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Since 1975 nearly a thousand hosts have graced the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center for “Saturday Night Live.”

Actors, comedians, musicians and even politicians have taken the stage to make America laugh on Saturday night for 50 seasons. Twenty five of these hosts have been inducted into the “Five Timers Club.” The club was first introduced during Tom Hanks’ 1990 monologue, featuring Steve Martin, Elliott Gould and Paul Simon.

During Martin Short’s December 2024 appearance, several Five Timers Club members popped up on the show to welcome him into the club, including Emma Stone, Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig and more, to give him the ceremonial robe.

Alec Baldwin has hosted the show 17 times, the most in the series’ history, with Martin, Hanks, Buck Henry and John Goodman following close behind.

As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we have rounded up every person who has hosted the sketch show.

Nicholas Pryor, the busy character actor who portrayed Tom Cruise’s father in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210 during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 89.

Pryor died Monday of cancer at his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, his wife, actress Christine Belford, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a note to be delivered to THR after his death, he wrote: “Nicholas Pryor was enormously grateful to have been, for nearly 70 years, a working actor.”

From 1997-2002, Pryor played the former spy Victor Collins on the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles, culminating a long career in daytime soap operas that included stints on The Secret Storm, The Edge of Night, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All My Children and Another World.

Pryor recurred on Fox’s Beverly Hills, 90210 as A. Milton Arnold, the chancellor of California University and father of Robertson’s Claire Arnold,...

To mark the beginning of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season (or prematurely honor Three Amigos’ 38th anniversary), David Letterman’s YouTube account just posted an old interview with Lorne Michaels. The long-time SNL producer stopped by Late Night on February 14, 1983. Shout out to all the sad sacks who spent Valentine’s Day ‘83 watching Lorne Michaels tell stories on TV.

Following an awkward chat about the weather, an awkward conversation about Michaels’ reputation as a television “pioneer” and a discussion of the time he collaborated with Woody Allen, Michaels finally talked about Saturday Night Live.

Weirdly, this interview came during the five-year period when Michaels wasn’t working at SNL. Still, he was happy to answer questions about the show, including Letterman’s query about any sketches that were censored by NBC.

Michaels then went on to somewhat hesitantly recount how the writers responded to a news story concerning the debate over capital punishment,...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Drink (Responsibly) Every Time They Say “Cat”

Like midnight movie canonization, the Cat Distribution System works in mysterious ways. The term, as made popular on TikTok, refers to an informal branch of feline government by which every cat-human connection is ostensibly forged. Whether you met Mittens at your local animal shelter — or found Paul Gia-Meowti in an empty boarding school over Christmas break — the central tenets of the C.D.S. suggest that any time a cat and owner find one another that connection was somehow fated.

Watching a grindhouse...

New month, new recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. The second installment of 2024 features selections reflecting holidays, events or traditions of February.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s horror offerings include reincarnation, vampires and more.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

Pictured: Michael Sarrazin and Jennifer O’Neill in The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

Directed by J. Lee Thompson.

Author Max Ehrlich handled the screenplay for his own novel’s adaptation. Despite its quirky title, though, this movie is a rather surreal and sad, not to mention unpredictable viewing experience. The obsession with metaphysical matters seeped into ’70s cinema, and this trippy psycho-horror gem, one directed by J. Lee Thompson, is a valid reflection of that bygone trend.

The namesake of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is having what...

Chuck Bail, a stuntman turned director, goes with what he knows in this 1976 comedy about an illegal cross-country road race. Michael Sarrazin is a wealthy candy maker who instigates the party (code name “Gumball”) and his car-happy co-stars include Raul Julia and Gary Busey. Dominic Frontiere, composer for The Outer Limits, did the freewheeling score.

The post The Gumball Rally appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Pairing‌ ‌wine‌ ‌with‌ ‌movies!‌ ‌See‌ ‌the‌ ‌trailers‌ ‌and‌ ‌hear‌ ‌the‌ ‌fascinating‌ ‌commentary‌ ‌for‌ ‌these‌ ‌movies‌ ‌and‌ ‌many‌ ‌more‌ ‌at‌ ‌Trailers‌ ‌From‌ ‌Hell.‌ This week, our three movies concern L.A.’s favorite obsession – after movies, of course – cars. There is a wine pairing for each. Let’s get revved up.

Gumball Rally is a 1976 laffer about a coast-to-coast auto race with no rules – rather like Can-Am racing with less horsepower. A rich candy manufacturer, overcome with ennui, gets his car enthusiast pals together for the rally – which he hopes will liven up his humdrum life.

