As summer approaches (for the Northern Hemisphere at least), Netflix is set to premiere a fresh season of one of its biggest hits.
Brigerton season 3 is set to arrive on May 16 and will debut a “new crop of debutantes” into the regency drama fray. Other original series of note this month include Indian drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (May 1), the Jeff Daniels-starring A Man in Full (May 2), and intriguing Korean title The 8 Show (May 17). Of course, Netflix is also rolling out a suite of true crime docs and docuseries as well. Chief among those options is Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal on May 15.
It’s the movie side of things where Netflix is feeling particularly lively though. May 3 sees the arrival of Jerry Seinfeld Pop Tart comedy Unfrosted. That will be followed by rom-com Mother of the Bride (May 9) and the Jennifer Lopez-starring Atlas (May 24).
If none...
Brigerton season 3 is set to arrive on May 16 and will debut a “new crop of debutantes” into the regency drama fray. Other original series of note this month include Indian drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (May 1), the Jeff Daniels-starring A Man in Full (May 2), and intriguing Korean title The 8 Show (May 17). Of course, Netflix is also rolling out a suite of true crime docs and docuseries as well. Chief among those options is Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal on May 15.
It’s the movie side of things where Netflix is feeling particularly lively though. May 3 sees the arrival of Jerry Seinfeld Pop Tart comedy Unfrosted. That will be followed by rom-com Mother of the Bride (May 9) and the Jennifer Lopez-starring Atlas (May 24).
If none...
- 5/1/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
As Kevin Hart sat in the audience with family and friends for The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, there were many jokes about his height, quips about his wealth and jabs at his productivity.
What there was very little of was anything political, reflecting Hart’s own style that tends to avoid such topical humor.
Chris Rock did have one moment, though.
“The Mark Twain Award this year. If Trump wins, next year will be the Mark Fuhrman award,” Rock said.
As the audience laughed, Rock added, “It’s going to be nothing but banjos up there.”
He also was among the comics who did a bit of roasting of Hart. “Look at that smile,” Rock said. “You got that second wife happiness.” Hart, surrounded by his wife and kids, laughed.
Like others, though, Rock talked of Hart’s rise to become one of the most successful comedians of all time,...
What there was very little of was anything political, reflecting Hart’s own style that tends to avoid such topical humor.
Chris Rock did have one moment, though.
“The Mark Twain Award this year. If Trump wins, next year will be the Mark Fuhrman award,” Rock said.
As the audience laughed, Rock added, “It’s going to be nothing but banjos up there.”
He also was among the comics who did a bit of roasting of Hart. “Look at that smile,” Rock said. “You got that second wife happiness.” Hart, surrounded by his wife and kids, laughed.
Like others, though, Rock talked of Hart’s rise to become one of the most successful comedians of all time,...
- 3/25/2024
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Kevin Haney, an Oscar- and Emmy-winning make-up artist with credits from Driving Miss Daisy to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; and Ora T. Green, an Emmy-nominated hair stylist whose work includes Star Trek: Nemesis and Blade, will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards Feb. 18 during the 11th annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards.
In addition to an Academy Award for Driving Miss Daisy, Haney received six Primetime Emmys, for Primetime Glick, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, The X Files, Kissinger and Nixon, The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show and Mark Twain and Me.
His feature credits include Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves; Iron Man; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; The Shawshank Redemption and Dick Tracy. His TV work includes Perry Mason, Legion, Star Trek: Phase ll, Friends and The Mandalorian. He has been the personal artist to Bette Midler,...
In addition to an Academy Award for Driving Miss Daisy, Haney received six Primetime Emmys, for Primetime Glick, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, The X Files, Kissinger and Nixon, The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show and Mark Twain and Me.
His feature credits include Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves; Iron Man; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; The Shawshank Redemption and Dick Tracy. His TV work includes Perry Mason, Legion, Star Trek: Phase ll, Friends and The Mandalorian. He has been the personal artist to Bette Midler,...
- 11/16/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Harry Belafonte, the actor, singer and civil rights trailblazer, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, with his wife Pamela by his side. He was 96.
Belafonte is considered among the most successful Caribbean-American music stars of all time and one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, making a name for himself during the 1950s and ’60s. An activist and social campaigner by nature, he was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement and became a major figure in the American social and political history of the 20th century.
He was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and backed many historic political and social causes and events, including the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate change and the decolonization of Africa. He was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, leading a delegation of Hollywood including best friend Sidney Poitier,...
Belafonte is considered among the most successful Caribbean-American music stars of all time and one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, making a name for himself during the 1950s and ’60s. An activist and social campaigner by nature, he was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement and became a major figure in the American social and political history of the 20th century.
He was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and backed many historic political and social causes and events, including the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate change and the decolonization of Africa. He was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, leading a delegation of Hollywood including best friend Sidney Poitier,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Emmy-winning filmmaker Erika Dilday is joining Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon as co-director and co-producer of the upcoming documentary film Emancipation to Exodus (working title). It’s a long-term commitment – the film about a critical period in the African American experience isn’t expected to air on PBS until 2027.
Dilday’s participation in the project will be as an independent filmmaker – in other words, separate from her role as executive director of American Documentary and executive producer of AmDoc’s PBS series Pov and World Channel’s America ReFramed.
Emancipation to Exodus (wt) explores the African American struggle for freedom and opportunity “from the Civil War and end of slavery, through Reconstruction and the start of the Great Migration out of the south that began in the early 20th century,” according to a release about the film.
Erika Dilday at the IDA Documentary Awards on December 10, 2022 in Los Angeles.
Dilday’s participation in the project will be as an independent filmmaker – in other words, separate from her role as executive director of American Documentary and executive producer of AmDoc’s PBS series Pov and World Channel’s America ReFramed.
Emancipation to Exodus (wt) explores the African American struggle for freedom and opportunity “from the Civil War and end of slavery, through Reconstruction and the start of the Great Migration out of the south that began in the early 20th century,” according to a release about the film.
Erika Dilday at the IDA Documentary Awards on December 10, 2022 in Los Angeles.
- 4/6/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
One would have never expected to hear the names Adam Sandler and Mark Twain uttered in the same sentence. Yet, the Sandman has been given one of the highest honors in comedy, the Mark Twain Award for American Humor. Yes, the wit behind the great debate of whether shampoo or conditioner is better now holds a coveted humor prize.
While the merits of Adam Sandler’s humor can be debated, some of his closest comedians friends took the opportunity to take jabs at Sandler and his movies. Conan O’Brien, who previously honored Lorne Michaels and Will Ferrell, said, “Have you asked yourself why so many of Adam’s friends were available? Because if Adam isn’t working, they aren’t working,” a poke at Sandler casting so many of his buddies in his movies.
