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Deliverance is seen as the benchmark for backwoods, fish out of water thrillers but it’s not alone. While it’s certainly true that the John Boorman 1972 thriller had more success with its 46 million dollar return on a 2-million-dollar budget and 3 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, it may have been bested 9 years later. Southern Comfort has just as good of a pedigree in front of and behind the camera and continues to gain a better and better reputation 44 years later. The horrors found within this movie permeate the entire run time and include one of the most intense and nerve wracking final 20 minutes ever put to the screen that will sit with you long after the credits. Don’t mess with the locals as we revisit Southern Comfort.

Let’s start with director/writer/producer Walter Hill. Hill is a legend in Hollywood on both the big and small screens.

Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) doesn’t bother asking for acceptance or respect from white people. He unequivocally demands it. Unlike Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night is under no delusions that racial prejudice can be corrected merely by white people coming into proximity with intelligent, successful people of color, particularly in a small town like Sparta, Mississippi. Tibbs dons a slick suit, employs a vivid vocabulary, and carries himself with an aura of confidence and import. But he knows he’s in the Deep South, and when he’s arrested in humiliating fashion by Officer Sam Wood (Warren Oates), and with no questions asked, Tibbs wisely stays mum and allows himself to be roughly escorted to the police station.

The film doesn’t satisfy expectations of a traditional narrative structured around an innocent Black man struggling to prove his innocence. When presented to the town’s police chief,...

Rod Steiger is primarily remembered for his tough guys in such films as "Al Capone," "The Big Knife" and his Oscar-winning performance in "In the Heat of the Night." But his performances include such diverse characters as a meek Holocaust survivor in "The Pawnbroker" and a fey embalmer in the satire "The Loved One."

In addition to his performance in "In the Heat of the Night," for which Steiger also won a Golden Globe as well, he was Oscar-nominated for "The Pawnbroker" and for his iconic performance as the brother of Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in the back seat of that car in Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront."

So let's raise a glass to the late great man and honor him by counting down his 12 greatest screen performances, ranked from worst to best.

Despite Eddie Murphy eventually being Oscar-nominated for his nuanced turn in 2006's Dreamgirls, the actor was primarily known before that for his comedic roles that defined his career and turned him into one of the biggest box office stars in the industry. It's unclear how many dramatic aspirations Murphy had during the early '90s, but he had an opportunity to take a role in a 1992 Spike Lee Joint that would go on to star Denzel Washington, but he was advised against taking the role from none other than the late and great Sidney Poitier.

During an interview in the Apple TV+ documentary Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, via Entertainment Weekly, Murphy revealed that Poitier advised him against starring in Lee's biographical drama, Malcolm X, which would go on to be led by Washington. The movie was originally spearheaded by Norman Jewison, who had...

Christine Elise has shared the screen with Chucky the killer doll several times over the decades, first appearing as the heroine Kyle in Child’s Play 2 back in 1990, then reprising the role for Cult of Chucky (the seventh film in the series) in 2017 and multiple episodes of the Chucky TV show, which ran for three seasons, from 2021 to 2024. JoBlo’s own Ryan Cultrera was able to catch up with Elise at the Ve Neill’s Vampire Weekend convention in California last month and talked with her about her experiences working with Chucky and interacting with the horror community – and you can find out what she had to say by checking out the interview video embedded above.

In addition to her work with Chucky, Elise may be best known for playing Emily Valentine in 12 episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210, a version of herself in the meta revival BH90210, and Harper Tracy in 15 episodes of ER.

Were Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington.nearly cast together?(Photo Credit –Facebook/Instagram)

Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington joining forces in a Spike Lee film. Sounds iconic, right? Eddie, who dominated the comedy scene in the ’80s and ’90s with blockbuster hits and unforgettable SNL sketches, had never taken on a role quite like the one Spike had in mind.

