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When you live with Hollywood royalty for so long, it's almost easy to forget that, at one point, they were up-and-comers looking for a gig wherever they could get it. It's a tough industry to make a name for yourself, especially when so many others are trying to do the same. Sometimes you nab the role that gets your foot in the door on a whim, and for Clint Eastwood, his big break was the CBS western series "Rawhide." For eight seasons of television, he was a series mainstay as the ramrod turned cattle boss Rowdy Yates. If not for landing this show, which Eastwood referred to as a fluke that saved his acting career, he likely wouldn't have made an exodus to Spain and therein, become one of the great movie stars on account of Sergio Leone's genre-defining "Dollars" trilogy. It's sad to think of a world where...

Alongside Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is one of the most highly anticipated MCU movies in recent memory. It's been a while since Spider-Man: No Way Home swung into theaters, and Tom Holland's return as Peter Parker is long overdue. 

With little to no official details revealed about the movie, it's hardly a surprise that social media scoopers have shared a seemingly never-ending list of potential villains.

It can be hard to keep track of the rumours, which is why we've now rounded up every single bad guy who has been rumoured to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Some are more believable than others, but chances are we'll see at least one of them in theaters next year. 

You can check them out by clicking on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below. 

8. Savage Hulk

Marvel Studios' Spider-Man movies always feature a big MCU cameo, and it...

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Clint Eastwood began his career playing bit parts in monster movies, at least two of them for director Jack Arnold. He played an amusing lab technician in the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" sequel "Revenge of the Creature" in 1955, and he was a masked pilot in Arnold's "Tarantula" the same year. He was in comedy films, war pictures, and globe-trotting adventures, establishing his career and proving his versatility. He also worked, very briefly, for Universal TV, and had bit parts in a few hit shows of the mid-'50s.

It wouldn't be until 1959, when he landed the role of Rowdy Yates in the hit series "Rawhide," that he would become associated with Westerns. While "Rawhide" was in its penultimate seventh season in 1965, Eastwood was cast by Sergio Leone in his Italian Western "A Fistful of Dollars," which would go...

Earlier this month, it was reported that Disney had shown a brief sizzle reel for Avengers: Doomsday and concept art for Spider-Man: Brand New Day at a Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products presentation in Las Vegas.

Reddit's Pomojema_The_Dreamer (who also writes for Star Wars News Net) has now shared more potential details from the event, supposedly from that original leaker. While this information can't be verified, it's gaining traction on social media, and there's nothing here that's too hard to believe.

Avengers: Doomsday reportedly begins in Wakanda, with Shuri, Namor, and M'Baku all donning new costumes. The Sentinels we've seen scattered in front of the X-Mansion are said to be under Doctor Doom's control, with the X-Men—joined by Deadpool, Gambit, Shang-Chi, and the Invisible Woman—forced to fight them.

As previously reported, the mutant team's costumes are now comic-accurate rather than the unpopular black leather outfits used in Bryan Singer's movies.

Mara Corday, the showgirl, Playboy Playmate and cult movie star of Tarantula, has died at age 95.

The Golden Age actress died of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease on Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Her cause of death was listed on a death certificate obtained by The Washington Post.

Born Jan. 3, 1930 in Santa Monica, Marilyn Joan Watts began working as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard as a teenager, where she adopted her stage name. She was also Playboy‘s October 1958 Playmate of the Month.

Following several small roles in B-rated movies, Corday’s breakout came in the 1955 Jack Arnold-helmed sci-fi cult classic Tarantula, starring alongside John Agar and Leo G. Carroll.

Corday also appeared in sci-fi titles The Black Scorpion (1957) and The Giant Claw (1957), as well as westerns like Drums Across the River (1954), The Man From Bitter Ridge...

Mara Corday, who was menaced by a huge hairy spider in the cult horror film Tarantula and appeared in several films thanks to Clint Eastwood, whom she called a “godsend,” has died. She was 95.

Corday died Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California, according to a death certificate filed with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health that was obtained by The Washington Post. The cause was arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

A onetime contract player at Universal-International, Corday also worked in many Westerns, among them Drums Across the River (1954), starring Audie Murphy; King Vidor’s Man Without a Star (1955), starring Kirk Douglas; and The Quiet Gun (1957), starring Forrest Tucker.

