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Swamp Thing is a character that's very near and dear to my heart, because Alan Moore's seminal run on the DC Comics character not only introduced me to him and his world, but this run made me love comics as a medium that can stand on its own - a feeling that still persists to this day.

The Swamp Thing is rather well-known to the comic book readers out there, but he isn't quite as well-known to mainstream audiences as some of his DC counterparts. If you weren't aware of existence, then it's probably even less likely that you would know the various adaptions that have been made about the character on both the big and small screens.

With that in mind, let's explore the various adaptions of the Swamp Thing character throughout the decades, and I hope you'll join me on this trip through the bayou!

Swamp Thing's...

Ray Wise is back on The Young and the Restless canvas as master manipulator Ian Ward. Perhaps best known for his role as Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks, Wise initially debuted on the soap in 2014 as the New World Cult leader with a history of tormenting Nikki. Although sent to prison in 2016, he’s now back to wreak more havoc.

Need To Know

The veteran actor has had an impressive career in film and television. Some of his most memorable roles include henchman Leon C. Nash in RoboCop (1987), Jack Taggart Sr. in Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003), and the Devil in The CW series Reaper (2003).

Want to learn more about the actor? Here are seven things to know about Ray Wise.

1. Wise was born in Akron, Ohio, and is of Romanian descent on his mother’s side. He attended Garfield High School before enrolling at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Upon graduation,...

After fleshing out Bram Stoker's iconic bloodsucking character like never before in Dracula—Book 1: The Impaler, Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones are now shining a spotlight on Dracula's bloodthirsty brides in Dracula—Book II: The Brides, and with the graphic novel now on Kickstarter, we caught up with Matt and Kelley in a new Q&a feature!

Kelley and Matt, thank you for taking the time to answer questions, and congratulations on Dracula—Book II: The Brides! You previously fleshed out the backstory of Bram Stoker’s iconic bloodsucker like never before in Dracula—Book I: The Impaler, and now you’re giving the same insightful treatment to Dracula’s Brides. What was it about the Brides in particular that made you want to further explore their stories in Book II?

Matt Wagner: Well, as with so many aspects of Dracula’s history, persona and villainy, much of...

Lee Gabler, the powerful Hollywood agent who orchestrated landmark television deals during a four-decade career that included 25 years as a stalwart at CAA and a long relationship with David Letterman, has died. He was 84.

Gabler died Monday in Los Angeles from a brain injury, his wife of 35 years, Elizabeth Gabler, president of 3000 Pictures at Sony Pictures Entertainment, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gabler, who started out at the Ashley Steiner Famous Artists agency in New York before coming to prominence at ICM, negotiated agreements for some of the most popular shows in TV history.

They included The West Wing, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, ER, Mad Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Amazing Race, Moonlighting, American Idol, House, Beverly Hills, 90210, Northern Exposure, 24, Sex and the City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Melrose Place, The White Shadow, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Band of Brothers, Tales From the Crypt and Alf.

Apple Original Films’ Killers of the Flower Moon marks the 16th time Martin Scorsese has worked with either Robert De Niro or Leonardo DiCaprio in a feature-length film, yet it’s the first Scorsese film that includes both actors in starring roles. Scorsese and De Niro began their 50-year association with 1973’s Mean Streets. 1976’s Taxi Driver, 1977’s New York, New York, 1980’s Raging Bull, 1983’s The King of Comedy, 1990’s Goodfellas, 1991’s Cape Fear, and 1995’s Casino followed, cementing their relationship as one of the most successful actor-director teams.

After a nearly 25-year break, Scorsese and De Niro reunited for 2019’s The Irishman, and now they’re back together again for 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

During the two-decade break in the Scorsese / De Niro films, the Oscar-winning director cast Leonardo DiCaprio in 2002’s Gangs of New York, 2004’s The Aviator, 2006’s The Departed, 2010’s Shutter Island, and...

