News

The early years of Saturday Night Live weren’t exactly the most sober. In retrospect, Lorne Michaels probably should have credited a giant baggy of cocaine as one of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” But even though the cast was far from clear-headed, an early host’s drinking problem was so severe that it nearly derailed the entire show.

During its second season in March of 1977, SNL featured host Broderick Crawford, the legendary actor best known for his Oscar-winning performance in All the King’s Men.

Unfortunately, Crawford was a severe alcoholic, whose drinking became so bad that he was “arrested several times for DUI.” Oddly enough, this happened while he was working on the TV cop show Highway Patrol.

In a recent interview with The A.V. Club, Dan Aykroyd was asked about the one and only time that Crawford hosted SNL. Aykroyd recounted that Michaels begged Crawford to...

It’s shaping up to be a Huston family Christmas.

Siblings and Hollywood royalty Anjelica and Danny Huston are teaming on a new project, The Christmas Witch Trial of La Befana, a hybrid animated and live-action feature film that is currently shooting in Los Angeles and Ontario, Canada.

HighballTV confirmed the details of the film, which was written by David James Brock and HighballTV’s Melissa D’Agostino based on an idea they conceived with Matt Campagna who is also directing with D’Agostino, a frequent creative partner. Johnathan Sharp is producing.

The plot follows a peculiar court case that unspools after the children in a rural Italian village kidnap their legendary Christmas witch, played by Huston, and put her on trial in an attempt to stop her annual judgment from their lives. While casting a spell through witches, fantasy and Italian folklore, the project is said to touch on universal themes of grief,...

Tom Cruise has always embraced risks, almost as if he’s married to the thrill of it. So, it’s no surprise that stories of his risky businesses from the set of Risky Business continue to captivate our attention. The film that launched Cruise into superstardom, was marked by more than just that, as it is also still discussed thanks to his steamy affair with co-star Rebecca De Mornay.

Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise in Risky Business | Credits: Warner Bros.

However, the romance was not without drama, reportedly leading to the end of one Hollywood couple. Here is what all went on behind the scenes!

Inside the Risky Business Behind the Scenes with Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise!

Even after four decades, Risky Business still has fans buzzing with behind-the-scenes gossip, particularly about the rumored romance between Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The duo met while filming the 1983 classic.

Many of us, whether in the entertainment business or outside of it, choose lives that are constantly on the move with goal after goal being strived for, barely taking a day or even a moment for slowing down to enjoy the sweetness of living. Today’s movies reflect a similar state of mind as many of our favorite protagonists are highly motivated to achieve ambitious dreams, often losing relationships and sanity over their seemingly impossible ends. As if in response to this, Wim Wenders’ newest film 'Perfect Days' (2023) follows a character who acts as the opposite. Shot on location in Tokyo Japan with legendary Japanese star Koji Yakusho giving an award winning performance, Wim Wenders’ newest film, 'Perfect Days' brings a slice of life treat to the modern era of world cinema that is in parts delightful and endearing, other parts somber and thoughtful, and overall encompassed by a feeling...

Rebecca De Mornay played the call girl Lana in Risky Business, where she meets the high school senior, played by Tom Cruise. The 1983 film is considered to be the breakout role of Cruise, and he shared some pretty steamy scenes with De Mornay. Interestingly, the two began an affair on set, despite De Mornay being in a relationship with actor Harry Dean Stanton at the time.

Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise in Risky Business | Credits: Warner Bros.

The affair didn’t last long even after De Mornay broke things off with Stanton. Soon after her Risky Business success, things started falling apart for the actress including her relationship with Cruise. She took the role in the romcom The Slugger’s Wife, which turned out to be a disaster.

Rebecca De Mornay’s Life Fell Apart After Risky Business and Tom Cruise Affair Rebecca De Mornay in Risky Business | Credits: Warner Bros.

Kris Kristofferson has sadly passed away at the age of 88, leaving behind an incredible legacy as a singer, songwriter, actor, Rhodes Scholar, football player, boxer, firefighter, and Army Ranger helicopter pilot.

According to reports, Kristofferson died peacefully in his home in Maui, Hawaii on Saturday, September 28.

“We’re all so blessed for our time with him,” members of his family said in a statement. “Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”

Kristofferson was already well on his way to becoming a Country Music superstar when he made his acting debut in Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie (1971), before going on to appear in the likes of Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Michael Cimino's Heaven’s Gate (1980), John Sayles’ Lone Star (1996), Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), and the first...

