Noticias

Wes Craven is my favorite filmmaker. The late director tapped into a precise kind of humanity among the horror and bloodshed that has always deeply resonated with me. Craven is not only one of the godfathers of the horror genre, but a key reason why I love the genre as much as I do. Without him, I’m not sure I’d be here writing this piece right now. If you’d like to read more about my love for Craven and his game, might I suggest this piece here?

Naturally, then, I’m all about not just Craven’s works, but the works that inspired him. The movies, horror or otherwise, that shaped him into the filmmaker he was. It was Craven who first encouraged me to rent Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, after all. Imagine me in middle school watching that—I was a cool guy. Recently,...

Not every horror movie needs a sprawling franchise to leave its mark on audiences. While some of the genre’s most iconic films have given rise to sequels, prequels, and entire cinematic universes, others succeed as powerful standalone stories. These films don’t rely on follow-ups to expand their terror. Instead, they deliver a complete and unforgettable experience, packing their supernatural scares into one self-contained narrative that lingers long after the credits roll.

Standalone supernatural horror movies often benefit from this focus, creating intricate and haunting tales that don’t need to stretch their mythology or recycle familiar tropes. They offer fully realized stories, unique atmospheres, and devastating climaxes that remain effective without the promise -- or threat -- of a sequel. And when one-off horrors really master the art of supernatural dread, they don't let you go.

The Tension Is On Fire In Burnt Offerings 1976 Image via MGM

A keystone of '70s horror,...

When it comes to the race to win an Emmy, there will be a collective buzz around the award’s 60+ categories until Sept. 15 when we find out who gets the gold.

Arguably one of the most highly competitive awards doesn’t happen at the main event but the weekend before at the Creative Arts ceremony. That’s when the winners in the four guest performer categories (which include guest actor and actress in both comedy and drama genres) are awarded for a one-time or re-curring role. (Think Jamie Lee Curtis’ two-episode performance on FX’s “The Bear” — a likely candidate.)

In looking back at early precursors, this award has quite a checkered past with numerous category name changes and head-scratching nominee groupings over the years. For example, in 1977, the bracket was called outstanding single appearance in a comedy or drama series. There was no separation by genre, so nominees included...

In 1964 Barbra Streisand became a star when she opened the original Broadway production of “Funny Girl” as real-life actress, singer and comedian Fanny Brice. Despite rave reviews, she ended up losing the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical to Carol Channing for “Hello, Dolly!” But in 1968 Babs made her motion picture debut in a film adaptation of “Funny Girl” directed by William Wyler, reprising her role as Fanny. She went on to win the Oscar for Best Actress (famously in a tie with Katharine Hepburn for “The Lion in Winter”). In 1970 Eileen Heckart was Tony nominated for her featured performance as Mrs. Baker in “Butterflies are Free,” but lost to her co-star Blythe Danner. But in 1972 Heckart reprised her role in a film adaptation, which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

SEERay Richmond: Oprah discusses taking her ‘The Color Purple’ journey full circle following Thursday night world...

Four years after “Black Panther” became the first Oscar-winning film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” cast member Angela Bassett has made history as the first person to achieve academy recognition for an MCU performance. Included among the numerous actors with whom she reunites in the 2022 sequel is Lupita Nyong’o, who first played her role of Nakia four years after earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “12 Years a Slave.” If Bassett ends up prevailing in the same category this year, Nyong’o will be the 16th woman to have acted in a film that won the same Oscar she previously received.

Until this year, “12 Years a Slave” was the only acting Oscar-nominated film Nyong’o had appeared in. Two of her cast mates in the 2014 Best Picture winner – Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender – respectively competed for the male lead and supporting prizes but eventually...

Fifty years ago, Angela Lansbury opened the 45th Academy Awards ceremony, with a song-and-dance number that paid homage to a day on a movie set. Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson shared Oscars hosting duties on March 27, 1973, a historical night of Academy controversies, record-making, and memorable moments. Enjoy our Oscar flashback 50 years to the ceremony on NBC.

It began with Heston running late due to a flat tire; he was scheduled to deliver the voting rules in a “Ten Commandments” manner. Asked to fill in at the last minute was Clint Eastwood, who humorously claimed, “They pick the guy who hasn’t said but three lines in 12 movies to substitute for him.” Fortunately, Moses showed up and saved Dirty Harry about midway through the speech.

