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This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks."

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 5, episode 3, "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel," sees Lieutenant Boimler (Jack Quaid) assigned to a covert, potentially dangerous spy mission. He is to join Commander Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) and Lieutenant Commander Billups (Paul Scheer) on a mission to the Cosmic Duchess, an ultra-swanky, high-end resort-like cruise ship, floating gently through deep space. His assignment is to penetrate deep into the hotel to retrieve Admiral Milius (Toby Huss), a Starfleet officer who has gone Awol thanks to "a touch of vacation madness." The writers of "Lower Decks" missed an opportunity in not saying that he had been infected with Paradise Syndrome.

The Cosmic Duchess, however, is such a massive ship that it incorporates artificial recreations of every possible vacation-ready biome. There's a tropical beach biome, a skiing resort biome, and a water park biome.

Better Lovers have released the new song and video “Love as an Act of Rebellion,” the final taste of the band’s new album Highly Irresponsible before its release on Friday (October 25th).

The song is the closing track on the album and in the words of frontman Greg Puciato, “runs the gamut emotionally.” The first portion of the track sees the band in frenetic metalcore mode, delivering a blitz of fast thrash and breakdowns — maybe the most manic two-minute stretch of any Better Lovers song we’ve heard yet. But then things calm down, ending in a “place of uneasy acceptance,” as Puciato put it.

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“This song has become one of my personal top three or four on the record,” he said. “I knew it was the final song in the tracklisting as soon as I heard the instrumental. … Extremely satisfying emotionally and stylistically...

Picture this: A big-name actor strolls on stage to intro a screening of one of his classic flicks. So far, so good. But hold up – he’s rocking a dress? Wild. The crowd’s eating it up, but then some stagehands rush in to yank it off him. He doesn’t put up much of a fight, but the audience is not having it – they’re booing like crazy. It turns out that the dress was part of the gag all along, but maybe not the awkward strip show. Little did they know, this wacky moment was just a warm-up for what was coming: Richard Dreyfuss going off about kids changing genders, the parents that push them into it, women in Hollywood (including a dig at his old co-star Barbra Streisand), and the whole #MeToo thing. Talk about a plot twist.

Was this just another celeb crash-and-burn, Hollywood chewing up and spitting out another star?...

This year, Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier are Oscar-nominated nominated for their original screenplay for the Norwegian hit “The Worst Person in the World.” Over the first 76 years of this category, only five films in languages other than English have taken home Oscar gold in this category.

So let’s test your Oscar history. Without hitting the Internet or your reference books, what was the first of these five to win in this category? Could it be Jacques Prevert’s script for Marcel Carne’s beloved French epic “Children of Paradise,” which opened here in 1946. Sorry, it wasn’t. Do you give up?

It was “Marie-Louise,” which won at the 18th Academy Awards on March 7, 1946 over the original scripts for “Dillinger,” “Music for Millions,” “Salty O’Rourke” and “What Next, Private Hargrove?”

Since then, only four more films in languages other than English took home the screenplay Oscar” the Italian...

More or less ignored for 75 years, this curious ‘B’ program picture now finds its way directly to a Warner Archive Blu-ray release. Cult actor Lawrence Tierney has an atypical ‘swell guy’ role as a Marine veteran thrust into a murder mystery and made the fall guy for nefarious foreign spies. Anne Jeffreys becomes his co-fugitive when the villains frame him for murder. It’s like a fancy 1960s romantic thriller, except on a micro scale. Just the same, Phil Rosen’s movie crams a lot of incident into its brisk 62 minutes. Consider it a gift to Lawrence Tierney fans — they might like him in a role that Cary Grant could play.

Step by Step

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1946 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 62 min. / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Lawrence Tierney, Anne Jeffreys, Lowell Gilmore, Myrna Dell, Harry Harvey, Addison Richards, Ray Walker, Jason Robards Sr., George Cleveland, Lee Bonnell, Robert Clarke,...

The life and wild times of the late Lawrence Tierney will soon be put on the page.

Author, journalist and documentary producer Burt Kearns confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that he is writing Tierney’s biography, which has been acquired by the University Press of Kentucky for publication in 2022.

Born in 1919, the Brooklyn-raised Tierney, who died in 2002, broke into the business in the early 1940s and earned a reputation for playing intense, tough-guy characters like mobsters, murderers and bank robbers. His fame came quickly thanks to a star turn in the film Dillinger, which cast him as the notorious gangster ...

The life and wild times of the late Lawrence Tierney will soon be put on the page.

Author, journalist and documentary producer Burt Kearns confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that he is writing Tierney’s biography which has been acquired for publication by the University Press of Kentucky for publication in 2022.