She said she was especially proud of her turn as a fun-loving French girl in the Technicolor romantic musical comedy So This Is Paris (1954), directed by Richard Quine and starring Tony Curtis and Gloria DeHaven.

Corday was married to actor Richard Long (Bourbon Street Beat,...

Clint Eastwood began his professional screen acting career in 1955, and he was able to land multiple small roles almost right away. In his first year of employment, Eastwood appeared in an episode of "Highway Patrol" and in the TV movie "Allen in Movieland." On the big screen, he made his debut in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature," a sequel to his 1954 classic "Creature from the Black Lagoon." Eastwood only had one scene, but he left an impression as a forgetful lab technician. That same year, the young Eastwood also appeared in "Francis in the Navy," the sixth of seven ultra-successful Francis the Talking Mule movies, as well as an uncredited Saxon warrior in the period drama "Lady Godiva of Coventry." 

Eastwood rounded out 1955 by re-teaming with Jack Arnold for the creature feature "Tarantula." A relatively well-regarded matinée monster movie, "Tarantula" is about, you guessed it, a giant tarantula...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is Marvel's newest project and Spider-Man's newest animated series. With so much to live up to, the finale confirmed to audiences and fans alike that this series was one that cared for and elevated the original stories in their own exciting, unique way. There was so much to unpack, including all the amazing villains it featured.

While a lot of them were spoiled to the audience when the series was first announced and in development, that didn't take away from the amazing storytelling they were involved in onscreen. Fans hope to see more Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man soon, especially seeing just how exciting and amazing this first season has been with its villains.

Spider-Man Easily Takes Out Two Thugs Speed Demon & Tarantula Image via Disney+

Two of the first villains to come face to face with Spider-Man in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are two...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest TV series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, now streaming on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest TV series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, now streaming on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man celebrated Valentine's Day with character cards. This comes after Daredevil popped up in a Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man clip.

Shared on to the Spider-Man X account, the first card sees Peter Parker and Spider-Man with text that reads, "Can I swing by your neighborhood?" The other cards feature Doctor Octopus, The Scorpion and Pearl Pangan and Lonnie Lincoln, each with their own text such as "You're the Scorpi-One for me!" and "We make a winning team!" Above the post is more text which professes, "[Roses] are red Violets are blue Spider-Man is both of these colors too."

RelatedYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episode 3 Poster Asks if Norman Osborn Is a Friend or Foe

A poster for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Julien Rico Jr. asks if Norman Osborn is 'A Friend or Foe.'

Rose are redViolets are blueSpider-Man is both of these colors too pic.twitter.com...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man continues to weave its intricate storytelling web in the third episode. What is to become of our hero now that Norman Osborn knows Peter’s secret identity as Spider-Man? Will Peter keep the Oscorp internship? Will Norman expose Peter’s secret to the world? And is any of it connected to the mysterious logo on Butane’s equipment in the last episode? Well, let’s settle in for our full spoiler discussion (Final warning if you haven’t seen the episode yet) and find out.

What happens in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episode 3? (Fourth from Left-r) Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) and Harry Osborn (Zeno Robinson) in Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man

We kick off our story directly from the ending of Episode 2, where Norman reveals he knows that Peter is Spider-Man; but assures him that his secret is safe before sending him home...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest 10-episode series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, now streaming on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest 10-episode series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, streaming January 29, 2025 on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

Head writer Jeff Trammell recently defended Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. This comes after Tarantula and Speed Demon popped up in a Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man video.

Trammell brought this up in an interview with TechRadar, professing that the production team and that regardless of how one feels about they show, they have to admit there's "nothing that looks like it." He went on to further note, "There's no Spider-Man that looks like our Spider-Man. I think it's important to have one that's ours, and that feels unique [and] very much of its own thing. So, we really wanted to find something that set us apart from everything else, and kind of drives audiences towards us. So if you see our Spider-Man in a line-up, you're like 'that's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'."

