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Film critics watch hundreds of movies every year, and invariably get a little cranky when they hit a patch of lousy movies. So it is occasionally therapeutic to take out one's frustrations on a film that is egregiously putrid — particularly if that film is from a serial befouler of movie theaters (I think I logged 12 blissfully uninterrupted hours of sleep after filing my pan of Paul W.S. Anderson's "Death Race").

Scathingly negative reviews are not often illuminating, but when written by masters of the craft, they can be immensely satisfying reads. When The New Yorker's Pauline Kael got a burr in her saddle, she could inveigh at length or fire off a one-sentence kill-shot (her full review of Herbert Ross' "Steel Magnolias" was published as follows: "Chalk scraping across a chalkboard for two hours"). Roger Ebert was also practiced in the skill of invective, as he demonstrated in his...

Richard Roundtree, known for his role as Shaft in the series of films, died at the age of 81. The actor has left a legacy in both film and television for generations to come.

Roundtree made his debut in film as John Shaft in Shaft about a private detective who is hired by a mobster to help rescue his daughter who was kidnapped by Italian mobsters. The actor would go on to reprise his role of Shaft in the sequels Shaft’s Big Score (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973). A reboot of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson was released in 2000 with Roundtree appearing as “Uncle” Shaft. Roundtree also played the role in the short-lived CBS series.

Other films in which Roundtree appeared in include Embassy (1972), Earthquake (1974), Man Friday (1975), Diamonds (1975), Escape to Athena (1979), City Heat (1984), George of the Jungle (1997), What Men Want (2019) and The Haunting of the Mary Celeste (2020), just to name a few.

As confirmed by Deadline, Richard Roundtree, the groundbreaking star of the original "Shaft" franchise has died as a result of pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Roundtree was a gifted athlete who played for New Rochelle High School's nationally-ranked and undefeated football team but later dropped out of college after he was scouted by Ebony Fashion Fair founder Eunice W. Johnson and began modeling for companies like Duke hair products and Salem cigarettes. A few years later, he joined the Negro Ensemble Company theater group in New York City, where he became a fast leading man. This led to a successful career in front of the camera, where Roundtree would become colloquially known as the "first Black action hero."

He appeared in a number of Blaxploitation films in the 1970s, but he became a cinematic icon as detective John Shaft in the films "Shaft," "Shaft's Big Score!," "Shaft in Africa," and the short-lived series adaptation.

Who’s that black private dick who’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft!

Sad news to report this evening, with Deadline reporting that the legendary Richard Roundtree, who played the iconic private eye Shaft in five movies, is dead of pancreatic cancer at 81. Roundtree became a major star overnight in Gordon Parks’ landmark 1971 crime thriller, Shaft, with him starring as the titular private eye, John Shaft, who an underworld boss hires to find his missing daughter. The film was a smash hit, landing Roundtree a Golden Globe nomination for new star of the year and kicking his career into overdrive.

Notably, Shaft helped usher in the blaxploitation era. While it wasn’t the first movie of this genre, it was probably the first one produced by a major studio (MGM). The big box office take helped prove that there was an audience for black-led action movies and...

Siegfried Rauch, the German actor who portrayed Steve McQueen's ruthless racing rival Erich Stahler in the 1971 classic film Le Mans, has died. He was 85.

Rauch died Sunday night as a result of a fall in his hometown of Untersochering, Bavaria, his agency announced.

Rauch also appeared in the war films Patton (1970), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner; John Sturges' The Eagle Has Landed (1976); George P. Cosmatos' Escape to Athena (1979); and Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980).

Le Mans, directed by Lee H. Katzin, tells the story of the Porsche and Ferrari rivalry through the eyes...

Steven Awalt – author interviewed by Todd Garbarini

“Well, it’s about time, Charlie!”

Dennis Weaver utters these words in my favorite Steven Spielberg film, Duel, a production that was originally commissioned by Universal Pictures as an Mow, industry shorthand for “movie of the week”, which aired on Saturday, November 13, 1971. The reviews were glowing; the film’s admirers greatly outweighed its detractors and it put Mr. Spielberg, arguably the most phenomenally successful director in the history of the medium, on a path to a career that would make any contemporary director green with envy. Followed by a spate of contractually obligated television outings, Duel would prove to be the springboard that would catapult Mr. Spielberg into the realm that he was shooting for since his youth: that of feature film directing. Duel would also land him in the court of Hollywood producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck and get him his...

Cinematographer on the first Star Wars film who worked with the Boulting Brothers, Hitchcock and Polanski

The British cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, who has died aged 99, was best known for his camerawork on the first Star Wars movie (1977). Though its special effects and set designs somewhat stole his thunder, it was Taylor who set the visual tone of George Lucas's six-part space opera.

