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In the realm of animated films, a few names are consistently mentioned as top-tier masters of the medium. Miyazaki, Disney, Bluth, Tartakovsky, and Bird are typically mentioned; however, there's one name that absolutely should be spoken of in the same reverent tones as the aforementioned titles. That name is Ralph Bakshi, the underseen master of adult animation. Bakshi hasn't made a film since a 2015 short film called Last Days of Coney Island, but he started working in the medium in 1959.

While he got his start working in classic TV animation, it's Ralph Bakshi's run of animated films from 1972-1992 that he's best known for. Because of its high-profile franchise, Bakshi's 1978 animated The Lord of the Rings is the film most people are familiar with, due in large part to it being the first-ever film adaptation of the iconic fantasy novels. However, while Bakshi's LotR is gorgeous and a lot of fun,...

Al Ruddy, two-time Oscar winner for producing “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” died May 25 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ruddy was also co-creator of “Hogan’s Heroes” and of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” He was 94.

After the success of sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy went on to produce “Little Fauss and Big Halsy” and “Making It” before coming on to Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

Al Pacino said in a statement, “Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on ‘The Godfather’; even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me. He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”

After “The Godfather,” he produced his own story treatment for “The Longest Yard.”

Ruddy went on to produce notable films including “The Cannonball Run.” Other features he produced included “Matilda,” “Coonskin,...

“The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus,” “The Bear” and “Beef” gained momentum Saturday night as each show picked up big wins at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

HBO’s “The Last of Us” was by far the dominant favorite with eight wins. FX’s “The Bear,” Netflix’s “Wednesday” and HBO’s “The White Lotus” won four apiece. Netflix’s “Beef” took home three trophies on the first night of the two-night Creative Arts Awards at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Wins for “Last of Us” included guest actor and actress in a drama series for Nick Offerman and Storm Reid, respectively. The series also won for visual effects, picture editing, sound editing and other key craft categories.

Judith Light prevailed as guest actress in a comedy for “Poker Face” while “Ted Lasso” favorite Sam Richardson took the statuette for guest actor in a comedy.

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What Westerners don’t know about Noh — the classical Japanese theater form in which masked dancers gracefully interpret supernatural tales — could easily fill a 12-hour PBS documentary. But who wants to watch that? Certainly not the audience renegade anime director Masaaki Yuasa is after with “Inu-oh,” a rowdy punk alternative focusing on two social rejects whose defiantly original performance style broke all the rules and elevated them to rock-star status, only to be (all but) forgotten by history.

Among the most unpredictable artists of his medium, Yuasa specializes in trippy, off-the-wall anime features such as “Mind Game” and “Night Is Short, Walk On Girl” that recall the work of psychedelic toonsmith Ralph Bakshi at his anti-establishment extreme. Of all the filmmakers now working in Japan, Yuasa is the last one fans would expect to show an interest in the rigorously rule-based world of Noh — until it clicks that his...

Exclusive: UTA has signed Academy Award-nominated and Primetime Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy for worldwide representation in all areas.

Kennedy has directed and produced more than 30 features, and runs Moxie Films with her husband and partner, writer-producer Mark Bailey. She is currently directing a feature documentary for Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content which examines the parallels between the refugee crisis of 1939—which saw the western world refusing to take German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany—and the international community’s treatment of refugees today. She is also producing the film, which is currently in production, alongside Rodnyansky, Bailey, Judy Korin and Rosanne Korenberg.

Kennedy most recently helmed and produced the upcoming feature documentary Downfall: The Case Against Boeing for Netflix. The film, which focuses on the two tragic Boeing 737-Max crashes of 2018 and 2019, premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will...

Welcome to this weeks review of Impact Wrestling which opened with a Before the Impact which saw Lady Frost, now signed officially to Impact, defeat one of the undead bridesmaids, Kimber Lee. With that said let’s get to the main show, whichj once again comes from Las Vegas!

