Noticias

In the age of streaming, there’s a widespread belief that every movie is available, all the time, everywhere. Don’t fall for it! Some of the greatest movies ever made are nowhere to be found due to everything from music rights snafus to corporate negligence. In this column, we take a look at films currently out of print on physical media and unavailable on any streaming platform in an effort to draw attention to them and say to their rights holders, “Release This!”

This week, Los Angeles moviegoers can see Quentin Tarantino‘s “Kill Bill” saga as he originally intended — not split up into two normal feature-length movies, but as one gargantuan 258-minute epic at Tarantino’s own Vista Theater in Hollywood. It’s an opportunity that should not be missed, for a couple of reasons. First, because “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” has never been released on...

I almost remember what it’s like to dislike a Wes Anderson movie, which was my first reaction to “The French Dispatch.” It began as my most anticipated Wes film because it was his first in live-action since “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” The anticipation was heightened by the fact that I was a massive Anderson fan. There were his Oscar-nominated stop motion films, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Isle of Dogs”, cartoons with a mature edge. “Moonrise Kingdom” was a masterful story of young love at summer camp, and “Budapest” took his meticulously designed storybook films to violent, vulgar, heartfelt, and hilarious high points. I’m sentimental for the time when going to watch this movie – my first Wes film on the big screen – which was a seven-minute walk from my house.

If artists’ relationship to their work is deeply personal, “The French Dispatch” should’ve connected to my desire to be a journalist,...

It’s been 20 years since a couple of cowboys, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, first met herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain – and 20 years since director Ang Lee, screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger changed the course of queer American cinema with their adaptation of Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story.

Lee recently said “Brokeback Mountain,” which earned him the 2006 Academy Award for Best Director, is “uniquely, and universally, a great American love story.” The gravitas and delicacy with which he and his collaborators handled the solemn, soaring tale of two young men falling in love while working on the plains of 1963 Wyoming is what allowed the Focus Features release – initially known as merely the “gay cowboy movie” – to gross over $178 million at the global box office and become the landmark classic it is today.

But the film’s road to success was a rocky one,...

A new reboot of a cult classic science fiction adventure series is coming to Netflix. Deadline reports that Land of the Lost, a 1970s kidvid favorite about a modern family stranded in a prehistoric wilderness, is getting a reboot courtesy of Netflix and Legendary Television. The short-lived series already inspired a reboot series in the 1990s, and a big-screen comedy adaptation starring longtime fan Will Ferrell.

The original series was the brainchild of Sid and Marty Krofft, a pair of Canadian TV auteurs who made a huge splash in kids' TV in the 1970s, with projects like Lidsville, Far Out Space Nuts, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and H.R. Pufnstuf. Their work was characterized by slapstick humor, surreal puppet creatures, and low-budget chroma-key special effects; their shows have earned the duo a cult following among Generation X. Marty died in 2023, but Sid Krofft and Marty’s daughter,...

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Spoilers for "Andor" to follow.

Now that "Andor" is over, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) is likely to go down as one of the show's best creations. The Rebellion Alliance may not want to remember Luthen's legacy in helping to build it, but it's a legacy "Star Wars" fans won't forget. "Star Wars" has been political from the beginning, but "Andor" threads the needle like never before. A lot of that is Luthen's presence; he's a Rebel who feels like an actual revolutionary.

There's no Death Star yet in "Andor," but the Rebels have challenges aplenty — real challenges, like factionalist infighting and compromises for greater goods. Luthen saying in "One Way Out" that "I burn my life to make a sunrise I know I'll never see" is one of the most succinct and beautiful sentiments explaining political resistance I've heard — knowing...

When it comes to ranking the best Western movie actors, Paul Newman rarely troubles the likes of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Gary Cooper at the top of all-time lists. Sure,  one of his most beloved movies was starring alongside Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," but arguably his most iconic roles were brooding outsiders like Eddie Felson in "The Hustler" and Luke Jackson in "Cool Hand Luke." Even so, Newman starred in his fair share of Westerns over the course of his career, putting in big performances for Arthur Penn in "The Left-Handed Gun," John Huston in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," and Robert Altman in "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson." He also made two of the greatest Westerns ever with one particularly underrated director, Martin Ritt.

Ritt is arguably one of the most unsung Hollywood filmmakers, working...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

IFC Center

Ran begins screening in a 40th-anniversary restoration; Goodfellas and Withnail and I play daily; Wanda screens Friday and Sunday, with Children of Men on the former day; To Live and Die in L.A., Brain Damage, In the Realm of the Senses, and Liquid Sky show late.

