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Actor Brent Spiner played the fan-favorite Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor played the android second-in-command of the USS Enterprise-d in the legendary show and also reprised his role in the new generation series Star Trek: Picard. Spiner, along with the original cast, went on to appear in four films based on Tng.

Spiner also played many of the alternate versions of Data in the show, including Sherlock Holmes in the classic ‘Elementary, My Dear Data’ episode. He also played his evil twin Lore and his creator Dr. Noonien Soong, which Spiner mentioned was his most terrifying role in the universe. He mentioned that he convinced the makers to play the role despite another actor being cast.

Brent Spiner Convinced Star Trek Makers To Let Him Play Data’s Creator Dr. Noonien Soong Brent Spiner as Data | Credits: Paramount Domestic Television

Actor Brent Spiner played the role...

He may be king of the monsters and headliner of the longest-running film franchise, but Godzilla isn’t exactly a beacon of consistency. He made his premiere in Honda Ishirô’s 1954 classic Godzilla as an allegorical figure, warning of the dangers of nuclear technology, before eventually settling into a drive-in movie star and a hero for children, as well as those young at heart. That’s a somewhat unlikely legacy, especially considering that the original film ends with the creature’s unambiguous death.

Inspired by King Kong’s popularity in Japan, Godzilla’s filmmakers didn’t have the time or resources to execute the stop-motion movie magic that brought Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s King Kong to life (the 1933 monster adventure was re-released in Japan in 1952), but their resourcefulness and ingenuity resulted in a different kind of magic. Tsuburaya Eiji’s pioneering use of suitmation was not...

David Leitch’s 87North is getting ready to reboot the classic martial arts/ western series Kung Fu, and it looks like they’ve found their Caine: the one and only Donnie Yen. The press release doesn’t reveal if Yen is actually playing Caine, but it seems like a no-brainer. The series was infamously developed by Bruce Lee as a starring vehicle for himself, only for the role to be eventually cast with David Carradine in the lead. In the end, it worked out fine, with Bruce Lee gaining immortality with his kung-fu movies for Golden Harvest in Hong Kong (which would have never happened had he been tied to a series), while Carradine became iconic as the enigmatic Caine.

Caine roams the Wild West in the series, looking for his long-lost brother. He was a peace-loving protector of the innocent who only fought when provoked (which happened A...

Treat Williams, a long-time character actor and star of the well-loved cult movies Deep Rising and Dead Heat, has died at 71. According to a report via People Magazine, the actor died in a tragic motorcycle accident. His agent, Barry McPherson, told the magazine, “He was killed this afternoon. He was making a left or a right and a car cut him off,” McPherson said, adding, “I’m just devastated. He was the nicest guy. He was so talented.”

Williams had a long, legendary career on the silver screen. He first broke out in the late seventies in movies like The Eagle Has Landed before earning a Golden Globe nomination for the film adaptation of Hair. He had perhaps his best role in 1981, playing the lead in Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City (a favorite of ours here at JoBlo), earning a Golden Globe nomination. In the film, he played...

Fans of Joe Dante’s “Gremlins” (1984) wanting to know how mysterious shop owner Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) first met Gizmo (Howie Mandel) and the rest of the mogwai creatures finally get an answer in the new animated prequel “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” (now streaming on Max). In this new origin story from showrunner Tze Chun (“I’m a Virgo”) and executive producer Brendan Hay (“Robot Chicken”), 10-year-old Sam Wing (Izaac Wang) and young Gizmo (Aj LoCascio) attempt to transport the mogwai from 1920 Shanghai to their ancestral home in the Valley of Jade.

The pair are accompanied by teenage street thief Ellie (Gabrielle Nevaeh) and pursued by sorcerer/industrialist Riley Greene (Matthew Rhys), who knows how destructive the mogwai can be if exposed to water or fed after midnight and wants them for his own army of assassins.

“I think that what Joe did with those original ‘Gremlins’ movies is so iconic,...

The Asian American experience will be different from person to person. And although many on-screen depictions highlight the more universal and timeless topics, such as generational gaps, cultural estrangement and racism, Viet Nguyen and Chris Dinh’s 2015 horror-comedy Crush the Skull instead focuses on its protagonist’s utmost dilemma; he and three other robbers inadvertently break into a serial killer’s house and then become trapped. Yet beneath the movie’s plot-driven exterior lies an overlooked but important example of Asian representation.

