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Eric Roberts is one of the most prolific actors of all time. With over 700 credits on the IMDb to his name, Roberts has had a long and varied career. While one could argue that he hit his career pinnacle in the eighties when he earned an Academy Award nomination for Runaway Train (and richly deserved one for Star 80) and appeared in the cult hit Best of the Best (and its sequel) he’s kept plugging away and is an icon in his own right.

Eric Roberts was born on April 18, 1956, in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts. His family soon moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he grew up in a creative household with his younger sister Julia Roberts. Their parents ran a children’s acting school, and Eric began performing at a young age, appearing in local productions and television shows.

However, his parents’ marriage ended...

May on the Criterion Channel will be good to the auteurs. In fact they’re giving Richard Linklater better treatment than the distributor of his last film, with a 13-title retrospective mixing usual suspects—the Before trilogy, Boyhood, Slacker—with some truly off the beaten track. There’s a few shorts I haven’t seen but most intriguing is Heads I Win/Tails You Lose, the only available description of which calls it a four-hour (!) piece “edited together by Richard Linklater in 1991 from film countdowns and tail leaders from films submitted to the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1990. It is Linklater’s tribute to the film countdown, used by many projectionists over the years to cue one reel of film after another when switching to another reel on another projector during projection.” Pair that with 2008’s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and your completionism will be on-track.

Henry Thomas, star of the new Netflix series Midnight Mass, has had a long and varied career. According to Atl Comic Convention, he started in the business after seeing a PBS special on acting at age eight, deciding that he'd found his true calling. He soon won the part of Harry in Raggedy Man, starring alongside Sissy Spacek, and his third film would be E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Related: 10 Ways Midnight Mass Is Mike Flanagan's Best Horror Series

In Midnight Mass, Thomas plays Ed Flynn, the father of main character, Riley Flynn. Ed Flynn is a fisherman, plain spoken who minds his own business and is unforgiving towards his son when the viewer first sees him. It's another in a series of successful performances that started that day in 1981 in his home state of Texas.

Here’s a story about a different kind of ‘lockdown.’ This near-perfect Americana drama might be the real pinnacle of Sissy Spacek’s wonderful career. The no-baloney tale of rural life on the Texas coastline during WW2 is packed with strong emotions and solid sentiment. Wartime hardship and catch-as-catch-can romance strike an uneasy balance with more threatening material, including a highly suspenseful finish. First-time director Jack Fisk hits this one out of the park, with help from Eric Roberts, William Sanderson, Tracey Walter, R.G. Armstrong, Sam Shepard and little Henry Thomas. This is one of those special pictures that creates a warm feeling about people. The ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ scene is perfection of a special kind.

Raggedy Man

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date July 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Sissy Spacek, Eric Roberts, Sam Shepard, William Sanderson, Tracey Walter, R.G. Armstrong, Henry Thomas,...

Sissy Spacek rose to fame playing teenagers, from the tortured high schooler Carrie to child bride turned-country singer Loretta Lynn. Now at 68, she’s embracing her age with a still-youthful enthusiasm. "It’s the most incredible thing," the actress exclusively shared with Closer Weekly in the magazine's latest issue, on newsstands now. "People treat you with more respect. They open doors and let you hang on to them. It really is the best time!" This year, Sissy celebrates 44 years of marriage to film production designer Jack Fisk, 72, with whom she’s raised daughters Schuyler, 36, and Madison, 29. And she’s experiencing a career renaissance, playing Robert Redford’s love interest in what he’s said will be his final film as an actor, The Old Man & the Gun, co-starring with Julia Roberts in the Amazon series Homecoming, and reuniting with Carrie author Stephen King for Hulu’s horror thriller Castle Rock.

This article marks Part 3 of the 21-part Gold Derby series Meryl Streep at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at Meryl Streep’s nominations, the performances that competed with her, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the contenders.

