The King of Daytime Talk

 

Talk show pioneer Phil Donahue has passed at 88. He revolutionized daytime TV with an aggressive, roving microphone and paved the way for every talk show that followed including Oprah Winfrey. He was unafraid to tackle controversial topics, and his guests drew from the entire spectrum of politics and celebrity including Marlo Thomas with whom he had instant chemistry and married for 44 years. His 29 year run on daytime was honored with 20 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.

Leading European Heartthrob

Actor Alain Delon has passed at 88. This leading star of 1960s and 1970s European cinema was a heartthrob who appeared in many art house films that have now become classics like L'Eclisse, Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, and Purple Noon, the first version of The Talented Mr. Ripley.  He resisted overtures from Hollywood but did make some including the thriller Scorpio. His greatest film was Le Samourai as a lone assassin, a role which has its DNA in more recent films like Taxi Driver and John Wick. 

ALIEN: ROMULUS by the Numbers

 

Directed with reverence to the Alien franchise by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe), Alien: Romulus is a sequel that reworks aspects of previous sequels in the Alien series into a refreshing take that largely works as an effective horror film.

Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adoptive brother, Andy, a synthetic human, join a band of raiders who attempt to salvage technology from Romulus, a space station that contains a surviving species from the Nostromo (from Alien) when they inadvertently release alien specimens. As the crew flees in terror and the ship’s security features lock down, it becomes a test of survival against a ‘perfect organism’, one that is a tactical priority of the Weyland corporation and its AI entity’s ‘prime directive’ that could spell doom for all.  

Early on, the film sets up scary situations with the crew trapped aboard a spacecraft filled with monstrous xenomorphs leading to edge of the seat moments and grisly violence.  There are numerous references (including a noteworthy callback) and visual homages to the Alien films especially the original although much of the film’s DNA draws from Alien: Resurrection. In fact, the film could be guilty of playing it safe with too many similarities to the original film. The filmmakers should have had more confidence in their storytelling than leaning into established concepts.  After intriguing insights into the aliens’ behavior and life cycle, there is an interesting twist that has horrifying implications that could take the franchise in new directions. 

Spaeny does quite well (in the spirit of Ellen Ripley from the first film), and kudos go to the technical team for the impressive sets and visual design.  Essentially a celestial funhouse of horror, this is a film meant to terrify and scare but nothing more. It succeeds. 

**** of ***** stars (for Alien fans)

The Original Squares Host

 

Venerable game show host Peter Marshall has passed at 98. In the 1960s and 1970s, he hosted the original version of Hollywood Squares for 16 years to great success and featuring some all star TV and film celebrities including some memorable ones like Charlie Weaver, Vincent Price, Wally Cox,  George Gobel, and the center square comic, Paul Lynde whose quips and retorts were legendary. Those were glorious times for game shows and none funnier nor precious.

The Acting Prowess of Gena Rowlands

 

Actress Gena Rowlands has passed at 94. This acting queen had a long, distinguished career on TV, winning four Emmy Awards, and film, nominated for two Oscars.  She was memorable in Gloria, directed by her husband John Cassavetes who also directed her in arguably one of the greatest acting performances in a movie, A Woman Under the Influence, one of several groundbreaking independent collaborations.  Recent fans saw her in the romantic classic, The Notebook, directed by her son Nick Cassavetes. She was awarded an honorary Oscar for her acting in 2015.