Thrilla in Manila
8 pm/ET HBO
This documentary is an engrossing look at one of boxing's most famous events, the third heavyweight meeting of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The story is told from the viewpoint of the less-flamboyant Frazier, who felt incensed and betrayed by the taunts of Ali. It also focuses on the dramatic conclusion of that fight after 14 rounds — and the consequences that haunt both fighters today.
Read on for previews of Love Finds a Home, Naked Brothers Band, Nora Roberts' Tribute and The Ten Commandments.
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Charlton Heston an Oscar winner for his 1958 performance as Ben-Hur and well-known for his portrayals of such figures as Moses Michelangelo and El Cid died Saturday night at age 84 with his wife Lydia at his side A family spokesman declined to comment on the cause of death but Heston in 2002 was revealed to have symptoms consistent with Alzheimers diseaseCharlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life his family said in a statement He was known for his chiseled jaw broad shoulders and resonating voice and of course for the roles he played No one could ask for a fuller life than his No man could have given more to his family to his profession and to his countryThe actors publicist tells the AP If Hollywood had a Mt Rushmore Hestons face would be on it He was a heroic figure that I dont think exists to the same degree in Hollywood todayOff-screen Heston served as president of the Screen Actors Guild chairman of the American Film Institute
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"What's with all the carnage lately?" a viewer e-mailed me recently. He has a point. The body count on TV this season has been unusually high.
For some, these tragic twists seem like cheap stunts, a real turn-off. For me, they're a reason to tune in. Not because I'm blood thirsty. But on shows where the stakes are high — shows like 24, Lost, The Shield, The Sopranos, even a fantasy like Smallville — I expect to be taken out of my comfort zone into a world where bad things can happen at any time to characters we care about.
Facing mortality is essential to any morality play. When Shannon was fatally shot by Ana Lucia on Lost, it cast a pall of suspicion and grief over the merging of the survivors. When Smallville's Clark Kent lost his beloved father figure Jonathan to a heart attack, it was a necessary rite of passage for this superhero-in-the-making.
Nowhere has the death rate been higher than on 24
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Question: Is ABC just not airing the Charlton Heston version of The Ten Commandments this year? I'll give the new version a run, but this is kind of something I look forward to every year. I do understand there is a DVD, by the way.
Answer: Consider this a public service: To steal from my upcoming review, the best thing I can say about the deadly dull and completely unnecessary new remake of The Ten Commandments is that ABC hasn't given up on running the 1956 classic version. My advice: Skip the new miniseries when it airs April 10 and 11, and wait until Saturday, April 15, when the Charlton Heston version airs. And yes, a 50th-anniversary edition DVD of Cecil B. DeMille's Oscar-winning spectacular has just been issued, packaged with DeMille's earlier (and by some accounts superior) 1923 silent version ...
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Question: I haven't heard anything about Charlton Heston lately. I know he's sick and I'd like to know how he's doing. Has Hollywood forgotten this great actor?
Answer: Charlton Heston, the two-fisted star of films that include The Ten Commandments (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959), has Alzheimer's disease-like symptoms, and in 2003 he stepped down from his position as president of the National Rifle Association because of his progressive incapacitation. Heston, who turned 81 on Oct. 4, 2005, is reportedly in declining health; I recently read a quote from former child actor Jon Gries, who appeared with Heston in Will Penny (1968), in which Gries implied t
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