On this day in movie history - Monolith (2022):

Monolith

directed by Matt Vesely,

written by Lucy Campbell,

was released at the Adelaide Film Festival in Australia on October 27, 2022.
Music by Benjamin Speed.

Cast:

Lily Sullivan, Ling Cooper Tang, Ansuya Nathan, Erik Thomson, Terence Crawford, Matt Crook, Kate Box, Rashidi Edward, Brigid Zengeni, Belle Kalendra-Harding, Chase Coleman, Damon Herriman, Rebecca Summerton, Janet Tan.

On this day in music history - Key of Sea: 10 Year Special Edition (2017):

The album Key of Sea: 10 Year Special Edition,

by Jennifer Thomas,

was released on October 27, 2017.

On this day in movie history - The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999):

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

directed by Luc Besson,

written by Luc Besson and Andrew Birkin,

was released in France on October 27, 1999.
Music by Éric Serra.

Cast:

Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Andrew Birkin, Jane Valentine, Vincent Cassel, Pascal Greggory, Richard Ridings, Desmond Harrington, Timothy West, Gina McKee, Tchéky Karyo, Joseph Malerba, Vincent Regan.

On this day in movie history - Leaving Las Vegas (movie & novel):

Leaving Las Vegas

directed and written by Mike Figgis,

based on the semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1995.

Music by Mike Figgis.

Cast:

Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands, Richard Lewis, Steven Weber, Kim Adams, Emily Procter, Stuart Regen, Valeria Golino, Graham Beckel, Albert Henderson, Shashi Bhatia, Carey Lowell, Anne Lange, Thomas Kopache, Vincent Ward, Lucinda Jenney, French Stewart, Ed Lauter, Waldemar Kalinowski, Mike Figgis, David Kriegel, Bill Thompson, Marek Stabrowski, R. Lee Ermey, Mariska Hargitay, Danny Huston, Laurie Metcalf, David Brisbin, Shawnee Smith, Paul Quinn, Julian Lennon, Tracy Thorne, Bob Rafelson, Susan Barnes, Marc Coppola, Michael A. Goorjian, Jeremy Jordan, Davidlee Willson, Xander Berkeley, Sergio Premoli, Gordon Michaels, Lou Rawls, Sunit Gupta, Camille King, Greg Miller.

Recommended reading:

Leaving Las Vegas

By John O’Brien.

Published by Grove Press.

First published 1990.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 080212593X

ISBN-13: 978-0802125934

Description:

Leaving Las Vegas, the first novel by John O’Brien, is a disturbing and emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it. Sera, a prostitute, and Ben, an alcoholic, stumble together and discover in each other a respite from their unforgiving lives. A testimony to the raw talent of its young author, Leaving Las Vegas is a compelling story of unconditional love between two disenfranchised and lost souls – an overlooked American classic.

“There is not a false note in the novel . . . O’Brien has a strong tradition behind him here, that of American naturalism, and he fits into it well. From Stephen Crane to Hubert Selby, Jr. . . . [O’Brien] achieves real power in his writing. You seldom encounter it anymore, but when you do you know you’ve been properly whacked by a real talent.” – New York Daily News.

“Here is that rarest jewel, a really fine novel. It’s a magical piece of work, one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. John O’Brien has a very great talent.” – Larry Brown, author of Joe and Big Bad Love.

“This book is not only dark and dire, it is crushing. How can a novel so absolutely devoid of hope be so gripping? The portrait of Sera and Ben is a tour de force – masterful and relentless. Leaving Las Vegas is the strongest and most extreme look at alcohol I’ve ever read. This book moved and bothered me and weeks later it is still in my mind. I think O’Brien is simply terrific.” – Ron Carlson, author of Plan B for the Middle Class.

“A brutal and unflinching portrait of the low life in the city of high rollers, Leaving Las Vegas is both shocking and curiously exhilarating. John O’Brien was a stunningly talented writer who created poetry from the most squalid materials. This is a beautiful and horrifying novel.” – Jay McInerney, author of Brightness Falls.

On this day in movie history - Kill Me Again (1989):

Kill Me Again

directed by John Dahl,

written by John Dahl and Rick Dahl,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1989.
Music by William Olvis.

