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John Lawlor, an actor who had made a string of guest shots on various mid-’70s TV series before landing a regular role in 1976 on Cloris Leachman’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Phyllis on CBS and just more than a decade later played Headmaster Bradley on NBC’s popular sitcom The Facts of Life, died February 13 at a veterans’ hospice facility in Albuquerque. He was 83.

His death was announced by his family, who write, “John will be remembered for his great love and affection for his family, his work and enjoyment of theater, television, movies, literature, and of course, his beloved horses.”

Born June 5, 1941, in Troy, New York, Lawlor graduated from the University of Colorado, and would perform with the Nomad players, a theater troupe founded in 1951 that would include such actors as Lawlor, Larry Linville and Joan Van Ark.

A U.S. Army veteran with service in Vietman,...

John Lawlor, who portrayed one of Cloris Leachman’s co-workers on the CBS sitcom Phyllis and the Eastland School for Girls headmaster on the first season of the NBC comedy The Facts of Life, has died. He was 83.

Lawlor died Feb. 13 at a veterans’ hospice facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, his family announced.

His 60-plus years as an actor also included turns in such films as Blake Edwards’ S.O.B. (1981) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp (1994).

Lawlor played the inept Leonard Marsh, who works with Leachman’s Phyllis Lindstrom in the San Francisco City Supervisor’s office, on the second and last season (1976-77) of Phyllis, one of the many Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoffs. (He had portrayed a cop on a first-season episode.)

When The Facts of Life — a Diff’rent Strokes spinoff — premiered in August 1979, Lawlor was there as headmaster Steven Bradley. He appeared on all 13 installments...

New Europe Film Sales has acquired Berlinale Generation Kplus competition title Tales From The Magic Garden.

The stop-motion film is inspired by the children’s fairytale book by Czech author Arnošt Goldflam which celebrates the art of storytelling.

Tales From The Magic Gardentells the story of three children who spend the night at their grandfather’s house for the first time since the death of their grandmother, the family’s storyteller. Unable to fall asleep without a bedtime story, the children create their own tales, about a helpful mysterious cat, a not-so-scary monster, and a daring flying man.

Four creative...

New Europe Film Sales has secured international distribution rights for “The Good Sister,” the debut feature from emerging filmmaker Sarah Miro Fischer. The film has already attracted significant attention on the global festival circuit, having previously won two industry awards at the 2024 San Sebastián Film Festival Wip Europa. Today, the finished film was announced as part of the Berlinale’s Panorama section.

Set in Berlin, the film turns on Rose, a young woman who faces a life-altering dilemma when she is asked to testify as a witness in a rape case against her older brother, Sam. “The Good Sister” is co-written by Fischer and Agnes Maagaard Petersen and presents a gripping narrative that explores the deep emotional ramifications the trial has on the family.

The cast of “The Good Sister” includes Marie Bloching as Rose, alongside Anton Weil, Proschat Madani, Laura Balzer, Jane Chirwa, Aram Tafreshian and David Vormweg. Fischer...

Exclusive: New Europe Film Sales has boarded Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason’s upcoming feature The Love That Remains, his latest work after Oscar-shortlisted work Godland.

The sales acquisition sees the Warsaw-based company team once again with Icelandic production company Still Vivid and Denmark’s Snowglobe.

The new feature that was shot in Eastern Iceland under-the-radar and is due to be completed in 2025. According to the official description, the drama “tenderly captures a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. Through both playful and heartfelt moments, the film portrays the bittersweet essence of faded love and shared memories amidst the changing seasons.

New Europe will commence sales on the movie at the Berlinale’s European Film Market in February. Prior to that, the team behind the film will present first clips to attendees of Göteborg Nordic Film Market at the end of this month.

The...

The versatile John C. Reilly has been announced as the first honoree at the 19th annual Oscar Wilde Awards.

The event, organized by the US-Ireland Alliance, is set for Feb. 27 — in its traditional evening spot three days before the Oscars — at the historic Ebell theater in Los Angeles, its original home.

