Broadway said goodbye last week to two well-regarded but underperforming productions, with both Harmony and Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch posting better-than-usual weekly box office as last-chancers grabbed seats.
Harmony, the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical about the real-life 1920s German singing group the Comedian Harmonists, filled a robust 99% of seats at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, grossing $853,055 for the week ending February 4. That’s a bump of $145,978 over the previous week.
Purlie Victorious, the universally acclaimed revival of the Ossie Davis comedy starring Leslie Odom Jr. and Kara Young, grossed $706,882, a boost of $58,090 over the previous week. Still, the production filled only 81% of seats at the Music Box.
In all, the 25 Broadway productions grossed $23,493,675, a slight 5% bump over the previous week (and nearly identical to last year’s gross for the week). Total attendance was 213,281, about 2% over the previous week and 9% over last year at this time.
Harmony, the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical about the real-life 1920s German singing group the Comedian Harmonists, filled a robust 99% of seats at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, grossing $853,055 for the week ending February 4. That’s a bump of $145,978 over the previous week.
Purlie Victorious, the universally acclaimed revival of the Ossie Davis comedy starring Leslie Odom Jr. and Kara Young, grossed $706,882, a boost of $58,090 over the previous week. Still, the production filled only 81% of seats at the Music Box.
In all, the 25 Broadway productions grossed $23,493,675, a slight 5% bump over the previous week (and nearly identical to last year’s gross for the week). Total attendance was 213,281, about 2% over the previous week and 9% over last year at this time.
- 2/6/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Perhaps no single theatrical image sums up Broadway’s 2023 more effectively than Jessica Chastain’s Nora leaving her dreary, unfulfilled doll house life to exit directly into the unlimited possibilities of an honest-to-god New York City street.
Unless maybe it’s that huge tree that sprouts up smack dab in the middle of an abandoned Southern plantation home after the Appropriate cast has left the stage, a gut-punch reminder that the sins of a nation’s past don’t just wither away because we don’t want to see them.
Or maybe it was Leslie Odom Jr. delivering that eulogy-coda in Purlie Victorious, blessing his “Africanic brothers” — and the audience — with the words “Now may the Constitution of the United States go with you; the Declaration of Independence stand by you; the Bill of Rights protect you; and the State Commission Against Discrimination keep the eyes of the law upon you,...
Unless maybe it’s that huge tree that sprouts up smack dab in the middle of an abandoned Southern plantation home after the Appropriate cast has left the stage, a gut-punch reminder that the sins of a nation’s past don’t just wither away because we don’t want to see them.
Or maybe it was Leslie Odom Jr. delivering that eulogy-coda in Purlie Victorious, blessing his “Africanic brothers” — and the audience — with the words “Now may the Constitution of the United States go with you; the Declaration of Independence stand by you; the Bill of Rights protect you; and the State Commission Against Discrimination keep the eyes of the law upon you,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
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It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
- 10/20/2023
- by Anna Tingley and Rudie Obias
- Variety Film + TV
Long before Slave Play, decades before Ain’t No Mo, there was Purlie Victorious, the Ossie Davis comedy masterwork that, like those descendant plays, fused broad comedy, satirical minstrelsy, racial satire and still-relevant social commentary to create a play that is so encompassing in its views of history and legacy, so generous in its humanity and pinpoint sharp in its take on debts long owed and now demanded that Kenny Leon’s revival, opening tonight on Broadway, feels as current and bracing as a folding chair.
More about that folding chair later.
Starring a magnificent Leslie Odom, Jr., in the title role, and featuring equally fine performances by an enchanting Kara Young, Billy Eugene Jones, Vanessa Bell Calloway and more, Purlie Victorious – full title (and one of the few signifiers of its 1961-era creation): Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch – has been given an urgent – and,...
More about that folding chair later.
Starring a magnificent Leslie Odom, Jr., in the title role, and featuring equally fine performances by an enchanting Kara Young, Billy Eugene Jones, Vanessa Bell Calloway and more, Purlie Victorious – full title (and one of the few signifiers of its 1961-era creation): Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch – has been given an urgent – and,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“Segregation is a ridiculous institution and it makes decent people do ridiculous things,” playwright, actor-director, and activist Ossie Davis told the New York Times on September 24, 1961, four days before his play Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch opened on Broadway, co-starring himself and his wife, Ruby Dee. “Maybe if they can be made to laugh at it they can see how absurd it is.”
Especially on a Great White Way where actors played predominantly to white audiences that had seen few comedies by Black playwrights, let alone satires on segregation, Purlie Victorious must have been a jolting event. Though the play, which ran for nearly eight months on Broadway, begat a film adaptation in 1963 (Gone Are the Days!) and the successful musical Purlie in 1970, Davis’s comedy about an aggrieved “self-made minister” righteously “disembezzling” a racist plantation owner has largely faded from popular memory.
Opening one day...
Especially on a Great White Way where actors played predominantly to white audiences that had seen few comedies by Black playwrights, let alone satires on segregation, Purlie Victorious must have been a jolting event. Though the play, which ran for nearly eight months on Broadway, begat a film adaptation in 1963 (Gone Are the Days!) and the successful musical Purlie in 1970, Davis’s comedy about an aggrieved “self-made minister” righteously “disembezzling” a racist plantation owner has largely faded from popular memory.
Opening one day...
- 9/28/2023
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
Just hours after Lizzo was hit with a second lawsuit with claims of creating a hostile work environment, the star accepted the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the Black Music Action Coalition (Bmac) gala in Los Angeles.
After skipping the red carpet portion of the evening, Lizzo took the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel following an introduction by a group of her Big Grrrl dancers. Wiping away tears, she told the crowd, “I really needed this right now. God’s timing is on time.”
“I didn’t write a speech because I don’t know what to say in times like these,” Lizzo continued, thanking Bmac for the honor and noting that this award was different than others she has won because “humanitarianism in its nature is thankless, it’s selfless. To be kind to someone isn’t a talent; everyone can do it, it’s a gift that you give.
After skipping the red carpet portion of the evening, Lizzo took the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel following an introduction by a group of her Big Grrrl dancers. Wiping away tears, she told the crowd, “I really needed this right now. God’s timing is on time.”
“I didn’t write a speech because I don’t know what to say in times like these,” Lizzo continued, thanking Bmac for the honor and noting that this award was different than others she has won because “humanitarianism in its nature is thankless, it’s selfless. To be kind to someone isn’t a talent; everyone can do it, it’s a gift that you give.
- 9/22/2023
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A trio of new shows joined Broadway last week to mostly decent box office figures as the fall season begins to take shape.
