As human beings, we can’t accept death. Most of us have trouble reconciling the end of one’s existence and the afterlife. It’s a hard pill to swallow — but it’s an inevitable conclusion that comes sooner or later. In life, we love and are loved, hoping that we make some small dent in the world. In death, we hold fast to the people we once were, desperately straining to stave off such a brutal coda. With both Herk Harvey’s wonderfully-peculiar Carnival of Souls and Alejandro Amenábar’s dream-like The Others, the characters learn what it means to live and die and how dangerous holding on can be.
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) works as a church organist but shows no interest in religion itself. She simply perceives it as just another job. “I’m not taking the vows; I’m only gonna play the organ,” she tells her new boss,...
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) works as a church organist but shows no interest in religion itself. She simply perceives it as just another job. “I’m not taking the vows; I’m only gonna play the organ,” she tells her new boss,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Bee Delores
- bloody-disgusting.com
If you listen closely, every year around October 1st you’ll start to hear things go bump in the night… but don’t worry, instead of g-g-g-ghoooosts it’s mostly just the sound of props department interns who have been made to stay late and dig out boxes of bat bunting, dry ice machines and facepaint ready for another round of Halloween TV specials.
Halloween episodes are now a spooky season staple on both sides of the pond, but while the US has been producing Halloween hits like It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Flintstones’ ‘A Haunted House is Not A Home’ since the early 1960s, the American tradition didn’t properly catch on in the UK until the 1970s.
Dig through the archives, and – while a couple of spooky stories were read out on Jackanory in the late 1960s, including Doctor Who’s own Jon Pertwee’s memorable reading of Ghoulies,...
Halloween episodes are now a spooky season staple on both sides of the pond, but while the US has been producing Halloween hits like It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Flintstones’ ‘A Haunted House is Not A Home’ since the early 1960s, the American tradition didn’t properly catch on in the UK until the 1970s.
Dig through the archives, and – while a couple of spooky stories were read out on Jackanory in the late 1960s, including Doctor Who’s own Jon Pertwee’s memorable reading of Ghoulies,...
- 10/18/2022
- by Lauravickersgreen
- Den of Geek
Beryl Vertue, the acclaimed UK TV exec behind Sherlock and Men Behaving Badly, has died aged 90.
Vertue’s daughters Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue said in a joint statement: “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum passed away peacefully last night. It wasn’t Covid, it was just her nearly 91-year-old body saying enough is enough.”
They described her as “our best friend, our mentor, our adviser, our role model, our holiday companion, our giggle-maker and our boss,” adding: “She was more than a mother to us – she was also a friend. To many in the industry she was more than a friend – she was often a mother.”
Multiple UK TV figures paid tribute to Vertue, who set up and steered successful independent drama company Hartswood Films in 1979. Both Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue now work for Hartswood and Sue...
Vertue’s daughters Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue said in a joint statement: “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum passed away peacefully last night. It wasn’t Covid, it was just her nearly 91-year-old body saying enough is enough.”
They described her as “our best friend, our mentor, our adviser, our role model, our holiday companion, our giggle-maker and our boss,” adding: “She was more than a mother to us – she was also a friend. To many in the industry she was more than a friend – she was often a mother.”
Multiple UK TV figures paid tribute to Vertue, who set up and steered successful independent drama company Hartswood Films in 1979. Both Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue now work for Hartswood and Sue...
- 2/13/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, everyone! We have a brand new assortment of horror and sci-fi headed home this week, and there are plenty of offerings that should undoubtedly make for great additions to your Halloween season viewing plans. Universal is showing some love to a trio of classics, as it is set to release John Carpenter’s The Thing as well as Rear Window and Vertigo from Alfred Hitchcock all on 4K Ultra HD today. Kino Lorber has put together new Blu-ray presentations for both The Tomb of Ligeia and Theatre of Blood, and if you’re looking to catch up with some newer horror, both Great White and Slaxx arrive today courtesy of Rlje Films.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
- 9/7/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Exclusive: Enrico Colantoni (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) is set to play Rudy Giuliani in an episode of The Hot Zone: Anthrax, and Morgan Kelly (Mindhunter) will recur opposite Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim in the second installment of Nat Geo’s scientific thriller anthology series.
As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners for the new installment, which will focus on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001. The series hails from National Geographic Channel, Scott Free Productions and 20th Television.
The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists,...
As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners for the new installment, which will focus on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001. The series hails from National Geographic Channel, Scott Free Productions and 20th Television.
The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists,...
- 3/29/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Join Cinema St. Louis Executive Director Cliff Froehlich in their new collaboration with Shakespeare Festival St. Louis to present Shakespeare & Chill. Every Wednesday at 8pm Cliff will moderate 20-30 minute panel discussion of a Shakespeare-related movie conversations between Shakespeare aficionados and industry professionals. Stay tuned to the Cinema St. Louis Facebook page for updates on the event!
A discussion of the 1973 classic Vincent Price film Theatre Of Blood will take place between Cliff and Shakespeare and Vincent Price enthusiasts Chris Limber, Ben Ritchie, Kevin Townley, and We Are Movie Geeks own Tom Stockman Facebook on Wednesday May 13th at 8Pm. The discussion will post on the Cinema St. Louis and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Facebook pages.
In the early 1970’s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a...
A discussion of the 1973 classic Vincent Price film Theatre Of Blood will take place between Cliff and Shakespeare and Vincent Price enthusiasts Chris Limber, Ben Ritchie, Kevin Townley, and We Are Movie Geeks own Tom Stockman Facebook on Wednesday May 13th at 8Pm. The discussion will post on the Cinema St. Louis and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Facebook pages.
In the early 1970’s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a...
- 5/8/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It’s 007 in the saddle! Sean Connery didn’t become a career cowboy but his one stint as a Louis L’Amour hero is a diverting change of pace. And we couldn’t resist the pairing of two of moviedom’s most attractive actors — Connery and Brigitte Bardot.
Shalako
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Peter van Eyck, Honor Blackman, Woody Strode, Eric Sykes, Alexander Knox, Valerie French, Julián Mateos, Don ‘Red’ Barry.
