5 Remarkable Films You Might Have Missed In 2020

5 Remarkable Films You Might Have Missed In 2020: From an inspirational drama dealing with loss, to an action thriller set in a bombed-out city in Iraq, here are five films from 2020 worth seeking out.

Top 10 Movies of 2019

Best Movie I Watched This Week: 'Driven'

Best Movie I Watched This Week: 'The Professor and the Madman'

Best Movie I Watched This Week: 'Anna'

Things you find out when you Google yourself

Have you ever Googled yourself? Come on, admit it. Who hasn’t?

My name pops up in a lot of places on the Internet because I work for a newspaper and have been known to write a story or two. Or 5,000 or 6,000 … but who’s counting? I’ve also posted hundreds of my opinion columns online ... way back when I had the time to write columns.

Once in a while, my name pops up in the strangest places. Until recently, I had no idea that I was mentioned in a book.

It wasn’t exactly a best seller, but there I am on page 456 of “Actors of the Spaghetti Westerns” by James Prickette. I gotta hand it to Mr. Prickette for doing extensive research on the actors who appeared in a series of classic 1960s movies directed by the legendary Sergio Leone.

So how do I fit in with Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Sergio Leone? This is where I applaud Mr. Prickette for doing his homework.

I wrote an article way back in 1989 about actor Lee Van Cleef, who died of a heart attack that December at age of 64. While his name may not have been a household word, everyone who has ever watched Westerns will instantly recognize Van Cleef. It’s a face you won't soon forget.

He’s best known for the “Spaghetti Westerns” that were critical and box-office hits in the mid-1960s and made a star out of a little-known TV actor named Clint Eastwood. Van Cleef played Eastwood’s arch-rival in two of the films, “For A Few Dollars More” in 1965 and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” in 1966.

In the latter film, Van Cleef played “the Bad” of the title trio, with Eastwood (“the Good”) and Eli Wallach (“the Ugly”) handling the other two leads.

I wasn’t working for Variety magazine or The Hollywood Reporter at the time of Van Cleef’s death. Turns out the actor was a native of Somerville, N.J., and I was an editor at the Somerset Messenger Gazette, a community newspaper based in Somerville.

I was also the biggest Clint Eastwood fan around and everyone at the newspaper knew it. While I normally assigned stories to reporters, I decided to write about Van Cleef's untimely passing myself.

It was the first and so far the only opportunity to mention my favorite actor — Clint Eastwood — in a news story.

The article I wrote was titled, “Somerville remembers the good side of a ‘bad guy’” and I was able to track down several local residents who grew up with Van Cleef and remembered him fondly before he went off to Hollywood to make a name for himself in moving pictures.

Back to James Prickette and his book. The author billed the book as “A unique reference book, jammed full of informational tidbits about some of our favorite actors of the genre…”

And he certainly did find unique information, referencing the article I wrote in which I recounted that a young Lee Van Cleef wrote a column for The Messenger Gazette about his experiences in Hollywood. The newspaper featured many dispatches about Van Cleef as his career blossomed in television and eventually the big screen.

Not every small town can boast a well-known actor. Van Cleef would often write letters of thanks to The Messenger Gazette, expressing his gratitude for publicity about his acting career chronicled in his hometown paper.

Prickette used that anecdote and a few others from my article in his book.

So there you have it. A nearly 30-year-old article about Lee Van Cleef found its way into a book and immortality … as long as Google is around.

Tony Phyrillas is editor of The Mercury in Pottstown and remains a huge Clint Eastwood fan to this day.

Into the Spider-Verse is Shockingly Spectacular

That time Tony Phyrillas was mentioned in a book ...

By Tony Phyrillas

Have you ever Googled yourself? Come on, admit it. Who hasn’t? My name pops up in a lot of places on the Internet because I work for a newspaper and have been known to write a story or two. Or 5,000 or 6,000 … but who’s counting? I’ve also posted hundreds of my columns online.

Once in a while my name pops up in the strangest places. Until recently, I had no idea that I was mentioned in a book.

It wasn’t exactly a best seller, but there I am on page 456 of  “Actors of the Spaghetti Westerns” by James Prickette. I gotta hand it to Mr. Prickette for doing his research on the actors who appeared in these classic 1960s movies directed by the legendary Sergio Leone.

So how do I fit in with Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Sergio Leone? This is where I applaud Mr. Prickette for doing his research.

I wrote an article in 1989 about actor Lee Van Cleef, who died of a heart attack that December at age 64. While his name may not have been a household word, everyone who’s ever watched Westerns will instantly recognize Van Cleef. It’s a face you don’t soon forget.

He’s best known for the “Spaghetti Westerns” that were all the rage in the mid-1960s and made a superstar out of a little-known TV actor named Clint Eastwood. Van Cleef played Eastwood’s arch-rival in two of the films, “For A Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

In the latter film, Van Cleef played “the Bad” of the title trio, with Eastwood and Eli Wallach handling the other two leads.

I wasn’t working for The Hollywood Reporter at the time of Van Cleef’s death. Turns out the actor was a native of Somerville, N.J., and I was an editor at the Somerset Messenger Gazette, a weekly community newspaper in Somerville.

I was also the biggest Clint Eastwood fan around and everyone at the newspaper knew it. So while I normally assigned stories to reporters, I decided to write about Van Cleef myself. It was the first – and so far only opportunity – to mention my favorite actor – Clint Eastwood – in a news story.

