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The 58th annual Academy Awards–presented by ABC on March 24, 1986 and celebrating the (alleged) best films of the movie year 1985–were watched by approximately 37.8 million television viewers. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the ceremony was hosted by the odd-throuple pairing of Alan Alda, Jane Fonda and Robin Williams. The evening’s big winner? Out of Africa, now regarded as one of the most turgid Best Picture winners of all time.

Two days earlier, March 22, a very different awards ceremony had taken place across town. The venue this time had been the rear ballroom of 385 North–a La Cienega restaurant. Here, amid a constellation of potted ficus trees and gold lamé drapes, unfurled the very first edition of the Film Independent Spirit Awards, hosted with casual luncheon hunkiness by Jagged Edge actor Peter Coyote.

The big winners? Martin Scorsese’s subversive black comedy After Hours and the Coen Brothers visually arresting...

Micro-budget thriller put the brothers on the map, laying the groundwork for a career filled with similarly dark stories of crimes gone wrong

The loathsome proprietor of a Texas bar slumps in his office chair after hours, seemingly dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. Another man tries to clean up the mess in an effort to cover up a crime that he mistakenly assumes someone close to him has committed. Only the blood isn’t wiped away so easily: it seeps into the hardwood. It streams from the victim’s nose and drips from his forefinger. An old shirt used an improvised mop soaks in much of a puddle, but leaves drippings like house paint on the way to the bathroom sink. Morally speaking, the whole ordeal represents a stain on the man’s conscience. But don’t overlook the plain fact that crime is a messy hassle.

There are certain artists who are so visionary, so daring in their originality, whose work casts such a primal and enduring spell that it literally becomes hard to imagine the world without them. David Lynch, who died this week at 78, was one of those artists. Just to say that name, David Lynch (so ironic in its simplicity), is to conjure not merely a roster of immortal movies but a higher cosmos of the imagination: a darkly transfixing surrealist theme park where dreams could become real and reality felt like a dream.

Lynch, in his fearless way, reinvented movies, letting the avant-garde rapture of his brain flower into an aesthetic that turned the tropes of Hollywood inside out. My first encounter with a Lynch movie came in 1977, when I was in college and one of our campus film societies had the inspiration to put a giant image of the title character...

Joel Coen is to direct another film solo in 2025, meaning the reunion of Joel and Ethan on a movie is further put back.

After decades of working as a directing duo – a collaboration that stretches all the way back to 1984’s neo-noir, Blood Simple – the last seven years have seen a significant shift in the Coen brothers’ output. They’ve instead opted to make solo projects, with 2018’s The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs currently standing as their last film together.

While it’s been interesting to see each brother pursuing their own projects and see how they function as individual storytellers, when news emerged around a year ago that they would be reuniting to write and direct a ‘pure horror’ story, it was a welcome announcement.

According to a new report (via World Of Reel), it’s possible that we may be waiting a while longer for that project, as...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

The New World shows on 35mm this Sunday.

Film Forum

AI: From Metropolis to Ex Machina begins, featuring Alien, 2001, Metropolis, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and more; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg‘s 4K restoration continues.

Museum of the Moving Image

See It Big! Let It Snow brings The Thing on 35mm, The Shining, and more; Adam Elliot’s claymation work is given a retrospective.

Museum of Modern Art

A dual celebration of Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni continues, this weekend bringing films by Oliveira, Honoré and Antonioni.

Metrograph

Sunset Boulevard, The Bling Ring, Jeanne Dielman, and Stolen Kisses play on 35mm; Delphine Seyrig: Rebel Muse, Amongst Humans, Raise Ravens, Ursula x Metrograph, The Many Lives of Laura Dern, and 15 Minutes begin.

IFC Center

Crash plays daily; 2001, Blood Simple, Eraserhead, and Suspiria show late.

The post NYC Weekend Watch: The New World,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Minority Report shows on 35mm Friday; The Beguiled, The Age of Innocence, and City Dudes play Saturday; Jean Rollin’s Lost In New York and The Sealed Soil screen on Sunday.

Film Forum

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town begins a 35mm run; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg‘s 4K restoration continues; Battling Butler screens Sunday.

Museum of the Moving Image

See It Big! Let It Snow brings Nanook of the North; Candyman screens on Saturday.

Museum of Modern Art

A dual celebration of Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni continues, this weekend bringing films by Fellini, Elio Petri and Antonioni.

Metrograph

Red Desert, L’eclisse, Playtime, Eyes Wide Shut, Moonstruck, and Con Air play on 35mm; The Holidays at Metrograph, It Looks Pretty from a Distance, Urban Ghosts, Absconded Art, and Nicolas Uncaged continue.