It’s a car-chase movie, so you know there is a hitch. In this case, the hitch is a bumbling L.A. cop who has made a career out of trying to apprehend the racers. You can bet your greasy camshaft that he will try and shut down the race at any cost. Never mind...

By Tim McGlynn

Every so often I come across a movie from years ago that I simply overlooked or didn’t have the opportunity to see. After viewing the Kino-Lorber Blu-ray release of Caravans, I have to say I’m rather sorry I missed this one.

Caravans, directed by James Fargo, had a brief release from Universal in 1978, after which it disappeared with only an ABC-TV airing and sporadic appearances on cable to mark its existence. The trailer promises that Caravans is the greatest desert adventure since Lawrence of Arabia, which clearly it is not. However, there is much to enjoy with this new video release.

The year is 1948 and American diplomat Mark Miller (Michael Sarrazin) is sent to the fictional Middle Eastern country of Zakharstan to search for Ellen Jasper(Jennifer O’ Neill), the daughter of a U.S. senator. Ellen has left her husband, Colonel Nazrullah (Behrouz...

We have a relatively quiet week of home media releases ahead of us this week, but the titles that are coming out are a rad bunch of films nonetheless. Scream Factory is doing the Dark Lord’s work with both the Collector’s Edition of April Fool’s Day and the HD release of Frankenstein: The True Story. If you missed it in theaters back in January, Nicolas Pesce’s The Grudge (2020) is headed to various platforms this Tuesday, and Arrow Video has put together a stellar Special Edition release of Philip Ridley’s The Passion of Darkly Noon as well.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 24th include Endless Night, Cabal, Hunter’s Moon, The Zombinator, and The Wizard: Collector’s Edition.

April Fool’s Day: Collector’s Edition

Good friends...with some time to kill. When Muffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parents' secluded...

Scream Factory Presents Frankenstein: The True Story Starring James Mason, Leonard Whiting, David McCallum, Jane Seymour, Nicola Pagett, and Michael Sarrazin Highly Anticipated Cult Classic Unleashes On Blu-ray™ March 24, 2020 From Scream Factory™ Get ready to experience the horror and suspense of the timeless Frankenstein story. On March 24, 2020, Scream Factory™ will unleash …

The post Scream Factory Home Ent. | Frankenstein: The True Story hits Blu-ray on March 24 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Based on Mary Shelley’s timeless novel Frankenstein, Jack Smight's Frankenstein: The True Story is coming to Blu-ray on March 24th from Scream Factory, and ahead of its release, we've been provided with the full list of bonus features and a look at the cover art:

Press Release: Get ready to experience the horror and suspense of the timeless Frankenstein story. On March 24, 2020, Scream Factory™ will unleash the epic horror classic Frankenstein: The True Story on Blu-ray. Directed by Jack Smight and teleplay by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, this gruesome, heart-pounding thriller features an incredible cast, including James Mason, Leonard Whiting (Romeo & Juliet), David McCallum, Jane Seymour, Nicola Pagett (An Awfully Big Adventure), Michael Sarrazin, and Agnes Moorehead. Frankenstein: The True Story retells Mary Shelley’s unforgettable story. Victor Frankenstein’s medical experiments result in the shocking discovery that he can revive the dead. But when the...

Quentin Tarantino has given us some details about Rick Dalton's fate following the events of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino's latest proved to be one of the biggest original hits of 2019 and has been a favorite this awards season. It's contending for quite a few Oscars, including Best Picture, this weekend. Ahead of the Academy Awards, the director decided to provide some interesting insight for fans of the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton ends the movie by killing several intruders, who were members of the Manson Family, alongside his best friend and stuntman Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. Dalton does this, rather memorably, with a flamethrower that he used in one of his most famous movies, The 14 Fists of McCluskey. Ruminating on what happened after the violent incident in a recent interview, Quentin Tarantino had this to say.

"The whole incident with the flamethrower and...

” I may not know a winner when I see one, but I sure as hell can spot a loser. “

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? will be screening at the St. Louis Public Library (1301 Olive Street St. Louis) on November 17th at 1:30pm as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. They Shoot Horses Don’t They? is part of Cinema St. Louis’ Golden Anniversary of films made in 1969. This is a Free event. With an intro and post-film discussion by We Are Movie Geeks’ own Tom Stockman. A Facebook invite can b found Here

In Depression-era America, desperation spawned a bizarre fad: the dance marathon. Couples competed to stay on their feet for thousands of hours, and audiences flocked to watch. But Gloria doesn’t think of herself as a spectacle. She is a fierce, unforgiving contestant in a battle she’s determined to win.

