News

Lola Petticrew and Scoot McNairy have joined the untitled Liz Meriwether project loosely inspired by the 1987 movie Black Widow. They join the previously announced star Emmy Rossum, who will play an FBI Agent who uses the secrets from a female serial killer’s past to try and find her.

The 1987 movie Black Widow, written by Bass and directed by Bob Rafelson, follows two women: Catherine (Theresa Russell), who murders wealthy men whom she has married for their money, and Alexandra (Debra Winger), an agent with the Department of Justice who grows obsessed with bringing her to justice.

Meriwether executive produces alongside Rossum and Sara Moskowitz via Rossum’s Composition 8 banner, as well as Ron Bass, who wrote the 20th Century Fox-distributed 1987 film. 20th Television, where Meriwether has been based for a decade, and Searchlight TV are producing.

Petticrew is an Irish actor named one of Screen International’s Stars...

If the Monkees were a made-for-tv response to the success of the Beatles, then the Monkees’ first movie, Head, was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of films like Help! and A Hard Day’s Night. Who could producers tap to script the project? Director Bob Rafelson knew just the guy — B-movie actor and struggling screenwriter Jack Nicholson.

“Jack was fabulous,” Monkee Peter Tork told The Guardian. “We adored him, all of us. Michael (Nesmith) practically fell in love with him, in a manly sort of way.”

Micky Dolenz co-signed on the band’s love of Nicholson. “He was such a wonderful, charismatic, funny guy,” he explained. “Jack spent a lot of time with us. He hung out on the (TV show) set and came out on tour, just picking up the vibe.”

The four Monkees — Dolenz, Tork, Nesmith and Davy Jones — collaborated with Rafelson and Nicholson on the story.

Balthazar. Pastis. Minetta Tavern. The Odeon. The more than a dozen restaurants outspoken British expat Keith McNally launched in Manhattan and D.C. over the decades exude a louche bohemian je ne sais quoi that make them seem as if they’d been transplanted tile by tile from Belle Époque Paris and tastefully modernized. You half expect to see Toulouse-Lautrec in the corner. More likely, you’ll spot Hollywood stars, literary types, media titans and not James Corden, whom McNally famously raked over the social media coals for being rude to a Balthazar waiter in 2022.

His speech impacted by a 2016 stroke, McNally found his voice on Instagram, where he dishes on his cultural likes and many dislikes and picks fights with everyone from Lauren Sánchez to fellow restaurateur and wit Graydon Carter. This month, he explores a longer, more introspective format. Upon the release of his new memoir, I Regret Almost Everything,...

For most actors, stealing a mere fragment of a moment of a scene from an incandescent talent like Denzel Washington would be a career coup. Even when the power dynamic of a scene favors the other actor, Washington is the guy we're going to watch, the puckish, pissed-off ball of energy who refuses to bend the knee or cede a centimeter of ground. Washington wins scenes even when his character loses.

So consider what Delroy Lindo does throughout the first act of Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" to be a tap-dance-on-water miracle. As West Indian Archie, a Harlem numbers kingpin who takes the cocky young Malcolm under his wing, Lindo holds Washington in check. Archie has accrued significant power in a cutthroat realm, and he knows how to wield it. He's a man of stillness and meticulously measured menace. He studies this antsy, ambitious kid with cautious amusement; he clocks his potential,...

Natasha Lyonne is back as Charlie Cale!

The 46-year-old actress reprises her role in the upcomign second season of Poker Face on Peacock, which hails from creator, writer, director and executive producer Rian Johnson, best known for Knives Out.

Keep reading to find out more…

Here’s a season two synopsis: Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

Guest stars this season include Rhea Perlman, Richard Kind, Melanie Lynskey, John Cho, Simon Helberg, Patti Harrison, Simon Rex, Brandon Perea, Justin Theroux and Adrienne C Moore. Find out who else will be appearing!

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level...

Charlie Cale is back! What a concept! The latest trailer for Rian Johnson’s Poker Face Season 2 is here, and Natasha Lyonne’s lie-detecting detective is coming up against her most challenging cases yet! The first episode of Poker Face Season 2 debuts on Peacock on Thursday, May 8, with nine more episodes dropping weekly through July 10.

