Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom holds a strange place in every Indiana Jones fan’s heart. The awkward middle child, Temple of Doom is a dark, problematic prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, one which takes the series in a weirder, wilder direction—and manages to pull off one of the greatest openings of any action movie ever.
Today there’s often an assumption that contemporary critics weren’t enamored by director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas’ second collaboration, but that’s slightly misleading; The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael preferred Temple to Raiders because it fully embraced being “preposterous” and “implausible,” though she also writes that her friends labeled it “heartless” and “overbearing.” Meanwhile Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four stars while People magazine warned that children may be traumatized by it.
Kael and her friends’ analysis perhaps best sums up why The Temple of Doom...
Today there’s often an assumption that contemporary critics weren’t enamored by director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas’ second collaboration, but that’s slightly misleading; The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael preferred Temple to Raiders because it fully embraced being “preposterous” and “implausible,” though she also writes that her friends labeled it “heartless” and “overbearing.” Meanwhile Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four stars while People magazine warned that children may be traumatized by it.
Kael and her friends’ analysis perhaps best sums up why The Temple of Doom...
- 5/15/2024
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Oh, Canada debuting this week on the Croisette is high time to see lesser-seen Schrader on the Criterion Channel, who’ll debut an 11-title series including the likes of Touch, The Canyons, and Patty Hearst, while Old Boyfriends (written with his brother Leonard) and his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” are also programmed. Five films by Jean Grémillon, a rather underappreciated figure of French cinema, will be showing
Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.
Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.
- 5/14/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, but a new poster for a supposed Marvel Studios-produced Howard the Duck movie has ruffled a few feathers.
In 1986, mainstream audiences were introduced to one of Marvel’s lesser-known characters: Howard the Duck.
The only problem? The means through which that introduction was accomplished. Director Willard Huyck’s film Howard the Duck is widely regarded as one of the worst motion pictures ever hatched.
Read full article on The Direct.
In 1986, mainstream audiences were introduced to one of Marvel’s lesser-known characters: Howard the Duck.
The only problem? The means through which that introduction was accomplished. Director Willard Huyck’s film Howard the Duck is widely regarded as one of the worst motion pictures ever hatched.
Read full article on The Direct.
- 4/3/2024
- by Jennifer McDonough
- The Direct
Even more than his long-time colleague and friend, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas is the boy who never grew up. For one, Star Wars is so inspired by sci-fi serials like Flash Gordon and the WWII dogfight movies that his imagined sci-fi universe feels oddly antiquated, and befitting its setting in a moment “a long, long time ago.” No less fitting is that American Graffiti, Lucas’s breakout hit, is a love letter to his youth in the 1950s and ’60s, and that it’s become the ur-text of the nostalgia movie as a subgenre. Everything from Happy Days to The Big Chill lives in its shadow, though given the shininess of the film’s surfaces, from the neon-lit drive-ins to chrome-plated cars that have been buffed to perfection, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the film’s descendants are illuminated by its gleaming glow.
American Graffiti has the most threadbare of plots.
American Graffiti has the most threadbare of plots.
- 11/8/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
It’s hard to believe at first glance that the surreal Lovecraftian horrors of Messiah of Evil are courtesy of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who wrote both the warm nostalgia bath that is American Graffiti and the absurd comic book antics of Howard the Duck. But there are definite similarities between these films. American Graffiti and Messiah of Evil each capture a particular milieu at the end of an era, whether that’s provincial Modesto before the Beatles and Vietnam, or a beach town being overtaken by an evil cult. And Messiah of Evil and Howard the Duck both concern a cataclysmic threat from another realm.
Messiah of Evil focuses on Arletty (Marianna Hill), a young woman who’s come to Point Dune on the California coast looking for her famous artist father, Joseph Lang (Royal Dano). She soon makes the acquaintance of raffish Thom (Michael Greer), a nomadic...
Messiah of Evil focuses on Arletty (Marianna Hill), a young woman who’s come to Point Dune on the California coast looking for her famous artist father, Joseph Lang (Royal Dano). She soon makes the acquaintance of raffish Thom (Michael Greer), a nomadic...
- 10/27/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
After foiling a Nazi plot to unleash the power of the Ark of the Covenant on the world, the intrepid archaeologist, Indiana Jones, is heading beneath the Pankot Palace in India to recover the mystical Sankara Stones from the evil Thuggee cult, led by the deranged priest Mola Ram. This mission is all in a day’s work for Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr., whose heroism is becoming a legend worldwide after his thrilling adventure in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Grab your trusty braided kangaroo leather whip, bury your entomophobia deep, and bring your appetite for chilled monkey brains because we’re looking back on the second chapter of Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!
When executive producer and story writer George Lucas teamed up with Steven Spielberg for the Indiana Jones project, the creator of the Star Wars Universe said he...
When executive producer and story writer George Lucas teamed up with Steven Spielberg for the Indiana Jones project, the creator of the Star Wars Universe said he...
- 7/18/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
It may not feel like it, but the ratings system used for movies that is administered by the Motion Picture Association of America is still an ongoing work in progress. Granted, the system has seemingly been fully established for the last 30-odd years or so, with the last major hiccup being the creation and controversial usage of the Nc-17 rating during the 1990s.
Still, it only takes a cursory glance at the recent cinematic landscape to see that there's a remarkable imbalance in the way the ratings system has been used over the past couple decades. Upon the introduction of a "middle ground" rating between PG and R, the PG-13, the system began to slowly be skewed to the point where now G and PG-rated films are almost exclusively the purview of children's movies (with the G rating itself nearly fully retired by circumstance). PG-13 has far and away become the most common rating,...
Still, it only takes a cursory glance at the recent cinematic landscape to see that there's a remarkable imbalance in the way the ratings system has been used over the past couple decades. Upon the introduction of a "middle ground" rating between PG and R, the PG-13, the system began to slowly be skewed to the point where now G and PG-rated films are almost exclusively the purview of children's movies (with the G rating itself nearly fully retired by circumstance). PG-13 has far and away become the most common rating,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
This post contains spoilers for "The Empire Strikes Back."
