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Exclusive: Cameras are rolling on Epic — The Life & Times of David Lean, with Assemble Media boarding the documentary.

The Sky Arts feature comes from director Barnaby Thompson (Mad About the Boy — The Noel Coward Story), with Embankment Films and Fragile Films now joined by Assemble’s Jack Heller on the production and financing.

Assemble’s Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen as an executive producer. Embankment’s Nick Taussig is producing alongside Heller, with the company behind The Father and The Wife also shopping the doc internationally.

A spring 2026 theatrical release date has been slated in the UK, with Sky Arts transmitting it over the summer. We first reported on the project in September last year.

“I’m thrilled to join Barnaby and Nick on this journey,” said Heller, founder of Assemble. “With IMAX and large-format filmmaking shaping the future of cinema, there’s no better time to explore the life...

Costume designer who won Oscars for her work on the film epic Doctor Zhivago and for Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 Henry V

Phyllis Dalton won her first Oscar in 1966 for designing – also abrading, staining, tattering and otherwise making more real – the 5,000-plus costumes of David Lean’s epic movie of Doctor Zhivago.

She clad Tsarist socialites and post-revolutionary masses, and talked extras out of shedding their Russian army greatcoats on location shooting in a hot Spanish summer. The star Julie Christie was uncomfortable in a sultry red satin gown vital to the story. Dalton and Lean persuaded her that her character would be ill at ease in it too, for the same reasons – sex and shame– so she should just let the dress inspire her performance.

It has been a banner year for Martin Delemazure, the managing director of Paris-based composer agency Grande Ourse.

He had seven films at the Cannes Film Festival in May featuring music by composers on the agency’s books, topped by Jury Prize-winner Emilia Pérez, which also won Best Cannes Soundtrack for Grande Ourse talent Camille, who takes a co-music credit with life and work partner Clément Ducol.

The other titles spanned Palme d’Or contender Wild Diamond, for which the soundtrack was composed by Audrey Ismaël, who also wrote the music for Un Certain Regard title The Kingdom.

Grande Ourse also represents David Sztanke, who wrote the music for a second film in the sidebar, Dog on Trial. Elsewhere in the Official Selection, client Matteo Locasciulli wrote the soundtrack for bio-doc Jacques Demy, the Pink and the Black in Cannes Classics.

In the parallel Cannes Critics’ Week section, Rebeka Warrior...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Museum of the Moving Image

See It Big! Let It Snow brings 35mm prints of All That Heaven Allows, Doctor Zhivago, and Meet Me In St. Louis.

Museum of Modern Art

A dual celebration of Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni continues, this weekend bringing films by Raúl Ruiz and Marco Bellocchio.

Anthology Film Archives

A look at Robert Frank and his influences continues, including Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit and Blue Velvet on 35mm, while Scenes from the Streets begins.

Roxy Cinema

The New World and The Magnificent Ambersons shows on 35mm; Hardcore plays Friday and Saturday, the latter day bringing a Paul Schrader Q&a; Eastern Promises and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle also screen.

Metrograph

Lost In Translation, 2046, Phantom Thread, and Brokeback Mountain play on 35mm; The Holidays at Metrograph, It Looks Pretty from a Distance, and This...

Who needs a stocking stuffer when you can watch Keira Knightley deck the halls with bullets and mayhem in the Christmas-set thriller Black Doves?

Fromcreator, writer, and executive producer Joe Barton, Black Doves — now streaming on Netflix — is Knightley’s first TV role since the 2002 mini-series Doctor Zhivago. The English actor stars as Helen, a professional spy who’s pulled into a vast, interconnected conspiracy alongside her assassin friend Sam (Ben Whishaw) when her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is murdered.

After making her mark as an action heroine with films like Pirates of the Caribbean, King Arthur, and 2014’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the actor found it “very exciting” to leap back into combat with Black Doves.

“It was amazing how that whole muscle memory thing, it was really still in there,” Knightley tells Tudum. “Now being a bit older, it didn’t freak me...

The sophomore edition of Spain’s South International Series Festival, unspooling in Cadiz from Oct. 25-30, will spotlight Andalusia’s burgeoning audiovisual sector.

More than twenty festival activities will focus on the Andalusian audiovisual sector, with industry panels, screenings and talks highlighting the strength of the region’s output.

While presenting this year’s festival poster, Sisf’s director Joan Alvarez declared that Andalusia is entering its “Hollywood moment.” The buzzy timing in the region sees not only increased production in the South but also greater support from local bodies such as Junta Andalusia and Andalusia’s public broadcaster Canal Sur, plus the creation of events like the South International Series Festival, which offers a gathering place for local industry heads.

