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A lot of Taylor Sheridan’s work seems to be focused on making great character pieces, whether it services the plot or not. Sheridan revealed in a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter that his process for churning out these amazing stories rests on one possible problem that he includes in his writing.

Hell and High Water || Credit: Lionsgate

More often than not, the writer revealed, that when it comes to writing characters, Sheridan would imagine a particular actor in the role that he is writing. This is usually considered to be a double-edged sword, given that the availability of an actor is subject to a lot of variables, and it is completely possible that the actor that the part is written for could decide not to do the show at all.

Taylor Sheridan tried to imagine other actors in the roles he wrote Taylor Sheridan as Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount Network

Sheridan,...

David Mackenzie delivers a tight thriller with “Relay,” premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film stars Riz Ahmed as Tom, who operates as sort of a middleman between corporate whistleblowers and the companies. The extremely clandestine Tom operates in a morally ambiguous area until Lily James’ Sarah engages his services. What follows becomes a cat and mouse game and a mix of high and low tech that climaxes in a tense twist, with some shade thrown at corporations, too. Black Bear reps international rights for the thriller, while CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group are handling the U.S.

The director behind “Hell and High Water” and “Under the Banner of Heaven” is currently close to wrapping his next film, “Fuze,” which is filming around London and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson. “So it’s been pretty intense, sort of complex, kind of heisty type thing all around London.

If you’re missing the heroics of “9-1-1” characters Buck, Bobby, Chim and Hen and the rest of the 118, here are some similar first responder shows that might fill the void until the Sept. 26 premiere of Season 8.

Among them, the spinoff “9-1-1: Lone Star,” great ’90s series “Third Watch” and classic ’70s to-the-rescue show “Emergency!” Here’s why they’re worth your time and where you can stream them.

Rob Lowe, Jim Parrack and Gina Torres on “911: Lone Star” (Credit: Fox) “9-1-1: Lone Star”

If you’re a “9-1-1” fan and haven’t yet taken the trip down south to its Texas-based spinoff, you’re in for a delightfully chaotic treat. “9-1-1: Lone Star” stars TV legend Rob Lowe as fire captain Owen Strand, who moves from New York City to Austin, Texas, with his son Tk (Ronen Rubinstein) to take over command of the firehouse 126. Throughout its first four seasons,...

Puck, the innovative new media company focused on putting journalists at the center of its business model, announced the launch of a new podcast hosted by John Heilemann, Puck's Chief Political Columnist and newest partner. The podcast, entitled Impolitic with John Heilemann, is in partnership with leading premium podcast network Audacy Podcasts and will publish new episodes every Tuesday and Friday starting on June 4.

Heilemann's new podcast comes on the heels of the launch last month of his weekly Puck column, also named Impolitic, which anchors a new Sunday edition of the company's political franchise, The Best & The Brightest. The podcast is a retooled, rebranded, and expanded version of Heilemann's previous hit podcast, Hell & High Water, in which the veteran magazine and television journalist and bestselling author interviewed newsmakers from the worlds of politics and culture: from former Attorney General Eric Holder and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki to renowned political strategists,...

Whether it's light novels, manga, or manhwa, fantasy is a popular genre for many reasons. It allows people to escape and immerse themselves into a whole new world, where they can learn about different races, mythical beings, and brilliant magical systems. Within the fantasy genre, there are also a number of themes that are popular. One such popular theme, not only in the fantasy genre, is Boy's Love or Bl.

Bl is a genre that often shows pure or true love, or people willing to take risks for the ones that they love. Some Bl manhwa are sweet, some are filled with action and drama, and some have incredible development with mature themes. There are many fantasy Bl manhwa that fit this bill and are must-reads for fans of the genre.

Updated on January 4th 2024, by Chelsea Steele: Bl is a unique genre within anime, manga, and manhwa, featuring...

Last year, we wrote about the pleasure of finally seeing character actor Dale Dickey - so memorable in roles in films including Hell And High Water and Winter’s Bone - finally get her teeth into a lead character, with Max Walker-Silverman’s gentle drama A Love Song. Now she’s back in a very different role, in Karl R Hearne’s The G, as foul-mouthed, no-nonsense gran Ann, who has vengeance on her mind after a corrupt legal guardian (Bruce Ramsay) steals her property and targets her loved ones. Spirited away to a care home, she begins to take matters into her own hands as her granddaughter Emma (Romaine Denis) also sets about trying to liberate her gran - who she calls “The G” - leading to a taut and enjoyably complex thriller.

Catching up with the star after...

“The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth” will conclude with its eighth season, Showtime announced on Tuesday. The series finale episode is scheduled to arrive on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. Et/Pt.

