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If Disney+’s new drama Star Wars: Skeleton Crew had debuted when I was eight or nine, it would have abruptly shoved Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard aside to become Young Daniel’s favorite TV show.

While the original Star Wars saga, a three-and-only-three-movie series I was hardly alone in being obsessed with, was designed to be welcoming to kids, it was simultaneously a world that was generally without children. Instead, we focused on alien creatures or robots who either resembled or acted like children — as well as Luke Skywalker, whose arc took him from callow youth to mature Jedi.

At the same time, with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment at the forefront, we were treated to a string of junior quest narratives of varying qualities — movies that captured one of the last cultural moments in which kids were allowed to wander off in the morning, carry out...

February 2009. Legendary late-night talk show host David Letterman introduces his next guest: Oscar-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix. He’s sporting an unkempt beard, dark sunglasses indoors, and behaving like it was his first talk show appearance rather than his hundredth. Even Letterman, who could improv with the best of them, struggles to keep up with Phoenix’s short answers, insisting that he was done with acting so he could focus on becoming a rapper. Turns out, it was an attempt at viral marketing for the upcoming mockumentary, I’m Still Here. Okay, so maybe the interview didn’t tell us much about the movie or drive anyone t to see it, but it did tell us a lot about Joaquin Phoenix, the person and the performer, his deep commitment to his art form, and his obsession with authenticity that brought him through a difficult upbringing and into a wildly successful acting career.

Joaquin Phoenix made his professional acting debut in the 1985 TV movie "Kids Don't Tell," a heady primetime drama about child victims of sexual assault. Phoenix was only 11 at the time. The following year, Phoenix first appeared in theaters in the kid-friendly drama "SpaceCamp," about teenagers and children who are accidentally launched into space. Phoenix continued to land high-profile roles with interesting directors, appearing in Ron Howard's "Parenthood" in 1989 and Gun Van Sant's "To Die For" in 1995. Phoenix soon became an indie darling, and a go-to actor for extreme, quirky, sometimes dark roles. He played a kooky thug in Oliver Stone's "U Turn," and a wise pornographer in Joel Schumacher's "8mm."

By the time he appeared in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" in 2000, Phoenix was a household name. The role earned him the first of four (to date) Academy Award nominations. He would also be nominated for playing Johnny Cash...

John Carpenter's 1986 action-comedy "Big Trouble in Little China" is an odd duck. The plot involves an ancient wizard named Lo Pan (James Hong) who aims to kidnap, marry, and then sacrifice a green-eyed woman to break a curse he is under. The woman in question is Miao Yin (Suzee Pai), the fiancée of Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), who, fortunately, knows a little bit about evil wizards and ancient Chinese warriors. It will be up to Wang to rescue Miao Yin from Lo Pan. Also kidnapped is the green-eyed Gracie (Kim Cattrall), beloved by the dumb-as-rocks blowhard Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), essentially Wang's sidekick.

The gag of the movie is that Jack doesn't really seem to understand that he's a sidekick, and behaves like the action hero. Indeed, the whole movie seems to be a martial arts movie told from the perspective of the American guest star. Russell was featured...

The heat is on, but chilling with a great movie is the best way to cool down. July has a number of noteworthy new releases in the world of streaming, and we understand the sheer volume of content on the major streamers can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve put together a curated list of the best new movies streaming this month that’s as robust as it is diverse. We’ve got picks from Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Peacock and even MGM+ which has a very buzzy movie this month. There’s a little something for everyone, from genuine new releases to recent hits that are making their streaming debut to library titles that are well worth checking out.

See our list of the best new movies streaming in July 2024 below.

“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F...

Back to the Future star Lea Thompson stated that her mainstream film career ended after she had her kids. Thompson was a rising star through the 1980s but she was pushed to TV roles in the ’90s. Thompson found success in her role as Lorraine McFly in Robert Zemeckis’ three-part time travel flick. Before that, she was Tom Cruise’s pair in the 1983 film, All the Right Moves.

Lea Thompson and Michael J. Fox in a still from Back to the Future | Universal Pictures

Thompson met Howard Deutch during her popular teen film Some Kind of Wonderful and married the filmmaker in 1989. She had her first child, actress Madelyn Deutch, in 1991 and her second child, actress Zoey Deutch, in 1994.

Lea Thompson Says She Lost Her Movie Star Status Due To Motherhood

Tom Cruise with Lea Thompson in a still from All the Right Moves (1983) | Lucille Ball Productions

Lea Thompson played the mother of Michael J.

