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Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were the schlock filmmaking gods of the 1980s. Through The Cannon Group, they churned out exploitation movies that consistently, and shamelessly, delivered on the promise of gratuitous violence, even more gratuitous nudity, and production values that were generally above and beyond what you'd expect from, say, a movie that starred Lucinda Dickey as an aerobics instructor possessed by a ninja. Occasionally, they'd even make a film with a master filmmaker, because what they really wanted was to be taken seriously in Hollywood. This is how we got Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear," Barbet Schroeder's "Barfly," and Andrei Konchalovsky's "Runaway Train."

Nevertheless, Golan-Globus knew their brand, and they kept multiplexes stocked with competently directed action movies starring Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, and Charles Bronson with a fat paycheck sticking out of his jacket pocket. These might've been ridiculous films, but they were real and...

Mark Wahlberg's new heist thriller, Play Dirty, receives a Prime Video release date and reveals its first image. Co-written and directed by Shane Black – best known for Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, and The Predator (2018) – the upcoming crime thriller follows a thief attempting a high-stakes heist that pits him against a South American dictator, the New York mafia, and the wealthiest man on the planet.

In addition to Wahlberg in the lead role, the cast also includes Oscar nominee Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Rosa Salazar, Dermot Mulroney, four-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele), Nat Wolff, Dcu and MCU star Chukwudi Iwuji, Thomas Jane, and Saskia Archer.

Now, via Collider's Exclusive Preview event, a first-look image from Play Dirty has been revealed, showing its two stylish leads, Wahlberg and Stanfield, on their way to their next mission. Play Dirty...

Prime Video has assembled a crack team of thieves for their next film, Play Dirty, and in just under two months, they'll be sent out for the biggest job of their lives. The new heist thriller from the mind of Iron Man 3 director Shane Black will kick off the month of October on the platform with plenty of action and a star-studded cast led by Mark Wahlberg and Lakeith Stanfield. Ahead of its release, we're excited to share a new image of the two sharp-dressed stars strolling up to their next mission as part of Collider's Exclusive Preview event for upcoming movies. The pair will also be joined by Rosa Salazar for the operation, which will pit them against international power players in their attempts to strike it big.

Play Dirty is based on the Parker series of novels, particularly the first installment, 1962's The Hunter, created by...

Mark Wahlberg stars in Shane Black’s first film in seven years, Play Dirty, which is said to be going straight to Prime Video on the 1st October.

Update 31st July 2025: Writer-director Shane Black’s latest film, Play Dirty, could be heading straight to Prime Video without a cinema release. According to TheInSneider (via World of Reel), the thriller will skip cinemas altogether and appear on Amazon’s streaming service on the 1st October. That’s not that far into the future, given that we haven’t seen a trailer or much else in the way of promotion from its studio.

Play Dirty is another adaptation of Donald E Westlake’s 1962 novel The Hunter, with Mark Wahlberg playing the expert thief Parker, double-crossed and left for dead by his partner. Of the various films based on Parker, the most famous is surely John Boorman’s Point Blank from 1967.

Shane...

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are heading to the Lido for their world premieres at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

At a press conference in Venice on Tuesday morning, the announcement of those and other titles was made by Alberto Barbera, Director of the Cinema Department and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of La Biennale di Venezia.

Other films in the Venice main competition include new work from Paolo Sorrentino (“La Grazia”), Jim Jarmusch (“Father Mother Sister Brother”), Laszlo Nemes (“Orphan”), Park Chan-wook

“Sermon to the Void,” Hilal Baydarov

“L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano

“Il Maestro,” Andrea Di Stefano

“After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino

“Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda

“The Last Viking,” Anders Thomas Jensen

“In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel

“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant

“Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi

Out of Competition – Non Fiction

“Kabul,...

When Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's bestselling sci-fi/horror novel hit theaters on June 11, 1993, the entire motion picture medium was forever changed. James Cameron had given us a tantalizing taste of how seamlessly computer-generated imagery could be integrated into a motion picture via "The Abyss" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," but no one was prepared for Spielberg and his visual FX team (which included Cameron collaborator Dennis Muren) to blast the technology seemingly decades into the future by creating photo-realistic dinosaurs. That moment where Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum get their first look at a living, breathing brachiosaurus induced a new kind of awe in moviegoers, and it remains a blessing and a curse that Spielberg was the man at the helm.

The blessing is that the bar was raised so dizzyingly high for photoreal CGI that, in the immediate wake of the film's blockbuster success,...

Go Go Power Rangers.

After kicking off Pride Month with John Boorman’s Deliverance (listen), and revisiting Joel Schumacher’s camptastic Batman Forever (listen), as well as Danny Boyle’s modern classic 28 Days Later (listen), it’s time to wrap up June with a look at director Bryan Spicer’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995).

