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Space Cadet is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Liz W. Garcia. The Prime Video film follows the story of Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a Florida party girl who has always dreamed of going to space and gets admitted into the NASA space program because of a fluke with much more capable candidates. She must prove herself to the NASA bosses using her heart, street smarts, and moxie. Space Cadet stars Emma Roberts in the lead role, with Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu, Sebastián Yatra, Kuhoo Verma, Desi Lydic, Gabrielle Union, Andrew Call, Sam Robards, and Dave Foley starring in supporting roles. If you like the comedic, romantic, and heartfelt moments of Space Cadet, here are some similar films you could watch next.

Legally Blonde (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – MGM

Legally Blonde is a romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic from a screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith.

I remember exactly where I was when I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman had died. I was at a revival screening of the 1979 version of Battlestar: Galactica at a Montreal theatre, waiting for the film to start when my email blew up. Here at JoBlo, whenever an icon dies, it tends to become a thread that allows us all to vent a little, and Hoffman’s death destroyed many of us.

It shook me up in a lot of ways, as I had just seen him at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks earlier, where he had two films, A Most Wanted Man and God’s Pocket. In hindsight, it’s easy to say he didn’t look quite right, but honestly, I had no clue anything was wrong with him. Of course, in the days following his death, we learned that addiction had taken its toll on perhaps the most outstanding actor of his generation,...

Maple Syrup Massacre is an editorial series where Joe Lipsett dissects the themes, conventions and contributions of new and classic Canadian horror films. Spoilers follow…

It would be disingenuous to suggest that Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster is a horror film.

Psychological thriller is more apt descriptor, though audiences seeking scary set pieces will walk away unsatisfied. Despite this, The Adjuster has a narrative of thriller tropes, including a large number of psychosexual relationships, characters adopting dual roles (or simply role playing) and an ending that encourages audiences to re-evaluate what they have seen.

Egoyan is one of Canada’s most significant contemporary directors, though internationally his work is known principally in art cinema and film festival circles. In the 90s, Egoyan was a symbol of national pride; he, along with David Cronenberg, was essentially the face of English-language Canadian film. His most famous film is the Sarah Polley-starring The Sweet Hereafter,...

American Beauty (1999)A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend.Rating: 8.3/10Stars: Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (Carolyn Burnham), Thora Birch (Jane Burnham), Wes Bentley (Ricky Fitts)20th Century Women (2017)The story of a teenage boy, his mother, and...

Graphic: Images: IMDBAmerican Beauty (1999)

A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend.

Rating: 8.3/10

Stars: Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (Carolyn Burnham), Thora Birch (Jane Burnham), Wes Bentley (Ricky Fitts)

20th Century Women (2017)

The story of a teenage boy, his mother,...

There’s something about gambling that makes us want to see it on the big screen. Whether it’s a comedy, crime drama, or romance, there’s something special about watching our favourite actors and actresses play around with cards and dice. In honour of this topic being quite popular lately (and because we just love movies and casino royale film locations), we’ve compiled a list of popular casino film titles in New Zealand. If you need a recommendation for your next movie night, take a look!

Nr 1 Casino Movie: The Hangover

Playing at casinos has always been a popular form of entertainment for many, and The Hangover is a classic comedy film that captures the fun and excitement of a trip to Las Vegas. Whether you’re a fan of online casinos or prefer the real-life experience of playing at a brick-and-mortar establishment, this movie is sure to resonate with you.

Exclusive: Actors Mark McKinney and Daniel Ings have signed on to star in the comedy road movie A Rush of Blood.

We understand British filmmaker Tristan Shepherd will direct the pic from a screenplay he also wrote. Billed as a “comedy, thriller, road trip movie,” the plot follows a British-Canadian couple, who get their last shot at fulfilling their professional ambitions — and any hope of reinvigorating their marriage — when their independent film is selected for Sundance. However, when they accept a ride to Park City with Reegan, a young, self-styled film reporter, who becomes increasingly maniacal as the journey unfolds, their dream slowly turns into a nightmare – more frightening than any film plot they could have ever devised. McKinney will play a character named Larry, while Ings will suit up as a character named Brian.

Producers on the...

With immense anticipation, ‘Oppenheimer’—the Christopher Nolan biopic about the “father of the atomic bomb” starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a leader in the infamous Manhattan Project during WWII.

Nevertheless, the movie dives deeper than just Oppenheimer’s iconic discovery. It also inspects his ties with the Communist Party and later investigation into his reliability amid the 1950s Red Scare hysteria.

