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Today's Hollywood action stars have nothing on the ones who came before them in the '70s and '80s. It's not their fault, really, as everything from audience tastes to the new streaming reality has shifted the idea of what action movies are these days, but once upon a time it was character and charisma that ruled the day over pretty faces and social media follower counts. From Sylvester Stallone and Clint Eastwood to Chuck Norris and Steve McQueen, action on the big screen used to be more interested in tangible thrills and personality.

Charles Bronson was a member of that class, and after kicking off his film career in the early '50s, he saw his star rise dramatically in the decades that followed playing cool as hell characters who knew that action speaks louder than words. He delivered more than a few genre gems, action hits, and...

Steven Spielberg's 1981 adventure film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was a retro film by design. Set in 1936, "Raiders" is about a brave male adventurer, Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones (Harrison Ford), who seeks to retrieve the legendary Ark of the Covenant (described in the Bible) before the then-active Nazis can seize it as their own. Spielberg was making a slicker, modern version of the 1930s adventure serials he remembered seeing in theaters as a boy, and "Raiders" includes car chases, fistfights, lairs of snakes, mystical spelunking, and a climax where a Nazi army is evaporated by the wrath of God. It's a good flick. Everyone remembers it. There was even a "Young Indiana Jones" prequel TV series and four theatrical sequels, the last of which, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," was released in 2023.

However, "Raiders" also spawned a mini-trend in cinema that is less well-remembered. Indiana Jones knockoffs...

Cape Fear is getting ready to cast off. The Apple TV+ series, the third screen adaptation of John D. MacDonald's psychological thriller novel The Executioners, has wrapped filming. Director Reed Morano commemorated the end of production on Instagram with a thank-you message to the series' cast and crew.

In the message celebrating the end of production in Atlanta, Morano pays tribute to "this miraculously beautiful shoot, these obscenely talented actors, this f***ing A+++++ crew of top level pros and one hell of a bonkers juicy story." She also deems the shoot to be one of "the most epic, gorgeous, insane & wildly inspiring experiences I’ve had to date." She thanks Javier Bardem, who will play the villainous Max Cady; Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson, who play protagonists Anna and Tom Bowden; cast members Lily Collias, Joe Anders, and Malia Pyles; and executive producers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Tom Neuwirth, the cinematographer who worked alongside his wife, history-making TV director Karen Arthur, on episodes of Cagney & Lacey and many other projects, has died. He was 78.

Neuwirth died June 29 at his home in Manhattan, friend and producer Craig Anderson announced (they worked on six films together). No cause of death was revealed.

Over four decades, “Neuwirth’s career was defined by his extraordinary eye for capturing emotion, character and place — whether through the lens of his camera or from the cockpit of his own plane,” Anderson noted. “He earned his pilot’s license in high school and found joy and freedom in flying throughout his life. That same spirit guided his work behind the camera: bold, precise and always seeking a new perspective.”

Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Arthur, who became the first woman to receive a Primetime Emmy for outstanding directing for a drama series when...

Neon pays tribute to the summer camp slashers of the 1980s with their upcoming film Hell of a Summer, and a new poster this week fittingly gives homage to a slasher from the era.

Slasher comedy Hell of a Summer will release in theaters on April 4, 2025. “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard is the co-writer, co-director and star of the upcoming movie.

Exclusively check out the new poster below, inspired by the iconic original poster artwork for the 1981 slasher film Happy Birthday to Me from director J. Lee Thompson!

You’ll also find the film’s previously released Red Band trailer below.

Want to see Hell of a Summer over a week before its official release? Bloody Disgusting is presenting two sneak peek screenings in Chicago and Dallas. Secure your tickets right now!

Hell of a Summer follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking...

Patrick Wilson is the latest actor to join the upcoming Cape Fear remake. Wilson, whose addition was reported by Variety, joins previously announced cast members Amy Adams and Javier Bardem. Apple TV+'s screen adaptation will mark the third, following the classic J. Lee Thompson film from 1962 and Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake, both of which were based on the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. This version, however, will be the first time the story is explored episodically.

The 10-episode series' official logline reads:

A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Adams) and Tom Bowden when Max Cady (Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.

Scorsese famously directed the 1990s remake, which starred Robert De Niro as convicted rapist Max Cady, who seeks revenge against his former public defender, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment. The film also starred Jessica Lange,...

Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring franchise) has joined Amy Adams and Javier Bardem in Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, from Nick Antosca, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Cape Fear is based on John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners — which inspired the 1962 feature of the same name directed by J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock — and the 1991 remake directed by Martin Scorsese.

The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In Cape Fear, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda (Adams) and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.

Hailing from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Amblin Television, Alex Hedlund executive produces alongside Antosca for Eat The Cat; and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey...

Amy Adams, the beloved star of films like Arrival and Catch Me If You Can, has joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear. Alongside Javier Bardem, Adams is headlining the series, which offers a new take on Martin Scorsese's divisive '90s thriller starring Robert De Niro.

Per Variety, Adams will star alongside Bardem in the TV version of the 1991 thriller, which starred Nick Nolte, Robert De Niro, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis. As with Scorsese's film, the new Cape Fear is based on the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners, published in 1961. The story follows attorney Tom Bowden, who withholds evidence to get violent psychopath Max Cady sent to prison. When Cady gets out, he sets his sights on Tom and his wife, fellow attorney Anna, and their teen daughter.

Adams will play Anna, with Bardem taking the role of Max Cady. Here's the...

At one point in time, Steven Spielberg was set to direct the thriller Cape Fear, while Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the historical drama Schindler’s List. Then Scorsese decided to step away from Schindler’s List, a choice that coincided with Spielberg deciding that Cape Fear was too violent for him. So the directors traded movies – resulting in Scorsese directing Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis to Oscar nominations for Cape Fear and Spielberg turning Schindler’s List into a Best Picture winner. Now, Spielberg and Scorsese are teaming up to executive produce a TV series adaptation of Cape Fear, with Nick Antosca on board as executive producer and showrunner – and Deadline reports that Amy Adams (Man of Steel) has signed on to star in and executive produce the series!

Adams joins the previously announced cast member Javier Bardem, who is set to play the villainous Max Cady...

Multi-Emmy and Academy Award nominee Amy Adams will star in and executive produces the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, from Nick Antosca, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Adams will star opposite Javier Bardem who also exec produces.

Cape Fear is based on John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners — which inspired the 1962 feature of the same name directed by J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock — and the 1991 remake directed by Scorsese.

The 10-episode series greenlit in November, is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In Cape Fear, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda (Adams) and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.

Gregory Peck and Polly Bergen and Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange played...

An X-Men: The Animated Series fan-favorite's underrated horror experience is headed to a new streaming home.

Per Tubi, 1981's Happy Birthday to Me is set to hack its way onto the streaming platform's catalog of free movies and TV shows on January 1. The classic slasher may not be as well known as the likes of Friday the 13th or Halloween, although several of its leading actors, such as Lenore Zann, are sure to be instantly recognizable to audiences.

Related Brendan Fraser's 21-Year-Old Looney Tunes Movie Gets Free Streaming Home

The Looney Tunes are getting "Back in Action" with a new streaming home for one of their most underrated feature film experiences.

Directed by J. Lee Thompson from a script written by Timothy Bond, Peter Jobin, John Saxton, and an uncredited John Beaird, 1981's Happy Birthday to Me starred Melissa Sue Anderson as Virginia Wainwright, a high school senior...

After arguably his best turn yet as Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds knows fans would love to see his "Merc With a Mouth" feature in the Avengers sequels. Despite the demand to see his character alongside the Avengers in the upcoming films, Reynolds insists he never wants his character to be a member of the hallowed supergroup.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds was asked about Deadpool's MCU future and whether that future includes his character appearing in the next two Avengers installments, Doomsday and Secret Wars. While Reynolds is optimistic about the prospects of joining the upcoming Avengers films, he insists he never wants Wade Wilson to join the supergroup or become a part of the X-Men. "There are no updates to share just yet. But I trust Kevin and [Marvel exec] Lou D’Esposito with my life. The character trait I love most about Deadpool is that he’s a fanboy.

Deadpool has long been part of Ryan Reynolds' career, but he designed Deadpool & Wolverine to stand on its own feet

In a new Variety Actors on Actors profile, Reynolds spoke with fellow Marvel actor Andrew Garfield about their respective careers, including the work he put into Deadpool & Wolverine's script and successfully making its budget back. When asked by Garfield whether fans will see Deadpool again soon, the actor admitted, "I don't know," believing "scarcity and surprise" were key to the Merc with a Mouth's mass Hollywood appeal.

3:05

Related What if Deadpool & Wolverine Had a Series Following the Movie?