Cinematography: Ted Moore
Film Editor: Bill Blunden
Original Music: Robert Farnon
Written by J.J. Griffith, Hal Hopper, Scot Finch, Clarke Reynolds from the novel by Louis L’Amour
Produced by Euan Lloyd
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
It’s true, after five consecutive James Bond movies, we weren’t exactly ready to see Sean Connery as an American cowboy hero.
Shalako
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Peter van Eyck, Honor Blackman, Woody Strode, Eric Sykes, Alexander Knox, Valerie French, Julián Mateos, Don ‘Red’ Barry.
Cinematography: Ted Moore
Film Editor: Bill Blunden
Original Music: Robert Farnon
Written by J.J. Griffith, Hal Hopper, Scot Finch, Clarke Reynolds from the novel by Louis L’Amour
Produced by Euan Lloyd
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
It’s true, after five consecutive James Bond movies, we weren’t exactly ready to see Sean Connery as an American cowboy hero.
- 7/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sex is the main star of Gaspar Noé’s tragic love-triangle drama – in all its fleshy, messy, dreamlike, 3D glory
Gaspar Noé’s Love is a fantastically doomy, porny melodrama of erotic despair, and all in super-strength 3D. There’s an erect penis that makes you want to duck when its owner swings round, like Eric Sykes’s plank, a womb’s-eye view of it thrusting towards the camera in a plush-red tunnel of flesh, and finally, on the outside, it flings soupy lariats of sperm right into the auditorium. You get loads of explicit sex, though since the film’s first appearance at Cannes in May, it has had the regulation number of sophisticates dismissing that as “boring”. Really? (Somehow it is always more acceptable to admit being affected by on-screen violence – or even to be enthusiastic about it.)
Related: Looking for casual sex? Head for the cinema
Continue reading.
Gaspar Noé’s Love is a fantastically doomy, porny melodrama of erotic despair, and all in super-strength 3D. There’s an erect penis that makes you want to duck when its owner swings round, like Eric Sykes’s plank, a womb’s-eye view of it thrusting towards the camera in a plush-red tunnel of flesh, and finally, on the outside, it flings soupy lariats of sperm right into the auditorium. You get loads of explicit sex, though since the film’s first appearance at Cannes in May, it has had the regulation number of sophisticates dismissing that as “boring”. Really? (Somehow it is always more acceptable to admit being affected by on-screen violence – or even to be enthusiastic about it.)
Related: Looking for casual sex? Head for the cinema
Continue reading.
- 11/19/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love was reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown back in May of 2011 (for summary of all the Vincentennial activities go Here). One of the guests of honor at Vincentennial was Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price. Because of their close relationship and her access to his unpublished memoirs and letters, Victoria Price was able to provide a remarkably vivid account of her father’s public and private life in her essential book, Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography, originally published in 1999. .In 2011, her biography of her father was out of print. but now it’s been re-issued and Victoria will be in St. Louis this weekend (October 9th – 10th) for three special events. In addition to the biography, she will also be signing...
- 10/6/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Do you still say my Shylock was inadequate?”
Theatre Of Blood starring St. Louis native Vincent Price will be screened Saturday October 10th, as part of Movies for Foodies, a regular film series put on by the chefs at Tenacious Eats. The event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. In attendance will be special guest Victoria Price, author of Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography.
Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece Theatre Of Blood with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm.
Theatre Of Blood starring St. Louis native Vincent Price will be screened Saturday October 10th, as part of Movies for Foodies, a regular film series put on by the chefs at Tenacious Eats. The event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. In attendance will be special guest Victoria Price, author of Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography.
Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece Theatre Of Blood with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm.
- 9/10/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
We head back to Hogwarts, and try and sort out the Harry Potter films. Is Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets the best one, then?
This article contains spoilers for the Harry Potter movies.
The Harry Potter films didn’t need to be good.
The books were already a phenomenon. Only Twilight and Dan Brown’s novels have resulted in midnight openings at bookshops across the world in recent years, and when you look at their film adaptations (Angels And Demons grossed nearly $500 million worldwide, despite being Angels And Demons), it’s clear: the Harry Potter films didn’t actually have to try that hard to be a success.
Across eight films, they told the story of death-magnet legend boy Harry Potter and his loyal flame-locked sidekick Ron as they courted whimsical oblivion on a roughly yearly basis, getting rescued repeatedly by Girl Guide/Wikipedia hybrid Hermione Granger. They...
This article contains spoilers for the Harry Potter movies.
The Harry Potter films didn’t need to be good.
The books were already a phenomenon. Only Twilight and Dan Brown’s novels have resulted in midnight openings at bookshops across the world in recent years, and when you look at their film adaptations (Angels And Demons grossed nearly $500 million worldwide, despite being Angels And Demons), it’s clear: the Harry Potter films didn’t actually have to try that hard to be a success.
Across eight films, they told the story of death-magnet legend boy Harry Potter and his loyal flame-locked sidekick Ron as they courted whimsical oblivion on a roughly yearly basis, getting rescued repeatedly by Girl Guide/Wikipedia hybrid Hermione Granger. They...
- 2/4/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
We’ll be celebrating the 5th year anniversary of Super-8 Movie Madness at The Way Out Club in St. Louis on Tuesday October 7th with an encore performance of our most popular show. It’s Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness in 3D, the show that we took on the road to promote Vincentennial back in 2011. We’ll be honoring the hometown horror hero by showing condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of several of Price’s greatest films on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. They are: Master Of The World, War-gods Of The Deep, Pit And The Pendulum, The Raven, Witchfinder General, Tim Burton’s Vincent, Two Vincent Price Trailer Reels, Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Mad Magician in 3D (We’ll have plenty of 3D Glasses for everyone)
The non-Price movies we’re showing October 7th are The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire...
The non-Price movies we’re showing October 7th are The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire...
- 10/1/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Stars: Vincent Price, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Michael Hordern, Eric Sykes, Diana Rigg | Written by Anthony Greville-Bell | Directed by Douglas Hickox
For fans of classic horror the thought of being able to see Theatre of Blood on Blu-ray is special enough, but add to that it’s being given the Arrow Video treatment and the beautiful Steelbook version and this may potentially be their best release yet. Arrow Video didn’t stop there though, to add something even more special, they went all out and added a commentary track, from a group of horror fans known as The League of Gentleman. Just take my damn money and give me my damn disc.
