He never had a signature song the way his peers and sometime bandmates Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton did, but the genres that Jeff Beck explored throughout his career chart the changes in rock — and rock guitar — over decades. One of rock’s most physical technicians, seeming to enjoy wrestling with his instrument, Beck made his name with British Invasion pop. But not content to stay there, he moved into the in-vogue blues-rock of the late Sixties and then the harder boogie and fusion of the next decade. The settings changed,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Angie Martoccio, Brian Hiatt, Andy Greene and David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Irish actor Pierce Brosnan has been a fixture of film and television for over 40 years, most recently as Dr. Fate in the blockbuster DC Comics adaptation "Black Adam." With his effortless suaveness and sophistication, he's been an indelible screen presence, though some of his best performances tweak the audience's expectations of the man who embodied gentleman spy James Bond across 4 films. He's also sporadically been gifted the opportunity to explore his exceptional comedic chops.
From action movies to family fare to icy political thrillers to musicals, Brosnan has explored almost every genre, often to great success. Even when he's playing the jobber, he's managed to make every project personal. "You have to invest yourself in every character that you portray," Brosnan is quoted as saying. While it was difficult to narrow down, here are the 15 best Pierce Brosnan performances, ranked.
The Lawnmower Man (1992)
A true oddity from 1992, "The Lawnmower Man...
From action movies to family fare to icy political thrillers to musicals, Brosnan has explored almost every genre, often to great success. Even when he's playing the jobber, he's managed to make every project personal. "You have to invest yourself in every character that you portray," Brosnan is quoted as saying. While it was difficult to narrow down, here are the 15 best Pierce Brosnan performances, ranked.
The Lawnmower Man (1992)
A true oddity from 1992, "The Lawnmower Man...
- 11/16/2022
- by Jason Baxter
- Slash Film
Rick Laird, whose bass guitar skills graced a number of jazz rock’s most prominent fusion bands in the 1970s, died Sunday at age 80. No cause of death was given, but he recently had entered hospice care.
Laird’s work was part of pioneering groups the Mahavishu Orchestra and Return to Forever in the 1970s, the decade where the genre took off. He also worked with jazz greats Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich and Sonny Rollins during his career.
Born in Dublin in 1941, Laird moved to New Zealand at 16, then returned to the UK in 1962. While in New Zealand, he had established himself on that country’s and Australia’s jazz scenes as an upright bassist.
Upon his UK return, he worked with keyboardist Brian Auger, touring with him and meeting his future bandmate, John McLaughlin.
Laird won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and moved to that...
Laird’s work was part of pioneering groups the Mahavishu Orchestra and Return to Forever in the 1970s, the decade where the genre took off. He also worked with jazz greats Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich and Sonny Rollins during his career.
Born in Dublin in 1941, Laird moved to New Zealand at 16, then returned to the UK in 1962. While in New Zealand, he had established himself on that country’s and Australia’s jazz scenes as an upright bassist.
Upon his UK return, he worked with keyboardist Brian Auger, touring with him and meeting his future bandmate, John McLaughlin.
Laird won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and moved to that...
- 7/7/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The first LP from Muse since their 2015 album Drones is a throwback to the first seven years of the Eighties. The tom-toms are cavernous like a Jan Hammer or Phil Collins production on the Miami Vice soundtrack. The dystopian, technophobic action movie narrative seems in the same vein as films like The Running Man and The Terminator. A band that’s logged nearly 20 years in the major label rock sphere, Muse mixed Radiohead’s alt-rock shirt-pullers with Queen’s triumphant heft in epic jams about theoretical physics, systems science and environmental philosophy.
- 11/10/2018
- by Christopher R. Weingarten
- Rollingstone.com
The 3rd Annual Kids Music Day will be celebrated on Friday October 5th, 2018.
2018 Kids Music Day
Each year, Keep Music Alive partners with music schools, music retail and other music organizations worldwide to highlight the importance of including music in children’s education. Events held by participating locations include open houses, instrument petting zoos, student music performances, community/family jams, instrument donation drives and more. It is estimated that over 500 locations worldwide will help celebrate Kids Music Day in 2018.
This year, a number of celebrity artists are showing their support for Music Education by joining the inaugural class of Kids Music Day Ambassadors including:
Julie Andrews, Richie Sambora, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Sarah McLachlan, Victor Wooten, Mandy Harvey, Jim Brickman, Bernie Williams, Siedah Garrett, Orianthi, Alma Deutsher, Todd Rundgren, Jan Hammer, Damien Escobar, Amy Holland, Charlie Worsham
Kids Music Day is also being supported this year by Casio Emi, Alfred Music,...
