The story of the Monkees is well known to any fan of 1960s pop music. Producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, inspired by the freewheeling antics they witnessed in Richard Lester's celebrated 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night," wanted to capture a similar energy on the small screen. Widespread auditions were held to form a new band that possessed musical talent, but, more importantly, screen chemistry and maybe some acting acumen. The production team was lucky to land one Micky Dolenz, a former child star who appeared on the long-forgotten sitcom "Circus Boy." Davy Jones and Mike Nesmith followed. Peter Tork was suggested by his friend Stephen Stills. While the Monkees did not form organically, they did have chemistry, and possessed humor and acting talent that their less interesting Liverpudlian counterparts never did. Yes, it is now written. The Monkees are, in their way, more interesting than the Beatles.
- 1/1/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Walter Mirisch’s slam-bang, eardrum-pounding Sensurround stock footage orgy for the Centennial Year gathers an impressive lineup of big stars to celebrate the U.S. Navy’s biggest aircraft carrier battle: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune. Director Jack Smight manages the talky, exposition-laden account of a sprawling, complicated battle rather well, at least in terms of clarity. What is unwatchable pan-scanned on TV isn’t half bad for fans of big-scale war movies. Pi gives us an approximation of Sensurround (I think), and also John Ford’s short subject The Battle of Midway from 1942.
Midway
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 132 min. / Street Date October 25, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda.
Guest Stars (in alphabetical order): James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner. Also starring: Edward Albert, Robert Webber, Ed Nelson,...
Midway
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 132 min. / Street Date October 25, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda.
Guest Stars (in alphabetical order): James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner. Also starring: Edward Albert, Robert Webber, Ed Nelson,...
- 11/9/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Pacific Arts Movement (presenters of the San Diego Asian Film Festival) has curated a special collection of films that will celebrate the elders in the Asian community during its 10th Spring Showcase. The presentation includes three films: “The Wash“, “Cosmopolitan“, and “And Thereafter”. The films are available to stream online from April 23 through May 2 nationwide. Never before released on DVD, “The Wash” and “Cosmopolitan” (converted from Laser Disk technology) — a special feature of the presentation that remembers what life used to be like, especially for the very elders that this presentation aims to celebrate. With films from 3 different countries, “Songs Our Elders Taught Me” will be an exploration of the unique stories of love, history, and culture of the elders in our community and provide a space for these stories to be told.
This festival, historically the largest platform of Asian cinema on the west coast, strives to represent the...
This festival, historically the largest platform of Asian cinema on the west coast, strives to represent the...
- 4/23/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge and Broadway Rewind continues with a look at two offerings of the 2004- 2005 theatre season. A sneak peek at the new musical All Shook Up,which featured a breakout performance by Cheyenne Jackson, and we start things off at the opening night of Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Pacific Overtures.This bold and underrated 1976 musical spans over 150 years. It starred two original members from the 1976 Broadway production, Sab Shimono and Alvin Ing. Tony award winner Bd Wong who joined them, told me how exciting it was to be a part of this glorious musical. 'We have gone on this journey as a company. Just an incredible amount of very stimulating and creative work with an incredible director. I mean world class, no pun intended. Fantastic, loving, caring, passionate, creative person. And to have that experience is so rare, and to be in a Sondheim,...
- 3/25/2020
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
A story of murders in the ER becomes, courtesy of writer Paddy Chayefsky, either a preview of social breakdown or an impassioned examination of why we invest our lives and souls in imperfect institutions. George C. Scott is the doctor coming apart at the seams, who meets his match in a New Age hippie from a New Mexico commune. My instinct is that such a person would not look like Diana Rigg, but everybody needs a dream girl.
The Hospital
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date December 19, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: George C. Scott, Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes, Richard A. Dysart, Stephen Elliott, Donald Harron, Andrew Duncan, Nancy Marchand, Jordan Charney, Roberts Blossom, Lenny Baker, Richard Hamilton, Katherine Helmond, David Hooks, Frances Sternhagen, Robert Walden, Jacqueline Brooks, Stockard Channing, Dennis Dugan, Julie Garfield, Christopher Guest, Janet Paul, Sab Shimono, Tracey Walter.
Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper...
The Hospital
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date December 19, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: George C. Scott, Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes, Richard A. Dysart, Stephen Elliott, Donald Harron, Andrew Duncan, Nancy Marchand, Jordan Charney, Roberts Blossom, Lenny Baker, Richard Hamilton, Katherine Helmond, David Hooks, Frances Sternhagen, Robert Walden, Jacqueline Brooks, Stockard Channing, Dennis Dugan, Julie Garfield, Christopher Guest, Janet Paul, Sab Shimono, Tracey Walter.
Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper...
- 1/2/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Did you see the series finale of Samurai Jack? Recently, star Phil Lamarr spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the Cartoon Network TV show's emotional ending.Lamarr voices the titular character on the animated series, which follows a samurai who travels to a dystopian future in order to defeat a shape-shifting demon. The voice cast also includes Greg Baldwin, Sab Shimono, John Dimaggio, and Tara Strong.Read More…...
- 6/8/2017
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Legends of Tomorrow Shogun Trailer & Images The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow ‘Shogun’ TV show trailer & photos feature Brandon Routh, Victor Garber, Franz Drameh, Caity Lotz, Nick Zano, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Dominic Purcell. Guest stars include Stephen Oyoung, Christopher Naoki Lee, Mei Melançon, and Sab Shimono. The Legends of Tomorrow time trip to feudal Japan (kind of a must, if you’re […]...
- 10/21/2016
- by Sam Joseph
- Film-Book
These days, after "Lord of the Rings" and "Game Of Thrones," fantasy isn't just big business, but a genre that's spawned critically acclaimed awards favorites, and picked up Oscars and Emmys by the handful. As such, it's easy to forget that prior to the 1980s, the genre barely existed on screen, with animated takes on Tolkein's works the only really significant blip on the radar. But in 1977, "Star Wars," a film that owed as much to high fantasy as to science-fiction, became the biggest hit in history, and that opened the door to all kinds of new fantasy worlds.
The 1980s would see many, many examples of the genre, from "Labyrinth" and "Legend" to "Krull" and "Ladyhawke," but the film that started it all -- and was probably the finest of that decade's wave in the genre, was 1982's "Conan The Barbarian." Written and directed by gonzo, gun-loving genius John Milius...
The 1980s would see many, many examples of the genre, from "Labyrinth" and "Legend" to "Krull" and "Ladyhawke," but the film that started it all -- and was probably the finest of that decade's wave in the genre, was 1982's "Conan The Barbarian." Written and directed by gonzo, gun-loving genius John Milius...
- 5/14/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last years earthquake when they appear in this Sundays March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union Seventh Street at Third Avenue.
- 3/11/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last years earthquake when they appear in this Sundays March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union Seventh Street at Third Avenue.
- 3/6/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Have I mentioned how much I hate all these breaks between new episodes? Not only does it hurt the show's ratings because people don't know when a new episode is airing, it's also very hard to remember continuity. But the PTBs at Hawaii Five-0 (TV) land came bearing gifts of awesome last night, and truly, this is going to be hard to get through without dissolving into idiotic squeals. Yeah, it was That good. The name of the game from here to the finale is "Family," people. Remember that. It's important and is being fed to us in subtle quantities in these episodes. We're brought in with sweepingly beautiful vistas of the Hawaiian countryside, which I plan on seeing in person before I die. Steve (Alex O'Loughlin) and Danny (Scott Caan) are on a hiking date. Apparently Steve wanted to bring Danny out to the cliffs to see the petroglyphs...
