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Landing the role of James Bond turned out to be a double-edged sword for Sean Connery. While it launched his career and made him a household name, the actor was the first to experience what would become somewhat of a 007 curse: he felt he couldn't escape the shadow of England's greatest spy. Regardless of how the public viewed him, Connery was at various points seemingly tired of his association with the role, delivering multiple grumpy utterances on the matter throughout his early career, most famously saying (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he had "always hated that damn James Bond" and that he'd "like to kill him."

Of course any fan of the actor will know that his range extended far beyond Commander Bond. In the years after "Dr. No" kick-started cinema's most enduring franchise, Connery demonstrated that range in a slew of films designed to prove his talent. 1965's "The Hill...

Severin Films is celebrating the late Peter Cushing with an unprecedented box set highlighting the most unexpected gems from the filmography of the legendary horror actor.

Cushing Curiosities, releasing August 29, presents 6-discs of rarely seen feature films and television broadcasts restored and scanned from original vault sources, plus a curated plethora of Special Features that celebrate Cushing’s unique career like never before.

From Hammer Films to Star Wars, he remains one of genre films’ best-loved actors. Now celebrate six of the most unexpected, rarely seen and decidedly curious performances from the legendary career of Peter Cushing: Cushing delivers a rare villain turn in the 1960 aviation thriller Cone Of Silence. That same year, Cushing brought gentle dignity to The Boulting Brothers’ cold-war drama Suspect. In 1962’s The Man Who Finally Died, Cushing co-stars opposite Stanley Baker as a former Nazi hiding a grave post-war secret.

Cushing returns to his...

Severin’s October offerings include this investigation of Euro-weirdness curated with academic purpose and clarity by Kier-La Janisse, evoking the name of her book from 2012. The thesis is the representation of women in filmic horror — except that in these strange experiences, hysteria transforms into a liberating form of empowerment: Identikit, I Like Bats, Footsteps and The Other Side of the Underneath. Elizabeth Tayor and Florinda Bolkan are the top stars in the collection, two of which bear the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro. The final film is a totally different, experimental experience. Ms. Janisse’s introductions connect the dots for these filmworks that envigorate and disturb.

House of Psychotic Women

Blu-ray

Severin Films

1972 – 1986 / Color / 1:85 + 1:66 + 1:85 + 1:33 / 102 + 81 + 96 + 111 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from Severin Films / 104.95

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor; Katarzyna Walter; Florinda Bolkan; Sheila Allen, Ann Lynn, Penny Slinger, Jane Arden .

Directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi; Grzegorz Warchol; Luigi Bazzoni; Jane...

By Lee Pfeiffer

With Russia currently warming up to the idea of a new Cold War, I thought it might be relevant to look back on the 1983 crime thriller "Gorky Park". The film was based on Martin Cruz Smith's international bestseller and was unique in its day because it centered on subterfuge within the Soviet law enforcement system and was set primarily in Moscow. Director Michael Apted had hoped to be the first major Hollywood studio production to shoot within the Soviet Union but unsurprisingly he was turned down due to the fact that the story dealt with systemic corruption throughout every layer of the government. Apted settled for the next best thing, shooting in Finland and Sweden, both of which make convincing substitutes for the Ussr. Transforming the lengthy, complex novel to a screenplay could have been no easy task, even for acclaimed screenwriter Dennis Potter ("Pennies from Heaven...

Now up for grabs in Region A, it’s the Robert Aldrich movie that wins over all that see it. The epitome of Men In Peril adventures, the tale of 14 random oil men marooned in the Sahara is brutal yet optimistic about human cooperation — please, the world needs more of that right now. James Stewart is at his best, stretching his hard-bitten loner persona and tapping into his flying experience. Also with an English-language-best performance from Hardy Krüger. The male group dynamics are absorbing and the suspense powerful — especially when seen cold. No spoilers here!

The Flight of the Phoenix

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1116

1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 22, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.

Cinematography: Joseph Biroc...

It’s the ‘other’ version of Dickens’ terrific novel, an English film that few Americans have seen. This Australian DVD is in the Pal format and from a rather outdated transfer, yet I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a favorite story enacted by a great batch of UK talent. Dirk Bogarde stars and the many character roles go to familiar faces: Cecil Parker, Athene Seyler, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass, Rosalie Crutchley, Freda Jackson, Christopher Lee, Leo McKern, Donald Pleasence, Eric Pohlmann, Danny Green and the lovely Marie Versini. It’s a regular actor-spotting quiz. Ralph Thomas directed and much of the film was shot in France … with excellent English diction.

A Tale of Two Cities

Region 2 Pal DVD

Viavision (Australia)

1958 / B&w / 1:33 adapted flat / 117 min. / Street Date January 5, 2022 / Available from Viavision / 19.95 au

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler, Paul Guers, Marie Versini, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass,...

John Schlesinger decided not to attend the Academy Awards in 1970, even though his film “Midnight Cowboy” had been nominated for Best Picture and he was up for Best Director. On the evening of April 7, 1970, otherwise known as Oscar night, the British director remained in London with his American boyfriend, the photographer Michael Childers. Schlesinger didn’t want to make the brutal 24-hour roundtrip flight to Hollywood and back, and besides, he was well into production on his follow-up film, “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” For him, it was a very personal project, and, in some ways, an even more controversial film than “Midnight Cowboy.”