“We believe it’s a great opportunity for European producers to focus on what is going on in Andalusia,” Head of Programming and Industry at Sisf Carles Montiel told...

Irish director John Crowley and his “We Live in Time” actor Andrew Garfield hosted the last of this year’s star-studded San Sebastian press conferences for their Official Selection player, which will close the 72nd edition of the festival this evening.

Also starring Florence Pugh, “We Live in Time,” written by acclaimed playwright Nick Payne (“The Crown”), is the time-twisted love story of Almut and Tobias. Through disordered snapshots of their life together, the two experience great joys like parenthood, meeting each other’s families, a marriage proposal, and life-changing tragedies such as divorce and a recurring ovarian cancer diagnosis. The couple learns through their shared memories to cherish each moment of the roundabout path their relationship has traveled.

During Saturday morning’s press conference, Garfield said he was in a contemplative place when Payne’s screenplay crossed his desk. “When I read [the script], I was in deep contemplation of the meaning of life.

Exclusive: Iconic British director David Lean, whose credits included Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, is being given the feature documentary treatment by Sky, with Embankment Films launching sales at TIFF.

The Barnaby Thompson-directed Epic – The Life & Times of David Lean will profile the double Oscar winner, who helmed some of the most well-respected movies of all time, via never-before-seen archive and contributions from leading film directors. Haunted by the shadow of his dismissive father and his puritan upbringing, Lean was married six times, and he created layered and complex narratives in his work while struggling to find connection and meaning in his personal life. The doc is being made with collaboration from the BFI National Archive, whose Special Collections holds the David Lean paper archive.

Lean, who was knighted in 1984 and died in 1991, was behind the likes of Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago...

Studiocanal announces a stunning brand-new 4K restoration of the thrilling and unique western Red Sun as part of the Cult Classics Collection available on 4K Uhd Steelbook, Blu-Ray, DVD & Digital from 9th September to celebrate we are giving away a Steel Book edition!

Billed as the first East meets West Western, and directed by Terence Young, Red Sun is based on a true story from the American Wild West of 1870. When outlaw Link (Charles Bronson) is betrayed by his gang during a train robbery, he is forced by the Japanese Ambassador to help regain a priceless sword stolen by Link’s double-crossing partner Gauche (Alain Delon).

Link and the Ambassador’s bodyguard, Kuroda (Toshiro Mifune), travel the West in pursuit of Gauche, attempting to lure him out by taking his girlfriend (Ursula Andress) as hostage. Although Kuroda plans to kill Gauche straight away, Link needs him alive to find the loot from their last robbery.

Despite a historically accurate reading of Hollywood’s storied past, great directors and filmmakers make it their business to break and set records with their career’s work. Christopher Nolan is invariably one such director who continues to defy the laws of physics in his films just as he manipulates the laws of human psychology when it comes to breaking box office records.

However, it is rare to find a combination of good filmmakers with complete artistic and creative taste who don’t eventually fall prey to the studio system. Return on investments and profit guides the business models of modern-day Hollywood and to keep making films, it becomes imperative that directors, creatives, and actors all fall in line with the company policy.

Christopher Nolan [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]As such, the audience of the 21st century’s cinematic era is blessed to have auteurs like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve who...

Apples Never Fall on Peacock brings Liane Moriarty's family drama to life with a star-studded cast and captivating storytelling. Sam Neill shines as patriarch Stan Delaney, portraying a complex character with depth and vulnerability in the series. Annette Bening stars opposite of Neill, and the rest of the cast brings the Delaneys to the small screen with an impressive amount of talent.

Apples Never Fall is the latest TV adaptation of Liane Moriarty's best-selling novels, and the Peacock series has an all-star cast bringing the book's story to life. Like the novel it's based on, Apples Never Fall follows the tennis-loving Delaney family in two timelines: before and after their mother vanishes. Joy Delaney's sudden disappearance dredges up the secrets and trauma within the seemingly perfect family, forcing the Delaney siblings to question everything they believe about their own parents.

The cast of Apples Never Fall brings the...

John Williams’ film legacy is being immortalized with a Sony Pictures studio building dedicated to the Oscar-, Emmy,- and Grammy-winning composer.

The newly renamed John Williams Music Building on the Sony Pictures’ Culver City lot was unveiled January 18, with Williams’ longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg sharing his admiration for the musician.

“I have grown up with Johnny from the very beginning,” Spielberg said of Williams. “What he’s done for me is something I haven’t been able to imagine. This building is where all my stress dissipates…when I finally get to this stage of a production, and I know I’m in your hands.”

Spielberg added, “In the end I don’t recognize the movies as mine but as ours. Thank you Johnny, my movies would not be the same without you.”