The casual bash celebrates the work of those from Ireland — and some who are not — who contribute to film, television and music. It also fosters artistic collaborations, from giving young actors and singers a profile in the U.S. to encouraging the shooting of films in Ireland.

The Chicago-born Reilly, 59, speaks often of his family’s strong ties to Ireland. A frequent visitor to the country, he served as the International Guest of Honor at Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities in 2022.

“It might just seem like a goof to just appear at a parade, but to me,...

The 2015 action movie Run All Night kept audiences on the edge of their seats in its theatrical run, and a new generation of viewers is enjoying streaming the movie. The action thriller follows a former hitman and his son after they accidentally become involved with and kill a mobster. The two are forced to run and fight for their lives against the mobsters as well as the NYPD who are determined to catch and kill the pair.

Despite the modest reviews from critics regarding the plot of Run All Night, some reviews praised the performances of the leading cast. Additionally, audiences were entertained by the consistent action and the performances of the movie's well-known star and supporting cast. For both audiences new to Run All Night and for previous fans, the movie is certainly worth a watch, especially because of the thrilling performances of its cast.

Cast

Character

Liam Neeson...

John C. Reilly and Johnny Flynn look contemplative in this first look image from “A Prayer for the Dying,” the survival thriller now in production outside Bratislava, Slovakia.

Anton and New Europe Films are co-repping worldwide rights on the film, and are continuing sales at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

“A Prayer for the Dying” is written and directed by Dara Van Dusen and based on the novel by Stewart O’Nan. It takes place in 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers still suffering the repercussion of the recent Civil War. When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning. Flynn will play Jacob Hansen, the sheriff responsible for the safety of the town, while Reilly will play the local doctor.

Johnny Flynn is set to take on the lead role in the survival-thriller A Prayer for the Dying. The film will be written and directed by Dara Van Dusen (Significant Others) and is based on Stewart ONans novel of the same name. Flynn, known for his recent performance in Netflixs Ripley, will play Jacob Hansen, a sheriff responsible for the safety of a town hit by a natural disaster.

“The Americans are coming,” argued European Producers Club’s Alexandra Lebret during Locarno’s StepIn’s wrap-up session. And it can be a good thing.

“They want to benefit from lower costs and tax incentives [in Europe]. It will bring money to the industry, but it won’t increase our salaries – quite the opposite.”

“The gap between value and cost” is one of the main challenges facing producers today, but so is dealing with talent.

“They are becoming increasingly difficult to ‘pin down’ and can cancel their commitment to the project even a few days before the shoot. Negotiating deals with U.S. agents is nearly impossible for many indies,” she added, joking that the conversation should be nicknamed “A Prayer for the Dying” after Mike Hodges’ film.

“Where there is a crisis, there’s an opportunity. Let’s not get locked up in an unsustainable business model. Why not use new...

Four U.K. genre-bending titles from Zu Quirke (“Nocturne”), Corinna Faith (“The Power”), Anna Fredrikke Bjerke (writer of Netflix’s “Midsummer Night”) and Ashley Horner will be teased to potential Nordic partners Aug. 21, at the 19th Nordic Co-production Market in Haugesund, Norway.

The curated pitch slate forms the industry centrepiece of the second U.K. Focus, organised by Haugesund’s industry event New Nordic Films, in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI).

“We are looking forward to the second U.K. Focus at Haugesund’s Nordic Co- Production Market, sparking co-production conversations for the participating U.K. producer/director teams in meeting potential Nordic partners,” said Denitsa Yordanova, head of the UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), which is financed via the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) and administered by the BFI.

“The Nordics offers a very vibrant ecosystem of talents and co-production partners with strong track records.

My guest this week is Callum Turner.

Turner is currently starring in Masters of the Air, Apple TV+’s World War II series following the American airmen stationed in England flying missions in B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Making the series, in which he plays real-life airman Major John ‘Bucky’ Egan, left a very deep impression on Turner.

“They put themselves in the most volatile atmosphere ever known to a human being and the trauma that these men went through was so severe,” he says. “On some missions they would go out with 17 fortresses and come back with three, so they’d lose 140 men. I really don’t know how they did it… What they did for us and the way they did it was nothing but extraordinary, and that’s what I love about this show, that we honored them.”

