Tom Bower, the busy character actor who portrayed Dr. Curtis Willard on The Waltons and the janitor, Marvin, who helps John McClane foil the terrorists at the airport in Die Hard 2, has died. He was 86.
Bower died last week of an unknown cause at his home in Los Angeles, his brother, Robert Bower, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bower worked on John Cassavetes’ directorial debut, Shadows (1957), and played one of the translators that make a mess of things in the acclaimed Western The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982), starring Edward James Olmos.
He portrayed the father of the 37th U.S. president in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995), starring Anthony Hopkins, and the father of Nicolas Cage’s Terence McDonagh in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009).
And, he appeared for director Scott Cooper in Crazy Heart (2009) — as the agent of Jeff Bridges’ Bad Blake — and Out of the Furnace...
Bower died last week of an unknown cause at his home in Los Angeles, his brother, Robert Bower, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bower worked on John Cassavetes’ directorial debut, Shadows (1957), and played one of the translators that make a mess of things in the acclaimed Western The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982), starring Edward James Olmos.
He portrayed the father of the 37th U.S. president in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995), starring Anthony Hopkins, and the father of Nicolas Cage’s Terence McDonagh in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009).
And, he appeared for director Scott Cooper in Crazy Heart (2009) — as the agent of Jeff Bridges’ Bad Blake — and Out of the Furnace...
- 6/6/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Above: The Great Train RobberyThe western has been around since nearly the advent of cinema. Some of Thomas Edison’s earliest films incorporated standard conventions of the genre, established in preceding works of popular fiction, and other key tropes were solidified in Edwin S. Porter’s pioneering The Great Train Robbery (1903). Primarily originating on the East Coast, American motion picture production soon made its general migration west where the geographic consequences only amplified the form, enticing the likes of producers and directors including Thomas Ince and Cecil B. DeMille. The western swiftly flourished as an exuberant, manifold survey of idealized, often exaggerated themes concerning heroism, progress, and the myth of the American dream. The genre became a beloved compendium of cultural dichotomies, iconic symbols, locations, and character types, evincing countless variations alongside the tried and true.
- 7/21/2020
- MUBI
I first became aware of director Maggie Greenwald’s work in 1993, when her extraordinary Western The Ballad of Little Jo was released. That film, the story of a woman choosing to live as a man rather than yield to patriarchal society’s demands and expectations, established a number of ongoing concerns in Greenwald’s work: a richly observed sense of anthropological detail; a dynamic sense of light, color and composition designed to portray the past with immediacy rather than distance; and a concern with the intersection between the personal and the political that makes her films both timely and timeless. All of […]...
- 1/26/2017
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Maggie Greenwald’s romantic drama “Sophie and the Rising Sun” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and just over one year later, it will be released in select theaters nationwide. Based on the Augusta Trobaugh novel by the same name, the film follows the dramatic story of interracial lovers swept up in the fervor of World War II that has hit Salty Creek, South Carolina. Salty Creek native Sophie Willis (Julianne Nicholson) falls for the mysterious stranger Mr. Grover Ohta (Takashi Yamaguchi), but as their secret relationship evolves, the war escalates and bigotry threatens Ohta’s life. The film co-stars Margo Martindale (“The Americans”), Lorraine Toussaint (“Selma”), Diane Ladd (“Chinatown”), Joel Murray (“Mad Men”) and more. Watch an exclusive clip below.
Read More: ‘Sophie and the Rising Sun’ Exclusive Trailer: Two Interracial Lovers Combat Prejudice In Rural South Carolina During WWII
The film is written and directed by Maggie Greenwald.
Read More: ‘Sophie and the Rising Sun’ Exclusive Trailer: Two Interracial Lovers Combat Prejudice In Rural South Carolina During WWII
The film is written and directed by Maggie Greenwald.
- 1/24/2017
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Independent film veteran Ira Deutchman has received the first annual Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in the distribution and exhibition of independent films. The award was created by advertising company Spotlight Cinema Networks in partnership with the Art House Convergence.
Read More: Why Indie Producing Veteran Ira Deutchman Is Moving From Films to Broadway
Deutchman has been distributing, marketing and making independent films for more than 40 years, working on some of the most successful and acclaimed indie titles of our time. He received the award Tuesday night at a dinner following Art House Convergence’s annual conference.
“Ira Deutchman is a legendary figure in the world of independent film distribution, marketing and production,” Spotlight Cinema Networks chief executive officer Jerry Rakfeldt said in a statement. “His creativity, passion and business acumen have helped shape, nurture and expand the independent film industry.”
Deutchman has worked on more than 150 films,...
Read More: Why Indie Producing Veteran Ira Deutchman Is Moving From Films to Broadway
Deutchman has been distributing, marketing and making independent films for more than 40 years, working on some of the most successful and acclaimed indie titles of our time. He received the award Tuesday night at a dinner following Art House Convergence’s annual conference.
“Ira Deutchman is a legendary figure in the world of independent film distribution, marketing and production,” Spotlight Cinema Networks chief executive officer Jerry Rakfeldt said in a statement. “His creativity, passion and business acumen have helped shape, nurture and expand the independent film industry.”
Deutchman has worked on more than 150 films,...
- 1/18/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Here you go again! Apologies if that tune will now be stuck in your head all weekend, but it may be good practice as a regional production of “Mamma Mia” is casting nonunion talent. We’ve also got three more opportunities spanning mediums, genres, and locations. See if there’s a gig for you below! “Mamma Mia”Westchester Broadway Theatre is casting nonunion talent for its upcoming production of “Mamma Mia.” The tuner, which features the music of Abba, seeks male and female “dancers who sing,” ages 18 and up, for its ensemble. A casting call will be held in New York City on Jan. 19, with a run slated for May 23–June 25 in Elmsford, New York. The gig will pay $400/week. “The Ballad Of Little Jo”Union talent is needed for several roles in “The Ballad of Little Jo,” a musical based on the film by Maggie Greenwald. Helmed by director John Dias,...
