News

Kathryn Bernardo is a very good girl gone bad in Petersen Vargas‘ easy-to-digest revenge thriller shown on Netflix. The Filipino actress who has been dominating the country’s TV- and cinema screens since her childhood delivers her standardly good performance in a role that carries the film. Her very presence already guarantees a large viewership, and so does Dolly De Leon‘s which is something Vargas had most probably calculated on from the beginning. Both women are audience magnets and although their full potential isn’t even required for the two roles, they do shine. It is the clash of these two screen titans that brings back the spirit of the 1980s and briefly resurrects the memories of epic wars between Alexis (Joan Collins) & Cristal (Linda Evans) in “Dynasty”. But for that candle to burn longer, we would need more finely developed dramatic moments and less dramatic tears.

Click on...

Sabrina Carpenter spent 2024 giving fans exactly what they didn’t know they needed — high-octane singles fueled by a singular aesthetic between camp and erotic. Forget Madonna; Carpenter might well be the modern Mae West, serving bombshell attitude while sending up the image of a sexy blonde.

Is it any wonder that Jason Sherwood landed the job as production designer of her Netflix holiday special, “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter,” based partly on a photo of Rosemary Clooney in a black gown against a hot pink backdrop in “White Christmas”?

“ It’s Easter egged to hell and back,” Sherwood told IndieWire over Zoom. “The tiered cake is a pretty direct reference to a Busby Berkeley number that’s pretty famous. ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ was on the mood boards. Almost everything has a reference to ‘White Christmas.'” Sherwood also looked to classic holiday specials from Judy Garland and Andy Williams...

Dynasty premiered on ABC on January 12, 1981. The show ranked #28 in its first season. By Season Two, it had broken into the top 10, and by Season Five, it had hit number one. So when should you start watching the show, even though all nine seasons are currently streaming on Amazon Prime? And should you even bother with Season One? Here’s why you should…and why you shouldn’t…below.

Soap Hub may receive a commission on orders placed through retail links.

Why You Should Watch Season One

The first season of Dynasty was a much more down-to-earth show than the jewelry, fur, big shoulder pads, bigger hair, and camp-fest it eventually became. Krystal (Linda Evans) was but a humble secretary who felt out of place in her new husband Blake’s (John Forsythe) mansion. The servants, including snooty Joseph (Lee Bergere), made it clear that, no, she wasn’t imagining things; she really didn’t.

Big screen Westerns might've been falling out of favor at the U.S. box office in 1965 (thus paving the way for Spaghetti Westerns to become a surprise sensation when Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy rode into movie theaters throughout the course of 1967), but television Westerns were still swaggering their way to strong ratings thanks to "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and the hybrid Western/spy/sci-fi series "The Wild Wild West." And with "Rawhide" finally drawing to a close that year (thereby allowing its star Clint Eastwood to become a modern Western star), there was suddenly room for a new, sudsy, ranch-bound saga about scheming landowners and warring heirs.

"The Big Valley" whooped it up for a solid four-season run, running out of steam in 1969 at around the same moment the television Westerns began going the way of classical big screen oaters. Until then, viewers were hooked on the doings at the Barkley Ranch,...

Jeannie Epper, the peerless, fearless stunt performer who doubled for Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman and swung on a vine across a 350-foot gorge and propelled down an epic mudslide as Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, has died. She was 83.

Epper died Sunday night of natural causes at her home in Simi Valley, her family told The Hollywood Reporter.

Just one member of a dynasty of stunt performers that Steven Spielberg dubbed the “Flying Wallendas of Film” — starting with her father, John Epper, there have been four generations of Eppers in show business since the 1930s — she worked on 150-plus films and TV shows during an astounding 70-year career.

In 2007, Epper received the first lifetime achievement honor given to a woman at the World Taurus Awards and ranks among the greatest stuntwomen of all time.

Known for her agility, horse-riding skills and competitiveness, the 5-foot-9 Epper also stepped in...

Don Murray, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1956 film adaptation of William Inge’s play “Bus Stop,” has died. He was 94.

His son Christopher confirmed his death to the New York Times.

In the 2017 reboot of “Twin Peaks,” he played Bushnell Mullins, the chief executive of Lucky 7 Insurance.

Murray also starred in the fourth entry in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”; played Brooke Shield’s father in “Endless Love”; and recurred on prime-time soap “Knots Landing” as Sid Fairgate.

Reviewing “Bus Stop,” directed by Joshua Logan, the New York Times said: “With a wondrous new actor named Don Murray playing the stupid, stubborn poke and with the clutter of broncos, blondes and busters beautifully tangled, Mr. Logan has a booming comedy going before he gets to the romance. A great deal is owed to Mr.

