News

John Frey, an actor, screenwriter, director and teacher known for the 2018 film “Cabaret Maxime,” died on Jan. 23 of heart failure. He was 62.

Born in the Bronx, Frey graduated from the prestigious William Esper Studio for actors and had a 25-year international career in film, theater and television. Frey’s early theater acting and directing credits include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “27 Wagons Full of Cotton,” “Miss Julie” and “Of Mice and Men.” His most recent project was as an actor and screenwriter for Bruno de Almeida’s film “Cabaret Maxime,” which won him the Portuguese Society of Authors best screenplay award.

“An artist pure of heart and generous of spirit has been taken from us far too soon,” a representative for the William Esper Studio said in a statement. “John was a critically-acclaimed director, award-winning screenwriter and among the most respected acting technique teachers in the world.”

Frey first...

Bill Kobin, a pioneering public television executive who ran Los Angeles pubcaster Kcet for 13 years and helped launch the careers of Bill Moyers, Huell Howser and many others, died Friday at his home in Brentwood, CA. He was 91. No cause of death was given.

Kobin worked as a television journalist in the early days of the medium with the Dumont Broadcasting, ABC and CBS News. He produced The Political Obituary of Richard Nixon, which landed him on Nixon’s famous enemies list. He worked with such famous names as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Harry Reasoner and Andy Rooney but eventually chose to leave the world of the big networks and align with Net in New York, the not-for-profit television startup that was the precursor to the PBS system. His public television career would last for more than 50 years.

In 1967, Kobin launched Black Journal, the first regularly scheduled series on...

Arthur P. Siccardi, a longtime Broadway production supervisor whose five-decade career included work on such notable original and revival stagings as Sweeney Todd, Whose Life is it Anyway?, Sunday in the Park with George, Gypsy, The Heidi Chronicles and Sunset Boulevard, to name a few, died December 23 of complications from pneumonia. He was 89.

His death was announced by his son Drew Siccardi.

Born in Englewood, NJ, and raised in Fort Lee, Siccardi began his professional life as a minor league baseball pitcher for the Johnson City Cardinals from 1951-53. An employment offer to work as a show carpenter on the original national tour of Gypsy led to what would be his life’s work.

Siccardi established Arthur Siccardi Theatrical Services in 1975 at the suggestion of Michael Bennett, and he’d go on to work with such notable directors as Mike Nichols, Jerome Robbins, Tommy Tune, Gower Champion, Trevor Nunn and Michael Blakemore.

At the center of Thomas Vinterberg’s new film Another Round lies one of the eternal questions—does alcohol help open up the mind to stimulate or even liberate the imagination in helpful ways that might not have occurred otherwise, or is it, at the end of the day, a harmful depressant and mind-decayer, as well as a door-opener to abuse and violence? The Danish writer-director puts the topic on the table in disarming fashion but, in the end, literally dances away from it to reaffirm the status quo without significantly illuminating the issue as seemingly promised at the outset. This Samuel Goldwyn release had been selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival competition but ended up making its world premiere—remotely—at the Toronto Film Festival in September, just prior to its release in Denmark. The country has selected it as its submission in the International Feature Oscar race.

Alcoholism...

Matthew López, the acclaimed playwright behind “The Inheritance,” will bring the story of legendary dramatist Tennessee Williams to the big screen for Searchlight Pictures.

López will pen a feature film adaptation of the novel “Leading Men,” which centers on the “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” scribe and his longtime partner Frank Merlo. The film is produced by Luca Guadagnino and Peter Spears, who previously teamed for “Call Me By Your Name.” This is Spears’ second Searchlight project, after Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” which won the Venice Golden Lion and TIFF’s people’s choice award. There is currently no director attached to the project.

The novel by Christopher Castellani tells the tale of the romantic partnership between Williams and Merlo, touted in a synopsis of the film as “one of the most creatively inspiring love stories of the twentieth century.”

Already famous for penning “The Glass Menagerie,...

Exclusive: Dylan McDermott and Phylicia Rashad will headline a streaming performance of the Tennessee Williams classic The Night of the Iguana, directed by Emily Mann and benefitting the Actors Fund.