There is something very British about having a psychopath killing his victims using the plays of Shakespeare. Vincent Price’s Edward Lionheart is in many ways the perfect role for him, and his obvious love for the character...
For fans of classic horror the thought of being able to see Theatre of Blood on Blu-ray is special enough, but add to that it’s being given the Arrow Video treatment and the beautiful Steelbook version and this may potentially be their best release yet. Arrow Video didn’t stop there though, to add something even more special, they went all out and added a commentary track, from a group of horror fans known as The League of Gentleman. Just take my damn money and give me my damn disc.
There is something very British about having a psychopath killing his victims using the plays of Shakespeare. Vincent Price’s Edward Lionheart is in many ways the perfect role for him, and his obvious love for the character...
- 5/18/2014
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Sir Bruce Forsyth says he is on ''borrowed time''. The TV veteran has admitted his career may be coming to an end - and after coping with his friends dying, he's ''conditioning'' himself so he isn't shocked by his own death. He told The Sun newspaper: ''There's no getting away from it. When I look at all my friends that have gone - Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, Sammy Davis Jr. - I know I'm on borrowed time. ''How I'm still here I just don't know. I don't know how, why or wherefore. But I'm not really questioning it that much. The day will...
- 11/23/2013
- Virgin Media - TV
Bruce Forsyth has admitted that he finds it tough to keep up with his schedule as the host of Strictly Come Dancing, saying he is living on "borrowed time".
The 85-year-old, who was forced to pull out of the show last month after being taken ill with the flu, hinted that his time on the BBC One programme may be coming to an end.
"The constant week-after-week can drag you down, especially when you are getting older," Forsyth told The Sun.
When asked which projects he had lined up for next year, Strictly - which Forsyth has hosted since it started in 2004 - was absent from the list.
He said: "I've got three one-man show dates fixed for next year and I'm doing another thing for TV in April that I can't talk about yet.
"So if I was to leave Strictly Come Dancing, I wouldn't retire. That's the furthest...
The 85-year-old, who was forced to pull out of the show last month after being taken ill with the flu, hinted that his time on the BBC One programme may be coming to an end.
"The constant week-after-week can drag you down, especially when you are getting older," Forsyth told The Sun.
When asked which projects he had lined up for next year, Strictly - which Forsyth has hosted since it started in 2004 - was absent from the list.
He said: "I've got three one-man show dates fixed for next year and I'm doing another thing for TV in April that I can't talk about yet.
"So if I was to leave Strictly Come Dancing, I wouldn't retire. That's the furthest...
- 11/23/2013
- Digital Spy
Sir Bruce Forsyth says he is on ''borrowed time''. The TV veteran has admitted his career may be coming to an end - and after coping with his friends dying, he's ''conditioning'' himself so he isn't shocked by his own death. He told The Sun newspaper: ''There's no getting away from it. When I look at all my friends that have gone - Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, Sammy Davis Jr. - I know I'm on borrowed time. ''How I'm still here I just don't know. I don't know how, why or wherefore. But I'm not really questioning it that much. The day will...
- 11/21/2013
- Virgin Media - TV
Prolific comedy actor who worked with Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan and Hattie Jacques
The stony-faced, beaky comedy actor Graham Stark, who has died aged 91, is best remembered for his appearances alongside Peter Sellers, notably in the Pink Panther movies. His familiar face and voice, on television and radio, were part of the essential furniture in the sitting room of our popular culture for more than half a century. A stalwart in the national postwar comedy boom led by Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery, Eric Sykes and Benny Hill, he worked with them all in a sort of unofficial supporting repertory company that also included Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler, Patricia Hayes and Arthur Mullard. He was also a man of surprising and various parts: child actor, trained dancer, film-maker, occasional writer, and dedicated and critically acclaimed photographer.
Like Gypsy Rose Lee, he had a resourceful and determined...
The stony-faced, beaky comedy actor Graham Stark, who has died aged 91, is best remembered for his appearances alongside Peter Sellers, notably in the Pink Panther movies. His familiar face and voice, on television and radio, were part of the essential furniture in the sitting room of our popular culture for more than half a century. A stalwart in the national postwar comedy boom led by Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery, Eric Sykes and Benny Hill, he worked with them all in a sort of unofficial supporting repertory company that also included Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler, Patricia Hayes and Arthur Mullard. He was also a man of surprising and various parts: child actor, trained dancer, film-maker, occasional writer, and dedicated and critically acclaimed photographer.
Like Gypsy Rose Lee, he had a resourceful and determined...
- 11/1/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor best known as the haughty department store supervisor Captain Peacock in the TV comedy Are You Being Served?
The actor Frank Thornton, who has died aged 92, had a flair for comedy derived from the subtle craftsmanship of classical stage work. However, he will be best remembered for his longstanding characters in two popular BBC television comedy series – the sniffily priggish Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and the pompous retired policeman Herbert "Truly" Truelove, in Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine.
Robertson Hare, the great Whitehall farceur, told him: "You'll never do any good until you're 40." And, said Thornton, "he was quite right." In the event, he was 51 when David Croft, producer of another long-running British staple, Dad's Army, remembered the tall, long-faced actor from another engagement and decided to cast him as the dapper floor-walker in charge of shop assistants played by Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard,...
The actor Frank Thornton, who has died aged 92, had a flair for comedy derived from the subtle craftsmanship of classical stage work. However, he will be best remembered for his longstanding characters in two popular BBC television comedy series – the sniffily priggish Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and the pompous retired policeman Herbert "Truly" Truelove, in Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine.
Robertson Hare, the great Whitehall farceur, told him: "You'll never do any good until you're 40." And, said Thornton, "he was quite right." In the event, he was 51 when David Croft, producer of another long-running British staple, Dad's Army, remembered the tall, long-faced actor from another engagement and decided to cast him as the dapper floor-walker in charge of shop assistants played by Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard,...
