dead

Former MLB player Jesús Montero, who was once referred to by New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman as “the best player I’ve traded,” died Sunday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this month. He was 35.

The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League reported Montero’s passing on social media, referring to the power-hitting catcher, designated hitter and first baseman as someone with “a powerful bat, an unforgettable presence, a heart that loved this game.”

“Thank you for every at-bat, every home run, every day you proudly defended our colors,” the league wrote in Spanish on Instagram. “Rest in peace, Jesús. Your legacy lives on in every fan who ever celebrated with you.”

In addition to six seasons with the Venezuelan league, Montero played five major league seasons, one with the Yankees and four with the Seattle Mariners. Both teams, as well as MLB, mourned Montero with posts on X.

Born in Guacara, Venezuela, Montero was 16 when he was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2006. He worked his way through the minor leagues, twice appearing in the All-Star Futures game, and made his MLB debut late in the 2011 season. In 61 at-bats over 18 games that September, Montero had a batting average of .328 and OPS of .996 with four home runs and 12 RBIs.

That offseason, Montero was traded to Seattle as part of a blockbuster package deal that sent pitcher Michael Pineda to New York.

“He may very well be the best player I’ve traded,” Cashman told reporters at the time. “He’s that good. He’s a middle-of-the-lineup type bat.”

Montero played 208 games for the Mariners, hitting 24 home runs with 92 RBIs. His time with the organization was marred by struggles with his weight and a 50-game performance-enhancing drug ban in 2013, as he was among several players disciplined by MLB for their relationship to Biogenesis of America.

In 2016, Montero played in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system and received another 50-game suspension following the season after testing positive for banned stimulant dimethylbutylamine. He played part of the 2017 season in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, then spent several more years playing baseball in Mexico and Venezuela before retiring in 2021.

Montero reportedly crashed his motorcycle into a truck Oct. 4 and had been hospitalized in critical condition since then. Authorities said he was unable to recover from multiple injuries.

Taneth Gimenez — Montero’s ex-wife and mother of their two children, Loren and Jesús — has posted several tributes to her former husband on her Instagram Story since his passing.

“May the Lord receive you in your glory,” she wrote in Spanish on one post. “Thank you for giving me the greatest gift I have, my children.”

She added in another, also in Spanish: “I keep the good times tattooed on my soul.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

British actor Samantha Eggar, the Oscar-nominated star of films including “The Collector,” “Doctor Dolittle” and David Cronenberg’s “The Brood,” has died. She was 86.

Eggar died Wednesday evening, her daughter Jenna Stern announced Friday on Instagram. Stern said her mother died “peacefully and quietly surrounded by family” and recalled being by the actor’s side “telling her how much she was loved.” A cause of death was not revealed.

Stern described her mother, who was also a prolific TV actor, as “beautiful, intelligent, and tough enough to be fascinatingly vulnerable.”

Eggar pursued a film career that spanned the 1960s to the 1990s and was most celebrated for her work in “The Collector,” directed by William Wyler. The psychological horror movie, based on John Fowles’ novel of the same name, featured Eggar as the youthful art student abducted by a reclusive young man portrayed by Terence Stamp. For the thriller, Eggar collected the Cannes Film Festival‘s actress prize plus a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.

After the film’s release, Eggar secured numerous roles, notably in the 1967 iteration of “Doctor Dolittle” opposite Rex Harrison, “Walk, Don’t Run” with Cary Grant, “The Molly Maguires” and “The Walking Stick.”

One of Eggar’s most memorable roles was in Cronenberg’s “The Brood,” released in 1979. She starred as Nola Carveth, a mental patient receiving radical psychotherapy treatment amid a series of mysterious murders. The film also starred Oliver Reed and Art Hindle.

Throughout her film career, Eggar also appeared in scores of television series ranging from “Anna and the King” (opposite “The King and I” star Yul Brynner), “Starsky & Hutch,” “The Love Boat” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Her more substantial TV roles included a voice-acting part in the animated series “The Legend of Prince Valiant,” which ran for two seasons, and a stint as Charlotte Devane on the daytime drama “All My Children.”

The actor also lent her voice as Hera in Disney’s “Hercules,” then reprised the role in the animated classic’s spinoff video game and TV series.

Eggar was born March 5, 1939, in Hampstead, London. Her father was a British Army brigadier and her mother served as an ambulance driver during World War II. She studied art and fashion at the Thanet School of Art and pursed acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, according to a statement her daughter shared. Later in life, Eggar returned to the stage, performing “The Lonely Road” at the Old Vic and “The Seagull” at Oxford Playhouse and Theatre Royal, Bath.

She also brought her talents to radio, lending her voice to more than 40 productions for the California Artists Radio Theatre. Eggar was an animal enthusiast and supporter of several environment and health causes.

“Samantha Eggar will be remembered not only for her unforgettable performances but for her generosity, wit, and love of life,” the statement said.

Eggar is survived by her children Nicolas and Jenna, grandchildren Isabel, Charlie and Calla; and sisters Margaret Barron, Toni Maricic, and Vivien Thursby.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

When news broke last weekend that Diane Keaton had died at age 79, it came as an extraordinary shock because so much of Keaton’s screen presence and persona was rooted in a vitality, a sense of of being very much alive and open to everything.

Revisiting Keaton’s Oscar-winning performance in “Annie Hall” this week, I was struck by how much humor she mined from a hyperawareness of self, often commenting on her own dialogue and behavior as she was still in the act of doing it. She brought a tremendous charge to everything she did.

Jessica Gelt took on winnowing Keaton’s career down to just 10 films, including “Reds,” “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” and the first two parts of “The Godfather.”

Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in the movie “Something’s Gotta Give.”

(Bob Marshak / Columbia Pictures)

In her appreciation of Keaton, Amy Nicholson called her “the icon who feels like a friend,” adding, “The contradiction of her career is that the things we in the audience loved about her — the breezy humor, the self-deprecating charm, the iconic threads — were Keaton’s attempts to mask her own insecurities. She struggled to love herself. Even after success, Keaton remained iffy about her looks, her talent and her achievements. In interviews, she openly admitted to feeling inadequate in her signature halting, circular stammers.”

There was a very genuine wave of emotion and affection after the news of Keaton’s death. One of the most heartfelt and moving tributes came from screenwriter and director Nancy Meyers, who worked with Keaton on four films, from “Baby Boom” to “Something’s Gotta Give.”

As Meyers said, “She made everything better. Every set up, every day, in every movie, I watched her give it her all.”

Meyers added, “She was fearless. She was like nobody ever. She was born to be a movie star. Her laugh could make your day and for me, knowing her and working with her changed my life.”

AMC Theaters have already announced limited showings of both “Annie Hall” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” Other screenings will certainly happen shortly.

Crispin Glover, still doing his own thing

Crispin Glover in “No! YOU’RE WRONG. or: Spooky Action at a Distance.”

(Volcanic Eruptions)

Still best known for the eccentric screen presence he brought to movies such as “River’s Edge,” “Wild at Heart,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Back to the Future” and countless others, Crispin Glover is also extremely dedicated to his own filmmaking practice.

His latest project, the creatively punctuated “No! YOU’RE WRONG. or: Spooky Action at a Distance,” will have its West Coast premiere Saturday and Sunday at the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre, with Glover in person and a book signing. Tallulah H. Schwab’s “Mr. K,” a mystery starring Glover, will have its L.A. premiere at the Los Feliz 3 on Tuesday with the actor again appearing in person.

“No! YOU’RE WRONG” is the third feature Glover has made himself. He began developing the screenplay in 2007, started building the sets in 2010, began shooting in 2013 and didn’t commence editing until 2018. He goes at his own pace, though Glover is self-excoriating.

“None of this is acceptable,” he tells me during a recent video call from New York City following the film’s world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art. “I’m not happy that this has taken as long as it’s taken. Every step of this film just took ridiculously long.”

While Glover enjoys talking about the film, he struggles to explain what it’s actually about. Set across five time periods — 1868, 1888, 1918, 1948 and right now — Glover shot for the first time on 35mm and, for some scenes, used a hand-cranked camera that belonged to the Czech animator Karel Zeman. The negative was hand-processed, which can alter how it looks, with some sections then colored by hand to replicate early film techniques.

“It’s almost better for me to talk about the technical aspects because by talking about the the technical aspects, it sort of reveals things about the film itself,” Glover says. “All of my films on some level deal with surrealism in one aspect or another. And part of the way surrealism operates is to have either disparate pieces of information or withholding information so that the audience can make the correlations themselves and become a participant in the art.”

