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In a pub somewhere in Kent, England, a heavily tattooed man serenades his new wife with a cover of Blur’s “The Universal.” As he croons along to the lyrics “it really, really, really could happen,” his young daughter embraces a human-bird hybrid in a quiet corner of the room.

Clint Eastwood is known for his elaborate and prolific career and filmography. He has not only entertained his audience as an actor, but down the line, he also picked up directing and proved his worth as a talented director. He not only delved into the marvelous Western world but also portrayed characters in different genres, including romantic drama, cop movies, and a lot of thriller flicks. Eastwood also amazed everyone as a musician and composer, and in the 1980s, he even served as the Mayor of the California town Carmel-by-the-Sea.

A Still from The Bridges of Madison County | Credits: Warner Bros.

He surely has an impressive resume to show. Eastwood’s charming screen presence, stoic physique, and serious look on his face gave him success in the war and crime movie genres. He supremely excelled in them and even received 11 Oscar nominations for his acting and directing talents, while winning...

If you like to keep up with the infinitely fascinating phenomenon of old shows and movies becoming popular on streaming, you may have noticed the Netflix resurgence of a 2007 Denzel Washington crime thriller. That crime thriller was "American Gangster," which saw Denzel portray Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas. An epic chronicle of the enterprising New Yorker's rise to power in the 1970s, and his subsequent fall from ... whatever the opposite of "grace" is, the 157-minute film was directed by the great Ridley Scott and also starred Russell Crowe as NYPD officer Richie Roberts, who ultimately takes down Lucas' sprawling operation.

What made "American Gangster" interesting within the context of gangster films was the protagonist himself, who wasn't your typical Italian mobster but a Black drug lord who bought heroin from Southeast Asia and smuggled it directly to Harlem, claiming to have used the coffins of dead American soldiers to do so.

On Saturday 28 September 2024, BBC Two broadcasts Later … with Jools Holland!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Later … with Jools Holland” promises to be a special tribute to the legendary voices of soul music. This episode will air on BBC Two and will take a nostalgic journey through some of the most memorable performances from the show’s history.

Jools Holland will guide viewers as he looks back at iconic artists who have graced the stage with their classic hits. The lineup includes soul legends like Al Green, known for his smooth and powerful voice, and Luther Vandross, whose romantic ballads have touched many hearts. Smokey Robinson, a pioneer of the Motown sound, will also be featured, along with the soulful Bobby Womack and the dynamic Sam Moore.

This episode is sure to evoke fond memories for fans of soul music. Each performance showcases the unique talent and emotion that these artists brought to their music.

Jools Holland presents a special “Later” episode, “Classic Soul,” treating audiences to unforgettable performances by some of the genre’s greatest legends. The show features an extraordinary lineup, featuring the likes of Al Green, Luther Vandross, Smokey Robinson, Bobby Womack, Sam Moore, and many more. Among the highlights are memorable renditions of beloved songs such as […]

Later… with Jools Holland: Classic Soul...

The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story is coming to Lifetime this month. The true-crime movie stars Teri Hatcher as Ruth Finley, a housewife in the 1970s who suddenly found herself tormented by a stalker and in fear for her life. However, what police discovered after years of investigating was darker than anyone could have believed.

Here is what you need to know about the real Ruth Finley.

Ruth Finley Was Tormented By A Stalker Known As The Poet

From 1978 to 1981, a Wichita woman named Ruth Finley found herself stalked and tormented by an unknown assailant. This person was sending her ominous and threatening letters. They set her house on fire, sent a red bandana to her home, a knife to her workplace, and more. The assailant even attacked her and stabbed her three times, once in the back, puncturing her kidney.

Ruth Finley talking to Oprah | YouTube

This was...

Daniel Zirilli, a prolific director, producer and writer of action films and more than 200 music videos including the Rolling Stones’ “Voodoo Lounge,” died April 28. He was 58.

His death was announced by his family. No cause was disclosed, but an Instagram message posted by his daughter Talise Zirilli last weekend indicated that he had been missing since April 24.

Born November 13, 1965, Zirilli founded Popart Film Factory at age 24 after graduating from Pepperdine University in Malibu. In the subsequent years, he would direct and writer more than 30 feature films, most in the action and thriller genres. He was a producer on more than 85 films.

