standards as “America” and “A Boy Like That” from West Side Story and “All That Jazz” from Chicago. She was among the most nominated performers in Tony Award history – she earned 10 nominations, winning twice (for The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman) and receiving the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Rivera rocketed to fame in 1953 with Guys and Dolls, then cemented her stature as a Broadway leading lady in 1954 with Can-Can, Mr. Wonderful in 1956 and, in 1957, the role that...

Sad news today as it’s been announced that Richard Moll, who played Aristotle Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon on all nine seasons of Night Court, has died at the age of 80. His publicist confirmed that he died at his home in Big Bear Lake on Thursday.

Although Richard Moll is best known for his work on Night Court, he had quite a sprawling filmography. He made appearances in movies such as Cavemen, Evilspeak, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Dungeonmaster, Night Train to Terror, House, Wicked Stepmother, Sidekicks, Loaded Weapon 1, The Flintstones, Jingle All the Way, Scary Movie 2, and more. He was also featured in episodes of Happy Days, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, T.J. Hooker, Remington Steele, The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, Highlander: The Series, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, Hercules: The Legendary Adventures, Babylon 5, Baywatch, Married… with Children, Smallville, and more.

Moll...

Laird Koenig, who wrote “The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane,” died in Santa Barbara on June 30, Jamie Dixon, the son of Koenig’s collaborator Peter L. Dixon, told Variety. He was 95.

Koenig was an American author and screenwriter whose novel was adapted into the 1976 Jodie Foster-led horror movie “The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.”

He was born on Sept. 14, 1927, in Seattle, and would go on to attend the University of Washington. Koenig worked in advertising before being approached by Peter L. Dixon, whom he would collaborate with extensively throughout his career, and went on to write for the adventure television series “Flipper.”

Koenig also wrote the screenplay for “The Cat” which starred Roger Perry, and the 1969 production of “The Dozens” which starred Al Freeman Jr., Morgan Freeman and Paula Kelly.

He notably wrote the screenplay for several Terence Young Films, including “Red Sun,” which starred Charles Bronson,...

Laird Koenig, who adapted his novel for the screenplay to the 1976 cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a controversial horror thriller starring a teenage Jodie Foster, has died. He was 95.

Koenig died June 30 of natural causes in Santa Barbara, Jamie Dixon, the son of Koenig’s frequent writing partner, Peter L. Dixon, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Koenig also received a writing credit on three films directed by Terence Young: Red Sun (1971), starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon and Ursula Andress; Bloodline (1979), starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara and James Mason; and Inchon (1981), starring Gazzara, Laurence Olivier and Jacqueline Bisset.

His 1970 novel The Children Are Watching, co-written with Dixon, was turned into the French film Attention Les Enfants Regardent (1978), starring Delon.

Taken from his 1974 novel — his first as a solo author — The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane starred Foster as a 13-year-old who lives...

Since the category of supporting actress in a comedy series was launched at the Primetime Emmy Awards in the mid-1960s, only 13 African American performers had been nominated in total leading up to this year. Just two had won: Jackee Harry for “227” in 1987 and Sheryl Lee Ralph last year for “Abbott Elementary.” But the category, and the Emmys in general, received a radical shake-up this morning when four Black actresses cracked the lineup of nominees: Ralph and Janelle James for “Abbott,” Ayo Edebiri for “The Bear” and Jessica Williams for “Shrinking.” That’s more than half the seven slots allotted to the category. There have never been more than two in that lineup previously.

Indeed, if that seems like a lot, it should. No Emmy performer category has ever featured four women of color in the same year and precious few have ever included three. Consider that the count...

It was the battle of the Stephens at the 27th annual Tony Awards telecast March 25, 1973 on ABC from the Imperial Theatre. In one corner was Stephen Sondheim’s glorious and exquisite romantic musical “A Little Night Music” based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 comedy “Smiles of a Summer Night.” And in the other corner, 25-year-old Stephen Schwartz’s hip, cool, Fosse Fosse Fosse musical “Pippin.”