Universal Pictures has debuted a poignant trailer for the upcoming documentary on a Hollywood legend ‘Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.’

The documentary is an intimate portrait of actor Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated leading men of the 1950’s and ‘60’s and an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose diagnosis and eventual death from AIDS in 1985 shocked the world, subsequently shifting the way the public perceived the pandemic.

Directed by celebrated documentary filmmaker Stephen Kijak the film features a wealth of interviews from Doris Day, Linda Evans, Piper Laurie, Douglas Sirk and Ross Hunter who all worked alongside Rock Hudson, in addition to interviews with Rock Hudson’s friends Armistead Maupin and Allison Anders, and author of All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson, Mark Griffin.

Hudson became a number one box-office superstar in sweeping melodramas like ‘All That Heaven Allows,’ ‘Giant’ (starring opposite...

David Jacobs, who created the smash 1980s primetime soaps Dallas and Knots Landing and was a two-time Emmy nominee for Homefront, died August 20 of Alzheimer’s complications at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his son said Tuesday. He was 84.

“He had Alzheimer’s for many years, and recently he had recurring infections that led to his death,” Aaron Jacobs told Deadline today.

Born on August 12, 1939, in Baltimore, Jacobs started out writing nonfiction books and magazine articles before pivoting to TV, penning episodes of series including Family, Chicago Story and The Blue Knight. He went on to create Dallas and its spinoff Knots Landing, with the former bowing in 1978 on CBS.

By its second season, Dallas was a certified smash, finishing the 1979-80 frame at No. 6 among all primetime series. Starring Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy and others, the ensemble drama about a Texas oil family became a...

David Jacobs, the writer and producer who changed the face of television in the 1980s by creating the primetime soap operas Dallas and Knots Landing, has died. He was 84.

Jacobs died Sunday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his son Aaron told The Hollywood Reporter. He had battled Alzheimer’s over the years and died of complications from a series of infections.

Dallas in its original incarnation aired for 14 seasons and 357 episodes, starting out as a five-part miniseries in April 1978 before wrapping in May 1991, and it was the No. 1 show in the Nielsen ratings after its fourth, fifth and seventh seasons. Meanwhile, the spinoff Knots Landing debuted in December 1979 and also ran for 14 seasons — and 344 episodes — a solid Thursday night staple through May 1993.

Based on his work as a story editor for the ABC drama Family, Jacobs had scored a deal at Lorimar Productions, where he struck up a friendship with Michael Filerman,...

During his lifetime, Rock Hudson was a model for American masculinity. That changed after his death, when the strapping, straight-acting (but occasionally sensitive) hunk from Winnetka became the poster boy for Hollywood homophobia: a closeted star who’d been forced to play a role his entire career that wasn’t true to himself, on screen and off. “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” treats that compromise as a tragedy, leaning on the fact Hudson died of AIDS to underscore the injustice, but Stephen Kijak’s documentary does him a disservice, reducing Hudson’s career — in exactly the way he went so far out of his way to avoid — to the dimension of his sexuality.

Built around interviews with a handful of former lovers and friends, Kijak spills private details from Hudson’s personal life, ranging from whom he shagged to how he arranged such trysts in the first place. A...

To those who don’t obsessively watch TCM, or generally eschew movies made before 1980, Rock Hudson is little more than a factoid, best remembered for his sexuality than for the movies he made. And yet, while Hudson today is known as a gay man, it was something that he did his best to keep hidden and, as Stephen Kijak lays out towards the end of his HBO documentary, would have taken to the grave if he could have.

“Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” is in the vein of other prominent documentaries aimed at telling the real story behind the Old Hollywood façade, including HBO’s most recent “The Last Movie Stars.” The revelations within the documentary’s 104-minute runtime aren’t revolutionary, but seek to give viewers an authentic look at a man whose life so often was swathed in artifice.

It’s impossible to underscore Hudson’s appeal...

Hollywood has seen success with reviving popular films and TV shows rather than inventing new ideas. One 1960s TV Western ripe for a reboot, The Big Valley, was set to be remade as a feature-length film. Some parts had already been cast, including A-list actors. However, the director landed in hot water over previous indiscretions, and the movie never began shooting. Here’s what happened to the failed Big Valley reboot.

