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Cathy Smith, the onetime girlfriend of singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot who might have been best remembered for inspiring the hit song “Sundown” had she not met up with John Belushi at the Chateau Marmont on March 5, 1982, died Aug. 18 at the age of 73.

Her death was reported by Canada’s The Globe and Mail. The longtime resident of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, had been on oxygen and in failing health the past few years, the newspaper said.

Smith, who had been a back-up singer (and occasional drug supplier) to the Canadian rockers who would later become The Band (she claimed “The Weight” was inspired by her), admitted to injecting Belushi with the heroin and cocaine that led to his death at age 33. In a 1986 plea bargain, she pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and several drug charges and served a 15-month prison sentence at California Institution for Women. Upon release, she was deported to her native Canada,...

This Lovecraft Country review contains spoilers.

Lovecraft Country Episode 2

The Jeffersons theme song plays. Uncle George and Leti blithely explore the luxurious suites in the opulent lodge they were inexplicably welcomed into, despite landing at the door bloody and disheveled. George, comfortably clothed in a robe and slippers, delights in the shelves upon shelves of his favorite books. Leti dances airily around the room as she tries on the beautiful garments that fill the wardrobes, all of which just so happen to fit her like a glove. Tic meanwhile, sits solemnly in his suite, replaying the events of last night over in his mind. This scene is incongruous with what we saw in last week’s episode, which is a fun reminder that you can’t really expect or prepare for what’s next on Lovecraft Country.

This exposition-heavy episode gives us a lot of information, which is all important...

After one harrowing, haunting episode, HBO's Lovecraft Country has already established itself as one of the most must-watch new shows of the year. Which would be a bummer for anyone without HBO—no one wants to be left out of the conversation, especially when it comes to Cthulu monsters and prestige television—if the network didn't just upload the entire premiere episode, "Sundown", to watch for free on YouTube. Get on it! Developed by Misha Green and based on the book by Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), a veteran who travels thought Jim …...

The following contains spoilers for Lovecraft Country episode 1.

From its opening scene onward, HBO’s new action horror series Lovecraft Country makes clear that it will not be tied down by silly little things like “time” and “space.”

The first moments of episode 1 “Sundown,” find our lead character Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) in the hellish maw of trench warfare. Bullets fly and men die as Tic advances through the shit toward safety…only to find aliens and an enormous Lovecraftian monster blocking his path. It’s around the time that Jackie Robinson turns up to beat said monster to death that it becomes clear that this is merely a dream. Tic then wakes up to a far less fanciful, but no less dangerous world.

But when exactly is Tic’s world, if it’s not during one of the World Wars? Well Lovecraft Country has a very specific timeframe in mind,...

This Lovecraft Country review contains spoilers.

Lovecraft Country Season 1, Episode 1

We’re introduced to Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) in a dream sequence. What begins as a straightforward black and white scene of Tic in the trenches morphs into a colorful panorama of the fantastical, a smorgasbord of sci-fi hors d’oeuvres. Overhead, flying saucers hover, while creatures of unknown origin fly about the sky. A red woman (Jamie Chung) descends from a spaceship, and alerts our hero to the imminent threat of a rising Cthulhu. Before the Elder God can raise hell, Jackie Robinson smashes it to shit with a single swing of his bat. Tic abruptly awakens.

In real life, Tic is on the back of a greyhound. As the bus crosses yet another bridge named after a dead racist, Tic flips the bridge the bird, a final fuck you to the Jim Crow South. Unfortunately, the bus breaks down.

With no shortage of blood, guts, and things that go bump in the night, Lovecraft Country is off to a running start. The new HBO thriller, which premiered Sunday (Aug. 16), took viewers on a timeless tour of America’s horrors. While the first episode, “Sundown,” boasted plenty of original concepts, it also gave horror junkies a couple major Easter eggs for them to sink their teeth into.

“Listen to them. The children of the night. What music they make!” George (Country B. Vance) says during the climax of the series premiere of Lovecraft Country as he, Tic (Jonathan ...

With no shortage of blood, guts, and things that go bump in the night, Lovecraft Country is off to a running start. The new HBO thriller, which premiered Sunday (Aug. 16), took viewers on a timeless tour of America’s horrors. While the first episode, “Sundown,” boasted plenty of original concepts, it also gave horror junkies a couple major Easter eggs for them to sink their teeth into.

“Listen to them. The children of the night. What music they make!” George (Country B. Vance) says during the climax of the series premiere of Lovecraft Country as he, Tic (Jonathan ...