Hosted by John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, and Jennifer Palmieri, the four-time Emmy nominated political docuseries offered viewers a deeper look at the nation’s biggest political stories inside the beltway from Donald Trump’s unexpected presidential victory and his contentious time in office, to the polarizing politics of the pandemic, the 2020 election and ensuing insurrection on Capitol Hill, as well as Biden’s presidency at a time of international turmoil.

“When we started ‘The Circus’ in 2016, we thought it would be a one-and-done deal. Eight seasons and 130 episodes later, we’re still agog that Showtime gave us the trust and support that kept us cranking on this long, strange trip — and let us prove that our idea of doing a weekly,...

Nearly three decades since the show first aired, the best ER episodes still thrill fans to this day. With 15 seasons that aired from 1994 to 2009, ER stood as television’s longest-running medical drama for a decade after its grand finale.Created by Michael Crichton, who wrote novels such as Jurassic Park, ER is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed series in the history of television. Each season had those standout episodes that further cemented it as great television.

The cast of ER was a massive ensemble that changed over the years, including Noah Wyle, Maura Tierney, and George Clooney in his breakout role. The intensity and sometimes graphic nature of the show helped to change network television and could be seen as a precursor to the era of prestige television. The fast-paced look at the world of emergency room doctors certainly made for exciting moments and the best...

Ed Fury, the Muscle Beach bodybuilder who starred as the mighty warrior Ursus in three Italian “sword and sandal” epics, has died. He was 94.

Fury died Feb. 24 at his home in Woodland Hills, his wife, Shelly, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In 1953 alone, Fury appeared uncredited in seven films, including Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Dangerous When Wet, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Island in the Sky and The Eddie Cantor Story.

Later, he showed up in The Country Girl (1954), Athena (1954), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), Hell and High Water (1954), Female on the Beach (1955), I Died a Thousand Times (1955), Raw Edge (1956), Bus Stop (1956), South Pacific (1958) and The Wild Women of Wongo (1958).

After he auditioned for Joshua Logan and landed a role on Broadway in the 1954-56 musical Fanny, Italian film producers in the audience visited him backstage and signed him to a contract.

Fury appeared opposite Rod Taylor in the Italian comedy Colossus...

Showtime’s News and Documentary Emmy-nominated series “The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth” will return for Season 8 on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt, TheWrap can exclusively announce. The docuseries will be back with six more episodes featuring hosts John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri as they pull back the curtain on this extraordinarily fractured and volatile moment for American democracy.

Season 8 will hit the ground running in 2023 to examine a new era of divided government as President Joe Biden braces for withering GOP-led House investigations, per the network’s logline. Meanwhile bitter divisions among Republicans signal a tumultuous year ahead for the party and the nation. And while Biden mulls a bid for reelection amid questions about his mishandling of classified documents, former President Donald Trump is facing multiple investigations of his own, as well as staring down a list of

potential Republican challengers, in...

There is a Taylor Sheridan aesthetic. The "Sicario" writer and "Yellowstone" creator is a poet laureate of the American West, a writer who reframes its ancient archetypes for modern audiences by placing emotion first. "Hell and High Water" sweepingly considers the folk hero power of modern-day outlaws. "Those Who Wish Me Dead" is a classic white-hat-vs.-black-hat yarn set in the daredevil world of smoke jumpers. Then, there's "Yellowstone." The Paramount+ smash is an unabashedly melodramatic soap opera, a dime-store novel for the small screen. Sheridan's show disguises its seedier impulses through grit and self-seriousness. The "Yellowstone" discourse has revolved around it being immensely popular yet widely unknown. So are dime-store novels. So are the works of Taylor Sheridan. It's all part of the plan.

If you love "Yellowstone" or any of its many genre elements, here are 16 shows you can watch next that range from neo-westerns to classic soaps.

There’s a lot of ways to describe Jordan Peele’s Nope: an update on “Watch the Skies!” sci-fi from the 1950s; a tribute to Steven Spielberg’s 1970s blockbuster building blocks (what if those Close Encounter of the Third Kind UFOs were just hungry, extraterrestrial great white sharks?); a 21st century meta-text about what we watch and why we keep watching it. All 100-percent accurate.

But read the reviews and explainers and numerous think pieces on Peele’s latest blend of horror and commentary, and there’s one word that keeps popping up,...

