News

The Los Angeles Herald Examiner’s Mika Gilmore compared it to Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece “Citizen Kane.” The L.A. Times’ venerable critic Robert Hilburn thought the film succeeded due to the star’s “presence” and the Hollywood Reporter’s Duane Byrge proclaimed it “sensitive and highly visual, this Albert Magnoli-directed film is an accomplished and sophisticated example of storytelling “

But not every critic 40 years ago went crazy over Prince in his landmark musical “Purple Rain.” The New York Times’ Vincent Canby was even a bit cruel in his criticism of Prince, who died at the age of 57 in 2016. Though he admitted the legend’s performance scenes “can be a riveting spectacle,” Canby noted in repose he looked like a “poster of Liza Minnelli in which someone has lightly smudged a mustache. When astride his large motorcycle, as he is from time to time, the image suggests one of Jim Henson...

Ti West’s decades-spanning horror trilogy, which began in the late ’70s with X (2022) and then jumped back over half a century for the same year’s WW1 prequel Pearl, now fast-forwards to the mid-’80s with a capper that requires a little more thought than its gory, crowd-pleasing predecessors. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Reagan years would be West’s safe space, given 2009’s pitch-perfect period piece The House of The Devil, but MaXXXine pulls back on that kind of detail in a way that’s surprising. Despite the obvious genre set-up, which promises way more violence than you’d expect, but is pretty gory when you do get it — West’s film is actually an abstract think-piece about women in cinema, predicated on Bette Davis’s quote: “In this business, until you’re known as a monster, you’re not a star.

39 studio albums. 97 singles. 33 Grammy nominations, with 7 wins. One Oscar. It’s fair to say that Prince was one of the greatest musicians to have ever lived. In 1984, the songwriting legend brought his musical genius to the big screen with Purple Rain – a semi-autobiographical romantic rock opera starring Prince as The Kid, the talented but troubled frontman of Minneapolis-based band The Revolution, who are regular performers at nightclub First Avenue. One night, he meets aspiring singer Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), and the pair fall for each other, as The Kid gets to grips with his difficult family situation and musical ambitions.

The film won Prince that Oscar, for Best Original Song Score, and as such is packed with many mega goosebump-inducing on-stage sequences and musical moments – now available to watch in higher quality than ever, with the film receiving a 4K restoration in honour of its 40th anniversary. Here's a list of...

A frenzied performance of “Let’s Go Crazy”? Check. A set that resembles the Minneapolis club First Avenue? Check. But a scene in which a woman is tossed into a trash bin against her will? Or saucy pickup lines? Hold the check.

Early this year, plans for a stage musical based on Prince’s landmark Purple Rain movie and album were announced, with a premiere set for Minneapolis’s State Theatre next spring before a possible move to Broadway. In fact, the team behind the production has been toiling away...

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…to tell you about this Prince jukebox musical headed our way. It has been announced that Ryan Coogler will be producing a new film for Universal that will rely heavily on the music of The Purple One.

No plot or cast details have been made public, but considering just how expansive Prince’s catalog is, no doubt there will be a wealth of tracks to choose from to help guide the film. Hopefully it can be a little more creative than having Darling Nikki driving a little red Corvette while wearing a raspberry beret as purple rain falls…

Considering how successful, controversial and eccentric Prince was, it’s a bit of a surprise that no proper biopic has been made. Then again, he has always been extremely protective of his image. But, really, who could capture the essence of Prince, let alone even...

Exclusive: Having rallied in recent months against censorship-advocating Republican politicians and the loss of abortion rights in America, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider is going back to the past to spotlight our potential future.

The heavy metal lead singer has teamed with Magilla Entertainment for a documentary series about the efforts of Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center 37 years ago to excise so-called obscene music. Confounding all expectations, Snider appeared with Frank Zappa and John Denver before a Senate committee in 1985 and proved a compelling and insightful advocate for freedom of expression and creative license.

“To be in the crosshairs of this bipartisan attack on free speech caught me completely off guard,” Snider told Deadline. “All of my rock and roll dreams were finally coming true, and the Pmrc was trying to shut me up,” the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” singer added of the heyday of hair metal.

Dungeons & Dragons has played a big role (pardon the pun) on Stranger Things since its very first episode. The show’s central four youths Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) all enjoy the role-playing game that utilizes its players’ imaginations to create one sprawling fantasy quest. Many of Stranger Things’ mystical villains have even had their names borrowed from the game with monsters getting monikers like the Demogorgon, the Mind Flayer, and in season 4: Vecna.

In Stranger Things season 4, however, Dungeons & Dragons takes on a more threatening context. In the season’s first episode, the D&d playing Hellfire Club makes note of an article conflating the game with devil worship. After that it becomes clear that the Hawkins community at large starts to view these harmless nerds with some suspicion. The notion that a childrens’ game...

