Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer are heading to Sherwood Forest for one last hurrah.
The “Wolverine” star and the “Killing Eve” actress are attached to star in “The Death of Robin Hood,” a cheery-sounding new film from Michael Sarnoski, the director of the critically-acclaimed “Pig” and this summer’s “A Quiet Place: Day One.”
According to the official logline, the film will find Robin Hood “grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder.” Instead of the merry outlaw seen in certain previous versions of the story like the one portrayed by Errol Flynn, this Robin Hood is “a battleworn loner [who] finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman, who offers him a chance at salvation.” It sounds reminiscent of Richard Lester’s elegiac take on the popular story, “Robin and Marian,” a 1976 film starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as a middled-aged Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
The “Wolverine” star and the “Killing Eve” actress are attached to star in “The Death of Robin Hood,” a cheery-sounding new film from Michael Sarnoski, the director of the critically-acclaimed “Pig” and this summer’s “A Quiet Place: Day One.”
According to the official logline, the film will find Robin Hood “grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder.” Instead of the merry outlaw seen in certain previous versions of the story like the one portrayed by Errol Flynn, this Robin Hood is “a battleworn loner [who] finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman, who offers him a chance at salvation.” It sounds reminiscent of Richard Lester’s elegiac take on the popular story, “Robin and Marian,” a 1976 film starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as a middled-aged Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
- 5/3/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Denis O’Dell, a producer on two Beatles movies as well as “How I Won the War,” “Robin and Marian” and “Heaven’s Gate,” died Dec. 30 from natural causes in Almería, Spain at his home in San José, Cabo de Gata. He was 98.
Father of “Exodus: Gods and Kings” producer Denise O’Dell and grandfather of Denis Pedregosa, producer of Netflix hit “The Paramedic,” O’Dell’s connection with movies stretches back to the ‘40s.
He had already produced six movies, such as Brian Desmond Hurst’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1962, before his association with the Beatles, which began in professional terms with O’Dell taking an associate producer credit on Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night,” starring the Beatles and released in 1964.
O’Dell is generally credited with persuading John Lennon to go to Almería to star in the absurdist WWII drama “How I Won the War,” during...
Father of “Exodus: Gods and Kings” producer Denise O’Dell and grandfather of Denis Pedregosa, producer of Netflix hit “The Paramedic,” O’Dell’s connection with movies stretches back to the ‘40s.
He had already produced six movies, such as Brian Desmond Hurst’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1962, before his association with the Beatles, which began in professional terms with O’Dell taking an associate producer credit on Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night,” starring the Beatles and released in 1964.
O’Dell is generally credited with persuading John Lennon to go to Almería to star in the absurdist WWII drama “How I Won the War,” during...
- 12/31/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Among Sean Connery’s handful of decidedly un-James Bond performances, playing ancient Greek King Agamemnon in Terry Gilliam’s hit 1981 fantasy comedy Time Bandits has to be up there.
But the actor — who’d long since completed his first run of five 007 films and had moved onto serious roles with the likes of The Man Who Would Be King, Robin and Marian and A Bridge Too Far — was only ever written into the script as a joke.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gilliam explains that he and co-writer Michael Palin were working on the scene in which Agamemnon defeats a Minotaur in ...
But the actor — who’d long since completed his first run of five 007 films and had moved onto serious roles with the likes of The Man Who Would Be King, Robin and Marian and A Bridge Too Far — was only ever written into the script as a joke.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gilliam explains that he and co-writer Michael Palin were working on the scene in which Agamemnon defeats a Minotaur in ...
- 11/2/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
To those of a certain generation, James Bond 007 will forever be defined by the way the original movie Bond, Sean Connery, played him. Recalling where you were when you saw Goldfinger for the first time has almost the same impact as many other momentous events in our young lives. As I was reminded this morning in an email from Darryl, my school buddy, “Remember when Bob Barr, you, and me went to see Goldfinger at the Palos Verdes Fox theater? We sat through it twice. Great memories.”
Ah, yes. He didn’t have to remind me. It seems like yesterday. We also sat through the Goofy cartoon short playing with it in order to do that. At that point I hadn’t even seen the first Bond film, Dr. No, and I do recall liking the second one, From Russia With Love, a lot. But Goldfinger was something else. It was,...
Ah, yes. He didn’t have to remind me. It seems like yesterday. We also sat through the Goofy cartoon short playing with it in order to do that. At that point I hadn’t even seen the first Bond film, Dr. No, and I do recall liking the second one, From Russia With Love, a lot. But Goldfinger was something else. It was,...
- 10/31/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Every actor wants to work. And a small percentage of those actors get to work in films that people remember; and a much smaller percentage get to play an iconic character over the course of several films; and an infinitesimal percentage manage to find success by tackling other roles after becoming famous as that iconic character. Which brings us to Sean Connery, who died this week at the age of 90.
His portrayal of super-spy James Bond was as essential to the 1960s as The Beatles. He wasn’t technically the first Bond — Barry Nelson played the Ian Fleming character in an American TV adaptation of “Casino Royale” in 1954 — but Connery invented an action hero who was overtly sexual in a way that his predecessors hadn’t been, although still able to dispatch the bad guys with ruthless efficiency, all the while never spoiling the crease in his tuxedo.
Connery himself came from working-class origins,...
His portrayal of super-spy James Bond was as essential to the 1960s as The Beatles. He wasn’t technically the first Bond — Barry Nelson played the Ian Fleming character in an American TV adaptation of “Casino Royale” in 1954 — but Connery invented an action hero who was overtly sexual in a way that his predecessors hadn’t been, although still able to dispatch the bad guys with ruthless efficiency, all the while never spoiling the crease in his tuxedo.
Connery himself came from working-class origins,...
- 10/31/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Scottish actor Sean Connery has died at the age of 90. His son Jason Connery told the BBC his father had died peacefully in the Bahamas after a long illness.
Famous for his dashing good looks, strapping physique and abundance of charisma, Connery was the first actor to portray James Bond in film, starring in seven entries in the franchise from Dr No to Never Say Never Again. He was also an Oscar-winner for his supporting turn in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, his sole nomination from the Academy, and he received two BAFTAs including an honorary Fellowship Award. He was awarded a knighthood in 2000.
Early years
Born in Edinburgh in 1930, Connery joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 before being discharged three years later on medical grounds. He took numerous other jobs including being a lifeguard, lorry driver and an artist’s model before his bodybuilding led him...
Famous for his dashing good looks, strapping physique and abundance of charisma, Connery was the first actor to portray James Bond in film, starring in seven entries in the franchise from Dr No to Never Say Never Again. He was also an Oscar-winner for his supporting turn in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, his sole nomination from the Academy, and he received two BAFTAs including an honorary Fellowship Award. He was awarded a knighthood in 2000.
Early years
Born in Edinburgh in 1930, Connery joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 before being discharged three years later on medical grounds. He took numerous other jobs including being a lifeguard, lorry driver and an artist’s model before his bodybuilding led him...
- 10/31/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Sean Connery, the Scottish-born actor who rocketed to fame as James Bond and became one of the franchise’s most popular and enduring international stars, has died. He was 90.
Connery, long regarded as one of the best actors to have portrayed the iconic spy, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 and marked his 90th birthday in August. His death was confirmed by his family, who said that the actor “died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family” in the Bahamas. It’s believed he had been unwell for some time. His last acting role had been in Stephen Norrington’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” (2003).