Meanwhile, Denzel was already building a reputation as one of the most commanding dramatic actors of his generation. The project had all the ingredients for something legendary, a bold director, two powerhouse leads, and a story that could’ve made waves.

While Murphy would earn his first Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls in 2007, this missed opportunity could’ve marked a different chapter in his career. It’s one of those fascinating Hollywood “what could have been” moments that still has fans wondering what kind of magic might’ve unfolded on screen.

Eddie Murphy is opening up about some advice Sidney Poitier once gave him that left him surprised.

In Apple TV+’s new documentary, Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, the Beverly Hills Cop actor shared that the Oscar winner told him not to star in 1992’s Malcom X. At the time, the film was initially being helmed by Norman Jewison, Poitier’s In the Heat of the Night director, who cast Denzel Washington in the lead role before Spike Lee took over as director.

“They were talking about doing Malcolm X,” Murphy recalled. “Norman Jewison was putting it together. They were gonna use The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. And they approached me about playing Alex Haley. Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley!’ And Sidney Poitier said,...

Eddie Murphy is detailing the unexpected career advice he received from Sidney Poitier. Murphy recently said during an interview for the Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood” (via Entertainment Weekly) that Poitier told him not to star in “Malcolm X” as author Alex Haley. The film, which at the time was to be directed by Norman Jewison (who directed Poitier in “In the Heat of the Night”), was directed instead by Spike Lee.

“They were talking about doing ‘Malcolm X,’” Murphy said. “Norman Jewison was putting it together. They were going to use ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by Alex Haley, and they approached me about playing Alex Haley. Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley!’ And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You are not Denzel [Washington], and...

Eddie Murphy revealed during an interview for the Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood” (via Entertainment Weekly) that Sidney Poitier advised him not to star in “Malcom X,” which was originally being put together by Poitier’s “In the Heat of the Night” director Norman Jewison before Spike Lee took over and cast Denzel Washington in the lead role.

“They were talking about doing ‘Malcolm X,'” Murphy said. “Norman Jewison was putting it together. They were gonna use ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by Alex Haley. And they approached me about playing Alex Haley. Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley!’ And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You are not Denzel [Washington], and you are not Morgan [Freeman]. You are a breath of fresh air, and don’t fuck with that!

Before Martin Sheen became the iconic President Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing, the show’s creators wanted to cast legendary actor Sidney Poitier. His potential casting would have been a groundbreaking moment for television, as it would have made him the first Black actor to portray a U.S. president on screen. However, despite the initial interest, the plans with Poitier didn’t happen.

Martin Sheen in a still from The West Wing | Credits: NBC

After considering other actors, the role of Bartlet ultimately went to Martin Sheen, whose performance became one of the most beloved aspects of the show.

How did Martin Sheen land the role of President Bartlet over Sidney Poitier?

When casting for the role of President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing, producers knew they needed someone who could bring both strength and relatability to the character. The role required an actor who could command...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the champ of all actors.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins ranked second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). Just above that film performance in the rankings are George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine...

Since making his acting debut in a 1989 episode of the NBC cop drama "In the Heat of the Night," Walton Goggins has been a most welcome presence on screens big and small. He first popped as police detective Shane Vendrell in the electrifying FX series "The Shield," and won our hearts as the scarily charming criminal Boyd Crowder over six brilliant seasons of FX's "Justified." We also love him as Baby Billy Freeman on "The Righteous Gemstones," and were blown away by his portrayal of The Ghoul on "Fallout." Goggins has been in some bad movies over the years (e.g. "American Ultra" and "Cowboys & Aliens"), but he certainly wasn't bad in them. The man seems wholly incapable of giving a bum performance.

Given that Goggins has become a favorite of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino since appearing in "Django Unchained," is it too much to hope that, whenever the director...

Pinewood Toronto Studios has announced the naming of one of its soundstages after Norman Jewison, who passed away one year ago at age 97.