The utter weirdness of Alex Cox’s remarkable debut—a document of L.A.’s hardcore punk scene that’s also an ode to its car culture, a critique of the American middle class, and a kind-of sci-fi comedy about a radioactive Chevy Malibu—would seem to preclude its existence. And yet here it is. Forty years later, Repo Man is no worse for the wear. Not so much ahead of its time as outside of it, the film’s L.A. punk particularities have broadened over the years. Its ennui has endured not just as a portrait of a certain generation of angry adolescents, but as one of angry adolescence writ large. In a way, the film’s timelessness has always been assured by Cox’s restless protagonist, Emilio Estevez’s suburban punk-cum-repossession agent Otto, who’s always seemed like a bit of a nonentity.

As much as Repo Man...

For those who like a good dose of honesty and chaos, the 1984 punk cult classic debut from Alex Cox, Repo Man is out in a 4K/Blu-ray combo. The release is beautiful; from the physical booklet to the actual restoration, this is a release you’ll want to pick up. Repo Man follows the raucous Bud, played by the legendary Harry Dean Stanton, Rip. He takes young punk Otto (a young Emilio Estevez) under his wing, and together, the two of them are nihilistic urban cowboys on the brink of annihilation, of both themselves and the other criminals and punks they collide with in Los Angeles. Otto and Bud get into trouble ¾ a lot. They fight...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Looks like cinephiles will need to make a little more space on their shelves. As has become customary, The Criterion Collection announced its four upcoming December releases today, and you may just need to make room for all of them on your holiday shopping lists. First up, set to be available on December 3, the new 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’ Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece “Paris, Texas,” starring Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, and Nastassja Kinski.

In his 1984 review of the reflective western drama, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, “‘Paris, Texas’ is a movie with the kind of passion and willingness to experiment that was more common fifteen years ago than it is now. It has more links with films like ‘Five Easy Pieces’ and ‘Easy Rider’ and ‘Midnight Cowboy,’ than with the slick arcade games that are the box-office winners of the 1980s. It is true, deep, and brilliant.”

On...

December is a time to celebrate the holidays, right? Well, then what better way to celebrate than buying yourself some incredible Criterion disks? Criterion clearly knows December is a gift-giving time, as the company has a stellar lineup of disks coming our way at the end of the year.

Read More: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

Leading the way is “Paris, Texas,” Wim Wenders’ incredible 1984 film starring Harry Dean Stanton.

Continue reading Criterion’s December Releases Include ‘Paris, Texas,’ ‘8 1/2,’ ‘No Country For Old Men’ & More at The Playlist.

Any kid who ever dreamed of striding the boards, meticulously prepping for their glamorous on-camera close-up, or adorning the walls of teenagers all over the world as the most fetching heartthrob on the planet, did not entertain for a second that steady work as less-than-studly screen presence like M Emmet Walsh could be its own gloriously gruff reward. If you were born with a face that looked like it went 12 rounds with Sonny Liston before exiting the birth canal, or walked in heels like they were a pair of Carhartts, you're probably destined to be a working stiff like the rest of us for the remainder of your life.

And there is dignity in this. There is meaning. And not to get your hopes up too high, but if you can strut across the stage like you were born to it, hold the gaze of a camera, or fire off one-liners with buffoonish aplomb,...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Ben Cooper Costume Figures from Neca

As previewed at San Diego Comic-Con, Neca is adding four new characters to its Ben Cooper Costume action figure line: Alien‘s Xenomorph, Gremlins‘ Gizmo and Stripe, and Beetlejuice (based on the animated series).

Each 6″ toy is outfitted in retro-inspired soft goods clothing and comes with a trick or treat bag. They’re packaged in numbered window boxes. Due out in October, the set of four is available for $79.99.

Escape from New York Steelbook 4K Uhd from Scream Factory

Escape from New York will be released on SteelBook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray with artwork by Orlando Arocena on November 5 via Scream Factory. The 1981 post-apocalyptic action film been restored in...

Is there a more entertainingly batshit movie from the ‘80s than Repo Man?

English filmmaker Alex Cox’s 1984 directorial debut is a satirical black comedy set in a version of Los Angeles (undoubtedly inspired by Cox’s years studying film at UCLA) where the food—even the alcohol—is blandly,...