As Schlesinger explained it, the genesis of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” went back to the early 1960s when he was directing his first play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “At the time, I had a very intense affair with one of the actors, a man who was bisexual,” Schlesinger recalled.

Medical heroes are some of the best people to hold society together during times of crisis. That’s certainly true with the title character of the British drama series, ‘Doctor Finlay,’ which takes place in the 1940s after he returns from war service. The successful BBC series, which was set and filmed in Scotland, stars David […]

The post David Rintoul and Ian Bannen are Intrigued by a Film Star on Doctor Finlay appeared first on Shockya.com.

Medical heroes are some of the best people to hold society together during times of crisis. That’s certainly true with the title character of the British drama series, ‘Doctor Finlay,’ which takes place in the 1940s after he returns from war service. The successful BBC series, which was set and filmed in Scotland, stars David […]

The post David Rintoul and Ian Bannen Are Intrigued by a Film Star on ‘Doctor Finlay’ appeared first on Shockya.com.

I’d never heard of this gem of a British production; now it goes on my list of highly recommended titles. A dock area on the Thames is ‘the pool,’ and the sailors that disembark from the cargo ships are susceptible to the temptations of black market trade. A single eventful weekend traces the fates of a half-dozen young people, the women that like the sailors, and the sailor that gets mixed up in a deadly serious crime. Director Basil Dearden’s excellent cast is mostly unfamiliar to us Yanks, but we get really tied up in their problems. This picture should be much better known. It’s the first English movie to depict an interracial romance, and it does so without sensationalism or special pleading. The best new extra is an interview with actor Earl Cameron, who at 103 years of age has his act (and his memories) totally together.

“Oh, What A Lovely War?”

By Raymond Benson

Filmmaker John Boorman was between the ages of six and twelve during World War II, and in 1987 he released a fictional “memoir” of a film based on his childhood recollections of what life was like on the home front in Britain while the conflict raged. By most of the media and promotional materials, Hope and Glory was billed as a “comedy”—in fact, it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (and it was also nominated for the Oscar Best Picture and Director).

Whether it truly is a comedy or not is up for debate. There are indeed humorous moments as we follow the days through the eyes of young Billy Rowan (played with empathy and intelligence by child actor Sebastian Rice-Edwards) as he navigates the bombed-out neighborhood where he and his family live, runs around with the...

What can one say about a comedy that just limps along, even when an attractive cast does fine work every step of the way? Even the bit parts are creatively cast in this odd romp infected with a really bad case of The Cutes. Natalie Wood is at her best, but in service of dumb gags: let’s blow bubble gum bubbles! The result so upset Natalie that she ditched her studio contract. The roster of engaging talent includes Peter Falk (in suave leading man mode!), Dick Shawn (less grating than usual), Lila Kedrova & Lou Jacobi (showing real style), Jonathan Winters (wasted) and, of all people, Ian Bannen as Natalie Wood’s uncomprehending husband. Bannen is so good, he drags a real laugh or two from the material. The show has been beautifully remastered.

Penelope

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date January 26, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Natalie Wood,...

Peter Cushing in From Beyond The Grave (1974) is now Available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives

Bolt the door, lower the lights and settle in for a stylish five-episode supernatural shocker possessed of a shivery all-star cast and drenched in evil. Welcome to Temptations Ltd., a decrepit antique shop whose unwary customers get more than they bargain for from the wily proprietor (Peter Cushing). Much more. Go to the head of the horror class if you can predict who’ll join the ranks of the doomed from among this role call of distinguished British actors: Ian Bannen, Ian Carmichael, Diana Dors, Lesley-Anne Down, Margaret Leighton, Donald Pleasence, Nyree Dawn Porter, David Warner and more. A mirror. A medal. A snuff box. An ornate door. All unleash novelty surprises for the characters – and you – in these wickedly horrific tales From Beyond the Grave.

Amicus Productions classic horror portmanteau makes its Blu-ray disc...

With October officially in full swing, we have a new crop of horror and sci-fi home media offerings coming out this week which would all make for some prime Halloween season viewings. Warner Bros. is bringing everyone’s favorite demonic doll to both Blu-ray and DVD for Annabelle Comes Home, Rlje Films is releasing the psychological thriller Gwen on Blu and DVD too, and for those of you still looking to bask in the brightly lit horrors of Ari Aster’s imagination, Midsommar hits both formats on Tuesday as well.

We also have a ton of older titles being released this week, From Beyond the Grave, My Boyfriend’s Back, Hercules in the Haunted World, and for those looking to upgrade some recent horror hits, both Jordan Peele’s Us and Get Out hit 4k for a double feature set from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Other titles arriving on October 8th include Ruin Me,...

A babysitter gets more than she bargained for when an unexpected (and deadly) guest arrives in Peter Collinson's Fright, and with the 1971 horror film now on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, we've been provided with three copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Fright.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Fright Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on September 24th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years...

This week’s horror and sci-fi Blu-ray and DVD titles are an eclectic bunch, led by a pair of cult classics—Fright and Straight on Till Morning—which were both directed by Peter Collinson. Arrow Video put together a special edition release for Who Saw Her Die?, which this writer is really looking forward to checking out in the coming weeks, and Unearthed Classics is resurrecting Nightwish on both formats as well.

In terms of new films, The Velocipastor arrives on Tuesday on both Blu and DVD, and for those of you who missed it in theaters, Dark Phoenix rises again on multiple formats, and Clownado touches down this week on DVD as well.

