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When Humphrey Bogart appeared in the 1939 horror film “The Return of Doctor X” as a scientifically engineered vampire, he already had a couple of dozen movies behind him but was still two years away from becoming a true star with John Huston‘s “The Maltese Falcon.” As a contract player at Warner Bros., the studio that signed Bogart when he came there to reprise his stage role as Duke Mantee in “The Petrified Forest,” the actor was largely subject to the idiosyncratic whims of his bosses, and it was clear that they didn’t quite know what to do with Bogart before Huston got a hold of him.

In 1939 alone, he appeared in a Western “The Oklahoma Kid,” a tearjerking melodrama, and multiple gangster films. Several of these films are better remembered than “The Return of Doctor X,” but as Bogart’s only horror film, “X” is a fascinating curiosity,...

Marijuana is legal in 38 states, and now Cheech & Chong are in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. The country is going to pot!

Up in Smoke (1978), the first feature from Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, is one of the 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically” motion pictures selected for preservation this year, it was announced Tuesday.

Among those also making the cut are Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Invaders From Mars (1953), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Dirty Dancing (1987), Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Social Network (2010).

Five picks include prominent Hispanic artists or themes: American Me (1992), Mi Familia (1995) — both featuring the work of Edward James Olmos — Up in Smoke, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Spy Kids (2001).

It’s a great day for Marin, who also starred in Spy Kids,...

Courtesy of Eureka Entertainment

by James Cameron-wilson

In January of this year something extraordinary happened. For the first time, United Artists’ Black Tuesday was shown on British television, having been originally banned for its violence. The film noir classic of 1954 stars Edward G. Robinson, one of the four giants of Hollywood’s gangster genre, alongside James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. At the time that Edward G. starred in Black Tuesday, he was in something of a career slump, but, in spite of his modest physical stature, he still manages to bring to bear his characteristically brutal persona. Perhaps even more surprising is how good the film is, a sort of forgotten masterpiece from the Argentinean helmer Hugo Fregonese who, in his time, had directed such stars as Gary Cooper, James Mason, Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Lee Marvin and Stewart Granger, but who is largely forgotten today,...

There is no secret to making a classic movie. There's no tried-and-true formula or a can't-miss piece of source material that equates to a masterpiece provided you assemble the right director, writer(s), and actors. And as Francis Ford Coppola learned while making "The Godfather," there's no guarantee that, once you seemingly have all the right pieces in their right place, the studio will sit back and let you shoot your shot.

All-timers can also sneak up on you. Director Michael Curtiz thought he was making an escapist World War II entertainment when he took the reins on "Casablanca," but even though leads Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman didn't get along on set, he wound up knocking out a film many people consider to be the acme of Hollywood moviemaking. Alternately, when acclaimed director Robert Benton rolled cameras on Tom Stoppard's adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's "Billy Bathgate," one...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)

Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The Bikeriders’ imagery as a jumping-off point, Jeff Nichols’ latest feature imagines a fictionalized Chicago motorcycle club, the Vandals. Motorcycle club culture might be a distinctly American phenomenon, but Nichols casts two Brits in the lead, with varying returns: Jodie Comer as Kathy narrates the story in a clear Goodfellas conceit, adopting a Midwest accent flashy (and divisive) enough to ensure sustained awards-season chatter; Tom Hardy is Johnny, a truck driver who gets the idea to start a motorcycle club while watching Marlon Brando’s The Wild One. This low-stakes “why not?” starting point for founding the club works early in the film, until, following the Goodfellas trajectory, it all comes crashing down.

Celebrity documentaries are commanding lofty price tags at the moment, even though “star power” itself seems to be losing its sizzle.

The facts are nasty: Superstar endorsements carried zero clout in the presidential elections. Further, studios have lost their zeal for the once pivotal pre-opening star interview circuit. Superstar vehicles like Wolfs (George Clooney and Brad Pitt) drifted before audiences with limited exposure to blurbdom. Sequel numbers carry greater weight than festival fervor.

Defying this algorithmic blur, Apple TV still felt its Billie Eilish caper was worth $27 million, and Disney forked out $32 million for Elton John: Never Too Late. Disney also paid handsomely for a new/old doc titled Beatles ’64 from Paul McCartney, premiering this week. Could Taylor Swift be far behind?

Intriguingly, audiences still register an appetite for docs about past legends like Humphrey Bogart as well as semi-present ones like Bob Dylan — even litigating about their validity.

