News

Our odyssey through the work of Michael Caine reaches a grim nadir: the 1984 comedy Blame It On Rio. Brace yourselves, readers.

Michael Caine showed no sign of slowing down as he entered his third decade as a leading man. The 1980s would see him win his first Academy Award (Hannah and Her Sisters), tackle new genres such as horror (The Hand) and shark-based revenge movie (Jaws: The Revenge) whilst continuing to work with interesting new auteurs like Brian De Palma (Dressed to Kill) as well as old friends from classic Hollywood such as John Huston (Escape to Victory).

Film by film, I’ll be taking a look at Caine’s 1980s filmography to see what hidden gems I can unearth alongside the more familiar classics…

Spoilers for Blame it on Rio lay ahead…

Directed by:

Stanley Donen

Tagline:

This had multiple taglines, starting innocuous enough but I became increasingly uneasy as they went on…...

Matt LeBlanc, with his iconic portrayal of Joey Tribbiani on Friends, became a household name. But before the iconic sitcom, he had a role in a Married With Children spin-off called Top of the Heap that many might not be aware of. He played Vinnie Verducci, a character who always found himself in comedic situations.

Christina Applegate and David Schwimmer in a still from Friends || NBC

But that’s not all in one episode; he nearly made out with Christina Applegate, who played Kelly Bundy on the show. However, the duo’s connection was not limited to this series, and they reunited years later in the hit sitcom Friends when she played Rachel’s sister Amy.

Matt LeBlanc and Christina Applegate Go Way Back Christina Applegate, Courtney Cox and Matt LeBlanc in a still from Friends || NBC

There were three spin-offs produced based on the original Married With Children and...

My Adventures with Superman is one of the most brilliant superhero animated series. Created by Brendan Clougher, Jake Wyatt, and Josie Campbell, the Adult Swim series tells the story of Superman aka Clark Kent as he starts his new job at The Daily Planet, with his roommate Jimmy Olson, and his senior intern at The Daily Planet who is none other than Lois Lane. They quickly become a team and try to bring in big stories so that they can become real reporters while Clark also tries to become the hero he is meant to be. My Adventures with Superman has great action but the brilliant thing about the series is that it isn’t an action series about Superman, it’s a series about a superhero and his relationships as he figures out who he really is. So, if you love the heart, optimism, great story, and fantastic animation...

Bruce Timm is one of the most influential creative forces behind the Dcau universe which gives fans one of the best iterations of their beloved Justice League characters. However, the Dcau is also known for bringing to life some of the lesser-known and obscure characters from the pages of DC Comics.

A still from Superman: The Animated Series

One such character was based on beloved comic artist Jack Kirby but Timm might have gone too far by killing him off in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series. However, Timm later explained that the storyline was meant to serve as a tribute to the late great comic artist. Here is everything you need to know about the death of one Superman: The Animated Series character based on Jack Kirby.

Bruce Timm‘s Superman: The Animated Series Killed Off Beloved Character Based on Jack Kirby

Superman: The Animated Series was developed...

Rita McKenzie, the actress and singer best known for her boisterous performances in the one-woman show Ethel Merman’s Broadway, died Saturday in Los Angeles after a long illness, her husband, talent agent Scott Stander, announced. She was 76.

McKenzie first starred on stage as the powerful Merman — star of such iconic Broadway hits as Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! — in New York in 1988.

Belting out tunes like “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “I Got Rhythm” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” McKenzie toured throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia in what many consider the longest-running one-woman show in theatrical history.

She also starred in parts that Merman made famous: Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes!, the gunslinger in a 50th anniversary tour of Annie Get Your Gun and Rose in Gypsy.

Watch her perform here.

A native of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, McKenzie starred...

Nearly two years have gone by since Scream Factory brought the “nature run amok” cult classic Alligator and its sequel Alligator II: The Mutation to Blu-ray in North America. Now 101 Films’ Black Label are set to Alligator a 4K release in the UK – and since 4K Uhd discs are region free, fans outside the UK will be able to enjoy this release as well! The release date is January 29th, and copies are available for pre-order through the 101 Films website. The Alligator 4K is accompanied by a fresh Blu-ray release of Alligator II: The Mutation, but if you’re outside the UK you might need a region free player to watch that one.