He’s joined by Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty, Matt Damon as Lt. General Leslie Groves, and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss—will be premiering on July 21st.

In light of the upcoming summer blockbuster event, if you’re just like us and eagerly counting down the days for its release then why not use this time to get familiar with some “nuke shows” that center around a similar subject?

1 ‘Chernobyl’ (2019)

IMDb: 9.4/10

The HBO limited series ‘Chernobyl’ is an unrivaled vivid retelling of the...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every day of the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. Today’s Free Movie of the Day is the true crime “dramedy” Casino Jack, which first premiered in 2010 and stars Kevin Spacey as the title character. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by George Hickenlooper from a screenplay written by Norman Snider, Casino Jack has the following synopsis: A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

Spacey is joined in the cast by Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Jon Lovitz, Rachelle Lefevre, Graham Greene, Ruth Marshall, Hannah Endicott-Douglas, John Robinson, Jason Weinberg, Spencer Garrett, Yok Come Ho,...

After bouncing about in a couple of good Blu-ray editions, Carl Franklin’s superior film adaptation of the great Walter Mosley novel makes the jump to 4K. Denzel Washington’s star quality and acting prowess shine in the smart production, with Tak Fujimoto cinematography that put the color back into ’90s filmmaking. There’s plenty to enjoy in this hard/soft-boiled tale, starting with the great music. Everybody’s good and Don Cheadle’s loose-cannon henchman ‘Mouse’ is terrific. It’s one of Washington’s best pictures, and should have initiated an entire franchise of Walter Mosley / Easy Rawlins detective adventures.

Devil in a Blue Dress 4K

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1135

1995 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 19, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Lisa Nicole Carson, Albert Hall, Mel Winkler.

Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto

Film...

Favorite director Bill Forsyth lends his knack for droll understatement to a screenplay by John Sayles, a crime tale that opts for keen character study and doesn’t stretch credibility. Burt Reynolds has a gem of a role as a career burglar doing his bit for the next generation, showing a ‘new guy’ the ins and outs of thievery; Casey Siemaszko is his thick-headed but resolutely faithful assistant on several outrageous heists. The criminal life almost doesn’t seem too terrible — except for the going-to-prison part. The disc commentary with Forsyth and Sayles is a great listen.

Breaking In

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1989 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date January 11, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Casey Siemaszko, Sheila Kelley, Lorraine Toussaint, Albert Salmi, Harry Carey Jr., Maury Chaykin, Stephen Tobolowsky.

Cinematography: Michael Coulter

Production Designer: Adrienne Atkinson

Film Editor: Michael Ellis

Original Music: Michael Gibbs

Written by John...

Carl Franklin’s adaptation of the great Walter Mosley novel still plays like a winner. Denzel Washington’s star quality and acting prowess shine from the smart & handsome production, with Tak Fujimoto cinematography that put the color back into ’90s filmmaking. Everybody’s good and Don Cheadle’s loose-cannon henchman ‘Mouse’ is exceptionally so. There’s plenty to enjoy in this hard/soft-boiled tale, starting with the great music. It’s one of Washington’s best pictures, and should have initiated an entire franchise of Walter Mosley / Easy Rawlins detective adventures.

Devil in a Blue Dress

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1995 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date December 14, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Lisa Nicole Carson, Albert Hall, Mel Winkler.

Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto

Film Editor: Carole Kravetz

Original Music: Elmer Bernstein

From the book by Walter Mosley

Produced by Jesse Beaton,...

Mark McKinney, who currently stars on Superstore, has signed with Apa.

The multi-hyphenate plays Glenn on the NBC sitcom, which is now in its fifth season.

McKinney previously co-created, wrote and starred in the acclaimed Canadian series, Slings & Arrows; and was both story editor and a recurring character on Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60.

His work as co-creator, writer and ensemble cast member of The Kids In The Hall (1988-94) earned him three Emmy nominations and four Gemini Awards for best writing and best performance.

He also spent three seasons on Saturday Night Live as both a cast member and staff writer, and served as a producer/showrunner on the Tmn/HBO Canada’s comedy Less Than Kind, starring Maury Chaykin

McKinney continues to be managed by Perry Zimel.

