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Bob Rafelson, a giant in the American independent film movement as a writer, director and producer, and later a co-creator of The Monkees television show, has died at 89 of natural causes at his Aspen, Co home.

His death on Saturday was confirmed by his ex-wife, Gabrielle.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2021: A Photo Gallery

Rafelson collaborated with Jack Nicholson on seven features including Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972). He was an uncredited producer on Easy Rider.

He was also instrumental in co-creating The Monkees, a television music group that was seen as a Beatles offshoot.

Rafelson was involved in co-writing and producing Five Easy Pieces, and then produced Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971). He was Oscar-nominated for both.

He also made his mark as a cultural influencer in television. With Bert Schneider, he created The Monkees, the 1966 NBC show that brought together a young...

Jerry Schatzberg is among the great American filmmakers who changed the landscape in the 1970s, but his name is one that has taken some time to get the recognition it deserves. While he may not have landed with the same initial impact as a Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese, the years have been kind to films like The Panic in Needle Park and Scarecrow, invigorating a passion that ranks them as some of the decade’s very best.

A renowned photographer with work in magazines such as Vogue and Esquire, Schatzberg is also responsible for the iconic cover of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. This was all done before he made his feature debut with 1970’s Puzzle of a Downfall Child, starring then-fiancée Faye Dunaway. That would begin a career working with some of the best actors the world has ever seen, from Al Pacino and Gene Hackman...

Influential director Monte Hellman, whose 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop starring musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson became a counterculture cult classic, died Tuesday. He was 91.

His death at Eisenhower Health hospital in Palm Desert followed a fall at his home, his daughter, producer Melissa Hellman, told The New York Times.

While not as well known as other directors of the New Hollywood of the late ’60s and early ’70s, Hellman was nonetheless influential. His sparse Two-Lane Blacktop , a post-Easy Rider character study about two street racers became a cornerstone among American existentialist road movies.

Hellman worked with the best actors of that New Hollywood generation, including Jack Nicolson and Warren Oates. He made his feature debut like so many other filmmakers of his generation – on a Roger Corman film, in his case called Beast From Haunted Cave.

If the action-fueled, hit genre films “Bonnie and Clyde” in 1967 and “Easy Rider” in 1969 were the shotgun blasts whose breakout success opened the filmmaking doors for what became known as “The New Hollywood,” 1970’s “Five Easy Pieces” actually better represented the kind of film that the era’s aspiring young directors, producers, writers and actors were dreaming of making in those heady, hopeful days.

It’s been 50 years since Bob Rafelson’s powerful, perceptive drama about a young man torn between a life of white privilege and high culture in the Northwest and a more earthy, elemental existence in the oilfields of Bakersfield, scored critical raves and four Oscar nominations; for best picture, Jack Nicholson’s lead performance as Bobby Dupea, Karen Black’s supporting turn as his lovely but not exactly Mensa-contending waitress girlfriend Rayette, and Carole Eastman’s still dazzling, still wise and worldly screenplay.

You don’t...

Columbia sets Jacques Demy loose on the streets of Los Angeles in the pivotal year of 1968. Although it puts a coda on the French director’s bundle of romantic films, with his special philosophical approach to Love, this starring picture for Anouk Aimée and Gary Lockwood doesn’t quite catch fire in the same way. If our City of the Angels indeed defeated Demy’s unstoppable knack for romantic delirium, we owe him an apology.

Model Shop

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Anouk Aimée, Gary Lockwood, Alexandra Hay, Carol Cole, Tom Holland, Severn Darden, Neil Elliot, Mille, Duke Hobbie, Anne Randall, Craig Littler, Hilarie Thompson, Jeanne Sorel, Fred Willard.

Cinematography: Michel Hugo

Film Editor: Walter Thompson

Shirley Ulmer: Script Supervisor!

Original Music: Spirit

Written by Jacques Demy, Carole Eastman

Produced and Directed by Jacques Demy

The...