Connery was an audience favorite for more than 40 years and one of the screen’s most reliable and distinctive leading men. The actor was recently voted the best James Bond actor in an August Radio Times poll in the U.K. More than 14,000 voted...
Connery, long regarded as one of the best actors to have portrayed the iconic spy, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 and marked his 90th birthday in August. His death was confirmed by his family, who said that the actor “died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family” in the Bahamas. It’s believed he had been unwell for some time. His last acting role had been in Stephen Norrington’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” (2003).
Connery was an audience favorite for more than 40 years and one of the screen’s most reliable and distinctive leading men. The actor was recently voted the best James Bond actor in an August Radio Times poll in the U.K. More than 14,000 voted...
- 10/31/2020
- by Richard Natale and Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
“Darby O’Gill and the Little People” (1959) Sean Connery’s first major Hollywood role came in this Disney film about a wily Irishman battling local leprechauns. The New York Times dismissed his performance, as a Dubliner who woos Darby’s daughter as “merely tall, dark and handsome.”
“Marnie” (1964)
After breaking out big time as James Bond in 1962’s “Dr. No” and the 1963 sequel “From Russia With Love,” Connery snuck in a role in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller as a wealthy widower who both falls for a mysterious woman with a checkered past played by Tippi Hedren.
“The Hill” (1965)
In this BAFTA Award-winning Sidney Lumet drama, Connery starred as a former squadron leader who bucks against authority in a British Army prison during World War II.
“Murder on the Orient Express” (1974)
Connery is one of many standouts in this star-studded ensemble mystery based on Agatha Christie’s classic novel.
“The Man Who Would Be King...
“Marnie” (1964)
After breaking out big time as James Bond in 1962’s “Dr. No” and the 1963 sequel “From Russia With Love,” Connery snuck in a role in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller as a wealthy widower who both falls for a mysterious woman with a checkered past played by Tippi Hedren.
“The Hill” (1965)
In this BAFTA Award-winning Sidney Lumet drama, Connery starred as a former squadron leader who bucks against authority in a British Army prison during World War II.
“Murder on the Orient Express” (1974)
Connery is one of many standouts in this star-studded ensemble mystery based on Agatha Christie’s classic novel.
“The Man Who Would Be King...
- 8/25/2020
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Sean Connery helped redefine movie stardom thanks to his role as James Bond, an impossibly suave super-spy with a taste for martinis that were shaken, not stirred. In films like “Dr. No,” “Goldfinger,” and “You Only Live Twice,” the Scottish actor created a template for a fresh and exciting action hero, one whose womanizing, hard-drinking ways and penchant to solve any dispute with the barrel of a Walther Ppk presaged a new and more permissive era of on-screen sex and violence.
The man who would be 007 turns 90 on Tuesday and has been off the silver screen since opting to retire in 2003 after appearing in the execrable “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” (Why do the great ones go out with a whimper? Here’s looking at you Gene Hackman/”Welcome to Mooseport”). However, his legacy continues to reverberate — it can be felt in everything from Tom Cruise’s globe-trotting “Mission: Impossible...
The man who would be 007 turns 90 on Tuesday and has been off the silver screen since opting to retire in 2003 after appearing in the execrable “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” (Why do the great ones go out with a whimper? Here’s looking at you Gene Hackman/”Welcome to Mooseport”). However, his legacy continues to reverberate — it can be felt in everything from Tom Cruise’s globe-trotting “Mission: Impossible...
- 8/25/2020
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Ian Holm as Ash in Alien
Sir Ian Holm has passed away from complications of Parkinson's disease, his agent revealed today. The much loved actor was known for his work in films as varied as Chariots Of Fire, Alien, Robin And Marian, The Fifth Element, Dance With A Stranger and the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit films, in which he played the older Bilbo Baggins. He worked with Terry Gilliam on Time Bandits and Brazil, and with David Cronenberg on Naked Lunch and eXistenZ.
A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was celebrated for his stage work and his contributions to bringing Shakespeare to the screen, with performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. He received six BAFTA nominations over the course of his career.
Paying tribute, Edgar Wright described Holm as "a genius actor who brought considerable presence to parts funny,...
Sir Ian Holm has passed away from complications of Parkinson's disease, his agent revealed today. The much loved actor was known for his work in films as varied as Chariots Of Fire, Alien, Robin And Marian, The Fifth Element, Dance With A Stranger and the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit films, in which he played the older Bilbo Baggins. He worked with Terry Gilliam on Time Bandits and Brazil, and with David Cronenberg on Naked Lunch and eXistenZ.
A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was celebrated for his stage work and his contributions to bringing Shakespeare to the screen, with performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. He received six BAFTA nominations over the course of his career.
Paying tribute, Edgar Wright described Holm as "a genius actor who brought considerable presence to parts funny,...
- 6/19/2020
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
San Sebastian — Since the 1950s, Spain has been a favorite European shooting locale. One of the biggest reasons remains its easily accessible, unique and diverse locations.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this past June, the Navarre Film Commission kicked off a traveling exhibition which has been touring Spain over the summer and will present in San Sebastian during this year’s festival.
A tribute to the diversity of locations that exist in Navarra – including castles, deserts, mountains and lush temperate forests – the exhibition shines a spotlight on 18 such locations used by international and domestic film and TV shoots over the past few decades, as well as the productions themselves.
With medieval castles and fortifications a-plenty, Navarre has long been a favorite for historical and fantasy shoots. The most recently recognizable and widely seen, the Bardenas canyon badlands, played host to the Dothraki hordes and their Khalisi in “Game of Thrones.” Artajona...
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this past June, the Navarre Film Commission kicked off a traveling exhibition which has been touring Spain over the summer and will present in San Sebastian during this year’s festival.
A tribute to the diversity of locations that exist in Navarra – including castles, deserts, mountains and lush temperate forests – the exhibition shines a spotlight on 18 such locations used by international and domestic film and TV shoots over the past few decades, as well as the productions themselves.
With medieval castles and fortifications a-plenty, Navarre has long been a favorite for historical and fantasy shoots. The most recently recognizable and widely seen, the Bardenas canyon badlands, played host to the Dothraki hordes and their Khalisi in “Game of Thrones.” Artajona...
- 9/19/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Opening on Sept. 20 with Roger Michell’s “Blackbird,” starring Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon, and set at a stunning Basque resort, the San Sebastián Film Festival marks the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world. Here are 10 early takes on 2019’s edition.
A Festival of Discoveries
“Every festival has its own personality. Venice is now mainly a platform for big star-driven U.S. movies, Cannes for very high-quality cinema,” says festival director José Luis Rebordinos. “We search for new talent, and if you want to know what’s going on now in Latin America, come to San Sebastián.”
Five of its main competition movies are first or second features, with some very good word-of-mouth: David Zonana’s pointedly elegant Mexican class-gulf drama “Workforce,” and Belen Funes’ “A Thief’s Daughter,” a vision of low-income youth juggling love, broken families and bills. New Directors is now firmly established as the festival’s major sidebar.
A Festival of Discoveries
“Every festival has its own personality. Venice is now mainly a platform for big star-driven U.S. movies, Cannes for very high-quality cinema,” says festival director José Luis Rebordinos. “We search for new talent, and if you want to know what’s going on now in Latin America, come to San Sebastián.”
Five of its main competition movies are first or second features, with some very good word-of-mouth: David Zonana’s pointedly elegant Mexican class-gulf drama “Workforce,” and Belen Funes’ “A Thief’s Daughter,” a vision of low-income youth juggling love, broken families and bills. New Directors is now firmly established as the festival’s major sidebar.
