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Robert Eggers is reportedly working on a retelling of A Christmas Carol.The Nosferatu filmmaker is said to be turning his attention to a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' iconic festive ghost story, which he is developing with Warner Bros.According to Deadline, Eggers will write and direct the movie, and he has longtime collaborator Willem Dafoe in mind to play Ebenezer Scrooge.Negotiations are not yet underway with cast, but the filmmaker is writing the movie with Dafoe in mind.Eggers will also serve as producer, with Chris and Elenor Columbus attached to produce via Maiden Voyage.A Christmas Carol follows old miser Scrooge on Christmas Eve, as he's visited by his late business partner Jacob Marley, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come.There have been countless adaptations of the book over the years, with Alastair Sim's 1951 turn as Scrooge regarded as one of the best.

Having delivered an incredible retelling of Nosferatu, and set his sights on werewolves with his next project, it looks like Robert Eggers is delving into the world of ghosts for his next project – and will be bringing his frequent collaborator Willem Dafoe along for the ride. This will reportedly come in the form of a new retelling of the classic Charles Dickens novella, A Christmas Carol – one of the most adapted stories of all time.

New versions of A Christmas Carol have been made almost every decade, from TV adaptations, to CGI spectaculars, modern adaptations starring comedy icons to Muppet-laden musical classics. While some adaptations have been better than others, the story has always remained fairly static, with old curmudgeon Ebeneezer Scrooge being visited by several ghosts who attempt to get him to change his ways and be nice. If this comes as a spoiler, you really need to watch more movies.

In addition to his werewolf movie Werwulf, Robert Eggers will also be directing a new take on A Christmas Carol for Warner Bros., Deadline reports tonight.

Eggers will write and direct his own adaptation of the classic Christmas ghost story, with frequent Eggers collaborator Willem Dafoe reportedly being eyed to play Ebenezer Scrooge.

Deadline notes, for clarity, “Insiders add while negotiations are not under way with any talent, Eggers is writing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge for his longtime collaborator Willem Dafoe as the top choice to play the classic Charles Dickens character.”

Chris Columbus and Elenor Columbus (Nosferatu) are attached to produce.

Written by Charles Dickens, the holiday classic tale of A Christmas Carol has of course been adapted for the screen countless times over the years, with notable film adaptations including Scrooge (1951) starring Alastair Sim, Scrooge (1970) starring Albert Finney, A Christmas Carol (1984) starring George C. Scott, Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray,...

Chicago – “Breakfast of Champions” was a film that was critically reviled when it was released, and became one of those box office “mega bombs.” But the adapter/director of the film, Alan Rudolph, is getting the last laugh. “Breakfast of Champions” is being re-examined in a new 4K Uhd restoration through Shout! Studios and Films We Like as a film decidedly ahead of its time.

Breakfast of Champions

Photo credit: Films We Like/Shout! Studios

Rating: 5.0/5.0

“Breakfast of Champions’ (1999) tells the story of car dealership titan Dwayne Hoover (Bruce Willis), the most respected man in Midland City. His smiling face appears on every local channel and billboard , as a shining symbol of the American Dream. But Dwayne Hoover is not smiling inside. Nor can he be trusted. Dwayne’s shady prosperity, picture-frame family, and small mind are cracking.

His television commercial-addicted wife (Barbara Hershey) may or may not be physically...

Image Source: Warner Bros Oh, the glory days of cable TV! Remember flipping channels and stumbling upon those wild, wonderfully weird movies that just stuck with you? Some were hidden gems, some were pure cinematic magic, and others… well, others were so delightfully bizarre they became legends in their own right. Today, we’re dusting off one of those truly unique cinematic experiences: the 1981 sci-fi thriller, Looker! This gem sprang from the brilliant, often-prophetic mind of the late, legendary Michael Crichton. Before he gave us the thunderous roars of Jurassic Park or the emergency room drama of E.R. (which literally changed TV history!), Crichton also penned and directed the iconic Westworld (starring the late Yul Brynner!). So, when he put his vision into Looker, starring the late Albert Finney, Oscar winner the late James Coburn, and Partridge Family/L.A. Law alum Susan Dey, you knew it wouldn’t be boring.

There is a strange tendency by TV and film writers to transform the works of Agatha Christie into light romps and playful farces. Christie wrote stern, sometimes bleak murder mysteries wherein damaged and bitter people, acting on their darkest impulses, will bitterly take the lives of others. Only uniquely intelligent and observant detectives like Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are able to see through the hate of human bitterness to get to the truth. Yet when the time would come to adapt Christie's works to the screen, many screenwriters felt that those tales should also be funny. Christie has gone on record with her dislike of adaptations for this very reason. Few, she felt, did her writing justice. Christie passed away in 1976, so she was able to see some of the films that her works inspired, and she was pretty unilaterally miffed at their existence. 

