News

Kino Lorber has announced two genre films coming to 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray this summer: Silent Scream on July 8 and Danger: Diabolik on July 22.

Silent Scream has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with HDR10.

The 1979 gothic horror film marks the only effort from director Denny Harris. Jim & Ken Wheat (Pitch Black) and Wallace C. Bennett (The Philadelphia Experiment) penned the script.

Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Avery Schreiber, Barbara Steele, and Yvonne De Carlo star.

Special features:

Audio Commentary by Writers Jim and Ken Wheat with Actress Rebecca Balding Audio Commentary by Actress Barbara Steele, Moderated by Film Historian David Del Valle Scream of Success – 30 Years Later: Featurette The Original Script: Featurette The Wheat Brothers – A Look Back: Featurette Interview with Actress Rebecca Balding Audio Interview with Director Denny Harris Theatrical Trailer TV Spot Radio Spots 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio

Unable to get housing on campus,...

Super Bowl Sunday always has a little something for everyone, but this year's big game in Las Vegas went above and beyond in the razzle-dazzle department.

We were, of course, prepared for a celebrity-crammed spectacle due to the luxury booth presence of Travis Kelce's substantially famous girlfriend, but this gridiron rematch between last year's combatants, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, brought out more than just arguably the most famous pop star on the planet. The only pop star in that aforementioned argument, Beyoncé, was there with her hip-hop god husband Jay-Z! The world's greatest basketball player, LeBron James, flew in from Los Angeles for the contest! And Paul freakin' Rudd, sporting a bushy freakin' mustache that would've driven Avery Schreiber into a jealous rage, prowled the sidelines pre-game in support of his hometown Chiefs!

But if we're talking true, earth-shaking, knock-you-on-your-keister fame, let there be...

Jack Burns, a comedian, writer and actor known for writing on “The Muppet Show” and “Hee Haw,” acting on “The Andy Griffith Show,” and his comedy partnership with George Carlin, has died at the age of 86, his manager Peter Santana confirmed to TheWrap Tuesday.

“He has been in senior care for the last two years in good spirits and surrounded by friends and cases of Diet Coke,” Santana said. “He was as sharp as a tack mentally but had not walked for two years. He achieved many great achievements but his most recent was hitting the 31 year sober mark in December. Truly a sweet and talented man.”

Burns began his career in show business in the 1960s by way of his duo with Carlin. The two made a comedy album together in 1963 called “Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club,” and also had a radio show together at Kxol in Fort Worth,...

TV series sevelopment continues on the Crown International Pictures reboot of director William Sachs 1980 comedic science fiction feature "Galaxina" (1980):

"...in the year 3008, the crew of the 'Intergalactic Space Police' cruiser 'Infinity' is on patrol duty in deep space. The ship is captained by the incompetent 'Cornelius Butt' (Avery Schreiber) and his crewmen including first officer 'Sgt. Thor' (Stephen Macht), pilot 'Pvt. Buzz McHenry' (J.D. Hinton)...

"...the alien 'Maurice' (Lionel Mark Smith), 'Sam' (Tad Horino) and the female android 'Galaxina' (Dorothy Stratten)..."

Stratten, 'Playboy Playmate Of The Year' was killed in a murder/suicide shortly after the film's release and became the subject of director Bob Fosse's feature "Star 80" (1983).

Besides its homage and parodies of "Star Trek" (1966), "Star Wars" (1977) and "Alien" (1979), "Galaxina" is noted as having won the 'Audience Award' at the 1983 'Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film'.

Click the images to enlarge and...

Crown International Pictures will reboot director William Sachs 1980 comedic science fiction feature "Galaxina" (1980) as a TV series:

"...in the year 3008, the crew of the 'Intergalactic Space Police' cruiser 'Infinity' is on patrol duty in deep space. The ship is captained by the incompetent 'Cornelius Butt' (Avery Schreiber) and his crewmen including first officer 'Sgt. Thor' (Stephen Macht), pilot 'Pvt. Buzz McHenry' (J.D. Hinton)...

"...the alien 'Maurice' (Lionel Mark Smith), 'Sam' (Tad Horino) and the female android 'Galaxina' (Dorothy Stratten)..."

Stratten, 'Playboy Playmate Of The Year' was killed by her loser boyfriend in a murder/suicide shortly after the film's release and became the subject of director Bob Fosse's feature "Star 80" (1983).

Besides its homage and parodies of "Star Trek" (1966), "Star Wars" (1977) and "Alien" (1979), "Galaxina" is noted as having won the 'Audience Award' at the 1983 'Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film'.

Click the images to enlarge...

There aren’t a ton of absolutes in life, but among a laundry list of things I enjoy whilst spinning around the sun, here’s three: Christopher George, private dicks, and mad scientists. And so imagine my delight when I stumbled across Escape (1971), a failed TV pilot about an ex escape artist turned P.I. who investigates, in his words, “the unexplainable.” And while the pilot doesn’t dip its toes too much into the pool of the unusual, it sure feels like that’s the way they were planning to go.

