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Robin Williams just had a way of making people comfortable. He had a lot of tools in his belt for that particular task, but one of his methods was pretty simple. “He called everybody Boss,” remembered his Night at the Museum costar Ben Stiller in a Vanity Fair collection of Williams memories. “‘Yes, Boss. You want me here, Boss?’ Robin would go above and beyond to make people happy.”

“He always called me Boss, which made me feel good because I was younger than him,” said Chris Columbus, Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire director.

Calling people Boss was Williams’ “way of being respectful,” added Sarah Michelle Gellar, who starred with Williams on the show The Crazy Ones. “He was so generous. We used to joke that his assistant would never give him cash because he just gave it away.”

The Vanity Fair retrospective is packed with celebs praising all the ways in...

At the 27th Academy Awards, Oscar helped Edmond O’Brien win an Oscar.

O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”

”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.

Conspiracy thriller films have a way of sticking with our minds maybe it’s because they show that the authorities are hiding something and we know that actually might be true or maybe it’s just thrilling to uncover a large conspiracy even in a fictional world. We thought of compiling a list of the best and most thrilling conspiracy movies and we have only included the films that are entertaining and have a large conspiracy in their story. So, here are the 10 best conspiracy thriller movies you shouldn’t miss out on.

All the President’s Men (Rent on Prime Video)

All the President’s Men is a biographical political thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula from a screenplay by William Goldman. Based on a 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by authors Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the 1976 film is set during the 1972 elections and it follows the story...

Since the inception of the Academy Awards, the U.S.-based organization behind them has always strived to honor worldwide film achievements. Their extensive roster of competitive acting winners alone consists of artists from 30 unique countries, three of which first gained representation during the 2020s. The last full decade’s worth of triumphant performers hail from eight countries, while 42.1% of the individual actors nominated during that time originate from outside of America.

The academy’s history of recognizing acting talent on a global scale dates all the way back to the inaugural Oscars ceremony in 1929, when Swiss-born Emil Jannings (who was of German and American parentage) won Best Actor for his work in both “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” Over the next three years, the Best Actress prize was exclusively awarded to Canadians: Mary Pickford (“Coquette”), Norma Shearer (“The Divorcee”), and Marie Dressler (“Min and Bill...

The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival came to a close Sunday, but one of its highlights came three days earlier, with the last of the filmmaker tributes that serve as the spine of the fest.

On Thursday evening, inside Santa Barbara’s historic 2000-seat Arlington Theatre, veteran stage and screen actor Jeffrey Wright — who is Oscar-nominated for the first time in his nearly 30-year film career, for his leading performance in Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, a dramedy about race in America — was feted with the fest’s Montecito Award following a deeply engaging career-retrospective conversation with Sbiff executive director and passionate Wright admirer Roger Durling.

Wright, 58, spoke about being raised by his mother and his aunt, and never really even considering acting until he got to Amherst College, where he began to fall in love with the craft (and to abandon the notion of attending law school). He...

Every school has that certain teacher who is a bully, heartless and at times sadistic. Everyone must take their class, but no one finishes the course unscathed. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) of Alexander Payne’s acclaimed comedy-drama “The Holdovers” is one such instructor. Set in 1970, “The Holdovers” revolves around the by-the-books classics professor teaching at the same New England boarding school he had attended. Hunham is hated by his students, as well as his fellow teachers. And he’s also in hot water, after he failed one of the school’s largest donor’s son in his class. During the Christmas break, he is forced to supervise the “holdovers — -the students who for various reasons must stay on campus. He ends up sharing the holidays with one troubled student (Dominic Sessa) whose mother recently remarried; and the cafeteria administrator (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) grieving her only son’s death in the Vietnam War.

Jeffrey Wright began his distinguished career as a member of John Houseman‘s renowned Acting Company, touring the country performing Shakespeare and honing his craft. His stage breakthrough came with his co-starring role in the original production of “Angels in America” as the nurse Belize, a performance that won him a Tony Award and later an Emmy when Wright reprised it for the 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation.

That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...

Jeffrey Wright began his distinguished career as a member of John Houseman‘s renowned Acting Company, touring the country performing Shakespeare and honing his craft. His stage breakthrough came with his co-starring role in the original production of “Angels in America” as the nurse Belize, a performance that won him a Tony Award and later an Emmy when Wright reprised it for the 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation.

