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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Am I Ok? (Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro)

A romantic comedy that functions best as a fable of friendship and self-reflection, Am I Ok? is the kind of lightweight, amiable movie that just barely earns the emotional beats at the heart of its story. Set in Los Angeles, it follows the converging life events of two best friends, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), soul sisters with opposite personalities who tell each other everything—except for the big secrets they’ve been harboring from each other. How they respond to hearing them fuels Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro’s gentle and wobbly feature debut. – Jake K-s. (full review)

Where to Stream: Max

Dad & Step-Dad (Tynan DeLong)

Following the stellar comedy Free Time,...

Erich Anderson, the familiar character actor who made his film debut in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, played Keri Russell’s father on Felicity and recurred on shows from Steven Bochco, has died. He was 67.

Anderson died Saturday after a “brutal struggle with cancer,” his wife of 21 years, actress Saxon Trainor, and her brother-in-law, Michael O’Malley, announced in an Instagram post.

In Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Anderson portrayed Rob Dier, who while attempting to avenge his sister’s death meets his brutal end at the hands of Jason in a basement.

He appeared as Dr. Edward Porter, father of Russell’s Felicity Porter, in the 1998 pilot for Felicity, then returned for eight more episodes of the WB network show during its four-season run through 2002.

For Bochco, Anderson played pitcher Bobby Stang on NBC’s Bay City Blues in 1983-84 and drug dealer Don Kirkendall on ABC’s...

Paul Schrader had a special job on the set of his latest film, “Oh, Canada”: drawing on the jockstrap that Jacob Elordi wears in one of the Vietnam War drama’s pivotal scenes.

There’s a choice at the heart of “Oh, Canada,” when the fictional filmmaker Leonard Fife dodges the Vietnam draft and escapes to Canada. The script leaves breadcrumbs as to what exactly happens until very late in the film, but finally Elordi is seen reporting for an Army physical. He shows up in a jockstrap with “peace and love” written on the jock, surrounded by tiny flowers. He jitters and shakes and waves his arms flamboyantly. In character, Elordi is attempting to look as unstable as possible to avoid enlisting into military service.

At the Cannes Film Festival press conference for the film, Schrader revealed that he added a finishing touch to the jockstrap that Elordi...

Paul Schrader shed tears as his new film “Oh, Canada” earned a four-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Friday night.

Jacob Elordi was notably absent from the premiere because he is filming Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” in which he stars as The Monster. After the ovation finished, Schrader addressed Elordi not being there, saying: “I’m very happy with Richard, Uma, Jake — not here with us –and it all worked out. Im very happy to be back here on the Croisette.”

Elordi, whose star continues to rise after acclaimed turns in “Saltburn” and “Priscilla,” made his Cannes debut last year in Sean Price Williams’ road movie “The Sweet East.”

The drama tells the life story of a troubled writer, Leonard Fife, who at the end of his life reflects on his decision to flee to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Richard Gere plays the present-day Leonard,...

Jacob Elordi is swapping eras and countries for Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada.” In the new feature, the Australian actor portrays Leonard Fife, a Vietnam War draft evader who restarts his life in Canada and becomes a documentarian. Richard Gere plays the older version of Elordi’s character as he reflects on his life while dying of cancer and gives one final interview to share his secret. The feature is an adaptation of late author Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone.” Banks and director Schrader previously collaborated on film “Affliction.”

“Oh, Canada” is premiering in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, marking Schrader’s return to the festival since 1988’s “Patty Hearst.” Schrader recently shared a photo with fellow auteurs Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, who will also be in attendance at the festival, with Coppola debuting “Megalopolis” and Lucas receiving an honorary Palme d’Or.

“Oh, Canada” itself also serves as a reunion of sorts,...

This year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival will mark a meeting of the New Hollywood minds in France. Not only is George Lucas receiving the festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or, but filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader are in the official Competition for the first time in decades.

While Schrader has gone the route of Venice for his “lonely man in a room” trilogy — “First Reformed,” “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardener” all premiered in Italy — he’s at Cannes this year with “Oh, Canada.” The lineup was confirmed this morning by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux. The contemplative drama about a tortured writer looking back on his years as a leftist who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War stars Jacob Elordi, Richard Gere, and Uma Thurman. Cue the flashbulbs for a buzzy Elordi red carpet moment. The “Euphoria” breakout was last seen...

Paul Schrader is now in his “post-dying” era.

