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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!

A Nightmare on Elm Street 1-3 Vinyl from Mondo

A Nightmare on Elm Street, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ soundtracks are available on vinyl for $40 a piece from Mondo.

Each expanded 2xLP album features the original soundtrack on the first disc and additional themes and cues on the second disc. Shipping in November, they feature artwork by Mike Saputo.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is composed by Charles Bernstein. It’s pressed on 140-gram “Boiler Room Blast” colored vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket with liner notes by Bernstein.

Freddy’s Revenge is composed by Christopher Young. It’s pressed on 140-gram...

Playwright Alan Bennett has written original screenplay The Choral, which will begin filming this summer.

There’s a reason a remake of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues (pictured above) was one of the first things put into production when the pandemic started in 2020. Not only were they easy to film with a single cast member, but the texts are also regarded as modern classics of drama, each story a masterpiece in construction and storytelling. You only have to watch the original versions to see the astonishing power of David Haig in Playing Sandwiches or Dame Thora Hird in A Cream Cracker Under The Settee.

The Choral, meanwhile, is Alan Bennett’s first original script written for the screen in forty years, after 1984 comedy A Private Function. The synopsis reads as follows:

Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society,...

The new biographical drama “Golda” features Helen Mirren in a transformative role as Golda Meir, the so-called “Iron Lady of Israel” who faced high-stakes responsibilities and decisions during the Yom Kippur War. Written by Nicholas Martin and directed by Guy Nattiv, the Bleecker Street contender is Mirren’s first big play at a potential Academy Award nomination in many years, so let’s look back at her four Oscar races.

With a career in film going back to the 1960s, Mirren saw her first Oscar nomination in 1994 in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in “The Madness of King George.” Directed by Nicholas Hytner, this biographical comedy-drama tells the story of King George III and how his Lieutenants tried to adjust the rules to run the country after he went mad. Mirren played his wife, Queen Charlotte, and she was one of four citations for the movie at the 67th Academy Awards,...

Nigel Hawthorne was a revered actor of stage and screen, whose dignified presence elevated any project. Before his passing in 2001, he appeared in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company productions, and became a household name in the UK for his roles in popular BBC series "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister." The winner of six BAFTA awards, Hawthorne crafted a career as a respected character actor, performing on Broadway and appearing in acclaimed projects from Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" to the Ian McKellan-led "Richard III." He also did "Demolition Man."

A product of Sylvester Stallone's team-up with action producer extraordinaire, Joel Silver, "Demolition Man" is exactly the kind of over-the-top '90s blockbuster you'd expect to come out of that pairing. It's about John Spartan (Stallone), an LAPD cop who gets cryogenically frozen, only to be thawed out in 2032 to help track down his arch nemesis, Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). Phoenix...

Regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation, Sir Ian McKellen had been a pillar of British theatre for decades before venturing to Hollywood. After his early days in London theatre, including a stint in the 1970s with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, he crossed the pond in 1981 to play Antonio Salieri in a Broadway production of "Amadeus" — and took home a Tony Award. The movies beckoned, bringing McKellen to a new level of fame that crested when he was tapped to play the wise and courageous wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Meanwhile, McKellen also made headlines in 1988 when he came out as openly gay in 1988 and was then knighted by the Queen in 1991.

While Gandalf is the most iconic of his many roles, by no means is it his only memorable performance in film and television. For a refresher course on his extraordinary career,...

Alan Gibson's 1982 TV miniseries, "A Woman Called Golda," isn't widely discussed in the pop culture firmament, but when it first aired, it felt like an event. A biography of Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 until 1974, "A Woman Called Golda" boasted an all-star, award-winning cast that boggles the mind. Meir herself was played by Ingrid Bergman in what would prove to be her final screen role. She was joined by the likes of Ned Beatty, who played an American senator, Robert Loggia who played Anwar Sadat, and Nigel Hawthorne, who played King Abdullah I of Jordan. Judy David played the young Meir. From 1917 to his death in 1951, Meir was married to a man named Morris Meyerson, and Meyerson was played by Leonard Nimoy, acting in scenes opposite both Davis and Bergman.

"A Woman Called Golda" aired in two 2-hour parts, starting on April 26 on CBS. The project was overseen by Harve Bennett,...

“What I have an opinion about 25 years ago, it’s not necessarily the opinion I have now,” admits Brian Cox as response to the viewpoint the Succession star offers on the likes of Johnny Depp, Michael Caine, Ed Norton, Game of Thrones and others in his new memoir Putting the Rabbit in the Hat.

“I don’t really dismiss or disrespect anybody who goes for this profession because it’s a tough, bloody profession,” the seasoned Shakespearean thespian adds with the hindsight of a career spanning more than 60 years.

First released in the UK late last year and out today Stateside, the 384-page book proves to be part meditation on the craft, partially very personal, partially political (Scotland-born Cox is very much in favor of Independence for the former Caledonia) and full of tales of legends including Peter O’Toole, a wig-tossing Vanessa Redgrave and Spike Lee and digging in to do the job.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today, however, we talk about Oscar movies (!) that time has relegated to B-Side status.

To tackle such a task, Conor and I welcome the incredible Chris Feil of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. Our guest and his co-host Joe Reid dive into myriad films that were released to significant awards buzz, only to earn zero Academy Award nominations.

In today’s episode, we each choose one film to focus on. Conor’s pick is the 1976 Woody Guthrie biopic Bound For Glory. The film earned six Oscar nominations, including wins for Cinematography and Best Music, Adapted. Chris’ pick is Ironweed from 1987, starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, adapted from William Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name.

Disney Plus has a huge back catalogue of the Mouse House’s biggest and best movies, and they’re adding more all the time. Case in point: this coming week will see the arrival of 1999’s Tarzan on the streaming service for the first time, as well as its sequel, Tarzan II.

Based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan stars Tony Goldwyn as the legendary Ape-Man, a human orphan raised by gorillas in the depths of the African rainforest. Minnie Driver plays Jane Porter, the English explorer who discovers Tarzan and his tribe along with her father Professor Archimedes Q. Porter (Nigel Hawthorne). Also on board are Brian Blessed as John Clayton, the blood-thirsty hunter, and Glenn Close and Lance Henriksen, who voice Tarzan’s adoptive gorilla parents.

Considered the final film of the so-called Disney Renaissance era (1989-99), Tarzan was also the last movie for a while...

We have certainly entered a period of nostalgia, 22 years after Sylvester Stallone flexed his muscles in ‘Demolition Man’, he has confirmed a follow-up is being developed.

Stallone has been spending his self-isolation wisely recently by conducting a fan Q&a on his Instagram account. During the session, the burning question arose from one keen fan as to whether a sequel for the sci-fi actioner would ever get that sequel? To which Stallone confirmed that it will happen and that Warner Bros’ are actually working on it now.

“I think it is coming. We’re working on it right now with Warner Brothers and it’s looking fantastic, so that should come out. That’s going to happen.”

Also in news – Star Wars Day Mouth Off: What the Future holds for the Galaxy far, far away

The Marco Brambilla directed 1993 film tells the story of two men: evil crime lord Phoenix played by Wesley Snipes,...

This four part, eight hour miniseries turns the fate of a family of German Jews into a sprawling drama that covers all the bases of the holocaust horror. It was strong stuff and a big Emmy winner, boosting the careers of James Woods and Michael Moriarty. His warped charisma as a psychotic Nazi is so good that he’s consistently more interesting than the courageous victims. As for Meryl Streep, she became an instant star — everybody remembered her from this. Although it’s been called ‘The Holocaust for Dummies,’ it’s a quality show. Looking from today’s perspective, after forty years of Political Correctness adjustments, I’m not sure any two viewers will react in quite the same way.

Holocaust

Blu-ray

CBS Television Studio / Paramount

1978 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 7 hours, 36 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / 43.19

Starring: James Woods, Meryl Streep, Michael Moriarty, Joseph Bottoms, Rosemary Harris, Fritz Weaver, Tovah Feldshuh, Deborah Norton,...

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” Shakespeare wrote of Britain’s care-burdened monarchs. Try telling that to the Academy.

Once again, playing British royalty has proved to be a tried-and-true route to Oscar glory, with Olivia Colman as the latest actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for portraying an occupant of the British throne. Colman plays the 18th-century Queen Anne, the last of the ruling Stuarts, in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite.” The film has lived up to its name throughout the awards season and now has 10 Oscar nods to its credit, tying Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma.”