Academy Award-winning actor Humphrey Bogart’s life might have turned out a whole lot different had he taken to heart criticism his parents showered on him through his entire early life, calling him an “inadequate” actor and scholar, and an outright “failure.” But a distinctive, raspy voice, the character in his face that he once said had “taken an awful lot of late nights and drinking to put it there,” and that unparalleled talent for playing an emotionally complex tough guy — all fueled by an incredible drive — made him a Hollywood legend. And, as told in the new documentary streaming today, “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” five women in his life defined the trajectory of his career.

“Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” is chock full of never-before-seen photos and is told using Bogart’s own words from letters, diaries and historical interviews as the narrative backbone. But what makes the...

Since the first awards ceremony in 1929, the Academy Awards — colloquially known as the Oscars — have chosen the "best picture" in cinema every single year, with varying results. Still, a lot of the time, the Oscars at least gets it sort of right; to use a recent example, "The Shape of Water" is a good movie, but it was also competing against "Get Out" and "Lady Bird," so even a well-liked film like Guillermo del Toro's unexpected love story can spark a larger discussion about the Oscars and how they choose their winners. But I digress. Some of the historical best picture winners are (almost) universally beloved, with 99% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

With acclaimed films like "Moonlight" and "Schindler's List" not far behind on Rotten Tomatoes' ranking of every best picture winner in Oscars history (both movies have a 98% rating), the following four films are, apparently, pretty close to perfect.

Kathryn Ferguson uses clips, voiceovers and interview archives to offer a candid and entertaining account of the actor who was at the pinnacle of Hollywood’s golden age

Kathryn Ferguson’s very serviceable and enjoyable documentary about Humphrey Bogart takes us through his extraordinary, almost mythic life story; it uses clips, voiceovers and existing interview archives (including the inevitable and indispensable Dick Cavett) but no new on-camera material.

Bogart was the son of a distinguished New York surgeon and a refined artist, illustrator and suffragette and might easily have become a bland east coast bourgeois professional, were it not for his academic underperformance and love of acting which took him from Broadway to Hollywood. The accident of his rugged looks and unmistakable voice brought him tough-guy roles under the whip of studio boss Jack Warner, and he became the face of heroic masculinity – what Helen Hayes called Bogart’s “plain...

Humphrey Bogart was no ordinary movie star. He was, and still is, an icon: Hollywood’s Golden Age in fedora-sporting, gun-toting, cigarette-smoking form. He chalked up nearly 80 features in just over 25 years, including several timeless classics, and his world-weary features and lazy New York drawl are instantly recognisable. Naturally, then, he’s already been the subject of numerous documentaries, but Kathryn Ferguson’s new study claims to take a different approach: this is ‘Bogie’ in his own words – either in archive footage or spoken by an actor – and the words of those closest to him.

Opening with his star-studded funeral, Ferguson’s film spools back to Bogart’s childhood, and from thereon tells his story in linear fashion, from a childhood spent with an emotionally distant mother to his eventual death from oesophageal cancer aged 57. En route, his remarkable life took in a rollercoaster acting career, four marriages to actresses...

What’s it like to grow up the son of Hollywood legends? Stephen Bogart, whose parents left him for six months even after his nanny dropped dead, reveals how he finally shook off the past

In the spring of 1951, Humphrey Bogart flew across the Atlantic to make The African Queen, John Huston’s classic Technicolor yarn about an odd couple on a boat. He took his wife, Lauren Bacall. He took his whisky and his cigarettes. But he left his two-year-old son in the care of the nanny, reasoning that the jungle was dangerous and that he’d only be gone for six months. Bogart and Bacall waved goodbye from the airport gangplank. The kid waved back from the employee’s arms. And it was at this moment, as the plane left the runway, that the nanny had a brain haemorrhage and dropped dead on the tarmac.

Stephen Bogart takes up the tale.

“You know what’s going on from the news, but information in America is driven by money. It’s a business,” Alec Baldwin begins at the Turin Film Festival, where he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“That’s why there’s a void in information on the biggest issues in the world. Americans know little or nothing — on climate change, on Ukraine. That void is filled in part by the film industry, by documentaries and narrative films.”

Baldwin, star of the recently premiered Rust and guest of the Tff, does not mention Donald Trump, but he is critical about the situation in his country.

Asked by The Hollywood Reporter about his concerns and hopes after the Trump administration takes office, Baldwin darts around the T-word with a generalized answer on Monday.

“There are many challenges to face,” he says. “The environment, the problem of plastic, of permafrost:...

Why all the outrage over the apparent slighting of Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2”? There’s the limited theatrical release, no advertising, and initial absence from Warner Bros. Discovery’s awards page, for a film with strong reviews and audience response — but good grief, has everyone at that studio forgotten what they owe Eastwood’s legacy?