Born in 1919, the Brooklyn-raised Tierney, who passed away in 2002, broke into the business in the early 1940s and earned a reputation for playing intense, tough-guy characters like mobsters, murderers and bank robbers. His fame came quickly thanks to a star turn in the film Dillinger, which cast him as ...

The veteran character actor shared the screen with Timothy Dalton, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Frank McRae, a mainstay of action blockbusters including “License to Kill” and “Last Action Hero,” has died. He was 80.

McRae died of a heart attack on April 29 in Santa Monica, Calif., his daughter-in-law confirmed.

Born in Memphis, McRae excelled in high school sports before attending Tennessee State University, where he double-majored in history and drama. He played defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears’ 1967 season before deciding to transition into acting.

McRae’s work on the big screen would quickly overshadow his football accomplishments, with the actor going on to appear in over 40 films. His breakout role came in the 1973 gangster flick “Dillinger,” a part he got by standing in a studio exec’s parking space until he was granted a meeting, according to IMDb.

The actor shrewdly leveraged his 6-foot-5 frame into a run of...

Frank McRae, the actor who appeared in films such as “Licence to Kill” and “Last Action Hero,” has died. He was 80.

McRae died in Santa Monica, Calif. on April 29 as a result of a heart attack, his daughter-in-law confirmed to Variety.

The NFL player-turned-actor was born in Memphis, Tenn. A star athlete in high school, he went on to Tennessee State University as a double major in drama and history. McRae had a brief career as a professional football player and was the defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams.

Making the pivot to a new kind of stage, McRae found his calling in the entertainment industry. In his 30-plus years as a character actor, he appeared in over 40 movies. Standing at approximately six-and-a-half feet tall, McRae took advantage of scooping up tough guy roles in movies like “Hard Times,” “Big Wednesday” and “F.I.S.T.” with Sylvester Stallone.

“Since studios keep making remakes, why don’t they at least remake them better?” Billy Wilder had a right to ask me that question 20 years ago, since the many remakes of his movies never matched the originals.

The Wilder conundrum seems relevant today when the studios and streamers are announcing more and more remakes. Paramount says it’s developing Love Story, Flashdance and The Parallax View, among others. It is not remaking The Godfather, which went into production 50 years ago. But there are two projects in the works about the making of the movie, and there also is Francis Coppola’s refreshed Godfather III, made in 1990 and re-edited by Coppola now out under his preferred title Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

While I share Wilder’s skepticism about the remake business, a case could be made that the entire gangster genre deserves a revisit.

Mike Fenton, the legendary casting director who worked on the “Back to the Future” franchise, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and scores of other classic movies and TV shows, has died. He was 85.

Fenton co-founded what is now known as Casting Society of America in 1982. He was a prominent casting director for more than 40 years, with a mile-long resume that stretched from “The Andy Griffith Show” and “That Girl” to “Chinatown,” “American Graffiti,” “The Godfather II,” “Blade Runner,” “A Christmas Story,” “Norma Rae,” “Footloose,” “Honeymoon in Vegas” and “Chaplin.”

“Working with Mike Fenton was like working in a candy store — he made casting a blast,” Steven Spielberg said in a statement. “His fervent support of actors was the stuff of legend, and after landing a part, any actor’s smile was rarely as wide as Mike’s. He didn’t just support actors, he launched crusades.

You’ve asked questions. Prepare for the answers.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

The Beguiled (1971)

Tenet (2021? Maybe?)

Smokey Is The Bandit (1983)

Robin Hood (2010)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

The Devils (1971)

Song of the South (1946)

Gremlins (1984)

Dillinger (1973)

Marcello I’m So Bored (1966)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Big Wednesday (1978)

Swamp Thing (1982)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Payback (1999)

Bell, Book And Candle (1958)

Blowup (1966)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Medium Cool (1969)

25th Hour (2002)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Palm Springs (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Mandy (2018)

The Sadist (1963)

Spider Baby (1968)

Night Tide (1960)

Stark Fear

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

Ms. 45 (1981)

Léolo (1992)

The Howling (1981)

Showgirls (1995)

Green Book (2018)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Best Man (1964)

Advise and Consent (1962)

The Candidate (1972)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Seven Days In May (1964)

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

The Man (1972)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Four Lions (2010)

Pump Up The Volume (1990)

Nightmare In The Sun (1965)

The Wild Angels (1966)

The Omega Man (1971)

The Nanny (1965)

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man...

Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you’re curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.

