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According to director/screenwriter Damien Leone, Terrifier 4 will finally reveal some origin details for Art the Clown but don't expect a linear explanation.

Speaking with Collider, Leone followed up on an earlier, Instagram birthday post, where he confirmed that he'll be explaining Art's backstory in the fourth and final Terrifier film. Howver, he'll be taking a David Lynch-esque approach.

Previously, Leone wrote on Instagram, "I might as well take advantage of this day and give all of the Terrifier fans a little present in return - The script for Terrifier 4 is underway and it is shaping up to be the most epic, horrifying, thrilling, emotional, and satisfying conclusion to the Terrifier saga.

More than a decade after his death, treasured American filmmaker Mike Nichols still inspires contemporary masters like Noah Baumbach.

Writer-director Baumbach was honored for 30 years’ worth of distinctive vision and indelible movie moments from “France Ha,” “The Squid and the Whale” and “Marriage Story” at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. He used the opportunity to reflect on the enduring legacy of his friend and touchstone, Nichols.

“He was the wisest person on every subject, and would say things in a way that would distill it,” Baumbach shared at Q&a following his thunderous tribute to Telluride’s Palm Theater.

“I was going through a painful personal time, a breakup, and I had lunch with him. I just went on and on, at that point I was telling anybody who would listen,” Baumbach said. The filmmaker then laid out a course of action for Nichols, suggesting he was trying to change the outcome of the breakup.

Venice film festival

An intensely personal interview of the 92-year-old Hollywood star delivers showstopping moments for fans of the golden age of movies

At 92 years old, Hollywood movie star Kim Novak – legendary of course for her doppelganger starring role in Hitchcock’s Vertigo – is a vivid and, in fact, yearningly romantic and demanding presence in this gallant, cinephile documentary-interview filmed by director and Novak superfan Alexandre O Philippe. She is one of the very few golden age stars still with us, and maybe the title of this film is a playful pun: at the very apex of Hollywood history, perhaps Novak feels dizzy looking down from her mythic height.

Philippe...

The upcoming indie horror feature Texas Nightmare is ramping up ahead of its festival debut with a haunting new poster and fresh momentum on the genre circuit. Directed by Michael Merino (Acceleration, Clutch), the psychological cult thriller is set to premiere as part of Hollywood Horrorfest & Boobs and Blood International Film Festival on September 20, 2025, at Los Angeles’ Eastwood Performing Arts Center.

Starring horror veterans Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Randy Charach (Vanished), James Pratt (The 3 Killer Pigs), Lew Temple (The Walking Dead), Eva Hamilton (Ruin Me), and Rufus Dorsey (Pearl Harbor), Texas Nightmare blends atmospheric tension with cult horror, evoking shades of David Lynch and The Wicker Man.

Father Mother Sister Brother, the latest feature from veteran indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, launched this evening at the Venice Film Festival.

Starring are Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore, Luka Sabbat, and Françoise Lebrun in the story of estranged siblings who reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.

Critics have noted that this is low-key fare even by Jarmusch standards, but the notices have skewed positive and many connected with the movie.

Deadline’s Damon Wise called the movie “an elevated cringe comedy” that harkens back to Jarmusch’s earlier work of the 1980s and ’90s. “Compared to 2005’s Broken Flowers, this is a wilfully obscure step back to his deadpan, experimental roots, a gentle, almost deliberately un-film that is best not viewed in too much proximity to the witching hour,...

Quentin Tarantino once openly criticized David Lynch’s 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, calling it a disaster after seeing it at Cannes.

In a 1992 interview with LA Weekly, Tarantino said, “I’m not ragging on other people, but after I saw ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ at Cannes, David Lynch has disappeared so far up his own a* that I have no desire to see another David Lynch movie until I hear something different.”*

Despite the harsh words, he added, “And you know, I love him. I loved him.”

At the time of its release, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me faced widespread criticism. Lynch, known for his unique style,...

Quentin Tarantino once openly criticized David Lynch’s 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, calling it a disaster and vowing not to watch another Lynch movie for a long time. In an interview with LA Weekly that year, Tarantino said,

“I’m not ragging on other people, but after I saw ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ at Cannes. David Lynch has disappeared so far up his own a* that I have no desire to see another David Lynch movie until I hear something different.”*

Tarantino added, “And you know, I love him. I loved him,” showing that his anger was aimed at the film rather than Lynch personally.