One of the biggest dangling threads in "Jurassic World" is the fate of Dr. Henry Wu. I thought it was fun casting to bring B.D. Wong back for "Jurassic World," but when I saw the film, I was surprised by just how much screen time they gave him and how clearly he's turned the corner from "bright guy hired by Hammond to do something fantastic and ethically questionable" to "mad scientist screwing his theme park bosses while coming up with some sinister applications for his work." What surprised me more was that they let him live. After all, "Jurassic World" is unafraid to kill even the most peripheral character in violent and preposterous manners, so why wouldn't they kill the man responsible for creating the just-plain-evil dinosaur that's running around eating everyone? The obvious answer is that they still need him, and sure enough, "Jurassic World" makes it clear that Dr.

Five Easy Pieces

Written by Adrien Joyce (Carole Eastman)

Directed by Bob Rafelson

USA, 1970

Five Easy Pieces follows along an existential strain of American cinema that began with films like The Graduate (1967) and Easy Rider (1969), where, in the latter example, two men went looking for America and, as its tagline states, couldn’t find it anywhere, and continued through the vehement introspection that emerged from the tormented minds of Martin Scorsese’s anti-heroes, like Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver [1976]) and Jake La Motta (Raging Bull [1980]). Somewhere in between these two manifestations of anguish is Jack Nicholson’s Robert Eroica Dupea, the main character of Bob Rafelson’s 1970 feature. Disenchanted with life and the people who surround him, and utterly aimless in his restless, insatiable quest for self-contentment, Bobby is continually disheartened by the realization that his ideals of happiness and unhappiness don’t apply to everyone else, and may not even be applicable to himself.

As Jurassic World bites a hole in our multiplexes, we compares its events to John Sayles' Jurassic Park IV script from a decade ago...

Nb: the following contains spoilers for Jurassic World.

For Universal, the success of Jurassic World is the $500m pay-off to a story which began well over a decade ago. Work on a third Jurassic Park sequel originally began after the release of Joe Johnston’s coolly-received Jurassic Park III way back in 2001, yet the film languished in a pre-production quagmire as writer after writer seemingly struggled to crack the story.

William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom Of Heaven) was the first screenwriter to step up to the plate, announced at a time when Keira Knightley was reportedly in the running for a major role. Around that time, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough were also thought to be returning to their respective roles of Ian Malcom and John Hammond.

Let's hope Jack Nicholson has a pleasant birthday on Wednesday, or at least a less disturbing one than the birthday when pal Hunter S. Thompson showed up outside his house, turned on a spotlight, blasted a recording of a pig being eaten alive by bears, fired several rounds from his 9mm pistol, and (when the terrified actor and his kids refused to open the door) left an elk's heart on the doorstep.

Nicholson turns 78 on April 22, and even though he hasn't been in a movie for five years, he still looms large in our collective imaginations. Younger viewers know him from his flamboyant performances in "The Departed," "The Bucket List," "Something's Gotta Give," and "Anger Management," but his older films remain ubiquitous on TV as well, including "As Good as It Gets," "A Few Good Men," "Batman," "The Witches of Eastwick," "Terms of Endearment," "The Shining," and "Chinatown." A late bloomer,...

Once Upon A Time In The Existential West

By Raymond Benson

I never had a chance to see these two legendary westerns that were made back-to-back in the mid-1960s, presented by Roger Corman, directed and co-produced by Monte Hellman, and starring a young Jack Nicholson (among others), for they were elusive. I’d heard they were quirky, moody, and very different takes on the western genre, so I was excited to hear that The Criterion Collection was releasing both pictures as a double-bill on one Blu-ray disc. Now you, too, can view these strange little movies in all of their high definition glory.

Hellman was one of the few directors that producer Corman would let helm pictures for his studio, which at that time was famous for low-budget horror films, youth-in-rebellion pictures, and, later, rock ‘n’ roll counterculture flicks. Jack Nicholson was also involved with Corman since the late fifties,...

In July of 1964, director Monte Hellman and actor Jack Nicholson went to the Philippines to shoot two war movies back to back: Flight to Fury, which Nicholson also wrote, and Back Door to Hell. By June of 1965, Hellman and Nicholson had shot two more movies, the Westerns The Shooting (written by future Five Easy Pieces scribe Carole Eastman under the pseudonym Adrien Joyce) and Ride in the Whirlwind (scripted by Nicholson). Four movies in twelve months, and not one of them shows any sense of a director straining against limitations of time and money. To the contrary, The Shooting is a flat-out masterpiece, a […]...

In July of 1964, director Monte Hellman and actor Jack Nicholson went to the Philippines to shoot two war movies back to back: Flight to Fury, which Nicholson also wrote, and Back Door to Hell. By June of 1965, Hellman and Nicholson had shot two more movies, the Westerns The Shooting (written by future Five Easy Pieces scribe Carole Eastman under the pseudonym Adrien Joyce) and Ride in the Whirlwind (scripted by Nicholson). Four movies in twelve months, and not one of them shows any sense of a director straining against limitations of time and money. To the contrary, The Shooting is a flat-out masterpiece, a […]...

An inspired Jack Nicholson leads this cult dramedy as Bobby Dupea, a wandering malcontent who turns his back on the middle classes. An insightful and superbly crafted character study, it earned Oscar nominations for Nicholson, Karen Black (as a waitress obsessed with Tammy Wynette), director Bob Rafelson and writer Carol Eastman (under her pseudonym Adrien Joyce). In a slice of Americana stuffed with moments to savour, Jack's "chicken salad" speech in a dustbowl diner is now the stuff of legend.

Oscar Sunday is three months from today, March 2, 2014 and this year, it’s anyone’s game. The Academy has a history of playing up all the glamour and suspense, and this year should be no different.

As of today, Gold Derby‘s Top 5 Best Picture predictions for the 86th Academy Awards are: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips and American Hustle.

Hit Fix’s Top 5 are: Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips and Inside Llewyn Davis.

In what’s classic TV, take a look at the opening of the 43rd Academy Awards in 1971, featuring an introduction by Academy President Daniel Taradash.

The big A-listers of the day all appeared at the Oscars – Goldie Hawn, Jeanne Moreau, Melvyn Douglas, Ryan O’Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, George Segal, Jennifer Jones, Lee Grant, Maximilian Schell, Ginger Rogers, Jack Nicholson, Ali McGraw, Robert Evans, Quincy Jones, Sally Kellerman, Jim Brown,...

What's Jack Nicholson's secret? Maybe it's the eyebrows, hovering like ironic quotation marks over every line reading. Maybe it's the hooded eyes, which hold the threat of danger or the promise of joviality -- you're never sure which. Same with that sharklike grin. Or maybe it's the voice, which has evolved over the years from a thin sneer to a deep rumble, but is always precisely calibrated to provoke a reaction. Put them all together, and they say: "I am a man to be reckoned with. Ignore me at your peril." Nicholson, who turns 75 on April 22, is often criticized for relying on his bag of tricks, for just showing up and doing Jack Nicholson (though indeed, he often seems to have been hired precisely for that purpose). But he's also capable of burrowing deep into a character, finding his wounded heart, and revealing the ugly truth without fear or vanity.

Anchor Bay Entertainment is re-releasing the 1992 romantic comedy thriller "Man Trouble", starring Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin, directed by Bob Rafelson ("Five Easy Pieces"), written from a screenplay by Carole Eastman ("Five Easy Pieces") :

"...'Harry' (Nicholson) is a wisecracking con-man who owns a guard dog agency. When 'Joan' (Barkin), an opera singer, seeks his aid after her house is broken into, Harry inadvertently makes them the target of mobsters, and puts them at the mercy of Harry’s out-of-control canines..."

Cast also includes Harry Dean Stanton ("Alien") and Beverly D’Angelo.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Man Trouble"...

"Funny Face" shouldn't have worked. It was a musical with a borrowed score, based on a stage play its author had failed to sell, with a leading man past his prime and a leading lady, 30 years younger, who had a thin singing voice. Indeed, the film, released 55 years ago today (on February 13, 1957), was not a hit. Yet today, it's regarded as a visually sumptuous classic, with Fred Astaire dancing with impossible grace at 58 and Audrey Hepburn in one of her most stylish, iconic performances. Still, as beloved as "Funny Face" is, many viewers may not know of the real-life love story that inspired the movie, or about the film's ties to such far-flung projects as the "Eloise" novels and the counterculture drama "Five Easy Pieces." Here, then, are 25 little-known facts about "Funny Face." 1. The movie's title and four of its songs came from George Gershwin's 1927 Broadway musical "Funny Face.

Chicago – The year was 1959, and the film was “The Diary of Anne Frank,” based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning stage play, which in turn was adapted from the famous diaries of a young girl hiding from Nazi occupiers in WWII Holland. Two actresses, Millie Perkins (Anne) and Diane Baker (her sister Margot), made their movie debuts in this renowned film.

The director of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the celebrated George Stevens, led a nationwide search for the lead teenage actress to portray Anne, after Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Susan Strasberg (Anne in the original play) passed on the role. The film won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Shelley Winters), Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, and was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.

Millie Perkins and Diane Baker were participating in the “Hollywood Celebrities and Memorabilia Show” in September when they talked to HollywoodChicago.com.

DVD Playhouse December 2010

By

Allen Gardner

America Lost And Found: The Bbs Story (Criterion) Perhaps the best DVD box set released this year, this ultimate cinefile stocking stuffer offered up by Criterion, the Rolls-Royce of home video labels, features seven seminal works from the late ‘60s-early ‘70s that were brought to life by cutting edge producers Bert Schneider, Steve Blauner and director/producer Bob Rafelson, the principals of Bbs Productions. In chronological order: Head (1968) star the Monkees, the manufactured (by Rafelson, et al), American answer to the Beatles who, like it or not, did make an impact on popular culture, particularly in this utterly surreal piece of cinematic anarchy (co-written by Jack Nicholson, who has a cameo), which was largely dismissed upon its initial release, but is now regarded as a counterculture classic. Easy Rider (1969) is arguably regarded as the seminal ‘60s picture, about two hippie drug dealers (director Dennis Hopper...

Forty years old and looking better than ever, this first and best of six collaborations between Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson comes from a golden half-decade of American cinema (1970-75) that saw the appearance of among others The Last Picture Show, Two-Lane Blacktop, The Godfather, Duel, American Graffiti, Mean Streets, The Sting, The Conversation, Chinatown and Nashville. It features one of Nicholson's finest performances as the all-American malcontent Bobby Dupea, who rejects both the over-cultivated artistic world he was born into and the trailer-park culture into which he's escaped.

The movie is a succession of dazzling scenes, including the classic confrontation between Bobby and the jobsworth waitress in the roadside diner, and his heartbreaking speech to his paralysed father on his brief return from hot, dusty southern California to his chilly, fog-bound home in the Pacific Northwest. Perceptively scripted by Adrien Joyce (pseudonym for Carole Eastman) and skilfully photographed by László Kovács,...

Coming up on the New York repertory calendar... "Five Easy Pieces" "It was 'Easy Rider"s success that greenlit 'Five Easy Pieces'—but director Bob Rafelson and screenwriter Carole Eastman's film is totally human, trading 'Rider"s counterculture mytho-poetics for a study in the charisma of disdain...and how rebellion and loutishness are often indistinguishable," writes the Village Voice's Nick Pinkerton. Bob Rafelson's film gets a week-long run at Film Forum beginning Friday. "Set against ...

Chicago – The film and TV journey of “M*A*S*H” was recently present at the Hollywood Celebrities Show in Rosemont, Illinois. From the film, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman were there, as well as Gregory Harrison of “Trapper John, M.D.”

HollywoodChicago.com put the three stars through their interview paces at the event and also asked them to pose for Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto.

The saga of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, based in Korea during that war, spawned a virtual entertainment industry. The book called “M*A*S*H,” by Richard Hooker (a pseudonym for Dr. Richard Hornberger) was released in 1968 and was a publishing sensation.

The legendary director Robert Altman made his mark with the film version in 1970. And then, of course, the M*A*S*H fate was sealed in the guise of the extremely popular TV sitcom from 1972-1983. So popular was the series,...

With 12 nominations, Jack Nicholson has had more Academy Awards nods than any other male performer in history. He ties for the most acting nominations period with Katherine Hepburn and only Meryl Streep has more with 14. His nomination for his performance in Bob Rafelson’s ‘Five Easy Pieces’ wasn’t Nicholson’s first nomination, either. That came from his supporting role in ‘Easy Rider,’ but it was his turn as Bobby Dupea, a man born with flawless musical talents but not the desire to make it his passion in life, that made the world stand up and take notice of Nicholson as a leading man.

It’s not just Nicholson’s performance that makes ‘Five Easy Pieces’ such a standout in American cinema, either. Rafelson shoots the characters in his film with a distanced, calculated eye, forcing each character to live in the background while driving their actions to the forefront.