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How many exceptional films has Guillermo del Toro turned you on to? The Oscar-winning director is forever championing beloved classics and under-seen efforts via social media. We’ve featured many of his recommendations right here, and today we are back with another!

This time, we’ve got a fascinating recommendation in store for you. Today’s pick is a film based on a Stephen King story, featuring the great David Cronenberg at the helm. If you haven’t guessed, we’re talking about the stone-cold classic The Dead Zone.

The Mimic director once praised The Dead Zone via Twitter (it’s still not X to me). His tweet reads:

In the eve of elections I re-watched Cronenberg's The Dead Zone… As haunting and tragic as always… pic.twitter.com/hiWiqIPKum

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) October 23, 2018

That’s a short and sweet endorsement, but haunting and tragic are both fitting adjectives to describe The Dead Zone.

Another iconic rock band is getting the biopic treatment. Nick Jonas is set to star as KISSlead singer Paul Stanley in Shout It Out Loud. The project will be directed by action maven McG, in what will be the director's first biographical film since the 2006 sports drama We Are Marshall. Deadline reports that the film is expected to begin production in late 2025 or early 2026.

Jonas will reportedly do his own singing in the film, which will dramatize the formation and early years of the band before they became arena-rock legends. Jonas certainly has the experience to do so, having risen to fame with the Jonas Brothers band, and later performed solo, with his own band, Nick Jonas & the Administration, and on stage. However, he will apparently need some time to practice replicating Stanley's unique vocalizations. That will give McG time to cast bassist Gene Simmons, who will be the film's other lead character,...

In David Carson's 1994 film "Star Trek: Generations," a mad scientist named Dr. Soren (Malcolm McDowell) has been galavanting about the galaxy destroying stars and wiping out entire planetary systems. His goal is to alter the gravitational fields throughout the quadrant in order to "steer" a free-floating energy ribbon into a nearby planet. The ribbon, audiences learned earlier, was nicknamed the Nexus, as the ordinary rules of time don't apply inside of it, and all points of history happen simultaneously. The Nexus can scoop up humanoid species, and deposit them into a psychic realm of their own imagining, more or less granting their every wish. The Nexus is the "Star Trek" version of Heaven, imagined as a rogue spatial phenomenon. I guess Belinda Carlisle was wrong when she declared that Ooh, Heaven is a Place on Earth. 

Soren is ultimately successful, and steers the Nexus into the planet Veridian III,...

Josh Brolin is the Oscar-nominated actor who has jumped back and forth between prestige projects and big studio titles, including his most famous role as the big purple bad guy Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: End Game” (2019). Let’s take a look back at 16 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

It was over three decades ago that the teenage Brolin made his film debut in “The Goonies” (1985) but it is only in the last 10 years or so that he has risen to the top of the list of respected actors and become a full-out movie star. As Brolin himself joked on an episode of “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” he got everything wrong for the first half of his career and only recently started getting it right. Brolin is perhaps being too hard on himself since he has had a very steady rise in show business...

Star Trek: The Next Generation's coolest invention mostly disappeared from Star Trek movies after Star Trek: First Contact. Set about 100 years after Star Trek: The Original Series, Tng introduced an entirely new cast of characters and also brought several new futuristic technologies to Star Trek canon. The USS Enterprise-d of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was much larger than its predecessors and had numerous features earlier versions of the Starship Eneterprise lacked.

The most versatile and impressive new technology introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation was the holodeck. With a combination of replicator, transporter, and holographic technology, the holodeck could create a virtual world that felt realistic in almost every way. Starfleet's Galaxy-class ships like the Enterprise-d were equipped with holodecks that could be used for training exercises, combat practice, and recreation. The holodeck also allowed Tng to explore different genres of storytelling, as the crew could visit...

To celebrate the release of Columbo: The Final Years on Blu-Ray Box-Set from 18th November, we are giving a away a Blu-Ray Box set to one lucky winner!

Columbo is the landmark series that set the standard for the murder-mystery genre. The original run ended in 1978, but the series triumphantly returned in 1989 with an older and wiser Columbo! Remastered in 4K by NBC Universal, Columbo: The Final Years stars Peter Falk in his award-winning role as the cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant. This Blu-ray boxset includes the final 24 episodes of this enduring classic that ran from 1989-2003.

The incredible wealth of guest stars includes Little Richard, George Hamilton, George Wendt, Anthony Zerbe, Anthony Andrews, Ian McShane, Patrick McGoohan, Juliet Mills, Tyne Daly, Faye Dunaway, William Shatner, Rod Steiger, Billy Connolly and many more.

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The Small Print

This competition is open to UK residents only The competition will close...