Rod Steiger – “Al Capone” (1959) • Rod Steiger played Capone with deliberate showiness, from the roar of his voice to the tilt of hid fedora. Although he won a Laurel Award for his performance, Capone’s sister wasn’t crazy about the film – she sued the filmmakers for $10 million for invasion of privacy because they failed to get permission from the Capone estate to make it. The suit was eventually dismissed. Check out Steiger as Capone in a clip here.

Neville Brand – “The George Raft Story” (1961) • Although Neville Brand had an extensive resume...

The lockdown has been a good excuse for many of us to venture into our personal archives and dredge up some gems from the past. Quentin Tarantino has been doing just that, unearthing a 1982 interview he, then a 20-year-old on the fringes of the industry, conducted with the filmmaker John Milius.

Tarantino says he approached Milius via his assistant under the pretence of writing a book, and was granted access twice for some lengthy chats, initially at the filmmaker’s office on the Paramount lot and then on the set of war pic Uncommon Valor.

More from DeadlineCannes Film Festival Won't Happen In June Admit Organizers, But Fest Still Hoping To Stage A Version Of The Event In 2020Cinemark: 17,500 Layoffs, Pay Cuts, $42M Dividend Suspension, $20M Tax Refund Part Of Covid-19 Cash-Preserve MethodsAmazing Stories, Mythic...

Happy 71st birthday to Richard Dreyfuss on October 29, 2018! The Oscar-winning actor has been an integral part of so many American films that are now considered classics, such as “Jaws,” “American Graffiti” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and a key collaborator on a number of films directed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Dreyfuss has proven himself adept in his wide range of characters — from a music teacher to a blood-thirsty gangster, and from an aspiring actor to an obnoxious oceanographer. The result has been a Best Actor Academy Award with an additional nomination, plus a Golden Globe victory with three additional Globe nominations.

So let’s celebrate Richard’s big day by looking back and ranking his 12 greatest films from worst to best in the photo gallery above.

SEESteven Spielberg movies: Every film ranked from worst to best

12. Always (1989)

For a third time, Dreyfuss teams up with his...

Harry Dean Stanton, the legendary character actor and offbeat leading man who starred in Repo Man, Paris, Texas, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Big Love in a career that spanned over seven decades, has died at the age of 91.

Stanton died of natural causes in Los Angeles, Variety reports, with TMZ adding that the actor died peacefully Friday afternoon at the city's Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Director David Lynch, who cast Stanton in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story and the recent Twin Peaks: The Return,...

An Encore Edition. Peckinpah's macabre South of the border shoot 'em up is back for a second limited edition, with a new commentary. It's still a picture sure to separate the Peckinpah lovers from the auteur tourists - it's grisly, grim and resolutely exploitative, but also has about it a streak of grimy honesty. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Twilight Time Encore Edition 1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date September, 2016 / available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 29.95 Starring Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young, Helmut Dantine, Emilio Fernández, Kris Kristofferson, Chano Urueta, Jorge Russek, Enrique Lucero, Janine Maldonado, Richard Bright, Sharon Peckinpah, Garner Simmons. Cinematography Álex Phillips Jr. Art Direction Agustín Ituarte Film Editors Garth Craven, Dennis E. Dolan, Sergio Ortega, Robbe Roberts Original Music Jerry Fielding Written by Sam Peckinpah, Gordon T. Dawson, Frank Kowalski Produced by Martin Baum, Helmut Dantine, Gordon T. Dawson Directed by...

Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: With the election almost upon us and the Obama drama Southside With You now in theaters, we tweak an old Watch This topic and hail some of our favorite films about real U.S. Presidents.

The Wind And The Lion (1975)

Coming off the superb low-budget gangster film Dillinger (1973), writer-director John Milius went as big as he could for his first major studio film, The Wind And The Lion, a piece of fanciful historical fiction that hearkens back to the movie epics of earlier decades and to the adventures serialized in boys’ magazines generations before that.

The inspiration came from a forgotten incident that was an issue during Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 re-election campaign: the kidnapping of a Greek-American businessman by a Berber leader in Morocco. Like Dillinger, The Wind ...

Amanda Milius says the sweeping wide-angle shot of the blazing sun in “The Lotus Gun,” her thesis film from USC, is not an homage to “Apocalypse Now,” for which her father, John Milius, penned the script. “The director of photography came up with that shot, it’s his signature,” the filmmaker recently told IndieWire.

Milius’ intimate knowledge of film – classic and cult – can be seen in every gorgeous shot of “The Lotus Gun,” which she directed and co-wrote. (She shares writing credit with Johnathan Eisenman). Set in a post-apocalyptic desert landscape, “The Lotus Gun” follows Nora (Lauren Avery) – a gun-toting, pot-smoking, anti-hero – and her love, Daphine (Dasha Nekrasova) as they survive alone in the wilderness. When a male intruder from a drug-addled commune absconds with Daphine, Nora must save the day and take revenge.

