A wide-ranging list of honorees was announced today for the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration Of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television, which will take place during Pride Month on Friday June 7, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The event will stream later on HereTV, the first and largest LGBTQ+ TV and streaming service in the U.S. Actress, writer and comedian Sherry Cola (Joy Ride) will host.
The celebration will honor the finest achievements from the LGBTQ+ entertainment community, both in front of and behind the camera, as well as showcase emerging and established talent. This event marks the newest addition to the Cca’s series, following its Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television, Celebration of Asian Pacific Cinema and Television and Celebration of Black Cinema and Television. The Celebrations aim to shine a light on work from historically underrepresented talent.
“I am extremely proud to be able to...
The celebration will honor the finest achievements from the LGBTQ+ entertainment community, both in front of and behind the camera, as well as showcase emerging and established talent. This event marks the newest addition to the Cca’s series, following its Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television, Celebration of Asian Pacific Cinema and Television and Celebration of Black Cinema and Television. The Celebrations aim to shine a light on work from historically underrepresented talent.
“I am extremely proud to be able to...
- 4/25/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
One of the hallmarks of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was its slew of A-list celebrity guest stars, who often appeared as themselves and lampooned their public personas through grating social interactions with Larry David. The show’s guest star pedigree remained strong until the very end, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Salman Rushdie making self-deprecating appearances in the last few seasons.
Given the busy schedules of celebrities, fans would be forgiven for assuming the show had multiple people in mind for each appearance. But at this week’s PaleyFest LA panel celebrating the show’s final season, David and his collaborators revealed that they often wrote scripts for specific people without backup plans in mind.
While reflecting on the show’s many legendary guest stars, series director and executive producer Jeff Schaffer reminisced about a Season 10 storyline in which the fictionalized Larry David writes a Broadway musical about Salman...
Given the busy schedules of celebrities, fans would be forgiven for assuming the show had multiple people in mind for each appearance. But at this week’s PaleyFest LA panel celebrating the show’s final season, David and his collaborators revealed that they often wrote scripts for specific people without backup plans in mind.
While reflecting on the show’s many legendary guest stars, series director and executive producer Jeff Schaffer reminisced about a Season 10 storyline in which the fictionalized Larry David writes a Broadway musical about Salman...
- 4/21/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
The nominations for the 77th Tony Awards will be announced in less than three weeks, but the lay of the land is ever changing because seven more musicals and musical revivals will open between now and the eligibility cutoff. As these remaining shows have started preview performances, our savvy users have been updating their choices for the most likely nominees in 10 of the 15 musical categories. See below for a breakdown of how our official odds have changed in the top categories since our last predictions center update on March 21, according to the 1,200 readers currently making their picks. Scroll to the bottom of the article for a tally of nominations by show in 10 of the 15 musical categories.
Up
“Cabaret” — This immersive revival of the classic John Kander and Fred Ebb musical has been leading our odds for the most nominations of any musical revival of the year. It has now added...
Up
“Cabaret” — This immersive revival of the classic John Kander and Fred Ebb musical has been leading our odds for the most nominations of any musical revival of the year. It has now added...
- 4/15/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival has begun is 29th season and hosted a special opening night celebration on Sunday, April 7 at B&b Theater in Creve Coeur.
“On October 7, 2023, Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack caused the evacuation and cessation of all activities at Sapir College in Sderot, Israel—home to its premier film program. Sapir students were just weeks away from presenting their final film projects at the annual film festival at Cinema South. In solidarity with Israel, and to specifically draw attention to the Israeli filmmakers coming out of Sapir College, the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival featured five students’ films. Attached to each one is a one-of-a-kind story about the directors, actors, and other individuals who participated in the making of the film whose lives have been turned upside down in the days since October 7, 2023. With Israel fighting for its very existence, these films can be viewed...
“On October 7, 2023, Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack caused the evacuation and cessation of all activities at Sapir College in Sderot, Israel—home to its premier film program. Sapir students were just weeks away from presenting their final film projects at the annual film festival at Cinema South. In solidarity with Israel, and to specifically draw attention to the Israeli filmmakers coming out of Sapir College, the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival featured five students’ films. Attached to each one is a one-of-a-kind story about the directors, actors, and other individuals who participated in the making of the film whose lives have been turned upside down in the days since October 7, 2023. With Israel fighting for its very existence, these films can be viewed...
- 4/8/2024
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Season 1 of "The Simpsons" is a whole different beast. You've got brown Mr. Smithers, character designs out of a Dr. Seuss book, and Homer inexplicably sounding like Walter Matthau. It's a charming affair, but it also hasn't yet turned into "The Simpsons" we've come to know and love.
What complicates the first season even more is the way that Fox aired certain episodes out of order. This was famously a much bigger problem with the classic era of "Futurama," but it also led to some inconsistencies in early "Simpsons." While the animation, character designs, and voices were all slowly evolving in the right direction throughout the first three seasons, the out-of-order episodes meant the show would sometimes take a seemingly random, large step back in animation quality. A case in point was the season 1 finale, "Some Enchanted Evening," which inexplicably looked closer to the old bumpers on "The Tracey Ullman Show...
What complicates the first season even more is the way that Fox aired certain episodes out of order. This was famously a much bigger problem with the classic era of "Futurama," but it also led to some inconsistencies in early "Simpsons." While the animation, character designs, and voices were all slowly evolving in the right direction throughout the first three seasons, the out-of-order episodes meant the show would sometimes take a seemingly random, large step back in animation quality. A case in point was the season 1 finale, "Some Enchanted Evening," which inexplicably looked closer to the old bumpers on "The Tracey Ullman Show...
- 3/23/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
With its scathing social satire, raunchy humor and frequent use of the controversial N-word, “Blazing Saddles” got mixed reviews upon its release February 7, 1974. Nonetheless, it galloped to the top of the box office and earned three Oscar nominations, and set new standards for comedy films with its irreverence, spoofs and just plain silliness. Some reviewers did get the joke from the beginning, including Roger Ebert, who awarded it four out of four stars, saying it’s “a crazed grab bag of a movie that does everything to keep us laughing except hit us over the head with a rubber chicken.” On its 50th anniversary, we look back at how “Blazing Saddles” has endured as one of the greatest and most beloved comedies of all time.
It all started when Mel Brooks bought the film rights to a story titled “Tex-x” (changed so it wouldn’t be mistaken for an X-rated...
It all started when Mel Brooks bought the film rights to a story titled “Tex-x” (changed so it wouldn’t be mistaken for an X-rated...
- 2/7/2024
- by Susan Pennington
- Gold Derby
Owing to series creator-star Larry David’s unique deal with HBO, Curb Your Enthusiasm never seemed like the sort of show that would formally conclude.
Since Curb premiered back in 2000, the official line on future seasons was always some variation on: “Curb will be back whenever Larry has a story he wants to tell.” That sometimes meant months; more recently, it meant six years during which no enthusiasm whatsoever was curbed. When HBO announced in December that Curb’s 12th season would be its last, it felt like a violation of the show’s eternal Schrödinger’s comedy status according to which, between seasons, Curb was always somehow both alive and dead, its future hinging on Larry David eventually finding something fresh to be irritated by (a prospect as likely as Dick Wolf locating undepicted professions in Chicago).
