News

When a show is on the air as long as Criminal Minds has been, it gives you a lot of bad guys of the week. Some are more memorable, like Season 4s Mason (Garret Dillahunt) and Lucas (Paul Rae) Turner or Season 8s John Curtis (or The Replicator), played in two episodes by the great Mark Hamill. But others tend to fall to the wayside, which is unfortunate because some of those tossed aside are the worst of the worst. They may not be flashy. They may not have a huge body count. Theyre definitely monsters, though. And wouldnt you know it? The most terrifying killer in the series is one of those often forgotten ones: Season 3s Stanley Howard (Michael OKeefe).

Creators have played roles in elections since the Obama years, but the 2024 election cycle is shaping up to be a landmark moment for politically active influencers. As some creators make serious challenges to Congressional and Senate seats, others are speaking their minds in campaigns that respect their authority among young voters.

One of those campaigns is led by Priorities USA and Somos Votantes, who teamed up to reach out to the 36.2 million U.S. Latinos who will be eligible to vote in November 2024. The two firms recruited four Latino influencers, who used sponsored videos to discuss the issues that matter most to them.

The videos included in the campaign show the evolution of political influencer marketing over the past decade. Early attempts in that arena — such as the 2015 creator interview with President Barack Obama — had a more scripted feel, even though participants delivered serious and hard-hitting questions.

Nine years later,...

With just months to go before the November election, Donald Trump’s political machine is operating in full force. Endorsements are rolling out in Truth Social posting sprees, and candidates hoping to ride the former president’s coattails into office lavish praise upon him at his weekly rallies. But in recent weeks, a string of defeats and close calls for Trump-backed candidates in battleground state primaries is once again pulling back the curtain on the former president’s limitations, and echoing concerns raised by the party in past election cycles.

A feast for the eyeballs! That’s what the UK’s new TV drama (British shows returning for another series this year are here) output looks like for 2024 – a year of thrills, chills and laughs, from supernatural escapism to immersive historical dramas, true stories brought to life, and plenty to feed Britain’s crime mystery obsession.

Here’s a flavour of what 2024 holds for your TV: book adaptations include a new imagining of Ian Rankin’s Rebus detective stories coming to the BBC, a scandalous adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s iconic novel Rivals (starring David Tennant), Jack Thorne’s take on Lord of the Flies, and much much more.

There’s high-stakes action in thrillers like Red Eye, Black Doves and Nightsleeper, and you can transport yourself back in time to discover the lives of a notorious eighties jewel thief in Joan, sinister Jacobean power play in Mary and George,...

Consisting of five segments, Southbound (2015) is a horror anthology movie that saw direction under numerous creatives: a filmmaking collective called Radio Silence directed the first segment, and the last. Filling the void was Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, and Patrick Horvath. And within each story, talented thespians perform to their greatest extents, emitting heartfelt screams that will echo in your head long after an initial viewing.

While there are dozens of well-known examples of filmmakers making more grounded anthology films — take Jim Jarmusch with Night on Earth (1991) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) — most popular projects of this ilk are categorized as horror films. Just look at Tales from the Crypt (1972) and Creepshow (1982), for instance. You've undoubtedly heard of those, if you haven't seen them outright. But the same can't be said for Southbound.

The film at hand flew drastically under the public radar upon release, and its popularity has remained rather stagnant ever since.

We still remember the scary Am radio ads from back in the 6th grade: They Eat Human Flesh! Mainstream ‘nabe theaters that wouldn’t show Herschell Gordon Lewis movies played this proto-gore horror show, an ingeniously crafted thriller that captures the horror comic vibe with clever, gruesome special effects. The flesh eaters are glittering bits of organic matter that can skeletonize a human in fifteen seconds! Martin Kosleck’s mad doctor is happy to welcome tasty human morsels for his ravenous home-grown microbes. An alternate version slides into sleaze territory with a tasteless flashback to a Nazi ‘medical experiment.’ The best extra is a long-awaited audio commentary, recorded for an earlier disc that was never released.

The Flesh Eaters

Blu-ray

1964 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 87 min. / Street Date June 28, 2022

Starring: Martin Kosleck, Byron Sanders, Barbara Wilkin, Rita Morley, Ray Tudor, Barbara Wilson.

Cinematography: Jack Curtis

Film Editor: Radley Metzger

Special Effects:...

Thanks to VancouverFilm.Net, here is the Vancouver Film Production Update for December 2016, including "Ollie", "The Mountain Between Us", "Altered Carbon" and a whole lot more:   

Beautiful Voice

Feature

Local Production Company: Beautiful Voice Pictures Inc.

