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It’s become an annual ritual: Every Jan. 1, more classic works of art or characters enter the public domain, and exploitation filmmakers with a tiny budget and a big taste for grisliness are scouring the list, looking for suddenly free intellectual property to turn into horror fare. Hence the slasher films that have already been created or are in the works turning beloved characters into homicidal maniacs, like the infamous “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.”

But these Pd-sploitation filmmakers are really picking low-hanging fruit and not digging nearly deep enough into the lists for ideas. So we’ve identified some films, novels and even memoirs and pop songs that are brand new to the public domain, as of the beginning of 2025, just begging to be bloodied up. Yes, including Popeye, the seeming innocent who arguably always had a bit of the glint of a serial killer in his eye — but also...

The new year has begun, and several major characters have officially become part of the public domain. Among them is a certain cartoon sailor with a taste for canned spinach.

Per CBS, Popeye is one of many properties that became public domain as of Jan. 1, 2025. Popeye's very first appearance was in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on Jan. 17, 1929. The character was an instant hit with fans, taking over as the strip's central character and eventually causing it to be renamed as Popeye. Depicted as a sailor with abnormally large forearms who gained superhuman strength after consuming spinach, the Popeye character would later be further popularized in animation. Notably, Robin Williams once played a live-action incarnation of the character the 1980 movie Popeye.

Related Disney & Gundam Collide With Bandai's Most Unexpected New Crossover Collectible

An upcoming Mickey Mouse figure from Bandai sees the iconic Disney character transforming into a giant...

George Folsey Jr., the film editor and producer who collaborated with director John Landis on such films as Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Coming to America and An American Werewolf in London, has died. He was 85.

Folsey died Sunday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, his son, fellow film editor Ryan Folsey (Cabin Fever, Renfield), told The Hollywood Reporter.

His father was George J. Folsey, the famed 13-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer whose credits included The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Thousands Cheer (1944), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Clock (1945), Green Dolphin Street (1947), Adam’s Rib (1949), Million Dollar Mermaid (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Forbidden Planet (1956).

George Folsey Jr. also edited Shawn Levy’s Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and The Pink Panther (2006) and Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005) and Hostel: Part II (2007).

After cutting Landis’ directorial debut, Schlock (1973), Folsey edited the Landis-helmed The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980) and Coming to America (1988), which he also produced.

Brothers Leonard, Adolph, Julius, Milton, and Herbert Marx were born into a performing family. Their mother, Meine Shoenberg (known on stage as Minnie Palmer) was already the daughter of a ventriloquist and a professional yodeler, and their uncle was Al Shean of the comedy duo Gallagher and Shean, well known on the vaudeville circuit. Minnie Palmer encouraged her sons to perform; they had natural gifts for music and comedy, and would serve as their manager. Julius, the first to perform, made his stage debut in 1905. Leonard, Adolph, Julius, Milton, and Herbert would eventually adopt the stage names Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo, respectively, and the Marx Bros. would swiftly become one of the premiere comedy acts of their generation.

To this day, no comedian hasn't been influenced by the Marx Bros. Chico's charming conman, Harpo's innocent cartoon, and Groucho's wisecracking Lothario are seared into the pop consciousness in perpetuity,...

It was more than a little heartening to see Roger Corman paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes’ closing night. By now the director-producer-mogul’s imprint on cinema is understood to eclipse, rough estimate, 99.5% of anybody who’s touched the medium, but on a night for celebrating what’s new, trend-following, and manicured it could’ve hardly been more necessary. Thus I’m further heartened seeing the Criterion Channel will host a retrospective of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations running eight films and aptly titled “Grindhouse Gothic,” though I might save the selections for October.

Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...

Rarely one finds a friend on the Criterion Channel—discounting the parasitic relationship we form with filmmakers, I mean—but it’s great seeing their March lineup give light to Sophy Romvari, the <bias>exceptionally talented</bias> filmmaker and curator whose work has perhaps earned comparisons to Agnès Varda and Chantal Akerman but charts its own path of history and reflection. It’s a good way to lead into an exceptionally strong month, featuring as it does numerous films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the great Japanese documentarian Kazuo Hara, newfound cult classic Arrebato, and a number of Criterion editions.

