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Success stories don't always end with spotlights and standing ovations. Director Alan Parker built his reputation on musical films that weren't afraid of the shadows, especially his despairing and isolating allegorical 1982 movie, Pink Floyd: The Wall. Even Parker found it depressing to work on. By 1991, his sense of grit was still present, but he created something that looked to the light, even if it was the warm glow of a Gaelic pub: The Commitments... and it's pretty great.

The Commitments, based on Roddy Doyle's book, is a Dublin-set musical about never losing hope and believing in ourselves when no one else does. There's no montage of someone spinning in a leotard in front of a snooty panel desperate to get accepted into Julliard. Instead, we find ourselves among an unlikely band of plucky misfits who learn to have faith. It's raw, real, and inspirational in its alternative way — a...

1976 was a prolific and memorable year for Jodie Foster, as the child actor gained fame for her roles in Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, and Freaky Friday. Taxi Driver, in particular, saw huge success and was an impressive platform for Foster to showcase her skills in more mature roles as she entered adolescence, playing a child forced into sex work opposite Robert De Niro. These three juggernaut films, which earned an array of awards, completely dominated her filmography that year, leaving The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane lost in their huge shadows. This genre-defying film is often overlooked, even though it has one of Foster's more prolonged and powerful performances that betrays how well she commands the screen. While Foster's successful year has contributed to its underrated quality, the film was controversial upon its release, specifically because of how it treated children in its narrative and themes. Despite this,...

Legendary actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster has won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her role in True Detective: Night Country. The two-time Academy Award winner joined the anthology series that first starred Matthew McConaughey, with a new season set in Alaska.

Foster has been one of the most iconic actresses in Hollywood and has had her fair share of controversies. While the actress came out in 2013, she was still for a long time silent about her s*xuality. Despite being the subject of widespread speculation about being gay in the ’90s, the actress still decided to come out on her own terms years later.

Jodie Foster’s ‘Gay Silence’ Was Deafening In The ‘80s and ‘90s Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver | Credits: Columbia Pictures

Actress Jodie Foster has been in the industry since she was three years old, starting out as a child model.

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to former film producer Kate Wilson about her debut novel Prospects & the workplace culture app Call It! and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life,” which includes:

Bugsy Malone (1976) Back To The Future (1985) The Accused (1988)

“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.

Prospects is out now.

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A movie marathon with our favorite auteurs? Where do we sign up?

Turner Classic Movies’ latest limited series “Two for One” features curated double features coupled with commentary from select guest programmers like Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, and more. The upcoming TCM series is hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, who will interview each director about why they chose to highlight their two chosen films.

“Two for One” will feature 12 nights of double features, beginning April 6. With the logline “two films, one filmmaker, countless perspectives,” the series is set to span all of cinematic history. Directors will offer commentary on the double feature’s cultural significance, its influence on other films, behind-the-scenes stories, and their own personal reflections.

Martin Scorsese kicks off the show with a conversation comparing “Blood on the Moon” and “One Touch of Venus.” The following week, actress/director Olivia Wilde picks “Auntie Mame” and 1976 documentary “Grey Gardens.

Turner Classic Movies have announced a new limited series, Two for One, that will feature 12 nights of double features curated by some of the most celebrated filmmakers in Hollywood beginning April 6. TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz will be joined by each director, including Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, Spike Lee, Nicole Holofcener, and Rian Johnson, to introduce the two films they chose. They will offer commentary on the double feature’s cultural significance, its influence on other films, behind-the-scenes stories, and their own personal reflections.

“This was such an eclectic group of filmmakers to sit down with, which was invigorating, from Martin Scorsese talking about a Robert Mitchum western, to Spike Lee discussing Elia Kazan, to Olivia Wilde’s breakdown of Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame,” said Ben Mankiewicz. “In these double features, these 12 directors lead us on an insider’s journey through cinematic history.”

See...

Jodie Foster, the two-time Oscar-winning actress riding high off her performances in Nyad and True Detective: Night Country, will be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony during the TCM Classic Film Festival, it was announced Tuesday.

Foster, 61, will leave her mark in cement in the courtyard of the iconic Tcl Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on Friday, April 19 during the 15th annual event.

