On this day in movie history - Leaving Las Vegas (1995):

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.

The Shining, by Bernie Wrightson:

As a follow–on to my tribute to Bernie Wrightson, who sadly died last Sunday, I include the piece below.

This artwork is for the 1997 three–part mini–series, directed by Mick Garris, and adapted for TV by Stephen King, from his novel: The Shining.

I’m sad to say that, even with a decent ensemble cast: Steven Weber, Rebecca De Mornay, Elliott Gould, Cynthia Garris, Lisa Thornhill, Jan Van Sickle, and even a cameo appearance by Stephen King himself,  the TV adaptation is my least favorite, and I will be going more into that in a future blog, as a comparison between the novel, Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie, and Mick Garris 1997 TV version:

For now, in further tribute to Bernie Wrightson’s talent, here is his piece for TV Guide magazine, dated April 26, 1997: