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J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is one of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time, and its best-loved adaptation is about to return with some impressive improvements. Bilbo Baggins' adventures have captivated fans for generations, but sadly the property has a history of underwhelming adaptations, including the disappointing live-action movies. However, there's one interpretation of the story that has been embraced as a classic in its own right...

First released in 1990, David Wenzel and Charles Dixon's The Hobbit: A Graphic Novel is hailed by many as the adaptation of Tolkien's book, depicting the quest to Erebor in gorgeous hand-painted art. Now, the story is being released in a new, expanded form, boasting 50 new pages of never-before-seen content.

This new edition includes the original story, along with 50 pages of extra behind-the-scenes content including never-before-seen artwork. The extra content will chart how the project came to be and share insights...

Steve Martin is obviously a man of many talents — from acting, to stand-up comedy, to balloon animal artistry.

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He’s also a published author, as evidenced by his new book Steve Martin Writes the Written Word, which collects several of his essays, novellas and short stories in one volume. In addition to his blow-job-heavy I Love Lucy fanfic, the book also contains the 2000 novella Shopgirl, which was eventually turned into an embarrassing movie.

To promote the new book, Martin recently guested on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he explained the difference between a novel and a novella. “You start writing a novel, and you just sort of run out of gas,” Martin joked. “You send it to the publisher and add an ‘la’ at the end of ‘novel,’ and you go, ‘Why, novella that’s very special!’”

Kimmel then asked Martin if he hid Shopgirl “within the pages of this...

Together Trailer: "Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh."

In Theaters July 30th

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Hellboy in Mexico Celebrates 15th Anniversary with New Screenprints from Dark Horse Direct: "Legendary comic creators Mike Mignola and Richard Corben’s fan-favorite Hellboy in Mexico is celebrating its 15th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone and celebrate Cinco De Mayo, Dark Horse Direct is releasing two limited-edition screenprints based on Mike Mignola’s iconic variant cover - Hellboy in Mexico 15th Anniversary Screenprint with colors by Dave Stewart and the black and white Hellboy in Mexico 15th Anniversary Screenprint - Artist's Edition.

Hellboy In Mexico tells the...

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"Star Trek: The Next Generation" was, by all measures, far more successful than the original "Star Trek" that preceded it. The original series wasn't a big hit when it first aired in 1966, and didn't become popular until Trekkies discovered it in reruns in the mid-1970s. By the mid-1980s, the series not only had a passionate following, but several hit "Star Trek" feature films had been made, ensuring that the franchise was long-lasting and widely celebrated. Creator Gene Roddenberry, wanting a project he could more closely oversee, launched the first spinoff "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, fast-forwarding the timeline of the franchise by about a century. The new show featured a new cast of characters, a new ship, and a new tone. This was, by Roddenberry's orders, to be even more diplomatic and peaceful than even the original show.

Recently resurrected by Oni Press, EC Comics will launch its first-ever serialized horror comic with Blood Type.

The first issue in the four-part series will be published on June 11, and Bloody Disgusting has an exclusive first look at the cover variants below.

Rising from the pages of last fall’s Epitaphs from the Abyss #3, bon vivant bloodsucker Ada is the first character to claw its way out of an EC anthology story and into a standalone series from one of the most influential names in terror.

Blood Type is written by Corinna Bechko and illustrated by Eisner Award winner Andrea Sorrentino. It features coloring by Dave Stewart and lettering by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith.

A cunning vampire with nothing left to lose, Ada’s misdeeds have landed her on the doorstep of an idyllic Caribbean resort teeming with wealthy tourists and superstitious locals — an ample food supply for the...

In the 2023-2024 school year, book bans were up 200% in the United States. Multiple states, including Florida and Iowa, have passed laws prohibiting books deemed too mature to be stocked in high school libraries, while an Idaho law passed last July — Hb 710 — expands that prohibition to public libraries.

The Idaho law specifically forbids anyone under the age of 18 from accessing books considered "harmful to minors," including books depicting "sexual conduct." That affects classics like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, as well as bestsellers like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin, adapted by HBO as Game of Thrones. Even books specifically written to address questions that teenagers have, like The “What’s Happening to My Body?” Book for Girls by Lynda Madaras, are on the chopping block.