Chris Evans and Ana de Armas reunite again in the cast of Ghosted, an Apple TV Plus original movie in which they play characters caught up in an international adventure together. The former Knives Out and The Gray Man co-stars now co-lead an all-star ensemble that also includes other actors they've worked with and/or shared franchises with before.

Directed by Rocketman helmer Dexter Fletcher, Ghosted follows the pairing of a secret agent and the regular Joe who has just fallen for her after their first date. The familiar premise, which sees a love interest unexpectedly involved in a spy plot, is made fresh thanks to the casting of such appealing actors, including those in the roles supporting Evans and de Armas in their trend-breaking collaboration. Here's a guide to the cast of Ghosted, which characters they play, and what else the actors are best known for.

Related: 25 Best Movies...

Take a look at new footage from the upcoming animated feature "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe", streaming June 23, 2022 on Paramount+:

"...in perhaps the dumbest space movie ever made, 'Beavis and Butt-head' are sentenced to 'Space Camp' by a 'creative' judge in 1998, leading to a trip on the 'Space Shuttle', with predictably disastrous results.

"After going through a black hole, they reemerge in our time, where they look for love, misuse 'iPhones' and are hunted by the 'Deep State'..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Walter Coblenz, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer behind All the President’s Men and nearly two dozen other titles, died on March 16, aged 93. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Born in Germany in 1928, Coblenz claimed his first and only Oscar nom in 1977 for the aforementioned Alan J. Pakula film, which was up for Best Picture and seven other awards, winning four including Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Art Direction-Set Decoration and Sound. Coblenz’s nomination came three years after he landed an Emmy nom for his work on NBC’s limited series The Blue Knight.

Over the course of his career, he also produced such titles as Her Majesty, Money Talks, The Babe, 18 Again!, For Keeps?, Sister, Sister, SpaceCamp, Strange Invaders, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, The Onion Field and The Candidate, along with a number of TV movies.

Coblenz...

It has been an anomaly — two of ViacomCBS’ most prized current IPs and top basic cable series, Yellowstone and South Park, are streaming outside of the company’s ecosystem, on NBCUniversal’s Peacock (Yellowstone) and HBO Max (South Park). One of the two will be rectified after the end of HBO Max’s current mega, five-year domestic deal.

Additionally, the Beavis and Butt-Head revival series, originally set at Comedy Central with a two-season order in 2020, will be moving to Paramount+ with a new season, joining the previously announced Beavis and Butt-Head movie, which has now been titled, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe. The full library of over 200 remastered episodes of the MTV animated series also will stream exclusively on the service.

Beavis and Butt-Head was announced as part of a push in adult animation at Comedy Central built around mainstay South Park. There has been chatter that another project under that strategy,...

As an actress, Kelly Preston, who died Sunday at 57, was the soul of likability, and that’s no small thing. When she showed up in a movie, she lit it up; she also grounded it. (She had an earthly radiance.) Just think of the scene in “For Love of the Game” where she meets Kevin Costner’s aw-shucks baseball pitcher. Her rental car is stalled by the side of the road, and he stops to help her, all shaggy jockish gallantry. It’s a meet-cute moment, though the offhand way that Preston bristles at being rescued lends it a contemporary vivacity. Then, this being a traditional (and actually rather good) Hollywood movie, he melts her resistance. Just as she has already melted his. The audience melts too.

In “Twins” and “SpaceCamp” and “Mischief” and Alexander Payne’s first film, “Citizen Ruth,” and a great many others, Kelly Preston had scenes like that one,...

Beloved actress, Kerry Preston has died.

She was 57 years old.

News of Preston's passing broke Sunday when John Travolta announced the sad news via Instagram, noting that Kelly passed away after a battle with breast cancer.

While best known for her movie career, the actress appeared on TV series such as CSI: Cyber, Medium, and Fat Actress.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," Travolta shared in his statement on Instagram.

"She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many," Travolta continued, adding:

"My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center."

He went on to thank "all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side."

"Kelly...

Sad news this morning, as the much-loved actress Kelly Preston has passed away at the age of 57. She had been privately battling breast cancer for two years. "On the morning of July 12, 2020, Kelly Preston, adored wife and mother, passed away following a two-year battle with breast cancer," a family representative has said in an official statement. "Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, supported by her closest family and friends," the family representative continued. "She was a bright, beautiful and loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she touched. Her family asks for your understanding of their need for privacy at this time."

Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith on October 13, 1962, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and studied acting at the University of Southern California. Preston began her on-screen career in the early 1980s with several one-off roles on the small screen,...

Kelly Preston died today her husband John Travolta has revealed.

The 57-year old Twins and Jerry Maguire star passed away Sunday after a long fight against breast cancer.

Hawaii-born Preston’s spouse of nearly 30 years and her Gotti co-star took to social media late tonight in a heartfelt post:

View this post on Instagram

It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side. Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for...

Kelly Preston, who appeared in films including “Mischief,” “Twins” and “Jerry Maguire,” has died after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57.

John Travolta, her husband of 29 years, confirmed her death on his Instagram account.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer,” Travolta wrote. “She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. …I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. All my love, Jt.”

Her daughter Ella also posted a tribute on Instagram, writing “I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you. Anyone who is lucky enough to have known you or to have ever been in your...

Kelly Preston has died at age 57. On Sunday, a rep for the actress's family confirmed the news to People in an exclusive statement. "On the morning of July 12, 2020, Kelly Preston, adored wife and mother, passed away following a two-year battle with breast cancer," the statement read. "Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, supported by her closest family and friends. She was a bright, beautiful, and loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she touched. Her family asks for your understanding of their need for privacy at this time."

Kelly - who is best remembered for her roles in Mischief, SpaceCamp, Twins, Jerry Maguire, For Love of the Game, and Gotti - is survived by husband John Travolta and their two kids, 20-year-old daughter Ella and 9-year-old son Benjamin. Their older son, Jett, died at the...

Many people in Hollywood, along with fans around the world, were shocked to learn of the death of Kelly Preston, who died Sunday after a private two-year battle with breast cancer.

The actress who starred in such movies as SpaceCamp, Jerry Maguire and, most recently, opposite husband John Travolta in Gotti, was 57.

Preston died Sunday after a two-year battle with breast cancer, Travolta wrote on Instagram.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," he wrote. "She fought a courageous fight with the ...

Many people in Hollywood, along with fans around the world, were shocked to learn of the death of Kelly Preston, who died Sunday after a private two-year battle with breast cancer.

The actress who starred in such movies as SpaceCamp, Jerry Maguire and, most recently, opposite husband John Travolta in Gotti, was 57.

Preston died Sunday after a two-year battle with breast cancer, Travolta wrote on Instagram.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," he wrote. "She fought a courageous fight with the ...

Kelly Preston, the actress who starred in such movies as Jerry Maguire, SpaceCamp, For Love of the Game, and, most recently, opposite husband John Travolta in Gotti, has died. She was 57.

Preston died Sunday after a two-year battle with breast cancer, Travolta wrote on Instagram.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," he wrote. "She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at ...

With Nasa and SpaceX launching the first human spaceflight in a decade And the release of Steve Carrell's Space Force, this seems like a good week to revisit… SpaceCamp (1986) Director: Harry Winer Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Lea Thompson, Kate Capshaw A rogue robot hacks in to Nasa and launches five kids in to space. What if I told you there was a sci-fi movie from the 1980s…...

Updated with video: Joaquin Phoenix capped a triumphant awards season on Sunday night when he claimed the Oscar for best actor for Joker, the subversive psychological thriller that defied the conventions of superhero cinema and, in the process, delivered the most unlikely billion-dollar hit in Hollywood history.

Joker premiered five months ago to instant acclaim at the 76th Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest film festival, where the film claimed the Golden Lion for Best Film. Phoenix won the Venice festival’s acting award which propelled him into an awards season of wall-to-wall success. Phoenix claimed every major prize along the way: a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA, and a Critics’ Choice Award among them.

Phoenix’s season of dominance was punctuated by an Oscar acceptance speech keyed to a message of art transcending the score-keeping nature of trophy competitions and cancel culture.

“I do...

Department of Defense on Friday released the first images of the utility uniforms for the newly announced division of the U.S. military, Space Force — and the online reaction has not been good.

Specifically, the Twitterverse has mocked the use of camouflage in the design — since space is not exactly known for an abundance of trees for soldiers to blend in with.

The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the

Pentagon. @EsperDoD @SecAFOfficial @SpaceForceCSO @GenDaveGoldfein @DeptofDefense@usairforce pic.twitter.com/Jvzt5bvNl7

— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) January 18, 2020

“Are they fighting on the forest moon of Endor?” sci-fi author Chuck Wendig asked, referencing the wooded “Star Wars” locale that is home to adorable Ewoks and the gravesite of Darth Vader himself.