Jack White. The Strokes. Foo Fighters — that lineup of “Saturday Night Live” musical guests could easily have come from 2002 instead of 2020 … and in fact, all three of those artists did perform on the show that year or in 2003 (with White as frontman of the White Stripes). For a show that in recent years has leaned heavily on very current pop, hip-hop, R&b and alternative, it’s a head-spinning shift of genre and generations. What’s going on?

Obviously, due to Covid, it’s an unprecedented season and an unprecedented time. But not only has rock music has been at a low ebb for most of this century — the White Stripes and the Strokes are the last truly galvanizing bands in memory — those three acts don’t even have new music out.

Reps for “SNL” did not respond to Variety’s requests for comment, and multiple media sources declined to talk on the record.

108 Media has debuted the trailer and poster for its thriller BnB Hell, which is currently available on Digital HD and VOD in the U.S. and Canada. The harrowing thriller can currently be purchased through iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube and Microsoft Store. This footage may make you think twice about checking out that quaint bed and breakfast you found online, because it might not be as advertised, and may end up costing you your life.

The trailer, which comes courtesy of 108 Media showcases a young woman named Willa (Kimberly Woods), who has been on the hunt for her missing sister, which ends at a rundown bed and breakfast in the Hollywood Hills run by an ill-tempered woman called Mommy (Carol Stanzione). When she discovers a camera in her room, another guest Marco (Victor Dobrev) tells her that it's the house camera, for guests to record video diaries, although it has been mysteriously turned. After checking the camera, Willa finds disturbing messages left by former guests, which suggest unsettling secrets lay buried there.

The supporting cast includes Timothy Lee DePriest as Baby, Victor Turpin as Sam, John Stevenson as Derek, Olivia Steifel as Alex, Jessica Graham as Jackie, Shayla Famouri as Darla, Tallie L. Brinson as Nathan and Stefanie Maxwell as Emily. The film marks the feature directorial debut of director Andrew Jordan, which has been freaking out horror fans with it's terrifying premise and shocking twist ending since debuting on VOD and Digital HD last week. Andrew Jordan previously directed episodes of the web series Chicks Flippin' the Script and the short film Heartprints, which he also produced and edited.

The film was written by Andrea Harrison, which marks her writing debut, although she has been a working actress for several years. She has appeared in films such as American Virgin, Violent Blue, Blue Dream, Mickey's Summer Resort, Caged Beauty and this year's Darling Nikki. She has also appeared on TV shows such as The League, Greek, True Blood and Castle, while also serving as a producer on BnB Hell, along with the TV series Miracle Mile Girls and the feature film A Beautiful Now. It remains to be seen if this writer-actress has more projects in development.

While there is no theatrical release date for this new thriller, it could very well find a home with horror fans on Digital HD and VOD formats. Since this film marks both the director and writer's feature debuts, we could certainly be hearing much more from them in the near future, if fans respond positively to BnB Hell. While we wait for more on these filmmakers, take a look at the trailer and poster for BnB Hell below.

By Dawna Lee Heising

Hunter, the urban action thriller directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Gregory Hatanaka, is now available on demand at Amazon, Google, iTunes and Cable.

Noted actor Ron Becks is the writer-producer and star of Hunter where he plays the title role of Lt. Ramsey Hunter. Hunter's life changes drastically when several cases hit him simultaneously.

In no time, our hero has to contend with a rogue cop killer, a beautiful Southern runaway serial killer and his corrupt police captain boss blackmailing him. But only one of the cases leads him to an ending of universal truth. Mystical Cop. Deadly Force. Champion of People. Beck’s Hunter is all that and more in this moving thriller that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Hunter has a quick draw and a heart of gold.

Becks stars opposite budding executive producer and co-star Salih Mayi,...

By Todd Garbarini

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Douglas Dunning the actor, producer, film authority, and Director of Acquisitions at Cinema Epoch, has just acquired the rights to the following titles for future release on DVD:

The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976) with Millie Perkins and directed by Matt Cimber

Butterfly (1982) with Pia Zadora, Stacy Keach and Orson Wells and directed by Matt Cimber

As previously reported, Mr. Dunning is the host of Prodigy Media Network’s “How Do You View”, an Internet radio show produced by Cinema Epoch president Gregory Hatanaka. The show is available for listening daily at 1:00 am, 5:30 am, 11:00 am & 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time (4:00 am, 8:30 am, 2:00 pm, and 8:00 pm New York time). Click here to listen to “How Do You View” at the respective times.

Mr. Dunning is keeping busy. He is also currently co-starring in the film Barry Price,...