Some publishers are pushing back.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is one of the most recognized directors in Hollywood. The Pan’s Labyrinth filmmaker has won the Oscar for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Animated Feature in his career and has been a part of several acclaimed genre pieces. His penchant for monster and horror stories knows no competitors.

Del Toro announced way back in 2013 that he wanted to work on an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic sci-fi novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The filmmaker mentioned on multiple occasions that he and Adaptation screenwriter Charlie Kaufman had cracked the idea for the adaptation but it never came to be.

Guillermo del Toro teased an adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five with Charlie Kaufman A still from Slaughterhouse-Five | Credits: Universal Pictures

Guillermo del Toro has so many unrealized projects that a whole Wikipedia page has been dedicated to them. From a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon (which ultimately inspired...

Harvey Laidman, a veteran TV director who helmed multiple episodes of such series as The Waltons, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, the original Matlock and 7th Heaven, has died. He was 82.

Laidman died of cancer on Jan. 3 in a hospice facility in Simi Valley, his son, Dan Laidman, told The Hollywood Reporter.

During his three-decade-plus career, he also directed installments of The Blue Knight, Family, Hawaii Five-o, Hunter, Kojak, Eight Is Enough, The Incredible Hulk, Lou Grant, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, Airwolf, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I., Jake and the Fatman, Silk Stalkings and Jag.

Laidman served as assistant director and unit production manager on the second and third seasons of CBS’ The Waltons from 1973-75, then advanced to the director’s chair to call the shots on 11 episodes of the beloved period drama from 1975-81.

He also helmed 10 episodes of CBS’ Scarecrow and Mrs. King from 1985-87; 33 episodes of NBC...

Quick Links How 'The Constant' Compares to 'All Good Things' and Captain Picard's Struggle 'The Constant' Is the Sum of Many Artistic Parts, Especially the Editing Lost's 'The Constant' Is Mythologically Important The Influence of 'All Good Things' Is Retroactively Obvious In 'The Constant'

When Lost debuted 20 years ago, the series featured the largest cast of regulars for any television show, let alone a network like ABC. It's ironic that perhaps the best episode of the series focuses on Henry Ian Cusick's Desmond Hume, who wasn't even on the plane. In Lost Season 4, Desmond was the focus of a time-travel story called "The Constant," which was secretly inspired by the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The genesis of the idea of becoming "unstuck in time" goes back to Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, so The Next Generation didn't pioneer the concept. Also, Lost shares a...

Police have arrested a suspect in last week’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and new details are emerging about a potential motive behind the assassination.

Pennsylvania police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after receiving reports of a man who was “acting suspiciously.” He was later charged with Thompson’s murder. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference that Mangione “was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport [and] a firearm on his person,...

Few authors are as widely celebrated as Kurt Vonnegut. From the outside, it might be easy to mistake the acclaimed counterculture penman as one who simply writes darkly silly, sci-fi-tinged paperbacks. If you actually dive into one of his works, you'll soon find that Vonnegut is much more than just a bizarre comic mind. Books like Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, and the criminally underrated Galápagos prove that Vonnegut seamlessly gives his readers a hilarious time, all while dishing up his completely unique brand of satire. While he has a ton of beloved titles to his name, most know him for his 1969 masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five, and for great reason. On the one hand, it's one of the best pieces of anti-war fiction that you'll find, with a powerful commentary on Ptsd to boot. It might be an odd time to add that this is a strong contender for one of the funniest books ever written.

Time travel movies are a thrilling part of the sci-fi genre, but some of these films completely rewrite the rules and tropes when it comes to telling a unique story. Sci-fi is a broad genre of film that lends itself to innovation and creativity. Because of the variety of stories that fit within this setting, with all of time and space being an option, and a vast variety of creative options around technology, characters, plots and much more, these movies can be almost anything.

However, even within the sub-genre of time travel movies, there are several films that completely ignore previously established tropes, rules, and commonalities. While many time travel movies will deliver a clear set of rules about how their time travel works, or meddling in the past will alter the present and future, or there could be paradoxes created by interacting with past versions of oneself, these elements don't always apply.