- 9/13/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
“Always Be My Baby” is now streaming on Netflix, and some of the excitement around the film has centered on a (very funny) cameo by Keanu Reeves as the very aggressive new boyfriend of Ali Wong’s character.
But cameos are not, of course, a new invention of the streaming age. On the contrary, the cameo is an ancient art that stretches all the way back to the time Kurt Vonnegut wrote a bad essay about his own work in “Back to School,” and possibly even before that!
With that in mind, we asked our panel of critics to name their favorite movie cameos ever. Check out their choices below:
Ken Bakely (@kbake_99), Freelance for Film Pulse
I’ve recently been oddly fascinated by Huey Lewis’s brief cameo in “Back to the Future,...
“Always Be My Baby” is now streaming on Netflix, and some of the excitement around the film has centered on a (very funny) cameo by Keanu Reeves as the very aggressive new boyfriend of Ali Wong’s character.
But cameos are not, of course, a new invention of the streaming age. On the contrary, the cameo is an ancient art that stretches all the way back to the time Kurt Vonnegut wrote a bad essay about his own work in “Back to School,” and possibly even before that!
With that in mind, we asked our panel of critics to name their favorite movie cameos ever. Check out their choices below:
Ken Bakely (@kbake_99), Freelance for Film Pulse
I’ve recently been oddly fascinated by Huey Lewis’s brief cameo in “Back to the Future,...
- 6/3/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
David Crow Nov 19, 2018
The Adventures of Robin Hood went through a director-swapping production yet is still the only Robin Hood movie that matters.
In retrospect, it’s easy to see the formula that Warner Bros. pursued to make The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1938 sweeping Technicolor classic. Conceived as a star vehicle for one of their biggest icons, as well as a picture that would be the chance for a reliable contract director to become a preeminent name in Hollywood, it should’ve been impossible for the project to run into any trouble. Yet it did since the movie was originally pitched as a Jimmy Cagney movie and was later assigned to director William Keighley, a terrific studio man from the golden age… but one who is no more Michael Curtiz than Cagney is Errol Flynn.
Eighty years later and it’s largely been forgotten that the most beloved and...
The Adventures of Robin Hood went through a director-swapping production yet is still the only Robin Hood movie that matters.
In retrospect, it’s easy to see the formula that Warner Bros. pursued to make The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1938 sweeping Technicolor classic. Conceived as a star vehicle for one of their biggest icons, as well as a picture that would be the chance for a reliable contract director to become a preeminent name in Hollywood, it should’ve been impossible for the project to run into any trouble. Yet it did since the movie was originally pitched as a Jimmy Cagney movie and was later assigned to director William Keighley, a terrific studio man from the golden age… but one who is no more Michael Curtiz than Cagney is Errol Flynn.
Eighty years later and it’s largely been forgotten that the most beloved and...
- 11/19/2018
- Den of Geek
It’s been more than 40 years since publicist and newly minted Governors Award honoree Marvin Levy began his close association with Steven Spielberg, but their adventures together only constitute one of acts in the Levy saga.
From the time Levy graduated from NYU in 1949, the affable but no-nonsense communications pro has been somewhere near the center of showbiz gravity.
“I was always a fan of the Broadway musicals starting in high school, and by college we were regularly scoring tickets for opening nights and showing up in tuxedos. We’d see epic shows like ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ and ‘Brigadoon,’ and being naughty boys, we’d go to the backstage door dressed in our tuxes and they’d let us in and we’d get word of where to go for the cast parties.”
When asked if a Variety column item from 1954 — “Marvin Levy and Gordon Morris penned the special material...
From the time Levy graduated from NYU in 1949, the affable but no-nonsense communications pro has been somewhere near the center of showbiz gravity.
“I was always a fan of the Broadway musicals starting in high school, and by college we were regularly scoring tickets for opening nights and showing up in tuxedos. We’d see epic shows like ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ and ‘Brigadoon,’ and being naughty boys, we’d go to the backstage door dressed in our tuxes and they’d let us in and we’d get word of where to go for the cast parties.”
When asked if a Variety column item from 1954 — “Marvin Levy and Gordon Morris penned the special material...
- 11/16/2018
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
William Hobbs, an innovative fight director, fencing master and stuntman who choreographed action sequences for such films as The Three Musketeers, The Duellists and Rob Roy during his long career, has died. He was 79.
Hobbs died July 10 at Hillingdon Hospital in London after suffering from dementia, his son, Laurence Hobbs, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hobbs masterminded John Steed's (Ralph Fiennes) umbrella combat scenes for the 1998 feature adaptation of The Avengers and worked on other features like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), Flash Gordon (1980), Brazil (1985), ...
Hobbs died July 10 at Hillingdon Hospital in London after suffering from dementia, his son, Laurence Hobbs, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hobbs masterminded John Steed's (Ralph Fiennes) umbrella combat scenes for the 1998 feature adaptation of The Avengers and worked on other features like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), Flash Gordon (1980), Brazil (1985), ...
- 7/20/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
William Hobbs, an innovative fight director, fencing master and stuntman who choreographed action sequences for such films as The Three Musketeers, The Duellists and Rob Roy during his long career, has died. He was 79.
Hobbs died July 10 at Hillingdon Hospital in London after suffering from dementia, his son, Laurence Hobbs, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hobbs masterminded John Steed's (Ralph Fiennes) umbrella combat scenes for the 1998 feature adaptation of The Avengers and worked on other features like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), Flash Gordon (1980), Brazil (1985), ...
Hobbs died July 10 at Hillingdon Hospital in London after suffering from dementia, his son, Laurence Hobbs, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hobbs masterminded John Steed's (Ralph Fiennes) umbrella combat scenes for the 1998 feature adaptation of The Avengers and worked on other features like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), Flash Gordon (1980), Brazil (1985), ...
- 7/20/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Actor cites differences with board; Costume designer Yvonne Blake appointed as acting president until election can be held.
The actor Antonio Resines has resigned as president of the Spanish Film Academy.
He had been in the post since May 2015 after producer, distributor and exhibitor Enrique González Macho resigned during his second mandate at the head of the organisation.
Vice president Edmon Roch, producer of Capture The Flag, has also resigned.
Resines, who has shot the upcoming The Queen Of Spain with Fernando Trueba, described it as an “honour” to have held the position but also explained the reason for his departure in a statement released by the Academy: “This decision has been taken due to serious differences with part of the board of directors, differences that have made our task at the Spanish Film Academy presidency impossible.”
The board of directors is formed by two representatives of 14 different specialities in the Spanish film industry. Tensions escalated...
The actor Antonio Resines has resigned as president of the Spanish Film Academy.
He had been in the post since May 2015 after producer, distributor and exhibitor Enrique González Macho resigned during his second mandate at the head of the organisation.
Vice president Edmon Roch, producer of Capture The Flag, has also resigned.
Resines, who has shot the upcoming The Queen Of Spain with Fernando Trueba, described it as an “honour” to have held the position but also explained the reason for his departure in a statement released by the Academy: “This decision has been taken due to serious differences with part of the board of directors, differences that have made our task at the Spanish Film Academy presidency impossible.”
The board of directors is formed by two representatives of 14 different specialities in the Spanish film industry. Tensions escalated...
