Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Weapons,” “Frankenstein and “Wicked: For Good” led the 13th annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Award nominations.

The films all three landed nominations apiece.

The makeup and hair team behind “One Battle After Another” was nominated in contemporary makeup and special makeup prosthetics. Arjen Tuiten, who was nominated in the latter category, used prosthetic pieces, contact lenses and dentures for Sean Penn’s Colonel Lockjaw in the film’s third act after he survives a horrific car crash.

For “Frankenstein,” Mike Hill, the film’s prosthetics artist, steered clear of the classic zombie, and used 42 prosthetic pieces to transform Jacob Elordi in Guillermo del Toro’s Creature.

Francis Hannon had her work cut out for her on “Wicked: For Good.” Aside from keeping Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba green, she had to work with Mark Coulier to transform Jonathan Bailey into the...

James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” remained the dominant force at the China box office over the Dec. 26–28 frame, adding RMB166.4 million ($23.4 million) to lift its local cumulative total to RMB700 million ($98.6 million), according to Artisan Gateway.

Disney’s “Zootopia 2” held steady in second place, grossing $15.2 million in its fifth weekend. The animated sequel has now amassed $558.3 million in China, cementing its position as one of the market’s highest-grossing releases of the year.

Maoyan Movie’s new release “The Fire Raven” opened in third place with $2.8 million. Directed and written by Sam Quah, the crime thriller centers on a cold case involving the murder of a student in Duma City, with a witness and a police officer drawn into a wider web of corruption and retribution. The film stars Peng Yuchang, Alan Aruna and Chang Ning.

Romantic drama “Love Is Hard,” from Ncm Television, was at No.

Ryan Coogler appeared on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast amid his ongoing awards season press tour for “Sinners” and revealed the original story plans for “Black Panther 2.” The director was well into development on the sequel to his Oscar-winning 2018 blockbuster when lead actor Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 from colon cancer. Boseman’s tragic passing forced Coogler to completely overhaul the sequel into what would become 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Marvel fans wondering what Coogler originally planned for Boseman’s return finally have an answer as Coogler told “Happy Sad Confused” podcast host Josh Horowitz that his original “Black Panther 2” script focused on an adventure between Boseman’s T’Challa and the character’s 8-year-old son. Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta in “Wakanda Forever,” was still the main villain.

“The big thing with the script was a thing called the Ritual of 8 where a prince is 8 years old,...

It seemed back in 2018 that Tom Hiddleston’s time with Marvel had come to an end when Thanos killed Loki at the start of “Avengers: Infinity War.” But that was swiftly undone with “Avengers: Endgame” a year later thanks to the film’s time-traveling shenanigans.

Now 15 years since first making his Marvel debut in “Thor,” Hiddleston is still playing the Asgardian trickster, having reprised the role in the two-season Disney+ series “Loki” and again in the upcoming blockbuster “Avengers: Doomsday,” due out next December.

In a career-spanning interview with GQ, Hiddleston said his affinity for Loki stems from his love of redemption stories from his childhood. As a teen, he...

“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary makes his acting debut in A24’s “Marty Supreme” alongside Timothée Chalamet, and one of his standout scenes involves spanking the Oscar-nominated actor with a ping pong paddle.

In the Josh Safdie-directed sports dramedy, O’Leary plays Milton Rockwell, a successful pen entrepreneur who is married to retired actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). After Chalamet’s aspiring ping-pong champion Marty Mauser becomes entangled with Kay, he realizes Milton could be his ticket to the world championship in Tokyo — but it comes with a humiliating price.

In an interview with Variety, O’Leary said that Chalamet had the option to sit out of the scene, but the 30-year-old actor insisted the film feature his real butt.

“When it came time to whack him, there was a stunt ass. There was a double,” O’Leary said. “[Chalamet] wouldn’t do it. He said he’ll do it himself.