“The truth is Jodie Foster deserves a hand and footprint ceremony solely for her work in 1976 alone — films she made when she was 13 years old — Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. You could see her range already,” said TCM host Ben Mankiewicz in a statement.

“Nearly 50 years later, we have an answer to this question: ‘What is a Jodie Foster character?’ The answer is: There is nothing she can’t play. If you want evidence of that,...

Few people have been as famous for as long as Jodie Foster. Born to a Los Angeles couple and raised solely by her mom, Foster made her onscreen debut in 1965 as a three-year-old girl in a commercial for sunscreen brand Coppertone. From there, she became a minor child star, appearing in Disney films and bit TV roles before attracting national attention for playing a young child prostitute in 1976’s “Taxi Driver.” The film — one part of a very diverse year for Foster that also included parts in bizarro gangster child musical “Bugsy Malone” and classic Disney comedy “Freaky Friday” — became instantly iconic and instantly controversial, but Foster was widely lauded for her work, and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

History is filled with child stars who achieve great things while young, only to either leave the business behind or find parts dry up as they age. That didn’t happen with Foster.

Jodie Foster is a great performer whose skills seem to transcend generations. It doesn't matter whether she's stuck in a poorly scripted film (chances are you won't see her in one of those) or starring in a high-concept drama; Foster will always provide the dramatic balance the film needs. Forget method acting, or even education. She simply knows how to do it. Her career as an actor transitioned into a figure that could also make a dent in the industry by standing behind the camera. Her work as a director is outstanding as well.

An early riser (she learned how to read when she was just three), Foster's childhood was plagued with low and high-profile acting gigs. In 1976, she broke through with performances in Echoes of a Summer, Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, and Taxi Driver, which gave her an Oscar nomination. However,...

For a long time, the actor was the most visible lesbian in Hollywood (not that she really wanted to talk about it). Now the True Detective star feels liberated – and is helping the younger generation follow suit

It is roughly 58 years since Jodie Foster’s first acting role and there are things she won’t put up with on set. She won’t be told how to get into character. She won’t tolerate what she calls “­voodoo” directing, that is am-dram, shake-your-body-out ­nonsense. She won’t respond to certain types of “alpha” interference from people up the industry chain. In work mode, and outside interactions with the press, she is ­conscientious, matter-of-fact, with almost no performance anxiety or self-consciousness. “I approach a story or character in the same way I do a book report,” she says. “I like to make it pragmatic.”

We are in a hotel suite in...

Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” movies, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, were just 10 days away from wrapping principal photography when most of the production was shut down due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero in the big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, was able to continue some shooting because he’s on an equity contract.

Even so, being notified that filming would be delayed was devastating, Bailey says.

“It was savage,” the Brit actor told Variety at the GQ Men of the Year party in Los Angeles. “It’s the way that Cynthia and Ari and Jon Chu are bringing that story to life. It’s so sort of psychologically rich that I think the idea that Cynthia has got to be held on ice before she manages to finish that huge [‘Defying Gravity]. It’s not just the emotional story, but the actual technique.

Camerimage Film Festival, which is devoted to the art of cinematography, is to pay tribute to Peter Biziou. The British cinematographer, who won an Oscar for “Mississippi Burning,” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Truman Show,” will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Biziou, the son of cinematographer-animator Leon Bijou, started his career at an animation company in London. In the mid-sixties, he started to light film sets for commercials and shorts, which helped foster “his innate intuition and his courage to implement innovation,” the festival said. He worked with the likes of Len Fulford, Bob Brooks, Terence Donovan, John Swannell and Frank Budgen.

His work with fashion photographer Robert Freeman brought an invitation for Biziou to be in charge of the visuals on Freeman’s fiction film debut, 1969’s “Secret World,” starring Jacqueline Bisset, which was well-received.

He then worked on Alan Parker’s “Bugsy Malone” (1976), Terry Jones...

Laird Koenig, who adapted his novel for the screenplay to the 1976 cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a controversial horror thriller starring a teenage Jodie Foster, has died. He was 95.