This is a nostalgia trip for the ages as we dip back into the popular kids TV show, which featured six teenagers selected by alien Zordon (Nicholas Bell; voiced by Robert L. Manahan) to protect Earth from super villains like Rita Repulsa (Julia Cortez; voiced by Barbara Goodson) and Goldar.

When a power adversary named Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman) is accidentally released back into Angel Grove and the Power Rangers are stripped of their abilities, they must travel to a distant world, befriend warrior Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), and battle their way to the...

You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have... nine seasons and over 200 episodes of one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. Spun out of NBC's other wildly popular series "Diff'rent Strokes," "The Facts of Life" followed the goings-on at a girl's boarding school in upstate New York. The series became a fast hit, thanks to its chipper tone and uplifting sense of humor, as well as the performances from its cast of talented young actors -- many of whom went on to achieve major success in the film and television industry.

Whether they only stayed in the main cast during its experimental first season, joined as a replacement of sorts in the final installments, or played a part in all of its 200-plus episodes, the actors embarked on a range of professional journeys. Some retired immediately afterward, pursuing careers ranging from music and...

It's generally accepted that the summer movie season as we know it today began 50 years ago with the release of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws." Studios were already obsessed with blockbusters thanks to the runaway success of films like "Love Story" and "The Godfather," as well as the proliferation of multiplexes (which meant screen numbers were exploding all over the world). But when "Jaws" blew past "Gone with the Wind" to become the highest grossing movie of all time, it was game on.

This gold rush mentality led studios to prioritize sequels to their previous hits, even though this approach invited critical scorn. "The Godfather Part II" was one thing, and, sure, "French Connection II" made sound story sense since Charnier got away at the end of the first one, but a follow-up to "Love Story" felt obscene. So, when a studio trotted out a sequel, they knew many influential critics...

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William Peter Blatty's 1990 horror film "The Exorcist III" was based on his own 1983 novel "Legion," a follow-up to his 1971 hit novel "The Exorcist." Although both books featured common characters, it's a different kind of story, staged more like a combined police procedural, bleak serial killer thriller (based very closely on the Zodiac murders), and supernatural mystery. Blatty wrote and directed the 1990 film adaptation, thinking that it, too, would only be tangentially related to "The Exorcist" and possess a similar genre-bending approach.

"The Exorcist III" wasn't a big hit in 1990, but it has undergone a substantial re-evaluation over the years, and some cineastes now consider it to be almost as good as William Friedkin's 1973 film adaptation of "The Exorcist." Kinderman is played in the film by George C. Scott (replacing Lee J. Cobb from Friedkin's movie), and the sequel...

Run, run as fast as you can!

After kicking off Pride month with discussions of John Boorman’s (in)famous adaptation of James Dickey’s novel Deliverance (listen) and revisiting the world of Batman in Joel Schumacher’s camptastic Batman Forever (listen), we’re celebrating the release of 28 Years Later with a look at Danny Boyle‘s modern classic 28 Days Later (2002).

28 Days Later sees the deadly Rage virus spread throughout the United Kingdom after a group of animal activists free an infected chimp from a research lab. 28 days later, bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma to find London completely deserted, save for the very fast-moving and Rage-infected citizens.

When he crosses paths with chemist Selena (Naomie Harris), cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson), and Frank’s daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), the group embarks on a perilous journey to a military blockade that will supposedly provide safety for all of them.

Now updated for April 2025, here’s our pick of 35 genre films – horror, action, sci-fi and more – you can watch for free on Tubi UK.

Like any streaming service, particularly of the ad-supported variety, there’s a lot of filler on Tubi, the subscription-free platform which made its UK debut last July.

On there you’ll find an array of low-budget documentaries of spurious quality, landfill reality TV and how-did-this-get-made TV movies (Amish Abduction).

Look beyond those films, though, and Tubi is positively stuffed with genre and cult offerings – sci-fi, horror, comedy, martial arts, thrillers and more besides. Finding these can take a bit of hunting around, however, so to save you a bit of time, we’ve done some hunting for you. We’re nice like that.

Here’s our pick of 35 genre and cult films currently available to watch for free on Tubi in the UK. We’ll also...

Allan Freeman, a groundbreaking movie marketing executive who worked on campaigns for Star Wars, The Shining, The Omen and Best Picture Oscar winners Rain Man, Dances with Wolves and The Silence of the Lambs among many other films, has died. He was 88.

His family said Freeman died June 7 of an undisclosed illness.