Roxy Cinema

Paranormal Activity plays on 35mm this Friday; Fail Safe and a 16mm print of Prime Cut show on Saturday; Agnès Varda’s Lions Love (…and Lies) and Kore-eda’s After Life (with Kiarostami’s short Solution) screen on Sunday.

Museum of the Moving Image

Police Story and prints of The Great Waldo Pepper and Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior screen in “See It Big: Stunts!“; Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird plays on Saturday and Sunday with special guests.

Japan Society

The Mikio Naruse retrospective continues.

Film at Lincoln Center

A career-spanning Kira Muratova retrospective continues.

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A film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's zonked-out, gonzo 1971 autobiography "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" began in earnest as long ago as 1976. The story goes that Larry McMurtry signed on to adapt Thompson's unadaptable novel into a screenplay, but that the project fell apart. Several notable filmmakers each flirted with the idea of making a "Fear and Loathing" movie, including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and even famed animator Ralph Bakshi. 

The film didn't make it to the big screen until 1998, when audiences were treated to an ultra-chaotic version directed by Terry Gilliam. Production on the 1998 version started six years earlier, in 1992, when Rhino Films (!) sought to produce a version directed by Lee Tamahori. Tamahori couldn't do it, however, as he was busy shooting either the lugubrious noir "Mulholland Falls" or the survivalist thriller "The Edge." Johnny Depp,...

Shane, one of the greatest Western movies of all time, is finally coming to 4K Blu-ray. Kino Lorber is releasing the film in a two-disk 4K set this summer. A critical and commercial hit upon its release in 1953, Shane influenced many subsequent films, including the elegiac superhero Western Logan.

The disc features a brand new 4K transfer of the film, taken from a scan of its original 35mm camera negative. It also features the film's original theatrical trailer and two audio commentaries. That includes an all-new commentary by author and historian Alan K. Rode, who is writing a book on the film, and an archival commentary featuring George Stevens Jr. and associate producer Ivan Moffat. The set will also include a standard Blu-ray disc of the film. Shane will be released on July 14, 2025, and will retail for $29.89 Usd.

What Is 'Shane' About?

Shane stars Alan Ladd (This Gun for Hire) as the title character,...

Nearly 49 years later, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws remains one of the most iconic classic thriller movies in cinematic history. As for the movie characters, it’s hard to imagine Jaws without Richard Dreyfuss’ portrayal of Matt Hooper. The sharp-witted marine biologist became one of the movie’s most memorable characters.

But according to Steven Spielberg, Dreyfuss was far from his first choice for the role. In fact, the movie almost had a very different Hooper as Spielberg initially eyed for other big actors. However, a little persuasion from Star Wars mastermind George Lucas and a lot of persistence.

Steven Spielberg at 2017 San Diego Comic Con | Credits: Gage Skidmore, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Steven Spielberg revealed how Richard Dreyfuss came got the role of Hooper in Jaws

In an interview excerpted from the book Spielberg: The First Ten Years by Laurent Bouzereau, via Vanity Fair, Steven Spielberg opened...

The Academy Awards are an odd tradition. Every year, voters from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (becoming one of these voters is itself a somewhat mystified bureaucratic nightmare) nominate and award feature films in a number of categories.

Even ignoring the flaws in the process -- such as potential mis-categorization (see co-leads Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin breezing their way to Oscar wins by competing as "supporting actors") -- the prestige and preeminence of the Oscars gives way to a false air of objectivity regarding its honorees. It creates the illusion that winning films are inarguably the best, rather than the beneficiaries of the aggregation of the subjective opinions of a relatively small and unavoidably biased stable of Hollywood elites.

This is all to say, while the Academy Awards are a lot of fun, they are simply unable to honor every film that deserves an award. Below,...

In the age of streaming, there’s a widespread belief that every movie is available, all the time, everywhere. Don’t fall for it! Some of the greatest movies ever made are nowhere to be found due to everything from music rights snafus to corporate negligence. In this column, we take a look at films currently out-of-print on physical media and unavailable on any streaming platform in an effort to draw attention to them and say to their rights holders, “Release This!”

When Peter Bogdanovich‘s musical “At Long Last Love” opened in 1975, the verdict was nearly unanimous — critics agreed that the wunderkind behind “The Last Picture Show,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and “Paper Moon” had badly stumbled in his attempt to revive the style of 1930s Ernst Lubitsch musicals like “The Love Parade” and “The Merry Widow.” Even Roger Ebert, who gave the movie one of its more sympathetic reviews,...