In 1980, "The Empire Strikes Back" had already screened in about a hundred theaters when executive producer and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas decided that the ending was confusing and needed some last-minute changes. According to StarWars.com, before the movie expanded its theatrical rollout any further, Lucas had the team at Industrial Light & Magic add shots to give clarity to the geography of the Millennium Falcon in relation to the medical frigate where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the droids C-3Po (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) stand looking out the window.
It wouldn't be the last time Lucas tinkered with "The Empire Strikes Back," as the version that's now streaming on Disney+ incorporates further changes he made for its 1997 Special Edition re-release. In 2022, Hamill revealed that the medical frigate scene was itself a late...
In 1980, "The Empire Strikes Back" had already screened in about a hundred theaters when executive producer and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas decided that the ending was confusing and needed some last-minute changes. According to StarWars.com, before the movie expanded its theatrical rollout any further, Lucas had the team at Industrial Light & Magic add shots to give clarity to the geography of the Millennium Falcon in relation to the medical frigate where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the droids C-3Po (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) stand looking out the window.
It wouldn't be the last time Lucas tinkered with "The Empire Strikes Back," as the version that's now streaming on Disney+ incorporates further changes he made for its 1997 Special Edition re-release. In 2022, Hamill revealed that the medical frigate scene was itself a late...
- 4/29/2023
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
The wild, wild world of "Star Wars" has been rocked by yet another creative attachment. Variety reports that the currently untitled "Star Wars" film that Lucasfilm has been developing for "Ms. Marvel" director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has got a new, big-name writer on board after the high-profile departure of Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.
That new writer is none other than "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight.
Now, we don't know much of anything about this new "Star Wars" movie. Is it a one-off? Is it the start of a brand new saga told in this universe? Maybe it's Episode 10 and will pick back up with Rey, Finn, and Poe? We have no idea, but we do know that Lucasfilm took a break from their theatrical "Star Wars" projects after wrapping up the Skywalker Saga with "Star Wars: Episode 9 — The Rise of Skywalker," much to the chagrin of a ton of creatives...
That new writer is none other than "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight.
Now, we don't know much of anything about this new "Star Wars" movie. Is it a one-off? Is it the start of a brand new saga told in this universe? Maybe it's Episode 10 and will pick back up with Rey, Finn, and Poe? We have no idea, but we do know that Lucasfilm took a break from their theatrical "Star Wars" projects after wrapping up the Skywalker Saga with "Star Wars: Episode 9 — The Rise of Skywalker," much to the chagrin of a ton of creatives...
- 3/23/2023
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
George Lucas' 1977 sci-fi film "Star Wars" was made on a budget of $11 million in 1976, which, in 2023 dollars shake out to about $58 million. That's a sizeable amount of money, of course, but given that the last theatrical "Star Wars" feature film, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" cost anywhere from $275 to $460 million to make, the original's budget seems like a drop in the bucket. Because Lucas was working with a mere mid-size budget (by today's standards), he was forced to change a great deal of his original "Star Wars" script, removing many fantastical elements and characters for more grounded, human, easier-to-film counterparts. From the looks of the original script, though, "Star Wars" might have come out looking as dense and as odd as Jodorowsky's failed "Dune" adaptation.
In 2020, details of Lucas' first draft were explored in detail on the Biography website. It seems the filmmaker's early visions for "Star Wars" were...
In 2020, details of Lucas' first draft were explored in detail on the Biography website. It seems the filmmaker's early visions for "Star Wars" were...
- 3/18/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
When walking out of James Gunn's 2014 film "Guardians of the Galaxy," the 10th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this author heard several other audiences members talking about the film's post-credits stinger. In the epilogue, the vaguely villainous Collector (Benicio Del Toro) sat destitute among the ruins of his collection or rare cosmic antiquities. Only a few of his beloved baubles has survived a cosmic blast, including a dog from Earth. The dog, wearing a Soviet space suit, was clearly salvaged from the 1960s Russian space program wherein canines were sent up in rockets to test their safety. The dog in "Guardians" is not Laika, but a fictional dog named Cosmo. The Collector had been keeping it in a cage on a distant planet for decades.
As Cosmo gives the Collector a sympathetic lick, a voice from off-screen (Seth Green) immediately points out how gross the dog is. A...
As Cosmo gives the Collector a sympathetic lick, a voice from off-screen (Seth Green) immediately points out how gross the dog is. A...
- 3/15/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Brian De Palma's 1996 action thriller "Mission: Impossible" is, compared to its sequels, terse and restrained. Its helicopter chase through the Chunnel notwithstanding, "Mission: Impossible" is more about negotiation with villains, eluding assassination, and heist movie shenanigans. Before star Tom Cruise began grasping onto the sides of actual airplanes, the tensest moments in "Mission: Impossible" came when a single drop of sweat nearly touched an alarm sensor.
"Mission: Impossible" also disappointed fans of the 1966 TV series on which it was based. The series was typically about entire teams of spies, working together to undo -- or commit -- acts of espionage. The first act of De Palma's film introduces a diverse team of players only to immediately kill them off during their first mission. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is the only agent to survive, and he spends the film assembling a new team. "Mission: Impossible" wasn't about the agency or its inner workings,...
"Mission: Impossible" also disappointed fans of the 1966 TV series on which it was based. The series was typically about entire teams of spies, working together to undo -- or commit -- acts of espionage. The first act of De Palma's film introduces a diverse team of players only to immediately kill them off during their first mission. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is the only agent to survive, and he spends the film assembling a new team. "Mission: Impossible" wasn't about the agency or its inner workings,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
If the Indiana Jones movies had been made in chronological order, the Thuggee cult in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" might have made pretty good bad guys for our intrepid adventurer to warm up on before tackling the greater peril of the Third Reich. After all, the real-life Thugs were proper nasty bastards, posing as travelers to waylay and murder around 30,000 people in early 19th century India, strangling their victims and offering them as a sacrifice to Kali, not to mention nicking all their stuff.
"Temple of Doom" screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz made them even worse, adding voodoo magic, enslaving children, turning people into zombies, and ripping out people's hearts to the Thuggee repertoire. And yet it still wasn't quite enough, because "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came first, and "Raiders" had the Nazis, those go-to cinematic (and real world) villains. After a whole movie beating up and melting Nazis,...