- 4/12/2011
- by mbijeaux@corp.popstar.com (Melissa Bijeaux)
- PopStar
Recently, casting director Amanda Mackey told Back Stage that the key to casting the leads in "The Men Who Stare at Goats" was finding actors who could age believably, since the film spans several decades. Of course, such opportunities are few and far between; mostly you'll be cast close to your own age.But there is much to be learned from playing characters older than yourself when the chance arises. Also, once you are in fact older, there's much to value in your newfound understanding of how to play certain roles. To hear older actors' perspectives on aging and how it affects their craft, I made a few calls. This column will talk about how men face the issue. We'll have a companion column about women in February.Lear at 60Austin Pendleton played King Lear nine years ago, when he was 60, and he says now he'd love to revisit it.
- 1/29/2010
- backstage.com
The Arcadian is an upcoming post-apocalyptic adventure that follows actor J. Larose (of Saw III, Saw IV, and Repo! The Genetic Opera fame) as an enigmatic warrior called "The Lighthouse Keeper" who goes on a quest for "revenge and redemption in a strange future world" we're told is "reminiscent of wild 1970s pop sci-fi."
Inspired in equal parts by samurai movies, rock operas, and underground comics, we're told that the visual world of The Arcadian will be an homage to the work of underground illustrators and be something quite unique due to the fact that it was shot entirely on a Canon 5D Mark II camera - chosen for its unparalleled low-light sensitivity.
The Arcadian has just wrapped principle photography and is heading into an intense round of post. It is due Q2, 2010.
To make up for the fact that we have no detailed plot synopsis yet, we've included a...
Inspired in equal parts by samurai movies, rock operas, and underground comics, we're told that the visual world of The Arcadian will be an homage to the work of underground illustrators and be something quite unique due to the fact that it was shot entirely on a Canon 5D Mark II camera - chosen for its unparalleled low-light sensitivity.
The Arcadian has just wrapped principle photography and is heading into an intense round of post. It is due Q2, 2010.
To make up for the fact that we have no detailed plot synopsis yet, we've included a...
- 11/24/2009
- QuietEarth.us
San Francisco -- Despite its frank approach to the controversial issue of race, Americanese, writer-director Eric Byler's lethargic adaptation of Shawn Wong's novel, American Knees, limps along without a sense of narrative drive. A collection of scenes in search of a coherent story, the film's characters don't develop, and plot lines fail to coalesce by the movie's conclusion. In a word: it's dull.
The film may resonate with Asian-American audiences, too long deprived of seeing images of themselves onscreen, especially as romantic leads in a modern love story. It should have long a run on the festival circuit but has limited art house potential.
Perhaps stymied by the inherent difficulty of transforming the internal world of a novel into a movie, Byler, who demonstrated more storytelling finesse in his feature debut, Charlotte Sometimes, hasn't succeeded in opening up his story to cinematic or dramatic effect. However, he does convey the confusion that follows a breakup, how rapidly intimacy turns into estrangement. To be fair, Byler had his work cut out for him. Somehow, he had build an entertaining film around characters who are stuck and not particularly interesting to begin with.
The story begins after the protagonist, Ray (Chris Tashima), a middle-aged, divorced Chinese-American professor, and his considerably younger bi-racial girlfriend, Aurora (Allison Sie), have broken up. She wants to move on, he can't let go. Tashima, a classically handsome, photogenic actor, struggles to make a stiff, inexpressive character, short on charisma, psychologically interesting. Unfortunately, Ray remains opaque as he mopes his way through life and, sadly for the audience, the entire movie. It's hard to tell if the fault lies in the script's uninspired dialogue, ineffective direction, poor acting or a combination of all three.
Things heat up when Ray embarks on a troubled love affair with Betty (Joan Chen), who delivers a raw performance as a needy, neurotic co-worker with a mysterious past. Betty adds intrigue and a needed injection of adrenaline, but then she suddenly drops out of sight. Kelly Hu overacts as Allison's friend, Brenda -- a loud, nasty vixen and a misogynist stereotype.
