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For over 50 years, the late James Earl Jones' name in the credits of a film was reason enough to devote a couple of hours to a movie. Was it always a satisfying two hours? As someone who sat through "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold," "Three Fugitives," and "Soul Man," I can confidently say no.

This is more than fine. Jones was a working actor who took the "work" part seriously. As he told journalist Joe Leydon in 1989, "This is my profession. I do need to make a living at it, because I can't make a living any other way." So, when you're not getting offered, say, "The Great White Hope" every time out, you roll up your sleeves and do some time on the sets of "Blood Tide," "Best of the Best," and "Excessive Force" with no apologies. Those paychecks keep you afloat while you wait for...

Actor and comedian Martin Short has had a remarkable career in Hollywood. With several notable roles as well as projects under his name. Just out of college, the actor embarked on a cinematic journey and started participating in Broadway as well as theatre. After this, he continued to play minor roles here and there until SNL skyrocketed his career.

Martin Short in Father of the Bride | Credits: Touchstone Pictures

With SNL he found international fame and got the much-needed attention from directors. This stardom brought new roles, which in turn boosted the net worth of the actor quite a lot. Let’s take a closer look at his life, his current net worth as well as Short’s other sources of income.

The Early Life of Martin Short

Martin Short was born on March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, as the youngest of five children. His mother, Olive, was a concertmistress at the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra,...

Paul Mazursky's 1986 comedy "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" is a sharp indictment of ultra-moneyed yuppie culture, which was running rampant during the Reagan administration. Culturally speaking, the mid 1980s saw a redoubled effort to enrich the already-wealthy and encourage rich people to become obsessed with conspicuous consumption. Many, many films and TV shows about Beverly Hills were released at this time, delving deep into the cockroach nest where America's wealthy classes gathered and cannibalized each other.

Prominent among these was Mazursky's film about a rich family, the Whitemans, that recently became wealthy thanks to a wire hanger manufacturing empire. The family are all empty and unhappy. Matriarch Barbara (Bette Midler) is attempting to fill her emptiness with increasingly strange renditions of New Age spirituality, while patriarch Dave (Richard Dreyfuss) is filling his own emptiness by having an affair with the family's live-in maid, Carmen (Elizabeth Peña). Their child...

Sam Mercer, producer on several M. Night Shyamalan movies and former head of Ilm, died Feb. 12 of younger onset Alzheimer’s in South Pasadena. He was 69.

Raised in Weston, Mass., he attended Occidental College and then started working as a location manager on 1980s classics including “Stripes,” “The Escape Artist,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Swing Shift,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “The Witches of Eastwick.”

He joined the Walt Disney Company as a production executive, supervising films including “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Three Fugitives” and “Dead Poets Society.” He then became VP of motion picture production at Hollywood Pictures, where he oversaw releases including “Quiz Show,” “The Joy Luck Club,” “Born Yesterday,” “Swing Kids,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and “Arachnophobia.”

Mercer then worked as an independent producer, starting with “Congo,” “The Relic” and “Mission to Mars.” After working with Shyamalan on “The Sixth Sense,” then went on...

Clockwise from top left: The Wicker Man (Warner Bros.), Vanilla Sky (Paramont), Oldboy (FilmDistrict), The Toy (Columbia)Image: AVClub

In Hollywood, it often seems that the sincerest form of flattery is to remake a foreign film. Domestic versions of international hits are a long-running thing in a town where familiarity assumes success,...

Martin Short is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, not just because of his acclaimed performance in the Hulu comedy-drama mystery television series Only Murders in the Building but also because of the fierce backlash to the recent publication of a biting Slate op-ed article that presents a scathing critique of Short’s career and comedic ability.

The rambling article was instantly derided by many of Short’s fans and Hollywood colleagues, including John Cusack, Mark Hamill, and Ben Stiller, who hailed the Emmy and Tony Award-winning Short as a comedic genius.

However, while the overarching thesis of the oddly-timed article is demonstrably false, as indeed the hilarious 1984 Saturday Night Live “Synchronized Swimming” sketch alone serves as Exhibit A for proving Short’s comedic genius, Short nonetheless deserves criticism for some of the ill-advised choices that Short has made in his career.

Indeed, as Short has adapted so comfortably into the...

Though the confusingly named initiative “FX on Hulu” is on its way out, FX is still bringing premium television to Hulu in the meantime.

Hulu’s list of new releases for April 2022 is highlighted by FX limited series Under the Banner of Heaven. This adaptation of the non-fiction book by John Krakauer stars Andrew Garfield as a Mormon police detective whose faith is shaken when investigating a murder involving the church.

It’s not all just FX on the TV side of things for Hulu this month, however. The streamer is debuting second seasons of its series The Hardy Boys (April 6) and Woke (April 8). There isn’t much to report from Hulu’s original movies arm aside from true crime documentary Captive Audience on April 21. But that doc about one family’s 50-year journey for justice sounds like a must-watch.

