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Director Robert Siodmak and actress Ella Raines both had a hell of a busy 1944, even by workhorse studio-system standards. Raines, a striking, slightly opaque beauty who had made her movie debut just a year earlier, appeared in five features, including the Preston Sturges classic-in-waiting Hail The Conquering Hero and the...

With the elections less than two months away and the highly anticipated debate between former President Donald Trump and current vice president Kamala Harris on Sept 10, it’s time to revisit classic political movies. TCM is currently presenting a nine-week series “Making Change: The Most Significant Political Films of All Time.” Political films run the gamut from thrillers, to dramas (“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”), to the historical, to satirical comedies.

Speaking of satires, Preston Sturges received his one and only Oscar for his screenplay for 1940’s “The Great McGinty,” his smart, funny comedy about a hobo (Brian Donlevy) who rises to governor only to lose it all. Sturges had originally written a piece “The Story of Man” in 1933 with Spencer Tracy in mind. Tracy had just starred in 1933’s “The Power and the Glory,” which marked Sturges’ first film script. He attempted to sell it to Universal which also turned the story down; so,...

The Criterion Channel has unveiled its streaming lineup for August 2024, which features an eclectic mix of independent films showcasing the work of auteurs from around the world.

The boutique service will become the exclusive streaming home of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 comedy “Licorice Pizza,” and will celebrate the occasion by adding four more of his films to the channel: “The Master,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” and “Magnolia.” Anderson’s frequent collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman will additionally be celebrated on the streaming service as part of a larger retrospective. Many of the late actor’s most iconic roles, including “Capote” and “Synecdoche, New York,” will be included, along with his sole directorial outing “Jack Goes Boating.”

The channel will also highlight several other prominent filmmakers including Preston Sturges, who helped pioneer the modern rom-com through films like “The Lady Eve” and “The Palm Beach Story,” and prolific Egyptian auteur Youssef Chahine.

The Criterion Channel’s August lineup pays tribute to auteurs of all kinds: directors, actors, and photographers, fictional or otherwise. In a notable act of preservation and advocacy, they’ll stream 20 titles by the Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, here introduced by the great Richard Peña. More known (but fun all the same) is a five-title Paul Thomas Anderson series including the exclusive stream of Licorice Pizza, as well as a Philip Seymour Hoffman series that overlaps with Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love (a Criterion Edition this month), and The Master, plus 25th Hour, Love Liza, and his own directing effort Jack Goes Boating. Preston Sturges gets five movies, with Sullivan’s Travels arriving in October.

Theme-wise, a photographer series includes Rear Window, Peeping Tom, Blow-up, Close-Up, and Clouzot’s La prisonnière; “Vacation Noir” features The Lady from Shanghai, Brighton Rock, Kansas City Confidential, Purple Noon, and La piscine. Alongside the aforementioned PTA and Antonioni pictures,...

Regardless of where one stands politically, the best political comedies offer a humorous and often scathing critique of politicians. Frequently controversial, political comedies usually offend one faction of the political spectrum, and, in some cases, cause an uproar across the entire political landscape.

Many film industries worldwide rely on governmental funding for production, making it difficult to avoid censorship when creating politically charged films. In the United States, Hollywood studios exist independently of the government, which allows more freedom to attack the country's political forces through film. Political comedies are an invaluable component of Western culture from Hollywood's Golden Era to today.

Related: The 10 Best Harold Lloyd Silent Feature Comedies, Ranked

Election (1999)

Alexander Payne began his career directing the satirical black comedy Citizen Ruth, a film that explores the dehumanizing effect of politicizing the abortion debate. Payne followed up Citizen Ruth with Election, a black comedy about a high school...

Regardless of where one stands politically, the best political comedies offer a humorous and often times scathing critique of politicians. Frequently controversial, political comedies usually offend one faction of the political spectrum, and in some cases, cause an uproar across the entire political landscape.

Many film industries around the world rely on governmental funding for production, making it difficult to avoid censorship when creating politically charged films. In the United States, Hollywood studios exist independently of the government, which allows more freedom to attack the country's political forces through film. From Hollywood's Golden Era through the present day, political comedies are an invaluable component of Western culture.