Here’s Peacock’s official synopsis for Poker Face Season 2:

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2, we’ve taken her journey to the next level, one murder mystery at a time. From minor league baseball to big box retail, funeral homes to alligator farms, and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime-solving existential road trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability.”

“To bring Season 2 to life, we pulled visual inspiration from American 70s cinema, all the stuff we love like Robert Altman,...

Peacock has released the official trailer and key art for Poker Face season two, which will premiere with three episodes on May 8. From Rian Johnson and starring Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne, the second season consists of 12 episodes.

Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

The show’s critically acclaimed first season received four Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Natasha Lyonne, and garnered Peacock its first Emmy win for Judith Light’s Outstanding Guest Actress Performance in a Comedy Series.

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2, we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time,...

From the mind of Rian Johnson, fans of the filmmaker's detective stories were given a gift with Poker Face Season 1. The story followed Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a woman who can always tell when someone is lying. Her "Peter Falk in Columbo" energy is the perfect framing device for a beautiful mix of modern characters, murders to solve, and a new favorite detective who always gets the answers she is looking for. Now, the hit series, written by both Johnson and Lyonne, is back for Season 2! The new trailer shows us Charlie doing what she does best: Forcing people to tell the truth when they don't want to.

Much like the first season, Season 2 will feature an all-star line-up of guests! The list includes Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo, John Mulaney, Giancarlo Esposito, John Ritter, Katie Holmes, Justin Theroux, Melanie Lynskey, and more. What looks great about this season is that,...

If you loved Natasha Lyonne serving up truth bombs and outsmarting people with her signature charm in Poker Face Season 1, then get ready—because Charlie Cale is back for round two! After driving around the country solving cases for random people on the streets, Peacock decided to bring back our human lie detector for Season 2.

According to reports, Rian Johnson’s mystery TV show Poker Face was renewed within a month of season 1’s conclusion in 2023. So now, that very long-awaited Season 2 is approaching its release date in the spring of 2025. And by now, since the streamer has unveiled plenty of exciting details, let’s check out more about Poker Face Season 2.

Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in Poker Face | image: Peacock When will Poker Face Season 2 be released?

Although it has been around two years since Peacock renewed Poker Face Season 2, the wait is finally over. The hit mystery series,...

This week on the Film Stories Podcast Network: Bong’s back, Comic Relief returns, Severance ends and more. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Reel Talk

A big return for Bong Joon-Ho in Mickey 17, his delayed Robert Pattinson-starring science-fiction film, discussed here by Sam Stokes and guest Ian Buckley…

Britcom Goes to the Movies

Every two years, Britain launches Comic Relief in the West’s vain effort to help the African poor, and though that never changes, we do get some blinding sketches out of it. Rob Heath and Guy Walker return for a special episode to look at some of the best…

Illumination Above All

Get your mittens on as Severance reaches 2×10 ‘Cold Harbor’, the crazy climax to this thrilling second season, which innies Ian Buckley and Sarah Applegate are here to break down…

Modern Horror

One of the strangest and hardest to describe horrors in recent years,...

Long before Jack Nicholson cemented his name as an icon with menacing roles like Jack Torrance from The Shining, he was a rising talent. In the 1960s, Nicholson appeared in many television shows and movies like The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). Prior to entering mainstream cinema, he was also seen in a B-movie film known as The Cry Baby Killer (1958). In his early years in Hollywood, Nicholson was finding his footing in the movement of the late 60s. But it was not before 1969 that he gained his breakout role in the film Easy Rider, a drama that served as a pivotal moment in Nicholson's career. A chance to share the screen with two of cinema's greatest stars, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, in a film that would redefine independent cinema.

More than just a road movie, Easy Rider explored the themes of freedom, disillusionment and the clash between societal norms and counterculture.

Hulu has greenlit a drama series from Liz Meriwether with Emmy Rossum set to executive produce and also potentially star.

The untitled series is loosely inspired by the 1987 movie “Black Widow.” Per the official logline, “An FBI agent uses the secrets from a female serial killer’s past to try and find her.” According to sources, should Rossum close her deal to star in the series, she would play the FBI agent.