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the new Curb Your Enthusiasm season — which premiered Feb.
Since Curb premiered back in 2000, the official line on future seasons was always some variation on: “Curb will be back whenever Larry has a story he wants to tell.” That sometimes meant months; more recently, it meant six years during which no enthusiasm whatsoever was curbed. When HBO announced in December that Curb’s 12th season would be its last, it felt like a violation of the show’s eternal Schrödinger’s comedy status according to which, between seasons, Curb was always somehow both alive and dead, its future hinging on Larry David eventually finding something fresh to be irritated by (a prospect as likely as Dick Wolf locating undepicted professions in Chicago).
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the new Curb Your Enthusiasm season — which premiered Feb.
- 2/7/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s a running gag in the 12th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm that people keep mentioning that Larry David didn’t work on the last two seasons of Seinfeld, but then returned for the finale. Every time, Larry greets the observation with stony silence, because he knows the audience hated that finale, and assumes he is being given another thinly-veiled complaint about it.
David already gave himself a mulligan on that back in 2009, when Curb Season Seven revolved around the fictionalized Larry producing a Seinfeld reunion episode; the glimpses...
David already gave himself a mulligan on that back in 2009, when Curb Season Seven revolved around the fictionalized Larry producing a Seinfeld reunion episode; the glimpses...
- 1/29/2024
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “The Curse” Episode 10, “Green Queen.”]
“We thought it was a sad thing, and it is a sad thing, but it’s also funny, too. Or there’s humor that could be found in it. Because art is about… really, art is about, um… sometimes you have to go to extreme lengths to make your point.”
In the above quote from Episode 10, Asher (Nathan Fielder) is struggling to describe Mel Brooks’ classic film “The Producers,” but he may as well be talking about “The Curse.” After all, Fielder and Benny Safdie’s impossible concoction of sad things and funny things elevates its tale of marital disillusionment and cosmetic social concerns to an extreme ending. The second half of Episode 10 is so remarkable, so unexpected, and so brain-bendingly bonkers it overwhelms everything that came before it. If you thought the Rachael Ray cold open was surprising, it’s the last thing on...
“We thought it was a sad thing, and it is a sad thing, but it’s also funny, too. Or there’s humor that could be found in it. Because art is about… really, art is about, um… sometimes you have to go to extreme lengths to make your point.”
In the above quote from Episode 10, Asher (Nathan Fielder) is struggling to describe Mel Brooks’ classic film “The Producers,” but he may as well be talking about “The Curse.” After all, Fielder and Benny Safdie’s impossible concoction of sad things and funny things elevates its tale of marital disillusionment and cosmetic social concerns to an extreme ending. The second half of Episode 10 is so remarkable, so unexpected, and so brain-bendingly bonkers it overwhelms everything that came before it. If you thought the Rachael Ray cold open was surprising, it’s the last thing on...
- 1/12/2024
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
Gene Wilder is rightfully remembered fondly for his performance as Willy Wonka. However, the comedic actor’s career is the stuff of legends, thanks to his collaborations with legendary comedian Richard Pryor, as well as starring in Mel Brooks classics like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. The beloved actor has a new documentary that tells the story of his life from filmmaker Ron Frank. The film, Remembering Gene Wilder, has just picked up distribution from Kino Lorber, which has planned the movie’s release for this March.
According to Deadline, the documentary “touches on the actor’s Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, marriage to Gilda Radner, and his final chapter living with Alzheimer’s. It will include never-seen-before home movie footage, narration by Wilder from the audiobook of his memoir, and interviews with collaborators including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, and his widow Karen Boyer Wilder.
Directed by...
According to Deadline, the documentary “touches on the actor’s Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, marriage to Gilda Radner, and his final chapter living with Alzheimer’s. It will include never-seen-before home movie footage, narration by Wilder from the audiobook of his memoir, and interviews with collaborators including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, and his widow Karen Boyer Wilder.
Directed by...
- 1/11/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Kino Lorber has acquired all rights worldwide to Ron Frank’s documentary Remembering Gene Wilder, a portrait of the life and career of the beloved actor and comedian.
Featuring highlights from Wilder’s most memorable films as well as interviews with his closest friends, family, and fellow comics, the film will next play as the Closing Night movie of the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 24.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release in March 2024, followed by a home video, non-theatrical, and digital release.
Wilder, who died in 2016, is best known for his collaborations with Mel Brooks in The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles, his partnership with Richard Pryor in movies like Silver Streak and Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and his performance as the mysterious chocolatier in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
The doc touches on the actor’s Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, marriage to Gilda Radner,...
Featuring highlights from Wilder’s most memorable films as well as interviews with his closest friends, family, and fellow comics, the film will next play as the Closing Night movie of the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 24.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release in March 2024, followed by a home video, non-theatrical, and digital release.
Wilder, who died in 2016, is best known for his collaborations with Mel Brooks in The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles, his partnership with Richard Pryor in movies like Silver Streak and Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and his performance as the mysterious chocolatier in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
The doc touches on the actor’s Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, marriage to Gilda Radner,...
- 1/11/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
A night full of legends, tears and an amazing audition to be the next Oscars host, the 14th annual Governors Awards brought all of this year’s award contenders out to celebrate four industry titans on Tuesday inside the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.
Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton received honorary Oscars, while the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter was bestowed with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
In addition to honoring legends, the Governors Awards are an opportunity for contenders to make an impression ahead of voting with the Board of Governors and other AMPAS members in attendance. The room was overflowing with A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”), Ava DuVernay (“Origin”), Eva Longoria (“Flamin’ Hot”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Natalie Portman (“May December”), Margot Robbie (“Barbie”) and more.
The night kicked off with a surprise for attendees in the form...
Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton received honorary Oscars, while the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter was bestowed with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
In addition to honoring legends, the Governors Awards are an opportunity for contenders to make an impression ahead of voting with the Board of Governors and other AMPAS members in attendance. The room was overflowing with A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”), Ava DuVernay (“Origin”), Eva Longoria (“Flamin’ Hot”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Natalie Portman (“May December”), Margot Robbie (“Barbie”) and more.
The night kicked off with a surprise for attendees in the form...
- 1/10/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
In some ways the musical format suits Mean Girls better than the original movie version, with Angourie Rice in the role once occupied by Lindsay Lohan
The high school comedy of status-sadism now reaches the same third life-cycle stage already achieved by Hairspray, The Producers and The Color Purple: the movie, the stage musical version and then the movie version of that. My own dissident reaction to the 2004 original was a mean review based on feeling it was inferior to Clueless, Election and 10 Things I Hate About You, and that it had its cake and ate it on the prettiness-fascism issue.
But I could have paid more attention to the showstopping individually funny lines; screenwriter Tina Fey after all went on to create an authentic masterpiece with TV’s 30 Rock, in which she could more successfully represent in her own person the eternal Mean Girls themes of reconciling success with kindness.
