I am a huge fan of Succession like many people are and am sad to see it end. The struggle for power among three siblings for their father’s media empire, influenced by the Murdoch family at Fox, is one of the most dynamic shows in the last decade that gets in your veins from the start even if you hate all of the characters. I like Cousin Greg; he is a little out there, not totally aware and nervous for his small piece of the pie, but far from being the asshole the others are. Another thing that amazes me is Kieran Culkin, not just because of his role as Roman, but also his career trajectory compared to his older brother, Macaulay. He was the ultimate child star thanks to Home Alone, and while he still has a good career as an adult, Kieran has shot past him. 

There are many siblings as such, some being serious rivalries. Some have successfully worked together like Joel & Ethan Coen, the Dardenne Brothers, the Weinsteins (actually, forget them), and the Marx brothers. Others work separately – and those who just flat-out hate each other like Liam and Noel Gallagher. Then, there are those where one sibling is way more successful than the other, but there is zero envy with any of it. Frank Stallone is not complaining about what his brother Sylvester has been doing. And then, there are these other siblings.

Olivia de Haviland & Joan Fontaine

One of the most bitter sibling rivalries in Hollywood, the always strained relationship stemmed back to childhood when Joan resented her mother for always preferring her older sister Olivia as the favorite. When Joan got into the acting business after Olivia, she was told she couldn’t use her legal surname, so she used her mother’s. When both were nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars in 1942, it was Joan who won for Suspicion, and going to the stage, Joan snubbed Olivia’s hand in congratulations. When Joan approached Olivia after her own Oscar win in 1947 for To Each His Own, Olivia returned the favor and ignored her. 

The final straw was in 1975 following their mother’s death; Joan was on stage touring and claimed Olivia never informed her, while Olivia claimed she sent a telegram but was told Joan wouldn’t be able to make it. Years later, when the sisters were invited to the same Oscars ceremony, someone had booked their hotel rooms next to each other and Joan was able to switch to another floor. Joan lived and died in California in 2013, while Olivia lived for decades in Paris until her passing in 2020, aged 104. 

Boris & David & Mikhail Kaufman

All three brothers from the former Soviet Union studied movies in the 1920s and would go on to play separate parts in the path of cinema. David was the oldest; he is widely known in film history as Dziga Vertov after he Russianized his name following the October Revolution of 1917. He would make movies for the pro-Communist side in that country’s civil war and experiment with various techniques in his mini-series known as Kino-Pravda, or “film truth.” But it was his 1929 avant-garde documentary Man With A Movie Camera that made him a permanent influence for generations after, the film was listed as the greatest documentary ever in Sight & Sound’s Greatest Documentaries poll in 2014.

Vertov would spend his whole life in Russia, making movies through the 1930s before making way for younger directors and editing film magazines. Meanwhile, his younger brother’s career continued. Mikhail would be Vertov’s main cameraman for all of his film shorts, plus Movie Camera until a falling out between the two ended the professional relationship. The separation allowed Mikhail to make his movies and work in the Soviet film system, running different studios throughout the whole nation until his retirement in the 1970s. While he and his older brother were confined to Russia, the youngest brother would leave for France.

Boris sought to be even more independent and get away from the troublesome Eastern side of the continent. In his twenties, Boris met Jean Vigo, a major figure in French cinema even after just making four features in his lifetime, all of them shot by Boris. It allowed him to work with other French directors in the 1930s before World War II forced him to flee to North America. He was still making shorts and documentaries when Elia Kazan, preparing to shoot On The Waterfront, hired Boris because of his knowledge of on-location work which Kazan sought to replicate. 

It resulted in an Oscar for Best Cinematography and a second nomination for Baby Doll. Boris then collaborated with director Sidney Lumet on seven features, including 12 Angry Men, The Fugitive Kind, and The Pawnbroker. He would shoot another film for Kazan, Splendor In The Grass, and work with Jules Dassin, George Roy Hill, and Otto Preminger before retiring in 1970. Boris died a few months after Mikhail died in 1980, but his work remains the more notable of the three thanks to his move to New York and the exposure to working with some of Hollywood’s best directors. 

