Karen Black
1939 - 2013A native of suburban Chicago, Black studied theater at Northwestern University before dropping out and relocating to New York City. She performed on Broadway in 1965 before making her major film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1966). Black relocated to California and was cast as an acid-tripping prostitute in Dennis Hopper's road film Easy Rider (1969). That led to a lead in the drama Five Easy Pieces (1970), in which she played a hopeless beautician, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Black made her first major commercial picture with the disaster film Airport 1975 (1974), and her subsequent appearance as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby (1974) won her a second Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Black starred as a glamorous country singer in Robert Altman's ensemble musical drama Nashville (1975), also writing and performing two songs for the soundtrack, which won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack. Her portrayal of an aspiring actress in John Schlesinger's drama The Day of the Locust (also 1975) earned her a third Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actress. She subsequently took on four roles in Dan Curtis' anthology horror film Trilogy of Terror (1975), followed by Curtis's supernatural horror feature, Burnt Offerings (1976). The same year, she starred as a con artist in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot.
In 1982, Black starred as a trans woman in the Robert Altman-directed Broadway debut of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, a role she also reprised in Altman's subsequent film adaptation. She next starred in the comedy Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983), followed by Tobe Hooper's remake of Invaders from Mars (1986). For much of the late 1980s and 1990s, Black starred in a variety of arthouse, independent, and horror films, as well as writing her own screenplays. She had a leading role as a villainous mother in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses (2003), which cemented her status as a cult horror icon. She continued to star in low-profile films throughout the early 2000s, as well as working as a playwright before her death from ampullary cancer in 2013.
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Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Alex Gibney
Paul Haggis, Jason Beghe
GOING CLEAR intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
James Chressanthis
Vilmos Zsigmond, Dennis Hopper
The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
Joe Martin, Ed Leboeuf
Brooke Balderson, Clark Balderson
From the majestic prairie fires of Kansas, through the neon glow of a carnival, to a year-in-the-life journey on making a dream come true, this documentary follows The Balderson Family on their pursuit to prove anyone can make motion pictures anywhere. This movie reveals independent cinema as it really is, on the set and off - a family of artists, celebrities and icons taking part of the process.
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Kenneth Bowser
Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich
A look at 1970s Hollywood when it was known as New Hollywood, and the director was the star of the movie.
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Rubin & Ed
Trent Harris
Crispin Glover, Howard Hesseman
Reclusive Rubin Farr teams up with vocal but unsuccessful multi-level salesman Ed Tuttle on a quest to bury Rubin's dead cat in the "perfect spot." Their trip takes them across Utah's desert where they have run-ins with Ed's ex-wife Rula and an elusive Andy Warhol critic.
Rubin & Ed
The Outfit
John Flynn
Robert Duvall, Karen Black
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
The Outfit
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
José María Sánchez
Victor Garber, Joe Pesci
Larger-than-life American author Ernest Hemingway is the subject of this biopic that chronicles the famous writer's life from childhood to his suicide at age 61. Haunted by various inner demons -- including his father's suicide -- Hemingway serves in World War I, marries four times, and finds creative support from Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and other expatriates living in 1920s Paris.
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
