Noticias

If American filmgoers are at all aware of the work of filmmaker Damiano Damiani, it’s likely because of his deranged “Zapata western” A Bullet for the General, or else his bonkers horror sequel Amityville II: The Possession, which easily surpasses its more famous predecessor in sheer Wtf factor. Neither of those films are necessarily indicative of Damiani’s serious-minded approach to the titles included in Radiance Films’s Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani, but they do illustrate Damiani’s determination to pepper his works with pungent social commentary. The three films in this new box set may illuminate very different aspects of the mafia’s tentacular grip on Sicilian society, but they’re united in their bleak, often hopeless diagnoses of these social ills.

The Day of the Owl, from 1968, pits carabiniere Captain Bellodi (Nero) against mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb...

To mark the release of Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales By

Damiano Damiani on 3rd July 2023, we have 1 limited edition Box Set to give away!

Radiance Films continues its impressive run of must-have Limited Editions with Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales By Damiano Damiani – a stunning new collection featuring three outstanding films in the ultimate collaboration between two Italian greats – lauded Italian actor Franco Nero and respected director Damiano Damiani.

This stunning Blu-ray Box set features three 1970s classics in 2K restored editions: The Day of the Owl, The Case is Closed: Forget It and How to Kill a Judge. Presented in a rigid box with a removable Obi strip it comes complete with a 120-page book, featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre. The set contains a slew of outstanding special featuresthat see new interviews with Franco Nero,...

Beyond the Fulcis, Bavas and Argentos of the world, I have to confess that my experience of Italian cinema is very limited, so I’m coming to this boxset of Damiano Damiani and Franco Nero’s collaborations with not just fresh eyes, but little context for what to expect beyond the basics laid out by the description ‘three mafia tales’. You’ll have to pardon me if I miss some context to these films that having seen more, or knowing more about this late ’60s and early ’70s in Italian film, would allow.

The Films

The Day of the Owl begins with one of the film’s best sequences. As the credits come up, we see what we assume is a hunter, hiding on the side of a road on a hill. We never see his face, and when a truck carrying a load of cement rounds the hill, he fires,...

If you look up the titular character in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, you just might find yourself going down a historical rabbit hole full of conspiracy theories. The widely anticipated true crime film takes on the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the notorious labor leader who mysteriously vanished in 1975 and was never found. The film is based on Charles Brandt's book I Heard You Paint Houses, which breaks down how Mafia member and Teamster official Frank Sheeran, aka the "Irishman," aka Robert De Niro, was involved in Hoffa's death. So exactly how was Sheeran caught up in one of the biggest mysteries of our time? Here's what you need to know about Hoffa's disappearance and what claims Sheeran made about his involvement.

Who Was Jimmy Hoffa?

Hoffa was president of the Teamsters, the largest American labor union. To fend off rivals, he worked closely with the Mafia, lending mobsters...

On the narrative side, the mob epic is in full force this year with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor. For a different side of a life of crime, arriving this month is a documentary that takes a unique, vivid perspective into the mafia world. Kim Longinotto’s Shooting the Mafia tells the story of Letizia Battaglia, a veteran photographer who was immersed in the Sicilian mob, including the brutal aftermath of the crimes, including nightly public murders in Palermo, Sicily.

Ahead of a November 22 release via Cohen Media Group, we’re pleased to present the exclusive trailer, which shows no shortage of striking photos and previews Battaglia’s reflective, revealing conversational tone in the film, which has played at Berlinale, Sundance, BFI London Film Festival, and more.

“The film is most effective in its more personal passages as Batteglia talks with Longinotto about her...

Review by Peter BelsitoMartin Scorsese’s Netflix epic ‘The Irishman’ is finally here.Pacino, Scorsese and De Niro, here out of makeup thank god

I sat there for the entire 3.5 hours.

A lot of thoughts which I’ll skim over here.

Must you see all of it?

It is and feels Very long. I kept wondering ‘why is this going on and on?’

To sum up, it is a film of parts and not an integral work. There’s no major arc here, just a bunch of connected sequences. Like a book of separate chapters and not like a novel that flows.

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman at first sounds like more of the same from a director we know well, someone we’ve been on a cinematic journey with for our entire viewing lives.