Meriwether serves as writer and executive producer. Rossum will executive producer under her Composition 8 banner along with Sara Moskowitz. Ron Bass, who wrote the screenplay for “Black Widow,” is also an executive producer. 20th Television and Searchlight TV will produce.

In “Black Widow,” federal agent Alexandra Barnes (played by Debra Winger) tracks a serial killer (played by Theresa Russell) across the country as she marries and then murders wealthy men. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and directed by Bob Rafelson.

Hulu has given a series order to a drama written and executive produced by Liz Meriwether. Emmy Rossum is executive producing and in negotiations to headline the untitled project loosely inspired by the 1987 movie Black Widow.

In the Hulu series, an FBI agent — the role Rossum is poised to play — uses the secrets from a female serial killer’s past to try and find her.

Meriwether executive produces alongside Rossum and Sara Moskowitz via Rossum’s Composition 8 banner as well as Ron Bass who wrote the 20th Century Fox-distributed 1987 film. 20th Television, where Meriwether has been based for a decade, and Searchlight TV are producing.

Meriwether was creator, executive producer and showrunner of the Fox/20th TV comedy series New Girl. At Hulu, she created and executive produced the The Dropout, which won Amanda Seyfried the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series.

Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine have brought a commanding presence to the silver screen for decades. Each Oscar-winning actor’s gravitas had the ability to add texture to their characters as well as elevate the co-stars who had an opportunity to share scenes with them. When Nicholson and Caine were brought together for Bob Rafelson’s Blood and Wine in 1996, their pairing was quite an event for acting lovers across the globe.

Fire up the Plymouth Barracuda and brace the bullshit detector — Charlie Cale is back on the case! Yes, after making a storming debut in Season 1 of Rian Johnson's Columbo-esque, case-of-the-week murder-mystery series Poker Face back in 2023, Natasha Lyonne's human lie detector is readying her return in what's shaping up to be an all-star Season 2. As the newly released teaser for the series ahead shows us, Johnson is pulling out all the stops with the murderer's row — or victims' parade — on the block this time around. Check it out below;

Does this new teaser spoil anything about the new series? No. Does it actually tell us anything about any of the cases Cale will be facing this time out? Also no. Is it essentially a braggadocious run through of the top names on the Season 2 call sheet? Abso-damn-lutely. But what a set of names! Cynthia Erivo! John Mulaney! Katie Holmes!

Peacock has released the teaser trailer for Poker Face Season 2, which will premiere on the streaming service on May 8. From Rian Johnson and starring Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne, the second season will consist of 12 episodes.

Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

The show’s critically acclaimed first season received four Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Natasha Lyonne, and garnered Peacock its first Emmy win for Judith Light’s Outstanding Guest Actress Performance in a Comedy Series.

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time,...

Following their critically acclaimed and award-winning drama series, “The Dropout” for Hulu, Oscar-nominated and Emmy winner actress Amanda Seyfried is teaming up again with that series celebrated creator/writer/producer Elizabeth Meriwether. Their new collaboration is a series remake of the 1987 neo-noir thriller “Black Widow” starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell and directed by the late Bob Rafelson (“Five Easy Pieces.

Continue reading Amanda Seyfried To Star In ‘Black Window’ Thriller Series Remake From ‘The Dropout’ Creator Liz Merriwether [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

We’re so back! Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale is on the case in Peacock and Rian Johnson‘s new teaser trailer for Poker Face Season 2. The upcoming season of Johnson’s smash-hit crime series premieres at PaleyFest in LA on Saturday, March 29, at 2 Pt at the Dolby Theatre. Rian Johnson, Natasha Lyonne, and new guest stars will be there to introduce the first episode and hold an in-depth conversation about the show’s celebrated return.

According to Peacock’s Poker Face Season 2 press release, “Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2, we’ve taken her journey to the next level, one murder mystery at a time. From minor league baseball to big box retail, funeral homes to alligator farms, and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime-solving existential road trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability.”

“To bring Season 2 to life,...

Poker Face is coming back!

