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If you've paid any kind of attention to Sylvester Stallone's film career for any amount of time, you know he's made some absolutely terrible movies. To be fair, some were out of necessity. Prior to becoming a big screen superstar in 1976 with "Rocky," a briefly homeless Stallone starred in a quickie pornographic romance called "The Party at Kitty and Stud's" (which was rereleased post-stardom as "The Italian Stallion"). Around the same time, he also appeared in the low-budget terrorism thriller "No Place to Hide," which was recut as a comedy and dumped into video stores in 1990 with the title "A Man Called... Rainbo."

For the most part, however, Stallone has been the author of his own cinematic misery. After the wild critical and commercial success of "Rocky", the star went on a decade-plus tear during which he could get anything greenlit. At first, he put his newfound box office...

Is there anything Kurt Russell can't do? There are obviously things he has yet to do. He hasn't won the Nobel Prize for economics, nor has he landed on the Moon. He hasn't cured cancer, and, last I checked, he hasn't set the land speed record for driving a Chevy Nova in reverse. But because he is Kurt Russell, we assume he'll get around to these things in between rounds of golf.

What has Kurt Russell done to merit such confidence in his abilities? Need I say list the titles? "Used Cars," "Escape from New York," "The Thing" "Big Trouble in Little China," "Tango & Cash," "Backdraft," "Tombstone"... the man is the patron saint of afternoon dad cinema. He's a self-deprecating John Wayne — a big, blustery, bluffing tough guy who, despite his occasional oafishness, always comes through in the clutch. He's not afraid to make himself look silly; in fact,...

Sylvester Stallone has starred in some great movies, but like any Hollywood mainstay, he's also been in a few stinkers. One time, Arnold Schwarzenegger actually trolled Stallone into starring in a major flop, so it's fair to say that the "Rocky" star has made some questionable career choices. With that in mind, one would think that he'd jump at the chance to work with an acclaimed director like Quentin Tarantino, whose movies often result in their stars winning awards. However, the "Rambo" veteran hasn't been interested in teaming up with the filmmaker when roles have been offered to him in the past.

While speaking to McClean's in 2012, Stallone revealed that he turned down the roles of Louis Gara and "Stuntman" Mike McKay in "Jackie Brown" and "Death Proof," respectively. He also noted that the latter project didn't sit right with him at the time, seeing as he didn't want...

Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell have long been two of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, and their collaboration in 3000 Miles to Graceland should have been the ultimate combination. Both actors had long been considered A-listers, with Costner enjoying a prime run of hits like The Untouchables, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Dances with Wolves, while Russell’s filmography included Tombstone, Big Trouble in Little China, and Tango & Cash. So, when they teamed up for 3000 Miles to Graceland, it seemed like a surefire way to give audiences an unforgettable ride of mayhem, heists, and revenge. However, the film’s tone and execution resulted in one of the most divisive action films of the early 2000s.

However, while the film’s critical reception was scathing, it found a cult following among audiences who appreciated its over-the-top action, wild plot twists, and absurd humor. Many fans have since embraced...

March 17, 1951 was a great day in history, because that’s the day Kurt Vogel Russell entered the world. And while he would go on to become one of the biggest icons of the eighties and nineties, many folks don’t know that Russell started as a child star for The Walt Disney Company, even acting opposite his future life partner Goldie Hawn in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) – although they wouldn’t get together until Russell ended up in another movie starring Goldie Hawn, Swing Shift (1984). From the sixties into the seventies, he starred in Disney flicks like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), but as the studio’s movies started to flop and Russell got older, a change of pace was needed. Arguably, Russell’s career took off when he began working with director John Carpenter, with the first movie being 1979’s TV movie Elvis, but what...

Sylvester Stallone was one of the biggest action stars of the ‘80s and the ‘90s but he had one of the fiercest rivals in Arnold Schwarzenegger. The two were part of a long-standing feud where they constantly competed with each other not just in box office numbers but also in kill counts. The feud reportedly even involved them trying to ruin each others’ careers.

While the duo have since reconciled, the stories of the feud still hold a large space in pop culture history. However, Schwarzenegger may have bested Stallone in one aspect i.e. his wit. The former Governor of California mentioned that he once included a subtle message to legislators and then acted coy when the media asked him.

Arnold Schwarzenegger possibly gave his best acting performance in one badass moment as the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator | Credits: Tri-Star Pictures

Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the...