Most impressive was Gutenberg! The Musical! starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells under the direction of Alex Timbers. For the first three previews of its run, the musical filled 96% of seats at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The performances grossed $376,300, with an average ticket price at a solid $122.65. Opening night is Oct. 12.
The subscription-based Manhattan Theatre Club unveiled its production of Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, directed by Whitney White. The play took in $165,345 for six previews, with the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre at 97% of capacity. Average ticket was $44.51. Opening night is Oct. 3.
Melissa Etheridge began her autobiographical songs-and-stories show Melissa Etheridge: My Window with four previews at Circle in the Square, with attendance at 80% of capacity and a gross of $184,162. Average ticket was $79.38. Opening night is Sept.
Most impressive was Gutenberg! The Musical! starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells under the direction of Alex Timbers. For the first three previews of its run, the musical filled 96% of seats at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The performances grossed $376,300, with an average ticket price at a solid $122.65. Opening night is Oct. 12.
The subscription-based Manhattan Theatre Club unveiled its production of Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, directed by Whitney White. The play took in $165,345 for six previews, with the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre at 97% of capacity. Average ticket was $44.51. Opening night is Oct. 3.
Melissa Etheridge began her autobiographical songs-and-stories show Melissa Etheridge: My Window with four previews at Circle in the Square, with attendance at 80% of capacity and a gross of $184,162. Average ticket was $79.38. Opening night is Sept.
- 9/19/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
If there’s one thing we hope that this year’s ‘80s Week package better illuminates, it’s the incredible depth and range on display in the films of the decade. While the iconic movies and stars of the totally radical ‘80s tend to most easily remembered for neon-tinted, big-haired, Tangerine Dream-set turns, consider this: the decade included all-time work from major performers like Meryl Streep, Ossie Davis, Jessica Lange, Robert De Niro, Gena Rowlands, Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Newman, Jackie Chan, and Whoopi Goldberg.
These are the kind of stars who show up and show out no matter the year, but it’s in the ‘80s in which they all captured the incredible essence of what makes them greats.
But they’re hardly alone on this list, which also includes indelible work from stars like David Byrne, Sandrine Bonaire, Babak Ahmadpour, Seret Scott, Mieko Harada, Ken Ogata, and even Divine...
These are the kind of stars who show up and show out no matter the year, but it’s in the ‘80s in which they all captured the incredible essence of what makes them greats.
But they’re hardly alone on this list, which also includes indelible work from stars like David Byrne, Sandrine Bonaire, Babak Ahmadpour, Seret Scott, Mieko Harada, Ken Ogata, and even Divine...
- 8/16/2023
- by David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, Ryan Lattanzio and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director behind The Exorcist, The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A., The Boys in the Band, and more, is dead at 87. Friedkin died in Los Angeles, said his wife, former producer and studio head Sherry Lansing.
Born on August 29, 1935, in Chicago, Friedkin started directing television before disgusting audiences with projectile pea soup and dealings with demons. In the mid-’60s, Friedkin shot an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Hour and helmed various telefilms. Before the era was over, he got behind the camera for features like Good Times (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), and The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968).
He started the ’70s off with a band by directing The Boys in the Band. With his name already on the lips of executives everywhere, he moved on to The French Connection, a show-stopping thriller starring Gene Hackman as Detective Popeye Doyle. The French Connection won multiple Oscars,...
Born on August 29, 1935, in Chicago, Friedkin started directing television before disgusting audiences with projectile pea soup and dealings with demons. In the mid-’60s, Friedkin shot an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Hour and helmed various telefilms. Before the era was over, he got behind the camera for features like Good Times (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), and The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968).
He started the ’70s off with a band by directing The Boys in the Band. With his name already on the lips of executives everywhere, he moved on to The French Connection, a show-stopping thriller starring Gene Hackman as Detective Popeye Doyle. The French Connection won multiple Oscars,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
The Bubba Ho-Tep episode of Wtf Happened to This Adaptation? was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian. Here is the text of Hatfield’s script:
Sometimes you find out that your favorite movies were adaptations of novels. While everyone knows when they are getting a Stephen King adaptation, a lot of the time you won’t know that a movie is based on an existing story until you get hit with it in the credits. Bubba Ho-Tep (watch it Here) is one of those properties. All of the advertising and certainly the feeling of the movie is that it’s a Bruce Campbell and Don Coscarelli movie, but the short story was written by Joe R. Landsdale. The movie was the little indie that could that was destined for cult fame and make...
Sometimes you find out that your favorite movies were adaptations of novels. While everyone knows when they are getting a Stephen King adaptation, a lot of the time you won’t know that a movie is based on an existing story until you get hit with it in the credits. Bubba Ho-Tep (watch it Here) is one of those properties. All of the advertising and certainly the feeling of the movie is that it’s a Bruce Campbell and Don Coscarelli movie, but the short story was written by Joe R. Landsdale. The movie was the little indie that could that was destined for cult fame and make...
- 7/23/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Broadway Revival Of ‘Purlie Victorious’ Starring Leslie Odom, Jr. Sets Preview Date, Additional Cast
The previously announced Broadway revival of the Ossie Davis comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starring Leslie Odom, Jr. will begin previews on Thursday, September 7, at The Music Box Theatre, with an opening date to be announced.
The preview date was announced today, along with complete casting details. In addition to Odom, the revival will star Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, Noah Pyzik, Noah Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, Heather Alicia Simms, Bill Timoney, and Kara Young. Kenny Leon directs.
The play marks Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.mThe creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Adam Honoré and sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.
Purlie Victorious tells the story of a Black preacher’s machinations to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church.
The preview date was announced today, along with complete casting details. In addition to Odom, the revival will star Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, Noah Pyzik, Noah Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, Heather Alicia Simms, Bill Timoney, and Kara Young. Kenny Leon directs.
The play marks Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.mThe creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Adam Honoré and sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.
Purlie Victorious tells the story of a Black preacher’s machinations to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church.
- 6/15/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte has passed away at the age of 96. Along with his rich, prolific musical career, Belafonte leaves behind an impressive legacy on screen. From one of his earliest roles in Otto Preminger's "Carmen Jones" to his last appearance in Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," Belafonte left an unforgettable impression. The actor worked with talented filmmakers like Robert Altman, Robert Wise, Ava DuVernay, and Sidney Poitier, and appeared in Lee's 2006 look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, "When The Levees Broke." But he and Lee would also work together one more time, in a role that the then-elderly Belafonte had to get approved by a doctor.
Belafonte's scene in "BlacKkKlansman" gives the darkly funny movie about a Black cop infiltrating the KKK a sense of gravity and history; in a nine-minute scene, Black students and activists sit rapt and engrossed around a seated Belafonte as he...
