More than four decades after the New Hollywood films of the ’60s and ’70s hit screens and became enshrined as a near-mythological period of artistic excellence in American cinema, the era’s attributes also become increasingly contrasted with current American cinema.
Nonconformity, provocation and experimentation were mainstream. Today, those qualities aren’t selling movie tickets but instead driving streamer subscriptions. And the big hits are all characterized by the packaged goods franchise hits that dominate box office to the almost total exclusion of personal cinema.
Which is a long explanation of why awards season is more essential than ever.
As someone who lived through and loved the New Hollywood films and filmmakers, this is the time of year when the hunger for the ambitious telling of difficult stories is sated.
In addition to Todd Field’s wonderful and already much-celebrated “Tár,” which has evoked positive comparisons to the best of New Hollywood giant Stanley Kubrick,...
Nonconformity, provocation and experimentation were mainstream. Today, those qualities aren’t selling movie tickets but instead driving streamer subscriptions. And the big hits are all characterized by the packaged goods franchise hits that dominate box office to the almost total exclusion of personal cinema.
Which is a long explanation of why awards season is more essential than ever.
As someone who lived through and loved the New Hollywood films and filmmakers, this is the time of year when the hunger for the ambitious telling of difficult stories is sated.
In addition to Todd Field’s wonderful and already much-celebrated “Tár,” which has evoked positive comparisons to the best of New Hollywood giant Stanley Kubrick,...
- 1/10/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
By Lee Pfeiffer
When it was announced that producer Elliott Kastner had succeeded in signing both Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson for the 1976 Western, "The Missouri Breaks", the project was viewed as a "can't miss" at the international box-office. This would be Brando's first film since his back-to-back triumphs in "The Godfather" and "Last Tango in Paris" and Nicholson had just won the Best Actor Oscar for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The two Hollywood icons were actually neighbors who lived next door to each other, but they had never previously teamed for a film project. Kastner, whose prowess as a street-wise guy who used unorthodox methods to get films off the ground, had used a clever tactic to sign up both superstars: he told each man that the other had already committed to the project, when, in fact, neither had. With Brando and Nicholson aboard, Kastner hired a respected director,...
When it was announced that producer Elliott Kastner had succeeded in signing both Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson for the 1976 Western, "The Missouri Breaks", the project was viewed as a "can't miss" at the international box-office. This would be Brando's first film since his back-to-back triumphs in "The Godfather" and "Last Tango in Paris" and Nicholson had just won the Best Actor Oscar for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The two Hollywood icons were actually neighbors who lived next door to each other, but they had never previously teamed for a film project. Kastner, whose prowess as a street-wise guy who used unorthodox methods to get films off the ground, had used a clever tactic to sign up both superstars: he told each man that the other had already committed to the project, when, in fact, neither had. With Brando and Nicholson aboard, Kastner hired a respected director,...
- 5/9/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Another unexpected comic treasure from the mid ’70s! Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston make an irresistible pair of would-be outlaws in a tale of the modern West — high-country Montana, actually — where a gentleman rancher from New Jersey owns all the land and making an honest living is just too boring. Thomas McGuane’s hilariously laid-back dialogue pits our slacker cattle rustlers against society — but only in the pursuit of having a good time. Frank Perry’s beautifully directed show gives choice roles to a fistful of actors: Clifton James, Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton, Slim Pickens, Charlene Dallas, Richard Bright, Joe Spinell, Patti D’Arbanville. Call it ‘literate’ country comedy, with musical accompaniment by Jimmy Buffett. The extras include a great new interview with star Jeff Bridges.
Rancho Deluxe
Blu-ray
Fun City Editions
1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date July 19, 2021 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome /
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley,...
Rancho Deluxe
Blu-ray
Fun City Editions
1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date July 19, 2021 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome /
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley,...