Children of the 1960s might recognize the late actor James Darren from his role as Moondoggie, aka Jeffrey Matthews, from the hit 1959 beach party movie "Gidget." Darren reprised his role in "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" and "Gidget Goes to Rome." Darren, however, was massively prolific in film, TV, and music, and his decades-long career was only cut short this week when the actor passed away at the age of 88. He left behind a sizable body of work that includes 14 studio albums, dozens of appearances in TV shows, and movies beyond Gidget. He shared the screen with future "Gilligan's Island" stars Bob Denver and Tina Louise in "Those Who Think Young," popped up in Jess Franco's 1969 version of "Venus in Furs," and most recently appeared in the Harry Dean Stanton film "Lucky" (one of the best films of 2017).

To Trekkies, Darren is best known for playing Vic Fontaine, the holographic Rat...

James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88.

Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery; he went home but had to return.

“I always thought he would pull through,” Moret said, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

Early in his career, the dark-haired Darren received excellent notices for starring in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) — portraying the son of a hoodlum defended by Humphrey Bogart’s character in 1949’s Knock on Any Door — and for playing the Greek soldier Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone...

Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien changed the game for sci-fi filmmaking and was a phenomenal example of the greatness that could be achieved with practical effects. The film introduced a badass female icon Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver. The talented cast including Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, and Ian Holm further elevated the amazing narrative.

A still from Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus | Credits: 20th Century Studios

The latter’s role was the source of the film’s big twist, increasing the stakes for the other character. The franchise’s latest release Alien: Romulus brought back Holm using animatronics and AI technology, which has received significant backlash. However, director Fede Álvarez had nothing but respect for the actor and approached it with the right intentions.

Fede Álvarez Defends Alien: Romulus‘ Controversial Cameo Amidst Criticism of AI Usage

Ian Holm played the humanoid Ash in Ridley Scott...

This article contains spoilers aplenty for Alien: Romulus and the whole franchise.

“I admire its purity,” a robot says during an infamous scene in Alien. Ian Holm’s synthetic science officer is of course referring to the “organism” (or “xenomorph” as Aliens later defines it). However, this line of dialogue has gone on to be cherished by science fiction fans all over the world as a metaphor for the original, sleek, and mysterious 1979 movie that started it all.

It would seem director Fede Alvarez and his Alien: Romulus co-writer Rodo Sayagues would agree. Their new seventh entry in the mainline Alien franchise is a love letter to nearly everything that came before. That is definitely seems to be the case with the many callbacks, homages, and easter eggs to the original Ridley Scott film. However, Alien: Romulus also includes nods, winks, and allusions to every other proper film in the series…...

If you want to stream all of the movies in the “Alien” franchise, including the “Alien vs. Predator” spinoffs, head over to Hulu.

All eight films, released theatrically by 20th Century Fox (since renamed as 20th Century Studios) are currently on the Disney-owned streamer at the moment.

Ridley Scott’s 1979 original space thriller and James Cameron’s action-packed 1986 sequel and subsequent sequels are variously available on Fubu, FX Now and Max.

Here’s where to stream all the “Alien” movies right now ahead of the release of “Alien: Romulus,” the ninth film in the franchise that opens in theaters on Aug. 16.

20th Century Fox

Alien (1979)

In the first film, the crew of the Nostromo – Ripley, Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ash (Ian Holm), Kane (John Hurt), Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) — answer a deep-space distress call that will prove fatal for most of them. Four decades latter,...

It is fair to say that Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s original million-dollar idea for Alien remains one of the great all-time movie scares. A crew of astronauts, or at least space truckers, sits down for dinner before the long hyper-sleep home. Earlier in the story, one of them, a man, was attacked when an alien organism attached itself to his face. The crew’s science officer, a cagey and unknowable figure, tells us the man is fine. Yet come dinner time, everyone realizes too late that the man has been implanted (or impregnated) with extraterrestrial life. And it is a violent birth.

The visual of a creature bursting from a man’s chest remains one of the most viscerally disgusting moments in film history, and a scare so potent that even skeptical producer David Giler went from hating O’Bannon’s first draft to agreeing with Walter Hill...

After directing two features last year with Perfect Days and Anselm, there’s no better time to revisit Wim Wenders’ crowning achievement. His serene 1984 Palme d’Or winner Paris, Texas has been restored in 4K for its 40th anniversary and will now open in theaters beginning August 30 at NYC’s IFC Center, courtesy of Janus Films. Written by Sam Shepard, shot by Robby Müller, and starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Dean Stockwell, the new trailer and poster has now arrived ahead of the theatrical rerelease.

