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Last month, the Edgar Wright comedy Shaun of the Dead returned to theaters to celebrate 20 bloody years. The festivities continue with an all-new 4K release. Blu-ray.com has released a load of details that come with the brand-new limited edition physical copies. The film that made Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright international sensations is due to hit retailers on December 3. A standard 4K Blu-ray edition will also be available to own.

This zombie-meets-romantic comedy follows 30-something slacker, Shaun, and his friend, Ed, as their lives take a disastrous turn when a zombie breakout happens around the world and they work to keep their friends and family safe. Shaun of the Dead 20th Anniversary Edition includes a new 4K remaster in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, plus a new bonus piece with director Edgar Wright, and all-new collectible SteelBook packaging.

Special Features and Technical Specs include:

New 4K Remaster...

John Wayne was a humbled man early in the 1960s. His passion project, "The Alamo," had fallen well short of box office expectations in 1961. An epic Western about the siege of the basement-less San Antonio mission, Wayne directed the film and took its failure personally. He didn't need a hit; even at his lowest point in the 1970s, a Wayne picture at a certain budget level was an automatic greenlight. Still, Wayne was a prideful man who actively tended to his legacy; he was mindful of his fan base, and sought their approval. So Wayne came charging out of his corner in 1962, and knocked out every last naysayer with Howard Hawks' "Hatari!," "How the West Was Won," "The Longest Day" and John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

The Ford movie could've been Wayne's Western swan song, but a rifle-toting Wayne astride a horse still held commercial appeal,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSNo Other Land.Politically engaged documentaries—including some of the most lauded films of the festival season, like No Other Land (2024)—are struggling to find buyers, with many filmmakers resorting to self-distribution or service deals (in which a distributor is paid to release the film while filmmakers retain the rights).After the ignominious resignation of Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, many in the nation’s film industry are calling upon his replacement, Alessandro Giuli, to abandon plans for new legislation that would curtail government subsidies for film production.With drastically expanded tax incentives and brand-new soundstages, New Jersey hopes to again become a major hub for motion pictures. First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy emphasizes the importance of every community,...

Ryan Murphy’s latest iteration of the “American Story” anthology series is here. This time the executive producer will divulge the “American Sports Story” of NFL star Aaron Hernandez, his rise and fall from grace during his tenure on the New England Patriots.

The FX series is based on the podcast “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” from The Boston Globe and Wondery, released in 2018. From the mind of Murphy, this limited series will detail Hernandez’s early life until his final days in a Massachusetts maximum correctional facility.

“American Sports Story” is just one expansion of Murphy’s “American Story” anthology franchise. Murphy has upcoming seasons of the franchise currently in production, including “American Love Story,” following the relationship between John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carol Bessette, a renewed season four of “American Crime Story” and the latest “American Horror Stories,” in honor of “Huluween.”

The Murphy fall continues...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of October titles. The Tubi October 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals and numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library: over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi October 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

Tubi Originals

Documentary

Famously Haunted:...

James Earl Jones in ‘Coming 2 America’ (Photo Courtesy of Amazon Studios)

On September 9, 2024, we lost one of the great ones: James Earl Jones. Jones is one of the few people to achieve the Egot, but more important than awards was the passion, commitment, craft, and just sheer scale he brought to every role whether it was as the leading man, a supporting character, or just a voice. And he brought all that to the table whether he was doing Shakespeare or Sesame Street. He was truly a rare talent.

James Earl Jones made his Broadway debut in 1957 but gained acclaim for his work with the New York Shakespeare Festival taking on the Bard’s tragic heroes of Othello, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and King Lear. He would win a Tony Award for Best Actor for The Great White Hope (1968), a role that he reprised for the 1970 film adaptation, earning him his...

Ryan Murphy’s American Story franchise is about to grow with the premiere of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez tonight on FX. Needless to say, you are not going to want to miss the big two-episode premiere. But with so much TV, things can get confusing, but we’re here to help!

American Sports Story is FX’s latest anthology series and the fourth in Murphy’s American Story franchise, joining American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and American Horror Stories (plural).