2018 Kids Music Day
Each year, Keep Music Alive partners with music schools, music retail and other music organizations worldwide to highlight the importance of including music in children’s education. Events held by participating locations include open houses, instrument petting zoos, student music performances, community/family jams, instrument donation drives and more. It is estimated that over 500 locations worldwide will help celebrate Kids Music Day in 2018.
This year, a number of celebrity artists are showing their support for Music Education by joining the inaugural class of Kids Music Day Ambassadors including:
Julie Andrews, Richie Sambora, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Sarah McLachlan, Victor Wooten, Mandy Harvey, Jim Brickman, Bernie Williams, Siedah Garrett, Orianthi, Alma Deutsher, Todd Rundgren, Jan Hammer, Damien Escobar, Amy Holland, Charlie Worsham
Kids Music Day is also being supported this year by Casio Emi, Alfred Music,...
- 10/1/2018
- Look to the Stars
Foster the People have spent the past few months touring heavily while their comeback single “Sit Next to Me” climbs the charts, making it their biggest hit since “Pumped Up Kicks” back in 2011. During downtime from the road, frontman Mark Foster sat down to create a list of songs that, in his words, “block out the morning sun.” “There’s definitely a through-line for all of these songs,” says Foster. “One of which is that most of these nobody will know, except maybe the [Giorgio] Moroder song. The Ministry song doesn’t sound like Ministry.
- 9/25/2018
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Amidst the chorus of people saying that TV is better than it’s ever been, you’ll always find one person lamenting the decline of the theme song. While it’s true that the days of minutes-long intros with original songs and catchy melodies might be in the past, there’s no denying that shows are still finding memorable (and in a few cases, iconic) ways to open each episode.
Read More: The 20 Best Animated TV Shows of the 21st Century, Ranked
With that in mind, we set out to pick the best TV themes of the young century. Some of these are snippets from existing songs, others are new instrumentals that have quickly taken on meaning well beyond the shows they’re attached to. As DVRs and streaming services make it easier than ever to skip TV credits, there are plenty of songs and shows trying to keep the art of the opening alive.
Read More: The 20 Best Animated TV Shows of the 21st Century, Ranked
With that in mind, we set out to pick the best TV themes of the young century. Some of these are snippets from existing songs, others are new instrumentals that have quickly taken on meaning well beyond the shows they’re attached to. As DVRs and streaming services make it easier than ever to skip TV credits, there are plenty of songs and shows trying to keep the art of the opening alive.
- 6/13/2017
- by Steve Greene and Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
"Get ready for an action-packed film that can raise the dead!"
I have been a huge fan of throwback films that are shot in the 80's style with their synth soundtrack and gritty cinematography. It's one of the many things that brings me happiness. Like the film Kung Fury, which you can currently watch on Netflix. So it's with great joy that I share with you a trailer for a film currently trying to find funding on Kickstarter called Night Run.
Director Erick Solis is currently developing the film, which is about a young man who has a beautiful girlfriend until a gang leader kills him. A year later he's risen from the dead to save his girlfriend and get revenge. The director describes the film as follows:
Night Run is an action film set in 1985, filled with explosions, synth music, and a man who will stop at nothing to get his revenge.
I have been a huge fan of throwback films that are shot in the 80's style with their synth soundtrack and gritty cinematography. It's one of the many things that brings me happiness. Like the film Kung Fury, which you can currently watch on Netflix. So it's with great joy that I share with you a trailer for a film currently trying to find funding on Kickstarter called Night Run.
Director Erick Solis is currently developing the film, which is about a young man who has a beautiful girlfriend until a gang leader kills him. A year later he's risen from the dead to save his girlfriend and get revenge. The director describes the film as follows:
Night Run is an action film set in 1985, filled with explosions, synth music, and a man who will stop at nothing to get his revenge.
- 5/25/2017
- by Bryam Dayley
- GeekTyrant
Junkfood Cinema keeps it very manly this week.
Cursing one’s birth is a self-indulgent, melodramatic action usually reserved for ancient Greek theater. I however find myself regularly cursing the cruel circumstances that lead to my being born in 1984 and thus only getting an infantile gumming of this amazing era instead of ravenously feasting on its offerings as I do now retrospectively.
I truly believe that being only two years old when Miami Vice premiered on television is one of my greatest shortcomings as a human being. Fortunately, I was born to a father obsessed with the seminal prime time action crime series. His enthusiasm caused me to, as a teen, flash-consume reruns as if I was trying to snort them through my eyeballs. I began to lament not being old enough in 1986 to shove up my silk blazer sleeves and cruise around the neon oasis of Miami in a car I can, to...
