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Making an epic United Artists Being difficult and uncommercial would not have been the kiss of death for “Heaven’s Gate” if it had won critical praise or awards. But it got nothing. For some time, the movie was synonymous with a particular kind of Hollywood disaster: The overambitious, expensive, self-indulgent flop that was capable of practically killing a famous studio, United Artists. Peter Biskind, author of “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,” called the movie a “sorry end to New Hollywood,” a cinematic movement throughout the 1970s that saw serious filmmakers taking advantage of the fractured studio system to make personal art....

Eastwood is a Yankee Doodle boy Warner Bros. In an interview with Patrick McGilligan (as featured in the 1999 book “Clint Eastwood: Interviews”), Eastwood acknowledged that while he liked John Wayne as a young man (“depending on the film”), his favorite actor was James Cagney. Yes, James “Top of the World!” Cagney. A man whose rat-a-tat delivery synced up perfectly with the lead sputter of the tommy guns his characters often brandished....

Easter Sunday Stars Tia Carrere And Lydia Gaston On Improv, Filipino Food, And More [Interview] Universal Pictures By Ben F. Silverio/Aug. 8, 2022 5:31 pm EST Even though “Easter Sunday” is the first mainstream Hollywood movie to prominently feature a Filipino family in a starring role, Filipinos have been around the entertainment industry in America for a long time. In addition to literally laying the foundation of Hollywood brick by brick alongside other immigrants, Filipino performers have been appearing in film, television, and theater for decades....

Ed Harris Said Yes To National Treasure Thanks To Helen Mirren (And A Whole Lot Of Money) Disney By Matt Rainis/Sept. 8, 2022 4:28 pm EST “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” is likely not anybody’s favorite film. It’s the sequel to one of the most okay movies I can think of, the 2004 original, which wasn’t exactly a genius masterpiece of a movie, but it’s fun enough to justify its own existence....

Every Major Cameo In Thor: Love And Thunder, Ranked Marvel Studios By Lyvie Scott/July 9, 2022 4:00 pm EST In the age of the interconnected movie universe, there are few concepts more enticing than a cameo. Marvel has built a billion-dollar franchise on this phenomenon alone, training its fans to anticipate appearances from their favorite heroes to an almost Pavlovian degree. Of course, the cameos have only increased in number with each installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the deeper we get, the more each film feels like a springboard for another character down the line....

Futurama’s Infamous ‘Jurassic Bark’ Episode Could Have Been Even More Grim Disney+ By Witney Seibold/Aug. 24, 2022 9:32 pm EST The episode of “Futurama” entitled “Jurassic Bark” (that aired on November 17, 2002) was about the unfrozen 20th-century boob Fry (Billy West) going to a museum in the year 3002 to find ancient antiques of the pizza joint where he used to work. There was a pizza paddle, an old dining booth, and, most shockingly, the fossilized remains of his beloved pet dog Seymour....

Decades of Mayhem The “Jackass” guys have been friends for a long, long time. For many of them, the friendship goes back to filming the MTV television series, which debuted in October of 2000. 22 years later, most of the crew is back in the saddle again, this time with gray hair and bad hips. For creators Tremaine and Jonze, the friendship goes back even further, as Jonze started hanging out with his skateboarding buddy Tremaine when he was just 12 years old....

A dystopian hell-world created by climate change Pathé “Judge Dredd” was directed by Danny Cannon, who would go on to have a prolific career in television. He’s responsible for helping to create “CSI” and directing the pilot, and also helped create “Gotham” and “Pennyworth,” so the guy clearly has a fascination with crime and punishment. Working from a script by William Wisher Jr., who co-wrote “Terminator” and “T2: Judgement Day” with James Cameron, and Steven E....

This wandering day Prime Video The biggest criticism that the show has received has been for its bloated ensemble and meandering storylines — a few of which still had not come to a satisfying conclusion by the time the season finale aired. And on purely a TV storytelling level, it’s a fair criticism: “The Rings of Power” was simply not adept at juggling those multiple storylines, undercutting the momentum of some of their strongest plots and giving far too much screentime to characters that are honestly a bit of a snooze....

Lord Of The Rings Wasn’t The Last Time Viggo Mortensen Would Rough It For A Role Dimension Films By Jenna Busch/Dec. 7, 2022 4:10 pm EST Viggo Mortensen is no stranger to fully committing to a role. While shooting “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) think some of their companions are dead, and Aragorn kicks an orc helmet in anger....