As the title suggests, each season of the series will detail the story or an athlete, with the upcoming first season focusing on the rise and fall of Aaron Hernadez. The former NFL player is portrayed by Josh Andres Rivera. The series also stars Lindsay Mendez as Tanya Singleton, Tony Yazbeck as Urban Meyer, and Jake Cannavale as Chris, among others.

Watch the trailer below American Sports Story...

The world lost an icon on both the small and big screen on Monday. James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93. Star Wars fans remember him as the voice of the evil Darth Vader, but he was also fondly remembered for many other roles throughout his storied career.

Here are his top five that did not take place in the Star Wars galaxy.

5. Norman Royster - Frasier Season 4 "Roz's Krantz & Gouldenstein Are Dead"

Although only on screen for a short time in the Season 4 episode of Frasier, Jones's portrayal of a blind man who keeps a mask of his wife to remember her by leaves an impact on anyone who sees it. His humor and chemistry with Kelsey Kramer are also remarkable.

4. Mr. Mertle - The Sandlot

Jones's turn as a blind man who befriends the kids on the baseball field in the 1993 film The Sandlot is as humorous as it is touching.

“Remember who you are. Remember.” This is one of the most iconic lines coming from one of the most iconic voices in pop culture. For nearly 70 years, James Earl Jones made a mark on the screen, stage, and television. Many know him as the iconic voice behind Darth Vader of the Star Wars saga and Mufasa of The Lion King franchise.

But there is a lot more storied history from the world-famous gravel voice that brought the entire galaxy to its knees and that led a boy to be king.

Humble Beginnings

Born on the 17th of January 1931 in Mississippi, James Earl Jones found his passion in poetry and acting to overcome his stutter, making him embrace his deep voice. It is truly amazing how overcoming a disability led him to be one of the most recognizable voices in film.

He then ventured into theater, eventually debuting in 1957 on Broadway...

This weekend Toronto horror fans will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate the genre's past as well as its present at Horror-Rama IV, with panels including a look back at Night of the Living Dead with co-writer John A. Russo and remembrances of both George A. Romero and Bob Clark:

Press Release: (Toronto) Horror-Rama is thrilled to welcome actress Ashley C. Williams to her Canadian convention debut!

Ashley found instant cult infamy for her tragic turn in director Tom Six's notorious black-comic horror masterpiece The Human Centipede where she was stitched rear-to-mouth as the middle segment of a mad scientist's insane experiment. In 2015 she received acclaim for her blistering turn in director Matthew A. Brown's psychological horror film Julia and both she and Brown (who will also be attending Horror-Rama 2017) will screen their masterpiece and meet their fans.

Ashley joins previously announced special guests: John Harrison (Creepshow,...

Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.

Edward Yang’s little-seen The Terrorizers will get its first theatrical run at BAMcinematek from October 21 through 27.

Watch a video essay on the search for family in There Will Be Blood:

Little White Lies‘ Nick Chen on how Brian De Palma influenced the films of Noah Baumbach:

If Hitchcock is a language, then De Palma has been fluent in it for decades: Obsession is Vertigo, Body Double is Rear Window, and so on. “I was the one practitioner that took up the things he pioneered,” De Palma asserts in Baumbach’s film. Alternatively, there’s Blow Out – often deemed the most representative of his aesthetic – which...

It's no secret that the original Star Wars trilogy is about as white as white bread. With the exception of Lando Calrissian, there isn't really a single person of color on screen (excluding James Earl Jones' voice, of course). I'm not here to demonize or hate on Lucas for that. Times were different back in the 1970s and 1980s, and what's done is done. However, with last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney and Lucasfilm managed to diversify its cast in both sex and color.

This is a trend they are continuing with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is another film with a female lead. In addition, the main cast for that film looks to be as racially diverse as could be, consisting of Chinese actor Jian Wheng, Hong Kong actor star Donnie Yen, Mexican actor Diego Luna, and British Muslim actor Riz Ahmed.

Well, it...