Related: The 10 Best Harold Lloyd Silent Feature Comedies, Ranked

Election (1999)

Alexander Payne began his career directing the satirical black comedy Citizen Ruth, a film that explores the dehumanizing effect of politicizing the abortion debate. Payne followed up Citizen Ruth with Election, a black...

This year, all the Oscar-contending directors are nominated for original screenplay: the Daniels, Todd Field, Martin McDonagh, Ruben Östlund and Steven Spielberg (writing with Tony Kushner).

This is the first time it’s happened in AMPAS history.

The only year that came close was 2017, when all five helmers had written or co-written their scripts, though they didn’t all get writing noms.

So here’s Film History 101.

In Hollywood lore, Preston Sturges is often credited as the first scribe to become a hyphenate, as writer-director of the 1940 “The Great McGinty.” But as with all Hollywood “facts,” there is only an element of truth here.

In the next few years, he was joined by some heavyweights: Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”) and John Huston (“The Maltese Falcon”) in 1941; Leo McCarey (co-writer of “Going My Way”); Billy Wilder (writing with Raymond Chandler) for “Double Indemnity” in 1944; and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“Dragonwyck”), 1946.

However, a writer-director wasn’t an innovation.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)

Superlatives are fatuous, but Mads Mikkelsen’s final dance in Another Round was possibly one of the finest scenes of the year. It is here that Thomas Vinterberg tips his hand: in turns devastating and rambunctious, his latest neither glorifies nor condemns the magic––and sorrows––of day-drinking, but conjures a surprisingly sober study of a midlife crisis, climaxing in this moment of blissful catharsis. As a character-defining moment, it’s up there with Denis Lavant’s pirouettes at the end of Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. – Leonardo G.

Where to Stream: Hulu

Audrey (Helena Coan)

Despite her status as one of the most iconic movie stars in history,...

The Criterion Channel has unveiled their March 2021 lineup, which includes no shortage of remarkable programming. Highlights from the slate include eight gems from Preston Sturges, Elaine May’s brilliant A New Leaf, a series featuring Black Westerns, Ann Hui’s Boat People, the new restoration of Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi.

They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.

Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.

The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917

Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963

Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916

Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979

Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972

Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...

Sony Classics’ “The Father” is an act of daring; it could have gone wrong in so many ways, but it works like gangbusters.

The film marks the movie debut of writer-director Florian Zeller, whose background is as a novelist and playwright; in many cases, that would send warning signals.

What’s more, it all takes place in one location, the apartment of Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), so it might have turned out to be a photographed stage play. Third, it toys with the audience, keeping them off-balance about what is real and what’s not.

Those are potential danger areas, but the film is so good that it defies all logic.

Movie adaptations of plays, from Eugene O’Neill to Neil Simon, usually look like filmed theater, and that’s Ok; they’re still enjoyable. But it’s magic when a filmmaker can set his movie in one space, yet it seems like pure cinema.

The stumbling block for political satire is that it’s almost always partisan — which is great if it flatters your views, and grating if it doesn’t. But not for Jon Stewart. In his first writing-directing gig since 2014’s docudrama Rosewater, the former late-night fixture ingeniously makes it impossible to take sides … since both sides totally suck. As host of The Daily Show between 1999 and 2015, Stewart knew that the only way to deal with the toxic mix of politics, media, and money afflicting the body politic was to resist. Or...

“Irresistible” is the second film written and directed by Jon Stewart, but unlike the first, the deadly serious and surprisingly accomplished true-life Iranian prison drama “Rosewater” (2014), this one comes straight out of Stewart’s satirical-political wheelhouse. Set shortly after the 2016 presidential election, it’s a close-to-the-bone tall tale — slightly exaggerated but still basically plausible — of what happens when America’s two ruling political parties descend upon the rural heartland of Deerlaken, Wisconsin, to take over a small-town election for mayor.

At the center of the movie is a cynical sharpie of a campaign consultant, Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), who combines the philosophy of a liberal, the high-maintenance fussiness of an East Coast lifestyle elitist, and the do-what-it-takes amorality of a corporate sociopath. He’s just coming off his time as “the grand consigliere” of Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid, and like most Democrats he’s in a slight state...