After a remarkable year in film in 1979, including her Academy Awards win for “Kramer vs. Kramer,” Meryl Streep took 1980 off from the big screen, instead focusing her energies on a stage musical of “Alice in Wonderland” that premiered at New York’s Public Theater in December 1980. While the production garnered middling notices, Streep received raves.

The following year, Streep not only returned to the screen but took on her first leading role in a screen adaptation of John Fowles‘ acclaimed 1969 novel “The French Lieutenant’s Woman.” Playwright Harold Pinter adapted the book for the screen and British filmmaker Karel Reisz, who worked wonders with Vanessa Redgrave...

Chicago – He was a true renaissance man, but his unassuming persona would conceal that lofty designation. Sam Shepard was a playwright, actor, author, screenwriter and director of countless important stage and screen works. Shepard died on July 27th, 2017, of complications due to Lou Gehrig’s Disease (Als). He was 73.

Sam Shepard, American Storyteller

Photo credit: File Photo

He was born Samuel Shepard Rogers III in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and graduated high school in California. After a brief stint in college, he started his career in a traveling theater repertory company. After landing in New York City, he dropped the Rogers from his name and began to work Off Broadway. He won six Obie Awards for his stage writing, and began his screen career by penning “Me and My Brother” (1968) and “Zabriskie Point” (1970). His had a love connection with rocker Patti Smith, which led to the collaborative play “Cowboy Mouth” (1971). He...

Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Metrograph

Frederick Wiseman‘s High School begins a week-long run.

“Welcome to Metrograph: A to Z” offers multiple titles this weekend, including Assayas‘ Boarding Gate, The Beguiled, and Nicolas Roeg‘s Bad Timing.

A 35mm print of Carol screens on Saturday night.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne star in My Favorite Wife, playing this Sunday.

Museum...

Kicking off with a special screening of The Forest with star Natalie Dormer in attendance, and finishing in racy rock-fuelled style with Sean Byrne’s The Devil’s Candy, the UK’s favourite horror fantasy event returns to Glasgow Film Festival with another stellar line-up to shock, chill and thrill. A record thirteen films will screen from Thursday 25th February to Saturday 27th February, alongside a selection of unmissable shorts, guest director Q & A’s, great give-aways and a sneak preview of Paul Hyett’s Heretiks, with the popular director in attendance.

The line-up starts at 9pm on Thurs 25 Feb with the UK Premiere of The Forest starring Natalie Dormer searching for her twin sister in Japan’s most haunted location, the fabled Sea of Trees. The ‘Game of Thrones’ star is making her first appearance at Glasgow Film Festival and is thrilled to be headlining this gala event the...

Henry Thomas's tearful audition for E.T. is well known, and in a new Academy Originals video Marci Liroff explains how the team behind E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial got to that moment in which Steven Spielberg could say, "Okay, kid, you got the job."  Liroff explains that they had focused on another boy who they thought would play Elliott, and had found most of the kids to play his friends. But they wanted to see how the kids would interact, so they invited them over to the writer Melissa Mathison's house to play Dungeons & Dragons. "In about three minutes it...

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

I do miss the Eleventh Doctor, and I know I won’t be the only one. Don’t get me wrong – Capaldi is excellent – but there’s something about the Raggedy Man that makes him My Doctor. And fellow fans of the bow-tie-wearing alien will be pleased to hear that a huuuuge collection of his stories is on

The post The Complete Matt Smith Years Limited Edition Blu-ray Gift Set appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

“And his name is The Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops. He never stays. He never asks to be thanked. But I’ve seen him, I know him… I love him… And I know what he can do.” – Freema Ageyman as companion Martha Jones

My geek is in overdrive.

Doctor Who’s premiere is on August 23rd on BBCAmerica this side of the pond (that’s the premiere date for much of the rest of the world, too) I’ve been hitting BBCAmerica’s website for news and sneak peeks. I’ve binge watched Matt Smith’s last seasons as the Time Lord. I’ve held off doing something else – like raiding the refrigerator or even going to the bathroom – during commercial breaks while watching the channel in case there’s a new teaser. And I...