Dale Dickey: 'It was a wonderful challenge and growing experience for me as an actress to have had this lead, and if I never have another one again, I will die happy because this was a piece of my heart' Photo: Cow Hip Films Dale Dickey has long been a mark of quality on films, turning in memorable supporting performances in the likes of Hell And High Water and Winter’s Bone – and she’ll soon be seen in Amazon’s rebooted series A League Of Their Own. She steps full into the spotlight in Max Walker-Silverman’s delicately worked drama A Love Song, which sees middle-aged widow Faye (Dickey) pitch up her caravan trailer in rural Colorado to reconnect with a man, called Lito (Wes Studi), from her past. Walker-Silverman told us it was Dickey “who I pictured writing every line”, so it was also a pleasure to get...

Love songs, silly or otherwise, come in all shapes and sizes, and this one from debut director Max Walker-Silverman is a tender ballad to the rediscovery of possibility. The film played in the Next section at Sundance, although like many of the films there it could easily have been in the main competition, thanks not least to a soulful and magnetic central performance from Dale Dickey and, later, Wes Studi, offering an finessed and eloquent counterpoint. Dickey has already got some excellent films on her CV, including Winter's Bone, Leave No Trace and Hell And High Water, while Studi's includes Dances With Wolves and Avatar but here they both get the chance to take centre-stage and don’t some much throw themselves into their characters as hug them into life with a flickering warmth.

There's a quiet to the start of the film that draws us in, as we see Faye.

Taylor Sheridan's latest action flick has a workmanlike solidity but despite the repeated presence of physical infernos it never manages to get beyond a low heat in terms of tension. Most of the problem lies with the fact that it lacks any firm emotional core. There are a lot of good actors here - Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber, Nicholas Hoult, Adrian Gillen and others besides - but by failing to fully commit to building at least one character's emotional arc before the wildfires start, writer/director Sheridan feels as though he is creating a by-the-numbers version of his much better work, like Wind River and Hell and High Water, although the latter was also lent additional verve by the direction of David Mackenzie.

Sheridan is a lover of landscape and archetypes and Those Who Wish Me Dead - adapted from the book by Michael Kortya - is full of both.

With all the Covid-induced travel restrictions, it is fitting that Diplo resigned himself to a bit of domestic tourism; earlier this year, he stormed Nashville with the release of his country album Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil, his bid to recast himself as a Red Dead Redemption character. Now, with the release of Music is the Weapon, he formally reasserts himself as the swashbuckling, globetrotting hub around which Major Lazer’s revolving door of producers spins. Featuring artists from five continents—from Delhi to Santiago—the album sells itself as a festive,...

Hidden behind the membership-only barrier of The Disney Movie Club is a long-delayed, long-missed key feature from The Mouse, Walt’s masterful super-production of the timeless Jules Verne classic. Despite the funny songs and an annoyingly ‘ork-ork’-ing sea lion, the lavishly filmed show embraces the dark side of Verne’s vision — Captain Nemo is nothing less than an anti-Colonial terrorist, waging a one-submarine war against international warmongers. With the commanding James Mason in the role, the film’s furious politics are as impressive as the to-die-for art direction: this Disney family attraction has us rooting for the terrorist and against the Imperialist European powers.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Blu-ray

The Disney Movie Club

1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 127 min. / Anniversary Edition / Street Date June 18, 2019 / Disney Movie Club exclusive.

Starring: Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre, Robert J. Wilke, Ted de Corsia, Carleton Young.

Cinematography: Franz Planer

Film Editor: Elmo Williams...

Chris Pine introduced the Cecil B. DeMille tribute to his “Hell and High Water” co-star Jeff Bridges at the 69th Golden Globes by referencing Bridges’ most iconic movie role, the Dude in “The Big Lebowski.”

“Well, far out man, your dudeness. He’s made eccentric characters truly iconic. And yes, I am talking about el dude.”

Bridges, who has been nominated for seven Oscars, received the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement on Sunday. The 69-year-old actor has starred in dozens of films, but many fans consider his portrayal of Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in the Coen brothers’ “The Big Lebowski” to be his most memorable performance.

“Sometimes there’s an actor who just makes it look easy,” said Sam Elliott over a montage of Jeff Bridges’ best movie roles. He ended the montage saying, “Sometimes making it look easy can be mighty hard work.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” director Reed Morano is on track to make history: The cinematographer-turned-helmer could become the first woman to win both the Emmy and Directors Guild Award for directing a drama series.

Morano, who became the third woman to win the drama directing Emmy in September after Karen Arthur (“Cagney & Lacey”) and Mimi Leder (“ER”), has 2/7 odds to claim the DGA on Saturday, according to our latest predictions. Morano is up for her work on the “Handmaid’s Tale” pilot, for which she also won the Emmy.

See 2018 DGA nominations: ‘Game of Thrones’ leads with 3, ‘Master of None’ has 2

Morano would be the fourth woman to win the drama DGA, joining Barbara Kopple (1997’s “The Documentary” from “Homicide: Life on the Street”), two-time champ Lesli Linka Glatter (2009’s “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency” from “Mad Men,” 2014’s “From A to B and Back Again” from “Homeland...

