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The past several years haven’t been too great for Martin Short’s celebrity-interviewing alter-ego Jiminy Glick. After popping up in the canceled variety series Maya & Marty, Jiminy arguably hit an all-time low when he interviewed “Donald Trump,” as played by Jimmy Fallon, on The Tonight Show.

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But the Glick character rebounded in a big way this week, first with a lukewarm roast of Bill Maher, followed by an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where the portly character hilariously questioned Bill Hader about the death of Willie Mays and life at Diddy’s pool house.

According to Short, he didn’t originally create Glick to parody bad journalists, but rather, to satirize “morons with power.” And to further immerse himself in the character, he donned an understandably controversial fat suit, inspired by a scene in the 1991 comedy Pure Luck, in which his character gets stung by a bee and swells up.

Boba Fett is, inarguably, one of the most beloved characters in "Star Wars" history. That's no small thing, given that the franchise also includes half a dozen (or more) pop culture icons. Perplexingly, the fan-favorite bounty hunter had very little screen time in the original trilogy and didn't have a solo project until "The Book of Boba Fett" arrived in 2022. For years, it was one of the finest examples of "less is more" ever committed to film. The man under the helmet was Jeremy Bulloch, and the actor will forever be tied to that role. And, as it just so happens, Bulloch kind of just lucked his way into the role.

Bulloch did a Reddit Ama back in 2014. At one point, a fan asked the actor how the role of Boba Fett was pitched to him. Indeed, the actor appeared as Fett in "The Empire Strikes Back," but it's not...

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 has joined the cast of “Good People,” the Amazon comedy pilot from Lee Daniels and Whitney Cummings.

He joins recently cast Greg Kinnear and Lisa Kudrow, as well as Cummings, who will star, direct and co-write. Per Amazon, the half-hour comedy follows three generations of women working in the Ombudsman’s office of a college and navigating “the current cultural climate, the concept of feminism across different generations, and the struggle to reconcile socially constructed ideas with current ethical views regarding complex issues such as sex, race, class and gender.”

Short will play Dean Ed Brown, who is described as “the self-satisfied Dean of Sacramento University who has no concept of what’s appropriate. He is of the ‘old guard’ in terms of how he sees the world, and his casual sexism causes constant problems for the Ombudsman’s office.”

Also Read: Lisa Kudrow Cast in Amazon's Comedy...

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...

The Martian is the film that Interstellar should have been. A rousing, surprisingly funny, and touching space adventure, Ridley Scott has delivered his best film since Gladiator. Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, a botanist on the Ares mission to explore the surface of Mars. Caught in a sudden storm, the mission commander (Jessica Chastain), gives the order to evacuate. The astronauts lose Watney when he is hit by the communications array and covered in debris. His bio-signs dark, they assume he is dead, and rocket back to the orbital ship. Heartbroken and with the mission a failure, they begin the long journey back to Earth.

Watney regains consciousness, terribly injured, and abandoned. Pure luck kept his space suit from decompressing. What follows next is stomach churning self surgery. Then a cold realization as to the dire nature of his situation. It will take years for a rescue mission to reach him.

Over the last 25 years, critically acclaimed Nadia Tass has become one of Australia's most respected and versatile filmmakers. Born in Greece, Nadia started out as an actress on the TV series “Prisoner” before moving behind the camera for Malcolm. With husband and frequent collaborator David Parker providing the screenplay and cinematography, the acclaimed 1986 film introduced the mix of humor and humanity that has become Tass’ hallmark. Whether directing Aussie indies like Amy, Hollywood fare like Pure Luck, or theatrical productions in London and Australia, Tass creates works of emotional resonance that charm audiences all over the globe. Nadia Tass is honoured to have a retrospective of her films play at the American Cinematheque (Aero Theatre) in August. If you've never seen them but always wanted to, or if you've seen them and remember them fondly, then now is your chance to catch these classic Australian films (Malcolm, The Big Steal, Amy and Matching Jack) on the big screen in Santa Monica.

Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave (at 14th Street), Santa Monica

Double Feature: Thursday, August 16 - 7.30pm

Malcolm, 1986, Lionsgate, 90 min. Dir. Nadia Tass.