Christie, sadly, didn't live long...

In the early- to mid-1970s, a number of prominent filmmakers found modest success with star-studded whodunnits. In 1972, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in a splendid adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's intricately plotted play "Sleuth." A year later, Herbert Ross directed the wickedly clever "The Last of Sheila," a mystery concocted by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim, and featuring such marquee names as James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin, Raquel Welch, and James Mason. Then in 1974, moviegoers got a double dose of Agatha Christie with Sidney Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express", and Peter Collinson's "And Then There Were None".

There was no cultural development driving this sudden spate of whodunnits; it was just a reminder that people love to watch a bunch of great actors get thrown into the same location where foul play has been committed, and then try to work out...

Albert Finney had an acting legacy including triumphs on stage and television. He was primarily known worldwide for his career, which lasted over half a century, as a film actor, equally adept in lighthearted musicals and complex dramas.

Finney's work has been heralded in all three media. He won London's Olivier Award for "Orphans" on stage, and won an Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for his performance as Winston Churchill in TV's "The Gathering Storm." But it was in film that Finney was most honored. In 2000, Finney scored a rare double at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for his work in Steven Soderbergh's "Erin Brockovich," and even though he had little more than a cameo part in Soderbergh's "Traffic" later that year, the role was big enough for him to win a second SAG Award that night as part of the film's ensemble cast.

Jean Marsh, the creator and star of the beloved 1970s series “Upstairs, Downstairs,” died Sunday of dementia at her home in London. She was 90.

Marsh’s close friend Michael Lindsay-Hogg confirmed her death and its cause to the New York Times.

“Upstairs, Downstairs” aired from 1971 to 1975 in England and 1974 to 1977 in the United States. The show was about the Bellamy family and the staff that kept their elegant townhome running. Marsh starred as Rose, the head parlor maid.

In 2010 Marsh decided to return to the show by way of a reboot. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a retrograde thing to do,” she told the Telegraph at the time. “But then I thought: am I being pompous? It was a wonderful part. I think Rose got into me as much as I got into Rose.”

The reboot took place only six years after the show’s original...

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The first film adaptation of an Agatha Christie story was Leslie H. Hiscott's and Julius Hagen's "The Passing of Mr. Quin," released in 1928. This was only eight years after her first work, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," was published, so she was still quite active when movie versions of her stories began to appear. Starting in 1930, Christie also began penning works for the stage (starting with "Black Coffee"), so she was already a media empire unto herself, years before such a thing had become de rigueur. As of this writing, there have been about 50 official cinema adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels and short stories, close to 40 TV movies, not to mention the long-running TV shows "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989 -- 2013) and "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (2004 -- 2014), plus a whole host of projects where she is a character herself, including...

Among the most legendary actresses of all time, Ingrid Bergman looms large. Bergman's career extended across decades, and she was able to work with some of the greatest filmmakers of all time, from Alfred Hitchcock to Michael Curtiz to Leo McCarey. And moreover, many of the films in her filmography are widely, and correctly, considered among the best English-language films ever made, from "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "Gaslight" to one of the most iconic American and World War II films ever, "Casablanca." Bergman, unsurprisingly, was well rewarded for her immense talent and acting craft, netting three Oscars (as well as being nominated four other times). That she wasn't even nominated for "Casablanca," a film that has a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and walked away with the Best Picture Oscar, says something about how good she was and how not every one of her performances could get the golden statuette.

If you were alive and paying attention in the early 2000s, chances are you remember Tim Burton’s Big Fish. Or maybe you don’t. That’s kind of the problem. Here we are, over twenty years later, and Big Fish remains a cinematic anomaly—loved by those who saw it but often forgotten in broader conversations about Burton’s filmography. How did one of the director’s most ambitious, heartfelt, and visually stunning films fade into relative obscurity? And why does it deserve to be remembered as his second-best film, right behind Ed Wood? Let’s dive into this weird, wonderful, and sadly overlooked masterpiece to figure out just what the fuck happened to Big Fish.

Released in 2003, Big Fish hit theaters when Tim Burton’s career was at a crossroads. He was still riding high from his ‘90s dominance—where he cranked out Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, and...

