A new episode of the Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series has just been released, and in this one we’re looking back at the slasher Urban Legend (watch it Here), which – I am disturbed to say, as someone who saw it on the big screen back in the day – is already celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. To find out all about this movie, check out the video embedded above.
Directed by Jamie Blanks from a screenplay by Silvio Horta, Urban Legend has the following synopsis: A university is beset by a rash of gruesome murders that resemble old urban legends. When her friend Michelle is killed by someone hiding in her car, Natalie begins to notice the pattern. Her suspicions grow stronger when her own roommate is strangled to death. Soon the quiet college campus is transformed into hunting grounds for a maniac, and Natalie struggles...
Directed by Jamie Blanks from a screenplay by Silvio Horta, Urban Legend has the following synopsis: A university is beset by a rash of gruesome murders that resemble old urban legends. When her friend Michelle is killed by someone hiding in her car, Natalie begins to notice the pattern. Her suspicions grow stronger when her own roommate is strangled to death. Soon the quiet college campus is transformed into hunting grounds for a maniac, and Natalie struggles...
- 3/10/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
In 2023, many of Terry Gilliam's old fans have been forced to face some of the director's questionable behavior, dark opinions, and irresponsible filming style. Briefly: in 2020, Gilliam said in public that the #MeToo movement was a witch hunt, downplaying the widespread sexual abuse the movement sought to highlight. Gilliam followed those statements with a defense of Harvey Weinstein, a defense that fell in line with a notorious petition he signed a decade previous seeking to exonerate Roman Polanski. Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Wong Kar-Wai, and David Lynch also signed the petition. So did Harvey Weinstein, who asked many for support.
Famously, Gilliam's films have almost all had troubled shoots, and each one comes prepackaged with a chaotic story about its making. "Brazil" was infamously recut several times, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" briefly didn't know which script it was supposed to use,...
Famously, Gilliam's films have almost all had troubled shoots, and each one comes prepackaged with a chaotic story about its making. "Brazil" was infamously recut several times, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" briefly didn't know which script it was supposed to use,...
- 2/3/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Terry Gilliam’s grandest, most joyful fantasy is still a marvel, a fully adult adventure that will equally spark younger imaginations. Creative tricks and eye-popping Italo designs bring us a magical, satirical world of absurd wars, sultan’s hareems and a flight of fancy to the moon. John Neville’s ideal Baron is abetted by spunky Sarah Polley and a gallery of winning characterizations, from Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Jonathan Pryce, Uma Thurman, Jack Purvis, Robin Williams, Valentina Cortese, Sting. So what if the Baron is history’s most notorious liar: we understand his complaint when performing a technically preposterous trip through outer space: “This is Precisely the sort of thing nobody Ever believes.”
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1166
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 126 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 3, 2023 / 49.95
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Charles McKeown,...
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1166
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 126 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 3, 2023 / 49.95
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Charles McKeown,...
- 1/10/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products released each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Terrifier Shirt from Terror Threads
Halloween may be Art the Clown’s holiday of choice, but this year he’s ringing in Christmas with Terror Threads. A holiday-themed Terrifier design by Yannick Bouchard is available on T-shirts (34.99) and long sleeves (44.99) for three days only. They’ll ship by December 1.
Train to Busan 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber
Train to Busan speeds onto 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) on December 6 via Well Go USA. This is a good excuse to own one of the best zombie movies of the decade before the American remake, The Last Train to New York, drops next year.
The record-breaking 2016 South Korean film is directed by Yeon Sang-ho and written by Park Joo-Suk.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Terrifier Shirt from Terror Threads
Halloween may be Art the Clown’s holiday of choice, but this year he’s ringing in Christmas with Terror Threads. A holiday-themed Terrifier design by Yannick Bouchard is available on T-shirts (34.99) and long sleeves (44.99) for three days only. They’ll ship by December 1.
Train to Busan 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber
Train to Busan speeds onto 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) on December 6 via Well Go USA. This is a good excuse to own one of the best zombie movies of the decade before the American remake, The Last Train to New York, drops next year.
The record-breaking 2016 South Korean film is directed by Yeon Sang-ho and written by Park Joo-Suk.
- 11/11/2022
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
While you’re still trying to figure out exactly what your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans are, the Criterion Collection is already looking at 2023. Yes, with their 2022 schedule already locked, the boutique DVD/Blu-Ray label has finalized its January 2023 release, and as usual, it’s a terrific crop of films. The titles are led by Terry Gilliam’s epic adventure fantasy “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Robin Williams, and Uma Thurman.
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘Adventures of Baron Munchausen,’ A New Lars Von Trier Trilogy Boxset & More For January 2023 at The Playlist.
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘Adventures of Baron Munchausen,’ A New Lars Von Trier Trilogy Boxset & More For January 2023 at The Playlist.
- 10/17/2022
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Terry Gilliam has almost never had an easy time making a movie. The former Monty Python member has a filmography that stretches nearly five decades, and nearly every film he has made has been a butting of heads between a director with an unbridled imagination you can't really reign in and people who would very much like to make their money back on their investment (who rarely do). Most famously, there was the saga of trying to get "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" made that took nearly 30 years. The documentary "Lost in La Mancha" chronicles the crumbling production in the year 2000, and it would still take over 15 years after that film's release for "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" to be a completed picture. Gilliam makes films like no one else, and while we can marvel at their visual ingenuity, they rarely make for sturdy commercial prospects.
This is...
This is...
- 9/21/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
CineSavant reaches back to a U.K. disc released in 2014, because the subject is (what else) a semi-obscure science fiction effort. Favorite John Neville stars as a scientist opposite newcomer Gabriella Licudi, a beauty who may be an invader from outer space. This is the one with the teardrops that burn; not having seen it since 1966 or so, evaluating a ‘new’ Blu was an imperative. The main takeaway is that it’s awfully small-scale and the fantastic content is almost entirely confined to dialogue. But the performances are exemplary and actress Jean Marsh is terrific.
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
- 12/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The television landscape was changing when the 23rd Emmy Awards took place at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on May 9, 1971, with Johnny Carson as host. History was made in more than one way that night.
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
- 8/27/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
As the Covid-19 pandemic approaches its one-year anniversary of ravaging the globe and disrupting workflows, PBS is coming into 2021 strong with a robust slate for what network president and CEO Paula Kerger calls one of its “brand-defining programs”: “Masterpiece.”
“When you ask people what they think about when they hear ‘PBS,’ many people will say ‘Masterpiece’ and in fact consistently it’s one of the most popular programs from an audience size standpoint on public television,” says Kerger. “A lot of people plan their Sunday nights around watching ‘Masterpiece’ live. In this era of on-demand, the fact that people think of ‘Masterpiece’ as not only a lovely viewing experience, but more of an event also speaks to the place that it holds in our schedule.”
Kicking off the new year with “Elizabeth Is Missing” on Jan. 3, Glenda Jackson’s first “Masterpiece” project since “Elizabeth R” in 1972, and moving into a new flagship series,...
“When you ask people what they think about when they hear ‘PBS,’ many people will say ‘Masterpiece’ and in fact consistently it’s one of the most popular programs from an audience size standpoint on public television,” says Kerger. “A lot of people plan their Sunday nights around watching ‘Masterpiece’ live. In this era of on-demand, the fact that people think of ‘Masterpiece’ as not only a lovely viewing experience, but more of an event also speaks to the place that it holds in our schedule.”