Director Marcie Hume is responding to a claim that Corey Feldman was not aware of footage she shot for her just-released documentary about his life on his rock tour, “Corey Feldman vs. the World.”

Variety broke the news that, in the documentary, Feldman alleges that Corey Haim molested him. Feldman’s lawyers responded that the mention of molestation was not physical, but rather referred to Haim’s advances towards him. Feldman’s legal team also said he had “no knowledge of the production of this documentary or its release. He was not involved in the creative choices, characterization, or portrayal of his statements or others in the film.”

In a newly-released scene from Hume, Feldman grabs the camera and turns it around on the director, saying, “Two shot, here’s the deal: So Marcie’s on the bus with us, because Marcie is the documentarian who is making the film that you’re watching.

When George Clooney was preparing to make his Broadway debut appearing as CBS news correspondent Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” he invited “60 Minutes” to sit in on rehearsals. As the cast gathered for their first read through, Clooney talked about the story’s prescience — though it’s set during McCarthyism in the 1950s, he saw parallels with the political pressure that news organizations face in the second Trump administration.

“When the other three estates fail — when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us — the fourth estate has to succeed,” Clooney said. With that he pointed his finger directly at “60 Minutes'” cameras, which are owned by the same network that employed Murrow.

But Clooney feels that CBS has fallen short of its mission. In a new cover story with Variety tied to the release of his new movie, “Jay Kelly,” Clooney faults top law firms like Paul,...

"Saved by the Bell" debuted in 1989 as a revamped version of the short-lived sitcom, "Good Morning, Miss Bliss." The original Disney Channel series starred Hayley Mills as the titular teacher, but the studio quickly realized the kids were the main draw. Five months after the show's first and only season, it was retooled as "Saved by the Bell" and began airing on NBC. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris), Lark Voorhies (Lisa Turtle), Dustin Diamond (Samuel "Screech" Powers), and Dennis Haskins (Richard Belding) all moved over to the new series. 

"Good Morning, Miss Bliss" took place in Indianapolis, but "Saved by the Bell" was switched to the fictional Bayside High in Los...

"Stranger Things" might not be able to fix some of its plot holes, but creators Matt and Ross Duffer are prone to cleaning up its minor errors. That has remained the case with season 5, volume 2, with some fans noticing that a flaw in Holly Wheeler's (Nell Fisher) clothing has been edited out since the episodes first dropped, be it by the "Stranger Things" creative team or someone else.

The error in question originally occurred in "Chapter Seven: The Bridge," which sees Holly stuck in one of Vecna's (Jamie Bower Campbell) vine prisons. In the pre-edited blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment, an Under Armour logo is clearly visible under her clothing, and that's a problem.

George Clooney has a cold.

Other A-listers would call in sick, but Clooney, who is on his second round of steroids, is powering through. “My body isn’t up for a fight like it was when I was younger,” he says.

We’re sitting in an empty lounge at Ludlow House in downtown Manhattan to talk about his new movie, “Jay Kelly,” and the Oscar-winning star of “Michael Clayton,” “Up in the Air” and three “Ocean’s” films is sifting through a small fridge in search of sparkling water. His hair is mostly gray, his face slightly lined, but at 64, he’s still incandescently handsome in that effortless, Cary Grant-like way.

“My kids get sick with something; they’re fine in three days.” Clooney finds the water, pops it open and takes a swig. “I’m an old shit — it takes me forever!” He chuckles with that wry laugh...

The track record of quality for movies coming out of Blumhouse Productions is very hit or miss, yet they've been able to sustain their wins and losses by largely keeping budgets on the lower end of the Hollywood spectrum. The business model gives them the opportunity to rake in high profits for a project that may require some extra funds to get off the ground or to secure the rights to a dormant horror franchise. At the head of Blumhouse is its namesake CEO, Jason Blum, whose 15-year leadership has overseen the rise of movies like "Paranormal Activity," "Insidious," "Get Out," "The Purge," and, most recently, "Black Phone 2." The...