“We can have a real ’60s summer here, setting up for it,” said Quentin Tarantino as he settled in for a nearly three-hour conversation about his July programming at his New Beverly Cinema, a survey of the 1960s films that inspired his forthcoming “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The movie is Tarantino’s love letter to the filmmaking era that made him fall in love with cinema as a kid. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to considerable acclaim. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” opens in theaters on July 26.

“I did that ’60s kinda thing, but now I wanted to get more into the interior of the Hollywood that this movie is discussing,” Tarantino told Pure Cinema Podcast hosts Elric Kane and Brian Saur. Setting up “Hollywood,” he explains that DiCaprio plays an actor named Rick Dalton,...

Starring Morgan Fairchild as a news anchor targeted by a deranged stalker, The Seduction is coming to Blu-ray on May 21st from Scream Factory, and ahead of its anticipated release, we've been provided with a clip, TV spot, and trailer to give Daily Dead readers a better idea of what to expect from the new Blu-ray.

The Seduction Blu-ray: "Morgan Fairchild and Andrew Stevens burn up the screen in this steamy stalker thriller!

L.A. anchorwoman Jamie Douglas (the stunning Morgan Fairchild in her big screen debut) has it all: a glamorous career on a top-rated news show, a luxurious house in the hills, and a devoted young admirer named Derek (Andrew Stevens). But when Jamie rebuffs his romantic advances, Derek becomes an obsessed stalker who plays out an increasingly psychotic courtship with the frightened newswoman. Soon he is threatening every part of her life, secretly watching even her most intimate moments.

Starring Morgan Fairchild as a news anchor targeted by a deranged stalker, The Seduction is coming to Blu-ray on May 21st from Scream Factory, and we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new interview with Fairchild.

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – On May 21, The Seduction, the steamy stalker thriller starring Morgan Fairchild and Andrew Stevens comes to Blu-ray™ from Scream Factory. Bonus features include brand new interviews with Morgan Fairchild, Andrew Stevens, and producer Bruce Cohn Curtis, and more. The Seduction is available for pre-order from Scream Factory and Amazon.com.

L.A. anchorwoman Jamie Douglas (the stunning Morgan Fairchild in her big screen debut) has it all: a glamorous career on a top-rated news show, a luxurious house in the hills, and a devoted young admirer named Derek (Andrew Stevens). But when Jamie rebuffs his romantic advances, Derek becomes an obsessed stalker who plays out...

In addition to When a Stranger Calls Back, Scream Factory has several other horror titles in store for viewers this May, including their newly announced Blu-rays for 1982's The Seduction, 1977's The Chosen, and 1959's The Alligator People:

The Seduction Blu-ray: "Morgan Fairchild (The Initiation of Sarah) is a news reporter terrorized by an obsessed admirer in 1982’s steamy and deadly thriller The Seduction. Coming soon to Blu-ray for the first time on May 21st!

L.A. anchorwoman Jamie Douglas (Fairchild) has it all: a glamorous career on a top-rated news show, a luxurious house in the hills, and a devoted young fan named Derek (Stevens). But when Jamie rebuffs his romantic advances, Derek becomes a stalker who plays out an increasingly psychotic courtship with the frightened newswoman. Soon he is threatening every part of her life, secretly watching even her most intimate moments. Her tough-talking lover (Michael Sarrazin) can't console her.

To bop, shimmy, tango, shake, wriggle; movement is the intrinsic lifeblood of the cinema, and from its earliest days it was physical motion that best exhibited the novel technology of the movies. Dance was one of the foremost of those visual pleasures, generally seen as escapist entertainment. This was even more the case as films blossomed into sound and the musical became de rigeur. Initially, dance was stage-bound and limited by heavy equipment required to record its subjects, but it didn’t take very long for song and dance numbers to reach a greater potential, especially under the auspices of talents like choreographer Busby Berkeley, with his dazzling geometric formations of chorines. In the forties, there came the wholesome vitality of MGM’s Freed Unit musicals. With their chirpy songs and rosy-cheeked pictures of good health, it’s difficult to detect any darkness in their depths. Yet dance, like any art form,...

Here’s a confession: I’m not really a cat guy. I have nothing against the critters, and I do get why a lot of people love them; loyalty, beauty, etc. I’m just a dog person. I’m assuming the lead character of Eye of the Cat (1969) is too, because he has one lulu of a cat phobia in this sly and amusing thriller.