Kicking off the new year with “Elizabeth Is Missing” on Jan. 3, Glenda Jackson’s first “Masterpiece” project since “Elizabeth R” in 1972, and moving into a new flagship series,...
- 1/6/2021
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
John Carpenter sure was busy in 1978; not only did he release the seminal Halloween, he also wrote and directed the taut TV movie Someone’s Watching Me! as well as co-writing Zuma Beach, another TV movie. But today we’re going to look at the other project he co-wrote, Eyes of Laura Mars, a slick theatrical thriller with a killer premise and enough Carpenter DNA to satisfy horror buffs.
Released in early August, Eyes (also the title of his original script) brought in around $20 million against a $7 million budget (not including ad expenses); a minor hit with audiences, and flatly received by most critics who felt its intended satirical targets - high fashion and the media’s portrayal of violence - were nothing more than window dressing in a drab storefront. But Eyes of Laura Mars does skewer its targets well enough, especially with the help of time and distance. When new,...
Released in early August, Eyes (also the title of his original script) brought in around $20 million against a $7 million budget (not including ad expenses); a minor hit with audiences, and flatly received by most critics who felt its intended satirical targets - high fashion and the media’s portrayal of violence - were nothing more than window dressing in a drab storefront. But Eyes of Laura Mars does skewer its targets well enough, especially with the help of time and distance. When new,...
- 5/23/2020
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Denise Nickerson, who played the bratty, bloated Violet Beauregarde in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and a sweet-natured orphan bedeviled by ghosts and werewolves on the classic ’60s supernatural soap Dark Shadows, died Wednesday night at a hospital near her home in Colorado. In declining health since suffering a stroke last year, Nickerson was removed from life support by her family earlier that day. She was 62.
Nickerson’s son Josh Nickerson posted news of his mother’s death on Facebook after keeping friends and fans apprised of her health issues. Denise Nickerson was a longtime attendee at fan conventions for both Wonka and Dark Shadows.
“She’s gone,” Nickerson’s family posted on Facebook.
Born in New York City in 1957, Nickerson began acting on shows including The Doctors and Flipper before landing her breakthrough role in 1968 as little Amy Jennings on Dan Curtis’ gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Teamed with young David Henesy,...
Nickerson’s son Josh Nickerson posted news of his mother’s death on Facebook after keeping friends and fans apprised of her health issues. Denise Nickerson was a longtime attendee at fan conventions for both Wonka and Dark Shadows.
“She’s gone,” Nickerson’s family posted on Facebook.
Born in New York City in 1957, Nickerson began acting on shows including The Doctors and Flipper before landing her breakthrough role in 1968 as little Amy Jennings on Dan Curtis’ gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Teamed with young David Henesy,...
- 7/11/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman and Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
After a quiet day of releases last Tuesday, we have a ton of horror and sci-fi home media offerings on the docket for this week, including one of my favorite films of the year, Happy Death Day 2 U. Criterion has put together a new edition of the original Funny Games that fans will undoubtedly want to add to their collections, and Mill Creek Entertainment is bringing both Ghosts of Mars and the Eyes of Laura Mars to Blu-ray for the first time as well.
Scream Factory will be unleashing The Chosen this week, and Intervision is resurrecting the underground horror/wrestling mashup Masked Mutilator in what looks to be an ultimate celebration of the cult film. Mondo Macabro is keeping busy with their release of the gothic sexiness of The Devil’s Nightmare, and for those of you who love to indulge in Wtf-ery filmmaking, Saint Bernard from Gabe Bartalos is not to be missed.
Scream Factory will be unleashing The Chosen this week, and Intervision is resurrecting the underground horror/wrestling mashup Masked Mutilator in what looks to be an ultimate celebration of the cult film. Mondo Macabro is keeping busy with their release of the gothic sexiness of The Devil’s Nightmare, and for those of you who love to indulge in Wtf-ery filmmaking, Saint Bernard from Gabe Bartalos is not to be missed.
- 5/14/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Forget the ‘famous book’ doldrums — this exciting seagoing drama will take your head off. Criminally unseen and unheralded, Allied Artists’ classic is an impressive feat by director-co-screenwriter and star Peter Ustinov. It introduced Terence Stamp and provided Robert Ryan with a deserved career highlight.
Billy Budd
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date January 3, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Rogers, John Neville, David McCallum, Ronald Lewis, Robert Brown, John Meillon, Niall MacGinnis, Terence Stamp.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Jack Harris
Original Music: Antony Hopkins
Written by Peter Ustinov, DeWitt Bodeen from the play by Louis O. Coxe, Robert H. Chapman from the novel Billy Budd, Foretopman by Herman Melville
Produced by A. Ronald Lubin, Peter Ustinov
Directed by Peter Ustinov
Talk about a book that works like gangbusters… When Warners’ first DVD came out in 2007 I found out...
Billy Budd
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date January 3, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Rogers, John Neville, David McCallum, Ronald Lewis, Robert Brown, John Meillon, Niall MacGinnis, Terence Stamp.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Jack Harris
Original Music: Antony Hopkins
Written by Peter Ustinov, DeWitt Bodeen from the play by Louis O. Coxe, Robert H. Chapman from the novel Billy Budd, Foretopman by Herman Melville
Produced by A. Ronald Lubin, Peter Ustinov
Directed by Peter Ustinov
Talk about a book that works like gangbusters… When Warners’ first DVD came out in 2007 I found out...
- 7/14/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A Study in Terror
Blu ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1966 /1:85 / Street Date April 3, 2018
Starring John Neville, Donald Houston, Anthony Quayle
Cinematography by Desmond Dickinson
Written by Donald Ford, Derek Ford
Directed by James Hill
From master criminals like Professor Moriarty to Sebastian Moran, Sherlock Holmes faced his fair share of danger – but his greatest nemesis may have been the man who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle. Exasperated by his brainchild’s overwhelming popularity, the weary scribe groused, ”I think of slaying Holmes… and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.”
Doyle tried to kill off his cash-cow on at least one occasion but the great detective had the last word, maintaining a firm grip on our imagination decades after other seemingly invincible literary characters dropped down the memory hole – perhaps because Holmes is far more mysterious than any mystery he himself might have...
Blu ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1966 /1:85 / Street Date April 3, 2018
Starring John Neville, Donald Houston, Anthony Quayle
Cinematography by Desmond Dickinson
Written by Donald Ford, Derek Ford
Directed by James Hill
From master criminals like Professor Moriarty to Sebastian Moran, Sherlock Holmes faced his fair share of danger – but his greatest nemesis may have been the man who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle. Exasperated by his brainchild’s overwhelming popularity, the weary scribe groused, ”I think of slaying Holmes… and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.”
Doyle tried to kill off his cash-cow on at least one occasion but the great detective had the last word, maintaining a firm grip on our imagination decades after other seemingly invincible literary characters dropped down the memory hole – perhaps because Holmes is far more mysterious than any mystery he himself might have...
- 5/12/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
April is kicking off with an eclectic assortment of genre-related home entertainment releases, with Adam Robitel’s Insidious: The Last Key leading the charge on both Blu-ray and DVD (there’s also a nifty Insidious 4-pack hitting DVD as well). Shout! Factory is putting out the stellar revenge thriller Sweet Virginia this week, and Severin Films is keeping busy with a double dose of Jess Franco with their Blu-rays for Sinfonia Erotica and The Sadist of Notre Dame.