Endor soon became a trending topic on Twitter as other fans weighed in with puzzlement about the new designs.

Also Read: 'Space Camp' Remake...

Space Camp is receiving the remake treatment from Disney+. Saturday Night Live writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell are currently writing the script for the remake of the 1986 teen adventure movie. Disney's new streaming platform is starting to get more original content made in order to compete with the other services out there. So far, the live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, has been the subscription service's biggest hit and the studio is looking for a lot more.

As for the original 1986 Space Camp movie, it was not a hit when it opened in theaters. The original movie stars Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Tate Donovan, Kate Capshaw, Larry B. Scott, and a young Joaquin Phoenix. The original storyline revolves around some teens who attend a space camp in Florida, and end up mistakenly going to space when a routine engine check goes bad. The group works together to find oxygen...

A remake of the 1980s teen space adventure “Space Camp” is in development at Disney+, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

“Saturday Night Live” writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell are writing the script. John Rickard (“Rampage”) is producing.

“Space Camp” followed a group of teenagers who attended an astronaut camp near Cape Canaveral, Florida. When they are sitting in a space shuttle during an engine test, they are accidentally launched into space and they must work together to bring the shuttle back to earth.

Also Read: 'Lizzie McGuire' Creator Terri Minsky Out as Showrunner for Disney+ Revival

Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Tate Donovan and Joaquin Phoenix (in his theatrical feature debut) starred in the 1986 film.

This marks Day and Seidell’s third project for the streaming division: they previously wrote the “Home Alone” reboot starring Archie Yates, and are also working on the live-action take on the animated series “Inspector Gadget.

Disney is heading back to Space Camp.

The 1980s teen space adventure is getting re-launched for the 21st century for Disney+, Disney’s streaming service.

Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, Saturday Night Live writers now making in-roads into the movie space, have been hired to pen the script.

John Rickard, whose credits include Rampage and Fist Fight, is producing the project that is being developed by Disney’s live action film division.

Camp told of a group of teens attending an astronaut camp near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Allowed to sit in a space shuttle during a routine engine test, the group finds itself in a ...

Leonard Goldberg, a former president of 20th Century Fox and Emmy-winning film and television producer whose credits include Blue Bloods, T.J. Hooker, Family and Fantasy Island, among others, has died. He was 85. Goldberg died from injuries resulting from a fall December 4, his publicist told Deadline.

Goldberg’s long list of TV credits stretches from numerous 1970s telefilms through crime dramas The Rookies, S.W.A.T. and Starsky and Hutch to Gavilan, Hart to Hart and Paper Dolls. He also was an executiv producer on the 2011 TV version of Charlie’s Angels.

Goldberg produced such films as Charlie’s Angels (2000), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Double Jeopardy (1999), The Distinguished Gentleman (1992), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) and SpaceCamp (1986).

Goldberg shared three Outstanding Drama Series Emmy noms for Family, which aired on ABC from 1976-80, and won an Emmy for the drama special Something About Amelia in 1984. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in...

Good movies tend to have solid taglines. Bad movies almost always have questionable taglines. Coincidence?

Taglines may not be the most important component of a film’s advertising, but having a good one can be beneficial. A good tagline should be something that is memorable, catchy, informative of the films’ plot or tone, and unique. Consider the tagline from Alien, “In space no one will hear you scream,” or Jurassic Park, “An adventure 65 million years in the making.” At other times, movie taglines have been famous quotes from the film. Examples are “One ring to rule them all,” from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, or “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” from The Shining. Simply put, having a solid movie tagline is worth the effort.

This is a look at a few films where the effort was clearly lacking or misplaced. Sometimes they are trying too hard.

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 Kicks Off the Summer With a Sci-Fi Action-Comedy

After three weeks of dominating the box office, Universal’s The Fate of the Furious is going to have to give way to a new movie, and that’s because the first weekend of May means that it’s officially...The Summer Movie Season!!!!

Just like the last couple years, the summer movie season is kicking off with a new movie from Marvel Studios, and their sequel Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Marvel Studios/Disney), reunites Chris Pratt as Starlord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Michael Rooker’s Yondu with the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as Groot and Rocket Racoon, for the next...

Short of the DayA raucous comedy in a throwback vein.

All Dan wanted was to go to space camp. But space camp rejected him, so instead he’s stuck at home being forced to hang out with his weird cousin Noel and Noel’s friend, both of whom are up to some pretty strange things in the backyard. Dan tries to steer clear of the obvious danger in what they’re doing, but what kind of film would this be if he was able to?

