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Most people think of retirement as one of life's rites of passage, something akin to graduating from school or getting a promotion at a job. While some people have careers that treat retirement in this manner, there are many others for whom retirement is more of a state of mind than anything else. This is certainly true of an artist; some never seem to want to stop or slow down (may I remind you that The Rolling Stones just finished their latest tour this past July), while others feel that they don't wish to wear out their welcome. Then there are other factors, such as changing cultural norms as well as the waxing and waning of opportunities as they dwindle with age. Of course, age itself can be a factor; bodies do inexorably decline, after all.

For Jack Nicholson, one of the greatest actors of his generation, his reasons for...

Nicholas Pryor, the busy character actor who portrayed Tom Cruise’s father in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210 during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 89.

Pryor died Monday of cancer at his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, his wife, actress Christine Belford, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a note to be delivered to THR after his death, he wrote: “Nicholas Pryor was enormously grateful to have been, for nearly 70 years, a working actor.”

From 1997-2002, Pryor played the former spy Victor Collins on the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles, culminating a long career in daytime soap operas that included stints on The Secret Storm, The Edge of Night, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All My Children and Another World.

Pryor recurred on Fox’s Beverly Hills, 90210 as A. Milton Arnold, the chancellor of California University and father of Robertson’s Claire Arnold,...

Nicholas Pryor, who is best known to TV fans for his roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles — but who for many will always be the Risky Business dad or that Airplane! passenger — died on Oct. 7 while “surrounded by loving family.” He was 89.

A cause of death has not yet been shared.

More from TVLineKelly Monaco Breaks Silence on General Hospital Exit After 21 Years: 'Still Doesn't Make Any Sense'Days of Our Lives: 8 More Key Characters Set to Return in 2025Ron Hale, General Hospital and Ryan's Hope Veteran, Dead at 78

Pryor’s Port Charles son, Jon Lindstrom,...

Exclusive: Pressman Film is set to produce Toronto-based shy kids’ first scripted feature film, AUTOBiOGRAPHY.

Alexander Weinstein, the author and writer whose short story was adapted into A24’s critically acclaimed film After Yang, is writing the screenplay for AUTOBiOGRAPHY in collaboration with shy kids. Pressman Film has also teamed with EP Jack Masterson, a UK-based tech entrepreneur and investor.

AUTOBiOGRAPHY is a coming of consciousness technological drama told from the inside of a computer looking out at the human world. When this compassionate AI connects with the internet the exponential expansion of its cognition leads to an existential crisis that propels it on a spiritual journey of self-discovery.

Toronto-based collective, shy kids, are known for their style-blending technology, innovation, humor and rhythm. They have produced animation and titles for Matt Johnson’s Blackberry, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Nerve and The CW’s The Originals, as well as...

Peacock has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the streaming service in April. The Peacock April 2024 schedule includes Orlando Bloom: To the Edge, Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal, Migration, all six seasons of Community, and more.

Orlando Bloom: To the Edge is an original series that follows Bloom on a journey of self-discovery, pushing his physical and mental limits to reach his personal edge of what is possible.

Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal is a documentary chronicling Windham’s incredible rise to worldwide fame as a WWE superstar and the struggles and success that came with being a creative visionary.

Subscribers can also look forward to new episodes of Superbuns and Illumination’s Migration will take flight on the streaming service.

Get ready to head back to school with all six seasons of Community arriving on April 1 (no joke!). The laughs continue...

Exclusive: Frank Whaley has signed with TalentWorks for theatrical representation. Since his acclaimed debut opposite Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson in 1987’s Ironweed, Whaley has appeared in over 80 films including, Pulp Fiction, Field of Dreams, Swimming With Sharks, Swing Kids, Career Opportunities, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, Broken Arrow, J.F.K., Red Dragon, School of Rock, World Trade Center, The Freshman, Hoffa, Vacancy, among many others. Recent features are Hustlers opposite Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and Cardi B and Monster Trucks for Paramount. On television, he has recurred on Ray Donovan, Interrogation and Luke Cage. He has also appeared on The Blacklist, Gotham, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Empire, Psyche, Sneaky Pete and recently recurred on the Netflix series The Good Cop and on Amazon’s Jack Ryan. Whaley was previously with A3 and continues to be managed by Karen Forman.

Exclusive: Tuc Watkins has signed with Greene Talent for theatrical representation.

Norman Jewison made movies that mattered.

“Timing is everything,” the director told me the one time we met. I’d been enlisted to host a long Q&a with Jewison at the American Cinematheque — and I was more than a little intimidated.

From “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” in 1966 to “Other People’s Money” in 1991, Jewison had an astonishing quarter-century run behind the camera, directing movies that impacted the culture when they came out (none more than “In the Heat of the Night”), a great many of which are still watched today. Turns out, this legendary talent couldn’t have been sweeter.

Jewison liked to tell the story of how he met Bobby Kennedy before making the landmark Sidney Poitier picture. He and Kennedy crossed paths while on vacation skiing, where both of their kids wound up in the hospital.

Still developing “In the Heat of the Night” at the time,...

Notorious mob consort Jimmy Hoffa is the subject of a new docuseries.

Hoffa, who led the Teamsters for around 15 years in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, disappeared on July 30, 1975, with many believing this was at the hands of the Mafia.

His family has now given Village Roadshow Unscripted Television and Erik Nelson exclusive access to the family, including his son and daughter, as well as his personal archives and files, including audio tapes, to develop a docuseries.

Nelson will produce and direct; he previously directed a number of films with Werner Herzog including Grizzly Man and has directed films such as The Cold Blue, Terror and Glory: 1945 and Daytime Revolution. He is repped by Travis Tammero at UTA and Marc Simon at Fox Rothschild.

Hoffa, who has been played by the likes of Al Pacino in The Irishman, Sylvester Stallone in F.I.S.T, and Jack Nicholson in Hoffa,...

Actor Peter Spellos had over 150 screen acting and vocal performance credits to his name, but genre fans are most likely to remember him as Orville Ketchum from the slasher movie Sorority House Massacre II and its companion piece Hard to Die, as well as the brief appearance he made as the character Tracy’s father in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Outside of horror, he’s best known for providing the voice of Sky-Byte in 39 episodes of the animated series Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Unfortunately, we have very sad news to share today, as it has been confirmed that Spellos has passed away at age 69 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born on March 1, 1954, Spellos passed away yesterday, November 19th, at the Franciscan Hospice House in Indianapolis. His brother, James Spellos, notified TMZ that his family is planning an online “celebration of life” gathering for his fans.