Here’s the information on the release:

101 Films presents cult classic creature feature Alligator (1980) on 4K Uhd, along with the TV cut and 1991 sequel Alligator II: The Mutation (1991) on Blu-ray, title 033 on the 101 Films Black Label.

We’re a bit over halfway through the year and 2023 has had its share of great movies already. Festivals like Sundance and SXSW kicked things off early with several strong new films, and the summer movie season has offered its fair share of Best of the Year contenders.

But what makes a movie one of the best? It’s a strange alchemy, from actors to script to story, and of course, taste is subjective. But TheWrap’s film team feels these following 21 films are some of the cream of the crop, with justification for why each should be in any conversation about the “best films of 2023.”

Behold, some of our favorite movies of 2023 so far.

Searchlight Pictures

“Chevalier” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Chevalier” came and went so quickly early in 2023 that it’s only now, revisiting it on Hulu where it’s streaming, that more people are actually taking it in. The...

This episode of The Black Sheep was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

The creature feature just isn’t explored enough anymore. Jaws was a monster of a success story and ended up having three sequels on its own and had a slew of imitators. 1980 would give us, in my humble opinion, one of the better ones with Alligator starring Robert Forster. It was successful too, making 6 and a half million on a 1.5-million-dollar budget. I know that’s not crazy money, but it was a hit and had a fun pedigree with it that remains very popular today. Its one of the movies that keeps selling well with new and old fans and so it recently got put on 4K. There weren’t as many creature flicks through the rest of the...

It’s time for a new episode of the Awfully Good Horror Movies video series, and with this one we’re looking back at the 1985 horror comedy Transylvania 6-5000 (watch it Here). To find out why we consider Transylvania 6-5000 to be awfully good, check out the video embedded above!

Written and directed by Ruby De Luca, Transylvania 6-5000 has the following synopsis:

Fear and loathing meet hilarity head on as two bumbling reporters try to unravel the mystery of modern-day Transylvania. Along the way they meet a decidedly bizarre assortment of loonies and throwbacks. The lowly servant Radu and even more lowly Lupi. The oversexed vampiress Odette, who has an unnatural penchant for “necking”. The mysterious gypsy, Madame Moravia, who babbles about a werewolf named Larry. And the mad Doctor Malavaqua, who has been carrying on some rather shady experiments. What the reporters uncover is enough to scare the...

Hey everyone! We have one last batch of horror and sci-fi home media releases headed our way before the end of the month, and this week’s offerings are massive, with well over 20 titles coming out on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD this Tuesday alone.

One of my favorite creature features ever is getting some love in HD finally, with Scream Factory’s 4K release of Lewis Teague’s Alligator (and its sequel is headed to Blu-ray this week as well), and the horror comedy Dead Heat is also getting a 4K upgrade. For all you giallo fans out there, Forgotten Gialli: Volume 3 is being released tomorrow and features three more Italian classics genre fans are going to want to own, and Severin Films is keeping busy with a ton of titles this week too: Bloody Pit of Horror, Black Candles, Night of the Demon, and The Halfway House.

Other titles...

The former head of the ACLU discusses some of the movies – and sports legends – that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mighty Ira (2020)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

42 (2013)

Shane (1953)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Last Year At Marienbad (1962)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

La Strada (1954)

Wild Strawberries (1957) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

The Virgin Spring (1960) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Last House On The Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

A Walk In The Sun (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s review

Paths Of Glory (1957) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

On The Waterfront (1954) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

12 Angry Men (1957)

Inherit The Wind (1960)

Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)

Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

The Verdict (1982)

Twelve Angry Men teleplay (1954)

The Front (1976)

Judgment At Nuremberg teleplay...

Tango Shalom, where a female tango dancer (Dancing with the Stars champion Karina Smirnoff) invites an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi (Jos Laniado) to enter a televised dance competition, was an arthouse standout this weekend with a per screen average of over $4,000 at four theaters in New York and LA. The solid performance in a generally dour specialty market shows the power of older demos when they want to come out, nudged in this case by a targeted postcard mailing blitz, according to Atlas Distribution President Harmon Kaslow.

Tango Shalom is distributed worldwide by Vision Films with Atlas managing U.S. theatrical.

