When first-time documentary director Leonard Manzella premieres his award-winning “Shoe Shine Caddie” at the Portobello Film Festival in London on September 16, it will represent a kind of return to the former actor’s roots in the international film scene.
A professional family therapist for the past 30 years in California, Manzella’s earlier career began when the native Angeleno left Los Angeles for Rome in 1968 “when everything was burning.” In his early 20s and armed with “no contacts and about $50 bucks in my pocket,” a fortuitous introduction to American actor Brett Halsey got Manzella into movies, first as an extra and eventually as a leading man.
Halsey, who landed in Rome in the ‘60s and worked steadily in Euro crime thrillers and in the burgeoning spaghetti western scene, often toiled under the moniker Montgomery Ford and Leonard Manzella became famous as Leonard Mann.
“I went to Rome to study political science,...
A professional family therapist for the past 30 years in California, Manzella’s earlier career began when the native Angeleno left Los Angeles for Rome in 1968 “when everything was burning.” In his early 20s and armed with “no contacts and about $50 bucks in my pocket,” a fortuitous introduction to American actor Brett Halsey got Manzella into movies, first as an extra and eventually as a leading man.
Halsey, who landed in Rome in the ‘60s and worked steadily in Euro crime thrillers and in the burgeoning spaghetti western scene, often toiled under the moniker Montgomery Ford and Leonard Manzella became famous as Leonard Mann.
“I went to Rome to study political science,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Gary Kent, the actor, director and stunt performer who also served as one of the inspirations for Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth character in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” died on May 25 in Austin, Texas, The Austin Chronicle confirmed. He was 89.
Kent began his career as a seasoned stunt performer after to traveling to Los Angeles in 1958. Ahead of doubling for Jack Nicholson in Monte Hellman’s “Ride in the Whirlwind” and “The Shooting,” Kent worked in film production offices and acted on the side, appearing in “Legion of the Doomed,” “King of the Wild Stallions,” “Battle Flame,” “The Thrill Killers” and “The Black Klansman.”
Soon after his stuntman debut in 1965, Kent appeared as a gas tank worker in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature film “Targets,” then worked on “Hell’s Bloody Devils,” “The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant” “Angels’ Wild Women” and Richard Rush’s “Psych-Out,” racking up injuries along the way.
Kent began his career as a seasoned stunt performer after to traveling to Los Angeles in 1958. Ahead of doubling for Jack Nicholson in Monte Hellman’s “Ride in the Whirlwind” and “The Shooting,” Kent worked in film production offices and acted on the side, appearing in “Legion of the Doomed,” “King of the Wild Stallions,” “Battle Flame,” “The Thrill Killers” and “The Black Klansman.”
Soon after his stuntman debut in 1965, Kent appeared as a gas tank worker in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature film “Targets,” then worked on “Hell’s Bloody Devils,” “The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant” “Angels’ Wild Women” and Richard Rush’s “Psych-Out,” racking up injuries along the way.
- 5/26/2023
- by Charna Flam
- Variety Film + TV
Gary Kent, the iconic B-movie stunt performer, actor and director who worked with Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Rush and Monte Hellman and served as an inspiration for Brad Pitt’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has died. He was 89.
Kent died Thursday evening at an assisted care facility in Austin, his son Chris Kent told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kent suffered two of his most painful injuries as a stunt performer in Rush films. He sliced up his arm on broken glass during a barfight fracas in Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) and was run over by an out-of-control motorcycle in The Savage Seven (1968), where he shared scenes with Penny Marshall.
His half-century stunt career came to an end on the set of Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) when he tumbled down a hill and damaged his leg, but he kept at it as a stunt coordinator, working as recently...
Kent died Thursday evening at an assisted care facility in Austin, his son Chris Kent told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kent suffered two of his most painful injuries as a stunt performer in Rush films. He sliced up his arm on broken glass during a barfight fracas in Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) and was run over by an out-of-control motorcycle in The Savage Seven (1968), where he shared scenes with Penny Marshall.
His half-century stunt career came to an end on the set of Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) when he tumbled down a hill and damaged his leg, but he kept at it as a stunt coordinator, working as recently...
- 5/26/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer, director and actor Michael Showalter joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Baxter (2005)
Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)
Runaway Daughters (1994)
Clueless (1995)
Bagdad Cafe (1987)
Coda (2021)
The Long Goodbye (1973) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Sugarbaby (1985)
City Slickers (1991)
Attack! (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Pretty In Pink (1986)
Escape From New York (1981) – Neil Marshall’s trailer commentary
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
The Warriors (1979)
The Thing (1982) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Christine (1983)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Annie Hall (1977) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Big Sick (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Between The Lines...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Baxter (2005)
Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)
Runaway Daughters (1994)
Clueless (1995)
Bagdad Cafe (1987)
Coda (2021)
The Long Goodbye (1973) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Sugarbaby (1985)
City Slickers (1991)
Attack! (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Pretty In Pink (1986)
Escape From New York (1981) – Neil Marshall’s trailer commentary
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
The Warriors (1979)
The Thing (1982) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Christine (1983)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Annie Hall (1977) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Big Sick (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Between The Lines...
- 4/5/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Don Jones, a soundman and stuntman who went on to write and direct the low-budget films Schoolgirls in Chains, Sweater Girls and The Forest, had died. He was 83.
Jones died Tuesday in Los Angeles near his San Fernando Valley home of nearly 40 years after recently suffering a stroke, his daughter, Coeli Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones worked sound for Larry Peerce on One Potato, Two Potato (1964), did stunts for Monte Hellman in Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) and for Richard Rush on A Man Called Dagger (1968) and served as the cinematographer on The House of Seven Corpses (1974), starring John Ireland.
His horror films Schoolgirls in ...
Jones died Tuesday in Los Angeles near his San Fernando Valley home of nearly 40 years after recently suffering a stroke, his daughter, Coeli Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones worked sound for Larry Peerce on One Potato, Two Potato (1964), did stunts for Monte Hellman in Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) and for Richard Rush on A Man Called Dagger (1968) and served as the cinematographer on The House of Seven Corpses (1974), starring John Ireland.
His horror films Schoolgirls in ...
- 8/10/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Don Jones, a soundman and stuntman who went on to write and direct the low-budget films Schoolgirls in Chains, Sweater Girls and The Forest, had died. He was 83.
