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Four decades ago, Police Squad! didn’t log much time with viewers but still lined up an impressive legacy.

Following the success of 1980 spoof film Airplane!, which made $78 million at the box office ($214 million today) co-directors David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker hoped to make a similar comedy about police officers inspired by the 1950s Lee Marvin drama series M Squad. Then-Paramount exec Michael Eisner, who had championed Airplane!, offered them six episodes on ABC and promised that the process would be free of network meddling.

Police Squad! centered on bumbling officer Frank Drebin as played by Leslie Nielsen, known for dramatic roles before his crackup part in Airplane! “Leslie never let on that he was in a comedy,” David Zucker tells The Hollywood Reporter of the late star’s knack for deadpan humor.

Co-starring Alan North, each episode kicked off with the murder of a notable guest,...

Al Pacino is known as one of the all-time greats in Hollywood, with legendary roles in films like The Godfather, Scarface, and Dog Day Afternoon. He’s been part of some of the most important movies in American cinema. So, when someone like him gives their opinion on acting, people tend to listen.

While many fans and critics would say Pacino himself is one of the best to ever do it, the actor has his own list of favorites. In an interview with Playboy back in 1979, Pacino talked about the actors he looked up to the most. He mentioned names like Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Jack Nicholson, Robert Mitchum, and Lee Marvin. About Cooper, Pacino said, “Gary Cooper was kind of a phenomenon… his ability to take something and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences.”

But when he was asked who he believed was the best actor in America,...

Al Pacino has played some of the most iconic roles in American film history. From The Godfather to Scarface and Dog Day Afternoon, his name is carved into the foundation of modern Hollywood. But while many people see Pacino himself as one of the greatest actors of all time, he once pointed to someone else when asked who truly deserves that title.

In an interview with Playboy back in 1979, Pacino shared his thoughts on the actors he admires most. He mentioned names like Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Jack Nicholson, Lee Marvin, and Robert Mitchum. He praised Cooper in particular for his quiet strength, saying, “Gary Cooper was kind of a phenomenon… his ability to take something and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences.”

But when the question came up about who he believed was the best American actor, Pacino didn’t name Brando, Nicholson, or De Niro.

American actor best known for playing heavies, including the ‘psycho’ Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs

The actor Michael Madsen, who has died aged 67 of a cardiac arrest, saw himself as a “throwback” to the era of noir heavies such as Robert Mitchum and Lee Marvin. But plying his jocular menace in the modern Hollywood era gave the actor expanded possibilities for movie violence that elevated him, at certain moments, to a timeless screen presence.

When he severed a policeman’s ear in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs, after sadistically bopping to the sounds of Stealers Wheel’s pop hit Stuck in the Middle With You, it became Madsen’s calling-card scene. He had originally auditioned for the part of Mr Pink, the role eventually played by Steve Buscemi, before the director realised his imposing qualities were perfect for the loose-cannon psychopath, Mr Blonde. “Are you gonna bark all day,...

Once upon a time in Hollywood, the charismatic heavy with smarts and a heart was a familiar archetype in mainstream cinema — think Robert Mitchum, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, or James Coburn — but the recent passing of Michael Madsen, at the age of 67, could well mark the end of that particular chapter in movie history. Though he made his breakthrough as the psychotic, ear-slicing Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs, Madsen was capable of much, much more, although it’s fair to say that only his work with Tarantino ever made the most of that soulful talent. Which other tough guy could have delivered the line, as he did so memorably in Kill Bill Vol. 2, “That woman deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die” and sound like they meant it?

The following interview took place 10 years ago in February, high in the mountains of Telluride during...

You can be an actor who stars in more than 200 movies in your career, with parts ranging from leads to glorified cameos, and yet it’s just one film that people associate with your name for the rest of your natural-born life. And occasionally, the role you’re lucky enough to get in that movie is so well-suited to your skill set that it levels you up from “Oh, that guy!” to (in)famous to damn near iconic.

We think you know the movie we’re taking about when it comes to the late,...

Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat opens on an image of a gun on a desk. A man standing behind the desk grasps the weapon and raises it to his head, pulling the trigger. Throughout this curt sequence, we only see the desk, the gun, the man’s hand, the back of his head, and a stuffed envelope that’s intended to explain his actions, and which will promptly be confiscated and hidden by another character.

This death sets forth a scuttling of human insects across The Big Heat. And it illuminates the already pitifully obvious collusion existing between an unnamed city’s government and the closest its criminal empire has to “old” money, which are the prosperous businessmen who made their wealth a few decades prior, selling booze and killing rivals during Prohibition, laundering their blue-collar viciousness into white-collar “respectability.”

