Showbiz History: Melina Mercouri, Tyler Posey, and Jon-Erik Hexum

7 random things that happened on this day, October 18th, in showbiz history. If it's your birthday, happy birthday!

1910 E.M. Forster's masterpiece Howards End is published. It will later become another masterpiece in a different medium with the Oscar-winning Merchant Ivory film version in 1992. 

1920 Greek superstar Melina Mercouri born on this day in Athens 100 years ago. Happy Melina Mercouri Centennial...

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Let’s have a blast with Nick and Nora!

by Cláudio Alves

The power of movie stars shouldn't be underestimated. A glamourous screen presence, a straight shot of charisma, can make even the least impressive piece of cinematic fluff into a must-see event. At the very least, the difference between unwatchable mediocrity and a jolly good time can often be someone who electrifies the screen with a look, someone who enchants the camera and conquers our attention with no effort. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the wonders of stardom than The Thin Man series…

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Monty @ 100: John Huston's "Freud"

by Daniel Walber

Freud: The Secret Passion (1962) is an odd movie to categorize. It has the moody pessimism of the late ‘60s and the earnest hero-worship of a biopic from the ‘40s. It’s Montgomery Clift’s second-to-last film, but it doesn’t have the “end of an era” energy of its immediate predecessors, The Misfits and Judgment at Nuremberg. In terms of Oscar history, it feels perhaps most significant as Jerry Goldsmith’s first nominated score. And practically no one has seen it.

But I’m here to tell you that’s a shame, because Clift was perfect for Freud. I’ve realized this over the course of the past couple of weeks, reading everyone else’s fabulous Monty @ 100 coverage. Freud is, in a sense, the ultimate fusion of two essential parts of Clift’s star persona: the heartthrob and the priest...

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AFI Fest: (Second Opinion) "Nine Days"

AFI FEST (Virtual) Presented by Audi runs October 15th-22nd.

by Abe Friedtanzer 

The meaning of life is something many have sought to define over the course of history. One of the central problems with making an argument for what life means is that it’s only possible to observe it while living. It would theoretically be easier to appreciate what life offers in some sort of separate space or place. That’s part of the premise of Nine Days, which made its world premiere back in January at Sundance and is now screening at AFI Fest.

Will (Winston Duke) is a man who was once alive. Now, he sits in a house surrounded by nothing in a desert watching old-fashioned TV screens and rewinding VHS tapes. He is watching people’s lives, apparently recorded from their perspectives...

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Showbiz History: "Mr Smith" Premiere and Happy 40th to Nicholas Britell

8 random things that happened today, October 17th, in showbiz history

shot of the audience at the jampacked world premiere of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" (image source)

1920 Montgomery Clift born in Nebraska 100 years ago today. He becomes a professional actor at 15 and a dazzling movie star by 28. We hope you've been watching/reading along our daily Centennial celebration series. We're almost finished and we're proud of it.

1939 Mr Smith Goes to Washington has its world premiere in Washington DC (fitting) before opening in movie theaters two days later.. 

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