Cinema Art from Lawrence, Kansas?   Industrial filmmaker Herk Harvey comes through with a classic horror gem for the ages. A haunted church organist begins to suspect that her hallucinations are more than just nerves. And who is that ghoulish man who keeps appearing in reflections, or popping up out of nowhere? Carnival of Souls Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 63 1962 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 78 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 12, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison, Stan Levitt, Herk Harvey. Cinematography Maurice Prather Film Editor Dan Palmquist, Bill de Jarnette Original Music Gene Moore Assistant Director Raza (Reza) Badiyi Written by John Clifford Produced and Directed by Herk Harvey

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Herk Harvey's marvelous Carnival of Souls is an anomaly in screen horror, a regional effort that transcends its production limitations to deliver a tingling encounter with the uncanny. Harvey was a prolific producer of industrial films,...

Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.

Boy & the World (Alê Abreu)

Crayon-like scribblings and simple geometric patterns meticulously complicate themselves like a fractal over the course of this child’s-eye odyssey through the global struggle between humankind and the forces that oppress it. Kaleidoscopic visuals use repetition to explore the communal nature of both work and celebration. This film continually pulls back to show the larger picture of society, its visuals becoming more complex in kind, before it reduces to a more intimate view...

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Joe Kraemer

Paramount Pictures

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Daniel Pemberton

WaterTower Music

In his score for Kingsman: The Secret Service, Henry Jackman wants you to know he’s a James Bond fan. He just doesn’t want to tell you. Monte Norman’s iconic guitar riff pops in and out of his score, and brassy John Barry flourishes pepper the background music of Matthew Vaughn’s latest pulpy indulgence. Vaughn and comic book brute Mark Millar’s spy thriller struck a chord with audiences in February with gaudy, gory violence and in-jokes to the Ian Fleming novels it draws from. Strangely though, Jackman’s half-baked music never follows suit, tiptoeing around its homages rather than fully committing to its Roger Moore era obsessions.

The music of Kingsman wants its both ways, retro while still feeling fresh enough for modern box office, a shared paradox with The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,...

'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' 2015: Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' movie is a domestic box office bomb: Will it be saved by international filmgoers? Directed by Sherlock Holmes' Guy Ritchie and toplining Man of Steel star Henry Cavill and The Lone Ranger costar Armie Hammer, the Warner Bros. release The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has been a domestic box office disaster, performing about 25 percent below – already quite modest – expectations. (See also: “'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Movie: Bigger Box Office Flop Than Expected.”) This past weekend, the $80 million-budget The Man from U.N.C.L.E. collected a meager $13.42 million from 3,638 North American theaters, averaging $3,689 per site. After five days out, the big-screen reboot of the popular 1960s television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum has taken in a mere $16.77 million. For comparison's sake:...

Sound on Sight undertook a massive project, compiling ranked lists of the most influential, unforgettable, and exciting action scenes in all of cinema. There were hundreds of nominees spread across ten different categories and a multi-week voting process from 11 of our writers. The results: 100 essential set pieces, sequences, and scenes from blockbusters to cult classics to arthouse obscurities.

Sword fights, like one-on-one fights, target the emotion and power of each individual fighter, but are amplified by the extension of their weapon. Whereas one-on-one fights test the might and bronze of our competitors, sword fights add an extra element of intelligence and skill. A fighter can scrape by through luck in a brawl of fists, but a sword (and knife) fight exposes the true strengths and weaknesses of its opponents.

10. Rob Roy (1995) – No quarter asked, no quarter given

Roger Ebert called the final duel between Rob Roy (Liam Neeson, in a...

Part I: The Lawrence Bureau

T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) ranks among the 20th Century’s oddest heroes. This short, smart, and mischievous British soldier helped organize the Arab Revolt against Turkey, a secondary front of the First World War. He became Emir Feisal’s trusted ally, painfully conscious that the Allies wouldn’t honor promises of independence. After the Paris Peace Conference, Lawrence retreated into the Royal Air Force and Tank Corps as a private soldier, T.E. Shaw.

Lawrence lived a curious double life, befriending both private soldiers and notables like Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw. He wrote memoirs and translated Homer while repairing boats and seaplanes. His intellect, warmth, and puckish humor masked internal torment – guilt for failing to secure Arab freedom, regret for two brothers killed in the war, shame over an incident where Turkish soldiers sexually assaulted him.

In his autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence...