That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...

The Thing (1982)A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.Rating: 8.2/10Stars: Kurt Russell (MacReady), Wilford Brimley (Dr. Blair), Keith David (Childs), Richard Masur (Clark)Halloween (1978)Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a...

Graphic: Images: IMDBThe Thing (1982)

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Rating: 8.2/10

Stars: Kurt Russell (MacReady), Wilford Brimley (Dr. Blair), Keith David (Childs), Richard Masur (Clark)

Halloween (1978)

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes...

On December 26, 1973, horror fans endured long lines for the theatrical premiere of The Exorcist – a film that’s now considered by many to be the scariest movie ever made. Directed by William Friedkin and based on the bestselling novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist broke box office records in its first week of release. Theater employees reported that moviegoers were passing out, becoming ill, and heading for the exits before the credits rolled because the subject matter was so disturbing and intense.

The creation of the classic horror film, which is the gold standard for movies dealing with possession and the devil, begins with Blatty’s novel published in 1971. Blatty’s story focused on a 12-year-old girl named Regan MacNeil who went from a happy-go-lucky, horse-loving preteen to a foul-mouthed, head-spinning nightmare after being possessed by a demon. Coming to Regan’s rescue were two Catholic priests who eventually...

19 years after filmmaker Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti teamed up on Sideways, one of the finest films of the 21st century, the duo have reunited on The Holdovers, a 1970s period dramedy that had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival’s Werner Herzog Theatre on Thursday afternoon — and might well bag Giamatti the best actor Oscar nom of which he was robbed for his prior collaboration with Payne.

Giamatti plays a pompous and sadistic teacher — reminiscent of the one in 1973’s The Paper Chase that brought an Oscar to John Houseman, a similarly great character actor — at the New England all-boys boarding school he once attended. He lands the undesirable assignment of overseeing preppy students who can’t go home for the holidays and can’t stand him, and winds up spending most of his time with one particularly smart but rebellious juvenile (talented newcomer Dominic Sessa...

Have you heard the one about the Mma fighter who helped mastermind the biggest heist in British history? Pat Kondelis did. Then the multiple Emmy winner turned the Lee Murray story into a captivating four-part documentary for Showtime. Catching Lightning, premiering April 9,is by turns sly, brutal, and quite funny, a very British crime story with a very dangerous man at its center. You might enter its cage wondering if it really needs to be four hours long, but chances are you’ll end up hanging on every bizarre turn and detail.

John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing" is, like many of Carpenter's movies, possessed of a nihilistic streak. The titular Thing is a living mass of alien tissues, existing without form, able to invade a host, consume it, and replicate it down to its very brain functions. It can look and sound like anyone. The Thing doesn't appear to be intelligent and lives only to consume and perpetuate itself. Carpenter's film is set at a remote Antarctic outpost populated by bored, surly, mostly bearded men, tired of their isolated job and only barely staving off mind-crushing boredom. When the Thing infiltrates their ranks, paranoia immediately takes over, and the characters all begin suspecting one another. Only the stalwart pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell) holds it together enough to seek out the creature in a logical fashion.

By the end of the film, most of the outpost will be burned down, and...

Last week, we unveiled the premiere episode of The Manson Brothers Show, which is hosted by the writers/stars of the horror comedy The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre – Chris Margetis (Stone Manson) and Mike Carey (Skull Manson). In the first episodes, Margetis and Carey discussed tortilla soup, Iron Maiden, the wrestling word of the week, and the 1976 classic The Omen. Now they’re back to talk about John Carpenter’s 1980 film The Fog (watch it Here), and you can find out what they think of the movie – as well as other assorted topics – by watching the video embedded above!

Here’s some information on The Manson Brothers Show: At long last, The Manson Brothers (Stone and Skull Manson) bring their lunacy to The Arrow in the Head Show YouTube Channel! The brothers discuss all manner of topics ranging from bad ass movies, bad ass music, and bad ass women,...

New York, NY – Actor Kevin Conroy, the most beloved voice of Batman in the animated history of the character, died Thursday at age 66 after a short battle with cancer.