‘The Big Valley’ reboot had big names lined up ‘The Big Valley’ TV show cast portrait | Bettmann via Getty Images

A theatrical reboot of The Big Valley was proposed in 2010. Susan Sarandon was first considered for the lead role. Jessica Lange was also considered for the part. Other actors slated for the cast were Ryan Phillippe, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bruce Dern. It was to be remade as an indie feature by filmmakers Daniel Adams and Kate Edelman Johnson, MeTV reported.

It’s not uncommon for co-stars to have crushes on each other or even enter relationships. Actors spend long hours on set and tend to get pretty close to those they work with. This happened to Lee Majors and Linda Evans, who both starred in The Big Valley. Their characters may have had a brother-sister bond, but Majors and Evans briefly dated in real life.

What was the plot of ‘The Big Valley’?

Running from 1965-1969, The Big Valley was a popular Western. According to IMDb, the series followed the lives of the Barkley family, who resided in Stockton, California, on the Barkley Ranch. Victoria Barkley is the family matriarch, and she has two sons, Jarrod and Nick, and her daughter Audra.

Victoria’s husband, Thomas, died six years before the show’s beginning but is often mentioned, and the family is one of the wealthiest in town. They are...

For as long as American media has existed, so too has the allure of a Western. Stories set in the Wild West play an outsized role in the country’s self-mythology, and one of the genre’s favorite tropes is the duel between two opposing gunfighters. These duels often came down to one simple question: who was the fastest in the West? It turns out that few had the reflexes or mental sharpness of Nick Barkley, a character on the show The Big Valley played by Peter Breck.

Breck was one of many actors who learned to fire their weapons accurately in no time. But who was the quickest? It’s a question without a definitive answer.

Peter Breck played the young hothead in ‘The Big Valley’

The Big Valley took place in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The show followed the lives of the Barkley family. They were wealthy owners...

Westerns hold a nostalgic place in television history. Dominating the primetime airwaves, more than 100 original TV Western series aired between 1949 and 1969. Shows such as The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, and The Rifleman had a faithful following, tuning in each week to witness the fast-paced, gun-slinging, horse-riding action. The Big Valley, starring prominent actors Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, and Linda Evans, ran for four seasons in the mid-’60s. Despite its immense popularity, the TV series ended abruptly. Why was The Big Valley canceled?

‘The Big Valley’ was a big deal ‘The Big Valley’ cast | ABC Photo Archives/Contributor

In 1964, The Big Valley premiered on ABC, becoming one of the first Westerns to showcase a woman as the lead. The controversial move proved popular among viewers, and the series reignited the career of Stanwyck, an iconic big-screen actor. She portrayed the formidable matriarch of the wealthy Barkley family, tasked with running her late husband’s California ranch.

A beloved Western drama series that ran on TV for five years, The Big Valley is still fondly remembered by many fans of a certain age. With a star-studded cast, including the iconic actor Barbara Stanwyck in a leading role, The Big Valley is often considered a precursor to shows such as Yellowstone.

Even though the show was only on TV for a few years, which isn’t terribly long compared to other Western dramas like Bonanza, the series made an impact. These days, many fans are discovering The Big Valley for the first time and diving deep into the life stories of some of the show’s cast members. That includes Charles Briles, whose tenure on The Big Valley was short but impactful.

What is ‘The Big Valley’ about?

Go outside in the cold? Nahh…we'd rather watch #TheBigValley today at 10a Et. pic.twitter.com/tTWRnCxhi2

— Insp (@insp...

NBC network dominated the 35th annual Primetime Emmys, with a groundbreaking drama continuing a winning streak, a little-watched sitcom making its name known and another sitcom proving the network might have cancelled it too soon. Eddie Murphy and Joan Rivers hosted the event on September 25, 1983. Rivers claimed she had waited nine years for an invitation to the Emmys, and would be wearing every dress she owed (which ended up being nine), and Murphy was excited about his first nomination. Read on for our Emmys flashback 40 years ago to 1983.

Two years prior, a little police drama had debuted, changing television with its realism and continuing storylines involving the personal lives of the characters. “Hill Street Blues” not only dominated the Nielsen ratings, but it won numerous Emmys throughout its run. This year would mark its third of four consecutive Best Drama Series victories, winning over “Cagney & Lacey,” “Fame,” “Magnum, P.I.” and “St. Elsewhere.

The Big Valley was one of the last prominent TV shows of the Western craze that swept Hollywood for decades. Waning viewer interest in the genre cut the four-season drama short. Yet even with a truncated run, the show launched several Big Valley cast members to stardom and embedded itself in the public consciousness via syndication.

Without The Big Valley, audiences might never have gotten iconic shows like The Six Million Dollar Man. There are actors still working today whose careers benefitted from appearances in the Western series. But are any main cast members from The Big Valley still alive?