Here’s the synopsis: “New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire) brings his keen eye for landscape to the American Southwest in Paris, Texas, a profoundly moving character study written by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Sam Shepard. Paris, Texas follows the mysterious, nearly mute drifter Travis as he tries to reconnect with his young son, living with his brother (Dean Stockwell) in Los Angeles,...

David Lynch has been making movies since the 1960s, when he was an art student who wanted to see his paintings move. Since then, he’s become one of the most recognizable and beloved auteurs in cinema history, a filmmaker who enjoys remarkable success, given his idiosyncratic work.

Because Lynch’s work is so personal, it has long been difficult for critics and fans to reach a consensus regarding which is his very best work. Every single one of his movies and TV series has value, and each one strikes different people in different ways. Indeed, even this writer finds himself changing his own personal ranking from time to time.

Like Lynch himself, his works are impossible to categorize and, thus, near impossible to rank, but we’ve given a go in order to celebrate the filmmakers long and celebrated career. We’re looking back at both his movies and...

John Carroll Lynch is officially set to join Prime Video’s untitled Renée Ballard series, the second spin-off of Amazon MGM’s Prime Video series “Bosch.” The 10-episode project will follow Detective Renée Ballard as she takes charge of the LAPD’s new cold case division.

The show’s official description reads, “When Ballard uncovers a larger conspiracy during her investigations, she’ll lean on the assistance of her retired ally, Harry Bosch, to navigate the dangers that threaten both her unit and her life.”

Lynch will play Thomas Laffont, according to a statement from Amazon, “a retired former police partner who comes back to help Ballard run the Cold Case Department. A kind, seasoned detective, and crack interrogator — he’s a rock for Ballard.”

The actor was recently featured in Pamela Adlon’s movie “Babes” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” He also directed Harry Dean Stanton’s final film,...

Alex Cox's 1984 punk rock sci-fi riot "Repo Man" is one of the defining films of its decade. It follows a disaffected punker named Otto who resents that he has to take a wage-slave job in the blasted-open, comedically meaningless landscape of Reagan's America. He finds solace and job satisfaction as a repo man, serving as the angry inversion of consumer culture. If we are defined by what we consume, then the repo man robs us of meaning, laying bare the fragility of modern economics. Also, be sure to keep your middle fingers highly raised at all times. 

The magical McGuffin of "Repo Man" is an elusive 1964 Chevy Malibu, marked for repossession. The driver, however, is J. Frank Parnell (Fox Harris), and he seems to be unbalanced, having had a lobotomy at some point. Also, his trunk contains the corpse of a radioactive alien. Whenever someone tries looking in the trunk,...

Legendary actress Shelley Duvall has sadly passed away at the age of 75. Movie fans know her best for her stellar work as Wendy Torrance in The Shining, and for playing Olive Oyl in the big-screen version of Popeye — although her work in the Harland Williams vehicle RocketMan has yet to be fully-appreciated.

Anyone who grew up in the ‘80s or ‘90s likely also remembers Duvall as the host and creator of Faerie Tale Theatre, one of the most bizarre, charming and idiosyncratic children’s shows in the history of TV. Each episode presented an hour-long, live-action adaptation of a familiar (or occasionally not-so-familiar) fairy tale, featuring a double-take-inducing cast of Hollywood legends and upstart comic stars.

Where else could you find Elliott Gould playing a giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, or Joan Collins as a witch trying to capture Hansel and Gretel? Or Howie Mandel as a character named...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga drives onto home video on August 13 via Warner Bros. The fifth installment in the post-apocalyptic action franchise is presented on 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision/Hdr and Dolby Atmos audio.

Mad Max creator George Miller directs from a script he co-wrote with Nico Lathouris (Mad Max: Fury Road). Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, and Lachy Hulme star.

Five featurettes are included: Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa, Stowaway to Nowhere, Metal Beasts & Holy Motors, Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, and Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus.

The Toxic Avenger Figure from Super...

As we've previously discussed, this summer movie season is surprisingly light on franchise fare.

That's partially due to the strikes that shut down Hollywood for much of the year, and partially due to the fact that superhero flicks just aren't packing 'em in like they used to.

But if you're a fan of sequels and nostalgia, fear not! Ridley Scott's Alien saga will be returning to theaters in August!

Yes, Alien: Romulus is set for release on August 16.