"Temple of Doom" screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz made them even worse, adding voodoo magic, enslaving children, turning people into zombies, and ripping out people's hearts to the Thuggee repertoire. And yet it still wasn't quite enough, because "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came first, and "Raiders" had the Nazis, those go-to cinematic (and real world) villains. After a whole movie beating up and melting Nazis,...
- 9/30/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Movie theaters bring entertainment and escapism. The smell of popcorn wafting through the air, the previews of coming attractions, and the communal reactions to seeing a movie on the big screen often bring a viewing experience that can’t be replicated elsewhere. It’s also a safe way to experience horror, as the terror is harmlessly confined to celluloid.
But what if it isn’t…?
This week’s streaming picks center around horror movies that feature or are set at the cinema. For the characters in these six titles, their haven becomes anything but when movie theaters turn into slaying grounds for killers and creatures alike.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Messiah of Evil – Fandor, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Prime Video, Screambox, Shudder
Arletty has arrived in a Coastal Californian town to visit her father after receiving a series of worrying letters.
But what if it isn’t…?
This week’s streaming picks center around horror movies that feature or are set at the cinema. For the characters in these six titles, their haven becomes anything but when movie theaters turn into slaying grounds for killers and creatures alike.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Messiah of Evil – Fandor, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Prime Video, Screambox, Shudder
Arletty has arrived in a Coastal Californian town to visit her father after receiving a series of worrying letters.
- 8/22/2022
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
At last measure, Roland Emmerich's "Moonfall" was the 26th biggest box office bomb of all time. Working on an estimated budget of about 140 million, "Moonfall" has only made about 44 million worldwide. Factor in the film's advertising and distribution budget, and it stands to have lost about 139 million.
Some may be old enough to remember a time when a box office bomb of this size would be the biggest news in Hollywood. Notorious bombs like Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" (1980), Willard Huyck's "Howard the Duck" (1986), or Elaine May's "Ishtar" (1987) retain their notoriety to this day, stained forever by their box office failure. A film like "Moonfall," meanwhile, is merely another major bomb in a long series of them. One might even have to fight to remember that it came out earlier this year. For perspective, "Moonfall," when adjusted for inflation, lost about 3 million more than "Heaven's Gate." Mere months later,...
Some may be old enough to remember a time when a box office bomb of this size would be the biggest news in Hollywood. Notorious bombs like Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" (1980), Willard Huyck's "Howard the Duck" (1986), or Elaine May's "Ishtar" (1987) retain their notoriety to this day, stained forever by their box office failure. A film like "Moonfall," meanwhile, is merely another major bomb in a long series of them. One might even have to fight to remember that it came out earlier this year. For perspective, "Moonfall," when adjusted for inflation, lost about 3 million more than "Heaven's Gate." Mere months later,...
- 8/16/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Before the mammoth success of "Star Wars," George Lucas directed and co-wrote (along with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck) the 1973 coming-of-age film "American Graffiti." A nostalgic slice of Americana pie filmed in a warm, naturalistic style, "American Graffiti" is the simple, wistful story of a group of California teenagers spending one last night together after their high school graduation in 1962. There's the best friends Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), the drag-racing John Milner (Paul Le Mat) and the nerdy Terry "The Toad" Fields (Charles Martin Smith). Harrison Ford makes an appearance as Bob Falfa, John's drag race rival.
They cruise the Modesto strip while listening to...
The post American Graffiti Ending Explained: The Calm Before the Storm appeared first on /Film.
They cruise the Modesto strip while listening to...
The post American Graffiti Ending Explained: The Calm Before the Storm appeared first on /Film.
- 2/28/2022
- by Caroline Madden
- Slash Film
Willard Huyck's 1986 film "Howard the Duck," overseen by people at Lucasfilm and featuring a Marvel Comics character, still has a reputation as one of the most notorious bombs in film history. It didn't lose the most money -- not by a long shot. But it was lambasted and pilloried upon its release as off-putting and misguided, using state-of-the-art visual effects to realize a very strange, cynical comedy character in a baffling and badly written story. It was just as bad an idea as it appeared to be at first glance. For those lucky enough to be out of the loop,...
The post Robin Williams Was the Original Howard the Duck – Here's Why He Left the Project appeared first on /Film.
The post Robin Williams Was the Original Howard the Duck – Here's Why He Left the Project appeared first on /Film.
- 1/6/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Written and directed by Willard Huyck, writer of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and close collaborator with George Lucas on several other projects, “Howard the Duck” is an infamous flop, a failure to translate the social satires of Marvel Comics’ anthropomorphic funny animal. A black spot in producer Lucas’s career, the film has had something of an afterlife as a cult film, a fact that The Hollywood Reporter has explored with a new 35th-anniversary oral history.
Read More: Brian De Palma Says George Lucas’ Advice Completely Changed The ‘Mission: Impossible’ Opening Scene
Chief among the new things revealed about the making of the to-this-day utterly bizarre project is that Robin Williams – very understandably – quit the project within the first week of voice recordings for what was, at first, his part as Howard.
Continue reading ‘Howard The Duck’s’ Animatronic Beak Led Robin Williams To Quit Production Within A Week at The Playlist.
Read More: Brian De Palma Says George Lucas’ Advice Completely Changed The ‘Mission: Impossible’ Opening Scene
Chief among the new things revealed about the making of the to-this-day utterly bizarre project is that Robin Williams – very understandably – quit the project within the first week of voice recordings for what was, at first, his part as Howard.
Continue reading ‘Howard The Duck’s’ Animatronic Beak Led Robin Williams To Quit Production Within A Week at The Playlist.
- 7/26/2021
- by Kambole Campbell
- The Playlist
It’s been widely known that Robin Williams was courted for and auditioned for Willard Huyck’s 1986 misfire “Howard the Duck,” but it turns out the iconic comedian booked the role and quit after only a week. Voice actor Chip Zien revealed as much in a new interview for The Hollywood Reporter to mark the movie’s 35th anniversary. Zien voiced the eponymous anthropomorphic duck and was originally offended when his agent first brought him the role.