Other notable releases for April 3rd include A Study in Terror, A Place in Hell, 4/20 Massacre, and 12 Feet Deep.
4/20 Massacre (Film Chest, DVD)
Over 4/20 weekend, five young women have decided to celebrate their friend's birthday by taking a camping trip to a secluded part of a nearby national park. However, their fun is quickly snubbed out when they stumble upon an illegal marijuana grow operation hidden in the greenery and protected by a bloodthirsty maniac.
Other notable releases for April 3rd include A Study in Terror, A Place in Hell, 4/20 Massacre, and 12 Feet Deep.
4/20 Massacre (Film Chest, DVD)
Over 4/20 weekend, five young women have decided to celebrate their friend's birthday by taking a camping trip to a secluded part of a nearby national park. However, their fun is quickly snubbed out when they stumble upon an illegal marijuana grow operation hidden in the greenery and protected by a bloodthirsty maniac.
- 4/3/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
[Originally appeared in Deadly Magazine #5] For nine seasons (and two feature films), fans of The X-Files became engrossed with FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully’s search for the truth and along the way, we were introduced to numerous supporting characters that helped them (or did their damnedest to foil their efforts) along the way. Here’s a look back at some of The X-Files’ greatest unusual suspects.
Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin)
Mulder’s first informant when the X-Files division of the FBI was established. A member of The Syndicate who wanted to expose some of the secrets the government had tried desperately to keep hidden, Deep Throat was tragically gunned down while trading an alien embryo for Mulder’s life in the first season finale, “The Erlenmeyer Flask.”
Cigarette Smoking Man/Cancer Man (William B. Davis)
Hands down The X-Files’ greatest villain, Cigarette Smoking Man’s presence dominated over the first season...
Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin)
Mulder’s first informant when the X-Files division of the FBI was established. A member of The Syndicate who wanted to expose some of the secrets the government had tried desperately to keep hidden, Deep Throat was tragically gunned down while trading an alien embryo for Mulder’s life in the first season finale, “The Erlenmeyer Flask.”
Cigarette Smoking Man/Cancer Man (William B. Davis)
Hands down The X-Files’ greatest villain, Cigarette Smoking Man’s presence dominated over the first season...
- 1/23/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Discarded plots, quotes from canon, Martin Freeman's hatred of Watson's moustache... Here's a long list of Sherlock series 3 trivia...
Released this month, the collector’s edition Sherlock series 3 DVDs are crammed with nerd succour, from the episodes one and three commentaries by Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue and Una Stubbs, to behind-the-scenes featurettes, falling-over and dancing outtakes, footage from episode read-throughs, a deleted scene in which Lars Mikkelsen licks Benedict Cumberbatch, technical special effects gubbins, clips from the only existing television interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and - we almost forgot - the series itself.
For Sherlock fans who haven’t yet had the pleasure, we’ve ploughed through all the bonus material on the discs, turning up the odd bit of trivia treasure as we did so. Find out below about Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's plans for Sherlock to teach Mary the violin, Benedict Cumberbatch...
Released this month, the collector’s edition Sherlock series 3 DVDs are crammed with nerd succour, from the episodes one and three commentaries by Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue and Una Stubbs, to behind-the-scenes featurettes, falling-over and dancing outtakes, footage from episode read-throughs, a deleted scene in which Lars Mikkelsen licks Benedict Cumberbatch, technical special effects gubbins, clips from the only existing television interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and - we almost forgot - the series itself.
For Sherlock fans who haven’t yet had the pleasure, we’ve ploughed through all the bonus material on the discs, turning up the odd bit of trivia treasure as we did so. Find out below about Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's plans for Sherlock to teach Mary the violin, Benedict Cumberbatch...
- 11/25/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
'Sherlock Holmes' movie found at Cinémathèque Française (image: William Gillette in 'Sherlock Holmes') Sherlock Holmes, a long-thought-lost 1916 feature starring stage performer and playwright William Gillette in the title role, has been discovered in the vaults of the Cinémathèque Française. Directed by the all-but-forgotten Arthur Berthelet for the Chicago-based Essanay production company, the approximately 90-minute movie is supposed to be not only the sole record of William Gillette's celebrated performance as Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, but also the only surviving Gillette film.* In the late 19th century, William Gillette himself wrote the play Sherlock Holmes, which turned out to be a mash-up of various stories and novels featuring the detective, chiefly the short stories "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Final Problem." ("May I marry Holmes?" Gillette, while vying for the role, telegraphed Conan Doyle. The latter replied, "You may marry or murder or do What you like with him.
- 10/3/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Our mother, Jean Harvey, who has died aged 83, declared at the age of six that she wanted to be an actress. She went on to a successful stage and screen career, receiving widest recognition for her work in television over more than 30 years.
Her most famous role was in Compact (1962), one of the BBC's first soaps, as the editor of the magazine from which the show took its title. She appeared in several classic serials, including North and South (1975) and two versions of Jane Eyre, playing Mrs Reed in the 1973 adaptation and Mrs Fairfax in 1983. Her favourite TV role was as Sally, the wife of Max (George Cole) in A Man of Our Times (1968), for which she received a Bafta nomination.
Jean was born near Birmingham, daughter of Dorothy and Frederick Hillen-Harvey, and studied at the city's Central School of Speech and Drama before joining Birmingham Rep as a junior member,...
Her most famous role was in Compact (1962), one of the BBC's first soaps, as the editor of the magazine from which the show took its title. She appeared in several classic serials, including North and South (1975) and two versions of Jane Eyre, playing Mrs Reed in the 1973 adaptation and Mrs Fairfax in 1983. Her favourite TV role was as Sally, the wife of Max (George Cole) in A Man of Our Times (1968), for which she received a Bafta nomination.
Jean was born near Birmingham, daughter of Dorothy and Frederick Hillen-Harvey, and studied at the city's Central School of Speech and Drama before joining Birmingham Rep as a junior member,...
- 1/28/2014
- The Guardian - Film News
Monty Python fans everywhere woke up on Tuesday to the exciting news of an official reunion.
Since 1983's The Meaning of Life, the surviving members have yet to embark on a proper, official Monty Python project together. However, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle are to reunite for a special stage production.
As Eddie Izzard wrote on Twitter: "Monty Python reforming to do a gig is as big as The Beatles reforming to do a gig."
To mark this monumental comedy moment, Digital Spy takes a look back at 30 years of near-misses, almosts-but-not-quites and other mini-reunions that have led to today's (November 21) press conference.
1983: Yellowbeard
Released shortly after The Meaning of Life, this comedy was written by Graham Chapman, alongside Peter Cook and Python collaborator Bernard McKenna. Centred around Chapman's pirate who is imprisoned for tax evasion, it also starred John Cleese and Eric Idle in minor roles.
Since 1983's The Meaning of Life, the surviving members have yet to embark on a proper, official Monty Python project together. However, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle are to reunite for a special stage production.
As Eddie Izzard wrote on Twitter: "Monty Python reforming to do a gig is as big as The Beatles reforming to do a gig."
To mark this monumental comedy moment, Digital Spy takes a look back at 30 years of near-misses, almosts-but-not-quites and other mini-reunions that have led to today's (November 21) press conference.
1983: Yellowbeard
Released shortly after The Meaning of Life, this comedy was written by Graham Chapman, alongside Peter Cook and Python collaborator Bernard McKenna. Centred around Chapman's pirate who is imprisoned for tax evasion, it also starred John Cleese and Eric Idle in minor roles.