SEEOscar Best Picture Gallery: History of Every Academy Award-Winning Movie

Five completely different types of films were represented in the Best Picture category,...

Christmas is round the corner and Netflix watchers might be binge-watching the streaming service's recent holiday picks, such as The Christmas Chronicles.

The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020) - 65 Stream On Netflix

The sequel to 2018's The Christmas Chronicles is one of the best Christmas comedies on Netflix (even if it couldn't match the acclaim of its predecessor).

Goldie Hawn's Mrs Claus is fleshed out further as a lead character alongside Kurt Russell's Santa in a family-friendly adventure that finds the duo foiling the plans of a mischievous elf during the holiday season. Given that she hardly had any screen time in the first one, this was something that brought fans great joy since they got to see Hawn and Russell's electric chemistry and get to know what a heartwarming and kind person Mrs. Claus was.

Shampoo (1975) - 65 No Streaming Information Available

The first of three collaborations with Warren Beatty, Shampoo is...

Ghost stories have been around forever, and will haunt us long after we are ghosts. Before film, most apparitional tales came from novels or short stories. Yes, there were oral traditions of the spooky place down the block or the hitchhiker on a lost highway, but usually someone put it down in a book. Some of the greatest films about hauntings originate as full cinema creations, with a director’s dark vision on the screen, others come from true cases or urban legends. These ghost stories are novel ideas.

This is by no means a complete list. Almost every Edgar Allan Poe film adaptation has a spectral presence; Charles Dickens’ nighttime visitors in A Christmas Carol are only ghosts of presents we wrap for seasonal coverage; director Lew Allen’s 1944 horror feature The Uninvited isn’t here because I haven’t read Dorothy Macardle’s Uneasy Freehold (1941), which it was...

Tuesday, October 18, will mark the 50th anniversary of the Quad Cinema opening its doors in New York City. Over the last five decades, the independent theater has established itself as a haven for cinephiles with its frequent showings of rare films, new restorations of classics, and indie hits. To celebrate the landmark anniversary, the Quad is devoting its Theater U to showing the four films that played when the theater first opened: “Butterflies Are Free,” “Play It Again, Sam,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” and “The Gang’s All Here.”

Milton Katselas’ “Butterflies Are Free” tells the story of a romance that blossoms between a blind man (Edward Albert) and his neighbor (Goldie Hawn) after the man moves into his first apartment by himself. The film was an adaptation of Leonard Gershe’s hit Broadway play of the same name, with the playwright returning to write the screenplay. Eileen Heckart won an Oscar for...

Four years into the original 10-season run of CBS’s “Murphy Brown,” series creator Diane English developed a second sitcom for the network entitled “Love & War.” Although it only lasted three seasons, it did garner six Primetime Emmy nominations and two wins for Best Comedy Guest Actress. Tracey Ullman first triumphed in 1993 for a spot as an old flame of lead character Jack Stein (Jay Thomas), and Eileen Heckart prevailed one year later following two appearances as Stein’s mother. This was the fourth time that Heckart had contended for this award after earning two bids for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and one for “The Cosby Show.”

Heckart’s first and only Emmy win came when she was 75, making her the fifth oldest champ in her category to date. She is also the 10th oldest woman to ever be recognized for a comedic guest performance, with eight of...

Four years into the original 10-season run of CBS’s “Murphy Brown,” series creator Diane English developed a second sitcom for the network entitled “Love & War.” Although it only lasted three seasons, it did garner six Primetime Emmy nominations and two wins for Best Comedy Guest Actress. Tracey Ullman first triumphed in 1993 for a spot as an old flame of lead character Jack Stein (Jay Thomas), and Eileen Heckart prevailed one year later following two appearances as Stein’s mother. This was the fourth time that Heckart had contended for this award after earning two bids for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and one for “The Cosby Show.”

Heckart’s first and only Emmy win came when she was 75, making her the fifth oldest champ in her category to date. She is also the 10th oldest woman to ever be recognized for a comedic guest performance, with eight of...