The high school comedy of status-sadism now reaches the same third life-cycle stage already achieved by Hairspray, The Producers and The Color Purple: the movie, the stage musical version and then the movie version of that. My own dissident reaction to the 2004 original was a mean review based on feeling it was inferior to Clueless, Election and 10 Things I Hate About You, and that it had its cake and ate it on the prettiness-fascism issue.
But I could have paid more attention to the showstopping individually funny lines; screenwriter Tina Fey after all went on to create an authentic masterpiece with TV’s 30 Rock, in which she could more successfully represent in her own person the eternal Mean Girls themes of reconciling success with kindness.
- 1/10/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
It was back to business as usual at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, as this year’s strike-postponed Governors Awards finally unfolded January 9. With preparations for the March 10 Oscars under way with a new set of producers (and an hour earlier start time), the Governors Awards honored Mel Brooks, Angela Bassett, editor Carol Littleton, and Sundance veteran Michelle Satter while giving Oscar contenders a chance to work a room packed with AMPAS voters.
These awards used to be presented at the Oscars ceremony, but they demanded 45 minutes of screen time. Now it makes do with a montage of the Governors Awards presentation.
The Governors Awards usually take place in November and function as a black-tie starting gun to Oscar season. It also provides the Academy with a revenue-generating event as studios buy tables and pack them with that year’s Oscar-bound talent. The delay didn’t impact that energy.
These awards used to be presented at the Oscars ceremony, but they demanded 45 minutes of screen time. Now it makes do with a montage of the Governors Awards presentation.
The Governors Awards usually take place in November and function as a black-tie starting gun to Oscar season. It also provides the Academy with a revenue-generating event as studios buy tables and pack them with that year’s Oscar-bound talent. The delay didn’t impact that energy.
- 1/10/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Angela Bassett, collecting an honorary Oscar, gave an impassioned speech about the history of Black actresses in Hollywood and Michelle Satter, becoming the 45th recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, paid tribute to her son Michael Latt, who was murdered just weeks ago, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 14th Governors Awards on Tuesday night.
Donning tuxes and dresses, many of Hollywood’s biggest names filled the Hollywood and Highland Center, a ballroom just steps from the Dolby Theatre at which the 96th Academy Awards will take place March 10, to honor Bassett and Satter, as well as legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton, who were also presented with honorary Oscars.
The event was originally scheduled for Nov. 18 but was pushed into 2024 back because the WGA and SAG-AFTRA were still on strike. Despite not being televised, there had been concerns that it might be...
Donning tuxes and dresses, many of Hollywood’s biggest names filled the Hollywood and Highland Center, a ballroom just steps from the Dolby Theatre at which the 96th Academy Awards will take place March 10, to honor Bassett and Satter, as well as legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton, who were also presented with honorary Oscars.
The event was originally scheduled for Nov. 18 but was pushed into 2024 back because the WGA and SAG-AFTRA were still on strike. Despite not being televised, there had been concerns that it might be...
- 1/10/2024
- by Hilton Dresden and Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Only Murders in the Building" season 3 has a few songs in its heart. A musical theatre aficionado will have a ball with season 3 of "Only Murders in the Building," thanks to Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) converting his outlandish murder-mystery play "Death Rattle" into a musical.
While the trio are solving yet another murder, this season is brimming with musical references. In season 3, episode 2, a recuperating Putnam hallucinates his loved ones performing a pastiche of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" from the Bob Fosse-directed "All That Jazz." It's a cutting reference because said musical film, especially this particular number, metatextually tackles the director's heart attack. It deals with mortal self-flagellation, both for Fosse and in-universe for Fosse's fictional avatar.
In contrast, the show also applies a more lighthearted reference to "The Producers" that complements Oliver's pursuits. After a falling out with his friend Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver needs a replacement for the Investigator.
While the trio are solving yet another murder, this season is brimming with musical references. In season 3, episode 2, a recuperating Putnam hallucinates his loved ones performing a pastiche of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" from the Bob Fosse-directed "All That Jazz." It's a cutting reference because said musical film, especially this particular number, metatextually tackles the director's heart attack. It deals with mortal self-flagellation, both for Fosse and in-universe for Fosse's fictional avatar.
In contrast, the show also applies a more lighthearted reference to "The Producers" that complements Oliver's pursuits. After a falling out with his friend Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver needs a replacement for the Investigator.
- 9/12/2023
- by Caroline Cao
- Slash Film
The original cast of Back To The Future had a mini-reunion this week at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City to promote the musical version of the classic film.
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson gathered to support Back to the Future: The Musical and posed with the singing stars of the musical, Casey Likes and Roger Bart.
Likes plays Fox’s character, Marty McFly, while Bart plays Lloyd’s character Dr. Emmett Brown. Likes is also the third actor to play Marty McFly in the musical — Ben Joyce took on the role before him, and Olly Dobson was the first.
Bart, however, has been the musical’s Doc Brown since the beginning. He is a Tony Award winner and is a Broadway regular as he’s best known for originating the character Carmen Ghia in another musical, The Producers.
@broadwayworld
@Back to the Future Broadway...
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson gathered to support Back to the Future: The Musical and posed with the singing stars of the musical, Casey Likes and Roger Bart.
Likes plays Fox’s character, Marty McFly, while Bart plays Lloyd’s character Dr. Emmett Brown. Likes is also the third actor to play Marty McFly in the musical — Ben Joyce took on the role before him, and Olly Dobson was the first.
Bart, however, has been the musical’s Doc Brown since the beginning. He is a Tony Award winner and is a Broadway regular as he’s best known for originating the character Carmen Ghia in another musical, The Producers.
@broadwayworld
@Back to the Future Broadway...
- 7/28/2023
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
Julian Barry, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1974 Lenny Bruce biopic “Lenny” starring Dustin Hoffman, has died at the age of 92, his daughter announced to The New York Times.
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
- 7/27/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Imagine a time before 90 inch TV screens were sold at Walmart for $200 on Black Friday, a time when the family would gather around one rabbit eared black and white television to watch a show on one of the four channels they had available to them. Now imagine a world in the immediate aftermath of World War 2, when everyone needed a good laugh. In that time you may turned on your TV’s after enjoying your mother’s pot roast and carrot dinner to see young men such as Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar and Mel Brooks performing comedic routines that gave you truly guttural laughs. The premises seemed so simple, yet the genius that went into crafting these bits would soon shape the entire direction of comedy. These men would go on to become some of the most iconic figures in the history of entertainment. Sadly, as time does to us all,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Brad Hamerly
- JoBlo.com
Comedy doesn’t always have the easiest time being taken seriously come Oscar season. Movies based on established toy brands don’t, either. But, based on reaction to Sunday night’s huge world premiere at the Shrine in downtown Los Angeles, as well as my own feelings watching it with the packed crowd of first-nighters, Barbie just may have the stuff to not only become a smash box office hit this summer (I would now guarantee it), but also a surprising genuine awards contender for Warner Bros and Mattel (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence).
The formal review embargo is set for July 18 following critics screenings (Deadline’s Valerie Complex will be reviewing), but the social media embargo lifted at the conclusion of last night’s screening and initial reactions are rampant. For my money this is a razor-sharp, hilarious and totally fun movie that more than...