In Hollywood movies from both the past and present, Asians have a tendency to be the supporting character rather than the lead. And if they’re lucky, they may be given an occupation other than a doctor or a scientist of some kind. In more problematic cases, the Asian character is rooted in Orientalism or a product of Yellow Peril. Mister Wing from the original Gremlins, played to the max by Keye Luke,...

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The team for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai announced a number of voice actors and teased nostalgic callbacks during the HBO Max series’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

During the Friday event, Zach Galligan was a surprise guest, as the star of the 1984 film Gremlins and its 1990 sequel was revealed to have a not-yet-disclosed role on the animated show that is set in 1920s China. Also announced as voice actors were Randall Park, Sandra Oh, George Takei and Bowen Yang, with their roles also yet to be shared.

Galligan told fans that his inclusion in this series and a recent Gremlins-themed Mountain Dew ad prove “that Warner Bros. is ramping up the franchise and getting ready for some new adventures for you guys.”

The actor teased that he’s “playing a cool character” and added about the new series, “I just think...

What a Halloween treat! Karl Freund stopped directing after this classic, which is a shame — it’s German expressionism’s most exciting foray into classic Hollywood horror of the ’30s. Peter Lorre is incredible as Dr. Gogol, making himself as creepy and repulsive as possible while retaining a giddy audience sympathy. It’s Grand Guignol all the way — macabre, funny and irresistible. The screenplay toys with uncomfortable Body Horror and psychological weirdness; Colin Clive must contend with becoming the recipient of murderous hands. Frances Drake is the beauty that drives Dr. Gogol mad, and comedian Edward Brophy is a highlight in a non-comedic scene. “I have conquered science. Why can I not conquer love?!”

Mad Love

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 68 (86) min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden, Edward Brophy, Henry Kolker, Keye Luke, May Beatty, Billy Gilbert,...

The original “Kung Fu” is a relic of its time. The series, which ran from 1972 to 1975, starred actor David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who traveled through the American West helping others and outrunning a bounty on his head — all with the power of the martial arts on his side. Of course, Carradine was not Asian in any way and with our current ability to cast authentically, it make sense to reboot the series in a way that promotes a more positive depiction.

“Kung Fu,” which premiered on The CW on April 7, tells the story of Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), a young Asian-American woman who spends three years in a shaolin monastery only to return to her native San Francisco when her mentor is murdered. Neither Liang nor showrunner Christina Kim had a deep familiarity with the original series prior to embarking on this iteration.

“Looking back,...

It’s been a long journey for The CW to snatch that Kung Fu pebble from the master’s (Warner Bros.) hand, but the new reboot of Kung Fu could not have come at a better time.

Issues of diversity and representation have been at the forefront of our cultural conversations for years now. The rise in Asian hate crimes – nearly a 150% increase in 2020 – has made #StopAsianHate a frequent trending topic on social media. For The CW to launch a show with a Chinese leading actress and a largely Asian cast right now makes a bold statement for inclusivity that lives up to the network’s longstanding slogan “Dare to Defy.”

What’s more, Kung Fu is promoting itself as an Asian family drama which could fill a newly opened gap. Two wildly successful Asian family sitcoms just went off the air – ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat ended its...

Dust off your fedora and domino mask and make sure there’s gas in the Black Beauty, because the Green Hornet and Kato will once again return to the screen. Despite the fact that the masked vigilantes pre-date Batman and Robin by several years (having first leaped into action on The Green Hornet radio show in 1936), these legendary pop culture figures haven’t had much luck on the screen recently. That’s about to change with Amasia Entertainment partnering with Universal Pictures for The Green Hornet and Kato, the latest attempt to update the pair for a new generation. Michael Helfant and Bradley Gallo are producing.

“The Green Hornet is one of the most iconic and beloved superhero tales ever created, and it has entertained generations of fans in every form of storytelling,” Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer said in a statement (via Variety). “We are thrilled to be partnering with Michael,...

The exclusive 4K Ultra-hd club welcomes a worthy new member, Joe Dante’s evergreen horror comedy (and Christmas delight) about a cute furry critter and its 2nd-generation horde of scaly, impish demons. These aren’t Gremlins from the Kremlin, but homegrown domestic terrorist monsters, and Dante contrasts their killer antics with a sentimental parody of small town America. No CGI … You will believe that the animatronic rascals can multiply like rabbits, break dance, and run amuck!

