News

I love a good revenge flick. While there are some classics—Revenge, Hard Candy, and I Saw the Devil if you’re in the market for some contemporary flair—even the bad ones still target this simple yet innate desire to see justice achieved. Is it often the case in real life? No, not usually, but that’s why I go to the movies. I want to see some poor sap come into his own to avenge whomever it is they’ve lost.

Some of the horror greats have dabbled in the subgenre. James Wan helmed 2007’s Death Sentence, and The Babadook’s Jennifer Kent’s sophomore effort The Nightingale, is one of the century’s best movies. Period. Give me all the revenge. All the blood. All the melodrama and moral quandaries. Even better, give me a certified nerd in the lead. Such was the case with James Hawes’ The Amateur,...

When you look in the movie dictionary under "journeyman director," you'll see a picture of Richard Donner. Okay, no such dictionary exists, but if it did, Donner would be there, and deservedly so. While the "auteur theory" gets deployed by critics (*cough* film snobs *cough*), far less attention is paid to the journeyman directors like Donner. These are filmmakers who don't see themselves as "artists" infusing their work with similar styles or themes, but as hard-working craftsmen who want to make a good movie. And when you look over Donner's 20-plus film career, and the remarkable diversity of pictures he produced, you'll see he did just that.

Okay, sure, he made a few duds, but the dude started working when President Eisenhower was still in office, so cut him some slack. During his 60-plus-year run, he launched the superhero genre, reinvented action movies, created movie stars, worked in multiple genres,...

The Amateur is out of theaters and heading to digital. The 2025 action thriller starring Rami Malek is set to arrive on VOD and digital platforms in the coming days.

Per When To Stream, The Amateur will premiere on VOD and digital platforms on June 10, in just four days. The movie comes two months after the spy thriller opened in theaters, where it has so far grossed just under $96 million worldwide. Malek, who is best known for his leading role as hacker Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot and as the James Bond villain Lyutsifer Safin in No Time to Die, headlines The Amateur as a deeply introverted CIA decoder who takes matters into his own hands when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack.

Critics weren't exactly hot on The Amateur, with the movie just barely qualifying as "fresh" on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. With 117 reviews counted,...

Award-winning actor and Days of our Lives and The Bay alum, Erik Fellows, has several new projects streaming or coming soon. The actor, who portrayed Troy Winston on the Peacock soap opera, has been busy.

Law & Order: Organized Crime

Fellows guest stars as Steve Kingman in Season 5 of NBC’s Law & Order: Organized Crime, in Episode 1, Lost Highway, and Episode 2, Dante’s Inferno. The episodes are now streaming on Peacock, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. I

Law & Order: Organized Crime stars Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, a former Special Victims Unit (Svu), who returns to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to join a new Taskforce, the Organized Crime Control Bureau (Occb), that works to dismantle illegal criminal enterprises.

Death 4 Dinner

In the recently released film Death 4 Dinner, about a savvy detective and his partner who attempt to unravel the mysterious sudden death...

Did Robert De Niro almost die on The Deer Hunter sets? (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

The highly-controversial Deer Hunter was released more than four decades ago and the movie has since etched its legacy as one of the landmark movies ever made on The Vietnam War. The 1978 classic also secured five Oscars and left a profound impact on how Americans viewed the struggles of war veterans returning home.

But behind the scenes, the experience for the cast was nothing short of life-threatening. John Savage, now 75, who portrayed Steven in the movie, had once opened up about the perilous conditions they faced while filming, revealing how close he, Christopher Walken, and Robert De Niro came to losing their lives during production.

Living on the Edge

John reflected on the extreme risks that were taken to ensure the film’s anti-war message was powerfully conveyed to audiences. In an interview with the UK’s Mirror,...

Auteur M. Night Shyamalan has a unique and distinctive directorial style, with a focus on sci-fi or supernatural stories like The Sixth Sense, Split, and Unbreakable, or thrillers like 2024's Trap. His upcoming project will feature a very unlikely team-up.

The famous director collaborated with romance author Nicholas Sparks for his upcoming project, Remain. Sparks is known for penning tearjerkers like 2002's A Walk to Remember and 2004's The Notebook, as well as rom-coms like 2010's Dear John, 2012's The Lucky One, and 2013's Safe Haven. However, per People, their joint project Remain will be a supernatural thriller love story.