Jewison shot the classic 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof at Pinewood Studios in the U.K., but the London-based studio group is honoring the seven-time Oscar nominee in his hometown, Toronto. Jewison also earned the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in 1999.

His varied film credits include The Russians Are Coming, The Thomas Crown Affair, the civil rights era drama In the Heat of the Night, Jesus Christ Superstar and Rollerball.

“Pinewood Toronto is proud to celebrate the legacy of Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison. His groundbreaking work was renowned throughout the world and it is an honor to have The Norman Jewison Stage on our lot,” Sarah Farrell, general manager of Pinewood Toronto Studios, said in a statement on Monday.

Sidney Poitier broke the color barrier in ways few African American actors could before he could change the cinematic landscape. The Bahamian-American star and Oscar winner rose from his early years on stage to evolve into a Hollywood leading man who inspired an entire culture. He chose projects that often defied social conventions and held his own with legends such as Richard Widmark and Tony Curtis. Of any film in Poitier’s historic filmography, Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night was the culmination of a cultural moment that his career was building to.

Taylor Sheridan is a miniature industry unto himself. He wrote the Oscar hopefuls "Sicario," "Hell or High Water," and "Wind River," as well as the thrillers "Without Remorse" and "Those Who Wish Me Dead." On TV, Sheridan has been blasting barn doors off with "Yellowstone" and its multiple spinoffs, as well as shows like "Tulsa King," "Lioness," and "Landman." These are in addition to a modest acting career that put Sheridan on TV shows like "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Party of Five," "NYPD Blue," "Sons of Anarchy," and even "Star Trek: Enterprise." He also plays the supporting character of Travis Wheatley on "Yellowstone" and Charles on the prequel series "1883."

Sheridan has evolved into the modern torch-bearer for Western machismo, and he is often drawn into the dark hearts of manly men. He also seems to love crime stories, tales of criminals/lawmen, and conflicts that end with gunplay.

In the entire history of the Academy Awards, only six Best Picture winners have been 100 minutes or less. It seems that traditional, Oscar-bait "prestige" pictures tend to run long, attracting Academy voters with their sheer volume. Extra-long films are also a little rare, though, as only five Best Picture Winners are 200 minutes or more. Additionally, a whopping 18 Best Pictures have been between 160 and 195 minutes, so voters clearly don't mind longer movies. Indeed, the average length of a Best Picture winner is 136 minutes. In terms of cinematic storytelling, that seems to be the sweet spot. 

Of course, Roger Ebert's adage needs to be mentioned. The famed critics once posited that no good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough. The actual length of a film doesn't really matter, so long as it's a quality picture, and it makes good use of its time. Personally, I feel...

Michael Schlesinger, a renowned repertory executive who worked at United Artists Classics, Paramount and Sony Repertory, died Jan. 9. He was 74.

Schlesinger died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a rare form of cancer.

Schlesinger was known for being instrumental in restoring and releasing classic films over multiple decades. While working at Sony Repertory as vice president, he oversaw the 70mm restoration of “Lawrence of Arabia.” When he was at Paramount Pictures Distribution, he worked on the 50th anniversary release of “Citizen Kane,” which included Orson Welles’ famously incomplete “It’s All True.”

Joseph McBride, an author and film historian and friend of Schlesinger’s, wrote in his tribute that “Mike was a true mensch. Every cinephile had a friend in Mike Schlesinger. He was passionate about preserving and distributing classic films. He stuck his neck out for film history while working for major studios...

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This January, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment from the Will Ferrell comedy film You’re Cordially Invited to the beloved romantic action comedy film The Fall Guy. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Prime Video in January 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Boogie Nights (January 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Credit – New Line Cinema

Boogie Nights is a drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The 1997 film is set in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, and it follows Eddie Adams, a high school dropout working as a dishwasher as he becomes one of the biggest adult film stars,...

Art Evans, the actor known for his roles in Die Hard 2 and A Soldier’s Story, has died. He was 82.