Gremlins

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date October 1, 2019 / 41.99

Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Frances Lee McCain, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Judge Reinhold, Polly Holliday, Belinda Balaski, Edward Andrews, Don Steele, Scott Brady, Corey Feldman, Harry Carey Jr., Chuck Jones, Glynn Turman, Jerry Goldsmith, William Schallert, Steven Spielberg, Kenneth Tobey.

Cinematography: John Hora

Film Editor: Tina Hirsch

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith...

WarnerMedia has confirmed a 10-episode series order to Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, a half-hour animated prequel to the original 1984 Gremlins live-action movie. The project, from Amblin Television and Warner Bros Animation, had been in the works for months with an informal green light.

The animated TV adaptation, written by Tze Chun, tells the original story of the shop owner Mr. Wing character from the 1984 movie and its 1990 sequel, played by Keye Luke. Set in 1920s Shanghai, it reveals how 10-year-old Sam Wing met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.

Gremlins: Secrets of...

An animated series on the 1984 comedy horror film Gremlins is in the works.

The series is in development at WarnerMedia's upcoming streaming service, reports variety.com.?

The potential series is said to be a period piece that would follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo.?

The series will be produced by Warner Bros. Television and Amblin Television.

Tze Chun is attached to write and executive produce. He is known for writing and directing films like 2013's Cold Comes The Night and 2009's Children Of Invention.?

Gremlins is directed by Joe Dante and written by Chris Columbus. A sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released in 1990 with Dante returning to direct.

News of the development comes as WarnerMedia prepares to enter the streaming space with its yet-to-be-named streaming platform.

Kirsten Howard Feb 25, 2019

The Gremlins animated series will be a prequel, following Mr Wing as he has some adventures with his Mogwai...

Typing away with a little joy in our hearts as we write this, because if we can't have a new Gremlins film - and it appears we cannot, as Chris Columbus was still "actively talking about it" last April and we haven't heard a whisper since - then we are more than happy to have some kind of Gremlins-related visual media to enjoy until everyone in charge of the potential Gremlins movie reboot/reimagining/sequel/whatever gets their act together.

Variety has confirmed that WarnerMedia is planning a Gremlins animated series for its new streaming service! Filed firmly under "period piece" the prequel series "will follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo.

You may want to brush up on your Mogwai rules and keep an eye on your snacks after midnight, because an animated Gremlins series is now in the works.

Variety reports that an animated series based on Joe Dante's 1984 movie Gremlins (written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) is in the works for WarnerMedia's yet-to-be-named streaming service.

According to Variety, the Gremlins series "is said to be a period piece that would follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo."

Tze Chun "is attached" to write and executive produce the potential series, which will be produced by Warner Bros. Television and Amblin Television. No other details are known at this time, but we'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated as more information is revealed.

The Gremlins franchise is getting its own TV series: WarnerMedia is developing an animated show based on the horror-comedy movies for its upcoming streaming service, our sister site Variety reports.

The project is a prequel which follows a young Mr. Wing — played by Keye Luke in both the original 1984 film and its 1990 sequel — as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo.

Tze Chun (Gotham, Once Upon a Time) will write and executive-produce the potential series.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Season 4 of The Expanse, slated to stream on Amazon later this year, will feature...

An animated series based on the Gremlins film franchise is in development at WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, Deadline has learned.

The potential series would be a prequel and follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo. Warner Bros. TV and Amblin TV, would co-produce. Warner and Amblin produced the films on which the show would be based.

The series would be written and executive produced by Tze Chun, Deadline has confirmed.

Warner Bros. and Amblin declined to comment.

The first Gremlins comedy horror movie was released in 1984 by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature called a mogwai as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...

A relaunch of the Gremlins franchise has been stuck in development hell for years now, with a legacy sequel being discussed or maybe just a straight-up reboot. As it turns out though, the studio has finally set out to work on a new project for Gizmo the Mogwai and it’s going to take the form of an animated series that’s due to arrive on WB’s upcoming streaming service.

Variety broke the news today, confirming that the Gremlins cartoon will be among the first bit of exclusive original content on the WarnerMedia site, which the corporation will be hoping will rival Netflix and Disney Plus, once that arrives. It’s known that the beta version of the service won’t sport new content, so the Gremlins show will likely land online sometime in 2020.