Skidoo

Written by Doran William Cannon

Directed by Otto Preminger

USA, 1968

Of the nearly 70 films I’ve written about in this column, I would whole-heartedly recommend each without reservation, to not only watch, but to spend good money on. With 1968′s Skidoo, out now on a new Olive Films Blu-ray, I’m breaking that tradition. I wouldn’t suggest anyone purchase this film, though everyone should see it. This is a most unusual, absolutely indefinable, wholly unique motion picture.

I initially viewed Skidoo on the sole basis of its starring Alexandra Hay, who I’ve been smitten with since first seeing her in Jacques Demy’s Model Shop, released the following year. On this point, Skidoo succeeds. Hay is a delightful beauty, charming in a way that is very much of the era. Admittedly unfamiliar with her biography, I can’t imagine why she didn’t have more of a career.

The director that epitomized the 1970’s, Joseph Sargent, has sadly passed away. (1925-2014)

With a career lasting 50 years, Sargent brought to the big screen such thrilling cinema as The Taking Of The Pelham One Two Three, MacArthur, White Lightning and Colossus: The Forbin Project.

Directors Guild of America President Paris Barclay made the following statement upon learning of the passing of director Joseph Sargent:

“When it comes to directing Movies for Television, Joe’s dominance and craftsmanship was legendary – for the past 50 years. With eight DGA Awards nominations in Movies for Television, more than any other director in this category, Joe embodied directorial excellence on the small screen. He was unafraid of taking risks, believing in his heart that television audiences demanded the highest quality stories – whether chronicling uncomfortable historic events like the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in Miss Evers’ Boys, or compelling personal stories about inspiring individuals like...

Welcome back everyone for the final day of Daily Dead’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide! Because it’s been an exceptional year for genre fans, we’re focusing today on recapping more books and films that would make for great gifts this holiday season and are perfect for all fans. We’ve also got another great find from over on Etsy and we’re celebrating a new subscription service from the fine folks over at Waxworks Records.

And be sure to check out today’s final Holiday Horrors trivia question below for your shot at winning some awesome merchandise from our fine sponsors at HorrorDecor.net, Scream Factory and Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Thanks so much for following along with our 2014 Holiday Gift Guide and I hope you guys had as much fun reading the series as I had putting it together!

Vendor Spotlight: Waxwork Records

Waxwork Records specializes in releasing horror,...

It’s that wonderful, frightful, cool and creepy time of year again, when everything including the leaves on the trees are dying and our taste buds are craving sugary sweets and pies made from the guts of our jack-o-lanterns. It’s October, which means Halloween is nearly upon us! Get you costumes completed, your home haunts constructed and your candy collected for trick’r treaters, because you have to make time to watch some of the scariest movies this time of year.

In an effort to assist you in your cinematic scare-fest, we’ve come up with a list of the scariest movies to watch on Halloween… with one caveat. We have excluded virtually all “slasher” flicks. Why? Well, let’s just say we all know them, we all love them on some level, but really… don’t we all want something more in our scary movies? In honor of...

Inside Llewyn Davis

Written and directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

USA, 2013

Poor Llewyn Davis is not at a good point in his life. In February of 1961, he is a struggling, bearded bohemian shivering through a frosty Greenwich Village, a folk musician seeking the next gig just to keep the wolf from the door. With few possessions other than the fraying clothes on his back and his trusty guitar, he relies on the charity of others to keep a temporary roof over his head, oscillating from staying with two wedded musical companions in the tight-knit folk scene, Jean (Carey Mulligan, deliciously spiteful) and Jim Berkey (Justin Timberlake, polished) and the middle-class Gorfiens , the wealthy, perky parents of Llewyn’s musical partner, revealed to have committed suicide a few months earlier. Davis is a man scorned, sneering at others and certain of his superior musical skills. He’s not the most likable sort,...

August 30, 2013

CBS Radio Workshop Volume 4 The CBS Radio Workshop debuted at the end of the Age of Classic Radio, which was a time of innovation and experimentation, especially in terms of radio drama. The ten-hour Volume 4 includes “All Is Bright”, a history of the famous Christmas song; “1489 Words”, which featured the debut of later film composer Jerry Goldsmith’s “The Thunder of Imperial Names”, which was written for a concert band and was based on a text piece by Thomas Wolfe; a two-part adaptation of Frederick Pohl and Cyril M. Cornbluth’s The Space Merchants, which offers a satirical look at rampant consumerism from the viewpoint of an advertising executive; Archibald MacLeish’s “Air Raid”, the series’ only re-broadcast, which had first been written for the 1938 Columbia Workshop. Aired during the Cold War era, it took on a sinister new meaning; Henry Fritch’s “The Endless Road”, about a road...