Not picked up by the network and instead broadcast on April 6th as an ABC Movie of the Week, Escape did little to swerve people away from their Hee Haw’s, All in the Family’s and 60 Minutes for the brass to reconsider putting it back on the slab. What a shame; Escape today plays as Bruce Wayne...

Festivals are great networking opportunities, even if you're not performing. Riot La, running Jan. 16-18, offers a shoulder-rubbing venue in The Lot, which is a place "to hang before and after shows. Grab a beer or glass of wine. Play some arcade games." You get the idea. The comedy festival is set to feature performers ranging from Maria Bamford to Jeff Ross, who's judging a roast battle. More info available here. Know Your Crew: The Script SupervisorFilm Independent OfficeJan. 13 at 7:30 p.m.9911 W. Pico Blvd. 11th Fl. Los Angeles Details here. FirstStage Free Play Development Workshop Avery Schreiber Playhouse4934 Lankershim Blvd., North HollywoodMonday evening in January 7:30 p.m. Click here for details. "Showrunners" Screening and Reception Arena Cinema HollywoodJan. 18 at 4 p.m.1625 North Las Palmas Avenue, HollywoodDetails here.  Screen Actors Guild Awards Viewing PartyThe SAG-aftra Los Angeles LocalJan. 25 starting at 4 p.m.5757 Wilshire Blvd., 7th Floor, Los AngelesClick here for details.

Directed by: Pat Tremblay

Written by: Pat Tremblay

Starring: Navin Pratap, Jamie Abrams

I’ve never been a fan of online reviews in which the writer eviscerates a film with unbridled nastiness.

These are often first-person tirades about how difficult the film was to endure and how they would rather "put an arm in a meat grinder, poke an eye out with a stick" or some other such intolerable action rather than watch the film again. I don’t believe that these kinds of “reviews” are productive or very fair to the people involved. But about 20 minutes into Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass, my mind began composing the very kind of snarky, mean-spirited essay I hold in such contempt. Quite frankly, my time may have been better spent with that meat grinder…

I watch a lot of really terrible independent films, many of them of the horror and science fiction variety.

I met Evan at Spitzer's on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It was one of those mellow Monday nights in which no one is particularly drunk or looking for sex. Just cliques of old friends catching up. That night, my "clique" consisted of my old roommate Lucy and her friend Joseph. I hadn't wanted to leave my shoebox-sized room—pleading fatigue after a long day of yet another ridiculous promotional gig. Worse, in typical "I didn't want to go out but here I am" fashion, within ten seconds of arriving Joseph knocked my Allagash Ale straight into my lap, splashing the beer on my shorts and—to my even greater dismay—onto the olive satin Prada bag that I bought on consignment in Paris. As I scrubbed my purse with seltzer-soaked napkins, an inebriated girl reached out to me. "Come, get in the picture!" she exclaimed, reaching over my shoulder and...

In 1970, one movie invented the modern disaster film. After grossing more than $100 million at the domestic box office (adjusted for inflation, it made more than any of the "Lord of the Rings"), it spawned three sequels that stretched through the entire decade. But this landmark series is now almost totally forgotten, long eclipsed by the film that so brilliantly spoofed the genre tropes it helped define. In honor of its 40th anniversary, we're looking back at the "Airport" franchise this week, one film at a time. Today, "The Concorde... Airport '79," the rare movie with an ellipsis in the title.

The Concorde... Airport '79

Directed by David Lowell Rich

Nature of Air Emergency: A journalist (Susan Blakely) boards Federation World Airlines' new Concorde plane with documents implicating weapons manufacturer Kevin Harrison (Robert Wagner) in illegal arms deals with America's enemies. He tries to shoot down the Concorde and fails.

The Host: Saturday Night Live hosts don’t come much more obscure or forgotten than Jack Burns, a veteran writer and performer best known for his partnerships with George Carlin and later fellow Second City alum Avery Schreiber as well as a disastrous stint replacing Don Knotts on The Andy Griffith Show. Let’s just say that Poochie was an universally beloved addition compared to Burns’ Sheriff Warren Ferguson. According to Wikipedia, Ferguson was such a flop with viewers that he was ultimately dropped without explanation. I suspect that Ferguson tried to return to his home planet, but died en route. Sad, really. Burns later went on to write for both the Muppets and the notorious SNL knock-off Fridays. Incidentally did anyone here watch Fridays? I’m curious about it. But is he funny? Judging by his performance here I’d argue that he had a pretty narrow range: clean-cut Irish-Catholic authority figures.

Legendary 60s and 70s comedian Avery Schreiber died on Monday from a heart attack at the age of 66. Funnyman Schreiber, who along with his partner Jack Burns appeared on a host of TV shows including The Ed Sullivan Show and Hollywood Palace, had recently suffered declining health, says his wife, Rochelle Isaacs Schreiber. He died at Cedars-sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Schreiber, also a star of the stage, had been working on a screenplay called Julius And Ethel, about the Rosenbergs' 1950s espionage trial and execution, his wife adds.