The Emmy landscape has changed drastically in the past two decades. Going in to the 54th Emmy Awards, which took place on Sept. 22, 2002, it was a broadcast network — NBC — that led the nominations with 47. Emmy powerhouse HBO came in second with 38. FX and VH1 earned their first nominations while the first major streaming series, Netflix’s “House of Cards,” was still 11 years away. Several of this year’s contenders for Emmy gold were either nominated or won 20 years ago.

Laura Linney, who has been nominated nine times and won four statuettes, is nominated this year for her lead role in the final season of Netflix’s “Ozark” and as co-executive producer of this drama series contender. Two decades ago, she won her first Emmy for her lead role in the Showtime telefilm “Wild Iris.”

HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm, which has been nominated 51 times and has won two Emmys, is...

Paul Thomas Anderson grew up in the San Fernando Valley, which played an important role in his 1997 breakthrough film “Boogie Nights,” which looked at Valley’s porn industry during the ‘70s and 80s. In his new United Artists release “Licorice Pizza,” Anderson returns to the Sfv for a nostalgia-tinged comedy-of-age story set in 1973 starring Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. Both young performers received strong notices with the L.A. Times’ Justin Chang declaring Haim as the true star of “this boisterous, bighearted movie and its raison d’être.” And Bradley Cooper has earned positive notices for his funny turn as hairdresser turned film producer Jon Peters, who ironically was a producer on Cooper’s 2018 “A Star is Born.”

So, what was the world like in 1973? It was the year of Watergate, Roe Vs. Wade and “The Exorcist” hitting the big screen. Let’s travel back almost half a century to look at the top films,...

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Wes Craven was a master of horror movies. The Cleveland native, who made his directorial debut with 1972’s “The Last House on the Left,” gave us spine-chilling classics “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Swamp Thing” before introducing fans to “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and the “Scream” franchise. Craven’s other credits include “The People Under the Stairs,” “Vampire in Brooklyn,” and, taking his oeuvre in a slightly different direction, the drama “Music of the Heart” starring Meryl Streep.

From Freddy Kruger to Ghostface, Craven’s most iconic characters have been scaring audiences for years, but what about the movies that scared him? Because Craven loved watching movies (maybe even more than making...

In this episode, Ben and Daniel talk about the 1996 hit movie 'The First Wives Club.' In addition to their in-depth analysis of the comedic talents of Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, they also discuss Eileen Heckart, Sarah Jessica Parker, Stockard Channing, Elizabeth Berkley, Timothy Olyphant, Victor Garber, Bronson Pinchot, Dan Hedaya, Lea Delaria, Debra Monk, J.K. Simmons, Kate Burton, Marc Shaiman, and Maggie Smith. Ben and Daniel also share personal stories of when they discovered the film and how it's stayed with them since.

“The Good Place” ended its four-season run this spring, but despite the consistent adulation of critics it hasn’t won an Emmy yet. That could change this year, though. We recently opened our predictions for Best Comedy Guest Actress, and the early front-runner to win is Maya Rudolph. It would be the first win of Rudolph’s career despite three previous nominations in this category.

Rudolph was a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 2000 to 2007, but she was never nominated for an Emmy while she was a regular. She finally got her first bid in 2012 for returning to the show as a guest host, but she lost Best Comedy Guest Actress to Kathy Bates (“Two and a Half Men”).

SEEManny Jacinto (‘The Good Place’) on the ‘heartbreaking’ final day of playing Jason Mendoza [Exclusive Video Interview]

Then she was nominated again in 2018 when she joined “The Good Place” in a recurring role as Judge Gen,...

In just five years, playwright, screenwriter and Oscar-nominated director (for Manchester by the Sea) Kenneth Lonergan has seen three of his earlier works – all originally staged Off Broadway – revived for Broadway, with 1996’s This Is Our Youth (the play that introduced Mark Ruffalo to New York audiences) kicking things off with a 2014 revival starring Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin. Last year’s acclaimed staging of 2001’s Lobby Hero earned three Tony nominations, and now Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001 following its staging Off Broadway, is Tony-nominated (Best Revival/play) for the remarkable 2018 Broadway staging starring Elaine May (also Tony nominated), Lucas Hedges, Joan Allen, Cera and David Cromer. Both the play and May recently won Drama Desk awards.

And the trend has spread to London, where Lonergan’s 2009 Off Broadway play The Starry...

