Noticias

Scroll through any list of the greatest achievements in American film, and Billy Wilder’s work is bound to show up. Arguably the most successful of Hollywood’s post-war émigrés, Austria-born Wilder built a reputation for razor-sharp screenplays in the 1930s before transitioning to the director’s chair.

His third film in America, “Double Indemnity” (1944), would prove to be his first masterpiece and the launching pad for the themes and ticks that would recur throughout his body of work. The man could tackle film noir, romantic comedy, war movies, farce, courtroom dramas, and everything in between. He imbued each genre with his trademark wit and a knack for taut storytelling, which resulted in hit after hit during Hollywood’s golden age.

Wilder’s films and the actors in them have defined the era in the cultural imagination; it’s hard to think of many other directors with about a dozen...

John Lennon’s post-Beatles odyssey unfolds over 134 minutes under the steady hand of Alan G. Parker (UK cinemas from 2 May 2025). Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade offers a chronological portrait of Lennon’s journey from Liverpool legend to New York exile (and occasional peace protester).

The film opens on a tantalizing “what might have been” prologue—a planned 1981 world tour complete with experimental video projections—before snapping us back to his 1971 arrival at the Dakota. It then guides us through solo landmarks, the so-called Lost Weekend with May Pang, and finally the shadow of his assassination.

Archive footage rubs shoulders with talking heads: journalists, biographers, even chance witnesses. Parker promises an intimate excavation of Lennon’s later layers without slick frills. Rather than a rock-documentary roller-coaster, this is a reflective mosaic. Expect moments of raw recollection beside tick-box chronology. A film that hopes to ask, if Lennon was on borrowed time,...

The 78th Cannes Film Festival takes place May 13-24, 2025, with Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche presiding over the main competition's jury. Held on the stunning French Riviera, this annual event culminates in the prestigious Palme d'Or prize, given to a director for their feature film, which officially kicks off the year's awards cycle. To date, four winners of the Palme d'Or have gone on to win the Oscar for Best Picture: The Lost Weekend (1945), Marty (1955), Parasite (2019), and Anora (2024).

A highlight of this year's Cannes opening ceremony was Leonardo DiCaprio's presentation of the Honorary Palme d'Or to Robert De Niro, DiCaprio's costar in films like Killers of the Flower Moon and This Boy's Life. De Niro follows in the footsteps of such recent recipients as Meryl Streep, George Lucas, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, and Tom Cruise. Denzel Washington also received a surprise Honorary Palme d'Or on May 19.

U.S. films that...

If the Cannes Film Festival were a building, it would be the Carlton.

The iconic hotel, with its Belle Époque balustrades and twin cupola domes, its combination of old world elegance and over-the-top extravagance, is a manifestation — in limestone, stucco and pink marble — of the Cannes festival brand. “I often hear people compare the Carlton to the Eiffel Tower,” says Carlton Hotel general manager Pierre-Louis Renou. “On one hand, it’s gigantic, but on the other so immaculate. It’s kind of a monument to the glamour of Cannes.”

The first-ever Cannes festival was held at the Carlton Casino in 1946 — well before they built the Palais — and the Carlton has played a supporting, occasionally starring, role in the history of the festival ever since. The first Cannes celebrity photo-op? The best promotional stunts? The biggest backroom deals? They all happened at the Carlton.

The Cannes Festival Launches in the Carlton...

The overwhelming number of sequels, reboots, and remakes in Hollywood has been the topic of much discourse these past few years. Viewers and critics complain about what is a perceived increase in continuations of pre-existing intellectual properties and a concurrent decrease in originality. Sequels have become culturally synonymous with a lower caliber of movies. The second installment of a franchise is a sure way to make popcorn money, but not a way to attract prestige. Thus, when it comes to the Academy Awards, the institution primarily associated with recognizing the highest echelon of film, there are not many sequels that can say they have competed for the show's top prize.

While technically 10 sequels have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, only two have ever won: The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003. What exactly is it about sequels that makes them anti-Oscar bait,...

While this year’s Oscars marked a victory for U.S. independent moviemaking, with Sean Baker’s “Anora” nabbing four major awards, including best picture, it was also a big win for the Cannes Film Festival, which is set on the French Riviera.

