In the 1950s, paranoid schizophrenics and others with mental afflictions were treated much more harshly by today’s standards, often being locked away in institutions and subjected to electroshock and other debilitating treatments. In the film “Three Christs,” Richard Gere plays Dr. Alan Stone, a character based on real life social psychologist Milton Rokeach who during
Long before the push for diversity and inclusion, Hollywood had a few Latin/Hispanic stars who made a big impact. One was Katy Jurado, the first Latina actress to win a Golden Globe (for 1952’s “High Noon”) and the first nominated for an Oscar (1954’s “Broken Lance”). She was born Jan. 16, 1924, in Mexico, and
The arrival of a show like “Little America” is no accident. Each chapter of Apple TV Plus’ new anthology series centers on the journeys of immigrants and first-generation Americans who end up in the United States either by choice, necessity or some combination thereof. (All are fictionalized versions of real-life stories, as recently collected by
In film history, there’s never been a project like the nine “Up” British documentaries, which have presented unique challenges for director Michael Apted and editor Kim Horton as they follow the lives of British individuals in seven-year intervals. Horton, who has edited the films since the 1984 “28 Up,” says, “It’s probably the greatest thing
Has it been 35 years since film director Ivan Passer, who died Jan. 9, explained to me why horror movies will never stop getting financed and distributed? “They don’t give their producers any sleepless nights,” the sage Czech maestro quietly, sagely noted, summing up a multitude of film business realities in a simple haiku. And
January 10, 2020 9:37AM PT Part 3 of the “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” contest between three of the most prolific contestants to have ever grace the iconic game show drew big numbers yet again for ABC. Last night’s broadcast drew 15.4 million total viewers, up roughly 500,000 from the 14.8 million who tuned
The Los Angeles Rom Com Fest is returning for a second year and will be held from Thursday, June 25 – Sunday, June 28, 2020. The festival is only growing after last year’s successful debut and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” creator Rachel Bloom as well as “Legally Blonde” and “10 Things I Hate About You” writer Kirsten
In one way, adapting Stephen King’s 2018 novel “The Outsider” into a 10-episode series for HBO was old hat for writer and producer Richard Price. He has adapted his own novels for screen in the past, as well as projects including “The Color of Money” and “The Night Of.” But in another, taking on this
January 10, 2020 9:15AM PT Fresh off its Golden Globe wins, “1917” is marching into wide release. The World War I drama picked up an impressive $3.2 million from Thursday previews and is expected to top the box office this weekend with a $25 million haul. It’s clearly capitalizing on the awards love. On Sunday,
Sixty years ago, a psychologist named Milton Rokeach hatched an unconventional experiment, in which he gathered together at Ypsilanti State Hospital three mental patients who’d been diagnosed with grandiose delusions — each was thoroughly convinced that he and only he was Jesus Christ — to test whether confronting them with “the ultimate contradiction” of their claims might
Attorneys for Harvey Weinstein want reporters barred from jury selection for the movie producer’s rape trial in New York. To act on that desire, Weinstein’s attorneys filed a new motion on Friday asking for individual jury selection — a move that was swiftly denied by Justice James Burke. “Most people do not speak in front
NBC News is winding down Peacock Productions, an in-house unscripted production unit that has had a hand over the years in everything from true-crime serials to one of daredevil Nik Wallenda’s high-wire walks. “NBC News is shuttering Peacock Productions, effective March 2. NBC News is shifting its documentary strategy to an entirely new model, consistent
January 10, 2020 7:30AM PT Actor Harry Hains, best known for his appearances in FX’s “American Horror Story” and Netflix’s “The OA,” died on Tuesday, his mother, actor Jane Badler, announced Friday on Instagram. He was 27. “On Jan. 7 my beautiful son died. He was 27 and had the world at his feet. But
January 10, 2020 7:26AM PT British presenter and journalist Samira Ahmed has won a high-profile equal pay case against the BBC. Ahmed took the pubcaster to an employment tribunal claiming she was underpaid compared to a male colleague, Jeremy Vine, for presenting a similar program. Both presenters fronted viewer feedback shows. The BBC unsuccessfully argued
Ivan Passer, a leading figure of the Czech new wave who directed films including “Cutter’s Way,” died Thursday of pulmonary complications in Reno, Nevada, an associate of the family confirmed. He was 86. Passer was a close friend and collaborator of the late Czech filmmaker Milos Forman. Passer met Forman at a boarding school for