The Warners-Eastwood relationship is unparalleled in Hollywood history. It also represents a way of doing business that Warners no longer cares to apply to its creative relationships — or at least, doesn’t care if that’s the community’s takeaway, which may be the same thing.

Since 1971, Eastwood made 46 films for Warners as a director and/or actor and/or producer. IndieWire wants to make the case that Eastwood has been the most important creative component in the studio’s history — financially, and arguably, critically.

If that seems extreme, consider this. All told, his 46 Warners films have a worldwide gross,...

Rosie Perez has been a lifelong boxing fan. However she kept her love for the sport a secret because so many people find it “too barbaric.” But a few years ago, she began tweeting commentary while watching fights.

Fast forward to today. Nicknamed “The First Lady of Boxing,” Perez is one of the official commentators of the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul match taking place Friday night in Dallas and airing live on Netflix.

“It’s gonna be and interesting matchup,” Perez told me Thursday. “Jake Paul is in his late 20s, and Mike Tyson is 58. Three decades. It’s crazy.”

Like many, Perez wasn’t thrilled when Paul began his career. “Everyone hated on him when he first got into boxing, including myself,” she said. “But it was less about hate, it was more about concern. This is a real sport. You don’t play boxing. People can get hurt.

No matter whether your tastes tend toward Hollywood’s golden age or Broadway legends, sports history or high-end timepieces, the winter 2024 auction season is particularly rich in glamour, offering collectors a chance at snagging some truly museum worthy pieces.

High-wattage lots set for sale before the end of the year at five global auction houses include everything from a Bob Mackie dress Miley Cyrus wore at February’s Grammy Awards to a variety of watches owned by Tom Brady and the best actor Academy Award Humphrey Bogart won in 1952 for The African Queen. “Just as it is in Hollywood, the auction scene is abuzz with excitement over iconic pieces that epitomize glamour,” notes Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Beverly Hills-based Julien’s Auctions, which is hosting “A Week of Hollywood Legends,” the latest sale in its partnership with Turner Classic Movies, set for Dec. 10-13. The offerings range from...

Proudly billed as “the first official feature documentary to explore the remarkable life and career of Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart,” Kathryn Ferguson’s “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” makes terrific use of its access to the actor’s friends, family, and personal archives, but the burden of this film’s estate-approved purpose — its self-imposed obligation to offer the definitive history of a man who millions of movie lovers can see with their eyes closed — has an unfortunate tendency to blunt its steady drumbeat of intimate details. The result is a womb-to-tomb biography that uses Bogart’s own words to cover the most basic facts about his life; it’s an establishing shot that strains for the nuance of a close-up.

If attempting to cover the full span of a person’s life in less than 100 minutes can feel like a fool’s errand regardless of the subject, the inimitable “Casablanca...

“10 Days of a Curious Man” is a Turkish movie starring Nejat Isler. With Riza Kocaoglu, Kadir Çermik, Ilayda Akdogan, and Senay Gürler. It is directed by Uluç Bayraktar, and written by Damla Serim. Based on the novel by Mehmet Eroglu.

Our friend Sadık, played by the magnetic Nejat İşler, returns—seductive, resilient, and now, an aspiring novelist. You know, it’s a tough profession and quite challenging, so his quest for fresh narratives propels him into a new case, this time entwined with real estate speculation.

Plot Summary

Sadık is a seasoned man who has left behind the vices of drugs and alcohol. In an attempt to rebuild his life, he pens a novel that is dismissed for its lack of suspense. Determined to infuse some excitement into his existence, he starts investigating the disappearance of a woman, an online dancer, which leads him into the murky underworld of real estate speculation in Istanbul.

Lock your doors, sharpen your instincts, and prepare for a world where no one is who they seem.

These spy series aren’t just here to entertain — they’re pulling you into a thrilling underworld where trust is scarce, danger lurks in every corner, and double-crossing is a perfected art form.

From classic espionage tales that defined the genre to bold new twists that keep you on your toes, this list has it all.

(Peacock)

You’ll follow undercover operatives risking it all, unlikely heroes navigating webs of deception, and even some jaw-dropping twists that’ll leave you questioning everything.

And with new shows like The Day of the Jackal and Black Doves on the horizon, the world of espionage just keeps expanding.

So if you’re ready to unleash your inner secret agent, these 21 spy series will take you on a mission you won’t soon forget — just remember to keep your cover.