A noted stage, film and television performer, Conroy rose to unparalleled voice acting fame as the title character of the landmark Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1996). He would establish never-to-be-broken records as the quintessential voice of Batman, bringing the super hero to animated life in nearly 60 different productions, including 15 films – highlighted by the acclaimed Batman: Mask of the Phantasm; 15 animated series, spanning nearly 400 episodes and more than 100 hours of television; as well as two dozen video games. Conroy was also featured as a live-action Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse’s 2019-2020 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event.

In recent years, Conroy was a notable fixture on the Con circuit, greeting fans with the same warmth, respect and enthusiasm they reserved for him.

Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman for three decades of animated TV, specials and video games, died Thursday. He was 66.

His death was announced by his rep Gary Miereanu and Warner Bros. A cause was not disclosed, but he reportedly had been battling cancer.

In a statement, Warner Bros. Animation said it “is saddened by the loss of our dear friend Kevin Conroy. His iconic performance of Batman will forever stand among the greatest portrayals of the Dark Knight in any medium. We send our warmest thoughts to his loved ones and join fans around the world in honoring his legacy.”

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An actor with credits on stage, television and film, Conroy became a premier voice actor as the title character of Batman: The Animated Series...

Kevin Conroy, best known for voicing Batman on Warner Bros.’ long-running TV show “Batman: The Animated Series,” has died after a short battle with cancer. He was 66.

“Batman: The Animated Series” originally aired for 85 episodes on Fox Kids from 1992-1995. Conroy’s deep, gravelly Batman voice was widely acclaimed by critics and comic book fans, with many regarding the actor as the definitive Caped Crusader. The series also featured Mark Hamill’s memorable performance as the Joker.

“Kevin was perfection,” Hamill said in a statement. “He was one of my favorite people on the planet, and I loved him like a brother. He truly cared for the people around him – his decency shone through everything he did. Every time I saw him or spoke with him, my spirits were elevated.”

Conroy was so beloved for his Batman voice role that he continued with the character in various other DC projects,...

Chicago – One of the greatest challenges of any actor is the portrayal of a person in history that is familiar to most of the culture. Orson Welles is such a man, and Jewell Wilson Bridges took on his persona in the new film “Voodoo MacBeth.” He plays Welles as the “Boy Genius” stage director, age 21 in 1936.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Before the radio notoriety of “War of the Worlds” and the film “Citizen Kane,” there was the stage rendering of “Voodoo MacBeth.” Produced by John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) for the Federal Theatre Project as part of a Depression-era “New Deal” government program, it featured an all-black cast in Harlem performing Shakespeare’s MacBeth, including leading Broadway actor Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor). Houseman turned to 21-year-old Orson Welles (Bridges) to bring the production to life, and as director he creates a radical version set in a fictional Caribbean island, using voodoo instead of witchery to drive the famous narrative.

For some theater fans, the 1936 production of the “Voodoo Macbeth” (as it became commonly known) is the stuff of legend. Funded by the Federal Theater Project, which gave financial aid to the struggling theater community during the Great Depression, the “Voodoo Macbeth” starred a cast of black performers in an imaginative new staging of William Shakespeare’s so-called “Scottish Play,” set in Haiti in the early 1800s.

The show was a mammoth success, critically acclaimed and financially successful, and not for nothing, it was one of the more noteworthy early accomplishments of a 20-year-old thespian and director named Orson Welles.

While Welles’s theater days have been the subject of biopics before, with films like “Cradle Will Rock” and “Me and Orson Welles” dramatizing his imaginative stagings, the new film “Voodoo Macbeth” may be the first to properly depict this particular landmark production. It’s attractively filmed and, mostly, solidly performed,...

“Voodoo Macbeth” credits no fewer than 10 directors and eight screenwriters, all of them students of or recent graduates from the USC School of the Cinematic Arts. And arguably the most impressive thing about the USC-produced movie — a fanciful dramatization of Orson Welles’ historic 1936 New York production of “Macbeth” with an all-Black cast — is how smoothly it plays as all of one piece. To be sure, you might quibble about certain dramatic liberties the creatives have taken to embellish real-life events — or, in some cases, to completely rewrite history covered in Orson Welles biographies and documentaries. And yes, the film overall is more diverting than stirring. Still, there is a good deal more than novelty value going for this group effort.