As we reported recently, the feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell recently started filming and we the first look at the main cast of characters. For those who are unfamiliar with the novel, Stephen King’s Cell was originally published in 2006 and involves a cell signal that turns most of the population into zombies:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt,...

News Louisa Mellor 21 Feb 2014 - 08:10

Amy Pond has been chatting about last year's Christmas special, Matt Smith's final episode as The Doctor...

Warning: contains a spoiler for The Time Of The Doctor.

We're sure we're not alone in finding Karen Gillan's brief mid-regeneration cameo in The Time Of The Doctor one of its more affecting moments. The reappearance of Amy Pond, hallucination or no, to say goodnight to her Raggedy Man was a wonderfully warm, affectionate and fitting end to the pair's children's bedtime story theme.

Gillan appears to feel much the same, as she told this month's Sci Fi Expo panel. "I was so happy! My agent phoned me and said, ‘They want you to come back to Doctor Who,’ and I was like ‘Yes!’ immediately.

“I think part of the reason that Steven Moffat wrote me into that scene was just so that Matt would...

Sometimes, some of us Doctor Who aficionados are an ungrateful bunch. After spending more than a decade in the wilderness, the programme was brought back into the fold and welcomed with open arms and critical acclaim. And yet, from time to time, us fans just can't resist the odd grumble when things don't quite go our way. Me myself, I'm guilty as charged – if the era of Russell T Davies was, by and large, very much to my liking (albeit with one or two scowls), the last couple of years haven't thrilled me so much. A good chunk of my last few reviews, in particular, have read like the frenzied burblings of Victor Meldrew.

Which kind of makes me feel a bit sad. I tuned into the behind-the-scenes documentary of the last story, The Time Of The Doctor, and evidently, everyone was giving it 110% to make Matt Smith go out with a bang.

A feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell has been in development for quite some time, but the project continues to move forward. John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson have already signed on and we have details on who has been cast in the lead female role.

Deadline reports that Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan, The Hunger Games - pictured below) will play Alice, who teams up with Cusack and Jackson’s characters in an attempt to leave Boston after “The Pulse.” For those who are unfamiliar with the novel, Stephen King’s Cell was originally published in 2006 and involves a cell signal that turns most of the population into zombies:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their...

Stars: Karen Gillan, Stanley Weber, Iain De Caestecker, Amy Manson, Kate Dickie, Freya Mavor, Gary Lewis, Henry Ian Cusick | Written by David Solomons | Directed by John McKay

When I decided to review Not Another Happy Ending the reason for this was pretty obvious, as a Doctor Who fan I was interested in a movie where Karen Gillan took a lead role. As Amy she was arguably one of the most popular companions to The Doctor and with her moving onto Guardians of the Galaxy it looks like she has a huge future in the movie business. What I was interested in was how she could handle a role that required more acting than action, though to be fair she had her moments in Doctor Who with her Raggedy Man (fans will know who I mean).

In Not Another Happy Ending Gillan plays Jane Lockhart an author who has a volatile...

“We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”

The Doctor, Doctor Who, Series 5, Episode 13

Perhaps I expected too much.

Yesterday my dear friend and fellow columnist John Ostrander did an excellent job in explaining “wibbly-wobbly storytelling” that marred “The Time Of The Doctor,” Matt Smith’s final bow as the Gallifreyian.

I feel the same way as John. Though I will try not to repeat what John wrote because I expect you to click here and read his thoughts, but I just want to add some of my own.

The whole episode, as John and others have said, did feel extremely rushed and cramped – it could have used at least an extra 15 minutes, though I would have preferred a two-hour special, which I believe Matt deserved as it was his Doctor, especially, that reignited the global Doctor Who frenzy.

I still feel cheated out...