Cursing one’s birth is a self-indulgent, melodramatic action usually reserved for ancient Greek theater. I however find myself regularly cursing the cruel circumstances that lead to my being born in 1984 and thus only getting an infantile gumming of this amazing era instead of ravenously feasting on its offerings as I do now retrospectively.
I truly believe that being only two years old when Miami Vice premiered on television is one of my greatest shortcomings as a human being. Fortunately, I was born to a father obsessed with the seminal prime time action crime series. His enthusiasm caused me to, as a teen, flash-consume reruns as if I was trying to snort them through my eyeballs. I began to lament not being old enough in 1986 to shove up my silk blazer sleeves and cruise around the neon oasis of Miami in a car I can, to...
- 7/22/2016
- by Brian Salisbury
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Miami Vice aired on NBC 30 years ago. The network cancelled the series after five seasons on the air. The series that starred Don Johnson was a cultural phenomenon, and it launched the career of Johnson and Edward James Olmos. Johnson has returned to television this season with Blood & Oil, but he will always be Sonny Crockett to Miami Vice fans.
The series was known for more than just its flashy fashion and fun in the sun action though. The series was known for its use of music. Many popular songs from the day were featured on the series, but the biggest feat of the series is for its soundtrack and theme song.
According to MeTV, It was 30 years ago this week that Jan Hammer's instrumental theme song for the series topped the Billboard charts at number one. A...
The series was known for more than just its flashy fashion and fun in the sun action though. The series was known for its use of music. Many popular songs from the day were featured on the series, but the biggest feat of the series is for its soundtrack and theme song.
According to MeTV, It was 30 years ago this week that Jan Hammer's instrumental theme song for the series topped the Billboard charts at number one. A...
- 11/13/2015
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
We may remember Independence Day, The Matrix, The Phantom Menace. But what about these forgotten 90s sci-fi films? And are any worth seeing?
Think back to the science fiction cinema of the 1990s, and some of the decade's biggest box-office hits will immediately spring to mind: The Phantom Menace, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men In Black, Armageddon and Terminator 2 were all in the top 20 most lucrative films of the era.
But what about the sci-fi films of the 1990s that failed to make even close to the same cultural and financial impact of those big hitters? These are the films this list is devoted to - the flops, the straight-to-video releases, the low-budget and critically-derided. We've picked 50 live-action films that fit these criteria, and dug them up to see whether they're still worth watching in the 21st century.
So here's a mix of everything from hidden classics to forgettable dreck,...
Think back to the science fiction cinema of the 1990s, and some of the decade's biggest box-office hits will immediately spring to mind: The Phantom Menace, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men In Black, Armageddon and Terminator 2 were all in the top 20 most lucrative films of the era.
But what about the sci-fi films of the 1990s that failed to make even close to the same cultural and financial impact of those big hitters? These are the films this list is devoted to - the flops, the straight-to-video releases, the low-budget and critically-derided. We've picked 50 live-action films that fit these criteria, and dug them up to see whether they're still worth watching in the 21st century.
So here's a mix of everything from hidden classics to forgettable dreck,...
- 7/16/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
“The Walking Dead” boss: "We're trying not to be the 'character death show’" As Season 5 begins, showrunner Scott M. Gimple and creator Robert Kirkman want to emphasize that they don’t set out to kill characters. "We don't want to play it as like a tool in our tool chest or something that's some part of story rhythm,” says Gimple. Adds Kirkman: "No one in the writers' room is ever sitting around saying, 'We haven't killed someone in a while. We really need to kill someone.' It all comes from story and if we ever decided that the story merited absolutely no characters deaths whatsoever in a season, we would definitely do that.” Plus: Expect a grisly season premiere, everything you need to know as Season 5 kicks off, the season premiere is “a dazzling adrenaline rush filled with suspense, righteous violence and, before it’s all over, genuine emotion,...
- 10/11/2014
- by Norman Weiss
- Hitfix
It was the show that hit TV like an air drop of drugs in the Everglades: "Miami Vice" became an instant sensation, changing not only 80s fashion and facial hair but what viewers could expect from cop shows on the small screen.
Legend has it -- or one legend, anyway -- that NBC head Brandon Tartikoff scribbled "MTV cops" on a napkin and then went in search of someone to make it happen. Whether that's true or not, when it debuted in 1984 "Vice" was the first show to combine the cool of New Wave and pop music with a police procedural that was both more gritty and flashy at once. Before "I"ll Be There For You" ushered in "Friends" and then wormed its way into our brains, Jan Hammer's pulsing theme for "Miami Vice" hit no. 1 on the Billboard chart and soundtracked one of the most iconic opening credits sequences of all time.