To the surprise of many—except those who follow awards season closely, of course—Best Supporting Actress is one of the most exciting categories at any given Oscar ceremony. The category has provided some of the Academy's all-time best winners, from the heartbreaking Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show to the irreverent Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny to the terrifying Mo'Nique in Precious. Indeed, few categories are as consistently exciting or unexpected as Best Supporting Actress, to the point where it feels the Oscars see it as the one chance they get to actually have fun with their pick.

Lionsgate has released a restored director’s cut of the late Peter Bogdanovich’s final film, “Squirrels to the Nuts,” on digital platforms.

“Squirrels to the Nuts” was originally released as “She’s Funny That Way” in 2014. Bogdanovich directed the film and co-wrote it with Louise Stratten. The “Squirrels to the Nuts” cast includes Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Cybill Shepherd, Austin Pendleton, Will Forte, Joanna Lumley and Richard Lewis. Jennifer Aniston and Rhys Ifans also appear, alongside cameos from Graydon Carter, Colleen Camp and George Morfogen.

“Peter Bogdanovich was one of the most accomplished filmmakers of his generation as well as a respected writer, actor, producer, and film historian,” Ron Schwartz, Motion Picture Group’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “At Lionsgate, we have a long and proud history of working with acclaimed filmmakers, and we are delighted to present the final movie from one of the greats.

Teton Ridge Entertainment has acquired the rights to “Lonesome Dove,” Larry McMurtry’s sprawling series of novels about the American West. The deal was made between the entertainment company and the author’s estate and covers all rights except publishing, which remain with the novels’ publisher, Simon and Schuster.

In a release announcing the pact, Teton Ridge announced that development will begin with the first book in the series, “Lonesome Dove,” followed by the rest of the tetralogy, including “Streets of Laredo,” “Dead Man’s Walk” and “Comanche Moon.” The novels focus on members of the Texas Ranger Division, spanning from when Texas was a republic until the start of the 20th century when it was part of the U.S. The books could inspire a series of films or shows — or both.

Thomas Tull and Jillian Share from Teton Ridge Entertainment will produce, as will Jon Jashni, the veteran producer and media investor; Curtis McMurtry,...

No streaming service does a director retrospective like the Criterion Channel, and March offers two masters at opposite ends of exposure. On one side is Michael Mann, whose work from Thief through Collateral (minus The Keep) is given a spotlight; on the other is Alain Guiraudie, who (in advance of Misericordia opening on March 21) has five films arriving. (2001’s duet of That Old Dream That Moves and Sunshine for the Scoundrels have perhaps never streamed in the U.S. before.) Meanwhile, three noirs from Douglas Sirk are programmed alongside a Lee Chang-dong retrospective that features three new restorations.

Showcases will be staged for Dogme 95, Best Supporting Actor winners, and French Poetic Relaism. Welles’ The Trial gets a Criterion Edition alongside Demon Pond; Horace Ové’s newly restored Pressure makes a streaming premiere alongside spruced-up copies of Amadeus, Love Is the Devil, Port of Shadows, and Burning an Illusion, as...

Movies encompass the length and breadth of the human experience, making any Best Of list hopelessly subjective. Comparing, say, The Silence of the Lambs to Fantasia to determine which is "better" actively insults both movies. Similarly, scholarly lists — like the British Film Institute's once-a-decade model which sets the pace on this front — tend to overlook "base" genres like horror and comedy, which often prove more influential. If a reader isn't already inclined to seek arthouse fare like The 400 Blows or The Passion of Joan of Arc, their inclusion in a given list means very little.

Influential films, however, can be measured a little more objectively, as well as encompassing popular movies that find the sweet spot between art and commerce. While it can be difficult to separate the true game-changers from the flashes in the pan, time has a way of revealing. Below is a list of the greatest films — subjective,...

Quick Links What is She's Funny That Way About? She's Funny That Way Has a Perfect Ensemble She's Funny That Way Isn't the Film's Real Title She's Funny That Way Failed to Connect With Critics and Fans

Long gone are the days of romantic comedy movies dominating the worldwide box office. The vast majority of romcoms are consigned to an eternity on the streaming services, with no hope of making a real cultural impact. While the '90s and 2000s had Sleepless in Seattle, Something About Mary, and 50 First Dates staking their claim as box office giants, fans of the 2010s and 2020s are forced to excavate gems from streaming services and struggling theaters. Certain gems like Anyone But You, Crazy Rich Asians, or Midnight in Paris manage to break free of the "chick flick" label, but, for whatever reason, they are a dime a dozen. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris,...

