Back when he was finishing “Dumb and Dumber To” in 2014, Jeff Daniels was ready to leave show business. “I’m done,” he told Jim Carrey. “You can’t stop man,” Carrey said. “You can’t, you’re creative, you’re going to create something, you’ve got to keep creating. That’s what we do!”
These days, Carrey’s off in Hawaii painting. And when Daniels is not acting, he’s writing songs and plays, which he mounts at his Michigan hometown’s Purple Rose Theatre Company. “It’s what keeps me going,” Daniels told me on Zoom. “It keeps me alive. It’s what I’m supposed to do. It’s helped me between the phone calls for the acting jobs. Because you can go insane staring at that phone. They’ll call you when they need you. And so I’ve always battled whatever depression or fear might...
These days, Carrey’s off in Hawaii painting. And when Daniels is not acting, he’s writing songs and plays, which he mounts at his Michigan hometown’s Purple Rose Theatre Company. “It’s what keeps me going,” Daniels told me on Zoom. “It keeps me alive. It’s what I’m supposed to do. It’s helped me between the phone calls for the acting jobs. Because you can go insane staring at that phone. They’ll call you when they need you. And so I’ve always battled whatever depression or fear might...
- 5/2/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
In 1982, Jonathan Demme directed a lovely TV movie called “Who Am I This Time?” about a shy actor (Christopher Walken) who can only reveal himself on stage in a variety of disparate roles. It’s an emblematic title and idea for Demme himself, a director whose fascination for the viewer lies in the fact that he’s paradoxically both an auteur with a clear signature and a director who tried on different artistic personalities throughout his career. There’s the exploitation guerrilla of the early ’70s; the humanist drama specialist who made “Melvin and Howard,” “Philadelphia,” and “Rachel Getting Married”; the off-beat hipster comedian; the sensitive documentarian; the live performance specialist; and the steward of well resourced, star-driven literary adaptations and remakes that became Demme’s specialty after his blockbuster success with “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991.
While the subject matter and scale may vary, the point of view...
While the subject matter and scale may vary, the point of view...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette’s night of farce and coincidence is a tale in which strangeness and anxiety loom large, leading to a woozy punchline
Martin Scorsese’s 1985 screwball noir is now on rerelease. It felt at the time – and feels now – like an atypical Scorsese movie, a more generic and less auteurist project he accepted from its producer-star Griffin Dunne while progress on his Last Temptation of Christ had temporarily stalled. Maybe he thought of it as “road work”, but time has lent interest to After Hours; the obviously comic and farcical aspect has receded and its strangeness and anxiety loom larger, in a string of unsexy encounters and chilling coincidences culminating in a desolate close-dance scene to the accompaniment of Peggy Lee’s Is That All There Is? It’s a shaggy dog story leading to a punchline, of sorts, but one that feels woozy and illusory...
Martin Scorsese’s 1985 screwball noir is now on rerelease. It felt at the time – and feels now – like an atypical Scorsese movie, a more generic and less auteurist project he accepted from its producer-star Griffin Dunne while progress on his Last Temptation of Christ had temporarily stalled. Maybe he thought of it as “road work”, but time has lent interest to After Hours; the obviously comic and farcical aspect has receded and its strangeness and anxiety loom larger, in a string of unsexy encounters and chilling coincidences culminating in a desolate close-dance scene to the accompaniment of Peggy Lee’s Is That All There Is? It’s a shaggy dog story leading to a punchline, of sorts, but one that feels woozy and illusory...
- 3/20/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Zorro and Expats are the big shows coming to Prime Video in January. The former is what Amazon are calling a “bold reinterpretation” of the classic hero El Zorro for 2024. Starring Miguel Bernardeau as Diego de la Vega and Renata Notni as Lolita Marquez, it’s definitely an intriguing-sounding action-adventure series, with a ten-episode first season based on the iconic character originally created by Johnston McCulley all the way back in 1919.
Meanwhile, upcoming drama series Expats is based on the bestselling 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, and follows “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community” in Hong Kong. Nicole Kidman has been known for picking the right kind of shows to lead in the past, so let’s hope this is another banger for the actress, who is also on board as an executive producer here.
Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month.
Meanwhile, upcoming drama series Expats is based on the bestselling 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, and follows “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community” in Hong Kong. Nicole Kidman has been known for picking the right kind of shows to lead in the past, so let’s hope this is another banger for the actress, who is also on board as an executive producer here.
Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month.
- 1/1/2024
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
It's been 22 years since "Band of Brothers" captivated television audiences with its gripping 10-episode tale of a United States paratrooper company's daring, civilization-saving exploits in the European Theater of World War II. And according to its placement on Netflix's top charts, it is as relevant and watchable as ever.
Whether the streamer's subscribers are revisiting the classic miniseries or discovering it for the first time, it's encouraging to know that people are still moved by the heroism of the young soldiers who put their lives on the line to turn back Adolf Hitler's genocidal grab for world domination -- especially as we watch the American Republican party and the country's law enforcement get overrun by the types of white supremacists who contributed to the rise of the Third Reich. We live in perilous times, so it's important to remember how many brave individuals fought and died to eliminate...
Whether the streamer's subscribers are revisiting the classic miniseries or discovering it for the first time, it's encouraging to know that people are still moved by the heroism of the young soldiers who put their lives on the line to turn back Adolf Hitler's genocidal grab for world domination -- especially as we watch the American Republican party and the country's law enforcement get overrun by the types of white supremacists who contributed to the rise of the Third Reich. We live in perilous times, so it's important to remember how many brave individuals fought and died to eliminate...
- 9/23/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Making a top ten list of your favourite movies can be difficult, but is it any easier when you narrow that list down to a single decade? IndieWire asked dozens of filmmakers to put together a list of their favourite 80s movies, and the results are as widely varied as the decade itself. Which 80s movies does Bill Hader hold dear to his heart? What are some of Nia DaCosta’s favourites? Can Edgar Wright actually contain himself to just ten movies? What horror movies of the 80s top Eli Roth’s list?
Bill Hader’s (Barry) Favourite 80s Movies:
Thin Blue Line Road Warrior Blood Simple Evil Dead 1&2 Raging Bull Naked Gun The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On The Hit Raising Arizona Crimes and Misdemeanors Blue Velvet Where is the Friends House Pee Wees Big Adventure Midnight Run Come and See Do the Right Thing My Neighbor Totoro Die Hard Paris,...