Read More: What Is The Best Short Film Ever Made? — Critics Survey

“I naturally fantasize about...

Over the course of his career, the notoriously hard-living Warren Oates palled around with Dennis Hopper and served as one of many Sam Peckinpah muses. His relationship with Hollywood bad boys extended to John Milius, who directed him in the memorable title role for the B-grade biopic Dillinger. By the time he passed away in 1982, he had over 120 film and television productions to his name.

But in 1960, Oates was a struggling young actor whose broad, bulldoggish face and crooked-toothed smile didn’t exactly scream movie star. He was, however, perfect as a counterpart to Corey Allen in director Leslie Stevens‘ lost film Private Property.

Nearly six decades after its initial release, the black-and-white gem has re-emerged thanks to efforts of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Cinelicious Pics, a small company with a reputation for digging up valuable works doomed to obscurity. Their latest find provides a glimpse into a...

A few years back, we took a look at the essential films of John Milius, and among them was his take on the legendary gangster John Dillinger. We called 1973's "Dillinger" a movie that displays "brutal, muscular filmmaking" and one that's "loaded with surprisingly visceral action." And Arrow Video has now given the picture a 2K restoration on DVD and Blu-ray, and today we have an exclusive clip from the release. Warren Oates plays the title role in "Dillinger," with the movie tracking the rise and fall of Public Enemy Number One as he's pursued by Melvin Purvis and the FBI's G-men. Rounding out the cast of the distinctive gangster flick is Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Dreyfuss and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, with Arrow Video loading their release with a bounty of extras including new interviews and an audio commentary. "Dillinger" is in stores today. Get...

Guns! Guns! Guns! John Milius' rootin' tootin' bio of the most famous of the '30s bandits has plenty of good things to its credit, especially its terrific, funny cast, topped by the unlikely star Warren Oates. The battles between Dillinger's team of all-star bank robbers and Ben Johnson's G-Man aren't neglected, as Milius savors every gun recoil and Tommy gun blast. Dillinger Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video U.S. 1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis, John Ryan, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Kanaly, John Martino, Roy Jenson, Frank McRae. Cinematography Jules Brenner Special Effects A.D. Flowers, Cliff Wenger Edited by Fred R. Feitshans, Jr. Original Music Barry De Vorzon Produced by Buzz Feitshans Written and Directed by John Milius

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

There it was in the dentist's office, an article in either...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our second monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis) ! Join We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday March 1st and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is the 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

“I have no soul. I’m beyond the pale. I’m one of the living dead!”

Fredric March was superb and thoroughly deserved his Best Actor Oscar for the 1932 telling of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by far the most exciting and cinematic version of the famous story. Miriam Hopkins gives an excellent portrayal of Ivy Pearson,...

Harry Callahan’s next adventure originated with John Milius, Hollywood’s favorite gun fanatic, surfer and “Zen anarchist.” Milius wrote B Movies for American International Pictures before breaking through with two Westerns, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean and Jeremiah Johnson. His knack for macho action and pulpy, colorful dialogue fit Dirty Harry perfectly; Milius wrote his draft in 21 days, receiving a Purdey shotgun as payment.

Though uncredited, Milius claims credit for Harry‘s dialogue, especially the “Do I feel lucky?” monologue. Others, including Richard Schickel, credit Harry Julian Fink with that speech. Clint Eastwood marginalizes Milius’s contributions to the film, admitting “we might have taken a few good items John had in there.” Milius resented this: “Look at the movie and you tell me who wrote that,” he challenged an interviewer.

Milius soon moved past any hurt feelings. After reading several articles on Brazil’s “death...

Actor Geoffrey Lewis, veteran of such films as High Plains Drifter and Dillinger, has passed away at the age of 79.

We're sad to report that veteran actor Geoffrey Lewis has passed away at the age of 79.

Across a career spanning TV and film, Lewis will surely be remembered for different roles by successive generations of filmgoers. Many will remember Lewis for his roles alongside Clint Eastwood in movies like High Plains Drifter, Every Which Way But Loose and Bronco Billy.

Others might remember him for his TV performances, which included Hawaii Five-o, Salem's Lot and Murder She Wrote. Then there was his superb turn in the period crime piece Dillinger, his turn in the cult sci-fi Night Of The Comet, or his work in the Michael Cimino films Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (another Eastwood flick) and Heaven's Gate.