Our summer series "Supporting Actress Smackdown" returns on Sunday April 28th with a deep dive into the 1972 Oscar lineup:

• Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid

• Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free

• Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie

• Susan Tyrrell, Fat City

• Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure

That's just two weeks away! So make sure to get your votes in (1 to 5 hearts for each of those performances that you've seen) since readers are the final collective panelist.

Want to meet the other panelists? Yeah, you do!

Please Welcome...

This article marks Part 1 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on Horror Films at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the spine-tingling movies that earned Academy Awards nominations, including the following films from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

In considering history of horror cinema and its performance at the Oscars, it must first be acknowledged that a plethora of pictures from this genre were released prior to the very existence of the Academy Awards. The legendary likes of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920), “Nosferatu” (1922) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925), among others, all earned releases prior to the first Oscar ceremony, in 1928.

There were not many horror films eligible for consideration at the 1st Academy Awards – the most worthy of such recognition would have been “The Man Who Laughs” (1928), one of countless horror movies released in the first half of the century by Universal Pictures. The picture did not garner recognition,...

Updated Announcement: Due to unforseen circumstances we have to reschedule the 1972 Smackdown. It will now be held on Sunday, September 30th. So if you still want to play along you have until Thursday, September 27th to get your votes in.

Supporting Actress Smackdown, Sunday September 30th

Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid Eileen Heckart, Butterflies are Free [iTunes | Amazon] Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie Susan Tyrrel, Fat City [iTunes | Amazon] Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure [iTunes | Amazon]

You (the collective you) are the final panelist for each smackdown so your votes count toward the outcome. To vote e-mail us with 1972 in the subject line and a 1-5 heart rating for whichever performances you have seen.

I have no inkling who might win this one so it could be a nail-biter. I love that None of them are from best picture nominees that year so you know they all made it on the strength of either their work or their reputation.

Being a popular TV star can be a double edged antennae; great, steady income and national (sometimes international) fame. But the downside is you can become so popular that as a performer, what you’re known for is all you become known for, and it can be difficult to step beyond people’s perception. Such is the case with Elizabeth Montgomery, as the Bewitched actress took on the somber lead role in The Victim (1972), an entertaining little mystery that showed a welcome serious side to the star.

Originally broadcast on Tuesday, November 14th as an ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week, The Victim would have to go up against Hawaii Five-o and NBC’s own movie night; and while Jack Lord always won out, ABC had the particular market cornered for mystery and horror with The Victim being a fine addition to their roster.

Make sure it’s a dark...

Much like the Best Actress category, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 1970s went to some true living legends. This decade included the youngest acting winner in history, the shortest performance to win an Oscar in history, and the start for a woman who would go on to become the all-time nomination leader. So which Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner of the 1970s is your favorite? Look back on each and vote in our poll below.

Helen Hayes, “Airport” (1970)— Hayes won her second Oscar thanks to her role in “Airport” as Ada Quonsett, an older woman who makes a habit of being a stowaway on airplanes. She previously won an Oscar in Best Actress for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931). Hayes became the first woman to “Egot,” winning the grand slam of major awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

SEEJessica Lange (‘Tootsie’) named top Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner of 1980s,...

As previously noted March 25th and today, March 29th, are the most common days on which to hold Oscar ceremonies. Both dates have seen five Oscar nights in the Academy's 89 year history. But those Oscar anniversaries aren't the only thing worth celebrating today.

On this day in showbiz history...

Colonel James Stewart in 1945

1889 Oscar winner Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona, 42nd Street) born in Columbus Ohio

1919 Oscar winner Eileen Heckart (Butterflies are Free, The Bad Seed) Also born in Columbus Ohio. C'mon Columbus! You go with your Oscar winners.

1945 Jimmy Stewart becomes a colonel in the Us Air Force during World War II... ...

Killer kids really started pulsating on the horror radar with The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976). Horrific as these tots were, their actions were explained away by demonic possession and satanic lineage, respectively. Regardless of their cause, the sight of a youngster engaged in heinous behavior was still shocking. Now, roll back the clock a couple of decades and drop a sociopathic eight year old girl in the middle of apple pie strewn Ozzie & Harriet America, and what do you get? The Bad Seed (1956), that’s what; a wonderfully odd ode to li’l murderers and the mothers who love them.

