As regular Cinema Retro web site readers know, we frequently link to stories on Variety's site. However, Variety has instituted some new requirements as part of a new business plan. Initially, readers will be asked to register with Variety in order to access the articles. This service is free, but of course, it's up to our readers to decide whether they want to opt to provide this information. In the months to come, Variety intends to limit access to their articles to those who are paid subscribers. This is part of what might be a trend among many other newspapers and magazines that are trying to reverse the long-held notion that virtually all web-based articles are provided free-of-charge. The result of that policy has been the demise of many print publications and the financial weakening of those that survive. We will keep readers informed when and if access to Variety articles is restricted to paid subscribers.

Critic and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz laments the decline of top talents John Travolta and Robin Williams, as evidenced by their co-starring in the recent comedy Old Dogs. Mankiewicz says the film is so bad it makes you desire to watch Battlefield Earth just to escape the ineptness on screen. The larger point he makes is that the film epitomizes the by-the-numbers techniques that dominate big screen comedies today - and the once proud stars who will appear in anything in return for a paycheck. To read click here

Writer Matt Zoller Seitz writes an informative article in the New York Times extolling the virtues of Bob Fosse's autobiographical 1979 film All That Jazz. The movie was highly acclaimed at the time of its release, 30 years ago this month. However, in recent years, it has fallen under the radar screen and is rarely shown on the art house circuit. Seitz points out the many daring techniques Fosse employed on the film, which starred Roy Scheider in an Oscar-nominated performance. If the film remains under-valued, so does Scheider, who- with the exception of this movie- was pigeon-holed as an action star. Consequently, as he became too old for that genre, the best films and roles dried up and this superb thespian often ended up in little-seen movies that went straight to video. To read click here

Al Pacino is taking matters into his own hands. Faced with a dearth of good screen roles for older leading men, Pacino has personally optioned the rights to Philip Roth's latest novel, The Humbling. Pacino will star as a washed up stage actor who reinvigorates his life through a relationship with a younger woman. Barry Levinson will direct and Buck Henry will write the screenplay. For more click here