Ever since Jon Stewart returned to “The Daily Show,” viewers have been wanting him to dive into the ongoing Israel-Hamas war — and on Monday night, he did just that.

During his monologue, the Comedy Central host aggressively criticized Israel’s “de-escalation through escalation” strategy, calling it out as simply “war.” “Do you even hear yourself?” Stewart yelled before trying to find the phrase in a variety of books, from the doublespeak-filled “1984” to the anti-war novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” and even “Garfield: Fat Cat 3-Pack.”

Stewart later feigned shock and humility for doing the unthinkable: criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He then paraphrased several American news pundits’ takes on the war, saying, “Criticism of the war is shameful and it gives comfort to Hamas.”

“You know who may be surprised to hear that? The Israelis, who are unbelievably critical of the war and Netanyahu,” Stewart countered.

“But still, people are...

Jon Stewart called out the “cognitive dissonance and language calisthenics” used when describing Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah. On Monday’s episode, the Daily Show host offered a “golden soundbite” to explain how “fucking convoluted this has to be.”

He then rolled video of Axios’ politics and foreign policy reporter Barak Ravid on CNN. “What the Israeli government is saying — and the Biden administration is in many ways subscribed to this idea — is de-escalation through escalation,” said Ravid in the clip.

Stewart likened his calculated words to World War II before pondering,...

The Daily Show‘s host Jon Stewart returned Monday night to criticize Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likening his country’s remote explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies aimed at targeting Lebanon’s paramilitary group Hezbollah to something out of a 1980s Bond film.

“By the way, Lebanon is also a country,” Stewart said, responding to a clip of Netanyahu saying he will not tolerate “wanton rocketing” of Israel. The host also questioned what Netanyahu was doing if not “wanton rocketing” of other nations, to uproarious applause from the audience.

“What makes you think they’re going to accept your rocketing or whatever other James Bond sh– you’ve been up to?” he asked.

He continued, saying, “Exploding pagers. Ah! Lebanon expected Israel to attack from the south but instead they attacked from the 1980s. What?!”

The political-comic host then joked that Lebanon should hit back with a pixelated green-and-white arcade shooting game from that era.

Boom! Studios Labyrinth graphic novel adaptation will expands on the dark, original fantasy world created by Jim Henson in the beloved 1980s fantasy film. Readers of Jim Henson's Labyrinth will dive into a maze of possibilities as writer Kyla Vanderklugt and artist Giorgio Spalletta re-envision the classic story in comic form, drawing on the film, as well as its novelization, to bring the story into a new medium. Through the artful storytelling and mesmerizing illustrations, this graphic novel aims to reignite audiences love for Labyrinth's iconic characters and imaginative universe.

Jim Henson's film Labyrinth is getting its first-ever graphic novel adaptation, on the cusp of the movie's 40th anniversary. Released in 1986, it was not a box office smash in the US, considered a rare failure for creative powerhouse Jim Henson, the man behind Sesame Street and The Muppets. In the intervening decades, Labyrinth has gained cult status from families...

The WatchersImage: Warner Bros.

When a filmmaker is just starting out, it’s good to get a few out for practice. If you’re a nobody, these exercises take place in obscurity. But if you’re the daughter of the guy who made The Sixth Sense, your wobbly baby steps...

Many promising movies, like Star Wars: Duel Of The Fates, Darren Aronofsky's Batman, and George Miller's Justice League: Mortal, never come to fruition due to various reasons. Inception could benefit from a prequel exploring the origins of dream technology and Project Somnacin to expand the universe. Projects like Quentin Tarantino's Double V Vega and Guillermo del Toro & Charlie Kaufman's Slaughterhouse-Five faced difficulties becoming films, despite great potential.

Making movies can be a long and challenging process, with many exciting projects ending up in a Hollywood graveyard, never seeing the light of day. By the time a movie appears in theaters, it has already gone through the incredibly difficult process of being written, pitched to studios and production companies, hiring a crew, casting the characters, rehearsals, recording, editing, marketing, and finally distribution. At any point in that process, a movie could potentially run into delays, or have the production halted altogether.