The good news for lovers of Joe Dante’s classic 80s movie is that the...

I’ve got some interesting news for all of the Gremlins fans out there! According to Variety, WB is developing a Gremlins animated series that will air on WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service. I think you’re going to like the direction that they are taking the series as well.

According to the report, the series will be a “period piece that would follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo.”

I would love to see a series that follows the adventures of Mr. Wing and his Mogwai! There are a lot of incredibly fun stories that could be told there. The series will be written and executive produced by Tze Chun, who is known for writing and directing films like Bryan Cranston’s 2013’s Cold Comes the Night and 2009’s Children of Invention.

An animated “Gremlins” series is being developed for WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, an individual with knowledge of the project tells TheWrap.

Tze Chun, who directed 2013’s “Cold Comes the Night” and 2009’s “Children of Invention,” would serve as writer and executive producer. He was also a writer on “Gotham” and “Once Upon a Time” and co-founded comic book publisher Tko Studios.

The series would be produced by Warner Bros. TV and Amblin Television. WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. and Amblin all declined to comment.

Also Read: Turner Boss Kevin Reilly Doesn't Want WarnerMedia to Share 'Friends' With Netflix

The WarnerMedia project would be a prequel, following Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather portrayed by Keye Luke in the films, as a young man as he goes on adventures with Mogwai Gizmo. The first “Gremlins” film was released in 1984, along with a sequel, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” in 1990.

Not much is known...

A “Gremlins” animated series is in development at WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.

The potential series is said to be a period piece that would follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo. The series will be produced by Warner Bros. Television and Amblin Television. Both Warner Bros. and Amblin produced the films on which the show will be based.

Warner Bros. and Amblin declined to comment.

Tze Chun is attached to write and executive produce. He is known for writing and directing films like 2013’s “Cold Comes the Night” starring Bryan Cranston and 2009’s “Children of Invention. Chun’s TV credits include shows like “Gotham” and “Once Upon a Time.” He is also the co-founder of comic book publisher Tko Studios.

Chun is repped by Wme and Morris Yorn.

Gremlins could be getting a new life on WarnerMedia's forthcoming streaming service.

The company is developing an animated series based on the film franchise. Tze Chun (Gotham, Once Upon a Time) will write and executive produce, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Warner Bros. Television and Amblin Television are set to produce.

Warner Bros. and Amblin, who produced the 1984 and 1990 movies on which the show is based, declined comment.

The series would be a prequel to the films following Gizmo, the Mogwai at the center of the movies, and a young version of Mr. Wing (played by Keye Luke in ...

“Alice Of The Spirits”

By Raymond Benson

Revisiting Woody Allen’s 1990 film Alice after all these years brought on many emotions. I instruct the students in my Film History class at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, that one must always judge a film within the context of when it was released. These days, it’s difficult to do so with the formidable filmography of Woody Allen. Can one put aside the context of when this film was released? Alice was made while the writer/director’s relationship with his star, Mia Farrow, was supposedly still rosy, less than a couple of years before the familial scandal erupted that has dogged the filmmaker ever since. Can one ignore the presence—throughout the film—of young Dylan Farrow, playing the role of Alice’s daughter? Or, ironically, the small role played by James Toback in the film? (Readers familiar...

Paul Newman's fourth Best Actor nominated star vehicle opened on this day in 1967! In its honor an impromptu list...

Best Screen Lukes

Cool Hand Luke  (Paul Newman) Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)  Luke Pasqualino Luke Cage  (Mike Colter) Luke (Ryan Gosling) from The Place Beyond the Pines  Luke Evans Keye Luke Luke (Ot Fagbenie) from "The Handmaid's Tale" Derek Luke Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) from "The Dukes of Hazzard"

(okay, who'd we forget?)...

The sequel to the epic Julie Andrews road show picture wasn't a hit, but it tells a good story of its own. Charlton Heston is okay but the central character is a Chinese immigrant played by Tina Chen. Against all odds, the peasant matriarch survives plagues and leprosy to found a family dynasty for the new Hawaii. The Hawaiians Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Charlton Heston, Tina Chen, Geraldine Chaplin, Mako, John Phillip Law, Alec McCowen, Miko Mayama, Virginia Ann Lee, Chris Robinson, Naomi Stevens, Keye Luke, Khigh Dhiegh, Mary Munday, Harry Townes, Lyle Bettger, James Hong, James Gregory, Harry Holcombe, Victor Sen Yung Cinematography Lucien Ballard, Philip Lathrop Film Editor Byron Brandt, Ralph Winters Original Music Henry Mancini Written by James R. Webb from the novel by James A. Michener Produced by Walter Mirisch Directed by...