Born on May 8, 1937, Freeman began this three-decade career as a “Mad man,” doing consumer research from Madison Avenue on how to improve the efficacy of advertising campaigns for corporate giants General Foods and Bristol-Myers. In the early 1970s, he began creating campaigns for Palomar Pictures, which had been acquired by Bristol-Myers.

Freeman launched his own boutique consultancy that helped craft campaigns for such movies as Sleuth (1972), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and The Stepford Wives (1975). His caught drew the attention of execs at the then-ailing 20th Century-Fox.

In 1975, Fox Chairman Dennis Stanfill and...

Allan Freeman, a marketing executive who pioneered market research techniques to successfully release blockbuster films including “Superman,” “Star Wars” and “Rain Man,” died June 7. He was 88.

With his innovative market research techniques, Freeman played an instrumental part in the release of Oscar winners including “Dances With Wolves” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” along with “The Omen,” “The Shining” and “Splash.”

Sid Ganis, former President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, described Freeman as “a pioneer who invented research for movies.”

Freeman started out working in advertising on Madison Avenue, overseeing research for corporations such as General Foods and Bristol-Myers. In the early 1970s, Bristol-Myers acquired Palomar Pictures, and he used his expertise in consumer behavior to launch a consulting business that helped create campaigns for movies including “Sleuth,” “The Heartbreak Kid,” “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and “The Stepford Wives.”

Twentieth Century Fox brought Freeman...

Chase’n’Dick.

We wrapped up May discussing Stanley Kubrick’s controversial adaptation of The Shining (listen) and worshipping Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (listen) before kicking off June with a canoe trip with John Boorman’s Deliverance (listen).

Now it’s time for our annual Joel Schumacher episode and, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his neon-infused take on the Caped Crusader, we’re turning our attention to 1995’s Batman Forever.

The superhero film finds Val Kilmer taking over the reins of Bruce Wayne/Batman from departing actor Michael Keaton. As Bruce struggles with repressed memories that deliver him to Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), Batman must confront a pair of new villains who threaten Gotham City: former prosecutor turned crime boss, Two Face (Tommy Lee Jones), and former Wayne Enterprises employee turned Riddler, Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey).

Thankfully help(?) arrives in the form of Gotham’s newest orphan, Richard...

Before Daniel Radcliffe was picked to be The Chosen One and became a household name as Harry Potter, the young actor shared the big screen space with none other than James Bond. At the young age of 10, Radcliffe earned himself a small yet unforgettable role alongside Pierce Brosnan in John Boorman’s The Tailor of Panama.

Fresh off his Bond fame, Brosnan played yet another morally ambiguous MI6 agent. The political spy thriller film became a notable Radcliffe industry appearance, marking his pre-Harry Potter career. While Radcliffe’s appearance may have faded into obscurity for many, overshadowed by his Wizarding World fame, the movie still remains a fascinating glimpse into the early career of a star who was mere months away from making it big as an international phenomenon.

The Tailor of Panama marked Daniel Radcliffe’s film debut

In The Tailor of Panama (2001), Daniel Radcliffe plays the role of Mark Pendel,...

Masculine Men Doing Masculine Things.

After concluding May discussing the controversial production of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (listen) and reveling in Frank Henenlotter’s hilarious Frankenhooker (listen), we’re kicking off June with a long overdue look at John Boorman‘s adaptation of James Dickey‘s novel Deliverance!

Deliverance sees four friends and businessmen venture out into rural Georgia to canoe the fictional Cahulawassee River before it is dammed. Upon arriving at their destination, they learn that the locals don’t take too kindly to city folk, often completely disregarding them. When a pair of mountain men brutally attack the four friends in the woods, their bonding vacation turns into a vicious fight for survival as they must contend with the whitewater rapids while being seemingly hunted by the locals.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts,...

Fans of the acclaimed Exorcist franchise will sadly not get the highly anticipated reboot anytime soon. Originally scheduled for March 13, 2026, Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist will unfortunately be delayed, as confirmed by the filmmaker himself via Tumblr. Over a year ago, it was announced that Flanagan was writing, directing, and producing “a radical new take” on the horror sequel with the genre producer, Blumhouse, and Morgan Creek. The sequel's announcement followed David Gordon Green's 2023 film The Exorcist: Believer, which was poorly received with only negative reviews from critics.

Flanagan’s The Exorcist reboot is utterly unrelated to Believer and will provide a unique perspective for viewers. The film currently has no revised release date yet, as production hasn’t even started, according to the director. Apparently, he wants to wrap up his current Carrie project, the upcoming Prime Video series revival, before progressing with The Exorcist. In his words:...

Douglas E. Turner, the British rerecording mixer who worked with John Boorman on Deliverance and four other films and with David Lynch on The Elephant Man, has died. He was 93.

