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Rod Steiger is primarily remembered for his tough guys in such films as "Al Capone," "The Big Knife" and his Oscar-winning performance in "In the Heat of the Night." But his performances include such diverse characters as a meek Holocaust survivor in "The Pawnbroker" and a fey embalmer in the satire "The Loved One."

In addition to his performance in "In the Heat of the Night," for which Steiger also won a Golden Globe as well, he was Oscar-nominated for "The Pawnbroker" and for his iconic performance as the brother of Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in the back seat of that car in Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront."

So let's raise a glass to the late great man and honor him by counting down his 12 greatest screen performances, ranked from worst to best.

The legendary Quincy Jones just passed away at the age of 91. And while he’ll be remembered for his work in the music industry, his TV credits and his not giving a fuck in interviews during his golden years, some folks on the internet have also been celebrating his contribution to a pop-culture franchise he had absolutely no hand in creating: Austin Powers.

Mike Myers’ swinging spy character just wouldn’t have been the same without the upbeat theme song that plays during the opening credits of all three movies. If you don’t believe me, try syncing up the beginning of any Austin Powers movie with, say, Nine Inch Nails, and see how shagadelic it is.

The track is called “Soul Bossa Nova,” and it was apparently composed by Jones in less time than it takes to watch an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

As Jones told...

Quincy Jones, the iconic songwriter and producer behind some of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, has died at the age of 91. His publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed that Jones died peacefully at his Bel Air home on Sunday night, surrounded by family.

Jones is set to receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy Awards later this month.

Born in Chicago, he eventually settled in Seattle, where his passion for jazz flourished. After earning scholarships to Seattle University and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Jones left his studies to tour with bandleader Lionel Hampton in 1952, marking the start of a storied career.

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Throughout the 1950s, Jones toured extensively and served as music director for the French label Barclay Disques. Then, he returned to the U.S. to work with Mercury Records. His breakthrough as...

What couldn’t Quincy Jones do?

He wrote, composed and arranged music for your favorite artists and even produced films and TV shows that launched some of your favorite actors. He not only changed careers — he changed lives.

Here we break down some of the biggest acts and projects Jones worked on, from Michael Jackson’s seminal Thriller album to “We Are the World” to winning 28 Grammys, an Emmy and a Tony.

Michael Jackson

Before he met Jones while working on The Wiz, Jackson had been known for the Jackson 5 and released four solo albums that had mild success. Then they made Off the Wall and the King of Pop fully arrived. Released in 1979 around the time Jackson turned 21, the album helped him transition from young singer to critically acclaimed, matured artist. The album’s disco, funk and R&b sound resonated on the charts, helped Jackson win his first...

It is impossible to overstate Quincy Jones' influence on music and the music business throughout the second half of the 20th century. There wasn't a genre that Jones, who passed away yesterday at the age of 91, couldn't master as a composer, producer, performer, or all three. He kicked off his career playing trumpet for vibraphone god Lionel Hampton, served as trumpeter and music director for Dizzy Gillespie, and produced effervescent pop hits like "It's My Party" for Lesley Gore while expanding his range compositionally via jazz LPs and, perhaps most importantly, film music -- a field where the African-American artist stood out among a sea of white men.

Curiously, there isn't as much serious scholarship on the work of Jones, which is rather astounding considering his seismic 1970s and '80s impact as a producer for Michael Jackson on two of the top-selling LPs of all time ("Off the Wall...

Quincy Jones is dead at 91. There has simply never been an American artist better in touch with the pulse of popular culture than this producer, arranger, and composer whose work spanned nearly 70 years, every genre imaginable, and crossed all media as well. Jones is best known for his work producing Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, or his lifelong friendship with Ray Charles, but his film scores, bouncing with energy and groove, helped inspire a rethink of what was possible with movie music. (Associated Press first reported his death.)

Multiracial but the very definition of a 20th-century Black artist, Jones was born on the South Side of Chicago on March 14, 1933. His paternal grandmother was an ex-slave; his paternal grandfather, from Wales. His maternal grandmother was born a slave on a Kentucky plantation, as well — through the institutionalized rape of slavery, she was a distant relation of Tennessee Williams and the poet Sidney Lanier,...