Koenig died June 30 of natural causes in Santa Barbara, Jamie Dixon, the son of Koenig’s frequent writing partner, Peter L. Dixon, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Koenig also received a writing credit on three films directed by Terence Young: Red Sun (1971), starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon and Ursula Andress; Bloodline (1979), starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara and James Mason; and Inchon (1981), starring Gazzara, Laurence Olivier and Jacqueline Bisset.

His 1970 novel The Children Are Watching, co-written with Dixon, was turned into the French film Attention Les Enfants Regardent (1978), starring Delon.

Taken from his 1974 novel — his first as a solo author — The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane starred Foster as a 13-year-old who lives...

Bonnie Langford's Mel was a divisive companion during her first Doctor Who era, but Mel's return is actually a really smart move by showrunner Russell T Davies. Mel will be joining Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson's Ruby in Doctor Who season 14, due to air in 2024. Mel will be the third returning 1980s Doctor Who companion since both Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) returned for Jodie Whittaker's final adventure. Doctor Who in the 1980s was a bumpy time for the show, and - through no fault of the actress - Bonnie Langford's Mel was right at the heart of it.

Anecdotally, John Nathan-Turner cast Bonnie Langford for her scream, which was a retrograde step even in 1986. This piercing scream didn't endear her to viewers, nor did her perky keep-fit routine. However, underneath the affectations forced on the character by Jn-t, there was...

Bonnie Langford is returning to Doctor Who, reprising her role of legendary companion Melanie Bush.

We first met Mel in 1986, going on time-travelling adventures first with the sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, and then his successor Sylvester McCoy in 1987. During six stories spanning 20 episodes, she encountered villains and monsters aplenty, including the plant-based slave race the Vervoids, genocidal humanoids called the Bannermen, and the infamous renegade Time Lady The Rani.

Now Bonnie Langford is bringing Mel back for an epic adventure with the fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa:

Mel-come back!

After last week’s claustrophobic events in the late Logan Roy’s sepulchral New York apartment, Episode 5 of the final season of “Succession” sends his surviving kids and assorted Waystar executives out to play in the Norwegian wilderness.

A very posh section of it at least, with luxury cabin views of lush forests, fast-flowing streams and snow-capped mountains in all directions. But a feral place nonetheless for Kendall, Roman, Shiv and company to fight tooth-and-nail with Lukas Matsson and his GoJo team over how much the Swedish tech baron will pay to buy Waystar Royco. The episode is called “Kill List” for a reason, and not just because there’s an actual list.

Also Read:

‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 4 Recap: ‘Honeymoon States’ CEBros Gonna Get It Done?

On his first day as co-ceo, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) enters Waystar’s Manhattan HQ and is greeted by P.R. guy Hugo (Fisher Stevens...

From The Video Archives Podcast, writer/director Roger Avary and writer/producer Gala Avary discuss a few of their favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Taxi Driver (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

Matinee (1993)

Dune (1984)

Terror On A Train a.k.a. Time Bomb (1953)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Batman (1989)

Yentl (1983)

Nuts (1987)

Spaceballs (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

Top Gun (1986)

Cocksucker Blues (1972)

Mijn nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Godfather (1972)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Day Of The Dolphin (1973)

Babylon (2022)

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)

Carrie (1976)

Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)

Blow Out (1981)

The Matrix (1999)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Killing Zoe (1993)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Tenant (1976)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

Giant (1956)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Babe (1995)

Time Bandits...

The 76th BAFTAs take place on Sunday, February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall with Richard E. Grant hosting. Germany’s ‘”All Quiet on the Western Front” leads with 14 nominations, followed by 10 for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and nine for “Elvis.”

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in April 1947 as the British Film Academy by luminaries including David Lean, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Lean was named chairman of the awards that would “recognize those which had contributed outstanding creative work towards the advancement of British film.” Eleven years later, the British Film Academy merged with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.

The first awards were handed out on May 29, 1949 at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square to honor films released in Britain in 1947-48. Best Picture went to William Wyler’s 1946 release “The Best Years of Our Lives,...

Film musicals. You love them or you hate them. Your cringe-o-meter pings into the red or your heart swells with joy, and I’m not convinced there’s any in-between. There once was a time, though, when a simple tune had the ability to stitch itself into the cultural fabric for anyone and everyone. What’s changed?