After the Oscar-winning screenwriter shared his health ailments during the pandemic, Schrader recently revealed a new script he is working on. Schrader teased the project in a Q&a following a screening of “Patty Hearst” at the Roxy Cinema in New York City, hosted by Screen Slate (in the below video).

“I was sort of saturated with dying at that time,” Schrader said of his upcoming “Oh, Canada” adaptation of late friend and author Russell Banks’ final 2021 novel “Foregone.” “I had been to the hospital multiple times during Covid. Friends had been dying; they still are dying. And I thought, well, geez, if you’re going to make a film about dying, you better hurry up. And so I did it.”

Schrader added, “I feel like it went quite well, so now I’ll make a post-dying film.”

He continued of the currently in-the-works script,...

Patty Perez, an actress and internet sensation who made a cameo in two “Jackass” movies, has died. She was 57.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by her family, Perez died on Sept. 17 after complications from diabetes. TMZ also confirmed Perez’s passing with the family.

“For anyone who didn’t know she had gone through months of health issues. A lot of ups and downs, with many different diagnoses. She fought so hard and for so long,” her family wrote. “If you knew our mom at any point in time she was so full of life. She made the best out of any situation, loved her kids with every fiber of her being and was there for anyone who needed it. She was a friend to everyone.”

Patty Perez was known for appearing in sketches in 2006’s “Jackass Number Two” and 2007’s “Jackass 2.5,” particularly in a sketch called “The...

Fresh off her historic Daytime Emmy win, actress Jodi Long is running for president of SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles Local to succeed Patricia Richardson, who is not seeking re-election. Long, a longtime national and L.A. Local board member who’s running on the opposition party’s Membership First slate, will be facing off against Yvette Nicole Brown, who’s running for local president on the ruling party’s Unite for Strength’s slate.

Two years ago, Long ran for national secretary-treasurer as presidential candidate Matthew Modine’s running mate, but they lost to Gabrielle Carteris and her running mate, Camryn Manheim, who are not seeking re-election. This time, Modine and running mate Joely Fisher are squaring off against Fran Drescher and Anthony Rapp to succeed Carteris and Manheim.

“As a SAG-AFTRA national and Local board member working on numerous national committees over the past 10 years, I have been a longtime champion for diversity,...

For a show that centers on the relationship between Lorelai and her daughter Rory, Gilmore Girls has well-drawn minor characters with their own compelling storylines and arcs. But while fans will always love watching Babette and Miss Patty gossip at Luke's Diner and Emily and Richard are a popular couple, there's something special about the characters at the core of the series.

Related: Gilmore Girls: How Fans Really Feel About Season 7, According To Reddit

From Lorelai helping Rory through tough moments in her love life to Rory's first day at Yale, fans have taken to Reddit to share their favorite scenes involving the cool mother and smart daughter. There are so many to choose from, but these Gilmore Girls moments take the cake — or the cup of coffee from Luke's.

Let’s offer up a slow clap for the slow-moving films; the ones that want you to lean in and invest a little extra time (or a lot) to get to know the characters better, or weave words and deeds into the fabric of the story to enrich the experience. Sometimes it’s just shitty editing. So it goes; but The Corruption of Chris Miller (1973), a Spanish psychothriller sucker-punched by moments of grisly grandeur, slowly turns to unveil a sordid tale of deception, trust, carnal curiosity, and the occasional striking murder. It moves with deliberation and respect for the tale.

Released at home in May and not hitting Stateside until September of ‘75, The Corruption of Chris Miller received solid reviews for the most part, with critics praising director J.A. Bardem’s (Death of a Cyclist) deft touch with the quiet moments just as much as the explosive violence. Marketed...

We’ve been exclusively revealing all 2020 Emmy Awards episode submissions throughout the first days of August. Every title is now listed below. All guest acting titles were indicated on the ballots from early July. The program, lead and supporting contender episodes are courtesy of networks, studios and/or personal reps. The 72nd annual Emmys will be live (yet virtual) September 20 on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (“Jimmy Kimmel Live”).

Each drama series and comedy series must submit six episodes for voters to view. Each lead and supporting nominee from dramas and comedies enter one episode each. Leads in the movie/limited categories are viewed for their entire programs, but supportings in that genre also entire a single title each. The complete list for all confirmed submissions is below.

To weigh in with your thoughts and analysis, join our special discussion in the Gold Derby forums.

SEE2020 Emmy nominations complete...