These are but a few of the films and television shows brightened by Lewis's presence.

Geoffrey Lewis, actor and father of Juliette Lewis, has died at the age of 79.

The San Diego-born star appeared frequently in Clint Eastwood movies and has worked on dozens of television shows throughout his career.

Among his Eastwood titles are High Plains Drifter, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Every Which Way But Loose, Any Which Way You Can and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

His other film credits include The Devil's Rejects, Heaven's Gate and Dillinger.

According to Variety, the actor passed away on Tuesday (April 7) of natural causes.

He is survived by wife Paula Hochhalter, and ten children including Juliette, Lightfield, Matthew and Deirdre, who have also taken up acting as a career.

After last week’s onslaught of new stuff, it was perhaps inevitable that this week would be something of a comedown with not much going on. There is some worthwhile new stuff added, the John Milius documentary for one which has debuted on Lovefilm the same time as DVD more or less and, of course, a contender for the worst film of all time. I have used this opportunity to catch up on some titles that were added last week and I didn’t have space for which are definitely worth writing about. I hope you enjoy.

The Host (2013)

Once upon a time, a bright young writer from New Zealand wrote a brilliant and ahead of its time screenplay called The Truman Show which then became a pretty fantastic film and a career peak for Jim Carrey which predicted the world’s obsession with reality television. The year before, his...

Observer film critic Philip French explores the dreamlike qualities of the cinema

From early in the 20th century, cinemas became prominent features of the urban landscape and later, in the form of drive-ins, of the American countryside. As the late John Updike observed in his poem Movie House:

No windows intrude real light

Into this temple of shades, and the size of it,

The size of the great rear wall measures

The breadth of the dreams we have there.

It dwarfs the village bank,

Out looms the town hall,

And even in its decline

Makes the bright-ceilinged supermarket seem mean.

Very soon cinemas began to appear in the films themselves, as dream palaces to escape the world, trysting places for lovers, temporary refuges for fugitives, secret rendezvous for spies, or just places in which to work, most suggestively as that key cultural figure, the projectionist.

Gangster John Dillinger was ambushed...

Premium channel Epix acquired the rights to "Milius," Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson's film about screenwriter, director and controversial Hollywood personality John Milius, ahead of its screening at the 2013 Telluride Film Festival. Today, Epix announced that it will be premiering the film on Saturday, January 11 at 8pm, alongside a day's worth of films written or directed by Milius, including "Apocalypse Now," "Dillinger" and "Red Dawn." The schedule, all times eastern: 9am - Apocalypse Now 11:30am - Red Dawn (1984) 1:30pm - Flight of the Intruder 3:30pm - Dillinger 5:25pm - Apocalypse Now 8pm - Milius 9:45pm - Red Dawn (1984) 11:45pm - Farewell to the King 1:45am - Milius 3:35am - Flight of the Intruder 5:35am - Dillinger "Milius" follows the title filmmaker from his childhood aspirations to join the military to his formative years at the USC Film School and on...

Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood get in line to praise movie-maker John Milius in this macho documentary

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The stars come out for this energetic genuflection to moviemaker John Milius (Dirty Harry, Dillinger, Conan the Barbarian, Jaws, Apocalypse Now). Given the calibre of talent on hand to growl out his praises, it's a shame the directors have gone quite so overboard with the Photoshop: few snaps are shown without the subjects morphing to life, few words uttered without animations of the nouns ("I want girls, gold and guns") popping up on screen, like some remedial cartoon for toddlers.

The whole thing reeks of cigars, machismo and hubris, its rhythm a relentless percussion of hairy chest pumping and big fat back slapping. "It's not the critic that counts," is the very first quote. A pity: I'd recommend this.

Rating: 3/5

DocumentarySteven SpielbergClint EastwoodCatherine Shoard

theguardian.

Interview Luke Savage 1 Nov 2013 - 06:22

A chat with the directors of a new documentary charting the career of filmmaker John Milius...

"Are you ready for your round-table with Joey and Zak?"

"Yes, I am, lovely PR person", is my instant reply. Yes, I am. Although that second half is me adding poetic license here. I'm too British to go full-out on the compliments this early into a relationship.

That exchange of pleasantries heralds a welcome interview with directors Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson. They're in town to talk about their documentary Milius, charting the incredible life and career of filmmaker John Milius. It's a very good documentary. So good that I'm not concerned at having to share them with three other interviewers.

And it's so good that I don't mind being a little deflated when I finally get into my first round-table interview. Because there's no table. Nothing. Just...

Content Film has snapped up international sales rights (excluding Spain) to a documentary about John Milius, the director of Conan the Barbarian and screenwriter behind Apocalypse Now.