A presentation of La Femme Theatre Productions, the pre-recorded performance will stream December 2-6 and feature McDermott as Reverand Shannon and Rashad as Maxine. Also in the cast are Roberta Maxwell as Miss Fellowes, Austin Pendleton as Nonno, and Jean Lichty as Hannah, with Keith Randolph Smith, Carmen Berkeley, Eliud Kauffman, Julio Macias, Stephanie Schmiderer, Bradley James Tejeda and John Hans Tester.

The production was shot act by act over a two-day period beginning November 11 and following a week of rehearsals, with each cast member recorded in his or her home and appearing either on screen or in a “virtual green room.”

“As much as we will miss performing on an actual stage, our team has been flexible enough to...

Exclusive: The Good Fight’s Audra McDonald is among a number of stars to have joined The Gilded Age, Julian Fellowes’ period drama for HBO.

McDonald, who is also set to star in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, joins as a special guest star.

A slew of Broadway stars added as major recurring guest stars. They include The King and I’s Kelli O’Hara, Hello, Dolly!’s Donna Murphy, who is also in Starz’ Power, Fun Home’s Michael Cerveris, who also starred in Netflix’s Mindhunter, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof’s Debra Monk, Promises Promises’ Katie Finneran, who was also in CBS All Access’ Why Women Kill, To Kill A Mockinbird’s Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gary’s Kristine Nielsen and King Lear’s John Douglas Thompson.

They join series regulars stars Christine Baranski, Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector, Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson,...

Even for celebrated Latinx performers like John Leguizamo, finding success in the entertainment industry is a hard-fought and seemingly never-ending battle. But as a newcomer to the business, Leguizamo recalls being galvanized by the struggle into telling his own stories.

“I just kept getting put into these really negative roles that I felt I was contributing to the downgrade of the Latinx image in the media,” he tells Variety. “I wanted to write my own stuff, so I could portray my people the way I saw them and felt them.” And that’s exactly what the Leguizamo did. His 1991 off-Broadway production of “Mambo Mouth” was a hit. Despite being forced to perform in the hallway of the theater, the show brought in big names including Arthur Miller, Al Pacino and John F. Kennedy Jr.

“All of a sudden I felt like I have something to offer,” Leguizamo says. “I have something that white America,...

As August winds down, it’s time to look ahead to everything that’s hitting the major streaming services in September. As always, there’s an enormous haul of originals and newly licensed titles going up across Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu and Prime Video over the month, including content from every genre out there.

The first day of September brings the usual lengthy list of movies arriving on most of the sites. Just a few of the highlights include all three Back to the Future films returning to Netflix, every entry in the Twilight saga arriving on Hulu and countless iconic movies going up on HBO Max, including Grease, Miss Congeniality and V for Vendetta. Also, Doctor Who fans will want to take note, as the most recent season of the show lands on HBO Max the same day.

Feel free to inspect the full list of everything...

Although it still has a long way to go to catch up to Netflix, HBO Max is gradually building a reputation for both an impressive library of content and its own original programming. As well as reportedly working on a number of Batman-focused series, the WarnerMedia streamer is also absorbing shows from DC Universe, and funding the Snyder Cut of Justice League. We now know what’s coming to HBO Max in September, and there’s plenty there for subscribers to sink their teeth into.

The big original series highlight next month is the Ridley Scott-produced Raised by Wolves, which explores two androids raising human children. Created by Adam Guzikowski, the program could be one of HBO Max’s first big hits with critics and audiences, and is set to arrive on September 3rd. Other notable originals include comedy Unpregnant, wherein a pregnant teenager travels to Mexico with her...

HBO Max is out with its list of everything new coming to the streaming service in the month of September.

Highlights include Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves,” out Sept. 3, which follows two androids raising a human child on a distant planet; “Coastal Elites” starring Bette Midler, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy, Sarah Paulson and Issa Rae, out Sept. 12, and “The Murders at White House Farm,” which is out in Sept. but doesn’t yet have an exact premiere date.

Others without a premiere date coming in Sept. include season one of “Haute Dog,” “Mo Willems: Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime!” and seasons one through three of “The Great Pottery Throw Down.”

Also Read: 'Lovecraft Country' Premiere Draws 1.4 Million Multiplatform Viewers - Including HBO Max

Read the full list below:

Sept. 1

93Queen, 2018

All The Right Moves, 1983 (HBO)

The Astronaut Farmer, 2007 (HBO)

Badlands, 1973

Ballmastrz: 9009, 2018

Bandidas, 2006 (HBO)

Barnyard, 2006 (HBO)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,...