Jones died Tuesday in Los Angeles near his San Fernando Valley home of nearly 40 years after recently suffering a stroke, his daughter, Coeli Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones worked sound for Larry Peerce on One Potato, Two Potato (1964), did stunts for Monte Hellman in Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) and for Richard Rush on A Man Called Dagger (1968) and served as the cinematographer on The House of Seven Corpses (1974), starring John Ireland.
His horror films Schoolgirls in ...
Jones died Tuesday in Los Angeles near his San Fernando Valley home of nearly 40 years after recently suffering a stroke, his daughter, Coeli Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones worked sound for Larry Peerce on One Potato, Two Potato (1964), did stunts for Monte Hellman in Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) and for Richard Rush on A Man Called Dagger (1968) and served as the cinematographer on The House of Seven Corpses (1974), starring John Ireland.
His horror films Schoolgirls in ...
- 8/10/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On the release of what was to be the late Monte Hellman’s final feature film in 2011, critic Steve Erickson noted “Monte Hellman is the ultimate outlaw filmmaker.”
A decade earlier, filmmaker-critic Kent Jones wrote that “anything written in America about Monte Hellman … cinema’s most under-appreciated great director … must be a defense.”
Decades before Jones’ astute assessment, film critic David Thomson had noted, “No system could digest the willful arbitrariness of Monte Hellman’s best films,” which is probably as clear an explanation of why Hellman made only one Hollywood Studio film in a directing career that stretched from 1959 to 2011 and included stints as Jack Nicholson’s filmmaking partner and Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut enabler-producer.
That assessment of Hellman’s importance, that notion that a defensive posture is the inevitable position of the Hellman fan and the idea that Hellman’s Hollywood Failure was his greatest success, all...
A decade earlier, filmmaker-critic Kent Jones wrote that “anything written in America about Monte Hellman … cinema’s most under-appreciated great director … must be a defense.”
Decades before Jones’ astute assessment, film critic David Thomson had noted, “No system could digest the willful arbitrariness of Monte Hellman’s best films,” which is probably as clear an explanation of why Hellman made only one Hollywood Studio film in a directing career that stretched from 1959 to 2011 and included stints as Jack Nicholson’s filmmaking partner and Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut enabler-producer.
That assessment of Hellman’s importance, that notion that a defensive posture is the inevitable position of the Hellman fan and the idea that Hellman’s Hollywood Failure was his greatest success, all...
- 4/22/2021
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Influential instead of famous, brilliant in a way for which his medium has little remaining use, Monte Hellman died yesterday at 91. It was heartening, if not a bit surprising all the same, to see my Twitter feed instantly and unanimously alight with praise for the director, whose filmography is often distilled to one sui generis classic and considered an object of intense interest for true believers otherwise.
Whatever that implies, it’s hard to recommend a filmography with less reservation—Hellman’s cinema is immediately identifiable for its vision of rugged, roughshod masculinity, accessible with its use of iconic figures, and (at the risk of underlining this point too sharply) always invigorates in its sense of discovering some well-kept secret.
Some cursory searches reveal a good number readily streaming. So long as you don’t mind the occasional ad break, your first step is Tubi, which hosts his Jack Nicholson...
Whatever that implies, it’s hard to recommend a filmography with less reservation—Hellman’s cinema is immediately identifiable for its vision of rugged, roughshod masculinity, accessible with its use of iconic figures, and (at the risk of underlining this point too sharply) always invigorates in its sense of discovering some well-kept secret.
Some cursory searches reveal a good number readily streaming. So long as you don’t mind the occasional ad break, your first step is Tubi, which hosts his Jack Nicholson...
- 4/21/2021
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Monte Hellman, the film director who earned a cult following with movies like Two-Lane Blacktop and Ride in the Whirlwind, died Tuesday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, after a fall in his home. His daughter, Melissa Hellman, confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 91.
Hellman was well regarded for his genre films, such as his 1964 war drama Back Door to Hell, 1966’s pair of Westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind (both starring Jack Nicholson), and the acclaimed road movie Two-Lane Blacktop starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson.
Hellman was well regarded for his genre films, such as his 1964 war drama Back Door to Hell, 1966’s pair of Westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind (both starring Jack Nicholson), and the acclaimed road movie Two-Lane Blacktop starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson.
- 4/21/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Jack Nicholson has had a long career playing brooding rebels, crazed villains and sneering charmers on screen. Soon he’ll star opposite Kristen Wiig in a remake of “Toni Erdmann.” He’s a fixture of American cinema and the Lakers courtside seating. For his 80th birthday, we aimed to rank all of Jack’s major, already iconic roles, from worst to best.
“Man Trouble” (1992)
“Man Trouble” is a ridiculous screwball crime comedy in which Nicholson and Ellen Barkin get upstaged by horny dogs. It seems impossible the same guy who did “Five Easy Pieces” made this.
“A Safe Place” (1971)
This bizarre, formless ’70s relic based on a play stars Tuesday Weld and Orson Welles opposite Nicholson about a girl living a fantasy in which she never grows up.
“The Terror” (1963)
Nicholson gives a stiff performance in this Roger Corman picture opposite Boris Karloff, but he gets to kiss a woman who transforms into a corpse.
“Man Trouble” (1992)
“Man Trouble” is a ridiculous screwball crime comedy in which Nicholson and Ellen Barkin get upstaged by horny dogs. It seems impossible the same guy who did “Five Easy Pieces” made this.
“A Safe Place” (1971)
This bizarre, formless ’70s relic based on a play stars Tuesday Weld and Orson Welles opposite Nicholson about a girl living a fantasy in which she never grows up.
“The Terror” (1963)
Nicholson gives a stiff performance in this Roger Corman picture opposite Boris Karloff, but he gets to kiss a woman who transforms into a corpse.
- 4/3/2021
- by Tim Molloy and Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Veteran U.S film producer Gary Kurtz, producer of movies including Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and America Graffiti, has died in London aged 78.
Kurtz passed away yesterday, Sunday September 23, after a year-long battle with cancer.
Starting as an assistant director on Montel Hellman’s western Ride in the Whirlwind, starring Jack Nicholson, he also worked on Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and Dennis Hopper’s Queen of Blood. After military service, he was an associate picture on Chandler and Two-Lane Backdrop before meeting George Lucas in 1971. He co-produced American Graffiti, before making a deal with 20th Century Fox to produce Star Wars; he set up the second unit and directed many pick ups, including most of the cockpit dog fight scenes, as well as the special effects.