Ailurophobia is the exact term for an extreme fear of cats, and I won’t use the word again because it’s a bitch to spell and I ain’t no fancy lad neither. Eye of the Cat was released in June by Universal with the tagline “Terror that tears the screams right out of your throat!” This would not be true unless you also suffer from a debilitating fear of felines; but what you do get is a solid little mystery with a lot of twists,...

Need a laugh? Paul Newman shoots people, hangs others and runs a judiciary speed trap for unwary outlaw vagrants. John Huston’s picture is a slack, passably amusing interpretation of writer John Milius’s career- boosting screenplay. A slow-going exercise in ‘printing the legend, only funnier,’ it’s recommended just to take in Stacy Keach’s memorable albino menace, ‘Bad Bob.’

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Ned Beatty, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Zerbe, Dick Farnsworth, Terry Leonard, Matt Clark, Bill McKinney, Steve Kanaly, Bruno The Bear, Michael Sarrazin.

Cinematography: Richard Moore

Film Editor: Hugh S. Fowler

Original Music: Maurice Jarre

Written by John Milius

Produced by John Foreman

Directed by John Huston

When John Huston movies are good,...

May’s home entertainment offerings are ending on a high note, led by the release of Alex Garland’s Annihilation on various formats this Tuesday. There are a handful of cult films getting an HD overhaul this week, including Zombie 3, Zombie 4: After Death, and Shocking Death from Severin Films, as well as Bloodsuckers from Outer Space (courtesy of those wonderful maniacs over at Vinegar Syndrome), and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud from Kino Lorber Classics.

Other notable releases for May 29th include Haunted: The Complete Series, They Remain,and The Lodgers.

Annihilation

Biologist and former soldier Lena (Natalie Portman) is shocked when her missing husband (Oscar Isaac) comes home near death from a top-secret mission into The Shimmer, a mysterious quarantine zone no one has ever returned from. Now, Lena and her elite team must enter a beautiful, deadly world of mutated landscapes and creatures, to discover how...

Yes, we’ve all lived before; when I come back I don’t care who I am as long as I’m in the 1%. When Michael Sarrazin reaches into a previous life his big sacrifice is to abandon the gorgeous Cornelia Sharpe for the gorgeous Jennifer O’Neill, arousing the suspicions of his wife in his previous life, gorgeous Margot Kidder. The show looks great, Jerry Goldsmith’s music is beautiful, but it runs up against real trouble in the script and directing departments.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 29, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Michael Sarrazin, Jennifer O’Neill, Margot Kidder, Cornelia Sharpe, Paul Hecht, Tony Stephano, Norman Burton, Anne Ives, Debralee Scott.

Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper

Film Editor: Michael Anderson

Art Direction: Jack Martin Smith

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Max Erlich, from his novel

Produced by...

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“Yowza, Yowza, Yowza!”

By Raymond Benson

This was the film that convinced audiences and critics alike that Jane Fonda could act. After appearing throughout the Sixties in glamour-girl and comic roles (Cat Ballou, Barbarella) that barely scratched the surface of what this talented actress could do, along came They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which featured a tough, cynical, mean-spirited, and take-no-prisoners Jane Fonda as Gloria, a down-on-her-luck contestant in a Depression-era marathon dance contest. The showy role resulted in her first Best Actress Oscar nomination.

The picture also awarded Sydney Pollack his first Directing nomination; in fact, the film received a total of nine Oscar nominations, including Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress (Susannah York), and Supporting Actor (Gig Young, who won); but it did not, curiously, land a Best Picture nod. It deserved it.

The dance marathon contests in the early 1930s were...

Frightening felines attack in Eye of the Cat, a 1969 horror film out now on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, and we've been provided with three copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers.

---------

Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Eye of the Cat.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject "Eye of the Cat Contest". Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on January 23rd. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States.

Welcome back for another week of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases, readers! January 16th features plenty of intriguing offerings, from cult classics to sequels of cult classics to even a few recent films as well. If you happened to miss Blade Runner 2049, Happy Death Day, or The Snowman in theaters, all three are making their way home this Tuesday. Severin Films has put together The Amicus Collection (which features Asylum, And Now The Screaming Starts and The Beast Must Die), and Scream Factory is giving Eye of the Cat the Blu-ray treatment as well.

Beyond Skyline is also coming to Blu on January 16th, and for all you Joe Dante fans out there, Shout Select has put together a Collector’s Edition release of Matinee that looks like it’s a must-have.

The Amicus Collection (Severin Films, Blu-ray)

Known as The Studio That Dripped Blood, the British film...