Other notable releases for September 17th include The Night Sitter, D-Railed, The Bloody Ape, Return of the Scarecrow, and The Films of Sarah Jacobson: Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore & I Was a Teenage Serial Killer from Agfa.

While Scream Factory is bringing enough horror movies to Blu-ray this summer to keep you entertained after countless barbecues and bonfires, they also have a bunch of titles to look forward to this September, as they've now announced three more Hammer horror films coming to Blu-ray (including the Christopher Lee-starring Scars of Dracula), as well as 1972's Fright!

From Scream Factory: "If you’re a fan of Hammer Films (like we are) then save up for this Sept when we release three films from them on Blu-ray for the first time in North America! (**Correction: We originally included Fright as in the Hammer library. Our "Oops!" on that. Sorry! Its still releasing though.)

Scars Of Dracula (1970) - The legendary Christopher Lee is back as Dracula, bringing unspeakable horrors upon a local village that defies his evil reign. But when a young man and his luscious girlfriend unwittingly visit the Count's castle,...

Where Were You in ’42? If you were little Johnnie Boorman in 1940, you might have been squatting in a dank bomb shelter with your Mum and sisters, waiting out an air raid alert. Writer-director Boorman’s personal memory is what for some kids was a glorious time when working-class Brits endured adverse conditions: it’s warm & fuzzy affectionate and frequently hilarious, with a keen eye toward slightly bawdy family humor.

Hope and Glory

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1987 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 113 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95

Starring: Sebastian Rice Edwards, Geraldine Muir, Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Sammi Davis, Derrick O’Connor, Susan Wooldridge, Jean-Marc Barr, Ian Bannen, Annie Leon, Jill Baker, Amelda Brown, Katrine Boorman.

Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot

Film Editor: Ian Crafford

Production design: Anthony Pratt

Original Music: Peter Martin

Written, Produced and Directed by John Boorman

John Boorman has directed arty war movies, arty gangster movies and arty art movies,...

Forgotten amid Robert Aldrich’s more critic-friendly movies is this superb suspense picture, an against-all-odds thriller that pits an old-school pilot against a push-button young engineer with his own kind of male arrogance. Can a dozen oil workers and random passengers ‘invent’ their way out of an almost certain death trap? It’s a late-career triumph for James Stewart, at the head of a sterling ensemble cast. I review a UK disc in the hope of encouraging a new restoration.

The Flight of the Phoenix

Region B Blu-ray

(will not play in domestic U.S. players)

Masters of Cinema / Eureka Entertainment

1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 12, 2016 / £12.95

Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.

Cinematography: Joseph Biroc

Stunt Pilot: Paul Mantz

Art Direction: William Glasgow...

Seth Holt is an odd figure. An editor at first, his career spans classic Ealing comedies (The Lavender Hill Mob, 1951) and gritty kitchen sink drama (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1960), while his overlapping career as producer saw him preside over the classic The Ladykillers (1955). On becoming a director, he worked mainly at Hammer, which made radically different content from Ealing but perhaps shared the same cozy atmosphere.Taste of Fear (a.k.a. Scream of Fear, 1961) is a zestful Diabolique knock-off, while The Nanny (1965) continued Bette Davis' career in horror. It's incredibly strong, beautifully made and quite ruthless: Bette referred to Holt as "a mountain of evil" and found him the most demanding director she'd encountered since William Wyler. During the daft but enjoyably peculiar Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), Holt developed a persistent case of hiccups that turned the screening of rushes into hilarious occasions. Then he dropped dead of a heart attack,...

The chase is on: a mix of icy ruthlessness and warm romanticism enliven Ken Follett's novel of pre-invasion esponage intrigue. Kate Nelligan heats up the screen with Donald Sutherland, the 'seventies most unlikely sex star. Plus a lush and wondrous music score by Miklos Rozsa. Eye of the Needle Blu-ray Twilight Time 1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store29.95 Starring Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove, Ian Bannen, Philip Martin Brown, Bill Nighy, Stephen MacKenna, Sam Kydd. Cinematography Alan Hume Original Music Miklos Rozsa Written by Stanley Mann based on the novel by Ken Follett Produced by Stephen Friedman Directed by Richard Marquand

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

We're all familiar with this kind of thriller -- over shots of fresh-faced troops moving off to war, a portentous scrolling text tells us about the desperate situation of London -- and the Free World -- as Hitler's Luftwaffe threatens.

Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.

While you dine on your corned beef and cabbage this lovely St. Patrick's Day, you may want to watch one of GossipCenter's favorite Irish films in honor of the Shamrock-laden holiday.

Whether it's hunky brothers in Boston you're after in "Boondock Saints" or Daniel Day-Lewis' captivating portrayal of Christy Brown in "My Left Foot," we're sure you will not be left disappointed after watching one our seven recommendations below! Happy St. Patty's Day!

"My Left Foot" (1989)

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker and Alison Whelan, this bio-pic follows the story of Christy Brown who learns to adapt with his cerebral palsy by painting and writing with his only controllable limb, his left foot.

"Waking Ned Devine" 1998

Written and directed by Kirk Jones, the hilarious comedy is about Irish townsfolk attempting to claim money from the lottery after the winner unfortunately dies from shock. The cast includes Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionnula Flanagan.

Although Hammer Films will always be associated with British horror, the studio did have stiff competition. Amicus specialised in the successful horror anthologies and Us counterparts American International Pictures established a permanent UK base in the mid sixties. Other smaller independents took their own bite from the cherry tree of horror with some success, the best known being Tigon Films.

