News

Frank Griffin, who nosed out another makeup artist to work with Steve Martin on Roxanne, just one of the 20 movies they did together, has died. He was 95.

Griffin died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Studio City, his daughter Roxane Griffin, a veteran Hollywood hairstylist (Avatar, Transparent, 80 for Brady), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Frank Griffin started out in Hollywood as an actor and studio laborer before turning to makeup in the mid-1960s, and he went on to work on Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Scarecrow (1973), Westworld (1973), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Urban Cowboy (1980), Midnight Run (1988), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Vacation (1983), Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985).

Survivors also include his sister Debra Paget, who starred in such films as Broken Arrow (1950), Love Me Tender (1956) — Elvis Presley’s first movie — and The Ten Commandments (1956).

His other two sisters were actresses as well: Lisa Gaye,...

Sometimes you almost think they don’t want you to watch. I’m not sure a more generic title could be conjured up than Revenge! (1971), an ABC TV movie that sounds like it should sit next to nacho chips and beer on the discount supermarket shelf. But, of course, it’s the ingredients that count, and with a stellar cast and a taut script by Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano, Revenge! has enough flavor to entertain the more discerning palette.

Originally airing on November 6th, this ABC Movie of the Weekend was up against NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies and CBS’s Mary Tyler Moore Show / The New Dick Van Dyke Show, but won out again. Revenge! may be a generic title, but ABC’s brand is strong.

Open your faux TV Guide to page 32 for all the saucy details:

Revenge! (Saturday, 8:30pm, ABC)

A crazed woman believes...

A lot of great TV horror movies rely on a final image, a real shocker, to hammer home the fear. But not all of them. When Michael Calls (1972) is a telefilm that measures out its chills, leading to a logical conclusion (for a small screen sinner) instead of an iconic screen shot for nostalgic viewers. Regardless, this one provides a platform for a solid thriller with a pedigree behind and in front of the camera.

Originally broadcast on Saturday, February 5th, as the ABC Movie of the Weekend, When Michael Calls had the normal competition from CBS’ New Dick Van Dyke Show/Mary Tyler Moore Show and NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies. But ABC’s Movies of the Week (on Tuesday’s, and here) almost always won out with viewers, providing exciting, original fare. This one is no exception.

Let’s crack open our fair weathered faux TV...

Live in Los Angeles and want a little Mick Taylor in your life? Pop TV presents a two-episode screening of the Wolf Creek series at this year's Screamfest on Wednesday, October 19th. Also: Redwood details, trailer, and poster, a new trailer for The Similars, Blood in the Snow 2016 lineup revealed, and A Haunting at Silver Falls II production news.

Wolf Creek Screamfest Screening Details: Press Release: "Pop and Screamfest invite horror fans across Los Angeles out for a night of mayhem and murder with Wolf Creek’s infamous crazed killer Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) at Screamfest 2016 on Wednesday, October 19th. Get your free tickets here while supplies last. More details below!

What: A special two-episode screening of Pop’s television event and primetime limited series “WolfCreek.” A pre-screening reception will include specialty cocktails, fan photos, and trivia hosted by journalist (Blumhouse.com, ComingSoon.net) and author (Curious Goods: Behind the...

Edward Dmytryk's big-scale cattle empire saga sees paterfamilias Spencer Tracy drive away his sons and bull his way into a modern civil dispute that can't be resolved with force. Robert Wagner is the loyal son and Richard Widmark the resentful son impatient for Dad to cash in his chips. Fox's early CinemaScope and stereophonic sound western is a transposition of a film noir mystery thriller. Broken Lance Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 96 min. / Ship Date November 10, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado, Hugh O'Brian, Eduard Franz, Earl Holliman, E.G. Marshall, Carl Benton Reid, Philip Ober. Cinematography Joseph MacDonald Film Editor Dorothy Spencer Original Music Leigh Harline Written by Richard Murphy, Philip Yordan Produced by Sol C. Siegel Directed by Edward Dmytryk Reviewed by Glenn EricksonSome of the early 'big' westerns that aspire to epic status are...

Could it be that Pixar Animation Studios is cooking up what would be its first proper feature length musical project? Well, according to a former repertory singer/songwriter for the groundbreaking auteurs of digital animation, Randy Newman, that does seem to be the case. If true, then it is possible that, given what Pixar has lined up, that the musical in question may be a long-discussed project about Mexico.s undead happy holiday, Día de los Muertos. In a radio interview on Classic FM.s "Saturday Night at the Movies" (transcripted by Film Divider), Randy Newman discussed the status of his famous, lengthy tenure providing songs for Pixar. Apparently, it.s quite acrimonious at the moment, due to creative differences between Newman and longtime Pixar director Lee Unkrich. It seems that Pixar is taking Unkrich.s side in the apparent dispute, as Newman claims that his work on 2010.s ...