Director: Chuck Russell

Exec. Producer(s): John Curtis

Producer: Alexandra Julson

Nov 02/16 - Dec 01/16

Ollie

Feature

Local Production Company: Tcf Vancouver Productions Ltd.

Director: Shane Black

Exec. Producer(s): John Davis, Bill Bannerman

Oct 17/16 - Feb 08/17

Parallel

Feature

Local Production Company: Para Productions BC Inc.

Director: Isaac Ezban

Exec. Producer(s): John Zaozirny, Aaron Gilbert, Garrick Dion

Producer: Aaron Gilbert

Nov 10/16 - Dec 05/16

The Mountain Between Us

Feature

Local Production Company: Tcf Vancouver Productions Ltd.

Director: Hany Abu Assad

Producer: Becki Trujillo

Dec 01/16 - Feb 17/17

Altered Carbon ~ Season 1

TV Series

Local Production Company: Altered Carbon Productions I Inc.

Director: Miguel Sapochnik, Nicholas Hurran

Exec. Producer(s): Laeta Kalogridis, Steve Blackman,...

Sometimes great little oddities will fly under the radar. And sometimes they barrel roll out of the sky and blast through the earth never to be seen again. The Flesh Eaters (1964) is a prime example of digging through the filmic wreckage and dredging up a low budget winner. Sure, it’s not Citizen Kane, but it’s probably the Citizen Kane of Killer Microbes Versus Buxom Blondes On An Island With A German Scientist movies.

The Flesh Eaters should be just more low budget fodder from an era when any flickering images were sacrificed to the Drive-In Gods (see the same years’ The Horror of Party Beach – or rather, don’t). The set up and pedigree sure don’t help the argument – five people stranded on an island battle a monster, it’s an independent production, and a first (and last) time director helms – but a convergence of actual talent...

Memphis, Tenn. -- One by one the teenage singers practice the opening lines to "Boogie Wonderland," a disco-funk hit from an era before they were born, as dancers work on hip-swinging moves that require perfect choreography.

In another room, young musicians play the same song over and over on guitar, piano and drums, trying to get in rhythm and in tune before the singers and dancers join them to rehearse for an outdoor concert. The music hits a fevered high as the singers and the band mesh to recreate a pop classic.

Scenes like this play out daily at the Stax Music Academy, an after-school program where teenagers from some of Memphis' poorest neighborhoods learn how to dance, sing and play instruments.

Stax Records, from which the academy gets its name, died long ago, yet its legacy is still inspiring young people in the Memphis neighborhood where it was born.

IGN scored the second clip from American Mary (review), and we have it for you right here. As with the first, the clip is introduced by the ever-so-sexy Soska sisters. Check it out!

From the Press Release:

XLrator Media has acquired all U.S. rights to the horror sensation American Mary, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk). The female-centric surgical horror-thriller will be released on XLrator Media’s newly announced Screamfest label in the fall of 2013.

“American Mary is one of the most original, thought-provoking and subversive horror films I’ve ever seen. It has riveted audiences at horror festivals and marks the emergence of the ‘Twisted Twins’ as the most exciting genre directors to come along in years,” said XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon.

American Mary played to highly enthusiastic audiences at La’s Screamfest Horror Film Festival in October, where it won five awards,...

Total Film scored an exclusive clip from American Mary (review), and through the Internet voodoo known as the embed code, we have it for you right here. The clip is introduced by the ever-so-sexy Soska sisters along with one of their stars, Tristan Risk. That's a lot of eye candy!

From the Press Release:

XLrator Media has acquired all U.S. rights to the horror sensation American Mary, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk). The female-centric surgical horror-thriller will be released on XLrator Media’s newly announced Screamfest label in the fall of 2013.

“American Mary is one of the most original, thought-provoking and subversive horror films I’ve ever seen. It has riveted audiences at horror festivals and marks the emergence of the ‘Twisted Twins’ as the most exciting genre directors to come along in years,” said XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon.

American Mary...

You would think that a movie called American Mary (review) would have found distro in America a lot sooner, but no. Well! That wrong has been righted.

From the Press Release:

XLrator Media has acquired all U.S. rights to the horror sensation American Mary, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk). The female-centric surgical horror-thriller will be released on XLrator Media’s newly announced Screamfest label in the fall of 2013.

“American Mary is one of the most original, thought-provoking and subversive horror films I’ve ever seen. It has riveted audiences at horror festivals and marks the emergence of the ‘Twisted Twins’ as the most exciting genre directors to come along in years,” said XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon.

American Mary played to highly enthusiastic audiences at La’s Screamfest Horror Film Festival in October, where it won five awards, including Best Film,...