Per the outlet, before the film comes out in theaters, Shyamalan and Sparks will release a novel together, which will mark as the source material for the adaptation. Remain follows "New York architect Tate Donovan as he arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home. Donovan...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Amateur is a vigilante action spy thriller film directed by James Hawes from a screenplay co-written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, the 2025 film follows Charlie Heller, a brilliant CIA cryptographer whose wife was killed during a terrorist attack in London. After discovering that, he blackmails his superiors into giving him training to kill the people who killed his wife and use his expertise in doing so. The Amateur stars Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Laurence Fishburne. So, if you loved the thrilling drama, intense revenge story, and compelling characters in The Amateur, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Law Abiding Citizen (Starz & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Overture Films

Law Abiding Citizen is a vigilante action thriller film...

Exclusive: Cairo-based Mad Solutions has added rising Egyptian actor Youssef Omar to the cast of UK-Chinese action thriller Shashou, which the company will also release across Arabic-speaking territories.

“It’s an Arab spin on the packaging strategy that Hollywood has long deployed,” said Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.

“We remain adamant that Arab creative talents should enjoy the same standing in the global entertainment market as their peers from other regions.”

Founded in 2010 to fill a gap in the international promotion of Arab cinema, Mad Solutions’ activities now span distribution, talent management, content, marketing and international sales.

Shashou marks a first international role for Omar, who was seen most recently at home in the high-profile Ramadan series A Woman’s Youth (Shabab Emraa), co-starring opposite Egyptian actress Ghada Abdel Razek.

The movie is being produced by Hong Kong’s Phoenix Waters Productions together with London-based Berkeley Media Group and Ostara Pictures,...

Malek gives an eccentric performance as a nerdy agent who wants his superior Laurence Fishburne to retrain him as an assassin

Here is a moderate action spy thriller directed by James Hawes, who previously made the Nicholas Winton drama One Life. It is conceived in the robustly muscular style of Bourne and Mission: Impossible, and features Rami Malek as nerdy CIA intelligence analyst Charles Heller, whose wife is murdered by terrorists in London. Enraged at a lack of progress in the case and suspecting a cover-up, he blackmails his immediate superiors into training him to be an assassin (by threatening to reveal their black ops), so he can hunt his wife’s killers and whack them. His exasperated teacher is Colonel Henderson, played by Laurence Fishburne. It’s based on an 80s bestseller by Robert Littell, filmed once before with John Savage in the lead.

There’s a bit of...

Sian Barbara Allen, a onetime Universal contract player who appeared in the films You’ll Like My Mother and Billy Two Hats and played a love interest of Richard Thomas’ John-Boy on The Waltons, died Monday. She was 78.

Allen died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a battle with Alzheimer’s, her family announced. She often played characters with “great vulnerability and uncommon empathy,” they noted.

In telefilms, Allen starred with Bette Davis and Ted Bessell as the title character, a housekeeper in a mansion, in 1973’s Scream, Pretty Peggy at ABC; with Claude Akins, John Savage and Patricia Neal in the 1975 tearjerker Eric at NBC; and with Anthony Hopkins and Cliff DeYoung in 1976’s The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, also at NBC (she played the wife of the famed aviator).

Born on July 12, 1946, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Allen was raised by her mother, Ruth, and her grandmother, Etta.

After she graduated from Reading Senior High School,...

This article mentions self-harm.

Robert De Niro has starred in some of the greatest movies ever made, and even after 60 years, his career has no end in sight. From The Godfather: Part II to The Irishman, De Niro never turns in a bad performance, and in the early 1970s, De Niro made a name for himself by pairing up with director Martin Scorsese. However, it was the actor's team-up with director Michael Cimino for the film The Deer Hunter that was a game-changer in a world coping with the Vietnam War.

The Deer Hunter follows three working-class men before, during, and after serving in the Vietnam War. Mike Vronsky, Steven Pushkov, and Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich are Russian-Americans who live in a small steel mill town of Claritan, Pennsylvania. The film begins with Steven's wedding, taking place a mere couple of days before he ships off to Vietnam with Mike and Nick.

The following contains spoilers from the March 13 episode of Reacher Season 3, now streaming on Prime Video.

This week on Prime Video’s Reacher, “Julius McCabe” decided that he had had enough.

More from TVLineThe Pitt's Noah Wyle Talks Major Robby/Collins Reveal and Warns: 'We Hit You Squarely in the Face With What's Coming Next'Ghosts' Rebecca Wisocky Talks Hetty's 'Resonant' Power and Why She Loved Not Having a Special AbilitySurvivor's Latest Player Out Clears Up 'Confusing' Tribal Council Move

The maid at Bizarre Bazaar magnate Zachary Beck’s estate? An undercover federal agent! Beck’s new head of security,...