Belafonte's scene in "BlacKkKlansman" gives the darkly funny movie about a Black cop infiltrating the KKK a sense of gravity and history; in a nine-minute scene, Black students and activists sit rapt and engrossed around a seated Belafonte as he...
- 4/25/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Detroit-manufactured Bruce Campbell is a cult legend who sawed his way into every genre. Evil Dead Rise, the fifth installment of the franchise most associated with the actor, opens a new book on April 21, and it will be the first not to lead with his chin. He isn’t taunting the sacred geometry of the “Necronomicon Ex-Mortis,” Campbell was busy. He is always busy. He has authored novels, comic books, and screenplays, and has directed productions on big screens and small. Campbell is the star attraction of several franchise fandoms, beloved at the Comic-Con circuit and, believe it or else, crooned Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” for an Old Spice commercial, besides hosting the short-lived Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
“This guy never stops working,” his Ash vs. Evil Dead co-star, Dana DeLorenzo, marveled at January’s Sf Sketchfest’s Roast of Bruce Campbell, before adding “On...
“This guy never stops working,” his Ash vs. Evil Dead co-star, Dana DeLorenzo, marveled at January’s Sf Sketchfest’s Roast of Bruce Campbell, before adding “On...
- 3/3/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The Toronto Black Film Festival is back for the 11th year of amplifying Black voices in cinema, with this year’s edition featuring 125 movies from 20 different countries.
Presented by Td Bank Group in collaboration with Global News, this year’s Tbff is celebrating the return of in-person programming while maintaining an online component, with a goal of inspiring the next generation of Black artists in film and beyond!
The 2023 edition of Canada’s largest celebration of Black History Month through film features a star-studded roster of talent that includes Letitia Wright, Josh O’Connor, Columbus Short, Keith David, Ledisi, Colin Kaepernick, Rickey Jackson, Don Lemmon, Ossie Davis, Karen Pittman, Corey Stoll, Cesária Évora and many more.
Read More: The 10th Annual Toronto Black Film Festival To Start With Keke Palmer, Common’s ‘Alice’
The Festival’s opening night will take place on Wednesday, Feb 15 at the Isabel Bader Theatre with the...
Presented by Td Bank Group in collaboration with Global News, this year’s Tbff is celebrating the return of in-person programming while maintaining an online component, with a goal of inspiring the next generation of Black artists in film and beyond!
The 2023 edition of Canada’s largest celebration of Black History Month through film features a star-studded roster of talent that includes Letitia Wright, Josh O’Connor, Columbus Short, Keith David, Ledisi, Colin Kaepernick, Rickey Jackson, Don Lemmon, Ossie Davis, Karen Pittman, Corey Stoll, Cesária Évora and many more.
Read More: The 10th Annual Toronto Black Film Festival To Start With Keke Palmer, Common’s ‘Alice’
The Festival’s opening night will take place on Wednesday, Feb 15 at the Isabel Bader Theatre with the...
- 2/11/2023
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
Elvis has a lot of buzz this awards season, but Baz Luhrmann didn’t get the story right. The real Elvis Presley traded places with an impersonator in order to live a simple life as an impersonator himself before retiring to Mud Creek, Texas alongside John F. Kennedy, who was patched up and dyed Black after the assassination attempt.
Those are the facts according to Bubba Ho-Tep, at least.
The 2002 horror-comedy is based on the short story of the same name by Joe R. Lansdale (whose work would go on to be adapted into Cold in July and Hap and Leonard), first published in the 1994 anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem. When cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli approached Lansdale about optioning the story for a film, the author tried to talk him out of it, as he believed it couldn’t be made.
Lansdale passed on writing the screenplay for the same reason,...
Those are the facts according to Bubba Ho-Tep, at least.
The 2002 horror-comedy is based on the short story of the same name by Joe R. Lansdale (whose work would go on to be adapted into Cold in July and Hap and Leonard), first published in the 1994 anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem. When cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli approached Lansdale about optioning the story for a film, the author tried to talk him out of it, as he believed it couldn’t be made.
Lansdale passed on writing the screenplay for the same reason,...
- 2/7/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Leslie Odom Jr. is returning to Broadway this summer in a revival of Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.
Kenny Leon, who directed Topdog/Underdog and Ohio State Murders this season, will helm the revival of the play by Ossie Davis. The play is scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, which will place it in the 2023-2024 season, but exact dates and the theater have not yet been announced.
This is the first time Odom has appeared on Broadway since winning a Tony Award for his role in the original cast of Hamilton. Since then, he has appeared in several films, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Harriet and One Night in Miami.
The play, which is a satirical look at life in the South, originally premiered on Broadway in 1961, with the playwright starring as Purlie Victorious Judson (the role Odom will play in the new production) and his wife,...
Kenny Leon, who directed Topdog/Underdog and Ohio State Murders this season, will helm the revival of the play by Ossie Davis. The play is scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, which will place it in the 2023-2024 season, but exact dates and the theater have not yet been announced.
This is the first time Odom has appeared on Broadway since winning a Tony Award for his role in the original cast of Hamilton. Since then, he has appeared in several films, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Harriet and One Night in Miami.
The play, which is a satirical look at life in the South, originally premiered on Broadway in 1961, with the playwright starring as Purlie Victorious Judson (the role Odom will play in the new production) and his wife,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tony & Grammy winner Leslie Odom, Jr. will star in a new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by Ossie Davis. Purlie Victorious will be staged by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, with the production scheduled to begin in late summer 2023 for the 2023-2024 Broadway season.
The play will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his celebrated performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
The creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa and lighting design by Adam Honoré.
The producing team is led by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Kayla Greenspan and Leslie Odom, Jr., making his Broadway producing debut.
Theatre, dates, additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
The play will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his celebrated performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
The creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa and lighting design by Adam Honoré.
The producing team is led by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Kayla Greenspan and Leslie Odom, Jr., making his Broadway producing debut.
Theatre, dates, additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
- 2/1/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Bubba Ho-tep (watch it Here) director Don Coscarelli has taken to social media to confirm that he has been working with Scream Factory to bring his 2002 horror comedy to 4K Uhd… and now Scream Factory is accepting pre-orders at This Link! The release date for the Bubba Ho-tep 4K Uhd is February 7th, and Scream Factory is providing multiple different sets. Fans will be able to order the 4K Uhd and Blu-ray alone, or with two posters and a slipcover; with two posters, a slipcover, and an enamel pin set; or with the theatrical poster, an autographed exclusive poster, a slipcover, and an enamel pin set. You can make your choice at the link provided.