A review of “Sundown,” the series premiere of HBO’s Lovecraft Country (which I reviewed earlier this month), coming up just as soon as my life is saved by Jackie Robinson…

“I love that the heroes get to go on adventures in other worlds, defy insurmaountable odds, defeat the monster, save the day.” -Tic

A television show doesn’t have to lay out its themes, style and/or influences in its opening scene, but it never hurts. Think about Jimmy McNulty hearing the sad tale of Snot Boogie at the start of The Wire,...

[This story contains spoilers for the series premiere of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, “Sundown.”]

On watching the series premiere of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, a chilling line from James Cameron’s Aliens comes to mind: “They mostly come at night. Mostly.” At least, it’s a line that comes to mind for Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green.

“We watched Aliens for the first episode,” Green tells The Hollywood Reporter about the iconic action movie’s influence on the Lovecraft Country premiere, “and we talked about that a lot when it came to the run at the end of the episode.”

In “Sundown,” ...

[This story contains spoilers for the series premiere of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, “Sundown.”]

On watching the series premiere of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, a chilling line from James Cameron’s Aliens comes to mind: “They mostly come at night. Mostly.” At least, it’s a line that comes to mind for Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green.

“We watched Aliens for the first episode,” Green tells The Hollywood Reporter about the iconic action movie’s influence on the Lovecraft Country premiere, “and we talked about that a lot when it came to the run at the end of the episode.”

In “Sundown,” ...

The documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni, is an intimate look at a prolific singer-songwriter who enriches and is enriched by the history of Canada. Most of the world knows Lightfoot as the singer with the recognizable baritone who put out hits like “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” and “Early Mornin’ Rain.” But in his native country, he is a national treasure. Before international fame, in 1967, he actually wrote and performed a piece called “The Tale of Canada” for the country’s 100th anniversary. After worldwide renown, he mined contemporary local history with the “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Lightfoot caught the performance bug early. He was five when he debuted his rendition of “I’m A Little Teapot” at St. Paul’s United Church Sunday School in Orillia. He would go on to study composition, do...

13 Reasons Why's fourth and final season on Netflix gave us a lot of answers to questions from seasons past but also opened up new questions. One question we had from this season was why do the students at Liberty High keep talking about someone named Gordon Lightfoot? Who even is he? We kinda figure out the whole story by the time the finale credits roll, but if you missed it, here's everything you need to know.

During this season, those in the core friend group start to use a code word to text each other because they think their parents are tapping their devices. The code word is Gordon Lightfoot. The first time we hear it mentioned it is in episode seven when Justin (Brandon Flynn) storms into a classroom to tell Zach (Ross Butler), "I texted you twice. Gordon Lightfoot. Urgent." So now we know the friends have chosen...

Greenwich Entertainment has released the official trailer for Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind. The upcoming documentary explores the “profound evolution from Christian choirboy to troubled troubadour, international star and beloved Canadian icon with 5 Grammy Nominations and over 10 million albums sold,” according to the press statement.

Gordon Lightfoot is a prolific artist. The trailer opens by telling us he’s recorded over 200 songs to sell those 10 million records. In the 1980s, Sctv did a K-Tel parody commercial called “Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Written.” When it first aired, it seemed like a good excuse to feature Rick Moranis’ mimicry skills, but it was not a random choice. It was also not a mockery of the artist. It was a testament to the music and influence of the Canadian musical icon.

The trailer opens with a testament from another Canadian treasure, the band Rush. “He is one of...

The Doors’ Robby Krieger will release his first solo album in 10 years this spring, The Ritual Begins at Sundown. Ahead of the LP’s arrival, the guitarist also shared the first single “The Drift.”

Krieger’s first album since 2010’s Singularity was influenced by another classic rock icon, Frank Zappa: The Ritual Begins at Sundown was co-written and produced by Zappa collaborator Arthur Barrow, features Zappa alumni among Krieger’s backing band and also boasts a cover of Zappa’s “Chunga’s Revenge” on the tracklist.

“I was hanging...

So, How Was Your Decade is a series in which the decade’s most innovative musicians answer our questionnaire about the music, culture, and memorable moments that shaped their decade. Check out all the artists who participated in the series.

Richard Marx began the 2010s with a major milestone: A song he co-wrote with Keith Urban, “Long Hot Summer,” reached Number One on the country music charts, meaning the acclaimed singer-songwriter had notched a chart-topper in each of the past four decades. The song would presage another busy period for Marx,...