If Colman takes home the statuette on Feb. 24, she would become the third actor in the last dozen years alone to win an Oscar for playing a British king or queen. Colin Firth was named best actor for his portrayal of George VI in “The King’s Speech,” which also...

The upcoming BBC adaption of the children’s classic “Watership Down” ain’t no fluffy tale.

Voiced by John Boyega, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Daniel Kaluuya, Rosamund Pike, Gemma Chan, Peter Capaldi and Taron Egerton, this daring band of bunnies must join together to battle dark forces in order to survive.

The four-part BBC series follows a group of rabbits who flee their warren to escape destruction. On their journey to find a new home, they face vicious predators predicted by terrifying visions from an all-seeing seer named Fiver (Hoult).

Also Read: Richard Adams, 'Watership Down' Author, Dies at 96

“All the world will be your enemy,” one rabbit warns in the first trailer released Tuesday. “And when they catch you, they will kill you — but first, they must catch you.”

“This isn’t about cute rabbits,” Boyega, who voices Bigwig, warned on Instagram last week.

It would be all too lazy to compare Terry Gilliam and his attempts to make a movie about Don Quixote to its main character – an old man foolishly picking fights with windmills. A better comparison might be Sisyphus, the mythological Greek king whose deceitfulness was punished by forcing him to roll a boulder uphill repeatedly, arduously and monotonously. It's an analogy Gilliam has made himself over the decades since he first got the idea to make the movie.

Now, 29 years after he secured financing for the picture for the first time,...

Who rocks the best bowl-full-of-jelly belly in movie history? Father Christmas has shown up in enough movies that he has his own subgenre: the Santa Claus movie, a whole category of family friendly fantasy films dedicated to exploring the magic of St. Nick.

Here are some of the most memorable movie portrayals of Santa Claus.

1. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The gold standard for cinematic Santa Clauses, Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a department store Santa who insists he’s the real thing. Gwenn’s performance as Kringle was so convincing that he won the Oscar for Best Supporting...

It’s great when a fancy costume picture really has something to say — Alan Bennett’s crazy tale of a king’s episode of mental illness becomes a highly entertaining comedy of errors, but with serious personal and political ramifications. Nigel Hawthorne is exceptionally good as the sovereign whose brain has de-railed; Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Rupert Everett and Amanda Donohoe variously try to help him — or steal his crown.

The Madness of King George

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1994 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donohoe, Rupert Everett, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anthony Calf, John Wood, Robert Swann, Peter Woodthorpe.

Cinematography: Andrew Dunn

Film Editor: Tariq Anwar

Production Design: Ken Adam

Written by Alan Bennett from his play

Produced by Stephen Evans, David Parfitt

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Every few years the...

"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

by Daniel Walber

Play adaptations are frequently criticized for not being “cinematic” enough. It’s as perennial a complaint as it is a silly one. Many of the best play adaptations don’t abandon their more theatrical elements, they use cinema’s unique capabilities as an especially potent additive.

The Madness of King George is a great example, a film that juxtaposes the visual freedom of on-location shooting with the precision of period sets. Adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play and directed by Nicholas Hytner, it chronicles the Regency Crisis of 1788. King George III (Nigel Hawthorne), perhaps as a result of porphyria, lost his grip on reality. The Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett) petitioned Parliament to have his father removed from power, and to have himself declared regent.

Simon Brew Jun 19, 2017

The Madness Of King George is a film that was sold off the back of a story that wasn’t true…

Nominated for four Oscars, and bringing the late, great Nigel Hawthorne to the attention of movie audiences (following his sensational work in television and on the stage), The Madness Of King George was a real breakout hit. Premiering in December 1994 (just two months after filming wrapped!), and released in the UK in March 1995, the film won one Academy Award, three BAFTAs, and grossed over $15m in the Us alone.

But there’s one story about the movie that continues to circle. And it’s to do with its title.

The film is based on Alan Bennett’s play, The Madness Of King George III, that tells the story of the health issues that King George III suffered during his reign in the 18th century. But when...

Juliette Harrisson Jun 8, 2017

As the nation goes to the polls, we revisit two political comedy classics, now available on Netflix UK...