WarnerMedia’s grand streaming experiment continues apace with HBO Max’s list of new releases for September 2020.

This month, HBO Max is bring some serious dramatic heat with the Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi series Raised by Wolves arriving on Sept. 3. And if science fiction isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, then HBO Max has identified something that is: true crime. The Murders at White House Farm will arrive at a date to be determined in September.

In addition to those intriguing original offerings, HBO Max is making the best of its WarnerMedia library this month. Doctor Who season 12 makes its long-awaited streaming debut on Sept. 1. Also arriving on the first of the month are Clerks, Election, and the hopefully-not-too-timely V for Vendetta.

Recent horror hit The Invisible Man arrives on Sept. 19. It is complemented by HBO Max original comedy Unpregnant on Sept. 10.

Here is everything else coming to HBO Max this month.

by Cláudio Alves

In 1958, Burl Ives won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Some cinephiles would, understandably, assume that the great honor came to him as a reward for his legendary turn as Big Daddy in the silver screen adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It wasn't so, however. Burl Ives did indeed win his Oscar for playing the impassioned patriarch of some portentous American clan, but it was for a story set in the arid landscapes of the Far West rather than the humid heat of Mississippi. The winning movie was William Wyler's The Big Country, a sublime epic of its genre whose taste for cruelty is only matched by the lushness of its score. It's not a well-remembered flick despite its quality, and, while great, Ives' supporting turn pales in comparison to what he did as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...

Must Reads

• Vulture Rachel Handler hilariously ranks Christopher Nolan's movies by how willing she would be to die for the privilege of seeing them in movie theaters.

• The Hollywood Report looks back at the making of X-Men (2000) and how it created a monster with young director Bryan Singer

More after the jump including Amy Adams-centric news, "Do You Have the Antibodies?" a hit waiting to happen, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof's failures, a new Brad Pitt project and more...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)

From Escape from Alcatraz to Cool Hand Luke to The Shawshank Redemption, cinema is rich with not only prison films focused on the plight of the prisoner, but also depicting wardens in an evil light. Clemency, winner of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, flips the script in both ways, both turning the spotlight on a warden and painting her in an empathetic, complicated light. Led by Alfre Woodard, she gives a riveting, emotional performance as the Bernadine Williams, a woman who is stuck between the demands of her grueling job and a disintegrating marriage, and can’t give her all to both.

The producer of Narcos takes us on a walk through some of the movies that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Contagion (2011)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Rififi (1955)

Night And The City (1950)

Thieves’ Highway (1949)

Never on Sunday (1960)

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Game (1997)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Great Escape (1963)

Children of Men (2006)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Godfather (1972)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Animal House (1978)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Trading Places (1983)

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

The Beastmaster (1982)

Sheena (1984)

High Risk (1981)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Piranha (1978)

Gallipoli (1981)

Witness (1985)

The Killing Fields (1984)

Mad Max (1980)

Max Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1978)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

The Hobbit (1977)

The Return of the King (1980)

Class (1983)

The Great Santini (1979)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High...

Not all Tennessee Williams film adaptations are successful, but Richard Brooks’ blend of romance, show biz venality and political thuggery is just too entertaining to dismiss. The entire cast is better than good, with Geraldine Page shining and Paul Newman well-cast. And the ingenue Shirley Knight receives her most iconic role, right at the beginning of her career. It’s sad timing for admirers of Ms. Knight, but still good to see her looking so radiant.

Sweet Bird of Youth

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood.

Cinematography: Milton Krasner

Film Editor: Henry Berman

Written by Richard Brooks from a play by Tennessee Williams

Produced by Pandro S. Berman

Directed by Richard Brooks

As with many American playwrights, Tennessee Williams was definitely bitten by the bug to...

The I, Daniel Blake star on her parents’ generosity, working in a call centre and her love of ice-cream

Born in London, Squires, 32, studied at Rose Bruford College in London. She starred in the Ken Loach film, I, Daniel Blake in 2016, earning a Bafta nomination and winning most promising newcomer at the British Independent Film awards. Her West End debut in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof followed in 2017. Her television work includes The Miniaturist and Collateral; in the autumn she will play the lead in the Channel 4 drama, Adult Material.