Bill Hader’s (Barry) Favourite 80s Movies:
Thin Blue Line Road Warrior Blood Simple Evil Dead 1&2 Raging Bull Naked Gun The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On The Hit Raising Arizona Crimes and Misdemeanors Blue Velvet Where is the Friends House Pee Wees Big Adventure Midnight Run Come and See Do the Right Thing My Neighbor Totoro Die Hard Paris,...
- 8/18/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
“The Silence of the Lambs” executive producer Gary Goetzman has been a major player in Hollywood for the last four decades (especially after he followed that Best Picture-winner by co-founding Playtone with Tom Hanks in 1998), but many in and around the film industry were unfamiliar with his story until Paul Thomas Anderson made a movie about it. “That was some version of my story, at least,” Goetzman chuckled when I asked him about “Licorice Pizza” during a recent Zoom interview from his office in Los Angeles, where he’s putting the finishing touches on “Masters of the Air,” a high-altitude Apple miniseries in the tradition of “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” “So many events in ‘Licorice Pizza,’ are true, but everything around it is kind of not.”
Specifics notwithstanding, Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy — set in the San Fernando Valley circa 1973 and starring Cooper Hoffman as 15-year-old “Gary Valentine” — certainly...
Specifics notwithstanding, Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy — set in the San Fernando Valley circa 1973 and starring Cooper Hoffman as 15-year-old “Gary Valentine” — certainly...
- 8/18/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Last year, we lost Goodfellas star Ray Liotta, who passed away in his sleep at the age of 67. Now Deadline has shared a previously unreleased interview they conducted with Liotta a couple years before he died – and during the interview, Liotta mentioned that he felt stupid for turning down a role in director Tim Burton‘s 1989 version of Batman.
Batman first came up when Liotta was talking about writer/director Noah Baumbach’s Netflix-released film Marriage Story, which he had a role in. He said, “They started with the Batman stuff and triggered the whole comic book genre, and now most of the studios are putting an unbelievable amount of money into things like that. But movies like this one, Marriage Story… Thank God for Netflix, because they’ll finance your movie. I don’t know who else would give money for Marriage Story. It’s a great movie,...
Batman first came up when Liotta was talking about writer/director Noah Baumbach’s Netflix-released film Marriage Story, which he had a role in. He said, “They started with the Batman stuff and triggered the whole comic book genre, and now most of the studios are putting an unbelievable amount of money into things like that. But movies like this one, Marriage Story… Thank God for Netflix, because they’ll finance your movie. I don’t know who else would give money for Marriage Story. It’s a great movie,...
- 8/11/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
When we last talked, Ray Liotta was thinking a lot about mortality. “I’m at the age now there are some things you just forget,” he mused. “60 was a motherf*cker for me.” He was 64 at the time, soon to turn 65, but somehow his face, which once seemed older and wiser than its time, now seemed timeless. “Some people age better, and with some it’s like, ‘Whoa, what happened there!?’” he laughed.
“You’re like me,” he told me. “We look younger. You’ve got a babyface and you’re not lined. I have really oily skin. In high school it sucked because I had zits, so I have a whole complex about that to this day.”
He laughed with that twinkle in his eye that propelled his iconic turns in Something Wild, Goodfellas, Field of Dreams, not to mention Cop Land, Narc, Smokin’ Aces and Hannibal. He did plenty of forgettable films too,...
“You’re like me,” he told me. “We look younger. You’ve got a babyface and you’re not lined. I have really oily skin. In high school it sucked because I had zits, so I have a whole complex about that to this day.”
He laughed with that twinkle in his eye that propelled his iconic turns in Something Wild, Goodfellas, Field of Dreams, not to mention Cop Land, Narc, Smokin’ Aces and Hannibal. He did plenty of forgettable films too,...
- 8/9/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Jeff Daniels is ready to tell his story. The actor, who has been in everything from “The Purple Rose of Cairo” to “Dumb and Dumber,” is readying his audio-only memoir, “Alive and Well Enough,” as a 12-part series for Audible, with the first season debuting in September (with a second season on the way).
According to the official release “Alive and Well Enough” “mixes storytelling, original music and performance, [and] is like nothing you have heard before.” Would it be too much to ask for several chapters devoted to the making of “Arachnophobia?”
“Audible is the only place where I get to do everything I do,” said Daniels in an official statement. “’Alive and Well Enough’ is an audio adventure of an accidental artist who one day looked up and realized he had a sense of humor, a passion for writing and stories to tell.”
Daniels, of course, is an accomplished performer,...
According to the official release “Alive and Well Enough” “mixes storytelling, original music and performance, [and] is like nothing you have heard before.” Would it be too much to ask for several chapters devoted to the making of “Arachnophobia?”
“Audible is the only place where I get to do everything I do,” said Daniels in an official statement. “’Alive and Well Enough’ is an audio adventure of an accidental artist who one day looked up and realized he had a sense of humor, a passion for writing and stories to tell.”
Daniels, of course, is an accomplished performer,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Martin Scorsese was at a crossroads in 1985. The King of Comedy had tanked at the box office, and Paramount had recently pulled the plug on his passion project, The Last Temptation of Christ, weeks before production was set to begin. So when the script for After Hours came across his desk via actor-producer Griffin Dunne and producer Amy Robinson, who had appeared in Mean Streets, Scorsese jumped at the chance to helm a small-scale, low-budget black comedy set in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.
After Hours comes full circle by opening and closing at the workplace of bored data entry drone Paul Hackett (Dunne). In between, Paul’s nightmarish nightlong odyssey sees him repeatedly returning to the same handful of locations and oddball individuals, spiraling ever deeper into an infernal realm of anxiety, paranoia, and free-floating guilt. In this regard, the film shares themes and motifs with other titles...
After Hours comes full circle by opening and closing at the workplace of bored data entry drone Paul Hackett (Dunne). In between, Paul’s nightmarish nightlong odyssey sees him repeatedly returning to the same handful of locations and oddball individuals, spiraling ever deeper into an infernal realm of anxiety, paranoia, and free-floating guilt. In this regard, the film shares themes and motifs with other titles...
- 7/20/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Updated with Karsen Liotta statement: In one of his final roles before he passed away last year at age 67, Ray Liotta’s turn in the Dennis Lehane-created Apple TV+ limited Black Bird has gotten the venerable Goodfellas star an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a limited or anthology series.