On the last front we have The Age of Innocence, Bull Durham, A Raisin in the Sun, The Celebration, Merrily We Go to Hell, and Design for Living. There’s always something lingering on the watchlist, but it might have to wait a second longer—March is an opened floodgate.

See the full...

The journalist and podcaster talks about some of her favorite cinematic grifters and losers with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Third Man (1949) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

All About Eve (1950)

The Hot Rock (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Die Hard (1988)

Sunset Boulevard (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Producers (1967) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Music Man (1962)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review

The Band Wagon (1953) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

A Night At The Opera (1935) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Animal Crackers (1930) – Robert Weide...

Deadline’s Contenders Film returns to New York this morning with a hybrid in-person and livestreamed showcase at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, and a lineup of 23 films spotlighting the best motion pictures this awards season has to offer. The in-person event kicks off with a breakfast sponsored by United Artists Releasing at 8 a.m. Et, with panels and livestream coverage kicking off at 9:30 a.m.

Click here to register and watch the livestream.

While last year’s supply of movies during a Covid-embattled awards season may have slimmed down, this year, the studios aren’t holding back. This year’s lineup features films from A24, Amazon, Apple Original Films, Focus Features, MGM/United Artists, Netflix, Neon and Warner Bros, and a roster of panelists that includes stars Matt Damon, Mahershala Ali, Tessa Thompson, Dakota Johnson, Amy Schumer, Andre Holland, Richard Jenkins, Ruth Negga, Oscar Isaac,...

Our first episode back in the studio! Robert Weide discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Mother Night (1996)

Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011)

Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition (1989)

Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth (1998)

Marx Brothers in a Nutshell (1982)

W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986)

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021)

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Mary Poppins (1964)

The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

Patton (1970) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Mash (1970)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Lenny...

The creators of HBO Max’s Search Party join Josh and Joe to talk about their favorite films.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Tenet (2020)

Piranha (1978)

Piranha 3D (2010)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jaws (1975)

E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)

Looker (1981)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Waiting For Guffman (1996)

True Stories (1986)

Another Year (2010)

Abigail’s Party (1977)

Brazil (1985)

The Pink Panther (1963)

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Network (1976)

Idiocracy (2006)

A League Of Their Own (1992)

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

About Schmidt (2002)

Please Give (2010)

Duck Soup (1933)

The Gold Rush (1925)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

A Night At The Opera (1935)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Love Potion No. 9 (1992) – Sarah

The Birdcage (1996) – Charles

Mandy (2018)

Other Notable Items

Search Party TV series (2016- )

The Coen Brothers

The DGA

Jon Favreau

Garry Marshall

Christopher Nolan

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV series (2000-2015)

Jurassic Park series

Laura Dern

Jeff Goldblum

Sam Neill

Steven Spielberg

Jurassic Park novel by Michael Crichton...

Movies to watch when you’re staying in for a while, featuring recommendations from Dana Gould, Daniel Waters, Scott Alexander, and Allison Anders.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Destroy All Monsters (1969)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970)

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973)

Suparpie

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Hello Down There (1969)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Thirteen Days (2000)

Stalker (1979)

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

No Exit (1962)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Sleeper (1973)

The Tenant (1976)

Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

La classe américaine (1993)

The Sex Adventures of a Single Man a.k.a. The 24 Hour Lover (1968)

The Omega Man (1971)

Soylent Green (1973)

Knives Out (2019)

The Hunt (2020)

Banana Split (2020)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Animal Crackers (1930)

Monkey Business (1931)

Horse Feathers (1932)

Duck Soup (1933)

A Night At The Opera (1935)

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971)

Susan Slade (1961)

My Blood Runs Cold...

Filmmakers/authors discuss the movies they wish more people were familiar with.