- 8/21/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
(Fonda and Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider")
By Lee Pfeiffer
Peter Fonda, the actor, screenwriter, producer and director, has died at age 79 from lung cancer. His family represented one of America's most legendary acting dynasties. His father was Henry Fonda, his sister Jane Fonda and he was the father of actress Bridget Fonda. He and Jane had a fractured relationship with their father that ultimately saw them reconcile in Henry's later years. Their mother committed suicide when they were very young and they were initially told she had died of a heart attack. Peter almost died as a teenager when he accidentally shot himself in the stomach. He and Jane both found success as actors, following in their father's footsteps. Peter's early films found him in supporting roles but his breakthrough role as a leading man came in Roger Corman's 1966 biker film "The Wild Angels", which was made on...
By Lee Pfeiffer
Peter Fonda, the actor, screenwriter, producer and director, has died at age 79 from lung cancer. His family represented one of America's most legendary acting dynasties. His father was Henry Fonda, his sister Jane Fonda and he was the father of actress Bridget Fonda. He and Jane had a fractured relationship with their father that ultimately saw them reconcile in Henry's later years. Their mother committed suicide when they were very young and they were initially told she had died of a heart attack. Peter almost died as a teenager when he accidentally shot himself in the stomach. He and Jane both found success as actors, following in their father's footsteps. Peter's early films found him in supporting roles but his breakthrough role as a leading man came in Roger Corman's 1966 biker film "The Wild Angels", which was made on...
- 8/17/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The title of the just-completed documentary “Dave Grusin: Not Enough Time” reflects the subject’s lament that there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the year for all the music that needs to be made. That desire to stretch the clock might seem hyperbolic coming from other musicians, but not for someone whose hats have included film and TV scorer, concert performer, producer and jazz label mogul, often all at once.
At a post-screening Q&A in Santa Monica this week, the great jazz bassist Marcus Miller spoke about being a youthful protege and watching Grusin casually change hats mid-day… and assuming that was normal.
“I started playing with Dave Grusin when I was 17, 18 — I don’t know how old, but I know I had braces,” Marcus laughed. “To see him run a session, and then know that he’s going to score a movie that night after the session…...
At a post-screening Q&A in Santa Monica this week, the great jazz bassist Marcus Miller spoke about being a youthful protege and watching Grusin casually change hats mid-day… and assuming that was normal.
“I started playing with Dave Grusin when I was 17, 18 — I don’t know how old, but I know I had braces,” Marcus laughed. “To see him run a session, and then know that he’s going to score a movie that night after the session…...
- 5/5/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Livingston, Mont.– Actress Margot Kidder had a roller coaster ride of a life, which ended in Montana on May 13, 2018, at the age of 69. From her modest beginnings as a Canadian performer in TV and B-movies, to her work with Brian De Palma, and her peak as Lois Lane in the first set of “Superman” movies, Kidder forged her own path. That path included a bipolar disorder that plagued her later years.
She was born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Canada, and graduated from Havergal College, a boarding school in Toronto. She made her film debut in a short film called “The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar” in 1968, and followed that up with her American debut in “Gaily Gaily” (1969). She also did television for the Canadian Broadcast Company during that era, and was a semi-regular on “Nichols” (1971) with James Garner. She relocated to Los Angeles, and began a string of appearances in notable films,...
She was born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Canada, and graduated from Havergal College, a boarding school in Toronto. She made her film debut in a short film called “The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar” in 1968, and followed that up with her American debut in “Gaily Gaily” (1969). She also did television for the Canadian Broadcast Company during that era, and was a semi-regular on “Nichols” (1971) with James Garner. She relocated to Los Angeles, and began a string of appearances in notable films,...
- 5/19/2018
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
While Margot Kidder is best known for her recurring role as Lois Lane in the original Superman films, she will also be remembered for her long and courageous battle with bipolar disorder, once known as manic depression.
The actress died at the age of 69 on Sunday at her home in Livingston, Montana, People confirmed on Monday. Her cause of death is unknown.
“The reality of my life has been grand and wonderful, punctuated by these odd blips and burps of madness,” Kidder told People for a cover story in 1996, not long after her last reported manic episode, which left her homeless for a time.