Tigon has received some belated recognition in recent years. Andy Boot’s book on British horror Fragments of Fear devotes a chapter to the company while John Hamilton’s excellent book Beast in the Cellar covers the varied career of Tigon’s charismatic founder Tony Tenser.

Like Hammer’s Sir James Carreras, Tenser was one of the British Film Industry’s great entrepreneurs. Born in London to poor Lithuanian immigrants and a movie fan since childhood, he was an ambitious man with a natural talent for showmanship. Combining shrewd business...

New Delhi, Dec 4: Fans around the world are still in shock over the sudden death of actor Paul Walker. Best known for his work in "The Fast And The Furious" series, he died in a car crash and joins a list of actors such as Scottish character actor Ian Bannen to Indian actress Soundarya who lost their lives in accidents.

Ians lists some of the national and international artists who lost their lives in a car or plane crash:

Ian Bannen: The Scottish character actor, also a successful figure in London's theatre circuit, died in a car accident in 1999. Just like Walker, the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award winner, known for.

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, a day to celebrate all things Irish, a day when real Irishmen and women hide in their homes while Amateur Irishmen take to the streets and the pubs. It’s a day when the city of Chicago – no lie – dyes the mouth of the Chicago River green… or even greener than usual. Given that this year Saint Paddy’s day occurs on a Sunday, I suspect that the celebration has been going on since at least Friday and may well last into next Thursday what with the whiskey and the beer and the general all around vomiting. Ah, glorious!

Since we’re celebrating things that are Irish, I’ll be mentioning some of me own favorite Irish films. You may have different ones and I’ll drink to those as well (it’s a day for it) but these are my particular favorites.

The Quiet Man

Classic.

Whether you measure your movies by box office, reviews, or popular appeal, Sony’s $125 million remake of the 1990 Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger interplanetary action fest Total Recall looks like a strike-out. The movie opened with a lethal softness; a $25.7 million first weekend meaning Recall won’t even come close to making back its budget during its domestic theatrical run. In fact, despite 22 years of ticket price increases, it’s doubtful the movie will even match the original’s $119.3 million haul.

And for those of you who think maybe the problem is Total Recall was outgunned opening while The Dark Knight Rises was still sucking up box office coin, entertain, at least for a moment if you will, the possibility the movie just plain sucks. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ canvas, almost 70% of reviewers – and over three-quarters of “top critics” – gave Total Recall a thumbs-down. Those who went to see the movie didn’t...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Twilight Time has released the 1975 gut-busting Western Bite the Bullet as a limited edition (3,000 units)  Blu-ray edition. The film, directed by Richard Brooks (one of the most truly macho filmmakers of his day) centers on a disparate group of cowboys who are competing in a 700 miles endurance horse race in hopes of winning the $2,000 prize. I saw the film when it was first released but it made no impression on me whatsoever. Thus, watching it on Blu-ray afforded me the opportunity to re-evaluate a movie that I remembered literally nothing about. Maybe it's just the wisdom that comes with age or the fact that we can't take for granted films boasting this type of cast, but this time around I really enjoyed Bite the Bullet. This is the type of Western that was produced by studios on a routine basis. Nowadays, however, good Westerns are hard to...

Giuseppe Patroni Griffi deserves attention. His chic revenger's tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1971) is one possible way in: you get Charlotte Rampling, an Ennio Morricone score that's just a Jacobean riff on his spaghetti western stylings, lashings of sex and gore, and a design sensibility which pays some kind of lip service to period while being deliriously seventies at all times, so that it would not be too surprising if Oliver Tobias donned a set of sixteenth century tinted shades, or a tie-dyed doublet.

An alternative entry point is Identikit (1974), Aka The Driver's Seat, from the novel of that name by Muriel Spark. It's the tale of a mysterious woman wandering through a nameless city, hoping to rendezvous with "a friend" whom she's apparently never met. In a parallel plot thread, apparently taking place a day or two later, the police are interrogating everyone she's come into contact with.

10. "Waking Ned Devine" Charming comedy set in a tiny, rural Irish town. When lottery winner Ned Devine is found dead - lottery ticket in hand and all - the townsfolk ban together to fool the authorities into thinking Ned is alive so they can receive the cash and share it. Starring Ian Bannen and Fionnula Flanagan. 9. "Once" A beautiful, romantic, original musical set in the streets of Dublin. Glen Hansard of The Frames plays a street musician who meets fellow musician and Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova). Together they work through pain, the past and new love through captivating music. Hansard and Irglova won the Oscar for Best Original Song (2007). 8. "The Crying Game" The controversial film that put Irish director/screenwriter Neil Jordan on the map. Set in rural Ireland and bustling London, Ira member Fergus (Stephen Rea) develops a friendship with his captive, Jody (Forest Whittaker), and the kidnapping goes horribly wrong.

The distinctive and beguiling Irish actor David Kelly, who has died aged 82, was as familiar a face in British television sitcoms as he was on the stage in Dublin, where he was particularly associated with the Gate theatre. But he was perhaps best known in recent years for playing Grandpa Joe in Tim Burton's movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), an engaging performance that was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Johnny Depp, who played Willy Wonka, paid a touching tribute on a video link from Hollywood to Dublin.

Kelly was a tall and flamboyant figure who was often cast as a comic, eccentric Irishman, notably as Albert Riddle, an incompetent, one-armed dish-washer in the late 1970s British sitcom Robin's Nest; he...