April 1 sees the usual arrival of library film titles. Looper,...

Tony Sokol Jan 17, 2020

Two of the Three Amigos bring true crime home with them looking for the third as Steve Martin and Martin Short reunite.

The True Crime genre may never be the same after Steve Martin and Martin Short search for clues on a new Hulu series. Co-created by Martin and John Hoffman, the as-yet-untitled series comes from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman and 20th Century Fox TV. Martin and Hoffman will write the series and serve as executive producers, along with Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal and Short. Hulu has given it a straight-to-series order. The series will shoot in New York, where it is set and which is expected to play a character.

Hulu says the comedy will be about “three strangers who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.” They have not said who will be the third, although Chevy Chase...

HBO’s superhero series “Watchmen” is finally making its premiere on Oct. 20, joining a slew of other television shows and movies being added to the service just in time for Halloween.

The Home Box Office is also debuting “Catherine the Great” starring Helen Mirren on Oct. 21, and the sixth and final season of “Silicon Valley” on Oct. 27.

A handful of shows will have their season finales this month — on Oct. 13, Season 2 of “Succession” and Season 1 of “The Righteous Gemstones” have their season finales. Season 1 of “Our Boys” ends Oct. 7, and the third and final season of “The Deuce” comes to an end Oct. 28.

Also Read: News & Documentary Emmy Awards: Complete Winners List

Leaving HBO throughout the month are films like “A Time to Kill,” “Bruno,” “The Danish Girl,” and “Waking Ned Devine.”

Here’s the full list of everything new to and leaving HBO in October:

Oct. 1

Kin, 2018

Diego Maradona

Abuela’s Luck,...

Stars: Martin Short, Danny Glover, Sheila Kelley, Sam Wanamaker, Scott Wilson, Harry Shearer, Jorge Russek | Written by Herschel Weingrod, Timothy Harris | Directed by Nadia Tass

Good god, it’s been what seems like a lifetime since I last saw Pure Luck. I’m not even sure it previously made the leap from VHS, where I first saw it back in the early 90s, to DVD here in the UK. Back when the film was first released both Danny Glover and Martin Short could do no wrong. Glover was riding high off the success of the Lethal Weapon franchise, scoring lead roles in Predator 2 and Flight of the Intruder; whilst Short had scored back-to-back hits with Innerspace and Three Fugitives… Well I say do no wrong, but maybe that should have read “could have” done no wrong, given the bad reception afforded this comedy…

Comedy in the early 90s was...

Looking for what's new on Netflix streaming for October 2014? You've come to the right place.

We've rounded up the best TV shows and movies arriving soon. So take some time to peruse this list, and maybe block off a weekend or two so you can binge-watch Season 5 of "The Vampire Diaries" or something.

Here's a much larger rundown of what subscribers can expect in September, courtesy of Netflix. All title dates are subject to change.

Available October 1

"Annie" (1982)

Based on the Depression-era comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," this adaptation of the smash Broadway musical follows America's favorite urchin (Aileen Quinn) as she captures Daddy Warbucks' (Albert Finney) heart with her unquenchable optimism. In the meantime, Annie must try to dodge the treacherous head of the orphanage (Carol Burnett). Directed by John Huston, Annie features the hit song "Tomorrow."

"Annie: A Royal Adventure" (1995)

Annie, the charming orphan with a head full of red curls,...

Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon star in the upcoming dramatic thriller Mud from Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols. Already a favorite on the festival circuit, this edgy adventure follows two teenage boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who discover a fugitive from the law named Mud (McConaughey) hiding out on a small island in the Mississippi. Mud mesmerizes the youngsters with his fantastic yarn about the man he killed in Texas, and the bounty hunters that are now hot on his trail. The two boys soon learn that Mud plans to meet with his former lover, Juniper (Witherspoon), and escape into the sunset. While skeptical, Ellis and Neckbone decide to help the killer meet up with Juniper, only to find themselves trapped in a dangerous and deadly struggle for survival. In the end, its love that saves the day.

In theaters April 26, we've culled together 11 awesome movies that...

David Cronenberg stunned many with his decision to remake his own film The Fly, involving himself as writer and potentially director of Fox’s reboot effort. But this certainly isn’t a bad idea. After all, Cronenberg’s version is already a redo of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi/horror classic of the same name, and it’s considered one of the best remakes of all time. It is very likely that he will now also deliver one of the best examples in which a director remakes his own film. Sure, there are plenty of bad examples, especially when it’s a French filmmaker attempting to translate his hit comedy for Hollywood (see Three Fugitives and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01891 ...