IFC Center

2001, Blood Simple, Eraserhead, and Society show late.

Miller's Crossing, one of the greatest gangster movies ever made, is an extremely underrated movie created by The Coen Brothers. As one of the best directing duos of all time, The Coen Brothers have directed classic films such as The Big Lebowski, Inside Llewyn Davis, Fargo, and No Country for Old Men. Joel and Ethan Coen have directed a total of 20 films together beginning with the 1984 neo-noir crime film Blood Simple.

Following their feature film debut, the Coen Brothers' sophomore effort was the 1987 crime comedy Raising Arizona, which remains one of Nicolas Cage's most iconic roles. They then went on to direct the showbiz comedy Barton Fink, the satirical comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the black comedy Burn After Reading, and the instant classic Western True Grit. The Coen Brothers' last joint effort was 2018's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

The Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing Is One Of...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Museum of the Moving Image

See It Big! Let It Snow brings 35mm prints of All That Heaven Allows, Doctor Zhivago, and Meet Me In St. Louis.

Museum of Modern Art

A dual celebration of Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni continues, this weekend bringing films by Raúl Ruiz and Marco Bellocchio.

Anthology Film Archives

A look at Robert Frank and his influences continues, including Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit and Blue Velvet on 35mm, while Scenes from the Streets begins.

Roxy Cinema

The New World and The Magnificent Ambersons shows on 35mm; Hardcore plays Friday and Saturday, the latter day bringing a Paul Schrader Q&a; Eastern Promises and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle also screen.

Metrograph

Lost In Translation, 2046, Phantom Thread, and Brokeback Mountain play on 35mm; The Holidays at Metrograph, It Looks Pretty from a Distance, and This...

After “The Good Place,” creator Mike Schur and star Ted Danson are back with another comedy to keep you laughing while tugging on the heartstrings with “A Man on the Inside.” The Netflix series stars Danson as Charles, a retired and widowed man bored with his daily routine who gets the opportunity to reinvent his life when he’s hired by a private investigator to infiltrate a retirement home.

Danson is joined by an ensemble full of familiar faces, from former Schur’s comedy regulars to seasoned character actors. Here’s your handy guide to the cast of “A Man on the Inside” and where you’ve seen them before.

(Netflix) Ted Danson as Charles

“The Good Place” star Ted Danson reunites with series creator Michael Schur for “A Man on the Inside.” Danson plays Charles, a retired professor who is thrilled for a new adventure when he gets the...

Late in filmmaker Gregory Nava’s harrowing 1983 immigration drama El Norte, Guatemalan refugee Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez) lays ailing in a Los Angeles hospital, ravaged by a fatal case of typhus acquired crawling through the rat-infested sewers underneath the Mexican-American border. Sadly resigned to her own death, she turns to her equally ill-fated brother Enrique (David Villalpando) to ask: “When will we find a home, Enrique? Maybe when we die?”–a blunt, heartbreaking moment among many.

But even setting aside the Guatemalan Civil War whose harsh realities provide El Norte its backdrop so too could Rosa’s mournful question could just as easily be asked in relation to the state of independent film in the Americas by the time of El Norte’s world premiere at the 1983 edition of the Telluride Film Festival.

After spending the bulk of the 1970s drinking and producing a series of increasingly unreleasable masterpieces, indie film pioneer John Cassavetes was,...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Across the River and Into the Trees (Paula Ortiz)

Hemingway’s work across novels and short stories has been adapted for film countless times over, yet Across the River and Into the Trees has never properly been rendered onscreen. Until now. Written by Peter Flannery and directed by Paula Ortiz, here is a handsome film that is decidedly modest in its endeavor. The best thing going for it is Liev Schreiber as Colonel Richard Cantwell, the lead of the picture. Schreiber is one of those actors who has somehow always been underrated, despite being capable of playing nearly any kind of part. A kind boyfriend thrust into an impossible familial situation (The Daytrippers)? Check. Tough-but-fractured fixer living on the edge (Ray Donovan)? Check.