Turner died May 5 at his home in Agua Dulce, California, his wife of 37 years, retired sound editor Justine Turner (Dances With Wolves, Field of Dreams), told The Hollywood Reporter.

His rerecording career spanned 36 years, which included 19 at De Lane Lea Studios in London.

Turner worked on Fox’s The X-Files for two seasons (1995-97) and received an Emmy in 1996 for mixing “Nisei,” a third-season episode. He also was nominated in 1989 for the NBC telefilm The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro and in 1990 for the CBS telefilm Caroline?

Plus, he mixed an Oscar-winning short film, an animated version of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea that was released in 1999.

After the Oscar best picture nominee Deliverance (1972), Turner and Boorman...

Lily Collias is outstanding as 17-year-old Sam, who goes hiking with her dad and his best buddy in India Donaldson’s feature debut

Road movie and coming-of-age are accepted genres; maybe hiking-through-the-forest deserves equal status. It’s a distinctive US indie type, coloured by the sun-dappled green foliage, flavoured by the unemphatic presence of both beauty and danger. And heading for … what? An escalating series of scary moments, or just a low-key crescendo of epiphanies or emotional confrontations? Middle-class New Yorkers can journey through the wilderness in the movies but, unlike in John Boorman’s 1972 film Deliverance, they may encounter only the inner hillbillies of their own anxiety and discontent.

This excellent film from first-time director India Donaldson is a smart, sympathetic and terrifically acted drama about 17-year-old Sam – an outstanding performance from Lily Collias – who agrees to go on a hiking trip in the Catskill mountains with her gloomy...

I first met actors Jiri Bartoska – who died Thursday at the age of 78 – and Leonardo DiCaprio at the same time, at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival 31 summers ago.

The encounter was memorable for all three of us, I suspect. Leo was a teenager, just beginning his march to fame and glory, and Karlovy Vary was his first film festival, also attended by his German mother Irmelin and his German grandparents. He climbed into his grandparents laps and I have that snap eternally imprinted in my memory banks of my favorite movie business moments.

Leonardo DiCaprio with his grandparents in Karlovy Vary Kviff

That fortnight in the Bohemian sun led to a marriage and a daughter for me, but it also led to a fortuitous journalistic adventure that I like to think benefited Variety’s readers as well.

I had just begun my 32 seasons as an editor at the magazine. Jiri...

Deliverance is seen as the benchmark for backwoods, fish out of water thrillers but it’s not alone. While it’s certainly true that the John Boorman 1972 thriller had more success with its 46 million dollar return on a 2-million-dollar budget and 3 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, it may have been bested 9 years later. Southern Comfort has just as good of a pedigree in front of and behind the camera and continues to gain a better and better reputation 44 years later. The horrors found within this movie permeate the entire run time and include one of the most intense and nerve wracking final 20 minutes ever put to the screen that will sit with you long after the credits. Don’t mess with the locals as we revisit Southern Comfort.

Let’s start with director/writer/producer Walter Hill. Hill is a legend in Hollywood on both the big and small screens.

Over the years, numerous filmmakers have tried their hand at adapting the legendary tale of King Arthur, with varying degrees of success. David Lowery's The Green Knight, John Boorman's Excalibur, and Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur rank among the most acclaimed. However, other worthy entries exist, including Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), a bold and subversive take on the myth whose glorious destiny was sadly denied by a critical tongue-lashing and subsequent box office failure. While not without its flaws, Legend of the Sword was not nearly as bad as the critics deemed it, at least in the eyes of the fans. It has since been regarded as one of the most underrated Arthurian adaptations, and this May, Peacock is offering a new chance for audiences to appreciate Ritchie's daring vision.

Starring Charlie Hunnam in his first major role after Sons of Anarchy,...

Stars: Megan Tremethick, Andrew Gourlay, Dorian Todd, Michael Daviot | Written by Lawrie Brewster, Sarah Daly | Directed by Richard Campbell

Crown of Shadows, also know as The Reign of Queen Ginnarra (the title under which it played film festivals), is a dark, Gothic medieval horror film from director Lawrie Brewster – credited on the DVD from High Fliers as Richard Campbell – and writer Sarah Daly who’ve previously worked together on other Hex Studios productions such as Lord of Tears, The Devil’s Machine, Dragon Knight and The Slave and the Sorcerer.

This latest effort comes from the companies new “strand”, Hex Elder Myths and combines both Brewster and Daly’s past experience in both horror and and action, taking tropes and stereotypes from both genres, fusing medieval fantasy with Lovercraftian horror to deliver what is a sword and sorcery epic. And I don’t use the word epic lightly, because this film runs a whopping 142 minutes!