Much has been made of Lang, who was of Jewish heritage,...

Eric Kripke’s The Boys has built a notorious reputation for being the most diabolical spoof show that holds back no punches in taking punches at the superhero genre. Over the four long seasons of the show, it has featured several iconic characters like Billy Butcher, Mm, Homelander, Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, and many more.

What makes it intriguing is how the limited screen time did not hinder Ackles from building a massive fan following around his antihero. This has also led to fans doubting his character, ardently believing that a background character from the show can fold him. However, they have forgotten what happened the last time when someone dared to do so.

The Supes Should Put Some Respect on Soldier Boy’s Name

Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) has been a fan favorite since he first appeared in Season 3, making the series a critical hit with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now updated for April 2025, here’s our pick of 35 genre films – horror, action, sci-fi and more – you can watch for free on Tubi UK.

Like any streaming service, particularly of the ad-supported variety, there’s a lot of filler on Tubi, the subscription-free platform which made its UK debut last July.

On there you’ll find an array of low-budget documentaries of spurious quality, landfill reality TV and how-did-this-get-made TV movies (Amish Abduction).

Look beyond those films, though, and Tubi is positively stuffed with genre and cult offerings – sci-fi, horror, comedy, martial arts, thrillers and more besides. Finding these can take a bit of hunting around, however, so to save you a bit of time, we’ve done some hunting for you. We’re nice like that.

Here’s our pick of 35 genre and cult films currently available to watch for free on Tubi in the UK. We’ll also...

Jensen Ackles is used to playing the “good guy”. For 15 seasons, he and his on-screen brother, Jared Padalecki, threw themselves against the forces of evil in the hit series, Supernatural, and soon, he’ll lead a team of special agents in Prime Video’s Countdown. But, it’s through his role as a superhero known as Soldier Boy in Eric Kripke’s The Boys that theDark Angel alum gets to let his morally questionable freak flag fly. First appearing in Season 3, the character, who could be considered to be the bizarro equivalent of Captain America, had a penchant for copious amounts of weed and women of a certain age (octogenarians). To the viewer, the character is obviously a bad guy, but when you get down to the brass tacks of the series, there’s a solid mix of good and bad in everyone — save for perhaps Antony Starr’s Homelander.

You don't need us to tell you that John Wayne was one of the best Western movie actors of all time, but what was his finest Western film? There are plenty of great picks in a career that spanned five decades, both with his regular and most famous collaborator John Ford and with other directors. Two landmark films with Ford often dominate the conversation: Wayne's star-making turn in "Stagecoach," and his unusually dark odyssey in "The Searchers." Both are brilliant shout-outs, but if you pay any attention to IMDb rankings, the director and star went one better with "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

Released in 1962, John Ford's absorbing drama explores the clash between the romanticized myth-making of the Old West and the American frontier's hard-won transition to democratic law and order. That might sound like a bit of a snooze if you're expecting classic matinee-style shootouts and horse action,...

Filmmaker Chad Stahelski helmed the four John Wick movies, all of which have been huge critical and commercial successes. The first big screen spin-off, Ballerina, is now playing in theaters, and the movie (which includes a cameo appearance from Keanu Reeves' assassin) is off to a strong start.

In contrast, The Continental: From the World of John Wick TV series on Peacock drew mixed reviews and came and went without leaving much of a lasting impact. It boasted a solid cast, including Mel Gibson and Colin Woodell, but Winston Scott's early years lacked that John Wick magic.

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter (via ActioNewz.com), Stahelski confirmed that neither he nor Reeves were closely involved with the show...and that he wasn't a fan of what The Continental tried to be.

"Keanu and I were — I wouldn’t say sidelined, but our opinion was heard and not really noted.

The John Wick universe continues to expand — and this time, it’s Donnie Yen’s turn in the spotlight. Lionsgate recently confirmed that Yen will not only reprise his role as the blind assassin Caine from John Wick: Chapter 4but also direct the upcoming spin-off, set to begin filming in Hong Kong later this year. According to director Chad Stahelski, the project is a full-blown tribute to the kung-fu genre and marks a major tonal shift from the Wick entries we’ve seen so far — what does that mean? Well, for one, it might mean there's no Wick in a Wick spin-off.

“The Donnie Yen spinoff doesn’t have the John Wick character. It’s got Donnie Yen and it’s an ode to kung fu movies. If John Wick 1 was about Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin, this is about Chow Yun-fat, John Woo and Wong Kar-wai. So I think...