Netflix announced 12 new titles for the first of the month and then added a dozen more to the mix. The stealth release slate was at least as good as the previously announced group. Happily, it included one of my favorite films ever. If you haven't seen it yet, this is your chance to add it to your list.

I saw this movie at the theater when it came out in 1989. It was astonishing, amazing, and absolutely brilliant. Sounds like an especially arrogant LLC, doesn't it? Well, it truly was and still is all of those things. From the opening frame to the last, I was riveted, as was the entire audience. As soon as it was available on DVD, I had my own copy. That was followed by the Blu-ray, then the digital version. And lucky you, you get to watch it now on Netflix.

When I say this is...

Joseph Wambaugh, the writer who mined his years as a Los Angeles Police Department patrolman for a series of bestselling crime books including The Onion Field, The New Centurions, The Blue Knight and The Glitter Dome, and whose literary works were adapted for feature films and television series, died today of esophageal cancer at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 88.

His death was reported to The New York Times by a Wambaugh family friend.

In 1971, eleven years after joining the LAPD, Wambaugh saw his first novel, The New Centurions, published by Little, Brown and Co. The story of rookie LAPD cops in the early 1960s became his first bestseller and, the following year, the first movie based on his work. The film adaptation starred George C. Scott and Stacy Keach.

The New Centurions novel was followed by a string of police novels, including 1972’s The Blue Knight (later...

Joseph Wambaugh, whose experience as an LAPD officer enabled him to bring a warts-and-all realism to his novels about policing and the movies and TV shows like “Police Story,” died Friday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 88.

The cause was esophageal cancer, a family friend told the New York Times.

Wambaugh’s work in novels such as “The New Centurions,” “The Blue Knight” “The Choirboys” and best seller “The Onion Field” rendered the flat, idealized portrait of the Los Angeles Police Dept. presented in “Dragnet” and “Adam-12” permanently outdated, and yet cops felt they understood him and got the way they talked, and they remained among his biggest fans over the course of his career as a novelist.

A highlight of Wambaugh’s relationship with Hollywood was the Harold Becker-directed feature “The Onion Field” (1979), with Wambaugh penning the screenplay based on his own true-crime novel. The book had faithfully...

Joseph Wambaugh, who turned his experiences from 14 years with the Los Angeles Police Department into such gritty books as The Onion Field, The New Centurions, The Blue Knight and The Glitter Dome — all adapted for the screen — died Friday. He was 88.

Wambaugh, who also co-created the acclaimed 1970s anthology series Police Story for NBC, died at his home in Rancho Mirage of esophageal cancer, longtime family friend Janene Gant told The New York Times.

Wambaugh, who joined the LAPD as a patrolman in 1960, made a splash with his debut novel, The New Centurions, a sweeping tale that followed three young LAPD officers during a five-year period that led to the 1965 Watts riots. Published by Little, Brown and Co. in 1971, it was a hit, remaining on The New York Times Best Seller List for 32 weeks.

In his review for the Times, Thomas Fleming wrote: “Do you like cops? Read The New Centurions.

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This March, Netflix is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated murder mystery series The Residence to the star-studded sci-fi adventure film The Electric State. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Netflix this month and have an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the seven best films that are coming to Netflix in February 2025 with an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Beginners (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% Credit – Focus Features

Beginners is a romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. The 2010 film follows Oliver, a young man still grieving the recent death of his father. He soon meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna and tries to use the memories of his father to motivate himself to open himself up to the...

Italy’s Minerva Pictures has unveiled a slew of sales on its EFM slate including for Taavi Vartia’s Finnish survival thriller Ice Skater and Stefano Sardo’s erotic thriller Close To Me.

Ice Skater was acquired by Spain’s Inopia, Cis’s Magic Films, Latin America’s Clube Filmes, and by Foxx Vision for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now in post, Ice Skater stars Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss as a woman who finds herself stranded on an ice floe in the Arctic Sea.

Close To Me, which is co-distributed with Tvco, was acquired for German-speaking countries by Splendid,...