Scripted by Coscarelli and based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-tep has the following synopsis:
Elvis Presley and a black “JFK” stay in a nursing home where nothing happens – until a...
Scripted by Coscarelli and based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-tep has the following synopsis:
Elvis Presley and a black “JFK” stay in a nursing home where nothing happens – until a...
- 12/5/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A version of this story about “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” first appeared in the Guild & Critics Awards/Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Louis Armstrong was a titan of American music and one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, but his protean talent was at times ignored by those who thought he’d watered down his gifts to pander to a mainstream audience. Sacha Jenkins encompasses all sides of the monumental artist in a film that makes use of a treasure trove of audio recordings Armstrong left behind.
What was your initial exposure to Louis Armstrong?
I grew up in Queens. I knew there was a school named after him. I knew that he was a master at his instrument and that he could sing. But coming up in the ’80s and being a fan of Public Enemy and coming into my consciousness as a young Black man,...
Louis Armstrong was a titan of American music and one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, but his protean talent was at times ignored by those who thought he’d watered down his gifts to pander to a mainstream audience. Sacha Jenkins encompasses all sides of the monumental artist in a film that makes use of a treasure trove of audio recordings Armstrong left behind.
What was your initial exposure to Louis Armstrong?
I grew up in Queens. I knew there was a school named after him. I knew that he was a master at his instrument and that he could sing. But coming up in the ’80s and being a fan of Public Enemy and coming into my consciousness as a young Black man,...
- 12/2/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Elvis Mitchell’s new Netflix documentary Is That Black Enough You?!? is a whirling exploration of a specific slice of Black movie history. Its main point of interest is the 1970s and its borders. The moment of Blaxploitation, Melvin Van Peebles, liberation politics, Pam Grier, Ali/Frazier, Lady Sings the Blues, and on and on. Mitchell, a longtime film critic, formerly of the New York Times and elsewhere, is not merely sifting through this history for history’s sake, even as the broad backbone of this film is a year-by-year accounting of the decade.
- 11/16/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
Elvis Mitchell has been one of America’s great critics, interviewers, and pop culture historians for over 25 years, and with his new Netflix documentary, “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” he proves he’s a world class filmmaker as well. An engagingly personal yet rigorously analytical and completely original crash course in ’70s cinema, “Is That Black Enough for You” covers all the important actors and filmmakers lily-white New Hollywood retrospectives like “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” left out: Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Melvin van Peebles, Diahann Carroll, Diana Ross, and so, so many more. As Mitchell told IndieWire, there was one clear advantage to his past as a journalist: “When I teach film, I always say there used to be two reasons to go to film school, to have access to films and to have access to equipment. So I had one of those things going for me. I’d...
- 11/14/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Do you feel the need? The need for ... another Blu-ray column? The biggest entry in this latest Blu-ray round-up is, of course, the mega-hit "Top Gun: Maverick." But there are a bunch of other major releases here, including a Criterion Collection edition of "Malcolm X," Mia Goth going crazy in "Pearl," a massive box set from Columbia Pictures, a 4K release of "Punisher: War Zone," the latest from George Miller, and a Brian De Palma classic. So keep spinning those discs.
Top Gun: Maverick
I wasn't as high on "Top Gun: Maverick" as most people, but I appreciate it as an old-school blockbuster. Tom Cruise is back, training a new generation of fighter pilots to pull off a move that really seems like the plan to blow up the Death Star at the end of "Star Wars." Blending practical effects with digital seamlessly, "Maverick" is a fist-pumping, action-packed adventure that...
Top Gun: Maverick
I wasn't as high on "Top Gun: Maverick" as most people, but I appreciate it as an old-school blockbuster. Tom Cruise is back, training a new generation of fighter pilots to pull off a move that really seems like the plan to blow up the Death Star at the end of "Star Wars." Blending practical effects with digital seamlessly, "Maverick" is a fist-pumping, action-packed adventure that...
- 11/10/2022
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Elvis Mitchell delivers a vivid history of African American cinema, ranging from the unsung heroes of Hollywood’s golden age to the thrills of Blaxploitation
The title of Elvis Mitchell’s tremendous study of black American cinema is taken from Ossie Davis’s 1970 Blaxploitation buddy cop comedy Cotton Comes to Harlem, based on the Chester Himes novel, about a bale of cotton discovered in Harlem, of all the unlikely places: a bale which hides misappropriated cash and is of course a satirical symbol of oppression. Different characters wisecrack: “Is that black enough for you?”, riffing subversively on authenticity in the power struggle.
With a dense and fascinating mass of clips and interviews with figures in the movies such as Whoopi Goldberg, Zendaya, Samuel L Jackson and Laurence Fishburne, Mitchell fights back against cultural erasure and amnesia: there is a rich and vivid history of African American cinema which blossomed in Hollywood’s pioneering golden age,...
The title of Elvis Mitchell’s tremendous study of black American cinema is taken from Ossie Davis’s 1970 Blaxploitation buddy cop comedy Cotton Comes to Harlem, based on the Chester Himes novel, about a bale of cotton discovered in Harlem, of all the unlikely places: a bale which hides misappropriated cash and is of course a satirical symbol of oppression. Different characters wisecrack: “Is that black enough for you?”, riffing subversively on authenticity in the power struggle.
With a dense and fascinating mass of clips and interviews with figures in the movies such as Whoopi Goldberg, Zendaya, Samuel L Jackson and Laurence Fishburne, Mitchell fights back against cultural erasure and amnesia: there is a rich and vivid history of African American cinema which blossomed in Hollywood’s pioneering golden age,...
- 11/9/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Freewheeling across the trumpeter’s pathbreaking career, Sacha Jenkins’ immensely enjoyable study speeds through giddyingly rich source material
Luxuriating in a wealth of archival material that encompasses radio and TV interviews, privately recorded conversations from reel-to-reel tapes (Armstrong could swear like a sailor), and good old-fashioned newspaper clippings (remember them?), this documentary about the great Louis Armstrong is a real keeper. Fans of the legendary jazz trumpeter are likely to complain that a mere 104 minutes is not enough to cover such a complex, innovative character whose career spanned decades and hope there will someday be a supercut that goes on for hours. But in a way this swinging, 4/4, 135 beats per minute biography-cum-essay crams a lot into its running time and makes relative brevity its virtue. Like one of Armstrong’s great solos, it feels packed with dynamics, sprinkled with astonishing high notes, and immensely pleasurable.
As with so many docs these days,...