Bruce Glover in the movie “No! YOU’RE WRONG. or: Spooky Action at a Distance,” directed by his son Crispin Glover.

(Volcanic Eruptions)

Aside from Glover himself, the film includes his father, character actor Bruce Glover, who died in March 2025, as well as his mother, dancer Betty Glover, who died in 2016. Following the death of his father, Glover had to make some changes.

“I don’t want to say too much,” says Glover as he catches himself starting to clarify an aspect of the story. “You’d have to see the film. It’s not good for me to talk about it because the way the film is made and layered, it’s something that people will have different interpretations of. And if I say too much, then it will sway the interpretation. They’ll think, ‘Oh, it’s wrong because the filmmaker said this,’ but it isn’t wrong. What they’re thinking is what’s right for them.”

Points of interest

Cronenberg movies at Brain Dead

Léa Seydoux, left, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart in the movie “Crimes of the Future.”

(Nikos Nikolopoulos)

Brain Dead Studios has been running a program of David Cronenberg films through October and still has a few titles left to go. And while his films may not fit everyone’s strict definition of Halloween-style spooky, they are reliably unsettling in their examinations of the darker aspects of human existence.

Friday will see a screening of 2022’s “Crimes of the Future,” starring Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart and Léa Seydoux, Monday will be Cronenberg’s 1991’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch,” Thursday brings 1979’s low-budget horror film “The Brood” and Saturday, Oct. 25 will have 1996’s controversial “Crash.”

I spoke to Cronenberg around the release of “Crimes of the Future,” which at the time felt like something of a summation of the director’s ongoing interests in technology and the body, though he claimed it wasn’t intentional.

“It’s not a self-referential film because I’m not thinking that when I’m writing it or directing it,” Cronenberg said. “But the connections are there because my nervous system, such as it is including my brain, is the substrate of everything I’m doing. So I might even say in the Burroughsian way that all of my work and all of my life is one thing. In which case, it now makes perfect sense that there should be these connections.”

David Fincher’s ‘The Game’

Michael Douglas in the movie “The Game.”

(Tony Friedkin / Polygram Films)

David Fincher’s 1997 thriller “The Game” is somewhat easy to overlook in his filmography, landing between the provocations of “Seven” and “Fight Club” and before fully-formed works like “Zodiac” and “The Social Network.” However, the movie, in which a wealthy man (Michael Douglas) finds his life turned upside in what may be a live-action role-playing game, is strange and unpredictable and among Fincher’s most purely pleasurable movies. It plays at the New Beverly on Friday — a rare chance to catch it in a theater on 35mm.

In his review of the film, Jack Matthews wrote, “Douglas is perfectly cast. Who else can blend moneyed arrogance, power and rank narcissism with enough romantic flair, intelligence and self-deflating humor to make you enjoy his defeats and his victories? What other major star is as much fun to watch when he’s cornered?”

State of emergency to be declared in capital as protests that led to last week’s ouster of former president intensify.

Peru’s new president, Jose Jeri, is refusing to resign amid Gen Z antigovernment protests, inflamed by the death of a popular rapper, as crime grips the nation.

The government said late on Thursday that a state of emergency would be declared in the capital, Lima, as the prosecutor’s office announced it was investigating the previous day’s killing of 32-year-old protester and hip-hop singer Eduardo Ruiz in a mass demonstration.

Peru’s police chief, General Oscar Arriola, said that Luis Magallanes, a member of the force, was believed to have fired the bullet and had subsequently been detained and dismissed from his job. Arriola added that Magallanes was being treated in hospital after being physically assaulted.

Ruiz was the first person to die in the protests, which began a month ago with calls for better pensions and wages for young people and later became a lightning rod for broader frustrations with crime and corruption, culminating in the ouster of former President Dina Boluarte last week.

On Wednesday, thousands massed around the country, with hundreds clashing with police outside Congress in Lima, as they called on recently appointed Jeri, the seventh president in less than a decade, to resign.

“My responsibility is to maintain the stability of the country; that is my responsibility and my commitment,” Jeri told the local media after visiting Peru’s parliament, where he said he would request powers to combat crime.

Jeri expressed regret over Ruiz’s death in a post on X, saying the death would be “objectively” investigated. He blamed violence on “delinquents who infiltrated a peaceful demonstration to sow chaos”.

“The full force of the law will be on them,” he wrote.

Reporting from Lima, Al Jazeera’s Mariana Sanchez said that Ruiz’s death had “added another layer to the ongoing political crisis” in the country and had “angered even more Peruvians who are frustrated with the corruption, with the insecurity in the country”.

“He was peacefully hanging out with his friends. Unfortunately, the bullet hit his chest. We want justice for him,” activist Milagros Samillan told Al Jazeera.

The prosecutor’s office wrote on X that it had ordered the removal of Ruíz’s body from a Lima hospital and the “collection of audiovisual and ballistic evidence in the area where the incident occurred, in the context of serious human rights violations”.

Newly appointed interior minister, Vicente Tiburcio, said that 89 police and 22 civilians had been injured during Wednesday’s protest and 11 people were detained.

While in Israeli detention, Palestinian photojournalist Shadi Abu Sido was told his wife and children had been killed in Gaza. But when he was released under the ceasefire deal, he discovered they were alive.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

This has turned into one of those weeks when there are just way too many movies opening. From titles that premiered earlier in the year, to films that popped up only recently, distributors have decided that today is the time to drop them in theaters. It can make for some tough calls as a moviegoer but hopefully ones with pleasant returns. Here’s some intel.

Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” was a standout at Sundance in January and remains one of the most powerful films of the year. Rose Byrne gives a knockout performance as Linda, a mother struggling to hold onto her own unraveling sense of self as she cares for her ill daughter.

Rose Byrne in the movie “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”

(Logan White / A24)

In his review Glenn Whipp said, “Linda makes dozens of bad decisions in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ many of them seemingly indefensible until you realize that just how utterly isolated she feels. … Bronstein demands you pay attention to her, and with Byrne diving headfirst into the character’s harrowing panic, you will find you have no other choice.”

Speaking to Esther Zuckerman for a wide-ranging feature, Byrne said of the part: “Anything dealing with motherhood and shame around motherhood, whether it’s disappointment, failure — she’s got this line in the movie, ‘I wasn’t meant to do this’ — these are pretty radical things to say. People aren’t comfortable with that. So performance-wise, that was the hardest part because it was like a tightrope, the tightrope of this woman.”

Another Sundance premiere hitting theaters this week is director Bill Condon’s adaptation of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” starring Diego Luna, Tonatiuh and Jennifer Lopez. Already a novel, a movie and a Broadway show, the story involves two men imprisoned in an Argentine jail for political crimes during the 1980s, with Lopez playing a fantasy film star who exists in their imaginations — a reverie to which they can escape.

Tonatiuh in the movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

(Roadside Attractions)

For our fall preview, Carlos Aguilar spoke to Tonatiuh, a native of L.A.’s Boyle Heights, whose performance is a true breakout.

“When I first met Jennifer, I was like, ‘Oh, my God — that’s Jennifer Lopez. What the hell?’ ” he recalled, with the enthusiasm of a true fan. “I must have turned left on the wrong street because now I’m standing in front of her. How did this happen? What life am I living?”

After praising both Lopez and Tonatiuh in her review of the film, Amy Nicholson wrote, “Still, my favorite performance has to be Luna’s, whose Valentin is at once strong and vulnerable, like a mutt attempting to fend off a bear. He’s the only one who doesn’t need to prove he’s a great actor, yet he feels like a revelation. Watching him gradually turn tender sends tingles through your heartstrings.”

Among the other new releases this week is “Urchin,” the directing debut from Harris Dickinson, and the documentary “Orwell: 2+2=5,” directed by Raoul Peck. There’s also Derek Cianfrance’s true-crime comedy “Roofman,” Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear-war thriller “A House of Dynamite” and Luca Guadagnino’s campus-set cancel culture drama “After the Hunt.”

Rebecca Miller retro and ‘Mr. Scorsese’

Robert De Niro, left, and Martin Scorsese in an undated photo from Rebecca Miller’s documentary series “Mr. Scorsese.”