As well as Ballerina, which releases in theaters today (June 6), Lionsgate previously confirmed that another John Wick spin-off was in development. Following the release of Chapter 4 in 2023, fans fell in love with Donnie Yen's blind assassin, Caine, who had a long history with Keanu Reeves' John Wick. The fan reception around Caine was so strong that Lionsgate and Chad Stahelski announced that a spin-off movie starring the character is in development. Progress on the film appears to be going strong, but Stahelski has given a major update about Caine that will surely leave fans disappointed.

During Chad Stahelski's conversation with The Hollywood Reporter to promote From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, the director gave a much-needed update on the upcoming Caine spin-off film. Donnie Yen is already confirmed to star in the film (it wouldn't be much of a movie without him). But, with Reeves making a cameo in Ballerina,...

The John Wick writer-director Chad Stahelski reveals whether Keanu Reeves' assassin will be in Donny Yen's Caine spinoff. Introduced in John Wick: Chapter 4, Caine is a highly skilled assassin who was forced by Vincent Bisset de Gramont to kill his old friend John Wick. In the post-credits scenes, Caine was attacked by Koji Shimazu's daughter, Akira Shimazu, on his way to meet his daughter. The project was confirmed to be in development in the summer of 2024 and is expected to go into production later this year.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski opened up about whether the Baba Yaga will make an appearance. The franchise's creator confirmed that John Wick will not be in the Caine spinoff. He further explained that with the project being "an ode to kung fu movies," focusing on Yen's character and his world would allow them to stay true to the sub-genre.

Keanu Reeves’ appearance in Ballerina may not be a secret, but it was something John Wick director Chad Stahelski was initially opposed to.

“[Wick’s appearance] wasn’t in the original script,” Stahelski told THR. “To be honest, I was kind of against it. But I do see the benefit and we wanted to help out [director Len Wiseman]. We had just opened John Wick 4 and it was huge. He couldn’t go back to the model of the first John Wick and do a little $18 million indie thing and try to build it up. In order to stay in the same game, you got to give him a fighting chance. And the easiest way to transfer that over — at least, from the studio point of view — was have Wick in Ballerina in a special timeline.“

It sounds like Stahelski would have preferred if Ballerina stood alone, but understood that an appearance from...

Two years after his presumed death in John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves' title assassin is back in the franchise's first spinoff Ballerina. With another spinoff about to begin filming, franchise boss Chad Stahelski has revealed whether fans can expect an appearance from John Wick in that as well.

In an extensive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski touched on the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 spinoff Caine, which will be centered around Donnie Yen's assassin Caine. When asked if Reeves would appear in the spinoff, Stahelski shared, "The Donnie Yen spinoff doesn’t have the John Wick character. It’s got Donnie Yen and it’s an ode to kung fu movies. If John Wick 1 was about Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin, this is about Chow Yun-fat, John Woo and Wong Kar-wai. So I think that one is a little easier to get it across to audiences because...

Ballerina is finally hitting screens this weekend and our Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bumbray, was happy to report that despite a delay for lengthy reshoots, the film is still a lot of fun. He says in his review, “Ballerina is one of the more satisfying franchise spin-offs in recent memory. In this era of IP, every studio is desperate to max out the potential sequels and spinoffs their key franchises can handle, and Lionsgate has a whole slew planned around the John Wick franchise. Yet, what makes Ballerina different is that this doesn’t feel like much of a derivative of the franchise.”

Ballerina joins The Continental in attempting to expand the John Wick universe and Lionsgate had also announced that Donnie Yen would be reprising his role from Chapter 4 as Caine in a solo outing. While Reeves was brought in to merge Ballerina with Wick‘s world, franchise director Chad Stahelski...

John Wick creator Chad Stahelski is attempting one of the trickiest pivots in Hollywood: Turn a series of hit movies with a dead hero into a broader franchise. His four John Wick films starring Keanu Reeves as a stoic ronin gunslinger have been a rousing success for studio Lionsgate. But his last effort, 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4, killed off its world-weary protagonist in a finale that felt perfectly fitting. After the film grossed nearly half a billion dollars, Lionsgate and Stahelski suddenly had a high-class problem: John Wick the franchise clearly has a lot more life left in it, while the John Wick character was seemingly six feet under.

What to do? Lionsgate attempted (without Stahelski and Reeves) a Peacock spinoff TV limited series titled The Continental, which fell flat (Stahelski has thoughts about this). This week sees the release of the franchise’s first spinoff movie, Ballerina, which...