Kurt Russell's underrated 2018 Christmas comedy is climbing up the Netflix charts six years after its original release. Russell may be best-known as an action star, thanks to career-defining movies like Escape from New York, The Thing, Tango & Cash, Tombstone, Backdraft, Stargate and many more. But over the years Russell has also carved out a space for himself in lighter fare, taking on both comedy and family-friendly roles.

The star’s work in family-friendly projects indeed began early on when he toiled as a lovable child and teen actor in Disney titles like The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. Success as a grown-up comedy performer was in the offing for Russell starting in the 1980s, when he starred alongside wife Goldie Hawn in the hit movie Overboard.

John Carpenter's 1981 dystopian sci-fi action movie Escape From New York is about to come home in a new Limited Edition 4K Steelbook. Starring Kurt Russell as the iconic anti-hero Snake Plissken, the cult classic has received the new 4K restoration by Studio Canal, and comes with a host of extras including multiple audio commentaries, Dolby Atmos sound and several featurettes, as well as a cool Steelbook with new design. This limited release will be available from November 5.

Escape from New York takes place in a dystopian future where Manhattan has been converted into a maximum-security prison. When Air Force One crashes into the chaotic and dangerous zone, Russells Plissken is given little choice but to save the president within 24 hours, otherwise an explosive device implanted in his neck will be detonated.

The movie came just a few years after John Carpenter cemented himself as a force to be reckoned...

Plot: An origin story set on Cybertron focused on the friendship between a young Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) before they became arch-enemies.

Review: It figures that the best movie Paramount’s ever made from the Transformers franchise is animated. When I hit Comic Con in San Diego a few months ago, the folks behind Transformers One mentioned that by adopting an animated format, for the first time in the history of the big screen franchise, they were able to make a Transformers movie without any human characters, set 100% on Cybertron. It would have cost about $400 million had this been live-action. And, indeed, with no limit on the story’s scope, for the first time, we have a Transformers movie that can legitimately be called terrific.

Indeed, folks are in for a surprise with this one, which is very much in the vein of the recent...

The belated Cliffhanger 2 could give Sylvester Stallone a much needed boost after a stretch of bad luck with franchises. During Hollywood's so-called Golden Age, movie stars avoided sequels, with most finding them inferior attempts to cash in on a hit. During the 1970s, Stallone was one of the first actors to recognize the value of building a franchise for himself, so when his post-Rocky movies flopped, he soon returned with Rocky 2. That's not to say he didn't find value in dipping back into the Rocky movie franchise and fleshing out new chapters in the boxer's life, however.

It was when Stallone hit big with the Rambo movies that he became the king of sequels, and could typically rely on a new sequel in either series to boost his box-office numbers. Other Sylvester Stallone franchises include The Expendables and Escape Plan, and over 30 years after the original, Sly...

1980s action comedies featured iconic movie stars like Stallone, Gibson, and De Niro. Tango & Cash, a buddy cop film released in 1989, brought together Stallone and Russell for a fun, cheesy, and action-packed adventure. The 1980s were a golden age for action comedies, with films like Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon redefining the genre with humor and action.

The 1980s were a fantastic time for action comedies as major movie stars led fantastic films that would go on to achieve iconic status. With over-the-top cheesy 1980s aesthetics to an innate sense of fun that didnt take itself too seriously, action comedies of this era were endlessly rewatchable as they usually focused on the comedic rapport and chemistry between actors rather than over-the-top set pieces of the action comedies that came later. While these stylistic choices may immediately date these movies to their time and place, this was also part of their innate charm.

What’s it like playing a Bond girl? Lois Lane? Being one degree from Kevin Bacon? The actor is here to tell all. And she might even talk about starring in the odd era-defining comedy drama

If you haven’t seen Coraline – the spooky animated dark fantasy film based on British author Neil Gaiman’s novella and produced by American stop-motion animation studio Laika – now’s your chance. But don’t forget your 3D glasses (also available in the foyer) because it’s been remastered in 3D to mark its 15th anniversary. A creepy story about people with buttons for eyes, Coraline features the voices of Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, our old friend Ian McShane – and Teri Hatcher who’s kindly agreed to take the reader interview.

So … what to ask? Hatcher has been a Bond girl of course, in Tomorrow Never Dies; in fact, she plays Bond...

When Kurt Russell shed his Disney child star image once and for all as the leathery, laconic renegade Snake Plissken in John Carpenter's dystopian action hit "Escape from New York," he seemed poised for a long career as a handsome, rough-and-tumble leading man, the John Wayne-Steve McQueen hybrid America needed now that both had hit the soil. Russell, however, had other plans.