Spellos was credited...

As a spotlight shines on Hollywood’s shutdown, SAG-AFTRA and the WGA continue to battle it out with the studios. We take a look back at how the film studios captured the struggle and victories of unions and labor throughout history.

Related: SAG-AFTRA Actors Hit The Picket Lines – Photo Gallery

From the biographical tale of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Hoffa, to classics like On The Waterfront starring Marlon Brando, and hits such as The Pajama Game, Norma Rae, and 9 to 5, featuring Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda. The latter film drew inspiration from the women’s movement, addressing issues of gender inequality, workplace harassment, and unequal treatment in the workforce.

Realted: WGA Strike Photos: 100 Days Of Writers, Showrunners & Supporters On Picket Lines

Take a look at the selection of films that embody labor solidarity on the silver screen.

It’s a new month, and Hulu subscribers are getting a slew of new movies and TV shows to enjoy.

June 1 is jam-packed with more than 30 titles that have landed on the streamer, including the seventh and final season of Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Sugar,” the Jack Nicholson-led film “Hoffa,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” and the entire “Twilight” franchise.

Mixing in a little of the old with new come goodies from 2023, like “Flamin’ Hot,” which tells the story of Mexican migrant Richard Montanez who came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor at Frito Lay. The film lands on Hulu June 9.

Ending June with a bang will the be second season of “The Bear,” (June 22), Season 20 of “The Bachelorette” (June 27) and the sixth and final season of “Grown-ish.”

Here’s everything you can expect to hit Hulu this June.

Also Read:

The Best Free Movie Streaming Sites,...

It’s summer time on Hulu and that can only mean one thing. With its list of new releases for June 2023, Hulu is bringing back last summer’s unexpected hit.

FX’s The Bear season 2 premieres all episodes on June 22. If you’re not already captivated by this intense culinary story about the little Italian beef shop that could, definitely catch up now. This time around, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and friends will attempt a major foodie rebrand. The only other Hulu series of note this month is the docuseries The Age of Influence. Premiering on June 5, this doc will examine the dark side of influencer culture.

Just like its corporate partner Disney+, Hulu will premiere Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, in June 9. The movie tells the true story of Frito-Lay janitor Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia) who created an iconic snack that forever changed the food industry. Also...

Season 2 of last summer’s hit breakout series “The Bear” is set to premiere on Hulu on Thursday, June 22. After a tumultuous return to his family’s hole-in-the-wall Chicago restaurant, chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his staff transform the greasy sandwich joint into a first-class dining experience after he discovers the slush fund his brother left behind. Despite having the extra money to make his dreams a reality, the future proves to be both a personal and professional challenge for Carmy and the crew.

Watch the trailer for Season 2 of “The Bear”:

Beginning on June 14, the new series continuation of the beloved film “The Full Monty” arrives on Hulu. It’s 25 years later and the men and women of Sheffield, England, are in reboot mode, navigating life and family. The original 1997 movie focused on a group of down-on-their-luck, blue-collar men who put on a strip show to make ends meet.

Oscar winner Al Pacino (The Godfather), Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Oscar nominee John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), BAFTA winner Shia Labeouf (Honey Boy), NBR Award winner Rebecca Pidgeon (Heist) and Golden Globe nominated singer and actress Courtney Love (The People vs. Larry Flynt) are set to star in the thriller Assassination, we can reveal.

The film, which Arclight is launching for the Cannes market, is to be directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner and Oscar nominee David Mamet (Wag the Dog) from a script he co-wrote with Nicholas Celozzi.

Assassination will retell the fateful murder of John F. Kennedy from the mob’s point of view, reimagining his death as a hit ordered by Chicago mob kingpin Sam Giancana as payback for JFK’s attempt to undermine the mob after they helped get him elected (that thread formed a big part of Oliver Stone’s JFK).

Script co-writer Celozzi is Giancana’s grandnephew.

"I don't want you to tell us what you do, I want you to tell us who you are..." The great Jack Nicholson just turned 86 this year. In celebration of most recent birthday, Little White Lies debuted this terrific video retrospective looking back at his illustrious career in cinema. A five-minute-long journey through his many iconic characters. The Transformation of Jack Nicholson is the latest video made by Portuguese editor Luís Azevedo (who we've featured many times before). It contains footage from many of Jack Nicholson's best roles throughout his five decades in movies. In 1970, he starred in Five Easy Pieces in what became his persona-defining role. Aside from The Shining, clips in this are from his best films including The Departed, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, Chinatown, Anger Management, Mars Attacks, The Two Jakes, About Schmidt, Easy Rider, and of course One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As always,...

Edward R. Pressman, the prolific Hollywood indie producer behind Wall Street, Badlands, American Psycho, Das Boot and The Crow, among dozens of others, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 79.

His death was confirmed to Deadline his company, Pressman Films.

With dozens of acclaimed and impactful films and TV movies stretching back to the late 1960s and including now-classics like Conan the Barbarian, Talk Radio, Bad Lieutenant and Brian De Palma’s 1972 Sisters, Pressman was noted for discovering talented directors early in their careers. In addition to Sisters he produced De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise, and, with the acclaimed 1973 TV-movie Badlands, Terrence Malick. Jason Reitman made his directing debut in Pressman’s 2005 Aaron Eckhart starrer Thank You for Smoking.

An early collaboration with Oliver Stone on the 1981 drama The Hand paved the way for Talk Radio (1988) and the 1987 Oscar-winning Wall Street. He and Stone produced Kathryn Bigelow’s early film Blue Steel (1990).

Among the other directors with whom Pressman would forge early bonds were Alex Proyas (The Crow), Sylvester Stallone (Paradise Alley) and Sam Raimi (Crimewave).

Among his many other credits both domestic and international, either as producer or executive producer, are Fred Schepisi’s Plenty, starring Meryl Streep; Wolfgang Petersen’s Das Boot; Mary Harron’s American Psycho, with Christian Bale; James Toback’s Two Girls and a Guy; Harold Becker’s City Hall, starring Al Pacino; Danny DeVito’s Hoffa, starring Jack Nicholson; Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger, starring Danny Glover; Barbet Schroeder’s Reversal of Fortune, starring Jeremy Irons in an Oscar-winning performance as Claus von Bülow; and John Frankenheimer’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

Pressman also earned Emmy and PGA Award nom as an executive producer of the 2018 HBO telefilm Paterno, and former longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. The producer also was nominated for back-to-back Indie Spirit Awards in 1992 and ’93 for Homicide and Bad Lieutenant, respectively, and received Film Independent’s John Cassavetes Award in 1991. He also received a Tribute Award from the Gothams in 2003.