(Apple TV+)

The American Cinematheque is celebrating filmmaker Rebecca Miller this weekend with a four-title retrospective plus a preview of her documentary series “Mr. Scorsese,” a five-part portrait of the life and career of Martin Scorsese.

Miller will introduce a Saturday screening of her 2023 rom-com “She Came to Me,” starring Anne Hathaway and Peter Dinklage, then do a Q&A for the first two episodes of the Scorsese project on Sunday. Also screening in the series will be 2016’s “Maggie’s Plan,” starring Julianne Moore, Ethan Hawke and Greta Gerwig; Miller’s 2002 Sundance grand jury prize winner “Personal Velocity”; and 2005’s “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” starring Miller’s husband Daniel Day-Lewis, screening with an introduction from co-star Camilla Belle.

Ethan Hawke and Greta Gerwig in “Maggie’s Plan,” written and directed by Rebecca Miller.

(Sony Pictures Classics)

I spoke to Miller this week about the retrospective and her new Scorsese project, which premieres Oct. 17 on Apple TV+. Along with extensive interviews with Scorsese himself, the series includes insights from collaborators such as Robert De Niro, Paul Schrader and longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker as well as childhood friends, Scorsese’s children, ex-wives and fellow filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Ari Aster, Benny Safdie and Spike Lee.

“It feels like such an honor and so weird in a way,” said Miller of the notion of having a retrospective. “You feel like you’re just in the middle of making everything, but then you realize, no, I’ve been making these films for 30 years. And it’ll be really interesting to see how the films play now for people. It’s exciting to have them still be sort of alive.”

When you look back on your own movies, what comes to mind for you?

Funnily enough, there is a connection between “Personal Velocity” and Martin Scorsese, which is that when I was about to shoot personal “Velocity,” I was in Rome, on the set of “Gangs of New York,” and I was watching the snack trolley go by and thinking my entire budget is probably the same as their snack budget. And thinking: What am I doing? What was I thinking? How am I going to do this? But talking to [“Gangs” cinematographer] Michael Ballhaus, I told him how long we had to shoot everything, and he said, “Oh, I envy you. We shot ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant’ in 10 days.” He was looking back on his days with Fassbinder as the good old days.

Then Marty gave me some advice on films with voiceovers to watch, and he ended up watching “Personal Velocity.” It was the first of my films that he saw, which then led probably to this [doc series] because he knew my films quite well. He watched them as time went on.

What interested you in Scorsese as a subject?

I knew that he was Catholic, that there was a strong spiritual element to his films. But I was interested in how that Catholicism kind of jogged with his fascination, or apparent fascination, with violence. Who is that person? How do those two things go together? And I thought that could be part of my exploration. I had a sense that all his work has a spiritual undercurrent in it, which I think it does. And I think that’s one of the things that I try to explore in the documentary. I felt I had something a little bit different to offer, for that reason.

The big questions that he’s asking: Are we essentially good? Are we essentially evil? And his immense honesty with himself about who he really is, the darkness of his own soul. I don’t think that people are usually that honest with themselves. And you realize that part of his greatness has to do with his willingness to look at himself.

Martin Scorsese in an undated photo from Rebecca Miller’s documentary series “Mr. Scorsese.”

(Apple TV+)

As much as we think we know about Scorsese, he seemed so candid about some of the darkest moments of his life, especially when he talks about his drug overdose and hospitalization in the late 1970s or about some of his issues with Hollywood, especially around “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Were you ever surprised that he was so willing to go there with you?

Oh, yeah, I was. I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t have an agenda. I had the scaffolding of the films themselves and a strong sense that this was a man that you can’t separate from the films. So the thing is like a dance, it’s like a permanent tango between those two things. You’re not going to pry them apart. I didn’t know about the addiction. I didn’t know a lot of these things. My questions are totally genuine, there’s no manipulation. It’s all me. I was very prepared in terms of the films. But in terms of the chronology and the connective tissue of his life, I was really right there discovering it.

Martin Scorsese at work on his film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” as seen in Rebecca Miller’s documenary series “Mr. Scorsese.”

(Apple TV+)

You’re catching him such a remarkable point in his life and career. He seems very happy and settled in his personal life and yet he still makes something like “Killers of the Flower Moon,” full of passion and fire. What do you make of that?

[Screenwriter] Jay [Cocks] says he’s learned that he can be selfish in his art, but he doesn’t have to be selfish in his life. Even if your outside is regular, your inside can be boiling. And I think Marty’s inside is always going to be boiling. The seas are not calm in there and never will be.

‘They Live’ and ‘Josie and the Pussycats,’ together at last

Roddy Piper in John Carpenter’s 1988 thriller “They Live.”

(Sunset Boulevard / Corbis )

There’s a real art to putting together a double bill. Sure, you can just program movies that have the same director or share the same on-screen talent. But what about deep, thematic links that might not otherwise be noticed?

The New Beverly has put together an inspired double bill playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of John Carpenter’s 1988 “They Live” and Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont’s 2001 “Josie and the Pussycats.” Though one is a rough-and-tumble sci-fi action picture and the other a satirical teen-pop fantasia, they both use the idea of subliminal messages to explore how consumer culture can be a means of control.

In “They Live,” wrestler-turned-actor “Rowdy” Roddy Piper plays a drifter who lands in Los Angeles and discovers a secret network fighting against an invasion of aliens living among us.

In Michael Wilmington’s original review, after joking the movie could be called “Invasion of the Space Yuppies,” he adds, “You can forgive the movie everything because of the sheer nasty pizzazz of its central concept. … The movie daffily mixes up the paranoia of the Red Scare monster movies of the ’50’s with a different kind of nightmare: the radical’s belief that everything is tightly controlled by a small, malicious ruling elite. Everything — the flat lighting, the crazily protracted action scenes, the monolithic beat and vamp of the score — reinforces a mood of murderous persecution mania.”

Rosario Dawson, from left, Rachael Leigh Cook and Tara Reid in the movie “Josie and the Pussycats.”

(Joseph Lederer / Universal Studios)

In “Josie and the Pussycats,” a small-town rock ‘n’ roll band (Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson) are plucked from obscurity when they are signed to a major record label and all their dreams of stardom seem to come true. But they come to realize the company’s executives (a brilliant pairing of Parker Posey and Allan Cumming) are using them for their own nefarious purposes.

Aside from some very hummable songs, the film has a truly epic amount of corporate logos and branding that appears throughout. Many reviewers at the time brought this up, including the L.A. Times’ own Kenneth Turan, who noted, “It’s a potent reminder that no matter how innocent a film may seem, there’s a Hollywood cash register behind almost every frame.” In subsequent interviews, Kaplan and Elfont confirmed these were not instances of paid product placement and, in fact, the production had to fight to get them all on-screen.

Points of interest

‘Eight Men Out’ in 35mm

Charlie Sheen, center, in a scene from the film “Eight Men Out.”

(Archive Photos / Getty Images)

Writer-director John Sayles has been so consistently good for so long that it is easy to take his work for granted. Case in point: 1988’s “Eight Men Out,” which tells the story of the infamous “Black Sox” scandal, when players from the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally throwing the 1919 World Series in league with underworld gamblers. The movie is playing on Sunday at Vidiots in 35mm.

The film captures much of what makes Sayles so special, particularly his unique grasp of the interplay between social and economic dynamics — a sense of how things work and why. He also fully grasps the deeper implications of the forces of greed and money setting themselves upon such an unassailable symbol of wholesome Americana as baseball. It’s also what makes the movie particularly worth a revisit now. With a phenomenal cast that includes John Cusack, David Straithairn, D.B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen, John Mahoney, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Lerner and Sayles himself, the film was a relatively early effort from cinematographer Robert Richardson, who would go on to work repeatedly with Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.

In a review at the time, Sheila Benson wrote, “ ‘Eight Men Out’ is not a bad movie for an election year. Everything that politicians cherish as ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘American’ is here. The Grand Old Game. Idealistic little kids. Straw hats and cat’s-whisker crystal sets. And under the slogans and the platitudes, a terrifying erosion and no one to answer for it. No wonder Sayles, hardly an unpolitical animal, found it such a relevant story nearly 70 years later.”

‘The Sound of Music’ in 70mm

Julie Andrews, center, in the 1965 musical “The Sound of Music.”

(20th Century-Fox)

On Sunday the Academy Museum will screen Robert Wise’s “The Sound of Music” in 70mm, a rare opportunity to see this classic in the premium format on which it was originally released. Based on the stage musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein , the film would eventually win five Oscars, including director and best picture.

Starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, it’s the story of the singing Von Trapp family, eventually forced to flee their native Austria as the Nazis take power.

In a Times review from March 1965, Philip K. Scheuer wrote of Wise and his collaborators, “They have taken this sweet, sometimes saccharine and structurally slight story of the Von Trapp Family Singers and transformed it into close to three hours of visual and vocal broilliaance, all in the universal terms of cinema. They have invested it with new delights and even a sense of depth in human relationships — not to mention the swooning beauty of Salzburg and the Austrian Alps, which the stage, of course, could only suggest.”

Even notorious gossip columnist Hedda Hopper liked the movie, presciently writing, “The picture is superb — dramatically, musically, cinematically. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer were born for their roles. … All children — from 7 to 90 — wil love it. The following morning I woke up singing. Producer-director Bob Wise did a magnificent job and 20th [Century Fox] will hear nothing but the sound of money for years to come.”

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Gunfire erupted close to 1 a.m. at Willie’s Bar and Grill in St. Helena Island, S.C., the sheriff’s office said. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene about an hour north of Savannah.

“It was learned that hundreds of people were in the location when the shooting occurred,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said. “Multiple victims and witnesses ran to the nearby businesses and properties seeking shelter from the gunshots.”

When officers arrived on scene, police confirmed that there were multiple gunshot victims.

Of the 20 victims transported to a local hospital, officials confirmed that four were in critical condition. Some of the victims were transported to Beaufort County EMS, and others arrived separately seeking medical help.

A private security guard hired to police an event at the bar was among the deceased victims, police said.

“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone,” the sheriff’s office statement said. “We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident.”

Police have not made any arrests but confirmed they are pursuing a “person of interest.”

Sources say the 28-year-old was killed by members of an Israel-linked ‘militia’ fighting Hamas in the Sabra neighbourhood.

Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi has been killed during clashes in Gaza City, just days after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that the 28-year-old, who had gained prominence for his videos covering the war, was shot and killed by members of an “armed militia” while covering clashes in the city’s Sabra neighbourhood.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency verified footage published by reporters and activists showing his body – in a “press” flak jacket – on what appeared to be the back of a truck. He had been missing since Sunday morning.

Palestinian sources said clashes were taking place between Hamas security forces and fighters from the Doghmush clan in Sabra on Sunday, although this has not been confirmed by local authorities.

A senior source in Gaza’s Ministry of Interior told Al Jazeera Arabic that the clashes in Gaza City involved “an armed militia affiliated with the [Israeli] occupation”.

The source said security forces imposed a siege on the militia, adding that “militia members” killed displaced people as they were returning from southern Gaza to Gaza City.

Despite the recent ceasefire, local authorities have repeatedly warned that the security situation in Gaza remains challenging.

‘I lived in fear for every second’

Speaking to Al Jazeera in January, several days before the start of a temporary ceasefire in the war at the time, Aljafarawi talked about his experiences being displaced from northern Gaza.

“All the scenes and situations I went through during these 467 days will not be erased from my memory. All the situations we faced, we will never be able to forget them,” Aljafarawi said.

The journalist added that he had received numerous threats from Israel due to his work.

“Honestly, I lived in fear for every second, especially after hearing what the Israeli occupation was saying about me. I was living life second to second, not knowing what the next second would bring,” he said.

In the deadliest-ever conflict for journalists, more than 270 media workers have now been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s war in October 2023.

Aljafarawi’s death comes as the current ceasefire in Gaza has held for a third day, ahead of an expected hostage-prisoner exchange.

United States President Donald Trump is set to gather with other world leaders on Monday in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for a Gaza summit co-hosted by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

It aims “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, according to the Egyptian president’s office.

During the “historic” gathering, a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” is set to be signed, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. Neither Israel nor Hamas will have representatives at the talks.

Diane Keaton, the actress who starred in some of the biggest movies of the last half-century, including the “Godfather” and “Annie Hall,” while serving as a style trend-setter and a champion of Los Angeles’ past, has died. She was 79.

Her death was first reported by People and confirmed by The New York Times.

In an extraordinary run during the 1970s when she was dominant, her career spanned the high points of American cinema: Francis Ford Coppola’s mafia saga and several of Woody Allen’s urbane comedies, climaxing in an Oscar win for her culture-changing turn as the title character in 1977’s “Annie Hall.” Keaton’s catchphrase, “Well, la-di-dah,” became iconic.

Over her career, she received four Oscar nominations for lead actress, winning for “Annie Hall.”

Born in Southern California, Keaton achieved fame in the 1970s through her frequent collaborations with Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola. She appeared in three “Godfather” movies as well as eight Allen films. Her star turn as Annie Hall earned her critical raves and made her a fashion icon of the era with Annie’s fedora hats, vests, ties and baggy pants. The Times once called her look “fluttery, vulnerable, almost unbearably adorable.”

“Annie’s style was Diane’s style — very eclectic,” designer Ralph Lauren said in a 1978 story in Vogue, soon after the movie came out. “She had a style that was all her own. Annie Hall was pure Diane Keaton.”

She was often asked if she got tired of the notoriety “Annie Hall” brought her, including the magazine covers, think pieces and fashion homages.

“No, I’m not. Everything is because of ‘Annie Hall’ with Woody. He has a great ear for women’s voices. I’m so grateful to him; he really gave me an opportunity that changed my life,” she told The Times in 2012. “I’m never disappointed about people talking to me about ‘Annie Hall.’ But I will say, a lot of people don’t know ‘Annie Hall’ exists, and that’s just the way it goes — goodbye! It’s bittersweet.”

She managed to capture the cultural zeitgeist in later films. In 1987, she played a successful businesswoman who upends her life to care for a relative’s baby in “Baby Boom.” In 2003, she won acclaim in “Something’s Gotta Give” for playing a successful writer navigating with romance in her 50s.

Keaton also got Oscar nominations for “Reds” (1982), “Marvin’s Room” (1996) and “Something’s Gotta Give.”

Keaton was a patron of the L.A. arts scene and also gained note as a champion of architecture preservation, remaking grand homes across the region. In collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library, she edited a book of tabloid photos called “Local News” that ran in the Los Angeles Herald-Express.

In a 2018 interview with The Times, she said she felt privileged to still be working.

“I know what I am by now,” she said. “I know how old I am. I know what my limitations are and what I can and can’t do. So if something appeals to me, I’m definitely going to go for it.”

Later in life, Keaton became a major voice in architecture preservation.

She grew up Santa Ana during the post World War II housing boom in the 1950s and told The Times in an interviews she loved going to open houses with her father

“My father took me to see model homes, which I thought were palaces,” Keaton said.

She began buying and fixing up landmark homes around L.A., especially those of the Spanish colonial style.

“You have to get to know a house and try to keep its integrity. I try to honor the architect,” she said. “I love to go into an empty house. You look at the house and start to feel what it might need.”

“There are so many house treasures, unsung gems, all over Los Angeles,” she said.

Explaining how she came to edit the book of L.A. tabloid photos, Keaton told The Times the L.A. city library came up to her at a swap meet.

The librarian said, ‘There’s these files in the basement of the Central Library’ — the most beautiful building. I took a look. There are books and books to be made out of those images. This is a brilliant archive.”

In recent years, Keaton had become a hit on Instagram, posting photos of architecture, fashion and more. In an interview in 2019, she said she was still very active, eager to work and try new things but was also thinking more about her mortality.

“Of course, you think about it. How can you not?” she said. “I mean, I’m 73. How long do you live? It’s really important what those years are like.”

Keaton death brought tribute across Hollywood and beyond.

“She was a very special person and an incredibly gifted actor, who made each of her roles unforgettable. Her light will continue to shine through the art she leaves behind. Godspeed,” said Nancy Sinatra.

Oct. 11 (UPI) — Twenty people were shot, four of whom died, in a shooting in the western Mississippi city of Leland during a celebration for a homecoming football game, in one of three shootings in small towns in the state late Friday.

The shooting in Leland happened late Friday night around midnight on the city’s main street after Leland High School played Charleston High School, sending at least 12 wounded people to local hospitals while four were airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in critical condition, according to media reports.

“I just want to send our condolences to the families of the deceased and to all those that are being treated,” Leland Mayor John Lee told The Guardian. “We need to be in prayer for our city.”

State Sen. Derrick Simmons told WAPT the shooting had not happened at the game itself, but at a gathering on the city’s Main Street afterward.