Not only is Halloween thankfully upon us, but the next major holiday, Thanksgiving, at least in America, is next. That can only mean one thing: it’s time for a re-watch of Addams Family Values! Our friends at Paramount Home Entertainment sent me a copy of their newest release of the 1993 Barry Sonnenfeld film, which comes out tomorrow, October 29th. You may have heard of Sonnenfeld, who not only directed the previous film, The Addams Family, as well as Men in Black and Get Shorty. Previously, he was the director of photography on a litany of Hollywood films, such as Misery, Miller’s Crossing, Big, Blood Simple, and many more. The official synopsis: Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) welcome a new addition to the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

November 2024, Criterion Channel is set to deliver an exceptional lineup of films that will excite cinephiles and casual viewers alike. The month promises a rich exploration of genres, featuring a strong selection of Coen Brothers classics such as Blood Simple (1984) and The Big Lebowski (1998), along with their more recent works like A Serious Man (2009) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Noir and crime enthusiasts will revel in an array of titles, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Gilda (1946), and The Big Heat (1953), showcasing the genre’s iconic narratives and stylistic depth. International cinema also shines through with compelling French dramas like Fat Girl (2001) and Dheepan (2015), highlighting diverse storytelling from around the globe.

The lineup doesn’t shy away from classic drama, featuring timeless films like On the Waterfront (1954) and Seven Samurai (1954), which continue to resonate with contemporary audiences. Additionally, viewers can look forward to a variety of documentary and experimental films, including Wild Wheels...

Prime Video’s new crime comedy Brothers (2024) offers a wild and outrageous ride, featuring a star-studded cast headlined by Peter Dinklage, Josh Brolin, and Glenn Close. Directed by Max Barbakow, Brothers is a chaotic heist film inspired by the classic 1988 comedy Twins, but with its own unique criminal twist. The film follows Jady Munger as he strikes a deal to recover stolen emeralds in exchange for his freedom. Teaming up with his reluctant brother Moke and their criminal mother Cath, the trio embarks on a chaotic and comedic adventure filled with heists, family drama, and wild twists.

Brothers (2024) Main Cast & Characters: Peter Dinklage as Jady Munger

Peter Dinklage stars as Jady Munger, a convicted felon determined to earn his freedom by recovering stolen emeralds. Jady makes a deal with a corrupt judge, only to be forced back into the criminal world alongside his estranged brother and mother. Dinklage, known for...

Welcome to Caddo Lake, where the cypress forests hold a series of secrets. When a child mysteriously disappears, a series of prior other deaths and disappearances begin to form a pattern. Produced by M. Night Shyamalan, the Max Original thriller film “Caddo Lake” premieres on Thursday, Oct. 10 and you can watch with Subscription to Max.

How to Watch “Caddo Lake” When: Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a Subscription to Max. Sign Up $9.99+ / month max.com About “Caddo Lake”

The latest from “Topside” team Celine Held and Logan George, the Max Original film “Caddo Lake” is set on the border of Texas and Louisiana where an eight-year-old mysteriously vanishes and a series of past deaths and disappearances start to link together, forever altering a broken family’s history.

While details around the thriller have been kept as closely guarded secrets, filmmakers Celine Held and Logan George were inspired to...

Berlin, 1998. John Goodman and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen sat down for a press conference to promote The Big Lebowski. Good lord is it awkward.

It’s often difficult to work out who benefits from movie press conferences. Actors and filmmakers sit at a long table and try to look engaged in the barrage of inane questions that will inevitably come at them. Journalists fumble over their words, hold the microphone too close to their mouths and burble indecipherably. At best, they’re awkward.

The press conference for The Big Lebowski, held at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998, meanwhile, is so flat and awkward that it’s actually fascinating. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen shuffle in front of the cameras with star John Goodman to promote what was then their latest movie – a Raymond Chandler-inspired stoner bowling comedy that would quickly become a cult favourite. Not that you’d...

Fans of the Critters franchise probably already own all the movies but Arrow Video is looking to tempt us all with the announce of a brand new 4-movie Blu-ray collection this week.

Critters: A Four Course Feast is a limited edition UK offering, and it features the first four movies in the Critters franchise housed together in a special Blu-ray box set.

The set will be released on December 2, and it’s up for UK pre-order now.

Arrow Video previews, “The Krites have landed! Carnivorous creatures from outer space! Vicious vermin with very sharp teeth! The beloved sci-fi/comedy-horror franchise makes its UK Blu-ray debut in this special edition box set from Arrow Video. A four course feast of fun, fur, fear and fangs, served with a platter of new and archive extras to whet your appetite!”

The 4-disc limited edition contents include…

– High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all...