Milius, which tells the life story of the Us film-maker and premiered at SXSW, has also been bought by StudioCanal for the UK.

Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa make their feature debut, having previously made behind the scenes documentaries for companies such as Miramax and Disney through their company Chop Shop Entertainment.

The film was produced by Matthew Perniciaro and Kevin Mann of Haven Entertainment, Scott Mosier of Ogb, Inc. and Kenneth Plume.

The deal was negotiated by Toby Melling of Content and Wme Global on behalf of the producers.

The documentary follows Milius’s childhood aspirations from joining the military to his formative years at the USC Film School, his scriptwriting on films such as Dirty Harry, Jeremiah Johnson and Apocalypse Now and his work as director on films...

It is a nice coincidence that the trailer for a new documentary about filmmaker John Milius should arrive as the Big Lebowski is celebrating its 15th anniversary, given the writer-director was one of the inspirations for John Goodman’s war-obsessed gun nut Walter Sobchak. But the clip for Milius also serves as a reminder that that piece of trivia is one of the less interesting things about this larger-than-life character who brought us Big Wednesday, Conan the Barbarian, Dillinger, and Red Dawn, and who also cowrote Apocalypse Now and had a hand in penning the U.S.S. Indianapolis monologue in Jaws.

Director John Hillcoat assembles a spectacular cast for the uncompromising period drama, Lawless. Here’s the first trailer…

By the end of this summer, it’s just possible that you’ll be crying out to see a movie that isn’t dominated by men in capes or lots of glossy CG effects. If so, John Hillcoat’s Lawless may be just the antidote to a summer of comic book movies – and it’s unlikely you’ll see a starrier cast outside of The Dark Knight Rises.

Tom Hardy, Shia Labeouf, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce are just a few of the acting heavyweights to star in Hillcoat’s movie, formerly known as The Wettest County In The World. A Depression-era drama about a gang of bootleggers operating in Franklin County, Virginia, it’s a raw, uncompromising-looking drama with flashes of violence which, for some reason, remind me of John Milius’ excellent 1973 film,...

All those who complain about the liberal domination of Hollywood have never come across John Milius. A film school pal of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Milius had tried to join the Marine Corp, but was turned away due to his asthma. Instead, he channeled his frustrations into both a life-long obsession with firearms (he was paid for "Jeremiah Johnson" in antique weaponry, and has served on the NRA Board of Directors) and making some of the most masculine, testosterone-filled movies of all time, both as an acclaimed writer and as a director. The basis for both Paul Le Mat's character in "American Graffiti" and Walter in "The Big Lebowski" -- the Coens are friends of Milius, and offered him the part of Jack Lipnick in "Barton Fink" -- he's one of film history's most singular, colorful characters.

He might not have had the overwhelming success of Lucas or Spielberg,...

Tuesday marked thirty years since the untimely passing of Warren Oates. The great, grizzled actor's work has fallen somewhat out of fashion these days -- few, bar perhaps Quentin Tarantino, name Sam Peckinpah or Monte Hellman, Oates' closest and most frequent collaborators, as influences. If you're familiar with him at all, it's likely from his parts as outlaw Lyle Gorch in "The Wild Bunch" or as Sgt. Hulka in Bill Murray comedy "Stripes." But for a time in the 1970s, Oates was Hollywood's go-to badass character actor, a man who everyone from Norman Jewison and William Friedkin to Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick wanted to work with.

Born in Depoy, Kentucky in 1928, Oates discovered acting at the University of Louisville, and soon headed west to L.A. where he swiftly became a regular face in the golden era of TV westerns, including parts on "Rawhide," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "Have Gun - Will Travel...

"It would be one thing if J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood's bio-pic of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, were merely another Eastwood film shot in the cloudy, patent-medicine weak-tea sepia tones of a Ken Burns production, with its minor-key piano chords and historically appropriate pop songs," writes James Rocchi for Box Office. "It would be another thing if J. Edgar were simply another Leonardo DiCaprio film where the star — through makeup and miracles — portrays another complex American legend whose public persona was only the smallest part of his complex life, as the actor did in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Aviator. But between Eastwood's direction and Dustin Lance Black's screenplay, what you feel leaking off the screen in every scene is missed opportunity. This material could have inspired a serious and artistic examination of the role of law and intelligence in America, of the toxic nature of secrets, or...