- 7/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Click here for a complete list of our essays. How to decide in the grand scheme of things which film year stands above all others? History gives us no clear methodology to unravel this thorny but extremely important question. Is it the year with the highest average score of movies? So a year that averages out to a B + might be the winner over a field strewn with B’s, despite a few A +’s. Or do a few masterpieces lift up a year so far that whatever else happened beyond those three or four films is of no consequence? Both measures are worthy, and the winner by either of those would certainly be a year not to be sneezed at. But I contend the only true measure of a year’s...
- 4/27/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
This week on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, Marian found herself in a free cone daze, Robin Hood and Emma made romantic confessions, Hook got his hooks into Gold and, in flashback, Elsa made a cool connection.
Related Regina Frozen Out? Once Upon a Time EPs Urge Fans to ‘Wait and See’
In Storybrooke…. | Robin and Marian are touring the town when they fall prey to li’l Roland’s “But Regina lets me” appeal for ice cream. Any Given Sundae’s proprietor welcomes Marian with a cone that’s on the house — and also drizzled with some hocus-pocus...
Related Regina Frozen Out? Once Upon a Time EPs Urge Fans to ‘Wait and See’
In Storybrooke…. | Robin and Marian are touring the town when they fall prey to li’l Roland’s “But Regina lets me” appeal for ice cream. Any Given Sundae’s proprietor welcomes Marian with a cone that’s on the house — and also drizzled with some hocus-pocus...
- 10/13/2014
- TVLine.com
Spoilers: here's our review of Doctor Who series 8 episode 3, Mark Gatiss' Robot Of Sherwood.
This review contains spoilers. Our spoiler-free review is here.
8.3 Robot Of Sherwood
"And do people ever punch you in the face?"
Three weeks into Peter Capaldi’s reign, and he gets an episode that’s more playful, dafter and – well – just plain funny.
When it was announced that Doctor Who was doing a Robin Hood episode, there was a suspicion that the character would be treated with a degree of seriousness, a bit of reverence, and one of those moments where it’s seen that the Doctor was responsible for some momentous piece of British history. You’ll be telling us he could have stopped the Great Fire Of London at this rate... *
But Robot Of Sherwood, from the pen of Mark Gatiss, veers off in a different direction. If this had been an episode...
This review contains spoilers. Our spoiler-free review is here.
8.3 Robot Of Sherwood
"And do people ever punch you in the face?"
Three weeks into Peter Capaldi’s reign, and he gets an episode that’s more playful, dafter and – well – just plain funny.
When it was announced that Doctor Who was doing a Robin Hood episode, there was a suspicion that the character would be treated with a degree of seriousness, a bit of reverence, and one of those moments where it’s seen that the Doctor was responsible for some momentous piece of British history. You’ll be telling us he could have stopped the Great Fire Of London at this rate... *
But Robot Of Sherwood, from the pen of Mark Gatiss, veers off in a different direction. If this had been an episode...
- 9/6/2014
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
It's Bank Holiday Monday, and that can mean only one thing... parking yourself on the sofa for an epic movie marathon. There really is something for everyone, from shaggy dogs to sorcerers and space adventures.
Digital Spy rounds up nine films worth watching on TV today.
1. Beethoven - 9.25am, ITV2
Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt head up the Newton family, who find their lives flipped upside down with the arrival of a puppy who swiftly grows into a slobbering, troublemaking St Bernard. This is just about the best way to kick off Bank Holiday Monday!
2. Flash Gordon - 11.15am, More4
Arriving hot on the heels of Star Wars, this sci-fi adventure got panned by critics on initial release but has since acquired cult status thanks to some booming performances from thesps like Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed, and Queen's thundering soundtrack.
3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice - 1.30pm, BBC One
Nicolas Cage...
Digital Spy rounds up nine films worth watching on TV today.
1. Beethoven - 9.25am, ITV2
Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt head up the Newton family, who find their lives flipped upside down with the arrival of a puppy who swiftly grows into a slobbering, troublemaking St Bernard. This is just about the best way to kick off Bank Holiday Monday!
2. Flash Gordon - 11.15am, More4
Arriving hot on the heels of Star Wars, this sci-fi adventure got panned by critics on initial release but has since acquired cult status thanks to some booming performances from thesps like Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed, and Queen's thundering soundtrack.
3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice - 1.30pm, BBC One
Nicolas Cage...
- 8/24/2014
- Digital Spy
I love it when I'm watching a movie and all of a sudden, out of nowhere there's a surprise appearance by a big, well-known actor. Sometimes the roles are funny, sometimes actors parody themselves, and then there are times when we get an incredible dramatic performance. There are a ton of great movie cameos out there, but I thought I'd put together a list of 20 cameos and small movie roles that I have enjoyed over the years.
There are some famous cameos such as Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos and the Anchorman cameos that I purposely left off the list because they seem to be obvious choices.
Look over my list and let me know what your favorite movie cameos are in the comment section!
Bill Murray - Little Shop of Horrors
This is by far my favorite movie cameo of all time. Murray is absolutely hilarious in every way.
There are some famous cameos such as Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos and the Anchorman cameos that I purposely left off the list because they seem to be obvious choices.
Look over my list and let me know what your favorite movie cameos are in the comment section!
Bill Murray - Little Shop of Horrors
This is by far my favorite movie cameo of all time. Murray is absolutely hilarious in every way.
- 5/8/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Film producer Richard Shepherd has died, aged 86.
The filmmaker worked in the movie business for six decades, producing many films including 1961's Breakfast At Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.
His other well-known films include 1976's Robin and Marian starring Hepburn and Sean Connery, Marlon Brando's The Fugitive Kind and 1959's The Hanging Tree with Gary Cooper.
He also set up the Artists Agency, representing many top stars including Marilyn Monroe, Rex Harrison, Peter Sellers and Richard Harris.
Shepherd was credited with rescuing the song 'Moon River' for Breakfast At Tiffany's, after executive Marty Rackin wanted to remove it from the film.
He is survived by his wife and four children from his two marriages, including Miami Vice producer Scott Shepherd.
Watch Audrey Hepburn sing 'Moon River' in Breakfast At Tiffany's below:...
The filmmaker worked in the movie business for six decades, producing many films including 1961's Breakfast At Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.
His other well-known films include 1976's Robin and Marian starring Hepburn and Sean Connery, Marlon Brando's The Fugitive Kind and 1959's The Hanging Tree with Gary Cooper.
He also set up the Artists Agency, representing many top stars including Marilyn Monroe, Rex Harrison, Peter Sellers and Richard Harris.
Shepherd was credited with rescuing the song 'Moon River' for Breakfast At Tiffany's, after executive Marty Rackin wanted to remove it from the film.
He is survived by his wife and four children from his two marriages, including Miami Vice producer Scott Shepherd.
Watch Audrey Hepburn sing 'Moon River' in Breakfast At Tiffany's below:...
- 1/16/2014
- Digital Spy
Washington, Jan. 16: Richard Shepherd, who is known for classic films 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' and 'The Fugitive Kind', has dies after a long illness. He was 86.
He also served as head of production at MGM and Warner Bros. and then founded the Artists Agency, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
During his six-decade career in the entertainment industry, he also produced films like 'The Hanging Tree', 'The Hunger', 'The Exorcist', 'Fame', 'Robin and Marian' and 'Love in a Goldfish Bowl'. (Ani)...
He also served as head of production at MGM and Warner Bros. and then founded the Artists Agency, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
During his six-decade career in the entertainment industry, he also produced films like 'The Hanging Tree', 'The Hunger', 'The Exorcist', 'Fame', 'Robin and Marian' and 'Love in a Goldfish Bowl'. (Ani)...