According to WLBT, the identities of people who were shot have not been released, and no suspects or arrests have been announced as the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation assists local police on the investigation.

Leland is a town of roughly 4,000 people in Washington County, MS, about 200 miles from the Arkansas-Mississippi border.

Forty miles south of Leland, two people were arrested and charged after a shooting during a football game at South Delta High School in Rolling Fork, MS, although WLBT reported that it was unclear if anybody was injured.

In another shooting, In Heidelberg two people were shot and killed, and another wounded, at Heidelberg High School, roughly 200 miles away from Leland, according to WDAM.

One person was killed on the school’s baseball field, and another shot in a tailgating area near the school’s bleachers, according to Heidelberg Police Chief Cornell White, who said the shooter or shooters remained at large.

The motives and causes of all three shootings have not been announced or are not known, according to the reports.

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, a lovable, quick-witted nun who became a national phenomenon for her relentless support of the Loyola Chicago University basketball team during its magical Final Four run in 2018, died Thursday, the school said. She was 106.

Sister Jean, as she was known, was 98 during Loyola’s March Madness splash. Her ever-present smile and the sparkle in her eyes were trademarks as she cheered on an unheralded underdog team that notched upset after upset before falling in the semifinals.

After each victory, she was pushed onto the court in her wheelchair and Loyola players and coaches swarmed to her, believing Sister Jean had somehow authored divine intervention.

“Just to have her around and her presence and her aura, when you see her, it’s just like the world is just great because of her spirit and her faith in us and Loyola basketball,” Loyola guard Marques Townes said at the time.

For her part, the lifelong nun downplayed any celestial impact even when leading the Ramblers in pregame prayers in her role as team chaplain.

“At the end of the prayer I always ask God to be sure that the scoreboard indicates that the Ramblers have the big W,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “God always hears but maybe he thinks it’s better for us to do the ‘L’ instead of the ‘W,’ and we have to accept that.”

Sister Jean lived on the top floor of Regis Hall, a campus dormitory that housed mostly freshmen. She’d broken her left hip during a fall a few months before the March Madness run, necessitating the wheelchair. But once she recovered, the barely 5-foot-tall firebrand was plenty mobile in her Loyola maroon Nikes.

She compiled scouting reports on opponents and hand-delivered them to the coaching staff. She sent encouraging emails to players and coaches after games, celebrating or consoling them depending on the outcome.

“If I had a down game or didn’t help the team like I thought I could,” Loyola star forward Donte Ingram said at the time, “she’d be like, ‘Keep your head up. They were out to get you tonight, but you still found ways to pull through.’ Just stuff like that.”

Sister Jean could also be quick with a joke. And she was hardly self-effacing. Told that the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum sold a record number of Sister Jean statuettes, she cracked during a special media breakout session at the Final Four, “I’m not saying this in a proud fashion, but I think the company could retire when they’re finished making my bobbleheads.”

Even the Covid shutdown couldn’t dampen her spirit. In 2021 at age 102, Sister Jean traveled to Indianapolis and watched Loyola upset top-seeded Illinois 71-58 to earn a berth in that year’s Sweet 16. The Ramblers players waved to her in the stands after the game.

“It was a great moment,” Sister Jean told reporters. “We just held our own the whole time. At the end, to see the scoreboard said the W belonged to Loyola, that whole game was just so thrilling.”

Dolores Bertha Schmidt was born in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, the oldest of three children. She felt a calling to become a nun in the third grade, and after high school joined a convent in Dubuque, Iowa.

After taking her vows, she returned to California and became an elementary school teacher, first at St. Bernard School in Glassell Park before moving in 1946 to St. Charles Borromeo School in North Hollywood, where she also coached several sports including basketball. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s College in L.A. in 1949.

“At noon, during lunch on the playground, I would have the boys play the girls,” she told the Athletic. “I told them, ‘I know you have to hold back because you play full court, but we need to make our girls strong.’ And they did make them strong.”

Among her students were Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, Father Thomas Rausch, chairman of the theology department at Loyola Marymount, and Sister Mary Milligan, who became the first U.S.-born general superior of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

Sister Jean earned a master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in L.A. in 1961 and took a teaching position in Chicago at Mundelein College, a school near Loyola that was all women at the time. She later served as dean.

Mundelein merged with Loyola in 1991 and within a few years Sister Jean became a team chaplain, a position she held until earlier this year.

“In many roles at Loyola over the course of more than 60 years, Sister Jean was an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty, and staff,” Loyola President Mark C. Reed said in a statement. “While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy. Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community and her spirit abides in thousands of lives. In her honor, we can aspire to share with others the love and compassion Sister Jean shared with us.”

Asked about her legacy, Sister Jean told the Chicago Tribune she hoped to be remembered as someone who served others.

“The legacy I want is that I helped people and I was not afraid to give my time to people and teach them to be positive about what happens and that they can do good for other people,” she said. “And being willing to take a risk. People might say, ‘Why didn’t I do that?’ Well, just go ahead and try it — as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.”

Ike Turner Jr., the son of Ike and Tina Turner who won a Grammy for traditional blues album in 2007 as a producer on his father’s album “Risin’ With the Blues,” has died. He was 67.

Turner died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital from kidney failure, family member Jacqueline Bullock told TMZ. She said the musician had been battling heart issues for years and had a stroke last month.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my cousin, Ike Turner, Jr.,” Bullock said in a statement to the New York Post. ‘”Junior’ was more than a cousin to me, but rather a brother, as we grew up in the same famed household together.”

“As the son of Tina and Ike Turner, from an early age, his talents were evident as there wasn’t an instrument he did not want to play,” the statement continued. “Eventually, Junior would end up helping to run Bolic Sound Studios, the recording studios founded by his father, Ike Turner.”

Ike Turner Jr., and friend Mary Ellis at a memorial service for his father in 2007.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

A musician, producer and sound engineer, Turner was pulled into the music business by his father when he was 13.

“My father took me out of [the] house and out of school and I traveled [with them],” Turner said in a 2017 interview on “The Bobby Eaton Show.” “That wasn’t no easy work.”

In that same interview, he also shared the role his mother Tina played in the instruments he picked up in his youth.

“My first instrument was drums, until my mother started making me break my drums down every day,” he said. “The piano was always there in the family room, so I started playing piano. I play guitar and bass. Everything except horn because horn used to make me dizzy from blowing air.”

Turner was one of four children associated with Ike Sr. and Tina Turner’s famed union, which ended with the latter filing for divorce in 1974 (finalized in 1978). The couple performed together from 1960 to 1976 as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, but their musical achievements were often overshadowed by the former’s abuse.

Born in 1958 to Ike Turner Sr. and Lorraine Taylor, Ike Jr. and his brother Michael were adopted by the “What’s Love Got to Do With It” singer upon her marriage in 1962 to their father. Their siblings also included Ronnie and Craig.

“Tina raised me from the age of 2,” Ike Jr. told the Mail on Sunday in 2018. “She’s the only mother I’ve ever known.”

Over the years Turner had commented a number of times on his estrangement from his mother since his parents’ divorce. In 2018 he said he had not spoken to her in nearly 20 years.

Turner was preceded in death by both of his parents and two of his siblings. His father died in 2007 of a cocaine overdose and Tina died in 2023 after a long illness. Craig Turner died by suicide in 2018 and Ronnie Turner of complications related to late-stage cancer in 2022.

Kimberly Hébert Gregory, who was best known as the brash principal in HBO’s “Vice Principals,” has died. She was 52.

A cause of death was not immediately reported.

Gregory’s former husband, Chester Gregory, confirmed her death in an Instagram post.

“You Were Brilliance Embodied, A Black Woman Whose Mind Lit Every Room, Whose Presence Carried Both Fire And Grace,” he wrote. “So Much More Than Ex-Wife, You Were My Friend. Our Son, The Song We Wrote Together, Is The Living Echo Of Your Light.”

Walton Goggins, the “White Lotus” breakout who co-starred with Gregory in “Vice Principals,” the HBO series which premiered in 2016 and lasted for two seasons, was among several performers who paid tribute on social media.

“We lost one of the best yesterday… one of the best I’ve ever worked with,” Goggins wrote in his Instagram post. “I had the honor… the good fortune of getting to know, getting to spend months working with this Queen on Vice Principals.”