Two 1980's science fiction efforts from the 'eighties: Millennium is an expensive book adaptation with Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd navigating a time travel story about body snatchers from the future. R.O.T.O.R is direct to video and strictly from hunger. Oh, the agony… However, both films surely have lessons to teach the budding filmmaker who thinks moviemaking is easy. Millennium and R.O.T.O.R. Blu-ray Color Scream Factory Street Date February 23, 2016 / 26.99

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Scream Factory plumbs the depths of the MGM library, which includes not only the holdings of United Artists, Orion and the old American-International Pictures, but also an alphabet soup of smaller outfits that were bought up in the 1990s. The independent productions seen on this Scream Factory Blu-ray double bill give us two kinds of science fiction properties. One is an expensive Canadian production with a big star, and the other is a...

Carl Franklin scored with this exciting adapation of Walter Mosley's first 'Easy' Rawlins detective tale, starring a terrific Denzel Washington as the South Central resident who takes up snoop work to pay the mortgage. Don Cheadle steals the show as Easy's loose-cannon pal from Texas, Mouse Alexander; this really should have been the beginning of a franchise. Devil in a Blue Dress Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1995 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Ship Date October 13, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Lisa Nicole Carson, Albert Hall, Mel Winkler. Cinematography Tak Fujimoto Production Designer Gary Frutkoff Costumes Sharen Davis Film Editor Carole Kravetz Original Music Elmer Bernstein From the book by Walter Mosley Produced by Jesse Beaton, Gary Goetzman Written and Directed by Carl Franklin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Carl Franklin was cheated, Easy Rawlins was cheated and We...

'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' review: Mostly an enjoyable romp (Oscar Movie Series) Pirate movies were a Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-'20s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-to-late '50s (Moonfleet, The Buccaneer), when the genre, by then mostly relegated to B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the '80s and '90s turned out to be critical and commercial bombs (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn't bode well for the Walt Disney Company's $140 million-budgeted film "adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. But Neptune's mood has apparently improved with the arrival of the new century. He smiled – grinned would be a more appropriate word – on the Gore Verbinski-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,...

'Being Julia' movie: Annette Bening and Shaun Evans 'Being Julia' movie review: Annette Bening showcase tells us a little about Avice A little Being Julia movie background: In Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1950 Oscar-winning classic All About Eve, Bette Davis plays Margo Channing, a major Broadway star who, despite her talent, wit, and some forty-odd years on this planet, falls prey to the youthful, ambitious wannabe Eve Harrington: sweet, soft-spoken Anne Baxter on the outside; ruthless, poisonous gargoyle on the inside.* More than a decade earlier, in 1937 to be exact, W. Somerset Maugham had written Theatre, a novel about West End diva Julia Lambert. In Maugham's tale, Julia, despite her talent, wit, and some forty-odd years on this planet, succumbs to her vanity when she falls madly in love with Tom Fennel, a handsome – and deceptively innocent-looking – American half her age. Through Tom's "special friendship" with the renowned Julia, an ambitious young actress,...

Today’s film is the 2002 short Hostage. The film is written by David Carter, Greg Hahn, and Vincent Ngo, and directed by John Woo. It also stars Maury Chaykin, Kathryn Morris, and Clive Owen, and is part of BMW’s series of The Hire short films. BMW recently announced that they would be making a new series of short films, with Gus Van Sant already signed on to do one of the shorts. Clive Owen will soon be seen on the Steven Soderbergh tv series The Knick.

****

The post Sunday Shorts: ‘Hostage’, directed by John Woo and starring Clive Owen appeared first on Sound On Sight.

Review by Sam Moffitt

I was as shocked and saddened as anyone at hearing of the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Not that long ago I wrote a review of Jack Goes Boating for We Are Movie Geeks, directed by Hoffman and starring him in an amazing performance. I’m glad I did that as I had no way of knowing Hoffman wouldn’t be with us much longer. I cannot comment on the problems he had with addictions. I had my own substance issues for years. I never lost a job or stole anything to support any habit and I never had to go into rehab, I simply quit using anything. Two cups of coffee is about as wild as I get these days.

Of course the Hollywood haters came out on the internet and in newspaper letter columns slamming Hoffman and the entire Hollywood lifestyle. Again, I can...

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada and Happy Funtime Productions presents the 'hallucinogenic' comedy TV series "The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour", starring "The Trailer Park Boys", on DVD February 12, 2013 :

The show stars former "Trailer Park Boys" actors John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells and Mike Smith "...as fictionalized versions of themselves, in a new sketch comedy series 'Happy Funtime Hour', but their production goes awry when a mad German scientist named 'Doctor Funtime' (Maury Chaykin) forces them to ingest a hallucinogenic substance he created. The actors must then go through unpredictable events while constantly meeting different characters..."