- 3/19/2013
- by Carole Woddis
- The Guardian - Film News
Singer, dancer and theatrical agent who represented Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Bernard Hunter, who has died aged 92, was a precocious young performer, a popular singer and dancer, and, later, a theatre agent who represented many stars in Britain and the Us, including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Olivia de Havilland. He continued to represent clients into his late 80s. Hunter's approachable good looks and air of a casual boulevardier seemed to attract consistent good luck.
Born in London, Hunter described his childhood in Islington as full of "maniacal happiness". Asked what his father did, he was apt to quip affectionately: "As little as possible." His father was in fact devoted to horses and the racetrack. Through gambling, he lost the money that was supposed to be for his son's education. However, at 16, Hunter won a singing competition at a local cinema. The prize was an appearance in a week's variety at the Winter Gardens,...
Bernard Hunter, who has died aged 92, was a precocious young performer, a popular singer and dancer, and, later, a theatre agent who represented many stars in Britain and the Us, including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Olivia de Havilland. He continued to represent clients into his late 80s. Hunter's approachable good looks and air of a casual boulevardier seemed to attract consistent good luck.
Born in London, Hunter described his childhood in Islington as full of "maniacal happiness". Asked what his father did, he was apt to quip affectionately: "As little as possible." His father was in fact devoted to horses and the racetrack. Through gambling, he lost the money that was supposed to be for his son's education. However, at 16, Hunter won a singing competition at a local cinema. The prize was an appearance in a week's variety at the Winter Gardens,...
- 10/7/2012
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
There’s a moment in ‘Nob and Nobility’ from Blackadder the Third in which Blackadder walks into the pantry and angrily kicks the cat. When questioned why, Blackadder remarks that “It is the way of the world, Baldrick – the abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed and so I kick the cat, the cat pounces on the mouse, and finally the mouse bites you on the behind… you are last in God’s great chain, Baldrick, unless there’s an earwig around here you’d like to victimise.”
It’s a good joke from a very good comedy series of which I am a big fan – what sensible person isn’t? But it also reflects a worrying trend which has been creeping slowly into comedy since the 1980s and is now a source of great annoyance and vexation. Put simply: why are so many modern comedies so mean-spirited? Why do...
It’s a good joke from a very good comedy series of which I am a big fan – what sensible person isn’t? But it also reflects a worrying trend which has been creeping slowly into comedy since the 1980s and is now a source of great annoyance and vexation. Put simply: why are so many modern comedies so mean-spirited? Why do...
- 7/24/2012
- by Daniel Mumby
- Obsessed with Film
London — Eric Sykes, the widely-acclaimed British comedy actor and writer, died Wednesday. He was 89.
Sykes was one of the most popular comic actors of his generation, appearing in shows in London's West End into his 80s. He began his career writing scripts for BBC shows, co-writing 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan.
He appeared in the "Sykes and a" sitcom about a brother and sister living together in west London, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He went on to write and act in theater shows and movies, including an appearance in "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and in the Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
Sykes also wrote scripts for Peter Sellers and other major British actors.
Manager Norma Farnes said that Sykes died following a brief illness and was with his family when he passed away,...
Sykes was one of the most popular comic actors of his generation, appearing in shows in London's West End into his 80s. He began his career writing scripts for BBC shows, co-writing 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan.
He appeared in the "Sykes and a" sitcom about a brother and sister living together in west London, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He went on to write and act in theater shows and movies, including an appearance in "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and in the Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
Sykes also wrote scripts for Peter Sellers and other major British actors.
Manager Norma Farnes said that Sykes died following a brief illness and was with his family when he passed away,...
- 7/5/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
His name may not be well-known to international audiences, but UK film and TV fans are mourning the loss of Eric Sykes, who passed away at age 89. Sykes was an original writer, with Spike Milligan, on the classic Goon Show before establishing himself as one of England's most popular and enduring comedic character actors. He also appeared in such diverse feature films as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Theatre of Blood and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Despite having to cope with serious health issues and physical handicaps in recent years, Sykes continued to perform regularly. He had been awarded both an OBE and Cbe over the years. For more click here ...
- 7/5/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Comedy writer and actor who starred in 70s sitcom Sykes and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has died after a short illness
From writing a film where the only word uttered is "rhubarb" to creating one of TV's most popular sitcom partnerships, Eric Sykes – who died on Wednesday aged 89 – will be remembered as one of Britain's finest comedy actors and writers.
Tributes came in thick and fast for a man who was seldom off radios, stages or screens in a career spanning 60 years that will spark different memories for different generations.
Some will know him best for writing and directing the silly slapstick film The Plank while others will remember his sitcom partnership with Hattie Jacques, who played his perpetually exasperated sister.
More recently, in the face of near total deafness and blindness, Sykes appeared in the fourth Harry Potter film and, in 2007, the British comedy Son of Rambow.
From writing a film where the only word uttered is "rhubarb" to creating one of TV's most popular sitcom partnerships, Eric Sykes – who died on Wednesday aged 89 – will be remembered as one of Britain's finest comedy actors and writers.
Tributes came in thick and fast for a man who was seldom off radios, stages or screens in a career spanning 60 years that will spark different memories for different generations.
Some will know him best for writing and directing the silly slapstick film The Plank while others will remember his sitcom partnership with Hattie Jacques, who played his perpetually exasperated sister.
More recently, in the face of near total deafness and blindness, Sykes appeared in the fourth Harry Potter film and, in 2007, the British comedy Son of Rambow.
- 7/4/2012
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Fans of British radio, television and film will doubtless remember Eric Sykes as a tireless performer who entertained generations of U.K. audiences. Not only did he appear and star in several TV projects and movies, but he also wrote scripts for major British actors including Peter Sellers.
Sykes began his career writing for BBC radio shows and co-wrote 24 episodes of radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan, reports Fox News. He then went on to appear in several TV sitcoms, including "Syes and a" about a brother and sister living in West London. More recently, he made small appearances in movies like "The Others" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
"To me, he was a great inspiration, both as a writer and performer," says Monty Python's Michael Palin.
"Oh no! Eric Sykes gone?" tweets comedian Stephen Fry. "An adorable, brilliant, modest, hilarious, innovative and irreplaceable comic master.