Robert Aldrich's 1967 film "The Dirty Dozen" is often cited as one of the most masculine movies ever made. Set in 1944, it follows the travails of Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) as he is assigned to lead a 12-man platoon of ex-convicts and ultra-violent Army near-dropouts. Reisman is tasked with training up some of the worst and most horrible people in the Army, get them up to snuff, and lead them on a secret mission into a Nazi stronghold in France. The soldiers are all awful in one way or another, so their mission to kill Nazi higher-ups offers them something violently heroic to do with their tempers. The Dirty Dozen included notable actors like Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, and Donald Sutherland. Ernest Borgnine played a fellow general.

"The Dirty Dozen" was a huge success, earning over $45 million at the box office on a $5.3 million budget.

Before Burt Reynolds went on to have a legendary and illustrious career on the silver screen, he first made his reputation doing television. He appeared in a myriad of shows between 1959 and 1972. He had one-episode roles in such classic shows as "The Twilight Zone," Erle Stanley Gardner's "Perry Mason," and Lee Marvin's "M Squad." Yet one of his most memorable recurring roles was arguably in Charles Marquis Warren's western drama, "Gunsmoke" (based on John Meston and Norman Macdonnell's radio series of the same name), which ran on CBS for an outstanding 20 (!) years between 1955 and 1975. Compared to today's TV Westerns, which are lucky if they last more than two seasons, that's an astonishing accomplishment for the unapologetically honest series.

Out of those 20 seasons, Reynolds starred in three, from 1962 to 1965, as Quint Asper, a half-white and half-Comanche blacksmith, introduced as the member of Angela Clarke's Topsanah's tribe...

The Criterion Collection has announced their July 2025 slate of titles, delivering Stanley Kubrick, a film noir classic, an underrated New Hollywood gem, and more. Let’s check out what Criterion has in store:

First up is Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (spine #1269), a scorcher of a noir that offers Glenn Ford and femme fatale Gloria Grahame in some of their finest performances (and don’t forget Lee Marvin!). With stellar black and white cinematography by Charles Lang (no relation), The Big Heat stands out in a decade crowded with some of the greatest film noirs ever. Special features include two new commentaries, an archival audio interview with director Lang (co-conducted by Peter Boganovich) and interviews with filmmakers Michael Mann and Martin Scorsese.

A pleasant addition is 1971’s Carnal Knowledge (spine #1270), one of just three Mike Nichols films featured in the collection. I always considered Carnal Knowledge one of the...

The Criterion Collection has shared with us the new round of releases coming this July, which boasts an impressive lineup of work from directors Stanley Kubrick, Fritz Lang, Mike Nichols, François Truffaut, and Kenneth Lonergan.

Lang’s genre-defining noir film “The Big Heat” is one of the big standouts in the announcement as it featured iconic actor Glenn Ford as the hard-boiled detective and a young Lee Marvin playing the thuggish heavy, a large calling card for these kinds of films is shocking violence and there is plenty to go around in this one.

Continue reading Criterion’s July 2025 Releases Include Stanely Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon,’ ‘The Big Heat,’ ‘Adventures Of Antoine Doinel,’ ‘Carnal Knowledge’ & More at The Playlist.

There is very little that is remarkable about Taylor Hackford's 2013 actioner "Parker" starring Jason Statham. The title character is, like so many action movie protagonists before him, defined largely by his taciturn and steely demeanor and doesn't have a lot of whimsy or personality beyond that. Parker is a thief, but he is defined by an unshakable code of ethics and believes in sticking to well laid-out plans. He's not a hothead or impulsive. In other words: he's kind of boring. It also doesn't help that "Parker" has a predictable plot stretched out across a dull screenplay. The film came and went without fanfare, a January release to its very core.

"Parker" made $46.9 million at the box office on a $35 million budget, which is a bomb on a Hollywood ledger. It was only lukewarmly received by critics, sporting a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 105 reviews). Peter Sobczynski's review for RogerEbert.

Western movies have long entertained fans with high-stakes drama and action, and over the years, the genre has produced a long list of admirable heroes. However, for these heroes to thrive, the genre's greatest sharpshooters often need an equally impressive antagonist to overcome. A great Western villain is essential to the genre's storytelling, and in many cases, these characters leave their mark on the series from their first moments on screen.

Considering that first impressions often define a character’s core traits, Western villains have traditionally made an impact on viewers when established in a story and fundamentally shape the hero’s obstacles. Within the pantheon of great Western movie villains, some have come along and truly exceed an introduction and advance a film’s developing dramatic stakes.