Tony Curtis grew up idolizing the suave and funny Cary Grant, emulated his romantic moves as an actor and then performed a brilliant impersonation of Grant for Billy Wilder. The next step had to be co-starring with the great man himself. Blake Edwards’ amiable, relaxed submarine movie allows Grant to play with ladies’ under-things, while Curtis wrestles with a pig.

Operation Petticoat

Blu-ray

Olive Signature Edition

1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date July 1, 2014 / available through the Olive Films website / 39.95

Starring: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O’Brien, Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Dick Sargent, Virginia Gregg, Gavin MacLeod, Madlyn Rhue, Marion Ross, Arthur O’Connell.

Cinematography: Russell Harlan

Original Music: David Rose

Written by Paul King, Joseph Stone, Stanley Shapiro, Maurice Richlin

Produced by Robert Arthur

Directed by Blake Edwards

The latest in Olive Films’ Signature Selection special editions is Operation Petticoat, a light comedy war movie noted for teaming Cary Grant with Tony Curtis.

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “Damnation’s” first two episodes, “Sam Riley’s Body” and “Whose Side Are You On?”]

As IndieWire wrote in its initial review of USA Network’s new Depression-era series, “Damnation” is anything but subtle. People die — a lot, horribly, and sometimes, even their corpses are carted around and posed a la Christ on the cross. Brothers pull guns on each other because their mutual hatred runs as deep as the Grand Canyon. Checking a man for infections at a local brothel includes pouring Listerine over his crotch. “Damnation” is a blunt, equal-opportunity offensive pulp Western, which is why the introduction of two potential romantic partners is the least romantic meet-cute ever imagined.

Loner Creeley Turner (Logan Marshall-Green), aka The Cowboy, wanders into Holden, Iowa in 1931. Sent by the Pinkerton agency to furtively take down unionization efforts by the local farmers, Creeley sets up shop in the most peculiar way: He goes to a roomful of prostitutes at the town’s brothel and holds up a...

Coming off his meticulous work on Blade Runner 2049 (our review), writer-director Denis Villeneuve would be forgiven for wanting to take a nice long vacation.

But it seems the filmmaker has no intention of taking his foot off the pedal, as he’s already begun scripting Legendary’s fabled Dune reboot alongside the Oscar-winning Eric Roth. It’s a sci-fi reimagining that has languished in the pits of development hell for years, and it may wind up averting Denis Villeneuve from Bond 25.

Four months ago, the director was shortlisted for MGM’s next James Bond film alongside Yann Demange and David MacKenzie (Hell and High Water), and though Villeneuve confirmed those talks in a new interview with The Playlist, he also admits that Dune has taken precedence over all other projects.

The thing is I don’t now about that, but listen. Daniel Craig is a very inspiring actor...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from the finale of USA Network’s “The Sinner” in addition to the book on which it was based.]

USA Network’s “The Sinner” became one of the surprise hits of the summer for its fascinating look at how hidden and unresolved traumas can manifest in disturbing or downright horrifying ways. The psychologically twisted story delved deeply into the past of a woman who seemed relatively normal and happy, but whose abuse at the hands of multiple people eventually led to her murdering a man without apparent provocation.

German crime author Petra Hammesfahr penned the 1999 novel on which “The Sinner” is based, and for the most part the central mysteries remained the same in both versions. The television adaptation naturally also had the expected number of cosmetic changes: Cora Bender is now Cora Tannetti, a song played on a cassette tape now plays on a phone, and the setting has moved from Germany to a small city in New York.

Read More:‘The Sinner’ Finale: Creator on What Season...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from the season finale of “The Sinner.”]

“I know you did it for your son,” Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) tells the man who had imprisoned her for two months, during which he shot her up with heroin and obliterated her true memories. It’s a curiously generous statement for her to make, but it’s not the first time that “The Sinner” has found sympathy and common ground for people’s failings.

USA Network’s summer psychological thriller began with Cora stabbing Frankie Belmont (Eric Todd) to death seemingly without provocation during a day at the beach. It turns out that five years ago at a party, Frankie had tried and failed to revive Cora’s sickly sister Phoebe (Nadia Alexander) with whom he had been intimate. A song that was playing at the time of the tragic accident was the same song that triggered Cora to attack Frankie during that day at the beach.

Read More:How...

Is this the new feminist minimalism? Director Kelly Reichart doesn’t like labels, and to her credit as a woman director, her amalgam of three tangential short stories transcends the format in a studious, low-key way. Four interesting actresses present interesting portraits that illuminate the realities of life in the great Middle America.