Steven Soderbergh’s true story of a paralegal who takes on corporate villains seems a little old-fashioned 25 years on

Re-released 25 years on, this is the true story of David-and-Goliath underdog heroism that was repurposed for the movies by screenwriter Susannah Grant and director Steven Soderbergh. Brockovich is the gutsy working-class woman, played by the Oscar-winning Julia Roberts, who gets a job as a paralegal and senses that local people are getting exploited – so without any professional training becomes the American Boudicca of class-action lawsuits, leading the charge against a Californian utility company that is poisoning the groundwater and causing hundreds of families to get sick. Her affectionate, exasperated boss Ed Masry is played with vigour by Albert Finney; Aaron Eckhart is her on-off boyfriend George, and Brockovich herself has a cameo as a waitress.

Revisited now, Erin Brockovich looks like an old-fashioned Hollywood A-list vehicle. It is essentially a feelgood,...

One of the most endearing aspects of Eon Productions' 25-film run of James Bond movies was the filmmakers' refusal to do an official, in-film passing of the torch from one 007 to another. Though six actors portrayed the character over the movies' 63-year history, there has only been one James Bond in Eon's universe. It's not a code name that can be conveyed from generation to generation; it's just one guy who served his country from "Dr. No" to "No Time to Die."

Will this change now that Amazon MGM Studios has purchased full creative control of the franchise from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson? We'll have to queasily wait and see what the masterminds who've spent hundreds of millions of dollars on "Citadel" -- a Russo Brothers action-thriller series that most folk don't seem to actually like yet has already managed to spawn multiple spinoffs -- do with...

Quick LinksJames Bond Is at a Pivotal Point and Amazon Is Not up to the TaskAmazon Has Already Teased Plans for Expansion in the Name of "Content"James Bond Could Quickly Become as Watered Down as 'Star Wars'

Yesterday was the day the James Bond franchise died. At least, that's how many fans of the iconic franchise will feel following the news that Amazon will take the creative reins while longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson take a step back. Resisting the urge to rant uncontrollably while weeping to the sound of John Barry’s familiar theme, the idea of Amazon taking over all future James Bond adventures is sure to hit harder than Jaws' fists and the bombs that took out Daniel Craig's 007 combined, with fans wondering what kind of ridiculous spin-offs, prequels, and other side hustles will now be concocted in an effort to...

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La Dolce Villa is a romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters from a screenplay co-written by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy. The 2025 film follows Eric, a successful businessman who travels to Italy to stop her daughter from pouring all her savings into restoring a cheap Italian villa. Still, he soon falls in love with the laid-back lifestyle and a beautiful woman. La Dolce Villa stars Scott Foley, Violante Placido, Maia Reficco, and Giuseppe Futia. So, if you loved the laid-back vibes, romantic story, and charming characters in La Dolce Villa, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

A Good Year (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – 20th Century Studios

A Good Year is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Marc Klein. Based on the 2004 novel by author Peter Mayle,...

Ridley Scott claims that his debut 1977 movie would have won one of the biggest film prizes had it not been for $50K bribery. The English director is perhaps best known for his iconic sci-fi films, Alien and Blade Runner, which were only the second and third films of his career. A few years earlier, he made his feature directorial debut in 1977 with a lesser-known historical drama, his first in the genre before directing many more in Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, The Last Duel, and Napoleon.

Scott's later historical epic Gladiator did win arguably the biggest prize in film, the Academy Award for Best Picture, in 2001, while his 2016 sci-fi film The Martian was also nominated for the honor. Additionally, Scott has received an Oscar nomination for Best Director three times for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down. The director has also competed for another one of the biggest prizes in film several times,...

Julia Roberts was the ‘it girl’ of the ‘90s when she had her breakthrough with the romantic comedy Pretty Woman. The actress became the face of rom-coms for the decade in Hollywood and her signature charm and screen presence made her a star. While she was still making blockbuster films, one drama propelled her to the greats.

Roberts starred in Erin Brockovich as the eponymous heroine who takes on a large corporation for contaminating water. The Runaway Bride star played real-life paralegal and activist Brockovich in the film, which won her an Oscar. However, she was reportedly not the first choice from the real Erin Brockovich herself.

The real Erin Brockovich reportedly did not have Julia Roberts in mind to play her in the $256 million movie A still from Erin Brockovich | Credits: Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

Julia Roberts’ performance as the feisty yet persevering paralegal in Erin Brockovich won her many accolades.

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published in 1843. It was an instant success, quickly and deeply branding itself into the British consciousness. The story became widely spread, and soon other enterprising authors were eager to jump on Dickens' coattails; as early as 1844, "A Christmas Carol" was adapted to the stage no less than three times. After Dickens himself finished writing "David Copperfield" in 1853, he began giving live readings of a truncated version of his tale. He then proceeded to read the story for live, paying audiences every year for the next 17 years.