Gold Derby can exclusively reveal the 2020 Emmy Awards submissions for Best Comedy Series nominees. The eight contenders are “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dead to Me,” “The Good Place,” “Insecure,” “The Kominsky Method,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

See 2020 Emmy nominations complete list: All the nominees for the 72nd Emmy Awards

Each series enters six episodes from this past season for voters to watch on the Television Academy online platform. Here are the 48 choices across all of the programs:

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO) – “Happy New Year,” “You’re Not Going to Get Me to Say Anything Bad About Mickey,” “Insufficient Praise,” “The Ugly Section,” “Elizabeth, Margaret and Larry,” “The Spite Store”

“Dead to Me” (Netflix) – “You Know What You Did,” “Where Have You Been,” “Between You and Me,” “You Don’t Have To,” “It’s Not You, It’s Me,” “Where Do We Go From Here?...

The Good Place season 4 sets up the end of its series by teasing out the end of everything else.

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This The Good Place review contains spoilers.

The Good Place Season 4 Episode 12

Midway through “Patty,” the second-to-last episode of The Good Place ever, I absent-mindedly typed out a note: “What if this all ends with death?”

It was more of an innocuous joke to myself than a sincere prediction as to how this final hour and a half of The Good Place would play out. The episode presents a very Good Place-ian problem. The inhabitants of The Good Place (the real one) have become glassy-eyed mush people in the face of eternity and now it’s up to Michael and the gang to find a solution. This is standard operating procedure for a show that routinely presents problems with eternal implications and then finds utilitarian solutions for them all within 22 minutes.

Veteran actress and union activist Jodi Long is running for secretary-treasurer of SAG-AFTRA as a member of Matthew Modine’s progressive Membership First slate.

She is facing Camryn Manheim, who announced her candidacy on July 9 as part of the Unite for Strength slate for the re-election of union president Gabrielle Carteris. Unite for Strength and United Screen Actors Nationwide have been the ruling factions at the union for the past decade with an emphasis on pragmatic policies.

“It’s my time to step up to the fight,” Long said. “A fight for a change in leadership and our right to make a decent living.”

Election ballots will be mailed to dues-current members on July 29 and will be tabulated on August 28. SAG-aftra represents about 160,000 performers.

Mondine said, “Jodi will bring truth and transparency where there is now vagary and opacity.”

Jane Austin, the current SAG-aftra secretary-treasurer, has opted to...

Exclusive: Hong Chau (Downsizing) has been tapped for a key role on Watchmen, HBO’s upcoming drama series from Damon Lindelof based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic limited comic series.

Written by Lindelof, Watchmen is considered a dark satirical and dystopian take on the superhero genre. Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.

As usual, the producers and HBO are keeping mum on the role but I hear Chau will play Lady T., who is Vietnamese.

Chau, who is from Vietnamese descent, recently played Vietnamese immigrant Ngoc Lan in Alexander Payne’s feature Downsizing, earning a Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her role.

On Watchmen, Chau joins a cast that includes Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr.,...

Chicago – Paul Schrader can absolutely claim the title of Cinema Icon with his 40 plus years of influence and involvement as writer or director in memorable films such as “Taxi Driver,” “American Gigolo,” “Raging Bull” and “Auto Focus.” His latest written-and-directed-by film is “First Reformed,” featuring Ethan Hawke.

“First Reformed” centers on Reverend Toller (Hawke), whose past includes a role as a military chaplain, and later as a father of a soldier who dies in battle. He ministers at a First Reformed Christian church, but the ministry is carried out mostly through historical tours (the church was a prominent stop for the Underground Railroad of the American Civil War era) and less through church membership. Toller’s life is altered when the wife (Amanda Seyfried) of a troubled environmentalist (Phillip Ettinger) seeks counseling for her husband. The results of that counsel upends all their lives, especially the minister who suddenly cannot face his own difficult circumstances.

Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst Shaw occasionally creeps into the headlines these days as a champion show dog trainer, a figure of enduring curiosity with a past string of minor roles as an actress on TV and in the kitschy films of director John Waters.

But for a heightened moment in the mid-1970s, Patty Hearst, as she was then known, was the central figure in a San Francisco Bay area kidnapping and crime spree that intersected with domestic terrorism during a chaotic moment in American politics and culture, producing iconic images of the era and landing her in prison for 22 months after she embraced,...