Set during the Depression Era, “Voodoo Macbeth” begins with an introduction to the Negro Theatre Unit, an innovative federally funded offshoot of the Works Project Administration, and its two...

Britain is a pretty spooky place. Not only is it one of the most densely haunted countries in the world, but each region is also thick with its own myths and legends. There is nothing quite as eerie as the English countryside, something I feel so nostalgic for now that I live abroad. I especially miss the lonely lanes, empty fields, and deserted beaches of my home county Suffolk, which also inspired some of the most famous ghost stories of M.R. James.

Suffolk was witchcraft country back in the day and the wicked Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, plied his trade there. A merman was once caught in the waters near Orford and was held for interrogation at the castle, while up the coast in Blythburgh, the demon dog Black Shuck burst into the church and frazzled a few of the congregation with his fiery breath.

My favorite tale when I...

Today feels like a good day to revisit a horror classic, doesn’t it? Thankfully, we have a new episode of the Revisited video series to help us look back at a great one from director John Carpenter: the 1980 film The Fog (watch it Here). Check it out in the embed above!

Directed by Carpenter from a screenplay he wrote with Debra Hill, The Fog has the following synopsis:

Strange things begin to occurs as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town’s founding; radio announcer Stevie witnesses a mystical fire; and hitchhiker Elizabeth discovers the mutilated corpse of a fisherman. Then a mysterious iridescent fog descends upon the village, and more people start to die.

The film stars Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, John Houseman,...

Click here to read the full article.

Peter Straub, an author of horror and supernatural fiction who had worked with Stephen King, died Sunday at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. He was 79.

His wife, Susan Straub, told The New York Times that his death stemmed from complications due to a broken hip. Additionally, his daughter Emma Straub, also a novelist, announced his passing on Twitter in a tribute thread.

Straub is known for penning such work as 1975’s Julia, about a woman who senses she’s being stalked by a supernatural presence while mourning the death of her young daughter, which was adapted into the 1977 film The Haunting of Julia that stars Mia Farrow. He achieved major success with 1979’s Ghost Story, about a group of men who attempt to learn the backstory of the female spirit haunting them; it was adapted into the 1981 film of...

It was announced today that acclaimed horror author Peter Straub passed away, an undeniable creative force who completely changed what was possible in the landscape of dark fantasy and horror fiction. Straub wrote with such beautiful world-building detail and rich prose that he often elevated the simplest concepts into full-fledged epics, which is precisely why the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King, collaborated with him on their collaborative masterpiece, "The Talisman."

While King has been the most adapted author of the modern era, Straub has only had two novels brought to life. In 1977, "The Haunting of Julia" was released inspired by his novel "Julia," but the film that should have had studios vying to gain the rights to any and all of Straub's works came in 1981 when Universal adapted his haunting novel "Ghost Story."

Straub published the novel in 1979, which became a national bestseller and helped cement Straub as one of the horror fiction greats.

Peter Straub, a bestselling novelist who co-authored two beloved books with Stephen King, has died at the age of 79.

Straub’s daughter, Emma Straub, also a novelist, confirmed the news Tuesday on her Instagram account.

According to The New York Times, his wife, Susan Straub, said his death was caused by complications from breaking a hip. He died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Fellow writers and collaborators have been mourning the author’s death on social media, including Neil Gaiman, who was one of the first to express his sadness at Straub’s death.

King, whose latest novel “Fairy Tale” debuts in bookstores Tuesday, wrote: “Working with him was one of the great joys of my creative life.”

Also Read:

Barbara Ehrenreich, Author of ‘Nickel and Dimed,’ Dies at 81

Straub’s first horror novel, “Julia,” was published in 1975 by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. It was adapted into a feature, known as either “Full Circle...

Exclusive: USC Originals has scored its first theatrical release, in association with Warner Bros., following Lightyear Entertainment’s acquisition of its film, Voodoo Macbeth. The company behind the Oscar-nominated Australian feature Tanna has slated the pic for release across the U.S. and Canada in October.

Based on a true story, Voodoo Macbeth follows a young Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) and a group of committed artists as they set out to create what is now considered a landmark event in African-American theater history—the Negro Theatre Unit’s revolutionary 1936 production of Macbeth.