Kaslow thinks the comedy, directed by Gabriel Bologna with a sweet message and a star (Lainie Kazan) and producer (Joel Zwick) from the 2002 breakout hit My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, also benefitted from an exclusive theatrical run. Distributors have been noting the one-two boon of a decent window (60 days in...

To mark the release of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape on 6th September, and Blame it on Rio on 13th September, we’ve been given 2 bundles of both movies to give away!

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

In a backwater Iowa Town, Gilbert (Johnny Depp) struggles to take care of his mentally disabled brother, Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio), and provide for the rest of the family. But after falling for the stranded Becky (Juliette Lewis), Gilbert discovers exciting new possibilities for his life.

Blame it on Rio

Upon arriving in exotic Rio, long-time friends Matthew (Michael Caine) and Victor (Joseph Bologna) and their teenage daughters (Moore and Johnson) barely unpack before this infamous pleasure spot begins to cast it’s torrid spell. Matthew quickly succumbs to Cupid’s arrow, but when guilt gets the better of this married man, he vows to end the affair and keep it a secret… even from Victor.

Burbank, CA – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series with a fully remastered Blu-rayTM box set. Superman: The Complete Animated Series, which includes several hours of bonus features headlined by an all-new documentary detailing the creation of one of the most beloved animated Super Hero cartoons in history, will be available starting October 12, 2021.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation (Wba), the Emmy Award-winning Superman: The Animated Series was the perfect follow-up to the landmark Batman: the Animated Series. Producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett elevated The Man of Steel’s animated presence with an imaginative, heartfelt look at Superman’s adventures in Metropolis alongside Lois Lane and opposite the villainous likes of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid and more. Premiering on September 6, 1996, the series continued Wba’s dominance in Super Hero animation, once again setting new standards for storytelling, art direction...

Charlie Hauck, a writer-producer who penned scripts for some of TV’s most iconic sitcoms – Maude, Frasier, Home Improvement, One Day At A Time and, under a pseudonym as a favor to Larry Gelbert, one episode of M*A*S*H – died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, Nov. 14, of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 79.

His death was confirmed by his daughter Flannery Cogan Hauck.

“Nobody made me laugh harder, or more often, than Charlie Hauck,” said Maude creator Norman Lear. “He defined ‘funny’ and was a glorious man and friend.”

Hauck, whose career spanned more than 35 years, created the 1986 Valerie Harper comedy Valerie and co-created The Associates, the 1979 ABC sitcom that introduced a young Canadian actor named Martin Short to U.S. audiences.

Hauck’s knack for recognizing young comic talent also contributed heavily to another longstanding Hollywood career: Remembering a friend from his pre-Los Angeles days at Pittsburgh’s Wqed-tv,...

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

“Nostalgia, Swashbuckling, And Laughter”

By Raymond Benson

Mel Brooks served as executive producer on this thoroughly delightful picture released in 1982 and directed by actor/director Richard Benjamin. It feels like a Brooks movie (but perhaps not as zany). In fact, My Favorite Year, which was written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo, from Palumbo’s story, is loosely inspired by Brooks’ days as a writer on Sid Caesar’s early television comedy/variety programs, Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour, in the 1950s.

The year is 1954, New York City, and Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) is a young comedy writer on “Comedy Cavalcade,” which stars the demanding and difficult-to-work-for King Kaiser (Joseph Bologna). The studio is lucky to snare a guest appearance on the show by the once hugely popular but now fading swashbuckling movie star, Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole). Swann is a notorious alcoholic,...

With Valentine’s Day only a few days away, if you’re still looking for some gift ideas to win the affection of the horror fan in your life, then perhaps this latest batch of Blu-rays and DVD releases might give you some inspiration. And speaking of amore, Scream Factory has put together a brilliant Collector’s Edition for the original My Bloody Valentine that is a must-own for genre fans, and keeping with the theme, Takashi Miike’s First Love is coming home on both Blu and DVD this Tuesday as well.

We also have other romantic genre offerings coming out this week, too, including Transylvania 6-5000, Cupid, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, which is about obsessive love, but love nonetheless.

Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for February 11th include Get Gone, Inmate Zero, Rust, Omnivores, and a retro-style Blu-ray for the original When A Stranger Calls by Fred Walton.

Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives

King Kaiser’s Comedy Cavalcade goes on in minutes. But guest star Alan Swann is exiting the building. Fast. “I’m not an actor. I’m a movie star!” he bellows in stark fear. He just found out the show is Live!

Directed by Richard Benjamin and inspired by incidents from comedy legend Mel Brooks’ early career, My Favorite Year is a golden age revisited, a zany, misty-eyed tribute to TV’s early days. Academy Award® winner* Peter O’Toole plays Swann. Once a swashbuckling movie idol whose face was plastered on fan magazines, Swann is now mostly plastered. And it falls to Cavalcade’s rookie writer (Mark Linn-Baker) to keep him on the sober and narrow. Don’t touch that dial.

Mark Linn-Baker makes his debut and Peter O’Toole is a delight in this...

Be More Chill and What The Constitution Means To Me, currently on Broadway, are among the just-announced Lucille Lortel Award nominees for their previous Off Broadway versions.

The Lortels, which honor Off Broadway productions, mark a sort of unofficial kick-off to New York’s theater awards season. Broadway’s Tony Award nominations will be announced Tuesday, April 30.

Winners of the 34th annual Lortel Awards will be announced Sunday, May 5 at an event hosted by Wayne Brady.

Another nominated Off Broadway production that later made its way to Broadway is Mike Birbiglia’s The New One, nominated in the Outstanding Solo Show category.

Tying for most Lortel nominations are Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones starring Anika Noni Rose and Ars Nova’s Rags Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future, each with six nominations.

The nominations were announced today by the Off-Broadway League. The 34th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will be handed out Sunday,...

My Life On A Diet, Renee Taylor's critically acclaimed autobiographical solo comedy, announce that the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress will holdthree scheduled post-show talkbacks. The talkbacks will happen immediately following the performances on Friday, August 24th at 7 pm, Saturday, August 25th at 7 pm, and Friday, August 31st at 7 pm. Written by Ms. Taylor and her late husband Joseph Bologna, and originally directed by Mr. Bologna, My Life On A Diet is scheduled to run through Sunday, September 2, 2018 Off-Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement's 423 West 46 Street, between Ninth amp Tenth Aves.

My Life On A Diet, starring Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renee Taylor, has extended its limited run due to popular demand. Originally scheduled as a 6-week run ending August 19th, the autobiographical comedy will now extend for two-weeks, perform through Sunday, September 2, 2018 Off-Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement's 423 West 46 Street, between Ninth amp Tenth Aves. My Life On A Diet is written by Ms. Taylor and her late husband Joseph Bologna, and was originally directed by Mr. Bologna.

Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renee Taylor - known to millions for her role as Fran Fine's food-obsessed mother, Sylvia, on 'The Nanny' - returns to the New York stage in the New York premiere of My Life on a Diet, an autobiographical comedy written by Ms. Taylor and her late husband Joseph Bologna. Originally directed by Mr. Bologna, My Life on a Dietjust openedat Theatre at St. Clement's.

The upcoming 90th Academy Awards will mark the 25th consecutive year that the Oscars will feature an “In Memoriam” segment. While it had been done on occasion before, the annual tribute to Academy members and other film legends started a regular tradition at the 1994 ceremony hosted by Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg.

SEE2018 Oscars: Best Song performers include Mary J. Blige, Common, Andra Day, Keala Settle, Sufjan Stevens

We’ve assembled a list below of people who have died in the past 12 months who might be featured during the “In Memoriam” for the ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on March 4. Producers have not yet revealed who might be performing during the tribute. Sure to have prominent placements are previous Oscar champ Martin Landau (“Ed Wood,” 1994), honorary Oscar recipient Jerry Lewis and respected actor Bill Paxton (“Titanic,” “Apollo 13”). Paxton actually died on the weekend of last year’s ceremony and was mentioned on the broadcast,...

By Todd Garbarini

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

The 1980s were a decade of many cultural phenomenon such as the teen angst film, the splatter horror film, the zombie films, and of course the teen sex comedy. Bob Clark’s Porky’s (1981) was a huge success both financially and artistically. To this day it’s still one of the funniest movies ever made. Many of today’s best-known actors cut their teeth in such fare: Tom Hanks attended an out-of-control Bachelor Party (1984) and even Johnny Depp and Rob Morrow checked into a Private Resort (1985). Stanley Donen, best known for directing Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Funny Face (1957), Charade (1963), and Arabesque (1966), followed up the boring and disastrous Saturn 3 (1980) with Blame It on Rio, a peculiar entry in his otherwise illustrious career. Jennifer (Michelle Johnson) is a pulchritudinous seventeen-year-old who lusts after her father Victor’s (Joseph Bologna) best friend...

Sunday’s telecast of the Screen Actors Guild will feature a special In Memoriam segment devoted to many of the actors and actresses who have died since last year’s ceremony in late January. Sure to be among those saluted include Oscar winner Martin Landau, comedy legend Jerry Lewis, and beloved film and TV star Bill Paxton. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for this past year of 2017 and the newly-started gallery for 2018.

Over 100 people in SAG/AFTRA have passed away in the past 12 months. Which of the following 60 names will also be featured in the televised tribute?

SEE2018 SAG Awards TV predictions: Complete racetrack odds in all 9 categories

Richard Anderson (actor)

Chuck Barris (host/executive)

Shelley Berman (actor)

Chuck Berry (singer/actor)

Joseph Bologna (actor)

Powers Boothe (actor)

Brent Briscoe (actor)

Glen Campbell (singer/actor)

Bernie Casey (actor)

David Cassidy (actor/singer)

Mike Connors (actor)

Danielle Darrieux (actor...

Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies that have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Richard Anderson (1926-2017) - Actor. In addition to starring on TV's The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, he co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, Forbidden Planet, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Seconds, Seven Days in May and The Long, Hot Summer. He died on August 31. (THR) Joseph Bologna (1934-2017) - Actor, Writer. He received an Oscar nomination for co-writing the adaptation of Lovers and Other Strangers and also...

Read More...

Nosferatu: Anya Taylor-Joy (Split, above) is negotiations to star in a new version of Nosferatu. If things work out, she will reunite with director Robert Eggers; they previously worked together on indie horror movie The Witch. Eggers will also write the screenplay, based on the 1922 silent original, which itself was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula. Werner Herzog directed a previous remake in 1979. [Variety]   Joseph Bologna: Veteran actor Joseph Bologna has passed away. He was 82. Bologna earned an Academy Award nomination for cowriting Lovers and Other Strangers and then starred in comedies like Cops and Robbers, My Favorite Year and Blame It on Rio. He continued making notable supporting appearances for the next 30 years, including playing Adam Sandler's...

Read More...

Nosferatu: Anya Taylor-Joy (Split, above) is negotiations to star in a new version of Nosferatu. If things work out, she will reunite with director Robert Eggers; they previously worked together on indie horror movie The Witch. Eggers will also write the screenplay, based on the 1922 silent original, which itself was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula. Werner Herzog directed a previous remake in 1979. [Variety]   Joseph Bologna: Veteran actor Joseph Bologna has passed away....

Read More

Read Comments...

Actor, playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter who took the part of the tyrannical comedian King Kaiser in the 1982 film comedy My Favourite Year

Tough cookies with soft centres were the stock-in-trade of the actor Joseph Bologna, who has died aged 82. Cinema audiences warmed to him from his performances as gruff, long-suffering or domineering fathers and father figures.

He was the tyrannical comedian King Kaiser, modelled on Sid Caesar, in the nostalgic comedy My Favourite Year (1982), starring Peter O’Toole as an alcoholic former matinee idol. He played one of Gene Wilder’s drinking buddies in The Woman in Red and a man whose teenage daughter (Michelle Johnson) is having an affair with his best friend (Michael Caine) in Blame It on Rio (both 1984). In Big Daddy (1999), he was Adam Sandler’s disapproving father; initially unimpressed when his son adopts a child (“He’d be better off living in a dumpster than living with you!

Bologna in "My Favorite Year".