The "Avengers: Doomsday" teasers will continue to be released until ... well, until Marvel runs out of new footage that mysteriously keeps leaking onto the internet, apparently. After the studio finally dropped that first teaser featuring the return of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers exactly a week ago, it's officially the next Avenger's turn. Because Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige's once-vaunted security has sprung a leak or two lately, we actually already knew the basic gist of this new "Doomsday" teaser after some videos made the internet rounds recently. Now, it's time for everyone to enjoy the visuals of the promo in pristine 4K as Marvel continues to keep the hype going.

The second “Avengers: Doomsday” teaser trailer has been released, and this time it focuses on Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.

The new teaser comes a week after Chris Evans’ Captain America was featured in the first “Doomsday” trailer that played during the previews of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” screenings. That first teaser revealed that Cap would return for “Doomsday” and that he surprisingly has a child. Similarly, the Thor teaser revolves around him praying to keep his adopted daughter, Love (who was introduced in 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder”), safe as he once again answers the call to battle.

The teaser starts out in a sunny, calm forest, similar to the idyllic farmhouse of the Captain America teaser. Thor prays to his late father, the Norse god Odin, for the strength to keep his new daughter safe as he presumably prepares to join the Avengers to take on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in “Doomsday.

Rusty plays a vengeful strip club owner, Rebel Wilson makes her directorial debut, plus new films starring Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe and Tom Hiddleston

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As usual, the Australian film industry will deliver plenty of tasty cinematic treats in 2026, spanning a wide variety of genres and styles. Here’s 10 films to look out for.

It cannot be understated just how successful John Pasquin's 1994 Christmas comedy "The Santa Clause" was. Made for a middle-sized budget of $22 million, the film raked in an unexpected $190.5 million at the box office. Adjusted for inflation, that's over $400 million. Although a lighthearted, Disney-produced family movie, "The Santa Clause" had something of a dark premise. Tim Allen played Scott Calvin, a divorced dad who was looking after his young son on Christmas Eve. He then happened to catch Santa Claus (the real one) on his roof and startled the old elf, causing him to fall to his death. Calvin, following the instructions on a business card on Santa's person, puts...

Atresmedia Cine, the production powerhouse of Spanish broadcast network Atresmedia, has unveiled its 2026 release slate and plans to shoots 10 movies over next year.

That matters. Since 2001 when Spain first obliged local networks to invest 5% of revenues in European films and 60% of that in national productions, its two free-to-air TV operators, Atresmedia and Mediaset España, have not only become major production partners on a substantial number of the most significant films made this century in Spain via Atresmedia Cine and Telecinco Cinema but their network parents have put their weighty marketing muscle behind the movies.

The result has been to update for the better Spanish audiences’ view of local movies, dismissed since the Spanish Civil War through the ‘60s as “españoladas” – movies whose local reference and relevance did not compensate for second-rate production standards.

Even in a streaming service world, broadcast networks’ investment and marketing punch still count. Over 2025, Atresmedia Cine...

Adrift in the wind, the protagonists of Japanese director Momoko Seto’s French-produced 3D animated curio “Dandelion’s Odyssey” embark on an epic botanical journey into outer space and away from the tranquility of a planet that strongly resembles the Earth we know. After traveling through a black hole, they arrive on a different floating rock, where they face harsh elements and unexpected predators in order to resettle. The catch is that these cosmonauts landing in an undiscovered world are dandelion seeds tethered to delicate, umbrella-like structures, or pappi, comprised of numerous, fuzzy bristles.

Testament to the ingenious character design and astute writing behind the peculiar project (the screenplay is by Seto and Alain Layrac) is that the faceless heroes emote far more than one would ever expect from inanimate vegetation. Imbued with distinct physical attributes, the four seeds exhibit enough personality for audiences to understand their role in the group.

