Alienator is a 1990 science fiction film directed by Fred Olen Ray , produced by Jeffrey C. Hogue , and starring Jan-Michael Vincent .
39-552: The film was described by Leonard Maltin and confirmed by Fred Olen Ray to be a "semi- remake " of the 1957 film The Astounding She-Monster . Robert Clarke , who starred in that film, also appears in Alienator . Kol, an alien criminal, escapes from a spaceship into the woods of an American suburb . The commander of the spaceship dispatches "the Alienator"—a deadly gynoid , to capture Kol. She relentlessly pursues Kol and
78-526: A "guest star" on Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its original run; during a Season Nine episode, he joins Pearl Forrester in torturing Mike Nelson and the bots with the film Gorgo . He was also mocked on the show for giving the film Laserblast a rating of 2.5 stars. After Mike and the Bots finish watching the movie, they express amazement at the rating while Mike reads off a list of well-known films that Maltin gave similar ratings to. Maltin hosted
117-576: A circulation of 400 in 11 countries. He expanded the circulation to 2,000 and continued to publish it until 1974. In the December 1968 issue of Esquire magazine, he wrote an article listing his 75 best movies shown on television and the 25 worst. He also wrote for Classic Images . He created a film society at Teaneck High School and graduated in 1968. Maltin later earned a journalism degree at New York University . While at New York University, Maltin became film critic and associate editor for
156-561: A compilation of National Film Board of Canada animated shorts, Leonard Maltin's Animation Favorites from the National Film Board of Canada . Comedian Doug Benson 's podcast Doug Loves Movies features a segment called the Leonard Maltin Game, in which the guest must guess the name of a film based on a subset of the cast list in reverse order and a few intentionally vague clues from the capsule review of
195-807: A decade, Maltin was also on the faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City . As of 2018, Maltin teaches in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California . In 1990, he took a look at the MGM years of The Three Stooges in a film called The Lost Stooges , available on a made-to-order DVD through the Warner Archive Collection . Maltin left Entertainment Tonight in 2010. His final appearance on
234-909: A film festival called MaltinFest at the Egyptian Theater that spanned three days. Special guests included Laura Dern and Alexander Payne . Since 2018, Maltin has served on the advisory board for Legion M . In 2022, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as part of the Member at Large branch. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide has been praised by comedian Patton Oswalt who described it as "A paperback Kubrickian monolith of one man's massive and far-reaching tastes." Other admirers include Noah Baumbach , Alexander Payne , and Billy Bob Thornton . In The Simpsons episode " A Star Is Burns ", Marge says: "Did you know there are over 600 critics on TV and Leonard Maltin
273-502: A group of teenagers who find him without knowing his past. Alienator was originally set for release between May and August in 1989. Prism Entertainment announced in November 1989 to release the film along with Time Troopers in late December. Prism later released the film on February 8, 1990. On March 19, 2013, the film was released on DVD by Shout! Factory as part of a two-disc "Action-Packed Movie Marathon" set, which contains
312-504: A larger number of more recent titles. In 1970, his second book, Movie Comedy Teams , was published featuring teams such as Laurel and Hardy , the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello . Maltin wrote program guides for the newly created Showtime network and went on to publish articles in a variety of film journals, newspapers, and magazines, including Variety and TV Guide . In the 1970s Maltin also reviewed recordings in
351-479: A total of four films. On June 13, 2017, the film was released on Blu-ray by Scream Factory , featuring a commentary track by director Fred Olen Ray. From contemporary reviews, "Lor." of Variety reviewed the AIP video cassette on November 18, 1989. "Lor." declared the film to be a "tongue-in cheek sci-fi thriller geared towards home video fans with a soft spot for the old stars and old-fashioned serials." "Lor." noted
390-544: Is named for her). In July 2018, Maltin announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three and a half years prior. In 1998, Maltin settled a libel suit brought by former child star Billy Gray , of Father Knows Best fame, whom Maltin identified in his review of the film Dusty and Sweets McGee as a real-life drug addict and dealer. The statement had appeared in print in Maltin's annual movie guide for nearly 25 years before Maltin publicly apologized for
429-494: Is the best looking of them all?" Lisa replies "Ewwww!" In the 1995 video release of the original Star Wars trilogy, there was an interview with George Lucas conducted by Maltin before the start of the films. Maltin is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's shortest movie review; his two-star review of the 1948 musical Isn't It Romantic? consists of the word "No". Maltin voices himself in
SECTION 10
#1732786973145468-518: The South Park episode " Mecha-Streisand " (1998) where he (voiced by Trey Parker ), Sidney Poitier , and Robert Smith fight a Godzilla -like robot version of Barbra Streisand . Maltin voiced himself in the Freakazoid! episode "Island of Dr. Mystico", in which the titular villain, Dr. Mystico, abducted him to make use of his film knowledge. Maltin was one of the few people to appear as
507-605: The Robert Osborne Award from Turner Classic Movies in 2022. Maltin was born in New York City, the son of singer Jacqueline ( née Gould; 1923–2012) and Aaron Isaac Maltin (1915–2002), a lawyer and immigration judge, as part of a Jewish family, and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey . Maltin began his writing career at age 10, with a weekly magazine called The Bergen Bulletin . At 13, he started writing for