What is your greatest fear?

Snakes.

The actor on his Derbyshire roots, travelling in his caravan and reforming Oasis

Born in Derbyshire, Jack O’Connell, 29, had a role in This is England in 2006 and went on to appear in Skins from 2009 to 2013. In 2015, he won the Bafta Rising Star award and, in 2017, he performed with Sienna Miller in the West End revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. His films include Unbroken, Money Monster and Seberg, which is in cinemas now. He lives in London.

What is your greatest fear?

Big spiders.

The ’90s sitcom The Nanny is being developed into a Broadway musical, with series creators Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson on board to write the show’s book, while Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger will write the music.

The project was announced today by producers Brian Zeilinger and Scott Zeilinger. Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) will direct. A production timeline, additional creative team and casting will be announced later.

Bloom, who co-created and starred in CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, will write the musical’s song lyrics, and share the music writing with Schlesinger. The songwriting team (along with Jack Dolgen) won a 2019 Emmy Award for their Crazy Ex-Girlfriend music.

Said Drescher and Jacobson: “We are So excited to be working on the Broadway musical The Nanny. We’re equally excited that the wildly talented Rachel Bloom will be writing the lyrics and music with the fantastic Adam Schlesinger,...

Cobra Woman

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1944/ 1:33 / 71 min.

Starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu

Directed by Robert Siodmak

In the early 40’s Universal Pictures was still best known for its shadowy black and white horror shows. That all changed in 1944 when the studio produced the kind of candy-colored dreamland not seen since Dorothy woke up to Oz. The movie was Robert Siodmak’s Cobra Woman starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and studio stalwart Lon Chaney Jr., last seen putting the bite on Louise Allbritton in Siodmak’s Son of Dracula. There aren’t any vampires in this florid South Sea adventure but this is Universal, after all – villagers are dying and the bite marks on their throats suggest Siodmak’s latest wouldn’t stray too far from the studio’s comfort zone.

Montez plays two roles, a moony island girl named Tollea and her twin sister Naja who rules far-off...

A sub-Tennessee Williams potboiler triangle between restless sexpot, impotent husband, and hunky handyman ever-so-slowly congeals into a lumpy gumbo of thriller elements in “Grand Isle.” This third directorial big-screen feature for veteran Steadicam operator Stephen S. Campanelli has plenty of potential guilty-pleasure signifiers — not least being top-billed Nicolas Cage’s sixth vehicle this year — but the overripe (if underdeveloped) payoff arrives only after a full hour of patience-testing buildup. Opening on 15 screens Dec. 6, it looks to make a much larger commercial impact as a night’s disposable home entertainment in simultaneous on-demand release.

An opening sequence that turns out to be something of a red herring finds Cage’s tippling ex-Marine Walter Franklin roused from slumber in 1988 by a break-in at his rural southern Louisiana manse. The would-be thief manages to get back outside, but is shot by the master of the house as he’s clambering over the picket fence.

Laurel Griggs, who starred on Broadway in “Once the Musical,” died this past week at age 13, according to a public Facebook post from her family.

Griggs played Ivanka in “Once” for 17 months, making her the longest running actress in the role. She got her start in the 2013 Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” alongside Scarlett Johansson, making her the youngest actress ever to have a role in a Broadway production. She also appeared on two episodes of “Saturday Night Live” in 2017 and on episodes of “Louie” and “Bubble Guppies.”

Griggs’ family says that the actress died of a massive asthma attack. She was honored on Instagram by Eliza Holland Madore, who also played Ivanka in “Once.”

Also Read: Uber CEO Defends Saudis After Jamal Khashoggi Murder: 'Doesn't Mean They Can Never Be Forgiven' (Video)

“I am deeply saddened by the sudden loss of one of my Ivanka sisters,...

Teenage actress Laurel Griggs, who made her Broadway debut at age 6 next to Scarlett Johansson and appeared on Saturday Night Live, has died, according to reports and an online obituary. She was 13 and the cause of death was a massive asthma attack, according to her family.

Griggs died on Nov. 5, according to an obituary and several news reports.

She debuted in the Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Johansson at age 6. She then joined Once, where she had a long run in the role of Ivanka, according to her IMDb page.

Griggs lived with her parents in New York City.