Ben Stiller, who worked with Adam Sandler on The Meyerowitz Stories, said, “His work feels effortless.
While the merits of Adam Sandler’s humor can be debated, some of his closest comedians friends took the opportunity to take jabs at Sandler and his movies. Conan O’Brien, who previously honored Lorne Michaels and Will Ferrell, said, “Have you asked yourself why so many of Adam’s friends were available? Because if Adam isn’t working, they aren’t working,” a poke at Sandler casting so many of his buddies in his movies.
Ben Stiller, who worked with Adam Sandler on The Meyerowitz Stories, said, “His work feels effortless.
- 3/21/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) were the big winners at last night's Directors Guild of America's DGA Awards. The filmmaking duo took home the top prize, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film, for "Everything Everywhere All At Once" — beating out directing legend Steven Spielberg ("The Fabelmans"), as well as Joseph Kosinski's massive aerial action film "Maverick," Todd Field's critical darling "Tár," and Martin McDonagh's black comedy "The Banshees of Inisherin."
These days, the Daniels seem to embody their hit film, being everything, everywhere, all at once. The Michelle Yeoh-led maximalist action-comedy has something for everyone, and is deeply, satisfyingly, weird. It topped many best-of lists (it was my #1 pick for Best Films of 2022) and is a favorite to take home the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now with a DGA Award under their belts, the odds of that happening are better than ever.
These days, the Daniels seem to embody their hit film, being everything, everywhere, all at once. The Michelle Yeoh-led maximalist action-comedy has something for everyone, and is deeply, satisfyingly, weird. It topped many best-of lists (it was my #1 pick for Best Films of 2022) and is a favorite to take home the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now with a DGA Award under their belts, the odds of that happening are better than ever.
- 2/19/2023
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
The stars are coming out for Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
An A-list lineup of celebrity guests — including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Jerry Seinfeld — is set to celebrate the actress, who will be presented with the 21st annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 21.
Other guests scheduled to appear include Bryan Cranston, Ilana Glazer, Tony Hale, Abbi Jacobson, Keegan Michael-Key and Kumail Nanjiani.
The ceremony, which will be held at the Kennedy Center, will be broadcast nationally Nov. 19 on PBS at 9pm Et.
Production company Done + Dusted will join the Kennedy Center in producing the event, with David Jammy serving as executive producer alongside showrunner Rick Austin and co-executive producer Chris Convy. Done + Dusted has previously produced the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies in London, Stand up to Cancer and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
“From the moment we met the Done + Dusted team, they understood that the Twain Prize is...
An A-list lineup of celebrity guests — including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Jerry Seinfeld — is set to celebrate the actress, who will be presented with the 21st annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 21.
Other guests scheduled to appear include Bryan Cranston, Ilana Glazer, Tony Hale, Abbi Jacobson, Keegan Michael-Key and Kumail Nanjiani.
The ceremony, which will be held at the Kennedy Center, will be broadcast nationally Nov. 19 on PBS at 9pm Et.
Production company Done + Dusted will join the Kennedy Center in producing the event, with David Jammy serving as executive producer alongside showrunner Rick Austin and co-executive producer Chris Convy. Done + Dusted has previously produced the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies in London, Stand up to Cancer and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
“From the moment we met the Done + Dusted team, they understood that the Twain Prize is...
- 9/5/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
Fifty years ago, a young actor took the stage in a tiny Off-Broadway theater and introduced the world to a man they would never forget. The actor was Hal Holbrook and the man was Mark Twain. According to Star News, the stage and screen star has finally retired the character after sixty-three years.
- 9/13/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Now as I was young and fuzzy, mired in what we were assured was a university education, just beginning to pull my head out of my… Okay, look – no need for vulgarity here. Let’s leave it at this: I was pulling my head from the sand and becoming aware of kinds of culture other than what I was being fed to us by radio and movies (that Bob Hope! What a stitch!) and that alien entity in the living room we called “the teevee” or “the television” or simply “the set.”
(No need for further elaboration: we had only two sets, the one in the living room and the one Mom kept tucked away somewhere and that we saw only on the most festive of occasions, such as Christmas and the like, Oh, and full disclosure; I’m not sure we ever really had a holiday meal on the family set.
(No need for further elaboration: we had only two sets, the one in the living room and the one Mom kept tucked away somewhere and that we saw only on the most festive of occasions, such as Christmas and the like, Oh, and full disclosure; I’m not sure we ever really had a holiday meal on the family set.
- 5/11/2017
- by Dennis O'Neil
- Comicmix.com
Lily Tomlin was just honored with a Life Achievement Award at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards (where she delivered a handful of memorable zingers.)
Tomlin is one of America’s living treasures of comedy and acting — not only is she among the country’s most decorated performers, but she’s one of the most historically groundbreaking. In case you needed to get caught up on her life, or really just needed some reasons to love her as much as we do, we compiled a bunch.
1. She was born in Detroit. (Not necessarily a carte blanche reason to like someone,...
Tomlin is one of America’s living treasures of comedy and acting — not only is she among the country’s most decorated performers, but she’s one of the most historically groundbreaking. In case you needed to get caught up on her life, or really just needed some reasons to love her as much as we do, we compiled a bunch.
1. She was born in Detroit. (Not necessarily a carte blanche reason to like someone,...
- 1/30/2017
- by Alex Heigl
- PEOPLE.com
As if there were any doubt, Lily Tomlin reminded the world of her singular talents as she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
Taking the stage at the 23rd annual SAG Awards, the acclaimed actress, comedian, writer and producer accepted the honor from Dolly Parton, her longtime friend and costar in the 1980 comedy hit Nine to Five.
Tomlin took the stage to accept the award, joking that it came “just in the nick of time.”
“What a week this has been though. You are kind of anti-climactic,” she joked. “Doomsday clock moved...
Taking the stage at the 23rd annual SAG Awards, the acclaimed actress, comedian, writer and producer accepted the honor from Dolly Parton, her longtime friend and costar in the 1980 comedy hit Nine to Five.
Tomlin took the stage to accept the award, joking that it came “just in the nick of time.”
“What a week this has been though. You are kind of anti-climactic,” she joked. “Doomsday clock moved...
- 1/30/2017
- by Oliver Gettell and Jodi Guglielmi
- PEOPLE.com
This episode of Bones, titled "The Final Chapter: The New Tricks in the Old Dogs," humorously rounds out the first quarter of the final season. Each Bones couple discusses how they feel about having more babies, resulting in Brennan making an uncomfortable demand on her squeamish mate. While these three couples discuss sex as a means of procreation, the case highlights an entirely different outlook on sex as it centers on the very active and intimate romantic relationship of two octogenarians in a retirement community.