Released by Warner Brothers in September of ’56 and rolled out to the rest of the world over the next year and a half, The Bad Seed brought in over $ 4 million in Us rentals off a $ 1 million budget, making it an unqualified success. Not only that, it received four Academy Award...

For the first week of October, genre fans should get those wallets ready because there are seemingly endless horror and sci-fi movies being released on both DVD and Blu-ray. Warner Bros. is keeping busy with the release of numerous Hammer Classics in HD including Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, The Mummy and Taste the Blood of Dracula, and we have the latest new release from Scream Factory, the cannibal comedy Gravy, to look forward to as well. Sony Pictures has also put together a stellar new release of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Kino Lorber is showing the cult classic Burnt Offerings some love this week, too.

Other notable titles arriving on October 6th include We Are Still Here, Final Girl, Fire City: End of Days, Children of the Night, June, Pod, Cop Car, Alleluia, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and the second season of Penny Dreadful.

Another forgotten gem from the mid-1970s receiving a new Blu-ray treatment is 1975’s Report to the Commissioner, a textured police procedural examining changing social mores and the generalized internal corruptions we’re used to in these scenarios, resulting in tragic circumstances thanks to the sincere ignorance of its protagonist. Yaphet Kotto, a regular supporting player in a number of Blaxploitation features from the decade, is a standout as a weary, sympathetic detective numbed by the machinations of law enforcement. It’s a greatly overlooked title of the era, featuring a variety of recognizable names in early roles as street hoods, and based on a novel by James Mills (The Panic in Needle Park, 1971), adapted for the screen by Abby Mann (Judgment at Nuremberg, 1961) and Ernest Tidyman (Shaft; The French Connection, both 1971). Though its narrative is, at times, a bit rough around the edges, this deliberately paced thriller features rich characterizations and excellent chase sequences.

Today we are talking to an accomplished director, actor and writer who has carved out an astonishingly unique career and is now taking charge of this weekend's annual Tony Awards Viewing Party sponsored by The Actors Fund La, Luke Yankee. Shedding some light on growing up as the son of legendary Academy Award-winning stage and screen star Eileen Heckart, who famously collaborated with such theatrical luminaries as William Inge, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim and many more. Most importantly, Yankee shares what the lucky attendees can expect from the viewing party in La this weekend - the only official live feed in the world besides the East Coast airing - as well as highlights the starry honorees receiving special citations and the accomplished performers scheduled to appear at the hotly anticipated event.

This was ground zero. This was where the love affair started; all the sleepless nights, the cold sweats, the screaming. In 1976, at the age of six, my mom took me to the theater to see Burnt Offerings, my first horror movie.

Six years old. Up until this point my viewing memories consisted of Saturday morning cartoons and a matinee memory of seeing a giant octopus engulf a ship (submarine?). Little did I know that I was to be indoctrinated into a universe of monsters, vampires, guys with knives (girls too), killer critters, ghosts, goblins, and, in my inaugural visit to the screen of screams… the Haunted House.

Well, that description is a little off. The house in Burnt Offerings isn’t haunted exactly; it is…alive. A living, pulsing being that every so often needs a new family to love it. Cherish it. And to be consumed by it so...

Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.

The poster for Voyage of the Damned makes a bold claim, and maybe those who saw Stuart Rosenberg’s star-studded blockbuster in 1976 have remembered it ever since. Until a couple of weeks ago, however, when I saw it in a list of past Oscar nominees, I had never heard of it, and I don’t think it would be unfair to say that it is a film that has not stood the test of time.

Voyage of the Damned, which chronicles the tragic failed escape of 937 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, was nominated for three Oscars (for Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and for Lee Grant for Best Supporting Actress, the lone acting nominee among a boatload of international heavyweights).

Oscar nominations, especially for acting, tend to confer a certain amount of immortality on their recipients (you are forever “Academy Award nominee Lee Grant”) and there are many films and...

Despite reaping a SAG bid, Oprah Winfrey was snubbed by the Golden Globes for her supporting performance in "The Butler." But how important is a Globe nomination when it comes to taking home Oscar gold? Turns out 20 performers have been embraced by the motion picture academy after getting the cold should from the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. And half of those were winners of the Supporting Actress Oscar:  Shelley Winters, "A Patch of Blue" (1965) Sandy Dennis, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) Estelle Parsons, "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) Helen Hayes, "Airport" (1970) Eileen Heckart, "Butterflies Are Free" (1972) Ingrid Bergman, "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974) Beatrice Straight, "Network" (1976) Geena Davis, "The Accidental Tourist" (1988) Marisa Tomei, "My Cousin Vinny" (1992) Marcia Gay Harden, "Pollock" (2000) It is w...