546-483: The 2016 BoJack Horseman episode "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew" where the titular character attends the Leonard Maltin Awards. The episode features two references to Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide on a cocktail menu that lists two of its items as "Isn't it Rum and Coke ? No" (a reference to Maltin's infamous review of Isn't It Romantic? ) and "Jaeger BOMB," with the second word stylized in the same manner as
585-632: The Los Angeles International Animation Celebration ) on the show at one point or another. He also appeared on the Starz cable network, and hosted his own syndicated radio program, Leonard Maltin on Video , as well as the syndicated TV show Hot Ticket with Boston film critic Joyce Kulhawik (originally E! personality and game show host Todd Newton ). Maltin also hosted a television show called Secret's Out on ReelzChannel network. He also spearheaded
624-966: The NAL was reintegrated into the Penguin Publishing Company. Penguin had been purchased by Pearson PLC in 1970. In 2013, Pearson PLC merged Penguin with Bertelsmann owned Random House to form Penguin Random House . New American Library is currently part of the Penguin Publishing Group, where it is a sister imprint to the Berkley Publishing Group . In June 2015 it was announced by Penguin that starting in fall of 2016, Berkley would publish fiction titles while New American Library would publish only non-fiction titles. According to Berkley/NAL Publishing Group president Leslie Gelbman this "will delineate
663-583: The Penguin and Pelican trademarks) were bought by Victor Weybright and Kurt Enoch (formerly head of Albatross Books ). Enoch served as president of New American Library from 1947 to 1965. He later served as head of Book Publishing at Times Mirror and then stepped down to Vice-President when John P. R. Budlong became president of New American Library in 1965. NAL's productions were not limited to softbound reprints. Original works of mystery, romance, and adventure proved to be profitable and popular. In 1963
702-478: The Pennsylvania-based 8mm Collector , with a column called Research Unlimited, where he answered film questions. He began writing a monthly column for a Canadian publication, Film Fan Monthly , edited by Daryl Davy, dedicated to films from the golden age of Hollywood. In May 1966, Davy asked 15-year-old Maltin if he would take over as editor and sold the publication to him for $ 175. At the time it had
741-580: The Signet Books edition of From Here to Eternity had been sold. The McCarthy era of the 1950s is notorious for its attacks upon communism and communistic influences in American life, and the object of federal investigations and trials was to eliminate this perceived threat and extinguish any and all communistic elements. NAL became involved with the censorship trials when certain books were deemed inflammatory and subsequently banned. Victor Weybright
780-543: The Times Mirror Company for over $ 50 million. At the time of the sale New American Library had over 1 billion paperback books in print. In 1985 New American Library acquired E.P. Dutton, an independent hardcover and trade publisher. During this period there was pressure for paperback publishers to add hardcover divisions. NAL had started publishing hardcovers in 1980 with mixed success and determined that Dutton would give them an edge in that space. In 1987,
819-421: The book was regularly updated and then annually updated from October 1987 until September 2014, each edition having the following year's date. The book was later known as Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide and eventually Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide . In 2005, many films released no later than 1960 were moved into a spin-off volume, Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide , to allow the regular book to cover
SECTION 20
#1732786973145858-465: The censors. New York University Library received the NAL archive as a gift from the NAL in the spring of 1965. NAL witnessed several changes in ownership beginning in the 1960s. In 1960 Times Mirror of Los Angeles bought NAL; however, NAL continued to operate autonomously within the Mirror Company and management remained unchanged. In 1983 Odyssey Partners and Ira J. Hechler bought NAL from
897-443: The company began publishing original publications in hardback format, such as the immensely popular James Bond "007" series written by Ian Fleming . NAL also published new "quality" paperback editions of classic works—for example, a Shakespeare series—which featured renowned scholars, editors, and translators. Many of those editions were oriented toward a high school and college readership. Those paperbound books included subjects in
936-759: The creation of the Walt Disney Treasures collectible DVD line in 2001, and continued to provide creative input and host the various sets. During the 1980s and 1990s, Maltin served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute . In the mid-1990s, Maltin became the president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and is on the advisory board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. For nearly
975-475: The error. New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL ) is an American publisher based in New York , founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishes trade and hardcover titles. It is currently an imprint of Penguin Random House ; it was announced in 2015 that
1014-516: The film "suffers from a weak script" that gave Jan-Michael Vincent and John Phillip Law little to do while P.J. Soles is "stuck in a rather goofy costume as an outer space technician". Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic , film historian , and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews , Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide , published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin
1053-764: The film from Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide . Maltin appeared on the podcast in February 2010 and played the game himself. He appeared on the show again in August 2010. In November 2010, Benson and Maltin played the game on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show . Maltin repeated his appearances on Doug Loves Movies in September 2011 with Jimmy Pardo and Samm Levine , in September 2012 with Chris Evans and Adam Scott and in November 2013 with Peter Segal , " Werner Herzog " and Clare Kramer . Beginning in November 2014, Maltin has hosted
1092-509: The first film a bad review, finding it mean-spirited, which affected his friendship with director Joe Dante . The scene was spoofed in the Mad magazine parody of Gremlins 2 , in which he protests being eaten as Roger Ebert gives a worse review of the film, only for the Gremlins to remark they are waiting until Thanksgiving to find Ebert, as "he will feed a family of 15!". Maltin was parodied in
1131-451: The humanities, the arts, and the sciences. NAL also published at least two notable "magazines in book form": New World Writing in the 1950s and early 1960s, and New American Review in the latter 1960s and early 1970s (which then moved on to other publishers as American Review ). NAL enjoyed great success: by 1965, its Mentor and Signet books annually sold over 50 million volumes. In 1956 NAL reported that "over 3 million copies" of
1170-526: The imprint would publish only nonfiction titles. New American Library (NAL) began life as Penguin U.S.A. and as part of Penguin Books of England. Because of complexities of exchange control and import and export regulations—Penguin made the decision to terminate the association, and the company was renamed the New American Library of World Literature in 1948 when Penguin Books' assets (excluding
1209-507: The jazz magazine Downbeat . Maltin served as the film critic for Playboy for six years based on Roger Ebert 's suggestion. He has also wrote Behind the Camera , a study of cinematography published in 1971. Starting on May 29, 1982, Maltin was the film reviewer on the syndicated television series Entertainment Tonight for 30 years. He praised the Tournee of Animation (alongside
Alienator - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-615: The lowest rating Maltin would give movies. In the South Park episode " Mecha-Streisand ", a parody of Maltin comes to the small Colorado town and transforms into a giant robot to battle a mechanised Barbra Streisand . In 2020, a Leonard Maltin board game was released called King of Movies: The Leonard Maltin Game. Maltin lives in Los Angeles. He is married to researcher and producer Alice Tlusty, and has one daughter, Jessie, who works with him (his production company, JessieFilm,
1287-570: The podcast Maltin on Movies . It began on Paul Scheer 's now-defunct Wolfpop network, with comedian and actor Baron Vaughn as a co-host. The two picked a topic generally based on what was currently in theaters and discussed three other movies within that topic: one that the two both liked, one that the two disliked and one they thought was a great lesser-known film, or " sleeper ", within the category. Topics included biopics, breakthrough performances and sequels. Maltin currently co-hosts with his daughter Jessie Maltin. From 2014 to 2019, Maltin hosted
1326-685: The quarterly Treasures From the Disney Vault on Turner Classic Movies . The last scheduled "Treasures from the Disney Vault" aired on September 2, 2019. Beginning in 2016, Maltin has served as the Honorary Head Juror of the Coronado Island Film Festival . In 2020, the festival named their top award The Leonard Maltin Tribute Award . In 2019, Maltin along with his daughter Jessie Maltin created
1365-503: The show as a regular correspondent was on July 19, 2010. He also wrote the introduction for The Complete Peanuts: 1983–1984 . In 1985, he delivered a three-word movie review on Entertainment Tonight for that year's horror film spoof, Transylvania 6-5000 . The review begins with a silent Maltin swaying to a recording of the Glenn Miller Orchestra playing "Pennsylvania 6-5000", the instrumental melody interrupted by
1404-500: The sound of a telephone ringing (part of the original recording), after which the band chants the title of the song. In his review, Maltin timed it so that his review began with the phone ringing: " Transylvania 6-5000 ... stinks!" Maltin also appeared as himself in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), playing a film critic who blasts the first Gremlins film, but is attacked by the Gremlins. This scene echoed real life, as Maltin gave
1443-508: The university's Washington Square Journal , as well as continuing to edit Film Fan Monthly . An English teacher at Teaneck High School suggested that Maltin meet a friend of hers at publisher New American Library who was looking for someone to edit a film guide and in September 1969, at age 18, Maltin edited his first book, TV Movies , a compendium of synopses and reviews, with the subtitle, "Everything You Want To Know About More than 8,000 Movies Now Being Shown on TV". In subsequent years,
1482-570: Was asked to testify before a 1952 House Committee that examined pornography. Rather than accept government restrictions, Weybright endorsed a self-regulated censorship policy on the part of publishing companies. Weybright commented thus: I pointed out with some justification, but certainly not as my basic argument, that the Mentor list was essential as part of the character and prestige of our company and an indispensable exhibit when our more daring fiction—by Faulkner, Farrell, and Caldwell—was attacked by
1521-689: Was the film critic on Entertainment Tonight from 1982 to 2010. He currently teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and hosts the weekly podcast Maltin on Movies . He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association , and votes for films to be selected for the National Film Registry . He has written books on animation and the history of film. He has also hosted numerous specials and provided commentary for several films. In 2021, he released his memoir, Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood . He received
#144855