"Great – now we're all stuck here with a murderer!" Gravitas has debuted the trailer for an indie mystery thriller titled Death 4 Dinner, which will be out on VOD in March. The latest film produced & directed by Lana Read, even though you've never heard of any of her previously films. "The devil is in the details." A savvy Detective and his partner attempt to unravel the mysterious sudden death of a prominent Senator, while simultaneously navigating his insanely quirky family & their fierce appetites for the now dead father's money. The film's cast includes Michael Paré, Wendell Kinney, John Savage, Cyril O'Reilly, Jessica Dawn Willis, Erik Fellows, Carly Wheeler, and Lenny Robinson. This sounds and looks like such a derivative film with an extra generic whodunit plot about greed & murder and all the usual shenanigans that come with these things. Despite its funny title, I don't think there's much of anything worthwhile about this.

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This January, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment from the Will Ferrell comedy film You’re Cordially Invited to the beloved romantic action comedy film The Fall Guy. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Prime Video in January 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Boogie Nights (January 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Credit – New Line Cinema

Boogie Nights is a drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The 1997 film is set in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, and it follows Eddie Adams, a high school dropout working as a dishwasher as he becomes one of the biggest adult film stars,...

Star Trek: Voyager never got the theatrical treatment, but the show did have a brilliant two-parter that would have made an awesome Voyager movie rather than being split into two episodes. Across every season of Star Trek: Voyager there were a total of 12 two-episode stories. They all showed the Star Trek: Voyager cast in even greater peril than usual, and for a variety of reasons. If the show could have chosen one of these extended arcs to develop into a movie, one of them would have stood out from its counterparts.

Not every two-part Star Trek: Voyager episode would have worked as a movie, as there was often too much surrounding context that would have made the story tricky to follow for casual moviegoers. That being said, there are quite a few Star Trek movies aimed directly at the existing fan base. Regardless, Star Trek: Voyager missed the perfect chance...

Star Trek: Lower Decks features a prominent character who could have a familial tie to an underrated villain from Star Trek: Voyager, and if true, the connection could completely transform how the Lower Decks figure is viewed. Across all seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, the antagonist in question appeared in just one story. However, while their nefarious actions stemmed from desperation, it didn't make them any more acceptable. By contrast, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's cast features yet another comeback of the Starfleet officer who could be related to one of the franchise's most underrated bad guys.

Jerry O'Connell's Commander Jack Ransom is the USS Cerritos' first officer in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Although vain and capable of being a little insensitive at times, Ransom's personality keeps him far away from the category of franchise villains. That being said, his surname could be a big clue that...

The 2024 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival opened Nov. 8 with a screening of “Queen of the Ring,” writer-director Ash Avildsen’s biopic of female wrestler Mildred Burke starring Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Walton Goggins and Gavin Casalegno. Marking the festival’s 39th year, the film commenced ten days of programming across seven South Florida venues, including the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to costume designer Bob Mackie.

Speaking from the red carpet Friday night, Fliff chair Lisa Grigorian thrilled at this year’s programming. “We are so excited for this year’s festival,” Grigorian said. “We’ve got a hundred films from 35 countries — something for everybody.”

Attending the festival for the first time, “Queen of the Ring” costar Casalegno spoke about what resonated with him in Burke’s true life story. “I really wanted to make films that will make the world a better place, and I wanted to...

Widely regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated epic war dramas of all time and a true cinematic spectacle, the 1978 critically acclaimed film The Deer Hunter touts a phenomenal all-star cast led by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep and focuses on three lifelong friends as they leave their close-knit Pennsylvania community to serve in the Vietnam War, where they witness unfathomable atrocities that cause them to question humanity and themselves.

The recipient of countless accolades, like five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Walken as well as Best Director for Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter stirred up a bit of controversy upon its release due to its intense violence and infamous Russian roulette scenes, with many shocking moments from the lauded movie being far more realistic than audiences may have realized.

The Deer Hunter RDramaDocumentaryWar Release Date March 9, 1978Director Michael CiminoCast Robert De Niro,...

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Rami Malek in a lead role. Since he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2018, his biggest roles have been as a Bond villain in “No Time to Die” Denzel Washington’s LAPD partner in crime thriller “The Little Things,” and a supporting role in “Oppenheimer’s” large ensemble. None of these movies were really what you’d call Rami Malek movies. “The Amateur,” which 20th Century released a trailer for on Wednesday, is a Rami Malek movie. The espionage thriller looks to take advantage of Malek’s unique characteristics in a way nothing else quite has since “Mr. Robot.”

Malek stars as an antihero on a revenge mission who uses CIA resources for his own purposes. Here’s the official logline from 20th Century: “Charlie Heller (Malek) is a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for...