Deadpool and Wolverine have a hilarious dynamic so fans would love to see them way more in the MCU, maybe with a TV series. Script by Devon Reese and video edited by Federico Rossi.

"So it had been six years since the last one, and part of the reason is that it swallows my whole life,...

Ryan Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort, is working on reviving a classic superhero from 1942. Reynolds has been a Hollywood movie star for decades, but the last 10 years have seen his career reach soaring new heights. After appearing in Deadpool as the titular character in 2016, Reynolds has gone from strength to strength, with his business and marketing endeavors, his production company, and numerous other developments. Now Reynolds appears to be one of the most influential people in Hollywood, with many of his projects finding huge success.

Beyond the superhero genre, Reynolds has succeeded in creating films like Free Guy, The Adam Project, Detective Pikachu, and If, which all managed to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars. In total, Ryan Reynolds' acting career has resulted in excess of $4.4 billion dollars generated at the box office (via The Numbers), putting him ahead of many of the most profitable franchises in cinema. And now,...

Ryan Reynolds has become a major name in blockbuster films nowadays. This is due in part to his association with the Deadpool franchise, the three films of which have been major moneymakers in his career. This year's Deadpool & Wolverine was particularly fruitful, making over $1 billion at the worldwide box office to become the no. 2 movie of the year so far. The superhero film has a chance of being usurped by the likes of Wicked or Moana 2, but will still almost assuredly maintain a spot in the global top 5 at the box office for 2024.

Reynolds has shown time and time again, however, that he does not need the draw of the MCU or Deadpool in order to turn a profit. 2019's Pokmon: Detective Pikachu, for example, made over $428 million at the worldwide box office. Even this year's family film If made $184.6 million. Through the performance of films like these in his over-$4-billion-box-office career,...

Deadpool & Wolverine broke box office records this summer and star Ryan Reynolds has now found his next comic book movie project. According to Variety, Paramount Animation has tapped Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort Productions, to develop a Mighty Mouse feature.

Matt Lieberman, who worked with Reynolds on 2021's Free Guy, will write the screenplay. He's previously penned movies like The Christmas Chronicles, Rumble, Scoob!, and The Addams Family.

It's unclear what role Reynolds will play in Mighty Mouse beyond being a producer, though we'd be shocked if he doesn't end up lending his voice to the title character. As far as we're aware, this isn't the mystery project he, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy are set to reunite for.

Mighty Mouse was introduced way back in 1942 by animator Terrytoons. The character was initially meant to be a parody of Superman and debuted in a short titled The Mouse of Tomorrow.

Acclaimed actor Ryan Reynolds continues to boost his increasingly busy schedule following the record-breaking success of Deadpool & Wolverine. Reynolds' latest project sees him reunite with the writer of his contemporary fantasy film, Free Guy, to resurrect a cartoon hero from the Old Hollywood era.

According to Variety, Reynolds will team up with Free Guy scribe Matt Lieberman for an animated movie chronicling the vintage cartoon character, Mighty Mouse. The duo is collaborating with Paramount Animation to create a feature-length adaptation spotlighting Mighty Mouse, with Reynolds' Maximum Effort imprint producing the project. Maximum Effort has a first-look deal with Paramount which Reynolds's company renewed this past February. Lieberman, known for his work on The Addams Family and The Christmas Chronicles, will pen the screenplay.

Related Jake Gyllenhaal & Ryan Reynolds $100 Million Sci-Fi Horror Movie Comes to Peacock in December

One of the most underrated sci-fi thrillers of the past decade is making...

Mighty Mouse is on his way to the big screen, and Ryan Reynolds is here to save the day. Mighty Mouse debuted in 1942 as Super Mouse, a superhero mouse that is a cross between Mickey Mouse and Superman. The character starred in 80 theatrical shorts from 1942 to 1961, and experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to his 1955 Saturday morning cartoon. While the character has seemingly fallen out of popularity, Paramount Pictures is looking to relaunch the tiny hero with the help of a big superhero actor.

According to Variety, Paramount Animation has enlisted Ryan Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort, to produce a Mighty Mouse movie. Matt Liberman, who previously co-wrote Reynolds's 2021 film Free Guy, will pen the script. Liberman is no stranger to family films, as his other writing credits include Scoob!, The Addams Family, and The Christmas Chronicles. While Reynolds is signed on as a producer, it is currently unknown...