- 1/16/2014
- by Ketali Mehta
- RealBollywood.com
Recent hot cinema topics such as the portrayal of the Mandarin character in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 and speculations about what classic Star Trek villain Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in J.J Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness was modeled after leading up to the film’s release, among others, underline the importance of great villains in genre cinema.
Creating a great cinematic villain is a difficult goal that makes for an incredibly rewarding and memorable viewer experience when it is achieved.
We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains. Other writing on this subject tends to be a bit unfocused, as “greatest villain” articles tend to mix live-action human villains with animated characters and even animals. Many of these articles also lack a cohesive quality as they attempt to cover too much ground at once by spanning all of film history.
This article focuses on the 1970’s,...
Creating a great cinematic villain is a difficult goal that makes for an incredibly rewarding and memorable viewer experience when it is achieved.
We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains. Other writing on this subject tends to be a bit unfocused, as “greatest villain” articles tend to mix live-action human villains with animated characters and even animals. Many of these articles also lack a cohesive quality as they attempt to cover too much ground at once by spanning all of film history.
This article focuses on the 1970’s,...
- 5/19/2013
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
Oliver Reed as Athos in The Three Musketeers & The Four Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1973/1974, UK):
These films were actually shot all at once but ultimately released as two separate films telling one long story. As the musketeer with a dark past, Oliver Reed provides a lot of the heart and soul in these very entertaining and well-made films. Technically, since we have to isolate one film for our fantasy nomination, it would be The Four Musketeers as his role is more prominent in that film. Reed’s reunion scene with Faye Dunaway’s Milady is superb as is Reed’s intense swordplay with an array of opponents including Christopher Lee. An underrated actor whose career was damaged by well-documented alcohol problems and notorious off-screen behavior, Reed still logged in some truly incredible acting performances over the course of his career. His portrayal of Athos is definitely one of them.
Other...
These films were actually shot all at once but ultimately released as two separate films telling one long story. As the musketeer with a dark past, Oliver Reed provides a lot of the heart and soul in these very entertaining and well-made films. Technically, since we have to isolate one film for our fantasy nomination, it would be The Four Musketeers as his role is more prominent in that film. Reed’s reunion scene with Faye Dunaway’s Milady is superb as is Reed’s intense swordplay with an array of opponents including Christopher Lee. An underrated actor whose career was damaged by well-documented alcohol problems and notorious off-screen behavior, Reed still logged in some truly incredible acting performances over the course of his career. His portrayal of Athos is definitely one of them.
Other...
- 5/24/2012
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
Richard Lester has been presented with the BFI Fellowship. The director was given the accolade by BFI Chair Greg Dyke after a screening of his film Robin and Marian at the BFI Southbank. Lester said: "When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. "He wrote, 'He seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion's cage and realised he's forgotten his chair and his whip'. "Some 50 years later, I still haven't found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair." Dyke added: "Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his (more)...
- 3/26/2012
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Director Richard Lester (Superman II, A Hard Day’S Night) has been presented with the BFI.s highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship, following a screening of one of his best-loved films, Robin and Marian at BFI Southbank. The award was presented by BFI Chair, Greg Dyke.
Richard Lester said .When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote: ‘he seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion’s cage and realised he’s forgotten his chair and his whip.’
Some 50 years later, I still haven’t found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair..
Greg Dyke said, .Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style. Although born...
Richard Lester said .When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote: ‘he seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion’s cage and realised he’s forgotten his chair and his whip.’
Some 50 years later, I still haven’t found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair..
Greg Dyke said, .Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style. Although born...
- 3/26/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Stage and screen actor Nicol Williamson, who played Hamlet onstage and Merlin on screen, died of esophageal cancer on December 16 in Amsterdam, where he had been living since 1970. His son announced the death yesterday, January 25. Reports vary on Williamson's age; he was either 73 or 75. For those familiar only with Williamson's movie work, he was best remembered for his cocaine-addicted Sherlock Holmes in Herbert Ross' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) and for his campy Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981, photo). Based on Nicholas Meyer's novel, in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) entices Holmes to seek psychiatric help with none other than a pre-Viggo Mortensen Sigmund Freud: Alan Arkin. (Here's wondering if Shakespeare's shrink, as found in John Madden's Shakespeare in Love, was inspired by the Holmes-Freud relationship in Ross' movie.) Though made for a modest $4 million (about $16 million today), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution turned out to be...
- 1/26/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
British actor Nicol Williamson died Wednesday after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. He was 75.
The English actor was perhaps best known as the sorcerer Merlin in director John Boorman's 1981 retelling of the King Arthur saga, Excalibur. That hugely influential film forever changed my perception of knights in shining armor with its gritty alchemy of blood, mud, lust, sex and sorcery.
A young, very sexy Helen Mirren stars as the seductive and budding sorceress Morgana, and as Arthur's (Nigel Terry) sometime impatient mentor Merlin, Williamson brought a welcome sense of humor to the role -- and the film -- with his wide-eyed and wily Shakespearean delivery; he broke the stereotype of the long-bearded, Gandalf-style old wizard.
Williamson won a Tony award in the mid-'60s for his role in Inadmissible Evidence, and in 1976 played both Sherlock Holmes in The Seven-Percent-Solution and Little John in Robin and Marian. He also...
The English actor was perhaps best known as the sorcerer Merlin in director John Boorman's 1981 retelling of the King Arthur saga, Excalibur. That hugely influential film forever changed my perception of knights in shining armor with its gritty alchemy of blood, mud, lust, sex and sorcery.
A young, very sexy Helen Mirren stars as the seductive and budding sorceress Morgana, and as Arthur's (Nigel Terry) sometime impatient mentor Merlin, Williamson brought a welcome sense of humor to the role -- and the film -- with his wide-eyed and wily Shakespearean delivery; he broke the stereotype of the long-bearded, Gandalf-style old wizard.
Williamson won a Tony award in the mid-'60s for his role in Inadmissible Evidence, and in 1976 played both Sherlock Holmes in The Seven-Percent-Solution and Little John in Robin and Marian. He also...
- 1/25/2012
- TheInsider.com
The Telegraph is reporting that actor Nicol Williamson (Excalibur, Robin And Marian) has sadly passed away.
Barely three months after Inadmissible Evidence, the John Osborne play that made his name, was revived in London, Nicol Williamson has died, aged 73, in Holland.
The colourful Scot - who was described by Osborne as the greatest actor since Marlon Brando, and, by Samuel Beckett, as “touched by genius” had not made a film since 1997′s superhero picture Spawn. He had, in recent years, been concentrating on music.
His son, Luke, by his former wife Jill Townsend, tells Mandrake that he died just before Christmas after a two-year fight with oesophageal cancer and was eager that no fuss should be made about his passing. To modern filmgoers, he is probably best known for The Exorcist III and for playing Merlin in Excalibur.
I’ve always held a soft spot for this actor. Loved him...
Barely three months after Inadmissible Evidence, the John Osborne play that made his name, was revived in London, Nicol Williamson has died, aged 73, in Holland.
The colourful Scot - who was described by Osborne as the greatest actor since Marlon Brando, and, by Samuel Beckett, as “touched by genius” had not made a film since 1997′s superhero picture Spawn. He had, in recent years, been concentrating on music.
His son, Luke, by his former wife Jill Townsend, tells Mandrake that he died just before Christmas after a two-year fight with oesophageal cancer and was eager that no fuss should be made about his passing. To modern filmgoers, he is probably best known for The Exorcist III and for playing Merlin in Excalibur.