“A Little Night Music,” which featured song memorable tunes as “Send in the Clowns” and “A Weekend in the Country,” waltzed into the ceremony hosted by Rex Harrison and Celeste Holm and co-hosted by Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach with 12 nominations including best musical, best original score, best book for Hugh Wheeler, best direction of a musical for Harold Prince, best performance by a leading actress in a musical for Glynis Johns, leading actor in a musical for Len Cariou, featured actress in a musical for...

With the amount of press that NBC is putting behind it and the favorable reviews it’s been receiving, the “Night Court” revival is going to be looking to see if it can replicate the same success the original had at the Emmy Awards. Over the course of its nine-season run from 1984 until 1992, the show amassed 31 Emmy nominations and won seven of them.

Most notably, four of those wins were in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for John Larroquette for playing the scummy and perpetual womanizing prosecutor Dan Fielding. He won the category every year from 1985-1988. After his fourth victory, Larroquette did not submit himself for Emmy consideration for the rest of the show’s run. He will be gunning to get back into the race this year, only this time in Best Comedy Actor as Fielding takes on the lead public defender role. In the reboot, India de Beaufort...

After a three-decade recess, “Night Court” is back in session. Just like “Murphy Brown,” “Roseanne” and several other late 20th century sitcoms before it, the NBC show has been revived on its original network in the hope that it will regain old fans and attract new ones. Despite its modern touches and near-total cast overhaul, the rebooted series sticks closely to the same formula that made its Emmy-winning predecessor popular among its ‘80s and ‘90s viewers. Since the new creative team’s collective wealth of broadcast TV experience derives from such hits as “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother,” they should have no trouble pleading their case to a contemporary audience.

Between 1985 and 1988, “Night Court” supporting cast member John Larroquette made history as the first person to win four consecutive acting Emmys for a single series, and he still holds the male record in that respect.

Micki Grant, who wrote and starred in Broadway’s groundbreaking 1972 Black musical revue Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, died Sunday at the age of 80.

With Don’t Bother Me, Grant became the first woman to write both the music and lyrics to a Broadway musical, and her collaborator Vinnette Carroll entered the history books as the first Black woman to direct on Broadway.

Grant, whose death was first reported by the Broadway World website and confirmed by licensing and publishing company Concord Theatricals, returned to Broadway in 1976 by contributing additional music and lyrics for Alex Bradford’s musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, a retelling of the Book of Matthew directed by Carroll.

Described by Broadway director Kenny Leon as “a brilliant, passionate writer who gave everything to our industry,” Grant had already broken new ground on television by the time she made her seminal stand on Broadway,...

“Big Bang Theory” alum stars as the daughter of Harry Anderson’s character from the original series

NBC has given a pilot order to the “Night Court” sequel series starring Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette, the network said Monday.

Put into development last year, the project from Rauch’s After January production company centers on Judge Abby Stone, an “unapologetic optimist” who follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court.

Larroquette will reprise his role as former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding, with “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” writer Dan Rubin serving as writer and executive producer.

“My intention was purely to be behind the camera on this project, but my plans quickly changed after falling in love with the incredible script from the brilliant mind of Dan Rubin,” Rauch said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to join forces with Dan,...

Even though Sunday’s SAG Awards ceremony will be shortened to just one pre-taped hour on TNT and TBS, the special In Memoriam segment will still be a highlight. Since the 2020 event aired on January 19, it will be over 14 months until the one on April 4. That means even more actors, actresses and members of SAG/AFTRA will hopefully be honored than the 40 people in the tribute last year.

Chadwick Boseman died last August and is a four-time nominee for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday. The two individual nominations are for his leading role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and his supporting performance in “Da 5 Bloods.” Those two films also are nominated for the top ensemble category.

Oscar winners who have died in the past 14 months include Sean Connery, Olivia de Havilland, Cloris Leachman and Christopher Plummer. Academy Award nominees include Boseman, Kirk Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Ian Holm,...

A sequel to “Night Court” is in development at NBC from “Big Bang Theory” alum Melissa Rauch.

John Larroquette is set to return as Don Fielding. The project currently has a script development deal.

Here is the logline, per NBC: Unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone (daughter of the late Harry Stone) follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (Larroquette).

Rauch will produce with her husband, Winston Rauch, for After January Productions. Warner Bros. TV is the studio. Dan Rubin will write the series.