Among his most recent, Zirilli directed, produced and co-wrote Invincible, released by Lionsgate in 2022. Shot on location in Thailand, Invincible starred Johnny Strong, Marko Zaror and Michael Pare, who also appeared in Zirilli’s Hollow Point (2019) along with Luke Goss and Jay Mohr.

Other films credits include Acceleration (2019) starring Dolph Lundgren,...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

And the Razzie Goes to . . .

As much as we hate to give Razzies any sort of promotion, The Criterion Channel has a new series to show just how wrong the execrable organization has been over the past decades. Launching today, they are spotlighting comedic gems like Tom Green’s Freddy Got Fingered, Elaine May’s Ishtar, and Neil Labute’s The Wicker Man, alongside Cruising, Heaven’s Gate, Xanadu, Querelle, Under the Cherry Moon, Cocktail, Showgirls, Barb Wire, The Blair Witch Project, Swept Away and Gigli.

Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel

BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)

In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score.

The niece of legendary R&b and soul singer Bobby Womack blew the coaches away on Monday’s (October 9) edition of NBC‘s The Voice, earning four chair spins and a guaranteed ticket to the next round. JaRae Womack, the 35-year-old from West Palm Beach, Florida, opened up about her family’s musical history before she took to the stage for her Blind Audition. “My grandfather is amazing; he’s Cecil Womack,” she said. “He was in a group called The Valentinos, Sam Cooke started their career. He did his own solo career. And my uncle Bobby Womack, he ventured off and did his own solo career, and now it’s time for JaRae Womack.” JaRae did her family proud as she delivered a soulful rendition of Amy Winehouse‘s “Back to Black,” earning chair turns from all four coaches and a standing ovation.  “That was insane,” Niall Horan said,...

Monday’s episode of The Voice teed up at least one Blind Audition that qualified as “out of this world.” In fact, when Nini Iris was done, a gobsmacked Niall Horan had to ask, “What planet do you come from?” But, would his enthusiastic entreaties sway the standout to join his team and not John Legend, Gwen Stefani or Reba McEntire’s? Read on, and you can not only watch Nini’s performance but find out who she picked to be her coach, which performances at least I liked better, and who else advanced to the Battles.

25 Wildest Reality-tv Moments...

In her 2022 book Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions, author Francesca T. Royster devotes an entire chapter to Tina Turner — who died Wednesday at 83 — and her complicated relationship with country music. Despite recording a series of country songs by Dolly Parton, Hank Snow, and Kris Kristofferson for her 1974 solo debut Tina Turns the Country On!, the album remains a curiosity, or entirely unknown, by today’s country music listener. What’s more, Nashville and the genre have yet to embrace Turner the way it has other country-adjacent icons like Ray Charles,...

When a jury determined “Blurred Lines” borrowed from Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” and Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages, it not only shook up the music industry but also set off a flurry of other lawsuits that made songwriters more willing to give credit, whether it was due or not.

After the 2015 decision, John Legend argued that the verdict would set a bad precedent for artists creating music inspired by others. It certainly set a precedent for legal action as other veteran songwriters decided to go after hitmakers they felt were a little too inspired by their work. Some went to trial, others settled outside the courtroom and a number of artists began extending writing credit to older songs — some because the melodies were similar but others to avoid a repeat of the “Blurred Lines” backlash.

But Ed Sheeran...

Groundbreaking jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal died this weekend, as per reports in the New York Times and other outlets. He was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2017. He was also nominated for two Grammys, one for his 2013 album “Blue Moon,” and also for his funky 1980s cover of Bobby Womack’s “You’re Welcome, Stop on By,” which was later sampled by multiple hip-hop artists. He was also the recipient of an Nea Jazz Masters Award, and Kennedy Center Legend Award, and was named to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2007. He was 92 years old.

The Pittsburgh-born pianist, who trained in Western classical music, was a noted prodigy in his youth, and began his professional career in his teens. On the road, the young man born Frederick Jones was welcomed by the Muslim community in the Detroit area,...

There are two dials at Gorillaz HQ which determine 1) how many guests will be on an album, and 2) how elaborate its broader cartoon lore will be. 2018’s The Now Now, positioned as a solo album by Damon Albarn’s “2-D” alter ego, had minimal guests and only the slightest bit of extra-textual hijinks. On the other hand, 2020’s wildly overstuffed Song Machine project, in which every track was accompanied by at least one guest and a new cartoon detailing the band’s ongoing dystopian adventures, turned both dials to 11. Every track was a single,...