If you've delved into any American film history over the years, you've no doubt come across the sentiment that the 1970s was the best period for American cinema, bar none. Of course, any claim of opinion is up for debate, but the reasons for historians and critics coming to this conclusion are harder to deny, as pound for pound, the various conditions needed for filmmaking were particularly favorable during that decade. To wit: the collapse of the Hays Code and the institution of the Motion Picture Association of America allowed for a heretofore unprecedented level of uncensored content in American movies. The "studio system" and a reliance on stars to open movies were quickly becoming things of the past, and while corporate conglomerates were now in charge of the major studios (something which has led to our current state of multiplex stagnation in 2024), at this early stage, the suits had...

“Martin Scorsese only makes movies for men.” That’s often the prevailing wisdom about one of our finest filmmakers, an assertion that has dominated the discourse around his work as much as the falsehood that he endorses the bad actions of his characters. It’s an idea so embedded in...

For over 30 years, Randy Quaid was one of Hollywood's most colorful and dependable character actors. His career got off to a propitious start with his appearance in Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 classic "The Last Picture Show," and quickly took flight when he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of the sensitive, soon-to-be-imprisoned screw-up Meadows in "The Last Detail." 10 years later, Quaid achieved film doofus immortality as the loan-seeking rube Cousin Eddie Johnson in Harold Ramis' "National Lampoon's Vacation." Quaid had been funny in movies before, but now he was a proper drama-comedy double threat, and his brand of performance wasn't the type to curdle. He had a long, profitable journey ahead of him provided he didn't do something crazy like accuse the industry's most powerful people of trying to kill him.

Randy Quaid's downfall was so surreal it felt like performance art like he was playing Cousin Eddie on peyote.

While many children of famous actors follow their parents into the profession, it is pretty rare that the child equals or surpasses the achievements of their parent. A few names come to mind: Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Angelina Jolie. And Jeff Bridges definitely belongs on that list.

His father was the highly successful actor Lloyd Bridges, who appeared in over 100 films and starred in multiple TV series including the popular “Sea Hunt.” Jeff’s brother is the Emmy Award-winning actor Beau Bridges.

Jeff’s career had an auspicious start when he earned an Oscar nomination at age 22 for his second film “The Last Picture Show.” Still regarded as a classic, the film featured an all-star cast of experienced performers and introduced a bunch of new young actors such as Cybill Shepherd, Timothy Bottoms, Sam Bottoms and Bridges.

Bridges would continue to earn accolades from the Academy Awards, amassing seven nominations...

Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 dramedy Paper Moon offers a kind of synthesis of his prior two critical and commercial hits. Set during the Great Depression, the film is attuned, like The Last Picture Show, to the economic precarity that impoverished rural communities face, but it filters its story through the screwball sensibilities of What’s Up, Doc?

A comedy with a perilously bleak side, Paper Moon opens on petty criminal Moses “Moze” Pray (Ryan O’Neal), who makes a living by traveling from town to town posing as a Bible salesman, visiting newly widowed women to hawk a marked-up “special edition” of the good book that their late husbands supposedly ordered for them. Moze’s amorality only deepens when he agrees to take an orphan, Addie (Tatum O’Neal), to an aunt across the Kansas-Missouri state line. Moze quickly uses the child as a sympathetic figure to raise cash, only to be blindsided...

Cher has some choice words to describe a director with whom she previously worked.

In a sprawling interview with The Times of London, timed to the first-half release of her two-part memoir, she opened up about her childhood and career, including an acrimonious experience filming 1985’s biographical drama Mask with helmer Peter Bogdanovich.

“There are only two directors I didn’t like: Peter Bogdanovich and the guy from The Muppets [Frank Oz, with whom she worked on 1990’s Mermaids]. I actually got the guy from The Muppets fired. I said, either you’re going or I’m going, which is a shame because he’s a really good director, but he had a thing about me. He would go, ‘At least my wife loves me!’”

Detailing her experience with the former filmmaker, the legendary multi-hyphenate said Bogdanovich was misogynistic and pompous. “He was an asshole. He was not nice to...

The Searchers is considered to be one of the greatest Westerns of all time, and the iconic movie starring John Wayne as Ethan Edwards is set to receive a major upgrade. Warner Archive has meticulously restored and remastered The Searchers from its original VistaVision camera negative and will release the film on 4K Ultra HD on December 17th. Always grateful for another VistaVision transfer on 4K.