The UK-based Kurtz then worked on Empire Strikes Back, his last collaboration with Lucas. He helped to direct alongside Irvin Kershner.
Kurtz passed away yesterday, Sunday September 23, after a year-long battle with cancer.
Starting as an assistant director on Montel Hellman’s western Ride in the Whirlwind, starring Jack Nicholson, he also worked on Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and Dennis Hopper’s Queen of Blood. After military service, he was an associate picture on Chandler and Two-Lane Backdrop before meeting George Lucas in 1971. He co-produced American Graffiti, before making a deal with 20th Century Fox to produce Star Wars; he set up the second unit and directed many pick ups, including most of the cockpit dog fight scenes, as well as the special effects.
The UK-based Kurtz then worked on Empire Strikes Back, his last collaboration with Lucas. He helped to direct alongside Irvin Kershner.
- 9/24/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman and Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Gary Kurtz, a producer on “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” has died. He was 78.
According to a statement by The Kurtz/Joiner Archive, the producer died from cancer on Sunday in North London, England.
“Gary Kurtz, Star Wars producer passed away on Sunday the 23rd of September at 4.47 p.m. after living with Cancer for the last year,” read the statement. “We have him to thank for these wonderful memories that he made for us all. Gary Kurtz helped to create the force and it is with us always. Gary Kurtz left behind Clare Gabriel, Tiffany Kurtz, Melissa Kurtz, and Dylan Kurtz. Our thoughts are with his family.”
Also Read: Gary Kurtz, 'Star Wars' and 'The Empire Strikes Back' Producer, Dies at 78
Actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in various “Star Wars” films, tweeted Monday: “Rip Gary Kurtz. A great filmmaker and man has just passed. Without him...
According to a statement by The Kurtz/Joiner Archive, the producer died from cancer on Sunday in North London, England.
“Gary Kurtz, Star Wars producer passed away on Sunday the 23rd of September at 4.47 p.m. after living with Cancer for the last year,” read the statement. “We have him to thank for these wonderful memories that he made for us all. Gary Kurtz helped to create the force and it is with us always. Gary Kurtz left behind Clare Gabriel, Tiffany Kurtz, Melissa Kurtz, and Dylan Kurtz. Our thoughts are with his family.”
Also Read: Gary Kurtz, 'Star Wars' and 'The Empire Strikes Back' Producer, Dies at 78
Actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in various “Star Wars” films, tweeted Monday: “Rip Gary Kurtz. A great filmmaker and man has just passed. Without him...
- 9/24/2018
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
“Star Wars” producer Gary Kurtz died of cancer on Sunday, his family said in a statement. He was 78.
In addition to helping bring the Skywalker stories to the big screen, Kurtz produced “American Graffiti” and “The Dark Crystal.” His career was closely aligned with that of George Lucas, but the two parted ways after the troubled production of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Kurtz had championed “Star Wars” through multiple drafts and helped Lucas navigate 20th Century Fox’s lack of enthusiasm for a movie they dismissed as a B-picture. After “Star Wars” stunned everyone by turning into a massive hit, Lucas and Kurtz sat about crafting a sequel. Lucas handed the reins over to director Irvin Kershner, but production went over schedule and Lucas was forced to dip into his own pocket to complete the movie. Kurtz stepped in to direct second-unit work on the film. When it came time...
In addition to helping bring the Skywalker stories to the big screen, Kurtz produced “American Graffiti” and “The Dark Crystal.” His career was closely aligned with that of George Lucas, but the two parted ways after the troubled production of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Kurtz had championed “Star Wars” through multiple drafts and helped Lucas navigate 20th Century Fox’s lack of enthusiasm for a movie they dismissed as a B-picture. After “Star Wars” stunned everyone by turning into a massive hit, Lucas and Kurtz sat about crafting a sequel. Lucas handed the reins over to director Irvin Kershner, but production went over schedule and Lucas was forced to dip into his own pocket to complete the movie. Kurtz stepped in to direct second-unit work on the film. When it came time...
- 9/24/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett to discuss Monte Hellman’s The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
In the midsixties, the maverick American director Monte Hellman conceived of two westerns at the same time. Dreamlike and gritty by turns, these films would prove their maker’s adeptness at brilliantly deconstructing genre. Shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman, they feature overlapping casts and crews, including Jack Nicholson in two of his meatiest early roles. The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier, and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys to the Old West.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Purchase the Film
Roger Corman and Monte Hellman discuss the films...
In the midsixties, the maverick American director Monte Hellman conceived of two westerns at the same time. Dreamlike and gritty by turns, these films would prove their maker’s adeptness at brilliantly deconstructing genre. Shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman, they feature overlapping casts and crews, including Jack Nicholson in two of his meatiest early roles. The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier, and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys to the Old West.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Purchase the Film
Roger Corman and Monte Hellman discuss the films...
- 12/11/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Monte Hellman and Kona. Photo courtesy of Monte Hellman.Two years back, Monte Hellman invited me up to his house to sip vodka tonics in the dark and watch the new restoration of Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), one of a pair of earnest Westerns he made in collaboration with his longtime friend Jack Nicholson. He didn’t know it at the time, but that day was my birthday—and there was no other way I would have preferred to spend it.On a Saturday morning this July, I went up yet again to the Hollywood Hills to pay another visit to Hellman. Best known as the director of Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), a reaction to Easy Rider (1969) and the mother of all existential road movies, Hellman now lives a rather quiet life in a sweet, sequestered hillside bungalow; maybe he’s always preferred solitude and solemnity, but most of the time he...
- 10/22/2017
- MUBI
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,...
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,...
- 9/15/2017
- Rollingstone.com
'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Hardly truth in advertising as there's no million-eyed beast in Roger Corman's micro-budget sci-fi thriller. 'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Alien invasion movie predates Alfred Hitchcock classic Despite the confusing voice-over introduction, David Kramarsky's[1] The Beast with a Million Eyes a.k.a. The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes is one of my favorite 1950s alien invasion films. Set in an ugly, desolate landscape – shot “for wide screen in terror-scope” in Indio and California's Coachella Valley – the screenplay by future novelist Tom Filer (who also played Jack Nicholson's sidekick in the 1966 Western Ride in the Whirlwind) focuses on a dysfunctional family whose members become the first victims of a strange force from another galaxy after a spaceship lands nearby emitting sound vibrations that turn domestic animals into aggressive killers. Killer cow First, the lady-of-the-house is pecked by a flock of chickens and,...