The Wasteland:

Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;

and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.

Lee Loevinger

When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...

‘The Twilight Zone: The Complete Second Season’ is being released on DVD today by independent distributor Image Entertainment. The hit sci-if-fantasy anthology series, which has an Srp of $29.98, features 29 episodes on five discs, including ‘King Nine Will Not Return,’ ‘The Man in the Bottle,’ ‘Nervous Man in a Four-Dollar Room’ and ‘A Thing About Machines.’ The second season also features such guest stars as Agnes Moorehead, Art Carney, Bill Mumy, Buddy Ebsen, Burgess Meredith, Dick York, Don Rickles, Rod Serling, Sydney Pollack and William Shatner. ‘The Twilight Zone,’ which is one of the most acclaimed anthology programs in television history, was created by writer and narrator Rod Serling. [ Read More ]

The post The Twilight Zone: The Complete Second Season Now Available on DVD appeared first on Shockya.com.

Image Entertainment, of Rlj Entertainment, has released The Twilight Zone: The Complete Second Season on DVD, this June 4th, 2013. For $29.98 you can get the entirety of the second season of Rod Serling’s classic sci-fi series, including appearances by William Shatner, Don Rickles, Art Carney and a ton more in what are some of the most indelible moments of the series. Check out the press release below, and stay tuned for a review by yours truly.

Image Entertainment, an Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje) brand, announces the release of the second season of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking, science fiction anthology The Twilight Zone: The Complete Second Season, available on DVD on June 4, 2013 at an Srp of $29.98. Season two features an incredible list of guest stars including Agnes Moorehead, Art Carney, Bill Mumy, Buddy Ebsen, Burgess Meredith, Dick York, Don Rickles, Rod Serling, Sydney Pollack, William Shatner and more!

The Twilight Zone...

The digital music revolution started with Napster – the file-sharing service dreamt up by two teenagers in 1999. As a new film tells Napster's story, Tom Lamont recalls the incredible sense of liberation he felt as a young music fan, one of millions happily plundering the world's record collections…

In the first weeks of 2000 the founders of Napster were in their office above a bank in San Mateo, California, considering dizzying numbers. Figures scrawled on a whiteboard told how many people around the world had installed their file-sharing application and were using it to download music from each other's computers. As recounted in Downloaded – a documentary soon to premiere at the SXSW film festival, telling the story of a piece of software that came and went and whipped up a new digital music industry in its slip – Napster had 20 million users at the time. Some way from San Mateo, in suburban London...

Hitchcock trailer in HD: Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren deliver Oscar-baiting Performances "All of us harbor dark recesses of violence and horror," Hopkins' Alfred Hitchcock tells a bunch of reporters in the movie's official trailer. "I'm just a man hiding in the corner with a camera. Watching." (Above photo: Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Psycho's female star.) The Man with a Camera made the relatively low-budget horror classic Psycho in 1960, watching a big knife find its way into just about every body part of the film's hygiene-conscious anti-heroine. A somewhat surprising box-office hit that earned no less than four Academy Award nominations, including one for Leigh as Best Supporting Actress and another for Hitchcock himself, the mother-fixation horror flick remains one of cinema's iconic works.

By Allen Gardner

Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...

If you’ve hunted around for movie bargains, you’ve probably seen some of Mill Creek Entertainment’s 50-Movie Packs on DVD. Apart from other great releases by Mill Creek, these packs are phenomenal boons to cinephiles looking to collect older titles.

There are three new packs available, and I want to not only let you in on a discount code, but I have one of the packs available for you to win.

I know a lot of people may be quick to overlook these packs, and not every movie included stands out as a major value, but there are some great titles in each of them, and fans of the genres will be pleasantly surprised by what they get out of the deal. I have to admit that there is something about seeing a 50-movie pack, especially when it doesn’t cost a couple of hundred dollars, or more,...

Legendary trumpet player Uan Rasey, whose brassy tones could be heard during solos on soundtracks for films like Chinatown, and West Side Story, has died in Woodland Hills, California. He was 90.