Williams has earned 53 Academy Award nominations thus far, and collaborated with Spielberg specifically on films like “Jaws,...

In 2009, Sally Menke, the splicer extraordinaire who cut her way to film industry prominence as Quentin Tarantino's most trusted collaborator, wrote, "Editors are the quiet heroes of movies and I like it that way." I emphatically agree and disagree with this observation. On one hand, the best film editing is seamless; watching a movie should be an entrancing experience, and it's the editor's job to not break the spell. Yes, there are singular, medium-altering cuts (the entire Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's silent classic "Potemkin;" the blowing out of a match whisking us off to the desert in David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia;" the bone-to-spaceship transition in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Opera"), but they're grand gestures deftly woven into the fabric of the movie. They pull you deeper into their worlds, not take you out of them.

Watch enough movies, however, and you become attuned to certain editorial rhythms.

Since 2012, revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese has belonged to a select group of three-time Best Director Golden Globe winners that grew to include six members when Steven Spielberg took last year’s prize for “The Fabelmans.” Over a decade later, the ever-active octogenarian has a strong chance at rising above his fellow triple champs by achieving another directing victory for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” thus following Elia Kazan as the second quadruple honoree in this category’s 81-year history. Since this would be his 10th time competing here, he would also join Spielberg in the rare distinction of having double-digit directing mentions.

Scorsese earned his first Golden Globe Award in 2003 for “Gangs of New York” (on his sixth bid) and was then further lauded for “The Departed” (2007) and “Hugo” (2012). His remaining half dozen directing notices came for his work on “Raging Bull” (1981), “Goodfellas” (1991), “The Age of Innocence” (1994), “Casino” (1996), “The Aviator...

Before "Star Wars" hit theaters in 1977, the world had no idea it would take over the popular consciousness, spawn sequels, prequels, TV series, comics, books, and video games. This story of a young man who leaves his home to become a hero was powerful -- and all the more so because of something the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by the late Sir Alec Guinness) does late in the film. 

Guinness had decades of experience on the stage and had starred in films like "Great Expectations," "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Doctor Zhivago," and Lawrence of Arabia" before taking on a role in this as-yet-unknown space opera. He wasn't always supportive of the first "Star Wars" film. Though he's also said positive things about it, the movie wasn't exactly his usual kind of work. Plus -- spoiler alert for an over four decades-old film -- his character dies and...

In the first “John Wick,” Keanu Reeves’ titular character — a former assassin brought out of retirement after some goons kill his dog and steal his car — confirms his return with the often quoted line: “Yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.” And one of the many joys of “The Continental,” the new “John Wick” spin-off series that concludes Friday, is the fact that Albert Hughes is back.

He directed “Menace II Society” and “Dead Presidents” with his brother Allen. For “The Continental,” he helmed “Night 1” and Friday’s “Night 3” – essentially two feature-length movies set within the “John Wick” universe.

Not that he was totally sold on the idea, at least initially.

Before Hughes signed on, they wanted a single filmmaker to do all three nights. He described that idea as “daunting.” But then he started thinking about the Old Hollywood system, where directors would make multiple movies every year.

“Now...

With festivals beckoning and box office wobbling, this obnoxious question looms ever larger: What’s next?

The strikes will end and a new season will begin but where’s that next cycle of movies and streaming content that represent groundbreaking ideas? Where will they come from?

A quick survey of past groundbreakers poses some answers, all of them disturbing.

Breakthrough movies of years past have represented the unpredictable product of corporate guile (The Avengers), artistic monomania (Avatar) or accidents of history (Barbie).

Some hits invaded the zeitgeist because they were relentlessly defiant (Midnight Cowboy) or simply inevitable (Harry Potter). Ironically, some of Hollywood’s most culturally ambitious movies were distributed at moments when films were being largely ignored by the filmgoing public – Doctor Zhivago (1965) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Cinema, as with every form of pop culture, has gone through cycles of bold innovation as well as pervasive failure. Hollywood, circa the early 1960s,...

War movies often combine the horrors of warfare with heartbreaking love stories, showcasing the contrast between love and conflict on a global scale. Romances in war movies tend to end in tragedy, with characters being killed in action or scarred from the trauma of war, leading to irreparable damage to their relationship. War can tear couples apart, whether through one partner being drafted or their town being invaded, showcasing how forces beyond their control can test a romance to its limits.

Some of the greatest war movies ever made, from Atonement to The Deer Hunter, contrast the horrors of warfare with a heartbreaking love story. As the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war, and Hollywood loves combining those two subjects in a movie. War can make an interesting backdrop for a romance, because it juxtaposes two people finding a kindred spirit in one another with conflict and disagreement on a global scale.

