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Sometimes directors lament over the projects they never got to make, but David Cronenberg - best known for body horror classics The Fly, Videodrome, and Scanners - revealed a film producers desperately wanted him to make, but which he knowingly and proudly turned down, not because he didn't like the script but because he knew he just wasn't the right man for the job.

The film in question? Flashdance, the 1983 feel-good romantic dance drama about a young woman (Jennifer Beals) making ends meet as a welder and an exotic dancer who dreams of joining a prestigious ballet academy. It's an odd pairing to be sure, but as Cronenberg told Variety at the Marrakech Film Festival, the production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer pursued the director relentlessly. He said:

"You might be amazed [they] were totally convinced that I was the right one to direct. Really, I don’t know...

Flashdance not only left its mark on cinema, but also on 80s fashion, unintentionally creating a legendary look with Jennifer Beals' cutoff sweatshirt. The iconic film is now set to be adapted into a television series, led by Dear White People creator Justin Simien, bringing the story into the modern era. Simien's successful track record and storytelling ability make him a great choice to revive Flashdance, adding to Paramount+'s lineup of classic reboots.

Flashdance not only marked an era for cinema, but also for fashion, exposing the best of 80s clothing. However, it seems that one of its protagonist's most characteristic looks was, in fact, an accident. Released in 1983, the film directed by Adrian Lyne is considered a classic of the 80s. The story centers on a young aspiring dancer named Alex, who dreams of being a successful artist. However, her reality is very different. By day, she works in a metallurgical welder,...

When Sidney Poitier was honored as the first African American male to win a competitive acting Oscar in 1964 for his lead performance in “Lilies of the Field,” it had been 24 years since Hattie McDaniel became the Jackie Robinson of the Academy Awards with her breakthrough triumph in 1940 for “Gone With the Wind.” And it would be another 19 years before there was a third: Louis Gossett Jr.’s supporting actor victory in 1983 for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Wins for three performers of color in 43 years didn’t exactly represent a trend. But in the 39 years after that, there would be 19 more, including a pair of African American actors (Denzel Washington and Mahershala Ali) who won twice apiece. Poitier’s ’64 triumph proved as surprising as it was stirring, and undeniably political. Leading up to that historic event, his inscrutable countenance and the almost regal way he carried himself made Poitier a...

To the short list of ‘classic’ nuclear horror on Blu-ray we can now add the one that hits closest to home. Lynne Littman’s harrowing film stays small-scale and Big Emotion, enduring a slow extermination for an innocent family. A little California town loses contact with the rest of the world, and hope fades as the awful reality sinks in. Jane Alexander, Lukas Haas, and William Devane star in a TV movie so affecting that Paramount gave it a theatrical release. The disc has two commentaries and a selection of 20th anniversary features.

Testament

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 170

1983 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 90 min. / Street Date October 26, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 34.95

Starring: Jane Alexander, William Devane, Ross Harris, Roxana Zal, Lukas Haas, Philip Anglim, Lilia Skala, Leon Ames, Lurene Tuttle, Rebecca De Mornay, Kevin Costner, Mako, Lila Kedrova.

Cinematography: Steven Poster

Production Designer: David Nichols

Art Director: Linda Pearl

Costume Design: Julie Weiss

Film...

This year’s Emmy nominations ballot includes 183 women seeking bids for the Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actress award. While this category’s last eight lineups have consisted of six nominees each, the 2022 submission total surpassing 160 means that, for the first time ever, there will be seven. Gold Derby’s current odds indicate that three of the seven slots will be taken by “The White Lotus” cast members Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton and Alexandra Daddario. If they do all make it in, they will be only the seventh female trio from the same program to compete against each other in this category.

The first limited series to have three of its supporting actresses nominated by the TV academy was “Eleanor and Franklin” in 1976. Rosemary Murphy triumphed in that case over castmates Lilia Skala and Irene Tedrow. Next came winner Amanda Plummer and nominees Penny Fuller and Maureen Stapleton from the telefilm...

Over the holidays, TCM showed one of my favorite movies of all time, 1967’s “To Sir With Love. “ It stars Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray from British Guyana who takes a job as a teacher in the East End of London filled rowdy Cockney students who have little interest in their curriculum. Sir, as his class calls him, realizes that what these teens need is a course in how to make a life for themselves in the world outside a classroom.

Eventually, his pupils realize that he has their best interests at heart and they celebrate at a dance before his flock flies off into real world . Seeing a sexy and sweaty Poitier cut a rug by doing the Pony and the Jerk with Judy Geeson’s flirtatious student was just like receiving an extra surprise gift under my tree.

Little did I know that this silver screen legend, who...