Related 'My Biggest Fear Was That It Was Gonna Be Woke': Spider-Man Star's Reaction to New Series Sparks Backlash

Your...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest 10-episode series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, streaming January 29, 2025 on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is Marvel Animation’s latest 10-episode series, starring Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Hugh Dancy, Kari Wahlgren and Zeno Robinson, streaming January 29, 2025 on Disney+:

“…’Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ follows ‘Peter Parker’…

“…on his way to becoming a hero…

“…with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen…

“…and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots..”

Characters appearing will also include ‘Venom’, ‘Amadeus Cho’, ‘Pearl Pangan’, ‘Rhino’…

… ‘Scorpion’, ‘Chameleon’, ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Tarantula’, ‘White Rabbit’ and a whole lot more…

Click the images to enlarge…...

Home Alone star Daniel Stern has revealed his scary encounter with a real spider on the film’s set. Stern memorably played one-half of the Wet Bandits with Joe Pesci in Home Alone.

The 1990 holiday classic’s climactic scenes memorably involves 8-year-old Kevin McCallister using home-made booby traps to foil the Wet Bandits breaking into his home. At one point, Stern’s character Marv shrieks in horror when a tarantula walks across his face while he’s recovering from being burned by a clothing iron. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Stern revealed that he was completely taken by surprise when it came time to film the spider encounter. “I was kind of in a groove at that point of doing crazy things, so when I showed up on the set to do the spider thing, I thought … 'Let's see what happens. I'm sure they're gonna have a great prop spider.'...

Bob Dylan has all sorts of fans. There are casual ones who dig “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” are fairly certain he didn’t write “Stuck in the Middle With You,” and know about his days as a protest singer in the Sixties. There are moderate ones who have worn copies of Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft and try to see him every few years when the Never Ending Tour comes to town. And there are hardcore types with large bootleg collections and the...

Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #7An underused Spider-Man villain, the Black Tarantula, just got a massive overhaul as he faces Ghost Spider, and it makes him the perfect villain to make the move to the big screen with a stylish suit that would transfer perfectly to live-action. With the new Black Tarantula overhaul, he would be a fresh villain to face Tom Holland's ever more experienced Spider-Man.

Gwen - otherwise known as the hero Ghost Spider - becomes smitten with Fabian Lamuerto, an attractive young man she met at a coffee shop. That young man is actually the secret alter ego of the son of the Black Tarantula, and he debuts a brand-new suit in a recent issue.

In Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #7 by Stephanie Phillips, Von Randal, Matt Milla, and Ariana Maher, Fabian goes all into his Black Tarantula persona with brand-new powers...

New films by directors Lukas Dhont, Ana Teodora Mihai and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are among 14 new projects to share €3 million in funding from Screen Flanders.

Flemish director Dhont, who was Oscar nominated for his 2023 feature Close, received €200,000 for his new feature Coward.

Dhont joins forces again with co-writer Angelo Tijssens for the film, whose plot details are not yet available. The Reunion, the production company set up by Michiel and Lukas Dhont, takes the lead in the film’s production, with Lumière Publishing releasing in the Benelux.

Heysel 85, which received €250,000, is directed by Ana Teodora Mihai whose...

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The Substance is a satirical body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. The 2024 film follows the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a popular star renowned for an aerobics show but on her 50th birthday, she gets fired from her boss for being old. She soon finds a laboratory that offers her a drug that promises to transform her into a better and younger version of herself. The Substance stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in the lead roles with Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Oscar Lesage, Tiffany Hofstetter, and Alexandra Papoulias Barton starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the body horror, biting commentary, and compelling characters in The Substance here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Neon Demon (Prime Video) Credit – Amazon Studios

The Neon Demon is a psychological horror film...

Quick Links Eastwood's Long String of Duds and Flops How Eastwood's Early Setbacks Shaped His Career Today

Clint Eastwood is one of the most iconic actors of all time. While primarily known for directing today, Eastwood started his career by appearing in several famous Westerns and crime flicks. A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Dirty Harry, and The Outlaw Josey Wales are among the greatest early works. But Eastwood didn't rise to fame overnight. He had to endure a long string of critical and commercial flops before finally breaking through with A Fistful of Dollars. But just how many?

It took a whopping nine duds before Eastwood finally found his mark. With all his success, looking back on that run of failures today is surprising. So what went wrong? Several of these early entries were low-budget B-movies, with Eastwood appearing in cameo or uncredited roles.