For starters, Russell didn't dig the laconic shtick. After a tonally similar performance as the perpetually cheesed-off R.J. MacReady in Carpenter's "The Thing," the actor sought to send up his tough-guy persona in goofball action flicks like "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Tango & Cash." He also gleefully made a fool of himself in broad comedies (memorably/infamously in "Overboard" and "Captain Ron"), while playing in-over-their-heads everymen in thrillers like "The Mean Season" and "Unlawful Entry." He could still do the gruff act when...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of April titles. The April 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals as well as numerous action, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi April 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the web at Tubi.tv.

Tubi Originals

Documentary

Behind...

When you think about actors who are the epitome of cool, Kurt Russell is around the top of every list. He's been on TV and theater screens since the 1960s, but at age 72 he's still a megastar, whether it be from recent roles in films like F9 or The Christmas Chronicles, or the new Apple TV+ Godzilla series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Kurt Russell has done it all. He was a child Disney actor; he's shown up on Gunsmoke and Gilligan's Island, and he's been a badass action icon in movies like Tango & Cash, Tombstone, and Executive Decision. His best work has always been with director John Carpenter. The duo have worked together many times, creating classics such as Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China. No matter what, even if they were to work again, their greatest collaboration will always be The Thing. R.J. MacReady is Russell's best role,...

Many great 80s action movies, like Cobra and Blue Thunder, never received the sequels they deserved despite initial success and popularity. The success of franchises like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon led other movies to attempt to capture the same magic, but not all were successful in securing follow-ups. Surprisingly, movies like Red Dawn and Tango & Cash, which had provocative world-building and solid box office performances, never got the sequels that fans hoped for, leaving untapped potential.

The 1980s produced some of the most iconic action movies of all time, but only a lucky few spawned the franchises that are still associated with this era. For the rest, one classic movie was not enough to secure a succession of sequels – or sometimes even a single follow-up – despite popular acclaim from fans. As a result, there are a surprising number of great 80s action movies that are yet to build on their legacy,...

Potential "Deadpool 3" spoilers to follow.

In a time of great turmoil for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who better to come strolling in than the Merc With A Mouth himself? The big-screen iteration of Deadpool -- as played by Ryan Reynolds -- thrives on upending expectations for the superhero genre, like when "Deadpool 2" introduced a version of the famous mutant outlaw squad known as X-Force, only to immediately kill off the entire team in a comically violent fashion (save for Zazie Beetz's luck-powered Domino). A little chaos along those lines would surely do the MCU good at this juncture, allowing it to shake off its recent woes and work towards a better tomorrow.

For that to happen, however, Marvel Studios should probably do a little House (of Ideas) cleaning first. Enter "Deadpool 3," a three-quel that's gotten fans hyped ever since it was confirmed to bring Reynolds' Wade Wilson into the MCU.

Kurt Russell has had a successful career as an action star, with many of his greatest and most famous credits falling within this genre. Some of Kurt Russell's best action movies cross over into other genres, such as horror, superhero, and Western, making for an outstanding and diverse list. While not all of Kurt Russell's best movies are critically acclaimed, they are highly entertaining and have a dedicated following, solidifying his status as a beloved action hero.

Kurt Russell is one of the foremost action stars in modern cinema and has appeared in some thrilling and spectacular movies throughout his career. Russell has acted since the early 1960s and made his big screen debut with an uncredited role in the Elvis Presley musical It Happened at the World's Fair. Afterward, he became a Disney movie star and then a comedic action hero through his many collaborations with John Carpenter, and...

Director James Wan defends reducing Amber Heard's role in Aquaman 2, stating it was his original plan for the sequel, not a reaction to controversy. The sequel is intended to be a buddy comedy centered around Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson's characters, unlike the first film's action-adventure romantic comedy tone. Wan emphasizes that negative narratives about the film's production are not the reality and urges people to focus on the truth rather than media stories.

Director James Wan has defended the decision to reduce Amber Heard's role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The controversy surrounding Heard's legal battles with Johnny Depp had placed a spotlight on the actress, with some fans demanding her removal from the film. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Wan clarified that this reduction was not a reactionary move. Instead, it was part of his original creative vision for the film. He pointed...