Liotta played Big Jim Keene, the former police officer who is devastated when his football hero son Jimmy (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to a decade in prison for drug dealing. Big Jim encourages his son to accept an FBI offer to go from a minimum security to maximum security prison so that he can bond with Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), who is suspected to be a serial killer who may have murdered 18 girls. Hall leads investigators just short of an acknowledgment of the crime and whereabout of the bodies, and young Keene is tasked with discovering the whereabouts of those bodies,...
Liotta played Big Jim Keene, the former police officer who is devastated when his football hero son Jimmy (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to a decade in prison for drug dealing. Big Jim encourages his son to accept an FBI offer to go from a minimum security to maximum security prison so that he can bond with Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), who is suspected to be a serial killer who may have murdered 18 girls. Hall leads investigators just short of an acknowledgment of the crime and whereabout of the bodies, and young Keene is tasked with discovering the whereabouts of those bodies,...
- 7/12/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Ray Liotta received a posthumous Emmy nomination for his role as Big Jim Keene in Dennis Lehane’s “Black Bird,” the Apple TV+ true crime series based on the real life of serial killer Larry Hall.
Liotta was nominated for best supporting actor in a limited series alongside his costar Paul Water Hauser, Richard Jenkins , Murray Bartlett, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino and Jesse Plemons..
Liotta joins the small list of actors who have received posthumous Primetime Emmy nominations, including last year’s nomination of Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”), Norm MacDonald (“Nothing Special”) and Jessica Walters (“Archer”) and the previous nominations of Carrie Fisher (“Catastrophe”), Audrey Hepburn (“Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn”), Anthony Bourdain (Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”) and Fred Willard (“Modern Family”).
Liotta starred in “Black Bird” opposite Taron Egerton as his character’s son, Jimmy Keene, and Paul Walter Hauser as the infamous Larry Hall. The cast...
Liotta was nominated for best supporting actor in a limited series alongside his costar Paul Water Hauser, Richard Jenkins , Murray Bartlett, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino and Jesse Plemons..
Liotta joins the small list of actors who have received posthumous Primetime Emmy nominations, including last year’s nomination of Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”), Norm MacDonald (“Nothing Special”) and Jessica Walters (“Archer”) and the previous nominations of Carrie Fisher (“Catastrophe”), Audrey Hepburn (“Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn”), Anthony Bourdain (Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”) and Fred Willard (“Modern Family”).
Liotta starred in “Black Bird” opposite Taron Egerton as his character’s son, Jimmy Keene, and Paul Walter Hauser as the infamous Larry Hall. The cast...
- 7/12/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
Since the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, the Indiana Jones franchise has captivated audiences worldwide, becoming a cultural phenomenon that continues to thrive to this day. The release of the 5th and last film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, at the end of June 2023 – 15 years after the last instalment, has once again proved the franchise’s enduring popularity and the deep affection fans hold for the adventurous archaeologist, Indiana Jones. Now it’s true that this latest film has had a lukewarm opening at the box office but let’s face it if you are an Indy fan you will love it because well, it’s Indy!
The films may have ended but we have found some fantastic movie merch and family games for every Indy fan, to help ease the pain. They are from Funko – the people who bring us those highly collectable and...
The films may have ended but we have found some fantastic movie merch and family games for every Indy fan, to help ease the pain. They are from Funko – the people who bring us those highly collectable and...
- 7/4/2023
- by Fiona Francia
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.
While Isabella Rossellini...
While Isabella Rossellini...
- 6/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
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.
BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...
BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...
- 6/2/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
- 5/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Dakota Johnson is most well-known for playing Anastasia Steele in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" franchise. The films, which are based on the book series of the same name by E.L. James, marked her breakthrough role as an actress. Since then, she's led so many other films like "How to be Single," "Suspiria," and "The Lost Daughter." Next up, she's set to join Sony's Spider-Man universe as the titular character in "Madame Web."
Dakota's success is unsurprising, especially considering her parents are famous actors, themselves. Her father, Don Johnson, has starred in hit TV series like "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges," while her mother, Melanie Griffith, rose to fame by appearing in films like "Working Girl," "Body Double," and "Something Wild." Not to mention, Dakota's grandmother is "The Birds" star Tippi Hedren, and her former stepfather is the award-winning Spanish actor and director Antonio Banderas. That's right. Acting...
Dakota's success is unsurprising, especially considering her parents are famous actors, themselves. Her father, Don Johnson, has starred in hit TV series like "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges," while her mother, Melanie Griffith, rose to fame by appearing in films like "Working Girl," "Body Double," and "Something Wild." Not to mention, Dakota's grandmother is "The Birds" star Tippi Hedren, and her former stepfather is the award-winning Spanish actor and director Antonio Banderas. That's right. Acting...
- 5/15/2023
- by Michele Mendez
- Popsugar.com
Ray Liotta died of natural causes, with a medical report from officials in the Dominican Republic citing heart and respiratory issues, according to TMZ.
Doctors characterized Liotta’s death as natural and nonviolent, saying he suffered respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary edema (fluid in his lung), and acute heart failure. They also noted that Liotta had atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque builds up in the inner lining of an artery, causing it to harden or thicken.
A rep for Liotta did not immediately return a request for comment.
Liotta, 67, died in his...
Doctors characterized Liotta’s death as natural and nonviolent, saying he suffered respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary edema (fluid in his lung), and acute heart failure. They also noted that Liotta had atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque builds up in the inner lining of an artery, causing it to harden or thicken.
A rep for Liotta did not immediately return a request for comment.
Liotta, 67, died in his...
- 5/8/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Nearly one year after Ray Liotta’s unexpected death in the Dominican Republic, his cause of death has been released.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, the 67-year-old actor died from heart and respiratory issues. Specific causes of death list pulmonary edema — fluid in the lungs, respiratory insufficiency and acute heart failure. The report also noted atherosclerosis, a buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on the artery walls, as an underlying issue.
Liotta, best known for “Goodfellas,” “Cop Land” and “Narc,” died in his sleep last May in the Dominican Republic while shooting “Dangerous Waters”. The actor had recently starred as twin brothers in the “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark” while appearing in Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move.” He had recently appeared in Elizabeth Banks’ “Cocaine Bear,” which debuted this past February and earned decent reviews and $89.2 million worldwide.
From his breakout turn in...
According to documents obtained by TMZ, the 67-year-old actor died from heart and respiratory issues. Specific causes of death list pulmonary edema — fluid in the lungs, respiratory insufficiency and acute heart failure. The report also noted atherosclerosis, a buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on the artery walls, as an underlying issue.