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s (2012)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)

Top Gun (1986)

Water Power (1977)

Taxi Driver (1976)

In Fabric (2018)

A Climax of Blue Power (1974)

Forced Entry (1975)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

Nashville Girl (1976)

Ms .45 (1981)

Act of Vengeance a.k.a. Rape Squad (1974)

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Design For Living (1933)

Trouble In Paradise (1932)

Melody (1971)

Oliver! (1968)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

That’ll Be The Day (1973)

Stardust (1974)

The Errand Boy (1961)

Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003)

The Bellboy (1960)

Which Way To The Front? (1970)

Hardly Working (1980)

A Night In Casablanca (1946)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Duck Soup (1933)

Boeing Boeing (1965)

Confessions of a Young American Housewife (1974)

Cockfighter (1974)

The Second Civil War (1997)

I, A Woman (1965)

The Devil At Your Heels (1981)

The...

Above: 1960s French stock poster for Marx Brothers revivals.This weekend New York’s Film Forum begins a week-long series entitled The Marx Brothers & The Golden Age of Vaudeville which is as good an excuse as any to look at the representation of the greatest sibling comedy team in cinema through movie posters. It has long been a tradition in movie poster illustration to render comedy stars as caricatures—often with oversized heads on small bodies—and Groucho, Harpo and Chico were a caricaturist’s dream. (Zeppo, the straight man, less so, but he left the act after Duck Soup in 1933, and re-release posters for the films he appeared in tend to ignore him, as in the Belgian Duck Soup and the Danish Horse Feathers below). With their distinctive props—Groucho’s oversized greasepaint mustache and cigar, Harpo’s curly blonde wig and Chico’s Alpine hat—the threesome could...

By 1935, the Marx Brothers already had five movies to add to their already extensive Broadway and Vaudeville resume, among them the legendary Duck Soup and the near-classics Animal Crackers and Monkey Business. As we’ve often seen, however, some of our most beloved Hollywood favorites flopped upon first release. 1933’s Duck Soup, specifically, was the last of a five-picture deal the Brothers had at Paramount, and its commercial failure would spell a parting of the ways between the studio and the iconic comedy team.

Enter Irving G. Thalberg, the wunderkind who helped build MGM into a powerhouse. Perhaps best known today for the namesake honor given to producers at each year’s Academy Awards, Thalberg left an indelible mark on Hollywood before his untimely death in 1937 at the age of 36. In addition to launching such innovations as the first production code and the use of audience response questionnaires to hone...

Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...

 

The Austin Film Society will begin a series this weekend spotlighting the best in New Romanian Cinema with Child's Pose, which won the Golden Bear for best film at last year's Berlin Film Festival. The film stars Luminita Gheorghiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and plays tonight and again Sunday afternoon at the Marchesa.

Meanwhile, Richard Linklater's incredible Jewels In The Wasteland series continues this week with Godard's Every Man For Himself on Wednesday night. Linklater will introduce the film and lead an audience discussion after the screening.

On Monday night, Tiger Tail In Blue is screening at the Marchesa thanks to Afs. Local filmmaker Andrew Bujalski will moderate a post-film Skype Q&A with director and lead actor Frank Ross. The indie film was nominated for a Gotham Award for "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You" and we're lucky to have a theater to bring movies like this to town.

A trio of films this week for me, on top of a couple of Criterion titles I'll be reviewing soon.

Fright Night (1985) Quick Thoughts: In August the remake arrives and I've heard from people how much fun the original is, so I had to see it. As it turns out, it's not too bad, but it is certainly a product of its time. This is an '80s feature that is probably best seen in the '80s, which I would assume is when most people that think of it fondly first saw it.

I do have respect for its use of practical effects, which I did enjoy, and at times had me thinking a little of John Carpenter's The Thing. Looking at the two films' credits, this shouldn't be a surprise since The Thing was made three years earlier and a few of the people that worked on...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

While it’s not the much-desired fully-restored Blu-Ray editions fans have been clamoring for, Universal has released the original (best) Marx Brothers films as individual DVDs of The Cocoanuts, Duck Soup, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, and Horsefeathers (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 Srp each) outside of the box set they were originally released in way back in 2004. So if you want to be able to watch them...