Others who remembered Gregory included Kym Whitley, Leslie Odom Jr. and Jason Ritter

Gregory’s character on “Vice Principals,” Dr. Belinda Brown, butted heads with rival high school vice principals Neal Gamby (show co-creator Danny McBride) and Lee Russell (Goggins).

In his review of “Vice Principals,” Los Angeles Times’ Robert Lloyd wrote, “[Gregory’s] character is an invitation to political incorrectness — when told she graduated from Berkeley, Neal responds, ‘I’m pretty affirmative how she got in’ — but that attitude is more a side dish here than an entree; despite their conniving, these characters are lunkheads at worst.”

Her other credits included TV’s “The Chi” and “All Rise.”

Oct. 5 (UPI) — Russia launched some 50 missiles and 500 drones in an overnight attack in Ukraine, leaving five people dead, the President Volodymyr Zelensky, said.

The assault was aimed at the country’s infrastructure, leaving thousands without power, the BBC reported.

The strikes on Liviv left four members of a family dead, and the attack in Zaporizhzhia killed one person.

The head of that region, Maksym Kozytskyi, said the area has not seen such a blitz since the Russian invasion began in 2022.

Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa and Kirovohrad were also targeted.

“Today, the Russians once again targeted our infrastructure — everything that ensures normal life for our people. We need more protection and faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially on air defense, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning,” Zelensky said in a statement, per the New York Times.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Among the week’s new releases is “The Smashing Machine,” written and directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr, an early mixed-martial-arts fighting champion who saw his career flame out before the sport became a lucrative cultural phenomenon.

Safdie is known for the movies he made with his brother Josh, such as “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems,” and more recently created the series “The Curse” with Nathan Fielder. Safdie won the directing prize at the Venice Film Festival for “The Smashing Machine,” his first solo feature.

Dwayne Johnson in the movie “The Smashing Machine.”

(A24)

In her review of the film, Amy Nicholson wrote about Safdie and Johnson, noting, “These two high-intensity talents, each with something to prove, seem to have egged each other on to be exhaustingly photorealistic. Johnson, squeezed into a wig so tight we get a vicarious headache, has pumped up his deltoids to nearly reach his prosthetic cauliflower ears. And Safdie is so devoted to duplicating the earthy brown decor of Kerr’s late-’90s nouveau riche Phoenix home that you’d think he was restoring Notre Dame.”

I spoke to Safdie earlier this week. He explained how he and Kerr held each other’s hands during the film’s emotional premiere screening at Venice and what it has meant for them to go through the process of seeing through the project together.

“I wanted him to feel some kind of ownership of the movie and his life. And it was very meaningful to me,” says Safdie of Kerr. “Now I hear him talk about it and it’s very interesting because he can say, ‘Oh, I see where I made mistakes in that relationship.’ And he can take ownership of them. And part of it is I wanted to make a movie about somebody’s perspective on life changing.”

A celebration of Jafar Panahi

A scene from the movie “It Was Just an Accident.”

(Neon)

The American Cinematheque is launching a tribute series to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi this week. Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for the dramatic thriller “It Was Just an Accident,” Panahi has become Iran’s most high-profile dissident filmmaker, having been repeatedly jailed, placed under house arrest and officially banned from making films.

Yet none of that has stopped him. Panahi is now one of only four filmmakers ever to win the Palme d’Or, Berlin’s Golden Bear and Venice’s Golden Lion, alongside such giants as Michelangelo Antonioni, Robert Altman and Henri-Georges Clouzot. And “Accident” has been selected to be France’s entry for the international feature Oscar race.

Panahi was scheduled to appear at three events in Los Angeles next week as part of the tribute, but he may not make it. His appearances at the New York Film Festival (now in progress), including a scheduled talk with Martin Scorsese, had to be canceled due to a delay in Panahi receiving his visa to enter the country, reportedly a result of the federal government shutdown.

Even if Panahi does not make it to L.A., his films will play on and deserve to be seen. “Accident” will screen in a double-bill with 2003’s “Crimson Gold” at the Aero on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Panahi’s 1995 debut feature “The White Balloon,” co-written with Abbas Kiarostami, will play in 35mm at the Los Feliz 3. Later on Wednesday at the LF3, Panahi’s 2000 drama “The Circle” will screen in a 35mm print from the Yale Film Archive, along with the 2010 short “The Accordion.”

In 1996, Kenneth Turan had this to write about “The White Balloon”: “A completely charming, unhurried slice of life, it is both slow and sure-handed as it follows a small but fearsomely determined little girl on her amusing search for just the right ceremonial goldfish for her family’s new year’s celebration.”

Discussing “The Circle” in 2001, Turan said, “Restrained yet powerful, devastating in its emotional effects, ‘The Circle’ is a landmark in Iranian cinema. By combining two things that are relatively rare in that country’s production — unapologetically dramatic storytelling and an implicit challenge to the prevailing political ideology — this new film by producer-director Jafar Panahi creates a potent synthesis.”

With or without Panahi in attendance, these are deeply necessary films that speak to their respective moments — and all too much to our current one.

‘All the President’s Men’ and remembering Robert Redford

Robert Redford, right, and Dustin Hoffman in the movie “All the President’s Men.”

(Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images)

Screenings have already begun to pop up in tribute to Robert Redford, who died recently at age 89. On Friday, Vidiots will screen Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 political thriller “All the President’s Men” in 35mm along with Phil Alden Robinson’s 1992 caper comedy “Sneakers.” On Sunday, Vidiots will also show Sydney Pollack’s 1973 romantic drama “The Way We Were.” (The Academy Museum will screen “The Way We Were” on Oct. 26.)

The American Cinematheque will also be a launching a Redford tribute series starting on Monday with a screening of Tony Scott’s 2001 thriller “Spy Game.” Other films currently scheduled include “Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Sting,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Sneakers” and a 35mm showing of “All the President’s Men.” That barely scratches the surface of Redford’s work as an actor, let alone as a director, so more events are likely to come.

Redford was deeply involved in bringing “All the President’s Men” to the screen as quickly as possible following the Watergate scandal. Writing about “All the President’s Men” in 1976, Charles Champlin said the film has “a clarity born of historical perspective but also a newly quickened feeling of national concern. The central drama and suspense of ‘All the President’s Men’ is a reminder of the narrow margin of our safety and how close the coverup came to working. … The film invites no comfort. It was a narrow and almost accidental escape and the weight of a corrupted government had been tilted against the truth as never before. But never again? The movie makes no preachment but you are bound to think anew that forgiveness and forgetfulness ought to be two starkly different commodities.”

Points of interest

‘Rosemary’s Baby’ in 35mm

Mia Farrow in the 1968 horror landmark “Rosemary’s Baby.”

(Criterion Collection)

“Rosemary’s Baby,” a 1968 adaptation of the novel by Ira Levin written and directed by Roman Polanski (and produced by exploitation impresario William Castle), is still considered one of the creepiest movies of all time. The film stars Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, who has moved into a grand old apartment building in New York City with her actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes). After she becomes pregnant, it begins to seem as if her nosy neighbors have been part of a coven of witches scheming to give birth to the son of Satan. Ruth Gordon won a supporting actress Oscar for her role as one of the neighbors. The movie plays in 35mm Tuesday through Thursday at the New Beverly.

Even back in 1968, the film touched off a nerve with reviewers, including our own. In his original June 1968 review, Champlin wrote, “Having paid my critical respects, I must then add that I found ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ a most desperately sick and obscene motion picture whose ultimate horror — in my very private opinion — was that it was made at all. It seems a singularly appropriate symbol of an age which, believing in nothing, will believe anything. … It is also all so sleazy and sick at heart. And the horror is that it presumes we are too indifferent to perceive what its horrors really are.”

‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’

An image from Luis Buñuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.”

(Rialto Pictures)

Winner of the Oscar for international feature film and nominated for original screenplay, 1972’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” was directed by Luis Buñuel, who wrote the script with Jean-Claude Carrière. Screening at the Academy Museum as part of a series dedicated to Buñuel, the film is a bold satire of societal conventions — one that still largely holds up, as a group of friends meets for a series of meals.

In a November 1972 review, Charles Champlin wrote, “Watching a Buñuel film is a special experience because he creats a special world, somewhere west of hard reality but dealing — mockingly — with social reality and always reflecting Buñuel’s almost puritanical rage at any misuse of power, fiscal, political, ecclesiastical, military, social. … The surrealist attack sometimes makes him sound more formidable that he is. In fact he’s a sly humanist who has here created one of his most easily enjoyable works.”