Luxuriating in a wealth of archival material that encompasses radio and TV interviews, privately recorded conversations from reel-to-reel tapes (Armstrong could swear like a sailor), and good old-fashioned newspaper clippings (remember them?), this documentary about the great Louis Armstrong is a real keeper. Fans of the legendary jazz trumpeter are likely to complain that a mere 104 minutes is not enough to cover such a complex, innovative character whose career spanned decades and hope there will someday be a supercut that goes on for hours. But in a way this swinging, 4/4, 135 beats per minute biography-cum-essay crams a lot into its running time and makes relative brevity its virtue. Like one of Armstrong’s great solos, it feels packed with dynamics, sprinkled with astonishing high notes, and immensely pleasurable.
As with so many docs these days,...
- 10/26/2022
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Click here to read the full article.
As stars such as Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and more come to Broadway this season, the African American Film Critics Association celebrated the pipeline of talent between Hollywood and the theater industry.
“Everything starts at Broadway,” said Gil Robertson, president of the Aafca. “It’s the original training ground.”
In the group’s inaugural event, which took place Monday at the Lamb’s Club in New York, the association honored cast and creatives from this Broadway season including Latanya Richardson Jackson, director of The Piano Lesson, Wendell Pierce, currently starring in Death of a Salesman, Jordan E. Cooper, playwright of Ain’t No Mo’, as well as the revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ play Topdog/Underdog, which stars Abdul-Mateen and Corey Hawkins.
John Douglas Thompson, a classically trained actor who starred on Broadway in productions such as Julius Cesar and...
As stars such as Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and more come to Broadway this season, the African American Film Critics Association celebrated the pipeline of talent between Hollywood and the theater industry.
“Everything starts at Broadway,” said Gil Robertson, president of the Aafca. “It’s the original training ground.”
In the group’s inaugural event, which took place Monday at the Lamb’s Club in New York, the association honored cast and creatives from this Broadway season including Latanya Richardson Jackson, director of The Piano Lesson, Wendell Pierce, currently starring in Death of a Salesman, Jordan E. Cooper, playwright of Ain’t No Mo’, as well as the revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ play Topdog/Underdog, which stars Abdul-Mateen and Corey Hawkins.
John Douglas Thompson, a classically trained actor who starred on Broadway in productions such as Julius Cesar and...
- 10/18/2022
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The African American Film Critics Association will present Aafca Salutes Broadway on Monday, October 17th at the Lamb’s Club in New York’s theater district.
“It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” says Aafca co-founder, Gil Robertson IV. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren, and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training ground and Aafca Salutes Broadway celebrates that rich heritage.”
The inaugural ceremony spotlights several established actors who are best known for their work in film and TV, but who have returned to the stage this fall,...
“It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” says Aafca co-founder, Gil Robertson IV. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren, and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training ground and Aafca Salutes Broadway celebrates that rich heritage.”
The inaugural ceremony spotlights several established actors who are best known for their work in film and TV, but who have returned to the stage this fall,...
- 10/12/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
“Death of a Salesman” actor Wendell Pierce, “The Piano Lesson” director Latanya Richardson Jackson and “Till” star John Douglas Thompson are among the honorees set for the inaugural Salute to Broadway presented by the African American Film Critics Association.
The event is set for Oct. 17 at The Lambs Club in the heart of Midtown’s theater district.
“It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” said Gil Robertson, co-founder of Aafca. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training...
The event is set for Oct. 17 at The Lambs Club in the heart of Midtown’s theater district.
“It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” said Gil Robertson, co-founder of Aafca. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training...
- 10/12/2022
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
In “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” Elvis Mitchell’s highly pleasurable and eye-opening movie-love documentary about the American Black cinema revolution of the late ’60s and ’70s, Billy Dee Williams, now 85 but still spry, tells a funny story about what it was like to play Louis McKay, the dapper love object and would-be savior of Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues.”
The year was 1972, and African-American audiences had rarely (if ever) been given the chance to gawk at a movie star of color who was not just this sexy but this showcased for his sexiness. Louis was like Clark Gable with a dash of Marvin Gaye; when he was on that promenade stairway, Williams says, with a chuckle, that he just about fell in love with himself. That’s how unprecedented the whole thing was. The actor recalls how the lighting was fussed over (we see a shot...
The year was 1972, and African-American audiences had rarely (if ever) been given the chance to gawk at a movie star of color who was not just this sexy but this showcased for his sexiness. Louis was like Clark Gable with a dash of Marvin Gaye; when he was on that promenade stairway, Williams says, with a chuckle, that he just about fell in love with himself. That’s how unprecedented the whole thing was. The actor recalls how the lighting was fussed over (we see a shot...
- 10/10/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Would it be possible to make a comprehensive film about Louis Armstrong that ran under five hours? Ten? You could spend that long listening to serious people talk about him only in terms of American race relations, finally arriving at a stopping point only to realize you’d barely mentioned the music he made.
In Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, Sacha Jenkins is undaunted by the complexity of his subject, plunging ahead with swagger and not worrying if we have unanswered questions at the end. A delightful experience for jazz buffs and more than an eye-opener for any youngsters who barely know who Armstrong was, it’s worth applauding just for its belief that it can meaningfully touch on private life, public persona, musical legacy and everything else — even if, on each front, it leaves one wanting more.
Beyond its value to newbs,...
Would it be possible to make a comprehensive film about Louis Armstrong that ran under five hours? Ten? You could spend that long listening to serious people talk about him only in terms of American race relations, finally arriving at a stopping point only to realize you’d barely mentioned the music he made.
In Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, Sacha Jenkins is undaunted by the complexity of his subject, plunging ahead with swagger and not worrying if we have unanswered questions at the end. A delightful experience for jazz buffs and more than an eye-opener for any youngsters who barely know who Armstrong was, it’s worth applauding just for its belief that it can meaningfully touch on private life, public persona, musical legacy and everything else — even if, on each front, it leaves one wanting more.
Beyond its value to newbs,...
- 9/9/2022
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Following their stellar Main Slate lineup, the 60th New York Film Festival has unveiled its Spotlight section, featuring a number of notable world premieres. Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s David Johansen documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only will debut at the festival, along with Maria Schrader’s She Said, Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, Elvis Mitchell’s Is That Black Enough for You?!?, and James Ivory and Giles Gardner’s A Cooler Climate.
Also in the lineup is Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Sarah Polley’s Woman Talking, a special 50th anniversary presentation of Solaris with a new live score, a new documentary on the late Robert Downey, Sr. by Chris Smith and new series from Lars von Trier and Marco Bellocchio.
“Ranging from illuminating portraits and affecting personal stories to uncomfortable histories that ignite change, the third edition of our NYFF Spotlight section is a curated mix of world premieres,...