Introduction & Inspirations

Murali Gopy, the acclaimed writer and actor of Malayalam cinema, has revealed some of his favourite filmmakers and his upcoming projects in a candid interview. Murali Gopy, who is known for his versatile scripts and powerful performances, has written critically acclaimed films like Ee Adutha Kaalathu, Left Right Left, Tiyaan, Kammara Sambhavam, and the highest-grossing Malayalam film Lucifer.

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He has also won numerous awards including Filmfare Awards South and South Indian International Movie Awards. Here are some of the filmmakers he admires and their best films:

Django Unchained Trailer David Lean: The British master of epic cinema, who directed classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Lean’s films are known for their sweeping visuals and compelling stories on a grand scale. He was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won two for Best Director. Quentin Tarantino: The American iconoclast,...

The "John Wick" franchise is at a series high in terms of critical acclaim (our own Jacob Hall couldn't stop raving about it after its SXSW premiere) and box office success, but if you saw "Chapter 4" you know that it feels like the final word on the main story. But when the last movie, a 2.5-hour R-rated action epic, pulls in over $400 million at the box office alone you know that's not the last time we're seeing this world.

Even before the massive success of "Chapter 4," the powers that be were working on spin-offs, both in the feature film and limited series spaces, and both prequels. 

On the film side, we have "Ballerina" starring Ana de Armas and featuring "Wick" vets Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, the great Lance Reddick (in one of his final performances), and, of course, Keanu Reeves as John Wick making an appearance of some sort.

Peacock...

Julie Christie is an Oscar-winning actress who has been largely absent from movie screens this century, enjoying a semi-retirement that finds her returning for the odd performance here and there. Yet she’s always finding new fans as younger generations discover her cinematic classics. Let’s take a look at 20 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on April 14, 1940, Christie rose to prominence for her work in London, starting with a breakthrough performance in John Schlesinger‘s “Billy Liar” (1963). She won the Oscar as Best Actress just two years later for Schlesinger’s “Darling” (1965), playing a fashion model who sleeps her way to the top. That same year, she shot to stardom thanks to David Lean‘s romantic epic “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), which casts her as a political activist’s wife who falls in love with a physician (Omar Sharif) during the Russian Revolution.

She earned a second Best...

Sergei Rachmaninoff is one of the most beloved composers of the Romantic period. His music is characterized by lush harmonies and sweeping melodies, creating a sound that is both intensely beautiful and emotionally evocative.

For those who are unfamiliar with his work, it can be daunting to know where to start. In this article, we’ll explore some of Rachmaninoff’s most famous compositions, as well as some lesser-known pieces that still deserve recognition. We’ll also learn about the composer’s life, and discuss how his music reflects the tumultuous events of his time.

Whether you’re a fan of classical music or just curious to learn more about this great composer, this article will provide an informative introduction to discovering the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Life and Career of Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor born in 1873. He moved with his family to St.

Doctor Zhivago, Casablanca, Amour. Over the decades, cinema has produced some fictional love stories of enduring beauty and resonance. But for sheer emotional force, even those classics may not rival the true love story told in The Eternal Memory.

Maite Alberdi’s documentary, which made its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, centers on the remarkable bond between a Chilean couple, the esteemed writer and journalist Augusto Góngora and his wife — an actress, academic, and Chile’s former Minister of Culture, Paulina Urrutia Fernández. They spent many joyous years together before Augusto was diagnosed, in 2014, with Alzheimer’s.

The film begins with a scene shot in the couple’s bedroom in the middle of the night, after Augusto apparently has awoken. Smiling, he introduces himself to his wife. “I’m Augusto Góngora,” he says. “And who are you?” Patiently, lovingly, she replies her name is Pauli. And she explains,...

Babylon, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery won the live-action feature prizes at the 27th annual Art Directors Guild (Local 800) Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were handed out Saturday night at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.

Live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Babylon picked up the trophy in the competitive period film competition. Everything Everywhere All at Once won the prize for a fantasy film, while Glass Onion collected the award for a contemporary movie.

Babylon, along with Adg noms All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis and The Fabelmans, are Oscar-nominated.

Over the past five years, the winner of the Adg’s period film prize has gone on to win the Oscar for production design three times: in 2018 for The Shape of Water, in 2020 for Once Upon a Time...

We’re now about halfway through the 2022-2023 Broadway season, and there are currently seven productions of musicals set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below, find the plot description of each musical as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative team, and the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Bad Cinderella” (previews begin February 17; opens March 23)

In this loose adaptation of the classic fairy tale, the fields are idyllic, the prince is charming, and the townsfolk are ravishing in the beautiful kingdom of Belleville. One stubborn peasant stands in the way of absolute perfection: Cinderella. To those in Belleville, the damsel is the distress.