New Criterion series highlights the work of the actor and director who delivered powerful, provocative performances

When Ida Lupino starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Raoul Walsh’s gritty film noir High Sierra, it was her name, not Bogie’s, at the top of the poster. This nail-biting movie with its terrific mountainside climax is about a released convict forced back into another heist, and the taxi dancer he can’t shake off. Lupino plays the dancer, a woman longing for an exit strategy from her tawdry world, and she transforms the role into something more than a type, with an unexpectedly authentic air of desperation. The film made household names out of both its leads, but for Lupino, as for Bogart, there was no such thing as overnight success.

Lupino’s own breakthrough came after seven years in Hollywood and a lifetime in showbusiness. She always refused the easy option...

At 91 and with more than 70 years(!) in the industry, Michael Caine has obviously come across some of the most powerful talents to ever hit the screen. But one that stood out even at the start of his career was Tom Cruise, who Michael Caine remembers as a dynamic, eager up-and-comer who wanted to make a name in Hollywood.

Speaking with The Sunday Times, Michael Caine recalled the first time he met Tom Cruise. “I’ve known Tom for more than 40 years. We were doing a big event for Educating Rita (1983) and I turned around and there was this young actor, very polite, asking questions about how not to be just a flash in the pan. That was Tom, probably around the time of Risky Business.” Keep in mind that Cruise was just now trying to get his movie stardom going, with 1983 being his real breakout year after supporting roles in...

Legendary British actor Sir Michael Caine recently shared his memory of meeting a young Tom Cruise over 40 years ago, offering insight into the dedication that has fueled Cruise’s success. In a new interview promoting his memoir, Caine recounted an encounter with Cruise around 1983 after the premiere of Caine’s film “Educating Rita.”

At the time, Cruise was just breaking out with his role in “Risky Business” but was remarkably humble and inquisitive. “I turned around and there was this polite young actor asking me questions about avoiding being a one-hit wonder,” Caine said. While he can’t recall his exact advice, Caine remarked it clearly served Cruise well as his star rose quickly.

Even early in his career, Caine saw Cruise’s special qualities. “He had a great attitude and self-assurance for someone just starting out,” Caine observed. Today, Cruise remains one of the few true movie stars people...

Michael Caine has shared that a young Tom Cruise asked him for career advice when the pair first met 40 years ago.

Double Oscar winner Caine, now 91, has penned his memoir called “Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over” and in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper he revealed that he met the future superstar at an event for Caine’s film Educating Rita, back in 1983.

The British actor recalled:

“I turned around and there was this young actor, very polite, asking questions about how not to be just a flash in the pan. That was Tom, probably around the time of Risky Business.

“I can’t remember what I said, but it obviously didn’t do him any harm! There was something special about him. He had a great attitude, this sense of poise. What interests me is that he is really one of the last true stars in movies.

It’s been almost 60 years since Ron Howard last played that lovable scamp Opie on “The Andy Griffith Show,” but the Oscar-winning filmmaker still carries the hit television show in his heart to this day. In announcing his TCM Picks for November, Howard began by honoring his TV father, the late Andy Griffith, with the selection of Elia Kazan’s 1957 satire, “A Face in the Crowd.”

“It’s significance has grown tremendously over the decades, both as a distinct piece of cinema and an increasingly relevant social commentary,” Howard said in the video below. “Most personal to me is Andy Griffith’s performance as the central figure, Lonesome Rhodes, an easygoing folk singer who’s transformed by a media producer into a populist figure who’s changing the face of politics.”

Howard goes on to explain how Griffith was the second choice behind Kazan’s regular leading man Marlon Brando,...

Max Payne, crafted by Remedy Entertainment, is undoubtedly one of the most influential and innovative third-person shooters of all time. It brought two well-received sequels, one being the revered Max Payne 3, the only game in the entire trilogy not developed by Remedy.

Max Payne is one of the most legendary gaming series. (Image via Rockstar Games)

The series’ protagonist, Max Payne, is often considered to be one of the most legendary video game characters. Despite facing the absolute worst, he overcomes everything, making him truly an inspiration. Over the years, many players believed certain aspects of his personality were a complete fluke, which made him famous. However, as it turns out, it was all a part of Remedy’s plans.

Max Payne Was Always Meant to Be a Loner Max’s personality was intentionally crafted in a specific way. (Image via Rockstar Games)

Max Payne has one of the most...