Legend has it -- or one legend, anyway -- that NBC head Brandon Tartikoff scribbled "MTV cops" on a napkin and then went in search of someone to make it happen. Whether that's true or not, when it debuted in 1984 "Vice" was the first show to combine the cool of New Wave and pop music with a police procedural that was both more gritty and flashy at once. Before "I"ll Be There For You" ushered in "Friends" and then wormed its way into our brains, Jan Hammer's pulsing theme for "Miami Vice" hit no. 1 on the Billboard chart and soundtracked one of the most iconic opening credits sequences of all time.
- 8/12/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Miami Vice
Season 1, Episode 1: “Brother’s Keeper” (Pilot)
Directed by Thomas Carter
Written by Anthony Yerkovich
Original air date: Sept. 16, 1984
Hey, Tubbs…ever consider a career in Southern law enforcement?” – Crockett
Miami Vice premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two-hour season premiere. The episode titled “Brother’s Keeper” garnered critical acclaim, and the series went on to become a symbol of the times. Legend has it that NBC President Brandon Tartikoff started the ball rolling after he scribbled “MTV Cops” on a napkin, and then went looking for someone at NBC to produce the show. However the series was actually the brainchild of scriptwriter-turned-director Michael Mann (coming off the critical success of Manhunter), and Hill Street Blues writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich, who was already drafting the idea based by news stories about the thriving drug trade in Florida. But regardless what Yerkovich brought to the table, the show’s most dominant creative force was Michael Mann.
Season 1, Episode 1: “Brother’s Keeper” (Pilot)
Directed by Thomas Carter
Written by Anthony Yerkovich
Original air date: Sept. 16, 1984
Hey, Tubbs…ever consider a career in Southern law enforcement?” – Crockett
Miami Vice premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two-hour season premiere. The episode titled “Brother’s Keeper” garnered critical acclaim, and the series went on to become a symbol of the times. Legend has it that NBC President Brandon Tartikoff started the ball rolling after he scribbled “MTV Cops” on a napkin, and then went looking for someone at NBC to produce the show. However the series was actually the brainchild of scriptwriter-turned-director Michael Mann (coming off the critical success of Manhunter), and Hill Street Blues writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich, who was already drafting the idea based by news stories about the thriving drug trade in Florida. But regardless what Yerkovich brought to the table, the show’s most dominant creative force was Michael Mann.
- 7/4/2013
- by Ricky da Conceição
- SoundOnSight
Miami Vice
Season 1, Episode 1: “Brother’s Keeper” (Pilot)
Directed by Thomas Carter
Written by Anthony Yerkovich
Original air date: Sept. 16, 1984
Hey, Tubbs…ever consider a career in Southern law enforcement?” – Crockett
Miami Vice premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two-hour season premiere. The episode titled “Brother’s Keeper” garnered critical acclaim, and the series went on to become a symbol of the times. Legend has it that NBC President Brandon Tartikoff started the ball rolling after he scribbled “MTV Cops” on a napkin, and then went looking for someone at NBC to produce the show. However the series was actually the brainchild of scriptwriter-turned-director Michael Mann (coming off the critical success of Manhunter), and Hill Street Blues writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich, who was already drafting the idea based by news stories about the thriving drug trade in Florida. But regardless what Yerkovich brought to the table, the show’s most dominant creative force was Michael Mann.
Season 1, Episode 1: “Brother’s Keeper” (Pilot)
Directed by Thomas Carter
Written by Anthony Yerkovich
Original air date: Sept. 16, 1984
Hey, Tubbs…ever consider a career in Southern law enforcement?” – Crockett
Miami Vice premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two-hour season premiere. The episode titled “Brother’s Keeper” garnered critical acclaim, and the series went on to become a symbol of the times. Legend has it that NBC President Brandon Tartikoff started the ball rolling after he scribbled “MTV Cops” on a napkin, and then went looking for someone at NBC to produce the show. However the series was actually the brainchild of scriptwriter-turned-director Michael Mann (coming off the critical success of Manhunter), and Hill Street Blues writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich, who was already drafting the idea based by news stories about the thriving drug trade in Florida. But regardless what Yerkovich brought to the table, the show’s most dominant creative force was Michael Mann.