It’s not uncommon for even some of the most beloved movies to undergo extensive rewrites. Hey, Good Will Hunting was initially a thriller about a math genius working for the Nsa, and no, that’s not a joke. Sometimes, though, a movie gets exponentially worse with each rewrite, starting with a brilliant script and getting whittled down to box-office toothpicks.

5 Dragonball Evolution

If you want to see a Dragon Ball Z fan get mad, steal their lunch money, but you could also try mentioning the 2009 movie, which was both disowned by fans as barely resembling the series and lambasted by critics. Both lamented the movie that could have been, however, after the original script surfaced on the internet. It stuck much more closely to the original manga’s storyline, but it was deemed too expensive by the studio, who forced screenwriter Ben Ramsey into no fewer than five rewrites.

There is very little that is remarkable about Taylor Hackford's 2013 actioner "Parker" starring Jason Statham. The title character is, like so many action movie protagonists before him, defined largely by his taciturn and steely demeanor and doesn't have a lot of whimsy or personality beyond that. Parker is a thief, but he is defined by an unshakable code of ethics and believes in sticking to well laid-out plans. He's not a hothead or impulsive. In other words: he's kind of boring. It also doesn't help that "Parker" has a predictable plot stretched out across a dull screenplay. The film came and went without fanfare, a January release to its very core.

"Parker" made $46.9 million at the box office on a $35 million budget, which is a bomb on a Hollywood ledger. It was only lukewarmly received by critics, sporting a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 105 reviews). Peter Sobczynski's review for RogerEbert.

Whether it’s the original director or not, following up all time classics in a series is a tall task. We have seen it with many of the greatest movies of all time like Rick Rosenthal having to follow up John Carpenter and Halloween or John Boorman following up William Friedkin and The Exorcist. Sometimes the original director has a go at it for contractual obligations like Tobe Hooper and Cannon films giving us Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 or for passion like John Carpenter himself electing to attempt to give us a better version of Escape from New York but in Los Angeles. Sorry, John, we still think you are wrong about that one. One director that made a career of it was George Romero. While he certainly had a varied career with things like Knightriders, Creepshow, and Monkey Shines, he is also the godfather of modern zombie horror. After Night of the Living Dead...

By the early ’70s, Burt Reynolds was one of cinema’s rising men of action. With starring roles in films like Fuzz and Skullduggery, Reynolds was charming, physical and was rarely asked to show much beyond that. But it wasn’t until Deliverance that audiences and directors started to see what he could do, playing an outdoorsman slowly losing hope in the Georgian wilderness.

John Boorman’s thriller is a tough descent into fear and violence. What starts as a weekend adventure for four city men looking to conquer the wilderness quickly turns into a desperate struggle to escape it. Between the realism of its violence, the tension that never lets up, and the unsettling themes at its core, Deliverance remains just as powerful today as it was over 50 years ago.

Deliverance Is One of the Most Disturbing Thrillers of All Time

No one could quite expect what Deliverance would show.

Liam Neeson might be a household name now, but the inception of his career can be traced back to low-budget film/television titles and modest stage productions. In fact, filmmaker John Boorman noticed Neeson's potential when he was on stage for "Of Mice and Men," which led to his film debut in the 1981 Arthurian saga, "Excalibur." Sure enough, "Excalibur" opened many doors for Neeson, and he starred in a handful of projects over the years, including 1986's "The Mission."

In that film, Neeson played a Catholic missionary in 18th-century South America alongside Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, and this small yet impactful role altered the trajectory of Neeson's acting career. You see, De Niro introduced Neeson to an American casting director while they were filming together, which allowed the latter to acquire a work visa in the U.S. and work his way up the ranks. The television role...

While we’re still waiting for our Hogwarts letter to arrive, even though we’re way past the age of 11—for Daniel Radcliffe, that letter came in the form of his iconic role as Harry Potter. But while his casting in the titular role earned him global fame and a vault of muggle money, it also came with a curse.

Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter films | image: Warner Bros.

Director John Boorman, who worked with Daniel Radcliffe before his wizarding days, once called it a “terrible fate” for a 10-year-old. He believed that working in a massive franchise like Harry Potter would not only keep Radcliffe engaged throughout his childhood years but would forever overshadow his career. And decades later, it seems he had a point.

Director John Boorman reflected on Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter casting Filmmaker John Boorman | image: Lionel Allorge, licensed under Cc-by-sa 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Back in the early 2000s,...