With their latest documentary, Rolling Stone: Stories From the Edge, directors Alex Gibney and Blair Foster stitch together old performance footage, recordings from interviews with artists (Ice-t) and Presidents (Bill Clinton), and readings from some of the magazine's most important stories, with the likes of Johnny Depp subbing in for Hunter S. Thompson. Instead of following the magazine's activities year by year, the narrative is dictated by big stories: The film jumps from one big scoop to the next, skipping from Hunter S. Thompson on George McGovern in 1972 to an...

If you are a Paul Schrader fan and happen to be in the New York area this coming weekend then the stars have aligned specifically for you.    There is a retrospective program playing at The Metrograph this coming weekend, October 29th through November 1st. The program features Schrader's films Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters, Dog Eat Dog, American Gigalo, Patty Hearst, Blue Collar and Affliction.   Schrader will be at the screening of Dog Eat Dog and will participate in a Q&A afterwards. You will find all the information you need about each film and tickets at the event page here.    As an influential film critic, screenwriter, and director, Paul Schrader has always gone his own way, whether picking fights with auteurist...

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

Just days after the 39th anniversary of the conviction of Patty Hearst back on March 20, 1976, Deadline is reporting that Fox 2000 has acquired the rights to a new, untitled book being written by Jeffrey Toobin about the life and kidnapping of Hearst. The writers behind Big Eyes, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, will be adapting Toobin’s account.

Deadline is also speculating the role might also be in development for Jennifer Lawrence, but those talks are currently preliminary.

Hearst was 20 when she was kidnapped from her wealthy parents in the Hearst Publishing Family. She was later found to have changed her name to Tania and had joined up with her kidnappers, the Symbionese Liberation Army and eventually robbed a bank in San Francisco. Hearst’s story, based on her own novel, was first adapted into a film in 1988 by Paul Schrader, with Natasha Richardson in the role. Hearst is now 61.

“Everybody...

Review by Sam Moffitt

I love anything about Andy Warhol! I must say that right out of the gate, I love Andy Warhol! I have followed Warhol since the Sixties. Growing up near St. Louis, Missouri in the Sixties my family had a subscription to Life Magazine and they seemed to always be running articles about Op Art, Pop Art, the emerging youth and drug cultures and underground films made by people like the Kuchar Brothers, Jonas Mekas, Taylor Mead and Andy Warhol. It seemed like Warhol was in the news constantly, especially the question of whether his stuff was really art or even had any real value.

I read avidly about his ‘Factory’. in New York and his crew of strange underground people who helped him turn out art works, like….well like a factory!

I have three documentaries about Warhol himself, and have read every book by and about him I could find.

The new trailer for The Canyons, starring Lindsay Lohan has arrived. This may have worked in Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse, but here, it's just nauseating to watch. I know what they're going for, but when you see this effect applied over modern-day environment, it just doesn't sit right. The thriller directed by Paul Schrader, known for The Walker, Affliction, Touch and classics like American Gigolo and Patty Hearst, also includes Nolan Gerard Funk, Gus Van Sant, James Deen, Amanda Brooks, Tenille Houston, Lauren Shacher and Jarod Einsohn. Brett Easton Ellis (The Informers) scripts with a story focusing on youth, glamor and sex in Los Angeles, circa 2012. This is a teaser, so hopefully the next trailer will be better than what we've seen.

The new trailer for The Canyons, starring Lindsay Lohan has arrived. This may have worked in Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse, but here, it's just nauseating to watch. I know what they're going for, but when you see this effect applied over modern-day environment, it just doesn't sit right. The thriller directed by Paul Schrader, known for The Walker, Affliction, Touch and classics like American Gigolo and Patty Hearst, also includes Nolan Gerard Funk, Gus Van Sant, James Deen, Amanda Brooks, Tenille Houston, Lauren Shacher and Jarod Einsohn. Brett Easton Ellis (The Informers) scripts with a story focusing on youth, glamor and sex in Los Angeles, circa 2012. This is a teaser, so hopefully the next trailer will be better than what we've seen.

I had the occasion to have lunch with film industry veteran Jonathan Dana at Cannes and he shared some war stories of what it means to be a "producer" in this day and age.

Zc: So Jonathan, what is it that you do?

Jd: Over my 41 years in the business I have done just about everything except own a theater, including being a partner in two of the prominent indie companies of the 80's and 90's (Atlantic Releasing and Triton Pictures),  before going back on my own in 1995 as a producer and producer's rep. I was also an initial investor in and, with the founders, supervised the launch of indie film community Withoutabox.com, now an operating division of IMDb.