The actress died at the age of 69 on Sunday at her home in Livingston, Montana, People confirmed on Monday. Her cause of death is unknown.
“The reality of my life has been grand and wonderful, punctuated by these odd blips and burps of madness,” Kidder told People for a cover story in 1996, not long after her last reported manic episode, which left her homeless for a time.
- 5/14/2018
- by Mike Miller, J.D. Reed
- PEOPLE.com
Margot Kidder, the actress best known for playing Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in the original “Superman” films, has died. She was 69.
The actress died in her sleep at her home on Sunday in Livingston, Mont., her publicist Camilla Fluxman Pines confirmed to Variety.
Born Oct. 17 in Canada, Kidder got her start in low-budget Canadian films and TV shows before landing a role in 1970’s “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx” opposite Gene Wilder. She later appeared in 1973’s “Sisters,” “The Great Waldo Pepper” with Robert Redford, and 1979’s “The Amityville Horror.”
She rose to prominence as Lois Lane, the award-winning Daily Planet journalist and Clark Kent’s love interest in all four “Superman” films from 1978 to 1987.
Kidder, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, suffered some career setbacks after a public nervous breakdown in 1996. She continued acting in smaller roles on TV series including “Smallville,” “Brothers & Sisters,...
The actress died in her sleep at her home on Sunday in Livingston, Mont., her publicist Camilla Fluxman Pines confirmed to Variety.
Born Oct. 17 in Canada, Kidder got her start in low-budget Canadian films and TV shows before landing a role in 1970’s “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx” opposite Gene Wilder. She later appeared in 1973’s “Sisters,” “The Great Waldo Pepper” with Robert Redford, and 1979’s “The Amityville Horror.”
She rose to prominence as Lois Lane, the award-winning Daily Planet journalist and Clark Kent’s love interest in all four “Superman” films from 1978 to 1987.
Kidder, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, suffered some career setbacks after a public nervous breakdown in 1996. She continued acting in smaller roles on TV series including “Smallville,” “Brothers & Sisters,...
- 5/14/2018
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Margot Kidder, who is probably best known for portraying Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in the 1970s and ’80s Superman movies and starred in many other films including The Amityville Horror while struggling with mental illness, has died. She was 69. The Franzen-Davis Funeral Home in Livingston, Mt, said she died Sunday but did not reveal a cause of death.
Kidder appeared with many of Hollywood’s leading men during her 50-year career, including Robert Redford and James Garner, it was her role as the plucky Daily Planet reporter with a penchant for finding trouble in Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV (1987) that shot her to fame.
Born on October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Canada, Kidder started her career in TV in the late 1960s, guesting on such shows as McQueen and The Mod Squad. She starred opposite Gene Wilder in the 1970 film Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx...
Kidder appeared with many of Hollywood’s leading men during her 50-year career, including Robert Redford and James Garner, it was her role as the plucky Daily Planet reporter with a penchant for finding trouble in Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV (1987) that shot her to fame.
Born on October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Canada, Kidder started her career in TV in the late 1960s, guesting on such shows as McQueen and The Mod Squad. She starred opposite Gene Wilder in the 1970 film Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx...
- 5/14/2018
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Margot Kidder, who rose to prominence playing Lois Lane in the 1978 film “Superman” opposite Christopher Reeve, died Sunday, according to an obituary published by the Franzen-Davis funeral home. She was 69.
According to the obituary, Kidder died at her home. Arrangements are pending under the care of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory in Livingston, Montana.
Kidder’s manager, Camilla Fluxman Pines, told TheWrap on Monday that the actress died peacefully in her sleep.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2018 (Photos)
Born in Canada in 1948, Kidder appeared in a number of low-budget Canadian films and TV shows, and appeared in films including the 1973 thriller “Sisters,” the Robert Redford-drama “The Great Waldo Pepper” and the 1979 horror film “The Amityville Horror,” as well as “Superman” and its sequels.
Kidder’s career and personal life suffered setbacks in the 1990s, following a nervous breakdown. She disappeared for four days in 1996, and later told People,...