Yes Minister/Yes, Prime Minister was a BBC sitcom that ran for five series and one special between 1980 and 1988. It starred Paul Eddington as the Right Honourable James Hacker MP (later Prime Minister), Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby, Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Administrative Affairs (later Cabinet Secretary) and Derek Fowlds as Bernard Woolley, Principal Private Secretary to the Minister for Administrative Affairs (later Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister). It was written by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, and was a favourite show of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

See related Doctor Who series 10: Empress Of Mars review

Technically, it was two shows: the original Yes Minister and a sequel series called Yes, Prime Minister. However, while there are some obvious differences between the...

Simon Brew Oct 7, 2016

From Demolition Man and James Bond through to Speed 2 and Steven Seagal: the movies filmmakers took on to get other projects made.

One for the studio, one for yourself? That’s sometimes been the case when it comes to making movies, and we suspect – under the surface – it happens more than we’re ever told. However, every now and then, it becomes clear that someone has signed up for a movie, with getting the film they really, really want to make as the hidden reason. Such as in these cases…

Nigel Hawthorne: Demolition Man

The late, great Nigel Hawthorne wasn't much of a fan of the much-liked Sylvester Stallone-Wesley Snipes showdown, Demolition Man. In his autobiography Straight Face, Hawthorne called the experience of making the film "miserable", and wasn't impressed with the time lost on set waiting around for Stallone and Snipes.

But...

Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation by Cecil Beaton

This week marks the 90th birthday of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in 1926. The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on the 21st of April and her official birthday on the second Saturday in June. (Trooping of the Colours)

She is the world’s oldest reigning monarch as well as Britain’s longest-lived. In 2015, she surpassed the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regent in world history.

Looking to celebrate her Majesty’s birthday? First, everyone rise for the national anthem of the United Kingdom.

God save our gracious Queen!

Long live our noble Queen!

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us:

God save the Queen!

For more on the Queen’s schedule, visit the official site: www.

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Some bad guys just want to collect antiques, or sand down a nice coffee table. Presenting our pick of 9 affable action movie villains...

Villains come in all shapes and sizes, from the hulking and formidable, like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, to the more lithe and cunning, like the maniacal Scorpio in Dirty Harry. The most memorable villains almost always have one thing in common, though: whether they're blessed with brains, brawn or both, they're intimidating and powerful in some way. They're a worthy foil for the hero (or heroine) of the piece.

So what happens when a villain comes across as, well, just plain nice? Sure, they may have the henchmen, the money, the gadgets and the guns. But some villains seem just too easy-going and friendly to be properly intimidating. This isn't to say the performances are bad; in some cases, they're scene-stealingly brilliant.

Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...

Simon Brew Oct 8, 2019

It's not quite a mystery solved, but screenwriter Daniel Waters once explained where Demolition Man's three sea shells came from...

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

There's an argument that suggests the closest Sylvester Stallone ever really came to playing Judge Dredd wasn't in the 1995 film of the same name, but in his earlier sci-fi action film, Demolition Man. It's not a brilliant argument, but it's an argument nonetheless.

We've had an awful lot of time since Demolition Man, which co-starred Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, and the late Nigel Hawthorne. But one of the residing mysteries of it centers on, well, is the toilet. More specifically, the three sea shells that have replaced toilet paper in the future.

Whilst we're no closer to working out how the three sea shells work, we do now know where the idea came from. They were the creation of screenwriter Daniel Waters,...

It's not quite a mystery solved, but screenwriter Daniel Waters has explained where Demolition Man's three sea shells came from...

There's an argument that suggests the closest Sylvester Stallone ever really came to playing Judge Dredd wasn't in the 1995 film of the same name, but in his earlier sci-fi action film, Demolition Man. It's not a brilliant argument, but it's an argument nonetheless.

We've an awful lot of time for Demolition Man, which co-starred Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and the late Nigel Hawthorne (a man who was less of a fan of the movie, using it as a stepping stone to get The Madness Of King George made). But one of the residing mysteries of it centres on, well, the toilet. More specifically, the three sea shells that have replaced toilet paper in the future.

Whilst we're no closer to working out how the three sea shells work, we...

Curious to know what movies and TV shows are coming to Netflix Watch Instantly over the next few weeks? Get a head start and mark your calendars using the list below, just released to us by Netflix.  Avail 4/1    A League of Their Own (1992)  Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn Two small-town sisters join an all-female baseball league formed when World War II brings professional baseball to a standstill. As their team hits the road with its drunken coach, the siblings find troubles and triumphs on and off the field.    Amistad (1997)  Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey, Chiwetel Ejiofor&nbsp...