I’ve always held a soft spot for this actor. Loved him...
- 1/25/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In October of 2010, Sound on Sight asked me to do my first commemorative piece on the passing of filmmaker Arthur Penn. I suspect I was asked because I was the only one writing for the site old enough to have seen Penn’s films in theaters. Whatever the reason, it was an unexpectedly rewarding if expectedly bittersweet experience which led to a series of equally rewarding but bittersweet experiences writing on the passing of other filmdom notables.
I say rewarding because it gave me a nostalgic-flavored chance to revisit certain work and the people behind it; a revisiting which often brought back the nearly-forgotten youthful excitement that went with an eye-opening, a discovery, the thrill of the new. Writing them has also been bittersweet because each of these pieces is a formal acknowledgment that something precious is gone. A talent may be perhaps preserved forever on celluloid, but the filmography...
I say rewarding because it gave me a nostalgic-flavored chance to revisit certain work and the people behind it; a revisiting which often brought back the nearly-forgotten youthful excitement that went with an eye-opening, a discovery, the thrill of the new. Writing them has also been bittersweet because each of these pieces is a formal acknowledgment that something precious is gone. A talent may be perhaps preserved forever on celluloid, but the filmography...
- 12/24/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
0:00 - Intro / Jay Hates Traveling 10:30 - Headlines: Kurt Russell Replaces Kevin Costner in Django Unchained, Kevin Tancharoen to Direct Mortal Kombat Reboot, Sony to Stop Covering the Cost of 3D Movies 28:50 - Review: 50/50 52:40 - Other Stuff We Watched: Terra Nova, Real Steel, Waking Sleeping Beauty, A Dangerous Method, Moneyball, Robin and Marian, Dragonslayer, Buck, 102 Minutes That Changed America, Vamp, Visiting Hours, Maniac, Bad Dreams, Community 1:32:00 - Junk Mail: Biggie and Tupac Mishap, Movies You Watch With Others, Movies You Watch By Yourself, Favourite Action Directors, The Joker is Racist, Slow vs. Fast Moving Zombies, Beauty Day Question + PS3 and Blu-ray Recommendations 1:58:50 - This Week's DVD Releases 2:03:40 - Outro » Download the MP3 (57 Mb) » View the show notes » Vote for us on Podcast Alley! » Rate us on iTunes! Subscribe to the podcast feed: Donate via Paypal: Recurring Donation $2/Month:
For More Daily Movie Goodness,...
For More Daily Movie Goodness,...
- 10/4/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
How Batman Almost Never Left the Bat Cave
Producer Reveals How Rejections and Perseverance Paved The Way to The Batman Movie Franchise
He has generated $2.6 billion in worldwide box office grosses, countless millions in toy and merchandise sales and survived not one, but two battles with a homicidal maniac. What’s more, he’s not done yet.
Batman is one of the world’s most dependable film properties, with even the worst entry in the franchise’s history still charting $238 million in receipts. As the trailer for the next installment of the franchise, The Dark Knight Rises, debuts online and with the release of the blockbuster Harry Potter film conclusion, millions have already started the countdown until next July when the new film opens.
But if it weren’t for the perseverance of one man who toiled nearly 10 years to make the franchise’s first entry in 1989, it would not have happened at all.
Producer Reveals How Rejections and Perseverance Paved The Way to The Batman Movie Franchise
He has generated $2.6 billion in worldwide box office grosses, countless millions in toy and merchandise sales and survived not one, but two battles with a homicidal maniac. What’s more, he’s not done yet.
Batman is one of the world’s most dependable film properties, with even the worst entry in the franchise’s history still charting $238 million in receipts. As the trailer for the next installment of the franchise, The Dark Knight Rises, debuts online and with the release of the blockbuster Harry Potter film conclusion, millions have already started the countdown until next July when the new film opens.
But if it weren’t for the perseverance of one man who toiled nearly 10 years to make the franchise’s first entry in 1989, it would not have happened at all.
- 9/19/2011
- by THE LEGION fan network
- Legions of Gotham
We take John Barry’s non-Bond retrospective into the 80s, with some of his epic scores of love, lust and loss…
John Barry’s love affair with cinema is well documented. One could not imagine such a torrent of melodic invention pouring forth with such vibrant intensity if he was not enraptured by the cinematic experience: the darkened periphery of the auditoria; the hushed reverence of another world; the minutiae of human emotion playing out on the big screen. Everything he did, from The Beat to Enigma, represented a direct and synchronous passion for lyrical expression alongside the visual language of film.
The young Prendergast got his love of film from his father, Jack Xavier, who was a cinema projectionist in the silent movie era and would subsequently own a chain of cinemas in the North East. One of Barry’s earliest memories was being carried on his dad’s...
John Barry’s love affair with cinema is well documented. One could not imagine such a torrent of melodic invention pouring forth with such vibrant intensity if he was not enraptured by the cinematic experience: the darkened periphery of the auditoria; the hushed reverence of another world; the minutiae of human emotion playing out on the big screen. Everything he did, from The Beat to Enigma, represented a direct and synchronous passion for lyrical expression alongside the visual language of film.
The young Prendergast got his love of film from his father, Jack Xavier, who was a cinema projectionist in the silent movie era and would subsequently own a chain of cinemas in the North East. One of Barry’s earliest memories was being carried on his dad’s...
- 9/5/2011
- Den of Geek
Our round-up of John Barry’s non-Bond movie scores continues with a look at some romantic compositions from the disco decade…
As we embark on the fourth part of our appreciation of John Barry’s career beyond Bond, we move into a decade renowned for its glitter balls, bell-bottoms and jiggle television. However, this phase of Barry’s career is representative of a burgeoning interest in more emotionally charged, fractured and complex ideas, viewed through the filter of a maturing, mellowing artist.
Even the most vibrant, exotic scores could not disguise the introspection and sensitivity of the man himself. He continued to chase universal themes – and he was still capable of conjuring up worlds of intrigue and drama – but the projects he gravitated towards more in the wake of Midnight Cowboy were those that allowed him to explore more intimate musical textures.
Barry still accepted a range of eclectic assignments,...
As we embark on the fourth part of our appreciation of John Barry’s career beyond Bond, we move into a decade renowned for its glitter balls, bell-bottoms and jiggle television. However, this phase of Barry’s career is representative of a burgeoning interest in more emotionally charged, fractured and complex ideas, viewed through the filter of a maturing, mellowing artist.
Even the most vibrant, exotic scores could not disguise the introspection and sensitivity of the man himself. He continued to chase universal themes – and he was still capable of conjuring up worlds of intrigue and drama – but the projects he gravitated towards more in the wake of Midnight Cowboy were those that allowed him to explore more intimate musical textures.
Barry still accepted a range of eclectic assignments,...
- 8/15/2011
- Den of Geek
London — Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films, including "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger" but couldn't persuade a jury that he composed the suave spy's theme music, has died. He was 77.
Barry died in New York, where he had lived for some time, on Sunday, his family said. The family did not release the cause of death.
Though his work on the Bond films is among his most famous, the English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including for "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films.
He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).
His association with Agent 007 began with "Dr. No...
Barry died in New York, where he had lived for some time, on Sunday, his family said. The family did not release the cause of death.
Though his work on the Bond films is among his most famous, the English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including for "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films.
He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).
His association with Agent 007 began with "Dr. No...