Liotta, best known for “Goodfellas,” “Cop Land” and “Narc,” died in his sleep last May in the Dominican Republic while shooting “Dangerous Waters”. The actor had recently starred as twin brothers in the “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark” while appearing in Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move.” He had recently appeared in Elizabeth Banks’ “Cocaine Bear,” which debuted this past February and earned decent reviews and $89.2 million worldwide.
From his breakout turn in...
- 5/8/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Comedian Charlie Day is finally making the transition into directing with his first feature, "Fool's Paradise," a fish-out-of-water story about a mentally ill man (Day) who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight to become an unexpected movie star. In the film, Day's character closely resembles a belligerent method actor who refuses to come out of his trailer, leading his publicist (Ken Jeong) to transform Day into a leading man.
The star-studded cast also features reunions with Day's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" co-stars including Glenn Howerton and Day's wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and reunites Day with Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis from "Horrible Bosses." The late Ray Liotta also plays a Hollywood producer in one of his final roles, which should be a relief to fans of the actor who assumed "Cocaine Bear" was the last time Liotta would ever appear on screen.
For his directorial debut, Day couldn't ask...
The star-studded cast also features reunions with Day's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" co-stars including Glenn Howerton and Day's wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and reunites Day with Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis from "Horrible Bosses." The late Ray Liotta also plays a Hollywood producer in one of his final roles, which should be a relief to fans of the actor who assumed "Cocaine Bear" was the last time Liotta would ever appear on screen.
For his directorial debut, Day couldn't ask...
- 4/23/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
Celebrity deaths have come fast and hit hard so far in the past few years. However, the death of actor Ray Liotta in 2022 hit movie fans especially hard, given the actor’s decades of prominence in Hollywood. Now Liotta’s final movie sits in an uncertain place. Here’s what we know so far about what might become of Dangerous Waters and Liotta’s role in the film.
Ray Liotta died in May 2022 at 67 Actor Ray Liotta attends SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Conversations with Ray Liotta at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room on June 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. | Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images
Liotta made his film debut in 1983’s The Lonely Lady. But it would only take a few years for the actor to start breaking into the mainstream. Following 1986’s Something Wild, the actor went on to appear in such hits as Field of Dreams, Goodfellas, Cop Land, and Hannibal over the next 15 years.
Ray Liotta died in May 2022 at 67 Actor Ray Liotta attends SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Conversations with Ray Liotta at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room on June 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. | Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images
Liotta made his film debut in 1983’s The Lonely Lady. But it would only take a few years for the actor to start breaking into the mainstream. Following 1986’s Something Wild, the actor went on to appear in such hits as Field of Dreams, Goodfellas, Cop Land, and Hannibal over the next 15 years.
- 3/21/2023
- by Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Movies can take us to distant lands and faraway places. But they can also lean into the particular kind of absurd that comes from a premise like “a bear goes wild after ingesting cocaine.” That’s the idea behind the aptly titled Cocaine Bear, which is also one of the final film releases starring the late Ray Liotta, who was in touch with director Elizabeth Banks just one week before his death.
Ray Liotta makes his final film appearance in ‘Cocaine Bear’ Actor Ray Liotta (Photo by Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
Liotta spent decades in both film and television roles. But he certainly made the biggest mark on the big screen. Films such as Something Wild, Field of Dreams, and Goodfellas established him as a breakthrough talent. And from there on, Liotta became the kind of reliable actor who could instantly elevate any project he touched. That...
Ray Liotta makes his final film appearance in ‘Cocaine Bear’ Actor Ray Liotta (Photo by Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
Liotta spent decades in both film and television roles. But he certainly made the biggest mark on the big screen. Films such as Something Wild, Field of Dreams, and Goodfellas established him as a breakthrough talent. And from there on, Liotta became the kind of reliable actor who could instantly elevate any project he touched. That...
- 3/2/2023
- by Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Actor Ray Liotta will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honouring almost 50 years of amazing work in TV and on film. After his turn in the 1986 film ‘Something Wild’, playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’ was the moment that many cinephiles first discovered his charms.
Talking about the moment he knew that Liotta was the perfect choice for Hill Scorsese says it wasn’t during casting, or even on set, but when the two crossed paths ahead of the beginning of production, reports Variety.
“We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese tells Variety.
“I had one concern. I knew that he could handle a role like the one he had in ‘Something Wild,’ but here he would have to carry the whole picture. He had to look like he could have come out of that world,...
Talking about the moment he knew that Liotta was the perfect choice for Hill Scorsese says it wasn’t during casting, or even on set, but when the two crossed paths ahead of the beginning of production, reports Variety.
“We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese tells Variety.
“I had one concern. I knew that he could handle a role like the one he had in ‘Something Wild,’ but here he would have to carry the whole picture. He had to look like he could have come out of that world,...
- 2/25/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Martin Scorsese Recalls the Moment He Knew Ray Liotta Was Perfect to Play Henry Hill in ‘Goodfellas’
On Feb. 24, Ray Liotta will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring almost 50 years of amazing work in TV and on film. Following his turn in Jonathan Demme’s 1986 film “Something Wild,” playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” was the moment that many moviegoers first discovered his complex, sometimes contradictory charms. When asked about the moment he knew that Liotta was the perfect choice for Hill — a character that was slick, confident, effortlessly charming, but with an edge of danger that made him fearsome and attractive at the same time — Scorsese says it wasn’t during casting, or even on set, but when the two crossed paths ahead of the beginning of production.
“We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese tells Variety. “I had one concern. I knew that he could handle...
“We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese tells Variety. “I had one concern. I knew that he could handle...
- 2/24/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Horror delights, rom-coms and a new sci-fi series starring Christoph Waltz are just a few of the highlights arriving on Amazon Prime Video in February. This month sees the debut of the second and final season of “Carnival Row” on Feb. 17, while Feb. 24 is when “The Consultant” – a “Severance”-like thriller series starring Waltz and directed by “WandaVision’s” Matt Shakman – drops.
In terms of new original Prime Video movies, on Feb. 10 there’s “Somebody I Used to Know,” a romantic comedy starring Alison Brie who co-wrote the script with her husband Dave Franco (who serves as director).
And you’ll find last year’s buzzy horror hit “Smile” on the streaming service on Feb. 21, while “Mad Max: Fury Road” filmmaker George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” arrives on Feb. 17.
That’s not to mention noteworthy library additions like “A.I.,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Almost Famous.