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is arriving in December, bringing Jason Momoa back as Arthur Curry. It's been a full five years since the first "Aquaman" became the biggest DC movie ever. Now, James Wan is back behind the camera for another massive, globe-trotting adventure. Much has been made thus far of Amber Heard's Mera, who will be reprising her role in the sequel, albeit in a more limited capacity. She won't be a main character this time around. As for why that is? Wan has addressed it head-on.

In the December issue of Empire Magazine, the filmmaker spoke about the long-awaited "Aquaman" sequel and, specifically, touched on the Mera situation. During her highly public court case with her ex-husband Johnny Depp, Heard claimed her role in the sequel was a "pared-down version" of what she was originally pitched, and that the studio "didn't want to include her" following the divorce.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan defends his decision to reduce Amber Heard's role in the sequel, stating that it was always his plan. He explains that the first film was a romantic adventure, while the second is intended to be an outright buddy comedy. Wan compares the sequel to the buddy cop film "Tango & Cash" and emphasizes his creative vision for the franchise.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's Amber Heard role controversy gets addressed by the movie's director. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the last movie of the Dceu, and the film has not managed to escape the same level of controversy that several different entries in the shared universe dealt with in the past. Multiple reports have touched on Heard's Mera having a reduced role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's story, with the actress unhappy about the ordeal.

Speaking with...

Since his breakout role as Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone has risen to be one of the most successful and powerful men in Hollywood. Arguably the king of 1980s macho action movies, along with Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone has headlined a slew of incredibly iconic films. Even today, the seasoned actor has been involved in some fantastic films from across genres.

Sylvester Stallone has played everything from troubled soldiers and hard-boiled assassins to straight-laced detectives and athletes. The actor best fits into physical roles that show off his physique and action prowess, but he's proven himself as versatile an actor as any of his peers. The action hero has one of the best streaks of movies in the business, and his range extended far beyond Rocky.

Over The Top

Release Date

February 12, 1987

Director

Menahem Golan

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely & David Mendenhall

Genre

Sports Drama...

James Wan is trying to swim past the “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” on-set rumors.

The director told Empire magazine that reports of reshoots have been exaggerated for the Jason Momoa-led superhero movie. “We probably did seven or eight days, which is nothing for a movie of this size,” Wan said. “It was just spread out because it’s so hard to get your actors back once you’ve finished the initial shoot.”

Wan admitted that he “had to learn to be more Zen in dealing with all the noise” especially when it came to rumors of issues in the production.

“I’m a pretty private person,” Wan said. “I don’t get on social media and have fights, but it’s difficult because this narrative has emerged that is not the reality. The noise is fun to write about, and it gets clicks, but people don’t know the truth.

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” director James Wan told Empire magazine that the reshoot process on his latest DC tentpole was not out of the ordinary, despite many reports claiming post-production on the sequel required at least three rounds of reshoots.

“We probably did seven or eight days,” Wan clarified about the reshoots in the cover story. “Nothing for a movie of this size. It was just spread out because it’s so hard to get your actors back once you’ve finished the initial shoot.”

Wan previously addressed the reshoot rumors in an Entertainment Weekly interview: “We have big actors in this movie and everyone’s schedule is really hard. So, we had to break up our shooting schedule into sections. We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like,...

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan, will have a buddy comedy vibe similar to the film Tango & Cash (1989). Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Patrick Wilson's Ocean Master will team up to combat the threat of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta. Wan's two Aquaman movies are designed to be watched back-to-back, creating a seamless viewing experience.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s director James Wan is comparing his sequel to an action-packed ‘80s movie. In an exclusive interview appearing in the next issue of Empire magazine, Wan reveals that Arthur Curry’s (Jason Momoa) upcoming cinematic venture is very much in the same vein as the buddy film Tango & Cash (1989). Check out a brand-new image from the movie, courtesy of Empire:

Wan told Empire the storytelling designs behind his Aquaman duology:

From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a...

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will officially bring the Dceu to an end. The film will find Aquaman (Jason Momoa) reluctantly joining forces with his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to combat a more powerful Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), which led director James Wan to describe the sequel as a buddy comedy.

While speaking with Empire, James Wan said that he pitched the first Aquaman movie as a Romancing The Stone-type thing, while he always knew that the second would be an “outright buddy comedy” like Tango & Cash or Men in Black. “I wanted to do Tango & Cash!” Wan said. “Jason plays Arthur larger-than-life; Patrick plays the straight man. It’s not unlike what Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones did in Men In Black – like Tommy, Patrick plays it dry, but very funny.”

Related Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom graces Empire Magazine’s winterized magazine covers

“Having...