Call it…The Criterion Collection will add yet another Coen Bros. film to their catalog, as 2007’s No Country for Old Men is arriving on December 10th as spine #1243. This will be the fourth from the fellas after Inside Llewyn Davis, Blood Simple and Miller’s Crossing. Now if we can just get Raising Arizona…

Here are the special features for Criterion’s forthcoming 4K release of No Country for Old Men:

New 4K digital master, supervised and approved by director of photography Roger Deakins, with 5.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack

One 4K Uhd disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision Hdr and one Blu-ray with the film and special features

New conversation between filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen and author Megan Abbott

New conversation between Deakins and associate producer David Diliberto, also featuring Abbott

Archival interviews with actors Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kelly Macdonald...

For almost 40 years, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – better known as the Coen Brothers – have created a number of quirky, singular titles spanning a variety of genres. They’ve also become industry and academy favorites, picking up four Oscar wins for writing, directing and producing. Celebrate this dynamic duo by taking a look back at all 18 of their films together, ranked worst to best.

The Coens made their feature debut with the Southwestern neo-noir “Blood Simple” (1984). Shot on a shoestring budget with a then largely unknown cast, the film established the brothers’ talent for visually striking, wholly original stories.

They followed their breakout hit with a series of increasingly ambitious, wildly different features: the wacky Southern farce “Raising Arizona” (1987), the moody gangster saga “Millers Crossing” (1990), the bizarre Hollywood satire “Barton Fink” (1991), and the nostalgic screwball comedy “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994).

It wasn’t until “Fargo” (1996), a comedic thriller about a pregnant...

Get ready for a Coen Brothers-worthy reinvention of Plastic Man in a new, hard-boiled, noir-inspired miniseries from DC Black Label. Plastic Man, a Golden Age comic icon, will explore darker, disturbing layers in his upcoming adventures with a Coen Brothers influence. Plastic Man No More promises desperate choices, spiraling consequences, and a final, haywire journey through the character's mortality.

One of the Justice Leagues most underrated powerhouses is getting a reinvention worthy of the Coen Brothers. Writer Christopher Cantwell will soon leave his mark on Plastic Man in a new, four-issue miniseries titled Plastic Man Must Die, from DC Black Label. Ahead of the books debut in September, Cantwell spilled the beans on the series influences and what to expect from itincluding some Coen Brothers-style hijinx.

Plastic Man No More will be written by Christopher Cantwell, and drawn by Jacob Edgar and Alex Lins, and the writer spoke with Chris...

Frances McDormand has established herself as one of the finest actors of her generation, and she has a few great movies which don't get enough attention. While most people will be familiar with McDormand's performances in movies like Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, she has been making great movies for decades, so she has some underappreciated hits.

McDormand is equally adept at comedy and drama, and some of her finest performances come when she is able to produce a blend of both. She is one of an elite few who have earned three Academy Awards for acting, putting her in the same rarefied air as legends such as Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson. Given some of her recent movies, it wouldn't be a surprise to see her adding to that total in the years to come. Despite all her high-profile success, McDormand still has some underrated movies.

Related...

Writer-director Jt Mollner’s “Strange Darling” is one of the best American genre films in years, an electrifying thriller that’s in the same league as John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” the Coen brothers’ “Blood Simple,” and Quentin Tarantino‘s “Reservoir Dogs” when it comes to reinventing old traditions and making them feel startlingly new again. It’s a film best entered cold, since its surprises — of which there are many — are among its greatest pleasures, but it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that the movie takes the “final girl” convention of slasher films like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Friday the 13th” and breathes exhilarating new life into it.

“I was like, what can we do with the final girl that gives her more depth?” Mollner told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “That peels layers of her psyche away and shows us something more? I started...

Well into the new dark crime comedy Greedy People, I had to check IMDb to make sure this wasn’t some movie one or both of the Coen brothers had actually made and somehow I didn’t realize before diving in. Nope, it was Potsy Ponciroli who directed, and Mike Vukadinovich who wrote it. No Coens anywhere in sight except as the clear inspirations for this entertaining movie of which the masters behind Blood Simple and Fargo would probably approve, and might even have made at the beginning of their illustrious careers.

So get this for a plot.

New and very inexperienced cop Will (Himesh Patel) arrives in the small East Coast town of Providence for his new job as a deputy, partnered with quirky vet Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). With a pregnant wife (Lily James) and their loving dog in tow it seems like a good career move. However, Will...

Filmmaker Jt Mollner’s “Strange Darling” wowed audiences when it premiered at Fantastic Fest last year, and critics are in agreement about its virtues — it’s currently sitting comfortably at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Believe the hype: with its endlessly inventive plotting, expressive and haunting visual style, and go-for-broke performances, “Strange Darling” is not only the best American film so far this year, it’s one of the best horror movies of all time.