According to the obituary, Kidder died at her home. Arrangements are pending under the care of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory in Livingston, Montana.
Kidder’s manager, Camilla Fluxman Pines, told TheWrap on Monday that the actress died peacefully in her sleep.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2018 (Photos)
Born in Canada in 1948, Kidder appeared in a number of low-budget Canadian films and TV shows, and appeared in films including the 1973 thriller “Sisters,” the Robert Redford-drama “The Great Waldo Pepper” and the 1979 horror film “The Amityville Horror,” as well as “Superman” and its sequels.
Kidder’s career and personal life suffered setbacks in the 1990s, following a nervous breakdown. She disappeared for four days in 1996, and later told People,...
- 5/14/2018
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
On Tuesday, Americans go to the voting booth to determine what kind of country they want theirs to be. Months of the most polarized, and polarizing, presidential campaign in recent memory have left many of us with battle fatigue and gnawing pangs of cynicism and nausea. To quote Thomas McGuane, in the opening line of his 1973 novel “92 in the Shade”: “Nobody knows, from sea to shining sea, why we are having all this trouble with our republic.”
Our filmmakers might have a clue. And a little distance brings perspective. The American Film Festival just celebrated its seventh annual survey of new (and mostly) independent cinema made in the U.S.A., as assembled for and viewed by eager European audiences in Wroclaw, Poland. Though not without some escapist and experimental tangents, the selections couldn’t help but offer a provocative composite of work that serves as a kind of state of the union address.
Our filmmakers might have a clue. And a little distance brings perspective. The American Film Festival just celebrated its seventh annual survey of new (and mostly) independent cinema made in the U.S.A., as assembled for and viewed by eager European audiences in Wroclaw, Poland. Though not without some escapist and experimental tangents, the selections couldn’t help but offer a provocative composite of work that serves as a kind of state of the union address.
- 11/7/2016
- by Steve Dollar
- Indiewire
Jim Harrison, the author and poet who penned Legends of the Fall has died, CNN and The New York Times report. He was 78. He died on Saturday at his home in Patagonia, Arizona, his publisher, Grove Atlantic, confirmed, but the exact cause of death is still unknown. "We are very sad to hear about his death," Morgan Entrekin, CEO of Grove Atlantic, told CNN. "He left a great body of work that is going to live on." Harrison, who authored nearly 40 books - including novels and collections of poems - was considered the master of the novella and his work...
- 3/27/2016
- by Maria Mercedes Lara, @maria_mercedes
- PEOPLE.com
Jim Harrison, the author and poet who penned Legends of the Fall has died, CNN and The New York Times report. He was 78. He died on Saturday at his home in Patagonia, Arizona, his publisher, Grove Atlantic, confirmed, but the exact cause of death is still unknown. "We are very sad to hear about his death," Morgan Entrekin, CEO of Grove Atlantic, told CNN. "He left a great body of work that is going to live on." Harrison, who authored nearly 40 books - including novels and collections of poems - was considered the master of the novella and his work...
- 3/27/2016
- by Maria Mercedes Lara, @maria_mercedes
- PEOPLE.com
Arthur Penn’s notorious, arguably ‘revisionist’ Western The Missouri Breaks makes it to Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber, with packaging that keeps the film’s initial infamous discrepancies alive and well with star Marlon Brando’s name retaining top billing. Though it would be Brando’s last sizeable role, the film’s main protagonist is really Jack Nicholson as a matter-of-fact horse thief who runs up against a prosperous man who holds himself above the law by failing to recognize that the rest of the country’s outlying frontiers have them.
The term revisionist is problematic in reference to Penn’s film, though it attempts to make us sympathize with a villain positioned against a civilized businessman who’s nearly as irredeemable. Two wrongs don’t make a right, so if anything, Penn’s adaptation of Thomas McGuane’s script is anarchist at best. Plagued with a troubled production thanks...
