As Frodo says after destroying the One Ring while sitting on a boulder surrounded by rivers of lava in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”: It’s done.

After two voting extensions prompted by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, the nomination voting period for the 97th Academy Awards has officially closed. While the Producers Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, and other key guilds have offered some insight into which films might dominate this year’s Oscars, one thing remains certain: surprises are practically guaranteed when it comes to the Academy.

For seasoned awards pundits, predicting the Oscars has always involved careful calculations, heated debates, and whispered, off-the-record conversations with Academy voters. These chats, typically brimming with insider insights and candid opinions, took on a different tone this year. Many pundits hesitated to reach out in the wake of wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles.

Prime Video has set a February global premiere for “Broken Rage,” the latest feature from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano.

The genre-hybrid project, both directed by and starring Kitano, takes an innovative approach by splitting its runtime into two distinct segments. The first half delivers a gritty crime thriller following a hitman caught between law enforcement and yakuza forces, while the second portion reimagines the same narrative through a comedic lens using self-parody techniques.

The streamer has assembled a powerhouse cast led by Golden Globe winner Tadanobu Asano (“Shogun”), marking his third collaboration with Kitano following “Zatōichi” (2003) and “Kubi” (2023). Joining him is Nao Omori,...

It’s one of those weekends at the box office, with two new releases pawing at one another in a closer-than-expected race. Sony’s buddy comedy “One of Them Days” is coming in on the higher end of initial projections after earning $4.3 million from 2,675 locations across Friday and preview screenings. That puts it just a touch behind Universal’s horror play “Wolf Man,” which earned $4.4 million across Friday and previews from 3,354 locations. But both features are tracking behind Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which, after nearly an entire month of release, looks to be the top draw for moviegoers over a quiet Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

For “One of Them Days,” which stars Sza and Keke Palmer as roommates scrounging for cash to avoid eviction, the four-day debut now looks to land north of $14 million. R-rated comedies are now everyone’s first example for a genre that...

Netflix has partnered with Imax for a global release of Greta Gerwig’s Narnia two weeks ahead of the film’s streaming debut.

Narnia, based on the Chronicles of Narnia book series by C.S. Lewis, is currently set for an Imax release on Thanksgiving Day 2026, before a debut on Netflix during the Christmas period that year. The landmark deal is a win for Imax, which partners with Netflix as it seeks another limited, promotional theatrical run for one of its movie titles.

With Narnia, the two week exclusive window for Imax was crucial to establishing a long enough run to satisfy theater circuits that operate Imax auditoriums. As part of the agreement, Netflix has a four-week window for the film before the Netflix debut, but the film technologies company for now is committed to playing Narnia exclusively for two weeks starting on Thanksgiving 2026.

Netflix acquired the film and TV rights to the C.

The Critics Choice awards has now set a new ceremony date for Friday, Feb. 7.

The show will still be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica with Chelsea Handler still on board to host.

The show was initially scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 12, and then postponed to Jan. 26 due to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, has been delayed once again. The ceremony, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is set to take place sometime in February, with an official date to be announced in the coming days. It will still be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

The live broadcast will air on E! and be made available the following day on Peacock, allowing domestic and international audiences to tune in. Chelsea Handler remains on board as the host, promising an evening that balances celebration, respect and resilience during a difficult time for the community.

The Critics Choice Awards is...

Thandiwe Newton, who starred in HBO’s acclaimed Westworld, and Silo actor Steve Zahn have been swallowed up by Anaconda, Columbia’s comedic reimagining of the 1997 horror movie that launched a mini-franchise.

Selton Mello, who appears in Brazilian awards season hopeful I’m Still Here, and Ione Sky have also joined the feature that stars by Paul Rudd and Jack Black. Mello will be making his English-language debut with the action comedy.

Tom Gormican, who directed the Nicolas Cage meta movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is co-writing with collaborator Kevin Etten and will direct the feature.

The original movie starred Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Ice Cube and Jon Voight, and followed a National Geographic film crew hunting for the world’s largest and deadliest snake, only to find the tables turned.

The new story, according to sources, involves a group of friends facing mid-life crises who are remaking their favorite movie from their youth.

David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham have joined the cast of “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” as the parents of the title character, according to an insider with knowledge of the project.

“House of the Dragon” actress Milly Alcock headlines as Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl), which TheWrap first reported. Production kicks off this month in the U.K.

According to DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, the “Supergirl” movie will be based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely‘s comic book of the same name, released in July of 2023.

“This is a very different type of Supergirl,” Gunn said. “In our [film], we see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from, you know, the time he’s an infant, versus Supergirl, who was raised on a rock chip-off of Krypton and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life,...