Scott is still on board as executive producer, but there's a new writer-director at the helm in the form of Evil Dead and Don't Breathe horror-meister Fede Alvarez.

Earlier today, 20th Century Studios dropped a press release, along with a trailer that's giving us some serious heebie-jeebies.

Related: Will Movies and Shows of Today Be Classics Tomorrow?

"Alien: Romulus takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots," reads the announcement.

The Perfect Organism.

After kicking off May with discussions of Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy (listen), Trace and I have checked out Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark (listen) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Gregg Araki‘s Mysterious Skin (listen).

Now we’re crossing a classic title off our list: Ridley Scott‘s Alien.

Alien tells the story of the crew of the Nostromo as they’re awoken from stasis to answer a distress beacon on a nearby planet. When Kane (John Hurt) is attacked on an alien ship, Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) refuses to let Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) and Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) back on board with quarantining.

Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm) overrides her command and brings them inside, but as the alien creature on Kane’s face evolves, it becomes clear that there’s more than one antagonist on board the ship and everyone, including Engineers Parker...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"In space, no one can hear you scream." Few cinematic taglines have managed to become as immediately identifiable as this one. While it needs no introduction, the tagline was attached to director Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 classic, "Alien." Regardless of genre, it is one of the most highly regarded and influential films ever made. It was also, not for nothing, a huge hit in its day, only to become an even bigger hit as the years have rolled on. Put plainly, it's one of the most important box office success stories in history.

"I thought it was a small movie," said Sigourney Weaver, the film's lead, in an interview with Reuters in 2019. "It had a tiny cast and a brilliant young director.

Richard Foronjy, a character actor who grew up in the gangster world and went to prison before becoming an actor in movies including “Midnight Run,” “Prince of the City” and “Carlito’s Way,” died Sunday. He was 86.

Foronjy, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., saw his first small role as Corsaro in “Serpico,” the 1973 autobiographical crime drama that starred Al Pacino as a whistleblower whose work led to an investigation by the Knapp Commission into the department.

In the 1984 “Repo Man,” starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez, Foronjy played Arnold Plettschner, the rent-a-cop with the memorable speech, “You’re fuckin’ right I’m Plettschner! Arnold Plettschner! Three times decorated in two world wars! I was killing people while you were still swimming around in your father’s balls! You little scumbag! I worked five years in a slaughterhouse, and ten years as a prison guard in Attica!”

In the 1988 comedy action film “Midnight Run,...

Above: 1980 Japanese poster for Apocalypse Now. Design by Eiko Ishioka, artwork by Haruo Takino.With Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestated Megalopolis having premiered yesterday at Cannes, it's a good time to look back at the posters from his 60-year-long career. The only problem is that many posters for his films are either too well known or nothing to write home about. Like Coppola’s career itself, there are peaks and valleys—one of my very first posts for Notebook, almost exactly fifteen years ago, was about the gorgeous design for The Rain People (1969)—but a career retrospective of his posters seems like it might result in less than the sum of its parts. Yet of all his posters there are three rare Japanese designs that have always stood out as utterly extraordinary: two for Apocalypse Now (1979) and one for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).I’ve always seen these posters attributed to Eiko Ishioka,...

Although John Carpenter’s primarily worked in (and forever defined) sci-fi and horror pictures, the man has long loved noir. (Never forget Harry Dean Stanton being offered an entire series of Pi films on the basis of his minor detective role in Christine.) It was maybe just a matter of time until his decade-running Lost Themes series turned that way, and thus today brings the release of Lost Themes IV: Noir, a 10-track tribute that plays on the genre’s dark tones with guitars and synths.

Not quite a smoky orchestral score, a fact they’re willing to acknowledge. Says longtime player Daniel Davies, “Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films. But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.” While we wait for the younger-than-you-think Carpenter to reconsider a return to feature filmmaking, this is a nice pitstop.

Stream below:

The...

Despite having lost three of her shipmates to an alien invader she doesn’t understand, despite learning that her shipmate and science officer Ash (Ian Holm) is an android, despite nearly getting killed when Ash tried to shove a porn mag down her throat, it’s something else that truly disturbs Ripley in Alien. It’s the two words she saw in a message from her employer: “crew expendable”

With those two words, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) realizes that she’s at the bottom of a food chain, and not just because there’s a bloodthirsty Xenomorph on board. Never one to portray businesses or anyone with power in a favorable light, Alien director Ridley Scott took writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s idea about a haunted house movie set in space and turned it into a screed against the ruling classes.

