Roger Corman, the legendary B-movie filmmaker who directed, produced, and starred in upwards of 500 films over the course of a staggering eight decade-spanning career, has died. He passed away aged 98 this past Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California.
In a statement posted on Roger’s Instagram to announce his passing, Corman’s wife Julie and daughters Mary and Catherine shared the following: “It is with profound sadness, and boundless gratitude for his extraordinary life, that we remember our beloved husband and father, Roger Corman. He passed away on May 9th, at home in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Julie and his daughters Catherine and Mary. He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him. A devoted and selfless father, he was deeply loved by his daughters. His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age.
In a statement posted on Roger’s Instagram to announce his passing, Corman’s wife Julie and daughters Mary and Catherine shared the following: “It is with profound sadness, and boundless gratitude for his extraordinary life, that we remember our beloved husband and father, Roger Corman. He passed away on May 9th, at home in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Julie and his daughters Catherine and Mary. He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him. A devoted and selfless father, he was deeply loved by his daughters. His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age.
- 5/13/2024
- by Jordan King
- Empire - Movies
A quick question: Do you like The Godfather? How about Goodfellas? Or Gremlins? Or Stop Making Sense, Avatar, Apollo 13, Chinatown, Easy Rider, Paper Moon, Lone Star, or roughly 90 percent of any movies featuring monsters terrorizing pretty ladies from the last 50 years?
You have, in so many ways, Roger Corman to thank for all of them. A producer, director and writer who became a patron saint to an entire generation of filmmakers, the “King of the Bs” either gave the artists behind those movies their start or helped give them...
You have, in so many ways, Roger Corman to thank for all of them. A producer, director and writer who became a patron saint to an entire generation of filmmakers, the “King of the Bs” either gave the artists behind those movies their start or helped give them...
- 5/12/2024
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Roger Corman, the maverick producer of B-movies and iconoclastic subjects whose innovative low-budget enterprises launched the careers of numerous major filmmakers, died on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica. He was 98.
Corman’s career encompassed seven decades and more than 500 producing credits, including early work that launched the careers of major Hollywood figures such as Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, Frances Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Peter Bogdanovich, Gale Anne Hurd, John Sayles, Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme. Yet Corman resented the commercial studio system, and as both producer and as a director himself, he pursued his cheap, no-frills filmmaking style at all costs, while using lowbrow genre tropes as a Trojan horse for socially conscious themes.
Over the years, Corman’s name has been most closely associated with the zany escapist enterprises often referred to as exploitation films, a term he abhorred. With producing credits such...
Corman’s career encompassed seven decades and more than 500 producing credits, including early work that launched the careers of major Hollywood figures such as Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, Frances Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Peter Bogdanovich, Gale Anne Hurd, John Sayles, Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme. Yet Corman resented the commercial studio system, and as both producer and as a director himself, he pursued his cheap, no-frills filmmaking style at all costs, while using lowbrow genre tropes as a Trojan horse for socially conscious themes.
Over the years, Corman’s name has been most closely associated with the zany escapist enterprises often referred to as exploitation films, a term he abhorred. With producing credits such...
- 5/12/2024
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
There is a widespread Westerns’ trope that lies in the transformation of the badass criminals or simply imperfect characters into the people who realize their sins and try to redeem them by helping their companions, family or even chance passers-by.
Here 5 of the Western antagonists, who demonstrate the will to turn to a bright side, discussed in a recent Reddit discussion.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Josey Wales
The fans of the good old Westerns can firstly recall the fierce character of the genre’s king, Clint Eastwood, whose nature is depicted right in the movie’s title. Although he doesn't always keep up the decent morals of Wild West heroes, his villainy can be justified by the grief for his killed family, and he eventually proves his strong desire to return to a calm life as he seeks justice for the weak.
True Grit (2010) - Rooster Cogburn
The Coen...
Here 5 of the Western antagonists, who demonstrate the will to turn to a bright side, discussed in a recent Reddit discussion.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Josey Wales
The fans of the good old Westerns can firstly recall the fierce character of the genre’s king, Clint Eastwood, whose nature is depicted right in the movie’s title. Although he doesn't always keep up the decent morals of Wild West heroes, his villainy can be justified by the grief for his killed family, and he eventually proves his strong desire to return to a calm life as he seeks justice for the weak.
