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In this series exploring the history of the Star Wars franchise, we couldn’t skip over the fascinating backstory of the Emperor, whose real name, Sheev Palpatine, was revealed later, though fans know him best as Darth Sidious.

First introduced as the shadowy mastermind behind Darth Vader and the Empire in the Original Trilogy, his character received further depth and background in the Prequels.

While Ian McDiarmid is now synonymous with the role, he wasn’t the original Emperor. Several performers brought the character to life before McDiarmid’s portrayal was retroactively added to earlier films for continuity.

This article dives into the unique story behind the original Emperor—played by an actress in his first on-screen appearance. It’s a story that uncovers a surprising link between Star Wars and monkeys, building on our recent piece about Yoda, who was nearly played by one!

The Emperor’s story remains...

The Star Wars franchise has currently seen a downturn in its fortunes, with some of its recent projects produced under Kathleen Kennedy proving to be more misses than hits. A part of the reason for the franchise’s failure to connect with the audiences has been the shift towards female protagonists and female-driven stories.

The Emperor was first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (Credit: Lucasfilm).

However, back in the day, when George Lucas was still shaping the galaxy far, far away, he included a female version of the Emperor, which might surprise some fans. In one scene from The Empire Strikes Back, the Emperor later revealed to be Palpatine, was played by a female actress. Here is why this detail might interest Kathleen Kennedy.

The Emperor Was a Woman in One Scene of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back is the second installment to be...

George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise was a big gamble, for he did not believe the first movie would ever make it. Yet now, the franchise is one of the biggest and most successful cinematic universes of all time and even made Lucas over $10 billion rich at one point.

George Lucas (Photo Credit: Late Night with Conan O’Brien)

While the filmmaker, like any other auteur, had numerous inspirations from his own life and reality, he took one US President as his sole inspiration to create one of the most deadly and scary Star Wars villains. In the oral history of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Lucas revealed that the Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine was actually inspired by none other than former US President Richard Nixon.

George Lucas Reveals Emperor Palpatine Was Inspired By Richard Nixon

Clive Revill as Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back

Former US President Richard...

In George Lucas' 1977 sci-fi flick "Star Wars," there is a scene wherein a cadre of Nazi-like bad guys, in the employ of the evil Empire, gather around a boardroom table and mention that the mysterious off-screen Emperor has dissolved the senate and taken absolute control. The military generals are outraged, wondering how the Empire might survive without a bureaucracy in place. In Irvin Kirshner's 1980 sequel "The Empire Strikes Back," it's established that Darth Vader (David Prowse), a mysterious masked warlock, was actually the Emperor's right-hand man, indicating that the Emperor retains control of the Empire through the sheer force of his villainy.

In "The Empire Strikes Back," the Emperor appeared in holographic form to have a powwow with Darth Vader and plan his next move. In the original cut of the movie, the Emperor was played on screen by actress Marjorie Eaton, outfitted with eerie, alien eyeballs. Eaton was a long-working character performer in Hollywood,...

In George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars," a military-run, fascist Empire rules the galaxy and it's up to a scrappy group of Rebels to attack them and destroy their ultimate weapon: a moon-sized space station capable of exploding entire planets with a single shot (known as the Death Star). In "Star Wars," the highest-ranking Empire official audiences see is Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), a stern commanding officer who orders many to their deaths and who commands an eerie masked space wizard named Darth Vader. At one point, Tarkin mentions that the Empire has an Emperor, although we never actually see him in the flesh.

In the 1980 sequel "The Empire Strikes Back," it is revealed that Darth Vader was always a high-ranking individual in the Empire, as we now see him commanding entire Star Destroyers. It is also revealed that Vader answers directly to the mysterious Emperor, who only appears in the form of a hologram.

Something curious happened between the release of George Lucas' "Star Wars" in 1977 and Irvin Kershner's "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980, and I'm not just talking about "The Star Wars Holiday Special."

In the original "Star Wars," the evil Empire was represented by the cold-eyed general Grand Moff Tarkin, played by one of the film's bigger celebrities, Peter Cushing. One of Tarkin's more threatening lieutenants was a masked, black-clad wizard in a cape named Darth Vader. Darth Vader, while serving the Empire, seemed to operate by his own rules. He wielded a laser sword, something no other Imperial officers did, and he had mysterious psychic powers that give him the ability to choke a man from across the room. Why did he wear that mask? He was very mysterious.