By focalizing the adventure through the perspective of working-class space truckers,...

Wim Wenders's Perfect Days is now showing on Mubi in many countries.Perfect Days.“She uses the same words we do, yet there’s something so special.” This commentary is delivered by a bookseller (Inuko Inuyama) in Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days (2023). The woman behind the counter is recommending the works of Japanese author Aya Kōda to the film’s protagonist, Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho). But she could just as easily be describing the spell cast by the movie itself, which uses familiar settings and understated dialogue to summon a quiet, pervasive magic. In the New German Cinema director’s latest feature, which takes place in present-day Tokyo, sudden waves of hope, gratitude, and meaning can arrive through brief interactions with strangers, a tall glass of ice water, a beloved song heard through car speakers, or just an upward glance at the sky upon leaving the house in the morning.Through these simple encounters,...

Alien – © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

If you’ve been reading this site for awhile, you know we celebrate “Alien Day” ever since it’s inception a few years ago.

Alien Day was created by a Sci-Fi subculture of people who wanted to honor not only the Alien film series. The first “unofficial” Alien Day was celebrated in the spring of 2015 by a group of folks in Brooklyn, New York, USA

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/alien-day/#:~:text=Alien%20Day%20was%20created%20by,Brooklyn%2C%20New%20York%2C%20Usa.

The setting for Aliens took place on Lv-426 (the name of the moon where the xenomorphs are discovered in the 1979 film). Sci-Fi fans embraced it and made it the official day to celebrate every year.

In celebration of the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece “Alien,” the film will return to theaters for a limited time...

"In space no one can hear you scream." Don't miss this. 20th Century Studios has confirmed a re-release of the classic original Alien movie in theaters next week. Ridley Scott's Alien from 1979 will be playing again on the big screen starting April 26th - which is 4/26, also known as "Alien Day" because the planet from this original movie (and the Aliens sequel) is known as "Lv-426". This sci-fi all-timer has been showing in theaters multiple times since it first opened some 45 years ago, and still holds up. The theatrical experience watching this is still as exhilarating as ever! Take your friends and go enjoy this classic! Alien stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. This is a re-release from 20th/Disney but it's also a bit of a promotion to get people excited about the upcoming Alien: Romulus standalone movie from Fede Alvarez.

Updated with the TV spot above and the “homage poster” that can be found at the bottom of this article.

The original article follows:

2024 marks the 45th anniversary of the release of the sci-fi horror classic Alien, and to mark the occasion the film is getting a theatrical re-release on April 26th. Tickets are available for purchase through Fandango – and they have also informed us that screenings of Alien during this re-release will be preceded by Alien: A Conversation with Ridley Scott & Fede Alvarez – Scott being the director of Alien (not to mention Prometheus and Alien: Covenant) and Alvarez the director of the new film, Alien: Romulus, which is set to reach theatres on August 16th.

A clip from the Scott and Alvarez interview has been released online, and you can check it out in the embed below. In this clip, the filmmakers discuss the chestburster scene and a call Scott received from Stanley Kubrick.

Before Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus gives the franchise a brand new installment this coming August, Ridley Scott’s original horror classic Alien is headed back to theaters nationwide.

The Alien: 45th Anniversary Re-Release haunts theaters for “Alien Day” on Friday, April 26, 2024! You can check listings and grab tickets through Fandango now.

In celebration of the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, the film will return to theaters for a limited time on April 26, known worldwide as Alien Day.

Plus, before the film, attendees will see “Alien: A Conversation with Ridley Scott & Fede Alvarez,” where Fede Alvarez sits down with Ridley Scott to discuss the film that started the iconic franchise.

You can watch a clip from that special bonus feature down below. In this clip, Ridley Scott and Fede Alvarez discuss the film’s iconic Chestburster scene. One person who couldn’t believe his eyes back in 1979? Stanley Kubrick!

"A Time For Killing" (also called "The Long Ride Home") isn't one of the best Westerns of all time, nor is it the most memorable, but the 1967 film still comes up in conversation thanks to its unique status as the very first movie role Harrison Ford was ever credited in. Ford played a young, sideburn-wearing Union soldier in the film, which followed the exploits of a group of captured Confederate soldiers on a mad dash for Mexico — none of whom realize the war has officially ended.