The final episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," called "All Good Things..." saw Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) becoming unstuck in time, very similar to what happened in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse-Five." Picard finds himself in his present, but frequently traveling uncontrollably to a point seven years in his past, just before the first episode of "Next Generation." Then, just as uncontrollably, Picard would be thrown several decades into his future, now a bearded old man wrestling with a brain ailment. Picard's time jumps, it seems, are a test of Q (John De Lancie), the trickster god intent on gauging humanity's moral worthiness for space travel.

The future sequences would likely be most fascinating to Trekkies. Where would the "NextGen" characters be in several decades? Would the Enterprise-d still be in use? Would their careers change? Would the show's main characters remain friends or drift apart? As it so happens,...

The series finale of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," called "All Good Things...," filmed from March 11 to April 5, 1994. The episode followed Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) as he had become unstuck in time, "Slaughterhouse-Five" style. Without warning, Picard would find himself thrown back in time seven years, just prior to the events of the "Next Generation" pilot episode. Then, just as unexpectedly, he would be thrown several decades into the future where he was an old man suffering from a degenerative brain ailment. Then, zip, back to the present. In all three time frames, Picard found himself needing to investigate a mysterious spatial phenomenon that seemed to be growing larger ... as it moved backward through time. 

The trickster god Q (John De Lancie) informs Picard that the spatial phenomenon was going to destroy all of humanity ... and that Picard somehow created it. "All Good Things..." was an epic tale to wrap up an amazing sci-fi series.

Ron Leibman had a long and successful career in both film and TV, working with notable Hollywood creators and appearing in popular series. Leibman's best theater performances earned him a Tony award, though his film and TV roles were still exceptional. Ron Leibman's roles in TV shows like The Sopranos, Friends, and Archer showcased his talent and ability to fit into the dark and comedic tones of these series.

Ron Leibman, best known for his voice work on the hit animated series Archer, had a filmography full of roles in notable and acclaimed productions. An actor from the early age of 19, Leibman first appeared on screens briefly in the 1956 crime/soap opera The Edge of Night but his film debut in 1970 in Where's Poppa as Sidney Hocheiser was what kicked off a long and steady career in both film and TV. Leibman worked with notable Hollywood creators including Paul Schrader,...

Ask any Trekkie, and they'll happily describe the arc of the three "Star Trek" shows that came to ascend in the 1990s. In the cases of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager," the shows started on their rockiest, least interesting seasons as they found their footing. All three shows showed growth during their second seasons but were still staggering to their feet. For the third, fourth, and fifth seasons, the shows had hit their stride, turning out the most interesting stories and exploring exciting new arcs. The sixth and seventh seasons, meanwhile, showed signs of fatigue, and the final episodes of each show proved to be a little rocky.

As of this writing, no "Star Trek" show has lasted as long as those three. "Star Trek: Discovery" will end after its fifth season next year, and no one was more sharply aware...

It's likely well-known to Starwoids the world over that multiple now-famous actors initially auditioned to play the role of Han Solo in George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars." The role ultimately ended up going to Harrison Ford, but Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, and Christopher Walken also tried out. One can also find old video footage of Charles Martin Smith reading for Luke Skywalker, and Perry King reading for Han. While both King and Smith are talented actors, looking at their audition tapes reveals why neither of them appeared in "Star Wars." They simply didn't have a good handle on the material in that audition. Ford, meanwhile, brought a certain "it-factor" quality that made him imminently magnetic.

King, however, wasn't left out of the "Star Wars" loop entirely. In 1981, writer Brian Daley and director John Madden adapted "Star Wars" into a 13-episode radio serial that broadcast on Kusc in Los Angeles. The...

Liam must work out not just what he did and what’s gone wrong but how to stop it in the first place when the time-travel gizmo at his super-secret science lab goes wrong

This British-made puzzle of a movie revolves around Liam (Neil Bishop), a young man who wakes up with amnesia in an eerily quiet hospital ward with stitches in his face and a big bandage around his head. He suddenly has a vision of an older man (Martin Bishop) dressed like a shepherd in a nativity play telling him to wake up. When he does, it’s as if he’s shifted to a different point in time, and the injuries are much less severe. The only doctor around is Emma (Zoe Cunningham), who helpfully explains he was exposed to an intense electromagnetic field that caused his memory loss, but when he starts bombarding her with questions...