Through “Anora,” “Emilia Perez,” “The Substance,” and “Flow,” the Cannes Film Festival collected a record nine statuettes out of 31 nominations, largely ahead of the Venice Film Festival with Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” which won best international feature film, and three nods for Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” including best actor for Adrien Brody.

“Anora,” which also won best director, best actress for Mikey Madison, original screenplay and editing, is only the fourth Palme d’Or winner to have won best picture at the Oscars, after Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” in 2019, and Delbert Mann’s “Marty,” a New-York based crowdpleaser with Ernest Borgnine, in 1955. Billy Wilder’s...

The Cannes Film Festival had a strong showing at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, with four movies that debuted on the Croisette taking home nine gold statuettes, a recent record for the festival. A Cannes movie won in 40% of categories.

The charge was led by Palme d’Or winner Anora, which won five Oscars, including the coveted Best Picture alongside Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Editing. Sean Baker — a true indie multi-hyphenate — served as director, producer, writer, and co-editor on the film, and last night he became the first person to win four Oscars for one feature.

Anora is only the fourth Palme winner to also take Best Picture. The last film to clinch the double was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which was also released stateside by Neon. The other two films to take the top award at Cannes and the Oscars are The Lost Weekend (1945) and Marty (1955).

Elsewhere, the Latvian...

Sean Baker’s film took five Academy Awards on Sunday evening. Here’s how it triggered the landslide

• Anora dominates the Oscars – here’s the complete list of winners

Anora is officially film of the year, crowned supreme at the Oscars, just as it was at Cannes when it was anointed with the Palme d’Or last May. That’s a long path to glory, and a fairly untrodden one. Parasite made it five years ago; the previous film to do so was Marty in 1955.

Anyway: a small number. Acquired by Neon for the US before Cannes, Anora opened there last October in an effective rollout. Half of its earnings were made stateside, with the rest predominantly in Europe, and France – which takes Cannes seriously – proving the major market. It has also done brisk trade in Russia ($3m so far), which can’t be said for a lot of the other nominees,...

Hit the Atm? How about hitting the jackpot? “Anora” has won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2025 Academy Awards, capping off a remarkable awards season run that began with the Sean Baker film starring Mikey Madison winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last May. It’s only the fourth film ever to win Best Picture at the Oscars after winning the Palme, following “The Lost Weekend,” “Marty,” and “Parasite.” And IndieWire has celebrated “Anora” since it premiered at Cannes, through our Future of Filmmaking Summit, where Baker was our keynote speaker, to Oscar night itself.

“Anora” finished the night with five Oscar wins: Best Picture, Best Actress Mikey Madison, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. Of these, Baker personally won four, as the film’s director, producer, editor, and screenwriter.

Producer Alex Coco said when accepting his Best Picture Oscar, “If you’re trying to make independent films,...

Sean Baker once made a movie set in the hometown of Walt Disney World and now the multi-hyphenate filmmaker shares an extraordinary piece of Oscar history with Walt himself.

Baker and Disney are the only individuals to win four Oscars in one ceremony. For “Anora” on Sunday night, Baker won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. He’s the third director to win the editing award and the first as a solo editor.

And more than 70 years ago, in 1954, Disney won in four separate categories, for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary (Short Subject), Best Short Subject (Cartoon) and Best Short Subject (Two Reel).

In 2020, Bong Joon-ho accepted four Oscars for “Parasite” – winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature. But the international prize is awarded to the nation, not the individual filmmaker, and thus does not count as one of his personal Oscar wins.

Time to do your homework to get ready for the 97th annual Oscars. Records can be broken, anyone can win, frontrunners can be toppled, and Brazil and Latvia just might go crazy. Here are 15 moments to look for during the three-and-a-half-hour Oscar telecast, which begins at 4 p.m. Pt/7 p.m. Et on Sunday live on ABC and Hulu.

Best Picture: Front-runner Anora would become only the third film in history to win the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and also go on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Previously, Parasite in 2019 and Marty in 1955 did it. Before the fest’s top prize was called Palme d’Or, 1945’s Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend also won the top prize on the Croisette.