In recent years, we’ve been served the hip-hop-infused, cultural soup of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and In the Heights, the chart music bombast of The Greatest Showman, even stabs at nostalgia via Disney reboots and the Golden Era homage La La Land, the inevitable Broadway adaptation of which was announced last week. They tell good stories, have high-budget productions, and rake it in at the box office. At the centre of it all, though, I’m not convinced I hear any truly timeless melodies to be remembered or rebooted for the years to come.

Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front earned 14 BAFTA Award nominations on Thursday morning in London, including one for Best Film. The other Best Film nominees are Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere all at Once and Todd Field’s Tár.

The following photo gallery includes BAFTA Awards Best Film winners from 1990, starting with Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas through last year’s winner, The Power of the Dog, from Jane Campion.

Some notable BAFTA highlights:

Most awards won by a single film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), with nine wins.

Most nominations received by a single film: Gandhi (1982), with 16 nominations.

Most nominations without winning an award: Women in Love (1969) and Finding Neverland (2004), with 11 nominations each.

Oldest person to win an award: Emmanuelle Riva winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for Amour (84 years old).

Youngest...

Learning from the best. Millie Bobby Brown confirmed she perfected her American accent for her role on Stranger Things by watching episodes of Hannah Montana. "I watched Bugsy Malone and The Godfather when I was like 8," she recalled of watching films with her parents while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 13. "And I was like, but Hannah Montana is Oscar-nominating. It's so good. Hannah Montana is the best." She continued, "Like the film, everything. Everything about it is amazing. And I got the American accent." The 18-year-old who was spotted after the show grabbing dinner with boyfriend Jake Bongiovi, explained that...

Before he became a world-class director of such projects as the Elton John biopic "Rocketman," Dexter Fletcher was a noted child actor in such high-profile films as "Bugsy Malone" and "The Long Good Friday." One of his most notable roles was as the young assistant to Freddie Jones' amoral Mr. Bytes in David Lynch's lauded 1980 biopic "The Elephant Man." Lynch was so taken by Fletcher's talents that he flew to England in 1982 to meet with the then-16-year-old about possibly playing the lead role of Paul Atreides in the big budget adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Dune." 

As we all know, that part eventually went to 24-year-old movie neophyte...

The post Dexter Fletcher Talks Auditioning For David Lynch's Dune [Exclusive] appeared first on /Film.

Emmy award winning show runner Mitch Watson discusses some of the movies he saw when he was a kid that ruined him for life.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

A History Of Violence (2005)

On The Border (1998)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Tfh’s Mogwai Madness celebration

E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)

Harold and Maude (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Witchfinder General (1968) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Shampoo (1975) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Swashbuckler (1976)

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Tfh’s Shark Attack At Hero Complex Gallery

The Neverending Story (1984)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Videodrome (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Don’t Look Up (2021)

Starship Troopers (1997)

They Live (1988)

Magic (1978)

Dead Of Night...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

First 4K Ultra HD in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts May 17, 2022

with New and Legacy Bonus Content

One of the greatest Westerns in cinematic history arrives for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (Hdr) as part of the Paramount Presents line when The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance debuts May 17, 2022 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Four-time Academy Award®-winning* director John Ford brought together an all-star cast for what is considered by many critics to be a quintessential—and yet pioneering—Western late in his storied career. Starring James Stewart and John Wayne (together for the first time), alongside Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, John Carradine and Lee Van Cleef, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance tells the engrossing story of a senator (Stewart), his old friend (Wayne), and a despicable outlaw called Liberty Valance (Marvin).

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance...

Continuing our series of writers picking out lesser-known gems available to stream is an ode to a murderous Jodie Foster thriller

Cinema’s murderous children are legion, but Jodie Foster’s Rynn Jacobs in 1976’s The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane often falls among the forgotten. It was understandable given the especially prolific year she was having: memorable performances in Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday, Echoes of a Summer and, of course, the behemoth of child star breakthroughs Taxi Driver. In fact, Rynn, more than any other character, emerges in the shadow of the child prostitute Iris Steensma (the role that landed Foster her first Oscar nomination) and becomes as much a casualty as a rather complicated double, no less worth seeking out.