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Carl Franklin's "Devil in a Blue Dress" was exactly two years ahead of its time, almost to the day. The director's adaptation of the first installment in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series of noir novels would've been perfectly positioned in late 1997 to capitalize on the slow rolling box office success of Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential." Both films were September releases building on buzzy debuts at the late summer Toronto International Film Festival, but "L.A. Confidential" proved zeitgeisty in ways that eluded "Devil in a Blue Dress." It kicked off a noir renaissance that saw national and local film critics writing up lists of must-see black-and-white crime flicks from the 1940s and '50s for their readers. Suddenly, mainstream moviegoers were up on terminology like "femme fatale," and eager to watch Humphrey Bogart movies that weren't "Casablanca.

Bryan Ferry has been making mischief for more than 50 years, on the margins of the rock world. But he’s still not done. He began as the singer/peacock/visionary of Roxy Music, but he started making his own solo records almost as soon as the band began. Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023, out Friday, is a five-disc journey through his solo career, with hits, rarities, outtakes, and B sides. It ends with an excellent new song, “Star,” a collaboration with singer-writer-painter Amelia Barratt and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

"I never was happy... until I met That one." Which one? Freestyle Digital Media has revealed the official trailer for a documentary film called Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes, an intimate look back at the life of Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart. Narrated in his own words from recordings, this is the first official real doc to explore the remarkable life & legacy of Hollywood legend and cultural icon Humphrey "Bogie" Bogart. Framed around the five key women in his life, including Lauren Bacall, the film intricately weaves together his most important relationships against a backdrop of world events. With rare footage and his own voice. Described as "a nuanced portrait of the man behind the myth, and a fresh perspective on the legacy of one of Hollywood’s most revered stars." This looks like an enchanting and lively look at an enormous figure in Hollywood history, focused on the ladies in his life.

The details of Humphrey Bogart’s epic marriage to Lauren Bacall will now be on the big screen.

Just months after late icon Bacall would have been 100 years old, the new documentary “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” puts her romance with longtime collaborator and co-star Bogart front and center. The duo’s son Stephen Humphrey Bogart worked closely with Humphrey Bogart Estate CEO Robbert de Klerk and director Kathryn Ferguson, who previously helmed the Sinéad O’Connor doc “Nothing Compares.”

“Life Comes in Flashes” is billed as an “inside look at one of Hollywood’s greatest cinematic icons, telling Humphrey Bogart’s story through his relationships with the five formidable women in his life – his mother and his four wives. Each relationship offers a deep and intimate understanding of a man for whom stardom was hard-won and richly deserved.”

BIFA-winning, IDA-nominated, and BAFTA Breakthrough-selected filmmaker Ferguson opted for the narration...

From epic fantasies to superhero movies and more, there are some truly sterling movies available to stream on Max.

One of the best things about having a Max subscription is the high quality that’s instantly associated not only with the HBO shows on the service, but the Warner Bros. movies stretching back decades that are available within its archives.

There’s a huge amount of movies with sterling reputations among critics and audiences alike available on Max. I’ll walk you through the top seven movies available on the streamer below; make sure to browse Max for yourself and find even more titles to scratch your latest movie itch.

Sign Up $9.99+ / month max via prime video What Are the Top 7 Movies Available on Max?

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Dark Knight

Casablanca

Seven Samurai

Lady Bird

The Wizard of Oz

Spirited Away

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Some...

How lucky are we to be around at the same time that Luca Guadagnino is doing his thing? The Italian director has delivered some of the boldest and most uncompromising works of the last decade and change, one as recent as earlier this year. He's also gone even further and maintained an exceptionally keen eye for finding the stories worth telling in the first place. His latest, conceptualized during filming of "Challengers" and written by "Challengers" scribe Justin Kuritzkes, sets its sights on no less a figure than wildly influential novelist William S. Burroughs. Burroughs' life and overall body of work could never be contained in a single biopic (though many have tried), so "Queer" takes the next best approach: an adaptation of his unfinished short story of the same name, reimagined as an intimate epic that almost feels designed to perplex and provoke in equal measure.

The headlines all but write themselves.

The British Film Institute and Chanel have named their latest crop of winners for the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards.

The third annual awards — presented to three rising U.K. directors, with a prize of £20,000 to each — went to Luna Carmoon, writer/director of “Hoard” (which bowed in Venice last year), Pinny Grylls, co-writer/co-director of “Grand Theft Hamlet,” and Naqqash Khalid writer/director of “In Camera.” The three were selected by a jury made up of Tilda Swinton, British Vogue editorial advisor Edward Enninful, Le Cinema Club founder Marie-Louise Khondji and BFI chief executive Ben Roberts.

“The three films we have had the honour to spotlight this year represent — with urgency and accuracy — some of the core values the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards were set up to encourage: self-determination, a reflection on untold life experience and a boundaryless curiosity about the capacities of filmmaking itself, regardless of any limitation,” said Swinton.