Herman J. & Joseph L. Mankiewicz 

There wasn’t a rivalry here and both had successful careers, but the younger brother had a little more success than the older one. Herman was the oldest and is widely known for co-writing Citizen Kane with Orson Welles, winning an Oscar. The story of how that project came to be was later portrayed in David Fincher’s Mank, written by his father, Jack Fincher. Herman wrote many screenplays, credited or not, including The Last Command, The Wizard Of Oz, and The Pride Of The Yankees. He sadly died in 1953 from complications of alcoholism while Joseph was one of the biggest writers/directors in Hollywood.  

After success as a producer with MGM, Joseph went to 20th Century Fox to move into the director’s chair. With head Darryl F. Zanuck as producer, Joseph would write and direct A Letter To Three Wives and All About Eve, giving him consecutive Oscars for both Adapted Screenplay and Director, 4 Oscars in two years, while Eve went on to win Best Picture. He continued to have success as an independent with Julius Caesar, The Barefoot Contessa, and his final directorial effort, Sleuth. In the middle of it, Joseph took over the wallet-burning Fox production Cleopatra. He took the job because of the massive offer from Zanuck but came to regret it because of the financial loss it suffered, nearly ending his career. 

Emilio Estevez & Charlie Sheen

The sons of actor Martin Sheen, both at times came together on projects while their personal lives were different. Charlie made his breakthrough in Oliver Stone’s Platoon and Wall Street (the latter co-starring his dad) and later transitioned to TV success with Spin City and Two And A Half Men. Post-firing from Men has been very much covered in the press, from his turbulent relationships to his use of drugs, and then his stunning announcement that he tested positive for HIV after being extorted multiple times to keep it private. 

Emilio, his older brother, was part of the Brat Pack in the 1980s thanks to his performances in The Outsiders, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire. He also went behind the camera starting with the 1986 crime drama Wisdom when he was only 24 years old. He would direct several TV shows and movies, including teaming up with Charlie in Rated X, where they played a pair of real-life porn-producing brothers. He would also direct his father in 2010s The Way, and recently reprised his role as Gordon Bombay in the TV sequel to the famous Mighty Ducks franchise he starred in.

Warner Brothers

I wrote an article about these four brothers and how they went from a united front to a civil war where one brother, whose own Succession story is fascinating, came out with full control. Albert, Jack, Harry, and Sam all formed their first distribution company in the 1900s in Pittsburgh where they hailed from before moving to Los Angeles. On April 4, 1923, Warner Bros. Inc. began and remains 100 years later a major studio in Hollywood. To make a major challenge to their competitors, they pioneered making movies with sound, resulting in The Jazz Singer in 1927, changing movies forever. It was a bittersweet moment, however; Sam died unexpectedly the day before the film’s release.

Jack, the youngest of the four, took full control as head of production left void by Sam, causing friction with his two surviving brothers. His leadership style brought admiration and disgust to many, especially Albert and Harry who saw their brother’s actions costing them money. In 1956, the three men put the studio on the market, but Jack established a syndicate where he bought back all the stock once they sold them on having virtual sole control of the studio. Albert and Harry never spoke to their brother again and Jack never attended their funerals, outliving them both and retiring in the mid-1970s. 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

It’s the summertime and it shines always bright for LGBT Pride month. All the cities get loud and proud regardless of all the hatred from their archrivals, Christian fundamentalists, and today, they are being threatened at all levels. Pride parades are very important to have in the face of discrimination. A lot of movies and TV shows also feature a lot of gay-positive stories and characters today, far from the lack of storylines in the past. A number of them from the past are also very underrated and don’t get recognized as much as other classics. Here are a few that also deserve its recognition as a great LGBT film.

Bound (1996)

In the first film by The Wachowskis, they went with an erotic noir following a female ex-con (Gina Gershon) who seduces a mobster’s girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly) and they plan together to heist millions from them. Also starring Joe Pantoliano, John Ryan, and Christopher Meloni pre-Law & Order: SVU days; the Wachowskis were able to make this on a tight budget with its strong lesbian themes and not be the drive force to the story. It was only their second credited work after Assassins, and from there, they would make The Matrix – an allegory to their identity as transgender women many years later. 

In & Out (1997)

Tom Hanks’ acceptance speech at the Oscars for his performance in Philadelphia inspired Frank Oz’s comedy about a teacher (Kevin Kline) who is engaged, only to see a former student (Matt Dillon) win an Oscar and inadvertently outs him. Joan Cusack received an Oscar nomination as the suddenly-jilted fiancee; Tom Selleck plays a reporter who seeks the backstory and gives his support while the teacher tries to prove that he is straight, but it proves to be difficult to do. It was one of the first mainstream Hollywood gay comedies and handles the subject without the sex and low blow jokes.    