Producer Rick Morales has been an active part of the Mortal Kombat Universe for a long time, producing a growing line of successful animated feature films, including its latest entry, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match. Released on home video this October, the movie is a full-on love letter to the '80s as struggling action star Johnny Cage finds himself in the middle of a sinister cult's plot to revive their hellish leader in the middle of the City of Angels. Tapping into his martial arts skills and with his mysterious partner Ashrah by his side, it's up to Johnny to save the day for real before Los Angeles becomes the epicenter of Hell on Earth.

In an exclusive interview with Cbr, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match producer Rick Morales revealed the origins and inspirations behind Cage Match, explained how the production heavily evoked the '80s vibe for the animated movie,...

Stallone has starred in a variety of movies, from exploitation thrillers to prestigious dramas, and has become an iconic action hero. Some of his most notable films include Death Race 2000, Demolition Man, and The Expendables 2, showcasing his talent and star power. Stallone's role as Rocky Balboa in the Rocky franchise, as well as his performances in First Blood and Cop Land, highlight his range as an actor beyond just action movies.

From the Rocky and Rambo franchises to one-offs like Cop Land and F.I.S.T., Sylvester Stallone has starred in some great movies throughout his storied career. In an age when movie stars are becoming a thing of the past and franchise I.P.s are the new movie stars, Stallone is one of the last remaining bona fide A-listers who can bring crowds to a theater based on his involvement alone. Sometimes, moviegoing audiences don’t know what...

With Expend4bles more than likely bringing to a close the franchise Sylvester Stallone created over 13 years ago, we wanted to know what movie in the legendary actors filmography is your favorite? Does his original creation of Rocky remain your favorite all these years later or do you find some of his iconic 90’s action films more your speed? Or perhaps you a true purist and find Italian Stallion to be quintessential Stallone! If you don’t see your favorite listed, please click other and let us know what it is (and why) in the comments.

What is your Favorite Sylvester Stallone Film?Italian Stallion (1970)Death Race 2000 (1975)Rocky (1976)F.I.S.T (1978)Paradise Alley (1978)Rocky II (1979)Nighthawks (1981)Rocky III (1982)First Blood (1982)Rhinestone (1984)Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)Rocky IV (1985)Cobra (1986)Over The Top (1987)Rambo III (1988)Lock Up (1989)Tango & Cash (1989)Rocky V (1990)Oscar (1991)Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)Cliffhanger (1993)Demolition Man (1993)The Specialist...

Clockwise from top left: First Blood (Orion), Rocky (MGM), Creed (Warner Bros.), Rhinestone (20th Century), Over The Top (Warner Bros.)Graphic: AVCliub

Whether it’s the slurred, street-toughened voice that seems lifted from the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where he was born, the monosyllabic heroes who cemented his iconic status,...

If the production of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" has undergone somewhat of a rocky few years, from significant reshoots to Covid delays to the fallout from the bizarre saga of "The Flash," that's nothing compared to the chaos surrounding the film over at Warner Bros. Discovery. While director James Wan, star Jason Momoa, and the rest of the creative team have been steadily plugging away at the sequel to one of the franchise's most shocking over-performers at the box office, the entire ground upon which the film was meant to stand on has essentially fallen away from beneath its feet. The widely-publicized leadership shakeup put fellow director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran in charge of the whole shebang, which inevitably had ripple effects on a film that now represents a holdover from a previous studio regime.

Yet somehow, some way, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is still treading...

Warning: Major Spoilers For Netflix's Fubar Season 1 Below!Fubar is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's new Netflix spy comedy, but what does the term actually mean? Fubar is selling itself as an action comedy, but it's relatively light on the action. Instead, it's more of a comedy show where Arnie's retiring CIA agent Luke Brunner is forced to mentor his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) as they keep their spy work separate from family life. The lack of explosive setpieces might be a disappointment to fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger's action movies, but it does let him stretch his dramatic muscles somewhat.

Fubar does underline the personal toll that being a spy can take. His commitment to his job saw Arnie's Luke sacrifice his marriage and a close relationship with his daughter, while Emma faces the exact same problems trying to balance both sides of her life. Despite being called Fubar,...

The line-up of Sylvester Stallone's Expendables changed quite a bit from pre-production to the final movie. A movie pairing major action stars seemed like a no-brainer during the '80s and '90s, but the cost - and ego - involved in uniting name actors like Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Van Damme in one project seemed insurmountable back then. With the downfall of R-rated action movies during the 2000s, such a team-up became a lot more attractive to both producers and actors, leading Stallone to create The Expendables.