Certain Women

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 893

2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 19, 2017 39.95

Starring: Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone, Kristen Stewart, Jared Harris, James Le Gros, Rene Auberjonois.

Cinematography: Christopher Blauvelt

Film Editor: Kelly Reichardt

Original Music: Jeff Grace

Written by Kelly Reichardt from short stories by Maile Meloy

Produced by Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

Directed by Kelly Reichardt

One of the first things that the interesting director Kelly Reichardt says is that she’d like her movie to not be considered a ‘woman’s picture.’ We at first think she’s kidding herself,...

Samuel Fuller sure knows how to turn up the geopolitical tension, especially in a rip-roaring provocative atom threat adventure, that might have caused problems if anybody cared what movies said back when the Cold War was hot. Richard Widmark skippers a leaky sub to the arctic and discovers that the Chinese communists are going to start WW3 — and blame it on Uncle Sam. It’s an insane comic-book adventure about very serious issues — and we love it.

Hell and High Water

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Richard Loo, Cameron Mitchell, Gene Evans, David Wayne.

Cinematography: Joseph MacDonald

Art Direction: Leland Fuller, Lyle R. Wheeler

Film Editor: James B. Clark

Original Music: Alfred Newman

Written by Samuel Fuller, Jesse L. Lasky Jr. story by David Hempstead

Produced by Raymond A. Klune

Directed...

The team behind Oscar-nominated crime thriller Hell and High Water have just announced a new project, but what can they learn from other re-teams that have and haven’t been successful?

It’s human nature to want to recapture the magic of a particular moment in time. It’s why rock bands have reunion tours, why television shows get rebooted, and why couples who break up often find themselves inclined to give it another shot. It happens at the movies, too. We know that sequels and franchises are de rigeur these days, but they’re not quite trying to recapture magic. They only want to make your money disappear.

Related: Why we should learn to stop worrying and love the blockbuster franchise

Continue reading...

Author: Zehra Phelan

The cast and crew of last year’s fantastic Hell or High Water could be looking all set for a reunion on a new project which couldn’t be any different in Netflix’s Outlaw King with Star Trek’s Chris Pine confirmed to be in talks to join the historical picture.

Related: David Mackenzie interview on Hell or High Water

Chris Pine could very well be teaming up with director David Mackenzie again who is also writing the script and trying to persuade Pine’s on screen Hell or High Water Brother, Ben Foster to jump on board the good ship Outlaw King which looks at the story of former King of the Scots, Robert The Bruce.

If Pine signs up he’ll be down to play the role of Robert the Bruce in the Netflix film which will focus on his life after William Wallace...

Stars: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham, Dale Dickey, William Sterchi, Buck Taylor, Kristin Berg, Jackamoe Buzzell, Katy Mixon, Keith Meriweather, Amber Midthunder, Joe Berryman | Written by Taylor Sheridan | Directed by David Mackenzie

Two Texan brothers, Toby Howard (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) reunite and start robbing branches of a particular bank with a plan in mind. This soon puts them on collision course with Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) an old Texas Ranger ready for retirement, who along with his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) take on the job of tracking the bank robbers.

What makes Hell or High Water so good is that it takes the old style Western and brings it to the modern era without having to sacrifice the style. Set in Texas this is the story of two bandits robbing banks, but also having a reason to do it. The bad guy here is the bank,...

Fences, Sully and Silence were all snubbed, but there was good news for Deadpool and Mel Gibson.

The 2017 Golden Globe nominations were announced today (December 12) with La La Land and Moonlight unsurprisingly leading the pack.

Read the full list of Golden Globe nominations here.

However, as always there was some shocks and snubs in the HFPA’s list, such as…

Fences snubbed

Denzel Washington will be feeling hard done by after his adaptation of August Wilson’s play was snubbed in the best picture and best director categories. Washington did make the cut for best actor however, and Viola Davis is surely favourite for best supporting actress.

Nothing for Sully

With Clint Eastwood directing, Tom Hanks starring and the real-life subject matter (the heroic pilot Chesley Sullenberger), Sully seemed like a dead cert for some award nominations this year, but Globe voters completely ignored it.

Deadpool in the mix

Ryan Reynolds’ R-rated Marvel adaption was an unlikely...

World War, a solemn vow, and a promise betrayed lead to a ‘night of the living war dead’ – all cooked up by the director of Napoleon, Abel Gance. The early, famed pacifist fantasy is back in near-perfect condition and restored to its full length. It’s a reworking, not a remake, of Gance’s 1919 silent classic.