As the case is all about a retirement home community, it brings several delightful and distinguished guest stars to the small screen. Those of us who have been around for a handful of decades will appreciate the appearance of the legendary seven-time Emmy Award-winning Ed Asner, who is known best for his characterization of Lou Grant, Mary Richards' acerbic news director, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...
As the case is all about a retirement home community, it brings several delightful and distinguished guest stars to the small screen. Those of us who have been around for a handful of decades will appreciate the appearance of the legendary seven-time Emmy Award-winning Ed Asner, who is known best for his characterization of Lou Grant, Mary Richards' acerbic news director, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...
- 1/17/2017
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
Tracy Morgan knows the power of laughter, and it's something he credits his "comedic hero" Eddie Murphy with bringing back into his life.
"When I first came out of my coma, I spoke to Eddie on the phone, and he was the first one to make me laugh – and that's why I love you," Morgan said in a touching moment during Sunday's taping of the 18th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony honoring Murphy.
"He's the reason why I'm in comedy, he's the reason why I have a job, he's the reason why I have a career," said Morgan,...
"When I first came out of my coma, I spoke to Eddie on the phone, and he was the first one to make me laugh – and that's why I love you," Morgan said in a touching moment during Sunday's taping of the 18th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony honoring Murphy.
"He's the reason why I'm in comedy, he's the reason why I have a job, he's the reason why I have a career," said Morgan,...
- 10/19/2015
- by Arnesa A. Howell
- People.com - TV Watch
Carol Burnett – comedic trailblazer, actor, singer, dancer, producer and author – has been named the 52nd recipient of SAG-aftra’s highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Burnett will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Burnett’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes multiple Emmys, a special Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and both a Kennedy Center Honor and its Mark Twain Prize for Humor.
In making today’s announcement, SAG-aftra President Ken Howard said, “Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius.
In making today’s announcement, SAG-aftra President Ken Howard said, “Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius.
- 7/20/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Update, 10 Pm: Adds Betty Buckley review at end. Hal Holbrook mimicked Mark Twain of Hannibal, Missouri; Tovah Feldshuh did Golda Meir from Kiev and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Julie Harris played Emily Dickinson from Amherst, Massachusetts. Now comes Jim Parsons perhaps responding to a Higher Calling, playing God from Grossinger’s, of Borscht Belt, New York. I would add “Oy,” but that would raise the comic level of An Act Of God a notch or two. No, really. The 90-minute show…...
- 5/29/2015
- Deadline TV
The 87th Academy Award nominations for 2015 were recently released on January 15, 2015 representing the excellence in film for the previous year. Naturally there was the standard controversy regarding those films and performances that got unfairly overlooked. Unfortunately, the perceived snubs do happen from year to year so this goes along with the territory. Nevertheless, the lucky selections that do manage to grab Oscar’s attention are understandably grateful and psyched to see if the golden statuette will in fact go home with them on the film industry’s biggest and most elegant evening.
With the obvious crankiness of Oscar omissions aside and the injustices that go with these “reel” deals has anyone ever considered the Academy Award nominees that are surprisingly recognized that could have gone unnoticed for whatever reasoning? After all there are films and exceptional performances that get lost in the shuffle but manage to get the accolades it...
With the obvious crankiness of Oscar omissions aside and the injustices that go with these “reel” deals has anyone ever considered the Academy Award nominees that are surprisingly recognized that could have gone unnoticed for whatever reasoning? After all there are films and exceptional performances that get lost in the shuffle but manage to get the accolades it...
- 1/25/2015
- by Frank Ochieng
- SoundOnSight
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey screens 6:00pm Sunday, November 23rd at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. Ticket information can be found Here
Review by Kathy Kaiser
Director Scott Teems brings to a life a documentary that will touch you in a profound and intensely gratifying way, as he takes you deep into the life of American Author Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain – but through the eyes and 60 year career of American icon and prolific actor, Hal Holbrook. Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey tells the tale of Hal Holbrook’s life and legacy playing the legendary author Mark Twain – as told by fellow actors, mentors, even Twain historians, who share how Holbrook’s constant and unwavering presence in theaters on Broadway and all across our nation, in 20 foreign countries, in front of five President’s – even performing behind the iron curtain,...
Review by Kathy Kaiser
Director Scott Teems brings to a life a documentary that will touch you in a profound and intensely gratifying way, as he takes you deep into the life of American Author Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain – but through the eyes and 60 year career of American icon and prolific actor, Hal Holbrook. Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey tells the tale of Hal Holbrook’s life and legacy playing the legendary author Mark Twain – as told by fellow actors, mentors, even Twain historians, who share how Holbrook’s constant and unwavering presence in theaters on Broadway and all across our nation, in 20 foreign countries, in front of five President’s – even performing behind the iron curtain,...
- 11/21/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Tickets for the 2014-15 Boldt Arts Alive Series at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center will go on sale Monday, September 15 at 10 a.m. The Boldt Arts Alive Series features 14 culturally rich titles and features Cirque Peking Oct. 28, Smokey Joe's Cafe Nov. 6,Disney's Fantasia Live in Concert with the Fox Valley Symphony Nov. 8 and Ballroom with a TwistFeb. 10. Tickets for Julie Fowlis Music of the Scottish Isles Oct. 25, The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Rock Extravaganza Nov. 15, Buddy Guy Nov. 26 and Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain TonightApril 24 also go on sale Sept. 15. See below for a full listing and starting ticket prices.
- 9/5/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Dick Smith, widely regarded as one of the all-time great Hollywood makeup artists, has passed away at age 92. Among his crowning achievements: designing the makeup for Marlon Brando in "The Godfather", Linda Blair in "The Exorcist" , an ancient Dustin Hoffman in "Little Big Man" and F. Murray Abraham as the aging Salieri in "Amadeus". Smith also designed the makeup for young Hal Holbrook in his landmark 1967 TV special "Mark Twain Tonight". Smith was still being accorded honors as recently as this year. Smith's other films include "The Godfather Part II", "Marathon Man" and "The Deer Hunter". For more click here...