Veteran actor Sab Shimono is marvelous as Ray's heartsick father, a man still deeply in love with his late wife. The film perks up whenever Shimono is onscreen. With his vitality and endearing goofiness, it's tempting to wish that the story centered on him rather than his self-absorbed son.
Americanese, with its focus on love, race and sexuality, is a departure from Asian-American films that have focused primarily on cross-generational conflict, the tension between traditional immigrant parents and their pop-culture-intoxicated American offspring. If only the film was good as its intentions.
AMERICANESE
American Knees Prods.
Credits:
Director: Eric Byler
Screenwriter: Eric Byler
Producer: Lisa Onodera
Executive producer: Allison Sie
Director of photography: Robert Humphreys, Stacy Toyama
Production designer: Ben Woolverton
Music: Michael Brook
Costume designer: Jeanette Fuller
Editor: Kenn Kashima.
Cast:
Raymond Ding: Chris Tashima
Aurora Crane: Allison Sie
Wood Ding: Sab Shimono
Brenda Nishitani: Kelly Hu
Jimmy Chan: Michael Paul Chan
Betty Nguyen: Joan Chen
Steve: Ben Shenkman
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 114 minutes...
The film may resonate with Asian-American audiences, too long deprived of seeing images of themselves onscreen, especially as romantic leads in a modern love story. It should have long a run on the festival circuit but has limited art house potential.
Perhaps stymied by the inherent difficulty of transforming the internal world of a novel into a movie, Byler, who demonstrated more storytelling finesse in his feature debut, Charlotte Sometimes, hasn't succeeded in opening up his story to cinematic or dramatic effect. However, he does convey the confusion that follows a breakup, how rapidly intimacy turns into estrangement. To be fair, Byler had his work cut out for him. Somehow, he had build an entertaining film around characters who are stuck and not particularly interesting to begin with.
The story begins after the protagonist, Ray (Chris Tashima), a middle-aged, divorced Chinese-American professor, and his considerably younger bi-racial girlfriend, Aurora (Allison Sie), have broken up. She wants to move on, he can't let go. Tashima, a classically handsome, photogenic actor, struggles to make a stiff, inexpressive character, short on charisma, psychologically interesting. Unfortunately, Ray remains opaque as he mopes his way through life and, sadly for the audience, the entire movie. It's hard to tell if the fault lies in the script's uninspired dialogue, ineffective direction, poor acting or a combination of all three.
Things heat up when Ray embarks on a troubled love affair with Betty (Joan Chen), who delivers a raw performance as a needy, neurotic co-worker with a mysterious past. Betty adds intrigue and a needed injection of adrenaline, but then she suddenly drops out of sight. Kelly Hu overacts as Allison's friend, Brenda -- a loud, nasty vixen and a misogynist stereotype.
Veteran actor Sab Shimono is marvelous as Ray's heartsick father, a man still deeply in love with his late wife. The film perks up whenever Shimono is onscreen. With his vitality and endearing goofiness, it's tempting to wish that the story centered on him rather than his self-absorbed son.
Americanese, with its focus on love, race and sexuality, is a departure from Asian-American films that have focused primarily on cross-generational conflict, the tension between traditional immigrant parents and their pop-culture-intoxicated American offspring. If only the film was good as its intentions.
AMERICANESE
American Knees Prods.
Credits:
Director: Eric Byler
Screenwriter: Eric Byler
Producer: Lisa Onodera
Executive producer: Allison Sie
Director of photography: Robert Humphreys, Stacy Toyama
Production designer: Ben Woolverton
Music: Michael Brook
Costume designer: Jeanette Fuller
Editor: Kenn Kashima.
Cast:
Raymond Ding: Chris Tashima
Aurora Crane: Allison Sie
Wood Ding: Sab Shimono
Brenda Nishitani: Kelly Hu
Jimmy Chan: Michael Paul Chan
Betty Nguyen: Joan Chen
Steve: Ben Shenkman
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 114 minutes...