Match #1: Deonna Purrazzo & Matthew Rehwoldt def. Mickie James & Chris Sabin The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo look to build momentum towards their Knockouts World Title rematch at Hard To Kill in this tag team contest! Mickie squares off with Rehwoldt to kick things off as Mickie uses her quickness to gain the advantage. Purrazzo distracts Sabin on the top rope, allowing Rehwoldt to turn the tide. Purrazzo hits Sabin with a clothesline, then takes Mickie off the apron with a second clothesline. Rehwoldt connects with a sitdown powerbomb on Sabin for two. Sabin cuts...

Documentary+, the non-fiction streamer from You Cannot Kill David Arquette studio Xtr, has unveiled its launch slate.

The service, which launches today, will include feature-length and short documentary films from the likes of Spike Jonze, Kathryn Bigelow, Terrence Malick, Brett Morgen, Andrea Nevins, Roger Ross Williams, Zana Briski, Davis Guggenheim, and Werner Herzog.

Titles include The Imposter, Life, Animated, Born into Brothels, Cartel Land, Dior and I and Being Evel. There are political films such as Cory Booker film Street Fight, Elian Gonzalez story Elian and Lee Atwater’s Boogie Man as well as music documentaries including Seattle grunge doc Hype!, Colin Hanks’ Tower Records doc All Things Must Pass and The Other F Word as well as sports doc One Man and His Shoes about Michael Jordan.

It will also feature the work of up-and-coming filmmakers from the likes of Lana Wilson (Miss Americana), Ramona S. Diaz (A Thousand Cuts...

It’s another Friday night triumph for Fox’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The program topped the demo wars with an 0.5, again leading the pack, as it has for several weeks. It also gave Fox the network crown on the evening with an 0.5

Universal Champion Roman Reigns and cousin Jey Uso ran into trouble against King Corbin and Sheamus, who beat them badly in a Samoan Street Fight as its highlight. What this means for the ongoing reign of Roman Reigns remains to be seen.

At ABC, a new edition of 20/20 had the largest total audience on the night, scoring 3269 in P2+ and an 0.4 for its examination of the murder of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright in Memphis, Tenn.

At CBS, Love Island came in at an 0.3 for its romantic intrigue, while NBC’s Dateline had an 0.3 for its look at an Ohio mystery surrounding a suicide and house fire.

According to the odds in our predictions center, “Brotherhood” seems to be the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s Oscar for Best Live Action Short. These odds are derived from the forecasts that are being made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users (our top Oscar predictors from last year) and the thousands of Gold Derby readers who participate in our predictions center.

But is “Brotherhood” really that out front for Sunday’s ceremony? Could one of the other nominees pull off an upset? Let’s examine all five of this year’s nominees, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.

SEEOscars Upsets: 24 Potential Surprise Winners To Watch For

“Brotherhood” (odds of winning: 17/5)

Mohamed, who lives in rural Tunisia with his wife and two of his sons, becomes very suspicious when his oldest son, Malek, unexpectedly returns home from Syria. The fact that Malek has returned with a new wife,...

Kim Yutani remains director of programming

Sundance Institute has announced that its head of the Documentary Film Program Tabitha Jackson will succeed John Cooper as Sundance Film Festival director.

The appointment of the British-born industry veteran and former head of arts and performance at Channel 4 Television was unveiled during Saturday’s awards ceremony (February 1) and follows months of speculation.

Outgoing festival director Cooper announced last June he would step down from the role after this year’s festival (and 11 years in the role) and is preparing to segue into the title of inaugural emeritus director. His mandate and special...

As with every year, the 2020 nominees for the Oscars’ short film categories cover a wide range of topics, but as their creators noted at TheWrap and ShortsTV’s showcase, they are all connected by how they drew their inspiration from real-life encounters.

TheWrap awards editor Steve Pond spoke on Monday with directors and producers of the five nominated films in the Best Live Action Short category, as well as Siqi Song, director of the Best Animated Short nominee “Sister.” Song’s stop-motion animated film tells the story of a boy sharing memories of living with his younger sister…though it comes with a rug-pull twist rooted in Song’s personal connection to China’s one-child policy.