The tale of a one-night stand that spirals into a vicious murder spree, “Strange Darling” is best entered with limited awareness of its plot. That’s because the biggest pleasure of Mollner’s screenplay, which tells the story out of sequence in a manner that forces the audience to recalibrate its understanding of the characters and events repeatedly throughout the film, is its constant ability to surprise even the most jaded genre fan.

Luckily, while the...

This article contains spoilers for "MaXXXine."

Writer/director Ti West trilogy of films starring Mia Goth — "X," "Pearl," and now "MaXXXine" — are, first and foremost, a solid trio of character-based horror films. Taken at face value, they tell an eerie, sexy, and violent cautionary tale about two women, Pearl and Maxine (both played by Goth), whose ambitions for stardom lead them to commit sinful acts.

Taken metaphorically, however, the films have a ton to say about the history of cinema itself, with a particular focus on the tense relationship between prurience and art that's existed within the medium since its inception. Horror movies and pornographic films have long been associated with each other, and West draws on that connection to explore the effects cinema has on everything from standards of youth and beauty -- particularly when it comes to women -- as well as the American Dream of going from rags to riches.

"I'm Not Nathan Arizona!" - This quote is funny because it is a catchphrase that Herbert I. "Hi" McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) uses throughout the movie, but it is not his real name. The FBI agents later find out that his real name is Nathan Huffheins, and he quips, "Would you shop at a store called Unpainted Huffheins?" This gives the catchphrase a darker meaning, as it shows that he has been lying about his name the entire time and no one can trust anything he says. "I'll Be Taking These Huggies and Whatever Cash You Got." - This line is delivered by Hi McDunnough when he disguises his face with pantyhose and holds up a convenience store to steal Huggies for Nathan Jr. It is a perfect delivery by Nicolas Cage, as he shows that he is there to commit a robbery but also puts a target on his head concerning the recent kidnapping.

Forty years old this year, the neo-noir Blood Simple marked the debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, and remains a captivating example of low-budget filmmaking.

To date, Joel and Ethan Coen haven’t made a pure horror film (though they’ve talked about it). Blood Simple, their 1984 debut, undoubtedly comes close. A neo-noir shot on a low budget, it shows that the writer-director brothers had their style down right from the beginning of their careers. Its script is witty and terse; its photography is fluid and stylish; its characters and tone are somehow both mundane and off-beat. Like so many of their later film, Blood Simple also defies easy categorisation; it’s a neo-noir, it’s a black comedy, and in several visceral scenes, dips gleefully into horror.

Much like Fargo or The Big Lebowski or any other thriller-infused Coen brothers film you could name, there are no criminal masterminds in Blood Simple – just ordinary,...

Free-spirited mom. Strict mother. Abused wife. Boozing adulteress. Mousy governess. Strong-willed nomad. With her talent for deadpan delivery and with one of the most expressive faces in the industry, Frances McDormand has created a treasure trove of complex and diverse characters over the past 40 years, earning numerous accolades along the way.

McDormand was born Cynthia Ann Smith on June 23, 1957, and was adopted when she was a year-and-a-half old and renamed Frances Louise McDormand. After studying theater, including receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale School of Drama, she quickly made a name for herself on stage, as well as in film and television.

In 1984, McDormand made her film debut in “Blood Simple,” the first film made by her new husband Joel Coen and his brother Ethan Coen. She has collaborated with the brothers in seven other films, including her first Oscar-winning performance in “Fargo” (1996). In addition to her film work,...

Samm-Art Williams, whose Tony-nominated 1979 play Home is being revived on Broadway this year and whose TV producing credits include Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, died peacefully today in Burgaw, North Carolina. He was 78.

His death was announced by family.

Born Samuel Arthur Williams on January 20, 1946, in Philadelphia, Williams was a prolific playwright, screenwriter, actor, and producer.

Performing as Samm Williams, he got his start on the New York stage in the early 1970s, appearing in notable plays such as Black Jesus and, with the New York’s Negro Ensemble Company, Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide and Liberty Calland. By the mid-’70s he began performing in other Off Broadway shows under the name Samm-Art Williams.

By the end of the decade, Williams had made his mark as a stage writer, and is today best known for Home, a drama originally staged by the Negro...

Settle in, Mother Scratchers! We’re going back to the salad days of Joel and Ethan Coen‘s fabled partnership for the duo’s unconventional comedy about an unlikely courtship, unwanted house guests, a cigar-chomping pale rider, the best deals on furniture in the Southwestern portion of the United States, and baby stealing! Slap your ass, and don’t forget the Huggies because we’re revisiting the Coen Brothers’ 1987 crime comedy Raising Arizona.