Publishing giant Penguin Random House, free expression organization Pen America and the authors of books banned by Florida’s Escambia County School District have filed a federal lawsuit in hopes of bringing the books back to school library shelves.

Parents of students impacted by the “unconstitutional” book ban are also the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which states that Escambia County School District has restricted and removed access to books that discuss race, racism, and LGBTQ identities.

“Ensuring that students have access to books on a wide range of topics and...

This post contains spoilers for "Westworld" season 4, including the series finale.

HBO's "Westworld" had the misfortune to end just as ChatGPT was making itself known and the world was becoming aware of how far real-life AI has come. It's tempting to read into that, not to mention co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan's parting comments about "our AI overlords." Like, maybe the AI canceled "Westworld" for getting too close to the truth.

What's clear is that actor Jeffrey Wright's journey as AI programmer Bernard Lowe has reached its end on "Westworld." Wright no longer has to worry about getting bored with his character, since some all-powerful AI HBO has officially canceled the show after four seasons, giving him and other main cast members a nice severance package in the form of millions. However, there was a time when Wright doubted whether Bernard would be able to sustain his interest as an actor.

In today's cinematic landscape, many filmmakers and studios are looking for any and all previously existing stories that audiences are already familiar with to adapt to the big screen. Young adult novels have had their moment in the sun, there's a mountain of Stephen King movies, and the Lord of the Rings was recently announced to have a new series of films in the works, but what audiences really need are some Kurt Vonnegut movies! Vonnegut is one of the most beloved authors of the 20th century, whose deeply sarcastic works are almost always satirical, and either fall into or mix, the genres of drama, sci-fi, war, and comedy. His works are just grounded enough, while also having the perfect amount of genre infused into them, that modern audiences would have a field day with any of his books being brought to the screen. With classics like Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions,...

Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight) is in talks to star in and executive produce the crime thriller series Helltown for Amazon Studios – and if the deal goes through, Isaac will be taking on the role of author Kurt Vonnegut, the writer of such novels as Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. Mohamad El Masri (Severance) is writer, executive producer, and showrunner on Helltown, which is based on a novel by Casey Sherman (pick up a copy Here).

Deadline reports that Ed Berger, director, co-writer, and producer of the Best International Film Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front remake, is on board to direct and executive produce the series.

Helltown is set to consist of eight episodes and will tell the story of Kurt Vonnegut before he was a renowned author and cultural lightning rod. In 1969 Kurt was a struggling novelist and car salesman living life with his wife and five children on Cape Cod.

There’s a good reason why so much of Robert B. Weide and Don Argott’s “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time” is spent explaining why and how the film came to be: This is a biographical documentary aimed at people who love Vonnegut’s books, but people who love Vonnegut’s books have already read about the key points of his biography. Not only do they bleed through the bindings of “Slaughterhouse-Five” as if his wounds were still fresh, they’re also smudged across the most dog-eared pages of novels like “Player Piano,” “Breakfast of Champions,” and “Timequake” (the last of which even interrogates his creative process in its own playful way).

Vonnegut’s writing laughs at our place in the stars by seeing it through the pinhole of personal experience, and his readers can’t have their minds blown by the cosmic adventures of characters like Billy Pilgrim and...

“Listen” a voiceover says as a puff of smoke fills a black screen. Borrowed from the first chapter of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s most well-known novel ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’, Robert B. Weide and Don Argott’s documentary ‘Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time’ is well versed in the iconography of its subject. Unfortunately, the film lacks the author’s witty creativity. The voiceover continues, “we don’t understand the first thing about time.” What follows is a mostly linear greatest hits look at the life and work of one of the 20th century’s most unique literary voices.

Continue reading ‘Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time’ Review: The Well-Versed Documentary Lacks The Subject’s Witty Creativity at The Playlist.

“Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time” is two documentaries in one. It’s a film about the life and work of Kurt Vonnegut, and on that score it covers most of the bases and captures what it was that made Vonnegut the quintessential pop-philosopher novelist of his era — the quips and catchphrases and sci-fi curlicues, the whimsically upbeat cynicism of his chain-smoking Mark-Twain-of-the-counterculture image, the way that, in “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1969), he took his experiences as a witness to the bombing of Dresden in World War II and turned them into a mythology of war that caught the despair and bitter insanity of the Vietnam era, and the fact that he wrote fervently, obsessively, but always in the spry, plainspoken, wit-as-dry-as-kindling voice of the Midwestern scion of Indianapolis he was. If you want a handy primer on one of the fabled writers of his time, “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time” will more than do.