Paramount Animation is here to save the day with an update to the long-gestating Mighty Mouse movie. Paramount is partnering with Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Productions to produce a feature adaptation of the classic character’s adventures, with Free Guy writer Matt Liberman writing the script. Younger generations may not know who Mighty Mouse is, but if you’re as old as me (43), you could remember watching Mighty Mouse reruns in your pajamas with a bowl full of Croonchy Stars or Donkey Kong Junior cereal.

Mighty Mouse flew onto the animation scene in 1942 with “The Mouse of Tomorrow,” a short film. He continued his adventures in dozens of shorts for the next several decades, including a Saturday morning cartoon show, giving us the gift of the” Mighty Mouse Theme (Here I Come to Save the Day).” You’re likely to have heard the song if you’re an Andy Kaufman...

Apple TV+ is developing its next high-profile television project with the recently announced Cape Fear, produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Deadline reports that Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem will star in the series as killer Max Cady. He will also executive produce alongside Scorsese and Spielberg.

Cape Fear has been reimagined a few times now, with the story based on John D. Macdonald's 1957 novel The Executioners, which was adapted into the 1962 movie from director J. Lee Thompson. Thompson was heavily inspired by Alfred Hitchcock in the creation of his film, and the Apple TV+ series has been described as a "Hitchcockian thriller."

In 1991, Scorsese made his own version of Cape Fear. Scorcese's movie featured a stacked cast of actors like Scorsese's frequent collaborator, Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis. In that version, Cady was a convicted rapist seeking vengeance against his public defender,...

Javier Bardem has booked his next TV role!

On Monday (November 18), it was announced that the 55-year-old Oscar-winning actor will be starring in Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, which will be executive produced by fellow Oscar winners Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Keep reading to find out more…Created by The Act‘s showrunner Nick Antosca, Cape Fear is described as a “tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison,” according to Deadline.

The series is based on John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners, which inspired the 1962 movie of the same name directed J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock as well as the 1991 remake directed by Martin and produced by Steven.

At one point in time, Steven Spielberg was set to direct the thriller Cape Fear, while Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the historical drama Schindler’s List. Then Scorsese decided to step away from Schindler’s List, a choice that coincided with Spielberg deciding that Cape Fear was too violent for him. So the directors traded movies – resulting in Scorsese directing Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis to Oscar nominations for Cape Fear and Spielberg turning Schindler’s List into a Best Picture winner. Now, Spielberg and Scorsese are teaming up to executive produce a TV series adaptation of Cape Fear, with Nick Antosca on board as executive producer and showrunner – and Deadline reports that Javier Bardem has signed on to play the villainous Max Cady in this new take on the story!

Coming our way from Amblin Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, this version...

The 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald was adapted twice for the big screen with both 1962’s Cape Fear and 1991’s Cape Fear, and the tale is next headed to the small screen for a television series from writer/showrunner Nick Antosca (“Channel Zero”).

THR reports today that Javier Bardem (“Monsters”) will star in the brand new Cape Fear television series, which hails from exec producers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Bardem is set to play the villain of the piece, the sinister Max Cady.

Apple+ has already greenlit the project with a series order.

The Hollywood Reporter notes, “The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. The broad strokes of the story and the characters remain the same as the film versions as happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden face a...

Apple TV+ has given a formal green light to Cape Fear, a TV series executive produced by two Oscar winners, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. They are joined by a third, Javier Bardem, who will star and executive produce.

Created by Nick Antosca (The Act), Cape Fear is based on both John D. MacDonald’s novel “The Executioners” — which inspired the 1962 feature of the same name directed by J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock — as well as the 1991 remake directed by Scorsese.

In the 10-episode series, described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.

That is a slight departure from MacDonald’s book and the...

Javier Bardem, currently starring in his first television series in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is setting down the river for more TV work.

The actor has come aboard to star in a drama series re-imagining of Cape Fear, based on the film thrillers made by Universal Pictures. The project is set up at Apple TV+, which has greenlit it with a series order.

Nick Antosca, who created the true crime dramas A Friend of the Family and The Act, is writing and will showrun the series that will be executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Scorsese directed the 1991 version of the movie while Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment was one of the companies behind it. Bardem is also executive producing.

The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century.

New month, new horror recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. This installment features five selections reflecting the month of November 2024.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings include a horror western, a gory tale of bad science, and a supernatural slasher.

Craze (1974)

Image: Craze (1974)

Directed by Freddie Francis.