Kinky Boots (2005)

Most will know about the Tony Award-winning musical of this title, but that comes from the original film, which itself is based on a true story. Facing bankruptcy, a shoe factory owner finds a new product to make for an unexpected clientele: boots for drag queens. Joel Edgerton plays the young factory manager who comes up with the dramatic idea to save his business. Chiwetel Ejiofor is the leading drag queen who has to deal with racism and homophobia from the workers who are uncomfortable with his presence. It’s a really charming film and not the only British, true story-based movie on the list.

Pride (2014)

Of course, a film called Pride was going to be there. It is this historical dramedy about a group of activists who form an unlikely partnership to support a major strike by coal miners. The path to their acceptance is tense though, as the miners want nothing to do with them during the opening years of the AIDS pandemic in Britain where homophobia is rife. Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Andrew Scott, Dominic West, and Ben Schenetzer are part of an ensemble that connects the generations through a noble cause and a community of outcasts that proves themselves to be relatable. 

BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017)

Director Robin Campillo used his experience as part of the militant AIDS advocacy group ACT UP as the basis of this electrifying movie which won the Grand Prix at Cannes. As the number of dead rises and the struggle for proper treatment from the government staggers on, the group continues to protest in various ways, even creating chaos on the ground that causes friction and questioning if it is working. Within the drama, a romance blossoms between an outspoken HIV-positive young man and a shy newcomer, even as it becomes obvious they will be short on time together. It’s passionate, it’s fierce, and it is exhilarating to see a heart-pounding story. 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

Despite what may be perceived now as hokey special effects or over the top, low budget fare, these science fiction parables from the seventies era provide intriguing commentary then and now.

Crimes of the Future

Not to be confused with David Cronenberg’s recent, unrelated Crimes of the Future, this 1970 short and its nil budget dystopian bizarre with poor pacing and structural flaws is not for everyone. Fortunately, the silence, slow movement, and stillness match the 1997 concrete, fallen industrialized affluence, and empty isolation. An androgynous cleric clad in black provides an unreliable, detached report on how a cosmetics plague has killed all the women and led to increasing gender and social changes. Red nail polish worn on the left hand or painted toe nails decide who is mugged, beaten, or allowed to consume the “chocolate” secreted by “special” men since there are no women. Repetitive sorting socks or underwear scenes reflect a perverted ritual collection while barefoot and white gloved pedophiles have disturbing secret meetings. Distorted sounds and an in limbo atmosphere create unease as the repression escalates to wicked violence, child trafficking, and terrible sexual deviance all seemingly justified as an attempt to find a cure. It would be fascinating to see Cronenberg redo this as a full bodied film today. Venereal disease references, biological differences, and veiled statements on institutionalizing homosexuals for “therapy” are ahead of their time, and the ironic title belies an upsetting real world horror finale.

Quintet

A solitary, bearded, and bundled Paul Newman (The Hustler) leads this icy, desolate 1979 tale of a snowbound civilization where birds are rare, seal hunting is scarce, and trees are memories. Information is lost and no one is really sure how many years it has been as echoes, broken glass, icicles, and dangerous crackling sounds accent the ruined photos and damaged crystal chandeliers. Despite his chilled exterior, Newman’s Essex isn’t unfeeling. However, he has a list of names due revenge and the killings must play out within the high stakes Quintet rules. The mysterious sixth man in a five player game adds an interesting confusion to the high brow competition, and viewers must pay attention to the one man chess amid coercion, explosions, Latin oaths, slit throats, and assumed identities. Prowling dogs, frozen carcasses, and on location filming at the abandoned Montreal Expo create realism, and the titular pentagon shaped symbolism dominates the futuristic furniture and decor. Although frosted glass and mirrors help hide the small scale production’s cut corners, director Robert Altman’s (The Long Goodbye) Vaseline framed camera lens is too noticeable today as is the stilted start and plodding runtime. At times, the game concepts fall flat and the try hard cult-like tournament mentality doesn’t quite come across. Thankfully, the desperate, nothing left to do but kill pointlessness hits home. Tense shocks and insensitive deceptions accent the cerebral tone as the intriguing melancholy escalates in the final act. This somber, life imitating art statement is eerily prophetic in the notion of games and movies becoming social reality obsessions.