While there had already been Mervyn Leroy’s supremely successful The Bad Seed, The Innocents obviously, and even Mario Bava’s Kill, Baby … Kill! in the decades before,...

British director Lewis Gilbert is largely forgotten today, but in his heyday he helmed a number of classic films ranging from comedy and war films (Sink the Bismarck!) to franchise action. Though his later career was devoted mostly to character-driven dramedies like Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, Gilbert’s penultimate effort Haunted (1995) is one of the smartest and eeriest horror flicks of its era. Executive produced by Francis Coppola and photographed by Merchant-Ivory stalwart Tony Pierce-Roberts, […]

The post Haunted, One Crazy Summer, Bugsy Malone and Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

British director Lewis Gilbert is largely forgotten today, but in his heyday he helmed a number of classic films ranging from comedy and war films (Sink the Bismarck!) to franchise action. Though his later career was devoted mostly to character-driven dramedies like Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, Gilbert’s penultimate effort Haunted (1995) is one of the smartest and eeriest horror flicks of its era. Executive produced by Francis Coppola and photographed by Merchant-Ivory stalwart Tony Pierce-Roberts, […]

The post Haunted, One Crazy Summer, Bugsy Malone and Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

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Originally released in 1921 at the height of the nation’s appetite for motion pictures, the epic romantic drama The Sheik became a massive sensation, breaking box office records and earning over $1 million during its first year of release. 100 years later, Paramount Pictures celebrates this towering classic of the silent film era with a brand-new Blu-ray release, arriving as part of the Paramount Presents line on October 19, 2021.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, The Sheik was directed by George Melford and stars the legendary Rudolph Valentino as the title character. The role helped propel Valentino into stardom and sealed his status as a Hollywood heartthrob—and the original “Latin Lover”—at the age of 26.

The Sheik restoration employed modern technology so viewers can experience the original beauty of this monumental silent film. Since...

Gunpowder Milkshake is a movie that lives up to its title. For starters, it looks like sugar, with its candy-like aesthetic – it’s a visual treat from director Navot Papushado and one of the all-time great cinematographers, Michael Seresin. Seresin shot several of filmmaker Alan Parker’s films, including Angel Heart, Midnight Express, and the joyous Bugsy Malone. To say Papushado […]

The post ‘Gunpowder Milkshake’ Director Navot Papushado on Taking Inspiration From Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton [Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Only four of the 24 films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year were directed by women. Statistically speaking, the odds that one will join Jane Campion as the lone woman to win a Palme d’Or are slim — and this in a year when Venice winner Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” went on to win three Oscars.

What better moment for the festival to honor one of the industry’s most respected female artists with an honorary Palme d’Or: Jodie Foster, viewed back home

in the U.S. as a talented director and star who’s taken the high road her entire career — and by French as that rare American who speaks their language and deserves their respect.

Foster was 12 the first time one of her films played Cannes. She’d been acting for half a decade on American television by that point, but for many festivalgoers, their...

This year's Cannes Film Festival will honor Jodie Foster with a lifetime achievement Palme d'Or, it was revealed yesterday. The two-time Oscar winning actress will accept the award on the 6th of July at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, and follows in the footsteps of other filmmakers such as Jane Fonda, Bernado Bertolucci and Jeanne Moreau who have all previously been recipients of the prize. As one of the best known actresses and directors of the last four decades, it is nothing short of the recognition Foster's career deserves.

In a statement making the announcement, the festival organisers said that the award symbolised her, "brilliant artistic journey" and said that she has been, "a unique personality with a modest yet strong commitment to some of the major issues of our time." In her own statement, Foster said, "Cannes is a festival to which I owe so much, it has completely changed my life.

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with Martyn Casserly about 5 Great Films Shot In England, But Not Always Depicting England

Martyn is a freelance writer for @techadvisoruk, @macworlduk and others. He also hosts the comedy/retro-film podcast I Saw It Years Ago; a comedy podcast where two friends see if old films are as good as they remember… which is released every weekend.

Martyn Top 5 Picks: Carry On Screaming (1966) Bugsy Malone (1976) The Shining (1980) Skyfall (2012) Ex Machina (2014)

For his comedy podcast see www.isawthatyearsago.com

Or follow him on Twitter: @martyndarkly

Ex-Machina (2014)...