"I wanted to give it a unique visual style that would distinguish it from other films in the science-fiction genre," Taylor declared. "I wanted Star Wars to have clarity because I don't think space is out of focus … I thought the look of the film should be absolutely clean … But George [Lucas] saw it differently … For example, he asked to set up one shot on the robots with a 300mm camera lens and the sand and sky of the Tunisian desert just meshed together. I told him it wouldn't work,...

So last year I joined Twitter and desperately struggled to figure out a good use for it. Assuming most people following my account might come from the Film Junk podcast, I thought it might be an idea platform to keep track of what films I've been watching and what ratings I give them. My first post was March 9th, 2009 with David Cronenberg's The Brood (3.5/4) and since then I've managed to check out a good number of great films over the last year. (Jacques Tati's Play Time and Wim Wender's Paris, Texas are definitely two stand outs on this list.) Many of these are first time viewings, but a there are also a lot of movies I just felt the urge to revisit. So what do you think? Any favourites? Have a look for yourself after the jump! The Brood, (Cronenberg, 1979) 3.5/4 Operation Crossbow (Anderson, 1965) 3.5/4 Watchmen, (Snyder, 2009) 3/4 Pontypool, (McDonald, 2008) 4/4 Pinocchio,...

British stuntman Martin Grace was Roger Moore’s stunt double throughout his run as Ian Fleming’s British superspy James Bond. He also doubled the actor in many of his non-Bond film outings.

Grace was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1942. He began working in films in the mid-1960s, playing a Thal in the 1965 feature Dr. Who and the Daleks with Peter Cushing. He first became involved with the Bond film franchise as a stuntman on 1967’s You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery. He also worked on the 007 films Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), and began serving as Roger Moore’s stunt double with The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Grace also doubled Moore on the Bond films Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) which left him badly injured while filming an action sequence aboard a train, and A View to Kill (1985), and the...

Here Come the Basterds

The Basterds have come to Blu-Ray. As anticipated as Chinese Democracy, but not nearly as disappointing, Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds made its Blu-ray and DVD last Tuesday.

Dropped into German occupied France, a band of Jewish-American soldiers have one mission- kill as many Nazis as possible. Led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), The Basterds carry out their goal with a total disregard for human life or proper spelling. Whether scalping Nazi soldiers or beating them with baseball bats, they carry out their task with a truly “exploitation” level of violence. Their acts become legendary within the Third Reich, even sticking in the craw of one Adolph Hitler.

Inglourious Basterds is World War II as fought by battalions of film geeks. Taratino stays true to his video store clerk roots invoking 70’s WWII exploitation flicks like Escape To Athena (1979), Kelly’S Heroes (1970), and of course...

Here Come the Basterds

The Basterds have come to Blu-Ray. As anticipated as Chinese Democracy, but not nearly as disappointing, Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds made its Blu-ray and DVD this past Tuesday.

Dropped into German occupied France, a band of Jewish-American soldiers have one mission- kill as many Nazis as possible. Led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), The Basterds carry out their goal with a total disregard for human life or proper spelling. Whether scalping Nazi soldiers or beating them with baseball bats, they carry out their task with a truly “exploitation” level of violence. Their acts become legendary within the Third Reich, even sticking in the craw of one Adolph Hitler.

Inglourious Basterds is World War II as fought by battalions of film geeks. Taratino stays true to his video store clerk roots invoking 70’s WWII exploitation flicks like Escape To Athena (1979), Kelly’S Heroes (1970), and of...

0:00 - Intro / Greg's Fan Expo Experience 14:40 - Headlines: New Bioshock Director, Wizard of Oz Coming Back to Theatres, Robin Williams to Play Susan Boyle?, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to Play B.A. Baracus, DVD Rental Kiosks Taking Off, Delgo Creators Might Sue Over Avatar, Heathers TV Series, Spielberg to Produce Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes, Rob Zombie to Remake The Blob 34:10 - Summer 2009 Recap 40:10 - Fall Movie Preview 51:10 - Fall TV Preview 1:12:45 - Trailer Trash: The Men Who Stare at Goats 1:16:25 - Junk Mail: Movies That Go From Mold to Gold (or Vice Versa), Introducing Friends to Film Junk, TV Shows We Watch, Slim PS3, High School Film Club, Good Copy Bad Copy, The Burbs, Rebel Without a Crew, Home Theatre Systems 1:34:45 - Other Stuff We Watched: Ong Bak 2, Cabin Fever, Fistful of Dollars, Escape to Athena, The Italian Job,...