The formal review embargo is set for July 18 following critics screenings (Deadline’s Valerie Complex will be reviewing), but the social media embargo lifted at the conclusion of last night’s screening and initial reactions are rampant. For my money this is a razor-sharp, hilarious and totally fun movie that more than...
- 7/10/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Nathan Lane used to be the King of old Broadway. Scratch that. Lane still sits from a high seat within the realm of American theater. In fact, when we catch up with the legendary, multi-Tony and Olivier award-winner, it’s during his day off from Studio 54. The other six days of the week, he’s at that famous nightclub turned theater, starring in Sharr White’s new memory play, Pictures from Home.
Nonetheless, for many theatergoers, the thought of Lane invariably brings to mind an iconic American musical-comedy: Mel Brooks’ The Producers. That dazzling blend of absurdist humor and showbiz schmaltz premiered in 2001 before going on to win 12 Tonys, the most for any musical or play to this day. And in the show, Lane played Max Bialystock, a Broadway producer of malleable morality who is introduced lamenting his current situation with the song “King of Broadway,” a tune with...
Nonetheless, for many theatergoers, the thought of Lane invariably brings to mind an iconic American musical-comedy: Mel Brooks’ The Producers. That dazzling blend of absurdist humor and showbiz schmaltz premiered in 2001 before going on to win 12 Tonys, the most for any musical or play to this day. And in the show, Lane played Max Bialystock, a Broadway producer of malleable morality who is introduced lamenting his current situation with the song “King of Broadway,” a tune with...
- 4/25/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Good luck trying to define a Cary Elwes character. That’s him as the swashbuckling love interest in The Princess Bride, and as director Mel Brooks’s spoof outlaw in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The dashing Brit, playing a tortured cancer surgeon, even cut off his own foot in the first Saw. None of those roles made him as much of a household name as his Nineties co-stars – that’s also him as foil to Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen in Days of Thunder and Hot Shots, respectively – but he doesn’t especially mind. “I don’t look at my number on the call sheet,” he tells me. “I’m there to help tell the best story I can.”
The 60-year-old has called the US home since he was a teenager, and it’s reflected in his accent – a curious warble between received pronunciation and transatlantic neutrality. He’s friendly and attentive over Zoom,...
The 60-year-old has called the US home since he was a teenager, and it’s reflected in his accent – a curious warble between received pronunciation and transatlantic neutrality. He’s friendly and attentive over Zoom,...
- 4/10/2023
- by Sam Moore
- The Independent - Film
Actor, producer, and writer Mel Brooks discussed life after winning an Oscar for his film The Producers. The entertainer says he faced financial hardship even after receiving the prestigious award.
Mel Brooks says he wasn’t making money Mel Brooks | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM
In 1969, Brooks won an Oscar for The Producers for best original screenplay. Roughly 30 years later, the film was transformed into a Broadway musical, starring actors Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. The production won 12 Tony Awards.
Despite the success of the 1967 film, Brooks reveals he had a tough time with his finances. Receiving an award didn’t translate into financial security.
“Up until Blazing Saddles, I was hanging on to show business with the skin of my teeth, not making any money,” says Brooks during an interview with Ruth Rogers on Ruthie’s Table 4 (presented by iHeartPodcasts). “The first movie I made was The Producers.
Mel Brooks says he wasn’t making money Mel Brooks | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM
In 1969, Brooks won an Oscar for The Producers for best original screenplay. Roughly 30 years later, the film was transformed into a Broadway musical, starring actors Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. The production won 12 Tony Awards.
Despite the success of the 1967 film, Brooks reveals he had a tough time with his finances. Receiving an award didn’t translate into financial security.
“Up until Blazing Saddles, I was hanging on to show business with the skin of my teeth, not making any money,” says Brooks during an interview with Ruth Rogers on Ruthie’s Table 4 (presented by iHeartPodcasts). “The first movie I made was The Producers.
- 3/29/2023
- by Sheiresa Ngo
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
There are many things to watch if you love singer-songwriter and musician George Harrison. Here’s a list of things to put in your queue—everything from the former Beatle’s favorite films to documentaries about his life.
George Harrison | Gab Archive/ Getty Images
All of The Beatles’ movies
If you’re a George Harrison fan, bets are you’re also a Beatles fan. So, if you haven’t seen all of The Beatles’ films, put those at the top of your queue. There’s A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. In A Hard Day’s Night, George has his “grotty” scene, which he didn’t want to do. Later, in Let It Be, we see his very-real tense fights with Paul McCartney.
‘The Beatles Anthology’
The Beatles Anthology was a massive project the remaining Beatles undertook in the mid-1990s. It comprises an eight-part television documentary,...
George Harrison | Gab Archive/ Getty Images
All of The Beatles’ movies
If you’re a George Harrison fan, bets are you’re also a Beatles fan. So, if you haven’t seen all of The Beatles’ films, put those at the top of your queue. There’s A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. In A Hard Day’s Night, George has his “grotty” scene, which he didn’t want to do. Later, in Let It Be, we see his very-real tense fights with Paul McCartney.
‘The Beatles Anthology’
The Beatles Anthology was a massive project the remaining Beatles undertook in the mid-1990s. It comprises an eight-part television documentary,...
- 3/18/2023
- by Hannah Wigandt
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
At the end of Mel Brooks' 1981 sketch comedy film "History of the World, Part I" (a movie /Film once ranked higher than "The Producers"), the director included a preview for the inevitable sequel and some of the segments that might be seen therein. Whereas Brooks explored the Stone Age, Ancient Rome, and Revolutionary France in "Part I," "Part II" was to feature a Viking funeral, "Hitler on Ice," and the distant future of "Jews in Space." In 2023, the mythic second part finally came to fruition — as a six-part miniseries — with the 96-year-old Brooks writing and producing along with an entire team of the comedy world's biggest stars. Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinhotlz, Nick Kroll, and David Stassen are credited as the primary writers, and the sketches are presented in shorter snippets, skipping merrily back and forth in time.
As of this writing, "History of the World, Part II" has already covered the Romanov family,...
As of this writing, "History of the World, Part II" has already covered the Romanov family,...
- 3/7/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Mel Brooks came up with the title to his 1981 comedy feature “History of the World, Part I” as a joke. There were never any plans to make a Part II.
Until now.
As the streaming revolution took hold, Brooks, his producing partner Kevin Salter and rightsholder Searchlight Pictures decided to explore a long overdue sequel, but in series form. That’s when they contacted Nick Kroll, who’s known for his sketch comedy (in addition to the painfully funny take on adolescence “Big Mouth”), to kick around a “Part II” that was four decades not in the making.
“There was something slightly more exciting about hearing from Mel Brooks, with all due respect to the wonderful folks at Searchlight,” Kroll says.
Kroll brought in Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen to develop the 21st century take on the original. But they didn’t want to do a new “History...
Until now.