Rattlesnake Jake Forces the Protagonist to Surrender Rango Blends Animated Action and Comedy Wonderfully

The western diamondback gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake from Gore Verbinski...

"The Twilight Zone" is one of those shows so ingrained in popular culture that it's become synonymous with anything mysterious or spooky, even for people who have never seen an episode before. Conceived by Rod Serling as a method of exploring social commentary and often controversial ideas that are still relevant today, the original series first aired in 1959 and ran for five seasons. Serling wrote the bulk of the teleplays and narrated in his own inimitable way, sometimes inserting himself into an episode while dangling an ever-present cigarette. "The Twilight Zone" was also a showcase for some great actors: William Shatner, Burgess Meredith, Buster Keaton, Lee Marvin, Peter Falk, and many others made memorable impressions in classic episodes.

10 years after Serling passed away in 1975, CBS decided to resurrect the show. Although 1983's "Twilight Zone: The Movie" was a disappointment, the '80s "Twilight Zone" TV revamp was still able to...

The Twilight Zone is a cornerstone of science fiction and horror television, providing timeless social commentary wrapped in eerie tales of the unknown. Rod Serling’s iconic series is filled with instantly recognizable classics like Time Enough at Last and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, but there are plenty of episodes that often go overlooked. These underrated gems, though sometimes overshadowed by the show’s more famous entries, still pack a powerful punch.

They may not be the most famous in The Twilight Zone catalog, but each one offers something truly memorable. Whether they delve into the psychological horror of regret, explore themes of prejudice and fear, or use the supernatural to unsettle the viewer, these episodes are proof that even in a show filled with classics, some stories still fly under the radar.

Updated on March 19, 2025 by Robert Vaux: With hundreds of episodes in its five-season run, The Twilight Zone has...

Mark Wahlberg stars in Shane Black’s first film in seven years, the upcoming Play Dirty. Surprisingly, it’s getting an R rating.

Writer, producer, director and sometime actor Shane Black has left a potent mark on modern cinema, not least directing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys. Furthermore, has a $1bn hit to his name with Iron Man 3, and his screenplays for the likes of Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout are quite something to do.

I want to start this story with the good stuff, as the last film that he made to date was 2018’s The Predator. I wasn’t fond of it at all, but still: since then, Shane Black has neither written nor directed a film, and that’s been seven years. He’s been away from the screen too long.

Let us welcome, then, Play Dirty. This was a movie...

As one of the most narratively rich and visually impactful genres in cinema, war movies often resonate with viewers through impressive technical design, well-executed action and memorable characters. Moreover, the audience’s engagement through a war film’s complex characters oftentimes heightens the combat elements and the emotional facets. At the same time, the actors who bring these important characters to life do a wonderful job of capturing the narrative’s tone, where many of these stars can refer to similar military experiences.

As one of the most integral and deadly aspects of human history, war demonstrates the harsh realities of humanity and also reveals a sense of duty from the soldiers who aim to fight for a noble cause. In this instance, several Hollywood stars have joined the military, as well as served in war, and upon making the jump to acting, these performers have brought depth to a...

Westerns have always worked uncommonly well with ghost stories, which occupy a small part of their ethos and can be readily used to serve story needs. Crossovers aren't entirely common, but have produced some striking movies and TV shows. They run the gamut from bloody updates of traditional Westerns like Bone Tomahawk to wilder genre mash-ups like From Dusk Til Dawn, and while the best of them tend to be modern, the roots of Western horror stretch back to the pulp days.

It should come as no surprise that one of the best old-school examples of Western horror came with Rod Serling's classic seriesThe Twilight Zone. Cowboys were all the rage when the series first premiered, and multiple episodes used Western tropes as the jumping-off point for their various spooky premises. One of them -- Season 3, Episode 7, "The Grave" -- is as good as anything The Twilight Zone has ever produced.

Actors turn down roles for all kinds of reasons: scheduling conflicts, budgetary constraints, no internal nudity clauses, etc. When you’re successful enough, though, you can start having fun with it and turn them down for hilarious reasons. Such as…

5 Gene Hackman Didn’t Do Night Shoots

Hackman was the first actor David Fincher considered for the part of Seven’s Detective William Somerset, spending 40 minutes pitching the role to the then-65-year-old star. “It sounds like there’s a lot of night shoots,” he told Fincher. “And I said, ‘Yeah, there is.’ He said, ‘Count me out.’ So that was that.” You have to respect a man who sticks to his bedtime.