A native New Yorker and Stanford University graduate who also studied at the London School of Economics, Pressman has been honored by the French Cinematheque, The National Film Theatre in London, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Pacific Film Archives and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Cinematék, among others.

Pressman is survived by his wife of 39 years, Annie McEnroe Pressman, and son Sam Pressman, who has worked for Edward R. Pressman Productions for the past decade and says he will continue producing films for the company in honor of his father.

Cinematographer Stephen H. Burum will be honored at EnergaCamerimage with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Set to run in Torun, Poland, on Nov. 12-19, Camerimage, which focuses on films and cinematography, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.

Burum is best known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, which yielded such classics as “The Untouchables” (1987), a tale of the battle between good and evil; Vietnam War drama “Casualties of War” (1989); ”Carlito’s Way” (1993), which portrayed deep social divides; the iconic “Mission: Impossible” (1996); “Snake Eyes (1998); and “Mission to Mars” (2000).

His body of work also includes Joel Schumacher’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), Danny DeVito’s “The War of the Roses (1989), and Ken Kwapis’ and Marisa Silver’s “He Said, She Said” (1991).

Born in rural California in 1939 to a family of that owned and worked on several small newspapers, Burum became interested at an early age in film and shot his...

The journalist and podcaster talks about some of her favorite cinematic grifters and losers with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Third Man (1949) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

All About Eve (1950)

The Hot Rock (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Die Hard (1988)

Sunset Boulevard (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Producers (1967) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Music Man (1962)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review

The Band Wagon (1953) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

A Night At The Opera (1935) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Animal Crackers (1930) – Robert Weide...

Welcome to Oscar Experts Typing, a weekly column in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Joyce Eng and Christopher Rosen discuss the Oscar race — via Slack, of course. This week, we take a closer look at the most anticipated film of the holiday weekend (the season? the year?), “House of Gucci.”

Christopher Rosen: Hello, Joyce! It’s Thanksgiving week and I’m thankful for not just my family and health and our weekly chats, but also the father, the son and the “House of Gucci.” Ridley Scott’s second big adult drama that would have felt right at home in the fall of 1998 to come out this year is a lavish, overstuffed affair — a perfect feast for Thanksgiving, as it were. Reviews for the film were posted this week, and they’ve been a bit on the mixed side (66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as we’re typing), but the awards...

Exclusive: The disappearance of notorious mob consort Jimmy Hoffa is one of the great American mysteries and it has moved a step closer to being solved.

The FBI recently descended on a former landfill in Jersey City after a deathbed confession with a man who said he buried Hoffa’s body in a steel barrel.

Deadline understands that Ample Entertainment, the production company behind series including Discovery’s Cooper’s Treasure and History’s Lost Gold of WW2, is at the center of the revelations.

The company, which is run by filmmakers Ari Mark and Phil Lott, led federal investigators to the site after securing exclusive access to Hoffa expert and journalist Dan Moldea.

Moldea has been searching for Hoffa since he vanished from the Machus Red Fox restaurant parking lot in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, in 1975.

He then came upon Frank Cappola, who said that his father, landfill owner Paul Cappola,...

It’s been five years since Isaiah Rashad released his debut album, The Sun’s Tirade, and fans have seemingly been anxiously awaiting more. The Tennessee rapper’s The House Is Burning tops the Apple Music Pre-Add Chart for the week leading up to the album’s release.

Pre-adds allow listeners to queue up an album to be added to their library when it’s released, offering a good indication of the albums that fans are most excited for. It’s a good sign that it’s leading the pre-add chart,...

Jack Nicholson has had a long career playing brooding rebels, crazed villains and sneering charmers on screen. Soon he’ll star opposite Kristen Wiig in a remake of “Toni Erdmann.” He’s a fixture of American cinema and the Lakers courtside seating. For his 80th birthday, we aimed to rank all of Jack’s major, already iconic roles, from worst to best.

“Man Trouble” (1992)

“Man Trouble” is a ridiculous screwball crime comedy in which Nicholson and Ellen Barkin get upstaged by horny dogs. It seems impossible the same guy who did “Five Easy Pieces” made this.

“A Safe Place” (1971)

This bizarre, formless ’70s relic based on a play stars Tuesday Weld and Orson Welles opposite Nicholson about a girl living a fantasy in which she never grows up.

“The Terror” (1963)

Nicholson gives a stiff performance in this Roger Corman picture opposite Boris Karloff, but he gets to kiss a woman who transforms into a corpse.

Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing at the 71st annual American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Awards on April 17. This year’s show will be held virtually due to the pandemic.

“Lynzee and Sidney have cut some of our favorite and most iconic movies and television shows,” said Ace president Kevin Tent. “We’re thrilled to recognize these two extraordinary editors, their hard work and their amazing careers.”

Klingman, who was Oscar-nominated for one of her first films – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – has had a career in feature films and documentaries that included editing A River Runs Through It, The War of the Roses, Man on the Moon, Hoffa, Hair, Little Man Tate, Ali and dozens of others.

Wollinsky, who was Oscar-nominated for The Shape of Water (2017), won an Emmy for the pilot episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

The pandemic may have cancelled live performances and moviegoing for most of 2020, but for film-music buffs, that just meant more time at home listening to their favorite music, including many releases of music never before heard outside their original cinematic contexts.

“There is still an unquenchable thirst for classic scores, both previously unreleased and reissues of scores that are expanded, re-mastered, or both,” says Matt Verboys, co-owner of L.A. label LA-La Land Records. “As technology keeps advancing, many previous releases can now get a sonic upgrade that makes the music well worth a revisit.”

The business challenges remain unchanged, however, he says: “Who holds the rights to a given score and can those rights be obtained? Do the music elements even exist and if so, can they be rounded up? Once obtained, is the audio good enough to release, or does massive restoration work need to be done?”

Perennial favorite composers Bernard Herrmann,...

Albert Hughes takes us on a wild journey through the movies that made him, then explains why he’s not a cinephile (Spoiler: He is). Heads up – you’re going to hear some words you’ve never heard on our show before, and only one of them is Metropolis.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Gremlins (1984)

A Christmas Story (1983)

The Candidate (1972)

Menace II Society (1993)

Die Hard (1988)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Scarface (1983)

Goodfellas (1990)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Raging Bull (1980)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Alpha (2018)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Metropolis (1927)

True Romance (1993)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

The Matrix (1999)

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003)

A Serbian Film (2010)

Scarface (1932)

The Book of Eli (2010)

The Departed (2006)

Infernal Affairs (2002)

The Godfather (1972)

Casino (1995)

JFK (1991)

Dead Presidents (1996)

Eve’s Bayou (1997)

Basic Instinct (1992)

Psycho (1960)

The Cremator (1969)

The Firemen’s Ball (1967)

Halloween (2018)

From Hell (2001)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Hoffa (1992)

V For Vendetta (2005)

Spartacus (1960)

You Were Never Really Here...

