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Daddy Dearest showed Lewis' comedic talent alongside Don Rickles, proving his versatility in TV sitcoms despite a short run. Lewis shined in Game Day as the snarky, non-traditional sports coach, adding a unique charm to the unlikely role. Vamps highlighted Lewis' emotional depth in a horror-sex comedy, proving his interest in diverse projects beyond traditional comedy.

Best known for his stand-up comedy, Richard Lewis was still a prominent figure in movies and television, which can be seen in his best work. Although comedy rarely receives the critical acclaim it deserves, especially compared to dramatic endeavors, Lewis transcended this and made his mark as an influential part of comedy history in film and TV shows. His dark and sartorial style was revolutionary when he began his career and inspired many comedians who came after him.

His career picked up with sitcoms and movies alike due to his fantastic timing and penchant...

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker John Zaritsky died of heart failure in a Vancouver hospital last Wednesday, according to a statement from his family and friends. He was 79.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

The St. Catharines, Ontario native earned an Academy Award in 1983 for Just Another Missing Kid, a film that told the story of a Canadian college student who disappeared during a trip to the United States and his parents’ effort to track him down. The film aired originally on the Canadian TV series The Fifth Estate.

During a career that spanned 40 years, Zaritsky also directed a trilogy of documentaries on thalidomide, the notorious drug introduced in Europe in the late 1950s. Thousands of pregnant women prescribed thalidomide gave birth to babies with severe deformities.

“Entrusted to document raw and vulnerable moments in life,” his family and friends wrote, “Zaritsky did so with an insightful heart for families considering...

Chicago – The 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be long remembered as the “virtual” version due to the pandemic, but there are always the real films, and the festival announced their competition honorees on February 2nd, in a virtual ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt.

After six days, 73 feature films and 50 Short Films, the Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to “Coda” (U.S. Dramatic) … Coda is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and highlights the character of Ruby. “Summer of Soul” (U.S. Documentary) … the “Black Woodstock” of Harlem in the same Summer of 1969. “Flee” (World Cinema Documentary) … a child immigrant grows up to be a respected academic, but still harbors a secret. And “Hive” (World Cinema Dramatic) … a woman has a husband missing in action during the Kosovo war – should she continue to support herself or wait?

The list of all award winners are below.

Grand Jury Prize

Coda

Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival

U.

Sylvain Sylvain, the punk icon and guitarist for New York Dolls whose riffs bridged the gap between punk and glam, died Wednesday. He was 69. The musician, who also contributed bass, piano and songwriting to the groundbreaking band’s first two albums, had been battling cancer.

“As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and 1/2 years,” his wife, Wanda O’Kelley Mizrahi, wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. “Though he fought it valiantly, yesterday he passed away from this disease. While we grieve his loss,...

Every Friday brings the weekly slate of new arrivals on VOD, but pickings are pretty slim today. Obviously, it’s the first day of 2021 and there are going to be an awful lot of sore heads around the world from the celebrations, as muted as they were legally mandated to be. But the biggest titles have been hitting the various streaming services on offer, and nobody wants to release their movie when the majority of audiences are otherwise occupied.

Indeed, the surprisingly polarizing Wonder Woman 1984, Pixar’s latest emotional roller coaster Soul, Robert Rodriguez’s hugely popular family friendly superhero film We Can Be Heroes and season 3 of Cobra Kai will be dominating the conversation for the foreseeable future, and as a result, there are only eight debutants on VOD this weekend.

The biggest of the bunch is the latest in the long line of Liam Neeson action thrillers, with...

Pearl Jam, David Byrne and Jenny Lewis are among the many artists featured on Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy: Volume Two. The collection will be available on Friday for 24 hours only as part of the Bandcamp Fridays series.

The tracklist is nearly twice the size of the first edition, with 77 previously unreleased recordings. Pearl Jam — who recently announced a massive voting initiative themselves — contributed the new song “Get It Back.” Byrne’s “People Tell Me” is a demo from the Joan of Arc: Into the Fire musical,...