One of the best pictures to come out of Hollywood in the late 1960s, Sydney Pollack’s screen version of Horace McCoy’s hardboiled novel is a harrowing experience guaranteed to elicit extreme responses. Jane Fonda performs (!) at the top of an ensemble of stars suffering in a Depression-Era circle of Hell – it’s an Annihilating Drama with a high polish. And this CineSavant review ends with a fact-bomb that ought to start Barbara Steele fans off on a new vault search.

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 120 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Dern, Allyn Ann McLerie.

Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop

Production Designer: Harry Horner

Film Editor: Fredric Steinkamp

Written by James Poe, Robert E. Thompson from the novel They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?...

Cars! Cars! Cars! What climate accord, when we’re celebrating the internal combustion engine! One of the best of the breezy ’70s action comedies, this cross-country road race picture gave us early looks at Gary Busey and Raul Julia in the midst of an always-amusing ensemble of car crazies, out to go from Manhattan to the Pacific in less than two days, at speeds up 175 mph! No 55 speed limit, no catalytic converters!

The Gumball Rally

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1976 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Michael Sarrazin, Raul Julia, Norman Burton, Gary Busey, John Durren, Susan Flannery, Harvey Jason, Steven Keats,

Tim McIntire, Joanne Nail, J. Pat O’Malley, Tricia O’Neil, Nicholas Pryor, Vaughn Taylor, Wally Taylor, Colleen Camp, Lazaro Perez, Med Flory, Lauren Simon, .

Cinematography: Richard C. Glouner

Film Editors: Stuart H. Pappé Gordon Scott, Maury Wintrobe

Original Music: Dominic Frontiere

Written by Chuck Bail,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Universal Vault series has released the 1970 film "Sometimes a Great Notion" on DVD. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, the film starred- and was directed by- Paul Newman. His skills as both actor and filmmaker are amply displayed in this engrossing, off-beat drama that never found its intended audience during its theatrical release, despite a heavyweight cast. The film is basically a domestic drama, though set amid the staggering beauty of the Oregon wilderness. The Stamper family runs one of the biggest logging operations around. The family's crusty patriarch, Henry (Henry Fonda), attributes the family's success to the fact that they lead a hard scrabble lifestyle and do much of the grueling work themselves rather than simply farming it out to paid employees. Henry ensures that he keeps the keys to his kingdom close to his vest: the only positions of power are held by him and his two sons,...

When I was just a boy I had a paperback that included Dracula by Bram Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson in one volume. There were certain books I would reread every year, that was one. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury every summer, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every December and that three in one book every October. I read it so many times I knew how to parcel it out daily up until Halloween, starting the first page of Dracula on October 1st up to the last page of Jekyll And Hyde on October 30th. That reading was just to get in the mood for Halloween.

I relate this, (not to brag,) to state I know those texts very well as a result. Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are great books, no doubt,...

The performance of an actor playing a villainous role can sometimes be the most interesting part of the film. This is an in-depth look at some of those performances which were awarded with an Oscar.

To get a good character in film, you have to develop that character. The audience needs to see the world through their eyes in order to understand their perspective and motivations. This is especially true with villains, which are arguably more difficult to develop than a traditional protagonist. Often times villains are given the short end of the characterization stick in any given film, which makes sense. It’s not easy making an action that could hurt or harm other people seem logical, so many films don’t put much effort into it. The audience recognizes a villain when they see one, and they know he is bad because of his actions, no matter how questionable they may be.

Lenny Bruce: Dustin Hoffman in the 1974 Bob Fosse movie. Lenny Bruce movie review: Polemical stand-up comedian merited less timid biopic (Oscar Movie Series) Bob Fosse's 1974 biopic Lenny has two chief assets: the ever relevant free speech issues it raises and the riveting presence of Valerie Perrine. The film itself, however, is only sporadically thought-provoking or emotionally gripping; in fact, Lenny is a major artistic letdown, considering all the talent involved and the fertile material at hand. After all, much more should have come out of a joint effort between director Fosse, fresh off his Academy Award win for Cabaret; playwright-screenwriter Julian Barry, whose stage version of Lenny earned Cliff Gorman a Tony Award; two-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy); and cinematographer Bruce Surtees (Play Misty for Me, Blume in Love). Their larger-than-life subject? Lenny Bruce, the stand-up comedian who became one of the...