South Africa’s Both Worlds is leaning into IP and genre as it brings a packed slate of ambitious scripted projects to Mipcom this week, including an adaptation of the bestseller “The Cape Raider” and partnerships with Federation Studios and actor Djimon Hounsou’s Fanaticus production banner.

The International Emmy-nominated production outfit, which recently released the Cape Town-set comedy-drama “The Morning After” on Prime Video, has wrapped Season 2 of “Recipes for Love and Murder”: Global Screen will be introducing it to buyers this week at Mipcom.

The quirky murder-mystery series starring Maria Doyle Kennedy (pictured), a co-production with M-Net, AMC, AcornTV and Global Screen, is one of several IP-based series that Both Worlds head Thierry Cassuto will be taking to the Cannes industry event.

The company announced that it’s acquired TV adaptation rights to South African author Justin Fox’s bestselling novel “The Cape Raider” and other...

Clint Eastwood is best known for his Western films but also dabbled in other genres, including lesser-known horrors. Eastwood often appeared in Westerns, helping to define his career and persona and helping him transition to directing films later in his career. He appeared in over 60 films in his seven-decade career, though some of Eastwood's films remain underrated or relatively unknown. It took many years for Eastwood to define his signature persona and role within the genre.

Previous to his Western heroics, Eastwood played many bit parts and minor, uncredited roles for years. Though he has become an acclaimed actor and director, Eastwood has had bad movies, though many are forgotten. Fortunately for him, his lowest-scoring film is an uncredited role from Eastwood, helping to distance himself from the dud. However, the film still significantly contributes to the early horror genre and Eastwood's career. While not a highlight, this early project...

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60 years ago this September, Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name stepped on screen for the first time in Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." It would be a few more years until the low-budget Spaghetti Western made it to America, but the actor's star power and the director's talents were instantly recognizable for early adopters – even if critics took longer to get on board. By the time Leone had released two more Eastwood-led films, rounding out what became known as the Dollars Trilogy, Eastwood's narrowed eyes and steely attitude had become a fundamental image of the movie cowboy.

The Dollars trilogy, which continued with "For A Few Dollars More" and concluded in 1966 with "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," is now celebrated as one of the best on-screen Western sagas of all time. The genre would...

Clint Eastwood has long been established as the King of Westerns, which makes it hard to believe that his first acting role was in Revenge of the Creature, a Universal monster sequel. Clint Eastwood is one of the most famous actors in the world due to his prolific career, with Eastwood playing some of the toughest gunslingers in the Western genre. He has appeared in over 60 films in his 65-year-long career and has acted in multiple television roles as well.

While Clint Eastwood has been responsible for directing and starring in some of the best Western movies, he is also known for creating a lot of thrillers, and his range goes quite far. Films such as A Perfect World, Gran Torino, and Million Dollar Baby which earned him two Oscars are some of Clint Eastwoods best non-Western movies, showcasing his range as both an actor and director. With such a prolific career,...

Imagine a tarantula climbing up your chest and into your open mouth. At some point, the tarantula releases some venom and your life becomes a mess. Well, Russell Crowe didn’t have to imagine any of it.

Russell Crowe as Maximus Gladiator | Credits: DreamWorks Pictures

Crowe had humble beginnings in his career before becoming a world-renowned actor. He wasn’t that famous as he was after Gladiator, but he was famous enough to be working in international films.

When a Tarantula Had Its Way With Russell Crowe

Yes. The title sounds quite weird but that is exactly what Russell Crowe said during an interview. The tale is of 1994 when Crowe was working on a film (it sounds similar to ‘Tough Tragic’)

Russell Crowe in a still from the ‘Tarantula’ film | Credits: Recorded Picture Company

When Crowe read the script, the scene was that he would be lying on the ground...

From mad scientists to unintended mutations, nuclear monsters were the darlings of horror in the atomic age. And it makes sense. After all, America was deep in the heart of the Cold War scare (officially starting in 1947). The idyllic facade of the 1950s, picket fences and apple pies, concealed a constant undercurrent of anxiety and fear that the world would end in a nuclear war.