I do both docs and fiction films and enjoy each. Two of my recent docs as a rep have been 2012 Spirit Award nominee "We Were Here" which has its televison premiere on Independent Lens this week, and "The Invisible War" which won the American Doc Audience Award at this year's Sundance and opens theatrically imminently.

As a producer does that mean you came to Cannes to sell something?

We're always selling something, no?

Did you have specific goals in mind for Cannes?  Did you achieve those goals?

Yes, I always have a specific mission in Cannes, whatever it might be in any particular year. One of the art forms, and survival skills, is being able to define your goals in your own mind ahead of time so you can constantly keep steering back to the mission amidst the apparent chaos of the fest and market. And yes, the fest was a success for me, despite its rather unusual wet weather.

This year my mission was to move forward a slate of films I am executive producing with Code Entertainment, the excellent production/finance company run by Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt with whom I have worked for many years ("You Kill Me", "Kill the Irishman", "Drowning Mona", "Sad Jack", upcoming.)

I also had the pleasure of representing the interests of screenwriter Jose Rivera, Rick Berg's client at Code's management division, who was unable to attend the premiere of his "On the Road". I loved the film, and it was a great 'red carpet' evening, with fine weather to boot!

How important is networking to what a producer does?

It's obviously a big part of the job, especially at a Cannes like this one where so many new sales and financing companies were announced. It is important to stay current, even though it often makes your head hurt. I was proud of myself this year, going totally electronic with my iPhone, both for scheduling and for keeping meeting notes, making the usually horrific task of post-Cannes debriefing entirely tolerable.

Do you have any advice for producers and filmmakers who feel that it's just too expensive to justify the cost of going to Cannes or another major festival?

There are many ways to skin a cat. No one event is irreplaceable. Just keep moving forward with the resources at hand. No one ever failed at the movie business just because they did not go to any particular festival.

Do you have any anecdotes or a particular "Cannes moment" of note?

Having been to Cannes 30 times, I am fortunate to have had numerous Cannes moments, including huge triumphs and failures, as well as the tiny moments that are at least equally memorable, so it is hard to pick one. I do remember standing at the top of the red carpet with Patty Hearst, a lovely woman, after the premiere of her biopic that we made with Paul Schrader, staring out at the crowd, thinking "Wow, there's all kinda ways to get to the top of these stairs."

Previous article on Sydney's Buzz about Jonathan Dana.

Next up. . .The International Sales Agent

Written by Zack Coffman.  Follow Zack's film marketing tips and adventures @choppertown on Twitter.

The Movie Pool gets taken by the first-ever DVD release of Patty Hearst!

The DVD is offered as part of MGM's "Limited Edition Collection" on DVD, which are available from select online retailers and are manufactured only when the DVD is ordered. The DVD features a simple menu with no menu for chapters or scenes. Manufacture-On-Demand (Mod) DVDs are made to play in DVD playback units only and may not play in DVD recorders or PC drives. This DVD did not play in our laptop DVD drive but did play in our Toshiba DVD recorder.

DVD Specs

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 enhanced for widescreen TVs

Running Time: 103 minutes

Rating: R

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: None  

Special Features: Trailer

The Set-up

A newspaper heiress is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a group of domestic terrorists, and brainwashed into joining their cause.

Screenplay by: Nicholas Kazan

Produced by: Marvin Worth

Directed by:...

Sun City - What are you going to when it comes time to retire? Do you really have enough money saved up to last you for the rest of your life? Can you hold out till Willard Scott puts you on the Smuckers jar and wishes you a happy 100th? Will you really be enjoying the good life with round the clock sponge baths from young orderlies? Have you done the math to figure out how much it’ll cost for a day at a retirement community in 20 years? Can your 401K hold out?

Odds are the answer is a resounding, “Maybe?”

The golden years require platinum reserves. With talk that Medicare is about to be destroyed, your budget for health insurance is about to go completely out of control. When is the last time Blue Cross hyped individual policies for people hitting 90? Even the most frugal of senior citizens...

Actor reportedly considering making directorial debut on movie based on story of 1974 Symbionese Liberation Army shootout

Russell Crowe is considering making his feature directorial debut on the period cop film 77, according to Deadline.