Kristen Stewart 'On the Road' dancing, with Garrett Hedlund on the right Down memory lane: Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart 'On the Road' images At the time best known as The Twilight Saga's conflicted human Bella Swan, Kristen Stewart was cast as the exuberant Marylou in Walter Salles' film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's iconic 1950s novel On the Road. Salles had been impressed with Stewart's pre-Twilight work in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. Based on LuAnne Henderson, Kerouac's close buddy Neal Cassady's first wife, Marylou is described as a "beautiful little sharp chick." Apparently, one who also likes to move seductively to the sound of music – as can be attested by the Kristen Stewart picture above, which first came out online in early 2011. Besides Stewart, On the Road also features Garrett Hedlund – at the time best known for Tron: Legacy – as Dean Moriarty,...

Like the best horror and opera, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is always stylish and always grim. In the pantheon of essential movies you only need to see once because their impact is so specific and traumatizing, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is my ultimate recommendation. It's a movie that promises cynicism from the get-go, accumulates snideness and rancor with each step of its harrowing Depression-era dance marathon, and -- without ever straying from its blatant nihilism -- offers up something beautiful: a story as carnivalesque as a Hitchcock thriller but as prescient as "Network." I refuse to tell you much more about it. I guarantee you will not regret watching it, and I promise you will wonder why its message, power, and performances aren't more vaunted. If you're not gasping at Susannah York's Oscar-nominated unraveling, you're shrieking at Gig Young's Oscar-winning lunacy. If Michael Sarrazin's plummy-eyed innocence isn't breaking your heart,...

After seeing ABC’s Of Death 2 at Fantastic Fest (you can read my review of the film Here), I was able to sit down with the director of one of my favorite shorts in the anthology – Larry Fessenden. His short “N is for Nexus” is a break-neck countdown through the streets of New York as Halloween night approaches. A couple preparing their Frankenstein costumes for a party sets in motion a series of events that intersect and slowly affect one another, leading to a devastating conclusion. Fessenden is practically a legend in the indie horror genre. He has worked as an actor, cinematographer, writer and director since the later 70’s and has created a named for himself with such feature films like Habit, Wendigo, and The Last Winter, while also appearing in films like I Sell The Dead, Stake Land, and Jug Face. I was lucky enough to sit down...

Jane Fonda movies on TCM: ‘The China Syndrome,’ ‘Klute,’ and Jean-Luc Godard drama ‘Tout Va Bien’ among highlights (photo: Jane Fonda in ‘Klute’) Turner Classic Movies’ 2014 "Summer Under the Stars" kicked off earlier today, August 1, with a day-long series of Jane Fonda movies. Still reviled by American right-wingers because of her 1972 trip to North Vietnam while the United States was at war with that country — she was photographed seated on an anti-aircraft battery — but admired by others for her liberal views, anti-war activism, and human rights advocacy, the two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner has enjoyed a highly eclectic film career, eventually becoming a rarity among rarities: Jane Fonda is the child of a film star (Henry Fonda) who not only became a film star in her own right, but who went on to become an even bigger screen legend than her famous parent. (See also: Jane Fonda “Summer Under...

Oldest person in movies? (Photo: Manoel de Oliveira) Following the recent passing of 1931 Dracula actress Carla Laemmle at age 104, there is one less movie centenarian still around. So, in mid-June 2014, who is the oldest person in movies? Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira will turn 106 next December 11; he’s surely the oldest person — at least the oldest well-known person — in movies today. De Oliveira’s film credits include the autobiographical docudrama Memories and Confessions / Visita ou Memórias e Confissões (1982), with de Oliveira as himself, and reportedly to be screened publicly only after his death; The Cannibals / Os Canibais (1988); The Convent / O Convento (1995); Porto of My Childhood / Porto da Minha Infância (2001); The Fifth Empire / O Quinto Império - Ontem Como Hoje (2004); and, currently in production, O Velho do Restelo ("The Old Man of Restelo"). Among the international stars who have been directed by de Oliveira are Catherine Deneuve, Pilar López de Ayala,...

My first real attempt at understanding the brilliance that was Stanley Kubrick came in my freshman year of college, when I wrote a research paper on 2001: A Space Odyssey for an English class. After all that work, I only received a B and found myself more confused than ever. But there it was – the spark that Stanley Kubrick’s work produces. Kubrick’s best films were experiences; it’s impossible to “half-watch” one of his many masterpieces. And that’s what the movies on this list do. They take you on an odyssey of visual wonder, psychological tremors, and expect you to do as much work as the people involved in the making of the films. Yet, in the end, Kubrick’s films didn’t feel like homework. They felt like vacations to a world where deep thought is a welcome respite.

20. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Directed by Terrence Malick

What makes it Kubrickian?...