In other news

PTA, ranked

Joaquin Phoenix in the movie “Inherent Vice.”

(Wilson Webb / Warner Bros.)

Last week, we mentioned Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which Amy Nicholson declared “fun and fizzy.” So this week, I set about the popular task of placing the new film within a ranking of Anderson’s 10 feature films, from his 1996 feature debut “Hard Eight” onward.

As I noted in the introduction, “More so than with other directors, it’s always tempting to overly psychologize Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, looking for traces of his personal development and hints of autobiography: the father figures of ‘Magnolia’ or ‘The Master,’ the partnership of ‘Phantom Thread,’ parenthood in the new ‘One Battle After Another.’ Yet two things truly set his work apart. There’s the incredibly high level of craft in each of them, giving each a unique feel, sensibility and visual identity, and also the deeply felt humanism: a pure love of people, for all their faults and foibles.

“Anderson is an 11-time Academy Award nominee without ever having won, a situation that could rectify itself soon enough, and it speaks to the extremely high bar set by his filmography that one could easily reverse the following list and still end up with a credible, if perhaps more idiosyncratic ranking. Reorder the films however you like — they are all, still, at the very least, extremely good. Simply put, there’s no one doing it like him.”

Would you have a different title at No. 1? Let us know in the comments.

A MAN was brutally gunned down while smoking outside a cafe during a shocking attack at a luxury Spanish resort.

Brit holidaymakers watched on in horror as the 25-year-old was gunned down in Puerto Banus on the popular Costa del Sol yesterday.

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The victim was caught unawares and shot from close range in broad daylight as he spoke on the phone and smoked on the cafe terrace.

CCTV footage seemingly shows the gunman disguised as a tourist with a baseball cap.

The killer is believed to have got out of a car before targeting his victim.

He can be seen approaching his target before opening fire and continuing to shoot him as he lays on the ground.

The injured man was rushed to the nearby Costa del Sol Hospital, but sadly died hours later despite the efforts of medics to save his life.

Local cops confirmed last night they had made an arrest.

A spokesman for the National Police said: “We can confirm a 38-year-old man has been arrested over the fatal shooting of another man in Puerto Banus.

“The investigation is ongoing and we cannot offer any more details at this stage.”

Cops said they couldn’t comment on the nationalities of the victim and the man held.

Unconfirmed local reports are pointing to both the alleged killer and the victim being Swedish passport holders.

Although another report describes the gunman as Afghan-born.

The shooting happened just after 1.30pm yesterday, when Puerto Banus was bustling with tourists.

Police confirmed the victim died at around 8.15pm local time.

This follows earlier reports he had been shot half a dozen times but was still alive and in hospital.

Shootings in Puerto Banus and surrounding areas over the past few summers have led to high-profile police operations.

This includes a number of raids on upmarket clubs following criticism from locals the port area has become like the ‘Wild West’.

Last June, Manchester City star Erling Haaland was caught up in a dramatic police raid at a beach club called Playa Padre in Marbella.

The Norwegian was filmed putting his hands into his pocket to pull out his ID after cops in balaclavas demanded to know who he was.

The surprise raid resulted in the arrest of an Iranian fugitive.

One of the shootings last year in Puerto Banus included a March 11 attack on British-run eatery La Sala.

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It led to the arrests in April of a British man and Irish national described by police as having links to organised crime.

Contract killers from Sweden have been blamed for an bout of violence around Europe, including the Costa del Sol.

Marbella has been dubbed the ‘United Nations of Crime’ because of the number of violent gangs operating there.

Bomb blasts on the famous coast in October 2018 led to the arrests of three ‘hitmen’ in Sweden and Marbella.

In a statement, Spanish National Police revealed the blasts had been linked to a criminal organistion of contract killers.

It read: “The investigations… linked the incidents to a criminal organisation of contract killers based in Sweden.

“This organisation is believed to be behind a number of violent incidents in Sweden in which explosives have been used.

“Several members of the organisation, all aged between 20 and 30, were identified and evidence established linking them to the bomb blasts.

“Two were in the Swedish city of Malmo where they were arrested in a well-planned police operation.

“The third individual was held in Marbella.”

The so-called Mocro Maffia have also been identified as a problem on the Costa del Sol.

A 17-year-old Belgian youngster working for the feared organisation was arrested last month.

The teen was accused of flying to the resort of Fuengirola to assassinate a Dutchman next to a cannabis club in December last year.

Police have described it as the first case in Spain in which an underage hitman was the main suspect.

Kerry Katona claimed she had U-turned on a decision to move to the famous Costa del Sol resort with her family.

She changed her mind on moving with then-fiancé Ryan Mahoney because she no longer felt safe following the violent incidents there.

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THE devastating terror attack at a Manchester synagogue yesterday unfolded in just seven minutes, with the rampage leaving two dead and four injured.

Early yesterday morning, on Yom Kippur, prayers began at Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

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But the peace was shattered at 9.30am, when the sound of screeching tyres came down the road.

The holy day quickly became one of horror that saw two people – Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitzwas, 66, – tragically killed.

Attacker scouted area before crashing into the gates

Ten minutes before the attack, former Tory minister Grant Shapps‘ father-in-law came “face-to-face” with the terrorist.

The man had scouted the location and argued with security when they would not allow him into the grounds.

“He was claiming that it’s a free country and he should be able to walk in the grounds,” Shapps told the Times.

“Then he came back ten minutes later in the car.”

The carnage began at 9.30am when the black Kia hatchback crashed into the gates of the synagogue after “driving erratically” down the road.

He was stabbing ‘anyone near him’

Witnesses said that the “second” the driver leaped out of the vehicle, he began “stabbing anyone near him”.

“He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue,” an eyewitness said.

The attacker – believed to be 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie – reportedly tried to “stab the window to get in” after those inside barricaded the doors.

An eyewitness said prayers had started when the horror unfolded but Rabbi Daniel Walker, who was leading the service, remained calm and led the congregation to safety with the help of others.

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Police called as public barricaded doors

At 9.31am, police scrambled to Crumpsall, north of Manchester.

A member of the public called the police saying he had seen a car being driven towards a crowd and one man had been stabbed.

The man had tried to kick down the doors, and then tried to use his knife to get in.

When that failed, he resorted to the plant pots that were outside to try smash in the windows.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed the man believed to be the offender was wearing a vest which had the “appearance of an explosive device” as the horror unfolded.

Shocking aftermath pictures revealed what is believed to be a bomb belt and a knife near the attacker.

However, cops have since revealed that the device the suspect was wearing was “not viable”.

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Armed cops swarmed the scene

At 9.34am, three minutes after police arrived, armed cops were deployed at the scene as more details of the horrifying rampage emerged.

GMP declared PLATO and a major incident at 9.37am – which means terrorism is suspected but not confirmed.

The area around the synagogue in Crumpsall was swamped by dozens of police vehicles, along with fire and ambulance crews, while a force helicopter hovered overhead.

Police officers dressed in black combat fatigues and carrying machine guns could also be seen inside the cordon outside the synagogue.

Bomb scare as shots fired

In video shared on social media, an onlooker could be heard saying that the suspect “has got a bomb on him” and appeared to be trying to press a button to detonate it.

“He’s going to blow himself up, he’s trying to press the button,” the person is heard to say – before there a gunshot rings out and the suspect falls to the ground.

After warning the man several times to stand down to no avail, the armed officers opened fire.

The attacker was shot dead at 9.38am – but GMP said they could not confirm his death for sure.

This was because of safety concerns about the “bomb vest” he appeared to be wearing – but was later revealed to be unviable.

Dad-of-three Yoni Finlay – who helped barricade the doors – was injured either by a stray police bullet or from glass when the bullet hit the door.

He was taken to hospital, reportedly undergoing surgery.

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Emergency services on scene

A white lorry marked ‘Bomb Disposal’ arrived at the scene and went behind the cordon outside the synagogue.

A “loud bang” was heard, which police have confirmed was from specialist officers gaining entry to the suspect’s vehicle “as a precaution”.

Paramedics arrived at the scene at soon after at 9.41am and began tending to members of the public.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who flew back from Denmark early to chair Cobra – announced that security is being stepped up at every synagogue across the country.

Starmer said: “The attack in Manchester this morning is absolutely shocking, and all of our thoughts are with those affected.

“I am on my way back to London. When I arrive, I will chair an emergency Cobra meeting.”

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Cops raid nearby street

The Mayor of London also announced the Met Police is deploying patrols in Jewish communities and synagogues across the capital.

Later in the day, at 11.38am, a nearby residential street was cordoned off as cops searched houses.

A neighbour of a house raided in Langley Crescent, Prestwich, which appears to be a council house, said she recognised its occupant from photographs of the synagogue attacker.

She told The Telegraph: “He lived there 10 years, with no wife or kids that I could see. He never seemed to speak to anyone around here.

“I recognised him from the pictures of the attacker. I recognised his little car, the Kia, because he’d always park it badly outside ours.

“I’d see him walking around in his pyjamas and slip-on sandals, carrying a shopping bag.

“He was quite bulked up and used to keep his exercise weights in his garage. I’d see them there.”

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Three arrested on suspicion of terrorism

Two men were spotted being led away in handcuffs, and it was later confirmed that three people – two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s – were arrested.

The trio are being held on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. 

Police confirmed that the attack was declared a terrorist incident and an investigation into the horror is being led by Counter Terrorist Officers.

Operation Plato – cops’ response to marauding terrorist attacks – was stood down, but it remains a major incident.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.

Large numbers of Jewish people attend synagogues and fast on this day.

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Attacker identified

Yesterday evening, it emerged that the man shot dead is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie.

In an update the force said: “We are now able to confirm that, although formal identification is yet to take place, we believe the person responsible for the attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie.

“He is a British citizen of Syrian descent.”

His name has not appeared in initial searches of police and security service counter-terrorism records, and he is not thought to have been under current investigation.

However, further checks are being carried out to see if any of his details appear anywhere in records of other investigations.

The Home Office confirmed to The Sun that he came to the UK as a young child and was granted citizenship in 2006 as a minor.

He was not known to the police, the Home Secretary has confirmed.

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Attack declared a terrorist incident

Speaking on GB News, Shabana Mahmood said: “In terms of the attacker, this individual was not known to the security services.

“He has obviously been shot dead at the scene, but the police investigations will now continue at pace.”

She thanked members of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall and the police, saying their actions helped save lives.

Speaking at a press conference earlier Chief Constable Stephen Watson branded the attack as a “horrific incident.”

He said: “My thoughts, and those of my officers and staff, are with the families of the loved ones who have been affected by today’s horrific incident, on what is the Jewish community’s holiest day: Yom Kippur.

“This has been officially declared as a terrorist incident, and the investigation is now being led by Counter Terrorist Police.

“We can confirm that two members of our Jewish community have sadly died as a result of this attack.

“Following a rapid response, armed officers from Greater Manchester Police intercepted the offender and he was fatally shot by officers, within seven minutes of the initial call”, he added.

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Two victims named

This morning, two men who tragically died in the rampage were named as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.

Three other men remain in hospital with serious injuries. One sustained a stab wound and a second was struck by the car involved in the attack.

Cops said: “The third man later presented himself at hospital with an injury that may have been sustained as officers stopped the attacker.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Lewis Hughes said: “My deepest sympathies are with Mr Daulby and Mr Cravitz’s loved ones at this extremely hard time.

“Specially trained Family Liaison Officers are in contact with them.

“They will continue to update them on the investigation and support them throughout the coronial process.

“Whilst there are processes which must be followed, we commit to being mindful of cultural preferences and sensitivities and to ensuring that these men and their loved ones’ wishes are respected.”

Home Office post-mortems will take place later today, a statement from Greater Manchester Police confirmed this morning.

Joshua Allen, the dancer who took home the crown on the fourth season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” has died after he was struck by a train in Fort Worth.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s database confirmed that Allen died early Tuesday morning at a local hospital. His manner of death and cause of death are pending, the database says. Allen was 36.

Police responded Tuesday around 1 a.m. to railroad tracks near the intersection of Millbrook Lane and Nuffield Lane, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Officers found Allen, who had been struck by a train, and took him to a nearby hospital where he died, police told the outlet. Police did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Wednesday.

Christina Price, who represented Allen, also confirmed his death, saying in a statement that “what stood out most about Joshua was his heart.”

“He had a natural gift for movement — no formal training, yet he could watch something once and his body just knew how to do it,” Price added.”Beyond his talent, he gave back, teaching kids in Texas through dance workshops.”

Allen’s family member confirmed the entertainer’s death to TMZ, which first broke the news. The family member did not disclose his cause of death and asked fans for “privacy and prayers.”

The Texas-based dancer auditioned for “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2008, impressing judges with his fluid movements, controlled popping and locking and springy leaps. Throughout the season, he proved his ability to take on a variety of dance styles ranging from contemporary to Bollywood. He remained a strong competitor, eventually besting fellow contestants for the grand prize.

Allen notably bested Stephen “Twitch” Boss, who died by suicide in December 2022. Boss was 40. Allen mourned Boss on Instagram, writing “NO WORDS will ever be enough to explain the LOVE I have for you Stephen.” At the time, he recalled connecting with Boss prior to their auditions and wrote, “This isn’t goodbye more so I’ll see you later.”

Price, who also represented Boss, said his death “weighed heavily on Allen” and that “it’s heartbreaking to now be grieving Joshua as well.”

After his “So You Think You Can Dance” days, Allen’s work included a McDonald’s commercial, a role in the debut season of “American Horror Story” and appearances in “Freak Dance,” “Step Up 3D,” and the 2011 “Footloose” remake, according to IMDb. He was also an instructor for several dance competitions.

Allen faced legal troubles in summer 2016, when he was accused of attacking his girlfriend at a coffee shop. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged him with two felony counts of willfully injuring his girlfriend, one felony assault with a deadly weapon and four misdemeanors related to battery, vandalism and violating a protective order, according to TMZ. Allen was poised to be a mentor on Season 13 of “SYTYCD,” but longtime host Cat Deeley announced his departure from the series on-air amid his domestic violence case.

He pleaded no contest in August 2016 and was sentenced to one year in jail.

More than 350 people have been rescued after the southern Ukrainian city was hit by two months of rain in just seven hours.

At least nine people, including one child, have been killed after a severe rainstorm and flooding in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, according to the country’s emergency services.

A total of 362 others have been rescued so far as workers evacuated trapped people and pumped water out of buildings, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Wednesday.

A little girl who had been missing was found in the early morning thanks to the relief efforts, the service added.

It posted pictures of people rescued from a flooded bus and of vehicles being pulled from the water.

Gennadiy Trukhanov, the mayor of Odesa, who said the situation was difficult but “under control”, wrote that almost two months of rain had fallen in the city in just seven hours.

“No storm sewer system can withstand such a load,” the mayor said on Telegram, noting that rescue efforts were continuing “without a break”.

More bad weather is forecast for Thursday, potentially adding to the challenges faced by Ukrainian first responders, three-and-a-half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

The weather-related deaths came as the local military administration in the southern city of Kherson said a man had died on Wednesday morning as a result of a Russian attack there.

Meanwhile, an overnight Russian attack on the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv injured six people, including a policeman, and started several fires, according to the national police.

Five of the six people were taken to hospital for treatment, said Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region.

Videos and photos from the scene showed firefighters attempting to extinguish flames that appeared to be ripping through market stalls.

Over in Russia, the regional governor, Mikhail Yevrayev, reported that a fire had broken out at an oil refinery in the Yaroslavl region.

Despite Ukraine’s continued targeting of oil facilities inside Russia, Yevrayev claimed that the blaze had nothing to do with its ongoing war with Ukraine.

“Residents were concerned it might have been the result of an enemy drone attack,” he said. But what happened has nothing to do with that …The fire is of a technological nature.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “critical” as the facility has been without power for seven days.

“It has been seven days now. There has never been anything like this before,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Tuesday.

The Russian-installed management at the nuclear plant said on Wednesday that backup electricity supply at the plant is sufficient, but that resumption of supply via the Dneprovskaya line is impossible due to Ukrainian shelling, Russian state news agency RIA reported.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed late on Tuesday that he was “in constant contact with the two sides with the aim to enable the plant’s swift reconnection to the electricity grid”.

“While the plant is currently coping thanks to its emergency diesel generators — the last line of defence — and there is no immediate danger as long as they keep working, it is clearly not a sustainable situation in terms of nuclear safety,” he said.

South African Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa was found dead outside of a high-rise hotel in Paris. Police are investigating the cause of his death.