The story of "A Christmas Carol" follows a wealthy miser named Ebenezer Scrooge who ... Wait, what am I doing? You know the story of "A Christmas Carol." It's one of the most famous, enduring, and otherwise repeated stories in the history of Western literature.

In 1901, the relatively novel medium of film got its hand on "A Christmas Carol...

The courtroom is a familiar setting for fans of film and TV alike. By their nature, legal battles have all the key elements of a compelling narrative: two conflicting sides, stakes, and a clear story structure. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why this subgenre of story has had such great success in multiple mediums. Despite the versatility of these stories, surprisingly few legal films have been adapted for TV.

Most courtroom films center around a single remarkable case, but in doing so, they often introduce the world to iconic characters with real staying power. Adapting these movies into long-running TV series would create an opportunity for writers to dig deeper into these classic cinematic figures.

Erin Brockovich's Impact Stretches Beyond Her First Case Her Life Can Fuel an Entire Series

Julia Roberts won an Oscar for portraying the titular scrappy single mom in Erin Brockovich. Hard up for cash and short on prospects,...

The Coen Brothers are known for their garrulous, violent films that never fail to be sprinkled with generous amounts of dark humor. With a devout following of film lovers who are eager to pick apart their films and absorb any extra details or cut scenes, it’s no surprise that director’s cuts and home releases with special features are sought out by fans.

A director’s cut of Miller’s Crossing, one of the duo’s more underrated films, flew under the radar when it was released as part of the Criterion Collection in early 2022. Unlike most director’s cuts, this version of Miller’s Crossing is shorter than the theatrical cut, and while there aren’t stark differences, it’s still a curiosity to be sought out by completists.

As Peak Coen Brothers Noir, Miller’s Crossing Demands Attention

The Coen Brothers are no strangers to noir. Their first film,...

What’s Christmas without “A Christmas Carol”? There’s a reason why Charles Dickens’ classic has been made over and over: It’s always timely to remind people of the real spirit of the season. And to not be a selfish jerk. Here are our favorite versions of “A Christmas Carol,” from various Disney takes to the one everyone agrees is the best adaptation ever.

Photo credit: Apple TV+

12. Spirited (2022)

What if Scrooge (here named Clint Briggs) were a smug CEO who was beyond redemption? Ryan Reynolds brings his ususal snark to this holiday musical, which costars Will Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who’s long overdue to retire, and Tracy Morgan as the voice of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Photo credit: Walt Disney

11. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Who else but Scrooge McDuck could play mean old Ebenezer Scrooge? Mickey is, of course, underappreciated clerk Bob Cratchit,...

Every family that celebrates Christmas likely has those few holiday movies that they watch without fail every year. Maybe you need a little faith in humanity restored via It's a Wonderful Life. Maybe you want to bask in the nostalgic vibes of White Christmas. Maybe you're a little bit more new-school and Elf is your movie of choice (you'd certainly have no shortage of opportunities to catch it on cable). My family's got its own movie traditions, but there's really only one we've managed to watch year after year, and it's not one you might expect.

That movie is Scrooge, the 1970 musical film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. It might not carry the prestige of the '50s version or the nostalgia factor of the Muppets' take on the story, but for my family and I, it's as close to a must-watch as we get. As I've grown and holiday...

Jon M. Chu

Pulp Fiction Losing Best Picture to Forrest Gump in 1995.

Despite missing out on Oscar’s top prize, Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction did win best original screenplay and became a cultural mainstay.

“Pulp Fiction I felt was one of the biggest snubs, only because I was about to go to college at that time and 90 percent of the people in film school [were there] because of Pulp Fiction. But I know the movies that really change things aren’t always rewarded or recognized at that moment because it’s just too soon. I think Quentin Tarantino changed the landscape and changed a whole generation of filmmakers.”

Peter Sarsgaard

Tom Courtenay in The Dresser losing best actor to Robert Duvall in 1984’s Tender Mercies

“This is one of my favorite parts ever. This guy is just a servant for Albert Finney, and he goes totally underappreciated. When I first started acting,...