Quincy Jones, producer of several of the best-selling albums of all time, died at his home in Bel Air on Sunday as per his publicist. Though his work covered all genres, Jones will forever be best known for helping coronate the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, by helping craft Jackson’s infectious and highly lucrative sound across three classic albums: Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. In 1985, he produced the “We Are The World” session, arguably the apex of 1980s pop music.

Jones, who in 1968 became the first African-American nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award with “The Eyes of Love,” received an astonishing 80 Grammy nominations and 28 Grammy Awards throughout his career. His wins were for arranging, producing, and performing, and he won the 1988 Album of the Year prize for Back on the Block, an R&b-pop-hip hop cross-generational collaboration including artists like Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, Ice-t, Kool Moe Dee,...

Quincy Jones, the legendary musician and producer who amassed 28 competitive Grammys over his staggering career, has passed away. He was 91.

With collaborations with the likes of Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and countless others, it’s hard to put into words just what sort of legacy Quincy Jones left behind. Working consistently since the 1950s, Jones made his mark almost immediately on the music world, getting his start in Chicago before tagging along for a European tour where he could showcase his jazz talents.

But it was the 1960s when Quincy Jones truly emerged as an artist, not only producing Sinatra’s classic It Might as Well Be Swing album, but lending to film soundtracks as well. His breakout on that front was for Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker, but it would be for In Cold Blood that Jones earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. He...

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr., a renowned musician and producer who shaped popular music for seven decades, died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old. Jones leaves behind an unmatched legacy that broke down barriers and introduced millions of fans around the world to a variety of genres.

Jones was born in Chicago and raised in Seattle, where he learned to play trumpet and arrange music from a young age. He studied at the Berklee School of Music and started his career arranging and performing with jazz legends like Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. By age 25, Jones had established himself as one of the top arrangers and trumpet players in jazz music.

In the 1960s, Jones made history as the first Black person to compose a major movie score, for the 1964 film “The Pawnbroker.” This opened doors for other Black artists in Hollywood. He went on...

Quincy Jones, the American music producer, songwriter and film and TV producer, has died aged 91.

Jones “passed away peacefully” at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, according to his publicist Arnold Robinson, as reported by Associated Press.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” read a statement from his family. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones was known for producing music for 20th century icons,...

Quincy Jones, the musical giant who did it all as a record producer, film composer, multi-genre artist, entertainment executive and humanitarian, has died. He was 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said that he died Sunday night at his Bel-Air home surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones received the Motion Picture Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995, the Grammy Legend Award in 1991 and 28 Grammys from an all-time best 80 nominations. He was to be presented with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards on Nov. 17.

Survivors include one of his seven children, actress Rashida Jones.

In a phenomenal career that spanned more than 60 years,...

Quincy Jones, who distinguished himself over the course of a 70-year career in music as an artist, bandleader, composer, arranger and producer, has died. He was 91.

Jones died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to a statement shared with Variety by his rep Arnold Robinson. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him,” the Jones family said in the statement. “He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the...

Morgan Freeman has played a variety of roles throughout his career, but hes mostly known for his mentor roles and one of his most hilarious roles ended up flipping this typecast in the best way. Morgan Freeman is one of the most popular and respected actors of his generation and with good reason, as he has shown his incredible acting range in a variety of movies in a career that spans six decades. Freemans acting debut was in the 1964 drama The Pawnbroker, but his big break arrived in 1987 in the crime thriller Street Smart.

Since then, Freeman has been part of a variety of movies in both main and secondary roles, and among his most notable projects are Driving Miss Daisy, Glory, The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, and Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight trilogy. Freeman has also been part of more lighthearted stories, such as Bruce Almighty, where he played God,...

Jon Landau, the illustrious producer and COO of James Cameron‘s Lightstorm Entertainment, died July 5 in Los Angeles after a 16-month-long battle with cancer. He was 63.

Landau produced films generated by Cameron that include 1997’s Best Picture Oscar winner Titanic, which tied Ben-Hur for most Academy Awards, 11. That film for a time was the largest grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by another Cameron blockbuster, the 2009 Avatar, which Landau also produced. Other credits included Avatar: The Way of Water, Solaris, Alita: Battle Angel directed by Robert Rodriguez, and he co-produced Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy.

During his 27-year partnership with Cameron, having joined the director in the making of Titanic in 1995, Landau produced three of the five highest-grossing films of all time, Avatar, Titanic and Avatar: The Way of Water. His death was first divulged by Titanic actress Frances Fisher. Late last night she posted of his passing,...