Rasey's trumpet could also be heard in movies like An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Spartacus and Ben-Hur.

He died of complications from a heart condition last Monday.

A childhood polio sufferer, Rasey began his career with bandleaders like Sonny Dunham and Alvino Rey and he became a regular on U.S. radio shows throughout the 1940s, during which he featured on programmes hosted by Jack Benny and Bing Crosby.

He joined the MGM studio orchestra in 1949 and made his mark as a TV show musician behind the scenes of hits like Bonanza and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Trade magazine Variety reports he played on as many as 3,000 film and television shows in his career.

He is perhaps best known for his jazz trumpet in 1974's Chinatown score.

Rasey also performed with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Doris Day and the Monkees.

We take John Barry’s non-Bond retrospective into the 80s, with some of his epic scores of love, lust and loss…

John Barry’s love affair with cinema is well documented. One could not imagine such a torrent of melodic invention pouring forth with such vibrant intensity if he was not enraptured by the cinematic experience: the darkened periphery of the auditoria; the hushed reverence of another world; the minutiae of human emotion playing out on the big screen. Everything he did, from The Beat to Enigma, represented a direct and synchronous passion for lyrical expression alongside the visual language of film.

The young Prendergast got his love of film from his father, Jack Xavier, who was a cinema projectionist in the silent movie era and would subsequently own a chain of cinemas in the North East. One of Barry’s earliest memories was being carried on his dad’s...

Last week I did a piece on how early syndication of movies to TV provided a culturally unifying base for Baby Boomers. Most of us, however, probably think of syndication as being less about movies and more about recycling old TV shows. And, in time, so it became.

TV writer/producer/director Bill Persky remembers syndication being a movie-driven business in the medium’s early years since “…there weren’t that many series to syndicate…” By the 60s, however, TV production companies had amassed enough defunct TV shows to turn syndication into an increasingly profitable series-recycling business feeding a bottomless market. Independent stations filled their days with a patchwork quilt of old TV shows, old movies, local news and sports, and even network affiliates had hours to fill between blocks of network programming.

The recycling of old TV shows had the same impact on Boomers recycling old movies did; it...

Club TCM to Offer Celebrities, Expert Panels, Exhibits, Music and More During 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival Exclusive Gathering Spot for Festival Passholders to Feature Appearances by Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, Marni Nixon, Marge Champion, Debbie Allen, Peter Guber and Brett Ratner

Legendary stars, fascinating presentations, panel discussions, live music and special exhibits are just a few of the exciting experiences on tap for Club TCM, the central gathering spot for the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. Located in the Blossom Room at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the very first Academy Awards® ceremony, Club TCM will be open throughout the festival, giving passholders a place to relax, meet new friends and mingle with special guests. Among those scheduled to appear are Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, Marni Nixon, Marge Champion, Debbie Allen, Peter Guber, Brett Ratner and graphic artist Michael Schwab, as well...

DVD Playhouse—March 2011

By

Allen Gardner

127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...

U.S. TV star Janet MacLachlan has died at her home in Silver Lake, California. She was 77.

The actress had key supporting roles in TV series like The Archie Bunker Show, I Spy and Cagney and Lacey.

She died on 11 October after suffering a "cardiovascular incident".

MacLachlan also had film roles in Sounder, tick… tick… tick and The Man.

But she'll be best known for her longtime portrayal of housekeeper Polly Swanson on The Archie Bunker Show.

Oh, Image Entertainment. How quickly we're growing to love thee. The official specs and artwork for both "The Twilight Zone" Season 2 on Blu-ray and "The Twilight Zone" Fan Favorites DVD Collection have come our way along with the artwork so without further ado ...

From the Press Releases

"Genies, malevolent machines, Santa Claus and The Devil himself. Get ready for more excursions into the fantastic when Image Entertainment releases The Twilight Zone: Season 2 on Blu-ray November 16th. All 29 episodes from the legendary series’ second season have been remastered and will be presented in pristine 1080p high-definition and uncompressed Pcm audio. In addition, the 4-disc set also includes many of the bonus features from the Definitive Collection DVD release, along with hours of new bonus features, specially created for this Blu-ray™ release. Spr is $99.98, and pre-book is October 19th.