The choices for movies to watch on Occult Day (November 18) are endless, but what about the lesser known Craze? This adaptation of Henry Seymour‘s novel The Infernal Idol is a grisly delight. Jack Palance (Alone in the Dark) is the murderous antiques dealer whose killing spree is done in the name of an African idol.

Here Palance goes around butchering women as part of a series of sacrifices for the aforesaid idol. His plans to lure and slay his targets become...

Apes have been strong together since 1968, with the Planet of the Apes series being one of the most popular and longest-running science fiction franchises on the big screen. The newest entry to hit the cinema is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which follows the continuity of the rebooted trilogy from the 2010s. Those films were very successful and widely regarded by many, but one film in particular stood out among the rest.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was the best in the newer series, and it might be perhaps the crown jewel of the franchise as a whole. Upping the ante in both scale and quality next to its predecessor, it encapsulated the themes of the brand and paved the way for a dark war to come. It was also something of a subversive movie in a way that few other blockbusters can get away with,...

Courtesy of Studiocanal

by James Cameron-wilson

Social commentary doesn’t come much stronger than in J. Lee Thompson’s 1959 drama. Here, a jittery aerial shot swoops down on the meandering Thames and the industrial, terraced sophistication of London in the 1950s. The drama, an adaptation of the play by Ted Willis, opens with a shot of an open stretch of urban wasteland, where a young thug – played by David Hemmings – runs straight into the arms of a plainclothes policeman, played by Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard). Allowing for the poetic licence that the teenager would have seen the cop a mile off, it is a good starting point, as the detective inspector gives a Pythonesque/Harold McMillan sermon: “you’ve never had it so good, when I was twenty years younger…” And so we cut to the bustling life of the block – or rather, the street – as it used to be,...

★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆

Two of J Lee Thompson’s early films – a gritty women’s prison drama and a postwar crime thriller – serve as a reminder that the director deserves more kudos as an artist

J Lee Thompson is a British director who could maybe do with a bit more auteur respect: here is a double-bill rerelease of two of his early black-and-white films from the 1950s. The Weak and the Wicked (★★★★☆) is a melodrama that came out in 1954 just before his wrenching classic Yield to the Night, which featured Diana Dors on death row. It is a tough women’s prison film as well, one that quickly morphs into a social-issue sermon; it is richly flavoured, speckled with comic interludes and gloriously cast with Glynis Johns as Jean, a young society beauty and gambling addict whose dud cheque leads to an appearance in court and whose head-girl demeanour never falters in the clink.

Studiocanal are delighted to announce the release of two compelling dramas from British director J. Lee Thompson into their Vintage Classics Collection The Weak And The Wicked and No Trees In The Street, both Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 5 August. We’re giving you the chance to win both copies on Blu-Ray.

Studiocanal are delighted to announce the release of two compelling dramas from British director J. Lee Thompson (Ice Cold in Alex) into their Vintage Classics Collection featuring standout performances from two legendary and much-missed British actresses Glynis Johns and Sylvia Syms. The Weak And The Wicked stars the late Diana Dors (Yield to The Night) alongside Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins), and No Trees In The Street features Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther Strikes Again) and Melvyn Hayes (Summer Holiday) alongside Sylvia Syms (Woman in a Dressing Gown) in her BAFTA-nominated performance. Both films will premiere at Bristol’s...

Gareth Edwards' 2016 nostalgia-fest "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" seems to have been made to address what some people call a plot hole in George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars." In Lucas' film, the young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) pilots a light attack craft up to a miniature hole in the exterior of the moon-sized Death Star, drops a bomb in it, and causes the entire superstructure to blow up. It is a satisfying ending to an exhilarating sci-fi pulp adventure.

Starwoids, however, watched Lucas films enough times that they began to ask questions. Why, the query went, would the deathly efficient Empire build a moon-sized planet-killing machine with such a grievous design flaw? Why build something so large and overpowered if a single bomb from a light attack craft can destroy it entirely?

The makers of "Rogue One" took that criticism to heart, and backward-engineered a story to explain the flaw.

Paramount continues to develop a reboot of the "Mighty Mouse" cartoon character as a big screen CG feature:

Created by writer Izzy Klein as a "Superman" parody for Paul Terry's "Terrytoons", "Mighty Mouse" debuted in the WWII-era, 1942 theatrical animated short "The Mouse of Tomorrow", gaining his 'super-powers' by eating food from a 'super-market', giving him the power of flight, super-strength, invulnerablity, X-ray vision and telekinesis.