"Star Wars" was an enormous hit, and when it came time to make a sequel, it seemed that Darth Vader's role in the story suddenly expanded.

Somehow, Palpatine returned. Again. Okay, that’s not a real surprise, especially for an animated series like Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, which is set in the Prequel Trilogy era. Created by Dave Filoni and Charles Murray, the Disney+ series tells the story of young Jedi Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku before he abandoned the Jedi and fell to the dark side. Along the way, Ahsoka and Dooku encounter many familiar faces, including Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and yes, Senator-turned-Chancellor-turned-Emperor Sheev Palpatine.

As one would hope, the series features a number of fan-favorite actors returning to their signiture roles. Although Rosario Dawson has put her own stamp on the live-action version of Ahsoka, first seen in The Mandalorian, the character will be once again voiced by Ashley Eckstein, who originally played the character for the 2008 movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the subsequent series. While Christopher Lee played Dooku in the movies,...

The tonal diversity within the science fiction genre is what has allowed it to stand the test of time. The term "sci-fi" is a broad one. You may first think of space adventures like the "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Alien," or "Battlestar Galactica" franchises. However, there's also a subsection of sci-fi movies that are slower and more romantic such as "Her," "About Time," and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." You can find sci-fi fantasy films, sci-fi Westerns, sci-fi comedies, and even sci-fi musicals.

The genre itself encourages experimentation, particularly from actors who choose to add their own perspectives to a film. Not every sci-fi film has to be as grim and emotional as "Interstellar" or "2001: A Space Odyssey." It's always admirable when an actor in a science fiction film truly commits to the absurdity of the material.

Even if they're afraid that they might look silly, these actors...

The character of Emperor Palpatine first appeared in Irvin Kershner's 1980 sci-fi film "The Empire Strikes Back." In that film, it was revealed that Darth Vader was no mere officer of the Empire, but right hand to its ruler. In a memorable scene, Darth Vader kneeled to an outsize hologram of the Emperor, who informed him that there was a great disturbance in the Force. The Emperor was played physically by actress Marjorie Eaton, who appeared in "Mary Poppins" as Miss Persimmon, and was voiced by British acting veteran Clive Revill. 

In 1983, with the release of Richard Marquand's...

The post The Secrets Behind Ian McDiarmid's Transformation into Emperor Palpatine appeared first on /Film.

This Star Wars: Obi-wan Kenobi article contains spoilers.

Obi-Wan Kenobi finally returns to Tatooine, but not before pitting two Star Wars greats against each other in a reference-filled finale. Darth Vader and Obi-Wan’s rematch opens up the wounds of their former friendship, while also setting them up for their future roles in the Original Trilogy.

Meanwhile, Reva heads back to the Lars homestead. While she has a big decision to make, it’s inevitable that she comes face to face with a young Luke Skywalker, played by newcomer Grant Feely. The fate of the galaxy is once again at stake!

Here are all the Star Wars references, easter eggs, and cameos we spotted in this episode…

Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine

Iam McDiarmid makes a welcome return to his Original and Prequel Trilogy role as the evil Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious). Here, he appears as a hologram in Vader’s castle on Mustafar.

Box office dominated by holdovers including ‘Uncharted’, ‘Sing 2’.

Channing Tatum comedy Dog and Altitude documentary The Real Charlie Chaplin are debuting in a quiet weekend for new openers at the UK-Ireland box office.

Directed by Tatum and Reid Carolin from a screenplay by Carolin, Dog stars Tatum in the story of a US army ranger who must escort the dog of his fallen commander to the funeral. Entertainment Film Distributors is releasing the title in the UK and Ireland.

Animal-themed titles can be a profitable venture: eOne’s Clifford The Big Red Dog opened to a healthy £1.29m in December,...

Veteran filmmakers Michael Relph and Basil Dearden try a hip ‘n’ flip costume comedy about an 1899 consortium that’s the equivalent of Murder Inc.: Killings for hire done with veddy proper civility and good taste. The charming Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg lead a notable cast — Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill — through mayhem-filled chases in several European capitals. Tossed off in tongue-in-cheek style, it’s shallow but cute, and if you like the stars it can be a lark. Its saving grace is the spirited Ms. Rigg.