True Grit (2010) - Rooster Cogburn
The Coen...
- 5/8/2024
- by info@startefacts.com (Ava Raxa)
- STartefacts.com
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’ 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.
- 3/8/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
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...
“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...
- 3/8/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Actor John Wayne starred in over 165 movies over the course of his successful career. He starred in several legendary Western films, including Stagecoach and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but there was one that he turned down. As a result, he lost the “top Western star of the year” award, which sent him into a frustrated spiral.
John Wayne had personal drama with Columbia studio head John Wayne | Archive Photos/Getty Images
Filmmaker Raoul Walsh gave Wayne his first opportunity to star in a leading role in 1930’s The Big Trail, which ultimately bombed at the box office. The actor moved to low-budget Western flicks, which offered him consistent work, but they didn’t give him the chance to grow in the way he wanted.
Wayne almost lost it all when he had a contract with Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. The actor acted politely toward a female actor on the studio lot,...
John Wayne had personal drama with Columbia studio head John Wayne | Archive Photos/Getty Images
Filmmaker Raoul Walsh gave Wayne his first opportunity to star in a leading role in 1930’s The Big Trail, which ultimately bombed at the box office. The actor moved to low-budget Western flicks, which offered him consistent work, but they didn’t give him the chance to grow in the way he wanted.
Wayne almost lost it all when he had a contract with Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. The actor acted politely toward a female actor on the studio lot,...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
One of the best yet least seen of John Sturges’ westerns couples a fine screenplay with strong star perfs and superb direction: the straightforward story builds tension throughout. Kirk Douglas is a sheriff out for both justice and revenge and Anthony Quinn is the he-bull rancher who stands in his way: the guilty party is Quinn’s son. It looks sensational in VistaVision, with a fine music score by Dimitri Tiomkin — it’s a pleasure all the way through, with strong support from Carolyn (swoon) Jones, Earl Holliman, Brian Hutton and Brad Dexter.
Last Train from Gun Hill
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 101
1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 95 min. / Street Date December 29, 2021 / Available from Imprint and Amazon / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brad Dexter, Brian G. Hutton, Ziva Rodann, Bing Russell, Val Avery, Walter Sande, John Anderson, Dabbs Greer, Ty Hardin, Glenn Strange, Julius Tannen, Sid Tomack.
Cinematography:...
Last Train from Gun Hill
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 101
1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 95 min. / Street Date December 29, 2021 / Available from Imprint and Amazon / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brad Dexter, Brian G. Hutton, Ziva Rodann, Bing Russell, Val Avery, Walter Sande, John Anderson, Dabbs Greer, Ty Hardin, Glenn Strange, Julius Tannen, Sid Tomack.
Cinematography:...
- 1/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
When Hollywood from time to time reinvented the western the results were sometimes sensationally good, as attested to by this superior neglected classic. We’d call it the first psychological western if the term weren’t so limiting. Gregory Peck once again proves how good he can be when well cast and he’s surrounded by fine characterizations, not typical oater walk-ons. The screenplay and direction are so pleasing that the downbeat finale isn’t a drawback — it doesn’t strain to enforce an irony, or to sell a deep-dish ‘author’s message.’ This one’s just a winner in all categories.
The Gunfighter
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1053
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker, Karl Malden, Skip Homeier, Anthony Ross, Verna Felton, Ellen Corby, Richard Jaeckel, Alan Hale Jr., Mae Marsh, James Millican, Kim Spalding.
The Gunfighter
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1053
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker, Karl Malden, Skip Homeier, Anthony Ross, Verna Felton, Ellen Corby, Richard Jaeckel, Alan Hale Jr., Mae Marsh, James Millican, Kim Spalding.
- 11/21/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
When did Hollywood’s deconstruction of the American Western myth officially break through? Depending on which aficionado you look to, the answer given may be Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969), or Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952), or another venerated film amid the 1950’s great run of what’s come to be recognized as the “psychological Western”. Lurking alone out on the untenable dusty plains, however, is what is quite likely the true candidate, Henry King’s The Gunfighter (1950, written by William Bowers and William Sellers from a story by Bowers and Andre de Toth). Gregory Peck (whose name is as big as the title on the Blu-ray’s cover- an unusual graphic decision for Criterion) plays Jimmy Ringo, the fastest and most feared gun in the West. But the macho pursuit of...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/11/2020
- Screen Anarchy
All but one of the tracks on Bob Dylan’s new album Together Through Life are co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. It’s the most help he’s ever had on a single album, but hardly the first time Dylan has written with a partner. Over the past 45 years he’s shared credit with Tom Petty, Rick Danko, Sam Shepard, Carole Bayer Sager and even Gene Simmons and Michael Bolton. Here are the stories behind five of those collaborations.