Actress Eliza Holland Madorem who also played Ivanka in Once, posted a salute to Griggs in an Instagram post.

“I am deeply saddened by the sudden loss of one of my Ivanka sisters,” Madore wrote. “Laurel- you were always smiling and always made other people laugh.

Broadway has lost a rising star. It's a sad day for fans of up-and-coming Broadway actress, Laurel Griggs. According to multiple reports, the young star has sadly passed away at the age of 13. At this time, it's unknown what the cause of her death was, however, it seems Griggs died on November 5 and a funeral service was held on November 8, according her Dignity Memorial page. The rising star appeared in several Broadway plays, television shows and movies. According to her IMDb page, Griggs made her Broadway debut in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the age of six-years-old and also holds the title as the longest running Ivanka in the Tony Award-winning Once the Musical. It was also the...

David Crow Oct 28, 2019

Rachel Weisz will play Elizabeth Taylor in A Special Relationship, detailing her crusading activism to bring awareness to the AIDS epidemic.

Elizabeth Taylor became a movie icon in the 20th century like few others due to her glamour, her penchant for starring in grandiose, and often lusty, productions, and her string of husbands. However, she also became one of the most visible activists and proponents for AIDS research during the height of the virus’ epidemic in the 1980s. And it is that specific period in Taylor’s life that Rachel Weisz will seek to portray when she dons the violet hued contact lenses in A Special Relationship.

The project was announced Monday by See-Saw Films which will produce the film. The movie will specifically unpack these crucial years in Taylor’s life by studying her relationship with Roger Wall, a gay man she hired as her personal assistant in the 1980s.

Anika Noni Rose will guest star on Hulu’s upcoming adaptation of “Little Fires Everywhere,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Rose will play a character named Paula Hawthorne who is described as a renowned photographer and art professor in New York who becomes a mentor to Mia when she is young. Mia is portrayed by Tiffany Boone in flashback and Kerry Washington in the present-day version of the story.

Rose will appear in two episodes: the series premiere and the sixth episode, and is said to be a “big player” in Mia’s arc.

Rose’s recent television credits include “Power,” “The Quad,” “Roots,” “Bates Motel,” “Hack” and “The Good Wife.” She is also known for film work including “Assassination Nation”; “Everything, Everything”; “For Colored Girls”; “Dreamgirls” “Just Add Water”; “From Justin to Kelly” and the animated projects “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “The Princess and the Frog.” Rose was the...

“Who is Jean Seberg?” a reporter asks the eponymous movie star midway through “Seberg,” attempting to close a puffy promotional interview for “Paint Your Wagon” with some semblance of personal insight. She doesn’t get to answer, as Seberg’s publicist swiftly calls time on the question: “Let’s just keep it about the movie,” he instructs. It’s one of many moments in Benedict Andrews’ slick, diverting portrait in which Seberg is shown to be treated as a product, a pawn or a patsy, handled by men in their own best interests rather than hers. And yet “Seberg” does something a little similar to that protective publicist: Every time it threatens to truly pierce the psyche of its subject, played with typically intriguing, elusory intelligence by Kristen Stewart, the more ordinary mechanics of the movie she’s serving get in the way.

In fairness, those mechanics are more movie-ish...

By Todd Garbarini

According to actor and film historian Douglas Dunning, his friend, legendary actress Barbara Rush, will be appearing in-person for a Q & A following a 60th anniversary screening of Vincent Sherman’s The Young Philadelphians. The 1959 film, which stars Paul Newman, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, and Robert Vaughn among many others, will be screened at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 7th, 2019 at 7:00 pm. The film runs 136 minutes.

From the press release:

The Young Philadelphians

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

60th Anniversary Screening

Q & A with Actress Barbara Rush

Wednesday, August 7, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a rediscovery of a juicy melodrama from 1959: The Young Philadelphians, which boasted a vibrant cast headed by Paul Newman and our special guest, Barbara Rush. As Leonard Maltin wrote in his review,...

Tony Sokol Jul 10, 2019

Rip Torn, who played characters from Judas Iscariot to the producer on The Larry Sanders Show, dies at 88.

Respected and versatile character actor Rip Torn died Tuesday in Lakeville, Conn., according to Variety. Publicist Rick Miramontez did not release a cause of death, but said Torn was with his wife, Amy Wright, and two daughters, Katie and Angelica. He was 88.