J’accuse

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1938 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 120 min. / That They May Live; J’accuse: Fresque tragique des temps modernes vue et Réalisée par Abel Gance / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring Victor Francen, Line Noro, Marie Lou, Jean-Max, Paul Amiot, Jean-Louis Barrault, Marcel Delaitre, Renée Devillers, Romuald Joubé, André Nox, Georges Rollin, Georges Saillard.

Cinematography Roger Hubert

Film Editor Madeleine Crétoile

Original Music Henri Verdun

Written by Abel Gance, Steve Passeur

Produced & Directed by Abel Gance

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Around 1973, UCLA film school professor Bob Epstein...

Ryan Lambie Published Date Thursday, September 1, 2016 - 06:18

No movie exists within a vacuum, and even the most outlandish-looking genre film still carries a distorted reflection of the here-and-now. Captain America: Civil War and Batman V Superman may be fantastical superhero movies, but they also feel right for a year where political and ideological division is, seemingly, everywhere.

Hell Or High Water, directed by Starred Up and Young Adam’s David Mackenzie, is a dusty Texan thriller charged with modern relevance. Playing on the images and trappings of western, road trip and heist genres, it’s another movie - alongside The Place Beyond The Pines and Out Of The Furnace - set against the backdrop of an America riven by the last decade’s financial crisis. Entire towns seem to stand empty. The nodding donkeys, once the sign of a healthy oil industry, no longer nod. Ranchers coral their skinny...

Samuel Fuller's first picture under his Fox contract is a fine Korean War 'suicide squad' tale, filmed on a sound stage but looking quite authentic. Richard Basehart leads a fine cast. Lots of cigars get chomped, and Gene Evans is actually named Sgt. Rock. Plus an excellent commentary from Trailers from Hell's new guru Michael Schlesinger. Fixed Bayonets! Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 92 min. / Street Date September 20, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea, Richard Hylton, Craig Hill, Skip Homeier, Neyle Morrow, Wyott Ordung, John Doucette, George Conrad Cinematography Lucien Ballard Art Direction George Patrick, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Nick DeMaggio Original Music Roy Webb Written by Samuel Fuller from a novel by John Brophy Produced by Jules Buck Directed by Samuel Fuller

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Sam Fuller's third independent film The Steel Helmet was a risky proposition...

Chris Pine kept fixating on a single image. "I had this picture in my head," the 35-year-old actor recalls, his voice echoing over a speakerphone from Austin, Texas. "It was two guys on a porch, real rustic. One of them is sitting, the other is standing, kind of leaning on one of the porch's columns. Both are sort of staring out in the distance while the sun's going down." He stops for a second, then continues. "I just kind of got into my brain after I read the script. It...

This week’s episode of our podcast We Are Movie Geeks The Show is up! Hear Wamg’s Jim Batts and Tom Stockman talk movies. Our guest in the studio this week is Lynn Venhaus, film critic for The Belleville News Democrat and the Kirkwood/Webster Times. We’ll discuss the weekend box office and we’ll review Hell And High Water, Sausage Party, Pete’S Dragon, Indignation, and Don’T Think Twice. We’ll then talk about the 1983 horror film Eyes Of Fire and pay tribute to the late Kenny “R2D2” Baker.

Here’s this week’s show. Have a listen:

http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/Wamg-8-15-54.mp3

The post This Week’s Wamg Podcast – Sausage Party, Pete’S Dragon, and More! appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

Few would have predicted that Sicario, the pulse-pounding 2015 action thriller starring Emily Blunt, would go on to spawn a sequel. Fewer still could have guessed that Lionsgate would go all-in on Denis Villeneuve’s narcotics gem, teeing up plans for a trilogy of anthology films that will continue through Soldado.

That’s the official title currently attached to Sicario 2 which will, according to screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, channel the vicious intensity of the 2015 crime drama in all of its nail-biting glory. Yes, expect to be rooted to the edge of your seat by the time Soldado checks into theaters, as Sheridan recently told Collider that Sicario is “a movie about American policy and the way that we police, and [Sicario 2] is that on steroids.”

Chatting with the outlet while doing the press rounds for neo-Western thriller Hell and High Water, Sheridan shed light on Lionsgate’s gritty action series as it begins to take shape.

Bernard Herrmann music + weird landscapes = Nirvana. This big-star western tale has an unbreakable story but terrible dialogue and weak characters... yet for fans of adventure filmmaking it's a legend, thanks to a thunderous Bernard Herrmann music score that transforms dozens of uncanny, real Mexican locations into something other-worldly. Garden of Evil Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 100 min. / Ship Date May 10, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Hugh Marlowe, Cameron Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Víctor Manuel Mendoza. Cinematography Milton R. Krasner, Jorge Stahl Jr. Art Direction Edward Fitzgerald, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor James B. Clark Original Music Bernard Herrmann Special Effects Ray Kellogg Written by Frank Fenton, Fred Freiberger, William Tunberg Produced by Charles Brackett Directed by Henry Hathaway

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

"The Garden of Evil. If the world was made of gold, I guess men would die for a handful of dirt.