With Fdr’s New Deal providing funding for the Federal Theatre Project, director Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) convinces co-director John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) to help her bring Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater — with an all-Black cast. Well before Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds, they choose for their groundbreaking production...

Norman Jewison’s 1975 dystopian sports allegory, Rollerball, looms large as an icon of cult filmmaking, but its power in the science fiction pantheon is grossly underestimated. The film has the force of a deeply personal vision from its director, and the full support of a nuanced performance from the late James Caan as Jonathan E., aka the star Rollerballer.

Prior to redefining movie gangsters in The Godfather, Caan executed a game-changing role in Brian’s Song. He played Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo against Billy Dee Williams’ Gayle Sayers, his rival and roommate in an era when Black and white players did not share rooms. They bond over much more than a mutual love of football; the Emmy-winning 1971 ABC Movie of the Week about the terminally ill rookie was a cultural event on TV.

“When I was casting Rollerball, I was looking for an actor who was tough and athletic,...

A post-James Bond Daniel Craig and Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga currently are shaking things up on Broadway in the latest revival of “Macbeth,” Shakespeare’s tragedy of mayhem, power, murder and madness. The “Scottish play” has a reputation for being cursed because the Bard used real witches’ spells.

It certainly has fallen afoul of the Tony Awards over the years. Negga was nominated but Craig was snubbed. Of the 11 previous stagings of “Macbeth” since the start of the Tony Awards, only the 2008 revival merited nominations for both stars (Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood). Glenda Jackson reaped a bid in 1988 while Christopher Plummer was left in the wings.

The first recorded production of the play in New York was way back in 1768 at the John Street Theatre, which had been built the year before. Though the closing date is unknown, the theater was demolished in 1897. Lewis Hallam, who is the only known cast member,...

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“Citizen Kane” is being restored by the Criterion Collection in honor of the film’s 80th anniversary. Regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, “Citizen Kane” follows the story of a reporter tasked with decoding the meaning of “Rosebud” — the final word uttered by Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) on his death bed. Kane, a fictitious newspaper mogul, was inspired by real-life tycoons William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, Samuel Insull, and Harold McCormick.

The Criterion edition of Welles’ 1941 feature film directorial debut will be released on November 23, but you can pre-order it now to make sure that you get a copy (in case they sell out during the Black Friday...

“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.”

Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane (1941) will be available on 4k and Blu-ray October 19th. A 4-disc 4K Uhd+Blu-ray Combo and a 3-blu-ray Edition will both be available.

In the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, twenty-five-year-old writer-producer-director-star Orson Welles synthesized the possibilities of sound-era filmmaking into what could be called the first truly modern movie. In telling the story of the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of a William Randolph Hearst–like newspaper magnate named Charles Foster Kane, Welles not only created the definitive portrait of American megalomania, he also unleashed a torrent of stylistic innovations—from the jigsaw-puzzle narrative structure to the stunning deep-focus camera work of Gregg Toland—that have ensured that Citizen Kane remains fresh and...

Finally, the Daily Dead “Class Of” series has reached my beloved birth year, 1981. For the genre, 1981 signifies an important moment in the history of horror. With the introduction of two slasher icons, Michael Myers in 1978 and Jason Voorhees in 1980; the beginning of the sequel boom that would dominate the rest of the decade was born in 1981 with Halloween 2 and Friday the 13th Part 2. These two sequels are merely the introduction to the rise of slasher cinema for the 80s, with 1981 providing a variety of examples like The Burning, Graduation Day, The Prowler, Funhouse, Happy Birthday to Me, Final Exam, Night School, Student Bodies, and My Bloody Valentine.

1981 also proved the best year in the history of horror for werewolf movies. The iconic American Werewolf in London set the gold standard in practical transformation effects. The Howling is a demonstration of how horror and humor can coexist perfectly. Wolfen...

Norman Lloyd, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur and portrayed Dr. Daniel Auschlander on NBC’s St. Elsewhere, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, as Variety reports. Lloyd’s friend, producer Dean Hargrove, confirmed his death to Variety. He was 106.

The Hollywood veteran’s eight-decade career spanned theater, radio, film and TV, where he served in a variety of roles including director and producer. While his own name may not be widely recognized, he was deeply respected within industry circles and worked with some of the...