When a neighbour offered up DVDs of a trio of classic films, our writer discovered that amid the laughter they forced him to think about sexual, social and political attitudes

Read all the What I’m really watching choicesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation

How to fill the evenings in these desolate times? A colleague told me she will be delving into her BFI playlist of Ingmar Bergman and Werner Herzog. I hope to emulate her ambition, but I was even more thrilled when a kindly cineaste neighbour turned up at my door with DVDs of a trio of Hollywood comedies: Design for Living (1933) directed by Ernst Lubitsch and two Preston Sturges classics, The Lady Eve (1941) and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).

For a few happy hours, I was able to suspend the feelings of dread and boredom we are all currently experiencing. Watching them on successive evenings, I was struck by several things.

As the drama and disruption that is coronavirus continues, people are looking for ways to temporarily forget the chaos that seems to be sweeping the globe. Thankfully, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is here to perhaps assist you with that, as well as offer you a way to best use your time should you currently be under self-isolation. Gunn has taken to social media to suggest ten movies that are well worth your time, and might just help you get over the Covid-19 worry, even if just for a moment.

James Gunn's recommendation list is just varied enough to appeal to almost everyone, with an assortment of movies from all around the world. He has also chosen a lot of movies that flew under the radar, which not only increases the chance of most people having never seen them, but also giving movie fans the opportunity to see...

With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, many are finding themselves in quarantine as they self-isolate, as per widespread instructions for those who might be suffering from the illness. These are obviously troubling times for all of us, but on a personal level, it’s also been difficult for folks to know what to do with themselves while stuck inside all day.

Writer/director James Gunn has stepped forward with a neat idea for how film fans can turn this difficult period into a positive, though – why not use the free time to stream some often overlooked movies that deserve your attention? The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker shared his personal top 10 recommendations, while also encouraging his followers to list their own picks in the replies.

Gunn’s own choices should contain at least one movie that piques your interest as he’s pulled from across the various genres, decades...

Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated drama “Corpus Christi” is, like many films before it, built on lies. It’s the story of an ex-con, played by Bartosz Bielenia, who dreams of becoming a priest but cannot because of his criminal past. So instead, he impersonates a man of the cloth and becomes a pillar of a small-town community.

His unorthodox approach to holiness — half plagiarized from the priest at his correctional facility, half common-sense morality — has a positive impact on his flock, so one could find themselves asking, “What’s the harm?”

As an audience, we have perhaps become a little complacent about duplicity in fiction, where it seems like half of all relationships are built on whimsical lies. They usually collapse after the inevitable revelations, only to pick themselves up and go on again like nothing ever happened. And we are expected just to be Ok with that. In real life,...

Mubi's series Screwball Now & Then is showing November 21–December 21, 2019 in the United Kingdom.Preston Sturges was a writer and director who could pass muster as a percussionist; his deliciously black-hearted screwball comedies of the forties moved at a clip that would tongue-tie most screen performers today. Rhythm is integral to Sturges’ comedies and his characters move and speak so quickly they can get away with all kinds of things. In his beloved series of films of that decade—The Lady Eve (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero (both 1944), among others—Sturges would help to perfect a very particular form of romantic comedy. That venerated form, known as screwball, reached its apotheosis in the late 1930s and early ‘40s, characterized by sharp verbal sparring, chaotic plot twists, and snappy pacing that veered from witticism to pratfalling as it pleased. In The Palm Beach Story,...

Julie Gibson, a singer, actress, studio rep and dialogue coach who collaborated with Preston Sturges, Orson Welles, Ida Lupino, John Huston, Edgar Bergen and The Bowery Boys during a fascinating career, has died. She was 106.

Gibson died in her sleep Oct. 2 in North Hollywood, her cousin, James Rogers, told The Hollywood Reporter.

A onetime contract player and "Sweater Girl" at Paramount, the petite Gibson had small roles in such notable films as Bing Crosby's Going My Way (1944) and Judy Garland's The Clock (1945). She sang in a nightclub scene at the start of The Feminine Touch (1941), and ...