So with atomic power always at the forefront of consciousness, it makes sense that the movies of the time would feature monsters born of atomic fallout. At the same time, man was taking to the stars for the first time, with space exploration opening up a whole new frontier -- and a whole new set of fears. Between aliens from the stars and mutants from our world, a new genre of atomic monsters took over. And while the Godzilla movies would go on to become by far the most famous,...

The article discusses various villains that could fit well in the Spider-Man Noir series, set in a 1930s New York City. Each character has a tragic backstory and fits the noir theme of flawed characters driven by ambition and hubris. Their inclusion would add depth and complexity to the series, while also connecting it to the wider Sony Spider-Man Universe.

Nicolas Cage has promised that the Spider-Man Noir miniseries will feature monsters from the pages of Marvel Comics. Nicolas Cage voiced Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and reprises the role in the live-action Spider-Man Noir series. Cages Spider-Man will face monsters, and there are several great Spider-Man villains who would qualify. These creatures bring a unique flavor of terror and complexity, perfectly suited to the shadowy, suspenseful world of Spider-Man Noir and a gripping showdown with Cage.

Spider-Man Noir is a dark reimagining of the classic Spider-Man story set in the gritty,...

Beck recently kicked off his 2024 orchestral tour (get tickets here) at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville, Washington on Wednesday (July 3rd) and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Saturday (July 6th).

Both sets began with the Morning Phase opening track “Cycle” before transitioning into “The Golden Age” from 2002’s Sea Change. From there, Beck sandwiched covers of The Korgis’ signature hit “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” and Scott Walker’s “It’s Raining Today” around another Sea Change cut, “Lonesome Tears.”

Get Beck Tickets Here

Other highlights from the sets included performances of hits like “Where It’s At” and “The New Pollution” alongside more recent singles like “Blue Moon” and “Waking Light.” Beck also played his cover of Colourbox’s “Tarantula” from the Roma soundtrack and returned for an encore featuring “Loser,” which he performed without the orchestra. The Hollywood Bowl...

From his early work like the Roger Corman-produced “Hollywood Boulevard” and the found footage extravaganza “The Movie Orgy” to the deliriously self-referential “Gremlins” films and “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” Joe Dante has always been one of the most cine-literate of all directors, a filmmaker preoccupied with our relationship to the movies we watch and with cinema’s larger role in the culture. Dante’s 1993 comedy “Matinee” is possibly his greatest film in this regard, a meditation on the role horror movies play in our lives and a love letter to the people who make them. It follows a few days in the lives of kids who live on a Florida military base during the buildup to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962; as the terror of the real world increases, they take refuge in the monster movies of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), a producer who arrives in town to screen his latest horror flick,...

From a new Alfredo Castro movie to fresh titles by “Case 63” writer Julio Rojas and “A Fantastic Woman” scribe Gonzalo Maza — plus the debut of Cannes Cinéfondation winner Diego Céspedes — here are titles from seven Chilean production companies whose presence at Cannes is backed by Chile’s ministry of culture.

“Bitter Gold,”

In a defunct North Chilean mining community, a teenage girl battles patriarchal forces to save her family’s business in this empowering neo-Western. Lead-produced by Juntos Films in co-production with La Santé (Chile), Whisky Content (México). Intl. Sales: Patra Spanou Films.

“Después de Elena” (Shawn Garry)

Alfredo Castro stars in a dark comedy as widower Roberto, who seeks solace but faces family dysfunction and lies. Produced by Gabriela Sandoval at Cine Matriz, Magma Cine and Zoe Films.

“Epílogo para un otoño,” (David Belmar)

This Lucho Films drama follows 85-year-old Gabriel, who feels death looming. He fails in his...

Before 1967's A Fistful of Dollars, Clint Eastwood's career consisted primarily of several uncredited roles in films with dull titles like Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula! (1955), and one-off performances in anthology series like the dryly named waterlogged drama Navy Log (1955) and the much more memorable Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955). Before Eastwood's teeth-gritting snarl and perpetual sun-in-the-eye squint became as intrinsic to American popular culture as Twinkies, the actor was in dire need of a proper vehicle to coax the latent hard-ass from his slumber.