Some filmmakers have achieved a level of authorship so high that their name promises a certain type of movie, and for the most part, the film delivers. This goes beyond just auteur theory into the realm of branding; folks like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo del Toro have been so consistent in their output that it stands to reason fans of their prior films will enjoy their new works. Then there are auteur filmmakers who are recognizably their own artists, yet their movies are all over the place in terms of their reception. This describes Guy Ritchie pretty well, for while the man who made his debut with the...

This article contains spoilers for "Marty Supreme."

'80s synth band Alphaville may have yearned to be "Forever Young," but you know what never gets old? Fighting to the death about differing interpretations of art. That's what cinema is all about, Charlie Brown.

Maybe it stands to reason that the recently-released "Marty Supreme" would end up becoming such a flashpoint moment just as 2025 draws to a close. The Josh Safdie-directed film asked (demanded?) us to endure weeks of increasingly escalating marketing stunts, from that ominously orange blimp invading the skies over Los Angeles to its leading man scaling the Las Vegas Sphere like some kind of miniature King Kong.

This article contains spoilers for "Heated Rivalry" and "The Long Game."

Unless you've been living under some enormous hockey puck recently, you've probably at least heard of "Heated Rivalry," the hit Crave series (on HBO Max stateside) that became one of the year's biggest sensations in the last month of 2025. So what can we expect from season 2 of the series, which has already been greenlit and will continue following the original queer romance novel series "Game Changers" by New York Times Bestseller, Rachel Reid?

As creator and showrunner Jacob Tierney recently told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview, Reid's book "The Long Game" will serve as the source material.

Bucking 2025 global cinema theater results that in many key markets that look set to at least edge up or come in flat when compared to 2024, total box office in Spain plunged 8% in 2025 to €453 million ($534.5 million), made off 65 million admissions, Comscore Movies Spain announced Tuesday.

Overall Spanish box office returns for 2024 were already 22% below a pre-covid 19 average over 2017-19, the weakest performance of Europe’s big five markets.

Of 2025’s biggest hitters in Spain, Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” topped its box office charts, grossing €24.7 million ($29.1 million), followed by “Jurassic World Rebirth” (€18.8 million: $22.2 million).

Spain’s biggest – indeed only – blockbuster, was “Father There Is Only One 5,” the final installment of Santiago Segura’s family comedy saga, punching €13.4 million ($15.8 million). The franchise’s films have topped Spanish film charts in five of the last seven years.

“It’s been a frustrating year. Looking at first half results, which were up 3% on...

A screening tour, a New Year’s re-release, a documentary, an incoming director’s cut … will we ever be rid of this historic misfire?

At first, it appeared to end with a whimper. After decades of talk, Francis Ford Coppola’s forever-gestating dream project Megalopolis debuted in movie theaters in fall 2024, and promptly flopped at the box office, grossing a paltry $14m worldwide against a budget around $120m, much of which was put up by Coppola himself. Not even a series of splashy Imax presentations, including some with a live-actor element, could entice more than a relative handful of curious cinephiles out of the house to witness Coppola realize his...

There is an obvious upside to becoming an advertising character for a major corporation. If you're the face of a long-running, frequently airing campaign, you could find yourself pulling down somewhere between $1 million and $2 million per year for not a lot of work. The additional upside should be that you'll have plenty of time to lend your considerable talents to film and television work, but there is a catch: sometimes, audiences can't see past the character who pops up on at least one of their screens every single day.

The good news is that, typically, these actors are in high demand for voice work. This has been the case for Stephanie Courtney,...

Arise Sir Stringer Bell!

Idris Elba is set to receive a knighthood in the U.K. after the star led the list of names in the 2026 new year honors.

Despite coming after another busy year for the actor, in which he — ironically — played both the U.S. president and British prime minister in “House of Dynamite” and “Heads of State,” respectively, Elba is being recognized for his charity work, notably an anti-knife crime campaign and the Elba Hope Foundation he set up alongside his wife.

