Kirk Douglas, the cleft-chinned actor best known for his roles in movies like "Spartacus," "Out of the Past" and "Lust for Life" and for fathering actor/director Michael Douglas, celebrates his 95th birthday on Friday (Dec. 9).
Douglas was born to Russian-Jewish parents (he titled his 1988 autobiography "The Ragman's Son") in Amsterdam, N.Y., in 1916. At Saint Lawrence University he became a champion wreslter, but an interest in acting drew him to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. From 1941 to 1945 he served in the Navy before returning and making his way to Hollywood. His first role was in 1946's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" with Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin.
Huffington Post writer John Farr sums up Douglas' larger-than-life life nicely:
An iconic star and producer in Hollywood, he has lived the life of ten men. He was almost on the plane that went down with...
Douglas was born to Russian-Jewish parents (he titled his 1988 autobiography "The Ragman's Son") in Amsterdam, N.Y., in 1916. At Saint Lawrence University he became a champion wreslter, but an interest in acting drew him to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. From 1941 to 1945 he served in the Navy before returning and making his way to Hollywood. His first role was in 1946's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" with Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin.
Huffington Post writer John Farr sums up Douglas' larger-than-life life nicely:
An iconic star and producer in Hollywood, he has lived the life of ten men. He was almost on the plane that went down with...
- 12/8/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Burt Lancaster gave one of his greatest performances in the criminally underrated 1968 film The Swimmer.
Film critic John Farr provides his list of top ten choices for the hottest summer movies. These aren't teeny bopper romances but an inspired group of choices that pertain to films in which the season itself provides a key ingredient to the most important aspects of the story. Among the movies: Rear Window and In the Heat of the Night. Farr is also insightful enough to include director Frank Perry's superb 1968 film The Swimmer, a film decades ahead of its time. Click here for the list...
- 6/24/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Kathryn Bigelow may have 'opened doors' for female directors, but this year's nominations show the awards remain dominated by men
Few cities are more practised in the garish arts of public exposure than Los Angeles and at no time of year is this knowledge put to better use than Oscars week.
This year, however, the biggest debates in the runup to Sunday's annual evening of backslapping and schmoozing have revolved around who could do with a bit more recognition.
After Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to be given the best director award at last year's Oscars, there was hope that a traditionally male-dominated barrier had been broken at last. This hope looked all the more plausible because of the number of critically lauded films released in the wake of her award directed by women, notably Winter's Bone, directed by Deborah Granik, and The Kids are All Right, by Lisa Cholodenko.
Few cities are more practised in the garish arts of public exposure than Los Angeles and at no time of year is this knowledge put to better use than Oscars week.
This year, however, the biggest debates in the runup to Sunday's annual evening of backslapping and schmoozing have revolved around who could do with a bit more recognition.
After Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to be given the best director award at last year's Oscars, there was hope that a traditionally male-dominated barrier had been broken at last. This hope looked all the more plausible because of the number of critically lauded films released in the wake of her award directed by women, notably Winter's Bone, directed by Deborah Granik, and The Kids are All Right, by Lisa Cholodenko.
- 2/26/2011
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
"Astonishingly handsome," writes John Farr in the Huffington Post, Alain Delon, born on November 8, 1935, "was bound to portray romantic figures, but he also projected a sullen, enigmatic, slightly dangerous quality that suggested rebellion and alienation." Kimberley Lindbergs, who's written quite a bit about Delon at Cinebeats, quotes him in another appreciation for TCM: "I am not a star. I am an actor. I have been fighting for years to make people forget that I am just a pretty boy with a beautiful face. It's a hard fight, but I will win it. I want the public to realize that above all I am an actor, a very professional one who loves every minute of being in front of the camera. But one who becomes very miserable the instant the director shouts, 'Cut!'"...
- 11/8/2010
- MUBI
Neal was one of the few actresses who could hold her own opposite such mercurial giants as director Otto Preminger and stars John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in the 1965 drama In Harm's Way
By Lee Pfeiffer
Patricia Neal, the tough-but-sexy actress who won an Oscar for Hud, has died at age 84. During her lifetime, she lived through many dramatic episodes including being the lover of the married Gary Cooper. She also overcame a severe stroke that threatened to sideline her career permanently, but she made a stunning comeback. Neal's film credits include the sci-fi classic from director Robert Wise The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Subject Was Roses (another Oscar nomination), the Elia Kazan classic A Face in the Crowd, Otto Preminger's WWII epic In Harm's Way and many others. However, it was her performance as the world-weary woman working on an all-male cattle ranch in Martin Ritt...
By Lee Pfeiffer
Patricia Neal, the tough-but-sexy actress who won an Oscar for Hud, has died at age 84. During her lifetime, she lived through many dramatic episodes including being the lover of the married Gary Cooper. She also overcame a severe stroke that threatened to sideline her career permanently, but she made a stunning comeback. Neal's film credits include the sci-fi classic from director Robert Wise The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Subject Was Roses (another Oscar nomination), the Elia Kazan classic A Face in the Crowd, Otto Preminger's WWII epic In Harm's Way and many others. However, it was her performance as the world-weary woman working on an all-male cattle ranch in Martin Ritt...
- 8/9/2010
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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