In those early years, it was 1959's Rawhide, in which Eastwood portrayed the precocious ramrod Rowdy Yates, a former Confederate Army soldier. If any of those early performances could be said to provide an inkling as to what sort of gruff underbelly could be scratched with the right material, it was Rawhide. In Yates, we have a nascent iteration of the type of character...

Clint Eastwood was already 30 years old when he landed his breakout role in the CBS Western "Rawhide." The actor had spent much of the 1950s getting by on bit parts in B movies (most notably the Jack Arnold monster duo of "Revenge of the Creature" and "Tarantula"), and guest roles on TV series like "Maverick" and "Death Valley Days," so you'd think he would've been thrilled. But Eastwood was displeased with his character Rowdy Yates, who, early on in the series' run, was a wet-behind-the-ears ramrod. At his age, he was eager to play a grown, capable man with enough years behind him to allow for a bit of mystery.

Eastwood's restlessness coincided with a shift in filmmakers' approach to the Western genre. Though maestros like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, and Budd Boetticher had allowed for moral ambiguity in their movies, the vast majority of Westerns were white...

Who doesn't love a big killer bug movie? Unlike many other subgenres, this particular brand of science-fiction horror hybrid took a good while to come along. Any time a giant monster movie was released in the first half of the 20th century, it was a big deal. The Lost World, King Kong, and Mighty Joe Young stunned and inspired audiences with their groundbreaking special effects. For years, these types of movies were considered too demanding to make on a regular basis. Then, along with the nuclear 1950s, came a complete and utter fascination with turning everyday animals into gargantuan killers! The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was the first of this age, released in 1953. Hollywood began to churn these movies out left and right, innovating these special effects and making them easier to pull off, and making the gap between these films much shorter. From there, classics like Them!, Tarantula, and...

A scene from ‘Sting’ (Photo Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment)

From Arachnophobia to Itsy Bitsy, from Tarantula to Abyssal Spider, killer spider movies have always been in style. But there’s something special about the newest eight-legged offering, Sting. Sting is everything that’s amazing about creature features.

Sting is about a young girl named Charlotte (Alyla Browne from the unfortunate Children of the Corn remake) who spends her time drawing comics and creeping into her neighbors’ apartments by crawling through the apartment building’s air ducts. One day while doing the latter, she comes across a cute little spider which she takes home and names Sting – not after the rock star or the wrestler, but after the short sword in The Hobbit. Yes, Charlotte is a dork.

But Sting isn’t a normal, run-of-the-mill spider. It’s an alien spider that crashed on Earth in a meteorite. First,...

Spiders can be scary, but it’s our reaction to them that’s traumatic.

The jolt of panic you feel when a tickle just hits wrong is a hard-wired evolutionary response that’s been explored in horror for decades. Humans developed the “Holy shit, get it off me!” feeling as a protection against the pests we can’t always see. And while hobbyists claim arachnids are misunderstood — playing a critical role opposite insects — the bone-deep distaste we have for spiders has cast as antagonists since the dawn of film. From “Tarantula!” and “Arachnophobia” to “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” if something is on eight legs and in a movie, you know what comes next.

Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, and co-written by the French filmmaker and Florent Bernard, “Infested” premiered to buzzy acclaim at 2023 Venice Film Festival, got more flowers at Fantastic Fest, and screened again at The Overlook...

Italian actress and screenwriter Paola Cortellesi’s directorial feature debut, There’s Still Tomorrow (C’è Ancora Domani), and Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano lead nominations at this year’s David Di Donatello Awards.

There’s Still Tomorrow nabbed 19 noms, including best film while Io Capitano landed 15, including best director for Garrone. Trailing the leading two is Alice Rohrwacher’s latest film, La Chimera, starring Josh O’Connor. Other leading films are Rapito (11), Comandante (10), Il Sol Dell’avvenire (7), and Adagio (5).

The 69th David di Donatello Awards take place May 3. The live show will be broadcast on Rai 1 in Italy. This year’s hosts include Carlo Conti and Alessia Marcuzzi. The ceremony will take place at the legendary Cinecittà studios.

Check out the full list of nominees below:

Best Film

C’È Ancora DOMANIprodotto da Mario Gianani e Lorenzo Gangarossa per Wildside società del gruppo Fremantle; Vision Distribution società del gruppo Sky; in collaborazione...

