The Deer Hunter director, Michael Cimino, dies at 77

Sad news in that Michael Cimino, director of the 1978 masterpiece, Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter, has died at the age of 77. Cimino won Best Director at the Academy Awards for his work on The Deer Hunter, which at the time was a financial disaster: its budget spiralling out of control and being delivered a year behind schedule. It features one of the true classic movie scenes of all time in the form of the famous Russian roulette scene.

The news was confirmed by his friend and attorney, Eric Weissmann, with no cause of death yet determined.