If I had to pin down just what exactly Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar was all about, I'd say it's the story of the titular FBI director's relationship with associate director Clyde Tolson and the disapproving scorn of his mother who didn't want her son to grow up to be a "daffodil." It's a story of a man met on all fronts with barriers he must overcome to get anything done, but the one wall he was never able to break through was the one that would allow him to finally accept Tolson as a lover and not just a close friend. Too bad this is all presented in such a meaningless, inconsequential manner, and ultimately places less emphasis on what could be considered more interesting and factual aspects of J. Edgar Hoover's life.

J. Edgar is Brokeback Mountain meets The King's Speech, the only difference being I believed...

Nine years before Conan the Barbarian, John Milius made his directorial debut with Dillinger, a jaunty yet visceral journey through the final months of Public Enemy No. 1, played by the great Warren Oates. "I may not live forever, but I'd be a damn fool not to try." Oates plays Dillinger with relish, as a brutish, brazen, cocky criminal who's determined to squeeze every ounce of juice out of life. A sheriff confirms his true identity by observing how he conducts himself while in disguise at a picnic, dressed in fine clothes, driving a shiny car, dancing with an indecently fine-looking woman: "Decent folks don't live that good." Yet Milius, who also wrote the script, doesn't glamorize Dillinger or his gang. Dillinger is never...

A man who works with his hands is a laborer;

a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman;

but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.

Louis Nizer

In his indispensable film study text, Understanding Movies, Louis Gianetti held forth on what separated craftsmanlike directors from those who rise above the norm:

“…what differentiates a great director from one who is merely competent is not so much a matter of what happens, but how things happen…”

In other words, Gianetti continued, the difference was in how effectively the director used form – visual style, composition, editing, mise en scene, and the rest of the directorial toolbox – to “…embody (a film’s) content.”

But with the rise of big budget blockbusters in the 70s and 80s, there came the ascendancy of a breed of director for whom content mattered less than form.

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Public Enemies (2009, directed by Michael Mann) is chock full of accurately recreated and as such eminently covetable, early 1930s era garments, as designed by multi Oscar winner Colleen Atwood. Perhaps most enticing of all, however, is how one particular garment, a plain wool overcoat, actually powers the narrative of the film. It is the coat that killed John Dillinger.

When we meet John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp), his criminal career, primarily as a bank robber, is in full swing. He is wearing that conspicuous badge of honour for all those in his ‘gentlemen’s’ fraternity – expensive clothes. They were the ‘bling’ of their day and tended to be as loud and against accepted norms as possible, taking all manner of liberties in cut and colour, including extra wide trousers,...

The Flicks:

Crazy Mama (1976): Roger Corman has launched countless careers, and here we get to see the beginning of a famous one: Oscar Winner Jonathan Demme. Twenty-five years before he would director The Silence Of The Lambs he directed this small gem of a road movie. Set in 1958, Cloris Leachman stars as Melba Stokes, who runs a beauty parlor with her mother Sheba (Ann Sothern) and her teenage daughter Cheryl (Linda Purl). When the shop is repossessed, Melba packs up the family and hits the road in an effort to reclaim her family home in Arkansas. Aided by Cheryl’s beleaguered boyfriend (Happy Days’ Don Most), a greaser (Brian Englund) and an old lady gambler (a scene stealing Merie Earle), they joyride through five states on a wild, hilarious crime spree.

This film is slow moving, but pleasant. Set to an excellent soundtrack of 50’s surf music, this...

Oakland — Just in time for the holiday season, the Gravy has arrived.

Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie opens up in various theaters across America at the start of December. Wavy Gravy is an icon with an ever changing career. He’s gone from the legendary Merry Pranksters to the head of security at the original Woodstock to running a respected charity and finally achieving international greatness as a flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. The many facets of his life are covered in the documentary directed by Michelle Esrick.

We had a chance to sit down for an extensive interview with Wavy Gravy and Michelle Esrick when the movie premiered at 2009’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

This first part has him discuss getting drunk with Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and dropping acid at the Electric Acid Kool-Aid Tests. Ahhh good times.

Now we get...

Two things we know Leonardo DiCaprio loves: fancy old-timey clothes, and the ladies. Now he gets to bring these passions together in his next planned role, as FBI founding director and—rumored cross-dresser—J. Edgar Hoover. Leo spilled about wearing women's clothing over the weekend, at a press conference for his new thriller Inception: "I'm talking to Clint Eastwood about playing J. Edgar Hoover," said DiCaprio, emphasizing the "secret life" of the notorious crime-fighter, "who had his hand in some of the most sort of scandalous events in American history—everything from the Vietnam war and Dillinger to Martin Luther King and JFK." Hoover's private and...

Leonardo DiCaprio confirmed at a press conference over the weekend that he's in talks for the biopic of famed FBI director J. Edgar Hoover according to Hitfix.