Peacock debuted the official teaser for Season 2 of the Emmy-winning TV show on Wednesday (March 12), along with revealing the premiere date, teaser and first look images.

“We’re so back! And that’s no bullsh-t,” the network declared.

Keep reading to find out more…

The new season premieres May 8 with 3 episodes, followed by a new episode weekly.

Creator and writer Rian Johnson and executive producer, writer and star Natasha Lyonne provided a note about the upcoming season.

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time. From minor league baseball to big box retail, from funeral homes to alligator farms and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime solving existential road-trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability,” they wrote.

“To bring Season 2 to life,...

Welcome back, Charlie Cale.

Natasha Lyonne is back as TV’s favorite gumshoe detective in the first teaser for Poker Face season two, and the footage teases the roster of high-wattage guest stars who have been brought in to play in Charlie’s murder mystery sandbox when the series returns.

With its twist on the Columbo murder-of-the-week format, the Peacock series from creator Rian Johnson lured an eye-popping weekly roster of guest stars for season one that included the likes of Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, Ellen Barkin, Tim Meadows, Ron Perlman and Stephanie Hsu, to name a few. Johnson, Lyonne and the Poker Face casting team went back to the drawing board for season two to bring on the impressive list of guest stars (listed below) — and the teaser introduces who some of them will be playing.

The 12-episode season launches with three episodes on May 8, followed by a weekly releases Thursdays on Peacock.

Can you read her poker face yet? She can read yours, and she's about to read a ton of other people as Natasha Lyonne returns in Season 2 ofPoker Face. With showrunner Tony Tost behind the wheel, Season 2 begins streaming on Peacock starting May 8, 2025, with three episodes at launch and new episodes streaming Thursday. There are a cool dozen episodes this time around, as opposed to the 10 great episodes in Season 1. The synopsis is simple: Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

A press release from Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne reads, "Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the...

More than two years after the Season 1 finale aired, Poker Face is finally set to return to Peacock. Season 2 premieres May 8, 2025 with three episodes, followed by a new episode streaming every Thursday.

From creator Rian Johnson and executive producer and star Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. This season, Charlie continues her cross-country odyssey, encountering a new cast of characters and investigating crimes along the way.

Check out Peacock's official new teaser for Poker Face Season 2 below:

This season's all-star lineup of new suspects features Cynthia Erivo, John Mulaney, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Awkwafina, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Justin Theroux, Taylor Schilling, Kumail Nanjiani, and Melanie Lynskey.

In a joint statement, Johnson and Lyonne said:

Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next...

After over two years, we finally have a premiere date for “Poker Face” Season 2. Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne’s crime dramedy will return on May 8 with its first three episodes. After its premiere, new episodes will air Thursdays on Peacock.

“This is getting a little crazy,” Cynthia Erivo says in the teaser out Wednesday, to which Lyonne’s Charlie Cale shoots back, “Stay with me.”

The rest of the 30-second clip is filled with gunfire, explosions, zingers and big-name cameos. The video also shows appearances from John Mulaney, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Awkwafina, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Justin Theroux, Taylor Schilling, Kumail Nanjiani and Melanie Lynskey. “What am I even running from, right?” Charlie asks, chuckling. Seconds later, she’s shot at repeatedly. Watch the full teaser, below:

The Peacock original takes its cues from “Columbo” and other TV classics. The mystery-of-the-week series follows Lyonne’s Charlie, who always...

Natasha Lyonne is back in the game of solving mysteries in Season 2 of “Poker Face.”

The star-studded, Emmy Award-winning original series returns with Lyonne’s Charlie Cale tackling a new mystery-of-the-week. Charlie has an extraordinary ability to know without fail when someone is lying, and now for this season, Charlie continues her journey on the road across the country, encountering a new cast of characters and investigating crimes along the way.

“Poker Face” previously received four Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Lyonne, and garnered Peacock its first Emmy win for Judith Light’s Outstanding Guest Actress Performance in a Comedy Series.

Lyonne is joined by a fresh crop of celeb guest stars for Season 2, ranging from “Wicked” actress Cynthia Erivo to comedian John Mulaney. The full list also includes Awkwafina, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, David Krumholtz, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter,...

Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in ‘Poker Face’ season 2 (Photo by: Peacock)

There’s finally official content available for the much-anticipated second season of Peacock’s Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne. While the streamer didn’t announce a season two premiere date, it teased that the 12-episode new season will arrive this spring.

“Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in season two we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time. From minor league baseball to big box retail, from funeral homes to alligator farms and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime-solving existential road trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability,” wrote series creator, writer, director, and executive producer Rian Johnson and series star director, writer, and executive producer Natasha Lyonne in a joint statement released with the first photos.

Johnson and Lyonne...

We’ve got a window for when Poker Face returns, so here’s a peek when you can see the return of TV’s most unusual crime solver!

Poker Face was a huge winner with audiences and critics when it debuted on Peacock in 2023. It’s been a longer wait for season 2 as the show was delayed by issues such as the 2023 Hollywood strikes and the busy schedule of creator Rian Johnson.

Thankfully, it’s coming with The Hollywood Reporter sharing a first peek at Poker Face season 2. That includes how it’s eying a spring 2025 release date. That’s likely going to be April or early May.

Poker Face revolves around Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a Vegas card shark who has the uncanny ability to know when someone is lying. After she inadvertently causes the death of a mobster’s son, Charlie goes on the run. As fate would have it,...

Peacock has released a first look at Poker Face season 2 with a special message from Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson.

Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time. From minor league baseball to big box retail, from funeral homes to alligator farms and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime solving existential road-trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability.

To bring Season 2 to life, we pulled visual inspiration from American 70s cinema, all the stuff we love like Robert Altman, Bob Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich. But the backbone of this show is TV – the kind of TV we grew up watching, episodic case of the week gems like Columbo and The Rockford Files and Quantum Leap. Each episode is a mini movie, existing in its own...

Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson's hit streaming series, Poker Face, is set to return this year. And, well? The list of people they've finagled to guest star in Season 2 is actually unhinged. Like, the list of people who are going to be on this show is truly outrageous and unfathomable to someone like me, a person who does not cast television shows. But if I did? And I managed to pull this off? I'd be screaming it from the rooftop, folks. Because this cast list? It's truly the best of the best of the funniest, most talented people currently working in Hollywood.

And it seems that Lyonne and Johnson recognize that, sending along a note with the press release teasing the series' forthcoming slate of episodes. And though we don't know the exact premiere date yet — all it says is "Spring 2025" — we do know the 12, 60-minute-long episodes will feature Many very,...

Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson's hit streaming series, Poker Face, is set to return this year. And, well? The list of people they've finagled to guest star in Season 2 is actually unhinged. Like, the list of people who are going to be on this show is truly outrageous and unfathomable to someone like me, a person who does not cast television shows. But if I did? And I managed to pull this off? I'd be screaming it from the rooftop, folks. Because this cast list? It's truly the best of the best of the funniest, most talented people currently working in Hollywood.

And it seems that Lyonne and Johnson recognize that, sending along a note with the press release teasing the series' forthcoming slate of episodes. And though we don't know the exact premiere date yet — all it says is "Spring 2025" — we do know the 12, 60-minute-long episodes will feature Many very,...

Peacock has revealed the first photos from the second season of the Emmy Award-winning original series, Poker Face. From Rian Johnson and starring Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne, the 12-episode second season will premiere on Peacock this spring.

PaleyFest LA is also getting an exclusive preview of Poker Face Season 2. Join Rian Johnson, Natasha Lyonne and new guest stars for a sneak-peek screening and conversation about the mystery and mayhem to come on March 29 in Hollywood. Visit the PaleyFest site for tickets.

Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

The show’s critically acclaimed first season received four Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Natasha Lyonne,...

Peacock has revealed exciting news about the second season of Poker Face. New images have also provided a first look at the new episodes.

Poker Face Season 2 is set to premiere on Peacock in Spring 2025. New photos share a sneak peek at Natasha Lyonne in the second season along with some of the various guest stars. While a specific premiere date has still yet to be announced, the Spring 2025 release window is good news for fans who have been waiting for the second season to arrive. For now, the new images can be viewed below.