“Mighty Mouse' was originally voiced by actor Roy Halee, Sr., followed by Tom Morrison, with the early cartoons portraying him as a ruthless fighter, able to tangle with evil cats.

Mighty Mouse had two rodent girlfriends, including 'Pearl Pureheart' (in the cartoons) and 'Mitzi' (in comic books during the 50's and 60's).

Terrytoons was sold to CBS television in 1955, with the network airing the cartoon shorts on the "Mighty Mouse Playhouse", remaining on the air for twelve years.

A deliberately 'subversive' Saturday...

Few directors reach the sort of stardom where their names are thrown on billboards. A Nolan or a Tarantino or a Peele become brands in and of themselves, while the other 99% bubble quietly under the surface; reliable journeymen, gallantly plugging away at the nuts and bolts of what used to be the mid-budget feature scene. These are the filmmakers who not only set the pace, but who change the very language of a genre too, consistently firing out exciting, crowd-pleasing, attention-grabbing stuff, year after year, decade after decade. Creative puppet masters living behind the scenes; their movies aren’t as stylistically loud, but their generation-spanning oeuvres are just as (if not more) legendary.

Don Siegel, J. Lee Thompson, Mary Lambert, Renny Harlin, Jonathan Demme, Doug Liman, John Frankenheimer – even just picking a handful of names at random gives you a who’s-who of filmmakers responsible for some of the most...

John Flynn’s Rolling Thunder is a lean, mean revenge thriller that could have only been made in the 1970s. It’s 1973, to be exact, and Major Charles Rane (William Devane) has recently returned to San Antonio after several years in a Viet Cong prison camp. Greeted with a hero’s welcome, Rane has little use for his neighbors’ praise, which he appears to regard (correctly) as an almost poignantly inadequate expression of collective survivor’s guilt.

Rane, along with his friend and fellow veteran Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones), inhabits the film with a calm pragmatism that might be disconcerting for viewers accustomed to cinema’s more overheated depictions of soldiers coming home. The men don’t appear to resent the friends and family who’re blessedly ignorant of the atrocities they experienced abroad, but the soldiers no longer possess the facilities necessary to uphold basic social conventions such...

Before we can even get on the record, before that most familiar robot warning of “This meeting is being recorded,” Frederick Elmes is swapping stories about Albert Brooks. After greeting me by name, he mentions a news piece I had written––a blurb about the recent Brooks documentary Defending My Life. He worked with Brooks some, he says, as a camera operator, goes on to speak generously and thoughtfully about the atmosphere the director cultivated and maintained on set, what that meant in turn to his work as a cinematographer, to the cast and crew more generally. I am sitting and grinning like an idiot, not unlike an ancillary Brooks character––maybe Bruno Kirby in Modern Romance. It strikes me that this moment represents Elmes’ approach to tending the moving image: careful research, a focus on listening, the sharing of ideas stemming from observation, and an immediate instinct for collaborative thinking.

As a brief prologue, we must remind ourselves how Rotten Tomatoes works. When a critic submits a written review to the Rt aggregate, they are asked to deem that review either "fresh" or "rotten." The critic typically gets to make the distinction, meaning a 2.5-star review can be either positive or negative, based on who is submitting it. It's based on pass/fail grades. Rotten Tomatoes will then create a percentage of "positive" reviews. If 60% or more of the submitted reviews are positive, the film is deemed "fresh." If 59% or fewer are positive, it's "rotten."

If a film has, say, a 73% approval rating, it doesn't mean that every critic gave it a 73 out of 100. It only means that 73% of the submitted reviews are positive.

All that said, some films receive such low approval ratings that one might be able to draw some logical conclusions about the film being rated. A...

It’s time for a new episode of the Real Slashers video series, and with this one we’re heading back into the glorious ’80s to look at a film that was released during the slasher boom of 1981: Happy Birthday to Me (watch it Here)! This movie was directed by J. Lee Thompson, whose previous credits included the classics The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear (not to mention Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes). To hear all about his contribution to the ’80s slasher era, check out the video embedded above.

From here, Thompson would go on to make several films with Charles Bronson, including 10 to Midnight and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, as well as King Solomon’s Mines and the Chuck Norris adventure Firewalker.

Scripted by Timothy Bond, Peter Jobin, and John Saxton, Happy Birthday to Me...