In 2022, Bruce Willis retired from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia, which was then confirmed to be frontotemporal dementia the following year. That sobering development certainly cast his late-career choices in a different light. Willis' final movie was the overlooked 2023 sci-fi action thriller "Assassin," but for the most part he had become a rent-a-star for low budget B-movie schlock. Considering what we now know about his health, however, much of that could easily be explained as a man trying to make his money before it was too late. Such a state of affairs would make for a sad ending to a career that otherwise remains one of the most impressive in Hollywood history. But even with a slew of middling action thrillers populating his later filmography, nothing could really take away from Willis' standing as one of the best to ever do it.

Willis was and is a movie star...

The American Film Institute defines courtroom drama as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the movie's narrative. In the United States, courtroom dramas have been a popular movie genre since the 1930s. Courtroom dramas have had a propensity to earn a wealth of critical acclaim thanks in part to the genre's frequent exploration of timely social themes. The genre also consistently allows actors the opportunity to deliver epic monologues, which has led to countless iconic performances within the genre.

In the twenty-first century, courtroom dramas have continued to thrive critically and commercially. Courtroom dramas such as Erin Brockovich, Michael Clayton, The Social Network, and Bridge of Spies have all earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture. Internationally, courtroom dramas like A Separation, The Third Murder, Saint Omer, and Anatomy of a Fall each rank among the greatest films released since 2000.

Related...

Although many older mystery movies lose their edge over the years, there are still some classics from the 1970s which can shock modern audiences. More so than most other genres, mystery movies are constantly seeking new innovations and quirks, or else they risk becoming stale and predictable. This means that certain mystery movies have a disappointingly short shelf life. Some old classics prove that this isn't always the case.

The 1970s produced a few outstanding mystery movies which have aged beautifully. Many of these movies adapted the works of revered crime authors like Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler. Whether they were period pieces or set in the 1970s, the best of these movies found ways to revitalize old ideas so that they could shock their audiences. There were also some truly original mystery movies which charted a path forward for the entire genre, like Chinatown and Deep Red.

Related 10 Best...

Count me one of the multitudes who adore the Netflix limited series “The Diplomat,” commandeered by “The West Wing” and “Homeland” alumnus Debra Cahn, which just launched Season 2 last week. I gulped down the six episodes as fast as I could.

The delicious center of her series is not the behind-the-scenes diplomacy engaged by two experienced U.S. envoys, Kate Wyler, the current U.S. Ambassador to England (Keri Russell) and her adoring husband Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) — it’s their relationship, from bathroom and bedroom banter to all-out physical warfare, often followed by passionate sex. This married couple play out fascinating male-female power dynamics.

Russell and Sewell display a convincing intimacy that is great fun to watch. I spoke to Sewell on Zoom, and learned a few things you may or may not know about him and the show.

1. He is a respected British stage and television actor. In “The Diplomat,...

Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout with Bruce Willis as Dwayne Hoover in Alan Rudolph’s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions

In the second instalment of my conversation with Alan Rudolph on his adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast Of Champions, shot by frequent collaborator Elliot Davis (Equinox; Mortal Thoughts; Love At Large), we start out with what his friend, the novelist Tom Robbins, who has a cameo (as Pesky Weber), told him after the film was finished.

Alan Rudolph with Anne-Katrin Titze on the influence of Jean Cocteau’s Orphée on final scene: “Probably not directly, but you know, every little drop of water feeds the plant.”

The director/screenwriter has assembled the perfect cast of accomplices, including Albert Finney, Nick Nolte, Glenne Headly, Barbara Hershey, Omar Epps, Lukas Haas, Owen Wilson, Buck Henry, plus a hyperactive Bruce Willis starring as Dwayne Hoover, the ringleader of what goes on in Midland City.

The offbeat Bruce Willis film Breakfast of Champions is back in theaters for a limited time, with an all-new 4K restoration. 25 years after its original release, the adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's satirical novel can now be experienced by those who did not see it the first time around which could be a lot of people considering it struggled to find an audience back in 1999.

Breakfast of Champions is a dark comedy that took Bruce Willis from his action hero persona at a time he was finding success in other genres, with movies such as The Sixth Sense. Willis stars as Dwayne Hoover, a wealthy yet mentally unstable car dealership who becomes convinced that a pulp science fiction novel holds the secrets to his existence. The satirical film tends to border on absurdity, a strong suit of Vonneguts work, but the mixed reviews from critics all questioned how successful the...

Alan Rudolph with Anne-Katrin Titze on Robert Altman considering Johnny Carson and Peter Falk to be cast as Dwayne Hoover (played by Bruce Willis) in Breakfast Of Champions: “He would cast his movies before they were written.”