Torn believed actors should “play drama as comedy and comedy as drama,” according to the statement, and the actor was equally at home both. He starred in comedies like Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life and the Men in Black films, as well as TV comedies 30 Rock, playing General Electric CEO Don Geiss, mentor to Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Torn won an Emmy for his part in HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, and was nominated for a Tony award in...

On June 19, 2019, the gifted actress Kathleen Turner will celebrate her 65th birthday. The actress has enjoyed enormous success on movie screens, on television, (cast against type so to speak as Matthew Perry’s father on “Friends”) and on the Broadway stage.

Turner started her career on the television soap opera “The Doctors” and with appearances off-Broadway and on Broadway as a replacement in the cast of the long running hit play “Gemini.” Turner would find a home on Broadway and would often return there for some of her biggest career triumphs but it was her work on the silver screen that first brought her to the attention of millions.

SEEMichael Douglas movies: 14 greatest films ranked from worst to best

It is hard to believe that for her first role in a movie, Turner was given the plum leading lady role in the now classic film “Body Heat.” The film...

On June 19, 2019, the gifted actress Kathleen Turner will celebrate her 65th birthday. The actress has enjoyed enormous success on movie screens, on television, (cast against type so to speak as Matthew Perry’s father on “Friends”) and on the Broadway stage.

Turner started her career on the television soap opera “The Doctors” and with appearances off-Broadway and on Broadway as a replacement in the cast of the long running hit play “Gemini.” Turner would find a home on Broadway and would often return there for some of her biggest career triumphs but it was her work on the silver screen that first brought her to the attention of millions.

It is hard to believe that for her first role in a movie, Turner was given the plum leading lady role in the now classic film “Body Heat.” The film was only moderately well received in theaters but once it hit home video,...

Jake Scott’s heartbreaking drama “American Woman,” about a woman who raises her young grandson after her daughter goes missing, is a smart and progressive film rooted in the female experience. More than that, it stars Sienna Miller as the eponymous American woman, marking the first lead role for the actress in a 20-year career.

Miller is best known to American audiences for often playing secondary “wife” roles in films like “The Lost City of Z” and “American Sniper,” and while she’s steadily worked on the big screen for the last two decades, she’s never been given the chance to take on such a substantial role. While the theater world has offered better opportunities – with major turns in “Cabaret” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – movies have often cast her as a pretty face or a reliable female shoulder to cry on.

“I’ve never carried a film,...

Netflix has released their list of new titles coming in the month of June, as well as a last call for everything getting ready to leave the streaming service.

Highlights arriving this month include the fifth season of Netflix’s popular psychological thriller series “Black Mirror,” coming June 5, and Hilary Swank’s thriller “I Am Mother, coming June 7. And whether or not you were alive in 1993 when the original TV mini-series “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City” came out, you can still appreciate the remake starring Ellen Page as Laura Linney’s on-screen daughter when it arrives June 7.

This month is the last chance to watch what is arguably the best moon mission movie, “Apollo 13,” starring the ultimate dream team, Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise. Other classics getting the boot include “Legally Blonde” and its sequel “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,” along with “Friday the 13th” and “Pretty in Pink.

Elizabeth Taylor defined classic Hollywood with Oscar-nominated performances in Butterfield 8, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and more. But the actress found her true passion in advocating for HIV/AIDS.

“She spoke of it as being something that finally gave her a sense of purpose,” Taylor’s granddaughter Naomi deLuce Wilding tells People. “She spoke of being relatively ambivalent about her fame and her acting career. She loved it, but when she found activism, it really made sense of her passion.”

On Monday, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation will support AIDSWatch 2019, marking the...

Jason Patric, the actor known for his roles in films like The Lost Boys, After Dark My Sweet, and Speed 2: Cruise Control, has signed with Abrams Artists Agency for theatrical representation. Patric, who was previously repped by Apa, recently filmed The Yellow Birds opposite Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette and co-starred in the Fox series, Wayward Pines.

Patric, son of actor/playwright Jason Miller, has appeared in stage productions such as Broadway’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Beirut, Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap, Henry V, and the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season.

His forthcoming film slate includes the action-thriller Hour Of Lead, from writer-director Peter Facinelli, the William Coakley-directed indie, Runt, and psychological thriller, Becoming, with Toby Kebbell.