- 11/21/2013
- Digital Spy
The Fifth Element
Directed by Luc Besson
Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
USA/France, 1997
Quick question; does a flamboyantly camp and knowingly ridiculous science-fiction adventure costumed by Jean-Paul Gaultier and written by a teenager obsessed with 50’s and 60’s Belgian/French futuristic pulp comics sound like a good idea? The idea that any cynically minded executive would immediately stab his thumb in the air at the pitch of The Fifth Element is as fanciful as the bizarrely hypnotic and anachronistically beautiful world (or worlds) in which it is set. For all intents and purposes, it is a film that never should have been made, and certainly wouldn’t be now, some 15 years later. It seems a piece that suggests that love is the final piece in the puzzle of our survival was allowed to exist through the affection of fans, romantic curiosity of producers, and the undying devotion of its smitten creator.
Directed by Luc Besson
Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
USA/France, 1997
Quick question; does a flamboyantly camp and knowingly ridiculous science-fiction adventure costumed by Jean-Paul Gaultier and written by a teenager obsessed with 50’s and 60’s Belgian/French futuristic pulp comics sound like a good idea? The idea that any cynically minded executive would immediately stab his thumb in the air at the pitch of The Fifth Element is as fanciful as the bizarrely hypnotic and anachronistically beautiful world (or worlds) in which it is set. For all intents and purposes, it is a film that never should have been made, and certainly wouldn’t be now, some 15 years later. It seems a piece that suggests that love is the final piece in the puzzle of our survival was allowed to exist through the affection of fans, romantic curiosity of producers, and the undying devotion of its smitten creator.
- 8/25/2013
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Box Office Busts! week continues at Trailers from Hell with screenwriter Josh Olson introducing Terry Gilliam's wonderfully wacky "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Uma Thurman, Robin Williams and a very young Sarah Polley.Cinematically, notorious 18th century liar Munchausen’s tall tales date back to 1911, but received their most spectacular treatment in Terry Gilliam’s big budget boxoffice fiasco, which followed an elaborate Nazi-era adaptation and Karel Zeman’s brilliant 1961 combo of animation and live action. Intentionally buried by its Gilliam-averse Us distributor, it’s a technical marvel that fared very well critically, but not with audiences.
- 8/21/2013
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
The First Churchills.
Kieran Kinsella
We’re all familiar with Winston but how many of us know much about The First Churchills? Well for those who don’t know, Britain’s war-time Pm traced his lineage back to the court of King Charles II, and the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough Aka The First Churchills. The cigar smoking nemesis of the Nazis wrote a biography of his aristocratic ancestors and in 1969 the BBC dramatized the story. The 12 part series was an instant success. Drama starved executives on the other side of the pond soon snapped it up and began airing it on PBS in a new time slot called Masterpiece Theatre. Yes British TV watchers, The First Churchills isn’t just about English history it is also a landmark series in the British invasion of American networks. On 4 June, Acorn Media are reviving this lost classic on DVD.
Three-time Emmy...
Kieran Kinsella
We’re all familiar with Winston but how many of us know much about The First Churchills? Well for those who don’t know, Britain’s war-time Pm traced his lineage back to the court of King Charles II, and the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough Aka The First Churchills. The cigar smoking nemesis of the Nazis wrote a biography of his aristocratic ancestors and in 1969 the BBC dramatized the story. The 12 part series was an instant success. Drama starved executives on the other side of the pond soon snapped it up and began airing it on PBS in a new time slot called Masterpiece Theatre. Yes British TV watchers, The First Churchills isn’t just about English history it is also a landmark series in the British invasion of American networks. On 4 June, Acorn Media are reviving this lost classic on DVD.
Three-time Emmy...
- 5/31/2013
- by Edited by K Kinsella
New York — Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad will star on Broadway this fall in a modern take on William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," a revival that will add an intriguing element of racial contrast to the classic tale of two star-crossed lovers.
"The last thing we wanted to do was to do a sort of pompous, classic version of `Romeo and Juliet,'" said director David Leveaux, a five-time Tony Award nominee. "I'm just taking away all the wallpaper and mantelpieces, all the kind of pompous stuff we associate with grand Shakespeare productions, and try to go as simple as possible."
Producers said Monday that previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre will begin Aug. 24 with an opening night set for Sept. 19. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 8.
The production will also star two-time Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell as the Nurse and Tony nominee Joe Morton as Lord Capulet.
"The last thing we wanted to do was to do a sort of pompous, classic version of `Romeo and Juliet,'" said director David Leveaux, a five-time Tony Award nominee. "I'm just taking away all the wallpaper and mantelpieces, all the kind of pompous stuff we associate with grand Shakespeare productions, and try to go as simple as possible."
Producers said Monday that previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre will begin Aug. 24 with an opening night set for Sept. 19. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 8.
The production will also star two-time Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell as the Nurse and Tony nominee Joe Morton as Lord Capulet.
- 4/1/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Since we know a lot of people are currently marathoning Sons of Anarchy from the beginning because of the buzz surrounding season 5, we’ll issue a Spoiler Alert. Stop reading now if you haven’t watched Soa’s season 5 premiere. In an excerpt from an article originally published in September, actor Kim Coates takes us inside Tig’s first run-in with Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau) — which found its way onto our list of the most disturbing TV scenes ever. For more stories behind this year’s top TV and movie moments, click here for EW.com’s Best of 2012: Behind the Scenes coverage.
- 11/29/2012
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW - Inside TV
Simon Callow on the booze, the money, the life with Liz …
One Sunday evening, in the winter of 1981-82, there was a celebration, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, of the original radio production of Under Milk Wood. Various participants in that famous broadcast, including Richard Burton, the original narrator, were to read the play under the direction of its producer, Reggie Smith. The theatre was packed, with a largely Welsh audience.
Burton seemed to be enjoying himself, but it was not easy to hear him. He was glued to the book, seemingly in private communion with it. After the interval, the reading resumed. It was evident that Burton had liberally refreshed himself. Now he was not just inaudible but incoherent, with a tendency to slump. The reading lurched to its conclusion, after which the cast repaired to the Garrick Club for a celebratory supper. On the appearance of the first course,...
One Sunday evening, in the winter of 1981-82, there was a celebration, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, of the original radio production of Under Milk Wood. Various participants in that famous broadcast, including Richard Burton, the original narrator, were to read the play under the direction of its producer, Reggie Smith. The theatre was packed, with a largely Welsh audience.
Burton seemed to be enjoying himself, but it was not easy to hear him. He was glued to the book, seemingly in private communion with it. After the interval, the reading resumed. It was evident that Burton had liberally refreshed himself. Now he was not just inaudible but incoherent, with a tendency to slump. The reading lurched to its conclusion, after which the cast repaired to the Garrick Club for a celebratory supper. On the appearance of the first course,...
- 11/29/2012
- by Simon Callow
- The Guardian - Film News
This has No spoilers from the special episode preview, but an episode review will be released after the premiere, which is on 21/09/2012.
Produced by the maker of Lost and helmed by the director of Iron Man and scribed by the writer of Supernatural comes NBC’s new primetime show piece, Revolution, but is that enough to keep you watching when the power goes off?