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Deal Alert: I don't catch the deals at Amazon all that often, but when I do I like to share them and I noticed that right now you can buy the Alien Anthology (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection) on Blu-ray for only $52.99 (list price $139.99) and for anyone that read my review you already know I consider this one of the best Blu-ray sets ever released. Click here to purchase.

Additionally, the Back to the Future Blu-ray trilogy is on sale for just $24.99 (list price $79.98) and it's another one where I reviewed it and was thoroughly impressed with the transfers. You can click here to purchase that one.

That said, the deals are done, though one thing I point out below is that with this week's releases all of the ten films in my top ten movies of 2010 are now available to own.

On top of the one film I mention below, I also watched Blue Crush 2, which hits DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday, June 7. I considered adding it below, but I think I'll just talk about it on Tuesday, but I have to tell you... I don't have anything good to say about it. Let's move on...

Monkey Business (1931) Quick Thoughts: Last week I mentioned how Universal was releasing five Marx brothers movies on DVD this coming Tuesday. I had just watched Duck Soup and this week I followed that up with Monkey Business, which I believe is "laugh out loud" funnier than Duck Soup, but on a whole I'd say Duck Soup is a better and funnier film, but then again, there really is no reason to compare the two.

Monkey Business features Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo as four stowaways aboard a transatlantic crossing and as they do their...

Ian Sansom on the comic clan who grew up in a happy, hectic house

The Schönbergs lived at 179 East 93rd Street, in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Manhattan, an area then inhabited mostly by immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe. Fanny and Levy were from Dornum, in East Frisia. Their daughter Minnie married a man she met at a dance, Samuel Marx, a tailor, from Mertzwiller, in Alsace; the family called him Frenchie. Minnie and Samuel had five sons: Leonard, born 1887; Adolph, born 1888; Julius, born 1890; Milton, born 1892; and Herbert, born 1901. Their firstborn son, Manfred, had died aged just seven months in 1886.

Years later, Adolph recalled their early years. "There were 10 mouths to feed every day ... five boys ... cousin Polly, who'd been adopted as one of us; my mother and father, and my mother's mother and father. A lot of the time my mother's sister, Aunt Hannah, was around too. And on...

Along with the following two films, I watched five Criterion titles of which I will be reviewing throughout the week as I attempt to play catch up for all the reviews I missed while at Cannes. But more on those later, for now here are a couple movies I took some time to see...

Duck Soup (1933) Quick Thoughts: Universal sent me five Marx brothers movies that will all be available on June 7 and, of course, I decided to watch the only one of the five I had seen before. The other four, which I will be watching very soon and plan on reviewing all five as a set, are Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers. I'm interested to dive into the others as I have seen clips and snippets of them over the years but never seen any of them outside of Duck Soup, which is actually...

The legendary classic movie palace, The Loews Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey will launch its fall movie season on October 2-3. Films include The Untouchables starring Kevin Costner and Sean Connery, The Cocoanuts starring The Marx Brothers in their first feature film, and the Harold Lloyd silent classic Safety Last! with live organ accompaniment. The magnificent theater is just minutes from mid-town Manhattan. For details click here...

I feel bad for you, Isla Fisher. I may have bashed your ridiculous movie in a rant, but I can't believe that everyone is making such a big deal about you playing a confessed shopaholic. Such was my distaste for the film that I initially agreed with everyone mocking its economic ill-timing, and laughed along with them. (The best quote is from Time: "But as an ill-timed anthropological artifact, Confessions offers weird pleasures, not least among them the fact that it makes us root for the debt collector.") Then I came across this Sarah Jessica Parker quote from Access Hollywood pondering how a Sex in the City sequel would avoid a Shopaholic trap. "How do we address these economic times in a franchise that has a lot to do with luxury and labels? How do we do that well? And how do we do that in a not lazy way?...