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Inspector George Gently

The latest batch of George Gently episodes come to DVD on 1 April and you’d be a fool to miss out on this boxset. As you will recall, season five ended with Gently and Bacchus, shot and wounded on the floor of Durham Cathedral. Would they recover? Would they ever work again? Well given that there is a season six I don’t think you can accuse me of releasing a “spoiler” if I tell you that the duo made a full recovery. However, it wasn’t an easy road, especially for Bacchus whose wallowing in self-pity eventually led him down an unhealthy path of booze and gambling. Older and wiser, Gently realized that work was the best therapy and he quickly got back to doing what he does best — solving murders.

Even by George Gently‘s own standards, season six features a lot of introspection as...

After the Academy Award for Best Song was won by ‘It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp’ at the 2006 Oscars, host Jon Stewart quipped, ‘For those of you who are keeping score at home, I just want to make something very clear: Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars; Three 6 Mafia, one.’

If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences specialises in one thing at a sophisticated level no other collaborative body could ever hope to match, it’s giving awards to the wrong people. Sometimes, it almost seems like a deliberate act of petulance. Try finding anyone outside of Robert Zemekis’s immediate family who considers Forrest Gump to be a better picture than Pulp Fiction (one win) or The Shawshank Redemption (IMDb’s Best Film Ever Made; no wins).

In 1999, The 71st Academy Awards became to many people, the apogee of undeserved Oscars and the rabid invective from...

Next in line to inherit the throne of Royal films is Diana. The film takes audiences into the private realm of one of the world’s most iconic and inescapably public women – the Princess of Wales, Diana (two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts) — in the last two years of her meteoric life.

On the occasion of the 16th anniversary of her sudden death, acclaimed director Oliver Hirschbiegel (the Oscar-nominated Downfall) explores Diana’s final rite of passage: a secret love affair with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews, “Lost,” The English Patient), the human complications of which reveal the Princess’s climactic days in a compelling new light. Diana is in select theaters now.

As long as filmmakers have been bringing the lives of England’s Kings and Queens to the silver screen have moviegoers been going to the cinemas to be schooled in British Monarchy.

So Arise, Sirs and Ladies,...

Today’s film is the 1983 short Dead on Time. The film stars Nigel Hawthorne, Rupert Everett, and Rowan Atkinson, is directed by Lyndall Hobbs, and written by Richard Curtis. Curtis’ writing career stretches back over 30 years, having worked on tv shows such as The Black Adder and Mr. Bean, and written movies such as Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, before making his directing debut with 2003′s Love Actually. His newest film, titled About Time, opens in limited release in American theatres this weekend before expanding to wide release next weekend.

****

The post Saturday Shorts: ‘Dead on Time’, written by Richard Curtis appeared first on Sound On Sight.

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 24 Oct 2013 - 06:46

Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 1995...

The year covered in this week's underrated movie rundown was significant for a number of reasons. It was the year that saw the release of Toy Story - the groundbreaking movie that would cement Pixar's reputation as an animation studio, and set the tempo for CG family movies for the next 18 years and counting. It was the year that saw James Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan for the first time) emerge for GoldenEye after a six-year break. It was also the year of Michael Mann's Heat, Dogme 95, and the moment where Terry Gilliam scored a much-deserved hit with 12 Monkeys.

As ever, we're focusing on a few of the lesser-known films from this particular year, and we've had to think carefully about what's made the cut and what hasn't.

Feature Simon Brew 28 Jun 2013 - 07:11

Ever watched a big movie, and stopped with a jolt when a star of a British sitcom pops up? Us too...

This feature is all the fault of the late Richard Marner. As the incompetent Colonel in 'Allo 'Allo, he built a performance that was indelible in our eyes. Thus, when he turned up in a big Hollywood thriller as the President of Russia, we unsuccessfully stifled a guffaw. A big guffaw.

And it got us thinking: what other times has a British sitcom star appeared out of the blue in a big movie, causing a sedentary double take from the comfort of our local Odeon? Glad you asked.

Two things. Firstly, this isn't designed to be a complete list, and also, we've covered films made after the actor or actress confirmed rose to prominence in a sitcom. Oh, and another thing: none of...