Patric will continue to be repped by Bloom, Hergott, Diemer, Rosenthal.

Elizabeth Taylor would’ve celebrated her 87th birthday on February 27, 2019. The glamorous Hollywood icon starred in dozens of movies throughout her career, collecting two Best Actress trophies at the Oscars and three additional nominations. But how many of those titles remain classics? In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1932, Taylor began her career as a child actress, landing her first leading role when she was just 12-years-old with “National Velvet” (1944). She quickly transitioned into adult stardom, earning her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “Raintree County” (1957). Subsequent bids for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) and “Suddenly, Last Summer” (1959) quickly followed.

SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

She collected her first statuette playing a prostitute with man troubles in “Butterfield 8” (1960), a film she openly hated. Her win probably had...

Paul Newman would’ve celebrated his 94th birthday on January 26, 2019. The Oscar-winning legend appeared in dozens of films throughout his lengthy career, but how many of those titles are classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of Newman’s greatest movies, ranked worst to best.

For years Newman was the perpetual Oscar bridesmaid, racking up failed Best Actor nominations for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958), “The Hustler” (1961), “Hud” (1963), “Cool Hand Luke” (1967), “Absence of Malice” (1981), and “The Verdict” (1982), as well as a Best Picture bid for producing “Rachel, Rachel” (1968). The Academy handed him an Honorary Award in 1985, only to give him a competitive prize the very next year for “The Color of Money” (1986). He scored subsequent bids in lead for “Nobody’s Fool” (1994) and supporting for “Road to Perdition” (2002).

SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

The actor enjoyed a lengthy...

It was just three years ago that Spike Lee collected an Honorary Oscar, which is often the academy’s way of rewarding an overdue veteran who hasn’t picked up a competitive prize. But the iconoclastic filmmaker seems poised to return to the awards race in a big way with the hard-hitting “BlacKkKlansman,” which has already earned him nominations from the Directors Guild, the Producers Guild, the Writers Guild and much more. Should Lee win Oscars for writing, directing or producing — or all three — he’d join an elite group of people who have taken home the gold in a competitive race after receiving a career-achievement award.

The last person to do this was Ennio Morricone, the legendary Italian composer who lost five Oscars for Best Original Score — “Days of Heaven” (1978), “The Mission” (1986), “The Untouchables” (1987), “Bugsy” (1991), and “Malena” (2000) — before being handed an honorary statuette in 2007. Several years later, however, he...

After making his debut entrance with Una (read our review), Australian theatre and filmmaker Benedict Andrews didn’t waste much time moving directly into his sophomore gig with the rather lofty project of Against All Enemies – which went into production May of this year. Andrews reteams with Cat On A Hot Tin Roof play point person Jack O’Connell, with Kristen Stewart taking on big screen duties of the iconic Jean Seberg. Zazie Beetz, Vince Vaughn, Margaret Qualley, Stephen Root, Anthony Mackie and Colm Meaney complete the cast. Mudbound‘s Rachel Morrison was onboard for cinematography duties.

Gist: Based on the screenplay by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, this centers on an ambitious young F.B.I.…...

"The Night Of The Iguana: Close Encounters In The Jungle"

By Eve Goldberg

The Night of the Iguana, Tennessee Williams’s last great play, was turned into a 1964 movie which, in its day, was as famous for its behind-the-scenes spectacle as for what actually appeared on screen.

Today, Iguana is rarely mentioned alongside the other classic Tennessee Williams film adaptations: Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Suddenly, Last Summer. Despite a tremendously talented cast, compelling characters, and a can’t-look-away examination of our anguished, redeemable humanity, Iguana is often neglected.

So, it’s high time for a fresh look at this movie — with a focus on its journey from stage to screen.

The Play

"Shannon!" shouts Maxine Faulk from the veranda of her run-down hotel on the coast of Mexico. Thus opens Tennessee Williams’ 1961 play. The setting is 1940. Recently widowed Maxine greets her old friend, Reverend Shannon,...

This article marks Part 6, the final entry in the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following three films that swept all of the top races.

At the 7th Academy Awards ceremony, Frank Capra’s romantic comedy “It Happened One Night” (1934) made Oscar history as the first film to triumph in all of the Big Five categories – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin). For each of these talents, it would hardly be their lone Oscar appearance.