The dynamic duo of Joel and Ethan Coen made the Hollywood scene in 1984 with the neo-noir crime drama Blood Simple. Featuring John Getz, Francis McDormand, and Dan Hedaya, Blood Simple helped define the brothers as a creative team to watch, with critics taking a shine to the thriller’s harsh Texas setting, twisting plot, and hypnotic characters. Not all filmmakers come out of the gate swinging, but the Coens delivered a haymaker for film buffs craving something dark,...

Always good as either an antagonist or malign authority figure, Walsh – best known as loathsome Pi Visser in Blood Simple – was a singular, brilliant icon

M Emmet Walsh, American actor, dies at 88

M Emmet Walsh was the outstanding Hollywood character actor who emerged in the American new wave, a performer whose mesmerically watchable and powerful looks made him eminently castable; he was jowly and heavy set, but always looked tough, as if the idea of a fistfight would not be a novel or frightening thing for him. But he also had a woundedly sad expression in those poached-egg eyes.

Walsh lent a texture of reality to any picture he was in – like his approximate contemporaries Ned Beatty or George Kennedy, a performer who could be part of the landscape and offset the importance of the male lead, often in some kind of antagonistic or malign authority role. He could be...

One of cinema's most prolific and cherished character actors has died just short of his 89th birthday. M. Emmet Walsh, memorable in so many films including Blade Runner, Blood Simple and more recently, Knives Out, was 88 when he died on Tuesday.

Born in 1935 in Ogdensburg, New York, Walsh was raised in Vermont. He kicked off his acting career in typical fashion, with guest roles in TV series in the 1960s and 70s, but unlike some of his peers, he continued to juggle big and small screen gigs throughout his life. He had a personal credo about the work: "I approach each job thinking it might be my last, so it better be the best work possible. I want to be remembered as a working actor. I’m being paid for what I’d do for nothing."

Cinematically, he got his start via uncredited roles in the likes of Midnight Cowboy,...

M. Emmet Walsh, who excelled when playing characters that brought a delightfully menacing presence to films such as Blade Runner and Blood Simple, has died at the age of 88.

His longtime manager Sandy Joseph confirmed his death, and said he died from cardiac arrest on Tuesday in St. Albans, Vermont.

While Walsh would go on to play numerous supportive roles throughout his career, he took on a rare leading role as private detective Loren Visser in then-unknowns Joel and Ethan Coens’ 1984 film Blood Simple. The Coen brothers said that they...

Character actor, who appeared in more than 220 roles across seven decades, died in Vermont on Tuesday

M Emmet Walsh, the character actor who appeared in more than 220 film and television roles including Blade Runner, Knives Out and the Coen brothers’ films Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, has died aged 88.

Walsh’s manager, Sandy Joseph, confirmed to the industry publication Variety that he had died Tuesday in Vermont.

M. Emmet Walsh is dead at the age of 88, his manager Sandy Joseph told IndieWire. The grizzled character actor appeared in Hollywood movies across 55 years and was one of the most recognizable “oh yeah, that guy!” performers in the industry. Even just by saying “grizzled character actor” you probably pictured him, even if you didn’t know his name.

Walsh had bit parts in “Midnight Cowboy,” “Little Big Man,” “Serpico,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and “The Gambler” at the start of his career. But it’s two films from the early 1980s that put him on the map and truly lodged him in the consciousness of cinephiles: “Blade Runner” and “Blood Simple.” In Ridley Scott’s film he played Capt. Bryant, who sends Harrison Ford’s Decker on his quest to terminate the escaped, murderous replicants. Or “retire” them, rather. That’s the kind of euphemism Walsh, in his rumpled way,...

M. Emmet Walsh, the familiar character actor in Blade Runner, Blood Simple, Best Picture Oscar winner Ordinary People, Knives Out, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Slap Shot and more than 200 other films and TV shows spanning a half-century, died Tuesday, his rep said. He was 88.

Manager Sandy Joseph told Deadline that Walsh died of cardiac arrest at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, Vt.

His most recent roles included Knives Out, The Righteous Gemstones and Sneaky Pete.

Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson remembered the actor on social media today, writing: “Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single-spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew. ‘Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.’ Absolute legend.”

Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which...

M. Emmet Walsh, the wily character actor who became an audience favorite for his deliciously despicable performances in such films as Blood Simple, Blade Runner, Brubaker and The Jerk, has died. He was 88.

Walsh died Tuesday in St. Albans, Vermont, his longtime manager, Sandy Joseph, told The Hollywood Reporter. The cause was cardiac arrest.