Turner has also recently been cast in David Frain’s film Eternity,...

New Europe Film Sales has sold US rights to Ulaa Salim’s sci-fi romance Eternal to Dark Star Pictures and has boarded Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s next feature Hot Spot.

Eternal recently world premiered in the Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Dark Star is planning a theatrical release in the US.

The film centres on an obsessive, young climate change scientist who leaves behind his girlfriend to participate in a multi-year research mission exploring a fissure on the ocean floor that threatens the world. Years later, during his mission, he experiences a vision of what his life...

Exclusive: Rising British actor Callum Turner is set to star alongside Norway’s Kristine Kujath Thorp and Sweden’s Gustav Lindh in Dara Van Dusen’s A Prayer For The Dying.

Anton and New Europe Films sales have co-acquired international rights for the upcoming English-language survival thriller.

Based on a novel by Stewart O’Nan, the film takes place in 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers still suffering the repercussions of the recent Civil War.

When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning.

The film will shoot in early summer 2024.

New Europe CEO Jan Naszewski said of the feature: “Rarely can we...

A Prayer For The Dying from UK-France outfit The Bureau and Good Boy, produced by Jeremy Thomas’s Recorded Picture Company, are among the seven international co-productions to receive backing from the UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf).

In addition, 23 UK screen content businesses have been awarded funds to boost their international activities.

Ukgsf is financed through the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) and administered by the British Film Institute (BFI). The latest batch of awards sees over £1.3m being allocated through the international co-production strand and over £2m being allocated through the international business development strand.

The British Film Institute has revealed the list of TV, film, and animation companies that have won funding from its latest £3.3M ($4.2M) Global Screen Fund payout.

Thirty cash awards have been allocated this round, including seven new international co-productions and what the BFI has described as 23 UK screen content businesses. Financed through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), the latest batch of awards sees over £1.3 million allocated through the fund’s International Co-production strand and over £2 million allocated through the fund’s International Business Development strand.

The funding, awarded in the form of non-recoupable grants ranging between £50,000 and £150,000, is paid out over three years. This year, the International Co-production strand has, for the first time, supported collaborations with Hungary, Norway, and Spain. The funding will also support partnerships with Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland and Sweden. Check out the full list of awardees below.

Former Oslo Pictures CEO-producer Dyveke Bjørkly Graver and producer Andrea Berentsen Ottmar have set up their own shop, Eye Eye Pictures, Variety has learned.

The Norwegian producers were both behind the Cannes-winning and double Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World” by star Norwegian director Joachim Trier. The Nordic romcom, released by Neon in the U.S., earned Renate Reinsve a Cannes Festival best actress award in 2021.

Besides Trier, Bjørkly Graver and Berentsen Ottmar have brought another visionary Norwegian auteur to Cannes: Kristoffer Borgli, whose satire “Sick of Myself” world premiered at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand this year. The director’s sophomore pic went on to secure multiple sales for Memento International, from France (Tandem), Benelux (Cherry Pickers) and Japan (The Klockworx Co ltd) to Latin America (Cine Canibal), with a U.S. deal pending.

A string of other talents to watch have directed shorts for the Eye Eye Pictures’ co-heads,...

Get Carter (1971). Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.A fascinating figure in British cinema, Mike Hodges made his astonishing debut with Get Carter in 1971, a vicious tale of gangland revenge featuring an immortal lead performance from Michael Caine. A seminal British gangster movie, Get Carter immediately announced the arrival of a filmmaker with a keen eye for genre deconstruction, the film’s pithy nihilism and modernist sensibilities strikingly attuned to its vision of wanton amorality and national dilapidation. Other studio gigs followed, but film after film, it quickly became apparent that executives and marketing departments had no idea what to do with the work of this perennial outsider. The Terminal Man (1974) never saw a UK release, and A Prayer for the Dying (1987) was re-cut behind his back. Horror sequel Omen II: Damien (1978) was a disaster from the off, with Hodges unceremoniously replaced as director, and Black Rainbow (1989) effectively vanished for some 30 years.