Directed by John Ford, the 1956 film stars Wayne as “an ex-Confederate soldier searching for his niece (Natalie Wood), captured by the Comanches who massacred his family. He won’t surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements or loneliness. And in his five-year search, he encounters something unexpected: his own humanity.”

The Searchers underwent an extensive restoration earlier this year and premiered at the 15th annual TCM Film Festival. The movie was “filmed using the 8-perf 35mm VistaVision process, where the negative went through the camera...

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Most Hollywood stars become synonymous with the films they star in, but every so often, a celebrity's unapologetic love of another movie becomes a part of their "brand." It's very common with directors when their styles reflect their inspirations, most notably, Brian De Palma with Alfred Hitchcock. It's not as common with actors, however, who are often cagey or diplomatic when talking about their cinematic likes and dislikes, because you never know who you're going to work with (or for) in this business. We know what films an actor like Bruce Willis loves because he's been open about it in interviews, but it's doubtful a movie fan would sit down to watch Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show" and think to themselves, "You know, Bruce Willis loves this movie."

But then there's Willem Dafoe, who might be the world's...

There's nothing quite like The Last Picture Show directed by Peter Bogdanovich, it was only his second feature and is now considered one of the greatest films of the 70s, for its deconstruction of the American Dream through its teen leads. It started the careers of many young actors, including Jeff Bridges, alongside Cybill Shepherd, Timothy Bottoms, and Randy Quaid. Striking a chord with audiences and critics alike, it's a stark, black-and-white filmed period piece set in the 50s.

From 2020 to 2022, Bruce Willis cranked out a huge number of movies, most of them low-budget sci-fi/action films that all went straight-to-video, and usually playing brief, supporting roles. The many films were, by and large, panned by critics and mocked by baffled fans, all of whom wondered by Willis didn't appear to have much on-camera dialogue, or why he wasn't the lead character. In three years, he appeared in 22 movies. 

In March of 2022, it was announced that Willis had been diagnosed with aphasia, a brain condition that affected his ability to speak and comprehend language. Many of the above fans expressed their deepest apologies, and even the Razzies, in a rare show of good taste, retraced Willis' Worst Actor nominations. Willis retired from acting because of his condition. In February 2023, Willis, now 69, was also diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, and he remains in the care of his family. 

Willis, of course,...

Because Jeff Bridges has so completely and successfully embraced the craggy old man persona over the past 20 years, as seen in the television series The Old Man, its easy to forget Bridges previous career as the handsome, open-faced, sandy-haired star of such films as The Last Picture Show, Starman, and Tron, among many others. However, while Bridges excelled in a wide variety of genres and roles throughout his earlier career, the basic cheerfulness and transparency of his younger screen persona made it difficult for audiences to see this version of Bridges as a villain. This changed with the 1985 thriller film Jagged Edge, in which Bridges plays a San Francisco newspaper publisher who is charged with the gory stabbing murder of Jacks socialite wife.

Jagged Edge delights in framing the possible guilt or innocence of Bridges character, Jack Forrester, in equally convincing terms. Specifically, in terms of forcing audiences, while faced with contrasting pieces of evidence,...

Once upon a time, in a magic kingdom, long before the Renaissance and days of corporate intellectual property piranhas, trouble engulfed the Walt Disney Studios. The New Hollywood era had transformed American moviemaking, with such titles as The Godfather, The Exorcist, Bonnie & Clyde, The Last Picture Show and M*A*S*H* attracting record-breaking audiences. These films, often directed by young, counterculture directors, also pushed the envelope on the amount of sexuality and violence a movie could show without landing an X rating.

At the same time, the Disney Studio, with its long reputation for nostalgic, schmaltzy, squeaky-clean family entertainment, seemed like a product of a bygone era. With the company facing an ever more financially tenuous future, the company bosses decided on a new strategy: emulate New Hollywood's success with more adult-leaning movies, while still maintaining the Disney brand as kiddie-friendly. If those two approaches seem at odds with one another,...

Considering that he has been regarded as one of the greatest American actors ever since his breakout role in The Last Picture Show way back in 1975, theres a slight sense that, for a time, Jeff Bridges was taken for granted by cinephiles. Bridges has played wacky stoners, famous historical figures, and even an alien that takes human form, so to say that he is a versatile performer would be a significant understatement. Despite the immense acclaim that he received for many classic films, Bridges had been overlooked by the Academy Awards up until the first decade of the 21st century. However, Bridges finally won the Best Actor for his performance in Crazy Heart, a unique musical drama that co-starred Colin Farrell.