Norman Lloyd was the last one standing. For a long time, it looked like an extended, slow-motion foot-race between Norman and Olivia de Havilland as to who would be the final significant figure from Hollywood’s golden age to pass from Earth to the eternal cinematic firmament. But Olivia left us in July of last year at 104, and now Norman, two years older, has joined all the others who helped make Hollywood what it was. The parade has now definitively, conclusively, gone by.

In a life bracketed by two pandemics, the Spanish flu of 1918-20 and the ongoing Covid onslaught, this Jersey and Brooklyn boy born into modest circumstances first strode onto the New York stage in 1932, was the last surviving member of Orson Welles’ and John Houseman’s Mercury Theater and made his startling film debut in 1942 as the villain who fell from the top of the Statue of...

Norman Lloyd, the actor, producer and director whose collaborations with Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Bertolt Brecht and Jean Renoir made him a legend — albeit an off-the-radar one — in Hollywood, died Tuesday morning. He was 106.

Lloyd died in his home in Los Angeles, his son, Michael, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lloyd portrayed the villain who plummets from the Statue of Liberty at the climax of Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942) and appeared as the crusty Dr. Daniel Auschlander on NBC’s acclaimed 1980s hospital drama St. Elsewhere.

His first love was the theater, and he was asked by Welles and John Houseman to join their legendary Mercury Theatre in the ...

Norman Lloyd, the actor, producer and director whose collaborations with Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Bertolt Brecht and Jean Renoir made him a legend — albeit an off-the-radar one — in Hollywood, died Tuesday morning. He was 106.

Lloyd died in his home in Los Angeles, his son, Michael, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lloyd portrayed the villain who plummets from the Statue of Liberty at the climax of Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942) and appeared as the crusty Dr. Daniel Auschlander on NBC’s acclaimed 1980s hospital drama St. Elsewhere.

His first love was the theater, and he was asked by Welles and John Houseman to join their legendary Mercury Theatre in the ...

Orson Welles thankfully didn’t live to see a world in which conversation around his work has devolved into Tomatometer-related banter, but as an extensive search gets underway for one of the most prized, long-lost possessions of his oeuvre, hopefully we’ll emerge from this critical nadir. In the meantime, a timely documentary narrated by the Citizen Kane diretor has been restored and is arriving next month, on May 21, for the 40th anniversary of its U.S. premiere.

Wieland Schulz-Keil’s New Deal for Artists, digitally remastered from the 16mm negative, explores the history behind a section of Fdr’s New Deal Program that provided economic relief and jobs for artists following the Great Depression. The most ambitious government-supported arts program since the Italian Renaissance as it resulted in providing work for over 10,000 artists, the program was soon targeted by Republicans’ aggressive anti-communist agendas as the House Un-American Activities Committee came to fruition.

The 2020 Best Supporting Actor lineup, which included performances that ranged from 43 to 56 minutes long, proved that high screen times are fairly common in the category. Six actors have won the award with over one hour of screen time, while an additional 18 nominees have passed that mark. Here is a look at the 10 performances that rank as the longest of them all (and here are the 10 longest winners):

10. Jeff Bridges (“Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”)

1 hour, 6 minutes, 23 seconds (57.74% of the film)

After Mickey Rooney and Sal Mineo, Bridges became the third man to receive two acting Oscar nominations by age 25, and there has not been another in the 45 years since. His second bid for playing the titular Lightfoot also earned him a spot on this list and was the 11th nominated supporting male performance to have over one hour of screen time. Bridges finally scored his first win at age 60, as a lead in “Crazy Heart,...

Hey, Oscar pundits: Don’t count out Bill Murray just yet to win Best Supporting Actor for his role in the A24/Apple TV+ release “On the Rocks.” Over the years this specific category has been the equivalent of the veterans achievement award, with 10 men claiming victory after the age of 70 (see below). Murray just turned 70 in September, which makes him one of only two septuagenarians in Gold Derby’s Top 8, the other being 73-year-old Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”). Could Murray’s decades of experience in the industry give him a secret advantage in this race?