The Western series was a big hit in syndication ‘The Big Valley’ cast portrait | Bettmann via Getty Images

The Big Valley was a primetime drama that aired on ABC from Sept. 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969. While each episode wore the traditional Western genre trappings, the plot’s core was the multi-generational family drama of the wealthy Barkleys.

With roles in film, stage, and TV, actor John Forsythe enjoyed a career that spanned six decades. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and started working as a public address announcer for the Dodgers when he was 18. The smooth-spoken young man began acting after a suggestion from his father. Eventually, he became one of the most recognizable voices in TV thanks to the drama series Charlie’s Angels and the hit primetime soap Dynasty. Find out more about the actor, including John Forsythe’s net worth at the time of his death.

John Forsythe starred in ‘Dynasty’ and other TV series John Forsythe on ‘Dynasty’ in 1983 | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Forsythe’s acting career began with small parts in movies for Warner Bros. and performances on Broadway.

His TV career took off in 1957 when he snagged the starring role in the CBS comedy Bachelor Father.

Dynasty was the quintessential ’80s primetime soap opera. Millions tuned in weekly to see the glitz, the glamour, the backstabbing, and the shoulder pads. ABC aired the series from 1981 to 1989. It was so popular that music icon Prince mentioned it in his song “Kiss.” The lyrics, “You don’t have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude,” were a sign of the times. The nighttime soap earned a Golden Globe nomination yearly from 1981 to 1986, winning in 1983. And in 2017, The CW revived the series with a new cast. So, which original Dynasty cast members are still alive?

‘Dynasty’ delivered nighttime drama to ABC A ‘Dynasty’ cast portrait in 1981 | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Dynasty was ABC’s answer to the CBS megahit Dallas. It revolved around the oil-rich Carrington family and the rival Colbys, IMDb reports.

Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) was the head of the family.

For the second time, “The Crown” will field two drama actress contenders: Imelda Staunton and Elizabeth Debicki, who take over the roles of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana, respectively, in the upcoming fifth season, premiering on Nov. 9. Staunton is odds-on favorite at the moment to win the Best TV Drama Actress Golden Globe, while Debicki is third place. And a win for either would extend “The Crown’s” own record as the show with the most different winners in the category to four.

The Netflix hit’s previous drama actress champs were Claire Foy (2017), Olivia Colman (2020) and Emma Corrin (2021). Foy and Colman prevailed for their turns as the late monarch in Seasons 1 and 3, respectively, while Corrin triumphed for portraying Princess Diana in Season 4, beating Colman. Through four seasons, “The Crown” has earned five drama actress bids and has only walked away one year without a win: 2018, when Foy lost...

There are plenty of laughs in this bittersweet drama as a retired stylist makes his way across town to do the hair and makeup of a deceased and disagreeable client

The price of admission, as they say, is justified by the sight of legendary German actor Udo Kier in a Dynasty-era lime-green pantsuit, heels, sunglasses, a rakishly inclined hat and a More cigarette smouldering between his lips. In another of his arrestingly unpredictable career-swerves, Kier now teeters on a knife-edge between throwaway camp humour and sentimental sorrow, playing Pat Pitsenbarger, a character based on a real-life figure from director Todd Stephens’s Ohio home town.

Pat is a retired hairdresser, now in a care home; he is recovering from a stroke, still alert, although secretly addicted to his cigarettes and an obsessive habit of folding paper napkins into the kind of small square shape that used to go under highball...

Character actor who specialised in a combination of good ol’ boy affability and latent violence

Bo Hopkins, who has died aged 84, established his credentials as a character actor early in his film career. But he was already 31 when, in The Wild Bunch (1969), his third film role, he played Crazy Lee, left behind by the gang with their hostages as they escape an ambush. His glee as he marches the terrified captives around at gunpoint singing We Shall Gather at the River highlighted the violent absurdity of the director Sam Peckinpah’s opening scene. In American Graffiti (1973), directed by George Lucas, he played the leader of a greaser gang, the Pharoahs, who frightens Richard Dreyfuss’s strait-laced Curt into pulling off a spectacular prank on the police. His reward, Hopkins tells him with a wily grin, will be membership of the Pharoahs, complete with “car coat and blood initiation”.

This combination...

Peccadillo Pictures has debuted a new trailer for the upcoming comedy starring Udo Kier, ‘Swan Song.’

Kier stars as retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, who escapes the confines of his small-town nursing home in Sandusky, Ohio after learning of his former client’s dying wish for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on an odyssey to confront the ghosts of his past – and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job.