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a culmination of sorts for Scorsese and his two most frequent collaborators, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. The upcoming Apple film – which debuts in theaters on October 20 via Paramount – marks the 10th time Scorsese and De Niro have worked together on a feature and the sixth time Scorsese and DiCaprio have joined forces. It’s also the first film of Scorsese’s lengthy career to feature both actors simultaneously.

That it took so long for the three men to work together on a film might seem surprising – Scorsese has said De Niro was at least about both “Gangs of New York” and “The Departed” – but it was also kind of inevitable. After all, Scorsese first heard about DiCaprio from De Niro after the “Raging Bull” Oscar winner starred in “This Boy’s Life” opposite the young actor.

“He said, ‘You should...

In the universe of James Bond, there are several tiers of villains. There are the primary villains, of course, the mad geniuses like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Auric Goldfinger, Karl Stromberg, or Max Zorin, who plot to take down financial institutions, governments, military installations, or even the entire world. Sometimes it’s even all of the above Next, however, are the secondary adversaries who may support the main villain in their plans but are often either in it for their own financial gain (as opposed to world conquest), or because they’re in trouble, and this is their only way out. Think of Pussy Galore from Goldfinger, Milton Krest from Licence to Kill, General Ouromov from GoldenEye, Professor Dent from Dr. No… and the list goes on and on.

And then there are the henchmen who are there for one sole reason: to kill James Bond, or in the words of one famous villain,...

(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we look at an Oscars category from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winner stands the test of time.)

Every year, one or several films racks up an impressive haul of nominations. 14 is currently the record, shared amongst "All About Eve," "La La Land," and "Titanic," but routinely, you'll see eight, nine, or double-digit nominations for movies. This past year, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" had 11, while "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Banshees of Inisherin" managed nine apiece.

Most of the time, however, the Academy likes to spread the wealth. Take last year's movies. Even with "Everything Everywhere" doing abnormally well, it only won seven of those 11. "All Quiet" just won four, and "Banshees" went home empty-handed. A nomination domination does not necessarily set you up to do a massive clean sweep of the Oscars. Even "Titanic,...

It’s a very musical episode! Director and Tfh Guru, Allan Arkush, returns to talk about his favorite rock and roll movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

No Nukes (1980)

Amazing Grace (2018) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Oscar nominee reactions

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Get Crazy (1983) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary

Blackboard Jungle (1955) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956) – ​​Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

Mister Rock And Roll (1957)

Go, Johnny, Go! (1959) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Hail Hail Rock And Roll! (1987) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

The Girl Can’t Help It (1956) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Hellzapoppin’ (1941)

Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Almost Famous (2000) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Wayne’s World (1992)

The Graduate (1967) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Scorpio Rising...

Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton turns 80 on July 22nd, and to celebrate, we sat down with him for an in-depth conversation that looks back on decades of musical innovation. In the interview, Clinton reminisces about the earliest days of Parliament and Funkadelic, and he explains how his music was influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Vanilla Fudge(!), Louis Jordan, his friend Sly Stone, and others.

Though Clinton grew up in New Jersey, Funkadelic’s style drew heavily from New Orleans. “To me, the only genre that wasn...

Back to the Future is a classic comedy, one of the most popular films in motion picture history. Almost every laugh line lands with a perfectly executed punch. Every skateboard flip is a motion picture wonder. It’s one of those films which is broadly silly yet still has heart, and it’s a treasure of commercial cinema. But when Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly straps on a cherry red Gibson Es-345 he plunders the golden oldies right out of the fingers of the true original. Ignore the bit where “Marvin Berry” calls his cousin on the phone. Chuck Berry didn’t just write “Johnny B. Goode,” he was Johnny B. Goode.

The song about the country boy who could play guitar like ringing a bell could have referred to any number of musicians, from Buddy Holly to Bo Diddley or Ricky Nelson. But the singer-songwriting guitarist who penned...

Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features drummer Chester Thompson.

When Chester Thompson joined Genesis as a drummer for the Wind and Wuthering tour in 1977, he had every reason to think...