Murray plays Felix in “On the Rocks,” a caring father who gets involved in the marital troubles of his daughter Laura (Rashida Jones) and her possibly cheating husband Dean (Marlon Wayans). Sofia Coppola wrote and directed the dramedy film, which serves as a reunion of sorts between she and Murray. The first time...

There are many who champion the idea of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar category honoring traditionally secondary roles and lament the fact that it has fallen out of fashion. Still, plenty of performances short on screen time have prevailed in the category’s 84-year history. Here is a look at the 10 shortest of all time, including the record holder:

10. James Coburn (“Affliction”)

17 minutes, 10 seconds (15.03% of the film)

After a prolific acting career, James Coburn was finally rewarded in 1999 with his first Oscar nomination and win. At 70 years old, he was the oldest acting nominee of the year, as well as the only first time nominee in his lineup. His overdue narrative certainly helped him win, but so did the skillful quality of his performance. After four decades of portraying characters with limited screen time, Coburn made abusive father Glen Whitehouse the role of a lifetime.

9. Hugh Griffith (“Ben-Hur”)

16 minutes, 51 seconds...

Sometime during the rickety, rollicking production of Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind in 1974, the 1942 Oscar statuette for Best Original Screenplay (which Welles had won for Citizen Kane) disappeared. Only three decades later did cinematographer Gary Graver reveal that he’d placed the Oscar, blasphemously used as a prop for The Other Side of the Wind, in his storage. “Here, keep this,” Welles had told him. And so he did. The filmmaker’s daughter, Beatrice Welles, then sued Graver, and sold the statue herself. Because her father had “loathed everything that [the Citizen Kane] Oscar represented,” she argued, “To sell the one thing that had no value to him, but was of great value to others, perhaps was not so bad after all.”This award, however, held immense value for the other winner, the screenwriter and producer Herman J. Mankiewicz (nicknamed “Mank”), who threatened Orson Welles—with rumors and...

Joseph McBride, the veteran film historian, biographer, screenwriter and professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University, has written three critical studies on Orson Welles including “What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career” (2006). He knew the legendary filmmaker and even appears as a young film critic in “The Other Side of the Wind,” Welles’ infamous unfinished film, which was completed and released in 2018.

He’s also been a staunch defender of the filmmaker’s authorship of 1941’s “Citizen Kane” since the publication of Pauline Kael’s controversial 50,000 word “Raising Kane,” which first appeared in two consecutive New Yorker articles in Feb. 1971. Kael praised the contributions to the Oscar-winning script by Herman Mankiewicz, who has the first position in the screen credit, while denigrating Welles’ contribution.

And the argument is back in the news with David Fincher’s new film, “Mank”,’ currently streaming on Netflix,...

David Fincher’s “Mank,” a drama set in the Hollywood of the 1930s and ’40s and focusing on “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, has found itself embroiled in an argument that began when Fincher was only 8 years old. It’s a battle whose combatants included film critic Pauline Kael, director Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles himself.

At issue is the question of how much Welles contributed to the “Kane” script, for which he and Mankiewicz are both credited. Welles’ critics say the screenplay was almost entirely Mankiewicz’s creation, with the director-actor-producer trying to seize writing credit from the man who actually did the work. Welles’ supporters say that Mankiewicz and Welles simultaneously wrote first drafts, which Welles then turned into the final script, largely without input from Mankiewicz.

“Mank” does not adhere strictly to either viewpoint, and much of the film is devoted more to the California gubernatorial election...

If your grandfather wrote “Citizen Kane,” you could imagine that might be a helluva shadow to escape from. But Ben Mankiewicz has been able to shine his own light for the past 17 years — and shine a light on films worthy of discovery — as a host on Turner Classic Movies. The 53-year-old broadcaster, who also contributes reported segments to CBS Sunday Morning and co-hosts The Young Turks, never knew Herman J. Mankiewicz, who died in 1953. But the stories of his grandfather’s life and his commission from Orson Welles to write “Citizen Kane” have been passed down from generation to generation. Imagine Ben and his family’s astonishment that his grandfather’s life has now received the big-screen biopic treatment, courtesy of David Fincher’s “Mank.”

“We thought then, what we thought now,” Ben, who learned of the existence of Jack Fincher’s “Mank” screenplay 10 to 15 years ago, said. “Which is...