Season Two Episodes

King Nine Will Not Return, The Man in the Bottle,...

Hey Gang! Comic-Con International has released the full schedule for Friday July 23rd and its another full day crazy awesomeness!

Friday is traditionally known as Star Wars day at the convention. This year feature 6 Special Programs featuring official news, announcements and more from the Star Wars universe. There is also the classic march of the Stormtroopers which is always cool.

I honestly don't know how were going to cover everything we want to, but we will find away! We did it last year! I've hilighted all of the events and panels that we are looking forward to seeing. So check out the full schedule below and start planning out your epic Friday at Comic-Con!

Friday, July 23

Last changed: Fri, Jul 9, 11:26am

10:00-11:00 DC Talent Search 2— DC's editorial art director Mark Chiarello presents an informative orientation session that will explain how DC's Talent Search works and discuss the different needs of DC Universe,...

It's incredible how we get such inside scoops into major productions happening in Hollywood. I'm not only pleased, but amazed that insiders seek us out just to provide us with intel. I don't know if it's because we are a reliable information source or the fact that we're still an underdog and insiders want to see us come out on top. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful. While Kellvin is away on vacation he asked me to post an exclusive interview that was conducted with an insider involved in Christopher Nolan's latest production Inception. In part two of the interview, which will go live tomorrow, the informant reveals a little about that film, but the real news is the insight he provides into Nolan's plans for the third Batman film and the latest Superman reboot.What can you tell us about the title of the next Batman film?I've heard...

The DVD format is over a decade old now - so what's holding up the disc release of these 15 films?

Good old DVD - it rose from nowhere a decade ago and offered us unrivalled picture quality, amazing special features, supersharp sound, and films the way they were meant to be seen. (Sound familiar?)

Soon, the VHS tape, bulky, prone to rewinding, fast forwarding, tape lag, and degradation with repeated use, was obsolete. Who can forget the original VHS tapes of Ghostbusters, watched so many times it started to look like a Swedish TV broadcast recorded from a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? And then there was the upgrading, rebuying your library over the course of a few years, with each double-dip special edition. Evil Dead 2 has been released in seven different versions in the UK alone.

But not everything made it to DVD, and plenty of it never will.

Our friends over at IFC.com have put together a list of the top 50 best trailers. And they’ve asked us if we’d like to feature it too. Why not. So here you are. And if you’ve never spent any time on the IFC site, do head on over and check it out.

They should be called leaders. We know them as trailers, but they don’t trail anything; they play before the movie, not after it. The name dates to their earliest incarnation, when they actually did follow the feature. The documentary “Coming Attractions” dates the very first trailer to a 1912 Edison serial entitled “What Happened to Mary?” After each installment, a black card with white text would appear to inform audiences “The next incident in the series of ‘What Happened to Mary’ will be shown a week from now.” Not exactly “In a world…” but it...

I’ve been saving this one for a while, ever since Now-President Barack Obama was chosen as the Democratic candidate against Senator John McCain. It seemed appropriate to finally release this today. The Man is a 1972 drama directed by Joseph Sargent, based on the 1964 novel by bestselling author Irving Wallace. Both the novel and film examine the social and political consequences of a black man becoming the President of the United States. Although Wallace himself started out as a screenwriter, the movie adaptation of his novel was penned by none other than Rod Sterling. Why Rod Sterling? Maybe because, at the time, the idea of an African-American President sounded like something out of The Twilight Zone.

Sidney Poitier's Best Actor Oscar for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field was seen as a major breakthrough in terms of American civil rights. Today's the big day- the inauguration of our new President. It's refreshing to see both his political supporters and opponents coming together to wish Barack Obama good luck with the challenges that lie before him. American politics have been very divisive in recent years, so here's hoping the honeymoon lasts for a while. Meanwhile, The New York Times has an insightful piece examining how Hollywood helped pave the way for the public's acceptance of a black president. It's not as far-fetched as you might think. A 1972 film called The Man was based on the Irving Wallace novel and featured the premise of a black senate leader being unexpectedly thrust into the presidency. The scenario seemed so unlikely that Rod Serling wrote the screenplay! The film starred James Earl Jones.