The actor’s rep tells Deadline he died on Saturday, Dec. 21 of diabetes, “a condition he courageously managed for many years.” No other details were immediately available.

“Art was not only an incredible actor but a devoted husband, friend, and source of light to everyone who knew him,” his wife Babe said in a statement. “His laughter, passion, and love of life will be deeply missed. While our hearts are heavy, we celebrate the legacy of joy and inspiration he leaves behind.”

His talent reps LyNea Bell and Charleen McGuire remembered him as “a remarkable talent who touched many lives with his work. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”

Born March 27, 1942 in Los Angeles, Evans came up at Frank Silvera’s Theater of Being before landing...

Paramount’s free streaming service, Pluto TV, has revealed its December highlights. The Pluto TV December 2024 lineup includes the “Season’s Greetings” category, which features festive TV and movies all month long on channels like Pluto TV Christmas, Hallmark Movies and More Holiday Favorites.

Special programming, like a Hanukah Menorah and Kwanzaa Kinara on the service’s Crackling Fireplace channel, will also be available. Be sure to check out new channels such as Dinos 24/7 and The Twilight Zone as well.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience. The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with hundreds of international media companies.

The Most Streamable Time Of The Year

This December, Pluto TV is serving up a sleigh-load of Christmas classics, holiday episodes, movies and more. Don’t miss their “Season’s Greetings” category,...

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film in the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery above features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

The worst among 96 Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film on the bottom of the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery below features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

Larry Auerbach, a top agent at William Morris Agency for nearly 50 years who also served 25 years at USC School of Cinematic Arts, died Nov. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 95.

Auerbach represented a wide range of talent during his 47 years with William Morris, including Alan Alda, Bea Arthur, Marlo Thomas, Robert Wagner, Aaron Spelling, Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Harry Belafonte and such prestige-movie directors as Norman Jewison and Bernardo Bertolucci. Auerbach worked his way up to a leadership role at the agency after starting there in New York at age 15, working part-time while in high school sweeping floors and doing other less-than-glamorous duties during World War II.

After ending his Wma career in 1992, Auerbach segued to USC film school, where he used his matchmaking skills to create the Office of Industry Relations. He retired from USC as associate dean and head of student-industry relations in...

Quincy Jones died last Sunday night at age 91—another entertainment legend who shuffled off this mortal coil this year before the country once again made the ass-backwards decision to put Trump in office. A lot has already been said about his multi-Grammy-winning discography, which includes producing and arranging music not...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSLa région centrale.Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States for a second time.Major film distributors declined to pick up Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice (2024) under threat of legal action from the Trump campaign, just as recent documentaries, including No Other Land and The Bibi Files (both 2024) have been neglected.In a stunning blow to film preservation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has laid off sixteen employees from its archive and library departments as part of a broad “restructuring” plan. Several were instrumental archivists who had been at the Academy for years.Not only are Moroccan filmmakers receiving plum spots in international festival lineups, but investments from foreign productions, a new streaming service,...

Quincy Jones, who died earlier this week, received a tribute from Saturday Night Live.

The venerable NBC show paid tribute to the musical legend, who died at the age of 91, with a card at the end of the show.

Jones had previously hosted SNL in February 1990. He was coming off the back of promoting his Back on the Block album and turned up with a lot of musical guests including Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel and Quincy D III.

The 10 musical performers Jones brought with him is believed to have been the record for the show, one that stands to this day.

He also paid tribute to Nelson Mandela, who was set to be released from prison hours after the show, during his monologue.

Fun fact: Dana Carvey, who did an impression of Elon Musk on tonight’s show, was in the cast when Jones hosted.

Jones was a musician,...

What are the 100 greatest movies of all time? Well, that’s an incredibly difficult question to answer. After all, art is subjective and tastes vary incredibly across the globe. But, I’ve taken on the impossible task and gathered the 100 movies that I think constitute the 100 greatest movies of all time! Take a look below.