Mikey Madison in ‘Anora’

Best Picture: Emilia Pérez is not only the international film with the most Oscar nominations ever with 13, it is also in...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the champ of all actors.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins ranked second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). Just above that film performance in the rankings are George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine...

When a film makes it all the way to the Academy Awards and takes home the top prize of best picture, a safe assumption to be made is that said movie is probably pretty good. Right? Well, that should be the case, but whatever reason, every once in a while a film sneaks through that just isn't up to snuff and leads future audiences to wonder exactly what the Academy was thinking.

That's the exception, not the rule, however. Most best picture winners are worthy of their title, even if some fans may quibble over what the actual best film of the year was. But even amongst this lofty category, there are films that stand out as the best of the best. If there was to be an Academy Awards: All Stars Edition, these 15 would be the ones that would make the cut. No matter how long ago they were released,...

In the entire history of the Academy Awards, only six Best Picture winners have been 100 minutes or less. It seems that traditional, Oscar-bait "prestige" pictures tend to run long, attracting Academy voters with their sheer volume. Extra-long films are also a little rare, though, as only five Best Picture Winners are 200 minutes or more. Additionally, a whopping 18 Best Pictures have been between 160 and 195 minutes, so voters clearly don't mind longer movies. Indeed, the average length of a Best Picture winner is 136 minutes. In terms of cinematic storytelling, that seems to be the sweet spot. 

Of course, Roger Ebert's adage needs to be mentioned. The famed critics once posited that no good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough. The actual length of a film doesn't really matter, so long as it's a quality picture, and it makes good use of its time. Personally, I feel...

It remains to be seen if any female directors earn a nomination for Best Director at the Oscars in 2025. The Best Director Oscar has been a part of the annual Academy Awards ceremony since the event began in 1929, though in the first year it was presented as a pair of awards split between the "Comedy" and "Drama" categories. Although the Academy Awards present prizes in a wide - and growing - variety of categories, Best Director is considered one of the "Big Five" awards, a group that also includes the Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay Oscars.

Over the years, a number of notable filmmakers have won the award, including Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Billy Wilder, Ang Lee, and Frank Capra. At the time of writing, the nominees for the 2025 Best Director Oscar are unknown. Because of delays amid the Los Angeles wildfires, deliberation was delayed by two days,...

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film in the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery above features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

The worst among 96 Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film on the bottom of the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery below features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

I’ve seen documentaries reveal fascinating dimensions of John Lennon — films like “The U.S. vs. John Lennon” (2006), which chronicled his political activism and the Nixon administration’s attempts to deport him, or “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story” (2022), a portrait of Lennon’s relationship with May Pang. But “One to One: John & Yoko,” despite its rather nondescript title, may be the most accomplished and arresting of these tightly angled Lennon profiles. “The Lost Weekend” showed us a side of Lennon that had been somewhat under the radar. “One to One” deals with the period just before the Lost Weekend, starting in August 1971, when John and Yoko moved from their country estate outside London to New York City, where they spent 18 months living in a small apartment in the West Village. (It was after that that they moved into the Dakota.)

Lennon was out and about, digging the city,...

I wrote not too long ago about Saoirse Ronan‘s dual possible Oscar vehicles: “The Outrun” and “Blitz.” Well, there has been a shift in the momentum. “The Outrun” has started to outrun “Blitz” as Ronan’s better chance for Best Actress. Now that’s the film that puts her in the top five.

SEEOscar odds update: ‘The Brutalist’ soars in several races, including Best Picture, after Venice premiere

Based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users as of this writing, Ronan ranks fifth with 14/1 odds for “The Outrun” and seventh with 15/1 odds for “Blitz.” Nicole Kidman is the meat in a Saoirse sandwich, ranked sixth with 14/1 odds for “Babygirl.” It helps that many film journalists have already seen “The Outrun,” which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival. Her performance in it has been described as “tremendous,” “phenomenal” and “towering.”

And it also doesn’t...

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...

Exclusive: Vision Entertainment has brought on Chris Bellant as a manager in their talent and literary departments. He’ll work out of the company’s Los Angeles office and will also work with Vision’s production arm to produce both film and TV.

