July 15– Where the Crawdads Sing debuted in third place with better-than-expected $17 million from 3,650 cinemas, easily the best start among newcomers. That’s an impressive start for this kind of movie, especially at a time when television has become a haven for literary favorites. And Sony spent just $24 million to produce the film […]

They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018) Photo : ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Colle Morgan Neville uses Orson Welles’ unfinished last movie, “The Other Side of the Wind,” as a chance to explore what became of the “Citizen Kane” director. Welles was the ultimate Hollywood wunderkind and a maverick who battled the system till the bitter end.   Share […]

The Last Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman (2005) Photo : ©Think Film/Courtesy Everett Co Barry Avrich’s deeply researched look at one of Hollywood’s most influential leaders of the 20th century neither canonizes nor demonizes its complex subject. Wasserman, whose MCA Inc. was a forerunner of the modern media conglomerate, is brought to life in […]

Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate (2004) Photo : ©United Artists/Courtesy Everet A bracing look at a production gone horribly wrong, this doc is blunt about the inability of United Artists execs to control “Heaven’s Gate” director Michael Cimino from the start. Now synonymous with artistic folly and Hollywood’s indulgence of enfant terrible directors, […]

Burden of Dreams (1982) Photo : Jerry Tavin/Everett Collection Few would accuse Werner Herzog’s 1982 drama, “Fitzcarraldo,” of being dull. But director Les Blank managed to top Herzog’s classic tale of obsession with this jaw-dropping look at that lunatic production, which called for its crew to transport a boat over a mountain in the Amazon. —    Share […]