Aside from Ford's debut as Lieutenant Shaffer (for which he was credited as Harrison J. Ford), "A Time For Killing" is most noteworthy for its status as an abandoned Roger Corman flick. Corman started making "A Time For Killing" after already churning out cult classics like "A Bucket of Blood" and "The Little Shop of Horrors," but the low-budget filmmaker was replaced by "99 River Street...

Clockwise from top left: The Holdovers (Focus Features), The Last Temptation Of Christ (Universal Pictures), Red Eye (DreamWorks Pictures), Música (Amazon MGM Studios)Image: The A.V. Club

An Oscar-winning drama-comedy, a controversial Martin Scorsese movie about Jesus, an underappreciated Wes Craven movie starring Cillian Murphy, and a music-filled rom-com lead...

One of cinema's most prolific and cherished character actors has died just short of his 89th birthday. M. Emmet Walsh, memorable in so many films including Blade Runner, Blood Simple and more recently, Knives Out, was 88 when he died on Tuesday.

Born in 1935 in Ogdensburg, New York, Walsh was raised in Vermont. He kicked off his acting career in typical fashion, with guest roles in TV series in the 1960s and 70s, but unlike some of his peers, he continued to juggle big and small screen gigs throughout his life. He had a personal credo about the work: "I approach each job thinking it might be my last, so it better be the best work possible. I want to be remembered as a working actor. I’m being paid for what I’d do for nothing."

Cinematically, he got his start via uncredited roles in the likes of Midnight Cowboy,...

Michael Shannon has done his fair share of high-budget films, like Man of Steel, but the actor has not shied away from doing smaller projects either. However, working on a particular project allowed the actor to meet one of the industry greats, something he likened to being a ‘dream’.

Michael Shannon as General Zod in Man of Steel

A Little White Lie is a cerebral literary thriller film, revolving around Shannon’s character, who is a down-on-his-luck handyman who gets mistaken for a celebrity writer. The film had a box office run of only $22,482 (via Box Office Mojo), but that does not mean the cast was not stuffed with talented artists of the industry, one that Shannon couldn’t believe he was working with: M. Emmet Walsh.

Michael Shannon felt like he was dreaming when working with M. Emmet Walsh

Michael Shannon with M. Emmet Walsh in A Little White Lie...

M. Emmet Walsh, a veteran character actor who appeared in more than 150 films including “Blade Runner,” “Blood Simple” and “Knives Out” and played Dermot Mulroney’s dad in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” has died.

His manager Sandy Joseph confirmed that he died Tuesday in Vermont. He was 88.

In Ridley Scott’s 1982 “Blade Runner,” Walsh was Harrison Ford’s LAPD boss, while he played the vicious private detective Loren Visser in the Coen brothers’ directing debut “Blood Simple.” Wearing a sickly yellow suit, Pauline Kael said he was the film’s “only colorful performer. He lays on the loathsomeness, but he gives it a little twirl — a sportiness.”

His other roles included the corrupt sheriff in the 1986 horror film “Critters” and a small role as a security guard in “Knives Out.”

Walsh appeared in a string of memorable 1970s films, including “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman, “What’s Up, Doc?” with Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand,...

What do we talk about when we talk about 1979’s iconic outer space slasher, Alien (watch it Here)? Personally, I start the list with the incredible slow-burn tone and impressive special effects, then I usually gush for twenty or thirty minutes about how inspired the horror aspect was- and especially for its time. It creeps along with nothing but quiet, dark spaces to lure out your fears as this mysterious man-eating creature stalks your every move. Truly scary stuff. And then of course I mention how Sigourney Weaver swiftly cemented her status as one of the greatest final girls in slasher cinema. All of that to say that this film truly lives up to the chills they promise from the movie’s tagline- In space, no one can hear you scream. Folks, slasher movies are kind of a big deal here on JoBlo Horror Originals. We love seeing Ghostface reveal...

Get ready to dive back into the punk rock sci-fi wasteland of 1984’s Repo Man — a sequel, titled Repo Man 2: The Wages of Beer, has been announced, with the original writer and director, Alex Cox, set to return.

The story was first reported by Variety, who confirmed that Cox would be in the director’s chair, with Kiowa Gordon (Twilight) starring as the punk-turned-repo-man, Otto, portrayed by Emilio Estevez in the original. Plot-wise, the new film will pick up right where the original left off, following Otto after a brief trip “across the infinities of time and space,” which has only aged him “exactly 90 minutes.”