Franco-uk event to include the European premiere of ‘Ammonite’.

The 31st Dinard Film Festival, the annual celebration of British cinema held in northern France, has unveiled its full line-up and secured the European premiere of Francis Lee’s Ammonite.

The festival is set to go ahead as a physical event from September 30-October 4 and its previews strand includes romantic drama Ammonite, which received a Cannes label and has its world premiere at TIFF today.

The six films in competition comprise Nick Rowland’s Calm With Horses; Thomas Clay’s Fanny Lye Deliver’d; Claire Oakley’s Make Up; Bassam Tariq’s...

UK filmmaker Alan Parker died aged 76 on Friday.

Tributes from across the industry have been paid to filmmaker Alan Parker, who died on Friday (July 31), aged 76.

Former colleagues talked warmly of Parker’s achievements as a filmmaker, his work for public bodies including the BFI and the UK Film Council, his loyalty to friends and his encouragement of young talent.

“Alan was my oldest and closest friend,” said producer David Puttman, Parker’s long-time collaborator with whom he first worked at Collett Dickenson Pearce (Cdp) in what was later called ‘the golden age of advertising’ in the 1960s. “I was...

Alan Parker photographed by another legend, Terry O'Neill, in this press still for "Angel Heart" (1987).

Sir Alan Parker has died at age 76. The esteemed British filmmaker was known for making highly diverse, acclaimed films. He had received two Oscar nominations for Best Director, the first for "Midnight Express" and the other for "Mississippi Burning". Parker made his feature film directorial debut in 1975 with "Bugsy Malone", an offbeat and inspired send up of old gangster movies starring a cast comprised of child actors including Jodie Foster. His other films include "Fame", "The Commitments", "Pink Floyd- The Wall", "Shoot the Moon", "Angela's Ashes", "Evita", "Angel Heart" and "Birdy". Parker had not directed a film since "The Life of David Gale" in 2003. As news of his death broke, tributes were paid by his peers in the entertainment industry including Andrew Webber, David Putnam and Barbara Broccoli.

For more click here.

In the late 1970s, when Hollywood was in the middle of its most seismic transformation since the collapse of the studio system, there was a much-talked-about trend that seemed to fit all too snugly into the new world order. That was the arrival of hotshot British movie directors who had honed their craft in the rarefied world of English TV commercials.

At first there were two such transplants: Alan Parker and Ridley Scott. They were soon joined by Adrian Lyne (who made his first feature in 1980) and Scott’s younger brother, Tony Scott (who released his first major film in 1983). All four became players in the industry, and each developed his own style and brand and personality. Ridley Scott was the artiste of the group, crafting visionary sci-fi like “Alien” and “Blade Runner.” Adrian Lyne, director of “Foxes” and “Flashdance,” was the youth-culture maven, and Tony Scott, of “Top Gun” fame,...

Actors and directors took to social media to pay tribute to British director Alan Parker, who died Friday. The filmmaker behind “Evita, “The Commitments” and “Bugsy Malone” was 76.

Parker’s first feature film was 1976’s “Bugsy Malone.” He directed over 25 films, and his last film was “The Life of David Gale” starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet. Parker received two Oscar nominations, one for “Midnight Express” and “Mississippi Burning.”

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts wrote, “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of BAFTA Fellow Alan Parker. As BAFTA-winning filmmaker, he brought us joy with Bugsy Malone, The Commitments, Midnight Express and many more.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber who remembered Parker for their collaboration on his adaptation of “Evita,” wrote, “Very sad to hear the news of Alan Parker’s death. My friend and collaborator on the Evita movie and one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen.

Sir Alan Parker the acclaimed British director behind Oscar nominated classics Mississippi Burning and Midnight Express, has passed away at the age of 76. The news was confirmed by the British Film Institute. The filmmaker died following a lengthy illness. Parker, whose career spanned three decades, was a two-time Oscar-nominee.

Alan Parker was born in London in February 1944. He got his start working as a copywriter in the advertising business. Eventually, Parker began directing commercials, which put him on the path to his filmmaking career.