This musical features a book by Oscar winner Emerald Fennell, music by six-time Tony winner Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics by Tony winner David Zippel. The production previously premiered in...

Just last year, “West Side Story” became the first movie directed by Steven Spielberg to be nominated for and win the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy/Musical. Since his “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1983), “Schindler’s List” (1994), and “Saving Private Ryan” (1999) had all previously prevailed in the corresponding drama category, he joined Billy Wilder as only the second person to helm four winners of either of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s two top film prizes. With Best Drama contender “The Fabelmans,” he now has a shot at surpassing Wilder and bettering his standing in the Golden Globes record book.

“The Fabelmans” received a total of five Golden Globe nominations this year, including ones for Michelle Williams’s lead acting and John Williams’s score. The remaining two bids constitute Spielberg’s second for writing (shared with Tony Kushner) and 14th for directing (he won in 1994 and 1999). The film is a thinly-veiled...

It’s a weird day to interview Oona Chaplin. The most anticipated film of the year, James Cameron’s Avatar sequel The Way of Water, has just been released, and Chaplin is set to take on a key role in the already filmed third instalment. We’re not talking about that, though. We’re chatting about her new Netflix spy thriller series Treason, which she stars in alongside Daredevil’s Charlie Cox and former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko. It’s the kind of bingeable crime caper that has become synonymous with the BBC over the years. However, this Boxing Day, as people roll out of bed heavy with yesterday’s indulgences, many will flick through Netflix, not the terrestrial channels, and land on Treason, where they will spend the next four hours.

“I’m admiring your shelves,” Chaplin tells me of my Zoom background, which has been carefully curated to...

British film industry veteran Sir Sydney Samuelson has died. He was 97.

Samuelson died from old age on December 14. A statement from the British Film Institute said he was “surrounded by his loving family.”

Samuelson was born on December 7, 1925. He came from a UK film industry family. His father, George ‘Bertie’ Samuelson, was a producer of silent films, making more than 100 movies from 1910 onwards; his mother Marjorie ran a draper’s shop in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex.

Samuelson entered the film business in 1939 at the age of 14 in the projection box of the Luxor Cinema in Lancing, West Sussex, going on to work as a relief operator in several cinemas in the Midlands for ABC cinemas. He then trained as a Film Editor with Gaumont British Newsreel in London.

He was later a cinematographer and worked on many shows for the BBC and independent television companies on a range of productions, including Queen Elizabeth II...

British film industry pioneer Sydney Samuelson, who served as the first British film commissioner and was a BAFTA leader, died Dec. 14. He was 97.

Samuelson joined the business in 1939 aged 14 in the projection box of the Luxor Cinema in Lancing, West Sussex, going on to work as a relief operator in several cinemas in the Midlands for ABC cinemas. He then trained as a film editor with Gaumont British Newsreel in London.

In 1943, he signed up to be a flight navigator for the Raf, and when de-mobbed in 1947 he joined the film unit of the British Colonial Office as a trainee cameraman. He met his wife Doris at a film club screening of “Pride and Prejudice” in 1946. They were married for 72 years, until her death in April, 2022.

Together, along with Samuelson’s brothers, they formed Samuelson Film Service, which made available the high quality equipment with 24-hour complete service across camera,...

Spike Lee attended the first-ever public screening in Saudi Arabia of “Malcolm X” on Saturday during the Red Sea Film Festival. The film shot key scenes in Mecca, over 30 years ago, but has never been screened in the kingdom, due to the 35-year ban on cinemas that only ended in December 2017.

On Sunday, at a press conference, Lee gave his take on filmmaking, while often referencing the Soccer World Cup, currently underway in neighboring Qatar. “Everything for me is about sports,” he quipped.

He added that in addition to rooting for the recently-eliminated U.S. team in the World Cup, he “desperately wanted Cameroon to win,” because of his family roots, since his father’s family side is from Cameroon, and his mother’s side from Sierra Leone – “My ancestors were stolen from Africa. They weren’t slaves. They were enslaved.”

He explained why it was so important to film...

Exclusive: A five-part video and podcast series celebrating the life and career of Broadway composer Lucy Simon – one of the final projects the sister of Carly Simon worked on prior to her death last week – launches today on YouTube and the Broadway Podcast Network.

Celebrating Lucy Simon was announced and released today by Broadway Podcast Network Co-Founders Dori Berinstein and Alan Seales. The series will feature never-before-heard stories from The Secret Garden composer Simon herself, as well as from such collaborators as Judy Collins, Marshall Brickman, Marsha Norman, Victoria Clark, and others.