If you've ever watched Oscar acceptance speeches on YouTube, you know what a vortex it is. You start innocently with Tilda Swinton, work your way through both of Hilary Swank's, then barrel head-first into Eileen Heckart territory, and before you know it you're face-down, dead-drunk in Ingrid Bergman's ankle-length peasant gown from '74. You can't be saved.

But in preparation for tomorrow's Oscar nominations, I say we go back into the vast netherworld of Oscar speeches for the sake of self-definition. The challenge is this: Pick one Oscar speech and why it fits you. Which Oscar speech is your Spirit Animal, boys? I know precisely who I'm picking, but I'll offer some suggestions for the under-initiated Oscar fans out there.

Perhaps you're Vivien Leigh for Gone With the Wind, because although you're stilted and overly poised, you're intelligent, gracious, and the obvious winner. And also, a stunning-beaut-the-likes-of-which-we'll-never-seen-again-omg-omg-omg. Yes,...

Marilyn Monroe, born June 1, 1926

I spend a lot of time resenting popular opinion about female icons. For instance, I don't think Madonna is just a "business-smart chameleon": She's cooler than Michael Jackson, cannier than Prince, smarter than Elvis, and her very essence was more meaningful than most poet laureates' magnum opuses. So there. I don't think Grace Kelly was just a "living fairytale": She was a killer screen star with astonishing charisma in three Hitchcock movies -- and Mogambo. I reserve my strongest feelings for the woman who would've turned 86 today, Marilyn Monroe, since her continued pop culture presence is shallower and lamer than any icon before or since. Based on how popular she remains and how unpopular most of her filmography is, you'd think the reason her legacy lives on is because people figure one historical blonde has to be most famous, and it may as well...

The fate of Gcb, one of our favorite new shows, will be decided in the next few weeks, and right now, there's a 50/50 chance it'll survive. If it does get canceled, at least it'll instantly become a member of what we'll call the Arrested Development/Freaks & Geeks/Firefly club. Shows that were canceled before their time, and have gained cult status since they left the airwaves.

All of those programs have rabid enthusiastic followers, and in the case of Firefly and Arrested Development, that fan enthusiasm has directly led to big screen resurrections.

We're hoping Gcb gets a renewal, but while we wait, let's take a look at a few other shows throughout the years that were unfairly snuffed out, and picture ... what might have been.

Pushing Daisies

ABC (October 3, 2007 – June 13, 2009)

Featuring a stellar cast, including Lee Pace, the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth, and Anna Friel as Dead Zooey Deschanel, Pushing Daisies...

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch.

This week in honor of the release of Paranormal Activity 3 and in anticipation for Halloween, we’re dedicating the entire column to all things horror. Whatever your preferred Halloween watching — be it satanic scares, ghoulish ghosts, creature features or humorous horror — we’ve got you covered with the spookiest movies streaming online.

Is it spawns of Satan that scare you most? Then pregame for Paranormal Activity 3, by taking in the prequel’s sister flicks…or visiting with another little brunette girl plagued by dark forces.

Paranormal Activity (2007) Shortly after moving in together, Katie and Micah begin to experience strange late night phenomenon. Initially amused, Micah decides to set up a camera to record the paranormal activity, never realizing he’ll shoot his own demise. This...

Rank the week of October 14th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Green Lantern

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #2480

Win Percentage: 43%

Times Ranked: 6760

Top-20 Rankings: 25

Directed By: Martin Campbell

Starring: Ryan Reynolds • Blake Lively • Peter Sarsgaard • Mark Strong • Temuera Morrison

Genres: Action • Action Thriller • Based-on-Comics • Comic-Book Superhero Film • Crime • Crime Thriller • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Thriller

Rank This Movie

Horrible Bosses

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #750

Win Percentage: 54%

Times Ranked: 6278

Top-20 Rankings: 23

Directed By: Seth Gordon

Starring: Jason Bateman • Jason Sudeikis • Jennifer Aniston • Kevin Spacey • Jamie Foxx

Genres: Black Comedy • Comedy • Workplace Comedy

Rank This Movie

Zookeeper

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #10259

Win Percentage: 37%

Times Ranked: 470

Top-20 Rankings: 9

Directed By: Frank Coraci

Starring: Kevin James • Rosario Dawson • Leslie Bibb • Ken Jeong • Donnie Wahlberg

Genres: Animal Picture • Comedy • Family-Oriented Comedy

Rank This Movie

Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG...