Three women exist in an abandoned castle, bound by rules and rituals disseminated by disembodied voices, unburdened by want, but trapped in a dystopian wonderland they cannot leave in directors Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak’s Glorious Summer. An ennui laden mix of Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth and John Boorman’s Zardoz, Glorious Summer explores the inner struggle between the desire for comfort and safety and humanity’s innate desire for free well. There are times where it feels more like a thesis than a feature film, but Ganjalyan and Szpak inject enough modest humor and intrigue to keep the audience hooked, even when things seem to be approaching the brink of esoteric exhaustion. The three unnamed women, a leader type played by Magdalena Fejdasz, her close confidant played...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The hype surrounding Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Exorcist project gets more intense as days roll by, but there are also so many thoughts about the previous installments that heavily bombed at the box office. It took many years in between before the franchise produced follow-ups, simply because it wasn’t meant to be a cinematic universe.

Guillermo del Toro / Credits: BBC

What’s more upsetting is the fact that Guillermo del Toro almost helmed the unfortunate 2005 prequel movie, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, which already leaves us fans thinking he could have singlehandedly saved it. The project eventually went to Paul Schrader.

Guillermo del Toro could have saved the Exorcist prequel movie

The ill-fated Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist joined Guillermo del Toro’s list of unrealized projects despite it being his niche. The director, who is known for his love for monsters and all things gothic horror, turned down...

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with “spy.” If you guessed “spy thrillers” then congratulations, you win! Now you not only have the love and respect of your peers but also our picks for the 13 best modern spy thrillers. These are the greatest espionage movies since the year 2000, packed with action, or intrigue, or stunts, or all three.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch all of these spy movies and report back to us. We think it’ll be easy for a special agent like you!

Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush in “The Tailor of Panama” (Sony) ‘The Tailor of Panama’ (2001)

Pierce Brosnan’s best spy movie isn’t about James Bond. He plays a despicable espionage agent in John Boorman’s riveting and intelligent “The Tailor of Panama,” based on a novel by spy writer extraordinaire John le Carré (who co-wrote the...

Liam Neeson is, if nothing else, a very candid interview subject. Sometimes he's candid to a problematic fault. Regardless of how you feel about the man, however, you cannot accuse him of giving canned answers, which is what renders too many interviews unworthy of a reader's time.

With a film acting career that spans over 40 years, stretching back to his portrayal of the knight Gawain in John Boorman's Arthurian "Excalibur," the Irish-born Neeson has put together a career that prompts many questions. He went Hollywood early, and seemed stuck in a rut acting in forgettable films like "Suspect," "Satisfaction," and "The Good Mother." I didn't really take measure of him as a performer until he played Patrick Swayze's vengeful, incredibly lethal hillbilly brother in "Next of Kin." His high-pitched voice and not-entirely-hidden Irish lilt is actually perfect for an Appalachian hill person, and even though the film is just a studio programmer,...

The 1972 John Boorman thriller "Deliverance" is a deeply disturbing odyssey through the Georgia wilderness that haunts the minds of viewers long after the credits roll. With its scenic views of the rolling Appalachians, the perilous rapids of the Chattooga river, and the deep dark forests, "Deliverance" is both a film about the horrors men inflict upon one another and the foolishness of thinking anyone can ever truly "defeat" nature, and its setting is incredibly important to the story and the film's memorable appearance.

"Deliverance" is at its core a survival movie, pitting man against man and man against nature as it follows four Atlanta businessmen who want to canoe down the fictional Cahulawassee River in the North Georgia wilderness before a dam is built. They visit a small mountain town where things go poorly with the locals, and end up lost in the woods when things go horribly wrong, making...

Stars: Megan Tremethick, Andrew Gourlay, Dorian Todd, Michael Daviot | Written by Lawrie Brewster, Sarah Daly | Directed by Lawrie Brewster

The Reign of Queen Ginnarra, set for a UK release later this year from High Fliers under the more generic title Crown of Shadows, is a dark, Gothic medieval horror film from director Lawrie Brewster and writer Sarah Daly who’ve previously worked together on other Hex Studios productions such as Lord of Tears, The Devil’s Machine, Dragon Knight and The Slave and the Sorcerer.

This latest effort comes from the companies new “strand”, Hex Elder Myths and combines both Brewster and Daly’s past experience in both horror and and action, taking tropes and stereotypes from both genres, fusing medieval fantasy with Lovercraftian horror to deliver what is a sword and sorcery epic. And I don’t use the word epic lightly, because this film runs a whopping 142 minutes!

Pierce Brosnan is a preposterously handsome man, and like most preposterously handsome men, he looks positively spectacular in just about any piece of clothing you can throw on him. A tuxedo is like a second layer of skin for Brosnan. He can rock a suede blazer with more verve than any other man on the planet. He could probably set hearts a-flutter in a clown suit.