- 5/12/2016
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
Unbridled Passion by Howard Hughes
Following the release in March of ‘A Man Called Gannon’ (1968), Simply Media in the UK continue to release more Universal-International westerns, this time of 1940s and ‘50s vintage. The new releases, out on 18 April, are ‘Calamity Jane & Sam Bass’ (1949), ‘Cattle Drive’ (1951) and ‘Black Horse Canyon’ (1954). This trio of films are literally ‘Horse Operas’, with the accent on thoroughbred steeds and their importance and role in the working west. Be they cattle drovers, stock breeders or outlaws, where would any of them be without the horse? The answer, of course, is walking.
I’ll review the DVDs in the order I watched them. First up is ‘Cattle Drive’, a 1951 western directed by Kurt Neumann. Chester Graham Jnr (Dean Stockwell), the spoilt, arrogant son of railroad magnet Chester Graham Snr (Leon Ames), is accidentally left behind when the train he is travelling on makes a water stop.
Following the release in March of ‘A Man Called Gannon’ (1968), Simply Media in the UK continue to release more Universal-International westerns, this time of 1940s and ‘50s vintage. The new releases, out on 18 April, are ‘Calamity Jane & Sam Bass’ (1949), ‘Cattle Drive’ (1951) and ‘Black Horse Canyon’ (1954). This trio of films are literally ‘Horse Operas’, with the accent on thoroughbred steeds and their importance and role in the working west. Be they cattle drovers, stock breeders or outlaws, where would any of them be without the horse? The answer, of course, is walking.
I’ll review the DVDs in the order I watched them. First up is ‘Cattle Drive’, a 1951 western directed by Kurt Neumann. Chester Graham Jnr (Dean Stockwell), the spoilt, arrogant son of railroad magnet Chester Graham Snr (Leon Ames), is accidentally left behind when the train he is travelling on makes a water stop.
- 5/2/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Despite transparent light and searing heat, all seems frozen. Something clings to the landscape. Amidst Joshua trees and sagebrush, an ineffable presence surrounding even the stinkbugs. This is where George Stevens—who once said that Utah’s western desert ranges “look more like the Holy Land than the Holy Land”—filmed The Greatest Story Ever Told. Soon thereafter, a younger man breathing that same numinous air made a very different kind of movie. In fact, Monte Hellman made two: The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind, displaced and gritty, eternally unblessed, a diptych belonging to the Western, yet standing at a slight angle to it in the same breath. Monte Hellman entertains a few questions on this perennial state of unblessedness, and the peculiar tone of what are, in my opinion, misnomered movies—his “Existential Westerns.” And here, I’m after the concrete processes that actually drive Hellman’s characters,...
- 7/13/2015
- by Daniel Riccuito
- MUBI
Let's hope Jack Nicholson has a pleasant birthday on Wednesday, or at least a less disturbing one than the birthday when pal Hunter S. Thompson showed up outside his house, turned on a spotlight, blasted a recording of a pig being eaten alive by bears, fired several rounds from his 9mm pistol, and (when the terrified actor and his kids refused to open the door) left an elk's heart on the doorstep.
Nicholson turns 78 on April 22, and even though he hasn't been in a movie for five years, he still looms large in our collective imaginations. Younger viewers know him from his flamboyant performances in "The Departed," "The Bucket List," "Something's Gotta Give," and "Anger Management," but his older films remain ubiquitous on TV as well, including "As Good as It Gets," "A Few Good Men," "Batman," "The Witches of Eastwick," "Terms of Endearment," "The Shining," and "Chinatown." A late bloomer,...
Nicholson turns 78 on April 22, and even though he hasn't been in a movie for five years, he still looms large in our collective imaginations. Younger viewers know him from his flamboyant performances in "The Departed," "The Bucket List," "Something's Gotta Give," and "Anger Management," but his older films remain ubiquitous on TV as well, including "As Good as It Gets," "A Few Good Men," "Batman," "The Witches of Eastwick," "Terms of Endearment," "The Shining," and "Chinatown." A late bloomer,...
- 4/22/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Once Upon A Time In The Existential West
By Raymond Benson
I never had a chance to see these two legendary westerns that were made back-to-back in the mid-1960s, presented by Roger Corman, directed and co-produced by Monte Hellman, and starring a young Jack Nicholson (among others), for they were elusive. I’d heard they were quirky, moody, and very different takes on the western genre, so I was excited to hear that The Criterion Collection was releasing both pictures as a double-bill on one Blu-ray disc. Now you, too, can view these strange little movies in all of their high definition glory.
Hellman was one of the few directors that producer Corman would let helm pictures for his studio, which at that time was famous for low-budget horror films, youth-in-rebellion pictures, and, later, rock ‘n’ roll counterculture flicks. Jack Nicholson was also involved with Corman since the late fifties,...
By Raymond Benson
I never had a chance to see these two legendary westerns that were made back-to-back in the mid-1960s, presented by Roger Corman, directed and co-produced by Monte Hellman, and starring a young Jack Nicholson (among others), for they were elusive. I’d heard they were quirky, moody, and very different takes on the western genre, so I was excited to hear that The Criterion Collection was releasing both pictures as a double-bill on one Blu-ray disc. Now you, too, can view these strange little movies in all of their high definition glory.
Hellman was one of the few directors that producer Corman would let helm pictures for his studio, which at that time was famous for low-budget horror films, youth-in-rebellion pictures, and, later, rock ‘n’ roll counterculture flicks. Jack Nicholson was also involved with Corman since the late fifties,...
- 12/1/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
In July of 1964, director Monte Hellman and actor Jack Nicholson went to the Philippines to shoot two war movies back to back: Flight to Fury, which Nicholson also wrote, and Back Door to Hell. By June of 1965, Hellman and Nicholson had shot two more movies, the Westerns The Shooting (written by future Five Easy Pieces scribe Carole Eastman under the pseudonym Adrien Joyce) and Ride in the Whirlwind (scripted by Nicholson). Four movies in twelve months, and not one of them shows any sense of a director straining against limitations of time and money. To the contrary, The Shooting is a flat-out masterpiece, a […]...