The DVD release contains all 6 episodes of the TV series, edited into a feature film, with bonus material segments, sneak peeks and PC Action News Coverage.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour"...     ...

Canadians have the TV comedy market cornered. That's not me being a smug Canadian, it's just fact.

Think about it. In addition to the obvious "Second City" alumni, we've produced some serious comedic talent in this country. Maybe it's in the water. Whatever the case, this Sunday we're bidding farewell (perhaps forever) to one of the best -- if not the best -- Canadian-made TV comedies. "Less Than Kind" is finishing up its three-season run in what some are speculating might be the last-ever episode (titled 'March Fourth').

No one thought "Less Than Kind" could do it. When the patriarch of the show, Maury Chaykin, passed away in July 2010, many asked how it could possibly survive without its comedic lynchpin. The answer is simple, and has been made very clear during the season 3 run: other members of the cast, especially young Jesse Camacho, pulled it all together and put on...

Def-con 4

1985 Canada 88min

Director: Paul Donovan, et al

Starring: Lenore Zann, Maury Chaykin, Tim Choate, Kate Lynch, Kevin King, and Jeff Pustil

Hell Comes To Frogtown

1988 USA 86min

Director: Donald G. Jackson and R.J. Kizer

Starring: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Sandahl Bergman, William Smith, Rory Calhoun, Cliff Bemis, Nicholas Worth, and Kristi Somers

Image Entertainment

Review by J Astro

Two cinematic blasts from Hollywood’s not-too-distant Cold War-inspired past are re-packaged together as a post-apocalyptic tag team on this two-for-one offering, which was made available by the folks at Image Entertainment just a few weeks ago (release date December 13, 2011). Each feature on this single-sided disc comes with its own title screen, scene selections, and a theatrical trailer. The DVD itself plays a few other vintage trailers (C.H.U.D., anyone?) before the main film selection menu. Otherwise, it’s all a pretty bare bones affair. But with mega-blockbusters like these,...

A few quick updates today, with more coming over the weekend.

Grimm 1x09, "Of Mouse and Man," airs tonight at 9 pm. Synopsis:

While investigating a gruesome homicide, Nick (David Giuntoli) learns that a seemingly mild-mannered resident could be festering a potential monster created from a dark childhood. Meanwhile, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) is sent an unsettling message by the creature community, who are beginning to wonder if his priorities lie with them or a Grimm. Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee also star.And some interesting spoilers for the rest of the season, from Entertainment Weekly:

And because so many of you have sent in your questions on Capt. Renard (Sasha Roiz), the Ep duo offered up this tease: Before the end of the season (likely with a few episodes to go), we will learn more about him and “it’s not what people think…and we...

IFC is finally releasing Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich’s Unauthorized documentary about Harvey Weinstein on October 7th. There’d be more hoopla about it, but the pic quietly premiered in February 2011 up in Canada so Hollywood already knows what’s in it and what’s not. (Emphasis on what’s not.) IFC is releasing it exclusively on its new global web platform Sundance Now, which offers transactional streaming access to movies as part of an overall program of releasing new films directly to consumers via the Web. I suspect this is the plan to bury the pic. So what will you see for $12.99? Apparently, nothing that you or I or anyone who works in or around the biz doesn’t already know about Harv. But I imagine outsiders will be fascinated and horrified. Still, talking about Harvey is nothing compared with seeing Harvey in the flesh, so just listening to talking heads like Mark Gill,...

Casino Jack isn’t a perfect film, or even the best of its kind. That said, it’s a definite should-see. The film follows a long tradition of scathing dramas and black comedies that have pulled apart America’s flawed institutions, from TV in sadly deceased Sidney Lumet’s masterpiece, Network, to Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, that ironically became the film to launch a thousand stock brokers. These issue-driven films don’t always have the filmmaker’s desired effect, but damn do they tell a good story. In Casino Jack’s case, the story is too implausible to believe…except that it’s real.

With a couple Dolph Lundgren films under his belt, producer Jack Abramoff left Hollywood and became Washington, D.C.’s super lobbyist. Kevin Spacey smoothly jumps into Jack’s shoes near the peak of his rise during the Bush years; opening restaurants, landing the big clients,...