The comedy genre has adapted, changed and evolved endlessly over the years. Comedy, more than any other genre, evolves as society's standards change. What people in the 1920s found funny is extremely different from what people in the 2020s find funny, and that is normal. To keep the genre fresh, the goal is always to subvert expectations, and as new voices infiltrate the Hollywood movie scene, viewers are bound to be duped in ways they've never imagined. From the screwball to the slapstick to the surreal, one filmmaker of the 20th century did it better than anyone.

Peter Bogdanovich is an Academy-Award-nominated screenwriter and director who has gained a rabid cult following since his death. He was able to walk the line between heart-wrenching drama and intense physical comedy flawlessly. He dabbled in all comedic styles, surprising audiences with every new release. Bogdanovich was known for squeezing the best performances out of his actors,...

Although their run only lasted from 1968 to 1972, Bbs Productions played a crucial role in mainstreaming the counterculture for moviegoers. An independent offshoot of Columbia Pictures, Bbs named for founders Bert Schneider, Bob Rafelson, and Stephen Blauner was a breeding ground for the burgeoning New Hollywood, producing their films at low costs and raking in big bucks from young audiences hungry for something that reflected their reality. In between their successes Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces (directed by Rafelson), and The Last Picture Show, the company also released smaller, more experimental features like 1971's A Safe Place. Bringing together Bbs's favorite leading man, Jack Nicholson, with classic Hollywood's most misunderstood auteur, Orson Welles, it offers a fascinating glimpse into what movies were able to get away with at major studios in the 1970s, which, sadly, hasn't been seen since.

It’s understandable that most movie and TV fans remember Maggie Smith for her dynamic work in the “Harry Potter” films and “Downton Abbey.” More recent and far more widely seen in their time, they are worthy examples of her outstanding work.

But unknown to even some of the most knowledgeable cinephiles is most of her screen work before the 1980s beyond her two Oscar wins (Best Actress for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and Supporting Actress for “California Suite”). Her passing at 89 represents a chance to look back at not only roles that conveyed her later brilliance but also, in some cases, present a broader range than what became the standard — though always with nuance and distinctiveness — Maggie Smith role of later years.

When reviewing her film career until at least 2008, it’s critical to remember that she was first and foremost a stage actor. She joined Laurence Olivier...

Charles Burn crafts a methodical masterpiece about self-discovery and main character syndrome that’s cast against Super 8 science fiction and the power of cinema.

“I didn’t know it would be like this. I thought making a movie would be a lot more fun.”

It’s hard to compare to the euphoria that’s experienced from a good graphic novel horror story. Expressive, disturbing images linger on the page and proceed at the viewer’s discretion as they set the pace, rather than vicious visuals that flash across the screen in a movie or television series. It’s easy to get lost in a graphic novel’s artwork and almost become haunted by its imagery. It’s a form of possession that can even feel otherworldly, as if the reader has left their body or become inhabited by something foreign. This isn’t an experience that’s felt with every graphic novel or comic,...

One of the brightest bulbs in the New Hollywood marquee was former film critic and historian Peter Bogdanovich. Exploding onto the scene in 1968 with the still-topical mass-shooter thriller “Targets,” Bogdanovich followed this breakout success with a slew of successful films, including “The Last Picture Show,” which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, the screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?,” and the Depression-set road movie “Paper Moon.”

But for as much success as he could find early on in his career, what goes up must come down, and during the latter half of the 1970s, he struggled to keep his initial spark aflame. Finally, moving further away from the studio system, Bogdanovich scaled back his approach, shooting an adaptation of Paul Theroux’s “Saint Jack” on location in Singapore with German cinematographer Robby Müller and actor Ben Gazzara. Though the film struggled at the box office, it fared well...

“The Piano Lesson” is a showcase for Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler. This upcoming Netflix flick is adapted from August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize winner. The story is centered on the Charles family, who have to decide what to do with a great family heirloom — a piano. Jackson plays the patriarch, Doaker Charle, who acts as a storyteller in the play and recounts detailed stories about the piano’s history. And Deadwyler plays his niece Berniece, who is a strong advocate for keeping the piano.

Jackson has a long history with this piece. He originated the role of Boy Willie at the Yale Repertory Theater in 1987 and reaped a Tony bid for his performance as Doaker in the acclaimed 2022 Broadway revival directed by his wife, Latanya Richardson Jackson. John David Washington, who played Boy Willie in that production, reprises his role here, with his brother Malcolm Washington handling helming.