Born from a conversation between Austin Film Society programmer Lars Nilsen and local actor/filmmaker Jonny Mars, a new Afs recurring series starts in July: "That's Genius." In the words of Nilsen, the film series will serve as "a way for film professionals to share works that they [think represent] 'genius' in the world of some film discipline."

Austin filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner -- who directed the features Kid-Thing and Goliath -- have selected the inaugural movie in this series: the 1982 animated movie The Plague Dogs [tickets], which screens on Thursday, July 25 at the Marchesa. The Zellners will host the event, and filmmaker Martin Rosen will attend for a post-screening Q&A.

The Plague Dogs, which Rosen adapted from the novel by Richard Adams, follows two dogs who escape from a lab that has been performing tests on them. As a result of the experiments the lab has been running on animals,...

By Raymond Benson

We expect nothing less than greatness from that Cadillac of DVD/Blu-Ray labels, The Criterion Collection, and this month’s releases do not disappoint. I’m betting that even hardcore Cinema Retro readers may not have seen these two brilliant classics—one a silent film from 1923, the other a British work of wonder from 1936—both containing jaw-dropping visuals that will amaze even the most cynical of cinema aficionados.

First up—Safety Last!, the film for which actor Harold Lloyd will be most remembered. Lloyd was often called “the third genius” (after Chaplin and Keaton), and his works were not readily available to Baby Boomers because he had refused to sell them to television at the low price he was offered. Lloyd always felt his films were worth more, and rightly so. This was a guy who made many more pictures than either Chaplin or Keaton and transitioned...

With Bullet to the Head Sylvester Stallone has done what his action movie compadre did recently with The Last Stand. He has reinvented himself, post-Expendables, in his own image. That is the action hero persona which thrived in the 80s, was tempered in the decade following as the unease surrounding the relentless violence inherent in the films grew, and then through an almost self-parodic journey ended with the battle royale supercast of The Expendables.

With Arnie’s The Last Stand and Stallone’s Bullet to the Head the action hero is back and what is refreshing is that the advancing years of the two stars is no barrier, indeed is in some way integral to the characters.

The two actors will forever be linked to several of their more prominent roles. Their names will immediately conjure up the actors in the various films; The Terminator, Rocky Balboa, Conan, John Rambo and so on.

British comedy may not be in quite as healthy a position as it used to be, but for good reason classic shows like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools & Horses and Rising Damp are still counted as among the best British TV products of all time, while relatively newer shows like The Inbetweeners, The Office and Shameless have inspired Us spin-offs. The success of the shows relies on the strength of their writing and even more so the appeal of their characters – they are the charismatic anchors who inspire audiences to return, with eminently quotable catch-phrases and immediately recognisable quirks.

As a lifelong lover of British comedy, I’ve created a list of 50 characters (no more than one per show) representing what I feel to be the best of the genre. So without further ado, I present in alphabetical order The 50 Greatest Fictional UK TV Comedy Characters of All Time.

1. Sir Humphrey Appleby – Yes,...

Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.

Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.

Ryan Lambie Nov 20, 2016

On this day in 1996, Sly Stallone's John Spartan was frozen in the action flick, Demolition Man. We take a timely look back...

Outside the crowd-pleasing safety of the Rocky and Rambo franchises, Sylvester Stallone’s career has seen mixed fortunes. Some of his movies were entertaining, but didn’t make huge amounts of money (such as 1981’s Nighthawks), while others were either critical or financial calamities – Stallone’s ill-advised forays into comedy, Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot spring to mind.

See related The Walking Dead season 7: synopses and titles for episodes 6, 7 and 8 The Walking Dead: how will the show end? The Walking Dead season 7 episode 4 review: Service The Walking Dead season 7 episode 3 review: The Cell

In fact, Stallone’s entire career is studded with alternating hits and misses; 1987 arm-wrestling drama Over The Top under-performed, but Rambo III came out the following year...

Actors, I criticise you because I care

Am I soft on actors? David Hare said so in our lively on-stage encounter during the recent Guardian Open Weekend. I've been asking myself ever since whether I do apply a double standard: am I more likely to be harsh on writers and directors than on performers?

