Christopher Walken has a small but highly memorable role in "Dune: Part Two," stealing scenes as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. You might not have realized this, but Walken's appearance in "Dune: Part Two" marks his first time on the big screen in four years (he appeared on the small screen via Apple TV+'s "Severance"). It wasn't that Walken was retired, he just was suddenly not working in movies. There was a period where it felt like Walken was popping up nearly everywhere, be it in Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" music video (which has a "Dune" connection Walken recently admitted he didn't even know about), or his frequent appearances on "Saturday Night Live." But then, suddenly, Walken was gone from films.
But now he's back, and thank heavens for that. Walken is 80 years old, which means he might not want to take on too many more movie roles.
But now he's back, and thank heavens for that. Walken is 80 years old, which means he might not want to take on too many more movie roles.
- 3/16/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
The historical epic “Becket” is turning 60 this week. When it was released, “Becket” was considered Important. It was a huge and handsome production with sumptuous sets and costumes and a cast seemingly of thousands. And it featured two of the top and sexiest stars of the day – Peter O’Toole, fresh from his Oscar-nominated triumph in 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia” and Richard Burton whose career had been overshadowed with his high-profile love affair with Elizabeth Taylor that began during the production of the infamous 1963 “Cleopatra.”
Set in the 12th century England, “Becket” revolves around the relationship between the hedonistic King Henry II (O’Toole), who never met a wench he didn’t bed, and Thomas Becket, his loyal friend and wingman for Henry’s sexual escapades. And because the Production Code was still in force, the film can only imply that Henry is in love with Becket. Henry makes Becket his...
Set in the 12th century England, “Becket” revolves around the relationship between the hedonistic King Henry II (O’Toole), who never met a wench he didn’t bed, and Thomas Becket, his loyal friend and wingman for Henry’s sexual escapades. And because the Production Code was still in force, the film can only imply that Henry is in love with Becket. Henry makes Becket his...
- 3/12/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The legendary Peter O’Toole was born on August 2, 1932. One of the most esteemed actors of his generation, he also holds the dubious record of earning the most Best Actor Oscar nominations (eight) without a win. O’Toole’s trophy case isn’t exactly bare — he won three Golden Globe Awards from eight nominations and received an honorary Academy Award for his lengthy career.
And as younger generations begin to discover his work, his reputation has only grown over the years, particularly for his big splash on the world’s film stage for his performance in “Lawrence of Arabia,” work that is astonishing in its complexity.
Take a photo gallery tour of his career ranking his 12 best film performances from worst to best. It includes ‘Venus,’ ‘My Favorite Year,’ ‘The Stunt Man’ and more.
And as younger generations begin to discover his work, his reputation has only grown over the years, particularly for his big splash on the world’s film stage for his performance in “Lawrence of Arabia,” work that is astonishing in its complexity.
Take a photo gallery tour of his career ranking his 12 best film performances from worst to best. It includes ‘Venus,’ ‘My Favorite Year,’ ‘The Stunt Man’ and more.
- 7/29/2023
- by Zach Laws, Tom O'Brien and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Nicolas Coster, the soap opera stalwart who starred on Another World, Santa Barbara and All My Children and appeared in such films as All the President’s Men, Reds and Stir Crazy, has died. He was 89.
Coster died Monday in a hospital in Florida, his daughter Dinneen Coster announced on Facebook.
“Please remember him as a great artist,” she wrote. “He was an actor’s actor! I will always be inspired by him and know how lucky I am to have such a great father!!
A familiar character actor who often portrayed officious types, Coster played chief of detectives J.E. Carson on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and later recurred as the millionaire father of Lisa Whelchel’s Blair Warner on another 1980’s NBC sitcom, The Facts of Life.
He appeared often on Broadway, and in his 1961 debut, he understudied for Lawrence Olivier as Henry II in Becket. Two decades later,...
Coster died Monday in a hospital in Florida, his daughter Dinneen Coster announced on Facebook.
“Please remember him as a great artist,” she wrote. “He was an actor’s actor! I will always be inspired by him and know how lucky I am to have such a great father!!