Also in the lineup is Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Sarah Polley’s Woman Talking, a special 50th anniversary presentation of Solaris with a new live score, a new documentary on the late Robert Downey, Sr. by Chris Smith and new series from Lars von Trier and Marco Bellocchio.
“Ranging from illuminating portraits and affecting personal stories to uncomfortable histories that ignite change, the third edition of our NYFF Spotlight section is a curated mix of world premieres,...
- 8/16/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
History was made when the 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced, as Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”) and Jessica Walter (“Archer”) became the first pair of direct competitors to be recognized posthumously. They are both up for the Best Character Voice-Over Performance prize after having passed away in August 2020 and March 2021, respectively.
Walter is now the only performer to ever receive two post-death Emmy bids, having just contended in the same category last summer. Now including Boseman, the list of departed acting Emmy nominees consists of 26 entrants, four of whom were honored with wins.
The first actor to be nominated for and win an Emmy posthumously was Alice Pearce, who was awarded the Best Comedy Supporting Actress trophy for “Bewitched” two months after her death in 1966. The other three champs, all of whom triumphed for TV movie performances, are supporting players David Burns and Diana Hyland and lead Raul Julia.
Two more...
Walter is now the only performer to ever receive two post-death Emmy bids, having just contended in the same category last summer. Now including Boseman, the list of departed acting Emmy nominees consists of 26 entrants, four of whom were honored with wins.
The first actor to be nominated for and win an Emmy posthumously was Alice Pearce, who was awarded the Best Comedy Supporting Actress trophy for “Bewitched” two months after her death in 1966. The other three champs, all of whom triumphed for TV movie performances, are supporting players David Burns and Diana Hyland and lead Raul Julia.
Two more...
- 7/14/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures today announced the first round of exhibition rotations scheduled for the 2022–2023 season, which further its mission to advance the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema.
This summer, the Museum will open the exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, which will explore the history of Black cinema from its earliest days to just after the civil rights movement. In the fall, the museum will open galleries devoted to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and the influences of French filmmaker Agnès Varda.
In early 2023, new exhibitions will open, with spaces spotlighting Boyz n the Hood, Casablanca, documentarian Lourdes Portillo, and the collaboration between production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer. Then, in late spring, the Museum will open its first permanent exhibition, Hollywoodland, chronicling the founding and the founders of the Hollywood studio system in Los Angeles.
Over time, new objects, images, and interviews will be added to various galleries,...
This summer, the Museum will open the exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, which will explore the history of Black cinema from its earliest days to just after the civil rights movement. In the fall, the museum will open galleries devoted to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and the influences of French filmmaker Agnès Varda.
In early 2023, new exhibitions will open, with spaces spotlighting Boyz n the Hood, Casablanca, documentarian Lourdes Portillo, and the collaboration between production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer. Then, in late spring, the Museum will open its first permanent exhibition, Hollywoodland, chronicling the founding and the founders of the Hollywood studio system in Los Angeles.
Over time, new objects, images, and interviews will be added to various galleries,...
- 3/21/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Runako Marshall portrays Ossie Davis in Ruskin — No one was more committed than Bayard Ruskin when it came to civil rights. Rustin didn’t just sit on the fence; he jumped over it several times during his long and distinguished career in activism and promoting peace to effect social change. But Bayard Rustin was circumspect concerning his [...]
Continue reading: Rustin (2022): Runako Marshall Joins Biopic of Civil Rights Organizer...
Continue reading: Rustin (2022): Runako Marshall Joins Biopic of Civil Rights Organizer...
- 2/7/2022
- by David McDonald
- Film-Book
Sanford and Son, the first mainstream, primetime sitcom in television history with an almost-all Black cast, debuted on NBC on Jan. 14, 1972. Created by Norman Lear, and starring legendary “blue” comedian Redd Foxx as an African American bigot, it was seen as a direct answer to CBS’ All in the Family. But the Bunker family series was a social satire which took its laughs seriously. The Sanfords presented pure comedy, any lessons it taught were intentionally coincidental. The most controversial part of the show, when it first aired, was its lead actor.
Foxx was already an underground comedy legend when Cleavon Little, best known for his role as Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, suggested him for the lead in the mid-season replacement. Little wasn’t available, but worked with Foxx on Ossie Davis’s 1970 neo-noir film Cotton Comes to Harlem. Before Foxx played the junk dealer stuck with the bale of genuine Mississippi cotton,...
Foxx was already an underground comedy legend when Cleavon Little, best known for his role as Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, suggested him for the lead in the mid-season replacement. Little wasn’t available, but worked with Foxx on Ossie Davis’s 1970 neo-noir film Cotton Comes to Harlem. Before Foxx played the junk dealer stuck with the bale of genuine Mississippi cotton,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Hello, dear readers! Before those of us in the States get ready to gobble down our Thanksgiving dinners later this week, we have a brand new batch of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases to look forward to first. One of this writer’s favorite films of all time, Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is getting the 4K treatment from Kino Lorber this Tuesday, and Arrow Video is resurrecting both The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch and Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge on Blu-ray as well (this is also very exciting news in my world). Arrow is also re-releasing a handful of other titles—The Cat O’ Nine Tails, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and C.H.U.D.—and the first season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery is headed to Blu-ray as well.
Other releases for November 23rd include Chupa, Lair,...
Other releases for November 23rd include Chupa, Lair,...
- 11/23/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
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From “Do the Right Thing” to “Da 5 Bloods,” Spike Lee’s film catalog is packed with classics that have shaped Black cinema, and film at large. The Brooklyn-born auteur is known for a unique storytelling style, and of course, his signature double-dolly shot (where the character remains stationary while the background moves), which he’s used in several films including “Mo’ Better Blueseppice” and “Malcolm X.”
Last week, Film at Lincoln Center presented Lee with the Chaplin Award during the 46th Chaplin Award Gala, held at New York City’s Alice Tully Hall. The celebration, which was delayed a year because of the pandemic, included an excerpt from Lee’s HBO documentary...
From “Do the Right Thing” to “Da 5 Bloods,” Spike Lee’s film catalog is packed with classics that have shaped Black cinema, and film at large. The Brooklyn-born auteur is known for a unique storytelling style, and of course, his signature double-dolly shot (where the character remains stationary while the background moves), which he’s used in several films including “Mo’ Better Blueseppice” and “Malcolm X.”
Last week, Film at Lincoln Center presented Lee with the Chaplin Award during the 46th Chaplin Award Gala, held at New York City’s Alice Tully Hall. The celebration, which was delayed a year because of the pandemic, included an excerpt from Lee’s HBO documentary...