- 7/4/2013
- by Ricky da Conceição
- SoundOnSight
The right music can make all the difference in a TV show. It can elevate a scene, imbue it with nuance and meaning, or destroy it, either under- or over-playing the emotion and rendering it lifeless or trite. Many have opinions on the best or most memorable TV theme songs, but far fewer have anything to say about original scores. This is a somewhat skewed list, with recent series far better represented than classics, but the shows discussed below are all very strongly tied to their scores. They function as characters in the stories, bringing the audience to a particular time or place and immersing them in that world. See how many of the series you can identify by sound alone, then scroll down, where each selection is explained and accompanied with a video clip.
Honorable Mentions: Animaniacs, Batman: the Animated Series, Scrubs, Victory at Sea
10. Clip #10
9. Clip #9
8. Clip #8
7. Clip...
Honorable Mentions: Animaniacs, Batman: the Animated Series, Scrubs, Victory at Sea
10. Clip #10
9. Clip #9
8. Clip #8
7. Clip...
- 8/17/2011
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
I’ve been a fan of Billy Corben, Alfred Spellman and their Miami-based production company Rakontur since the highly entertaining documentary Cocaine Cowboys premiered in 2005 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Their latest, Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja recently had its world premiere at South By Southwest, and The Film Stage sat down with director Corben, producer Spellman, producer/researcher Lindsay Snell, and a member of the film’s infamous Black Tuna Gang chronicled in the film, straight out of jail – Robert Platshorn.
After a film festival and college tour, the film will be released on DVD (April 19th) and Video on Demand (April 22nd) by Magnolia Pictures. Rakontur’s next film, Limelight will follow in Cocaine Cowboy’s footsteps, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival next month.
Tfs: Thanks for sitting down with us – your stories from your first film Raw Deal: A Question of Consent to Cocaine Cowboys...
After a film festival and college tour, the film will be released on DVD (April 19th) and Video on Demand (April 22nd) by Magnolia Pictures. Rakontur’s next film, Limelight will follow in Cocaine Cowboy’s footsteps, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival next month.
Tfs: Thanks for sitting down with us – your stories from your first film Raw Deal: A Question of Consent to Cocaine Cowboys...
- 3/22/2011
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
When I was little, I used to religiously watch a VHS tape my family owned titled Beyond the Mind's Eye. Maybe you've seen it, but chances are, you haven't. It was an obscure little series of music videos set to compositions by Jan Hammer (the composer behind Miami Vice). The music was enchanting, but the videos were even more enchanting: they were completely computer animated. That might not seem interesting enough except that it was made in 1991. This was very early-stage computer animation, but it was powerful enough to shape the way I dream. That was, for a long time, the standard I held most animation to. Sure, it's been surpassed, but it's still a brilliant work of art.
ReBoot came three years later, in 1994. It isn't a show terribly far removed from shows that you'll see in the Saturday morning block of today's children's television. It might even be a little bit better,...
ReBoot came three years later, in 1994. It isn't a show terribly far removed from shows that you'll see in the Saturday morning block of today's children's television. It might even be a little bit better,...
- 2/28/2011
- by Sam McPherson
- TVovermind.com
One way to beat this year's winter chill is to watch Universal Television's, sun-drenched, "Miami Vice" TV series Complete Collection on DVD, not just for the numerous "Scarface" plot situations involving armed drug cartels, high rollers/exotic women, Jan Hammer's synth background themes, re-mastered 1980's era, classic rock music/stylized visuals, but to spot all the famous actors that got their start on the show.
Recognized as one of the most influential TV series of all time, for its Armani fashions, Dornaus & Dixon stainless steel handguns, 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 Gts/4 wheels and 39 foot Chris Craft Stinger 390/Scarab 38 Kv boats, "Miami Vice" also introduced audiences to actor Don Johnson ("A Boy And His Dog") as 'Detective James "Sonny" Crockett', Philip Michael Thomas as 'Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs' and the brooding Edward James Olmos as 'Lieutenant Martin Castillo'.
Throughout its successful 5-season run, "Miami Vice" introduced dozens of up and coming actors including Liam Neeson,...
Recognized as one of the most influential TV series of all time, for its Armani fashions, Dornaus & Dixon stainless steel handguns, 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 Gts/4 wheels and 39 foot Chris Craft Stinger 390/Scarab 38 Kv boats, "Miami Vice" also introduced audiences to actor Don Johnson ("A Boy And His Dog") as 'Detective James "Sonny" Crockett', Philip Michael Thomas as 'Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs' and the brooding Edward James Olmos as 'Lieutenant Martin Castillo'.
Throughout its successful 5-season run, "Miami Vice" introduced dozens of up and coming actors including Liam Neeson,...