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In 2017, after ten years of service, MI6 Confidential introduced a new special format: a limited-run 100-page perfect bound issue of the magazine taking a deep dive into one particular facet of the franchise. The fourth release hands the microphone to long-serving Bond director, John Glen taking a look back at his favourite film as helmsman, Octopussy.

The idea for this issue came together as we were finishing work on Peter Lamont's Live And Let Die portfolio. We approached someone who had a equally profound effect on the trajectory of modern Bond. John readily agreed to work with us and we gave him free choice of the film he wished to profile. He chose Octopussy - the colourful, adventurous, flamboyant and darn-right-lucky 13th Bond outing. With help from editor Bill Koenig, John walks us through pre-production,...

HBO’s latest blockbuster drama effort, Lovecraft Country, is a unique Lovecraftian beast. As adapted by Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, the show takes classic horror, sci-fi, and adventure tropes and adapts them into a timely story of American racism.

Though the series is certainly timely, it’s also timeless. As evidenced by our helpful explainer article, it wasn’t immediately clear when Lovecraft Country even took place. That’s partly because the Jim Crow era of American institutionalized racism was a lengthy one. And the fact that Atticus “Tic” Freeman was a war veteran didn’t help out much. Which war coincided with “whites only” restaurants and sundown towns? World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War – take your pick, really. That pleasant disorientation is enhanced by an equally disorienting soundtrack.

Rest assured, Lovecraft Country takes place in the mid 1950s. But the show’s...

Little Richard Penniman, whose boogie woogie blues piano laid the foundation for rock and roll, died Saturday, May 9, at 87, according to Rolling Stone. The cause of death was unknown.

Little Richard, along with Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, the Delta Cats, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Elvis Presley, wed blues with gospel and country for a new music genre which changed the world and how we hear it. “Tutti Frutti, “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up,” all pounded out in 1956, got jukeboxes jumping, made senses reel and gave parents fits. “All the flat top cats and the dungaree dolls” swarmed the dance floors, while budding musicians around the world took notice.

Little Richard’s influence is almost beyond measure. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Elton John, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Lemmy Kilmister, and his own contemporaries, like Presley, Buddy Holly, and Bill Haley and fellow piano pounder Jerry Lee Lewis,...

The third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel features more live music than ever, including one by Sterling K. Brown, who really does sing at one point in his role as Reggie, Shy Baldwin's tough tour manager. The This Is Us star is just one of several new additions to the cast for the third season, and although Broadway actor Darius de Haas dubs the singing voice of singer Shy Baldwin (played by Leroy McClain), Brown does his own singing.

In the third season, we only get to hear Brown sing one time: in episode three, he takes the mic himself for a cover of Louis Jordan's "Is You or Is You Ain't My Baby?" The original song was first recorded in 1943, so it's nearly 20 years old by the time Reggie sings it. The song's lyrics are familiar territory: the crooning singer talking about the girl he loves and...

Leah Chase, who taught the nation about Creole food at her Dooky Chase’s restaurant in New Orleans and was a celebrity chef who appeared in numerous TV shows and film documentaries, has died. She passed Saturday at her son’s home near her New Orleans restaurant.

Chase and her husband, Edgar “Dooky’ Chase, had the first white tablecloth restaurant for black customers in the heavily segregated city. Dooky Chase’s began as a sandwich shop in the Treme district, but expanded into an upscale restaurant that was the equal of anything in the French Quarter.

Along the way, Leah Chase’s expertise in Creole cooking drew national attention. Cookbooks, innumerable media interviews and television shows, and film documentaries cataloged this unique regional cuisine. Princess Tiana, who wanted to own a restaurant in the animated Disney feature The Princess and the Frog, was based on Chase. Tiana was the first...

For fans of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the news from California this Monday morning hit hard, like the sudden loss of a treasured longtime friend (or for many that “girlfriend next door”).

Here’s how E! Online reported her passing:

Hollywood has lost a beloved legend.