Focus Features/Everett Gary Oldman as George Smiley.

The new film adaptation of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” opens today in select U.S. cities by Focus Features, after playing to critical acclaim in the U.K. According to producer Robyn Slovo, as of last week, the Tomas Alfredson-directed film had already earned back 14 million pounds ($21.96 million). The film was made for $18 million, Slovo said.

The film was adapted from the novel by John le Carre by the screenwriting team...

10. "Waking Ned Devine" Charming comedy set in a tiny, rural Irish town. When lottery winner Ned Devine is found dead - lottery ticket in hand and all - the townsfolk ban together to fool the authorities into thinking Ned is alive so they can receive the cash and share it. Starring Ian Bannen and Fionnula Flanagan. 9. "Once" A beautiful, romantic, original musical set in the streets of Dublin. Glen Hansard of The Frames plays a street musician who meets fellow musician and Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova). Together they work through pain, the past and new love through captivating music. Hansard and Irglova won the Oscar for Best Original Song (2007). 8. "The Crying Game" The controversial film that put Irish director/screenwriter Neil Jordan on the map. Set in rural Ireland and bustling London, Ira member Fergus (Stephen Rea) develops a friendship with his captive, Jody (Forest Whittaker), and the kidnapping goes horribly wrong.

Rolling green hills, fascinating history, romance, wit and the infamous Irish ‘craic’ – these are all thing to expect to witness firsthand on your vacation to Ireland. Whether you’re planning a trip or not though these movies will give you a taste of what Ireland has in store for you. Let us know what other movies should be included. The Quiet Man This is definitely a favorite of the IrishCentral readers. This John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara classic movie was filmed in Cong, County Galway. The movie follows famous boxer (Wayne) who comes to Connemara, from the Us, to live a quiet life. However local rivals and the Hollywood beauty O’Hara soon put a stop to that. The small village of Cong in Galway has became a Mecca for all “Quiet Man” fans. Michael Collins Starring Liam Neeson, as Michael Collins, and Alan Rickman, as Eamon De Valera,...

September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011

American actor Cliff Robertson died at the age of 88 on Saturday September 10 from natural causes.

To the younger generation (God…I sound like my Dad!) Cliff Robertson will be best remembered as Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, also seen in flashback in Spider-Man 2 and 3.

In my childhood, he was a very familiar face in the mid sixties and seventies. Many of the films that he appeared in probably won’t register with most people but he made a big impact with me. Maybe it was Robertson’s calming demeanour and intelligent delivery that made you believe in every character that he played. You also felt that you knew him like some favourite Uncle.

He played Mosquito pilot wing commander Roy Grant in the British war film 633 Squadron (64). At the time I didn’t think that it was at all strange for an American officer to fly with the Raf.

UK films in the 1950s and 60s led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy

In these troubled times, when the phone-hacking scandal has heaped ignominy on the police, it is worth pointing out that British cinema has led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy. In fact, so complete was the turnaround in the two decades between The Blue Lamp, in 1950, and The Offence, from 1972, it almost constitutes a social history in its own right.

Made partly to alleviate a recruitment crisis, and partly to acknowledge a wave of teen delinquency just after the war, The Blue Lamp was the first British film made with the full co-operation of the Metropolitan police. The Met lent the makers their stations, their patrol cars and even their own officers to play small roles. The plot – a neurotic young spiv, played by Dirk Bogarde,...

Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section Read more: The worst Irish movies ever made - See Video 10. "Waking Ned Devine" Charming comedy set in a tiny, rural Irish town. When lottery winner Ned Devine is found dead - lottery ticket in hand and all - the townsfolk ban together to fool the authorities into thinking Ned is alive so they can receive the cash and share it. Starring Ian Bannen and Fionnula Flanagan. 9. "Once" A beautiful, romantic, original musical set in the streets of Dublin. Glen Hansard of The Frames plays a street musician who meets fellow musician and Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova). Together they work through pain, the past and new love through captivating music. Hansard and Irglova won the Oscar for Best Original Song (2007). 8. "The Crying Game" The controversial film that put Irish director/screenwriter Neil Jordan on the map. Set in rural Ireland and bustling London,...

Michael York dashes onto the cinematic scene as the blundering but very enthusiastic D'Artagnan in Richard Lester's hugely enjoyable period comic romp. The late great Roy Kinnear is the long-suffering vassal of aristocratic swordsmen Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay, whilst Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway shine as heroine and villainess, respectively. Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind filmed the following year's sequel back-to-back with this more successful first part, which approach they would revisit shortly for Superman and Superman II. Dumas with wit, energy and integrity.

Notable Quotable: "That man in his time has insulted me, broken my father's sword, had me clubbed to the ground, laid violent hands on the woman I love! He is inconvenient. "

Martin Anderson

Mike Nichols and Buck Henry achieve what seemed impossible, at least on the evidence of an earlier attempt: to transliterate the pitch-dark war humour of Joseph Heller into a cohesive,...

Read more: IrishCentral's top ten Irish characters in movies - Videos Read more: IrishCentral’s top ten most beloved Irish songwriters - Photos & Videos 10. "Waking Ned Devine" Watch trailer Charming comedy set in a tiny, rural Irish town. When lottery winner Ned Devine is found dead - lottery ticket in hand and all - the townsfolk ban together to fool the authorities into thinking Ned is alive so they can receive the cash and share it. Starring Ian Bannen and Fionnula Flanagan. 9. "Once" Watch trailer A beautiful, romantic, original musical set in the streets of Dublin. Glen Hansard of The Frames plays a street musician who meets fellow musician and Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova). Together they work through pain, the past and new love through captivating music. Hansard and Irglova won the Oscar for Best Original Song (2007). 8. "The Crying Game" Watch trailer The controversial film that put Irish director/screenwriter Neil Jordan on the map.