Alexander and Ilya Salkind had sold Superman to the Golan-Globus Group/Cannon but wisely retained the rest of the family including Superboy. Thanks to Star Trek: The Next Generation pioneering first run syndication in 1987, the Salkinds realized the Teen of Steel would be perfect. Looking to produce this on the cheap, they set up shop in Florida, hired science fiction hack Fred Freiberger to produce and hired a slate of newcomers to fill the iconic roles of Clark Kent, Ma and Pa Kent, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, et. al. The series debuted in 1988 with 25 episodes and was pretty laughable stuff. Freiberger was past his sell-by date and the Salkinds didn’t know how to handle the half-hour drama format.

Still, the ratings from the 95% of the country the series reached were strong enough to keep them going. However, changes needed to be made. Freiberger was shoved out and Salkind favorite...

Prime time television in the 1950s and 1960s was packed with family situation comedies, including Hanna-Barbera’s takes on The Honeymooners in the form of The Flintstones and The Jetsons. By the dawn of the 1970s, those situation comedy tropes began to permeate Saturday morning cartoons as funny animal and super-heroic fare began to wane. Then there came Scooby-Doo, the first truly original and fresh concept in ages. The four meddlesome teens, their charismatic canine companion and van became the template for many imitators.

I can therefore imagine the brain trust at H-b trying to find new variations on the successful theme. The idea of combining elements a mystery solving family was a natural but how they ever settled on Charlie Chan and his dozen children remains an, ahem,. mystery.

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan debuted in 1972 on CBS and was derived from Earl Derr Biggers literary sleuth,...

June 8th, 1984 was a great day for movie nerds, particularly those with an affection for special effects, scares and belly laughs. Not only did they get "Ghostbusters" in theaters that day (as we've already looked at, but they also got "Gremlins," the subversive PG-rated horror-comedy from the A-list trio of writer Chris Columbus, director Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg.

The film, which involves young Billy (Zach Galligan), who fails to obey the strict rules regarding looking after his new pet (all together now: don't get them in bright daylight, don't get them wet, and whatever you do, don't feed them after midnight) and ends up unleashing a plague of monsters on his suburban town. It was the first film released under Spielberg's Amblin logo, and embodies much of what that company came to represent, although "Gremlins" was also violent enough that it helped give birth to the PG-13 rating.

Last week, we took a look back at the first Gremlins movie. This week, it’s on to Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Although I had not watched the movie in nearly two decades, there were a few things I remembered about the sequel before sitting down to rewatch. For starters, as a kid, it was a more fun movie than the original film. “The new batch” had powers. When you’re a kid, powers are all the rage. I remembered that at least one Gremlin could talk perfect English, while another darted around the screen like it had the powers of Electro (an Amazing Spider-Man villain from Marvel Comics). I also recalled the story taking place in New York and Gizmo wearing a red bandana – though I couldn’t for the life of me remember why Gizmo would be wearing gang colors.

Gremlins 2 begins similar to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

If there was one great gift the 80s gave us, it was the gift of the B-flick, horror movie. Malicious villains like Freddy Krueger and Jason were born in Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Both of these films kept children awake at night with nightmares of gruesome deaths. Parents regretted not heeding the “R” rating that drove those children into their beds. I still remember my dad waking up with bruises left from me kicking him in the back. Shame on him for allowing this five-year old kid to watch Freddy eviscerate everyone on Elm Street. The Gremlins was one movie that received acclaim during this era of low-budget horror. The story revolved around a young boy who received a pet Mogwai, named Gizmo, as a gift. However, much like the Amazing Spider-Man, with great Mogwai comes great responsibility. When two rules are broken, all hell breaks...

For many fans the role of Kato in The Green Hornet will always be associated with the young Bruce Lee but the reality is that Kato was around long before Lee in various forms with his first on screen incarnation in the 1940s serial series coming with Chinese-American actor Keye Luke under the goggles. Luke was also a regular in the Charlie Chan films while later in life he would sell a furry little creature for a Christmas present in Gremlins.Luke passed away in 1991 but is being remembered in a short film bio-pic titled simply Keye Luke. Check the trailer below....