In the first instalment with Alan Rudolph, we discuss Robert Altman’s early connection to Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast Of Champions, the roles played by Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney, and Owen Wilson, plus working with Willis and Demi Moore on Mortal Thoughts. Now, with the help of Ron Mann, director of What We Like, producer David Blocker, cinematographer Elliot Davis and Shout Factory, there is a 4K Digital Restoration of Breakfast of Champions available to screen in cinemas, on streaming platforms and Blu-ray DVD for the 25th anniversary of this very prescient film. Alan Rudolph was an assistant director on Altman’s Nashville, California Split, The Long Goodbye, and appeared as himself in The Player.

25 years ago, writer/director Alan Rudolph realized a decades-long dream when he finally got to make his adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut‘s “Breakfast of Champions” with a cast that included Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney, and Barbara Hershey, all operating at the peak of their talents. The tale of a smiling car dealership mogul (Willis) in the midst of a breakdown, “Breakfast” was one of Rudolph’s best films, a hilarious, prescient, and audacious portrait of not just a man, but a country losing its mind.

“Breakfast of Champions” was a deeply personal, fully realized work from one of the most interesting American filmmakers of his era. It was also a complete flop with audiences and critics.

“The film came out for two or three days and was radioactive,” Rudolph told IndieWire. “Breakfast” was so buried by the studio that released it that even its director couldn’t get...

Peter Yates' "Bullitt" is one of the most stylish cop flicks ever made. Those multi-screen opening credits designed by the great Pablo Ferro, that jazzily urbane Lalo Schifren score, those wildly cool outfits donned by Steve McQueen at the height of his laconic sexiness (some inspired by the suits sported by real life detective Dave Toschi) –- it's a stone groove punctuated by spasms of violence and, of course, a raucous car chase through the hilly streets of San Francisco. It's so ineffably pleasurable, you don't mind that the narrative is a sketchily plotted afterthought. Who needs an intricately structured story when you're watching, as Quentin Tarantino wrote in his book "Cinema Speculation," "one of the best directed movies ever made?"

You throw on "Bullitt" for the 1968-ness of it all (it's the apolitical flip-side of the coin to Haskell Wexler's roiling docudrama "Medium Cool"), as well as the...

Courtesy of StudioCanal

by James Cameron-wilson

An Inspector Calls, freshly minted with a pristine print of pin-sharp clarity, was originally written as a play by J.B. Priestley and remains a damning indictment of England’s hypocritical upper middle-classes. Set in 1912 in the north Midlands, the play premiered in 1945 in Moscow of all places, before coming to London a year later and to Broadway a year after that. I can’t tell you who was in the Russian version, but in the West End the titular character was taken by Sir Ralph Richardson, with Margaret Leighton, Harry Andrews and, in the Bryan Forbes part, none other than Alec Guinness. Imagine seeing that bunch on the London stage! I say the Bryan Forbes part, as it was he who had one of his best roles as Eric Birling in the 1954 film, running the gamut from embarrassing drunk to tipsy flirt to indignant...

Al Pacino wishes he had won an Oscar for Scarface. Directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone as a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, and in turn based on the 1930 novel by Armitage Trail, the 1983 crime drama follows Cuban refugee Tony Montana, who arrives in Miami without money during the Mariel boatlift and rises to become a notorious drug kingpin. Al Pacino leads Scarface's cast as Tony Montana alongside Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Mriam Coln, and F. Murray Abraham.

During a recent interview with BBC Today (via Deadline) promoting his new book Sonny Boy, Al Pacino named Scarface as the movie he wishes he'd won an Oscar for. The actor expressed that he would have been happy just to have been nominated for his role in that film. Read his full comment below:

I would have liked to have...

Audiences love going to the theater and watching a loud, exciting action movie on the big screen, but not all action movies that come with great reviews perform well. Because of how enjoyable it is to see this kind of film in theaters, action movies tend to be big hits at the box office. However, a film being packed with action does not by any means guarantee that it will be a financial success. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, even great action films, whether in the '80s, or gritty action movies from the '90s, fail to make much money.

Just because a movie fails to make a ton of money, though, does not prove that it's a bad film by any means. Plenty of well-respected action films have failed to make back the money that was put into making them. Some of these movies have even gone on to win major awards,...

Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage is stepping into the little gray cells of one of the worlds most iconic detectives, as he lends his voice to Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot in a new Audible production. Dinklage will lead a huge cast for the dramatized version of Christies classic novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in the latest iteration of the character. The synopsis provided by the official Agatha Christie website reads:

The upcoming adaptation will tell "the story of an injured and traumatized Captain Hastings (Himesh Patel), who has been invited to a large country estate (Styles Court) to recover after serving in World War I. With tensions tearing the family apart, what seems like a perfect haven soon turns into a nightmare, as the matriarch of the family Emily Inglethorp (Harriet Walter) is brutally murdered.