“She asked me if I considered auditioning because I sound a little bit like a duck,” Zien said. “I was miffed. And I told my agent. He said, ‘Oh, my God! Someone came to you about ‘Howard the Duck?’ Chip, it’s huge! This is a great thing! I am going to call right away.’ And then I became aware that everyone in the world was auditioning for it, from big names to people like me.
“She asked me if I considered auditioning because I sound a little bit like a duck,” Zien said. “I was miffed. And I told my agent. He said, ‘Oh, my God! Someone came to you about ‘Howard the Duck?’ Chip, it’s huge! This is a great thing! I am going to call right away.’ And then I became aware that everyone in the world was auditioning for it, from big names to people like me.
- 7/26/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
To celebrate Variety’s 115th anniversary, we went to the archives to see how some of Hollywood’s biggest stars first landed in the pages of our magazine. Read more from the archives here.
George Lucas entered the movie pantheon in 1977 with “Star Wars.” But long before that, Lucas was on the radar of people in the industry.
Variety first mentioned him on Jan. 9, 1968, when he was part of the third annual National Student Film Fest competition. There were 153 entries and 46 finalists, and Lucas scored an impressive three nominations, for “6-18-67” (“A Desert Poem”); the docu “The Emperor,” and, in the dramatic competition, the sci-fi short “Thx-1138 4Eb.” He won for “Thx.”
Francis Coppola (after a few esteemed films but before the mega-success of “The Godfather”) helped Lucas land a deal to make a 1971 feature version of “Thx” at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The film was an artful but...
George Lucas entered the movie pantheon in 1977 with “Star Wars.” But long before that, Lucas was on the radar of people in the industry.
Variety first mentioned him on Jan. 9, 1968, when he was part of the third annual National Student Film Fest competition. There were 153 entries and 46 finalists, and Lucas scored an impressive three nominations, for “6-18-67” (“A Desert Poem”); the docu “The Emperor,” and, in the dramatic competition, the sci-fi short “Thx-1138 4Eb.” He won for “Thx.”
Francis Coppola (after a few esteemed films but before the mega-success of “The Godfather”) helped Lucas land a deal to make a 1971 feature version of “Thx” at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The film was an artful but...
- 12/17/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Much will be said about the memory and accomplishments of Tom Pollock, who passed away at age 77. He presided over Universal Pictures in a strong period in the ’80s and early ’90s when the studio released 200 pictures that globally grossed $10 billion and released Steven Spielberg’s then all time box office champ Jurassic Park and Best Picture Oscar winner Schindler’s List back to back. He and Ivan Reitman built a successful company in The Montecito Picture Company. But Pollock’s singular accomplishment is being the lawyer who made the greatest deal ever for a filmmaker, his first client George Lucas when Pollock started the firm Pollock, Rigrod, and Bloom, which later became Pollock, Bloom and Dekom, and then Bloom Hergott. Back when Star Wars was being relaunched by LucasFilm and JJ Abrams, Deadline got Pollock to explain how it all happened. Here is the interview from 2015:
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Behind many a...
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Behind many a...
- 8/3/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Chris Cummins Sep 26, 2019
Everything's just ducky now that a 3-cd re-release of the excellent score and songs from Howard the Duck is on the way.
We all have grudges that we hold onto throughout our lives. Some are valid, like family disputes or relationship betrayals, while others are about trivial things that have taken on a conflated importance in our minds as time passes. I'm not sure which category this falls into, but I'm still pissed at my brother for taping over my Howard the Duck soundtrack in the early '90s. You see, I was on board with the film version of Marvel Comics' maladjusted mallard from the start. Seeing the movie with my father is one of my prized childhood memories. I loved the weird tonal shifts and how bizarre the events unfolding on screen were. But more than anything, I was obsessed with the film's music.
Everything's just ducky now that a 3-cd re-release of the excellent score and songs from Howard the Duck is on the way.
We all have grudges that we hold onto throughout our lives. Some are valid, like family disputes or relationship betrayals, while others are about trivial things that have taken on a conflated importance in our minds as time passes. I'm not sure which category this falls into, but I'm still pissed at my brother for taping over my Howard the Duck soundtrack in the early '90s. You see, I was on board with the film version of Marvel Comics' maladjusted mallard from the start. Seeing the movie with my father is one of my prized childhood memories. I loved the weird tonal shifts and how bizarre the events unfolding on screen were. But more than anything, I was obsessed with the film's music.
- 9/26/2019
- Den of Geek
This past Sunday, the Oscar nominated screenwriter Gloria Katz lost her battle with ovarian cancer in a Los Angeles hospital. Along with her husband and writing partner, Willard Huyck, Katz was made famous for writing the great classic American Graffiti, and the not so great classic Howard the Duck. They also adapted the screenplay for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, along with several others.
Katz was a Los Angeles native with a Masters in film from UCLA. She married her husband, Huyck, who happened to be best friends with George Lucas, and she ended up being his go-to for script consultation and polishing. She mentioned in a 2017 interview that she and her husband helped to add much of the humor to The Empire Strikes Back, and helped to mold Leia into the badass she was.
So it turns out, behind the scenes, we have a lot to thank Katz for.
Katz was a Los Angeles native with a Masters in film from UCLA. She married her husband, Huyck, who happened to be best friends with George Lucas, and she ended up being his go-to for script consultation and polishing. She mentioned in a 2017 interview that she and her husband helped to add much of the humor to The Empire Strikes Back, and helped to mold Leia into the badass she was.
So it turns out, behind the scenes, we have a lot to thank Katz for.
- 11/30/2018
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
Gloria Katz, who received an Academy Award nomination for her work on American Graffiti, passed away on Sunday. She was 76.
The screenwriter passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on her 49th wedding anniversary to husband Willard Huyck, after a battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. The pair married in 1969.
Amblin Entertainment, a production company founded by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, went on to confirm her death on Twitter.
“Very sad news to report tonight. Gloria Katz, who wrote Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom for us with her husband Willard Huyck,...
The screenwriter passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on her 49th wedding anniversary to husband Willard Huyck, after a battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. The pair married in 1969.
Amblin Entertainment, a production company founded by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, went on to confirm her death on Twitter.
“Very sad news to report tonight. Gloria Katz, who wrote Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom for us with her husband Willard Huyck,...