Written and directed by Todd Stephens, the film also stars Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans (Dynasty) and Michael Urie.

Also in trailers – Dakota Johnson stars in trailer for ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’

The film is released in the UK & Ireland on June 10th.

The post Udo Kier stars in trailer for comedy ‘Swan Song’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Eve Babitz, a writer and once-and-future “it” girl closely identified with the 1960s and early-’70s in Los Angeles, has died at 78.

Relatives confirmed her death on social media as well as to the Associated Press, but did not specify a cause.

Part-West Coast wild child, part-boho intellectual, Eve once described herself as a “stacked eighteen-year-old blonde on Sunset Boulevard… who is also a writer.” A famous image from 1963 shows her playing chess against Dadaist artist and writer Marcel Duchamp, with Babitz completely naked and Duchamp fully clothed.

As a writer and creative muse, Babitz had a wide-ranging impact, drawing comparisons to Joan Didion, who recommended a piece of hers to Rolling Stone, kick-starting her writing career. She also ventured outside the world of letters, designing album covers for Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds and Linda Ronstadt. She had romantic connections with notable figures like Jim Morrison of the Doors, Harrison Ford,...

Documentaries about a da Vinci and a dictator, a Pablo Larraín drama with Gael Garcia Bernal, a Donnie Yen martial arts thriller by the late Benny Chan, and Coda — Apple’s record-busting Sundance acquisition — make specialty bows this weekend as the arthouse sector fights through a slow reopening.

“The market is still finding a balance right now,” said Kyle Westphal, theatrical sales manager for Music Box Films (and programming associate for Chicago’s Music Box Theatre). The distributor debuts Larraín’s Ema in 11 theaters in nine markets with plans to expand thereafter — to maybe another 20, but it’s hard to say. “The normal [criteria] like what’s your opening per-screen average right now, those are all upside down,” Westphal tells Deadline.

He said a strong perf by Anthony Bourdain doc Roadrunner (Focus Features) and The Green Knight (A24) “doing as well as it has over the past few weeks, are good signs.

There’s something really exciting when a familiar actor wades into new territory and takes on a role that is entirely different from the things they are known for. Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Maggie, and Nicolas Cage reminds us every few years of his profound range (see the newly opened Pig. It’s incredible).

In Swan Song, we get a new turn from Udo Kier in a role that leaves the audience breathless. No question, he has had an incredible career. From dramatic turns to horror to shlock entertainment, he really has done it all, but here, he still manages to go in a new direction. We see him challenge himself in a new and exciting way, delivering a powerful performance that will not soon be forgotten. And while Swan Song isn’t really a genre film, it features an amazing performance by a genre legend,...

Udo Kier is the kind of actor who defies notions of great screen acting as chameleonic or transformative: you don’t cast him in a role, you cast the role as Udo Kier, and let his curious, transfixing presence do the rest. Over a globe-trotting, seven-decade career that has cheerfully run the grindhouse-to-arthouse gamut, the German star’s million-yard gaze — through distinctively double-glazed, powder-blue eyes — has left a lingering impression in any number of films that have not, and helped a handful of great ones haunt us a little deeper.

After performing in internationals film for five decades, the German-born character actor Udo Kier is getting rave reviews for a rare Hollywood leading role in “Swan Song.” And at age 76, Kier says he’s hoping the role is no swan song for him: it’s just the beginning of a new phase of his career.

“I am really, really, a little bit surprised but pleasantly surprise that I made 50 years of movies, and now everybody writes: ‘After 50 years, finally Udo Kier is a leading man!’” Kier told Variety on Thursday night at the Los Angeles premiere of the film at iPic Theaters in Westwood. “Which is very nice of you all, the press. But for me, it’s going to be difficult because now in the future, I only want to do leading roles – unless it’s David Lynch or some great director. That’s a different story. I’m very,...

Pat Pitsenbarger, the flamboyant retired hairdresser played by Udo Kier in Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song,” is based on an actual man who lived in the writer-director’s hometown of Sandusky, Ohio, where this movie is set. Kier’s Pitsenbarger is first seen on a stage in a white fur jacket and white pants, but this is just a dream from which he soon awakens.

Pat is actually in a nursing home, yet he remains valiantly fabulous in this most un-fabulous place, crossing his legs with real style and glamour as he sits down in a wheelchair in a dreary hallway while wearing dreary grey sweatpants.

Only a real star can make a gesture like that land, and Kier has always been a star, no matter the size of his role; over the course of a storied career, he has worked all over the world for directors like Paul Morrissey, Rainer Werner Fassbinder,...