The screenplay is based on a story by James Ellroy, whose novel La Confidential was adapted for the 1997 Curtis Hanson film in which Crowe starred. It will connect two stories from 1974 which drew public attention at the time: the unsolved murder of an La police officer and a notorious shootout between members of "leftwing revolutionary unit" the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Lapd. The firefight, one of the largest in Us history, saw more than 50,000 rounds of gunfire exchanged and resulted in the deaths of five members of the group.

Crowe may also take a role in the film, whose events will be seen through the eyes of two police partners, one black and one white.

The...

Given the success of Warner’s Archive program, we’re thrilled to see other studios scouring their vaults for content aimed at the discerning cinephile. Here’s a release showcasing the latest coming from MGM via Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Los Angeles (April 14, 2011) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is bringing even more classics to DVD in April through its unique “manufacturing on demand” (“Mod”). The newest group of films will be part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection and available through online retailers. The vast catalog ranges from 1980’s Defiance to 1965’s four-time Academy Award® nominated A Thousand Clowns.

Enjoy your favorite movies from across the decades including:

1950′s

● Davey Crockett, Scout (1950): A U.S. military scout is assigned to stop Indian attacks on a defenseless group of wagon trains making their way West. Stars George Montgomery, Ellen Drew, Noah Beery Jr. Directed by Lew Landers.

● Cloudburst...

As the loved ones of Natasha Richardson continue to mourn, a family decision made in the wake of the Tony-winning actress's sudden death March 18 has brought a measure of comfort: After Richardson was taken off life support at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital, her family requested that her organs be donated to other patients whose lives they might save. Organ donation "is very Natasha," a family friend says in the latest issue of People, on newsstands Friday. "She spent so much time fighting the stigma of AIDS; someone like that would naturally donate her organs. At least by donating her organs...

I met Natasha on a mild, foggy night in Shanghai in September 2004. She was there filming and had stopped by a popular restaurant for a late bite with cast and crew. I'd recently taken a year off from my job as a writer at People in Los Angeles to accept a fellowship in China, and happened to be at the same restaurant. A mutual acquaintance introduced us. Only in Shanghai - with its dizzying collision of international culture and commerce - could my day begin in a neighborhood where residents still use chamber pots and end sharing a meal with the dauntingly beautiful Natasha Richardson.

I met Natasha on a mild, foggy night in Shanghai in September 2004. She was there filming and had stopped by a popular restaurant for a late bite with cast and crew. I'd recently taken a year off from my job as a writer at People in Los Angeles to accept a fellowship in China, and happened to be at the same restaurant. A mutual acquaintance introduced us. Only in Shanghai - with its dizzying collision of international culture and commerce - could my day begin in a neighborhood where residents still use chamber pots and end sharing a meal with the dauntingly beautiful Natasha Richardson.

Patrick Swayze released a statement Monday paying tribute to his Waking Up in Reno costar Natasha Richardson, who was laid to rest over the weekend: "It is such a great loss to this community to lose an actress and person such as Natasha. Gifts like her don't come along very often. It's a rare thing in this industry to have someone with so much talent, beauty, and dedication and yet is imbued with such humility. I know for me and many other people, the world will be a different place without her. "My heart goes out to Liam [Neeson, her husband] and his two boys,...

"If I only could, I'd make a deal with God. And get him to link our places...."

This Woman's Link

fourfour has a thang for Kate Bush. So many memories are embedded in this post I felt like my heart was going to burst whilst my mind was blown. I l-o-v-e Kate Bush. That is all. Where's her biopic? And who on earth would be gorgeous enough but suitably bonkers to play her?

Wuthering Links

Blog Stage Jane Fonda and Angela Lansbury: "non-divas"

Gawker is Warren Beatty holding up the rights to the Dick Tracy franchise. Did you even remember that this could have been one? Speaking of Dick Tracy...

Boy Culture Madonna as Jeanne Moreau in Bay of Angels. Sorta...

Screengrab inaugurates a new series "Not on DVD" with the bio Patty Hearst (1988) starring Natasha Richardson.

/Film the strange case of the distributorless Jim Carrey/Ewan Macgregor prison...

Family and friends of Natasha Richardson said their final goodbye to the star of stage and film during a funeral at St. Peter's Church in Millbrook, N.Y., on Sunday. Under bright sun on a cold spring day, Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, their sons, Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, her mother Vanessa Redgrave, her sister Joely Richardson and friends Uma Thurman, Ralph Fiennes and Mia Farrow arrived at St. Peter's Church at 2:30 p.m. Neeson, looking somber in a dark suit and sunglasses, briefly posed for photographers with his family before walking to the hearse, where he was the first to...