1972's "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" is a movie I'm betting many of you haven't seen. I'd like to make the case that you should amend that. How, dear reader, is it that this is relevant right now in 2024? With the release of "Dune: Part Two" upon us, there has been much discussion recently about great sci-fi sequels. Many of the early reactions to Denis Villeneuve's film have effusively praised "Dune: Part Two" as one of the greatest sequels in the genre of all time, right up there with "The Empire Strikes Back." While I have yet to see Mr. Villeneuve's film (as of this writing), it got me thinking about the genre that I love so much and the sequels I think hit it out of the park. That brings us to the movie at hand.

Directed by J. Lee Thompson, "Conquest" is the fourth...

When you work in Hollywood, but can't write or direct or act or do anything that requires a practical skill ... well, you're either an executive or an agent. This means you probably make more money than most of your clients or the genuinely talented people you employ. This, you'd think, would be enough to get you through the night. But these are (mostly) awful people with awfully large egos. They don't just want money. They want credit for having played (they believe) a vital part in the creation of art. So they exaggerate their role to anyone who will listen (hopefully a credulous reporter). And when that's not enough, sometimes they just flat-out lie.

Erstwhile superagent Michael Ovitz played this mendacious game better than anyone.

As the chairman of Creative Artists Agency in the 1980s and '90s, Ovitz was the most feared/desired man in Hollywood. His client list...

Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 sci-fi classic "Planet of the Apes," written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, is a perfectly wicked political satire set in a distant, distant future on a distant, distant planet wherein human-like beings live as mute brutes and apes have evolved into the dominant rulers of the planet. The planet is discovered by a group of Earth astronauts who flew through some sort of time vortex while in the outer cosmos, and their leader, the stalwart Taylor (Charlton Heston), finds himself having to prove to the planet's own apes that humans are indeed capable of speech and thought.

In one of the best-known twist endings in cinema history, the film ultimately reveals that the planet of the apes was Earth all along. Taylor discovers a millennia-old Statue of Liberty on a distant beach, realizing that humans destroyed themselves in a nuclear conflagration and that apes evolved in their place.

New month, new recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. The second installment of 2024 features selections reflecting holidays, events or traditions of February.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s horror offerings include reincarnation, vampires and more.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

Pictured: Michael Sarrazin and Jennifer O’Neill in The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

Directed by J. Lee Thompson.

Author Max Ehrlich handled the screenplay for his own novel’s adaptation. Despite its quirky title, though, this movie is a rather surreal and sad, not to mention unpredictable viewing experience. The obsession with metaphysical matters seeped into ’70s cinema, and this trippy psycho-horror gem, one directed by J. Lee Thompson, is a valid reflection of that bygone trend.

The namesake of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is having what...

Victor J. Kemper, the cinematographer behind “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and other notable films, has died. He was 96.

American Cinematographer, the international publication of the American Society of Cinematographers, confirmed the news of his passing on social media.

One of Kemper’s most prominent films is the biographical crime drama “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino. The film, which tells the true story of a 1972 bank robbery and hostage situation in Brooklyn, was nominated for six Academy Awards and was admitted to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Kemper also had an ongoing collaborative relationship with director Arthur Hiller, working together on films like “The Tiger Makes Out” (1969) and “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (1989). Other prominent directors he worked with include John Cassavetes, Anthony Harvey, Michael Ritchie, Elaine May, J. Lee Thompson and Elia Kazan, among many others.

One of Martin Scorsese's finest and most fascinating films is getting new life. Deadline reports that a new TV re-imagining of "Cape Fear" is in the works, with cinema legend Steven Spielberg and TikTok star Martin Scorsese on board in their first TV collaboration. Spielberg and Scorsese are set to executive produce the "Cape Fear" show alongside creator and showrunner Nick Antosca, who previously helmed the excellent horror anthology "Channel Zero" and the crime drama "The Act."

This would be the third adaptation of John D. MacDonald's novel "The Executioners" after J. Lee Thompson's 1962 film adaptation and Scorsese's 1991 remake. The story follows a convicted rapist who seeks vengeance on the public defender he blames for his decade-long imprisonment. For some, the story is best remembered as the basis for the classic "The Simpsons" episode "Cape Feare" — the one where Sideshow Bob stalks the Simpsons family and also...

At one point in time, Steven Spielberg was set to direct the thriller Cape Fear, while Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the historical drama Schindler’s List. Then Scorsese decided to step away from Schindler’s List, a choice that coincided with Spielberg deciding that Cape Fear was too violent for him. So the directors traded movies – resulting in Scorsese directing Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis to Oscar nominations for Cape Fear and Spielberg turning Schindler’s List into a Best Picture winner. Now Deadline reports that Spielberg and Scorsese are teaming up to executive produce a TV series adaptation of Cape Fear, with Nick Antosca on board as executive producer and showrunner.