Featured on IndieWire’s Most Anticipated Films of 2025, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming sophomore directorial entry “The Bride!” is shaping up to be one wild ride. With Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley leading as Frankenstein’s monster and his eponymous Bride, the film is a family affair with Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard, her brother Jake Gyllenhaal also featured, as well as Penélope Cruz, Annette Bening, and Julianne Hough. Sarsgaard also brought his “September 5” co-star, John Magaro onto the project. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Magaro discussed getting to work on the film, which he described as a mash-up of dance films and movies about bandits in love.

“It’s a wild movie. It’s very different than ‘The Lost Daughter,’ Maggie’s previous film that she directed,” said Magaro. “It’s like a mix of a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie, ‘Young Frankenstein,’ ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Bonnie and Clyde,...

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The late-night sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Live" is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025. With five decades of television history behind "SNL," it should come as no surprise that there has been plenty of drama behind the scenes. Aside from all the chaos depicted in Jason Reitman's movie "Saturday Night," depicting the evening of the show's premiere back in October 1975, the early seasons of "SNL" sparked a lot of tension backstage, especially when the series became a hit, and previously unknown comedians started becoming famous.

Chevy Chase was the first and biggest benefactor of the success of "SNL" right out of the gate, largely because, as the host of the news satire Weekend Update segment, he was the only one saying his name on the show on a regular basis. As has been recounted by many who worked at "SNL,...

Ahead of the Oscar nominations being announced Jan. 23, where “Waves” is hoping for recognition after being shortlisted for Best International Film, it led the pack this past week at the Czech Lion Awards — Czech Republic’s equivalent of the Academy Awards — with 14 nominations.

“Waves” was mentioned in numerous categories, including best director and screenplay for Jiří Mádl. Actors Vojtěch Vodochodský, Tatiana Pauhofová, Martin Hofmann and Stanislav Majer were nominated in their respective categories.

The film was also nominated in below-the-line crafts, including for cinematography, editing, sound design, music, stage design, costume design and makeup and hairstyling.

The success of “Waves” at the Czech Lion Awards and its shortlist mention for Best International Film at the upcoming Academy Awards comes after much success back home. After its debut at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won the top audience award, the film was released in Czech theaters in August,...

Though appreciation for the work of David Lynch continues to grow, his films were often treated as an acquired taste, so those who were able to see the value in his often horrific, confounding material were particularly important to him. Such was the relationship with Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fermaux, who programmed Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” at the festival in 2001 during his first year as artistic director. Lynch would go on to receive Best Director from the Cannes jury that year for the film.

“It played at 10:30 p.m. and it received an incredible ovation, even if people didn’t understand everything about it,” said Fremaux in a recent tribute (as per Variety). “They felt that it was a unique movie, and with the two actresses… It was just an instant classic.”

Fremaux went on to share how he came to appreciate Lynch as a human being the...

As a die-hard "Mad Men" fan, I would argue there is no "worst episode." Although, if you're going to rank each episode, something has to have the lowest score — even if it's not particularly low. On IMDb, just like with movies or entire television series, you can rate individual episodes on a scale of 1-10, and the ratings are then aggregated, with the overall score based on the median. Taking all the scores for every episode, the lowest-rated episode of "Mad Men" ends up being "Ladies Room," which is only the second episode of the first season, receiving a 7.5 rating based on 4.3K votes.

I'm surprised it's not an episode from one of the later seasons, especially season six where Don Draper's "Dante's Inferno"-like hell of repeating bad habits becomes somewhat tedious to watch. What, exactly, disconnects viewers from "Ladies Room"? Perhaps it seems underwhelming after following up on...

In its eleven seasons on NBC, the "Cheers" spin-off "Frasier" managed to mostly be very different from its predecessor. Where "Cheers" largely took place in a sports bar in Boston, "Frasier" was as much about the home life of its eponymous psychiatrist, who moved across the country to Seattle to host a call-in radio show and take care of his elderly father after a hip injury made it impossible for him to live alone. When the show wasn't taking place in his palatial condo or the radio station where the show aired, Frasier and his even more effete brother Niles were sipping espressos in a fancy Seattle coffee house.

It's true, of course, that a number of the actors from "Cheers" showed up at various points on "Frasier," but often just for single-episode drop-ins that felt as much about how different Frasier the person was from them as it was...

Cameron Diaz is ready to go green (again).

Diaz, who just came out of a 10-year retirement from acting in Netflix’s “Back in Action,” recently revealed to Access Hollywood that she’d be open to returning for a sequel to the 1994 comedy “The Mask” as long as Jim Carrey is involved.