- 2/24/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Five years after his now legendary performance as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Dolph Lundgren was enjoying considerable success having starred in a trio of films that include Red Scorpion, (the original) The Punisher and as popular toy figure He-Man in Masters of the Universe. The films ranged from okay to just plain awful, but Lundgren had an onscreen presence that was more than just his six foot five frame. The guy had personality and for a native of Stockholm, Sweden, he could easily adopt an American accent. The nineties saw Lundgren in a string of action films that included Showdown in Little Tokyo with the late Brandon Lee, Universal Soldier with Jean-Claude Van Damme and the Keanu Reeves vehicle Johnny Mnemonic which to this day remains Ludgren's last film that had an American theatrical release. By the close of the decade Lundgren's films were only released straight to video sin the U.
- 12/25/2009
- LRMonline.com
"Psych" will be back on USA Network this summer and a promo, making fun of theme songs, has been released. Shawn and Gus are joking on two classic songs which can be used in the new season while walking toward a building. They list the Grammy-winning "Beverly Hills Cop" theme and Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme".
It has been confirmed that "Psych" is bowing for a fourth season on August 7. It will maintain its Fridays slot, led by the eighth season of "Monk". In the first episode called "He Dead", Shawn and Gus try to fulfill the dying wish of billionaire hedge fund manager Warren Clayton, by seeking to unmask his killer. Christine Baranski is to fill in the role of Alice Clayton, the well-maintained widow of Warren who believes her husband's death in a plane crash was not accidental, but murder.
More guest stars are brought in to the new season,...
It has been confirmed that "Psych" is bowing for a fourth season on August 7. It will maintain its Fridays slot, led by the eighth season of "Monk". In the first episode called "He Dead", Shawn and Gus try to fulfill the dying wish of billionaire hedge fund manager Warren Clayton, by seeking to unmask his killer. Christine Baranski is to fill in the role of Alice Clayton, the well-maintained widow of Warren who believes her husband's death in a plane crash was not accidental, but murder.
More guest stars are brought in to the new season,...
- 6/9/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
- July 11, 1979. 2:28 p.m. Two Columbian men enter Crown Liquors at Miamiâ.s Dadeland Mall and hose the place down with automatic weapon fire before fleeing on foot, leaving the interior of the store covered in broken glass, spilled booze, empty shell casings, and blood from the two bullet ridden bodies of former players in Miamiâ.s billion dollar cocaine industry. And thus begins Cocaine Cowboys, director Billy Corbenâ.s flashy, audacious, violent, and highly entertaining documentary about the international cocaine business that bloomed from Miami, Florida in the 1970s and 80s. Munday The film is a collage of imagery â. money, cars, speedboats, planes, bikinis, women, beaches, skyscrapers, guns, blood, and mountains and mountains of cocaine â. cut together and projected at a hundred miles and hour. There are clips from news broadcasts, crime scene photos, excerpts and behind-the-scenes footage from film and televisions shows (â.Miami Viceâ
- 10/27/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
Magnolia Pictures
As sensational as "Scarface" and a lot livelier than that "Miami Vice" movie, "Cocaine Cowboys" is a documentary by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman that vividly traces Miami's trajectory from sleepy retirement mecca to Blow Central, USA.
It might share its title with a 1979 Jack Palance-Andy Warhol clunker, but the newer film, with its colorful cast of real-life characters and a deliberately frenetic "coked-up" editing style, has the feel of a narrative feature, complete with a two-hour running time.
Of course, it also doesn't hurt to have Jan Hammer doing your soundtrack, but the end result makes for some very intriguing viewing.
Invaded by Colombia's powerful Medellin Cartel in the late 1970s, Florida's then wide-open shoreline made way for a $20 billion annual cocaine business, triggering a violent turf war responsible for tripling Miami's homicide rate by the early 1980s.
While Miami has since undergone yet another metamorphosis as an ultra-glam celebrity hotspot, Corben and Spellman, who previously helmed 2002's controversial "Raw Deal: A Question of Consent," maintain that its gleaming skyline stands as a lingering monument to all the drug money that snowed down on the city.
Although their story could have been told a bit more concisely, they get a lot of good stuff out of their talking heads, primarily those belonging to Jon Roberts, a transplanted New Yorker who figures he moved more than $2 billion worth of cocaine for the cartel; Mickey Munday, a pilot who smuggled more than 10 tons of coke from Colombia to the U.S.; and Jorge "Rivi" Ayala, a charismatic contract killer still doing time for his numerous hits.