The series will also include new performances by Broadway stars Sierra Boggess, Funny Girl‘s Ramin Karimloo, The Secret Garden original stars Daisy Eagan and John Cameron Mitchell, and others. Eagan, Boggess and Karimloo performed in two New York concert versions of The Secret Garden in 2016. Songs to be performed on the new series will include the musical’s “Wick,...

In a very sad development, Carly Simon lost both of her sisters this week, with Broadway composer Lucy Simon dying of breast cancer Thursday and former opera singer Joanna Simon passing from thyroid cancer on Wednesday.

Both deaths were confirmed by a source close to pop superstar Carly. Lucy Simon was 82, Joanna Simon was 84.

Born into wealth and a rarified atmosphere of celebrity and literati to Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon and wife Andrea, the Simon sisters – their brother Peter was the youngest sibling – would all find their ways to success in professional music careers.

Lucy entered show business in the early 1960s when she and Carly formed the folk singing duo The Simon Sisters, performing in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and New York City’s Greenwich Village. In 1964, the sisters recorded and released the song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod” to moderate success.

Within 10 years Carly Simon would become one of pop music...

Lucy Simon, a Tony-nominated Broadway composer best known for “The Secret Garden” and the older sister of pop singer Carly Simon, died Thursday following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 82.

Her family said she died at her home in Piedmont, New York.

Simon was only the third female composer to have a production on Broadway with “The Secret Garden,” a musical based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She composed the music with the book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.

In 1991 “The Secret Garden” was nominated for six Tony Awards, including nominations for Best Original Score for Simon and Norman, winning two. The musical ran for 709 performances on Broadway.

Simon also composed the music for the 2011 musical “Doctor Zhivago.”

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Born in 1940 in New York City, Simon began performing as a folk duo with her younger sister,...

Click here to read the full article.

Lucy Simon, the composer and sister of pop superstar Carly Simon who received a Tony nomination in 1991 for her work on the long-running Broadway musical The Secret Garden, has died. She was 82.

Simon died Thursday at her home in Piedmont, New York, after a long battle with breast cancer, a family spokesperson announced.

She and Carly began their careers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as The Simon Sisters, and their folk act opened for the likes of The Tarriers in Greenwich Village nightclubs. Their recording of “Wynken, Blynken & Nod” reached No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

Lucy Simon became the rare female composer to have a show on Broadway when The Secret Garden debuted in April 1991. Starring Rebecca Luker, Mandy Patinkin, Alison Fraser and Daisy Eagan and based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved children’s novel, the musical ran for 709 performances on Broadway, won...

The wealth of Spain’s attractions as a big-shoot locale are in the details. To that end, below are the 37 Film Commissions or Film Offices that form part of the nationwide Spain Film Commission network, as well emblematic shoots, locations and initiatives:

Alicante Film Office

It was launched in 2008 to support shoots at Alicante’s Ciudad de la Luz studios, such as J.A. Bayona’s “The Impossible” and Ridley Scott’s “The Counselor.” Connected by high-speed train and an international airport, Alicante’s Santa Bárbara Castle featured in Movistar+’s “Tell Me Who I Am,” and Netflix’s “Money Heist” used its beaches and port. With Ciudad de la Luz reopening, international producers are returning, with Guy Ritchie’s “The Interpreter” shooting in the area.

ANDALUCÍA Film Commission

Boasting flagship destinations such as Tabernas — Europe’s biggest desert, which hosted “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Game of Thrones,” “Exodus: Gods and Kings...

Omar Sharif Jr. got early career advice from his celebrated grandfather, the legendary Hollywood actor Omar Sharif best known for his Golden Globe-winning performances in 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia” and the title role in 1965’s “Dr. Zhivago”: Acting is not enough.

“My grandfather used to always say there’s nothing more boring than being an actor,” the 38-year-old Sharif told TheWrap with a chuckle. “Later on in his life, he used to take roles just literally to pay off gambling debts. It wasn’t for anything else. It was to cover costs at the racetrack.”

Despite his grandfather’s words, Omar Sharif Jr. did become an actor — and he recently joined the cast of the long-running Israeli rom-com series “Beauty and the Baker.” But being a performer is indeed not enough for the younger Sharif, who has been an outspoken LGBTQ activist since famously coming out as gay in...

David Zaslav is a busy man, but I think he would benefit from a meeting with Alfred Hitchcock. They had this in common: Facing cycles of disruption, each decided to call a “time out” to gain perspective and design new strategies.