Bruce Springsteen has yet to perform a single song from Western Stars in public. However, earlier this year he gathered the large backing band he used on the album at a barn on his New Jersey estate and played it straight through — along with a cover of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

The whole thing was filmed for the movie Western Stars, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last month and rolls to theaters across America on October 25th. (A soundtrack is coming out that same day.) You can...

Anyone who ever owned an album by Gordon Lightfoot might not immediately recognize the man sitting on a metal chair in a dressing room at New York’s Town Hall. These days, Lightfoot only passingly resembles the strapping, mustached, square-jawed troubadour whose ballads, like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early Mornin’ Rain” and “Carefree Highway,” became coffeehouse standards. He no longer perms his hair as he once did. Lanky, sandy-brown locks now fall around his face, which is clean-shaven and, like his body, thin and bony. His hands show purple splotches.

Tony Sokol Apr 25, 2019

Bruce Springsteen's first album in five years is an ode to fun the California sun.

The boardwalk life is not through for Asbury Park's favorite musical son. Bruce Springsteen's first album in five years, Western Stars, found its muse in Southern California pop records of the late sixties and early seventies, according to Variety. Western Stars is set to be released on June 14. The first single “Hello Sunshine,”will drop tonight at midnight along with a music video.

Western Stars is "a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements,” Springsteen said in a statement, via to Variety. “It’s a jewel box of a record.”

read more: Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock n Roll Trailer Finds Happy Noise in Ashes

The album is inspired by “Southern California pop records of the late ’60s and early ’70s,” Springsteen said, " Glen Campbell,...

After dropping hints on his social media accounts all week, Bruce Springsteen has finally announced details about Western Stars, his upcoming album out on June 14th. “This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements,” Springsteen said in a statement. “It’s a jewel box of a record.”

According to a press release, “the 13 tracks of Western Stars encompass a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope.”

Like his previous two albums,...

With a warm, distinctly weathered voice and enormous pop-country crossover appeal, Canadian-born Gordon Lightfoot became one of the most successful of the deeply introspective, primarily folk-influenced singer-songwriters of the 1970s. A national treasure in his home country, the Orillia, Ontario, native, who turned 80 last November, resumes his latest tour — the aptly titled 80 Years Strong — on April 3rd, with dates expected to stretch throughout the year. Lightfoot also recently announced that he’s been working on his 21st studio LP, which will represent his first new album in 15 years.

Inducted into...

Stax Records will highlight its 1968 releases with the forthcoming five-disc box set, Stax ’68: A Memphis Story. The massive box set – which includes songs from Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Isaac Hayes, William Bell, and Rufus and Carla Thomas – will feature 134 songs.

The set will comprise every single, both A- and B-sides, the venerable soul label and its sub-labels released in 1968. Classics from the era, including Redding’s “(Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay” and Sam & Dave’s “I Thank You,” are included...

In 1946, the sleepy Texas town of Texarkana was rocked by a string of eight violent assaults, five of them resulting in murder. These crimes were later dubbed the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, named after the late-night timing of the attacks, and the unknown perpetrator become known as the “Phantom Killer.” It was truly a horrific crime and it’s no surprise that it’s one that would attract exploitation filmmakers. Filmmakers like Texarkana resident Charles B. Pierce.

Charles B. Pierce was, in every way, a product of gonzo drive-in exploitation. In the early ’70s, he rocked the grindhouse world with The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972), an absurd docudrama about a killer Sasquatch tormenting a sleepy village in Arkansas. It was his first true hit, successful enough to spawn a wave of Sasquatch-ploitation (another topic for another time), and kick-start his career. He’d go on to make a few more films in the years that followed,...

Take the trip down south and experience the hot tropical nights in Sundown, which arrived on DVD (plus Digital), Digital HD and On Demand August 16 from Lionsgate. The hilarious action- packed comedy follows two high school seniors who are ready for an epic spring break in exotic Puerto Vallarta – but things take an outrageous turn when the two get tangled up with a local gangster. Starring Devon Werkheiser, Sean Marquette, Camilla Belle, Silverio Palacios, Sara Paxton, Reid Ewing, with Teri Hatcher, John Michael Higgins and Jordi Mollà, and featuring music from Steve Aoki, Paul Oakenfold, Chris Lake and Adrian Lux, Sundown will be available on DVD for the suggested retail price of $19.98. Written by Miguel Tejada-Flores & Fernando Lebrija. Directed by Fernando Lebrija.