An It drone’s daily grind meshes with his druggie high-school past in a Canadian brain-teaser that is somewhere between schlock and genius

If Slaughterhouse-Five and Donnie Darko had a baby, and that baby grew up in the 2000s, became a teenager and then developed a bit of a substance abuse problem, went partying with Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy and that Ashton Kutcher movie The Butterfly Effect, developed memory loss and depression, then it might look something like this interesting but rather muddled Canadian science fiction film.

Dylan O’Brien, an actor in his late 20s who is fortuitously baby-faced enough to be cast as a high-school senior, stars as Fred, a guy who seems to have come a bit unstuck in time. At first, things seem normal as he goes about his life as an It office drone, working under tough boss Evelyn and living with his nice but somewhat...

Perry King has been hard-working actor for 50 years. Recently, he made his directorial debut with the feature The Divide, which he also stars in. King always dreamt of directing his own movie, and he directed The Divide with skill and honesty outside of the Hollywood system. His own Californian cattle ranch in El Dorado County served as a backdrop. The Divide, a good-natured, neo-Western, tells the strory of Jack, a rancher suffering from the onset of dementia. The feature was shot entirely in black-and-white, evoking Perry King’s favorite frontier dramas from his favorite classic Hollywood directors.

Perry King has been an acting legend since making his film debut as Billy Pilgrim’s son Robert in George Roy Hill’s remarkable Slaughterhouse-five in 1972. For the next decade, Perry starred in one memorable film after another: The Possession Of Joel Delaney (1972), The Lords Of Flatbush (1974), Mandingo (1974), The Wild Party (1975), Lipstick, Andy...

So this is how it goes: two years ago I had the urge to re-read Slaughterhouse-Five, possibly Kurt Vonnegut’s best novel [1]. And I did . It was still a great novel; it was still deeply sad about humanity.

About a year later, a graphic novel adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five came out. It was adapted by Ryan North, creator of Dinosaur Comics and longtime writer of the current, popular version of Squirrel Girl. It was illustrated by Albert Monteys, a Spanish cartoonist who has worked mostly in satire. And now I’ve read that version, too.

So, this time, I need to talk about the pictures, and the transformation of Vonnegut’s words on a page into a visual format. I’ve already said what I had to say about the story itself, about poor Billy Pilgrim’s fate – many of the things I wrote here two years ago I thought again...

Nearly 40 years after Robert B. Weide wrote a letter to Kurt Vonnegut asking for permission to make a documentary, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time will finally see its release in summer 2021.

Co-directed by Don Argott, the film captures two decades of footage shot between 1988 and 2007, when Vonnegut died at the age of 84. It documents the author’s life, covering his childhood in Indianapolis, being a Prisoner of War in World War II, his personal life, and eventual success as a writer in 1969 with the release of Slaughterhouse-Five.

The 40-second teaser...

IFC Films has acquired a documentary film about legendary novelist and humorist Kurt Vonnegut that’s been in the works for 39 years. The indie distributor, which will release “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time” in summer 2021, also released a teaser with the “Slaughterhouse-Five” author’s voice.

Robert B. Weide, best known as a director on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” directed the film with Don Argott (“The Art of the Steal),” and it traces Vonnegut’s life and Weide and Vonnegut’s close friendship together up until the author’s death in 2007 at age 84.

“Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time” is a rare portrait of the author that dives into his upbringing and creative output, and the film includes footage and interviews Weide began shooting of Vonnegut as far back as 1988, well before they had plans for a film or any idea how close their friendship would become.

In the clip above,...

IFC Films is acquiring the North American rights to the documentary “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time” with plans for a release in the summer of 2021.

The deal was announced Wednesday to coincide with Vonnegut’s 98th birthday. IFC also released a teaser video for “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time,” containing a voicemail left by Vonnegut himself to the co-director of the film, Robert B. Weide.