- 7/31/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
One of the new sections at this year’s La Film Fest is called La Muse, centering on films with a Los Angeles flavor. Most of the movies in the section are narrative features, but one documentary, Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey, stands out as one of the best films showcased in the entire festival. As the title suggests, the picture focuses on Hal Holbrook’s long career portraying Mark Twain in his award-winning stage show, which was also filmed for television in the 1960s. While director Scott Teems gives a lot of attention to the Twain show, he also draws
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- 6/19/2014
- by Stephen Farber
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There's no word that suits Hal Holbrook better than 'legend.' The 89-year-old actor and veteran has a career stretching back sixty years, with a long history of movie roles (most famously playing Deep Throat in "All The President's Men"), and continues to work regularly today, winning an Oscar nomination for his part in "Into The Wild," and currently appearing on acclaimed TV series "Rectify." But perhaps more than anything, he's known for playing the great American writer Mark Twain: he's been playing the "Tom Sawyer" author for sixty years in one-man show "Mark Twain Tonight!," winning a Tony and an Emmy for his trouble. And now it's coming to the big screen, with Scott Teems (who directed Holbrook in the underseen and way underrated "That Evening Sun") helming a documentary "Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey" which was snuck in at the Laff last night before premiering officially at AFI Docs on Wednesday.
- 6/16/2014
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
AFI Docs has unveiled its full 2014 program, a slate of 84 buzzed-about films from 28 countries that will unspool from June 18-22 in Washington DC and Silver Spring, MD. As previously announced, the fest gets going with "Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey," the opening night selection from director Scott Teems that follows celebrated character actor Hal Holbrook on the tour of his popular one-man show "Mark Twain Tonight!" Teems and Holbrook will attend this world premiere. Now in its 12th year, AFI Docs will then close with Steve James' acclaimed Sundance documentary about the life of film critic Roger Ebert, "Life Itself." This screening arrives ahead of the film's July 4th theatrical release. (Read our interview with James here, and review of the film here.) Notably, the annual AFI Docs Charles Guggenheim Symposium will honor Oscar-winning, prolific documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney. President of busy Jigsaw Productions, Gibney directed "We Steal Secrets: The Story of.
- 5/21/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The American Film Institute’s documentary film festival, AFI Docs, has revealed the opening and closing night films for its 2014 edition of the fest. The world premiere of Scott Teems’ “Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey” will kick off the festival, while Steve James’ portrait of Roger Ebert, “Life Itself,” is the closer. “Holbrook/Twain” celebrates actor Hal Holbrook (“The Evening Sun”) by going behind the scenes of his well-known one-man show “Mark Twain Tonight,” which has been running continuously over the past six decades. James' documentary is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name, and follows the life of the highly influential film critic from his first career moves, through his success with Gene Siskel as TV’s first critic personalities, to the devastation of losing his physical voice to cancer and the ways he navigated that loss to continue his writing. Our Toh! review of the film out of Sundance is here.
- 5/15/2014
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
AFI Docs will open and close this year's installment of the festival with two quintessential American character studies: "Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey" and "Life Itself." Helmed by "Hoop Dreams" director Steve James, "Life Itself" peers into the life of the beloved late film critic Roger Ebert. "Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey," which will have its world premiere at this year's AFI Docs, centers on award-winning actor Hal Holbrook, who, in addition to maintaining a robust career in Hollywood, has been continuously performing his one man show "Mark Twain Tonight!" for the past 60 years. Holbrook will be in attendance to introduce the film on the opening night of AFI Docs, which will take place on June 18th at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.. "Life Itself" will close out the festival on June 21st at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
- 5/15/2014
- by Shipra Gupta
- Indiewire
The year now ending marks another 12-month period of losing talents who have given television viewers entertainment or information ... and some of those passings, even more sadly, came as major and untimely shocks. Zap2it remembers:
Paul Walker: The actor best-known for the "Fast & Furious" movies had career roots in such TV shows as "Who's the Boss?" "Highway to Heaven" and "Touched by an Angel."
James Gandolfini: He projected so much older as mobster Tony Soprano, many were surprised to learn the three-time Emmy winner only was in his 30s and 40s when he played the part.
Cory Monteith: As Finn Hudson on "Glee," the Canadian-born performer touched fans of all ages both in life and afterward.
Jean Stapleton: Forever TV's top "dingbat," the "All in the Family" actress earned three Emmys as lovably daffy Edith Bunker.
Jonathan Winters: The improvisation genius who inspired his...
Paul Walker: The actor best-known for the "Fast & Furious" movies had career roots in such TV shows as "Who's the Boss?" "Highway to Heaven" and "Touched by an Angel."
James Gandolfini: He projected so much older as mobster Tony Soprano, many were surprised to learn the three-time Emmy winner only was in his 30s and 40s when he played the part.
Cory Monteith: As Finn Hudson on "Glee," the Canadian-born performer touched fans of all ages both in life and afterward.
Jean Stapleton: Forever TV's top "dingbat," the "All in the Family" actress earned three Emmys as lovably daffy Edith Bunker.
Jonathan Winters: The improvisation genius who inspired his...
- 12/31/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Los Angeles -- For a moment, Lily Tomlin was 73 going on 40.
In the comedy "Admission," starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, Tomlin plays the young-at-heart seventy-something feminist mother of Fey's university admissions officer.
"When we first sat down, I think I'm their age," Tomlin recalled. "They started asking me about `Nine to Five' and `(The Incredible) Shrinking Woman.' Ha ... they were like 10, 12 years old (when I did those things)."
Like "Admission," which opens Friday, Tomlin's story is very much that of a daughter and mother. Born Mary Jean Tomlin, the comic and actress has been paying homage to her mom since the start of her career, when she adopted "Lily" as a stage name.
"(She) lived to be 91 and was somewhat infirmed by the time she was in her late 80s," Tomlin said. "But she still was funny and wonderful and sweet, so I doubt she felt that old,...
In the comedy "Admission," starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, Tomlin plays the young-at-heart seventy-something feminist mother of Fey's university admissions officer.
"When we first sat down, I think I'm their age," Tomlin recalled. "They started asking me about `Nine to Five' and `(The Incredible) Shrinking Woman.' Ha ... they were like 10, 12 years old (when I did those things)."
Like "Admission," which opens Friday, Tomlin's story is very much that of a daughter and mother. Born Mary Jean Tomlin, the comic and actress has been paying homage to her mom since the start of her career, when she adopted "Lily" as a stage name.
"(She) lived to be 91 and was somewhat infirmed by the time she was in her late 80s," Tomlin said. "But she still was funny and wonderful and sweet, so I doubt she felt that old,...
- 3/21/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Influential African Americans have attacked Quentin Tarantino's film for what they say is an inappropriate tone. Author and director Candace Allen explains why she disagrees
In the mid-1990s when my sister and I were nursing an A-list star's film project through what I came to term "Hollywood Nightmare No 1" and I, the writer, became daunted by the madness, my sister sought to steel my nerve by quoting sacred text from the La-la Land bible: "Remember, it ain't show art. It's show business."