RelatedPoker Face Season 2 Guest Stars Include Justified & The Office Actors

A new trio of familiar actors have signed on for the second season of the acclaimed Peacock series.

"Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time," series creator,...

Natasha Lyonne is back to sniff out more “bull—” with Season 2 of Rian Johnson‘s Poker Face.

Returning to Peacock in spring 2025, first look images of the mystery-of-the-week series’ sophomore season see Lyonne’s human lie detector Charlie Cale still on the run in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda while solving more crimes alongside the likes of Cynthia Erivo, Katie Holmes, John Mulaney and other star-studded guests.

A statement from star/EP Lyonne and creator Johnson teases “twelve killer episodes” in Season 2, filled with minor league baseball, big box retail, funeral homes, alligator farms and a grade school talent show.

Related: ‘Poker Face’ Season 2: Everything We Know So Far

“Charlie navigates her crime solving existential road-trip with deadpan wit, human empathy and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability,” they said.

“To bring Season 2 to life, we pulled visual inspiration from American 70s cinema, all the stuff we love like Robert Altman, Bob Rafelson,...

The Natasha Lyonne-starring ensemble mystery series “Poker Face” is collecting a few more exciting stars for its second season. In advance of its spring premiere, Peacock has released a fresh batch of first look photos, along with news on the stars bound for the series’ next act.

Season 2 of the Award-winning original series “Poker Face” will be sporting quite a few familiar faces from the recent awards circuit, including “Wicked” star (and Oscar opener) Cynthia Erivo, “SNL” alum John Mulaney, “Between the Temples” actress Carol Kane, “The Piano Lesson” star Corey Hawkins, and “Blink Twice” actors Alia Shawkat, Haley Joel Osment, and Simon Rex.

The mystery-of-the-week series following executive producer/writer/director/actress Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

Peacock is hitting the road again with Poker Face.

The streamer has set a spring premiere date for season two of its mystery-of-the-week series, starring Natasha Lyonne as a woman who can read when anyone is lying and — while on the run from some bad people — uses her skill to solve murders in the places she stops.

Peacock has also released several photos from the coming, 12-episode season (up from 10 in season one), featuring Lyonne’s Charlie Cale and several of the season’s guest stars.

‘Poker Face’ season two: Cynthia Erivo (left) as Sextuplets, Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale

That guest star list, incidentally, is extensive. The season will feature (in alphabetical order) Awkwafina, John Cho, Sherry Cola, Kevin Corrigan, Cynthia Erivo, Giancarlo Esposito, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Patti Harrison, Corey Hawkins, Gaby Hoffmann, Katie Holmes, Carol Kane, David Krumholtz, Melanie Lynskey, Ben Marshall, Margo Martindale, John Mulaney, Kumail Nanjiani,...

“Poker Face” Season 2 is gearing up for a release this spring on Peacock.

The much-anticipated second installment of Rian Johnson’s mystery-of-the-week series will debut in spring 2025, Peacock announced on Tuesday. Season 2 will see Natasha Lyonne reprise her starring role as Charlie as she outruns her adversaries in her Plymouth Barracuda, which brings her to a number of mysteries across the country she can’t help but solve.

Season 2 will premiere over two years after “Poker Face” first debuted in January 2023, which featured a star-studded cast including Adrien Brody, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Stephanie Hsu, Clea DuVall and Ron Perlman, to name a few.

This season will be no different, with this batch of guest stars including Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Ben Marshall. B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Corey Hawkins, Cynthia Erivo, David Krumholtz, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Giancarlo Esposito, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, John Cho,...

Mikey Madison may be having her star-making moment, with recognition from multiple critics groups for her performance in Sean Baker’s “Anora,” as well as a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy at tonight’s Golden Globe Awards, but rather than revel, she’s taking time to pay homage to those who helped shape her own abilities. Taking a visit to New York’s Criterion Collection offices, Madison spent some time inside the Criterion Closet not only selecting goodies to take home, but acknowledging multiple performances that have stuck with her through the years, from Jackie Coogan in Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” to Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson’s “Five Easy Pieces.”