As a lifelong fan of Blaxploitation flicks and exploitation movies in general, of course Quentin Tarantino was desperate to work with Pam Grier. The legendary star of "The Big Bird Cage," "Coffey," and "Foxy Brown" meshed uncommon beauty with undeniable grit. She wasn't looking for trouble. She was trouble. And the bad folks clownish enough to try her on for size always found her to be a treacherously poor fit.

Unfortunately, when the Blaxploitation trend faded in the late 1970s, Hollywood failed Grier. She went from starring roles to underwritten supporting parts in a string of mostly forgettable movies. Strangely, she didn't benefit much from the Black filmmaking renaissance of the early 1990s led by directors like Spike Lee, John Singleton and the Hughes brothers. Then 1996 happened. Though the films weren't particularly big hits, the triple-punch of "Mars Attacks!," "Original Gangsters," and "Escape from L.A." proved she still had plenty...

Gritty inner city crime pix don’t get any rougher than this — I witnessed the walk-outs personally. Barry Shear and a crack crew filmed in Harlem for this downbeat crime pic that could be called ‘Every Thief For Himself.’ Paul Benjamin just wants to score some mob money and leave the mean streets behind — but a single slipup brings the worst of the Mafia and the black mob down on his neck. It’s neither a ‘stick it to whitey’ saga nor a plea for justice: it’s story 8 million and 1 in The Naked City. Stars Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Yaphet Kotto provide more acting fireworks, with solid assistance from Gloria Henry, Antonio Fargas and Marlene Warfield.

Across 110th Street

Region-Free Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 120

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date April 27, 2022 / Available from / Aud 34.95

Starring: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Paul Benjamin, Ed Bernard, Antonio Fargas, Richard Ward,...

Denis Côté is a weird kind of humanist, arriving at that angle from an offbeat starting point. Maybe the key to his work thus far is his short, powerful 2012 documentary Bestiaire, surveying a bevy of exotic animals in a Quebec safari park, all pulled from their natural habitats. Beyond its prescient aspect, foreshadowing other recent animal-focused docs like Gunda and Cow, Côté enacts the role of a skewed portrait artist, showing the zebras, giraffes, and ostriches resplendent in their odd physicality, where you can feel them both attempting to evolve into, as well as neutralized by, their new environment of iron bars, railings, and peepholes.

A Skin So Soft, showing male bodybuilders in a similar state of haunted repose (and reviewed perceptively by Tfs’s Rory O’Connor on its 2017 premiere), is a byway from there towards his latest film, That Kind of Summer. This look at sex addiction could again...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you haven’t seen the first two episodes of “Euphoria” Season 2.

In HBO’s “Euphoria,” music isn’t just a supplementary factor to the plot — it’s arguably as important as the characters themselves. For proof, look no further than the titles of the episodes — most are named after songs, like Birdman and Lil Wayne’s “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” (Season 1 Episode 2), Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s “’03 Bonnie and Clyde” (Season 1 Episode 5) and Bob Dylan’s “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” (Season 2 Episode 1). But more than anything, the show’s intense cocktail of high school drama, countless drugs, in-your-face violence and unrequited romance lends itself perfectly to a stellar soundtrack.

Complemented by a beautiful original score from Labrinth, music supervisor Jen Malone has expertly selected needle drops from across the musical spectrum to further the characters’ emotions and connect with the show’s audience, from...

The legendary Scottish singer Lulu has had a career that’s spanned six decades and is still, as she says, “smashing it onstage.” But she is most associated with a song and a film that she made when she was a teenager: the 1967 Sidney Poitier-starring classic “To Sir, With Love.” The film depicted Poitier as a British Guyanese teacher at a tough East London school and the ensuing racial issues, and featured Lulu not just as a student in his class but also singing the title song to him in a pivotal scene at the end.

Though just 18 at the time, Lulu (real name: Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie) was already a major pop star in Swinging London-era Britain, with a powerhouse voice that got her discovered at the age of 15. She was steered to top chart success by Marion Massey, one of the first female managers in the business...