From Tommy and Trevor’s first meeting under a cloud of raining frogs to the time she defended their relationship in front of his entire church, it’s never a dull moment for the 9-1-1: Lone Star couple — and they’re about to embark on their biggest adventure yet.

Monday’s episode, a continuation of the final season’s three-part premiere, found Tommy getting down on one knee and asking Trevor to make her a preacher’s wife. “Trevor Parks, what would you say if I asked you to be my husband?” she said, to which he replied,...

Plot: A thrilling, contemporary mystery in classic noir style, Killer Heat follows private eye Nick Bali, an American expat in Greece, hired to investigate the supposed accidental death of young shipping magnate Leo Vardakis on the island of Crete. The victim’s sister-in-law doesn’t believe the official police report. But what exactly happened to Leo, and why? Despite the sun-drenched beauty of its exotic Mediterranean locale, Nick finds darkness at every turn: where the rich and powerful Vardakis family rule like gods, where jealousies run deep, and anyone could be a suspect.

Review: The hard-boiled detective movie has been a trope since the early days of cinema. The term “noir” has taken on a meaning in modern film that has turned into a cliche itself. If you picture the genre in your mind, you likely conjure up fedoras, femme fatales, cigarettes, cocktails, dastardly villains, and lots of gunfire. The...

“Anybody got a match?” When 19-year-old Lauren Bacall cast a smoldering glance toward Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 film noir “To Have and Have Not,” she stuck the landing of her Hollywood debut with a precision few stars have achieved before or since. Chin down, eyes lifted, she eclipsed one of the most seasoned leading men in the industry. Even before she uttered one of cinema’s greatest innuendos — “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and…blow” — she had walked away with the film. Critics raved, hailing her as the next Marlene Dietrich and claiming she had better chemistry with Bogart than Ingrid Bergman had in “Casablanca.”

Director Howard Hawks had plucked the Brooklyn-born teenager from obscurity after seeing her in the pages of Harper’s Bazaar. After changing her name from Betty to Lauren and instructing her to keep her voice in its naturally low register,...

Dillon plays a man with more red flags than a golf course and Aida Folch does her best stay above water in Fernando Trueba’s noir-adjacent film

Neither pulpy enough for the midnight movie crowd, nor classy enough for the arthouse, this alleged thriller about a young woman called Alex (Aida Folch), who travels to an idyllic Greek island where she meets mysterious restaurant owner Max (Matt Dillon), who is obviously repressing some sort of dark past, feels like a missed opportunity. Spanish director Fernando Trueba, working from an iffy script he co-wrote with Rylend Grant, gets most of the ingredients right – exotic location, good-looking leads, a few different narrative reveals up its sleeve – but flubs the execution, leaving his cast floundering.

You can see why the actors signed on, though. Dillon’s role is the sort of thing Humphrey Bogart used to do so well in films such as...

In a recent video for the movie-focused social media platform Letterboxd, "Alien" and "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott was asked to select his four favorite movies. In a move that a YouTube commenter referred to as "pretty based," one of the films Scott chose was his own 1982 sci-fi classic, "Blade Runner." The director justified the choice by saying the movie "set the pace for many, many, many, many things," and if you've seen a science-fiction movie in the past 40 years, you know that's an accurate statement.

Kurt Russell has not yet worked with Ridley Scott, but he did star in "Soldier," something of a spiritual sequel to Scott's original "Blade Runner." Russell's impressive and extremely long career (he spent his early years working as a young actor for Walt Disney) has been influential in its own ways -- you can see echoes of characters like Snake Plissken, R.J. MacReady, Wyatt Earp,...

Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall made her feature debut with Howard Hawks‘ adventure yarn “To Have and Have Not” (1945). The film was a landmark for the actress in both her career and her life, since it was how she met her future husband Humphrey Bogart. The two would become a legendary couple off-screen and on, making three subsequent features together: “The Big Sleep” (1946), “Dark Passage” (1947) and “Key Largo” (1948).

Despite her hefty filmography, Bacall received just one Oscar nomination in her career: Best Supporting Actress for “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996), in which she played Barbra Streisand‘s domineering mother. After victories at the Golden Globes and SAG, Bacall looked like a shoo-in to finally clinch an Academy Award, yet lost to Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”).

Bacall also had a successful stage career, winning two Tonys as Best Actress in a Musical (“Applause” in 1970 and “Woman of the Year” in 1981″). Her...

The upcoming episode of *Scene by Scene*, airing at 10:30 Pm on Thursday, September 12, 2024, on BBC Four, promises an intimate look into the life of Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall. In a rare interview, Bacall sits down with filmmaker Mark Cousins to discuss her illustrious career, offering insights that fans and film lovers will cherish.

