Free Republic

A simple biography of the film critic Roger Ebert would have made for a full documentary, but the director Steve James set the bar much higher with “Life Itself.” The film, receiving its television premiere Sunday night on CNN, covers the life and career of Mr. Ebert, who died in 2013 ...

‘Unbroken’ and Billy Graham The movie and the book about Louis Zamperini’s life skimp on the pivotal role of a certain preacher. By Grant Wacker Jan. 1, 2015 Newspaper headlines agreed. Billy Graham —“heaven’s super salesman,” “the Lord’s top salesman”—knew how to close the deal. If he just read from a telephone book, one associate quipped, people would stand up and commit their lives to Christ. Louis Zamperini, who died July 2 at age 97, was a case in point. The Olympic distance runner and World War II hero is the subject of Laura Hillenbrand ’s acclaimed 2010 biography, “Unbroken,”...

Hollywood (also known as, Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film) is a 1980 documentary series produced by Thames Television which explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture. The series consists of thirteen fifty-minute episodes, with each episode dealing with a specific aspect of Hollywood history. The actor James Mason, an enthusiast of the period, supplied the narration; a lilting score was contributed by Carl Davis. Technical quality was an important aspect of the production. Silent films had often been screened on television from poor-quality copies running at an inaccurate speed,...

These ten films are not remotely the worst films of 2014, but their respective artistic failures were the most disappointing. This is arguably the most subjective list of my year-end wrap up, with the caveat that of course all of my "best/worst" lists are as subjective as any critical analysis. None of the films on this list belong anywhere near a "worst-of" rundown, but in some ways they were more explicitly dissatisfying than the actual films I chose as the "worst" or "least favorite" films of 2014. Some were genuinely bad, some were mostly good save for a few key...

Clint Eastwood returns to form with “American Sniper,” his best directorial effort since his one-two shot hits “Mystic River” (2003) and “Million Dollar Baby.” (2004) Based on Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s autobiography, “American Sniper” is an introspective – yet incredibly intense – look at Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the SEAL’s most lethal sniper, throughout his four tours of duty in Iraq. Kyle quickly became famous as America’s most deadly sniper, becoming a legend among fellow American soldiers as well as an infamous target by the Iraqi insurgents. Eastwood’s film shifts between the mutual manhunt between Kyle and a savage insurgent leader...

VICTORY!!!!!!! The PEOPLE and THE PRESIDENT have spoken!!! SONY to release THE INTERVIEW in theaters…

Joseph Sargent, who directed The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and MacArthur for the big screen and captured three Emmys for his telefilm work, died Monday at his home in Malibu from the lung disease COPD, publicist Dick Guttman announced. He was 89 ...  In addition to the taut New York City subway hostage drama The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) starring Walter Matthau and the 1977 biopic MacArthur toplined by Gregory Peck, Sargent directed the features The Hell With Heroes (1968) starring Rod Taylor; White Lightning (1973) with Burt Reynolds; and Jaws: The Revenge (1987) ... He gained...

Coal miners and gay activists — two groups that, in 1980s England at least, you might have figured would steer clear of each other — partner surprisingly effectively in the real-life story that's affectionately fictionalized in Pride.....

China said on Monday it opposed all forms of cyberattacks but there was no proof that North Korea was responsible for the hacking of Sony Pictures, as the United States has said. North Korea has denied it was to blame and has vowed to hit back against any U.S. retaliation, threatening the White House and the Pentagon. The hackers said they were incensed by a Sony comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which the studio has pulled.

When known unbeliever Ridley Scott was announced as the director, faithful film buffs feared the worst. Not only were many unsure whether he would treat the Biblical story with respect, but his film record since the smash hit Gladiator has been rather uneven (Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven, and Prometheus all failed to connect with wide audiences). As it turns out, Exodus is thankfully respectful of believers, if not a little ambiguous about the goodness of God. But sadly, a number of Scott’s artistic decisions effectively rob the story of its potential to entertain and to uplift. Here are five...