“I was born and raised in China, and I was a younger sibling to an older brother,” Song said. “My parents told me that it was against the law to have more than one...

As Vanity Fair’s cover profile, Michael B. Jordan provoked a storm of criticism with one line: “We don’t have any mythology, black mythology, or folklore. …Creating our own mythology is very important because … You help people dream.” Jordan likely knows that black folkore has a very long, rich history. It’s quite possible he had a more specific point in mind — frustrations over the lack of film and TV content that exploits black folklore — but the interviewer doesn’t make it explicitly clear with a follow-up question, leaving many to assume that the “Creed II” star meant exactly what he said.

The actor has yet to make a public statement responding to the criticism, and he declined to comment for this story. However, rather than pillory Jordan over what he may or may not have meant, here’s a brief overview of black folklore to serve as introduction for the uninitiated.

The Sims is one of those series that everybody has heard of and probably dabbled in at one time or another. However, while the newest installment in the series, The Sims 4, has been out for a long time, it's only been available for PC gamers. Well, the wait is over and The Sims 4 is making its way to consoles! Check out this article for more of what to expect from The Sims 4's console debut.

The Sims has long since been one of my favorite series of games. I remember my first experience with The Sims was through The Sims Bustin' Out on the PlaysStation 2. It wasn't as expansive as the PC installment, but I loved it all the same. Years later I still enjoy The Sims on my PC, but the console versions have come a long way too. This console release of The Sims 4 looks like it's going...

“Sausage Party” may be a film about a hotdog that wants to have sex with a bun, but it still represents a watershed moment for Hollywood. The raunchy comedy that’s grossed $65 million after two weeks in theaters is the first R-rated CG animated movie. Co-written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “Sausage Party” has sex, violence and curse words in a format that has always been reserved for family-friendly fare.

Read More: Seth Rogen’s R-Rated ‘Sausage Party’ Tries to Break Through the Family-Friendly Animation Glass Ceiling

The movie features the voices of comedic stars like Rogen, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, James Franco and Paul Rudd playing anthropomorphized food items who discover their only reason for existing is to be eaten by humans. Directors Conrad Vernon (“Monsters vs. Aliens”) and Greg Tiernan (TV’s “Thomas & Friends”) have backgrounds in traditional animation aimed at children, but there’s nothing traditional about this deranged dark comedy.

Long overdue swansong (?) from the master of gritty hand-drawn urban animation. Ralph Bakshi defined the animated back alley scuzz look of 1970s NYC, spoiling with grit, dirt and counter-culture grime, in his iconic classics Fritz The Cat, Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, and American Pop before shifting tone to fantasy fiction with Wizards and Lord Of…

The post Review: Ralph Bakshi’s Last Days Of Coney Island appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Tim here. One of the most important events in animation in all of 2015 happened this week; it is important to stress that this doesn't mean it's also one of the best things. But the first new piece of animation from living legend Ralph Bakshi in almost 20 years is certainly worth spending a moment with, though now that I've seen the 22-minute Last Days of Coney Island – currently available for rental on Vimeo, where it just had its world premiere – I can't really claim that I want to stretch that moment out too long.

The film finds Bakshi, whose 77th birthday was October 29, returning to the territory of his most characteristic works from the early 1970s, including Heavy Traffic, the infamous race relations fable Coonskin, and his groundbreaking debut, Fritz the Cat. That is, it's a story about the New York City of Bakshi's battle-hardened memories of youth, involving deeply...

Bustin' out... the protein powder. "Dangerous" rapper Busta Rhymes was arrested and charged with assault on Wednesday, Aug. 5, after getting into a fight at a gym in NYC. Rhymes (nee Trevor Tahiem Smith Jr.) — who's known for his hits like "Gimme Some More" has been accused of throwing a protein drink at an employee who worked at Steel Gym in Manhattan's Chelsea nabe. A New York Police Department spokesperson told Us Weekly that Rhymes and the employee were already arguing about something when their interaction turned [...]...