The original series, created by Reinhold Weege, aired for nine seasons on NBC from 1984-1992. It took place during the night shift at a Manhattan municipal court. Harry Anderson played the young, unorthodox judge Harry Stone.

Many TV legends and contributors were included for the “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony for ABC. But producers are always forced to omit some of the 100+ insiders who died since the last ceremony. Who was left out of the group that was honored?

With dozens of television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, people certainly included were these six TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though he wasn’t known for his TV work, blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman was featured in the final slot. NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was not mentioned, even though the event was being held in the Staples Center.

For Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on ABC, producers will have the always difficult task of assembling a memoriam segment. Even though the event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will be virtual, it’s a certainty they will include the popular “In Memoriam” on the show.

With over 100 television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, those expected to be honored would include such TV legends and TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though they weren’t known for their TV work, it’s very likely NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman will be honored. Also among the dozens most likely included since they...

Perhaps it is fate that an early era Blaxploitation, anti-capitalist film about an off-the-rails, pot-smoking cop who starts to mentally deteriorate because of racism from white officers on the force and insults from Black people he’s arresting, barely had its chance to reach an audience. Written, directed, and produced by its star Christopher St. John, 1972’s Top of the Heap is a tragic story of a Black artist struggling to create a singular vision in a Hollywood system dominated by white voices.

Although featuring what one would expect to see in any film labeled “Blaxploitation,” Top of the Heap takes a very different approach to the subgenre. It’s a story about Black trauma, angst, and disillusionment with the American dream and a middle finger to the expectations of the subgenre it wishes to subvert. It’s a surreal and violent cocktail made with the ingredients of Abel Ferrara,...

Paula Kelly, an Emmy-nominated actress known for TV series like “Night Court” and films like “Sweet Charity” and “The Andromeda Strain,” died on Feb. 8 in Whittier, California, according to the Washington Post. She was 77.

The dancer and singer, who made a splash in the 1960 big-screen musical “Sweet Charity,” went on to earn two Emmy nominations, first for her supporting role as a public defender Liz Williams in the 1980s NBC sitcom “Night Court.” She earned a second nomination for her pioneering role as a lesbian in the 1989 miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place.”

In addition to her TV work, she had a memorable role as a nurse in 1971’s “The Andromeda Strain” and as a love interest nurse in 1973’s dystopian drama “Soylent Green.”

She soon found herself a regular on TV, including roles in “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Sanford and Son,” “Police Woman,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Kojak” and “Golden Girls.

Paula Kelly, an actress who earned Emmy nominations for roles on NBC’s 1980s sitcom Night Court and 1989 ABC miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, died February 8 in Whittier, CA, from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 77.

Her death was announced by her family and Los Angeles’ Ebony Repertory Theatre.

Kelly, who was also a dancer, choreographer and singer, had her breakthrough role of Helene in Bob Fosse’s 1969 film Sweet Charity, sharing the screen with star Shirley MacLaine and Chita Rivera in such musical numbers as “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This” and the showstopper “Hey, Big Spender.” She’d already played the role in a West End stage production.

Other film credits include The Andromeda Strain (1971), Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored (1995).

Kelly appeared in numerous TV series from the 1970s through the ’90s, including Sanford & Son, Medical Center, The Streets of San Francisco,...

Paula Kelly, the actress, singer and dancer who starred in the film version of Sweet Charity and earned an Emmy nomination for her turn on Night Court, has died. She was 77.

Kelly died Sunday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Whittier, California, a publicist for her family and Los Angeles' Ebony Repertory Theatre announced.

Kelly also appeared in such movies as The Andromeda Strain (1971), Cool Breeze (1972), Top of the Heap (1972), The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), Soylent Green (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974) — as Leggy Peggy — and Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986).

After playing the dancer Helene ...

Paula Kelly, the actress, singer and dancer who starred in the film version of Sweet Charity and earned an Emmy nomination for her turn on Night Court, has died. She was 77.

Kelly died Sunday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Whittier, California, a publicist for her family and Los Angeles' Ebony Repertory Theatre announced.