When hearing about Revolution for the first time there was a lot of hyperbole about it being the brainchild of Jj Abrams (Lost, Fringe) and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Eric Kripke (Supernatural). It’s got be good, right? This is the big one. The series that would enthral, confuse and confound a generation, much like Lost did so perfectly and how Terra Nova did so dreadfully. Revolution is described as an adventure by some, while IMDb lists it as Sci-fi, and so here are a...
Produced by the maker of Lost and helmed by the director of Iron Man and scribed by the writer of Supernatural comes NBC’s new primetime show piece, Revolution, but is that enough to keep you watching when the power goes off?
When hearing about Revolution for the first time there was a lot of hyperbole about it being the brainchild of Jj Abrams (Lost, Fringe) and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Eric Kripke (Supernatural). It’s got be good, right? This is the big one. The series that would enthral, confuse and confound a generation, much like Lost did so perfectly and how Terra Nova did so dreadfully. Revolution is described as an adventure by some, while IMDb lists it as Sci-fi, and so here are a...
- 9/13/2012
- by Douglas Cary-Brown
- Obsessed with Film
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t watched Sons of Anarchy’s season 5 premiere (get Ken Tucker’s take), stop reading now. We talked to actor Kim Coates about Tig’s first run-in with Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau) — and what’s next.
Entertainment Weekly: Did Kurt Sutter tell you that Pope would retaliate for Tig killing his daughter by setting Tig’s daughter Dawn (Rachel Miner) on fire while Tig was forced to watch, or did you find out reading it in the script?
Kim Coates: I was at the Upfronts in New York with him and a bunch of...
Entertainment Weekly: Did Kurt Sutter tell you that Pope would retaliate for Tig killing his daughter by setting Tig’s daughter Dawn (Rachel Miner) on fire while Tig was forced to watch, or did you find out reading it in the script?
Kim Coates: I was at the Upfronts in New York with him and a bunch of...
- 9/12/2012
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW - Inside TV
In 2009 the ex Mr Madonna (otherwise known as Guy Ritchie) called upon the unlikely pairing of Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law to bring back to the screen two of crime fiction’s greatest heroes – Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.
The pair are up there amongst the most filmed literary characters, Holmes has been sticking his nose into other people’s business since the earliest days of the cinema with one of the first versions being a Danish short from 1908 pitting him against his arch nemesis Moriarty and Raffles, the Victorian gentleman thief – now that really would have been a showdown worth seeing.
So, as Ritchie prepares to throw Downey and Law together again, we decided to do some sleuthing ourselves and find six of the pipe smoking detective’s best screen adventures. The results have proved anything but elementary!
6) Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
By the mid 1980’s there were few...
The pair are up there amongst the most filmed literary characters, Holmes has been sticking his nose into other people’s business since the earliest days of the cinema with one of the first versions being a Danish short from 1908 pitting him against his arch nemesis Moriarty and Raffles, the Victorian gentleman thief – now that really would have been a showdown worth seeing.
So, as Ritchie prepares to throw Downey and Law together again, we decided to do some sleuthing ourselves and find six of the pipe smoking detective’s best screen adventures. The results have proved anything but elementary!
6) Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
By the mid 1980’s there were few...
- 12/16/2011
- by Guest
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Elizabeth Taylor, Farley Granger, Jane Russell, Peter Falk, Sidney Lumet: TCM Remembers 2011 Pt. 1
Also: child actor John Howard Davies (David Lean's Oliver Twist), Charles Chaplin discovery Marilyn Nash (Monsieur Verdoux), director and Oscar ceremony producer Gilbert Cates (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams, I Never Sang for My Father), veteran Japanese actress Hideko Takamine (House of Many Pleasures), Jeff Conaway of Grease and the television series Taxi, and Tura Satana of the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.
More: Neva Patterson, who loses Cary Grant to Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember; Ingmar Bergman cinematographer Gunnar Fischer (Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries); Marlon Brando's The Wild One leading lady Mary Murphy; and two actresses featured in controversial, epoch-making films: Lena Nyman, the star of the Swedish drama I Am Curious (Yellow), labeled as pornography by prudish American authorities back in the late '60s,...
Also: child actor John Howard Davies (David Lean's Oliver Twist), Charles Chaplin discovery Marilyn Nash (Monsieur Verdoux), director and Oscar ceremony producer Gilbert Cates (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams, I Never Sang for My Father), veteran Japanese actress Hideko Takamine (House of Many Pleasures), Jeff Conaway of Grease and the television series Taxi, and Tura Satana of the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.
More: Neva Patterson, who loses Cary Grant to Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember; Ingmar Bergman cinematographer Gunnar Fischer (Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries); Marlon Brando's The Wild One leading lady Mary Murphy; and two actresses featured in controversial, epoch-making films: Lena Nyman, the star of the Swedish drama I Am Curious (Yellow), labeled as pornography by prudish American authorities back in the late '60s,...
- 12/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Perhaps nearly any classy English actor could have played Sherlock Holmes – if not elementary, it's fundamental to a certain type of career
I'm typing this in Baskerville; it's the only way to go with the astonishing parade of Baker Street irregulars, the actors who have played the great detective in one medium or another. We are about to receive the second picture in the latest manifestation, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The wonders of film number one (just plain Sherlock Holmes) in what may end up a wearying franchise included a gross Us income of over $200m, a real part for Jude Law (Watson), and the realisation Robert Downey Jr had found the vehicle for his languid-depraved attitude (the thinking man's Johnny Depp) and his urge to get away with whatever came into his head – plus, it seemed to resurrect the career of director Guy Ritchie whose insecure grasp...
I'm typing this in Baskerville; it's the only way to go with the astonishing parade of Baker Street irregulars, the actors who have played the great detective in one medium or another. We are about to receive the second picture in the latest manifestation, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The wonders of film number one (just plain Sherlock Holmes) in what may end up a wearying franchise included a gross Us income of over $200m, a real part for Jude Law (Watson), and the realisation Robert Downey Jr had found the vehicle for his languid-depraved attitude (the thinking man's Johnny Depp) and his urge to get away with whatever came into his head – plus, it seemed to resurrect the career of director Guy Ritchie whose insecure grasp...
- 12/2/2011
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s always sad when an actor or filmmaker dies, and in 2011 we have had to mourn the loss of many great stars of past and present. Pete Postlethwaite, John Barry, Maria Schneider, Jane Russell, Michael Gough, Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Lumet, Peter Falk – all great losses, many of them at much too young an age. Only ten days ago John Neville, the delightfully charismatic star of Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, passed away peacefully aged 86.
But perhaps none of these deaths should be mourned more than that of Ken Russell, who died this week in his sleep at the ripe old age of 84. Aside from his short-lived and ill-advised appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, his name will be unfamiliar to the majority of young filmgoers – people who didn’t grow up with his biopics of Elgar and Mahler, people who didn’t spend their twenties listening to Who records,...
But perhaps none of these deaths should be mourned more than that of Ken Russell, who died this week in his sleep at the ripe old age of 84. Aside from his short-lived and ill-advised appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, his name will be unfamiliar to the majority of young filmgoers – people who didn’t grow up with his biopics of Elgar and Mahler, people who didn’t spend their twenties listening to Who records,...
- 11/29/2011
- by Daniel Mumby
- Obsessed with Film
British actor John Neville passed away late last week at the age of 86. Theater buffs might remember him as a respected Shakespearean actor who appeared in every one of the Bard’s plays; movie mavens might know him from his starring role in Terry Gilliam’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."
But to me, John Neville was and always will be The Well-Manicured Man.