4 Lee Marvin Took Fishing Too Seriously for ‘Jaws’

Marvin also had a great “old man” reason for turning down a movie. During the casting of Jaws, Marvin was Spielberg’s first choice for the grizzled shark hunter Quint,...

When audiences think of war films, there are certain expectations that come with the genre. Notably, epic battles, heroic soldiers and intense drama. Films like Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day fit that mold perfectly. They’re about sacrifice, friendship and the bleak realities of war. But The Dirty Dozen took a completely different approach.

Released in 1967, The Dirty Dozen didn’t follow the usual path of praised soldiers and noble bravery. Instead, it focused on twelve convicts sent on a suicide mission. A group of outcasts thrown together for one last chance at redemption. The film mixed dark humor with war action, challenging the clichés that defined other World War II films. By doing so, The Dirty Dozen became an iconic entry in the genre, standing out from the pack of more conventional war films.

The Dirty Dozen Tells a Redemption Story Set in WWII

Set in the months leading up to D-Day,...

Mark Hamill will always be best known for two iconic roles: Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars saga, and The Joker from a series of DC projects, starting with Batman: The Animated Series. Either one of them would be a staggering legacy on their own, but their prominence overshadows what has been a staggeringly prolific career. Hamill's IMDb page lists over 350 credits, with more on the way. Much of it is voice over work, but includes projects both big and small, making him a staple of pop-culture for almost 50 years.

Hamill's lengthy resume includes a classic war movie that came out in the wake of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Sam Fuller's The Big Red One covers the exploits of a decorated US Army unit during World War II, based on the director's own experiences in combat. Hamill plays a foot soldier in the company,...

Most moviegoers have preconceived notions of what makes a World War II film. More often than not, they'd envision a cinematic epic or a tense thriller like Saving Private Ryan or The Guns of Navarone, respectively. Other times, they'd think of a generational period drama not unlike Flags of Our Fathers, Schindler's List, or more recently, Oppenheimer. Generally speaking, audiences and critics expect World War II films to be big. This is what made Hell in the Pacific stand out in one of the most crowded film genres around.

Unlike its more famous wartime contemporaries, John Boorman's World War II film was small in just about every regard. At most, it only had three vast but empty locations. More importantly, it only starred two actors: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. What's more, the two were stuck on the same island for most of the film. Not only were Marvin and Mifune perfectly cast,...

The Delta Force and Delta Force 2, starring Chuck Norris, are getting fresh UK Blu-ray releases. You can read more on them here.

The era of straight to video action films hasn’t been entirely replicated by the streaming world, and the era of modestly-costed action films going to cinema? Well, most of them don’t see the inside of a multiplex.

In the case of The Delta Force, the first film made it to cinemas, but the second went straight to video in the UK. Still, it’s a pair of Chuck Norris headlined action pictures that weren’t short of fans.

The first one, from director Menahem Golan and his once-prominent Cannon empire, also had Lee Marvin, Robert Forster, Robert Vaughn and Shelley Winters in its ensemble. The first sequel, Delta Force 2: The Columbian Connection only carried across Chuck Norris from that cast list, with Aaron Norris stepping behind the camera.

Western movies have seen a variety of talented actors build their careers through roles as cowboys, lawmen, and bounty hunters, but few have commanded the genre as well as Clint Eastwood. Building up an image as a gritty, self-reliant, and morally grey antihero, the actor/director has left as strong an impression behind the camera as in front. The image he established in the Western genre was so strong and beloved that it followed him through other genres, such as action, thriller, and drama.

Clint Eastwood's leadership of the Western genre throughout the latter half of the 20th century defined his career, rarely turning in a bad movie. As great as roles like Dirty Harry may be, the actor has always been at his best in the Old West -- and some films are a stronger testament to this than others. Ranging from performances as bounty hunters to vengeful spirits,...

Legend has it that instead of a chin beneath Chuck Norris' beard, he's hiding a third foot waiting to hit you with a surprise roundhouse kick. Some of his older films prove that one false, but it might be true that when Norris does a push-up, it's the Earth that moves, not him. Who's to say, really? The point is that Norris went from real martial artist to actor, dominating big screens through the 1980s and the small screen throughout the '90s. Love him or hate him, he's an American original.

He might not have gotten films with the kind of big budgets afforded his peers, and he might not be on too many lists of best action stars, but his movies deliver exactly what they set out to -- Norris smacking the living daylights out of bad dudes. Now keep reading to see where your favorites landed on...