From the first shots, in glorious black-and-white (cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt) on the road through the California desert, music swelling, we enter the territory of Film Noir. Mank, directed by David Fincher with a screenplay by his father, Jack Fincher (who died in 2003), tells the story of Herman J Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), co-screenwriter of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. Mank arrives at North Verde Ranch to write, recover from injury, and sober up. With him are John Houseman (Sam Troughton), his German nurse Fräulein Frieda (Monika Gossmann), and Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), who will take dictation.

The set-up with Mank and Rita resembles that of Richard Quine’s fabulous 1964 Paris When It Sizzles, a comedy about the strenuous task of writing a movie. William Holden plays a frequently inebriated Hollywood screenwriter...

[Editor’s note: This article contains major spoilers about the plot of “Mank.”]

“Mank” is a lot to take in. Diehard fans of classic Hollywood cinema and “Citizen Kane” obsessives alike may be well-suited to parse David Fincher’s complex portrait of world-weary screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, but even then, this intricate black-and-white drama draws on a lot of reference points that a many audience members may not grasp the first time around.

The movie tracks two dueling narratives: Mank’s experiences in Hollywood throughout the ’30s, as he undergoes a falling out with Hollywood and studio moguls over their politics, and his decision to use his experiences in that world to write his greatest work — inspired by his former proximity to media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who became the template for the affluent mystery at the center of “Citizen Kane.”

But there’s more to “Mank” than that: Fincher, who draws on a script written decades ago by his late father Jack,...

This article contains Mank spoilers. You can read our review here.

It’s like the climax of a Western. Two men stare across from each other in a showdown of ego and calculation. And Gary Oldman’s Herman J. Mankiewicz (or “Mank”) has just told Orson Welles (Tom Burke) he wants writing credit for the Citizen Kane screenplay. This is not going to end well.

Before this moment, Welles had been conciliatory to Mank, feigning concern for his health and offering to take sole rewriting duties on the gargantuan script. He’s even providing $10,000 from Rko Pictures as a consolation. It’s of course more bribe than bonus. Yet as Welles realizes that he might have to share credit, or worse have no credit at all for a screenplay we just watched Mankiewicz write alone for two hours, the budding director throws a temper tantrum worthy of Charles Foster Kane,...

Coming off a Best Actor Oscar win for Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman had a lot of choices. But following up that remarkable portrait of Winston Churchill during the war years with another real-life figure an alcoholic screenwriter from Hollywood’s golden era, could not be more of a polar opposite. The result however is the same, and that is wide acclaim and instant Oscar buzz for his portrayal in David Fincher’s Mank, about the Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz who contractually wasn’t even supposed to receive credit for the job that Orson Welles, then the 25-year-old wunderkind director-star, brought him aboard to do.

Welles and Mankiewicz ended up sharing credit, and ironically the iconic film’s only Oscar, for Best Screenplay, out of nine nominations. Neither attended the ceremony in 1942, but Mankiewicz did meet the press later and said, “I am very happy to accept this award in Mr.

Brought to life by a stellar cast of A-listers, David Fincher's Golden Era-styled Netflix drama, Mank, hops back and forth in time to develop a rounded picture of its troubled genius subject, screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman). A love letter to the early days of Hollywood showbiz, the black-and-white film mostly follows the development of Citizen Kane. But how much of Mank is based on a true story, and how much of it is proverbial movie magic? While there's the occasional Hollywood flourish here and there, much of Mank is rooted in reality.

Did Mankiewicz Write Citizen Kane at a Ranch?

Early in the film, Mankiewicz, an established critic-turned-screenwriter, emerges from a car accident. He ends up at a quiet ranch in Victorville, CA, with a secretary named Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), who helps him type up the script for Citizen Kane. Filmmaker Orson Welles (Tom Burke) occasionally phones...

As we enter the throes of awards season more and more films are starting to make their qualifying runs in what is expected to be a very different kind of season. For starters, Searchlight Pictures is set to release Chloe Zhao’s buzzy pic of existential wanderlust Nomadland starring Frances McDormand for its virtual qualifying run starting today before expanding in 2021.

The film, which is set to run virtually at the Film Lincoln Center through December 11, follows Fern in the midst of the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada. We take a journey alongside Fern as she packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. This marks the third feature for Zhao and features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration...