Dog Day Afternoon (movie)

A remembrance of Charles Durning: Just beneath the surface

2012-12-29 09:00:00

In 1985 I began working with producer Joseph Papp on "Free for All," an oral history of the celebrated New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater. I ended up interviewing more than 160 individuals, including actors known for their powerful...

Toronto's Hollywood juggernaut can't swamp indie pleasures

2012-09-10 00:00:00

In "Argo," one of the leanest satisfactions of this year's massive Toronto International Film Festival, director and star Ben Affleck anchors a movie based on the true story about how Central Intelligence Agency operative Tony Mendez faked his way into...

"Dog Day Afternoon"--How One Bank Robbery Changed NYPD

2012-08-22 19:54:00

Forty years ago on August 22, 1972, a bank robbery at a Chase bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn�changed the way the NYPD did business in hostage situations...and spawned an Oscar-winning movie starring Al Pacino. The real-life robber, John Wojtowicz,...

Frank Pierson dies at 87; Oscar-winning screenwriter

2012-07-24 00:00:00

A writer for as long as he could remember, Frank Pierson penned his most famous line, "What we've got here is failure to communicate," decades ago for the 1967 script "Cool Hand Luke." At the time, he thought there was no way such a refined line would...

'Man on a Ledge': Myriad improbabilities ground this heist film -- 2 stars

2012-01-26 00:00:00

A man edges along the 21st-story ledge of a midtown New York City hotel. He's an ex-cop and a convicted thief on the lam, straight out of Sing Sing, and he's threatening suicide. Sam Worthington, of"Avatar" and"Clash of the Titans," plays this character,...

John Calley dies at 81; honored studio chief and movie producer

2011-09-14 00:00:00

John Calley, a former top executive at Warner Bros., United Artists and Sony Pictures Entertainment and a producer whose credits include "The Remains of the Day" and "The Da Vinci Code," has died. He was 81. Calley died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles...

Netflix to split into two companies

2011-09-19 08:05:00

So this Monday morning, I'm awoken to my dog, Pele, wanting to be walked. This is something that any dog owner can sympathize with. The sound of a dog panting and you can just tell that he's got enough energy to make Lance Armstrong say "ok ok I get it, I...

The genre transcender. The trouble with the superhero genre, or with any genre, are the tropes. Winged men, evil geniuses and weird costumes demand a brassy treatment and suspension of disbelief. Minor keys are tough.

2012-08-27 09:49:00