As the streaming revolution took hold, Brooks, his producing partner Kevin Salter and rightsholder Searchlight Pictures decided to explore a long overdue sequel, but in series form. That’s when they contacted Nick Kroll, who’s known for his sketch comedy (in addition to the painfully funny take on adolescence “Big Mouth”), to kick around a “Part II” that was four decades not in the making.
“There was something slightly more exciting about hearing from Mel Brooks, with all due respect to the wonderful folks at Searchlight,” Kroll says.
Kroll brought in Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen to develop the 21st century take on the original. But they didn’t want to do a new “History...
- 3/6/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Mel Brooks is one of the few remaining living legends in pop culture to have survived so many generational shifts. He started as a comedy writer in the earliest days of television, helped shape and transform modern movie humor, and eventually ended up creating a sea change on Broadway as well with an adaptation of "The Producers," one of his first movies. And now, more than seven full decades after he started in TV, Brooks is back on the small screen, as glimpsed in the opening of the Hulu limited series "History of the World, Part II." But true to form, the Brooks we get a glimpse of is a joke in and of itself: it's a very "swole" Brooks (Aka a bodybuilder with a de-aged version of Brooks' face slapped in front of his own visage). It's a microcosm of this sketch series, as shameless and crass and incredibly funny as Brooks' own work.
- 2/28/2023
- by Josh Spiegel
- Slash Film
Protagonist Pictures has sold out international on Rebecca Miller’s Berlinale opener “She Came to Me.”
The Peter Dinklage-led film has sold into Sky for the U.K. and Ireland, Belga for Benelux, Originals Factory for France, Lusomundo for Portugal, Trip Pictures for Spain, M2 Eastern for Europe, Cinesky for Airlines, Aud for South Korea and Shochiku for Japan.
In addition, Universal Pictures Content Group has made a multi-territory deal that spans Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Scandinavia, Iceland, Switzerland, Israel, Middle East, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Asia pay-tv rights.
CAA Media Finance are representing North American rights on the project.
The romantic comedy-drama stars Dinklage as Steven, a moody classical composer struggling with an oppressive writer’s block that prevents him from delivering his next opera. Despite endless encouragement from his evangelical therapist...
The Peter Dinklage-led film has sold into Sky for the U.K. and Ireland, Belga for Benelux, Originals Factory for France, Lusomundo for Portugal, Trip Pictures for Spain, M2 Eastern for Europe, Cinesky for Airlines, Aud for South Korea and Shochiku for Japan.
In addition, Universal Pictures Content Group has made a multi-territory deal that spans Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Scandinavia, Iceland, Switzerland, Israel, Middle East, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Asia pay-tv rights.
CAA Media Finance are representing North American rights on the project.
The romantic comedy-drama stars Dinklage as Steven, a moody classical composer struggling with an oppressive writer’s block that prevents him from delivering his next opera. Despite endless encouragement from his evangelical therapist...
- 2/16/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
We’re now about halfway through the 2022-23 Broadway season, and there are currently nine productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below is a plot overview of each play as well as the awards history of its author, cast, and creative teams, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.
“Pictures From Home” (opens February 9; closes April 30)
This stage adaptation of Larry Sultan’s 1992 photo memoir is a comic and dramatic portrait of a mother and father, and the son who photographed their lives. As Larry tries to capture his parents, their reality explodes from the frame in an exploration of the power of art and how much it reveals.
Adapted for the stage by WGA nominee Sharr White, the production stars Tony winner Danny Burstein, three-time Tony winner Nathan Lane, and four-time Tony nominee Zoë Wanamaker.
“Pictures From Home” (opens February 9; closes April 30)
This stage adaptation of Larry Sultan’s 1992 photo memoir is a comic and dramatic portrait of a mother and father, and the son who photographed their lives. As Larry tries to capture his parents, their reality explodes from the frame in an exploration of the power of art and how much it reveals.
Adapted for the stage by WGA nominee Sharr White, the production stars Tony winner Danny Burstein, three-time Tony winner Nathan Lane, and four-time Tony nominee Zoë Wanamaker.
- 1/25/2023
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
Mel Brooks was born in 1926, prior to the advent of talkies and television. He grew up worshiping the vaudevillian likes of Groucho Marx, Al Jolson, and George Jessel. Given the anarchic, anything-for-a-laugh quality of his best movies, you'd think Brooks' allegiances would be tightly aligned with Groucho. But while he's on the record with his affection for the Marx Brothers' work, he was especially enamored of Eddie Cantor.
For most people in this day and age, Cantor is a name more than a personality. The worst that can be said about him is that he was a song-and-dance man who, like Jolson, mimicked African-American entertainers in blackface to bolster his appeal. But Cantor was a born, trailblazing Jewish entertainer, and his comedic rambunctiousness kicked down the door for people like Brooks, who lacked the patience to craft a meticulously structured screwball masterpiece like Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" or...
For most people in this day and age, Cantor is a name more than a personality. The worst that can be said about him is that he was a song-and-dance man who, like Jolson, mimicked African-American entertainers in blackface to bolster his appeal. But Cantor was a born, trailblazing Jewish entertainer, and his comedic rambunctiousness kicked down the door for people like Brooks, who lacked the patience to craft a meticulously structured screwball masterpiece like Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" or...
- 1/19/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Nobody does comedy like the legendary Mel Brooks. With films like "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," "The Producers," and "Spaceballs," he's changed the face of comedy and influenced generations with his work. Orson Welles did the same with drama. Welles, of course, was a director, actor, writer, and producer and one of the most influential in film history. I mean, his first film was "Citizen Kane" in 1941 if that gives you an idea of what he's done. He made "Touch of Evil," "Chimes at Midnight," "The Trial," and "Macbeth," among others. Not only that, but he was responsible for the famous radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" (based on the novel by H.G. Wells), which led some listeners to believe that there was a real Martian invasion happening.
It seems like an unlikely team-up, Welles and Brooks, but it happened when Welles narrated each chapter of Brooks' "History of the World,...
It seems like an unlikely team-up, Welles and Brooks, but it happened when Welles narrated each chapter of Brooks' "History of the World,...
- 1/18/2023
- by Jenna Busch
- Slash Film
As most people with a working knowledge of cinema history know, movies used to be predominantly in black & white — glorious black and white, if you will! That qualifier is not at all facetious, by the way, given how the cinematographers during the studio system did a regularly fabulous job of lighting actors and sets in moody, lush, expressionist ways without ever having the benefit of color.
Yet when films made the transition to being shot predominately in color, black and white suddenly became a dirty word to the movie studios, believing that audiences would reject a black and white film as being old-fashioned or worse. Unfortunately, their assumption became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, as many less cultured audience members still view black and white movies as being somehow old and boring, causing lists like these to be written up by critics and historians.
Despite becoming famous for pushing the...
Yet when films made the transition to being shot predominately in color, black and white suddenly became a dirty word to the movie studios, believing that audiences would reject a black and white film as being old-fashioned or worse. Unfortunately, their assumption became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, as many less cultured audience members still view black and white movies as being somehow old and boring, causing lists like these to be written up by critics and historians.
Despite becoming famous for pushing the...
- 10/26/2022
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Nathan Lane is returning to Broadway this winter to star in the debut run of Pictures of Home.