The wild success of Disney Animation's Frozen has all but guaranteed more upcoming musicals chucked into our animated-movie diet. Pixar already flirted with the format with its latest short, Lava, and now rumors (via Film Divider) suggest the animation giant might be working on its first full-length musical as we speak. The news comes from an unlikely source: singer-songwriter Randy Newman. While guesting on an episode of Saturday Night at the Movies on Classic FM, Newman spoke briefly about the somewhat tense relationship he has with Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, admitting that he himself has a reputation for "being a little trouble." Newman followed up by noting that he won't be working with Unkrich again, but that the director was currently working on a...

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Week three of the X Factor live shows will have a 'Saturday Night at the Movies' theme.

Announced during tonight's (October 19) Results Show, host Dermot O'Leary also confirmed that Ed Sheeran and OneRepublic will be performing live.

Both acts' performances will take place during next week's Result Show (October 26).

Stephanie Nala and Chloe Jasmine were the third and fourth acts sent home from the competition during tonight's (October 19) live show.

Nala received the least amount of public votes so was automatically sent home, before Chloe Jasmine faced the sing-off with boyband Stereo Kicks.

The judges then decided that Chloe Jasmine should be eliminated.

Jessie J also provided a performance of her single 'Bang Bang', while Maroon 5 sang 'Animal'.

The X Factor continues next Saturday (October 25) at 8pm on ITV.

Music from Sherlock and Doctor Who is to be played on an upcoming Classic FM programme.

Composer Howard Goodall's weekly show Saturday Night at the Movies is to have a dedicated TV special later this month, featuring scores from some of TV's most popular series.

Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Broadchurch and Red Dwarf will also be among the shows featured.

Geoffrey Burgon's score from Tom Baker's Doctor Who episode 'Terror of the Zygons' in 1975 will be played on the programme, along with Murray Gold's 'Rose's Theme' from 2005's 'The End of the World'.

'Together or Not at All' from 'The Angels Take Manhattan' - which was played during the emotional departure of Amy Pond and Rory Williams - will also feature.

The programme will be split into four sections, with the first focusing on period drama, including Brideshead Revisited, The Hour, Foyle's War and more.

Hugh Jackman goes extra dark in Prisoners, but the real surprise, says People's critic, is the late James Gandolfini showing his lighter side in Enough Said. See This var brightcovevideoid = '2682946555001'; Prisoners There's nothing like the psychic shock and horror of child abduction. It terrifies communities and sends parents into entirely understandable panic. So it's with no small calculation that Prisoners snatches two children right out from under their watchful parents' noses - and on Thanksgiving, no less. Then it gets really mean. If you're no fan of on-screen brutality, then this is not your Saturday night at the movies.

Foxtel has commissioned a documentary on the history of cinemas in Australia, evoking an era when audiences were entertained in giant picture palaces decades before the advent of television.

Graham McNeice Productions is shooting the 90-minute programme which has the working title Saturday Night at the Movies.

The docu will focus on the glory years of cinema when going to the movies was a glamorous event.

The crew has been filming at numerous historical theatres around the country, presumably including Sydney.s State Theatre and Hayden Orpheum, Melbourne.s Regent Theatre and Adelaide.s Piccadilly Cinema.

The docu will feature interviews with executives at the major cinema chains and independent exhibitors, filmmakers, and TV and radio personalities, politicians and sportspeople who recount their experiences attending the cinema as youngsters.

McNeice has produced numerous documentaries for Foxtel.s Crime & Investigation channel and Thanks for Listening: The History of Australian Radio.

The...

The Wasteland:

Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;

and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.

Lee Loevinger

When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...

by Lauren Mandel

With summer being the biggest major motion picture season of the year, making a choice for your Saturday night at the movies can often feel a little overwhelming. From "Iron Man 3" to "Man of Steel" it's clear the season is already off to a fantastic start! But to help you keep your cool and plan your weekends well in advance, we've created a calendar of upcoming action packed comic book-inspired movies set to release throughout the next five years!

2013

» July 26th: "The Wolverine" (Marvel)

Whether surrounded by his fellow mutants or independently taking on ninjas, we just can’t get enough of Wolverine. In Hugh Jackman's second solo movie as the invincible Logan, his character is pushed to physical and emotional limits when he travels to Japan and finds himself confronted with a face from his past. Our viewing tip: Don’t forget to stick...