Brosnan has been a men's fashion plate since "Remington Steele" turned him into a global superstar 43 years ago. He was the first choice to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond after "A View to a Kill," and only lost out on the role because NBC exercised its option on a fifth season of "Remington Steele" that no one wanted. Obviously, he eventually landed the role he was seemingly born to play, but while Brosnan was only ever perfect as Bond, the films around him tended to let him down.

Most moviegoers have preconceived notions of what makes a World War II film. More often than not, they'd envision a cinematic epic or a tense thriller like Saving Private Ryan or The Guns of Navarone, respectively. Other times, they'd think of a generational period drama not unlike Flags of Our Fathers, Schindler's List, or more recently, Oppenheimer. Generally speaking, audiences and critics expect World War II films to be big. This is what made Hell in the Pacific stand out in one of the most crowded film genres around.

Unlike its more famous wartime contemporaries, John Boorman's World War II film was small in just about every regard. At most, it only had three vast but empty locations. More importantly, it only starred two actors: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. What's more, the two were stuck on the same island for most of the film. Not only were Marvin and Mifune perfectly cast,...

Many of our favorite Masters of Horror actually found themselves being accidentally thrust into this position after an early genre success, with very few of them actively choosing to only tell scary stories. From Stephen King to John Carpenter, there are many such cases, but I think that one of the most curious examples of a renaissance man who found himself backed into a spooky corner is that of the legendary George A. Romero.

The father of the modern zombie movie, Romero was also a deeply passionate idealist and multitalented artist with ideas spanning multiple genres. And while most of his fans focus on success of his Living Dead films (and the occasional obscure gem like Martin), today I’d like to discuss the director’s most overlooked feature, 1981’s Knightriders – a film that I think will appeal to hardcore horror fans despite featuring almost none of Romero’s penchant for exaggerated blood and guts.

Taken star Liam Neeson continues to ply his trade as Hollywood’s go-to aged action hero, and the Oscar nominee will continue to cement his legacy in the upcoming action thriller The Mongoose...which has now added several fan-favorite action stars to the ensemble. Coming courtesy of Deadline, it has now been revealed that Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames and The Shield and Fantastic Four actor Michael Chiklis have joined Neeson in The Mongoose, with MCU star and Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei also set to star.

The Mongoose, which will follow Neeson as veteran and war hero Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, who finds himself at the center of an explosive car chase after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, is currently filming in Australia. Details of the new cast of characters have also been unveiled, with Tomei playing Neeson’s ex-wife, who asks him “for help when she finds herself in trouble.

Zachary Levi is no stranger to changing gears, from superhero adventures in Shazam! to recently starring as an alcoholic man trying to connect with his autistic son in The Unbreakable Boy. Among the other projects on his upcoming slate is another shift in tone for him, the thriller Hotel Tehran. He will star alongside Liam Neeson, who Levi refers to as "an icon... a legend." The script comes from Guy Moshe based on an idea by Bazzel Baz, a former CIA Intelligence Special Operations Group Officer. Levi was clear about how there are aspects of Neeson's aura that are larger than life, but the man himself is much more:

"He definitely has that aspect that we've all come to know and love in his character work, right? Like that steeliness, you know, "I'll find you," that whole 'Taken' type of character, but he's a sweetheart of a guy. Like, he...

Filmmaker Zack Snyder is known for his comic book-inspired films that often combine highly stylized visuals with graphic sex and violence. It should come as no surprise, then, that Snyder's personal favorite film is an epic fantasy with its own distinctively expressionistic visuals and more than its fair share of sex and violence: John Boorman's Excalibur (1981).Snyder has described this condensed retelling of the legend of King Arthur as "incredibly poignant" and "the perfect meeting between movies and mythology," and has emulated its style throughout his own filmography.

Excalibur is known for its bloody battle sequences, gorgeous cinematography, and a soundtrack that includes compositions by Richard Wagner and Carl Orff. The film is also known for boosting the careers of several British and Irish actors who would later become household names, including Ciarán Hinds, Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, and even Liam Neeson,who had a small but memorable...

The legend of King Arthur has inspired countless film adaptations through the years. From Monty Python to Walt Disney to Dev Patel, we've seen many movie-makers try their hand at bringing King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to the silver screen. But one gem stands out for its unique take on the Arthurian legend and its impact on the dark fantasy genre: John Boorman's Excalibur. Backed by a legendary cast that includes Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, and Liam Neeson, Excalibur is an embarrassment of riches, and next year it will turn 45. In honor of the impact this film has had on the future of the fantasy genre, here's a look back at some of what makes Excalibur so great.