Related “I look forward to making great movies together”: Tom Cruise Might Have Hinted Mission Impossible Retirement After Latest Deal With WB for New Franchise The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time 100. Being John Malkovich (1999) A scene from Being John Malkovich (1999) Directed by Spike Jonze

In 1999 acclaimed actor John Malkovich took on the difficult task of playing himself in Spike Jonze’s incredibly bizarre, self-referential comedy. With John Cusack and Cameron Diaz playing against type as bumbling losers who find a doorway into the consciousness of Malkovich, this ground-breaking comedic effort feels fresh and hilarious upon repeated viewings.

Quincy Jones, the iconic songwriter and producer behind some of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, has died at the age of 91. His publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed that Jones died peacefully at his Bel Air home on Sunday night, surrounded by family.

Jones is set to receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy Awards later this month.

Born in Chicago, he eventually settled in Seattle, where his passion for jazz flourished. After earning scholarships to Seattle University and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Jones left his studies to tour with bandleader Lionel Hampton in 1952, marking the start of a storied career.

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Throughout the 1950s, Jones toured extensively and served as music director for the French label Barclay Disques. Then, he returned to the U.S. to work with Mercury Records. His breakthrough as...

What couldn’t Quincy Jones do?

He wrote, composed and arranged music for your favorite artists and even produced films and TV shows that launched some of your favorite actors. He not only changed careers — he changed lives.

Here we break down some of the biggest acts and projects Jones worked on, from Michael Jackson’s seminal Thriller album to “We Are the World” to winning 28 Grammys, an Emmy and a Tony.

Michael Jackson

Before he met Jones while working on The Wiz, Jackson had been known for the Jackson 5 and released four solo albums that had mild success. Then they made Off the Wall and the King of Pop fully arrived. Released in 1979 around the time Jackson turned 21, the album helped him transition from young singer to critically acclaimed, matured artist. The album’s disco, funk and R&b sound resonated on the charts, helped Jackson win his first...

Quincy Jones is dead at 91. There has simply never been an American artist better in touch with the pulse of popular culture than this producer, arranger, and composer whose work spanned nearly 70 years, every genre imaginable, and crossed all media as well. Jones is best known for his work producing Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, or his lifelong friendship with Ray Charles, but his film scores, bouncing with energy and groove, helped inspire a rethink of what was possible with movie music. (Associated Press first reported his death.)

Multiracial but the very definition of a 20th-century Black artist, Jones was born on the South Side of Chicago on March 14, 1933. His paternal grandmother was an ex-slave; his paternal grandfather, from Wales. His maternal grandmother was born a slave on a Kentucky plantation, as well — through the institutionalized rape of slavery, she was a distant relation of Tennessee Williams and the poet Sidney Lanier,...

The industry has lost a true legend and icon whose career spanned music and film. Quincy Jones, one of the most accomplished and well-known producers, songwriters, and composers, has sadly passed away at 91. While he's best known for producing three of Michael Jackson's biggest and most signature albums, which include Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad, he also dabbled in film and television as a producer, lending his name to the movie musical adaptation of The Wiz, Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple and television's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, among others.

Per the Associated Press, Jones' publicist, Arnold Robinson, revealed that he passed away peacefully at home on Sunday night surrounded by his loved ones. The family released a statement regarding his passing that reads:

"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones' passing. And although this is...

Quincy Jones, producer of several of the best-selling albums of all time, died at his home in Bel Air on Sunday as per his publicist. Though his work covered all genres, Jones will forever be best known for helping coronate the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, by helping craft Jackson’s infectious and highly lucrative sound across three classic albums: Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. In 1985, he produced the “We Are The World” session, arguably the apex of 1980s pop music.

Jones, who in 1968 became the first African-American nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award with “The Eyes of Love,” received an astonishing 80 Grammy nominations and 28 Grammy Awards throughout his career. His wins were for arranging, producing, and performing, and he won the 1988 Album of the Year prize for Back on the Block, an R&b-pop-hip hop cross-generational collaboration including artists like Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, Ice-t, Kool Moe Dee,...