With his distinctive lumbering form and droll delivery, Walsh was an ideal supporting player. A master of off-kilter comic delivery and dogged edginess, he excelled at roles that dwelled in the darker corners of humanity. No matter whom he played, he made a colorful impact.

“A consummate old pro of the second-banana business, Walsh has left his mark on 109 movies and counting, with the grin of that big bastard who stands between you and something else — and knows it,” Nicolas Rapold wrote in a 2011 profile of the actor for L.A. Weekly.

In the same piece, Walsh...

Very sad news today as it’s been reported that M. Emmet Walsh has died at the age of 88. No matter the size of the role, the prolific character actor always made a unique impression throughout his long career, which spanned six decades.

M. Emmet Walsh is best known for playing Bryant in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, the captain of the Los Angeles Police Department who tasks Deckard with tracking down the replicants at the beginning of the film. He told THR that the cast and crew weren’t quite sure what the make of the movie when they first saw it. “I don’t know if I really understood what in the hell it was all about,” Walsh said. “We all sat there and it ended. And nothing. We didn’t know what to say or to think or do! We didn’t know what in the hell we had done!

M. Emmet Walsh, a veteran character actor who appeared in more than 150 films including “Blade Runner,” “Blood Simple” and “Knives Out” and played Dermot Mulroney’s dad in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” has died.

His manager Sandy Joseph confirmed that he died Tuesday in Vermont. He was 88.

In Ridley Scott’s 1982 “Blade Runner,” Walsh was Harrison Ford’s LAPD boss, while he played the vicious private detective Loren Visser in the Coen brothers’ directing debut “Blood Simple.” Wearing a sickly yellow suit, Pauline Kael said he was the film’s “only colorful performer. He lays on the loathsomeness, but he gives it a little twirl — a sportiness.”

His other roles included the corrupt sheriff in the 1986 horror film “Critters” and a small role as a security guard in “Knives Out.”

Walsh appeared in a string of memorable 1970s films, including “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman, “What’s Up, Doc?” with Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand,...

It’s hard to put into words the kind of the disappointment that comes with realising that one of your favourite filmmakers has made a truly terrible movie. That realisation hit me approximately 10 minutes into Drive-Away Dolls, the new film by one half of acclaimed filmmaking duo The Coen Brothers.

Alongside his brother Joel, Ethan Coen has given us more than 4 decades of brilliant films ranging from quirky black comedies – A Serious Man, Hail, Caesar!, Inside Llewyn Davis – to beautifully devised crime capers – Blood Simple, No Country for Old Men and True Grit being just a few – but recently the prolific brothers took a break from working together. This resulted in Joel Coen’s multi-awarded nominated The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2021, and the soon to be released chaotic lesbian sexploitation comedy Drive-Away Dolls from his brother Ethan.

Written by Coen and Tricia Cooke, Drive-Away Dolls follows the antics of Jamie...

Plot: A gym manager, Lou (Kristen Stewart), falls head-over-heels in love with a female bodybuilder, Jackie (Katy O’Brian). But, their bliss is short-lived, as the two end up getting tangled up with Lou’s criminal father (Ed Harris).

Review: Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding is a dark, stylized, ultra-mean-spirited neo-noir. It skates on the edge of perhaps being a little too self-aware for its good in the surreal finale, but it’s still a very entertaining and twisty thriller.

Kristen Stewart is perfectly cast as the laconic noir anti-hero who hooks up now and then with a girl (Anna Baryshnikov), she can’t stand but otherwise leads a lonely life with her cat. Being set in 1989, the constantly smoking Lou is trying to quit with books on tape that have little to no effect, only for her life to be blown up when she sets her eyes on Katy...

The Coen Brothers, namely Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, are an iconic filmmaking duo. They are credited with the making of some of the best movies like Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou? The duo wrote and directed their first movie, Blood Simple, in 1984.

After decades of working together with his brother, Ethan Coen decided to take a break from making films to turn his attention to theater. However, he was not able to stay away from narrative storytelling for too long. In 2022, it was announced that he was directing a movie named Drive-Away Dolls, which he co-wrote with his wife Tricia Cooke. The movie is loosely based on the couple’s one-of-a-kind family setup.

The Coen Brothers- Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s Unique Family Setup

For those unversed, Ethan Coen‘s wife Tricia Cooke worked with the Coen Brothers as a...