Bellant joins from Zero Gravity Management, where he also worked across talent, literary and production. Before Zero Gravity, he was a manager at Established Artists and previously ran the management and production company Waldorf Entertainment. Most recently, Bellant produced the upcoming crime thriller Nowhere Men, starring Jack Quaid, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman. Previously, he produced films including Loserville, starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Matt McGorry, and The Lost Weekend, starring Tony winner Reed Birney and Gracie Gillam.

Bellant’s clients include Emmy-nominated writers Steven White and Daniel Dratch; actors Brad Leland, Taylor Anthony Miller...

Our journey through Michael Caine’s 80s work reaches one of his best: Educating Rita, co-starring a powerhouse Julie Walters in the title role.

Michael Caine showed no sign of slowing down as he entered his third decade as a leading man. The 1980s would see him win his first Academy Award (Hannah And Her Sisters), tackle new genres such as horror (The Hand) and shark-based revenge movie (Jaws The Revenge) while continuing to work with interesting new auteurs like Brian De Palma (Dressed to Kill) as well as old friends from classic Hollywood such as John Huston (Escape To Victory).

Film by film, I’ll be taking a look at Caine’s 1980s filmography to see what hidden gems I can unearth alongside the more familiar classics…

Spoilers for Educating Rita ahead…

Directed by: Lewis Gilbert

Tagline: Frank Bryant is a professor of literature. And Rita is his newest student.

Billy Wilder was the six-time Oscar winner who left behind a series of classically quotable features from Hollywood’s Golden Age, crafting sharp witted and darkly cynical stories that blended comedy and pathos in equal measure. Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Wilder was born to a family of Austrian Jews in 1906. After working as a journalist, he developed an interest in filmmaking and collaborated on the silent feature “People on Sunday” (1929) with fellow rookies Fred Zinnemann, Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer. With the rise of Adolph Hitler, Wilder fled to Paris, where he co-directed the feature “Mauvaise Graine” (1934). Tragically, his mother, stepfather and grandmother all died in the Holocaust.

After moving to Hollywood, Wilder enjoyed a successful career as a screenwriter, earning Oscar nominations for penning 1939’s “Ninotchka” and 1941’s “Hold Back the Dawn” and “Ball of Fire.” He...

By the mid-1950s, Alfred Hitchcock had firmly established himself as the master director of suspense films, but he still enjoyed experimenting with new technology (including 3-D) and collaborating with novice actresses. On May 29, 1954, he released “Dial M for Murder,” in which he incorporated some filmmaking fads of the day and made a star out of an actress whose short career begat a long-lasting legacy. Read on for more about the “Dial M for Murder” 70th anniversary.

The thriller was written by British playwright Frederick Knott, based on his successful stage play two years prior. When retired pro-tennis player Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) discovers his wealthy socialite wife Margot (Grace Kelly) is having an affair with their friend Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), he decides her death would be much more profitable than a divorce. He blackmails old acquaintance Charles Swann (Anthony Dawson) to stage a break-in and murder his wife,...

The first iteration of the Cannes Film Festival, planned for 1939, was scuppered when Germany invaded Poland to trigger the start of World War II. But when the festival finally got off the ground in 1946, Indian cinema came out swinging. Mounted shortly after the conclusion of the war, the first “real” Cannes Film Festival featured competition entries from Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend), Roberto Rossellini (Open City), and David Lean (Brief Encounter). In the spirit of post-war peace and reconciliation, the competition jury, headed by French historian Georges Huisman, handed the top prize — then the Grand Prix — to films from 11 of the 18 countries represented that year.

This included India, with Chetan Anand’s social-realist drama Neecha Nagar, and, for a decade at least, the country was a regular fixture in Competition. After Anand came V. Shantaram with Amar Bhoopali (1952), then Raj Kapoor with Awaara (1953), and Bimal Roy with Do Bigha Zamin...

World War II was still raging in May 1944. The allied invasion of Normandy — aka D-Day — was just around the corner on June 6th. Americans kept the home fires burning and escaped from the global conflict by going to the movies. Two of the biggest films of the year, Leo McCarey’s “Going My Way” and George Cukor’s “Gaslight,” recently celebrated their 80th anniversaries.