Think you've got a hard-knock life? Try sitting through the new "Annie." A rewritten, re-orchestrated but far from revitalized version of the old Broadway musical, this latest edition moves it out of the Depression and into a modern, tech-driven New York..... Where's the excitement? They're not very apparent here, judging by the kids I saw at my screening. The row in front of me spent most of the movie talking....

National Review's editorial board, Mitt Romney, and other Republicans seem to be MORE willing to stand for freedom of speech than the Obama administration. Getting pushed around by third world tin pot dictators is modus operandi for Demon Rats.

The late Philip K. Dick, born 86 years ago today in Chicago, is something of a cautionary figure in American literature: brilliant, prolific, often sloppy, and woefully underappreciated during his lifetime. It was only with the 1982 release of the film "Blade Runner" (loosely based on his 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?") that Dick's work truly began to saturate the mainstream; by that point, he had been dead for four months. In the ensuing three decades, Dick's novels and stories have served as fodder for dozens of Hollywood movies; they have been reissued again and again. In...

Parties and protests don’t typically overlap, but the “Selma” cast made an exception and a statement on Sunday night following the film’s Manhattan premiere. At one point during the otherwise splashy festivities, director Ava DuVernay took to the steps of the New York Public Library with actors David Oyelowo, E. Roger Mitchell, Wendell Pierce, Omar Dorsey, John Lavelle, Stephan James, Kent Faulcon, Lorraine Toussaint, Andre Holland, Tessa Thompson and Colman Domingo, donning “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts over their partywear and raising their arms in the “don’t shoot” pose. It was not just an unusually sobering photo op, but also a...

....Obama’s approval rating hit 38 percent this fall and currently hovers in the very low 40s. Presumably, then, upwards of 124 million (out of 308 million total) Americans are totally clamoring to see a movie about the first date experienced by Obama and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama. That movie, a serious drama titled “Southside With You,” is slated to begin shooting on location in Chicago in July.

Thursday’s big announcement for the 24th James Bond movie — Spectre, to be directed by Skyfall’s Sam Mendes, and once again featuring Daniel Craig as the British super spy — sadly lacked details of the most important element of any Bond movie. No, not the Bond girl. The Bond theme. From Dr. No on, each Bond movie has had a distinctive theme that attempts to set the stage for what’s to come. At their best, the songs are as dramatic and exciting as the movies themselves, but… well, let’s just say that not every song is at its best and leave...

Now that the trailer for the seventh "Star Wars" movie is out, you can imagine the anticipation among the millions of fans of the film franchise. And why not? The six "Star Wars" films have been enormous successes: they have grossed over $2 billion domestically at the box office, spawned scores of books, comic books and merchandise (how many kids have their own light saber?) and made household names of characters like Darth Vader, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. They've also been the worst thing ever for the science fiction genre.

Frank Yablans, the president of Paramount Pictures during the fertile early ’70s era that produced films including “The Godfather” and “Chinatown,” died of natural causes Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his son, ICM Partners agent Eddy Yablans. He was 79. Renowned for a hearty sense of humor and temperamental outbursts, Yablans was later COO of MGM/United Artists and co-wrote the screenplay for “Mommie Dearest,” which he also produced.

Who doesn't love a dinosaur flick? Well, paleontologists have a few fossil bones to pick with Jurassic World, the latest in a line of dinosaur movies that once bragged about its scientific credibility. The trailer for the new movie, a reboot of the popular 1990s Jurassic Park franchise, was released Tuesday and has already been viewed more than 14 million times on YouTube. Like the original movie, Jurassic World takes place in an island safari park, where tourists visit living dinosaurs cloned from ancient DNA—until one hybrid monster goes rogue. Despite global fervor among fans, dinosaur scientists are not thrilled...

Jurassic World, the fourth film in the Jurassic Park series, is scheduled for release on June 12, 2015. Colin Trevorrow is the director and Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers. The official trailer has been released and you can watch it here. More links: WikipediaIMDbWhy did Steven Spielberg invent a new dinosaur for Jurassic World?Official SiteUK SiteNewsFacebookTwitter Of course, many of the dinosaurs depicted in the Jurassic Park series lived in the Cretaceous period rather than the Jurassic period.