Socially awkward but a mechanical genius, Malcolm loses his job as a Melbourne tramcar operator and takes in a couple of boarders to make ends meet. When he learns the pair are petty criminals, Malcolm uses his knack for gadgetry to help them pull off a series of dazzling robberies. Both warm and hilarious, Nadia Tass' debut feature won 8 Australian Film Institute awards including the Best Film award. Internationally, it won 21 awards.

Discussion between films with director Nadia Tass

The Big Steal, 1990, Cascade Films, 99 min. Dir. Nadia Tass

Young Danny (Ben Mendelsohn of "Animal Kingdom" fame) tries to impress the girl of his dreams with the promises of a ride in his new Jag; unfortunately, Danny drives his family's old Nissan Cedric. But there's a spiffy Jaguar XJ6 in a local used car lot, and the salesman (Steve Bisley) is offering him the deal of a lifetime - what could possibly go wrong? This delightful caper comedy took home 3 AFI awards including one for David Parker's screenplay.

Double Feature: Friday, August 17 - 7.30pm

Matching Jack, 2010, Cascade Films, 99 min. Dir. Nadia Tass

In the most recent film from noted Australian director Nadia Tass, a mother seeks a bone marrow match for her son, diagnosed with leukemia, and finds unlikely sources of hope in her husband's infidelity, and in another man with a sick child. With outstanding performances from stars Jacinda Barrett, James Nesbitt, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Tom Russell. It garnered the top awards at the Milan International Film Festival for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay

Click to view trailer: www.matchingjack.com

Discussion between films with director Nadia Tass

Amy, 1998, Cascade Films, 104 min. Dir. Nadia Tass

Traumatized by the death of her rock star father, 8 year old Amy (a remarkable Alana De Roma) has become mute. When her mother (Academy Award nominee, Rachel Griffiths) brings her to Melbourne in search of treatment, they move in with some quirky locals, one of whom (Ben Mendelsohn) tries to use music to bring the little girl out of her world of silence. A touching mix of comedy, drama and son, Amy won 28 international awards, including the Grand Prix Cannes Junior at the Cannes Film Festival.

Series compiled by Grant Moninger. Program notes by John Hagelston. Retrospective facilitated by Joan Borsten of Films by Jove and Cida Goncalves of 8 Star Entertainment.

American Cinematheque - Aero Theatre

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/aero_theatre_series

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/aero_theatre_events?page=2

Thursday, August 16th - Malcolm and The Big Steal

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/malcolm-the-big-steal

Friday, August 17th - Amy and Matching Jack

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/matching-jack-amy

Tickets

www.fandango.com...

Australian director Nadia Tass, director of Malcolm, The Big Steal and last year’s Matching Jack will see a retrospective of her work at the American Cinematheque in La. Tass’s the forthcoming film stars Harvey Keitel and is tentatively titled Fatal Honeymoon, due in theatres in 2013, distributed by Pinnacle.

The announcement:

Australian director Nadia Tass is to be honoured with a major retrospective of her work at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles during August.

The retrospective will screen four of Tass’ most acclaimed films – Malcolm, The Big Steal, Amy and Matching Jack.

Amongst the many honours in her illustrious career, Nadia Tass won multiple Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Director and Best Film Awards for Malcolm. She and filmmaking partner,David Parker, shared the Byron Kennedy Award in 1986 for their contribution to Australian cinema. Amy received 23 international awards including Best Film at the Paris Film Festival (1999), Grand...

The American Cinematheque will hold a retrospective during August to honour the work of Australian director Nadia Tass.

The Los Angeles-based retrospective will screen Tass. award winning films Malcolm, The Big Steal, Amy and Matching Jack over a two-night tribute.

Tass, who has just finished directing her latest film Fatal Honeymoon, has previously won awards at the Milan International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Asia Pacific Film Festival. She is also the recipient (along with her partner, cinematographer and producer David Parker) of the prestigious Byron Kennedy award for her contribution to the Australian film industry.

Tass, who began her career as an actor on the show Prisoner, has worked consistently in both America and Australia with her Us titles including Pure Luck, The Miracle Worker and Undercover Christmas.

The American Cinematheque tribute will feature Tass discussing her work between film screenings on August 17. Fatal Honeymoon will be released...