Exclusive: The Telluride Film Festival was expected to start next week on September 3 and play, as usual, all through the Labor Day weekend. Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic curtailed those plans and the festival was forced to cancel this year’s edition. However, Telluride did put out the schedule of films that had been selected, and on September 11 will host a “drive-in” screening at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena of the new Fox Searchlight film, Nomadland starring Frances McDormand directed by Chloe Zhao. And they actively hope that some of the other films on their list find an audience, and in some cases even distribution in order to find that audience.

I caught one of those films, the fascinating new documentary Dear Mr. Brody, which was to have had its world premiere at Telluride and was planning to use that showcase to entice buyers. Cinetic is selling it and is just...

With the 23rd annual Fantasia International Film Festival kicking off in Montreal this July, the first wave of programming has now been revealed, giving horror fans plenty of must-see titles to add to their watch lists this year, including Fangoria's Satanic Panic, the world premiere of Critters Attack!, Come to Daddy, Little Monsters, Phantom of Winnipeg, and many more movies!

Check out Fantasia's full first wave of programming below, visit their website for more information, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on the festival!

"Montreal, Quebec - 29 May 2019 - The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 23rd Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 11 - August 1, with its Frontières International Co-Production Market being held July 18 - 21. The festival’s full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced in early July. In the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a selected first wave of titles,...

Hollywood is filled with movies honoring working people and labor unions. I like labor unions but not everyone does – and well, labor unions (or union leaders) haven’t always been perfect. On Labor Day, we ran a pro-labor list but to reflect that other viewpoint, this edition of Throwback Thursday focuses on a Labor Behaving Badly list – films about bad or crooked union bosses, strikes gone wrong, workers behaving badly, and even a few anti-union films.

On The Waterfront (1954)

This excellent drama from director Elia Kazan is the gold standard of this kind of film, with a corrupt union boss (Lee J. Cobb) who have become a virtual dictator, treating the union like his own little army to do his bidding. One man, Terry Malone (Marlon Brando), stands up to him and breaks the power of the boss. Bad behavior indeed, and one heck of a good movie.

Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)

Union corruption,...

ScreenRant has released a fun new video list that points out famous actors and other well-known people who are secretly hidden in ten popular movies. You might know many of these already, but there were a couple mentioned in the list that surprised me. Some of the cameos include Edward Norton in Kingdom of Heaven, Tim Burton in Hoffa, Gene Hackman in Young Frankenstein, Cameron Crowe and Cameron Diaz in Minority Report, and more. Some of them aren't necessarily hidden, but that's what the video is called.

Most of the time, movie cameos are a fun way to put familiar faces in front of audiences -- even if it’s only for a moment or two. Usually, the whole point of a cameo is that we’ll recognize the famous person in front of us. But sometimes, directors get a bit sneaky. They hide famous faces behind masks, make-up and CGI,...

Labor Day celebrates working people and the labor unions that brought working people the 40-hour work week, the 8-hour day, overtime pay, work-place safety, paid holidays and vacations, and a host of other protections and benefits. To honor those hard-working people and organized labor, here is a list (in no particular order) of a dozen worthy narrative films for Labor Day.

Norma Rae (1979)

For many people, the words “labor union” bring to mind the image of Sally Field standing up in defiance in “Norma Rae.” Field won an Oscar for her unforgettable, inspiring character, a worker in a Southern textile factory who becomes involved in labor organizing and stands up to management after the factory workers’ health is threatened in the workplace. This stirring drama, based on a true story, also stars Beau Bridges as Norma Rae’s husband Sonny and Ron Leibman as an union organizer from the Northeast.

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Legendary stunt coordinator Andy Armstrong talks to us about his work on Highlander, Thor, Catwoman, and what makes a great action scene...

For over 40 years, Andy Armstrong has worked on a huge array of stunts and action sequences in TV and film. From directing 1,000s of extras in Stargate to a full body burn in Danny DeVito's Hoffa, Armstrong's experiences as a stuntman, stunt coordinator and unit director have taken him all over the world.

The brother of Vic Armstrong, the stunt coordinator and director who famously doubled for Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies, Andy Armstrong's career began when he doubled for Sir John Mills on the 1970s TV series, The Zoo Gang. That early job jumpstarted a life in filmmaking which has taken in three James Bond movies, 90s action (Total Recall, Universal Soldier) and superhero movies (The Green Hornet, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man).

Those 40 years of filmmaking experience are the pillar of Armstrong's book, the Action Movie Maker's Handbook. Intended as a reference for those thinking of starting a career in stunts or action unit directing, it also offers a valuable insight for those outside the industry, too. The book reveals the range of talents required to bring an effective action scene to the screen - organisation, storytelling, an understanding of engineering and physics - and how much input a coordinator and unit director has on how those sequences will look in the final film.

We caught up with Andy Armstrong via telephone to talk about his book and some of the highlights in his career so far. Read on for his thoughts on creating the action sequences in Thor and The Amazing Spider-Man, his hilarious behind-the-scenes memories from the 80s cult classic, Highlander, and what went wrong on the 2004 Catwoman movie...

Your book gave me a new appreciation for what second unit directors and stunt coordinators do. I didn't realise how much design work you do when it comes to action scenes, for example.

Yeah, it is true that a lot of people don't realise how much development goes into action. Especially nowadays, it's such a complex business. That becomes a huge part of it - the technicalities of it and the storytelling part of it. Some things might look great, but when you put them all together they don't necessarily work for that movie. A lot of what I've made a living doing is really creating action that is appropriate for the movie. Because the wrong type of action is just like the wrong costume or the wrong actor or something - it just takes you out of the film.

You get a lot of movies that actually have too much action in them. Then what happens is, you can't appreciate it. It's like a feast where the starter is such a huge meal that you don't even want the main course because you're full. That's like so many action movies - they'd actually benefit from having some of the action taken out of them. I'm always fascinated when you see an audience in an action movie.