By Lee Pfeiffer

Actor and playwright Joseph Bologna has died from cancer at age 82. Bologna and his wife of 52 years, actress/writer Renee Taylor, were nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay they co-wrote (with David Zelag Goodman) for the 1971 comedy "Lovers and Other Strangers". The two collaborated frequently on and off screen. Bologna was noted primarily for his affiliation with comedies. He and Taylor co-wrote 22 plays and also appeared frequently on television but both had successful solo careers as well.  His most memorable big screen role was as King Kaiser, the acerbic TV variety show host who was based on Sid Caesar in the hit 1982 comedy "My Favorite Year". Last month, Bologna attended a 35th anniversary screening of the film. His other feature films include "Made for Each Other" (co-written with Taylor), "The Big Bus", "Blame It On Rio", "The Woman in Red" and...

Stage and screen actor, director and screenwriter Joe Bologna passed away yesterday, August 13th in CA at the age of 82.

The celebrated actor, director and Oscar-nominated and Emmy and Writers Guild Award-winning screenwriter Joe Bologna has died at the age of 82 to today at City of Hope in Duarte, California. “He had a beautiful life and a beautiful death having fully and gratefully experienced three years since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at Cedars Sinai,” his wife of 52 years actress-writer Renée Taylor said today in a statement. She adds, “His team of doctors, who prolonged…...

Joe Bologna, the celebrated actor, director and Oscar-nominated and Emmy- and Writers Guild Award-winning screenwriter, died Sunday at City of Hope in Duarte, CA. He was 82. “He had a beautiful life and a beautiful death having fully and gratefully experienced three years since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai,” his wife of 52 years actress-writer Renée Taylor said in a statement. Bologna was a role model in the Italian-American community. He shined…...

Joseph Bologna, an actor, playwright and screenwriter who was so memorable as the egotistical King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy classic My Favorite Year, has died. He was 82.

Bologna died Sunday morning at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, said his wife of 52 years, actress and screenwriter Renee Taylor.

Bologna received an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, shared with his wife and David Zelag Goodman, for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). The couple had first written it for Broadway...

Oscar-nominated screenwriter and actor Joe Bologna died this weekend ... TMZ has learned. Joe -- most known for roles in "My Favorite Year" and "Transylvania 6-5000" died Sunday in Duarte, CA surrounded by family and friends ... according to a statement. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 3 years ago, but succumbed to the disease in recent months. Joe helped write and starred in a number of films and shows over his 60 year career, including titles such as "Blame it on Rio,...

Joseph Bologna, the actor, director, playwright, and Oscar-nominated screenwriter, died Sunday morning after losing his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 82. His wife of 52 years, actress Renée Taylor, said in a statement that his team of doctors prolonged his life for the last six months during the cancer’s most aggressive stages. “Dr. Vincent Chung and Dr. Stefanie Mooney of City of Hope gave him back a wonderful quality of life by creating a personalized treatment and palliative care plan, so that he could receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Night of 100 Stars on February 26, of this year,...

Karina Smirnoff of “Dancing With the Stars” is set to co-star in the indie comedy “Tango Shalom,” TheWrap has learned. Gabriel Bologna is directing from a script by Joseph Bologna and Claudio Laniado. The writers are also part of the ensemble, which also includes Lainie Kazan and Renee Taylor. Jos Laniado stars as Moshe, a Hasidic Jew who receives a cryptic message from God to dance the tango, after which he struggles with his beliefs, his family and his community. Also Read: 'Dancing With the Stars' Pro Karina Smirnoff Sits Out Season 20 Smirnoff will play Viviana, a pretty tango instructor who oozes.

By Todd Garbarini

Cy Howard’s 1970 film Lovers and Other Strangers, which stars Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Anne Jackson, Diane Keaton, and Cloris Leachman, celebrates it’s 45th anniversary this year. The Royale Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles will be holding a special one-night-only showing of the 104-minute comedy on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 7:30 pm. Scheduled to appear in person are actress Bonnie Bedelia, Cloris Leachman and the Oscar-nominated co-writers Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor for a post-screening Q&A with film critic Stephen Farber.

From the press release:

Lovers And Other Strangers was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1970 and won the Oscar for best original song, "For All We Know." This sharp and poignant comedy examines the relationships of a dozen characters involved in preparing for a family wedding. The superb ensemble cast includes Oscar winners Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, and Diane Keaton (in her first...

If there was any doubt awards season was in full swing, this week’s growing list of screening events featuring lunches, dinners and receptions all aimed at luring Academy and Golden Globe voters should erase any question.

As I pointed out last week, the Academy’s “official” foreign-language screenings began on Monday night with Poland’s Ida and Hungary’s demanding but very fine White God. But that is just the beginning for both those films.

On Friday afternoon at Century City’s Craft restaurant, a private luncheon was held that drew several Oscar voters for an intimate opportunity to chow down with Ida director Pawel Pawlikowski.

White God’s filmmakers come into town next week for similar treatment with a private screening and reception aimed at those same voters. Saturday night, the terrific Swedish entry, Force Majeure, had a packed Beverly Hills screening followed by a Bouchon dinner reception...

Mel Brooks: Comedy As The Currency Of Friendship

By Eddy Friedfeld

(Photo copyright Steven R. Stack)

Mel Brooks is profiled in a superb American Masters documentary entitled Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, which premieres nationally on PBS stations on May 20th. One of 14 Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners, he has earned more major awards than any other living entertainer, and shows few signs of slowing down. With new interviews with Brooks, his friends and colleagues, including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman, Rob Reiner, and his close friend, with whom he created The 2000 Year Old Man, Carl Reiner. A DVD with bonus material will be available Tuesday, May 21 from Shout Factory.

"When they called me to say I had been chosen as the next 'American Master,' I thought they said I was chosen to be the next Dutch Master. So I figured what the hell,...

Eddy Friedfeld, Carl Reiner and Fran Zigman. (That's Mel Brooks on the phone). (Photo: Karen Caesar.)

By Eddy Friedfeld

The late great Larry Gelbart once said about his friend and colleague, the still great Carl Reiner: “Carl Reiner and my maid have a lot in common- they both abhor a vacuum.” Having spent time with Mr. Reiner, I can attest that Mr. Gelbart was spot on.

His newly released autobiography, I Remember Me, is a very entertaining and wonderful and inspiring collection of anecdotes. His third biography, following My Anecdotal Life and How Paul Robeson Saved My Life and Other Mostly Happy Stories, is a collection of funny and poignant, and extremely well-crafted stories range from friends and family, including his late wife of 65 years, Estelle (whose When Harry Met Sally iconic line “I’ll have what she’s having,” rated ahead of Humphrey Bogart’s Casablanca close “This...

Opponents of the Screen Actors Guild's proposed merger with the American Federation of Television & Radio Actors filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the union from calling for a vote on the plan. The suit charges that SAG's board of directors breached its fiduciary duties by failing to conduct a study detailing the effects of the proposed merger on SAG's pension and health benefits. Among the 68 SAG members listed as plaintiffs are Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, Valerie Harper, Diane Ladd, Edward Asner, Joe Bologna and Nancy Sinatra.  Asner and fellow co-plaintiff Alan...

Update, 12:45 Pm: The Screen Actors Guild issued a response saying, in part: “We believe that this suit is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend all claims in court. We are confident that our actions are appropriate and consistent with the law and our own rules of procedure.” Full statement posted below. Breaking… Exclusive 11 Am: (Click here for .pdf of lawsuit) A number of Screen Actors Guild members filed a lawsuit today asking the court for a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop SAG from calling for a vote on the proposed SAG-aftra merger. The suit claims that the SAG Board has breached its fiduciary duties to conduct an actuarial impact study detailing the effects of the proposed merger on SAG membership pension and health benefits. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The members filing suit are: Martin Sheen, Edward Asner,...

Update, 12:45 Pm: The Screen Actors Guild issued a response saying, in part: “We believe that this suit is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend all claims in court. We are confident that our actions are appropriate and consistent with the law and our own rules of procedure.” Full statement posted below. Breaking… Exclusive 11 Am: (Click here for .pdf of lawsuit) A number of Screen Actors Guild members filed a lawsuit today asking the court for a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop SAG from calling for a vote on the proposed SAG-aftra merger. The suit claims that the SAG Board has breached its fiduciary duties to conduct an actuarial impact study detailing the effects of the proposed merger on SAG membership pension and health benefits. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The members filing suit are: Martin Sheen, Edward Asner,...

Fans of classic movies know that "Woman of the Year" marks the beginning of the 25-year partnership, on- and off-screen, between one of film's most beloved and enduring couples: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Released 70 years ago today (on January 19, 1942), "Woman of the Year" came to define combustible romantic chemistry, thanks to the two fiery, evenly-matched leads. It launched a partnership that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967, a quarter-century union that resulted in nine films and an extramarital affair that was Hollywood's worst kept secret. What fans may not know is how the partnership came to be, who the real-life inspirations were for Hepburn's high-minded columnist and Tracy's earthy sportswriter, or the forgotten screen pairing of the two stars that came four years earlier. Read on for the untold story of "Woman of the Year" and its long afterlife in the realms of Broadway, TV, and magazines. 1. "Woman of the Year...

Today is Black Friday, the day when it is our patriotic duty as Americans to go into a spending frenzy. For all our talk about family values, we think it is more important to forgo the conviviality of the Thanksgiving table so that we can stand in line to buy things.

Originally I had thought to write a column full of gift suggestions for those of you who want to introduce your family and friends to the joys of graphic storytelling. There are terrific books for a variety or ages and tastes and interests. I have my favorites, but I don’t know the people on your list, so my recommendations may not apply. That’s what the comments section is for.

Instead, I want to talk about you, Constant Reader. You and your needs.

Some people like to shop. Some people like to shop in crowded chain stores, the...

David Zelag Goodman (pictured, right), an Oscar-nominated screenwriter who teamed with Sam Peckinpah on the original "Straw Dogs," died Monday in Oakland, California after battling a brain disorder. He was 81. According to his daughter, Goodman died at an assisted-living facility of progressive supranuclear palsy. Goodman shared an Oscar nomination with Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor for co-writing the screenplay for "Lovers and Other Strangers," a 1970 comedy based on the couple's play. His other credits include "Monte Walsh" (1970), a western starring Lee Marvin; "Farewell, My Lovely" (1975), an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel starring Robert Mitchum; Faye Dunaway thriller "Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978); and the sci-fi classic "Logan's Run" (1976). He also wrote episodes of TV's "The Untouchables" in the early 1960s and penned the 1979 miniseries "Freedom Road" starring Kris Kristofferson and Muhammad Ali, in which the boxer played an ex-slave in 1870s Virginia who gets elected to the Senate.

There's an old Jethro Tull song that goes "the Christmas Spirit is not what you drink." This was never more evident as a throng of entertainers led by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna, along with resident family members, Saving the Lives of Our Own, and supporters converged on the Motion Picture Home to sing songs of love and support to the residents. I guess you call it caroling. It was so much more, and it uplifted the spirits and the hopes of the future of Long Term Care. I'm sure that...

At a Hollywood theater Tuesday night, there will be a benefit called "1 Voice," featuring performances and passionate pitches from Richard Dreyfuss, John Schneider, Esai Morales, Nichelle Nichols, Connie Stevens and a dozen others. The event is more than about raising money: It aims to ramp up efforts to save the long-term-care facility on the Wasserman campus at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills.

"It's an awareness evening," said John F. McCormick, who will direct the show at the Neo Ensemble Theatre. "We need to keep having this conversation about what is happening and how we can help."

Since the plan to close the facilities was disclosed in January 2009, there have been numerous media reports and the formation of a number of committees to address the situation, all of which has been embarrassing to the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The nonprofit, which has overseen the premier industry charity for generations,...

Beverly Hills -- Announcing "1 Voice": A  Star Filled Evening of Entertainment in support of the embattled Motion Picture Home's residents and its uncertain future. The Board of Directors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund (Mptf) is committed to closing the entertainment community's historic nursing home and hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. The impending closure displaces Hollywood's most frail and vulnerable residents from their campus home in the Long Term Care facility. '1 Voice' is a celebrity-packed evening to raise industry and community awareness of the resident's plight. The Neo Ensemble Theatre is sharing an evening of all-star entertainment in support of the efforts of Saving the Lives Of Our Own, the advocacy group dedicated to keeping the residents in the Motion Picture Home and to preserving the Mptf's historic mission and promise of "taking care of our own" to all entertainment industry workers. The Los Angeles based non-profit theater...