“If Jim’s on board, I mean, I’ve been riding those coattails from day one,” she said about the possibility of reprising her role as nightclub singer Tina Carlyle. “The Mask” starred Carrey as mild-mannered bank teller Stanley Ipkis, whose life is turned upside down when he discovers a mask that possesses him with the spirit of a magical trickster.

Carrey previously expressed to Comicbook.com that he’d also be open to returning for a sequel to “The Mask,” provided the project had a strong enough script.

“Oh gosh, you know, it has to be the right idea,...

To honor the life of their father David Lynch, who died last week at age 78, Jennifer, Austin, Riley and Lula Lynch will host a “worldwide group meditation” on Monday, which would have been the visionary filmmaker’s 79th birthday.

“David Lynch, our beloved dad, was a guiding light of creativity, love, and peace. On Monday, January 20th—what would have been his 79th birthday—we invite you all to join us in a worldwide group meditation at 12:00pm Noon Pst for 10 minutes,” wrote the Lynch siblings on X. “Let us come together, wherever we are, to honor his legacy by spreading peace and love across the world. Please take this time to meditate, reflect, and send positivity into the universe. Thank you for being part of this celebration of his life. Love, Jennifer, Austin, Riley and Lula Lynch.”

The David Lynch memorial at Bob’s Big Boy

Although this...

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As of this writing, it's been more than five years since we've had a "Star Wars" movie in theaters, dating back to "The Rise of Skywalker" at the end of 2019 -- though it hasn't been for a lack of trying on Disney and Lucasfilm's part. In the years since Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, many, many "Star Wars" movies have entered development. There are probably several that we'll never hear about. Most of these movies never actually got made.

We're finally getting back to a place where this beloved franchise will return to theaters, with director Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" set to arrive in 2026. Beyond that, we've got a new movie starring Daisy Ridley's Rey in development, as well as a movie from "Clone Wars" maestro Dave Filoni that will tie together all of the shows in the "Mandalorian" universe.

From creating the “Saw” franchise alongside James Wan to revitalizing the monster-movie genre with his critical and financial hit “The Invisible Man,” Leigh Whannell has been tapping into our fears for over two decades, and his latest star, Julia Garner, believes he’s done it again with “Wolf Man.” Not only that, but that he’s gone further than ever before.

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Garner shared that Whannell’s “Wolf Man” sources more terror than previous iterations by making the transformation from man to wolf part of the journey. In the film, Garner’s character is forced watch in alarm as her husband (Christopher Abbott) starts to become a beast, both physically and emotionally — like a disease slowly taking hold.

“It’s more scary when it is a slower transition because I still recognized little elements of Chris,” said Garner. “His skin and his hair was changing,...

Josh Gad, who released his memoir “In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some” on Jan. 14, says his “Love & Other Drugs” co-star Jake Gyllenhaal warned him not to pursue a role in “The Book of Mormon,” the raunchy musical-comedy from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

“While bouncing back and forth to do episodes of ‘The Daily Show,’ I was also filming a movie called ‘Love & Other Drugs,’ directed by Ed Zwick and starring Jake Gyllenhaal,” Gad wrote. “One day as Jake and I were driving home from set in Pittsburgh, I asked him if I could play a demo of a new musical that I had recently done a workshop for in New York, hoping to get his advice as to whether or not I should pursue it further. He said, ‘Yeah, pop it on,’ and I played the opening number.”

Though Gyllenhaal “laughed his ass off” at the musical’s squeaky-clean,...

In the "Harry Potter" movies, the binary of "good" and "evil" is illustrated pretty well by Harry himself — played by Daniel Radcliffe — and his lifelong enemy Lord Voldemort. Still, Harry has plenty of minor villains to deal with along the way, and one is his schoolboy nemesis Draco Malfoy, portrayed throughout the franchise's eight movies by Tom Felton. So would Felton and Radcliffe work together again? According to Felton, they've chatted about it a bit, but there would be a bit of a twist if the two ever teamed up for a different project.

In an interview with Digital Spy in May of 2022, Felton was asked about any possible reunions with any of his "Harry Potter" co-stars, and he said he'd leap at the chance to work alongside Radcliffe in particular. "We all talk about doing something again in all different ways," Felton told the outlet. "Daniel and I have...

Stephen King may be best known for his horror stories involving monsters and murder, but he just as often deals with headier, more mature themes of alcoholism and domestic abuse. About the former, King can speak from experience, having wrestled with substance addiction throughout the 1980s. About the former, he luckily didn't experience it first-hand but is drawn to stories of children who are victimized by their alleged caregivers. This was certainly true of his summertime epic "It," which featured children's domestic turmoil as a parallel to the supernatural monster stalking them. 