Doris Day, the actress and singer who personified classic Hollywood in the ’50s and ’60s, has died, the Doris Day Animal Foundation announced on Monday. According to the foundation, Day died at her Carmel Valley, Calif. home early Monday while surrounded by a few close friends.

“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in a public statement. Day was 97 years old, recently celebrating her birthday on April 3.

For 20 years, 1948 to 1968, Ms. Day was a staple of movie theatres. A few years ago I included her in...

For decades, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," the duet originally sung in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter, has endured as one of the most beloved Christmas songs. Iconic musicians like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart, and Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel have all recorded versions of the song together. Chris Colfer and Darren Criss sing the tune to each other on an episode of Glee, and Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel belt it out in Elf. But in recent years, the catchy holiday song has left fans feeling more and more uncomfortable due to its suggestive lyrics, which have led many to wonder if they describe an instance of date rape.

Because of the potentially sinister meaning behind the lyrics, a Cleveland radio station has decided "Baby, It's Cold Outside" really can't stay - on the air, at least. Wdok Christmas 102.1 has pulled the song from its 24-hour Christmas rotation,...

Bob Christgau and I have known each other since 1969, when he’d just moved from Esquire to his first tour at The Village Voice and I was writing for the San Francisco Express Times and Rolling Stone. Since then we have never stopped talking — we’ve disagreed about half of everything, argued, fought, and in some way or another always made common cause. This interview marks the publication of Bob’s new book Is It Still Good To Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism 1967-2017, but it’s also part of that ongoing conversation.

Chuck Berry rarely did interviews, and when he did, he could be confrontational and reticent. Which is why his 1987 appearance on the Tonight Show is so remarkable.

At the time, Berry was well into his pickup-band years, touring the country and playing with local groups to save money. But he also on the edge of a resurgence, thanks to a salacious autobiography and Hail Hail Rock & Roll!, the concert film about his 60th birthday concert that was released that year, which exposed Berry’s fascinatingly difficult personality.

But Berry had clear respect for Johnny Carson,...

A few weeks ago, some character details were revealed involving the two lead characters in James Wan's Swamp Thing. Those characters included Abby Arcane and Alec Holland a.k.a. Swamp Thing. Today, thanks to That Hashtag Show, we have character breakdowns of two additional characters that include Matthew Cable and the main villain of the series.

We learned from the initial announcement that the story will follow "Cdc researcher Abby Arcane, who returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. She develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland, only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all."

Swamp Thing...

There can be no prizes for guessing the historical milieu of Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” a transfixing miniature that evokes the eponymous midcentury geopolitical freeze with all the intricate, delicate decay of the Polish auteur’s Oscar-winning “Ida.” But the cold war at the center of this restless, ellipsis-filled film is one between hearts, not territories: Skipping with swift agility across European borders and a 15-year timeframe, Pawlikowski sketches an intense long-term love affair between two mismatched Polish musicians whose relationship is defined less by affection than a mutual, mistrustful, latently violent hostility. Loosely inspired by the tempestuous marriage of the director’s late parents — for whom the principals are named, and to whom the film is mournfully dedicated — “Cold War” may return to “Ida’s” meticulous monochrome aesthetic of “Ida,” but it’s a companion piece with its own tonal and structural energy: less emotionally immediate, perhaps, but...

Mvd Entertainment Group is heading back to the bog this May with their special Blu-ray release of Jim Wynorski's The Return of Swamp Thing. The fifth release in Mvd's Rewind Collection, The Return of Swamp Thing will include a 2K transfer of the 1989 movie, a new audio commentary, and several fresh interviews that are detailed in the full list of bonus features:

From Mvd Rewind Collection's Facebook Page: "Mvd Rewind Collection #5 is The Return Of Swamp Thing! Street Date is May 8, 2018.

This one has been driving me crazy because everytime I think we are done with adding bonus material, the head of Lightyear Entertainment keeps bringing me more. Now this is subject to change, but I think what we have below is what will be on the release. It's jam packed and I'm super stoked to get this on Blu-ray.