With I, Frankenstein in theatres, The Creature is sure to be on a lot of people's minds; and if you're in the UK, you'll soon get a chance to check out Michael Sarrazin in the role when 1970's TV movie Frankenstein: The True Story finally arrives to your shores.

One of the most acclaimed versions of Mary Shelley’s classic tale, Frankenstein: The True Story, featuring a stellar all-star cast including James Mason and Leonard Whiting, makes its UK DVD debut on 10 March 2014 thanks to Second Sight Films.

Originally airing on NBC in 1973, this much lauded film also stars David McCallum ("The Man From U.N.C.L.E."), Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"), Tom Baker ("Doctor Who"), Ralph Richardson (Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes), John Gielgud (Ghandi), Peter Sallis (Last of the Summer Wine), and Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?; Feardotcom) as The Creature.

Synopsis:

In 19th century England,...

By Lee Pfeiffer 

"Casting By" is an extraordinary new documentary by filmmaker Tom Donahue who spent years accumulating interviews and archival materials for this look at the contributions of casting directors to the motion picture business. Most people are well aware of the important roles that composers, costume designers, editors and production designers play in the creation of movies-- but if you say "casting directors", the average person's eyes glaze over. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Donahue's film sets the record straight, pointing out that casting directors are often responsible for bringing to life some of the film industry's most memorable characters. So important is their contributions that Donohue found enthusiasm among esteemed filmmakers and actors to participate in his documentary even among those individuals who are not prone to generally giving interviews. In the film Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, John Travolta, David V. Picker, Robert Redford,...

J. Lee Thompson is an auteur – he’s an amazing director with a personal sense of style, usually low-key and humorous, and actors love working with him. With films like The Guns of Navarone (1961), Cape Fear (1962), Conquest of the Planet Of the Apes (1972) and Battle For the Planet Of The Apes (1973), J. Lee Thompson is a favorite amongst genre fans. My personal favorite is The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud (1975), starring Michael Sarrazin, Jennifer O’Neill and Margot Kidder. If you haven’t seen this film, you need to run to your nearest video/dvd rental store – David Fincher currently holds the remake rights, so it’s only a matter of time before we see a redux! In the early 80s, Thompson directed the popular horror cult classic Happy Birthday To Me (1981), starring Melissa Sue Anderson (of Little House On The Prairie fame) Glenn Ford (who needs no introduction), and Lesleh Donaldson...

Watch On the Road online at SundanceNow (photo: Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund) On the Road, Walter Salles’ film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical novel, is now available on SundanceNow. Initially screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it drew mixed reviews, and later reedited for the Toronto Film Festival and the North American market, On the Road stars Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, the upcoming Inside Llewyn Davis), Sam Riley (the upcoming Byzantium and Maleficent), and Kristen Stewart — who seemed to be everywhere in 2012: besides On the Road, Stewart was also seen in Rupert Sanders’ summer hit Snow White and the Huntsman, opposite Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, and, in her final appearance as Bella Swan, Bill Condon’s late fall hit The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, co-starring Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. (Scroll down to watch new On the Road featurette, with Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund.

Fonda, Stewart (seen above with Senator Al Franken), Garner, Washington have been added to the list of Oscar 2013 presenters The Oscar ceremony is only a few days away; even so, the Oscar 2013 roster keeps getting more stellar: two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Garner, and Kerry Washington belong to the latest group of Oscar presenters announced by producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron earlier today. (Pictured above: Kristen Stewart and Senator Al Franken having a ball at the Academy's Governors Awards held last December 1.) Jane Fonda Daughter of Henry Fonda (Best Actor Oscar nominee for John Ford's The Grapes Wrath and Oscar winner for Mark Rydell's On Golden Pond) and sister of Peter Fonda (Best Actor Oscar nominee for Victor Nuñez's Ulee's Gold), she has received no less than seven Academy Award nods in the last four decades. She won twice: for her performances in Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971), with Donald Sutherland,...

The French gave us the word “demimonde” – literally, half the world. But what it has come to mean in English, or so says Webster, is “a distinct circle or world that is often an isolated part of a larger world.”

Storytellers have always held a fascination with the dark side of human nature; that part of the psyche which is normally restrained and leashed, taught to be obedient, held in check – as Conrad wrote in Heart of Darkness – by the reproving looks of our neighbors. After all, what was Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but a probing of that other, id-driven half and the entrancing appeal of doing what one wants instead of what one should.

Film is no different than literature, and from its beginning the movies have produced a rich vein of stories about society’s fringe dwellers, those who operate by necessity,...