Ironically, the most fascinating figure doesn't even appear on camera, save for a handful of archival photographs. Griselda Blanco, aka "La Madrina" aka "The Godmother" aka "Black Widow", casts a fearsome shadow as the Colombian "queenpin" who was credited with single-handedly sparking Miami's bloody drug wars.
It is a safe bet she would have made mincemeat out of Tony Montana and his little friend. ...
As sensational as "Scarface" and a lot livelier than that "Miami Vice" movie, "Cocaine Cowboys" is a documentary by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman that vividly traces Miami's trajectory from sleepy retirement mecca to Blow Central, USA.
It might share its title with a 1979 Jack Palance-Andy Warhol clunker, but the newer film, with its colorful cast of real-life characters and a deliberately frenetic "coked-up" editing style, has the feel of a narrative feature, complete with a two-hour running time.
Of course, it also doesn't hurt to have Jan Hammer doing your soundtrack, but the end result makes for some very intriguing viewing.
Invaded by Colombia's powerful Medellin Cartel in the late 1970s, Florida's then wide-open shoreline made way for a $20 billion annual cocaine business, triggering a violent turf war responsible for tripling Miami's homicide rate by the early 1980s.
While Miami has since undergone yet another metamorphosis as an ultra-glam celebrity hotspot, Corben and Spellman, who previously helmed 2002's controversial "Raw Deal: A Question of Consent," maintain that its gleaming skyline stands as a lingering monument to all the drug money that snowed down on the city.
Although their story could have been told a bit more concisely, they get a lot of good stuff out of their talking heads, primarily those belonging to Jon Roberts, a transplanted New Yorker who figures he moved more than $2 billion worth of cocaine for the cartel; Mickey Munday, a pilot who smuggled more than 10 tons of coke from Colombia to the U.S.; and Jorge "Rivi" Ayala, a charismatic contract killer still doing time for his numerous hits.
Ironically, the most fascinating figure doesn't even appear on camera, save for a handful of archival photographs. Griselda Blanco, aka "La Madrina" aka "The Godmother" aka "Black Widow", casts a fearsome shadow as the Colombian "queenpin" who was credited with single-handedly sparking Miami's bloody drug wars.
It is a safe bet she would have made mincemeat out of Tony Montana and his little friend. ...
- 10/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Substance places a distant second to style in the big-screen version of "Miami Vice", which sees respected filmmaker Michael Mann returning to the scene of the crime series that so effectively defined a decade.
Gone are the pastel threads and the night-soaked neon that played such a big part in the show that was born of NBC Entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff's simple yet wildly successful "MTV cops" concept.
In its place is a darker, grittier creature that, while benefiting considerably from Dion Beebe's HD cinematography, is a frustratingly inert affair -- a long and talky excursion that fails to engage the viewer from the outset.
Those in the market for some of that old Crockett-Tubbs camaraderie are bound to be disappointed by the Colin Farrell-Jamie Foxx model, in which the two actors appear to be engaged in a contest to determine who can appear more morose while expending the least amount of energy, especially in terms of their own flat exchanges.
Maybe it had something to do with that Miami heat, but the languid results likely won't be much of a tonic for the summer's lackluster boxoffice -- pirate pictures excepted.
In updating the series, which ran from 1984-89, writer-director Mann has moved beyond the trendsetting South Beach color scheme and into murkier waters for this story that pits undercover vice cops Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) against nasty international drug traffickers.
Drawn into a world of sophisticated cartels, the two face off against Aryan Brotherhood thugs and a beautiful but tough Chinese-Cuban money launderer (the latter played by not always easy to understand Gong Li), but Mann's writing keeps getting in the way of his direction.
The picture takes a stylistic cue from his previous film, "Collateral", also lensed by Beebe. But where that L.A. nocturne so effectively ratcheted up the tension, "Miami Vice" merely ratchets up the pretension, with too many potentially explosive sequences just ending up hanging there like the Florida humidity.
All the stilted dialogue -- more like the sentence fragments standing in for dialogue -- certainly don't help the actors' cause, especially those for whom English is unmistakably a second language. But even in silence Foxx and Farrell fail to generate any convincing buddy cop chemistry.
Taking advantage of the larger canvas, Mann expands the scenario to include stops in Uruguay, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic (which doubles for Haiti), but for all the cosmopolitan intrigue, "Miami Vice" just doesn't go anywhere interesting.
Even the music, which played such a key role on the TV series, is a letdown here.
In the absence of Jan Hammer's propulsive original theme, composer John Murphy's anonymous score and song contributions by the likes Moby and Audioslave fail to reach the mood-setting heights of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight", updated here in an uninspired cover by Nonpoint.