- 1/31/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
His scores for eleven James Bond films were a huge part of the 007 series’ distinctive style. Film music aficionados around the world are expressing deep sadness over the passing of legendary composer John Barry who died from heart failure yesterday in New York. His scores were introspective, bombastic, and passionate, and forever changed the landscape of film music. The winner of five Academy Awards (two for Born Free, The Lion In Winter, Out Of Africa, and Dances With Wolves), his many credits include Robin And Marian, King Kong (1976), Star Crash, Zulu, and The Black Hole. Though his artistry will be sorely missed, his legacy will continue to shine.
From the BBC:
Composer John Barry, famous for his work on Born Free, Out of Africa and the James Bond films, has died in New York of a heart attack aged 77.
Born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, the York-born musician first found fame...
From the BBC:
Composer John Barry, famous for his work on Born Free, Out of Africa and the James Bond films, has died in New York of a heart attack aged 77.
Born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, the York-born musician first found fame...
- 1/31/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Plus! The year's most unlikely couples, and crunchiest action sequences
Hit Girl from Kick Ass
Putting the cuteness back into screen violence, Chloe Moretz's 11-year-old hellcat could have skewered The Expendables, The A-Team, The Losers, The Takers and all the other man-meat thrown at us this year into one unsavoury testosterone kebab before the school bus picked her up. Sweet, foul-mouthed and dangerously psychotic, she's the daughter Quentin Tarantino never had, the Christian right's worst nightmare since The Exorcist and the fancy dress costume parents really shouldn't contemplate.
Evelyn Salt
She might have the physique of a malnourished sparrow, but Angelina Jolie's ambiguous rogue agent somehow demolished all pretenders to pick up the Bourne baton. Her role was originally meant for Tom Cruise, but all it took was a nasty Chinese burn from Angelina and he handed it over. And you've got to say, she looked the part,...
Hit Girl from Kick Ass
Putting the cuteness back into screen violence, Chloe Moretz's 11-year-old hellcat could have skewered The Expendables, The A-Team, The Losers, The Takers and all the other man-meat thrown at us this year into one unsavoury testosterone kebab before the school bus picked her up. Sweet, foul-mouthed and dangerously psychotic, she's the daughter Quentin Tarantino never had, the Christian right's worst nightmare since The Exorcist and the fancy dress costume parents really shouldn't contemplate.
Evelyn Salt
She might have the physique of a malnourished sparrow, but Angelina Jolie's ambiguous rogue agent somehow demolished all pretenders to pick up the Bourne baton. Her role was originally meant for Tom Cruise, but all it took was a nasty Chinese burn from Angelina and he handed it over. And you've got to say, she looked the part,...
- 12/18/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
Sixty boxes of notes and photographs cover 40-year career of director who worked with Beatles and on Superman films
Richard Lester – the movie director who helped give the Beatles big screen success in the 1960s before finding more fame with The Three Musketeers and Superman franchises – has donated his archive to the nation.
The BFI National Archive yesterday announced that it had acquired more than 60 boxes of letters, scripts, notes, receipts and photographs covering Lester's 40 year career in the TV and movie business.
Highlights include early drafts for the film A Hard Day's Night – then simply called The Beatles – and letters from stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch and Spike Milligan.
Lester, now aged 78, has had a long association with the BFI, standing in for Jean-Luc Godard when he failed to turn up for the first John Player lecture in 1968. "The organisation has always been very helpful to me in different ways,...
Richard Lester – the movie director who helped give the Beatles big screen success in the 1960s before finding more fame with The Three Musketeers and Superman franchises – has donated his archive to the nation.
The BFI National Archive yesterday announced that it had acquired more than 60 boxes of letters, scripts, notes, receipts and photographs covering Lester's 40 year career in the TV and movie business.
Highlights include early drafts for the film A Hard Day's Night – then simply called The Beatles – and letters from stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch and Spike Milligan.
Lester, now aged 78, has had a long association with the BFI, standing in for Jean-Luc Godard when he failed to turn up for the first John Player lecture in 1968. "The organisation has always been very helpful to me in different ways,...
- 8/22/2010
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
From Abba to Hitchcock, Philip French picks his favourite fleeting 'blink and you'll miss them' moments
Alfred Hitchcock (Rebecca, 1940)
Hitchcock, the brilliant self-publicist who probably devised his own sobriquet "Master of Suspense", virtually invented the movie cameo en route to becoming the world's most recognisable director. His first screen appearance was in a newsroom sequence in The Lodger (1926). Initially, the signature walk-ons were spasmodic, before becoming a feature of each picture after his move to the Us, beginning with Rebecca (1940), where he is seen outside a telephone kiosk being used by George Sanders. Each reflects wittily on the movie.
Walter Huston (The Maltese Falcon, 1941)
The great character actor Walter Huston appeared in son John's directorial debut as Captain Jacoby, the merchant mariner in league with Kasper Gutman and co. He staggers into Sam Spade's office clutching a parcel containing a replica of the eponymous statuette, "the stuff that dreams are made of" [sic]. He says,...
Alfred Hitchcock (Rebecca, 1940)
Hitchcock, the brilliant self-publicist who probably devised his own sobriquet "Master of Suspense", virtually invented the movie cameo en route to becoming the world's most recognisable director. His first screen appearance was in a newsroom sequence in The Lodger (1926). Initially, the signature walk-ons were spasmodic, before becoming a feature of each picture after his move to the Us, beginning with Rebecca (1940), where he is seen outside a telephone kiosk being used by George Sanders. Each reflects wittily on the movie.
Walter Huston (The Maltese Falcon, 1941)
The great character actor Walter Huston appeared in son John's directorial debut as Captain Jacoby, the merchant mariner in league with Kasper Gutman and co. He staggers into Sam Spade's office clutching a parcel containing a replica of the eponymous statuette, "the stuff that dreams are made of" [sic]. He says,...
- 7/24/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
"I was not angry since I came to France / Until this instant." 'Tis bard quote is inevitably uttered by the Ferroni Brigade, while suffering the Cannes juggernaut, usually sooner than later—often enough, in fact, during the opening movie. But this year it was somwehat different: Robin Hood, that turgid revisionist doodle by Sir Ridley ("the wrong") Scott, had been inflicted on most of the international press beforehand, so by the point it screened half-faded was the memory of a tradition besmirched, and, yes, that would stretch past the obvious reference point of Richard Lester's touching Robin and Marian (1976) to Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1991). After all the only, extremely dubious achievement of the wrong Scott's slick, humourless hodgepodge was that it even failed when it tried to make fun of the French. Inconceivable, but it probably helped its opening night selection ("irony"), thus helping to...
- 6/28/2010
- MUBI
Russell Crowe's dynamic Robin Hood repels foreign invaders in this blood-soaked interpretation of the folk tale
Ten years ago, Ridley Scott retrieved the Roman imperial epic from the 36 years of neglect that followed the failure of Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire. Recognising that what sank Mann's movie was its elegance, careful pacing and world-weary sophistication, Scott's Gladiator began with a ferocious pitched battle in Germania that established its hero, Maximus, as a courageous leader, followed by the death far from home of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the anointing of a weak successor. Scott's reworking of the Robin Hood legend begins in a similar fashion with a succession of violent scenes: the exploitation of provincial landowners in 12th-century England and a bloody siege of a French town by Richard the Lionheart on his return from the Crusades.
The first scene establishes that all is not well...