Sykes began his career writing for BBC radio shows and co-wrote 24 episodes of radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan, reports Fox News. He then went on to appear in several TV sitcoms, including "Syes and a" about a brother and sister living in West London. More recently, he made small appearances in movies like "The Others" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
"To me, he was a great inspiration, both as a writer and performer," says Monty Python's Michael Palin.
"Oh no! Eric Sykes gone?" tweets comedian Stephen Fry. "An adorable, brilliant, modest, hilarious, innovative and irreplaceable comic master.
- 7/4/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
The entertainment world has lost one of its most respected comedy writers and performers as Eric Sykes has died at the age of 89.Sykes grew up in Oldham, Lancashire and began his entertainment career while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following the conflict, he moved to London in 1946 and began looking for work. A lucky break – very lucky, since he’d ended up cold and penniless – saw him meet an old Air Force friend, Bill Fraser, who invited him to come and write material at the Playhouse Theatre. Sykes wound up writing for Fraser and other performers including Frankie Howerd, and quickly made a name for himself as a quality comic scribe.Sykes started performing himself on the radio in 1950, working with, among other notable names, Tony Hancock. During that time, he shared an office with Spike Milligan. In 1954, he began working with Milligan on Goon Show scripts,...
- 7/4/2012
- EmpireOnline
TV and radio comedy legend Eric Sykes has died at the age of 89. Stars have been quick to celebrate the writer and actor who worked with comic icons such as Tommy Cooper and Tony Hancock during his seven decade-long career, praising his comic talents, genius writing skills and humble and generous nature. But for those too young to remember the likes of Sykes and The Plank, here are some classic clips of Eric in action: Sykes, Hattie Jacques on the Billy Cotton Band Show
Eric and his most famous collaborator Hattie Jacques are in fine comic form in this early recording of the Band Show. Billy Cotton joins them for a comic reworking of 'I Caught Mummy Kissing Santa Claus'. Sykes and Jacques
Sykes and Hattie Jacques in one of their earliest TV outings, an early episode of Sykes And A.... Two superb comic actors at (more)...
Eric and his most famous collaborator Hattie Jacques are in fine comic form in this early recording of the Band Show. Billy Cotton joins them for a comic reworking of 'I Caught Mummy Kissing Santa Claus'. Sykes and Jacques
Sykes and Hattie Jacques in one of their earliest TV outings, an early episode of Sykes And A.... Two superb comic actors at (more)...
- 7/4/2012
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Eric Sykes, a well-loved British comedian, actor and writer whose career spanned more than 50 years, has died. His manager Norma Farnes tells Reuters Sykes passed away peacefully this morning after a short illness. He was 89. Sykes began his career as a comedy writer in the 1940s in London on the radio show Variety Bandbox and went on to co-write 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy The Goon Show on BBC. His breakthrough in television came in 1960 in Sykes and a…. in which he co-starred with Hatti Jacques in a brother-sister act. He had several supporting roles in feature films including Heavens Above (1963), Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Spy With A Cold Nose (1966). He is possibly best remembered for the virtually dialogue-free film called The Plank in which he and Tommy Cooper appeared as two workmen delivering planks to a building site. Most recently Sykes appeared in The Others (2001) starring Nicole Kidman,...
- 7/4/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
London, July 4: British comic legend Eric Sykes died Wednesday after short illness. He was 89 years old.
Some of his best remembered films are "Harry Potter: The Goblet Of Fire", "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines," and "The Plank", reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Skyes had written skits for big names like Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. In 1950, he worked in a radio comedy show - "The Goon Show".
In.
Some of his best remembered films are "Harry Potter: The Goblet Of Fire", "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines," and "The Plank", reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Skyes had written skits for big names like Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. In 1950, he worked in a radio comedy show - "The Goon Show".
In.
- 7/4/2012
- by Shiva Prakash
- RealBollywood.com
TV and radio writer and acting legend Eric Sykes has died aged 89, leaving a huge hole in the comedy world. Sykes, who worked with greats such as Tommy Cooper, Hattie Jacques, Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan, entertained seven generations of audiences with his gentle but zany comedic style. Performers and fans of all ages have left tributes for Sykes with the media and on Twitter today (July 4). Keep reading for a small selection of the plaudits: Stephen Fry on Twitter: "Oh no! Eric Sykes gone? An adorable, brilliant, modest, hilarious, innovative and irreplaceable comic master. Farewell, dear, dear man." Jon Plowman, former Head of BBC Comedy: "We won't see his like again. He was a wonderful improviser. His genius was both as a scriptwriter but also someone who could do stuff off the cuff. He was classless and funny and warm." TV (more)...
- 7/4/2012
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
It is for comedy that Eric Sykes will be remembered, and here – in clips from his own hit shows and alongside Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers – is why
I interviewed Eric Sykes, who has died aged 89, in 2001 and the first thing the subeditor who received my copy said was: "I didn't know he was still alive." The legendary comedian had just filmed a straight role alongside Nicole Kidman in The Others, which demonstrated that his range was wider than people perhaps thought. But it is for comedy that Sykes will be remembered, and here is why.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
Sykes started out after the second world war writing for Frankie Howerd and the Goons but by 1960 he had his own sitcom vehicle, Sykes and A …. His unmarried twin sister was played by Hattie Jacques, but perhaps the most memorable episode was more of a solo turn,...
I interviewed Eric Sykes, who has died aged 89, in 2001 and the first thing the subeditor who received my copy said was: "I didn't know he was still alive." The legendary comedian had just filmed a straight role alongside Nicole Kidman in The Others, which demonstrated that his range was wider than people perhaps thought. But it is for comedy that Sykes will be remembered, and here is why.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
Sykes started out after the second world war writing for Frankie Howerd and the Goons but by 1960 he had his own sitcom vehicle, Sykes and A …. His unmarried twin sister was played by Hattie Jacques, but perhaps the most memorable episode was more of a solo turn,...
- 7/4/2012
- by Bruce Dessau
- The Guardian - Film News
Eric Sykes, the legendary TV and radio comedian, has passed away aged 89. The writer and star of classic '70s BBC sitcom Sykes, a writer for The Goon Show and a collaborator with stars such as Hattie Jacques, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock, Sykes entertained and amused audiences for seven decades. [Photo Gallery - The Life & Career of Eric Sykes] Sykes was partially deaf from his 30s and in later age was registered blind, but he continued to perform despite his disabilities. He married Edith Eleanore Milbrandt (more)...