If you’re not an X-Phile I have a bit of explanation for you (we can discuss exactly why you’re not an X-Phile some other time): On Chris Carter’s groundbreaking TV show “The X-Files,” John Neville played one of several nameless recurring characters (the most infamous being Cigarette Smoking Man). Csm and Well-Manicured Man were members of the Syndicate, an international group of super-secretive movers and shakers who tried to thwart the efforts of FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in their...
But to me, John Neville was and always will be The Well-Manicured Man.
If you’re not an X-Phile I have a bit of explanation for you (we can discuss exactly why you’re not an X-Phile some other time): On Chris Carter’s groundbreaking TV show “The X-Files,” John Neville played one of several nameless recurring characters (the most infamous being Cigarette Smoking Man). Csm and Well-Manicured Man were members of the Syndicate, an international group of super-secretive movers and shakers who tried to thwart the efforts of FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in their...
- 11/22/2011
- by Tami Katzoff
- MTV Movies Blog
Leading light of the British stage once seen as Gielgud's successor
John Neville, who has died aged 86, was a leading light of the Old Vic, the charismatic artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the early 1960s and, after emigrating to Canada in 1972, a renowned leader of that country's theatre, notably at Stratford, Ontario. Tall, handsome and authoritative on the stage, and best known today, perhaps, for his sinister role as the Well-Manicured Man in The X-Files on television – was he on the side of good or evil? – he was often thought of as the natural successor to John Gielgud.
He found huge matinee-idol success early on, in the Gielgud roles of Hamlet and Richard II, though his patrician veneer and noble bearing could be easily discarded, as he showed to devastating effect in 1963, when he played Bill Naughton's Alfie at the Mermaid theatre, the role that became Michael Caine...
John Neville, who has died aged 86, was a leading light of the Old Vic, the charismatic artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the early 1960s and, after emigrating to Canada in 1972, a renowned leader of that country's theatre, notably at Stratford, Ontario. Tall, handsome and authoritative on the stage, and best known today, perhaps, for his sinister role as the Well-Manicured Man in The X-Files on television – was he on the side of good or evil? – he was often thought of as the natural successor to John Gielgud.
He found huge matinee-idol success early on, in the Gielgud roles of Hamlet and Richard II, though his patrician veneer and noble bearing could be easily discarded, as he showed to devastating effect in 1963, when he played Bill Naughton's Alfie at the Mermaid theatre, the role that became Michael Caine...
- 11/22/2011
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
John Neville, The X-Files' Well-Manicured Man, has died at the age of 86.
The actor passed away on Saturday in Toronto, Canada.
The British-born star of the sci-fi TV series also had the title role in 1989 movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Neville also served as the artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1980s.
He emigrated to Canada in the early 1970s.
The actor passed away on Saturday in Toronto, Canada.
The British-born star of the sci-fi TV series also had the title role in 1989 movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Neville also served as the artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1980s.
He emigrated to Canada in the early 1970s.
- 11/21/2011
- WENN
John Neville, who has died at the age of 86, was "perhaps best known to American audiences for playing the title role in [Terry Gilliam's] The Adventures of Baron Munchausen as well as the Well-Manicured Man on The X-Files," suggests Sean O'Neal at the Av Club.
But he was also "a leading light of the Old Vic, the charismatic artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the early 1960s and, after emigrating to Canada in 1972, a renowned leader of that country's theatre," writes Michael Coveney in the Guardian. "He found huge matinee-idol success early on, in the [John] Gielgud roles of Hamlet and Richard II, though his patrician veneer and noble bearing could be easily discarded, as he showed to devastating effect in 1963, when he played Bill Naughton's Alfie at the Mermaid theatre, the role that became Michael Caine's calling card on film. This performance, in which Neville graduated from juvenile lead...
But he was also "a leading light of the Old Vic, the charismatic artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the early 1960s and, after emigrating to Canada in 1972, a renowned leader of that country's theatre," writes Michael Coveney in the Guardian. "He found huge matinee-idol success early on, in the [John] Gielgud roles of Hamlet and Richard II, though his patrician veneer and noble bearing could be easily discarded, as he showed to devastating effect in 1963, when he played Bill Naughton's Alfie at the Mermaid theatre, the role that became Michael Caine's calling card on film. This performance, in which Neville graduated from juvenile lead...
- 11/21/2011
- MUBI
John Neville, the man picked by Terry Gilliam to embody his Baron Munchausen, has died at the age of 86.Neville was born in 1925 in Willesden and originally caught the acting bug on a church choir outing to watch Ralph Richardson and Vivien Leigh in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He won his first role as Brutus in a school production of Julius Caesar.Though his first job after leaving school at 16 was as a sales clerk in a garage, he showed enough raw talent performing as Hamlet in a church drama group that he won a scholarship to Rada. But his stage ambitions had to wait until after his three-year stint in the Royal Navy, during which time he was part of the Normandy landings.After the war, he acted in the West End and Regent’s Park before going on to the likes of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic,...
- 11/21/2011
- EmpireOnline
Canadian stage director and actor John Neville died Saturday (Nov. 19) in Toronto, surrounded by family, the Canadian Press reports. Neville, who is best known for his role in the 1990s as "The Well-Manicured Man" in "The X-Files" television series and movies, was battling Alzheimer's Disease.
A longtime stage actor, his screen career took off in his '60s, when Terry Gilliam cast him in the title role of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." He appears here with Tilda Swinton in 2003's "The Statement."
Neville worked as the artistic director for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for many years. Their current artistic director, Des McAnuff, writes, "John Neville was a superb actor, an outstanding director and a terrific artistic leader of our Festival. His charisma and charm were matched by the generosity of his spirit."
Born in England, Neville emigrated to Canada in 1972, where he later gained citizenship. He is survived by his wife of 62 years,...
A longtime stage actor, his screen career took off in his '60s, when Terry Gilliam cast him in the title role of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." He appears here with Tilda Swinton in 2003's "The Statement."
Neville worked as the artistic director for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for many years. Their current artistic director, Des McAnuff, writes, "John Neville was a superb actor, an outstanding director and a terrific artistic leader of our Festival. His charisma and charm were matched by the generosity of his spirit."
Born in England, Neville emigrated to Canada in 1972, where he later gained citizenship. He is survived by his wife of 62 years,...
- 11/21/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Best known for playing the title role in Terry Gilliam’s wonderful 1989 fantasy The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, John Neville was a familiar face. Primarily a stage actor, Neville was artistic director of Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival from 1985 to 1989. He played Sherlock Holmes in the 1966 cult Holmes vs Jack the Ripper film A Study In Terror and had memorable roles in The Fifth Element, Dangerous Minds, and Cronenberg’s Spider. Neville was 86.
From Playbill.com:
John Neville, the respected British-born actor and director who was artistic director of Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival 1985-89, died in Toronto on Nov. 19, surrounded by family, the festival announced Nov. 20. He was 86.
A private funeral will take place immediately. Plans for a memorial will be announced in the New Year.
Late in his career, Mr. Neville, who received the Order of the British Empire in the 1960s, starred in the motion picture “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,...
From Playbill.com:
John Neville, the respected British-born actor and director who was artistic director of Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival 1985-89, died in Toronto on Nov. 19, surrounded by family, the festival announced Nov. 20. He was 86.
A private funeral will take place immediately. Plans for a memorial will be announced in the New Year.
Late in his career, Mr. Neville, who received the Order of the British Empire in the 1960s, starred in the motion picture “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,...