Actually, “Going My Way” had a special “Fighting Front” premiere on April 27th: 65 prints were shipped to battle fronts and shown “from Alaska to Italy, and from England to the jungles of Burma.” The sentimental comedy-drama-musical arrived in New York on May 3rd.

And it was just the uplifting film audiences needed. Bing Crosby starred as Father O’Malley, a laid-back young priest who arrives at a debt-ridden New York City church that is run by the older, set-in-his ways Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). The elder...

Oscars have ignored franchise films, but a few sequels like The Godfather Part II and The Return of the King earned Best Picture nods. Despite Hollywood's increase in sequels, many franchise films like Mad Max: Fury Road and Black Panther have been snubbed by the Oscars. The lack of recognition for sequels like The Dark Knight led to the Academy changing its Best Picture nomination system.

The Oscars have a history of ignoring franchise films, but a few sequels earned Best Picture nominations. Sequels have always been a big part of the movie industry, as the first was made in 1916, but the Academy Awards do not typically reward them in the most significant category. This includes notable Oscar snubs for some of the best sequels of all time, such as The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2, and The Dark Knight. The omission of Christopher Nolan's Batman movie resulted in...

Oscar nominees and Palme d'Or winners sometimes cross paths, creating more excitement in the film industry. Winning both prestigious awards is rare: only three films in history managed to achieve this notable feat. The journey from film festival circuit success to Best Picture Oscar victory is a challenging and coveted achievement, especially for international filmmakers.

From Moonlight's much-deserved win over La La Land to Parasite's history-making run, the Academy Awards are known for dramatic twists. While Oscar-winner Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer seems primed to sweep several major categories, there's still room for an upset. In fact, one 2024 Oscar nominee for Best Picture has the chance to achieve a feat only three other movies ever have before — though it requires a win in the night's biggest category. The record in question doesn't revolve around any "firsts," but it provides connective tissue between a film's festival circuit journey to its Oscars campaign.

Get ready for a riveting episode of “Hustlers Gamblers Crooks” as Season 1 Episode 5, titled “The Lost Weekend,” hits the screens on Discovery at 9:08 Pm on Friday, February 16, 2024. In this gripping installment, viewers will be taken on a wild ride through the highs and lows of the underground world of hustlers, gamblers, and crooks.

The episode features a party boy who runs his own poker games, only to find himself thrust into a life-or-death situation that will test his wit and nerve like never before. Additionally, audiences will witness the harrowing tale of a $2.2-million lottery winner whose dream quickly turns into a nightmare of betrayal and deception.

But the excitement doesn’t stop there—viewers will also be treated to the story of two broke individuals embarking on an unbelievable weekend adventure that will push the boundaries of their friendship and leave them with memories they’ll never forget.

Maya Hawke and Jon Hamm have joined Christoph Waltz in the starry cast for Stephen Frears’ upcoming drama, Wilder & Me.

Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.

Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.

Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...

When Nicolas Cage won the Best Actor Oscar in 1995 for his devastating portrayal of a heartbroken alcoholic with a death wish in Mike Figgis' "Leaving Las Vegas," he was 31 years old and soaring into the prime of an already impressive career. He had access to the best screenplays in town and the interest of just about every A-list director. So Cage did what any reasonable movie star would do: he made three of the decade's zaniest blockbuster action movies.

For those of us who fell in love with Cage as the good-hearted punk Randy in Martha Coolidge's lovable 1983 film "Valley Girl," he kind of owed us. Though he's utterly brilliant in "Leaving Las Vegas," Figgis' grimy drama makes "The Lost Weekend" look like "Arthur." It's a brutal, frankly unrewarding ordeal. For close to two hours, we watch Cage's financially/personally ruined screenwriter grimly follow through on his promise to speedily drink himself to death.

Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon was named best picture at the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, the winners of which were unveiled on Wednesday.

Robert De Niro also won best supporting actor for his role in Martin Scorsese’s true-crime epic, which tells the story of the systemic assassinations of the Osage people in 1920s Oklahoma by white settlers who planned to steal the tribe’s wealth in the form of oil-rich land rights.