Another top honor went to comedian, writer and actor Meera Syal, best known for groundbreaking TV show “The Kumars at No 42,” who becomes a dame for services to literature, drama and charity.

Meanwhile on screen, Cynthia Erivo is appointed an MBE (Member of the British Empire), with the “Wicked: For Good” star saying it was “an honor I could never have thought would happen.

Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo and longtime former BFI communications executive Tina McFarling are among the UK film and TV luminaries who have been recognised for their service to the industry in the UK’s 2025 New Year Honours list.

Elba, an OBE, receives a knighthood in recognition of his “exceptional contributions to entertainment and tireless efforts in youth empowerment and social justice”.

The actor earned Bafta nominations for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedomand TV’s Luther, and has directed features including Yardie.

His activism has seen him champion the ‘Don’t Stop Your Future’ campaign against youth violence and knife crime,...

From Stanley Tucci’s imperious tech titan to Lex Luthor’s distractingly hot CEO and Elon Musk-esque blowhards, films this year took us inside the billionaire mindset

Between the slash-and-burn US government reboot led by a dank meme fan and the relentless pushing of AI by venture capital-backed blowhards, 2025 has felt like peak obnoxious tech bro. Fittingly, jargon-spouting, self-regarding digital visionaries also became Hollywood’s go-to baddies this year in everything from blockbusters to slapstick spoofs. Spare a thought for the overworked props departments tasked with mocking up fake Forbes magazine covers heralding yet another smirking white guy as “Master of the Metaverse” or whatever.

With such market saturation,...

This year, there are two films vying for the best international feature film Oscar which are set in Iran, following a group of people, mostly strangers to each other, traveling in a van with a person that they may have to bury in the desert.

One is Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning “It Was Just an Accident,” which the Iranian regime would never consider submitting for the Academy’s consideration. Panahi is legally embattled at home for his outspoken criticisms of the government. The thriller is instead representing France. The other title with that shared premise is “Cause of Death: Unknown,” Iran’s official entry, by writer-director Ali Zarnegar, a filmmaking debut from a seasoned screenwriter which could have garnered him deserved international attention under a different set of circumstances, but did not make the category’s shortlist.

Though inevitably overshadowed, “Cause of Death: Unknown” is by no means a toothless state-sanctioned selection,...

Journalist Don Ng’s debut feature raises interesting questions about the asylum experience – but his film is too sentimental and superficial to truly answer them

This is a film made with the best of intentions – and it has some good insights into the loneliness and isolation of seeking asylum in the UK. But there are a few too many sentimental moments to properly work as social-realism, or anything close to convincing drama, which is disappointing given its creator, Don Ng, is a journalist-turned-director making his feature debut. It’s set in London, where Bosco (a sensitive performance by Yiu-Sing Lam) has arrived from Hong Kong fleeing the government’s crackdown on political freedom,...

Cary Elwes, who starred in Rob Reiner’s 1987 fantasy classic “The Princess Bride,” released a statement on Instagram Monday night in remembrance of the director and his wife, Michelle Singer, who were found dead in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.

“Enough time has passed that I can finally put my grief into words,” Elwes wrote in the caption of his post. “I was 24 when I first met Rob Reiner on ‘The Princess Bride.’ And from that very first meeting I fell in love with him. I was already a fan of his work so meeting him in person was a dream come true. As we began spending more time together I knew this was someone I wanted in my life.”

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Elwes recalled that the first thing he noticed about Reiner was that he “wore his heart on his sleeve,” and “always tried to find the best in people.

Rodrigo Cortés's 2010 film "Buried" is a taut and stressful thriller that has maybe the smallest set of any film in history. The story follows a traveling American named Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) who is knocked out and kidnapped while traveling in Iraq. The film begins when Paul regains consciousness inside a coffin, buried alive. He has nothing on his person except for a cigarette lighter and a mobile phone. He is contacted on the phone by his kidnapper, who tells him that he is being held in the coffin for ransom. Paul has to call whoever he can to arrange the ransom, but also whatever American investigators might be...