Throughout the conversation, Bacall reflects on her iconic roles and the impact she made in the film industry. Viewers will also get a glimpse into her personal life, including her marriage to the legendary Humphrey Bogart, which has captivated audiences for decades. Bacall shares anecdotes about their life together, revealing the depth of their relationship and the challenges they faced in the spotlight.

Additionally, the episode touches on her friendships with fellow icons such as Katharine Hepburn and Rock Hudson, showcasing the bonds that shaped her career. This episode of *Scene by Scene* is a heartfelt tribute to Bacall’s legacy,...

John Huston’s The African Queen, starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, is heading to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray this October.

Ah, now here’s a flat out classic vintage movie that’s now been confirmed for its 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut. From director John Huston comes the joyful The African Queen, a 1951 movie that paired up Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.

Robert Morley co-stars, and the film itself is a rollicking action adventure. I’ve said this before talking about movies like North By Northwest in the past, but The African Queen is the kind of movie that I wonder gets overlooked by some because it’s a) old and b) acclaimed. In this case, it’s as fun as a summer blockbuster movie, and few people get to the end and think they’ve wasted 105 minutes of their life.

Anyway, back to the 4K release, that had been rumoured for some time.

James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88.

Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery; he went home but had to return.

“I always thought he would pull through,” Moret said, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

Early in his career, the dark-haired Darren received excellent notices for starring in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) — portraying the son of a hoodlum defended by Humphrey Bogart’s character in 1949’s Knock on Any Door — and for playing the Greek soldier Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone...

Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" movies are a masterclass in adapting comic books to the big screen, particularly in how to make their setting feel lived-in and real while also fantastical. Raimi populated each of his films with memorable side characters that fleshed-out and expanded his take on the "Spider-Man" universe, giving the movies an everyman perspective that makes them stand apart from all other superhero films out there. His "Spider-Man" trilogy features dozens of characters who make an impression with merely a single line of dialogue, which builds up their version of New York and allow us to better see and care about Spider-Man because we've gotten to know the people he spends his days protecting -- from Mr. Aziz (Peter's boss at Joe's Pizza in "Spider-Man 2") to the glorified extras played by then lesser-knowns like Joel McHale and Emily Deschanel, Mr. Ditkovitch (albeit in a bigger role), and,...

Diane Lane whips out her copy of the same Slim Keith book I’ve loved for years: “Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life.” It details her love affair and marriage to Hollywood auteur Howard Hawks, how she befriended Ernest Hemingway when Hawks was wrangling the rights to “To Have and Have Not,” and her discovery of Harper’s Bazaar covergirl Lauren Bacall to play “Slim” in the movie, a character based on Keith.

An entire chapter is devoted to her deep and loving friendship, during and after her marriage to uber-agent Leland Hayward, with gay novelist Truman Capote, who eventually betrayed her with his infamous Esquire article, “La Cote Basque 1965.” At that moment, as dramatized in the FX series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” Keith (Lane) and her best pal, New York socialite Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), angrily turned their backs on Capote (Tom Hollander), who had...

Monsieur Spade is one of a collection of AMC shows now available to stream on Netflix as part of a one-year licensing deal between the network and the streamer — a deal that’s become somewhat of a tradition ever since Breaking Bad surged in popularity once it became available on Netflix. The Clive Owen-led noir drama offers a new story in the infamous onscreen life of Sam Spade, the detective made famous in Dashiell Hammett’s books and in Humphrey Bogart‘s performance in The Maltese Falcon. It’s a gorgeously rendered gumshoe mystery that shows a new side of the character. Set in the south of France in the 1963, Spade is a man in relatively peaceful retirement who’s living quietly after the death of his wife, whom he met in France while tasked with seeing to the safe passage of a young girl named Teresa (the elder...

War movies are usually retrospective by nature. Even "Casablanca," the most famous World War 2 movie made during World War 2, was set in the recent past. The movie was released in November 1942, after the U.S. had joined the Allies, but it is set in December 1941, just before America entered the war.

As documented by author Richard Osborne in "Casablanca Companion: The Movie Classic and Its Place in History," the filming of "Casablanca" took place on a Warner Bros. lot across 59 days, from May 25 to August 3, 1942. The cast and crew didn't think they were making anything remarkable, but the hand of fate intervened.

In "Casablanca," the titular city is shown as a waystation for refugees, albeit a dangerous one because it is controlled by the Vichy French government. France had ruled portions of Morocco as a colony since 1912, so when France fell to the Nazis in June 1940, they got Morocco in the package.