By Alison Willmore

If "Bangkok Dangerous," with Nicolas Cage as a hitman in Bangkok moping over both his career choices and a girl, felt familiar -- well, that's probably because it's derivative of many a sad assassin movie that's come before. But it's also a remake, and not just your run-of-the-mill Hollywood retread of a foreign film. "Bangkok Dangerous" finds Hong Kong-born sibling directing team Danny Pang and Oxide Pang Chun remaking their own debut, a 1999 Thai-language film of the same name, and joining that growing club of directors who've headed to the U.S. to try an English take on their own movie. While the set-up makes sense -- subtitle-avoidant audiences here prefer a language and actors they're familiar with, and who knows the ins and outs of a project better than whoever helmed it the first time out? -- these remakes have a higher chance of stinkiness than the already dubious average redo.

By now the phenomenon of a director remaking one of his own movies is hardly novel.

Alfred Hitchcock made two versions of The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Frank Capra turned Lady for a Day into the more lavish Pocketful of Miracles.

There even are cases of foreign directors helming the American remakes of their own hit movies. Francis Veber directed both the original French version of Les Fugitifs and the Hollywood version, Three Fugitives, with Nick Nolte and Martin Short.

But I'm not sure there has ever been anything comparable to the new version of Funny Games, in which Austrian director Michael Haneke has produced a shot-for-shot replica of his 1997 German-language movie.

Some will question whether we needed even one version of this unsavory story. No doubt Haneke would argue that the original had such a limited audience in America that a remake starring Oscar nominees Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, along with Michael Pitt, will bring the story to lots of new viewers. But does this exercise in sadism and psychological torture deserve a larger audience, or any audience at all?

That point will be argued by critics, though there's no disputing the fact that this film, like the original, is compelling and exceptionally well acted. It probably will develop a cult following, like all of Haneke's work.

Ann (Watts), her husband George (Roth), and their son Georgie (Devon Gearhart) arrive at their secluded vacation home on Long Island in the movie's opening scene. As they are settling in, they are greeted by two polite but slightly creepy young men (Pitt, Brady Corbet), who claim to be visiting one of their neighbors and need to borrow some eggs.

The interlopers, who call themselves Paul and Peter, quickly insinuate themselves into the household, incapacitate George, and hold the family captive as they initiate a series of increasingly sadistic games. The tension mounts as Georgie and Ann try to escape, which only stokes the cruelty of their captors. Haneke keeps the most horrific violence offscreen, but that does not mute the impact of these degrading and ruthless exercises.

Viewers who hope to glean some sociological or psychological insights will be disappointed. At one point Paul gives a lengthy, completely fictitious profile of his cohort, just to mock those who seek an explanation for such violent antisocial behavior. The two boys dressed in white are meant to be evil incarnate -- motiveless, unfathomable, inescapable.

The only comprehensible comment that the film makes is about itself and the role of cinema in encouraging voyeurism and tolerance for violence. (This theme also was at the heart of Haneke's most acclaimed film, Cache.)

There's an intriguing moment, identical in both the Austrian and American films, in which Paul uses a TV remote control to rewind the action we have seen and replay a different version. Even though the director might want us to contemplate the audience's role in sanctioning violence, he can't escape the whiff of exploitation that infects both movies.

Still, this version, like the earlier one, is skillfully executed. Roth doesn't match the gravitas of the late Ulrich Muhe, who played the husband in the 1997 film, but he's affecting. Watts is superb in conveying the emotional anguish of her character. Pitt demonstrates his versatility with an electrifying portrayal of the sinister, soulless Paul. The only weak link in the cast is Corbet, who was convincing in more sympathetic roles in "thirteen" and Mysterious Skin, but doesn't exude enough menace as Pitt's baby-faced accomplice.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji gives an ominous edge to the sun-dappled locations, which look remarkably like the settings in the European film. Even the music selections are virtually identical in the two films. Perhaps the best way to appreciate the picture, its few intellectual pretensions notwithstanding, is as a classy horror film with a particularly nasty edge. It's not exactly entertainment, but it casts a poisonous spell.

FUNNY GAMES U.S.

Warner Independent Pictures

Celluloid Dreams, Halcyon Pictures, Tartan Films, X-Filme International

Credits:

Screenwriter-director: Michael Haneke

Producers: Chris Coen, Hamish McAlpine, Hengameh Panahi, Christian Baute, Andro Steinborn

Executive producers: Naomi Watts, Philippe Aigle, Carole Siller, Douglas Steiner

Director of photography: Darius Khondji

Production designer: Kevin Thompson

Co-producers: Andrea Occhipinti, Rene Bastian, Linda Moran, Adam Brightman, Jonathan Schwartz

Costume designer: David Robinson

Editor: Monika Willi

Cast:

Ann: Naomi Watts

George: Tim Roth

Paul: Michael Pitt

Peter: Brady Corbet

Georgie: Devon Gearhart

Fred: Boyd Gaines

Betsy: Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Running time -- 110 minutes

MPAA rating: R...