America’S Favorite Superhero Is Back In Action!

After her mother's mysterious death,...

On Tuesday, January 9, the recording academy announced this year’s recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards: drummer Hal Blaine, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, country legend Emmylou Harris, late rock-and-roll pioneer Louis Jordan, funk band The Meters, British rock band Queen, and the queen of rock and roll Tina Turner. Blaine was well known as a drummer from the group of session musicians known as The […]...

Earlier today, The Recording Academy has announced its Special Merit Awards recipients and this year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees include Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, Queen and Tina Turner. "This year's Special Merit Awards recipients are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy, in a press release. Portnow continued, "These exceptionally inspiring figures are being honored as legendary performers, creative architects, and technical visionaries. Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their...

Nine months ago, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos took a boat out from Florida and never came back. The pair's tragic story continues to fascinate the country, as seemingly all "lost at sea" stories do. There's a primal element at stake in these tragic tales: The unstoppable power and mystery and of the ocean and our continued fascination with exploring it, despite knowing full well the dangers. Below, read twelve chronicles of people lost at sea who survived against the odds, their stories captivating the nation. Tami Oldham AshcraftAshcraft was 23 years old and an experienced sailor who had been cruising...

Nine months ago, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos took a boat out from Florida and never came back. The pair's tragic story continues to fascinate the country, as seemingly all "lost at sea" stories do. There's a primal element at stake in these tragic tales: The unstoppable power and mystery and of the ocean and our continued fascination with exploring it, despite knowing full well the dangers. Below, read twelve chronicles of people lost at sea who survived against the odds, their stories captivating the nation. Tami Oldham AshcraftAshcraft was 23 years old and an experienced sailor who had been cruising...

B.B. King was a pioneer into the very soul of the blues. He reinvented the blues, he brought the blues to the masses through the very many eras of the blues. Throughout the course of his 70-plus year career, the guitarist and singer proved over and over that his was an artform birthed for change. Blues flourished inside the thousands of notes King played on a six-string and sung with his spirited, rich, bassy voice. “The blues was bleeding the same blood as me,” King said in his autobiography “Blues All Around Me.” The King of the Blues died in Las Vegas on Thursday (May 14) at the age of 89. According to the AP, King’s attorney, Brent Bryson, said King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. Pdt, and that funeral arrangements underway. Over this past year, King suffered increasingly from diabetes and had canceled remaining tour dates...

Sailor Louis Jordan was found alive on Thursday after his family reported him missing at sea over two months ago, NBC reports. He was found floating on the overturned hull of his sailboat 200 miles off the North Carolina coast. After setting sail on Jan. 23 with his 35-sailboat named Angel, Jordan, 37, survived on rainwater, raw fish he caught with a net and food he had packed for the trip, he told The Washington Post. "I rationed my water to where I had drunk about a pint a day. For such a long a time I was so thirsty. And I was almost out of water,...

Hollywood has had many quintessential young Englishmen, but from the late 1940s through the early '60s, there was only one quintessential young Frenchman: Louis Jourdan. The star of the 1958 Best Picture Oscar winner, Gigi, whose film roles also included those in Madame Bovary, Three Coins in the Fountain, The Swan, The V.I.P.S and Can-Can, Jourdan died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, reports Variety. He was 93. As was told in a 1985 People profile, Jourdan - real name Gendre - and his two brothers grew up in the South of France, where their parents managed hotels in Cannes, Nice and Marseilles.

10. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Directed by: Max Ophuls

To be honest, the relationship at the center of “Letter from an Unknown Woman” barely even exists. It’s more of a longing from one side than the other. But the ways Ophuls structures the film qualifies it for this list. For the run of the story, we hear a voiceover, explaining the moments in these two characters’ lives. Lisa (Joan Fontaine) is a teenager who becomes obsessed with a pianist who lives in her building named Stefan (Louis Jordan). She only meets him once, but maintains her love for him. After her mother announces they will be moving, Lisa runs away, but sees Stefan with another woman. Lisa becomes a respectable woman and is proposed to by a young, family-focused military officer, whom she turns down, still in love with Stefan, a man she has barely met. Years later, she...