America's favorite gadfly has made something worth watching -- a European tour of Great Ideas that American would do well to steal outright -- even if many of those ideas originated here. Not that anyone will listen, but Hail the Conquering Hero just the same. Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Anchor Bay 2015 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date May 10, 2016 / 29.99 Starring Michael Moore Cinematography Rick Rowley, Jayme Roy Film Editors Pablo Proenza, Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk Produced by Carl Deal, Tia Lessin, Michael Moore Directed by Michael Moore

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Hate Michael Moore? Hate Michael Moore movies? Although Moore-o-phobes will think the title sounds like another Moore snark-fest about America's penchant for warfare, his newest picture Where to Invade Next is fundamentally unlike any of his earlier hits. It's also as (gasp) politically neutral as a sane movie can be. It's charming and uplifting, qualifiers I don't normally associate with Moore.

Sturges’s screwball comedies play with big ideas and serious themes. So what makes them some of the funniest films ever made?

It was a sprint worthy of his greatest farces: between 1937 and 1944, Preston Sturges made some of the funniest films Hollywood ever produced, including The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero. Then suddenly, as if his frantic, frenzied comedies had exhausted not only himself but his form, Sturges ran out of steam. Blending the comical and serious, farcical and cerebral, high and low, Sturges found catalytic energy in mixing formulas like a madcap scientist; as if he had released actual kinetic energy, he went ricocheting through Hollywood cinema, until he fell to earth with a thud. Happily, the BFI season celebrating Sturges offers audiences the chance to rediscover golden-era Hollywood’s minister of misrule.

The National Film Registry announced this week its annual selection of 25 films and recordings to add to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, and among them are old Hollywood classics, recent Oscar winners, and beloved '80s favorites.

Highlights of this year's inductees include comedy classic "Ghostbusters" and Tom Cruise's iconic flick "Top Gun." Awards bait fare "Shawshank Redemption" (which nabbed seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture) and "L.A. Confidential" (which took home the Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay trophies) also made the 2015 cut.

There are always a few quirky additions, too, and this year's crop is no different. A recording that Thomas Edison made of a sneeze in 1894 is a new inductee, as is a short animated film from Disney called "The Story of Menstruation," which was shown in American schools as part of health education classes in the 1940s (and was...

Nooooo. I almost forgot to share the National Film Registries new titles. Each year they add 25 pictures  that are deemed historically, culturally or aesthetically important. Each year I suggest that we should watch all the titles together. Well, the ones we can find at least. Perhaps we'll actually do that for 2016 -- you never know! Getting a spot on the National Film Registry is more symbolic than active. It does not guarantee preservation or restorations but it does suggest that these films should all be preserved and/or restored.

The 2015 additions are:

 

Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894) - watch it now. it's six seconds long... the earliest surviving copyrighted film Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) -watch it now. (7 minutes) from a short Winsor McCay comic strip A Fool There Was (1915) -watch it now. (66 minutes) Theda Bara tempts a married man! It's always the woman's fault, don't you know  Humoresque...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2004, they’ve now reached 675 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2015 list, which includes classics such as Douglas Sirk‘s melodrama Imitation of Life, Hal Ashby‘s Being There, and John Frankenheimer‘s Seconds. Perhaps the most popular picks, The Shawshank Redemption, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, and L.A. Confidential were also added. Check out the full list below.

Being There (1979)

Chance, a simple-minded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose only contact with the outside world is through television, becomes the toast of the town following a series of misunderstandings. Forced outside his protected environment by the death of his wealthy boss, Chance subsumes his late employer’s persona,...

The Library of Congress on Wednesday morning revealed the 25 new titles it's sending this year to the National Film Registry for preservation. New are L.A. Confidential, The Shawshank Redemption, The Mark of Zorro, Top Gun, and that Thomas Edison thing of a sneeze in the 1800s. Just in time to help with its reboot's press campaign, Ghostbusters also made the cut. Still no word on how Dan Aykroyd's vodka is doing, though. Anyway, here are all the 2015 additions, in alphabetical order: Being There (1979) Black and Tan (1929) Dracula (Spanish) (1931) Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1975) Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894) A Fool There Was (1915) Ghostbusters (1984) Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) Humoresque (1920) Imitation of Life (1959) The Inner World of Aphasia (1968) John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946) L.A. Confidential (1997) The Mark of Zorro (1920) The Old...