Chicago – I have a love-hate relationship with Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” but it’s a lot easier to fall on the former side of that dynamic with the simply amazing Criterion Collection release of the Johnny Depp & Benicio Del Toro drug epic, recently released on Blu-ray. With a stunning transfer enhanced by some of the best special features of the year to date, this is the kind of Blu-ray release that makes the actual movie better.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

Being a gigantic fan of Gilliam’s early work like “Brazil” and “The Fisher King” along with someone who thought Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro were two of the coolest actors alive (keep in mind, this is way before Jack Sparrow, when Depp was not yet a household name), I had gigantic expectations for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” It was going to rule. It doesn’t rule.

The Sweet Hereafter Review: Part I Another side story focuses — of course — on the lone man in town, Billy Ansell, who, out of principle, refuses to be part of Stevens’ suit. Played by the always engaging Bruce Greenwood, Billy is a widower involved in an adulterous affair with the owner of the local motel, Risa Walker (Alberta Watson, who has an utterly pointless nude scene that is neither erotic nor in any way telling). Risa has been cheating on her lout of a husband, Wendell (Maury Chaykin), but her liaison with Billy comes out of nowhere and serves no real purpose — save to paint the town as, surprise!, a hotbed of kinky secrets. And that takes us to another important problem with The Sweet Hereafter: what's on screen offers little insight into the characters, something that Atom Egoyan apparently tries to compensate for with Mychael Danna's score, which...

The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Direction: Atom Egoyan Cast: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood, Tom McCamus, Gabrielle Rose, Alberta Watson, Caerthan Banks, Maury Chaykin Screenplay: Atom Egoyan; from Russell Banks' novel Oscar Movies Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, The Sweet Hereafter By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica: Some films are well crafted but lifeless. Others err by believing they can too readily make an audience care for a character just by having a traumatic situation beset him early on. Director and screenwriter Atom Egoyan's 1997 drama The Sweet Hereafter suffers from both maladies. Though not a bad film, it certainly isn't a great film, either — much less "the best film of the year" as Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan claimed. Foremost among the film's flaws is Egoyan's disoriented narrative based on Russell Banks' novel of the same name. Since I’ve not read the book, I don't know to...

It may sound a touch morbid, but one of the segments that I look forward to the most during every Oscar broadcast is the Academy's 'In Memoriam' spot. It is an important and necessary moment for cinema fans to remember and reflect upon those great movie-makers that have passed away over the previous year, whether in front of the camera or behind it. For every new Ellen Page or Hailee Steinfeld that begins a promising young career, there is a Leslie Nielsen or Dennis Hopper that sadly shuffles off their mortal coil forever, leaving wistful memories and brilliant catalogs of their wonderful work in film.

It is for that reason - memory - that the 'In Memoriam' portion of the show is crucial to the celebration as a whole. While the film-loving community congratulates those that represent the best that film-making has to offer, another group - the men and...

An awesome bit of news for those fans of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the Criterion release of the film is coming to Bluray on April 26th! The Terry Gilliam film stars Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, based off of Hunter S. Thompsons novel of the same name.

It is 1971, and journalist Raoul Duke barrels toward Las Vegas—accompanied by a trunkful of contraband and his unhinged Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo—to cover a motorcycle race. His cut-and-dried assignment quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey. Director Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil) and an all-star cast headlined by Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Donnie Brasco) and Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Che) show no mercy in adapting Hunter S. Thompson’s legendary dissection of the American way of life to the screen, creating a film both hilarious and savage.

Here is a run down of the special features:

Digital transfer,...

You can’t always go by your first impressions. When the story of uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff first hit the news, the media seemed to rejoice in having a hiss-able bad guy. The cable news channels loved running the video of his “perp walk” complete with wardrobe by Boris Badenov ( matching black fedora and trench coat ). Early last year we got to know more of the full story with Alex Gibney’s documentary Casino Jack And The United States Of Money. And now the feature drama based on the true story of D.C. corruption has arrived at movie theatres: George Hickenlooper’s Casino Jack with Kevin Spacey in the title role. With this telling we learn much more about the real man behind the scandals ( and late night TV monologue jokes).

The film opens with a tribute to the first few minutes of Raging Bull. Abramoff stares into a mirror...

When you come across a newsworthy item that strikes your creative fancy and feeds the instinct to turn it into some sort of screenplay is that you are not the only supplicant sipping from this particular muse's font. Jack Abramoff himself would fully appreciate this, both as an unsuccessful Hollywood screenwriter/producer and as a functionally-intellectual piece of human shit. If an idea is good, someone else is probably going to have it, and so you're gonna have to be the first to the finish line with the finished product, or else you're going to be considered derivative and lesser than. A Bug's Life trumped Antz, Dante's Peak edged out Volcano, Capote outcapoted Infamous, Armageddon aerosmithed Deep Impact, Tombstone made Wyatt Earp its huckleberry -- the streets of Hollywood are paved with the corpses of lesser flicks that were released within months of similar tales. Alex Gibney, who has been...

