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Before Twilight became all the rage, vampires in movies were seen as terrifying forces of darkness, from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Marvel Comics' Blade. Now, actor Mahershala Ali is gearing up to put his own spin on Marvel's vampire anti-hero. In an interview for The Tightrope, Ali teased that his Blade will be darker in tone than most other McU superheroes, which is what drew him to the role in the first place.

"I love that [Blade is] darker. That's all in terms of tone. He's a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me."

In Marvel Comics, Blade started out as an ordinary mortal battling vampires after the circumstances of his birth made him immune to vampire bites and hypnotism. Later, while fighting Morbius, the Living Vampire, Blade was bitten, and as a result became a dhampir, a cross between a vampire and a human,...

Richard Brooks' exciting Humphrey Bogart picture is one of the best newspaper sagas ever. An editor deals with a gangster threat and a domestic crisis even as greedy heirs are selling his paper out from under him. Commentator Eddie Muller drives home the film's essential civics lesson about what we've lost -- a functioning free press. Deadline - U.S.A. Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 26, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Warren Stevens, Paul Stewart, Martin Gabel, Joe De Santis, Audrey Christie, Jim Backus, Willis Bouchey, Joseph Crehan, Lawrence Dobkin, John Doucette, Paul Dubov, William Forrest, Dabbs Greer, Thomas Browne Henry, Paul Maxey, Ann McCrea, Kasia Orzazewski, Tom Powers, Joe Sawyer, William Self, Phillip Terry, Carleton Young. Cinematography Milton Krasner Film Editor William B.Murphy Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge Produced by Sol C. Siegel...

An exercise in dizzy disorientation, this Cornell Woolrich crazy-house noir pulls the rug out from under us at least three times. You want delirium, you got it -- the secret words for today are "Obsessive" and "Perverse." Innocent Robert Cummings is no match for sicko psychos Peter Lorre and Steve Cochran. The Chase Blu-ray Kino Classics 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran, Peter Lorre, Lloyd Corrigan, Jack Holt, Don Wilson, Alexis Minotis, Nina Koschetz, Yolanda Lacca, James Westerfield, Shirley O'Hara. Cinematography Frank F. Planer Film Editor Edward Mann Original Music Michel Michelet Written by Philip Yordan from the book The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woolrich Produced by Seymour Nebenzal Directed by Arthur D. Ripley

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

As Guy Maddin says on his (recommended) commentary, the public domain copies of this show were...

One of the best pictures of 2015 is an accurate and relevant movie about a truly difficult subject. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d'Arcy James, John Slattery and Stanley Tucci lead an impressive ensemble; I don't think I've ever seen such a complicated story told with such clarity, and so entertainingly. Spotlight Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2015 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 129 min. / Street Date February 23, 2016 / 34.98 Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, Paul Guilfoyle, Len Cariou, Jamey Sheridan. Cinematography Masanobu Takayanagi Film Editor Tom McArdle Original Music Howard Shore Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy Produced by Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar Directed by Tom McCarthy

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

They say that The Revenant and The Big Short have a leg up on this year's Oscars, but my vote still goes to Tom McCarthy's Spotlight,...

Two obscure Robert Wise titles reach Blu-ray release this month, both direct follow-ups to some of the auteur’s more iconic works. First up is 1962’s Two for the Seesaw, a romantic drama headlined by Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine following the famed 1961 title West Side Story. But the decade prior would fine Wise unveiling one of his most stilted efforts, The Captive City (1952), a sort-of noir procedural which followed his sci-fi social commentary The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Providing John Forsythe with his first starring role (a performer who would find his most famous roles decades later on television, as Blake Carrington in “Dynasty,” and of course, the famous voice in “Charlie’s Angels”), it has to be one of the most unenthusiastic renderings of organized crime ever committed to celluloid. A scrappy journalist defies the mob ruled police force and a slick Mafia boss in a tired...