“Hurricane” (with Jacques Levy)
Dylan teamed up with New...
“Hurricane” (with Jacques Levy)
Dylan teamed up with New...
- 10/23/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
The Criterion Collection has announced an October release date for its “Parasite” Blu-ray release, a fitting date as the release will mark the one-year anniversary of Bong Joon Ho’s U.S. theatrical release. The Criterion “Parasite” release includes not only a 4K remaster of the original film supervised by Bong Joon Ho himself, but also the movie’s much-touted black-and-white version and new audio commentary track with Bong and film critic Tony Rayns.
“A zeitgeist-defining sensation that distilled a global reckoning over class inequality into a tour de force of pop-cinema subversion, Bong Joon Ho’s genre-scrambling black-comic thriller confirms his status as one of the world’s foremost filmmakers,” Criterion wrote in a statement announcing the film’s October release date. “A bravura showcase for its director’s meticulously constructed set pieces, bolstered by a brilliant ensemble cast and stunning production design, ‘Parasite’ cemented the New Korean Cinema...
“A zeitgeist-defining sensation that distilled a global reckoning over class inequality into a tour de force of pop-cinema subversion, Bong Joon Ho’s genre-scrambling black-comic thriller confirms his status as one of the world’s foremost filmmakers,” Criterion wrote in a statement announcing the film’s October release date. “A bravura showcase for its director’s meticulously constructed set pieces, bolstered by a brilliant ensemble cast and stunning production design, ‘Parasite’ cemented the New Korean Cinema...
- 7/15/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Almost exactly one year since it began its theatrical release in the United States, Bong Joon Ho‘s Parasite is arriving on The Criterion Collection. The Best Picture winner leads their October 2020 lineup, and for those who bought the standard Blu-ray edition earlier this year, you can now plan to give it to a friend as the disc is packed with extras.
Among the special features is the black-and-white version of the film, an audio commentary by Bong Joon Ho and critic Tony Rayns, a feature on the New Korean Cinema movement featuring Bong and Park Chan Wook, a storyboard comparison and more.
Also part of the October lineup is Stephen Frears’ crime drama The Hit, starring Terence Stamp, the Gregory Peck-led western The Gunfighter, John Berry’s Claudine, which features an Oscar-nominated performance by Diahann Carroll, and a new restoration of the Jean-Luc Godard classic Pierrot le fou.
Among the special features is the black-and-white version of the film, an audio commentary by Bong Joon Ho and critic Tony Rayns, a feature on the New Korean Cinema movement featuring Bong and Park Chan Wook, a storyboard comparison and more.
Also part of the October lineup is Stephen Frears’ crime drama The Hit, starring Terence Stamp, the Gregory Peck-led western The Gunfighter, John Berry’s Claudine, which features an Oscar-nominated performance by Diahann Carroll, and a new restoration of the Jean-Luc Godard classic Pierrot le fou.
- 7/15/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
A review of this week’s The Mandalorian, “The Gunslinger,” coming up just as soon as I play cards with my droids…
“The Gunslinger” takes place around and then on the most famous planet in Star Wars lore, Tatooine, and includes familiar landmarks like the Mos Eisley Spaceport (which is festooned with blood-soaked Stormtrooper helmets — if not severed heads?) and the Dune Sea, where Mando and his latest sidekick, Toro, inevitably run into some Tusken Raiders. At the start of their short-lived friendship, Mando and Toro meet at a seedy...
“The Gunslinger” takes place around and then on the most famous planet in Star Wars lore, Tatooine, and includes familiar landmarks like the Mos Eisley Spaceport (which is festooned with blood-soaked Stormtrooper helmets — if not severed heads?) and the Dune Sea, where Mando and his latest sidekick, Toro, inevitably run into some Tusken Raiders. At the start of their short-lived friendship, Mando and Toro meet at a seedy...
