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The year 1953 surely left even the most devoted Oscar fans scratching their heads. One of the biggest upsets ever for Best Picture, some shocking snubs and all major awards going to different films led to some baffling anomalies at the 25th Academy Awards ceremony on March 19, 1953. This was also the year that the film industry finally capitulated to its rival source of entertainment, television, and for the first time broadcast the lavish ceremony live for viewers at home – so perhaps they wanted to dazzle and stun. Let’s flashback to the Oscars from 70 years ago.

With the cameras switching back and forth between Bob Hope hosting in Los Angeles and Conrad Nagel hosting in New York, the event attracted the largest single television audience to date in that medium’s young history. Five films were nominated for Best Picture, including the expected winner “High Noon,” plus “The Quiet Man,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Ivanhoe.

Stars: Yann Gael Loro, Roger Sallah, Mentor Ba, Renaud Farah, Bruno Henry, Evelyne Ily Juhen, Ndiaga Mbow | Written and Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot

I almost managed to see the Senegalese export Saloum on the big screen last year, before some schedule shuffling got in the way. Watching it now I wish I had managed to see it, and not just because of Gregory Corandi’s (Le Banc) cinematography. Writer/director Jean Luc Herbulot has fashioned a genre-jumping film that would be perfect to watch with an audience.

Saloum opens with a voice thoughtfully contemplating the nature of revenge before abruptly shifting to the scene of a massacre as the mercenaries known as The Bangui Hyenas, Chaka (Yann Gael Loro), Rafa (Roger Sallah) and Minuit (Mentor Ba) are finishing off anyone who might still be alive while uptempo dance music plays.

It’s 2003 and as a coup throws Guinea-Bissau into...

George Seaton connected an ideal cast to this true-life WW2 story so good that a lazy script and slack direction can’t sink it. William Holden is the American-Swede who spies for the Allies, ruining his own reputation and schmoozing with Nazis that will kill him if he slips up. Wonderful Lilli Palmer is the patriot-agent who steals his heart. The locations are impressive but one inspired scene captures with perfection the utter depravity of fascist power. If ever a WW2 movie needed a remake, this one qualifies.

The Counterfeit Traitor

Region-free Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 118

1962 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date April 27, 2022 / Available from /

Starring: William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith, Carl Raddatz, Ernst Schröder, Charles Régnier, Ingrid van Bergen, Helo Gutschwager, Wolfgang Preiss, Werner Peters, Erica Beer, Stefan Schnabel, Klaus Kinski, Eva Dahlbeck.

Cinematography: Jean Bourgoin

Production Designer: Ellen Schmidt

Art Directors: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Mathias Matthies

Film Editors: Hans Ebel,...

Exclusive: Deadline has learned that Asger Hussain is joining Lee Daniels Entertainment as SVP of Television, overseeing all aspects of development and production.

Hussain is taking over for Marc Velez who is departing the position.

Award-winning Danish producer Hussain’s arrival at the studio reps a reteaming with Daniels: The two previously worked together on the Oscar-winning Precious, The Paperboy, The Woodsman and Shadowboxer.

Most recently, Hussain served as VP of Production for Gamechanger Films. He also produced the critically-acclaimed South African western, Five Fingers for Marseilles.

In May 2021, Daniels signed a new multi-year overall deal with 20th Television, cementing a partnership that started in 2015 with the smash hit Empire.

The company’s current on-air projects include ABC’s The Wonder Years reboot, Fox’s Our Kind of People, BET’s Ms. Pat as well as the upcoming FX spy series The Spook Who Sat By the Door, and Hulu...

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.

All the Old Knives (Janus Metz Pedersen)

All the Old Knives wants you to sweat and swoon in equal measure. Playing in the same tried and true sandbox as some of the great espionage thrillers before it, director Janus Metz Pedersen’s adaptation of Olen Steinhaur’s 2015 novel traffics in all necessary trappings of its genre. Between the clandestine correspondence and popped peacoat collars against wet European streets, it’s certainly not shy about cinematic crushes. This infatuation is wholly appropriate, because––chilly demeanor notwithstanding––All the Old Knives is a burning romantic at heart. – Conor O. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon Prime

Bull (Paul Andrew Williams)

It’s been ten years since Bull’s (Neil Maskell) son Aiden was taken...

Baratunde Thurston’s animated project “How to Be Black” has been put into development at ABC, hailing from 20th Television Animation and ABC Signature. Thurston, author of the memoir of the same name and podcast host of “How to Citizen with Baratunde,” will write and executive produce alongside Courtney Lilly, producer and writer known for “Arrested Development” and “The Cleveland Show,” who recently renewed his overall deal with ABC Signature. The bestselling book “How to Be Black” focuses on the community and family that raised a young Thurston in 1980s Washington, D.C.

Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland will also executive produce via Cinema Gypsy Productions, the production banner behind “Black-ish,” “Grown-ish” and “Mixed-ish.” The company, founded in 2000 with an eye toward developing projects that highlight cultural, racial and gender diversity issues in America, produced the hit podcast series, “Bronzeville,” as well as “Thurgood” (HBO), “Five Fingers” (Lionsgate), “Akeelah and the Bee...

May isn’t quite summer yet but it is usually time that the networks start wrapping up their newest shows and preparing for a relatively fallow summer period. Since HBO isn’t a network, it has no such business model. But May sees the winding down of some HBO blockbusters all the same.

While there are some notable new releases for HBO in May 2020, the bigger story might be the things that are ending. Westworld concludes its third season on May 3 while new series Run wraps up on May 24. Thankfully the film losses in May aren’t too bad for HBO, unless the Agent Cody Banks saga drives a lot of traffic.

The most notable TV premiere in May is I Know This Much is True, a book adaptation starring Mark Ruffalo. This is a very bleak story coming along at a bleak time in history but perhaps those two things will cancel out.

Exclusive: Hot off the Toronto debut of their first feature Five Fingers For Marseille, director Michael Matthews and writer Sean Drummond have signed with Wme. The filmmakers, who have operated their production banner from Cape Town for the past 12 years and first made noise in Hollywood with the short Apocalypse Now Now, were hotly pursued. They wrote and directed Five Fingers For Marseille, and produced through their Be Phat Motel banner. The Western-style thriller…...

Michael Matthews' South African neo-western Five Fingers for Marseilles recently bowed here in Toronto and continues on its merry way on the festival circuit. A clip from the flick has surfaced, which you can watch below. And rewatch the trailer while you are here, see why those of us who have seen it are so excited about it. Twenty years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned-‘outlaw’ Tau returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful pastoral life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it. Will the Five Fingers ride again? In this clip Tau has recently returned to Marseilles from...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

This week South Africa must decide which of its films to submit for the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Likely, it’ll come down to a choice between The Wound, which has the advantage of having collected a plethora of festival awards since its premiere at Sundance, and Five Fingers for Marseille, which has the advantage of having just premiered at Tiff to universal praise. I have, alas, not yet seen Fiver Fingers for Marseille, though by all accounts it’s impressive, and by some accounts an outright tour de force (you can read Screen Anarchy’s review here). The Wound, however, I have seen, and frankly I find it hard to imagine a more important South African film this year. Ostensibly, the film’s title, and more explicitly...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Director Michael Matthews and writer Sean Drummond were drawn to the landscapes of South Africa’s Eastern Cape while traveling their homeland, especially the echoes of classic cinematic western environments. Learning about how its current towns arose — from the ashes of Apartheid-era cities mimicking European capitals by name — only cemented the comparison, each a product of the locals taking control once their oppressors left after their government changed hands and the train lines shutdown. This new frontier became the pair’s setting, their story gelling after seven years of research and development to do right by the inhabitants’ history and struggles. Sprinkle in a bit of legend and lore to create an antihero hidden beneath rage and Five Fingers for Marseilles was born.

The title describes a quintet of childhood friends caught within Apartheid’s grip. Too young to feel the effects as greatly as their defeated parents, they’re...

We've been keeping a close eye on South African western Five Fingers For Marseilles for quite some time now. We posted two sets of still images from the production, noting at the time that this was going to be a simply gorgeous production, and now - a day after the film was announced in selection at the Toronto International Film Festival - we get to see those images in motion with the release of the first trailer. And, hell yeah, they look even better moving. Twenty years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, Tau returns, seeking peace. Finding the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

We've been keeping a close eye on Michael Matthews' upcoming South African western Five Fingers For Marseilles for some time now and with word that the film wrapped principal photography at the end of last week comes a further trio of absolutely gorgeous images from the film. Twenty years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned-‘outlaw’ Tau returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful pastoral life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it. Will the Five Fingers ride again? This batch of images gives us a fresh look at the young characters we've seen before now fully decked out in action mode,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

It was in the middle of last week that we posted a first quartet of images from director Michael Matthews and writer-producer Sean Drummond's upcoming South African western Five Fingers For Marseille. Well, the production team is not being stingy with their materials at all and with just the first week of principal photography wrapped up they've posted a further block on their official Facebook page and, good lord, this thing is going to be gorgeous to look at. Twenty years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned-‘outlaw’ Tau returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful pastoral life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Six Assassins

Written and directed by Jeng Cheong-Woh

Hong Kong, 1971

Not all is well during the time of the Tang dynasty. The emperor’s cold-hearted brother, Lord Zheng Gui Li (Yun Il-Bong), spends his time visiting various fiefdoms and smaller such lands with the intent of bribing its tenants for food and money. In the event of resistance, occupants are immediately slain without mercy. Arriving at the domain of Lord Ding Yuan (Chen Feng-Chen) proves fateful. The latter calmly, diplomatically refuses to cough up provisions, resulting in his execution to which his followers take much offense. Minister Cui Yin (Shum Lo), equally obfuscated by the killing and an upcoming royal edict that is to exempt Zheng from punishment, concocts a plan with one skilled warrior, Mu Jun-Jie (Ling Yun) and five other novice fighters (among them the delightful Lily Li Li-Li, who sadly does not end up doing very much...