Hulu’s list of new releases for June 2021 is highlighted by a host of useful library titles and one fascinating original film.

The original film in question is the one that lends its delightful photo of Pierce Brosnan delivering a baby to this post. False Positive stars and was written by Ilana Glazer (Broad City). It sounds like a really fun, creepy time with a synopsis that reads: “After months of trying and failing to get pregnant, Lucy (Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) finally find their dream fertility doctor in the illustrious Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan). But after becoming pregnant with a healthy baby girl, Lucy begins to notice something sinister through Hindle’s gleaming charm, and she sets out to uncover the unsettling truth about him, and her own “birth story.” Cool!

Hulu’s other original offerings aren’t too inspiring this month. Only Love, Victor season 2 on June 11 moves the needle much.

As his supernatural thriller about murder and corruption in the Bible belt hits screens after three decades in limbo, the director talks about smash hits and on-set anarchy

‘If you make films that don’t fit into a particular slot, distributors and publicity people just don’t know what to do with them,” muses Mike Hodges from his Dorset farm. It’s the story of his career. Hodges, who turns 88 this month, made two of the best-known British movies ever: definitive gangster thriller Get Carter and sci-fi romp Flash Gordon. But many of his other films, through no fault of his own, barely saw the light of day. His 1974 sci-fi thriller The Terminal Man never got a UK release; he was fired from Damien: Omen II; Mickey Rourke Ira thriller A Prayer for the Dying was re-edited behind his back.

And then there’s supernatural thriller Black Rainbow, that Hodges...

In this episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for Tuesday, April 12th 2016.

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Follow-Up Star Wars: Rogue One trailer / Rebels News Arrow Video: The Swinging Cheerleaders, Crimes of Passion, Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection, + Blood and Black Lace (Us only) & Satan’s Blade (UK Only). Arrow Academy: Effi Briest, Fox and His Friends, The Ox-Bow Incident Criterion: McCabe & Mrs. Miller Kino Lorber: One Million Years B.C., Cry of the City Shout Factory: Death Wish II (w/ Unrated cut) Twilight Time: July & August Line-up and Sale Mill Creek: 2 William Castle Double Features Universal: Black Dog Links to Amazon A Prayer for the Dying Bride of Re-Animator Chato’s Land Cutter’s Way Destroyer / Edge of Sanity Heroes Reborn: Event Series In the French Style It Follows Julia Justice League...

Filmmakers have paid tribute to Master And Commander producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr, who died on Friday in Los Angeles, aged 88.

His Son John Goldwyn told the New York Times he died from congestive heart failure.

Goldwyn Jr's final producing credit was on Fox's The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - a remake of one of his father's hits - which was released in December 2013. His other credits included Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, Mystic Pizza and A Prayer For The Dying. He also twice produced the Academy Awards ceremony.

Goldwyn Jr began his career in documentary films and built a reputation for supporting independent and foreign films, largely through his indie company Samuel Goldwyn Company, which he founded in 1979. Films distributed by his company include Wild At Heart, Gregory's Girl, Prick Up Your Ears and Stranger Than Paradise.

He relaunched his company as Samuel Goldwyn...

"Excalibur" was a formative theatrical experience for me. It was one of the first R-rated films I specifically decided I wanted to see in a theater. I'd seen other R-rated films before that, but always at random and because someone else decided I was going to see it. With "Excalibur," I was crazy to see it, and the film landed on me like a ton of bricks. Surreal, violent, beautiful, explicit, and for a mythology nut, seeing how the film dealt with each of the characters, each of the Arthurian archetypes, I was in love. One of the guys who made an impression in the film was a young Liam Neeson, and for the rest of the '80s, he racked up a number of performances where, good film or bad, he made an impression. How could he not? No one else looked like him. Slightly over eight feet tall,...

Actor Bob Hoskins, whose career spans more than 40 years, announced today that he is retiring from acting, after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Here is part of the statement released by his representatives.