As we consider the trajectory of Quentin Tarantino's much-anticipated Django Unchained this is a, if not the, salient thought to keep in mind. Irreverent, B-movie and grotesquerie devotee, n-word bandying, sometimes brilliant, usually outrageous, Tarantino directs his talents towards slavery. Cue the claque and all the usual suspects. From the film's announcement in early 2011, when copies of the 166-page Qt-annotated script first began to circulate in the film blogosphere,...
In the mid-1990s when my sister and I were nursing an A-list star's film project through what I came to term "Hollywood Nightmare No 1" and I, the writer, became daunted by the madness, my sister sought to steel my nerve by quoting sacred text from the La-la Land bible: "Remember, it ain't show art. It's show business."
As we consider the trajectory of Quentin Tarantino's much-anticipated Django Unchained this is a, if not the, salient thought to keep in mind. Irreverent, B-movie and grotesquerie devotee, n-word bandying, sometimes brilliant, usually outrageous, Tarantino directs his talents towards slavery. Cue the claque and all the usual suspects. From the film's announcement in early 2011, when copies of the 166-page Qt-annotated script first began to circulate in the film blogosphere,...
- 1/11/2013
- by Candace Allen
- The Guardian - Film News
Tags: SNLWe KilledbooksBook ReviewsEllen DeGeneresSandra BernhardLily TomlinIMDb
It's crazy to read a book like Yael Kohen's We Killed and know that people still make statements like "Women aren't funny." The newly released oral history of women in comedy over the last 50 years is a reminder that not only are women hilarious, but they are smart, persistent and unwilling to back down when faced with the sexism and adversity they've been dealt whether it's been in comedy clubs, writing rooms or late night TV shows.
Comedy is not just entertainment: It has the power to enlighten and educate, no matter how subtle it might be presented. What you'll get from We Killed is a sense of how progressive women have proven to be, from the pioneers like Phyllis Diller and Elaine May to the alternative comics of the '90s like Janeane Garofalo up through today's boundary-smashing Sarah Silverman, for whom no topic is untouchable.
It's crazy to read a book like Yael Kohen's We Killed and know that people still make statements like "Women aren't funny." The newly released oral history of women in comedy over the last 50 years is a reminder that not only are women hilarious, but they are smart, persistent and unwilling to back down when faced with the sexism and adversity they've been dealt whether it's been in comedy clubs, writing rooms or late night TV shows.
Comedy is not just entertainment: It has the power to enlighten and educate, no matter how subtle it might be presented. What you'll get from We Killed is a sense of how progressive women have proven to be, from the pioneers like Phyllis Diller and Elaine May to the alternative comics of the '90s like Janeane Garofalo up through today's boundary-smashing Sarah Silverman, for whom no topic is untouchable.
- 11/8/2012
- by trishbendix
- AfterEllen.com
The Raising Hope gang is spending Halloween discovering the local gay bar.
As you might expect after last night, the schedule is still in flux. Tonight's episodes of Go On and The New Normal have already been preempted for storm coverage.
News
Castle just did a bit of last-minute recasting to the guest-cast of an upcoming episode, adding Mark Deklin to an episode that already has soap vets Nancy Lee Grahn and Jack Wagner.
Canadian channels Movie Central and The Movie Network have ordered a six episode season of a North American version of British comedy Sensitive Skin. I don't usually follow Canadian TV developments, but this remake will star Sex and the City alum Kim Cattrall (who previously tried to sell the series to HBO) which makes it likely it'll travel south and air in the states. The series (which originally starred Joanna Lumley) follows a hip London couple...
As you might expect after last night, the schedule is still in flux. Tonight's episodes of Go On and The New Normal have already been preempted for storm coverage.
News
Castle just did a bit of last-minute recasting to the guest-cast of an upcoming episode, adding Mark Deklin to an episode that already has soap vets Nancy Lee Grahn and Jack Wagner.
Canadian channels Movie Central and The Movie Network have ordered a six episode season of a North American version of British comedy Sensitive Skin. I don't usually follow Canadian TV developments, but this remake will star Sex and the City alum Kim Cattrall (who previously tried to sell the series to HBO) which makes it likely it'll travel south and air in the states. The series (which originally starred Joanna Lumley) follows a hip London couple...
- 10/30/2012
- by LyleMasaki
- The Backlot
Tags: Afternoon DelightLucy LawlessEllen DeGeneresLily TomlinAlly SheedyPsychCynthia NixonCowgirl UpMandy MusgraveIMDb
Good afternoon!
Happy birthday to Susan Sarandon, Rachael Leigh Cook, Alicia Silverstone and Sarah Warn!
Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve in the queer vampire film "The Hunger"
On October 22 (my birthday) Ellen DeGeneres will be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. DeGeneres will be honored by celebrity speakers Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Hayes and Lily Tomlin at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The event will air on October 30th on PBS so make sure to watch!
Xena's Lucy Lawless joins the cast of Parks and Recreation. Watch the below clip as Lawless explains her love for the show and the “sexy” Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman.
High Art's Ally Sheedy will reprise her role as a serial killer on Psych's two-hour musical episode.
Photo by Cindy Ord...
Good afternoon!
Happy birthday to Susan Sarandon, Rachael Leigh Cook, Alicia Silverstone and Sarah Warn!
Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve in the queer vampire film "The Hunger"
On October 22 (my birthday) Ellen DeGeneres will be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. DeGeneres will be honored by celebrity speakers Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Hayes and Lily Tomlin at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The event will air on October 30th on PBS so make sure to watch!
Xena's Lucy Lawless joins the cast of Parks and Recreation. Watch the below clip as Lawless explains her love for the show and the “sexy” Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman.
High Art's Ally Sheedy will reprise her role as a serial killer on Psych's two-hour musical episode.
Photo by Cindy Ord...
- 10/4/2012
- by Bridget McManus
- AfterEllen.com
Into The Wild star Hal Holbrook is to become the first recipient of the Mark Twain Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts to boost awareness of the literary icon's work.
The actor, who has starred in two major Twain documentaries and often performs as the author onstage in one-man shows, will be honoured by officials at The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri in November, when he performs his Mark Twain Tonight! play in the town.
Holbrook, 87, also stars in new Twain film Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey.
The actor, who has starred in two major Twain documentaries and often performs as the author onstage in one-man shows, will be honoured by officials at The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri in November, when he performs his Mark Twain Tonight! play in the town.
Holbrook, 87, also stars in new Twain film Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey.