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Most films are a passive experience. They require little thought, little engagement, little effort on the part of the audience. They’re entertainment, pure and simple, often part of a night out, a socially acceptable way for you and your significant other to sit quietly in the dark, tolerating each other’s company. You lay your money on the counter, you buy your gallon of fizzy corn syrup, your bucket of popcorn and your stale nachos spaffed with bright industrial yellow cheese (that’s a lotta corn you’re consuming, by the way…), you slump in your seat and you let the film wash over you. A couple of hours later you stumble, blinking like a mole, back into the light, your wallet several pounds lighter, your gut several pounds heavier and your senses numbed by watching robots knock seven shades out of each other or...

Halifax, Nova Scotia — Government cost-cutting will eliminate up to 40 jobs at Tvo, the Ontario-based public broadcaster. North America’s largest educational broadcaster, which supplies content to online platforms like Yahoo! and YouTube, said it will cancel Saturday Night at the Movies, a double-header of Hollywood movies, at the end of the current season. Tvo will also cut the Allan Gregg in Conversation talker and the Big Ideas lecture series. Story: CBC/Radio Canada to Cut Another $28.5 Million The cuts to traditional TV production come as Tvo looks to reduce its reliance on taxpayer coin and

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What is Movie News After Dark? It happens thrice times per week. It’s awesome. You can read it. Right now. We begin this evening’s marketing-heavy edition of Movie News After Dark with the absurdity of the day. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first in a new trilogy from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, now has seventeen character posters that can be ogled. It’s a little much, even for what may turn out to be the biggest film of the year. Above you’ll see Dwalin, a badass dwarf. Just after the jump, Gandalf and his fall collection. Over at Badass Digest, Film Crit Hulk is back with another splendid essay in which he takes on Plot Holes and Movie Logic. As always, those sensitive to capitalization are warned. Those with brains are encouraged. The lovely and talented Joanna Robinson at Pajiba has 41 Spoilerific Reasons Why I Loved That Beautiful Disaster Cloud Atlas...

Mountain Home, Ark. (AP) — Bill Dees emerged from his days as an out-of-cash young songwriter to pen tunes recorded by Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and other country music greats, but the centerpiece of his career was his work with Roy Orbison, including co-writing the classic rock hit, "Oh, Pretty Woman."

Dees, who died in Arkansas last week at age 73, had said writing that song with Orbison in 1964 changed his life. In a 2008 interview with National Public Radio, Dees recalled that the night they penned the hit song, Orbison told him he wouldn't need to go to work that Monday if he didn't want to.

"He said, 'Buy yourself an electric piano, and I'll take you on the road with me.' And he said, 'I'll pay you what the band's getting,'" Dees said during the NPR interview, which is posted on his Dees' website.

He went on to tour...

And the best movie to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival this year is … "Sightseers?" British director Ben Wheatley's black comedy, which deals with a couple whose vacation around the U.K. also includes a few murders, isn't one of the highest-profile titles at the festival. But when the Saturday Night at the Movies blog invited Twitter followers and Tiff journalists to list their three favorite movies at the festival, "Sightseers" (below) showed up on four of the 24 lists, more than any other film. "'Sightseers' takes what should be a...

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news column that welcomes your feedback. Or your blind allegiance. Whichever you prefer, dear reader. We begin this evening with a new shot from season five of Fringe, a show I’ll dearly miss once it makes its exit after this upcoming season. The bastard son of a generation of J.J. Abramses raised on The X-Files, Fringe is still one of the most consistently interesting and energetic sci-fi shows on television. And it’s got John Noble, so that helps. 1. Sequeltology – That’s what Grantland is calling its quest to find the greatest movie sequel of all-time. In the announcement post, Chuck Klosterman talks about the rules, including the fact that “Teen Wolf Too is ineligible due to its attempt to popularize team collegiate boxing.” Fair enough. 2. Vera Farmiga is Mrs. Bates – The upcoming A&E series Bates Motel will examine the relationship between Norman...

It used to be easy to get away with hating a popular movie, but marketing and spoilers have made it harder than ever to escape

We've all been there. Saturday night at the movies. You're in your favorite seat. Miraculously, you didn't eat all your chocolate raisins during the trailers. The audience around you are having the time of their life: whoops and hollers fill the air.