Based on the photo memoir by Larry Sultan of the same name and adapted for the stage by Sharr White, the story explores both childhood and parenthood memories, and the often contrasting and shifting conditions that make up familial relationships.
Directed by Bartlett Sher, Pictures of Home follows a father (Lane) and a mother, played by Olivier-winning actress Zoë Wanamaker, as they are captured through a series of comic and dramatic still photographs by their son, portrayed by Tony winner and Moulin Rouge! star Danny Burstein.
Pictures From Home is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Kayla Greenspan and Jacob Soroken Porter and will open at Studio 54 on Feb. 9 for a strictly limited engagement. Previews will begin Jan. 10.
The remaining...
Nathan Lane is returning to Broadway this winter to star in the debut run of Pictures of Home.
Based on the photo memoir by Larry Sultan of the same name and adapted for the stage by Sharr White, the story explores both childhood and parenthood memories, and the often contrasting and shifting conditions that make up familial relationships.
Directed by Bartlett Sher, Pictures of Home follows a father (Lane) and a mother, played by Olivier-winning actress Zoë Wanamaker, as they are captured through a series of comic and dramatic still photographs by their son, portrayed by Tony winner and Moulin Rouge! star Danny Burstein.
Pictures From Home is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Kayla Greenspan and Jacob Soroken Porter and will open at Studio 54 on Feb. 9 for a strictly limited engagement. Previews will begin Jan. 10.
The remaining...
- 10/25/2022
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker, three of the theater’s most acclaimed artists, will return to the New York stage this January in the Broadway premiere of Pictures From Home, based on the photo memoir by Larry Sultan adapted for the stage by Sharr White.
Pictures From Home, staged by director Bartlett Sher, will begin previews on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Studio 54 on Broadway and officially open on Thursday, February 9, 2023 for a strictly limited engagement. The creative team and ticketing information will be announced at a later date.
Pictures From Home is described as a comic and dramatic portrait of a mother, a father and the son who photographed their lives and evokes memories of childhood, parenthood, and the vicissitudes that comprise familial relationships.
Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker (Photos courtesy production)
Pictures From Home reunites Sher with both Wanamaker whom he directed in Awake and Sing!
Pictures From Home, staged by director Bartlett Sher, will begin previews on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Studio 54 on Broadway and officially open on Thursday, February 9, 2023 for a strictly limited engagement. The creative team and ticketing information will be announced at a later date.
Pictures From Home is described as a comic and dramatic portrait of a mother, a father and the son who photographed their lives and evokes memories of childhood, parenthood, and the vicissitudes that comprise familial relationships.
Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker (Photos courtesy production)
Pictures From Home reunites Sher with both Wanamaker whom he directed in Awake and Sing!
- 10/25/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker will return to Broadway for “Pictures From Home,” a new play about manhood, fatherhood and hidden truths.
“Pictures From Home” is based on the memoir by photographer Larry Sultan and is being adapted for the stage by Sharr White, whose credits include “The Other Place” and “Annapurna.” The story, described as equal parts comedic and dramatic, paints a portrait of a mother, father and son who photographed their lives.
Bartlett Sher, a nine-time Tony nominee for “The King and I,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and others, is directing the stage version. “Pictures From Home” reunites Sher with Wanamaker, whom he directed in “Awake and Sing,” as well as and Burstein, whom he directed in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“Pictures From Home” will begin previews on Jan. 10, 2023 at Studio 54 ahead of opening night on Feb. 9, 2023. It will only run for a limited engagement.
The...
“Pictures From Home” is based on the memoir by photographer Larry Sultan and is being adapted for the stage by Sharr White, whose credits include “The Other Place” and “Annapurna.” The story, described as equal parts comedic and dramatic, paints a portrait of a mother, father and son who photographed their lives.
Bartlett Sher, a nine-time Tony nominee for “The King and I,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and others, is directing the stage version. “Pictures From Home” reunites Sher with Wanamaker, whom he directed in “Awake and Sing,” as well as and Burstein, whom he directed in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“Pictures From Home” will begin previews on Jan. 10, 2023 at Studio 54 ahead of opening night on Feb. 9, 2023. It will only run for a limited engagement.
The...
- 10/25/2022
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Gene Wilder's film career shone brightly but burned out quickly. He was only in 23 movies in his life, 22 of which were between 1967 and 1991. Wilder was a revelation on the silver screen, making such roles as Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" an indelible part of the fabric of cinema. Wilder was also a frequent collaborator with director Mel Brooks, with whom he made a number of spoofs including "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," and "The Producers." He was a joyful addition to any movie, able to crack jokes and elicit tears in equal measure.
For an actor doing as well as Wilder was, it was odd that he was only actively in films for a 24-year period; it's not like Wilder's soft-spoken nature and kind eyes wouldn't have made him great at playing older characters. But according to a piece by Insider following the actor's death at...
For an actor doing as well as Wilder was, it was odd that he was only actively in films for a 24-year period; it's not like Wilder's soft-spoken nature and kind eyes wouldn't have made him great at playing older characters. But according to a piece by Insider following the actor's death at...
- 10/11/2022
- by Matt Rainis
- Slash Film
IDFA Pitch Forum Includes New Mofaddivies From Filmmakers Maite Alberdi, Filip Remunda, Anette Ostrø
New work from filmmakers Maite Alberdi (“The Mole Agent”), Filip Remunda (“Czech Journal”) and Anette Ostrø (“Hotel Cæsar”) are among the 22 documentary projects that have been selected for the 30th edition of the IDFA Pitch Forum, which will run concurrent to the 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, running Nov. 9 – 20.
The doc festival’s IDFA Forum is an industry-focused co-financing and co-production market that will host 60 titles across its four sections, including the IDFA Pitch category. The Forum allows filmmakers and producers to present their projects — all at various stages of production and development — before buyers, curator and decision-makers from the worlds of public and private broadcasting, streaming, and international film festivals.
The IDFA Pitch Forum is the market’s flagship category. Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory” is a meditation on love and memory that observes a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s over a four-year period. Remunda will be presenting “Love Exposed,...
The doc festival’s IDFA Forum is an industry-focused co-financing and co-production market that will host 60 titles across its four sections, including the IDFA Pitch category. The Forum allows filmmakers and producers to present their projects — all at various stages of production and development — before buyers, curator and decision-makers from the worlds of public and private broadcasting, streaming, and international film festivals.
The IDFA Pitch Forum is the market’s flagship category. Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory” is a meditation on love and memory that observes a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s over a four-year period. Remunda will be presenting “Love Exposed,...
- 10/6/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Mel Brooks has a long and storied career of lambasting genre movies. From making a mockery of the Western in "Blazing Saddles" to laughing at Broadway shows with "The Producers," no piece of entertainment was ever safe from Brooks' sardonic wrath.
This includes science fiction, which Brooks took on in 1987 with "Spaceballs." A parody of movies like "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Alien," and more, the film approached tales of spaceships and robots with the same goofy aggression that all of Brooks' projects did.