“When I first approached Vonnegut to authorize this film in 1982, I envisioned a fairly conventional author documentary,” Weide said. “As the decades rolled by, fate stepped in, and what I wound up with was far from conventional. As my friendship with my literary idol grew, full disclosure was called for, and Don Argott came on to document the meta element of this story, as I continued to focus on Vonnegut’s biography. What we wound up with was a hybrid that combined our respective strengths...

IFC Films has scooped up the North American rights to Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, the documentary about the life and career of legendary novelist by directors Robert B. Weide and Don Argott.

Vonnegut, who died in 2007 at age 84, became renowned for novels like the Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. His novels, short stories, essays and plays were filled with humor, social commentary, science fiction and autobiography.

IFC Films plans a summer 2021 release for the long-gestating feature documentary that has 32-year-old footage that the Oscar-nominated Weide captured of Vonnegut through their long friendship.

“IFC Films has ...

IFC Films has scooped up the North American rights to Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, the documentary about the life and career of legendary novelist by directors Robert B. Weide and Don Argott.

Vonnegut, who died in 2007 at age 84, became renowned for novels like the Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. His novels, short stories, essays and plays were filled with humor, social commentary, science fiction and autobiography.

IFC Films plans a summer 2021 release for the long-gestating feature documentary that has 32-year-old footage that the Oscar-nominated Weide captured of Vonnegut through their long friendship.

“IFC Films has ...

Boom! Studios today revealed a new cover by Albert Monteys with Scott Newman for the brand new graphic novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. An American classic and one of the world’s seminal anti-war novels, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is faithfully presented in graphic novel form for the […]

The post Boom! Studios Reveals New Cover for Slaughterhouse-five Graphic Novel appeared first on Dread Central.

Sad news is coming in today for us to pass along to you as veteran actor Kevin Conway, known for his many acting roles including memorable parts in Funny Farm, Oz, and Gettysburg, has reportedly passed away. According to his publicist, Conway died of a heart attack on Wednesday, but the other circumstances surrounding his passing haven't yet been made clear. He was 77 years old.

Born in 1942 in New York City, Conway worked in sales before pursuing an acting career at the age of 24. Training at the Hb Studio, Conway honed his craft working on stage, appearing in the off-Broadway productions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Elephant Man, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?. On Broadway, he appeared opposite James Earl Jones in Of Mice and Men and also starred in live productions of Indians, Moonchildren, and Dinner at Eight. Of course, Conway's talent exhibited on...

Kevin Conway, who starred on the Gettysburg miniseries as well as in the films Thirteen Days and Invincible, has died. He was 77. 

Conway died Wednesday, his manager told The Hollywood Reporter.

The New York City native began acting at 24, with early appearances in off-Broadway plays including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Elephant Man. Conway's first major film role was as Roland Weary in 1972's Slaughterhouse-Five.

His decades-long career includes credits spanning from film and television to stage. Conway's cinematic roles include playing Crum Petree in 1988's Funny Farm; Frank Papale in Disney's 2006 Invincible; and General ...

Kevin Conway, who starred on the Gettysburg miniseries as well as in the films Thirteen Days and Invincible, has died. He was 77. 

Conway died Wednesday, his manager told The Hollywood Reporter.

The New York City native began acting at 24, with early appearances in off-Broadway plays including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Elephant Man. Conway's first major film role was as Roland Weary in 1972's Slaughterhouse-Five.

His decades-long career includes credits spanning from film and television to stage. Conway's cinematic roles include playing Crum Petree in 1988's Funny Farm; Frank Papale in Disney's 2006 Invincible; and General ...

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., who remains one of the modern era’s most celebrated American writers, is a largely untapped inspiration for cinematic adaptation—perhaps because he remains ahead of (his) time, even today. Just as his rise to acclaim in literature was prolonged, cinema has taken even longer to navigate Vonnegut.

Few have attempted to mount a Vonnegut adaptation, usually to mixed or poor reception. For Vonnegut, it was his sixth novel, the seminal Slaughterhouse-Five published in 1969, which became his breakthrough, and of course, a film ahead of, behind and far beyond the notion of time, here presented as a darkly satirical mobius strip in the time traveling journeys of the unreliable, potentially insane narrator Billy Pilgrim.…...