Quincy Jones, the legendary record producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose contributions to contemporary music spanned over seven decades and multiple genres such as jazz, pop, and hip-hop, has died at the age of 91.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” Jones’ family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones was one of the most celebrated icons in the music industry, garnering a record 80 Grammy nominations and 28 wins, including three Producer of the Year honors and two Album of the Year and Song of the Year awards each. His most recent win came in 2019 when Quincy, the semi-autobiographical documentary written and co-directed by his daughter Rashida Jones, took home Best Music Film.

As a producer and arranger,...

Quincy Jones, the American music producer, songwriter and film and TV producer, has died aged 91.

Jones “passed away peacefully” at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, according to his publicist Arnold Robinson, as reported by Associated Press.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” read a statement from his family. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones was known for producing music for 20th century icons,...

Quincy Jones, the musical giant who did it all as a record producer, film composer, multi-genre artist, entertainment executive and humanitarian, has died. He was 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said that he died Sunday night at his Bel-Air home surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones received the Motion Picture Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995, the Grammy Legend Award in 1991 and 28 Grammys from an all-time best 80 nominations. He was to be presented with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards on Nov. 17.

Survivors include one of his seven children, actress Rashida Jones.

In a phenomenal career that spanned more than 60 years,...

Quincy Jones, who distinguished himself over the course of a 70-year career in music as an artist, bandleader, composer, arranger and producer, has died. He was 91.

Jones died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to a statement shared with Variety by his rep Arnold Robinson. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him,” the Jones family said in the statement. “He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the...

Jeri Taylor, the Emmy-nominated producer, showrunner, director and writer known for her work on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Voyager,” which she co-created, has died. She was 86.

Taylor died Thursday, Oct. 24, the official “Star Trek” website announced.

Taylor joined the “Next Generation” team during its fourth season in 1990. By its sixth season, she was promoted to co-executive producer alongside Rick Berman and Michael Pillar. She then served as the series’ executive producer and showrunner for its seventh and final season, for which she earned an Emmy nomination for best outstanding series.

Taylor went on to create “Voyager” with Berman and Piller and served as the showrunner for the first four seasons of the series from 1995 to 1998. She later worked as a creative consultant for the show’s final three seasons.

Taylor penned more than 30 episodes across the “Star Trek” franchise; she was most proud of the “Next Generation” episode “The Drumhead,...

Jeri Taylor, the Emmy-nominated scribe, producer, director and showrunner behind Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (which she co-created), has died. She was 86.

“My mother succeeded in a male-dominated industry,” her son Andrew Enberg said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “but she did it without being super aggressive. She did it with compassion and kindness. She was like a den mother to everyone.”

The industry veteran died Oct. 24 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Davis, Calif., Enberg said.

Throughout her decades-long career, Taylor spent more than ten years bringing to life episodes set within the Star Trek universe. In 1990, she began writing for Next Generation Season 4, eventually working her way up to co-executive producer in Season 6. She was the showrunner of the Patrick Stewart vehicle in its seventh and final installment, for which she garnered an Emmy nom for Outstanding Drama Series.

Jeri Taylor, the Emmy-nominated producer, writer, director and showrunner who spent more than a decade working on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager, which she co-created, has died. She was 86.

Taylor died Wednesday night of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Davis, California, her son Andrew Enberg told The Hollywood Reporter.

“My mother succeeded in a male-dominated industry,” her son said, “but she did it without being super aggressive. She did it with compassion and kindness. She was like a den mother to everyone.”

Before embarking on her Star Trek voyage, the Indiana native wrote and produced episodes of such popular network crime fare as Quincy, M.E., Magnum, P.I., Jake and the Fatman and In the Heat of the Night. She was adept at writing about “character, of people and relationships and feelings,” she once noted.

