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The 1990s were a fantastic time for Nicolas Cage and a decade that featured some of his greatest film roles. After building up his reputation throughout the 1980s, this was the era that Cage really broke into the mainstream to become a household name and one of the biggest movie stars Hollywood had ever seen. Not only did this period feature his Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas, but Cage also proved his skills as a major action hero in a number of now-iconic movies, including Con Air and Face/Off.

Many of the best Nicolas Cage movies were released during the 1990s, as he proved himself a sternly committed actor willing to take serious risks. While there were some truly disappointing releases during this decade, the fact that Cage was willing to fail and come back swinging proved him an actor of great determination and ability. The 1990s was a...

Back in December, the James Cameron films The Abyss, Aliens, True Lies, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water were all given 4K digital releases. Next Tuesday, March 12th, is the day when The Abyss, Aliens, and True Lies are going to get their physical 4K Uhd releases – and to mark the occasion, we got our hands on an Exclusive clip from one of the bonus featurettes that will be on The Abyss disc! You can check it out in the embed above.

The Abyss has the following synopsis: In this underwater sci-fi adventure written and directed by James Cameron, a nuclear sub mysteriously sinks and a private oil rig crew, led by foreman Bud Brigman, is recruited to join a team of Navy SEALs on a search and rescue effort. The group soon finds themselves on a spectacular life-and-death odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, where they find...

December has been packed with 4K releases of James Cameron films. First up was the release of the Titanic 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition 4K Uhd on December 5th. 4K digital releases of The Abyss, Aliens, True Lies, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water followed on December 12th, and the Avatar movies also got new physical media releases on the 19th. March 12, 2024 is the date when Disney is going to give The Abyss, Aliens, and True Lies their physical 4K Uhd releases… but The Digital Bits reports that the 4K digital release of The Abyss has been cancelled in the UK because of “the rat scene“.

Here’s what The Digital Bits had to say: “We’ve learned from industry sources that the 4K Ultra HD release of James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) in the UK has been cancelled, and for exactly the reason you think—the scene in...

Seven years have passed since writer/director James Cameron first said he was working on a 4K transfer of his 1989 film The Abyss – and now he’s finally ready to share the 4K version of the film with an audience. 20th Century Studios will be giving The Abyss a special one-night-only theatrical re-release on Wednesday, December 6th. A press release notes, “Fans will be able to experience Cameron’s thrilling underwater sci-fi adventure for the first time in stunning, remastered 4K. Tickets go on sale beginning November 20 and can be purchased at Fandango or wherever tickets are sold.“

Cameron provided the following statement: “If you haven’t seen the film before, this is the way to experience it, and if you have, it will be like the first time all over again. So, get out to the theaters and enjoy.“

The Abyss has the following synopsis: In this underwater sci-fi...

Back in 1989, writer-director James Cameron was fresh off his flick Aliens, the hit sequel to Ridley Scott's original tale of space terror, Alien. Cameron was getting ready to bring The Terminator back to the screen in a big way with Terminator 2: Judgment Day but between those two epic projects, Cameron wrote, directed and produced a quieter sci-fi thrill-ish movie with the eternally underappreciated, The Abyss. And if you're as big a fan of Cameron's The Abyss as I am, then you'll be glad to hear that there is an all-new 4K restoration in the works.

I know, I know, we've heard this before. In fact, for years now, us fans have been wondering when the hell we were going to get a high-def version of the movie considering the classic has never been released on Blu-ray. Hell, you can't even stream The Abyss in hi-def. That said, back...

1965: Peyton Place's Connie learned of Allison's accident.

1986: Search or Tomorrow's Suzi crashed her car.

1986: Pat proposal was rejected on Ryan's Hope.

2005: Guiding Light's Olivia confessed to Bill."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1947: On radio soap opera Lora Lawton, Joe visited Lora (Jan Miner) at her London flat. She told him she was going to communicate with Peter through a series of pictures she drew for him.

1965: On Peyton Place, Dr. Michael Rossi (Ed Nelson) called Connie MacKenzie (Dorothy Malone) to tell her that her daughter, Allison, was injured in a hit-and-run accident.

1969: Dark Shadows' Petofi traveled to 1969 in Quentin's body.

1973: Another World's Steve and Alice finally talked about the past.

1985: Santa Barbara's Julia met Dylan.

2010: One Life to Live's Viki wanted Echo to leave Llanview."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1968: On The Doctors, Congressman Jason Randall (M. Emmet Walsh) arrived at Hope Memorial for a hospital tour with a posse of reporters, flustering Nurse Simpson (Carolee Campbell).

1969: On Dark Shadows, Count Andreas Petofi (David Selby), in Quentin's body, informed Angelique she had to follow his orders in the future. Julia (Grayson Hall) realized...

1969: Days of our Lives' Julie thanked Alice for her support.

1981: Dallas' Cliff found a dead woman in the Southfork pool.

1992: Robert Flack performed on Guiding Light.

2002: As the World Turns' Jake McKinnon died."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1937: Jackie Ormes, the first African American female cartoonist, created her earliest cartoon. It was an action, romance and soap opera comic featuring a Black heroine named Torchy Brown.