Scottish actor Robert Carlyle was the toast of the Gemini Awards in Canada on Saturday after landing the coveted Best Actor trophy.

The Trainspotting star was awarded for his role in Stargate Universe, while Jonathan Rhys Meyers' The Tudors programme won the title of Best Drama.

The big winner at the ceremony, which took place in Toronto, was Canadian show Less Than Kind, which took home three honours.

Show bosses picked up prizes for Best Comedy, Best Writing in a Comedy and Best Individual Comedy Performance.

Producer Mark McKinney paid tribute to late lead star Maury Chaykin, who died earlier this year, saying, "It's been a tough year for us", while writer Marvin Kaye added, "Maury was one of the most dear eccentric, terrifying and loving men I've ever worked with."

Other winners included Michael Buble (Best Host in a Music or Variety Programme for At The Concert Hall) and Elvis Costello (Best Talk Show for Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...).

Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical

The wonderfully named Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, is somewhat of an obscure Arthur Conan Doyle creation, appearing in four Sherlock Holmes stories, most notably 'The Greek Interpreter'. He is described as sort of a fatter, lazier version of Holmes, armed with powers of deduction that may surpass even those of his younger sibling's, but utterly unwilling to do the legwork to put them to any practical use. (Short digression: In this way, Mycroft Holmes is sort of like another of the great fictional detectives, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, a sedentary mountain of a man who refused to leave his Manhattan brownstone and had his assistant (and the books' narrator), Archie Goodwin, do all the running around. Wolfe was portrayed by Maury Chaykin in a short-lived but very good A&E television series.)

Obscurity notwithstanding, Mycroft Holmes will be included in...

Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical

The wonderfully named Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, is somewhat of an obscure Arthur Conan Doyle creation, appearing in four Sherlock Holmes stories, most notably 'The Greek Interpreter'. He is described as sort of a fatter, lazier version of Holmes, armed with powers of deduction that may surpass even those of his younger sibling's, but utterly unwilling to do the legwork to put them to any practical use. (Short digression: In this way, Mycroft Holmes is sort of like another of the great fictional detectives, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, a sedentary mountain of a man who refused to leave his Manhattan brownstone and had his assistant (and the books' narrator), Archie Goodwin, do all the running around. Wolfe was portrayed by Maury Chaykin in a short-lived but very good A&E television series.)

Obscurity notwithstanding, Mycroft Holmes will be included in...

"I'm Still Here" is Magnolia Films' new documentary by director Casey Affleck, following actor Joaquin Phoenix ("Gladiator"), from the announcement of his acting retirement, through his transition into a career as a failed, obnoxious 'hip hop' rapper.

Phoenix' 'performance' in "I'm Still Here", eerily resembles actor Maury Chaykin's turn as 'Desmond Howl', the burnt-out, slovenly automaton in director Richard J. Lewis, 1994 Canadian feature "Whale Music".

After "I'm Still Here" was mauled by critics for its candid depiction of Phoenix as a narcissistic, chain-smoking, drug-addled a-hole, destined to wind up like John Belushi, director Affleck was quick to point out that the film was an elaborately-staged 'faked' concoction, and that the mental-case up on screen was merely 'acting', including scenes of Phoenix vomiting in the toilet (CGI?) or having an assistant shit on his face while he is sleeping (bluescreen?)

Affleck has admitted he inserted a juvenile sequence in the beginning of the film,...

In case you haven't heard, actor Stephen Tobolowsky and I do a podcast for /Film called The Tobolowsky Files, which has been the subject of some humbling praise recently. While we're currently on hiatus until October, that didn't stop the folks at The New York Times from taking note of Stephen's amazing storytelling (which has also been published in The Awl). Today, Stephen has written an op-ed for The New York Times entitled "They Had Great Character," a tribute to five character actors (Kevin McCarthy, Carl Gordon, Maury Chaykin, James Gammon, Harold Gould) who have passed recently, and a meditation on what it means to be a character actor: My first day on “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray shook hands with me and said, “Hello, nice to meet you — now show me what you’re going to do.” I jumped into a few enormously energetic moments of Ned Ryerson and Bill...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all American distribution rights for the Canadian film Barney's Version, which was produced by Robert Lantos (Eastern Promises). This film directed by Richard J. Lewis and based on a novel by Canadian writer Mordecai Richler is currently being screened at the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. The film will be released in Canada in winter 2010.

