News

Universal is headed back into an unknown empire of darkness with a new take on The Mole People, Deadline reports today. The new movie will remake the classic film from 1956.

Chris Winterbauer is writing the script, based on a pitch that Universal Pictures acquired from Winterbauer, with Robert Kirkman (“The Walking Dead”) producing the remake.

“In the new take, a woman travels to a town veiled in a conspiracy to rescue her grandchildren from their father. To do this, she must fight through hell in the underground tunnels where the Mole People reside.”

Deadline reminds, “In the 1956 original, archaeologists stumble into the underground lair of a race of darkness-dwellers who can see in low light and have no pigmentation after being out of the light for so long. The high priest who rules the small pocket of mole people is threatened by the newcomers and wants them dead.”

Robert Kirkman...

Ranking up there with “Ryan Coogler rebooting The X-Files” as one of the most unexpected pieces of news today is the announcement that The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman will be producing a remake of the 1956 horror film The Mole People (watch it Here) for Universal Pictures. Deadline reports that the project was pitched by Christopher Winterbauer, director of the HBO Max Original Moonshot, who will be writing the screenplay. The news is surprising because The Mole People isn’t exactly one of the most popular titles in the Universal library.

Directed by Virgil Vogel from a screenplay written by László Görög, The Mole People told the story of three archaeologists who come upon an unusual race of albino beings who shun all forms of light and have mutant mole men as their slaves. Because of their “magical cylinders of fire” (what we know as flashlights), these archaeologists are treated...

John Agar never asked to be a movie star, but when the question is put to you by David O. Selznick, you say yes every damn time.

Born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles, Agar was a physical training instructor for the U.S. Army Air Corps when, in 1945, he found himself at a glitzy party rubbing shoulders with Hollywood's heaviest hitters, as Shirley Temple's date. Selznick, the legendary producer whose dogged determination brought Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" to the big screen, was struck by the handsome, twentysomething, 6'1"  man on the arm of filmdom's most famous child star, and the filmmaker offered him a five-year contract at 150 a week -- that's twice what the Army was paying him. Though he'd never performed before, he signed on and began taking acting lessons.

Three years later, Agar got a chance to prove himself as Second Lieutenant Mickey...

For people in my feed who've never heard of Street Hawk, following the success of Knight Rider, it was the shameless motorcycle cashgrab. It starred Rex Smith (Daredevil in that Hulk TV movie) & Murphy Brown'S Joe Regalbuto. It had the music of Tangerine Dream and it was Awesome! pic.twitter.com/ZgSYRIobot

— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) December 10, 2021

Marvel writer Dan Slott is right. Street Hawk was awesome. And sadly, criminally ignored within the pantheon of TV action shows.

1984 was a golden year for the creation of genuine pop culture phenomena. While Ghostbusters, Gremlins and The Karate Kid debuted in cinemas, on television, Knight Rider and The A-Team were at the height of popularity. Following a successful launch for the helicopter-themed Airwolf early that year, networks jostled for the next big thing, and had everything had gone to plan, Street Hawk would have broadcast in the fall of ’84. Featuring an ethereal electronica theme tune,...

One of Orson Welles’ best has arrived in 4K! Kino Lorber has revived Universal’s 3-version study of the bordertown crime & corruption drama, that knocks us out with Welles’ colorful, weird characters, intricate scene blocking and infinitely creative camera work. Almost all of the extras from the earlier DVD and Blu-ray editions are here, with added expert commentary (the tally of tracks is now five). The performances are superb — Welles won’t lay off the candy bars, Janet Leigh wisely avoids the motel shower and Charlton Heston is actually fine as a ‘pretty unlikely’ Mexican. We’ve seen this show ten times — it’s so dense that each viewing brings new revelations.

Touch of Evil 4K

4K Ultra HD

Kl Studio Classics

1958-1998 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 96, 109, 111 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Joanna Moore,...

Now this is a list that could result in a lot of fascinating dissection and thanks to HitFix it comes to our attention almost three years after it was originally released back in 2012, celebrating the Motion Picture Editors Guild's 75th anniversary. Over at HitFix, Kris Tapley asks, "Is this news to anyone elsec" Um, yes, I find it immensely interesting and a perfect starting point for anyone looking to further explore the art of film editing. In an accompanying article we get the particulars concerning what films were eligible and how films were to be considered: In our Jan-feb 12 issue, we asked Guild members to vote on what they consider to be the Best Edited Films of all time. Any feature-length film from any country in the world was eligible. And by "Best Edited," we explained, we didn't just mean picture; sound, music and mixing were to be considered as well.

A random bit of researching on a Tuesday night led me to something I didn't know existed: The Motion Picture Editors Guild's list of the 75 best-edited films of all time. It was a feature in part celebrating the Guild's 75th anniversary in 2012. Is this news to anyone else? I confess to having missed it entirely. Naturally, I had to dig in. What was immediately striking to me about the list — which was decided upon by the Guild membership and, per instruction, was considered in terms of picture and sound editorial as opposed to just the former — was the most popular decade ranking. Naturally, the 1970s led with 17 mentions, but right on its heels was the 1990s. I wouldn't have expected that but I happen to agree with the assessment. Thelma Schoonmaker's work on "Raging Bull" came out on top, an objectively difficult choice to dispute, really. It was so transformative,...

As a means of generating consumer interest in a few older television series whose DVD sales are probably past their prime, CBS has released a sampler DVD of its more notable action-based entrees. The resulting DVD certainly entertains, but whether it actually succeeds in stirring up the appropriate “must have the entire season” sentiment that CBS hoped for is doubtful. Sure, blending episodes of Mission: Impossible, MacGyver, Walker, Texas Ranger and NCIS will make for an interesting mix – but as a mass consumer of television myself, the episodes chosen may not have been the best choices.

Each of the episodes chosen is the pilot of its respective series but, while interesting to see from a television history perspective, the pilots of a series aren’t always the best choice when you’re trying to snag an audience for DVD purchases.

Walker, Texas Ranger – “One Riot, One Ranger”

Directed by Virgil W. Vogel,...