Kevin Costner started his acting career in 1981 and is still an industry icon and bankable movie and TV series star to this day. The 1990s continued his breakout run from the late 80s, showcasing his ability to portray a wide variety of characters in different genres. The decade saw him evolve from minor roles in smaller productions to the leading star in big-budget films, producing some of the best films of Kevin Costner's career and a testament to his talent and appreciation for his craft.

Costner's ability to encompass his characters fully has led to many iconic roles, including Lt. John Dunbar in the Academy Award-winning Dances with Wolves to the legendary lawman in Wyatt Earp. His work in front of and behind the camera really elevated his skill, both in some of Costner's best action movies and also in more underrated drama pieces that have formed the basis for his incredible career.

A series of James Bond films overtook the 1980s, but there are a few other on-screen spies with equally thrilling stories. Spy films have presented various exciting stories over the years, dealing with corruption, high-stakes missions, and political conflict. Often, spy films present a clear hero and villain, making it easy for audiences to become invested. Additionally, this distinction allows for the leading actors to stand out and give a lauded dramatic performance, such as Kevin Costner and Donald Sutherland.

Considering the decade in which these films were released, a few of them deal with components of the Cold War, while others take a different approach to the genre by implementing themes of relatable family dynamics and romance. Some of these films are up there with the best spy movies of all time, such as No Way Out, while others are underrated entries in the genre, worthy of some recognition,...

Classic Movies: The Story of… explores Michael Cimino’s Oscar-winning 1978 war drama, The Deer Hunter, in this season finale episode. The film, starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage, depicts the powerful story of three American friends affected by the Vietnam War. The episode looks into the impact of The Deer Hunter, which […]

Classic Movies: The Story of… The Deer Hunter...

Religious drama “Judas’ Gospel,” directed by Italy’s Giulio Base and starring Rupert Everett, Paz Vega, John Savage and Abel Ferrara, has scored its first pre-sale with distributor Plus Films Kft taking Latin American rights.

The film, now in post, recently wrapped shooting in Italy’s scenic Southern Calabria region. It is being shopped to buyers by Italy’s Minerva Pictures on the sidelines of the Toronto Film Festival.

Base is a prolific actor-director whose many film and TV directing credits comprise “The Anarchist Banker” that launched from the Venice official selection in 2019. He is also artistic director of the Turin Film Festival.

“Judas’ Gospel” takes an innovative approach in retelling the tale of Judas Iscariot, known for his biblical betrayal of Jesus when he disclosed his whereabouts for 30 pieces of silver. In the film Judas, who is about to die, reflects on his life and his relationship with Jesus and the disciples.

Great movies usually have stellar ensemble casts; successful directors often gather big-name stars to attract viewers. Key films like "The Deer Hunter" and "The Longest Day" thrived due to exceptional casts, not necessarily with an abundance of actors. Event cinema delights audiences with star-studded ensemble casts; efforts like "Marvel's Avengers: Endgame" and "Barbie" exemplify this trend. (138)

Some of the greatest, most popular movies of all time also included a few of the most impressive ensemble casts of all time. Casting is a hugely important part of the filmmaking process, especially in an age where it's so much of what audiences care about. As such, it's not unsurprising that the best directors will often try to assemble a cast of as many big-name stars as possible to draw attention to the movie.

While sometimes these stars are up-and-coming and taking part in a movie alongside already established A-listers, or it's a...

Giulio Base’s religious drama Judas’ Gospel, which stars Rupert Everett, Paz Vega, John Savage and Abel Ferrara, has started filming in Italy.

The film sees Judas, about to die, reflect on his life and his relationship with Jesus and the disciples.

Vincenzo Galluzzo, Darko Perić and Tomasz Kot round out the cast, with filming set to last for four weeks in Calabria, Italy.

Base, who is the artistic director of Turin Film Festival, has film credits including 2018’s The Anarchist Banker.

His wife, Tiziana Rocca, who heads up Agnus Dei Production, produces. Minerva Pictures and Agresywna Banda also produce in association with Rai Cinema.

Jessica Alba is open to a Dark Angel reboot with James Cameron's involvement. Alba believes the sci-fi drama was ahead of its time. Alba says a reboot could potentially explore AI and technology advancements.

Dark Angel star Jessica Alba shares one condition for a reboot, two decades after the sci-fi show was cancelled. Co-created by Charles H. Elgee and Titanic director James Cameron, Dark Angel debuted on Fox in October 2000. With the story taking place in 2019, the series follows a runaway genetically enhanced supersoldier played by Alba. With a cast that included Michael Weatherly, Alimi Ballard, Jennifer Blanc, John Savage, and Jensen Ackles, among others, the series suffered from low ratings, and an unexpected directing effort from Cameron was not enough to save it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight to discuss her new movie Trigger Warning, Alba addressed whether she'd ever reprise her breakout television role. The actor,...

Jessica Alba's breakout series, Dark Angel, boosted her profile considerably, leading to roles in major films like Sin City. Dark Angel debuted during a time dominated by female-driven action series like Xena and Buffy, showcasing Alba's depth and toughness. Despite its early cancelation, Dark Angel gained a cult following for its strong female lead and Alba's portrayal of Max.

You can currently see Jessica Alba kicking major butt in Netflix's current number one movie, Trigger Warning, but the actress honed her action training back in 2000 when the sci-fi drama series, Dark Angel, premiered on Fox. Alba had already held down a few roles in TV and film before Dark Angel started, but it can be argued that the series boosted her profile considerably, which resulted in roles in films such as Sin City and Fantastic Four. The series only lasted two seasons, but even with a run as brief as it was,...

Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep revealed her admiration for actresses who move into production having achieved fame on the big screen in an onstage conversation Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival.

“There are so many women are producing for themselves and I’m so in awe of the ones who have done that. Reese [Witherspoon] and Nicole [Kidman], Natalie Portman. Everybody has their own production company,” she said.

“I have a production company of babies and that’s what I’ve produced, but I didn’t ever want to get phone calls after seven o’clock at night. So, I never did that. I’m in awe of people who do that. There are only so many hours in the day,”’ said Streep, who had highlighted earlier that she was a mother of four, and grandmother of five.

Streep was speaking to a packed Debussy Theatre in Cannes, where she was the...

Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" is a scalding experience. Over three hours, we get to know a group of Western Pennsylvania steelworkers who are plucked from their blue-collar town and thrust into the confounding hell of the Vietnam War. These are not complicated men. Left to their own devices, they'd put in their 40 hours a week, and spend their free time either throwing back beers at their local bar or tracking deer in the Appalachian Mountains.

Cimino lets us get comfortable with his characters in their natural habitat, so that, when they're captured by Viet Cong soldiers, and, among other tortures, forced to play Russian roulette for the gambling pleasure of their captors, we share their bewilderment and outright terror. This is where "The Deer Hunter" also becomes a problematic experience. Though the Viet Cong unquestionably abused prisoners of war, there is no substantial evidence that they forced American soldiers to play Russian roulette.

Paul D’Amato, who portrayed the despicable goon Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken in the classic hockey movie Slap Shot and had a memorable scene in the best picture Oscar winner The Deer Hunter, has died. He was 76.

D’Amato died Monday at his home in East Brookfield, Massachusetts, after a four-year battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disorder, his fiancée, actress Marina Re, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“He was the most wonderful, sweetest guy, he fought so hard against this horrendous disease,” she said.

D’Amato also played a razor- and knife-wielding bad guy in Peter Yates’ Suspect (1987), starring Cher and Dennis Quaid, and appeared in other notable films including Heaven Can Wait (1978), F/X (1986) and Six Ways to Sunday (1997).

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, D’Amato ice skated since childhood, served with the National Guard and attended Emerson College in Boston, where he acted in school plays and was a...

According to military historian Bill Allison, The Deer Hunter's portrayal of the Vietnam War is not entirely accurate, and he awards the film three out of 10. Allison takes issue with the movie's depiction of how American POWs were treated during the war, particularly scenes of them being forced to play Russian roulette. The Deer Hunter features a powerful storyline of how the lives of three friends were impacted by war, but aspects of its portrayal of the conflict have not aged well.

Vietnam War scenes from The Deer Hunter get put under the microscope by military historian Bill Allison, and the film comes up short when it comes to historical accuracy. Released in 1978, the moving Vietnam War film is directed by Michael Cimino, with Robert De Niro starring as Michael. The film follows a group of friends from a small town in Pennsylvania who serve in the war and...

While it’s true that insects thrive in warmer climates, They Nest dreamed up a species that can withstand the cold, not to mention turn humans into walking roach motels. Despite its dead-of-winter setting, USA Network aired the debut of New Zealand filmmaker Ellory Elkayem — later retitled Creepy Crawlers on home video — in late July of 2000. By then, the cable channel had unleashed several other “when animals attack” telefilms; feral cats (Strays), displaced serpents (Rattled) and one radioactive pooch (Atomic Dog) all took a bite out of mankind. Their next creature-feature, however, would be the first to truly get under people’s skin.