In terms of new original Prime Video movies, on Feb. 10 there’s “Somebody I Used to Know,” a romantic comedy starring Alison Brie who co-wrote the script with her husband Dave Franco (who serves as director).
And you’ll find last year’s buzzy horror hit “Smile” on the streaming service on Feb. 21, while “Mad Max: Fury Road” filmmaker George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” arrives on Feb. 17.
That’s not to mention noteworthy library additions like “A.I.,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Almost Famous.
- 2/17/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
February is the shortest month of the year but Prime Video is paying that no mind with its jam-packed list of new releases for February 2023.
This really is an uncommonly stuffed month on the Amazon streamer and it all starts with a handful of Amazon Originals. Amazon’s original offerings kick off with the release of Dave Franco-directed romcom Somebody I Used to Know on Feb. 10. That is followed by Carnival Row season 2 – a gritty fantasy crime drama is set in a world of steampunky fairies. The show stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne and this batch of episodes will be its swan song. Meanwhile The Consultant on Feb. 24 is a dark comedy workplace thriller starring Christoph Waltz.
The biggest hits this month, however, might just be some recent cinema faves. If February is for lovers, Amazon didn’t get the memo as there are quite a few horror movies of note here.
This really is an uncommonly stuffed month on the Amazon streamer and it all starts with a handful of Amazon Originals. Amazon’s original offerings kick off with the release of Dave Franco-directed romcom Somebody I Used to Know on Feb. 10. That is followed by Carnival Row season 2 – a gritty fantasy crime drama is set in a world of steampunky fairies. The show stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne and this batch of episodes will be its swan song. Meanwhile The Consultant on Feb. 24 is a dark comedy workplace thriller starring Christoph Waltz.
The biggest hits this month, however, might just be some recent cinema faves. If February is for lovers, Amazon didn’t get the memo as there are quite a few horror movies of note here.
- 2/1/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Throughout 2022, we have been updating our “In Memoriam” photo gallery (view above). Scroll through to remember 32 entertainers from film, television, theater and music. Many were winners at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and/or Tonys. Here is a closer look at just a few of those we celebrate in our gallery:
Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter Christine McVie died on November 30 at age 79. Some of her biggest hits were “Don’t Stop,” “Everywhere” and “Little Lies.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Music legend Jerry Lee Lewis died on October 28 at age 87. He was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Hits included “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless.” He was a Grammy Award winner and received their life achievement award.
SEEAngela Lansbury movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst...
Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter Christine McVie died on November 30 at age 79. Some of her biggest hits were “Don’t Stop,” “Everywhere” and “Little Lies.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Music legend Jerry Lee Lewis died on October 28 at age 87. He was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Hits included “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless.” He was a Grammy Award winner and received their life achievement award.
SEEAngela Lansbury movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst...
- 12/27/2022
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Q Lazzarus. whose cult song “Goodbye Horses” was used in a memorable scene from the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, reportedly died on July 19. She was 61 and her death just came to public attention via a little-noticed newspaper obituary for the woman born Diane Luckey.
Q Lazzarus led the New York band Q Lazzarus And The Resurrection. She allegedly worked as a New York cab driver in the ’80s. That led her to a fateful fare from director Jonathan Demme. She reportedly played Demme her demo, he loved it, and he used the Q Lazzarus song “Candle Goes Away” in his 1986 film Something Wild.
Demme remained loyal to his cab-driving friend. He used the only commercially released single from the band, “Goodbye Horses,” in two movies, 1988’s Married To The Mob and then The Silence Of The Lambs
In The Silence Of The Lambs, “Goodbye Horses” is the music...
Q Lazzarus led the New York band Q Lazzarus And The Resurrection. She allegedly worked as a New York cab driver in the ’80s. That led her to a fateful fare from director Jonathan Demme. She reportedly played Demme her demo, he loved it, and he used the Q Lazzarus song “Candle Goes Away” in his 1986 film Something Wild.
Demme remained loyal to his cab-driving friend. He used the only commercially released single from the band, “Goodbye Horses,” in two movies, 1988’s Married To The Mob and then The Silence Of The Lambs
In The Silence Of The Lambs, “Goodbye Horses” is the music...
- 8/19/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Q Lazzarus, the singer behind the cult synth pop hit “Goodbye Horses” featured in the 1992 film “The Silence of the Lambs,” died July 29 following a short illness. She was 61.
Her death was formally announced by Jackson Funeral Home in Neptune, New Jersey. Her friend, Eva Aridjis, a filmmaker, confirmed her death to Rolling Stone.
“Over the past three years, Q became one of my closest friends and we were in touch almost daily. Q had one of those life forces that you simply can’t imagine being extinguished or ceasing to exist, because it was so vital and radiant and exuberant,” Aridjis told Rolling Stone.
Lazzarus, whose real name was Diane Luckey, was born Dec. 12, 1960, in Neptune, New Jersey. She began her music career in the 1980s, a period during which she was unable to get a record deal due to racist reactions by record industry scouts who objected to her dreadlocks.
Her death was formally announced by Jackson Funeral Home in Neptune, New Jersey. Her friend, Eva Aridjis, a filmmaker, confirmed her death to Rolling Stone.
“Over the past three years, Q became one of my closest friends and we were in touch almost daily. Q had one of those life forces that you simply can’t imagine being extinguished or ceasing to exist, because it was so vital and radiant and exuberant,” Aridjis told Rolling Stone.
Lazzarus, whose real name was Diane Luckey, was born Dec. 12, 1960, in Neptune, New Jersey. She began her music career in the 1980s, a period during which she was unable to get a record deal due to racist reactions by record industry scouts who objected to her dreadlocks.
- 8/19/2022
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Q Lazzarus, the mysterious cult artist best known for her 1988 single “Goodbye Horses” — which featured prominently in The Silence of the Lambs — died last month. She was 61. A cause of death was not immediately available.
A short obituary notice for Diane Luckey — Q Lazzarus’ real name — appeared in the Asbury Park Press at the end of July, stating Luckey died July 19 after a short illness. (The obituary misdated her date of birth as 1962. Luckey was born in 1960, Rolling Stone has confirmed.) Eva Aridjis, Luckey’s close friend who was making...
A short obituary notice for Diane Luckey — Q Lazzarus’ real name — appeared in the Asbury Park Press at the end of July, stating Luckey died July 19 after a short illness. (The obituary misdated her date of birth as 1962. Luckey was born in 1960, Rolling Stone has confirmed.) Eva Aridjis, Luckey’s close friend who was making...