Sidney Lumet was the Oscar-nominated director who proved incredibly prolific during his career, directing over 40 movies in 50 years, from his feature debut “12 Angry Men” (1957) through his cinematic farewell “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007). But how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on June 25, 1924, Lumet got his start as a child actor, appearing in “One Third of a Nation” (1939) when he was 15 years old. After serving during WWII, he quickly began directing Off-Broadway plays before moving into the burgeoning medium of television, where he helmed hundreds of live teleplays. While working on episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Kraft Theater” and many more, he honed his abilities to shoot quickly and economically.

His turned to movies with “12 Angry Men,” an adaptation of Reginald Rose‘s TV drama about a lone juror (Henry Fonda) holding out during a murder trial.

Charles Dierkop, the busy character actor who played tough guys in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and the 1970s Angie Dickinson series Police Woman, has died. He was 87.

Dierkop died Sunday at Sherman Oaks Hospital after a recent heart attack and bout with pneumonia, his daughter, Lynn, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Wisconsin native also appeared alongside Rod Steiger in Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1964), played the mobster Salvanti in Roger Corman’s The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967) and was a murderous Santa Claus in the cult horror movie Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984).

After portraying an uncredited pool-hall hood in the Paul Newman-starring The Hustler (1961), Dierkop got to work with Newman again in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when he was hired to play Hole in the Wall Gang outlaw George “Flat Nose” Curry.

Dierkop had broken his nose in fights several times as a kid,...

Steven Spielberg had tackled serious subjects before, but none of his previous work had the power and artistic vision of “Schindler’s List,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Based on the book by Thomas Keneally, “Schindler’s List” relates the true story of Nazi party member and war profiteer Oskar Schindler, who ended up saving 1,000 Jews from the Nazi death camps during World War II. Shot in black-and-white-save for a little girl wearig red coat- ‘Schindler’s List” is often a difficult watch, but it’s message of “Never Forget” is particularly relevant today with the rise of anti-Semitism and the white power movement. The epic stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ben Kingsley as the Jewish manager of Schindler’s factor and Ralph Fiennes, terrifying as a ruthless Nazi commandant Amon Goth.

The reviews were laudatory and despite its length — 3 hours 15 minutes — “Schindler’s List” made over $322 million worldwide. Nominated for 12 Oscars...

White Bird.The repeatedly delayed film White Bird, based on the 2019 graphic novel by R.J. Palacio, follows an elderly Jewish woman looking back on her youth in France during World War II, particularly the time she spent hiding from the Nazis. The framing is odd: She is telling this tale to impart a lesson to her grandson, a bully character from a different, earlier novel by Palacio, Wonder. Both stories are part of a wider fictive universe authored by Palacio, the “World of Wonder,” which comprises spinoff books, film adaptations, and merchandise, all branded with the poptimistic slogan/hashtag “Choose Kind.” A friendly schoolmate refusing to persecute White Bird’s protagonist for being Jewish is implicitly an example of “choosing kind,” divorced from any historically based understanding of solidarity or resistance to fascism. More problematically, White Bird has as its epigraph George Santayama’s famous quote “Those who can’t...

Marina Cicogna, a film producer and one of the first women to establish herself in the traditionally male cinema environment in Italy, died Saturday in Rome. She was 89.

Cicogna produced several important Italian films, including Metti, una Sera a Cena by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) by Elio Petri, with the latter winning the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1971. The New York Times called her “one of the most powerful women in European cinema.”

Her extraordinary experience and career were recounted in 2021 in the documentary film Marina Cicogna. Life and Everything Else by Andrea Bettinetti and in her autobiography, Ancora Spero, released this year by Marsilio Publishing.

Cicogna died with Benedetta Gardona, her companion of more than 30 years, by her side.

Ahead of receiving the 2023 David Award for Lifetime Achievement this year, Cicogna...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)

In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...

Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.

Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...

“What goes through my mind is, ‘How can I make it better?'” says music director Rickey Minor, who returned to conduct the orchestra at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12. “Not better than anyone else. It’s just the best that I can do. What is that thing that’s going to elevate it? And the first thing is to come in with how to do it musically…and then bring it to the producers and discuss what ideas I have for this year’s awards.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

This was Minor’s third time at the Oscars after directing the music in 2019 and 2020. He is a two-time Emmy winner for “Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories that Changed America” (2017) and “The 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors” (2020).