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Mark Wahlberg is one of Hollywood's biggest A-list actors, but a movie he made 20 years ago is finding new life on Netflix. Wahlberg remains a huge star with movies like "Uncharted" and the lowkey hit "Flight Risk" to his name more recently, but the movie in question is a gritty crime drama in the form of 2005's "Four Brothers." It is by no means one of his more discussed movies, but it has evidently captured quite a few fans two decades removed from its initial release.

As of this writing, "Four Brothers" is the fourth-biggest movie on Netflix, per FlixPatrol.

A lot of actors hate watching their own work. Adam Driver infamously walked out of an interview with NPR's Terry Gross after she played clips of his performance in "Marriage Story," and that's just a particularly dramatic example; hearing famous performers say they can barely stand watching themselves on-screen feels incredibly common at this point. That's why, ultimately, none of us should be all that surprised that Leonardo DiCaprio hasn't revisited "Titanic" in years.

During an "Actors on Actors" chat with Variety that paired DiCaprio with fellow Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence — with whom he co-starred in Adam McKay's 2021 satire "Don't Look Up" — Lawrence, who starred in the dark...

Isaac Asimov's "Robot" novels and his "Foundation" books are set in the same universe. But just because two stories occupy the same space doesn't mean they actually impact each other. I remember reading through the books for both series for a while before I realized that they connected. But by the end of reading through both, the connection wasn't just clear. It was crucial.

If you're wondering how Asimov's two series tie into one another, I've highlighted five key areas where the crossovers are not just clear. They're super important, and these connections generally go in one direction: something starts in the "Robot" novels and eventually trickles through to the "Foundation" books.

Joe Rogan is the latest industry heavyweight speaking out against Donald Trump’s repeated attacks against Rob Reiner after the director’s tragic death. Trump alleged that Reiner’s death was “due to the anger he caused others” from being outspokenly anti-Trump. Reiner’s son, Nick, has been arrested in connection to his parents’ deaths.

“The Rob Reiner thing is not funny,” Rogan said on a recent podcast featuring comedian Shane Gillis (via Entertainment Weekly). “When you see it with no empathy, that’s when it’s hard to like. Listen, there’s no justification for what he did that makes any sense in a compassionate society. It’s no different than people that were celebrating when Charlie Kirk got shot. It’s the same kind of thing.”

“Imagine if Obama tweeted something about someone after they died in this way. That this person was a deranged person that hated Obama.

There was quite a bit of romance on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," with some pretty unusual couples that ended up being some of the franchise's best. Unfortunately, for every couple as perfect as Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) and Worf (Michael Dorn), several ill-advised pairings didn't work out. The character with the worst luck in love on all of "Deep Space Nine" was Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), whose boyfriends had a habit of either dying tragically or being called to higher purposes. One proposed romance for her would have been even worse, however, as the show's writers were toying around with the idea of pairing her up with Cardassian...

In the seven months since I launched In Development, the same conversation kept showing up. Different people, roles, and career stages; powerful veterans and fresh rookies; same throughline.

I don’t know what’s going on, but this is weird, right? It’s not just me, is it?

No. It really is that weird. And no, it’s not just you.

This was the year that upended nearly every assumption about the business of storytelling. A year ago, the refrain was “Survive until ’25”; this year there’s no refrain because we realized rhymes don’t change anything.

All of which brings us to the last week of this pathological year and fresh hope for the new one. I’ll keep the predictions short, starting with the Tl;Dr: Since nothing stays weird forever, the real work can finally begin.

Movies will be made. Audiences exist. Talent is abundant. It’s...