Nick Kitchen is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The Raggedy Man and the Girl Who Waited may no longer be coming to our television screens in new adventures, but that doesn’t mean that their quite done supporting the Doctor Who brand! Making their first joint appearance in Australia, Matt Smith (the recently departed Eleventh Doctor) and former companion, Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) will

The post Doctor Who Stars Heading to Australia in 2014! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

If you missed the one about Kate Winslet calling her baby 'Bear', or Alex Ferguson as the bad guy in Sherlock Holmes, read on …

There's no phrase for it, so let's call it "nightmarish return to reality Monday". The first full week of work of 2014 is upon us, and it's a pain. On the plus side, this year's festive period has given us some cracking workplace conversation starters …

Piers Morgan was pelted with a cricket ball and injured in Melbourne while hundreds of people laughed and cheered. After Morgan questioned the courage of English batsmen at the Ashes, former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee challenged him to stand in for an over. Morgan, to his credit, obliged. And, in front of an unsympathetic crowd, the CNN presenter, with crumbling bravado, took several balls to his body, and broke a rib.

Kate Winslet had a baby and named it "Bear". To be fair,...

[Warning: Massive Spoilers About the Doctor Who Christmas Special Ahead]

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Ever since Doctor Who showrunner and executive producer Steven Moffat let it slip that both John Hurt’s “War Doctor” and the so-called “Meta-Crisis Doctor” counted as full regenerations – making Matt Smith’s Doctor the last Last of the Time Lords – Whovians and other observers have obsessed over an algebraic equation: The Old Doctor’s Death + X = The New Doctor’s Life.

Going into last night’s Christmas Special, we knew that we would get an answer to that question, but when we finally got to see more than Peter Capaldi’s robust eyebrows in the Tardis following Smith’s explosive and emotionally eviscerating exit (“Raggedy Man, goodnight”), we were ...

Click to continue reading ‘Doctor Who’: Regeneration Count Explained

The post ‘Doctor Who’: Regeneration Count Explained appeared first on Screen Rant.

Spoilers, sweetie: I absolutely adore Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. In fact, I think he was one of the best Doctors to ever Doctor this madcap universe. However, ‘The Time of the Doctor’ was right — it was Matt’s time to go, and the show will be better with Peter Capaldi’s fresh new face (and kidneys). Here’s why.

It’s a sad truth, fellow Whovians, but it’s a truth nonetheless. The new “rule number one” is that Steven Moffat will not leave Doctor Who until we drag him, kicking and screaming — so in his stead, it’s high time we got on board with losing Matt Smith instead.

Why Matt Smith Had To Go Take Our Poll

“I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when The Doctor was me.”

‘Doctor Who: Time Of The Doctor’ Recap: Goodbye,...

The question’s not If you cried, it’s when. The Doctor hangs around one place for a while, Matt Smith bids the show farewell, and Steven Moffat pulls at all the threads and brings everything into a neat little bow. It’s the end of an era, and the exciting start of a new one, because it’s…

The Time Of The Doctor

by Steven Moffat

Directed by Jamie Payne

A mysterious planet is beaming out a message across all of time and space, which no spacefaring race can understand or translate, but fills each of them with fear. The planet is girdled with ships, all trying to discern the meaning of the message. The Doctor arrives, and with the help of the Papal Mainframe, makes his way to the surface. He and Clara arrive in a town called Christmas, and eventually learn the name of the planet…Trenzalore,...

‘Doctor Who”s 800th episode was a fitting — if flawed — goodbye to the show’s fun, flirty, and ferocious Eleventh Doctor. Check out our recap of ‘The Time Of The Doctor’ below!

“I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when The Doctor was me.” These were the last words of Matt Smith‘s Eleventh Doctor, who said goodbye to life and time in a fast-paced, emotionally fueled episode of Doctor Who. Read below to find out what happened — Aka, spoilers, sweetie — when Matt Smith became Peter Capaldi.

‘The Time Of The Doctor’: Amy Steals Clara’s Thunder Take Our Poll

Okay, so a lot happened before Karen Gillan showed up to make how everyone in the universe feels about Jenna Coleman blatantly obvious, but most of it was too quick and jumpy and utterly confusing to actually process. Matt...