Months after setting the screen on fire with their sizzling chemistry in Anyone But You (2023), Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are back in the spotlight. Once again becoming the talk of Tinseltown, the super hot duo made reported headlines. But thankfully, this time it’s not about their alleged romance.

Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You (2023) | Columbia Pictures

Despite constantly sparking tabloid-laden romance rumors following the release of Anyone But You, this time Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell got everyone talking about their potential reunion. According to Daniel Richtman, Sweeney and Powell are reportedly set to collaborate in the remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 classic, The Running Man.

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell Debunked Real-life Romance Rumors

Initially sharing the screen with Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, after coming out of the blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick, Glen Powell and his co-star left fans buzzing about their alleged romance.

Very few filmmakers have the distinction of creating a classic on their first effort. But John Huston, one of the greatest screenwriters and directors of the 20th century, did just that in 1941 with “The Maltese Falcon” and went on to create many classics by inventing, reinventing and reinvigorating genres.

Huston was born on August 5, 1906, in Nevada, Missouri. His father was the great actor Walter Huston, and young John developed an interest in the stage at a young age watching his father perform in vaudeville. He was a sickly child with an enlarged heart and kidney ailments but eventually overcame that to drop out of school at the age of 14 to become a professional boxer.

As a young adult, Huston wrote and sold several short stories, and made his way to Hollywood when “talking pictures” created a demand for writers. He took a short hiatus from Hollywood after the car he...

The 90s kids who loved watching Batman on Cartoon Network might be hit by a wave of nostalgia with Amazon’s Batman: Caped Crusader. And looking at the similar animation style and world-building, it only makes us miss the late Kevin Conroy more and more. But Hamish Linklater (as Batman’s voice) has certainly done an excellent job, and creator Bruce Timm brings back the memories of our childhood pretty aptly. There haven’t been any dramatic changes in the look and feel of the animated series, and many of the prominent characters remain the same, though a few changes have been made to make their story look fresh. The 10-episode series brings forward a new case in each episode except for the last two episodes, which mostly center around Harvey Dent. So, let’s take a look at everything that happened in Batman: Caped Crusader season 1.

Spoiler Alert

Episode...

Spoilers for "Deadpool & Wolverine" to follow.

In "Deadpool & Wolverine," Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) learns from the Time Variance Authority (Tva) that his universe is dying. This is mostly because Marvel Studios parent company Disney bought 20th Century Fox (home of the "X-Men" movie franchise since Marvel Comics sold off the rights in the 1990s). It's also, though, because in 2017's "Logan," Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) died.

The "X-Men" franchise made Logan its star and did not do a good job getting the audience hooked on the other characters. So, without Logan, the sustaining-interest in the setting is gone. It's typical "Deadpool" metatext, especially since with this film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is bringing Jackman back as Logan to renew interest in itself.

After getting the news his universe is due for a pruning, Deadpool begins hopping across the multiverse. He thinks if he can find a Wolverine to fill his world's Logan-shaped hole,...

It’s no secret that Warner Bros. Discovery has treated some of the company’s most iconic characters with as much care and respect as Sylvester the Cat gives to Tweety Bird. After shelving a completed Batgirl spin-off and a new Scooby-Doo movie, just so that they could be used as tax write-offs, the corporation made headlines for similarly scrapping the release of the promising, and 100 percent complete, Looney Tunes feature Coyote vs. Acme.

Man, this company would sell off Humphrey Bogart’s bones if they thought it would save them a few bucks.

One silver lining to this depressing turn of events: Warners still had another feature length Looney Tunes project in the pipeline: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a sci-fi parody in which Daffy Duck and Porky Pig battle mind-controlling aliens.

The Day the Earth Blew Up made its world premiere...

Lorcan Finnegan’s “The Surfer,” screening at Taormina Film Festival following its premiere at Cannes, promises to be one of the year’s cult films. A bizarro mix of Kafka and Ozploitation, the film boasts a late phase Cage performance and a psycho-comedy that appears all the darker for its sunbaked setting. The Irish director of “Vivarium” and “Nocebo” spoke with Variety as the Mediterranean glittered tantalizingly in the distance.

Were you familiar with surfing culture before making the film?

I wouldn’t call myself a surfer, as I’m more of a skateboarder, and so I didn’t really know much about that culture. And this whole toxic masculinity stuff never really appealed to me, but I didn’t want to reject something, just because I didn’t know about it. It’s an interesting challenge.

Why did you choose Australia as the setting?

It was going to be California,...