"He wishes to thank all the great and brilliant people he has worked with over the years, and all of his fans who have supported him during a wonderful career. Bob is now looking forward to his retirement with his family, and would greatly appreciate that his privacy be respected at this time."

Bob Hoskins began his career in the 1970s with a string of guest-starring and recurring TV roles, but his breakthrough came with his role as Harold Sand in 1980's The Long Good Friday. He went on to star in Terry Gilliam's Brazil and A Prayer for the Dying before reaching international acclaim by playing Eddie Valliant in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, for...

Exclusive Media has optioned all rights to award-winning author Stewart O.Nan.s latest novel, The Odds: A Love Story, to develop and produce with Le Grisbi Productions and Lbi Entertainment, it was announced today by Exclusive Media Co-Chairmen, Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.

Exclusive Media is producing the feature film project with Julie Yorn of Lbi Entertainment, and John Lesher and Christina Liao of Le Grisbi Productions.

The Odds: A Love Story, currently being packaged by the producers, is a character driven story about a couple on the verge of bankruptcy and divorce who travel to Niagara Falls, the place of their honeymoon, to gamble what.s left of their life savings and, in the process, rekindle their love for one another.

Matt Jackson will be shepherding the project on behalf of Exclusive Media. The book option was brokered by Sylvie Rabineau of The Rabineau, Wachter, Sanford, and Harris Agency.

It was rumored earlier this year that Liam Neeson would return to reprise his role as Ra's al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. He was spotted on the set of the film, but until today there's been no confirmation of his involvement. Warner Bros. made the announcement in the production notes for the film that says,

Neeson next appears in Peter Berg's actioner "Battleship," and he also will be seen in Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated action thriller "The Dark Knight Rises.

It makes perfect sense to me that his character would be back as this Batman finale as we've heard Nolan would bring everything back around in full circle in the franchise. I can't wait to see what this film has in store for us! I just can't help but think it's going to be mind blowing.

Josh Pence is playing Ra's al Ghul in the films flashbacks.

Halloween is normally associated with trick-or-treating, haunted mazes, horror movies and other activities like that. However, this October 31st is the day when actor Mickey Rourke becomes a part of history as he got into some cement at the Hand & Footprint Ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater. He's the 254th celebrity honoree to be immortalized in the cement. The others who have done so throughout the years range from Cecil B. DeMille to Meryl Streep.Ever since Rourke first appeared on the scene back in the early eighties, he's been in numerous movies including "1941," "Diner," "Body Heat," "A Prayer for the Dying," "Nine 1/2 Weeks," "The Pope of Greenwich Village," "The Rainmaker," "The Wrestler" and director Tarsem Singh's upcoming film "Immortals," due out in theaters this November 11th. During the ceremony kind words were said about Rourke by Eric Roberts and filmmaker Jon Favreau. After that, Mickey Rourke gave plenty of thanks to his boxing friends,...

Rourke Will Be The 254th Celebrity To Have Hands &

Footprints In Chinese Cement On Monday, October 31st

(Hollywood, Calif., October 18, 2011)–The most famous place in Hollywood, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (www.chinesetheatres.com), is set to honor its 254th celebrity, Oscar(R)-nominee Mickey Rourke, with his own hand and footprints ceremony on Monday, October 31 at 11:00 Am. The masters of ceremony and guest speaker will be announced.

Up next, Rourke can be seen in the visually-stunning 3D epic adventure Immortals, starring Henry Cavill, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Stephen Dorff, and John Hurt. Directed by Tarsem Singh, written by Charles Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides and produced by Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton and Relativity’s CEO RyanKavanaugh, Immortals tells the story of the ruthless King Hyperion (Rourke), who leads his bloodthirsty army on a murderous rampage across Greece to find a deadly weapon that will destroy humanity.

A Holiday Must-Have, The Liam Neeson Film Collection

Arrives as a 10-Disc DVD Set November 1st

Get ready for action, adventure, suspense and great performances when The Liam Neeson Film Collection comes to DVD November 1 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. This is the first time a collection of this kind has been released for the star across all major studios making it a prime gift for the holidays!

