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David Langston Smyrl, best known for playing Mr. Handford on the long-running PBS series Sesame Street, passed away last night at the age of 80. Philly.com reports that he died at the Lankenau Medical Center in Philadelphia after battling lung cancer. Here's what David Langston Smyrl's wife Cheryl Pajil Smyrl had to say about her husband in a statement.

"He was a funny man, a good man, and he always had jokes for you. He was loved by everyone, and very creative."

David Langston Smyrl grew up in North Philadelphia and started performing as a coffee house poet in Greenwich Village in the 1960s. He began his career in television in New York on a show called Express Yourself, and he appeared on the Broadway play Working in 1978 before moving to California to write for the hit sitcom, Benson. He won a People's Choice Award for his work on the show.

Joining the titles already announced—including films by Alain Resnais and Dominik Graf—the following films complete the lineup for the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival's Competition section.

Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)

People’s Republic of China

By Yinan Diao (Night Train, Uniform)

With Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang

World premiere

Boyhood

USA

By Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Me & Orson Welles)

With Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater

International premiere

Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)

Japan

By Yoji Yamada (Tokyo Family, About Her Brother)

With Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho

International premiere

Historia del miedo (History of Fear)

Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France

By Benjamin Naishtat - feature debut

With Jonathan Da Rosa, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual, Cesar Bordon, Tatiana Gimenez

World premiere

Jack

Germany

By Edward Berger

With Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz,...

DVD Playhouse—September 2011

By Allen Gardner

In A Better World (Sony) Winner of last year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar, this Danish export looks at two fractured families and the effect that the adult world dysfunction has on their two sons, who form an immediate and potentially deadly bond. Director Susanne Bier delivers another powerful work that maintains its drive during the films’ first 2/3, then falters somewhat during the last act. Still, well-worth seeing, and beautifully made. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Commentary by Bier and editor Pernille Bech Christensen; Interview with Bier. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

X-men First Class (20th Century Fox) “Origins” film set in the early 1960s, traces the beginnings of Magento and Professor X (played ably here by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy), and how the once-close friends and colleagues became bitter enemies. First half is slam-bang entertainment at its stylish best,...

Another Top 10/20 list that we like featuring here on the site are the Best filmmaker and actor collaborations that have extended from one project to another, in which I like to call "Repeat Offenders". Longtime working duos such as Greengrass and Damon (Green Zone) and Burton and Depp (Alice in Wonderland) didn't figure on our list, neither did Oliver Stone reuniting with Michel Douglas for a second trip to Wall Street and worth noting: last year we mentioned the pairing of Jacques Audiard and Niels Arestrup which could have made it onto this year's list, but didn't. I'm already excited about a number of "Repeat Offenders" for next year, von Trier working with Gainsbourg on Melancholia, McQueen working with Fassbender on Shame, and this is just two pairings. Click below to begin the countdown for 2010's Best "Repeat Offenders". 10. Rachid Bouchareb and Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila and Bernard Blancan...

Almost 30 years after his death, we still have yet to see a theatrically-released biopic or documentary based on the life of Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley.

There have been a number of attempts over that last 11 years that either eventually died, or stalled, for one reason or another. So, what happened to all of them?

Let’s take a look shall we…?

First, there was the 1999 Warner Bros. project which was to be based on Timothy White’s 1998 novel Catch A fire: The Life of Bob Marley; the film was to star Bob Marley’s son Rohan (as Bob) and Lauryn Hill (as Rita Marley), but nothing ever materialized.

7 years later, in 2006, Jamie Foxx (of all people) was said to be starring as Bob Marley in a biopic that was to be directed by French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, which was reportedly conceived by Rita Marley. As an aside, long-time readers...

Malian actor renowned for his long association with the director Peter Brook and his work in film

The Malian actor Sotigui Kouyaté, who has died aged 73, was an important bridge between African and western culture for 40 years. He was best known for his collaborations with the director Peter Brook, in whose work he demonstrated an extraordinary range.

Kouyaté was one of the very few performers around whom Brook shaped particular projects at the Bouffes du Nord Theatre in Paris. Kouyaté played a resonant Prospero in a French-language Tempest (1990), bringing to the role the sensibility of a culture for whom the supernatural is a practical, everyday matter rather than distant folklore. In the Oliver Sacks-inspired play The Man Who (1993), he effectively effaced his origins, playing various patients (and the Jewish Sacks) with transparency and universality. In Qui Est Là? (1996), an improvisation based on Hamlet, he played Polonius, a gravedigger and a terrifying,...

Last week Tambay got all excited at the prospect of there being an African-American film in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Turns out it was an an African, not African-American film, so Tyler Perry won’t be parambulating the Croisette just yet…

A few days later he posted this year’s line-up for the world renown festival, highlighting the African film in question, “Un homme qui crie” (A Screaming Man), by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (France, Belgium, Chad), helmer of one of my favourite African films, Abouna, as well as Daratt, among others.

But it was only while browsing the web yesterday that it came to light that there are, in fact, Two African films in competition at Cannes this year! French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb has been mentioned a few times on this site, with films like London River and Little Senegal, and his film “Hors-la-loi” (Outside the Law...

• A little bit of fluff (Harald Zwart’s Pink Panther II), an Oscar hopeful (Stephen Daldry’s The Reader) and some prestige titles from master filmmakers who might have lost their touch and offerings from less-seasoned directors are among the world preems that have been announced in the Berlin Film Festival’s Competition and Out of Competition section). Some long-awaited films from the veterans in Sally Potter, Theo Angelopoulos and Chen Kaige (see pic) are being paired with filmmakers such as Moodysson, Bouchareb and Rebecca Miller. Along with Miller and Moodysson’s films, I’m looking forward to seeing Oren Moverman’s directorial debut – which will be soon a couple of weeks earlier at Sundance. Here is the complete ten list of films announced. The fest begins on the 5th of February. Alle Anderen Germanyby Maren Ade (The Forest for the Trees)with Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eidinger, Hans-Jochen Wagner,

...

While we eagerly await more info (and trailers) for the films playing at Sundance (and hopefully news on where Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam is going), the first competition and out of competition titles have been announced for one of the other biggest fests on the planet, the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, and all I have to say is Wtf? Pink Panther II is playing out of competition?! Who's running this menagerie? They redid the entire program this year, so I hope they're still going to have the genre goods.

You can check out the real short list after the break or you can read the press release.

Alle Anderen Germany

by Maren Ade (The Forest for the Trees)

with Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eidinger, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Nicole Marischka

World premiere

Rage Great Britain / USA

by Sally Potter (The Tango Lesson, Orlando)

with Dame Judi Dench, Jude Law, Dianne Wiest,...