While costume designer Janty Yates' steely, monochromatic Crockett and Tubbs duds are certainly in keeping with the grainier tone, it just ain't "Miami Vice" without those immortal powder blue or lime green sports jackets.
Miami Vice
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures presents in association with Motion Picture ETA Produktionsgesellschaft MBH & Co. KG
a Forward Pass production
a Michael Mann Film
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Michael Mann
Based on the television series created by: Anthony Yerkovich
Producers: Michael Mann, Pieter Jan Brugge
Executive producer: Anthony Yerkovich
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Victor Kempster
Editors: William Goldenberg, Paul Rubell
Costume designers: Janty Yates, Michael Kaplan
Music: John Murphy
Cast:
Detective Ricardo Tubbs: Jamie Foxx
Detective Sonny Crockett: Colin Farrell
Isabella: Gong Li
Trudy: Naomie Harris
Fujima: Ciaran Hinds
Zito: Justin Theroux
Lieutenant Castillo: Barry Shabaka Henley
Montoya: Luis Tosar
Jose Yero: John Ortiz
Gina: Elizabeth Rodriguez
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 132 minutes...
Gone are the pastel threads and the night-soaked neon that played such a big part in the show that was born of NBC Entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff's simple yet wildly successful "MTV cops" concept.
In its place is a darker, grittier creature that, while benefiting considerably from Dion Beebe's HD cinematography, is a frustratingly inert affair -- a long and talky excursion that fails to engage the viewer from the outset.
Those in the market for some of that old Crockett-Tubbs camaraderie are bound to be disappointed by the Colin Farrell-Jamie Foxx model, in which the two actors appear to be engaged in a contest to determine who can appear more morose while expending the least amount of energy, especially in terms of their own flat exchanges.
Maybe it had something to do with that Miami heat, but the languid results likely won't be much of a tonic for the summer's lackluster boxoffice -- pirate pictures excepted.
In updating the series, which ran from 1984-89, writer-director Mann has moved beyond the trendsetting South Beach color scheme and into murkier waters for this story that pits undercover vice cops Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) against nasty international drug traffickers.
Drawn into a world of sophisticated cartels, the two face off against Aryan Brotherhood thugs and a beautiful but tough Chinese-Cuban money launderer (the latter played by not always easy to understand Gong Li), but Mann's writing keeps getting in the way of his direction.
The picture takes a stylistic cue from his previous film, "Collateral", also lensed by Beebe. But where that L.A. nocturne so effectively ratcheted up the tension, "Miami Vice" merely ratchets up the pretension, with too many potentially explosive sequences just ending up hanging there like the Florida humidity.
All the stilted dialogue -- more like the sentence fragments standing in for dialogue -- certainly don't help the actors' cause, especially those for whom English is unmistakably a second language. But even in silence Foxx and Farrell fail to generate any convincing buddy cop chemistry.
Taking advantage of the larger canvas, Mann expands the scenario to include stops in Uruguay, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic (which doubles for Haiti), but for all the cosmopolitan intrigue, "Miami Vice" just doesn't go anywhere interesting.
Even the music, which played such a key role on the TV series, is a letdown here.
In the absence of Jan Hammer's propulsive original theme, composer John Murphy's anonymous score and song contributions by the likes Moby and Audioslave fail to reach the mood-setting heights of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight", updated here in an uninspired cover by Nonpoint.
While costume designer Janty Yates' steely, monochromatic Crockett and Tubbs duds are certainly in keeping with the grainier tone, it just ain't "Miami Vice" without those immortal powder blue or lime green sports jackets.
Miami Vice
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures presents in association with Motion Picture ETA Produktionsgesellschaft MBH & Co. KG
a Forward Pass production
a Michael Mann Film
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Michael Mann
Based on the television series created by: Anthony Yerkovich
Producers: Michael Mann, Pieter Jan Brugge
Executive producer: Anthony Yerkovich
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Victor Kempster
Editors: William Goldenberg, Paul Rubell
Costume designers: Janty Yates, Michael Kaplan
Music: John Murphy
Cast:
Detective Ricardo Tubbs: Jamie Foxx
Detective Sonny Crockett: Colin Farrell
Isabella: Gong Li
Trudy: Naomie Harris
Fujima: Ciaran Hinds
Zito: Justin Theroux
Lieutenant Castillo: Barry Shabaka Henley
Montoya: Luis Tosar
Jose Yero: John Ortiz
Gina: Elizabeth Rodriguez
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 132 minutes...
- 7/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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