Tribute to Include Lumet.s Academy Award®-Nominated Work in 12 Angry Men (1957),

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Network (1976), Plus TCM.s Private Screenings: Sidney Lumet (2005)

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will remember the extraordinary career of five-time Academy Award®-nominated director and 2005 honorary Oscar® winner Sidney Lumet on Thursday, April 21. The memorial tribute is set to begin at 8 p.m. (Et/Pt) with Lumet.s outstanding jury-room drama 12 Angry Men (1957). The lineup will also include The Hill (1965), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and an encore presentation of TCM.s Private Screenings: Sidney Lumet (2005), an in-dept conversation between Lumet and TCM host Robert Osborne.

The following is a complete schedule of TCM.s April 21 memorial tribute to Sidney Lumet (all times Eastern):

8 p.m. . 12 Angry Men (1957) . Sidney Lumet earned his first Best Director Oscar nomination for harrowing drama set in the confines of a sweltering jury-deliberation room. Henry Fonda stars as...

When it comes to foreign language films, fans are split into two groups; those who like them with subtitles, and those who prefer them dubbed into English. For a foreign movie to make any kind of commercial impact beyond the art-house circuit, they would need to be made, or at least be reasonably well dubbed, in English, since it’s the most common language for mainstream cinema entertainment. All too often dubbing tends to dampen the impact of a very good film, especially if the actors’ English voices sound completely wrong. Brilliant movies such as the French cop thriller La Balance (1982) and the Japanese social drama Battle Royale (2002) would never achieve their iconic status if they were released in badly dubbed English.

But dubbing can work to hilarious effect in the Godzilla movies and with some of the lesser spaghetti westerns. In some cases low budget American producers buy the...

Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section Read more: The worst Irish movies ever made - See Video 10. "Waking Ned Devine" Charming comedy set in a tiny, rural Irish town. When lottery winner Ned Devine is found dead - lottery ticket in hand and all - the townsfolk ban together to fool the authorities into thinking Ned is alive so they can receive the cash and share it. Starring Ian Bannen and Fionnula Flanagan. 9. "Once" A beautiful, romantic, original musical set in the streets of Dublin. Glen Hansard of The Frames plays a street musician who meets fellow musician and Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova). Together they work through pain, the past and new love through captivating music. Hansard and Irglova won the Oscar for Best Original Song (2007). 8. "The Crying Game" The controversial film that put Irish director/screenwriter Neil Jordan on the map. Set in rural Ireland and bustling London,...

Braveheart (1995) Direction: Mel Gibson Cast: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen, James Robinson, Brendan Gleeson, Peter Hanly, Ian Bannen, James Cosmo, Catherine McCormack, David O'Hara, Brian Cox Screenplay: Randall Wallace Oscar Movies Mel Gibson, Braveheart Synopsis: In the late 13th century, the twenty-something Scottish knight William Wallace (Mel Gibson), aka Braveheart, leads a group of Scottish rebels against the occupying English forces. Wallace's goal is to attain freedom for his fellow Scots, while also avenging the deaths of his father, brother, and wife. In-between battles and prior to his brutal demise at the hands of the English, Wallace has an affair with the French princess, Isabella (Sophie Marceau), wife of the effete Prince of Wales (Peter Hanly) and daughter-in-law of England's King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan). The Pros: Production values that an estimated $50-70+ million could buy in the mid-1990s. It ends. The Cons: After watching Ridley Scott's Gladiator,...

Caspar Walsh, ex-convict, journalist and author of the memoir Criminal, chooses his favourites, from Steve McQueen's PoW classic to Jacques Audiard's stark modern masterpiece

The Great Escape 1963

A soft-focus dramatisation of the largely unsuccessful mass escape from the Stalag Luft III prison camp during the second world war. On first viewing, I was mesmerised by the downtrodden military heroics of 1960s icons of cool Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. The director, John Sturges, unashamedly Americanised the tragic, death-heavy, real-life prison break, and brought the resulting massacre, cited at the Nuremberg trials, to the wider world's attention. Truth or fiction, it embodied the hope and ingenuity that ended the war to end all wars.

The Hill 1965

Starring Sean Connery and Ian Bannen, Sidney Lumet's stifling black-and-white prison flick won the Bafta for best cinematography and the Writers' Guild award for best screenplay. British soldiers are held...

South African actor who helped break the taboos of apartheid

On a steamy evening in a rundown Johannesburg club in September 1961, two actors premiered The Blood Knot, a play about brothers with different fathers, both men black but one light enough to enter white society. For each of them, the black actor Zakes Mokae, who has died aged 75, and the white playwright Athol Fugard, the night launched their careers. Fugard's play toured South Africa for six months, and although he travelled first-class on the train while Mokae travelled third, the two had broken a taboo by being the first black and white actors to appear on a public stage in apartheid South Africa. The success of The Blood Knot brought Fugard to international attention and kickstarted Mokae's long and varied career in theatre, film and television.

Mokae was born and grew up in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, the son of a policeman and a housemaid.