Taylor began writing for the syndicated Next Generation...

Jeri Taylor, an influential television producer and writer known for her work shaping the acclaimed sci-fi franchise Star Trek, has died at the age of 86. Brannon Braga, a friend and former colleague of Taylor’s, announced the news on social media.

Taylor’s career helping develop Star Trek spanned several decades. She first joined the popular series Star Trek: The Next Generation in its fourth season as a writer and eventually led the creative team as showrunner for the final season. This work on Next Generation received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Taylor then co-created Star Trek: Voyager with Rick Berman and Michael Piller, serving as executive producer and driving the creative vision in the first four seasons.

Perhaps Taylor’s most enduring contribution was creating the character of Captain Kathryn Janeway for Voyager. Janeway became known as a groundbreaking lead in television as the first female captain...

Recently, I wrote an article about movies that were surprisingly hard to find on streaming or Blu-ray, and one of the movies I mentioned was a little-remembered 1988 thriller called Shoot to Kill (aka Deadly Pursuit in the UK). The film was a decent box office hit in its day, but outside of a DVD release many years ago, it has sunk into obscurity.

This is a shame, as Shoot to Kill is a nifty little movie. After a few comments praised the film, I decided to revisit it for myself, as I honestly hadn’t seen it since the nineties and had no idea if it would hold up. To my surprise, not only did it hold up, but Shoot to Kill is a bit of a lost 80s action classic.

The film stars Sidney Poitier as a veteran FBI agent investigating a strange robbery where the owner of a...

Back in July, it was announced that Tessa Thompson of the Thor and Creed franchises had signed on to star in and executive produce a limited series called His & Hers that will stream on Netflix. Since then, we’ve heard the names of several actors who have joined Thompson in the cast – and now we know the names of ten more! Deadline reports that Rhoda Griffis (The Blind Side), newcomer Tiffany Ho, Dave Maldonado (The Tomorrow War), Kristen Maxwell (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin), Leah Merritt (Friendship Never Dies), Mike Pniewski (Hightown), Astrid Rotenberry (American Sports Story), newcomer Ellie Rose Sawyer, and Jamie Tisdale (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series) have all landed recurring roles on the show. Also new to the cast, taking on a recurring role, is Isabelle Kusman, who has previously worked on three feature films. Those films have given her the opportunity to work with Paul Thomas Anderson,...

Back in July, it was announced that Tessa Thompson of the Thor and Creed franchises had signed on to star in and executive produce a limited series called His & Hers that will stream on Netflix. Since then, we’ve heard that Jon Bernthal of The Punisher and Pablo Schreiber of Halo have joined Thompson in the cast – and now Deadline reports that Poppy Liu (Space Cadet) and Chris Bauer (Fellow Travelers) are in the cast, while Variety adds that Crystal Fox (In the Heat of the Night), Sunita Mani (Glow), Rebecca Rittenhouse (Unfriended: Dark Web), and Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy) are in there as well.

The series is based on a novel by Alice Feeney that has been described as “a twisty, smart, psychological thriller. A gripping tale of suspense, told by expertly-drawn narrators that will keep readers guessing until the very end.“ William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth), Bill Dubuque...

The Netflix limited series adaptation of the Alice Feeney novel “His & Hers” has added four new cast members.

Crystal Fox, Sunita Mani, and Rebecca Rittenhouse have joined as series regulars, with Marin Ireland set in a supporting role. They will star alongside previously announced cast members Tessa Thompson as well as Jon Bernthal and Pablo Schreiber. Netflix has commissioned six episodes, with production set to begin this fall.

The official description for the series states, “Set in the sweltering heat of Atlanta, Anna (Thompson) lives in haunting reclusivity, fading away from her friends and career as a news anchor. But when she overhears about a murder in Dahlonega – the sleepy town where she grew up – Anna is snapped back to life, pouncing on the case and searching for answers. Detective Jack Harper (Bernthal) is strangely suspicious of her involvement, chasing her into the crosshairs of his own investigation. There...