The Assassination Bureau

Region-Free Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 86

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / The Assassination Bureau Limited / Street Date October 29, 2021 / Available from [Imprint] or Amazon /

Starring: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill, Kenneth Griffith, Vernon Dobtcheff, Annabella Incontrera, Jess Conrad, George Coulouris.

Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth

Art Director: Michael Relph

Film...

The hangman Albert Pierrepoint (of Pierrepoint – The Last Hangman) makes a small but important appearance in Peter Medak’s 1991 film about the controversial 1953 execution of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman The film stars Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Bentley, Tom Courtenay as his father and a supporting cast featuring a who’s who of British character actors including Edward Hardwicke (Watson of BBC’s Sherlock Holmes), Michael Gough (Horror of Dracula) and Clive Revill (The Legend of Hell House) as the executioner Pierrepoint. Even though Bentley’s words ” Let him have it ” were ambiguous when the policeman demanded the shooter hand over the gun, the jury, under prejudicial instruction from the judge, decided the words meant “Shoot him!”

The post Let Him Have It appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Warner Archive has released a slew of worthwhile 60s spy movies and TV series. Among the under-rated gems is The Double Man, a 1967 Cold War thriller starring Yul Brynner, who gives a powerful performance as American intelligence agent Dan Slater. His teenage son is killed while skiing in Switzerland and Slater suspects it was actually murder. He finds he's been lured to Alps as part of a complex plot to kill him and replace him with an enemy agent with his identical facial features and characteristics. The plot was covered with moss even at the time since it formed the basis of a two-part Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode, The Double Affair, that was released theatrically the previous year as The Spy With My Face.  Still, this is a highly intelligent, gritty film with Brynner as the most hard-ass hero imaginable. Devoid of any humor,...

Thanks to the mind-blowing first trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we know that Emperor Palpatine is set to make his shock return in the upcoming Episode IX. Ian McDiarmid’s creepy laugh heard in the preview is so ingrained in Star Wars fans’ minds that we all instantly knew that the sound of it meant that Darth Sidious would be making a comeback.

As we await the conclusion of the Skywalker saga, then, it’s interesting to look back at how the character could’ve been completely different. Most fans will know that McDiarmid didn’t play the role in the theatrical cut of The Empire Strikes Back, with Marjorie Eaton appearing under the mask and Clive Revill providing the voice. It was only for the Emperor’s increased part in Return of the Jedi that McDiarmid was hired and the rest is cinematic history.

However, ScreenRant...

The haunted house has always been one of the elemental settings in horror – the materialization of externalized evil – and is enjoying considerable success today through the likes of The Conjuring multiverse. When horror entered the ‘70s, ghosts became passé as audiences clamored for more visceral thrills that reflected the current societal concerns; despair marbled with a bit of hope became the name of the game, as films like The Exorcist presented strong opinions regarding faith in the face of crises. Six months earlier however saw the release of The Legend of Hell House (1973), a somewhat traditional yet exceptional spookshow with just enough ‘70s pessimism to fit in nicely with the decade’s mores.

Released by 20th Century Fox in the U.S. mid June, Legend received mixed reviews from critics; some admired its somewhat restrained scares and performances, while others felt it didn’t lean enough into the lurid material...

Secret agent Michael Caine must take on both the kidnappers of his son and his own suspect Army Intelligence colleagues in Don Siegel’s efficiently filmed, curiously tame suspense thriller. Delphine Seyrig is enticing and Donald Pleasance an unlikeable security bureaucrat, while the capable Janet Suzman and John Vernon fill out a top-flight cast that performs well in thriller surprisingly lacking in dramatic impact.

The Black Windmill

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1974 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date December 4, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Michael Caine, Donald Pleasence, Janet Suzman, Delphine Seyrig, John Vernon, Clive Revill, Joss Ackland, Catherine Schell, Joseph O’Conor, Hermoine Baddeley, John Rhys-Davies

Cinematography: Ousama Rawi

Film Editor: Antony Gibbs

Original Music: Roy Budd

Written by Leigh Vance, from the novel Five Days to a Killing by Clive Egleton

Produced and Directed by Don Siegel

Something seems wrong from the first with The Black Windmill: the...