- 9/16/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
On Christmas Eve 1951, NBC aired the very first “Hallmark Hall of Fame” with the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Rosemary Kuhlman and 12-year-old Chet Allen starred in this Peabody and Christopher Award-winning holiday story of the three Magi who stay with a young physically disabled boy and his widowed mother on their way to Bethlehem to find the Christ child. The presentation was so popular, the cast reprised their roles the following April. The production was done three more times in the 1950s on NBC, but Bill McIver played Amahl because Allen’s voice had changed.
The “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” which would air on NBC, ABC and CBS and is now exclusively on the Hallmark Channel, is the longest-running primetime series in TV history. In the past 70 years it has won over 80 Emmy Awards and dozens of Peabody Awards, Golden Globes,...
The “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” which would air on NBC, ABC and CBS and is now exclusively on the Hallmark Channel, is the longest-running primetime series in TV history. In the past 70 years it has won over 80 Emmy Awards and dozens of Peabody Awards, Golden Globes,...
- 9/13/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: SAG-AFTRA won’t be handing out a SAG Life Achievement Award this year for the first time in 40 years. It’s not that no one was deserving – this year of all years – but because of the pandemic and a shortened TV timeslot for its awards show, the union decided that it would be better to skip a year and present the award live and in-person next year.
Going into this awards season, SAG-AFTRA had planned for its 27th annual SAG Awards to be a two-hour show, as it had been in years past. The home page for the Screen Actors Guild Awards noted initially that it would be a “fast moving two-hour show.” This year’s pre-taped, one-hour show, featuring 13 awards presentations, will air April 4 on TNT and TBS.
The SAG Life Achievement Award is the union’s most prestigious honor, presented for “outstanding achievement in fostering...
Going into this awards season, SAG-AFTRA had planned for its 27th annual SAG Awards to be a two-hour show, as it had been in years past. The home page for the Screen Actors Guild Awards noted initially that it would be a “fast moving two-hour show.” This year’s pre-taped, one-hour show, featuring 13 awards presentations, will air April 4 on TNT and TBS.
The SAG Life Achievement Award is the union’s most prestigious honor, presented for “outstanding achievement in fostering...
- 3/24/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
With “Da 5 Bloods,” writer, director and producer Spike Lee tells a story about Black Vietnam War veterans who “fought and died for a country that has not shown love to them.” But that legacy goes all the way back to the founding of the United States of America. Watch our exclusive video interview with Lee above.
See‘Da 5 Bloods’ producer Jon Kilik on film’s logistical hurdles, Spike Lee’s vision and Chadwick Boseman’s ‘mythic presence’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The title soldiers in Lee’s film return to Vietnam in the present day to retrieve the remains of their squad leader (played in flashbacks by the late Chadwick Boseman) as well as a hidden stash of gold. But they’re also still struggling with the trauma of their service. It’s not a new story for African-Americans to die for a country that continually betrays them, “from Crispus Attucks, who was...
See‘Da 5 Bloods’ producer Jon Kilik on film’s logistical hurdles, Spike Lee’s vision and Chadwick Boseman’s ‘mythic presence’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The title soldiers in Lee’s film return to Vietnam in the present day to retrieve the remains of their squad leader (played in flashbacks by the late Chadwick Boseman) as well as a hidden stash of gold. But they’re also still struggling with the trauma of their service. It’s not a new story for African-Americans to die for a country that continually betrays them, “from Crispus Attucks, who was...
- 3/5/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Bill C. Davis, whose 1981 Broadway hit play Mass Appeal was adapted for a 1984 feature film starring Jack Lemmon and Željko Ivanek, died Feb. 26 following a brief illness, his family announced. He was 69.
Born in Ellenville, NY, and raised in the state’s Hudson Valley, Davis attended Catholic schools and, after graduating from Poughkeepsie’s Marist College, worked at a residential community for developmentally disabled and emotionally disturbed adults in Rhinebeck, NY. He wrote Mass Appeal, about the conflicting personalities of a stern, conservative priest and a younger, rebellious seminarian, during his time in Rhinebeck.
The play originally was produced Off Broadway in 1980 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Milo O’Shea and Eric Roberts and directed by Geraldine Fitzgerald. Mass Appeal moved to Broadway the following year, with Michael O’Keefe taking over for Roberts.
The Broadway production earned Tony Award nominations for O’Shea and Fitzgerald.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve...
Born in Ellenville, NY, and raised in the state’s Hudson Valley, Davis attended Catholic schools and, after graduating from Poughkeepsie’s Marist College, worked at a residential community for developmentally disabled and emotionally disturbed adults in Rhinebeck, NY. He wrote Mass Appeal, about the conflicting personalities of a stern, conservative priest and a younger, rebellious seminarian, during his time in Rhinebeck.
The play originally was produced Off Broadway in 1980 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Milo O’Shea and Eric Roberts and directed by Geraldine Fitzgerald. Mass Appeal moved to Broadway the following year, with Michael O’Keefe taking over for Roberts.
The Broadway production earned Tony Award nominations for O’Shea and Fitzgerald.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve...
- 3/3/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can…Do The Right Thing. In 1989, Academy Award® winner and visionary filmmaker Spike Lee mesmerized audiences with one of the most insightful and provocative films of its time, Do The Right Thing. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment continues to celebrate diversity and Black stories by bringing one of the most thought-provoking and groundbreaking films of its time, Do The Right Thing, to 4K Ultra HD for the first time on February 2, 2021. The controversial story centers around one scorching inner-city day, when racial tensions reach the boiling point in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood. Culturally significant and featuring over four hours of bonus features including a brand-new introduction by Director Spike Lee, a retrospective documentary with the original cast and crew, a feature commentary from Lee, deleted and extended scenes, Do The Right Thing captures...
- 1/28/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After unveiling the discs that will be arriving in April, including Bong Joon Ho’s Memories of Murder, Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep, and more, Criterion has now announced what will be coming to their streaming channel next month.
Highlights include retrospectives dedicated to Guy Maddin, Ruby Dee, Lana Turner, and Gordon Parks, plus selections from Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg’s stellar box set. They will also present the exclusive streaming premieres of Bill Duke’s The Killing Floor, William Greaves’s Nationtime, Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, and more.
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which recently arrived on the collection, will be landing on the channel as well, along with a special “Lovers on the Run” series including film noir (They Live by Night) to New Hollywood (Badlands) to the French New Wave (Pierrot le fou) to Blaxploitation (Thomasine & Bushrod) and beyond. Also...
Highlights include retrospectives dedicated to Guy Maddin, Ruby Dee, Lana Turner, and Gordon Parks, plus selections from Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg’s stellar box set. They will also present the exclusive streaming premieres of Bill Duke’s The Killing Floor, William Greaves’s Nationtime, Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, and more.
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which recently arrived on the collection, will be landing on the channel as well, along with a special “Lovers on the Run” series including film noir (They Live by Night) to New Hollywood (Badlands) to the French New Wave (Pierrot le fou) to Blaxploitation (Thomasine & Bushrod) and beyond. Also...
- 1/26/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Usually the annual American Cinematheque tribute puts a bunch of Hollywood folks in black tie in a hotel ballroom to ingest rubber chicken and champagne. This year’s Spike Lee award show was a streamlined virtual affair hosted by “Inside Man” star Jodie Foster, who conducted a charming interview with Lee over the course of an evening interspersed by films clips and memories from such collaborators as actors Delroy Lindo and Angela Bassett, cinematographers Ernest Dickerson and Ellen Kuras, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and production designer Wynn Thomas.
Brooklyn-based Lee, who is 63, has directed 25 features and documentaries plus countless commercials, collecting Emmys, BAFTAs, Cannes and critics awards along the way, including last year’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“If you love what you are doing you can delay father time,” Lee said. “I’ve got some more joints to make. This award is not just for me but...
Brooklyn-based Lee, who is 63, has directed 25 features and documentaries plus countless commercials, collecting Emmys, BAFTAs, Cannes and critics awards along the way, including last year’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“If you love what you are doing you can delay father time,” Lee said. “I’ve got some more joints to make. This award is not just for me but...
- 1/15/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Usually the annual American Cinematheque tribute puts a bunch of Hollywood folks in black tie in a hotel ballroom to ingest rubber chicken and champagne. This year’s Spike Lee award show was a streamlined virtual affair hosted by “Inside Man” star Jodie Foster, who conducted a charming interview with Lee over the course of an evening interspersed by films clips and memories from such collaborators as actors Delroy Lindo and Angela Bassett, cinematographers Ernest Dickerson and Ellen Kuras, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and production designer Wynn Thomas.
Brooklyn-based Lee, who is 63, has directed 25 features and documentaries plus countless commercials, collecting Emmys, BAFTAs, Cannes and critics awards along the way, including last year’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“If you love what you are doing you can delay father time,” Lee said. “I’ve got some more joints to make. This award is not just for me but...
Brooklyn-based Lee, who is 63, has directed 25 features and documentaries plus countless commercials, collecting Emmys, BAFTAs, Cannes and critics awards along the way, including last year’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“If you love what you are doing you can delay father time,” Lee said. “I’ve got some more joints to make. This award is not just for me but...
- 1/15/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.***As the great studios declined like mammoths sinking into tar pits, the films they produced started bifurcating: there were the stodgy, prestige pictures, like Cleopatra (1963) (which nearly sank Fox into the bitumen altogether), and there were trashy low-budget affairs farmed out to bottom-feeding indie producers, the sixties equivalent of the B pictures of yore. These were often more enjoyable than the respectable productions, even when they really were trash.Lauren Bacall counted Shock Treatment (1964) as the worst film of her career, and apart from her tendency to underrate Written on the Wind (1956), she had pretty sound judgement. Director Denis Sanders was among the first film school graduates to make films...
- 11/12/2020
- MUBI
“He moved like a panther.” This was the observation which convinced producers Albert R “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to cast Sean Connery, a relatively unknown young actor from Edinburgh, in the lead role of the first James Bond picture, 1962’s Dr No. It was this decision which was to forever change the face of movie stardom and blockbuster film-making. The choice was not, initially, a popular one with 007 author Ian Fleming; where his books had imagined Bond as the archetypal upper-class English gentleman, the gruff Scottish Connery brought a transatlantic insouciance and a palpably working-class edge to the role. In the process, he had invented the modern action hero.
Within a few short years, Connery had been cemented as an international sex symbol and propelled to unprecedented heights of celebrity. He later said of the relentless pursuit by fans and the press, “the only comparison would be The Beatles,...
Within a few short years, Connery had been cemented as an international sex symbol and propelled to unprecedented heights of celebrity. He later said of the relentless pursuit by fans and the press, “the only comparison would be The Beatles,...
- 11/2/2020
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
Anthony Anderson’s Hollywood career has been consistently characterized by successful pivots, from scene-stealing comedic roles to searing dramatic turns to effervescent hosting duties and many disparate points in between. But even he couldn’t have predicted his latest foray into the unforeseen, as the first person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the midst of a global pandemic.
“I was looking forward to the pomp and circumstance that surrounds anyone getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, because not just anyone can or will get that,” Anderson says.
The multi-hypenate hoped to celebrate with his family and closest friends in the typical high-profile public ceremony that usually accompanies the honor. But “unfortunately that type of event can’t happen because of what’s happening in the world right now.”
Rest assured, though, eventually he’ll bask directly in the glow of his personal landmark on Hollywood Boulevard.
“I was looking forward to the pomp and circumstance that surrounds anyone getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, because not just anyone can or will get that,” Anderson says.
The multi-hypenate hoped to celebrate with his family and closest friends in the typical high-profile public ceremony that usually accompanies the honor. But “unfortunately that type of event can’t happen because of what’s happening in the world right now.”
Rest assured, though, eventually he’ll bask directly in the glow of his personal landmark on Hollywood Boulevard.
- 8/14/2020
- by Scott Huver
- Variety Film + TV
Act Like a Man is a column examining male screen performers past and present, across nationality and genre. If movie stars reflect the needs and desires of their audience in any particular era, examining their personas, popularity, fandom, and specific appeals has plenty to tell us about the way cinema has constructed—and occasionally deconstructed—manhood on our screens.Harry Belafonte has lived so many lives. He has walked among the giants of politics and culture, from Martin Luther King Jr. to John F. Kennedy to Bob Dylan, and become a respected elder of the civil rights struggle in America. His impact on American mid-century life has been so significant that it’s difficult to define him as any single thing, or to see him occupying only one role. His reputation as the "Calypso King" helped to popularize Caribbean music in the states, and his chart-topping 1956 record Calypso would be...
- 7/20/2020
- MUBI
Spike Lee will participate in a live conversation about his 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, on Thursday at 8 p.m. Et. The discussion will stream on American Film Institute (AFI) Movie Club’s YouTube channel.
American Fiim Institute in partnership with Universal Pictures selected Lee’s film as its movie of the week, a fitting choice for the times as the movie addresses themes of racial injustice and inequality, and police brutality. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and garnered a Palme d’Or nomination.
American Fiim Institute in partnership with Universal Pictures selected Lee’s film as its movie of the week, a fitting choice for the times as the movie addresses themes of racial injustice and inequality, and police brutality. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and garnered a Palme d’Or nomination.
- 6/25/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
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