On this day in movie history - Damien: Omen II (1978)

Damien: Omen II

directed by Don Taylor and Mike Hodges,

written by Stanley Mann and Mike Hodges,

based on a story by Harvey Bernhard,

was released in the United States on June 9, 1978.

Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor, Lew Ayres, Sylvia Sidney, Lance Henriksen, Elizabeth Shepherd, Lucas Donat, Allan Arbus, Fritz Ford, Meshach Taylor, John J. Newcombe, John Charles Burns, Paul Cook, Diane Daniels, Robert E. Ingham, William B. Fosser, Corney Morgan, Russell P. Delia, Judith Dowd, Thomas O. Erhart Jr., Sorin Serene Pricopie, Robert J. Jones Jr., Rusdi Lane, Charles Mountain, Cornelia Sanders, Felix Shuman, James Spinks, Owen Sullivan, William J. Whelehan, Ian Hendry, Gus Kaprales, Leo McKern.

On this day in movie and book history - Dead Man (1995 and 2000)

Dead Man

directed and written by Jim Jarmusch,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 27, 1995.

Music by Neil Young.

Cast:

Johnny Depp, Mili Avital, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Eugene Byrd, John Hurt, Robert Mitchum, Iggy Pop, Gabriel Byrne, Jared Harris, Jimmie Ray Weeks, Mark Bringelson, John North, Peter Schrum, Mike Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton, Michelle Thrush, Gibby Haynes, Richard Boes, George Duckworth, Thomas Bettles, Alfred Molina, Daniel Chas Stacy, Todd Pfeiffer, Leonard Bowechop, Cecil Cheeka, Michael McCarty, Steve Buscemi, John C. Carlucci.

Recommended reading:

Dead Man

by Jonathan Rosenbaum.

Published by British Film Institute.
Published 2000.
 
ISBN-10: 0851708064
ISBN-13: 9780851708065
 
Description:

“The book follows the narrative and picks out some of the stand-out cameos as well as some of the choice of dialogue, music, style and violence within. Just another good choice from the BFI/Palgrave on another solid film with heavy content.” – Filmwerk.

When it was released in 1995, Dead Man puzzled many audiences and critics. Jim Jarmusch's reputation was for directing slick, hip contemporary films. And Dead Man was a black-and-white Western. As time has passed, though, the number of its admirers has grown rapidly. Indeed, Dead Man, with its dark and unconventional treatment of violence, racism and capitalism, may be Jarmusch's finest work to date.

This is Jonathan Rosenbaum's view. For him, Dead Man is both a quantum leap and a logical next step in Jarmusch's career. Starring Johnny Depp as the uprooted accountant William Blake and Gary Farmer as his enigmatic Native American companion, Nobody, and with startling cameos from Robert Mitchum, John Hurt and Iggy Pop, Dead Man is by turns shocking, comic and deeply moving. This book explores and celebrates a masterpiece of 1990s American cinema.

On this day in movie history - Alien 3 (1992)

Alien 3

directed by David Fincher,

written by David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson,

based on a story by Vincent Ward,

was released in the United States on May 22, 1992.

Music by Elliot Goldenthal.

Cast:

Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Fairbank, Carl Chase, Leon Herbert, Vincenzo Nicoli, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Brennen, Clive Mantle, Peter Guinness, Deobia Oparei, Phil Davis, Niall Buggy, Hi Ching, Danielle Edmond, Tom Woodruff Jr.