Captain Picard's Enterprise faced 4 evil villains in Star Trek: The Next Generation's movies,. Tng's movie villains were mostly attempts to recapture the menace of Khan in Star Trek II. Soran, the Borg Queen, Ru'afo, and Shinzon are all major leage Star Trek movie villains, but here's who is best.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) faced four major league villains in Star Trek: The Next Generation's movies, and here they are ranked worst to best. Starting with 1994's Star Trek Generations, directed by David Carson, the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation took over the Star Trek movie franchise. Three more films followed; 1996's Star Trek: First Contact and 1998's Star Trek: Insurrection, directed by Jonathan Frakes, and 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, directed by Stuart Baird.

Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), the eponymous villain of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, looms over the cinematic adversaries Captain...

David O. Russell was having a moment about a decade back, with a series of releases that Made him a director well worth paying attention to. The highlight was American Hustle, a black comedy focused on crime and corruption. It boasts a strong cast, led by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Bradley Cooper, but nearly stealing the show was Jennifer Lawrence, still in the early stages of her career.

The film, out now in a new 4K Steelbook format from Sony Home Entertainment, is well worth a look if you missed it in 2013. A year earlier, Cooper and Lawrence danced their way into our hearts with the charming Silver Linings Playbook, and Russell brought them back for this caper, pitting them against one another.

Cooper is an FBI agent who forces con artists Bale and Adams into creating a sting operation intending to take down the May of Camden, New Jersey.

Jonathan Frakes says Star Trek: Insurrection explores a classic moral dilemma, reflecting the franchise's commitment to tackling ethical issues. The film may not be as action-packed as its predecessor, but it offers a thought-provoking story centered around Captain Picard defending the rights of the Ba'ku people. Star Trek is at its best when it grapples with complex moral dilemmas, as seen in both the TV shows and movies of the franchise.

Star Trek: Insurrection feels like an extended episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and director Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander Will Riker, has spoken about the classic Star Trek moral dilemma at the center of the film. Following the action spectacle of Star Trek: First Contact, Insurrection tells a quieter story about the small Ba'ku village and the Starfleet officers who attempt to forcibly remove its people. Insurrection shows Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) standing up for what's right,...

Jonathan Frakes' 1998 film "Star Trek: Insurrection" is hardly the most celebrated of the 13 extant "Star Trek" movies. The film wasn't terribly well-reviewed when it was released, and a general fan consensus seems to dictate that it may be the least of the four films based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." 

Notably, "Insurrection" looks cheap. The bulk of the film's action takes place on the Ba'ku homeworld, but the filmmakers were unable to do anything to make it look appropriately alien. The exteriors were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, as well as the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and, well, it looks like they just shot the film in California. Additionally, the Ba'ku were given no alien makeup, leaving them looking like regular old people. Worst of all, the Ba'ku costume designs were unbearably boring, as everyone was draped in loose-fitting, off-white hippie-wear that even mannequins would be embarrassed by. 

The...

Star Trek: Insurrection introduces a new ability for Lt. Commander Data – he can act as a flotation device. Data's emotion chip, a significant part of his character in Star Trek Generations, is mostly dismissed in Insurrection. The Tng movie sequels shift focus away from Data's emotional journey, with Insurrection ignoring his emotion chip altogether.

Star Trek: Insurrection gave Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) a weird new ability that Star Trek wisely forgot. After Data became one of the most beloved characters to emerge from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Tng films leaned into that, with Data spotlight in a main storyline of each movie. After nearly being seduced by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) in Star Trek: First Contact, Data begiss Insurrection on an undercover mission observing the Ba'ku people. After Data malfunctions, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) brings the USS Enterprise-e and its crew in to retrieve the android and investigate his mission.

Mike Flanagan has made his appreciation for the works of Stephen King quite clear. He has written and directed film adaptations of the King novels Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, he’s currently working on a film adaptation of the King story The Life of Chuck, he’s developing a series adaptation of King’s The Dark Tower series for Amazon Studios, he has been on the Kingcast podcast multiple times, and he participated in a six-episode podcast discussion of King’s epic novel The Stand. Now Scream Factory has revealed that their upcoming 4K and Blu-ray release of the 1983 King adaptation The Dead Zone (watch it Here) includes a fan commentary with Flanagan and The Kingcast hosts Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler!

The release date for the 4K and Blu-ray is December 19th. Copies can be pre-ordered on the Scream Factory website.

Directed by David Cronenberg and scripted by Jeffrey Boam,...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

The Dead Zone 4K Uhd from Scream Factory

The Dead Zone will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on December 19 via Scream Factory. The 1983 Stephen King adaptation has been newly transferred in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision (Hdr-10 compatible) and DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 sound.

David Cronenberg directs from a script by Jeffrey Boam (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Christopher Walken stars with Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, and Martin Sheen.

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan and The Kingcast podcast hosts Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler recorded a new audio commentary for the release.

All the special features from Scream Factory’s 2021 Blu-ray edition are also...

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 explored the concept of de-aging in an episode before it became central to Star Trek: Insurrection. Despite the potential of the de-aging process, Starfleet did not further study it or follow up on the planet Cerebus II where it was discovered. Tng season 1 introduced many intriguing ideas and alien species that were never revisited or explored further in subsequent episodes.

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 did an episode about de-aging a decade before it was the central issue in Star Trek: Insurrection. While most episodes of Tng focus primarily on Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-d, Tng season 1, episode 16, "Too Short a Season" gives the spotlight to the now-elderly Admiral Mark Jameson (Clayton Rohner). Jameson had successfully negotiated for the release of hostages on the planet Mordan IV 45 years before, and the governor of the planet has...

Both Captain Archer and Captain Picard unexpectedly fall for women from pre-industrial worlds while defending them from hostile aliens. Captain Archer's romance with Riann is similar to Captain Picard's romance with Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection. The behavior of Captain Archer, leaving Riann and not promising to return, follows the traditional playbook of Star Trek captains who have no permanent relationships and are devoted to their starships.

Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has a romance in Star Trek: Enterprise season 1 that essentially copies Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) romantic tryst in Star Trek: Insurrection. In Enterprise season 1, episode 9, "Civilization," the Nx-01 Enterprise investigates the Akaali, a pre-industrial humanoid civilization whose population's water supply is being poisoned by another alien race, the Malurans. As Captain Archer, Subcommander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), and Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) get to the bottom of what's happening with the Akaali,...

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has changed in many ways since "All Good Things…" the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Throughout several Tng movies and the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard, he met and triumphed over many enemies, old and new. He had to cope with the devastating loss of a beloved colleague and lived through the grief of his friends. He also dealt with the heartbreak of temporarily walking away from his career in Starfleet, his life's work.

Picard has confronted the ghosts of his own past. In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc began the difficult process of healing from the trauma of familial tragedy, including an incident that has haunted him for his entire life and kept him from being close to others. He is also coming to terms with his decision to pursue meaning in life by dedicating himself to Starfleet rather than a traditional home and family.

The reason the USS Enterprise missed Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War could explain why Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) USS Enterprise-e didn't lead the fighting in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dominion War. The main conflict of the Dominion War coincided with the time frame of Star Trek Insurrection, when Picard and his crew protected the Ba'ku and the Briar Patch from being exploited by Starfleet Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) and the Son'a. The war was ultimately won by the coalition of Romulans, Klingons, and the United Federation of Planets led by Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).

Of course, the real-world reason why Picard and the Enterprise - the Federation flagship - didn't take the lead in the Dominion War is because the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was making movies. The Dominion War took place entirely on DS9, and it was a storyline executive producer Rick Berman wasn't fond of.

In Star Trek: Picard, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has finally found love with Laris (Orla Brady), but Jean-Luc's romance with Anij (Donna Murphy) in Star Trek: Insurrection was forgotten. Captain Picard met Anij when stopped a plot by the Son'a and Starfleet Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) to forcibly relocate her people, the Ba'ku. The Son'a and Dougherty wanted to control the Briar Patch, a region of space with restorative properties, essentially a Fountain of Youth.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 set out to definitively answer the question of why Jean-Luc Picard chose to not have a lasting romantic relationship. The answer turned out to be repressed trauma from his childhood where the young Jean-Luc blamed himself for the suicide of his mother, Yvette Picard (Madeline Wise). Once Jean-Luc faced his buried memories and reconciled them, he finally became ready to accept Laris as his partner. But 25 years prior to Star Trek: Picard...

It’s Labor vs. Capital, in basic terms! Sean Connery is the tough, embittered miner looking to strike back against the bosses, and Richard Harris the underdog who sees a way out by becoming an agent provocateur for the Pinkertons. An admirable true-life history lesson, Walter Bernstein & Martin Ritt’s downer of a drama didn’t grab the public’s imagination. But there’s no better vision of the time and place, thanks to James Wong Howe’s realistic, nearly monochromatic cinematography.

The Molly Maguires

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 172

1970 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 124 min. / Street Date October 26, 2022 / Available from Viavision / au 34.95

Starring: Sean Connery, Richard Harris, Samantha Eggar, Frank Finlay, Anthony Zerbe, Philip Bourneuf, Anthony Costello, Bethel Leslie, Brendan Dillon.

Cinematography: James Wong Howe

Art Director: Tambi Larsen

Costumes designed by: Dorothy Jeakins

Film Editor: Frank Bracht

Original Music: Henry Mancini

Written by Walter Bernstein suggested by a book by Arthur H. Lewis

Produced by Walter Bernstein,...

Two big ideas were introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies that were abandoned after the films were over. Not coincidentally, both ideas were part of Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Insurrection, which were not as successful with audiences as Star Trek: First Contact, the undisputed best of the Tng movies. Generations and Insurrection's major concepts remain among the most confusing ideas the Star Trek movies have introduced.

Star Trek Generations created the Nexus, a space ribbon that has its own rules of reality. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) were transported into the Nexus, which was described as being "inside joy," although the two Captains left the Nexus almost as soon as they met. Star Trek: Insurrection's big idea was the Briar Patch, a region of space that emitted radiation that acted like a Fountain of Youth for the Ba'ku,...

This post contains spoilers for the season finale of "Star Trek: Lower Decks."

In the last episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," the U.S.S. Cerritos found themselves under attack by a small armada of Breen warships. The California-class vessel was severely outmatched, and was at risk of being destroyed when a heretofore unseen starship, the U.S.S. Aledo, swooped in, destroyed the attackers and saved the day. The Aledo, it is later revealed, was an experimental Texas-class starship that was run entirely by artificial intelligence. There was no crew on board. The Texas class was the brainchild of one Vice Admiral Buen Amigo (Carlos Alazraqui), who sought to reduce both casualties and any human error in Starfleet by essentially replacing its officers with drones. 

As any good Trekkie knows, creating an artificially intelligent machine is an enormous can of worms on "Star Trek," and giving both A.

Vestron Video and Lionsgate Home Entertainment have detailed the upcoming Collector's Series Edition of Lance Hool's Steel Dawn (1987), starring Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe, Christopher Neame, and Brion James.

The release is available for purchase now for it's October 26 release date.

Synopsis:

Whoever controls the water controls the valley," proclaims the evil Damnil in this cult favorite starring Patrick Swayze as Nomad, an ex-sold...

The acclaimed Vestron Video Collector’s Series delivers a gripping dystopian punch when the suspenseful and action-packed Steel Dawn (1987) — available for the first time on limited-edition Blu-ray (plus Digital) — arrives on October 26 from Lionsgate.

The acclaimed Vestron Video Collector’s Series delivers a gripping dystopian punch when the suspenseful and action-packed Steel Dawn — available for the first time on limited-edition Blu-ray (plus Digital) — arrives on October 26 from Lionsgate. Golden Globe® nominee Patrick Swayze stars as a new breed of warrior in a post-nuclear era where laws are useless and water is more precious than blood. Also featuring Lisa Niemi (TV’s “Super Force”) and Primetime Emmy® Award winner Anthony Zerbe, Steel Dawn will be available on limited-edition Blu-ray for the suggested retail price of $17.99.

“Whoever controls the water controls the valley,” proclaims the evil Damnil in this cult favorite starring Patrick Swayze as Nomad, an ex-soldier roaming the desert wastes of a war-ravaged world.

History was made in a monumental way with the announcement of the 2021 Primetime Emmy nominations as Mj Rodriguez (“Pose”) became the first trans lead acting nominee. This year also marks the first instance of three Black women being included in the same Best Drama Actress lineup, as Rodriguez is up against Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) and Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”). Any of them would be only the third Black winner of this award, and a victory by Rodriguez or Smollett would be even more distinctive in that either of them would be the first actress in a quarter century to snag this award for a final season.

“Pose” wrapped its three-season run in June with a proper two-part finale, while “Lovecraft Country” was unexpectedly cancelled in July after having aired its inaugural season’s last episode nine months earlier. While female stars of drama series have been nominated for final...

Paranoia strikes deep! Alan J. Pakula made The Watergate-era conspiracy creepshow in this sinister extrapolation of political trends. Warren Beatty’s investigative reporter thinks he has an inside track to expose and destroy what looks like a shadow assassination bureau. If the technology of 1974 could be made this efficient, our own Brave New World of ‘truth control’ seems even scarier. Pakula and cameraman Gordon Willis found a Panavision style that fully expresses the faceless corporate menace; the ‘Parallax Recruitment Montage’ is still the most terrifying piece of psych-out Agit-prop ever assembled.

The Parallax View

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1064

1974 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 102 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 9, 2021 / 39.95

Starring: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Jo Ann Harris, Walter McGinn, Jim Davis, Stacy Keach Sr., Ford Rainey, Richard Bull, Kenneth Mars, Bill McKinney, Craig R. Baxley, Anthony Zerbe.

Cinematography: Gordon Willis

Film Editor: John W. Wheeler...

September 15th sees the release of a Blu-ray set from Paramount Home Entertainment that collects five of their Stephen King releases, including Pet Sematary and The Dead Zone:

"Prepare for terrifying suspense and bone-chilling thrills with this new 5-Movie Collection arriving on Blu-ray September 15, 2020. Based on the written works of Stephen King, these five films offer perfect entertainment for Halloween: Pet Sematary (1989), Pet Sematary (2019), Stephen King’s The Stand, The Dead Zone, and Stephen King’s Silver Bullet.

Pet Sematary (1989)

Written for the screen by Stephen King and based on his iconic bestseller, director Mary Lambert’s thrilling Pet Sematary electrified audiences upon its release. When tragedy strikes, a grief-stricken father sets off a perilous chain of events that unleashes unfathomable evil in this horror classic. The Pet Sematary (1989) Blu-ray includes commentary by Lambert, a guided tour of the locations led by King, an introduction to the cast and characters,...

You’ve asked questions. Prepare for the answers.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

The Beguiled (1971)

Tenet (2021? Maybe?)

Smokey Is The Bandit (1983)

Robin Hood (2010)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

The Devils (1971)

Song of the South (1946)

Gremlins (1984)

Dillinger (1973)

Marcello I’m So Bored (1966)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Big Wednesday (1978)

Swamp Thing (1982)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Payback (1999)

Bell, Book And Candle (1958)

Blowup (1966)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Medium Cool (1969)

25th Hour (2002)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Palm Springs (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Mandy (2018)

The Sadist (1963)

Spider Baby (1968)

Night Tide (1960)

Stark Fear

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

Ms. 45 (1981)

Léolo (1992)

The Howling (1981)

Showgirls (1995)

Green Book (2018)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Best Man (1964)

Advise and Consent (1962)

The Candidate (1972)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Seven Days In May (1964)

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

The Man (1972)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Four Lions (2010)

Pump Up The Volume (1990)

Nightmare In The Sun (1965)

The Wild Angels (1966)

The Omega Man (1971)

The Nanny (1965)

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man...

Movies to watch when you’re staying in for a while, featuring recommendations from Dana Gould, Daniel Waters, Scott Alexander, and Allison Anders.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Destroy All Monsters (1969)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970)

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973)

Suparpie

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Hello Down There (1969)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Thirteen Days (2000)

Stalker (1979)

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

No Exit (1962)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Sleeper (1973)

The Tenant (1976)

Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

La classe américaine (1993)

The Sex Adventures of a Single Man a.k.a. The 24 Hour Lover (1968)

The Omega Man (1971)

Soylent Green (1973)

Knives Out (2019)

The Hunt (2020)

Banana Split (2020)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Animal Crackers (1930)

Monkey Business (1931)

Horse Feathers (1932)

Duck Soup (1933)

A Night At The Opera (1935)

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971)

Susan Slade (1961)

My Blood Runs Cold...

Yvonne Suhor, who starred for three seasons on The Young Riders, an ABC Western that revolved around the Pony Express, has died. She was 56.

Suhor died Sept. 27 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 10 months ago, her husband, actor Simon Needham, told the Orlando Sentinel.

On MGM Television's The Young Riders, which aired from 1989-92, Suhor portrayed Louise McCloud, who disguised herself as a man to become a rider for the Pony Express. The series also featured Josh Brolin (as Wild Bill Hickok), Stephen Baldwin (Buffalo Bill Cody), Melissa Leo and Anthony Zerbe.

Suhor also appeared on such shows as Northern ...

Need a laugh? Paul Newman shoots people, hangs others and runs a judiciary speed trap for unwary outlaw vagrants. John Huston’s picture is a slack, passably amusing interpretation of writer John Milius’s career- boosting screenplay. A slow-going exercise in ‘printing the legend, only funnier,’ it’s recommended just to take in Stacy Keach’s memorable albino menace, ‘Bad Bob.’

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Ned Beatty, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Zerbe, Dick Farnsworth, Terry Leonard, Matt Clark, Bill McKinney, Steve Kanaly, Bruno The Bear, Michael Sarrazin.

Cinematography: Richard Moore

Film Editor: Hugh S. Fowler

Original Music: Maurice Jarre

Written by John Milius

Produced by John Foreman

Directed by John Huston

When John Huston movies are good,...

After a brief cameo in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and another in 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Josh Brolin will make a full-fledged and villainous appearance as Thanos in this week’s blockbuster movie “Avengers: Infinity War.” The film is the latest in the popular series of films based on the Marvel comic books.

It was over 30 years ago that the teenage Brolin made his film debut in “The Goonies” but it is only in the last 10 years or so that he has risen to the top of the list of respected actors and become a full-out movie star. As Brolin himself joked on an episode of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” he got everything wrong for the first half of his career and only recently started getting it right. Brolin is perhaps being too hard on himself since he has had a very steady rise in show business...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The year 1967 marked the high point of Sidney Poitier's screen career. He starred in three highly acclaimed box office hits: "To Sir, With Love", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "In the Heat of the Night".  The fact that Poitier did not score a Best Actor Oscar nomination that year had less to do with societal prejudices (he had already won an Oscar) than the fact that he was competing with himself and split the voter's choices for his best performance. "In the Heat of the Night" did win the Best Picture Oscar and immortalized Poitier's performance as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia detective who finds himself assigned to assist a redneck sheriff (Rod Steiger, who did win the Oscar that year for his performance in this film) in a town in the deep south that has experienced a grisly unsolved murder. When Steiger's character, resentful for...

A killer book (Dog Soldiers) must hide behind a Credence Clearwater tune. Karel Reisz’s killer movie about the moral residue of Vietnam scores as both drama and action, as disillusioned counterculture smugglers versus corrupt narcotics cops. Just don’t expect it to really have much to say about the Vietnam experience. But hey, the cast is tops — Nick Nolte, Richard Masur, Anthony Zerbe — and the marvelous Tuesday Weld is even better as a pill-soaked involuntary initiate into the pre- War On Drugs smuggling scene.

Who’ll Stop the Rain

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1978 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date May 16, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, Michael Moriarty, Anthony Zerbe, Richard Masur, Ray Sharkey, Gail Strickland, Charles Haid, David Opatoshu, Joaquín Martínez, James Cranna, Timothy Blake.

Cinematography: Richard H. Kiline

Supervising Film Editor: John Bloom

Original Music: Laurence Rosenthal

Written by Judith Rascoe, Robert Stone...

Juliette Harrisson Jul 5, 2017

Juliette counts down ten terrible Admirals that Starfleet must have been mad to promote...

You would think Starfleet would be very careful about who they promote to Admiral, running numerous psychological tests, only promoting those with a solid track record as Captain and keeping a close eye on them for signs of inappropriate behaviour. But no. Based on the evidence of this sorry lot, Starfleet generally just promote whoever happens to be in the vicinity and looks good in the fancy uniform.

See related Marvel's Cloak And Dagger sets production start date Marvel's Inhumans: first trailer arrives

As will become clear below, this is particularly true of Admirals sent to work with the Federation’s flagship, the USS Enterprise. During the 24th century, the appearance of an Admiral on the bridge of the Enterprise is generally a solid indicator of upcoming shenanigans. We can only presume Starfleet...

In the early '70s Walter Matthau excelled in three powerful cops 'n' robbers movies; the second sees him as a tough, laconic San Francisco detective charged with an impossible task -- running down a machine gun mass murderer, with no clues and no living witnesses. The Laughing Policeman Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1973 / Color / 1:85 enhanced widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date October 18, 2016 / available through Kl Studio Classics / 29.95 Starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Albert Paulsen, Anthony Zerbe, Val Avery, Cathy Lee Crosby, Mario Gallo, Joanna Cassidy, Shirley Ballard, William Hansen, Paul Koslo, Louis Guss, Clifton James, Gregory Sierra, Warren Finnerty, Matt Clark, Joseph Bernard, Leigh French, Anthony Costello. Cinematography David M. Walsh Film Editor Bob Wyman Original Music Charles Fox Written by Thomas Rickman from the novel by Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo Produced and Directed by Stuart Rosenberg

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Viewers that like Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...

Jim Knipfel Sep 3, 2019

The 1970s New York music scene produced more than disco movies, they also brought us rock and roll comic book heroes.

The first concert I ever saw was Kiss during their Destroyer tour. My parents had seen some clips of them on the TV and were scared to death. The makeup, the costumes, the pyrotechnics, all the fire-breathing and blood-spitting had them convinced that Kiss was the most wicked, demonic band on Earth (second only to Alice Cooper), and that if I went to the show I’d undoubtedly become addicted to heroin, possessed by the devil, or at the very least be kidnapped. I didn’t bring up the rumor that Kiss was actually an acronym for Knights in Satan’s Service, nor that the possibility of demonic corruption was exactly why I wanted to see the show.

Well, I went and wasn’t sold into slavery.

Mark Harrison Jul 1, 2016

Need a laugh? Here's our guide to 25 comedies that are on Netflix UK now, and are well worth your time...

Putting aside all of the chunter about VPNs and rising subscription costs for a moment, there are more hidden gems to be discovered on Netflix UK than you might expect, and we've been combing through the streaming site's current catalogue to find some of the most underappreciated comedies on offer.

We've come up with this fairly broad selection of films that varies on several fronts. We've picked out a mix of belly laughers and dark comedies, with a couple of dramedies thrown in for good measure. They're not all big Hollywood comedies, but neither are they all films that you're hearing about for the first time, though we've tried to order them according to how well known they may or may not be. What they all have...

'True Grit' 2010: Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges. 'True Grit' 2010 review: 'Far Superior' to 1969 John Wayne Western I've gotten to the point with the Coen brothers where I just expect something wonderful every time they make a movie. For me, that was the case even with an effort like True Grit. For others, however, it was different. When the Coens announced their plans to adapt Charles Portis' novel, heads turned and were scratched by many. After all, not only were the brothers going to adapt a book, something they had done only once before (twice if you count The Odyssey), but they were going to remake a movie made famous by John Wayne in 1969. To many, especially lovers of Westerns, touching True Grit was sacrilege. But the Coens weren't deterred, and thankfully so. Their adaptation of True Grit is not only far superior to Henry Hathaway's 1969 version, it...

Licence to Kill

Directed by John Glen

Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum

UK, 1989

With the release of Skyfall this month, critics have cited the major departures from the Bond formula taken by that film. They credit Daniel Craig for bringing a modern edge to a character that had become ridiculous in the Brosnan years. It’s easy to forget that similar claims were made about Timothy Dalton back in the late ‘80s. The classically trained actor brought grace to the role with his first appearance in 1987’s The Living Daylights. That film retained the look and feeling of the Roger Moore films while starting the shift towards a more realistic hero. The change became a lot more dramatic in Dalton’s second outing two years later. Licence to Kill pared down the excesses of the typical Bond film and crafted a more personal tale of revenge. While...

From Star Trek: Generations through to Star Trek: Nemesis - here are 47 nerdy spots in the Next Generation films...

Since Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, the Star Trek cinematic outings have proved to be a smorgasbord of references and famous actors (or those who would go on to be), and often had complex behind the scenes events that stopped some rather, ahem, fascinating moments making it to the final version. We found lots of nerdy spots in the first six films here.

This time out we look at the films featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and choose 47 factoids. Granted, there's a lot more than that of interest, but we've tried for ones that you might not be aware of.

Oh, and there are some major spoilers...

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

1. The first of the Next Generation films was something of a rush job as principal photography...

Jennifer Lawrence in a long, red dress at the Oscars Jennifer Lawrence at the Academy Awards Stunning in a red dress, Jennifer Lawrence arrives at the 2011 Academy Awards held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Lawrence was a first-time Best Actress Oscar nominee for her first major film role: a near-destitute, young Ozark woman looking for her missing drug-dealing father in Winter's Bone, Debra Granik's generally well-received indie drama. Winter's Bone also earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (John Hawkes), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini; based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell). Jennifer Lawrence's competitors in the Best Actress Oscar race were: Annette Bening for Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right. Michelle Williams for Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. Nicole Kidman for John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole. Natalie Portman, the eventual winner, for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.

From death by shark to fatal ingestion of air pellet, here's a run-down of the James Bond movies' grisliest deaths...

The James Bond franchise has entertained (most of) the whole family for generations, with one-liners like “shocking” and “I think he got the point” delivered while some poor soul is electrocuted or shot with a harpoon gun. But they were bad guys, so it was all okay.

However, regardless of how downplayed they might have been, we were shown some pretty disturbing ways to dispense with an evil henchman, the kind of thing that gave us nightmares when we were kids.

With work now underway on the latest latest Bond movie, Spectre, here's our look at the top 10 macabre ways 007 has dispatched evildoers in masterful fashion.

This feature contains spoilers for lots of James Bond films.

Goldfinger (1964)

Victim: Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe)

Scene: having defeated Goldfinger’s dastardly plan, Bond...

Dance, Fools, Dance: Performances Elevate Seidelman’s Stagnant Adaptation

Marking the fifth film collaboration between director Arthur Allan Seidelman and writer Richard Alfieri is Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, the adaptation of the latter’s Broadway play. It’s garish, highly photo-shopped poster places an uncomfortable and off putting stress on the film’s marketing campaign, which seems to be geared toward senior audiences attracted to headlining screen legend Gena Rowlands. Seidelman surpasses these limiting expectations with a product that ends up being incredibly sweet and surprisingly charming, even though it never transcends its choppy staginess, which is glaringly evident whenever it turns away from the unique energy of its two leads.

Struggling Broadway actor turned dance instructor, Michael Minetti (Cheyenne Jackson) has been forced to relocate to his childhood hometown in Florida. There, he is forced to take a job utilizing the only skills available to him, but...

Recent hot cinema topics such as the portrayal of the Mandarin character in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 and speculations about what classic Star Trek villain Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in J.J Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness was modeled after leading up to the film’s release, among others, underline the importance of great villains in genre cinema.