A familiar character actor who often portrayed officious types, Coster played chief of detectives J.E. Carson on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and later recurred as the millionaire father of Lisa Whelchel’s Blair Warner on another 1980’s NBC sitcom, The Facts of Life.
He appeared often on Broadway, and in his 1961 debut, he understudied for Lawrence Olivier as Henry II in Becket. Two decades later,...
- 6/27/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bridgerton’s imperious Queen Charlotte gets her origin story in Netflix’s prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. The six-episode drama follows a young Charlotte (India Amarteifio), a German noblewoman who is married off to King George III (Corey Mylchreest). Her arrival in the U.K. sparks the “Great Experiment” – the racial integration of the country’s aristocracy. As characters such as a young Lady Danbury (Arsema Thomas) navigate a new social reality, Charlotte must adjust to life in a strange country while also dealing with her husband’s secret illness.
Queen Charlotte will surely help sate Bridgerton fanatics as they wait for the show’s third season. In the meantime, if you’re craving more royal romance, here are five shows to binge after you’ve watched the Bridgerton prequel.
‘The Great’
A young German woman finds herself at sea in a strange foreign court and married to...
Queen Charlotte will surely help sate Bridgerton fanatics as they wait for the show’s third season. In the meantime, if you’re craving more royal romance, here are five shows to binge after you’ve watched the Bridgerton prequel.
‘The Great’
A young German woman finds herself at sea in a strange foreign court and married to...
- 5/10/2023
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we take a look at an Oscars category from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winner stands the test of time.)
Last week, I went through the eight Academy Award nominations of Glenn Close to examine why the renowned actor has yet to win even a single Oscar in her career. She holds the record for the actor with the most nominations in history without winning, but she doesn't hold that record alone. She shares it with someone I think is safe to call a legend: Peter O'Toole. The British thespian of stage and screen who became an instantaneous movie star in 1962 with the release of "Lawrence of Arabia" was also nominated eight times over the course of his career and never won, and because he died back in 2013, the chance to win is obviously gone, whereas Close still could.
Last week, I went through the eight Academy Award nominations of Glenn Close to examine why the renowned actor has yet to win even a single Oscar in her career. She holds the record for the actor with the most nominations in history without winning, but she doesn't hold that record alone. She shares it with someone I think is safe to call a legend: Peter O'Toole. The British thespian of stage and screen who became an instantaneous movie star in 1962 with the release of "Lawrence of Arabia" was also nominated eight times over the course of his career and never won, and because he died back in 2013, the chance to win is obviously gone, whereas Close still could.
- 1/5/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Actress Isabelle Adjani, the star of the new France-produced 4-part miniseries "The King's Favorite", directed by Josée Dayan, poses for the latest issue of "Madame Figaro" magazine:
"...enigmatic 16th-century noblewoman and courtier 'Diane de Poitiers' (Adjani) is 'The King's Favorite'...
"...enjoying a complicated relationship with young French king, 'Henry II' (Hugo Becker)...
"...that lasted more than twenty years..."
Cast also includes Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen and Gérard Depardieu.
Click the images to enlarge...
"...enigmatic 16th-century noblewoman and courtier 'Diane de Poitiers' (Adjani) is 'The King's Favorite'...
"...enjoying a complicated relationship with young French king, 'Henry II' (Hugo Becker)...
"...that lasted more than twenty years..."
Cast also includes Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen and Gérard Depardieu.
Click the images to enlarge...
- 11/12/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Why did Starz turn away from the British Tudors and to the world of French Queen Catherine de Medici for their new series “The Serpent Queen”?
“Sometimes it’s because somebody’s so bad that they really make a dent in history,” Nancy Goldstone, author of “The Rival Queens,” a biography on de Medici, said. Goldstone talked to IndieWire via Zoom and explained that de Medici was not only a fierce strategist, but a brutal and bloody queen with a bevy of murders under her hat.