We’ve been waiting to hear about Us release plans for American Mary and it hast just been announced that the film has been acquired for Us distribution:

“Los Angeles (Dec. 5, 2012) – XLrator Media has acquired all U.S. rights to the horror sensation, American Mary, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk). The female-centric surgical horror-thriller will be released on XLrator Media’s newly announced Screamfest label in Fall 2013. American Mary follows the story of medical student Mary Mason (played by Katharine Isabelle of the Ginger Snaps franchise) as she grows increasingly broke and disenchanted with medical school and the surgeons she once admired. The allure of easy money and notoriety send Mary into the shady world of underground surgery and body modification. The film co-stars Antonio Cupo (“Bomb Girls”), Tristan Risk, David Lovgren and Paula Lindberg. American Mary was produced by IndustryWorks Pictures,...

Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has given fans playoff fever — and his wife Abby baby fever.

The college sweethearts, who have been married for 2½ years, will become parents in the spring.

“They are both so happy and excited. Eli is being very protective of Abby, as it is still early days,” a source told Page Six of the NY Post.

Eli, 29, and Abby, 26, who met in the spring of his junior year at Ole Miss, wed on a beach at the One&Only Palmilla in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in April 2008.

In May last year, Eli and his...

The following is a list of New York–area stage and film acting schools, teachers, and coaches organized by category and alphabetically. Each of the entries contains the following information, if applicable: name of teacher or school, address, phone and fax numbers, email address and/or website, average number of students per class, whether beginning, intermediate, or advanced students are taught, whether auditing is permitted, whether classes are ongoing or by sessions, any special emphasis used in classes or coaching, whether a work/study program is offered. Descriptions of the class, school, or coaching are provided by the instructor or institution and edited by Back Stage. Schools or teachers who have been omitted may contact, in writing, Listings, c/o Back Stage, 5055 Wilshire Blvd., 6th floor, Los Angeles, CA 90036, so that we may include you in our next list. Acting Technique/Scene Study29th Street Repertory School Of THEATRETim Corcoran,...

The following is a list of New York–area stage and film acting schools, teachers, and coaches organized by category and alphabetically. Each of the entries contains the following information, if applicable: name of teacher or school, address, phone and fax numbers, email address and/or website, average number of students per class, whether beginning, intermediate, or advanced students are taught, whether auditing is permitted, whether classes are ongoing or by sessions, any special emphasis used in classes or coaching, whether a work/study program is offered. Descriptions of the class, school, or coaching are provided by the instructor or institution and edited by Back Stage. Schools or teachers who have been omitted may contact, in writing, Listings, c/o Back Stage, 5055 Wilshire Blvd., 6th floor, Los Angeles, CA 90036, so that we may include you in our next list.Acting Technique/Scene Study29th Street Repertory School of TheatreTim Corcoran,...

Following is Back Stage's comprehensive list of New York acting schools and career counselors. 29th Street Repertory School Of THEATRE56 Seventh Ave.Studio 5HNew York, NY 10011(212) 712-8712, Fax: (212) 242-900810 per class. Beginners and intermediate. Auditing is permitted Ongoing.Classes focus on learning to make truthful acting choices using contemporary material and personal life experience, preparing students to become working actors.Acting School Category: Acting Technique; Monologue/Audition/Coaching; On-Camera (Film/TV/Commercial).A Class Act NYJessica Rofe, Artistic Director80 Park Ave., Ste. 5-ENew York, NY 10016jessica@aclassactny.comwww.aclassactny.com(212) 479-848012-14 per class. All levels. Ongoing.Focuses primarily on musical theatre, drama, and on-camera weekend workshops for kids and teens. Educators are professional industry folk including Broadway veterans as well as casting directors and talent agents. Private coaching also available. Classes held at Ripley Grier Studios, 131 W. 72nd St., NYC.Acting School Category: Children/Teens.Gregory ABELS120 Washington Pl.

The following is a list of New York-area stage and film acting schools, teachers, and coaches organized alphabetically. Also included is a separate list of career coaches/counselors. Entries are divided into six categories: Acting Technique, Children/Teens, Comedy/Improv, Monologue/Audition/Coaching, Multipurpose, and On-Camera (Film/TV/Commercial). Each of the entries contains the following information, if applicable and supplied by the teacher or school: (a) name of teacher or school, (b) address, (c) phone and fax numbers, (d) email address and/or website, (e) average number of students per class, (f) whether beginning, intermediate, or advanced students are taught, (g) whether auditing is permitted, (h) whether classes are ongoing or by sessions, (i) any special emphasis used in classes or coaching, (j) whether a work/study program is offered, and (k) acting school categories. Descriptions of the class, school, or coaching are provided by the instructor or institution and edited by Back Stage.