Creating a great cinematic villain is a difficult goal that makes for an incredibly rewarding and memorable viewer experience when it is achieved.

We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains. Other writing on this subject tends to be a bit unfocused, as “greatest villain” articles tend to mix live-action human villains with animated characters and even animals. Many of these articles also lack a cohesive quality as they attempt to cover too much ground at once by spanning all of film history.

This article focuses on the 1970’s,...

Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook) and Julian Sands ( A Room With A View, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) have been added to the cast of Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks, the feature film based on Richard Alfieri ’s international hit play of the same name.

Gena Rowlands, Cheyenne Jackson, Rita Moreno, Kathleen Rose Perkins (Showtime’s Episodes), Anthony Zerbe and Simon Miller were previously set for lead roles.

“We’re particularly excited to have Jacki Weaver join the cast as a follow-up to her Oscar-nominated role in Silver Linings Playbook,” said producer Andras Somkuti. “She, Gena Rowlands, Cheyenne Jackson and Julian Sands reflect the caliber of actors that our casting director Paul Ruddy has reached out to for key roles in the film.”

Filming is underway at Astra Film Studios in Budapest, Hungary, to be followed by location shoots in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Arthur Allan Seidelman,...

The Mayan Calendar may have run out, but it’s Hollywood that has been the one predicting the most grisly ways for the world to end. Where disaster movies typically exploit the visual and visceral excitement associated with such a scenario, other movies have focused on the psychological and philosophical impact – especially on the survivors.

As much as movie remakes get a bad reputation for lazy writing and greed-fueled audience exploitation, they are interesting in two ways that normal movies are not. First of all, you get to see a different perspective of basically the same story. More importantly though, remakes can’t help but add current styles and filmmaking trends consistent with the time in which they are made. Filmmaking methods are constantly evolving and this is never clearer then when comparing a remake with the original film that preceded it.

The Omega Man is one such film. It...

On December 8, Robert De Niro received the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film in Santa Barbara. Nonagenarian Kirk Douglas himself presented De Niro with the statuette, riffing on the Fockers and saying "I'm looking at you." Douglas noted, "De Niro doesn't simply play a character, he becomes a character." Watch below. While the Santa Barbara International Film Festival doesn't officially start for another month (January 24 - February 3), it kicked off its season of feting Oscar contenders by honoring the actor. Guests included "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell and star Bradley Cooper, along with Roger Corman, Cheryl Ladd, Carol Burnett and Anthony Zerbe, who presented throughout the evening, reminding the audience of De Niro's four-decade acting career.

Licence to Kill

Directed by John Glen

Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum

UK, 1989

With the release of Skyfall this month, critics have cited the major departures from the Bond formula taken by that film. They credit Daniel Craig for bringing a modern edge to a character that had become ridiculous in the Brosnan years. It’s easy to forget that similar claims were made about Timothy Dalton back in the late ‘80s. The classically trained actor brought grace to the role with his first appearance in 1987’s The Living Daylights. That film retained the look and feeling of the Roger Moore films while starting the shift towards a more realistic hero. The change became a lot more dramatic in Dalton’s second outing two years later. Licence to Kill pared down the excesses of the typical Bond film and crafted a more personal tale of revenge. While...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Like Marlon Brando, director John Huston was often considered to be a has-been during much of the 1960s into the early 1970s. He worked steadily, but- like Brando- it was assumed his glory days were behind him simply because most of his films during this period didn't generate sparks at the boxoffice. (The success of his 1975 film The Man Who Would Be King would temporarily restore his luster.) His acting career got a boost from his great performance in Chinatown, but even some of his directorial flops look far better today than they did at the time of their theatrical release. One major disappointment, artistically as well as financially, was the seemingly sure-fire hit The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, made in 1972 and starring Paul Newman fairly fresh from his triumph in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The movie is a whimsical tale that...

DVD Playhouse—February 2012

By Allen Gardner

To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s landmark novel pits a liberal-minded lawyer (Gregory Peck) against a small Southern town’s racism when defending a black man (Brock Peters) on trumped-up rape charges. One of the 1960s’ first landmark films, a truly stirring human drama that hits all the right notes and isn’t dated a bit. Robert Duvall makes his screen debut (sans dialogue) as the enigmatic Boo Radley. DVD and Blu-ray double edition. Bonuses: Two feature-length documentaries: Fearful Symmetry and A Conversation with Gregory Peck; Featurettes; Excerpts and film clips from Gregory Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award; Commentary by Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 2.0 mono.

Outrage: Way Of The Yakuza (Magnolia) After a brief hiatus from his signature oeuvre of Japanese gangster flicks,...