The article I wrote was titled, “Somerville remembers the good side of a ‘bad guy’” and I was able to find a few local residents who grew up with Van Cleef and remembered him before he went off to Hollywood to make a name for himself in the movies.

Back to James Prickette and his book. The author billed the book as “A unique reference book, jammed full of informational tidbits about some of our favorite actors of the genre…”

And he certainly did his homework, referencing the article I wrote in which I recounted that a young Van Cleef wrote a column for The Messenger Gazette about his experiences in Hollywood. The newspaper featured many articles about Van Cleef as his career blossomed.

Not every small town can boast a well-known actor. Van Cleef would often write letters of thanks to The Gazette, expressing his gratitude for the publicity about his acting career.

Prickette used that anecdote and a few others from my article in his book.

So there you have it. A nearly 30-year-old article about Lee Van Cleef found its way into a book and immortality … as long as Google is around.

Why 'Shrek 2' is a Perfect Sequel

Schaffrillas Productions 'Why Disney's Twist Villains Don't Work' Goes Viral - 1.3 Million Views

Very proud of my son James Phyrillas, whose latest video on his YouTube channel has gone viral and has been viewed more than 1.3 million times in just one week. The video about Disney villains attracted several thousand new fans for his YouTube channel, which now has more than 60,000 subscribers. Check out his work at the link below.

Birthday Wishes to Michael Constantine

Birthday wishes to actor Michael Constantine, who turns 86 today. The co-star of the smash hit  movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is a Reading, Pa., native and a member of my church, Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Reading. The photo above was taken a church fundraiser that both of us attended a few years back. Michael Constantine has been a fixture in television and movies since the 1950s. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" remains among the Top 100 all-time box office hits. His best-known television role came in the series "Room 222," which ran on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The role of principal Seymour Kaufman earned Constantine an Emmy Award in 1970.

'Identity Thief' Tops Weekend Box Office

You know it wasn't a banner weekend for Hollywood when the biggest film opening stars Jason Bateman.

The Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy "Identify Thief" - essentially a TV movie of the week - was No. 1 at the weekend box office, earning slightly more than $36 million.

The weekend box office was weak all around. It didn't help matters that most of the Northeastern United States was digging out of a huge snowstorm, but there's few films in wide release worth seeing this time of year.

'Identity Thief' Tops Weekend Box Office

Ultra-violent films dominate box office

Two of the most violent films ever released - 'Texas Chainsaw 3-D' and 'Django Unchained' - finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, at the box office over the weekend, earning a combined $53.1 million.

And liberals, including Hollywood hypocrites who profit from releasing these ultra-violent films, are up-in-arms about the legal ownership of guns? Gimme a break!

'Texas Chainsaw 3-D' carves out No. 1 debut with $23M

WashPost Blames Trayvon Shooting On ... Dirty Harry Movies?

Liberals are grasping at straws.

"Dirty Harry" was released in 1971 and is pretty tame compared to today's movies and video games.

WashPost Blames Trayvon Shooting On...Dirty Harry Movies? | NewsBusters.org

'Hunger Games' Passes $300M At Box Office

For the third weekend in a row, "The Hunger Games" was the top draw at the box office, earning $33.5 million over the Easter weekend, bringing it's total domestic gross to $302 million.

"American Reunion" was No. 2 this weekend with an estimated $21.5 million, and "Titanic 3D" earned $17.3 million.

Rentrak Announces Official Box Office Numbers for Weekend of April 6, 2012

'The Hunger Games' Earns $155M at Weekend Box Office

BoxOfficeMojo.com estimates "The Hunger Games" has earned $155 million this weekend, easily taking the No. 1 spot at the box office. Since its March 23 opening with record-breaking midnight showings, "Hunger Games" has earned an astounding $215 million.

The film should easily top $300 million to become one of the biggest box-office hits of all time. Can you say next big franchi$e?

From Ray Subers analysis:

The odds were definitely in The Hunger Games favor this weekend: the big screen adaptation of the immensely popular young adult novel opened to an enormous estimated $155 million, which ranks third all-time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million). Remarkably, it debuted above all of the Twilight movies, and it also topped Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million) for highest debut ever for a non-sequel.

Among all the impressive Hunger Games statistics, two lesser-discussed ones are worth highlighting. First, the movie had an incredible hold on Saturday—it only fell 25 percent to $51 million, which ranks second all-time behind Spider-Man 3 ($51.3 million). This suggests that demand for The Hunger Games exists across a wide array of moviegoers, and isn't just rooted in the type of rabid fans that drove the front-loaded openings for recent Harry Potter and Twilight movies.

Read more at BoxOfficeMojo.com

'The Hunger Games' midnight opening makes box-office history

Top movie website IMDb (Internet Movie Database) announced Friday that 'The Hunger Games' has shattered the all-time record for No. 1 non-sequel midnight opening in history.

The film now ranks as the #7 highest-grossing midnight opening of all time, earning $19.7 million, according to IMDb.

The Top 10 Midnight Openings of All Time*

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $43.5 million

2. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - $30.3 million

3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - $30.1 million

4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon - $26.3 million

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - $24 million

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - $22.2 million

7. The Hunger Games - $19.7 million

8. The Dark Knight - $18.5 million

9. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - $16.5 million

9. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $16 million

* Source: IMDb, the #1 movie website in the world

Happy Valentine's Day: Best Screen Kisses

'The Amazing Spider-Man' Trailer

HBO Sarah Palin Film: 'Game Change' Trailer