Quentin Tarantino became David Lynch’s biggest hater after the latter directed a movie in 1992 called Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Being an acclaimed director, David Lynch’s 1992 film was quite ahead of its time and, as a result, was deemed a failure.

After watching the David Lynch movie, Quentin Tarantino had a terrible reaction against the director, and in a 1992 interview with LA Weekly, Tarantino also claimed that David Lynch’s Twin Peaks was so disastrous that he doesn’t have any desire to see another Lynch film again.

I’m not ragging on other people, but after I saw ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ at Cannes.

If you're a sci-fi and fantasy fan who still collects top-end Blu-ray sets, Arrow Video is your place to go.

Many folks may prefer streaming for movies, yet there’s still a market for physical Blu-ray sets. That's become more popular with streaming services dropping some movies or shows without warning, so people want a physical copy to own. There’s still the pull of Blu-ray in how some sets can add scores of extra features to enhance the release, such as Criterion.

Arrow Video has become famous as basically the “Criterion for geeks.” Their library has grown to handle various genres of cult movies, action films, sci-fi, horror, fantasy,...

The upcoming psychological horror Texas Nightmare has revealed its official poster ahead of a premiere at Hollywood Horrorfest and the Boobs and Blood International Film Festival next month. The film, directed by Michael Merino, will screen on 20 September at the Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles.

Set in the stillness of the Texas Hill Country, the film follows a writer, played by Sadie Katz, who retreats to an isolated home to finish her novel. The quiet soon curdles into something far more sinister as she realises the local community conceals a disturbing secret. With her solitude breached by a cult intent on pulling her into its grasp, the story...

I’m not a maternal woman, yet every time I think of the Eraserhead baby, I’m nearly brought to tears. Just look at this TikTok of the Eraserhead baby set to Adrianne Lenker’s “not a lot just forever.” Maybe that means something. Or it could just mean I’m emotional and need a snack. Anyway, I love Eraserhead (1977). As a woman in her thirties who is still on the fence when it comes to having children, I appreciate its grotesque yet tender exploration of parenthood and the fears that come with it.

Directed by David Lynch, Eraserhead tells the story of Henry Spencer, a factory worker and first-time father with a “wild shock of hair” who is trying his best to learn how to care for and love his screaming, limbless, bulbous-headed baby. Henry is alone in this strange, industrial dystopia, where the apartments are cold and dark...

Few modern horror figures have inspired such fascination as Art the Clown, and director Damien Leone has now confirmed that Terrifier 4 will delve directly into the character’s long-speculated origins. Since his first appearance in Leone’s All Hallows’ Eve before becoming the central figure of the Terrifier films, Art’s blend of grotesque comedy and extreme violence has positioned him as one of contemporary horror’s most notorious creations. Yet, despite the franchise’s escalating body count, the truth about who or what Art is has largely remained obscured.

Speaking to Collider, Leone revealed that his fourth film will not shy away from filling in the blanks. He...

It’s well known that George Lucas approached David Lynch to direct Return of the Jedi (1983), and that Lynch (thankfully) demurred, instead pursuing Blue Velvet (1985). Less well-known is the fact that the two films share an editor—Duwayne Dunham, an unlikely hyperspace lane between two otherwise distant cinematic galaxies. As a director himself, Dunham has a body of work that poses yet another wrinkle in space-time: since making his feature debut with Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), he has specialized in tales of misfit youngsters, predominantly for the Disney Channel. The announcement that his new film, the long-gestating Legend […]

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Iconic German director Werner Herzog is taking his pursuit of ecstatic truth to a new frontier: Instagram.

The 82-year-old filmmaker behind Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and Grizzly Man, opened his official Instagram account this week with the tag: “I am Werner Herzog. This shall be my Instagram.”

His first video post shows Herzog standing in what looks like a clearing in a forest, a raw steak grilling over coals at his feet.

“My name is Werner Herzog,” he says in that sonorous Bavarian accent familiar to all of his fans. “I have been asked why I am not present in the media, in the social media. But I am not using a cellphone or anything like that. But I had the feeling, I should share work and everyday things with you. So I’m opening an Instagram account for you.”

The prospect of Herzog, one...

Terrifier is an indie horror franchise success story that continues to gain momentum with each successive series installment. Since our distribution Label Dread released the first film in 2018, the franchise has continued to resonate with horror fans, captivating viewers with its gruesome depictions of viscera perpetrated at the hands of a deranged killer clown called Art. The enthusiastic response to the original has paved the way for two sequels to date, with a fourth and (reportedly) final installment on the horizon. Franchise creator Damien Leone is presently in preproduction on the project, but he found a few moments to speak with the fine folks at Collider about the much-anticipated fourth outing.