Background on The Transformers Sunbow Animation “The Transformers” came into existence when Hasbro imported action figures from the Japanese toyline “Diaclone” stateside; comic writers Jim Shooter and Dennis O’Neil devised the story premise and character names. Thanks to loosened advertising regulations on children’s television passed in the 1980s, the company was able to create a “Transformers” cartoon that was, functionally, a giant toy commercial. “The Transformers: The Movie” was about cashing in on the show’s success (though it didn’t succeed), but there was an ulterior purpose as well: kill off the old characters (read: toys), which couldn’t be done on TV, then introduce a new cast (read: next year’s action figures)....

Visery’s final stand HBO Critics and viewers alike have been singing the praises of Paddy Considine for months now, and much of it is owed to his performance in the eighth episode of the series. “The Lord of the Tides” is essentially Visery’s last stand because (spoiler alert), the king doesn’t survive the night. After making a long walk to his throne, defending his daughter’s family, and making a final plea to his House to put aside their differences, Viserys dies quietly in bed....

Quentin Tarantino Just Followed George Clooney’s Lead During From Dusk Till Dawn Miramax Films By Lee Adams/Aug. 25, 2022 3:03 pm EST Quentin Tarantino: Great director, terrible actor, right? That said, you have to admire the brass neck on the guy, giving himself the opening monologue of “Reservoir Dogs” while sitting around a table with Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and the gang. To be fair, he really sold the “Like a Virgin” speech, hitting that perfect note of Tarantinoesque smartassery that makes his interviews so compulsively listenable....

R.L. Stine Never Understood The Love For One Of His Iconic Characters Sony Pictures By Shania Russell/July 17, 2022 7:37 pm EST When action figures came to life in the “Toy Story” franchise, it marked a joyous development. A world where toys love us back? Give or take the occasional teddy bear dictator, those sentient toys were a delight! But harsh reality comes for us all. Eventually, we age out of the G-rated bliss of “Toy Story,” and into the PG-rated horrors of R....

The ‘Scream 2’ Ending Originally Had Different Killers (Or Did It?) By Chris Evangelista/Dec. 15, 2017 9:30 am EST Want to feel old? Scream 2 was released 20 years ago. The sequel to the massive hit that changed the horror genre as we know it attempted to keep the hype alive, with diminishing results. In honor of the film’s birthday, writer Kevin Williamson revealed some fun, alternate Scream 2 endings that never made it into the final film, including different identities for the killers....

The English Review: A Gorgeous And Gruesome Tale Of Vengeance In The Old West Prime Video By Danielle Ryan/Nov. 11, 2022 6:00 am EST There’s almost always a market for gritty westerns, but there’s been a bounty of well-made, pitch-black tales of the American west lately. Joining the ranks of shows like “1883” and films like the Academy Award-winning “Power of the Dog” is “The English,” a new Prime Video and BBC limited series from writer and director Hugo Blick about romance and revenge on the lawless prairie....

The Rings Of Power Cinematographer On ‘Creating Hell On Earth’ And Making Night Scenes Watchable [Exclusive Interview] Prime Video By Vanessa Armstrong/Oct. 7, 2022 4:00 am EST Things are heating up in “The Rings of Power” in the season’s last two episodes — there have been explosions, battles, and more than a couple scenes of characters traipsing around in the night. Shooting these various sequences across Middle-earth creates a lot of challenges for the show’s director of photography or cinematographer, who’s responsible for all the lighting and camera angles (and many other things) for the production....

The Thing Ending Explained: Wait Here A Little While And See What Happens Universal Pictures By Witney Seibold/Oct. 21, 2022 3:10 pm EST Based on both John W. Campbell, Jr.’s 1938 novella “Who Goes There?” and its 1951 film adaptation “The Thing from Another World,” John Carpenter’s 1982 film “The Thing” is often celebrated as one of the better films of its decade. “The Thing” notoriously bombed upon its initial release, a financial failure that may be attributed to the more upbeat, less nihilistic alien film “E....

Wardrobe maketh the man Warner Bros. Costumes are easily one of the items on an actor’s checklist to get them into the headspace of their respective characters. It comes as no surprise then that one of the ways in which Reeves tapped into his inner John Constantine was through Constantine’s wardrobe. Costume designer Louise Frogley had been instructed by director Francis Lawrence, as she revealed to EW, to capture the idea of hell in Los Angeles through clothing....

A Forrest Gump Sequel Was Entertained For All Of 40 Minutes Paramount Pictures By Ryan Scott/Sept. 8, 2022 11:17 am EST When one thinks of classic movies from the ’90s, “Forrest Gump” is likely right near the top of that list for many. Not only has the film managed to endure for three decades, but it was an Oscar-winning sensation that helped propel Tom Hanks to superstardom, winning Best Actor for his role as the lovable lead character....