I recently had the opportunity to speak to writer/director/producer Bobcat Goldthwait about his new documentary Call Me Lucky, which chronicles the story of Barry Crimmins, political satirist and former stand-up comic and comedy club owner.

Himself a survivor of childhood abuse, Crimmins notoriously testified before the U.S. Senate in the 1990’s to expose internet service provider AOL for allowing images of child sexual abuse to be displayed and traded in its public chat rooms, before becoming somewhat of a recluse in the past few decades.

Read our review Here. Travis Keune says Call Me Lucky “may very well be one of the most important documentaries you will see in 2015.”

Wamg: First of all, I had never heard of Barry and his story and it was so fascinating to me. I know you have a lot of different projects going on –writing and producing and directing. Where did...

Sullivan’s Travels

Written and directed by Preston Sturges

USA, 1941

At the start of Sullivan’s Travels, movie director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) has been screening his latest effort. The picture within the picture concludes with an intense rooftop fight aboard a train. It’s almost absurd in its inflated action and Sullivan is not at all pleased with his creation. This type of escapist entertainment may be all right for some, but it’s social commentary he now seeks. These are troubling times, he argues, with war in Europe and strikes on the home front, and the ambitious, idealistic filmmaker wants something beyond mere cinematic frivolity. Apparently, so did the director of Sullivan’s Travels, the great Preston Sturges. At least that’s what he ended up with anyway.

Sullivan’s Travels, “By” Preston Sturges, as the opening credit proclaims, lending the filmic fable something of a storybook...

The latest batch of Criterion films offers Preston Sturges screwball romp The Palm Beach Story, Kihachi Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom, and Martin Rosen’s animated adaptation of Watership Down and it seems there’s little connective tissue between them. So let’s start with The Palm Beach Story. Preston Sturges was in the middle of his incredible run at Paramount when he made 1942’s The Palm Beach Story (a run that includes Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels and The Miracle at Morgan’s Creek), but as the supplements note, it was the beginning of the end. The film didn’t do that well at the box office, and Sturges - one of the first writer/directors - was no longer in favor on the lot. None of that is reflected in the finished product as the film itself is great, but that said, Sturges...

Kristen Stewart, 'Camp X-Ray' star, to join cast of 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Kristen Stewart to join 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' movie After putting away her Bella Swan wig and red (formerly brown) contact lenses, Kristen Stewart has been making a number of interesting career choices. Here are three examples: Stewart was a U.S. soldier who befriends an inmate (Peyman Moaadi) at the American Gulag, Guantanamo, in Peter Sattler's little-seen (at least in theaters) Camp X-Ray. She was one of Best Actress Oscar winner Julianne Moore's daughters in Wash Westmoreland and the recently deceased Richard Glatzer's Alzheimer's drama Still Alice. She was the personal assistant to troubled, aging actress Juliette Binoche in Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria, which earned her a history-making Best Supporting Actress César. (Stewart became the first American actress to take home the French Academy Award.

Bill Hader has come a long way since his stint on Saturday Night Live, creating many popular characters and impersonations such as Stefon, Vincent Price and CNN’s Jack Cafferty. He is one of the highlights in such films as Adventureland, Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express, and so it is easy to see why author Mike Sacks interviewed him for his new book Poking A Dead Frog. In it, Hader talks about his career and he also lists 200 essential movies every comedy writer should see. Xo Jane recently published the list for those of us who haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. There are a ton of great recommendations and plenty I haven’t yet seen, but sadly my favourite comedy of all time isn’t mentioned. That would be Some Like It Hot. Still, it really is a great list with a mix of old and new.

Update! Get all of today's deals right here! Amazon's week long deals for 2013 Black Friday and Cyber Monday started today and I have the schedule of deals for Sunday, November 24 directly below and will be updating throughout the week. As of now I have a few deals outside the scheduled events you may be interested in, but other than that pay attention to the deal start times so you don't miss out. Today's deals include a great price on the complete "Sex and the City" and "The Wire" collections, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas on Blu-ray and the Godzilla collection seems particularly intriguing at the end of the day. Outside of what's below you can find the current upcoming scheduled deals for the week right here, which I will be updating as more titles and deals are announced. Otherwise, start shopping. Right Now! The Brady Bunch...