Leone is walking a fine line with this sequel. He wants to share some of Art’s backstory, but worries about giving too much away and losing some of the magic in the process. He explained to the outlet,...

Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean) was never the flashiest character on the first two seasons of "Twin Peaks," but that doesn't mean he wasn't beloved. He was an honorable partner to Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), a stable leader for the Twin Peaks police department, and a supposedly voracious lover to that complicated dame Josie Packard (Joan Chen). But just as Josie was sadly absent from "Twin Peaks: The Return", poor Harry never returns either. Instead, his role in the series is taken up by Frank Truman (Robert Forster), Harry's brother.

In the show itself, the explanation for this sudden switch-up is that Harry is of ailing health. He was diagnosed...

Among the many fan-favorite characters of the original run of "Twin Peaks," Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) still reigns supreme. The mysterious, eccentric daughter of one of the town's most important businessmen, Audrey is pretty much always up to something interesting. When she's not messing with Norwegian businessmen, she's infiltrating a brothel or dancing mysteriously in a diner. She also has a crush on the lead character Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) that a lot of viewers could relate to.

It's that crush of hers on Cooper that led to what many fans consider a big disappointment of the show's later episodes. Despite her and Cooper having clear chemistry, despite Cooper seeming intrigued by her,...

Over the past years, we have seen actors and actresses give it their all to deliver some of the most unforgettable performances of the 21st century, and it looks like Naomi Watts has beaten them all.

The Ringer recently released a long list of 101 Best Movie Performances of the 21st Century, and Watts was able to beat not only Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007), but also Heath Ledger‘s portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008).

Naomi Watts played the role of Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001), and while it was the performance that put her on the map, some might consider it to be her career-best,...

The American Film Institute said Monday that Guillermo del Toro has been selected as the guest artistic director for AFI Fest, the organization’s annual fest that this year will run October 22–26 at the Tcl Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

The news comes as del Toro preps his latest film, Frankenstein, which is having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. Netflix will release the film in select theaters October 17 before dropping it on the streamer November 7.

“Guillermo del Toro is one of the great champions of the art form — a visionary filmmaker, a passionate cinephile, and a tireless advocate for bold, original storytelling,” AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale said today in a press release announcing the appointment. “As Guest Artistic Director of AFI Fest, he brings a singular perspective that will inspire audiences of all generations.”

Del Toro joins a roster of guest ADs that already includes Pedro Almodóvar,...

Academy Award winner Guillermo Del Toro has been named the guest artistic director of the 2025 AFI Fest, which is set to take place in late October.

Del Toro’s addition to the annual Hollywood film festival comes as he is set to release his adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” in select theaters on October 17 and on Netflix on November 7.

“Guillermo del Toro is one of the great champions of the art form — a visionary filmmaker, a passionate cinephile, and a tireless advocate for bold, original storytelling,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “As Guest Artistic Director of AFI Fest, he brings a singular perspective that will inspire audiences of all generations.

Guillermo del Toro has been named guest artistic director of this year’s AFI Fest in a coup for the festival that will also keep the Mexican auteur top of mind when voters consider his imminent Venice world premiere, Frankenstein.

Filmmakers who have previously fulfilled the role include Pedro Almodóvar, David Lynch, Greta Gerwig, Bernardo Bertolucci, Agnès Varda, and Ava DuVernay.

AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale called del Toro “one of the great champions of the art form”. The festival runs October 22–26 at the Tcl Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

Netflix will release Frankenstein in select theatres on October 17 and...

On Monday, the AFI Fest announced that acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro has been named guest artistic director of this year’s festival.

"Guillermo del Toro is one of the great champions of the art form — a visionary filmmaker, a passionate cinephile, and a tireless advocate for bold, original storytelling,” says Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO, in a statement. “As guest artistic director of AFI Fest, he brings a singular perspective that will inspire audiences of all generations.”

Del Toro’s next film, Frankenstein starring Jacob Elordi, is set to hit theaters on Oct. 17.

Past guest artistic directors for AFI Fest include Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig,...