When I feel there's too much action in a movie, or it goes on for too long, I always look around in a cinema. It's interesting to see people chatting to each other or doing something else. You should never have that in an action movie. Action should be like sex or violence - you want to be left just wanting a bit more. That gets forgotten in a lot of movies, which are just relentless. Stuff going on the whole time.

What happens then is that, when it comes to something special for the third act, some fantastic fight or something, you can't raise the bar enough, because the bar's been high all the way through the movie. It's a weird thing.

They have to build, action scenes.

They do have to build, absolutely. That's why I do that little graph in the book, which is something I do in every movie, just to work out how much action there should be and where it should go and, on a scale of one to 10, how big it is. It's funny how crude that looks, and yet if you compare it to any of the really great action movies, they'll fit that graph. There'll be something at the opening, there'll be something happening at the end of the first act and into the second act, and there'll be bits and pieces happening in the second act and then a big third act finale. Whether it's a movie made in the 60s or now, that formula of action still becomes the sweet spot.

A lot of these superhero movies, there's some fantastic action going on, but by the end of the movie, nobody cares. You have nowhere to go with it.

Some of them are very long as well.

Far too long. Far, far too long. You're absolutely right. I think any movie, past two hours, has got to be either incredibly spectacular or it's an ego-fest for the filmmakers. Keeping somebody in a seat for more than two hours - you'd better have a really good tale to tell. And I don't think many of these modern ones do - they just have lots of stuff in them.

So what films have impressed you recently in terms of action?

Kingsman, definitely. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, a really good take on it. I loved that it was Colin Firth and not a traditional action hero that's covered in muscles and torn t-shirts and things. And for the same reasons, really, I love the Taken series of movies with Liam Neeson. I loved them, particularly because they're grounded in reality, or set just above reality. Obviously, Kingsman you go more above reality, but they're still grounded with real gravity and real people. It's a bit hypocritical, because I've made a great living doing some superhero movies, but they're not more favourite movies by any chance. I'm very proud of the work I've done on them, but the movies I love aren't even action, really. I haven't seen the third Taken, I need to get that, but I thought the first two Takens were really very cool.

I quite liked both the Red films. I was going to do the second one of those, because the guy who directed the second one is a friend of mine. So I'd have liked to have done that, but they wanted to go with the person they used on the first film. Dean Parisot is a very good friend of mine, I did Galaxy Quest with him. That's one of my favourites.

But a lot of movies I've seen lately, I've been underwhelmed by some of them. It's funny. I like tight little movies. I think it's a shame we've not had more John Frankenheimers making things like Ronin, you know. Great action but well placed - the right action in the right place. Again, grounded in reality, real people.

Do you think stunts go through trends? Obviously, you've recently been doing a lot of wire work on superhero movies lately.

Oh, absolutely. It's kind of gone in a tight full circle, because a few years ago action went fully CG, and then the brief we were given when we did the first Amazing Spider-Man is that they want to get away from that feel, to go more gravity based, more reality. That's what we spent a lot of time doing on that first Spider-Man is the way he jumps around. I based it on real physics.

Some of the stuff on the first Amazing Spider-Man I'm really very, very proud of. We filmed some groundbreaking rig systems and high-powered winches that moved around so there was a proper organic travel when Spider-Man jumps around. It's funny, because when I agreed to do the movie, that was the brief - they want to make Spider-Man's movement much more realistic. I said, "Yes, absolutely, we can do it." But when I came out of the meeting, I have to be honest - I had no idea how the hell we were going to do that.

We did a lot of testing. They were good enough to give us a lot of time to test. One of the things I did was bring in an Olympic gymnast, and I had him swing from three bars, from one bar to the next bar to the next bar, doing giant swings on them. I videoed it, because I knew that something on the original [Sam Raimi] Spider-Man didn't look right. It sounds really obvious in the end, because your eye goes straight to it, but when I brought the gymnast in, I realised that when you see a human swinging, their downward swing is really violent. It gets faster, faster, faster until it nearly pulls the arms out of the sockets, and then as they swing up it gets slower, slower, slower until they get negative. Then they grab the next bar and it happens again. It's the massive variation in velocity that made me realise, "I get it. That's what's real." Then you can tell it's a real guy. When you see Spider-Man and his speed is the same going down as it is going up, even though you haven't analysed it in your mind, you know that it's not right. It's like the five-legged horse syndrome: if you saw one standing in a field, even though you've never seen one in your life, you'd know that it's not something from nature.

It's something I spend a lot of time doing, making things organic and real. In the book you've see a lot of reference to Buster Keaton and things, because I like to go back to that. When you've seen something done for real, then you can make anything as fantastic as you want. But you have to know where the baseline is, where real is, before you start doing something too spectacular. Or what will happen is, even though an audience has never seen an athlete on giant bars, or a guy swinging on a spider web, they'll know instinctively that it looks wrong. We're conditioned to do that - no matter how realistic a dummy in a shop window is, we know as humans that it isn't a real person. Animals know all that - they can spot their own species, they can spot other species and know what they are.

It's why, with a superhero movie, especially, I like to do a bible beforehand, so that you can have a reference. How strong is Spider-Man? Can he throw cars or push a building over? Can he just pick up a sofa? You have to have a yardstick of what people can do. Otherwise it's all over the place. We've seen those movies, where the power of the superheroes [varies]. One minute he gets knocked out by someone in a bar, the next he's pushing a house over.

It has to have some kind of internal logic, doesn't it.

It has to have some kind of logic, no matter how mad that logic is, it has to be consistent. We had it on Thor: how powerful is Thor? How much can he do with a hammer? What happens when the hammer really hits something? You have to have all these mad conversations at the beginning of the movie. If you see someone punch through a building, it's tough to then see that same person slap someone in their face without tearing their head off. You need a yardstick to go to.

I was interested to read what you said about Catwoman, and the idea you had for the big fight.

Yeah, that was a classic case. In the end I was proved right. The movie could have been fantastic. Halle Berry - in the outfit, she could stop traffic. And she was such a perfect choice for Catwoman - she had all the abilities. The movement down, the whole thing. It was such a waste, because the script got crappier and crappier. There was a rewrite every week or so. Each one was worse than the last one. It was like someone was drinking and writing worse and worse versions of it. I feel sorry for Halle as well - I don't think it did her career any good. She's such a trooper anyway.

It's funny, I remember when I saw the first TV commercial for the movie, and I'd been a bit depressed - I don't like leaving movies. I remember coming out, and you always have that second thought as to whether you should have left it or not. But I'm quite strict about only doing good stuff. The interesting thing is, I fought to get the motorcycle sequence in there, and the directors and the producers - none of them wanted it. The moment I saw that first commercial, and it was nearly all motorcycle. I remember shouting at the screen that I was absolutely right. You know when they put that in the trailer that it's the only good thing in the movie! It's very funny.

