News

Tina Howe, the celebrated playwright whose works included the oft-staged Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances, died yesterday of natural causes after a short illness due to complications from a hip fracture sustained in a recent fall. The two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist was 85.

Her death was announced by her longtime agent Patrick Herold.

A New York City native, Howe attended Sarah Lawrence College, Teacher’s College at Columbia University and Chicago Teachers College and studied philosophy at Sorbonne University in Paris before her mainstream stage breakthrough in 1981 with the production of Painting Churches at Second Stage Off Broadway. Set in the Beacon Hill area of Boston, the play, about the relationship between an artist and her aging parents, was a major success, winning an Obie Award, moving to Broadway in 1983 and becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Howe had actually made her professional New York stage debut 11 years prior to Painting Churches,...

What happened to Calvin?

A new trailer for psychological horror movie The Portrait asks this very question, setting the stage for a hallucinatory trip that sees its lead questioning her own mind.

Head over to Deadline to watch the trailer now.

The psychological ghost story is written by David Griffiths (The Hunted) and will mark the feature directorial debut for Simon Ross.

In the film, “After her husband is devastated by a tragic accident, a devoted wife obsesses over a mysterious portrait that resembles him as he was, but when it starts to terrorize her, she must decide if it’s possessed or if she’s losing her mind.”

The Portrait stars Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Ryan Kwanten, Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen (Candyman), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“The Passage”) and Isidora Goreshter (Clara’s Ghost).

The Portrait was produced by Christian de Gallegos Films. Simon Ross executive produces alongside Oliver Brown and Keith Haviland.

Exclusive: Here’s a first look at psychological horror The Portrait, starring Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen (Candyman), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved By The Bell) and Isidora Goreshter (Shameless).

Written by David Griffiths (The Hunted), the movie is a ghost story directed by Simon Ross who makes his feature debut.

In The Portrait, after her husband is devastated by a tragic accident, a devoted wife obsesses over a mysterious portrait that resembles him as he was, but when it starts to terrorize her, she must decide if it’s possessed or if she’s losing her mind.

Pic is produced by Christian de Gallegos Films and David Griffiths Films. Executive producers are Oliver Brown, Keith Haviland and Simon Ross.

Natalia Cordova-Buckley is repped by Hyperion and Spellbound Entertainment. Ryan Kwanten is repped by Verve. Virginia Madsen is repped by Buchwald and Untitled. Mark-Paul...

GenreBlast Film Fest has announced its lineup for the seventh year of their international independent genre film festival, beginning this upcoming Thursday, September 1st.

The four day in-person event will feature fourteen feature films and roughly ninety short films from around the world as well as the results of their annual screenplay competition. Emanating from the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, Virginia, GenreBlast continues to champion truly independent genre cinema and this year features one of its strongest lineups of cross-genre fare so far. With horror, science-fiction and fantasy, action, and even cult and midnight offerings, the fest prides itself on being an eclectic mixtape of genres and filmmakers.

Of the thirteen features selected this year, there are two world premieres, one North American premiere, one U.S. premieres, one east coast premiere, four regional premieres, and four Virginia premieres and a special advance screening.

Liam Regan’s satirical bloodbath...

Gold Derby can exclusively reveal the 48 episodes entered as 2022 Emmy Award submission for the eight Best Comedy Series nominees. Each program submits six episodes from this past season. Television Academy voters are asked to watch each of the episodes entered for that category before marking their ballots.

See 2022 Emmy nominations: Complete list of contenders for 74th Primetime Emmys

The complete list of submission for this category below:

“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

“Pilot,” “Light Bulb,” “Work Family,” “Step Class,” “Open House,” “Zoo Balloon”

“Barry” (HBO)

“forgiving jeff,” “limonada,” “all the sauces,” “710N,” “candy asses,” “starting now”

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)

“The Five-Foot Fence,” “The Watermelon,” “Irasshaimase!,” “What Have I Done?,” “Igor, Gregor & Timor,” “The Mormon Advantage”

“Hacks” (HBO)

“There Will Be Blood,” “Quid Pro Quo,” “The Captain’s Wife,” “Retired,” “The Click,” “The One, The Only”

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime)

“Everything Is Bellmore,” “Interesting People on Christopher Street,” “How to Chew Quietly and Influence People,...

“Just be careful. She doesn’t suffer fools.” That was the advice a publicist gave me just before they put me on the phone with Lauren Bacall about 20 years ago. She was promoting a TNT movie, The Portrait, and as a writer-producer on The Arsenio Hall Show I had persuaded the powers that be to book her on the show — even if, on the surface, she wasn’t the typical kind of contemporary guest we often had on the show. Quite frankly, I just wanted to meet Lauren Bacall, to just hear that legendary sultry voice on the other end of the phone. So I set about doing the pre-interview and apparently passed the “no fools” test because I found her to be a pussycat.

Related: Lauren Bacall: A Life In Pictures

Still it wasn’t like Arsenio (or even our studio and TV audience) was exactly the kind of fan I was,...