Having already checked off Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve in his list of cinematic festivities, director Garry Marshall is poised to return behind the lens later this year for Mother’s Day.

Cut from the same cloth as the filmmaker’s previous ensemble comedies, it is Jennifer Aniston that leads an all-star cast in today’s new footage in what is being billed as, ahem, the “mother of all comedies.”

Featuring a screenplay by Anya Kochoff-Romano and Lily Hollander, Mother’s Day chronicles a series of overlapping stories across three generations. Aniston’s single mother and recent divorcée Sandy in many ways anchors the story – a new clip below kicks off Sandy’s Mother’s Day in somewhat unusual fashion – whereas Hudson’s workaholic mom goes through Hell and high water to do the unthinkable – stage a bonding session with her mother.

On the other end of the ensemble,...

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Still reeling from the latest – and certainly greatest – Captain America: Civil War trailer? We wouldn’t blame you.

But now, Marvel has eased the foot off the pedal to roll out a series of screenshots for Joe and Anthony Russo’s almighty showdown, offering a play-by-play breakdown of all the action that unfolded.

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From the opening sequences revealing the trail of collateral damage all across Avengers, The Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron, Civil War‘s latest snippet places a laser focus on the chasm between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and it largely revolves around Sebastian Stan’s Bucky. As two men out of time, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers goes through Hell and high water for his long-time friend, even if it means defying Tony Stark’s push to implement a means of policing those with superpowers.

Among the roster of heroes (anti-heroes?...

More than a decade ago, esteemed filmmaker Ang Lee introduced the western world to the deft art of wire-fighting with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Fast forward to now and Netflix is on the verge of upholding that time-honored legacy with the release of long-anticipated sequel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.

Due to make its bow in only a few days’ time, Netflix has unleashed the final trailer for the sequel formerly known as the The Green Legend. As you’ll likely notice right off the bat, Michelle Yeoh and the core cast are speaking in English, and that comes down to the fact that the producers behind Sword of Destiny are confident the martial arts sequel can appeal to an international audience.

Reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien – and proving that it’s better to have five warriors that can fight than 500 that can run – is Yeoh,...

Natalie Portman’s titular gun-toting outlaw goes through Hell and high water in today’s brand new trailer for Jane Got a Gun, reminding us that, yes, Gavin O’Connor’s beleaguered Western is still alive and kicking, and that the drama has set its sights on a 2016 release.

Leading the charge as Jane Hammond is Portman, a wanted fugitive who finds herself smack bang between the crosshairs of the Bishop Boys, a band of gleefully violent outlaws that hunt the dusty prairies in search of our badass lead. In fear of their wraith and, in particular, that of their leader (Ewan McGregor), Jane is left with little option but to approach her former fiancé Dan Frost, as they both batten down the hatches in order to weather the storm of bullets, blood and violence.

Jane Got a Gun may go down for its storied production, with numerous casting switcheroos...

Variety has learned that The Perfect Guy’s David M. Rosenthal has closed a deal to helm action thriller How It Ends for Sierra Pictures.

Working from a script from Brooks McClaren, the director’s latest project is set against the end of days. When an apocalyptic event inexplicably brings the nation to its knees, a young father goes through Hell and high water in order make it home to his pregnant wife, who just so happens to be on the other side of the country.

Developing and financing the project is Sierra Pictures, while Paul Schiff Productions are attached to produce – a responsibility the banner will leverage with Sierra’s executive producer Nick Meyer. Meanwhile, Sierra/Affinity will handle international sales of the apocalyptic drama and love story.

After finding success with The Perfect Guy – which pulled in $57 million off the back of a $12 million budget in September – Rosenthal...

Braving hurricane-force winds and 60-foot high waves, earlier this week we got a peek at the fierce intensity that Craig Gillespie is bringing to real-life maritime drama The Finest Hours, but what of the real heroes that scrambled to save the survivors of the SS Pendleton in 1952?

Walt Disney Pictures has answered that question today with a new featurette for the Oscar hopeful, chronicling the unflinching bravery and courage displayed by the North Eastern coast guard who risked their lives in order to pluck the seaman from the bitter cold waters of the North Atlantic. Leading the charge is Chris Pine’s Captain Bernie Webber, who literally goes through Hell and high water in order to rescue first assistant engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) and his trapped, frightened crew.