I'd say that, historically, British critics are less abusive than their Us counterparts towards actors. No one I know has the obsession with physical appearances that led Us critic John Simon to say, a propos the nude scene in Abelard and Heloise, that "Diana Rigg is built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses", a line that Rigg sportingly included in an anthology of bad reviews. Even more brutally, Dorothy Parker once wrote: "Katharine Hepburn ran the gamut of emotion from A to B." And, after one American actor was told "Guido Natzo was natzo...

Classic BBC sitcom Yes, Prime Minister is being remade by UKTV's comedy channel Gold. A new six-episode run of the series, written by the original creators, is being produced by BBC Productions and will feature modern day twists as it follows the day-to-day activities of hapless Rt Hon Jim Hacker. The Prime Minister's new challenges will include leading a coalition government, European economic turmoil and a Scottish independence referendum. Hacker's advisors Sir Humphrey Appleby and principal private secretary Bernard Woolley will also return. In the 1980s original, the late Paul Eddington played Hacker, while Nigel Hawthorne starred as Appelby and Derek Fowlds as Woolley. UKTV's director of commissioning, Jane Rogerson said: "The political landscape in Britain today is the perfect setting for Yes, Prime Minister to return. (more)...

Canada's VisionTV report they have signed a deal with BBC Worldwide Canada, to air more classic Brit TV including "Fawlty Towers", the comedy series starring John Cleese as hotel owner 'Basil Fawlty' and Prunella Scales as his domineering wife 'Sybil'. Episodes to be aired include Series 1-2 and the Special "Basil the Rat".

VisionTV has also acquired "Jam & Jerusalem", written by Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous"), starting October 6, 2011, airing Series 1-3 and two Specials;

"Yes, Minister", starring Nigel Hawthorne, airing Series 1-3 and one Special;

"Yes, Prime Minister", airing Series 1-2;

"The Vicar of Dibley", starring Dawn French ("French & Saunders"), airing Series 1-3 and five Specials;

"The Old Guys", starring Clive Swift ("Keeping Up Appearances"), airing Series 1-2.

"We're very pleased to have acquired these powerhouse series from BBC Worldwide and to bring them to audiences across Canada," said Mark Prasuhn, Chief Operating & Content Officer of Zoomer Media Ltd, Television Division.

Rank the week of August 16th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Jane Eyre

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #3143

Win Percentage: 55%

Times Ranked: 1594

Top-20 Rankings: 7

Directed By: Cary Fukunaga

Starring: Mia Wasikowska • Michael Fassbender • Jamie Bell • Judi Dench • Imogen Poots

Genres: Drama • Gothic Film • Mystery • Period Film • Romance • Romantic Drama • Romantic Mystery

Rank This Movie

Something Borrowed

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #8753

Win Percentage: 40%

Times Ranked: 456

Top-20 Rankings: 3

Directed By: Luke Greenfield

Starring: Kate Hudson • Ginnifer Goodwin • John Krasinski • Colin Egglesfield • Steve Howey

Genres: Comedy • Comedy Drama • Drama • Romance • Romantic Comedy • Romantic Drama

Rank This Movie

Priest

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #6278

Win Percentage: 43%

Times Ranked: 1274

Top-20 Rankings: 5

Directed By: Scott Charles Stewart

Starring: Paul Bettany • Karl Urban • Cam Gigandet • Maggie Q • Lily Collins

Genres: Action • Comic-Book Superhero Film • Horror • Monster Film • Religious Horror • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Sci-Fi Horror • Supernatural Horror...

By Elliot V. Kotek

(April 2011)

With apologies to Glenda Jackson in “Elizabeth R,” Richard Burton’s “Anne of the Thousand Days,” “The Madness of King George” with Helen Mirren and Nigel Hawthorne and Charles Laughton, who picked up a Best Actor Oscar for “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” and with nothing but respect for Kate Middleton and Prince William, the pending nuptials make the time ripe for an assessment of the monarchy’s treatment on-screen over the years.

Grab yourself a cup of England’s finest and let us know what you think’s missing.

Click for the list >>...

By Elliot V. Kotek

(April 2011)

With apologies to Glenda Jackson in “Elizabeth R,” Richard Burton’s “Anne of the Thousand Days,” “The Madness of King George” with Helen Mirren and Nigel Hawthorne and Charles Laughton, who picked up a Best Actor Oscar for “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” and with nothing but respect for Kate Middleton and Prince William, the pending nuptials make the time ripe for an assessment of the monarchy’s treatment on-screen over the years.

