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At the conclusion of its fourth season in 1976, "M*A*S*H" finished a disappointing fourteenth in the Nielsen ratings, a sizable step down from ranking fourth and fifth in the two years prior. It wasn't the show's fault. The series was still one of the most critically acclaimed sitcoms on television; it earned eight Primetime Emmy awards for that season and won two. The reason for the ratings slip was some puzzling time slot shuffling by CBS, which moved "M*A*S*H" from its Tuesday perch to Friday, a notoriously off night for TV viewing. When the series' audience precipitously declined, the network moved it back to Tuesday halfway through the season, where it quickly recovered. All, it appeared, was well with the 4077th.

Except it wasn't, at least not with series creator Larry Gelbart. The veteran TV comedy writer was getting sick of the medium and feeling hemmed in by his hit series.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” executive producer Niels Juul is in Cannes with several projects based on IP from the vault of Italy’s storied Cecchi Gori movie company that include a remake of the Dino Risi-directed classic “Il Sorpasso” and “Kafka,” a script about the turbulent love life of Franz Kafka by John Briley (“Gandhi”).

The IP and some other assets of the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid-1990s were acquired late last year by a group of Italian investors under the new management of Rome-based CEO Federico Canfora and U.S-based Javier Balliero Madrid. Madrid is president of the new company, which is backing a partial relaunch of the Cecchi Gori brand, which is behind such Oscar-winners as “Life Is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”

They have a producing agreement with Los Angeles-based Juul, who is a former Cecchi Gori Pictures CEO.

(Welcome to Best Actor Ever, an ongoing series where we explore the careers and performances of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen.)

If the young Denzel Washington had his way, the now 68-year-old Mount Vernon native would have a bust in Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame. The man who would be Malcolm X, Rubin Carter, and Alonzo Harris initially had his sights trained on the gridiron before he enrolled at Fordham University in 1977, where he was a skilled enough athlete to play under Coach P.J. Carlesimo for the school's junior varsity team. "He would run us all day, and make us work," Washington told the New York Times in 1998. "But you know what? We were always prepared for the fourth quarter, and we hardly ever lost. Some of the things I learned from him, I still apply myself."

Washington knew by this point that a pro sports...

Updated: Cecchi Gori, the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid 1990s, is being revived by a group of Italian investors that are backing a partial relaunch of the storied brand behind Oscar winners “Life is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”

Cecchi Gori Group was officially ruled bankrupt in 2006 by a Rome court after being awash in red ink for a decade after its owner, movie mogul Vittorio Cecchi Gori, branched out from film into television and acquired the A.C. Fiorentina soccer club in a bold expansion attempt that put him in competition with Silvio Berlusconi and went horribly wrong.

But even after the company’s various Italian sides went bust, its U.S. branches – Cecchi Gori U.S.A. and Cecchi Gori Pictures – continued to operate, headed by producer Niels Juul. Operating out of Los Angeles, Juul has been instrumental to...

Children of the Damned

Blu ray

Warner Archive

1964/ 1.85:1/ 89 Minutes

Starring Ian Hendry, Alan Badel

Directed by Anton Leader

Wolf Rilla’s Village of the Damned was an alien invasion thriller that was genuinely invasive—all around the world women of child-bearing age are suddenly and mysteriously pregnant. No matter the circumstances, whether a virgin or a lonely widow, they wake from a deep sleep to find themselves in a family way. Who or what is responsible is never determined and the results are devastating—marriages shattered, young lives ruined, reputations damaged beyond repair. Strong stuff for 1960 and Rilla didn’t shy away from the moral, not to mention awkward, implications of the situation. The otherworldly offspring grow up to be intellectual powerhouses with a talent for telekinesis and mind control—they’re defeated, irony of ironies, by an equally intelligent adversary who destroys them by simply not thinking at all.

“At this very moment, they could be making all those men out there turn their guns on one another!”

Children Of The Damned (1964) will be available on Blu-ray October 26th from Warner Archive

Six gifted children are found to pose a threat to the world in this chilling horror story from the makers of Village of the Damned. The children, who all live in England but are from different parts of the world, are normal in all respects except that they are geniuses with acute psychic powers. They have more in common than their IQs, however: None of them have fathers, and no one seems to know where they came from. When a psychologist (Ian Hendry of TV’s The Avengers) attempts to find out more, he unlocks a mystery that could lead to the destruction of the universe.

B&w. 16×9 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Special Features: Commentary by Screenwriter John Briley...

Award-winning screenwriter who worked with Richard Attenborough on Gandhi and Cry Freedom

When John Briley, who has died aged 94 of a blood disorder, was first approached by Richard Attenborough with the idea of turning the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into a film, the screenwriter was sceptical about its appeal. “I was certain that no one in the Detroit of my boyhood or my adopted town in semi-rural England would want to pay to see a film about an old man who sat on a rug in a loincloth and spouted words about peace and passive resistance,” he said. There were his own career prospects to consider: “I had had one or two disasters and really didn’t want another, even a grand one.” But the mystery of the subject, and of Attenborough’s long-held enthusiasm, was unlocked for Briley once he began reading Gandhi’s letters and articles. “Gradually the personality of this open,...