There’s a new Coen duo in town. Ethan Coen and his wife, film editor Tricia Cooke, have created a feature – Drive-Away Dolls. Here they talk about 70s B-movies, US politics, and the joys of their unconventional marriage

In the folklore that has grown up around the Coen brothers over the past 40 years, there are two siblings, Ethan and Joel, and Joel’s wife, actor Frances McDormand, who has been a regular since their first film, Blood Simple, and bagged an Oscar for her unforgettable performance as the pregnant policewoman in Fargo. Ultra-swotty groupies may remember that Ethan’s son, Buster, was credited as Matt Damon’s abs double on True Grit, though Buster was barely into his teens and Damon never displayed his abs.

But unbeknown to most, on seven of the Coens’ films, up until 2001’s The Man Who Wasn’t There, a fourth member of the clan was working away behind the scenes.

Drive-Away Dolls breaks Coen Brothers' 20-year streak, diverts from critical acclaim. Solo Coen projects receive mixed receptions, while partnership has almost guaranteed success. Comedy-heavy Coen Brothers' films tend to have their lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Ethan Coen's latest film, Drive-Away Dolls, has received a mixed critical reception, breaking a 20-year streak from the Coen Brothers. Known for their consistent excellence in making compelling original films since the 1980s, the Coens have become known as some of the most accomplished contemporary filmmakers. They've won an Academy Award for Best Picture for No Country For Old Men and directed several other cult classics like The Big Lebowski and Blood Simple. After The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in 2018, the brothers parted ways to work on separate projects.

The Coen Brothers together deserve to be mentioned among the best directors of all time, though their merits individually are too few to argue for.

Clockwise from top left: Thelma And Louise (MGM), Chicago (Miramax), The Handmaiden (Cj Entertainment), and Ocean’s 8 (Warner Bros.) Graphic: The A.V. Club Dune: Part Two review: Visually ravishing storytelling from Denis VilleneuveThe biggest gotcha of 2021’s Dune—a movie full of spectacle and visual wonder—was that...

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures, Wilson Webb/Working Title/Focus Features, Lionsgate, Jc Olivera (Getty Images), Imeh Akpanudosen (Getty Images), MGM, Screenshot: Tenet, Image: Forthright Entertainment and Soma Games, Graphic: The A.V. Club, Images: The A.V. Club, Focus Features, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, Vittorio Zunino CelottoDune: Part Two review:...

A road trip. A mix-up. A fast-talking hero, prone to tossing off bewilderingly verbose sentences. Some criminals who run the gamut from eccentric to psychotic to painfully inept. (Sometimes, they’re all three at once.) Dangerously sudden violence. Dangerously dark humor. Dangerously outrageous hairdos. The feeling that you’re watching a vintage film noir story run through a Looney Tunes filter. You are in the presence of a Coen brothers movie — whaddaya need, a road map?!

Actually, some sort of Gps system would be a blessing for both you, the viewer,...

The release of "Drive-Away Dolls" has been marked by most of the trades as the first solo directorial feature of Ethan Coen, following his brother Joel's 2021 outing with "The Tragedy of Macbeth." And sure, it's a catchy headline to acknowledge that one-half of one of cinema's greatest directorial partnerships is stepping out on his own, but that doesn't tell the full story. For one thing, Ethan Coen already made his solo directorial debut with the documentary "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind." More importantly, "Drive-Away Dolls" may have Coen listed as the solo director, but if you ask him, this was yet another co-directed project, but this time with his wife and longtime Coen Bros. editor, Tricia Cooke.

Cooke first worked with the Coens as an editor on "Miller's Crossing" fresh out of film school, seeking out the job not because they were the esteemed directors of "Blood Simple" and Raising Arizona" fame,...

Drive-Away Dolls' Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 72%, lower than all but two Coen brothers movies. The Coen brothers, known for Fargo and No Country for Old Men, have each started directing solo projects. Despite being considered fresh, Drive-Away Dolls' score doesn't match the Coen brothers' high achievements.

The Drive-Away Dolls Rotten Tomatoes score is in, and it's lower than all but two Coen brothers movies. Known for their acclaimed genre-spanning films like Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers recently parted ways and started making movies on their own, starting with Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2021 and Ethan Coen directing Drive-Away Dolls, due for release on February 23. The road comedy, co-written by Tricia Cooke, follows two free spirits who embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee and cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

The Drive-Away Dolls cast includes Margaret Qualley,...

Geraldine Viswanathan and Margaret Qualley in Drive-Away Dolls Photo: Wilson Webb/Working Title/Focus Features In his first foray into narrative film without his brother and collaborator Joel Coen, Ethan Coen keeps it in the family. His partner in Drive-Away Dolls is his wife Tricia Cooke. He produced, wrote, and directed and she produced,...