Well it is different from his other works. These were all mostly self-contained stories and this is not.

It’s arguably the busiest month in the movie year, jam-packed with awards contenders, well-feted indies, and the occasional sequel to huge hits and/or iconic flicks. You want new works by Todd Haynes, Rian Johnson, and one Martin “Saint Marty” Scorsese? You got ’em. How about some more Stephen King horrorshows, Terminator movies, and Disney classics featuring princesses and snowmen? Yup, those are on deck as well. All this, plus the retro-gearhead throwback, the feel-bad divorce film and the journalist/legendary kid’s-tv host bromance of 2019, respectively. Here is...

After covering the Watts riots and writing the occasional Hollywood piece early in his career as the Los Angeles correspondent for The New York Times, Deadline columnist Peter Bart made a temporary exit from journalism to leap into a Paramount Pictures job offered him by actor-turned-Robert Evans. This was when the hit-starved studio lot was floundering and in danger of being sold to be turned into a graveyard. Here, Bart recalls why he gave up one of the best reporter jobs in journalism for a leap with Evans at the onset of an auteur era in cinema.

Robert Evans, who died Saturday at his home at age 89, became famous as a forceful Hollywood studio chief with a vivid life style. But at various stages of his life he seemed a man at war with himself.

While his regime at Paramount Pictures was responsible for hits like The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II...

Matthew Byrd Sep 25, 2019

Take-Two has filed trademarks related to Mafia and Mafia 2. Could a pair of remasters be on the way?

A trio of trademarks registered by publisher Take-Two indicates that remasters of Mafia and Mafia 2 may be in development. 

Two of the applications filed recently by Take-Two relate to the names of Mafia and Mafia 2 as well as the logos associated with those titles. The date on the applications is Aug. 2, which is odd considering that neither of these properties necessarily need to be trademarked in accordance with the 10-year time frame applied to such trademarked properties. Naturally, this has led some to believe that the Take-Two team has something else planned. 

The other trademark is even more interesting. It's also for the word "Mafia," but the stylized text of the word suggests that it's not related to any of the Mafia games we've seen so far (at least...

KollywoodThe video alternates between Arun Vijay and Prasanna, each equating himself to a lion and jackal respectively.Tnm StaffYouTube Screenshot/Lyca ProductionsThe official teaser of Karthick Naren’s upcoming film with Arun Vijay, Prasanna and Priya Bhavani Shankar titled Mafia was released on Monday evening. Over the weekend, the director had posted that the film’s teaser had been appreciated by actor Rajinikanth. The teaser alternates between Arun Vijay and Prasanna, both seated on a chair and each equating himself to a lion and a jackal respectively, the majestic and the cunning. While Arun Vijay holds a gun, Prasanna smokes a cigar. The teaser presents them as the hunter and the beast. The wall behind Arun has the Tamil Nadu government’s emblem on it while behind Prasanna we see the words ‘software solutions’ briefly. The teaser also has plenty of action sequences. While the physical similarities between the two are noticeable in the beginning,...

Kollywood'Mafia' is bankrolled by Lyca Productions and stars Arun Vijay and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the lead.Digital NativeFilmmaker Karthick Naren recently met Superstar Rajinikanth at his residence to show him the teaser of his upcoming film Mafia. Karthick took to Twitter share his excitement and revealed what Rajini had told him: “Brilliant work kanna. Semaya irukku. Loved it” These were Rajini sir’s words after watching the teaser of Mafia. Thank god I did not faint. Blown away by his humility. Thalaivar for a reason.” The film's teaser will release for the public on Monday at 6.00 pm by director Ar Murugadoss on Twitter. “Brilliant work kanna. Semaya irukku. Loved it” These were Rajini sir’s words after watching the teaser of Mafia. Thank god I did not faint. Blown away by his humility. Thalaivar for a reason pic.twitter.com/e6pdZtOjbI — Karthick Naren (@karthicknaren_M) September 14, 2019 Ace director...