- 11/29/2018
- by Maria Pasquini
- PEOPLE.com
Gloria Katz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “American Graffiti” who helped polish the final “Star Wars” script, died on Sunday. She was 76.
She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment confirmed Katz’ passing in a tweet on its official account, writing, “Very sad news to report tonight. Gloria Katz, who wrote Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom for us with her husband Willard Huyck, has passed away. Our deepest condolences to Mr. Huyck and loved ones.”
Katz co-wrote 1973’s “American Graffiti” with her husband Willard Huyck and director George Lucas. In addition to an Academy Award nod, “American Graffiti” won the National Society of Film Critics Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best screenplay.
Later, Katz and Huyck re-teamed with Lucas to revise his fourth and final draft of 1977’s “Star Wars,” including shaping and...
She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment confirmed Katz’ passing in a tweet on its official account, writing, “Very sad news to report tonight. Gloria Katz, who wrote Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom for us with her husband Willard Huyck, has passed away. Our deepest condolences to Mr. Huyck and loved ones.”
Katz co-wrote 1973’s “American Graffiti” with her husband Willard Huyck and director George Lucas. In addition to an Academy Award nod, “American Graffiti” won the National Society of Film Critics Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best screenplay.
Later, Katz and Huyck re-teamed with Lucas to revise his fourth and final draft of 1977’s “Star Wars,” including shaping and...
- 11/29/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Gloria Katz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter who co-wrote “American Graffiti” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” died Sunday following a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 76.
Katz co-wrote “Graffiti” with her husband of 50 years, Willard Huyck, and director George Lucas. The three went on to win the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay, and were nominated for an Academy Award.
“Graffiti” was the beginning of a long association between the couple and Lucas, which continued when Katz and Huyck worked uncredited as script doctors on his 1977 blockbuster “Star Wars.”
Also Read: Yes, That Was That Dead Villain in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' - Here's What it Means
The pair later co-wrote the Steven Spielberg-directed “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Howard the Duck,” directed by Huyck, and “Radioland Murders,” all...
Katz co-wrote “Graffiti” with her husband of 50 years, Willard Huyck, and director George Lucas. The three went on to win the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay, and were nominated for an Academy Award.
“Graffiti” was the beginning of a long association between the couple and Lucas, which continued when Katz and Huyck worked uncredited as script doctors on his 1977 blockbuster “Star Wars.”
Also Read: Yes, That Was That Dead Villain in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' - Here's What it Means
The pair later co-wrote the Steven Spielberg-directed “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Howard the Duck,” directed by Huyck, and “Radioland Murders,” all...
- 11/29/2018
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Gloria Katz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter who partnered with her husband, Willard Huyck, on the scripts for the George Lucas classics American Graffiti and Star Wars, has died. She was 76.
Katz died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. She died on their 49th wedding anniversary.
Katz and her husband also penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, produced by Lucas from his story.
Katz died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. She died on their 49th wedding anniversary.
Katz and her husband also penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, produced by Lucas from his story.
- 11/29/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gloria Katz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter who partnered with her husband, Willard Huyck, on the scripts for the George Lucas classics American Graffiti and Star Wars, has died. She was 76.
Katz died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. She died on their 49th wedding anniversary.
Katz and her husband also penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), produced by Lucas from his story.
The couple wrote the script for Stanley Donan's Lucky Lady (1975) as well as ...
Katz died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer, Huyck told The Hollywood Reporter. She died on their 49th wedding anniversary.
Katz and her husband also penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), produced by Lucas from his story.
The couple wrote the script for Stanley Donan's Lucky Lady (1975) as well as ...
- 11/29/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On August 1, 1973, George Lucas brought his nostalgic film American Graffiti to the big screen at the Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be...
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be...
- 8/1/2017
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On August 1, 1973, George Lucas brought his nostalgic film American Graffiti to the big screen at the Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be a ...
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be a ...
On August 1, 1973, George Lucas brought his nostalgic film American Graffiti to the big screen at the Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be a ...
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in filmmaking. American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be a ...
As we look back at what came before ‘Iron Man,’ we marvel at the miracle that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Earlier this week, the Fsr team brainstormed the plot of Avengers 4 based on the idea that its mysterious subtitle was a potential spoiler for the still unseen Avengers: Infinity War. It was a fun exercise that briefly allowed me to nerd out over a few spandex epics penned by personal favorites, Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman. The resulting conversation spawned some excitement, and a good heap of cynicism as well…or better yet, apathy. How much further can the Marvel Cinematic Universe expand? Will Thanos ever sit up from his chair, and prove he’s the big bad Mad Titan comic book fanboys claim him to be? Next week, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will mark the 15th entry in Marvel’s unprecedented shared universe machine, and by the time we get to Avengers...
Earlier this week, the Fsr team brainstormed the plot of Avengers 4 based on the idea that its mysterious subtitle was a potential spoiler for the still unseen Avengers: Infinity War. It was a fun exercise that briefly allowed me to nerd out over a few spandex epics penned by personal favorites, Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman. The resulting conversation spawned some excitement, and a good heap of cynicism as well…or better yet, apathy. How much further can the Marvel Cinematic Universe expand? Will Thanos ever sit up from his chair, and prove he’s the big bad Mad Titan comic book fanboys claim him to be? Next week, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will mark the 15th entry in Marvel’s unprecedented shared universe machine, and by the time we get to Avengers...
- 4/26/2017
- by Brad Gullickson
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Screenwriting duo and real-life couple Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz are proof words have great worth ... they're selling their Brentwood home for $15.9 million! Willard and Gloria were Hollywood all-stars in the '70s and '80s ... with film credits that include "American Graffiti" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." They also worked on the 'Star Wars' franchise. The home's around 5,200 square feet, but the steep price is more about acreage ... 1.45 in...
- 7/23/2016
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Industrial Light & Magic, the San Francisco-based visual effects house that has changed the course of cinema history countless times over the years, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015. Wired Magazine has rounded up a who's who to discuss its impact and how the advances made there — first in a sweaty Van Nuys warehouse, and now in a swank Presidio complex — have morphed the film industry into what it is today. It's well worth your time. If, however, you're the "tl;dr" type, I couldn't help but jot down a few takeaways as I read. Here are seven. But seriously, take some time to read through it if you can. It's a tight but detailed look back, full of the kind of stories — from "Star Wars" to "Transformers" — that make "movie magic" a thing. George Lucas wants Marvel to make another "Howard the Duck" movie I've actually always loved Willard Huyck...