In 1975, Alan Parker directed his first feature, a TV movie titled The Evacuees. But he made his first big splash a year later in 1976 with Bugsy Malone, a musical/comedy that served as a spoof of gangster movies. Parker rounded out the decade with 1978's Midnight Express, a heralded drama that landed Parker his first Oscars nomination for Best Director. The movie was also nominted for Best Picture,...

Updated with latest reactions: Alan Parker, who died today at 76, was remembered Friday by colleagues and friends, with Andrew Lloyd Webber calling his Evita collaborator “one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen” and Matthew Modine, who starred in Parker’s 1984 drama Birdy, praising the director as a “great artist” who “transformed” the actor’s life.

And Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher explained the pivotal role Parker played in his life by casting the then-nine-year-old Fletcher as “Babyface” in 1975’s Bugsy Malone.

In a statement, Fletcher said:

Sir Alan inadvertently changed my life at the age of 9 when he stuck me at the end of a line of 30 kids, passing a baseball bat, all whilst saying ‘Give this to Babyface’. He told me to say something different on every take He generously made each moment unique and fun...

Alan Parker is not one of the name auteurs you learn about in Film History 101. That’s partly because he wasn’t known for doing one thing. The working-class Londoner made his mark in the 70s with commercials and television before breaking out with period child-gangster musical “Bugsy Malone” (1976), starring Jodie Foster. He died Friday morning at age 76.

True story “Midnight Express” (1978) took viewers on a harrowing descent into Turkish prison hell (starring Brad Davis as Billy Hayes), established Oscar nominee Parker as a taut manipulator of suspense, and won Oscars for screenwriter Oliver Stone and composer Giorgio Moroder. In drama “Birdy” (1984), Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage went on another unpredictable journey, from kids hanging in Philadelphia to soldiers fighting in Vietnam and finally, a grim hospital ward.

Always skilled at using music in his movies, from New York high-school musical “Fame” (1980) to Madonna vehicle “Evita” (1996), Parker became a stylish Hollywood director-for-hire.

Innovative and acclaimed British director Alan Parker, died Friday, July 31, after a lengthy, but as yet undisclosed illness, according to Variety. He was 76.

Parker was nominated for two Best Director Oscars. One of those films was 1988’s Mississippi Burning, which highly dramatized the investigation of three murdered civil rights activists in 1964. The films starred Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman, with the latter being nominated for Best Actor. Parker’s first Oscar nomination though came for the 1978 drama Midnight Express, another film based on true events. Oliver Stone won his first Oscar for the screenplay, which focused on Billy Hayes, who escaped a Turkish prison after being convicted of trying to smuggle hashish out of the country. Giorgio Moroder also won his first Oscar for composing the music. It was Parker’s second feature, and it was vastly different from his debut.

Alan Parker had a special connection with music. He...

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of BAFTA Fellow Alan Parker. As BAFTA-winning filmmaker, he brought us joy with Bugsy Malone, The Commitments, Midnight Express and many more. pic.twitter.com/fVOcXARgKM

— BAFTA (@BAFTA) July 31, 2020

Midnight Express director Sir Alan Parker has died, aged 76.

The filmmaker, whose hits included Mississippi Burning, Fame, The Commitments and Bugsy Malone saw his work collect ten Oscars, ten Golden Globes and 19 BAFTAs across his career, although he didn't win a Best Director Oscar despite being nominated twice.

He is survived by his wife Lisa Moran-Parker, five children and seven grandchildren.

Among those leading the tributes, was BAFTA, which wrote on Twitter: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of BAFTA Fellow Alan Parker."

The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences also wrote: "From Fame to Midnight Express, two-time Oscar nominee Alan...

Celebrated UK director Alan Parker, whose unique vision led to the creation of such iconic films as Bugsy Malone, Mississippi Burning, Evita, and Pink Floyd: The Wall, has passed away at 76 after a prolonged illness, the British Film Institute has confirmed. As a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, Parker was known by many as a pillar of the UK film community.…...

Alan Parker, the Oscar-nominated English filmmaker whose diverse line-up of credits include Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Evita, and Angela’s Ashes, has passed away following a long illness. He was 76 years old. Born on February 14, 1944 in Islington, North London, Parker began his career […]

The post Alan Parker, Director of ‘Midnight Express,’ ‘Mississippi Burning’ and ‘Bugsy Malone,’ Dead at 76 appeared first on /Film.