Former Melrose Place stud Thomas Calabro played yet another troubled doctor in They Nest. Infidelity was among Michael Mancini’s most glaring personal issues, but Ben Cahill is simply recovering from his recent divorce and a drinking problem. After freezing up in the ER and being placed on a forced vacation,...

There’s plenty to love about writer/director Orson Oblowitz’s new comedic action thriller Showdown at the Grand. For starters, it stars Terrence Howard and Dolph Lundgren, but the way in which Oblowitz balances comedic and absurd moments with dramatic scenes will not go unnoticed. This is one of those genre films that offers the best of several mediums. Helmed by Howard and Lundgren, who turn in memorable performances, it’s bound to generate some buzz and find an audience.

Relish the premise, which ultimately becomes an affectionate homage to vintage B movies: Proud movie theater owner George Fuller (Howard) suddenly must defend his family business — a lush historic movie theater — from corporate developers. In a groovy twist of fate, legendary action star Claude Luc Hallyday (Lundgren) suddenly is the man who can save the day. It’s the best kind of art imitating life in this noteworthy showdown.

Shout! Studios is giving the action comedy Showdown at the Grand, starring Terrence Howard (Iron Man) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables), a theatrical and VOD release on November 10th – and to help you decide whether or not this is a movie you’d want to check out, today we have a clip to share from Showdown at the Grand. You can check it out in the embed above, and it shows Howard’s character watching a movie in which Lundgren takes down some vampires while letting the viewer know that he despises the bloodsuckers.

If you want to pre-order the digital version of the movie on Amazon, you can do so at This Link. It will be available to watch as of November 10th. A Blu-ray and DVD release will follow on December 12th, and copies can be pre-ordered Here.

Written and directed by Orson Oblowitz, whose previous credits include...

The struggle to keep movie theaters alive gets very personal in “Showdown at the Grand,” an enjoyable tribute to retro exploitation pictures with Terrance Howard as a movie palace proprietor besieged by diminishing receipts and violent goons. Dolph Lundgren plays the former action star who shows up for a personal appearance, then stays to help save the joint from those agents of unscrupulous developers. More low-key homage than campy cartoon, writer-director Orson Oblowitz’s fourth feature does manage to deliver some tongue-in-cheek mayhem in an extended climax.

The setting is an actual vintage art deco temple for cinema, San Pedro’s Warner Grand, though rather than being managed by the City of Los Angeles (as it is off-screen), it’s kept alive here as a none-too-successful for-profit labor of love by George Fuller (Howard). Decked out in cowboy duds as if he were an actor himself, George is also projectionist,...

In the new action comedy Showdown at the Grand, George Fuller (Terrence Howard) is the proprietor of The Warner Grand, which is an architecturally wondrous and super cool theater that seems like the Music Box in Chicago, which was originally for stage shows before it started showing movies. Times are tough at the moment because the cinematic experience is shrinking, and George has sunk all his money into getting film star and personal hero Claude Luc Hallyday (Dolph Lundgren) to make an appearance during a showing.

Enter Lynn Schrader (Amanda Righetti), CEO of Schrader Industries (perhaps a nod to Paul Schrader). Right now she's in the middle of building Nirvana, an all-inclusive complex designed to be sustainable in the event of a plague or terrorism. All that's standing in her way is the Grande, so she offers George this incredibly large sum of money to buy the theater with. As the stick to her carrot,...

"Stay away from my friends, my theater, and my neighborhood." Shout has debuted the official trailer for an indie action comedy titled Showdown at the Grand, from filmmaker Orson Oblowitz. This trailer has been out for a few weeks, but we're just catching up with it – looks like some harmless fun. It's an 80s action movie homage with a big battle at a vintage cinema. A proud movie theater owner honors action star turned recluse "Claude Luc Hallyday" with a retrospective of his illustrious career but when real estate developers show up to ruin the party, the two new friends must fight off corporate greed in the name of art. Showdown stars Terrence Howard, John Savage, Amanda Righetti, Piper Curda, and Swedish badass Dolph Lundgren as Claude Luc Hallyday. Looks like an entertaining tribute to movies they don't make anymore, and the way theaters used to be. Though it's also fairly cheesy & cliche,...