"With a full ensemble of characters with motives for the murder, nobody is above suspicion.

Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton existed on opposite ends of the filmmaking spectrum when the latter burst onto the scene in the 1980s. The former was no stranger to tales of terror in the suburbs, having been involved with "Poltergeist" and "Gremlins" by then. (Even "E.T." adapts the stylings of a horror flick in the scene where government agents in spacesuits invade the Taylor family's home in search of the titular alien.) However, the suburbs themselves were cozy and comforting in Spielberg's films; it was usually exterior forces that threatened their domesticity. Burton's movies, on the other hand, depicted the suburbs themselves as being unnerving and baffling. His sympathies laid with outsiders like Pee-wee Herman and Edward Scissorhands, who were content to lead their strange, loner existences until others insisted on intruding upon them.

Burton's adoration of death lay in equally stark contrast to Spielberg's sentiment, so...

Maggie Smith was a constant in the life of producer Robert Fox for half a century. She could “make grown men cry,” says Fox, because “if you weren’t 100 percent on top of your game, you were dead in the water, and she was right.”

Fox produced Dame Maggie in some of her greatest stage hits from Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage to David Hare’s The Breath of Life, in which she and her best friend, Judi Dench, shared top billing at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Dame Judi got the No. 1 dressing room. “But Maggie wasn’t fussed because she joked that Judi, she’d say, “had all those people in from Surrey to see her, so she needs the space.’ She wasn’t at all unhappy about it. She’d watch all of Judi’s guests troop in to see her. She’d say: ‘Look, there they go.

Certain directors will always pique the interest of any fan of cinema. Names like Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, and David Fincher bring excitement and anticipation without even a shred of information about their next film. The Coen Brothers are no different. These Minnesota-born siblings spent their teenage years absorbing everything they could about filmmaking. During their decades-spanning partnership, they've created films in every conceivable genre: screwball comedies, neo-noir, and yes, even the gangster picture.

Some of the Coen Brothers' genre experiments have turned out better than others, but to their eternal credit, their batting average is incredibly high. For every Hail, Caesar!, there are, generally speaking, three all-time classics such as No Country for Old Men, True Grit, and Inside Llewyn Davis. As good as each of those films is, the Coen Brothers' most underrated movie is Miller's Crossing a forgotten gangster film from early on in their career capable of rivaling the genre's best.

The idea of a non-linear time-spanning look at a marriage is not new. The absolute pinnacle of the idea still to me is director Stanley Donen’s and writer Fredric Raphael’s wonderfully sophisticated 1967 comedy Two For the Road, in which Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney flip back and forth in the course of their 12-year marriage. It was so ahead of its time, not just with the idea but in the editing technique used throughout. An absolute classic that didn’t get its full due in its day.

Now the latest in this subgenre is We Live In Time, the romantic comedy from director John Crowley and writer Nick Payne, which attempts to chronicle the decade-old relationship and marriage between Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield). The style isn’t as tricky as Two For the Road’s, but what it undeniably shares in common...

Sean Connery was associated with James Bond more than any other character, but he starred in several classics away from the franchise. Connery first played Ian Fleming's British super-spy in 1962's Dr. No, and he immediately embodied the character's suave style. Every subsequent 007 has been compared to Connery's portrayal - and whoever is cast as the next James Bond should expect the same treatment - but Connery's career was so much more than just one franchise.

After shooting to stardom as Bond, Connery capitalized on his success by choosing interesting roles in a variety of genres. Throughout his illustrious career, Connery appeared in murder mysteries, crime dramas and pulse-raising adventures. Connery had a sense of gravitas that made him a magnetic on-screen presence, but he also had the charm and the sense of humor to connect with audiences.

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Related 10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Sean Connery's First James Bond...

Norman Spencer, the British producer, production manager and screenwriter who worked alongside famed director David Lean on films including Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, has died. He was 110.

Spencer died Aug. 16 in Wimbledon three days after his birthday, the European Supercentenarian Organisation announced.

Apart from Lean, Spencer produced Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Katharine Hepburn; Richard C. Sarafian’s Vanishing Point (1971), the car chase movie that starred Barry Newman; and Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom (1987), starring Denzel Washington.

Spencer was Lean’s unit manager on the ghost comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), based on the Noël Coward play, and served as his production manager on his adaptations of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).

He produced Lean’s The Passionate Friends (1949) and the Hepburn-starring, Venice-set Summertime (1955); worked on a rewrite of the script for...

On Thursday 5 September 2024, Sky Arts broadcasts Classic Movies: The Story Of!

Murder on the Orient Express Season 2 Episode 5 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Classic Movies: The Story Of” on Sky Arts will delve into the iconic film “Murder on the Orient Express.” This episode will explore the brilliance behind the definitive adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famous novel. Viewers can look forward to an in-depth analysis of how this classic mystery was brought to life on screen.

The episode will highlight the stellar cast, including the talented Albert Finney, who takes on the role of the famous detective Hercule Poirot. As Poirot navigates a train full of intriguing suspects, viewers will gain insights into the film’s production and the creative choices that shaped its success.

By unraveling the genius behind this adaptation, the episode aims to celebrate both the film’s artistry and its connection to Christie’s original work.

Ian Nathan explores the 1974 film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express in this episode of Classic Movies: The Story of… The film boasts a distinguished cast of train-bound suspects and stars Albert Finney as the iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Based on the iconic 1934 novel by Agatha Christie, “Murder on […]

Classic Movies: The Story of… Murder on the Orient Express...

Albert Finney was an actor of such extraordinary range that he was able to reinvent himself for multiple different generations by playing a wide variety of characters across many different genres. Finneys tragic death in 2019 came as a shock to many cinephiles because it seemed like he would be around forever; there arent that many actors who have managed to appear in a Best Picture winner, a Coen Brothers crime thriller, a James Bond movie, several adaptations of William Shakespeares most famous plays, and some of the most beloved family films of all-time.

Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott collaborated on A Good Year after Gladiator's success, seeking a change of pace. The romantic comedy film, based on Peter Mayle's novel, allowed both actors to explore lighter roles. Despite being a box-office flop, A Good Year positively impacted their careers and personal lives.

After their blockbuster success with the Oscar-winning 2000 historical epic Gladiator, everyone assumed that Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott would continue their working relationship with a second Gladiator film, either a prequel or fantasy-based sequel or another blockbuster project.

However, while they discussed ideas for Gladiator 2, the duo surprised everyone by instead deciding to reunite with the romantic comedy film A Good Year, in which Crowe stars as Max Skinner, a failed London banker who inherits his eccentric uncles vineyard in the Provence region of southeastern France, where Max spent much of his childhood. Unsurprisingly, Max falls in love with one of the locals,...

At a time when Hollywood's long-term survival is in question and directors like Joe Russo are welcoming the arrival of an AI-driven garbage future with open arms, it might seem as though Rotten Tomatoes rankings are the least of our concerns. Quite honestly, they are. Whether a film receives the coveted "Fresh" rating or the dreaded splat really isn't all that consequential in the grand scheme of things. But for whatever reason, the Tomatometer still holds sway over our collective movie tastes, and now that movies' Rt scores are baked into many of our favorite streaming services' interfaces, it's harder than ever to avoid the all-powerful review aggregator.

It's fair to say, then, that Rotten Tomatoes is doing alright for itself, which in turn means it's probably okay to point out some of its shortcomings. As such, let me point your attention towards Rotten Tomatoes' contention that there are only...

It’s New York City, 1989. Susan Seidelman is in the delivery room, in labor with her son. “Siskel and Ebert” plays on the TV, and in between contractions, the two critics are tearing apart her new movie “She-Devil.” “Watching them review my film literally with the doctor’s hand inside of me telling me to push was very strange,” Seidelman recalls.

That surreal scene is just one of the memorable moments the trailblazing director recounts in “Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls.” By turns reflective and celebratory, the book covers the surprises and setbacks of a career carved out at a time when women filmmakers were a rarity.

When Seidelman first realized she could aspire to become a movie director, she could barely find a role model. Outside of Elaine May, there was only a small handful of women directing. But Seidelman kept at it,...

Sidney Lumet was the Oscar-nominated director who proved incredibly prolific during his career, directing over 40 movies in 50 years, from his feature debut “12 Angry Men” (1957) through his cinematic farewell “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007). But how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on June 25, 1924, Lumet got his start as a child actor, appearing in “One Third of a Nation” (1939) when he was 15 years old. After serving during WWII, he quickly began directing Off-Broadway plays before moving into the burgeoning medium of television, where he helmed hundreds of live teleplays. While working on episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Kraft Theater” and many more, he honed his abilities to shoot quickly and economically.

His turned to movies with “12 Angry Men,” an adaptation of Reginald Rose‘s TV drama about a lone juror (Henry Fonda) holding out during a murder trial.