Today on Trailers from Hell, Larry Karaszewski tackles Ralph Bakshi's controversial 1975 "Coonskin," an animated satire on race relations. Ralph Bakshi's nervy satire on race relations courted controversy from all sides, beginning with its in-your-face title (which Bakshi himself objected to) and its incendiary use of African-American stereotypes to score its satirical points. The 1975 film, a mix of live action and animation, referenced a wide range of black-cultural hot buttons including "Song of the South" and blaxploitation fare. The production of the movie was fractious enough (Bakshi was locked out of the studio at one point) but the actual release of the film was when the fireworks, including picketing and a few smoke bombs in select theater lobbies, really started. In the decades since, cooler heads have prevailed and Coonskin counts artists as disparate as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino among its fans.

Ralph Bakshi’s nervy satire on race relations courted controversy from all sides, beginning with its in-your-face title (which Bakshi himself objected to) and its incendiary use of African-American stereotypes to score its satirical points. The 1975 film, a mix of live action and animation, referenced a wide range of black-cultural hot buttons including Song of the South and blaxploitation fare. The production of the movie was fractious enough (Bakshi was locked out of the studio at one point) but the actual release of the film was when the fireworks, including picketing and a few smoke bombs in select theater lobbies, really started. In the decades since, cooler heads have prevailed and Coonskin counts artists as disparate as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino among its fans. Nsfw!

The post Coonskin appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

“Hey people, Ralphie needs money to draw. Let’s give him some so he can make a fool of himself again.” — Ralph Bakshi’s Miss America, in the Kickstarter campaign video for his new animated project

Making films has never been easy for Ralph Bakshi. The maverick cartoonist and filmmaker, who became famous — and infamous — after 1972′s smash X-rated ‘toon, Fritz the Cat, never liked to color within the lines, so to speak. He was the anti-Disney back then, filling his stories with provocative themes, raunchy humor, and curvacious broads that would make Russ Meyer blush. His bold 1975 blaxploitation satire...

Since many people took notice of my recent piece about Ralph Bakshi's animated film Coonskin (read Here) it prompted me to say at least a few (or a couple dozen) words about the infamous Warner Bros “Censored 11”. And just what precisely are the Warner Bros Censored 11? They are 11 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons made during the Golden Era of Warner Bros’ cartoons, from the early 30's to the mid 40's and have been deemed so racially offensive and insensitive, that they were pulled from distribution for fear of creating major controversy. But, as they always say, you just can’t keep a good controversy down. And, as...

Ralph Bakshi - the iconic cult animator responsible for Fritz The Cat, Coonskin, Cool World, Fire And Ice and the animated Lord Of The Rings - is getting back in the saddle and he needs your help to - as he puts it - do something for animation that isn't motivated by making you happy or stupid.It's called Last Days Of Coney Island and he's looking for your financial support on Kickstarter.In my films I have always discussed America: who we are, what we are, for better and worse, and the ridiculous.  I'm here on Kickstarter asking for your support for my newest project, Last Days of Coney Island.It's a series of shorts set against the strange backdrop of Coney Island and all its weird...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Jessica Simpson wasn't the only celeb busting out on the scene this weekend. Hollywood's hottest daytime stars were also out and about in Tinseltown, coming out in droves Saturday night for the 39th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. But that wasn't all that was brewing in Hollywood. We've got the deets on Brave's box office smackdown and more on this weekend's celeb happenings, right here. • Bustin' Out: Jessica Simpson showed off some major post-baby cleavage as she pushed her daughter Maxwell around town Friday afternoon. • Daytime Emmys: General Hospital won big at the 39th annual Daytime Emmy Awards Saturday night, taking...

While guys like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas spent the 1970s reinventing live action moviemaking, animation had just one lone figure toiling away. Ralph Bakshi, trained on Terrytoons and involved in 1960s television animation, began exploring the possibilities of animated features in the shadow of Walt Disney’s death. His Fritz the Cat made people sit up and take notice, followed by Heavy Traffic, and Coonskin – urban, funky, raw tales set in a familiar world.