- 1/6/2017
- backstage.com
You know how this goes. New images from the troubled production of Jane Got a Gun starring Natalie Portman. Thoughts as they occur to me. No editing.
• Bad Girls (1994)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995)
• The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)
• Why did I instantly doubt that Natalie Portman knew how to use that thing when this is The Professional (1994) we're talking about. She was deadly as early as 14!
• We've travelled back in time. And not because it's a period piece. Apologies. But it's a fact: western girls with guns was a thing briefly in the mid 90s
• Those look like big girl gloves for such a petit thing.
• Omg someone should remake Bad Girls but with less earnestness and more of a sense of humor
• This is a weird still to release. They both look tremendously bored. Free advice: Do not suggest boredom when trying to sell a movie.
• I also...
• Bad Girls (1994)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995)
• The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)
• Why did I instantly doubt that Natalie Portman knew how to use that thing when this is The Professional (1994) we're talking about. She was deadly as early as 14!
• We've travelled back in time. And not because it's a period piece. Apologies. But it's a fact: western girls with guns was a thing briefly in the mid 90s
• Those look like big girl gloves for such a petit thing.
• Omg someone should remake Bad Girls but with less earnestness and more of a sense of humor
• This is a weird still to release. They both look tremendously bored. Free advice: Do not suggest boredom when trying to sell a movie.
• I also...
- 1/5/2015
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Let's start the weekly round-up with Grimm.
Grimm's ratings dropped a little this week, but the show still won the 18-49 demo in its timeslot, finishing ahead of CSI: NY, Fringe and Supernatural, and rising by a full frakking ratings point (1.8) after Chuck (0.8). Wake up, Chuck.
Hitfix visited the set in Portland recently and posted a lengthy report. Here is a snippet:
Sasha Roiz on how his character will develop later in the series: "I’m not a Grimm descendent, but I'm a descendent of a long line that dates back just as Grimm does and we have a bit of a history and a past, so my line is a royal line and that will slowly unfold throughout the series."Collider has a longer interview with Sasha and Reggie Lee (more at the link):
It’s nice to see your character – like the main character – has the duality.
Grimm's ratings dropped a little this week, but the show still won the 18-49 demo in its timeslot, finishing ahead of CSI: NY, Fringe and Supernatural, and rising by a full frakking ratings point (1.8) after Chuck (0.8). Wake up, Chuck.
Hitfix visited the set in Portland recently and posted a lengthy report. Here is a snippet:
Sasha Roiz on how his character will develop later in the series: "I’m not a Grimm descendent, but I'm a descendent of a long line that dates back just as Grimm does and we have a bit of a history and a past, so my line is a royal line and that will slowly unfold throughout the series."Collider has a longer interview with Sasha and Reggie Lee (more at the link):
It’s nice to see your character – like the main character – has the duality.
- 11/6/2011
- by fanshawe
- CapricaTV
TNT has some pretty cool shows on, Falling Skies and Southland are my personal favorites. The Closer is a really enjoyable show as well. The Fall/Winter schedule has been released for the networks lineup. Keep reading for all the details.
Let us know what your favorite show is on TNT?
Official Press Release:
After scoring its most successful summer of original programming ever, including the launch of mega-hit Falling Skies, TNT is set to heat up the fall and winter with a terrific lineup of popular and acclaimed original series and a showcase of new original movies. The drama network’s slate includes the return of basic cable’s top two series of all time, The Closer, starring 2010 Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick, and Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; all-new episodes of the hit caper series Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and a new season of the critically acclaimed Southland.
Let us know what your favorite show is on TNT?
Official Press Release:
After scoring its most successful summer of original programming ever, including the launch of mega-hit Falling Skies, TNT is set to heat up the fall and winter with a terrific lineup of popular and acclaimed original series and a showcase of new original movies. The drama network’s slate includes the return of basic cable’s top two series of all time, The Closer, starring 2010 Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick, and Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; all-new episodes of the hit caper series Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and a new season of the critically acclaimed Southland.
- 8/23/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Kelly Reichardt's beautifully shot western is a powerful evocation of the hardships endured on the Oregon Trail
Roughly defined, the western is violent entertainment about the American frontier experience set west of the Mississippi, south of the 49th Parallel and north of the Rio Grande between 1840 and the beginning of the first world war. Some films happening outside this particular area and time scale or not involving gunfights and physical conflict might be called pre-westerns, post-westerns, modern-westerns or, more vaguely, "sort of westerns". The term "anti-western" was also used for a while to describe movies that seemed to reject or even despise the conventions of the genre, though for much of the western's history many film-makers have been doing precisely that in the name of historical and psychological realism.
Kelly Reichardt's impressive Meek's Cutoff is set in 1845 on the recently created Oregon Trail that took wagon trains through...
Roughly defined, the western is violent entertainment about the American frontier experience set west of the Mississippi, south of the 49th Parallel and north of the Rio Grande between 1840 and the beginning of the first world war. Some films happening outside this particular area and time scale or not involving gunfights and physical conflict might be called pre-westerns, post-westerns, modern-westerns or, more vaguely, "sort of westerns". The term "anti-western" was also used for a while to describe movies that seemed to reject or even despise the conventions of the genre, though for much of the western's history many film-makers have been doing precisely that in the name of historical and psychological realism.
Kelly Reichardt's impressive Meek's Cutoff is set in 1845 on the recently created Oregon Trail that took wagon trains through...
- 4/16/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
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