According to a piece he wrote for LitHub, Brooks needed a new idea for a movie, having produced parodies of so many different genres. "So I thought, 'Science fiction! Now there's a genre I haven't wrecked yet..." Like most of Brooks' work, the film was hilarious. It simultaneously poked fun at the genre and celebrated it, not unlike "Young Frankenstein" before it. There were even jokes that carried over from "Blazing Saddles.
This includes science fiction, which Brooks took on in 1987 with "Spaceballs." A parody of movies like "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Alien," and more, the film approached tales of spaceships and robots with the same goofy aggression that all of Brooks' projects did.
According to a piece he wrote for LitHub, Brooks needed a new idea for a movie, having produced parodies of so many different genres. "So I thought, 'Science fiction! Now there's a genre I haven't wrecked yet..." Like most of Brooks' work, the film was hilarious. It simultaneously poked fun at the genre and celebrated it, not unlike "Young Frankenstein" before it. There were even jokes that carried over from "Blazing Saddles.
- 9/30/2022
- by Matt Rainis
- Slash Film
Do you remember the first time you saw a "cross-dresser"? For me, I believe it was either "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or maybe even the original "The Producers." I don't really remember because it wasn't of major consequence for me and my identity. But for the women featured in "Casa Susanna," seeing any sort of man in drag was a revelation — a life-changing, and life-saving, discovery.
"Casa Susanna" is a retrospective documentary looking back on the titular getaway resort in the Catskills, a pastoral, mountainous area where one woman and her "cross-dressing" husband decided to carve out a retreat for their community. Susanna was the madame in charge, fostering a welcoming environment where fellow "transvestites" (as they identified back then) could feel free to be their true selves.
We've come a long way in terms of LGBTQ+ awareness and acceptance, and it can be easy to forget — and I'll admit,...
"Casa Susanna" is a retrospective documentary looking back on the titular getaway resort in the Catskills, a pastoral, mountainous area where one woman and her "cross-dressing" husband decided to carve out a retreat for their community. Susanna was the madame in charge, fostering a welcoming environment where fellow "transvestites" (as they identified back then) could feel free to be their true selves.
We've come a long way in terms of LGBTQ+ awareness and acceptance, and it can be easy to forget — and I'll admit,...
- 9/19/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder had a truly incredible 1974. It is rare enough that someone makes a comedy that stands the test of time as one of the greatest films in history, regardless of genre classification. They made two. Amazingly, "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" were both released in the same year, and I would consider "Young Frankenstein" to be the funniest film ever made, with "Blazing Saddles" not too far behind it. These two films, along with Brooks and Wilder's 1968 Oscar-winning breakout "The Producers," show two comedy kindred spirits operating at a high level. Each one brings out the best in each other, and I wish it didn't stop with just those three movies.
Well, it was almost just two movies. For as simpatico as those two comic geniuses were at the time, Gene Wilder was not originally going to play The Waco Kid (known to his friends as Jim). In fact,...
Well, it was almost just two movies. For as simpatico as those two comic geniuses were at the time, Gene Wilder was not originally going to play The Waco Kid (known to his friends as Jim). In fact,...
- 9/12/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
The French director, film critic and voracious cinephile Francois Truffaut once suggested a thought experiment. Imagine, he said, that there was only one copy of a book, and that copy was held in a single library, and you could only read it while inside that library. This was how film lovers were obliged to check out the objects of their desire before repertory theaters, videotape and streaming platforms brought the elusive history of cinema, so long beyond reach, into the palm of our hands.
A reminder of how inaccessible the motion picture legacy might be — and how dependent it is on the whims of a corporate mogul — arrived on Aug. 2 when two related news items hit the entertainment trade sites with the force of mallet between the eyes: Batgirl, the latest entry in the DC Universe pipeline, a film that was basically in...
The French director, film critic and voracious cinephile Francois Truffaut once suggested a thought experiment. Imagine, he said, that there was only one copy of a book, and that copy was held in a single library, and you could only read it while inside that library. This was how film lovers were obliged to check out the objects of their desire before repertory theaters, videotape and streaming platforms brought the elusive history of cinema, so long beyond reach, into the palm of our hands.
A reminder of how inaccessible the motion picture legacy might be — and how dependent it is on the whims of a corporate mogul — arrived on Aug. 2 when two related news items hit the entertainment trade sites with the force of mallet between the eyes: Batgirl, the latest entry in the DC Universe pipeline, a film that was basically in...
- 8/11/2022
- by Thomas Doherty
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Uma Thurman (Super Pumped) will play U.S. President Ellen Claremont in Prime Video’s rom-com, Red, White & Royal Blue, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston. She’s set to star alongside the previously announced Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Aneesh Sheth, Polo Morin, Ahmed Elhaj and Akshay Khanna.
Red, White & Royal Blue will follow the Mexican-American character Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez) who, upon his mother’s (Thurman) election as President, is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, brilliant―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a long-running feud with his royal counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Galitzine). And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an altercation between the two, U.S./British...
Red, White & Royal Blue will follow the Mexican-American character Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez) who, upon his mother’s (Thurman) election as President, is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, brilliant―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a long-running feud with his royal counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Galitzine). And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an altercation between the two, U.S./British...
- 6/2/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
When the Cannes Film Festival lineup was announced on April 14, Twitter positively exploded with excitement over the news that Lee Ji-eun would make her Riviera debut with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker in Competition. The Korean actress, singer and songwriter—popularly known as Iu—has a legion of fans, including 26 million followers on Instagram, and has been described as a national treasure at home. She may now be well poised for crossover success with her first commercial film.
The first film from Kore-eda since the Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters in 2018 is also his first movie to be made in Korea. Backed by Asian powerhouse Cj Enm and starring Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, Broker concerns the peculiarly Korean phenomenon of “baby boxes”— drop-off points where people who are unable to raise children can deposit their babies anonymously.
Lee started out as a recording artist, releasing her first album in 2008, and by...
The first film from Kore-eda since the Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters in 2018 is also his first movie to be made in Korea. Backed by Asian powerhouse Cj Enm and starring Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, Broker concerns the peculiarly Korean phenomenon of “baby boxes”— drop-off points where people who are unable to raise children can deposit their babies anonymously.
Lee started out as a recording artist, releasing her first album in 2008, and by...
- 5/25/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
(Welcome to Year of the Vampire, a series examining the greatest, strangest, and sometimes overlooked vampire movies of all time in honor of "Nosferatu," which turns 100 this year.)
Comedy legend Mel Brooks ended his career on low note, with his final film "Dracula Dead and Loving It" bombing at the box office in 1995 and going down as one of his worst-rated films. The legend had seemingly lost his touch -- the former Academy Award winner (his debut feature "The Producers" won Best Original Screenplay) failed to satisfy either critics or audiences, with the current Rotten Tomatoes score being a pathetic 11 among critics and...
The post Year of the Vampire: Dracula Dead And Loving It Doesn't Suck appeared first on /Film.
Comedy legend Mel Brooks ended his career on low note, with his final film "Dracula Dead and Loving It" bombing at the box office in 1995 and going down as one of his worst-rated films. The legend had seemingly lost his touch -- the former Academy Award winner (his debut feature "The Producers" won Best Original Screenplay) failed to satisfy either critics or audiences, with the current Rotten Tomatoes score being a pathetic 11 among critics and...