See 2024 Oscars ceremony date revealed

“You start with a list of things that I would love to hear,...

Erik Lomis, MGM’s head of theatrical distribution, died Wednesday in Santa Monica, California. He was 64. No cause of death has been confirmed.

Over three decades, Lomis led distribution at MGM across two of its incarnations as well as at The Weinstein Company, Annapurna Pictures, and United Artists, where he spent years as the overseer of the James Bond franchise. Among the titles he handled across his career were “The Artist,” “The Iron Lady,” “The King’s Speech,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained,” and “The Imitation Game” as well as “Inherent Vice” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

Before he moved into distribution, Lomis was head film buyer at Philadephia’s Sameric Theaters, a circuit of more than 100 theaters in the northeast. He later became head film buyer at United Artists Theaters, which acquired the Sameric chain.

Lomis was a second-generation distributor: His dad, Irving Lomis, was also a film buyer...

By Sam Moffitt

Night Will Fall 2014 Directed by Andre’ Singer, Written by Lynette Singer Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter and Jasper Britton

The Pawnbroker 1964 Directed by Sidney Lumet Written by Norton S Fine and David Friedkin from a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, Starring Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters and Jaime Sanchez

I met a Holocaust survivor, very recently. I was in a discount store, standing in line pay for my purchases. In front of me was an older gentleman, wearing a cap that looked like a military veteran’s cap. I enjoy talking with other veterans and thanking them for their service. I always want to hear what other veterans have done in service to our country.

“Is that a military cap you’re wearing?” “No, but I survived World War Two.” He said this with a German accent so my next question, “Were you in Germany and survived the air raids?...

Once upon a time in Hollywood, and to be more precise, in the mid-’60s and ’70s, young Hollywood filmmakers saw what their “auteur director” counterparts around the world were doing with the cinematic arts, and they wanted some of that freedom of expression and fearless boundary-busting for themselves. From Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” to Bergman’s “Persona” to Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” the action in creative storytelling was all over the place, except in Hollywood.

So Hollywood’s best and brightest young artists accepted the challenge.

The result was called New Hollywood, and the films that resulted from that impulse to innovate and experiment with forms and subject matter included “The Pawnbroker,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Mean Streets,” “The Conversation,” “French Connection,” “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Wild Bunch” and myriad other lively, edgy masterpieces of American film.

As you can see from that list of titles,...

Director Ron Underwood discusses a few of his favorite westerns with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Speechless (1994)

Heart and Souls (1993)

Stealing Sinatra (2003)

City Slickers (1991)

Tremors (1990) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Tourist Trap (1979) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary

The Seduction (1982)

Puppet Master (1989)

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)

Capricorn One (1977) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Back When We Were Grownups (2004)

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Red River (1948) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Johnny Guitar (1954) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Searchers (1956)

Seven Samurai (1954) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Westworld...

TV director Dan Attias discusses his favorite cinematic moments with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

White Dog (1982)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Witness (1985)

The Verdict (1982)

Scent Of A Woman (1992)

The Piano (1993)

The Pawnbroker (1965)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

True Romance (1993)

Infested (2002)

A History Of Violence (2005)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary links

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion review

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion review

12 Angry Men (1957)

Dodes’ka-den (1970)

Memento (2000)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Other Notable Items

Phillips Club in NYC

Tfh Guru Alan Spencer

Sledge Hammer! TV series (1986-1988)

The Garland in...

The great director discusses some of his favorite movies with host Josh Olson.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)

Memory (Tbd)

The Protégé (2021)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)

The Mask Of Zorro (1998)

GoldenEye (1995)

Casino Royale (2006)

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Salt (2010)

Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Oliver Twist (1948)

Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Guns Of Navarone (1962)

The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review

The Spy Who Loved Me...

A stray thought for Hollywood: Just because Donald Trump is campaigning for free speech—last week, he announced a class-action anti-censorship lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and Google—doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea.

Free speech, that is. I don’t know about the lawsuit, which will have to reconcile the tech giants’ First Amendment rights and legal protections with a claim that they have abused their immunity by acting as politically one-sided censors.

More heat than light will be shed as the suit works its way through the courts and media mill. But never mind Trump. Freedom of expression is something the movie business should start worrying about, sooner rather than later.