When it comes to actresses, the movie business has always had an eye for beautiful faces. Unfortunately, it has often only been an afterthought as to whether or not that beautiful face could do anything other than be beautiful. Leaf through the archives of any of the movie glamour magazines from long ago and you’ll find them a cemetery of beautiful faces primped and hyped by the Hollywood PR machine to be The Next Great Thing. Some never made it past a screen test, while others managed to survive a few screen roles, but through lack of talent, charisma, the right roles — whatever mysterious magic it is that causes a performer to click with an audience — soon disappeared, never to be heard of again. It’s a long, looong casualty list of forgotten pretties like Merrilyn Grix, Eleanor Counts, Kathy Marlowe, Myrna Dell, Sandra Giles, Jean Colleran, Sunnie O’Dea,...

By Todd Garbarini

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Dan Curtis’ Burnt Offerings (1976) was the first horror film/thriller that I saw. I was twelve years-old and its impact on me was indelible. The rapport between Karen Black, Oliver Reed, and Lee Harcourt Montgomery was plausible enough to make me extremely concerned when all hell broke loose on this “perfect” family, though some have argued that this family was frightening enough without the house!

Aside from the artful cinematic visual style and the film’s methodic and slow build-up, the performances by the three leads and supporting work from Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, Dub Taylor, Bette Davis, and the unforgettable Anthony James as the chauffer elevate the film higher than similar genre productions. What also helped make Burnt Offerings so memorable was Robert Cobert’s phenomenal score which fits the movie like a glove. For years I searched fruitlessly...

My conversations with industry insiders and Academy members lead me to believe that Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) remains the favorite to win the best supporting actress Academy Award, despite — or perhaps even because of — the recent brouhaha over her “Consider” advertisements. In terms of statistical analysis, though, one can find cause for both confidence and concern about her Oscar prospects…

Cause for Concern: The BAFTA-ampas Disconnect

British voters are believed to make up a sizable portion of the Academy, and BAFTA Award winners — which were announced after the Oscars prior to 2000, and have been announced before them since then — usually correspond with Oscar winners. Therefore, it is certainly noteworthy that BAFTA didn’t like Leo’s performance enough to even nominate her for its best supporting actress award, but did like the one given by Hailee Steinfeld (“True Grit“), her primary rival at the Oscars, enough to nominate her in its best actress category.

Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller) in Episode 5. Screen shot via AMC.com. Of all the high-tension wires strung through tonight’s episode, perhaps the one humming most with Hitchcockian suspense was, How long will it be before Don snaps and sends his secretary on a one-way trip through the nearest window? How much aggravation can one man take? With a rasping fishcrow caw that evokes Eileen Heckart, Eileen Brennan’s acting teacher in Will & Grace, and a bottomless ashtray reaching down to Dante’s Inferno, Don’s dinosaur-era secretary Miss Blankenship—the doddering, temptation-free replacement for the one he boozily boinked over the holidays—manages within the course of a few brief scenes to divulge that Don takes a lot of naps in the office (“You’re always asleep in here,” she blurts, just the sort of hungover image he doesn’t need); deliver discreet phone messages as if addressing a hard-of-hearing convention (“Good Afternoon,...

Considered one of the all-time classic sit-coms, this show was still going strong during its sixth season, which contains the series' most popular episode “Chuckles Bites the Dust”. Mary Tyler Moore started her career on another legendary sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show and graduated to her own series, which is just as well regarded and won its share of Emmys. The 1970s were a great decade for situational comedies (All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, etc.) and this series certainly held its own with the best of them.

Created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, the series lasted seven seasons but there was no discernible reduction in quality over the years. The Mary Tyler Moore Show follows the trials and tribulations of Mary Richards, who flees a bad relationship and moves to Minneapolis in order to start a new life. She gets...