Surely one of the most fabulous movies to emerge out of the virtual SXSW Film Festival earlier this year was Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song.” This prickly dark comedy stars German cult movie icon Udo Kier as a retired hairdresser who escapes his humdrum nursing home to honor one of his favorite client’s dying wishes. Check out the trailer for the film below.

You know Udo Kier as the muse of filmmakers such as Lars von Trier and Gus van Sant. The 76-year-old Kier, who was born in Germany near the end of World War II and therefore knows a thing or two, has been primarily typecast into bit character roles throughout his career, most recently as a raging cuckold who gouges the eyes of his wife’s lover in the bleak and brutal Holocaust drama “The Painted Bird.” But he brings to each of his movies an enthusiasm despite the dour material,...

"Even though I never really knew you, I want you to know you changed my life." Magnolia Pictures has unveiled the official trailer for an indie hit from the SXSW Film Festival this year, a kooky comedy called Swan Song from filmmaker Todd Stephen. After premiering at SXSW, it also went on to win the Audience Award + Best Actor Award at the Monte-Carlo Comedy Film Festival. World, meet Mr. Pat. German legend Udo Kier stars as Pat Pitsenbarger, a formerly flamboyant hairdresser who takes a long walk across a small town to style a dead woman's hair. Also starring Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael Urie, Ira Hawkins, and Stephanie McVay. Reviews describe this as an "enjoyable, uplifting little movie [that] has the perfect ratio of heartwarming and bittersweet." This definitely does look like a charmer with some sly comedy and kinky moments. And most importantly, a radiant performance by Udo Kier.

Completing his planned trilogy about gay life in Sandusky, Ohio––a town known by most outsiders as the setting for Chris Farley’s Tommy Boy and the home of amusement park Cedar Point––Todd Stephens’ moving Swan Song imagines an extraordinary day where the town’s self-declared Liberace returns in grand fashion. Inspired by “an actual legend,” Udo Kier is radiant as Pat Pitsenbarger, who spends much of the film’s first act wasting away in a drag nursing home, occasionally giving beauty tips to his fellow residents. He’s brought out of his funk to fulfill the last wish of long-time client Rita Parker Sloan (Linda Evans), a Lake Erie debutant who betrayed him years prior by visiting with his former protege Dee Dee Dale (Jennifer Coolidge). At first, he refuses an offer of $25,000 to make-up Rita at a funeral home before agreeing to abruptly escape the nursing home...

You’ve never seen Udo Kier like this before. The heavily accented German character actor, who got his start in Andy Warhol’s “Flesh for Frankenstein” and was finally accepted as a member of the Motion Picture Academy this past year, has spent the intervening decades alternating between art films and exploitation movies, appearing as Nazis and nutjobs in everything from “Iron Sky” to “Nymphomaniac.” In Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song,” he plays a flaming small-town Ohio hairdresser who burns brighter than a dying star — which is precisely the way his character, Pat Pitsenbarger, sees himself.

Dressed like a cross between Liberace and Quentin Crisp, “Mister Pat” — who was in fact a real person — catered to the socialites of straight-laced Sandusky by day. In his off hours, he entertained at the local gay bar, the Universal Fruit and Nut Company, so comfortable with his queerness that he inspired Stephens’ own coming-out...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to “Swan Song,” a comedy starring Udo Kier that is making its world premiere Thursday at the SXSW Film Festival.

“Swan Song” is the fifth film from writer-director Todd Stephens, who previously wrote “Edge of Seventeen” and directed “Gypsy 83” and “Another Gay Movie.” Magnolia is planning a release for later this year.

Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans and Michael Urie also star in the film.

In “Swan Song,” Kier plays Mister Pat Pitsenbarger, a retired, aging hairdresser and local bar performer who has given up on life from the confines of his small-town nursing home in Sandusky, Ohio. But when Pat gets word that a former client’s dying wish was for him to style her final hairdo, he sets out on an epic journey across Sandusky to confront the ghosts of his past — and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job.

Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired global rights to the Udo Kier and Jennifer Coolidge comedy Swan Song.

The movie, which premieres today at SXSW, is the the fifth movie from filmmaker Todd Stephens, writer of Edge of Seventeen and director of cult titles Gypsy 83 and Another Gay Movie.

Magnolia Pictures is planning to release the film later this year. Linda Evans and Michael Urie also star. Magnolia is also handling foreign sales.

Swan Song follows retired hairdresser and local bar performer icon Mister Pat Pitsenbarger (Kier) who has given up on life from the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio nursing home. But when Pat gets word that a former client’s dying wish was for him to style her final hairdo, he sets out on an epic journey across Sandusky to confront the ghosts of his past – and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job.