Why do you think that happens sometimes in these big Hollywood films, where you get this death spiral of script rewrites? You hear about it quite a lot.

Oh, God knows. If you could answer that I think you'd be a gazillionaire. A lot of these rewrites just get worse and worse. It's like cooking, putting this and that in, until you've got this inedible bowl of crap that's like the vision you originally set out to make. That happens so often. I think part of it happens in the main studio system because a lot of films get made by committee. That happens a lot. It didn't happen with some of the greats of the 50s, 60s and 70s, because some of those people were tyrannical, but the movies they made had a personal identity to them.

John Boorman doesn't always make great movies, but he's a great moviemaker and every movie he makes is a John Boorman movie. You look at Excalibur, you look at Deliverance, you look at Hope And Glory, they're all different, you can like them or not like them, but they have a real authority and identity to them. What happens in a studio system is you have a lot of junior executives and they all want to put a comment in there, they all want to use this actor or that actress. In the end, for right or wrong, a film has to have one real author. If it doesn't... there's the old saying that a camel is a horse designed by committee. That's what happens to movies. There are so many people in different areas in the studio that want to keep their fingers in the pie.

The big thing about studios is, most studio executives are all eventually going to get fired or run another studio or something. The rule of thumb is, most studio executives want to be just attached to a movie enough that if it's a huge success they can say they were or part of it, and they can point out the bits they changed or suggested or whatever. And if it's a Catwoman, they can distance themselves from it as if it were a disease. That's a real thing - a fine line executives work. Because you can get the blame for a picture that you may have had nothing to do with in some ways, you had no say in it if you were a studio executive, necessarily, and you can also get lots of praise and lots of awards and a million-dollar job at another studio because you're considered to be the guy or girl that brought this or that movie to the studio and it made $300m. It's a funny game, that.

In the end, who knows what's going to be successful? Who'd have thought movies like Fast & Furious would still be successful?

Yeah, there's gonna be eight or nine of them.

It's incredible. Vic [Armstrong] and I were offered, I guess it was three or four, and then they made a change with the action team and they've had the same action team since. But we'd just started Thor so we turned it down. It's funny because they went off and did more and more of those Fast & Furious films and we did the two Spider-Mans and Season Of The Witch and some other things. I think in the end we kind of made the right choice. I'm proud of the stuff I've done.

When you think of how advanced the look of Highlander was - Russell invented that look. The very long lenses, the very wide lenses. Fantastic cuts between things. It's absolutely timeless. I watched it again recently. It's as good now as it was when we made it. And it's a beautiful looking movie.

I'm really proud of the stuff I've done on it. It's amazing to think it's 30 years [old]. There's a lot of funny stories about Highlander. When they hired Sean Connery first of all as Ramirez, it’s funny because it's a Scotsman playing a Spaniard and a Frenchman playing a Scotsman! The funny thing is, Peter Davis and Bill Panzer, the producers, cast Connery - and the movie's called Highlander, so Connery thought he was playing the Highlander!

He got some huge fee, and then they let him know that he's playing Ramirez, this Spanish guy. He went, "Oh fine", but his fee was the same - he got about a million dollars for however many weeks he was on the movie. And then Christopher Lambert, who'd only done Greystoke before, as far as English-speaking movies went, they cast him and hadn't met him. Apparently, when they did Greystoke, he learned his lines parrot fashion - he just learned the line he had to speak. He couldn't speak English. But he's such a lovely guy.

When they first met him and he answered "Yes" to every question, they realised he didn't know what the hell they were talking about. [Laughs] They were in a bar or restaurant, and Peter Davis and Bill Panzer both came outside, and they left him at the table, and said, "He can't fucking speak English!" And they'd already cast him! The deal was done! It was fantastic, you know?

It just shows you. He was so charismatic in that movie. He learned English during the movie and was brilliant.

He's also incredibly short-sighted, Christophe. I did some really cool sword fight sequences with him. He couldn't see the sword! Incredible. His muscle memory and ability to be taught a fight with his glasses on, and then take is glasses off and then shoot was absolutely astounding. I've never met anyone like it. He never missed a beat, and yet he couldn't see - he couldn't see which end of the sword he had a hold of.

You look at those sword fights, and he's better than most stuntmen doing them. Yet he could hardly see his opponent, let alone the sword. Fascinating.

Clancy Brown, who played the villain, he's still a friend. He was fantastic. A couple of funny things happened on that, I think they're in the book. We were doing some car action in New York, and I had cameras on the front of the Cadillac. The Cadillac was my choice - originally it was written as a big four-wheel drive. I wanted something classically American that would slide around.

When we were towing it through town with the cameras on for the close-ups of the two actors, Clancy's there with his slit throat with the safety pins in it and all that, and I would jump off the back of the camera car when we got to a decent bit of road or bridge or something, and I'd turn all the cameras on.

At one point, I was turning the cameras on and the cop who was helping us - or supposed to be helping us in a typical sort of New York, aggressive cop way, said, "If you get off the camera car again, I'm going to arrest you."

Now, meanwhile, the cameras are rolling. I'm not really arguing with the cop, but I'm a bit pissed off to say the least. So I got back on the camera car. But while I'm doing that, Clancy, just dicking around, was [sings] "New York, New York!" And that was just him playing around. It was actually in response to me arguing with a New York cop, really.

Anyway, Russell, when he was putting the chase together, loved that little moment. He'd done all the Queen videos, and that's when Queen came in and saw it, and they loved it. So that's when they re-recorded their version of New York, New York and it became a hit record for Queen.

That's amazing.

It started as a mild confrontation between me and a rather aggressive New York cop! [Laughs] Whenever I see Clancy, we still laugh about it. It wasn't in the script or anything, it was just one of those things.

Andy Armstrong, thank you very much!

Action Movie Maker's Handbook is available from Amazon now.

See related Does it matter whether stars do their own stunts? Speed 2: how a dream sparked one of the biggest stunts ever Olivier Megaton interview: Taken 2, Liam Neeson and stunts Sam Mendes interview: Skyfall, stunts & cinematography Movies Interview Ryan Lambie Andy Armstrong 14 Jun 2016 - 05:40 Highlander Catwoman The Amazing Spider-Man The Amazing Spider-Man 2 interview Andy Armstrong movies...