When asked how he’s kept busy during Covid lockdown, Ron Wood doesn’t sound too bothered by the unexpected downtime. “I was out in the English countryside with my studio about a mile away,” says the Rolling Stones guitarist and painter. “I’d walk through the forest. And I did an incredible amount of artwork during that time. I really used this time to its best.”

Although he also spent some of the time overcoming a battle with small-cell cancer, the 74-year-old Wood also made space to paint and...

The writer/director returns to talk about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Trick Baby (1972)

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Pelli’s trailer commentary

The Untouchables (1987)

Predator (1987)

Purple Rain (1984) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Loved One (1965) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Live And Let Die (1973)

Enter The Dragon (1973) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Green Hornet (1974)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

The Last Dragon (1985) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Dead Presidents (1995)

Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Shaft (1971) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)

Coffy (1973) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary

Midnight Cowboy (1969) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Boxcar Bertha (1972) – Julie Corman...

Roger Hawkins, a drummer who powered the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and the Staple Singers, died Thursday following an extended illness. He was 75 and his death was announced by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation on Facebook.

As part of the Muscle Shoals Music Section – affectionately known as the Swampers – Hawkins was the backbone of scores of pop, soul, R&b, and rock hits.

The 2013 documentary, Muscle Shoals, spotlighted the talent of the recording team. Hawkins most notable successes included working with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, on the massive hits Respect, Think, Chain of Fools, Mustang Sally and Land of 1000 Dances. He also played drums on the Staple Singers’ iconic I’ll Take You There.

Hawkins was born in Indiana and moved to Alabama as a teenager. Hawkins backed local singer Percy Sledge on When a Man Loves a Woman, which quickly...

A native of West Tennessee’s cotton-rich Haywood County, Tina Tuner was born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939 and would go on to become a household name in the Sixties and Seventies, performing alongside her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Ike Turner. Her extraordinary career would take her to the pop charts and around the world on tour, but Turner, who died Wednesday at age 83 at her home in Switzerland, could’ve wound up on a different trajectory with her first solo album.

In the same way that Ray Charles, the Supremes, and Bobby Womack had done before her,...

Malcolm Cecil, producer of several classic Stevie Wonder albums and co-designer of the world’s largest analog synth, known as Tonto, died Sunday, March 28th. He was 84.

The Bob Moog Foundation confirmed Cecil’s death, saying his son, Milton, had informed the organization of the news. An official cause of death was not given, though the foundation’s statement said Cecil died “after a long illness.”

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the passing of the legendary creative genius, musician, engineer, producer, & synthesizer pioneer, Malcolm Cecil,...

For understandable reasons, the country is so focused on the presidential election right now that almost nobody is talking about the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. But on Saturday night, the 2020 class of Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, T-Rex, Nine Inch Nails, Whitney Houston, and the Notorious B.I.G. will finally enter the institution.

Needless to say, this will not be an ordinary induction ceremony. It’s going to be a virtual event featuring speeches, performances, a tribute to Eddie Van Halen, and appearances by Luke Bryan,...

Each month, the editors and critics at Rolling Stone compile a list of our favorite new albums. Our picks for October include Bruce Springsteen’s first new album with the E Street Band in six years, the highly anticipated debut from K-pop group Blackpink, and a new archive release from Joni Mitchell.

Ariana Grande, Positions

How does someone like Ariana Grande follow one of pop’s greatest, boldest break-up albums? With a horny, campy collection of R&b slow jams, of course. In all its naughty glory, Positions doesn’t...

That’s saying something; Albarn has always proposed Gorillaz as a space beyond and between pop music’s borders, and over the decades everyone from Mark E. Smith to Bobby Womack to Pusha T has felt at home swinging by to chill. It’s a project that feels especially worthwhile in the era of Brexit and hyper-nationalism, even if the albums it produces can often be so intentionally all-over-the place as to sometimes seem nowhere at all.

On Song Machine: Season One — Strange Timez, the number of guests could violate a nightclub fire code.

Before becoming a filmmaker, Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis was a musician and performer in the experimental group called The People Show. Before that, he played trumpet and guitar in the experimental jazz ensemble The People Band, whose first record was produced by Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts. He is also the founding patron of an online community of independent filmmakers called Shooting People. You can say Figgis is a People person, which makes him the perfect director to capture Ronnie Wood in the documentary Somebody Up There Likes Me.