KollywoodThe star's previous two films in Tamil, 'Kuttram 23' and 'Thadam', were both thrillers and did well at the box office.Digital NativeArun Vijay has chosen a crime thriller once again! The star's last two outings in Tamil, Kuttram 23 and Thadam, belonged to the same genre and did well at the box office. Following this, he has decided to opt for the same genre. Gnr Kumaravelan will be wielding the megaphone for this venture. In this film, which has not been titled, Arun Vijay will be playing a cop. The groundwork for it is on and the shooting will commence soon. More details about the star cast will be revealed in a few weeks, say sources. Arun Vijay's last outing at the box office was the trilingual Prabhas starrer Saaho which was released in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. Saaho, directed by Sujeeth, was bankrolled by...

The films of director Franco Maresco (“Belluscone: A Sicilian Story”) are an acquired taste, rarely developed by non-Italian palates, and “The Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be” is a prime example. Playing in the nether regions separating documentary and fiction, Maresco is a humorist who expresses his frustration at Italian politics with absurdism — a legitimate response given how surreal some of the situations can be. His style, however, is abrasive and pandering, while his voice acts as a near constant accompaniment as he “interviews” characters whose benighted pro-Berlusconi attitudes (as in his last film) or complacency about the Mafia, as here, are played as farce. Though the word “mockumentary” is oddly rarely applied to Maresco’s exasperating movies, there’s every sign his subjects are scripted; if they weren’t, his manner of ridiculing these people would be offensive. “Mafia” is strictly for locals.

Here’s the setup:...

After a somewhat muted reception at Cannes earlier this year, Sony Pictures Classics has just released the first trailer for Italian director Marco Bellocchio’s mafia film The Traitor. In addition to Cannes, the film is currently making its way through the festival circuit, with screenings at both Toronto and New York film festivals.

Starring Pierfrancesco Favino as Tommaso Buscetta, a real-life figure, and the first Mafia boss to become an informant on the Nostra Costa in the early 80s, Bellocchio’s film appears to the type of time-spanning gangster film that is rarely seen these days. In addition to Favino, Luigi Lo Cascio, Fausto Russo Alesi, and Maria Fernanda Cândido co-star.

Bellocchio has been a staple of Italian filmmaking since the mid-60s with his first film Fists in the Pocket. His previous film was 2016’s Sweet Dreams staring Bérénice Bejo, which also received lukewarm reviews.

Check out the trailer below.

It’s a pretty safe bet that the Italian entries at Venice that will make the biggest splashes this year are both TV series premiering in the official selection: Paolo Sorrentino’s limited series “The New Pope” and Stefano Sollima’s cocaine-trafficking drama “ZeroZeroZero.”

While these are both shows by directors who also work in film, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera has no qualms in pointing out that in the film sphere the domestic pickings were slim this year.

Venice selectors received 186 Italian films, which amounts to roughly 10% of the total submissions. “And more than half were unwatchable microbudget first works,” Barbera says. “You wonder: why produce this stuff?”

However, the TV series, both commissioned by Sky Italia and screening out of competition, are on a different level. “They were both a big gamble,” Barbera says. And they cost a lot, “but you really see the results.”

Barbera says everyone...

KollywoodTipped to be a gangster drama, 'Mafia' features Prasanna in the role of antagonist while Priya Bhavani Shankar has been roped in to play the leading lady. Digital NativeKarthick Naren made an impressive debut with his critically-acclaimed and highly successful crime-thriller Dhuruvangal 16 aka D 16. Despite making a very noteworthy debut, his second film, Naragasooran, a suspense drama featuring an ensemble cast of Arvind Swami, Indrajith, Shriya Saran, Sundeep Kishan and Aathmika, is yet to find a theatrical release. Meanwhile, he has teamed up with Arun Vijay for his third project which has been titled Mafia. On Tuesday, Lyca Productions unveiled the film’s title and first look poster which features Arun Vijay in three different looks. Tipped to be a gangster drama, Mafia features Prasanna in the role of antagonist while Priya Bhavani Shankar has been roped in to play the leading lady. Mafia will go on the...