Best buds Logan and Blake jet to exotic Puerto Vallarta over spring break, hoping to hook up with their crushes. But after Logan meets a local beauty named Gaby,...

Teenagers often wish to end their high school experience with an epic experience that will offer them memories that they’ll always cherish. Devon Werkheiser’s character in the comedy, ‘Sundown,’ will surely have legendary moments that he’ll never forget from the spring break vacation he took during his senior year. Those occurrences will now always live on and be remembered by audiences, as the action film has been released on DVD this week by Lionsgaten. In celebration of ‘Sundown’s home release, Shockya is offering five lucky winners a DVD of the action comedy. To enter, email us at ShockyaGiveaway@aol.com. Let us know that you’re entering to win the ‘Sundown’ DVD contest [ Read More ]

The post Sundown DVD Giveaway Follows Devon Werkheiser and Camille Belle as They Embark on an Epic Spring Break appeared first on Shockya.com.

Exclusive: Pantelion has begun talks with international buyers here on the teen sex comedy Sundown starring Camilla Belle, Teri Hatcher and Sara Paxton.

Fernando Lebrija directed the comedy about two high school friends on spring break in Mexico when one of them loses a family heirloom to a local gangster.

Sundown, which screened yesterday and screens again twice on Monday, also features DJs Steve Aoki, Paul Oakenfold, Adrian Lux and Chris Lake.

Lebrija, Leonardo Zimbron and Sandro Halphen produce and the cast includes Jordi Molla, John Michael Higgins, Devon Werkheiser and Sean Marquette.

“In the vein of Risky Business and 21 & Over, Sundown will take audiences on the hilarious wild ride of a spring break gone bad,” said Anne-Marie Ross, president of international at Pantelion.

The company, a joint venture between Lionsgate and Mexico’s Grupo Televisa, launched in 2010 and has found success in the United States with breakout Instructions Not Included, Cantinflas and [link...

Looks like someone else has made their way into Taylor Swift and Katy Perry's feud! The "Style" singer had some Twitter beef earlier in the week with Nicki Minaj, after the rapper tweeted her disappointment over not getting nominated for Video of the Year at the MTV Vma's . The 25-year-old, whose "Bad Blood" video scored a nom, mistakenly thought the message was a dig at her but has since apologized for the misunderstanding. But that didn't stop Taylor's former pal Katy from giving her two cents about the whole fight! "Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman…" the "Roar" singer wrote to her followers on Wednesday, referring to Swift bashing her via "Bad Blood." And it looks like one celeb couldn't help but agree with the pop star's bold statement. Actress Camilla Belle...

Camilla Belle wants Taylor Swift to sit in a corner and think about what she did. The Sundown actress finally got her own revenge on the "Style" singer by siding with Katy Perry amid this chaotic Nicki Minaj VMAs feud. An unexpected battle between Minaj and Swift took off late Tuesday, July 21, when the "Anaconda" rapper called out the MTV Video Music Awards for not showing more love to black artists. Swift, 25, thought Minaj was attacking her, but has since apologized for her misunderstanding. Perry, [...]...

On your mark, get set, go! Thousands of runners sprinted through New York City's five boroughs on Sunday, Nov. 2, and amongst the throngs of athletes were tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki and Desperate Housewives alum Teri Hatcher.  The pals prepared for the race together and Hatcher, 49, tweeted a selfie with Wozniacki, 24, and Top Chef All Stars winner Richard Blais.  "Trying 2 stay warm & calm prerace w/ new friends fellow runners @CaroWozniacki @RichardBlais #tcsnycmarathon," the Sundown actress tweeted.  The Danish tennis star completed the 26-mile race in [...]...

Not to be confused with "Can a Song Save Your Life?," of course.

Kellan Lutz and Camilla Belle aren't afraid to ask the tough existential questions as they've signed on for the romantic indie drama, "Love Is All You Need?," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is set in an alternate reality where homosexuality is the norm. Belle will play a star quarterback (no, that's not a typo) whose budding romance with a journalist (Lutz) leads to the couple being bullied.

This seems like a pretty bold experiment, something that Julie Taymor or Sofia Coppola might tackle — and we like the sound of it. "Love Is All You Need?" is being co-written and directed by Kim Rocco Shields, who also called the shots on the short film on which it's based.

Kellan Lutz seems to be setting the groundwork for a pretty interesting post-"Twilight" career. Besides "Love," he's...