Grab yourself a cup of England’s finest and let us know what you think’s missing.

Click for the list >>...

When I started this list I didn’t realize just how complicated choosing who I should put on the list would be. How does one sit back and decide who is bisexual, gay or straight? I tried to stay away from actors who although rumoured to be gay, have never been linked to any relationship with another man.

Tom Cruise quickly comes to mind. The truth is, most actors are rumoured to be gay – George Clooney, John Travolta, Elijah Wood etc.

Some actors who appeared on my list were indeed at one point married, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t gay. In doing my research and speaking to many people who have worked in and around the film business, I chose only those who were proven to have had actual relationships with the same sex at one point of their life. Yes it is true that some of...

James joins the crowd of people who reckon it might just be Colin Firth's year at the Oscars...

Ladies, gentleman and persons of no specifically defined gender, I have seen the future and would like to reveal all. (Because I'm sure you're desperate to know and because you're going to love violently rubbing it in my face when all my predictions fail to come through.)

I speak with confidence and assured certainty, even though I haven't consulted the bathing pre-cogs of Minority Report (you have to make an appointment), the scrolls of the sibyl (I can't read ancient Greek) or the soothsayer who lives in the swamp (he's away in Okinawa taking part in a karate tournament and avenging his master's dead wife or something).

My knowledge of the near future comes on the basis of a theory and, in the post-enlightenment world, theories based on scientific rationale, empirical...

Dame Helen Mirren's portrayal of The Queen is movie fans' favourite royal role, according to a new online poll.

In anticipation of Colin Firth's Best Actor win at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday for The King's Speech, and his assured Oscar nomination, websites WENN and Fandango.com staged a weekend vote to find the best movie monarch.

Mirren topped the poll with 47 per cent, while Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I came in second with 31 per cent of the vote.

Dame Judi Dench came in third and fourth with her portrayals of Elizabeth I (Shakespeare in Love) and Queen Victoria (Mrs. Brown), and Nigel Hawthorne rounded out the top five with his role as King George III in The Madness of King George.

The King's Speech is an excellent film, but it does take a few pointless liberties with historical accuracy

Reading today's Guardian extracts from Alastair Campbell's diaries and hearing over breakfast that Colin Firth had won a Golden Globe for playing King George VI I couldn't help thinking that the House of Windsor gets its share of good luck. Actually no; what it mostly gets is good advice from its elected governments and – when all else has failed – mostly takes it.

Campbell's account reinforces – and there is little reason to disbelieve him – the claim that in 1997 Tony Blair cajoled the Queen into showing public and prudent contrition over Princess Diana's death which – let's put it no stronger – she might not have felt at the time.

What is it about Hollywood and British royals that makes the awards panels go weak at the knee – or brain – when they see a well-made British costume drama?...

The Black Cauldron is one of the Walt Disney Company's most controversial films and for all sorts of reasons. Based on the Chronicles of Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander, it follows the adventures of Taran, an apprentice pig keeper who seeks to realize his fantasy of becoming a great warrior. In order to do so, Taran embarks on an epic and magical quest involving a Black Cauldron, magic swords, elves, the malevolent Horned King, the spirited Princess Eilonwy and a variety of other characters and creatures. However, the film -- which received a PG rating; heresy for a Disney flick -- was deemed far too dark and violent for younger moviegoers and too lightweight and kid-centric for teens an adults. Even last-minute pre-release cutting of supposedly egregious scenes didn't help, as the film was released to bad buzz and worse reviews. The result? A total $21 million cume at the box office,...

DVD Playhouse September 2010

By

Allen Gardner

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Music Box Films) Follow up to the hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo finds Lisabeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) joining forces once again as Blomkvist is about to break a story on Sweden’s sex trade, which leads unexpectedly to a dark secret from Elizabeth’s past. Starts off well, then quickly nose-dives into sensationalism and downright silliness, with a pair of villains who are straight out of a Roger Moore-era James Bond film. A real letdown for those of us who felt Dragon Tattoo had finally breathed life into the cinema’s long-stagnant genre of the thriller. Bonuses: English language track; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.

The Killer Inside Me (IFC Films) Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic, and notorious, novel about the psychotic mind of a small town sheriff (Casey Affleck,...