Image Source: Paramount Pictures When it comes to awards, Billy Bob Thornton is best known for 1996’s Sling Blade, which accounted for two of his three Oscar nominations: one for Best Actor, and one for Best Adapted Screenplay, which he won. But most people would be hard pressed to come up with the film that earned Thornton his third nomination. While A Simple Plan won plenty of critical acclaim, it never found its audience in the theaters, grossing just $16 million during its theatrical run. Through home video and streaming, though, more people have become aware of the film and Thornton’s Oscar-nominated performance. When we spoke to Thornton about the movie during its initial run, he told us that it took him a long time to become aware of the movie, too — he’d had the script for months before original director John Boorman (who later gave way to Sam Raimi...

If you don’t know, Sean Connery was often hailed as the real-life Hollywood brute during his young age, way before he even starred in the iconic spy thriller James Bond franchise. Well, considering how the actor had once famously beaten up gangsters after being held at gunpoint, Connery seemingly deserved that reputation in the industry.

Sean Connery as James Bond in Goldfinger (1964) | image: United Artists

But the story about his reputation got really serious when Sean Connery appeared in the 1974 movie Zardoz. While John Boorman’s film has been praised as a cult classic, behind-the-scenes anecdote revealed a near-fatal mishap after Connery almost choked the life out of a cameraman, who later faced significant damage to his career.

John Boorman recalled Sean Connery’s scary rage from the set of Zardoz

While Sean Connery was popularly known for his role as the British spy in the James Bond franchise,...

Quick Links A Spellbinding Reimagining of the Legend of King Arthur 'Excalibur' Becomes a Wondrous Silver Screen Spectacle 'Excalibur' Is an Influential and Cherished '80s Fantasy Gem

The enchanting 1981 medieval dark fantasy Excalibur features a sensational cast of future Hollywood greats, including Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, and Patrick Stewart, with the stunning picture serving as a spellbinding retelling of the timeless legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Celebrated for its luxurious cinematography, brilliant cast performances, and faithfulness to the transcending tale, Excalibur proved to be both a critical and commercial success upon its worldwide debut and helped kickstart the careers of its exceptional cast and crew.

It has been more than four decades since Excalibur first captivated audiences, and the sweeping film's legacy and prestige over the years has only grown, with the '80s gem going on...

Imagine Frodo Baggins swapping his epic quest for a romantic subplot that’d make Tolkien’s ghost do a somersault in his grave. Sounds wild, right? Before Peter Jackson gave us the masterpiece we know and love, The Lord of the Rings script once had Frodo getting cozy with Lady Galadriel in a storyline that screamed fanfiction gone wrong.

Peter Jackson | Image by: Mike Walen, licenced under Cca-by-sa-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The idea of the shy Hobbit sharing anything other than a solemn gaze with the ethereal Elf Queen would’ve turned Middle-earth into a soap opera. Thankfully, Jackson swooped in like Gandalf at dawn to save the day, sparing fans (and Tolkien’s legacy) from one truly questionable scene.

Frodo, Galadriel, and frozen Hobbits? The insane Lord of the Rings script that almost happened Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Rings of Power | Credits: New Line Cinema

Imagine Frodo hooking up with Galadriel.

Police dramas were flourishing in the 1970s (and later parodied in the 1980s) thanks to "Dragnet" when television writer Robert L. Collins hit upon what counted as a genius notion at the tail end of the Richard M. Nixon administration: what if instead of "policeman," "policewoman?" NBC said "Show us," and Collins responded with the buzzy "Police Woman" starring Angie Dickinson as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson.

"Police Woman" was about as progressive as you could expect from an hour-long network drama in the '70s when it was rare for a drama of any genre to be headed up by a woman. Once a week, Dickinson struck a quasi-feminist figure as an ultra-capable officer of the law with a penchant for dressing in tight-fitting shirts in pants. At least once she went undercover in a swimsuit. And as she complained to the press years later, the writers liked to have...

No two actors shaped the role of James Bond as profoundly as Sean Connery and Daniel Craig. Connery was the first to bring him to life, and Craig saw him die. Both were physically imposing—Connery the ex-bodybuilder, and Craig with “that beautiful boxer’s face.” Both were in their...

Zack Snyder is most decidedly a divisive filmmaker, but a very popular one at that. From his feature directorial debut, a remake of George A. Romero's zombie classic "Dawn of the Dead," to the complicated DC epic that was "Justice League," he's never been afraid to do the unsafe thing, for better or worse. So, what does a director like that enjoy watching? What are the movies Snyder looks to for inspiration?

Around the time that "Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire" was debuting on Netflix in late 20223, Snyder spoke with Letterboxd and shared his four favorite movies of all time. First and foremost, without hesitation, Snyder listed George Lucas' seminal sci-fi classic "Star Wars: A New Hope" as his favorite movie. Here's what he had to say about it:

"I'm going to have to say 'Star Wars,' just because I have to. 1977. You don't...