Writer, director, and auteur filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has a pretty strong directorial style and even stronger opinions. The man behind films like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" has been no stranger to controversy over the years, like getting in trouble for his flagrant usage of racist slurs in his plantation revenge film "Django Unchained" or for his tendency toward extreme violence. One would think that might make him a little more empathetic toward other creatives whose work isn't received the way it was intended. Far from it, however, Tarantino has rarely hesitated to verbally trash his fellow directors when interviewed by the press, even putting down...

Terrifier 4 director Damien Leone explains how the movie will reveal Art the Clown’s origins. Since premiering, Leone’s slasher franchise has followed Art (portrayed by David Howard Thornton) as he wreaks havoc on Miles County. Through each installment, the frightening and barbaric clown becomes more popular, but details regarding his backstory are scarce.

Previous films, notably Terrifier 3, revealed Art the Clown is evil and linked to a demonic spirit. Because of his maniacal persona and extremely gory murders, questions have begun swirling about who exactly Art is, and Leone has teased that Terrifier 4 would unveil the character's past.

During an interview with Collider, Leone addressed how...

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There are two types of people in this world: Those who think "Twin Peaks: The Return" is a TV show, and those who are wrong.

I kid, I kid! Well, sorta. Anyway, let's back up a minute for all you blessed souls out there who haven't the foggiest what I'm blathering on about. The debate over whether Mark Frost and David Lynch's continuation of their equal parts darkly surreal and broadly absurdist 1990s mystery-horror TV drama should really be considered a movie has been quietly simmering since "The Return" aired on Showtime in 2017. No less an authority than the...

In Trust, after a scandal, a Hollywood starlet (Sophie Turner) retreats to a remote cabin—but she's not alone. Betrayed by the man she trusted most, she's trapped in a brutal game of survival. She can hide, but she can't run.

The movie is the very definition of an edge-of-your-seat thriller, and sees Billy Campbell (I Know What You Did Last Summer) play America's favourite sitcom dad, Peter. However, there's a darkness lurking beneath the surface, and Turner's character, his co-star, soon becomes Peter's target.

We spoke with Campbell last week, and after explaining that Gigi Levangie's script made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up,...

Just like creating a new Christmas song, creating an iconic horror icon is not an easy task. It is even more difficult when you are working on a shoestring budget and your movie ends up being put in front of a very small audience. However, it is not impossible, as Damien Leone has proven with the gore-laden Terrifier franchise. But now, after three movies, the end is almost nigh for the demonic Art the Clown, and Leone is ready to reveal all about the character in the final installment, Terrifier 4.

While Art the Clown originally featured in a short movie and then an anthology, All Hallow’s Eve, It...

Ever since Art the Clown first emerged in Damien Leone’s short films, fans have speculated about the character’s true nature. With Terrifier 4 now in development, Leone has confirmed that the next installment will finally begin to peel back the layers of Art’s disturbing mythology. But horror fans worried about losing the mystique that makes the silent killer so terrifying can relax — Leone insists his approach will be deliberately surreal.

Speaking with Collider’s Christina Radish, Leone was asked if he worries about living up to the anticipation. “Of course. I worry about everything. 90% of my day is worrying. That’s a huge concern. I love the mystique.

Do you want to see a magic trick?

In upcoming doc “The Greatest Illusion,” Benjamin Ree – behind Oscar-shortlisted “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” and “The Painter and the Thief” – will focus on Norwegian illusionist Alexx Alexxander.

Alexxander, who loses crucial memories after a traumatic experience, processes it all on stage, in grand-scale, personal magic shows. He creates his own alternative reality – just like “Ibelin’s” protagonist Mats Steen, suffering from a degenerative muscular disease and finding refuge in the universe of the World of Warcraft.

“I think it’s a good interpretation,” Ree tells Variety at Norwegian Intl. Film Festival Haugesund, right before “The Greatest Illusion” picked up an award at the Nordic Co-Production Market.

“These are stories of resilience. Humans have an enormous capacity to survive and find meaning in life. Towards the end of his life, Mats could barely move his fingers and he still helped people all over Europe.

Remake versus original – always a popular topic in the horror community. While the original usually wins the debate, there are some movies most of us can agree surpass its predecessor. David Cronenberg’s The Fly, John Carpenter’s The Thing, perhaps being the easiest examples to cite. But once we get into the weeds, we find ourselves mulling trickier titles. Dawn of the Dead? Let Me In? Halloween? Okay, just kidding with that one. It gets even trickier when you delve into the talent pool from overseas. There are several ominous foreign-language offerings that have been remade in the states with some pretty solid results. The best example that comes...