Shaw Brothers films are not exactly at the top of many film buffs’ watching list. For one, there has not been a traditional Shaw film, opening fanfare and all, in close to 30 years and a hefty portion of the public do not give catalogue films the time of day. Even for those who do, there is a vast selection of genres, directors, actors and studios that, often for good reason, will strike someone’s fancy more so than a 1960s, 70s or early 80s Shaw production.

It is widely known that said movies were produced at the speed of light, like cheap toys on a factory production line. Even so, their legacy lives on, with the bountiful number of martial arts films made and released in countries around the world, in addition to their critical role in making Kung Fu films popular in North America. For the decidedly smaller band...

Five fingers and four hard knuckles will take you far in this world, but when you put them all together you've got one deadly serious killing system. Yes, killing system. Did you think we meant something else?

In honor of "The Man With the Iron Fists," Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA's martial arts-infused directorial debut, we're laying down some phat beatdowns of our own with five classic movies that will fist you good.

From westerns to comedies to anime, these five deadly venoms hit hard, so wear plenty of protection … and a little Ky jelly wouldn't hurt, either.

'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964)

Loosely modeled after Akira Kurosawa's classic samurai tale "Yojimbo" — which was in-itself based on American western framework — Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" kicked off with a bang with this spaghetti western classic. Clint Eastwood's legendary "Man With No Name" (whose name is actually "Joe...

The shooting in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises has caused some broadcasters to drop some programming with violent content this weekend. “With a sensitivity to current events, Showtime has replaced several movies in their schedule for the weekend,” a Showtime spokesperson said. Showtime declined to give specifics about what would be replaced. However, the network does have films like Nicholas Cage’s extremely violent Drive Angry, the Paul McCartney documentary The Love We Make about 9/11, the terrorism drama Five Fingers, the vampiric Bitten, Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again, the 2003 The Italian Job remake, the 2008 Brian Cox violent drama Red and Ralph Fiennes’ The Constant Gardener, where a man investigates the death of his wife, on the schedule to play this weekend. Related: Warner Bros Won’t Report Box Office For ‘Dark Knight Rises’ All Weekend NBCUniversal is pulling an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit...

For those not knee deep in action and martial arts cinema, the name Chung Chang-wha may not ring a bell, but some of the Korean director's films (working in Hong Kong at Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest) will most certainly cause some kind of mind-clang. Chung brought kung fu to the international stage with the likes of King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death), The Skyhawk, and Broken Oath. Though he hasn't had an active role in cinema for decades, his contributions have clearly been great -- Five Fingers' influence and popularity alone is worthy of this statement. And this isn't only to action cinema, but to Korean cinema of the 50s/60s. For these reasons and plenty more, this past week at the 2012 New York...

In the upcoming issue of Empire, there's something very, very special for all of you Lethal Weapon fans out there. We brought together Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and director Richard Donner for a Lethal Weapon reunion to mark the first film's 25th anniversary. The result was one hell of a photoshoot, which saw Gibson rock up in a white Smart car and Glover sporting a natty pair of Five Fingers shoes.All the pictures and full interview can be found in the magazine - on shelves this Thursday, March 29 - but just to give you a taste of what's inside, here are a few quotes that should whet your appetite. Namely, Richard Donner and Mel Gibson talking about what might have been with Lethal Weapon 5:Empire: "Were there any sequel ideas that didn't come to pass?"Donner: Lots. There was a fifth one that I would have loved to have made.

Kate Hudson hopped on her bike after a workout at the Spring Health Club in London today. She wore Vibram Five Fingers barefoot shoes for the latest gym visit alongside her fiancé, Matthew Bellamy. Kate and Matthew focused on their fitness after a big night out celebrating Stella McCartney's 40th birthday yesterday. The couple were among many celebrity guests at the bash, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss, though all eyes were on Kate Hudson in her sexy backless Elie Saab gown. She's been staying active since giving birth to Bing in July, and she's been spotted riding bikes with Matt near their London home since they relocated there last month. Kate showed off the results of her hard work in a white bikini during a recent vacation with her family in France, though Bing didn't make an appearance during the Mediterranean getaway. View Slideshow ›...