“I really think it’s my favorite Nicholson performance,” said Madison of Rafelson’s film. “There’s just something about how he approaches this character, such a morally gray character,...

It's absurd to consider, but early in his career Jack Nicholson had a difficult decision to make. The New Jersey son of a showgirl had a shot at being an animator for Joseph Hanna and William Barbera in the 1950s, but the then teenager had his heart set on acting. This was not the difficult decision. That would come years later when, after a string of prominent roles in Roger Corman-produced B-movies, Nicholson wrote a well-regarded screenplay called "The Trip." It was so good that it left burgeoning movie star Peter Fonda in tears. This reception was ecstatic enough to convince Corman to direct it himself. And while Fonda was ultimately displeased with the final result, Nicholson immediately landed another screenwriting assignment collaborating with Bob Rafelson on the script for the absurdist Monkees comedy "Head."

In a 1985 interview with Film Comment, Nicholson revealed that his success as a writer...

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Entertainment lost one of its most vivacious talents today with the passing of Teri Garr at the age of 79. Though she'd been gone from our screens since 2011 due to her complications from multiple sclerosis, Garr shined so brightly in the '70s and '80s that she was never far from our thoughts. I was born in 1973, and grew up considering Garr to be the epitome of a movie star from watching her in classic films like "Young Frankenstein," "Oh, God!," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "The Black Stallion," and "Tootsie." Note that she was a supporting actor in these movies, and marvel at how little that mattered. She was so spirited that she could overwhelm the scenery-munching likes of Gene Wilder, Richard Dreyfuss, and Dustin Hoffman.

This mirrored Garr's strength in real life. Having broken into acting as...

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.

by Cláudio Alves

No matter how respected or prolific a thespian may be, the glow of Oscar gold isn't guaranteed. Just ask Lois Smith, a titan of the contemporary American stage with nearly 150 screen credits to her name. The closest she ever came to the Academy's good graces was at the start of the 70s and the New Hollywood craze, when playing Jack Nicholson's pianist sister in Five Easy Pieces. Bob Rafelson's film is something of a classic for those interested in this era of American cinema, but its legend tends to circle around the leading man and, maybe, Karen Black. Still, Smith delivers a performance worth considering and, as the title of this post suggests, she was almost there…...

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,...

How now, what news: the Criterion Channel’s July lineup is here. Eight pop renditions of Shakespeare are on the docket: from movies you forgot were inspired by the Bard (Abel Ferrara’s China Girl) to ones you’d wish to forget altogether (Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing), with maybe my single favorite interpretation (Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet) alongside Paul Mazursky, Gus Van Sant, Baz Luhrmann, Derek Jarman, and (of course) Kenneth Branagh. A neonoir collection arrives four months ahead of Noirvember: two Ellroy adaptations, two from De Palma that are not his neonoir Ellroy adaptation, two from the Coen brothers (i.e. the chance to see a DVD-stranded The Man Who Wasn’t There in HD), and––finally––a Michael Winner picture given Criterion’s seal of approval.

Columbia screwballs run between classics to lesser-seens while Nicolas Roeg and Heisei-era Godzilla face off. A Times Square collection brings The Gods of Times Square,...

Fred Roos, the casting director turned producer who jump-started the career of Jack Nicholson and collaborated often with Francis Ford Coppola, sharing a best picture Oscar with the filmmaker for The Godfather Part II, has died. He was 89.

Roos died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, a publicist announced.

It’s part of Hollywood lore that before Harrison Ford became a famous actor, he was laboring as a carpenter to make ends meet. What some might not know is that it was at Roos’ house where Ford was woodworking when the casting director befriended him, eventually pushing him for roles in George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977) and Coppola’s The Conversation (1974).

And it was Roos who convinced Lucas — who had been leaning toward Amy Irving — that Carrie Fisher should portray Princess Leia in Star Wars. (Roos did not have an official role on that film.)

Roos, however,...

Fred Roos, the Oscar-winning The Godfather Part II producer and longtime executive producer for Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola, died Saturday in Beverly Hills at 89, four days shy of his 90th birthday.