We follow Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), an English-speaking Jew from Montreal, who feels in love for the first time of his life. However, it appears that he'll be married three times. Clara (Rachelle Lefevre), Barney's first wife, is a beautiful writer, but she's mentally ill. The second wife (Minnie Driver) left Barney at the time Boogie (Scott Speedman), Barney's best friend, disappeared. Miriam (Rosamund Pike), the third wife, left Barney for another man and he hopes that she'll come back to him.

The film is...

Welcome to the 249th Edition of my long-running series. This week I pay tribute to the late Maury Chaykin. I started performances for Arsenic And Old Lace and the show is going very well. We have performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm at the Anderson Mainstage Theatre and the tickets are $10 so get some laughs. Thanks to the cast, crew, and "dead bodies", I will tag the friends I have...

Actor who was at his best in shadowy roles

The actor Maury Chaykin, who has died aged 61 after a heart-valve infection, was an American and a Canadian citizen, and his career reflected his dual nationality. In the Us, he was a familiar face, if not a recognisable name, playing small but telling roles in major films. His breakthrough came in Dances With Wolves (1990), playing Major Fambrough, who sends Kevin Costner on his frontier assignment and then kills himself. Chaykin's only leading role was in the cable TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001), as the titular detective who refuses to leave his house, delegating that to his assistant (Timothy Hutton).

In Canada, Chaykin was something of a national treasure. He won a Genie award for best actor for his performance as a Brian Wilson-like burned-out rock star in Whale Music (1994), gave remarkable performances in three films directed by Atom Egoyan...

Telefilm Canada, a Canadian federal funding agency, announced ([1] and [2]) that three Canadian films will be screened at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, which will take place from September 1 to 11.

The first film is Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, an adaptation of a play written by Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad. It tells the story of Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette), two twins, who travel to Lebanon. After they had read their dead mother's (Lubna Azabal) will to find a father they thought dead and a brother they've never heard of with the help of Lebel (Rémy Girard), a notary. The film will be presented during the Venice Days, a parallel section of the festival

The second film will be Richard J. Lewis's anticipated film Barney's Version, an adaptation of Mordecai Richler's acclaimed novel. We follow Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), a Jewish from Montreal during his adventures in Europe.

Another fine character actor is gone. He appeared in over 100 movies in his career and had one of those familiar, recognizable faces. It’s hard to believe that Maury Chaykin was only 61 when he died on Tuesday of heart disease. That means he was just 41 when he costarred as the doomed Major Fambrough in Dances With Wolves. He seemed older but had a great movie face and showed great range in his roles. Chaykin was a talented actor who was a regular in the films of Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and was a regular on the La Femme Nikita and Entourage TV shows.

From The New York Times:

A hefty man with expressive, doughy features, Mr. Chaykin was the kind of actor whose name was known to few but whose face to many. His screen career lasted 35 years, and he appeared in dozens if not hundreds of movies and television shows,...

Sad news, folks: Canadian actor Maury Chaykin died yesterday, on his 61st birthday. Although you might not recognize him by name, you will most definitely remember the characters he played. His filmography is both impressive (over 150 film and television roles) and diverse. Chaykin was known as a character actor, able to slip into almost any role. Some of his most memorable ones include the raging commander in Dances With Wolves, the hillbilly in My Cousin Vinny and more recently, as Harvey Weinstein on HBO's Entourage. In an interview this morning on CBC Radio, Atom Egoyan talked about his friendship with Mr. Chaykin. When Egoyan was a budding filmmaker, he approached Mr. Chaykin to be in one of his films and was elated when, after having coffee together, he agreed. Since that film, Egoyan had found a role in most of his other work for Mr. Chaykin. News of Mr. Chaykin's...

"Award-winning actor Maury Chaykin, a familiar face in Canadian movies and TV shows since the 1970s, died Tuesday on his 61st birthday," reports the Toronto Sun.

"Boasting an impressive 153 film and television credits, Chaykin was known in and out of the land of the maple leaf," writes Monika Bartyzel at Cinematical. "In Canada, he graced a number of Atom Egoyan films including The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, and Where the Truth Lies, he teamed up with Don McKellar (who recently lost wife Tracy Wright) on Blindness and Cooking with Stella, and more recently played Sam Blecher in the Mark McKinney-produced Less Than Kind. But his accomplishments and impact reached stateside features as well. Chaykin played Major Fambrough in Dances with Wolves, Sam Tipton in My Cousin Vinny, and in recent years, he played 'Harvey Weingard' — aka 'Harvey Weinstein' — in Entourage."