One of rock and roll’s most iconic guitarists, Wood is good with people. He plays well with others. He is the Stone who’s never alone. Before he began weaving guitar licks with Keith Richards in the Rolling Stones, Wood helped shape the British rock sound in bands like The Birds and the Creation. He was the bass...

Kareem Ali doles out music at a torrid pace: He has released seven albums in the last 18 months, a mix of reverent deep house tracks and more potent, pointed grooves, questing science fiction and pressing political commentary. While it’s more common than ever for artists to jettison songs like old sheets during spring cleaning, Ali’s data-dump feels considered and locked in; listening to his albums back to back to back is at once soothing and captivating.

“The producer Knxwledge did an interview one time, and he was saying...

Chilean master cult filmmaker, and father of the “midnight movie,” Alejandro Jodorowsky’s latest film Psychomagic, A Healing Art will premiere in the U.S. and Canada on August 7 through an exclusive arrangement with Alamo Drafthouse‘s new VOD platform, Alamo On Demand.

Jodorowsky made two surreal classics in films of the 1970s, the spiritual western epic El Topo (1970), and The Holy Mountain (1973), which was partly funded by John Lennon. The Holy Mountain sparked controversy at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival due to its sacrilegious imagery. It also established Jodorowsky as an auteur of Surrealist Cinema. The documentary-form avant-garde movie Psychomagic, A Healing Art is being presented by Abkco Films. The ex-Beatle introduced Jodorowsky’s work to his then-manager Allen Klein, whose Abkco Music & Records houses catalogues from Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, The Kinks, and Marianne Faithfull. Klein had an interest in film, and would go on to produce Blindman,...

When Andre Harrell founded Uptown Records in 1986, he quickly honed the label’s musical approach. “Andre saw in the late Eighties how the hard-edged drama of rap music… was not incorporating all the rich cool smoothness and bright musicality that had built the house of R&b,” the longtime music executive Steve Stoute wrote in his book The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. “The question he asked was, how can we make this less rough around the edges… the...

Ace’s “How Long,” a No. 3 hit in 1975 for the British rock band, was the first single to introduce music audiences to the voice of Paul Carrack, who went on to become a vocalist for other influential groups like Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics. And thanks to a buzzy new TV campaign from Amazon’s Prime and Echo Show tablet, Carrack’s first hit is finding a whole new audience.

The slinky, blue-eyed-soul jam soundtracks a spot dedicated to the streaming-era phenomenon of “binge cheating,” or watching the next episode of a show behind your paramour’s back. The song’s signature bass line and catchy, spurned-lover chorus “How long / has this been going on?” quickly resonated with music fans. In the three days following the commercial’s first airings on March 2, digital sales for the track soared 2,059% to 4,000 downloads, while streams jumped to 831,000 in the week ending March 5, according to Nielsen Music.

Quentin Tarantino, a master of pastiche himself, said he enjoyed seeing an homage to his own work in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which is just one example of Tarantino and Marvel riffing on each other.

BBC Radio 1’s Ali Plumb asked Tarantino in a recent interview what he thought about the shoutout to his 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” in the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe installment.

Nick Fury’s gravestone features the opening line of Ezekiel 25:17 — “The path of the righteous man …” The bible verse, in its Tarantino-modified form, is delivered by Jules in “Pulp Fiction” as part of his pre-killing ritual in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

Jules and Nick Fury are both played by Samuel L. Jackson.

“Probably the first commentary I ever read was the Stan Lee ‘Soapbox’,” Tarantino said, referring to a column penned by the Marvel editor-in-chief that appeared in each comic...

For the past six years, Eric Clapton has been disappointing fans by playing a stripped-down rendition of “Layla” on the acoustic guitar at this concerts as opposed to the original, electric one. He introduced that new arrangement of the 1970 Derek and the Dominos classic at his 1992 Unplugged special and it became a radio hit and even went into rotation on MTV, but the novelty wore off for many when he began playing it at regular shows instead of the of the familiar (and far superior) one. He switched back and forth for many years,...

Stevie Wonder wanted to meet Tonto. He had just turned 21, was flush with cash and had all these songs and sounds in his head that he couldn’t get onto tape. A friend had loaned him a copy of an album called Zero Time that had been recorded using the world’s largest, most advanced music synthesizer: Tonto, an acronym for “The Original New Timbral Orchestra.”