The second wave of Batmania was ignited in 1989 when Tim Burton finally got a big screen adaptation of the comic book hero into theaters. It was such a wild success in terms of merchandising that Warner Bros wanted more and quickly. Since features take two to three years, they needed something sooner and the success of their Tiny Tunes and Animaniacs encouraged them to bring the Dark Knight back to television.

Thankfully, the project was placed in the hands of Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, and Paul Dini who were not only fans of the character but the earliest cartoon fare. Taking a visual cue from Burton and a stylistic one from the Fleischer Brothers Studio, they produced a Batman cartoon unlike anything from the 1960s or 1970s. Batman the Animated Series was sampled on prime time in September 1992 before launching on Fox Kids and for three seasons, there was nothing quite like it.

Luigi Comencini's oeuvre is just bulging with goodies, a cinematic Santa-sack encompassing multiple genres and tones, in a career running from the late forties to the early nineties. I recently sang the praises of his desperate gambling comedy The Scientific Card Player, but he also made films about Casanova's boyhood, virtual reality and, in Italian Secret Service (1968), the then-resurgent espionage genre, Italian and world politics, and the decline of Italian idealism since the war.Just as Pietro Germi's Divorce: Italian Style was about murder, and De Sica's Marriage: Italian Style took in adultery, betrayal and uncertain parentage, so Comencini's title contains a bitter joke: we know this intelligence service is going to be sordid, stupid and utterly lacking in the accustomed James Bond lifestyle.But we first meet our hero, dashing Nino Manfredi, in the happier times of WWII, saving an English commando (Clive Revill) from a fascist...

Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.

Avanti!

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.

Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller

Film Editor: Ralph Winters

Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli

Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.

Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder

When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...

Penélope Cruz as Macarena Granada in Fernando Trueba's The Queen Of Spain is presented an Oscar by Cary Grant

In my conversation with Fernando Trueba at the W Hotel Union Square in New York, he paid tribute to Emilio Ruiz del Río, who also worked with Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus), David Lean (Lawrence Of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago), Nicholas Ray (King Of Kings), John Milius (Conan The Barbarian), and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth). Fernando's latest, The Queen Of Spain (La Reina De España) stars Penélope Cruz who was also his The Girl Of Your Dreams (La Niña De Tus Ojos) with Antonio Resines, Santiago Segura, Rosa Maria Sardà, Jorge Sanz, Jesús Bonilla, and Loles León, who all return here.

Penélope Cruz as Queen Isabella of Castile with John Scott (Clive Revill): "He is not John Ford but he is inspired by him."

In The Queen Of Spain, Mandy Patinkin,...

Myriad Pictures handles international sales on Penelope Cruz drama.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Us rights to Fernando Trueba’s The Queen Of Spain starring Penelope Cruz.

The story centres as film star Macarena Granada who flees Hollywood in the 1950s and returns to her roots in Spain where she signs on to star in an epic film as Queen Isabella of Spain.

The Queen Of Spain premiered at the Berlinale as a special gala screening and also stars Chino Darín, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Clive Revill and Antonio Resines. Universal distributed theatrically in Spain.

Cristina Huete and Anne Deluz produced, while A3 Media, Mikel LeJarza, Mercedes Gamero, Rosa Perez, and Kirk D’Amico served as executive producers.

The film follows up on Trueba’s 1998 drama The Girl Of Your Dreams starring Cruz as a younger Granada.

Samuel Goldwyn Films president Peter Goldwyn brokered the deal with Kirk D’Amico, whose [link=co...

James Hunt Sep 9, 2016

There are crazy Star Trek: Tng episodes, really crazy Star Trek: Tng episodes and then there's Qpid. (The revisiting series is back!)...

This review contains spoilers.

4.20 Qpid

The episode opens around Tagus III, where the Enterprise is preparing to hold an archaeology symposium with Picard as the keynote speaker. Archaeology nerd is one of Picard’s lesser-mined character traits, so it’s always fun to see it come up. All is going fine until Picard returns to his quarters to discover he’s got an unexpected visitor. He’s just about to pick up his phone and fire his Klingon security guard when he realises it’s Vash, his one-time love interest from the episode Captain’s Holiday. Cue much kissing.