- 5/20/2012
- WENN
His drivers license reads Greg Smith. His patients call him Dr. Smith. His "Survivor" nickname was Tarzan. My recaps called him Muscular Mark Twain. On "Survivor: One World," Tarzan was often a subject of mockery. He had trouble with names. His vocabulary stumped Jeff Probst. And in one unfortunately incident he was accused of attempting to clear his soiled drawers in the camp water supply. But was he also the man masterminding all of Colton Cumbie's big moves? Was he the power behind the throne helping Kim and Chelsea advance their "Survivor" causes? That's...
- 5/12/2012
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Though he’s played plenty of other roles as well, including a critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated turn in Into The Wild, Hal Holbrook has made a career out of donning a white suit and channeling the impish spirit of beloved author, humorist and raconteur Mark Twain. Holbrook has been slipping inside Twain’s folksy personage for nearly a half-century now (since 1954), picking up a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Emmy nomination in the process. The 87-year-old Holbrook continues to perform intermittently as Twain but the avuncular thespian better watch his fucking ass because there’s a new Mark Twain ...
- 3/15/2012
- avclub.com
Danish director Susanne Bier – whose In A Better World won last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar – will direct an adaption of Abraham Verghese‘s best-seller Cutting For Stone for Anonymous Content. [Variety]
The film, scripted by That Evening Sun writer-director Scott Teems, will be “a riveting saga of twin brothers, Marion and Shiva Stone, born of a tragic union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, and bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.” Synopsis courtesy of the novel’s website. This Sunday marks the novel’s impressive 105th consecutive New York Times’ trade paperback bestseller list, indicating a high level of public interest in this story.
Bier...
The film, scripted by That Evening Sun writer-director Scott Teems, will be “a riveting saga of twin brothers, Marion and Shiva Stone, born of a tragic union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, and bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.” Synopsis courtesy of the novel’s website. This Sunday marks the novel’s impressive 105th consecutive New York Times’ trade paperback bestseller list, indicating a high level of public interest in this story.
Bier...
- 2/9/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Comedians are literally paid to say provocative things, but typically even their most shocking material has been massaged down for maximum digestibility. But after two and a half seasons working on one of the most incisive and incendiary comedy shows in the last decade, "The Chappelle Show," Neal Brennan is bold even by normal standards of button-pushing. Even when he was offering his email address, whose slightly older portal I observed that we share, his response was, "yeah, fuck everybody!" Of course, that was at the end of a long interview in which he'd already offered quite a few observations and opinions some readers - much less colleagues - might find objectionable.
In this epic conversation with IFC, Brennan held nothing back as he discussed his comedic upbringing, his background as a writer and performer of race-sensitive (and let's face it, sometimes insensitive) material, the state of contemporary comedy, and...
In this epic conversation with IFC, Brennan held nothing back as he discussed his comedic upbringing, his background as a writer and performer of race-sensitive (and let's face it, sometimes insensitive) material, the state of contemporary comedy, and...
- 11/30/2011
- by IFC
- ifc.com
Seventy years after The Grapes of Wrath was published, its themes – corporate greed, joblessness – are back with a vengeance. Melvyn Bragg on John Steinbeck's remarkable legacy
I read The Grapes of Wrath in that fierce span of adolescence when reading was a frenzy. I was all but drowned in the pity and anger John Steinbeck evoked for these people, fleeing Oklahoma to seek work but finding nothing save cruelty, violence, the enmity of immoral banks and businesses, and the neglect by the state of its own people in the Land of the Free. The novel was published in 1939 and delivered a shock to the English reading world.
But for years I did not read him. Earlier this year, when asked to make a film about Steinbeck for the BBC, I went back with apprehension. The peaks of one's adolescent reading can prove troughs in late middle age. Life moves on; not all books do.
I read The Grapes of Wrath in that fierce span of adolescence when reading was a frenzy. I was all but drowned in the pity and anger John Steinbeck evoked for these people, fleeing Oklahoma to seek work but finding nothing save cruelty, violence, the enmity of immoral banks and businesses, and the neglect by the state of its own people in the Land of the Free. The novel was published in 1939 and delivered a shock to the English reading world.
But for years I did not read him. Earlier this year, when asked to make a film about Steinbeck for the BBC, I went back with apprehension. The peaks of one's adolescent reading can prove troughs in late middle age. Life moves on; not all books do.
- 11/22/2011
- by Melvyn Bragg
- The Guardian - Film News
The elusive playwright's genius is examined again in Roland Emmerich's new film. But while the debate about who wrote the plays rages, only one thing remains sure: by his works shall we know him
During an age of conspiracy theories, nurtured by the world wide web, none perhaps is as persistent as the mystery of William Shakespeare. How could one man write such universal plays?
Anonymous, a forthcoming film by Roland Emmerich, the director of disaster movies such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, addresses the Shakespeare authorship question in a mash-up of fact and fiction that will reignite the perennial fascination with an elusive genius, some say the greatest writer who ever lived.
It's always the frustration of Shakespeare that, although his words are everywhere, the man is invisible. Anonymous exploits this, inviting audiences to entertain the ultimate plot: that the writer of Macbeth or The Tempest is not,...
During an age of conspiracy theories, nurtured by the world wide web, none perhaps is as persistent as the mystery of William Shakespeare. How could one man write such universal plays?
Anonymous, a forthcoming film by Roland Emmerich, the director of disaster movies such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, addresses the Shakespeare authorship question in a mash-up of fact and fiction that will reignite the perennial fascination with an elusive genius, some say the greatest writer who ever lived.
It's always the frustration of Shakespeare that, although his words are everywhere, the man is invisible. Anonymous exploits this, inviting audiences to entertain the ultimate plot: that the writer of Macbeth or The Tempest is not,...
- 10/24/2011
- by Robert McCrum
- The Guardian - Film News
Towards the end of his interview on the New York Times Book Review podcast, John Lithgow, whose new memoir, Drama: An Actor's Education, is reviewed by Ada Calhoun, along with Hal Holbrook's Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain, tells Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus that acting "really only exists while it's happening…. The more that an actor can accommodate himself to the truth that he will eventually be forgotten, the better off he is." Naturally, Tanenhaus asks, "Even film performances?" That's when Lithgow recounts an "appalling moment" from the days when he was working with "my dear young protege," Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who overheard some of the older actors talking on the set of 3rd Rock from the Sun, and asked, "Who's Cary Grant?"
Of course, Gordon-Levitt was young at the time — this would have been well over ten years ago now — but for anyone needing a refresher, do...
Of course, Gordon-Levitt was young at the time — this would have been well over ten years ago now — but for anyone needing a refresher, do...