- 11/17/2014
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In July of 1964, director Monte Hellman and actor Jack Nicholson went to the Philippines to shoot two war movies back to back: Flight to Fury, which Nicholson also wrote, and Back Door to Hell. By June of 1965, Hellman and Nicholson had shot two more movies, the Westerns The Shooting (written by future Five Easy Pieces scribe Carole Eastman under the pseudonym Adrien Joyce) and Ride in the Whirlwind (scripted by Nicholson). Four movies in twelve months, and not one of them shows any sense of a director straining against limitations of time and money. To the contrary, The Shooting is a flat-out masterpiece, a […]...
- 11/17/2014
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
While we have some new titles to look at this week, I want to point out to you that Barnes & Noble is having its 50% off Criterion sale right now and I've already posted a massive article offering a look at several titles I would personally recommend, including The Complete Jacques Tati and Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman as well as a selection of favorites and new 2014 titles to consider... Here's a snippet of that: A Selection of My Absolute Favorites Persona Breathless 8 1/2 Seven Samurai Yojimbo and Sanjuro The Battle of Algiers The Seventh Seal Sweet Smell of Success The Wages of Fear The Night of the Hunter New Recommendations for 2014 2014 offered plenty of new titles to consider from top directors and classics in desperate need of a proper upgrade. Here are a few of my favorites. New David Lynch and David Cronenberg Eraserhead Scanners read my review here New Federico Fellini...
- 11/11/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 11, 2014
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Jack Nicholson in the 1966 western The Shooting.
In 1966, the maverick American director Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop, Road to Nowhere) conceived of two westerns at the same time – The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
Dreamlike and gritty by turns, the two films would prove their maker’s adeptness at brilliantly deconstructing genre. As shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman (The Wild Angels), they feature overlapping casts and crews, including Jack Nicholson (Chinatown) in two of his meatiest early roles.
The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier; and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys into the American West.
Criterion’s double-feature DVD and Blu-ray editions of the films include the following...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Jack Nicholson in the 1966 western The Shooting.
In 1966, the maverick American director Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop, Road to Nowhere) conceived of two westerns at the same time – The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
Dreamlike and gritty by turns, the two films would prove their maker’s adeptness at brilliantly deconstructing genre. As shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman (The Wild Angels), they feature overlapping casts and crews, including Jack Nicholson (Chinatown) in two of his meatiest early roles.
The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier; and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys into the American West.
Criterion’s double-feature DVD and Blu-ray editions of the films include the following...
- 8/19/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Criterion has announced their November slate of releases and among them is Frank Capra's romantic-comedy classic It Happened One Night and Blu-ray upgrade of Michelangelo Antonioni's L'avventura and Sydney Pollack's Tootsie starring Dustin Hoffman. First off, and most exciting as far as I'm concerned, is Capra's It Happened One Night, which I speculated previously would be added to the collection sooner rather than later. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, this is an all-timer in terms of romantic comedies and Criterion is delivering it with an all new 4K digital restoration, new conversation between critics Molly Haskell and Phillip Lopate, the 1997 feature-length documentary Frank Capra's American Dream, Capra's first film, the 1922 silent short The Ballad of Fisher's Boarding House, the American Film Institute's tribute to Capra from 1982 and the film's trailer. The release arrives on November 18. The other title I'm excited about is Antonioni's L'avventura, the...
- 8/15/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
By Ellie Kotapish
Prepare yourself for jaw-dropping tales and a night in Austin with five of the most daring men in Hollywood. Starting in the 1960s, these "Danger Gods" have been performing stunts of extreme levels for many years. But they are capable of more than just crashing cars and freefalling from tall buildings.
I had a sneak preview of what's to come at Friday night's "Our Dinner with the Danger Gods" event, as special guest Gary Kent (pictured at right in his early stuntman days) discussed revolutionary cinema in the 1970s along with his experience as a stuntman and filmmaker.
Counterculture takeover:
The '60s were a time of revolution in the streets as well as the studios. This change is evident not only in the content of the films but also in the filmmakers themselves. Kent entered into this counterculture takeover fully aware of this "new energy," as he described it.
Prepare yourself for jaw-dropping tales and a night in Austin with five of the most daring men in Hollywood. Starting in the 1960s, these "Danger Gods" have been performing stunts of extreme levels for many years. But they are capable of more than just crashing cars and freefalling from tall buildings.
I had a sneak preview of what's to come at Friday night's "Our Dinner with the Danger Gods" event, as special guest Gary Kent (pictured at right in his early stuntman days) discussed revolutionary cinema in the 1970s along with his experience as a stuntman and filmmaker.
Counterculture takeover:
The '60s were a time of revolution in the streets as well as the studios. This change is evident not only in the content of the films but also in the filmmakers themselves. Kent entered into this counterculture takeover fully aware of this "new energy," as he described it.
- 9/26/2013
- by Contributors
- Slackerwood
Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article. Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the academic, is a game of knowledge and perception filtered through personal taste.
****
Other Notable Director & Actor Teams
This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.
Terence Young & Sean Connery
Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).
Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).
Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...
****
Other Notable Director & Actor Teams
This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.
Terence Young & Sean Connery
Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).
Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).
Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...
- 7/14/2013
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
“A small band of efficient, dedicated, highly trained warriors can defeat any number of rabble. That’s my theory of filmmaking.”
—Roger Corman
What sort of creature is 21st century cinema going to be? Two-headed beast or tentacular jellyfish? Branded or brain-dead entertainment? Elitist pastime or popular food for thought? To be on the safe side and remind future generations of the genetic foundations of this untamed living being called cinema, at the venerable age of 87 year-old, Roger Corman has opened his own YouTube channel. From king of the drive-in to elder librarian of the digital cinematheque of Babel, Corman’s protean genius is anything but nostalgic. Instead of mourning the cyclical “death of cinema” the legendary producer keeps injecting new life and ideas into the changing shape of films. While his output has significantly decreased throughout the years his relevance has not, nor, it would appear, has his maverick spirit.