It’s no secret that the movies—like the rest of pop culture—have been operating in an ever-narrower field when it comes to what can be portrayed on-screen, and by whom. Even to identify the...

And just like that – here comes spring. Amazon Prime‘s list of new releases for April 2021 isn’t as cheery as one would expect from the sunny season. But perhaps that’s by design – you should be outside anyway!

Amazon’s most prominent original series for April 2021 is undoubtedly Them from multi-hyphenate Lena Waithe. This horror anthology’s first season, subtitled “Covenant”, will center on a Black family in the 1950s who move from North Carolina to a white neighborhood in Los Angeles. It premieres on April 9. Given its name and premise, Them is drawing some (largely joke-y) comparisons to Jordan Peele’s Us on social media. But hey, the world could always use some more Us.

Read more TV Does the Latest Lord of the Rings Amazon Series Cast Exit Signal Trouble? By Joseph Baxter TV New On Amazon Prime Video UK March 2021: Invincible, Coming 2 America and More!

While the first day of spring technically belongs to March, everyone knows that it kicks into high gear in April. To celebrate the changing of the seasons, Hulu is finally bringing back its signature original series for April 2021.

Season 4 of the multiple Emmy award-winning The Handmaid’s Tale premieres on April 28. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen June and her dystopian world. In fact, it’s been so long that our own world decided to endure its own dystopian pandemic in the meantime. Hopefully this series’ return will mean we can keep our political and social collapses on television where they belong.

Aside from The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu isn’t brining much else to the table in terms of originals this month. Thankfully, the one other original that Hulu has in store for April sounds completely righteous. Sasquatch, the latest docuseries from the Duplass brothers producing team, will cover exactly what the title promises.

Reni Santoni, who played Poppie in “Seinfeld” and appeared in “Dirty Harry” and other films, died on Aug. 1. He was 81.

According to a Facebook post written by his friend and TV writer-producer Tracy Newman, Santoni died on Saturday morning. He had been “sick for quite a while.”

“Those of you who knew him know how funny he was, what a terrific actor, improviser, performer, etc.,” the post read. “So brilliant. I loved him very much and will miss him terribly. Another great one is gone. I have a lot of wonderful pictures of him, and will post them over the next week. My heart goes out to his son, Nick, who has been such a comfort to Reni over that past five years or more.”

Born in New York City, Santoni built his acting career from off-Broadway theatre, starring in “The Umbrella” and “The Mad Show.” His first significant film...

Reni Santoni, who starred alongside Clint Eastwood in “Dirty Harry,” died this past weekend at the age of 81, TheWrap has learned.

Santoni passed away in hospice care after years of health problems, including cancer.

The New York native starred in Eastwood’s 1971 classic film as Chico Martinez, a rookie detective with a sociology degree, who gets paired up with “Dirty” Harry Callahan despite the surly cop’s resistance to working with inexperienced partners. Chico survives being shot by the amoral killer Scorpio during the film and ends up leaving the force, but not before giving a famous line in the film after Callahan gets the job of delivering ransom money to Scorpio: “No wonder they call him Dirty Harry; [he] always gets the s— end of the stick.”

Prior to “Dirty Harry,” Santoni got his start in acting via off-Broadway theater with his own play, “Raisin’ Hell in the Son” before...

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“A Love Story… Not!”

By Raymond Benson

There’s no question that the 1966 film adaptation of Edward Albee’s 1962 Tony-winning play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is one of the most important and influential motion pictures of the 1960s. It not only showcased four superlative acting performances, a jaw-dropping impressive directorial debut (by Mike Nichols), brilliant black and white cinematography and editing, but it also changed the Hollywood movie industry.

By the mid-60s, the archaic Production Code, which had been in force since July 1934, was in its death throes. When Otto Preminger began releasing titles in the 1950s without the Production Code Seal of Approval, he proved to the powers-that-be that the Code was not infallible. Then along came such fare as Psycho, Lolita, and The Pawnbroker in the early 60s, and it was clear that the American public wanted to see more “adult” pictures.

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“Don’T You Call Them Tattoos!”

By Raymond Benson

Ray Bradbury’s excellent 1951 short story anthology, The Illustrated Man, is one of the author’s most revered works. It contains eighteen tales loosely framed by a narrator who meets a carnival sideshow freak covered in tattoos that “tell stories”—and each entry in the book illustrates one of the tattoos.