Assembling an impressive cast to hit the high seas, Gillespie has welcomed aboard Ben Foster, and Holliday Grainger, while the ensemble...

2015 is an important year in Pixar’s long and prestigious history in that it will mark the first time that the company has debuted two animated features in the same year – and neither of them are sequels. Back in June, the esteemed animation maestros yanked on our collective heartstrings with the rather excellent Inside Out and now, due to a somewhat turbulent development, The Good Dinosaur will complete that one-two punch when it lands in November.

When incubating in development, not only did the studio switch directors, but it also overhauled the entire voice cast – Frances McDormand notwithstanding – with Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A. J. Buckley, Steve Zahn, Jeffrey Wright, and Marcus Scribner now poised to topline the primordial tale.

Centering on Arlo the Apatosaurus, today’s debut clip reveals the formative steps our protagonist takes toward his coming-of-age story, long before he’s separated from...

Twilight Time brings Sam Fuller’s exotic 1955 color noir House of Bamboo to Blu-ray, a resplendently colorful film and the first major Us production to film in post-war Japan. While Fuller re-tooled Harry Kleiner’s script for the 1948 film The Street with No Name to meet his own offbeat needs, the film experienced a rather cool reception, garnering praise for Joseph MacDonald’s cinematography (and has since been hailed by sources as some of the best uses of widescreen photography in the history of cinema) but little else. Following on the heels of successful black and white titles like Hell and High Water (1954) and the acclaimed film noir Pickup on South Street (1953), it’s a harder title to classify, featuring Fuller’s usual signature of off-balance touches in a production that now seems ahead of its time (especially compared to something like 1964’s black and white provocation The Naked Kiss...

Principal photography has all but wrapped up on the production of Florian Gallenberger’s Colonia and to celebrate, the studio has unveiled a new image for the period drama that sees stars Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl on the run.

Situated in the midst of the harrowing Chilean military coup of 1973, the film will follow Watson and Brühl’s young couple, Lena and Daniel, who inadvertently find themselves in the thick of the conflict. When Daniel is abducted by the covert, corrupt police force of General Pinochet, it’s up to Lena to track down her significant other — a valiant and brave venture that will lead her to an infamous anti-communist area of the country.

Joining Brühl and Watson for the drama is Mikael Nyqvist, who starred as shamed journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the Swedish rendition of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In this case, he will step into...

On TV this Tuesday: The Voice invokes its instant save, Mindy‘s men get it twisted, a Goldbergs barbecue goes horribly awry and Person of Interest pulls more numbers than a church-basement bingo caller. As a supplement to TVLine’s original features (linked within), here are 10 programs to keep on your radar.

Preview | Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Make an Extremely ‘Cool’ Getaway

Preview | The Originals : Can ‘Reckless, Fearless’ Tyler Get the Upper Hand on Klaus?

8 pm NCIS (CBS) | The team revisits a hit-and-run murder when a former FBI agent (Eureka‘s Salli Richardson-Whitfield) gives Gibbs a very important tip.

Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2013 has raised more than £75 million, the highest total in its history.

At the end of last night's event, which saw celebrities including Jessie J, Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Peter Kay mark the 25th anniversary of the fundraiser, total donations stood at £75,107,851, with more still to come.

The figure includes sales of Comic Relief merchandise and money raised by BT Red Nose Day challenges, including Miranda's Mad March and Hell and High Water, featuring Dara O Briain, Melanie C, Jack Dee, Chelsee Healey, Phillips Idowu and Greg James.

Founder Richard Curtis said: "Once again the extraordinary generosity of the British public has put Comic Relief in a position to be able to serve thousands upon thousands of people with very hard lives in Africa and the UK.

"It's almost impossible to thank enough all those who took part in the event, all the members of...

Chelsee Healey wants to appear on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'. The former 'Waterloo Road' star was runner-up in the 2011 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' and is keen to take part in another reality show. She said: ''I wouldn't say no to the jungle. I've had a bit of experience, so I think that would be amazing!'' Chelsee recently took part in BT Red Nose Challenges: Hell and High Water - a five-day ordeal that saw her and other celebrities, including former Spice Girls singer Mel C and comedian Jack Dee, travel down the Zambezi river to raise money...

Chelsee Healey wants to appear on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'. The former 'Waterloo Road' star was runner-up in the 2011 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' and is keen to take part in another reality show. She said: ''I wouldn't say no to the jungle. I've had a bit of experience, so I think that would be amazing!'' Chelsee recently took part in BT Red Nose Challenges: Hell and High Water - a five-day ordeal that saw her and other celebrities, including former Spice Girls singer Mel C and comedian Jack Dee, travel down the Zambezi river to raise money...