- 4/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This film was originally reviewed Sept. 21 at the Toronto Festival of Festivals. It opens in select markets on Friday.
Murder, amnesia and the quest for identity are the stuffings for this surrealistic cerebral chiller from first-time filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Archly elliptical, ''Suture'' is a stunning first film, but its chilly tone and detached narration will win favor only among serious cineastes. Still, as an example of new directorial talent, this complex visualization is a first-rate calling card.
Although it's scoped through the dry, searing heat of the Phoenix summer, writer-directors McGehee and Siegel tell their story with clinical cool. It's Southwest noir -- hot sun, cold-blooded murder -- looped around a surreal post: White gangster Vincent (Michael Harris) plans his own demise, mainly as a plot to make it appear he's dead, by blowing up his half-brother Clay (Dennis Haysbert) in his shiny Corniche. But even with meticulous planning and the best of gadgetry, his plan goes awry -- Clay survives, although encased head-to-toe in traction. Weird thing about this mistaken identity thriller -- Clay is black. Although he doesn't lose his life, Clay loses his memory and even the relentless promptings of a Freudian (Sab Shimono) spur little connection to his real past.
The minimalist murder plot and surreal contortions aside, ''Suture'' is primarily a depiction of the synapses of reality: Unconscious memory catalyzed by abstract associations with the everyday jars true identity. Tapping into the inner nature of the psyche is the underlying drama of this black-and-white, associative narrative.
Invariably, some of the surreal histrionics (namely the different races of the ''brothers'') lose their edge and ultimately become only a stylistic conceit, but McGehee and Siegel's sophisticated string of cinematic associations is, at the very least, a beguiling and entertaining visual divertissement.
Haysbert, as the befuddled amnesiac, is a nicely sympathetic character, while Harris brings a properly menacing edge to his performance as the satanic gangster.
Technical contributions are first-rate, including cinematographer Greg Gardiner's icy compositions and editor Lauren Zuckerman's slashing cuts.
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Murder, amnesia and the quest for identity are the stuffings for this surrealistic cerebral chiller from first-time filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Archly elliptical, ''Suture'' is a stunning first film, but its chilly tone and detached narration will win favor only among serious cineastes. Still, as an example of new directorial talent, this complex visualization is a first-rate calling card.
Although it's scoped through the dry, searing heat of the Phoenix summer, writer-directors McGehee and Siegel tell their story with clinical cool. It's Southwest noir -- hot sun, cold-blooded murder -- looped around a surreal post: White gangster Vincent (Michael Harris) plans his own demise, mainly as a plot to make it appear he's dead, by blowing up his half-brother Clay (Dennis Haysbert) in his shiny Corniche. But even with meticulous planning and the best of gadgetry, his plan goes awry -- Clay survives, although encased head-to-toe in traction. Weird thing about this mistaken identity thriller -- Clay is black. Although he doesn't lose his life, Clay loses his memory and even the relentless promptings of a Freudian (Sab Shimono) spur little connection to his real past.
The minimalist murder plot and surreal contortions aside, ''Suture'' is primarily a depiction of the synapses of reality: Unconscious memory catalyzed by abstract associations with the everyday jars true identity. Tapping into the inner nature of the psyche is the underlying drama of this black-and-white, associative narrative.
Invariably, some of the surreal histrionics (namely the different races of the ''brothers'') lose their edge and ultimately become only a stylistic conceit, but McGehee and Siegel's sophisticated string of cinematic associations is, at the very least, a beguiling and entertaining visual divertissement.
Haysbert, as the befuddled amnesiac, is a nicely sympathetic character, while Harris brings a properly menacing edge to his performance as the satanic gangster.
Technical contributions are first-rate, including cinematographer Greg Gardiner's icy compositions and editor Lauren Zuckerman's slashing cuts.
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 3/11/1994
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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