Serf’s Up comes from writer-director-editor Will Kempner and uses the above scenario as a launchpad for a raucous comedy that feels equally at home in our present day or in the movie theaters of 1987. It’s a silly, fun film that seems to relish in its artifice while still managing to be deftly made, and the performances by Matt Kempner, Simon Johnston, and Dan Lynch are lively, intentionally...

Are you ready future astronauts of America? The second season of the Space Racers TV show premieres on Sprout, November 5th. Blast off time is at 12:00pm Et/9:00am Pt. The show will air Saturdays and Sundays at 12:00pm Et/9:00am Pt, with new episodes premiering each Saturday. Find out how to enter your family for a chance to win a free week at Space Camp, after the jump.A CGI animated television series featuring the cadets of the Stardust Bay Space Academy Space Racers first debuted in 2014. The educational series is aimed at children from three to six years old. Nasa contributes to the show. The voice cast includes Yuri Lowenthal, Meyer DeLeeuw, Johnny Yong Bosch, Phil Lollar, Alicyn Packard, Melissa Hutchison, Joey D'Auria, Danny Katiana, and Katie Leigh.Read More…...

“Game over, man, game over!” It’s rare for a sequel to live up to the original film, but James Cameron managed to fulfill expectations with Aliens (July 18, 1986). This summer marks the 30th Anniversary of the action-packed sci-fi classic, so “stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen.”

Tune-in Saturday, July 23, to an exclusive Aliens YouTube live stream Q&A with the filmmakers and cast from San Diego Comic-Con! Submit your questions in the comments below for a chance to get them answered. #Aliens30th

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Aliens (1986), San Diego Comic-Con will host an Aliens reunion on Saturday, July 23. Attendees include director James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn, and Carrie Henn.

Subscribe to Fox Movies and follow on https://www.facebook.com/AlienAnthology so you don’t miss this exclusive live event.

The terror continues in James Cameron...

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30 years after appearing in the Howard The Duck film, Lea Thompson is making a return appearance to his world...

"I can make it here in Hunger City, nothing's gonna stop me. I'll know I'll survive."

Those lyrics from Cherry Bomb's "Hunger City" from the Howard The Duck soundtrack have proven to be quite prophetic in the three decades since the infamous megabomb first hit theaters. As someone who was there on opening day and has enjoyed seeing the transition that the movie has made from cliched punchline to cult hit, there's more than a little bit of vindication that I, an outsider, feel about the flick's reversal of fortune. So I can only imagine the daffy trip that Lea Thompson must look back at the Howard The Duck experience as.

Over the years, Thompson has regularly discussed the film without any real shame or snark. It was a bomb for sure,...

With the Academy Awards just a few days away, there's no better time to watch one of the five nominated Best Animated Short Films. In addition to our top recommendation - Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow (which you can watch here) - one of the other shorts available online is We Can't Live Without Cosmos from Russian filmmaker/animator Konstantin Bronzit. The short follows two cosmonaut friends training for a mission in space. As Wired points out, this is "for every kid who went to Space Camp (or wanted to) and dreamed of one day doing real astronaut training with their best friend." The short is entirely dialogue free and yet still conveys plenty of emotion. It's now available to watch in full for free below - take a look. Original synopsis: Two cosmonauts, two friends, try to do their best in their everyday training life to make their common dream a reality.

Long before he was a critically-lauded and Oscar-nominated leading man, Joaquin Phoenix was a precocious child star who began working professionally when he was just 7 years old.

As a youngster, Phoenix went by the first name of Leaf before switching back to his given name Joaquin for To Die For. The Gus Van Sant drama saw Phoenix hold his own against Nicole Kidman, and he hasn't looked back since.

Digital Spy dives into the archives to pick out 5 early roles for Joaquin back when he was known as Leaf...

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982)

Joaquin's older brother River Phoenix was a cast member on the short-lived '80s TV series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and he made his acting debut on the episode 'Christmas Song'.

Unfortunately, it was a less-than-auspicious start for Leaf who, if you watch the above video closely, gets clocked by a wayward fist (at 01:...

