Mel Brooks

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Mel Brooks Reviving a Classic
Mel Brooks Reviving a Classic

Mel Brooks Reviving a Classic

He'll create an 8-part series for Hulu called 'History of the World, Part II'

(Newser) - The sequel is coming, and it only took 40 years. Mel Brooks, now 95, has signed a deal with Hulu to create an eight-part series called History of the World, Part II, reports Variety . It is pitched as a sequel of sorts to his classic movie History of the World,...

Celebrities Are Releasing Amusing, Weird Virus PSAs

Arnold and his tiny animals, Mel and his son urge you to stay home

(Newser) - Amid widespread calls to practice social distancing in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, celebrities are starting to get in on the movement. Among the video PSAs that have come out is one from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, along with his miniature horse and his...

Doctor Strange Conjures $85M Magic
Doctor Strange
Conjures
$85M Magic

BOX OFFICE

Doctor Strange Conjures $85M Magic

Big win for Benedict Cumberbatch in a surprisingly strong weekend

(Newser) - A strong batch of new films drew audiences to the theaters in large numbers this weekend, reports the AP , including Marvel's Doctor Strange, the animated Trolls and Mel Gibson's WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge, effectively waking up the sleepy fall box office. As the superhero in the bunch, Doctor ...

8 Hilarious Octogenarians
 8 Hilarious Octogenarians 

8 Hilarious Octogenarians

A list inspired by—who else?—Betty White

(Newser) - Eighty-eight-year-old Betty White is definitely feeling the love these days, but she’s not the only hilarious octogenarian out there. Nerve lists the eight funniest people over age 80. Among them:
  • Elaine Stritch, 84: Best known for her work on Broadway, Stritch has also guest-starred on 3rd Rock From the
...

Kennedy Center Honors De Niro, Boss
 Kennedy Center 
 Honors De Niro, Boss 
SLIDESHOW

Kennedy Center Honors De Niro, Boss

Brubeck, Bumbry, Mel Brooks round out list of those lauded at gala

(Newser) - Last night’s Kennedy Center Honors brought together such unlikelies as Jack Black and Aretha Franklin to fete award winners Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen in a three-hour variety show. Highlights of the night, attended by the president, vice president, and speaker of...

Hitler Sells Again in Germany
 Hitler Sells Again in Germany 

Hitler Sells Again in Germany

(Newser) - The Broadway hit musical comedy The Producers finally opened in Berlin to boffo box office receipts—but not before in intense sales push to break through German reluctance to see an ersatz Hitler hamming it up on stage, reports the Los Angeles Times. "If you put it on most...

'Funny Fuhrer' Finally Hits Berlin

'The Producers' inspires uneasy laughs with its German debut

(Newser) - The Producers has goose-stepped its way onto a German stage 76 years after the springtime when Hitler took power, the New York Times reports. There were plenty of laughs—if sometimes uneasy ones—on opening night Sunday, but the Nazi-mocking musical and its swastika-laden ads prompted a fresh round of...

Actor Dom DeLuise Dead at 75
 Actor Dom 
 DeLuise 
 Dead at 75 
OBITUARY

Actor Dom DeLuise Dead at 75

Appeared in Cannonball Run , Space Balls

(Newser) - Actor Dom DeLuise died in his sleep last night at a Los Angeles hospital, TMZ reports. He was 75. The Golden-Globe nominated actor was known for appearances in Mel Brooks films and often worked with Burt Reynolds. He starred in Cannonball Run and Blazing Saddles and voiced Pizza the Hutt...

Nazi-Mocking Producers Coming to Berlin

(Newser) - This could be awkward. Mel Brooks’ The Producers has been a smash around the world, but will the Hitler-mocking musical play in Germany? The Admiralspalast theater in Berlin—which the real Führer once frequented—is betting Germans are ready to laugh at the blood-soaked past, the Daily Mail reports....

Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana
Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana
Appreciation

Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana

Mel Brooks and Carol Burnett regular was an underrated master

(Newser) - Harvey Korman was sometimes described as the “quintessential second banana,” and he did indeed make his name in supporting roles. But Korman, who died this week at 81, was a special second banana. For Mel Brooks, he became the perfect scheming underling, hilariously worming his way through movie...

Is This a Joke? Brooks Leaving Movie Biz

Quietly closes movie production company

(Newser) - Are Mel Brooks' days in Hollywood over? The comic king is quietly closing his Brooksfilms, the New York Post reports. He founded the LA-based production company in 1980 to produce more serious films such as The Elephant Man but also put out classics such as Spaceballs. Brooks, who turns 82...

Young Frank 's a Broadway Flub
Young Frank's a Broadway Flub

Young Frank's a Broadway Flub

Mel Brooks' Producers follow-up wears his jokes thin, critics say

(Newser) - Mel Brooks wowed 42nd Street with his musical debut The Producers, but follow-up Young Frankenstein fell flat at last night's opening, says Time's Richard Zoglin. Without Brooks' freshman hit, Young Frank might be “reasonably entertaining”; instead it demands comparison and ends up mere “shtick." Its brilliant film...

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