- 5/19/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Update: Apparently the previous headline was a spoiler and people got angry on Twitter. So, I've changed it and you should know there are spoilers in this post. Marvel has released the press kit for Guardians of the Galaxy and Stitch Kingdom pored over the credits to notice Stan Lee will play a character named Xandarian Ladies' Man, Nathan Fillion cameos as Monstrous Inmate, Rob Zombie voices Ravager Navigator Voice and writer/director James Gunn cameos as Maskless Sakaaran. Then they reach a little deeper, noticing at the very end of the scroll it says "Howard the Duck created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik", which very well seems to suggest that yes, the Marvel character that appeared in the 1986 box-office bust directed by Willard Huyck very well may be seen walking around the world of the Guardians. Makes sense to me, you have a talking tree and raccoon, why...
- 7/18/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Marvel has released the press kit for Guardians of the Galaxy and Stitch Kingdom pored over the credits to notice Stan Lee will play a character named Xandarian Ladies' Man, Nathan Fillion cameos as Monstrous Inmate, Rob Zombie voices Ravager Navigator Voice and writer/director James Gunn cameos as Maskless Sakaaran. Then they reach a little deeper, noticing at the very end of the scroll it says "Howard the Duck created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik", which very well seems to suggest that yes, the Marvel character that appeared in the 1986 box-office bust directed by Willard Huyck very well may be seen walking around the world of the Guardians. Makes sense to me, you have a talking tree and raccoon, why not throw in a duck as wellc We'll know more soon enough as I'll be seeing the film this coming Wednesday and it hits theaters on August 1.
- 7/18/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Thirty years ago, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," the much-awaited follow-up to "Raiders of the Lost Ark," debuted. Indiana Jones was back -- although the film was set earlier than the events of "Raiders" -- and this time, he had a dame (Kate Capshaw) and a kid (Jonathan Ke Quan) with him. Oh, and he wasn't fighting Nazis, just a deadly, child-enslaving cult.
If you're not old enough to remember, this (along with "Gremlins" and "Poltergeist") was the movie that prompted the creation of the PG-13 rating, after parents complained that a PG-rating wasn't adequate for a movie that includes a scene where a man's still-beating heart is ripped out of his chest.
But did you know that an Oscar-winning Hollywood legend almost had a small role in the film? Or what stars pranked Harrison Ford on the set? Didn't think so.
Here are 30 things you might not have known about the movie.
If you're not old enough to remember, this (along with "Gremlins" and "Poltergeist") was the movie that prompted the creation of the PG-13 rating, after parents complained that a PG-rating wasn't adequate for a movie that includes a scene where a man's still-beating heart is ripped out of his chest.
But did you know that an Oscar-winning Hollywood legend almost had a small role in the film? Or what stars pranked Harrison Ford on the set? Didn't think so.
Here are 30 things you might not have known about the movie.
- 5/22/2014
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... but your kids are gonna love it."
Howard The Duck is the cinematic equivalent of Marty McFly's wild guitar solo at the end of Back To The Future. Packed full of enthusiasm, sincere intentions and a desire to treat audiences to something new, they both silenced the masses and left them dumbfounded. The difference is, almost three decades on from Howard's arrival, the kids still don't love him. The adults don't give a pluck about our feathered friend either. It's their loss.
One of life's great underducks, popular belief is that Howard would have been better served to audiences doused in hoisin sauce and wrapped in pancake rather than imprinted onto celluloid. This much-maligned and misunderstood movie about a duck being transported from his parallel 'Duckworld' to earth and saving it from a Dark Overlord is an unsung hero of experimental,...
Howard The Duck is the cinematic equivalent of Marty McFly's wild guitar solo at the end of Back To The Future. Packed full of enthusiasm, sincere intentions and a desire to treat audiences to something new, they both silenced the masses and left them dumbfounded. The difference is, almost three decades on from Howard's arrival, the kids still don't love him. The adults don't give a pluck about our feathered friend either. It's their loss.
One of life's great underducks, popular belief is that Howard would have been better served to audiences doused in hoisin sauce and wrapped in pancake rather than imprinted onto celluloid. This much-maligned and misunderstood movie about a duck being transported from his parallel 'Duckworld' to earth and saving it from a Dark Overlord is an unsung hero of experimental,...
- 4/27/2014
- Digital Spy
Feature Simon Brew 28 Jan 2014 - 05:53
Simon takes another look at arguably the most brutal blockbuster movie of the 1980s: Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom...
This feature contains spoilers for Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
One of the pleasures I've found of being a parent is being able to introduce my offspring to some of the classic films of my own youth. My now ten-year old son worked his way through the Back To The Future trilogy last year, loving them all (with a special soft spot for the third), and for every modern release he watches, I try and introduce him to something a little older.
For some time, he's been asking about Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. I showed him, to his delight, Raiders Of The Lost Ark last year, and he's been keen to see more of Indy's adventures. But I...
Simon takes another look at arguably the most brutal blockbuster movie of the 1980s: Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom...
This feature contains spoilers for Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
One of the pleasures I've found of being a parent is being able to introduce my offspring to some of the classic films of my own youth. My now ten-year old son worked his way through the Back To The Future trilogy last year, loving them all (with a special soft spot for the third), and for every modern release he watches, I try and introduce him to something a little older.
For some time, he's been asking about Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. I showed him, to his delight, Raiders Of The Lost Ark last year, and he's been keen to see more of Indy's adventures. But I...
- 1/27/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Welcome to Issue 12 of ‘The Marvelous Da7e!’
Real quick mission statement: this column is for discussion of superhero movie news and superhero movies. Titular allegiance aside, this sphere includes non-Marvel properties.
This week: What we can learn by defining Howard The Duck.
Pardon me, but I’ve been re-watching Howard The Duck. The 1986 live-action creature-feature “sci-fi/comedy,” PG-rated zoophilia and notorious flop.