Jeff Bridges was at the height of his powers as a movie star at the tail end of the 1980s, as he had proven to be a huge draw for the general audience and a respected actor among awards voters. Although Bridges had been a part of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s with his brilliant work in The Last Picture Show and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, he transitioned into appearing in larger budget science fiction spectacles in the 1980s, including Tron and Starman. It was due to the clout that Bridges had within the industry that he was able to take a chance on a risky project, and team up with the legendary filmmaker Hal Ashby to make an old-fashioned neo-noir thriller. Unfortunately, 8 Million Ways To Die was a massive critical and financial disappointment that has a rare 0% approval on Rotten Tomatoes.

September marks Marcello Mastroianni’s centennial, and the Criterion Channel pays respect with a retrospective that puts the expected alongside some lesser-knowns: Monicelli’s The Organizer, Jacques Demy’s A Slightly Pregnant Man, and two by Ettore Scola. There’s also the welcome return of “Adventures In Moviegoing” with Rachel Kushner’s formidable selections, among them Fassbinder’s Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Pialat’s L’enfance nue, and Jean Eustache’s Le cochon. In the lead-up to His Three Daughters, a four-film Azazel Jacobs program arrives.

Theme-wise, a set of courtroom dramas runs from 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder to My Cousin Vinny and Philadelphia; a look at ’30s female screenwriters includes Fritz Lang’s You and Me, McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow, and Cukor’s What Price Hollywood? There’s also a giallo series if you want to watch an Argento movie and ask yourself,...

Jeff Bridges made his unofficial screen debut in John Cromwell's 1951 drama "The Company She Keeps" just over a year after he was born. The son of actors Dorothy and Lloyd Bridges, he steadily proved himself a nepo baby of the finest order upon reaching young adulthood. In the 50 years and change since then, he's done it all, be it squaring off with King Kong, riding a light cycle on The Grid, or seeking compensation for the damage to his prized rug. (It really tied his living room together.) He even snagged a long-expected Oscar for playing an alcoholic country singer in Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart," a film that arrived on the heels of Bridges portraying the first-ever Marvel Cinematic Universe villain in "Iron Man."

Trying to decide which of Bridges' movies stands out above the rest is a formidable challenge. It's also one that we, thankfully, need not...

Riverdale's unique storyline and iconic moments keep viewers hooked, from Jason Blossom's murder to Dark Betty's appearance. Archie's brief romance with Cheryl lacked depth and felt out of place, while his relationship with Valerie was more genuine and compelling. Riverdale's deviation from the Archie Comics, especially with Jughead's involvement in the love triangle, led to mixed reactions from fans.

The CW's Riverdale is a cultural staple of the late 2010s. This show has proved its uniqueness with its ever-changing storylines, questionable dynamics, and iconic moments. No one can forget Archie's "epic highs and lows of high school football" or the River Vixens' Jailhouse Rock dance from Riverdale season 3, episode 2, "Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fortune and Men's Eyes." The show has countless memories, including Riverdale's many alternate universes, epic twists and turns, and the widely debated Riverdale series ending. The show ran for six years, and so much has occurred that Riverdale season...

Ah, the past! As celluloid is first and foremost a method of recording things around us, it’s no surprise that archiving and recreating history, both communal and personal, is so central to the cinematic medium. But the one thing we know about the times is that they are a’changing,...

Peter Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon" is a rip-roaring road movie with a lot of hijinks and heart, anchored by the incredible performances from real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal. They play Moses Pray, a two-bit con artist who hoodwinks widows into purchasing Bibles, and Addie Loggins, a precocious nine-year-old with a permanent scowl who claims to be his daughter. With their streetwise charm, they unite to drive across the dusty Midwest, gradually increasing the stakes of their swindles. The sharp, black-and-white cinematography by László Kovács perfectly captures the sparse, unsentimental Depression-era America. But there's also a sweetness to "Paper Moon," especially in the development of Moses and Addie's complex and tenuous father-daughter bond. The film has a certain magic that can only come from the O'Neals' actual relationship, and it's something that makes "Paper Moon" such a joy to watch. Here are the main cast members still with us.

Quick Links Lonesome Dove's Struggle to Make It to the Screen Lonesome Dove TV-Miniseries Plot and Cast Lonesome Dove's Legacy on TV Where to Watch Lonesome Dove

Being met with fanfare and critical acclaim, Lonesome Dove came out when the Western genre's staying power on TV was questioned because the quality and commercial viability, in many people's eyes, were declining. The show would bring a star-studded cast and a new take on the genre, less glorified than the previous Western TV fare, cemented itself in pop culture, and inspired many to keep the dreams of portraying the Wild West alive.