Eastwood's early roles in monster films helped him gain experience before becoming a Hollywood superstar. Despite not typically working in the horror genre, Eastwood showcased his ability to evoke fear in Play Misty for Me. Eastwood owes his mastery of suspense to the horror genre, even in minor roles like in Tarantula.

While Clint Eastwood has been most closely identified with the thriller and Western genres throughout his now approximately 60-year starring career, Eastwood has nonetheless consistently established himself as one of the most adventurous and ambitious box-office superstars in history by infusing well-worn genre conventions with diverse and interesting themes.

One genre that Eastwood has avoided throughout his directorial and starring career is the horror genre. While Eastwood dabbled in the slasher genre with the 1984 thriller film Tightrope and explored psychological terror with the 2002 psychological thriller film Blood Work and the classic 1971 psychological thriller film Play Misty for Me,...

Action-paced, international intrigue ensues when a Swiss bank president hires an American investigator to ferret out a group of blackmailers who have been terrorizing his clients in The Swiss Conspiracy, available 20th February 2024 in a special collector’s edition on Blu-ray and DVD from Film Masters.

Scanned in 4K from original 35mm archival elements, The Swiss Conspiracy has never seen a high-quality release to date. Film Masters has enlisted colorist and restoration expert Marc Wielage to painstakingly bring back vibrant and original colors that have not been seen since this film made its original debut in 1976.

Shot entirely in and around Zurich, The Swiss Conspiracy, based on the hit novel by Michael Stanley, was directed by Jack Arnold, best known for B horror/cult movie classics such as The Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space and The Tattered Dress. One of the...

Copenhagen-based Elk Film’s hunger for global reach with quality creative docs was fully-achieved with the art world mystery “The Lost Leonardo,” one of the most buzzed about documentaries of 2021, released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics.

Elk Film’s co-founders, director/producer Andreas Dalsgaard and editor Nicolás Nørgaard Staffolani (“Cold Case Hammarskjöld”) are on the verge of inking a deal for a fiction series take of “The Lost Leonardo” with Studiocanal, The Picture Company, Entertainment 360, together with Vestigo Films’ Christoph Jörg. At the same time, the partners are gearing up for the world premiere of “As the Tide Comes In” at IDFA in the International Competition section.

The Danish film is helmed by Basque-born Juan Palacios with co-director Sofie Husum Johannesen, a trained anthropologist like most of Elk’s creatives. The feature-length doc is a portrait of the Danish Wadden Sea island of Mandø and its 27 dwellers,...

American cinema often relies on pre-established Japanese properties when creating kaiju films. American kaiju monsters like King Kong and Clover are simple and effective, but often lack the depth and purpose seen in Japanese kaiju like Godzilla. American kaiju films could learn a lot from comic books and how they've approached characters like The Incredible Hulk.

Kaiju movies are a wonderful subgenre, and no country has produced more memorable ones than Japan. Japanese cinema has spawned some of the greatest monsters, such as Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, and many others. These kaiju are known for their prodigious size and unparalleled power, which has made them iconic mainstays in film. As great as Japanese cinema is at creating kaiju, American cinema struggles with creating giant monsters.

Though Hollywood has one of the largest collections of talent on the planet, there are very few mainstream kaiju films produced in the United States that...

The 1950s was, arguably, the Golden Age of cinematic mutated monsters, thanks to a perfect storm of post-World War II anxieties surrounding the deadly power of nuclear weapons, mistrust in the intentions of science, and the advent of the Cold War and its offspring, the Space Race. The films during the period are indicative of those anxieties, with movies like Godzilla, The Fly, Tarantula, and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms exploring the repercussions of humanity's inhumanities. Of course, almost all of these films have no basis in reality, with ridiculous premises exaggerated for effect. One of the most ludicrous films from the era is 1958's The Blob, a movie about a carnivorous, gelatinous, alien blob that eats people, and... well, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. And with each snack, the blob grows larger and redder, but thanks to the quick thinking of teenager Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen in one...