- 8/18/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Click here to read the full article.
Since his 2019 portrayal of Elton John in Rocketman, which landed him plenty of critical acclaim and some awards recognition along the way, Taron Egerton has had a quiet couple of years out of the Hollywood spotlight. It turns out that was all in waiting for another project that would match the experience of the biographical musical.
“I felt that when I did Rocketman I was offered a really grown-up, complex role, and I think I’d been craving something like that — something that was meaty and that I could really get stuck in. And then when it was done, I wanted the same thing,” Egerton told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s difficult when you’ve done something like that because not everything you get offered is as good or as interesting or as complex or as challenging for an actor, and it took a year.
Since his 2019 portrayal of Elton John in Rocketman, which landed him plenty of critical acclaim and some awards recognition along the way, Taron Egerton has had a quiet couple of years out of the Hollywood spotlight. It turns out that was all in waiting for another project that would match the experience of the biographical musical.
“I felt that when I did Rocketman I was offered a really grown-up, complex role, and I think I’d been craving something like that — something that was meaty and that I could really get stuck in. And then when it was done, I wanted the same thing,” Egerton told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s difficult when you’ve done something like that because not everything you get offered is as good or as interesting or as complex or as challenging for an actor, and it took a year.
- 6/30/2022
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Feature documentary “The Wild One,” which looks at the life of Jack Garfein, Holocaust survivor, Broadway director, Actors Studio West co-founder, and controversial filmmaker, has debuted its trailer. Tessa Louise-Salomé’s film, which is narrated by Willem Dafoe, will have its world premiere on Saturday at Tribeca Film Festival. The Party Film Sales is handling sales.
As well as Garfein and Dafoe, the doc features Peter Bogdanovich, Irène Jacob, Bobby Soto, Dick Guttman, Blanche Baker, Patricia Bosworth, Foster Hirsch, Geoffrey Horne and Kate Rennebohm.
“The Wild One” examines how Garfein’s experience in the concentration camps shaped his vision of acting as a survival mechanism and propelled his engagement with themes of violence, power and racism in postwar America in two explosive films: “The Strange One” (1957) and “Something Wild” (1961).
The doc explores the importance of his legacy as an artist who confronted censorship and reveals how art can draw on...
As well as Garfein and Dafoe, the doc features Peter Bogdanovich, Irène Jacob, Bobby Soto, Dick Guttman, Blanche Baker, Patricia Bosworth, Foster Hirsch, Geoffrey Horne and Kate Rennebohm.
“The Wild One” examines how Garfein’s experience in the concentration camps shaped his vision of acting as a survival mechanism and propelled his engagement with themes of violence, power and racism in postwar America in two explosive films: “The Strange One” (1957) and “Something Wild” (1961).
The doc explores the importance of his legacy as an artist who confronted censorship and reveals how art can draw on...
- 6/9/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Martin Scorsese expressed his regret at not getting to work with Ray Lotta again while reflecting on their lone — albeit legendary — collaboration, Goodfellas, in a Guardian tribute to the late actor, who died last month at the age of 67.
While 1990’s Goodfellas was the only film Scorsese and Liotta did together, the director said they frequently tried to find other projects to collaborate on but were never able to get the timing right. The impetus was there again, Scorsese said, after he watched Liotta play a divorce attorney in Noah Baumbach’s 2019 drama,...
While 1990’s Goodfellas was the only film Scorsese and Liotta did together, the director said they frequently tried to find other projects to collaborate on but were never able to get the timing right. The impetus was there again, Scorsese said, after he watched Liotta play a divorce attorney in Noah Baumbach’s 2019 drama,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Martin Scorsese has opened up about his regret over not collaborating with the late Ray Liotta again after the iconic 1990 film “Goodfellas.”
The Oscar-winning director penned an essay for The Guardian reflecting on Liotta’s legacy after the critically acclaimed actor died at age 67 last month. However, despite Scorsese and Liotta working together on one of the greatest films of all time, the “Wolf of Wall Street” auteur did not cross professional paths with Liotta again.
“We had many plans to work together again but the timing was always off, or the project wasn’t quite right. I regret that now,” Scorsese wrote. “When I watched Ray as the divorce lawyer in ‘Marriage Story’ — he’s genuinely scary in the role, which is precisely why he’s so funny — I remember feeling that I wanted to work with him again at this point in his life, to explore the gravity in his presence,...
The Oscar-winning director penned an essay for The Guardian reflecting on Liotta’s legacy after the critically acclaimed actor died at age 67 last month. However, despite Scorsese and Liotta working together on one of the greatest films of all time, the “Wolf of Wall Street” auteur did not cross professional paths with Liotta again.
“We had many plans to work together again but the timing was always off, or the project wasn’t quite right. I regret that now,” Scorsese wrote. “When I watched Ray as the divorce lawyer in ‘Marriage Story’ — he’s genuinely scary in the role, which is precisely why he’s so funny — I remember feeling that I wanted to work with him again at this point in his life, to explore the gravity in his presence,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSTriangle of Sadness.The Cannes Film Festival wrapped its 75th edition on Saturday. Ruben Östlund won his second Palme d'Or for his yacht-shipwreck class farce Triangle of Sadness, while other major awards went to Claire Denis, Jerzy Skolimowski, and Park Chan-wook. Visit our coverage roundup to peruse the complete list of winners, our Top 10 poll from Notebook contributors, and our series of festival correspondences.In other festival news, Sabzian compiled an overview of the "restructuring" at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the wake of significant programming layoffs.On October 25, Quentin Tarantino will publish a nonfiction book called Cinema Speculation, a critical memoir of his cinemagoing throughout the 1970s. This comes one year after his novelization of Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood.Erika Balsom and Genevieve Yue will be the co-editors of Cutaways,...
- 6/2/2022
- MUBI
Something Wild, Jonathan Demme’s screwball thriller from 1986, makes good on its title and then some. Jeff Daniels plays a mild-mannered IRS agent caught in the orbit of a flaky small time thief played by Melanie Griffith. The film proceeds as a funny, quirky rom-com á la Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby until the arrival of Griffith’s sociopathic ex-husband, played by Ray Liotta, when things take an abrupt turn toward the dark side. The movie’s eclectic soundtrack, a Demme trademark, reinforces the film’s roller coaster mood swings.