Stars: Marnie Baxter, David Powell, Bruce McGuire, Barbara Di Bartolo, Michele Bevilacqua, Matt Patresi, Massimiliano Ubaldi, Roberta Picconi | Written by Rogan Roberts, Tim Pickett | Directed by Tim Pickett

Written by Rogan Roberts and Tim Pickett and directed by Pickett himself, The Tormented is a dramatic horror movie about a couple who attempt to begin again after losing their young son in an awful car accident. They find themselves in an Italian town called Calabria, a town that slowly, over the course of the film, reveals itself to be much more than they’d expected. Can you say “Mafia” and “Cult”? I’m there.

There are various attributes and vehicles I love in horror and in drama, and the implementation of a cult in the story is one of them. Be it a more religious and realistic cult in a gritty human drama, or a supernatural cult in a horror film,...

If you’re a fan of heist films, I’ve got a trailer here for you to watch for an upcoming movie called Vault, which is set in the 1970s.

The film is said to be based on a true story, and it follows a group of small time criminals in 1975 “who attempt to pull off the biggest heist in American history – stealing over $30 million from the Mafia in the smallest state in the union, Rhode Island.”

The movie was directed by Rhode Island native filmmaker Tom DeNucci, and it looks like a pretty good film that I’ll most likely end up checking out. The movie stars Theo Rossi, Clive Standen, Chazz Palminteri, Samira Wiley, Don Johnson, William Forsythe, Burt Young, Andrew Divoff, Sean Ringgold, Vincent Pastore, Dorothy Lyman, and Chuck Zito.

The movie is set to be released on June 14th on VOD.

Eva Longoria, Patricia Arquette, Claire Forlani, Marta Milans and Julia Stiles are among stars expected on the island of Sardegna (or Sardinia for English speakers) for the second edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, the Italian summer shindig celebrating the ongoing crossover between high-end film and TV content and the power of women driving that crossover. Festival runs June 13-16.

“I’m trying to give it a modern stamp,” says former Taormina Film Festival general manager Tiziana Rocca, who last year launched this innovative fest in the capital city of Cagliari and nearby Forte Village resort as an offshoot of her annual Filming in Italy/Los Angeles event that promotes Italian cinema, locations and talent.

Alternating movies and series, the 2019 edition will open with the Italian launch of Brian De Palma’s high-voltage thriller “Domino,” starring “Game of Thrones” alums Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice Van Houten — both expected to...

While sellers reported a robust market this year, buyers struggled to get hold of the gems they were after.

Even the rain could not dampen the spirits of Us sellers on the Croisette, who by and large reported a robust Cannes market. Us buyers enjoyed mixed fortunes, citing inconsistent quality among the packages as they strained to grasp gems in a festival that delivered much to admire.

The high asking price of feature films and packages in a notoriously tough Us distribution landscape cropped up most frequently in conversation with the smaller independents. Meanwhile, the assured tone of sellers reflected solid trade,...

For decades Marco Bellocchio has been making films dealing with important moments of Italian history, most successfully with Good Morning, Night, his look at the Aldo Moro kidnapping by the Red Brigade, and Vincere, about Mussolini. He’s back in Cannes with a film in competition, this time looking at the maxi Mafia trials of the 1990s, which led to a slew of convictions, in part thanks to the traitor of the title, ex-Cosa Nostra ‘soldier’ turned state witness Tommaso Buscetta.

Buscetta is played by the extremely watchable Pierfrancesco Favino, whose portrayal of this don is both highly credible and somewhat disturbing. The latter is not due to Favino’s performance, which is one of his best, but to the director’s choice to depict Buscetta as a man of honour. Instances of Buscetta’s past are glimpsed throughout the film, but there is little evidence of what this man...

The Notebook is covering Cannes with an on-going correspondence between critic Leonardo Goi and editor Daniel Kasman.The HaltDear Leo,My last dispatch was focused on excess, confessions, and the vulgar. My final letter from Cannes will be devoted to political filmmaking. For Filipino director Lav Diaz there is no such thing as “political filmmaking,” for filmmaking is an inherently political act. This has always been true of his movies but has reached a greatly more heightened and indeed possibly perilous degree as his country has fallen under the blood-stained and repressive leadership of Rodrigo Duterte. Diaz’s last few movies have addressed this painful and dangerous new era indirectly: A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery is set in the time of the Philippine revolution in order to explore where the hopes for the country after colonialism could have gone, and his last, the musical Season of the Devil, is...