- 12/6/2019
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
The following essay is from Peter von Bagh’s book Cinefilia (2013). Drawing on his writings in Filmihullu (1996) and sketches for the catalogue of San Sebastian Film Festival (2007), it was entirely rewritten by von Bagh (1943–2014) for Cinefilia. It is presented here for the first time in English, translated and edited by Antti Alanen, for the occasion of a retrospective dedicated to Henry King at Il Cinema Ritrovato, June 22–30, 2019. Henry King."When direction shows, it's bad." —Henry KingWould I be able to sketch an overview of the film career of Henry King (1886–1982), which started already when D. W. Griffith’s was directing The Birth of a Nation (1915) and ended around the time when John Ford finished The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)? In the following I will try to define certain characteristics of Henry King’s signature, although his films are quite different from one another. What might be in common, for example,...
- 6/13/2019
- MUBI
John Singleton loved talking movies. Sometimes it was about the art behind the process; sometimes it was just for the fun of it. Singleton’s shocking death at 51, after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma, brought the usual pull quotes about Boyz N the Hood, the 1991 film that put the then-22-year-old in the record books as the youngest person — and the first African-American — to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Director. His debut put his subsequent career in the shadows. Yet he persevered, following Boyz with Poetic Justice,...
- 4/29/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
By Todd Garbarini
Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills will be presenting a Digital Cinema Package (Dcp) screening of George Stevens’s 1953 film Shane. The 118-minute film, which stars Alan Ladd as the hero and Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Elisha Cook, Jr., will be screened on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 3:00 pm.
Please Note: At press time, actor/producer David Ladd (son of actor Alan Ladd) will participate in a Q&A after the screening at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre on Sunday, August 26.
From the press release:
Shane (1953)
65th Anniversary Screening
Sunday, August 26, at 3 Pm
Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre
Q&A with David Ladd, Actor-Producer and Son of Alan Ladd
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 65th anniversary screening of one of the most beloved Westerns of all time, George Stevens’ production of 'Shane.' The 1950s happened to be a golden age for cowboy sagas,...
Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills will be presenting a Digital Cinema Package (Dcp) screening of George Stevens’s 1953 film Shane. The 118-minute film, which stars Alan Ladd as the hero and Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Elisha Cook, Jr., will be screened on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 3:00 pm.
Please Note: At press time, actor/producer David Ladd (son of actor Alan Ladd) will participate in a Q&A after the screening at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre on Sunday, August 26.
From the press release:
Shane (1953)
65th Anniversary Screening
Sunday, August 26, at 3 Pm
Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre
Q&A with David Ladd, Actor-Producer and Son of Alan Ladd
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 65th anniversary screening of one of the most beloved Westerns of all time, George Stevens’ production of 'Shane.' The 1950s happened to be a golden age for cowboy sagas,...
- 8/22/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
By John M. Whalen
In MGM’s 1958 Western “The Law and Jake Wade,” Robert Taylor rides down from the Sierra Nevada mountains early one morning into a small town and busts his old partner-in-crime, Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark), out of the hoosegow. Hollister is a nasty guy. Not satisfied with escaping a hanging, to Jake’s dismay, he clubs the sheriff and shoots a couple of people out in the street while he and Jake make their getaway. Jake has to take his rifle away from him to keep from killing more people.
Back up in the mountains Clint wants to ride on with Jake but Jake says no. He busted Clint out of jail because he figured he owed him for doing the same thing for him once. Now they’re even. Clint doesn’t agree. There’s that matter of the $20,000 they stole on their last job together.
In MGM’s 1958 Western “The Law and Jake Wade,” Robert Taylor rides down from the Sierra Nevada mountains early one morning into a small town and busts his old partner-in-crime, Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark), out of the hoosegow. Hollister is a nasty guy. Not satisfied with escaping a hanging, to Jake’s dismay, he clubs the sheriff and shoots a couple of people out in the street while he and Jake make their getaway. Jake has to take his rifle away from him to keep from killing more people.
Back up in the mountains Clint wants to ride on with Jake but Jake says no. He busted Clint out of jail because he figured he owed him for doing the same thing for him once. Now they’re even. Clint doesn’t agree. There’s that matter of the $20,000 they stole on their last job together.