It’s not a good movie. It’s an enjoyable movie, but not because of what is on screen…okay, scratch-that. It has the most physically attractive appearence of Lea Thompson on film and this time, she’s not the mother of our main character, so you can totally lust after her up until the end where it seems like she’s actually going to have sex with this duck.
Ducks, who – by the way – are basically rapists across the board. But that’s neither here nor there.
Real quick mission statement: this column is for discussion of superhero movie news and superhero movies. Titular allegiance aside, this sphere includes non-Marvel properties.
This week: What we can learn by defining Howard The Duck.
Pardon me, but I’ve been re-watching Howard The Duck. The 1986 live-action creature-feature “sci-fi/comedy,” PG-rated zoophilia and notorious flop.
It’s not a good movie. It’s an enjoyable movie, but not because of what is on screen…okay, scratch-that. It has the most physically attractive appearence of Lea Thompson on film and this time, she’s not the mother of our main character, so you can totally lust after her up until the end where it seems like she’s actually going to have sex with this duck.
Ducks, who – by the way – are basically rapists across the board. But that’s neither here nor there.
- 9/4/2013
- by Da7e
- LRMonline.com
The Force is strong with this one: On May 14, 1944 in Modesto, Calif., George Lucas was born to parents Dorothy and George Lucas, Sr. Sixty-nine years later, Lucas is one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of Hollywood, the man who made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs who created "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones."
After making his directorial debut with 1971's "Thx 1138," Lucas co-wrote and directed the coming-of-age classic "American Graffiti." (The film was based on Lucas' early life in Modesto.) Featuring a bevy of future stars like Harrison Ford, Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss, "American Graffiti" was a hit; the 1973 film earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Lucas and Best Original Screenplay for Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck. After "American Graffiti" came a little film called "Star Wars" (later known as "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope").
"Star Wars...
After making his directorial debut with 1971's "Thx 1138," Lucas co-wrote and directed the coming-of-age classic "American Graffiti." (The film was based on Lucas' early life in Modesto.) Featuring a bevy of future stars like Harrison Ford, Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss, "American Graffiti" was a hit; the 1973 film earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Lucas and Best Original Screenplay for Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck. After "American Graffiti" came a little film called "Star Wars" (later known as "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope").
"Star Wars...
- 5/14/2013
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
Turkey Day has come and gone once again. This weekend’s B-Sides stems from a real turkey that’s really more of a duck. The theme song to Howard the Duck is sort of like the turducken of B-Sides.
If you weren’t around in 1986, you missed out witnessing first-hand one of the all-time famous box office fiascos. Produced by George Lucas hot on the heels of finishing up the original Star Wars trilogy, based on the cult comic book published by Marvel, brought to the big screen in the form of a heavily hyped big budget summer blockbuster directed by Willard Huyck, Howard the Duck was not supposed to be such a critical and financial boondoggle that for years afterwards future box office flops were often referred to as “(title) the Duck”.
Howard was a wisecracking, cigar-chomping, four-foot tall alien duck-man unintentionally zapped to Earth. The sci-fi comedy followed...
If you weren’t around in 1986, you missed out witnessing first-hand one of the all-time famous box office fiascos. Produced by George Lucas hot on the heels of finishing up the original Star Wars trilogy, based on the cult comic book published by Marvel, brought to the big screen in the form of a heavily hyped big budget summer blockbuster directed by Willard Huyck, Howard the Duck was not supposed to be such a critical and financial boondoggle that for years afterwards future box office flops were often referred to as “(title) the Duck”.
Howard was a wisecracking, cigar-chomping, four-foot tall alien duck-man unintentionally zapped to Earth. The sci-fi comedy followed...
- 11/24/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Edgar Wright returns to the New Beverly grindhouse in Los Angeles with his resume of flicks along with a boatload of his favorites. This is the second time the fan favorite filmmaker has taken over the retro theater where he will be present for Q & A’s and a raucous good time.
january 14, 15 The Wright Stuff II – Triple Feature! All Tickets $10
Shaun Of The Dead Fri / Sat: 7:30 2004, UK / France / USA, 99 minutes Edgar Wright will appear In Person, schedule permitting, Friday & Saturday to discuss! directed by Edgar Wright; written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright; starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran Trailer
Hot Fuzz Fri / Sat: 9:30 2007, UK / France / USA, 121 minutes directed by Edgar Wright; written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright; starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Fri / Sat: 11:59pm (Midnight) 2009, USA / UK / Canada,...
january 14, 15 The Wright Stuff II – Triple Feature! All Tickets $10
Shaun Of The Dead Fri / Sat: 7:30 2004, UK / France / USA, 99 minutes Edgar Wright will appear In Person, schedule permitting, Friday & Saturday to discuss! directed by Edgar Wright; written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright; starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran Trailer
Hot Fuzz Fri / Sat: 9:30 2007, UK / France / USA, 121 minutes directed by Edgar Wright; written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright; starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Fri / Sat: 11:59pm (Midnight) 2009, USA / UK / Canada,...
- 1/3/2011
- by Jason Bene
- Killer Films
Knight and Day; Salt; The Last Exorcism; Scott Pilgrim vs the World
How far can Tom Cruise go on the strength of a smile and a pair of sunglasses? Back in the days of Risky Business, a poster image of Cruise beaming his best "Wtf?" grin over the top of a pair of Wayfarers helped sell not only the movie but also the shades.
That image is recreated almost exactly in a signature shot from Knight and Day, a slipshod action-comedy caper that casts Cruise as a possibly paranoid super-spy on the run from his federal employers. It should have been the perfect vehicle for the star's peculiar charms – an allegedly character-driven smash-'em-up in which glamorous "nobody" Cameron Diaz falls for Cruise's eerily ageless hunk, thence to be thrown into a world of deadly danger from which only his killer smile can save her. The presence of director James Mangold,...
How far can Tom Cruise go on the strength of a smile and a pair of sunglasses? Back in the days of Risky Business, a poster image of Cruise beaming his best "Wtf?" grin over the top of a pair of Wayfarers helped sell not only the movie but also the shades.