“I am talking to Clint Eastwood about playing J. Edgar Hoover who had his hand in some of the most scandalous moments in American history. Everything from the Vietnam war to and Dillinger to Martin Luther King and JFK. So, it’s about the secret life of J. Edgar Hoover” said DiCaprio.

One aspect many are wondering about is the film's coverage of Hoover's alleged homosexuality and cross-dressing. So will we see Leo in drag? "Will I wear a dress? Not as of yet. "No, we haven't done the fitting for those. So, I don't think so."...

By Todd Gilchrist

HollywoodNews.com: Last week, journalists and critics got their first official look at Inception, Christopher Nolan’s genre (and mind-) bending new movie. Friday morning in Los Angeles, Hollywood News joined that lucky group of reporters to ask members of the cast and crew questions about the film. Writer-director Christopher Nolan and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt spoke at length about the challenges and opportunities they tackled in the process of making Inception.

[Click Here To View The "Inception" Slideshow]

[Note: Although "Hollywood News" is used to distinguish questions from answers in the text below, our journalist was just one of many reporters asking questions of the filmmakers.]

Hollywood News: For the actors, besides the obvious of working with Christopher Nolan, I wanted to know, for each of you, if you’ve been fascinated by dreams in your lifetime, and if you thought differently about them since working on this film.

Christopher Nolan: I’ve been fascinated by dreams my whole life, since I was a kid, and I think the relationship between movies and dreams is something that’s always interested me,...

News came late last week that Leonardo DiCaprio had officially been signed to play J. Edgar Hoover in the upcoming biopic directed by Clint Eastwood. It turns out that the casting is not 100% yet, but the actor has been having discussions and was willing to speak with them today at a press conference held for Inception. Present at the conference, SlashFilm got some quotes from DiCaprio about the project, including a confirmation that he is in talks: .Yeah, I.m talking to Clint Eastwood about playing J. Edgar Hoover, who had his hand in some of the most scandalous events in American history . everything from the Vietnam war to [John] Dillinger to Martin Luther King and JFK. It.s about the secret life of J. Edgar Hoover.. Just as I had mentioned in my article, one of the bigger/funnier questions surrounding the project is whether or not the film ...

Last week it was reported that Leonardo DiCaprio had signed on to star in a biopic of original FBI director J. Edgar Hoover directed by Clint Eastwood.  Today at the press conference for Inception, DiCaprio was asked about the potential upcoming project, and the star confirmed that he is in talks for the role: "Yeah, I'm talking to Clint Eastwood about playing J. Edgar Hoover, who had his hand in some of the most scandelous events in American history -- everything from the Vietnam war to [John] Dillinger to Martin Luther King and JFK. It's about the secret life of J Edgar Hoover." Dicaprio also confirmed that the story will span Hoover's life/career. But will he wear a dress? Answer after the jump! Someone asked if he will wear a dress in the film, a reference to a claim made in Hoover's 1993 biography Official and Confidential: The Secret...

Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd hasn't been portrayed in as many movies as some of the most famous real-life gangsters -- he's no Capone -- but he's certainly had his share of turns on the screen. Channing Tatum played him in Public Enemies; Martin Sheen played him on TV; Steve Kanaly played him in Dillinger. (That wasn't him in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, though -- Michael Badalucco played a version of Lester 'Baby Face' Nelson.) Now Wayne Kramer (Running Scared) is looking to direct Pretty Boy Floyd, where the bank robber will get to take center stage for the first time in many years. THR says that Kramer has signed on to the film that Myriad Pictures is making with Kirk D'Amico producing. The film is written by Kevin Bernhardt based on the life of Floyd. Kramer told the trade, My approach is to bring 21st century style and...

DVD Playhouse—June 2010

By

Allen Gardner

The White Ribbon (Sony) On the eve of Ww I, a small village in Germany is struck by a series of tragic, seemingly unconnected events until the townspeople, and the audience, start to connect the dots. Shot in stark, beautiful black & white, director Michael Haneke has fashioned a haunting metaphorical drama that is as coldly chilling as anything made by Ingmar Bergman, and darkly unsettling as anything from the canon of David Lynch. A rich, tough, brilliant cinematic experience you’re not likely to forget. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bd bonuses: Interviews with cast and crew; featurettes. Widescreen Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.

Alice In Wonderland (Disney) Tim Burton’s take on the Lewis Carroll classic finds young Alice (Mia Wasikowska), a 19th century girl who finds herself in an unhappy engagement to a boorish suitor, tumbling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, where she encounters magical cakes,...