Sir Alan Parker, a British director known for “Evita,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Midnight Express” and “The Commitments,” has died, an individual with knowledge of his passing told TheWrap. He was 76.

Parker died on Friday after a long battle with an illness.

Parker was a two-time Oscar nominee for directing both “Midnight Express” and the racial drama “Mississippi Burning.”

Among some of Parker’s other iconic credits include “Bugsy Malone,” “Fame,” “Pink Floyd: The Wall,” “Angel Heart,” “Angela’s Ashes” and most recently “The Life of David Gale” in 2003.

Also Read: Olivia de Havilland, Last Survivor of 'Gone With the Wind,' Dies at 104

Parker received the Cbe in 1995 and was knighted in 2002. He’s also a founding member of the Director’s Guild in Britain and was also the chairman of the UK Film Council.

Parker got his start directing TV commercials in the late ’60s and early ’70s, coming up...

Alan Parker, an English movie director with an exceptionally wide-ranging oeuvre ranging from “Bugsy Malone” to “Evita,” from “Midnight Express” to “The Road to Wellville,” has died. He was 76.

The British Film Institute confirmed Parker’s death on Friday, noting he died after a long illness.

Parker was twice Oscar-nominated for best director, for 1978’s “Midnight Express” and for 1988’s Mississippi Burning.” While the director’s subject matter was eclectic, he did return frequently to the musical form: His films “Bugsy Malone,” “Fame,” “Pink Floyd the Wall,” “The Commitments” and “Evita” were all musicals or had strong musical elements in one form or another.

Parker’s first feature film, 1976’s “Bugsy Malone,” made a considerable splash for an audacious concept that worked only because everyone kept a straight face. The film was a Depression-era gangster musical cast entirely with children, the oldest perhaps 15. These included Jodie Foster and Scott Baio.

Director who first made his mark in the 1970s and had later hits including Fame and The Commitments, became the chair of the UK Film Council

Alan Parker, the British director behind a string of hits including Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone, and The Commitments, has died aged 76.

The news was announced by a representative, who said he had died on Friday “after a lengthy illness”.

Acclaimed UK director Alan Parker, a towering figure in the UK industry, passed away this morning following a lengthy illness, the British Film Institute has confirmed.

Two-time Oscar nominee Parker was best known for directing classic films including Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning and The Commitments, as well as big-budget Madonna movie Evita.

Parker was a passionate supporter of the UK film industry and a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain. He was the founding Chairman of the UK Film Council in 2000, a position he held for five years, and prior to that he was Chairman of the BFI. He received a Cbe in 1995 and a knighthood in 2002. He was also an Officier des Arts et Letters (France).

Parker was born in Islington, London, February 14, 1944. He began his career in advertising as a copywriter but quickly graduated to writing and directing commercials. By the late 1960s...

His body of work includes Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Evita, Fame, Birdy, Angel Heart and Angela’s Ashes.

Acclaimed UK filmmaker Alan Parker died this morning (July 31) following a lengthy illness.

Parker was one of the UK’s most acclaimed and successful filmmakers, with a body of work including Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Evita, Fame, Birdy, Angel Heart and Angela’s Ashes. His films won a combined 19 Baftas, 10 Golden Globes and 10 Oscars.

Parker was a passionate supporter of the UK film industry and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain,...

The musical where cocktail-sipping kids pretend to be adults has a seam of pure feelgood that makes real life feel far away

I was sitting in my living room with my big brother and dad when a loud Bang on the ceiling made us jump. “What was that?” I asked. Back in the noughties, televisions were shaped like gigantic cubes. They’d be mounted to the wall by means of a metal arm with a flat stand at the end, for the box to sit on. It transpired that the television in my parents’ bedroom had fallen from its platform. But the real tragedy was it landed on the VHS Bugsy Malone was recorded on, completely demolishing my beloved film.

The video was crushed, and so was I. The 1976 gangster musical where kids pretended to be adults and hung out in prohibition bars hidden behind bookshelves filled me with the most innocent kind of joy.