But not too much! As the credits end, Picard has stopped serving her some T and started serving her some tea, when who should interrupt but Dr.

Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...

Kirk D’Amico and his team will introduce Cannes buyers to the upcoming drama from Fernando Trueba starring Penelope Cruz.

Myriad Pictures holds world rights excluding Spain and Andorra to the project, currently shooting in Spain and Budapest.

Trueba and Cruz unite after Belle Epoque and The Girl Of Your Dreams. Cruz plays a WWII-era Spanish actress who returns from Hollywood to her home country to play Isabella I of Castille.

On the set she encounters the main characters from The Girl Of Your Dreams, played by Antonio Resines, Jorge Sanz, Rosa Maria Sarda, and Santiago Segura.

The cast includes Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Clive Revill, and Chino Darin.

“We are delighted to be able to work with director Fernando Trueba, one of Spain’s best directors today, and with international star Penelope Cruz on this comedic and poignant film with a great cast and great international production team,” said Myriad president D’Amico.

Cristina Huete and [link...

The two directors have joined the cast of Fernando Trueba’s film, which is now shooting in Budapest.

Directors Arturo Ripstein (La Calle De La Amargura) and Juan Antonio Bayona [pictured] (The Impossible) will step in front of the camera for Fernando Trueba’s The Queen Of Spain, his Penelope Cruz-starring sequel to The Girl Of Your Dreams.

It’s an acting first for Bayona, having accepted a brief cameo in the shoot that is now taking place in Budapest. Veteran Mexican director Ripstein will play the more sizable role of a fictional film producer, Sam Spiegelman, who wants to shoot a film in 1950s Spain.

Given that The Queen Of Spain is a comedy, but also a love letter to film history, it’s only fitting that two auteurs as diverse as Bayona and Ripstein have joined Trueba’s cast.

The action is set in 1956, 18 years later in the life of Macarena Granada, the Spanish...

The two directors have joined the cast of Fernando Trueba’s film, which is now shooting in Budapest.

Directors Arturo Ripstein (La Calle De La Amargura) and Juan Antonio Bayona [pictured] (The Impossible) will step in front of the camera for Fernando Trueba’s The Queen Of Spain, his Penelope Cruz-starring sequel to The Girl Of Your Dreams.

It’s an acting first for Bayona, having accepted a brief cameo in the shoot that is now taking place in Budapest. Veteran Mexican director Ripstein will play the more sizable role of a fictional film producer, Sam Spiegelman, who wants to shoot a film in 1950s Spain.

Given that The Queen Of Spain is a comedy, but also a love letter to film history, it’s only fitting that two auteurs as diverse as Bayona and Ripstein have joined Trueba’s cast.

The action is set in 1956, 18 years later in the life of Macarena Granada, the Spanish...

Spain and Hungary shoot readied for sequel to The Girl Of Your Dreams; additional cast includes Clive Revill (Avanti!).

Director Fernando Trueba (Chico & Rita) is readying Spanish comedy-drama The Queen Of Spain (La Reina De España) for a February shoot.

Produced by Trueba’s Fernando Trueba PC and Atresmedia Cine, shoot is due to get underway in Hungary at the end of February and carry on in Spain in April. Post-production is due to be finalised late 2016 or early 2017.

The feature marks the third collaboration between Oscar-winning writer-director Trueba (Belle Époque) and Oscar-winner Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), following their work together on Belle Epoque and 1998 film The Girl Of Your Dreams, the latter serving as a prequel to The Queen Of Spain.

In The Girl Of Your Dreams Cruz played Macarena Granada, an imaginary Spanish actress of the 1930’s who goes to Nazi Germany to shoot a coproduction. At the end of the film she flees the country...

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' with Daisy Ridley. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens': Negative reviews have been few, but pointed Star Wars: The Force Awakens is currently enjoying a 91 percent approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes' top critics. The average rating of the latest movie in the George Lucas-founded Star Wars franchise is 8.3/10. That's quite a bit higher than the Rt top critics' rating for The Force Awakens' three predecessors, all directed by Lucas – his first (and, to date, last) films since Star Wars back in 1977: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith: 67 percent approval and 7/10 average. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones: 41 percent approval and 6.2/10 average. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace: 41 percent approval and 5.5/10 average. Gushing reviews have poured forth from both little-known online outlets and major publications. They're everywhere. Of course, there...