That image is recreated almost exactly in a signature shot from Knight and Day, a slipshod action-comedy caper that casts Cruise as a possibly paranoid super-spy on the run from his federal employers. It should have been the perfect vehicle for the star's peculiar charms – an allegedly character-driven smash-'em-up in which glamorous "nobody" Cameron Diaz falls for Cruise's eerily ageless hunk, thence to be thrown into a world of deadly danger from which only his killer smile can save her. The presence of director James Mangold,...
- 12/19/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Our friends at the Film Society of Lincoln Center have generously given us five pairs of tickets to attend the fourth annual Scary Movies Film Festival to give away to you hungry horror-loving hounds. So, if you live in, or can get to New York City on your own during October 27-31, we've got your chance to win one pair of the 3-film passes each night on Twitter starting Tuesday, October 19th.
All you need to do is to follow @dreadcentral on Twitter and tweet this: "NYCers: Win 1 pair Horror Film Fest pass at midnite Tue. Follow @dreadcentral & Rt this! http://bit.ly/crQ0L7 #contests" We'll pick a winner at random each night this week at midnight Pt until the passes are all gone. You might just wake up to a free 3-film pass in your Twitter message box! You don't have Twitter yet? What are you waiting for.
All you need to do is to follow @dreadcentral on Twitter and tweet this: "NYCers: Win 1 pair Horror Film Fest pass at midnite Tue. Follow @dreadcentral & Rt this! http://bit.ly/crQ0L7 #contests" We'll pick a winner at random each night this week at midnight Pt until the passes are all gone. You might just wake up to a free 3-film pass in your Twitter message box! You don't have Twitter yet? What are you waiting for.
- 10/19/2010
- by kwlow
- DreadCentral.com
One of the defining characteristics of 70s horror is the thick and pervasive atmosphere that distinguishes them amongst their peers. Films like Let’s Scare Jessica to Death and Phantasm invoke such strong, yet unique, impressions that it’s impossible to find others exactly like them. And that’s true of Messiah of Evil as well – an impossibly odd little effort filmed in 1971 by future George Lucas collaborators Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz.
The story brings a young woman to the small artist’s cove of Pointe Dune, CA to locate her missing father. His abandoned shore house, decorated floor-to-ceiling with the most eerily mundane murals imaginable, reveals maddening journals that chronicle the increasingly strange behavior of the town’s inhabitants. Meanwhile, a mass of people gather nightly on the beach beside roaring fires as if expecting the arrival of someone, or something and the rest of the town seems...
The story brings a young woman to the small artist’s cove of Pointe Dune, CA to locate her missing father. His abandoned shore house, decorated floor-to-ceiling with the most eerily mundane murals imaginable, reveals maddening journals that chronicle the increasingly strange behavior of the town’s inhabitants. Meanwhile, a mass of people gather nightly on the beach beside roaring fires as if expecting the arrival of someone, or something and the rest of the town seems...
- 3/20/2010
- by Masked Slasher
- DreadCentral.com
In the pantheon of mega-derided '80s films, few films can touch the inescapable reek of Howard the Duck. I know plenty of folks who dig Ishtar, Cobra, and Leonard Part 6 -- but remarkably few movie geeks have stood up and spoken out for Willard Huyck's Howard the Duck, which just recently arrived as a Special Edition DVD from Universal.
I'll spare you the plot machinations -- because frankly a movie this stupid deserves to be seen By You at least once -- but I've always been amazed at the disparity between the source material and the cinematic adaptation. I've also been sickened by the girl on duck seduction scene, assaulted by the horrific Thomas Dolby music, and beaten into drooling submission by the flick's endlessly wretched puns.
But as a piece of mid-'80s big-budget mega-floppage? I find Howard the Duck more fascinating -- and more worthy of mockery -- than Hudson Hawk,...
I'll spare you the plot machinations -- because frankly a movie this stupid deserves to be seen By You at least once -- but I've always been amazed at the disparity between the source material and the cinematic adaptation. I've also been sickened by the girl on duck seduction scene, assaulted by the horrific Thomas Dolby music, and beaten into drooling submission by the flick's endlessly wretched puns.
But as a piece of mid-'80s big-budget mega-floppage? I find Howard the Duck more fascinating -- and more worthy of mockery -- than Hudson Hawk,...
- 4/8/2009
- by Scott Weinberg
- Cinematical
Finally, the book can be closed on the DVD era: Howard The Duck, a George Lucas production every bit as ignominious as Jar Jar Binks, has now been made available to the tens of fans clamoring for its release. It even comes with special revisionist-history bonus features, with husband-wife team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (Huyck directed, Katz produced, and they scripted together) putting a shine on one of the 1980s’ most notorious failures. The critics misunderstood it, they say, or they resented Lucas’ success, or they were simply enemies of fun who wanted “an existential experience” rather than the ...
- 3/18/2009
- avclub.com
Looking for something to do before school or work begins again? Well, Hulu has just added the reviled Howard the Duck to its list of free feature films. The live-action Universal film, starring Tom Robbins, Lea Thompson, and eight different guys in an expensive duck suit, was considered one of the worst films of the year when it was released in 1986 and remains one of the most awful adaptations from a comic book.
What is astonishing is that the film was produced by George Lucas from a script by the able Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz (American Graffiti). Lucas spent $10 million to make the film which earned a meager $16 million while making Howard’s creator Steve Gerber weep.
What is astonishing is that the film was produced by George Lucas from a script by the able Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz (American Graffiti). Lucas spent $10 million to make the film which earned a meager $16 million while making Howard’s creator Steve Gerber weep.
- 12/28/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Say what you will about Howard the Duck. That’s okay. It only leaves more of him for me. While you were no doubt seeing Top Gun, The Fly and Aliens over and over during the summer of 1986, I was in the smaller auditorium next door having more adventure than humanly possible enjoying Howard’s adventures in a world he never made. And now, at long last, I’ll be able to turn up the surround and enjoy the amazingly hot Beverly and her band Cherry Bomb like never before when Howard crash lands on DVD March 10, 2009! According to Video Eta, the movie, which has previously been available on DVD in other parts of the world, is finally coming home to the United States on a special edition DVD which will include: -A Look Back at Howard the Duck -Releasing the Duck -News Featurette -The Stunts of Howard the Duck...
- 12/15/2008
- UGO Movies
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