—Roger Corman
What sort of creature is 21st century cinema going to be? Two-headed beast or tentacular jellyfish? Branded or brain-dead entertainment? Elitist pastime or popular food for thought? To be on the safe side and remind future generations of the genetic foundations of this untamed living being called cinema, at the venerable age of 87 year-old, Roger Corman has opened his own YouTube channel. From king of the drive-in to elder librarian of the digital cinematheque of Babel, Corman’s protean genius is anything but nostalgic. Instead of mourning the cyclical “death of cinema” the legendary producer keeps injecting new life and ideas into the changing shape of films. While his output has significantly decreased throughout the years his relevance has not, nor, it would appear, has his maverick spirit.
- 7/2/2013
- by Celluloid Liberation Front
- MUBI
Ready, Set, Fund is a column about crowdfunding and related fundraising endeavors for Austin and Texas independent film projects.
It's not often that biographical documentaries portray lesser-known behind-the-scenes movie professionals, but novelist and film journalist Joe O'Connell is capturing key player Gary Kent in his film project Love & Other Stunts, which is currently funding on Indiegogo through Wednesday, February 27. Kent has contributed to over 100 films in his 50-plus years in the film industry as a stuntman, actor, director, and writer. He's been a stunt double for Jack Nicholson and Robert Vaughan and was stunt coordinator for Richard Rush's Hell’s Angels On Wheels and Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-tep, as well as acting in noir Westerns such as The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
Love & Other Stunts covers not only Kent's film career, but his personal life from the release of his memoir Shadows and Light: Journeys...
It's not often that biographical documentaries portray lesser-known behind-the-scenes movie professionals, but novelist and film journalist Joe O'Connell is capturing key player Gary Kent in his film project Love & Other Stunts, which is currently funding on Indiegogo through Wednesday, February 27. Kent has contributed to over 100 films in his 50-plus years in the film industry as a stuntman, actor, director, and writer. He's been a stunt double for Jack Nicholson and Robert Vaughan and was stunt coordinator for Richard Rush's Hell’s Angels On Wheels and Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-tep, as well as acting in noir Westerns such as The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
Love & Other Stunts covers not only Kent's film career, but his personal life from the release of his memoir Shadows and Light: Journeys...
- 2/12/2013
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
What's Jack Nicholson's secret? Maybe it's the eyebrows, hovering like ironic quotation marks over every line reading. Maybe it's the hooded eyes, which hold the threat of danger or the promise of joviality -- you're never sure which. Same with that sharklike grin. Or maybe it's the voice, which has evolved over the years from a thin sneer to a deep rumble, but is always precisely calibrated to provoke a reaction. Put them all together, and they say: "I am a man to be reckoned with. Ignore me at your peril." Nicholson, who turns 75 on April 22, is often criticized for relying on his bag of tricks, for just showing up and doing Jack Nicholson (though indeed, he often seems to have been hired precisely for that purpose). But he's also capable of burrowing deep into a character, finding his wounded heart, and revealing the ugly truth without fear or vanity.
- 4/21/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Chicago – The year was 1959, and the film was “The Diary of Anne Frank,” based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning stage play, which in turn was adapted from the famous diaries of a young girl hiding from Nazi occupiers in WWII Holland. Two actresses, Millie Perkins (Anne) and Diane Baker (her sister Margot), made their movie debuts in this renowned film.
The director of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the celebrated George Stevens, led a nationwide search for the lead teenage actress to portray Anne, after Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Susan Strasberg (Anne in the original play) passed on the role. The film won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Shelley Winters), Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, and was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
Millie Perkins and Diane Baker were participating in the “Hollywood Celebrities and Memorabilia Show” in September when they talked to HollywoodChicago.com.
The director of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the celebrated George Stevens, led a nationwide search for the lead teenage actress to portray Anne, after Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Susan Strasberg (Anne in the original play) passed on the role. The film won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Shelley Winters), Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, and was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
Millie Perkins and Diane Baker were participating in the “Hollywood Celebrities and Memorabilia Show” in September when they talked to HollywoodChicago.com.
- 1/7/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
I was recently afforded the opportunity to talk to Alex Stapleton, the director of the wonderful documentary Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (review here) about the many sides of the “schlock king” Roger Corman. Through a tenuous phone connection (I do have an At&T iPhone and live in New York City, after all), we discussed the process of making this film, how she got roped into doing crew on a Corman movie, Jack Nicholson‘s lounging gear, and doing interviews from the barber’s chair. The Film Stage’s questions are in bold, Alex’s responses follow.
Is there going to be a big premiere out there?
Well we had our kind of fancy premiere at Lacma [Los Angeles County Museum of Art], actually as a part of Film Independent’s series that they were running with Elvis Mitchell. So that was kind of our fancy night. So we will have on the 16th of December,...
Is there going to be a big premiere out there?
Well we had our kind of fancy premiere at Lacma [Los Angeles County Museum of Art], actually as a part of Film Independent’s series that they were running with Elvis Mitchell. So that was kind of our fancy night. So we will have on the 16th of December,...
- 12/15/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
I interviewed director Monte Hellman about his recent film Road to Nowhere, future projects and his thoughts on daydreaming:
Neal Dhand: What is the current status of Road to Nowhere? Is it still making any theatrical rounds?
Monte Hellman: Opening in Japan around the first of the year. We’ve only really scratched the surface with countries. It’s played France of course, and Portugal, Israel, West Africa, Brazil, Italy.
Nd: How has it been received?
Mh: The French have always been friendly to my movies. The reception critically has been about 50/50 in France. It’s doing so much better than that in the Us and I never expected that. I remember Two-Lane Blacktop was about 50/50. I think we’re somewhere around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and not all of the critics are up there yet.
Nd: There’s a definite synchronicity in your filmography. The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind,...
Neal Dhand: What is the current status of Road to Nowhere? Is it still making any theatrical rounds?
Monte Hellman: Opening in Japan around the first of the year. We’ve only really scratched the surface with countries. It’s played France of course, and Portugal, Israel, West Africa, Brazil, Italy.
Nd: How has it been received?
Mh: The French have always been friendly to my movies. The reception critically has been about 50/50 in France. It’s doing so much better than that in the Us and I never expected that. I remember Two-Lane Blacktop was about 50/50. I think we’re somewhere around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and not all of the critics are up there yet.
Nd: There’s a definite synchronicity in your filmography. The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind,...