Howard Stern finds himself in hot water once again after a resurfaced 2003 interview revealed him asking Sofía Vergara to breastfeed him. The clip, shared recently on Reddit, shows Stern opening the conversation by zeroing in on Vergara’s chest. After she removed her coat to reveal a black T-shirt, Stern said, “Now, you’ve taken off your coat. You do have a big chest, and I’m going to tell you something — don’t touch it.”

“I like it,” he added, which earned Vergara an awkward smile and a hesitant, “Thank you very much.” But Stern kept beating the same drum, insisting:

Believe me, there is no greater man on this planet than me,...

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MasterClass is one of the internet’s favorite ways to learn a new skill, with courses on everything from music to acting to cooking. The best part? Every course is taught by an expert in the field, and many are also A-list celebrities.

MasterClass is normally a very good deal, with a $15-a-month subscription getting you access to every course on the site. However, right now you can...

Willem Dafoe stopped by the Sarajevo Film Festival this week where the Poor Things and Nosferatu actor participated in a comprehensive masterclass about his career, working with David Lynch and why he felt criticism about Martin Scorsese’s 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ was “antisemitic.”

Speaking at the Bosnian Cultural Center on Thursday, the prolific actor said that The Last Temptation of Christ was one of his “favorite roles” because it was “so demanding.”

“We had very little resources,” he said. “We shot very fast and had no money but that was the only way to shoot it because we didn’t get distracted by the spectacle – we could only do what we do…There was a beauty, a grace and a simplicity to it.”

Dafoe continued that he believed that the controversial reactions to the title were “driven by the religious right who needed something to energize their cause.

Willem Dafoe said he is going to reunite with The Lighthouse and Nosferatu director Robert Eggers on his next film.

“He’s giving me material that excites me and turns me on,” said Dafoe during his 90-minute masterclass session at Sarajevo Film Festival.

The actor did not specify what the film will be. Eggers is writing and directing an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ghost story A Christmas Carol for Warner Bros, with Dafoe attached to star as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Dafoe spoke glowingly of Eggers in his Sarajevo session, mentioning the director’s well-known love of period detail but adding that...

Ahead of a new biography of the late director (whose favourite number was seven), we rundown some of the most offbeat things about this most mysterious modern genius

David Lynch was an artist first, and a film-maker second. He would create works of visual art right up to his final days, but the most infamous would remain his “kits” – a pair of pieces he made in the late 1970s and early 80s, in which parts of a real, dissected animal were pinned to a board, along with kid-friendly instructions on how to reassemble and play with it.

Willem Dafoe told a jam-packed master class at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival on Thursday about his work with the likes of David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone, among other things.

The star, meanwhile, dodged a question about U.S. President Donald Trump. In an interview with Larry King at the dawning of the first Trump administration, Dafoe had shared that the country was “not going in the right direction.” Asked Thursday if he still felt that way, he simply replied: “If you know anything about me and you do, that’s not a real question.”

There were many other topics to discuss. ”I don’t have that personality,” Dafoe said when asked if he could one day become a film director. “I like doing things. I like someone to say what they see, and then I like to try to embody it. I like doing things and embodying characters.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy—so much so that he goes about making clones of his own wife and causes mayhem. I’m talking about Tom McKeith and Will Howarth’s In Vitro here. Cut from the same cloth as Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, the Australian sci-fi horror has a pretty novel plot that completely justifies the title. The thing I found to be praiseworthy is how, despite exploring themes like cloning, the movie feels extremely grounded, both in nature and style. Underneath the sci-fi layer, the topic of toxic marriages is also explored, and the handling of that seems very mature—the excellent performances by its two leads, Takia Zucker and Ashley Zuckerman, also help. In Vitro has a deliberately interesting ending, which is going to raise a lot of questions that we’re going to address in this article.

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in the movie?...

Throughout 2025, we will continue to update this In Memoriam photo gallery with notable celebrity deaths from film, television, theater and music. Major entertainment figures honored in the 2025 gallery are double Oscar winner Gene Hackman, Emmy winner Loretta Swit, music legends Roberta Flack, Sam Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, and Peter Yarrow, sports announcer and actor Bob Uecker, and Oscar nominated actor Terence Stamp, actress Joan Plowright and director David Lynch.