Come and dance the blues away with Five Guys Named Moe Helen Hayes Award winner Robert O'Hara Bootcandy, director of The Mountaintop at Arena Stage returns to Arena Stage to direct an explosive, reimagined tribute to the 'King of the Jukebox'-legendary composer and saxophonist Louis Jordan. A co-production with Cleveland Play House, the show opened last night, November 20, in the Kreeger Theater and continues through December 28, 2014. Below, BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities, featuring book writer Clarke Peters...

The hallowed halls of music history are festooned with classic duets, from Johnny Cash and June Carter to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan to, um, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Okay, so not all harmonious pairings are created equal – or even necessarily with good harmonies – but some are even less equal. In fact, some of that make absolutely no logical sense.

Take, for example, this week’s news that Cher has swapped out Sonny Bono in favour of the Ghostface Killah, Method Man, RZA, Gza, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, and Grub. Yes, the singer/actress/Twitter expert is set to appear on not one but two songs on the band’s weird new one-off record Once Upon A Time In Shaolin (credited under the name Bonnie Jo Mason, no less). Cher Rules Everything Around Me, Anyone?

Believe it or not, that’s not the most insane musical team up we...

“Cathy’s Clown,” from The Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival's antiwar anthem “Fortunate Son” and Heart Like a Wheel, from newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Linda Ronstadt, have been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Albums by U2 (The Joshua Tree), Isaac Hayes (Theme From Shaft) and Art Blakey (A Night at Birdland) and music from Celia Cruz, Bing Crosby, Elmore James, Buck Owens, The Louvin Brothers, Louis Jordan and Jeff Buckley also can be found among the latest batch of 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings to be preserved, it was announced today. The selections bring

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Alrighty, kids! Time to shake off all that moss and swamp water because the Scream Factory has just revealed its official artwork for the release of Wes Craven's Swamp Thing. Check it out and count the days to see Arcane get his ass kicked!

Scream announced Craven’s 1982 adaptation of the DC comic book via its Facebook page, additionally confirming yet-to-be-announced extra features. This release will be the 91-minute U.S. cut, not the extended international version that was originally (and accidentally) released by MGM in 2000. As you may recall, that version created a minor stir when a mother purchased a copy of the film (which carries a PG rating) for her young son and was understandably shocked by the copious amounts of nudity throughout.

Craven’s movie stars Dick Durock as the titular hero (with Ray Wise playing the good doctor before his accident), Louis Jordan as the smarmy Anton Arcane,...

Letter From An Unknown Woman

Directed by Max Ophüls

Starring Louis Jordan and Joan Fontaine

USA, 86 min – 1948.

“Have you ever shuffled faces like cards, hoping to find one that lies somewhere, just over the edge of your memory?”

In 1900s Vienna, a former concert pianist and notorious womanizer, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) returns home to find a mysterious letter. Stefan tells his manservant, John (Art Smith) to pack up, as he wants to avoid a morning duel with Johann Stauffer (Marcel Journet). When Stefan begins to read this letter, the duel escapes his mind. The letter details the unrequited love of Lisa Berndle (Joan Fontaine), a young woman who fell in love with Stefan, and had his son, without Stefan’s knowledge. The contents of Lisa’s letter spark Stefan to question the value of his life and his decision to run away from the duel.

Letter From An Unknown Woman...

Scream Factory continues its quest for home video world domination with this week’s announcement of Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing, slated for a high definition debut this summer.

Scream announced Craven’s 1982 adaptation of the DC comic book via its Facebook page, additionally confirming yet-to-be-announced extra features. This release will be the 91-minute U.S. cut, not the extended international version that was originally (and accidentally) released by MGM in 2000.