But for some reason – the dialogue, the bad CGI, the way the hero keeps developing the exact superpowers he needs to get him out of the particular mess he happens to find himself in – you're not enjoying yourself.

Afterwards, you dissect the movie with your friends only to find, to your horror, that they liked it, too. In fact, they loved it. They thought it was the best thing to happen to them since Trinity ran up a wall and scissor-kicked that cop in The Matrix.

Last week's return of "Saturday Night At The Movies" looked at the pressure on every single SNL cast member to somehow become a movie star, something that is statistically unlikely.  Instead, when they make the jump to movies, most SNL cast members do it as supporting players, and in many ways, that's the career to chase, the goal you want to attain. When Randy Quaid joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1985, he already had a long and impressive resume as one of the most interesting young character actors in his age range.  It was somewhat surprising that he...

“How come you only show us clips from movies none of us ever heard of?”

She was 30, a single mom who’d admirably gone back to school for a business degree to better things for her and her family. She’d taken my film appreciation class as an elective, a break from the grind of her business classes, expecting it would be – her word – “fun.”

But, due to the aforementioned “movies none of us ever heard of,” she was not having the anticipated fun.

I explained, “Because most movies were made before you were born.”

Simple and obvious, it still didn’t satisfy her, and the unasked next question in her eyes I guessed to be, “But why do we have to see them?”

Most of my class – not all, but most – I knew felt similarly. They didn’t say it but I could tell: rolled eyes, glazed eyes, eyes...

Welcome to The Morning Read. That's so weird.  I was going to celebrate my birthday yesterday with a few posts about various things, and I took a break for a quiet lunch with my two boys, Allen and Toshi.  We all had juice boxes, and then I woke up and it was hours later and we were in Thailand and we all had Yo Gabba Gabba tattoos on our faces.  I got Brobie. Whatever the case, it's going to be a busy weekend.  "Saturday Night At The Movies" will return this week, now that "Saturday Night Live" is on hiatus again. ...

Heh. In one respect, I'd like to quell my inner horror-geek before it gets out of control. In another, I want to cheer with extreme zeal about how fantastically craptacular this film is going to be. If you refer to my recent Shark Night poster article here, you'll see that I'm big on the killer shark sub-genre. So if this is true to it's trailer, and it's basically Alexander Aja's Piranha but with sharks, then I'm certain it's going to be a metric fuck-tonne of fun. By the way, I'm in no way approaching this as 'good' cinema. But with a few bottles in the tank and a large bucket of popcorn; could be a great Saturday night at the movies.

Another role, another wig! The newest trailer for Nic Cage's medieval sorcery flick, Season Of The Witch has hit the net displaying all sorts of loveliness including epically huge battles and some rather pissed off looking wolves. I've always been partial to the odd Horror and this looks to be sporting a pretty solid cast (Ron Perlman and Christopher Lee). So hopefully we're looking at a good Saturday night at the movies, rather than a quick snooze session down the back of the local Omniplex! Check out the new trailer here, available in glorious HD, to see what you think!

Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Pearl White, Evelyn Brent, Edna Purviance, Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, Harold Lloyd,Adolphe Menjou, Percy Marmont and Our Gang – might there be more stars on the Niles screen in October then in the night skies above? Perhaps that depends on the fog.For October, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont has put together a star studded schedule of films. Here’s the line-up for the month.“Saturday Night at the Movies,” with Bruce Loeb at the piano Saturday October 2at 7:30 pm (Suggested...

The legacy of the SNL movie is a pretty shaky one, primarily because each of the films take on the dubious task of making a feature about a character or a concept that worked best in five-minute bursts. But why hasn't there ever been a movie to just riff on the general concept of SNL, presenting a series of sketches instead of one long narrative? It's been done before by anthology films like Kentucky Fried Chicken and The Ten, and believe it or not, at one point in the past some of SNL's greatest minds gave it a shot, and failed. Well, they failed in that they didn't get the film made at least-- as described by Hitfix's Drew McWeeny in his latest "Saturday Night at the Movies" column, the script they came up with was pretty solid. Not surprising, given that Al Franken, Robert Smigel, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey,...

Judd Apatow may be taking things a little easier this year, but for the past five years or so, he's been omnipresent in American film comedy as a writer, a producer, and a director, and his influence on what comedy is getting produced has been undeniable. What I found interesting about the way the Apatow team approached their films was how they didn't seem to be built as simple star vehicles, where you take a recognizable established comic persona and build a film specifically suited to them and their strengths.  As I continue our new "Saturday Night At The Movies" column (you can...