This story first appeared in the June 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Truth is stranger — and often more appealing — than fiction. So while Hollywood waits for the inevitable book by or about Rachel Dolezal and its preordained journey to the screen, there's two other true story–based books making the rounds for producers, directors and actors to chew on. Vendetta by James Neff (Little, Brown) Agent: Ron Bernstein (ICM) It has been 23 years since Jack Nicholson starred in Hoffa. Investigative reporter Neff's new nonfiction book on Jimmy Hoffa should

read more...

Killing Jimmy Hoffa

Written and directed by Al Profit

USA, 2014

Sure, there have been a feature film, a few documentaries and countless written articles on the life and times of the vanished legendary American labor union leader James “Jimmy” Riddle Hoffa (his “disappearance” date being July 30, 1975). Most notably fare such as the Danny DeVito-directed 1992 film Hoffa starring Jack Nicholson in the tile role tried to depict the controversial teamster union leader in all his noted glory. Of course Hoffa’s glory days as being a young union activist within the ranks of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to becoming one of the most powerful and divisive union leaders in the country came as a heavy price to pay. Presiding over a whopping teamsters union that had the largest membership in the United States definitely was a monumental achievement for the Midwestern native that came from nothing in his severely...

On Wednesday, The Lone Ranger received multiple Razzie nominations, including the notorious Worst Picture nod. The next day, The Lone Ranger was nominated for an Oscar, for best makeup.

This isn’t the first movie to get nods from both ends of the spectrum. Since the Razzies first began back in 1981, 47 movies have been nominated for both “awards”– some even for the same exact person or song. Here’s a look at the club The Lone Ranger just joined:

The Competition

Oscar nods: Film editing, music (original song) for “People Alone” with music by Lalo Schifrin and lyrics by Wilbur...

Hot off the press releases!

This one is a bit odd, because I’ve read spec screenplays about the payola scandal Joe Isgro was involved in and how the government kind of screwed itself. The script I read back in the day was more about a Forrest Gump romp through different eras, but it sounds like this new film is going to be either a memoir pic or a straight biopic.

Anywho, Isgro, if you haven’t heard of him was a producer/promoter that had some organized crime connections. It sounds like he’s pairing with a writer to do this biopic, but it’s unclear if any indie production house or major studio is circling or attached.

Here’s what we know:

Isgro, whose powerful independent promotion team controlled the radio airwaves for much of the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, is integrally responsible for launching and promoting the...

Tagline: "Friends Don't Let Friends Turn into Zombies!" David McElroy's After Effect bills itself as "28 Days Later Meets The Walking Dead." Those are some big shoes to fill. But, the official trailer for After Effect does show a few tense scenarios, in a future zombie apocalypse. After Effect stars Daniel Baldwin (Vampires), Kirk Anderson (Hoffa), Michael Chinn and Kristina Cole. This title will release through video-on-demand platforms today (Oct. 8th) and horror fans can preview the film here. The film's story follows six college students who sign up for an experiment and some easy cash. Unfortunately for them, their luck has run out and they soon find themselves turning into the undead, after taking some untested medication. The trailer for After Effect is below. The clip shows some of the characters succumbing to some very strange research. More release details on the film are available below. Release Date: October 8th,...

From Taxi to Twins, Danny DeVito is one of Hollywood's most recognisable figures. He talks about family, hairdressing and arguing over politics with Schwarzenegger

Holy moly, it's Danny DeVito! One of the most ubiquitous actors of the 1980s and 90s, and certainly the most physically distinctive, is standing in a blandly corporate hotel room in Whitehall, of all random places a stone's throw away from No 10 Downing Street.

"Hey, I'm Danny, nice to meetcha, thanks for coming," he says in a New Jersey accent that makes him sound a little like a comedy sidekick from The Sopranos.

Few actors have ever looked like they're having as much fun as DeVito. From playing Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner's whirling dervish of an evil nemesis in Romancing the Stone, to sniping at Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins, to waddling through his lair as the demonic Penguin in Batman Returns, DeVito has been...

'What's the closest I've come to death? I was once in the same airport as Dick Cheney'

Danny DeVito, 68, was born in New Jersey. He trained as a hairdresser before studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1975, he appeared in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and, in 1978, starred in the hit TV series Taxi. As well as acting, he directs – Hoffa, The War Of The Roses – and his company, Jersey Films, produced Pulp Fiction, Matilda and Get Shorty. Last year he made his West End debut in The Sunshine Boys, and next month he will receive a special tribute at the Dublin International Film Festival. He has three children by his wife, the actor Rhea Perlman, from whom he recently separated.

When were you happiest?

I have been very fortunate in my life. I have had a lot of happiness. I have a great...

How many of you knew that Tim Burton worked as an extra on 1992s Hoffa? Well, as in worked I mean, put on some pasty make-up and laid down in a coffin. During the Teamsters funeral scene, it seems that Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson snuck up on Burton and surprised him. It's also like a mini-Batman reunion. The Penguin meets the Joker. I thought it was a cool find for those of you who hadn't seen it. Hoffa seems to be an unforgettable film amongst viewers. I think it's a multiple watcher....

Tim Burton may have reluctantly agreed to direct the sequel to his 1989 film Batman, but he was quick to jump in a coffin for a cameo appearance in Hoffa (1992), which starred his Batman and Batman Returns cohorts -- Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito. The film was directed by DeVito, who gives a little introduction to the video. It's weird seeing Tim Burton in front of the camera for a change, and it's funny to see DeVito poking fun at the usually serious director. Check out the video and let us know what you thought of it!

Source: via: LaugingSquid (http://laughingsquid.com/tim-burton-played-a-dead-guy-in-a-coffin-in-the-movie-hoffa-1992/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29)...

Tim Burton didn't have a great weekend, with his stop-motion animated "Frankenweenie" opening on 3000 screens to a paltry $11 million. So perhaps he'll want to look back on some happier times to cheer him up... The interwebs has brought forth a pretty nice behind-the-scenes snippet from Danny DeVito's 1992 directorial effort "Hoffa" about the infamous gangster. What you might not know about the movie is that DeVito roped in his "Batman Returns" director Burton for an onscreen cameo. As a dead guy....because, obviously. It's a pretty playful peek behind-the-scenes and it's pretty awesome for Burton to devote his time to what is essentially a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. The pair would go on to work together on two more pictures: "Mars Attacks!" and "Big Fish." Give it a whirl below. [io9]...