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiere: Lupita Nyong'o. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' premiere in Hollywood: A few images The most anticipated event since Nostradamus prophesied World War I, World War II, Climate Change Calamity, and Reality TV, Star Wars: The Force Awakens – brought to you not by George Lucas, but by Walt Disney (not the man, but the marketing & merchandising team) – is having its Milky Way premiere this evening right in the heart of Hollywood. If only the Paris Climate Talks had received this much media scrutiny and at least half – one tenth? – as much interest from the stormtrooping masses. So, tell us, how many pounds did Carrie Fisher really have to lose to fit into Princess Leia's costumes? 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiere: Mark Hamill. Boycott? What boycott? Shocking, but it seems like Star Wars: The Force Awakens will actually manage to...

Ryan Lambie Apr 12, 2019

Emperor Palpatine is the most evil man in the galaxy and the most fun. Here's to his return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

John Williams’ soaring music does much to mask the reality that, for much of the Star Wars saga’s extensive cast of characters, life is suffering.

Luke Skywalker’s jaunt beyond the horizons of his Tatooine homestead results in knotty familial problems and a severed hand. Princess Leia has to deal with the psychological fall-out of her home planet’s destruction at the hands of Grand Moff Tarkin and the trauma of inadvertently snogging her own brother. Even Han Solo, so chipper in A New Hope, winds up frozen in carbonite and thrust in the boot of Boba Fett's ship by the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

Nor do the villains have all the fun. Darth Vader’s cool demeanor masks...

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He’s the most evil man in the galaxy and the most fun. Ryan celebrates Emperor Palpatine and the actor who gave him life, Ian McDiarmid.

John Williams’ soaring music does much to mask the reality that, for much of the Star Wars saga’s extensive cast of characters, life is suffering.

Luke Skywalker’s jaunt beyond the horizons of his Tatooine homestead results in knotty familial problems and a severed hand. Princess Leia has to deal with psychological fall-out of her home planet’s destruction at the hands of Grand Moff Tarkin and the trauma of inadvertently snogging her own brother. Even Han Solo, so chipper in A New Hope, winds up frozen in carbonite and thrust in the boot of Boba Fett's ship by the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

Nor do the villains have all the fun; Darth Vader’s cool demeanour...

Ron Moody in 'Oliver!' movie. Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' actor nominated for an Oscar dead at 91 (Note: This Ron Moody article is currently being revised.) Two well-regarded, nonagenarian British performers have died in the last few days: 93-year-old Christopher Lee (June 7, '15), best known for his many portrayals of Dracula and assorted movie villains and weirdos, from the title role in The Mummy to Dr. Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 91-year-old Ron Moody (yesterday, June 11), among whose infrequent film appearances was the role of Fagin, the grotesque adult leader of a gang of boy petty thieves, in the 1968 Best Picture Academy Award-winning musical Oliver!, which also earned him a Best Actor nomination. Having been featured in nearly 200 movies and, most importantly, having had his mainstream appeal resurrected by way of the villainous Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies (and various associated merchandising,...

Jason Reitman unveiled a surprise at his live reading of “The Empire Strikes Back” on Thursday night, and the crowd that packed the Ace Theater in downtown Los Angeles couldn’t have been more excited if he’d shown footage from the new “Star Wars” movie that’s due to open a year from now.

Reitman’s surprise, though, looked back rather than forward. After he’d introduced the cast that would be doing one of the celebrated live reads that Reitman regularly stages for Film Independent – a cast that included Aaron Paul as Luke Skywalker, J.K. Simmons as Darth Vader,...

Despite the fact that it was released over 40 years ago, John Hough’s The Legend of Hell House still remains one of the greatest and most effective haunted house films ever committed to celluloid. Based on Richard Matheson’s screen adaptation of his own novel, Hough’s production offers very little in the way of explicit violence and gore. Instead, the British filmmaker smartly relies on minor in-camera special effects, a pulsating sense of atmosphere and dread, as well as a stellar cast of players to bring his terrifying vision to life, making The Legend of Hell House a timeless horror classic that’s still terrifying to watch.

In The Legend of Hell House, a team of parapsychologists and scientific investigators descend upon Hell House (the “Mount Everest of Haunted Houses”) to determine whether or not there is life after death and if the now abandoned home serves as the...