- 9/30/2011
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
For a self-described "reactionary" filmmaker, Monte Hellman is remarkably forward-thinking. Road to Nowhere (reviewed here), his first feature since 1989, is a film shot digitally that's partly about cinema in the digital age; from its very first shot—where a character pops a DVD-r with the film's title on it into a laptop—on, Road to Nowhere is a film about the slipperiness of digitally created, manipulated and viewed images. Written by longtime Hellman collaborator Steve Gaydos, it stars Shannyn Sossammon as Laurel, an inexperienced actress who is cast in a true crime drama also called Road to Nowhere (directed by one “Mitchell Haven” and written by one “Stephen Gates”); in this film-within-a-film, Laurel plays femme-fatale-ish Velma Duran, though the whole thing is ambiguous enough (in terms of structure, characterization, aesthetics, etc.) that at least one character begins to suspect that Laurel and Duran are in fact the same person.
Hellman is erudite and easygoing.
Hellman is erudite and easygoing.
- 7/26/2011
- MUBI
Monte Hellman's best films begin by pretending to tell a story. Take your pick: Ride in the Whirlwind, Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfighter, Iguana—every of them establishes a good punchy premise (often aided by a startling opening shot or scene) and then, without ever fully abandoning "plot," inches towards an earthy, unshowy, existential bleakness with each scene. In an odd (and ironic) interplay of inertia and impermanence, his frequently stubborn characters become metaphors while their all-consuming goals fade away into the landscape. Road to Nowhere ups the ante by pretending to tell several stories at once: one about the production of a film (also called Road to Nowhere), another about the crime the film is based on, and a third involving a mysterious video-recorded conversation between the film's director and the blogger whose reporting formed the basis for the film. However, the various strands, which are intentionally not differentiated, don't...
- 6/11/2011
- MUBI
Kelly Reichardt's beautifully shot western is a powerful evocation of the hardships endured on the Oregon Trail
Roughly defined, the western is violent entertainment about the American frontier experience set west of the Mississippi, south of the 49th Parallel and north of the Rio Grande between 1840 and the beginning of the first world war. Some films happening outside this particular area and time scale or not involving gunfights and physical conflict might be called pre-westerns, post-westerns, modern-westerns or, more vaguely, "sort of westerns". The term "anti-western" was also used for a while to describe movies that seemed to reject or even despise the conventions of the genre, though for much of the western's history many film-makers have been doing precisely that in the name of historical and psychological realism.
Kelly Reichardt's impressive Meek's Cutoff is set in 1845 on the recently created Oregon Trail that took wagon trains through...
Roughly defined, the western is violent entertainment about the American frontier experience set west of the Mississippi, south of the 49th Parallel and north of the Rio Grande between 1840 and the beginning of the first world war. Some films happening outside this particular area and time scale or not involving gunfights and physical conflict might be called pre-westerns, post-westerns, modern-westerns or, more vaguely, "sort of westerns". The term "anti-western" was also used for a while to describe movies that seemed to reject or even despise the conventions of the genre, though for much of the western's history many film-makers have been doing precisely that in the name of historical and psychological realism.
Kelly Reichardt's impressive Meek's Cutoff is set in 1845 on the recently created Oregon Trail that took wagon trains through...
- 4/16/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Jack Nicholson wasn’t particularly good looking, muscular or indeed an early screen success story when he won his colourful, breakthrough supporting role, at the age of 32, in Dennis Hopper’s 1969′s road-trip classic Easy Rider. But his remarkable presence in that film and future prominent roles in Five Easy Pieces, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail, and Chinatown along with his Oscar winning turn in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest subsequently cemented him as one of the finest leading actors of the era.
Some 40 years (and 40 odd films… including iconic turns in The Shining, Batman, A Few Good Men and The Departed) later, even in semi-retirement, the legendary 73 year old with the killer grin, is still considered an undisputed king of the screen. And here are 50 reasons why I think he could just be the greatest living actor today.
1. Charisma
Jack Nicholson is one of the most charismatic actors in the business.
Some 40 years (and 40 odd films… including iconic turns in The Shining, Batman, A Few Good Men and The Departed) later, even in semi-retirement, the legendary 73 year old with the killer grin, is still considered an undisputed king of the screen. And here are 50 reasons why I think he could just be the greatest living actor today.
1. Charisma
Jack Nicholson is one of the most charismatic actors in the business.
- 3/19/2011
- by Oliver Pfeiffer
- Obsessed with Film
(Distributed by Screen Media, 3 Backyards opens theatrically in NYC at the IFC Center on Friday, March 11, 2011. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.)
What do you want from a film experience? If I am going to schlep into Manhattan and pay money for a ticket I want the large-screen experience to be something specifically cinematic. I don’t need any William Castle-like “transmedia” gimmicks or 3D to prod me into the seat. I just need to know that I will be in the hands of a director who understands that narrative cinema can operate in a space far beyond the mechanics of plot and dialogue. Eric Mendelsohn’s 3 Backyards is that type of film.
3 Backyards is a truly ambitious and inventive work that speaks not only through acting and plot, but through Mendelsohn’s savvy directorial control of music, lensing and pacing. The film’s stylistic choice...
What do you want from a film experience? If I am going to schlep into Manhattan and pay money for a ticket I want the large-screen experience to be something specifically cinematic. I don’t need any William Castle-like “transmedia” gimmicks or 3D to prod me into the seat. I just need to know that I will be in the hands of a director who understands that narrative cinema can operate in a space far beyond the mechanics of plot and dialogue. Eric Mendelsohn’s 3 Backyards is that type of film.
3 Backyards is a truly ambitious and inventive work that speaks not only through acting and plot, but through Mendelsohn’s savvy directorial control of music, lensing and pacing. The film’s stylistic choice...
- 3/10/2011
- by Mike Ryan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Kelly Reichardt’s first foray into the Western genre, or period piece of any kind, Meek’s Cutoff, is what Jonathan Rosenbaum defined an Acid Western. This little known sub-genre refers to films like Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, Monte Hellman’s Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting, Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter and Hang ‘Em High, Peter Fonda’s The Hired Hand, and Don Siegel’s The Beguiled. This doesn’t even reference the Spaghetti Westerns like The Great Silence, Django, and The Big Gundown. Perhaps the most important reference point for Meek’s Cutoff though is Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar. There are many impressive talking points about this film, however the one to single out is the way Reichardt handles perspective. While the film is technically an ensemble piece, the camera spends a disproportionate amount of...
