By Alan Hurst Rock Hudson is one of those rare movie stars whose death and the revelations that came afterward diminished their legacy as a star and performer. It happened to Joan Crawford with the accusations of child abuse in her daughter Christina’s best selling “Mommie Dearest”. And it happened to Rock Hudson in 1985…
By Alan Hurst Sally Field was one of the Kennedy Centre honorees last month, a deserved accolade for one of the best actresses of the last 50 years. I’m old enough to remember Sally Field from the initial runs of Gidget (1965-66), The Flying Nun (1967-70) and the short-lived The Girl with Something Extra (1973-74).…
By Nick Maylor As the end of the year approaches and Oscar nominations are right around the corner, I cannot help this unpleasant premonition I am having: Taron Egerton will likely be snubbed for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. As we’ve discussed, the competition for the Best Actor statue is some of the stiffest in…
By Nick Maylor Kevin Smith took a brief sabbatical from filmmaking after the perceived failure of Zack & Miri Make a Porno (2008), a film that saw the worst box office opening for star Seth Rogen. With Zack & Miri, Smith was clearly trying to make a film that would play to a certain type…
By Nick Maylor Since Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979), “synthetic” characters (androids/robots) have been a tradition in the franchise, starting with Ian Holm’s character Ash. In Aliens (1986), it was Bishop (Lance Henriksen) and so on. These characters are seen as virtually (if not totally) indistinguishable from humans. In Prometheus (2012), Ridley Scott sought to…
By Melissa Houghton Do you remember the ABC TV comedy Bosom Buddies? It was my introduction to actor Tom Hanks as Kip Wilson, a struggling New York City ad writer who resorts to cross-dressing alongside his buddy to live at the only apartment they can afford, the female-only Susan B. Anthony Hotel. The series aired…
By John H. Foote Long ago Jack Nicholson passed Marlon Brando as the greatest screen actor of his generation. As good as his friend Brando was, Nicholson had greater range and was fearless with his image. He knew what audiences liked and could not care less, he took roles that interested him, that challenged him…
By Nick Maylor Bill Murray is a comedic legend that has firmly cemented himself as a great dramatic actor. With his appearance in Lost in Translation (2003), Murray showed that he had serious skill for the dramatic in addition to his omnipresent, unrivaled mastery of being one of the funniest people in the world. I…
By John H. Foote He had been rising in the ranks slowly but when he shared the screen with Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets (1973) a trio of stars were born. De Niro, Keitel and Director Martin Scorsese were about to embark on a journey that would alter American cinema. De Niro would – zenith…
By John H. Foote There was a time he was the most electrifying actor in movies, his performances earning raves from film critics around the world, legions of fans following his work, his peers celebrating his artistry, from film audiences around the globe. In the seventies his work was astounding, seeing him nominated for four…