“The Serpent Queen” attempts to showcase de Medici’s (Samantha Morton) ruthlessness, as well as highlight the humor in a story of an unappealing young Italian woman sent to France to become Queen. Filled with fourth-wall breaks, and a joke that feels pulled directly from Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas,” “The Serpent Queen” almost feels like the anti-historical drama. But sometimes fact and fiction collide — below,...
“Sometimes it’s because somebody’s so bad that they really make a dent in history,” Nancy Goldstone, author of “The Rival Queens,” a biography on de Medici, said. Goldstone talked to IndieWire via Zoom and explained that de Medici was not only a fierce strategist, but a brutal and bloody queen with a bevy of murders under her hat.
“The Serpent Queen” attempts to showcase de Medici’s (Samantha Morton) ruthlessness, as well as highlight the humor in a story of an unappealing young Italian woman sent to France to become Queen. Filled with fourth-wall breaks, and a joke that feels pulled directly from Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas,” “The Serpent Queen” almost feels like the anti-historical drama. But sometimes fact and fiction collide — below,...
- 9/12/2022
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
Isabelle Adjani is re-teaming with “The King’s Favorite” director Josée Dayan on the six-part mystery thriller “Belphégor.”
The acclaimed actress stars as the enigmatic 16th-century noblewoman and courtier Diane de Poitiers in “The King’s Favorite,” which premiered at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous on Monday.
The €7.6 million (7.5 million), four-part series, produced by Dayan’s Passion Films and sold internationally by France TV Distribution, examines de Poitiers’ complicated relationship with the young French king, Henry II (played by Hugo Becker), that lasted more than two decades. The large ensemble cast also includes Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen and Gérard Depardieu.
Adjani next stars in an action-comedy helmed by Mélanie Laurent, which is set to go into production next week, Adjani told Variety.
Adjani is also set to star in a TV thriller alongside Benjamin Biolay likewise to be directed by Dayan later this year and described as in the style of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Diabolique.
The acclaimed actress stars as the enigmatic 16th-century noblewoman and courtier Diane de Poitiers in “The King’s Favorite,” which premiered at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous on Monday.
The €7.6 million (7.5 million), four-part series, produced by Dayan’s Passion Films and sold internationally by France TV Distribution, examines de Poitiers’ complicated relationship with the young French king, Henry II (played by Hugo Becker), that lasted more than two decades. The large ensemble cast also includes Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen and Gérard Depardieu.
Adjani next stars in an action-comedy helmed by Mélanie Laurent, which is set to go into production next week, Adjani told Variety.
Adjani is also set to star in a TV thriller alongside Benjamin Biolay likewise to be directed by Dayan later this year and described as in the style of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Diabolique.
- 9/6/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The French TV industry’s Rendez-Vous market is again taking place in the picturesque seaside town of Biarritz, bowing Sept. 4 with a showcase of this year’s top TV content after being forced online the past two years due to the pandemic.
This year also marks the event’s relaunch under the Unifrance banner following the merger last year of the film and TV promotional organization and TV France International, the Rendez-Vous’ previous organizer.
With more and more directors and actors moving increasingly from film to television, Unifrance’s new role is a natural evolution that reflects that development, said Unifrance vice president Hervé Michel.
This is evident in the Rendez-Vous’ new gala night event with a special screening of France Televisions’ “The King’s Favorite,” starring Isabelle Adjani. Producer-director Josée Dayan’s historical drama examines the life of 16th-century noblewoman and courtier Diane de Poitiers and her relationship with the French king,...
This year also marks the event’s relaunch under the Unifrance banner following the merger last year of the film and TV promotional organization and TV France International, the Rendez-Vous’ previous organizer.
With more and more directors and actors moving increasingly from film to television, Unifrance’s new role is a natural evolution that reflects that development, said Unifrance vice president Hervé Michel.
This is evident in the Rendez-Vous’ new gala night event with a special screening of France Televisions’ “The King’s Favorite,” starring Isabelle Adjani. Producer-director Josée Dayan’s historical drama examines the life of 16th-century noblewoman and courtier Diane de Poitiers and her relationship with the French king,...
- 9/4/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
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