- 11/21/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Filed under: TV News
Canadian actor John Neville, perhaps best known for his role as The Well-Manicured Man in 'The X-Files,' has died at the age of 86.
The Canadian Press reports that Neville, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died Saturday in Toronto, surrounded by family. The veteran actor appeared in dozens of productions over the course of his sixty-year career, but it was his titular role in Terry Gilliam's 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' that earned him critical acclaim and public visibility. Though the film was a commercial failure, few could fault Neville's wry performance, and he went on to become a mainstay in films, television and theater.
Though he turned in many memorable on-screen performances, Neville seemed just as comfortable working behind the scenes, serving as artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the 1960s and, after his move to Canada, the Stratford Festival in the 1980s.
Canadian actor John Neville, perhaps best known for his role as The Well-Manicured Man in 'The X-Files,' has died at the age of 86.
The Canadian Press reports that Neville, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died Saturday in Toronto, surrounded by family. The veteran actor appeared in dozens of productions over the course of his sixty-year career, but it was his titular role in Terry Gilliam's 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' that earned him critical acclaim and public visibility. Though the film was a commercial failure, few could fault Neville's wry performance, and he went on to become a mainstay in films, television and theater.
Though he turned in many memorable on-screen performances, Neville seemed just as comfortable working behind the scenes, serving as artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse in the 1960s and, after his move to Canada, the Stratford Festival in the 1980s.
- 11/21/2011
- by Laura Prudom
- Aol TV.
Baron Munchausen leaves the stage.
The highly respected film, stage and television actor John Neville has died at the age of 86. Neville was best known to film fans for his role as the eponymous star of Terry Gilliam fantasy epic The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. He also made repeated appearances in The X-Files.
Born in England, Neville began his career on the London stage and enjoyed film roles in Oscar Wilde and Billy Budd before moving to Canada to become artistic director at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. After a long period working in television he was rediscovered...
The highly respected film, stage and television actor John Neville has died at the age of 86. Neville was best known to film fans for his role as the eponymous star of Terry Gilliam fantasy epic The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. He also made repeated appearances in The X-Files.
Born in England, Neville began his career on the London stage and enjoyed film roles in Oscar Wilde and Billy Budd before moving to Canada to become artistic director at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. After a long period working in television he was rediscovered...
- 11/21/2011
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
With ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows’ set for release this December you have plenty of time to brush up on the great detective and his trusty partner Dr Watson. Only problem is that in his 124 year history, Holmes is one of, if not ‘the’, most portrayed fictional character of all time – so where to start?
Luckily you readers I have compiled a list of the 10 must see Sherlock Holmes Interpretations.
10. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
I’ll start with this underrated and often overlooked entry from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Chris Columbus (who went on to direct ‘Home Alone’ and the first two ‘Harry Potter’ pictures). This original adventure which re-imagines Holmes and Watson as teenagers who meet at boarding school and team up to solve a mystery involving a spate of murders around London.
Intended to kick off a franchise, this movie, while not based on any of Doyle’s stories,...
Luckily you readers I have compiled a list of the 10 must see Sherlock Holmes Interpretations.
10. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
I’ll start with this underrated and often overlooked entry from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Chris Columbus (who went on to direct ‘Home Alone’ and the first two ‘Harry Potter’ pictures). This original adventure which re-imagines Holmes and Watson as teenagers who meet at boarding school and team up to solve a mystery involving a spate of murders around London.
Intended to kick off a franchise, this movie, while not based on any of Doyle’s stories,...
- 7/8/2011
- by Tom Ryan
- Obsessed with Film
Australian actor known for his roles in Strictly Ballroom and Muriel's Wedding
For many Australians, the screen persona of the character actor Bill Hunter, who has died of cancer aged 71, was the archetypal "ocker", an uncultivated Australian working man who enjoys beer, "barbies", Aussie rules football and V8 supercars. According to Phillip Noyce, who directed the oft-bearded actor in three movies and a TV miniseries: "Bill was the absolute essence of the Anglo-Irish Australian male of the 20th century. Seemingly gruff and impenetrable, he could convey the tenderness beneath the exterior."
He was seen and appreciated by millions in three of Australia's biggest hit films – Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992), Pj Hogan's Muriel's Wedding (1994) and Stephan Elliott's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – all revealing Hunter at the peak of his powers.
He was born in Melbourne, but was brought up in rural Victoria, in Australia's south-east.
For many Australians, the screen persona of the character actor Bill Hunter, who has died of cancer aged 71, was the archetypal "ocker", an uncultivated Australian working man who enjoys beer, "barbies", Aussie rules football and V8 supercars. According to Phillip Noyce, who directed the oft-bearded actor in three movies and a TV miniseries: "Bill was the absolute essence of the Anglo-Irish Australian male of the 20th century. Seemingly gruff and impenetrable, he could convey the tenderness beneath the exterior."
He was seen and appreciated by millions in three of Australia's biggest hit films – Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992), Pj Hogan's Muriel's Wedding (1994) and Stephan Elliott's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – all revealing Hunter at the peak of his powers.
He was born in Melbourne, but was brought up in rural Victoria, in Australia's south-east.
- 5/23/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Film Society Of Lincoln Center announces Relentless Renegade: The Films Of Norman Jewison May 25-30
Jewison to appear in-person along with Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Lee Grant
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the details today for the upcoming film series, Relentless Renegade: The Films of Norman Jewison which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater May 25-30. The series will mark the first major retrospective of the director.s work in New York featuring appearances by Jewison, along with Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Lee Grant and others participating in Q&As and discussing several of the classic films helmed by the great director.
Special guest appearances include:
Olympia Dukakis - who will join Jewison to discuss the film Moonstruck (Saturday, May 28 at 5:45Pm)
Lee Grant - who will attend screenings of In The Heat Of The Night (Friday, May 27 at 6:00Pm) and The Landlord (Monday,...
Jewison to appear in-person along with Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Lee Grant
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the details today for the upcoming film series, Relentless Renegade: The Films of Norman Jewison which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater May 25-30. The series will mark the first major retrospective of the director.s work in New York featuring appearances by Jewison, along with Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Lee Grant and others participating in Q&As and discussing several of the classic films helmed by the great director.
Special guest appearances include:
Olympia Dukakis - who will join Jewison to discuss the film Moonstruck (Saturday, May 28 at 5:45Pm)
Lee Grant - who will attend screenings of In The Heat Of The Night (Friday, May 27 at 6:00Pm) and The Landlord (Monday,...
- 3/30/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
.You.ll never see anything like it this side of hell.. When Robert Downey Jr. made Sherlock Holmes cool again, one film I hoped would appear would be a Study in Terror. Rumors made it sound like that was to be, but it vanished like Whitechapel fog. However, now the game involving Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes is afoot through Sony.s new manufacture on demand DVD service. In 1888, a killer of prostitutes is afoot in the unsavory Whitechapel district of London and the press has dubbed him Jack the Ripper and suspect that he is a doctor. Sherlock Holmes (John Neville) is at his digs on 221B Baker Street with his chronicler Dr. Watson (Donald Houston)...
- 11/3/2010
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Sherlock Holmes purists who were not enamored with Robert Downey Jr.'s recent take on the Great Detective may want to thank A&E for cashing in on Hollywood's Christmas blockbuster. In The Sherlock Holmes Collection on DVD the American cable and satellite network has resurrected a bygone Holmes in the form of Peter Cushing. The great British actor, who played Van Helsing in Hammer's horror films in the 1970s and Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars Episode IV, played Holmes in a 1960s BBC television series. Not much of that show survives but what does is a welcome addition to the detective's DVD canon.