This film is said to have started as a gritty, dark thriller about the titular mercs, but as Stallone cast action luminaries like Jason Statham, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren, it became more of an '80 homage. Throughout The Expendables movies, various names were linked to play roles, including Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen and even Clint Eastwood. The casting line-up of the...

1995 – it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. While the peak era of action movies was beginning to wane, multiplexes were still packed with decent action films, and icons like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were still packing them in. Meanwhile, second-tier action heroes like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme still tried to punch their way onto the A-list. It would never quite happen for those two, with both starring in direct-to-video movies by the decade’s end. But 1995 was arguably the last year in the nineties when Stallone and Schwarzenegger were at the top of their game. Schwarzenegger’s career would only really falter at the end of the decade, with him never really able to recapture his former box office glory following his run as the Governor of California. Stallone would be luckier, with him able to reinvent himself in the mid-2000s...

Sylvester Stallone has been a fixture of pop culture for some 50 years, and it began with "Rocky," one of Hollywood's biggest success stories. That is not hyperbole. Stallone wrote a script that took him from obscurity and made him an Oscar-nominated actor and writer with instant star power and a few million in the bank.

Hopes were high for Stallone. Roger Ebert, for instance, wrote that the young actor reminded him of Marlon Brando, who had played a journeyman fighter in "On The Waterfront." However, thanks to mindless vanity pieces like "Cobra" and "Rambo: First Blood Part II," it wouldn't be long before such a comparison was viewed with derision.

Still, people shouldn't forget what made Stallone a success from 1976 to 1982, during which he proved himself as an actor of intelligence, naturalism, and heart. A mixture of ego and '80s commercialism reoriented his dramatic foundation throughout the rest of the decade,...

Movies That Made Me veteran guest and screenwriter Dan Waters discusses his favorite year of cinema (1989) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Love At First Bite (1979)

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Heathers (1989)

Warlock (1989)

The Matrix (1999)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Jaws (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Nashville (1975)

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Field Of Dreams (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Sex Lies And Videotape (1989)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

All That Jazz (1979)

Hair (1979)

Alien (1979)

Fight Club (1999)

Office Space (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

American Pie (1999)

The Iron Giant (1999)

All About My Mother (1999)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Say Anything… (1989)

Miracle Mile (1989)

True Love (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Southside With You...

Sylvester Stallone reveals what he feels is the most underrated movie in his filmography. Stallone's career has seen him tackle various prominent roles and franchises, like Rocky, Rambo, and The Expendables. He's also known as an action star, having made films like Tango & Cash, Demolition Man, and Cliffhanger. And while the actor has also appeared in films where he seemed out of place, like Rhinestone or Oscar, he has a unique thought about his most underrated movie.

While speaking with THR, Stallone was asked about the most underrated movie from his lengthy career, with the actor choosing 2000's Get Carter remake. He calls the movie a "big disappointment," saying that "tremendous nostalgia" was attached to the original film that hindered the remake's performance. While Get Carter didn't impress much upon its release, it left an indelible mark on Stallone. Check out Stallone's comments on Get Carter below:

"Believe it or not,...

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are good friends who have shared the screen in films such as “The Expendables” and “Escape Plan,” but that wasn’t always the case for the action icons. The two were box office rivals throughout the 1980s and 1990s, which Stallone recently admitted to Forbes was the reason behind the two hating each other for a long time.

“We really disliked each other immensely,” Stallone said. “We were… this may sound a little vain, but I think we were pioneering a kind of genre at that time and it hasn’t been seen since really. So the competition, because it’s his nature, he is very competitive and so am I… and I just thought it actually helped, but off-screen we were still competitive and that was not a healthy thing at all, but we’ve become really good friends.”

Stallone dominated the action genre...

Stuntman J.J. Perry, director of Day Shift, joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his favorite action flicks.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

You Only Live Twice (1967) – Dana Gould’s trailer commentary

From Russia With Love (1963) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Day Shift (2022)

Big Trouble In Little China (1986) – Mike Mendez’s trailer commentary

The Lost Boys (1987) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Fright Night (1986) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

The Evil Dead (1983) – Fede Alvarez’s trailer commentary

Zombieland (2009)

Traffic (2000)

Spectral (2016)

Spectre (2015)

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

Enter The Dragon (1973) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Way of the Dragon a.k.a. Return of the Dragon (1972) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

Rocky (1976)

Rocky II (1979)

Rocky III (1982)

Rocky IV (1985)

Rocky V (1990)

Creed (2015)

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

The Tournament (2009)

The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

Samaritan (2022)

Safe (2012)

Warrior...