Science fiction on film has been around almost as long as cinema itself. Starting in 1895 when the first public showings of motion pictures commenced in France and the United States, and as filmmakers began to realize that they could string scenes together to tell a complete, coherent story, the genres of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy were part of the equation.

Celluloid offered ambitious storytellers the chance to put images on the screen—crude at the time, but still groundbreaking—that had only been glimpsed in the pages of novels, short stories, and later, comic books and pulp magazines. And as filmmaking techniques themselves progressed, and the motion picture industry began to take shape in the early 20th century, visionaries came along with audacious ideas that moved the art form, the technology, and the genres forward well into the new millennium.

Below are 16 such visionaries; men and women who either grew...

Drop Nineteens’ initial run may have only lasted four years, but the shoegaze pioneers’ 1992 debut album Delaware is widely considered one of the genre’s defining records. Now after 30 years away, they’re returning with their new album Hard Light on November 3rd on Wharf Cat Records. The lead single “Scapa Flow” is out now, and they’ve also announced some 2023 tour dates to celebrate their comeback.

By the time Drop Nineteens first disbanded, they’d already become massively successful. Lead singer and songwriter Greg Ackell was happy to go out on a high note and leave the music world on good terms, but probably didn’t anticipate the staying power Delaware would soon have in the indie rock sphere — thank goodness he kept his guitar around.

“The intent on Delaware was to reflect that time in our lives, which I think it did accurately,” Ackell explains in a statement.

Since the announcement of Wes Anderson’s new sci-fi film Asteroid City in late 2020, many fans have been speculating about what the quirky auteur has been brewing behind the scenes. Ubiquitously known for symmetrical cinematography, pastel color palettes, and dark humor with deadpan deliveries, Anderson looks to continue his line of specifically crafted film worlds with the 1950s desert set piece in Asteroid City.

Though he’s nearly cemented his legacy as an undeniably singular figure in film, there seems to be a lot on the line for the long-standing director. His 2021 feature film The French Dispatch was a decadent masterpiece filled to the brim with every Andersonian element known to humanity: brilliant puppetry, beautifully crafted miniatures, elaborate set design, detailed costuming, and an ensemble of amazing creative performances from everyone in the cast, like Frances McDormand, Jeffery Wright, and Benicio del Toro, as well as the crew, such as cinematographer Robert Yeoman,...

Jennifer Lopez in The MotherPhoto: Netflix

In the pantheon of female assassin films, many have shown grit and gravitas, but only a handful have nailed their targets. This is especially true in the case of original features for the streaming services. While recent international offerings from Netflix—like Kill Boksoon...

HBO Max has released the official trailer and key art for the upcoming original adult animated series Fired On Mars. Created by Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey, Fired On Mars tells the story of Jeff Cooper who finds himself adrift after taking a one-way trip to the Red Planet only to have his bosses unceremoniously eliminate his role. The series stars Luke Wilson along with a cast that includes Leslie David Baker, Cory Loykasek, Stephen Root, and Cedric Yarbrough. The eight episode season debuts Thursday, April 20 on HBO Max.

Guest Stars: Pamela Adlon, Thomas Haden Church, Tim Heidecker, Frankie Quinones, Emily Watson, and Sean Wing.

Logline: Jeff Cooper (Luke Wilson) has it all: a fulfilling career as the graphic designer for space start-up Mars.ly, a relationship with his soon-to-be Red Planet-bound girlfriend, Hannah, and… well, maybe that’s it. But when his bosses unceremoniously eliminate his role, Jeff finds...

Batman has had a mixed legacy with sidekicks, raising Dick Grayson to become the heroic Nightwing, but failing Jason Todd, who reinvented himself as the lethal hero Red Hood. However, before Jason Todd returned to Gotham and began slaughtering its criminals, another killer sidekick sullied the Bat-Family's good name. This time, however, it was Dick Grayson's charge who attempted to become a lethal protector.

Thaddeus Ryerstad was an orphan, or so he claimed. He grew up on the mean streets of Blüdhaven and often had to fend for himself with nothing but his own two fists and whatever weapon he could find. Yet Tad was no hero - he was a bully with a distorted sense of morality who tried to convince himself that he was a good guy by beating up the bad guys. He took his name from a chicken restaurant, and was inspired in his new heroic...