The post Year of the Vampire: Dracula Dead And Loving It Doesn't Suck appeared first on /Film.
- 4/30/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
The 2021-2022 Broadway season has been quite a busy one for actor Brandon J. Dirden. First he appeared opposite Phylicia Rashad in Manhattan Theatre Club’s presentation of Dominique Morisseau‘s play “Skeleton Crew” this past winter. Now he can be seen in Second Stage Theater’s revival of Richard Greenberg‘s 2003 Tony-winning play “Take Me Out.” After having previously appeared in award-winning Broadway productions of “Clybourne Park” (2012), “All the Way” (2014), and “Jitney” (2017), will either of Dirden’s two main stem appearances from this past year make him a first-time Tony nominee?
In “Skeleton Crew,” Dirden played Reggie, the manager of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit. The company is on shaky ground and the workers have to make choices about how to move forward if their plant goes under. All the while Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and the red tape in his office.
In “Skeleton Crew,” Dirden played Reggie, the manager of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit. The company is on shaky ground and the workers have to make choices about how to move forward if their plant goes under. All the while Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and the red tape in his office.
- 4/16/2022
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
Actress Uma Thurman (“Kill Bill”) poses for “Vogue” (Spain) magazine, photographed by Tess Ayano:
Following her first appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of “British Vogue”, Thurman's breakthrough role was “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988).
She played ‘Mia Wallace’ in director Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film “Pulp Fiction”, for which she was nominated for the ‘Academy Award’.
She reunited with Tarantino to play the main role of ‘The Bride’ in “Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004).
Thurman’s other notable films include “Henry & June” (1990), “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” (1996), “Batman & Robin” (1997), “Gattaca” (1997), “Les Misérables” (1998), “Paycheck” (2003), “The Producers” (2005), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief “(2013), “Nymphomaniac” (2013) and “The House That Jack Built” (2018).
For her performance in the HBO film “Hysterical Blindness” (2002), Thurman won the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Television Film’ and for her five-episode role in the NBC musical...
Following her first appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of “British Vogue”, Thurman's breakthrough role was “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988).
She played ‘Mia Wallace’ in director Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film “Pulp Fiction”, for which she was nominated for the ‘Academy Award’.
She reunited with Tarantino to play the main role of ‘The Bride’ in “Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004).
Thurman’s other notable films include “Henry & June” (1990), “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” (1996), “Batman & Robin” (1997), “Gattaca” (1997), “Les Misérables” (1998), “Paycheck” (2003), “The Producers” (2005), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief “(2013), “Nymphomaniac” (2013) and “The House That Jack Built” (2018).
For her performance in the HBO film “Hysterical Blindness” (2002), Thurman won the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Television Film’ and for her five-episode role in the NBC musical...
- 4/14/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Every director is unique in their own way. This is a fact that can be justified no matter if many of them have been compared to each other in terms of style and the movies they’ve created. But among the many directors that people have fully enjoyed over the years, Mel Brooks is one of the few that has managed to find a way to highlight some of the most negative and controversial subjects in history while making fun of them. From movies such as The Producers to Blazing Saddles to Spaceballs, Brooks has managed to create humor while using
Five Reasons Mel Brooks Movies Should Never be Remade...
Five Reasons Mel Brooks Movies Should Never be Remade...
- 4/12/2022
- by Tom Foster
- TVovermind.com
This year’s Oscars telecast incorporated reunions of cast members from classic movies such as “The Godfather,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Juno.” Last year’s Tony Awards actually did something similar, bringing together cast members from different Broadway classics such as “Hairspray,” “Ragtime,” “Rent,” and “Wicked” for performances as the industry was fighting to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the Tonys will be presenting their landmark 75th annual ceremony this year, I think it would be even more fitting if they reunite more co-stars from Broadway classics of yesteryear to perform or even present awards. Here are some suggestions. Vote in our poll at the bottom of this post to let us know which you’d most like to see.
SEE2022 Tony Awards: Full awards season calendar revealed
Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury – “Sweeney Todd”
In 1979 Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler‘s adaptation of Christopher Bond‘s 1973 stage play won...
SEE2022 Tony Awards: Full awards season calendar revealed
Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury – “Sweeney Todd”
In 1979 Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler‘s adaptation of Christopher Bond‘s 1973 stage play won...
- 4/8/2022
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
Actress Uma Thurman (“Kill Bill”) poses for “Vogue” (Spain) magazine, photographed by Tess Ayano:
Following her first appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of “British Vogue”, Thurman's breakthrough role was “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988).
She played ‘Mia Wallace’ in director Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film “Pulp Fiction”, for which she was nominated for the ‘Academy Award’.
She reunited with Tarantino to play the main role of ‘The Bride’ in “Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004).
Thurman’s other notable films include “Henry & June” (1990), “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” (1996), “Batman & Robin” (1997), “Gattaca” (1997), “Les Misérables” (1998), “Paycheck” (2003), “The Producers” (2005), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief “(2013), “Nymphomaniac” (2013) and “The House That Jack Built” (2018).
For her performance in the HBO film “Hysterical Blindness” (2002), Thurman won the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Television Film’ and for her five-episode role in the NBC musical...
Following her first appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of “British Vogue”, Thurman's breakthrough role was “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988).
She played ‘Mia Wallace’ in director Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film “Pulp Fiction”, for which she was nominated for the ‘Academy Award’.
She reunited with Tarantino to play the main role of ‘The Bride’ in “Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004).
Thurman’s other notable films include “Henry & June” (1990), “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” (1996), “Batman & Robin” (1997), “Gattaca” (1997), “Les Misérables” (1998), “Paycheck” (2003), “The Producers” (2005), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief “(2013), “Nymphomaniac” (2013) and “The House That Jack Built” (2018).
For her performance in the HBO film “Hysterical Blindness” (2002), Thurman won the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Television Film’ and for her five-episode role in the NBC musical...
- 3/26/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Did you think the 2021-2022 Broadway season was finalized already? Think again! The new comedy “Potus: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” has moved its opening night performance from its original May 9 date to April 27. The jump forward makes this new play eligible for the 2022 Tony Awards since it will sneak in before the April 28 eligibility deadline.
I should also clarify that this won’t technically be an opening “night,” but the rare opening matinee! Since the new Billy Crystal tuner “Mr. Saturday Night” has already claimed the evening of April 27 as its opening night, “Potus” has declared the 2:00 pm matinee that day as its official opening performance (stepping on another new show’s opening night would be a major Broadway faux pas). Previews of “Potus” will still begin on April 14, and a gala celebration for the play will be held on...
I should also clarify that this won’t technically be an opening “night,” but the rare opening matinee! Since the new Billy Crystal tuner “Mr. Saturday Night” has already claimed the evening of April 27 as its opening night, “Potus” has declared the 2:00 pm matinee that day as its official opening performance (stepping on another new show’s opening night would be a major Broadway faux pas). Previews of “Potus” will still begin on April 14, and a gala celebration for the play will be held on...
- 3/24/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
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