This article marks Part 5 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following four films that scored a quartet of trophies among the top races.

At the 12th Academy Awards ceremony, this was no stopping Victor Fleming’s blockbuster epic “Gone with the Wind” (1939). With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any film that year, it was the overwhelming favorite for Oscar glory and indeed, on the big night, the picture took home eight prizes, including Best Picture. Fleming, in his lone career Oscar bid, prevailed in Best Director,...

This article marks Part 4 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following six films that took home a trio of prizes among the top races.

With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any Oscar contender that year, “From Here to Eternity” (1953) towered over the 26th Academy Awards. At the ceremony, the Fred Zinnemann film dominated, earning eight prizes, including three in the Big Five categories. It earned Best Picture, plus Best Director honors for Zinnemann and Best Adapted Screenplay (Daniel Taradash). While Frank Sinatra and...

This article marks Part 3 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following 11 films that scored a pair of prizes among the top races.

At the 4th Academy Awards ceremony, “Cimarron” (1931) made Oscar history as the first motion picture to ever score nominations in the Big Five categories. On the big night, the western took home the top prize in Best Picture, as well as the Oscar in Best Adapted Screenplay (Howard Estabrook). Not as successful were the picture’s director, Wesley Ruggles, topped by Norman Taurog (“Skippy”), and the leads,...

This article marks Part 1 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories beginning with the eight that were shut out of these top races.

At the 31st Academy Awards ceremony, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) was well-positioned for Oscar glory. Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play was up in six categories, including the Big Five, plus Best Cinematography.

Instead of emerging victorious, however, the film found itself steamrolled over. It would lose Best Picture and Best Director (Richard Brooks) to the musical “Gigi” and its filmmaker,...

Rose McGowan, a leading voice in the #MeToo movement, has penned an open letter to Asia Argento, a beleaguered mouthpiece for the movement, following accusations that Argento paid off someone who’d accused her of sexual assault. Both women became some of the most prominent voices in the #MeToo movement in the last year, after they each accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

In her open letter, McGowan wrote that her friendship with Argento is over following accusations from child actor Jimmy Bennett, who claimed that the actress...

A Friend: We need to have a conversation about suicide. Blame is not that conversation.Dear Fellow Humans,Sitting across from me is the remarkable human and brave survivor, Asia Argento, who has been through more than most could stand, and yet stand she does. She stood up to her monster rapist and now she has to stand up to yet another monster, suicide. The suicide of her beloved lover and ally, Anthony Bourdain. I write these truths because I have been asked to. I know so many around the world thought of Anthony Bourdain as a friend and when a friend dies, it hurts. Many of these people who lost their ‘friend’ are wanting to lash out and blame. You must not sink to that level. Suicide is a horrible choice, but it is that person’s choice.Anthony BourdainWhen Anthony met Asia, it was instant chemistry. They laughed,...

This month we look at the interesting stories of how some of the biggest names in movies got their big breakthrough. Today we take a look at Bruce Willis.

Bruce Willis has made a name for himself as an action movie star, but he has performed in many different types of roles across nearly every genre. In addition to his prolific career in film, he has acted on stage and television. He is also a producer and signer, having released three solo albums. Altogether he has been featured in an acting or voiceover role in 88 feature films since 1980, which altogether have grossed more than $3 billion at the Us box office. He is currently the 9th highest grossing actor of all time in a leading role.

Bruce Willis is perhaps best known for his role of John McClane in the 5 films (so far) that have made up the Die Hard franchise.

Rose McGowan may have taken down an emotional video on the death of Anthony Bourdain that she posted online last week but today the Brave author penned an equally impassioned and revealing letter on the suicide of her friend.

Lamenting the June 8 tragedy, its effect on the Parts Unknown host’s lover Asia Argento and the need for a “conversation about suicide,” McGowan also opened up specifically about Bourdain’s recent battles with depression.

“I know before Anthony died he reached out for help, and yet he did not take the doctor’s advice,” McGowan said of the often acerbic CNN frontman and best selling chef. “And that has led us here, to this tragedy, to this loss, to this world of hurt,” she added of the reaction to the loss and the spotlight put on her close friend and fellow Harvey Weinstein sexual assault accuser Argento. “Do Not do...