As such, King is sensitive to stories that mishandle themes of abuse. There is a certain kind of Hollywood melodrama that explores the psychological trauma experienced by abuse victims, but that wraps up their stories in a neat little bow, declaring that abuse can simply be "gotten over" with a few trips to a shrink and some kind of hackneyed reconciliation.

The fictional Jerry Seinfeld has never been particularly lucky in love. Sure, he dated plenty of women throughout the show's nine seasons, but he didn't exactly have long-lasting, meaningful relationships with any of them. His closest female relationship is with his ex-girlfriend and ever-present friend Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), which is kind of refreshingly open-minded for a guy like Jerry, but that means there just weren't very many long-term girlfriend guest roles on "Seinfeld." In fact, Seinfeld's longest onscreen romance lasted for just four episodes, and it was with Rachel (Melanie Smith), who made out with him during a screening of "Schindler's List" and absolutely horrified Seinfeld's nearby nemesis, Newman (Wayne Knight). While she's not the most memorable of Seinfeld's girlfriends because she's at least somewhat normal, Smith gives a good performance and manages to hold her own alongside some of TV's funniest comedians of the '90s. 

Maybe it was...

How can any of us define what the best of all time is? For some people, thinking about the best TV show or film of all time is akin to asking them what their favorite within the respective medium is. But to say that something is your favorite film or TV show is not automatically the same as deeming it the best. For some, to be the best means that you have to be influential or that the end result has to have some grand statement attached. And more importantly, if the question "What is the best of all time?" is being asked, do we ask ourselves or do we rely on outside sources? 

The voice of the critic is important, but it can also be ignored if a critic doesn't like a show or film the way that we do, or if they just flat-out hate something we adore.

“A Complete Unknown” is the rare Hollywood movie that has inspired a reckoning. Everywhere, on social media, in mainstream media, or simply on the part of so many who have seen the film, a tingling conversation is taking place — a kind of collective meditation/investigation into who Bob Dylan was, who he is, what he meant back then and what he means now. What’s striking is that very little of this is Dylan nostalgia — i.e., the boomers getting misty-eyed with self-importance about “their” beloved icon. And if that’s what it was, it would be lame. (No one would hate it more than Dylan.)

The Dylan conversation that’s been ignited is very present tense and alive, and very exploratory. It’s about the movie, but it’s bigger than the movie. It’s about everyone who has seen “A Complete Unknown,” or everyone who simply grew up with Dylan,...

While it may not be a laugh riot in the vein of “Caddyshack” the recently released “One of Them Days,” Brady Corbet’s awards-buzzy “The Brutalist” does indirectly offer its own kind of twisted humor. Following a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor as he rebuilds his life in post-wwii America, the film carries dark overtones throughout as his efforts to pursue his craft are often thwarted by his cruel, bigoted benefactor, played by Guy Pearce. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Pearce acknowledged the serious of the subject matter, while at the same time pointing out how certain scenes can’t help but elicit laughs from the audience.

“It’s funny how powerful money is and how much people will acquiesce because they think maybe a couple of bones might be thrown their way,” Pearce said. “But I feel like the interesting thing about Van Buren is...

“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” features the world’s first electric car chase.

When writer and director Christian Gudegast was thinking about the film’s sequel, he knew he needed to raise the stakes, and what better way to do that than with an all-action, shoot-out car chase? And it needed to feel fast and real.

In the sequel, Gerard Butler is back as Nick, an L.A. cop determined to find renowned thief Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). Reports of an armed robbery in Antwerp, Belgium leads Nick to Europe where he tracks Donnie down. Once he arrives, Nick reveals he’s leaving law enforcement to join Donnie on an elaborate diamond heist: Breaking into the World Diamond Center and stealing the pink diamond. Gunfights and stunts ensue, but the one character that brings it all together is the Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

The Taycan Turbo was the perfect vehicle to help Donnie,...

Legacy sequels are all the rage these days, but there has perhaps been none better than "Cobra Kai." A six-season TV show continuing the "Karate Kid" franchise, it mostly follows the initial Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) trilogy, and not so much "The Next Karate Kid" (which deserves more love) or the Jackie Chan remake.

"Cobra Kai" meets Daniel and his first-movie opponent Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) again in real time, decades later, with Johnny's life in ruins after his loss so many years ago, and Daniel a successful a car salesman. Their kids bring them into conflict again, but before long some real villains come back into the picture, notably Martin Kove's brutal karate sensei John Kreese, and his old wartime buddy Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). As the next generation of teens get sucked into the old karate grudges from the '80s, the San Fernando Valley of...