While the world awaits the August release of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, movie fans can experience the original film that inspired the most anticipated new action drama of the year. Severin Films today announced the 7/28 release of Enzo Castellari's Inglorious  Bastards on Blu-ray, fully restored and loaded with Bonus Features that include 'A Conversation With Quentin Tarantino & Enzo Castellari's, a rousing career-spanning discussion that ranged from the explosive challenges of the original Bastards production to Tarantino's plans for his own version. Castellari's 1978 international hit remains perhaps the biggest war movie in EuroCult history. Action movie icons Bo (Walking Tall, Kill Bill) Svenson and Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson star as the leaders of a gang of condemned criminals who escape from an Allied prison convoy with a plan to blast their way to the Swiss border, only to find themselves 'volunteering' for a suicide mission deep inside Nazi occupied France.

The greatest lion of them all in the African adventure "To Walk With Lions" is Richard Harris. Playing George Adamson, the English expatriate who spent the majority of his adult life rehabilitating lions to be reintroduced into the African wild, Harris turns himself into a lion.

Harris' long white hair and beard -- looking remarkably like Adamson -- quiet dignity, lion bellows and obstinate refusal to bend to anyone else's will convinces us and his lions that he is one of them. Indeed, he is their leader.

A rousing, old-fashioned (in that best meaning of that term) tale of human courage, this film has come to the Toronto International Film Festival to seek distribution after a debut at the Seattle Film Festival. Mainly financed by Canadian producer Pieter Kroonenburg's GFT Kingsborough Films, "Lions" does present a marketing challenge. Its willingness to look on the gamy side of life certainly prevents its promotion as Disney-type kids fare.

But there are so many other hooks here -- a robust African yarn, terrific performances, the magnificent Kenyan countryside lovingly shot by Jean Lepine and a theme of animal conservation that gets more timely with each passing year -- that an ambitious distributor could make an impact with this film not only theatrically but in ancillary markets.

To call this a sequel to "Born Free" misrepresents both films made in different times for different audiences. "Born Free", made in 1966, showed how George and his wife Joy Adamson were able to return Elsa the lioness to the wild. It was a fairly benign story accompanied by a best-selling song. The new film tells of the uneasy friendship between George Adamson and a wild, young English ex-pat Tony Fitzjohn (John Michie), who quite accidentally gets hired to work at Adamson's Kora game compound.

A hard-drinking womanizer who lives an unprincipled and irresponsible life, Fitzjohn accepts the job only because he's desperate for a few bob. Uneasy around the lions, Fitzjohn is ready to bolt at a moment's notice. But living with George and his antisocial brother Terence (Ian Bannen), who prefers elephants to lions, Fitzjohn grows to admire that which he fears. Besides, plenty of women and booze turn up at Kora to keep him happy.

Hungarian-born Australian director Carl Schultz ("Careful, He Might Hear You") neatly balances the rich characters and the compelling story lines with the natural inclination to feast visually on the glorious African landscapes. The film manages to recall not only those old African melodramas Hollywood once made but also movies like "Out of Africa".

Its characters are people smitten with the land, and, the film also makes clear, people who sometimes forget whose land this is and people who sometimes care more about animals than natives.

The film begins during the 1970s and ends with Adamson's murder in 1989. Adamson's effect on Fitzjohn, who is basically Adamson's younger self, is seen in the fact that Fitzjohn now runs Tanzania's Mkomazi game reserve and spends much time traveling to raise money and the world's consciousness about the damage poachers and bandits cause in the African wild.

But the film concentrates on the human adventure as the cocky younger man learns how to work and communicate with dangerous beasts, struggles to overcome his hot temper, especially when drunk, and romances an English anthropologist (Kerry Fox), who has plenty of reasons to doubt his sincerity.

The film takes only the occasional potshot at its predecessor. Terence mocks his brother by humming the "Born Free" theme song. And the Joy Adamson who briefly turns up here (played by James Bond veteran Honor Blackman) is more a rough-around-the-edges socialite whose interest in wildlife only barely includes lions. (Reportedly, the real Joy Adamson never shared the profits from her book and movie deal with her husband's game preserve.)

Harris, puffing thoughtfully on his pipe and strolling with his lions, dominates the film as the old lion who must teach his cubs how to defend their territory. He seldom speaks above a whisper and allows his face little opportunity to betray his inner emotions.

Michie is a genuine discovery in this film. A bare-chested hunk with plenty of sex appeal and the acting moxie to go with it, Michie makes a captivating Fitzjohn, a man whose spiritual growth the movie ably charts. Nor does it hurt that Michie lived in Kenya for much of his youth and speaks Swahili.

TO WALK WITH LIONS

IAC Films & Television

in association with GFT Kingsborough Films/

Studio Eight Prods./Simba Prods.

Producers: Pieter Kroonenburg, Julie Allan

Director: Carl Schultz

Screenwriters: Sharon Buckingham, Keith Ross Leckie

Executive producer: John Buchanan

Director of photography: Jean Lepine

Production designer: Michael Devine

Music: Alan Reeves

Costume designer: Suzy Belcher

Editor: Angelo Corrao

Color/stereo

Cast:

George Adamson: Richard Harris

Tony Fitzjohn: John Michie

Lucy Jackson: Kerry Fox

Terence Adamson: Ian Bannen

Maxwell: Hugh Quarshie

Joy Adamson: Honor Blackman

Victoria Andrecelli: Geraldine Chaplin

Running time -- 110 minutes

No MPAA rating...