It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for. Eleven’s hour is over now, the clock is striking twelve.

The swan song of our beloved Matt Smith, and the second consecutive milestone with the 800th episode in the 50-year saga, seemed to tie up every single loose end left since that fateful crash landing in Leadworth oh so long ago while delivering on arguably the most physically and emotionally powerful regeneration in the show’s 50-year history two-fold, but more on that later.

One of the more morbid aspects of the sci-fi phenomenon that is Doctor Who is that no matter how invested we become in a Time Lord’s face and personality, the concept of regeneration guarantees that the only way out for them is death. As I’ve written previously, the Matt Smith era ushered the transition of this former cult favorite into a global phenomenon,...

The Doctor Who Christmas Special on Wednesday gave fans of the long-running show a chance to say goodbye to latest Time Lord Matt Smith, while ushering in the new one in the form of Peter Capaldi.

There’s a town called Christmas on the planet of Tranzalore. A signal from the town repeats, “Doctor who?” and leads the Cybermen and Daleks and other Doctor nemesis of yore to wage a war upon each other. Ultimately, the Doctor feels he has no choice but to step in and gets the assistance of the Church of the Papal Mainframe.

It’s learned that after “The Day of the Doctor,” the Time Lords became trapped on the planet Gallifrey and that they’re trying to get through the Crack. If the Doctor says his true name, it’ll let them return to the universe – but in turn cause the Time War to begin again.

Matt Smith's time as the Doctor is coming to a close on "Doctor Who," so it seems only fitting to look back on some of his best moments. Zap2it's resident Whovians are selecting their favorite 11th Doctor episodes to take a look at exactly why they're so important, not only to Smith's portrayal of the role but for the show's legacy.

It's impossible to look at Smith's best moments without taking time to examine his final one. "The Time of the Doctor" was truly an epic adventure over centuries in the life of the Doctor and saw him grow to be an elderly man, something foreign to the "Doctor Who" audience. It also shouldn't be ignored how similar the elderly 11th Doctor looked to William Hartnell, the first.

The episode answered several questions fans have been waiting to hear answered, the biggest of which is dealing with the...

The following contains minor spoilers from Doctor Who‘s Christmas special, The Time of the Doctor.

Given the great hullabaloo that surrounded the casting of Matt Smith, then just 26, as Doctor Who almost exactly five years ago, it’s funny that for much of his final turn he appeared in old age make-up.

Related | Doctor Who‘s 50th Anniversary Special Sets Ratings Record

In the series’ latest Christmas special, The Time of the Doctor, the 11th-ish Time Lord found himself tasked with protecting a sleepy town called Christmas from no less than “all Hell” — in the form of a new Time War,...

After months of build up, the time has come for Matt Smith to say goodbye on "Doctor Who." His final Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor," brings about his departure in the midst of all kinds of Whovian insanity, from Daleks to the Silence, Weeping Angels to Cybermen. The episode will also introduce the new Doctor (Peter Capaldi).

It's bound to be an emotional farewell to Smith, who has portrayed the role for three seasons, during the show's popularity explosion in the United States. This is the first new episode of the show since the epic 50th anniversary spectacular that saw the 11th Doctor teaming up with his predecessor David Tennant for an adventure through space and time.

Follow along with Zap2it as we say goodbye to Smith and hello to Capaldi, while hopefully getting a glimpse of what to expect from the new Doctor in terms of personality.

Amy Pond

Portrayed by: Karen Gillan, Caitlin Blackwood (Amelia)

Doctor(s): Eleventh Doctor

Tenure: 26 stories (31 episodes), from “The Eleventh Hour” (April, 2010) to “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Sept, 2012)

Background: Amelia Pond is a child when the Tardis crash lands in her back yard. When the Doctor attempts to hop the Tardis forward 5 minutes and overshoots by twelve years, Amy grows up with the Doctor as her childhood imaginary friend. She has somewhat of a difficult childhood, acting out and insisting that the Doctor is real to the point where she’s put into therapy. Amy is incredibly close with her best friend Mels and becomes good friends with Rory as well, and the two eventually start dating. Amy is working as a kissogram and still living in the same house when she next encounters the Doctor as a late teenager.