- 7/4/2012
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
The legendary British TV actor and comedian Eric Sykes has passed away following a short battle with illness, aged 89. Sykes's entertainment career as a writer for TV and radio, actor and director spanned seven decades and included work with comedy greats such as Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Hattie Jacques. The TV star's manager Norma Farnes said this morning (July 4): "Eric Sykes, star of TV, stage and films, died peacefully this morning after a short illness. His family were with him." Sykes is best remembered for his work in the 1960s and '70s, when he regularly teamed up with Hattie Jacques in the sitcoms and sketch (more)...
- 7/4/2012
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Eric in The OthersActor Eric Sykes has died, aged 89, according to his manager Norma Farnes.
Speaking this morning, she said: "Eric Sykes, 89, star of TV, stage and films died peacefully this morning after a short illness.
"His family were with him."
The Lancashire actor, who began his career in the Fifties, writing and performing on radio, went on to carve a niche in television and film, including the popular TV series Sykes And A... with Hattie Jacques and Sykes.
Known for both his aptitude for visual slapstick gags - typified by The Plank - and more subtle character acting, he also played a number of memorable supporting roles on the big screen, in films as wide ranging as The Others, Son Of Rambow and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. He also provided the "Teletubbies" sign off at the end of each episode of the children's favourite.
He once said:.
Speaking this morning, she said: "Eric Sykes, 89, star of TV, stage and films died peacefully this morning after a short illness.
"His family were with him."
The Lancashire actor, who began his career in the Fifties, writing and performing on radio, went on to carve a niche in television and film, including the popular TV series Sykes And A... with Hattie Jacques and Sykes.
Known for both his aptitude for visual slapstick gags - typified by The Plank - and more subtle character acting, he also played a number of memorable supporting roles on the big screen, in films as wide ranging as The Others, Son Of Rambow and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. He also provided the "Teletubbies" sign off at the end of each episode of the children's favourite.
He once said:.
- 7/3/2012
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
British comedy legend Eric Sykes has died today (04.07.12). The actor-and-writer has passed away surrounded by his family at the age of 89 after a short illness. His manager Norma Farnes said: ''Eric Sykes, 89, star of TV, stage and films died peacefully this morning after a short illness. His family were with him.'' Eric was one of Britain's most beloved and longest working comics. His impressive body of work includes his hugely popular TV series 'Sykes And A...' with Hattie Jacques which ran from 1960 to 1965, and then from 1972 to 1979. During his career he also wrote scripts for a number...
- 7/2/2012
- Virgin Media - TV
Threatened by funding cuts, Bristol's Slapstick Festival is 'the most important celebration of this kind of comedy in the world'
Comedians including satirist Marcus Brigstocke and impressionist Rory Bremner are staging a benefit concert to save a festival dedicated to a brand of humour that is a century old – silent movie slapstick.
The one-night show aims to shore up the finances of Bristol's Slapstick Festival, after a cut in funding threatened to end the annual four-day extravaganza of silent comedy films. Also on the Stand Up For Slapstick bill on 24 June are Arthur Smith, Lucy Porter and veteran writer and performer Barry Cryer.
"The Slapstick Festival has grown during eight years to become perhaps the most important celebration of this kind of comedy anywhere in the world," said former Goodie and organiser Graeme Garden, a patron and director since 2007. "Silent comedy marks the start of modern humour. But, more importantly,...
Comedians including satirist Marcus Brigstocke and impressionist Rory Bremner are staging a benefit concert to save a festival dedicated to a brand of humour that is a century old – silent movie slapstick.
The one-night show aims to shore up the finances of Bristol's Slapstick Festival, after a cut in funding threatened to end the annual four-day extravaganza of silent comedy films. Also on the Stand Up For Slapstick bill on 24 June are Arthur Smith, Lucy Porter and veteran writer and performer Barry Cryer.
"The Slapstick Festival has grown during eight years to become perhaps the most important celebration of this kind of comedy anywhere in the world," said former Goodie and organiser Graeme Garden, a patron and director since 2007. "Silent comedy marks the start of modern humour. But, more importantly,...
- 6/17/2012
- by Christopher Stevens
- The Guardian - Film News
From aerial bravery in Wwi to Tom Cruise in an F-14 Tomcat, Mark lists his top ten all-time favourite flying movies…
This is a personal list, and as such, won't please everyone. I accept that, but I wanted to look at the films that have best represented flying for me over the years.
I've also excluded helicopters in exchange for a festival of fixed wings. But as a person who loves aircraft and flying of all kinds, these are the ones that made me feel the need. The need for speed...
The Dam Busters (1955)
Gosh, what a place to start. For the most part, the film's an historically accurate retelling of the ultimate daring-do of WWII. Richard Todd plays the unflappable Guy Gibson, who lead the amazing 617 Squadron on their secret mission against the dams of the Ruhr valley.
Using the Barnes Wallis (played by Michael Redgrave) utterly inspired bouncing bomb,...
This is a personal list, and as such, won't please everyone. I accept that, but I wanted to look at the films that have best represented flying for me over the years.
I've also excluded helicopters in exchange for a festival of fixed wings. But as a person who loves aircraft and flying of all kinds, these are the ones that made me feel the need. The need for speed...
The Dam Busters (1955)
Gosh, what a place to start. For the most part, the film's an historically accurate retelling of the ultimate daring-do of WWII. Richard Todd plays the unflappable Guy Gibson, who lead the amazing 617 Squadron on their secret mission against the dams of the Ruhr valley.
Using the Barnes Wallis (played by Michael Redgrave) utterly inspired bouncing bomb,...