Robert Wise's taut noir suspenser about the Mafia takeover of a small city is like an underworld Invasion of the Body Snatchers. John Forsythe's newsman slowly realizes that gambling corruption has infiltrated the business district, city hall, and even his close associates; he's expected to become a crook too, or else. Great docudrama style aided by a special deep-focus lens; Estes Kefauver makes a personal appearance touting the crime-busting Washington committee that inspired the picture. The Captive City Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1952 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 91 min. Street Date January 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring John Forsythe, Joan Camden, Marjorie Crossland, Victor Sutherland, Ray Teal, Martin Milner, Geraldine Hall, Hal K. Dawson, Paul Brinegar, Estes Kefauver, Victor Romito. Cinematography Lee Garmes Film Editor Robert Swink Original Music Jerome Moross Written by Alvin M. Josephy Jr., Karl Kamb Produced by Theron Warth Directed by Robert Wise

Reviewed...

DVD Playhouse: May 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Blow Out (Criterion) Brian De Palma’s greatest Hitchcock homage, with a dash of Antonioni thrown in for good measure. John Travolta gives one of his best turns as a sound-effects engineer who unwittingly records a political assassination, then finds himself hunted by a ruthless hitman (John Lithgow, a memorably creepy psycho) after saving the life of the kindly, albeit dim-witted call girl (Nancy Allen, excellent) who was with the deceased. Terrific blend of suspense and very black humor, perhaps De Palma’s finest hour as an auteur. Beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with De Palma, Allen, cameraman Garrett Brown; Photo gallery; De Palma’s 1967 feature Murder a la Mod; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 2.0 surround.

Kes (Criterion) Ken Loach’s landmark 1970 film is both a heart-rending portrait of adolescence, and a pointed socio-political commentary on life in the North of England.

John Forsythe was a leading actor on stage, screen and television from the late 1940s, but was never seen in one of his best known roles. He lent his distinctive voice to the role of Charles Townsend, who sent an array of lovely agents on various cases by speaker phone in the Charlie’s Angels television series from 1976 to 1981. The Angels originally included Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith, and were later joined by Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts. He reprised his role for feature film adaptations twenty years later, Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as a new generation of beautiful detectives. Forsythe became a silver-haired sex symbol in his sixties, when he starred as ruthless oil tycoon Blake Carrington in the ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty from 1981 to 1989. He frequently found himself at the...

American TV actor famous for his role as Dynasty's Blake Carrington and being the voice of Charlie in Charlie's Angels

If the name of the American actor John Forsythe, who has died aged 92, is not immediately recognisable, then that of his character Blake Carrington – the tanned and handsome silver-haired billionaire oil magnate in the long-running television series Dynasty – certainly is. The show, known for its opulent atmosphere, lavish sets and costumes, and preoccupation with the problems of the wealthy, ran alongside Ronald Reagan's years as Us president, 1981-89. It made Forsythe internationally famous and rich. During the second year of the run, Forsythe remarked: "I can't afford to bulge. Being a 64-year-old sex symbol is a hell of a weight to carry."

With his earnest demeanour, Forsythe, as the patriarch plagued by a scheming ex-wife (Joan Collins), a bisexual son, and other tribulations ranging from murder and greed to lust and incest,...

John Forsythe Dies at 92 John Forsythe, the handsome, smooth-voiced actor who made his fortune as the scheming oil tycoon in TV's Dynasty and the voice of the leader of Charlie's Angels has died after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 92.

Forsythe died late Thursday at his home in Santa Ynez from complications of pneumonia, publicist Harlan Boll said Friday.

"He died as he lived his life, with dignity and grace," daughter Brooke Forsythe said.

Despite his distinguished work in theater and films, Forsythe's greatest fame came from his role as Blake Carrington in the 1981-89 primetime soap opera Dynasty. Forsythe lent dignity to the tale of murder, deceit, adultery and high finance, which often brought Carrington into conflict with his flashy, vengeful former wife, Alexis Colby, played to the hilt by Joan Collins.

Collins released the following statement through her spokesmen Andrew Freedman:

"He was one of the...