Kelly also appeared in such movies as The Andromeda Strain (1971), Cool Breeze (1972), Top of the Heap (1972), The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), Soylent Green (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974) — as Leggy Peggy — and Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986).

After playing the dancer Helene ...

Paul Benjamin, who played one of the men on the corner in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” died June 28, Lee announced on Instagram.

“I’m sad to write that the great actor Paul Benjamin, who played Ml, far left, passed this past Friday, two days before the 30th anniversary of ‘Do the Right Thing.’ Rest in Paradise,” the director wrote.

View this post on Instagram

I’m Sad To Write That The Great Actor Paul Benjamin on Jul 2, 2019 at 10:15am Pdt

Born in South Carolina, Benjamin started out doing Shakespeare on stage in New York, and made his film debut with a small role as a bartender in “Midnight Cowboy.” He had a featured role in “Across 110th Street” in 1972, and appeared in Blaxploitation films like “The Education of Sonny Carson” and “Friday Foster” with Pam Grier.

Among his other appearances were in Richard Pryor comedy “Some Kind of Hero,...

Jumpin’ gingivitis! Vicious microbes from space threaten the world, and our only hope is a team of scientists in an underground lab in Nevada. But the sneaky germ from the cosmos is a-mutatin’ faster than a mess o’ jackrabbits, to a form that doesn’t just kill people, but totally consumes our flesh! No, it’s not David Cronenberg or Nigel Kneale, but the ultra-literal director Robert Wise that put this slick, expensive Sci-fi thriller on the screen, from the best-seller by the commercially savvy Michael Crichton.

The Andromeda Strain

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1971 / Color / 2:35 / 131 min. / Street Date June 4, 2019 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95

Starring: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson, Kate Reid,

Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Ramon Bieri.

Cinematography: Richard H. Kline

Production Designer: Boris Leven

Film Editors: Stuart Gilmore, John W. Holmes

Original Music: Gil Melle

Special Effects: James Shourt, Albert Whitlock, John Whitney Sr., Douglas Trumbull

Written by...

JoJo Smith, a dance consultant for the John Travolta-starring Saturday Night Fever who became known as the “Choreographer to the Stars," died Jan. 22 at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, from stroke complications, his rep said. He was 80.

With a career spanning more than six decades, some of Smith’s stage credits included playing lead Shark of the Puerto Rican teen gang in West Side Story; dancing opposite Paula Kelly in Something More; and having a central role in Joyful Noise. Smith danced on several television variety shows during the '60s and '70s. His ...

JoJo Smith, a dance consultant for the John Travolta-starring Saturday Night Fever who became known as the “Choreographer to the Stars," died Jan. 22 at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, from stroke complications, his rep said. He was 80.

With a career spanning more than six decades, some of Smith’s stage credits included playing lead Shark of the Puerto Rican teen gang in West Side Story; dancing opposite Paula Kelly in Something More; and having a central role in Joyful Noise. Smith danced on several television variety shows during the '60s and '70s. His ...

While Lee Daniels always had the directing bug, there was a time when he took fate and the fate of those of his fellow unemployed African American actors into his own hands: He became a talent manager.

“It was pre-Spike Lee and post blaxploitation, and they (Hollywood) didn’t know what to do with us. I was directing theater and I started directing actors, trying to get them jobs and that led me to do what I’m doing right now. But they weren’t giving jobs to black actors and it was a cold and ugly reality,” said the two-time Oscar nominated filmmaker whose early clients included Paula Kelly and Loretta Divine.

“I gangster-ed my way in,” quipped Daniels to the crowd about his finesse for getting through studio gates at Sony, Paramount and Disney and into their casting offices to land jobs. Daniels appearance at the CAA...

Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...

By David S. Schow

Hall: “Where’s the library?”

Dutton: “No need for books — everything’s in the computer.”

One of the few regrets of my adult life is that I never got to meet Michael Crichton, who died too young, November 2008. Eminently emulatable, he had conquered publishing, film and television and remains a personal hero. I was hooked from the moment my father returned from his Arctic DEWLine duties bearing a paperback first printing of The Andromeda Strain, which I plowed through while in high school. Then immediately re-read, and re-read again.