Howdy fellow movie geeks. With all the interest in bringing classic heroes to the big screen, I thought I’d begin this column dedicated to discussing classic movie serials available on DVD. And since this masked crime buster is the focus of a brand new feature film this weekend, I thought I’d start with a look at the 1940 Universal thirteen chapter movie serial The Green Hornet.

First a little history of movie serials. You younger film fans may wonder what I’m talking about. First it’s serials with an “s”, not a “c”, so I’m not talking about something you pour out of a box into a bowl and douse with milk in the mornings. Film serials started appearing in 1913. Theatre owners and studios thought this new story telling format would be a great way to get patrons returning week after week. Serials were big, thrilling, adventure...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

The Dilemma – Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder

The Green Hornet – Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz

The Heart Specialist – Wood Harris, Zoe Saldana, Brian J. White (limited)

Movie of the Week

The Green Hornet

The Stars: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz

The Plot: Following the death of his father, Britt Reid (Rogen) teams up with his late father’s assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

The Buzz: This looks to be an off-weekend for Hollywood. The Green Hornet is the ‘Movie of the Week’ only because I’m in the mood to rant, and because I don’t want to rant about the latest Vince Vaughn romcom, and because I know absolutely zippo about The Heart Specialist.

So…

I believe The Green Hornet will likely be the ‘B.O. Bomb of the Week.’ Based on its horrible trailer,...

This selection from Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas gives us a horror hit that forever changed portrayals of Christmas -- not to mention the MPAA:

On a trip to New York City, unsuccessful inventor Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) searches for a Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan), and in Chinatown he finds an adorable creature known as a mogwai. The old shopkeeper (Keye Luke) refuses to sell it, but his grandson secretly lets Rand have it for $300. There are rules to be followed in keeping the creature: Keep it away from bright light, don't let it get wet, and don't feed it after midnight.

Kudos to Vci Entertainment for once again making some rare serials available. Their latest DVDs are the Universal serials The Green Hornet (1940) and The Green Hornet Strikes Again (1941). Although the movies were released less than a year apart, the role of Britt Reid—the crusading publisher of the Daily Sentinel and secretly the masked crime fighter, the Green Hornet—was played by different actors. The first starred Gordon Jones, usually seen in comedy roles and who would later play Mike the Cop on the Abbott & Costello TV show. For the second serial, Universal brought in Warren Hull, who was no stranger to costumed heroes, having portrayed Mandrake the Magician in a serial and the pulp favorite character the Spider in another chapterplay; Hull would also star in The Spider Returns that same year. Jones speaks as Reid, but in a clever move, whenever the Hornet puts on his mask, the...

As the 1970s dawned, I was 12 and no longer as interested in Saturday morning fare. There was Little League which was either in the morning or afternoon and I found myself drifting more towards the Bowery Boys shorts that ran on channel 5 after the cartoons wore themselves out. My younger siblings watched, but not with the same passion I had shown just a few years earlier.

For me, the Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 1 , coming tomorrow from Warner Home Video, was more introductory than revisiting my childhood. Having just finished the 1960s volume, it was startling to see how rapidly things had changed. Spies and super-heroes were rapidly supplanted by large gaggles of people either playing music or solving mysteries or both. The disc opens with a cheat, an episode of The Jetsons, which may have run in the 1970s for the umpteenth time, but was emblematic of an earlier era,...

Gremlins (1984) They're watching Snow White. And they love it. Synopsis The world's worst inventor, and possibly its worst dad as well, Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) comes across an interesting little animal, called a mogwai, in an old antique shop in Chinatown when trying to sell useless junk to its adorable old Chinese owner (Keye Luke). Despite the warnings of the responsibility required to care for it, plus the needed adherence to some of the most scientifically ludicrous rules imaginable, Randall believes the mogwai would be a perfect Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). After predictably smashing the rules to pieces, Billy teams up with his love interest Kate (Phoebe Cates) to save a small town from the dangerously mischievous, and completely misunderstood, result of his negligence. Why We Love It I have a long history with Gremlins. This is the film that singlehandedly dominated my nightmares and pretty much created all the fear I had...