In the wake of the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, a neighborhood acquaintance tells People that the actress was "one of the nicest and most down to earth people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Everyone in the neighborhood is shocked." Manhattan's Upper West Side was a neighborhood Richardson knew well - so much so that doormen at her building, having heard that her medical prognosis was hopeless, were observed crying on Tuesday. Richardson and her husband, actor Liam Neeson, were regulars at several neighborhood establishments, including Café Luxembourg, where a source says the staff is "extremely devastated by this loss.

Liam Neeson gathered with friends and loved ones at the American Irish Historical Society on Manhattan's Upper East Side Friday afternoon for a private viewing of his wife Natasha Richardson's body two days after her tragic death following a ski accident while on vacation in Canada. Among those attending were Uma Thurman, Diane Sawyer and Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and sister, Joely Richardson. At 2:20 p.m., shortly after a silver hearse pulled away from Society headquarters on Fifth Avenue, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neeson, in a black suit and dark sunglasses, arrived in a black...

As Broadway paid tribute to Natasha Richardson Thursday night with a symbolic one-minute dimming of its marquees, the late actress's husband, Liam Neeson, her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister, Joely Richardson, were comforted by Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick as well as fellow actor Ron Rifkin. The Tony-winning Richardson, 45, died Wednesday from internal bleeding caused by the fall she took on a ski slope in Canada. Richardson's family has requested that donations be made in her name to the amfAR foundation for AIDS research, according to family spokesman Alan Nierob, the Associated Press reports. Natasha Richardson, whose father,...

Even as an autopsy gets underway in New York the day after her death, many questions remain about just what happened on a Quebec mountain that left Natasha Richardson with ultimately fatal, severe brain trauma. Roughly 1.4 million people in the U.S. suffer from traumatic brain injuries each year, according to the California Brain Injury Association - and 50,000 die from it. A majority of these injuries result from falls just like Richardson's. "There is no telling what the forces are that were applied to her head," says Dr. Jeff Victoroff, Associate Professor of Neurology at USC's School of Medicine. "People...

Source: CNN

Actress Natasha Richardson has died at the age of 45...

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Partner of Liam Neeson, Richardson was taking beginners skiing lessons at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec when she fell. Initially okay, Richard complained of headaches later and was rushed to hospital for head trama.

Transferred to New York earlier this week, she was taken off life support on Wednesday evening. She leaves her partner and two sons.

Bio from CNN.com:

Richardson was practically born to perform. Her grandfather, Sir Michael Redgrave, was a famed British actor. Her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, is an Oscar-winning actress, and her father, the late director Tony Richardson, helmed such films as "Look Back in Anger," "The Entertainer" and the Oscar-winning "Tom Jones."

Natasha Richardson's uncle Corin Redgrave, aunt Lynn Redgrave, and sister Joely Richardson are also noted performers.

Richardson's first film role was a bit part in her father's "The...

As Broadway prepares to dim its lights Thursday night in her memory, the shock and sadness over Natasha Richardson's untimely death is still settling in among the theatrical and filmmaking communities, with reactions pouring in from both sides of the Atlantic from several generations of fellow performers, including Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan. "For everyone who knew and loved her, Natasha's death is a terrible, devastating loss. She was a star. A great actress, a beautiful woman, a fiercely loyal friend, a brilliant and generous companion," said Fiennes, 46, a longtime friend who costarred with Richardson in 2001's Maid in Manhattan.

Actress Natasha Richardson, 45, passed away after suffering a head injury from a ski accident. The news was made public by a publicist for Richardson's husband, Liam Neeson. The statement did not expound on the cause of her death. Richardson is the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, and the sister of actress Joely Richardson. She won a Tony for her portrayal of performer Sally Bowles in Broadway's 1998 revival of Cabaret, and one of her most notable films was in the title role of the 1988 biopic Patty Hearst. More recent films include Blow Dry, Maid in Manhattan, Parent Trap, Evening and most recently as Mrs. Kingsley in the film Wild Child with Aidan Quinn and Emma Roberts.

http://enews.cynopsis.com/html.asp?XZY1531150UTF59...