In 1967, Clint Eastwood's career took off overnight with the U.S. theatrical releases of "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." This trilogy of newfangled Spaghetti Westerns directed by the brilliant Sergio Leone transformed Eastwood from a TV cowboy (as Rowdy Yates on CBS' "Rawhide") to a gunslinging antihero. The genre was reborn, and Eastwood was suddenly John Wayne for the Baby Boomer generation. He expanded his range and bolstered his popularity the following year by genre-hopping from Western "Hang 'Em High" to cop flick "Coogan's Bluff" to World War II spy thriller "Where Eagles Dare." By the time 1969 rolled around, he could do just about anything — and he did the unexpected.

Though musicals and traditional Westerns were declining in popularity, Paramount thought it could give them both a jolt by mounting a big-screen adaptation of the popular Alan Jay Lerner...

Claude Jarman Jr., who received a Juvenile Academy Award for his heart-tugging performance as the boy who adopts an orphaned fawn in the 1946 MGM classic The Yearling, died Sunday. He was 90.

Jarman died in his sleep of natural causes at his Marin County home in Kentfield, California, his wife of 38 years, Katie, told THR’s Scott Feinberg.

In films released in 1949, Jarman starred with Jeanette MacDonald in the Lassie movie The Sun Comes Up, played the brother of a rancher on the run (Robert Sterling) in Roughshod and reteamed with Yearling director Clarence Brown to portray a youngster out to prove the innocence of a Black man in Intruder in the Dust, based on the William Faulkner novel and filmed in Oxford, Mississippi.

A year later, he played the son of a cavalry officer (John Wayne) in John Ford’s Rio Grande (1950).

Born on Sept. 27, 1934, Jarman was the 10-year-old son...

Music blares as the CinemaScope logo fades—a train guns across the Mojave. It is like a gut punch. The camera flies over the modern streamliner, shooting like a bullet through the desert. Unexpectedly, its horns blow and it halts to a stop in a little nowhere place. The whole...

Despite not boasting widespread recognition in the modern era, The Big Heat remains one of the greatest big-screen revenge stories ever told. Released in 1952, The Big Heat is a celebrated film noir featuring three major names in Hollywood: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin. Glenn Ford, an actor who helped headline some of the best film noir movies of all time, played the lead role of Detective Dave Bannion, the subject of The Big Heat's revenge narrative.

Revenge is among the most common motifs in Hollywood films, with Westerns and crime thrillers utilizing it regularly for decades. Over the years, bloody crusades to right a wrong have delivered all sorts of riveting adventures, ranging from High Plains Drifter to John Wick. Older movies, even those bound by numerous content restrictions, have also found great success in making a quest for vengeance the central focus of a story. In fact,...

Since the 1960s, action movies have given audiences some of the most iconic stories of all time, from '80s icons like Die Hard to modern masterpieces like John Wick. While the modern era has produced some of the genre's best films, audiences have decades of classic action flicks to choose from, including many that helped define them. The genre is one of the most versatile in Hollywood, something that has been true for decades.

When it comes to older action movies, the genre can be hit or miss, with the limitations of past decades forcing some movies to be too muted or campy, while others simply haven't aged well. Some films, however, remain a classic part of the genre, and have helped define cinema for the decades since their release. From stories about soldiers going behind enemy lines to hard-boiled detectives bringing down gangsters, the action genre has decades...

Courtesy of Eureka Entertainment

by James Cameron-wilson

In January of this year something extraordinary happened. For the first time, United Artists’ Black Tuesday was shown on British television, having been originally banned for its violence. The film noir classic of 1954 stars Edward G. Robinson, one of the four giants of Hollywood’s gangster genre, alongside James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. At the time that Edward G. starred in Black Tuesday, he was in something of a career slump, but, in spite of his modest physical stature, he still manages to bring to bear his characteristically brutal persona. Perhaps even more surprising is how good the film is, a sort of forgotten masterpiece from the Argentinean helmer Hugo Fregonese who, in his time, had directed such stars as Gary Cooper, James Mason, Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Lee Marvin and Stewart Granger, but who is largely forgotten today,...

Celebrity documentaries are commanding lofty price tags at the moment, even though “star power” itself seems to be losing its sizzle.

The facts are nasty: Superstar endorsements carried zero clout in the presidential elections. Further, studios have lost their zeal for the once pivotal pre-opening star interview circuit. Superstar vehicles like Wolfs (George Clooney and Brad Pitt) drifted before audiences with limited exposure to blurbdom. Sequel numbers carry greater weight than festival fervor.

Defying this algorithmic blur, Apple TV still felt its Billie Eilish caper was worth $27 million, and Disney forked out $32 million for Elton John: Never Too Late. Disney also paid handsomely for a new/old doc titled Beatles ’64 from Paul McCartney, premiering this week. Could Taylor Swift be far behind?