The post Something Wild appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Something Wild appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 6/1/2022
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Actor whose charred handsomeness and mercurial qualities led to magnetic performances in Goodfellas and Something Wild
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Those words, delivered with lingering fascination by the actor Ray Liotta, who has died unexpectedly aged 67, ushered audiences into Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), one of the most dynamic pictures made about the criminal life and its enticements.
Liotta, playing the real mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill, has just been seen taking part in the fatal knifing of a mob rival when the camera zooms on to his face, bathed in the infernal red glow of a car’s brake-lights. Seductive and terrifying, he exudes a charred handsomeness and a chilling self-belief. Though Goodfellas was only his fourth major screen role, Liotta was seen for much of the movie’s two-and-a-half-hour running time.
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Those words, delivered with lingering fascination by the actor Ray Liotta, who has died unexpectedly aged 67, ushered audiences into Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), one of the most dynamic pictures made about the criminal life and its enticements.
Liotta, playing the real mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill, has just been seen taking part in the fatal knifing of a mob rival when the camera zooms on to his face, bathed in the infernal red glow of a car’s brake-lights. Seductive and terrifying, he exudes a charred handsomeness and a chilling self-belief. Though Goodfellas was only his fourth major screen role, Liotta was seen for much of the movie’s two-and-a-half-hour running time.
- 5/27/2022
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The Many Saints star was impervious to my attempts to butter him up – maybe his lack of air-kissing pretension is what stopped him becoming a leading man after Goodfellas
Peter Bradshaw: Liotta had boyish radiance
When I phoned Ray Liotta last September, to interview him about his genuinely astonishing performance in the (underrated!) Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, I was braced for the worst. Phone interviews are pretty thankless at the best of times, as it’s impossible to get a sense of a person down the phone line, and Liotta was rumoured to be difficult, truculent, rude. I didn’t care, because I was such a fan of his acting, but his acting provided few reassurances, at least from an interviewing point of view. He was ominously convincing playing psychopaths in movies such as Something Wild, Goodfellas and The Many Saints. But he was just as...
Peter Bradshaw: Liotta had boyish radiance
When I phoned Ray Liotta last September, to interview him about his genuinely astonishing performance in the (underrated!) Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, I was braced for the worst. Phone interviews are pretty thankless at the best of times, as it’s impossible to get a sense of a person down the phone line, and Liotta was rumoured to be difficult, truculent, rude. I didn’t care, because I was such a fan of his acting, but his acting provided few reassurances, at least from an interviewing point of view. He was ominously convincing playing psychopaths in movies such as Something Wild, Goodfellas and The Many Saints. But he was just as...
- 5/27/2022
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
Some screen actors sneak up on you over the course of multiple memorable supporting roles, while others jar your consciousness like a crack of lightning. The latter was my experience with Ray Liotta, in a movie I walked into not even knowing his character would be part of the plot.
The film in question was Jonathan Demme’s 1986 “Something Wild,” which starts as a kooky urban comedy about bad girl (or is she?) Audrey, played by Melanie Griffith, who convinces Jeff Daniels’ upright businessman (or is he?) to go further and further out of his comfort zone. The movie switches from screwball to thriller with the appearance of Liotta as Audrey’s ex Ray, a recently-released convict who will go to any lengths to get her back.
It’s one of those performances that benefit from a new face in the role; without the comfort of familiarity, viewers don’t...
The film in question was Jonathan Demme’s 1986 “Something Wild,” which starts as a kooky urban comedy about bad girl (or is she?) Audrey, played by Melanie Griffith, who convinces Jeff Daniels’ upright businessman (or is he?) to go further and further out of his comfort zone. The movie switches from screwball to thriller with the appearance of Liotta as Audrey’s ex Ray, a recently-released convict who will go to any lengths to get her back.
It’s one of those performances that benefit from a new face in the role; without the comfort of familiarity, viewers don’t...
- 5/26/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Ray Liotta, who died Thursday at 67, was a great actor who was second to none when it came to playing hoodlums, scoundrels, rotters, psychopaths, and cool jerks. To put it that way sounds reductive, of course, since that was far from the only thing he could do. Just think of his beloved performance in “Field of Dreams,” where he played Shoeless Joe Jackson as the impish ghost of baseball past. But when he would pop up in a movie like “Killing Them Softly” or “Cop Land” or “Unlawful Entry” or “Blow” or the recent “No Sudden Move” and play one of his hellbent strong-arm types, you could always feel the charge he brought to it. Liotta laced the threat of violence with a tingle of intelligence, his mind working to suss out the double-crossing signifiers of any criminal situation. And no one could match the delight he took in making straight characters squirm.
- 5/26/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Ray Liotta, ‘Goodfellas’ star, is dead at 67. Rest in Peace good friend. Raymond Allen Liotta was an American actor and producer. His best-known roles include Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989), Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990), and Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). His other roles included Ray Sinclair in Something Wild (1986), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, as well as starring in Unlawful Entry (1992), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Killing Them Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), and Marriage Story (2019), as well as the drama series Shades of Blue (2016–2018).
The post Ray Liotta: Rest in Peace good friend. first appeared on HollywoodNews.com.
The post Ray Liotta: Rest in Peace good friend. first appeared on HollywoodNews.com.
- 5/26/2022
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
While the late, great Ray Liotta will likely be immortalized due to his riveting work in the crime drama realm, we shouldn't gloss over the actor's comedic sensibilities. Whether the comedic cruelty of his character Ray Sinclair in "Something Wild," the playful spirit of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in "Field of Dreams," or imposing cellmate Big Papa in the delightful "Muppets Most Wanted," Liotta's acting chops were not solely reserved for thrilling capers.
As such, it feels appropriate to highlight a sitcom cameo that might have flown under the radar for even the most devoted Liotta fans. In 2001, Liotta played a parody...
The post Ray Liotta Had a Fantastic Cameo On Just Shoot Me That People Should Revisit appeared first on /Film.
As such, it feels appropriate to highlight a sitcom cameo that might have flown under the radar for even the most devoted Liotta fans. In 2001, Liotta played a parody...
The post Ray Liotta Had a Fantastic Cameo On Just Shoot Me That People Should Revisit appeared first on /Film.