Family/Friends: Amy notably has almost no family when we meet her.

The long-awaited big screen adaptation of Stephen King's zombie novel, Cell, is still moving forward! Samuel L. Jackson will be reuniting with John Cusack and director Mikael Hafstrom on the film project. All three worked together on the film adaptation of King's 1408, which ended up being great. I'm really excited about this team bringing Cell to life. Jackson will play Tom McCourt, "an engineer and former soldier who with Cusack’s Clay Riddell character flees from Boston as the world turns mad thanks to the phones." The book was published back in 2006, and this is the description:

Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking...

A feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell has been in development for quite some time, but it’s expected to begin shooting early next year. John Cusack is already on board to star in the movie and it has just been revealed that Samuel L. Jackson will be joining him.

According to Deadline, “Jackson plays Tom McCourt, an engineer and former soldier who with Cusack’s Clay Riddell character flees from Boston as the world turns mad thanks to the phones.” For those who are unfamiliar with the novel, Stephen King’s Cell was originally published in 2006 and involves a cell signal that turns most of the population into zombies:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were...

[To preface this, I’m not talking about “God” uppercase G, and I mean no offense to any religious people. This will be about the context of the show, and whether the Doctor is a lowercase god, more in the pagan sense than the Christian sense.]

Over the course of Doctor Who, the Doctor has had many names, been called by many titles. The Oncoming Storm, the Predator, “great warrior,” Sweetie, the Raggedy Man, clever boy, lonely angel, the lonely god, the Time Lord Victorious.

The Doctor is someone people have died for, without hesitation or regret. People have prayed to him for salvation, have wondered why he doesn’t come. He’s even appeared in church iconography.

There was an article on Cracked.com a while back, called “How Doctor Who Became My Religion.” The author said of the Doctor that “I mean the Doctor is a god. But one we can see and understand. And he loves us more than all the other creatures in the universe. He would die for us, but what he really wants to do is live with us. “ And this, to him, was good because it meant“There is...

A new report from Cannes reveals that the movie version of Stephen King’s Cell is still moving forward. According to Shock Till You Drop, Benaroya Pictures revealed that they will finance and co-produce the movie, with plans to begin shooting in September. The project has been in various stages of development over the years, and at one point, Eli Roth was planning to write and direct the adaptation.

Stephen King’s Cell was originally released in 2006 and involves a cell signal that turns most of the population into zombies:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay,...

Stephen King's awesome zombie story Cell has been in development for years. The last we heard John Cusack was set to star in the big screen adaptation. Now, Paranormal Activity 2 director, Tod “Kip” Williams, has been hired to direct the movie from a script written by King and Adam Alleca (The Last House On The Left). The story centers on a graphic artist who is trying to reach his wife and son after a devastating pulse transmitted through a mobile phone network turns people into mindless zombies.

It's hard to judge how good of a director someone is based on a movie like Paranormal Activity 2, because with a movie like that, there's really nothing to it. But, Cargo Entertainment CEO, Marina Grasic, had this to say about the director,

Tod is a dynamic filmmaker whose work has been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. He brings a...

Back in October, it was reported that John Cusack (1408) signed on to star in another Stephen King movie, called "Cell." King co-wrote the screenplay with "The Last House on the Left" writer Adam Alleca. Now comes word that Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2) has been hired to direct. Plot: Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt, a man he meets in the events...

At one point Eli Roth was writing and set to direct a film adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell. That fell through, but it was announced last October that the project was still moving forward with John Cusack set to star. The producers were searching for a director at the time and we now know who was hired for the project.