As you may recall, that version created a minor stir when a mother purchased a copy of the film (which carries a PG rating) for her young son and was understandably shocked by the copious amounts of nudity throughout. As someone who owns that long since discontinued DVD, I can confirm that neither the gratuitous topless shot of Barbeau nor the bizarre naked prostitute shots at Arcane’s party add much to the mix besides throwing it out of tonal whack.

Jazz trumpeter with the Chris Barber band whose playing style was described as 'high-spirited, crisp and clear'

The career of the jazz trumpeter Pat Halcox, who has died aged 82, was defined by the exceptional length of his musical partnership with the trombonist Chris Barber. Halcox explained the longevity of this relationship in a 2008 interview: "Chris always cared so much about what he was doing, and that's why I stayed with him. I've seen the world, made good friends with wonderful musicians, played for huge crowds in fabulous places. I have to thank Chris for all that."

Described by the critic Max Jones as having a playing style that was "high-spirited, crisp and clear", Halcox enjoyed a half-century tenure with Barber's band. It embraced periods of extraordinary success during the heady days of the trad-jazz boom; frequent tours with star Us jazzmen; playing visits to Europe, the Us and Australia; film...

The Recording Academy has released the inductees for the 2013 Grammy Hall of Fame and it's quite the interesting mix.

Just how far does the list run the gamut? Two of the inductees are Frank Sinatra's recording of "Theme from 'New York, New York'" and Richard Pryor's comedy album, "That N-----'s Crazy."

"With the Grammy Hall Of Fame celebrating 40 years, it's especially important to note that these entries continue the tradition of inducting a wide variety of recordings that have inspired and influenced both fans and music makers for generations," President/CEO of The Recording Academy Neil Portnow said in a release. "Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add them to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social, and cultural history."

Other standouts include AC/DC's "Back In Black," Elton John's self-titled album, and Billy Joel's "Piano Man.

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.

"Bigger and here to stay, Doc NYC returns for its second year to spread the gospel of nonfiction, showcasing 52 features in what's becoming the city's mainstream fall complement to Moma's more international and experimental Documentary Fortnight," writes Nicolas Rapold in the Voice. "Boldface names Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, and Jonathan Demme come bearing new work; anticipated favorites such as The Island President and an Eames doc will be rolled out; a memorial tribute to the late Richard Leacock burnishes another vérité legend; and a host of often issue-oriented other films await presumably sympathetic perusal."

The festival opens this evening with Into the Abyss, "Herzog's best documentary in many years," at least for Amy Taubin, writing for Artforum. "Herzog's subject is state-mandated execution, which he addresses via a case of triple homicide that took place in Conroe, Texas…. The movie is all the more haunting for being so straightforward in its narrative organization,...

"Tuesday Weld will not be attending the Film Society of Lincoln Center's retrospective American Girl: Tuesday Weld, running from September 21—25, which will showcase 10 performances by the unconventional actress." Louis Jordan, who's working on a biography of Weld, at the House Next Door: "For a tantalizing moment, the reclusive Weld agreed to be interviewed at the Walter Reade Theatre in an event called 'An Evening with Tuesday Weld,' but later suddenly cancelled. Weld hasn't made a public appearance in more than a decade. Perhaps she's gone into self-imposed exile a la Marlene Dietrich, wanting to preserve the public's memory of the brazen, luminous beauty that made her an icon of the '60s and turned the heads of everyone from Elvis Presley to Pinchas Zukerman. But then again, Weld has made a career of not giving the public what they want, or expect."

"As an actress, Weld is famous for...

Earlier this month, Gov. Mitch Daniels made Indiana the first state ever to cut off Planned Parenthood's public funding-and private donations may soon dry up. Louis Jordan reports on locals' outrage.

Amid flashier headlines, Indiana's decision to defund Planned Parenthood this month didn't spark the media firestorm that it might have in a less manic news cycle. But for the thousands of women who'll soon be forced to find a new health-care provider-and for pro-choice activists nationwide-news of the measure hit with a sickening thud.