One simple, regular fall on a ski slope has led to the unfortunate death of Tony-award winning actress Natasha Richardson. As we posted yesterday, Richardson was on a beginner's slope when she had what seemed to be a minor fall. However, an hour later, she began complaining of headaches and was rushed to the hospital. In just two days, this fall became fatal as she worsened and was finally taken off life support. As E! Online reports, she was pronounced dead earlier today, and will receive a small and private funeral soon.

A rep for Richardson's husband, Liam Neeson, says: "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

Ms. Richardson began her screen career in an uncredited...

Actress Natasha Richardson has died after suffering serious head injuries in a skiing accident. She was 45.

The Maid in Manhattan star, who was married to actor Liam Neeson, was taken to hospital in Montreal, Canada after the incident on the slopes of Mont Tremblant on Monday.

Schindler's List star Neeson rushed to her bedside at the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal as doctors battled to save her. He flew her to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York on Tuesday, where he was joined by the actress' mother Vanessa Redgrave and close friends and family.

She was removed from life support on Wednesday morning and died hours later.

Confirming the sad news, the actress' publicist Alan Nierob tells WENN, "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

The daughter of late director/producer Tony Richardson and actress Redgrave, Richardson began her career in regional theatre before moving into television and film work.

Her first major movie was Ken Russell's 1986 drama Gothic, and she also notably starred in The Handmaid's Tail, Past Midnight, and 2001 comedy Blow Dry.

She also portrayed heiress and socialite-turned bank robber Patty Hearst in a biopic and played Lindsay Lohan's mum in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap.

Richardson won a string of honours during her career, including a 1999 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her turn in Cabaret on Broadway.

She also scooped the Plays and Players Best Actress in 1990, and was twice honoured with Britain's Evening Standard Film Award - in 1990 and 2006.

Richardson wed filmmaker Robert Fox in 1990 but they split two years later. She married Neeson in 1994.

She is survived by her mother, her sister Joely Richardson, half-brother Carlo Nero, and her two sons with Neeson, Micheal Richard Antonio, 13, and 12-year-old Daniel Jack.

  New York (AP) - Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film "Patty Hearst" and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of "Cabaret," died Wednesday at age 45 after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident. Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death Tuesday night in a written statement. "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of...

Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neeson and daughter of acting legend Vanessa Redgrave, died Wednesday of a critical head injury resulting from a skiing accident; she was 45.

"The Insider" confirms that actress Natasha Richardson has died after being hospitalized for a skiing accident. She was 45. In an official statement to "The Insider," a spokesperson for the family said: "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time." Natasha Jane Richardson came into the world on May 11, 1963, in London, England. Born into one of theater and film's most famous acting dynasties, her mother is actress Vanessa Redgrave and her father is the late director and producer Tony Richardson. She was the granddaughter of British actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. She is a niece to Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave and her sister is "Nip/Tuck" actress Joely Richardson. She married fellow actor Neeson in...

Natasha Richardson, who more than upheld her lineage as part of one of the great acting dynasties by establishing an eclectic career in film, TV and theater, where she earned a Tony in 1998 for her performance as Sally Bowles in "Cabaret," died Wednesday in New York. She was 45.

Richardson suffered a head injury while taking a skiing lesson Monday at the Mont Tremblant resort north of Montreal. Although she initially showed no visible signs of injury, she developed a headache about an hour later and was taken first to a local hospital in Ste. Agathe, Quebec, and then was transferred to the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal.

On Tuesday, she was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where her family, including husband Liam Neeson and her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, gathered to keep vigil.

Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Neeson, confirmed her...

Born in the shadow of her Oscar-winning mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and married for 14 years to Oscar-nominated Irish actor Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson once joked to People, "I've spent half my life trying to get away from being Vanessa Redgrave's daughter, and now I've got to get away from being Liam Neeson's wife." But Richardson - whose family announced her death Wednesday after a ski accident that resulted in severe brain trauma - was far from an also-ran: the smoky-voiced actress carved an impressive niche on stage with her Tony-winning turn as the vampy Sally Bowles in Cabaret and...

Born in the shadow of her Oscar-winning mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and married for 14 years to Oscar-nominated Irish actor Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson once joked to People, "I've spent half my life trying to get away from being Vanessa Redgrave's daughter, and now I've got to get away from being Liam Neeson's wife." But Richardson - whose family announced her death Wednesday after a ski accident that resulted in severe brain trauma - was far from an also-ran: the smoky-voiced actress carved an impressive niche on stage with her Tony-winning turn as the vampy Sally Bowles in Cabaret and...