Ten years ago, Ridley Scott retrieved the Roman imperial epic from the 36 years of neglect that followed the failure of Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire. Recognising that what sank Mann's movie was its elegance, careful pacing and world-weary sophistication, Scott's Gladiator began with a ferocious pitched battle in Germania that established its hero, Maximus, as a courageous leader, followed by the death far from home of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the anointing of a weak successor. Scott's reworking of the Robin Hood legend begins in a similar fashion with a succession of violent scenes: the exploitation of provincial landowners in 12th-century England and a bloody siege of a French town by Richard the Lionheart on his return from the Crusades.
The first scene establishes that all is not well...
- 5/17/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Director Ridley Scott's Robin Hood is billed as 'the untold story of how the man became a legend', replacing romanticised notions with a gritty dose of historical realism.
In the big-screen 'reimagining', Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride, an archer in the Third Crusade who returns home and takes the identity of dying knight Sir Robert Loxley. In the tale, he clashes with King John and his tax-collecting, warmongering henchman Sir Godfrey.
Since Douglas Fairbanks played the legendary outlaw in the 1922 silent film Robin Hood, the character has been endlessly modified, with screen portrayals from altruistic outlaw to defecting nobleman, to mischievous forest-dwelling gang leader.
So is Russell Crowe's depiction really any more the true story than previous incarnations?
Not according to author David Crook, who is writing a book Outlaw And Evil-doer Of Our Land: The Original Robin Hood.
Dr Crook (pictured), a retired former archivist at the...
In the big-screen 'reimagining', Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride, an archer in the Third Crusade who returns home and takes the identity of dying knight Sir Robert Loxley. In the tale, he clashes with King John and his tax-collecting, warmongering henchman Sir Godfrey.
Since Douglas Fairbanks played the legendary outlaw in the 1922 silent film Robin Hood, the character has been endlessly modified, with screen portrayals from altruistic outlaw to defecting nobleman, to mischievous forest-dwelling gang leader.
So is Russell Crowe's depiction really any more the true story than previous incarnations?
Not according to author David Crook, who is writing a book Outlaw And Evil-doer Of Our Land: The Original Robin Hood.
Dr Crook (pictured), a retired former archivist at the...
- 5/16/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
It seems that every twenty years or so, Hollywood decides it wants to take on the English folk hero Robin Hood. From the Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn era, to the Connery/Hepburn duo of Robin and Marian and more recently the dubious-yet-classic Kevin Costner outing, Robin Hood is no stranger to the big screen. I’m going to make myself feel old right now and state that it has been nineteen years since Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and like it or not Hollywood has gone and made another Robin Hood film. This time out they decided to go with a great filmmaker—or rather someone who was a great filmmaker before 1991—Ridley Scott. Predictably, Scott’s Robin Hood is a gritty medieval tale, full of complex political intrigue, brutal battles and more characters than you can shake a sword at. What may come as a surprise to many,...
- 5/14/2010
- by Will
- DorkShelf.com
True Blood and Outnumbered come to the end of their current runs in the UK, Ashes To Ashes begins its final two-parter, and there's a whole lot of movies to pick from too...
If there's any shrubbery in the vicinity, it won't be us who's beating about it. Telly this week is not the exciting landscape it's been in weeks past, with a typical lull between bookended bank holidays.
Sure there are plenty of good shows to watch, but as far as new shows taking off this week, the launch pad is barren.
Two shows finish their runs over the next seven days with the season finale of the always exciting True Blood tonight at 10:00pm on FX. The episode is Beyond Here Lies Nothin' and closes the second season of the vampire and mind-reading waitress chronicles at a major town gathering orchestrated by Maryann, where a special and powerful guest is expected.
If there's any shrubbery in the vicinity, it won't be us who's beating about it. Telly this week is not the exciting landscape it's been in weeks past, with a typical lull between bookended bank holidays.
Sure there are plenty of good shows to watch, but as far as new shows taking off this week, the launch pad is barren.
Two shows finish their runs over the next seven days with the season finale of the always exciting True Blood tonight at 10:00pm on FX. The episode is Beyond Here Lies Nothin' and closes the second season of the vampire and mind-reading waitress chronicles at a major town gathering orchestrated by Maryann, where a special and powerful guest is expected.
- 5/14/2010
- Den of Geek
Russell Crowe has said that Robin Hood's central relationship between the outlaw and Marian is an "adult love affair". Speaking at the film's Cannes press conference, Crowe explained that he and director Ridley Scott steered away from previous interpretations of the relationship in their take on the legend. "I think the cool thing about the relationship between Robin and Marian is that it's a very adult love affair," he said. "They come to each other slowly and I think there's lots of variations on them that we could continue on with! We still haven't seen the love scene (more)...
- 5/13/2010
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
Merriness is in short supply, but Ridley Scott's Sherwood update is engaging nonetheless
"We are the boys of the hood …" says the scofflaw Robin, bow-and-arrow akimbo, as he relieves some toffee-nosed tyrants of a grain consignment rightfully belonging to the people and peasants of the Nottingham area, "… and we are merry at your expense!"
Actually, he's not all that merry. This is a pretty grim and gritty reinvention of the Robin Hood myth, with Russell Crowe beefily inhabiting the title role, but this tale of his beginnings is nonetheless an entertaining new fantasy, powerfully and robustly directed, with moments of Blackadderish silliness, tricked out with battle scenes, sieges, whistling arrow-showers, and high-political shenanigans at the court of King John, all of which distress and smoke-blacken the fantasy with a kind of authentic history-effect. Russell Crowe is very far from the easy-going impudence of Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood...
"We are the boys of the hood …" says the scofflaw Robin, bow-and-arrow akimbo, as he relieves some toffee-nosed tyrants of a grain consignment rightfully belonging to the people and peasants of the Nottingham area, "… and we are merry at your expense!"
Actually, he's not all that merry. This is a pretty grim and gritty reinvention of the Robin Hood myth, with Russell Crowe beefily inhabiting the title role, but this tale of his beginnings is nonetheless an entertaining new fantasy, powerfully and robustly directed, with moments of Blackadderish silliness, tricked out with battle scenes, sieges, whistling arrow-showers, and high-political shenanigans at the court of King John, all of which distress and smoke-blacken the fantasy with a kind of authentic history-effect. Russell Crowe is very far from the easy-going impudence of Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood...
- 5/13/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott bring Robin Hood back to the big screen. But is there more to it than Gladiator in the woods?
For anyone in any doubt as to Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe's revisionist intentions, their reduxed Robin Hood should carry its own warnings: no American accents, no Sheriff versus Robin climactic duel, and no jolly shenanigans. If their plan was to deliver a Robin we haven't seen before, then it's mission accomplished.
Winding back the historical clock, Scott and Crowe aren't interested in celebrating the legend, but rather how that legend was created. Like a superhero origin story (think 2008's Iron Man), they want to start from the beginning. This is a story that thrills in the creation of a hero, leaving the face-off between hero and villain as an afterthought.
Of course, Scott and Crowe's take on Robin Hood was always going to be different.
For anyone in any doubt as to Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe's revisionist intentions, their reduxed Robin Hood should carry its own warnings: no American accents, no Sheriff versus Robin climactic duel, and no jolly shenanigans. If their plan was to deliver a Robin we haven't seen before, then it's mission accomplished.
Winding back the historical clock, Scott and Crowe aren't interested in celebrating the legend, but rather how that legend was created. Like a superhero origin story (think 2008's Iron Man), they want to start from the beginning. This is a story that thrills in the creation of a hero, leaving the face-off between hero and villain as an afterthought.
Of course, Scott and Crowe's take on Robin Hood was always going to be different.
- 5/12/2010
- Den of Geek
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