“There is...

Geoffrey Scott, an actor known for his roles in “Dark Shadows” and “Dynasty,” has died, his wife confirmed to Variety. He was 79.

Scott was also a lauded commercial actor, starring in over 100 commercials such as the “Walk a Mile for a Camel” campaign shot at the Taj Mahal and a Maxwell House Coffee ad alongside Margaret Hamilton. Scott was also featured as one of the Old Spice and Marlboro men.

Born on Feb. 22, 1942, Scott grew up in San Fernando Valley, Calif., on the same street where both John Wayne and Clark Gable lived. Scott got his start in show business when he was signed by legendary agent Dick Clayton, who represented the likes of James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Jane Fonda, which led to a contract with Universal.

His first major acting role was as Sky Rumson in the vampire soap “Dark Shadows” in 1970. In 1972, Scott portrayed Jeffrey Jordan in “Where the Heart Is,...

Warning: this A Discovery of Witches review contains spoilers

For a show about vampires, A Discovery of Witches is relatively light on blood and gore. Its undead creatures are civilised types, more likely to be found sipping a 1982 Latour than fang-deep in a carotid artery.

That all changed this week, as season two took a 21st century detour with a police thriller slant. A mystery vamp has been going to town on warm-bloods, and, hope Domenico and Gerbert, it could spell the end for the de Clermont dynasty.

It made a refreshing change to spend time in the here and now instead of the there and then. Modern clothes, modern speech, a modern-day hook up between a couple of hot young things… well, one hot young thing and one cold old thing doing a remarkable impression.

Marcus and Phoebe’s flirtation injected a vibe missing from this show since Matthew...

The Golden Globes love Caitriona Balfe. She has contended as Best TV Drama Actress for each of the first four seasons of “Outlander.” Indeed, the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which hands out the Globes annually, just cannot quit the Irish actress.

Last year, Balfe was missing in action at the Globes because “Outlander” only aired four episodes within the 2019 eligibility window. This year, Balfe is back in contention and she might have her strongest chance yet to finally take home some hardware after losing her prior four Golden Globe contests to Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”) in 2016, Claire Foy (“The Crown”) in 2017, Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) in 2018 and Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy”) in 2019.

See No lie, Nicole Kidman (‘The Undoing’) could snag another Golden Globe thanks to David E. Kelley

The show’s fifth season was hailed by critics and fans as one of the best to date,...

In Bo Derek’s new Reelz documentary, “In My Own Words,” the actress and former model admits, “I don’t care if anybody remembers me. I’ve never had the need to leave my mark on the world.”

That may be so. But Derek, now 63, will forever be remembered for her shot to stardom when she played Dudley Moore’s love interest in Blake Edwards’ 1979 romantic comedy “10.”

Her swimsuits and cornrows made her an instant sex symbol. But her life in the spotlight actually began a few years prior, in 1973, when she was just 17 and cast in her first movie, “Fantasies.” While on location in Greece, she fell in love with her director, former screen idol John Derek, who was 30 years her senior. Their romance ended Jon’s marriage to Linda Evans. Bo and John were married for 22 years before his death in 1988.

Variety caught up with Derek from her home in Santa Barbara,...

Dynasty is giving us a showdown 37 years in the making. As teased in the synopsis for Friday’s episode (The CW, 9/8c), “Cristal and Alexis have a historically epic encounter,” and now TVLine has your exclusive first look at Blake Carrington’s wives’ waterlogged smackdown.

For you non-historians, the reboot is recreating an iconic brawl from the original Dynasty, which found Alexis (played by Joan Collins) and Krystle (played by Linda Evans) duking it out in the lily pond. That episode, appropriately titled “The Threat,” aired in 1983.

More from TVLineRatings: Nancy Drew Eyes Smallest Audience, Riverdale Returns SteadyRiverdale Recap: Friday...

Art imitates life: Jennifer Aniston was America’s sweetheart on “Friends” and now she’s reasserting herself on TV in “The Morning Show” as Alex Levy, who was America’s sweetheart and is now reasserting herself on the set of the title news program. Aniston means business too: she’s also an executive producer of “The Morning Show.” That means she has two Golden Globe nominations this year for the price of one: Best TV Drama Series and Best TV Drama Actress. Will she reassert herself there too 17 years after her last Globe victory?

Aniston won Best TV Comedy/Musical Actress in 2003 for the NBC sitcom. That was just a few months after she won her Emmy for the memorable season when her character had a baby. But that was actually her last Globe nomination for “Friends.” The Hollywood Foreign Press didn’t invite her back until 12 years later, when...