Diversity

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 is teaming with TV talent company Gritty Talent to help independent production companies build more diverse senior teams. The move in the wake of the broadcaster’s new commissioning guidelines published in June, which require all the indies it works with to have ethnically diverse as well as disabled off screen talent on production teams, with the new framework coming into play Aug. 1. The requirements are part of the legacy of Channel 4’s Black to Front Project.

Gritty Talent will define where the skills gaps and talent shortages exist across the U.K. in specific genres, and they will then help to identify the suitable talent. Genres under the spotlight first will be news and current affairs, factual entertainment and documentaries. The work will be supported by Channel 4’s strategic training and development initiative 4Skills, which focuses on supporting talent from diverse and disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

Back when WarnerMedia (which technically no longer exists in the same form) announced that it would be premiering its entire slate of 2021 films on HBO Max, this is the kind of month they likely had in mind. For HBO Max’s list of new releases in August 2021 is highlighted by an honest-to-goodness blockbuster.

The Suicide Squad is set to premiere Aug. 5 on HBO Max. This film featuring some of DC Comics’ most curious villains borrows its name, format, and many of its characters from the David Ayers-directed 2016 film Suicide Squad. This time around, the rogues gallery is directing by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and his colorful disposition. In addition to The Suicide Squad, August sees the arrival of the Hugh Jackman-starring Reminiscence on Aug. 20.

Read more Movies The Suicide Squad First Reactions Are In By John Saavedra Movies How The Suicide Squad is Different from Guardians of the Galaxy...

HBO Max will arguably debut its biggest Warner Bros. release yet on August 5, when James Gunn’s take on “The Suicide Squad” makes its day-and-date premiere on the streaming platform (the comic book blockbuster is also coming out in theaters nationwide).

But beyond “The Suicide Squad,” film fans will find a copious amount of features on HBO Max in August 2021, including a new Hugh Jackman movie, plus classic ‘90s favorites like “Basic Instinct,” “The Birdcage,” “The Fugitive,” “Deep Cover,” “Malcolm X,” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Ahead, every new movie and series coming to HBO Max in August 2021, plus the top titles leaving the service before September 1.

New on HBO Max in August 2021

August 1

2 Days in the Valley, 1996 (HBO)

9/11: Fifteen Years Later, 2016

A Mighty Wind, 2003 (HBO)

A Walk Among the Tombstones, 2014 (HBO)

The Accidental Spy, 2002 (HBO)

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, 2005 (HBO)

Americano, 2017 (HBO)

Anna to the Infinite Power,...

Fox Nation has enlisted a new face to help it navigate TV’s streaming wars.

As part of a licensing pact with WarnerMedia’s Warner Bros. studio, the Fox News-backed streaming outlet will offer six classic films featuring Clint Eastwood throughout the month of August, along with two original documentary specials made to accompany the movies. The films to be shown include 1971’s “Dirty Harry,” which is in the midst of its 50th anniversary, 1976’s “The Enforcer,” “1983’s “Sudden Impact,” 1988’s “The Dead Pool,” 1985’s “Pale Rider” and 1986’s “Heartbreak Ridge.” “Magnum Force,” the 1973 film that is the second in the “Dirty Harry” series about an aggressive police detective, is not part of the package.

“Clint Eastwood is somebody that our audience holds in very high esteem and is very iconic,” said Jason Klarman, president of Fox Nation, in an interview.

The pact shows Fox News Media extending its...

Nas will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 1996 album It Was Written with a new reissue that includes the original LP alongside a pair of rare bonus tracks.

The follow-up to his landmark debut Illmatic, It Was Written boasted his hits “The Message,” “Street Dreams” and “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” featuring Lauryn Hill. The album also had appearances by Mobb Deep, Dr. Dre, Foxy Brown and the debut of the Firm, the hip-hop supergroup of Nas, Foxy Brown, Az and Cormega.

Out July 2nd — the actual 25th birthday of the album,...

The deadly Soviet response to a workers’ strike tests a mother’s faith in communism in Andrei Konchalovsky’s harrowing drama based on true events

Veteran film-maker, screenwriter, theatre and TV director Andrei Konchalovsky’s career is nothing if not eclectic. He co-wrote Tarkovsky’s 1966 classic Andrei Rublev, while his directorial CV ranges from an acclaimed 1970 adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya to Venice prize winners The Postman’s White Nights and Paradise, via the Kurosawa-originated white-knuckle thriller Runaway Train and the ill-fated Hollywood buddy cop action film Tango & Cash, from which he was removed mid-shoot.