Over on his Filmgoers Guide blog, Cinema Retro contributor Howard Hughes reviews some Euro-cult rarities from the 1960s and 1970s, including Enzo G. Castellari's Napoleonic comedy The Loves and Times of Scaramouche (1976), with Michael Sarrazin and Ursula Andress

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/not-tonight-josephine/

The German 'Winnetou' westerns starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice, including The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962) and Among Vultures (1964)

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/requiem-apache/

And Marcello Baldi's little-seen Old Testment trilogy - Jacob, the Man Who Fought With God (1963), Saul and David (1964) and The Great Leaders (1965) - some of which was shot in Almeria, southern Spain.

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/who-was-solomon-king/...

One thing's for sure: The frosting on her birthday cake will be like buttah. As Barbra Streisand turns 70 on Tuesday, you'd think her reputation would be secure. She's conquered every medium, she's one of only a dozen or so members of the Egot club (people who've won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), and she's one of the most popular and best-selling singers of all time. Still, despite her two Oscars, her Hollywood career has never gotten its due. In part, that's because, in 44 years of screen acting, she's made just 18 movies. Young audiences who know her only as Ben Stiller's exuberant mother from the "Fockers" movies can't be blamed for not knowing that she was once a groundbreaking dramatic and comic star, a reliably funny and sexy leading lady, a pioneering jill-of-all-trades filmmaker, or a celebrated (and reviled) movie diva. She's made just six movies in the last 30 years,...

In October of 2010, Sound on Sight asked me to do my first commemorative piece on the passing of filmmaker Arthur Penn. I suspect I was asked because I was the only one writing for the site old enough to have seen Penn’s films in theaters. Whatever the reason, it was an unexpectedly rewarding if expectedly bittersweet experience which led to a series of equally rewarding but bittersweet experiences writing on the passing of other filmdom notables.

I say rewarding because it gave me a nostalgic-flavored chance to revisit certain work and the people behind it; a revisiting which often brought back the nearly-forgotten youthful excitement that went with an eye-opening, a discovery, the thrill of the new. Writing them has also been bittersweet because each of these pieces is a formal acknowledgment that something precious is gone. A talent may be perhaps preserved forever on celluloid, but the filmography...

"TCM Remembers 2011" is out. Remembered by Turner Classic Movies are many of those in the film world who left us this past year. As always, this latest "TCM Remembers" entry is a classy, immensely moving compilation. The haunting background song is "Before You Go," by Ok Sweetheart.

Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.

Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...

Model and actress Cynthia Myers, a 1968 Playboy Playmate, died Nov. 4. She was 61. Hugh Hefner announced her death on Twitter: “I’m saddened by the news of the passing of beloved Playmate Cynthia Myers, Miss December 1968.” No details about the cause of death have been released yet. Myers' movie roles were few. She reportedly had a bit part as a native girl in The Lost Continent (1968) and an undetermined one in Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), a psychological drama set during the Great Depression, and starring Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin. In 1970, Myers entered the annals of cult movie history when she was cast as one of the leads in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, written by Roger Ebert and co-starring fellow Playboy Playmate Dolly Read and fashion model Marcia McBroom. Hardly one of the most well-regarded movies ever made, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will again be offering its popular Scary Movies Film Series. And it’s not just any scary movies they’ll be showing. They’ve got classics, and they’ve got New York City premieres. They’ve even got Stuart Gordon’s live theater presentation of Nevermore starring Jeffrey Combs accompanying the screening of The Black Cat.

All right New Yorkers, check this out ... from October 27 to 31 Lincoln Center will present an ass-load of horror. Unfortunately, brevity is not one of their strong points so I’m going to sign off here and turn it over to the good folks of Lincoln Center to give you all the film titles and schedule. With NYC premieres of Ben Wheatley’s Kill List and Ti West’s The Innkeepers, along with a ton of other great titles, this is the film festival you don’t want to miss.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Twilight Time is the exciting new DVD label that has acquired rights to release limited edition DVDs of retro studio titles that would otherwise be ignored. So far the label has shown creativity and taste in the initial batch of films it has released. One of the most inspired choices is the 1967 Fox film The Flim-Flam Man that afforded George C. Scott one of his most memorable starring roles. Scott plays Mordecai Jones, a charismatic old timer who travels through the backwater towns of the American South conning greedy people out of their money through manipulated games of chance. An encounter with Curley (Michael Sarrazin), a young Army deserter, results in the two men forming a partnership with Mordecai acting as mentor for the up-and-coming younger con man. Director Irvin Kershner does a wonderful job of capturing the atmosphere of rural life. Although the movie was set in contemporary times,...