The first two "Dune" novels, which are currently two-thirds of the way through being adapted into a movie trilogy, are often seen as a tragic condemnation of hero worship. Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet in the recent films) starts off likeable, but by the time he becomes emperor of the universe the reader/viewer should already be wondering if he's fit for the job. This whole jihad/holy war he's doing sure gives us the ick, especially in "Dune: Messiah" when Book Paul casually mentions how his regime has killed far more people than Hitler ever did. I for one believe that killing sixty billion people is wrong, and you can quote me on that.

But the "Dune" series wouldn't be that interesting if Paul was a straightforward bad guy, which is why the common claim that "Dune" is a clear-cut critique of the savior narrative misses the mark.

Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt is reuniting for the FireAid benefit concerts to raise money for those most affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. Taking place at both the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum on Jan. 30, the one-night event will also feature performances from Billie Eilish, Jelly Roll, Joni Mitchell, Lady Gaga, John Mayer with Dave Matthews and Stevie Nicks.

Other acts set to perform include Earth, Wind & Fire, Green Day, Gracie Abrams, Katy Perry, Lil Baby, P!nk, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rod Stewart, Sting, Stephen Stills and Tate McRae. Additional artists and special guests for both venues will be announced in the coming days.

The FireAid concerts will be streamed live on Apple Music, Apple TV+, Max, iHeartRadio, Ktla+, Netflix, Tudum, Paramount+, Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, SiriusXM, “Life with John Mayer,” SoundCloud, Veeps, YouTube and at select AMC Theatre locations in 70 U.S. markets.

When one thinks of "experimental, groundbreaking television," they're probably not going to jump straight to the sitcom "Frasier," itself a spin-off of the Boston bar-based workplace sitcom "Cheers." They would be wrong, however, as "Frasier" was significantly more subversive than modern audiences give it credit for, with the writers aiming to create an "anti-'Seinfeld.'" The show turned sitcom tropes on their head with every opportunity, eschewing musical cues and establishing shots that have become a part of the sitcom audiovisual language, and, in one particularly adventurous episode, even played with the idea of multiple timelines.

Though it wouldn't go as far as introducing the concept of the multiverse à la the "Community" episode "Remedial Chaos Theory," the season 8 "Frasier" episode "Sliding Frasiers" showed audiences how the smallest of changes could completely change the course of an evening. Mental health specialist and radio host Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) tries to...

"Castlevania: Nocturne" season 2 sets up a lot of interesting threads for a potential season 3 and wraps up most of the big arcs from season 1. At the same time, the show hasn't fully answered one of its biggest mysteries, which has to do with the new kind of night creatures created by Abbott Emmanuel (Richard Dormer).

In the original "Castlevania" series, night creatures are created by devil forgemasters, human sorcerers who use a specific breed of dark magic to channel souls from hell into dead bodies, transforming them into monstrous creatures. These forgemasters each channel their spells through a specific, unique tool, and the monsters they create are loyal to them. In most cases, the souls channeled into the night creatures don't seem to be the same ones that the bodies housed in life, but there are some apparent exceptions to that rule. In general, though, night creatures are shown to be pretty mindless.

Taylor Sheridan is a miniature industry unto himself. He wrote the Oscar hopefuls "Sicario," "Hell or High Water," and "Wind River," as well as the thrillers "Without Remorse" and "Those Who Wish Me Dead." On TV, Sheridan has been blasting barn doors off with "Yellowstone" and its multiple spinoffs, as well as shows like "Tulsa King," "Lioness," and "Landman." These are in addition to a modest acting career that put Sheridan on TV shows like "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Party of Five," "NYPD Blue," "Sons of Anarchy," and even "Star Trek: Enterprise." He also plays the supporting character of Travis Wheatley on "Yellowstone" and Charles on the prequel series "1883."

Sheridan has evolved into the modern torch-bearer for Western machismo, and he is often drawn into the dark hearts of manly men. He also seems to love crime stories, tales of criminals/lawmen, and conflicts that end with gunplay.

Paul Schrader may be spending a bit too much time on the computer. Though the septuagenarian filmmaker rolled out his latest project, “Oh, Canada,” only last year, Schrader is already hard at work generating new ideas, not just for himself, but other legendary cinematic artists as well. Taking once again to his beloved Facebook page, Schrader shared in a post that he’d been experimenting with ChatGPT and was shocked to find how developed it had become.