The Match Factory has closed-out deals on Marco Bellocchio’s ‘The Traitor’ for most of the world following the Mafia drama’s Cannes competition premiere which has propelled the pic to the number two spot on Italy’s box office chart.

Besides Sony Pictures Classic’s previously announced acquisition of “The Traitor” for North and Latin America, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand, Match Factory has secured distribution to more than 20 territories of the well-received biopic of Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence.

Meanwhile, after going on Italian release May 23, day-and-date with its Cannes world premiere, “The Traitor” on Monday came in second on Italy’s box office chart, after Disney’s “Aladdin,” pulling a strong $1.6 million in its first four-day frame via 01 Distribuzione on roughly 350 screens.

The film is now well-positioned to become Italy’s candidate for the foreign-language Oscar.

Classics like “The Godfather” and “GoodFellas” have written the Mafia into cinematic legend. So iconic are these images of mobsters that their reference point—a tradition of violence with real-world consequences—tends to be forgotten. This is something that veteran Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio seeks to redress with “The Traitor,” competing for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Continue reading ‘The Traitor’: Marco Bellocchio’s Mob Film Is Handsome, But Muted [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

The old dictum “context is key” never felt truer than it did when Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor” made its world premiere on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival.

As the first screening came to close, members of the Italian press greeted the film with effusive cheers, and that response left many of their international counterparts somewhat confused — or maybe just jealous — about what hint of genius they saw in this sturdy if somewhat uninspiring Mafia biopic.

Well, one caveat there: As Tommaso Buscetta, the real-life turncoat who helped put 366 different Mafiosi in jail, actor Pierfrancesco Favino really does bring the goods, delivering an exquisite movie-star turn as a godfather whose cocksure magnetism can’t quite hide the pain in his eyes.

Also Read: 'Oh Mercy' Film Review: Is This Cop Drama a Pilot In Disguise?

In an unusually strong year for male leads, Favino could easily take the festival...

What surprises most about Marco Bellocchio’s Mafia drama “The Traitor” is just how straightforward it is. Given its subject — Tommaso Buscetta, the highest-ranking Mafia don to sing to the authorities — there were expectations that the director would deliver a theatrical drama along the lines of “Vincere,” but notwithstanding a few operatic flourishes, his latest seems to realize the built-in theatrical elements are already so histrionic that it’s best to play them as direct as possible. Consequently, “The Traitor” feels a bit too anonymous. It’s clearly made by a master filmmaker questioning the nature of repentance, and as such is far from superficial; and yet while it never loses our attention, it also doesn’t deliver much of a punch.

Non-Italian audiences may feel a bit overwhelmed at first by the avalanche of names, helpfully spelled out on screen, but the characters who matter come to the fore...

A review of the two-part Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season Six finale, “Sicko” and “The Suicide Squad,” coming up just as soon as I send you an eye-rolling gif from The Durrells in Corfu…

Nine-Nine has a tradition of ending its seasons with cliffhangers that upend the series’ status quo. Season One ended with Jake going undercover in the Mafia, Season Two with Captain Holt transferred to One Police Plaza, Season Three with Jake and Holt in witness protection down in Florida and Season Four with Jake and Rosa going to prison...

A comic book about a chameleon-like master thief done as a live-action movie, a reinvention of the Spaghetti Western and a manhunt thriller with a Hollywood A-list cast are among buzz titles by Italian directors in various stages expected to soon be hitting the international festival circuit and, more important, entering the global movie market. Besides a shift toward genre moviemaking, they reflect a more international mindset while remaining firmly rooted in the Italian cinema canon.

“Born To Be Murdered”

Luca Guadagnino is producing this English-language manhunt thriller directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (“Antonia”), toplining John David Washington and Alicia Vikander as a couple vacationing in Greece who become enmeshed in a tragically violent conspiracy. Pic also boasts “Call Me by Your Name” lenser Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and editor Walter Fasano, as well as Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In production.

“Bad Days”

Twins Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who made a...

TV vets Theo Rossi and Clive Standen are virtually unrecognizable in Vault, as they play small-time crooks looking to score $30 million of the local Mafia’s money.

Set in the 1970s and inspired by true events, the feature co-stars Don Johnson as the mastermind who hatches the scheme behind [...]

The post Theo Rossi And Clive Standen Steal From The Mafia In ‘Vault’ Trailer appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Hands up … Thierry Frémaux makes a point at today’s Cannes Film Festival press conference in Paris Photo: Richard Mowe

With a selection committee that reached 50-50 gender parity for the first time this year, the Cannes Film Festival’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux was today able to trumpet that 13 female film-makers had been included in the official selection, most of which was unveiled today (18 April) at a press conference at the Ugc cinema on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

Many of the Festival’s big hitters from previous years have returned to the fold with new films by Pedro Almodóvar (Pain And Glory), The Traitor, a Mafia thriller from Marco Bellocchio, Parisite from Bong Joon-ho and Ken Loach (two time Palme d’Or winner) with Sorry We Missed You. Quebec’s enfant terrible Xavier Dolan also returns with Matthias And Maxime in which he also stars; Belgium’s Dardenne...

Films from a number of big-name returning auteurs – including Xavier Dolan, Pedro Almodovar, Terrence Malick, Bong Joon-ho and Ken Loach – appear to have a lock on competing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making for a stronger and starrier lineup than last year’s slate, sources tell Variety.

Dolan’s “Matthias & Maxime” (in which he stars), Almodovar’s self-reflective “Pain & Glory” and two-time Palme d’Or winner Loach’s “Sorry We Missed You” are set to join Jim Jarmusch’s previously announced opening film, “The Dead Don’t Die,” in competition, sources say. Other high-profile Cannes alumni who appear poised to return in competition include Malick, with his World War II drama “A Hidden Life” (previously titled “Radegund”); Bong, with “Parasite”; Marco Bellocchio, with his Mafia thriller “Traitor”; Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, with “Ahmed,” a look at religious fundamentalism in Europe; and Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho,...

The angry canine is bearing its teeth, barking loudly and ready to bite. Marcello (Marcello Fonte), however, isn’t the least bit phased. A dog groomer who plies his trade in a small beachside town in Southern Italy, he has the ability to calm the angriest of hounds; despite the quaint little storefront business he runs, he’s earned the nickname “Dogman.” Marcello’s loves his daughter (Alida Baldari Calabria), the scuba-diving trips they take off the coast and his weekly evening soccer games. For a little extra cash, he...

For those who were hoping for a miracle bargaining session between the WGA and Ata this afternoon that would break the stalemate between the two sides over the new Agency Code of Conduct before the midnight deadline, there was no miracle, and there was not much of a bargaining session either.

I hear that, right off the bat, the leaders of the WGA negotiating committee told the agency representatives that they were rejecting Ata’s latest proposal, introduced yesterday, which included the agencies sharing a percentage of their packaging fees with the writers. The WGA did not offer a counter proposal.

The sit-down was well attended on both sides by the top negotiators as well WGA and Ata’s legal teams. I hear that included WGA West President David A.

Marlon Brando would’ve celebrated his 95th birthday on April 3, 2019. The Oscar-winning thespian both delighted and perplexed his fans with his Method-inspired performances and disdain for his profession, marked by increasingly bizarre behavior on and off set. Yet several of his movies remain classics despite his many career ups-and-downs. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1924, Brando studied the Stanislavski system under acting coach Stella Adler, who encouraged her students to explore inner and external turmoil within their characters. He shot to stardom on both the stage and screen with his performance in Tennessee Williams‘ “A Streetcar Named Desire,” in which he brought a startling naturalism and reality mixed with vulnerability, machismo, and humor to the character of Stanley Kowalski. The 1951 film version brought him his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor.

SEEOscar Best Actor...

Joe Pesci will celebrate his 76th birthday on February 9, 2019. The actor started his career at a very young age, appearing on the New York Stage before he even turned five. By the time he was 10 years old, he was a regular on a television show called “Startime Kids.”

In his teen years Pesci lost interest in acting and instead started trying to launch a career as a musician. Despite releasing a record of his own his musical career didn’t really take off but he did play an instrumental part in the creation of the highly successful musical act Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Pesci was friends with Valli and other members of the group and he introduced them to the person that would launch their success.