- 5/26/2022
- by Natalia Keogan
- Slash Film
David Chase employed many of the Goodfellas cast in his HBO series The Sopranos, but it took until the prequel film The Many Saints of Newark for him to finally bring Ray Liotta in the fold. Chase made the most of it, as Liotta played two roles: Hollywood Dick Moltisanti, and his brother Salvatore Moltisanti. Like everyone, Chase is today mourning the shocking death of Liotta, who died on location in the Dominican Republic where he was shooting the film Dangerous Waters.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
“This is a massive, unexpected shock,” Chase said in a statement to Deadline. “I have been an admirer of Ray’s work since I saw him in ‘Something Wild,’ a movie he wrenched by the tail. I was so glad he worked on ‘The Many Saints of Newark.’ I believed strongly in my heart that he could play that double role.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
“This is a massive, unexpected shock,” Chase said in a statement to Deadline. “I have been an admirer of Ray’s work since I saw him in ‘Something Wild,’ a movie he wrenched by the tail. I was so glad he worked on ‘The Many Saints of Newark.’ I believed strongly in my heart that he could play that double role.
- 5/26/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
He specialized in tough guys — cops, crooks, convicts, killers, and guys who immediately gave you the impression they’d seen and/or started their share of shit. But Ray Liotta was an actor with soul even when he played a legion of broken men who’d lost theirs, and the star — who passed away today at the age of 67 — had a range that went far beyond mobsters, madmen and maniacs. Name someone else who could easily pull off the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson, the gangster-movie version of Candide, a...
- 5/26/2022
- by David Fear, Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Andy Greene, Alan Sepinwall and EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
Ray Liotta in Goodfellas
He was much admired for his work in films like Goodfellas, Field Of Dreams, Marriage Story and The Place Beyond The Pines, and he particularly excelled in crime stories, on both sides of the law., Today Ray Liotta's publicist broke the news that the charismatic star had passed away in his sleep while staying in the Dominican Republic, where he had been shooting a film called Dangerous Waters.
67 years old and still in apparently good health, Liotta had been planning to marry his girlfriend, Jacy Nittolo, who was with him at the time. He is also survived by his daughter, Karen, from his previous marriage to Michelle Grace.
Liotta was abandoned as a baby and raised by adoptive parents in a modest home before falling in love with the theatre. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for one of his first screen roles, in Something Wild.
He was much admired for his work in films like Goodfellas, Field Of Dreams, Marriage Story and The Place Beyond The Pines, and he particularly excelled in crime stories, on both sides of the law., Today Ray Liotta's publicist broke the news that the charismatic star had passed away in his sleep while staying in the Dominican Republic, where he had been shooting a film called Dangerous Waters.
67 years old and still in apparently good health, Liotta had been planning to marry his girlfriend, Jacy Nittolo, who was with him at the time. He is also survived by his daughter, Karen, from his previous marriage to Michelle Grace.
Liotta was abandoned as a baby and raised by adoptive parents in a modest home before falling in love with the theatre. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for one of his first screen roles, in Something Wild.
- 5/26/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Ray Liotta had several films and a television series in the works before his sudden death on Thursday at age 67. At least two projects, Universal’s wild drug-filled thriller “Cocaine Bear” and the Apple TV Plus limited series “Black Bird,” had already completed production and should be released according to schedule, sources say.
Liotta died in his sleep while shooting “Dangerous Waters” in the Dominican Republic. The indie movie began production over a month ago, but it’s not clear where they were in terms of filming. John Barr is directing “Dangerous Waters,” a thriller about a sailing holiday that spirals out of control when a teenage daughter uncovers the dark past of her mother’s new boyfriend. The film also stars “You” actor Saffron Burrows, Odeya Rush (“Lady Bird”) and Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” fame.
In a statement, “Dangerous Waters” producers did not comment on the...
Liotta died in his sleep while shooting “Dangerous Waters” in the Dominican Republic. The indie movie began production over a month ago, but it’s not clear where they were in terms of filming. John Barr is directing “Dangerous Waters,” a thriller about a sailing holiday that spirals out of control when a teenage daughter uncovers the dark past of her mother’s new boyfriend. The film also stars “You” actor Saffron Burrows, Odeya Rush (“Lady Bird”) and Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” fame.
In a statement, “Dangerous Waters” producers did not comment on the...
- 5/26/2022
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
The actor, who has died at the age of 67, was rightly best known for his staggering, swaggering turn in Scorsese’s mob classic – but other roles added further grit, humour and heart
I first noticed Ray Liotta in Something Wild, the 80s “yuppie nightmare” movie with Wall Street wimp Jeff Daniels getting way out of his depth with the seductively impulsive Audrey played by Melanie Griffith. He has a very uneasy moment with her violent-criminal ex-husband, played by Liotta who – without revealing his own history with Audrey — insidiously asks him how she is in bed and boorishly remarks: “She looks like she could fuck you right in half.” That line reveals how close he is to violence. And he did the scary Liotta laugh, eyes crinkling and the jaw opening up about eleven inches like some new breed of raptor.
But it was only four years later that Liotta became...
I first noticed Ray Liotta in Something Wild, the 80s “yuppie nightmare” movie with Wall Street wimp Jeff Daniels getting way out of his depth with the seductively impulsive Audrey played by Melanie Griffith. He has a very uneasy moment with her violent-criminal ex-husband, played by Liotta who – without revealing his own history with Audrey — insidiously asks him how she is in bed and boorishly remarks: “She looks like she could fuck you right in half.” That line reveals how close he is to violence. And he did the scary Liotta laugh, eyes crinkling and the jaw opening up about eleven inches like some new breed of raptor.
But it was only four years later that Liotta became...
- 5/26/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Ray Liotta, who played both cops in criminals in scores of films and series, has died at 67. Getting his start on the soap opera “Another World” in 1978, he made a name for himself in film with a Golden Globe nod for 1986’s “Something Wild,” and a few years later became a marquee name thanks to a dynamic lead performance in Martin Scorsese’s sprawling mob epic “Goodfellas” in 1990. Liotta spent his career making interesting choices: While there were many crime films on his resume, he also appeared in comedies, worked with auteur directors and co-starred with everyone from Jennifer Lopez to The Muppets. Revisit some of Liotta’s best roles through the photos below.
- 5/26/2022
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood has lost one of its stars. Ray Liotta has passed away, his rep confirmed to E! News on May 26. He was 67 years old. Per NBC News, according to Liotta's publicist Jennifer Allen, the actor had been in the Dominican Republic filming his new movie Dangerous Waters and died in his sleep. Allen said no foul play is suspected. Liotta is survived by his fiancée Jacy Nittolo, who he proposed to in December 2020, and his daughter Karsen, who he welcomed with his ex-wife Michelle Grace. Over the course of his career, Liotta took on several memorable roles, including Ray Sinclair in Something Wild, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination, Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of...
- 5/26/2022
- E! Online
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