The late David Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana, in 1946 and raised by a father who worked for the Department of Agriculture. He spent his childhood driving through the woods with his dad and settling in placid, 1950s suburbs in towns such as Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, and Durham, North Carolina. His childhood provided him with an idealized portrait of what we might now think of as "classic Americana." One can see elements of Lynch's upbringing in his films, such as "Blue Velvet," and TV shows, such as "Twin Peaks."

Of course, "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks," as one can immediately note, are harsh admonitions of 1950s Americana. "Blue Velvet" may take place in a placid world of neatly cut lawns and picket fences, but there is rot, crime, and kinky sex just underneath the surface. The town of Twin Peaks may be full of sweet, quirky, coffee-drinking-and-pie-eating locals,...

What if I told you Lana Del Rey used a vocal sample from one of the strangest, most unnerving horror movies in the intro to her song, “13 Beaches”? And that Drake’s music video for “Knife Talk” opens with a scene from that same movie? Or that in a 1989 review, Roger Ebert suggested it could have been a possible source of inspiration for David Lynch and George Romero?

Now, what if I said it’s streaming right now on HBO Max?

The movie is Carnival of Souls (1962), a low-budget fever dream that many Letterboxd users describe as “disorienting,” “eerie,” and downright “nightmarish.”

Directed by Herk Harvey, Carnival of Souls tells the story of Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), an anxious young woman who is the sole survivor of a devastating car accident. Mary, still obviously rattled but eager for a fresh start, accepts a job as an organist in a church in Salt Lake City.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films have become pop cultural sensations over the course of the last few years. Prior to the release of the most recent films, Frank Herbert’s quintessential 1965 novel was seen as unadaptable to the cinematic medium.

Famously, the great David Lynch tried his hand at adapting the novel into a single film in 1984, resulting in a film that left general audiences utterly confused. However, by embracing the growing trend of serialization in films, Villeneuve was able to successfully pitch a two-film adaptation of the novel, which resulted in a far more legible and compelling viewing experience for the uninitiated.

The success of Villeneuve’s Dune films

Notably, the first film in Villeneuve’s series was far from a blockbuster for a laundry list of reasons. For one, the film was released in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that Warner Bros. released it simultaneously in...

We’ve been talking a lot about groundbreaking Emmy nominations this year, like Kathy Bates as the oldest-ever drama actress nominee for “Matlock.” But here’s another one for the record books that’s been decades in the making: Five of the six nominees in the directing for a limited or anthology series or movie category are women — Shannon Murphy (“Dying for Sex”), Helen Shaver (“The Penguin”), Jennifer Getzinger (“The Penguin”), Nicole Kassell (“Sirens”) and Lesli Linka Glatter (“Zero Day”).

“I look at all of the directing nominees in my category, and they’re more than 90% women, which, in terms of change in the world, is extraordinary,” Glatter says. “And the work couldn’t be more different. … This is what the world is starting to look like, so that we are now feeling more represented and our stories are being told. And this is positive for storytelling on every level.

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2023 SXSW coverage. Americana opens in theaters on August 15.

Sometimes it can be fun to watch a skillful band cover songs. Tony Tost’s Americana is precisely that: an ode to the drive-in B-movie which in turn influenced filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, who in turn influenced a generation of filmmakers making quirky violent ensemble films with scrambled chronologies. What’s new is old again and Americana, influenced by films from the 1970s, feels more like a film from the 1990s with notes of Allison Anders’ Gas Food Lodging, David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, and the Kiefer Sutherland-directed neo-noir Truth or Consequences, N.M. The result, thanks in part to a compelling cast, elevates this material past the cinematic equivalent of the local dad band playing Springsteen covers at the corner bar on a Saturday night.

Americana is divided into chapters. In the first,...

The Legend Of The Happy Worker

Duwayne Dunham's comedy Legend Of The Happy Worker, based on Se Feinberg's play, was described by the film's executive producer, David Lynch, as being like "Disney on acid." The story revolves around Joe (Josh Whitehouse), a simple digger with a strong work ethic. When he's corrupted by his uncle Cleat (Colm Meaney), the young man loses himself, letting down his wife (Meagan Holder) and Goose (Thomas Hayden Church), the leader of the digging crew who promotes Joe and espouses the values of the cowboy. Joe is left to walk a path of redemption and rediscover himself and the values his community were built upon.

Dunham's directorial credits include Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and Ready To Run for Disney. He also directed three episodes of Lynch and Mark Frost's episodic drama Twin Peaks, as well as editing two episodes of its...