Telekinesis, aka moving stuff with your mind (for the non-scientific hoi polloi), blew up big time with Brian DePalma’s Carrie (1976); soon we had boarding school snake whisperers (Jennifer) and bed bound psychotics (Patrick) filling the screens in an effort to scare audiences. But the most intriguing of the post White lot is The Medusa Touch (1978), a film that ups the scale of destruction while offering one of the most misanthropic views of humanity in horror from the ‘70s. (Which is saying a lot.)

This British-French co-production was released by Itc in the UK in early April, with a world wide rollout shortly thereafter. Every review wasn’t completely terrible; several critics praised the talented cast and the special effects, while the rest found it to be another in a growing line of psychic mumbo jumbo, mixed with The Omen’s creative deaths. Around these parts we call that a win,...

Once again, Hollywood Stars will be going to the first awards event of the season — The Hollywood Film Awards®. The ceremony will be hosted by critically and globally acclaimed actor, comedian and late night talk show host, James Corden and will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. More than one hundred honorees have gone on to garner Oscar nominations and wins. Our confirmed presenters include: Steve Carell, Russell Crowe, Ice Cube, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Vin Diesel, Jamie Foxx, Selena Gomez, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Amber Heard, Mark Ruffalo, David O. Russell, Kurt Russell, Amy Poehler, Quentin Tarantino, and Reese Witherspoon. Our confirmed honorees include:Robert De Niro, Ridley Scott,...

The Hollywood Film Awards® was founded in 1997 and honors excellence in filmmaking and traditionally signals the Official Launch of the Award Season®. The HFAs showcase to the public at large previews of quality films released during the calendar year. The first-ever Hollywood Film Awards® gala took place in October 1997 in the historic Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas took home the inaugural “Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award.” The Hollywood Film Awards launch the awards season. Over the past 18 years, prior honorees have gone on to garner many Oscar nominations and wins. With participating Hollywood insiders, our Advisory Team identifies and selects the recipients of our honors. Our winners are pre-selected to receive our awards. Our selection is based on their outstanding achievement and contribution to the art of cinema. They are not “nominees.” 2014 honorees included some of the biggest names in Hollywood such as Keira Knightley,...

The Hollywood Film Awards honor established Hollywood artists. The criteria for these awards is based on the recipient’s body of work and/or a film that they have coming out this year. These awards are bestowed in all disciplines of filmmaking*: Career, Leadership, Producer, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Editor, Film Composer, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Animation, and Visual Effects. Our award/tribute recipients are selected by our Advisory Team which is comprised of a cross section of Hollywood professionals. To read more about the Hollywood Film Awards The selection process for our honorees takes multiple elements into consideration and involves attending pre-press private industry screenings, press screenings, festival screenings, and research. It also includes the support and participation of established entertainment industry executives, from agents, critics, directors, managers, producers, publicists, screenwriters and studio execs to members of the craft guilds. With participating Hollywood insiders,...

To those who know their whole history, it may seem surprising that there was never any bad blood between Steven Spielberg and the late Richard Attenborough — unless you want to count the prehistoric kind drawn from those amber-encased mosquitos in Jurassic Park, the one big project they made together.

The two filmmakers, separated in age by more than a generation, were rivals who became collaborators and eventually friends. When Attenborough died at age 90 on Sunday, he left behind a legacy as an actor, director, and philanthropist — but the story of his relationship with Spielberg is evidence of another defining trait: gentleman.

British actors with a background in classic theatre are known for bringing some gravitas and credibility to comic book movies, whether it's Anthony Hopkins as Odin in Marvel's Thor, or Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Professor Xavier and Magneto in the X-Men films (including the upcoming Days of Future Past).

From that same generation of veterans comes Ben Kingsley, stepping into the role of archnemesis the Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

The movie is Marvel's biggest departure yet from the comic books it publishes, with the studio (now under the aegis of Disney) clearly aiming for a much more populist and comedic approach. It certainly worked with the snappy humour in Avengers and now there's more of that in Iron Man 3, though I'd argue the laughs weren't as effective as Whedon's spot-on quippery.

The characterisation of Mandarin has caused much consternation among the hardcore fanboys, though it works within the movie.

The double Oscar winner (The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth) turns 102 today! She's the oldest living Oscar nominee or winner! Her most recent appearance was just four short months ago when she showed up for her star ceremony in Berlin. They now have a "Boulevard des Stars" much like Hollywood's walk of fame and as the only German Best Actress winner (Hollywood and the media who nicknamed her "The Viennese Teardrop" promoted her as Austrian for obvious reasons in the 1930s), she was a natural for inclusion.

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear Luise,

happy birthday to you

.......and many more ♫

Odets and Rainer in Hollywood. Odets also romanced actress Frances Farmer (as seen in the Jessica Lange picture "Frances")Luise is on record as saying that she doesn't believe in the Oscar curse and her short-lived Hollywood career was her own doing.

"The Oscar jinx! There is no Oscar jinx.