Ron Leibman, an Emmy-winning actor who garnered a Tony for his work in Broadway’s “Angels in America” and played the father of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green on “Friends,” died on Friday. He was 82.

Robert Attermann, CEO of Abrams Artists Agency, confirmed the news to Variety. No further details were immediately available.

Leibman, a native of New York, played Dr. Leonard Green on “Friends” as a no-nonsense father who gave grief to David Schwimmer’s Ross, the romantic interest of Aniston’s Rachel. He received an Emmy Award in 1979 for portraying a reformed convict who became a criminal attorney on the CBS series “Kaz.”

Leibman won a Tony Award in 1993 for playing a fictional version of Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.”

Leibman broke into the entertainment business in 1956 on the soap opera “The Edge of Night” and made his movie debut in the 1970 comedy “Where’s Poppa?,...

Ron Leibman, the actor who played Rachel Green’s father on “Friends,” Dr. Leonard Green, has died at the age of 82.

His agent, Robert Attermann of Abrams Artists Agency, confirmed Leibman’s death to TheWrap.

“We at Abrams Artists Agency are saddened to hear the news of Ron’s passing,” Attermann said in a statement. “Ron was an incredibly talented actor with a distinguished career in film, TV and theatre. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Jessica, and his family.”

Over Leibman’s long acting career, which began in the late 1950s, Leibman won a Tony for his role in the 1993 play “Angels in America.” He also won an Emmy in 1979 for best lead actor in the drama series “Kaz,” on which he played the title character, Martin “Kaz” Kazinsky.

Also Read: Shelley Morrison, 'Will and Grace' Star, Dies at 83

Leibman also acted opposite Sally Field as Rueben in the 1979 film “Norma Rae,...

Ron Leibman, the dependable actor known for his Tony Award-winning performance in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and for his turns in such films as Where's Poppa?, Slaughterhouse-Five and Norma Rae, died Friday of pneumonia in New York City, two family reps told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 82.

Survivors include his wife, Emmy-winning actress Jessica Walter, whom he married in 1983. (They met at a party hosted by actress Brenda Vaccaro, and he joined her in the cast of Archer in 2013.) From 1969 to 1981, he was married to actress Linda Lavin.

Leibman, a native New Yorker who ...

Ron Leibman, the dependable actor known for his Tony Award-winning performance in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and for his turns in such films as Where's Poppa?, Slaughterhouse-Five and Norma Rae, died Friday of pneumonia in New York City, two family reps told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 82.

Survivors include his wife, Emmy-winning actress Jessica Walter, whom he married in 1983. (They met at a party hosted by actress Brenda Vaccaro, and he joined her in the cast of Archer in 2013.) From 1969 to 1981, he was married to actress Linda Lavin.

Leibman, a native New Yorker who ...

Past, present and future collide in darkly satirical fashion in Slaughterhouse-Five! Based on Kurt Vonnegut s classic 1969 novel, this tale of time travel and alien abduction emerged as part of a wave of more cerebral science-fiction films in the late 60s to early 70s, elevating the genre beyond the B-movie fare of previous decades.

Upstate New York, 1968. Mild-mannered Billy Pilgrim finds himself unstuck in time . Traveling back and forth across the entire span of his existence, he experiences key events of his life in a random ord...

Kurt Vonnegut’s quirky sci-fi novels didn’t always adapt well to film, but George Roy Hill’s 1972 effort is a faithful winner. The filmmaking craft used to ‘unstick’ Billy Pilgrim in time is nothing short of brilliant, highlighting the camera talent of Miroslav Ondricek and the editing skill of Dede Allen. The book even has a built-in sex angle that the film doesn’t shy away from — providing our first encounter with Valerie Perrine as a starlet kidnapped by aliens curious about human mating habits. The somber, sometimes spiritually-defeatist tone of the show represents the book well; it ought to be better known.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date December 3, 2019 / Available from Arrow Academy

Starring: Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Valerie Perrine, Holly Near, Perry King, Kevin Conway, Friedrich von Ledebur, Sorrell Booke, Roberts Blossom, John Dehner, Stan Gottlieb, Karl-Otto Alberty, Henry Bumstead,...