- 11/9/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Many of MGM’s productions were scraping bottom in 1958, yet the studio found one more acceptable western vehicle for their last big star still on contract. Only-slightly corrupt marshal Robert Taylor edges toward a showdown with the thoroughly corrupt Richard Widmark in an economy item given impressive locations and the sound direction of John Sturges.
The Law and Jake Wade
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelley, Henry Silva, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Written by William Bowers from a novel by Marvin H. Albert
Produced by William B. Hawks
Directed by John Sturges
As the 1950s wore down, MGM was finding it more difficult to properly use its last remaining big-ticket stars on the steady payroll, Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor. Cyd...
The Law and Jake Wade
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelley, Henry Silva, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Written by William Bowers from a novel by Marvin H. Albert
Produced by William B. Hawks
Directed by John Sturges
As the 1950s wore down, MGM was finding it more difficult to properly use its last remaining big-ticket stars on the steady payroll, Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor. Cyd...
- 9/2/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
March can be a real bummer when it comes to keeping yourself entertained — good new movies are few and far between, sweeps week is still a few months away, and Hamilton tickets are only getting more expensive. Lucky for us, the new crop of streaming titles is an embarrassment of riches that should keep you binge-watching until spring. Not only is Netflix is delivering new seasons of two marquee shows, but Hulu is wading deeper into the world of original content with a new Aaron Paul prestige drama that's bound to be a "cult" favorite.
- 3/1/2016
- Rollingstone.com
It's fitting that Clint Eastwood and John Wayne both have the same birthday week. (Wayne, who died in 1979, was born May 26, 1907, while Eastwood turns 85 on May 31). After all, these two all-American actors' careers span the history of that most American of movie genres, the western.
Both iconic actors were top box office draws for decades, both seldom stretched from their familiar personas, and both played macho, conservative cowboy heroes who let their firearms do most of the talking. Each represented one of two very different strains of western, the traditional and the revisionist.
As a birthday present to Hollywood's biggest heroes of the Wild West, here are the top 57 westerns you need to see.
57. 'Meek's Cutoff' (2010)
Indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt and her frequent leading lady, Michelle Williams, are the talents behind this sparse, docudrama about an 1845 wagon train whose Oregon Trail journey goes horribly awry. It's an intense...
Both iconic actors were top box office draws for decades, both seldom stretched from their familiar personas, and both played macho, conservative cowboy heroes who let their firearms do most of the talking. Each represented one of two very different strains of western, the traditional and the revisionist.
As a birthday present to Hollywood's biggest heroes of the Wild West, here are the top 57 westerns you need to see.
57. 'Meek's Cutoff' (2010)
Indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt and her frequent leading lady, Michelle Williams, are the talents behind this sparse, docudrama about an 1845 wagon train whose Oregon Trail journey goes horribly awry. It's an intense...
- 5/26/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
A review of tonight's "Justified" coming up just as soon as I call the soft rock militia on you... In one way, you could look at "Burned" as a filler episode, since very little happens to change the larger story arcs. Boyd doesn't get his hands on Markham's cash, and thus Raylan doesn't get to arrest him, but both men intend to keep trying. Ava discovers that Raylan is wise to her, but figures out a way to remain out of jail for now by giving him the real details of the heist. Zachariah tries to murder Boyd for what the Crowder family has done to Ava, but Carl saves his boss at the last minute. Raylan doesn't even manage to successfully sell Arlo's house to Loretta, since her overt pitch to the town to become part of her budding pot empire would get him trouble with the higher-ups. With...
- 3/18/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Jeanne Crain: From Pinky to Margie Jeanne Crain, one of the most charming Hollywood actresses of the ’40s and ’50s, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" featured player on Monday, August 26, 2013. Since Jeanne Crain was a top 20th Century Fox star for about a decade — a favorite of Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck — TCM will be showing quite a few films from the Fox library. And that’s great news. (Photo: Jeanne Crain ca. 1950.) (See also: “Jeanne Crain Movies: TCM’s ‘Summer Under the Stars’ Schedule.”) Now, my first recommendation is actually an MGM release. That’s Russell Rouse’s 1956 psychological Western The Fastest Gun Alive, an unusual movie in that the hero turns out to be a "coward" at heart: quick-on-the-trigger gunslinger Glenn Ford is reluctant to face an evil challenger (Broderick Crawford) in a small Western town. But why? Jeanne Crain is his serious-minded wife...