Whether you knew it or not, you've been listening to sound mixer David Macmillan's work for years. There's early stuff, like "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Birdy" and "SpaceCamp" (yes!). There's recent stuff like "Twilight," "Hancock" and "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin." And there's the Oscar-winning stuff scattered throughout, like "The Right Stuff," "Speed" and "Apollo 13." The guy is a legend in the field, so of course he's a great fit for the Cinema Audio Society's (Cas) Career Achievement Award. Macmillan began his career over half a century ago as an apprentice in Canadian television before eventually connecting with Francis Ford Coppola. The "Godfather" director was in the process of building American Zoetrope in San Francisco and hired Macmillan to run the company's mixing facility. From there, his career took off. He has more than 80 feature films to his credit, the three aforementioned Oscars (he won every time he was nominated), collaborations with Oliver Stone,...

Here we go with another installment of my Spotlight on the Stars series. As a refresher for those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, each week I’ll look at an A-list actor/actress/filmmaker that I’d like to celebrate in some kind of a way. It could be due to something of theirs coming out that weekend (like most weeks, honestly) or just because I feel they deserve to have a moment in the sun, but each time out it’ll be a bit of positivity about someone who I’d like to pay tribute to. You can count on that much. For this week’s piece, I wanted to take a look at one of Hollywood’s most talented actors…Joaquin Phoenix. He’s definitely been an odd duck at times (just look at everything that surrounded his art experience/mockumentary I’m Still...

In this weekend's "The Master," Joaquin Phoenix stars alongside Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a religious drama about a mentor who begins to question the motives and beliefs of his organization's leader. It's another Weinstein-produced film that could rack up tons of honors in the upcoming awards season.

Phoenix himself is no stranger to golden trophies. He picked up a Golden Globe for his performance as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line," a role that also garnered him an Academy Award nomination. It seems pretty darn hard to pick a favorite film that Phoenix, who dabbled with retirement in a brief moment of madness, has made over the last 26 years. From indies like "Inventing the Abbotts" to blockbusters like "Gladiator," it's no question why his career has lasted so long in Hollywood.

Back when he was still going by Leaf — a pseudonym he picked out for himself to...

From Magnolia Pictures (via Yahoo! Movies) comes this first teaser trailer for Casey Affleck’s documentary I’M Still Here.

Boy I hope this just a “Leaf” phase that Phoenix is going through. I guess all my hopes for a Spacecamp 2 are just a sad pipedream now.

Synopsis:

The directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Casey Affleck, I’M Still Here is a striking portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of internationally acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, I’M Still Here follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and always riveting, the film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.

William A. Fraker was a leading cinematographer in films from the late 1960s, photographing such films as Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and the 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. He earned six Academy Award nominations during his career for his work on Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), the fantasy classic Heaven Can Wait (1978) starring Warren Beatty, Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), WarGames (1983), and Murphy’s Romance (1985).

Fraker was born in Los Angeles on September 29, 1923 and served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He studied at the USC School of Cinema and worked as a photographer’s assistant. He began working as a camera operator for television in the early 1960s. He served as a cinematographer for the obscure television production The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (a.k.a. The Haunted) (1964) for director Joseph Stefano, and for Leslie Steven’s off-beat, Esperanto-language horror film Incubus (1965) starring William Shatner.

Infinity Media has signed up actor Scott Coffey to direct the coming-of-age comedy Adult World, which centres on a college graduate who believes she is destined to be the next great American poet and stumbles upon a job at an adult-video store. Andy Cochran wrote the script, and Coffey will oversee a rewrite.

Infinity have already had some success in the teen drama department with Saved - which is a really under-rated movie that seems to have slipped under a lot of people’s radar; and actor Coffey – whose only other directing gig was the film Ellie Parker (which he also wrote) – is no stranger to the coming-of-age genre, having starred in many of the 80’s best: SpaceCamp, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful and Satisfaction.

(Source: THR)...

The summer of 1986 is memorable to me as a time of intense highs, and sad, sorry lows. The highs: Hands Across America, the reopening of the refurbished Statue of Liberty, Greg LeMond winning the Tour de France, and the videos for Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer." Intel introduced the 386 processor. Gas was 89 cents a gallon, and Pee-Wee's Playhouse made for great, hungover Saturday morning TV.

The lows: Ronald Reagan was President. Peter Cetera, Klymaxx and Survivor got seemingly endless radio play. Kids were entranced with those creepy Cabbage Patch Kids, and that even creepier Teddy Ruxpin. Ronald Reagan was President. Benny Goodman, Vincente Minnelli and Ted Knight died. And Ronald Reagan was President.

Summer movies ran a similar gamut, from the resplendent to the abysmal. To wit:

May 23: Memorial Day weekend, not yet considered a tentpole release date, kicked off the summer with the dreadful Sylvester Stallone action flick Cobra,...