With a screen time total of 18 minutes and 36 seconds, Laura Dern’s 2020 Best Supporting Actress-winning performance in “Marriage Story” was noted for its brevity. However, it ranks as the 24th shortest to ever win in the Oscar category, proving the academy’s particular and everlasting fondness for smaller supporting female roles. Here is a look at the 10 winners with the least amount of screen time. (And here’s the equivalent list for Best Supporting Actor.)

10. Jo Van Fleet (“East of Eden”)

15 minutes, 4 seconds (12.82% of the film)

After a decade of stage acting, Tony winner Jo Van Fleet earned an Oscar for her film debut as child abandoner and brothel operator Kate Ames. Many of the votes she received were likely in honor of her body of work in 1955, since she also had roles in two other Oscar-nominated films that year (“I’ll Cry Tomorrow” and “The Rose Tattoo”). Her few scenes in “East of Eden,...

Ethan Hawke is this awards’ season critical darling earning several best actor nods from critic’s groups including the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and New York Film Critics Circle for his powerful performance as a troubled clergyman haunted with his past and the future in Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.”

Hawke, who also won the Gotham Awards honor for best actor, is also nominated for a Critics Choice and a Film Independent Spirit Award but was snubbed in the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

But Hawke, who has received four previously Oscar nominations including for supporting actor for 2014’s “Boyhood,” shouldn’t give up the faith about a fifth nomination. Over the years, the academy has embraced actors and actresses who played members of the clergy with six wins and upwards of two dozen nominations.

Predict the Oscar nominations now; change them until January 22

Both Spencer Tracy...

On Oct. 1, 1963, United Artists hosted the New York premiere of Lilies of the Field, starring Sidney Poitier and Lilia Skala. The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 36th Academy Awards, winning one for best actor for Poitier. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.

Lilies of the Field is a funny, sentimental, charming and uplifting film, in which intelligence, imagination and energy are proved again to be beyond the price of any super-budget. The United Artists release, produced and directed by Ralph Nelson, could be termed the sleeper of the year if it had not already ...

On Oct. 1, 1963, United Artists hosted the New York premiere of Lilies of the Field, starring Sidney Poitier and Lilia Skala. The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 36th Academy Awards, winning one for best actor for Poitier. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.

Lilies of the Field is a funny, sentimental, charming and uplifting film, in which intelligence, imagination and energy are proved again to be beyond the price of any super-budget. The United Artists release, produced and directed by Ralph Nelson, could be termed the sleeper of the year if it had not already ...

Secure one major book with a serious subject, sign up a wagonload of stars (including a legend or two) and make sure every cookie-cutter character repeatedly explains themselves to the camera in close-up. That formula worked well for Stanley Kramer in 1965; his film hasn’t much of a reputation but the cast is gold. A bright new transfer makes the picture look very good.

Ship of Fools

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1965 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 149 min. / Street Date March 9, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, José Greco, Michael Dunn, Charles Korvin, Heinz Rühmann, Lilia Skala, Barbara Luna, Alf Kjellin, Werner Klemperer,

Gila Golan, Kaaren Verne.

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo

Film Editor: Robert C. Jones

Special visual effects: John Burke, Farciot Edouart, Albert Whitlock

Original Music: Ernest Gold

Written by Abby Mann from the novel by Katherine Anne Porter

Produced and directed by Stanley...

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of '63 is just 3 days away. So it's time to get your votes in on the nominees that year. Readers, collectively, are the final panelist, so grade the nominees (only the ones you've seen) from 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes count toward the smackdown win!

Diane Cilento Tom Jones Edith Evans Tom Jones Joyce Redman Tom Jones

Margaret Rutherford The VIPs

Lilia Skala Lilies of the Field

Now that we're finally getting to this long delayed Smackdown. It's time to meet this month's talking heads...

The Panel

Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin

An Irishman and an American based in London, Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin are the hosts of Broad Appeal, the podcast that looks back at female-driven films from the not-so-distant past. Seán is a film festival programmer with Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest and has also worked for the BFI and the National Film and Television School.

Unsung actress Beverly Garland becomes TV’s first lady cop, in what’s claimed to be the first TV show filmed on the streets of New York City. This one-season wonder from 1957 has vintage locations, fairly tough-minded storylines and solid performances, from Bev and a vast gallery of stage and TV actors on the way up.

Decoy

(Policewoman Decoy)

TV Series

DVD

Film Chest Media

1957-’58 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame (TV) / 39 x 30 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 19.98

Starring: Beverly Garland

Art Direction (some episodes): Mel Bourne

Original Music: Wladimir Selinsky

Written by Lillian Andrews, Nicholas E. Baehr, Cy Chermak, Jerome Coopersmith, Don Ettlinger, Frances Frankel, Steven Gardner, Abram S. Ginnes, Mel Goldberg, Saul Levitt, Leon Tokatyan

Produced by Arthur H. Singer, David Alexander, Stuart Rosenberg, Everett Rosenthal

Directed by Teddy Sills, Stuart Rosenberg, David Alexander, Michael Gordon, Don Medford, Arthur H. Singer, Marc Daniels

How did I experience...

Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...

Loretta Young films as TCM celebrates her 102nd birthday (photo: Loretta Young ca. 1935) Loretta Young would have turned 102 years old today. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the birthday of the Salt Lake City-born, Academy Award-winning actress today, January 6, 2015, with no less than ten Loretta Young films, most of them released by Warner Bros. in the early '30s. Young, who began her film career in a bit part in the 1927 Colleen Moore star vehicle Her Wild Oat, remained a Warners contract player from the late '20s up until 1933. (See also: "Loretta Young Movies.") Now, ten Loretta Young films on one day may sound like a lot, but one should remember that most Warner Bros. -- in fact, most Hollywood -- releases of the late '20s and early '30s were either B Movies or programmers. The latter were relatively short (usually 60 to 75 minutes) feature films starring A (or B+) performers,...

On August 27 and 28, 2014, the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles will be presenting a screening of Ivan Nagy’s 1975 film Deadly Hero. Advertised with the tag lines “A young girl knows the truth. Now that truth is haunting her, and someone is hunting her” and “Not since The French Connection and Death Wish has a movie moved so deep into the heart and soul of the big city”, Deadly Hero runs 102 minutes (the same length as The French Connection) and will be presented in 35mm. Deadly Hero stars Don Murray, Diahn Williams, James Earl Jones, Lilia Skala, Conchata Ferrell, Treat Williams and Josh Mostel.

The film will be screened at 7:30 pm on both nights. Actor Don Murray will be appearing in person following the 7:30 pm screening on August 27. Click here for tickets.

The New Beverly is located at 7165 West Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. The phone number is...

As we are full-on in the Lent season, our definitive list will focus on films about religion or some aspect of it. The #1 qualification to be on this list is to deliberately focus on religion, a religious figure, or have the presence of a religion/faith as an integral plot point. For example, most of Luis Bunuel’s films can be viewed as attacks on the church, but they aren’t literally about Christianity; therefore, they won’t be included. So, on this list, we’ll look at as many different faiths as possible (though, there are obviously a lot more movies about Christianity than any other religion). We’ll even dabble into cults and sects that don’t really exist. Final rule: no documentaries. We’re keeping this fictional.

courtesy of salon.com

50. Sound of My Voice (2011)

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

Sound of My Voice stars Brit Marling (also co-writer) as Maggie,...

February is Black History Month, and to help celebrate, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting a Tribute to the 86-year old Sidney Poitier at their Classic Black Film Festival. Lucky St. Louis movie buffs will have the opportunity to view eight vintage Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Every Thursday in February, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting two Poitier films at St Louis Cinemas Galleria (630 St Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, Mo 63117)

The Sidney Poitier Tribute Film Festival kicks off this Thursday night (February 6th) with two Poitier classics; Lilies Of The Field and Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner

Lilies Of The Field (1963) is the story of Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier), an itinerant jack-of-all-trades, who stops to help a group of German nuns newly arrived in New Mexico. His cheerful generosity is disdained by the stern, demanding Mother Superior (Lilia Skala) until he...

Have you got a light? Here are some of the ways that lighters have helped to illuminate a film's narrative

This week's Clip joint is by Marcelline Block. Take a look at her blog, and you can follow her on Twitter here.

Think you can do better? Email your idea for a future Clip joint to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.

"Cigarette lighters featured in films often go beyond their utilitarian function to serve as signifiers of a character's identity, becoming extensions of their owners' personas. These objects can reveal and illuminate multifaceted aspects of a character's life and psyche – including innermost secrets and desires.

Films depict cigarette lighters as tools of crime, deception, exoneration, investigation and manipulation. They are often represented as devices that drive the narrative, because the acquisition, possession and/or loss of a cigarette lighter can carry significant implications for the plot."

1. Strangers on a Train...

Each day we're celebriting the birth of various cinematic persons. Can someone in Hollywood please give their Oscar to Ed Harris today? I mean, my god how long does he have to wait for that damn thing? The rest of today's Sagittarians are less easy to shop for. What could we give Jon Stewart, for example, that he doesn't already have?

Ed, Laura and Jon

1896 Lilia Skala, Oscar nominated actress (Lilies of the Field)

1923 Gloria Grahame, Oscar winner (The Bad the Beautiful)

933 Hope Lange, Oscar nominated actress (Peyton Place, The Young Lions, Death Wish)

1941 Laura Antonelli, Italian actress, sex symbol

1946 Joe Dante He'll always have Gremlins, such a great 80s picture.

1949 Alexander Godunov, like Baryshnikov, he was a Russian ballet star who defected to America and co-starred in movies. It didn't go quite as well. He never achieved anything close to Misha's level of fame though he made for a memorable screen presence (Witness,...