It was a good morning for “The Morning Show” on Monday as both Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon received Golden Globe nominations for their performances in the Apple TV+ drama. As the co-leads of the series, they were both nominated in Best Drama Actress, becoming the first duo this decade to take up two slots in one year in this category. The last co-stars to do so were Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco for “The Sopranos,” who were nominated together three years in a row from 1999-2001. “The Morning Show” becomes the ninth series in history to accomplish this at the Golden Globes. The question now becomes whether Aniston and Witherspoon will cancel each other out, leading to one of their competitors winning.

See 2020 Golden Globes nominations: Full list

Before “The Sopranos” ladies dominated at the turn of the 21st century, seven series earned double noms in Best Drama Actress...

Taryn Manning, Jonathan Lipnicki, Dreama Walker, Lynn Chen, and comedian Jordan Carlos are set to star in Pooling To Paradise, an indie comedy directed by Roxy Shih. Written by Caytha Jentis, the film follows four millennial strangers who take a ride-share pool on a road trip to Paradise, Nevada. Each at a crossroads in their lives, the trek gives them all an unexpected, deep connection that changes the course of their futures. Jentis and Angela Pedraza are producing the project. Executive producers are Linda Evans and Nina Warren. Manning is repped by Innovative Artists and Avalon Management; Lipnicki by Rafterman Media and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson; Walker by The Gersh Agency and Stone Genow Smelkinson...

Kris Jenner and Yolanda Hadid have created their own dynasties, so their latest photo shoot for Harper's Bazaar's October 2019 issue is only too fitting. But Kim Kardashian may have to do some Googling to understand it. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians matriarch dressed up as Joan Collins' very dominant character Alexis from the original '80s primetime soap Dynasty, while Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid's mom was made up to look like her adversary and ex-husband Blake Carrington's new wife Krystle Carrington, played by Linda Evans. "Of course, Joan Collins is really a total sweetheart. I just texted her. I was like, 'I'm dressed as you for a...

1984: Guiding Light's Nola gave birth.

1986: Dynasty's Alexis took over Blake's possessions and he was not happy.

1999: Another World's Alli faced a ticking time bomb.

1999: Susan Lucci finally won her for Daytime Emmy Award."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1964: On Another World, Jim (Leon Janney) convinced Russ (Joey Trent) to attend summer school.

1971: The first episode of Upstairs Downstairs was re-recorded in color after the original recording, which was in black and white, was lost.

1981: On Texas, Joe Foster...

1967: Dark Shadows' Carolyn wanted to check out the locked room.

1982: Gh's Laura Templeton did not want to leave Port Charles.

1985: Days of our Lives' Anna and Tony made love.

2002: Passions' Theresa confessed to Julian's murder."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1950: On Irna Phillips' Today's Children, Chris knew the only way to determine whether the fingerprints on the package were Janis's was to ask his mother to get Janis to touch something and then have it inspected by the lab.

1984: Days of our Lives' Alex didn't believe Stefano was dead.

1985: Santa Barbara's Eden left a trail of notes for Cruz.

1997: As the World Turns' David met James Stenbeck.

2001: Tamara Braun debuted as Carly on General Hospital."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: A Woman to Remember debuted in the 7:30-7:45 p.m. timeslot on the DuMont Television Network. The show was an early attempt to bring soap opera to early evening television. The leading character, Christine Baker (Patricia Wheel), was...

1980: Atwt''s Jay tried to calm Carol outside the Wade Bookstore fire.

1986: Dynasty's Krystle battled her look-a-like.

1986: General Hospital's Frisco worked on the Brownstone murder.

1993: Alison Sweeney debuted as Sami Brady on Days of our Lives."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1958: On The Edge of Night, Toni Fescina was kidnapped by one of Sgt. Fitzsimmons' (Frank Sutton) goons.

1975: On The Doctors, Dr. Karen Werner (Laryssa Lauret) fantasized about living with Erich (Keith Blanchard) in Germany.

1973: On Another World, Steve (George Reinholt...

1981: Primetime soap Dynasty premiered on ABC.

1993: Maureen Bauer died on Guiding Light.

2009: As the World Turns Luke and Noah made love for the first time.

2012: One Life to Live's Viki gave a speech for the ages about beloved canceled soap Fraternity Row."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1967: The character of Hope Bauer, who crossed over from The Guiding Light, appeared on Another World for the final time. Elissa Leeds played the role on both shows.

1976: Days of our Lives stars Bill Hayes...