The impact of high-definition audio has been top of mind lately for Alicia Keys, who teased new music and talked about her experience with the technology during a panel overseen by Amazon Music at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Wednesday (January 8) in Las Vegas. The 15-time Grammy winner was joined on the panel
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap. It’s a greeting card holiday designed to make singles feel bad, but it’s also an opportunity to shamelessly wear hearts, sequins, and red all at the same damn time. What’s not to love? We rounded up thirteen looks that give in to V-day
MADRID — Jose Luis Moreno, a Spanish TV institution whose “Escenas de Matrimonio,” comic sketches of marital life, were adapted in France by M6 as “Escènes de menage,” which proved a French TV phenomenon, is back behind the camera with a star English-language cast for the now-filming period drama “Glow and Darkness,” presented at a
Israeli singers Liraz Russo (known by his stage name “Static”) and Ben El Tavor, who make up the pop act Static & Ben El, are still pinching themselves. Getting Grammy-winner and multi-hyphenate Pitbull to share top billing on “Further Up (Na, Na, Na, Na, Na),” their newly-released track and video was, in no uncertain terms,
Vienna-based Autlook Filmsales has acquired two titles ahead of their world premieres in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, taking place from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2. In “The Painter and the Thief,” an artist befriends the thief who stole her paintings, and makes him her muse. She
On Friday, July 22 2011, Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian, drove a white van from Skoyen to the Government quarter in Oslo, where he parked at 3.17 pm. In the van was a 2,100 pound home-made bomb, with a seven-minute fuse, whose explosion killed eight people. He then travelled to the island of Utoya,
Production has got under way in Japan on “G.I. Joe” spinoff “Snake Eyes.” Featuring “Crazy Rich Asian” star Henry Golding, the actioner is a Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, and Skydance presentation, in association with Hasbro, of a di Bonaventura Pictures Production. Selected members of the cast and key crew received a traditional blessing
RuPaul is one of the single most impactful TV stars of the decade just concluded, thanks to a funny sort of double performance. As the host and presiding judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the performer is “himself” in a sort of emcee drag of tailored suits and black-framed specs before emerging, each episode, as the
Restoration wit William Congreve opined that music had charms to soothe the savage breast, but in “The Sonata,” it has power to summon the savage beast — you know, the one usually depicted with horns, tail, and a pitchfork. This handsome horror meller set primarily in France benefits considerably from location shooting in cheaper, but
Ask anyone to name a female pioneer who studied wild species in their natural habitat in Africa and you’ll get Jane Goodall. But in 1956, four years before primatologist Goodall’s rightfully celebrated work with the chimpanzees started, there was the 23-year-old Canadian Dr. Anne Innis Dagg and her research of giraffes. Despite being the first
The members of the Hollywood Critics Association celebrated 2019 and the end of the decade at the 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 9, 2020. Sam Mendes’ “1917,” which, in a surprise move, took home the Golden Globes’ best picture award, also snagged the best picture award from the HCA. It
Cynthia Erivo has responded to the recent BAFTA nominations, which yielded entirely white nominees in all the major acting categories. At the red carpet premiere for her new HBO show “The Outsider,” Erivo started off by saying how disappointed she was by the lack of diversity in the BAFTA noms, which snubbed her for her
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the fifth episode of “Project Runway” Season 18. After Tyler Neasloney’s exit on last week’s episode of “Project Runway,” viewers wondered who would be the next to talk back to the judges. For those who come for the fashion but stay for the drama, thankfully
Even a new league comes with history. That’s one of the takeaways from the first episode of “The Campaign,” which follows the Chicago Huntsmen in the lead-up to Activision Blizzard’s new franchised Call of Duty League. Variety is debuting the first episode exclusively, which details some of the narrative that follows the Huntsmen (based in
FX chief John Landgraf has long been a proponent of transparency, making public his research team’s hyper-analyzed TV viewership data on a regular basis. But with the launch of FX on Hulu, the basic cabler’s new streaming home, how its shows’ viewership is divulged is not entirely up to him. Landgraf, of course, is privy