Netflix’s Nyad also won two awards: best actress for Annette Bening, who plays competitive swimmer Diana Nyad as she attempts to cross shark-infested waters between Cuba and Florida, and best supporting actress Jodie Foster, who plays Nyad’s coach and best friend Bonnie Stoll.

Rustin’s Colman Domingo also scored the prize for best actor for playing civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the Netflix biopic.

Other film winners include Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan,...

AARP The Magazine this morning unveiled the winners of its annual Movies for Grownups Awards, with the Martin Scorsese-directed epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” taking the top honor of Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups over “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Oppenheimer” and “Maestro. The Best Film Actress honor went to Annette Bening for “Nyad,” while Colman Domingo won the trophy for Best Film Actor for his lead performance in “Rustin.” Bening’s co-star Jodie Foster won supporting actress for “Nyad,” with Robert De Niro taking supporting actor for his work in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Christopher Nolan was cited as Best Director for “Oppenheimer.”

In TV, “Succession” won the AARP statuette for Bst TV Movie/Series or Limited Series, while Jennifer Coolidge was awarded Best TV Actress for “The White Lotus” and Bryan Cranston earned the Best TV Actor prize for “Your Honor.”

Seeaarp Movies for Grownups...

AARP The Magazine has announced the nominees for the annual Movies for Grownups (Mfg) Awards. “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer” will contend for best picture/best movie for grownups.

AARP offers a description of Mfg’s goal: “For more than two decades, AARP’s Movies for Grownups initiative has championed movies for grownups, by grownups, by advocating for the 50-plus audience and encouraging films and TV shows that resonate with older viewers.”

In the category of best actress, Annette Bening is nominated for “Nyad” alongside Juliette Binoche (“The Taste of Things”), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“Origin”), Helen Mirren (“Golda”) and Julia Roberts, Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Anthony Hopkins (“Freud’s Last Session”) and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”).

Best supporting actress nods went to Viola Davis (“Air”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”), Taraji P. Henson (“The Color Purple”), Julianne Moore (“May December”) and Leslie Uggams (“American Fiction...

AARP The Magazine this morning announced the nominees for its annual Movies for Grownups (Mfg) Awards, with “Barbie,” “The Color Purple.” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer” leading the way with bids in the Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups Category. Also prominent are the nominees for Best Film Actress, where the nominees are Annette Bening for “Nyad,” Juliette Binoche for “The Taste of Things,” Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for “Origin,” Helen Mirren for “Golda” and Julia Roberts for “Leave the World Behind.” The Best Film Actor race will pit Nicolas Cage for “Dream Scenario,” Colman Domingo for “Rustin,” Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers,” Anthony Hopkins for “Freud’s Last Session” and Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.”

The AARP Mfg nominees for Best Supporting Film Actress feature Viola Davis (“Air”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”), Taraji P. Henson (“The Color Purple”), Julianne Moore (“May December”) and Leslie Uggams (“American Fiction”), while the Supporting...

Amid the flood of awards-season nominations comes AARP, whose Movies for Grownups Awards noms arrived today. Oppenheimer leads the way with six mentions, followed by Killers of the Flower Moon with five. Both will vie for Best Picture alongside Barbie, The Color Purple and Maestro.

See the full list below.

The Best Actress field is a starry field with Annette Bening (Nyad), Juliette Binoche (The Taste of Things), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin), Helen Mirren (Golda) and Julia Roberts (Leave the World Behind). But Killers of the Flower Moon Golden Globe winner and Oscar hopeful Lily Gladstone didn’t make the list.

Best Actor will pit Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Globes winner Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Anthony Hopkins (Freud’s Last Session) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction).

Oppenheimer‘s Christopher Nolan will vie for Best Director along with Ben Affleck (Air), Michael Mann (Ferrari), Alexander Payne (The Holdovers) and Martin Scorsese...

Be your January dry or anything but, here’s to boozing in the movies, from The Lost Weekend to Sideways, Whisky Galore! and Harvey

I’ve never been a subscriber to dry January: the month, with its stern back-to-business vibe and doubled-down winter chill, seems austere enough to me already. Yet whether you participate in the no-drinking game or not, January has become the month that compels us to consider our relationship to alcohol, how much space it takes in our lives, and what else can fill it.