If there’s one movie I’ve seen this year that has started with a great premise but has suffered from a failed execution, it would have to be The Only Good Indian. Written by Thomas L. Carmody and directed by Kevin Willmott (Csa: The Confederate States of America), this fictional pseudo-western tells the tale of a teen-aged Native American boy with the given white man name of Charlie (played by Winter Fox Frank).

Taking place in Kansas during the early 1900’s, the movie follows Charlie’s story, one of many Native American youths that were forcibly removed from their homes and placed into re-education schools that feel more like prison camps. Students are scolded, or even beaten into submission, and punished for speaking their native tongues. These scenes of the school master and the teacher forcing their ways onto these young Native Americans with the idea they are benefiting them are difficult to watch,...

First off, the best news, as I predicted (in private) Duncan Jones' Moon will be premiering, yay! The comedy Adventureland starring the talented Bill Hader is playing. The sweet kid soldier film Johnny Mad Dog is playing in the spectrum section, and the Jesco White story White Lightnin' which we reported on earlier is in the Park City at Midnight section.

But where the hell is Stingray Sam?

Full list after the break.

Premieres

* "Adventureland," directed and written by Greg Mottola, stars Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds and Bill Hader in the story of a college grad who gets a job at an amusement park. A Miramax release.

* "Brooklyn’s Finest," directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Michael C. Martin, a drama about three Brooklyn cops who come together at the same deadly location. With Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle and Ellen Barkin.

* "Earth Days," directed by Robert Stone,...

Premieres

To showcase the diversity of contemporary independent cinema, this section offers the latest work from American and international directors and world premieres of highly anticipated films.

Adventureland / U.S. (Director-screenwriter: Greg Mottola)

In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader. World premiere

Brooklyn's Finest / U.S. (Director: Antoine Fuqua; screenwriter: Michael C. Martin)

After enduring vastly different career paths, three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location. Cast: Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin. World premiere

Earth Days / U.S. (Director: Robert Stone)

The history of our environmental undoing through the eyes of nine Americans whose work and actions launched the modern environmental movement. World premiere, closing-night film

Endgame / U.K. (Director: Pete Travis; screenwriter: Paula Milne)

A...

PARK CITY, Utah -- Ulysses Jackson, a k a Ulee, is a former Vietnam War hero, but his toughest battles are raising his two granddaughters. Once again, filmmaker Victor Nunez has tapped into the rich vein of family life to forge a story that says much about the resilience of the human spirit.

Featuring a full and flinty performance by Peter Fonda as Ulee, this well-wrought and thoughtful drama should prove a nugget in select-site showings.

Walking stiffly because of the constant pain he endures from his war injury, Ulee keeps pretty much to himself. That's not to say his life is not abuzz with activity: He's a rural Louisiana beekeeper who ekes out a living selling honey. Immersed in the tedium of his honey harvesting, he's fine, but his home front poses much more vexing problems. His son Jimmy is in prison, and his oldest granddaughter (Vanessa Zima) is going through a rebellious phase. Ironically, Ulee seems most in harmony with his preteen granddaughter (Jessia Biel), whose open ways and decency mirror Ulee's own disposition.

As Ulee musters all his arthritic energies toward the critical harvest season, he is stung with a horrible dilemma. His drug-addicted daughter-in-law (Christine Dunford) has washed up in Orlando and Jimmy implores Ulee to take her in. Worse, she has divulged to Jimmy's former partners-in-crime that he has held out on them, having stashed some robbery money on Ulee's bee farm.

In this spare tale, writer-director Nunez has tapped into the core of his character's strengths and weaknesses.

Neither physically healthy enough to encounter his problem nor psychologically inclined to help wrongdoers, Ulee must muster all his strength and, much tougher, struggle against his own grain to do the right thing -- help his family. It's a solitary and heroic quest.

No superhero and crippled with flaws, Ulee does the best he can. That's the beauty of this story and the pure wonder of its theme -- that man is at his best when struggling for his kin.

Fonda's understated performance as the laconic Ulee is terrific, capturing the fiber and marrow of a man who, although he sells honey, has little sweetness in his own life. Both girls, Biel and Zima, are well-cast as the granddaughters passing through a critical growing phase. J. Kenneth Campbell, as the local lawman, embodies the adage that you catch more flies with honey.

Technical credits are marvelous, from Virgil Mirano's sovereign cinematography to Charles Engstrom's smoothly whirled score.

ULEE'S GOLD

Metromedia Entertainment

Group Orion

Producer-director-screenwriter Victor Nunez

Co-producers Sam Gowan, Peter Saraf

Executive producers Edward Saxon,

John Sloss, Valerie 8

Director of photography

Virgil Mirano

Production designer Pat Garner

Costume designer Marilyn Wall-Asse

Music Charles Engstrom

Casting Judy Courtney

Sound design Pete Winter

Color/stereo

Cast:

Ulee Jackson Peter Fonda

Connie Hope Patricia Richardson

Helen Jackson Christine Dunford

Jimmy Jackson Tom Wood

Casey Jackson Jessia Biel

Penny Jackson Vanessa Zima

Eddie Flowers Steven Flynn

Ferris Dooley Dewley Weber

Running time -- 113 minutes...