The term revisionist is problematic in reference to Penn’s film, though it attempts to make us sympathize with a villain positioned against a civilized businessman who’s nearly as irredeemable. Two wrongs don’t make a right, so if anything, Penn’s adaptation of Thomas McGuane’s script is anarchist at best. Plagued with a troubled production thanks...
- 1/20/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Philip is not the most likable guy. In the first few seconds of director Alex Ross Perry’s film, Listen Up Philip (premiering at Sundance on Jan. 20), we see Philip (Jason Schwartzman) rushing down a New York street as a narrator (Eric Bogosian) explains that he’s ”characteristically not in a hurry, but perpetually enraged by slow foot traffic before him.”
It’s the perfect intro to the character that you’re about to spend the next 108 minutes with as the embittered, narcissistic writer navigates his life, the stresses behind the release of his second novel, and his crumbling relationship.
It’s the perfect intro to the character that you’re about to spend the next 108 minutes with as the embittered, narcissistic writer navigates his life, the stresses behind the release of his second novel, and his crumbling relationship.
- 1/14/2014
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
Arthur Penn, the director of the polarizing "Bonnie and Clyde" whose films often flew in the face of American mythology, died Tuesday, one day after his 88th birthday.
Daughter Molly Penn said her father died of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home. Longtime friend and business manager Evan Bell said Wednesday that Penn had been ill for about a year.
A product of the golden era of live television and an accomplished theater director, Penn's work on "The Miracle Worker" earned him an Emmy nomination in 1957, a Tony in 1959 and an Oscar nom in 1962. At one time, Penn had five hits running simultaneously on Broadway.
Penn was one of a group of directors -- including John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet and Norman Jewison -- whose films were intelligent glimpses into politics, morals and social institutions. Often, they were met with controversy.
His movies debunked the allure of the gunman, the...
Daughter Molly Penn said her father died of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home. Longtime friend and business manager Evan Bell said Wednesday that Penn had been ill for about a year.
A product of the golden era of live television and an accomplished theater director, Penn's work on "The Miracle Worker" earned him an Emmy nomination in 1957, a Tony in 1959 and an Oscar nom in 1962. At one time, Penn had five hits running simultaneously on Broadway.
Penn was one of a group of directors -- including John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet and Norman Jewison -- whose films were intelligent glimpses into politics, morals and social institutions. Often, they were met with controversy.
His movies debunked the allure of the gunman, the...
- 9/29/2010
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Self-made Hollywood producer best known for adapting novels
Elliott Kastner, who has died of cancer aged 80, was the model of a film producer, working his way up from the mailroom at the William Morris Agency in New York to Los Angeles, where he joined another powerful talent agency, McA, in 1959. He soon became vice-president of Universal Pictures, but after two years he risked everything to become an independent producer, a move that paid off.
This achievement required a certain amount of ruthlessness, and Kastner was relentless in his pursuit of getting what he wanted. Mostly he wanted to entice well-known playwrights and novelists to write screenplays, or gain the rights of those works whose authors were no longer around to cajole.
Kastner persuaded William Inge (Bus Riley's Back in Town, 1965), Iris Murdoch (A Severed Head, 1970), Edna O'Brien (Zee and Co, 1972) and Peter Shaffer (Equus, 1977) to adapt their works for the screen,...
Elliott Kastner, who has died of cancer aged 80, was the model of a film producer, working his way up from the mailroom at the William Morris Agency in New York to Los Angeles, where he joined another powerful talent agency, McA, in 1959. He soon became vice-president of Universal Pictures, but after two years he risked everything to become an independent producer, a move that paid off.
This achievement required a certain amount of ruthlessness, and Kastner was relentless in his pursuit of getting what he wanted. Mostly he wanted to entice well-known playwrights and novelists to write screenplays, or gain the rights of those works whose authors were no longer around to cajole.
Kastner persuaded William Inge (Bus Riley's Back in Town, 1965), Iris Murdoch (A Severed Head, 1970), Edna O'Brien (Zee and Co, 1972) and Peter Shaffer (Equus, 1977) to adapt their works for the screen,...
- 7/29/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
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