According to Screen Daily, Tod “Kip” Williams will be directing Cell for Cargo Entertainment. Previously, Williams directed Paranormal Activity 2. Adam Alleca (The Last House On The Left remake) and Stephen King worked together on the script, and it’s said Richard Saperstein, Brian Witten, and Shara Kay are on board as producers. Production is expected to begin in May, so we should be reporting on additional project and casting news in the coming months.

Stephen King’s Cell was originally released in 2006 and involves a cell signal that...

John Cusack is ready for another Stephen King movie. The actor has been cast to star in an adaptation of Cell.

The novel tells the story of “a father’s odyssey to find his wife and son in the wake of a catastrophic pulse transmitted via mobile phones.” Cell is classified as an apocalyptic horror novel.

Here’s a synopsis:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt,...

John Cusack (1408, Stand By Me) has signed on to star in another Stephen King movie, called "Cell." King co-wrote the screenplay with "The Last House on the Left" writer Adam Alleca. Plot: Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt, a man he meets in the events immediately following The Pulse and a young girl, Alice, who they rescue from being killed by one of the "crazies.

The storm has passed and the mad dash through the neighborhood in pursuit of Snickers and Skittles is tonight. Many kids will be missing out on tonight’s Trick or Treating, but the show must go on. And, John Cusack is getting back into the Stephen King business, signing to star in an adaptation of Cell, King’s take on the zombie apocalypse genre.

King himself co-wrote the screenplay with The Last House On The Left screenwriter Adam Alleca in a story where cell phone signals wipe the brain of any humanity, turning people into aggressive killers and a father who hits the road to find his wife and son.

The 1408 star Cusack will also reteam with 1408 executive Richard Saperstein who will produce Cell through his Genre Company alongside colleagues Brian Witten and Shara Kay. They are currently looking for directors.

Saperstein said:

I’m thrilled to be working with Stephen and John again.

At one point Eli Roth was writing and set to direct a film adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell. That fell through, but word from the American Film Market is that the project is now moving forward with John Cusack as the star.

According to Screen Daily, Adam Alleca (The Last House On The Left) and Stephen King are working together on the script and the producers are currently looking for a director to helm the project. The book was originally released in 2006 and involves a cell signal that turns most of the population into zombies:

“Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way.

It's been a long time since the feature film adaptation of Stephen King's zombie book Cell has been in the news. The last thing I remember was that Eli Roth was set to develop it, but that doesn't seem to be happening anymore. Cell was such a great zombie story, and I'm surprised it hasn't already been made into a movie! The book tells the story of a father who sets out on a journey to find his wife and son in the wake of a zombie type apocalypse that was brought on by mobile phones.

Screen Daily is now reporting that John Cusack is going to star in the the movie! This would be the third time that Cusack has worked on a Stephen King film project. He also worked on the films Stand By Me and 1408. I enjoy watching Cusack's movies, and I'm sure he'll be great in this movie!

Screen Daily is reporting that John Cusack (1408, Stand by Me) is getting back into the Stephen King business, signing to star in Cargo Entertainment's Cell. The novel is described as follows:

Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt, a man he meets in the meleé immediately following The Pulse and a young girl, Alice, who they rescue from being killed by one of the “crazies.

There are many things that make Steven Spielberg's 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' -- thirty years old this year -- a magical masterpiece: a sensitive script, fantastic special effects (it's often easy to forget the title star is a mechanical puppet), John Williams' uplifting score. But one of the most over-looked aspects is the cast.

Eschewing big name stars and established child actors, Spielberg discovered a raft of talent, young and old, that do much to make 'E.T.' such an emotional experience. Here are their 'E.T.' stories and what happened next....

E.T. is 30 years old - hard to believe, but true

Henry Thomas (Elliott Taylor)

That was then: "I used to think 'If I mess this up, what's going to happen?'" recalls Henry Thomas about his days as the lead in 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial'. "'Are they going fire me? I'm nine years old.