- 10/2/2011
- MUBI
New York Post: What death of the soap opera says about our economy, unions
Union super-minimum wages lead directly to high unemployment. AFTRA requires each of the main performers to be paid at least $913 a day, but stars get much more.
Seventeen Writers Guild jobs disappear when the two ABC soaps go dark. They aren’t getting paid in Palmolive, either. Head writers (of whom there might be more than one) get at least $35,345 a week. Writing expenses are minimal on reality, which the WGA hasn’t successfully penetrated yet.
An AFTRA source who didn’t want to be identified says, “We’re certainly mindful of the challenges the industry faces,” although not mindful enough to back down on their main goal: “We want to increase pay and benefits for our members.”
Hundreds of Iatse members are going to be out of work. Even unionized reality programs like ABC’s...
Union super-minimum wages lead directly to high unemployment. AFTRA requires each of the main performers to be paid at least $913 a day, but stars get much more.
Seventeen Writers Guild jobs disappear when the two ABC soaps go dark. They aren’t getting paid in Palmolive, either. Head writers (of whom there might be more than one) get at least $35,345 a week. Writing expenses are minimal on reality, which the WGA hasn’t successfully penetrated yet.
An AFTRA source who didn’t want to be identified says, “We’re certainly mindful of the challenges the industry faces,” although not mindful enough to back down on their main goal: “We want to increase pay and benefits for our members.”
Hundreds of Iatse members are going to be out of work. Even unionized reality programs like ABC’s...
- 4/24/2011
- by We Love Soaps TV
- We Love Soaps
The Actors Fund will be honoring Tony winner Hal Holbrook during their annual Los Angeles screening of the best of Broadway kudocast. The award, named for five-time Tony champ Julie Harris, will be presented at the end of the evening, following the airing of the Tony Awards. The event at the Skirball Center will be produced and written by Marc Cherry (producer/creator of "Desperate Housewives") and David Rambo (producer/writer of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"). Holbrook won Best Play Actor in 1966 for "Mark Twain Tonight!" He contended for the first of 12 Emmys for his taped performance of that role the following year. He won Best Drama Actor for "The Bold Ones" in 1971, both Best Movie Actor and Actor of the Year for "Pueblo" in 1974, Best Limited Series Actor for "Lincoln" in 1976 and Best Performance in Informational Programming in 1989 for "Alaska." Most recently, he contended for his first Oscar ...
- 3/28/2011
- Gold Derby
Nan A. Talese
In some universe warp the literary stars of New York’s brilliant 1950’s and 60’s may still be drinking and smoking and casting about for available young bodies and jostling each other seeking to dominate, to charm, to out drink, to dazzle. Their minds may be racing to find the words that might end an argument or begin one.
Today we live in the rehab world of Hazeldon and Betty Ford and family interventions, of nicotine patches...
In some universe warp the literary stars of New York’s brilliant 1950’s and 60’s may still be drinking and smoking and casting about for available young bodies and jostling each other seeking to dominate, to charm, to out drink, to dazzle. Their minds may be racing to find the words that might end an argument or begin one.
Today we live in the rehab world of Hazeldon and Betty Ford and family interventions, of nicotine patches...
- 2/24/2011
- by Anne Roiphe
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Hal Holbrook recently spoke with Paste about Mark Twain when we named the great American author our 2010 Man of the Year in Nonfiction. Holbrook, of course, has portayed Twain in the one man show Mark Twain Tonight! for over half a century, and currently, That Evening Sun director Scott Teems is in production on a documentary, Holbrook/Twain, that explores the cultural touchstone. At one point, the conversation turned to Holbrook’s late wife, actress Dixie Carter. His reminiscences were so sweet that we pulled them out for a short Valentine’s Day special....
- 2/14/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
Hal Holbrook marked the 175th anniversary of Mark Twain's birthday with a special performance of his one-man play dedicated to the legendary writer.
The veteran actor took to the stage at the Clemens Center in Elmira, New York on Tuesday to mark the milestone with his tribute show Mark Twain Tonight!, which sees Holbrook portray Twain and read from his most famous works.
The theatre's lights dimmed before the performance and the crowd joined in the special occasion by singing Happy Birthday to Twain, while Holbrook received a standing ovation.
The 85 year old also paid tribute to his hero, telling the crowd, "I really don't think there is anybody you can compare him to. Nobody's close to Mark Twain."...
The veteran actor took to the stage at the Clemens Center in Elmira, New York on Tuesday to mark the milestone with his tribute show Mark Twain Tonight!, which sees Holbrook portray Twain and read from his most famous works.
The theatre's lights dimmed before the performance and the crowd joined in the special occasion by singing Happy Birthday to Twain, while Holbrook received a standing ovation.
The 85 year old also paid tribute to his hero, telling the crowd, "I really don't think there is anybody you can compare him to. Nobody's close to Mark Twain."...
- 12/1/2010
- WENN
Review by Dane Marti
Based on a novel by Florence Biros and directed by Edward D. McDougal, Dog Jack takes place during the tumultuous Civil War. You remember that, right? Not a lot of fun? It was the major turning point in American history and bringing to close the evil, inhumane practice of slavery. Of course, the war didn’t end racism in the south or anywhere, but it certainly started humanity on the right path, even if many consider States-Rights to have been violated.
While there are many great films based on history, including war films, the Civil War has only occasionally been the focus of a motion picture: Obviously, there are a few that stand out: the famous, epic and controversial, Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind are two big examples of important cinematic works. Director John Huston gave us Audie Murphy (the WWII War...
Based on a novel by Florence Biros and directed by Edward D. McDougal, Dog Jack takes place during the tumultuous Civil War. You remember that, right? Not a lot of fun? It was the major turning point in American history and bringing to close the evil, inhumane practice of slavery. Of course, the war didn’t end racism in the south or anywhere, but it certainly started humanity on the right path, even if many consider States-Rights to have been violated.
While there are many great films based on history, including war films, the Civil War has only occasionally been the focus of a motion picture: Obviously, there are a few that stand out: the famous, epic and controversial, Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind are two big examples of important cinematic works. Director John Huston gave us Audie Murphy (the WWII War...
- 11/21/2010
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"I Know Who You Are"
Simon Lee survived the building collapse, hooray! But is strongly suspected of being an informant, or maybe even an alien, boo! Plus discovery looms as soon as Murphy gets out of the trunk Simon put him in. We get some insight into Creepy Sterling’s past history, and we find out that he’s crazy paranoid because his sweet wife was a Russian spy. And also, apparently creepy is hereditary because his dad is freaking me right out. Leila and Sean find a list of names and numbers in Michael’s attic, and the nutty journalist takes them to her nutty hacker friend who tells them it’s a list of missing little girls and La-based shell corporations right before he explodes his apartment all up. We meet Vicky and the Cpa assassins’ boss, and it’s Hal Holbrook. ( Hi, Hal!) Sophia is Thomas’ mother,...