SEEMartin Scorsese movies: All 24 films ranked worst to best

Pesci then teamed with another actor and tried the stand-up comedy circuit. The...

Compelling if messily constructed, Kim Longinotto’s Shooting the Mafia tells the story of 83-year-old photographer Letizia Batteglia who took on the Sicilian mafia in graphic detail thanks to brave editors at her left-wing leaning newspaper L’Ora. Spending much of her professional life focused on the sheer brutality, including nightly public murders in Palermo, Sicily–an otherwise beautiful city–she no longer decides she can stand by as a neutral documentarian and later enters politics.

Confronting the costs of the mafia’s operations from the 1970s to the present day, she perseveres with a long memory as the world eventually comes crashing down on the mafia and its internal war becomes external. On screen, she heartbreakingly details her graphic works and a crisis of faith after the mafia enjoys a brief win following the assassination of Giovanni Falcone, a judge whom Batteglia was fond of. He was the one...

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released a damning preliminary report Wednesday on her office’s findings that the Catholic dioceses in the state had withheld the names of over 500 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The investigation is ongoing, though the report says “the Office has reviewed enough information to conclude that the Illinois Dioceses will not resolve the clergy sexual abuse crisis on their own.”

The report found that Illinois dioceses received reports of abuse by approximately 690 clergy, but only reported 185 as having been “credibly” accused, meaning that approximately...

Mirzapur, created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna and directed by Gurmmeet Singh, is a 9-episode series that continues Amazon’s expansion into offering more international content on its Prime platform. The series follows two brothers who cross paths with the erratic son of a Mafia don, in a story that is full of gang violence in a lawless town in the Indian hinterlands. The twisty series stars Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Divyendu Sharma, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, and Rasika Dugal. Mirzapur will be available to stream November 16th; check out the trailer below, along …...

You have to try the Almost Got ‘Im Batman card game!

The packed with action Batman franchise has been delivering proper entertainment for decades. It is

full of mysteries, riddles and puzzles to be solved. The elements of card games are also very

common, mainly due to the mischievous actions of Joker and his crew. The Almost Got ‘Im card game from Cryptozoic Entertainment is another great proposition for Dark Knight’s fans that combines some of the best things about our favorite hero.

For the time being, it is hard to find a typical, commercially offered online game with Batman-related

motives among various regular and mobile poker sites. Although, we did find this peculiarproposition from Indonesia. Instead, for all the Bruce Wayne’s, I mean Batman’s, supporters, as well

as everyone who enjoys a nice board game once in a while, there just might be something pretty cool

worth checking out.

“Come on, come on, I’d love it — don’t hang back!” dares Gloria Swenson, brandishing a gun at three mobsters that know she means business. Gena Rowlands is electric as a tough New York ex- gangland moll who finds that her maternal instincts make her deadlier than the male. John Cassavetes’ commercial crowd-pleaser is also a smart, sassy gangland mini-classic.

Gloria

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1980 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date August 21, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Gena Rowlands, Buck Henry, John Adames, Julie Carmen, Lupe Garnica, Jessica Castillo, Basilio Franchina, Val Avery, Tom Noonan.

Cinematography: Fred Schuler

Film Editor: George C. Villaseñor

Original Music: Bill Conti

Produced by Sam Shaw

Written and Directed by John Cassavetes

Do you have a list of movies that you’ll watch again, just to enjoy a particular actor’s performance? Gena Rowlands is one of those people that pull you in.

HBO is sharing all kinds of news today from the TCAs.

Now we're hearing from The Deuce and getting our first word that, yes, James Franco is still a part of the series after being accused of less than savory behavior shortly after he won his Globe Award for his performance in The Disaster Artist.

Chronicling the rise of pornography and the multibillion-dollar industry’s transformation of American culture, the critically acclaimed drama series The Deuce, created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, returns for its nine-episode second season Sunday, Sept. 9 (10/9c), exclusively on HBO.

Resuming five years after the culmination of the first season, The Deuce returns to the world of 1977, capturing the Times Square area of midtown New York at its most garish and volatile.

The series is also available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

Related: Get HBO via Prime Video Channels for Addictive Dramas,...