Alcoholism is a condition the movies have always treated with varying levels of intensity – it’s somehow the addiction you’re allowed to make a comedy about – though the sober-minded, cautionary drinking drama has forever been a Hollywood mainstay. Nearly 80 years ago, Billy Wilder took a clutch of Oscars for The Lost Weekend, a then shocking, still potent portrait of an alcoholic...

Alice Walker published her acclaimed novel “The Color Purple” in 1982. It sold five million copies; Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and she also received the National Book Club Award. Three years later, Steven Spielberg directed the lauded film version which made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. It earned 11 Oscar nominations. The story revolves around a young woman who suffers abuse from her father and husband for four decades until she finds her own identity. Not exactly the stuff of a Broadway musical.

But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.

When people think of open-air ice skating in New York City, well, they probably conjure up the festive Christmas-y confines of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Unless they're old. Baby Boomer old. For members of the generation that protested the Vietnam War before turning into conservative zombies who treat Fox News as an informational IV drip, there is first and foremost the image of the late Ryan O'Neal's Oliver Barrett IV gazing forlornly at the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park as Francis Lai's brilliantly overwrought main theme jerks tears from our ducts with a vicious intensity worthy of Pinhead.

Most Boomers won't get that reference. And for those born as early as the Reagan era who are generally incurious about movies, you probably haven't watched Arthur Hiller's "Love Story." It is a film of its time, but, oh, what a film it was, at least commercially. Based on Erich Segal...

The elusive motives behind Mark David Chapman fatally shooting John Lennon are now finally being explained in a boundary-breaking Apple TV+ docuseries.

“John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial” interrogates why Chapman, a photographer from Hawaii, set out to murder Beatle Lennon. Interviews with Chapman’s defense lawyer David Suggs and Dr Naomi Goldstein, the psychiatrist who first assessed Chapman, give new insights into his state of mind at the time of the 1980 killing. A witness to Lennon’s murder, taxi driver Richard Peterson, and Jay Hastings, a doorman at The Dakota who heard Lennon’s last words before he was shot outside of the infamous building, also speculate what compelled Chapman to kill.

Lennon and wife Yoko Ono’s shared confidante Elliot Mintz is further interviewed as the docuseries questions whether Chapman had religious motives or was part of a larger conspiracy to kill celebrities.

Per the series tagline, “Murder Without a Trial...

On Nov. 29, 1945, Paramount Pictures and Billy Wilder brought their adaptation of The Lost Weekend to theaters in Los Angeles. The film would go on to be nominated for seven Oscars at the 18th Academy Awards, claiming four wins, including best picture. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, headlined “Brackett, Wilder, Milland Do Great Jobs In ‘Weekend,'” is below:

This is undoubtedly the best horror picture of the year and it is without question one of the best pieces of picture-making, so far as writing, directing, acting and any other techniques are concerned, that Hollywood has turned out in many a long moon. The word-of-mouth advertising alone will prove to be as terrific as the picture is horrific.

Effective is a mild word for the picturization of this novel, taken from the book of the same name. With the exception of the end, it has stuck most faithfully to the original,...

If you keep up with superhero movies, you probably know how Marvel Studios started as an underdog and became a behemoth. The omnipresent Cinematic Universe all started with 2008's "Iron Man," which was far from a guaranteed hit; the title character was a B-list comic star at best, and comeback vehicles (like this was for Robert Downey Jr.) can be anything but.

According to the recent behind-the-scenes book "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios" by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, even the film's writers didn't initially know if it would work. Their concerns went back to the source material. The most famous "Iron Man" comic was and is "Demon in a Bottle", about Tony Stark succumbing to and then beating alcoholism.

During the Bronze Age of Comics (the 1970s), superhero stories gestured to social relevance. "The Reign of Marvel Studios" says that writers weren't keen on such a premise being a blockbuster hit,...

The winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture are often known for their epic lengths, with 12 of 95 (as of 2023) exceeding the three-hour mark, but the shortest Best Picture winner of all time, Delbert Mann’s Marty, actually runs at a perfect 90 minutes. It’s not so much that Marty carries itself with the same epic scale of Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, or The Deer Hunter, but rather that its brisk length lends to a large portion of its low-key charm. Marty is notorious for not only winning the Oscar for Best Picture but also for winning the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or the year prior, two of the most prestigious awards on the circuit that only two other films (Parasite and Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend) have earned in a historic double-whammy. But what is it about Marty that allowed it to compete...

