Ben Gazzara, whose long and brilliant career in theater and film was characterized by a magnetic and mischievous Method intensity, has died at age 81, according to the New York Times. The cause was pancreatic cancer.

On stage, Gazzara, the son of blue-collar Italian immigrants, was a Tony-nominated actor who played Brick in the original 1955 Broadway run of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. On screen, he starred in such classics as 1959′s Anatomy of a Murder. But his best work often came thanks to his association with longtime pal John Cassavetes, who treated Gazzara as a sort of muse in such dark, independent films as 1970′s Husbands and 1976′s The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Gazzara wasn’t just interested in arthouse experimentation — he was a familiar face on TV in such shows as Run For Your Life in the ’60s, and more recently he appeared in beloved pop movies like Road House and The Big Lebowski.

Image Credit: Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox

We can all agree that February is the shortest month of the year. That’s even true in a leap year like this, when Science lets February have an extra day. Now, where February is a good month for movies is extremely debatable. It’s not a dumping ground, like January; it’s also not a platform for releasing not-ready-for-Summer action movies, like March; and most of the best movies that “open” in February are just hitting the festival circuit. (The average civilian won’t get to see those movies until this time next year, when they’re disappointingly nominated for Best Picture.) But February is full of surprises — remember when Cedar Rapids opened last year? — and the most important movie to see this weekend is certainly a big surprise:

1. Chronicle
As superhero movies have become more popular, their essential formula has also become undeniably stale: An origin story, a love interest, a hero struggling to triumph over personal issues while simultaneously struggling to save the world. And then there’s Chronicle. Commercials have emphasized the movie’s found-footage aesthetic, but the film’s real achievement is making the possibility of superpowers feel new again, decades after Peter Parker got bitten by a radioactive spider. READ FULL STORY »