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Ted Kotcheff, the notable Canadian director who directed classics such asFirst Bloodand Weekend at Bernie's, has died at age 94 on April 10. Kotcheff's family confirmed his passing to The Globe and Mail newspaper. Described as a talented, multi-faceted journeyman by the Toronto International Film Festival, Kotcheff used his eye for hits to direct and produce works on television and theater in both Canada and Hollywood. He created a bridge in the gap between productions in both, using his projects as a way to show there's more power in collaboration.

First Blood (1982) gave Sylvester Stallone his first post-Rocky hit, which turned into sequels. Kotcheff didn't bother with the sequels because he thought they seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War. "They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script, I said, 'In the first film he doesn't kill anybody. In this film, he kills 75 people. It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War,...

Canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff, known for his work on movies like Rambo: First Blood and Weekend at Bernie's, has died. He was 94 years old.

Per The Globe and Mail, Kotcheff's death was confirmed by his family, though additional details about his passing were not disclosed.

Kotcheff got his career in show business started with work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This included work on shows like General Motors Theatre, Encounter, and First Performance. He then relocated to the UK where he took up similar work for ABC Weekend TV. He would also delve into directing a sthe helmer of the original 1964 West End production of the musical Maggie May.

Kotcheff's first feature film as director was for the 1962 British movie Tiara Tahiti. He'd follow this up with other films like Life at the Top, Two Gentlemen Sharing, and The Human Voice, as well as TV remakes of The Desperate Hours and Of Mice and Men.

The producer of Barney's Version, Robert Lantos, chats to us about the film, about getting small budget movies made, and the mighty Due South...

This interview starts with me being absolutely gushing about Barney's Version, with as close to fawning adoration as you can get over a very quiet phone line to North America. Don't think this is me overcompensating, though, or fulfilling my end of a deal. I had to return a screener disc last week, leaving me empty and bereft of a repeat viewing.

No, I am true to my word. Barney's Version is every bit as good as my opening salvo suggests. Better, even. But I'm trying to temper expectations. Play it down a little bit, all of which means that talking to the film's producer, the prolific Robert Lantos, is a very nice thing, indeed.

Lantos has been making films for over thirty years, a pioneer...

Mordecai Richler, the Canadian novelist who died 10 years ago at the age of 70, worked for many years in Britain writing screenplays and contributing to our literary life. He wrote a series of hilarious, partly autobiographical novels about Montreal's Jewish community, two of which – The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Joshua Then and Now – he adapted for the cinema. His books are quite close to those of the Canadian-born Saul Bellow, though funnier and less self-regarding; the last one, the characteristically sprawling Barney's Version, has now been filmed with a wonderful central performance from Paul Giamatti.

He plays Barney Panofsky (Richler probably borrowed the surname from Erwin Panofsky, the art historian who pioneered the study of iconography), a Montreal entrepreneur who starts out in the 1970s supporting his bohemian friends in Rome as a dealer in olive oil before returning home to work as a Jewish fundraiser and the producer of...

Oscar winner Dustin "Rain Man" Hoffman will co-star with actor Paul "Cinderella Man" Giamatti in the upcoming $28-million feature-film adaptation of Canadian author Mordecai Richler's novel Barney's Version. Produced by Toronto's Serendipity Point Films, Hoffman will play the role of 'Izzy', a retired cop and father of 'Barney'. Production is set to start in Rome on Aug. 17, with scenes also being shot in New York, Montreal and the Quebec Laurentians. The feature is being produced in association with Rome's Fandango and Montreal's Lyla Films. Richler won the Giller Prize for 1997's Barney's Version, written as the autobiography of a hard-drinking man who finally calms down after meeting the love of his life 'Miriam', while recounting a life that includes friendship, romance and murder. Screenplay was adapted by Montreal writer Michael Konyves to be helmed by Richard J. "Whale Music" Lewis, noted as a writer/director of more than 50 episodes...