“Don’t you call them tattoos!” Rod Steiger belligerently yells at the protagonist of the 1969 film adaptation. “They are skin ill-us-tra-tions!” Steiger emotes in his inimitable scenery-chewing way.

And there is the crux of why The Illustrated Man, which was adapted by co-producer Howard B. Kreitsek, doesn’t work too well. Steiger, who plays “Carl,” the illustrated man, had a checkered career marked by many brilliant performances… but also, perhaps, more eccentric and over-the-top ones. His good screen appearances are truly excellent, and...

Hulu have a whole host of new titles coming to the service this month, everything from zombie thrillers and screwball comedies to action romps and music documentaries. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot to look forward to on the streaming service over the next few weeks and below, you can find the entire rundown of what’s on the way. Ready to dive in?

Available June 1

Celebrity Family Feud: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)

Press Your Luck: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)

Match Game: Season 5 Premiere (ABC)

Children’s Hospital: Complete Series (Adult Swim)

Mike Tyson Mysteries: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Adult Swim)

10 Year Plan (2014)

4th Man Out (2015)

Above & Beyond (2014)

Almost Adults (2016)

Born to be Wild (2011)

Casino (1995)

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Cliffhanger (1993)

Constantine (2005)

Dave (1993)

Digging for Fire (2015)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)

Equilibrium (2002)

Fair Game (2010)

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

Futureworld (1976)

Grown Ups (2010)

Happily N’Ever After (2007)

Happily N’Ever After 2...

Hulu is out with its list of everything coming and going on the streaming service in June.

Highlights include a new episode of the Hulu original anthology series “Into the Dark” called “Good Boy,” which follows Maggie (Judy Greer), who gets an emotional support dog for her anxiety — but little does she know, he kills anyone who adds stress to her life. Also, take a closer look at the hip-hop group Lin-Manuel Miranda was in before he did “Hamilton” in a new documentary called “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme.”

Leaving at the end of the month are classics like “Bend It Like Beckham,” “Blazing Saddles” and “Kill Bill” volumes one and two.

Below is the full list of everything coming and going throughout the month of June:

Also Read: Hulu Launches New Group Viewing Feature

June 1

Celebrity Family Feud: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)

Press Your Luck: Season 2 Premiere (ABC...

There are a lot of popular streaming platforms to choose from, but Hulu has always stood alongside Netflix as one of the two essentials for households looking for diversity in content. In the past, they’ve been known for focusing more heavily on newer television content, while Netflix has always offered a larger selection of sought-after films. But now, it looks like Hulu’s June lineup is only going to continue the service’s recent trend of providing high quality movies to bring itself in line with their competitor.

First up, you can get wholesome with Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which tells the story of an investigative journalist who learns some hard life lessons from one of television’s most beloved personalities. You can then supplement that wholesomeness with My Girl and My Girl 2 for some wonderful 90s nostalgia.

Speaking of nostalgia, you won...

June 2020 is set to be a big month for the whole streaming Disney family. Not only will ESPN+ have the entirety of The Last Dance on its servers for late-adopting sports fans to catch up with, but Disney+ will be premiering its long-awaited Artemis Fowl film. Over on its biggest streaming service in Hulu, however, Disney is taking things a bit more slowly.

This month finds only three major original releases for Hulu. Animated medieval comedy Crossing Swords premieres on June 12, then Ya love story Love Victor and cooking show Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi both arrive on June 19. All in all, that’s not a bad haul for originals for the typically slow summer months.

June 1 sees a pretty impressive crop of movies coming to Hulu’s library as well. October Sky, The X-Files (1998), and Casino will all be ready to stream at the beginning of the month.