According to filmmakers, Repo Man 2 will “deliver an enthralling mix of punk energy, existential comedy, and unconventional storytelling, navigating the absurd and chaotic world of repo men into a new age of nuclear brinkmanship and driverless cars.”

Repo Man 2: The Wages of Beer...

“It’s a mystery… it’s a comedy… it’s a chase… it’s the forces of law against the representatives of discontented youth… against the finest minds in government… and they’re all in pursuit of a ’64 Chevy Malibu from… who knows where,” the original theatrical trailer for 1984’s Repo Man previewed. A fitting description for an oddball cult classic that’s… getting a sequel?!

40 years later, director Alex Cox is returning to the world of Repo Man with sequel Repo Man 2: The Wages of Beer, and Indiewire broke the news of the project this week.

According to the site, the upcoming sequel Repo Man 2 will “take place in a world of self-driving cars and an even more pressing threat of global destruction.”

“The advent of incredible technology means, for the repo man, that everything has changed — and nothing has changed,” Cox explained to Indiewire in an email this week.

Alex Cox’s 1984 “Repo Man” was a Reagan-era satire about consumerism and the Atomic Age. Its punk rock soundtrack transformed it into a cult hit, but its funny and strange combination of sci-fi, workplace comedy, and the fear of nuclear annihilation made it an enduring classic.

Forty years later, Cox will revisit the repo man and the world of bland, generic grocery store clerks stocking and selling “Food” and “Beer” day in and day out. He has written and will direct a sequel, “Repo Man 2: The Wages of Beer,” and he told IndieWire why this film will embody “the repo world of 2024.”

Cox said “The Wages of Beer” will take place in a world of self-driving cars and an even more pressing threat of global destruction. “The advent of incredible technology means, for the repo man, that everything has changed — and nothing has changed,” he said via email.

Alex Cox is finally getting Repo Man 2 off the ground, and it’s set to be called Repo Man 2: The Wages Of Beer – more here.

It’s been seven years since British director Alex Cox’s last feature – Tombstone Rashomon – was released. But in a surprise piece of news, he’s heading back behind the camera again, for a project he previously tried to get going in the 1990s.

It’s a sequel to his 1984 cult favourite Repo Man, a film that starred Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez. It’s a satirical science fiction thriller, set in 1960s America, that never set the box office alight, but has earned its audience over time.

Now comes the news that Alex Cox has written the script for Repo Man 2: The Wages Of Beer, that he’s raising funds for at the European Film Market over the next week or so.

Per Variety, Alex Cox is ready to return to the bizarre world of car repossession and extraterrestrials. The outlet reports that the director is set to helm Repo Man 2: The Wages of Beer, a long-belated sequel to the 1984 cult classic.

The original movie starred Emilio Estevez as Otto, a young punk who is recruited by a car repossession agency and finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu that is wanted for a $20,000 bounty – and has something otherworldly stashed in its trunk. The sequel will pick up “after Otto has boarded his trusty 1967 Chevy Malibu to journey across the infinities of time and space. In that time, he has aged exactly 90 minutes.” As Estevez is naturally a little too old to reprise the role, Kiowa Gordon has stepped in to play Otto in the sequel.

Related Rip: Harry Dean Stanton has passed away at 91

Gordon is best known for...

T-Pain was at a karaoke party last year when an R&b-flavored country ballad starting playing over the system. The rapper-turned-singer didn’t recognize it, so he opened up Shazam to listen — and the result came back as “Tennessee Whiskey,” by Chris Stapleton. “I made it a part of my ‘sad playlist,’” T-Pain tells Rs. “The lyrics spoke to me.”

Songs from decades past are routinely revived or rediscovered, and that’s currently happening in a big way with “Tennessee Whiskey,” a 44-year-old honky-tonk song about salvation by someone who...

Out with the old, in with the new! Hulu is ushering in the new month with plenty to add to your to-watch list but not before it says farewell to dozens of its current movies and shows available for streaming. Its first loss will come on the first of the month with the critically acclaimed “Lucky,” starring the late Harry Dean Stanton, but the streamer will remove titles all month long, from the “Pusher” trilogy to “Magic Mike.”

Don’t miss out—- find out everything leaving Hulu in February, including The Streamable’s picks for the top of your watch list!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Hulu in February 2024? “Lucky” | Thursday, Feb. 1

Accomplished character actor Harry Dean Stanton stars in the drama, one of his final on-screen roles before his death at the age of 91, as, fittingly, a 90-year-old on...