Pop culture junkies are in for a treat this weekend as Fan Expo Dallas rolls out the red carpet for Dallas Comic Con's annual Fan Days. Dozens of actors and artists from several different iconic television shows, movies, and comic books will be in attendance meeting and greeting their enthusiastic fans. Let's not forget the multitudes of vendors providing the masses with the opportunity to get their hands on hard-to-find items and merchandise. At the risk of sounding cliche, there really is something for everyone at Dallas Comic Con's Fan Days. 

Actors participating in Dallas Comic Con's Fan Days for 2014 include familiar faces from across the geek spectrum. Lord of the Rings fans can participate in a mini-reunion between Hobbits with Sean Astin and Elijah Wood. The Goonies prove they never say die as Astin is joined by his comrades and Lost Boys hunter Corey Feldman and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...

It was our pleasure to speak with actor Clive Revill preceding his appearance this weekend at Dallas Comicon Fan Days. You may best remember him as the voice of the Emporer in The Empire Strikes Back but this man has had a career spanning stage, television and screen. I was very happy to speak with him abotu his career.

Clive Revillstar WARSActorsInterviewsDallas Fan Days...

Here's another installment featuring Joe Dante's reviews from his stint as a critic for Film Bulletin circa 1969-1974. Our thanks to Video Watchdog and Tim Lucas for his editorial embellishments!

Well done haunted house chiller offers plenty for the shiver‑and‑shock fans. A fitting swan song for [Aip co-founder] Jim Nicholson, this could roll up good grosses in general, ballyhoo, drive‑in markets if Fox gives it an appropriately strong sell. Rating: PG.

"This house... it knows we're here!" Of such ominous dialogue are classic style horror pictures made and The Legend Of Hell House, while no classic, is spookily amusing, sometimes scary stuff with plenty of mass appeal for summer playdates. In fact, this maiden effort from the late James Nicholson's Academy Pictures is slick and entertaining enough to register as one of the season's better attractions, if 20th Century‑Fox capitalizes on its considerable ballyhoo potential.

A...

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"Belle"

What's It About? This 18th century English romance is about Dido Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a biracial woman raised by her aristocratic great uncle and aunt, Lord and Lady Mansfield. She grows up alongside her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) as equals and best friends, but as they come of age, their differences become all too apparent -- to each other and to their would-be suitors. Meanwhile, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) is facing a trial as Lord Chief Justice of England that could change the future of slavery. Will Dido find love on her own terms?

Why We're In: It's an elegant period piece perfect for Jane Austen fans, and it's a subtle but effective examination of the intersection of class and race in 18th century England. Mbatha-Raw is fantastic, and director Amma Asante has an excellent eye for detail.

Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the...

Today on Trailers from Hell, Brian Trenchard-Smith rediscovers another dark Brit drama about the death penalty, "Let Him Have It," starring Christopher Eccleston as the real-life murderer of a policeman. The hangman Albert Pierrepoint (of "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman") makes a small but important appearance in Peter Medek’s 1991 film about the controversial 1953 execution of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman (even though Bentley merely egged on the actual shooter with the phrase, “Let him have it.”) The film stars Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Bentley, Tom Courtenay as his father and a supporting cast featuring a who’s who of British character actors including Edward Hardwicke (Watson of BBC’s "Sherlock Holmes"), Michael Gough ("Horror of Dracula") and Clive Revill ("The Legend of Hell House") as the executioner Pierrepoint. Even though Bentley’s words "Let him have it ” were ambiguous when the policeman...

The hangman Albert Pierrepoint (of Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman) makes a small but important appearance in Peter Medek's 1991 film about the controversial 1953 execution of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman (even though Bentley merely egged on the actual shooter with the phrase, "Let him have it.") The film stars Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Bentley, Tom Courtenay as his father and a supporting cast featuring a who's who of British character actors including Edward Hardwicke (Watson of BBC's Sherlock Holmes), Michael Gough (Horror of Dracula) and Clive Revill (The Legend of Hell House) as the executioner Pierrepoint. Even though Bentley's words " Let him have it " were ambiguous when the policeman demanded the shooter hand over the gun, the jury, under prejudicial instruction from the judge, decided the words meant "Shoot him!"