Konchalovsky’s latest (once again feted at Venice) is among his finest work, a harrowing drama set in 1962, in the provincial Ussr town of Novocherkassk. Julia Vysotskaya plays Lyudmila (Aka Lyuda), a stalwart party official who served as a battlefield nurse during the second world war, and who retains a nostalgic devotion to...

The world-famous breakdancer and Breakin' star best known by his nickname Shabba Doo, Adolfo Quinones has sadly passed away at the age of 65. The news was announced by his family just one day after Quiñones posted a photo of himself in bed, revealing that he was feeling a "wee bit sluggish" from his cold, but had reported negative for Covid-19. A cause of death hasn't been confirmed, but investigators say a roommate found the dancer unconscious on Wednesday night before he was later pronounced dead.

In an Instagram post, Quiñones' sister Fawn addresses her brother's passing by writing, "I Love You Special K my Big Brother Shabba Doo Ozone. My Heart is Broken apart we look alike and Dance Alike My Heart Wiull Never Be The Same It Hurts!"

Born in Chicago in 1955, Quiñones was a member of The Original Lockers dance group alongside Fred "Rerun" Berry, Don "Campbellock" Campbell,...

Adolfo Quinones, better known as “Shabba-Doo,” the pioneering hip-hop dancer and one of the stars of the film “Breakin,'” has died. He was 65.

Shabba-Doo was one of the members of the dance crew The Original Lockers that helped introduce the “locking” style of dance to breakdancing and hip-hop. One of his fellow members, Toni Basil, announced Quinones’ death on Wednesday. No cause of death was given.

“It is with extreme sadness the Lockers family announces the unexpected passing of our beloved Adolfo Shabba-Doo Quinones. In this difficult time, we are requesting privacy,” Basil wrote in a statement to Twitter.

A representative for Quinones did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Shabba-Doo earlier this week posted on Instagram that he was feeling sick but that he had tested negative for Covid-19.

Born and raised in Chicago, Shabba-Doo was a dancer of Puerto Rican and African American descent and joined up with Basil,...

Kurt Russell shot to mainstream attention as the ruggedly handsome lead of several classic genre movies in the 1980s, positively radiating star charisma and boasting one of the most finely coiffed hairstyles of an era almost entirely defined by them. However, as hard as it seems to imagine given his chiseled features and twinkly-eyed charm, the actor initially got his big break in the industry when he was barely into his teens.

The young Russell scored his first credited role for three episodes of The Dick Powell Show all the way back in 1962, before signing a ten-year contract with Disney in 1966. In fact, in a bizarre bit of trivia, the final words ever written down by Walt Disney himself were ‘Kurt Russell,’ which he scrawled on a piece of paper shortly before he died.

Once he grew out of being a teen idol, Russell went on to build a filmography...

This week brings the release of two very different Christmas movies with Santa Claus as the main character, although they do both star actors who played a series of iconic roles throughout the 1980s. Mel Gibson’s Fatman is a dark and R-rated spin on the holiday genre, while Kurt Russell‘s The Christmas Chronicles 2 is an altogether more whimsical and heartwarming tale.

In fact, the aforementioned sequel is guaranteed to be one of the most popular titles on Netflix throughout the festive season, and has already gone down a storm with subscribers. Not only is it the follow-up to a movie that brought in 20 million streams in the first week it was available two years ago, but co-writer and director Chris Columbus knows a thing or two about crafting Christmas classics after scripting Gremlins and helming Home Alone.

In a recent interview, though, the filmmaker dropped the bombshell...

Sylvester Stallone first shot to prominence in 1976 with Rocky, which saw him score Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. Earning early comparisons to the authentic style of Marlon Brando, many thought that a filmmaking powerhouse had just burst onto the scene, and while Stallone did reign as one of the world’s biggest movie stars for a long time, it was the action genre that became his stock in trade.

Sly dominated the 1980s with the Rocky and Rambo franchises along with underrated gems like Cobra and Tango & Cash, before he hit a lean period in the 90s where critical and commercial acclaim was increasingly hard to come by bar the odd exception. For instance, for every Demolition Man or Cliffhanger, there was a Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot or The Specialist.

One of the better titles from that period of his career, though,...