Thirty is a tricky birthday for anyone - your twenties are in the rear-view mirror, and your forties start to sneak up (can you tell this writer is getting closer to the magic 3-0?...). But it's also the point at which you can reach a certain respectability, start to push towards (whisper it) adulthood, and make it clear that you're here to stay. All of which is a long-winded and possibly over-sharing way of saying that thirty years ago today, on June 11, 1982, "E.T: The Extra Terrestrial" was released in theaters.

Despite Steven Spielberg's track record, it wasn't necessarily expected to be a major blockbuster -- one major studio had already turned it down. But a major blockbuster is exactly what it turned out to be -- it was the biggest of all time, in fact, holding the worldwide position until "Jurassic Park" in 1993, and the domestic crown until...

The Season Of Goodwill has come and gone like a freezing winter cloud. The long, dark nights, crass commercialism and horrible weather drew in quickly to put all that sunny good cheer to the test.

Mind you a good goodwill killer was that truly wretched BBC Christmas trailer - very probably the worst Christmas Trailer Ever - and that includes the crappy 1993 one with badly Chromakeyed BBC celebs superimposed onto a tacky fake winter wonderland. In case you hadn't seen the latest model, basically what happens is that a clutch of smug BBC celebrities sing some old Oliver dirge in a short but gaudy advert which I suspect would have cost several thousand pounds to make (a fact that's even more galling when the BBC have still had to cut Doctor Who Confidential for budgetary reasons). I can understand the likes of Skeleton Steptoe Forsyth, Humour Free Zones McIntyre and...

HollywoodNews.com: Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson and Mike Vogel to be honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony.

The 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, are pleased to announce that the cast of DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media’s “The Help” – Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson and Mike Vogel – will be recognized at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony with the “Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award.”

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder of the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place on the evening of Monday, October 24, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala launches the awards season.

Let's talk Sissy Spacek. My friend Matt has been highlighting her something fierce over at Pop Matters, but why should he have the Sissy all to himself?

The great actress, everyone's favorite telekinetic murderess, is finally in a buzzy film again (Get Low opens today). And though I don't much care for the new movie, it's always nice when a frequently absent major actress wins Oscar buzz and praise again.

She's a big name but what does that name mean to today's moviegoers? For people born in the late 80s or 1990s, maybe her stint on TV's Big Love comes immediately to mind (Emmy nominated this year). But I'm guessing if it's not the cross-generational popular Carrie, it's mainly In the Bedroom that takes over the imagination: Sissy breaking plates, Sissy slapping Marisa Tomei, Sissy taking weird drags on her cigarette that manage to be both furious and catatonic simultaneously.

Here we go, or should that be Geronimo(?), with the new series ending last Saturday here in the UK I figured it was about time I went back and watched it all over again and brought you the chaotic mess of thoughts that would follow.

Two things before you read all of this, I thought David Tennant was brilliant but I thought his departure was drawn out and by the end of it almost wanted him gone. This is no reflection on him though more on the production, I mean 20 minutes of his last episode were dedicated to his regeneration. I also really wished people wouldn’t judge Matt Smith on his first seconds in The End of Time yet so many people did.

So, without further ado…

The Eleventh Hour

My Thoughts: It had been a long wait for this. Many had criticised his ten seconds on screen, many others hadn’t.

Here we go, or should that be Geronimo(?), with the new series ending last Saturday here in the UK I figured it was about time I went back and watched it all over again and brought you the chaotic mess of thoughts that would follow.

Two things before you read all of this, I thought David Tennant was brilliant but I thought his departure was drawn out and by the end of it almost wanted him gone. This is no reflection on him though more on the production, I mean 20 minutes of his last episode were dedicated to his regeneration. I also really wished people wouldn’t judge Matt Smith on his first seconds in The End of Time yet so many people did.

So, without further ado…

The Eleventh Hour

My Thoughts: It had been a long wait for this. Many had criticised his ten seconds on screen, many others hadn’t.