Amazon's week long deals for 2013 Black Friday and Cyber Monday started today and I have the schedule of deals for Sunday, November 24 directly below and will be updating throughout the week. As of now I have a few deals outside the scheduled events you may be interested in, but other than that pay attention to the deal start times so you don't miss out. Today's deals include a great price on the complete "Sex and the City" and "The Wire" collections, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas on Blu-ray and the Godzilla collection seems particularly intriguing at the end of the day. Outside of what's below you can find the current upcoming scheduled deals for the week right here, which I will be updating as more titles and deals are announced. Otherwise, start shopping. Right Now! The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray...

"Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad, Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-oad..."

Hard to believe it's been 30 years since the Griswold family first took to the road in "National Lampoon's Vacation." Ever since its release on July 29, 1983, the landmark comedy seems a permanent fixture of pop culture, having created the signature roles of Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid's careers, having helped make stars out of Anthony Michael Hall and Jane Krakowski, and having helped launch the filmmaking career of John Hughes. The movie seems to play on an endless loop on TV, like the neighbors' slideshow of a nightmarish trip you were grateful not to have taken yourself. (Except, let's face it, you probably have a family road trip this disastrous in your past.)

Still, as many times as you've seen the film, there are some details you may have missed. Read on to learn about the in-jokes you haven't spotted, the scenes you didn't get to see,...

After making side trips to California’s Central Coast and Hawaii, Alexander Payne returns to his home state of Nebraska for his sixth directorial feature, a wistful ode to small-town Midwestern life and the quixotic dreams of stubborn old men. Sporting a career-crowning performance by Bruce Dern and a thoroughly impressive dramatic turn by “SNL”/“30 Rock” alum Will Forte, Payne’s first film based on another writer’s original screenplay (by debut feature scribe Bob Nelson) nevertheless fits nicely alongside his other low-concept, finely etched studies of flawed characters stuck in life’s well-worn grooves. Black-and-white lensing and lack of a Clooney-sized star portend less than “Descendants”-sized business, but critical hosannas and awards buzz should mean solid prestige success for this November Paramount release.

Just as “The Last Picture Show” was a movie made in the 1970s about the end of ’50s-era innocence, “Nebraska” feels, despite its present-day setting,...

This past week, I've posted five lists looking back at the movies and movie ads of 2011. I didn't really have to dig through a year's worth of articles because I kept a list of everything I found noteworthy. This year, I also kept a movie journal and made a record of every time I watched a feature-length film. Then I took an image or a slice of an image from each movie and put them into a collage. I feel pretty proud to have stuck with this project for 365 days (or if you want to be absolutely obnoxious about it, 363 days), and I'd like to share it with all of you. After the jump, you'll find two different collages and then the list of 368 movies I saw (not 368 different movies because I watched some flicks twice; I probably watched around 350 different films). I hope you like it. [Because the collages count viewings and not different movies, some films have more than one image] Here's the really...

The new season of "True Blood" is nearly here - and "Extra" is highlighting 35 of the best "Blood" quotes from the past three seasons! Take a bite and enjoy!

'True Blood' QuotesSookie Stackhouse

"Life is just getting too weird too fast."

Sookie and Bill

Sookie Stackhouse: "Can you turn into a bat?"

Bill Compton: "No. There are those who can change form, but I'm not one of them."Sookie Stackhouse: "Can you levitate?"

Bill Compton: "No.

In 1973, I did an Esquire column about screenwriters, focusing largely on the first writer-director of the talking era, the mercurial Mr. Preston Sturges, who got so fed up with seeing his scripts mangled by inferior directors that he made an unprecedented deal with Paramount: he would direct his own screenplay for one dollar. The superb result was the brilliantly satirical political comedy, The Great McGinty, which won him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. This was followed by seven more comedies over the next four years, each one of similar vintage quality (except for The Great Moment, which was somewhat wrecked by studio interference in the cutting), an amazing outburst of creativity that remains unchallenged to this day; six further masterpieces that have stood the test of time and changing tastes: Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Palm Beach Story,...