Taraji P. Henson’s star is in the ascendant – ‘P’ for Penda, for the curious among you. An increasingly familiar face in hit TV shows like Boston Legal, Person of Interest and Eli Stone, Henson has quietly been chiseling away at a Hollywood career for over a decade. It has been an unshowy rise: comfortable in ensemble pieces, she often selflessly lets other more gregarious actors take the limelight away from her.

Not that she hasn’t gone unnoticed by those in the critical know. She’s a multi-award-winner and as executive producer and star of Proud Mary, she is finally an above-the-title name. The action thriller from director Babk Najafi has Henson leading a cast which includes Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Danny Glover, Billy Brown , Xander Berkeley, and Margaret Avery. Henson brings her trademark charisma and presence to the screen as a hardworking hitwoman whose life derails when a...

There's going to be a certain level of authenticity brought to the new Halloween movie this year. Not only because it looks very much like a true-to-form entry in the franchise, based on the newly released teaser trailer, but because the new actor portraying Michael Myers actually learned how to kill from a Mafia hitman. As bizarre as that may sound, it's true.

James Jude Courtney will be portraying Michael Myers in much of the new Halloween. Nick Castle, the original actor who portrayed the masked killer and was credited as The Shape in 1978, is also returning, but in a somewhat limited capacity. Courtney will handle the bulk of the killing duties and in a newly released interview that was conducted during a set visit, he reveals how he became strangely good at it. Here's what he had to say.

"I learned how to kill from a Mafia hitman who...

Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio and FremantleMedia Italy are in advanced development on a limited TV series about the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists.

The veteran helmer, who previously recounted Moro’s still-mysterious abduction in the 2005 film “Goodmorning, Night” from the viewpoint of one of his captors, will take a different narrative approach in the series. The show is titled “Esterno, Notte” in Italian, which translates as “Exterior, Night.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Moro kidnapping, which ended tragically with the Christian Democrat politician’s bullet-riddled body found in the trunk of a parked car in downtown Rome. Italy reeled from the killing.

The six one-hour episodes will reconstruct the 55 days of Moro’s imprisonment “with each episode narrating the 1978 tragedy from a different point of view,” said FremantleMedia Italy chief Lorenzo Mieli. He added that, unlike the movie,...

Beta Film announces project at annual pre-miptv dinner in Cannes.

German drama powerhouse Beta Film and Austria’s Red Bull Media House are joining forces on a high-end scripted mega series inspired by football and provisionally entitled The Net.

The project spans 40 hours of drama, divided into five stand-alone, eight-episode series revolving around characters linked in some way to the world of football, whether it be as a fan, player, coach or footballer’s wife.

German opera and theatre director Matthias Hartmann – who is known for his out-of-the-box productions of Fidelio and La Bohème – came up with the concept with...

Beta Film announces project at annual pre-miptv dinner in Cannes.

German drama powerhouse Beta Film and Austria’s Red Bull Media House are joining forces on a high-end scripted mega series inspired by football and provisionally entitled The Net.

The project spans 40 hours of drama, divided into five stand-alone, eight-episode series revolving around characters linked in some way to the world of football, whether it be as a fan, player, coach or footballer’s wife.

German opera and theatre director Matthias Hartmann – who is known for his out-of-the-box productions of Fidelio and La Bohème – came up with the concept with...

Rome – Canneseries competition entry “The Hunter” is being hailed as a watershed production for Italian pubcaster Rai and certainly stands out as the most innovative show among a Rai content package just picked up by Amazon Prime Video.

About a real Palermo prosecutor with a killer instinct for tracking down top Mafiosi, ”The Hunter” is produced by Rome-based Cross Productions — which is controlled by Germany’s Beta Film — in tandem with Rai Fiction. The 12-episode “Hunter” skein reconstructs the vigorous reaction prompted in 1993 by the 1992 bomb murders of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. An anti-Mafia effort of unprecedented scope was unleashed that led to hundreds of arrests and marked a turning point in Italy’s fight against Cosa Nostra.

This pivotal hunt is narrated through multiple prisms but mainly through that of young and ambitious provincial prosecutor Saverio Barone, played by Francesco Montanari (“Crime Novel”). His character is...