As millions know all too well, it takes a miracle to win the lottery. But the luck of the Irish is famous in such matters and the delightful "Waking Ned Devine" -- about a whole village involved in a £6 million ruse -- is an underdog to be reckoned with.

While it's doubtful that distributor Fox Searchlight has another worldwide hit to rival last year's "The Full Monty", first-time writer-director Kirk Jones' gentle fable has broad appeal and should pick up many satisfied fans.

A warm tale of a lifelong friendship, as well as a comic fable of fortunes won and lost, "Waking Ned Devine" has no stars to speak of, but the performances couldn't be finer. Anchoring the film are Ian Bannen ("Braveheart") and David Kelly ("Run of the Country") as two veteran lotto players who one day discover the body of their late friend Ned Devine. Clutching his winning ticket, Devine died from shock while watching the numbers selected on television.

In fact, the film gets off to a less macabre start, with Jackie (Bannen) and Michael (Kelly) searching among the living for the unknown winner among the drab, slow-moving but altogether decent locals. Alas, it's only after treating the likes of Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) to many pints of beer at the pub and splurging on an elaborate dinner party for the village's known lottery players that the pair realize Devine is missing and go snooping around his house.

With more than a few impish winks and sneaky ideas, Jackie talks the reluctant Michael into assuming Devine's identity and turning in the ticket. But both men are respectful of the deceased and plan to share the winnings, that is before they learn the sum is somewhere north of their wildest dreams.

Knowing the risky scheme will crumble if only one of the 50-plus villagers is not cooperative, the leads vow to split up the fortune evenly among the whole group. The one opposer to the plan is very unlucky after giving them all a fright, while the real Ned Devine is buried with a full house, and Jackie unabashedly honors Michael in a tender, if premature, eulogy.

As Jackie's co-conspirator wife, Fionnula Flanagan is a pleasure, and Susan Lynch ("The Secret of Roan Inish") injects earthy sex appeal as a wild lass paired off with the smelly Finn. For all its superior entertainment value and positive outlook on the human condition, "Waking" is lighter than a feather but well-paced and visually first-rate.

WAKING NED DEVINE

Fox Searchlight Pictures

A Tomboy Films production

Writer-director: Kirk Jones

Producers: Glynis Murray, Richard Holmes

Executive producer: Alexandre Heylen

Director of photography: Henry Braham

Production designer: John Ebden

Editor: Alan Strachan

Costume designer: Rosie Hackett

Music: Shaun Davey

Casting: Ros Hubbard, John Hubbard

Color/stereo

Cast:

Jackie O'Shea: Ian Bannen

Michael O'Sullivan: David Kelly

Annie O'Shea: Fionnula Flanagan

Maggie: Susan Lynch

Pig Finn: James Nesbitt

Mrs. Kennedy: Maura O'Malley

Maurice: Robert Hickey

Brendy: Paddy Ward

Running time -- 91 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...

More severed heads and less business about loving families is what the Canadian family film ''George's Island'' needs.

With a meandering narrative that shifts from a story about buried treasure and pirate ghosts to a contemporary tale of grumpy grandpas and busybody teachers, the modestly budgeted movie, despite a fairly impressive cast, too often plays like one of the parodies of such efforts by the old SCTV gang. However, there is enough here to while away a rainy afternoon, and OK business could develop.

The title location is an uninhabited spot near Halifax, Nova Scotia, where, in a prelude, Captain Kidd buries a stolen treasure and then murders his five piratical companions so that their skeletons can guard it.

Rushing into the present-day confines of a Halifax grammar school, we find young George Waters (Nathaniel Moreau) taking a rap from crabby Miss Birdwood (Sheila McCarthy) for believing the old story about buccaneers and treasure.

Before long, Miss Birdwood and social worker Mr. Droonfield (Maury Chaykin) have set out to separate George from his salty old grandfather, grog-quaffing Capt. Waters (Ian Bannen), a grouchy but lovable soul who spends his days shooting rock salt at young trespassers and spinning tales about pirates and ghosts.

After a very lengthy and very slow-moving account of George's removal from his home and placement in a foster home -- where he discovers a fellow victim, a girl from school -- the movie finally gets down to combining the two tales when everyone, human and otherwise, ends up on the haunted island at midnight on Halloween.

Much time is wasted on feeble attempts at adult caricature, with the broad lampoons at teacher, social worker and foster parents both too weak and too precious for young heads. McCarthy plugs away doggedly at her serio-comic teacher, but Chaykin never makes much of an impression as the weak-willed social worker. Bannen makes the most heroic attempts at performance of all, but he is undermined by the film's recessive direction.

In fact, director Paul Donovan, who also co-wrote the script, acts as though he could not make up his mind whether to make a larger-than-life fantasy, or a quieter and more modest poignant family drama. As a result, the film is stuck somewhere in between, doing justice to neither.

Cinematographer Les Krizsan, however, deserves some praise for his daytime exteriors, which nicely capture the cold clarity of the northern autumn.

GEORGE'S ISLAND

New Line

Salter Street Films and the National Film Board of Canada

Producer Maura O'Connell

Director Paul Donovan

Writers Maura O'Connell, Paul Donovan

Director of photography Les Krizsan

Editor Stephen Fanfara

Music Marty Simon

Production designer Bill Fleming

Color

Cast:

George Nathaniel Moreau

Miss Bordwood Sheila McCarthy

Capt. Waters Ian Bannen

Mr. Droonfield Maury Chaykin

Running time -- 90 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...