When The Walking Dead held open casting calls for zombies in Season 2, Michael Jaegers was one of the lucky ones selected. Not only has he appeared in multiple episodes of the TV series, but was a featured zombie in the episode “Triggerfinger” and we may see him pop up in the new season.

I thought readers would be interested in hearing about his experiences on the set, so I asked him a number of questions about the audition process, make-up application, and interacting with the main cast and crew:

Thanks for taking the time to talk with Daily Dead. Can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell them a bit about your work on The Walking Dead?

Michael: Sure, it’s my pleasure. My name is Michael Jaegers and I was a featured walker twice during the second half of S2. I’ve also done feature work on The Vampire Diaries...

I haven’t watched the NBC show Parenthood, but as far as I understood, it’s a decently well-reviewed one-hour lighthearted drama about several different family segments coping with parenthood (titular line!), and it has a pretty good cast. So can someone tell me what the hell’s going on in this Parenthood banner ad? Does Peter Krause discover the power of flight this season but not know how to control it? Because that would be a very different show, even if he is coping with the realities of raising children while also wackily testing the limits of his newfound flight power (Watch out, vases!) Or does the ad have nothing to do with this season, and was just designed by the same dude who did the Pure Luck poster?...

What do Martin Short, Ted Danson, Nick Nolte and Robin Williams have in common? Each has starred in at least two remakes--that's two apiece--of French comedies (Williams has done three). And none of these are as good as the original. Of course it's not unusual for a remake to be worse than the first film, but there's a special consideration to be made regarding Hollywood's translations of French comedy in particular. They tend to be bad even for remakes. They tend to be bad even for films that are bad for remakes. Here are some examples: "Father's Day," "Pure Luck,"…...

The Russian director reflects on his eclectic Hollywood career and a new biopic of the great writer

Andrei Konchalovsky is an apt director for The Last Station, the new biopic of Tolstoy, given that his background would not be atypical for a character in one of the great author's novels. Not only is he distantly descended from ­Tolstoy (one of his great aunts was married to Tolstoy's son), but Konchalovsky is born into proper Russian aristocracy.

Born Andron Sergeyevich Mikhalkov, he is an offspring of a famous clan. His great grandfather was an imperial ­governor of the city of Yaroslavl. His father, Sergei, who died last summer aged 96, wrote the lyrics to the Russian national anthem. His uncle, Mikhail, was a war hero who wrote a book about his wartime espionage operations. ­Konchalovsky's brother, Nikita ­Mikhalkov, is a major film director in his own right, winning the grand prix at...

Our second annual New Year’s celebration of classic cinema, cocktails and cuisine at The Ritz!!

2008’s screening of After The Thin Man was a true extravaganza, bringing together an incredible drinking/dining experience with one of the greatest film’s of Hollywood’s golden era. This year, we’re stepping it up with the flat-out greatest New Year’s film in the world: Billy Wilder’s 1960 masterpiece The Apartment, a brilliantly written, fast-paced, heartbreakingly hilarious adventure of a poor schlub (a young, bumbling Jack Lemmon) who just can’t steer things right to fall into the good graces of the most wonderful woman in town (a young, unbelievably charming Shirley MacLaine). In his way are an innumerable number of comic obstacles, including the great Fred MacMurray and Ray Walston as self-serving high-rollers content to kick dirt in the face of anyone who crosses them.

It’s a gorgeously shot,...

Someone over at Netflix (and, more specifically Netflix's 'Watch Instantly' department) has been digging into my brain and pulling out some really strange and obscure movies that (as far as I know) aren't even available on DVD! The last time out, I was gushing over titles like Rolling Thunder, The Squeeze, and Planet of the Vampires -- but this time the Netflix VHS Stack is overflowing with wierd little flickers. Get a load of these ones:

The 1986 comedy Modern Girls, starring Cynthia Gibb, Daphne Zuniga, Virginia Madsen, and Clayton Rohner. I actually saw this one during its theatrical run. Some of the Animal House guys (Tim Matheson, Stephen Furst) team up with one of the Porky's guys (Dan Monahan) and the Esp hottie from Ghostbusters (Jennifer Runyon) to deliver one of the more fondly-remembered sex comedies of 1984: Up the Creek! Also features a cool Cheap Trick song and a great performance by a dog.