Intriguingly, audiences still register an appetite for docs about past legends like Humphrey Bogart as well as semi-present ones like Bob Dylan — even litigating about their validity.

This article first appeared into the September 2018 issue of Empire.

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Thirty years after unleashing defective detective Frank Drebin onto the streets of LA, the men behind The Naked Gun talk us through its most iconic moments.

“I’ve finally found someone I can love. A good clean love, without utensils.”

So spoke Lieutenant Frank Drebin in the closing moments of The Naked Gun, romancing his girlfriend mere seconds after his would-be assassin is trampled to death by a marching band. It’s been 30 years since Leslie Nielsen’s Drebin crashed into cinemas, getting everything wrong yet somehow still solving the case. Today, Drebin’s co-creators David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (aka Zaz), brought together by Empire for an anniversary chinwag, are in fine fettle — there’s no mistaking Drebin’s heritage. “Tell me if I’m wrong,” says Empire, about to pose a question. “You’re wrong!

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad wrote around 50 scripts before he finally broke through with the spec screenplay that became John Wick.

It’s an odd profession, screenwriting. There are some who’ve spent years trying to break into it, only to have their work changed to such a degree that their original idea has effectively vanished by the time it reaches the screen. There are others who get paid handsomely by studios to write screenplays that then wind up on a shelf, unused. For every celebrated screenwriter with millions in the bank and awards on their shelves, there are countless others who are behind on their rent and remain largely unknown.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, meanwhile, is something of an inspiration. He toiled away for years in the hope of making a career out of writing, and almost gave up when some of the low-budget movies he worked on didn’t bring in much of a salary.

American singer and actor Trini Lopez played a significant role in the 1967 action movie The Dirty Dozen, but his character mysteriously vanished midway through the story. Based on the 1965 novel by E.M. Nathanson, The Dirty Dozen is set in 1944, during World War II, and depicts 12 soldiers being trained for a military mission ahead of the Normandy landings. The movie was a critical and commercial success and inspired three television sequels in the 1980s. A Dirty Dozen remake was announced in 2019, with David Ayer set to serve as director.

The Dirty Dozen received praise for its depiction of military combat during World War II and received four Oscar nominations in 1968, winning one for Best Sound Editing. The movie contained a talented ensemble cast featuring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, and George Kennedy, who all served in the military in real life, during the war. One member of the cast ensemble,...

THR reports that Chad Stahelski is producing The Professionals. When I read the title, I initially thought this might be a remake of the 1966 Western starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin, but no. The project is said to be a cross between John Wick and Clue. I can get down with that.

The film follows “a group of contract killers stranded in an English countryside estate when one of them is murdered and the remaining group has to solve the death.” Stahelski will produce alongside Alex Young and Jason Spitz, his partners at 87Eleven, as well as Jason Michael Berman and Jordan Moldo of Mandalay Pictures. Hunter Perot, grandson of the late Ross Perot, wrote the initial draft of the screenplay. Madison Turner, a stuntman-turned-writer and son of longtime stunt performer Tierre Turner, is now tackling the script.

Related Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net: Bryan Carey

Chad...

Ronald Reagan had such an eventful presidency that everyone seems to forget he was once an actor. In fact, Reagan had a longer career in Hollywood (19371966) than in politics (19671988). The former president's journey in the entertainment industry started at Who radio, where he served as a broadcaster for Chicago Cubs games. He then moved to California where he signed a multi-picture deal with Warner Bros., allowing him to make a whopping 30 films before enlisting in 1942.

After the war, Reagans popularity grew, enabling him to do business with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Rko Pictures. His new standing in Hollywood also allowed him to be elected as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) president.

For most of Ronald Reagan's career, he concentrated on making westerns. However, he chose to conclude his Hollywood career with a gangster movie before running for California governor. That movie was 1964s The Killers, a blunt, terrifying motion...

There are plenty of stories of missed out roles or different casting choices that can leave one's head spinning; we were this close to living in a reality where Burt Reynolds played Han Solo. It is always interesting to wonder what could have been, but we don't always focus on why it turned out that way. For some actors, they made a mistake thinking the movie part was not for them. For others, it was just a conflict of schedule that had them missing out from landing that iconic role.

There is also a darker side to this, and some actors end up finding themselves turned down because of their behavior off and on set. This is certainly the case with British actor Oliver Reed, who lost out on roles like James Bond, and turned down a part in Jaws, due to his problems with drinking and for his scandalous behavior.