Cast:

Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen, Robert Schuch, Duane Tucker, Molly Flanegin, Dominic Dinino, Daniel Dorse, Bibi Besch, Jim Boeke, Jon Gries, Michael Sharrett, Debby Lynn Ross, Pat Mulligan, Nick Dimitri, Stanley Brown, Dan Sturdivant, Jeff Morrell, Jeff LeBeau, Michael Greene, James Henriksen, Lee Wilkof, Joseph Carberry, Roy Kieffer, Victoria Hirsch, Ralph M. Cardinale, Bruce Claessens, Darrel Wayne, Sheldon Haun, Jeri Arredondo, Hubert Ergenbright, Jeff Smolek, David Ward.

On this day in movie history - The Valachi Papers (movie & book):

The Valachi Papers

directed by Terence Young,

written by Stephen Geller, Massimo De Rita and Dino Maiuri,

based on the book by Peter Maas,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1972.
Music by Armando Trovajoli and Riz Ortolani.

Cast:

Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Amedeo Nazzari, Fausto Tozzi, Pupella Maggio, Angelo Infanti, Guido Leontini, María Baxa, Mario Pilar, Franco Borelli, Alessandro Sperli, Natasha Chevelev, Anthony Dawson, Fred Valleca, John Alarimo, Calogero Azzaretto, Joe Don Baker, Steve Belloise, Angelo Boscariol, Nestore Cavaricci, Massimo Ciprari, Giacomo De Michelis, Bruno Di Luia, Gianni Di Segni, Richard Dunne, Arny Freeman, Alfonso Giganti, Ron Gilbert, Frank Gio, Syl Lamont, Imelde Marani, Isabelle Marchall, Jason McCallum, Franco Ressel, Sabine Sun, Robert Trout, Steve Vignari.

Recommended reading:

The Valachi Papers

By Peter Maas.

Published by Harper Perennial.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006050742X

ISBN-13: 978-0060507428

Description:

“As fascinating as fiction, a bloody history of the Mafia as lived by one of its members." – New York Times Book Review.

The First Inside Account of the Mafia.

The Valachi Papers is a biography written by Peter Maas, telling the true story of former mafia member Joe Valachi, a low-ranking member of the New York based Genovese crime family, was the first ever government witness coming from the American Mafia itself. His account of his criminal past revealed many previously unknown details of the Mafia. The book was made into a film (The Valachi Papers), released in 1972, starring Charles Bronson as Valachi. In October 1963, Valachi testified before Senator John L. McClellan's congressional committee on organized crime, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations. In the so-called Valachi hearings he gave the American public a firsthand account of Mafia activities in the United States.

In the 1960s a disgruntled soldier in New York's Genovese Crime Family decided to spill his guts. His name was Joseph Valachi. Daring to break the Mob's code of silence for the first time, Valachi detailed the organization of organized crime from the capos, or bosses, of every Family, to the hit men who "clipped" rivals and turncoats. With a phenomenal memory for names, dates, addresses, phone numbers – and where the bodies were buried – Joe Valachi provided the chilling facts that led to the arrest and conviction of America's major crime figures.

The rest is history.

Never again would the Mob be protected by secrecy. For the Mafia, Valachi's name would become synonymous with betrayal. But his stunning exposé broke the back of America's Cosa Nostra and stands today as the classic about America's Mob, a fascinating tale of power and terror, big money, crime. . . and murder.

The bloody history of the Mafia as lived by one of its members.

“A highly readable narrative…. A story littered with bodies and unsolved crimes, betrayals and beatings, oaths, ritual, and revenge.” – Newsweek.

“A classic on crime.” – Life.

On this day in movie history - Rebel Without a Cause (1955):

Rebel Without a Cause

directed by Nicholas Ray,

written by Stewart Stern and Irving Shulman,

based on a story by Nicholas Ray,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1955.
Music by Leonard Rosenman.

Cast:

James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt, Steffi Sidney, Marietta Canty, Virginia Brissac, Beverly Long, Ian Wolfe, Frank Mazzola, Robert Foulk, Jack Simmons, Tom Bernard, Nick Adams, Jack Grinnage, Clifford Morris, Dorothy Abbott, David Alpert, Jimmy Baird, Paul Birch, Harold Bostwick, Paul Bryar, John Close, Chuck Hamilton, Chuck Hicks, Skipper Huerta, Louise Lane, Nelson Leigh, David McMahon, Edward McNally, Peter Miller, Ralph Moratz, Bruce Noonan, House Peters Jr., Stephanie Pond-Smith, Charles Postal, Nicholas Ray, Gus Schilling, Almira Sessions, Joel Smith, Bert Stevens, Dick Wessel, Robert B. Williams.