After that, he set his sights on something fantastic and gave us, in 1976, Wizards. I’ve been waiting for this film to be restored, cleaned up, and released on Blu-ray given its visual artistry and fun story. Finally, 20th Century Home Entertainment has released it for the film’s 35th Anniversary and they’ve given it a handsome treatment. Encased in a hardcover case with a 24-page booklet, the Blu-ray is striking to watch.

Fans of crazy adult animation rejoice, because Junk Food Dinner Episode #43 is finally here! This week we explore the seedy, gritty, surreal animated world of artist/director Ralph Bakshi.

First, we take a look at his 1973 semi-autobiographical tale of a young virgin cartoonist who draws inspiration from his inner-city surroundings and the wacky characters who inhabit it in 1973's groundbreaking Heavy Traffic. Then Bakshi focuses his lens on race relations and the black experience in America when we take a look at the controversial satire Coonskin from 1975. And finally two young men come of age against a backdrop of gang violence in 1950's Brooklyn in Hey Good Lookin' from 1982.

Also, we have Nerds News, this week's DVD and Blu-Ray releases and much more!

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Got a movie suggestion for the show, want to give your opinion on a movie we talked about or just want to tell us we suck?...

Back in 1975, no film was more controversial and created such an intense furor than Ralph Bakshi’s animated adult film Coonskin. On a roll with his previously highly successful and very adult sex and profanity laced animated films Fritz The Cat and Heavy Traffic, Paramount signed him up, and he started working on a new film, originally titled Harlem Nights, for producer Al Ruddy, who at the time was one of the biggest producers in Hollywood, due to the success of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

Coonskin was a mix of live action and animation, starring Barry White and Charles Gordone as two guys who rush to help out a friend, who’s just escaped from prison (Phillip Michael Thomas… remember him?), but are trapped by police in a shootout. While he’s waiting for his friends to get themselves out of their predicament, Thomas is told several stories...

“The art of cartooning is vulgarity. The only reason for cartooning to exist is to be on the edge. If you only take apart what they allow you to take apart, you’re Disney. Cartooning is a low-class, for-the-public art, just like graffiti art and rap music. Vulgar but believable, that’s the line I kept walking.” Ralph Bakshi.

And, finally, this November, you will be able to own a sample of Bakshi’s “vulgarity” when his masterpiece, Street Fight (aka Coonskin), will officially be released on crisp DVD, in widescreen. There was a previous unofficial DVD release of the film, which was actually more like somebody’s idea of a bad joke – a VHS transfer.

On its surface, Street Fight will probably, impulsively seem like nothing more than a set of racist, offensive ideas printed to film; however, taking the time to peel back its layers will prove to...

The early '80s were an interesting time for controversial artist and animator Ralph Bakshi. His 1970s were filled with incendiary offerings like Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, Wizards, Fritz the Cat, and his (truncated) adaptation of Lord of the Rings. But once the 1980s rolled around, Mr. Bakshi was a little more sedate -- and absolutely intent on furthering the art of feature-length animation. The often misunderstood Bakshi would turn out Hey Good Lookin' in 1982 and collaborate with the legendary Frank Frazetta on 1983's Fire and Ice ... but I say the filmmaker's best work was his follow-up to the Lord of the Rings misstep...

It's called American Pop and it strives to tell the story of American music over the course of four generations, from an immigrant who specializes in vaudeville to a modern-day rock star. (Well, modern for 1981.) Arguably Mr. Bakshi's most sincere film, American Pop often feels like the...

Now finally here is something for you animation fans out there in terms of Alamo posters. Today the Alamo Ritz will be screening the controversial Ralph Bakshi classic Street Fight, better known under its original and far more racist title Coon Skin. This will kick off a month of Bakshi film screenings and today he will be present at the Street Fight event.

Artist Bobby Dixon returns to the soft subtle bosoms of the Alamo as a poster artist after a long sabbatical and brings us this fantastic looking and colorful piece. The thing is 24x36, signed and numbered by the artist and printed in 5 colors. Now there were only 50 copies made of this and as I write this there are only 28 left so if you are a Bakshi fan then this is something for you.