"His death comes just as it was announced that his latest movie,...

Filed under: TV News

Actor Maury Chaykin died early Tuesday -- his 61st birthday -- according to CBC.ca. The cause of death is undetermined, but the veteran actor had been struggling with kidney problems.

Though you might not recognize Chaykin's name, you will surely recognize his credits. His IMDb.com entry lists more than 150 projects in a career that spanned film and television, including 'Dances with Wolves,' 'Nero Wolfe,' recent Canadian sitcom 'Less Than Kind' and several films by director Atom Egoyan, including 'Where the Truth Lies' and 'The Sweet Hereafter.' Chaykin even played Harvey Weinstein, or rather, Harvey Weingard, a character based on Weinstein, on HBO's 'Entourage.'

 

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American/Canadian actor Maury Chaykin has died on his 61st birthday. The rotund character actor, best known for his role in "Entourage", died in Toronto, Canada on Tuesday, July 27. He was believed to have been battling a kidney ailment.

Appearing in dozens of movies and TV shows since beginning his career in 1975, Chaykin became recognizable for his larger-than-life characters, appearing in "Dances With Wolves", "My Cousin Vinny", "The Mask of Zorro" and "A Life Less Ordinary". He found new fame playing Harvey Weingard - a parody of producer Harvey Weinstein - in hit TV show "Entourage" between 2005 and 2007.

Chaykin is survived by his actress wife Susannah Hoffmann and a daughter, Rose.

American/Canadian actor Maury Chaykin has died on his 61st birthday.

The rotund character actor, best known for his role in Entourage, died in Toronto, Canada on Tuesday. He was believed to have been battling a kidney ailment.

Appearing in dozens of movies and TV shows since beginning his career in 1975, Chaykin became recognisable for his larger-than-life characters, appearing in Dances With Wolves, My Cousin Vinny, The Mask of Zorro and A Life Less Ordinary.

He found new fame playing Harvey Weingard - a parody of producer Harvey Weinstein - in hit TV show Entourage between 2005 and 2007.

Chaykin is survived by his actress wife Susannah Hoffmann and a daughter, Rose.

According to CBC News, veteran Canadian actor Maury Chaykin passed away a few hours ago at the age of 61 years old. Despite being born in the USA, we'll definitely miss his passion for building the Canadian movie industry.

Fans of Canadian TV and films will tell you that his name definitely rings a lot of bells.

In films, we've seen him in acclaimed Canadian films such as Blindness, Adoration, Where the Truth Lies or The Sweet Hereafter just to name a few. Besides, he won a Genie Award (the Canadian Oscar) for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film Whale Music.

As for television, he was recently seen in the half-hour comedy Less than Kind, a TV series from the Canadian premium cable network HBO Canada.

Finally, I'd like to send my condolences all those who worked with him and knew him, especially his wife Susannah Hoffmann, an actress,...

Canadian film and television actor Maury Chaykin passed away today in a Toronto hospital on his 61st birthday. Born in New York to an American father and Canadian mother, Chaykin made his way to Toronto in the '70s, where he remained for the rest of his life, amassing a myriad of roles, Genie nominations for Iron Eagle II and Cold Comfort, and a win for 1994's Whale Music.

Boasting an impressive 153 film and television credits, Chaykin was known in and out of the land of the maple leaf. In Canada, he graced a number of Atom Egoyan films including The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, and Where the Truth Lies, he teamed up with Don McKellar (who recently lost wife Tracy Wright) on Blindness and Cooking with Stella, and more recently played Sam Blecher in the Mark McKinney-produced Less Than Kind. But his accomplishments and impact reached stateside features as well.

The guy whose mouth could give Ari Gold's a run for its money has been silenced. Veteran character actor Maury Chaykin, who had memorable roles in such films as Dances With Wolves, A Life Less Ordinary and Mystery, Alaska but was arguably best known for his Harvey Weinstein parody in HBO's Entourage, died Tuesday—on his 61st birthday. Chaykin, who had been battling a kidney ailment, passed away at a Toronto hospital surrounded by his family. The burly actor was known for his oddball characters, chiefly Entourage's hot-tempered producer Harvey Weingard, who frequently terrorized Vinnie Chase and crew. Chaykin also played the bizarre Maj. Fambrough, who gave Kevin Costner's Lt. John...