- 6/21/2011
- Den of Geek
Theatre Of Blood will play at the Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Festival in a 35mm print at 2:30pm on Saturday, May 21st at the Hi-Pointe Theatre. Ticket information can be found Here
In the early 1907′s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a film with a similar plot structure. In fact, many fright film fans consider Theatre Of Blood an unofficial finale in a Phibes trilogy. Produced by United Artists rather then American International Blood differed from the Phibes film in that it was set in modern times and boasted one of the most prestigious casts that Price ever worked with. Price portrays Edward Lionheart , a stage actor thought to be dead , who returns to murder the critics that denied him a thespian award. Many of...
In the early 1907′s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a film with a similar plot structure. In fact, many fright film fans consider Theatre Of Blood an unofficial finale in a Phibes trilogy. Produced by United Artists rather then American International Blood differed from the Phibes film in that it was set in modern times and boasted one of the most prestigious casts that Price ever worked with. Price portrays Edward Lionheart , a stage actor thought to be dead , who returns to murder the critics that denied him a thespian award. Many of...
- 5/21/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love is now reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown. Price was not only a notable St. Louisan but one of the 20th century.s most remarkable men. To do full justice to the range of his accomplishments, Vincentennial features not only a 10-day film festival but also a pair of exhibits, a stage production, two publications, and illuminating discussions by Price experts and film historians. We decided to do a special edition of Top Ten Tuesday here at We Are Movie Geeks in honor of the many great films that Vincent Price starred in, and after we had assembled the list we realized that all ten of these films will be showing at the...
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love is now reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown. Price was not only a notable St. Louisan but one of the 20th century.s most remarkable men. To do full justice to the range of his accomplishments, Vincentennial features not only a 10-day film festival but also a pair of exhibits, a stage production, two publications, and illuminating discussions by Price experts and film historians. We decided to do a special edition of Top Ten Tuesday here at We Are Movie Geeks in honor of the many great films that Vincent Price starred in, and after we had assembled the list we realized that all ten of these films will be showing at the...
- 5/10/2011
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This Friday (January 28th) sees the release of the new supernatural drama Hereafter. Oscar winner Matt Damon teams up with Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood and two time Oscar nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan to make this supernatural drama that:
…tells the story of three people who are haunted by mortality in different ways. Matt Damon stars as George, a blue-collar American who has a special connection to the afterlife. On the other side of the world, Marie (Cécile de France), a French journalist, has a near-death experience that shakes her reality. And when Marcus (Frankie/George McLaren), a London schoolboy, loses the person closest to him, he desperately needs answers. Each on a path in search of the truth, their lives will intersect, forever changed by what they believe might-or must-exist in the hereafter.
To celebrate the release of Hereafter we are taking a look at the 5 of the best supernatural flicks in cinema.
…tells the story of three people who are haunted by mortality in different ways. Matt Damon stars as George, a blue-collar American who has a special connection to the afterlife. On the other side of the world, Marie (Cécile de France), a French journalist, has a near-death experience that shakes her reality. And when Marcus (Frankie/George McLaren), a London schoolboy, loses the person closest to him, he desperately needs answers. Each on a path in search of the truth, their lives will intersect, forever changed by what they believe might-or must-exist in the hereafter.
To celebrate the release of Hereafter we are taking a look at the 5 of the best supernatural flicks in cinema.
- 1/26/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Nostalgic retellings of the lives of Tony Hancock, Kenneth Williams, and Eric & Ernie have been ratings winners, but fictionalised accounts can land the Beeb in hot water
Ooh, I say. How's the harness?" We're four minutes and 58 seconds into BBC4's Hattie and the biopic cliche klaxon is primed to emit its first parp of distress. Plonked amid the bustle of a busy panto rehearsal, Eric Sykes (played, somewhat disconcertingly, by Graham Fellows) winces in sympathy as co-star Hattie Jacques (Ruth "Nessa" Jones), squeezes her fairy princess-costumed frame into some manner of hoist. Mugging gamely ("Lucky I'm not planning on having any more children …") Jacques is hoisted swiftly over the empty stage, her matronly limbs swishing in time to the soundtrack's plinky-twinkly piano. Then, inevitably – vzzzzznnng! – the mechanism fizzles to a halt. As offscreen lackeys scramble with levers and pulleys, Jacques is left to dangle pinkly in mid-air, a vision...
Ooh, I say. How's the harness?" We're four minutes and 58 seconds into BBC4's Hattie and the biopic cliche klaxon is primed to emit its first parp of distress. Plonked amid the bustle of a busy panto rehearsal, Eric Sykes (played, somewhat disconcertingly, by Graham Fellows) winces in sympathy as co-star Hattie Jacques (Ruth "Nessa" Jones), squeezes her fairy princess-costumed frame into some manner of hoist. Mugging gamely ("Lucky I'm not planning on having any more children …") Jacques is hoisted swiftly over the empty stage, her matronly limbs swishing in time to the soundtrack's plinky-twinkly piano. Then, inevitably – vzzzzznnng! – the mechanism fizzles to a halt. As offscreen lackeys scramble with levers and pulleys, Jacques is left to dangle pinkly in mid-air, a vision...
- 1/15/2011
- by Sarah Dempster
- The Guardian - Film News
Veteran comic Eric Sykes has spoken out about Ruth Jones's new BBC Four drama Hattie. The 87-year-old TV and radio star said that it was "very sad" that the broadcaster had decided to focus on his late friend Hattie Jacques's affair with John Schofield in the programme. "It's very sad that parts of her life are being raked over, but I never saw her like that," he told The Mature Times. "Hattie was just wonderful - she'd read out the script in rehearsal and know (more)...
- 1/12/2011
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
The versatile British director Peter Yates has died in London, at the age of 81. He began his career as a dubbing assistant, after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, working his way up to assistant director on films such as Tony Richardson's A Taste of Honey and J Lee Thompson's Guns of Navarone. The early 60s saw him gravitate to television, directing some episodes of The Saint and Danger Man, but his feature directorial debut was Summer Holiday, the colourfully jolly pop musical that packed Cliff Richard off to the seaside on a red London bus. The Eric Sykes vehicle One Way Pendulum, and Robbery (about the Great Train Robbery of 1963) followed, before Hollywood, Steve McQueen and Bullitt secured his place in cinema history.That iconic car chase on the streets of San Francisco came out of Yates' early experiences driving racing cars and managing Sterling Moss. The...