Exclusive: Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, the documentary feature in which May Pang discusses her whirlwind love affair with singer John Lennon, when she was just 23 years old and his assistant. The film, which premiered at Tribeca, is directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, and Stuart Samuels. The tale is told through May’s inside perspective, capturing a love affair that shaped a prolific period for Lennon post-Beatles.

Briarcliff will premiere the docu on digital and Blu-ray on October 13, 2023, the week of John Lennon’s birthday, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

A lesser known chapter in the life of the late Beatles singer Lennon, it took 50 years for Pang to tell her story on film. She recounts her 18-month relationship with John—a relationship orchestrated by Yoko Ono herself. During this period, May helped John reunite with his son Julian Lennon, and participated firsthand in his most productive period post-Beatles.

Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I love Powell and Pressburger, so I was very happy to get in a reference to them.”

With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.

Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”

In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...

Flying saucers and alien invasion movies were the trend in the 1950s. UFO sightings in Washington State in 1947 and the famous crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1948 had ignited a fever for all things alien. The movies soon followed the public interest with films like The Thing from Another World (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), This Island Earth (1955), Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957), and many more of varying levels of quality. Many of these science fiction/horror hybrids were aimed toward an audience of children and teenagers and often featured young people, but few placed the viewer so deeply in the child’s perspective as the 1953 classic Invaders from Mars.

In many ways, Invaders from Mars walked so that Invasion of the Body Snatchers could run just three years later. Much of this is due to its extremely low budget and independent production.

Ray Milland was just 20 years old when he made an uncredited appearance as an extra in the 1928 silent film version of Moulin Rouge, but it was the start of a movie and television career that would last nearly six decades and earn him the Best Actor Oscar along the way. The Welsh actor, who crossed the pond to become one of Hollywood's most well-known leading men, made his mark in everything from light comedies to war movies and action-adventure epics. It was his role in 1945's The Lost Weekend, however, that cemented his credentials and ensured his place in film history — credentials which eventually landed him in some bizarre 1970s horror movie roles.

Hollywood’s postwar shift to social consciousness addressed familiar issues like bigotry and discrimination. On his way to making his gargantuan, serious epics, famed director George Stevens paused for this almost entirely forgotten contemplation of American anxiety in the business rat race, with a side order of alcoholism and potential adultery. Ray Milland is the troubled ad man who tries to help the drink-impaired actress, Joan Fontaine. Wife Teresa Wright waits patiently back home, but for how long? Is Stevens just dabbling in neorealistic doldrums, or did he feel the wave of dull existential despair as well? It’s one of his least-known films.

Something to Live For

All Region Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] #199

952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 89 min. / Street Date February 22, 2023 / Available from [Imprint] / au 34.95

Starring: Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, Teresa Wright, Richard Derr, Douglas Dick, Harry Bellaver, Paul Valentine, King Donovan, Kasey Rogers, Douglas Spencer, Mari Blanchard.

Cinematography: George Barnes

Production Designer: Hal Pereira,...

This year, all the Oscar-contending directors are nominated for original screenplay: the Daniels, Todd Field, Martin McDonagh, Ruben Östlund and Steven Spielberg (writing with Tony Kushner).

This is the first time it’s happened in AMPAS history.

The only year that came close was 2017, when all five helmers had written or co-written their scripts, though they didn’t all get writing noms.

So here’s Film History 101.

In Hollywood lore, Preston Sturges is often credited as the first scribe to become a hyphenate, as writer-director of the 1940 “The Great McGinty.” But as with all Hollywood “facts,” there is only an element of truth here.

In the next few years, he was joined by some heavyweights: Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”) and John Huston (“The Maltese Falcon”) in 1941; Leo McCarey (co-writer of “Going My Way”); Billy Wilder (writing with Raymond Chandler) for “Double Indemnity” in 1944; and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“Dragonwyck”), 1946.

However, a writer-director wasn’t an innovation.