The 1979 epic "Caligula" is just as much a Roman orgy as it is a movie. It was produced by Penthouse Magazine impresario Bob Guccione, and he infamously absconded with the movie, shot extra hardcore sex scenes, and edited them into the final cut without the participation of the director. Tinto Brass technically directed "Caligula," but he was forcibly ejected from the editing process. A slew of guest editors came in and started rearranging the entire movie without Brass' consent. Brass was so upset, he removed his name from the movie. He is credited as providing "principal photography."

This push to re-edit "Caligula" and add more sex scenes was an unusual choice,...

Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" is one of the most exciting films of 2025, and one of the rare films to immediately become a major subject of conversation and actually sustain that level of broad interest over the course of several months. There are many reasons the movie is acclaimed: Coogler and his collaborators told a relevant, powerful story set in a milieu we don't often see, the film has a lot on its mind but also works as an entertaining ride from start to finish, Ludwig Goransson's score is next-level, there are meaty roles for newcomers like Miles Caton and veterans like Delroy Lindo ... and that's before we even mention the vampire component.

Right from its title, Oscar Hudson’s droll debut “Straight Circle” evokes paradoxical oddities, which the writer-director layers atop his deadpan satire on nationalism and geographical boundaries. A tale of two enemy soldiers patrolling a militarized border from inside a common outpost, the movie’s fictitious premise gradually transforms, and eventually transcends the shortcomings of its broad political scope the more it leans into abstraction.

The film arrives with a bang, introducing the fragile ceasefire between its warring (though unnamed) desert nations via a smart split-screen prologue during its first five minutes. Amid pomp and circumstance, leaders on either side of a rickety fence stand on ceremony, inadvertently interrupting one another through microphone feedback, as the dueling images — each with their own jittery, handheld camera movements and unique color timing, one warm and one cool — swap places and subjects. This tongue-in-cheek flourish aestheticizes the point Hudson hammers home ad nauseam across 109 minutes,...

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Many Trekkies know this piece of trivia: In the 1966 "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Captain Kirk (William Shatner) finds himself grappling with Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) in fisticuffs. Mitchell, one of the strongest villains in the "Star Trek" franchise, has only just absorbed some kind of ineffable cosmic power, granting him godlike abilities. Deciding that this makes him a superior life form, Mitchell threatens Kirk directly, mocking the captain's newfound powerlessness. He even magically manifests an open grave, complete with a tombstone, that he intends to put Kirk in.

Infamously, the tombstone reads "James R. Kirk.

Animated television goes back to the earliest days of the television medium itself, eventually ranging from crudely drawn and rotoscoped art styles to more sophisticated and computer-generated visuals. Animated programming has become just as far-reaching and nuanced in its storytelling as its live-action counterparts, whether it's children's programming, anime, or more adult shows. And though it's an incredibly varied and extensive field, there are some shows that stand out above the rest. These are the shows that either pushed the boundaries of what animation on television could be and/or have wonderfully endured the test of time, entertaining generations of audiences.

For those wondering where the golden age of American...

When Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer in August 2020, the world lost one of its most talented and gracious performers just as he was beginning to show us just how great he could be. Boseman only scraped the surface of his remarkable abilities, and it's utterly heartbreaking that we'll never see how he would grow and challenge himself.

Because Boseman was very private about his illness (as was his right), Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios had to completely overhaul their plans for their "Black Panther" sequel. Coogler had written a screenplay that, obviously, centered on T'Challa; now, they would either have to recast the part or rewrite the script to...

James Cameron has never shied away from expressing his feelings on 1992's "Alien 3," but his latest comments are as stark and candid as he's ever been. On a recent podcast appearance, the director said the decision to kill off three major characters from the previous movie was "the stupidest f****** thing."

Aside from being a general box office master, Cameron has demonstrated an uncanny ability to make some of the most undeniably awesome sequels in Hollywood history. In 1991, he accomplished the seemingly impossible by making a better movie than "The Terminator" with his sequel "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." He later gave us the culmination of every James Cameron obsession with the 2022 "Avatar" sequel,...