The mastermind behind Tonto was an Afro’d, English bassist-turned–studio tech named Malcolm Cecil who lived above a midtown-Manhattan advertising recording studio. ““I...

As the lead singer of L.T.D. in the second half of the Seventies and then a solo act with more than a dozen R&B hits, Jeffrey Osborne has enjoyed his fair share of commercial glory.

But pop music tends to reward youth, so like many older singers — Osborne is now 70 — the former L.T.D. frontman has trouble keeping his new music in the public consciousness. “People come up to us and say, ‘You know, you haven’t had a record in years,'” Osborne explains. “I’m like,...

Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16th at age 76, recorded more than 40 full-length albums in her six-decade career. It’s a deep catalog, crowded with indisputable classics and hidden gems. Rolling Stone’s music staff is paying its R.E.S.P.E.C.T.s to the Queen with tributes to our favorite Aretha LPs. Next up: Kory Grow on her second great album of the year 1968.

By the time Aretha Now arrived in the summer of 1968, Aretha Franklin was on one of pop music’s great winning streaks.

Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16th at age 76, recorded more than 40 full-length albums in her six-decade career. It’s a deep catalog, crowded with indisputable classics and hidden gems. Rolling Stone’s music staff is paying its R.E.S.P.E.C.T.s to the Queen with tributes to our favorite Aretha LPs. Next up: Elias Leight on an underrated turning point in Aretha’s career.

By commercial standards, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) was a precipitous failure in 1973: Not only was...

Superstar writer-arranger-producer Quincy Jones remembered Aretha Franklin in a short statement on Thursday following Franklin’s death at age 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

During his illustrious career, Jones has worked with most of the greatest singers in pop history, including Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and Franklin, which makes him uniquely qualified to pay tribute to inimitable vocalists. “From the time that Dinah Washington first told me that Aretha was the ‘next one’ when she was 12 years old until the present day, Aretha Franklin set the bar...

In the Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett By Tony Fletcher (Oxford University Press)

The art of writing bios is no easy feat, but for British-born/NY-based scribe Tony Fletcher, well, he makes it seem all so easy even though he's research is exhaustive. His bios on R.E.M (Remarks Remade - The Story of R.E.M.), Keith Moon (Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon), The Smiths (A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths, to name but a few, are must-reads. His latest on the turbulent life of R&B legend Wilson Pickett -- In the Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett -- may be his best yet. 

For the charismatic '60s crossover icon "Wicked" Wilson Pickett, Fletcher pulls no punches with interviews with his family, business partners, musicians, etc., to shed light on his troubled legacy.

Even in trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Valerie June stands out: star-studded sunglasses, a sparkly silver blouse and a plume of thick dreadlocks that sprout in all directions. At her favorite neighborhood bistro, she attracts the attention of a bald customer who approaches her table to hand her his business card. “Love your hair,” he says flirtatiously. “Maybe you could give me some.” “I might!” June replies with a laugh.

June, 35, smiles again when asked about another compliment she received recently. In an interview posted on his website, Bob Dylan said he’d been listening to June,...

Quentin Tarantino’s films are famous for their non-linear narratives, for how they jump around in time like a skipping DVD, sometimes even willing their ways into alternate histories. And yet, despite all of their twisty plotting, his movies are increasingly defined by — and remembered for — self-contained scenes that stretch to the breaking point and seem to become iconic even as you’re first watching them. From the ingeniously knotted “Pulp Fiction” to the bifurcated “Death Proof”; from the sprawling “Kill Bill” (which is divided into 10 discrete chapters), to the snowbound “The Hateful Eight” (which limits itself to two locations and finds Tarantino challenging himself to hold a single note of suspense for hours at a time), these epic stories are shaped around chatty, taut, and indelible sequences that simmer with the potential for sudden acts of violence.

In honor of the filmmaker’s 54th birthday (and with a humble...

Programmers at the Park City jamboree’s upcoming 23rd edition announced on Monday the 11 narrative and eight documentary selections that will play in January.

The 2017 showcase will also feature Dig (Digital, Interactive & Gaming), a platform of eight works by emerging artists working in cutting-edge digital media, while Polytechnic is a series of free workshops exploring disruptive perspectives on filmmaking from industry insiders.