The post Let Him Have It appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

The original film which boasted an impressive cast and tightknit script (written by Matheson himself) showcased some amazing talent in front of the cameras including work from the prolific and absolutely brilliant Roddy McDowell (who casuals will likely recognize from the original Fright Night although the man was responsible for contributing to some truly amazing pieces) Pamela Franklin Clive Revill and Gayle Hunnicutt. For the unaware Hough himself is an incredibly talented filmmaker as well with impressive works like American Gothic The Watcher in the Woods and Twins of Evil cluttering his rsum.

Filming is about to commence on Star Wars: Episode VII, Jj Abrams's hotly-anticipated sequel that picks up the story 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi.

With almost 40 years of history - encompassing films, TV, comic books, video games and novels - there's a wealth of interesting facts and information about the vast universe hatched by George Lucas.

Here are ten fast facts we've discovered from a galaxy far, far away…

1. Inspired by the swashbuckling Flash Gordon adventures that began in the '30s, a young George Lucas initially wanted to bring that serial to the big screen, but found the rights to the character difficult to untangle. From there he began to fashion his own space epic - a project that would eventually become the Star Wars we know and love.

However, things could have been a lot different as Lucas's first draft script was...

‘The Thief and the Cobbler’: Original version of Richard Williams’ animated film has first public screening at the Academy The first public screening of the original version of Richard Williams’ The Thief and the Cobbler will be held at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. Williams will be in attendance to introduce the recently reconstructed original workprint from 1992. The Thief and the Cobbler will be accompanied by Richard Williams’s 1972 Oscar-winning animated short A Christmas Carol, adapted from Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella. Featuring animation by Ken Harris and Abe Levitow, among others, A Christmas Carol has, according to the Academy’s website, "a distinctive and dark tone" inspired by John Leech’s engraved illustrations of the Dickens’ tale. In conjunction with the screenings, the Academy’s public exhibition “Richard Williams: Master of Animation,” featuring film clips,...

Close calls in movie casting history always fascinate me. The possibility of some other actor inhabiting what has become the definitive version of that character in your head is mind boggling. The reasons why people turn down roles, especially in successful franchises, are especially confusing. Those last minute casting changes are heartbreaking at times, especially when you see the aftermath of events, and how the actor's careers were affected.

With all of the casting switch-ups there have been, we've decided to aim our sights at recasting in movie trilogies. We've broken it up by recasting of characters that took place during filming, between a film and its sequels, and before the actor began filming their part. We've also included a close call, and some honorable mentions, as well as rare some footage and photos. Enjoy!

During Filming:

Marty McFly (Back To The Future Trilogy) 

Director Robert Zemeckis offered Michael J. Fox...

"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."

So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?

Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...

George Lucas hasn’t been able to resist making the odd nick and tuck to the original Star Wars trilogy over the years. Here’s James’ list of the worst alterations...

In 1983, George Lucas’s tripartite masterpiece was complete. The Star Wars trilogy had finished and secured a highly regarded place in the history of cinema. But Lucas had big plans for his greatest work. In the years following the release of the films, they were, I’d argue, mutilated. I know I'm not alone in this feeling.

A load of ill-fitting CGI was tacked on (though changing the Sarlacc was probably for the best. Anything to make it look less like genitalia in the desert), sound effects were changed, dialogue was dubbed over, and most appallingly of all, Greedo shot first. I may be a purist, but to me, this is the equivalent of taking a painting that you...

The most wonderful time of the year is once again upon us. The Christmas season is here and with that comes Christmas TV episodes!

For the 25 days leading up til Christmas Day this month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best Christmas-themed episodes from some of Geek culture’s greatest shows. Each day we’ll cover different shows and episodes and encourage you to watch along with us. So come one, come all, to the 25 Days of Geek TV Christmas!

Sunday, December 5th, 2010 - Day 5: Batman: The Animated Series

Season 1, Episode 02: "Christmas With The Joker"

Directed by: Kent Butterworth

Written by: Eddie Gorodetsky

Starring: Kevin Conroy, Loren Lester, Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo, Mari Devon, Clive Revill, and Mark Hamill.

Original Air Date: November 13, 1992

You can purchase a copy of the episode at Amazon or iTunes [...]...