The news about Roos, who won his Godfather Part II Oscar and later was nominated for Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, comes as Francis Ford Coppola is here at the Cannes Film Festival, 45 years after winning the Palme d’Or for Apocalypse Now. Coppola is in town with his $120 million passion project Megalopolis, which had its world premiere last week. Roos is billed as producer on Megalopolis.

The news also comes after Coppola’s wife of 61 years, Eleanor, died April 12. Roos was an executive producer on Hearts of Darkness, her famed documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now that won them both an Emmy in 1992.

Roos was Francis Coppola’s co-producer on The Conversation, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now,...

The Big Cigar, a new limited series on Apple TV+ that debuts on May 17, dramatizes a wild true story from the New Hollywood period of the 1970s.

Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of The Black Panther Party, had befriended a group of countercultural figures ruling Tinseltown at the time.

Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner were part of the generation that brought the values of the 1960s counterculture to the movie business through films such as Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, as well as the work of The Monkees.

This also entailed bankrolling and supporting left-wing political causes, including the Black Panthers' work.

But that approach had its limits.

The series, which consists of six episodes lasting about 40 minutes each, was produced by Jim Hecht, an executive producer of Winning Time.

Don Cheadle is among the episode directors.

Revolution and cocaine

Early on in the Big Cigar, Schneider exclaims, “I want to finance the revolution!

Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam

The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. It’s a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. It’s compassionate, intimate, spiritual and mysterious in ways that reminded me of Tsai Ming-liang or Edward Yang.

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is presented in a calm, unforced realist style with many long, unbroken middle-distance shots, with closeups a rarity. There is a flashback and a dream-sequence presented in exactly the same way,...

Eli Roth's 2023 slasher film "Thanksgiving" famously started its life back in 2007 in the form of a fake trailer sandwiched in between Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof," two movies released as a single mega-feature called "Grindhouse." The goal of "Grindhouse" was to recreate the experience of seeing a cheap exploitation double-feature in a run-down New York theater in the early 1980s, complete with film scratches, missing reels, and several previews for upcoming ultra-salacious genre movies. The trailers were all fake at the time, but since 2007, the trailers for "Machete," "Hobo with a Shotgun," and "Thanksgiving" have been made into real movies.

Roth, as the director's fans know, is a voracious cineaste, and has likely spent more time watching movies than most people. He also wears his influences on his sleeve; in the credits for Roth's 2013 cannibal film "The Green Inferno," he includes a list...

Alexander Payne's story of a cantankerous teacher holed up for Christmas with a wayward teen and the school cook is expertly told with gentle, grownup comedy

The year’s best Christmas movie arrives in the UK a bit late for Christmas: it is a genial, gentle, redemptive dramedy from Alexander Payne which hits the happy/sad sweet spot with Payne’s sure aim. It is taken from TV writer David Hemingson’s impeccably crafted screenplay, a masterclass in incremental, indirect character revelations and plot transitions. The Holdovers is set in 1970, consciously (or maybe self-consciously) crafted to look like a film which its characters could have gone to see at the time, with the funny, rueful dialogue and melancholy sense of place that you might find in something by Hal Ashby or Bob Rafelson, and a madeleine soundtrack from Cat Stevens, Labi Siffre and more.

But of course it also...

For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles. 

According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans. 

The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...

October is usually thought of as the prime time for horror, but the best horror movie of 2023 — for that matter, the most deliriously entertaining horror movie since Wes Craven‘s original “Scream” — arrives not for Halloween but for Thanksgiving. It’s a movie horror fans have been eagerly anticipating ever since director Eli Roth created a fake “Thanksgiving” trailer for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s “Grindhouse” in 2007, and the feature version that Roth and writer Jeff Rendell have extrapolated from that hilarious and gory short is well worth the wait. Their “Thanksgiving” is an ingeniously structured, elegantly composed thrill machine. It’s also a gleeful assault on good taste; it’s what you get when a 1970s or ’80s Canadian tax shelter thriller like “Prom Night” or “My Bloody Valentine” is directed by a true artist.

“Thanksgiving” riffs on dozens of slasher favorites from “Black Christmas” and John Carpenter...