Antosca’s previous credits include Hannibal, The Forest, Channel Zero, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Antlers, The Act, Candy, and A Friend of the Family.

Coming our way from Amblin Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group,...

In 1991, director Martin Scorsese remade 1962’s Cape Fear, based on the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald, for Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment. It appears they’re returning to the IP: Deadline reports that Scorsese and Spielberg have teamed with “Channel Zero” creator Nick Antosca for a new series that’ll take an unconventional approach.

“Cape Fear” marks the first ever TV collaboration for Scorsese and Spielberg, who are executive producing the project from creator, executive producer and showrunner Nick Antosca.

The series is described as a “a tense, contemporary thriller that examines America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In it, a storm is coming for a pair of married attorneys when an infamous killer from their past gets released after years in prison.”

In every iteration of Cape Fear so far, the plot sees a lawyer’s family tormented by the criminal he helped put in prison.

Exclusive: In what is shaping up to be the first big bidding war over a TV pitch after the double Hollywood strikes, multiple buyers are circling Cape Fear, a drama series re-imagining of the classic Universal thrillers, sources tell Deadline. In their first ever TV collaboration, Oscar winners Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are executive producing the project, from creator, executive producer and showrunner Nick Antosca (The Act), Amblin Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.

In what is described as an unconventional take on the IP that draws from John D. MacDonald’s novel and its feature adaptations, the Cape Fear series is a tense, contemporary thriller that examines America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In it, a storm is coming for a pair of married attorneys when an infamous killer from their past gets released after years in prison.

That is a...

Synopsis

Black Hawk Down

From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (The Martian) and renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor) comes the gripping true story about bravery, camaraderie, and the complex reality of war.

Black Hawk Down stars an exceptional cast including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, and Eric Bana. In 1993, an elite group of American Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are sent to Somalia on a critical mission to capture a violent warlord whose corrupt regime has led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. When the mission goes quickly and terribly wrong, the men find themselves outnumbered and literally fighting for their lives.

The Guns Of Navarone

Academy Award®-winners Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn star as a team of Allied military specialists recruited for a dangerous but imperative mission: to infiltrate a Nazi-occupied fortress and disable two long-range field guns so that 2,000 trapped British soldiers may be rescued.

Before Clint Eastwood took on his first Hollywood leading man role in Hang 'Em High, he passed on a much bigger Western. Eastwood considered quitting the film business entirely towards the end of the '50s, but landing the part of Rowdy Yates on Rawhide convinced him to stay the course. It was during his run on the show that he was offered a low-budget Italian Western that was eventually released as A Fistful Of Dollars. The film was a shock success and revitalized the ailing genre.

Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy made Eastwood a screen icon, but he had to be careful making his transition to lead roles in American films. He co-starred with Richard Burton in World War 2 adventure Where Eagle's Dare and lead several other films, but it was the success of Dirty Harry that truly made him a movie star. Nestled in between this period was Eastwood's first Hollywood lead,...

The slasher and the actioner seem like two disparate types of movies, however, both often feature a high degree of suspense, lengthy chases, and a lot of death. A slasher villain will hunt down hapless victims, whereas an action hero may go after one enemy or a whole group of them. Grisly kills and an assortment of weapons are also to be expected.

Now, there are some action movies that infuse more slasher elements than others. Classics like The Terminator and Predator are unmistakably modeled after slashers, but they’re not the only ones. Others take on the traits of slashers more than their peers, ultimately creating a more unique viewing experience.

The following ten lesser seen movies give action and slasher fans the best of both worlds.

Silent Rage (1982)

The first of two Chuck Norris vehicles here is is the fan-favorite Silent Rage. In Michael Miller‘s actioner, a...

Chaim Topol, who became professionally known solely by his last name in a career that included starring in “Fiddler on the Roof” on stage and screen and co-starring in the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only” and the sci-fi film “Flash Gordon,” died Thursday in Tel Aviv after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 87 years old.

Topol’s death was confirmed by Israel’s president Isaac Herzog, who described him as a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”

Topol began his long association with the starring role of Tevye the milkman in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1967, appearing in the West End production, which ran for 2,030 performances. He starred in Norman Jewison’s 1971 film version, which carried a budget estimated at $9 million and garnered a domestic gross of $80 million.