- 1/10/2011
- EmpireOnline
Death by catflap and other heinous ways to go … here are your suggestions for the genre's most creative demise
@alexito Bill Pullman being buried alive in a coffin full of blood in The Serpent and the Rainbow. With a tarantula on his face. It's the little details that count.
@Sokket The bed eating a victim in the original Nightmare on Elm Street
@mcragg Scream. Death by catflap.
@theythinkitsallover Meaning of Life – exploding fat man.
@gembird My favourite is the one in The Happening where a man starts his lawnmower and then lies down in front of it so it chews him up.
@Sipech I think drowning in sand in The Omen. It made me aware of a phobia I never realised I had. Surely, the worst possible way to die.
@ATG66 I'll never forget the scene in Dr Phibes Rises Again where the man is trapped by a huge scorpion...
@alexito Bill Pullman being buried alive in a coffin full of blood in The Serpent and the Rainbow. With a tarantula on his face. It's the little details that count.
@Sokket The bed eating a victim in the original Nightmare on Elm Street
@mcragg Scream. Death by catflap.
@theythinkitsallover Meaning of Life – exploding fat man.
@gembird My favourite is the one in The Happening where a man starts his lawnmower and then lies down in front of it so it chews him up.
@Sipech I think drowning in sand in The Omen. It made me aware of a phobia I never realised I had. Surely, the worst possible way to die.
@ATG66 I'll never forget the scene in Dr Phibes Rises Again where the man is trapped by a huge scorpion...
- 10/22/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
When we asked you which film Xan Brooks should liveblog on Thursday there was never really a contest. So what happened when Monte Carlo or Bust! aired on Channel 4 at 12:05pm?
11.58am: Welcome, welcome to Thursday's live-blog of a film off the telly. On Monday we had Michael Hann's Michelin-starred Layer Cake. Tuesday brought us Andrew Pulver's eloquent salon with The Quiet Man. Wednesday exploded and melted down as Catherine Shoard blogged K19: The Widowmaker.
Our film today, as chosen by you, is Monte Carlo or Bust! This, it transpires, was shot in 1969 by director Ken Annakin and was the sequel to his 1965 outing Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. This features cars in place of planes and was released in the Us as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies. It stars Tony Curtis, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Susan Hampshire.
Now I've...
11.58am: Welcome, welcome to Thursday's live-blog of a film off the telly. On Monday we had Michael Hann's Michelin-starred Layer Cake. Tuesday brought us Andrew Pulver's eloquent salon with The Quiet Man. Wednesday exploded and melted down as Catherine Shoard blogged K19: The Widowmaker.
Our film today, as chosen by you, is Monte Carlo or Bust! This, it transpires, was shot in 1969 by director Ken Annakin and was the sequel to his 1965 outing Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. This features cars in place of planes and was released in the Us as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies. It stars Tony Curtis, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Susan Hampshire.
Now I've...
- 10/7/2010
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor best known for his role in The Sweeney
For decades a versatile figure in regional theatre, both behind and in front of the footlights, the actor Garfield Morgan, who has died aged 78, achieved national recognition as Frank Haskins in the mould-breaking action series The Sweeney (Thames, 1975-78), having spent years playing police officers on screen. He brought narrow eyes and a habitually rueful expression to the role of Haskins, who was continually beset by ulcers and colds and whose somewhat puritanical nature distanced him from his charges, played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Morgan was initially apprenticed to a dental mechanic. His professional debut was in July 1953, in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, as part of the Arena Theatre Company, for the city's sixth summer theatre festival. Also in the company was the future director Clifford Williams.
The following month, Morgan was a founder member of the Marlowe Players,...
For decades a versatile figure in regional theatre, both behind and in front of the footlights, the actor Garfield Morgan, who has died aged 78, achieved national recognition as Frank Haskins in the mould-breaking action series The Sweeney (Thames, 1975-78), having spent years playing police officers on screen. He brought narrow eyes and a habitually rueful expression to the role of Haskins, who was continually beset by ulcers and colds and whose somewhat puritanical nature distanced him from his charges, played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Morgan was initially apprenticed to a dental mechanic. His professional debut was in July 1953, in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, as part of the Arena Theatre Company, for the city's sixth summer theatre festival. Also in the company was the future director Clifford Williams.
The following month, Morgan was a founder member of the Marlowe Players,...
- 2/16/2010
- by Gavin Gaughan
- The Guardian - Film News
It is fast approaching that unique portion of the year when all true matters arcane and diabolical are given the festive treatment, as Halloween prompts folks to deploy their broomsticks for something other than sweeping up after the household pet. Although we have recently seen cinematic quotas of the supernatural gobbled up by vampire and zombie flicks, it would be remiss to overlook the genuine chills instilled by the most successful exponents of the ghost movie genre. So here are ten of the scariest ghost movies to put the frighteners on us poor, trembling cinema-goers.
10. Dark Water (2002)
Leaky plumbing becomes an unlikely source of spine-tingling terror in this J-Horror offering from director Hideo Nakata, the man who had previously attached creepy connotations onto video cassettes and cold-calling in the first two Ringu films. Sharing some narrative ground with his earlier horror hits, Dark Water finds Nakata once again casting a...
10. Dark Water (2002)
Leaky plumbing becomes an unlikely source of spine-tingling terror in this J-Horror offering from director Hideo Nakata, the man who had previously attached creepy connotations onto video cassettes and cold-calling in the first two Ringu films. Sharing some narrative ground with his earlier horror hits, Dark Water finds Nakata once again casting a...
- 10/12/2009
- by Paul Martin
- Movie-moron.com
Image: http://snitchseeker.com/uploads/library/ES1.jpg Today - *May 4th* - Eric Sykes (http://www.snitchseeker.com/hp-movie-facts/sykes-eric-frank-bryce-42728/), the actor who portrayed Frank Bryce in the fourth Potter movie, Goblet of Fire, is celebrating his 86th birthday! His acting career has spanned for over half a century, his most recent appearances including Son of Rambow and The Bill. Eric was also awarded a Cbe in 2005, for Services to Drama. *:party3: Happy Birthday, Eric! :gift2: *...
- 5/3/2009
- by allucha
- Snitchseeker.com
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