Want to know more? The BBC aired the Cushing series in 1968 under the title Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The show was a continuation of sorts of another series of adaptations the network had aired three years earlier. That starred Douglas Wilmer as...
Want to know more? The BBC aired the Cushing series in 1968 under the title Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The show was a continuation of sorts of another series of adaptations the network had aired three years earlier. That starred Douglas Wilmer as...
- 2/14/2010
- CinemaSpy
Popular actor known for his roles in Callan, The Equalizer and The Wicker Man
Edward Woodward, who has died aged 79, was an actor with possibly far more potential than was ever realised on screen, but he became a popular television star in Callan and The Equalizer and enjoyed cult success with the film The Wicker Man. For many years, he was part of the comfortable community of jobbing actors, directors and producers which could be called the "Teddington set" – those who worked for the BBC, ABC and Thames TV studios in west London in their heyday – and so found it comparatively easy to get parts which were financially rewarding but not too stretching.
Presentable, but sombre in appearance, he played loners on the edges of society, and even sanity, who were in their different ways concerned with justice – either sympathetically or not. He was a man who, like many of his most memorable roles,...
Edward Woodward, who has died aged 79, was an actor with possibly far more potential than was ever realised on screen, but he became a popular television star in Callan and The Equalizer and enjoyed cult success with the film The Wicker Man. For many years, he was part of the comfortable community of jobbing actors, directors and producers which could be called the "Teddington set" – those who worked for the BBC, ABC and Thames TV studios in west London in their heyday – and so found it comparatively easy to get parts which were financially rewarding but not too stretching.
Presentable, but sombre in appearance, he played loners on the edges of society, and even sanity, who were in their different ways concerned with justice – either sympathetically or not. He was a man who, like many of his most memorable roles,...
- 11/16/2009
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
DVD Playhouse—August 2009
By
Allen Gardner
Watchmen—Director’S Cut (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday...
By
Allen Gardner
Watchmen—Director’S Cut (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday...
- 8/10/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
I have found few fantasy films that appeal both the children and adults as intelligently and successfully, with such creativity and flair as ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. It is true, I am a devout follower of the cinematic God known as Terry Gilliam, but there’s a reason for that… he’s freaking brilliant. I have my own personal pantheon of filmmakers that I admire to the point of being borderline obsessive… Coen Brothers, Darren Aronofsky, Zhang Yimou and (of course) Terry Gilliam, to name a few.
But I digress. On with the show, a marvelous array of whimsical theatrics known as ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. The film opens with an immediate dose of Gilliam’s own unique style and flair for the ironic and absurd. As the score by Eric idle and Michael Kamen throws us directly into the time and place of the film, white titles...
But I digress. On with the show, a marvelous array of whimsical theatrics known as ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. The film opens with an immediate dose of Gilliam’s own unique style and flair for the ironic and absurd. As the score by Eric idle and Michael Kamen throws us directly into the time and place of the film, white titles...
- 7/23/2009
- by Travis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Winchester Films
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Perhaps a little too insiderish for its own good, this debut directorial feature from producer Peter O'Brian ("The Grey Fox") well lampoons both the absurdities of filmmaking in general and the intersection between Hollywood and Canada specifically. While the stellar cast -- including Alan Bates, Matthew Modine and Jennifer Tilly -- guarantees a certain amount of interest, "Hollywood North" will best be appreciated by those already in the business. The film received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Set in the late '70s, the film stars Modine as Bobby Myers, a fast-tracking Toronto entertainment lawyer eager to branch out professionally by becoming a movie producer. To that end, he purchases the rights to "Lantern Moon", a beloved, best-selling Canadian novel telling the tale of a young girl's coming of age in quaint Prince Edward Island.
Needless to say, he soon runs into bureaucratic pressures, not to mention the need for a bona fide movie star in the lead. Guided by a profane, fast-talking Hollywood agent (Saul Rubinek), he secures the latter in the form of Michael Baytes (a hilarious Bates), a washed-up Hollywood star and two-time Oscar nominee reduced to living in a trailer. The paranoid Baytes, obsessed with Muslims, cocaine and guns, soon proves more trouble than he's worth, especially after he demands script rewrites that have the formerly sensitive piece turned into an action film with the new title "Escape From Bogota".
That's only the beginning of the fledgling producer's problems, which soon grow to include a hack director (John Neville), hired only because of the need for a Canadian; a sexed-up starlet (Tilly) who immediately sets out to seduce her leading man; and a documentary filmmaker Deborah Kara Unger) ostensibly doing a behind-the-scenes profile of the production but actually siphoning off the sets and film stock for her own directorial project.
The screenplay by Barry Healy, John Hunter and Tony Johnston veers off in too many directions at once, including a poorly developed subplot involving the burgeoning romance between Modine and Unger. And the humor at times becomes unnecessarily broad, like the over-the-top climax in which the deranged movie star literally goes ballistic. But it also features more than a few laugh-out-loud howlers, and its knowing jokes involving the pressures of Canadian filmmaking and the idiosyncrasies of Hollywood players well demonstrates the filmmakers' obvious experience and familiarity with the scene.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Perhaps a little too insiderish for its own good, this debut directorial feature from producer Peter O'Brian ("The Grey Fox") well lampoons both the absurdities of filmmaking in general and the intersection between Hollywood and Canada specifically. While the stellar cast -- including Alan Bates, Matthew Modine and Jennifer Tilly -- guarantees a certain amount of interest, "Hollywood North" will best be appreciated by those already in the business. The film received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Set in the late '70s, the film stars Modine as Bobby Myers, a fast-tracking Toronto entertainment lawyer eager to branch out professionally by becoming a movie producer. To that end, he purchases the rights to "Lantern Moon", a beloved, best-selling Canadian novel telling the tale of a young girl's coming of age in quaint Prince Edward Island.
Needless to say, he soon runs into bureaucratic pressures, not to mention the need for a bona fide movie star in the lead. Guided by a profane, fast-talking Hollywood agent (Saul Rubinek), he secures the latter in the form of Michael Baytes (a hilarious Bates), a washed-up Hollywood star and two-time Oscar nominee reduced to living in a trailer. The paranoid Baytes, obsessed with Muslims, cocaine and guns, soon proves more trouble than he's worth, especially after he demands script rewrites that have the formerly sensitive piece turned into an action film with the new title "Escape From Bogota".
That's only the beginning of the fledgling producer's problems, which soon grow to include a hack director (John Neville), hired only because of the need for a Canadian; a sexed-up starlet (Tilly) who immediately sets out to seduce her leading man; and a documentary filmmaker Deborah Kara Unger) ostensibly doing a behind-the-scenes profile of the production but actually siphoning off the sets and film stock for her own directorial project.
The screenplay by Barry Healy, John Hunter and Tony Johnston veers off in too many directions at once, including a poorly developed subplot involving the burgeoning romance between Modine and Unger. And the humor at times becomes unnecessarily broad, like the over-the-top climax in which the deranged movie star literally goes ballistic. But it also features more than a few laugh-out-loud howlers, and its knowing jokes involving the pressures of Canadian filmmaking and the idiosyncrasies of Hollywood players well demonstrates the filmmakers' obvious experience and familiarity with the scene.
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