The director of Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies, Pearl Jam’s Jeremy and many more reflects on his career and some of the movies that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Arlington Road (1999)

The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Firewall (2006)

The Orphanage (2007)

Nostalgia (2018)

Avatar (2009)

Titanic (1997)

Chef (2014)

The Laundromat (2019)

Honeymoon In Vegas (1992)

Demonlover (2003)

Under The Sand (2000)

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Under The Skin (2013)

The Great Beauty (2013)

Slap Shot (1977)

Network (1976)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Pawnbroker (1964)

Star Wars (1977)

The Exorcist (1973)

Jaws (1975)

The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973)

All The President’s Men (1976)

Liquid Sky (1982)

The Brother From Another Planet (1984)

City Of Hope (1991)

Stop Making Sense (1984)

Snowpiercer (2013)

The Flintstones (1994)

Matinee (1993)

Batman (1989)

Transformers (2007)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Psycho (1960)

Psycho (1998)

Mandy (2018)

Phantom Thread (2017)

Magnolia (1999)

Boogie Nights (1997)

The Master (2012)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

The Mustang (2019)

Inherent Vice (2014)

The New World (2005)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

The Last Word (2017)

Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

The Burglar (1957)

What Lies Beneath...

Amazon Prime Video has confirmed that the third season of the Emmy-winning comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will debut on the streaming service in December. Also set to return is the sci-fi series “The Expanse” for season 4 and the Indian import “Inside Edge” for a second edition.

Look for the premiere of the feature film “The Aeronauts,” a fanciful tale of Victorian balloonists which reunites the Oscar-winning Eddie Redmayne with his “Theory of Everything” leading lady Felicity Jones. Also scheduled to start streaming is Joe Talbot‘s acclaimed drama “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”

And in association with the NFL Channel, Amazon will continue to stream “Thursday Night Football,” with a new game airing live each week.

Below is the full schedule of everything that is coming to Amazon Prime Video in December 2019. Unlike Netflix, Amazon does not disclose the shows and movies leaving the service in any given month.

With the holidays around the corner, Amazon Prime Video is adding an abundance of movies and TV shows to stream while relaxing at home.

A majority of fresh content will drop on the first of the month, starting with Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” and Kevin Bacon’s “Footloose” on Dec. 1. For superhero enthusiasts, “Hancock” and “Bumblebee” will drop on the first of the month as well.

Newer offerings such as “What Men Want” and “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” will be added to Amazon Prime Video later in December.

Amazon original series like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Clifford” and “Inside Edge” will each add new seasons on Dec. 6, while a fourth season of “The Expanse” will hit Dec. 13.

See the full list of titles below:

December 1

A Better Life

Almost Famous

Bug

Footloose

Hamlet

Hancock

Havana Motor Club

In Secret

Out of Time

Phase IV

Some Kind of Wonderful...

Hulu is out with its monthly list of everything coming and going. This December, new additions include Season 6 of “Younger,” two new episodes of “Into the Dark,” and Season 3 of “Marvel’s Runaways.”

According to Hulu’s description, here’s what’s going on in the the new season of “Younger”: “After Liza lands her dream job by posing as a millennial, she realizes that the truth is much better than fiction.” That’s out Dec. 3.

Season 3 of “Marvel’s Runaways,” in which the Runaways search for their captured friends, is out Dec. 13.

Also Read: FX Moves 4 Shows to Hulu, Will Produce Original Series for Streaming Service

On Dec. 6, “Into The Dark: A Nasty Piece of Work” finds a mid-level employee at a big company faced with a challenge: in order to climb the corporate ladder, he must beat his co-worker in a violent competition.

On Dec. 27 comes “Into The Dark: Midnight Kiss,...

Sidney Lumet would’ve celebrated his 95th birthday on June 25, 2019. The Oscar-nominated director proved incredibly prolific during his career, directing over 40 movies in 50 years, from his feature debut “12 Angry Men” (1957) through his cinematic farewell “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007). But how many of those titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1924, Lumet got his start as a child actor, appearing in “One Third of a Nation” (1939) when he was 15 years old. After serving during WWII, he quickly began directing Off-Broadway plays before moving into the burgeoning medium of television, where he helmed hundreds of live teleplays. While working on episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Kraft Theater” and many more, he honed his abilities to shoot quickly and economically.

SEEHenry Fonda movies: 25 greatest films ranked worst to best

His turned to movies with “12 Angry Men,...

A happy birthday greeting as we remember Rod Steiger, the screen actor who would have been 94 on April 14, 2019. Although he is primarily remembered for his tough guys in such films as “Al Capone,” “The Big Knife” and his Oscar-winning performance in “In the Heat of the Night,” Steiger’s performances include such diverse characters as a meek Holocaust survivor in “The Pawnbroker” and a fey embalmer in the satire “The Loved One.”

SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

In addition to his performance in “In the Heat of the Night,” for which Steiger also won a Golden Globe as well, he was Oscar-nominated for “The Pawnbroker” and for his iconic performance as the brother of Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in the back seat of that car in Elia Kazan‘s “On the Waterfront.”

SEEMarlon Brando movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

So let’s raise...

Growing up among his native Brooklyn’s brick-and-fire-escape facades in the 1930’s, production designer-to-be Albert Brenner often dreamed of the wide open spaces depicted in his favorite Saturday-matinee Westerns. At 16, he landed his first “art job”: dressing windows for a New York City department store.

Two years later, Brenner swapped mannequins for military service and flew in B-24 bombers until World War II ended in 1945. On the G.I. Bill, he attended Yale University, graduating with skills in drafting, and went into summer stock theater under designer Samuel Leve, toiling away on plays like “The Fifth Season” and gaining a union card in the process.

He developed his designer chops in New York on TV shows like “The Phil Silvers Show,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” “Captain Kangaroo” and “Playhouse 90.” His first day on the Silvers show, where he eventually earned $250 a week, was nearly his last, when he...

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Martin McDonagh finds himself in rarefied territory this season after the Academy’s directors branch rather shockingly “snubbed” him and failed to nominate him in their category for his much-acclaimed Golden Globe winner and Oscar Best Picture contender, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Despite the omission, the film has seven nominations, including writing and producing noms for McDonagh.

It remains a hot prospect to win the top prize, though the odds are daunting, statistically at least. Only three films in the 89-year history of the Oscars have managed to go on to win the Best Picture Academy Award without having at least a Best Director nomination. Early on Grand Hotel did it in 1931-32 — even though its helmer, Edmund Goulding, was not among the three directors nominated then. In 1989, Driving Miss Daisy triumphed without a corresponding directing nom for Bruce Beresford,...

In this week’s edition of Canon Of Film, we take a look Sidney Lumet‘s hypnotic ‘Murder on the Orient Express‘ just in time for the release of Kenneth Branagh‘s remake of the same name. For the story behind the genesis of the Canon, you can click here.

Murder On The Orient Express (1974)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay: Paul Dehn based on the novel by Agatha Christie (uncredited)

Strangely, the detective story is actually a fairly newer genre when compared to others, in terms of literary history, it is, and the inventor of the genre is not who you’d think it’d be either, it was Edgar Allen Poe, with his trilogy of C. Auguste Dupin stories, ‘The Murder of the Rue Morgue‘, ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget,’ and my favorite, ‘The Purloined Letter‘ back in the 1840s. I’m not sure why this genre didn’t pick up until then,...

On this day in history as it relates to showbiz...

1865 President Lincoln is assassinated. He's surely the President that's hit the movies the most often, most successfully in Steven Spielberg's fantastic Lincoln (2012)

1894 The first commercial motion picture house opens using Thomas Edison's "kinetoscope" device. You had to look through a peephole though so it was only one viewer at a time, though the venue had 10 of the machines. Coincidentally Thomas Edison will be played by Benedict Cumberbath in this year's Oscar hopeful The Current War which is about Edison's battle with George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) over sustainable electricity in America...

1904 Sir John Gielgud, one of the great British actors, was born. He won the Oscar for Arthur (1981) but his filmography stretches all the way from the silent era through Elizabeth (1998)

1925 Oscar regular Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront, The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night) born...

A lengthy talk-fest interview of the underrated filmmaker, who takes us through his life story as a personal journey, not a string of movie assignments. Sidney Lumet seems to attract a lot of criticism, and so did this docu for not challenging his opinions or rubbing his nose in his less admirable movie efforts. The docu is just Lumet’s thoughts, and the words of a man of integrity are always inspiring.

By Sidney Lumet

Blu-ray

FilmRise

2015 / Color /1:78 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date January 9, 2017 / 24.95

Starring Sidney Lumet

Cinematography Tom Hurwitz

Film Editor Anthony Ripoli

Produced by Scott Berrie, Nancy Buirski, Chris Donnelly, Joshua A. Green, Thane Rosenbaum, Robin Yigit Smith

Directed by Nancy Buirski

This ought to be a good year for documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski. I first caught up with her excellent feature docu Afternoon of a Faun, about the ill-fated ballerina Tanaquil Le Clerc, and she’s had other successes as well.