[This story contains spoilers for Weapons.]

Zach Cregger’s Weapons is the latest horror success story in a year when epic studio horror films with large casts and even larger ambitions have thrived, like Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later. After eclipsing box office projections and sending enthusiastic audiences home with heightened pulses and more than a few chuckles (at least until all the lights go off and only the nightmares remain), Weapons has dominated film-centric conversations on social media for days.

Cregger’s twisty tale features a unique tapestry of intersecting characters played by Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, and Cary Christopher, all caught up in the mysterious disappearance of 17 children.

It’s no surprise the film has led to discussions about its deeper meaning. But the most frustrating point among them is the argument shared by several critics and a wider collection of the audience that the...

It’s that time again! Cinespia — the Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video-sponsored Los Angeles staple that showcases film favorites under the stars — has released their spooky October schedule, which includes a roster of classics that are sure to send shivers down patrons’ spines. Appropriately, Cinespia will be held, as always, at Hollywood Forever Cemetery — the starriest place in the city, where everyone from Judy Garland to David Lynch was laid to rest.

Halloween month kicks off, literally, on October 4 with a 50th anniversary screening of the midnight movie favorite “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — though you only have to wait until sundown to enjoy this screening. In addition to the cult hit, fans can dress up in their “Time Warp” best and snap a pic at the themed photo booth, partake of the food and libations, and enjoy the DJ’s spins on the dance floor — just like every weekend at the cemetery!

By the late 1970s, Mel Brooks was a worldwide star noted for his hilarious comedy classics. He had already won an Oscar for writing "The Producers" and had released both "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" in the same year. After that, he moved on to the ambitious 1976 film "Silent Movie," an actual silent movie, before working on "High Anxiety," a surgically pointed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's work. Both of those films earned well over $30 million at the box office against a $4 million production budget. Brooks was riding high.

While Brooks was rolling in dough as a Hollywood hotshot, an up-and-coming art student from Missoula, Montana was turning heads at the American Film Institute with his audacious, surreal, and nightmarish films and sculptures. He had already made a few notable shorts, and he graduated with a grant, hoping to make his first feature film. For several years, this ambitious young...

Graham Swon’s An Evening Song (for three voices) transplants a story of East Coast intellectual decay to the stark, open spaces of the American Midwest in 1939. The film introduces Barbara, a celebrated poet now creatively silent, and her husband Richard, a writer of popular pulp fiction.

Their hermetic world is breached by the hiring of Martha, a quiet, pious local woman who becomes the focal point of their conflicting desires. The film establishes its meditative mood immediately, functioning less as a traditional narrative and more as a dreamlike state.

A strange triangle of fascination forms, pulling the three into a shared space of spiritual and intellectual longing. This is an American story filtered through a European art-house sensibility, exploring the ghosts that haunt the nation’s psyche.

A Trinity of American Archetypes

The film’s power originates in its three central figures, each representing a distinct facet of American...

This article contains spoilers for "Weapons."

Zach Cregger loves laying the foundation for a good mystery. "Weapons" and his solo directorial debut "Barbarian" thrive on luring audiences into strange stories about terrible secrets and other unexplained phenomena skimming the surface of our purview. /Film's Chris Evangelista gave a glowing review of "Weapons," accurately citing it as a twisted, funny and scary suburban nightmare. The source of Cregger's horror films comes from unimaginable horrors existing within reach, albeit cranked up in such a way that no one could feasibly put together that an AirBNB has a literal underground tunnel system. The co-founder of "The Whitest Kids U'Know" has proven to be one of the most exciting voices working in horror because he's able to meld his comic sensibilities with creepy, loaded imagery. It feels unlike what anyone else is doing right now.

"Weapons" keeps you guessing from the opening narration, in...

“Legend of the Happy Worker” (2025) is one of David Lynch’s final projects, and it makes sense why he would be fascinated by its setup. The film, executive-produced by Lynch, takes place in a desert and almost looks like one of the golden-age Westerns. Yet, there’s something strikingly odd about the experience that you can’t put your finger on right away. The drama is operatic, even a few notches above the theatricality in your usual standard of westerns. Still, you sense that there’s something more to it than its vibrant and cheerful drama on the surface. It feels like everyone is performing for an audience, as the characters did in Lars Von Trier’s “Dogville.” It also feels like a microcosm of the world at large.

Gradually, “The Happy Worker” unpeels its didactic layers about power, greed, and control. That’s when it feels like a genuine...