Simon Lee survived the building collapse, hooray! But is strongly suspected of being an informant, or maybe even an alien, boo! Plus discovery looms as soon as Murphy gets out of the trunk Simon put him in. We get some insight into Creepy Sterling’s past history, and we find out that he’s crazy paranoid because his sweet wife was a Russian spy. And also, apparently creepy is hereditary because his dad is freaking me right out. Leila and Sean find a list of names and numbers in Michael’s attic, and the nutty journalist takes them to her nutty hacker friend who tells them it’s a list of missing little girls and La-based shell corporations right before he explodes his apartment all up. We meet Vicky and the Cpa assassins’ boss, and it’s Hal Holbrook. ( Hi, Hal!) Sophia is Thomas’ mother,...
- 11/12/2010
- Shadowlocked
Elegant and charming supporting actor with more than 200 credits over a 70-year career
Kevin McCarthy, who has died aged 96, notched up more than 70 years as a working actor on stage and screen, with more than 200 film and TV credits. However mundane the material, it was usually enhanced by his lazy charm and natural elegance, his intriguing baritone voice and unconventional good looks – all attributes that might well have led him down the political path of his cousin, senator Eugene McCarthy. As it happened, he preferred to play politicians rather than be one.
He received his first screen credit in Laslo Benedek's version of Death of a Salesman (1951). McCarthy had previously played Biff, one of Willy Loman's disillusioned sons, in the London production of Arthur Miller's play, in 1949. By the time of the movie, he was a youthful-looking 37, with considerable stage experience. Resuming the role of Biff, he held...
Kevin McCarthy, who has died aged 96, notched up more than 70 years as a working actor on stage and screen, with more than 200 film and TV credits. However mundane the material, it was usually enhanced by his lazy charm and natural elegance, his intriguing baritone voice and unconventional good looks – all attributes that might well have led him down the political path of his cousin, senator Eugene McCarthy. As it happened, he preferred to play politicians rather than be one.
He received his first screen credit in Laslo Benedek's version of Death of a Salesman (1951). McCarthy had previously played Biff, one of Willy Loman's disillusioned sons, in the London production of Arthur Miller's play, in 1949. By the time of the movie, he was a youthful-looking 37, with considerable stage experience. Resuming the role of Biff, he held...
- 9/14/2010
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – “I can’t stop my leg” is the lyric to Robert Klein’s most famous comedy song, and the venerable stand-up comedian still keeps the laughs coming with his brand of observational hilarity. With a career spanning over 45 years, Klein still knocks ‘em dead on his latest HBO Special, “Unfair and Unbalanced.”
Klein’s roots in comedy are right here in Chicago, having spent a year with The Second City improv troupe in 1965 (he auditioned with Fred Willard). On returning to his native New York City, he started doing stand-up, which led him to his big break on a 1970 summer replacement TV show called “Comedy Tonight.”
Symphony for the Comic: Robert Klein in the HBO Special, ‘Unfair and Unbalanced’
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/HBO
He then had several successful comedy albums, including “Child of the Fifties” [1972] and “Mind Over Matter” [1974], which skewed the escalating Watergate scandal of the time.
Klein’s roots in comedy are right here in Chicago, having spent a year with The Second City improv troupe in 1965 (he auditioned with Fred Willard). On returning to his native New York City, he started doing stand-up, which led him to his big break on a 1970 summer replacement TV show called “Comedy Tonight.”
Symphony for the Comic: Robert Klein in the HBO Special, ‘Unfair and Unbalanced’
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/HBO
He then had several successful comedy albums, including “Child of the Fifties” [1972] and “Mind Over Matter” [1974], which skewed the escalating Watergate scandal of the time.
- 6/9/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Hal Holbrook, a multiple Emmy winner who's portrayed the likes of Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln, will be running with Samcro later this year.
Holbrook has signed on for a guest arc on "Sons of Anarchy," FX announced Thursday (April 22). He'll appear in four episodes as Nate Madock, Gemma's (Katey Sagal) father. The show is staying quiet about how Holbrook's character enters the show, saying only that he and Gemma -- who as last season ended had been framed for murder and gone on the lam -- "reconnect through coincidental circumstances."
Holbrook has five Emmys to his credit, including one for his performance in the 1970s miniseries "Lincoln." He was nominated for an Oscar two years ago for his supporting role in "Into the Wild."
Season 3 of "Sons of Anarchy" starts filming Friday and will premiere in September.
- Lisa Kudrow's online series "Web Therapy" is making the jump to a bigger screen.
Holbrook has signed on for a guest arc on "Sons of Anarchy," FX announced Thursday (April 22). He'll appear in four episodes as Nate Madock, Gemma's (Katey Sagal) father. The show is staying quiet about how Holbrook's character enters the show, saying only that he and Gemma -- who as last season ended had been framed for murder and gone on the lam -- "reconnect through coincidental circumstances."
Holbrook has five Emmys to his credit, including one for his performance in the 1970s miniseries "Lincoln." He was nominated for an Oscar two years ago for his supporting role in "Into the Wild."
Season 3 of "Sons of Anarchy" starts filming Friday and will premiere in September.
- Lisa Kudrow's online series "Web Therapy" is making the jump to a bigger screen.
- 4/22/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
As 2009 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the people and events that made this the Best. Lesbian. Decade. Ever. in pop culture.
Luckily for all of us, there was far more information to have mentioned from the last ten years than we could have included in this brief survey. That's why our lists for each year are not intended to be exhaustive, but are instead snapshots of different memorable moments that included the representation of lesbians and bisexual women in film, television, music, literature, comics, sports and the Internet since the year 2000.
2000
Chavela Vargas[/link] comes out
Mexican ranchera music legend Chavela Vargas publicly came out as a lesbian at the tender age of 81.
Angelina Jolie wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar
Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted and told Talk Magazine, "I only play women I would date.
Luckily for all of us, there was far more information to have mentioned from the last ten years than we could have included in this brief survey. That's why our lists for each year are not intended to be exhaustive, but are instead snapshots of different memorable moments that included the representation of lesbians and bisexual women in film, television, music, literature, comics, sports and the Internet since the year 2000.
2000
Chavela Vargas[/link] comes out
Mexican ranchera music legend Chavela Vargas publicly came out as a lesbian at the tender age of 81.
Angelina Jolie wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar
Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted and told Talk Magazine, "I only play women I would date.
- 12/31/2009
- by afterellenstaff
- AfterEllen.com
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