Saturn 3

Underground Titan bases, a twenty-two day eclipse, cut off communication, and evil robots spell doom for Kirk Douglas (Spartacus), Farrah Fawcett (Charlie’s Angels), and Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets) in this 1980 British tale. Certain unnecessary set pieces obviously influenced by Star Wars could have been excised to leave the isolated supply run’s ulterior intentions unknown. Weird scene transitions and erroneously epic music also try hard as uneven, commonplace machine chases are placed above the intriguing personal elements. Choppy editing reveals the behind the scenes troubles before an apparent twist and meandering action underestimate the audience and pad the final twenty minutes. Thankfully, the hydroponics lab is cool with artificially blue tinted water and green lit plants for our couple who has never been to earth, gone outside, or breathed real air. Unfortunately, chess with their machine leads to ominous device sounds and sinister spying while conversations in the shower, sheer robes, nudity, sex, and drug experimentation stir the pot between our older gent, his younger woman, and the newcomer blunt about his desire. Eerie, self re-assembling, advanced, demigod robots intend to replace the once idyllic and now obsolete couple amid symbolic jacking in interfaces, blasting hoses, and heads sliding into the robot cavity. Scary injuries and creepy surgeries create tension alongside arguments, violent tendencies, and foolish attempts to think one can control the intelligent machinery. Though flawed in not focusing on the taut science fiction triangle; references to Hector, Troy, and the original fight over a woman accent the man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself conflicts.

Westworld

Androids run amok in this 1973 sci-fi western written and directed by Michael Crichton (Coma). Crichton’s debut direction is simplistic with of the time slow motion and aimless running to and fro amid preposterous logistics and safety ignorance. Then-futuristic empty white sets and technobabble gibberish are filler alongside big computer wows and now unnecessary pixelated robot viewpoints. The colorful saloon facades, medieval games, and Roman hedonism don’t look that bad considering the paltry million dollar budget, however modern viewers will probably expect more from the catastrophic resort meltdown than a one on one pursuit and abrupt finale. Fortunately, there are mechanical malfunctions, shootouts, feastings, brothels, and bar fights a plenty. Guns, swords, and sex robots add to the cool for James Brolin (Skyjacked) as we fear the gloriously unyielding, Terminator-esque, gunslinger in black Yul Brynner (The King and I). This is the ultimate vacation where man has his decadent and violent desires fulfilled, but it’s all controlled by technicians behind the scenes who eat while they watch the depravity unfold. Guests sleep unaware as suspicious, misbehaving man made machines reset the excess. Are these possibly sentient androids fed up with human seductions and taking matters into their own hands for one destructive hurrah before their batteries fail? Though at times the potential is undercooked, the western meets SF peril provides enough food for thought.

Zardoz

Ruffian Sean Connery (Goldfinger) upsets the hedonist future in this 1974 international production directed by John Boorman (Excalibur) brimming with 2293 post-apocalyptic horseback warriors and a surreal floating head spewing ammunition from its giant mouth. Immortals playing god tell Exterminators to kill the lesser Brutals with guns is good and penis is evil mantras, and understandably the population control allegories can get lost in the often laughable flying head, psychedelic crystals, and giant green pretzels. The overlong, trippy seventies production shows its limitations with goofy happenings, saucy vignettes, and intercut montages strung together via psychic induced strokes and an immortal vortex with a cool decoder ring. Our flying head cruises to the quaint English countryside with relics of the past where jealous women and fey men disturbed by Connery’s masculinity rely on an advanced computer intelligence before being so idle they become catatonic. Trials where the penalty is aging and realizations that what you’ve been led to believe is now the corruption you were trying to prevent provide intriguing nuggets, truth will outs, and revenge. Despite a rushed action finale, man shooting at himself in the mirror to destroy his fallible god and high concepts such as artificial intelligence, cloning, reverse eugenics, and euthanasia overcome the silly design. Modern viewers have to laugh at the ridiculous deus ex machina wizards and nonsensical screaming yet this deserves to be watched more than once for the Tree of Knowledge osmosis, jacking into their matrix insights, and snake in the garden sex making man both savior and destruction.