News

Tim Donnelly, the actor best known for his portrayal of fun-loving firefighter Chet Kelly on NBC’s ’70s series Emergency!, has died. He was 77.

A cause of death was not disclosed, though the Los Angeles County Fire Museum confirmed the news via a tribute posted to their official Facebook page.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our friend, Tim Donnelly, this weekend. To all the Emergency! fans, we want you to know that he was very excited about coming to the Museum in January for the 50th Anniversary,” a spokesperson wrote. “Many of the Museum Board Members have great memories of Tim from our time on Project 51 and personal contact. To his daughter, grandchildren, and siblings, we offer our sincerest condolences.”

Donnelly was born on September 3, 1944, finding his first role in Don Siegel’s 1957 crime drama, Baby Face Nelson, and going on to enjoy a 27-year screen career.

Being a Christian in the 21st century is difficult at the best of times. Even without Mel Gibson constantly putting his foot in it, or Westboro Baptist Church spitting venom at the very people they are supposed to be helping, we have to contend with a media backlash whenever a seemingly ‘Christian’ film is released.

The problem seems to be that people don’t mind Christianity per se: if people are Bible-bashing in the streets, they can ignore them or talk back. What they resent, or appear to resent, are films with Christian undertones – allegories or parables which introduce Christian beliefs or ideas in a supposedly secular context. When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe came out in 2005, The Guardian’s Polly Toynbee accused it of “invad[ing] children’s minds with Christian iconography… heavily laden with guilt, blame, sacrifice and a suffering that is dark with emotional sadism.” Ouch.

When writer-director Robert Fiveson created ‘Parts:The Clonus Horror‘ back in 1979, I’m sure he had no idea he was creating one of the most enduring science-fiction memes of the late 20th and early 21st century. To summarize Parts, a group of young people are born, grow up and live in carefully controlled environment, wherein their every desire is indulged, yet their every behavior is monitored by the powers-that-be until such time they receive a call and it’s time for them to emigrate to the utopia of “America.” Of course, America is just a lie and all...

Movie giants DreamWorks and Warner Bros are being sued by the producers of a 1979 film, who claim the Ewan McGregor movie The Island is based on. A lawsuit was filed on Monday, alleging a number of similarities between The Island and Parts: The Clonus Horror - and a number of prominent movie reviewers agree. Both films are about a secret colony of clones bred to provide spare parts for humans. The suit also alleges the producers of Parts: The Clonus Horror showed the film to DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg - who was then at Paramount - in a bid to secure a distribution deal. The producers, Myrl A. Schreibman and Robert S. Fiveson, are seeking damages and part of the proceeds from Warner Bros and DreamWorks and have also asked the court to order the studio to withdraw the film and block further release. Fiveson, who first saw a trailer for The Island on the internet, says, "I though, 'That looks like a trailer to my movie,' right down to where key moments and shots were the same." A statement from DreamWorks insists, "The Island was independently created and does not infringe anyone's copyright."...