And both likely would have enjoyed their interaction. As CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, Zaslav is the center of the storm as he comes to terms with what he views as “the new reality.” Confronted by stalemate on many fronts, Hitchcock, too, took his pause to restore order.

“I was prepping Psycho in 1960 when it hit me that the game had changed but no one had set forth the new rules,” Hitchcock once told me. “The whole industry seemed to come to a halt. After a long layoff I decided to radically cut costs, shoot my movie in black and white with a small TV crew and shift to entirely new locations.

Chase Mishkin, the Broadway producer whose roster of productions scored two Tony Awards (for Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and Memphis), died July 24 at her home in Manhattan. She was 85.

Her death was made public in a New York Times obituary today. Mishkin’s daughter Julie Kahle told the newspaper that her mother had dementia and had suffered two strokes.

Mishkin began her theater producing career just shy of her 60th birthday following the death of her husband, carpet manufacturer Ralph Mishkin. Her first production was a Los Angeles staging of Trish Vradenburg’s The Apple Doesn’t Fall…, a drama about Alzheimer’s that opened on Broadway in 1996 with Leonard Nimoy directing.

Though her first production was not a commercial success, closing the day after opening, Mishkin would return to Broadway more than 30 times, taking part in productions of, among others, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Moon for the Misbegotten,...

Exclusive: The life and career of Michael Stevenson, an industry veteran, and former assistant director to Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, and Sir Ridley Scott will be documented in a new feature-length documentary from Freida Films and 21 Filmworks.

The doc, titled An Ode to Cinema, will chart Stevenson’s career through never-before-seen archive footage and production materials from his work on films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Pearl Harbor, The Bourne Ultimatum, Mission Impossible, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Warhorse. The doc will also feature a series of interviews with Stevenson’s former collaborators and close friends, including Ray Winstone, Malcolm McDowell, and Sir Tom Courtenay.

Amelia O’Loughlin is co-directing the doc with Tammy Khajotia (Saving Saffron), and co-producing alongside Jo Farrugia. Ola Mesmer,, is serving as cinematographer.

The celebrated actor answers your questions about the train scene in Doctor Zhivago, the joy of working on The Royle Family, and his love of the ukulele

You once said that you were only interested in acting that you can’t see. What did you mean by that exactly? Andwilson58

The best way to describe it is to cite the one exception to the rule: Laurence Olivier. He was a genius, always put on a good show, was riveting and sometimes very funny. I admire how the children act in [Courtenay’s new film] The Railway Children Return. They just do it. Perhaps they do it more than they need, to draw attention to themselves. My old friend Albert [Finney] didn’t try to draw attention to himself. He didn’t have to; he’d just come on and be simple and direct. So I like acting where I can’t see the wheels going round,...

On the May 3, 2022 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor Ben Pearson is joined by editor and chief film critic Chris Evangelista to gather around the virtual water cooler and talk about what they've been up to.

Opening Banter:

At The Water Cooler:

What we've been Doing: What we've been Reading: What we've been Watching:

Ben watched Scream (2022), Halloween Kills, Doctor Zhivago, Starstruck season 2, Peggy Sue Got Married, City Lights, and Barry.

Chris watched Men, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Walker.

What we've been Eating: What we've been Playing:

Also mentioned:

All the other stuff you need to...

The post Daily Podcast: Mini-Water Cooler: Doctor Strange 2, Walker, Peggy Sue Got Married, and More appeared first on /Film.

After a two-and-a half year hiatus, renowned Spanish producer Manuel Cristobal has returned to toon production, joining the team behind animated feature project “The Glassworker,” directed by Usman Riaz, and created by Pakistan-based Mano Animation Studios.

“The Glassworker” marks the first hand-drawn animated feature from Pakistan. Scheduled for a 2023 release, the project is tipped for a big fest Wip berth in the upcoming months.

Targeting family audiences, the film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part.

The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.

The love that develops between Vincent and Alliz is challenged constantly...

It is difficult to parse how exactly David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago" holds up to postmodern standards, given it is an epic historical drama that intertwines the personal with the political in a rather uneven way. The movie is based on Boris Pasternak's novel, which was banned in Russia during the time of production, and both versions end on a note of multiplicity, featuring unconventional ways to conclude a historical romance and highlighting the apolitical nature of Dr. Yuri Zhivago's poetry. While Lean's "Doctor Zhivago" still manages to sweep audiences away with its grand scale and decade-spanning central romance, how well does it perform through a politically-charged...

The post Doctor Zhivago Ending Explained: An Artist's Legacy Lives On appeared first on /Film.