Related story on The Daily Beast: South Dakota's Abortion Shame

On May 10, Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill that made Indiana the first state in history to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The bill also bans abortion after 20 weeks and requires that Indiana women seeking abortions be read a statement advising that life begins at fertilization. Indiana State Gop Rep. Eric Turner told The Daily Beast,...

I'm a big jazz fan, so one of the things I've been looking forward to the most about "L.A. Noire" is how they'll use the pop music of the post-wwii era in the game. Rockstar's pretty much perfected the art of assembling music that reflects the tone of the interactive work they create.

"GTA: Vice City" introduced new wave acts like The Human League and A Flock of Seagulls to a generation of gamers who were born after their music topped the charts Similarly, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" packed its radio stations full of classic electrofunk, Reagan-era R&B and mid-1990s hip-hop when it hit the PS2 in 2004. The approach changed a little bit out of necessity for "Red Dead Redemption," since last year's hit Western game was set in an era before the proliferation of radio devices was widespread. So, the music in "Rdr" ranged from...

A powerful new documentary that premiered at Tribeca captures the awful lives of bullied and tormented kids across America. The director talks to Louis Jordan about how he hopes it will stop such behavior.

Two-and-a-half years ago when Lee Hirsch began work on his documentary The Bully Project, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last weekend, bullying wasn't the hot-button issue it is today. In September of 2010, the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, a victim of cyberbullying, launched the issue into the public eye. A spate of anti-bullying campaigns, like Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" YouTube series, followed. Forty-five states currently have anti-bullying laws of some sort. However, bullying has proved too ingrained in the American school system to be eradicated so easily.

Related story on The Daily Beast: The Bullying Backlash

Last year, a group of several Boston teenagers allegedly tormented 15-year-old Phoebe Prince until she took her own life.

Starting this week during the spring quarter on every Tuesday until May 31st, the Doc Film Society at the University of Chicago will screen a black film series of mainly rarely seen Hollywood produced black films and independently made “race” movies of the 1940′s: White on Black: Hollywood and Black Cinema

Some of the films in the series will include Spencer Williams’ Go Down Death (1944), Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates(1920) and his gangtser film Underworld (1937) King Vidor’s MGM film (1929, one of the first sound films made) and Reet, Petite and Gone with the true innovator, and who many, perhaps rightly, claim was the real creator of “rock and roll”, Louis Jordan (1947)

And rumor has it that a certain annoying pest (better known as me) will host and introduce a few of the films in the series. All the films will start at 7Pm at Doc Films’ Max Palevsky...

On top of getting full lists of "Just Dance 2" tracks and "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" songs this week, we've also received a complete soundtrack listing for a game you may not have been looking forward to for its tunes — "Mafia 2." 2K Games released the rundown ahead of a live one-hour playthrough they're hosting today at 2Pm Pst via Ustream.

Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Louis Prima and Little Richard all appear on the game's soundtrack, which has been posted on the "Mafia 2" website. If "GTA Godfather" has always been something you thought you might like to play with some bona fide Ratpack music in the background, you should find the entries here to your liking:

• Gatemouth Moore - "Did You Ever Love A Woman"

• Al Hibbler - "After the Lights Go Down Low"

• Al Hibbler - "Count Every Star"

• The Ames Brothers - "My Bonnie Lassie"

• The Andrews Sisters -...

Gigi star Leslie Caron is to be honoured with the 2,394th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The French movie legend will unveil the tribute next week. Her piece of pavement sits between the stars of her mentor Gene Kelly and Gigi co-star Louis Jordan.

Caron was championed for the honour by Neal Baer, the executive producer of TV show Law and Order: Svu, for which the actress won a guest star Emmy in 2007.

Producer Joel Silver has reportedly admitted that he wants to remake Swamp Thing. The original 1982 movie, which was directed by Wes Craven and starred Louis Jordan, focused on a scientist who's transformed into a monster after one of his experiments goes wrong. It was followed by 1989 sequel The Return Of The Swamp Thing, which featured Heather Locklear. Silver has expressed an interest in reviving the franchise, while utilising 3-D technology. He told Collider: "I'm (more)...