“As filmmakers themselves, the Slamdance programmers and staff share the same creative spirit as the festival artists,” said Slamdance co-founder and president, Peter Baxter. “Our stories are different but our divergent attitude is the same.

“Together, we give a voice to Diy filmmaking. Empowering emerging artists is what we do, and you are about to see a great group at Slamdance 2017.”

The feature competition roster includes 16 premieres – 12 world, 3 North American and one Us. All competition films are feature directorial debuts with budgets of under $1m and without Us distribution.

Jury awards...

Will The 100‘s reunion not be a happy one? Why is Castle on the move? Will The Flash meet a female speedster? Who’s new on The Strain? Read on for answers to those questions plus teases from other shows.

The trailer for The 100 looks amazing, but Bellamy and Octavia don’t look too happy with one another. How worried should we be? –Mary Kate

Very. Bellamy will make a decision that will no doubt upset plenty of people. But his sis is particularly angry at him given the relationships she has formed since landing on the ground.

Anything about...

A review of the "Fargo" season 2 finale coming up just as soon as I decree no more schnitzel or strudel... "People are dead, Peggy." -Lou A palindrome, as you know, is a word or phrase that's the same backwards and forwards: "Madam, I'm Adam," or "Mom," or "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!" Many of the players we met over the course of this season of "Fargo" don't seem particularly palindromic. They start as one thing, and end as something else entirely, and their journey looks radically different when viewed start to finish rather than finish to start. But then there is Lou Solverson, who is palindromic in character if not in name. He is the same at this tale's end as he was at the beginning, and as he will be 27 years in the future (when his facial features will be significantly different), and likely as he was...

CeeLo Green, whose fifth studio album, Heart Blanche, is out Friday, Nov. 6, picked out his favorite classics for Us Weekly. See the “Forget You” singer’s top soul tunes playlist below! “Rainbow ’65” by Gene Chandler: “I sang this as a kid in little talent shows that I’d put on for mom and dad.” “(No Matter How High I Get) I’ll Still Be Looking Up to You” by Bobby Womack: “This song shares the sentiment I have about personal verses, professional life, and the people it affects.” “Doggin’ Around” [...]...

This week we sit down to discuss Spring, the sophomore feature from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, a mutant hybrid between Before Sunrise and An American Werewolf in Paris. But first we welcome guest Guido Pellegrini to help us review the Academy Award nominated Argentinian film, Wild Tales – a subversive satire that doubles as a uniformly entertaining anthology film.

Playlist:

Bobby Womack – “Fly Me to the Moon”

Beirut – “Postcards from Italy”

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Sons of Anarchy house band the Forest Rangers aren't afraid to put their unique spin on a beloved classic. For Tuesday night's episode, "The Separation of Crows," the eclectic crew recorded a wicked version of the Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix anthem "All Along the Watchtower," letting vocalist Billy Valentine wail vividly over a tumbling drum part and psychedelic wah-wah.

"There must be some way out of here,' said the joker to the thief," SoA music supervisor Bob Thiele tells Rolling Stone, referencing the opening line from the classic-rock staple.

Singer Bobby Womack left behind a massive debt when he died in June -- including a huge child support judgment -- and now his family is trying to figure out how to pay it.Bobby's widow, Regina, filed court docs in L.A. showing he owed $250K in back child support for two sons living in Ft. Wayne, In -- one is 14 and the other an adult.  He also had an unpaid loan for $400K when he died.

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 9, 2014

Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Kino Lorber

Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto (r.) head uptown in Across 110th Street.

The gritty, action-filled 1972 crime drama Across 110th Street stars Anthony Quinn (The Secret of Santa Vittoria) and Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die) as two hard-hitting New York City police detectives.

When a crew of gun-totin’ gangstas knocks over a mafia racket in Harlem, their plan gets blown to hell and the crib gets blown to bits! But as the bullets start flyin’ and cops start dyin’, a pair of New York’s finest, Mattelli and Pope, are forced to work together to bring justice to the streets before the Mafia brings the ghetto to its knees! Now, wanted by the Man and hunted by the Mob, there ain’t no way these homicidal homeboys are getting across 110th Street except in a body bag!

Directed with...