Director Ron Underwood discusses a few of his favorite westerns with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Speechless (1994)

Heart and Souls (1993)

Stealing Sinatra (2003)

City Slickers (1991)

Tremors (1990) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Tourist Trap (1979) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary

The Seduction (1982)

Puppet Master (1989)

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)

Capricorn One (1977) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Back When We Were Grownups (2004)

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Red River (1948) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Johnny Guitar (1954) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Searchers (1956)

Seven Samurai (1954) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Westworld...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is said to be the most often-filmed adaptation of a book. I don't know if that's true but it's quite clear that over the decades, the tale has indeed inspired many adaptations for the cinema and television. The 1939 classic introduced audiences to the teaming of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson. The 1959 Hammer Films version was the first Holmes movie made in color and starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in another highly impressive adaptation. By the1970s, revisionist versions of Holmes stories were all the rage in cinema and on television, as evidenced by films such as "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter ", "They Might Be Giants", "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes". Thus, the famed comic duo of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore opted...

In “The Last Picture Show,” Peter Bogdanovich vividly captured life in a dusty Texas town circa 1951 with an honesty and sexual candor that still feels bracing today. Bogdanovich, who died last week at the age of 82, received two Oscar nominations for the 1971 film and went on to make commercial hits such as “Paper Moon,” but never again scaled the same cinematic heights as he did with his early feature, which won statuettes for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman. Ellen Burstyn, who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Lois Farrow, a wealthy woman dissatisfied with her marriage, spoke to Variety about her experiences making the classic film and reflected on Bogdanovich’s life and legacy.

“They sent me the script for ‘The Last Picture Show’ and told me to look at the part of the waitress — that was one of three main female parts. The others were Lois, the role I eventually played,...

Doctor Zhivago

Welcome to this week's bumper selection of films to catch on telly this week - hopefully it's a Stay-at-Home selection box that doesn't hold any duds. Everyone at Eye For Film wishes all the best for the festive season.

Doctor Zhivago, 1.50pm, BBC2, Tuesday, December 21

David Lean's epic love story set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution has lost little of its appeal in the five decades or so since it was made. It was just that Lean thought big with this film and the likes of Lawrence Of Arabia, he was able to sweep audiences easily into thinking big as well, while always remembering to retain a focus on the human stories at the heart of his films. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the twin engines of Julie Christie and Omar Sharif generating aching longing for one another but the rest of the cast,...

In honor of Daniel Craig’s farewell as James Bond, “No Time to Die” director Cary Joji Fukunaga made a romantic adventure to wrap up 007’s emotionally-charged personal journey, and linked it to the franchise’s two previous tragic love stories: “Casino Royale” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” For cinematography, Fukunaga tapped Oscar-winning Dp Linus Sandgren (“La La Land”), who shot on Kodak film in 35mm and 65mm large-format (including IMAX 65mm) — a franchise first.

What they achieved on “No Time to Die” was an “enhanced reality,” with greater richness and scope in a grand, classical style, according to Sandgren, who joins “You Only Live Twice’s” three-time Oscar-winning legend, Freddie Young, as the only other Dp who comes to Bond with such Academy distinction. “It was very important for Cary that we take care of that part of Bond that embraces adventure, escapism, and romantic action,” he said.

From the late 1940s — and taking in “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” “El Cid,” “A Fistful of Dollars” and “Doctor Zhivago” — Spain has welcomed some of the biggest movies and series in history.

As it battles to become one of Europe’s foremost production hubs, its service sector has grown with the Mediapro Studio and Secuoya Studios recently launching international shoot service divisions. Following, profiles of five of Spain’s top service players.

Babieka

For over 50 years, Babieka has helped handle big budget international shoots in Spain. Ridley Scott’s “Exodus,” Terry George’s “The Promise” and Reed Morano’s “The Rhythm Section” figure amongst its recent titles. Babieka also produces (Netflix film “The Paramedic”) and co-produces. “Top international productions are in our DNA. These prove an amazing training ground for our cast and crew that we benefit from in our own productions,” says CEO Denis Pedregosa.

Anders Thomas Jensen takes us through some of his most formative cinematic experiences.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Election Night (1998)

Mifune (1999)

Riders of Justice (2020)

Star Wars (1977)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Reptilicus (1961)

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

Innerspace (1987)

Amazon Women On The Moon (1987)

Airplane! (1980)

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

Das Boot (1982)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Ryan’s Daughter (1970)

The Apartment (1960)

The Producers (1967)

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975)

Key Largo (1948)

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Blood Simple (1984)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Boss Level (2021?)

Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Palm Springs (2020)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Amadeus (1984)

Ed Wood (1994)

The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

A Prophet (2009)

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

Unforgiven (1992)

Joe Kidd (1972)

Dirty Harry (1971)

Other Notable Items

Our friends at Movies Unlimited!