- 8/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
He’s the most mild-mannered of men, yet he’s responsible for such groundbreaking exploitation titles as Caged Women, Bloody Mama, and Attack Of The Crab Monsters. The new documentary Corman’S World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel tracks the career of writer-director-producer Roger Corman, the true godfather of independent filmmaking. St. Louisans will have the opportunity to see Corman’S World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel when it plays here this weekend at Webster University. Now 86 years old, Corman’s influence on modern American cinema is almost incalculable. In 2009, he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Over his amazing career, Mr. Corman has produced films, built studios, and launched the careers of so many young filmmakers and actors, some of whom have gone on to become the biggest names in Hollywood. Corman has been been interviewed many times in the past and this new film doesn...
- 3/6/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This lively documentary traces the remarkable career of the independent American film-maker Roger Corman, a tall, handsome Stanford engineering graduate who has produced and directed several hundred low-budget movies over the past half-century and kick-started the careers of, among many others, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, John Sayles, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich and Bruce Dern.
In 1950 he decided to steer clear of the big studios after people at 20th Century-Fox robbed him of a credit and a bonus for his work on the Gregory Peck western The Gunfighter, and he struck a deal with a small exploitation company to make genre pictures (westerns, horror flicks, sci-fi, crime, biker pictures) on small budgets and short schedules aimed at young drive-in audiences.
Instead of the subtitle "Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel", this film could as easily be called "The Rebellion of a Hollywood Exploiter" for the way it records the ingenuity,...
In 1950 he decided to steer clear of the big studios after people at 20th Century-Fox robbed him of a credit and a bonus for his work on the Gregory Peck western The Gunfighter, and he struck a deal with a small exploitation company to make genre pictures (westerns, horror flicks, sci-fi, crime, biker pictures) on small budgets and short schedules aimed at young drive-in audiences.
Instead of the subtitle "Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel", this film could as easily be called "The Rebellion of a Hollywood Exploiter" for the way it records the ingenuity,...
- 2/19/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
It was hard to believe it was 11 am on a Thursday morning – there was Sidney Poitier, James Darrin, Nancy Olson Livingston, Felicia Farr Lemon, Sally Kellerman, Jimmy Smitts, Marsha Hunt, Tony Danza and that was just the audience. They and 1,200 others packed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences theater on Wilshire in Beverly Hills to honor former Academy President and Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck as his Hollywood Legends Forever Stamp was unveiled. The U.S. Post Office, the Academy and the Peck family went to great lengths to organize the event. M.C. Sharon Stone introduced the honor guard; then Natalie Mains, of Dixie Chicks fame, sang the National Anthem. Clips from some of Peck’s best known works – The Gunfighter, Roman ...
- 4/29/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
Tim Burton invades New York, New Italian Cinema hits Los Angeles, Harold and Kumar spread holiday cheer in Austin and everywhere you look, they're celebrating All Tomorrow's Parties -- just some of the holiday film fun you can have this winter at your local repertory theater.
More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
New York
92YTribeca
In November, the 92YTribeca Screening Room will have some special guests in the house when it hosts the already sold out "A Conversation with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman" on November 10th, with the two longtime collaborators discussing their latest film "Fantastic Mr. Fox." But tickets are still available for the night before (Nov. 9th), when actor Ben Foster and director Oren Moverman will screen their acclaimed new post-war drama "The Messenger". Much of the rest of the month is devoted to Cinema Tropical's Ten Years of New Argentine Cinema series with screenings of Adrián Caetano's immigration...
More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
New York
92YTribeca
In November, the 92YTribeca Screening Room will have some special guests in the house when it hosts the already sold out "A Conversation with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman" on November 10th, with the two longtime collaborators discussing their latest film "Fantastic Mr. Fox." But tickets are still available for the night before (Nov. 9th), when actor Ben Foster and director Oren Moverman will screen their acclaimed new post-war drama "The Messenger". Much of the rest of the month is devoted to Cinema Tropical's Ten Years of New Argentine Cinema series with screenings of Adrián Caetano's immigration...
- 11/3/2009
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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