- 10/14/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Even if you've never touched a movie camera, you probably have an idea just how idealistic and laborious a task it is to make an independent film today, let alone trying to get it distributed, exhibited or pretty much seen by anyone who didn't hold a boom or finance the damn thing. So it's baffling why, in an economy staying cozy in its slump, more indie hopefuls aren't modeling their methods after those of low-budget filmmaking titan Roger Corman.
Sometimes collaborating with his wife Julie (the former Chair of Nyu's Graduate Film Department), Corman has milked exploitation thrills in just about every genre imaginable. He helped launch the early careers of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, John Sayles, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Towne, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Robert De Niro and countless more. A sample of his discipline: In 1965, he made Monte Hellman stretch his budget for one western (The Shooting) to afford another,...
Sometimes collaborating with his wife Julie (the former Chair of Nyu's Graduate Film Department), Corman has milked exploitation thrills in just about every genre imaginable. He helped launch the early careers of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, John Sayles, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Towne, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Robert De Niro and countless more. A sample of his discipline: In 1965, he made Monte Hellman stretch his budget for one western (The Shooting) to afford another,...
- 10/11/2010
- GreenCine Daily
Monte Hellman made one the definitive American road movies in Two-Lane Blacktop in 1971; now he's returning to that theme with The Road to Nowhere
Four decades ago, a director named Monte Hellman made what many regard as the ultimate American road movie. Two-Lane Blacktop was an existential odyssey that set off for Washington DC only to blow it, memorably, on an airstrip in Tennessee. In the picture's explosive final reel, the sound dropped away and the film appeared to first catch and then combust in the gate of the projector. You'd be forgiven for assuming that the director had somehow blown up alongside it.
Now Hellman is back with another road movie of sorts, The Road to Nowhere. It shapes up as a tale of political skulduggery, though it's really a film about film-making, quoting liberally from the movies of old (everything from The Lady Eve to The Spirit of the Beehive). It's a playful,...
Four decades ago, a director named Monte Hellman made what many regard as the ultimate American road movie. Two-Lane Blacktop was an existential odyssey that set off for Washington DC only to blow it, memorably, on an airstrip in Tennessee. In the picture's explosive final reel, the sound dropped away and the film appeared to first catch and then combust in the gate of the projector. You'd be forgiven for assuming that the director had somehow blown up alongside it.
Now Hellman is back with another road movie of sorts, The Road to Nowhere. It shapes up as a tale of political skulduggery, though it's really a film about film-making, quoting liberally from the movies of old (everything from The Lady Eve to The Spirit of the Beehive). It's a playful,...
- 9/16/2010
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
I Need That Record!
DVD, Wienerworld
The one thing that everyone agrees on in this Us documentary about independent record stores is that they are, basically, just places to sell music. But no one would ever state that's all they are. They are hassle-free places to hang out, to talk rubbish fearlessly, to argue loudly without being asked to move on, to form bands, to see bands, to hand out flyers – even to not buy music. Indie record shops have something the major chains will never replicate no matter how many surveys and spreadsheets they employ: they are cool. Here, customers and workers alike tell tales of arriving before opening hours, of discovering some classic tucked away, of being recommended a life-changing album, of learning they are not the only one in a 1,000-mile radius who likes Minor Threat. This may get more than a little rose-tinted at times, but...
DVD, Wienerworld
The one thing that everyone agrees on in this Us documentary about independent record stores is that they are, basically, just places to sell music. But no one would ever state that's all they are. They are hassle-free places to hang out, to talk rubbish fearlessly, to argue loudly without being asked to move on, to form bands, to see bands, to hand out flyers – even to not buy music. Indie record shops have something the major chains will never replicate no matter how many surveys and spreadsheets they employ: they are cool. Here, customers and workers alike tell tales of arriving before opening hours, of discovering some classic tucked away, of being recommended a life-changing album, of learning they are not the only one in a 1,000-mile radius who likes Minor Threat. This may get more than a little rose-tinted at times, but...
- 8/6/2010
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Once upon a time, Jack Nicholson was a screenwriter. He has six films to his credit, and I’m not entirely sure why he stopped. Perhaps it took too much time away from being one of Hollywood’s most notorious bad boys.
Ride in the Whirlwind was his third script, as per IMDb, and his second collaboration with director Monte Hellman. It’s touted as being inspired by “actual frontier journals.” After sitting through the weird and lonely experience, I’ve decided that means Nicholson paid a lot of attention to how horses were saddled, how uncomfortable boots were, and how people ate a lot of biscuits.
Ride in the Whirlwind has a fervent cult following because of its sparse realism, and the fact that it feels like it could have happened. There’s truth to that. There are a lot of great little details here (cowboy boots being unfit...
Ride in the Whirlwind was his third script, as per IMDb, and his second collaboration with director Monte Hellman. It’s touted as being inspired by “actual frontier journals.” After sitting through the weird and lonely experience, I’ve decided that means Nicholson paid a lot of attention to how horses were saddled, how uncomfortable boots were, and how people ate a lot of biscuits.
Ride in the Whirlwind has a fervent cult following because of its sparse realism, and the fact that it feels like it could have happened. There’s truth to that. There are a lot of great little details here (cowboy boots being unfit...
- 2/17/2010
- by Elisabeth Rappe
- The Flickcast
As Cinema Retro 'regulars' know, we have occasionally been able to find unpublished or rarely-seen interviews with legendary film personalities and provide them for our readers. In issue #1 of the magazine, Steve Mori provided an unseen interview Steve McQueen from 1968 and in issue #15, Steve did the same with a fascinating 1974 discussion with Lee Marvin. Now contributing writer Kris Gilpin has been kind enough to share with us with a 1988 interview with director Monte Hellman, whose work is revered by some of the great directors of our time. Please keep in mind that the text and events that are discussed in this interview took place in 1988 and have not been amended. (This is part one of a two-part interview.)
Interview With Monte Hellman
By Kris Gilpin
72 1024x768 Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Born July 12th, 1932 in New York City, writer-director Monte Hellman’s work is miles above typical American...
Interview With Monte Hellman
By Kris Gilpin
72 1024x768 Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Born July 12th, 1932 in New York City, writer-director Monte Hellman’s work is miles above typical American...
- 12/28/2009
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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