Because there's never enough Danny DeVito in the news, Twentieth Century Fox recently released two of DeVito's films, 1989's "War of the Roses" and 1992's "Hoffa," on Blu-ray. The discs are part of the Fox Home Entertainment "Signature Series," which feature a new video introduction from DeVito and both picture and sound quality that come literally stamped with his approval. (A copy of DeVito's signature is emblazoned on the packaging.)

To celebrate the release, HuffPost Entertainment spoke with DeVito about … well, almost everything. Ahead, DeVito's thoughts on digital filmmaking, his next venture as a director, the fiscal failure of the underrated "Death to Smoochy" and why you should always bring cash to the French Riviera.

What made you want to revisit these films?

When the laser disc came out, I did the same thing: I had this rush about wanting to be on the best delivery system available. I know...

Here at the Film Experience we probably complain too often about Oscar's absolute obsession with the biopic genre. One reason we hate this that we don't talk about much is that the films don't tend to age well. If you don't believe me try watching all the Oscar nominees from any particular year in a single lead acting or Picture category. Guarantee that 9 times out of 10 the bio in the mix is the one most likely to cure your insomnia.

Because of annual biographical awards love  it's easy to forget early in each new film year that Oscar history is littered with bios that didn't catch on. I was just thinking about this because today is the Centennial of the Ty Cobb related Detroit strike. Cobb (1994), which you can watch on YouTube, was Tommy Lee Jones' chaser to his Oscar winning turn in The Fugitive. Come to think of...

The Complex examines Danny’s potential for success as purveyor of thrills and chills.

There was a time in the early ’90s that it looked like Danny DeVito was really about to sprout his directorial wings and fly. He’d made two pretty successful comedies in Throw Momma from the Train and War of the Roses before moving directing David Mamet’s epic screenplay for Hoffa.

Interesting film, Hoffa. I was more or less a kid in ’92 when that film came out, and I think I took it in at the theater three times. There was a resurgence of mob-leaning movies in those days after the revelation of GoodFellas, and whatever it was that The Godfather: Part III turned out to be. I loved all that stuff so I absorbed as much of it as I could.

Hoffa looked and felt like a great film, but twenty years later, I...

After directing "War of the Roses," "Hoffa," "Matilda," "Death to Smoochy" and "Duplex," Danny DeVito took a decade from helming. But he has now returned behind the camera for an apocalyptic thriller, called "St. Sebastian," which is now in post-production. "I was truly excited about getting behind the camera on this one," said DeVito. "It is my first foray into the thriller genre and I've enjoyed the challenge of making an 89 minute edge-of-your-seater..." The film revolves around a wounded cop, a wounded murderer and a sultry nurse. The three are thrust together, as war rages outside the only possible safe house, an abandoned City Hospital. With no doctors and only a few poor decrepit souls as witnesses, it becomes a rats' maze as the antagonistic trio get separated, and we find out the real reason they are there. "St. Sebastian" stars William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Black Hawk Down), Lance Reddick ("The Wire,...

Danny DeVito has made no bones about it ... he loves horror movies. The gorier, the better! So it's only natural that the acclaimed funnyman would want to try his hand at directing one, a post-apocalyptic thriller. Read on!

From the Press Release

Shangri-La Entertainment announced today that Danny DeVito has wrapped shooting on his apocalyptic thriller and is now in post-production. Directed by DeVito, the currently untitled project stars William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Black Hawk Down and The Perfect Storm) soon to be seen in The Lone Ranger, playing the nemesis to Johnny Depp’s Tonto; Lance Reddick, the imposing Lieutenant Daniels on hit series "The Wire" and currently starring in Jj Abrams’ popular "Fringe"; and Constance Zimmer, the offbeat sex symbol Dana Gordon on award-winning HBO series "Entourage".

Confirming the announcement, DeVito commented: “I was truly excited about getting behind the camera on this one. It is my...

What's Jack Nicholson's secret? Maybe it's the eyebrows, hovering like ironic quotation marks over every line reading. Maybe it's the hooded eyes, which hold the threat of danger or the promise of joviality -- you're never sure which. Same with that sharklike grin. Or maybe it's the voice, which has evolved over the years from a thin sneer to a deep rumble, but is always precisely calibrated to provoke a reaction. Put them all together, and they say: "I am a man to be reckoned with. Ignore me at your peril." Nicholson, who turns 75 on April 22, is often criticized for relying on his bag of tricks, for just showing up and doing Jack Nicholson (though indeed, he often seems to have been hired precisely for that purpose). But he's also capable of burrowing deep into a character, finding his wounded heart, and revealing the ugly truth without fear or vanity.

Danny DeVito has had a successful career both in front of the camera and behind it. Now, at 67, he is preparing for his first West End run in The Sunshine Boys – and shows no sign of slowing down

The first thing you notice about the actor, director and producer Danny DeVito is that, as has been exhaustively documented, getting on for a zillion times, he's short (five foot nothing) and round, like a human Teletubby. Albeit a 67-year-old Teletubby, with white wisps of hair around his ears, which he pulls at constantly.

The second thing you notice is how animated and expressive he is. It's not a cartoon version of DeVito's native Italian-American, but it's at the turbo end of vibrant. In the rehearsal space where we meet, he's constantly shrugging, gesturing with his hands, laughing so that his glasses fall off his forehead over his eyes; at one point,...

Danny De Vito is a hardcore fan of home video, and has been for at least 20 years, so it's good to hear he's preparing Blu-ray special editions of his films "Hoffa" and "War Of The Roses" right now. I met DeVito for the first time when I was working at Dave's Video in the early '90s.  There were three customers at that store who bought everything that came out, and I'm not exaggerating.  Danny DeVito, Ivan Reitman, and Steven Spielberg were voracious fans of laserdisc, and they all had the same standing order with the store.  Whatever we ordered, we...

Yesterday, Jennifer Lawrence took the podium – tough Katniss on The Capitol interview stage-style - to perform the 2012 Academy Award nominations reading, but that's just a drop in the bucket when it comes to "The Hunger Games" Oscar connections.

In fact, between the cast and filmmakers, we counted more than two dozen Oscar nominations and quite a few wins. Who knew these gamekeepers, so to speak, were so accomplished?!

This list should tell you just what caliber of talent is involved in "The Hunger Games," both on and off-screen.

Jennifer Lawrence: 1

Katniss herself, Jennifer Lawrence, was one of 2010's Best Actress nominees for her work as Ree in "Winter's Bone," and while she didn't win, she sure turned some heads and clenched her spot on the list of must-watch young actresses early in her career thanks to it.

Josh Hutcherson: 0

Okay, so our future Peeta, Josh Hutcherson, didn't actually get any Academy Awards nominations,...