Exclusive: After breaking box office records for a directing debut with Creed III, Michael B. Jordan looks to have lined up his next high-profile helming gig. Sources tell Deadline that Jordan has signed to direct Thomas Crown Affair for Amazon MGM Studios, which will release the film exclusively in theaters worldwide.

As previously reported, Jordan is also set to star in the film as well as produce via his Outlier Society banner alongside Elizabeth Raposo. Outlier Society has a first-look film deal and overall TV deal at Amazon MGM.

This marks the third Thomas Crown Affair pic, with the most recent bowing in 1999, when Pierce Brosnan played the rich playboy who enjoys stealing art for a hobby but meets his match in an insurance investigator (Rene Russo), who quickly fall for each other. The original 1968 movie paired Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and was directed by Norman Jewison.

Related: Norman...

For comedy fans of a certain age, watching VHS copies of the 1982 concert film “Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip” until the tape fell off of the spools was a rite of passage. Until Eddie Murphy‘s “Raw” dethroned it later in the 1980s, it was the most successful stand-up special of all time, and understandably so; marking Pryor‘s return to the stage after the freebasing accident that almost killed him, it was not only hilarious but revealing and poignant — the passage toward the end of the film in which Pryor personifies his crack pipe and acts out his own struggles with it is one of the most potent depictions of addiction ever put on screen.

The problem is that those VHS copies, as well as the blurry transfers on cable television where “Sunset Strip” was a staple for years, captured the greatness of Pryor’s performance but...

With his long hair, sunglasses and bellbottoms, Hal Ashby was the epitome of the 1970s flower child, even though he was a decade older than most of the filmmakers working at the time. Though his flame burned brightly and briefly, he left behind a series of classics that signified the nose-thumbing, countercultural attitude of the era, with a bit of humanism and heart thrown in for good measure. Let’s take a look back at all 12 of his films, ranked worst to best.

Born on September 2, 1929 in Utah, Ashby ambled around before becoming an apprentice editor for Robert Swink, working for Hollywood legends William Wyler and George Stevens. He moved up the ranks to become an editor for Norman Jewison, with whom he shared a fraternal and professional relationship. They cut five films together, including “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” (1966), which earned him his first Oscar nomination,...

Goggins' net worth sits at $12 million, amassed over a career full of impressive acting roles. The actor's journey includes tragic loss, marriage to filmmaker Nadia Conners, and fatherhood. Known for his Scorpio passion and charm, Goggins' unique look and acting talent have earned him success.

Walton Goggins has been having a fantastic second half of his career, and he's got the net worth to prove it. Walton Goggins began acting in TV and movies in 1989, when he appeared four times in the police procedural, In the Heat of the Night, each time as a different character. This led to a long run of Walton appearing frequently in movies and TV shows, but always as a one-episode character or supporting cast member. Then in 2002, Goggins starred as Shane Vendrell in The Shield, which led to Justified, where he played the intimidating Boyd Crowder.

Since the series ended in 2015, the list of...

“I directed the best political movie never released.”

Filmmaker Haskell Wexler thus described Medium Cool, his violent feature set during Chicago’s riotous 1968 Democratic National Convention. His movie opened (sort of) exactly 55 years ago this week.

The Paramount release won ardent support from critics and (briefly) from ticket buyers but was renounced by leaders of the Democratic Party and the Chicago police. Their criticism was short-lived because the negative would quickly disappear. A Paramount spokesman was reluctant to confirm it had ever been made.

The mysteries of Medium Cool seemed relevant to cineastes this week as history threatened to repeat itself in Chicago. As in 1968, the chaos at the Democratic convention would be triggered by an overseas conflict – Gaza now, Vietnam then. But the police this week showed they’d learned from the bitter lessons of ’68 when violence jeopardized the political process and the election itself.

Despite forecasts of a...