Shout! Studios will be giving the action comedy Showdown at the Grand, starring Terrence Howard (Iron Man) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables), a theatrical and VOD release on November 3rd – and with just over a month to go until that date arrives, a trailer for the film has dropped online and can be seen in the embed above.

Written and directed by Orson Oblowitz, whose previous credits include the crime drama The Queen of Hollywood Blvd, the horror film Trespassers, and the thriller The Five Rules of Success, Showdown at the Grand has the following synopsis: A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.

Howard and Lundgren are joined in the cast by Amanda Righetti (Friday the 13th 2009), John Savage (The Deer Hunter), Piper Curda (The Wretched), Mike Ferguson (Amityville Uprising...

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.

We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.

Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:

‘Do the Right Thing...

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival is back after a one-year hiatus with a rich mix of Arabic and international titles launching into the Middle East and plenty of promising projects from Arab countries set to be unveiled to prospective partners at its CineGouna industry side.

The event launched in 2017 by Egyptian telecom billionaire Naguib Sawiris – whose brother Samih built the El Gouna resort in a swathe of desert near the tourist town of Hurghada 250 miles south of Cairo – was put on pause in 2022 ostensibly due to the country’s economic crisis following five editions during which fest co-founder Amr Mansi and chief Intishal Al Timimi had managed to rapidly put El Gouna on the international festival map while also making it a favourite with the local crowd.

“If there is a positive from the fact that we were forced to skip a year it’s that we were sorely...

Shout! Studios will be giving the action comedy Showdown at the Grand, starring Terrence Howard (Iron Man) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables), a theatrical and VOD release on November 3rd – and with just over a month to go until that date arrives, a trailer for the film has dropped online and can be seen in the embed above.

Written and directed by Orson Oblowitz, whose previous credits include the crime drama The Queen of Hollywood Blvd, the horror film Trespassers, and the thriller The Five Rules of Success, Showdown at the Grand has the following synopsis: A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.

Howard and Lundgren are joined in the cast by Amanda Righetti (Friday the 13th 2009), John Savage (The Deer Hunter), Piper Curda (The Wretched), Mike Ferguson (Amityville Uprising...

Terrence Howard and Dolph Lundgren team up to save a family-owned movie theater from corporate developers in Showdown at the Grand. The film, directed by Orson Oblowitz, channels old school action comedy vibes and features a great cast, including Academy Award Nominee Terrence Howard. Showdown at the Grand hits theaters and on demand on November 3, and the trailer promises a showdown of epic proportions between Howard's character, George Fuller, and Lundgren's character, Claude Luc Hallyday.

Terrence Howard and Dolph Lundgren try to save a movie theater in the first trailer for Showdown at the Grand, Shout! Studios upcoming action comedy that feels old school in the best possible way.

After The Queen of Hollywood Blvd, Trespassers, and The Five Rules of Success, director Orson Oblowitz presents his next film led by a great cast that includes Academy Award Nominee Terrence Howard, and Rocky and Aquaman star Dolph Lundgren. Showdown at the Grand...

Italian multi-hyphenate Ilaria Borrelli’s Arabic-language feminist drama “The Goat” – featuring Mira Sorvino and John Savage, alongside a stellar Egyptian cast – is set for back-to-back launches at Egypt’s upcoming El Gouna Film Festival, followed by the closing film slot at the Rome Film Festival.

A rare, if not unique, case of an Arab production directed by an Italian, “The Goat” stars young Egyptian TikTok star Jessica Hosam as an 11-year-old pregnant orphan named Hadya who after being forced into marriage becomes the target of a western corporation that seeks to control the only water source in her village. She escapes into the desert with her goat on a journey in search of her father. See trailer above

“She takes the road to freedom alone with her goat whose milk she will use to survive. Sometimes when she drinks the milk she feels her mum is talking to her,” according...

Shout! Studios will be giving the action comedy Showdown at the Grand, starring Terrence Howard (Iron Man) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables), a theatrical and VOD release on November 3rd – and with just over a month to go until that date arrives, a trailer for the film has dropped online and can be seen in the embed above.

Written and directed by Orson Oblowitz, whose previous credits include the crime drama The Queen of Hollywood Blvd, the horror film Trespassers, and the thriller The Five Rules of Success, Showdown at the Grand has the following synopsis: A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.

Howard and Lundgren are joined in the cast by Amanda Righetti (Friday the 13th 2009), John Savage (The Deer Hunter), Piper Curda (The Wretched), Mike Ferguson (Amityville Uprising...