I still have that paperback.

Subsequently I devoured everything Crichton wrote — the “John Lange” potboilers written to pay his way through medical school; the landmark A Case of Need (written as “Jeffrey Hudson;” a stingingly strong pro-choice novel done prior to the Roe v. Wade decision); even the dope fantasia Dealing, written with his brother as “Michael Douglas.

In 1989, Donna Deitch directed the made for TV movie "The Women of Brewster Place" starring and produced by Oprah Winfrey, which was based on Gloria Naylor’s 1982 novel of the same name.

The film featured an all-star cast and included two lesbian characters played by Lonette McKee (Lorraine) and Paula Kelly (Theresa). The couple flees their middle-class suburban neighborhood due to their sexuality and makes Brewster Place their new home. However, they soon find they're facing the same issues that they faced while living in their previous residence.

Though McKee and Kelly’s characters were not lead roles, their story was groundbreaking at the time. Over 20 years later, African American lesbian director Dee Rees released her film "Pariah," which tells the coming-out and coming-of-age story of a young black lesbian and garnered Rees many accolades.

In between that 20-year span a handful of black lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (Lgbt...

Brisbane creative agency Bcm has been appointed to Brisbane’s Indooroopilly Shopping Centre.

The announcement:

One of Queensland’s leading retail centres, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre has appointed Bcm to its account.

Indooroopilly is the largest shopping centre in Brisbane’s Western suburbs and boasts over 220 fashion and speciality stores, including the only Myer store in the region.

The centre is set to grow even further having embarked upon a large scale $450 million expansion which commenced in late 2011. The expansion and refurbishment will see major upgrades throughout the centre, with new shopping malls, and gourmet fresh food and dining precincts with restaurants, bars and cafes. David Jones and Myer will also feature, along with an exciting array of statement, high end fashion and accessory brands, and 120 new specialty stores – with a focus on Australian and international designers.

Paula Kelly, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre Marketing Manager said “We approached Bcm as we knew of the agency,...

The 7th annual Wndx Festival of Moving Image, in addition to the fest’s usually fantastic lineup of new experimental film and video, is presenting a virtual smorgasbord of special events. So, be on the look out for them as they completely take over the city of Winnipeg on Sept. 26-30.

The fun kicks off on Sept. 26 with the debut of “Situated Cinema,” a roving microcinema created by Thomas Evans and Craig Rodmore that will screen at different venues throughout the entire festival. The opening night will take place at Raw Gallery and feature five films curated by Solomon Nagler that will connect viewers with their environment. The filmmakers presenting work at this unique screening experience are Heidi Phillips, Alexandre Larose, Caroline Monnet, Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof and Alex MacKenzie.

Another fantastic multi-part special event at Wndx will be hosted by underground film historian Jack Sargeant, the world’s foremost authority on Beat Cinema.

The Ebony Repertory Theatre is proud to announce casting for the Los Angeles premiere of Crowns, adapted by Regina Taylor from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Debuting as a co-production with Pasadena Playhouse, the show will star Emmy® nominee Paula Kelly, Suzzanne Douglas, Dawnn Lewis, Ann Weldon, Sharon Catherine Blanks, Angela Wildflower Polk and Clinton Derricks-Carroll, with direction by Ebony Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Israel Hicks.

This season, the cast and crew of 30 Rock really hit the ground running. Oprah Winfrey made a rare TV appearance (outside of her own show) last week. Last night, Steve Martin and Jennifer Aniston (Friends) were the big guests -- or were they? How about the mini-Night Court reunion?

Night Court follows the surreal courtroom of Judge Harry Stone who presides over a crazy NYC night court. Self-obsessed Assistant D.A. Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) represents the state while public defenders like Liz Williams (Paula Kelly), Billie Young (Ellen Foley), and, for most of the series, Christine Sullivan (Markie Post) take the side of the accused. "Mac" Robinson (Charles Robinson) is the long-suffering court clerk while bailiffs like "Bull" Shannon (Richard Moll), Selma Hacker (Selma Diamond), Florence Kleiner (Florence Halop), and Roz Russell (Marsha Warfield) try to keep courtroom visitors under control.

The TV show debuted as an NBC...