Sony Pictures' "Anaconda" reboot slithered into theaters over the Christmas holiday and, though it faced stiff competition from the likes of "Avatar: Fire and Ash" and "Marty Supreme," the comedic, meta creature feature managed to do quite well for itself. In doing so, it has also cemented Jack Black's status as one of modern cinema's most bankable stars.

Director Tom Gormican's "Anaconda" opened to an estimated $14.5 million domestically over the weekend, pulling in a total of $23.6 million across the full, five-day, Wednesday to Sunday stretch over X-mas. It also added another $20 million overseas, giving the movie a very respectable $43.6 million global start. That's not bad at all against a reported $45 million budget.

“Song Sung Blue” stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as real-life Milwaukee couple Mike and Claire Sardina, who made a local name for themselves with their Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder. Licensing the use of Diamond’s music would typically be job number one for Emmy-winning music supervisor Trygge Toven (“Fallout”), but in this case, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder improbably paved the way.

“It’s crazy, but I believe Eddie initially helped get Neil on board with the documentary side to get the rights,” said Toven, referring to the 2008 Lightning & Thunder documentary, also titled “Song Sung Blue,” that inspired writer/director Craig Brewer to remake the story as a song-packed feature film.

For the scripted version, producer John Davis secured the licensing rights by calling in a big favor — from his mom. “The story I’ve been told is that John’s mother knew Neil Diamond, so he...

Holly Wheeler looks a little bit different in "Stranger Things" season 5. That's because the character was recast, with Nell Fisher stepping in to replace twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, who portrayed her in the first four seasons of the show. With that in mind, why did creators Matt and Ross Duffer choose to bring in someone new instead of sticking with the original actors?

Netflix's sci-fi horror series debuted when its younger cast members were all kids, but most of them are grown up now. This forced the Duffers and their team to de-age certain "Stranger Things" actors for season 5, but they also felt it was important to work with legitimate child performers again.

Familial dysfunction, a neurotic protagonist, and a commitment to showcasing a realistic low-income family on primetime made "Malcolm in the Middle" a defining sitcom of the 2000s. The characters fought and bickered, but somehow, they found ways to make things work while having plenty of great jokes along the way. It's hard to narrow down the best episodes of "Malcolm in the Middle," but if you're planning a rewatch, get ready for some ... unpleasantness.

Look, there's no two ways around it: "Malcolm in the Middle," like any other sitcom of its era, is a product of its time. Every so often, you'll watch an episode, and a character will casually...

The actor said privacy laws protecting children from paparazzi were a key factor in the family’s decision

George Clooney has been granted French citizenship, along with his wife Amal Clooney and their two children, according to an official decree in France’s government gazette.

The publication confirms an ambition Clooney alluded to early in December when he praised French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi.

Let's just say, hypothetically, that you've been watching the final season of a massive streaming series about a small town plagued by fantastical terrors. Let's also posit that maybe that show is exciting and frustrating in equal measure (and may or may not be titled "Stranger Things"), but you like the fantastical aspect and you're looking for something you can watch next. Might I suggest "From," a truly engrossing and even terrifying supernatural drama produced by none other than the Russo Brothers? Just ask Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a near-perfect 96% score.

Anthony and Joe Russo, best known for helming huge Marvel tentpoles like "Captain America: Civil War" and the...

For anyone who still believes people don't care about "Avatar," the numbers tell you otherwise. James Cameron's original 2009 "Avatar" remains the biggest movie of all time, with more than $2.9 billion to its name. Now? Cameron gets to claim the only $6 billion movie trilogy ever as "Avatar: Fire and Ash" continued to crush it over the Christmas holiday, coming in above industry expectations.

"Fire and Ash" pulled in an estimated $64 million over its second weekend domestically, representing a mere 28% drop compared to its $89 million debut ahead of the holiday frame. Over the full, long Christmas holiday, it added $88 million to its total in North America. More importantly, it added a...