“I’M Stunned,” said Schrader. “I just asked chatgpt for ‘an idea for Paul Schrader film.’ Then Paul Thomas Anderson. Then Quentin Tarantino. Then Harmony Korine. Then Ingmar Bergman. Then Rossellini. Lang. Scorsese. Murnau. Capra. Ford. Speilberg. Lynch. Every idea ChatGPT came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out. Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?...

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Few filmmakers had a better 1970s than Sidney Lumet. While he was more prolific than most of the decade's top directors, knocking out 11 movies over a 10-year span, and did find time to helm one of the worst musicals in motion picture history (a badly bungled adaptation of "The Wiz"), when Lumet got ahold of the right material, he made classics like "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "Network."

There isn't a more electric movie in Lumet's oeuvre than "Dog Day Afternoon." Based on a true story, the 1975 critical and commercial hit centers on a bank robbery in Brooklyn carried out by Sonny Wortzik, an amateur crook desperate to pay for his lover's gender-affirming surgery. When the heist quickly goes south, Sonny and his associates find themselves stuck holding hostages while cops swarm the building. The defiant Sonny scrambles to negotiate...

Survive till 2025, they said.

They didn’t say what would come next.

A week into the new year, wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena, causing an estimated $250 billion in damage. For the entertainment industry, they also disrupted production schedules, destroyed filming locations and left many workers without homes.

“This is absolutely a setback,” says Colleen Bell, the executive director of the California Film Commission. “I’m sure there are some people in the entertainment sector who feel like this might be the last straw.”

L.A. film workers were already struggling to recover from the pandemic, two strikes and a sharp decline in production volume.

“People are worried that the industry as we know it isn’t going to be around in five or 10 years, and that’s really sad,” says Amy Baer, executive producer of “The Apprentice.” “I hope it all doesn’t get derailed because of everything...

To the eyes of this author, there are four perfect TV theme songs in the history of the medium. For instrumentals, the two best themes are Jack Marshall's surf-like monster music he composed for "The Munsters" and Danny Elfman's Platonic-ideal-of-a-haunted-house music for "Tales from the Crypt."

For theme songs with lyrics, the two best of all time were, not coincidentally, written by Sherwood Schwartz. He and Frank de Vol composed the handy, catchy theme for Schwartz's own sitcom "The Brady Bunch," while Schwartz teamed with George Wyle to compose "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle." These two theme songs, each only about 60 seconds, managed to explain -- in rhyme -- the premise of their respective shows succinctly while also introducing each of the characters. Additionally, the songs are catchy earworms that burrow deep into the brains of listeners, latching onto the memory and never letting go. When I'm in my 90s,...

No, don't go rushing to Wikipedia to double-check how Rod Serling died — it wasn't from jumping out of a plane. By the same token, don't bother trying to find if Serling suffered from depression surrounding the cancellation of the series that would become his lifelong legacy and beyond, the original 1959-64 version of "The Twilight Zone." Sure, the series was Serling's baby, a program that broke a lot of new ground on broadcast television and led to the creation of subsequent milestone programs like "Star Trek," "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," and Serling's own "Night Gallery." And yes, Serling was passionate about "The Twilight Zone," as he was often fighting for the integrity of the show during the series' run, as well as for the integrity of television itself as a creative medium.

So while one wouldn't be surprised to learn that Serling was distraught upon receiving the news that "The TwilightZone...

Kurt Russell sure has an illustrious career. We've seen him play a living planet, Wyatt Earp, Santa Claus, and (depending on whether you stand with MacReady or Childs in "The Thing") the killer of a shape-shifting alien. This guy has done it all and more, which makes it understandable that there are so many favorites to choose from. Ask the man himself, though, and there's a trio of Kurt Russell gems that he thinks were massively overlooked.

The big three were selected during an interview with FilmInk when the actor was promoting "The Hateful Eight." After the eight-year gap between his then-fresh new collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, the duo's first pairing was just starting to get some love, as well. "I'm beginning to have people come up to me, now, and say, 'I just saw 'Death Proof'; that was great,'" recalled Russell. The film, which was part...

It may have taken 12 years for Walter Salles to direct another feature after his 2012 adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” but with his awards-buzzy political bio-drama “I’m Still Here,” the Brazillian filmmaker proves that cinema will always remain in his veins. Extolling the power of the form, Salles took to the Criterion Closet recently to share his appreciation for a number of films that have shaped him as an artist and continue to inspire. After starting with Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Andrei Rublev,” Salles went on to select Jim Jarmusch’s absurdist comedy “Stranger than Paradise.”