However, the landmark Western miniseries struggled to make it to the screens, having been pitched more than a decade before and left to sit. We will examine the journey of Lonesome Dove, what could have been, and the legacy it has left on the TV landscape.

Lonesome Dove...

At one point in the new Apple TV+ miniseries The Big Cigar, Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland) attends a party and recalls the time he and film producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola) tried to write a movie about his life, which would have starred comedian Richard Pryor (Inny Clemons). The key, Schneider explains: “If it’s gonna be a biopic, you have to choose a moment in Huey’s life that means something. Don’t just make it womb to tomb.”

Though The Big Cigar features...

Reader, you have been lied to! Film history is littered with unfairly maligned classics, whether critics were too eager to review the making of rather than the finished product, or they suffered from underwhelming ad campaigns or general disinterest. Let’s revise our takes on some of these films from wrongheaded to the correct opinion.

In 1972, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Coppola, and William Friedkin were three of the hottest directors in Hollywood thanks to finding the sweet spot between art and box office with “The Last Picture Show,” “The Godfather,” and “The French Connection,” respectively. With their newfound clout, the young auteurs formed The Directors Company, a partnership based at Paramount, where they were given complete creative freedom to make anything they wanted as long as they worked within modest budgets. The first movie the deal yielded, “Paper Moon,” was a hit, Bogdanovich’s third in a row after “Picture Show...

Every year in the spring, Film at Lincoln Center honors a luminary of the film industry with the prestigious Chaplin Award. This year’s honoree is Academy Award-winning actor, beloved screen icon, and the dude himself, Jeff Bridges, the actor known for unforgettable classics like “The Last Picture Show,” “Fearless,” “The Big Lebowski,” “True Grit,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” “Starman, “Crazy Heart” and more.

Continue reading ‘Tron: Ares’: Jeff Bridges Reveals He’ll Appear In Third Film & Says ‘Old Man’ Season 2 Is Done Shooting at The Playlist.

The 49th annual Chaplin Gala presenters have been officially unveiled to honor award recipient Jeff Bridges.

Bridges’ former co-stars Sharon Stone, Chris Pine, Cynthia Erivo, and Rosie Perez will all toast the Academy Award winner’s contributions to film as Bridges receives the coveted Chaplin Award on April 29.

Erivo starred with Bridges in “Bad Times at the El Royale” (2018), while Perez appeared with Bridges in “Fearless” (1993). Pine was side-by-side with Bridges in Oscar-nominated Western “Hell or High Water” (2016), and Sharon Stone acted opposite Bridges in both “Simpatico” (1999) and “The Muse” (1999).

The Chaplin Award Tribute will feature excerpts from a selection of Bridges’ work, appearances by co-stars, friends, and colleagues, and the presentation of the award itself. An acclaimed actor, producer, and musician, Bridges’ film career has spanned seven decades and features a slew of iconic roles in “True Grit,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Hell or High Water,” “Heaven’s Gate,” and “Crazy Heart,...

Grounded in reality, The Last Picture Show offers a stark and somber look at growing up in a fading era of Americana. Characters reveal realistic regrets, desires, and disappointments in a small town where life doesn't necessarily get better with age. Unlike other coming-of-age films, The Last Picture Show portrays the brutal truths of youth and adulthood without melodrama.

Based on Larry McMurtry’s novel of the same name, The Last Picture Show is a wholly American heartbreaker. Rooted in a fading era when restless youth crossed unexpected paths with their listless elders, the film was a massive success upon its release in 1971. Earning eight Academy Award nominations and winning two Oscars, the film was championed by legendary film critics like Roger Ebert as a truly "Great Movie."

Over fifty years after it debuted in theaters, The Last Picture Show -- now available on 4K-uhd and Blu-Ray from the Criterion...

Pageantry. Screw ups. Touching tributes. Private beefs made public. There are plenty of reasons to watch the Oscars. But they all amount to partaking in, witnessing, movie history in its many forms — the high art, the gossip, the record-breaking moments when an arthouse director becomes a household name.

However, there are a lot of ways to set a record. There are big moments like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tying the record with 11 trophies or Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite becoming the first film not in English (or silent) to win Best Picture. And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break. Give me records like Walter Brennan winning three Best Supporting Actor awards because, as a former extra, he was popular with the Union of Film Extras, who were allowed to vote. At least, the story goes, they were allowed...