Spanning 25 years of popular films starring the Academy Award® nominated actor,* The Liam Neeson Film Collection is the ultimate DVD set for any Neeson fan. Titles include: The Bounty, A Prayer for the Dying, High Spirits, Shining Through, Nell, Rob Roy, Kinsey, Kingdom of Heaven and Taken.

The Liam Neeson Film Collection contains 10 discs of Neeson.s most enthralling work including a bonus disc of special feature content for the masterpiece Kingdom of Heaven. Watch Neeson in roles as varied a...

Fiddly-diddly music? Check. Gallons of the black stuff? Check. Forget about the Celtic Tiger, according to Hollywood Ireland is stuck in the middle of the last century

With Leap Year, in which Amy Adams flies to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on the 29th of February, Hollywood yet again ticks all the traditional Irish boxes, with a film steeped in cow dung, dipped in booze, populated with tutting Catholics, and bathed in shamrock hues that give even the poster a sickly, consumptive glow. Since Far And Away, starring then-married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Hollywood seems more than happy to defile the isle, with mawkish sentiment, happy-go-lucky drunkards, and some of the most unconvincing accents known to man. If you'd like to join in the fun, award yourself 10 points every time you see an Irish-themed Hollywood movie in which …

Someone has a fight

The most egregious misuse of Ireland yet,...

Paris - When you want to escape to the Riviera without spending the vacation time, you can always catch a foreign film that captures the sea, sun and fun. The Girl From Monaco transports us to the principality nestled along the French coastline.

Fabrice Luchini plays a Parisian lawyer who heads to the coast to defend a client accused of killing a Russian mobster. He gets distracted from the courthouse drama by a local weather girl (Louise Bourgoin). Can he get his mind back on the homicide? Or has he gone on vacation?

The film is now out on DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment. Director Anne Fontaine was willing to answer a few questions via email. Fontaine had been an actress in French cinema during the ’80s before stepping behind the camera as a writer-director. She also recently wrote and directed critically praised Coco Before Chanel.

Party Favors: What was...

DVD Playhouse—November 2009

By

Allen Gardner

Watchmen—The Ultimate Cut (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday...

Horror fans love this time of the year. For those of us not living in La, there's the chill in the air, the colorful leaves, pumpkins everywhere, dead cornfields to explore … if you dare. So, in honor of Our official holiday, I have come up with a list of books and some movies every horror fan should at least take a look at, if not outright add to your book or DVD library.

Without further ado (and in no particular order):

Creepy Places to Visit:

Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend’s Travel Guide by Leon Marcelo, Santa Monica Press, 380 pages

I Love this book!! Leon Marcelo travels the world, literally, to find places of horror both real and fictional. Rome to visit the Dario Argento Profondo Rosso Shop then to George Romero’s Pennsylvania and H.P. Lovecraft’s New England. Marcelo also covers Stephen King country, Poe’s Baltimore,...

The last time Mickey Rourke and Walter Hill worked together, it was 1989 and the result was the underrated yet utterly bonkers and seedy revenge thriller, Johnny Handsome.A lot has happened to both men since then – Hill, one of the great lean’n’mean directors of the 1970s and 1980s, hasn’t directed a feature since 2002’s boxing drama Undisputed, choosing instead to focus on television; while Rourke has embarked on his latest and possibly greatest comeback, with his role in The Wrestler set to bag him some Oscar gold in a couple of weeks.So it’s heartening to see that one of the first gigs Rourke has booked since his return to prominence is St. Vincent, a hitman tale that will see his old mucker Walter get back behind the camera.The plot, which has echoes of Rourke’s previous movie, A Prayer For The Dying, will see...

Mickey Rourke wants to rid himself of his poor reputation and make a Hollywood comeback. The star fell from grace after a series of high profile roles in films such as Rumble Fish (1983), Prayer for the Dying, A (1987) and Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986). He confesses. "I was getting a bad reputation for showing up late - which I did - and having a bad attitude - which I had. I realize that the second time around is not about my ability. It is about my reputation and I just want peace of mind."...