“I think it was so refreshing to…starting to do films and see that narratives could be actually told in a different manner than the Greeks had teached us at the beginning, you know, the structure with five acts and character arcs and everything else,” said Salles, “and what Jim Jarmusch offers us...

This post contains major spoilers for "All of Us Strangers."

As Hollywood continues to capitalize on our nostalgia-obsessed monoculture with "Harry Potter" reboot shows and superhero movies stuffed with cameos from erstwhile stars, a series of much more thoughtful films have been quietly probing the darker side of nostalgia. Charlotte Wells quietly broke hearts in 2022 with "Aftersun," a film that gilds its elegy for lost innocence with the unmistakable textures of a '90s childhood. Then, with its unique aesthetic, "Skinamarink" upended the very concept of nostalgia, creating a haunting tapestry of childhood images shot in the director's own childhood home. That same year, another film shot in the house where its director grew up continued this trend of examining the dark underbelly of nostalgia.

"All of Us Strangers" was written and directed by Andrew Haigh, who loosely based the story on the 1987 novel "Strangers" by Japanese writer Taichi Yamada.

The doctor is out -- at Paramount+ anyway. Deadline reports that the revival series of long-running sitcom "Frasier" has been canceled after two seasons. This isn't necessarily the end for the show, though, as production company CBS Studios is currently shopping it around to other potential platforms. If does get picked up, "Frasier" season 3 is still a possibility.

Reports of the cancellation don't include any specific reasons, and since the "Frasier" revival was exclusive to a streaming platform, there's no reliable data available about season 2's viewership. The first season also aired its premiere on CBS to 2.2 million viewers back in October 2023, and Paramount+ reported that it was the "No. 1 original comedy premiere" in terms of reach (somewhat stretching the definition of "original"). There have been no press releases about season 2's viewership, though, and this latest news indicates that the numbers weren't much to brag about.

The original 264-episode run of "Frasier,...

When you think of great film trilogies, you probably think of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" adaptation or the original "Star Wars" movies — but if Richard Linklater's "Before" trilogy doesn't immediately come to mind as well, you should definitely take some time to check out this stunning, deeply emotional, and brilliantly filmed movies centering on two lovers at various points throughout their lives.

Based on a real experience in Linklater's life (specifically, a night where he and a woman he'd just met wandered through the city of Philadelphia and talked until the sun rose), the first "Before" movie, 1995's appropriately titled "Before Sunrise," opens on a European train and introduces us to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy). Both are leaving Budapest and, after striking up a conversation, they impulsively both leave the train in Vienna, walking through the gorgeous Austrian capital and talking about life,...

Screenis running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.

To submit details of or alter your festival dates, pleasecontact us herewith the name, dates, country and website for the event.

Ongoing

Belmont World Film’s Family Festival, US - January 18-20, 26

January

Sundance Film Festival, US - January 23-February 2

Fipadoc International Documentary Film Festival, France - January 24-February 1

Goteborg Film Festival, Sweden - January 24-February 2

International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands - January 30-February 9

Ostend Film Festival, Belgium - January 31-February 8

February

DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Finland - February 4-9

Scad TVfest,...

Ever since he moved into the public eye with "Star Trek" in 1966, famed /Film contributor William Shatner has gained a reputation for his "large" acting style. This reputation wasn't wholly earned, as Shatner rarely overacted on the original "Star Trek," usually playing Captain Kirk as buttoned-down, judicious, and in control. More recent depictions of Kirk have been incorrect, presenting him as a reckless cowboy and relentless horndog. While Kirk did get into his share of fistfights on "Star Trek" and snogged his share of pretty female guest stars, he wasn't ever careless or distractibly horny. Shatner's "overacting" reputation is extrapolated from only a few carefully selected moments throughout the series. 

As such, when someone does an impersonation of William Shatner, they. Tend. To. Say. Every. Word. As. If. It's. Its. Own. Sentence. Jim Carrey spoofed Shatner on "In Living Color" in this way, and Seth MacFarlane, on his animated show "Family Guy,...

When he isn't making us laugh on shows like "Harley Quinn" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (not to mention in ever-present "Seinfeld" reruns and that one "Criminal Minds" episode where he has an incredible wig), Jason Alexander works behind the camera as a director, writer, and producer. By this point in his considerable career, the actor and artist has helmed several noteworthy projects, including episodes of hit sitcoms like "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Young Sheldon," plus, yes, "Criminal Minds."

Despite the strong trivia culture surrounding Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld's masterpiece comedy "Seinfeld," lots of people don't actually seem to know about Alexander's directorial contribution to the show. He actually cut his teeth as a filmmaker on the season 3 episode "The Good Samaritan," which became Alexander's first-ever credit as a director in 1992. Later in the show's run, he also directed two clip show episodes, although corny, self-congratulatory clip shows...

Two days after David Lynch’s passing, it’s still hard to believe the most influential filmmaker of our time is gone. It’s also hard to believe that Lynch, whose death at age 78 was shared by his family on January 16, only shot three features with cinematographer Frederick Elmes: “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Wild at Heart.” The alchemical match between director and Dp remains one of the defining collaborations of Lynch’s career, with Elmes crystallizing Lynch’s nightmarish and entirely sui generis vision of the American underbelly in all those films. The worms writhing beneath white picket fences, the neo-noir potential of a severed ear that gives way to a saga of psychosexual menace involving Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, and Dennis Hopper.

Elmes — who most recently shot Jim Jarmuch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother” in New Jersey, Dublin, and Paris — got on the phone with IndieWire late on...

This article contains spoilers for "Severance" season 2 episode 1, "Hello, Ms. Cobel."

Going into the mind-bending "Severance" season 2, the show's first season had already driven home that Lumon Industries is up to no good. The surreal, dystopian office environment and the personality severance process that essentially traps the "innie" workers there forever while their "outies" get to enjoy a toil-free life are just the beginning. Everything from Mr. Milchick's (Tramell Tillman) eerily comforting smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes to the stick-and-carrot treatment of the severed employees, where rewards range from utterly underwhelming to the horrifying absurdity of the Waffle Party, indicates that there's far more going on than simple high-confidentiality office work.

The season 2 premiere, titled "Hello, Ms. Cobel," reveals that Lumon has plenty more horrors in store. With Milchick now seemingly promoted to Ms. Cobel's (Patricia Arquette) old position of managing the severed floor, Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly R.

In the ongoing streaming wars and the endless discussions about the state of the entertainment industry that they've sparked, NBCUniversal's Peacock has become something of a contentious topic, if not an outright comedic punching bag -- with even Nikki Glaser's opening monologue at the 2025 Golden Globes joking that "The Day of the Jackal" is "about a top secret elite sniper that no one can find 'cause he's on Peacock." Nevertheless, the American streamer counts over 30 million subscribers, and jokes aside, those subscribers actually do have quite a plentiful offer of great television available at their fingertips.

Here, we've ranked the 15 best shows that Peacock subscribers can press "Play" on right now, including classics and gems from both sides of the pond and all eras of television. You'll find something for everybody, even if each show listed here is worth watching in its own right.

Read more: 13 Times Film...

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David Lynch's debut feature "Eraserhead" was an arthouse darling when it was released in 1977 and, thanks to some enterprising film programmers, stayed in theaters for years on end, gaining popular traction on the midnight movie circuit. One of the movie's many fans was, of all people, Mel Brooks, the celebrated director of "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles." Brooks, wanting to encourage Lynch's career, created his own production company, Brooksfilms, to fund his next project: a stylized biography of Joseph Merrick, known to the world as the Elephant Man.

Lynch's "The Elephant Man," while bearing the same oppressive black-and-white visuals as the surrealist "Eraserhead," was a curious Oscar favorite, nominated for eight Academy Awards. It was up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor, among others. Sadly, it lost in all eight of its categories.

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"I only directed something someone else wrote once and it was a misbegotten adventure from the beginning, as much my fault as anybody else's." Those are the words of director David Koepp, speaking to UCLA in 2022. The misbegotten adventure in question was 2015's "Mortdecai," a globe-trotting comedy starring then-a-lister Johnny Depp. It was a massive failure both critically and commercially, one that Koepp doesn't seem to have an interest in defending.

Koepp is no stranger to big hits. As a screenwriter, he helped turn "Jurassic Park" into one of the biggest movies ever, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. As a director? It's a touch more spotty, but the man knows his way around a success. He previously helmed the thriller "Secret Window,...

This article contains spoilers for "Wolf Man."

Aging is the ultimate body horror, as it's the long, slow road toward death that every living thing must experience, bar none. This process, as with most body horror, is primarily expressed physically. After all, most people will say that they're mentally as young as they ever were, while they're observing how their body is having issues performing the way that it used to; it's highly common to see a social media post by a 30-something person lamenting their newfound back issues or some such ailment. A person's perception of time passing may make it seem like the years have gone by in a flash, but the slow process of aging allows most people to make the physical transition easier, as it happens nearly imperceptibly.

Yet that perception is drastically challenged when something occurs to change our status quo. In my own experience,...